This is a sponsored post in paid collaboration with Carmex.

What is one item that can always be found in your purse or diaper bag? Mine? Lip balm and lotion. Okay, so that’s two, but we live in SUCH a dry climate that has our family constantly seeking some kind of moisturizer. I am excited to be partnering with Carmex® to share with you a few different options to help keep your lips looking luscious during this dry season.

It may be cold outside, but you can usually find our family finding something fun to do in the snow. Whether it’s outside building a snowman, or going snowmobiling, we love to take advantage of the weather and have some fun. I like to be prepared for chapped lips this time of year, so I usually stick a lip balm in everyone’s coat pockets. I love the Carmex® Comfort Care, especially for the girls, as it’s made with natural ingredients. It’s formulated with colloidal oatmeal, beeswax, and cupuacu butter and contains antioxidant-rich fruit seed oil to help provide hydration. The Mixed Berry is my favorite as it is 100% natural and doesn’t contain any artificial flavors! Emery is obsessed with lip balm right now so I feel better letting her use this natural choice as she re-applies almost every 5 minutes.

Another product we use a lot this time of year is the Carmex® Daily Care. We are heading to the mountains next weekend, and I always want to make sure our lips are protected especially at a high elevation. When we ski, we always make sure to use sunscreen on our face, but it is just as important to use an SPF on our lips! The Carmex® Daily Care contains a SPF 15 to help with sun protection as well as helping to keep them moisturized. I love the fun flavors it comes in too: Wintergreen (my favorite), Winter Mint, Strawberry, and Cherry.

The last product I want to share with you may come in handy if you are one to catch a cold and are one of the “lucky ones” to also get a cold sore outbreak. A cold sore can be so painful and uncomfortable; but with Carmex® Cold Sore Treatment it can not only help minimize the appearance of the cold sore, but help with any cracking, itching, dryness, or pain. It’s always a great a idea to keep this on hand just in case anyone in your family gets one during cold season!

Lip balm may be needed more during the winter months, but I believe it’s just as important to keep our lips feeling hydrated and protected all-year-round. I hope you are able to find any of these products helpful whether it’s from just needing a lip moisturizer, protection from the sun, or treatment for a cold sore outbreak— Carmex® has your lips covered!

Photo Credit: Kathleen Peachey Photography 

I am so excited to start this series because I feel like as moms we have to treat ourselves every once in awhile. Each month I will be sharing some of my favorites and then giving them away over on my Instagram. I thought I would start it out by sharing within one of my greatest passions in life: traveling. Traveling has always been so important to me even as a young girl. My parents made it a priority for us to travel somewhere each year as a family. Some of our best memories and times were while traveling and I want to give my children the same opportunities.

We are starting out 2018 already planning out our family trips so I thought what better than to share my favorites for traveling. Not all of these have to be just for moms but a couple can be huge life savers while taking a trip.

1. Gigi Pip Baseball Caps – “Put a hat on it.” This is my mom-life motto most days but especially while traveling. I love Gigi Pip’s hats and own many of their styles but the baseball is favorite for traveling as it is easy to pack. Just a tip if you take a floppy hat, to stuff the inside, where your head goes, with clothes and set it on top of your clothing.
2. Converse Slip-Ons – I love a good pair of comfortable shoes when traveling. I bought these about a year ago and I loved using them especially while flying because they were easy to slip on and off in the airport security. A plus is that they are super cute and can be worn all year-round.
3. Travel Journal– Taking notes while you are traveling is important especially when traveling with kids. I like to look back before our next trip to see what things I made note of as far as things to take, not to take, any hacks I came up with etc. I also make notes of places we ate, things we did, just in case we travel to the same place again.
4. Fawn Design Diaper Bag – If you have been following me for a while, you know my love for Fawn Design bags. I have been a huge fan of them since Emery was born and it is just about the only bag I use. This bag is the best for traveling because it is a backpack to keep your hands free, isn’t too large so I don’t overpack it, and has just the right amount of pockets to keep things organized. Its my most favorite bag to take as my carry-on when flying as its super convenient to carry and lightweight (if it’s not over-packed…).
5. Wild Bird Sling – I carried Emery in a sling up until she was a little over 2. I loved using Wild Bird Slings while traveling because they were easy to “thread” before our trip so that when I needed to carry her, I could just slip it on, put her in it, and adjust, all within like a minute. It was quick & easy, light-weight to pack, and so nice to have if the stroller wasn’t convenient but we were going to be walking for awhile.
6. Diff Eyewear Sunnies – I have owned many pairs of sunnies in my lifetime, but Diff Eyewear has been a favorite for awhile. I love that there are so many different styles and colors to choose from, they come with a nice case to keep them in, and they donate a pair of reading glasses with each pair sold to someone in need. I own a few different pairs, but the “Becky” style, shown above, has to be my favorite style so far!
7. Water bottle – I own quite a few different water bottles but I love this one for traveling! It keeps my water cold the whole trip and comes with a straw!
8. Madewell Transport Tote – I know I already shared about a bag I take while traveling, but believe it or not, I always take two bags! I use my Fawn Design for traveling there and back, but when we get to our destination, I usually like to unpack and just stick a couple things we need in a tote if we are just going out to dinner or a walk on the beach. This tote lays so nicely in a suitcase and is super light to take! It’s also made with real leather so it has held up great through lots of trips!
9. Kid & Coe – This company is the best for families looking to find a “home away from home” while traveling. Kid & Coe has family friendly rental homes, condos, and apartments in over 50 different destinations around the world. I love that they are a kid-friendly home rentals as they make sure that the place has been inspected to accommodate families, has baby equipment included, and even books and toys!

