Benjamin and I have been keeping a bit quiet, enjoying our new daughter Juniper Blue. I’ve spent hours nursing and rocking her, and just staring at her beautiful face.
She was born December 7 and already has changed so much in the short time we’ve had her. Her little personality is starting to develop and her expressions are so varied and fun to watch.
She is simply adorable and we are having so much fun being her parents. Here are some pics from the hospital.
She is such a good baby (knock on wood!). She sleeps well at night, only getting up about twice to nurse. She barely cries unless I’m moving too slow to feed her. She enjoys tummy time and sitting with Daddy while he reads her books or plays music.
Her favorite song is Stevie Wonder’s You Are The Sunshine of My Life. We literally played that once a day over coffee while I was carrying her. When we were in the hospital there was one moment when we couldn’t soothe her (I had trouble nursing…who knew that didn’t come naturally!?). Benjamin played her song and she immediately calmed down. So funny!
Everyone is telling us to enjoy her and live in the moment because they grow up fast. And we’ve been doing just that. We’ve been a bit neglectful of the blog and the FB Group, but we’re back at it now! We have lots planned for 2018.
But, when you own your own business, you DO eventually have to get back to work even if just a little bit! So, to celebrate the birth of our daughter (and to make up a bit of income lost while hibernating with her) we’re having a huge sale!
Enjoy 50% off all eBooks and eClasses at LovinSoap.com for 48 hours only.
(Price on website reflects sales price. Sale ends January 21 at midnight CT. Does not apply to software, guest eBooks and consulting/coaching.)
Thank you!
And please know how grateful we are for your business. Because of you and your support of LovinSoap.com we are both able to be with her during this time. That is a huge blessing and gift. Thank you!
p.s. Any advice for new parents? Please leave a comment for us! 🙂 🙂
Congratulations on becoming parents! Hi Juniper! Thank you for sharing your non soap life with us. Take good care.
Beautiful baby, just relax! Sleep when the baby sleep.
Congratulations! Welcome to our world baby Juniper Blue! She is so adorable. So happy for you & Benjamin. Keep up the nursing it gets easier (& certainly a lot easier than dealing with bottles). You’ll both be great parents because you’re such wonderful people. Blessings to you 3.?
Congratulations!!! Live one a day at the time hug her kiss her!!! God Bless you all !!!!
Congratulations to you both, enjoy every minute with your lovely daughter. I blinked and my daughter is now almost 15, I still marvel at the life I helped create, children are awesome. Thank you for your advice, blogs over the years, the help has been invaluable. Wishing you all the best
Congrats! Yes breastfeeding is a learned skill.. Please find a trusted lactation consultant, or a successful breast feeder and get help if you need it. RARELY do you need to quit nursing for any reason. yes, many give up in the difficult first month. But stick with it, you will be rewarded with a happy mom, happy baby. There is no shame in bottle feeding, if that is what you MUST do for whatever reason, but Breast is Best is not just an empty cliche! Your care provider and peds can usually steer you in a helpful support direction…
good luck! enjoy every minute! marianne , C.N.M., M.S.N
Congratulations, parenting is the best experience in life, you all look fantastic. My advice is as soon as you have everything finally figured out and settled into a routine, it will inevitably change the very next day. So, just start working on a new one.
She is beautiful 🙂 Savour each moment, as it seems to fly by so fast and you end up forgetting what some things were like. DO take notes of milestones – I planned to and kept thinking I’d remember. Wrong! If you feel tired, take a nap when she does. Try and get ‘sleep credit’ for those times you are tired and can’t sleep as she is awake and wanting feeding. We are all told that breast milk is the best for our babies. Whilst this is true, we are rarely told that breast feeding might just not work. If it doesn’t, don’t sweat it – you are not alone. We continued trying for 3 months and I was utterly exhausted, thinking it would eventually work and the cycle of trying to breast feed, expressing and then bottle feeding would end. It didn’t and, with hindsight, I should have saved myself at least 2 months of anguish. No doubt you will get loads of advice of what is right and what is wrong, and a lot of it might be conflicting. My advice? Trust your instincts. X
Congratulations¡ beautiful baby an lovely family. No advise. Jus listen tu all well intended advise but do what feels good to you and husband. All the very bes wishes to you.
Congratulations on Juniper Blue! She’s beautiful. As the mother of 5 growing and grown children, please take a deep breath…and know that your children grow and thrive often in SPITE of you (and your well meaning mistakes) 🙂 my most important mommy advice? Be a consistent parent. Decide how you want to parent, and parent with consistency. Juniper Blue will love that and find security in that consistency. And thanks for the sale, I’m already enjoying Benjamin’s essential oils for men, I’m going to buy a couple more today!
