Starting Baby On Solids

Welcome to MomTalk Radio, the show that tackles topics important to you and your family.

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We've got it covered on MomTalk.

Now, here's the host of the top-rated show for moms, Maria Bailey, on MomTalk Radio.

Hi, welcome to the show.

I'm Michelle Gerson from Passport Mommy, in for Maria Bailey this week, and this is MomTalk Radio.

So I'm very excited to be here on MomTalk Radio.

As a new mom myself, I have a toddler.

Her name is Eden.

She's 17 months old, and she has been the love of my life ever since.

And if you're a mom or a dad, you know that they are all time-consuming,

but also just the most amazing gift under the sun.

And so I look forward to sharing with you on this show and in the coming weeks,

my experiences just as a mom, talk about all the things that we're going through,

what you're going through, what I'm going through, all the challenges, the successes.

And also, as I'll just tell you a little bit background about myself very quickly,

I do run the website PassportMommy.com, and I have been a travel writer and radio host

and TV broadcaster for many years in the travel space, in the lifestyle space,

and now I'm focusing a lot on family travel.

And I always said that once I had children, it wasn't going to stop me from traveling.

So I'm going to be bringing you the best places to go, the best places for families,

or maybe even mom retreats where you can bring your children.

Still have a great time.

I'm going to bring you those every week.

And also just great tips and products and things to help us out as moms.

So I am thrilled.

As my first guest, I have with me Joseph Nunez.

He is a public relations and partnerships manager for Club Med North America.

And we were recently at Club Med Sandpiper Bay, which is in Port St.

Lucie in Florida with our 17 month old had the best time.

And I wanted to have you on the show, Joseph,

just to share with listeners all about Sandpiper Bay.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Absolutely.

I'm glad to be here.

Thank you.

So.

So I have been to a Club Med, but probably 20 years ago when I was single

and I went to the one in Turks and Caicos.

But I was thrilled to find that there is one so close in Port St.

Lucie in Florida here in the U.S.

And I feel like a lot of people don't know that this incredible resort is right here

in the country and very accessible and easy to go to, especially for families.

Yes, absolutely.

As you probably experienced yourself.

So much has changed with Club Med over the past few years.

The 70s and 80s, we were seen as a very kind of adult company.

And now we've really moved towards having very family friendly resorts.

They're specifically designed just for families.

And like you mentioned, we have one resort in the United States, which is just in our

backyard.

No passport needed to travel there.

Located in Port St.

Lucie, Florida, which is just two hours north of Miami, about two hours south of Orlando.

So it's very accessible.

If you fly into West Palm Beach, it's just a short drive over.

Yeah.

And I found that we were visiting my in-laws in Boynton Beach and then just decided to

do a very last minute getaway, which was the perfect escape.

But I thought, you know, this is a great place to go to if grandparents do have families

coming in to visit, whether it's for the holidays or otherwise.

Why not bring them all to Club Med?

Yes, absolutely.

Actually, probably over half of our guests at Club Med San Piper Bay are local to Florida

just because it's such a short drive.

And really, there's nowhere else in Florida that you can find.

It's such an all-inclusive experience, especially for families, from your meals and your beverages

to your activities and just kind of being out on the river and being able to enjoy all

the different water sports at no extra cost.

It tends to be a good weekend getaway for a lot of locals.

Absolutely.

Yes.

It was very easy.

And I do like that everything's included.

But I have to tell you, what I loved most was your baby club.

I thought that was tremendous.

And you have a baby club and a kids club.

So they can...

They can be occupied from morning until night with great activities for them, while the

parents can go and do their own thing.

Yes.

Like I mentioned, this resort was very specifically designed for families.

We actually have four different clubs for kids.

Those are kind of divided by age range.

So we have our baby club for anywhere between four-month-olds to 23-month-olds.

We have our petite club med, which is for two- to three-year-olds.

Our mini club, which is where a majority of the kids go.

Those are between four to ten.

And when they really get to start experiencing a little bit more...

And then we also have Passworld for the teenagers.

And that's anybody between 11 to 17.

And even within that demographic, you know, there's a big difference between an 11- and

a 17-year-old.

So they have kind of semi-groups between that, too.

