I made sure to link everything below for you that I have used in years past and some things I have added. I hope this inspires you to make it a family affair when decorating your littles room this year.

Christmas Tree Quilt|Twinkle Lights|Little Blue Truck’s Christmas|Gingerbread Pillow|Nutcrackers|Holiday Sheets|Snowflake Pillow|Christmas Tree Garland|Faux Christmas Tree|The Night Before Christmas|Faux fur throw|Holiday Blanket|

The fact that Rory has already moved into his toddler room is so bittersweet but I had so much fun doing it:) Below is the beautiful toddler room that I found on Pinterest that I gained inspiration from. The link will take you to the room another interior designer created. The second I saw it was like an “AHA” moment. I knew that Andy would be able to do the wood work on the walls and that he could get it done fairly quickly. (I am so thankful he can do anything like this around our house with much guidance at all). I wanted to make sure Rory was well adjusted in his new “big boy” toddler room for at least two months before the new baby arrived.

I asked Andy to weigh on the difficulty level of this project and he was on a scale of 1-10 it was a 7. The main challenge is making sure that you measure the whole wall in it’s entirety twice to make sure that the squares you are making are equal to each other otherwise they will not all look even. Here is a visual again of the woodwork:

https://www.thelearnerobserver.com/blog/shared-toddler-room/

Here is Rory’s design board for his room and all of the sources for you to reference. I absolutely love the area rug in here by Loloi. It is beyond comfortable and perfectly durable for a toddler room.

Bulletin Board|Paper Airplanes|Pilot Knowledge Print|White Faux Rug|Truck Artwork|Studio Mcgee Ottomans|Navy Black Out Curtains|R Initial|Wooden Stool|Leather Hooks|Alphabet Art|Rug|

The inspiration behind the décor in Rory’s nursery was to really lean into the many different things he is interested in at the moment without going overboard on the theme throughout. He loves airplanes, firetrucks, trains etc. I love the wooden shelf ledge that Andy added to to display different artwork and other favorite things of Rory’s. It is easy to interchange the different pieces we have up here at any point.

The paint color in this room is front porch by Sherman Williams. It was already the color we had in this room and we really liked the way it looked plus I am sure in a few years Rory is going to want to change his room color to what he loves so I wanted to wait to change it.

For those of you that are new here this is what the nursery looked like when Rory was born. We didn’t find out the gender until he was born so I kept it very gender neutral. The walls were painted Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore and I love the way they looked in here:)

Here is the post on his nursery for you to reference.

Once I found out we were having another boy I wanted to lean into that a bit more this time around and paint the walls. I had been eyeing SO many different blue tones and ultimately kept coming back to smoke by Benjamin Moore. It really is the perfect combination of blue/gray paint color that changes with the light to create interest throughout the day. Here is the checklist of the few items I swapped out and changed in this nursery:

• Paint the walls a different paint color
• Pick out some new artwork and put the existing piece of art in our living room
• Purchased a cute sign from Etsy with a quote from the Sandlot

For $200 I was able to achieve this revamp in this room. The paint was probably the most expensive singular item as it is almost $80 a gallon now. Otherwise I purchased the artwork from Amazon and then purchased the frames separately. This is a great example of how much paint and and artwork can change a space without having to switch everything around in the room and having to purchase all new furniture.

Here are some photos of the nursery revamp!

I will post the sources for the artwork and frames in my next post for you to reference. I LOVE how this nursery revamp came out.

We did our transfer back in March and I went into it with the same mindset as I had in the past obviously being very hopeful that it would work but also knowing in my mind that I already have two beautiful kids that I am so incredibly lucky to have in my life. I did acupuncture before the transfer which they do in house at our clinic and it is such a great way to ease your mind and help you relax when you are going through this process. We go to Boston IVF and my doctor Rita Sneeringer is an angel. I highly recommend her to any of you who are having any sort of fertility struggles she is such a wonder reproductive endocrinologist and having an initial consult with her would leave you feeling hopeful I promise.

Doctor Sneeringer always cleared her schedule and made sure that she did my transfers day of which again from a patient doctor standpoint made such a difference because doing IVF is already so nerve wracking and she always made me feel seen, heard, and respected. Right after the transfer was complete I came home and waited the ten dreadful days before I officially got the word I was pregnant. The official word comes from the IVF clinic once you go in and do blood work. Something I do for my mental sanity and health is I do test on day 5/6 with an at home test. I know you are strongly discouraged from doing this as results may vary and even with a negative or positive but it is something I do to cope with the entire process.

