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Our Trip to Southern California

Posted on November 13, 2017

Jordan and I are back from our California trip! We went to Pasadena for a good friend’s wedding. I was so looking forward to this trip! I dearly miss our friend who now lives in San Francisco, and I was excited to get a sneak peak into his west coast life and celebrate his marriage. I had never been to California and it was definitely on my bucket list to visit and explore. As a mom, I day dreamed about this trip on many long days with the boys. As a wife, I was so looking forward to the one-on-one time with Jordan, and being able to relax and focus on each other only.

The boys stayed with my parents. I created a ‘surprise bag’ for each day of their vacation at Grandma and Poppy’s. The bags had candy, toys from the Target dollar section, and a note. It was fun to talk to the boys each day and hear how excited they were about their surprises. Silly string, dinosaurs, cars, play-doh, and crazy balls. I love how the little things go so far with little ones! This was our longest and furthest trip away from the boys and it went so well! I had so much fun and felt relaxed the entire time.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and picturesque. We met a lot of great people at the wedding festivities which made it even more enjoyable. After the three days of wedding festivities in Pasadena we drove up the coast to Santa Barbara. We stopped for lunch in Malibu. The scenery on our drive up highway 1 was beautiful. We rented a convertible which was perfect to take in the scenery and sunshine of the California coast.

Our time in Santa Barbara consisted of a pastry crawl, bike riding, a sunset cruise, hiking, hot springs, walks on the beach, lots of ocean front meals, and cruising around the mountains and coast of California.

I was actually sad when our vacation came to an end. We had so much fun having a week full of dates and adventures together. I wanted to stay longer…until…I saw our adorable little boys off in the distance at the airport holding a welcome home sign…my heart immediately melted and I couldn’t scoop them up fast enough! Home Sweet Home!

It had been 3 years since we last spent time with our friend and it was so good to be together again. I loved the opportunity to be just a wife for the week and create lifelong memories with Jord on the west coast. If you haven’t been there before, I highly recommend exploring the coast of Cali!

Faith Miscarriage Support Mom Life

My Story: Miscarriage Support Episode 3 of 4

Posted on October 30, 2017

If you follow my blog you already know a little bit about me! I have two rowdy boys, Timmy who is 3 years old and Charlie who is 1 year old. My husband Jordan is the sweetest and constantly loving on us. I have been a stay at home mom for about 1 year now. It has been a really good change and a huge blessing to our family. It is a roller coaster of hard days and really wonderful days.

Since I made the decision to stay home full time a lot of women ask me how and why we made that decision. I wrote a post on 4 steps to consider in becoming a stay at home mom. Hopefully it will equip other mom’s with information to determine if that is the best thing for their family.

I am one who likes to know why! I like to understand cause and effect of all things in life. I like to know the direct relationship between actions and outcome so that I can optimize the outcome to align with my plans and desires. I am fun, outgoing, and spontaneous but what most people don’t know about me is a lot of what I do is strategic and done with a purpose that will result in a desired outcome. So that takes me to my miscarriage…

I had considered the possibility of a miscarriage years in advance of trying to get pregnant and took the ‘proper steps’ to avoid it. I never went on the pill (for a couple of reasons) but one of which was to avoid the risk of a miscarriage because that’s what people said could cause it. I was healthy, exercised, didn’t drink, smoke, or use drugs…ever. So I thought I had a good handle on preventing this scenario. I was serving God, growing in my faith, and thriving in my marriage. I already experienced my share of trials and challenges in my faith and had passed the test by choosing to follow God above all else. According to my standards, at this point, it was smooth sailing into this next phase of life, right God?

Even when the doctor explained to me that my body was beginning the process of miscarrying the baby I thought, ‘not me’. I’m going to pray with all my heart and God will save my baby, right God?

The hard reality I needed to come to terms with is I am not in control. We are not in control. God took me to a place where I could not change the circumstance, nothing I could do would change the outcome. That was frustrating. God ‘seemed’ silent because He wasn’t doing what I told Him to do. I was humbled greatly as I was driven to a place of total surrender and reliance upon HIM.

We remember our baby by keeping the sonogram picture and remembrance ornament in our bedroom with us.

Hillary Scott wrote the song Thy Will Be Done about her miscarriage. I have listened to that song a million times and every time the line “You are God and I am not” strikes me to the core. I constantly need that reminder.

