Being pregnant is something to celebrate. If you are looking for a way to document your pregnancy, consider baby bump photos. If it’s your first pregnancy, it’s an especially exciting time of firsts for you.
If you have other children, get them involved and include them in your baby bump photos. It’s a fun way to remember your bump, while sharing the moment with your partner (and your other children). It can also be hard on other children when there is so much focus on the pregnancy and new baby. This is a great way to help them bond before baby even arrives. Include them and let them get excited! 🙂
Below are some tips to have a successful baby bump photo session:
- Research photographers in your area who have experience doing baby bump photo sessions
- Book your session for month 7 or 8 to ensure you have a nice big baby bump
- Gather your favorite sample photos of other peoples baby bumps to give your photographer direction
- Order props for your photo session (lace, flowing fabric, girl or boy signs, baby toys, etc.)
- Put together outfits for you and anyone else you plan to take photos with (husband, partner, children)
- Talk to your photographer and decide where your session will take place (inside a studio, at the beach, etc.)
- Have fun! You don’t need to keep or print them all. Try out different shots and decide what you like when you review the proofs 🙂
I’ve included some of my own baby bump photos (from both pregnancies) to give you some ideas.
Getting ready for childbirth can be tough. You want everything to go according to plan…but it’s hard to have a plan when you don’t know what to expect.
My advice, look for things you DO have control over! These 6 things are what I did before I had my kiddos. Take my 6 or make your own 🙂
- Get your nails done. Pick a clear polish, a light pink/neutral color, or get them buffed. This is crucial because it’ll be a while before you get them done again…and they will grow out. If they are clear or buffed – they’ll look nicer longer.
- Get your hair done. Cut it and if you color it – pick something closer to your roots. Again, it’ll be a while before you’ll have the time and energy to venture out to get your hair done.
- Purchase your favorite cosmetics. It’s always good to have an extra of your favorite foundation, eyeliner, and other staples. You’ll be focused on this new and amazing little person for the first couple months – while getting little to no sleep. It’s nice to have your favorite lip gloss or other cosmetic on hand to make you feel a little pampered!
- Pick out something comfy! Have your favorite t-shirt, PJs robe and sweats handy. You’ll want these in the hospital and when you get home with baby. You’ll most likely live in these for the first 8 weeks. It’s ok – comfort is key when you aren’t getting much sleep 😉
- Keep your favorite maternity clothes out. It takes time for your body to de-puff and slim down again. Don’t stress. Select your favorite maternity jeans and a couple other items and keep them on hand until you can fit into some of your pre-prego clothes.
- Get a prenatal massage. Pamper your aching body as you get closer to having your new baby. Call around and find a spa that has massage therapists who specialize in prenatal massage. Give them a heads up on how far along you are in your pregnancy, and anything else they should know in advance. It’ll help them prepare and make the whole experience better. It is so worth it and a wonderful way to pamper yourself before giving birth!
Be good to yourself and enjoy these last moments of quiet before baby arrives. If this is not your first baby, you should still take a little time to do these things for yourself – you deserve it! When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was chasing a toddler around the house! It was great exercise but also exhausting! lol! It was wonderful to get my nails done – especially when the pedicure came with a foot rub! Talk about a treat for aching preggo feet! 😉
Soon to come is a post listing the things to pack in your hospital bag! Keep an eye out for this post and many more soon!
xoxo
If you plan on finding out the gender of your baby, prior to birth, a reveal party is a fun way to share the news with friends and family. You can also do the reveal privately and share with a video or photos. There are many ways to reveal the big news, from cakes to balloons!
For my first pregnancy, we decided to do a reveal cake. It was amazing and so much fun!
