A few years ago (when we were in our early 20s), I bought him this flashy watch. Think of a grill but for your wrist. Yeah I blame being a 19/20 year old, haha. Anyways, I figured it was time for an upgrade and a more sophisticated watch. I have been eyeing JORD wood watches for almost a year now and when they reached out to me to try out their new holiday collection, there was no hesitation on my part to get one for Anthony as a gift.

First, I love the look of wood tones. The grain in wood just does something for me. Secondly, JORD watches are the perfect combination of sophistication and causal. You can easily dress this watch up or down for everyday wear.

And as y'all I know, I'm not that good at keeping gifts from Anthony since I just get too excited so he helped me pick out the one  he liked the most which he chose the Frankie watch in Koa & Ash and I already gave it to him to start wearing. I told y'all I'm the worst but how amazing does this watch look on his wrist? I mean obviously he can make anything look good but I feel this JORD watch suits him perfectly and was the perfect gift.

Now for the good stuff for you guys! Every year JORD has amazing holiday deals but this year they are having their largest discounts ever just for ya'll! Each person who enters their information here will instantly be emailed with an exclusive holiday coupon code worth 25% off! Perfect timing for your holiday shopping so be sure to add JORD to your Black Friday shopping list. 

Today I wanted to share my favorite nursing sleep bra and this one isn't a bra per say. It is actually a nightgown with a light support built in bra that has clip down's which makes nursing extremely easy. There are a few reasons I am loving this nursing nightgown more so than an actual nursing sleep bra. 

The main reason is layers. I get hot really easily so previously I would only wear a nursing sleep bra to sleep and that was it and that can get cold but then if I were to wear a shirt or sleep dress over it I would have to lift up the shirt and pull down the bra and guys that is just too much when you are groggy in the middle of the night. So this Lucille Nursing Nightgown from Kindred Bravely is so lightweight and easy to work with. 

I also love that I was able to wear it during my pregnancy and it fit over my third trimester bump perfectly and now it helps hide my postpartum bump. It is completely flattering and definitely makes this mama feel feminine and sexy despite all the craziness that comes at the end of pregnancy and postpartum. 

Also, if we are being honest, you will often find me wearing this nightgown throughout the day as well because it is really that comfortable.

Do you have a favorite nursing sleep bra or nightgown?

I love how it has a flowy drape that could easily disguise your postpartum bump so when I saw this maternity peplum top at PinkBlush, I knew I had to try it out. 

Again, what I love about PinkBlush is that their items stretch across your closet no matter what season of life you are in. Even though this top is technically labeled as maternity, my normal size fits me perfectly postpartum. The only con, depending on the importance to you, is that it isn't nursing friendly but I honestly don't mind lifting up my shirt to nurse my little babe so it isn't really a con to me. I guess from breastfeeding for 15-16 months with Sophia and now baby Anthony being my second babe to breastfeed, I feel more confident and don't necessarily need my tops to be nursing friendly. My bras are a different story, haha.

What is your favorite style to wear postpartum?

We arrived to the hospital around 6:40am and as you can imagine Sophia was still groggy from being woken up out of her sleep. We were able to lay her DockATot Grand on the sofa seat inside the delivery room and have her lay there and relax. 

  

To our surprise, Sophia was so amazingly calm and relaxed the entire time I was in labor and delivery and I truly believe bringing the DockATot with us to the hospital helped transition her to be in a new environment where a lot was going on that she didn't understand. It gave her a sense of security and comfort while she played with her tablet and relax.

We did run into some minor complications after delivery which postponed us being moved into the recovery area and at this point it became too much for Sophia to stay with us so Anthony took her home and put her to bed while he waited for my sister to go stay the night with her. Having the DockATot Transport Bag was amazing for all this back and forth as it made it easier for Anthony to carry it on his shoulders while also carrying the diaper bag and Sophia. 

We already knew our love for the DockATot Grand but this experience really reconfirmed for us that it is the best baby product that has made the biggest impact for us in making our parenting lives easier. And the DockATot Transport Bag made the transportation more convenient during this whole experience.

Did you have your toddler or children involved in the labor and delivery process of their sibling?

The post was created in partnership with Kindred Bravely but all thoughts and opinions are of my own.

In August, I shared my favorite breastfeeding essentials products that make breastfeeding easier on mom. Again, you don't actually need anything to breastfeed successfully besides milk making tissue in your breasts but those items I put together just make it easier during your breastfeeding journey. One of the items I touched on was, of course, a nursing bra but at that time I hadn't found the right everyday nursing bra. 

Therefore, I called to action on Instagram (be sure to follow me for day to day @stormieariel) for other nursing mommas to give me their suggestions and their favorite everyday nursing bra which landed me to Kindred Bravely. I was so excited when they agreed to work with me so I could review their nursing bras for you guys.

I was able to try out three of their products: the Simply Sublime Nursing Bra, the Marvella Maternity & Nursing Underwire Free T-shirt Bra and the Lucille Nursing Nightgown & Maternity Lingerie. For this post, I am going to focus on the t-shirt bra and the sublime bra. I will go into more detail about the nursing nightgown when I discuss sleep bras.

