#targetdoesitagain

So this Fashion Friday post is a little early but it's because I don't know what our nap time schedule will look like tomorrow! Ava is cutting a tooth and her molars are starting to descend so today has been a 2.5 hour nap day but tomorrow could be 30 minutes! 

Anyways, today's blog post is dedicated to everyone's favorite store... Target! Somehow I was living in the dark ages a few months ago and wasn't aware of the Target cartwheel app! I mean coupons... on your phone... that you automatically load? GENIUS!!!! 

I started using this cartwheel app right when Ava's feet grew. Somehow Target KNEW and a 25% off kids shoe coupon showed up! Of course I had to check it out to see if it worked and I got 3 pairs of shoes for $28! I have had a Target red debit card for a while so I also got another 5% off on top of that! AMAZING! 

Well just the other day I realized I needed some more play clothes for Ava for the Spring/Summer. Now you all know how much I love to put Ava in smocked monogrammed dresses but on a day to day basis or #whenpapasincharge (you have to follow my instagram to get that one) you know our days can get messy. 

Ava LOVES to play outside, sit in the mud, splash in puddles, and collect rocks so most of her clothes require intense quantities of oxyclean on a daily basis. Just the other day I decided to divide all of Ava's clothes in her dresser so that when it's the weekend and Peter gets her dressed in the am he knows where her "approved" play clothes are located. This has helped immensely in sparing some of her nicer more expensive outfits from dirt, grass, blueberry stains, etc...

So anyway, back to #targetdoesitagain and my cartwheel app. I was just telling Peter how little Cuties shirts were getting a little tight in the tum tum and how she had no shorts for the Spring and what popped up on my phone... a 5% off Circo clothing and half of them were already on sale for $4! I love Target's Circo clothing line. The separates are great, are fun colors, aren't too cheesy, and wash really well. So I ordered 4 s/s shirts, 3 l/s shirts, 3 pairs of shorts and a pair of easter shoes for $45! Thats right, 11 items, including shoes, for under $50! And because I have a target red card I didn't have to pay ANY shipping!!! 

You literally cannot get mad when a $3.50 shirt gets mud on it. These clothes are perfect for all of fun sunny park days ahead or for #whenPapasincharge! 

10 Things You Miss Once You Are a Mom

So over the past few months I have had several friends have babies and during the last week of their pregnancy they always ask "What should I do before my life changes forever?" I think some of them are just trying to get their mind off of how uncomfortable and anxious they are but some also know that once you are a Mom you will always be a Mom and therefore miss out on many every day "luxuries" that most people take for granted. 

Here are my top 10 things you miss doing once you are a Mom. 

1. Using the bathroom alone: In the beginning your terrified you're child will roll out of something or magically disappear if you run to the bathroom for a minute. Then once your kiddo can start crawling or walking they follow you in there because what you are doing is WAY more interesting than the awesome toy you gave them to distract them for 2 minutes. 
2. Eating a meal at it's proper time or at it's proper temperature: Man I miss eating my food when it's ready. It seems there is always some emergency as soon as your food is ready. Ava also only wants what I am eating if we are eating at the same time, even if she has the EXACT same thing on her food tray. 

3. Not sharing: What's mine is yours is the name of the game with kids. Whatever it is you are eating, drinking, or doing you kiddo will want. Peter drinks grapefruit juice (GAG) but Ava wants some if he is drinking some. She totally gags as soon as she gets a sip but wants more once she sees him drinking it. 
4. Sleeping in: No matter what time you go to bed your kiddo is bound to wake up between 6:30 and 7:30 and they DO NOT go back to sleep until many hours later. The luxury of sleeping in is no more. Unless it's Saturday and Hubs lets me sleep in and then greets me with a waffle in bed. :) 
5. Sleeping Soundly: As soon as that baby comes out the Momma bear instinct kicks in and any weird noise they make in their sleep you wake up to. We had to move Ava into her nursery at 3 weeks because if she cooed in her sleep I woke up and ran over to check on her. That never changes! I used to be the heaviest sleeper, I slept through hurricane Fran when 9 oak trees fell on our house, but now any little baby noise I hear I wake up! 
6. Listening to whatever you want in the car: I used to listen to all sorts of music in the car but now it's all Christian music or Veggie Tales Pandora station. At least Veggie Tales plays lots of classic Disney music so I can relive my Disney days! 
7. Having a clean home: The moment you pick up they need the toy at the BOTTOM of the toy bin. I now only pick up after Ava is in bed. So if you come over to my house in the day time please excuse the trail of toys, piles of Tupperware that NEEDED to come out of the kitchen cabinet, and the toilet paper that MUST be torn up into little pieces all over the bathroom. 

