My Next Exciting Journey: Motherhood

Being pregnant with my first child has opened me up to a whole new journey that I am excited to share with you! There is so much to learn and it’s important to start with some of the necessities like keeping your baby healthy, the environment clean, making eating fun, and taking care of yourself.

I was recently invited to Mom’s Night Out by Parents magazine of the Meredith Corporation, the No. 1 magazine operator in America (PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens, InStyle, & SHAPE).

There I met the new Editor-in-Chief of Parents magazine, Liz Vaccariello, and partook in fun activities like playing with my food, taking a dip in a make-believe bubble bath with Baby Dove, creating my own fragrance, and designing a snow globe for the holiday season ahead with Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. Below are a few of my current and future go-to’s when it comes to my home and raising our baby.

Baby Dove

I remember that a staple in my household growing up was Baby Dove. Now that I’m stepping into motherhood, I’m reminded of all the little things my mom surrounded my world with which made it so special.

With Dove, I learned that babies have a layer of good bacteria that lives on their skin called their microbiome. While it’s important to keep babies clean, it’s important to nurture the microflora rather than destroy them with harsh cleansers. Baby Dove is made with ingredients that gently nourish the microbiome to keep it healthy and protect the baby.

As I grew up through the years – I remember my mom instilling in me the beauty of simplicity and the routine that has kept my skin healthy and fresh. All we used in our home was Dove; whether it was removing our make-up after a long day with soap, or using the body wash in the shower.

Now that I’m going to be a mom, I know I can rely on Baby Dove to care for my baby’s skin, just like my mom did for me.

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes

Currently, most rooms in my home have a container of Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes for those messy moments when a clean sheet is exactly what I need. More than just being a wet wipe, I trust that it kills 99.9% unwanted germs and bacteria to keep surfaces clean and safe.

Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes conveniently tackle life’s messes – like when rearranging all my furniture during my nesting phase – while removing germs, bacteria and countless other nasties you may find lurking in your home. 

During Moms’ Night Out, we also created snow globes for the holiday season ahead and cleaned up the messy glitter, glue, and more with Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes. I chose to build mine around a beautiful white Christmas tree and a fox ornament for baby Jordan. Being that his great-grandmother’s maiden name is Fox, I felt like it was the right move. I added birds on my tree because someone really special once told me “birds are a little reminder that you’re surrounded by angels.”

Parents food

It’s quite fun how creative our imagination can get. I think one of my favorite sections in Parents magazine is their DIY tips and what better way to be the fun parent than breaking stereotypes and playing with our food.

I created a spider and used a chocolate donut as the base and pretzel sticks for its legs. We also played with our fruits and turned them into Frankenstein heads, adding scary eyes and even drawing a scary face on my marshmallow. I must admit, being pregnant and craving foods — I ended up eating two of the donuts we used as spider bases.

Parents scent

Another great thing you can find in each issue of Parents is their attention towards you. One of the ways that we can take care of ourselves is through scent, which I believe has the power to elicit emotions and energy. Certain scents uplift me, while others remind me of comforting memories from days past.

Creating my own fragrance with Alchemologie was a great way to remind myself how necessary self-care is while stepping into motherhood. The best way I can take care of others is by not excluding myself. Because once I allow myself to be good to me, I am more equipped to show up as my best self for others. And I really want to show up as my best self each and every day, as much as I possibly can, for my baby Jordan.

Being that this is my first child, this whole mom thing is very new to me. With Parents, it was refreshing to be in an environment where unfiltered moments are encouraged and gone are the days of striving to be the perfect parent. Spoiler alert: there is no such thing. All we can do is try to be the best versions of ourselves and create a clean, fun home for our little bundles of joy.

A special thank you to the lovely people at MomTrends who invited me to this event!