hrmarciano

Gender Reveal Outfits

So of course, we all want to look cutesy for our gender reveal. Even though it is a million degrees in Florida, I still knew we wanted to have everyone dress in their gender prediction. I know. I know. Super silly, but it’s our first so bear with us while we go all cheesy on you. Anyways, it’s a little harder to find blue & pink dresses than I thought that are also friendly for the growing bump. For us, we did an early reveal because we did the genetic testing (like I said before — Josh was dying to know if it was a boy) so I didn’t really need a maternity dress.

But for most people who wait to do one until 20 weeks, you will probably need a bump friendly option. To save you a little time, I compiled a few options for you in my fav pink & blue. These would also work great for bridal showers or maternity pictures! If you click on either the blue or pink dress picture below, it will take you to my LIKEtoKNOW.it page, where you can find a link to each dress! So without further ado…

See anything you like? Let me know if you snatch one of these up so that I can let you know if we’re gonna be twins!!

Happy pregnancy, sweet friend!

XOXO,

Hil

Books for the Crunchy(ish) Pregnancy

I shared a few books I was reading over on the gram && asked for recommendations from my followers and I have compiled a pretty solid list of books that I recommend for pregnancy. I haven’t read all of these, but I plan on reading most of them over the next 6 months.

I have also linked them all in my LIKEtoKNOW.it page & below so you can have an immediate link to each book on Amazon. Here’s the links to each of the books from above —

Gentle Babies by Debra Raybern

The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Genevieve Howland

Betsy Bosom’s Baby Book: A Girlfriend’s Guide to Using Essential Oils from Bellies to Babies by Lucy Libido

The Vaccine-Friendly Plan: Dr. Paul’s Safe and Effective Approach to Immunity and Health-from Pregnancy Through Your Child’s Teen Years by Paul Thomas M.D.

Ina Mays Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin

Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin

Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong–and What You Really Need to Know by Emily Oster

The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou

Well-Adjusted Babies by Dr Jennifer Barham-Floreani

Do you have any books that you would add to this list? If so, let me know! I’m loving to learn in this season!

XOXO,

Hil

We’re PREGNANT!

It’s been a minute since I popped on here to blog, but I’ve basically been in survival mode over here trying to survive the first trimester. I’ve done that & then some at this point and it’s literally insane to me that we are 17 weeks pregnant with our baby boy.

If you’ve been around here a little, you know that we miscarried our rainbow baby, Slade, in August of 2020. It was a quick 7 weeks & we were totally devastated from our loss. We immediately began to try again for a baby and after 8 long months, we finally got our rainbow babe.

It was the craziest thing. I was so used to tracking my cycle methodically, but I was out in OKC visiting a friend the end of March & at my parents cabin in Georgia immediately after. I was so busy living in the moment with family & friends, that I completely forgot to track my cycle. I was actually in Georgia when my sister commented about being on her period (& we’ve always had a similar cycle) and I took a look at my app and realized I was late. I waited until April 3rd to take a test when I got home and was with Josh. We actually got hope April 2nd, but we didn’t want another negative on my birthday, so we waited a day to take it, but either way, we got two positive tests and the tears started rolling.

It was a beautiful collision of doctors appointments, photo shoots (planned since our anniversary in February), and mothers day when we broke the news to our family. As the first grandbaby on both sides, we can say that they were all OVER THE MOON. I shared some of their reactions over on my Instagram if you want a peek into it.

Fast forward a few weeks & our siblings hosted the cutest gender reveal for us & we found out that we were having a boy! A boy was ALL THAT JOSH WANTED so we are thrilled. We had already settled on a boy name (and had no idea what the name would be if it was a girl). We loved the name Ryder, then decided to carry on the same name as Josh with the remaining name. So we introduce to you — Ryder Michael Moses Marciano coming in hot December 2021. Our official due date is December 8th, but we know how that goes. We go in 3 weeks for our anatomy scan, but we’ve been hearing his heartbeat at the past few appointments and we are already in love!

Anyways, that’s a summary of the past few weeks of our lives. I have a first trimester blog coming at you soon with more info, but I wanted to share our fun announcement on here first!

Chat soon!

Hil & Josh (& Ryder)

Chia Jam

When I have a few extra minutes during the weekend I love to whip up a batch of chia jam to have for pbj and toast for the week, or to top off pancakes or yogurt bowls. This one is triple berry and it’s over the top delicious – it only takes a few minutes and there’s no pectin or gelatin required.