I hope a few of these items can help you when thinking about any upcoming adventures with your family in 2018! Remember to make sure to check out my Instagram account for the travel giveaway including many of these companies!

XO

This pregnancy is flying! I can’t believe I am down to like 15ish weeks left! I came across an article on old wives tales and gender prediction and some of it was kind of interesting on how it’s worked with my last three pregnancies. The heartbeat has always been right on as they say a boy is usually less than 140 and a girl higher than 140. The girls were always right at 160 and the first time I heard this baby’s heartbeat it was at 140 which was quite a bit lower than the usual 160 that I was used to hearing with my last 2 pregnancies. Every time they would check the heartbeat before we found out the gender of this baby it was always right around 140 and even 130 at one appointment.

Another thing that has been spot on with all three pregnancies has been the Chinese Gender Prediction Calendar that you can find online. It said girl the last two pregnancies and boy this time too! I know these things aren’t always accurate but they are kind of fun to see how close they can come to guessing the gender!Here is something I filled out on this pregnancy to see how close it was to predicting. Most questions I could go either way but for the most part it was pretty spot on for BOY!

23 & 24 Bumpdate

Due Date: April 25th

How far along: 25 weeks (yes, I am a bit behind…)

Size of baby: 12 inches and 1 1/3 pounds, current status is the size of a ear of corn

Total weight gain: I haven’t gotten on the scale recently but I’m sure its somewhere around 12-14

Maternity clothes:

just bought these and these jeans and I am LOVING them! They also come in tall which is awesome as I’ve been struggling at finding long enough jeans. (I am 5’9″ for reference)

Also bought these items:

leggings

simple black dress (can be used for nursing too)

perfect dress for maternity or nursing

We are also going on a few trips before baby and I need a swimsuit so I bought this one!

Stretch marks: yes! More by each week… using cream for them!

Sleep: Awesome thanks to this pillow!

Best moment of the week: Garth finally being able to feel the baby move, buying baby boy a bear snowsuit, and making it to the 3 day weekend!

Miss anything: over easy eggs… I crave them everyday!

Movement: yes, the most at night or after I eat!

Food cravings: eggs, toast with jam, cereal, avocados, (anything breakfast food related or nothing too sweet)

Anything making you queasy or sick: No! Thank goodness we are past that!

Have you started to show yet: YES! Feeling huge with 15 more weeks to go!

Gender: BOY!

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out: in, but making its way out soon I think!

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to:  One more week of work before I am off until late summer! I can’t wait to spend time with my family and get ready for baby!

 I’m curious! How close were the old wives tale gender predictors close to predicting what your baby was? Leave me a comment below sharing your stories!

jean jacket // leggings // boots (on sale!) // hat

the girls’ nightgowns 

21 & 22 Bumpdate

Due Date: April 25th

How far along: 22 weeks

Size of baby: 11 inches and almost a pound, current status is the size of a spaghetti squash

Total weight gain: 9 lbs.

Maternity clothes:

loving these leggings paired with a dress and jean jacket 

Stretch marks: yes! Loving this cream for them!

