Hiya pals! We've been back from our vacation for about a month now and finally feel all caught up on life. We had the most incredible time at Walt Disney World and we want to share all of our adventures with you today! So grab a lemonade and snuggle up because it's going to be a long one ;)

We had a super early flight out of Chicago at 7am so we could make the most of our first day at Disney World. We got in to Orlando around 10:30am and took the Disney Magical Express over to our resort. Our room wasn't ready yet so we did a quick outfit change in the restrooms in the main lobby, grabbed some Mickey shaped beignets (oh my gosh you guys, new favorite Disney snack ever!?), and hopped on the bus to Magic Kingdom.
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Walking in to Magic Kingdom for the first time was everything and more, you guys. We walked down Main Street together toward Cinderella's Castle and it was honestly more than I've dreamed of. The sparkle in Kai's eyes was unreal. Every time we watch a Disney movie, he watches the opening credits when they show the castle and I always tell him "We're going there, Kai!" So when he saw it in real life, I just know he knew where we were.

After we took all the magic in, we grabbed some lunch at Casey's Corner and ate on the hub grass with the most perfect view of the castle. Eating corn dog nuggets and fries from Casey's on the hub grass is one of mine and Caleb's favorite things to do while at Disney World. It's like having the ultimate picnic! Kai crawled around the hub grass and we just enjoyed a slow lunch at our favorite place in the world.

Next, we popped Kai in the stroller so he could nap and did a little bit of shopping. We got our ear hats and had them embroidered and watched a little bit of the Festival of Fantasy parade. After the parade ended it was time to go meet Mickey and Minnie! We headed over to the Town Square Theater for Kai's big moment. He saw Mickey in real life and the look on his face was incredible. He smiled, laughed, hugged, and kissed him on the nose. He wasn't scared at all and it's a memory I will hold in my heart forever.

We had some time to kill before dinner so we just walked around Magic Kingdom, grabbed the new Hei Hei Cone from Aloha Isle, went through the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, and took a bunch of pictures with the castle in the rain. We then had dinner at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore. The buffet spread was delicious and Kai once again loved all the characters. I think his favorites though were Piglet and Pooh  ;).

We ended our night after that and headed back to our hotel. We stayed at the Port Orleans - French Quarter resort, and oh my goodness, it was the best! We have a Disney bucket list item for staying at every resort at WDW, but I'm not sure we're going to be able to pass up staying at the French Quarter every time we go! We loved it so much! Our room was spacious and had a huge bathroom area. It was big enough that we could put Kai's pack and play in it so we didn't have to sit in total darkness as soon as we put him down if we weren't ready to go to bed yet. The grounds of the resort were so beautiful and peaceful, too.

Outfit Details:
​Kai Bear
Mickey Onesie - SparkleDesignCo | Red Shorts - Little Me (similar) | Mickey Oxfords - Freshly Picked | Mickey Hat - Walt Disney World | Mickey Ears - Amazon 
Diana
Mama Shirt - SparkleDesignCo | Shorts - Zara (no longer available) | Sneakers - Nike (similar) | Minnie Ears - Walt Disney World | Ring Sling (Cardinal) - WildBird (no longer available)
Caleb
Dad Shirt - SparkleDesignCo | Navy Shorts - Target (old, similar) | Sneakers - Cole Haan Outlet (similar) | Mickey Hat - Walt Disney World

I started out my morning like I usually do at home actually but it was extra special waking up at our hotel at Disney. I got up early, grabbed some coffee from our cafe at the French Quarter, and found a quiet bench by a little fountain outside and read my book. I enjoyed the sunrise, my coffee, and my book while the boys got a little extra shut eye. I did this every morning we were there and it is honestly one of my favorite parts about our trip!

We headed out to Hollywood Studios for an early breakfast at Hollywood & Vine that morning where Kai got to try Mickey waffles for the first time and meet some of the Disney Jr. characters! He really loved Princess Sofia. After breakfast, I went on Rock N Roller Coaster while Kai was supposed to be sleeping but that didn't work out so well, ha! He was too excited to sleep and I couldn't blame him. We headed over to Toy Story Land next where we grabbed a quick lunch at Woody's Lunchbox. I got the chocolate hazelnut pop tart and Caleb got the BBQ Brisket Melt. Both 10 out of 10, highly recommend! We tried out the mobile ordering for the first time here, too, and it was so easy! We didn't have to wait in the long line and our food was ready so quick. After lunch, we went on Toy Story Mania where Kai fell asleep about 15 seconds after I put him in the ring sling, ha! He slept through the entire thing and yes, Caleb totally kicked my butt on it!

