Mom-To-Be

How you feed your babies!

Friends Talk About Feeding

When I first became a mom, I had so many questions on repeat in my mind around feeding. Nursing, bottle feeding, formula—no matter how you do it, this uncertainty about the hows, whens and what if’s is just the beginning of this crazy ride.
I’ve found great comfort in my crew of fabulous mom friends. Sharing advice, hugs, tears and everything in between, we’ve always got each others’ backs. So I’m thrilled Walmart is giving me this opportunity to welcome you on this journey with us.

Supplies For Success
These days, there are so many great products to get you started with feeding your baby. With my first, I used a nursing pillow, pump and bottles. Another essential was a nursing cover, though with my second baby I just threw on a scarf or wore a big shirt. And nursing pads are a must-have (my fave brand is Lansinoh). Once you’ve leaked in public, you don’t make that mistake again!

Other reccos from my favorite moms include:
“Spoons, Bumbo, a baby food steamer/mixer and 1-ounce storage containers. For my first son, the Brest Friend nursing pillow worked great.”
-Angel

“I had an endless supply of nursing pads and nipple cream. I also had a giant electric breast pump (supplied free by La Leche League) for bringing bottles to the hospital for my second baby.
-Valerie

“When my first daughter started spitting up a lot I switched to a soy formula. I also fed both of my babies Gerber cereal and jarred baby food, later adding in mashed table food and a variety of finger foods.”
-Alayne

“I used mostly gear from boon—some cute spoons and a great high chair. When my daughter started feeding herself more, I had those little mesh bags you put frozen fruit in. She liked those.”
-Jaime

Would’ve Been Nice to Have…
One thing I wish I’d had was a portable pump. I’ve heard the Evenflow pump is great, and it really could have saved me a lot of rushing home to use my big pump. Curious to know what products other moms longed for?

“I wish the Munchkin sippy cup with a weighted straw had been around for my children. It works when held all kinds of ways, and is truly no-spill. Also, the silicone Mini Mat by EZPZ has a sectioned plate that is wonderful for a highchair tray or table.”
-Alayne

“I wish I had a high chair that attaches to actual tables. It allows the baby to be a part of dinnertime instead of separated from the family.”
-Angel

“Nine years ago, we didn’t have options like organic pouches of quinoa baby food. I definitely could have used those!”
-Jaime

Feeding Lessons Learned
My biggest takeaway is to be kind to yourself. With my first, I tried to nurse exclusively but was frustrated by my lack of milk. This made me constantly discouraged and unnecessarily disappointed in myself. By the time the second came around, I was way more relaxed and didn’t put any pressure on myself. In turn, I actually produced more milk. Isn’t it funny how the world works?

Here are more words of wisdom from moms who’ve been there (believe me):

“If you’re using a bottle, hold your baby as you would if you were breast feeding. This calm, one-to-one time is a perfect chance to make eye contact, talk softly and touch gently.”
-Alayne

“I fed on demand so I that I wouldn’t be stressed about scheduling. The twins eventually ate at the same time without me forcing it, which saved me so much time with feedings.”
-Angel

What Would I Do Differently?
I remember setting my alarm to wake up at 3am to pump because I read that your supply is highest at that time. The thought of that makes me laugh now. I would NEVER wake up to pump while my baby is sleeping. I would SLEEP!

So how would my crew do things differently with a do-over?

“I wish I had introduced my first son to more diverse flavors at a younger age. He’s now 7 and can’t stand the thought of eating a salad. With my 2 year-old twins, I allowed them to eat anything I was eating from 6 months. Now they eat raw greens without blinking!”
-Angel

“I would give myself full permission to supplement with formula, and not feel I have to make all of my baby’s food from scratch. Looking back, I see there is so much else that is more important. Like my sanity and centeredness as a mother!”
-Jaime

Notice some common themes? Invest in great products, skip the stress and most importantly, be good to yourself. Let’s keep the convo going in the comments below.

The Awesome Ladies Who Made this Article (and My Sanity as a Mom) Possible…

Name: Angel Laketa Moore Tanksley
Occupation: Actress, Host, Speaker, Social Media Influencer
Ages of kid(s): 7 year-old and 2 year-old twins
How did you feed your baby/babies in the first year?
Breastmilk and solids

Name: Valerie Kiadeh
Occupation: Teacher / Curriculum Specialist
Ages of kid(s): 34 and 29 year-old daughters and 35 year-old son
How did you feed your baby/babies in the first year?
Breast milk, formula and solids for all babies.

