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My kids are the cutest.

Gaelyn • 2 Comments

Oliver really likes the new Macklemore and Ryan Lewis song “Dance Off”.

We have an Amazon Echo (Alexa) and he is always trying to request for her to play it…although she can not understand him. On Monday morning when he woke up we heard him try to request it. There is not an amazon echo in his room but there is a Sonos so we qued it up to play magically and he jumped out of bed and got his monday started right and we caught it all on the baby monitor.

We had been filming little bits of both Oliver and Elliot dancing to this song because its kind of been on repeat at our house lately. John put all the clips together in a little video. This is all them actually dancing to this particular song, its not tricky editing. Oliver is working on his break dance skills and Elliot has always had amazing rhythm.

Hope it brings a smile to some of your faces, personally I cant get enough.

Sleep. Or lack there of.

Gaelyn • 10 Comments

My Corner View

I haven’t really posted much… probably because I don’t sleep much. For the most part, this blog is often about fashion. But part of my story is that I’m a mother of two and sometimes I like to blog about that too.

So this post, is about sleep…or lack there of. And how, to my disappointment, the Dock-a-Tot was not the saving grace I hoped it would be. And how, almost one year into this whole “mom of two” thing, I still haven’t quite figured it out. And it’s not all the babies fault.

Our oldest son Oliver (almost 3) was always a great sleeper. As a baby, he self soothed from a a very young age and would easily put himself to sleep. Once he learned his schedule, he would fall asleep at nap time on the dot, no matter where we were. Seriously, anywhere.

Our youngest son Elliot (almost 1) has always had a harder time with sleep. If put down he would scream and cry and sweat and get himself all worked up- fast! We spent a lot of nights co-sleeping. I spent a lot of nights as a human pacifier. I spent a few nights in tears. I couldn’t eat dinner with the family. I would have to go to bed at 7 because he did – and he wouldn’t sleep alone. I would spend weeks waking every 40 mins, or every two hours, when he did.

Fast forward to now.

Just a couple months shy of his first birthday and sleep has improved dramatically for Elliot. On week days, after daycare he sleeps like a dream, as far as I’m concerned. He’s asleep by 6:45 or 7 and sleeps uninterrupted until about 3:30 or 4 at which point he wakes to nurse and then goes back to bed relatively easily until morning. “Morning” varies, but I usually just bring him into our bed if he wakes again anytime before 6am.
Weekends are a different story and we are working on that. (MORE ON THIS LATER)

My Corner View

Oliver, just a few months shy of his third birthday is suddenly fighting sleep like nobodies business. No matter how much routine and structure I have, we have to fight tooth and nail until about 10 PM most nights to get him to sleep. And THEN half the time he will wake us all up at 5 AM!
I’m pretty sure its developmental. He recently upgraded to a big boy bed. He is potty training. His language is exploding. He is more and more autonomous. Its been about a month and a half of this.

Unfortunately, where daycare days are a saving grace for Elliot, I think the opposite is true for Oliver. Both boys attend an in home family daycare, with just one other kid. So schedule is paramount and everyone is on the same schedule. That means Oliver still naps twice a day and I think at his age he would probably benefit from less nap and a normal bedtime. On weekends, we cant seem to get him to nap twice anyway so we typically wear him out and try to get him to bed at a more reasonable hour.

Okay, so…now you know what we are dealing with. I typically spend from about 6 pm to 10 pm putting children to bed. After coming home from my 9-6 job.

me looking exhausted

me looking exhausted

So I recently had a nervous breakdown. No joke. Lack of sleep can and will do that to you. I was uncontrollably sobbing, things felt out of control. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t handle it anymore. It was just too much. Everyone has a tipping point for how much sleep is necessary and apparently 10 months of terrible sleep was my tipping point.

Let me go back to explaining Elliot’s weekend sleep.

You see, Elliot has come to know the difference between daycare and home. And so it seems he sleeps one way on week days and another on weekends.

I know babies and sleep are a hot subject. I know there are strong opinions on what you should and should not do. And what methods are “right” and “wrong”. I think I have tried all methods. And so I feel confident in saying that what’s “right” is whatever works for you, your baby and your family and gets everyone sleeping. This seems to be the best method for avoiding mental breakdowns.

I have tried it all, none of it is really working for us. What’s important to me is that he gets good sleep, it’s key for his health and his brain development. It’s also important to me that I get good sleep. It’s key for me to function as a patient mother and a human.

