What a successful week we have had at our home; and that calls for a celebration with Meg and High Five Friday.



As you know this week I am hosting my very first giveaway, so make sure you have entered. It is not just for girls - you pick your product color or design from the shops.
I finally got my blog Facebook Page up! Go hit like so you can stay up to date and be involved with what I am working on. Oh, and have you seen the fabulous new layout? Misty at Us and Him is responsible, I just love her.

Lilly and I made it to baby sign for the first time this week! Something we have been trying to do for like a month, but we always end up sleeping in. Our Matching shirts from Mama Case Prints came, and I just love matching my mini. Lilly has slept through the night for the last three nights! She must have known mama was in need of some sleep.

Also, my Jamberry Launch party wrapped up, although orders can still be added! If you want adorable nails that don't chip go get some wraps here ladies!

I am looking for people who are interested in being a part of my Behind the Blog is a series. Behind the Blog is where fellow bloggers guest post telling us a little about themselves and give insight into the person behind the blog. There are so many blogs out there, and so many great ones get buried. I want to give people the opportunity to stand out, and introduce themselves. It will also be a great way to find a few new blogs to follow.

To be a part of Behind the Blog I will need you to write a post about yourself and your blog. Please also include your blog site and a few pictures, then email them to littlelillybits (@) gmail.com.

Cant wait to here from you, and get this started!
XO

Sometimes I doubt myself as a mother, and that is normal.
Or at least I think so, but lately it feels like I doubt myself a lot.

I just want Lilly to sleep.
She wakes up and screams for HOURS in the middle of the night.
I know motherhood is hard, but this is making me crazy.
I feel like I have done something wrong.
I broke her, she is broken... and I need some sleep.

The other night after her screaming from 3-4:30 I put her in her crib, closed the door, and went and got back in bed. Actually I went and got on inflatable mattress we have been sleeping on, in the living room, in an attempt to get some sleep. I fell back asleep, and she cried herself to sleep. I seriously felt like a failure of a mother.

I have to remember this will end.
She is a baby, she is not broken.
One day she will sleep, and I will sleep.

Thank you Sara for nominating me for a Liebster Award - like nine million years ago.
I am sorry I am just getting to this, although I took a blogging hiatus for a few months I did not forget about this. 

The Liebster award is designed to help recognize and discover new bloggers. When you are nominated you are given 11 questions to answer on your blog. After answering them you choose 11 other bloggers and send them 11 questions to answer, creating a domino effect.

I first came across Minky Heaven while they were searching to a brand model. Lilly made it to the top three, but was ultimately not chosen. Through that experience I learned how kindhearted and generous the shop owner is, and as a consolation we were sent our first Minky Heaven Bibdana.

The first awesome thing about this shop is although they are reasonably priced to begin with,  they are always hosting giveaways and sales. The bibdana is made with quality fabric, in cute stylish prints, and there are so many options. They are perfect for drooling teething babies, and can be kept on right into meal time. The only downside, you are not going to want to keep them on during meals because you wont want them dirty. All the reason to stock up on them though right?


I am also really excited to announce that a few days ago Lilly was chosen as a Minky Heaven brand enthusiast. We are so excited to represent such a great brand, and support another women making her small business dreams come true.
Please go check out the Minky Heaven's Website and be sure to follow her on Instagram where you can keep updated on sales, and giveaways.

For the last couple years I have worked on and off for the most amazing family as their Nanny. I started watching their two year old, and then recently went back and watched their nine month old for a few months. They are moving on to their next phase in life and it is so hard seeing them go. I have grown to love the family so much, and rather enjoyed being their nanny.

Although I have been approached by other families about working as their Nanny we have decided it is best if I stay home with Lilly. But with all this change what does it really mean? How are we going to start spending our days, and am I really okay without "working"?

At first I wasn't sure if I was even going to reopen my Etsy shop - because honestly I wanted to do nothing. This lasted not even 24 hours. To keep myself occupied and feeling useful I picked up right where I left off.

First I decided to reopen my Etsy shop, I told myself if I get overwhelmed I can always put it back on vacation. I am taking it slow, right now only two items are listed. But I am working hard to revamp Little Lilly bits. I am working on props for a wonder photographer, my first amigurumi items that will be listed, giveaways, and of course new items.

As you have seen previously I also joined the Jamberry team. Right now I am hosting my launch party - if you want an invite let me know!

I am sure you have also noticed the blog is getting a lot more love these days. With more time I am able to put more focus into blogging, and I really am excited about the opportunities that is presenting. I am working on a very exciting giveaway, some awesome product reviews, a new layout, guest posts, and a possible link up. I really have so many ideas, and am so excited to watch this little blog grow.

Probably the most exciting change has been being home with Lilly during the day. Although Lilly went to work with me I still didn't feel like I could give her the attention I wanted. Since no longer working we have started attending baby classes, and going to lots more play dates. It is so awesome watching her interact with other children, and this is honestly what I imagined when I dreamed about life with her.

I am also still trucking along with the CT5K program, and trying to get myself back in shape. I go running three nights a week while Austin gives Lilly her bath and puts her down for bed.

I have felt great staying home so far, not like I am stuck here. I am so blessed to have this family, and although we (obviously) have our difficult moments I couldn't be happier.

I have gone back and forth if I should join the Jamberry Team for a few weeks and last week I finally did it! I came across Jamberry in my Instagram feed and knew I had to try it. As a new mom I find it difficult to find time for myself, much less my nails. Most frustrating, I hated finally painting them just so they could chip a few days later. With Jamberry Nail wraps lasting up to two weeks on your fingers, and six weeks on your toes it really is the perfect solution.



