love, marriage, baby carriage

08/13/16

Hospital Bag Checklist

*Affiliate links included. When you’re nearing the end of your pregnancy, you have a million things to think about and prepare for- the last thing you need it to scramble at the last minute trying to put your hospital bag together. Even though we measure pregnancy by 40 weeks, your baby will come when she or he is ready, not according to your schedule. For my first pregnancy, I prepared my hospital bag at 35 weeks, just to be safe, and had a checklist of items I needed to add at the last minute (makeup and technology).

When my sister was pregnant with her second baby, she called me one night to go over anything she might have missed for her bag. She was still well before her due date but wanted to be prepared. Luckily she ran to the store that night, in the spirit of preparedness, and ended up going into labor the next day!

I enjoy being extremely prepared, and my hospital bag checklist may be more extensive than you need, so feel free to use it as a base guide. I’m including hospital bag lists for mom, dad, and baby as well as items you may think you need but should leave at home.

07/30/16

Gender Reveal Announcement

A few weeks ago, I announced my second pregnancy, giving a little update (or, bump-date, if you will) about how things are going so far.

Today, I’m 15 weeks pregnant with baby number two, and this morning we headed over to the ultrasound clinic to find out the gender. So what do you think? Boy or girl? I’ll answer the questions to some old wive’s tales first:

• Carrying high, girl, low, boy: I’m carrying low
• Little girls will steal your beauty: My skin & body have definitely taken a hit.
• Heart beat under 140, boy: Baby’s heart rate has been in the high 160’s.
• Craving sweet? Girl. Salty? Boy: I’ve been leaning towards salty.
• Sick as a dog? Girl: If you know me, you know I’ve been extremely ill.
• Extremely moody? Girl: I may have been sick, but I can’t say I’ve felt moody.
• Dream of having a boy? Then you’re having a girl: Justin and I both had dreams of a boy.
• Headaches? Then you’re having a boy: I’ve been waking up every night with headaches.

07/13/16

The Easiest Way to Save Money While Shopping

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

I’ve never been one to scour newspapers and mailings for coupons; I’ve never been a coupon clipper because the few times that I did take the time to cut out a coupon and set it aside to get 50 cents off that lipstick I really wanted, it collected dust in the back of my junk drawer or was never to be seen again. Does this sound like you?

No coupon clipping for me, but instead I peruse the internet for deals and coupon codes, often for upwards of 20 minutes trying to find a promotion that actually works. In the end, I usually feel defeated knowing I wasted so much time only to come across 10 expired deals.

Well, now I have the solution to my coupon problems: Groupon Coupons. Yup, you heard it, not only is your easiest savings a fun rhyme, but it’s sooo much easier and more accessible than clipping and endless internet searching for broken links and expired codes.