My oh my it’s been over a month since I gave birth to my second daughter, Aveena. It wasn’t long ago, just only three years, that we became a family of three by welcoming our oldest daughter, Alida. Even though we had experience with a newborn before, we kind of forgot how tiny, helpless and delicate infants are. We know time will go by so quickly with babies, that’s why we are doing our best to continue to keep having our joyful moments around.
I know you might be feeling the same with your kids. Some of you might have sent your kids to college by now or are just starting to send them to school for the first time. Isn’t that crazy how lighting fast all those baby moments went by?
I have heard a lot of people say that it’s tough to have two kids. You know what, I don’t feel that way at all. I feel like things are getting even better and better. This time around my husband and I aren’t freaking out over our baby crying or being over protective of her. Our lives are just getting better with the new addition of joy to our family.
Today I finally had some time to sit down and start writing this blog post about “Newborn Essentials” which I planned to publish a while back. Today is a perfect day and actually perfect timing because I know exactly what I’m using in my everyday life with my brand spanking new baby girl.
If you are looking to put some products in your baby registry list or buying for your mom-to-be friends, definitely check out the below list. I have used all of these during my first month after giving birth and I know I will continue to still use most of them.
#1 Bassinet + Covers
This is by far one of the newborn essentials I use the most, day and night, 24/7. I love this Monte Design Rockwell bassinet a lot. The sleek and modern design is beautiful and goes well with our bedroom theme. I love the soft and protective sides that are covered by a removable and machine-washable fabric. The bassinet has a rocker base that makes it easy to sooth my new baby in. Make sure you get extra covers because you might go through a lot each day. So when you do laundry, you will be sure to have some clean ones to use.
One of the major requirements when having a baby at the hospital, is needing to have a car seat. You cannot leave the hospital without having a proper car seat installed. With our first daughter, we had a traditional one where you would have to carry your newborn around in and was very tiring. When we discovered Doona, the only car seat with integrated wheels; our lives became a whole lot easier. It has swivel wheels, one touch brakes and machine-washable seat covers. I especially love the rocking feature when I need to set the car seat down and can sooth my baby when she is crying.
#3 Nursing pillow
I had used a nursing pillow with my first daughter and loved it. You can actually use a normal pillow when feeding but the nursing pillows wrap around you and are easier to use whether you are in bed, on a rocking chair or sitting at the dining room table. My husband uses this pillow too when he feeds our newborn her bottle as it’s easier than just holding her with one arm and feeding with the other.
#4 Nightlight
Since we have our babies in our bedroom, we use a nightlight. It’s very convenient to just grab the remote and click on the nightlight while we are barely awake. Even though the light is very small, it does a great job filling the room with enough light to see where we are going and not waking everyone up if we were to turn on the very bright bedroom light.
#5 Swaddle Blanket
We used this in the hospital and during our first week at home but have since stopped using it. The reasons why I recommend this product as one of your newborn essentials are because it helps soothe babies while experiencing the startle reflex and also makes the new world more similar to the womb when they were in during those 40 weeks of their lives.
The second night in the hospital, Aveena was having a hard time falling asleep, I tried to feed her for several hours, but she kept crying and looked very uncomfortable. I was still waiting for my milk to come in, so my husband and I decided to call the nurse in to help swaddle the baby. The second she was in her swaddled blanket, she passed out. So, this swaddle blanket really helps comfort the baby and recreate the womb environment she was used to before she was born.
#6 Diapers, Wipes and Diaper Pail
You are going to need a lot of diapers and wipes. It’s a good idea to have these two items in your baby registry list to help save some money. We did it with our first daughter, but we didn’t have a baby shower for Aveena, so we had to get them ourselves this time. But when someone asked about what we need, when went right to diapers as our first choice.
You don’t need to get a lot of the newborn size, maybe only a pack or two. This is because babies grow really quickly and when our daughter, Aveena, was only two weeks old, she couldn’t wear her newborn size diapers anymore.
A Diaper Pail is also a great idea too because it can keep unwanted smells out of your space. We use it for both of our babies.
