2017 Gift Guide for Her
Christmas is about twelve days away! Are you ready? If you answered no, then you’re in the same boat I am! Don’t fret. There’s always Amazon. My husband and I have a slight obsession with Amazon, to the point where we have a Prime Amazon credit card because you get 5% back on Amazon purchases. Yeah. It’s probably an unhealthy habit. But luckily for you, I’ve scoured Amazon to find you 12 gifts for those ladies in your life. And in true Amazon enthusiast fashion, most of them, if not all… are Prime. Boo-ya!
one | two | three | four | five
six | seven | eight | nine | ten | eleven | twelve
You have your standards: nail polish, the perfect red lipstick, a snazzy 2018 planner, the ultimate face mask…but then you switch it up with a delicate white and gold wireless computer mouse (because no woman likes seeing those gawd awful computer cords), Turkish hand towels and some remote-control candles. Just don’t let the toddler eat said candles because apparently they smell so good that they’ll just want to try them. Speaking from experience here. Not one of my candles were tasted, but two. Just to be really sure they weren’t for eating. Moscow mule mugs, pretty glass lotion pumps because us women always want to put things into different, prettier containers (again, speaking from experience), a leather tassel just for funsies, and a whipped cream dispenser.
Now, if you’re wondering why the hell I put a whipped cream dispenser on there, it’s really for the coffee lovers in your life. A friend recently introduced me to homemade NITRO COLD BREW. Shit was da bomb-diggity. You use a whipped cream dispenser (like above) to create the silkiest, sweetest, smoothest cold brew of your life. Is your mind blown? Yeah. Mine was too. Your welcome and happy gifting.
PS: I am an Amazon affiliate so those links are amazon links.
Holiday Gift Guide for Toddlers & Infants
With the holiday season just around the corner I’ve created a couple of gift guides to hopefully ease the question of, “What should I get for…”
For Emmie’s Christmas wish list, and for toddlers aged 2-5, I think having a Christmas list or holiday gift guide with several different categories helps make the overall “haul,” if you will, well rounded. For the 3 year old girl I made sure to have art supplies for creating things, dress up to encourage imaginative play, and a scissor cutting book for fine motor skills practice. There’s also play money with a calculator-register to encourage math & financial learning, some pretty fun animal hair clips to wear and a real cooking set for kids to help in the kitchen with meal prep. Lastly, to round out the categories is a book to read. I chose Rosie Revere Engineer because we picked up this doll from Target…which leads to the last category of play with the doll armoire. This guide can also be easily adjusted for boys too!
  markers || Melissa & Doug coloring pack || doll armoire  || Anna dress || Rapunzel dress
kids cooking set || play money || scissor skills book
hair clips  || Rose Revere Book
The one year old infant has a very similar styled gift guide also broken up into categories. We have musical instruments to encourage sound exploration, headbands & soft jammies to wear, bath color drops for sensory play and a rain cloud bath toy for cause and effect exploration. A teether toy covers the incessant need for gnawing & chewing and a nice interactive book to read rounds out the selection.
musical instruments || mushroom teether || bath color drops || rain cloud bath toy
 headbands  || purple stripe jammies  ||  Melissa & Doug soft book
4th of July Weekend
That last picture is both of us trying to convince the 3 year old tornado to just come back and take a few more pictures. She had other plans. Ah, well, life with a toddler is always interesting. We had a very relaxing long weekend. We actually opted to not see fireworks this year as Emmie has been pretty sensitive to loud sounds lately…i.e. every time I try to vacuum she runs with her hands over her ears and burrows into the blankets on her bed. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekends! Now back into full-swing for this short week!
A Holiday Maternity Look & Pink Blush Giveaway!
Just the other day something incredible happened. I received an email. Now, this email was like no other email I’ve ever received. This email was from a company, specifically Pink Blush, asking if I was interested in collaborating with them as a blogger. Say what? Cue the happy dance. No, really, I did an actually happy dance – my husband can testify to this fact, I’m pretty sure he wishes he recorded it as it was a really sweet dance.
Well, not only was this company one I had heard of before, but it was one I actually did a lot of fake online shopping to. Fake online shopping includes picking out items, putting them in your online shopping cart and then when you’ve racked up a huge sum from all the amazing things you’d love to buy, you close the tab and go to bed. Needless to say, I was very familiar with their cute maternity clothes and immediately jumped at the opportunity to work with Pink Blush.
With the holidays coming up this was the perfect opportunity to find something comfortable, trendy and versatile enough to dress up for the holiday festivities but also wear on a day to day basis – because let’s face it, when you hit the 3rd trimester almost everything stops fitting.
It was so hard to choose, but when I saw this dress, I knew it was the one. It was perfect to dress up for the holidays but just as easily dressed down for a more casual look. Not to mention this dress doesn’t make me want to change into sweatpants 10 minutes after I put it on. It is so incredibly comfortable and the fit is spot on. I have plenty of room for my growing belly in this dress, thanks to the stretchy fabric, which is a relief because I swear I’m getting bigger every single day in this last trimester.
I’ve also rounded up some other amazing options for the holidays on the Pink Blush website which could be yours because Pink Blush has so graciously offered a $75 gift card to their store for one of my readers! Make sure you head over to my instagram to find out how to enter. Not pregnant? No problem! Pink Blush isn’t just maternity clothing, they also offer women’s, plus size, cute baby items, and even things like accessories and shoes! Seriously, what are you waiting for? Go enter this giveaway!
