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 🙂

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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!
4. 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 😉
5. 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.
6. 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

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