Our Weekend

This weekend was amazing for us. We did nothing! It was awesome not having somewhere to be or go (besides regular errands and swim class). We're always on the go, go, go, and I'm so happy to be busy with loved ones, but we've been needing a weekend just at home. The days seemed long and we napped both Saturday and Sunday (not long naps, but a quick cat nap that I'll take any day). They were long in the sense that we didn't feel like they just slipped between our fingers with a blink of an eye. We played and played with the girls, did some weeding outside, went on a Costco run, and caught up on Big Brother.

Hat // Top // Shorts (on sale!)

This hat is a lifesaver! I've been wanting a baseball hat forever and it's just one of those things for me that I don't really go out and buy, it's something that I just kind of come across. Does that make sense? Since we moved into our house, I seem to have lost all of my hats except for two- a floppy felt hat and a straw panama one. Well, I've been on the lookout for baseball cap that I like and I couldn't pass this one up. Matt and I are Dodger fans, it's a soft fabric, and it's small so it fits perfectly. I've basically lived in this exact outfit all weekend long. Here, I had just washed and blow dried my hair (just flipping it over, no time for a real blow out) and threw it on to run a few errands. I think I'll be wearing this hat all the time!

 

Suit

Ellie has been doing so great in her swim lessons! She goes just once a week for 30 minutes, but we swim a lot on the weekends with family and friends. She's been working really hard on a few skills and this past week she's moved up in her class. We're so proud of her and her accomplishments! I really look forward to every Saturday because I love watching her in the water. She's such a natural and it's so fun to see what she's learned and how far she's come from when she started.

Romper // Bonnet (c/o Little Sun Hat)

Last week I realized I never gave a full update on Emma and her broken finger, so sorry to be so late on it! Emma had her cast removed a few weeks ago and her finger is healed!! Originally, the doctor had said we would need to follow up every three months and that surgery could still be a possibility. I was worried that it wouldn't heal correctly and afraid that she would have to have surgery. When the doctors removed her cast and took new x-rays, her finger had healed so well that no follow ups will be needed! I'm so incredibly thankful! Thank you everyone for your sweet words, prayers, and thoughts. It means so much to me and the family!

Are these not the cutest bows you've ever seen? I'm just in love with them! They're from Rain & Honey Bows and the colors, prints, and shapes are just to die for. I seriously want every single one in every single color and shape. Ugh, they're so cute. 

We've lived in our house now for just over two years and it's slowly coming together. One room that is just the bane of my existence is our dining room. We've been wanting a buffet since we moved in and last weekend I finally found one! It was a total score at HomeGoods and it was so funny because when we had just bought the house I found a similar one there and by the time I decided to buy it, it was already sold! In a matter of 15 minutes or less! So this time, my mother-in-law and I guarded it with our lives until a worker came by to help us out. Now that we have it set up in the room (we finally busted out our China set from our wedding!), we just need to style it, paint the room, get a mirror, art work, a new dining table and the room will be complete! LOL. The room looks so much better though now and we finally have a direction of what we're looking for and where we want the room to go. 

Sheets // Ruffled Comforter and Pillow Set (Target, similar here)

Square Pillows (HomeGoods)

Last weekend, I took advantage of a bedding and bath sale at Target and I just love how a fresh made, clean sheet bed feels. I love these sheets because their have an extra elastic on them that keeps them from coming up on the corners- a problem we always had before! We've bought so many different brands and types of sheets (deep pocket ones for example) and these are our favorite! I love this taupe and gray print too, it looks so pretty against our headboard.

That's exactly where I am right now too- in my nice cozy bed, finishing tonight's Big Brother, with my little Ellie belly snoring next to me (thanks to a bedtime meltdown, she's in ours for the night). Hope you're ready for the work week! May your Monday go by quickly tomorrow!

Friday Faves

Whew? Is it Friday already? I've been on vacation and had my dad in town this week and it's just flown by! So much has happened this week and I will be doing a full blog post recapping Ellie's birthday bubble bash and Emma's broken finger next week. Kids, I tell ya! If it's not one thing, it's another. Thankfully everyone is ok and in good spirits. Until those posts are up, I wanted to share some of my favorites from this past week. I'm hoping to have some posts up soon, and I'm sorry to be so behind! Lots of great reviews coming up though!

