Let’s Talk Best Toddler Books

This post is a list of awesome, favorite books for toddlers and babies.

If your little ones are anything like mine, they absolutely, positively, LOVE LOVE LOVE books. This is a great thing obviously, but reading the same books over and over and over again (maybe four thousand times) can get a bit <insert your choice word here> for the parent. I get it, repetition is nice for the kids for many reasons, and I completely agree. It is however, so refreshing to get your hands on a new book every once in awhile though. I’ve searched the Internet to find some of the absolute favorites for babies / toddlers on numerous occasions. I thought I would share some of the ‘must have’ favorites in our household. No lie, we probably have a several hundred books for the kids.

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Visiting the Cherry Blossoms in DC

Over the past couple of days, my family (and some extended family), took a trip up north to visit DC. This week marked peak bloom for the Cherry Blossoms there. Continue reading “Visiting the Cherry Blossoms in DC”

DIY Easter Basket for Babies

This is my daughter’s first Easter. She will be 9 months at Easter and getting stuff for a little baby is usually hard to find one pre-made. Making one yourself is not only easy, it is also much better since you can control what goes in it. Shoot, I will likely do this for every Easter versus buying the pre-made ones (we will see though). Our family is religious and celebrate that aspect of it, but a little Easter bunny fun is always appreciated / enjoyable.

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What to Pack for Hospital When Giving Birth

During my pregnancy I researched this particular topic quite a bit.  I had no idea where to start.  I felt very overwhelmed.  After going through the experience, it shouldn’t have been that overwhelming.  With just a few tips and a well thought out plan, it is fairly easy to pack your hospital bag for having a baby. Continue reading “What to Pack for Hospital When Giving Birth”

My Breastfeeding Journey (Or Not So Much)

During my pregnancy, I was determined to purely breastfeed. and to breastfeed for my child’s first year of life.  Like most things in life, expect the unexpected.  Things don’t always go as planned, and for me this was very challenging.  Sometimes you have to alter your plans and do what is best for everyone involved. Continue reading “My Breastfeeding Journey (Or Not So Much)”

Movie Theater With a Baby

This past Monday, my sister and I did the impossible…we took our babies to the movie theater.  I know right?  Why, oh why, would we dare attempt this?  We wanted to get us and the little ones out of the house and to see how our babies would do at the movies.  I wanted to share our experience with you and provide some helpful tips if you are pondering this same adventure.

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#Grateful #Thankful #Blessed

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to share some of the things I am most thankful for.  2018 has been one of the (if not ‘THE’) busiest and best year of my life.  I am so thankful for everything I have.  Today, my husband’s family welcomed my siblings to come join in on their Thanksgiving feast.  I am so happy I got to spend time with both sides of my family.

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Product Review of Binxy Baby

I am grateful to have received a Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammock compliments of Binxy Baby.  Guys, this thing is pretty great for small babies.  I wish I had one when Leia was born.  Lugging a baby in a car seat around is a huge pain in the butt, especially when shopping.  I feel that is one reason a lot of moms just skip it for the first several months of a baby’s life.  I tested this thing out at a few stores and wanted to share my honest thoughts on this product for my readers. Continue reading “Product Review of Binxy Baby”

Product Review of DockATot Deluxe+

When I was pregnant, I kept hearing about and reading about DockATot.  I wondered, ‘What in the world is a DockATot???’.  I researched and discovered that it was a really cool looking baby lounger.  I knew then that I wanted to try one with my daughter.

Leia laying comfortably in her DockATot.

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I Miss Baking

Tonight I was watching Christmas Cookie Challenge on the Food Network.  I am a huge sucker for all of the baking competition shows.  I LOVE baking!  It is one of my favorite hobbies / passions.  I used to bake all of the time, but over the last year or so I just haven’t been able to find the time (getting married, getting pregnant, and having a baby does that). This makes me very sad.  Watching the show tonight, made me really miss baking. Continue reading “I Miss Baking”

10 Tips for Disney Parks with a Baby

I took some time off from my blog to go on vacation with my family.  We went to Disney World in good ole Orlando, FL.  I wanted to share some tips I have for traveling to Disney parks with a baby.  Disney World, in particular, can feel very overwhelming, especially with a little one.  Don’t let that intimidate you – it is actually a fantastic place to bring little ones.  My daughter was 3 and a half months old when we brought her for the first time.  She loved it.  I’ve been to Disney World multiple times and Disneyland once.  Most of these tips are great for traveling there with or without kids/babies.

