CHINA // HONG KONG

A couple of weeks before milo was born my sister mentioned possibly going to China to visit her boyfriend who is over there for a few months working at Shanghai Disney & that she wanted my mom & I to go with her. I wasn't sure that I would actually be able to go on the trip because I had a newborn baby, but then I decided when someone invites you to china, you don't say no, so when my mom asked if I wanted to go with her i had to say yes! Leading up to the trip, even the day that we left, I was pretty back & forth whether I should actually go. I mean, I was taking a two month old to china, which I'm sure a lot of people thought I was crazy to do, & I had to leave behind Austin & Cedar for two weeks which is the longest I've ever been gone from Cedar, so I was pretty torn up about it but I am so, so happy that I went. China is unlike anywhere I have ever traveled before & really opened my eyes to an incredible culture.

Hong Kong is a totally westernized part of China, so it wasn't as shocking as the other cities, but it was really, really cool. Like, cool enough that it made me second guess my telling Austin we shouldn't move there (sorry Austin!). We we're only there for a day & a half, but I feel like we got a good introduction to the city. We took a big red bus tour (my favorite thing to do in any new city) & saw all the big sites & got off at a few different spots. Hong Kong is made up of islands & was totally different from any other big cities I've been to because it was so lush & green with huge skyscrapers in-between all the lushness. It was a really cool mixture to see in person, I loved it. It was also incredibly humid, which I did not love, haha. You could totally picture it as the place that king kong came from though. It also reminded me a bit of San Francisco because there were SO many hills & they were SO steep. Idf you lived there you would have legs of steel. We went to the top of one of the mountains where there is an amazing lookout point showing a view of the entire city, it was so cool to see all of it at once. The view was insane with all of the skyscrapers, sadly it was sort of foggy when we were there, but we could still see quite a bit. We ate dinner there too which was perfect because they put on a light show on the buildings at night & we had a perfect view of it.

Hong Kong is definitely a place I could spend more time in & hope that I get to sooner than later!


NEWBORNS // WILLA SHAY

one of my best friends since middle school had her first baby in april. i love how many babies are milo's age, it is so fun! her little family is adorable & SO photogenic, i couldn't get over them when i was taking their photos. baby willa is a doll & has the most amazing baby hair. it is so thick, so long, so dark & goes into a perfect mohawk all on its own, it is perfect.

10 REASONS I LOVE WEARING MY BABY

We've used baby carrier ever since Cedar was big enough, both Austin & I were so excited when he was finally big enough to go in our carrier & we both loved carrying him around in it. It wasn't until he was almost a year that I was introduced to the Wild Bird ring slings  & instantly fell in love with them. I carried Cedar in my sling until he was over 2 years old & when he got to be too heavy for me to carry that way. Both he & I loved it though & I have loved having my sling for Milo. It has been a life saver being able to put him in the sling since he was just a tiny newborn. There are so many awesome reasons people should wear their baby & use slings, but here are some of my favorites. 

1// Tasks- When you wear your baby you are able to keep up with your everyday tasks whether it's running errands, working or just finishing up chores. Keeping up with your daily life is easier when you have access to both of your hands & you can safely finish up anything that you need to work on while giving your baby the comfort of being close to the parent.

2// Security- Wearing your baby gives both of you a sense of security. Babies love to be held tightly & closely to their parents & wearing your baby helps you know that your baby is safe & secure right on you, there is no need to worry becasue you can see, feel, & hear your baby which enables you to better know what is going on with them.

3// Bonding- Baby wearing promotes a strong, healthy bond between baby & mama. The baby feels safe & loved being so close with their mom during their time in the sling, & the mama also feels a stronger bond with baby. You get so much more cuddle time than you would without a sling & everybody loves baby cuddles.

4// Strength- Wearing your baby strengthens your body. It can be a struggle to find time to workout & by wearing your baby you add extra weight which helps gain muscle & lose weight.It's a win win!

5// Clean- When your baby is in a stroller strangers often will come & look & touch the baby, but they are less likely to do so when you wear your baby, which helps protect that sweet little baby from so many germs & remain clean.

6// Siblings- When you have other children it is easier to keep up with them when you wear your baby. you are able to still play with them & help them easier since you have the use of both your hands.

7// Convenient- Ring slings are so easy to carry with you & less fuss than a stroller. You can easily store your sling in your diaper bag & just take it out when you choose to, unlike a stroller that you have to have with you the entire time you are out. They are great for travel & crowded places so that you feel less in the way & you can keep your baby closer to you.

8// Sleep- Many babies don't sleep well unless being held & most parents cannot sit & hold their baby all day, but the sling allows the baby to feel the closeness of being held & easily fall asleep. The baby can also soundly sleep while you are out running errands while slung in the sling.

9// Variety- Wild Bird offers so many different color options as we will as double or one layered linen slings, giving a wide variety of options making the sling more of a fashion statement than just a regular old carrier. They  come out with new & beautiful colors for the seasons making it easy for you to switch it up.

10// Development- It has been discovered that wearing your baby helps promote healthy development in the child. When wearing a baby it is natural for you to talk more to baby which promotes language development as we'll as promotes

Make sure to check out Wild Bird & see all of their pretty options for ring slings, I promise you won't be disappointed. 

NEWBORNS // BLAKE AUGUSTINE

 My little niece Blake was born April 12, 2016 & is the teeniest, cutest baby girl. Compared to Milo who is only a month older, she is a little nut. I can't get over her petiteness! I love her. She is an exact replica of her brother, just a little smaller & with blue eyes & blonde hair. I had so much fun shooting my brothers family, it's always fun to work with people you are close to because it is so much fun. They are an incredibly photogenic family.

