my #1 pregnancy pain remedy

if you follow along with me on Instagram, you know that this third trimester is starting up and it's already rough. I'm scared for what the next 2 months have in store for this giant body of mine. We're talking bloody noses, creaky knees, and let's just say that my wedding ring now sits in a box because my fingers are huge! I've never felt sexier to say the least *eye roll* But all jokes aside, it's getting more and more uncomfortable every day and while I know it's normal, especially with twins (you guys, I gain roughly 5 pounds A WEEK) it doesn't make it any less difficult. So I  asked my fellow mamas over on the gram what their favorite pain remedies were. Warm baths, body pillows, and essential oils were mentioned several times, but the number one suggestion- a maternity massage. I had never even heard of this before! It wasn't long before I discovered Becoming Mom Spa and I was instantly intrigued. I joke with older women all of the time about how thirty years ago when they were pregnant, women didn't have all of these resources at their fingertips, the good and the bad. But a spa dedicated to expectant mothers? Now that is an idea I can stand behind.

I went there yesterday and had the slightest bit of anxiety on the drive up. It was new and unfamiliar which always gets me a little restless. But I was greeted immediately with calming music, relaxing smells, and smiling faces behind the desk and that anxiety disappeared instantly. They offered me treats and water and let me waddle back and forth to the bathroom as many times as I needed to without feeling rushed. I first met Renee who handed me a giant fluffy robe that felt like a cat giving me a hug and I climbed up on the table for my facial. The longest, most thorough facial of my life. She was the sweetest most friendly thing and I yacked her ear off from beginning to end, but I could have slept through the whole process if I hadn't kept asking her questions about her life (I'm a blogger, what do ya expect?). She also gave me advice on what my skin will do once these babies are out and made me feel so much relief because I don't even recognize my face anymore. After the best, drool-worthy facial, I moved to the next room for my body massage where I was met with another smiling face. I laid on my left side first and wiggled under the blankets and before she even came in the room to start, I was already feelin' goooooood. She focused on my lower back, knees, and ankles (someone remind me to send her a Christmas card. I love her) and I could just feel all of my tight knots and joints loosening up. Between the dark room, her soothing voice, and her magical fingers that had the ability to knead my body like dough, I could have slept in that room forever. No seriously, I nearly got an Uber home because of just how relaxed I was.

It was a perfect afternoon that I am still feeling the relief from and it is now my #1 suggestion for any women out there expecting a baby or postpartum. As a total newbie to Becoming Mom Spas and being a mom in general, I think I can safely say that this company has a number one goal in mind- to let us women with 2000 questions and concerns about our bodies and babies relax for a few hours knowing that they have done the hard part for us and we are in the best hands, literally. Everything they are using to make us feel good is safe and natural; from the body oils all the way down to the nail polish they use (Natural Nail Polish!!) So the time that you spend there is dedicated to strictly relaxing your head and body while not worrying for a few hours of your day ...until you leave and go back to the real world to google "How much Dr. Pepper is safe during pregnancy"? and "Can I take my husband's multivitamin if I run out of prenatal pills?"

If you are expecting or want to make an expectant mama's day, check out Becoming Mom Spa for specialty maternity massages, nail & skin services, and even ultrasounds! Thank you so much to the ladies that gave me the best afternoon (and nights sleep) I've had in weeks!!

*this post is sponsored and all opinions are my own.

baby blueprints & a baby update

It's been a wild couple of weeks lately and this blog kinda took a backseat to just about everything. have you missed me!? Don't answer that. But I needed to take some time to handle some heavy stuff that was going on in our home with our babies. If you follow along at all through other social media sites, you have a good idea of what I'm referring to. As of last Thursday, we were told by our doctor that it looked like our baby A had clubbed feet and that our baby B had a cleft lip. She told us that she wanted us to go see a specialist who would be able to tell us for sure and I instantly lost it. I laid back on the table while she and Andrew both tried to calm me down and relieve me from my panic. And while telling us this and trying to keep me calm, my doctor must have repeated five times “We just can’t get a good angle of them, we can’t tell, this is not definite, don’t start panicking". It didn't help. I still panicked. While I know these are both minor inconveniences in the grand scheme of life and pregnancy, it was still scary and totally intimidating and caught me completely off guard. It made me feel more guilt and disappointment in myself than I ever knew possible. I thought I screwed them up and I thought I caused these issues. 