We decided to take a short break from the park after Toy Story Land and headed back to our hotel. Kai woke up when we got back and we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather so we headed to the pool! They have a fun little kids water play area, which we tried out first and Kai wasn't too keen on it. I think there was just too much going on for him but it will be so fun to take him to when he's a little older. We moved over to the regular pool area and got in the water and Kai LOVED it! He was splashing around and kicking his legs like crazy. He was laughing so much and didn't want to get out! We grabbed a pretzel and a couple of drinks from the pool bar and then Vacation Kai was born. (If you followed our trip on Instagram you'll know what I'm talking about but if not, we named Kai Vacation Kai and took lots snapshots of all the posh things he was doing while on our trip...basically just him living his absolute best life, ha!) He ate like half the Mickey pretzel and was ready to take on the rest of the day.

After the pool we headed back over to Hollywood Studios where we explored Star Wars Launch Bay then went back to Hollywood & Vine for dinner. This time we ate with Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey! Kai loved meeting Donald but Minnie and Mickey were the clear favorites again. He gave Minnie so many kisses on the nose when she came over to our table to spend time with him. Mickey was actually greeting everyone at the door when they first came in to the restaurant but had a very long line when we first got there. Our hostess gave us a little raincheck slip to come back and meet him when the line had died down. So after we were finished eating, we went over to Mickey and there was no line. Mickey got down on the floor with Kai and played with him for about 5 minutes. It was probably the best 5 minutes of Kai's entire life. The joy we saw on his face and excitement in his eyes was incredible. It's something I will never forget. That moment is why I love Disney so much.

We ended our night at Hollywood Studios by watching Fantasmic! Kai loved the show and it's probably one of our favorites, too. We got to see a bit of the fireworks from the Star Wars show too as we were walking out of the park! Again Kai wasn't scared at all and watched them in awe. It was another spectacular day!

Outfit Details:
​Kai Bear
Padawan Onesie - CouplesTeez (Custom order) | Khaki Shorts - Carters | Grey Moccasins - Freshly Picked
Diana
Jedi T-shirt - CouplesTeez | Khaki Shorts - JCrew Factory | Sneakers - Nike (old, similar) | BB=8 Ears - ToNeverNeverland | Ring Sling (Double Swan) - WildBird (no longer available)
Caleb
Jedi Master T-shirt - CoupleTeez | Khaki Shorts - Banana Republic (old, similar) | Sneakers - Cole Haan Outlet (old, similar)

We had a nice, slow morning on our 3rd day with breakfast at our hotel and walking around our resort. We caught the boat from the docks at our hotel and went over to Disney Springs. We did some shopping at the LEGO Store, Basin, World of Disney, and Zara to name a few! We also grabbed some super tasty tacos from a food truck called 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa. We ate right next to the water and it was so relaxing. After that we headed back to our hotel for a nap. The whole morning and afternoon was a nice refresh from a busy first two days.

That evening we headed over to Magic Kingdom again. We finally took Kai on some rides! And he was awake! We went on it's a small world, Peter Pan's Flight, and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We grabbed a churro to hold us over until dinner as well as a Lefou's Brew from Gastons, which is SO good, by the way. After that we headed over to Be Our Guest for dinner! So I've promised to always be totally honest with you all on this little blog, so here it is...we weren't impressed. Even though there were kids all over the restaurant, we felt really uncomfortable with Kai there. The food was decent but not mind blowing for the price. The experience of being there was also just so so. We saw the Beast walk by a couple of times but that's about it. We all might have just been off that night though, to be fair. Kai was hyper from the churro and actually blew out his diaper at dinner! It frazzled Caleb and we somehow ran out of diapers! I made a quick dart over to the Baby Center though that is located right next to the Crystal Palace and bought a new pack of diapers and was able to change Kai there. So not the most glamorous ending to the night, but I did learn where the Baby Center was inside Magic Kingdom, and I can 100% say those centers are lifesavers!