Fast forward to my first at home test and it was positive. Given the journey we have been through to have kids for me anytime a positive pregnancy test was shown it always took me a minute to take it all in. Around the time I became pregnant Andy’s dad had just recently passed so it was bittersweet news for both of us because I know it would have been something that made him so happy to hear.

I had my 8 week ultrasound (with IVF they do monitor you very closely in the beginning stages of pregnancy to make sure everything is ok) and I loved my ultrasound technician and she eased my anxiety right away. We did end up finding out the gender this time because Andy really wanted to know although I would have gladly waited again which I know many of you may find hard to believe haha. I had a weird feeling I was having another boy very early on because I had the same symptoms that I did with Rory. They were pretty minimal but it was the same food cravings (cereal mainly haha) and crazy sense of smell that I had that seemed to be a dead giveaway.

I am due in late December and cannot believe how quickly it is all going by. I am so anxious to get going on the progress of Rorys new room that we are going to transition him too as well as the minor tweaks I am going to make to the nursery (paint color that I want to change and a few other tweaks).

Lots more to come but I am so happy to share this exciting new season and journey with you all

xx

Jordan

Sofia loves the color green and has so many books in her room that needed somewhere to be displayed. She has a pretty neutral pallet in her room with all the white funiture and off white headboard. (Girl after my own heart). What I really like about having a neutral base to work off of in a room is that is makes adding in color SO much easier because they don’t compete with each other. The first thing I did was create a design board of some of the existing pieces she already has in her room so I could make sure everything would flow well and look nice with her furniture and wall color which is a fun blue color. This is the same process I always do when I work with any of my interior design clients as well.

Storage Bench|Area Rug|Circular Faux White Rug|Bookshelf|Basket|Mirror|Light green throw pillow|String Lights|

After I narrowed down a few rugs and bookshelf wall mount options that I thought fit her taste I showed her the options. Keep in mind we did this little room revamp for under $250.00 which was what the goal was. Below is the design board that I created for her room and the links to some of the things she has in her room and loves. I think often times when people think about changing up a space or making the look and feel of a room look really different they imagine that it would have to cost a significant amount. I bought a pillow, rug, and bookshelf for Sofia for a little over $200.00. Adding a simple element to a room such as a rug, new light, paint color, or a new piece of art really enhances the look and feel of the room and you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to make minor tweaks and changes.

Sofia absolutely LOVES the way her room came out and so do I. It is amazing how well this rug ties everything in with the room. It pulls the color from the current wall color as well as incorporates her favorite color, green. I also love these candid shots of both of them together. She is such a patient sister who lets her crazy 1 year old brother come in and explore her room whenever he wants.

In the summer especially I feel like the Cape comes to life and shows off all that New England has to offer. I highly recommend walking main street in either Harwich or Chatham in the early morning the sights are so beautiful and you can stop to get a coffee along your way. It is one of my favorite traditions to do when we go to the Cape.

Below I listed out some of our favorite places to shops, eat and see when we are there!

Harwich Shopping:

Sativa

Murphy’s General Store

Solis

Snow Goose

Buoys on Main

Favorite Restaurant Spots Harwich:

The Port

J Bar

Ember

Perks Coffee Shop & Beer Garden

Buca’s Tuscan Roadhouse

The Mayflower Chatham

Chatham Shopping:

Chatham Candy Manor

Mermaids on Main

Tale of the Cod

Yankee Ingenuity

Puritan Cape Cod

Goodies Cape Cod

Favorite Restaurant Spots Chatham:

Chatham Squire

Captain’s Table

Bluefins Sushi & Sake Bar

The Corner Store

Del Mar Bar & Bistro

Chatham Bars Inn

Places to visit in both locations:

Chatham Fish Pier

Cape Cod Rail Trail

Red River Beach

Bank Street Beach

Cape Cod National Seashore

I hope you enjoy:)

I remember how absolutely elated and lucky I felt when I found out we were expecting Rory. To be honest though when it came to creating his registry I felt SO overwhelmed, stumped, and just stuck. Thinking back I think it is because today we have TOO many options and you don’t even know where to begin. Everyone is particular about what you must have when you are expecting a baby but the beauty is their is no right or wrong answer. Envisioning what our life would look like and what baby “things” we would need seemed like another language and an arena in which I knew absolutely NOTHING about.

I want this to be a helpful reference tool for you because if you are anything like me you need a visual of what something looks like and what it is going to be used for. To save your sanity I broke everything down for you below and have linked my top 10 favorite lifesaving items that we used when Rory was born:)

A few things to keep in mind when you are adding items to your baby registry is to think about how you currently live and how you will incorporate your new little one into your life when they arrive. Of course it is so hard to know until they arrive what your day to day will look like but somethings to think about:

Are you someone who loves to stay home and nest and do an occasional Target run if you absolutely have to?