The first day was definitely the hardest and it was a long six days of trying to be optimistic and wait for our doctor's appointment. The night before going, I absolutely broke down and was basically dragged to the specialist the next morning where we would find out what exactly was going on in there. We arrived 15 minutes early as instructed and after an hour of taking nearly 200 ultrasound photos, trying to focus on breathing and squeezing all of the life out of Andrew’s hand, our doctor told us the best news possible. Not only did baby B’s mouth look totally fine and cleft lip free, but baby A’s little feet weren’t of much concern either. At this point they’re so small and wiggly that they can’t tell much on the foot and the baby could be born perfectly “normal” or need a brace of some kind. Pfff that's nothing. I can take that no problem! I sat on the table and cried the most relieved tears of my life. We were able to see our babies sucking on their hands, they had each grown 3 ounces in just six days, and they even went from being head down in the lower right section of my belly to facing each other completely flipped around with their heads kinda under my belly button. Their hearts, brains, and spines looked good and we couldn’t be more thankful that the last few days are over. 

I never knew I could love and worry about someone (or two someones) so much without knowing them. I've never cared about anything so much in my life and now, I worry about them all day every day. I wish they could just shoot me a text from in there and tell me "hey! we're fine You don't need to feel so guilty if you want to eat Taco Bell!". We're at nearly 23 weeks and while I'm feeling good most of the time, I'm ready for them to be earth side. I'm ready to see them and hold them and smell them (Oh my goddddd I can not wait to smell them) and look back on this pregnancy as a challenge that I'll never have to face again. 

Especially with twins, they tend to come earlier than expected. So even at 23 weeks, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be waiting 17 more weeks to meet us. It could be sooner and we're trying our bet to get as prepared as possible and that project started with the nursery. I wanted that room done as soon as possible so I could just kind of check it off of my mental list of things to do (that list also includes clean behind refrigerator, vacuum all air vents, and figure out how to give a cat a bath) But first up, the nursery! Every few days, it comes together just a little bit more. It is now filled with cribs and baby books, and more Goodwill onesies than I knew existed. I wanted to keep it pretty simple, soothing, and calm in there with not a long going on (before our kids take it over and make a mess of it) 

So a few months back, a friend of mine tagged me to show me an Etsy shop called Baby Blueprint. I'm so glad she did because it introduced me to what would soon be my favorite piece in our twin's room. A print from one of their ultrasounds (Specifically, my favorite print of them. They're still tiny but they're just starting to look like babies and they still fit in one frame. We called them our water babies. Do you remember those dolls?!? They're too big now to fit in one photo and it's totally bittersweet. Isn't that crazy!?) The prints come in a variety of sizes and colors, but a simple black one was right up my alley and it turned out so very perfect, I cried when Andrew brought it home. No seriously. I had been in a bad mood from bleeding gums and a sore lower back and he walked in with a big smirk on his face and said "I got something that will cheer you right up" I said "I doubt it. I'm not comfy today." and then he pulled out our twin's first framed photo together and I smiled ear to ear. I'm so excited to keep it in our nursery and then move it to our photo gallery wall once they're older. Thank you so much Baby Blueprint for making this mama's day, week, and month. We love it so much!  

this post is sponsored by Baby Blueprint

our favorite wedding gifts from amazon!

I swear, a wedding advice post is coming, but this seemed more fun for a rainy Thursday! Our wedding gift favorites so far! Well, I guess this is a little wedding advice- you should register. And when you, you should register through Amazon. Their registry was super easy to navigate for us and for guests, you can link the registry right to your phone and see when gifts are purchased, it will show you when the same item becomes cheaper, AND no one has to leave their house to give or receive! Introverts rejoice! So here's our top ten, so far, that I highly recommend you get for yourself or someone you love!