I received my amazing plaid dress for free in return for my honest opinion. This has been your friendly disclosure statement.
Halloween Recap
Halloween is officially over. We’ve packed away our spooky decor and gorged ourselves on tasty treats. Emmie had a nice time trick-or-treating this year with her friends. She was slow and shy in the beginning but as the night wore on she turned into a pro: running up to houses, yelling “trick or treat,” and remembering her manners with a thank-you…well, most of the time. She had so much fun that after every house whenever we’d say, “Okay, let’s go,” meaning onto the next house, she’d cry out, “NO! No go home!” She loved wearing the Princess Sofia costume I made for her, so much so, that she’s worn it every day since. I think it’s safe to say Halloween was a success this year.
Mother’s Day
Motherhood starts way before you ever hold your babe in your arms. It even starts before you carry that little babe in your belly. Eating right and working out. Prenatal vitamins, tracking temperatures and reading countless fertility books. Little purchases forgone so you could squirrel away the money knowing one day you’d have the tinniest socks to buy. Hopes and dreams and sacrifices.
Then you grow your baby, surrendering your coffees, your drinks, your productivity and ankles. You start counting your time in weeks, then days, then hours and minutes. Finally, a little voice is brought into the world and you continue on your journey with hopes and dreams and sacrifices.
Rocking, shushing, snuggling, swaddling, feeding, wiping away tears and wiping bums. Choking back tears to soothe a terrified face at the doctors. A heart so full it might burst. Late night cries and early morning giggles. The terrifying doubts of being enough. Long days turning into short weeks, and snug clothes packed away. Your heart aches with hopes and dreams and sacrifices.
Being a mother is all consuming. It engulfs you in an endless see of love, doubt, anxiety and joy. You ride so high, and fall so low. It seeps it’s way into your personality. You’re Mom: warrior princess, doctor supreme, head chef, and monster-trapper. You’re a blanket, a song, a smile, a kiss. You are the arms of comfort and the hand of authority. You are hopes and dreams and sacrifices.
So cheers to you Moms, may you feel the love of your little one where ever they may be. May you find courage and strength to continue on, for without you we are nothing.
Easter & Weekend Wrap Up
Have you ever had one of those moments where after it’s over you feel like you’ve just been enveloped in a warm hug? Well, our weekend was like one freakin’ humongous bear hug. We had my in-laws come down where we splurged on nice food, dressed up in fancy dresses, had an easter egg hunt, enjoyed a day full of sunshine, and three days of pure love. Weekend like these fuel you up and come Monday you’re ready to tackle it all. Your soul is happy, your spirit elated and life is peaceful. Thanks for such a wonderful visit Grandma & Grandpa O! We love you.
Prepping for Easter
We took Emerson to a local farm for a private Easter egg hunt with some of our friends. Girlfriend was diggin’ it. She got to pet baby chicks, see a calf drink from a bottle, go for a hayride and she hunted down those Easter eggs like a boss.
Birthday Memories
It was my birthday this weekend. We didn’t do much celebrating since Hubby is still in full force study mode since he defends his PhD thesis this week. I continued my normal daily duties of a stay at home mom, and mumbled about the fact that it snowed for the second year in a row on my birthday. Good grief!
Since the weekend produced nothing in the blog-worthy category, I thought we could reminisce about a birthday that happened last June. My sweet little lady bug turned one. I wrote this entry back on the eve of Emerson’s first birthday:
Today Emerson saw the ocean for the first time. She marched right up to the crest where dry sand meets sand frequently drenched with ocean waves, lifted her little arm and said ooh. Yes, my girl is one after my own heart, the beach is in her blood. She picked up handful after handful of sand, explored dried seaweed, and not once did she try to eat a “sand cookie,” something my younger self can’t claim.
It wasn’t until Kyle was wrapping Emmie up in a towel and asked her, “do you remember when we used to swaddle you?,” that it hit me. My little girl is no longer a baby. Her smooshy, cheeky baby face has thinned out into a peanut toddler face. She no longer needs me to hold her head, and rarely does she want me to hold her hand. Yes, my little one loves to walk, explore, reach, and climb. She loves to dance, read and snuggle her animals. My little girl is turning one tomorrow.
This year has flown by. While we had some hard moments, all that floods my memory are all the amazing times we’ve had as a family of three. I simply cannot remember what life was like without my little Emerson. I am so excited to see what this next year brings. I love you Emma Claire and you will always be my baby.
Would you be my Valentine?
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and for the first time, in a long time, the hubster and I are headed out on a Date Night! Granted, it’s the weekend after Valentine’s Day, but it includes free babysitting so we are not complaining.
One of the best things about going out, for me at least, is getting ready! Spending all day with a toddler, “looking nice,” consists of putting on a bra and maybe washing my face. You know, in case I have to answer the door. With a date night in an adult atmosphere with adult conversation & adult drinks, I can trade in my sneakers for heels, my lunch smeared tee’s for pretty tanks…and I can wear a necklace without worrying about grabby toddler hands! Ah yes, date night is really just an excuse to look nice for a change.
For our Valentine’s Date I’m going for the “I don’t have a toddler with me but I still want to be comfortable,” look. What’s that you ask? It’s my go to “look put together,” outfit. A simple textured blouse, a snazzy jacket, skinny jeans and booties. Slap on a pendant necklace, some subtle studs and a complimenting watch and I am ready to roll.
Are you doing anything special to celebrate Valentine’s Day?