The book of Job has taught me so much in this area of my life. God offered no explanation to Job, but rather called all involved into a deeper level of trust in the Creator, who rules over the world with perfect wisdom and mercy. We may not know what is going on in heaven or what God’s purposes are, but we must trust Him. Because of this, the matter of determining why we suffer becomes obsolete to the matter of God’s perfect wisdom. I pray that if you are in a place of trial or tragedy that you seek Him with all your heart and find Him!

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Another song I listened to over and over is Good Good Father by WorshipMob. After drawing near to God and walking closely with Him you can’t deny His overwhelming goodness. This song is a constant reminder and celebration of that.

One of the lines in Good Good Father is, “…I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think you are like…”. Some of those stories might be good and some of those stories might be bad ones but I urge you to find out for yourself. Seek Him with all your heart and determine for yourself who He is. Then you will know what they mean when they sing, “…a love so undeniable that I can hardly speak, a peace so explainable that I can hardly think…”.

Resources:

Faith Miscarriage Support Mom Life

Amy’s Story: Miscarriage Support Episode 2 of 4

Posted on October 26, 2017

My name is Amy Davis and I have been married for 13 years, with 4 children. I was a practicing mental health therapist, but I have been a stay-at-home mom since my third child was born in 2012 with special needs. Though I’m taking a break at the moment, I also share my best savings and frugal living tips on my blog at www.slayyourbudget.com. When I’m not cooking, cleaning or folding my 900th load of laundry, I enjoy reading Christian romance novels, binge watching Billions and watching my big girls kick butt in basketball.

Since my miscarriage in 2014, I found out I was pregnant again just one week before the due date of my miscarried baby. This greatly helped when that date rolled around and the depressive feelings set in.

In a surprising revelation, it was also determined that my due date with my rainbow baby was October 14, 2015. This is significant to me because it is in fact, my birthday! I never would have imagined that my fourth and final baby would be the most perfect little boy (the first three are girls and we always kept the gender of our babies a surprise) indeed born on his due date, on my birthday! How could that be anything but God?! The atmosphere in that delivery room was indescribable. I was joy-filled and crying, praising and thanking God.

I may still not understand His plan, but my faith is strong. I think of the baby I lost often. I still wonder and play the “what if” game; it’s natural I think. But I’m so thankful for my sweet Luca and can’t imagine our family without him.

In the time after my miscarriage, music greatly helped in the journey through my grief. Christian artist Plumb has many songs that were particularly poignant including my favorite, Need You Now. I also journaled my thoughts and relied on Bible verses like Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

We also chose to memorialize our baby as a family by writing messages on mylar balloons (I hear paper lanterns may be a more environmentally friendly/animal safe option now), praying over them and releasing them to Heaven. This gave us some sense of closure and a way to say goodbye to the baby we never got to meet.

Resources:

  • Bible Verses: Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 29:11
  • Here’s a link to the miscarriage ornament the ladies recieved at the end of the video. This beautiful glass ornament is a wonderful memorial piece for those who have lost a child.
  • Song: Need You Now by Plumb
Faith Miscarriage Support Mom Life

Steph’s Story: Miscarriage Support Episode 1 of 4

Posted on October 19, 2017

 

My name is Stephanie Wood (Cato). I am a 23 year old full-time nanny to two sweet young girls. My husbands name is Justin Wood, he is a 25 year old video editor. We’ve been married for 3 years, together for 5.

I love being young and married, it’s a blessing to be able to do life with my best friend and to know that, God willing, we have an entire lifetime of experiences together. One of the many reasons we decided to get married so young was that we both wanted to start families young and to have a lot of children running around. I had always envisioned that as soon as we got married it would be a breeze to fall pregnant and start growing our family.

After about 1 year of just taking pregnancy tests, we decided we needed to take more control of our fertility. It was like a full time job paying attention to everything, it still took us 7 months more of trying until I finally saw the “Pregnant” result one morning.

I remember how happy I was, happy isn’t even a good word for it. I was more overwhelmed with joy, excited that after months of crying and feeling like a failure that I had finally done the one thing that only I could do in our marriage, I was pregnant. I had the honor of carrying our first baby, taking care of them, feeling such peace having them with me. I remember calling Justin, who had left for work shortly before, crying and telling him the exciting news and then driving to his work and just sitting in the car with him talking about how we were finally a mom and dad. It felt surreal.

