With the holidays approaching, I wanted to do a few gift guides! Some of my favorite things to look for are ideas to get my husband, stocking stuffers and now that we have a toddler, I am constantly looking for ideas for her as well. With that being said, I always have a hard time finding things for toddlers around a year old. I see many toddler gift guides but some of the toys are just a bit more advanced or are leaned toward 2-3 year olds. This year, Everlee will be 17 months old on Christmas so I wanted to put together a nice gift guide for toddlers around this age.



Play Kitchen | Elephant Chair (lots of different animal options) | Advent Calendar | Christmas Books | Mega Blocks | Radio Flyer Trike | Learning Flash Cards | Bath Crayons | Vacuum | Xylophone Bench | Color Puzzle | Table & Chairs | Munchkin Sippy Cups | Hanging Book Shelf

You cannot go wrong with a play kitchen! I feel like this is something Everlee will definitely be getting for Christmas. This is something kids can grow into and progress with as the years come. Since we are having another girl, I am super excited to get the girls a decked out PINK kitchen. ;)

One of Everlee's favorite gifts she has ever gotten was her own soft chair. We keep it in the living room and she sits in it all the time and has a snack and watches cartoons or movies. She loves to tote it around the house too. It's super cute!

I am obsessed with this Melissa & Doug Advent Calendar. This is something you can keep forever and do every Christmas. Granted it won't be an actual gift they open on Christmas, but I love the idea behind it.

Christmas Books! Or books in general! My daughter LOVES books. She goes through her bookshelf every day pulling out different books and "reading" them. Books are a staple for most kids. For this age, I recommend the hard block books so they don't rip apart the pages.

Mega Blocks are something they will love for a long time. As they get older, they will get better and creating things! And let's be real, us adults probably wouldn't mind getting down and playing with some big legos. ;)

A trike would be a good "big gift." Radio Flyer actually has different ones. Since Everlee already has a bike she got from her grandpa, we were thinking of getting her (and our baby girl in the belly) a Radio Flyer wagon!

Learning Flash cards are something you definitely can't go wrong with. In fact, educational toys at this age are a must. Since they probably won't remember these Christmas's it's best to get the less cool toys out of the way these years  because as they get older, their Christmas List will be HUGE.

Bath Tub Crayons are something that will keep them busy in the tub. I won't lie, I'm a little nervous about the mess!?

A vacuum to tote around the house and clean with mom or dad is such a perfect gift. Everlee loves to push the button to turn on the vacuum and by Christmas time, I'm sure she would love to be helping me out with vacuuming!

Any musical toy is going to be a hit. Honestly, anything that makes noise that they create? Hello! Perfect!

Learning puzzles are a perfect gift as well. I love this one because it will teach her colors that she can match up.

A table and chairs is awesome, especially for those of you who have multiples. I think we will be getting this table and chairs for the girls to color on, eat on, and play on!

Munchkin 360 Cups are a must have item for most toddlers. These babies are awesome and it teaches them out to drink from a cup!

Book shelves are mostly for us parents but it goes in their room, so it counts... right?!

I also spotted some really cute cold weather attire. So here are some of my top picks for that!
Toddler Girls Coat & Toddler Boys Coat | Girls Beanie & Mittens Set & Boys Beanie & Mittens Set | Toddler Girl Booties & Toddler Boy Booties | Toddler Girls Robe & Toddler Boys Robe | Toddler Girls Slippers & Toddler Boys Slippers | Toddler Girls Blanket Sleeper & Toddler Boys Blanket Sleeper



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Well, I haven't posted since Everlee's birth story which seems like a lifetime ago. Everlee Diamond is now 16 months old and is the sweetest little firecracker in our lives. She truly is my best friend and the greatest thing to ever happen to me and Shae. We are so in love with our sweet girl!



With that being said, about a week before Miss Everlee's first birthday, we found out we were pregnant! Oh my goodness, I remember the weeks leading up to taking the test and just "knowing." I had the exact symptoms I had when I was very early with Everlee so I had a pretty good feeling about it. We were definitely trying for baby #2 but Shae was somehow so surprised. We kept it our little secret until Everlee's 1st birthday party and we had her unwrap one of our gifts last. It had a Big Sister book and shirt. Everyone was crying!



