Elba's 7 Month Update

7 Months Old

There is something so painful about saying I have a 7 month old. I think it is because we have surpassed that half a year old mark and we are just speeding towards her first birthday. I can't believe how long pregnancy dragged on in comparison to watching her grow out of the womb. Even though it makes me sad to say she is getting older I am loving it. I am loving this age. Despite the teething and the new mini tantrums she is still so attached to me and dependent on me and I love that. Some days it is hard when I want a second to just shower alone, but every second I am not with her she is growing! I am just appreciating the fact that I get to be with her all day and take in every moment with her. Some moms do not have that luxury and I never want to take that for granted. I am so lucky and truly blessed to be able to raise a child and even more lucky to raise the one I have brought into this world. Every day comes with a new learning curve for myself and my girl, but we overcome them together and we grow together and learn from each other. Watching her experience life everyday is what it is all about.

Momma's Favorite Things

Her kicking and screaming with excitement when we go outside

She cracks up when she see's our dog, Oak

Her open mouth kisses

When she attacks mine and Zack's face with her hands and mouth

When she hears Zack on the phone and her face lights up

FaceTiming daddy and getting excited

When I say "Elba, look at mama" and she looks at me with a smirk

I love her new found love for the beach and the pool

Even though my back breaks I love that she always wants to have her feet on the ground

She still loves our morning walks together with the dog

When I run or walk fast she pulls me closer and grips my shirt tighter

Her smile

She giggles really hard and it sounds like a scream when I chew on her lil arms and legs

I love that she recognizes family and gets excited to see them

I love when she reaches when she knows when she wants Zack or myself

I love her puffy eyes when she wakes up 

I love when she wakes up in a good mood she gets all giggly and chatty

She holds one foot when she is sitting in the ergo

She has this new dramatic grunt cry that cracks me up

I love that she wants to sit with me while I put makeup on

She's definitely a mama's girl

Elba's Quirks

I let her choose a talking puppy toy from Target and she is OBSESSED and cracks up when it starts talking to her

The only song that calms her down all month was Sia's Elastic Heart

She loves being outside, will start whining if I walk inside and she wants to be out

She is starting to love solids, but only if I make it...weirdo

She is loving the sweet potato I make and roasted carrots

The only fruit she likes is blueberries (besides any citrus)

She only wants to shower in her bumbo seat now...goodbye baby bath

Anything that isn't a toy...is her favorite toy

Loves to chew on my leather diaper bag, the ergo, water bottles, the remote, phones, and bottles of lotion or sunscreen

Will wear bows and anything on her head just fine, just NO hats

Loves to have a tickle rub on her back and hair, she gets goose bumps and dazes off, like-mother-like-daughter

Loves the beach and anything with water like the pool or shower 

Tries to take everything out of my hand, including food

I have to be careful of paper or paper tags on things because she constantly tries shoving it in her mouth

Hates the bottle (shoot me)

Using me as a human pacifier as she has boycotted all pacifiers for over a month now

Teething like a crazy person

Has 4 bottoms teeth working on breaking through the gums, any day now...

Started this new thing where she sticks out her tongue like a lizard multiple times randomly throughout the day

Started teething on her bottom lip so it's all chapped and I am constantly applying chapstick to it

HATES diaper changes because she just wants to flip over and crawl away

HATES lying on her back because she just wants to stand or sit

Doesn't like being set down very often because she is feeling needy with all of her teething

Always picking plants and flowers

High-pitched screams when she is excited

Really testing how loud she can scream and laugh in public, cracks us up!

How well she sleeps has been varying, just waiting on those lil' teeth to break through and give her some relief

Loves having her picture taken

Loves watching videos of herself, she thinks she is the greatest thing ever haha

Gets super excited when Zack gets home from work

Starting to SHARE! YAY!

I think she may be slimming out a bit because she is so active. She is still chunky, but I definitely feel like she is losing some of it with all of her movement!

