(My Dress (more Bella Dahl favorites) | Sandals ( more Steven Greece Slide colors) | Harper’s Dress (she’s wearing a 4/5) | Harper’s Shoes)

I completely dropped the ball on last month’s pregnancy/motherhood update…. and I feel as if February just flew by. So here we are, on the first of March, and I’m kicking it off with a few updates on parenthood life…. transitioning to a toddler bed, prepping little miss on becoming a big sister…. and everything in between….

And of course, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! See you Monday.

Also, an exciting little note before I go proceed, the Shopbop sale has been extended until 3/4 (until 4amET) in case you’re still looking to stock up on some springtime essentials! 

GENERAL THOUGHTS/FEELINGS:

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the fact that we only have seven more weeks to go until we welcome our second little girl into the world made me slightly anxious. Not in the same way I was anxious for Harper’s arrival, but more or less because we still have so much to do…..

I’ve had a few moments where I sit and wonder how having a second kiddo is going to impact all of us…. Harper, our marriage, our poor Labradoodle Captain (he just keeps moving down the totem pole)… and while I know it will be a big transition, I’m not nearly as nervous as before, and more excited to see Harper become a big sister. And while thinking about it not being “just the three of us” anymore tugs at my heart a little, I know that becoming a family of four is such a beautiful blessing, and am more excited, than sad, for those changes.

All that being said, the thought of balancing two conjures up thoughts of chaos, but I know that we will find our way, just like we did the first time around. It will take a lot of trial + error, but we’ll get there eventually….. right??

TRANSITIONING TO A BED

Ok so I mentioned this in January, but we loosely thought we had Harper transitioned into a toddler bed. I was skeptical, and for the right reasons…. she was sick when she initially asked to sleep in a “big girl bed” + we were still living with my parents. I had an odd hunch that once she was feeling better, she would want her crib back…. and that’s just what happened. And since we were at my parent’s we didn’t argue about it, knowing that we’d have another big transition in less than a week (moving into our place).

So…. after about a month in our house, Harper just decided that she was done with her crib and asked for her “big girl bed” (we had shown her the mattress + bed we had for her, but hadn’t set it up yet….). We decided to roll with it, and got out her bed, mattress, sheets, + comforter. That night was a rough one…. she fell asleep initially, but around midnight she wanted nothing to do with the bed. Classic. I shared this journey over on instagram and had a lot of questions as to how we’ve made the transition, so I thought I’d share about it a little more here…. yet there really isn’t a right or wrong way to do it… this is just the method that worked for us, and so we stuck with it.

As a couple, TJ and I had already decided that “our bed” is “our bed” + that Harper needed to stay in her room (I make zero judgements if your home is different). Having established that, we knew we would be in for a few long nights. That first evening we basically walked her back to her room, tucked her in, reminded her that this was her bed and that she needed to stay in it at night, and then went back to our room…. this back and forth lasted for three hours. There were moments of frustration, but finally around 3am she stayed in her bed and slept soundly for the rest of the night. The next day I created a “rewards chart” and TJ + I reviewed the “big girl bed” rules with her. We basically told her that when she goes to sleep she has to stay in her bed (unless she has to go to the bathroom, etc) + if she does that then she gets a sticker the next morning…. and if she does it for the entire week she gets to pick her “reward” (i.e. a donut from her favorite little spot) that we will get on Friday. We reminded her about this before each nap + bedtime…..

That first nap was very difficult. She went down easily, but popped up 5 minutes later ready to play. We did the same thing we had done the previous evening and walked her back to bed + tucked her in…. it wasn’t working. Finally I told her she could have quiet time in her room, but she wasn’t having that. She was so exhausted from the night before, that we had a major meltdown. I just sat in her rocking chair (she didn’t want to be consoled) and she eventually sat herself down in her tiny chair and fell asleep. After the first night + nap time fiasco, she seemed to catch on and each evening got progressively better…. and each morning we rewarded her with a sticker, which she was so excited about. We made a big deal each morning, telling her what a great job she did, and really wanted to make her feel proud. By the end of the week, she had gotten the hang of staying in bed all night, calling for us if she needed something, and then going back to bed. We’ve kept the reinforcement system in place, but are beginning to phase it out slowly, as she doesn’t seem to need the external motivation anymore.

