I just got home from a long run, always the place I find solitude and do my best thinking. Today I was thinking that I’m having anxiety…over my blog. And anyone who gets anxiety about something that silly has issues. My issue is that in trying out the honest and open approach, I gained readers, but lost sleep.
I do better with fashion tips and there will be a day that I come back to blogging to offer my personal favorite maternity fashions, tips and tricks. Of course I hope this will be sooner rather than later.
Until then, I’m still not sure if this will be our month, but if not I just know 2010 will be our year. I wish you a wonderful new year filled with new beginnings!
xo, S
Trying to Conceive
This first annual holiday edition is perfect to forward to your mom to avoid yet another sweater that you wouldn’t dare wear now that you’re safely out of junior high or to print out for your husband who swore that when you said you needed a new vacuum that surely meant you wanted one for your anniversary.
One size fits most is a really safe bet (are you listening husbands?) because if you buy your wife, who wears a size medium, a size large you will be sleeping on the couch. Important to note I said one size fits “most” not “all” as the first two gift ideas work great for 2-10 pre-pregnancy sizes.
The Due In tanks and tees are awesome for two completely irrelevant reasons. One, they offer pervy men a total excuse to stare at, I mean read, the fine print across Pregnant Girl’s new knockers . Two, they save those “foot in mouth” types from asking the 6 month Pregnant Girl if she is due next week thus provoking hysteria. $36 – $52
Michael Stars maternity tops – AKA magic shirts that cover every bump from beginning to end and turn out perfect even after 200 washes. Somehow a man (I am so pissed it was him and not me) figured out a way to make one size fashionable tees and then expand them to the maternity market. $50-$68
For more of a splurge gift choose a fabulous Storksak diaper bag, if she is a handbag kind of girl she will love a diaper bag that looks (almost) as stylish as the Prada bag she will surely need when she is done with the diaper stage of life. This is total function meets fashion. $176 – $245
Husbands, gifts that are as much for you as for her include BelaBumBum nursing bras, panties and pjs. Your wife will feel feminine and you get to enjoy the view, wink. $24 – $80
If you’re looking for a gift for both mom and dad to enjoy (and you don’t want to conjure up the images from aforementioned lingerie) a more appropriate choice is the Beco baby carrier. The Beco promotes bonding, is adjustable for kids from 7-45 lbs. and adjusts to fit a petite mama and tall daddy (or vice versa) in a matter of seconds. They come in many fun prints or organic solids. $139 – $189
Happy Holidays!
xo, S
Fashion Tip Fridays
Now that I am back in the swing of things over here it is time to continue with so many people’s favorite posts…fashion tips for moms to be. All of these tips are things I would use and buy and as many of you know I am a huge lover of the Uppa Baby Vista stroller. This is a system that does it all from birth to the time that your child would just look silly accepting a ride in even the coolest of strollers.
If you wonder why this is a fashion tip I suggest you to think accessories ladies. Your stroller must be functional, but like a great bag, if you are going to be pushing it around daily for the next 3+ years it might as well look as good as it handles. Plus, Uppa is a green company and saving the environment for our next generation is one trend that canoot be overdone.
The Vista comes with an organic lined bassinet that has a flat bottom and is as functional in your home as it is on the slick alloy frame. Sold seperately is an easy to use carseat adapter and a MUST for any modern mom. The baby/toddler seat rides high and provides a comfy place for your little one to watch the world go by or to recline for an afternoon snooze. Right now Uppa is phasing out of their 2009 model and coming out with the Vista 2010. The changes are minor and include; a new zero position allowing for a more upright seat on the baby/toddler seat, a toddler seat that has more cushion and is longer for taller children, a better sunshade extension on the bassinet, a foot break that is now push on and off (instead of lifting up with your toes to release), and a smoother wheel.
The changes are great, but are they $100 worth of great? If not, you can take advantage of discounted 2009 Vistas marked down to $579.99 (2010 will premier in February with a price point of $679.99). As one hopeful mom to be I know how the spending can add up fast, so why not have the very best stroller at the very best price… after all, true fashionistas know when to spot a good deal.
Fashion Tip Fridays, So Much Baby Gear
Guest post from RACS RANTS…could this be breastfeeding advice that works?!?!
When the G-man was born, I was intent on breastfeeding. I performed and did my duty through months of anxiety always believing I would never have enough. My sob story mirrors many mothers’ agonizing moments of pumping, which I fondly referred to as the “booty call” because I swear this is the sound that the Medela breast pump makes at 2 am. After 5 months of dutiful booty calls (and yet not much action), it was finally time to go to my first post-pregnancy trip to Vegas, and the boobs called it quits.
Through this experience, the best breastfeeding advice came from the Guatemalan mafia (a fond nickname we’ve created for the housekeeper and nanny). She of course told me “the milk of the breast is best.” In her country, formula is not quite as available as here in the good old USA. She then added you must eat the “Kuker”. Now not knowing what this “Kuker” was, she explained that it’s a special drink that we also “eat” here. I immediately assumed it was an herb that I had to get my hands on. She explained it would provide me with so much milk flow that I would have a surplus of breast milk that would fill my garage freezer to such an extent I would actually have to remove the vodka I also store there (for emergency cases only).
I scoured the internet and my baby books for something, anything, that could provide me more info on this wonder herb known as “Kuker”. I asked the other mommies, my mother, even called the lovely lactation specialists that fondle a breast likes it’s a piece of machinery. No one could offer me any answers. After a few days of searching, I realized that something was lost in translation. I implored again for more information from the Guatemalan mafia and she finally described the old man with a mustache and funny hat on the front of the package. I realized immediately then, the secret to breastfeeding, it was a clear as daylight, you must drink the Quaker.
Much of my experience as a mother has been like this, making motherhood more complicated then it really is, not enjoying the small things and finally realizing so much communication is lost in translation between a child and his mother. Then of course saying at the end of the day, you don’t have to be great, just good enough.
Breastfeeding, Guest Blogger, Milk It, More Advice
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