Babe's First Swan Birthday

Thursday, December 29, 2016


tassel garland: GlamFete Swan Cookies: Domestique Bakery  party supplies: Kate Aspen


We celebrated our baby's first birthday a few weeks ago! Boy quickest year yet! Since she's our winter baby we decided to go with a princess swan party! We knew we were having lots of family over so we needed to keep this buffet style, and you guys, we live in a pretty small house so we had to rearrange our entire furniture JUST to get enjoy chairs for everyone to sit. We even brought in our outdoor chairs! It was great all the family who came and celebrated our sweet baby turning 1! 

I made the balloon garland with these balloons, added these, a few hot pink ones, and a few small clear, we used a compressor to fill them up and added them to this balloon tape, it was super easy! We used a majority of the tape, but it made making a balloon garland SO easy in just 45 minutes! 

Happy Birthday to our Baby Girl, which I'm still in denial that shes a toddler now!

Babes 1st Christmas List

Wednesday, December 7, 2016



one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine 

Hey guys, today I'm rounded up all my favorites + what we got Charlie for Christmas
Since she was only 20+ days old on her first Christmas this year is big for us, like we got out the tree (maybe a little smaller one but still counts), and other Christmas decorations. I was so excited to shop for her this year! And we picked up all these during black friday or just recently on sale so it's a win win! A few nights ago she took a few steps towards us, just a few, but I'm sure in the next few month she'll be walking. So we got something that she could push (for now), she got that cute shopping cart for her birthday, and some boots she can wear in a few months! And I have to be honest we haven't bought her a stocking yet, so I'm putting her stocking gifts in her hunter boots! 

She also wears pig tails all the time, so adding a simple cute bow is a must, and that bow pack is just too cute! A book for reading - she loves just flipping through the pages. Mon Petit shoes for easy walking, they are so soft, we actually got the rose gold pair. I picked up the cutest clothes from Cottonon, the mermaid shirt is by far my favorite. Fun cloud shaped floor cushions for her playroom!

I also picked up a few hair of these cute pineapple hair clips + straw sippy cups like this one.




Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Tuesday, December 6, 2016


Happy Happy Birthday to our baby girl! 
Seriously, where did the last year go, we're not really sure? 
We brought home a little 8 lb 13 ounce baby girl, and somehow she turned into this big girl who loves to sing, say "uh oh", giggle when dad comes home, eat gold fish like no ones business, and drinks from a straw. Seriously. This girl fills our world. But let me tell you she is strong willed, so my biggest birthday wish is that she doesn't ever lose that. This world is tough, so she's going to need every ounce of feisty, opinion that shes got, I have no doubt that she'll hold her own ground. She got a lot of her dad in her but one day I'm going to be thankful for that! My biggest birthday wish for her is to know that it's okay to fail, failure brings success, to always trust your gut, to never get discouraged... because baby girl the world is your oyster! 

Happy 1st Birthday sweet baby girl! I'll be sharing her swan party here in a bit!


Holiday Product Spotlight with JORD watches

Thursday, November 17, 2016


Today I'm sharing a REALLY fun watch + giveaway! How awesome, one winner will receive a $75 e-gift card to JORD watch, and the really great part about this giveaway is that even if you don't win, just by entering you get a $20 e-gift card to JORD watches!

So first let me say, I know I don't blog about my husband much because let's be honest babies + DIY's are so much cuter, kidding, but he really is the best. He's a hard working guy that let's just say something has to be COMPLETELY worn out before he will even consider throwing it away. He likes quality, and JORD watches are a perfect fit for him. His favorite was the this watch. JORD watches come in Mens and Women's styles, and have such a timeless simplest look. These unqiue men's watches are made out of wood, and the coolest part about it, it doesn't require a battery! Yes that's right, it has a self winding automatic wind system so it never dies nor do you have to charge it.

These watches make the perfect holiday gift for any guy in your life, husband, brother, or dad. They are stylish and manly. Honestly, my husband is not an "accessory" guy or a watch wear-er and he has worn this everyday! Be sure to enter the giveaway here, and get you $20 e-gift card.

Giveaway link: Here. Giveaway ends December 11th 11:59 PM. Good luck!

Happy Holiday Shopping & Thanksgiving! Of course, we had to throw in babie & watches!


Giveaway link: HereGiveaway ends December 11th 11:59 PM. Good luck!

This post was sponsered by JORD watches Wooden Wristwatch

Dress up must haves.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine


Can you believe that Halloween is over? We had so much fun, I'll have to do a post about charlie babe's outfit + halloween get up! So I still have a little bit of Halloween dress up on the brain plus I'm redoing our sweet babe's playroom, and I'm incorporating a small corner for a dress up rack with play clothes. So I rounded up this fun list of must haves for any little girl, because I love anything whimsical.

