5 Easy steps to taking cute baby photos

Christmas time is here! I was so excited to take some photos of our chubster at our very own living room, and they came out studio quality! Here is how I think it is easy to take Christmas photos of your baby:

1. Use any household items you can use at home for props.

This tip is easy to overlook when you see so many cute things at Target you can use as props, but try to look around the house first and see what you can come up with first. Since almost every family puts up a Christmas tree (or other decorative items for the holidays), that can already be the background for the entire photo shoot. The white blanket our baby's sitting on is our bed comforter that I grabbed real quick out of our bed! All I paid for for this shoot was the $5.99 baby santa hat.

2. Invest in a DSLR for any current and future family portraits.

You can buy them for so cheap nowadays. For example, here's a Canon Rebel T5 with kit lens that's refurbished for $305.99. Once you have a DSLR, you can use that to take photos of your baby without paying studios/photographers that same amount and save more money down the road. It does take a lot of practice and getting used to, but think of it as a fun hobby and that your baby isn't going to criticize you for it. ;)

3. Download or invest in a photo-editing software.

I find Adobe Lightroom to be the most useful, but there are many other photo-editing softwares that are out there as well. Once you have this and learn a few tricks with it, the result will give that professional look to your pictures.

4. Take pictures at the baby's golden hour.

What I mean by baby's golden hour is that small one hour (or 30 minute) time frame when your baby is feelin' up for this shoot. I made sure our baby got fed about an hour before the shoot, changed his diaper, made sure he poo'd earlier that day, and got plenty of naps throughout the day. I know it's not easy to control all that as we don't have the same type of babies, but just when you know this is the best you can get. 

5. Make the weirdest/funniest noises you can make.

When you're taking the photos, I mean. These smiles didn't just happen because he knows he's getting a bunch of pictures taken. These all came from me, the mommy, making shameless noises and sounds like, "AHHHHH Benny YOU DID IT!!! HEY!!! GAGAGAGA! WOOLOWOLOLO." That's where these adorable full-on smiles came from. Don't be embarrassed! Your baby surely won't even remember this moment.

Do you have any other tips/ideas that can help take cute photos of your baby?

Budget-Friendly Aviator Pilot Themed Party

Our adorable little man recently turned 100 days old!

To celebrate, we decided to go with an aviator theme with mainly colors of blues, reds, and whites.

This whole party only costed around $200 excluding food, so I'd say that's pretty much a bargain to get this quality of memorable pictures!

Here's where most of these were bought from:

Merely Sweets: 6" Red Velvet Cake

Daiso: Tissue Paper Pom Pom Flowers
Daiso: White Picture Frames
Michaels: Colored Paper for the Banner
Michaels: White Uppercase Letter Stickers
Party City: Red Star Foil Balloons
Party City: Helium for all Balloons
Amazon: Blue Balloons with White Clouds (6)
Amazon: Airplane Candle Holders with Candles
Amazon: Baby Aviator Hat
Amazon: Green Toys Airplane, Blue
Amazon: Blue Tissue Paper Garland
Target: 6pc Blue Mason Jars
Target: Blue Paper Stripped Straws

Target: Bumbo Multi Seat

Pier 1 Imports: White Scalloped Cake Plates
Dollar Tree: Square White Paper Party Plates

Oriental Trading: Blue Gingham Tablecloth Roll

Items from home: Globe, White Wooden Square Open Box, Wooden Box

It did take some dedication to actually put together some of these decorations (i.e. the pom pom flowers, the garland, and the banner and airplane I cut out and glued), but in the end it was totally worth it! I love how the colors just came together and balanced each other out. Each prop on that table brings together the overall Aviator theme which I'm so glad I stuck with.

How and why did I choose this Aviator theme? Well, I actually got this idea by coming across that blue airplane toy online. I pictured my baby playing with that toy when he gets a little older, so I immediately purchased it. When I saw how I had that blue bumbo seat and globe at home as well, I started picturing how this could all come together as an Aviator theme.



If you're having difficulty figuring out what budget-friendly theme you want to do for your baby's birthday celebration, here are some quick tips:

Tips for finding Budget-Friendly Party Decorations

1. Look around your house.
It's easy to overlook the things you have around the house already to be used as props for your party. Keep an eye out for things that could be vintage, big, colorful, traditional, etc. Even a stuffed animal could easily be a prop/theme to go with!

2. Great finds at the Dollar Store.
Again, we all overlook what's at the dollar store because they all look cheap. But if you look at inspirational Pinterest posts about dollar store finds, you won't believe the cool things you can find/make with these dollar store items!

3. Stick with a popular color.
This blue is such an easy color to find for party essentials. And if it's easy, that means it's most likely cheaper than some other blue hues (like the Tiffany & Co. mint color). Stick with common colors like the primary colors Red, Blue, or Yellow and you can find the best deals for party decorations with them.