That's terrific.

And what are some of the activities that they'll do during the day?

Like, let's start with the baby club and then go more into the older kids.

Yeah, definitely.

A great thing about our clubs is that they are not designed to be, you know, an indoor

space where kids hang out while the parents have fun throughout the day.

Right.

They're dedicated GOs, which is what we call our employees.

It's short for Gracious Organizers.

And what they do is they're specialized to take care of kids, but also make sure that

they have fun and show them all the different amenities of the resort.

With baby clubs, since they're just a few months old, they do have kind of more limited

activities than some of the older kids.

So what they can do is they do a lot of developmental games with them.

So they're different, you know, they take them on walks around the resort.

They have different developmental games to help them explore different colors and sounds,

shapes, and texture.

And just really allowing them to continue to develop those senses for them while the

parents are out having fun.

Kind of moving a little bit older, the kids, the two to three-year-olds with the T-Club

Med, they have different activities.

They're starting to get out and play a little bit more.

They have more kind of creative and artistic activities planned for them.

And then as you start getting into the Mini-Club Med, which is the four to ten-year-olds,

they really start to explore everything in the resort.

I think one of my favorite memories of ever stepping into Sandpiper for my first time

was seeing a four-year-old hanging from the flying trapeze, and she was completely fearless.

And you could see her little legs dangling.

It was the cutest thing.

But it's great because they actually get to enjoy the resort.

They're not stuck in a room.

And they have everything from little tennis to little football.

They have circus classes, cooking lessons.

They get to dance and perform in shows at night as well for the parents.

And as you get older with the teens and everything, they have the same amount of activities,

but they have the time dedicated for themselves.

So they don't have to worry about hanging out.

They can hang out with little children while they're doing their own activities.

And they get to have a little bit more liberties.

The parents can decide if the kids can stay in the club all day or go and explore on their own.

So they're free to come as they go.

They also have different dances and shows.

They get to perform in different arts, play all sorts of different sports.

Like I mentioned, we have tennis, sailing, stand-up paddle boarding, the flying trapeze.

They have picnics for the teenagers.

They have movie nights for them.

There's just a really great social environment for all the kids.

Yeah.

It's amazing.

And I saw one of the shows at night that the kids put on and it really was incredible.

As well as your other shows, one of the shows that I saw there was a gymnastic type show

or, you know, when they do the, um, the, tell me, cause I can't, the, uh, satin wraps.

Something that's kind of really deep into the DNA of Club Med is if you go to a lot

of our resorts, you'll find a circus team.

It's something that, um, and we actually have a really good partnership with Cirque du Soleil

and we have an entire playground for that too in the Dominican Republic.

But, yeah.

Even within Sandpiper, we have a really strong circus team and they're there to teach you

everything from aerial arts, such as silk, lira, uh, rope, and as well as the flying

trapeze.

And then at night they get to showcase those moves for the audience and it's really just

an inspiration to see them.

I mean, they're phenomenal.

They're very talented.

But I think what's great is that you get to see them, admire them and realize the next

day when you take their class that you can also do those things too.

Yeah.

It's really incredible.

And what you said about the four year old on the trapeze, I have to say I was walking

past the trapeze.

I was like, oh my gosh, that's amazing because at my age, I'm afraid to even climb the ladder.

But it is such a great thing.

People think that like little kids, it's so impressive to see them up there, but I'm like,

ah, I think they're a lot more fearless than we are because when I go up there, my knees

are shaking.

Exactly.

So let's talk about the food because the food's amazing.

The buffets are amazing.

And I know you have two options, either the buffet or more of a sit down dinner.

Um, I'm glad you brought that up.

Cause actually I think one of the misconceptions about all-inclusive resorts is that the food

can be lackluster, but for Club Med, we are a French company at heart.

So they take gastronomy very seriously here.

Um, and with that being said, you know, every resort has a unique blend of international

fare as well as local flair.

So they take the local flavors or this example, we have, you know, a lot more American fare,

um, and they mix that with different international, uh, cuisine and at Sandpiper specifically.

And of course, like I mentioned, everything's all inclusive.

Yeah.

