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Holiday Stripes

December 9, 2015

While we are finally experiencing cooler temps here, it is still very much ‘fall’ outside! I’m not complaining, but I am definitely ready to pull out my sweaters and winter coats. In the meantime, I am still over here hanging out in my stripes. H has enjoyed jumping in the leaves with his cousin this week and we finally decorated our tree! It is slowly but surly starting to feel more like the holidays. For that, I am thankful. This is my favorite time of year and we are making it extra special this year.

Necklace: Emily Jane Designs // Top: The LOFT // Cords: The LOFT // Booties: Nordstrom

This week, I started wrapping a few of our Christmas presents and I am a lot closer to being finished with my Christmas shopping. I only have a few little things to buy and 2 more big presents. I’m hoping to finish up this weekend!

I found this adorable gold bar necklace from Emily Jane Designs a few weeks ago and had a fit over it! I have been looking for one that can be personalized with “H+S” on it for a long time now. I absolutely love this one because I can literally wear it every day with anything. It is also really great for layering. If I have more children, I can have their initials engraved on a longer chain and it will be perfect!

As for this top, I scored it at The Loft on Black Friday and it is SO comfortable! It’s loose and flowy and soft and perfect! I have already worn it 2 maybe 3 times. It has become my go-to when I’m in a hurry because it pairs perfectly with leggings, jeans and cords! Basically everything.

Do you have a go-to top?

Family Photos 2015

December 8, 2015

This year, I thought Christmastime was the perfect time to take new family pictures. H just turned 2 years old and SR was 6 months, plus we really needed photos for our Christmas cards! It was a no brainer who to call. Allison has done all of our family pictures since Hamp was born and she has a way of capturing beautiful photos that are so simple and natural. Here are a few of my favorites:

H’s Shirt // My Scarf (sold out, here it is in another color) // SR’s Boots // My Dress

Photography by Allison Hilyer

Holiday Gift Guide: Shop Small

December 7, 2015

I can’t believe we have less than 3 weeks until Christmas! After spending all day Saturday decorating Christmas cookies and the cooler temperatures finally hitting home, it definitely put me in the holiday spirit! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know how much I love shopping at small shops! Supporting small business owners is so important to my family because many of them are moms just like me who are trying to earn a living from home. I thought it would be fun to put together a holiday gift guide featuring their amazing work! I have had the pleasure of working with several of these this year and it has been so much fun!

For Baby:

Pacidoodle® and Paci Clip and Keep – I blogged about this a while back and SR still loves her. They are wonderful and would make a wonderful gift.

Baby Bows from Meghan and Julie on Etsy

Personalized Baby Blanket – SR still sleeps with hers every night and loves it! It is so adorable and has held up really well.

Monogrammed Burp Cloths – These burp cloths are precious and we use them all the time. I love having personalized one for when we are out and about or with lots of other babies so we can tell them apart very easily.

Freshly Picked Moccasins – These moccs continue to be my favorite baby shoes. SR’s first shoes were the little pink crib moccs and she looks so adorable in them.

A Custom Baby Romper – I had SR’s designed when she was about 1 month and I am obsessed with it! You can choose any fabric and they are beautiful and really well made.

Personalized Baby Blocks

For Her:

Tulle Skirt

Gold Bar Necklace

Druzy Bangle from Lemon Sweet Jewelry on Etsy

Boss Mug from The Trendy Sparrow

Books + Coffee Tee

Peppermint Bark Candle

Time for Cocoa Top from I Do Declare Boutique – I can honestly say it is one of my favorites and I wear it ALL the time.

Coffee and Mascara Sweatshirt

Adorable Cardigan from Oakleigh Rose

Planner

Monogrammed Clutch

Baking Christmas Cookies with Betty Crocker

December 4, 2015

This post is sponsored by Betty Crocker but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is baking Christmas cookies. This tradition began our first Christmas as a married couple – 4 years ago and last year we got H involved by letting him stir the dough. This year, since I have my son and nephew, it was twice the fun! Betty Crocker made things easier for me this year. I loved running out and picking up the Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie Mix and making these delicious Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Cups. They were a huge hit with my family.

This year, we thought it would be nice to box some up in our Ziploc containers and give some to extended family and friends. I think this was G’s favorite part! Or, maybe it was eating the cookies. While Hamp is still a little young to really appreciate baking, G was so into it. He loved helping me put the Reese’s in the cookies and was so proud of himself. We had so much fun baking these treats, but I will always remember this year’s Christmas with all of our family being together. It is loud and crazy around here, but we are getting settled in and loving all these babies running around!

