This post is sponsored by Evivo but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
HI, FRIENDS! sorry it has been months since I’ve posted. I’ve just been terribly busy (lazy about blogging) and now that Warner is mobile, it is an entirely new ball game at Fry Casa. I just laid him down for a nap so I could type this in peace! Just kidding- not about the nap, about the “peace”; is that even in a mom’s vocabulary? He is screaming and banging on his crib even though he has been up for 4 hours. BABIES, AMIRITE?
Anyway, I teamed up with Evivo & wanted to rave about this baby probiotic & decided it would pair perfectly with a post I had been conjuring up about how to have a “hygge” (pronounced hoo-ga) morning: a way of life I yearn to live!
During my research (aka: browsing Pinterest), I have discovered that “hygge” doesn’t have a firm definition; it is more of a lifestyle or feeling that the Danish try to attain. That feeling is coziness & relaxation, in a nutshell. With a toddler, that seems like a distant memory, but since the cooler seasons are, hopefully, approaching I am going to to give it a whirl!
For me, hygge seems most attainable in the mornings & evenings, so I plan to share some of our routines on how to make the most out of an early morning & start your day off right. Without further ado- here is my list:
1. A RESTFUL NIGHTS SLEEP
I am absolutely the opposite of a morning person. I am my very best self when I have slept 10-12 hours straight. Warner, however, is his best self with 9-10 hours, which would be fine if he didn’t go to sleep while it was still light outside. What this means: I always get less than the desired 10-12 hours of sleep and struggle to be my best self so I need a deep nights sleep (& my anxiety meds & sleeping pills) in order for a cozy morning to be an option. My good sleep essentials are: sleep mask, cool room, & fresh sheets. I have posted about my favorite sleep mask here! I simply can’t fall asleep with any light whatsoever (looking at you Vornado & cable box) & I take this thing everywhere with me. Jordan typically sleeps with his as well, especially if I am still on my phone or iPad when he is ready to drift off.
Next, and likely like the majority of you, I prefer to sleep in a cool, breezy room. We keep the air at 68 degrees (64 during pregnancy & Jordan wears socks and a parka to bed) & also turn on the overhead fan and point a box or Vornado fan at the bed. No one wants to wake up realizing they sweat the bed so a chilly bedroom atmosphere is not up for debate when shooting for a hygge morning.
Last but not least- FRESH QUALITY SHEETS. I have become a sheet snob since my MIL gifted us some Select Comfort sheets a few Christmases ago. They are SO soft & feel like silk when crawling into bed at night! With cats, it’s often a VERY unpleasant surprise to get into the bed and realize they walked through water, then the litterbox, then hopped in our bed (EFFING CATS!!!!) or forget to change the sheets after Warner ate a cracker in bed earlier that afternoon. Like, did any of the cracker get into his mouth or did he just bite it into crumbs and spew it under the covers to ruin my night? Aren’t cats supposed to be clean and tidy? Anyways, a few sets of sheets are always a good idea in case of an emergency sheet change right before bed needs to take place.
Most mornings, our routine consists of Jordan getting a babbling baby, changing his diaper, and bringing him to our bed. As SOON as Warner sees me he starts smacking his lips. I really only nurse him in the mornings/night & I am trying to be done, so to avoid that, we typically try to have his breakfast ready when he comes in the room. (Side note: Due to his birth defect, he struggles with major constipation issues. If he gets backed up, even for a day, he will begin vomiting, so what we feed him is very important & I track his food intake like a hawk.) EVERY morning, Warner has oatmeal with flax seeds and some type of chopped fruit mixed in. That was until TODAY. Today, Jordan woke me by informing me research nows shows that the oatmeal packets we buy (along with most of the oat products at our grocery store, Cheerios, etc.) are contaminated with nearly three times the acceptable limit of WEED KILLER-which causes cancer, thanks Monsanto! So immediately after reading, I tossed our granola bars, Cheerios and oatmeal packets & ordered the organic brand of oats that passed with NO traces of weed killer on Amazon. I have started making Warner a fiber full, homemade oatmeal & he loves it! It is organic & has zero traces of weed killer, so the entire family is happy! Here is my recipe:
Blueberry Chia Organic Instant Oatmeal:
- 3 c 365 Organic Quick Oats
- 1 c 365 Organic Steel Cut Quick Oats
- 1/3 c powdered milk
- 1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 c chia seeds
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 c dried blueberries and raisins
I simply mix all of this in a large bowl and then put it in a big glass jar on the counter. In the morning, you just scoop out 1/3 cup of the mixture into a bowl, cover with water (1/2 cup-ish) and cook for 90 seconds! It isn’t a terribly sweet recipe, so you could add more brown sugar if necessary. Warner eats it every morning with no complaints, so I will continue to use 1/2 cup as long as he will eat it! It’s super cheap to make & a batch lasts up to a month! Let me know if you have any favorite recipes we can try!
