Category Archives: Isla

Baby Essentials

Posted in Babies, Isla, Product Review by

Yeah, I know Isla is over a year old already and I’m just getting to this now. Horrible, I know.

I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite baby items that I’ve either been gifted or bought personally since Isla came around.

My Spooner Sisters Designs Diaper Tote

Image courtesy of Spooner Sisters Design!

Image courtesy of Spooner Sisters Design!

When Isla stopped pooping/spitting up/needing 100 things on trips to the store or wherever, I desperately needed something more compact and lightweight for outings with Isla. (Because surprise poops and heavy tinkles still happen!) I wanted something that I could toss a couple diapers, baby wipes and bum cream into that could act as a portable change station as well. I came across Spooner Sister Designs (who are based right out of Kamloops) and asked if this was something they could design as it wasn’t on their site at the time. Lucky for me, they were just in the process of making a couple prototypes and would be making them to sell soon! I waited, and as soon as they were available, I bought one. I love my diaper tote – It fits a “to-go” wipes container, two diapers and a little tube of bum cream perfectly, and I just leave it in the car for when I need it. So much easier than my big, bulky diaper bag!

The Pacifier “leash”

From Jake Tally’s Etsy Shop

Isla was really good at spitting out her soothers all over the floor, so I needed something that would clip onto whatever she was wearing so it wouldn’t get dirty. I was given a pair of leashes during Isla’s shower, but they were big and bulky. I found Jake Tally’s Etsy shop and was impressed by the patterns and the style of leash Jenn makes, so I ordered one! It’s small but the soother was super secure in place with the snap, and the clip attached easier and securely to everything – Sleepers, onesies, the car seat – Whatever! And, Isla knows that her soother is at the end of it, so if she spits it out and wakes up looking for it, she grabs the fabric of the leash and find her soother all on her own. No more lost or dirty soothers!

The Medela Calma

From Medela.com

Back in March I had an MRI and couldn’t nurse Isla for 24 hours afterwards, so I had to get her “trained” to take a bottle. I tried various nipples with various flows and none of them compared to nursing straight from the twins. After asking a mom support/swap group I belong to on Facebook, many of them recommended the Medela Calma. It’s not cheap, but it worked! Isla took to the bottle after one try and just like that, my boobs were free and the stress of the upcoming MRI had disappeared. I was really skeptical of the design of the nipple, but there’s something about the shape, along with the vacuum system that the Calma uses that works wonders. I was also able to, after my 24 hours of post-MRI no nursing was over, go back and forth between nursing and bottle feeding with no issues.

Really, that’s about it. I didn’t do video baby monitors, breath/motion detectors, wraps or slings. I actually have a wrap, but didn’t like it. Everything else I have baby gear-wise is pretty standard.

What are/were your must-have items?

Weekend Wind-up

Posted in Family, Food, Friends, Isla, Kara and Kyle, Life by

Whew! This past weekend went by WAY too fast! It’s hard to believe that it’s already Monday and Kyle’s back to work already. His four days off went by so fast! Here’s what we got up to this weekend:

– On Thursday we had an appointment at the bank to deposit some birthday money Isla got into her RESP account. We opened the account for her as soon as her SIN card arrived in the mail and we’ve been making monthly deposits ever since then. We want her to be able to attend whichever university she wants and to have a little bit of a head-start in some way. After the bank, we headed home for Isla’s nap, and then went to his mom’s for pizza dinner since it was his step-dad’s birthday. We taught Isla how to do the arm/hand gesture for a touchdown and it’s pretty hilarious. No photos, so you’ll just have to believe me ;)

– On Friday our friends Clara and Cullen arrived from out of town to stay with us as one of them was competing in the Kamloops Highland Games (In the Highland Dance competition, to be exact). The games were on Saturday, but we always have an awesome time with these two and they ended up staying until Sunday. The Highland Games itself was pretty entertaining. Lots of bagpipes and dancing, for sure! Kyle and I had never actually seen Clara dance before, so we headed to the park to watch her compete. Holy wow is all I can say! She’s really good and placed in a variety of different dances so I’m glad we got to see what Highland Dance was all about! The little kids were absolutely adorable to watch too. Also, I have no photos from the Games because I’m stupid and forgot my phone at home. Uggggh.

– I splurged and bought myself a new flat-iron from a beauty supply store. The one I had been using before was a cheap-o Walmart special that I borrowed from my mom, so it’s been nice using a good quality iron for once! The best thing is not having to wait 5 minutes for it to get hot. With Isla getting more and more impatient these days, I need to be able to get ready fast!

– This weekend was also full of new foods! I made cucumber salsa, which I found on via a friend on Facebook (recipe from Keeping it Together). OMG SO GOOD! I love fresh salsa and while I have never made my own fresh tomato salsa, this cucumber version is SO good! It’s very freshing! Clara also brought us a apricot-blueberry-cherry pie for Friday night which was delicious with whipped cream, and I also had my first food truck experience thanks to Cat & Joe’s Pig Rig! They were parked at the Highland Games on Saturday so I braved the long line-up to get myself the Piglet – a small pulled-pork sammie topped with slaw on a yummy bun with fries & beans. I brought my food home to eat and let me tell yah – the lineup was so worth the wait!

– I also decided to take an old chair that’s been kicking around the house and give it a little bit of a face lift, but that will be a post on its own later this week.

What did you get up to this weekend? Ever been to a Highland Games event before? Or eaten from a food truck?