Doterra Oils: My Current Obsession

I'm obsessed. I recently met with a Doterra Independent Product Consultant because I was super curious about essential oils. I have a number of friends back where I went to college in Washington that use them and I had to find out more for myself. 

A week or so later, these beauties (I purchased the Home Essentials Kit) arrived at my doorstep and I have already begun using these amazing oils. I have a lot to learn, but I truly believe this is a great step in a good, healthy direction for my family and I. It could also become another business venture for me if I decide to host classes and sell products myself. I see that in my future at some point. Right now, I am learning everything I can about the oils and using them on my family. 

My baby's cradle cap is already disappearing far quicker than any other thing we've tried. I am using a drop of Melaleuca and some coconut oil. 

My husband's muscles ache a lot due to his line of work and he is trying out the Deep Blue Rub. 

I am excited to try our diffuser in our home. I went with this one since it was cheaper. Not Doterra, so we will see if it works well or not. 

I used lavender (with a carrier oil) on Marin's feet last night and she seems to sleep better. I think at first she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I might try diffusing lavender in her room as well at night. 

I'm sure I will write about these products again. I have just begun to skim the surface. 

Do you use essential oils in your daily life? What is your daily routine? 

Baby Marin: Week Six

Six weeks. Week six. I now have only 35 days until I return back to work full time. Who's counting? Clearly I am. Clearly I'm not fully ready to return just yet. I want to just hang out with my kid all day, write my blog, work on some other business ventures, and scrub my kitchen. That sounds good to me.  I plan to embrace the next 35 days with gusto, with determination, with a focused passion for the little details in the everyday and to witness every little change in our little girl as she continues to grow far too quickly. I want to soak it all in.

This week is going to be a good one. My first order of Doterra oils should be arriving on my doorstep any day now. I had my 6 week postpartum appointment yesterday and I plan to dive head first into really exercising again. So far it's just been little walks here and there. I'm ready for some intensity in my workouts, to really feel it the next day. It's been a while, that's for sure. My jeans (well, not my old jeans, the ones that are a way larger size than I'd like at the moment) still don't fit well. Nothing fits well. It's true what they say: your post-pregnancy body is very different from your pre-pregancny body. Even though I'm slowly losing the weight, everything has settled different. Jean shopping isn't one my favorite things right now. Yoga pants are lovely. Elastic is my friend.

Marin is still growing like a weed. I am always surprised in the morning when I sit down to nurse her and realize that she feels bigger than the night before. Every time she smiles, Ryan and I can't help but comment on how adorable our child is. We made that. We are some proud parents, that's for sure. No shame in that, right?

We are so close to sleeping through the night. Sunday night she slept from about 9:30pm to almost 5:00am! Hallelujah! I know going into week six, we will probably see a growth spurt which is probably going to alter our sleep schedule yet again, but I'm rejoicing while I can. I feel far more like a functioning human being now that I'm sleeping a little more every night. Thank you, baby. Thank you.

We are still working on getting rid of cradle cap and baby acne. My current remedy is coconut oil, which seems to be helping far more than anything else we've tried. I'm also going to try altering my diet a bit this week and see if that helps. I love me some dairy: yogurt, cheese, milk, etc. But, it could be affecting her skin? I'm also going to try and back away from stuff that's too spicy (I will maybe have put a hold on the sriracha that I just bought. Sad day.) Maybe it will help, maybe it won't. There seems to be a lot of opinions out there on the subject. There's a lot of trial and error when it comes to breast feeding.

Our little girl is 42 days old. 42 days. She'll be in college before we know it. I don't want to blink and miss anything.

Baby Marin: Week 5

We are sleeping much better around these parts. The past few nights, we've only gotten up once with Marin around 2:30 or 3:30am and then I'm up with her again in the early morning. This is a joyous change. I should quit talking about it so I don't jinx it.

Smiles are slowly creeping into our everyday around here. Marin responds to us a lot more lately and her little grin is starting to light up rooms everywhere she goes. I love being able to see little snippets of her personality showing through every day.

We are slowly battling a bit of cradle cap and baby acne. I feel like I am raising a little teenager because of her poor little skin. We've tried a few remedies and nothing is really working. Any suggestions out there?  I know it will pass but I feel bad for her little face right now! 

Tummy Time

Last week marked the first time I ventured out to the grocery store alone with Marin. She was so zonked out in her car seat that she probably didn't even realize that we weren't at home hanging out with the cat.

She spent some time with each set of grandparents so we could have a date night and so I could have a pampering day that involved a much need massage, manicure, and pedicure. She also visited her Great Grandparents. We've been doing  a lot of visiting lately. A lot of car trips. A lot of cuddles with every member of our families. That's how it's supposed to be. It takes a village, right?

This past week was a good one.

One final photo from this week. I posted this on Instagram (username: bailyhollen). Be still my heart.