Simple Joys

It feels like this work week has been hit hard with meetings, I usually don't mind meetings and they can be helpful but when they last 4 plus hours, it can be a bit much! I get to feeling more overwhelmed and the feeling that I will never catch up, so finding little joys in the day really help lift my spirits. I tried some new things I wanted to share to!

I am LOVING these new Coke cans with songs on them, especially this patriotic one! Proud to be an American everyday & I just love that Lee Greenwood song, as a GA peach I always associate it with the Stone Mountain Laser Show. Lee also sings one of the most beautiful & sad songs I love called It Turns Me Inside Out, man every time I hear it on the radio I turn it up.

One of my favorite blogs, The Small Things, did a recent drugstore make up post, it was great because the majority of my make up comes from the drugstore. She recommended this Maybelline Master Contour and did a tutorial on how to apply it. I have really never used a contour powder before so I picked this up from Walmart and gave it a try, I really liked it! I was afraid the darker powder would be way to dark for my fair skin, but it gave it a nice sun kissed look. I hope to improve my contouring skills as I go on!

I've been reading good things about Starbucks S'mores Frappucino and I most say, they were right! The weekends are made for Starbucks so I picked up this new flavor and enjoyed every sip, you need to try it if you have not, its so good!!

Although Victoria's Secret will always be my go to favorite lip gloss, I love the smell of this Burt's Bees grapefruit gloss and the color, it really reminds me of warm weather. I've used Burt's on my baby girls for lotion and so far their products are always impressive!

My sweet Mother-in-law gave me a TJ Maxx gift card for Mother's Day which I can also use at Home Goods. Taylor and I went to see what we could find and scored with this $4 picture and frame with the great message Do All Things with Love XOXO

I know this is a totally boring picture but I really do like this toothpaste!! I hate that feeling after I brush my teeth and then rinse it out, the cold water can hurt! Since I've been using this Colgate toothpaste I can really tell a difference, I am not as sensitive to that type of stuff as I was, and its under $3 bucks at Walmart!

During one of our meetings this week they provided California Pizza Kitchen, boy was it good! I enjoyed some pasta, bread sticks, lemonade and THE BEST raspberry vinaigrette dressing I've had. It was so sweet and favorable, it defiantly made my salad taste even better!

My baby girl moved up room the newborn room into the crawler room this Sunday at church and did great! She is so easy and happy most of the time, when I picked her up she was playing with some friends on the carpet shaking a rattle, so proud of my big girl!

Hope this made you laugh! Having good cubical neighbor's makes the work day fun and I have some of the best! My friend Donna made me this and I am still laughing :-)

 

The Girl's Bathroom

One of my favorite part of reading blogs and getting to see home tour's, I love them! Especially during the Halloween-Christmas season. It's a way to go inside other people's homes, see their style and become inspired with out having to travel anywhere! There are so many great ideas on the web today, I thought I would share some rooms in my home. Although they are not new, we have been there for 3 years now, I loved decorated them and continue to change things up as we grow. The first room I wanted to share if my girls bathroom, it's what some call a Jack & Jill style, meaning it has 2 doors, accessible by 2 bedrooms with 2 sinks. When I decorated it Taylor was still a baby so I tried as much as I could to go gender neutral in case we had another kid. Please let me say this room has no natural light and tons of corners, so my pictures are not Instagram worthy, but I did my best!

I took this picture because its one of my favorite tips I saw on the web, I purchased these really cheap laundry garment bag at Walmart, for like $2 bucks, with some Command Hooks I created a bath toy storage that lets all the toys dry out after being played with. Great tip! And I must say, my tub or anything in my house DOES NOT SPARKLE! It's like not even clean, I mean who has time for that?! This is just an effect from my phone app time make it prettier, just want to be honest here :-)

Since Nicole arrived I knew I could girl up the bathroom some more, what is more girly then mermaids? I use to love to pretend I was a mermaid during bath time and I had a mermaid doll I loved to play with. So when I saw this wooden sign from Pottery Barn Kids, I thought it wold be great to fill in that space between the shower (my husband says its impossible for me to not hang something up on a blank space and I agree with him). If you look closely you can see the Splish, Splash white decal I got from Etsy, its got some bubble around it!

Right next to the shower is this barley-hanging-on towel rack, I hope one day to get it replaced but for now its what I have to work with. And besides my girls don't use it, they prefer the floor as their towel rack :-) I also found this cute Bath sign from Etsy, love that little duckie!

This frame is hanging over the toilet, I love it cause it cost me next to nothing and the colors are bright and cheerful. It was an old frame from my Aunt Sarah's, it was gold and I just got some craft paint from Michael's and gave it new life. I also had some left over wrapping paper I covered the old picture with. I did the same thing with the smaller pink frame and put in one of my favorite Walt Disney quotes "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."

I found this little flower pot holder and artificial flowers at Michaels when they had their summer stuff out, love the bright colors. I also painted a 5 x 7 brown frame from Walmart pink and printed off this little So Fresh & So Clean (keeping up the GA roots with some Outkast).

