I started writing this post with every intention of sharing it well before Sophie got here, but I'm glad I ended up waiting because at this point not only can I show you some of the stuff we got for our nursery, but I can share a few of my favorite baby products with you as well!

The other day on Instagram I asked people for blog post topic requests and the overwhelming response was for more motherhood posts--Sophie's birth story (which is forthcoming), my breastfeeding experience, how we got Ender ready for a tiny human, and lots of requests for "stuff" posts--things we use all the time and really love.

So without further ado, here's a look inside our nursery; followed by some of my current favorite baby products:

The Nursery:

This has become my favorite room in the house--I absolutely love it.

• I personally really hate buying new things if I already have something else that might work, so when I first started decorating the nursery I wanted to spend as little as possible--we put our bookcase in there (mostly for decoration) and bought some drawers inserts (these and these) to turn our smaller IKEA KALLAX into a dresser, which doubles as a side table next to the rocking chair.

• Our rocking chair (similar) is super comfy and the perfect neutral color. I absolutely love spending time sitting there.

• Before we were even expecting, Rob found a gorgeous used Stokke crib that someone at his office was selling for $600, along with a matching changing table and quite a few mattress covers, so we really lucked out on that because both of those pieces are pricey. I love the crib because you can open it up as your baby grows and even use it as a toddler bed (which will be nice because as of right now she has no interest in sleeping there).

• The room we're using as the nursery in our rental house is painted this fabulous shade of yellow, which is totally not my style but I decided to just go with it and color-code our bookshelf as usual and add this very bright rug to the mix. I absolutely love all the bold colors together and am so happy with how it pulled the whole room together.

• This diaper pail is fabulous--we have it in plain white but I love this pretty pattern.

• I thought the room was complete but once Sophie got here and I actually started nursing her I realized that my legs were too short to rock the chair, so we got one of these poufs and it's worked out perfectly.

My Current Favorite Baby/Mom Products:

• I mentioned one of the sleep bras I'd been wearing in another post and Nadine recommended these lacy ones. I bought 4 of them and love them so much--they're comfortable and pretty and make me feel a little less frumpy when my hair is crazy and I'm covered in spit up.

• This little suction-y breast pump is my new favorite thing when I'm out and about or doing something that doesn't allow me to be hooked up to my electric breast pump, like doing my hair, putting on makeup, or even cooking. I even like to keep it in my diaper bag and slap it on when I'm in the car--even if I only get 1-2 ounces, it feels like a win because it allows me to multitask.

• A couple years ago at Alt Summit, I met a hilarious woman named Nicki who told me about a pacifier she had invented that popped around the nipple when it fell out of a baby's mouth, keeping it from making contact with the floor. I obviously didn't have kids yet but I was so impressed with her and her idea that I followed her company on Instagram and eagerly awaited the product launch. She sent me a few the other day and they are just so cool.

• I thought Sophie would happily sleep in her crib right away but was super wrong, so we bought this bassinet that glides onto our bed (along with the newborn insert that keeps her extra comfy and snug). It's really nice to have her within arms reach so I can easily feed her without waking her up too much, and a few days ago she actually started sleeping longer stretches so Rob and I are finally sleeping again, too. I couldn't recommend this more.

• I have 2 of these Solly Baby Wraps and we love them. I'm a big fan of wearing Sophie and these wraps are easy to pack in my bag (I usually keep one in the car so I always have it).

• Nipple shields are kind of weird but I can't seem to breastfeed without them. (If anyone has any tips for ditching them, I'd love to hear.)

• These hot/cold pads are so nice--I never freeze them but regularly heat them up and put them on if I'm pumping or just feeling like "my boobs are tired," which is a thing I say a few times a week when it's late in the day and Sophie's been eating non-stop.

A couple more (not pictured above):

• We've had the most luck with this swaddle.

• I absolutely love this nursing pillow. I've gotten so spoiled by it that sometimes I wonder how weird it would be to bring it with me whenever I need to nurse her in public.

• We also have this infant lounger and a DockATot. I like putting her in this one when we're on the couch and this one when Rob and I are both awake but want to hang out in bed in the mornings.

That's all for now! If you have questions or other post requests, let me know! And if you have a product you love, tell me about it--I'm always on the lookout for things that are going to make our lives a little easier.

This post contains affiliate links.

This post is sponsored by La Crema.

My brother and I always cook together whenever we're lucky enough to spend time together (one of my favorite recipes is his tropical crème brûlée), so when he was staying with us for Christmas and New Years, we decided to whip up some homemade pho broth and delicious Vietnamese meat balls. It was the coziest way to start the new year, and we ended up eating it for breakfast, a snack, and dinner later that night--with enough leftover for me to have lunch the next day when he and his girlfriend flew home.

