Pages

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

2019 Holiday Gift Guide for Her

'Tis the season, I don't care what anybody says. The bigger the boys get, the earlier and earlier I want to start all things Christmas because everything is just so darn magical when seen through their eyes. I've been slowly putting lists together of my favorite finds and who to give them to, naturally starting with what I know best: a holiday gift guide for her. Some of these I have, some of them I want, all of them I love. Hopefully this can give you some gifting inspo, too. You can hop back to 2018's guide if you're still short an idea or person, it's all good stuff.



1. Hunter Boots : I finally pulled the trigger on a pair for myself this year, and find myself throwing them on with just about everything now that the weather is colder. 


2. Champagne Tumblers: pretty and unbreakable, and keeps your champagne (or wine) chilled for hours.


3. Luggage Set : The set that everybody raves about in all of the sizes you’ll ever need for your travels.


4. Lipstick: Featured on the Today show as being universally flattering and a go-to for everybody.A holiday must-have.


5. Face Masks : for some moments of zen, these are always a welcome gift.


6. Disk Necklace: The prettiest layered necklace with etched disc accents.


7. UGG Slippers: The comfiest, coziest slippers you’ll ever put on your feet—I live in mine since I work from home.


8. Cold Brew Coffee Maker: Engineered to perfectly fit within your fridge shelf, this cold brew coffee maker is the best of the best with a super reasonable price tag. 


9. Hand Lettering Book: Move aside adult coloring books, hand lettering is relaxing and just downright pretty. This book will teach you all you need to know.


10. Quilted Bookbag : For hands-free trips out of the house, a bookbag is a must-have with littles, and I love this quilted pattern in black for the winter months.


11. T3 Curling Iron: the much coveted Rolls Royce of curling irons, this one comes with two interchangeable heads for bigger or smaller curls. I have the 1 1/2 inch barrel and have never used anything better.


12. Marula Oil with Jade Roller: the best gift, because it’s SO GOOD, but also a bit of a splurge. This has totally transformed my skin. Use it with the jade roller to reduce puffiness, improve elasticity, and to allow your skincare products to penetrate better.


13. Silverware: I’ve been wanting to switch over to gold silverware forever, and a new set is at the top of my wish list!


 
 
 


 

 
 

 
 
 

at No comments:

Monday, September 30, 2019

Halloween Decor + Our Fall Bucket List

Happy October Eve! As of this weekend, we have all the decorations up and a very festive porch filled to the brim with mums, pumpkins, and lanterns galore 👻. The boys and I also jotted down some of our fall bucket list to-dos, which are less ambitious than last year's list, but life's been a little more hectic this time around thanks to after school activities, busy work schedules, and a growing bump that tires me out by 8pm. Our narrowed down list includes a Saturday morning of the best apple cider donuts, hosting our annual Halloween party, reinstating our soup Sunday tradition, watching Room on the Broom, making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to give to neighbors, and going to as many pumpkin patches and hayrides as we can possibly squeeze in. I wanted to share some of my favorite Amazon finds that really brought our house to life this year, including the white pumpkins, black porch lanterns, and black bats that made our fireplace pop.There was nothing better than watching Hocus Pocus for the third time this weekend, surrounded by decorations and candles lit while snuggled up with two little boys who made completely sure that the Sanderson sisters weren't REALLY real before bedtime. Wishing you all the coziest fall. Have a pumpkin beer for me!
 



1. White Ceramic Pumpkins

2. Boo Mug
 
3. Felt Garland

4. Hey Boo Pillow

5. Decorative Bats

6. Cotton Wreath 

7. Ombre Cocktail Picks 

8. Door Mat 


9. Outdoor Lanterns



at No comments:

Friday, September 27, 2019

What I Didn’t Know About Miscarriage + My Experience


I wanted to write this post because I know some of you are in the trenches, and sometimes it helps to read other people’s experiences and also to know what to expect. There’s so much I didn’t know about miscarriage and loss before experiencing it, so I wanted to write out the things that stuck with me most in hopes that this knowledge can be power for you. Also, please note: every experience is completely different. This is just how mine looked, and what caught me most off guard as I navigated these turbulent months.



1. That you don’t have to bleed much, or at all, to lose a baby. I never bled a lot, and I never had any cramping or pain, which isn’t how miscarriage stereotypically looks. I was 6 weeks pregnant when I started bleeding enough to wipe onto toilet paper. I called my OB who ordered a stat ultrasound. When I went in later that day, the scan showed a baby that had stopped growing at 5 weeks with no cardiac activity. My experience was CLOSE to a “missed miscarriage”, or when your body gives you no indication that anything is wrong. I did have some spotting, but others don’t experience anything at all until they go to a regularly scheduled ultrasound to find out that their baby didn’t make it. Something that hadn’t even crossed my mind in prior pregnancies.