We shared the news with all of our family by driving to each of their houses and videotaping their reactions when we told them all that we were expecting, it was an honor to see their reactions. It was going to be both of our parents’ first grandchild. All of our siblings’ first niece or nephew. My grandparents first great grandchild, and my aunt and uncle’s first great niece or nephew.

A few months later, October of last year, I got a tattoo to remember my baby. It is a heart, half of it is a black outline of a heart, the other half is made up of a ribbon that is pink and blue that symbolizes pregnancy and infant loss awareness. Getting the tattoo helped me with some form of closure. I also love the symbolism of carrying this tattoo like I wish I could carry my baby. I take comfort in that our first little one never knew the pain of the world, never knew fear, but first opened their eyes and were in the arms of God, in the safety of heaven, where I will finally get to meet them one day.

It has been a year and four months since my miscarriage, and we still have not managed to fall pregnant again. We continue to pray that every month might be our month. We still have hard days, where the pain and grief comes forward and we can’t help but to cry and feel helpless. I still wake up in sweats some nights, remembering what it was like to miscarry our baby. I actually went on anxiety medication for some time because I couldn’t get restful sleep and I couldn’t focus on anything but my grief. I don’t think anyone should be ashamed to ask their doctor for help if they need a little extra help.

Other things I used to help me cope were things like devotionals. I went online and ordered a few devotional books specifically for women who had miscarried, also about women who struggled with fertility. I also read and reread Hannah’s story in the Bible. I use her as an example. I pray like Hannah. I want to be like Hannah. I want to be faithful and know that in God’s timing we will grow our earthly family like he plans for us.

I found that in this time, I learned a lot about myself, about what I can handle, about strength I never knew I had. Justin and I have been through something that a lot of people don’t understand and it’s hard for others to relate, but 1 in 4 pregnancies are lost due to miscarrying. A lot of women don’t even know they were pregnant to begin with. However, the ones who know, know what this feels like. I want them to know they aren’t alone even though it feels like the loneliest time in your life. I want them to know that there’s hope when there seems like there is none. I want them to know that we will all rejoice with God one day, alongside our precious babies. There is hope in the Lord. There is love in the Lord.

RESOURCES:

  • Favorite Bible verses during this time: Psalm 22: 9-10, Jeremiah 1: 4-5, & Isaiah 44:2
  • Here’s a link to the miscarriage ornament the ladies recieved at the end of the video. This beautiful glass ornament is a wonderful memorial piece for those who have lost a child.
  • Below are the devotionals I used throughout the grieving process. The images are clickable and will take you directly to them on amazon.

This post contains affiliate links. 

Faith Miscarriage Support Mom Life

Ministering to Women Who Suffered A Miscarriage

Posted on October 10, 2017

 

Did you know that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in a miscarriage? Did you know that when I experienced my miscarriage I didn’t know of anyone who had experienced a miscarriage? How is it possible that 25% of pregnancies end in a miscarriage and yet I knew of no one?

Probably because all of those women did the same thing I did and didn’t tell anyone about it.

Why? Why isn’t it talked about more? Why aren’t the babies lives acknowledged and grieved by friends and family? Why aren’t the mother’s surrounded with love and prayers for their loss and broken heart? Why do mother’s carry this burden alone, quietly, and in secret?

I know why I didn’t talk about it. I didn’t talk about it because I didn’t think others would understand. I felt silly grieving so deeply over a person I never met. Peoples reactions seemed to cheapen my pain and it just wasn’t worth it. But you know who would have understood my pain…another women who experienced the same loss, the same lonely grieving, the same frustration, confusion, and helplessness.

I was in my kitchen doing dishes this past summer and God gave me an assignment.

“Create a place where women can go and know they aren’t alone. Give them a community who can grieve with them, pray for them, and encourage them. Be a resource of good and helpful information during such a confusing time. Show them my true character of love, faithfulness, and goodness and how to reconcile that with personal heartache.” 

I reached out to several other women and came up with a group of three others who were willing to help me with this project. We spent a Sunday afternoon together having lunch, sharing our stories, and expressing our willingness to minister to other women who are hurting and need healing from their loss.

Our goals were aligned, to give our pain purpose by ministering to other woman who suffered a loss during pregnancy and point them to Jesus. It’s during trials that our faith is truly tested. Each of these women have powerful stories about how their faith was tested and the ways God spoke to them during their miscarriage.

Over the next 4 weeks I will release a blog post each week with the full interview from each of these amazing women. Each story is unique in its own way so I hope many women can relate to the various experiences. We are excited to share this with you and we pray it heals broken hearts.

