Moments of Musing

Making Our House a Home

Filed Under: home decor, homeowners, New home //

When we stepped foot inside our home, I knew my husband would fall in love with it. Heck, when I looked at the photos, I was taken aback. I needed a bit of convincing due to its distance from NYC but my husband had me sold shortly after seeing it our first time.
I probably will never do a full home tour for privacy reasons but I thought it’d be fun to show you how we’ve decorated the main spaces and what progress we’ve made in making the house our home sweet home.
LIVING ROOM

Before:
After:
KITCHEN

Before:

After:

DINING ROOM

Before:

After:

Newborn + Family Photos (Spring 2018)

Filed Under: baby #2, family photos //

This post is sponsored. All opinions are my own.

As I mentioned before, we did things a little different with our firstborn. One of those things was professional photos. We opted for professional maternity photos and took our own newborn photos. This time around, I took my own maternity photos and we decided to get professional newborn + family photos. I couldn’t be happier with our decision!

My day started with a blowout at the local blow dry bar Luxe & Co. As was my first blowout there, the service was wonderful from start to finish, and my blowout had me feeling brand new. All in all, it took about 45 minutes for a wash and blow. Pretty amazing, especially with my thick and curly hair, if you ask me!

I then went home to finish getting ready for our photo shoot. Faryl of Faryl Loew Photography was such a pleasure to work with. She was efficient and oh so patient. We still had some things to get together when she arrived. Then, our toddler was not really into the photos so it took him some warming up to the idea of sitting still and posing. And our newborn was hungry, despite me feeding him right before Faryl arrived. Luckily, we got all the shots we wanted and some—she offered to photograph my nursing session both just R and me and with S and my husband. They’re photos I’ll treasure forever. Be sure to book Farly if you’re in the NYC area!

Without further ado, here are some of our photos:

Social Media Summer Thoughts

Filed Under: Uncategorized //

This post is sponsored by Pink Blush but all opinions are my own. 

This past weekend we went on a mini family getaway to the Jersey Shore. I got to sleep in, do brunch, go shopping, AND take a nap. Plus, we didn’t have to spend any days away while my husband had training since we were together. (I also breastfed in a restaurant without flashing any waitstaff, as I had done last week so that’s a win.) 

While shopping was nice, I enjoy the convenience of receiving my online orders from Pink Blush, like this super comfy top. 

It all made me realize how precious family and our time together is — parking lot toddler meltdown while I was baby wearing his newborn brother included. I never want to take ANY moment together for granted. 


So, in an effort to be more consciously present with my family this summer (and always), I am setting times for reading/responding to emails, content creation, engagement + campaign applications… both to maximize my time and to feel less guilt about being on my dang iPhone too much. 

<<Over and out.>>

Have a great and safe MDW! 

Why Bath Time is Special + 5 Safety Tips

Filed Under: bath time //

This post is sponsored by Regalo but all opinions are my own. 

Bath time is special in our household. It’s usually a family event — with one parent bathing S and the other stopping in to see how much fun he’s having and sometimes even a bath together with one of us. Fortunately, S has enjoyed baths since he was a newborn. 

My parents say I was a huge crier and that they would literally shut the windows so neighbors wouldn’t think something was wrong because I would wail all bath long, every bath. Thankfully, R is more like his brother than like me during bath time. 


Of course, bath time can be fun but safety is most important. Here are a few of my own personal safety tips:

1. Never leave your children unattended in the bath tub. 

2.  Always test the water temperature before putting children inside the tub. 

3.  Use safety items, such as the Regalo faucet cover and Regalo bath tub handle, to prevent injury and slips/falls. 

4.  Use a mat, such as the Regalo bath kneeler pad, to kneel on to prevent from slipping and injuring while bathing children. 

5. To prevent mold in bath toys, squeeze the water out of them and place them in a ventilated area, such as the Regalo toy scooper/net, to air dry.

Maternity Leave Guest Series: 6 Month Baby Schedule

Filed Under: baby, guest post, maternity leave guest series, motherhood //

As most of you know, I will be away from blogland a bit while I’m on maternity leave. Lucky for me – AND you!- I’ve partnered with some lovely bloggers to consistently bring you great content. 

This week, I am sharing a post by Rachael from Rach Somp. She offers great insight into what a 6 month baby schedule can look like. 



Enjoy!






Max’s Onsie: Old Navy  /  Max’s Jeans: Old Navy  /  Max’s Cap: Amazon  /  Max’s Shoes: Converse



How?  How in the world has it been 6 months since our baby boy entered this world.  For some reason I still can’t seem to wrap my head around it all.  It is true what they say that the days are long but the months are short.  As hard and as challenging as these past 6 months have been it goes without saying that they have been the very best months of our lives.  I have worked hard the past few weeks to get Max on an actual baby schedule so I figured I would share what we are doing and along with some of our current favorite things.