My secret to easy peasy jam making…frozen berries! Just add them to a pot with the tiniest bit of water (and the sweetener of your choice if you’re using one), let them simmer down until they are very soft and the liquid has thickened slightly, mash them up, add chia seeds and give the mixture a good stir off the heat, let the mixture cool on the stove before transferring it to a jar. As it cools, the chia seeds will soak up the extra liquid from the berries and it will thicken nicely. Store it in the fridge for up to two weeks.

This “recipe” is great because it is totally customizeable to your preferences for the level of sweetness and the thickness you prefer. Chia seeds are HIGHLY nutritious and add some healthy Omegas and even some protein to your jam!

I recommend (greatly) using berries of some kind as they are already “seedy” by nature and help to disguise the texture of the chia seeds. You can also use an immersion blender to make a smoother jam if you’d like!

If you’re looking for a place to start, try a TSP of sweetener and a TBS of chia seeds per cup of berries and then adjust as needed for your preferences.

You can download an “easy to print” PDF of this recipe here!

Enjoy!

Gab (Hil’s sister with the best healthy recipes)

Miscarriage Unfiltered

Let’s chat about that one topic that no one really wants to talk about — miscarriage. It is actually WAY more common than you think it is & you probably know someone who has experienced it, even if they haven’t shared about it. There are many resources that say that 1 in 4 women have experienced a miscarriage.

ONE IN FOUR, friends. That’s an insane number to me. I was one of those women who didn’t really think much about miscarriage until it was happening to me. I cannot even express the heartbreak that comes from this, but if you want to stick around and read about it a little, I’m going to be super raw and share my story.

This post is going to come out two days before the due date of our first baby. TWO DAYS from now (give or take), I should’ve been a mom. Typing this with tears streaming down my face because it truly doesn’t seem fair. It doesn’t seem fair that a baby gets to be taken away from me just like that. Well, let’s look back on the journey & peek into miscarriage unfiltered.

August 24th — taking a pregnancy test because I am WAY late but have been putting it off because I was 5 weeks out from surgery on my elbow again and I was shook at what surgery on my elbow would look like with a little human growing in me. I know it happens all the time, but it had me worried. We were trying (but had taken a brief pause once surgery was scheduled), but those two pink lines came up anyways. I didn’t know what to think — I was SO excited to be a mom, but scared for the surgery part.

I remember laughing when Josh told me that he wanted to tell everyone at Christmas. I would be what, 4 months along at that point? How could I hide it from family & friends THAT long? Remember, I live in Florida and pretty much only wear tanks & a swim suit. But we would figure out those little details later. I found a doctor that came highly recommended from Google (side note — its really hard to find a doctor when you can’t ask for recommendations from family/friends because you haven’t told anyone yet) & set up my first appointment. I had to call a few offices to find one that would allow Josh to come with me because I couldn’t imagine hearing the heartbeat for the first time without him.

Life was SO good for those following days. I ordered the books & downloaded the apps. I added more veggies to my diet & ditched deli meat & alcohol. I dreamed of what it would be like to have our sweet child with us for all of those holidays in the coming year. I had friends announcing their pregnancies & I was so excited to carry babies alongside them.

Then one morning (about 8 weeks along), I woke up cramping. Period like cramps. When I went to the bathroom later that morning, blood in my underwear. I was freaking out a little bit & tried to explain to Josh what was happening, but obviously this was very new to both of us and we didn’t really know what to do. Through my BFF at the time, Google, I confirmed what was my worst fear — I was experiencing a miscarriage.

SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU WILL BE TRIGGERED OR DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE REAL DEAL! Through my reading, I found that you can actually view the “clump” or “clot” of blood that was your baby forming. This is when you know that you miscarried and have passed the baby. Imagine the emotional disaster that it is just waiting to pass that over the coming days. Thankfully (if I can even use that word), I passed our sweet babe later that night. As I did, I just sat on the bathroom floor and weeped. NO MATTER HOW FAR ALONG YOUR BABY WAS, YOU WERE A MOM FROM THE SECOND YOU SAW THAT POSITIVE MARK. DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENT.

The following days were emotional to say the least. There were so many things that triggered me — friends with similar due dates posting their announcements, real life friends talking about their babies/pregnancy, all the IG accounts I’d followed to learn more and purchase things from, all the milestones we had chatted about. Let me tell you that there is no correct way to grieve a miscarriage. Like I shared, we hadn’t told a single person we were pregnant, so to now share with friends & family that we had miscarried was equally heartbreaking. There isn’t a good or bad way to bring this up & I don’t really have any advice here. Basically as family or friends mentioned us being pregnant or when we were going to have a baby, I shared the news with them. Let this serve as a reminder, don’t ask that question. Don’t ask when people are having kids. This question has broken my heart more times than I care to admit & for what? To cause conversations to happen in relationships that they don’t want to have yet? To pressure the couple into thinking they SHOULD try for kids even if they don’t WANT TO yet? Or they’re us. Who are trying every which way & still not successful. That hurts too.