4. Get help from family/friends.
If you know one of your friends/family members have something cool lying around their house, by all means you can borrow that for your party! Whether it be your parents' vintage luggage suitcase, old wooden crate boxes, extra spray paint, or even their leftover party supplies from their previous party, take advantage of all of their stuff and most likely they'd be glad to let you borrow them.


Do you know any other budget-friendly party themes/ideas? Comment Below!

2015 Baby Registry Must Haves!

Hi mamas and mamas-to-be! Here are some awesome finds that I found to be the most useful when I had my firstborn. I really don't know what I would've done without any of these. Having these items are so helpful and useful, even for your next baby. This list is ranked from most important to least, so I hope this is helpful for you first-time and current mamas out there!

1. Cybex Aton 2 Infant Car Seat - I found this to be the most light-weight (9 lbs), sturdy (one of the best ranked for safety), and yet stylish. This sleek yet modern look of this infant car seat brought so many compliments from friends and even strangers. Most of all this is adaptable to most of the popular strollers out there (i.e. Mamas & Papas Armadillo Flip XT) as long as you get the adapter for it. You can find all the  adapters for this car seat on Amazon. My baby is known to be pretty big for his age (3 months) and he still fits in this car seat very comfortably. However, I know there are other infant car seats out there that are better for bigger babies. Knowing this car seats expires after 6 years, I'm excited to use this for our next baby/babies!

2. Boppy Newborn Lounger - This is where our baby chilled 24/7 till he grew out of it at 2.5 months. Again, my baby was big (in the 99th percentile), so I'm sure average-sized babies can enjoy this for a few months longer than that. The baby looks so comfortable yet elevated so they can see what's going on. What I loved most is that this is portable to go on your sofa, bed, on the ground. Since our baby had a spit-up problem, we had him sleep here for the first month so he would have more elevation to digest his food properly. When baby had a blowout (aka poop explosion), we just rinsed the area with warm water and let it dry outside. Best investment ever!

3. Baby Mod Modena 3 in 1 Convertible Crib - Frankly, I don't believe in spending over $300+ just for a baby crib that they will grow out of quickly. I researched far and wide in the internet realm to see what would be the best budget-friendly, sturdy, simple, gender-neutral, and adorable crib for our baby and believe it or not, Walmart is where we ended up buying most of our big baby furniture from. This simple crib can fit perfectly in the smaller rooms and still leave lots of space for all your other baby furniture in that room. Easy to assemble (took my husband less than an hour, which he was impressed with) and it grows with your baby until toddlerhood. We can't wait to use this for our next baby, whether we have a girl or a boy. Good investment I must say!

4. Safety 1st Heavenly Dreams White Crib Mattress - This doesn't need much explanation. It's the number one bestseller on Amazon for baby mattress, it fits most standard cribs, lightweight, waterproof, and most of all, comfortable for the baby. We were very satisfied with this purchase.

5. Levana Ayden 3.5" Digital Video Baby Monitor - My husband is a tech geek so this was one of the only baby items he wanted to look into and pick. To be honest, I think all baby monitors just do its job based on their price, but I can definitely say that I have no complaints about this monitor. It's easy to use, very bright and vivid display screen, and has no chance of creepy wi-fi hackers staring at your baby or talking to you. It works in its own frequency waves so it's technically not connected to wi-fi. We know we'll be using this for the long run, so this definitely was a good buy.

6. Delta - 6 Drawer Dresser - Most of you might not even be looking for a dresser because you have one lying around the house or a family/friend can give you their extra, but we didn't have any so this was the best bang-for-buck we could find. It's the bestselling on Amazon for baby dressers because of its usability as a diaper changing station. This fits the Summer Infant Contoured Changing Pad as well as the baby wipe warmer and a diaper caddy. There's also plenty of room inside the 6 drawers for baby clothes, bibs, swaddles, etc. We practically use this every single day, and we know we'll keep using this even until our future kids grow up. Great buy!

7. Summer Infant Contoured Changing Pad - Another no-brainer for a baby registry item. This is the bestselling on Amazon for a baby changing station and it does what it's made for. Waterproof, safe, long-lasting, and comfortable for the baby.

8. Boppy Changing Pad Liners - This is needed if you're too lazy to constantly wash the changing pad covers. If this gets stained, you can easily toss this in the laundry and use the next one to always protect the actual changing pad cover from getting stained. We've washed these probably over 30 times now and it still looks like it can go for another year. Simple but great buy.

9. Royal Care Renewal Stitch Compact Powder - Our baby started getting rashes right away because we didn't know how to prevent it in the first place--which is to keep the area as dry as possible. We tried using Burt's Bee's diaper power, diaper ointment, and other brands of diaper ointments, but our favorite by far is this item. Our mother-in-law's friend recommended it and this was surprisingly sold on Amazon, even though it was shipped from Korea. We got it within a week, and noticed an immediate improvement on our baby's skin. Unlike the regular diaper powder that just floats all over the place and makes the baby inhale it, this is just simply compact baby powder. It feels so much different though once applied. It has a super thin, soft finish on your baby's skin, leaving it dry and smooth for their next pee/poo. We love it!

