cool story bra

i'm coming to the end of my breastfeeding days. jake and i almost made it to a year, but for a lot of reasons (decreased supply mostly), i've started to wean. 

weaning is a whole different topic that i won't get into right now, but i wanted to share the nursing bras that i found worked the best for me. it should be noted that these are all wireless options. i know some nursing moms wear bras with an underwire, but i got scared out of doing that early (blocked ducts!) and had to go wire-free for the past year. 

it was a little difficult to find wireless options that offered support, but a few of these came close. here's my picks.

best overall: this was my daily bra throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, and i don't think the picture is doing it any favors. it's a great nursing bra. i bought multiple ones in beige and black. my sister actually dragged me to motherhood maternity when i was six months pregnant (much stubborn, very poor) because i was resisting buying new bras even though my old ones clearly didn't work anymore. this bra gives a good shape in t-shirts as well as nicer work tops. you can wear something low cut or a shirt with a higher neckline and be fine. it also comes in a wide variety of sizes (34B-40F!)so you'll find one that works for you.

most comfortable: when i was on maternity leave, this was my daily wear. it doesn't offer near as much support as the previous bra, but it's super comfortable, easy to open/close with one hand and it's pretty. it's also cheap and available at target so there's that too.

best t-shirt*: i discovered this one way too late in the game. besides being awesome for wearing under thinner cotton t-shirts, this bra is super soft, stretchy and comfortable. it doesn't provide as much support as my pick for best overall, so that's the only reason it didn't win out for me. it comes in lots of colors and did i mention how comfy it is? 

best cami: i wore camis a lot over the winter so i didn't have to do the whole "lift up my t-shirt" bit to breastfeed. i'd wear this and a sweater cardigan with yoga pants and this was by far my favorite cami. the buttons and heather gray color are cute and god i miss those days sometimes.

best sleeping bra: these offer like negative support but they were my favorite bras to sleep in. i didn't like the sports bra-looking ones as much when i had to wear nursing pads overnight because they wouldn't stay in place and i'd end up leaking/soaking through (#momlyfe AMIRIGHT?!)since the pads would shift around while i slept. 

_ _ _

my one negative review:

i read that people liked this bra a lot. i was a little skeptical but tried it anyways. i HATED it. it was cone boob central, super uncomfortable and offered little/no support. stay far, far away. 

_ _ _

*it's only showing up in a light beige color online, but i have it in black and it's available in a lot of stores.

love you, mean it

now that jake is seven months (!), i wanted to share the items we found most helpful when he was a newborn. buying things for an experience (parenthood) you've never been through before comes with a bit of trial and error. you can read recommendations and talk to friends, but since every kid/parent/house/etc. is different, you do have to see what works for you. 

i read a lot of pregnancy must-have lists before he was born, and hearing the perspective of many different people was helpful to me. the same can be said for baby stuff. there's a lot of things you can buy for a baby (duh) and reading other blog posts helped cut through the bs.

with that in mind, here's what i loved, didn't and a few things that surprised me. 

1. nosefrida. i saw this on so many blogs, i lost count. i really can't tell you how helpful it was when jake had a runny/stuffy nose over the winter a few times. he had a cold that lasted for quite a while, and this, along with some saline nose spray, was the only thing that gave him some relief and allowed him to breathe better. cannot recommend this enough.

2. white noise machine. when he was 8 weeks old, we moved him out of the bassinet (borrowed from a friend; highly recommend since you only use it for a bit) in our room and started having him sleep in his own room. we still use this white noise machine every night. it also plays music. we put on those tunes while we're getting him ready for bathtime to help emphasize that it's time to wind down and go to sleep. our house is pretty small, so the white noise in his room allows us to carry on with the rest of the night at normal volume levels. there's lots of different brands, but for us, white noise is essential.

3. the miracle blanket. when jake was brand new, he loved being swaddled. it was the only thing that kept him sleeping when he was super tiny. he's always been really into his hands and if he wasn't swaddled, he'd wake himself up almost instantly. the problem was that he could wriggle out of any blanket we tried, no matter how tightly we burrito'd him. the miracle blanket worked wonders for us. i was skeptical because it's a little expensive, but it allowed him to sleep peacefully so that's always gonna be a win.