There are still really tough days. The past few days have been rough with the due date approaching. I still have IG accounts muted or I’ve unfollowed. I stepped away from some baby showers or birthday parties because I couldn’t handle them emotionally (or I went for as long as I could handle it). I’ve said no to coffee dates with newly pregnant moms because I knew I couldn’t make it through without tears. I never considered it jealousy, but truly mourning the loss of what I should have had in that moment. This is just a season. I know my time is coming. Those relationships have come around and I’ve healed some along the way, too.

There are some resources I wanted to share with you incase you find this post as you are experiencing this & need a boost. These are mostly scripturally based because I don’t know how I would have gotten through this without knowing that God’s plan is perfect (even if it was tough to believe at the time).

Song: Hallelujah Even Here by Lydia Laird

Books: It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lisa Terkeurst & Loved Baby devotional by Sarah Philpott

Quote: When it is not in God’s time, you cannot force it. When it is in God’s time, you cannot stop it.

Always here to answer questions, lift you up or cheer you on,

Hil

Don’t Call It a Comeback

Let’s chat come backs….

There’s been many times in life when I’ve gotten knocked down, but the most recent one was when I broke my elbow. Today, I am one year post break and I’ve learned a few things that have helped me come back despite the set backs.

First of all, you got a surround yourself with people who are going to push you to be better. Josh never let me throw a pity party for myself, and he continues to push me each day to make myself better. Lily continues to challenge me to pick up heavier weights, and my dad handed me a 3 pound dumbbell the day after I get out of a sling. Whatever your setback is in life, you can’t dwell in that space for long. Find someone to hold you accountable to grow.

Second, It might take you a while to get back to where you were, but it’s worth it. Trust me, the first time I walked into the gym after breaking my arm, I was extremely frustrated. There were so many things that I couldn’t do or that I could only do a few wraps up with a very light weight. It took me a year, but I’m finally able to do a handful of push-ups again. I didn’t return day one to doing a push-up, and I did modified ones from my hips, knees, and with a TRX for a very long time. Now your setback might not be physical, it might be emotional or even relational. So maybe the gym is in a good analogy for you, but I’m sure that you can see how small steps of returning to normalcy can help you get back to where you were.

Lastly, keep pushing forward. I remember when my marriage wasn’t doing well, and sometimes I just wanted to sit and wallow in it. But honestly friend, that wasn’t making my relationship any better. There were definitely days where I didn’t want to go to the gym, or when I left really frustrated because there was something that I wanted to do and I wasn’t capable of it. But you know what I did the next day? I showed up again. Complacency and giving up aren’t going to move the needle towards where I want to be.

Sometimes life just knocks you down. But get up, take it one day at a time, in a year from now you might not even recognize yourself. You got this, boo.

Wanted to share my most recent accomplishment with you. Following up on the broken arm, my goal was to be able to do a pushup one year later. Well I ended up doing 10 one year later. Here is a picture from last year & the picture at the top is from one year later! It’s been a long journey, but I’m thankful for the progress.

Let’s hear your progress!

XOXO,

Hil

Spring Dress & Shoe Favs

With spring right around the corner, I am in need of some more floral & light dresses for this Florida weather & some weddings I have coming up! I did a little work scouring the internet to find some of my favs that are also approved for my height (5′ 9″). You can follow the link to the whole picture below or I tagged each of these below the picture!

Ditsy Floral Print Ruffle Hem Belted Dress // Ditsy Floral Belted Dress // Plunging Neck Knot Front Ditsy Floral Dress // Dalmatian Print Button Front Ruffle Hem Smock Dress // Short Sleeve Ruched Stretchy Bodycon T Shirt Short Mini Dress // Short Sleeve Print Dress V Neck Casual Short Dresses // V Neck Casual Loose Flowy Swing Shift Dresses // Long Sleeve Peasant Shift Dress // Short Sleeve Peasant Dress – Knox Rose White // Trancoso Dusty Blue Floral Print Two-Piece Maxi Dress // Heart of Marigold Rust Red Floral Print Wrap Maxi Dress // Bloom With a View White Floral Print Two-Piece Maxi Dress

Of course I need some new shoes to go with my new dresses. I love that most of these you can dress up with some cute platform sandals or dress down with some white sneakers.

