Easter Prep

As per my usual, I've bah-hummed through yet another holiday. You will not walk into my house and see spring decor or loads of pastel in every nook and cranny. However, what I lack in decor, I make up for with holiday activities. I don't mind bringing in a bit of holiday cheer with the little man....and you better believe I'm nothing short of giddy to hide some eggs on Sunday and watch him squeal and laugh with delight as he finds them.

We had a rare Friday night with nothing going on, so I pegged that as the night we would whip through a couple of fun Easter-themed activities. The first and most obvious, of course, was getting our dye on with some hard boiled eggs. If you know anything about our family, you know we go through no less than 20 hard boiled eggs a week (not kidding), so I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited about adding some color to my otherwise ho-hum breakfast.

My friend, Heather, had this amazing idea to help make my egg dyeing with a toddler less painful...put the egg into a whisk and let him dunk and dye away! Pure genius!  Cruz loved using the different color water and seeing it transform the outside of one of his favorite foods. 

I wish I could say the color remained in the bowl and on the egg only, but you all know that's not at all possible with a sixteen month old child. I was still finding food colored water on my cupboards this morning.

And in other Easter news, since I wasn't going to be spending the holiday with my side of the fam - where my sister or mom usually provide the fun Jell-O jiggle treats for the kiddies (and let's face it...me) to enjoy - I opted to be the one to take on the task. Easy, right? Make Jell-O, fill mold with Jell-O, refrigerate and enjoy! Yeah, not so much. 

I'm not even going to show a picture of the little disasters I created. There were headless ducks, bunnies with no ears, flowers with no petals and butterflies without wings...it was a Jell-O murder scene. The only ones that were salvageable...the jiggly eggs. Fail.

Happy Easter everyone! 

DIY: Frozen Yogurt Melts

I got this simple, yet awesome idea from Sarah and had to try them out for myself. Because if you know me? You know I like easy.

Frozen Yogurt Melts
Yogurt, Greek yogurt, toddler yogurt (I had some Gerber left over, but have also used Gogurt)
Scissors
Baggie
Pan (baking pan worked for me)

Fill baggie with yogurt, squeeze it all down to one corner. Cut the smallest of holes to disperse the yogurt onto the pan. And I'm saying small. The first time I did this the hole I cut was too big and the yogurt came out waaay too fast. By the second batch, I figured it out.

Squeeze the yogurt onto the tray in small circles.

Throw the tray into the freezer and wait approximately 10 hours (I generally keep them freezing overnight), remove, scoop up using a spatula or other kitchen utensil that I probaby don't know the name of. And voila!

Cruz generally has them done before I can even question what I should do with them. The cold yogurt is especially nice while little man is teething. Score.

Don't let this uninterested face fool you, he is a BIG fan!

Our Favorite Things: Baby Registry

I've been meaning to post some of our favorite things through Cruz's different stages for quite some time now. If not for my own recollection when we have baby #2, also for some of our friends who are becoming new mamas soon. Hope these are useful!

Baby Registry Faves.