#7 Baby Bath Essentials
Baby wash, baby oil, baby lotion and baby bathtub are the four items we use. We don’t give our newborn baby a bath everyday, but we wipe her down instead. So, we use baby oil and lotion every day to keep her skin nourished and healthy.
#8 Newborn Nail Clipper Set
The newborn grooming set is definitely an essential item to have. We use the brush to keep her hair clean, the nail clipper and nail filler to prevent our baby from scratching herself and the thermometer to make sure her temperature is normal. It has other handy little items too if you might need them.
#9 Baby Blanket
Make sure you have plenty of blankets as they can get dirty very easily and you will probably go through a lot of them. The blankets we have are supper soft and thick enough to keep our newborn warm and snuggled in her bassinet when she is sleeping.
#10 Bodysuits/Mittens
It goes without saying that you will be going through lots of baby clothes when dressing and undressing your newborn. Bodysuits are much easier to put on and take off when cleaning your baby. My husband and I love the zip up body suites as they are very easy to change into in the middle of the night when it’s pretty dark to see. We also use mittens to keep our baby girl from scratching herself and to keep warm at night too.
#11 Changing Table + Pad + Covers
I used to be against the idea of having a changing table. I felt like it was unnecessary to have to change the baby on the changing table as you can pretty much change her anywhere. But I was wrong. Since the birth of my daughter, I found that using a changing table has been very helpful. It has the right height and made our changing routine a lot easier when it comes to changing all day and night long.
With that being said you will need a changing pad and lots of covers to go with your table.
#12 Burb Cloths
The burb cloth is a life saver for those moments when you need to make a quick clean up on both baby and you. It’s important to have a lot of these handy as we sometimes go through a lot in one day.
#13 Breast Pump/Milk Storage Bags
Breastfeeding has many health benefits for both mom and baby. You might want to take a look at this article I found on HealthLine. I breastfed my first daughter for 3 years and had a great experience with it. So, having a breast pump will help you with breastfeeding journey.
The reason why I recommend having a breast pump and storage bags are that it’s good to have a backup of milk and to use if your baby is sleeping and you need some relief from breast pain.
With Alida, I used the breast pump a lot for the first 6 months and would freeze the storage bags for later use. Now with my second daughter I used it on a roll for the first few weeks and now I only use it when I really have a lot of milk, my breasts start to hurt and when we need to take the milk with us when we’re going out and about.
Having a breast pump also helps you with your milk production levels. If you have a hard time producing milk, try making a pumping schedule and stick with it for several weeks. It works for a lot of new moms this way.
#14 Formula/Baby Bottles
As you might already know from reading my blog, I am not a big fan of dairy products. So, when I use formula, I use a non-dairy brand. It’s very convenient to have some on hand if I didn’t pump any breast milk. I will make a bottle and bring it with me when I go out. I mainly breast feed my daughter but it’s good to have some when you need it.
#15 Diaper Bag
The diaper bag is one of those items I can’t go without when taking my newborn out of the house. You can just use any large sized bag and bring all your essentials in, but a diaper bag really keeps everything organized and easy to find when you’re racing to grab your burb cloth our getting out the ready-made bottle. Most diaper bags come with a changing pad, which is convenient when changing your baby in a public restroom and knowing you have a clean area to rest your baby on.
Those are all of my recommended items. I hope this list helps you find the right essentials for your newborn. All of the items I listed I really use and find them very helpful with my baby. I want to make ever parent-to-be to have a smooth journey and wonderful memories with their newborns. That’s why I wanted to share this 15 Must-Have Newborn Essentials with you. Not everyone will need the same things or the exact same items I do, these are just from my experiences and I think will be helpful for you to know.
We are feeling like new parents again, but this time with more skills. We are grateful to have Aveena in our lives and are cherishing every moment.
Thank you for stopping by All About Good Vibes today. I will be sharing the New Mom/ Postpartum Essentials blog post soon, hope to see you there.
What are your newborn essentials?
“A baby fills a place in your heart that you never knew was empty.”- Anonymous
Hi love! I’m finally 39 weeks pregnant and I’m so thankful that I am able to come this far in my pregnancy without any problems along the way. I am also excited to reveal my gender predictor test results with you too.