Pho has always been one of my favorite comfort foods--my friend Corri and I used to meet for lunch or get takeout so much that now when I visit Charlotte, we always have to get pho together. I couldn't think of a more relaxing way to celebrate New Years Day than a slow morning with Sean, Jane, Rob, Sophie, and Ender all cuddled up together on the couch as rich, spice-infused broth bubbled away on the stove.

I was surprised by how easy it was to put it all together (although to be fair, Sean did do most of the work setting up the broth), and our meatballs turned out absolutely delicious. Usually you'll find beef meatballs when you order pho, but we decided to use pork instead to switch it up.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef or pork
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well until everything is incorporated. Use your hands to work the meat mixture together until it becomes slightly sticky (this can take 10-15 minutes). If you have time, place the bowl in the freezer for 20 minutes or so to really let the meat firm up. (You could also use a food processor or electric mixer.)
2. Roll heaping tablespoons of the mixture into balls with your hands. You want them to be on the larger side of bite-sized so you can pick them up and eat them in one bite or use a spoon to cut them in half easily.
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil and fill another bowl with ice water. Carefully lower the meatballs into the boiling water and allow them to cook until they float to the surface, then continue to simmer for another 3-4 minutes. (7-8 minutes total.) Remove from pot and transfer to ice water for 3-4 minutes.
4. When you're ready, reheat the meatballs in pho broth and serve. 

The company was great and the wine, of course, was delicious--we paired our soup with La Crema's Monterey Chardonnay, which is one of my favorites. We set out all the toppings and let everyone doctor up their own bowls the same way you do when you're at a restaurant, only we enjoyed everything from the comfort of my couch, complete with sweatpants and a whole lot of Netflix.

Don't forget to stop by the La Crema blog today to get my pho broth recipe! I hope you love it.

It’s a rainy Monday morning—7:48 AM—and Sophie is hanging out with her head on my chest.  We’ve been posted up on the couch in the living room since 3:30 this morning, doing some combination of nursing and dozing off and watching old episodes of Girls; wondering if anyone can actually stand Hannah.

Rob goes back to work in a couple of weeks and I know it’d be helpful to have some kind of schedule, but Sophie is so small and hungry still that I basically just feed her on demand and try to make up for my lost sleep with an early bedtime. Around 4AM Ender came in from the bedroom and curled up next to us on the couch and has been sleeping there ever since. Usually he comes out once or twice to check on us and heads back into the bedroom, but this morning the three of us have been snuggled up together listening to the rain splashing down outside.

2018 arrived quickly but quietly, and the first week of the year blew by in a haze of pancakes and 9AM naps and a marathon of Brooklyn 99. I took the pup with me on my first run in probably over a year the other afternoon, and the warm winter sun beat down on us as I slowly made my way down the sidewalk, trying to catch my breath but so happy to be moving my body again.

Last night I did my hair and makeup and put on a dress and went to my Pure Barre studio’s holiday party at L’Occitane in Palo Alto. It was my first time leaving everyone at home for more than an hour. We drank sparkling wine punch and got hand massages and on my way home I stopped at In N Out and as I waited for our to-go burgers I couldn’t believe how much life has changed, not only in a few months but especially these past few years. 

Almost 10 years ago there was a randomly big snowstorm in our college town of Farmville, Virginia and Rob and I may not have even really been dating yet, but we got in his silver Chrysler Sebring and ventured out to the Kroger for frozen pizza and M&Ms. When we got back to my apartment we learned that apparently the roads were so dangerous everyone had been told to stay in, and we laughed nervously as we heated up the pizza and popped chocolate candies into our mouths. There was absolutely no part of me that ever imagined that 4 or 5 years later we’d be living in Minneapolis, navigating everyday winter storms to get to work or the grocery store or even the coffee shop; where I once had to pull out my window scraper after 20 minutes because in the time it took to drink a latte, the windshield was completely covered in a heavy dumping of fresh snow.

And while we were putting hand warmers in our pockets and nervously stepping onto the surface of a frozen Lake Harriet, I don’t think the thought of a life of 60-degree January days in California ever crossed our minds. We moved to Charlotte when Rob’s project ended and we put down roots and I was stunned and disoriented to halfheartedly pull them out two years later and sign the lease for a townhouse in Silicon Valley.

But now we’re here, and this year we’ll have lived in California as long as we lived in North Carolina.  We don’t have as many friends and we can’t walk to our favorite coffee shop, but we are creating a life here—we literally created a life here. And wherever we are in 5 more years, I’m sure I’ll look back on those rainy winter mornings in the house with the fruit trees, when Sophie was a month and a half old and Rob was on paternity leave and Ender was extra cuddly. 

I don’t yet know what 2018 (or life with a baby) will look like, but so far it’s pure magic.