This is definitely one of my new favorite cookie recipes. Betty Crocker knows her stuff, let me tell you! Her recipe calls for cocktail peanuts, but because I was making them for the kiddos, we skipped that ingredient.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Ingredients

1 pouch (17.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ peanut butter cookie mix

: Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on cookie mix package

1/4: cup chopped cocktail peanuts (I skipped this ingredient)

1/4: cup peanut butter chips

1 1/2: tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar

36: Reese’s™ miniatures peanut butter cups, unwrapped; Directions; Heat your oven to 375°F. Place mini paper baking cup in each of 36 mini muffin cups.In large bowl, stir cookie mix, water, oil and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in peanuts and peanut butter chips. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dip top half of each ball into sugar. Place one ball, sugar side up, into each muffin cup. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately press 1 peanut butter cup into center of each cookie. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove to cooling rack to cool completely and enjoy!

Are you trying any new recipes this baking season?

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Hello, Upside Down Life

December 3, 2015

This year, our Thanksgiving looked very different than most years. Due to a family situation, my brother and his kids moved into my parent’s house the same day we did – last Wednesday. It has been so chaotic, but also really fun. It has been stressful at times because there are so many people crammed into one house with all of our furniture mixed in with my parents. It is not healthy for this O.C.D. mama. Everywhere I look, there are boxes stacked. It has definitely been making me anxious, but I just keep reminding myself this is only temporary.

My mind has been all over the place. I’ve learned that once you become a mom, you become forgetful. When your 6 month old isn’t sleeping, it gets worse. Add moving in with my parents and acting as a mother of 4 this past week, it gets extremely worse. I am working diligently to get my brain back, settle in as much as possible and get organized so that we can get back into a routine. Hopefully, everything will be very manageable again soon.

Saying goodbye to our home on Saturday was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Maybe it was all the stress and emotions from the week, but I was so sad to say goodbye to our first home. We have so many wonderful memories there. We came home to that house after our honeymoon and brought both of our babies home from the hospital to that house. We had 4 amazing Christmases there and birthday celebrations. We watched Hamp’s first steps in that house and had lots of friends and family there for dinner and game nights. We will miss our home, but we are so looking forward to our next chapter. I am being very prayerful that God will place us where we need to be and that He will move in everything going on with my family. I feel His presence and know he placed us all here for a reason. We are all working together and taking care of one another. After all, that is what family does.

Have you ever dealt with a family emergency during the holidays?

How I’m Getting Fit After Baby #2

December 2, 2015

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Garmin through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about vívofit 2, all opinions are my own

I have always been a very active person. I enjoy working out and exercising, probably because that is what I grew up doing. I was a competitive dancer and even joined my high school’s cheerleading squad. Back then, I thought I was constantly moving, but it doesn’t even compare to what I do now – chasing after a toddler and a baby. After running in the mornings, running errands, feeding the kids, getting them down for naps, blogging and writing, doing laundry and cleaning in the afternoons, cooking dinner, feeding the kids again, playing outside, bath time, and bedtime stories, I feel like I’ve run a marathon by 8 o’ clock every night.

Some mornings, it can be very hard to get up and exercise if my daughter has kept me up all night (which has been a lot lately). I have been losing track of my fitness and haven’t kept up with my goals as much – that is, until I got the new Garmin vívofit 2. I have been wearing this activity tracker for a while now and I have loved using the easy to use app and features. It helps me keep track of how many steps I take throughout the day and how any calories I am burning (anywhere from 1,900 – 2,300) per day. This helps me adjust my diet accordingly.

Because I am still breastfeeding, it is not only very important that I eat enough, but also that the calories I do eat are healthy calories. I have always struggled with my diet because I am a chocoholic. To keep me in check, I am constantly reminding myself that I’m not only feeding myself, but my baby as well. That puts my meals and what I’m putting in my body into a better perspective and it encourages me to eat better.

I love the vívofit 2 activity tracker because it is perfect for a busy mom on the go. It has a 1+ year battery life which is great because I don’t have to take it off to charge it. It monitors my sleep – which can be scary some mornings when I feel exhausted and look at my activity tracker app to find out that I’ve only slept 3 hours. It’s happened. The vívofit 2 automatically syncs with my phone and it is even water resistant which is awesome because there have been a few spit up/bath splashing moments that have happened while wearing it and it was totally fine.