Have to have to concepts at sandpiper, that's marketplace, which is more of your

buffet kind of free coming to you go grab what you want, sit down, eat with your family.

The kids like to eat by themselves sometimes, why?

Because they make friends with the kids club.

And then we also have Riverside, which is a reservation restaurant you just booked the

same day.

You can sit down, they have a prefix menu, you can have a four course meal there, um,

you know, extra charges there as well.

And the food is just really, it's great for everybody because we're able to customize it

for your needs if you have a dietary restriction any kind of allergy for the kids or for yourself

or if you need a gluten-free menu anything that you want to ask for it's there and it's available

and we have you know all day dining with really good food it's great for picky eaters because

they get to explore what they want or what they don't want exactly i mean your dessert's amazing

the gelato bar great i mean every night it was something different and i also like how big your

dining room is because i didn't feel because we have a 17 month old so obviously she loves to do

her thing and and talk when she wants to talk but there's so many other kids and parents there

that it was just such a good environment for that but if you do want something a little more quiet

there are other sections within the dining room that you can go to correct we have children's

sections we have adult only sections um and i think something that's really cool there too is

if you have very little ones we have the baby corner which is um very cute because they actually

have a kind of a buffet line that's a little

set a little bit lower for the kids to be able to reach and grab what they want

but even for really young ones when they're a few months old you have the baby corner which

allows you to kind of create and customize your own food so they'll make baby food for you there

on the spot uh you tell them exactly what you want whether you want something savory or sweet

uh what kind of ingredients and they're able to prepare that for you too

yeah that's what i was really blown away by was just how much you cater to parents with young

families and young kids because not only do you have the baby bar but in room

you offer strollers that families can borrow for their stay you have changing pads you have a

bathtub a baby bathtub i mean really everything that we need and the biggest fear of traveling

with little ones is oh my gosh i need to bring my whole house with me and for club med you don't have

to no definitely i think for us we really strive to provide that hassle-free vacation for families

just because you know nowadays it's so hard to travel with so many things on you we're trying

to jump on a plane or even in the car um so we do have our baby welcome program and we have a lot of

programs which is included uh no extra costs for that and that kind of gives you a personalized

welcome with baby care materials like you mentioned so you can get a cot a changing mat baby baths high

chairs bottle warmers um like i mentioned we have the dedicated baby corners in the restaurants as

well but on top of that we go a little bit um beyond that we offer a 24-7 baby feeding room

which has all the amenities you need anything from mixers sterilizers um if you need a microwave a

fridge bottle warmers or anything else even additional food and water and you can get a lot of

food products like if it's three o'clock in the morning and your baby just really needs to have

something we have additional food products they're prepared just for them um and if you just like you

mentioned earlier if you just want to have that time for yourself and just have dinner and not

worry about um you know taking care of your child because you just want to have your date night we

do have the pajama club as well which is a an in-house babysitting service where our jays will

take care of your child for the evening right which is phenomenal so it really is a no-brainer

as far as i'm concerned so where can people go to get more

information to book is there a certain time of year maybe you run some promotions that people

can keep an eye out for yeah actually right now is a really perfect time because we're in the middle

of our sensational sale promotion um that's going to run all the way through almost the end of

october and that doesn't just apply to the sandpiper bay resort but really all of our resorts

worldwide um specifically within the caribbean mexico the u.s um and prices are starting at

about 125 per adult per night um but the

whole thing is kids under four stay for free and kids under 15 and under also receive up to half

off their stay um and we are offering free room upgrades as well as their um pending availability

so it's a great time to book right now but in terms of if anybody you know can't visit right

now and wants to just find a way to save money my advice is just to avoid the holiday weeks those

always get really crazy anytime there's a big break um whether it's christmas thanksgiving or

new year's um our resorts get packed so if you visit um kind of an off season you'll be able to

kind of save money

and if you book up to six months in advance you get the best rate guaranteed from us too

perfect joseph nunez thank you so much for joining me today i look forward to visiting you again

and where tell everybody again where they can go for more info definitely if anybody needs more

information they can just visit our website that's clubmed.us and you'll be able to find

all of our resorts worldwide perfect thank you so much coming up next we have my good friend