She loves other babies and kids

She cracks up when we whisper in her ear

Cries or whines when I pick her up when she is walking around with assistance

Size (Diapers, Onesies, Etc.): Diapers size 3; Onesies 6-9 months; Shirts 6-12 months; Leggings 6-12 months & some 3 month ones; 3-6 month, 6 month and 9 month jammies! Some 18 month clothes here and there!

Eyes: Olive green & gray/ hazel; They have a cooler undertone to them, we will see if they start warming up if they begin changing brown, but they might stay hazel like mine...

Hair: So much thicker, starting to get curly and wavy like Zack's too, which I think is just so precious! Love lil' curls on baby girls!

Sleeping: Teething has kinda thrown us for a curve, but we are doing what we can and working with it....it is all temporary! 

Eating: Loves the purees that I make her. I have only made her a sweet potato one and a roasted carrots one, she likes them separate or combined. Sometimes I throw in a little baby oatmeal in it to thicken it up. She still prefers breastfeeding and has begun to hate all bottles. I am planning on starting her on some different greens and other types of solids. Gonna makes some new ones this week/weekend for her to try!

Milestones: 

• Crawling, not too well...but it isn't an army crawl anymore. She uses one side better than the other
• Rolls like crazy
• Stands up on her own when holding on to something
• Copying/mimicking
• Showing lots of affection 
• We have been teaching her how to share all month and she has caught on! It is so freaking precious. If I say "Mommy's turn" she will give me whatever she has in her hand or whatever she has in her mouth. I LOVE IT. I Love babies that know how to share.
• Sitting
• Walking around all over the place when holding her hands

XO Sydney 

Elba's 6 Month Update

6 Months Old



I am going to just continue to say how much I enjoy every new month since Elba has become our third wheel. She is so much more giggly this month and excited. She is interactive and aware. She cuddles and also pushes away. When she wants something, we are going to hear about it, when she doesn't want something...she lets us know. She is becoming her own person every single day. She is incredibly aggressive and tough, if she bumps her head Zack and I are always cringing waiting for the meltdown but it never happens...she hardly every cries if she bumps her head or hurts herself, she is so tough! She will however cry if she is not being held by either Zack or myself if she is having a rough teething day. She will cry because her teeth that have been coming in since she was 3 months old have yet to break through. Teething has NOT been our favorite! I have loved the face grabbing and the affection though. She is so much  more aware of us and we grow more important to her each day. It is endearing when she reaches for us, when her cry changes to a giggle, when she makes her high pitched squeaks/shouts, and when she just wants to cuddle. I am loving this age. Not to say that it doesn't come with its battles, but aside from the craziness this has really been such a rewarding age. I never knew how much I could love someone else. It is a different kind of love & it is amazing!

Mama's Favorite Things

Watching her experience new things

Her little gasps when the wind blows

How she grabs my face and kisses me

When she attacks my face and giggles

When she grabs my hair and screams with excitement

When she hears Zack on the phone and reaches for the phone

I love when we are FaceTiming with Zack and she gets super excited

Watching her experience new foods

I love when she kicks, reaches, and giggles when she watches me put on the ergo

I love her high pitched squeaks

When she laughs at Zack and I

How she could be content all day if she was just outside

I love how she attacks my hands to teeth like a little monster

I love her smiles

Everything

Every month is more rewarding

Every single day is more exciting

I love everything about this girl

Elba's Quirks

Scratches

Growls...full on monster growls

Grabs faces for kisses

Grabs faces for attacking 

Always wants to be outside

Does not like being set down too much recently

Loves to be scared (she's dark)

Loves when we hide and pop out at her

Loves when we blow on her belly or neck

Attacks our limbs for teething purposes

Makes high pitched squeaking noises

Makes gasping noises when she is excited

Makes gasping noises to be funny and then continues to do it if we copy her

Loves the ergo carrier, she would prefer to be carried in it all day

Starting to get upset if we take something from her that she wanted

All sorts of aggressive

Throws things

Wants everything- reaches, grabs and steals

Super giggly- when she wants to be

Doesn't like when I have a towel on my head--scares her but cracks me up

Loves gnawing on leather, she has petrified one of her FP moccasins from sucking on it to death. She keeps trying to get her hands on my Lily Jade Diaper bag...not gonna happen!