Here is the ‘trailer’ and sneak peak of the powerful stories you will hear over the next four weeks.

 

Mom Life

Baby Girl Sprinkle

Posted on October 3, 2017

Today I’m sharing the details of a baby sprinkle I threw for my college roomie!

Ashley had baby girl, Greta, about 4 weeks ago. At the end of August we celebrated by sprinkling her with love (and baby girl supplies). She has the most beautiful color scheme for the nursery. Lots of pinks and corals with mint green and gold accents, love it! I followed the same color scheme for the sprinkle. It was so pretty that I wanted to leave the party decor up in our house all year round. Walking into the room with those bright beautiful colors made me happy! I didn’t leave it up permanently but I did leave it up for a couple of weeks. 🙂

Prepping for baby Greta’s sprinkle was my nap time therapy for several weeks. My first project was the paper wheels on the wall. These cost me nothing to make because I already had the supplies (paper and hot glue gun). These are great party decor because they are inexpensive, beautiful, festive, and can fill large spaces! I saved some for future use (maybe a baby girl nursery one day?!) and used some of them in our guest room over the bed.

I read a lot of tutorials on these and found most of them to be over complicated. It’s actually quite simple. I’ll do another blog post on a simple way to make these.

We had 10 ladies at the sprinkle. Planning a party for such a small crowd was so fun! I was able to pay more attention to details, and make it feel more like a family dinner, and less like a huge buffet. And it didn’t break the bank when I wanted to buy mason jars for the drinks or gold (plastic) silverware for the place settings.

Speaking of place settings, check these out. Isn’t it so pretty?! Uh! I really didn’t want to eat at this table. I just wanted to look at it and take pictures of all the pretty things. My sister-in-law and I bought the gold chargers and the sparkly table runners on OfferUp from someone’s wedding decor. We used them for her baby shower and now for Ashley’s sprinkle.

Target had a gold section of party decor, including plastic silverware that is gold! The napkins came from there too. I happened to walk into Bath & Body Works during their semi-annual sale and got the hand lotion favors for $1.25 each!

If you follow my blog or my Facebook page you know that I am always making nursery letters for my friends! So here are Greta’s! If you want to know how to make them you can see the step by step instructions here. OR if you want me to make them for you just hit me up! I enjoy blessing other Mommas with this personalized detail for their baby’s nursery. I have two more I’m doing over the next few weeks. I’ll share the finished products on social media!

I have a confession to make…when I plan a party I spend almost all of my effort on decorations and dessert because that’s what I like most…decorations and dessert. The menu is usually a major after thought. I kept joking with Jordan that I was so distracted by all the shiny decorations that I was going to forget to put out food.

The dessert table had strawberry shortcake cupcakes, brownie bites with icing, and a layered white cake. Bare with me on my chalkboard handwriting (haha), it’s not my forte but I’ve been improving a bit. The strawberry shortcake cupcakes were amazing…truly amazing! My friend Karissa made them for the party, she is so talented. I couldn’t figure out how she got them to look so perfect and taste delicious. I made the brownie bites. They looked really cute but were kind of hard to get out of the wrapper, so….they were more of a decoration. The cake was from the Oakmont Bakery…need I say more? You know it was delicious.

These girls are my original crew. My first group of true friends. We go way back, about 15 years to be exact. It is crazy to even type that. Mo (on the far left) was my freshman roommate at Duquesne University. We were randomly paired and have stuck together since! We added the two beautiful blondes (Ashley & Holly) to our crew a few years later. We all ended up living together for 2 years in apartment #1217. And now we will forever refers to ourselves as, “1217”. We have each gone through many seasons of life since we first met in college, and I am thankful that through it all our friendships have lasted.

Jordan and I often chat about how special this crew of four is because honestly, we couldn’t be more different. But we complement each other and provide each other with fresh perspectives on life. We understand each other and leave room for us all to be uniquely us and be loved for it. No matter how different we all might be, we choose to support and love each other and that’s what has made this last for 15 years. <3

By the way, my dress is from Rent the Runway. I am a big fan of using them for all special occasions. You can read more about why I love Rent the Runway here. If you are interested in using them for an upcoming event please contact me. I can send you links for a percentage off or $30 off!

It was such a special day. I am thankful to Ashley for allowing me the honor of hosting this special event and to my husband (and friend Nick) for moving all of the furniture out of our front room so I could convert it to a party room!