After months of deliberating. Ordering, then canceling, then debating again and again, I bought a Dock-A-Tot. I seriously could not find ONE BAD REVIEW!!! So many parents described what sounded just like my baby. Reviews like: “He used to only nap for 20 minutes at a time. On our first day using the dock a tot, he napped for THREE HOURS!” — Okay. Stop. Take all my money. I was desperate. And it seemed to work for EVERYONE! So I bought it. Unfortunately, on my first day (nor any subsequent day – YET), it did not increase our 20-40 minute nap time. Que nervous breakdown. Wait, you mean, this random pillow bed thing is NOT my saving grace? COME ON MAN! I needed a miracle. I was hoping for a miracle.

My Corner View

Back to hotly debated baby sleep techniques.

Our daycare provider “sleep trains”. When they first start at daycare she lets them cry.

I was never opposed to this method per say. It worked fine with Oliver. He never got too worked up and like I said, he was a great sleeper. However, Elliot is quite stubborn and he would get super worked up super fast. So it didn’t seem like the right approach for him. All babies are different. So like I said, I read and tried many different approaches in addition to whatever my own instincts told me for 10 months. But still, no sleep.

Elliot has been sleeping great on weekdays for a few months now. He goes down easy. He can be laid down drowsy but awake. It’s magical.

And so….

I have come to the conclusion that we will have to let him “cry it out” – to some degree.

Last weekend I started trying it. I’m not going to let him cry for hours on end. In fact, I wont let him cry for more than 20 minutes before going in to reassure him and hold him and settle him again. And in fact, last weekend, he only cried for 20 minutes one time. Each time after got shorter.

It’s always hard to hear you baby cry.

As he gets older, its reassuring for me to hear that his cry often sounds like his brothers cry (when he is really tired) and with his brother I know “he’s just tired”. Its also reassuring for me to know that he is capable of doing this and HAS done this at daycare. And that once we get past the hard part, he sleeps better!

My Corner View

I felt prompted to write this post for two reasons.

1. Because seriously, there was not one bad review to be found on the Dock A Tot. And even this is not a “bad” review. But if like me, there is a mama out there searching the internet for answers in the middle of the night. Don’t put all your eggs in the Dock-A-Tot basket or you might be headed for a nervous breakdown haha. I do think in time, in addition to other sleep “training” techniques, the Dock A Tot can help him settle and feel secure and cuddled. And I like to think that it can only help our sleep situation.

2. Because parenting is really really hard. No, really. It’s insanely hard. And sometimes we don’t talk about it. And we see people on social media and think they all have it together. And so I’m writing this to help out that one mama who feels alone and helpless. To reminder her that she is not.

If you do feel like trying the Dock A Tot…I mean, why not, I’m apparently the only one on the internet saying it didn’t work.. here is a discount code for you , because they are pricey.

Year in Review

Gaelyn • 2 Comments

Yikes, allow me to dust off the ol’ blog here. There appears to be QUITE A LOT of dust! I apologize. But if you have been wondering what on earth we have been doing…..here is our year in review. Its been a busy busy busy year. There was a lot of coffee involved haha.

Happy New Year! xo

Well Rounded NY feature

Gaelyn • Leave a Comment

Hello friends, I’m happy to report, that if you didn’t see the news on Instagram, we welcomed our second son on May 20th: Elliot Floyd Jenkins.

My Corner View

A few days before giving birth to Elliot I did a little interview with WellRoundedNY.com where I talk about my maternity style, nursery inspiration,  being a working mama and more. Hop on over and check it out! Keeping this entry short and sweet because I’m currently nursing Elliot and typing with one hand. haha.

xo

My Corner View

Final Stretch

Gaelyn • 2 Comments

I’m in the final stretch now! I’m finishing out my last week in the office. Next week I will work from home for one week. Then after that I start maternity leave whether baby shows up or not! With Oliver, I planned on spending all of my leave with him so I didn’t plan on leaving work until 39 weeks. I figured, hey its a desk job, its not like I’m on my feet all day. My leave is not paid (aside from California state partial pay for a few weeks) and as a first time mom I knew that I wanted to spend as much time as possible with the baby. But little did I know he would show up at 38 weeks on the dot! Luckily for me, he waited until Friday night after work to start labor. So this time around, I decided I should be working at home starting at 37 weeks just in case I have another early arrival. I’d really rather not go into labor at work. But who knows, every pregnancy is different. Maybe baby number two will decide to be stubborn and wait till 41 weeks (dear god, please don’t haha). We shall see. But I’m excited about potentially having a little down time- a little me time- this time around. Maybe I’ll get my nails done. Maybe papa and I can catch a mid day movie date while Oliver’s at daycare! It’s the little things guys. I might never see a movie again.