Has decided she doesn't like to bottle feed anymore. KILLING ME. We are getting her back into it though!

Loves watching videos of herself...Elba loves Elba.

Loving sitting up on her own

Wants everything in her mouth

Loves looking around on our walks

She will kick, fling her arms around, and smiles when she sees the ergo carrier come out, she knows we are going for a walk outside! Her favorite.

Likes pulling leaves off of trees and bushes

When she doesn't want to be in the car seat she starts scratching and doing sit ups as if she is going to claw her way out

Starting to learn how to manipulate, we will be changing that haha

Loves FaceTiming with Daddy, makes her smile immediately

When she hears Daddy on the phone she tries grabbing the phone from me

Size (Diapers, Onesies, Etc.): Diapers size 3; Onesies 6-9 months; Shirts 6-12 months; Leggings 6-12 months & some 3 month ones; 3-6 month, 6 month and 9 month jammies!

Eyes: Olive green & gray/ hazel

Hair: Her hair is getting much longer! Especially on top and in the back! Her new hair is coming in much thicker too! It has lightened up so much since she was born. When she was born it was pitch black and now it is the same color as Zack's and mine.

Sleeping: Getting better. When she started teething she back tracked completely on our great sleep schedule. But things are looking up again, slowly but surely!

Eating: She isn't too into purees. She loves eating whatever I am eating off of my finger. She doesn't like avocado unless it is on my finger. I made sweet potato in my Vitamix and she seems to like that much better than bananas. She loves blueberry things. She loves experimenting with foods, but no purees that she continues to open her mouth for in excitement. We are getting there though. This past week has shown more promise!

Milestones: 

• Army crawling/ kinda crawling
• Getting up on all 4's to crawl
• Rolls like crazy
• Experimenting with solids every day
• Laughing
• Copying/mimicking
• Sitting up on her own
• Walking around like a crazy when I hold her hands
• Standing on her own if she is holding on to the couch or something else for a few moments
• Dropped the swaddle cold turkey around 5 months when she kept working her way out

XO Sydney

Hello Friends

Hello friends and awesome blog readers, I just wanted to take a moment to write a quick post for you guys. I have recently received a lot of emails with requests for certain kinds of posts. While I love posting about daily life, my baby girl, my family, beauty and all of that fun stuff I also love posting things that you are all really interested in seeing more of. Obviously I am not gonna start posting about things that do not interest me, but the fun part about having a blog is interacting with you all and building relationships with everyone. I have had so much fun connecting with other moms and moms-to-be that I also want you guys to introduce yourselves to one another. So here is what I want to do:

1. I have so many mommy followers that I thought it could be fun to come up with our own hashtag for instagram, that way we can all stalk each other and connect with one another. Let's start tagging #zdotsmoms. Take pictures of your littles, yourself, your daily routine, whatever it may be and tag the picture (remember I can only see it if your profile is public)! That way we can all connect with one another!

2. I want to HEAR from you. I have been LOVING the emails I have been getting. I am getting emails asking for advice, emails just to chat, and emails from moms sharing a bit about themselves with me. I love it! Have at it! I enjoy hearing from you. 

3. I want your requests. What do you want to see more of? Makeup, hair, fashion, every day life, videos, fitness, health, baby products, anything, you name it! I have gotten tons of requests recently for many of the above listed ideas so if you haven't let me know yet, I would love to hear from you!

4. Since starting my blog it has grown considerably and I often get questions through email from people who have been following along forever, but have yet to subscribe. I can't reach out to you lovely followers if I can't find ya! So do me a favor and if you have been following for a while or are a new follower! Subscribe! 

