Most-used products for my 3-4 month old

It’s hard to believe my baby is already over 4 months old! During the 3-4 month stage we still used many of the same products that we used when she was a newborn, so check out that post for all of those most-used items.

Blog Post: Most-used newborn baby products

But there are some new products that we brought into the mix during these months, so here are those products:

My most-used pregnancy products

I just wrote a blog post about my most-used newborn baby products, and it got me thinking, why not also share what worked for me in my pregnancy? I used fewer products in pregnancy, but the things I did use, I used over and over again. So let’s jump in!

My most-used newborn baby products

My baby, Lyra, is 2 months old. (Pause for disbelief, and a pat on the back that we made it 2 whole months!)

I am a first time mom, and WOW, there is so much stuff out there to learn. One of the things I thought most about during pregnancy was what products we needed to buy to be prepared for the baby to arrive. I ended up devouring any and all content titled, best and worst baby products. Now that I’ve been through the first two months of the newborn phase, I can share my own point of view on what products we ended up buying that were the most useful.

One major caveat: I’m writing this post because these are the types of posts and content I wanted when I was pregnant and trying to prepare. But I want to reiterate that every baby is different and everyone has different preferences. So while these are what we used, that doesn’t mean they’ll work or did work for your baby, or that you’ll want to try them. Take this as one data point that’s out there, but otherwise, just go with what you think is best.

Here are some of the products we found most useful during the first 2 months of Lyra’s life:

Babymoon in Niagara

I’ve never been a big fan of the term “babymoon” — to me, it kind of insinuated that this is some last chance trip to take, because once the baby comes, you won’t be traveling anymore. I really didn’t accept the idea that traveling would need to stop once we had a baby.

And while I still believe that we will always value travel, now that my baby has been born, I fully admit that for at least a little while, traveling is going to slow down, at least a little bit. As I write this, I have a 6-week old newborn baby, and man, it’s tough. We’re a bit in survival mode, so to be honest, traveling doesn’t even sound fun to me. What sounds fun to me is sleep, a few moments of peace and quiet without a crying baby, and a nice long shower.

But I know this is just a short season for us, and we’ll soon resume our travels – only this time, we’ll be taking a baby with us! And I can’t wait for that!

While we wait for that phase to begin, let me reminisce on our babymoon.

A roadtrip through the American South

This blog post is a unique one because I’m writing it so long after the actual vacation. Mitcher and I visited the American South in September 2020, but somehow I never got around to writing about it, or even sharing many photos.

I figured, better late than never, and I’m on maternity leave right now, so I find myself with bits and pieces of spare time while little babe naps, so let’s do it now!

At the time of our trip in 2020, neither Mitcher nor I had really spent much time in the South, at least not the states that I think of when I think of Southern states. Technically Texas and Florida are considered Southern States. But I tend to lump these a bit differently in my mind when I think about culture: Texas and Florida each have such a distinct feel – for example, I don’t think of southern food when I think of either Texas or Florida; so I consider them separate from more traditional southern states. It doesn’t really matter either way, but we wanted to experience the real southern culture and history, so we chose to visit a couple of spots within South Carolina and Georgia.

A map of the states in the American South

Our trip started in Charleston, South Carolina, then we headed to Savannah, Georgia, and we ended our trip with a little beach getaway to Hilton Head, South Carolina.

What to do in Fort Worth, TX

I’m a Dallasite, and I absolutely love Dallas! In my 4+ years of living in Dallas, I have visited Fort Worth a handful of times to visit, and I thought it was about time that I share some tips, especially for first-time visitors.

Fort Worth is a great place for out-of-towners who want to experience the “real Texas”. Dallas is so metropolitan, but Fort Worth has some more traditional “cowboy” touristy things to do that visitors will definitely appreciate.

Fort Worth is also a metropolitan area of its own right too, so I’m also going to include some tips on non-cowboy things to do in Fort Worth.

Loire Valley, France

Mitcher and I have a tradition of visiting a new wine region each year to celebrate our anniversary, and this year, we went abroad.

As you may have read in my previous blog post, we visited Paris October, but Paris was not our only destination in France. Because this was my first trip to France, we knew we had to visit Paris, but we also wanted to visit a wine region – and luckily, France has many to choose from.

Why Loire Valley?

But which region to choose? France has so many great wine regions – Bordeaux, Burgundy, Provence, Alsace, Rhone, Languedoc, and of course, Champagne… how could I choose? To help narrow down the choices, we opted for proximity to Paris as a starting point. The wine regions closest to Paris are Loire Valley, Champagne, and a little bit of Burgundy. I’d been drinking some Loire Valley wines recently, so we picked Loire. On top of being well-known for it’s extremely varied wine, Loire is a vacation destination of its own right due to the dozens and dozens of castles dotted all along the region. Basically, it was a no-brainer.

Paris, France

I finally made it to France! This trip was a long time coming (read more about why over on this blog post). But after so much anticipation, I couldn’t help but wonder, would France live up to the hype?

I had to find out.

My French Love Story

Oh là là, ma chérie, Paris!

I recently got back from a trip to Paris, and I must say, this trip was *potentially* the most meaningful trips I’ve ever taken. And — umm, that’s saying a LOT, because travel means the world to me (pun intended).

But my love of Paris — really, France — goes way back.

Acadia National Park, ME

We visited Acadia National Park in July as one of the anchor stops along our 2-week trip around New England. Maine was everything we thought it would be, and more! And Acadia National Park was beyond beautiful. Let me tell you about the 4 days we spent in Acadia National Park.