I ordered these 5 x 7 printable's from an Etsy shop, the were already printed out and I purchased some wood frames and craft paint at Michael's. Pretty cheap to paint them and then I hot glued the print's on the back. Just some cute reminders to hang your towel & brush your teeth.

This is kind of an awkward picture but I trying to caption what the girls sink area looks like. Are you loving the big make up fixtures? Maybe one day I will get them replaced for something a little softer. At first I was not crazy about the wall in between the sinks but I have grown to like it. It offers another plant to hang towels which with 2 girls, I am going to need as more storage as I can get. I purchased the wooden hooks in all different colors from Etsy, along with 4 different colored bat towels, each of them monogrammed. I found another mermaid sign on Etsy that says "Sometimes being a sister is better then being a Mermaid." On each of their doors I hung some more storage hangers from Pottery Barn Kids, each monogrammed. Behind the pink storage container is a linen closet. True story, my husband didn't even realize it was back there until 2 years living at the house. He said, "did you know there is a closet in the girls bathroom?!" This just shows you who does the laundry at this house....MOM. In between the 2 walls is another favorite quote I hope my girls read every day "Always remember you are braver then you believe, stronger then you seem and smarter then you think and loved more then you know."

Here is a great Bible verse about true beauty, I hung this over the mirror XOXO

I got each girl a step stool with their name on it, they need help reaching the sink right now and I got these orange rugs from JC Penny online. I have not done anything yet with their cabinets, but as they get more beauty items I think I will pick up some dollar store buckets to help keep them organized and separated.

You have probably seen this trick done all over Pinterest cause its so great! I got this cute pink over the door shoe organizer from Walmart.com, under $20 and it store everything from sunscreen to nail clippers. A great storage option for small bathrooms!

I based my wall paint color from this cute green animal shower curtain I got from Macy's, it was the first item I got for this bathroom and based everything from it. I thought animals was a good theme for girls or boys. The set even came with some cute accessories like this hippo soap dispenser. I hope you enjoyed this little tour! As a girl, I know we spend a lot of time in the bathroom so I think its important to decorate it to a space you love!

Peter Pan Movie Night

I hope everyone had a fun & relaxing weekend! Can you believe its the start of another week already? We watched Peter Pan and had a great time! I created some fun & easy treats and Taylor seemed to enjoy most of the movie, especially the part where they learn to fly. I wish I could fly, especially over traffic :-) Here is what we snacked on!

With just some cheese slices and apple's I made some little boats like Captain Hook rode on. I just stuck a toothpick in to connect them (be careful with toothpicks and little ones!).

For our next treat I used tome ice cream cones to make teepee's like the Indians lived it. I picked up some icing and used pretzel sticks as the twigs, simple and crunchy!

I ordered the Peter Pan DVD and Tinkerbell doll from Ebay, each about $8 bucks...SCORE!

My favorite part of movie night was seeing Taylor trying to fly, such a great message, never grow up!!

"Never say good bye because saying good bye means going away and going away means forgetting."-Peter Pan

Simple joys and what I wore

Any one with young kids, old kids, no kids or a job knows how important caffeine can be! With babies that don't always sleep through the night or having an early wake up call, most everyone I know starts their day off with some type of kick me up. I usually don't have time to stop by anywhere on my way into work, but last week traffic was pretty light and I was early so I thought, I will pull into McDonald's and get a caramel frappe, they are so good and cheap (compared to Starbucks), but when I pulled in the line was forever long. So I did the next best thing, I pulled into Walmart and picked up a Starbucks Frappacino, you know the ones already made in the glass bottles. For $3 bucks it was perfect, I got some ice and enjoyed it in my favorite Lilly P cup, a good way to start off the morning :-)

 The May weather is perfect right now, especially for an evening walk after work. Nicole and I love to stroll around the neighborhood, I have started jogging to, but, its not pretty and I am SO slow. But at least I am trying :-) Nicole also likes to take a little snooze while I do all the heavy pushing! But here she is bright eyed and happy outside!

For as long as I can remember I have loved records, the sound they make and the big album covers, I love them. My Dad let me have all his records and I love them, I have had them for a couple of years along with a record player. My record player can take you from the 70's vinyl, to 80's cassette tapes , to 90's CD's. Its great and one of my favorite items to show off when people come to visit. Sunday my FIL and I listened to some Aretha!

I ordered this cute cross garland for Nicole's Baby D party from Etsy, I just love that entire website!

While at Walmart this weekend I picked up this new Pioneer Woman mug, I think its so lovely! I love the color's and big size of it. There is just something cozy about using your favorite mug in the morning!

If anyone ever asked my favorite time of the day I would defiantly say evening. Its the time to unwind and relax from the busy day. Its also a time to get into my comfy cloths and I just love these Disney Princess pajamas from Target!

I call this my peacock dress for obvious reasons! Its super cute and has an elastic waist, I got it from Walmart a while ago and still wear it.

Someone at work said they didn't recognize me when I wore this dress cause it was neutral colors, that made me laugh! It's a comfy stripped maxi dress from Forever 21 and I paired it with a cute, long vest.

And my favorite so far, my new Lilly P dress I got for Mother's Day, I just love it!! It's the pineapple of my eye!!

