I'm going to preface this post by saying that I'm definitely not the "Pinterest mom" who is skilled at all things DIY and an expert at whipping up perfectly themed baked goods and birthday cakes. My cakes are always a little uneven and the frosting might not be totally smooth but are they made with love? 1000%! I honestly had zero plans to post the truck cake I made for Noah's 2nd birthday but after getting so many messages about it via Instagram, I  figured I'd share a few tips and tricks and product links for all the other amateur baking moms like me who are just trying to make their kids'  birthday cake extra special for them! Since Noah is truck-obsessed, we went all in on the truck decorations, but you can buy whatever number you need and then pick your kid's favorite thing or character and make that the theme of your cake!

There's so much excitement, planning, and preparation that happens when you're pregnant. I spent so much time nesting and getting Noah's room perfectly decorated and ready, organizing his clothes by size, and looking into mommy-and-me classes, but one thing I didn't spend much time was preparing what I'd need once I came home from the hospital with a newborn. I think part of that is, you don't really know until you're going through it (and then frantically placing Amazon orders at 3am), but once you've been there, you're a pro and can help prep your sister or besties with everything that will help their transitions into new motherhood those first couple weeks. Part of that is essentials for mama's physical recovery (you can find all of my tips for that in this post) and another big part of that is... food!

There are specific foods that are extra nourishing for a new mama, and there are also certain necessities to have on hand for nursing moms who are famished at all hours of the day and night. When my sister came home from the hospital with her baby two weeks ago and I saw her emergency stash of Nature Valley bars and random cookies on her nightstand, I knew she needed some help. So I put together all of the essentials for her, and seeing the response I got via DM on instagram, I knew I should put it all in a blog post to share with you, your pregnant sisters, and your mom-to-be friends, too!

We're going to change things up a bit today with a super fun guest post — I'm so excited to welcome my friend, Lauryn, of The Skinny Confidential, to the blog to talk all things time management as a new mama. But let me backtrack for a second first.

Lauryn and I first met in 6th grade through my best friend. Even back then, Lauryn was way ahead of her time. Savvy, funny, stylish, beautiful, effortlessly herself, and super confident. Knowing her back then, it's no surprise (but still so freaking cool) to see the total boss businesswoman, podcaster, and author that she is today. And now she juggles all of that with being a new mom to her adorable daughter, Zaza.

So when we were mid-text one day about the pancakes  I make Noah, she said "let's do a blog swap. You tell us everything about feeding babies, and I'll share my tips on any subject you want." I obviously asked for all her tips and tricks on how to be productive, while juggling the craziness of motherhood, because honestly my "balance" these days is pretty non-existent and life revolves around my baby boss, Noah. I love it and I wouldn't trade it, but could I use some tips from a pro about managing it all a little better? Absolutely! So with that, I'll let Lauryn take it away...

I'm super excited to dive deep into the topic of introducing solids & answer all of your questions on feeding your baby with the help of my friend, Jessica Diamond, who is a nutritionist specializing in infants, children, and families, a mama herself, and the co-host of the podcast Meaning Full Living, which is basically a "Cliff's Notes" guide to parenting all about breaking down the overwhelming topics and making them easy and fun to understand so we can live our best lives with our families! She's a real gem, let me tell you! I first mentioned Jessica when I shared my first Introducing Solids post, which talks all about how we got started Noah, tips and advice, recipe ideas, and products you'll love. There were still so many questions after that post, that we decided to do a Part 2 to answer all of them. Let's get into it!

Let's talk about introducing solids to your baby... a topic that comes up more than anything else in my DMs these days! This is something that honestly made me super nervous in the beginning, but now that it's been several months, I've gotta tell you, it's become so much fun! I had so many questions when we first got started and thought it would be helpful for other mamas if I shared my experience here. I'm definitely not an expert, but now that we're a couple months into solid foods, I do have some tips and tricks to share that hopefully can help put new mamas at ease when starting solids too!