Sleep: Awesome thanks to this pillow!

Best moment of the week: Starting Christmas break today! Almost 2 weeks off from work is just what I need!

Miss anything: Being able to work out without getting so winded

Movement: yes all day long!

Food cravings: Looking forward to lots of holiday meals and parties. Nothing sweet just all the potatoes and cheese is what I crave! Again, this little boy makes me want ALL the carbs.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Taking my multi-vitamins and still having some sickness at night

Have you started to show yet: Yep! Adelyn is always worried that the baby is going to “break me”.

Gender: BOY!

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to:  All the festivities for Christmas this weekend!

maternity jeans

boots (on sale too!)

I always have so much fun picking out what’s going to go in the girls stockings each year! I’ve rounded up my favorites all from small shops! I hope you are able to find any last minute ideas below!

 

1. London Littles – I realize that boots may not be small enough to fit in your child’s stocking but they would look so cute sitting beside it or under the tree. To say my girls are obsessed with rain boots is an understatement. It’s honestly what they wear every single day. Why? They look cute with every outfit, they can put them on themselves, and they are perfect in rain, snow, and sunshine! They have the cutest prints for both boys and girls (the pink polka is my favorite) and are functional all year round, these London Littles boots would make the perfect gift for Christmas this year! Use code: tiny love for 15% off your order through the end of this year!

2. Baby Lit Books – These are the best books for introducing your little to classic literature. Our first Baby Lit book was Pride and Prejudice and I still remember reading to Adelyn when she was a baby hoping that someday she would read the actual classic and love it just as much as I do. Baby Lit makes has some of the best classics for Christmas including, The Nutcracker and The Christmas Carol, and would make the best stocking stuffers! Other favorites include, The Secret Garden, Alice & Wonderland, and Romeo and Juliet.

3. Bla Bla Kids – If the girls had any stuff animal that they are completely attached to it’s always been a Bla Bla animal. I don’t mind a bit because they make the cutest accessory on their bed and aren’t an eye sore like other stuff animals can be. Made by hand from Peru’s artisans and 100% cotton/made from natural fibers! I can’t get over how cute and unique each one is and they make the perfect stuffer to peak out from your child’s stocking this year!

4. Shop Bitte – I love, love, love cute curated small shops and Shop Bitte is one that I wish I could buy one of everything. The best thing about curated shops is that you are able to shop items that are made from many different shops and can find things for both boys and girls. These adorable wooden cameras come in many different colors and are the perfect size for your child’s stocking. Shop Bitte has many other stocking stuffer options on their site as well! Make sure to go take a look here!

5. Hide + Seek – Finding shades I love for the girls can be tricky until I found the company Hide + Seek. They carry the cutest frames and colors of sunglasses for both girls and boys! I love that they are reasonably priced and higher quality than most sunglasses for kids. I think sunglasses make the best stocking stuffers because they are something the girls wear all year round! AND these shades come in the best packaging with a zippered clear case and pom keychain attached! Perfect for sticking in your suitcase for your next trip!

6. Ryan & Wren – If the girls could choose what goes into their hair each day, it would be a Ryan & Wren clip. Why? Because they can snap it in themselves and they love picking out the color to match their outfit for the day. (the glitter ones are their fav) If you haven’t taken a peak at Ryan & Wren, you need to. SO many choices of colors all made with leather in the perfect shape and size to keep those bangs pulled back! Choose a set of 5 to make the cutest stocking filler this year for your little girl!

7. Gemma & Filo – Adelyn wore a Gemma & Filo necklace with her mermaid outfit on her 4^th birthday, and since then we have been just in love with everything that Gemma & Filo makes. From the gorgeous and unique tassel necklaces, to the delicate and dainty charm necklaces, I know the girls would love to have one of each. What makes Gemma & Filo stand out from just any other children’s jewelry shop is the quality (can’t be broken easily), how the tassel necklaces have a magnetic clasp to make it easy for kids to put on themselves, and the style of each piece. Gemma & Filo is currently closed for Christmas but you can use the code: hellotinylove for 20% off when they reopen to snag all and any piece of jewelry you made have had your eye on for your little girl!