Mom Life

Beachball Themed Birthday Party

Posted on September 6, 2017

Charlie baby is ONE years old! We had a beach ball themed birthday party for him and it was so fun. I was at Mom n Tots camp with Timmy on his actual birthday. Jordan brought Charlie to camp for the day and we were all together to celebrate. We sang to him with cupcakes and let him cover himself in icing. Charlie and I share a birthday so I got a cupcake too. 🙂

Timmy showing Charlie around camp. First stop, the goats!

Jordan took the week off work to have some special bonding time with Charlie while Timmy and I had our special time at Mom N Tots camp.

Birthday cupcake! Yummy!!

Charlie is obsessed with any type of ball…football, soccer ball, baseball, ski ball, beachball. My parents are convinced he is going to be a pitcher for the MLB. They started discussing travel plans for following his team around during their retirement. Haha! Let’s just stick to his first birthday party for now! Since he is a summer baby I thought beachballs would be a fun theme. The colors are bright and happy. Beachballs are inexpensive and I bought various sizes in bulk and hung them. The beachballs have provided tons of fun all summer long. They are all over the backyard and the boys love playing with them. Thankfully our backyard is fenced in or they would blow all over the neighborhood! The real hero is Jordan who blew them all up!

Since I was away the week before the party my mom made most of the food and a lot of it, thanks Mom! I got the tiered dessert trays for my birthday from my in-laws and just in time for the party. I’ve already used them a million times.

I love having this chalkboard and updating it for different occasions and seasons. I wish I had better drawing/handwriting skills but this is the best I can do. 🙂

It was a beautiful summer day. It was so warm outside that we ended up singing and opening gifts inside in the air conditioning. We had about 20 friends and family in attendance and we were so grateful they spent their Sunday afternoon celebrating with us.

I love to scrapbook and I used to make a lot of them before I had the boys. They are time intensive but I do love them so I am going to make one for each one of my children’s first year of life. Every year after that I make a slideshow of the past year for their birthday. I had a bunch of extra photos that didn’t make it into the scrapbook so we put them on display for the party.

A friend from church showed me a picture of something similar that her daughter in law did for her grandchild. I love the idea of creating something fun and special for the child to look back on as a grown up.

My dad insisted on there being one cookie with a smiley face on it because Charlie is always smiling. He calls him “Smiling Charlie”.

I really wanted beachball cookies for the party, more for decoration than for the menu. Can cookies be a decoration? 🙂 I have never worked with royal icing before but I wanted to give it a try to save money on ordering them. My artistic ability isn’t what it needed to be to pull these off but once they were all stacked on a tray you couldn’t tell they weren’t perfect. Beachball cookie decorations – check!

The biggest smash cake ever, thanks mom! And the handsome daddy of the birthday boy.

Charlie was so cute while we sang to him. He had a big smile on his face the entire time. He didn’t get into the smash cake too much. He just licked some of the icing and eventually lost interest. I did not properly prepare Timmy for the party. I didn’t realize it would be so difficult for him to not be the center of attention during the party. He wanted the cake first, to blow out the candle, and to open all the gifts. You can see the pain in his face in the picture above, he really wants to be the one who blows out the birthday candle. Haha! In retrospect, I should have spent more time preparing Timmy better.

Charlie got so many fun toys for his bday. Most of which were appropriately balls!

The birthday boy with Mommy and Daddy!

Charlie LOVED the baby pool full of balls and beachballs that we set up for his party. The boys have been playing with it all summer. It is even more fun when the baby pool is full of water!

A few fun facts about Charlie!

Charlie loves…

  • to smile!
  • playing with his big brother!
  • kicking balls around!
  • to eat!

We are blessed and thankful that Charlie is a part of our family. He has added so much fun and joy to our family. Being baby number two has been pretty special because Charlie has THREE people giving him hugs and kisses every day, telling him he is cute, teaching him words and animal sounds, keeping him away from the stairs, and saying goodnight at bedtime. We will continue to love and encourage him in every stage of his life. We pray he finds his unique gifts and talents and uses them greatly!

Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us! We had a great time and I know Charlie did too!

Mom Life

7 Reasons to love “Rent The Runway”

Posted on June 7, 2017

This post contains affiliate links. 