Or are you someone who plans to incorporate your new addition into your shopping outings, errands, and get togethers with your girlfriends?

Whichever style you are envisioning any of the below will be so helpful to have around when you have the baby with you. The beautiful thing about motherhood is that everyone has a different way of incorporating routines, and things that work for their family.

TOP 10 LIFESAVING BABY ESSENTIALS

Dock A Tot: This is such a great and safe way to keep your baby all snuggled up and kept in one place. Think of this as an on the go pillow for your baby to lay on. Easy to transport around your house and babies love them. They can be swaddled up and lay on your couch with you!

Graco Swing: We absolutely loved this swing. It was a lifesaver for both us and Rory! Great price point and it comes with different features that help soothe the baby (sound and a massage feature).

Slumber Pod: LIFE CHANGING. We traveled quite a bit and still do with Rory and I bring this every time. Think of this as your on the go nursery room. Basically it completely blacks out your babies sleep environment and all you need is a pack and play and this goes right over the top of it. I recommend watching a video when you first try to set it up it will make your life way easier. Also, the other really cool thing about this is that you can put your baby camera on top to keep an eye on your little one:)

Product of the North Diaper Bag: This diaper bag is great quality, stylish, and does the job. Nothing too over the top but so reliable and light weight when you are on the go!

Gliding Reclining Rocking Chair: My friend recommended this to me when I was pregnant and it was such a great idea! I HIGHLY recommend getting a reclining rocking chair that has the gliding reclining option. SO perfect for late nights and early mornings with a newborn and also it is so comfortable.

Skip Hop Activity Center: We still use this now. This is so great to have as your baby starts getting a little older. What I love about it is that they are safe and contained inside and it is an activity center so they can play around with the toys attached as well as eat snacks on this.

Hatch Sound Machine: We love our sound machine! This is so user friendly and gives off a great white noise sound for the baby at night.

Toy Storage: They sell so many options like this for your kids toys. Let’s be honest all of the toys can tend to get out of control so why not have a nice storage unit to put some of them in. This is a great option for your living room space because it is a two in one and has a changing table on the top.

Muslin Swaddle Blankets: These are the absolute BEST! They wash so well in the washing machine and I used them for everything when we were n the newborn stage. Swaddle, blanket, and burp cloth all in one.

Uppa Baby: This stroller is literally like a Ferarri. Obviously I don’t own one but if I did I think it would be similar. Yes it is pricey BUT I promise you worth EVERY penny. These are designed to be a breeze for parents and kids. They have thought of everything and have kept convenience, safety, and durability in mind. What I love the most about these strollers is that they are three in one. They come with a bassinet for when they are in their newborn stage, and a larger seat for the stroller when they get bigger. The actual stroller is also included in the purchase. Everything can be made compact and flattened to make for easy travel.

I hope this helps you on your journey to parenthood and that you are able to narrow down your choices a little easier.

xx Jordan

Flying with Rory for the first time was definitely interesting but we made it. I feel brave and empowered that I even did it with a ten month old to be honest haha. Delta was amazing with accommodating him and they let me walk him up and down the aisles when I could and gave him water and snacks to keep him occupied. If we were to do it again I would absolutely pay to have his carseat on the plane and suck it up by paying for an additional seat. It is kind of comical when airlines label any child under 2 an “infant on lap” because that is far from the reality of what it was for us. Although he didn’t cry much he wanted to get out of the seat, crawl, and play with the hair of the person in the seat in front of us.

Sofia and Andy did Disney & Universal a ton while we were in Florida and they LOVED it. They are huge Marvel, Star Wars, so they were locked in. They did roller coasters, ate at Epcot, enjoyed butter beer (which is basically a sugary butterscotch non alcoholic drink at Harry Potter (Universal), and didn’t get home each night until the parks closed. Safe to say we absolutely got our money’s worth. One thing about Orlando is anything to do with the parks is pricey. If you are looking to book a Disney vacation keep in mind everything related to the park MUST be booked online ahead of time. Here is the link to do so. I also recommend you talk to one of the Disney reps for help how to book a vacation with them because their are a lot of moving parts and I know I was feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out how to do everything.

We are rookies with Disney and didn’t know anything about this until one of my friends (thank GOD) informed us. Otherwise we would have been staying in Massachusetts for spring break. Neither of us had been since childhood. They did the park hopper option which enables you to go to more than one park throughout Disney. You are able to get into the other parks after 2PM each day. So if you start in Epcot after 2PM with the park hopper you can go on over to Hollywood Studios after.

