Picking Pumpkins!

Over the weekend, we did our first visit of the season to a pumpkin patch. We will probably visit a few more this year, but we wanted to try something new! So, we went to the Live Oak Canyon pumpkin patch with my bro and sis-in-law and our niece. It was absolutely huuuge and the kiddos had a blast!

We wanted to spend some time in Oak Glen which is right up the way, so we didn't even get to do all the things that this particular patch has to offer; but there were food stands, rides, games, and pumpkins as far as the eye could see.

I had never been to a patch before where you cut the pumpkin off the vine, but after this experience, I don't think I'll ever get a pre-cut pumpkin again! It was so neat to take the girls in a wagon to a perfect spot and then watch them tromp through the pumpkins until they found the perfect one. Talk about photo-op heaven!

 

It was such a fun day! If you live in the area, I highly suggest checking out this pumpkin patch. They apparently have "chop your own" Christmas trees too, so I may actually suck it up and let Brian get a real tree from them this Christmas! (Don't judge...I'm allergic!) 

I can't wait to check out some other patches in the area this season! Oh, and how sweet are our little Halloween witches in their onyx June & January dresses?! Baylee wants to wear hers every day!

Until next time! XoXoXo

 

Fall Photo Shoot!

We recently had mini fall photo shoots done for Baylee & her cousin, Adalyn, by the very talented Rhonda McKenney. We had her do Baylee's 1st birthday pictures, and they turned out absolutely gorgeous. So, I was very excited to see how these shots would turn out now that Baylee is a year older. As usual, Rhonda did not disappoint! Just look how lovely these sweet girls pictures turned out! :)

 

 

 

 

 

These are just a selection of all the amazing shots that we got from the day. I seriously can't handle the cuteness, and I  have no clue how I am going to choose which ones to frame! 

If you are local to the Inland Empire and are interested in doing a shoot with Rhonda, please either contact me or check out her Facebook page here! She's the absolute sweetest, and I promise you will love her and how all her photography turns out!

Until next time! XoXoXo

 

Love List

We are only 4 days in, and I already remember why October is my absolute favorite month! The weather is finally starting to cool down a bit here in Cali, we are enjoying our Halloween decor and activities, and we have so many more fun days ahead of us! So, let's have a little October love list, shall we? 

I'm recently obsessed with these hand dyed tights and knee highs from Happy Tights. They make tights in the prettiest colors that you usually can't find in stores like evergreen,  pomegranate, and, my favorite, mustard! 

My other new favorite hand-made find are the most adorable knit stuffed animals from Knitney's and Yarn Owl Store. I love the thought that every single one is made unique and with love. Along with stuffed animals they also make rattles and loveys for tiny babies. I'm pretty sure I will be getting this sweet little moose for Baylee for Christmas.

For Mama style I am having a total love affair with olive green this fall! These long sleeved ribbed shirts from Target are a great price, and the olive green is perfect! (Though I'm pretty sure I also need it in black and burgundy also!) I've been admiring this olive green jacket on Pinterest for months now, and at ony $26, I'm pretty sure I need to add it to my wardrobe.

We have already started having some Halloween around here. On Sunday, Baylee painted a pumpkin for the first time, and had a blast. We also dipped some Peeps ghosts in white chocolate and Halloween sprinkles as a fun dessert, and they turned out so yummy! At Disneyland, they have free face/arm painting for Dia De Los Muertos. You get to choose from four different designs, and they finish and dry super fast for wiggly tots. Baylee and I have done it twice so far, and she absolutely loves it. Plus, you can't beat the price! ;)

 

 

The cooler weather we have been having has had me in the mood to cook warm, cozy meals. We tried this baked chicken parmesan recipe recently, and it was so delicious and easy. It is definitely going to be added to the regular dinner rotation. Next, I want to try this recipe for slow cooker garlic parmesan chicken and potatoes. I have totally had a garlic and parm thing going on lately, and it's soooo good. 

Last but not least, these monogram belly mugs from Target are too cute. I need one with a letter "T" on it to drink all my pumpkin spice coffee from! :)

Hope everyone has a great week and a great start to their October!