Congratulations!!! I wish you all the health and happiness of the world..I have a 3,5 years old little girl and I have only one advice I give to all new parents…many people, mainly from the older generation will tell you not to spoil her with hugs, let her cry out, let her learn to play by herself etc etc..just don’t listen to them!!!! A baby can never be spoiled enough with love and cuddles!!!!! My baby was stuck on me..from day 1 she wanted only to be held, and only by me, nobody else..so I gave her what she needed…constant hugs..I was like a koala bear…constantly carrying a baby on me…constantly talking, reading, singing, teaching her stuff..just constantly!! and in the night I never let her cry more than a few seconds..I would go immediately (of course I was lucky with that…she would sleep all night long from very early..although she was breast-feeding she wouldn’t wake up for nursing at all after 3 months old, she loved sleep more than my milk!!!)..was it easy? No. Was it exhausting? Amazingly, there were days I thought I would die from exhaustion..my house always a mess..I have to say though that her dad was very devoted and affectionate as well. the results of all this??? An amazingly happy little girl, very independent and mature, who never cries, who always smiles and laughs, very polite, plays very calm, loves and takes care of her toys, they are all like brand new, we can very easily go out with her in super-market and even toys stores, she never asks to buy anything, we go out to restaurants and staff and she never annoys, she doesn’t even need toys to keep busy,she just talks with us, she speaks since 18 months old, she shares easily, she is very cooperative, very social with anyone, and we never have to yell at her, she accepts very easily directions. She started this year going to school and she adopted very easily from the first day, the teacher was super surprised!! So, was all the exhaustion of the first months worth it??? Definitely. One more thing, probably around 3-4 months old you may feel anxiety that you don’t have enough breast milk, she doesn’t eat enough and you may start thinking quitting breast feeding. Just don’t! This will be a period of about 2 weeks that you may feel even desperate!! Just hang on in there! If she grows, she eats enough. if you manage to overcome this difficult period, then breast feeding becomes like honeymoon, quick and easy! It is exactly the period that most moms quit..just go on…me,after managing to overcome these difficult 2 weeks full of despare, I then breast fed for 20 months, until she stopped by herself. I have to tell you that I was not the “mom” type of women. I never wanted children, the pregnancy was totally accidental and a huge surprise, I never wanted to breast feed etc. But when it came up, I decided to let my baby guide me how to raise her, I was just listening her needs and covering them. AND I left my career as a scientist and stayed full time at home with her for 3 years. Science will be OK without me, my baby not! So, if I managed to do this, then certainly any other woman in the world can! I wish you all the best!
She’s a Bonnie wee thing well done and Congrats to you!, only advice I can give two things very important for nursing mums.
1. Drink half a litre of room temp water before and immediately after breastfeeding. Good for her……..excellent for you. She’ll be well hydrated and it’s great for in fact health. Also helps you on many levels.
2. Sleep when she sleeps. On a practical level…. Conquer the urge to do stuff when she is asleep. Like cleaning, cooking, business stuff etc. And on a new mummy level. Drink in the experience of just laying down and being with her. That new baby emotion is over in the blink of an eye, they grow up so fast. Mine are four and eight. I still watch them when they sleep.
Best wishes,
Amanda
Congratulations!? she is a bundle of joy . A beautiful family! Try to get sleep when you can. When mommy get cranky, thinhs around house become difficult ?
Welcome Juniper Blue! Congratulations to the beautiful parents-Amanda & Benjamin! May you have a wonderful experience together, Blessings to you!
CONGRATS to the both of you!!! She is so adorable. I love love the pic with all three of you together. That shows it all right there. I am a mom of 6 and Grandma of 2. My best advice is never let her “cry it out”. I can’t tell you how many times I heard from people to just let my kids cry because they will get spoiled. I’m happy to say that all of my kids are well adjusted and definitely spoiled with love and lots of it because I didn’t listen to those people. One last thing is to Amanda. If you develop post partum depression don’t be afraid to seek help. I never got help because I thought they would take my babies away. It is a heavy cross to carry on your own and so much they can do to help now. May your days be richly blessed as a new family.
Dear Dorothy, I just wanted to congratulate you for your attitude!! I just wrote my big story above for my full-day hugs to my baby and what a wonderful 3-years old she is now. But I had to do it against everyone else, my mother, my mother in law, other relatives etc..who were all fighting me that I am spoiling her..thankfully my husband was supporting me and he was very affectionate as well..I just wish I had someone like you around these days..it would just be so much easier! All my love!
Enjoy her, sniff her, touch her. They grow up sok fast!