5. I have tons of posts planned guys. Things have been hectic but are slowly settling down. I have a whole list for you!

Talk to me in the comments below or even through instagram!

Instagram: Find me here!

XO Sydney

You! Lingerie Giveaway

You! Lingerie Giveaway

[CLOSED]

Another giveaway! This will be my second giveaway with You! Lingerie. The first one was so fun and everyone really seemed to love it, so why not have another go at it? 

Check out the shop!

You! Lingerie

If you are a nursing mommy or pregnant, check out You! Lingerie, go see what catches your eye! They have a gorgeous selection of yummy colored bras...from candy colored lace to pastel pretties! They also have the coziest nursing tanks for moms (like in the first picture above). The one I am wearing is called the Sydney Tank! You can find that exact one here! 

I am also wearing the Anastasia Maternity & Nursing Bra! Nice thing about these bras? They have a huge selection of sizes. Mommas know about jumping a few hundred cup sizes! Plus, they're pretty gorgeous, right? 

All bras, tanks and chemises have the signature pink bow!

Winner will receive a $60 gift card to pick out any products from their website.

How to Enter:

[+] Follow both Instagram accounts @sydneysedillo and @You_Lingerie

[+] Follow my blog

 (right hand side of my blog---enter your email or follow along with Google+, Blogger, or Bloglovin')

[+] Tag your favorite mommas or mommas-to-be who would also love to win!

Want to increase your chances?

[+] Repost image on my instagram for an extra entry and tag #SydneyYLgiveaway or comment on my blog at the bottom of this post saying why you would love to win!

Good luck you lovely ladies!

Giveaway will end Tuesday night!!!

WINNER

@happygirl_alli

Check out the shop!

You! Lingerie

XO Sydney 

**I was sent all products free of charge, thank you for supporting the businesses that support our little fam**

25 Weeks Pregnant Picture

25 Weeks Pregnant Update 

Yes, here we go, the most unflattering angle ever. BAM. There is it for ya. Thanks Zack, appreciate it. Even worse...I decided that the best time to take this picture was SECONDS after lunch. So I don't know how much baby bump we are seeing as much as we are seeing my full stomach far above my belly button because that's where my growing uterus has smashed it. Is this an accurate picture? No probably not, but every day with this bump is different. Some days it is like where is it? Other days its like I cannot believe I have to get bigger than this, some days I am bloated and other days all you see is this weird little egg shaped belly...so pregnancy is weird and I am just accepting that these pictures are going to slowly become more unflattering and maybe next time Zack won't be standing at the bottom of the steps facing the camera upwards, what pregnant girl wants to see herself like that!?!?! Haha, so here we go! Week 25 wrapped up!

How far along: I am 25 weeks and 6 days pregnant in the picture, tomorrow I will be 26 weeks! I have been really bad about taking pictures earlier in the week again. I need to fix that.

Symptoms: Peeing all of the time; Belly button pain (sharp pains) like she is pulling on it or kicking it...I did have an umbilical hernia when I was a baby so maybe that is part of the reason? All I know is that it kills; Headaches if I do not eat first thing in the morning, kind of feels like a hang over; Nail growth is insane, I just had to cut mine and they looked like they were acrylics; Boobs have been hurting and feeling hard in places, I assume this is due to the fact that I am leaking and it must just be build up of some sort (yumm). 

Cravings: I have been craving candy a lot more this week and gave in twice, I will not be doing that again though and I make sure it is candy with a very low amount of sugar! Other than that, no cravings at all...its actually kind of a pain finding food I do want to eat. Fruit is always good and I am still really enjoying eating fruit all the time. 

Aversions: Nothing really, I am not too into food lately.

Wedding rings: On

Sleep: Wow, I do not sleep. I pee all night. I do not even know how I have to pee this much either because I am pretty sure I do not drink enough water to be equivalent to the amount I pee at night. I took a nap this week, something I never give into...but then I realized, these are the last few months where I will be able to nap whenever the hell I feel like it...so I napped and it felt amazing. 