8. Petit Collage – Adelyn & Emery are really into puzzles right now and Petit Collage makes the most adorable ones for both girls and boys. Butterflies, mermaids, bunnies, and princesses are just a few that they have. They come in many different sizes and the illustrations on the puzzles that make it fun for your little to put together! I absolutely love the ones that come in the metal tins that can be then used as a piggy bank as well!

9. June & January – The words affordable and cute are like music to every mother’s ears when it comes to clothing. That is exactly what June & January is. I am LOVING their new pjs and think they would make the most festive pajamas to wear not only at Christmas but truly all year round. I like sticking a pair of pjs in the girls stockings each year and plan on putting in a pair from J&J!

10. Tubby Todd – I have been using Tubby Todd’s lotion, bubble bath and shampoo, on the girls for a couple years and we are HUGE fans. The dream cream has helped Emery’s skin so much and we can’t get enough of every single scent they release. I am also a sucker for good packaging and love seeing what Tubby Todd comes up with next on pretty/fun packaging on every product! Definitely a great stocking stuffer for all! (Even adults)

Head over to Instagram to win something from every company mentioned above! Worth over $400 in goodies for your child’s stocking!

xx

 

We decided to do something a little different with this baby being our last, and do a gender reveal. With the girls we just found out in the ultrasound room, but this time we had the ultrasound tech put it in an envelope instead. I then took the envelope to my mom who wrote the company, Poof There It Is, to order our gender revealing basketball. (thanks mom!)

Sunday morning, we all rolled out of bed at the crack of dawn to film our gender reveal. Filming it just as the sun is coming up is the best time as the light isn’t harsh and you can get the “golden hour” light. (All I know is it was earrrrrly and cold, but the lighting in the video is perfect–Thanks Liz) So we put on our boots & coats, covered our unwashed hair with hats, and ventured out to our basketball court to film in the 30 degree weather.

Garth and Adelyn were team girl while Emery and I were team boy! Adelyn had her heart set on another sister and if you asked Emery what the baby was going to be she wouldn’t even hesitate when she replied “boy”.  Emery cried almost the whole reveal (because she hates the cold), and Adelyn’s face was priceless as she watched the color explode from the ball. (Not quite the color she was hoping for…) However, the video is more than I could have every hoped for and imagined in sharing the news with our family and friends!

We are just over the moon excited that we will be welcoming a little boy into our family. And Garth is thrilled that he won’t be AS out-numbered.

A huge THANK YOU to Liz Osban Photography for capturing another beautiful video of our family and to Poof There It Is for the fun gender revealing basketballs!

xx

Okay, I blinked and I’m half-way there! Say what?!?! We had our gender reveal Sunday and I can’t wait to share soon! I’ve been feeling SO much better which makes enjoying my last pregnancy so much more enjoyable!

Due Date: April 25th

How far along: 20 weeks (21 tomorrow!)

Size of baby: 6 1/2 inches and 10 1/2 ounces, current status is the size of a banana

Total weight gain: 7 lbs.

Maternity clothes:

I’ve been shopping Pink Blush a lot lately! I just got a pair of jeans and I will let you know how I love them next week! ALSO! Amazon has some cute items– I just bought this dress in three different colors for some upcoming Christmas parties!

Stretch marks: yep!

Sleep: Awesome thanks to this pillow!

Best moment of the week:

Our gender reveal! Can’t wait to share!

Miss anything: Not really!

Movement: yes all day long!

Food cravings: BLT’s and bagels (I’m noticing a pattern of lots of carbs…)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Taking my multi-vitamins and eating anything too greasy

Have you started to show yet: Oh yea!!!

Gender: Sharing very soooooon!!!!

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to:  Starting to plan out the nursery!

xx

I can’t believe we are only a couple week from Christmas! I thought it would be fun to share about a company that makes the most fun and festive holiday invites for you to send for any upcoming Christmas parties or even New Year’s! We always host a New Year’s party with family and friends so I am planning on using Basic Invite to order the invitations this year! (The ring in the New Year one is my favorite!) Below I’m sharing a few ideas for any your upcoming holiday party invites and why I think you should check out Basic Invite! 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Almost Unlimited Colors – Basic Invite is one of the few websites that has unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options so you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it down to the littlest detail.

Custom Samples – Basic Invite is one of the few websites that you can order a printed sample of your actual invitation so you can see exactly how it will print as well as the paper quality– even before you place your final order!