When Daniel (hubby) and I were at the doctors office, they asked if we wanted to know the gender. We asked them not to tell us, but to put the gender in an envelope. We gave that envelope to a cake maker and asked them to make us a cake with pink or blue frosting inside, based on the results in the envelope. We had a party with friends and family and asked everyone to go to the left if they thought we were having a girl, and to the right if they thought we were having a boy. We cut the cake and taped the whole thing! As you can see from the photo, we had a baby boy 🙂
You don’t have to go to a baker to accomplish this. For a more cost effective way – you can also give the envelope to a sibling or friend to bake the cake for you. You can have them do a sheet cake, round cake, or even cupcakes! The main objective is to have pink or blue frosting inside – so it “reveals” the gender when you cut (or bite) into it.
Another fun way to do a gender reveal is using balloons. For my second pregnancy we decided to do balloons. I wanted each kiddo to have a unique memory captured on video to share with them someday. This is another great and very cost effective way to share the news.
For this, you need a big box with a lid to hold the balloons. I had a large moving box in the garage – so that is what we used 🙂
Give the envelope to someone at a party store (or in my case – Walgreens) and ask them to fill several pink or blue balloons – based on what is in the envelope. Have them tape the balloon strings to the inside bottom of the box and close the lid. Make sure they know NOT to tell you what is inside. You can pay for the balloons and helium based on the number they used – you do not need to know the color.
Next, wrap the box in baby paper and decorate as you like. The image above is the exact box that we used. 🙂
When you open the box with your friends and family, the balloons will pop out in pink or blue for all to see! As you can see from this image – we had a girl the second time around.
Another fun idea is to get a piñata in the shape of a pacifier, question mark, rubber duck, baby buggy, etc. and then fill it with all pink or all blue (or both if you are having twins and happen to have both genders)! Some are even pull string to keep it easy. Surprise everyone when the color(s) pour out!
Whatever you do for your reveal – have fun and do it in your own special way! 🙂 Enjoy!
xoxo
Healthy dinner is closer than you think! Portobello mushroom cap pizzas are a favorite in our house. They are easy to make, fun, delicious, and healthy!
Ingredients:
- 4 Portobello mushroom caps – largest you can find (adjust amount if you need more or less for your family)
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- A variety of veggies for the toppings (bell peppers, garlic, tomato, etc.)
- Cooking spray
- 1 jar of pizza sauce
To get things rolling, preheat the over to 375.
Wash the portobello mushrooms well, and pull out the stems so you have a nice empty cap ready to fill.
Line a cooking sheet with foil and lightly coat with olive oil spray.
Put mushroom caps on baking sheet and bake for about 5 min or so while you prepare the toppings.
My favorite part about this recipe is that you can use whatever veggies you have in the house and need to use up! In this case, I used red bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, fresh basil, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and jalapeño (on the ones for me and hubby). Chop your veggies into little pieces. Remember, this is not a full size pizza so they do need to be chopped small to fit onto the mushroom caps. Set the veggies/toppings aside.
Using oven mitts, pull the pan out of the oven and get ready to top your mushroom caps!
I use a jar of low sodium, no sugar added, organic pizza sauce from the grocery store and it works great! Put your pizza sauce of choice into each cap. Top the sauce with shredded mozzarella. Lastly, top with your chopped veggies and pop back into the over for about 15 min.
Pull out and serve with fresh salad, fruit, or whatever you want as a side dish. They are great with a little red pepper flake on top as well (for those who like a little extra spice).
Thats it! Talk about easy! Hope you try it out and please let me know what you think!
Enjoy! 🙂 xoxo
Ok folks – I’ve been pretty excited to share this recipe. It’s healthy, easy and family friendly! Flourless pancakes – woohoo!
I’ve broken it down into easy to follow steps below 🙂
Step 1: Gather ingredients – 1 ripe banana, 2 eggs, and pumpkin pie spice. I use a couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice but you can also use cinnamon and nutmeg if you have those on hand. A touch of vanilla extract is a fun and yummy way to change these up as well! You can get creative with flavors.
Step 2: Put everything in the blender and mix until smooth (30 seconds or so).
Step 3: Heat pan on medium and spray with coconut oil (or preferred oil spray).