4. skip hop bath kneeler. i didn't want to register for this at all. this was my husband's idea and i thought it was so dumb. i was all, "can't i just kneel on some towels?" lol NO. we give jake a bath every night to calm him down. with our tile floor, this mat has been awesome. it's not really that expensive (we got it as a shower gift), but i happily ate my slice of humble pie (tastes like swallowed pride with just a hint of embarrassment!) since my husband was totally right about this purchase. 

5. aden + anais blankets. these are also something i saw on every mommy blog on the planet. they're pricey and i wasn't sure he really needed them, but we use them for everything: nursing covers, overly air conditioned buildings, for sleep, carseat cover for naps, i love em. the cute patterns don't hurt either.

6. my brest friend. if you can get past the name, i highly recommend this over the boppy for breastfeeding, especially if you're having trouble with positioning. i had a rough couple weeks in the beginning and this was the only thing that worked for me. it's more supportive than the boppy, so once you get the hang of latching, you can kinda half sleep (kidding. sort of) in a hunched over position for those superfun 3 a.m. feedings. it looks kind of weird when you wear it, like a stiff, bulky tutu, but eh, whatever.

7. infant bathtub. i really wanted to like this. it just never worked for us and we ended up using the trusty old school sponge. when he was tiny, he couldn't sit in the seat and hated the infant "hammock" and when he was bigger, it was easy for him to slip out of the seat. maybe he's just an active kid, but we never used this.

8.  infant car seat neck support. i thought this was a must-purchase item. we used it once without a lot of luck. he's always had good neck control so he really only needed the additional support for a couple weeks. we could have done just as well rolling up a thin blanket (another use for the aden + anais blanket) into a makeshift neck supporter. this was a waste of money for us.

9. sleep gowns/sacks. ugh. i thought these would be awesome. no snapping/zipping in the middle of the night. but i found them to be a pain in the ass. on the ones we bought, the elastic was WAY TOO TIGHT so when you tried to move it up for a diaper change, it didn't really work. these get a big thumbs down from me, even though i know a lot of people fully endorse these for newborns.

_ _ _

if you're expecting a little one, i hope this was helpful. you're bound to buy a couple things that you won't use or that won't work out like you thought they would, but that's ok. 

live and learn, right?

the nursery

jake's room came together bit by bit and it's finally at a place where i can say it's close to being finished.

we got most of the stuff i wrote about in this post, and a few other things along the way (mobile,blackout curtains,white noise machine).

my plan for this room was to make it bright and cheery, using pieces that we'd keep around the house after he's grown up. and even though we never chose a theme for his room, there's a lot of animals throughout the space. so...theme?

take a look.

the crib pictured here is a mini. the way the windows are placed, we just couldn't  fit a full-sized one without it covering up a good portion of the windows. the rocking chair is from pottery barn kids and the sheets are from here.

my mom also saved a few things from my old nursery so it was cool to be able to incorporate those things (i.e., old and now slightly creepy looking stuffed pooh bear, diaper holder, and a few handmade blankets) into this space.

spotted

chic diaper-bag-that's-not-a-diaper-bag alert.

it's $165 at banana republic right now. today they're offering 35% off your purchase, but i bet they do another 40% off promotion soon.

i saw this in person over the weekend and it seems to be a nice quality and has pockets inside as well. 

nine long months

when i was pregnant with jake, i couldn't get enough of these pregnancy must-have lists. i thought it was helpful to use the experiences of many to be as prepared as possible.

let me also say this about being pregnant: except for a few weeks in the second trimester, i did not enjoy it. i didn't expect it to be this non-stop fun time, but i've heard a lot (and still hear) women say how much they loved pregnancy. i don't know if they are just into their rose-colored glasses or if hindsight is too kind, but that wasn't my experience. 

that being said, i kept my list to things that made it more bearable for me. everyone's degree of morning sickness (horrible), back pain (bad in the third trimester), feet swelling (fine until about 38 weeks) and anxiety (please) is different, so keep in mind that this is what worked for me. 

and congrats to any new or soon-to-be moms out there!

1. pregnancy pops. a friend send these to me right after i found out i was pregnant. my morning sickness was bad. everything on earth -- especially dairy products and coffee -- smelled disgusting. i didn't actually eat very much in the first trimester because i was so sick all the time and was so turned off by everything, but these were appealing to me. pretty much any sour candy would do the trick. sour candy and smoothies for three months. oh yes.