One of my fave bloggers and girlfriends, Meg, sent me this gorgeous highlighter when I couldn't find it anywhere! Isn't that so sweet? I just love her and so will you! Check out her blog and today's post of her May Favorites! This highlighter is so pretty and perfect for summer nights.

White polish is everywhere this summer and so on trend! I found this perfect pink/white shade from China Glaze and it only needs two coats to be perfect opaque. Win! It's Let's Chalk About It and it's awesome! I can't find it online other than Amazon, but it's from their 2016 collection.

Sandals // Shorts // Tank // Polish

Target has so many adorable doormats right now! This pineapple one is adorbs and I almost got it since the color matches our Welcome wreath, but this flamingo one also caught my eye. I want them all! I never used to change out our mat or even thought much about it, but there's so many cute ones that I've found it to be an easy way to add some color and personality to our front porch.

This week we finally tried Rita's! I hear about it all the time and I couldn't wait to try it. The Italian ice was delicious, but I didn't care for their custard. I love custard, but thought that theirs was too thick. I want to try them again, what are your favorites?

How adorable are these matching tees? I found Cheerily on Instagram and instantly fell in love! They have the cutest tops and they are so soft and perfect for little ones. All the sayings are super cute, But First, Milk kills me and Tiny Dancer are my favorites! They're offering 15% off through June 15 using LOVELIPSTICKANDPEARLS15 so be sure to snag some!!

Hope you're all have a great day and that your week is full of sun and fun with loved ones!

Our (long) Weekend Recap

These past two weeks have been so crazy! So much has been happening in our family and it's been quite a roller coaster. The girls have been sick, we're changing daycares, work has been busy. It's just been one thing after another! This week things should be settling down and we'll be finding a new routine over the next few weeks.

Scooter // Helmet

This weekend, we were supposed to be camping, but with nearly everyone feeling under the weather, we decided to just go for the afternoon to visit. It was such a beautiful day, high 80's with a slight breeze, and the kids loved being outside. We've been cooped up at home with the worst flu and it was just the change of scenery we needed. Ellie has been loving this Scooter my sister gave her for Christmas. We stayed til we ate a few s'mores and then headed back home.

Sunday we ran some errands just to get out of the house again. We also went back to Bahama Bucks so Matt could try it (the girls and I took my sister on Tuesday). It is the best snocone I've ever had in my life! That sounds like a bold statement, but I am picky about my snocones. I hate when it's all ice and chunky and this one really is like snow and just melts in your mouth. I'm glad they're a bit of a drive, otherwise I'd be eating one every day of my life.

There were lots of cuddles this weekend and the girls haven't napped so much in their lives! Ellie has pretty much given up naps altogether and she took one every day! It was like a Christmas miracle, although, really, it was just the end of a terrible flu. Emma took several naps on me and it was glorious. There's not much that's sweeter than a baby napping on your chest and I really haven't had to experience that many with her since she typically sleeps best on her own. During this nap, Ellie was so sweet and kept rubbing her arm or face and I snapped this sweet pic of her holding her foot. Ellie has become such a great big sister and is so loving to Emma. I love watching them interact, Ellie is hands down Emma's favorite person in the world. She just lights up every day when Ellie goes into her room in the mornings and no one can get Emma to laugh as hard as Ellie.

I took advantage of the long weekend and naps to sort through Emma's clothes. She's wearing 6 months right now, but is starting to outgrow those, so I took out all of our nine month clothing to wash. Since we're completely out of the three month clothing, and I've already went through them and donated what I'm not keeping, I folded and put them away in the garage in an airtight vacuum bag. I could have cried putting away all of the clothes, remember Ellie and Emma wearing them, I have so many favorites and thought about which I would save forever and which I would save to hand down to nieces. It's so cliche, but time really does pass too quickly.

Mirror // Prints Frame

I finally took imprints of Emma's hand and foot. It's meant to be done when they're newborns, and we have the same frame set for Ellie and did hers at three months, so I'm quite behind on Emma's. I guess that's how it goes for the second child. I tried taking 6 month pics on my own too this weekend... major fail. I tried last weekend too, but it was a bust. Her newborn pic will have to suffice for now in the frame! Geez louise people, the to-do list never ends and there's never enough time in a day.