• Fisher Price Papasan - we used this from the first day we brought little man home and basically daily until just before he turned one. Being able to prop him up and safely strap him in to the vibrations and music - it really was one of the items we used most often, sometimes even opting to allow him to sleep overnight in it when he was really congested. And for us with having such a sick baby early on, it was great to give him his breathing treatments from and use during steam sessions in the bathroom. I didn't love the colors necessarily (as you can see they didn't really match the color palette), but the thing worked so we that I didn't really mind.
• Bordeaux's Butt Paste - this is by far the best diaper rash cream that we have found. At first we started off with using baby Vaseline, but quickly realized it didn't do the trick like this stuff does.  And, hello, it's called Butt Paste. How cute is that?
• The First Year's Bottle Drying Rack - nothing fancy about this guy, but it has worked the best for us. I purchased the Boon Grass at first because I love their products and it's so darn cute, but I personally didn't like it and ended up returning it. TFY's drying rack has worked well and i love that it has two levels, is pretty compact and you can't complain about the basic white color.
• Chicco Keyfit 30 Car Seat - this is a purchase that I did TONS of research on - between online and other mamas - and time after time I read and heard that this is one of, if not the, best. The base was a bit tough to figure out at first, but after we decided to get one for each vehicle they pretty much remained there so we didn't have to worry. Other than that, the seat itself was easy to maneuver and it was simple getting him in and out of it. And weight-wise it was one of the lightest and even my weak self could transport him distances without getting tired.
• Hospital Aspirator - I wish I had a website to list here where you can purchase these (and if you do, hook a sista up), but the aspirator we received from hospital was far and above better than any others we tried. (Remember to keep yours!) But wash that bad boy out periodically, cuz it will start to stink if you don't.
• Chicco Playard - we love this pack n' play and pre-baby decided to save a few bucks and use it as the bassinet in our room for the first couple months. We have no regrets. Since, we've used it when traveling and its super easy to set up and little man sleeps perfectly in it. The only complaint? If you haven't used it in a while, it can be tough to close back up when you are packing it away, but that could be user error.
• Boon Flair High Chair - by far one of our top and favorite purchases! We didn't have a high chair on the registry to start out, because I was stuck on this one but the hubs wasn't sold that we needed to spend the money. After bringing home a Chicco seat that was supposed to be easy to clean up (a must!) and easy to store, we immediately packed it back up and brought it back to Babies R' Us and I quickly ordered the Boon. This chair is phenomenal. It is SO easy to clean and if you have witnessed a kid eat a meal, you are bound to have a huge mess on your hands after. And remember there are three meals a day, so ease to clean is a must! This guy is plastic and easily comes apart for cleaning. It adjust to different heights and moves easily around the kitchen. I would give this my best rating.
• Carter's 5-pk Onesies - like diapers, you can never have enough onesies - just hoping you aren't going through onesies as you will diapers because that would be expensive. (Though, I've opted to cut off quite a few in my day because they were nasty.) I've tried all the brands and Carter's are by far my favorite. They wear well after multiple washes and fit well, plus they are made of a thicker material that keeps them in shape. Just make sure you are spot treating them before washing because formula (and other gross stuff) stains and will quickly yellow these guys out.
• Baby Jogger City Select - this is actually my number one, absolute favorite item (and we were lucky enough to receive it as a gift from a really good friend).  This stroller rocks - easy to fold up/store, tons of storage (great for all you shopping-loving mamas like moi), adapts to your car seat (must purchase adapter), fits two kiddos, the seat changes from back facing to front facing easily and lays back in many different levels. Plus, I use it as my running stroller! It's a bit more expensive, but the reason we justified it was that we would be able to use it for kiddo #2 and it covered all of our needs. 
• Offi My Pet Lamp - I loved this lamp as a key piece of our nursery decor, but it also proved to be extremely useful as well! The light is muted enough that it was perfect to provide a bit of light during middle of the night feedings while not being too bright to keep him awake. And its still useful now as the light when we are reading our "before bedtime" books and again in the morning when he just wakes up and needs the morning diaper change. And I still cannot get over how stinkin' cute it is! Plus, they have tons of different animal shapes and colors to choose from. 
• Baby Bjorn - I realize I'm saying I love every item so far, but I suppose that's why they have all made our favorites registry list. The Baby B is no exception. We didn't receive it out of the gate, but looking back this is an essential registry purchase. At first we started with the Moby Wrap - I can see how this would be nice, but it just didn't work for us - I was too scared I wouldn't wrap it just right and the baby would just slip out. No thank you. I was sure to mess up enough on my own, I didn't need a baby wrap to be another way. The Baby Bjorn, however, was amazing! We used this all the time. Around the house doing chores, at the zoo, on walks, at the mall to change it up from stroller time, everywhere! Plus, Nick loved using it as well. I loved being able to use it during different stages - early on when his head/neck control wasn't the best all we had to do was stick him in it facing us and put the neck protector up. When he got big enough to hold his head up, we were able to turn him forward and roll down the neck protector so he could check out the sights.
• Graco No Touch Diaper Pail (no longer available & not pictured) - what a jerk item to talk about on here. Not available? Why even post? The reason I'm posting this is because we loved this diaper pail and for the first full year it worked perfectly. Held a good amount of diapers, didn't smell and was hand-activated. Then, it started smelling when we opened it and when I started looking for replacement vents I found that it was no longer available. Not just the vents, the entire system. Now it sits in our garage, but it still works pretty well. Just get a good diaper pail, it will be one of your most used items and you want to make sure it's good!

I hope you all enjoyed looking through this as I did putting it together and remembering what products we loved the most from our registry. If you are in the process of registering...have fun!

What's New Around Here

Things have been moving along around here. This last week has been a bit hectic due to the hubs being out of town on a guy's trip to Vegas for some March Madness. Thankfully all worked well and J was on Spring Break so she was at my disposal this week.

What have we been up to?

• Girl's Night Out - I would love to plan a standing monthly girl's night out. Time with the girls is essential. And when it includes being surrounded by this gorgeous group of lovelies, how can you go wrong? Thursday we made plans to meet up at the new Louie's Wine & Dive...throw the words wine and dive into a place and you know I'm game. And this place didn't disappoint. I got there early to save our party room and was immediately introduced to everyone from our server to each bartender to the owners. Good start...

• Dog Lovin' - little dude is loving up on his puggle these days. He is nothing short of obsessed with her every move, throwing her toys and teasing the heck out of the poor dog. Luckily, Maya puts up with his shenanigans. (Check him out waiting for her by the patio door, licking the glass, with that cute little diaper booty...)