Beautiful & Thoughtful Gifts

I have always loved getting gifts for my loved ones, I always try to make it as meaningful as I can & within my budget! I find girl gifts easier then boy gifts, I sometimes get stuck on what should I get Dad this year for Father's Day? But I could make a list of all the cute things I see for my Mom, Mom-in-love and girls, hello anything monogram! Like me, my Mom's always put a lot of thought into their gift giving so I wanted to share some beautiful gifts from this weekend.

Gigi gave the girls these beautiful picture frames containing their name. Each letter stands for something Biblical, its one of those gifts the girls will have forever, so lovely! It also contains their baby dedication date.

I hung Taylor's up above her Pink Pig picture board. You may also notice this beautiful carousal horse, not sure if I have shared this but it was mine when I was a little girl, YEARS ago. Mom got it at The Yellow Daisy Festival and its so unique! And no, its just for looks, you can't sit on it :-)

I hung up Nicole's picture right next to her door over her princess dress holder. The little decal's are removable so I can change them out when I need to.

My in laws got Nicole this cute set of prayer books and a cross necklace, the same one Taylor got when she was dedicated. Hope she learns to pray often, every day, she will need it!

I got Taylor this cute Peppa Pig card table, she loves anything with Peppa, plus it will be great for birthday parties, at $21 from Walmart.com, I thought it was a good deal!

My husband surprised me with a Lilly P gift card for Mother's Day and I was beyond excited! I've already ordered the dress from a Florida store and have been running to the mail box every day waiting for it, I can't wait to show it off!!

Although this is not a gift, its a great reminder I saw today. If you are a working Mom like me the week can become a huge blur of to-do lists, commutes, feeling like you are not fast enough for anyone at home or work, having something always to do, and feeling like how am I ever going to get this all done? I find myself waiting for the girls to get older so the daycare payments will ease up which will help us financially. But I also know these days are precious, at the end money doesn't matter, how much we have or owe doesn't matter, what matter's is soaking up every minute with my family and appreciating every part of this crazy busy life of parenthood!

Baby D & Mother's Day

Sunday was a day filled with lots of celebrating, we had Nicole's baby dedication at church and we also celebrated Mother's Day with a yummy lunch. It was really busy but a lot of fun! Our church had a wonderful breakfast set up for all the families doing baby dedication. Each table had a beautiful tablescape. We were asked to list 5 traits we want Nicole to have, ours were: a kind heart, grateful, loyal to her family & friends, treat others the way she wants to be treated and smart about choices she makes with her head & heart. They are also listed below:

Each table was beautifully decorated with pink, gold and white. The church also gave the parents and babies a book, so thoughtful!

Along with my parents and brother, my in laws, sister in law, niece and nephew joined us. These 2 cuties are only days apart!

While we ate a breakfast of sausage casserole, cinnamon rolls, juice and coffee, Pastor Cass gave a great speech about parenting and a jar of 18 marbles. Its a reminder of the time we have with our little ones and to make the most of every day, a great message for us all!

Since the breakfast ended early we took the opportunity to take some Mother's Day pictures, with 4 kids you can imagine how stress free that was!

My MIL, I scored the jack pot with her, she is awesome!

With 3/4 of her grand babies!

This picture may look like 2 Mom's and 2 Babies but to me its so much more. My sweet friend Alicia was one of the first close friends I made at our church when we started. She has been by my side encouraging me through dark times and I hope I have done the same for her. Her sweet son, her first boy of 3 girls already was born with some heart problems. They have gone through so many surgeries and worry but the great news is he is doing fantastic now and getting so big!! Love this sweet family!

If there was anyone in the world that I admire the most and want to be like its my sweet Mom. She is the most selfless and loving person I know of. I can tell her anything, do anything and she has & will always support me. Plus she is a fantastic Gigi to the girls, she is a true blessing in my life XOXO

Group picture of all the sweet Mom's and babies!!

I've never been one for standing in front of big crowds, I break out in a huge sweat and get nervous and boy was I sweating on this one! Taylor had a hard time, she decided to PICK her Dad's nose and I was thinking, don't trip walking down the stairs! But everything went ok, we had a sweet prayer and we were off to eat some lunch!

What could be better and more girly then Swan House?!  If you live in Atlanta this is a most go to! I have been to many showers there and its southern and yummy! We had chicken salad sandwiches, pimento cheese, zucchini muffins, cheese straws and shrimp salad. We also picked up some Chick Fil A nuggets for the kids, and my brother!

Chick Fil A at the Peppa Pig table, Taylor was in heaven!

Uncle G was a huge help for me this weekend, from playing with the girls and helping me carry 1,000 bags, he is awesome!

I picked up some vanilla cupcakes from Publix and sprinkled some purple on them, I also got this cute cupcake holder from Walmart.com.

It was a lovely day celebrating my baby girl, I appreciate all my family being there to support us through this journey. God truly blessed me with my girls and I hope I do Him proud.

I ordered this print from Etsy, I love the color and the message :-)

And last, there is no better way to show what being a Mom is all about then this pic!!