New leggings and pants...

Not totally sure about the leggings on the right or how to wear them, but I love the ones on the left.  Yes - they're pleather but I'm digging the knee detail and skinny ankle look.  For a outfit that I am sure about check out W Style.  Any suggestions on outfits for these two pieces are very welcome.

NEED THESE!

Love these.

Seriously have to get these. 

Instagram

Whoa!  So exciting!  One of my shots was featured on the Instagram account mom_hub!!! There was a challenge called 'Remembering Summer' so I submitted a shot that I took of Nate and Scarlet while we were driving up to the cabin and it was featured along with five other beautiful shots in this final grid!  Too cool!

My shot is Top Center.  I LOVE them all but the little red-head on the right is totally stealing my heart here.  If you're interested in following my pics my username on Instagram is kweilz.  

#mom_hub #instagram #exciting

Master Photo Bomber

Yes - he's adorable, but this furry monster can push my buttons.

I love him, I really do.  I love how Milo follows me around the house every waking moment of the day.  How he rushes in front of me while I'm walking down the stairs with a baby in my arms.  How he silently sits behind me while I'm changing Scarlet's diaper.  How he scratches at my door at 6:00 in the morning.  How he jumps into my lap when I'm eating.  How he rubs his hairy butt in my face when I'm watching a movie with Nate.  How he masterfully photo bombs my pictures on a regular basis.  All I can say is, it's a damn good thing he's cute or we'd be putting up an add on Kijiji.

For my full outfit details check out the W Style.

#photobomb

Feb 17th

We're not messing around here 

When my fabulous sister-in-law Kelsey and her husband Rod decided to move to back to his homeland of Australia, we were all extremely sad and depressed very supportive.  Perhaps the only positive thing that has come out of those two amazing people leaving is that we have adopted some of their best houseware items.  Cue gently used Nespresso machine.  Not only does it do a quick grande vanilla skinny latte (one of a million pods that you can purchase online) but it has froth options and very little mess.  Be still my heart.

Enjoying a second one this chilly morning.

   

Feb 14th 2014

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

We celebrated by going to Mercato for dinner last night - couldn't get in for tonight it's just that popular.  We shared a plate of grilled squid, a plate of gnocchi and the Lamb entree with mushrooms.  We enjoyed some red wine and came home for dessert.  Nate's parents came over to sit Scarlet.  It was all really fantastic.

Tiffany & Co inspired birthday cupcakes

For my Mom's 60th this year, we decided to all go in on a gift from Tiffany's for her.  She has always been a huge fan of the beautiful jewelry and lately, I've noticed her wearing some larger pieces, so the charm bracelet seemed like a great idea.  We can add to it as the years go by with various additions and it looks incredible on my Mom's wrist.

I made a few cupcake treats to go along with the gift and this is how they turned out.

The recipe said that it made 24 cakes but I wanted extra large ones so I just filled each cup about 3/4 full instead of the suggested 2/3 and added about three minutes to the bake time.  I was thrilled with the gigantic 12 cupcakes that I ended up with.  I took one of my old Tiffany boxes and kept it near while I carefully dropped a few drops of blue and green food colouring in the vanilla icing until the desired colour appeared.  It was really fun and boy were they delicious.   

#Tiffany #Cupcakes #60thbirthday #60yearsold 

Feb 9th 2014

How is this woman 60 years old? #Wow 

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Mom.  May the next 60 years of your life be as beautiful as you are both inside and out.  You are a huge inspiration to me on a daily basis.  The way you pay attention to your lifestyle by staying fit, healthy and mindful of your eating habits, as well as the way you treat others and stay devoted to your faith are such solid examples of what a true woman is.  

I LOVE YOU! XO
#Happybirthday

Scarlet's 10 Month update

Scar is crawling everywhere!  I can't believe how much more mobile she has become over this past month.  She is also starting to pull herself up and stand which totally freaks me out - partly due to the fact that I occasionally still see her as a newborn baby and also because I'm scared that she'll fall over and slam her head on the floor.  Her balance is wobbly when she 'stands' so I stay very close.

She is officially a beach addict!  When we were in Kauai, I was worried that she might be afraid of both the sand and the water because every time we put her near either one she would hesitate and get really clingy.  It took a few days for her to touch the sand and feel it in between her fingers.  One day on the beach we met another little baby named Lou from Sweden.  Lou is one month older than Scar and was totally in the sand crawling around, eating eat, rubbing it in her eyes and loving it.  Scarlet saw this and completely changed her tune.  She got right in there and started to play with Lou too.  So adorable.  They spoke 'baby' to one another for a good part of the afternoon.

 

She is feeding herself with both hands.  Sometimes her right and sometimes her left.  She likes bread and puffs because they're light and small enough that she can easily stuff them in her mouth.  We do lot's of fruit and veggies everyday and her only sweet 'bad' thing that she has ever had was a lick of my Mom's pineapple popsicle.  My Mom was so happy to give it to her, I was happy that she was happy.