• St. Patty's Day fun - the green holiday has come and gone in a much different fashion than year's past. It's crazy to think of years before when it was all about morning, day and night drinking all while sporting a permanently green mouth. And now? Now, it's Lucky Charms for breakfast, a nice little Sunday basketball game and then meeting some friends for a few drinks and dinner. Not quite the same, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

• Cruz Update - this crazy monster has been learning up a storm and playing like a fool.  He worked out with me the other night and it was nothing short of the cutest thing ever watching him squat and plank with me. Nanny J has been keeping him busy - they checked out the Lincoln Children's Museum which evidently is the "best place ever" for a toddler while spending time with his bestie Kellan and he got to ride on a big rig...being that "Honk! Honk!" is his fave book, this was nothing short of amazing for him. And his love of his dada this week (always, but even more this week) has been the sweetest thing ever. Playing "trah-tahs" and watching sports. Two peas in a pod.

I'm going to sign off with a shot of this boy who here looks like he's 7 years old, chilling on my bed, watching some TV. How does he look so old? This is not a 16 month old. He's growing up so fast...and  this makes his mama sad.

DIY: Storing Your Wrapping Paper

I am the queen of easy projects. Whether it by DIY, cooking, anything...so when this gem came up on my Pinterest feed I knew I had to do it. 1) I don't like when my wrapping paper comes unraveled and gets all messy and 2) even worse, I despise using a piece of tape to hold the paper together, because when it comes time to use it again? Girlfriend always rips it. Always.

Did I say this was easy? It's beyond simple. I only took it a mere bit further with the spray paint. I mean, who wants a boring toilet paper roll holding your wrapping paper together? Not this girl.

Toilet Paper Rolls - Saves Wrapping Paper
Empty toilet paper roll
Spray Paint (what ever color fits your fancy)
Scissors
Rolls & rolls of wrapping paper to fix!

I've been saving toilet paper rolls for quite some time. I'm pretty sure Nick thinks I'm half crazy when he spies the empty rolls in the master bathroom closet.

I decided to give them a quick spray...who wants to have boring, old wrapping paper savers anyway?

After drying for an hour or so, I cut one side.

And attached to my wrapping paper roll. See? That easy.

Accessorizing the Phone

Little man officially demolished my iPhone case...better the case than the phone, I suppose.  Plus I didn't really like that one anyway...so I guess I should be thanking him. Now I can pick out one...or three that I really like. I know I should probably be targeting one of those cases that are unbreakable since Cruz now thinks tossing my phone everywhere is an okay thing to do, but that wouldn't be fun.

Enter this gorgeous metallic gold one. I have been digging gold lately figure why not sport it on my phone too?  I also love Tory Burch and if I had oodles more money I would by her totes, shoes and sunglasses, but I don't so a cell phone case will have to suffice.

Tory Burch Gold Metallic

And since this one was such a good deal on Shop Bob, I decided to get two. I mean, I don't wear the same watch, necklace or earrings every day, so why not change up my case every so often. Enter this fancy little guy that looks like leather, but is actually plastic. I also wear loads of black so this will fit right in.

Tory Burch Stacked Logo

Here were some others that almost landed in my {virtual} shopping cart. Love the brighter colors for spring, the animal prints and the gold & white stripes.

TB Stacked Tromp / TB Pop Snake / Rebecca Minkoff Cheetah Print  / Kate Spade Diagonal Stripe

And if I had the 5, you better believe I would've ordered one of these super cute floral prints. I love love love these!

Tory Burch Robinson Printed

If you want to know the truth, my next purchase may be one of these. I am digging these fun and funky ones I found on Etsy. Though, the "Cool story, babe. Now get me a sandwich." one would be for Nick...he says this stuff to me all the time. I'm beginning to get a complex about my story-telling skills.

(iPhone cases pulled from various Etsy shops)

I really cannot believe I dedicated an entire post to cell phone cases, but I did. Any other cases out there that I need to check out?

We Are Family

My mama updated her cover photo on Facebook the other night and this was the pic she chose. Can I tell you that this pic makes me so happy? These are six of the people I love the most in this world. This is my family.

And what a goofy, ridiculous bunch we are. I am so fortunate to have grown up and learned from each of them. I cherish every minute I get to spend with them. I love all of the fun we have when we are together. And all of the weirdness and crazy that ensues.

This night we just happened to be celebrating this wonderful woman - my mom- and her 60 years of doing amazing things on this planet. She raised us five kids - with the help of my pops - and they are really two of the best people I know.

I'm one lucky girl. (I know I say that a lot, but I am). Just look at this amazing crew that I get to call my fam.