Address Capturing Service – Basic Invite also offers an address capturing service that allows you to simply share a link on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, to request your friends and family’s addresses! The addresses then will be stored in your account and can then be selected during the design process. Basic Invite offers recipient address printing at no cost on all Christmas card orders.

Foil – Foil holiday cards are available in gold, silver, and rose gold. Customers can choose flat or raised foil on all of Basic Invite’s foil designs. (I seriously love getting and giving cards with foil–so pretty!)

AND right now Basic Invite you can get 30% off your order with coupon code: holi30

If you are in need of Christmas cards, invitations, graduation cards, baby or wedding announcements– I hope that you take a look at Basic Invite and all they have to offer!

(This post was sponsored by Basic Invite however, all opinions are completely my own and I always make sure to only share companies with you that I truly love myself!)

xx

I can hardly believe that I am getting close to almost being half-way through my pregnancy! I am currently 19 weeks but have been so busy lately that I am finally just getting around to posting my 17 & 18 week update.

The last two weeks have been a bit rough around our household. We all got the stomach flu and then right after the girls got an awful cold. After many nights of soup, loads of laundry, and two trips to the doctor, I think we are all on the mend to health.

Next week we find out the gender and I am SO excited! I thought the girls were both boys but this pregnancy has been so different than the last I am making the same guess and saying boy. (knowing it will probably be a girl!)

Due Date: April 25th

How far along: 19 weeks

Size of baby: 6 inches and 8 1/2 ounces, current status is the size of an heirloom tomato

Total weight gain: 7 lbs.

Maternity clothes:

Wearing most of my normal tops but using the bella band around my pants but I bought some new maternity jeans during the black Friday sale. I got these and these.

Stretch marks: yep!

Sleep: great! I just need to go to bed earlier! Looking forward to sleeping in this weekend.

Best moment of the week:

Feeling the baby for the first time and starting the countdown to Christmas!

Miss anything: my pants fitting

Movement: yes! The day after I had the stomach flu I felt the baby move! Best feeling every after being kind of nervous about the baby being okay.

Food cravings: BLTs,  Special K cereal, strawberries, and cheeseburgers

Anything making you queasy or sick: Taking my multi-vitamins and this terrible taste I get in my mouth every night after dinner. Brushing my teeth seems to help but it’s awful!

Have you started to show yet: Yes!

Gender: Find out next Thursday!

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out: in

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or moody most of the time: both- its been a long week

Looking forward to:  Finding out the baby’s gender and possibly doing a fun gender reveal!

I can’t believe it’s already time to start Christmas shopping! I feel like I blinked and 2017 is already coming to a close! I had so much fun shopping for the girls this year and thought I would share a few of their gifts to hopefully help give you ideas. We have decided to keep Christmas a bit small this year and try out the “one thing to read, one thing to wear, one thing they want and one thing they need” gift giving style. This is not including their Santa gift, but it truly was fun trying to get creative for each category.

About a month ago, I cleaned closets and their playroom. We donated more than half of their toys. We kept things like their baby dolls, dress-up clothes, puzzles/games, a few favorite stuffed animals, sport/bouncy balls, and a couple other favorite toys. Just clearing out toys that weren’t being touched has made clean-up so much easier and they have never played more with the remaining toys than before. So this year for the “thing to wear” we got them each a Disney princess costume, ” thing to read” we bought them cookbooks with a cooking kit/apron (I love giving themed gifts), “thing they need” we did a science experiment kit and a butterfly growing kit (linked below), and for “thing they want” we are giving Emery a doll house filled with the Maileg mice and Adelyn a camera with “camera bag” and a photo album to hold her photos. I linked a few other gift ideas below- I hope it helps inspire gift ideas for your kiddos!

doll house // twin mice // big sister mouse // doll house kitchen // doll house bed 

camera bag // Instax camera // Instax photo album

campfire // Moonlite projector // pink sleeping bag // tent // floral sleeping bag

cooking kit // pizza cookbook // taco cookbook // chef hat // apron 

play vacuum // cleaning set // dust, sweep, mop set

pancake game // sneaky squirrel game // science kit // growing butterflies kit 

firehouse set // train track // silver race car

I will be posting gift guides for “him and her” soon!

To see other great children’s gift guides head to these other amazing motherhood blogs to get more ideas!

Jordan & Co Blog 

The Love Designed Life 

Cultivated Motherhood 

Occasionally Perfect 

Steph Pollock