Spring Smokey Eye Makeup look

For todays makeup look I decided to do a really pretty girly spring time Smokey eye using pinks and purples. This look can definitely be worn during the day even though it’s “Smokey” because the use of light colors will make it wearable. As always all products are mentioned in the description box of the video. Hope you guys enjoy this tutorial and thanks for your support!



Kaidens 2nd Birthday Party

I can’t believe my sweet boy is 2 years old already! I know it’s so cliché to say but I feel like as soon as you have kids time just seriously flies by! To me Kaiden will always be my little miracle baby, my 29 weeker who gave me the biggest scare ever in my life but has now turned out to be the biggest blessing in disguise. I feel like no matter how old he is I’ll always remember that day like it was yesterday and just be so proud of the sweet and intelligent boy he has now become. Seriously, thank God for technology, if it wasn’t for the amazing research and technology we have today, I wouldn’t have my beautiful boy with me here today.

Kaiden now weighs 23lbs (4%) and is 32in long (16%). According to the Doctor he is still tiny but to us, considering where we started, he’s so big! Kaiden is such a good boy, he’s so sweet, gentle with babies, and loves to read. He is by far the best eater ever, this kid will seriously eat anything and everything. A lot of our friends say as soon as they start talking and get a little older then their eating habits change and the pickiness will start. I really hope not, my daughter is the pickiest eater ever, and it drives me crazy. Kaiden loves everything from chips and salsa, sushi, to chicken and beans with vegetables. It’s so nice going to a restaurant and not having to worry if there’s going to be something on the menu that he’ll eat. Kaiden is definitely a daddy’s boy, he would way rather be hanging out with my husband and playing with trucks then having anything to do with me. It does make me sad at times, but I’m so grateful he has an amazing father figure in his life that I really can’t complain. Besides always wanting to be with his dad he is also obsessed with gas pumps and old gasoline signs. I know this isn’t normal at all but as you can kinda see in the picture above when that’s what your daddy collects then that’s the only thing your exposed to and so it becomes an obsession of my sons as well. Which makes my husband thrilled, he definitely wants a son who has the same interests as him so he can pass down this huge collection. Besides collecting gas pumps with daddy Kaiden also loves playing in his water table and pool outside or making jumps outta books for all his monster trucks. I wouldn’t trade this sweet beautiful boy for anything in the world, he really does make my husband and I so happy and brings so much joy to our lives!!
Because Kaiden is so into trucks, this year we decided to go for a truck/construction themed birthday party. So of course last year I started pinning stuff right away to get ideas. I didn’t want to go to crazy though this year on decorations and party favors, because to be honest, you end up spending so much money on the presentation and no one even remembers later on. So this year I kept it to a minimum but still added my own little personal touch to it.
 Motor oil soda labels
 “Fueling station” for drinks
 “Equipment and Supplies” for plates, napkins, and cups
 “STOP refuel here” and then “Crew Punch”
 Licorice was “2×4’s”
 Oreos were “spare tires”
 Grapes were “Wrecking balls”
 Veggie Straws were “Pipes”
 Doritos munchies were “Nuts and Bolts”
A lot of my pintable’s were made by my talented and creative sister in law, Jaimie, she’s amazing when it comes to PowerPoint, with I was talented like that. Then I just went to the Dollar Tree and bought 99c frames and painted them yellow to match the orange and yellow theme of the party. I did get some of my printable off Pinterest. If you just search “construction party free printables” then you will find a couple options. If your not creative then you can also search on etsy for tons of ideas at a fair price. I found this really neat blog when searching Pinterest and this is where I got the food labels, water bottle labels, cupcake toppers, and invitation template so you should check her out.
Free Construction printables
For Kaidens cake I just made him his own special chocolate cake and then put some little tractors on top. I dug a little bit out of the cake in one corner then placed it in another like a lil mound of dirt. Super simple and easy to make yet goes perfect with the theme. I found these little tractor at Party City in the favors section for only a couple dollars and now Kaiden can play with them after.
For everyone else I made Pudding filled dirt cupcakes. This was also super simple and easy to make plus saved me a ton of money instead of having professional cupcakes or a cake made and everybody still loved them. See you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a good party!
For entertainment Kaiden already has a ton of Tonka trucks and tractors so we just went to Home Depot and bought more sand and made a huge sandbox for all the kids to get dirty and play around. Everybody loved it and it kept them entertained the whole 3 hours. Normally I do a jumpy, but this year we decided to cut back on cost, so I was so nervous the kids would be bored. Huge success though!
My sweet triplet nieces
Kaiden ended up getting sick during his party! Never fails right…kids always get sick for birthdays or holidays! We still tried to make the best of it though, but poor little guy just didn’t want to play or eat his cake. All he wanted to do was take a nap so we sped along the cake and present opening process. As we sang him Happy Birthday he just looked at us like we’re crazy and then just proceeded to play with the trucks in the cake instead of eat it. Oh well, maybe next year we’ll get more of a reaction out of him.
Then it came time for presents, luckily I had asked for gift cards or cash so we could buy Kaiden his big boy bed so there wasn’t that many presents to open. How adorable is this bed for a boy who loves trucks?!!
Little Tikes Jeep Wrangler
Of course all his presents were more trucks and hot wheels! I didn’t expect anything less A boy can never have to many trucks!
It was such a great party and once again Thank You to everyone who came and helped make this day extra special for my little guy!

