Olivia's 1st Valentine's Day

Needless to say life has been crazy lately, which is why our Valentine's Day post is over a week old. Each holiday has even more meaning now that we have our sweet daughter in our lives. I love this little girl so much it hurts sometimes and it is incredibly hard to leave her during the week while I work. Since Olivia had several Valentine's outfits to sport, we celebrated the holiday for an entire week! Olivia is growing fast and has rolled over a few times. It is the cutest thing to watch her try and roll herself from her back to her tummy and she gets her little arm stuck in the way. She is a persistent little girl and finally made the full roll over a few days ago! It hard for me to comprehend that she will be four months old in just a few short weeks... the time goes by way too fast.

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day with your loved ones. Be sure to hug the ones you love, kiss your kiddos, and tell the people you cherish you love them as often as you can!

Here are a few cute pictures of Olivia in her Valentine outfits... Enjoy!

this adorable 'auntie forever' onesie was a gift from Aunt Morgan

this sweet love bug outfit was a cute find from Gymboree

this heart striped shirt and red pants were an adorable combo from Carter's

Stuffed Peppers Recipes

My mom and step-dad visited us last weekend and we always find time for cooking when they are here. I have wanted to make stuffed bell peppers for awhile, but figured they would be too much work or wouldn't work out. We decided to try two different recipes for stuffed peppers so that we would have something to compare it to and also have leftovers! Here are the pictures and recipes of what we made... enjoy!

• Quinoa Stuffed Peppers - these are vegetarian and loaded with quinoa. The only thing missing for me was the meat :) and more cheese.

• Sante Fe Stuffed Peppers - we adapted this recipe to include brown rice instead of jasmine rice and used ground beef instead of ground turkey. These were by far my favorite of the two recipes and super cheesy! (this recipe is from my Recipe Board on Pinterest)

 Hope you try one or both of these recipes for your family soon!

3 Months Old

My sweet little one is 3 months old today and I can hardly believe how much she has changed in the past month. Olivia is growing fast and weighed in at 13 lbs 2 oz last week at her doctor appointment and is 23 3/4 inches long. She is eating a ton and sleeping much better at night. We have even had a few nights where she has slept in 7 hours stretches. Olivia loves tummy time and even rolled over for the first time last week. She loves snuggling with mommy during naps, playing with her glow worm and music play mat, and she makes the most adorable sounds and giggles. Here are a few pictures in her 3 month onesie, which I had to squeeze her into... and she barely fit! I love her face in the last picture... I am sure she is thinking 'what are you doing to me mommy?!'

To my little Olivia... I am so blessed to be your momma and you have completely changed our world. You are such a fun age right now and love to interact with us. I love seeing your face light up when I get home from work and I am trying to soak up every ounce of time I have with you. You are growing fast and changing so much, sometimes too fast for mommy. I love how little you still are and looking forward to all of the stages you are going to go through. I love you sugar and always will!

Tips and Tricks to Make Life Easier

I have been back to work for about 3 weeks and the transition has had its good moments and not so good moments. I could have never imagined how much I would miss Olivia during my work day. It has been good for me to get back into a routine and back to work, but it sure makes life a bit crazy. Over the past few months, I have found some great tips and tricks for myself and our family that sure make life easier.

Wunderlist is a great app for the iPhone that my husband and I share for our to do lists. It is so much easier to upload the 'honey do list' to this app and then Michael can check things off as he gets them done. The app also lets you keep your own personal to do list, which has come in handy for me.

PostalPix is a photo ordering app for the iPhone that allows you to order prints straight from your phone. It is super easy to pick photos from your camera phone and photo stream albums and then they are mailed directly to you for a great price. The ability to quickly order photo prints in a variety of sizes has been a great way to print photos without having to leave my house or buy an expensive photo printer.

Mint.com is an easy to use financial website that allows you to keep track of all of your accounts in one place. In our household we have several accounts including our mortgage, car loans, investments, retirement, and savings for Olivia. This app and website allows you to keep track of everything in one place. There are also features you can utilize such as creating a monthly budget, tracking your investments, setting financial goals, and finding ways to save money. This app has been great for Michael and I to use and helps keep us on financial track with little to no time and effort.

Other tips and tricks that we have implemented in our house over the past few months have included:

• cooking meals in double batches to allow for leftovers and food for lunches
• setting the timer for one hour and seeing how much cleaning and chores we can accomplish
• sorting the mail daily to avoid a buildup of paperwork
• tackle laundry every other day to avoid a massive pileup
• order birthday gifts online with free shipping codes
• clip coupons and meal plan around the weekly grocery ad
• and use every app possible on my iPhone to save me time, money, and energy!

Life is only going to get busier and feel crazier the older Olivia gets, but my hope is that we have plenty of time saving tricks in place so that we can spend as much time with her as possible. It is also important for me to feel less stressed and more focused on her, and these things are just a few ways to help me do that!

Scrap Fabric Wreath for the Nursery

A few months ago I found a great idea on Pinterest for a scrap fabric wreath that I knew would be perfect for Olivia's room. We had lots of extra fabric scraps from the beautiful quilt my mom made for Olivia and needed to use them up. This project was inexpensive (the fabric scraps were essentially free and the wreath frame was only about $5) and the wreath was fairly easy to make. It took me a couple of weeks to finish the project since I only had 20-30 minute intervals to work on it while Olivia napped. Here are a few pictures of the finished wreath...