That's was our weekend and now we're about to fold some laundry and order pizza while we watch the Grammys. Hope you had a great weekend and a great start to a new week!

Our Weekend

Happy Monday and happy February! Where has the time gone already? I can't believe we're already in the second month of the year! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, we had another great family weekend full of pizza, cuddles, and play-doh.

On Friday after work, we decided to go out for dinner instead of cooking at home. Ellie loves pizza and playing games so we went to a local family pizza place near our home. It was kind of late, but it was so much fun! The pizza was great and Ellie loved playing all the games. She even won 50 tickets playing some game and the look on her face was priceless! Now our diaper bag is full of useless "prizes", but she was so proud of herself and took her time picking out exactly what she wanted.

Bronzer // Mascara // Brow Pen // Lip Balm // Beauty Sponge

Saturday the girls and I ran some errands and did some chores around the house. I picked up some goodies at Ulta. I went in to check out some eyeshadow palettes, I'm torn between the Tarte Matte, Tarte Bloom, and the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani sets.  The blush palette from the Gwen collab is truly stunning and I think I'll have to get that too. The colors are so gorgeous! Do you have any of these palettes? Let me know what you think of the sets! While I was there, I picked up the brow pencil and beauty sponge after Meg recommended it and I'm really happy with them both so far, I'll do a full review soon. I also grabbed the lip balm in Honey after Veronika posted about her favorite pinks, I love the color and how it feels on my lips. I want to buy more shades! It has a nice minty smell too. The clear mascara and matte bronzer are repeat buys for me.

Booties (old from Old Navy, similar) // Jeans // Top (sold out, still in stores) // Purse

That night Matt and I went out on a double date for dinner to Lucille's BBQ (their peach lemonade is my favorite). It was so much fun to have some adult time together! We really needed a break, the terrible twos have kicked in and this week has been a power struggle about everything will Ellie. We had a great time talking and laughing and it was nice to have some time just us.

Chalk Sign // Letter // Family Proclamation // Window Frame

Sunday it rained all day so we stayed home in our pajamas and worked around the house. Our front room walls have been bare since we moved in (although we put up a giant framed Santa at Christmas time) and I've just gone back and forth about how I want to decorate it. I finally got sick of the plain wall and hung up a few things we had to make the start of a gallery wall. I like it and I'm so glad we have something up. It's not my favorite and I'd like to add on to it, but it's a start!

We ended the night with some delicious chicken enchiladas and white sauce Matt made (he's amazing in the kitchen) and some cuddles on the couch with the girls. Another simple and great weekend for the books! Now a full week of work and the start of a new month! I can't believe January is already over!

Hope you all had a great day and today starts off your week and month to a wonderful start!

Gallery Wall for a Toddler with Minted

Hello, good morning! I am so excited to share today's post! I've collaborated with Minted to share a gallery wall of independent artist's work to complete Ellie's big girl room. Over the last 6 months or so, we’ve been slowly transitioning Ellie’s room. We've made little changes here and there, but have been stuck with what to do for the main wall that her bed rests against. Then, a fairy godmother of Minted sent me an email and her room was done! I was pumped to work together with Minted to help take Eleanor’s room from a nursery to a big girl room.

Greatest Adventure // Favorite Books // Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Wild Rabbit // The Fountain // Bonjour Ma Fleur

Ellie is in love with her new wall, The Fountain print is her favorite! She shows it to me every day and it's the one she's focusing on in the pics. My personal favorite is Favorite Books, I changed two of the books to include The Princess Bride and Little Women which are my personal favorites that I look forward to reading with her.  

Greatest Adventure (8x8) // Favorite Books (8x10) // Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (8x8) 

Wild Rabbit (8x8) // The Fountain (5x7) // Bonjour Ma Fleur (8x10)

Minted has many amazing art pieces and their website is really user friendly. What I love most about their projects, is your ability to personalize and preview your options. Minted offers a large range of sizes, and if you’re a visual person like myself, they have pictures that show you the sizing against each other so it’s easy to choose the right sizes for your home. You can also choose to have the pieces you’ve chosen framed or unframed and preview each frame with the picture. There’s lots of choices you can make for each art piece to really have it fit your home, but it wasn’t overwhelming or daunting, again, their site and set up is simple to navigate. It was an awesome experience working with them and it was really easy to visualize and see how my favorites would fit together to complete her room.