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

As my mother said when shes saw these photos “Yeowza! He’s looking ready to arrive!” or my mother in law when she saw this photo titled “final stretch”  said “Literally- Stretch!” Haha.

Baby is measuring exactly as he should be. But Oliver didn’t measure large either so…we shall see, I’m a tiny lady.

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

Always with that damn tongue Peeps!

My Corner View - 36 weeks- Maternity Style

Pregnancy Status: 36 weeks and some change

Dress: NOM maternity (nursing friendly for post baby!!) Similar (non nursing friendly version) here
Headscarf: Levi’s
Denim Vest: another one from the Target little girls section
Shoes: not converse, in fact, these shoes were literally $3 at RiteAid pharmacy! haha

Sleepy Grump

Gaelyn • Leave a Comment

Poor me. Woe is me. Pregnancy is tiring. Pregnancy with a toddler is tiring. Pregnancy while working is tiring. Woe is me. Pity Party. Hahaha. But really though, the general sentiment today was ” is it bedtime yet?” But I imagine you don’t have to be nearly 9 months pregnant to agree with that sentiment.

My Corner View - 35 weeks- Maternity Style

My Corner View - 35 weeks- Maternity Style

My Corner View - 35 weeks- Maternity Style

Pregnancy Status: 35 weeks

Top Knot Hair courtesy of “mama aint got time to wash that hair”

Top: Old Navy Maternity

Jeans: Target Jeggings (non maternity- fully buttoned and comfy! No Maternity price tag…..so…basically…. they are magic!) More info and link in this post

Flannel: Uniqlo

SHoes: Birkenstocks (via Nordstrom)

Love My Veggies

Gaelyn • 10 Comments

 

Love My Veggies

It’s no secret that my Oliver likes to eat. We are very fortunate to have raised a healthy little foodie who generally eats his veggies. But there are days, where, like most toddler moms I worry about making sure he gets veggies in! Sometimes it’s a busy work week and we are low on groceries. Sometimes, I just don’t have the time needed to make a fancy toddler lunch and steam different veggies every day of the week. Or like this last week, O has been recovering from a nasty cold virus. He has had a decreased appetite and I’m happy if he eats anything! But then I secretly worry that maybe strawberries and graham cracker bunnies wasn’t the best lunch. Happy Family’s new Love My Veggies organic tot snacks to the rescue!

Love My Veggies

You may have noticed, I don’t do a lot of sponsored posts. But I do share what I love with my readers. When Happy Families asked if we would want to participate in their Love My Veggies challenge we were super excited. First of all, I love and trust this brand. When it comes to feeding my kids, I’m skeptical of ingredient lists on a lot of brands that aim their snacks at kids. From the get-go I loved that when I would read the back of the package on Happy Family products the ingredients were simple and pure. And typically read something like this: Organic broccoli, organic apples. Yes!

Happy Family’s new Love My Veggies organic tot snacks are the first toddler pouch to contain one full serving of vegetables (One serving of vegetables is 1/4 cup). In addition to one full serving of vegetables, Love My Veggies pouches provide essential nutrients including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron and Magnesium to help nourish toddlers’ growing bodies. And for those of you with veggie haters, they are all mixed with fruit so your toddler will be none the wiser, and you can sneak those veggies in without them knowing!

Love My Veggies

Love My Veggies pouches are available in three great-tasting varieties including:
• banana, beet, squash & blueberry
• carrot, banana, mango & sweet potato
• spinach, apple, sweet potato & kiwi
and you can pick up a 4-pack of 4.22 oz. Love My Veggies pouches at Target for $5.89.

I’VE TEAMED UP WITH HAPPY FAMILIES TO GIVEAWAY THE SAME PACKAG THAT OLIVER AND I RECEIVED TO ONE LUCKY READER.
IT INCLUDES A 4 PACK BOX OF EACH OF THE THREE NEW FLAVORS, A LOVE MY VEGGIES PLEDGE SHEET AND A FUN VEGGIE NUMBERS PLACE-MAT!

TO ENTER LEAVE A  COMMENT TELLING ME HOW YOU DISCOVERED MY CORNER VIEW AND THE AGE OF YOUR CHILD (OR CHILDREN) AND OLIVER AND I WILL PICK A WINNER ON MAY 13TH! HOORAY FOR VEGGIES!