In my first week of wearing this activity tracker, I found out that I sleep 3 to 5 hours a night. I take around 8,000 steps on days I do not exercise and I take well over 10,000 on days that I do. I’m working to get my step count higher so that I’m hitting at least 10,000 a day. I’m also hoping I can start sleeping more. This has been very eye opening and I love that it has made me aware of where I am physically and the areas I need to improve.

Do you wear an activity tracker?
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Black Friday Haul + December Rocksbox

December 1, 2015

Post contains affiliate links.

I can’t believe today is December and my little princess is 7 months old! Her first year is going by incredibly too fast. I really need it to slow down.

Every year, my cousins and I go Black Friday shopping. It has become a really fun tradition. For some reason, I felt like there weren’t as many people out shopping this year. It was strange. Not that I’m complaining. Maybe everyone is doing it online now? There is just something about going the day after Thanksgiving to officially start your Christmas shopping with family and your hot cocoa in hand. It’s so much fun and you can save a lot of money doing it.

This year, I racked up on Christmas gifts! I was so excited to get so much of my shopping done all at once, but my favorite part was spending time with my family. We laughed and had such a good time and it was the perfect distraction from all the chaos that was going on last week. In addition to Christmas gifts, I snagged a new plaid scarf, because one can never have too many, right? and this adorable striped shirt! It is so comfortable and goes with everything. Everything.

Another surprise came in the mail last week – my December Rocksbox! It was a welcomed surprise and I was s excited to see what was in it this month. I never peek online because I like the element of surprise. So, I opened it up and loved what I saw! I immediately tried it all on and have enjoyed wearing it this week.

Don’t forget to use code LoganCanXOXO to receive your first month subscription free!

Cyber Monday Sales and Picks

November 30, 2015

Post contains affiliate links.
I scored a few good deals on Christmas presents on Black Friday, but I really love Cyber Monday! All of the amazing deals of Black Friday right from my computer with coffee in hand and PJ’s on. That is my kid of shopping! I am so looking forward to knocking out some more (if not all) of my Christmas shopping today! I sat down last night and made my Christmas list, so here we go! These are some of the deals I am going to browse and some of my picks.

Old Navy – 40% off entire store.

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

Gap – 40% off entire store.

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

Nordstrom – Extra 25% off Selected Sale Items

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

Ulta – $10 off purchase of $50 or more and Free Shipping on orders over $35.

Loft – 50% off everything with code CYBER50

Khols – Extra 20% off + Free Shipping on orders $25 +!

H&M – 20%, 30%, and 40% off + Free Shipping!

Minted – 25% off products and 20% off holiday cards!

ThredUp – Use this link to get $20 credit!

Victoria’s Secret – Free Shipping on Orders $50+ and $20 off $125 or more!

Anthopologie – 25% off every item.

Target – 30% off clothes, shoes and more!

Express – 50% off everything.

Black Friday Deals

November 27, 2015

It’s Black Friday!! I am definitely planning to make a huge dent in my Christmas shopping today! I have so many presents to buy and I may buy myself one, too. We will see! I have several things on my list, but here are a few of the deals I plan to shop:

Old Navy: 50% off entire store

Gap 50% off entire store. These Gapfit leggings are so cute and I’m swooning over these bear booties for SR and this buffalo plaid henley or H!

The LOFT 50% off (almost) everything

Target 40% off all clothes and accessories

Khols: 50% off Toys, 60% off outerwear and more!

Amazon: Tons of deals on electronics

Sephora: $10 Gift Sets

Express: 50% off (nearly) everything. I love this Ombre sweater and this sweater dress!

Which sales are you planning to shop?

A Special Gift + Saving Tips

November 26, 2015

This post is sponsored by Voya but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Everyone has that one gift they always remember. The bike or the coveted boots or new cell phone. My memorable gift was the year my grandfather gave all 10 of us grandchildren stock. I was young enough to not have a clue what stock was and had never heard of the stock market. He sat us down and explained it to us and I am forever grateful for this investment.

This year, instead of giving the kids in your life a bunch of new toys hat they really don’t need, consider investing in their future. Voya Financial helps Americans plan and invest their money into safe accounts and mutual funds to help protect heir future. After reading a little about them, I found that they are even offering every baby born on October 19th of this year a complimentary $500 mutual fund. Do you know anyone with children born on that day? Let them know about it!

Voya Saving Tips:

-Budget

-Set up an IRA

-Purchase Life Insurance

-Contribute a small amount of your paycheck to an investment fund.

In a Google Consumer Survey, nearly one-third of parents said they would rather family and friends gift a financial contribution to their child’s future during the holidays. To be completely honest, I fall in that 1/3. I would so much rather receive financial support for my kids future than another toy. What about you?