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A special thanks to Lovevery for gifting us this play kit in exchange for our honest opinion.
From the second we unboxed The Helper Play Kit, Bentley has been begging to play with the goodies inside. This is our first Play Kit from Lovevery and I have to tell you, it is so perfectly curated for your child’s age. The thought behind the toys and activities inside exceeded my expectations.
If you've never heard of Lovevery before, they're an age-based subscription box filled with curated play essentials your child is bound to love. They choose toys that fit perfectly in your child's developmental window, so you know that your child is benefiting from them. They offer boxes for your sweet newborn through your child's third year.
Here’s what was inside this box—The Helper Play Kit, which is for toddlers 25-27 months old--Bentley is 25 months for age reference!
Super Sustainable Sink with Bio-Based Cups & Plates
This is hands down Bentley’s favorite item from the box. He LOVES playing in the water. He’s practiced filling his cups, pouring them into each other, and “washing” his play dishes.
Drop & Match Dot Catcher
At first, we just let Bentley put the colors in where ever he wanted, but it’s such a great learning tool, too! We’ve been practicing matching our colors, and this makes it fun.
Felt Flowers in a Row
It’s cute to see Bentley sniff the felt flowers, but what’s even cuter is when he runs them over to me to give mama flowers. Melts my heart…even if they’re fake haha
Double-Sided Sunny Day Puzzle
We LOVE this puzzle. It is so unique, and we love that the same pieces are for both sides of the puzzle.
Anywhere Art Kit with Washable Tempera Paintsticks
We cannot wait to take this with us on the go-we know this will be perfect for road trips or even in restaurants!
Let’s Map It Out Routine Cards
We are huge fans of routine—I mean, when it comes to bedtime, what parent isn’t wanting to stay on routine so bedtime runs smoothly?! These cards are perfect to help with that!
Making Muffins Board Book
Once Bentley realized they were making blueberry muffins in the book, he was all into it. Blueberries are his favorite, and blueberry was his first “big” word!!
Lovevery also includes a Play Guide for those months with tips, developmental information, and even more at-home activities. If you have ever wanted to try Lovevery, I highly recommend it!
Click here to shop The Helper Play Kit or to browse the goodies Lovevery has to offer for you and your little one. Have you ever had a Lovevery box before?!
A special thanks to Fabletics for sponsoring today's post.
As we're a little more than halfway through January, I just have to ask...have you actually stuck with your New Year's resolutions?! This year, I kept mine super simple, but ones that would make a huge impact in my life--eating healthier, staying active, and decluttering our home.
I've started decluttering our home as we've renovated each room--when you have to pull everything out to install new flooring, it gets you in a get rid of it kind of mood, and that's exactly what I needed. I ended up filling ten trash bags with items to donate just from one room. Yep, you read that right. Why in the world did I need that much extra useless stuff?! So, as this year goes on, my goal is to go through each room, cabinet, built-in, and drawer to reduce the noise in our home. I find myself less anxious and stressed, and since Chris and I work from home, we want our home to feel beautiful and fully functional.
Another piece of my journey this year is to get healthier, eat healthier, and stay active. I will be honest, I am the worst when it comes to eating. I am that girl that forgets to eat if I get too focused on something--I've always been this way, and it's something I am working on staying consistent with.
One thing that has been a great way for me to remember to eat, and also get a boost of protein and energy is protein smoothies. I have been loving the Orgain protein powders and they don't taste too proteiny if you know what I mean. haha!
Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Protein Smoothie
My "recipe" if you will, is super simple. I add lactose-free milk (I'm lactose intolerant), a scoop of protein powder (or two if I want an extra boost), a banana, heaping spoonful of peanut butter, and ice.
I blend everything up in my Nutri Bullet, and boom--a delish smoothie with a boost of protein and a boost of energy for me.
As I mentioned, the other part of getting healthier is staying active. For me, during the winter, it's a little hard to get out there in the cold with a toddler, so I've started eating healthier to start, and once it warms up, I'll add my walks back in. When I'm out on a walk, and yes, totally when I'm lounging at home, you can find me in Fabletics. The leggings are seriously so comfortable and soft, and the sports bras offer actual support.
This leopard set is one of my favorites. I have two others from Fabletics from several years ago, and I'm not going to lie, they get the most use! I always reach for the leopard print sets. This one has a little fun pop of color, too! It has a lime green stripe on a few of the seams, and I'm obsessed.