Awww, she’s soo adorable! Look at that smile. Congratulations to you both and thanks for sharing with us.
My advice for you is to ENJOY THIS TIME WHILE! They grow up so fast and it feels like a blink of an eye and they are graduating high school. By the way, your baby girl was born on my birthday!!
Congrats to you both. I’m a Ganny now and totally love it. I have loved babies and little people my entire life. Our oldest son’s partner is a Midwife so I get to talk baby all the time and love it. My advise to you both is to be kind and clear. Some people believe as a parent you should be firm. Don’t ever be firm. Just the word firm puts a different look on our face and makes us feel a strong emotion. Don’t ever be firm with your child, be clear. I teach horsemanship and I’ll tell you right now that when I am firm with a horse they don’t respond well to it, but when I am clear in my request they are more likely to respond without a bad attitude. Not only children and horses but every person will respond much more positively when we are clear in our instructions vs firm. Also here is a big one … when Juniper Blue needs to be disciplined (when she is a lot older) lol make sure the punishment matches the crime and don’t say… example… “I’m taking your bike, special toy etc. away for 1 week when you know you will give it back in a couple of hours. haha . In that case only take it away for a couple of hours. Be CLEAR and follow through. Be strong and don’t give in until that time limit is up. It will be hard, but do it. Another one NO really does mean NO! My hubby and I raised 2 sons who are kind, intelligent, and great parents themselves now. They make us proud everyday. Oh here is a big one… You both will make many mistakes in the years to come with Juniper Blue, but trust me it will all work out in the end.
So happy for you! I just had my first grandchild this year and it brings it all back:) There is nothing more precious than your child & there never will be! The one thing I’d suggest is, no matter how much you want to, don’t hold her ALL the time. It’s difficult not to, especially with your first, but it truly is SO GOOD FOR THEM to learn to lay on a blanket and play with a mobile or their toes, or be in a bouncer trying to grab at toys hanging over her. It’s the one thing I wish my son had listened to me about. As my precious one got older he started to be a bit of a pill about being put down, taking naps, going to bed, etc… Now they’re having to work on fixing the problem because he won’t sleep by himself, he won’t nap unless someone is holding him, he’s having a hard time entertaining himself in a walker, car seat, or playpen for more than a couple of seconds. It truly is SO much easier to teach these things from the start than to have to correct the problems it causes later. Remember, you brought her into a life you & your husband worked hard to build together. She will happily adjust to that life rather than vice versa. Your main job as parents is to raise her to be a happy, strong, moral, kind, & self reliant adult. Enjoy! There’s nothing better in the world than being parents.
Congratulations Amanda and Benjamin! Dreams do come true!
I LOVE your beautiful baby girls name, and is she a beauty!
I also love that your nursing. There is an adjustment period, Juniper will let you know what she needs, when she’s having a growth spurt and when she’s not..pump. ?
Continue to savor this, “These Are The Days”
Congratulations – and great jobs you are all doing – what a happy family!
Ha! I’m a December 7th baby. We have minds of our own ! Hearts of gold! Good luck!
I am now a great-grandma but I remember my first as if it was yesterday. I was always concerned he wasn’t taking enough milk .. he was taking 3 ounces actually lol. I was so nervous that it was interfering with our bonding until my mom, bless her, told me that the best gift I could give my baby was a calm mom who did as you are, taking time to look into each other’s eyes .. do you know as your child grows, you can still get the same feeling as their eyes never really change? It’s all about patterns .. building them now solidifies the bond between baby and mom and dad .. rituals trigger memories .. never break them if at all possible .. they will remain forever as a way to connect even in rough times. Your baby has it all right now … love, parents who adore her and are spending the time to bond .. the song is a ritual – a bond that she recognized .. build many of them .. fill up your mind with her smell, her little quirks that don’t photograph .. the feel of her skin on yours .. blessings on your precious family.
Thanks for sharing your little sprig with us .I hated being nosy – but I searched for a glimpse of her everywhere ! So enCOURAGED seeing you read and snuggle with her .
My goodness… she is her daddys clone …
KEEP READING !
Keep exposing her to music , weather and hiking and your happy conversations and singing — , her joy foundation is built by you !
Love the skin to skin contact! Always a good idea. And she got a bow on her hat like we used to do at North Kanas City Hospital. Enjoy this time, it goes by so fast, even though you feel exhausted sometimes. Use common sense, try not to sweat the small stuff. Like with my first, I freaked out when I realized I had put her shirt on inside out. She didn’t care, why did I? First time parents almost always think everything was to be perfect when all the baby wants or needs is to be loved, fed and warm and dry.