It’s such a big milestone because I went into the labor and delivery for a checkup at 33 weeks as I was having a lot of contractions and thought I was going to have preterm labor. But that was in the past, I feel so great now, so we shouldn’t be talking about it anymore.
This pregnancy I had a chance to visit Japan, explored a new country where I was always dreamed about. That trip was right before I was entering my third trimester. I am glad I took the chance and did not blame the pregnancy for not being able to travel abroad.
I am just beyond thankful and grateful for this healthy pregnancy and that I will be holding my second little angel soon, hopefully in a few days or it might happen tonight!?
A lot of you have been asking me about the gender of the baby and I kept postponing to do a blog post about it. There’s no more waiting because I’m announcing my baby gender today on the blog.
Over three years ago I filmed a YouTube video about the 11 gender predictors for my daughter. I have a worksheet that you can download from my library and also a blog post talking about each of the old wives tales, feel free to check it out.
Today I decide to use one of the 11 gender predictors and it’s a cabbage test. I forgot to mention that at first my husband and I were thinking about not knowing the gender of the baby. Just to make it more fun and special but we couldn’t help ourselves in the ultrasound room. So we found out the gender of our baby then and it was the right decision we made because our daughter can talk and get to know her little sibling on a deeper level.
How to do the test?
Now let’s get right back into our cabbage test. So what you have to do is to get a red cabbage, cut it then boil it. While waiting for the water to cool down, you can collect your urine. After you have both cabbage solution and your urine, mix the same amount of them together. Then see what color the mixed solution turns out.
We only used about 1/4 of the whole cabbage.
This is the cabbage solution.
This is also the same solution with light shining through. You can see the color is purple.
Results
If the color stays the same, that means you are having a GIRL.
If the color changes to pink or purple, that means you are having a BOY.
We did this for the fun of it in my first pregnancy and it predicted right, that we were having a baby girl. So we were doing it again in this second pregnancy and it also gave the right result.
The bottom Q-tip is the color we got after mixing the solution together, which is the same color as the beginning one, only a little bit lighter.
What are we having, a boy or a girl?
So the color of my solution turns out the same color which means WE ARE HAVING A BABY GIRL!
Disclaimer: Beware that this is not a real thing, it isn’t guaranteed the true results. It’s just a fun way to test before you find out what gender your baby is from your physician.
Let’s have fun and no arguing over the results and feel free to share your stories with us in the comments below. ?
So yes we are having another GIRL! I just can’t hold her, love her and care for her just like we do with out oldest daughter.
Thank you for stopping by my blog today. See you again soon on my next post.
It’s almost Valentine’s Day and all I’m thinking about are roses. I normally don’t like any specific type of flowers accept the one I really love, peonies. They are absolutely my fave.
Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner and the most famous flowers for this occasion is rose. I thought why not talk about a few rose beauty products that I’m currently loving and have enjoyed using them these day. I want to use this special occasion to share some rose-love with you.
Before I show you what are in my rose beauty and skincare collection, let’s talk about the benefits of rose for a little. You might already know that rose helps rejuvenate and replenish skin that’s why a lot of products on the market now incorporate rose as an ingredient.
Rose has antioxidants and antibacterial properties that can help regenerate skin tissue and heal scars. Rose water helps to hydrate, moisturize and maintain its PH balance in your skin. It also helps fight free radicals.
The scent of roses can also help lift up your emotion if you are feeling down.
Now, at my house we always pick up roses and I have realized that every time we have flowers around the house they really pick up everyone’s mood. I encourage you to have flowers around your place to make your space more lively and for your emotional wellbeing.
Those are some benefits of the rose. There are still more, just easily search on Google you will find a tons of them
By the way, at the end of this post, I’m announcing the winner of our #GOODVIBESGIFTING contest of January 2019. Check it out if you are one of the 6 winners who will receive a $25 Starbucks gift card and one surprise gift from me. 🙂
If you’re ready let’s get into my mini reviews on each of my favorite rose beauty and skincare products.
What I like about this mask is that it is so refreshing every time I use it. My skin turns out super soft and smooth. I love that the scent is not over powerful, it’s a beautiful rose scent. The texture of this mask is jelly-like and very easy to apply. No mess, no drip while using it.