My flaws

How many of you have tried on your bikini recently that you will be wearing this summer and afterwards have found yourself so depressed? That would be me! I’m so not ready for summer and here in San Diego, it basically is summer! It’s been 90 degrees here some days and people are already making their way to the beach on the weekends. I just bought 2 new bikinis from Victoria’s Secret and when I put them on, I wanted to cry! My husband was there in the room when I tried them on and I was instantly so embarrassed and just felt so fat! In my mind I kept thinking, he probably thinks this bikini does not look good on me at all. During the holidays I felt like I had so much time to get more in shape and now bikini season is here and I’m nowhere near ready. I know some of you are probably looking at my picture thinking I’m crazy and I’m not “fat” at all or you wish you were as “fat” as me but honestly WE ALL DO IT!!
We all look at ourselves and just nitpick the crap out of our appearance. I don’t think there’s one girl who would look at herself and be 100% happy with what she sees. I can guarantee you there’s “skinnier” girls then me crying right now over the same thing.

If it was just me by myself with my kiddos then I would be totally comfortable, but throw my husband in there and some other random people I don’t even know and instantly I’m ashamed. It’s like we feel we have to be always in competition with one another or people are always sizing us up. I don’t want some other guy looking at me thinking my husband has an “unattractive wife” whose let herself go after kids. And then when it comes to other woman we always size ourselves up to them, who’s prettier? Who’s skinnier? Who has cuter clothes? I could go on and on with what we do as girls. But why does it have to be this way? Why do we have to look at ourselves and hate what we see? Why when it comes to our looks do we feel we need to be the “hottest” girl in the room? Why can’t we just focus on being healthy? Why can’t we just focus on being a good hearted person? Isn’t that what really matters? Why can’t we realize that we are so much more than what we look like, weigh, or that designer purse we carry? Our worth doesn’t come from a number on a scale or the number on a measuring tape; it comes from knowing who we are within!

I have recently dealt with a loss in my family and it’s really making me reevaluate my life and how I want to spend my days. I don’t want to be that girl who is constantly weighing herself and worrying about calories every time I put something in my mouth. I want to enjoy my life! I want to make memories with my family and children that will last a lifetime. When your 90 years old do you want to feel like you missed out on life because you constantly turned down lunch dates with girlfriends or didn’t enjoy that cake on your son’s birthday? No you want to remember the laughs you had with friends sitting around that table with a drink or two and your son’s messy chocolatey face as you eat birthday cake together.  Being healthy and fit is all about moderation, it’s not about being miserable and depressed because you constantly have to say NO. I’m going to go out to dinner with my husband and eat whatever I want on that menu, I’m going to get ice cream with my kiddos on these hot summer nights and you know what…I’m not going to care!! I’m not going to stress out about it. I’m going to learn to love myself and that means to learn to love all my flaws. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit and eat pizza and ice cream daily but when the situation presents itself I’m going to eat it and I’m going to enjoy it! Life is to short to sit and worry about minor things. Life is about making memories and that is now what I intend to do.

