Month: July 2016

A Redlocks Review: Nuby Snooize Pacifier

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Redlocks and Shamrocks LOVES the Nuby brand!

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Redlocks and Shamrocks LOVES the brand Nuby!   We use so many of their products on a daily basis, Logan won’t go anywhere without her Nuby Flex Straw Cup and Kohen loves his Nuby Teething Keys!  

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Logan and her Nuby Flex Straw Cup

Nuby has just came out with Kohen’s new favorite product the Snoozie Plush Pacifier Holder and All Silicone Natural Flex Pacifier!   This product is avaliable at Babies R Us and is coming soon to Amazon. 

The Doyle kids are breastfed babies so they aren’t given pacifiers until pretty late in the baby game, however Kohen LOVES this pacifier.   Not only does it help sooth him, he loves playing with the cute monkey!  The natural Flex pacifier simulates the natural flexing movement of a mother’s nipple and there are nubs on the collar to help with teething and tender gums.   The pacifier is of course BPA Free, but also has a gentle curving feature away from the babies face allowing for airflow to protect the baby’s delicate skin. 

 The plush character makes the pacifier easy for him to handle putting it in and out of his mouth while soothing him at the same time.  Its also offered in a little giraffe as well. 

And how cute is the monkey!–Don’t worry moms its attached by Velco, so you can take it off to clean and sterilize the pacifier with ease or wash the plush toy if you want to go crazy!

Overall Redlocks and Shamrocks approves the Nuby Snoozie Plush Pacifier Holder and All Silicone Natural Flex Pacifier and we are adding it to the list of Nuby products we already love!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks girl,

Lisa Doyle

 

Breastfeeding a Newborn with a Toddler in Tow: A Whole New Challenge.

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Toddler in Tow

Breastfeeding a Newborn with a Toddler in tow: A Whole New Challenge.

Breastfeeding isn’t easy, any mom can tell you that. However it’s an amazing bonding experience between your new bundle of joy and the mom that can be so relaxing and amazing.   Those “relaxing” breastfeeding sessions are over when you have a toddler that WON’T SIT STILL. I learned this very quickly when trying to nurse my newborn while my then 17 month old was climbing furniture and falling nearly cracking her head on our hard tile floor. If she wasn’t climbing furniture she was darting into another room after I got all “set up” to breastfeed.   Here are some tips I have to keep your older one entertained while trying to nurse.

  1. Give the toddler a job– burping buddy, burp cloth and water bottle retriever, or “mommy hand holder” are my favorite “jobs” for my daughter. Logan is always happy to help with things for Kohen so she loves getting his burp cloth.   She also likes to help burp her little brother by lightly tapping his back-or sometimes not so lightly, lol. Logan also is now trained to hand me any water bottle in sight at any given moment-sometimes helpful, sometimes not.   When those jobs have failed, I have asked Logie to be the “mommy hand holder” to keep me company while we sing songs.

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    “Kohen burped! Skuzzz me Kohen”–Logie

  2. Books, Books, Books!-keep a pile on hand! I have a bunch of books in different baskets, which are easy to grab and move to the couch to read while nursing. I will always read my daughter a few stories to keep her entertained while her little brother eats. Now she is trained to pick out books and bring them to the couch.    She even will pick up the book basket and bring over yelling, “look at me, I’m strong!”IMG_6179
  3. Flash cards to learn ABCs, numbers, or shapes!– My proud mommy moment is that Logan knows all of her letters and the ABC song before she is two years old! IMG_6178(You go Logie!) We practiced ABC flashcards a lot while nursing Kohen.  Stop by the dollar store and pick up a pack (or two because when you lose letters Q, F, and X in the couch its hard to complete all 26 letters). Or you can even make your own out index cards.
  4. Count! We practice counting baby’s tiny toes and fingers! We have counting 1-10 down pat!
  5. Master the breastfeed and WALK. Yep ever wonder how that 19 Kids and Counting lady does it? Carry the newborn attached to the boob around the house, it’s not easy but it can be done. Like I said, relaxing breastfeeding sessions are hard to come by!
  6. LAST resort- TV show or movie. I HATE this option because I don’t like my children watching TV, but sometimes it’s all you have.   If all else fails make sure you have your DVR stacked with short shows to bust out the good ole “sit here and zone out kid, so you don’t get into something you’re not supposed to” trick.   I did enjoy playing Logan the old classic Disney movies and we would watch them in 20 minute chunks taking us several days to finish.
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We spend a lot of time on this couch nursing!  To the side of this couch is a toy bin filled with Logan’s toys so she doesn’t have to stop her playing for me to nurse Kohen.