The fun part of this mask is that you can refrigerate it and use it as an overnight mask as well. It’s one of my favorite face masks I tried recently.
I have a blog post about my favorite face masks for all concerns if you would like to check it out.
Pixi by Petra Rose Collection
I had a chance to try the whole rose collection of Pixi by Petra and have been loving these four products so far.
This rose oil, I’m on bottle number 3. I love how quick this oil absorb into skin. I don’t feel too oily after applying this oil on. This oil gives a healthy glow look to my skin and moistens up my skin very well. It has a light rose scent which I like because it’s good when layering more rose products on.
This essence caught my eyes because of the cuteness of the tube and the product’s texture. I wasn’t sure what it was at first but after trying it I’m super pleased with the results.
It’s super weightless and absorbs very fast into my skin. It feels like I’m applying water on my face, that’s how weightless it is.
This serum essence helps hydrate, refine and soften skin.
I have been using face tonic for quite sometime and this one is my new favorite. I guess I have to give credit to Pixi by Petra that came out with products that provide comfort to skin.
This tonic is very gentle and again quick to absorb into my skin just like the other products I mentioned earlier. The beauty benefits of this rose tonic is to help with skin tone improvement, brightening, moisturizing and color correction.
My acne scares and blemishes on my face are starting to clear out slowly after using this tonic for about 2 weeks.
I’m into face mists lately and this one is so divine even my husband likes to use it. It’s very soothing when spraying onto my face. It also helps moisturize and hydrate your skin.
It’s like you are spraying rose water on your face without the oily affect afterwards. If you’re looking for a glowy and to illuminate your skin, I do not recommend using this mist because you will only get a natural looking glow from this product.
What I like the most about face mist is that you can apply it anytime you’d like.
My oh mind! This highlighting luminous powder is so gorgeous! I’m absolutely in love with the rose design. It gives such a beautiful glow once you apply a small amount to the top of your cheekbones, center of your chin, bridge of your nose, and center of your forehead.
I love that I can use it dry or damp for an intense look. It doesn’t make my skin feel and look cakey at all.
I was afraid to use it at first because it’s too pretty and I did not want to ruin the beauty of it. But now I just can’t stop using this highlighter.
The only down side about this product is the high price point ($60), but it’s totally worthy it. 🙂
This perfume is giving me a sense of mature and proper. It’s a classic and elegant rose scent that represent more spiciness than sweetness of the typical rose perfumes.
I love it for a formal event or a romantic date night but not for a girls night out nor a family get together.
The price of this perfume is quite high ($235), so you have to make sure that you love it before deciding to purchase.
If you want a shimmery and glowing skin, you might want to give this body oil a try. It smells just like fresh roses but not over powering.
Not only do I love the glow about this product but I also love that it really helps to hydrate my skin and doesn’t make my skin feel super sticky nor oily.
Overall I really love this product and will be repurchasing it. I just wish that the price would be lower or the amount would be more for the body oil.
This roller is by far the cheapest one from a well-known brand I saw on the market not including the ones that you can buy from amazon.
I have been using face roller for over 6 months now and have been loving the feel and results it gives to my skin. I have different types of stones, white jade, black jade, amethyst (I broke it the other day!) and this rose quartz one.
What I love about them is that they are from nature, won’t harm your skin and have specific healing powers and meanings behind them.
For skin benefits, the stone helps depuff and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. It supports blood circulation. I see my pores are getting smaller as well.
My husband and I are switching to an aluminum-free deodorants since last year and this one is our favorite.
It doesn’t smell like roses but it does smell pleasant. It doesn’t stain on cloths and it’s non-sticky which make us love using it. My underarm area feels very comfortable and dry all day.
If you are a first time user of a non aluminum deodorant, you might want to put it on every few hours just to make sure you won’t stink others! LOL! You will need sometime to adjust and let your body detox all the bad before your underarm area gets used to a chemical free product.
The one I have here is the Vanilla + Air for Creativity: awaken the mind and unleash your creative energy with violet, rose, and vanilla.
Those are all of my rose faves at the moment. If you’re looking to buy rose products for yourself or gifting it this Valentine’s Day, don’t hesitate to check some of this products out.