We rented a car while in Orlando and then Andy and Sofia ubered to the park during the day time. Peak hours and surge pricing with Uber definitely add up so keep an eye out for that.

Villa’s we stayed in:

While those two played at the parks Rory and I were living it up at the splash pad poolside. We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana in Orlando, Florida.

IT IS PERFECT for young families, and couples even without kids. Their are so many activities, it is such a GREAT set up and we had such a nice time! I loved being able to have our villa right across from the pool. What is awesome about the Villa’s is their was a kitchen, living area, balcony, and two bedrooms and bathrooms. Plenty of room for all of us to sleep:)

Helpful baby vaca items:

Below are the MUST HAVE items I had for Rory on this trip. I didn’t want to go crazy with baby items so I really did think practically and realistically but these I had a feeling were going to be non negotiables and I am so happy I brought them

Slumber Pod: THIS thing is unbelievable. Believe me I was VERY skeptical at first and was like NO way is this actually going to do the job. Well I am here to tell you it did the job and then some. Rory slept SO SO good in this and I am telling you it is such a lifesaver when you are traveling. Very easy to set up and it is essentially a tent for them to sleep in. How it works is you place it over a pack and play which in our case we traveled with the one we had. Then their is a zipper on it that opens up to get them in and out. It is completely black out once they are inside with a pocket at the top of the tent that has space for a baby cam. I don’t believe it works if you put it over a crib.

Portable Sound Machine: This sound machine from Amazon was so CLUTCH and for $23 such a great buy. I clipped it on the slumber pod each night and it worked so well and had a very good volume on it too

Rubber Duck for pool: We found a cute rubber duck on Amazon that was so small and simple but kept him so busy in the splash pad and pool.

Stroller: We did bring our UppaBaby but honestly after it got so damaged en route I would probably consider looking into renting one upon arrival next time to avoid having anything broken again

Loveys & Books: Bringing their favorite stuffed animal and some books for the airplane and hotel rooms are easy entertainment so bringing some of their favs they are use to from home are very helpful and keep them busy

**This post may contain Amazon affiliate links for which commission is made when clicking the links above*

We are already a little over three months since Rory’s arrival which is surreal. To all of you that have reached out to us since his birth thank you so much it means more than you will ever know. Honestly I have been enjoying soaking up every second of motherhood with him and daily reflecting on just how wonderful this gift of life is that we now have in our lives. On June 19th, 2021 at 11:54 PM Rory was born and front the moment I held him I have never felt a more profound love. Maternity leave is truly flying by but now that I am not so hormonally emotional I figured I would be able to finally tell Rory’s birth story without sobbing my eyes out haha. Today is a special day because it is the day we transferred Rory at Boston IVF. On October 2nd, 2020 I remember the day so vividly. It was gorgeous out and Andy and I went for a walk right before my transfer so I could have a clear mind. The procedure takes maybe 20 minutes, I did acupuncture right after and then ten days later you go in for a blood test to see if you are pregnant.

I still cannot believe we have another member of our family every time I look at him. To think he was three years in the making really is a miracle. He is perfect and such an incredible blessing.

As for his birth story I feel like towards the very end of my pregnancy it was a whirlwind and time stood still yet flew by at the same time.

Like many woman towards the end of my pregnancy I didn’t think I could make it much longer. Overnight my feet had blown up and my hands and face got super swollen but honestly up until that point my pregnancy had been a dream and after what it took to get pregnant I never complained because I just felt so lucky to even be at this place. With that being said it was getting more uncomfortable daily and I listened to all of the wives tales I could to see what I could do to get this labor into motion. At one of my last OB checkups I did have my membrane swept which can help to kick labor into motion. I will spare you the nitty gritty details here but essentially it can get things moving naturally. I was hoping this would do the trick and I had a feeling it would because they did have me scheduled to come into to get induced but in the back of my mind I knew this baby of mine would come just in time and I was right.

Sure enough in the early morning of June 19th, which was Rory’s actual due date my water broke around 1 AM but I didn’t think anything of it. It didn’t break dramatically like you picture it happening from scenes you have seen in the movies or anything. Quite honestly at first my initial reaction was “did I spill water on myself?” haha because it was so subtle. Then when I woke up more water was slowly coming out Andy noticed and goes “yeah I think your water just broke” and that is when I called the on call doctor at our hospital and she agreed it was time for me to come in. At this point it was around 6:45 AM. The whole time I was so calm it was funny I wasn’t rushing around or freaking out about getting my hospital bag. I hadn’t felt any contractions so I knew we had time and that I wasn’t going to go into labor or anything as we drove to the hospital.