Excited for: Meeting this baby of ours. I am getting so anxious. I keep having dreams about her and I had a dream the other night of what she would look like and now I just want her here. I cannot wait to snuggle her all winter long. 

Missing: Back to missing my old workouts. Adapting to my body changing as well and realizing I am going to be able to work out as much as I want once this baby love of ours is born. I am missing normal sleep...I am missing not peeing all the time and I am missing normal clothes! I love her so much that all of this is irrelevant in the long run and it is going to be so rewarding once we have her here with us. 

Movement:  ALL THE TIME. I will spoon Zack as we fall asleep and he feels her kicking his back...he says, "I can feel her kicking me" and I say, "yeah, imagine how I feel!" This girl is strong! She gets really aggressive when I am hungry. I have not been doing to well on eating small meals throughout the day because of all the hopping around we do. When I do eat she does this wave like motion movement like she is satisfied. It is really funny! She just kicks and hits all day long and I love knowing I have a little buddy with me at all times....even when she kicks my bladder.

Dr. update: I have my glucose test coming up so that will be the next Dr. update. 

Exercise: Still working out every day, this week has been a little less because I have been having some intense abdominal/belly button pain, but I am sticking with it and walk Oak around all the time or workout on the eliptical. I just cannot wait until I can get back to hard workouts. I love a good sweat! When I finally get to I will just have a little person hanging out with me!

Stretch marks: Nope.

Swelling: If my hands are down by my sides when I workout then they will be a little bit more swollen, but that usually subsides within hours. 

Maternity clothes: Nope! Still holding out. I am going to try and hold out as long as I can, unless I see something I have to have then I will wait! 

Labor signs: Nope!

What I am loving: I am loving how quickly it is going by, it is always one day closer to seeing my little love. I am also trying to savor the moments of being pregnant, it is just hard when you are sleep deprived haha!

Best moment of this week:  Feeling her kick and move around is always the best. Zack and I play music for her at night and talk to her before bed and when we wake up in the morning. I love watching him talk to her. If she is moving out of control and going crazy he puts his hand on my tummy and she will either immediately halt and make me look crazy or she will keep moving like a maniac and do a little dance performance for her daddy. I cannot wait to see him with her. 

XOXO Sydney

Chatbooks Review

I ordered my Chatbooks a little over a week ago, when they were going through a crazy time with a massive influx of orders...but they still came in the mail very quickly! 

I ordered mine from the app on my phone and it was super easy to use, very straight forward and simple.

You can choose the cover photos you want for each "Volume" I ordered 4 volumes, each with 60 pages of pictures back and front!

Here are a few shots from the inside of the Chatbooks!

& 

Unlike instagram they actually put the day, month and year the photo was posted on Instagram instead of saying "125 weeks ago" as if you remember that specific date...

You can edit your captions or keep them as their originals. I chose to just keep the original captions instead of going through and changing all of them because I figured it was part of the memory anyways!

Here is a picture of the side binding of each book. You get to create the title you want on each volume. I put "Zack & Sydney" as a way to connect it to my blog and because I use my instagram more than Zack does, the photos are both of our memories!

You can also do a custom book without using your instagram photos and you can visit their website on how to do that (I will link their website below). I know I will be doing one of my bump progression pictures, or just pictures of the belly throughout the whole pregnancy.

I cannot wait to add these little books onto my coffee table at our new place which we will be starting to move within a month or so. I cannot wait to set these books out on display. So much more personal than a random coffee table book. There is something I love about having photos tangible instead of on the computer or on the phone. I absolutely love these books.

Each volume contains 60 pages back and front of your photos and each volume costs 6 dollars. Not bad & definitely worth every penny!

You NEED to go visit their WEBSITE

Check out their INSTAGRAM

I am so happy I did this! I plan to do a lot more in the future!

xoxo Sydney