marshall stevenson he runs the new york beer and brewery tour

but most importantly he's a really cool dad we'll talk to him coming up next

mom talk radio a busy mom's best friend

you're listening to mom talk radio i'm michelle jerson from passport mommy in for maria bailey

and excited to have with me marshall stevenson he is a great friend

he runs a new york beer and brewery tour and he's a really cool dad we'll talk to him coming up next

he's a comic but overall just awesome dad and we had children around the same time so marshall

thanks so much for being here with me today awesome dad is definitely the credit that you

should have gone first thank you michelle it's nice to be you're welcome well you know it's

like we're all balancing businesses and parenting and i just think you're amazing at what you do

because we do our play dates together i see how you are with your daughter i know how you're

running your business very successful new york beer and brewery tour business

but we're tired right there's just so many hours in the day yeah and the you know the sleep

deprivation that feeling of sleep deprivation is like always with you you know like they say if you

have a trauma when you're young it's always stays with you but usually like this just stays with

you like once you have the baby the sleep deprivation uh and some days are much worse

so i'm like extra tired today and i hope you were too i am too because one i have this lovely cold

because my daughter and i love to share everything so that means every time she's sick i am too within

the next few days so i've got that and also in addition to being so tired because we're tired

we're also a little absent-minded so last night my husband we were coming home from somewhere

locked the car door and then couldn't get in the car and i was like oh my god i'm so tired

i didn't figure out where he put the car keys so for five hours into two in the morning we were

searching up and down everywhere couldn't find them the only spare was at my parents about an

hour train ride away so it was a quite an adventurous night wait why'd you have to get

back into your car we didn't have to get back into the car but it was parked in front of my

apartment building and we're not allowed to leave it there for more than 10 minutes

so we needed to move it we were just unloading everything and then

back to the parking garage so he's so he's taking the railroad like an hour and a half away he's

telling like the guy at the at the door like no we're still loading we're still loading

yep he told me i had to well first i called geico roadside assistance to open the car door because

i thought maybe he dropped them in the trunk but no they weren't there so then he got on the train

went to long island got the spare then as he came back i woke up at seven in the morning

looked in the closet and what did i see on the floor the car keys okay now okay now you're blaming

your baby daughter for this why because she kept you up and like what's the connection to that i'm

not blaming her for anything she is never at fault for anything for our absent-mindedness

or our exhaustion i will not blame her that's just the way we are because there's just so much

that we could wrap our brains around i feel like at one time and

she just takes a lot of that but i wouldn't give it to anybody else i think you can blame her i

i think that's okay she kept you up you're absent-minded you never in a million years

before the kid would have misplaced that kid i don't know it was totally because of the baby

and i don't know about that i also think it's because our apartment is triply cluttered because

there's so many strollers in this closet and and toys we just can't get to anything anymore

well it sounds like you have the same kind of conflict

in your house as uh we have in mine i'm exhausted today because on the way back from the play date

kid decided to throw up all over herself in the stroller oh and i was in the middle of midtown

manhattan and so i pulled over and like just this crevice next to an next to an office building

right and took her out of the stroller i sort of cornered her now she's got the throw up all over

her so i pulled over and i was like oh my god i'm exhausted i'm exhausted i'm exhausted i'm exhausted

pull off the shirt pull off the pants and then i start taking her wipes and start cleaning the

stroller meantime people are people are coming by and making comments now i don't want to make like

i don't want to make like this was scary or like anything too terrible it was just an ordeal

anyway so she starts pulling out the wipes and starts helping me clean the stroller yeah that's

funny and then people are like oh my god i'm exhausted i'm exhausted i'm exhausted i'm exhausted

stopping and saying things like hey watch it buddy she's taking the wipes

but somebody else came over as we're doing this and said oh it's mr mom

which i was in no mood for that either so i was like oh by calling me mr mom

you're saying that that parental duties are women's work and then she did okay so let's talk

about that more coming up next because we have to take a quick break but i do want to talk about

that because i know you're very anti here and there and i know you're very anti here and there

that everything's about moms because there are a ton of dads who are whether they're stay at home

or not who are full-on parents so hang on for a second marshall we'll be right back we're going

