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Friday, June 30, 2017

5 summer essentials casual mama style

the weather is warming, the sun is hanging around a little longer in the evenings, and I can smell someone in my neighborhood grilling every night of the week. its summer!! when it comes to my wardrobe these days I'm looking for easy care items that I can throw on and feel put together but also be super comfortable and able to move around when I'm out doing activities with my kids- from the grocery store to the aquarium to a (casual) date night these are my top five mama essentials for summer! even better- the holiday weekend has left us with a bunch of sales, so nearly all my picks are discounted! yas!

the easy tee

I've been living in boyfriend style pocket tees. I love the casual nature of them and how lightweight and comfortable they are for summer! I tuck the front for a little added shape and you can totally dress them up our down, just depending on the shoes and accessories. I'm also loving the softened shirts that button down- my third summer in a row to be breastfeeding, so I'm all about the easy access with buttons down the front!
casual bottoms

two words: boyfriend denim. I LOVE distressed denim and the boyfriend style allows me to move and bend and be comfortable without feeling like I'm going to explode after eating Sonic cheesy tots (with jalapeños!). don't get me wrong, there is a perfect time and place for an amazing pair of skinny jeans (I have THESE in every color because they are just perfect in every way!)

but the looser fit of the boyfriend jeans also offers the ability to wear them while its 100+ degrees in Texas. I also invested in a cute pair of joggers to wear while running errands or grabbing coffee with a girlfriend (I did this yesterday!) pair with the boyfriend pocket tee and you are totally hitting all the high marks for that athleisure style thats so popular right now.

AND overalls. yes. 100% yes. I prefer the fitted style over the baggy boyfriend fit- I own a great pair from Pinkblush that I'm loving and wearing about once a week (and they're on sale!). but I'm hard pressed to add a pair of short overalls to the mix. do it.
breezy dresses

my favorite "look" while sporting the bump this time around was a t-shirt dress, sneakers, and a ball cap. talk about comfort and style all wrapped into one! as the heat is rising (its literally sweltering hot today..) I appreciate the t-shirt dress for several reason- keep me cool (number one!), the variety of style it offers (with sneakers + ball cap; sandals + side ponytail; wedges + chunky necklace..), and the fact that I can take the same dress and go from daytime to evening and not have to think about changing my clothes:). these are my favorite dresses for wearing casually with sandals or sneakers.
trendy sneaks

speaking of sneakers.. they are like my new favorite guilty pleasure. no idea WHY, but finding ways to be able to wear them with everything I currently own in my closet is my mission. I think a lot of it has to do with how much I'm on me feet- I need something thats comfortable. I am not a shoe person at all whatsoever.. which is probably a good thing. I usually purchase one great neutral pair of sandals and wear the crap out of them all summer. same for heels and wedges.. now when it comes to boots and booties all bets are off because I just loveeee me some booties.

every color, please! but this is summer.. in Texas.. and I'll literally be filling my suede booties up with sweat if I attempted to wear them right now.. so I'll stick to sneakers:)

blush lip
blush everything is the hottest color of the season and I've found a handful of glosses and mattes that I'm loving right now. the tarte lip paint is phenom.. I got it as a sample last month and I'm loving it so much that I went and got a couple the other day to stock up for summer. my luck, they always discontinue my favorite makeup and I can ever find it again- I hate that! I've learned from these tribulations and always buy more than one when shopping!
my top three makeup must haves right now..
NUMBER ONE is definitely lip gloss. number two would have to be my bronzer/highlighter combo (I am loving the tarte combo palette !), and number three is my eye brow pencil + filler (benefit gimme brow is the bomb).

Friday, May 26, 2017

mama picks video monitor upgrade

its been long overdue that we upgrade to a new monitor. we bought one.. or maybe it was a shower gift, but we got one with two cameras for when the twins were born and just decided to use the same one for Baker when she arrived. we didn't splurge on anything as far as baby gear goes for Baker, except a highchair. everything else, right down to her infant car seat, has been hand-me-down from the twins.

it worked just fine- ran out battery a little faster than it probably should have, and the touch screen still worked even though it was shattered after I dropped it on the kitchen floor trying to carry it and a load of laundry from one room to the next.. but it worked. the twins, at three and half, don't necessarily need the monitor on them while they sleep anymore, and their room is literally three steps outside of our master bedroom, so I am not too worried about keeping up with that, but Baker for sure has a couple more years and for our future baby number four (not pregnant) we have talked about definitely getting another monitor.

I was browsing through a friend's baby registry recently and noticed she had the Levana digital monitor on her list.. I hadn't heard of this brand before! which was no surprise because so much has changed in just the few short years we have been buying baby items/products/stuff. literally, a couple days later I got an email about trying Levana's newest model, the Alexa.

well. DUH! but it was so random and like they knew I was browsing:) right out of the box I was PUMPED about the 5" screen. I am used to a much smaller screen, so this was like the biggest plus to me. this monitor also doesn't have a base, it plugs into a USB cord, so its easier to move around for charging. most of the time it stays on my nightstand to charge, but I've moved it to the kitchen before and the playroom. you can even charge from your laptop or any USB outlets you already have- no special cord or base, but it does come with a charging cable. even with that being said, the 12 hour battery life allows me to have some time in between when I don't need to have it charging. when the battery is low it alerts you by beeping.. which I found out around 2am one night. all this beeping, I was so confused as to what was happening! but it allowed me to plug in the monitor and keep the video on Baker without waking up to a blank screen the next morning!

other good things..

temperature sensors

feeding/nap timers

real-time clock

..and the reviews are awesome!

this particular model is brand new, and slightly cheaper than other versions of their monitors. the camera is stationary but has a wedge so it allows me to move it in different angles to be able to fully see Baker's entire crib. the camera is placed really high up, but I can see even the little details of her face because of the high resolution of the LCD digital screen. our other camera was placed right below the 'Baker' sign and I got the same view, but in lower resolution.

most importantly, I can add up to four cameras to this monitor. so, if I wanted another one for the big girls' room, I could, and especially for eventually when another baby comes we can see both Baker and the newbie. when we add another camera I will have to update how utilizing this monitor is with two cameras vs one.

I'm so glad I got the opportunity to try this monitor!

with the market inundated with options, this is one I am confident about.