Laundry Day with Dropps

Hi friends!! I’ve recently discovered a brand that has CHANGED THE GAME when it comes to laundry and dishes and I felt like I would be doing y’all a disservice if I didn’t tell y’all about them!! We’ve been using Dropps in our laundry and dishwasher for about half a year now and they are the absolute BEST!!
{PS there will be a discount code at the end, so make sure you use it when you order!!}

There are tons of different reasons why we chose Dropps and why we’ve continued to use them!
Dropps formulas are made with natural ingredients, they’re never tested on animals, and the packaging is just plain old cardboard – no plastic containers!! I think my favorite part is how quick and easy it is to just toss the pods into the dishwasher and washing machine and not have to deal with any measuring or spills!!

If you’ve been around here for a while you know that Hayes started doing chores as soon as he could walk (check out my “chores” highlight on instagram for a good laugh), he LOVES helping out!! He’s started to do his own laundry and I’m pretty sure it’s his favorite day of the week now haha. He literally shouts over and over “IT’S LAUNDRY DAY!!!!”

Dropps literally has a pod designed for anything you could possibly need!
They have a newborn bundle, sensitive skin pods, pods for stain & odor removal, the list goes on!!
Make sure to use code MONICAK for 25% off your Dropps order.

I honestly don’t know how we lived without them for so long, this girl will NOT be going back to regular detergent.
Oh, and did I mention that Dropps is more affordable than other leading detergent brands?!
THEY ARE SO GOOD.

Holiday Gift Guide with Walmart

Hayes and I have teamed up with Walmart to share some of our favorite things with y’all!! Since Christmas is so close I figured I would share some gift ideas!! Walmart has ALL of our baby favs and must haves so I’ll be sure to link all of those + some fun gift ideas for babies of all ages!! I’m also doing a little gift guide for any girl in your life because Walmart is becoming my GO TO place for all things fashion & beauty accessories lately!!

New Parent Musts + Gifts for Baby

 

Gifts for Her

If you’ve been on the hunt for a fun and affordable gift for a baby or girlfriend in your life, hopefully this list was helpful!!
I am so in love with all of these items and would be THRILLED to receive any of them as a gift!

Walmart – Best of Baby Month

Y’all know I’m ALL about savings and y’all also know I’m a big fan of Walmart!! I love the fact that they always have the best prices and ALWAYS seem to have exactly what I need, especially when it comes to things for Hayes!
Well, good news friends!! They are currently having Best of Baby Month, which means SO many amazing items are marked down right now.
This month they’re offering 30 days of online savings on top brands and more!!
They have tons and tons of absolute MUSTS for first time mamas or even mamas who are about to have their 2nd or 3rd baby. They’re also offering savings on items for moms like me who’s baby is… not so much a baby anymore *cue tears*.
I went ahead and made a list of all of my favorite items but you can shop everything HERE.

We’ve actually been on the hunt for some new bath toys for Hayes and they had THE coolest set available for Walmart Baby Month!! I’m not kidding guys..Hayes literally played with these in the tub for almost two hours.

Keep reading to see a list of my favorites! We own so many of these products and couldn’t imagine life without them. Others I linked because I would LOVE to have them when baby #2 comes around, or heck even now!

All of these have amazing ratings, a lot of them we own or would love to own!!

SOSO many cute clothing items for both boys & girls too!!

Walmart Baby Month ends in just 10 days!! Let me know what you end up getting!!

Weaning – My Experience


Let me start this by saying…
Never, I mean NEVER in my wildest dreams did I think I would be nursing my baby past 1 year.
I knew I wanted to breastfeed and I knew it would have its ups and downs.
My goal was to breastfeed for 1 year, I really never thought about weaning, I kind of just naively thought he would just want to stop once he turned one. (so ridiculous of me, I know) I had also heard so many stories from friends saying their babies just weaned themselves so part of me was also waiting for that…but every single time I thought he was close to weaning himself he’d start wanting to nurse all day every day and it was
E X H A U S T I N G.

I never imagined myself having a 17 month old who would throw an absolute fit if I didn’t give him the boob wherever and whenever he wanted it. It was HARD and I would get embarrassed. I didn’t mind nursing him at home, I actually loved and cherished our morning and bedtime nursing sessions SO much, it was one of the few times he was actually still and I could just look at him & soak him in. The morning and bedtime nursing sessions were my favorite & the ones I miss the most.

I don’t remember how old Hayes was when I really knew that I was ready to wean…The truth is I was never emotionally ready.
I was physically ready for sure. But the thought of it being “the last time” and the thought of my baby not needing me in that way really did devastate me and keep me holding on for a little too long. I remember seeing an instagram post of a mama videoing her last nursing session with her baby girl, she was sobbing and just kept telling her daughter that this was the last time and she’s going to be a big girl now. It hit SO close to home and I sobbed for days and days knowing that our time was coming soon.

I knew if I didn’t set a specific date to stop nursing Hayes that it just wasn’t going to happen and I was going to keep pushing it off…and then my friend Allison texted me letting me know she was offering “The Last Latch” photos on Friday July 26th.
So I decided that Friday would be our last day. I had a few days to mentally prepare myself and also stock up on snacks and new toys to keep Hayes occupied. I’ll talk more about that with y’all in a little bit!