Something else I love about Fabletics is that even though I'm petite--(I'm only 5'2"!), the leggings aren't too long on me! I personally prefer the 7/8 styles because of the length, but even other styles like sweats and loungewear that I've shared in the past aren't too much on my petite frame.
If you've wanted to try Fabletics, you can get 2 bottoms for $24 plus 70% off everything else when you sign up to become a VIP. Monthly collections and weekly styles are released, so be sure to check back.
Have you worn Fabletics leggings before?!
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I have loved Pixi Beauty for years now, and just recently, they sent me a couple of packages filled with these goodies and more! I gathered a few of my favorites from these new packages and then a few that have been in my routine for years to share with you today.
Skincare //
Botanical Collagen Eye Serum
Motherhood has not been kind to my skin, especially my under eyes. My under eyes have definitely gotten darker, my fine lines and wrinkles are deeper than ever before and my under eyes and eyelid area have gotten really dry. I have been looking for a new hydrating eye serum, so I was really excited to try it out. It helps to strengthen and brighten the under-eye area, and the combo of botanical collagen and hyaluronic acid helps to give the boost of hydration it so desperately needs.
Botanical Collagen Lip Gloss
This lip gloss surprised me with how much I loved it. I mean, seriously with the first use, it became a favorite. It's enriched with botanical collagen, which I never even knew was a thing until Pixi sent me this package! It hydrates and smooths your lips, and I love that it doesn't make your lips feel overly sticky like other products do. It gives a gorgeous high shine and gives the hydration you need--especially in the wintertime.
Makeup //
Pixi Eyelift Max Eyeshadow
I'm also for trying new eyeshadows. I love, love to have shimmer on my lid always. My everyday eye look has been pretty much the same for the past few years--a light brown in my crease, a darker brown on my outer lid, a shimmer on my lid, and a light highlight in my inner corner. These liquid eye shadows have been great because they are so easy to apply and they blend with minimal effort. I love how they're buildable, too. I can add a quick swipe if I'm headed out to run errands or I can build it up for a look for church or if I'm headed out!
Pixi Endless Silky Eyeliner
I forgot how much I loved this eyeliner. Pixi has sent me a few packages in the past that have eyeliner in them, and I always love the way they go on. The Endless Silky eyeliners are soo smooth. The color is very pigmented in the best way possible. It's also waterproof and the pigmentation and smooth application are comparable to a liquid eyeliner!
Pixi MatteLast Liquid Lip
Hands down my favorite liquid lip of all time. I have worn these lippies for years, and I always get compliments on my lip colors, but also on how well it stays on throughout the day. Once I put this liquid lip on, I know it will stay all day long. I wore it on Christmas Eve to sing with, and it stayed on from six in the morning until I retouched it at...wait for it...six in the evening!! This was through eating lunch and singing five services.
Pixi Large Lash Mascara
This is my minimal makeup mascara of choice. With a quick swipe, I feel my eyes look brightened, and it's perfect for quick makeup looks for working from home. I will say, if I'm going for a longer, thicker lash look, I will go for a more volumizing mascara, but for my everyday makeup, you can find me wearing this one!
Have you tried any of these products before?! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
GUEST BEDROOM REVEAL || HARDWOOD FLOORING + BOARD AND BATTEN ACCENT WALL WITH WALLPAPER
Monday, January 9, 2023
What a DIY! This is the first official reveal of our new upstairs hardwood flooring! It was a labor of love, actual blood, sweat, and tears. Installing hardwood flooring was one of the hardest DIYs we've done--the amount of math, angles, and intricate cuts we made were unreal. From perfecting cuts to fit under doorways, around angled closet walls, and air vents, I think I've cut just about every weird cut imaginable.
Our guest bedroom was the last room to be completed, but it's the first to be revealed! I'm still finalizing things in our room and Bentley's room and will reveal those rooms soon.
So, in case you missed what this room looked like before, take a look at this before & after. Can you spot the differences?!
I'll list them off for you because I'm just so happy with how this room turned out.
One // New hardwood flooring
Two // Crown molding
Three // Board and batten accent wall with wallpaper
Adding the crown molding and changing the board and batten wall to a half wall with wallpaper was the first project. There was just something that was always off to me with the board and batten wall from floor to ceiling. It made it impossible to put artwork above the bed, and when we finally put photos up, it still didn't feel right.
