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! 

I finally understand what everyone told me about having a new baby - sometimes the days can be long, but the months are short. They were so right! Somehow Noah is already 6 months next week and he's has turned from a teeny newborn nuzzled in my arms to a little baby boy rolling around, full of personality, big smiles, tons of facial expressions, and some serious laughs! He's a huge fan of playtime, giggling with mama, flying like superman, being outside and staring up at the trees, watching us chop and cook in the kitchen, splashing during bath time, and sleeping (hallelujah, never thought we'd get here!). While I have all of our baby gear and registry must-haves on my Amazon shop, I figured it could be helpful to put some of our latest favorites right here with a little more context for any other new mamas!

I know, I know, this isn't your typical Weeknight Bite healthy recipe or nutrition post.  Today we're trading cauliflower rice for nipple cream, so read on with caution! 🤣I do think this is a topic that will be really beneficial for a lot of women because let me tell ya, behind every newborn cutie pie is a tired mama who is also wearing a diaper (for real, tho 😳).

I didn't realize how tough the recovery would be, and when I mentioned that the other day on my insta stories, I received countless messages from women asking questions and wondering what they would need for their own recovery. So I figured I'd put it all together in a blog post! That way, you can stock up on everything early and avoid frantically texting your mama-friends at 3am when you're back from the hospital and you realize you need way more comfortable pads, a better alternative to the hospital spray bottle, and something to heal your sore nipples (and fast!). I placed a lot of middle of the night Amazon orders those first few days at home, so I'm hoping this list will get you all prepped so you can just focus on healing and on your baby, rather than "adding-to-cart" all night long!