to talk more about mr mom and what you don't like about that

mom talk radio a busy mom's best friend now maria bailey on mom talk radio

welcome back to mom talk radio i'm michelle jurison from passport mommy in for maria bailey

and we have on the line my good friend marshall stevenson who i have to say has been an amazing

friend because he is also a dad and we have a great friend and we have a great friend and we have a

little girls around the same age so we play together we commiserate together and you were

just telling me how your little girl threw up on the way home the other day after i saw you

and people were walking by calling you mr mom which i think a lot of people look at that as

a compliment because there's this great dad who's you know taking care of his daughter

but they don't realize it in the way that you feel when you hear that no i i actually i mean

it doesn't really matter i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't know

it doesn't really matter to me you know like matters to me is there's a changing table in

the men's room at mcdonald's like that matters to me but this doesn't really matter to me but

people do that and it really is sexist you know the people who feminists worry about like equality

in the workplace and things like that but the reality is if you're saying that if a man is

taking care of a baby he's mr mom that's saying that child care is women's work i mean and you

know what i see it everywhere like i read the parenting books and i don't know jack about

taking care of a baby and it's always like you know when taking your baby for a walk make sure

you're wearing a loose blouse i'm like this wasn't written for me well you know why they say that

right no well for breastfeeding yeah yeah probably because they're always gonna want it so you have

to wear a loose blouse that easy access but there are other examples of that you know i mean it's

like every you know we're in a play group most of these play groups are called like mommy and me

yeah like and then

it's like dad's involved i saw a humidifier the other day said mom approved on the humidifier

like why wasn't dad why didn't they they they seek the approval of dad

right i see what you're saying maybe maybe maybe he was at a hockey game

and i think too in our play date group there are a lot of dads because everybody has different

situations right some have flexible work schedules or they just work with their wives and and they

figure out who's best to take care of the

Maybe at a certain time, the reason there's so many dads in this play group is because

it's the only play group that allows dads because the rest of them are called mommy.

So, all right.

So you had the puke.

You finally got home.

Everything was OK.

Well, you know, going over this, you know, stroller with a Q-tip, it was the most not.

Well, anyway, it wasn't scary.

It wasn't stressful.

It was just an ordeal.

And I guess we're through.

That's good.

We had one incident like that where she puked in her stroller.

We had just left the apartment and we were on our way to a birthday party.

She had on the cutest dress and it just started pouring everywhere.

I mean, it scared me because I pulled her out of her stroller and I was like, what is

going on?

It was just coming out of the nose, out of the mouth.

And it's scary.

And I feel like that's a thing that we worry about, too, as first time parents or any parents

of a young child is the choking, the puking.

We had an incident.

We were at a restaurant the other day.

And she started puking at the table and people came running over.

Oh, that's terrible.

Really?

Puking at the table.

All right.

You got I got nothing on you.

That's a restaurant.

Oh, that's terrible.

She was sick.

And I think she was having trouble.

There was stuff in her throat and she was just having trouble breathing.

And and I think any food that was going in was just having trouble staying in.

And it was scary.

And you think she's about to just like keel over.

Right.

But you're also kind of embarrassed you're at a restaurant and she's puking.

On the table, right?

No, I didn't care.

But I was.

I did realize after that I was like, oh, my gosh, my reaction, because I was like, oh,

my God, is she OK?

I was like, please go get my husband because he was up somewhere else.

And, you know, and it's nerve wracking.

But people are really great.

And somebody had come over who happened to have been an EMT.

And she's like, here, try this.

Try that.

And I was like, that was so helpful.

But that's why it's so important.

And those baby and infant and toddler CPR classes that they tell you to take.

That's real.

You have to take those.

That, you know, if there is an incident, if they decide to swallow a walnut while you're

not looking, they'll know what to do.

Exactly.

So I hear her in the background and she's yelling, Mama, right?

She's just started talking a lot because there she's a little older than my daughter, who's

almost 18 months.

How is it to hear all these new words almost every few days?

My wife is better at it.

And, you know, I spend the day with the kids.

It's not that I don't know her as well.

But my wife is better at it.

So she'll say something and my wife will say, oh, that's so interesting.

I totally agree with you.

And I'll say, all I heard was dada.

Well, you just have to read between the lines.