Yupp, that's right. I am making a series about nursing bras because I really do think they make the most difference for breastfeeding moms compared to any other nursing product and I wish I would have had the resources to point me in the right direction of brands and styles of nursing bras I needed so I didn't waste money experimenting.

Simply Sublime Nursing Bra

I would highly suggest buying this bra as a maternity bra once your regular bras are no longer comfortable to wear (typically happens in the third trimester but every women's body is different). The sublime bra is made out of stretchy material so it does not dig into your rib cage but in fact expands with it allowing comfort. The cup area also expands as your boobs fluctuate especially those first few months after birth when your milk production is evening out. This bra truly is perfect for everyday wear for when you are just lounging around the house and it has enough support that you can wear it out and about as well and still remain comfortable.

Marvella Maternity & Nursing Underwire Free T-shirt Bra

This bra is described as a buttery-soft racerback and buttery-soft is spot on. I was shocked at how luxurious this bra felt in my hand but even more so when I actually put it on and wore it. I also really love the plunging neckline allowing you to wear this bra with all types of tops while still being able to nurse your little one easily. The Marvella truly is perfect to wear out and about as it offers plenty of support but it is still comfortable enough to wear all day around the house as well.


So I must admit guys, it was hard figuring out how best to share these amazing bras with you without feeling overexposed and remaining modest especially sharing my bare belly. I mentioned in my 37 week pregnancy update that I was trying to embrace all these new stretch marks that this second pregnancy has brought on and while some days I still struggle with the sight of them, I am so glad I was brave enough to embrace this beautiful bump of mine and captured it on camera so I can always remember the miracle of life that is growing inside of me. What makes you brave?

This PinkBlush dress has the perfect amount of thickness to it that it isn't sheer but it isn't too thick that you are sweating crazy especially since I paired it with a utility vest. Again, by wearing a vest instead of a utility jacket, I still get to have a layered fall look but I am keeping my layers lightweight.

And can we talk about this PinkBlush Maternity dress for a second? I absolutely love how it is figure hugging as I really wanted a dress to show off this big ol' baby bump and the fact that it is nursing friendly is a double win since I will also be able to wear this dress postpartum (you know I am all about getting the most bang for my buck) and get to breastfeed my new little bundle of joy while looking nice either for church or any other formal event. 

This post was created in partnership with Lorena Canals Rugs but all thoughts and opinions are of my own.

For more nursery room details, check out these posts:

Nursery Tour

DIY Fabric Kites

Nursery Room Sources

This post was created in partnership with DockATot, LILLEbaby, Ollie World and Binxy Baby but all thoughts and opinions are of my own.

When creating my list of must-haves for baby number two I was quite surprised by how small my list was which is a good thing. When I was pregnant with Sophia, I made sure to register for and purchase all expensive major baby products in gender neutral colors and patterns so we could pass on those things to our next little babe whether it would be another girl or a baby boy. And man, is it saving us so much money (or giving us more bang for our buck) that we do not need much this time around. Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a million and one things I want but that’s for another day, haha.



DockATot Deluxe – The DockATot is a multi-functional lounger, co-sleeper and playtime lounger. The DockATot comes in two sizes, the Deluxe (0-8 Months) and the Grand (9-36 Months). We first heard about DockATot when Sophia was around a month old and we got the opportunity to try the DockATot Grand when she was 9 months old (read here). It was a game changer and helped her sleep so much better through the night so I knew with a second baby, we would need the DockATot Deluxe from the very beginning. We typically use the DockATot as a co-sleeper since we bed-share and the thick borders make it safe to do so. (If you use my referral link, you will receive $10 off all Docks)

LILLEbaby Baby Carrier – I absolutely love babywearing! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to start babywearing Sophia until she was around 9 months old since the carrier we had didn’t properly support her head and neck or hips. When I finally bought a woven wrap for our New York trip, I fell in love with babywearing that I started looking into more baby carriers because I wanted to have the versatility to wear my babies in different ways for different reasons so I was excited when I heard about LILLEbaby and to be given the opportunity to try out two of their carriers, the soft structured carrier and the ring sling. I chose the LILLEbaby Complete since it will allow us to wear Sophia or the new baby in 6 different carrying positions. I also like the idea of having a soft structured carrier because it is easier for Anthony to wear either kid as well without having to worry how to wrap or adjust a woven wrap or a ring sling properly. I also chose a ring sling wrap from LILLEbaby because I love the lighter material it provides and it isn’t as intricate as a woven wrap so again I just love being able to have versatility in wearing my babies through all their stages and the seasons. And it’s becomes part of your outfit so it is nice to have options in accessories, haha.

It may be August already but with plenty more summer to go especially when you live in Texas it's pretty much summer once winter ends and technically we don't even really have a winter, it's more of a limbo season. Between summer and summer, haha. Anyways, I figured I have had enough experience in our Texas humidity and summer to know how to survive the rest of summer during my pregnancy and wanted to share it with you guys. If you have any additional tips, be sure to leave a comment below.

My little girl is 11 months old and I need to type up her 10 month post for last month and her 11 month post for this month and take her 11 month photo update.