Wednesday, May 24, 2017

My Wedding Day Look: Head to Toe

I looked and felt amazing on my wedding day! I had a very short engagement and my wedding was on a B.U.D.G.E.T girl, so it took a lot of planning and skill to pull this off! Yes, at times I was stressed and unsure, but here I am, a young woman who got the look for less hunny!

If I can do it you can too! It is totally possible to look AMAZING on your big day without spending thousands of dollars. So I'm going to break down my wedding look, head to toe, and show you exactly how I pulled off this fabulous look for less than $1,500, dresses included!

I have hunted down purchase and info links for you to use just in case you are interested in any of the things listed below. Be sure to click the hyper links to be taken directly to the site you need.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Toddler on the go: What's in our Baby Bag

When it comes to diaper bags, backpacks are the way to go. We received one at our baby shower and have been using it exclusively up until the last few months. The older my child got, the more I realized that I no longer needed to leave the house with a bag packed with everything but the kitchen sink. I came to this realization slowly over time.
As my baby got heavier and more active, I no longer had the desire to carry her and a 20 lb baby bag. It took this realization for me to finally look inside the bag and really decide if I needed everything I was toting along. Now that we are mostly weaned I no longer needed to carry around my manual pump and empty bottles. Baby P rarely spits up anymore so carrying a burp cloth was unnecessary. Now that she eats a lot of solid food we rarely have blow outs anymore, so I really don't need to carry an extra outfit if we are only going to be out for a few hours. I ditched the changing pad as well.

Monday, May 22, 2017

The Novice mom: Surviving the First 6 Months of Breastfeeding.

I know this isn't the first or second post I've made about breastfeeding, and it probably won't be the last. To be honest, breastfeeding is a huge topic for new mothers because it is one of the most important aspects of your new life as a mother.

With all of the natural, mother nature & life giving that breastfeeding is, surprisingly it isn't an easy thing to do. By no means am I a pro, I only have one child, but now that Baby P and I have made it this far I'd like to share a few tips and tricks that got me through the first 6 months.

1. Baby steps: Make it through the first week.

The first week at home with your new baby will be full of firsts.This is the time when you will be figuring out how to be a mom and care for your infant without the help of a 24/7 staff of doctors and nurses. If you are a first time mom, this can be stressful, especially when you throw breastfeeding into the mix. In my personal experience, BF in the hospital was pretty easy, and even when it wasn't I had a lactation consultant just a few feet away. Once I got home we struggled, but just like my mom and so many other women told me, things got easier once we got past that first week.

At one point I did consider going to formula because my nipples were cracked and bleeding, feeding was painful and frustrating for us both and I had no clue if she was getting enough milk. Besides practice and getting the right gear, my mentality helped me through this. If you are mentally


Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Wedding Reception dress: Yay or Nay?

You may not be aware of this, but a lot of women are choosing to have an outfit change during their wedding day. The Reception Dress was a very controversial topic when it came to my wedding. I asked opinions, got varying responses and did a lot of research before I came to the decision to get one. Depending on the type of wedding and the gown you have you may want to consider getting one. Obviously I am in favor of them so here are my 5 reasons to get one.


1. Comfort

My wedding dress was a huge ball gown with a long train & Corset. I felt like the most beautiful bride while wearing it but after doing the first dance and eating I was hot, the dress felt tighter and I tired of dragging it around. To be honest, when I bought a second dress but I wasn't sure that I would actually wear it, I was bringing it just in case. When the night came I was so happy that I had something to change into. After I changed, I was able to easily navigate through tables to meet guests, dance and move more freely. I made sure all the important pictures were taken while I was still in the dress and after that I changed into my reception dress and flat sandals.

Wig Weigh In: Perm Romance Vs Vera

Sensationnel Stocking Cap Quality Custom Lace Wig

"Perm Romance"
Color: 1B
$29.99 Sistawigs.com
Style:
Length:Very long, past bra strap length.
Texture: yaky, low luster
Cap fit: stocking cap quality, very comfy

Pros:
-The cap is stretchy and very comfortable.
-You can easily change parting by rotating the wig. No ear tabs so it is comfortable any way you wear the wig
-The texture and sheen is very natural

Cons:
-The parting is very tight. A decent a
mount of plucking is needed
-Ends tangle really bad. After wearing for 5 days the tangles were pretty serious. I had to snip some of the knotted ends.
-Curls are mostly in the front. The back is mostly loose waves.
-Curls fell after only a few days of wearing
-some shedding