What about me!?!

Hey Ya’ll!

Infamous bathroom selfie

I hope all is well. I’m doing pretty good. Ryla is doing great but dang it this post isn’t about her lol. Ryla will be 3 months on the 24^th of this month so it’s about time I get my ducks in a row. The first thing that needs to get in order is my weight. Yes, I’m back on a weight loss journey. 

I feel like my whole life revolves around a weight loss journey. Before I got pregnant I got down to a size 12 and I was very happy there. I never wanted to be “skinny” but a comfortable size 12 was my overall goal. Now, being a size 12 is my goal again. I gained 55 pounds during my pregnancy and so far I have lost 21 pounds. This other 34 pounds is probably going to be harder to lose than giving birth lol. My strategy is to start with my eating habits first. If I can start eating healthy again I feel like the weight will be easier to get off. Exercising is something that I’m going to have to really fit into my schedule. I hope to work out a minimum of 3 days a week but we shall see. 

This weight loss situation I’m in is going to be a rough journey, I can already see it but I’m ready for the ride! I’m going to take it slow and give myself 6 months maximum to lose the weight. Slow and steady is my strategy.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about my weight loss journey

Ryla girl is 2 months!

Hey Ya’ll!

Hope all is well! Ryla girl is 2 months. Time is really flying by. I remember popping her out the womb and now homegirl is trying to talk. At her 2 month appointment she weighed 10lbs, 6oz and was 21 ½ inches long.

Ryla is cooing more than ever now. She giggles which is so freaking cute and smiles on queue (well most of the time). She is starting to reach her arms out more and touch things; for example she’ll rub my face while I’m feeding her or hit the toy that’s on her car seat. She wants to be stood up a lot and she absolutely hates tummy time but we do it anyway. Ryla girl can hold her head up but still needs a little support from time to time. Her personality is that she’s pretty much chill but don’t let her get hungry because she will definitely let you know. She eats between 3/12 - 4 ounces every 3-4 hours. Her clothes sizes ranges from 0-3 to 3-6 months but she can wear some 6 month stuff. She whines when she’s sleepy so I just throw on some white noise and it instantly puts her to sleep. I do a separate blog post about her sleeping but last night for the first time she slept 8 ½ hours straight!!!!!!!

Recently, Ryla had cradle cap so ya’ll know I had to handle that situation. To make it go away I simply drenched her hair with extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. I let the oils sit for about 15 minutes then I got a baby comb and softly combed her hair. The oils softened the cradle cap so when I ran the comb through her hair it was picking up the “dandruff”.  After combing her hair I would wash it. I did that for about 3 nights straight and after the 3^rd night her cradle cap was completely gone. I wash her hair with whatever baby wash I’m using which is usually Aveeno and I put a little coconut oil in her hair for moisture afterwards. When she turns one I'm thinking about using Shea Moisture hair products on her hair but we shall see. 

Overall, she is doing wonderful. She is on point with her growth and skills and I can’t wait to see her growth in the upcoming months! Next thing you know we’ll be celebrating her first birthday.

Stay tuned for future blog posts!

LoL!

My 10lbs, 6oz of greatness

Knocked Out!

Is Ryla Sleeping Through the Night or Naw!?!

Hey Ya’ll!

I'm so round lol!

Hope all is well! I prayed that Ryla would be sleeping through the night before I returned back to work and I believe my prayers were answered! I returned back to work on Monday and this week has been great.

Our nightly routine is that I pick her up between 5:30-6pm. The babysitter usually feeds her before I pick her up but my daughter is greedy so when we get home she’ll eat about another 1-2 ounces. Around this time it’s 6:15 so while she’s full I’ll put her in her swing and play/talk to her while I’m doing what I have to do whether it be cooking, getting myself ready for the next day, or cleaning. 7pm is bath time so I’ll give her a warm bath which she loves! She’s so calm during her baths (that Aveeno calming comfort bath is the truth!) and she loves to kick around in the water. If she’s extra tired she may be fussy during bath time but that’s very seldom. 7:30, 7:45pm it’s time to eat again so I’ll give her a bottle and while I’m feeding her I like to sing softly to relax her. She loves the song “This Little Light of Mine”. After that, Ryla girl is sleep! Ryla is sleep by 8, 8:30pm every night. She sleeps until about 1, 1:30am for another feeding. As soon as she done eating we both go right back to sleep. 

I love this stuff 

I wake up at 5am every morning, Mon-Fri, just so I can have time to get myself ready for the workday and just relax to have me time before waking Ryla up. I wake Ryla up every morning, Mon-Fri, between 6:15 and 6:30am. It’s so cute when she wakes up because she has to stretch, make all these moans and grunts, then she gives me the biggest smile! I say good morning Ryla girl then I get her ready and she’s off to daycare with daddy then that evening our nightly routine starts all over again.