To purchase through me head over to my site.
Also keep yourself in the loop about the latest products, deals, and parties by hitting like on my Facebook Page.

If you follow me on Instagram you saw that on Friday we packed up and headed out on Lilly's first camping trip. Before moving to California Austin and I were avid campers, almost every weekend during those beautiful spring and summer months we packed the Jeep up and headed out. The heat of the desert has put a damper on that, but who says you cant drive out of the desert? We decided to do just that.

I was so excited to get out of town, away from the lure of technology, and just spend some time with my family. Mostly, I was so anxious to do absolutely nothing. I mean we all know camping equals lots of sleep, and this tired Mommy can appreciate that.


We got a late start Friday morning, I slept in. Seriously - tired mama over here! But by one o'clock we were finally in the car with a napping baby, headed out of town. About three hours into our drive we are on the top of a mountain, and there was nothing. I probably should make this clear, I am a campground camper. Not a find your own spot in the woods and camp kind of camper. We clearly had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but with it being close to dinner time, daylight running out, and a baby who was bound to wake up any minute; I took a deep breath and told Austin to find somewhere for us to set up camp.

Austin found a little spot in the woods, and we set up camp. After everything was set up we made some dinner, tacos in a bag - so delicious. By this point it was past Little Bits bed time and she was so tired. I took her into the tent and laid with her until she fell asleep. Austin came in with the dogs and they went to sleep as well.

I was just starting to drift off when I heard Remmy growling. Then I heard steps - this is where every horror scene I have ever seen flashed through my head. I woke Austin up and he listened to the sound, then tried to explain to me that we were in the animals environment blah blah blah. While I know everything he was saying is true, and I know we had a loaded gun, all I felt was this, my Mama Bear instincts were uncontrollable. There was no reasoning with me, I was leaving and there was nothing anybody was going to do to stop me. If it would have been just Austin and I things would have went way differently, I would have sucked it up. But it wasn't just us, that precious girl of mine was asleep in the tent next to me and I couldn't go back to sleep knowing something was around us.

So I got up and started packing. After getting everything inside the tent into the car I got Lilly and put her in the car. She of course woke up and she started crying. As we broke down the tent she cried hysterically, which Austin pointed out just attracts predators - thanks babe. Breaking down the tent in the pitch black felt like it took forever, I seriously was terrified. We finally finished loading it all up, got in the car, and wait for it..... we couldn't find the keys. We unloaded the trunk, shook the tent out, nothing. Finally I thought to check the sleeping bags, sure enough I had folded them up in there. So at 11:30 and we were finally headed down the mountain, and at 1AM we were finally home in our own beds.

We went camping for not even twelve hours.

On our way our I apologized to Austin for ruining our camping trip. His response "don't be sorry, I don't know how bit it was but there was a cat watching us".

I first stumbled upon Kangaroo Care via a friends Facebook post. I instantly was drawn to how cute the necklace was. But something that could help keep Lilly focused while eating, you know I was instantly gravitated towards this product.


My first order from Kangaroo Care was the Light Grey and Charcoal Flower Mama Necklace. My first purchase, and still my favorite. There is so much I love about this necklace. First, I love that wearing it I don't look like I am wearing jewelry to appease my child. It is just plain cute no matter what, and if you follow me on Instagram you see I wear it quite often. But this is where it really grabbed me. When the juniper wood (maybe others, I am not sure) gets wet from the baby chewing on it there is a tingling sensation. How awesome is that for teething! Lilly loved this, she would be hysterically crying and all I had to do was give her the necklace and she was content.
All this is amazing, I mean it alone is enough to buy one of these necklaces, but there is a reason why I go to Kangaroo Care instead of the many other shops out there. The wood from Kangaroo Care is untreated natural wood, not just some wood beads picked up at Michaels or the local craft store. I am not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, but I personally prefer to know my child isnt chewing on treated wood.


Since my first order I have also purchased two bracelets, and one more necklace. Without a doubt we love our products from Kangaroo Care and I am sure there will be many more. I alwasy keep an eye on their Instagram and Facebook page because this company is so awesome and constantly having sales of some sort. If I see they are having a sale, I usually grab something new for me, I mean Lilly.

So much has happened since our last weight check update. In no way does it feel like it has been only 4 weeks. Yesterday with high hopes we took Lilly in, on her ten month birthday (insert ugly crying face here) to see her progress. I mean the girl is GROWING, so we knew it just had to be a good weight check.

Her weight yesterday was 15 pounds and 8 ounces, just shy of the third percentile. This is major for our Little Bit, and the doctor was quite pleased about it. She not only has put on weight but she has finally put some length on as well. The Doctor was happy enough with her progress that he gave us the option of waiting until her regular twelve month well baby for her next appointment, or (if we wanted) have another weight check in a month. Austin felt more comfortable having her seen in another month (he is so cute when it comes to her), so we will be back in another four weeks.

While all this progress is amazing, a lot of nutrition changes have happened to get her here. After the last post regarding her weight we tried transitioning Lilly off the bottle and back onto the breast. I don't even think that lasted a couple days. Baby girl just gets so bored when eating. She would nurse for three minutes tops, and I knew I had no other options but formula. As some of you who have been following our journey know, giving up nursing has been quite the struggle for me. But at the end of the day, Lilly getting nutrition is the most important thing

So right now Lilly drinks bottles for her main form of nutrition. We have solids at breakfast, lunch, and dinner times. Then she nurses in the middle of the night, or if she needs comfort. It is the best case scenario, and at the end of the day, the most important thing is that Lilly is thriving.