Until next time! XoXoXo

 

 

Friday Favorites: Halloween Kiddo Style!

 

Tomorrow is October 1st, so that means it's time to break out the Halloween decor! That is, unless you're like me, and have already had your decorations up for over a week. ;)

Along with decor, we love to dress the part around here, so I picked out some of my favorite festive outfits for your littles this Halloween! 

I always start with getting Baylee some Halloween jammies, because I can never get over how cute they are. These Carter's glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas for girls are sold out in the baby sizes, but they still have toddler sizes in stock. The boys skeleton PJs don't glow, but they're just as adorable (all sizes still available)! I also love these Good Witch pajamas from Old Navy, and they come with a second short sleeve shirt for warmer nights.

I had the hardest time finding Baylee a Halloween shirt, because I'm not crazy about the choices this year. (You just can't beat last years black and white striped "Boo!" shirt!) She has a thing for bats lately, though, so I did find this adorable bat stripe tee from Crazy 8, and she loves it! Pair it with some black leggings and you're good to go! For your little men, I love this "How to be a Vampire" tee paired with some adorable jeans. 

For a quick, cute little witch look, pair an onyx June & January swing dress with some onyx striped tights. And I am obsessed with the Halloween bow collection at Nell's Bow Co., especially this spider web bow which Baylee will for sure be wearing with all of her Halloween outfits this year! Put in the code BAYLEE25 at checkout for an awesome discount! :)

What are your favorite finds for Halloween outfits this year?

We may be living in these jams. ;)

 

Until next time! XoXoXo

 

Secondary Infertility: Reclaiming Fertility

I did one more cycle of Clomid in August and it about broke me. It was, by far, the most torturous cycle to date based on my physical symptoms, and the way it made me feel like the walls were closing in all the time. Once I found out the cycle was over and that it once again hadn't worked for the 5th time, I threw out the bottle with the last refill # on it. My body is so very done. 

So, I paid a visit to my OBGYN, who basically has now signed me off and wants me to pick a reproductive endocrinologist (a.k.a. fertility doc) to continue my care with. I held on to the list she gave me for days unsure of what to do. I really want another baby so bad, but I'm not sure if I want to go through more poking and prodding and drugs that my body hates me for taking. In the end, I decided to take a cycle off of everything and just see what my body did on its own.

And you know what? I had a 29 day cycle all on my own! I didn't get pregnant, but it was a sign to me that I got pregnant once naturally and I know I can do it again. I just need to get my shit together! So, I did a little research on reversing infertility holistically, and while some of it is a little over the top for me, a lot of it makes so much sense. One of the books I read made a great point that by taking fertility drugs, we are basically ignoring our own bodies. Infertility is always caused by something more than just a faulty reproductive system, and if all your systems aren't happy and healthy and ready to house and nourish a baby, then a pregnancy can't and won't happen. 

I really don't know why I never thought of it that way before, but for the first time in about 20 months, I am completely at peace with my decision. I am going to get healthy, heal my body, and do this on my own. I got this.

Step one, I am reclaiming my fertility. I am not going to accept that I am a secondary infertility sufferer any longer. I am fertile, I just need to ready my body for one great big job.

Step two is the hard part. I've got to get healthy, and I've got to stick to it. My weight has been yo-yo-ing ever since I was pregnant with Baylee, and I never really lost all the baby weight. I know they say the last 10 pounds are the hardest, but it's really no joke. I'm determined to lose that weight and keep it off. I'm alsot setting these goals for myself:

1. Eat clean & healthy as much as possible.

2. Exercise every single day.

3. Lay off the junk food, alcohol and caffeine. 

4. Start taking more vitamins & supplements.

I know it sounds so simple, but all those things are quite a challenge for me and my ice cream, coffee, junk food loving self. It probably won't go perfectly, but with all your help and support I know I can make it happen to the best of my abilities! And if you have any advice I would love to read it in the blog comments! You all have been the best support system I could ever ask for. :)

Also, if you want me to post a more in-depth description of my plans to reclaim my fertility and get healthy, let me know and I would be more than happy to get something up soon!

Until next time! XoXoXo 

Fall Bucket List!