The funniest part about all of this was that we didn’t leave the house in a dramatic way at all. In fact we dropped Sofia off at track practice came home, and then I had Andy telling me from upstairs while I was on the phone with my best friend that he needed to make sure his Adidas shoes had matching Adidas socks. Clearly he wanted to impress his new son/daughter. Haha you really cannot make that one up.

Shortly after we arrived at the hospital I went into triage and they asked me a slew of intake questions. I think the funniest most unexpected part of childbirth is that what you see in the movies is so far from reality in most cases. Labor takes a while none of it is instantaneous so a lot of questions and examining goes on before you actually are admitted to a labor and delivery room. What was great about our delivery with Rory was that all of the labor an delivery nurses that I was use to seeing during my weekly checkups were also on call so they all knew me when they came into our room to check on me. After a few tests and exams sure enough my water had broken and as soon as that was confirmed I knew more than likely we would meet our baby that day.

It started to feel real once we went into our labor and delivery room. Upon entering their was a whiteboard with our nurses name, my name, and that we didn’t know the gender of the baby so under the sex it said “surprise”. I am still so happy we didn’t find out the gender it made it so fun! As soon as I met the nurse that was assigned to me I knew we would click instantly she was such an amazing person. She explained everything to me so thoroughly and I felt so comfortable with her. Before I started any of the medication I was bouncing away on the yoga ball they give you in the room and was walking around a lot because I knew once I started the medication I would be glued to the hospital bed. Before long I started getting more and more contractions.

I knew something was up though because I started getting the chills and they told me that his heartbeat was increasing and that I had an infection in my placenta from my water breaking which is very common so they told me twice that I may have to have a C section. At this point when they first came into my room upon arrival I was only 3CM dilated well within two hours miraculously I went from 3CM to 10CM. The resident looked at me and said “Oh my gosh you are a ready to go let’s do this”. I knew I was ready to start pushing.

When it is go time it feels like a rush of people enter the hospital room. All of the doctors and nurses I had were woman and I have to tell you it felt SO BADASS to have them all walk in when it was time for Rory to come they got right down to business and let me tell you this guy must have been ready to enter this world because it only took an hour of active labor and he was here! The nurses and doctors were so impressed and to be honest I also couldn’t believe how quick it went. Honestly it was SO exhilarating and exciting.

I will never forget that moment when the doctor held up Rory and Andy clipped his umbilical cord. From the moment he was born he has been SO incredibly alert. It is like he cannot miss a beat haha. Here is a photo below of him at birth looking up at Andy:) Andy was so so proud and happy he was texting and calling them as soon as he arrived and then during my contractions he was updating everyone too. Could NOT contain his excitement. Our nurse stayed an hour + after her shift was over to see Rory’s birth and made sure we had everything we needed.

The most special moments were facetiming family and friends from the hospital because we weren’t allowed to have visitors at our hospital. When we arrived home Sofia was over the moon and so incredibly proud to meet her brother. The bond she has with him already is just so special and makes me cry happy tears.

We are all adjusting very well to this new part of our family and while some days feel like a whirlwind I soak in the crazy because I know just how quickly time slips away. I am so BEYOND thankful everyday to be Rory’s mom and cannot wait to see his personality grow with him as he gets bigger but for now I love being able to hold him in my arms and enjoy this baby stage because it is one that goes by within the blink of an eye.

I wanted to share some of the photos with you from both of the baby showers I had. I think whether or not you plan on finding out the gender of your baby or not some of these ideas can come in handy! I was lucky enough to have two showers for baby Pitzen so I included photos from both for you to see:) The baby is due any day now so I wanted to make sure I got this posted before he/she’s big arrival.

My mom, sister and aunt planned a beautiful shower for me in CT. With everything that went on during the pandemic and the lack of being able to see other people it was such a lovely time to see everyone that I hadn’t seen in so long safely. I had told my mom early on that one tradition in which I had seen at some of my friends baby showers in the past was instead of giving a card you give a book to the mom to be. All of the guests who attended our shower did that and I loved it! Such a great way to create your babies book collection and also a sweet way to write a note to the little one on the way for you to always have and remember.

One of my favorite parts about my CT shower were the invites my mom & sister created on Minted. They did a whale theme. I use to LOVE whales growing up so they made sure to incorporate them on my baby shower invites which I thought was so sweet.

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