As a reference here is Max’s Nursery details as well as my favorite Newborn Baby Must Haves in case you have any questions on newborn items or things you see from his nursery in the above pictures.

**A few mentionables:  This is 100% what works for us.  There is not one baby that is like another so what works for us might not work for you.  I am currently home with Max all day so my schedule might not be realistic for moms who work outside of the home.  Again, this is all okay!   I am simply hoping to share some insight into our day in the hopes that this might help some of you out there.   I rely heavily on Moms on Call so feel free to download their books via Amazon.



Our 6 Month Baby Schedule

7:00am  Max wakes for the day
  •  If he wakes and is a little fussy I try to hold him off to as close to 7am as I can and I wake him at 7am even if he is still sleeping 



7:05am  Feeding

  • Feedings would be either breastmilk or formula, whichever you are currently doing


7:15am  Play time
  • We still love our skip hop play mat
  • We hang more things from it like the O Ball
  • Any book that is crinkly he loves to put in his mouth
  • Scout via Leapfrog is his current favorite 



8:00am  Feeding- Solid Foods  2-3oz

  • I have been making a majority of our food in bulk via the baby brezza
  • Then I freeze everything in these OXO food trays
  • I also use these bibs because no one warned me just how messy it will get and how you really can’t get those stains out of their clothes.  I ruined so many sleepers and onsies from food
  • we currently use this Chicco 360 Hook Chair instead of a traditional high chair.  I do love the ease of the swivel chair but I do have my eye on this high chair
  • Here are the spoons we got and I still have yet to purchase any baby bowls or plates
  • We are starting to sippy cup train after eating solids (i just hand him the sappy cup and he puts it to his mouth, eventually I will put milk in it) 


8:15am Play Time

9:00am  Nap
  • Generally he sleeps about 1.5 hours in his crib.  I don’t let him sleep more than 2 hours
  • We use the Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit during his daytime naps
  • We use white noise, a humidifier and I do make it as dark as I can for him.  He used to hate napping in his crib during the day but the sleep suit helped us!

11:00am  Feeding 
  • I try to hold him off as best as I can so he feeds at this time, regardless of when he wakes from his nap

11:15am Playtime
  • This Zany Cube came highly recommended from other moms so we ordered it.  It arrives today!
  • We are also getting ready to order this Vtech Sit to Stand Walker.  Another highly recommended item
  • He is starting to really love his jumper
  • His grandparents spoiled him over Christmas with his very own BWM that I push him around on



12:00pm Short/Light Feeding 


12:05pm Back to Play Time

1:00pm Afternoon Nap
  • I tend to use this time to run errands if I need to.  He doesn’t always get a deep sleep if we are out and about and tends to dose in and out 
  • This nap is No longer than 2 hours. If we are home this nap is in his crib and sleep suit 
  • If he sleeps long in the morning this nap tends to be only an hour
  • If I am home I will play with and distract him until his next feeding

3:00 pm  Feeding

3:15pm Playtime
  • I try to get 30 minutes each play session of one on one time interacting with him 
  • Then I give him his space and independent time (aka I try to also get stuff done!)

4:30pm  Feeding- Solids 2-3 oz

4:45pm-6:45pm Varies
  • Drew is typically home so during these hours we will walk the dogs while Max is in the stroller.  
  • sometimes Max will fall asleep during the walk, if not then he typically falls asleep around 6:00pm.  These naps are never more than 30 minutes

6:45pm Story Time
  • He starts to get really fussy around this time because he is getting hungry and tired.  We try to read to him and distract him as much as possible

7:00pm  Bathtime

7:20pm Final Feeding 

7:45pm  He is typically asleep by this time
  • I burp him and no longer let him fall asleep while feeding.  I want him good and full!
  • I put him in his dock a tot, in the crib while he is awake.  He used to fuss but doesn’t anymore
  • The white noise is on, humidifier is on, thermostat set to 71 degrees (don’t forget we live in FL so only the A/C runs) 
  • He sleeps in cotton sleepers and a Halo Sleepsack
  • He officially sleeps through the night and wakes again between 6:00-7:00am


Obviously no day is the exact same and somedays are harder then others.  For example I wrote this post and the next morning Max woke at 5am crying off and on until 6:30am unit I finally caved and got him up for the day.  Sometimes I have more things to do and we are out and about but the above schedule is what I would call a typical day.  


My main focus was to get Max sleeping through the night when he was first born so most of my energy went towards that.  I felt by the time he hit 5 months we were both ready to get our days in order.  Up until that point our days were a free for all.  (which is 100% okay!)  I actually start back to work part time from home today for an advertising company in addition to wanting to revamp and form my own brand.  This was the driving factor in me wanting to a set baby schedule during the day.  I now feel it is easier for me to plan and get most of the things done in a day that I need to get done.  

I hope this helps some of you new moms out there.  Don’t forget it’s all trial and error and no one knows what is best for your baby but you!