Outfit Details:
​​Blue Striped Romper - babyGap | Beige Moccasins - Freshly Picked | Mickey Hat - Walt Disney World
Diana
White Dress - JCrew Facrtory (old, new option) | Gold Sneakers - Keds x kate spade new york (old, similar) | Gold Minnie Ears - Disneyland Paris (now available at Walt Disney World) | it's a small world ears - Walt Disney World | Ring Sling (Mew) - Wildbird
Caleb
Mickey Polo - Walt Disney World (available at the parks, similar) | Khaki Pants - Banana Republic | Oxford Sneakers - Amazon | Mickey Hat - Walt Disney World

Our next day was spent at Animal Kingdom! We made a last minute breakfast reservation at Tusker House and man am I glad we did! It might be my favorite breakfast spot at WDW! They have this drink called Jungle Juice and oh my goodness, is it delicious. I'm not a huge juice person, but wow, that stuff is amazing. The food spread at the buffet was excellent, too. Everything was so flavorful and not just the same ole traditional breakfast buffet. After we ate, we had some time to kill before we went on the Safari ride, so we went over to Rafiki's Planet Watch and got Kai his first Wilderness Explorer book and a few badges! This was so much fun to do all day long and I'm really looking forward to doing it again with him when he's older and has the will to discover them all and finish to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer! So after we did all that exploring, Kai was pretty tired and took a nap in the sling while we rode through the Kilimanjaro Safari. This is by far my favorite ride at AK, and I was so glad Kai could go on it with us...even if he was asleep!

After our Safari ride, we headed over to the Festival of the Lion King, which is my favorite show at Animal Kingdom. It never disappoints and Kai loved it! Once the show was over, we headed down the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail and got Kai some more Wilderness Explorer badges and did some bird spotting! The bird spotting was extra fun for me because you know those ring slings I wear all the time? Well the company's name is WildBird and they name all their slings after birds. So I recognized most of the birds on the chart and got to spot them in real life! Total mom nerd moment, I know, but it was super cool!

So this is where we actually made our first mistake of the trip though. We decided not to take our daily break back at our hotel to go to the pool or nap because it had taken us a long time to get from our resort to the park that morning. Let me tell you though, it doesn't matter...breaks are necessary regardless if you have children or not, especially when you're at AK. That park is so big, it tires you out fast! Anyways, we didn't take our daily break and it kind of just made both Caleb and I cranky...which really affected us later. We did grab some lunch though at our favorite spot in Dinoland called Trilo-Bites. They have buffalo chicken nachos that are to die for! After Kai woke up from his afternoon nap (thank goodness he napped, right!?), we went to the Finding Nemo musical, which is Caleb's favorite show. It was so precious watching Caleb sit with Kai and watch the show. It really is a wonderful little show and we love going every time. After Nemo though, this is where not taking that break kind of screwed us. It was time for our FastPass+ for Flight of Passage. On our way over to Pandora we tried to stop real quick to meet Dug and Russell. The line wasn't that long but then the characters took a break! We waited a few minutes but decided to leave without meeting them because we were afraid of missing our FastPass+. Like I said, AK is big...and it took a bit of time to get over to Pandora. We got there, tried to do rider swap...which guys, rider swap is a joke, don't do it if you have FastPasses. It took forever to speak with the rider swap guy and by the time I was able to get in to the ride, we were needing to leave the park to make it to our dinner reservation. So in the end, neither of us got to ride Flight of Passage...AGAIN. So from there, we went back to the front of the park and thankfully we got to meet Dug and Russell that time, so that perked our spirits up a bit. Plus we were heading to our favorite restaurant in all of WDW for dinner.

We hopped on the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and made it in time for our dinner reservation at Boma. We discovered Boma on our last trip to WDW and have sworn we will go back every single time, we love it so much. It's an African inspired buffet with the most delicious and flavorful dishes. This time my favorite was the steak with the sauces they had available that day as well as the curry. Caleb's favorite was the curry, too. Kai loved the sweet potato and potato dish they had, too. Kai is an interesting kind of picky...he doesn't like bland foods, so Boma was definitely his jam. Oh and the zebra domes...those things are the best dessert at Disney on the planet.

After dinner, we went back over to Animal Kingdom and watched the Rivers of Light show which was so beautiful. Then after the show was over we finally went back over to Pandora to see it at night. We did it guys...we saw Pandora at night...check! and done, ha!