Chris is the master of crown molding, so he installed that for me, and then I caulked and painted it! The crown molding made such a huge difference. With a new house, there's always going to be settling and more settling, and the front of our house, especially in the upstairs bedrooms seemed to settle forward, which mean there was an annoying seam that no matter how many times we'd have fixed under warranty or me fixing it, it always created an eyesore. The crown molding covered that and was a permanent fix to an ugly cosmetic issue.
He also took the oscillating saw across the board and batten boards to cut them across without having to take them all off the wall. Taking the top portion of the boards off the wall left quite a mess, so I patched the wall to give myself a smoother surface to apply the wallpaper. I could have painted the wall, but there wasn't really a need to since I won't change the wallpaper anytime soon.
Wallpaper was a challenge--well, it would have been easier if I hadn't chosen the hardest pattern known to man. haha! I was able to install it in a couple of hours, but gosh, I was so happy when it was finished.
Once the wallpaper was installed, it was time to nail on the top board and the top trim piece to finish the board and batten. The key to getting the boards super smooth is sanding, a coat of compound to fill the wood grain, sanding again, and then a really good wipe-down before painting. I painted two coats on the boards after the sanding process and then caulked the bottom edge and sides of the new top board.
The last and biggest DIY to finish up our guest bedroom was ripping out the carpet and replacing it with hardwood flooring! Ripping out the carpet is probably the most satisfying, most disgusting thing I've ever done. You think your house is clean until you see what's under the carpet and underlayment...and our house is only three years old. Never again will I purposely put carpet in my home or future home.
Thankfully, the subfloors were level and I could install the underlayment and the flooring. Since I was installing overtop a subfloor and underlayment, I could have done a fully floating floor, but I chose to nail in the side wall boards with a nail gun instead of using spacers to make sure my boards stayed straight and together.
This room was one of the easiest rooms to install flooring in, so once I was able to have an evening to dedicate to it, I got it done pretty quickly--in about three hours. Once I finished laying all the flooring, I did a final tap in all the boards to make sure all the seams were nice and tight together, and then I used the nail gun to nail in the edge of the boards. The best part about these nails is that the quarter round completely covers them, so you can't see them at all!
Chris is also the quarter-round expert, so he installed that for me, and then I went back after him and filled in the nail holes with spackle, caulked the seam, and painted it. Once the paint was dry, we started to move the furniture back in! This was an exciting moment because, for about two weeks, all of our bedrooms had furniture from every room in them as we finished each room. It felt so good to start to put everything back together again. You can only live in a chaotic construction zone for so long with a very active toddler.
I shopped my home for decor to redecorate the space, and I love the way it turned out! Eventually, when I get brave, I'll hang something in the center of the wallpaper, but until it becomes Bentley's big boy room, I'll keep it just the wallpaper.
What do you think about this before and after?! Pretty good, right?!
If you have any questions on this series of DIY projects, leave a comment or send me a DM on Instagram.
I'll link below everything I can for this space from DIY essentials to decor!
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Wallpaper
Wallpaper Installation Kit
Crown Molding
Hardwood Flooring--Coffee Bean
Underlayment
Bedframe
Area Rug
Dresser
Nightstand
Throw Blanket
Semi-Flush Mount Light
Black Door Knobs
Black Closet Knobs
Black Hinges
I'm still in disbelief that my sweet boy is two years old already. He's got the sweetest personality and is all sorts of toddler crazy, and I will forever cherish this time of life. Chris and I are both blessed to be working from home, so we get to spend all day with him, and it's something that I've always dreamed of.
One of our favorite things about him at this age is that he's starting to have his own interests. You can see it in his eyes, they get all bright and blue, eyebrows raised, and a big "WOAH!! WOW!!" comes from his little mouth. You know he's our kid because most of the time it's towards a Reese's, but for the past six months or so, he's been super into trash trucks and that quickly spread to construction vehicles, race cars--pretty much, if it has wheels, he's lovin' it.
I wanted to give him a birthday party that represented all I know that he loves, so we went with a race car theme because he really is growing up two fast. They say it goes quick, and they weren't kidding.
In this post, you'll see the simple race car cake that I made him, desserts, the racing balloon arch, and the racing strip of yummy finger foods. I'll link everything I can at the bottom of this post!
Shop My Post //
I hope this was inspirational as you're planning your little one's party! Enjoy the little moments and don't stress too much, they'll love it no matter what--but I must say...get the balloon arch...the reaction is priceless! :)
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