Motherhood Archives | happily trista

March 2, 2020

10 things I didn’t know until I started breastfeeding

This post is sponsored by Evivo but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Okay, so I’ve admitted before I thought breastfeeding would be so easy and natural. I didn’t take a class while I was pregnant with Blaire. Didn’t prep, didn’t do any research. If it was so natural, everything would just work and it’d be just as easy as everyone said it was. (Spoiler alert: not the case for me.) There were so many things I didn’t know with Blaire…

January 10, 2020

milky mama lactation brownie review

I’m going to guess this is the thing I’ve had the most questions and messages about EVER. My review of the lactation brownies from Milky Mama. And I think it just shows we can get desperate when it comes to our milk supply because of how much pressure our society forces when it comes to breastfeeding. Also, a few disclaimers. I bought these brownies. I know they’re not…

October 8, 2019

Sloane’s birth story: my second VBAC

Happy due date, baby girl! A week ago we were heading to the hospital, hoping we would be meeting the final member of our family soon. I had contractions every day throughout the last 8ish weeks of my pregnancy. Some days they were intense, they just never got close together. FINALLY, on 10/1, at exactly 39 weeks, they stayed consistently five minutes apart for an hour while we…

August 30, 2019

TLC during pregnancy and as a new mom

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com.

It’s funny how each season of my life I’ve felt like I couldn’t possibly be more exhausted than at that moment. Being pregnant with Blaire, I had NO idea I’d learn a new level of tired after she was born. I thought I was exhausted throughout my entire pregnancy! Then being pregnant and chasing around a two-year-old, now being pregnant with a five-year-old and a two-year-old. At this…

August 2, 2019

8 tips to survive breastfeeding

This post is sponsored by Evivo but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

As a first time mom I had no idea what breastfeeding entail. I didn’t take a class. I bought a nursing tank, a nursing bra and a nursing cover. Boom. I was prepared. I was going to survive breastfeeding. I was even offended when several mom friends suggested I have a thing of formula at home just in case I needed it. Just in case? Just in case…

December 16, 2018

keeping up with my kids

This post is sponsored by Hamilton Beach. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I can’t count how many times each day I look at my kids and wish I had their energy. They. Never. Stop. So I need to keep up and the only way I can do that is with caffeine. Some days I only need a cup and other days I need ALL the coffee – thankfully the FlexBrew Coffee Maker by Hamilton Beach allows me to make a…

October 30, 2018

the best way to backup your photos

Anyone living in the modern age has struggled with the best way to make sure your photos and videos are backed up. Before I had all of my files set up to backup automatically, I used to lose sleep over what would happen if I lost Blaire’s baby photos, or the videos of her first day of life. Knowing all of those memories are living safely on a…

August 1, 2018

one year with our home security system

This post is sponsored by Per Mar Security Systems. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It has been just over one year that we’ve had our home security system. I am so happy we finally got one! It was something I had always wanted because I am the person who analyzes every little noise I hear. And I typically wake Jason up to ask if he heard it, too, which is annoying when it happens every night for three years. And that was…

July 5, 2018

hospital bag checklist

One question that never goes away in the mom community is “What the heck do I need to pack in my hospital bag?” Well, today I’m sharing a free, printable hospital bag checklist to help you tackle packing your hospital bag! (Scroll to the bottom to save the free hospital bag checklist printable – you can easily pin it to Pinterest to help yourself (and other mamas!) find…

July 3, 2018

I didn’t shop at target for 31 days and this is what I learned

I did it. I went a whole 31 days without stepping foot inside my most favorite place on earth. And while I did occasionally stalk target.com, I did not place any orders. And please believe me, the 40% off shoe sale REALLY tempted me. They were in my cart, I was SO close to just pulling the trigger. But I talked myself down. And now I’ll be paying…

July 2, 2018

co-sleeping saved me

The title of this post may be a bit dramatic to some, but hear me out. I know I can’t be alone when I say motherhood has been so much different than I ever imagined. For some reason I thought I knew exactly what kind of mom I’d be. All the things I would do and wouldn’t do. And let me just say, in my mind, I had…

June 19, 2018

our roadtrip to red wing, minnesota (with the toyota camry hybrid LXE)

Thank you to Toyota for lending us the 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE to test drive for a one week. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Back in June, we were invited to a wedding in Minnesota (sans kids) so we had a kid-free getaway and it was so nice! I love being able to sleep in. Seriously, both mornings Jason had to wake me up at…