Step 4: Pour pancake mix and let cook for about 2 min on the first side. Flip and let cook for about 1 min on the other side. They cook fast so keep an eye on them.
Step 5: ENJOY!
We eat them without anything on top most of the time – but we have used agave instead of syrup and it’s delicious!
I hope you try these out soon! It’s a great way to use up ripe bananas – and a deliciously easy breakfast for any day of the week!
xoxo
Lets face it – mommy style sucks for the first couple of months (or more) after pushing out a baby. Yes, there are cute options out there. That doesn’t really matter when all you want to do is curl up and cry in your maternity clothes since they are the only thing that actually fits.
Like most moms out there, I struggled with my postpartum body. I wasn’t happy about the weight gain and was desperate to get rid of it. When you’re pregnant, the bump and weight gain don’t matter as much (as long as you’re being healthy and listening to your doctor).
For many, myself included, I loved accentuating my pregnant belly with tight tops and little belts. As soon as that baby came out, I no longer looked pregnant, I looked fat. While I was pregnant with my first, not one person told me the big secret – that you still look pregnant after giving birth! No, you don’t look full term anymore – but yes – you still have a belly with added fat, fluids and all that fun stuff to get rid of. Fun times! 😉 If I’m the first person to tell you that – I’m both sorry – and happy that you now know! Better to have a heads up in my opinion! lol!
For me, the first 4 months were the hardest. What I learned was to be patient with myself and to take on each day as an opportunity to make great decisions for my body and my baby.
At 6 weeks I got the ok from my OBGYN to start exercising. I was SO excited but also crazy exhausted. Having a newborn meant round the clock feedings, little sleep, and very little time and energy to even shower. My exercise at that point was nice long walks with the stroller between feedings and naps. It wasn’t major cardio, but it felt good and was the right way for me to get back into the swing of things.
At 10 weeks I was ready to really jump start my body. These are some tips to get you back into shape 🙂
- Get outside! Walk, hike, jog!
- Find a short but effective workout to get your blood pumping. After I had my son, my go to was T25! After my daughter, it was Jillian Michaels Bodyshred. Both sets are a series of DVDs and each workout is only 25 – 30 min long. BIG win when you don’t have a lot of time between naps, nursing, laundry, etc.
- Sign up for mommy bootcamp. Bring your baby with you, meet other moms, and push yourself to work out.
- Find a post baby DVD to help tighten your belly. My go to is Tracy Anderson Method: Post – Pregnancy Workout.
- Get workout pants that make you feel confident. My go to workout capris are the Spanx Convertible Knee Pant. After both pregnancies, they really helped me feel less self conscious when I was working out.
- Interval training. I ran on a treadmill and dropped weight pretty quickly using interval training. You can look up how to use interval training on a treadmill for more information. It burned fat fast and I felt great!
- Protein and LOTS of water are key. I don’t eat meat, but I do eat eggs and protein shakes which have been great since both as easy to prepare when in a hurry – which lets face it – is often with a new baby! My go to is Jay Robb Pina Colada Whey Protein.
Hope this helps! I know how hard it is to trim down post baby. You can do it – don’t give up! 🙂 xoxo
Prenatal yoga is a wonderful way to stay in shape, keep stress down, and prepare for childbirth. Lets be real…pregnancy is the most amazing experience in the world and kind of a pain all at once. To keep me on my toes – my pregnancy with my son was completely different than with my daughter. But I truly loved being pregnant with both my children 🙂 Feeling that little life kick inside me, the hiccups tickling my insides, the way my baby grew each week. On the flip-side, there were times when I was overtired, had lower back pain, headaches, swollen feat, cravings, and nausea.
Yoga helped me cope with the normal aches and pains of pregnancy. You are not alone – those of us who have carried a child know that it can be challenging at times – to say the least! Yoga also helped me learn breathing techniques and various positions for childbirth that I didn’t know existed. As your hips shift, you should consider how stretching may help you stay limber and more centered.