Feel free to share your current favorite skincare products with me in the comments. I’m looking to try something new! 🙂
Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I will be back and share more of my beauty favorites soon.
Have a wonderful day!
Be good to your skin. You’ll wear it every day for the rest of your life – Renée Rouleau.
If you’re one of the winners, please send me an email to hello@allaboutgoodvibes.com within 48 hours (by Saturday February 2nd, 2019 by 8:00 PM (MST)) with your full name, address and your phone number. I’ll ship out the gifts by the end of next week. Congratulations and thank you for your support! 🙂
I heard of this brand about a month ago via Instagram through their ads. Their bags are ver pretty and sturdy which made me want to check them out. Friday by JW PEI is a sister brand of JW PEI. They are selling luxury vegan handbags just like JW PEI but they offer affordably priced bags. They come out with new styles every Friday, I think that’s the reason why they branded themself Friday by JW PEI.
The Micro Top Handle
The vegan handbag I got is a micro top handle bag in pink. I got another one in beige too. It’s a cute little bag with a dimension of 7.9”W × 3.3”D × 5.5″H. The bag is made with vegan leather and 100% recycled plastic bottle for the lining. It comes in 8 different colors, beige, black, blue, fuchsia pink, grey, pink, red and silver.
What I like about this bag are the color and its simplicity. You can use it as a crossbody or a top handle style. If you’re following along my vegan handbag blog posts since the start, you might have noticed that I love small bags, so the size of this bag is just right for me.
The only thing I wish this bag has was an inside zipper pocket but there were no zippers or card holder pockets in there.
The price of this style of bag is $59.
How I Style This Bag
Since it’s getting closer to Spring and practically feeling like Spring here in Arizona, I’m going for a bright color to get ready to welcome the new season. I don’t want to use too many colors so I went with monochromatic color schemes today, all pink everything.
Pink is one of the positive colors that represents love, compassion, feminine and naturing. It’s a color that can comfort and calm your emotional energies, (source).
Wearing pink can help uplift your overall emotional level. Before I really never liked pink as much as I do now, but every time I pick to wear pink I can feel joy and love coming out of me just because of the color of my outfit.
For this look, I want to keep everything simple just like the design of the bag, so my dress and boots have no patterns on them, only different textures of the ribbed and suede fabrics that make each of the items interesting in its own way.
This look will be good for a Valentine’s Day date too, to keep your day as sweet as the pink and as classy as the simple style.
Theses boots are so soft and comfortable. You might want to check them out!
In Conclusion
Overall I love this cute little vegan handbag and how easy it was to try to pair with my pink dress and boots but if you’re not a fan of pink, you don’t need to wear it with all pink like me.
You can choose to wear this pink bag with black and white outfits. Or if you want to have more fun with your look, you can incorporate contrasting colors like green to the look.
Share with me:
What color do you like to wear during Spring?
That’s it for today. Stay tuned for more vegan handbags in the upcoming weeks.
If you missed my other posts, you can click The V Armoire to quickly navigate to my blog posts about my vegan handbag collection.
Almost forgot to mention about our #GOODVIBESGIFTING series this month. Feel free to share your thoughts at the end of each blog post with us in the comments below and answer some fun questions on my Instagram posts for a chance to win a $25 Starbucks gift card and one surprise gift from me. The number of the winners will be the same as the number of my blog posts I come out in January. Right now I have 5 posts live, that means we will now have 5 winners at this point.
Winner of this post will be announced at the end of the month, January 31st, 2019, here on allaboutgoodvibes.com. Good luck!
Thank you for stopping by my blog today. See you again soon, love!
Enjoy the rest of your week!
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
Happy Friday! In today’s post I’m going to talk about my 3 sources of inspiration for flat lay photography. #FlatLayFriday
For me personally, it’s so hard sometimes to come up with some fresh flat lay ideas especially when I’m working for my own blog or project. I found it a lot easier when working with brands because they will give me more details and let me know exactly what they want or are looking for.
Since it’s quite hard to get my thoughts put together I found myself ending up in these 3 places I’m about to tell you.
If you are ready, let’s dive into our topic today “3 Inspiration Sources for Flat Lay Photography“.