Easter baskets for toddlers

Hi everyone! Now that Kaidens birthday party is over, it’s time to focus on Easter crafts and most important, the Easter basket. Kaiden just turned two years old, which helps making up an Easter basket for him a little easier but I still feel toddler Easter baskets can be a little tricky, especially when it comes to the idea of all that candy and chocolate. I would really rather stay away from getting him any sort of candy, if anything he can just have a little bit or two from his older sister’s candy filled Easter basket. I’m so excited for Easter this year, as last year Kaiden hadn’t even started crawling yet so this year I’m really looking forward to egg decorating and the egg hunt with him. I know he’s going to be so excited!

When it comes to an Easter basket you don’t have to get all fancy and spend a ton of money on a basket your kids could care less about, unless you plan on using it for many years to come, it’s not worth the money. Kids don’t care about the actual basket, I feel like that’s more for the parents and the presentation of things, kids only care about what’s inside. I usually just go to my local dollar tree where you can find adorable baskets or to be even more practical use a toy as your basket, some really great toys to use as baskets would be a sand pail (great to use later for beach trips) or for boys some sort of dump truck.

source: ilovetocreateblog.blogspot.com
 I usually search online or even on Pinterest for some toddler basket ideas so today I thought I’d share with you some of the items I have bought already and also some other really great toddler appropriate gift ideas.  
Kaiden absolutely loves reading books so you can’t go wrong with some new reading material.
http://amzn.to/1OsKpSP
Besides getting toys I like to also get practical stuff that my kiddos actually really need. So now that Kaiden is outgrowing the highchair, I thought a new booster seat would be a perfect Easter bunny gift. I debated what booster seat to get but after thinking about it for awhile I thought this seat was perfect. I didn’t want something with a tray because the whole point of a booster seat is to remove clutter (bye bye high chair) and to also have your kiddos learn to sit at the table with you. I really think because it’s a turtle and he loves animals, he’ll be so excited to sit on it as well. I’ll keep you posted how the transition from a highchair to booster seat goes.
http://amzn.to/1FRUchb
Some other great ideas to add to your little ones basket….
PlayDoh Spring eggs
Easter egg shaped sidewalk chalk
Crayola Egg Shaped Crayons
I hope these ideas help bring some inspiration to your kiddos baskets this year! Let me know in the comments section if you have any other ideas as I would love to hear them! Hope everyone has a great week!