I can't get enough of CottonOn's accessories right now, they are spot on! Hopefully by christmas we will have the playroom semi-put together. We have some fun DIY house shelves we will be sharing! 

Halloween Clips

Wednesday, October 19, 2016



Hey guys, I'm over at Destination Nursery sharing some super cute modern hair clips,
These bad bows are super easy! Head over here to read more, on how to make these, I kid you not they will take less than 20 minutes for all 5 of them, and that cat clip, see photos below because I mean big tails with them... all the heart eyes! And a little disclaimer: photos with a 10 month old are hit or miss, these were a miss, but I mean how cute!





baby basics + too long.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016



Hi there, it's been too long I admit that somewhere in the last 9 months I've taken a little bit of, what we can call, an "extended baby leave". While I went back to work after week 13 my life suddenly happened in FAST forward, and I lost track of all time. I savored the moments of my break and all those tiny moments, I literally had to tell myself to I'm ready to be back!

So here's the deal, I promised to still enjoy my baby's little years, so a new post 1-2 times a week. Of course one post being a DIY. Man, I've been dying to get my hands on some projects!

I'm planning my baby's playroom, 1st birthday, and we've got lots of FUN DIY's we can't wait to share.

So I'm coming back! This week I have a cute DIY felt flower headband to share. In the meantime, I rounded up my baby must have's. Right, like there's a million of these, I'm fully aware. But these were my "Go-to" for the first 9 months! In fact I've recently packed away some of these as those months have closed, and now she's in a "crawling-pulling everything out of the cabinet-beat it against the wood floor phase." But seriously, this is my thing, The snuggly swaddle baby phase is priceless, but these new stages are fun, everyday is a new adventure!

I'll also be sharing baby sales, deals, and essentials for each season. Stay tune!


Baby Basics 

All of these products are honestly tested by me, they were and some still are my go-to, hands down they worked the absolute best for us - I could probably talk about each item and how great it is for several minutes.

Ubbi Pail- No smell + you can use your own trash bags, need I say more?

Orbit Infant Car Seat- Sadly our 23+ lb baby outgrew this, but this is a breeze to get in and out of the car, it swivels making post c-section super easy to just lift high enough to get it on the base, than just click and swivel it into place, and it has its own stretchy cover that is build into the shade.

Dock-a-tot- Next baby I swear, I'm starting with this, they sleep like little angels in this, snug as a bug. but this made transitioning over to crib sleeping a breeze!

Joovy Glass Bottles- The only bottle our baby would take, I still have over 5 different brand of bottles in our basement. No worries about BPA, + these warm up quickly!

Beaba Spoons- Great for transitioning into solids-plus their silicon so baby loves to chew on this. toy + utensil, best of both worlds.

Angel Care- SIDS is scary. This mat detects moment + video so you can watch your baby sleep. If baby doesn't move for a certain period of time the alarm goes off.

Swaddle- Lifesaver during the first months of sleeping at night.

Ikea High Chair- While I love all the cute fancy high chairs, this one is lightweight making moving around the house easy + has a big tray for when baby starts eating solids. Functional at a great price

Britax Affinity- If you're planning a second baby get the B-ready. But this stroller rides so smoothly + it's semi-compact. downside no cup holder.

Kickeepants- Softest jammies every, all I every buy. A great going home outfit from the hospital!

Baby Bum Brush- aka the mini butt spatula- No mess. MUST HAVE

Solly Baby Wrap - Ah, lifesaver many, many times, I could do the dishes while she slept. At 5+ months she still loved this!

Burts Bee Diaper Ointment- The best. Maximum strength by morning no more red bum!

Owlet Baby Monitor- Just trust me buy this. You wont regret it. Monitors baby oxygen + heart rate. Goes off if the levels elevate or drop, plays a lullaby when this happens + the base station turn a color to notify you which level has dropped. This is linked to your iphone so you can check babies heart rate all the time. Infact one late night I had to run to the store while my hubby + baby were asleep and I could check on her at the store. This is worth the peace of mind.

Boon Grass- We are still using this. Best drying rack. Get the little white trees- good for holding binkies + bottle pieces. Get the big one.

Boon Silicon Feeder- A great into to self feeding- we started  with this then moved toward small bites of food. Great for hand-to-mouth coordination. Great for teething babies.

St Patrick's Day Ombre Donuts.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016






Ombre donuts, because the last 3 1/2 months have vanish before my eyes! But for absolutely good reasons, like our little Charlie go who we just can't seem to get enough of! Thursday is St. Patrick's day! No better day to kick off the day than with donuts + frosted green donuts, at that!