I remember waking up Friday morning knowing it was going to be a day of lasts for us.
I picked Hayes up out of his crib and he would usually always sign for milk and tug on my shirt….
but he didn’t.
It was such a bittersweet moment, I didn’t nurse him that morning and that was really really hard for me but I was also super proud of him and it re assured me that he was ready.
Our photoshoot was around noon, and I really didn’t know what to expect.
I remember getting my hair & makeup done by my insanely talented friend, Bridgette, and talking to her about what was about to happen and how I felt about it all.
I didn’t know if I would feel comfortable nursing him with a camera in my face, or if I would feel weird and out of my element. I had no earthly idea what to expect but I’m happy to say it was SO incredibly special. I barely knew Allison was there and I just held my baby while he nursed and I cried. Cried because I was SO DANG proud of myself. Cried because I was so sad that such a special thing was coming to an end. Cried because I let other people opinions affect me for so long. Cried because I was so excited to have my body back. There were lots of reasons behind those tears but I remember just feeling an overwhelming amount of gratitude. Just so thankful for Hayes and his health and for the opportunity to be his mama.

I didn’t want that to be our last nursing session because I wanted it to be just him and I.
I wanted it to be at home in our usual spot, so I decided bedtime would be the last time.
I had a lot of anxiety before putting him to bed that night, I remember setting up my phone on Hayes’s book shelf and clicking record. The room was pitch black so I had no idea if it was even recording anything, I just knew I never wanted to forget that moment. I rocked him and nursed him and cried and cried because I knew that really was the last time.
We had gotten to the point where he didn’t nurse long, 15 minutes t0ps…so I made sure to cherish those 15 minutes.
Then I laid him down and walked out and cried on Kyle.
I did it.

The following days were shockingly easy. I don’t know if I was just insanely lucky or what. But I do have some tips & tricks for those of you wanting to wean soon! The #1 rule is to NEVER say “NO” when they ask to nurse. This is HUGE. It will only make them upset & feel confused and like they’re in trouble. I know Hayes pretty well and I would try and get a snack or a distraction before he would even ask to nurse. BUT if he did ask or tug on my shirt I would say something along the lines of “Hey do you want to go get a popsicle?!” in a really excited voice lol and that would usually do the trick. Hayes had A LOT of popsicles those following weeks. Also, be prepared to work a lot harder on keeping your baby busy and happy. I had no down time whatsoever and would constantly make sure he was happy and busy and entertained so I wouldn’t have to deal with seeing him sad about not getting the boob. I knew I couldn’t emotionally handle him being devastated about it so I did everything I could to distract him.

I was really worried about nap and bedtime because I have ALWAYs nursed him before those.
The first night after weaning I sat him on my lap and he was laying on my chest and he just let me rub his back and rock him, he has never done this so I was in complete shock. And then I kind of replaced nursing with rubbing his back.
That lasted for about a week or two. He would just lay down and want me to rub his back and be perfectly happy with it.
He quickly got over that and started throwing fits for naps and bedtime which was hard, I wanted SO badly to rock him or cuddle him or do ANYTHING for him but he would just fight and fight because he didn’t want to go to bed.
We’re at a point now where for naps we get his blankies and bear and I just lay him down and he typically goes down pretty quickly (depends on the day, some days we try and try & he doesn’t nap at all)
Night time has been good lately, We do bath, pajamas, books, brush teeth then lay down!
Hayes has never been super consistent with sleep so some weeks are good & some are really hard.
Just remember that it’s a big change for them too so if it doesn’t go smoothly at first, that’s normal!

Whenever Hayes would ask and distractions or snacks wouldn’t work I would just say “I’m so sorry Hayes, it’s gone gone, you drank it all baby, there’s no more” and just repeat that or things similar to that and hold him and love on him!

A lot of you asked if I replaced nursing with a bottle or anything and I tried! Hayes has never LOVED milk, he’ll only drink almond milk if anything, and he really doesn’t even love that. He’s gone weeks without drinking milk and his Dr said that’s perfectly fine as long as he’s getting other forms of dairy!! 

A lot of you also asked how my hormones and boobs were after weaning. I was SO lucky and they never got super full or engorged and I never experienced crazy hormones. I think it helped a lot that I had slowly weaned Hayes to just morning and night. Towards the end I was definitely nursing him more than morning and night BUT we had mostly weaned down to just twice a day. I think a lot of people experience the crazy hormones and engorgement when they have to stop abruptly. But you just never know!

We’ve officially reached the other side and he no longer asks and if he happens to see my boobs he just giggles or says “milk” but it ends there! haha I’m happy to say that he DOES still need me and our relationship is better than ever!

For all you mamas who are weaning soon, YOU’VE GOT THIS. Your baby will still need you, I promise!!
There are sososo many more amazing and special memories ahead and be you should be SO damn proud of yourself!

Hair & makeup : BespokenBeauty
Photography: LentillePhotography

Walmart Baby Registry – Must Have Items

Y’all, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Walmart is majorly stepping up their game in every area!
I keep finding the cutest clothes for both me and Hayes (try on happening soon)!!
AND I swear they always have exactly what we need when it comes to baby items.
They’ve recently introduced a new personalized baby registry experience and y’all, I am SO impressed!!
My favorite thing about Walmart is that they’ve been able to provide SO much for us through every single phase of Hayes’s life.
Their toy selection has been a life saver for us lately!!
Linking so many of our favorites from birth to 18 months!