I love adding new products to the store. I’ve talked about adding our newest line since we opened the store nearly 2 years ago. I even did a review of the line last year. I have yet to find a Motherlove product I didn’t love. Their nipple cream was amazing in the first week or two of breastfeeding. My new favorite item? The Green Salve. It seems to calm any itch, rash, or bump that pops up. It has earned it’s place in my purse, and now my diaper bag. The more I fall in love with these products, the more I want to make sure that moms have access to them. As I see moms in my Lactation Consultant Practice and connect with moms on-line, I want to make sure that I’m offering products I believe it, that I believe moms will love, and that serve a purpose. Come check out our newest line, let us know what you think, and be sure to let me know if you have any questions!
We’re adding products!
One of my favorite things….
For so many moms breastfeeding is new territory. It’s not something we’re exposed to before it’s our turn. We spend so much time preparing for the birth of our baby and the life of our child and we just expect that we’ll breastfeed, since that’s natural and will just happen, right? For some women it is a totally easy, comfortable place to be. Have a baby, put baby to the breast, and life goes on. For some there are major challenges they face, and an International Board Certified Lactation Consutlant (IBCLC) can help with that. For others there are minor challenges that we have to figure out how to navigate.
Right now we see all sorts of backlash against moms who nursing in public (often referred to as NIP). Let’s be real, mom can not spend months inside the house just to make sure she doesn’t inadvertently offend some stranger, right? A baby has to eat, and a mom has to feed the baby. Many moms turn to nursing covers to help them feel more comfortable.
It’s no secret if you know me, I’m not a fan of traditional nursing covers, and I do not think moms need to cover to feed their baby, however, I do think moms need to be comfortable to feed their babies. I’ve heard it said time and time again, ‘I don’t care of someone sneaks a peek of a little breast while I’m feeding my baby, but my STOMACH, ugh.’ And I am nodding my head in agreement. My post baby belly is not something I am comfortable with or want to be showing to strangers.
In comes the Undercover Mama. WHY have I not talked about these before? One of my FAVORITE things. It hooks right on to your nursing bra, so when you unhook the cup and fold it down, the Undercover Mama comes too. Genius. They’re also longer than a standard t-shirt so they can help you get back into the pre-baby wardrobe sooner.
I own the Undercover Mama in three colors. Yes three. Basic black & white, well, because they’re functional and go with everything. And the hot pink because it’s fun!
Thanks to Undercover Mama you can own a black or white Undercover Mama for free! To enter, leave a comment with your top nursing in public tip. Winner must live in the US or Canada.
Don’t want to wait or want a different color? Our Undercover Mama’s are 10% off, this week only! If we’re out of your size, and you want to order one, let me know!
Make sure to keep up to date with all of the Undercover Mama news with their Facebook Page and Twitter Account. I’ll choose a winner on 8/05/12.
A big thanks to Undercover Mama for sending me an Undercover Mama to review and supplying the prize for our winner.
Summertime, vacation time!
Ah summertime! School is getting out for the summer and we are all planning for vacations. My favorite summertime place to be is the beach. The moment my toes touch the sand and I smell the salty ocean air, nothing else matters. It is my happy place. I love that my girls have adopted my love of the beach as well. My 3 year old asks me every few days if we can go to the ocean. I hate telling her no, but the three hour drive straight east to reach the sand & waves means we would get there, walk to the ocean, and then drive home to pick up her big sister from school. Not exactly my idea of a fun beach trip.
Last summer we were planning our vacation last minute between work trips for my husband and school starting for my oldest. It was quite a challenge. We had 3 criteria. It had to be driveable, wherever we stayed had to have 2 bedrooms & a kitchen, and it had to be near the beach.
I spent hours looking for beach rental homes that were in our price range, and my husband got to work on hotels. I came back with very little within our price range, and he found the Ocean Beach Club in Virginia Beach.
My top tips for vacationing with kids:
Always have a game plan, even if you don’t stick to it 100%. We had a list of places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do. We also made sure to plan at least 1 – 2 days with nothing to do but hang around the beach and the pool. One of our favorite parts of traveling is seeing what the city we are visiting has to offer. We generally start with the reciprocal agreements our children’s museum, zoo, and science center have where we are going. We have found that having memberships here keep us occupied at home, and it makes vacation cheaper!
Have access to easy food. This is why we chose a hotel with a kitchen. Kids need a snack? Pull a yogurt out of the fridge instead of searching for a 7-11. Having a stash of food that we could pull out at a moment’s notice made the process of being away from home without my kitchen & pantry so much easier.
Make sure sleeping arrangements are comfortable. Who wants to fight with the kids to go to sleep in their bed while you try to watch TV and relax at their bed time? Our hotel room was a suite, so the girls had their room and we had ours. We’ve also enjoyed renting houses. The last time we tried sharing a single room it was challenging to get our oldest to sleep while I nursed the baby to sleep and we tried to enjoy some adult down time.
Relax & Enjoy. Plan fun activities for everyone, but don’t over plan. Make sure to enjoy the downtime with your family. It’s so precious and most of us are so busy in our normal day to day lives that we don’t get that downtime to truly relax & enjoy.
We loved that Virginia Beach has a playground on the sand. It was just a few blocks from our hotel and we took the girls down there to play every night before bed. It meant we were bringing home two sandy little girls, but it meant we were brining home two TIRED little girls, which helped to counter balance the excitement of a new place and the vacation.
There are also a lot of family friendly things to do in and around Virginia beach, we had our share of adventures. We spent one day at the zoo in Norfolk. Of course, it was pretty empty since there had been an earthquake earlier in the day, and some of the animals were playing it safe, but we still had a blast!
We played the obligatory beach vacation round of miniature golf, and we enjoyed walking around the town and exploring new places. We also had a blast at the Virginia Living Museum on our way home.
To sum it up, our vacation was loosely planned with some fun activities for all of us and plenty of downtime to just enjoy our family and relax. We had a great time in Virginia Beach and will absolutely keep it in mind for this year when we’re looking for a quick get away with the kids. Make sure to like the Virginia Beach Facebook Page to keep up to date on their promotions, and check out their website for more info.
What was your favorite family vacation with the little ones? What are you looking forward to this summer?
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