1. Oil diffuser. This thing has been a dream to have in the bedroom and I'm buying another one for the living room. Pop open the top, add water and a few drops of essential oil (lavender in the bathroom. zzzz) and hit the power button. It makes the dreamiest little bubble sounds, too!
2. Waffle maker. So far, I've only used some waffle mix but holy shit. Plug it in, turn it on and wait for the heat, put in your batter, rotate it, and 90 seconds later you have the most beautiful waffle. Yum.
3. Bamboo cutting board. I've always wanted a beautiful cutting board and I'm so glad we got one. It's smooth as glass and sturdy. I'm thinking with cutting boards, you get what you pay for.
4. White cotton bath towels. We were long over due for towels anyway. These are flufftastic and super absorbent. Somehow, we registered for 2 sets and wound up with 3 so I'm saving the last pack. 
5. Instant pot. I didn't know what it was initially but apparently it's "like having 7 cooking devices in 1" according to the meal cooker of our house.
6. KitchenAid attachments. Yes we pimped out our stand mixer and I'm stoked to play with them more in the near future. Gimme all the real pasta and a bigger jean size, please and thanks.
7. Turkish tea towels. I've got a soft spot in my heart for dish, hand, and tea towels. I registered for three sets. seriously. I love them.
8. Cuisinart pots and pans set. We added this to our registry after our wedding, just kinda on a whim. Like a hey! Maybe we have a great uncle out there somewhere that wants to get us a nice gift! turned out that my pseudo aunt got it for us and it was the best surprise ever! They are gorgeous.
9. Wok. again, according to this house's chef, this is a good one.
10. Dutch oven. I have wanted one of these bad boys forever but you know damn well I won't spend hundreds on something that I can find for $40. Save your money and go with this one. I got the white one :)

I've linked all of my favorites below! I wasn't on board with doing a registry from the beginning. I'm nearly 30 and have everything that I could ever need. But we had some friends and family insist and now I'm glad we listened to them. It was so fun the morning after our wedding to eat junk food in our pajamas and opening all of our new home goods that we get to start a life with together. These are our things. I love that. We donated all of our old linens and towels to the SPCA, all of our dishware went to family, and I have put boxes of random stuff on our stoop a few times a week (it's like a magic show watching shit disappear!) So I feel like I'm at least not being wasteful. Hope this was a little helpful to anyone looking for where to register or just anyone wanting to treat themselves this holiday!  

let's talk: masturbating

so originally I wanted this post to be nothing but a platform for other's to share their stories on ... Drum roll... masturbating. Their first experience, how they figured it out (I thought I was the first person to discover it) or really just any thoughts at all. I love opening up my blog and having people trust me enough to share their thoughts on things (including crazy things we believed as kids and people's thoughts on sex. Two of my favorite posts to date.) but, unfortunately, when I opened up the flood gates to this, it was interesting to see the lack of participation I received from my male friends/readers/people that usually participate. It was double interesting because I posted about this topic the same day that everyone was talking about Hugh Hefner, a guy that made his money by providing supplies for this very topic, but anyway!

masturbating was never something we really openly talked about in my house growing up, but it wasn't really something to be ashamed about either. It was just never mentioned, probably like most houses I guess. I'm an only child and I probably saved my very young parents from several uncomfortable conversations by just not asking questions. Like I said above, I had noooo idea what I was doing the first time I masturbated, but I knew it felt good and I wondered if anyone else knew about it. I remember it like it was yesterday, being maybe 13 or 14 and leaving the doctor's office after my annual physical for cheerleader tryouts. I was sitting in the backseat of my mom's car and I had a fresh pamphlet in my hands filled with giant medical words and when I read "What is masturbating?" as one of the questions listed, I was half relieved that I was normal and half disappointed that I wasn't discovering it first. Just like how you send coupon codes to your girlfriends for Target, I wanted to tell all of my friends about this amazing discovery! But alas, this has been around for ages.

the lack of participation in my post only pushed me harder into wanting to write it. Why don't we talk about this? Why is it weird? Why does it seem more normal to hear about younger kids being sexually active than knowing what they might be doing in the bathroom by themselves? Someone on my Facebook post even went as far as to say that this is a "TMI" topic and I could feel my brow furrowing. Nope. Jamie Dawn likes information. Let's dive right in!