White Sneaks with Black Lines // White Slip ons with Black Lines // Black Eva Sandals // Jean Espadrille Wedges – Universal Thread // Violet Mules – Universal Thread // Coco Two Band Slide Sandals – A New Day // Lunea Canvas Apparel Sneakers – Universal Thread // Yellow Espadrille Sandals // Cheetah Espadrille Platform Sandals

Like I said — shoes to dress it up && shoes to dress it down! Find your style && grab your some new shoes for spring!

xoxo,

Hil

29 Things I’ve Learned in my 29 Years

It’s MY BIRTHDAYYYYY! I’ve been trying to come up with an appropriate post for my birthday — something super important to me to share with y’all. I had a hard time thinking of something, but I came up with this — 29 things I have learned over the last 29 years. This list is vv random and in no real order of importance, but I wanted to share them with you anyways & hopefully you can take one solid nugget away from this list. So let’s get to it.

Family over EVERYTHING. This one is very self explanatory, but it can sometimes get lost.
Your marriage is 100000% worth investing in. Divorce might seem like the easier option, but don’t do it.
Speaking of, date your spouse. You cannot grow in your relationship if you don’t date each other. Dates can be free (I have a whole post on this), but you still need unplugged time together.
Set phone boundaries. No phones in the bedroom. No phones an hour before bed/first thing in the morning. No phones while taking a walk together. Whatever boundaries you set, stick to them.
Get outside as often as you can. Go to the beach. Lay out at the pool. Take a hike. The sunshine is good for your soul.
Pursue your dreams. You don’t need a 9-5 job that you work for 50 years until retirement anymore. You can work from your phone. You can do your own thing. Don’t get caught in the box of expectations.
Instagram is not reality. No one has their life all together. Everyone is struggling. Put your phone down & stop scrolling.
Buy the plant & then set a reminder on your phone to water them. And if they die, just dump it out and buy a new healthy plant to fill the pot. Plants make you happy. Don’t stare at a dead one. Just try again.
Laundry & dishes may seem to never end, but be thankful that you have someone to share your home with.
Having babies is a lot tougher than they make it sound in HS health class. You’ll never be ready for kids, so just start trying when you think you wouldn’t stink as a parent.
Do one thing that scares you every year (at least). If your dream isn’t scary, it’s not big enough.
There should be one day a week (or atleast once a month) when you don’t wake up to an alarm. Let your body wake you up naturally. Cuddle your pups. Enjoy a slow morning.
Drink a lot of water. It’s good for your insides, too.
Adult friendships are hard. They take a lot of work. Put in the work for those who are a blessing in your life. ACTUALLY SCHEDULE THAT LUNCH you keep chatting about. Friendship is good for the soul.
You can never have too many dogs. Some days I might tell you that 3 is enough, but honestly if I had a bigger house, I wouldn’t stop adopting pups. They’re the best.
You’re not as agile as you once were. Don’t try to stand on a ball to deflate it. You’ll end up with a broken elbow. Just don’t.
It’s okay to say no. Say no to a toxic social situation. Say no to another drink. Say no to a questionable friendship.
It’s also okay to say yes. To an opportunity that scares you. To a new relationship. To a new adventure.
You don’t have to make Pinterest dinners to be a good wife. Trader Joes has bomb freezer meals that can basically pass as homemade.
Don’t let other peoples opinions keep you from doing what you want to do. You’re a big girl. You can make your own decisions & your own mistakes.
Move your body every day. Take a walk. Play tennis. Swing at the park. Swim a few laps. Sunshine + movement = happy body.
You’re never too old to dance on TikTok. Yes, the kids will poke fun, but if you had fun making the video, that’s what matters the most.
Dogs know everything. Bad day? Sick? Sad? You need a dog in your life to give you all the licks & cuddles. If you don’t have one, go to a friends house and let their puppy love on you.
Buy a house if you can. Apartments are shredding money every month. But you also have to fix things when they break instead of calling your super so maybe stick with the apartment thing.
You can save a lot of money if you don’t have your credit card saved on your phone. You’re too lazy to get up and get it out of your purse.
Call your mom often. Or your dad. Or your grandma. I know you are an adult & you don’t have to tell them everything going on in your life, but you should. Or atleast a lot of it. It’s important to them, which should make it important to you.
Be real with people. Sometimes your true life struggles can scare people away or turn them off, but honestly, we all want to feel like we aren’t alone. Share what you’re comfortable with & you will find a community of like minded individuals. This is important.
No one can put in the work for you, especially when growing a business. You have to show up. You have to put in the work. It falls on you, boo.
Love Jesus. When all else fails or you can’t figure out what comes next — He’s there.

XOXO,

Hil