Does friendship and motherhood remind you of that Girl Scout's song? Or is that just us? On today's episode, we are talking about fostering friendships in motherhood and how our friendships change once we become a mom. We'll talk about navigating different types of friendships, give some helpful tips on meeting new mom friends, as well as talk about the different types of mom friends you might have!

What's In This Episode:

• How does facilitating friendship look different in motherhood than it did before
• The impact schedules have on your friendships
• Where and how we can make new mom friends
• How to make the process making new mom friends more fun
• The different types of friends that exist in motherhood
• Why it's important to have friends as a mom
• How our prior relationships with people who are not yet moms change once we become a mom and why it is important to maintain those relationships

Have you ever compared your post-mom body to your pre-mom body? On today's episode we have special guest, Tara Turnure of The Model Mama joining us to give her insights on body after baby and how the struggle with female body image is one that exists before baby, during pregnancy, and after kids.

What's In This Episode:

• What inspired Tara to create her platforms
• The importance of learning to pivot when you become a mother
• Tara's personal experience loving her body pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, and post-pregnancy
• Talking to children about body image and working out
• Jenn's experience with her body image after having a baby and where she's at now
• Lara's journey with body image throughout college, miscarriage, pregnancy, postpartum, and now her second pregnancy
• The importance of your mindset when it comes to body image
• The pressures that exist for women and where they come from
• Why we need to be transparent and vulnerable about our postpartum journey
• Our tips for women struggling with body-image
• How the way we view our bodies impacts our relationships and children

Do you have skeletons in your closet that you're too embarrassed to admit? On today's episode, we're sharing our modern day mama confessions. We're confessing about everything from screen time to mom-shaming. We also talk about whether shame is a natural feeling that goes along with motherhood and the healthy and unhealthy ways to combat it.

What's In This Episode:

• Whether or not shame is a natural feeling that goes along with motherhood
• Lara & Jenn's motherhood confessions about screen time and arguing in front of your children
• Why we feel so uncomfortable when we break rules that we set for ourselves in parenthood
• How society plays a role in the shame that we feel
• Lara & Jenn's motherhood confessions about second pregnancies & struggling with feeling as though starting a family was the right decision
• Why we stay isolated in our feelings of guilt and shame and how that compounds the problem
• Lara & Jenn's confessions on what they go to when feeling shame & passing judgement on to other moms
• The importance of recognizing the things we go to when trying to numb our feelings
• The root cause of mommy shaming
• Why we should reach out to others instead of spiraling into shame

Dreaming of more sleep? Today, in part 2 of our conversation with Natalie of The Sleep Shop, we discuss all things sleep! We talk about what a sleep coach does, why sleep is so important, when to start sleep training, sleep props and sleep associations, and so much more! You will not want to miss Natalie's valuable insight! If you missed part 1, we talked all about creating a career and business that allowed Natalie the flexibility and lifestyle that she wanted as a mom, make sure to go back and listen!

What's In This Episode:

• What a sleep coach does & what sleep coaching is
• How additions to the family can change the sleep dynamics
• Natalie's philosophy on sleep training
• Why sleep is so important for babies
• Night sleep vs. day sleep
• When do you start sleep training & whether all babies need sleep training or not
• The sleep props that you should avoid and how to transition away from them
• What sleep associations are & how they can be used
• Sleep rituals and routines
• Why it's ok to let babies or toddlers fuss or cry when they are in the last stages of their ritual or routine
• Transitioning away from night feedings
• How to determine when a toddler wants you vs. when they need you
• The importance of giving toddlers choices during their nighttime routines
• Getting two kids on a similar schedule
• How to see nap transitions are coming
• Postnatal depletion and how sleep schedules help you combat it

Are you dreaming of more time for your family, your career, and most of all sleep? Today, we're talking with Natalie Fitzgerald of The Sleep Shop all about how she transitioned from high school teacher, to mom, to eventually creating a career and a business that allowed her the flexibility and lifestyle she wanted as a mom. We discuss how she knew she wanted to be a sleep coach and doula, how she balances being an entrepreneur and a mom, and how her business has grown over time. Next week, on part 2 of our conversation with Natalie, she will be sharing all about her sleep training tips so be sure to tune in!

What's In This Episode:

• What made Natalie want to be a sleep coach and doula
• How she created a business around motherhood
• Her personal experience with postpartum depression and anxiety
• The balancing act of being an entrepreneur and a mom and the advice she would give to other moms who are wanting to create a career for themselves
• How Natalie sets limitations for herself and expectations for her clients
• The growth of Natalie's business overtime and how she manages the growth
• Where she finds the confidence to charge the prices she knows her services are worth

Did your sex life change after you had a baby? Or did you just go back to your pre-baby, honeymoon sex life? Today we're talking about sex after baby and how things in that department tend to change once you have little people in the household!