Along with oatmeal, we also make him a bottle of breastmilk in the mornings and evenings! As you’re probably aware, I was obsessed with breastfeeding/pumping while Warner was in the NICU! We knew it would be the easiest thing for his little tummy to digest, so I worked my butt off pumping those first 3 months and developed somewhat of an oversupply! I continued pumping 1-3 times a day up until this past spring so that I could keep Warner on breastmilk through this winter/flu season without having to continue actually breastfeeding (hopefully)!
I have struggled with some digestive issues in the past & since I began taking a raw, refrigerated probiotic, I am a new person. I seriously rave to anyone who will listen about Garden of Life 100 Billion probiotics! When Evivo asked if I was interested in teaming up with their baby probiotic, I couldn’t wait to say yes after reading about their product! I called our pediatrician to make sure it was okay to give Warner probiotics with his history of Gastroschisis (of course it was) & Evivo sent the product right to our door! Good bacteria is essential to the gut to keep other bad bacteria & many diseases at bay. Evivo works with breastmilk to build up a healthy immune system & it’s proven that bad gut health puts babies at risk for a variety of autoimmune conditions. Any who, I just mix a packet of the Evivo into Warner’s bottle & he chugs it down every morning & night! Evivo has provided a couple of insane coupon codes for y’all to use if you want to try the probiotics out:
- $10 off 4-week starter kit: BLOG9021
- $20 off 8-week or greater starter kit: BLOG9022
Here is a quick quiz & additional info to see if your baby could benefit from Evivo:
How do you know if baby’s gut is healthy? Thankfully, there’s now a simple 3 question Baby Gut Check you can take that will reveal if baby is one of 9 out of 10 infants missing B. infantis:
Question 1: Were you OR your baby born via C-section?
Question 2: Were you OR your baby given antibiotics pre-delivery or post pregnancy?
Question 3: Does your baby have diaper rash OR 5+ watery poops per day?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions your baby’s gut may be in jeopardy. Your baby’s gut is likely missing the good bacteria B. infantis, allowing many harmful bacteria to thrive. These bad bacteria are linked to higher risk of colic, eczema, allergies, diabetes, and obesity.
How did you get this result? You or your baby were born via C-section, which means you or your baby did not come in direct contact with mom’s beneficial gut bacteria. This good bacteria helps develop a healthy gut microbiome in your baby and could have long-term health benefits.
You or your baby were given antibiotics, which eliminated both the good bacteria (like B. infantis) and bad bacteria (like Group B Strep) in your gut.
Your baby poops more than 5X a day. The amount your baby poops is a visible signal of “good” vs. “bad” bacteria in the baby’s gut. Babies with more good bacteria have fewer loose poops as they are better able to absorb all the nutrients from breast milk. The more loose stools that baby’s bottom comes into contact with, the more the skin can be irritated leading to diaper rash.
To help reverse this trend, a team of doctors and scientists from Evivo found a way to repopulate the infant gut with this good bacteria. Evivo is the only probiotic clinically proven to restore B. infantis while reducing the potentially harmful bacteria by 80%. In clinical trials, babies consuming Evivo and breast milk had their gut fully repopulated with the good bacteria they need 100% of the time.
When bad bacteria are pushed out and good bacteria thrive, baby is more likely to develop a healthier metabolism and a stronger immune system. That’s why helping baby build a strong foundation for gut health now will help protect and keep her safe from potential metabolic and autoimmune issues down the road.
3. CAFFIENE
Okay, to those unicorns that don’t need some sort of caffeine in the mornings (and thought the afternoon), I applaud you & envy you. I absolutely need at least 1-2 large cups of coffee with lots of delicious creamer every single morning. We use a Keurig with the option to do a 12oz. “strong” cup of coffee & honestly I don’t even need other options. A typical coffee mug doesn’t hold 12 oz. of coffee, PLUS my collagen peptides, PLUS my creamer so an oversized mug is absolutely necessary because, believe me, you’re not attaining “hygge” with a 12 ounce cup of scalding hot coffee splashing all over your body/baby. You need to go to Target and you need to get the massive cute coffee mugs with cute sayings/horoscope signs/tiny animals on them in order to be your most hygge self.
I also mentioned Collagen Peptides & I swear by them. My sister-in-law recommend them after I lost all of my luscious locks postpartum & my hair is growing back, albeit sporadically, VERY quickly since taking these. They are a little pricey, but absolutely worth the investment!
Okay, that’s honestly all I have this time. Do y’all have any tips you’d recommend for a “HYGGE” morning? I am open and willing to try new products & ideas, aside from anything too healthy or too much exercise or something crazy like that!
Here are some of my favorite products I mentioned!
Love & Sass,
Sarah!