lately

Life Lately

Hi everyone! Here's a little insight into my life lately.

Lately...I purchased umbrella lights. Actually, my husband bought them for me. He saw how stressed I was all the time about taking pictures during daylight (which is nearly impossible when you want to spend all your daytime playing with your babies), and decided it would be give me more freedom. Now I can take beautiful pictures late at night after my kids go to sleep and I can enjoy playing with them - worry free. I'm so excited to start taking more mockup pictures, I love creating messes!! I've been taking color coded pictures of random items in my house, trying to do pretty setups. It's seriously a lot of fun.

Lately...winter arrived and I've been enjoying the slower beat of things. Especially cuddling inside with my kids. We also put our 2 year old on skis for the first time this year and I wasn't sure he would be able to do it but he surprised me. He's actually quite good at it and he enjoys it a lot!

Lately...I've been hard at work updating my branding. I'm experimenting with my style, trying to define my colors and make my blog a little bit more user friendly. I'm doing everything on my own and it's quite the adventure; from coding, to web design, everything is made by yours truly. I'd love to hear what you guys think. Any constructive criticism?

Lately...my oldest had pneumonia and we spent 3 days in the hospital. It was really hard seeing him so sick. It was the first time one of my children was hospitalized and since I'm still breastfeeding my youngest, I was only able to be at the hospital with him during the nights. It happened just before we were supposed to leave for our Christmas vacation (which we had to cancel) so my husband was off work (thank goodness!) and he spent the days with our baby at the hospital. No one tells you how hard it is to explain things and entertain a 2 year old all day long (and night) when he's confined to a hospital bed. Oh, and by the way, when the nurse misses the intravenous 20 times in a row and they have to tie your screaming child down - not cool. His poor little hand was all swollen and bruised. He's feeling much better now and I'm glad that's over. We made the best of our Christmas holidays at home and took some much relaxation time.

Lately...I've been sporting my Rudsak coat. It's the Atelier Noir collection which can be found at Costco. It's a gorgeous design but I'm a bit disappointed with quality. I find it doesn't have enough filling and it doesn't really keep me warm enough. I've worn it for 2 winters and this time around I'm layering it with a shirt + sweater but next time around I'm probably going to go with a real Rudsak coat, even if it's more expensive.

Lately...I mastered my egg free gingerbread cookie recipe, which I'm planning on making a Christmas tradition, along with my homemade hot chocolate. :)

Lately...I've been spending a lot of quality time with both of my kids. I found it extremely difficult to be away from my kids so often when I returned to work after my first child. So this time around, I'm keeping both of my kids at home and playing with them as much as humanly possible (as in, I'm always on the floor). We have car races, screaming contests, story times, sword fighting, quiet eating times, lots of cuddle...and of course, the messy house that comes with all that. I'm absolutely and completely in love. Oh, and I stole my son's popcorn #random.

Lately...Em has been in a building mood, so we've been making lego villages and block towers.

Lately...Ez started crawling and man is this mommy thing getting excitingly fun. Em is such an amazing big brother. As parents, I guess we're never sure how things are going to work out between siblings, but I'm happy to report that in our home, it was love at first sight. I was a bit worried about what would happen when Ez started crawling and stealing Em's toys, but you know what? He's perfectly happy about it and he even changes his games to suit his younger brother's abilities. Isn't that amazing?

Life Lately

Lately... fall has come and gone. Didn't it happen fast? Seriously though, one minute it was bright, warm and sunny, the next the leaves were on the ground and we were back in our winter clothes. I kind of wish it was still summer, but I have to admit that fall was gorgeous. I love the cool breeze and the all the colorful leaves. Speaking of which, did you see what I made with all pretty branches and acorns I picked up (garland + mobile)? Pretty cool no? Have you made anything with things you've picked up outside before? If you have, leave me a link, I'd love to check it out!

Lately...Halloween happened. Yup. I realize this is a bit overdue but I just had to share with you my Halloween costume; my first try at a sugar skull. It wasn't that great, but I learned a few things about drug store face paint. It sucks. It's super thick and sticky. It's impossible to spread on your face, and don't even get me started on taking it off... Anyway. Next time I'll try with makeup. Hopefully it makes things easier!We also decorated our yard a little. Nothing too fancy. A few small carved pumpkins (our very first - not bad right?) and a tombstone. We're starting small and building up over the next few years because money doesn't grow on trees (god knows I wish it did).

Lately...I decided to try some of the Honest Co. products. I really love what they stand for so I thought I'd give them a go. I'll be sharing a review at a later time.

Lately...We've been trying to enjoy the last glimpse of warmth and blue skies by taking long walks and going to the park. We also visited my parent's cabin and took our son on his first boat ride. He was a bit scared and uneasy about the whole thing, but he stayed in the boat, so I guess you can call that a win.

Lately...Snow. WHY oh WHY? That is all.

Life Lately

What have you been up to lately?

Lately...I visited Michael's. I swear to god, every time I go in there I come out with 10 times as much stuff as I originally went to buy. I guess I'm just an impulsive craft buyer. I try to stay away from craft stores as much as possible for that reason.

Lately...World of Warcraft baby! I actually don't play that much anymore, but I'm kind of excited for the new expansion coming! Like, really excited.

Lately...I bought myself some super cute notebooks in an attempt to get my home organized. That has yet to happen.

Lately...My family and I went apple picking. So. Much. Fun. We're planning on making this a yearly fall activity. I've been creating apple recipes so stay tuned!

Lately...Just a selfie, 'cause ya know...

Lately...Gosh I love snuggling with my newborn. I just can't get enough of that new baby smell and super soft skin. Can he stay like this forever pwease? Those adorably pure smiles just melt my heart.

Lately...Baby color stimulation. Have to get those little brain cells warmed up!

Lately...I started a mini series over on my Instagram about similar colored items in my home. I get bored sometimes.

Lately...My 2 year old son just can't get enough of his little brother. He always wants to be close to him. It's just so adorable and he's so gentle with him. He has such a beautiful soul.

Recent favorites

1. This chocolate oatmeal crepe cake by Oatgasm looks devilishly delicious.

2. This home looks too perfectly style to be real. I wish I could keep mine that tidy for more than 2 seconds.

3. Brainstorming Halloween costumes. White buck maybe?

Random facts about me

1. I'm starting to have so much white hair that it's getting impossible to hide.

2. I finally mastered the cat eye liner! Or almost.

3. I absolutely adore children and being a mom, but sometimes having no time for myself gets the best of me.