Happy first day of Fall, a.k.a. the BEST season there is! I am so happy, because the desert here in California decided to be nice to me today, and it is a breezy 75 degrees. :) I know we have some more hot days ahead of us, but I don't care, because today I got to wear jeans and moccs! Woot!

I feel like every season goes by entirely too fast, and we never get to do all the things that I have pictured in my head. So, this year I'm challenging myself with a Fall bucket list. Let's see if we can conquer it! 

  

Fall Bucket List

1. Visit a pumpkin patch.

2. Make s'mores in a fire pit.

3. Go on a nature walk and find leaves, acorns, & pinecones.

4. Bake a pie. (Either pecan or pumpkin)

5. Make chili and cornbread.

6. Watch Hocus Pocus at least 10 times. :)

7. Drink a caramel apple cider from Starbucks.

8. Do a fall leaf craft.

9. Visit a farm.

10. Paint pumpkins & carve pumpkins.

11. Do a random act of kindness.

12. Make a "Thankful For" list. (or tree!)

13. Snuggle by the first fireplace fire of the season.

14. Bake pumpkin scones.

 15. Have a picnic on a flannel blanket.

I really hope we get to do everything on the list, but if not, I'm just happy to be spending my favorite season of all with my wonderful little family. :)

 What's on your Fall bucket list?
 

Until next time! XoXoXo 

Toddler Sleep Solutions

Anyone who knows me personally, knows that Baylee's sleep situation has been a roller coaster since day one. We would have days and weeks of "Yasss! Our kid is a great sleeper finally!", and then suddenly we would be back to night-waking and early rising; and they just don't make enough hazelnut coffee for that nonsense. 

Well, I'm proud to announce that, after begging all you mamas for advice, and reading every article and book I could find, we have finally found the perfect bed-time routine for Baylee! We are 3 months strong with sleeping all night long (no night waking at all) from 8:30pm until sometime between 7:00-8:30am, and it. is. wonderful! Don't worry, you know I'm not going to be greedy and keep the secrets to myself. ;) Here are the sleep tricks that we tried that actually worked for us...

1.  Consistent bedtime. We had to play around with bed  times a little because we were having a problem with Baylee getting up between 5:00-5:30am. That's way too damn early for this mama! At the time, she was going down around 9:00pm, sometimes later in our effort to help her sleep later (always back-fired). We had a suggestion from a friend to "reset" her by putting her to bed way earlier than normal. I was desperate to try anything so the next night we put her to bed at 7:00pm and she was up at 5:30am like normal, but way more rested and pleasant. So, we worked her up a half hour each night until finally we found the sweet spot of 8:30pm. She started sleeping around 11 hours per night again, and it made a total difference in her behavior! Now, we go to bed at exactly 8:30 every single night, and I really believe that the consistence has helped her internal clock immensely.

2. Darkness and white noise. I'm sure that it was no coincidence that Baylee's early rising began right when spring was ending and the sun was coming out earlier. We invested in some black-out curtains for her room, and the lack of light helped tons. We also used to run a fan in her room for noise, but it recently died, so we got this white noise machine for her and I will literally never use anything else again. You can control the volume of the noise and it completely drowns out any other sounds in our house. 

3. Later dinners. Baylee used to wake up hungry in the middle of the night and/or early in the morning, so we moved our dinner time from 5:00pm to 6:00-6:30pm on most nights. It has really helped keep her tummy full overnight when shes going to bed only about 2 hours after eating dinner.

4. Cozy blanket and pillow. Baylee used to sleep in a sleep sack, but I had a feeling that she was ready for a blanket and a toddler pillow. It really helped her, especially for the going to bed process, because she loves to cozy up with her big fluffy blanket. I got this twin-sized fuzzy blanket from Target that way it's always covering her and she doesn't get cold. 

5. Lavender oil. I saved the best for last, because using essential oils was a total game changer for us. I got some lavender oil, and added it to some coconut oil, and now we rub it on her feet and chest every single night. It helps her go to sleep and stay asleep. She even reminds me at night now that we have to "do my oil mama"...it's the sweetest thing!

Any other tips or tricks that worked for your toddler? Comment, and I will add them to the list!

Until next time! XoXoXo