Even though Ryla wakes up once during the night, I am still getting a good night’s rest. I’m usually sleep by 10pm every night so I’m refreshed when my alarm clocks goes off at 5am. Hopefully, Ryla’s sleep schedule will only improve from here where she’s sleep before 8:30pm every night and sleeps into the morning until I wake her up but we shall see.

This nightly routine is working for us but I will start incorporating more play time as she gets older because I know she will probably stay awake longer in the evenings and also I would like to start reading to her every night before she goes to sleep. She'll be two months Saturday so I'm thinking about incorporating those two things when she turns 3 months. 

Stay tuned for more blog posts!

Sip & Shop

Hey Ya'll!

Yesterday, I had the honor of being a guest blogger for a Fall Fashion & Beauty Sip & Shop event hosted by Emjay C. Emjay C. is a Stylist/Wardrobe Consultant specializing in making her clients look their best by being their personal shopper. Her goal is to dress her clients for any occasion! 

Emjay C.

The Sip & Shop was a great success! There were all kinds of vendors ranging from jewelry to makeup. You can't have the shop without the sip so there were refreshments, cupcakes, and cookies for the guests to enjoy. The event was very organized, everybody was so friendly, and the vendors had some very nice products. There was a raffle for a very nice gift basket and also a fashion and beauty panel session where they were answering different fashion/beauty questions and giving out expert advice. The panel session was very informative. 

I had a great time at the event! I can't wait for the next Sip & Shop hosted by Emjay C. If you are looking for a personal shopper or stylist/wardrobe consultant please contact Emjay C!

Facebook: Emjay Cee
Instagram: Primped_Prepped
Blog: http://www.emjaycee.com/

Vendor

Vendor

panel

Will Ryla Ever Sleep Through The Night?!?

Hey Ya’ll!

I hope all is well! Everything is going good on my end. Just wanted to provide an update with Ryla’s night time regimen. Let’s just say about every night is different. 

Most nights Ryla is sleep by 9:30pm but once or twice a week she goes left field and acts like sleep is the worst thing in the world. If she only knew how wonderful getting a full night’s sleep was! On a typical night she has her warm bath between 7 and 7:30, bottle by 8, and is sleep by 9-9:30. On those off nights Ryla fights her sleep something terrible. She screams to the top of her lungs and I just have to be patient to soothe her to sleep. She loves white noise. Usually when I play it it calms her down and she goes right to sleep. I was pulling up white noise on YouTube but I recently bought a teddy bear that plays the soothing sounds. Right now for her bath and hair I use Aveeno products. Soon, I’ll be switching to shea moisture for her shampoo because I love me some shea moisture! 

At 7 weeks we introduced Ryla to cereal. We just put about a half of teaspoon in her formula (she is drinking 4oz now) and it does wonders. Before, Ryla was waking up faithfully every 2 hours to eat. I was like heck naw! Since putting cereal in her formula she only wakes up once a night which is wonderful. She also seems to be in a deeper sleep at night so certain noises don’t wake her up like they used to. 

Right now her nighttime regimen just consist of a warm bath and a bottle but I will start rubbing her body down with lotion or oil and reading her a bedtime story. I want to start those two things around 3 or 4 months. 

Ryla will be 2 months on October 24^th and I still can’t believe how much she’s grown. She’s getting so chunky and is finally starting to get fat rolls lol (I love a fat baby). She’s still in size 1 diaper and can still fit newborn clothes but they are snug so she has graduated to 3 months and some 3-6 month clothes. My baby is growing up *tear*. She is also cooing a lot more and is no longer a bobble head lol. She can hold her head up for longer periods of time. She is very clingy. When we put her in her bouncer she’s content for like 10-15 minutes before she’s crying for somebody to pick her up. Once you pick her up she’s fine. She wasn’t really held a lot as a newborn because she was always sleep so I don’t know where this being extra clingy is coming from so hopefully that stage will come to an end as she gets older. 

Also, Ryla has started daycare. It’s an in-home daycare and it’s her and about two other babies. Ryan and I really wanted an in-home daycare because it’s less worries about germs and our baby getting sick. Ryan has known the owners for years so there was really no worries about her caregivers. On her first day it was a little sad because I was so used to having Ryla with me during the day but after about the second day and noticing how much I could get done during the day I was back to normal lol. Ryla will probably attend this in-home daycare until the age of two where she will be going to a daycare that has more of a school setting. 

Ya’ll pray for me for my maternity leave is coming to an end. I have truly enjoyed my time being at home with Ryla and also taking out time for myself. I’m a lover of sleep so I know it’s going to be an adjustment to get in the routine or working 8 hours a day and also being a mommy but I’m sure I will adjust fairly quickly. I’ll just be a zombie at work for a while until I adjust to getting no sleep lol!

Stay tuned for more Ryla updates and anything else I feel like blogging about :)