We are so happy with how the gallery wall came out! I love the colors, the sizes, and the art work. The hardest part was decided which pieces to choose! There are so many amazing art work pieces, I plan on ordering some for our play room too.

*** The artwork was provided to me, but all opinions are of my own. I had a great experience- you should check them out!***

My Black Friday Buys!

This year, Black Friday was a huge success! At least I think it was, I did the majority of my shopping online so I’ll be waiting to see how it goes once my items are delivered. I’m most proud of the fact that in all my Black Friday hustling years, this is the year I've shopped the least for myself. Now I definitely got myself some nice goodies, but I’m going to wait on some of what I snagged for myself and have Matt wrap it for Christmas. Most of my buys were clothing for the family, everyone really needed some cold weather items for the season. We did buy a few things for the house and a couple of gifts for the little ones in the family too. I’ve linked everything below- including a few items I picked up earlier in the week and items that were not included in the sales.

For myself:

Cocoon Sweater // Lightweight Sweater // LORAC Palette // NYX Lip Set // Pajama Bottoms and Top // Vest

For Matthew:

Henley // Sweater // Jeans // Plaid // Button Down

The Little Ladies:

Gray Set // White Hoodie Set // Pink Hoodie Set // Jumper

Peplum Top // Hooded Zip Sweater // Sweater Dress

Toys:

Disney Magiclip Princess // Play-doh // Lego Dimensions // Kitchen // Bow and Arrow

Doll // Matching Game // Book // Octoplush // Textured Balls

For the House:

Wood Frame // Silver Frame // Appetizer Dish // Pastry Board

Phew! Such great stuff, I really hope everything is just as awesome in person as it was online! I did end up going out around 9pm on Thursday night to get the few things that weren't available to buy online or were sold out. The shops were nearly dead!! I didn't wait in line to check out at Target or Toys R Us and it was so weird. I really love to shop Black Friday, but part of the joy for me is waking up in the middle of the night and being a zombie with my family and girlfriends. I'm really glad that this year so many places had deals that went all week- it was nice to shop without any crowds.

Did you do some shopping? What did you get?

Emma's Nursery

When we bought our home, we knew this room would be the new nursery when the time came and used it as a guest room in the mean time. We miss having a guest room, but always referred to the room as "the nursery" from the day we moved in. I couldn't wait to turn the so-so room into something special for a very special baby. Boy or girl, I knew I wanted to paint it a soft white with a gray undertone. Shopping for white paint is so much harder than I expected! There's so many undertones and I didn't want it to be too bright or harsh. I really love the color we chose, it looks great in every corner of the room that gets different sunlight throughout the day.

When envisioning the room for Emma, I didn't have any particular direction to start. I wanted it to have pastels and be calm and feminine. When browsing Target, I found the floral crib sheet and I knew then I wanted to do a floral theme. What could be more soft, gentle, and girly? I like to keep both of the girls' rooms simple, they have a play room that's busy so I like for their rooms to be a place they can unwind and relax and fall asleep quickly in. I really love how Emma's room turned out, I think it's just perfect for her!

Paint: Glidden Raindrop White
Crib

Sheet

Crib Skirt (from Ellie's set, similar here and here)

Quilt made by my Mother in Law

Lamb

Glow Worm

Elephant (no longer available, similar here)

Glider (hand me down, similar here)

Throw Pillow

Throw Rug (draped on back)

Laundry Basket (Home Goods, similar here)

Dresser

Lamp (out of stock, similar here) // Shade (out of stock, similar here)

Sound Machine

Changing Pad Cover

Pad Liner

Monogram

Hand/Foot Print Frame

White Frames

Mirror

You Are So Loved (Home Goods, similar print here)

I Am Because You Are (Home Goods)

I Am A Child Of God Print

E Letter
DIY Diaper Genie Post