8. Long Showers: Unless you take night time showers before bed showers after kids are asleep showers will be a 3 min MAX affair! Even if they are sound asleep in their crib as soon as you lather your hair up with conditioner they WILL wake up. It's inevitable! 
9. Wearing silk or cashmere: I wore a cashmere sweater once after Ava. Within 5 minutes it was covered with snot and mushed green beans. Load up on the cotton or anything machine washable after kiddos. And a word to the wise always have backup clothes in the car for every member of the family. There is a lot of misplaced poop/food/nasty random things that tend to cover you and them at some point in the day! 
10. Doing ANYTHING alone: I used to just hop in my car and go wherever I needed at any time. Now it takes 30 minutes to load up the diaper bag, dress the baby, get them in the car and your bound to have a poopy diaper right when everyone is ready. Going to the grocery used to take 20 min max, now you are lucky to get out within an hour. Everything takes longer. BUT you do have a buddy with you wherever you go and now when I run through my grocery list out loud I am actually talking to someone! 

Don't get me wrong being a Mom is SO wonderful BUT if you are pregnant or thinking about having kids please take advantage of ALL of the above every day simple luxuries! They'll change your life forever... in the BEST way possible! 

Fashion Friday: Tiny Toes

Today's blog post is dedicated to my Little Lamb and her tiny tiny toes! When Ava was born she had tiny little feet, well every baby has tiny tiny feet... But Ava's have grown at an incredibly slow pace! I mean SUPER SLOW! Ava still wears 0-6 month shoes and just now fits into infant size 2 shoes. Her buddy who is 2 months younger than her wear size 5.5 and most kids her age wear between size 4 and size 5. Her feet are also super narrow so finding shoes that don't fall off is a challenge. I guess she is going to have feet just like her Momma! Here are my top pics for kiddos with tiny toes. 

1. Pedipeds: Although a little pricey, these shoes are AMAZING! They are all leather so they are great first shoes for walkers as the kids can still feel the ground and help with balance. You can also wipe off all dirt so they always look new. The mary janes can tighten to accommodate very tiny narrow feet or stretch wider for chubby ones. They also come in lots of cute colors and styles. 

2. Robeez: These shoes will NEVER fall off! Well unless you have them on a 1 year old who has learned to pull them off! But these are also all leather so are great shoes for when they are first walking. They too come in fun colors and designs. 

3. See Kai Run: These shoes are super cute and all leather as well. My one issue with these is they are cut a little wide so only the mary janes which can be tightened fit. 

4. Toms: We bought our first pair of Toms the other day and they are very comfortable and durable. Ava got the cutest paisley pair. My friend told me they look like Lily Pulitzer and Toms conspired to make some adorable little girl shoes. They are holding up well but they are very easy for Ava to kick/ pull off when she is done wearing them so we have had a few almost losses. 

5. Lastly we love some Target OshKosh shoes! These are more for walkers and not pre-walkers as the bottom is full rubber but they are not too heavy. These metallic gold ones have been our favorite during the holiday season! And the best part is they are only $12.99! SCORE!

"I can only imagine where these tiny feet will go in their lifetime. My only hope is that they never forget the way home."

 Author: Candice G. (Kendallsmommie)

I'm Baaacccckkkk...