Name: Alayne Stieglitz
Occupation: Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education
Ages of kid(s): 33 and 30 year-old daughters and 18 month-old granddaughter
How did you feed your baby/babies in the first year?
Breast milk, formula & solids for both babies.
Name: Jaime Morrison Curtis
Occupation: Author, Travel Writer, Mother
Ages of kid(s): 9 year-old girl
How did you feed your baby/babies in the first year?
Breast milk, formula and solids

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Hey Mom! I’M ON TV

It’s true! I shot two different tv shows back to back last week. Insert happy dance. The first was as a spokesperson for Water Wipes. (My favorite wipes in all the land!) See why I love them here. I got to be on Access Hollywood Live talking about cooling summer skin hacks on behalf of my beloved wipes. You can watch my segment here. Being on live TV was a BLAST! I was definitely a bit nervous since it was my first time. You know that scene in Old School where Will Ferrel gives a big speech so they can keep their fraternity? After he kills the speech he said he basically blacked out… yeah- that’s pretty much how I felt too. I loved it though and I hope to do more live TV. The SECOND TV appearance was in NYC the very next day! I got to be a guest on the FOOD NETWORK. Say WHAAAT!?!? Yup. I made a fun dessert on a show called The Kitchen. I believe it airs on August 12th. Everyone I met on both shoots were wonderful, SO welcoming and nice to me. I loved both experiences! THANK YOU UNIVERSE.

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TWO NEW SHOWS!

YUP! I’ve got two brand spanking new shows that I’m pumped to tell you about! Let’s start with the new MOM SHOW that my girl Susan Yara and I are launching on Mixed Makeup. By now, you’ve probably seen our show The SASS also on Mixed Makeup. We’ve been co-hosting together for about 2.5 years, (that’s A LOT of beauty treatments- am I getting cuter!?!?) and last year we both happened to get pregnant within two months of each other. I swear we didn’t plan it although it couldn’t have worked out better. Since we were both expecting, we dabbled in preggy content on The SASS and even introduced our babies on The SASS. We got a great response from our viewers and we loved creating mom content- so BAM- we launched a mom show. Well kinda, we just announced it as you can see in the video below. The show will kick off later this summer and we’re so excited about the content and guests we have lined up. ARE YOU READY!?!? YEEHAW!

The SECOND show I’m doing is on the Regal Cinemas youtube channel. It’s called Momsplaining The Movies. Basically, I get to attend screenings of kids movies with Idris and then make a video from a moms perspective about what parents can expect when they take their kids to see it. I’ll discuss things like the nappablitly index, aka will you be able to sleep through it or will it be super entertaining. I promise not to give any movie spoilers! Check out my first episode below.

I hope you tune into both of them! Thank you in advance for your continued support. I love what I do and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to create content. My main hope is that my videos leave you with a smile on your face! CHEERS!

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Baby Update: 2 Months

Like most moms I can’t ever believe how fast times goes by- ESPECIALLY with the second baby. Hot damn. I literally blinked and 2 months passed. For me, the first month was a blur of getting used to a new baby and healing from my C-Section. Even though the C hurts like a mofo, everything went as planned with no complications. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was this itchy rash I developed on my legs, arms and hands. Disclaimer, I have extremely sensitive skin and have dealt with eczema and psoriasis at many different points in my life, so I’m used to this kind of thing. I thought I had a reaction to the pain meds, but my dermatologist said it could have been from stress or surgery or a variety of other factors. He wasn’t concerned at all and it completely went away on it’s own after a few weeks.

About the baby! He’s is a CHUNK and I’m in love. At 2.5 months he weighs over 16 pounds and is 24 inches long. Lately, he’s been smiling and cooing. It’s the cutest thing on the PLANET. I’m soaking it all in and loving every second. Nursing has been going really well this time around. I’m much more relaxed, comfortable and confident about breast feeding in general. I have no problem whipping out the old tit and feeding him in public. Mama’s gotta do what mama’s gotta do. I usually wear big, baggy, stretchy tops, so Cyrus fits perfects underneath and we can handle our business. I was way too uncomfortable with my first to do that. Before, when I nursed in public, I needed a blanket and a cover and blah blah blah. It was a pretty awkward experience.

My meatball has been sleeping well. (Don’t hate me for saying that!) Sometimes he’ll even going for a five hour stretch at night. My hubs usually gives him a bottle of pre-pumped milk or formula at around 10pm and he can typically go until 3am before he wakes up and I nurse him. In all honesty, I sleep better now than I did when I was pregnant. Like WAY better. So, YAY for that! Don’t get me wrong, I’m still delirious and cracked out 99.9% of the time.

Idris has been absolutely wonderful big brother. I’m blown away by him. Every time Cyrus cries he runs to get his wubbanub or a new diaper. Sometimes he tries to tickle him or rub his belly and sing him a song. I’m in cuteness heaven over here! I hope they become besties for ever. I’m super tight with my sibs and we have a blast together, so of course I want that for my boys.

That’s all the time I have for today, mama duty calls. Enjoy the video below.

*Photography by Rica Blue

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Road Trippin: Wyoming to Montana

From Wyoming to Montana; here are pics and details from the final leg of my American Road Trip! (Not totally sure why I felt the need to capitalize the R and the T- but let’s just go with it). Click on the links for part 1 and part 2 of this trip. After shooting a show with my friends from The Mom’s View in Idaho my fam and I piled in the car and headed east for Jackson, Wyoming. The drive was beautiful from the start with no stretch of boring scenery. Jackson had been on my list of places to visit for YEARS and I was so happy I got to experience it-even if just for a night. (One night was not nearly enough btw). I loved everything about Jackson and I can’t wait to go back and stay longer.