Outfit Details:
​Kai Bear
Wilderness Explorer Onesie - LilyBethBoutiques (custom order) | Brown Shorts - Target (no longer available, similar) | Beige Moccasins - Freshly Picked | Wilderness Explorer Hat - Box Lunch | Orange Scarf - Amazon
Diana
Pink Tank - Target (old, similar) | White Shorts - JCrew Factory | Glitter Sneakers - Bibbidi Bobbidi Bling | Mickey Dad Hat - AmazEmbroidery | Dooney & Bourke Sketch Backpack - Walt Disney World (only available at the parks, similar) | Ring Sling (Summer) - Wildbird (no longer available)
Caleb
Hakuna Matata Shirt - Amazon | Khaki Shorts - Banana Republic | Oxford Sneakers - Amazon

The 5th day of our trip was actually my birthday! It was so special to spend this birthday at Disney with my little family and it's one I will cherish forever. We started our morning out early with heading over to Magic Kingdom to have breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table! There was still a decent amount of people in the park around the castle even though the park wasn't technically open yet! I didn't realize how many people actually are there for rope drop. So if that's something you want to experience, make sure you get to the park by at least 8am! We got to go past the rope though to get to the restaurant though, which was really cool because then it was empty! The castle was absolutely breathtaking in the morning light. We went over to the restaurant and were greeted by Cinderella herself when we went inside the castle! We made our way upstairs to our table but just as we sat down, the fire alarm went off! Everyone in the restaurant had to evacuate out the fire escape, so we all had to go down the stairs on the side of the castle. We waited outside for about 30 minutes while everything got sorted out. I guess there was a small kitchen fire because the hoods are old. A little scary...but Disney of course made up for it. We received free any time use FastPasses and a few Disney gift cards. We got to start our breakfast over again and it was worth the wait. Caleb had steak and eggs which were so good and I got the caramel apple stuffed French toast, which was also delicious. Kai found his new favorite breakfast food there too...mini blueberry muffins! We got to meet some of the princesses while we had breakfast including Aurora, Ariel, Snow White, and Jasmine. Kai loved Aurora so much, he is such a little flirt, ha!

After breakfast, we walked around the park a bit and went on the Haunted Mansion, which is my favorite ride at WDW! Kai was asleep for it this time around but it was actually a good thing because after the ride we had our family photoshoot with a photographer at the park. We spent an hour going around Magic Kingdom, taking some gorgeous shots and making incredible memories. I can't wait to receive the photos back and share them with all of you! What a special way to remember my birthday, right!? Once we were done with our photographer, we went on the Jungle Cruise and then grabbed some lunch at Pecos Bill, which is another favorite quick service spot of ours. We highly suggest the pork carnitas nachos. After we devoured those we went on Pirates of the Caribbean then headed back to our hotel so Kai could nap. He fell asleep on the ride back but woke up once we got back to our room, so we decided to spend our break at the pool!

After our nice little pool break, we headed back over to Magic Kingdom because we had a dinner reservation at California Grill at the Contemporary Resort. Oh my goodness friends, this restaurant surpasses the hype! The food, the drinks, the views...all of it was incredible. I had a glass of Cabernet Franc with my dinner of filet mignon. Cabernet Franc! It's so rare to find and it's probably my favorite kind of wine. The sushi was also delicious and we had strawberry creme brûlée for dessert.

Our post dinner plan was to head back over to Magic Kingdom on the monorail to catch Happily Ever After since we hadn't had a chance to see it yet. We got to the park a little late but still got to see about half the show. We watched it from the railroad station and Kai was mesmerized by it. We decided to close down the park since Kai had a bunch of energy so we went on Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and Haunted Mansion again!

Outfit Details:
Kai Bear
White Onesie - Target | Grey Overalls - Zara (old, similar) | Mickey Oxfords - Freshly Picked | Mickey Hat - Walt Disney World
Diana
White Top (same dress as day 3, ha!) - JCrew Factory (old, similar) | Blue Princess Skirt - Amazon | Gold Sneakers - Keds x kate spade new york (old, similar) | Silver Minnie Ears - Walt Disney World (no longer available)
Caleb
Mickey Polo - Walt Disney World (available at the parks, similar) | Light Blue Pants - Banana Republic (old, similar) | Oxford Sneakers - Amazon | Mickey Hat - Walt Disney World

This was our last full day at Disney! Once we got to this day I could to believe how fast the trip had gone by. But that's what happens when you're having the best time of your life, right? We started this day out super early with breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at the BoardWalk. We got to meet Ariel again, plus Prince Eric, Flynn Rider, and Rapunzel! Punzie is my favorite princess, so as you can imagine I was so excited! Again, the food and experience did not disappoint, and if you can get reservations in time for this breakfast, we highly suggest it!