Most of my feedback was pretty normal: "I started when I was around 13 and ... I don't know... I do it when I'm bored" and I even received one email from a woman, nearly 30, that has never masturbated in her life. I had to read that twice. Girrrl! But I also got some responses that were sad, shocking, and most of all- relatable. Women that were told as children that they shouldn't do it because it's gross, wrong, sinful, dirty, and even considered raping themselves. Most of the people with the worst memories from masturbating as kids don't want anything to do with it now. They were caught by an older sibling or babysitter and were completely embarrassed and made to feel bad about it. Some started as early as 3 years old (I would have never left my nursery) One girl went as far as to say that she was closely monitored growing up to make sure she wasn't doing it and that as a teenager, her parents kept a baby monitor in her room to make sure she wasn't "misbehaving" (which, to me, sounds even more gross and perverted than the actual act itself, right?) And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I received messages from several moms (of both little boys and little girls) that said they simply tell their kids to go to their room when they feel the need to do that and -most importantly- don't let anyone else do it to you! (yes. Slow claps. Good mom awards all around!)

The whole topic made me almost sad to write about. I either got shocking feedback that made my heart hurt for the people telling it, or lots of giggling and laughing. But, it's important. It won't be long until I have my own little horny kids running around and I dare anyone to make them feel anything negative regarding their sexual health. If kids are taught at a young age that they can make themselves feel good, it might just keep one less kid away from having sex too young with another person. If one teenage girl is told that she is 100% normal, it could keep her from feeling like she is "gross and wrong". I'm lucky enough as an adult to have a family that keeps things pretty open and light hearted when it comes to sex and everything about it. There's been a vibrator in my nightstand for over 10 years. (Check out Hustler Hollywood if you're local to Cincinnati. They have some goodies!) and I appreciate the women that jumped on board to participate in this conversation! This won't be the last time we talk about this here, so stay tuned!

A fall taste tour with Piada

my favorite detail of this city, besides the cheap rent and changing seasons, is the food. At just about any time of the day or night you can have tacos, sushi, pizza, cookies (most of which will even delivered to your front door. remember Insomnia Cookies? yum) Honestly, I wish there was a food out there that I didn't like. My jeans would thank me. But! Until then, I'll just keep eating my way through the queen city. Before a few days ago, I had never heard of Piada and when Andrew and I were invited to try out their new menu last night, I couldn't reply "YES! WE'LL BE THERE!" fast enough. I didn't even know what the old menu was prior to this new menu coming out but I'll take two of each of whatever ya got, please and thanks. Andrew and I both are the least picky eaters so we didn't have much to lose. 

We arrived at The Mockbee, one of my favorite event spaces downtown with arched brick doorways and creepy corridors, only to be greeted by some of the best and lightest foods I've had in a while. Their new menu is loaded with fresh ingredients, vegan and gluten free friendly, and packed full of super foods. It also highlights foods I had never heard of before tonight like FARRO. A friend of mine described it as "mouth sex" and "chewing on pillows" in the best possible way and he wasn't lying. I had no idea. I will be buying my own supply tomorrow. We munched on pork loin sandwiches topped with basil aioli and finished our night with chocolate chip cookies covered in toasted marshmallows. Before we left, we made sure to grab one more blood orange pomegranate tea for the road and drove home with two full bellies and said "that was so good!" to each other probably ten times. 

Thank you so much to Piada for extending the invite to us so we could be some of the first to try out the new magic happening! Just one more reason to get excited for fall!  