The rewards chart was very simple, something I had great practice creating when I worked with families. I basically had a sheet of paper (seriously, so simple), with a large rectangle. On the left side of the box I had the “day” row and on the top of the box I had “night” + “nap” columns. I took her to Target to pick out stickers that were only used for this chart (makes them extra special that way), and every morning/afternoon she was able to choose her sticker and put it in the box. I will try to create a printable for everyone.

We also didn’t make any modifications to her evening routine. It stayed the same, with the only change being that she was in her “big girl bed.” We also bought The Hatch Night Light + Time To Rise Clock, but ended up not needing to use it, since she ended up sleeping until her normal wake-up time. A friend recommended it to me, and a lot of other people referenced it over on instagram, so I do highly recommend that option if your kiddo is waking up too early. If you’re in the throws of this transition, just remember that it gets better, like all kiddo transitions. It’s rough the first few nights, but they’ll get the hang of it!! You got this!

PREPARING HARPER

These last few weeks we have started talking to Harper much more frequently about being a big sister, showing her the most recent ultrasound photos, reading her books (mainly this book), and talking to her about what her sister will need and ways that she can help if she wants. Harper asks daily if her sister can “come out today, because I want to see her….” and so we hope that excitement will continue once she actually does arrive. My biggest fear is that Harper will feel misplaced in someway, and so my hope is that by engaging her now, and talking with her about being a big sister, she will be excited + will have a small understanding when things do change.

PREGNANCY LIFE

Like any mom pregnant for the second (or third or fourth….) time, there isn’t really much time to think about actually being pregnant. Between having an active toddler, home renovation, work, and life the fact that I’m well into the third trimester just snuck up on me.

I’m experiencing all the usual things…. a sore back (mine is more upper), general feeling of being tired, having to pee frequently, and an increased appetite. Getting out of bed is always an interesting challenge, and I feel slightly like I’m a turtle stuck on my back. Sleeping is becoming uncomfortable, especially with little lady up partying all night long…. I also like to say I’m like an accordion at this point… everything just kind of sits on top of each other… boobs on belly, belly on thighs, and butt cheeks on hamstrings…. All joking aside, I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to continue to workout, it helps me maintain sanity at this point… and have slowed my runs to a combo jog/walk, and continue to enjoy spin classes at my own pace, and light weight training.

And while I list all the pregnancy challenges, it’s also an incredible blessing to be able to grow a child…. to feel the kicks from the inside, and to have the anticipation build for her arrival. TJ + I always chat about what we think she will be like… and wonder if we will have another little tornado on our hands…

A few products that are getting me through the third trimester so far include these black maternity jeans (amazing selection of maternity bottoms here, all included in sale), this thermal henley, oversized pullover, slip on mules (because bending over results in a slight loss of oxygen), moisturizing mask (my skin has been so dry this pregnancy), pregnancy pillow, and this tank top (love working out and lounging in it, I sized up to a M).

KIDDO INTERIORS

While I don’t have either Harper’s room or the nursery fully completed yet, I have made some headway with designing it out in my head….

For Harper’s room, I ended up purchasing these book/toy shelves and think they’re a much more practical, and space friendly option that the bulky bookcase that’s in her room at the moment. I do have this rug in her room right now, and I love the light + feminine details it adds…. I’m looking to move her current dresser/changing table into the nursery, so I currently have this dresser in my cart for her room. A few accessories include this mirror for the wall + a few baskets to organize (i.e. throw in every toy she owns….) her toys.

For the nursery, I have this white rug to be layered over this jute rug…. rattan side table…. this glider (from when we had Harper), crib (another Harper hand me down…), and that’s all for right now! I think you know what I’ll be working on this weekend!