May 3, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

A quick Mother’s Day Gift Guide for all those last minute people, like myself. And it’s not too late to order some custom gifts online!

1. Artifact Uprising Custom Photo Book
2. Mina Kay Diaper Backpack
3. Gathre- Leather Bonded Mat 
4. Pink & Blue Co.  Necklace for mom with baby’s info
5. Promptly- A Childhood History Journal for Mom
6. Gift Card to Minted Home
7. Gift Card to Beauty Counter

I wanted to share a little gift guide with some of my favorite items that I think any mama would appreciate this Mother’s Day. I have most items on this list and they are all high-quality, one-of-a-kind type of items. Spoil the mothers in your life on May 14, they sure do deserve it!! Please share what you have already gotten that lucky mom in your life if you already went shopping! God Bless all the mamas!

Keep in touch,
Dani 

April 19, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

It is extremely hard to believe next month we will have a toddler on our hands, or as I would like to call him, a tod-fant. I am sharing 10 fun activities to check off your spring/summer bucketlist with your children.

photo by Verance Photography

1. Take a trip to the beach to splash in the water and build sandcastles.
2. Have a picnic and pack a snack, a frisbee, and some bubbles.
3. Plant some flowers or herbs in the backyard.
4. Build a water table out of 2 x 4’s and a large plastic bins.
5. Play in the sprinklers or hose or fill up water balloons.
6. Take a family bike ride! We recently bought the child cargo trailer off craiglist. They are expensive new so local Facebook mom groups, second hand stores, and craigslist are great places to check for used trailers.
7. Plan a craft day with other moms and children, set out picnic blankets and snacks! I want to have friends over to make bird feeders.
8. Make and popsicles eat them!
9. Take a day trip to a zoo or aquarium.
10. Make homemade play dough on a rainy spring day, or summer if you live in Florida like we do!

What are your big plans to stay busy with your kiddos this spring and summer? I can’t wait to check these fun activities off of our bucketlist!!

Keep in touch,
Dani

March 31, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

Sharing five baby items that we never used to help others moms with registries and save them some money and time!

I can not believe our baby was this tiny! Tanner was 3 weeks here! 

1. Diaper Warmer- Tanner’s changing table is not the biggest so we never put out the diaper warmer. Also, living in Florida, we do not experience really cold winters.
2. Decorative Car Seat Straps– I registered for little bear straps for Tanner’s carseat, they are cute, but I never switched out the straps and pads that came with his car seat. I think it is safer to keep what comes with the car seat.
3. Bottle Warmer– I bought this after using a friends and I never opened it. Tanner drank his bottles at room temperature. If the breastmilk came out of the refrigerator, we ran it under hot water for 2 minutes. Also, something you can do if you are at a friends house or at a restaurant.
4. Cup to trap pee– I thought this would come in handy for a baby boy. While, I did get peed on once or twice, I did not use this product and chances are you will not either each time you change a diaper. Save your money 🙂
5. Manual Breast Pump– I never found myself in a situation where I needed a manual pump. I always used my Medela pump that plugged into the wall. I even had an outlet for the car which was extremely convenient when on the road or running errands!

With Tanner’s first birthday approaching, I wanted to share the 5 items that I still have never used/are unopened in Tanner’s closet. These items are just products that we have managed to live without. I do have some friends who enjoy these items, but for Tanner we did not find them necessary. As moms, I feel like it is great to talk about the items that we did not use so hopefully we can save a trip to the store or spending the money on pointless things. I do still plan on trying to take a few items back in exchange for diapers. What are some items that you never opened??

Keep in touch,
Dani

March 22, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

With Easter less than 1 month away, I wanted to share some items that you could put in your baby’s or toddler’s basket.

As some of you may know, I am all about holiday traditions! Every year growing up my parents hid our Easter basket somewhere in the house. It was SO EXCITING for my brother and I to wake up on Easter and look all around the house for our baskets! Even though our son will only be 11 months this Easter, we will begin the same tradition. So before church on Easter Sunday, we will “hide” Tanner’s basket. It may sound silly to hide a baby’s Easter basket, but I am looking forward to this grace-filled holiday and beginning a new tradition as a family of 3! You may be wondering what type of items can you put in a baby’s basket so I created this blog post to share some items that would be perfect for a baby or toddler easter basket.

