Inspiralized Ali – Life. Unfiltered.

13 Aug

month 9 of the BABY FAVORITES series. things that my baby (and me!) are loving at this stage. for this series, I'm going to list the things that made month NINE great! and of course, you can check out newborn favorites, month 4, month 5, month 6, month 7, and month 8. month 9: baby favorites 1. Bath mat: Luca started taking baths not in an infant tub around 8-9 months, but he was really slippery, so we bought this bath mat and he loves splashing on it. we point out all the fish/animals on it and he loves it. he's also standing up in the tub now, so we feel safer having it in there. 2. Extra freezer: now that Luca is eating proper...

6 Aug

monthly challenges: august

by Ali Maffucci

wellness

for each month of this year (I started in March), I'm going to be doing a monthly challenge, where I practice something NEW for the entire month (about 30 days). I didn't want to preselect all the challenges for the entire year, because I'm always changing and there are always areas of my life that change and some need more help than others at certain times. let's start with a recap of the last month and then get into this month's challenge! july's challenge: recap july's challenge was to floss everyday. I know, I know, I'm not a flosser. I actually used to not brush my teeth before I went to bed until a few years ago. was I successful? YES! flossing will now...

31 Jul

breastfeeding update and luca’s solids and breastmilk schedule

by Ali Maffucci

motherhood

you can read about my breastfeeding journey and my first breastfeeding update here. and of course, you should consult your doctor if you have any medically related questions about breastfeeding, as I am not a doctor and this is just my personal experience. world breastfeeding week is august 1-7, so in celebration of that, let's give a breastfeeding update! as we approach one year of nursing, I'm having all the feels. mostly, "I can't believe it!" when I first started nursing and it was tough, I remember thinking, "just stick it out for 6 months!" and then at 4 months, we finally hit our groove and nursing became, for the most part, easy. my confidence nursing in public grew, Luca's latch was strong,...

29 Jul

When your workspace is also your baby’s space

by Ali Maffucci

business, motherhood

If you follow me on Instagram, you may notice that when I take a photo of my food, there's a lot of baby "stuff" in the background. You can see our baby playmat and lots of toys scattered around. That's because the area I take my food photos for the blog in is also the area Luca plays in, in our living room. It's where all of his toys are stored and the area that we've designated "the baby's space." For us, we were always concerned that our apartment home would explode into one big baby's room. We're happy that we have a little nook in our living room that we could build into a safe space for Luca. Of course,...

20 Jul

tips for eating at restaurants with an infant

by Ali Maffucci

motherhood

since Luca is almost a toddler (just two more months to go!), and I get a lot of questions on how we eat out at restaurants with an infant and actually enjoy ourselves, I figured it was time to write the post. plus, everyone loves my #restaurantluca hashtag on the weekends when we're out and about with him! we take him out for about 3 meals a weekend. to preface this, we are choosing to introduce food to Luca with baby led weaning (BLW). you can read all about our decisions in this post. with this, there are a couple key points to keep in mind when I'm sharing my tips: the main idea behind BLW is that it starts table manners...

19 Jul

baby favorites: month 8

by Ali Maffucci

faves

month 8 of the BABY FAVORITES series. things that my baby (and me!) are loving at this stage. for this series, I'm going to list the things that made month EIGHT great! and of course, you can check out newborn favorites, month 4, month 5, month 6, and month 7. month 8: baby favorites 1. Baby walker: Luca isn't totally into this, but he definitely gets around in it! I put him in it mainly when I'm cooking in the kitchen, so I can be hands free. sometimes he whines, sometimes he loves it. but, it helps mama, so it made the list! 2. Rash guard swimwear: now that it's officially summer, I got Luca some proper swimwear - and the long sleeve rash...

17 Jul

Amazon Prime Day Deals: Baby

by Ali Maffucci

motherhood

Here are my picks for Amazon Prime Day! These are only products that I have used (and Luca, of course!) that we love and I highly recommend: The baby wash we use: https://rstyle.me/n/c65e5vbqbvf The drying rack we use: https://rstyle.me/n/c65e6ybqbvf Luca's favorite bouncer: https://rstyle.me/n/c65e7nbqbvf Life-saving gripe water - still use it: https://rstyle.me/n/c65e8hbqbvf Baby walker style we use: https://rstyle.me/n/c65e9mbqbvf The take along mobile we used: https://rstyle.me/n/c65facbqbvf Our stroller arch: https://rstyle.me/n/c65fa2bqbvf Our mobile: https://rstyle.me/n/c65fcfbqbvf The boppy nursing bowl: https://rstyle.me/n/c65fc6bqbvf Babyganics essentials gift set: https://rstyle.me/n/c65feebqbvf The feeding mat we use and love (EZPZ): https://rstyle.me/n/c65ffibqbvf The feeding mat for older babies - Happy Mat (EZPZ): https://rstyle.me/n/c65fgwbqbvf His favorite maracas - great for diaper bag: https://rstyle.me/n/c65fsvbqbvf Hope you snag some great deals today!...

13 Jul

monthly challenges: july

by Ali Maffucci

life

for each month of this year (I started in March), I'm going to be doing a monthly challenge, where I practice something NEW for the entire month (about 30 days). I didn't want to preselect all the challenges for the entire year, because I'm always changing and there are always areas of my life that change and some need more help than others at certain times. let's start with a recap of the last month and then get into this month's challenge! june's challenge: recap june's challenge was to stretch for 10 minutes everyday. and, I failed (mostly.) honestly, I didn't do a good job of setting a reminder in my phone to do it, so most days, I just stretched for a...

12 Jul

What to pack for a beach vacation with a baby

by Ali Maffucci

family, travel

We did it! Our first family vacation, just the three of us: me, my 9 month old son, Luca, and my husband, Lu. The trip was everything we hoped it would be and more - and we packed (almost) perfectly! And I'm going to share with you what we packed, what we should've packed, and what we packed but didn't need to have packed. First, let me preface this post with the following: Luca was 9 months old at the time of this post. We were on a vacation for a week, a Saturday to a Friday I'm a breastfeeding mother, and thus, I didn't bring any bottles with me and I don't need formula. I also nurse my son (since...

19 Jun

comfortably working from home

by Ali Maffucci

style & beauty

if I don't have any meetings or events during the week, I tend to wear the same few items over and over again. I'm always comfortable - it's the biggest perk of working from home. however, with that, you can fall into the PJ-pants trap real quickly. instead, I like to pair everyday comfortable clothes with athleisure to make cute outfits that make me feel good when I look in the mirror and, if I have a last minute errand or meeting, I can jump out the door and still feel chic. the softest pants ever: I basically feel like I'm wearing pajamas when I wear these, but paired with some cute white sneaks or flats and a tank or fitted...