Bill Nye would love Buzzed Bull Creamery

Full disclaimer this post is coming to you directly after spending a little time with the newest shop to hit the streets of OTR- Buzzed Bull Creamery. It's a doozy you guys. A boozy doozy, if you will. This shop is the first of its kind, serving up alcohol infused ice cream using liquid nitrogen and how they know the science behind all of it- I have no idea- but I'll happily eat spoonfuls of their creations while they make their ice cold magic. Four of the seven owners were sweet enough (probably because of their ice cream connection. ha.) to allow Andrew and me to come in for a little preview of what they'll be offering in a few weeks when they open their doors to the public and I apologize to them for talking to them with my mouth full of ice cream the whole time!! Sorry guys, I really am kind of a professional, I promise!

It's run by a handful of people that came from all different walks of life prior to the ice cream bizz and you can just see the hard work they have each put into this place with their own bare hands. From the tables to display boards to the ice cream sundaes themselves, they really are serving up some delicious homemade goodness over on Main Street.

Andrew and I got to dip our spoons into a few servings of some of their favorite flavors including The Buzzed Bull that features coffee flavored ice cream, caramel, and bourbon as well as a cup of their strawberry margarita. I don't even really care for strawberry margaritas that much but I'm not ashamed to tell you I was licking that plastic cup clean on our walk around the city when we left. That coffee flavor though... oh my god... get it. Get it by the gallon. You guys, eat it for breakfast. It has that bourbon bite that hits you when you first put it in your mouth but it's smooth and creamy and perfect.  You also get to watch them build your sundae from start to finish, adding any and all toppings to the mix, and the process itself is pretty pleasing... but knowing that the end result is alcoholic ice cream is almost too good to be true. 

The shop was thinking 8 steps ahead in knowing it would be a good idea to offer up alcoholic (buzzed) and non-alcoholic (non-buzzed) options, so people can come in on a romantic date night or even with their kids and everyone can have a good time. I'm so glad we got to come in and shake hands with the creative genius' behind an idea that is sure to leave an impact on the city! Be sure to keep an eye out all over social media (their IG account is pretty dreamy- @buzzedbullcreamery) to see their opening date coming soon! But don't worry, you won't be able to miss the place if you drive by, I'll be one the standing out front... banging the door down with a spoon in my hand. 

this scooter is irrelevant... but with a healthy buzz, it seemed appropriate to take a photo of it. Ha! 

and there I am... shoveling my last few bites into my mouth. Isn't that a pretty site? 

thank you guys so much again for allowing us to come in and check y'all out! We'll be back... how about... tomorrow? :) 

#CapturingVegas

I realized a few minutes ago while clearing out my closet (yay spring cleaning) that it has been nearly three months since my hunk and I got back from our trip to Las Vegas. I took a pair of heels there that I'll never wear again but I'm an old softy when it comes to holding onto things with sentimental value. What a glorious trip that was and I think about it often. I'll tell my kids one day "just find someone that you can have fun doing anything with" and it really is the truth for Andrew and myself. He makes a trip to the grocery store fun so thinking back to our first big vacation away as a couple always makes my little heart pitter patter. How annoying am I right now? I know. but it's true.

I had never really had a huge desire to go to somewhere like Vegas because... well... I'm a lady on a budget and gambling just aint really my game and I figured if you don't like to gamble, what else is there to do out there? But after getting home and thinking back to my top 10 favorite Vegas moments, I knew that I had been converted to the Vegas love. It's right up my alley of being a perfect blend of old architecture, yummy food, and people watching for hours. We saw shows and ate at countless delicious restaurants and saw nothing but smiling faces down the strip. Older couples, babies, newlyweds, and screaming groups of women wearing pink boas were all accounted for and marching alongside us on every sidewalk. There really is something for everyone there and with the right internet tools, you can find deals all over the place. If a quick weekend away sounds like a dream to you too, check out Vegas Deals to find your own budget friendly trip! Here are just a few of my favorite photos from our trip!! is it time to go back yet?