2. stretch mark oil. let's be clear about one thing: you're probably gonna get stretch marks. some people don't, some people do, some people say it's genetic, but it's a fact of life for most pregnant ladies. this oil worked for me in some areas but was not as effective in others. either way, it can't hurt to keep that expanding body nice and moisturized and i liked this oil.

3. 12 hours sleep by 12 weeks old. this book saved my life/sanity. a very good friend of mine used this books for working on sleep with her two daughters. her kids sleep so well that i actually read this book (it's super thin) before i was pregnant while visiting her once. jake took to it like a champ (i was so so nervous it wouldn't work) and it's the first thing i recommend to anyone about to have a kid. 

baby 411. i read a lot of this book while i was pregnant and found it insanely helpful. it picks up right where the what to expect-type books leave off and i felt so much more prepared about those first few weeks after birth. it's practical, easy-to-read, and a little funny. i still reference it constantly.

4. grapefruit pellegrino. my drink of choice for the length of my pregnancy. i drank a shitload of water also (recommended: always carry a water bottle), but sometimes a little citrusy fizzy flavor just tastes better.

5. tums. easy heartburn relief. i also started liking their mint flavor, but didn't find out about it until the end of pregnancy.

6. leggings. i liked the ones from motherhood best. some people prefer old navy's version, but the way i was carrying my weight, i much preferred the kind of leggings that went all the way over the stomach instead of stopping below the belly button. i lived in these, especially the second and third trimesters. definitely buy three or four pair.

7. netflix. toward the middle/end of pregnancy, good sleep sorta goes out the window. so i wound up watching a lot of netflix late at night when i couldn't sleep because i was giant and i literally had to pee every five minutes.

8. supportive shoes. i jumped on this train a little too late and tried to wear cute-ish shoes for longer than i should have. you don't have to go full on frumpy and wear something hideous, but your back and swollen feet will appreciate the extra support.

9. you tube. as i mentioned, i basically felt like crap for three months in the beginning and never felt like working out. when my appetite finally came back with a vengeance in the second trimester, i attempted to EAT ALL THE FOODS. not cute. so i started doing these videos (yoga, cardio) on youtube and it gave me a little more energy and i felt a little (a little) less guilty about consuming the most food anyone has ever eaten.

10. snoogle. since sleep kinda sucks AND YOU CAN'T SLEEP ON YOUR FREAKING BACK, i bought one of these pillows and it made sleep slightly more comfortable. it's no miracle worker, but i definitely slept better once i had it. it folds into all sorts of positions, too.

11. apps. i loved the what to expect app and the i'm expecting app. it just felt like a fun way to mark the passage of time, and i'd get excited to read the daily/monthly updates.

12. jewelry. when you're pregnant, you basically miss out on multiple seasons of being able to buy new fun clothes. but jewelry always fits. and it's how i satisfied my desire to shop.

13. a desk fan. if you're going to be pregnant over the summer, you might consider getting a small desk fan. i was so hot at work. you might even need this if you're pregnant in the cooler months. it saved me from being a sweaty mess.

_ _ _

in addition to all of this, if you're shopping for baby stuff, don't forget that buy buy baby and babies 'r' us do price match. i found some killer deals by googling items while i was waiting to check out. if you can find it cheaper (and you almost always can), you can pay the cheaper price.

and i found most of my cute maternity clothes at target, asos and old navy. motherhood maternity/pea in the pod has some stuff there, but it can get expensive so watch for sales (they have them all the time). in the early stages of pregnancy, i also just wore larger sizes of "regular" non-maternity clothes. and those clothes will probably come in handy again right after your baby is here. 

that's all i got. 

if you think of anything i left off the list, let me know! 

brand new

little jake turns three months old in a few days. 

the first night we brought him home from the hospital was...hectic. i'm not gonna lie. we weren't prepared for life with a newborn, i was still really sore from my c section and my husband had slept on a shitty hospital "bed" for the past three nights. not a recipe for success. 

the nurses at the hospital were violently anti-pacifier ("not until breastfeeding is established!" *eyeroll*) and so we went without it that first night. by day two at home, we popped it in his mouth and felt stupid for not giving it to him in the first place. 

we both slept on the couch for about four days since i wasn't supposed to go up and down the stairs right after the surgery. that first week feels so long ago now. but i took a few pictures to document that time we were a brand new family in late october.

i'm coming to the end of my maternity leave. i'm so grateful my employer offered this time off to me; i'll never forget this time i got to spend with my happy little boy.