Hey Ya'll! Whew, what a crazy few months it's been! We were gone 17 days in December/Janurary for the Tour de Feliz Navidad, as I like to call it. We went to Miami, Key Biscayne, Port St Lucie, Florida and then flew up to NC to visit my family in the Durham/Pittsboro area. During the second leg of the trip Peter and I caught some terrible upper respitory virus and were sick as can be for a week. Ava seemed totally fine but the day before we were supposed to be home she spiked a 102 fever and ended up with a double ear infection. Luckily, I took her right to the urgent care and 24 hours after taking the amoxicilin she was back to her old self and ready to fly home. Seeing family was great but that was the last double location trip we will be taking for several years! Here are a few pics from the trip

Peter's Family at Christmas 

Rolling in Lila's jeep 

  

Fun at the Ferrington House                        Dinner with my Mom and Sis

Cutest little cheeseballs around!

After we got back to Cali Peter started a new job at Cisco! Peter had the increadible opportunity to help lead a new division of Cisco here in the Bay Area. Of course he misses the all you can eat free food and I miss the heated Google toilet seats but this opportunity was such a great career move that it made sense.

check out this fab Google toilet seat. 3 heat settings and various other functions I was too scared to try

We also decided to find to a much bigger townhouse in North San Jose. It is closer to Peter's job and has 3 bedrooms for the growing family! It even has a tiny little yard! Real Estate in the Bay Area is incredibly depressing, especially when you are from the Triangle and a moderately priced real estate market so for now we will just be renting. There is something about spending $900k+ on a 3 bedroom 2 bath 1800sq foot home that just doesn't quite make sense to me. Hopefully in the future we can move back to the East Coast and buy something amazing! For now we will just focus on packing and moving into our fab new 1800 sq foot townhouse on February 1!

Ava also gave up her beloved paci this month. Ava only used her paci for naps and bed time but when speaking with her Pediatrition she mentioned that if you can take away any baby habits before 15 months that the transition is much easier. So we stopped the bottle right at a year with no issues and decided the paci was next. We obviously waited until after the Tour De Feliz Navidad where we would be on 6 airplaes and in all new places and started the weaning process a week after we got home. We tried the cutting process and honestly next time I would just go cold turkey. The first night of the paci cut she didn't notice and sucked away. The second night she was so confused as to why she couldn't get good suction and the 3rd day during naps she was LIVID. She could see the cut paci and really did not understand why we had mutilated her beloved friend. The 4th day was much better as we did not leave her paci in the crib and by the 4th night she went to bed in 5 minutes with no tears. Praise GOD!

I have also still been having some pretty terrible bouts of morning sickness. Almost 18 weeks and still sick 2-3 hours a day. I'm not tossing my cookies quite as much but just have awful nausea. Praying that 18 weeks is a better week for us! We also get to find out the gender at the end of next week! We are so excited to find out if Baby L is a little boy or a another sweet girl! 

So as you can see we have been PRETTY busy here at Case de Lamar. Oh and lastly Ava started carrying around a purse everywhere she goes. It's pretty adorable and hilarious.

Thank God for Zofran

So I have been a little MIA from the blogging world lately for a few reasons...

1. Ms. Ava is now walking which requires way more adult supervision. It's crazy how quickly those little feet can get into mischief. Ava loves pulling everything out of drawers, cabinets, baskets, shelves, basically anything she can grab and destroy she does. 

My makeup bag is also an absolute favorite!  That girl loves some Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme mascara. She also loves to hide my makeup all over the house. I am still missing my eyeliner and assuming it is lost forever. RIP Estee Lauder gel liner.

As you can see chasing around a toddler requires the majority of my time. Oh and when I am not doing that I am tossing my cookies or trying to stop the world and my stomach from spinning because...

2. WE ARE PREGNANT! SURPRISE! About 7 weeks ago I went to my High School reunion in NC. I was standing there talking to a friend from High School about kids and how Peter and I were going to start trying again after Ava was 1. Little did I know 3 days later I would find out I was pregnant! At first I didn't believe it. I took a test very early in the morning while in NC ( I did this because things have not been regular since I just weaned 2 months previously) and after 30 seconds decided to go back to sleep and see the results later. A few hours later I woke up to 2 pink lines. 1 was very faint so I decided it must have been because it sat out for a long time. I first texted my Sister because I couldn't call Peter at 4am CA time. She said normally those things don't have false positives. I still didn't want to get too excited. Plus I had a 10 month old! I was not thinking it was time for number 2 just yet. We flew home that day and on the way home I had Peter stop to get the Clear Blue tests that say "Pregnant" "Not Pregnant." I was SURE that it would say Not Pregnant but about 20 seconds later the words "Pregnant" showed up! 