I have rented dresses from Rent the Runway several times and each time I am more convinced that I need to tell everyone about it! It saves me time, money, and space while taking my wardrobe up a notch. In summary I spend less money, and look better – needless to say, my husband is a big fan too! Rent the Runway is officially one of my favorite life hacks and here’s why.

1. Save on closet space.

About a year ago I decided I was done having a ton of clothes in my closet. I want to keep a current and practical wardrobe for my present stage of life. I was tired of having piles and piles of clothes, many of which I wouldn’t miss for months if they didn’t make it through the laundry. It was hard to find outfits, drawer space, and keep my room clean. On top of that I had another closet in the house dedicated to all of my dresses. All of the weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, rehearsal dinners, Christmas parties, New Years Eve events, work conferences etc…so many special occasion dresses! I am tired of storing a million dresses that I will never wear again. With my new goal of having a wardrobe full of quality and not quantity Rent The Runway is perfect! I get to pick out something new that is a current style and I don’t have to store it after the fact.

Over the last 3 years I had two babies and your body goes through a lot of changes during that process. Life doesn’t stop happening and you still need to get dulled up even though its the last thing you feel like doing. It is frustrating to spend money on a dress that you won’t wear again because your body will change. It is also frustrating digging through old things and settling for something not flattering simply because you don’t want to spend the money on something new and then add it to the ever growing collection of clothes in that extra closet. RTR is perfect for those of us in a stage of life where our bodies are changing. Get something that works for you now and send it back!

2. Spend less money.

Remember all those dresses I am storing in the extra closet of my house? How much did I spend on those special occasion dresses?! I usually start at the discount stores looking for a good deal and work my way up to the higher end stores as my desperation to find something increases. With Rent The Runway I spend about half of what I would normally spend on a dress. The dresses from RTR retail for about 10 times the amount I rent them for. Yup, that’s right – I am spending 50% less and wearing a dress that cost 10x what I am renting it for! Check out their selection of designer dresses starting at $30!

3. Save time.

Back to that dress shopping experience I referenced earlier…starting with the discount stores and working my way from one store to the next. That takes time, a lot of time. And it is really hard to do, especially when you have kids! You might be wondering how ordering a dress from Rent The Runway is any different from shopping online which could also solve this problem. Well let me tell you! Dresses are really difficult to purchase without trying them on. The fit seems to be so unique based on each person’s body shape.

The BEST feature of Rent The Runway is the reviews. People post pictures of themselves in the dress along with their weight, height, and measurements and they describe the fit of the dress. This has made all the difference for me and one of the main reasons I am an advocate for Rent The Runway. I get all the benefits of online shopping as well as details about the fit. From the pictures and reviews I am able to gather where the length will hit on me, what size I should order, if the material will hold wrinkles, if the bust is tight, if the dress is itchy, and even the types of compliments the dress receives. The customer pictures and reviews will tell you all you need to know and more, to find the perfect dress for your body type.

4. Dress like a celebrity!

The quality of the dresses on Rent The Runway are beyond anything I’ve ever worn. The dresses retail for hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Besides just feeling cool because I am wearing a designer dress there is an obvious quality to the fabric and fit of the dresses. You can wear a bodycon and feel comfortable because the fabric is so thick that it will hide all the lines and bumps. I rented a lace dress that had a silk slip under it. The slip alone was beautiful and the detail and make of the lace overlay was gorgeous. I feel like a total celebrity in RTR dresses! You can even shop your favorite looks from The Bachelorette at Rent The Runway! I don’t watch that show, but you probably do. 😉

5. Huge selection.

Rent The Runway has a huge selection of dresses and therefore its a one stop shop for any style and occasion. They have casual sundresses and formal gowns. They carry tons of different designers and have options for all four seasons. There’s no need to shop around at various stores or websites. They literally have it all. They also have accessories which are fun to add to a purchase. I once rented a handbag to go with my dress and another time I rented a necklace to match my dress (in picture below). Shop their accessories here!

6. Great customer service!

The first time I rented a dress from Rent The Runway, I woke up to an ice storm on the day the dress was due in the mail. Panicking about the late fees, my husband got in the car to try to make it to the UPS dropbox. He made it the first stop sign at the end of our street and slid right through it and spun out. He walked back to our house and told me there is no way he can make it. I hopped online and chatted with a friendly RTR representative. They confirmed that there was an ice storm in my area, looked up my order and worked with me to determine the soonest possible time I could drop off the dress. They waived the late fee and couldn’t have been more helpful.