But anyway, I want to talk more to you another time because I know we have so much to talk

about.

But real quickly, I want you to tell everyone about the New York Beer and Brewery Tour website.

Where can they go for more information if they're coming to New York, they have family

coming to New York?

nybeertour.com.

We.

Have public tours and private tours.

And on the public tours, we basically, you know, drive people to the breweries, tell

them all about this rich history of beer.

And we have a lot of fun.

You get to see how beer are made and stuff.

And we've been at this for nine years now.

So big success in New York and a lot of fun.

nybeertour.com.

Perfect.

It is a ton of fun.

Great to do with or without the kids.

Coming up, Maria Bailey will be here with Erin Hill.

She is a baby food ambassador for Beach Nuts.

This is Mom Talk Radio.

Mom's Little Secret.

Mom Talk Radio with Maria Bailey.

I am super excited to have with me a mom who's doing amazing things out there.

She's not only helping other moms with her knowledge and hands-on experience, but she

is an entrepreneur.

She's a baby food ambassador, a sleep coach, which as a mom, you know, could be a lot of

things.

She's a baby food ambassador.

She's a sleep coach.

Nothing is more important than sleep.

I'm delighted to have with me today Erin Hill.

She is all of those things and more.

She's driven by a passion for helping and connecting people, and she takes a lot of

pride in that.

As a Beach Nut baby food ambassador, her goals are to educate and guide and support new and

experienced moms who need help navigating that very first year of motherhood, which

we all know can be a little bit trying.

She's recognized in her community.

For her extraordinary commitment to mothers, she created the Bay Area Parents and Child

Facebook group, which is fostering a lot of great friendships among parents.

She is the proud mother of two children and lives with her spouse out in California.

So welcome, Erin, to Mom Talk Radio.

Thank you so much.

I'm so excited to be here.

Well, let's talk a little bit.

I'm most intrigued by.

The fact that you are a Beach Nut baby food ambassador, because that's something that's

new to me.

What's your role in that?

So as an ambassador, I love to spread the Beach Nut love, as we all say.

The fact that Beach Nut uses only real fruits and veggies, only quality ingredients that

are actually locally sourced, never any artificial ingredients or preservatives, and just simple

and clean things that you can feel good about giving your baby.

Which probably explains why a lot of the flavors I see are like just apple and just pineapple

pear and avocado.

It's just that.

How did you get into it?

So I am the admin of my parents and children's group, Facebook group that you mentioned.

And they actually messaged me asking me if I'd be interested in an ambassadorship.

And I immediately said, absolutely.

It sounds like a dream job.

I am always at play places with my children.

And.

I mean, mom, every single day that I would love to educate on the best choice of what

to feed, you know, your baby when you're first starting out.

And I just thought, I didn't even know this job existed.

This is perfect for me.

And at the time, at the time I had a nine month old and it was perfect timing.

Right.

It's so great when you can take your passion for a food or a service or a brand.

And put it together and like it, you can't really call it work.

Right.

Because, um, no, you're so passionate about it.

It just comes so natural.

So let's talk a little bit about, um, feeding your baby and starting your baby on solids

because like you talk about in your day-to-day life, two things, sleep and food.

And I think that I can't really think of anything that's probably more important and also more important.

And I think it's more challenging for a new or experienced mom because things are always changing.

How, how did you approach, um, that phase where you're starting your baby on solids?

Yeah, food and sleep are definitely key.

Um, you know, in those, in those first few months, um, I actually, my daughter was four months old when we first started her.

And I, I just gave her some smashed, mashed avocado just to see how she would, um, what, what she thought of it.

Right.

And she loved it.

She loved it immediately.

Loved the texture.

Her little tongue took it in.

Um, I think parents, I don't know if, you know, everyone is aware, but when a baby is taking food in with their tongue,

they're actually telling you they're ready.

If they're sticking their tongue out with the food, kind of pushing it out with their tongue, they're not ready.

And it's, it's, um, a good idea to just wait a little bit longer.

Um, kind of a good tip, uh, for those who may not know.

And she was so excited about that, that I decided to then start giving her more and more purees.

I always start with vegetables.

First, because you don't want to give the fruit and have them want the taste for sweet.