In October we had our 20 week anatomy scan and a few days later we threw a Halloween Party for our gender reveal alongside my 26th birthday party. I had dreams of this baby being a boy, this pregnancy has been FAR worse and I was much more sick this time around, so I just felt like it had to be a boy. BOY, was I wrong! We are having another baby girl and we are beyond excited. I never imagined being an all girl mom but I am already embracing it. I see lots of pink, bows, glitter, tea parties and driving dad crazy in our near future. ;) We are due March 10, 2019 and I swear this pregnancy is flying right on by.




With all that being a huge update, we also have some other exciting news. As you may know, my husband, Shae, is in the Army. We are currently stationed at JBLM, Washington and have been very lucky to live less than 2 hours away from most of our family for the last year and a half. But, Shae got orders to JBER, Alaska (Anchorage). We will be moving toward the end of May 2019 and he will report in June. So if this is all a lot to take in, let me catch you up to speed. This means we are having a baby in March, the Army will be packing our things a month to a month and a half later, and then a few weeks after that we will be moving to Alaska with a 2 month old, 22 month old and 2 dogs. We have yet to decide the game plan as to how we will be getting there. The military will transport one of our vehicles but we still have one other vehicle to get there. Some of our options are all of us hopping on the ferry and taking a 3-5 day trip there, OR driving (this screams NO in my mind), OR Shae can drive one vehicle up while me and the girls fly. If anyone has any tips/suggestions or recommendations please send them my way. We are stumped on what to do! Beyond that, we really are wanting to buy a house in Alaska. So that will be something to watch out as far as blog posts go!




This really concludes our life update. There has been so much going on and so much yet still to come. I was telling Shae I really want to look back and have these memories and I miss having a creative outlet. We are so excited for the future and what is in store. So I am back and I plan to stay and I hope you all do too! :)

It was Sunday July 2nd, and we had a scheduled induction because you, little lady, did not want to come out. I was 41 weeks & 3 days pregnant. Your dad and I pulled into Madigan Hospital at Fort Lewis, Washington, smiling and so happy and excited to meet you. In fact, I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep the entire night before. We got into a room at 9:45am. They checked my cervix to see where I was and I was only 1cm dilated. They began induction at 11am with a foley bulb. Contractions began immediately after they put it in so I was happy about that! It took 7 ½ hours for it to fall out (6:30pm). The next step was pitocin and that began at 7:30pm. My midwife told me I would be on pitocin for 6 hours, get checked and then she would break my water. At around 11 that night, I was really struggling with the pain and contractions from the pitocin so I asked my nurse to hook me up to the wifi monitors so I could get up and move around and take a hot shower. Eventually I started to feel completely exhausted from lack of sleep. This is when I asked for something to help me sleep. My midwife checked me and I was 5cm dilated and 70% effaced at midnight. At 1am they broke my water and then left. This is when things got real! Your daddy went to sleep during this time because I kept telling him I would need him later for pushing, plus it was late and I knew he was tired. An hour later they checked my cervix again and I was only 6cm. You just weren’t wanting to come out. Haha! She said she expected me to be at LEAST another 4-6 hours. Because I wasn’t dilating fast, I was getting discouraged and decided to get the epidural. By the time I got it, I was 7cm dilated. It was 3:30am and I was excited because I thought I would be able to get some sleep. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Your heart started to descend a lot. It went from being in the 150s-170s to the 90s-120s. So they cut off all the pitocin and did an amniotic fusion for you.l. This meant no sleep for mom! They were coming in every 30min to reposition me to try and get your heart beat back up. Finally at 5:30am they put me back on pitocin slowly because you were doing better. I finally ended up getting an hour and a half of sleep and woke up at 7am to excruciating back labor. This was not fun! Our new midwife came in (she delivered you) and I thought she would check me but she told me I hadn’t been having any contractions during the night so she was gonna wait 2 hours. I thought she was wrong because I knew I was having contractions. Shortly after, I began throwing up. My nurse told me I was going to have a baby soon! She went and got the midwife and she checked me at 9:40am – I was 9cm & 100% effaced. She told me I would probably be pushing in the next hour. She was right. I started pushing at 10:40am. Once you were close to coming, the midwife asked if I wanted a mirror to see you and I said yes. I could see your head and your dark hair!!! It gave me so much motivation. I kept telling your dad and your grandma “she’s right there. She is almost here!” I was so close to meeting my baby girl ! After 90min of pushing, you my perfect angel, Everlee Diamond, was born at 12:15pm on July 3rd (41weeks 4days). They gave you right to me and you didn’t leave my chest for over an hour. Your daddy and I were bawling our eyes out because you were so perfect. So unbelievably perfect. You were 8lbs 7oz, 19 1/2in long. Dark brown hair. Long toes and feet. Chubbiest cheeks and cutest button nose. You looked just like me, but so so beautiful. It’s all I kept saying to you and to everyone who would list. And I will keep saying it forever. By far, the best day of my life sweet girl.