2. How long and mentally exhausting the process can be. After my initial ultrasound, the doctor tried to be reassuring. “It may just be too early”, she said, but I knew. She told me to come back in 2 weeks to confirm. I had to return another 2 weeks later to stare at that same blank ultrasound screen. I still hadn’t passed the baby on my own. My OB told me to give it another 2 weeks before electing a D&C, which meant a 3rd ultrasound, that same silent screen. This put me 6 weeks out from the day I started spotting. I carried a baby for over a month that I knew was not viable, but still just wouldn’t let go. I finally got scheduled for a D&C to be able to move on. As I was prepped in for the OR, the physician went through possible complications, and ended on a nonchalant sentence to make sure we didn’t try to conceive for 3 months, if we decided to try again. This put the whole process at just over 4 ½ months.

3. Your pregnancy symptoms continue post miscarriage. Same sore boobs, same bloated belly, same nausea, same fatigue. On top of that, the bleeding didn’t stop for nearly 2 weeks post D&C, and what’s worse, I still got glaringly positive pregnancy tests for over a month. My body couldn’t catch up to what was happening and was SURE I was still pregnant, that this was a fluke. My hormones were all over the place, up and down a million times a day.

4. Life doesn’t stop. Which is totally obvious, but so difficult in the moment. Miscarriage is changing your blood soaked pads (there’s no hiding what’s happening: tampons are a no as you navigate this process, by the way) while your 2 and 4 years olds barge into the bathroom, asking you to please come play LEGOs already. It’s such a strange space to be in, and I often times felt like I was watching a loss happen to somebody else.

5. Several months after my D&C, I experienced a chemical pregnancy, or a loss that occurs shortly after implantation.  Two losses in a row aren’t statistically supposed to happen, and I took this part hard. I had very little empathy from my OB, who told me that they would have to wait until a third loss to move forward with any kind of testing (which I fully realize is the medically correct decision to make). It felt like an extremely frustrating, slow moving, eternity—like I was just waiting to lose another baby to potentially get some answers on what was happening to me. Even if that day came, my OB warned, we didn't always get answers when we wanted them. From somebody who wanted to control the process, this was difficult to hear all around.

6. I’ve found that the feelings came much later for me. Months down the road, especially when there was still no baby, all of the emotions really settled in. It got harder, not easier, with time, so give yourself grace. There is no “right” way to grieve


In summary, the whole experience, even though only a year, gave me so much empathy and understanding to those going through the same thing, be it a shorter or exponentially more difficult journey than ours. “Fertility privilege” is a term I had never known before, but there’s so much more that I know now, and truthfully, am better for it. If you’re walking this path, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Don't lose faith. The baby that is meant to be yours will find you. Remember, even miracles take a little time <3.

source/Pinterest
at No comments:

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

1st Trimester Must-Haves

Now that I've made it into my 2nd trimester (hooray!) I wanted to share my must-have-for-survival products that got me this far. The first handful of weeks of pregnancy can be HARD, with nausea, breakouts, fatigue and lots of other not-so-fun symptoms. Growing a baby is no cake walk, but some of this stuff made it a little bit more manageable.





1. Witch Hazel: My skin went nutso during my first trimester, and I searched high and low for something that was completely natural and safe that would also help my breakouts. This Witch Hazel did the trick and also left my skin feeling super clean.

2. The Pregnancy Countdown Book: My favorite little pregnancy book with a few fun pages on each week of gestation so you can know what's going on inside your body.

3. Pregnancy Pillow: 5,500 5-star reviews are not wrong. This pillow will be your best friend when you’re feeling wiped out and exhausted (which will be always).

4. New Toothbrush: Fun fact: pregnancy destroys your teeth, so it’s time to invest in a good toothbrush and water pick. Did you know that some insurances cover 3 dental cleanings during your pregnancy to stay ahead of the havoc that your hormones are wrecking?

5. Preggy Pops: Perfect for nausea and that queasy, carsick feeling that you just can’t shake during those early weeks. I had these in my pantry and in my purse for on-the-go, and have used them for all 3 pregnancies. 

6. Pajamas: Invest in good pajamas. Do it. I love these because 1) they’re so comfortable, and 2) they’ll serve me well postpartum since the buttons unbutton for nursing.

7. Peppermint Tea: A good, caffeine-free way to wake up in the mornings. This also helped to settle my stomach when needed.

8. Prenatal Vitamins: These have been an Amazon subscribe-and-save favorite since they’re gel coated and super easy to take. My doctor also wrote me a script for prenatals, but they’re huge and chalky, and hard to stomach if you’re already feeling nauseated.
at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
 
01 09 10