I tag the companies I use or put on Carter on my social media. I guess I thought it might be cool if my photos got reposted by the company on their social media site. That's about it, nothing super exciting, but I saw other moms doing it and that's how that got started.

Right away Burt's Bees Baby replied and asked if they could repost a photo of Carter wearing their clothes, I replied back giving permission and that was that. They never actually reposted that photo of him but I thought it was neat they reached out. The brand Carters also asked to repost a photo of Carter and nothing really came of that.


About 2 months later I had a private instagram message sent to me by Burt's Bees asking if I would be interested in a photo shoot. They had been following me and liked Carter's look and saw that we were located in Southern California which was where they were flying their team out to shoot. It went back and forth for a while and seemed legit so we accepted!

It was a two day shot down in Dana Point with a team of photographers and company reps from Burts Bees. It was very professional and organized. There were 3 other little girls around Carter's age with us, but Carter was the only baby boy under 3 years old so he was in most of the photos with the other girls! That was pretty cool! Carter was calling the shots, and if it seemed like he was done with the photos, needed something to eat or drink, or tired, then we took a break. We got to keep all the clothes he modeled which was about 12-15 outfits, all of them were super cute!! he also got a little money for his work, and Chris and I got some money for gas and travel, we also got a nice gift card to Burt's Bees which was all great!


We met some new friends, but were surprised to hear how far some parents came for the shot! We drove less that 20 minutes from our door to the park, one mom drove two hours for this shoot! All in all it was a super fun experience that I think we might do again if it worked out. About a month after this shoot we were contacted to have Carter do a shoot in LA in the middle of the week. We tried to make it work but it was too much to try to coordinate, but really neat that people saw Carter's ad and wanted him for their company!

Our first family trip to the pumpkin patch

I'll take that cute, little pumpkin in the middle!

What a whirlwind life has been these last 8 months!! So much has happened I almost don't know where to begin... As you have already seen, our son, Carter, was born back in March! Just before Carter was born Chris accepted a new position here at the church, the Pastor of small group curriculum on the membership team. It was a wonderful transition for many reasons, but my favorite reason was it came with a pay bump allowing me to come back to work after my maternity leave at only part-time! Such a blessing! Returning to work I was scheduled anywhere from 1 to 3 days a week. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to be able to say I spend the majority of my time at home with Carter, and on the days I did spend in the office either my mom, sister, or mother-in-law switched off watching Carter. I am the most thankful for this fact. I was terrified of day-care, nothing wrong with it I know, but I really really wanted Carter to get one-on-one time with who ever was watching him and even better knowing that he's developing relationships with his grandmothers and auntie. He loves them so much!! (plus, saves us a bundle on child-care costs).

Carter and Mommy at work!

Getting ready to board at LAX

What Carter's first flight looked like Zzz

A gift from Carter's new friend :)

At Pearl Harbor

Cousin Carter and Clayton bonding (Clayton is exactly 9 months older than Carter)

Enjoying the beautiful beach at our resort

Mom and Dad at the luau

Luau night

Mommy and Carter at sunset

One of my oldest friends gave birth to her son 3 months after I had Carter. How special is that?! Anyways, she asked me if I had any baby products that stood out in my mind that she should look into getting. I thought about it for a week or two and make little notes of things that made my mommy life a little easier. I gave her my list and thought, why not add it here too! So here is my list of baby products that makes a difference during the days and nights for me and Carter!

(this list are more of the less obvious items, you won't see a crib or changing table on here because I thought that those were too obvious)




These are awesome! We were using these daily from the first day home with Carter. They're light and thin, which is great for Southern California so Carter never gets too hot in them, and swaddling for babies is a life saver! Carter sleeps the best when swaddled, like sleeping through the night at 7 weeks old, sleep (praise God!). I use the Aden + Anais swaddling blankets, and they are wonderful!




I can't talk enough about my solly wrap, it's wonderful! I was given a moby wrap by a girlfriend, she had two and never had a chance to return one so she gave me a brand new one! But... moby wraps are thick, and after about 20-30 minutes of wearing Carter in it we were both a little sweaty. But solly wraps are awesome! They're much thinner and softer which makes for a much more comfortable baby wearing session! Plus, solly wraps are from a small business out of San Diego, and I love supporting small businesses with awesome products! I tagged them in this photo I posted on insta and it made it to one of their Friday postings!


I LOVE my video monitor! Having a video monitor is what finally made me comfortable leaving Carter alone in a room to sleep, which I allowed to happened around 7 weeks. Before then I never left him sleeping alone for more than a quick bathroom break or to grab a glass of water. I was terrified of SIDS or of Carter changing positions and not being able to breathe well. I picked a monitor that was wireless and could run on batteries as well as being plugged into a wall plug. I wanted to be able to move the camera from room to room with ease and have the receiving end be a very good quality picture and have night vision for night time. I place the camera in such a position that I can sleep Carter's little chest moving up and down, inhaling and exhaling, and also to see if his eyes are open or shut. Carter will lay in his crib awake but not making any noises but quietly cooing and looking around and I wanted to be able to see what he was doing at all times without having to be in the room. I love the peace of mind it gives me without having to run into his room to check on him every few minutes, for both our sake!! My monitor has a tons of features that I also love, but this description is already super long! End note: They're expensive but completely worth the peace of mind they bring!

My mother-in-law bought me a gliding rocking chair and gliding footstool for one of my baby showers and I can't imagine life without it! I rock Carter to sleep in it every single night! It's beautiful, comfortable, and glides so smoothly and gently that both Carter and I are completely relaxed and so comfortable while using it. It also provides a nice calm down time that we share just looking into each other's eyes and bonding. While, you don't really need a rocking chair, I love mine and would recommend one to all mommies out there!


We had both and couldn't live without both! But you probably only need one or the other. Carter practically lived in my arms for the first two months of his life. I loved holding my baby, and while some people try to tell you that holding a baby "spoils" them I couldn't disagree more. I wanted to bond with Carter as much as possible, and I wanted him to know that when he fell asleep I would still be there when he woke up. The few times I put him down was in his rock n play or bouncer, which gave him the similar positioning and cradling effect he would experience when I was holding him. He loved it, Chris and I love them. His bouncer would bounce gently as he slept and provided subtle movement which put him to sleep, and our rock n play has a "magical" function that would allow it to rock on it's own which always puts Carter out in a matter of minutes.