getting ready

i have a little more than five weeks left before the baby's supposed to be here.

we don't have everything together for the nursery, but we have (what i think are?) the essentials. i've been trying to stick with a "less is more" mentality when it comes to baby stuff, especially in the beginning. we have a crib (1), a rocking chair (3) and a piece of furniture we're going to use as a changing table (5) because i didn't see the point of buying an actual changing table that we won't use once he's bigger. i've bought some art for the room, but this is an area where i didn't go too crazy because what infant cares about wall decor? none infants, that's who.

we'll finish the room bit by bit.

i'm not a total blackhearted freak--there are a few just-for-fun items in here (that stuffed bear, the wooden rhino)--but for now, the practical me is winning the nursery battle.

here's what we have at the moment.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4a 4b 4c | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 

this doesn't include things like diapers, clothes, wipes, etc., but this is the route i've been going with the decorations. no theme really, just some stuff that i like.

the one thing that's giving me trouble is finding a rug to cover the hardwood. there's a much larger selection online, but rugs are something i like to feel before purchasing. overstock has a great selection, but i can't get all handsy there. and target's in-store selection sorta sucks. 

all complaints aside though, i can't wait to meet this little guy. pregnancy has progressed at a snail's pace and i just want to see him already.

recent recap

a mango nectarine 

eating outside at boundary stone

so excited about this patio set. the chairs rock back and forth!

slowly getting the nursery together

well, plans changed. last night, i was planning to go check out etto, but they're closed mondays. oops. that's what i get for not checking their website first. oh well. we had a great meal at boundary stone instead. i always enjoy their food.

i'm getting a slow start to blogging this week. no real reason, but i guess this heat has got me feeling lazy.

happy tuesday!

potw: baby time

since i have baby on the brain (we found out it's a boy btw!), i thought i'd feature some adorable shower invitations today.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

there's a ton of cute options out there.

_ _ _

looking for more letterpress goods? check out my press of the week series here. a new potw is posted (almost) every monday. but you can always find the latest by following me on twitter.

big changes

i'm pregnant!

17 weeks pregnant to be exact.

we're really really excited to be parents and can't wait to find out if it's a girl or boy. we're scheduled to find out june 19, and i'm dying to know.

i'm due october 28. crazy.

there won't be too many changes around here, but i thought i'd share our happy news today.

yay!

potw: baby love

there's been a lot of new babies in my life lately.

this past year, so many of my close friends have either become parents for the first time and a few have even moved on to baby number two!

as i was trying to think of a good subject for this week, it hit me that i've never done nursery art before.

so i found a few prints that would make an adorable addition to any baby's room.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

that 'so happy together' print is just too cute.

_ _ _

looking for more letterpress goods? check out my press of the week series here. a new potw is posted (almost) every monday. but you can always find the latest by following me on twitter.

potw: announcing

my sister and her husband are expecting a little baby in december.

i'm not sure whether they'll send out a birth announcement--is this something people always do? 

i'm not a parent myself, so i guess i'm not too sure. but here are a few examples of announcements that i happen to love. 

from top: 1 | 2

from top: 1 (printed by studio on fire) | 2 (printed by sycamore street press)


all of these are well designed + not too cutesy.

and best of luck to any other new or soon-to-be parents out there!

_ _ _
looking for more letterpress goods? check out my press of the week series here. a new potw is posted (almost) every monday.

potw: ay bay bay

i became an auntie for the first time last april.  

my nephew is easily the happiest, most mellow baby i've ever met.

i just love him to bits.

and he's the first grandchild for the boy's side of the family, so we've been showering that little guy with love for the past (almost!) 11 months.

this time last year, i was eagerly awaiting his birthday. we were all so excited for his arrival.

_ _ _

since baby showers are fairly common come spring time, here's a few of my favorite congratulatory cards for today's press of the week.

enjoy!

congratulations on twin girls | farewell paperie

simple, clean design | vandalia street press
[ not baby related but i also LOVE this one ]

adorable elephant card | anemone press

congratulations card for same sex couples | headcase press

i love them all, but i am especially happy to see the last one available for purchase on etsy.

how thoughtful, headcase press!*

_ _ _ 

yay for new babies and happy little families!


_ _ _


*i searched the entire internet for another congratulations card for same sex couples and this is all i could find. definitely hope to see more of these out there soon!