1. Plum and Sparrow Hand Woven Basket

This basket will be fun for all year adventures

2. Fancy Frogz Knitted Bunny

Every baby needs a bunny for Easter

3. Baby Gap Sandals

a practical gift for spring and summer

4. Gerber Cookies

for children who are too young for chocolate, these are yummy, trust me 😉 put them in a cute bag for your babe to enjoy

5. Jesus Storybook Bible

perfect first bible for a children filled with all of your favorite gospel stories (adults will love this too)

6. Blah Blah Book and Doll Set

the cutest little knitted and a book to go along with the blush toy

7. Egg Decorating Kit

what kid does not love dying & decorating eggs?

8. Guess How Much I Love You Book

a sweet story with beautiful illustrations of a bunny and his mama bunny

9. Mini + Meep “Locally Grown” Shirt

adorable organic cotton t-shirts and onesies. 10% of proceeds go to children in need!

 

What are you putting in your kids baskets and what holiday tradition does your family have?

Keep in touch,
Dani

 

February 28, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

Breastfeeding is the craziest rollercoaster-of-a journey that I ever could have imagined. I have been feeling inspired by all of my mama friends stories and struggles and felt like I needed to write this letter to any new mother. 

photo by Verance Photography 

 

Dear New Mama,

Congratulations on your sweet baby. Each baby is a gift from God and I hope you cherish this miracle. Your body took on a great challenge and grew your own human!! Be kind to yourself for months to come and remember is took 9 months to grow that precious angel.  You now have the best job AND the most important job in the entire world. Your job is not to breastfeed your baby, your job is not to choose formula for your baby, but your job is to take care of that baby until they are an adult. Your job is to pour love into that little person’s soul even on the hardest days. Your job is to be a kind and gentle mama, even when the rest of the world is cruel.

Breastfeeding a baby for the first time is a LONG journey. It is something that starts off slow and challenging. I had no idea just how much it would test my patience. There were both days and nights that I wanted to give up. There were days filled with tears. There were days that I was mad at my baby for not latching correct. New mama, remember each day is a new day and IT WILL get better. It will get better whether you continue to breastfeed, it will get better if you decide to exclusively pump, and it will get better if you formula feed your baby. Your identity as a mother is NOT in the method you decide to feed your baby. No one on this earth has the right to judge your method. Why? Because YOU ARE THE MOTHER of your child. And ONLY YOU know what will work best for you and your baby.

I learned that quickly. I believe as a new mother, I had this idea in my head about what our feedings should look like and it is really hard when they are not pretty and perfect. Most likely, it is not going to be pretty for several weeks, maybe even several months like my case. But finally it got better. After your baby is a toddler, no one will even care if you formula fed OR exclusively pumped OR breastfed your baby. All that matters is that you feed your baby and nourish them well. I am here to tell you that breast is not always best. Whatever works for you and your baby is best.  My hope is that all new mothers give themselves tons of grace and remember that no matter what you decide, you are doing your BEST.

I previously wrote a post about breastfeeding in the beginning of my exclusively pumping journey if you would like to read it. I am still pumping twice a day and starting to come to the end of my journey. I will write my final feeding update in Tanner’s 1 year birthday update post. I would love any feedback and love to hear your feeding journey, if you would like to share. I hope every mother knows they are enough!!

Keep in touch,
Dani

February 27, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

I have been sharing some photos on Instagram from our home photo session from the beginning of the month. We are cherishing these photos so much that I wanted to share the entire story with more photos in case some are interested in seeing them all! 

All photos taken by Verance Photography. 
Floral piece handing over our Master bed by The Wilding Collective

This month parks one year of Jason and I living in our first home. I have been wanting to having an in-home photo session for quite some time and I am glad that we had these photos taken before Tanner turns 1. I love being able to look back at photos of the house that my parents built just before I was born so I can’t wait to our baby to be able to share these photos of his first home for generations to come. Not only are these photos special because they are in our first home and with our first child, but our wedding photographer is the one who captured these photos, Sindy of Verance Photography. This month also marks Jason and my 3 year wedding anniversary! When Jason and I got married in Jacksonville, we were living outside of DC and Sindy was living in Tampa. Now we are all back in Jacksonville, living in the same small neighborhood, Murray Hill. I love how these photos tell such a wonderful story. Jason and I feel so blessed to have had Sindy come to our home and share her talent with us. Have you taken family photos lately? I would encourage everyone to have an in-home session! It is such a natural environment to take photos of your family in that will last more than a lifetime.

Keep in touch,
Dani