*Had the most amazing adventure with Troy in Maui for 5 weeks. Find those posts HERE.
*Found out I was pregnant! See that post HERE.
*Went to the Bahamas with Lynlee. See that post HERE.
*My niece Eile was born.
I had you guys vote on Instagram stories whether you wanted me to post about 2019 Goals and Resolutions OR 2018 in Review. Goals and Resolutions won.. but decided to mix in some of my favorite memories in the post! Hope yall don’t mind!
Along with goals and resolutions for 2019 I wanted to share what you guys can expect to see here on themilleraffect.com:
- So many more try-on sessions. This will be mainly on Instagram, but you will be able to shop everything at themilleraffect.com/Instagram-Stories! I will try to do a few items each day as they come in. I stopped doing this in 2018 because nothing fit right, I was exhausted, and I was just SO LAZY when I was pregnant! I have so much fun doing them and they help me just as much as you (it is the first time I am trying on the item as well and helps when I talk through what I love/dislike about the item so I can figure out if I want to keep it!
- So many pictures and posts about Miller/Mom-Life. These are so fun and easy to write because it is like a journal! I have been so busy the first couple of months since she has been born with the holidays (Black Friday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years), but now that it is all over you will see a lot more of her on here.
- A BETTER NEWSLETTER. As you probably have noticed with my giveaways lately, I am trying to get more subscribers to my newsletter because it is about to go through a major transformation! My new email will be so much easier to navigate, will have the daily TOP ITEMS (by clicks), inspirational quotes, calendars, etc! I cannot wait! If you aren’t already subscribed you can do that HERE.
- Daily Baby Product Shop. I introduced a new series on my Instagram Stories where I share a baby product I am loving every day! Don’t miss this guys! You can shop them all at themilleraffect.com/baby-products and you can find the stories saved on the ‘Baby Products’ highlight on my Instagram Stories.
- More fashion series. I did a few series before I got pregnant, like the PINK SWEATER SERIES, and you guys looooved it! I will be bringing those back- starting with a little workout series this month- stay tuned!
- More work wear. I love doing work wear and it was so hard to talk about while pregnant! Work Wear Wednesdays will be back this year!
- A TALL SHOP! This has been in the works for awhile and was put on the back-burner this past year with pregnancy. I will be introducing a TALL SHOP on here where you will be able to shop tons of items for us Tall gals (jeans, maxi dresses, leggings, etc.!) Stay tuned!
- More posts geared to what YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE! Please start dming me, emailing me, or leaving me comments on my blog posts telling me what you would like to see on the blog!
*Took my nieces to DisneyWorld. Find those tips HERE.
*Went to San Francisco for a meeting with Google. Find the post HERE.
*Went to Vancouver & Whistler for our 1 Year Anniversary and did the most incredible hike of our lives. See that post HERE.
*Did a Baltic Sea Cruise with my family. Find that post HERE.
*Fell in love with Boston and went to a Boston/Red Sox game!
2019 Resolutions & Goals
Shed the Baby Fat
Ugh, this first one is so lame because I have never been the ‘get in shape’ resolution gal. I am this year because I have a couple of pounds around my midsection I would like to shed and I would definitely like to get some sort of muscle definition back. I haven’t worked out basically since finding out I was pregnant and there is only flab where there used to be muscle.
I actually HATE working out. The only workout I have ever enjoyed was Treadbarre/Pilatesbarre (in Dallas- look it up if you haven’t heard of it!!) and they don’t have that out here in Rockwall and it would be a 40 min drive to get to the one in Dallas. I did manage to find a Pilatesbarre with the reformer machines in Garland, so I am giving that one a go on Friday. It is still a 23 min drive :/.
Yesterday I actually walk/jogged with Miller around the neighborhood (approx 2.2 miles!) It was so hard but we both enjoyed the fresh air! I think I may do that a couple times a week as well.
I will definitely get a couple of photos up for you guys of what I look like now and I will keep you updated on progress. I am not going to start dieting or anything like that right now since Miller is happy and my milk supply is good. I just don’t want to mess any of that up! I will probably just add in some protein drinks for the workouts and I will definitely get a recipe up for you once I try one I love.
Be Present
I just wasn’t myself when I was pregnant. I don’t know what it was- hormones, laziness, feeling mad at myself for being lazy, feeling huge, etc, but I just was NOT myself.
This year I want to focus on being on my phone less and having more genuine conversations with my husband.
I also want to delegate more and have better time management so I can spend more time with Miller.
*Bought a house and decorated Miller’s nursery. See the entire room HERE.
*Emmy turned 3
*Took maternity pictures in the same dress my sister wore. Find all of the photos HERE.
*Had Miller on 11/7/18 <3. Read her birth story HERE.
Travel More
Obviously I couldn’t travel much in 2018 due to pregnancy. I think my last trip was at 28 weeks and I was so done. The plane ride was unbearable- I was so uncomfortable!
So far I have these trips planned:
Belize for 2 weeks in February- all of us
Virginia to see my sister in March- all of us
Cabo for Sage’s (@sosageblog) bachelorette in April- just me
May- Troy and I want to do a trip just the two of us somewhere. Probably Sedona!