If you are interested in booking something e-mail me at kerryjuneblog@gmail.com

REAL TALK // BREASTFEEDING

let me begin with breastfeeding does not come easily to my body.

when i was pregnant with cedar i quickly realized there is a stigma around pregnancy, birth & breastfeeding. there is this big push for everything to be "natural" or "organic", there is this unwritten way that women are supposed to go about everything & if they stray from it, there are a lot of looks & a lot of judgment. the two biggest things i see this happening with are labor & feeding & i have experienced it firsthand.

the thought never crossed my mind that i might not be capable of breastfeeding. while preparing to have a him, i assumed i would breastfeed. i knew that i would need to either pump or ween him once he was four months & i went back to school full-time, but i was going to breastfeed him full-time until then. i never realized how difficult it was to breastfeed or the many struggles mothers face that come with breastfeeding, especially if you aren't able to produce enough milk. we had a rough go from the start. cedar was never able to latch on properly on either side causing me to go through many hours of pain & tears trying to feed him, just to top off each feeding with a bottle of formula because he would be screaming of hunger. it wasn't until a check up right before his one month mark when i was told he wasn't gaining a lot of weight that i realized i truly was not producing enough for him & needed to switch him solely to formula. until that point, i had wondered if i were doing something wrong when trying to feed him, but the doctor informed me that i was not producing enough. it may not sound like a long time, but that month felt so long for me especially being a new, sleep deprived mother who blamed herself for her crying baby & not being able to produce more milk. by the time cedar was a month old i could hardly make 1 ounce of milk.

the decision to switch him to formula came easily for me, i wanted what would benefit cedar most & that was to be on formula 100% so that he would be able to grow, & i saw a difference immediately. luckily i never experienced any "mommy guilt" from not breastfeeding cedar, actually any guilt i had experienced ended once i stopped breastfeeding because of the immediate difference i saw in cedar. as soon as cedar was on formula full-time he was a much happier baby, gone were the hours of frustrated crying from the both of us & in replace were a happy baby & happy mom. it was the best decision for both of us but, that didn't mean i wasn't criticized for the decision. i can't even count the conversations i have had with friends & even strangers where they told me i was doing my child an injustice, or where i have been told that cedar must get sick because i didn't breastfeed him, whatever the argument is, i've most likely heard it. to be honest it was disappointing to hear these things & sometimes it would leave me to wonder if i was ruining my kid or if i should have tried harder to breastfeed, but at the end of the day i still knew i made the best decision & i made the choice based on us, not on others opinions. 

since i didn't have a great one-month experience breastfeeding cedar, i wondered why so many women loved to breastfeed, but i finally understood after milo was born. after i found out i was pregnant with milo, austin & i talked a lot about whether i would try to breastfeed or not & ultimately i decided i would breastfeed as long as my body allowed. once milo was born things were totally different than with cedar. he was born hungry, smacking his lips, ready to be fed & he had no problem latching on. it went so smoothly & i was incredibly happy & grateful for it. i found that i enjoyed being able to feed him, to provide him with what he needed. 

two weeks in milo still wasn't over his jaundice & the pediatrician recommended supplementing with formula after feedings to help wash it out of his system & because his levels had been high, we decided to do it. after we started supplementing milo started needing more at his feedings & giving him an ounce or two bottle became the norm. i also began to feel that my body was not producing more milk as i hoped it would, instead it was slowly producing less milk. little milo has been growing like a weed & my body once again is not producing enough milk. this time around has been more difficult for me to accept my lack of milk-making because it did start out so well that i just thought it was going to be easy this time. when i look back to the first few weeks with cedar as a newborn i really was naive about breastfeeding. i hadn't taken any birthing or parenting classes during my pregnancy, i sort of assumed it would come naturally & while much of it did, breastfeeding did not. i was naive in the fact that i didn't realize there were so many resources to help me in my breastfeeding endeavor, so this time around i have tried put a lot of time & effort into what i can do to help my body make more milk. i have tried a breastfeeding support group to learn more about what i can do to help my milk, i drink mothers milk tea, take a pill version of the tea to help my milk flow, drink more water than i ever have in my life, tried oatmeal in the morning, pumping in-between feeds.. i have tried just about everything.

what it really comes down to is that my body is not a great milk producer & if there is something i can do about it, i don't know what it is. i have loved the time i've had feeding milo & because i have truly loved it, it's been difficult for me to decide what to do, to know what would be best for him, me & our family as a whole. i go back & forth almost everyday trying to figure out which is best & honestly, i don't think one way or another is better, there are pros & cons to switching completely to formula just as there are pros & cons to continuing to breastfeed & then formula feed. sometimes i feel guilty at the thought of not breastfeeding him because of comments i hear & it can be hard to remember that the outsiders opinion is not what is important in this situation, but milo's health & happiness is.


i guess what i am getting at is that there is a lot of judging going on amongst women when someone chooses to have an epidural or when they choose not to, & there is equally a lot of judging when someone formula feeds their baby instead of breastfeeds. i'm here to say that we need to worry less about the people that are judging us, worry less about how someone else feeds their baby or births their baby. we need to build each other up rather than judge, no one should be beating themselves up if they can't have a natural birth for some reason, or if they can't breastfeed their baby. it doesn't make you a failure as a woman or a mama. 

you are doing your best & that is what matters.