Ever's second birthday party! I can't believe my baby is two, but I'm not going to get into all the emotions I'm feeling. 

I wanted this party to be simple, because I went all out and planned for months and months for her first birthday party, and I did not want to put myself through that stress again. But, I've realized that with such a large family, simple just isn't a possibility. It was, however, more simple than last year, and the fact that we planned it in one single day probably had something too do with that. Special thanks to Jesse's cousin Johanna for letting us use her house for the party, and Jesse's mom for buying and preparing the food and tables and chairs, and to Target for having such cute and last-minute party stuff.

Ever's room has been a work-in-progress since we moved into this house. She didn't have a real space to herself before (which was fine) so there wasn't much I could do in the decorating department. So I was so excited when we found this place because she finally has a space of her own where we can keep all her toys (instead of scattered around everywhere) and a space that I can decorate! She had a few things that I was able to move over to her new space, like the teepee and some storage baskets, but everything else has been new or re-invented.  I never intended for the room to take the pink road, but that's kind of where it ended up going. When I found out I was pregnant with a baby girl I swore to dress her in neutrals only and decorate with all the non pink girly things. But I've learned to love the color and I think there's a very tasteful way to use it without being over the top. Her room ended up being mostly neutral with accents of pink, turquoise, and yellow, which I think fits her perfectly. Bright and happy, with a little hint of girliness. So when thinking of what kind of artwork to put in, I had to take that into consideration; color, style, etc. Did I want artwork that was monochrome and more minimalist to balance out the boho-inspired rug and teepee, or did I want artwork that would be the same style, flowery and colorful? 

I'm not a festive person, but being a mom has made me want to change that. I've found such joy in creating new traditions. Now that Ever is a little older, she can participate in all the festive things. So, one thing I'm going to love doing yearly, is making gingerbread houses. Maybe someday I'll be domestic enough to make the gingerbread myself from scratch.. but for now, Trader Joe's gingerbread kit is the perfect solution. Ever didn't quite understand that the house wasn't for eating until she watched me start building it. Then she had fun decorating, and at the end decided it was time to eat some haha. 

I normally don't do gift guides because I can never think of gift ideas. So i decided to narrow it down slightly to specifically non-toxic gifts for toddler/kids. These are all items that we either own or plan to own someday. 

Jesse and I used to come to this park to go jogging when we were dating. We'd talk about our hopes and dreams and what our life would look like in the future. And here we are, at the same park in that future we talked about, living above and beyond what we could have ever hoped or dreamed. It's funny how life comes full circle, and how it's both everything and nothing we expected to be. 

My dress, my shoes (similar), Ever's top, Ever's overalls, Ever's shoes.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't do anything before I have my coffee. It's the prerequisite to starting any and every day. If I don't begin my day with a good cup of coffee, everything thereafter feels wrong. For me, it's not just about the caffeine that I need to get the day going (although that is one reason), but it's also about the nostalgia of it all. I need that comfort in the morning, afternoon, evening, whenever! If I wake up before my daughter, I need that me-time, alone with my cup of coffee to prepare my heart and mind for the day ahead. During nap-time, I need that extra confidence to tackle whatever is on my to-do list. Coffee is an every occasion drink.

I'm one of those people that can get super paranoid if I don't watch my thought life. I become paralyzed by fear of the craziest things. So I think it's so important to live your life in balance, not in fear, because living in fear is no way to live. But, at the same time, we must be cautious and do everything we can to live the fullest life possible. 

So this year I started doing more research on all the different toxins we encounter daily, and how they affect our health, and I was amazed by the things I found. Plastics that are BPA free are supposed to be safe right? If it's FDA approved, it's safe right? If it's recommended by a doctor, it's safe right?? Wrong. 

Probably one of the best parts of having a daughter is being able to match. I mean, among other things, of course. I hope she never gets sick of twinning with me because it's obviously my favorite thing. 

I'm a sucker for photos, that's pretty obvious. And I'm very sentimental. So I need all the ways to have my memories for safe-keeping. Growing up, my mom was a big scrap booker. And I used to love (still do, actually) pulling all her scrapbooks off the shelf and going through my life and memories. It was such a special thing to be able to have. Now, with the internet and digital media, scrapbooking has kind of died. But there's something so much better about an actual tangible book than photos on a screen. 

I've been a long time fan or Artifact Uprising so when I saw that they now offer a baby book, I was so excited! 

This is The Story Of You baby book. I love the quality and the fact that the pages are already laid out with prompts and events and milestones. It's designed with the parent in mind, so you don't have to spend hours upon hours designing each page and coming up with themes. It's all pre made, and all you have to do is add your memories. 

It's no secret that working out with kids is a hassle. First of all, finding the time, then finding a babysitter, then being able to afford it. Many moms place exercise far down on the priority list because of this reason, but it doesn't have to be that way. BodyBoss has come up with a 12-week step-by-step training program, Ultimate Body Fitness Guide, that you can do anywhere, in under 24 minutes, 3 times a week. It includes fun (and challenging) high-intensity workouts to help you get your dream body and your maximum health from the inside out. 

So, I have been all about convenience lately. And I'm discovering more and more ways to never have to drive anywhere (haha). Groceries delivered to my door, walking to the beach, walking to the mall, and now Fiji Water delivered to my door! I hate driving, so any excuse to never have to drive again, I'm all for it! Especially driving to buy water. It's hard enough lugging groceries from the car to the house with a toddler, but water is just absolutely impossible. 

Now that we've used Evivo, I wanted to do a follow-up post on what we think. If you didn't see my first post, you can find it here. 

We still love Evivo and are so thankful for their product! Oviously, we have no way to tell if it's working unless we were to get Ever tested, but I trust this brand and their research statistics of a 99% success rate.

We are the biggest procrastinators when it comes to pretty much everything. I think it's because we don't like to commit until last minute. So Jesse took the weekend off for our anniversary and it snuck up way too fast and we hadn't planned anything. So searching for hotels, everything was way too expensive.

Did you know that 97% of babies in North America are born without the beneficial B. Infantis bacteria? I didn't know that either. But it's true. B. Infantis is a bacteria that is passed from mother to baby during a vaginal birth, but if the mother doesn't have it, the baby won't get it either. Over time, because of the use of anti-biotics, c-sections, etc, the B. Infantis bacteria has disappeared from many women's guts, causing a chain reaction so our babies are no longer born with it, except in rare cases.