June- Croatia for possible a month- all of us
and then I just need to fill the last half of the year!
Am I crazy to do this with a baby? I think the more she travels young the better traveler she will be as she gets older! There is way too much of the world left to see and way too little time to see it!
Hire a Full-Time Employee
This was a huge decision for me, and not one that I take lightly. I have been planning this for a year now. I currently have a remote part-time employee that will be leaving me once I find someone full-time (she is going to work full-time for a company that doesn’t need her to be in Dallas.)
I need someone to take her place, and help with Miller, anddd help with so much here at my house.
I start interviewing TOMORROW and have around ten amazing candidates. I cannot wait to meet everyone, get to know them, and ultimately find someone great for our family and for The Miller Affect!
*Miller had Ear Wells on for 6 weeks. The day the came off was one of the best days of 2018! Will do a post on this soon!
*Miller had her first flight. Will do a post on this soon!
*Miller had her first Christmas!
Hit 200k Page Views on themilleraffect.com
Weirdly, having a baby was good AND BAD for business. On one hand it almost doubled the page views on my blog from all of the moms & moms to be now reading my content. On the other, my Instagram engagement really took a hit. I didn’t grow at all in terms of Instagram followers in 2018 and I lost 50% of the amount of likes I usually get on my photos. You guys just weren’t engaged with what I was doing on there (probably because I was super pregnant and not many could relate to that at the time!) I totally get that!
So, while I still need Instagram likes to stay in business (this is what brands mainly look at when choosing us for collaborations), I want to work this year on hitting 200K page views on my blog. At the end of the day, Instagram could be gone tomorrow and my blog will be all I have left! My blog is owned by ME and I have 100% control over it (unlike social media!)
In 2018 hit 188,000 page views towards the end of the year, so 200k is close! It could also take me the entire year to reach it :/. I will definitely keep you updated!
(With Instagram I will just have to work hard at getting content on there that you guys like and can relate to!)
Be More Organized
This will be harder than every with a baby, but hopefully my new employee can help me get my life together! My office is constantly a mess and I think having a cluttered office creates a cluttered mind. Do you guys feel that way in your own home?
In 2018 I was also late on tons of collaborations. I procrastinated and then we had bad weather or I was sick from the pregnancy or I just FORGOT. So unacceptable. I need to get better at keeping a daily calendar (thanks sis for my christmas present) and I need to get things done EARLY instead of waiting until the last minute!
Hope you guys enjoyed this post! I appreciate you all so much and want to thank you for allowing me to do what I love.
Happy New Year and God Bless!
xox Amanda
Comments
You may already know this, but a tip for traveling overseas with a baby is to get the bulk head seat. Sure its not comfortable for us adults, but the beauty of sitting there is that it comes with a bassinet so you can put the baby in it and have them sleep in there instead of having to hold them the entire flight. And also consider getting a small new toy or two that Miller can “unwrap” and be entertained with. New things, even silly things that aren’t necessarily toys, can really preoccupy them for a while.
I’m excited to continue hearing more on your mom journey. I was following you pre-Miller, but now have my own little one coming in March and this first time mom is happy to read/watch any baby topics you want to post about! Also, I’m more on the taller side too, so I’ll be looking forward to those tall posts!
🙂
I have so many comments! First of all, thank you for sharing your pregnancy journey! I’m 27 weeks now and started following you after I learned I was expecting this summer. I’ve really appreciated all of your insights and stories – good and bad – throughout pregnancy and into motherhood! I can relate to a lot of your resolutions and am looking forward to so much of your new content this year. I appreciate any tips for creating a post-pregnancy work out routine (I also hate working out/going to the gym; I have run and tried different workout classes sporadically but haven’t done a thing since learning I was pregnant), traveling with a baby and being more present! I also find it really helpful when you do try-ons when you continue to point out clothes that might work with a bump or for nursing, even though you’re no longer pregnant. Can’t wait to follow along with you this year!
I would love to see more posts about travel! More specifically, how you plan your trips! Just the whole process!
Ahhh can’t wait for you to go to Croatia! My fam is from Bosnia and this summer we are doing a Bosnia/Croatia trip. You’ll be obsessed with the views and the Adriatic Sea!
We went to Germany (from Virginia) with my daughter a couple weeks ago at 9 weeks, and it was great! I feel like little babies are probably easier to travel with since they just wanna be held/sleep and eat?? Anyway, it was great except that with the time change, she just wanted to play all night because, to her, we were trying to put her to sleep at 4pm (she was 0% interested in that). But the good news is that after a week she never acclimated so when we came home, she went straight back to sleepjng 9 hours straight!
Your 9 week old baby slept for 9 hours? Share your secrets!! haha xox Amanda
It’s the Snoo!! Seriously. 11 hours last night. 🙌🏻 On vacation she was like 2 hours at a time with a lot of wiggling and grunting in between.
Yeah but that’s the problem with the snoo. You can’t travel with it and I heard it’s impossible to ween them off of it (aka transition to their crib)
There is s Pilates place in Rockwall called Pilates Blueprint. I took several classes when I was in Rockwall last year.
I looked it up but didn’t see any reformer machines? Does it have the machines or is it just a barre class (will the ballet bar)?
xox Amanda