^ the strip on our last morning ^ 

^ me and my gumdrop at the Neon Museum. probably my favorite thing we did while out there ^

^ and finally, the strip on our last night. I took this picture while running across the street and it's a blurry mess, but I still am glad I caught one last photo of the Las Vegas lights at night ^

check out Vegas.com if you're inspired to plan your own trip!! 

a night away at hotel covington

once upon a time, Jamie Dawn liked to party. I would stay up all night and sleep all day and accomplished next to nothing. And then I found Andrew, a fellow nocturnal creature, and don't ask me how it happened but fast forward to now- we are usually in bed by 10 pm at the latest and are up before the sun. We have a pretty good little routine in our day to day life and nothing makes me happier than crawling into our bed every night. But... even the most content of humans in the happiest of homes need to shake things up a bit every once in a while, right? So this past week, we did something crazy- we. went. out. Actually, not only did we go out- we stayed out. After a quick "ya know what would be fun? we should get a hotel room." type of conversation, we packed an overnight bag, took a twenty-minute road trip south of our apartment, and found ourselves in the lobby of Hotel Covington. 

and so, like a couple of friggin' rockstars, we got ourselves a hotel room... on a Wednesday night... who are we!? we headed up the elevator, unpacked our bag, and checked out every knick knack and amenity that made up our room. we must have yelled back and forth to each other "oh babe! did you see this?!" a few times, but hey whatever, we were excited. I mean, there was a magic 8 ball in our room. I don't know why it was there but it did its job by making me smile so there ya go. and yes, the robes are squishy and comfy. and no, Andrew would not let me wear it down to the bar for drinks :) 

I think I said with a smile "I feel like we're on vacation!" five times throughout our first few hours of our stay, but can you blame me? This place was absolutely gorgeous and like nowhere else I've been around in the city. Everything, down to the napkins, was totally my taste (tutorial coming soon on how to make HC-style napkins because I figured shoving 20 of them into my purse would be frowned upon) The front of the hotel is even dedicated to a small gift shop, filled with products from all kinds of local businesses. We aren't talking t-shirts and key chains, people. We're talking local candies, candles, and bottles of liquor- helloooooo. I had to basically be pulled out of the gift shop by my hair before I bought a deck of "Cards Against Covington" cards because how hilarious is that?

i spy my favorite bar buddy in the pic above, studying that drink menu.

the "miss daisy" and "tropical void" cocktails. double yum. 

after a cocktail or 4, we headed into the restaurant of the hotel, Coppin's. we had eaten here once before with friends and it was just as perfect as I remember. Like I said, down to the plates and dinnerware, the designer of this place knew what they were doing. Oh, and the corn fritters and cheese board will be in my heart forever. if you take nothing else away from this post, please don't forget about the corn fritters.

we ate and drank and laughed and had the best of times. And after one of the best nights of sleep ever (those mattresses. I have got to figure out where they get their mattresses. I usually wake up looking like a crooked old witch from our springy mattress at home, but that morning I sprung out of bed feeling amazing) we headed down to Coppin's for breakfast. Most people know how annoying I am and I'll take photos of everything from pretty buildings to a funny looking dog so when you're having breakfast at 6:30 in the morning, it's easy to have a photo shoot with your omelet and feel no judgment because hey! you'll likely be the only ones around! and I wasn't about to let that stack of pancakes be devoured without a photo first, obviously. It's also my dream come true that I'm dating someone that knows when pretty food hits the table, I'm going to want a photo of it before anything is eaten! haha! So after my pancakes were gone, my coffee cup was empty, and the sun began to rise, it was time to cross the river back to reality and head into work. 

it was a long and dreary day, knowing that we had left a big, squishy hotel bed with hotel sheets only to head back into the work week, but it was good. It was so so good to enjoy a night away and feel like we were in our own little world for the night. I hope it's a habit we carry on for years, to make plans out of nowhere and find adventures along the way. I hope we're always able to disappear and no one knows where we are (until they see my facebook check in, haha) and I hope we are never bored. New restaurants, attractions, and shops are constantly popping up around this city and I'm glad I'm dating someone that equally wants to embark on all of it with me, or at least smiles along the way. If you're in the area of Cincinnati for a quick stay or you're local and just want to experience a place that is truly exceptional, treat yourself to a night at  Hotel Covington. It really is on another level and just what this city needed!

this post was sponsored by Hotel Covington. as always, thank you to my readers for supporting.