10. Dekor Plus Hands Free Diaper Pail - We weren't sure if we should splurge on the more expensive brand of diaper pails, but boy are we glad we did. This locks in any poo stink for however long and is so easy to use. This brand even has a reusable/washable cloth liner that is easily worth its money. Great find and even stylish too!

11. Dr. Brown's Natural Flow Bottles - I have to admit, I don't enjoy washing 6-8 of these bottles every single day considering each bottle has 6 parts to it. But we know this helped so much from making our baby gassy. The blue tube looks weird and pointless at first, but it makes sense as the blue tube collects the air bubbles from the baby's suckling and sends it back to the back of the bottle causing less air bubbles to float in the bottle. I got tempted to change brands because of all the work washing them, but at the end of the day, I see the difference with my baby being less gassy when I use these.

12. Dr. Brown's Bottle Warmer - Whether you pump and/or use formula for your baby, this is a great investment that you can use every single day. You never know exactly how much your baby wants to drink milk, so there will always be leftovers in the bottle that you made. I know for a fact that this helped save so much milk in the long run. No complaints about this purchase, either!

13. OXO Tot Formula Dispenser - We pump and feed formula for our baby, so when we needed to go out for a whole day, this was the most handy item in our diaper bag. I love how easy it is to get the formula in the bottle. We even use this when our baby wakes up for his night feeding. This saves us the time from measuring out each scoop of formula into the bottle.

14. Fisher-Price Precious Planet Whale of a Tub - Even though our baby is in the 99th percentile at 3 months, this is one of the few items that hasn't he hasn't grown out of yet. Our baby loves bath time--so he would easily splash and kick all over the place causing us to worry at first if he'll slip and accidentally submerge his head in the water. The handy little green bump on the bottom has never let that happen to him, so we let him splash all he wants! We love using this every night before bedtime now.

15. Munchkin Warm Glow Baby Wipe Warmer - This was another skeptical item I didn't want to purchase at first, but when I saw my baby get startled every time I had to wipe his bottom with cold baby wipes, we knew we had to get this. Immediately we noticed him enjoying diaper changes! The warmth of the baby wipes even helps get more gunk off our baby's bottom. This is very easy to use and especially if you live in a colder area, I highly recommend this!

16. Tommee Tippee Electric Steam Sterilizer - When our baby was first born, we used this every single day. Then it used it once every two days. Then once every week. Now it's once every month. It shows that you get lazier the more you experience parenthood, but that doesn't mean this item isn't useful! We still love using this sterilizer and know that we can put our minds to ease that 99.9% of all bacteria gets killed every time we sterilize the bottles. Holds about 6 bottles inside so it's pretty spacey!

17. Boon Lawn Countertop Drying Rack - If you know about the smaller size called Boon Green Countertop, do not get that one. You will most definitely need every inch of this bigger-sized one even if you're just going to use it for bottles. This looks so cute on your kitchen countertop and does a great job of drying out your baby's bottles. Highly recommended!

18. Baby Car Seat Cover - Beautiful Star Design - I don't know why, but all I could find over the internet are some overly-used (and overly-priced!) chevron designs for car seat covers. Besides that, any other designs I could find were not that stylish. When I found this design on Amazon, I instantly fell in love! The simple gray stars look simple and is so lightweight on my baby's car seat. The fabric looks similar to the aden+anais muslin swaddles, so if you know how lightweight they feel, you know this will be a great buy.

19. Bebe Au Lait Nursing Cover - I was one of the cases where my baby never ended up latching on to me, so I pumped my milk all the time. When I had to go out for most of the day, I needed something to cover me while I pumped in my car or any other secluded area. This is perfect because of a round wire mesh on the top that helps give only you visibility of the inside of this nursing cover. The fabric is stylish, easy to put on and take off, and has very wide coverage.

20. Skip Hop Grab & Go Stroller Organizer - This isn't a complete must-have to be honest with you, but I noticed most strollers these days go for lightweight yet sturdy--and that means no plastic cup holders or pockets. This is perfect to put your phone, keys, and your favorite Starbucks drink while you stroll your baby around. I love how easy and well-put it is with the wide velcro straps on each side. The middle front pocket is also detachable through a zipper so you can carry that around separately! Very smart buy in my opinion.

I was going to end this list with exactly 20 items, but I almost forgot one other important item I always wanted to mention:

21. OXO Tot Bottle Brush with Nipple Cleaner and Stand - I love love love this brush. It makes me feel good whenever I have to wash all of my baby's bottles. It's so durable, stylish, and doesn't make me feel eerie with any bacteria lingering compared to the other weirdly-made bottle brushes that are made out of half sponge. This also cleans my breast pump parts well too!

Is there any other item you would've liked me to mention? Comment below!