Another time I received a handbag with a broken piece on it. Once again, I hopped online and chatted with a RTR representative. We discussed time frames for them overnighting a new one to my door. They were able to have it to me by noon the next day. Pretty impressive! Unfortunately, we were leaving at 9 am the next day for the event so they credited my account for the full amount of the handbag rental. It is comforting knowing that the customer service team is responsive and willing to work with you to solve any issues that may arise. This gives me confidence to continue to rely on RTR!

7. They’ve thought of it all!

You might still have a few doubts. What if I order the wrong size? What if it comes and I hate it? What if the person who previously had it doesn’t return it on time? What if I accidentally damage the dress? RTR has you covered, they’ve thought of it all! When you place the order you can pick two sizes, the back up size is free. Amazing! If one of the two sizes doesn’t fit or you hate it contact them and they will overnight a new style to you. In case something happens with your dress you pick a backup style at check out of any value. There is a $5 insurance fee that gives you peace of mind regarding stains and minor damage. No need to dry clean the item. And you get to keep the hangers!

Have I convinced you yet?!? I hope you try it and love it as much as I do! I get to dress like a super star, spend less money and time. My husband loves it because he thinks I look great in everything I get from Rent The Runway (these high end designers know what they are doing!). So guys click here and try it, you will love it!

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Teaching Toddlers the Bible – Tool Kit & Resources

Posted on June 1, 2017

This past fall my husband and I joined a bible study based on the book Kingdom Kids by Tony Evans. At the time I had a 2 year old and a new born. I went into it assuming we were ahead of the game and everything we learned would be good to store away for the future. I assumed none of it would apply to us at this stage because our kids are too young to learn about Christianity. I was wrong. I had two major realizations during that bible study that stuck with me.

1. I must be intentional about handing down my faith to my kids. 

I was under the misconception that because my husband and I are Christians my children would be Christians too. This bible study helped me understand the importance of taking time to teach our children about God, teach them scripture, tell them stories of what God has done in our lives, and openly share our daily walk with them.

It is important for our kids to see us living out our faith and serving God. But more importantly, they need to understand WHY we are living for Christ. I assumed that somehow they would automatically “get it” by observing our lives. I now realize that is naive and unrealistic. As parents, we have a responsibility to be intentional in filling our children’s hearts and minds with God’s truth.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

2. It is NOT too soon to teach my kids about God. 

I thought I would teach my kids about Jesus and scripture later in life when they could fully understand it. We said prayers at bedtime and I thought that was enough for now. During the study I was convicted and realized it is not too soon!

  • If he can recite movie lines then he can recite scripture!
  • If he can learn kids songs then he can learn children’s bible songs!
  • If he loves to read books then we can find an age appropriate devotional!
  • If he can adopt actions and attitudes of tv characters then he can learn the actions and attitudes of people in the bible!

It is my responsibility to teach my kids God’s truth with age appropriate content they can enjoy and understand. It is not enough to rely on the church program they attend once a week. That will reinforce what is being taught by you at home but it will not get the job done.

I have to be intentional about passing on my faith and it is not too soon to start! 

The last several months I’ve been going through various books, cd’s, and videos to find tools for teaching a 3 year old scripture. I am happy with what we are using right now and it has been really effective for teaching Timmy. Hopefully you will find this helpful and easy to implement with your little ones too!

I created a ‘Tool Kit’ that has all the resources we need:

1. CD player and two cd’s.

We received these two books for Timmy’s birthday from Dollar Tree! The cd’s are included in the books. They have all the classic children’s church songs. They are fun and easy to follow versions. I enjoy them too! I bought a few cd’s like this for his Easter basket that were a total fail. These are great! And I found a set of four on Amazon for $2.50! Grab these here, you won’t regret it.

2. ABC Scripture Memory Cards.

I really wanted these! This is the main content I am relying on to teach scripture. I looked through many versions of ‘ABC scripture flash cards’. It was hard to find a set with scripture that wasn’t too lengthy or with words that aren’t too big for a 3 year old. I was about to give up and make my own when I stumbled upon this set from Unoriginal Mom. Read the entire post because she also gives great advice on how to use the cards with your little one. I had them printed and laminated, love them!

