40 pounds lighter

No we aren't talking about pregnancy weight... My closet is now 40 pounds lighter! I did some MAJOR clean out this past week and decided it was time to part with several bags of clothing! At my previous job I was only allowed to wear black so I had SOOO many black professional clothing pieces that would not be used in my current "Mommy wardrobe." I also had some pre-pregnancy clothing that I had been holding on to for some time now. I even had some pieces from when I worked at J.Crew 10 years ago that I was holding on to. I probably would have kept this stuff if we didn't live in a 1100 square foot 2 bedroom apartment. Let me tell you closet space is limited and baby stuff if HUGE! We don't have a garage and we share a little storage room with all of the tenants on our floor so closets and space under the bed have turned into prime real estate! 

Now I really love my clothes, like really, really, really love my clothes but it was time to part with things I had not worn in 2+ years. I didn't just want to donate them because pretty much everything I own is from J.Crew, Banana, Old Navy or Ann Taylor Loft so I looked into some consignmenet options. There are not a ton of consignment shops around us so I found a few online and decided to go with Thredup.com. 

This website has a pretty simple process

1. They send you a bag

2. You fill it with clothing from your closet that you no longer want

3. They pay for shipping back to them

4. Then you get money!!! 

Now I still haven't gotten any cash yet since I just sent them in but I am assuming they will take a lot of my stuff. My first bag was 23lbs and this one weighed 17lbs! Now I have so much more room for baby stuff storage and maybe a little extra room for a teeny tiny shopping spree! ;) 

If you think your clothes are super rad and want back what they don't take you can pay $9.95 for your items to be shipped back. Me personally once it's gone I don't want it back! 

Now onto Peter's closet... :-) 

Doggie Days of Summer

So my Hubby is literally one of my favorite people in this world. He is incredibly smart, seriously handsome, and has the funniest sense of humor. Peter thinks many normal things in life are just too funny. For example he absolutely loves chubby babies. He told me every day while I was pregnant to eat donuts so I could grow him a chubby baby. Luckily I did not get gestational diabetes and Ava was born at a normal weight and since then has grown some of the most adorable perfect leg rolls. Peter also loves oddly shaped animals, his favorite is the dachshund. Peter told me one day that if we ever "fall into some money" he wants to retire and own a farm, normal enough dream... Then he told me that he would like to breed dachshunds on this farm. I think he saw my absolute confusion so he further clarified. He said how funny would it be to see a heard of dachshunds run over a hill, their little legs working as hard as possible, their ears flapping away and their bodies slightly touching the ground with every leap. I could not stop laughing! Of course Peter was kidding, sort of. As you can imagine this has no become a long running joke with our friends and family. Everyone knows of Peter's fondness for the oddly shaped 4 legged furry friend. So throughout the years we have collected some memorbelia as an hommage to his dream. 

The obvious, yet still funny, dachshund corn on the cob holder 

The oh so helpful and so delightful dachshund rubber cable ties

The dachshund summer serving platter

And the newest addition to the collection, dachshund shorty shorts. Perfect for exposing those perfect baby thighs! 

Love you babe. XOXO

Oh and P.S. If we ever "fall into some money" we will not be owning a farm but a beach house instead. ;) 

Silky Silky Smooth

A few months ago I went to get my hair cut and my hairstylist used Pureology Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner on my hair. Let me tell you my hair felt AMAZING! It felt super clean, silky, smooth, and the frizz was gone! The scent is also super nice as well, minty/rose/lavender/sage'ish smell. I did a little research on it and it is also 100% vegan and sulfate free! Click HERE to check it out! 

And for silky smooth baby hair I would recommend California Baby Tea Tree and Lavender Shampoo and Baby Wash. 

Talk about baby spa time this shampoo smells absolutely amazing and is strong enough to clean Ms. Ava's full head of hair but also super soft for her skin. I actually purchased it when she had a bad case of cradle cap several months ago and it helped heal it right up! So far everything I have ever purchased from California Baby has been incredible and worth every penny! She seems to like it too!

It's Baby Time! Leave the lavender incense at home.

So a few of my friends are expecting and have asked me what do you really need to take to the hospital. You want to make sure you have everything you need but do you really need to take everything? Being prepared is key but honestly while you are popping out a baby you are not going to be wishing you brought your lavender aroma therapy incense. 

Basically you need 2 bags, 1 for the delivery room and 1 for your overnight stay. Here are my recommendations for the delivery room.