In Jackson we stayed at the Huff House Inn and Cabins. It was located about a block from the center of town and was just as charming as can be. It was the number one ranked B&B in Jackson on Trip Advisor and I can totally see why. The breakfast was beyond delish. I can’t remember exactly what I ate- but I do remember thinking it was amazing and wishing I could eat it everyday. The service was great, except for one woman who told me I looked HUGE. Granted, I was pregnant, but no one EVER EVER EVER wants to hear they’re huge… well, unless you’re a guy. Ok, now I’m getting way off track. Back to my FAMILY road trip. On the night of our arrival the town square was putting on a show complete with Western outfits, cowboys, hookers and a gun fight. YeeHaw! Idris got so into the show that he started “shooting” people with his bottle. I’m pretty sure everyone enjoyed his performance even more than the others- but don’t tell them that.

The next day’s agenda consisted of taking a leisurely drive through Yellowstone (another bucketlist spot) as we made our way to Montana. How does one even begin to describe the incredible beauty that is Yellowstone? There aren’t enough words. It was magical. I felt like we were on another planet. We were even lucky enough to see Old Faithful erupt. Yellowstone is another spot that I cannot wait to go back to. Idris also had a blast. Every couple minutes we’d drive to new geyser, hop out of the car and explore. Eventually we made it to our ranch near Big Sky, Montana where we were staying for the next few nights.

The ranch was called the 320 Guest Ranch. This was such a unique experience. I’ve never stayed on a ranch before and I freakin loved it. If you are traveling with kids this is the place to be. They have a giant TeePee and a playground on the property. It was so fun for Idris to play every morning and night while Michael and I had a cup of coffee or wine and soaked in the stunning scenery. The ranch drew one of the most diverse groups of people I have ever seen. I probably heard about 8 different languages being spoken from Italian to Mandarin and many more in between. One of the days on the ranch we decided the family should take a fishing lesson. None of us had ever fished before and we figured a ranch on Montana was the perfect place to learn. We told our instructor we were rookies- but I don’t think she anticipated just how green we actually were. On my first attempt I caught myself a…. wait for it… a Sharzad! Yup. I hooked my own neck with the fishing rod. It was easily one of the funniest things thats ever happened to me. I only wish it was on camera. I was standing there with a rod stuck in my neck while Michael and the instructor were trying not to loose their shit laughing. (I was totally fine in case you’re wondering.)

When I booked the ranch I was told about a BBQ on the river that would be perfect for families. I couldn’t have said yes fast enough. They even offered a vegetarian option. Meatless in Montana!?!? Yup. It’s possible. That dinner was one for the books. We were taken to a beautiful meadow on a horse drawn carriage where we dined next to a pristine river with live music, great food and absolutely breathtaking scenery. After dinner we went down to the shallow part of the river, threw rocks in the water and explored in the nature. Idris thought that was the greatest thing ever. When I planned the trip I remember thinking it would either be a complete fail or a total win. I knew nothing about the places we were visiting and I hadn’t done such a long road trip with a toddler. I’m happy to report that it couldn’t have worked out better. We kept Idris constantly entertained with parks, playgrounds, nature and snacks (ok, and lots of iPad time). I can honestly say he loved this trip and so did we. We got little tastes of such cool spots around this beautiful country and we can wait to go back to them all again!

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American Road Trip

From Portland, OR to Bozeman, MT and so many places in between. My family and I explored four states, drove over 900 miles, played at 9 different playgrounds, made new friends, saw old ones and ate lots of french fries and ice cream! Here are some of the highlights from the Pacific Northwest to the West? Is Montana considered the West? Cuz it’s pretty far east from Cali. Anyway, the first leg kicked off in Portland, Oregon. You can read all about that by clicking here. Below are some of the highlights from the second leg of the trip.

Pendelton, Oregon

From Portland we made our way east on the 84 towards Pendelton. When I told Michael we were going to the home of the iconic wool blankets he got very excited and went a little crazy. He did some serious damage at the Pendelton outlet and we now have a massive collection of wool blankets. Picnic anyone? Driving next to the Hood River was fabulous. We stopped several times along the way to explore places like the beautiful Multnomah Falls. I need to go back when I’m not trekking around with a human stuffed inside my body.

Pictured below: Pendelton House Historic Inn B&B If you find yourself in Pendelton, this is the best place to stay. It was charming with a wonderful host and an insanely good breakfast. The other pic is from the Pendelton factory.

Boise, Idaho
The drive from Pendelton to Boise to Idaho Falls was uneventful. (I know there are beautiful places in Idaho- we just didn’t have time on this trip to see ’em). We broke up the long haul by stopping in Boise for a few hours. We went paddle boarding and played at the playground in Julia Davis park. By the time we made it to Idaho Falls we just crashed in our room. The next day was a busy one, so we got an early start and headed east again. This time our first stop was to visit my friends from The Mom’s View. Can’t drive through Idaho without shooting an episode of TMV! It was such a treat to catch up with some of my favorite mamas.