We made our way over to Magic Kingdom after we were done eating and made a little visit to the famous purple wall over in Tomorrowland. They redid it a little bit and it looks so cool now! Last time we were there I took the exact same photo but instead of holding Kai, I was pregnant with him! You can see the photo comparison over on my Instagram. From there, I actually left Caleb and Kai at the park and headed over to the Grand Floridian where I would be spending the next few hours at the spa! Caleb got me a package for a massage, facial, and pedicure for my birthday. It was such a relaxing few hours and I am forever grateful for the small break to have some time for me and some self care. Caleb had a fun time walking around MK with Kai though and grabbed some lunch at Tony's while I was gone! They met me over at the Grand Floridian when I was all done and Caleb and I ate the leftovers from Tony's for lunch on a bench right next to Bay Lake. It was so peaceful, and honestly romantic because Kai was napping. The whole afternoon this day was so relaxing and special, just what my heart needed.

After we were done eating, we hopped on the monorail to go to Epcot. We headed straight for Frozen Ever After, which was definitely Kai's favorite ride of the whole trip! He sure does love Olaf. We then just walked around the World Showcase and grabbed a bunch of different kinds of food as our dinner for that night. We headed back to our hotel early that night because Kai was showing signs of having caught a cold and we were both pretty tired from a long and exciting trip.

Outfit Details:
​Kai Bear
Mickey Shirt - Target (no longer available, similar) | Khaki Shorts - Carters | Mickey Moccasins - Freshly Picked
Diana
Striped Mickey Shirt - Uniqlo | Khaki Shorts - JCrew Factory | Glitter Sneakers - Bibbidi Bobbidi Bling | Purple Glitter Ears - Walt Disney World | Ring Sling (Summer) - Wildbird (no longer available) | Blue Spirit Jersey - Pretty Little Monograms (no longer available)
Caleb
Mickey Shirt - Amazon | Khaki Shorts - Banana Republic

We spent our last and final day at Magic Kingdom. We had planned on going back to Epcot but the day before we decided there was still more we wanted to do at Magic Kingdom over Epcot. We had a nice slow morning at our resort of eating at our cafeteria there and dropped our bags off for the Disney Magical Express to take them to the airport for us. We then headed over to MK where we just spent the day roaming around, grabbed some chicken and waffles from Sleepy Hollow (oh my gosh, so delicious by the way!), went on the Teacups and Dumbo again, and got another special ice cream cone called the Adventure is Out There Cone. You can get it from Auntie's Galactic over in Tomorrowland. We ended our time at Magic Kingdom by watching the Festival of Fantasy Parade with a churro.

Outfit Details:
Kai Bear
Mickey Sweatshirt (gifted, unsure of source - sorry!) | Mickey Jeans - Zara (old, similar) | Mickey Oxfords - Freshly Picked | Mickey Hat - Walt Disney World
Diana
Wonderland Shirt - The Lost Bros | Castle Leggings - Happily Ever Tees (no longer available) | Glitter Sneakers - Bibbidi Bobbidi Bling | Hot Pink Glitter Ears - Disneyland Tokyo
Caleb
Peter Pan Shirt - TommyRoseLane | Blue Mickey Pullover - Walt Disney World | Navy Shorts - Target (old, similar)

This was by far the best vacation and trip to Disney we've ever had. If you are wondering if it's worth it to take your babies to Disney, our answer is 100%. Kai is what made this trip beyond special and it's a trip I will cherish forever. Thanks again Disney, for all the magic and memories!

To keep the magic alive, I'll be posting more photos from our trip on my Instagram probably until our next trip, ha! AND to share the magic, I will be announcing a little GIVEAWAY over on my Instagram later today! Make sure you're following along so you can win something extra special that I picked up from Walt Disney World!

Woo TGIF, friends! I can't believe we leave for Walt Disney World in less than a week! We're battling some mild colds in our house right now though so we'll be trying to make a speedy recovery this weekend and just prep for our trip. We have a little bit more shopping and a lot of packing to do!

Today though I've been inspired recently by one of my very good friends who just gave birth to her baby girl and have been reminded of my time of being in the hospital and giving birth. I had no idea you could come home with so many "goodies" from the hospital! I've got to say, all the stuff I took home with me was such a big help in the first month of being a new mom. I wanted to share a little bit of wisdom with all of you so you can make a quick list on your phones of things to knick from the hospital before you come home with your new bundle of joy!