I already have a sweet tooth, so I didn't want to create that in my daughter.

Well, that's good advice because I never, I know that a long time ago, everybody used to start with applesauce and, um, that seemed to be the first thing everyone, um, did.

Yeah.

And it sounds like, you know, it, it sounds like it makes a, makes a, um, that it makes sense, but honestly, you don't want to give your child the first thing.

Out the gate, you know, something sweet because you're really kind of setting them up for, um, wanting sweets for the rest of their life.

So you really want to just introduce those vegetables and vegetables are actually sweet on their own, especially when it's just the, you know, real, uh, real vegetable and nothing added or anything like that.

You know, you're going to get that, that really fresh, uh, delicious taste.

It's amazing how far baby food has come because the flavors out there that are available.

Now are, are just amazing.

And, you know, you just mentioned avocado and you would never think to give your baby avocado.

Um, what things have you done to incorporate baby food, beach nut, baby food into your recipes?

Because there's a lot of that going on as well.

And we're not talking about just babies who can eat these beach nut foods, but also toddlers.

Absolutely.

And even adults.

I mean, I have to admit that I've had a jar of our, uh,

just honey crisp apples just for a little snack.

Cause it's so delicious.

It's the best applesauce I've ever had in my life.

So that definitely happens quite often.

Um, well, there is a, a jar that we have our stage two jar of the raspberry avocado and, um, oh, um, apples, I believe.

And it is so delicious.

If you freeze it, you can make it into smoothies.

Um, people don't think about things like that, you know, and you're getting that, that fresh, those fresh, uh, fruits already ready to go.

You don't have to buy a big bag of it at your local grocery store.

You have it right there, um, with beach nut and you know that you're getting the best quality, but my very favorite recipe so far has been a very healthy Mac and cheese that, um, substitutes half of the cheese for actually butternut squash.

So I didn't have butternut squash on me, but I did have a jar of just butternut squash, a stage one beach nut jar.

So I substituted that and it was the most rich and creamy recipe.

You can imagine.

I mean, the whole family loved it and it was healthy.

It was a healthier version of one of our favorites.

I actually just, um, tasted just carrot, corn and pumpkin, which is delicious.

And I just want to say to everyone, in case you don't know, October 26 is national pumpkin day.

So you and your baby can both celebrate it with just, um, with beach nut, just carrot, corn and pumpkin.

Yeah.

So before we run out of time.

Erin, I just want to ask you, why did you choose beach nut for your child?

And what advice do you have for other mothers thinking about starting solids?

So I wanted something that was exactly like what I was making at home, just an easier version and easier way to get that.

And that's exactly what beach nut is.

It's just real fruit and veggies.

You're never going to have anything added in there.

There's no, like I said before, there's no preservatives, no additives, nothing.

And I just felt really safe and good giving my child something that I would basically be making at home.

Um, just an easier version and a jar ready to go.

I was the nanny of, um, a family of four and to be able to just throw a couple of jars or a couple of pouches in my bag and go was so convenient.

And I felt so good about what I was giving my baby throughout the day.

Um, and you know, yeah, that's, that's very, very important.

And I want to make sure that we get in of the website as well.

It's beach nut.com.

And there you'll find where to buy the product, the story behind the product, all the different foods.

And, uh, they even have some ideas for use of those really cute jars as well.

So Aaron, thank you so much for joining us today.

And, uh, we'll have a link to beach nut.com posted on the website.

Thank you for joining us on mom talk radio.

Thank you so much for having me, Maria.

Have a great day.

Mom talk radio, a busy mom's best friend.

Welcome back to mom talk radio.

I'm Michelle Gerson in for Maria Bailey and on the line with me.

I have Andrea Corey.

She runs housewives in the city.

That's one of her many businesses.

She also owns a marketing and events firm in the DC market.

She has a startup media kids.com, but most importantly, she is a mom to a 10 year old boy and get this a five month old girl.

Andrea, where do you find the time?

Thank you.

Um, you know what?

I have the best team that supports me.

So whether it's my mom or my assistant, I'm, uh, I'm always surrounded by someone that's, that's given me that extra push to keep going.

That's great.

Yeah.