I love how this wreath turned out and it looks adorable in the nursery hanging above Olivia's crib!

Bright Eyes

Since the day Olivia was born, she has had the most beautiful bright eyes and loves to look around. It is the most amazing feeling to look at her and have her eyes light up when she sees me. Her eyes are still changing colors and I can't wait to see if they end up blue or brown. Her momma is pulling for blue eyes! Here are just a few pictures of her bright eyes over the past few weeks... enjoy!

I know every mom says this, but my daughter is seriously the most beautiful baby and has the most gorgeous eyes. I love her adorable long lashes and her chubby little cheeks! These pictures of when she is still so little and precious will be treasured for so many years. I love my little girls' bright eyes!

Beautiful Quilts for Olivia

Olivia is so blessed and already one of the luckiest girls in this world. She is so loved by her parents, grandparents, family, and friends! Olivia has been blessed with lots of beautiful gifts and some of the most precious are these handmade quilts from family and friends. The gift of a handmade quilt will be treasured for years to come. Here are some great pictures of the quilts Olivia has received...

This beautiful quilt was made by my mom and the fabric matches Olivia's nursery. I absolutely love the fabric and the adorable heart quilting pattern.

This amazing quilt was made by my Aunt Mary in Las Vegas. The pattern is absolutely beautiful and the colors are perfect for my little girl.

This beautiful pale pink quilt was made by my Grandma and has an adorable print with dragonflies and daises.

This heart quilt was made by a quilt group in Las Vegas that are friends of my mom. The heart pattern and fun pink fabrics are so beautiful!

My daughter is so incredibly blessed and will cherish these quilts for years to come. I can't wait to spread them out for her to play on and to snuggle up in one while I read her books. Thank you to all of the amazingly talented women in my family for making such beautiful quilts for my daughter!

Valentine Outfits for Olivia

Holidays are so much more fun with a little one and the outfits for little girls are so dang adorable! Valentine's Day is just around the corner and Olivia has some cute outfits to wear during the week of Valentine's Day. This little girl has so many clothes and she is already growing way too fast! Since this is her first Valentine's Day, we just had to buy her a few cute outfits to show her off and take her picture in. Can't wait to post some pictures of her in these outfits in a few weeks :)

this love bug outfit is from Gymboree

this adorable heart set is from Carter's

And for more fun Valentine ideas, be sure to check out my Valentine Ideas Pinterest board!

Homemade Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub

A few weeks ago my mom found a really easy recipe in a magazine for making homemade sugar scrub for your hands. We have always been a fan of the Mary Kay Satin Hands products and this sugar scrub seemed very close and would cost us at least half the price to make it on our own. This scrub is only a few ingredients and easy to make and would make a fantastic gift for family or friends. This jar of the scrub was made for my best friend Laura to thank her for taking such amazing pictures of our family over the past few months.

 

Here is the recipe and directions for making the homemade sugar scrub:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 2-3 drops of Vitamin E oil
• 3-5 drops of lemon essential oil (or any fragrance you like)
• 16 oz glass container with a lid

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended. Transfer to a container and secure lid. The contents will settle, so be sure to mix before using. Scoop a teaspoon or two of the scrub on your hands and gently massage in circular motions onto your skin. Leave on for 3 to 4 minutes and then thoroughly rinse off the sugar scrub with warm water. Scrub can be stored at room temperature. 

This scrub feels heavenly on your skin and leaves your hands feeling silky smooth. With the winter weather being so harsh on our skin, this sugar scrub is a nice treat to pamper your skin and makes a great gift!

Must Read Books for New Parents

Parenting can be tough... the nights can be long, the days unpredictable, and the emotions of it all can by trying. Over the past two months I have found two books that have been an amazing resource and comfort as I ventured in this new world of being a mommy. Reading has always given me comfort and during the tough days and nights, these books have helped provide me with advice and even just a good laugh.

The first book, Happiest Baby on the Block, was recommended by our pediatrician at our first appointment for Olivia. 

This book has explained the first few months of a baby's life as the 4th trimester and has really emphasized creating an environment for Olivia that mimics what she experienced in my womb. I have learned a lot from this book on how swaddling can help her sleep, making the shushing sounds can calm her down, and bouncing her while holding her can help her fall asleep. Every new mom should have this book in her toolbox!

This next book, It Sucked and Then I Cried, I stumbled upon while searching iBooks when Olivia was just a few weeks old. 

I loved reading the sample of the book and ended up buying the book and reading it on my iPhone during lots of pumping sessions and middle of the night feedings. The author of this book was by far the most candid I have heard and she wrote about motherhood in an honest and humorous way. I appreciated how honest she was about the difficult challenges of motherhood and the emotional highs and lows that come with having a baby. Each time I read a chapter, I felt like the author was cheering me on during the tough days and helping me laugh and seeing the humor in babies. I love this book for being so candid and bringing a smile to my very much sleep deprived face.

Motherhood has so many emotions that range from pure and complete joy to sleep deprived frustration and tears. But the beautiful thing about life is that these emotions are teaching me valuable lessons as Olivia's mommy. I cherish all of her good moments including her smiles and sweet sleeping face while also taking in stride her fussiness and crying. Reading these books has helped to give me perspective on how the days can be good or not so good, but overall they are a blessing because I get to spend them with my sweet daughter!