I'm still nursing four times a day.  Unfortunately, around month nine I lost my milk.  I dropped a lot of weight and my body just didn't have anything else to work with so I knew that Scarlet wasn't getting much.  I worked on putting on few healthy pounds which helped, but even so, I could literally feel her sucking right to the back of my boob and then getting frustrated because nothing was coming out.  She would then bite me trying to stimulate the milk and I just ended up in pain with a fussy hungry baby.  So, I tried Mother's Milk tea first for about two weeks.  It helped a little.  The downside is, I really hate tea, to me it just tastes like dirty water and the other downside was that you had to have two or three big mugs of it daily.  Scarlet started getting a little bit more but it wasn't enough for her.  So, I went on medication called Motillium.  Worked like  a charm!  It really has been a lifesaver for me.  I'm thrilled with the results.  No side effects for me or Scarly and we have gotten back to comfortable nursing with no biting, pain or frustration.  I hope to nurse her till she turns one (and can drink cows milk without issue).  Until then, I plan on staying with the Motillium.

Sleeping is a dream!  She is still out for the entire night with the door shut and monitor on.  It is such a blessing have a few hours to ourselves before we hit the hay.  Nate and I give each other back rubs and talk or watch movies.  On the weekends we sip wine too!!!  It's soooo nice!Scar goes down somewhere between 7:30 - 8:30 depending on the day and will sleep until 8:00 the following day.  It's just so nice to have a baby that does this because over the holiday we ran into a couple who STILL have issues with their baby doing regular night wakes ups. UGH! I myself turn into a cranky zombie if I don't get at least 7 hours so Scarlet's sleep habits have been a gift from heaven.  We are still working on weaning her from the bouncy ball and I anticipate that it will take some time just because she has had it since she was born, but I feel that this one 'vice' is small in comparison.  

I'm looking forward to planning and hosting her first birthday party!  The theme is going to be the Beach.  Haha!

Plane tips for Moms with infants

What could possibly be more terrifying than childbirth?  I'll tell you.  Bringing that same child onto a plane for the first time.  Here are a few tips to help you on that dreaded flight.

I feel that since Scarlet has now been on six plane rides I can speak about some of the challenges that parents face on a plane.

The first is: other passengers.  You are now known as 'That-Person-that-brings-a-baby-on-an-airplane'.  Yes, the woman may smile at you while you walk down that skinny ass aisle but inside they're saying "Really? I can't have just one flight without an infant screaming?  This is supposed to be my vacation!"  And the men - they don't even smile because they're too busy chanting "Not beside me, please God not beside me, not beside me, not beside me. Go to the back, go to the back, go to the back".  But irritable people is something that you have to just accept and let go of.  If you think about it, we were all babies once, and we all screamed our heads off either on or off of an airplane, so those people can just deal with it.  If they have had kids, they know and they can shrug it off.

Challenge two: babies, like adults, get bored on airplanes really quickly.  Think about it - you're staring at the back of a chair for five hours and unless you have a movie playing in front of you, a magazine, a book, a sudoku, you're going to get antsy fast.  So is a baby.  Bring toys.  Lot's and lot's of new shiny toys.  Not in the budget?  Hide certain toys four weeks prior to going on your trip and bring them out on the plane.  

Challenge number three: ear canals.  The first flight Scarlet was on was slightly mysterious in a good way.  She didn't cry at any point.  Not during take off, not during flight time and not during the landing.  I was actually slightly concerned that she may have an issue with her hearing because I was told so often that the pressure hurts the baby's ears so I just prepared for tears during all of these times.  What I realized was in her fourth or fifth flight (where I was told that I had to hold her in a burping position) was that she wasn't nursing and hence more suseptable to popping ears.  I guess WestJet is more laid back concerning whether baby is held or not during these times which I absolutely did until I was told NOT to by Air Canada.  Providing your baby with something that she can suck on or drink is crucial.  Holding her in your arms in the burping position without anything in her mouth is bad news bears.

Challenge four: sleeping.  If you have a red eye, your baby will hopefully sleep, that is if other passengers and/or the airline are willing to shift, move, provide you with an extra seat.  As some of you know, babies under one are free, but they don't get a seat of their own.  You are left holding her, which isn't so bad if you have your partner/husband with you.  I did two flights just holding Scarlet on my own without an extra seat.  Hard.  Very hard.  She didn't sleep in my arms after around six months unless she was uber tired so forget any sleep on that plane.  If you have a red-eye flight, and an extra seat it can be wonderful.  Our last flight from Kauai worked well because she drifted off in my arms and then I was able to put her down.  We were forced to hold her during turbulence which woke her up, but eventually we were able to get her back down when the seat-belt sign went off.




Challenge five: eating and drinking.  Those little squeeze packets and small puff bites are allowed.  So is 100 ml of water is allowed.  Everything else is not.  Found this out the hard way.




I found that I got excited when I saw other parents with children.  I was on a flight where we were literally the only family with a child, so I knew I couldn't hope to blame anyone else when Scarlet let out her wails - and listen up - at some point your child will wail.  Get ready for the glares.  But honestly, it isn't that bad.  The positives are that the noise of the plane can put them right out, or the stewardess may have a new treat or game for your little one.  The first flight might be your most intimidating, but after that it will feel like a breeze.  Hope this helps some of the new mommies out there.

#Planetipsformoms