https://desaraehoffman.com/BLOG RSSSun, 26 Aug 2018 21:11:09 GMTSun, 26 Aug 2018 21:11:09 GMThttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/baby-proofing-101We are just finishing up baby proofing our house... Talk about a project! I'm sharing what areas of the house we focused on and all of the products we used can be found on my Amazon list!Secure DressersAnd any other large items. If baby can open it, climb on it, stand on it, and there is risk of it falling over it, secure it! A lot of items designed for baby's room will come with an attachment you can use to secure it to the wall. Don't throw that away! Use it. And if you already did or needThu, 22 Jul 2021 21:50:41https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/baby-proofing-101https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/moms-be-mindful-of-your-thumbsAbout four months into being a first time Mom, I started experiencing pain in both of my thumbs. I let a couple days pass before I finally realized it hadn't gone away. I brought this to my chiropractor's attention and she confirmed what Google already told me: I had mommy thumb. I'm sure there's a more technical name for it but, yes, mommy thumb is a real thing. Essentially, I had been overusing the tendons in my thumbs ever since I started carrying a new 20 lb baby around and my body wasWed, 09 Jun 2021 18:38:52https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/moms-be-mindful-of-your-thumbshttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/your-pets-new-behavior-is-trying-to-tell-you-somethingIf your pets behavior suddenly changes, don’t ignore it... no matter how small the change is. Pay attention consider it a nonverbal communication that something may be wrong.Perianal Fistula: a medical term for a very annoying and uncomfortable disease in dogs, primarily German Shepherds. Lukas has been struggling with this condition for the past 8 months. Last year, I noticed him licking his rear end more frequently than usual and I finally paused one day to consider if something might beWed, 26 May 2021 16:11:59https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/your-pets-new-behavior-is-trying-to-tell-you-somethinghttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/things-my-20s-taught-meTime really does fly by. I still cannot believe I just turned 30 this past weekend! As I celebrated this milestone birthday, I found some time to myself to think about everything I've learned and accomplished along the way over this past decade. I feel like my 20s was filled with a lot of learnings, and I want to share the biggest ones:Stop Caring About What Other People ThinkOnce you truly accept that this life is yours and what you do with it is all up to you, it's pretty freeing. AttendingSun, 09 May 2021 20:51:48https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/things-my-20s-taught-mehttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/5-must-have-items-for-baby-s-first-monthNow that Elson is a little over a month old, Adam and I talked about the items we used the most during Elson's first month with us. I was curious to see if we came up with the same list of items and, to my surprise, we were almost spot on! In fact, it was incredibly hard to only choose 5 items. We finally narrowed it down and, after excluding the obvious item (diapers!), we landed on these 5 things:All of the items we went with and/or recommend are on my Newborn Necessities Amazon list!BurpSat, 06 Feb 2021 23:38:58https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/5-must-have-items-for-baby-s-first-monthhttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/why-those-first-48-hours-with-your-newborn-are-so-criticalAt the end of 2020, I gave birth to our sweet baby boy at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona. I went armed with a birth plan and, as part of that, I wanted to have immediate skin-to-skin with my baby right after he was born. I also planned to breastfeed. So, right after he was born, the doctor put little Elson James on my chest. A few minutes after that, the nurses helped me attempt to get him to latch onto my breast. It was an immediate success! That little stinker knew exactly what to do and heWed, 03 Feb 2021 19:33:08https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/why-those-first-48-hours-with-your-newborn-are-so-criticalhttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/this-is-who-you-ll-want-to-add-to-your-pregnancy-care-teamWelcoming a baby into this world takes a village. I'm not just talking about all of the friends and family who will surround you with support once baby arrives, I'm talking about the people who will help YOU during your pregnancy to set you and baby up for the best possible chance for a successful labor and delivery experience. I personally hadn't heard of pulling together a care team until I was already pregnant, but I soon learned that there would be several benefits to seeking out a greatFri, 18 Dec 2020 23:46:33https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/this-is-who-you-ll-want-to-add-to-your-pregnancy-care-teamhttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/the-one-thing-we-forgot-to-talk-about-before-getting-pregnantThere are so many important topics to cover with your partner before considering expanding your family. In fact, you can find a ton of lists on the Internet talk about the "top 25 things to discuss" and most of them will highlight some of the biggies: religion, discipline, timing, finances, etc. Yep, we covered all of those and then some. Adam and I have been together for almost 10 years now, married for 4, I was sure I had this guy all figured out by now. I mean, in all that time there's no wayFri, 18 Dec 2020 19:53:56https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/the-one-thing-we-forgot-to-talk-about-before-getting-pregnanthttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/student-loansOh my gosh. Adam and I are babies in this photo! This was taken in May 2013 when I graduated with my bachelor's degree at The Ohio State University. We were just dating at the time... Little did we know we had so many adventures ahead of us in the years to come. One of those adventures included combining finances and talking about tackling debt together. Not the most riveting topic and definitely one that brings some uncertainty and maybe anxiety as you wait to learn what both you and yourSun, 09 May 2021 20:52:05https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/student-loanshttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/36-weeksReaching 36 weeks of pregnancy feels like a total game changer. You now have anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks before baby arrives. That may still seem like a fairly large window of time but there are some daily activities you may want to start considering adding to your daily regimen in order to prep your body for labor and delivery (whenever that day may come!).Now, let me start this off by saying there are a ton of things you could do. So many that they could probably take all day for you toFri, 18 Dec 2020 19:53:26https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/36-weekshttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/tether-trainingWhat is tether training and how do you know if your dog could benefit from learning how to be on a tether? The second part is easy. All dogs can benefit from learning to enjoy and appreciate tether time! The first part is really easy, too. Tether time involves placing your dog on a mat or in a quiet spot where he can enjoy some calm, down time on his own. A tether is a specific type of rope used to help facilitate this process. We used to have a tether with Nadina but, as you can see in theSun, 09 May 2021 20:52:41https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/tether-traininghttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/babymedsIf you haven't yet had the pleasure of putting together a baby registry, it's basically one of the most stressful things you will ever do. Especially for your first child. Not only do you have to compile a list of items you like but you also have to figure out what they all are! For example, after much research I figured out I could benefit from putting a swaddle on my registry. So I thought, easy, and searched for swaddles on Amazon. Do you know how many different types of swaddles there are?Fri, 18 Dec 2020 19:51:06https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/babymedshttps://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/xmasinoctoberIt feels like everyone is ready for Christmas to come early this year. After Halloween passed, I saw a countless number of posts from friends teasing to put Christmas decor up instead of decorating for Fall. Here's a little secret for you. My Christmas tree is already up and it has been since October. So, I'm now happy to know I'm in good company! Why you ask? It's simple, really.The real reasonMy husband, Adam, somehow convinced me to get a 9 ft Christmas tree last year. (I'm actually soSun, 09 May 2021 20:52:24https://desaraehoffman.com/lifestyle/xmasinoctober