• Ice packs
• Mesh undies
• Oversized pads
• Bulb syringes
• Pacifiers
• Receiving blankets
• Diapers
• Wash cloths
• Dermaplast
• Peri bottle
• Baby hats

1. Ice packs - The hospital has convenient crack and shake ice packs that stay cold for about 30 minutes at a time. I used these so much for my tailbone while I was napping. It's not the best thing to keep a cold pack on a sore spot for too long, so it was nice that these "expired" when I fell asleep. Use them for whatever is still sore long after you leave the hospital!

2. Mesh undies - Don't waste your money buying your own...just take a couple weeks worth from the hospital because they're going to get ruined or thrown away anyways. I recommend wearing these for about 2 weeks after giving birth so that you don't ruin any of your good underwear.

3. Oversized pads - I didn't even know they made pads that big but thank goodness they do! Once again...grab enough for a week or two to use at home because before you know it, you won't be bleeding that much. Then you can switch over to normal sized pads until you're in the all clear.

4. Bulb syringes - I fibbed and told our nurse I didn't know where our bulb syringe was so that I could have two at home. We keep one upstairs in Kai's room and one downstairs in his pack and play or I'll throw it in the diaper bag. These things are great for getting water out of their ears and boogers out of their nose.

​5. Pacifiers - Ask your nurse for a few pacifiers. Our hospital had the Soothies ones and those are Kai's favorite. I keep them all over the house and trust me, later on when your baby is teething, you'll want as many extras as possible that you can throw in the freezer and keep rotating out. That way you don't have to take their Wubanub away from them...you have temps all over the place!

6. Receiving blankets - These are what the nurses will swaddle your babe in at the hospital. When your baby has more strength and can wiggle around, these blankets won't stay put if you swaddle them in them. So what I'm getting at is don't waste your money or your registry space on buying your own. Take a few of the cute baby feet ones they have at the hospital to bring your baby home in and use them to keep them warm in their car seat. Other than that, they're just going to sit in the closet.

​7. Diapers - Take as many diapers as your hospital bags will hold. Newborns go through 10-12 diapers a day...take advantage of as many free ones you can get! Most hospitals have Pampers, which are so great for newborns because it has the wet indicator on the outside.

8. Wash cloths - You can never have too many, in my opinion. I use little wash cloths for everything...spit up incidents, wiping Kai's bum when he has diaper rash, washing my face, cleaning, sweat towel for yoga, etc.

9. Dermaplast - The hospital has lots of cans of this stuff so ask to take a couple home with you. This is the stuff that you spray on your vagina to numb it up after you use the bathroom. I know, I know, gross, TMI, but seriously after you've just given birth, you need relief whenever you can get it. I used this stuff for about two weeks pp.

10. Peri bottle - Another post bathroom use item. I took the one the hospital gave to me home and I really wish I had asked for a second one so that I could have one upstairs and one downstairs. I used this after every bathroom trip for about a month. I tore during my delivery, so I had to have stitches, and I wanted to make sure I was staying as clean as possible down there.

11. Baby hats - The hospitals all give out those cute blue and pink baby hats! Take a bunch, especially in the winter! They are the perfect size for a small newborn head and help with any quick trips in and out of the house.

Anything else I'm missing mamas!? Leave some comments on this post for any other ideas you have for mamas to be who are about to go through labor and delivery soon!

Let's talk about self love, beautiful friends. There is so much that falls under these two small words and it is so important. I've truly fallen in to the movement of self love. Since becoming a mother, I've never loved myself more. I'm so grateful for my body, my motivation in life, and just who I am as a person in general. Because of how I finally feel about myself, it has led me to take much better care of myself lately. I know I've said it many times before but we are remarkable. Think of all the things we do now and imagine how much more we could do if we treated ourselves with genuine love.

Self love is deeper than a feeling though and it's more than the awesome phrase "treat yo self." I truly believe it's the actions we take to care for ourselves so we can continue those feelings of love for ourselves. While yes we deserve to treat ourselves often and I always believe in having something to look forward to, it's more important to do things on a daily basis to show yourself love. The best part about that though is that it's different for everyone. For me, it's waking up early, meditating, and reading a book while sipping my coffee. It's getting my work outs in during the week as a way to keep my body strong and get a mental break from work and Kai. (Trust me, Kai's wonderful, but I'm a better mother if I get a break from him a few nights a week.) It's doing my skin care routine every night. It's getting 8 hours of sleep at night. There is so much I try to do for myself on a daily basis to show myself love and I'm not going to lie, not every day is perfect. Far from perfect to be honest. I tend to get mixed up in that "treat yo self" trap of binging on candy and Game of Thrones instead of going to the gym and having a salad with dinner. While the first option is fun, it's actually not showing myself the true love it deserves.