There are many options to help you practice yoga throughout your pregnancy:
- Yoga DVDs
- Yoga on YouTube
- Yoga OnDemand
- Yoga Studios
- Private Yoga Lessons
If you’re new to yoga, start slow. I never did yoga before I was pregnant. I always preferred faster paced workouts like Pilates, Kickboxing, and circuit training. I decided to use a yoga DVD to get started – and I really enjoyed it! I was still working full time during both pregnancies, so going to a yoga studio was not very convenient with my home and work schedule. That made the yoga DVDs a favorite for me. Not to mention – I could do yoga in my living room in sweats and crazy messy hair – without feeling judged 😉
There are some fantastic yoga DVDs online that are affordable and easy to follow. Look into each option and find the right one for you. The bonus – moms love to write reviews! I read a ton of reviews before investing in a yoga DVD – and it was based on reading the reviews and experiences of other moms! BIG help!
Enjoy the process, take a little time to stretch and breath deep each day, and remember that a healthy mommy is important too 🙂
Namaste lovelies!
xoxo
Dressing your body post baby can be frustrating but also fun. It all comes down to finding things that flatter your new figure.
I am definitely not 100% back to normal. My boobs are still huge (and they expand as I get closer to pumping or nursing). My butt has some extra cushion and my tummy isn’t as tight as it once was.
No matter…enter the Little Black Dress (LBD). Every woman needs a couple of LBDs that look and feel great for work, weddings, cocktails, date night etc.
My husband and I just got back from a friend’s wedding. It was our first trip away from baby (I cried the entire way to the airport), and I wasn’t sure what to bring to this formal event. Weddings are a wonderful place to see people you care about and take photos…but after having a baby all I wanted was to look and feel good.
This photo was taken on my way out the door to the wedding. I chose a black strapless dress with a shrug and a flower belt. I felt great in this outfit – which is the whole point when you need to dress up after having a baby. You want – and NEED – to feel good when you are going out on the town. I personally tried on 10 different dresses before settling on this.
A couple reasons I chose this outfit:
- Black is slimming!!!
- The high low hem makes my legs look longer and slimmer
- The cinched elastic waist works well with a belt making me look smaller
- There is no zipper which makes for maximum comfort
- The bustline is high and has elastic so my ever growing milk machines (boobs) fit all night long
- The slight pattern is flattering and simple
- The black sweater/shrug makes for slimmer arms and comfort for dinner, dancing and photos
Some of the reasons listed above are tips that should help you pick out a LBD. Again, black is slimming and works well for almost any event from date night to the office. Be careful with zippers because they can get uncomfortable as you fill up with milk. Elastic is great at the waist and bust. Use a belt to make your waist look smaller! It’s a great trick and really works well.
My biggest tip for finding the right LBD is COMFORT! Don’t pick something that you’ll fidget in. If you feel good, you’ll look good. If you fidget and feel uncomfortable, it’ll show.
Halters are another great way to dress your post baby bod. They help support your bust, create a nice silhouette, and I personally think they are pretty comfortable. Depending on the halter, you should be able to sport a strapless bra or a bra with a neck strap to help keep “the girls” under control.
If you’re looking for more of an everyday way to dress your bod while you lose the baby weight (which is a process – so don’t stress out) – tunics are a big win! Personally, I used my maternity jeans and black pants for the first couple months while my body started to lose weight. Black pants are slimming, and jeans are comfy.
Tunics are a big win because there are so many options out there (casual, comfy, dressy, fun) and they aren’t clingy which helps to keep from feeling self conscious. Some tunics are best with jeans or black pants – but others are long enough to wear with leggings or tights so it’s almost like a dress. Personally – I like options and to get the most bang for my buck…so if I can use different colored pants or leggings/tights with the same top for different looks – it’s a BIG win!
Having some flowy tops on hand in a couple of styles will help you feel more confident as you settle into mommy hood and allow your body to recover. I’ve included these photos to help you style yourself post baby.