I really think that support is so important, especially when you're a new parent or you have your second child, because there's just such limited time in the day.

Well, and I'm like a new parent all over because I waited 10 years to have my second child.

Right.

So you forget about all the things.

That, um, go on with a brand new baby.

And I mean, we're in month five, so we're starting to get a routine, but it has been tough coming back to the workplace.

I only took about three weeks off before, um, we were back in event season.

So it's, uh, it's been awesome.

Yeah.

So tell me about housewives in the city.

Um, housewives in the city.

I started it back in 2011.

I was fresh out of college and I had a really kind of lame government job.

And, uh, a mortgage and a baby.

And, um, I was looking for a way to meet girlfriends and, you know, my neighborhood or my community.

And I just started a little blog in my bed one night and thought maybe there'd be other women out there that were looking for a reason to put, you know, a babysitter on their calendar.

Um, and so we went from like an online platform to meeting up once a month, um, in the DC market.

And now we do it in 50 cities across the country, everywhere from Seattle to Charlotte to Tampa.

Um, Chicago, we have a huge following of over a million women, uh, monthly.

That's absolutely incredible because I know I run a plate AIDS group.

I'm in New York on, I run a plate AIDS group for the Upper West Side and moms just crave to get out of the house, but then to be able to get out without the little ones, because we do need breaks sometimes.

Yeah, absolutely.

Actually, when we started, we, um, we hired a childcare company to come and we would like rent a ballroom at the hotel for the kids.

Smart.

And then the moms would hang out.

They would hang out and network and mingle.

And even if you don't have a business that you're coming out to network, um, you know, some stay at home moms, the cool thing about what we did was that it could be a plastic surgeon or a young school teacher or a stay at home mom, and we could put them all in the same room.

And our common bond was that we were women.

Um, so that kind of set us apart from other networking or meetup groups was that you could be a mom or you didn't have to.

Um, but you know, most of us are, so it was really cool to get to meet so many women in different phases and seasons of their lives.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think there's a lot of power in that.

So if somebody wants to become a housewife in the city or run a housewife in the city, in their city, if there's not one already doing it, how can they go about getting in touch with you?

Oh, um, we have an online submission form.

So if you want to join our team, um, we don't, you know, there's no fee to do it.

We just are looking for great women that are leaders in their community.

Um, you can go to housewivesinthecity.com click, join our team, and then you can apply to be a part of it.

Yeah.

So we actually, you know, beyond just meeting up once a month, our housewives team, we kind of call it our housewife family.

So all the girls in different cities, we connect online too.

And we share stories and we've come like, we're kind of like a little sorority online.

And then, um, last year we did a conference together in Vegas and, you know, it's, it's a lot of nice, encouraging, positive women.

Um, so it's been a great experience for me.

I learned so much from the girls that I work with.

Um, hopefully I can.

Lead them as well, but I honestly probably learn more from them than they do from me.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

To be able to reach out and to have that network, I think is so important because like I was saying, even when I get together with these moms on our play dates group, we have no idea what we each do outside of being with our children.

So to have that support emotionally, and then if you are looking for something professionally to network with them, or you're just looking to support people in your community, um, with their businesses, I think it's so important.

And you also have another company, media kids.

Dot com, which real briefly, tell me what that's about, because I know that's launching soon.

Well, you being an influencer, I'm an influencer, anybody who's an influencer space, we, um, are all pitching our media kits to brands.

So it's just an auto generated template so that it takes a little bit of pressure off the influencer when they're submitting their content.

It pulls your numbers in real time.

Um, and we have everyone from like huge YouTubers with millions and millions and millions of views to, um, like the local influencers.

Like.

You or I that are on the site.

So it's been a really cool, um, yeah, platform to use.

Yeah, because I know putting together a media kit is not easy.

So that is a great resource.

Andrea, Corey, thank you so much for joining me today.

I hope to have you on the show again really soon.

And I want to talk to you more about all your businesses and good luck with your precious little five month old girl.

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

It was a pleasure.

And thank you so much to all of my guests today for joining me on the show.

It was a pleasure being here with you.

You can follow.

Follow me on social media, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

I'm Michelle Jerson from passport mommy, and this is mom talk radio.