Those are the few tips I have.   Now when I need to feed Kohen I ask Logan if she wants to “help me feed the baby” and she jumps for joy!   She has also pushed Kohen’s screaming and crying face into my breast and said, “Hey! Eat your boobie!” Hahaha

What tricks do you have to keep your toddler entertained while nursing? Comment below with your tricks and tips!

Until Next time XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks girl,

Lisa Doyle

 

Easy and Quick Toddler Lunch- Sushi Sandwiches!

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Easy and Quick Toddler Lunch- Sushi Sandwiches! Wait…I mean “circle sandwiches”

Lunch Idea

So if your toddler is like mine, they become obsessed with one type of food and want only that.  Then all of a sudden, BAM, they hate it!   I don’t know what it is with their picky pallets that make them change their mind all the time but it drives me nuts!   Logan sometimes is a great eater, then the next week she is not.   I made these Sushi Sandwiches (renamed Circle Sandwiches by Logan) for lunch to sneak in some protein.   They literally took MAYBE FIVE MINUTES to whip up.   I even made them while my crying 5 month old was in my arms.   This is so easy to make you look like a supermom in disguise!  Steps are below!

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Logan holding up a Circle Sandwich

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All I did to whip these up were:

  1. Flatted out a slice of bread with a rolling pan and cut off crust

  2. Lay on a slice of cheese

  3. Lay on 2-3 slices of lunch meat

  4. Roll tight like a sushi master

  5. Slice into individual circles

BAM done!   You could add veggies or maybe mayo or mustard but I didn’t want to press my luck! Bite size sandwiches easy for those toddler fingers to pick up!

Comment below with your favorite quick and easy meal!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks girl,

Lisa Doyle

Teddy Bears Picnic First Birthday Party! Looking back on Logan’s First Birthday

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Teddy Bears Picnic First Birthday Party!

Looking back on Logan’s First Birthday

I cannot believe my little girl is going to be two years old soon!   That first year of parenthood is a serious challenge and the milestone of your baby hitting one years old is a great accomplishment.   Logan quickly earned the nickname “Logie Bears” so throwing her a Teddy Bear’s Picnic themed party seemed fitting.    This year for Logan’s second birthday we are doing a small party with family and I will be blogging about “a memorial birthday celebration on a budget.”   Stay tuned for that post!  In the meantime, here is our princess on her first birthday!

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Logan’s cute little outfit details:

Bow:  Etsy

Oneise:  Made by mom

Tutu: Etsy (After this event I figured out how to make them on my own for WAY cheaper)

Shoes:  Ross (Under 5 bucks!)

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First:  Party Picnic decor!

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I got these cute teddy bears from Oriental Trading for each of Logan’s little friends to “adopt.”

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I made these teddy bears from a store bought spheres (on clearance, because who wants brown!) and added construction paper.   These were so easy to throw together!

IMG_0677Monthly Pictures to display of Logie Bears IMG_0678IMG_0689IMG_0693IMG_0804IMG_0808

Next stop:  Party Picnic Food!

Now to the food for the party!  I love to make AND buy food, sometimes making food can save you money, but not piece of mind.   On the other hand, buying food can be REALLY expensive which is why I like to do both.

Store bought cupcakes from the local grocery store jazzed up by me saved major money!
I got these on http://www.orientaltrading.com for so cheap!
FREE smash cake, read detailes below for how I got this cake for free!
Sorry to all you fancy people who love to spend tons of money on fancy cupcakes, these were from the grocery store then jazzed up by me! I saved tons of money doing it this way!
Homemade PAWsta salad

Not pictured:  Sub sandwiches from Port of Subs.   It would have been more cost effective to make sandwiches myself, but for piece of mind I ordered a tray of sandwiches.

Cake SMASH time!

Some moms spend MAJOR money on smash cakes when the one year old barely gets any in their mouth!   I know some bakeries can charge around 50 dollars for one small cake!  That’s insane.   I spent a total of ZERO dollars on this cake.  YES NOTHING!   I talked to the bakery at my local grocery store and with buying two dozen cupcakes they threw in this small cake for free!  SCORE!

Thanks for reliving our baby girl’s first birthday party!   I can’t believe Logan will be two soon!

Until Next Time XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks girl,

Lisa Doyle