3. Chalkboard for writing and reading our memory verses.

I had plans of a DIY chalkboard wall and luckily I stumbled upon this chalkboard at Hobby Lobby on sale for $40. The tin pales are also from Hobby Lobby. The chalkboard is great for writing out scripture as we recite it. This is helping Timmy identify certain letters and words. I used different colors and sizes for the words so he can remember that yellow says, “LORD” and blue says “GOOD”.

4. Age appropriate devotional!

We went through about 3 or 4 devotionals before finding this one. This one is perfect! It is short, holds his attention, and references life scenarios he can relate to. There is one for girls and one for boys! Get it here!

Teaching Timmy scripture is helping me memorize more scripture too! As a result, I don’t get tired of going over the verses with him. What ideas or resources have you used to teach your little ones about God? I would love more ideas!

Mom Life

Timmy’s Dinosaur Themed Birthday Party

Posted on May 11, 2017

Today I am sharing all the details of Timmy’s Dinosaur Themed Birthday Party. It was so fun to plan and he had such a special day. I’m thankful to our friends and family who came and loved on him for his birthday. Check out this video of his Dinosaur Themed Party!

This is Charlie’s year for a big birthday party since he is turning one this summer. Timmy’s birthday rolled around and I thought it would be fun to have a few of his favorite little friends over to play and celebrate with him. He really wanted a Dinosaur birthday cake which turned this into a themed playdate. Well I couldn’t stop there…I found myself on Oriental Trading with a cart full of dinosaur themed party stuff. Then I started talking menu ideas with my mom and she loves a themed party even more than me, one thing led to another, and we ended up with a full blown birthday party. The guest list remained small and we had a great time celebrating!

I ordered all the party supplies from Oriental Trading. They have tons of cute stuff for a dinosaur themed party. My only complaint about Oriental Trading is they run minimal promotions. I’m on the email list and I’ve been watching their email promotions over the last few months. The best you can hope for is free shipping and once in a blue moon there is a $10 off coupon.

Timmy loved the large cardboard dinosaurs that we put all over the house. He insisted we leave them up. They are heavy so they eventually fell, packing tape didn’t cut it.

Here’s my patient husband blowing up inflatable dinosaurs at 1 am the night before the party.

Party hats, sticker sheets, and cute baby Chars! 🙂

The menu consisted of pulled pork sandwiches, buffalo chicken dip, and dinosaur chicken nuggets for the carnivores. For the herbivores we had fruit, veggies, dinosaur fruit snacks, and dinosaur footprint cookies. My mom made the watermelon and it turned out great. She used marshmallows and olives for the eyes. She also made the cake! She was this creative long before Pinterest ever existed.

I made the dinosaur footprint cookies. On pinterest all the posts I saw said to put the dinosaur footprint in the raw cookie dough and then simply bake them. That did not work for me. When the dough was rising as they baked the footprint disappeared. I ended up putting the footprint in the cookie as soon as they came out of the oven. That worked much better. I used an actual dinosaur toy to make the footprint and then filled it in using a paintbrush and green food coloring.

I found a recipe on Pinterest for Raptor Juice that called for sprite, pineapple juice, lemonade, and a lemon-lime kool aid packet. I went to three stores looking for a lemon-lime kool aid packet and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I substituted the kool aid packet with a pack of lime jello. As expected, this punch was tart which I did not like but Timmy and Jordan loved it. I loved the color of this punch and it looked cute on the drink bar. I warned all of the parents that there was an entire pack of jello in it. #sugaroverload

These strawberries were quick to make and cute for the kids. They made me giggle because I’m not sure they look like dinosaurs?! I’m not really sure what they look like?! Timmy asked me what kind of dinosaur they were…we decided on a triceratops?? Haha.

I ordered a box of dinosaur eggs from Oriental Trading to have an egg hunt for the kids. Jordan and I set up the inflatable dinosaurs all around the back area of our basement and hid eggs for the kids to find. We had the bubble machine going and the kids loved it. We let them go wild down there for a little while and burn off some energy. The large red t-rex was a favorite!

Side note: if you have little ones and you don’t have a bubble machine, you need to get one! They are the best thing ever. I can’t believe I ever stood there with the bubble wand, becoming light headed, as I failed at blowing bubbles for the boys. It makes everything more fun. I get it out all the time. I recommend this one from amazon. I got a huge tub of bubbles from Five Below for $3.

Here’s Charlie showing off his new trick (WALKING) at the party!

He only ate the icing. No fork required for that!

Little brother looking adorable in his dinosaur onesie.

And last but not least, the sweetest and cutest Dad ever. <3