Love My Veggies Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED: CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER ASHLEY J!

 

Slow down.

Gaelyn • 1 Comment

My Corner View

I’m busy. I’m always busy. Lately my mind has been busy too. Usually this isn’t the case for me. I’m never one to lay awake at night with my mind wandering  (which is a blessing)  but at the same time I’m never one to take the time to really stop and reflect. I think that often times worriers reflect and reflectors worry. My usual mind set is to live in the moment. Things happen and things get done and I just keep chugging along. Maybe its motherhood and pregnancy hormones…okay, I can almost guarantee that’s what it is…but lately I’m just feeling….busy. I’m longing for an idealistic day where we all wake slowly and savor every minor detail of the day, where we lock eyes often and eat slowly in the sun. But if I’m honest, those moments are rare. And even on weekends when we have slow dreamy sun filled days, there are still moments of rushing and busy work. There are moments when toddlers whine as I rush to make lunch. There are loads of laundry to be done. And things to put away or do before I forget, because with pregnancy brain, I am sure to forget. And most days are full of routine and rushing out the door on time for daycare/work.

My Corner View

But I’m trying to find the small moments here and there that I can momentarily pause. Short moments to savor. Moments spent alone with Oliver, because soon they will be rare, as his only child days are numbered. I’ve taken to keeping the radio off in the car until after I drop Oliver off at daycare. So that I can spend the 10-15 minute drive listening to him practicing his words and engaging him in conversation. Finding moments to stop and savor the feeling of baby turns and kicks inside my belly. Because who knows if my belly will ever hold tiny baby turns and kicks again. To acknowledge the blessing of having tiny baby clothes to wash and fold and organize. To bump my pregnant belly against my husbands for a quick hug and laugh in the kitchen while we think about how cool it is that our son can play alone in his room while we sneak a quick kiss in the kitchen. And today I’ve decided to take a little moment for myself, to go home to a quiet empty house for lunch and try to do a little nesting/organizing. Not only taking a rare little moment of quiet time but knowing that in doing so I can slow down and focus on family when I come home from work tonight.

My Corner View

Third Trimester!?

Gaelyn • Leave a Comment

My Corner View - 27 weeks with baby 2

Still not sure I’ve really wrapped my head around the fact that I will be a mother of two soon. As an only child myself, it’s a bit of a foreign concept. I knew I always wanted children and always hoped I would have multiple – but that idea coming to fruition is still not fully realized. But I feel so grateful that we will soon have two. I know that even after this bean is born, it will still take time to get comfortable with and I know that the moments of gratefulness will be interspersed with moments of total F-ing chaos but we’re okay with that. And we’ve already learned that the gratefulness always outweighs the chaos and even in the chaos you have to find the time to be grateful. As a mother, my mind is forever busy and my heart is forever full.

My Corner View - 27 weeks with baby 2

My Corner View - 27 weeks with baby 2

creeper face

My Corner View - 27 weeks with baby 2

My Corner View - 27 weeks with baby 2

My Corner View - 27 weeks with baby 2

My Corner View - 27 weeks with baby 2

not my dog

 

Pregnancy Status: 27 weeks 3 days

Dress: Nom Maternity (purchased on super sale)

Sweater: an ancient J.Crew cardigan

Shoes: Converse

 

 

Stripes: 19 weeks

Gaelyn • 5 Comments

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

My Corner View: 19weeks baby#2

Mindbogglingly we are nearly halfway through this second pregnancy already! The fact that we didn’t have ultrasound confirmation till almost 15 weeks makes it all the crazier. I sort of had to put the whole pregnancy at the back of my mind and not think too much about (for fear of thinking negative thoughts until I had positive affirmations from doctors) and so now that I am able to embrace being pregnant and make it public, it’s almost as if its all new to me as well! I’m really just starting to wrap my head around the fact that I’m pregnant! Baby is big enough now that strangers feel confident asking about him- they are no longer unsure if maybe I just had one too many holiday cookies- which is making it all the more real suddenly! Yay for baby bumps!

 

Top: Zara

Jeans: Old Navy

Hat: Urban Outfitters

Boots: Vince Camuto

 

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Hi, I’m Gaelyn


In short; I'm a graphic designer/illustrator by trade who moonlights as a mama, a wife, a blogger and a filmmaker. I'm really into fashion. And puppies. Definitely into puppies.

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