Lastly – SPANX! I can’t tell you how much I love I have for my SPANX pants and leggings. OMG! I have them in a black pencil pant, in a jeggings style pant, and faux leather leggings. They are all fantastic and I use them all the time. I even have some workout pants from SPANX that have a skirt up top to hide my bum, pull in the tummy, and make me feel good enough to run errands or get my sweat on! Woot!
Comfort is key – but don’t forget – you can still look good 😉
I hope this helps! More later lovelies! xo
Having a new baby is a big miracle in a tiny package that changes your life forever. Many think marriage is the biggest change of your life. I disagree. I loved my wedding and am so happy to have gotten married to the love of my life – BUT we were still ourselves when we tied the knot. A baby morphs you into parents – which is a whole new ballgame. I think it is the biggest change a couple can go through. It is special, can be stressful, but overall fills you with more love than you ever thought possible. Many parents choose to document this incredible event with a newborn photo shoot.
I’m a huge fan of professional photos as well as random photos/videos using my smartphone 🙂 Life is short and I want to remember every little thing!
If you choose to go the route of a professional photo shoot when your little bundle arrives, you should plan ahead a bit. Some tips for success include:
- Research photographers to find the right one for you.
- Schedule the photo shoot for 7-10 days after your due date.
- Order/purchase props (examples below):
- Newborn hats
- Little toys (tiny football, little stuffed bear, etc.)
- Headbands
- Crown (blue, pink or neutral)
- Baby sports gear (we’re SF Giants fans so we went that route)
- Prepare outfits for you and your partner
- White shirts
- Black shirts
- Favorite hobby or sports gear
- TIP 1: Keep it simple with mostly black and white shirts/outfits so the focal point is the baby.
- TIP 2: If baby is born close to a holiday – bring holiday outfits to include in the photo shoot. For example, bunny ears for Easter, an elf or Santa hat, etc.
- Gather sample newborn photos to help give your photographer some direction. You know what you like, and doing a google search ahead of time will help you gather ideas/samples, help you to prepare, and it will help your photographer to know what you are looking for.
- Feed your newborn right before your photo shoot to keep them full, happy, and sleepy. Sleepy newborns are the easiest to work with and make for beautiful photos!
Truthfully – the best advice I can give you is to have fun! Take the photo shoot in stride.
As you will learn with newborns (and kids in general) – things may not go as planned. Baby may need to nurse part way through the photo shoot. There will most definitely be some kind of diaper accident – and at least one adult will end up being pooped on! lol! Relax and take it all in. Newborns are so sweet, snuggly, and amazing. They grow way too fast – which is the whole point of the photo shoot. Enjoy the moment! You may even get some silly, sweet and unexpected photos!
Hello and welcome to my little corner of the universe! 🙂 My name is Alexia – or Lexi – for short. I am many things – including a woman, wife and mother. As many women out there may already know or feel – it can be challenging to balance the various roles that make up your life. Even if you are not a mother – you may feel this way. Women are great at balancing things – which often means we take on too much.
Kids and home life take an incredible amount of attention, energy and love. This blog is my way of sharing what I’ve learned over the years that have worked well for me and my family. Is it perfect? No way! Is it one size fits all? Nope! Will it be helpful to you? Hopefully! 🙂 For the moms, future moms, and other folks reading this – I hope to put content out there that you will enjoy and if it helps in any way – I will be very happy.
I have a wonderful network of moms who have come to me with great questions over the last few years. They got me thinking…why help friends in my mom network one at a time? Why not put things that have helped me and my family into writing and put it out into the world! Well…that is exactly what I’m doing!
My goal is to put my thoughts out there to showcase that we are all human, we all get stressed, make mistakes, need advice, and require a community. I will go beyond my thoughts and also share tips, recommendations, advice, and lists of my favorite things.
Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the blog, stop by often, and share with those fantastic people in your lives!
xoxo,
Lexi