What's In This Episode:

• The physical and emotional aspects of your sex life that may need to be reestablished after baby
• All of the little things that contribute to feeling connected to your husband and that make you feel confident & sexy
• How to handle the time issue and prioritizing it in the postpartum period
• Whether or not having sex post baby is more important than it was prior
• Scheduling Sex
• The consequences of not engaging in sex regularly after baby
• Eliminating the pressure of feeling as though you have to reinvent yourself after baby to be sexy to your husband again
• Reclaiming your sexuality after baby even when you don't feel like you want to have sex

Routine can often feel boring, but sometimes it's necessary. Is it possible to find happiness in the mundane day-to-day? Today, we are talking with Jessie Gardner of Hey Soul about the daily routines that are a part of being a modern-day mom and the rituals you can incorporate into your day-to-day to make life a little more exciting. We'll talk all about utilizing positive disruptions to shake up the mundane & some practical ways you can add a little joy into your most dreaded parts of the day.

What's In This Episode:

• What is positive disruption
• Jessie's personal positive disruption experience
• Lara's positive disruption in her career
• How we can learn to look for positive disruptions in our own lives
• Proactively planning for positive disruption in your day-to-day life
• How kids are positive disruptions in your world
• Why Jessie started Hey Soul
• The purpose of Hey Soul & how the gift boxes help you reconnect with different areas of your life
• When Hey Soul became a business & what it was like when Jessie transitioned to working it full time
• Jessie's biggest struggle when it comes to being a mom & running her own business
• The advice Jessie would give to women working their side hustle who are wanting to transition out of their full-time careers
• Why rituals are important & the neuroscience behind them
• How to recognize when you need to pivot from your rituals or routines
• Letting go of the guilt you experience when you feel like you've "failed" at the your new ritual or routine
• Jessie's suggestions on how moms can bring back simple joys into life when it starts to feel mundane
• The benefits of rituals for kids

Asking for help is always easier said than done, but it's a skill that we all need to work on. Today we are talking about asking for help, accepting help, and how as a mom, it's just something we have to do! We'll discuss the positive impact asking for help can have on your marriage, career, your kids, and with your family and friends. We will also share how we recognize when we need help & how to ask for it. Remember, you can do anything, but you can't do everything!

What's In This Episode:

• The reasons why moms struggle with asking for help
• How control issues impact our desire to do everything ourselves
• Negative feelings that can arise when we ask for help
• The need to lower our "Supermom" expectations of ourselves
• The positive impact asking for help can have on your marriage
• Jenn & Lara's experiences with nannies
• Lara's experience asking family for help & setting boundaries within those relationships
• The benefits of asking for help within your career
• Allowing for friends to help & showing up for your friends when they need help
• The ways asking for help will benefit your relationship with yourself
• How we realize when we need help, how we ask for help & how we accept help
• Why we need to stop concerning yourself with others think
• How asking for help sets an example of collaboration, balance, and time management for your children
• The tools that we can use to implement asking for help in our daily lives

You thought labor was hard, but then you met its best friend, motherhood. Becoming a mother is unlike anything that you have ever experienced and it is impossible to prepare for. Today, we are talking about getting through your first year of motherhood & the expectations that come along with it. We are sharing the most common expectations soon-to-be moms have surrounding topics like motherhood, careers, marriage and breastfeeding. We address some ideas about motherhood and parenting that we have prior to baby, as well as how these expectations compare to reality.

What's In This Episode:

• Jenn & Lara's experiences in the first year of motherhood, both the hard parts & the good parts
• The difficulty of setting aside or adjusting your expectations
• The surprising amount of joy & happiness you experience becoming a mom
• How having a child allows you to see yourself, your strengths, & your shortcomings more clearly
• The importance of adjusting your expectations to meet reality to alleviate the amount of disappointment you will experience
• Jenn & Lara's biggest takeaways from their first year of motherhood
• The most common expectations given by soon-to-be moms on motherhood, careers, marriage, breastfeeding, and the rules they plan to abide by
• How Jenn & Lara's experiences compare to the expectations of expectant mothers
• Several takeaways surrounding the idea of expectations vs. reality

Did you know that the postpartum period is technically only 30 days? As mothers, we all know that this stage lasts much longer than 30 days. On today's episode we are talking about all things postpartum. We will share our experiences, the physical challenges, & the mental challenges that come after giving birth. Our friend Liz, a postpartum advocate, will also share her experience, why she decided to seek professional help, and resources that helped her throughout her postpartum anxiety and depression.

What's In This Episode:

• How long the postpartum stage lasts for
• What was surprising about the postpartum experience
• Their biggest physical challenges after giving birth
• Liz's experience caring for her toddler & a newborn while recovering from a C-section
• Recommendations for new moms who have never experienced giving birth
• How having a breast pump on hand can be useful even if you don't plan on bottle feeding
• Finding your new normal after giving birth
• The mental challenges in postpartum
• Jenn & Lara's experience with anxiety after becoming moms
• Liz, a postpartum advocate, shares her postpartum experiences & what made her seek professional help
• The resources that, in addition to counseling, helped her throughout her anxiety and depression she experienced after having her kids
• The importance of community in navigating postpartum & motherhood