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Product Review of Mission Critical Baby Carrier

I know a lot of people have been waiting for this particular product review.  The fantastic Mission Critical Baby Carrier found on Amazon or through their direct website.  While this baby carrier is a little more pricey than other baby carriers on the market, this one is certainly worth it.  My husband gets compliments every time he wears it in public.  Everyone wants to know where he got it.  If you’re in the market for getting daddy or daddy-to-be a gift, THIS IS IT!  Trust me, he will love it!  And, ladies, it is a HUGE help to have daddy help out with the baby sometimes.  This is a game changer.

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Product Review of Parnerme Baby Car Mirror With Light

Okay folks, here is my review of the Parnerme Baby Car Mirror with Built in Light. There are several of these on the market, but a lot of them suck. I’m not just taking about ones with lights built in either. I’ve tried a few of them before I found this one.  This product has a lot of pros and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
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How To Have A Wonderful Wedding For Under $3,000

My husband and I got married in March of 2018.  A wonderful, Spring wedding on the river.  We had been discussing getting married in 2018 anyway, but when we found out we were pregnant, we moved up the timeline. full cake.PNGWith our baby on the way, we knew we couldn’t afford to spend a lot on our wedding and had to find ways to cut costs.  With the help of friends, family, researching, budgeting and smart shopping, we were able to do our entire wedding (for 35 people) for under $3,000.  Also important to note, all of this was planned and implemented in less than 2 months.  I wanted to share how we were able to pull all of that off and how you can too.  I look back now and I am so proud of what we accomplished.  It turned out better than I could have imagined and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

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Bows, Bows, and More Bows

Guys, I am OBSESSED with bows for my daughter.  Ever since I found out I was pregnant with a girl, I started buying bows.  I mean A LOT of bows!  They are just sooooo cute!  I wanted to share some of my favorites I’ve found so far.  Here is just a portion of my bows for Leia.

bows galore 2   bows galore 1

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Can’t Forget About Daddy

Ladies, I don’t know about you, but my husband wanted to have some special daddy gear for baby.  I can understand that.  Not only do he and I have completely different taste, but he also wants to feel special when he is out and about with our baby.

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Gas Relief Tips for Newborns

We’ve all been there.  The dreaded pain, discomfort, crying and squirming caused by gas.  As a mother, especially a first time mother, it breaks your heart to watch your little one in so much pain.  A newborn’s digestive system isn’t fully regulated when they’re born and it can cause them to get bad gas and cramps.  Excessive crying, excessive air when feeding, etc… can also lead to additional gas issues.  Fortunately, there are some things you can do as parents, to help ease their pain.  Our daughter went through awful gas pain for the first 4-6 weeks of her life.

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DIY Newborn Photo Shoot

I contemplated for awhile towards the end of my pregnancy as to whether I would pay a professional to do a newborn photo shoot or not.  I ended up deciding against it just due to the cost associated with it.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my photographer – she is amazing (Allison Tucker Photography)!  One day, I just decided I was going to do it myself, and on a budget.  I wanted to share my experience and tips with doing one yourself.  At the end of the day, you just have to decide if it is worth the cost to you or not.  I must say, I was pretty happy with my end result (I know they aren’t professional, but they are so special to me).  I am glad I did them.

Stay tuned…at the end, I provide some links to some super cute newborn photo shoot costumes / outfits you should totally check out.

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Easy Peasy Dinner – Cornbread Taco Casserole

I had some ground beef in my fridge the other day and decided to play around and come up with something new.  I used stuff I already had in my kitchen.  Every mom knows the importance of being able to make something quick for dinner (and have yummy leftovers too).  I wanted to share this recipe (I didn’t follow one, but this is what I did/used).  It was super simple to make.

If you make it, please let me know how you liked it and/or any tweaks you made to the recipe.  My husband and I loved it!  The cornbread adds this nice, slightly sweet taste that is amazing. Continue reading “Easy Peasy Dinner – Cornbread Taco Casserole”

The ‘Fight’ Over The Baby

When you have a baby, it’s inevitable that when you visit family there’ll be people fighting to hold, said baby.  No longer is it ‘how are you?’, it’s ‘let me have the baby’ or arms in a ‘hand her over’ position.  My husband and I have become secondary when we visit people now.  We don’t mind though, she should be enjoying her family.  We love seeing how happy having a new baby in the family makes everyone.  It is just a funny side effect of having a child (especially with the grandparents).