Cake donuts, add more green food coloring for darker donuts, frost, then add some more food coloring, than stack, voila, ombre donuts. Easiest & yummiest treat for everyone.

Go treat yourself!

Welcome to the world baby girl.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

 

Meet our Miss Charlotte Ann

On December 1st we welcomed this sweet baby girl into the world, 
Did I say sweet, I mean heavily opinionated! This babe came out screaming, and I do mean screaming,  she was 8 lbs 13 ounces of squishy loveliness! Since this sweet pea was taking her time getting here I went in for an induction, things seemed to be going, slowly, but going, 23 hours later, I was left with a tough decision, I could keep laboring for a few more hours & push for up to 5 hours, or I could go in for a c-section. After lots of tears, lots. I decided to opt for a c-section. Boy, was I glad I did, this sweet bundle was stuck, there was no way she was going to make it out. After my sweet doctor, seriously, having a great OB makes a world of difference, we are so thankful for her, got me all fixed up & out of the operating room, I got to hold my girl. In my drugged state, I think I just kept saying, is she okay? Is she healthy? Like everything is fine? Oh it was, and ever since this tiny almost 9 lbs has changed my world.

Since delivery went a little differently than I expected, I think so did the rest of my recovery was a little rough, mostly emotionally, postpartum blues are all too REAL. I remember standing in the shower, keep in mind barely getting myself there, just sobbing, like not being able to control myself, I couldn't shut-it-off-sobbing. The rawness of all the emotions I felt just HIT me, like a brick wall. I just had this baby and I kept thinking HOW am I ever suppose to take care of her, nurse her, when I cant even get myself out of this hospital bed? But we made it, so thankful for a husband who was able to take off 2 weeks to be at home with us. Charlie girl was born with a bump on her head which resulted in jaundice, so at home nurses came & she wore a blue light with a vacuum thing attached to it for a few days until her levels went down, we tracked every wet diaper, when she nursed, if we fed her a bottle with breast milk, ect., we were so glad when that was over & she resumed a normal color again.

Than around the 2 week mark she would cry NON-stop, like uncontrollable crying, mixed with screaming for 20 out of the 24 hours a day, well except for when she nursed, than 10 minutes after just cry for hourrrsss. I would wait for my husband to get home just so I could stand in the shower & sob, not knowing what I was doing, I second guessed myself, because every new mom feeling in me doubted myself, I questioned everything... Am I nursing too long, is she getting enough, is she tired, is she colic? I mean I just ran through everything in my head a million times. So I packed her up in her car seat, in the middle of a blizzard, & headed to the pediatricians office. We found out after a few days that she was dairy & soy intolerant. Things got better, a lot better, but at night she would still scream for HOURS. So back I went... this time I went for this noisy & high-pitched breathing she had & the screaming at night. So it was stridors & reflux. We were referred to an ENT which diagnosed her with laryngomalacia. Sounds scary... but you should hear her breathing sometimes, its even scarier.... but finally I had this baby who was finally feeling better, smiling at us, and being happy when she was awake. Finally at week 6, it took me this long, I regained my sanity, I could control my feelings, I felt like myself, well I'll get to that in a second... and almost 8 weeks later we have a happy baby, who loves her dad, being swaddled, bathtime, car rides, and playing.

Here's what I can sum motherhood up to. It's scary, it's raw, it's overwhelming, it's self-doubting, it's hard, but it's also joyful, it's happy, it's new, it's overwhelming love, it's nothing like I've felt before. There are days that all I do is rock my baby, fed her, love her, play with her, and nothing gets done. I felt like on days like this I was a failure, the world outside passed me by & all I did was sit here and take care of my baby, but trust me, it's in these moments that I realized.. it's about the snuggles, its about her needing me, because one day I'll be driving her to college and missing the time I got to rock her in her room & stare out the window watch the snow fall. She is our everything, she turned our world completely upside down but looking back we wouldn't have changed it for the world, even with the weeks of the uncontrollable conflicted emotions, mixed with weeks of uncontrollable screaming, she is worth it.

There are good days, there are rough days but when she discovers something new in her world we completely fall in love all over again.

Today I am thankful for the divine gift of motherhood. It wasn't easy in the beginning, in fact there were days I was terrified of being alone with her, when she cried I cried, but that's in the past, and oh my, we LOVE her. 

We love her....square mouth, her strong-willed personality, & most of all her happy baby coo's & smiles. 

The many faces of our Charlotte Ann, all the short span of 4 minutes!