1. Pillow with a patterned or colored pillow case (make sure it's not a good one because it might need to be tossed)

2. Dark patterned robe to walk around in (you want it dark and patterned incase your milk comes in and you get spots) 

3. Your camera (make sure the battery is charged!)

4. Extra hair bands and bobby pins

5. Some sort of baby toy or clothing item that reminds you that your baby is ALMOST HERE! (I took Sophie and every time I would have a really bad contraction I would stare at her and think about how Ms. Ava was almost here)

6. Ipad (load up some music you want to hear or just have it handy incase you have extra time... haha ya right on the "extra time")

7. Sports bra, socks, and slippers (make sure the slippers aren't too slippery! You'll want them if you have to walk the halls to get things moving)

8. Tennis ball and massager (There is nothing better than a tennis ball being rubbed up and down your back if you are in back labor) 

9. An extra tee shirt and sweater for the Hubby (You will be sweating like crazy but the Hubs might think the 62 degree room is a little chilly) 

10. Snacks and water for Hubby (my recommendation is nothing too noisy and stuff they can make easily. The last thing you want is a chip bag crinkling while you are starving and in pain) 

11. Extra cash for the vending machines for EXTRA snacks for the Hubby (gotta stay hydrated and full to be a good coach)

12. Phone charger (You never know how long you'll be in there and you'll want to send that "Welcome to the World" picture text to family near and far)

The hospital bag for the overnight stay is also very important. After you just popped out that little one you will want to spend all your time gazing at your sweet little love and trying to get a little rest. 

Now for the hospital overnight bag you want first and foremost your tolitries bag. You will be N-A-S-T-Y after delivery and will want a shower or sponge bath or whatever they let you do. So bring...

1. Shampoo and Conditioner

2. Soap (Just make sure you don't bring soap that extra fragrant because your baby will not like it and doesn't care if you smell like cucumber melon or vanilla and grapefruit)

3. NIPPLE CREAM and more NIPPLE CREAM! Lather up ladies! (Only if you plan on breastfeeding)

4. Deodorant for you and the Hubby

5. Chapstick (the hospital is SUPER dry and you'll want some good lip stuff)

6. Mascara (even though you feel like a zombie a little mascara makes everything better) 

OK next in the bag you will want  

1. Change of clothes for the Hubby.. don't forget the socks! 

2. A nursing tank pyjama set for you with a robe top 

4. Extra nursing tank 

5. flip flops for the shower 

6. The Boppy if you plan on nursing. The lactation consultants will want you to practice with it

7. A cute sleeper or gown for the little one with a matching hat (or you can use the hospital one but I mean roses and bows are SO much cuter) 

8. A going home outfit for baby and something COMFORTABLE and STRETCHY for Momma (Just make sure your going home outfit is not a gown for the baby. You can't do the car seat straps unless they are wearing pants)

9. A warm blanket for the little one to bundle them up in as you leave the hospital (Cuter for those pictures)

Other stuff you might consider is another pillow for the Hubby and more nipple cream for the new Momma ;) 

Yum yum in my tum tum

So I have been making some pretty delicious things this month and I wanted to share. 1 is good for you and the other one is just is OH SO GOOD!

OK the good for you... Low fat lemon pound cake. We had a couple over for dinner and I wanted to make something relatively healthy for dessert. So off to Pinterest I went and found a recipe for low fat lemon pound cake. It was super easy and absolutely yummy!

 I made mine in a bunt pan and served it with mango sorbet, blackberries, and strawberries. Click HERE for the recipe.

The next one is absolutely amazing and probably terrible for you but it was super delicious. I had this french toast souffle at my friend Allison's house at a Christmas brunch. This week I volunteered to bring a breakfast item to the Mom's Bible study I go to. As soon as I volunteered I knew EXACTLY what to make! Let me tell you it was a hit and the whole house smelled like maple syrup. 

I am sure you could make with low fat cream cheese and reduced sugar syrup but it's good to be bad every now and again. Click HERE for the recipe and enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

When I think of the word Mom I think of many different things. I think of warmth, love, kindness, braveness, exhaustion, hugs, kisses, freshly baked cookies, hero, superwoman, chauffeur, cook, maid, doctor, therapist, best friend, and home. I have been blessed with an amazing Mom, a supermom! A woman who has absolute unconditional love for me, my siblings, and her grand babies... heck even the kids down the street! She would do anything for us, give anything for us, and be anything for us. She always encourages, always gives great advice, always finds humor in every situation and always has shown us God's unconditional love. 