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We Survived Our First Weekend Getaway With an Infant

Honestly, Leia did soooooo much better than I could have ever imagined and hoped for. We left Friday and came back Sunday, so we had two overnight stays. I was worried being in an unknown environment might through her schedule off.

Daddy and Leia getting a nap while mommy pumped (2018).

Leia slept just as good as on the trip as she does at home. Yes, I’m one of those very fortunate (and blessed) moms whose baby sleeps through the night (at least right now – knock on wood). Oh, and daddy sleeps perfectly fine, every night, even when mommy is up pumping and feeding the baby.

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Shout Out to All Labor & Delivery and Post Delivery Nurses

During your birthing experience, the real heroes are the Labor & delivery and Post-Delivery nurses.  These people are truly amazing individuals.  I was so impressed with each and every one of the nurses I came in contact with during my stay in the hospital.

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Marrying Into a Filipino Family

Growing up I always had this ‘image’ of what I thought the guy I would end up marrying would look like.  The man I ended up marrying didn’t fit any of those characteristics physically, but he sure did on all other aspects.  In life, we should never expect that we know what is best for us, but rather have faith that things will work out the way they were meant to.  Just trust your heart and gut and you can’t go wrong.

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Running on Decaf

I don’t drink or smoke, so giving up caffeine was one of the hardest adjustments during pregnancy and now breastfeeding.  Since I work a full time, corporate job (and go in really early), drinking coffee is (was) one of the only things to help get me through my days.  Having to give up caffeine was harder than I thought it would be (I am a huge coffee fan).  I also love the taste of coffee, so I still had to get my decaf fix on (thanks to decaf coffee).

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My Amazon Obsession

I think the thing that drives my husband the most nuts about me is my Amazon obsession.  He hates all of the boxes that are a result of my shopping (he is the one that breaks them down and takes them to be recycled – thanks hunny!).

I have personally been a member of Amazon Prime since 2009.  My first year I only placed 8 orders.  In 2017, I placed 317 orders (I know, don’t judge me).  The Amazon Prime membership is literately one of the best things I have ever spent my money on.  There are so many perks – streaming movies, tvs, music, read books, super fast shipping, subscribe & save, Whole Foods discounts, lightening deals, etc…  They even offer a way for you to send a percentage of your money to a reputable charity of your choosing (just add ‘smile’ into the web address – smile.amazon.com before placing your order).  You can also have your items shipped to other places (including ‘lockers’ in most areas).  How cool does Amazon sound?

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Can We Get More Parking and Changing Tables Please?

Today, I am going to tackle parking spots and changing tables.  Yes, this is a vent post.  😊

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New Mom Must Have Items

As a new mom, I have learned which products are a MUST HAVE and which ones just aren’t worth your time/money.  I have a ton of friends that have had babies over the years and learned from their mistakes as well.  These products I am sharing with you are products that I personally own, use frequently and LOVE.  I have a huge Amazon obsession – who doesn’t love getting products delivered to their door within a couple of days (or day)?  I wanted to put together a consolidated list of my favorite ‘new mom’ items to help future mommies out.  I consider these an absolute must (or should haves) for new moms – trust me, I’ve done a TON of research on my end for each and every product I buy.

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My Birth Story – Leia

Every woman who has given birth has their own, unique birth story.  Here is mine.

During pregnancy, you have approximately 8-10 months to do a lot of thinking and do a lot of preparing.  If you are like me, you also do a lot of reading and researching.  You think through whether you will be having a boy or a girl, what their nursery will look like, what you’ll name them, how you will tell your friends and family, etc…  You also think through how you want you labor and delivery to go – who will be in the room with you, do you want an epidural, do you want to go completely natural, what if you end up needing a C-section, do you want to use a mirror to see the birth, etc…  For me, I was dead set that I was going to have a completely natural birth (as long as no complications presented itself).  TRUST ME, never plan on being dead set on anything when it comes to your birth plan.  Around 36 weeks, I ended up having to go to Labor and Delivery to monitor my baby when I was concerned of decreased movement.  That morning, a woman in the room next to me was giving birth ‘naturally’.  Let’s just say in that very moment, I decided I was going to have an epidural.  You had to hear her screams of pain — man oh man!

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