• Miracle Mornings (wake up early, meditate, affirmations, visualizations, exercise, read, scribe)
• Skin care
• Exercise
• Meditate
• Baths
• Massages, mani/pedis, etc
• Hygge (candles, cozy living, togetherness, simplicity)
• Sleep
• Water
• Nutrients (eat your veggies, take your vitamins)
• Get ready every day
• Learn (read, write, take classes)
• Vacations + adventures
• Rewards

These are just some of the ways I try to instill in my life for showing myself love. Like I said, it's so different for everyone but if you're looking for a place to start, pick out a few of these points and try to incorporate them in to your daily life. You deserve it! You are so beautiful, strong, and wonderful. Love yourself first and foremost and you'll be able to love the world better!

What are some ways you practice self love? I'd love to hear from you guys so we can keep adding to this list for everyone to try! Leave me a comment on this post or on the Tiny Tribe post about self love! Have a. beautiful Wednesday, friends!

We worked so hard Kai's first year of life to keep him on a solid schedule and in our opinion, it really shows. We get so many compliments about how happy and healthy he is all the time. Everyone is so impressed at how much he sleeps and how well he eats. We have Babywise to thank for this! Not only did having Kai on a schedule from day one help him grow and thrive, it helped us keep our sanity as parents! We are first time parents and had no idea what we were doing. So having a plan and theory to rely on was huge for us. Our little crew thrives on a schedule and we have no plans on stopping having a routine any time soon. Here is Kai's current schedule at the amazing marker of 12 months old.

7:00 AM - Wake up, nurse
7:30 AM - Get ready for the day (diaper change, brush teeth, moisturize)
7:45 AM - 2 oz bottle of cow's milk
8:00 AM - Breakfast (oatmeal + fruit or scrambled eggs)
8:30 AM - Independent playtime
9:30 AM - Nap
11:30 AM - 6 oz bottle of cow's milk, diaper change
12:00 PM - Lunch (veggies + fruit or veggies + puffs w/ nut butter)
12:30 PM - Playtime
1:30 PM - Nap
3:30 PM - 6 oz bottle of cow's milk, diaper change
3:45 PM - Go for a walk or play outside
4:00 PM - Snack (puffs, banana chips, oranges)
4:30 PM - Babywear in ring sling for daily chores
5:00 PM - Independent playtime
5:30 PM - 6 oz bottle of cow's milk, diaper change
6:00 PM - Dinner (whatever family is having or veggies + rice cereal + fruit)
6:30 PM - Playtime
7:30 PM - Get ready for bed (bath, PJs)
7:45 PM - Read
8:00 PM - Down for the night

That's Kai's schedule every single day for the most part. We follow it on the weekends and our nanny follows it during the week while we're working. We are definitely more lenient these days and have no problem feeding him early or putting him down late for a nap if we have things going on, but we generally try our best to stay around these times. The playtime and what not is what he does on a typical day when he is at home and we're not out and about with him. We're big on having him play independently throughout the day so that he uses his imagination. We've been doing this with him for awhile now and he does so well with it. He just plays with his toys, stuffed animals, and books during this time. We rarely have the TV on for him but will sometimes throw on Sesame Street or Mickey for him on the weekends.

He takes two 2 hour naps during the day in his crib and sleeps for 11 hours at night in his crib. He will get cranky if these naps are cut short so sometimes we need to do a little catnap for him from 4:30 to 5:30 to help him out. He's started back up with a witching hour again from 5 to 5:30 but this is actually normal for most kids! I've found that if he's extra cranky, having him in a ring sling helps a lot. Speaking of babywearing, I still put him in a sling every day (#sling365 << follow along on my Instagram!) and we do our "daily chores" together. I think this is honestly Kai's favorite part of the day. I explain to him everything we're doing like getting the mail, switching the laundry, watering the plants, emptying the dishwasher and he loves it. I'm trying to teach him from the earliest age that it's important to do our daily tasks to keep our home happy and functioning. I'm hoping all of this will just be second nature to him and he'll be my happy little helper for years to come!