Hey guys! I'm back with another pregnancy update this week for my 25th week of pregnancy. Time is flying by. We are only 99 days away from our due date, only 41ish days away from moving back to the PNW!
How far along? 25w + 6d!

Total weight gain/loss: As far as I know, 10lbs. I try not to weigh myself until my appointments. Honestly it could be higher though.

Maternity clothes? Oh my god you guys, I bought my first pair of maternity jeans and I don't think I can ever go back to regular jeans!! Shae and I were at the mall browsing and I decided to go into motherhood maternity (I always refused to go in thinking they were way too expensive, but surprisingly they weren't all that expensive!). I also bought an olive green t-shirt.

Stretch marks? None! I got this body oil in my last bump box I got, and I've been mixing it with my Mama Bee's stretch mark cream and I really like the consistency and hydration it gives me. So let's see if it holds strong for a few more months.

Sleep: I really struggled this last week with sleep. With the back pain, having to pee, and the day light savings time change, it's been really messing with me!

Symptoms: Back pain in my lower back, mid back and upper back; I dry-heaved a few times this week from smells; overall just tired and cranky.

Have you told family and friends: Who even are you if you don't know I'm pregnant by now? Haha! Kidding, but a lady at work told me she didn't even know I was pregnant until this week because I wasn't showing.

Miss Anything? An alcoholic drink and being able to get comfortable. Man do I miss that.

Movement: She is quite the active little thing in there! :)

Food cravings: I was craving an ice cream cone like you wouldn't believe Monday night. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: The sight of my fridge, honestly. There is nothing in there that is bad but every morning the sight of it makes me sick.

Have you started to show yet: YES.

Gender prediction: She is still very much a girl!

Ultrasound Update: We haven't had an ultrasound since I was 20weeks but we had a doctor appointment at 24 weeks and she had a strong heart beat of 158. I am getting so anxious to schedule our 3D/4D ultrasound in a few weeks!

Labor Signs: No thank goodness! I keep waiting for Braxton Hicks contractions but still none!

Belly Button in or out? In but it is making it's way to the outside world.

Wedding rings on or off? On - I think I will cry if and when the day comes I can't put them on!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy but incredibly cranky :(

Looking forward to: My mom getting here in 3 weeks and our 3D/4D ultrasound after that!

March 14, 2017. The due date of our first baby. I never thought this day would come so fast. My heart breaks knowing that we could have a baby already with us. It makes me angry that every single time I go to the doctors I have to say that I have been pregnant twice but have no living children. I am angry at myself for refusing to believe I was pregnant in the beginning, refusing to take a test, taking ibuprofen every morning before clinicals because of the light cramps I was having thinking I was about to get hit hard with excruciating cramps from starting my period. I just kept putting it off. Finally when I did take the test on July 9th 2016, and I got to experience a positive pregnancy test for the first time, I cried. I was so excited for something that wasn't planned. I loved something that I didn't even know about until that very second. And it was all taken away the very next week.