The one thing that my Mom has always done was teach us how to have a home that honors God. When I think of the word home and I instantly think of my Mom. I think of a home where laughter is the first thing you hear when you enter in the front door, where food is the first thing you smell and where God is the center of it all. A home is a place where you cry, where you laugh, where you praise, where you entertain, where you pray, where you dance, a home is where you feel safe and where you love. 

Even though I am 2,791 miles away on Mother's Day I feel at home because my Mom has always taught me that near or far home is where there is love. Thank you Mom for always helping us find and create our home.

Fashion Friday- What's a monogram?!

There are several things I like about living in California...  It's between 65-78 degrees 11 months of the year, it only rains 10 days a year, there are 1 million donut shops that sell awesome cake donuts, the fact that Peter works at Google and has awesome an awesome job, free food and amazing benfits and a flexbile schedule, that Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Carters, Khols, and several other shopping stores are less than .4 miles away from our home... these are all things I love. But there are also many things I miss about living in the "South." Obviously number 1 would be my family and Peter's family living close by, then biscuits (bojangles in particular), then there is "Southern hospitality" (I mean would it kill you to open the door for the lady with the storller, or make eye contact when I walk past you? Or say that my baby is cute because I know she is smiling at you and you really can't resist those happy eyes!?!?), and then there are monograms. I love that in the "South" people mongram EVERYTHING! You have monogramed towels in the guest bathroom, monogrammed pillows in the master bedroom, monogrammed cheese trays for parties, monogrammed soup dispensers in the kitchen, monogrammed aprons, monogrammed phone cases, monogrammed baby blankets, monogrammed croakies (if you don't know what this is you are NOT from the south), monogrammed button up shirts, monogrammed cashmere sweaters... basically if you can wear it or display it it is monogrammed.

I bought Ava this super cute swiss dot romper that I wanted to have her wear for our Mother's Day church dedication (side note she will not be wearing it this Sunday because my little Princess is very petite and it is still too big even though I took it in... what can I say she is short like her Momma).

Anyways, I looked online to see what local monogramming shops were around. There were NONE! There are no kiosks in the malll, shops on the corner, no tailor shops monogram... nothing! So I posted on Facebook and a friend of mine told me Lids, the hat store in the mall, does custom embroidery  I was also told Thing Remembered does as well but when I called they clearly do no custom embroidery in at this location since there is "no demand." So off to Lids we go. I should have known that a hat shop that has catchy rap phrase hat embroidery displayed all around the shop such as "Mo money mo problems" and "Make it Rain" would not be my type of monogram location. However, this was my only shot an making this adorable swiss dot romper so much cuter with my sweet girls initials.

So here is the short version. We walk in and I say " I would like to monogram this romper." Her response "What's a romper and WHAT IS A MONOGRAM?!" I started in utter disbelief  Then I took out the romper and said "A monogram is someone's initials." She then said "Why would you need that on a piece of clothing? Are you going to forget their name?!" Now I am all fired up but clearly she is not "Southern" and I have Ava with me so I keep my composure and smile (Bless her heart... :-) ) and just say alright do you have any hot pink thread to match these bows?! Next she proceeds to show me that she will do the "monogram" in the middle/bottom of the romper because it will be easier. I politely veto the idea and tell her it should be top middle. I then explain that the middle letter needs to be bigger than the first and middle initial. She says she understands and we leave for 20 minutes while she works her magic.

I should have stayed... I knew I should have stayed and babysat the entire production. But she is a professional... right? Clearly not because this is what I came back to.

Yes those are periods between the letters! My question is while creating a hat slogan DO YOU REALLY USE PERIODS?!?! Why do they even have them?! She did not understand the issue or the horror on my face and I knew I would not win.  She had no clue what was wrong with the job.

After an hour of extreme anger and utter disbelief I decided to let it go. I would order something new on Etsy and it would be fine. Then later that day I remembered I had a little friend named "seam ripper" and possibly he could salvage this horrible catastrophe. An hour later of very very careful seam ripping I was able to remove all the periods and brush down the fabric. It is still spaced wonky and looks a bit odd but once my sweet Princess is a little taller she will be styling and super "Southern" with her first monogrammed outfit!