Our Sleeptime Must-Haves

Throughout my entire pregnancy with Emma, I prayed and prayed that she would be a sleeper. Ellie was so hard at nights and rarely napped unless I was nursing/holding her or pushing her in a stroller and it took us months to find a routine that worked for her. It was one of my biggest fears about having a second child is that I would get another difficult sleeper. I just couldn’t imagine doing the zombie mom role while still having to take care of an infant and a toddler. I barely survived some weeks with just Ellie! How was I going to do it again if I had a bad sleeper?

Fortunately, Emma has been an angel from the start and is the sweetest baby ever. I totally lucked out with her, but being that this isn’t my first rodeo, I knew what we needed to do to help build and keep her routine and get her sleeping. Getting to know Emma and watching for her sleep cues were important to build a routine around her natural sleep tendencies. We wanted to instill a good sleep routine from the start and below I’ve listed what has worked best for us and my favorite tools that help us get there!

Diaper and Jammies: A clean pair of pajamas and a fresh diaper are the first step in our routine. No matter how new the diaper may be, we always change Emma right before we put her down to avoid any leaks. We learned how important that was with Ellie and I swear, anytime I thought her diaper would be find since she had only been wearing it for a short time, she would always have a leak if I didn't change her!

Sound Machine: We used one with Ellie and have used one still with Emma. She doesn’t require one to go to sleep, but she does sleep more soundly and in longer stretches when we have it on. It creates a white noise effect that’s steady and keeps other noise out, you know, like a crazy toddler who insists on talking/crying/singing at the top of their lungs when the baby is sleeping. We even have a travel one that we used with Ellie that’s nice when we’re out and about. The one pictured is no longer available, we also use this one which has a nice projector.

Books/Quiet Play: After a busy day, the girls will need some winding down and our favorite way to settle in is with some books (BabyLit is a fave around here)! We’ll also sing songs that have hand motions like Itsy Bitsy Spider or Wheels on the Bus. We’ve also done stretching and massages as well. This part we switch out depending on our day and moods.

Sleepsack: This is a must, must, must for us! Since Emma was first born we have swaddled her and I think it’s made a significant impact in keeping her a good sleeper. When it was time for sleep, we just swaddle her up and she nearly just goes limp and passes out immediately (even her new daycare teacher noticed!). Now that’s she getting bigger and can roll, crawl, and sit up we’ve been using the new HALO Sleep Sack that's 100% cotton muslin (available on Amazon). I love this sack and it’s perfect for warm nights to keep her covered and still comfortable. I love that it zips from the top down, making diaper changes a snap! We used their HALO Sleepsack Swaddle when Emma was younger and smaller and I'm glad to have a brand we can rely on as our babies grow.

Paci: Ellie had to have a paci to soothe herself to sleep, Emma does not, but does like to chew on the edges. Sometimes when she wakes up, she plays in her crib and I'll find her playing and chewing on a paci.

We keep our routines really simple so it's easy to do every day and can be done anywhere. It's important to us to do the same thing each night and even when Emma doesn't seem tired when I turn on her sound machine she rubs her eyes and when she gets her swaddle on, she's out! Follow HALO on Instagram for sleep tips and new products!

Thank you HALO for today's post! All opinions and experiences are of my own, a sleep sack was provided to me for an honest review.

Our Weekend + Recent Purchases

Happy Leap Day! What an exciting and fun day! I love leap years and consider them lucky. This weekend was super mellow, we stayed in Friday and I picked up some Mexican food and we just relaxed and caught up on some TV. Since moving, we haven't found a must-have, go-to spot for Mexican food yet. At our old place, we had this little shop around the corner had the best ceviche ever. This new place was just ok, but they accidentally gave us a carne asada burrito and it was so bomb. Bomb! So we'll definitely go back for that! Otherwise, we're still on the hunt for a place.

Bikini so Teeny, Fiji, Topless and Barefoot, Go Ginza, Lilacism, Ballet Slippers, Pink Parka, Blossom Dandy

Saturday morning I went for a mani and pedi with a girlfriend. We met up at Target for a little bit of shopping and then went out for our appointment. It was so nice to relax and catch up on some gossip and girl talk. I went in with my own colors, but we both ended up doing a China Glaze shade on our toes. It's funny because I've had this color on my Amazon list forever and when I saw it in person I immediately bought it.

Fingers: Lilacism // Toes: Too Yacht To Handle

On my way home, I picked up a movie for Ellie. I really wanted The Good Dinosaur, but it was out everywhere! Instead we got Hotel Transylvania 2, since she's been watching the first one. We spent the day being lazy, doing endless loads of laundry, and snuggling. It was one of very few Saturdays that we had no where to go and nothing we had to do. It was just a great day snuggling my two girls and just relaxing.

Shorts // Dress and Romper Set // Sunnies // Blue Romper
Floral Romper // Top and Short Set

I ordered some shorts for Ellie and some summer clothes for Emma a few weeks ago and have forgotten to share them. I was hoping that the Ellie's clothes would overlap more for Emma to use, but Emma's going into 9 month sizing and Ellie was that size during Christmas so almost everything of Ellie's is fleece or long sleeved. I think that's how most of the clothes are going to work. Womp womp. Ellie had so many cute clothes that she never wore or only got to wear a few times! I guess that means we'll have to have one more girl right??

Sleepsack // Jammies

On my Target run, I also picked up a Sleepsack for Emma. We've been swaddling her below her arms and needed to get a sleeveless swaddle for her. I have one like this from Ellie and I can't find it anywhere- it's driving me nuts! Especially since I just recently sorted and vacuumed sealed Ellie's previous clothes. I don't remember seeing it in the mix, but maybe I missed it? I also couldn't resist these sweet mint jammies with the mommy and baby zebras. Too cute!

Concealer // Matte Balm in Showy

Friday morning, I used the last of my Holy Grail concealer (see my HG Post to see what else I swear by) so I needed to pick one up asap. This is probably my 4th or 5th, maybe even my 6th tube of this stuff? I swear by it and wear it every single day. I've tried a lot of concealers and they don't work as well for me as this and still look natural without giving me a raccoon eye. After falling in love with Revlon's Honey, I wanted a bright shade to add and Showy is perfection!! It really stains and a swatch on my hand took forever and some makeup remover to get it all off. Another win! I posted a quick shot of it on Instagram if you'd like to see it on, but I'm sure I'll be posting about it more!

ClarityRX

So, Hyluronic Acid is a huge skincare trend right now, I first heard about it from Meg (I know you're all shocked, since most of my beauty products come from her reviews), and then I started seeing it everywhere! ClarityRX sent me this sample and after using it for just a few days, I could see such a huge difference I ordered more immediately! From their site, "This hydrator serum, made with a water-soluble formula, erases dull and dry skin, leaving you with a supple complexion." My skin is so soft, it's no wonder at all why all the beauty and skin gurus are swearing by this stuff!

We ended the weekend like we usually do, more laundry, some good food, and more snuggles. It was another nice weekend for us together. I was able to relax and get a lot done around the house. Now I'm all ready to take the week head on! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, thank you for stopping by and reading!