Kai has fully transitioned to cow's milk from formula. We are still nursing in the morning...I was weaning and decided not to give up the morning nursing session (a full blog post on this later) but I am no longer pumping, so Kai doesn't get bottled breast milk either. He has about 20 oz of cow's milk a day and then whatever he gets from me in the morning. He eats 3 meals a day and has a snack or what the French call a le goûter in the afternoon. We also try to get outside every day for some fresh air even if it's just for 5 minutes. It's brutally cold here in the winter so as long as it's at least 20 degrees or above, I bundle him up and we go out in our backyard for a few minutes just to breath in the fresh air. If it's in the 30s then we will take Wrigley for a short walk.

I think that about sums it up! If you have any questions for me about Kai's schedule or what we did to get here please leave me a comment below! If you want to see my previous posts on Kai's schedules all throughout his first year and how we accomplished all the merges to get to where we are now you can visit our 12 weeks schedule, 17 weeks schedule, and 29 weeks schedule posts.

Is your baby on a schedule or do you prefer to just go day by day? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Monday beautiful friends! I hope you all had a fun weekend and stayed nice and warm. It's gotten pretty cold here again and we've been getting hit with more snow but luckily Kai and I had a fun little mama/baby date with some new friends of ours at the Garfield Park Conservatory on Saturday. I swear that place is my absolute favorite place to go in Chicago in the winter. It's so warm and refreshing in there! We walked around with some fellow babywearing loving mamas and babies. It was so much fun to get to know some other moms who live in Chicago and sport our Wildbirds! Yesterday we just stayed home and snuggled up with some Game of Thrones while it snowed some more. We're rewatching the whole series to prep for the upcoming new season that airs in April!

I feel like I always start off the year strong when it comes to reading. Anyone else feel this way? I was able to make it through 2 books last month and I wanted to share them with you today! They are both non-fictions "self help" books and were a great way to motivate me for the year ahead.

This was definitely your typical self motivating how to kick butt book with a bit of an attitude twist. The author, Jen Sincero, is very blunt and just tells it like it is, which I really like. When it comes to self help books I'm not in to the fluffy extra crap that authors tend to add as fillers. Sincero gives great tips on how to excel in your professional and personal life, but to be honest it's nothing ground breaking. She hits on having a strong morning routine, meditation, exercise, getting enough sleep, just all your standard stuff that we always here about. She definitely presents it in an entertaining way but I don't feel that I personally learned anything new from this read. However, it did refresh my mind in terms of the things I should be doing to keep kicking ass at life, which was nice! I'll give it a 3 out of 5.
You can buy You are a Badass on Amazon.

Body Love is a guided nutrition and physical fitness self help book. Kelly will tell you over and over again her program is not a diet, it's a lifestyle. Which I appreciate that approach, but if you were to sum it up...it's a diet, sorry Kelly! Her program is called the Fab Four, which is 4 main kinds of foods that you should always incorporate in to breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are leafy greens, fiber, protein, and fats. Kelly states that if you always have these 4 types of foods in your meals then you will avoid blood sugar spikes and drops, which will help you avoid cravings and keep you fuller longer. She is big on smoothies to incorporate the Fab Four and has lots of great recipes within the book. She touches upon exercise and other good habits you should be doing to help you feel like your best self. She also has an awesome sample schedule of meals and workouts and how that all fits in to her normal lifestyle in the book.

I liked this book, but it's not my favorite. I was hoping for something different from it, to be honest. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting from it, but it felt very preachy. She tells you over and over again how her program isn't a diet for like 5 chapters. By the time I got to the recipes it was kind of like "enough already!" It was very interesting to read but it still felt restrictive and a bit hard to follow, which she claims its not. Maybe it's just because we live in the Midwest, but a lot of her suggestions just aren't as easy as she was making them out to be. She kind of sounded like a naive LA girl, ha! Regardless though, I've tried to be more conscious of my meals to see if I feel better by incorporating the Fab Four as much as I can. I'm not 100% buying in to it, but I'm trying my best! I'll keep you all posted on how I'm feeling in any of my wellness posts! I'll give this one a 3 out of 5, as well.
You can buy Body Love on Amazon.

UP NEXT: Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
What are you currently reading? Share with me in the comments below!
Also, for all you parents out there, a friend of mine started a fun baby book club on Instagram! She's putting up bi-weekly baby book recommendations and you can follow along on the fun at @solsbooks!