Peter was SOOOO HAPPY, I was happy but still a little in shock. I honestly was scared. With Ava I was SUPER SUPER sick for about 14 weeks. I got sick almost every day and had all day nausea. I didn't know how I would handle that if I got sick again with an almost toddler. 

Well guess what happened?! I got super sick AGAIN! I didn't get sick with Ava until 8 weeks but this time around I ended up in the ER at 6 weeks after not being able to keep anything down for 26 hours. But then I got some Zofran. I took Zofran with Ava every now and again and sometimes it worked. This time around I had no choice. I could not spend all day in the bathroom because I had an almost walker on my hands! So I took Zofran and 3 out of 7 days a week I only had nausea but was able to function. I think having a kid running around helps a little because you can't focus on how terrible you feel, you have to keep moving. 

I am now 12 weeks and I have only tossed my cookies once this week so that is a HUGE improvement! Hopefully, in a week or 2 I'll have that 2nd trimester burst of energy! I mean it's not like I'm going to run a marathon or anything but not having to spend all of nap time trying to recover would be great! 

We are so excited to be a family of 4 and know this kiddo is going to bless our family in so many ways. I can't wait to see Ava as a big Sister! She loves to hug and kiss her stuffed animals and I know she will just love her brother or sister! We sure have a few crazy years ahead!!! 

A Very Bunny Birthday

I have been the worst blogger lately! Things have been very busy at Casa De Lamar and I have not had a free second! We had both families fly in for Ava's big party and then Peter and I went on our first solo trip to Tahoe. Let me tell you 12 hours of straight sleep never felt so great! Ava is an awesome sleeper 7pm-7am but 7am still feels so early! 

Anyways, with all the visitors and birthday fun I haven't had a minute to spare! Ava's real birthday isn't until today but we had the party 3 weeks ago so all of the family could join in the fun! We went with a Bunny Birthday theme since I have always called Ava, Bunny. Ava was quite the kicker while I was preggo and has always had some strong little legs so Bunny has been the perfect nickname! 

Ava's party was a very Bunny Birthday indeed. The invitations were so bunnytastic

We had carrot garlands

Bunny muffins and cupcakes

A giant bunny cupcake for Ms. Ava 

Bunny peep centerpieces

and carrot favors for the guests

Ava looked quite adorable in her bunny outfit

and all the babies had a blast playing together 

Now for the cake... So we don't know if it was the 30 people starting and singing to Ava or the ginormous size of the bunny cake but Ava was NOT happy with the birthday cake situation. 

After she calmed down we let her sit alone with a normal size cupcake and she DUG IN! She loved it and ate every crumb!!! 

It was a special day for many reasons but also because it was the first time that our "Prep for Parenting" small group was able to get ALL the kiddos together since a lunch outing 8 months ago! These ladies have been a great support system during all the crazy baby phases. It's so great to have other Mommy friends who are going through the same growth spurts, milestones, and sleepless nights during the first year! 

It was also so amazing having Ava's Mimi, Memei, Pumba, Aunty Serena, Aunt Lindsay, and baby cousins Alivia and Penelope here. So many friends so share in our little Ava Ray's special day!! 

Happy Birthday sweet Ava Ray! 

All You Need Is Love

On the eve of Peter and My 5 year anniversary I feel so blessed. These last 5 years have been filled with new faces, new places, new jobs, new babies, and lots of love. I have been so blessed to marry such an amazing man of God! A man that honors God every day and provides for our family. Peter is the hardest working man I have ever met. He greets the day with optimism and passion no matter how he is feeling. He comes home every day, exhausted from work, but still greets us with a smile and chases around our daughter for an hour and a half. He has always encouraged me and always has kind words that lift me up. He is my gift from God and I am so thankful that I have been blessed to marry him. 

The last 5 years have been just the beginning.  Can't wait to see where our adventure takes us next! Here's to 60 more!