#1 Source: Pinterest
As of now, you might already knew that Pinterest works like a search engine just like google. But the different between them is that Pinterest is the place where you can find all kinds of beautiful pictures once you search on their search bar. Instead of the name of the article thats pops up, you will see either the photos that are included in the article or you will see the photo with the topic of the article coming up. It’s a super convenient source for all kinds of topics.
I used to use Pinterest for wedding inspirations, food and interior design. Now I am using Pinterest for everything that you can think of, especially gathering flat lay ideas for new projects.
How I use Pinterest are explained in the below tips:
One:
Using search bar and search words like “Flat Lay“, FlatLay, FlatLay Ideas“, “FlatLay Inspo” and etc.. For this, you will see a lot of flat lay photos popping up.
If you want to be more specific on what you’re looking for, you can put the niche word in front of the word flat lay. For example, travel flatlay, beauty flatlay,fashion flatlay and many more.
You can now search using hashtags as well.
Two:
Follow people who have FlatLay boards. I have one here that you can follow and get some new ideas from.
To search for boards, you have to use the search bar, type in the same keyword “FlatLay” once you press enter, you will see the options of the search types next to the search bar. Now you can then change from “all pins” to “board” or “people”. Then follow the ones that inspired you the most.
Now every time you visit your Pinterest homepage, all of the new pins from people and boards you are following will show up to inspire you.
Three:
Create your own Flat Lay board and start collecting your own pins. This way you will be able to go back and see what types and feels of flat lay photos you like. I even created my own Flat Lay Guide board to collect online article tips from other people.
Pinterest definitely my number one go to source for Flat Lay inspiration.
#2 Source: Books and Magazines
Books and magazines are my number two source when it comes to flat lay photography, not only do they show beautiful photography but also provide details in them.
For magazines, I mostly look for color palettes and items that will go well as props in my photos.
For books, there are many of them on the market now that will teach you about how to style your flat lay photos. I have 4 books that I like and there are parts of them that teach you about flat lay photography.
As much as I don’t use Instagram stalking people like how I use Facebook (LOL), I LOVE using Instagram as my inspiration source, connecting with all cool people and of course sharing my stories with you. It’s my third place to take a look when I’m running out of ideas.
Because instagram has so many people who’re sharing their passion through pictures, that would be a no brainer not to take a look around on this platform.
Here’s how I would recommend you to do.
#hashtag search
This is kind of similar to Pinterest, you can search #flatlay photos through hashtags like, #flatlay, #flatlays, #flatlaystyle, #flatlayforever, #flatlaytoday, #flatlayoftheday, #flatlaylove, #flatlaythenation and more.
I created a list of Flat Lay Hashtags and you can download it below.
Follow accounts and hashtags
After you are done searching for beautiful photo using #flatlay keywords, you should find some interesting accounts to follow now. I only follow people who truly inspire me. I recommend you to do the same. 🙂
You now have a choice to follow hashtags as well so take advantage of it and follow the hashtags you find that interests you most.
Share with me in the comments:
What do you struggle with most when it comes to Flat Lay?
I hope you enjoyed this post and got a few ideas on where to find your next source of inspiration before taking your new flat lay photos.
Before we say good bye today, don’t forget to leave your comment below this blog post and answer some fun questions on my Instagram posts for a chance to win a $25 Starbucks gift card and one surprise gift from me.
This is a part of our #GOODVIBESGIFTING series I’m carrying on from last year. All winners will be announced at the end of the month, January 31st, 2019, here on allaboutgoodvibes.com. For more details on how to enter the giveaway, visit this blog post.
Thank you for stopping by All About Good Vibes today. I will be sharing tons of flat lay tips and tricks here in my future posts. Hope to see you again soon.
If you need a flat lay planner, feel free to grab your free copy below.
“Vibe high and the magic around you will unfold.” ― Akilnathan Logeswaran
Mollie Larsen is the creator of All About Good Vibes—a feel-good destination that inspires women to love, care and be themselves. Growing up she loved dressing up, taking care of her skin and helped supporting others. She believes in positivity and seeing good in all situations. Her biggest achievement of the day is putting her babies to sleep early, relaxing and watching her favorite shows with her husband.
