Things We Love: Patemm Pads

I really don't understand why most diaper bags come with these tiny, rectangular changing pads...  they're useless.  A friend of mine introduced me to patemm pads and it was love at first sight!  One of the best items I've purchased since having a baby.  These pads are round and BIG!  My son just turned one year old and I can still comfortably use my pad to change his diaper, I love it!

Organizing: Kids Schedules and Paperwork

 I recently found this idea on pinterest, unfortunately the source was not available.   What a great idea to organize the kids' schedules, papers, artwork, etc!

Things We Love: Monthly Onesies

These would make a great baby shower gift!

You can find them here.

Things We Love: Inchbug Orbit Labels

So it's time your little one goes to daycare.  If this is your first child, you might not know (I didn't) that it is a good idea to label his/her belongings.  And this is a really cute way to do it:  Inchbug's customized orbit labels.  They are dishwasher safe and can be removed and reattached anytime - brilliant!

Things We Love: Armommy Labels

We recently discovered Armommy and we LOVE their products - made with mom and kids in mind.  Their labels are just adorable and exactly what you need to make sure your little one doesn't loose any items at daycare, school or camp.

These are a few of our favorites:

Books We Love: Down Came The Rain

Brooke Shields - Down Came the Rain, My Journey Through Postpartum Depression.

I would like to use this post to say "Thank you, VERY, VERY MUCH!" to Brooke Shields for writing this beautiful book.   I luckily did not suffer from Postpartum Depression, but I did have a bit of the "baby blues" soon after my son was born.  And even though that is not remotely close to what women with postpartum depression go through, it is nevertheless scary.  Very scary.  And it is really hard to talk to people, even close friends, about the conflicting emotions and thoughts going through one's head.  And wondering if you're a bad mother for not feeling uniquely, exuberantly joyful being a new mom - it's maddening.  And it's lonely.  Brooke's story helped me put things into perspective, made me feel I wasn't alone (or weird or a bad mother) and made me ask for help.  Made me speak up.   I talked to my husband and I talked to my doctor.  That alone made things better.  I was not diagnosed with postpartum depression and shortly after my doctor's visit things started looking up and I started feeling enormously happy being a new mom and greatly enjoyed my baby.

I do feel that reading Brooke's book helped a lot - I loved how she candidly and honestly told her story - nothing held back.  It made me want to give her a hug, honestly.  First for being a strong woman and coming out victoriously from her postpartum depression journey.  And second, for writing her story - it was incredibly helpful, a true gift to me.  It helped me and I'm sure it's helping a lot of other women.  So again, THANK YOU BROOKE!

Books We Love: MomEnergy

Motherhood certainly brings huge change to your life.  And as incredibly joyful as it is, it is also incredibly exhausting.  We recently found this amazing book:  Mom Energy,  by dietitian Ashley Koff and celebrity fitness trainer Kathy Kaehler.  It starts off with a quick quiz to determine your energy profile (or lack of it) and provides specific plans for each profile.  Learn to identify your energy drainers and take action steps to reorganize and recharge your life!

What we loved about it:  it's all about balance, no drastic changes;  just great, common sense. 

For more on great nutrition for an energized life, you can read Ashley Koff's blog here.