A hope for my future

I don’t particularly talk about my miscarriage often but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t consume my mind continuously. I don’t feel that a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about the baby that could have been. When it comes to my emotions I’m usually more of a private person and don’t like to bother others with my problems. This blog has become a way for me to express my frustrations, for all I know no one even reads it but at least it’s a way for me to get my feelings out in a positive way. I would hope though that I can reach one person who has gone through a similar situation and bring a little more peace to her day knowing she’s not alone. I have recently found myself becoming very angry that this miscarriage happened to our family; I can’t help but be in countdown mode thinking that in just 3 months I would have been delivering another baby. It’s been almost 9 months since we originally decided to add another child to our family and to think that it could still be many more months until we get pregnant again is just so depressing. I really don’t know how much longer I can go on with the disappointment of another negative pregnancy test. For those of you who have struggled with infertility then you understand my hatred of peeing on those dang sticks and watching just the control line appear! I sometimes wonder if “GOD” doesn’t think I’m ready to experience the joy of being pregnant again. Do I need to be healed from this miscarriage before I can move on? Can you ever really be healed? Does the pain ever go away and do you ever forget? They say time heals everything but how much time is that? I still find myself very emotional and cry occasionally and it’s been 5 months. I feel most frustrated and still have such unanswered questions. Life just feels so unfair at times! I have been finding myself doubting “GOD” and his plan for my future, they say “GOD” doesn’t bring you pain but then why would he do this to me? Why would he take away my sweet baby? Why doesn’t he want me to be a mother again? Does he feel like I’m not a good mommy? Or was he saving this baby from a life of pain and struggle? Then it makes me wonder how my husband feels about all this? Would my husband have married me if he would have known that I couldn’t give him the family he has always wanted? Would I have married him if the roles were reversed? My husband would love to have a big family and it makes me so sad knowing I may not be able to give that to him. The other day at my daughter’s softball game there was a family of 7! 7 kids can you believe that? I laughed to myself thinking of the chaos in that family household but in all reality I was jealous of that mother. Jealous she was able to get pregnant 7 times and deliver 7 children. Jealous that she was able to have her children back to back so that they are all close in age. My husband joked that that would be us in the future and I laughed not because that’s to many children but because I worry we won’t be able to even have 4 children let alone who knows how long it will take to add this 3rd child to our family. This whole 2-3 year gap in between children is not going to work if we want to continue having more; I worry now that since I’m almost 31 years old we are going to run out of time.
My sister in law recently gave me the book “Expecting with Hope claiming joy when expecting a baby after loss” by Teske Drake.
 It is a Christian based book and made for mommies to read when their pregnant again but you can definitely read it beforehand.  I have never been much into religion as this book has tons of bible verses but I find this book very reassuring. Maybe because it’s written by  woman who have gone through similar situations, they totally understand my feelings and get where I’m coming from, I feel like this book is really speaking to me and it’s what I need at this time.  One of the very first things I read that really hit home with me is that “the joy and innocence of pregnancy is lost”. This is totally true! I’m definitely not this naïve girl anymore who thinks the first time you have unprotected sex you’ll get pregnant and then 9 months later you deliver this healthy baby with no complications. Unfortunately after my 2ndchild was delivered at only 29 weeks and now this miscarriage I see pregnancy as one of the scariest time of a woman’s life. I really wish I didn’t feel this way, I wish I could just be carefree and totally excited when pregnant, don’t get me wrong I absolutely love being pregnant and welcome it with open arms,  I just see things in a new light. To me being pregnant is so stressful and every little symptom you freak out and think something is wrong! Being pregnant truly is a miracle and when you really think of the whole conception and birthing process it truly is amazing! As written in the book “trust him now, so that as your future unfolds-whatever the outcome-he is there to take you by the hand”.  What is my outcome going to be? I feel like I sound so greedy and ungrateful saying I hope to give my husband that large family like he’s always wanted, I feel so guilty saying I hope to be blessed with multiple pregnancies and healthy children, especially when there’s woman who can’t even conceive just 1 child. I should be so grateful for the two that I have. Maybe that is “GODs” plan for me? Right now I can’t be content with this though, I can’t find peace and seek GOD wholeheartedly at this time, right now I’m having a hard time putting all my trust in him, especially when it comes to the life of my children. Right now as I’m typing this my Granny is in the hospital very sick and I fear she won’t make it much longer. It makes me sad to think that she probably won’t meet her next great grandchild. It makes me angry to think that maybe if I wouldn’t have had a miscarriage she would have at least gotten to meet one more of my children. When it comes to moments like this in your life this is where you can’t find reason and nothing makes sense. This is where you doubt the presence of a “GOD”!  No matter how long a person is on this earth, no time is long enough. No matter their age or the reason of their death their still the love of someone’s life and no time no matter how long isn’t enough. I really hope that someday I will be able to come to peace with how my future is unfolding and it will all make sense.  Until then…”Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1)
 

Quick and Easy Makeup Tutorial

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely love playing with makeup and trying out new products but 75% of the time I just don’t have the energy or even the time to pull out all my eyeshadow brushes and worry about blending a bunch of different colors together. As a busy mom I’m usually running out the door, so I just need something quick and easy that I can do for running errands but I can at least still look some what put together. This look here that I will be showing you is super easy and will take you probably a total of only 5 minutes to do! I hope you guys enjoy this simple “natural” look! Feel free to leave comments below and leave me requests for videos in the future!

Quick and Easy Eyebrow Tutorial

I constantly get tons of questions on how exactly I achieve my “perfect” eyebrows so today I thought I would do a video and share with you the only product I use. Being a busy mom I don’t have a ton of time to sit and sculpt out my brows with a ton of different products, so honestly just this one product saves my life! To me my eyebrows are a staple in my daily makeup routine, I couldn’t do without them, and if I some how forget to fill them in I feel so naked and incomplete. Hope you guys enjoy this video! Have a great day!



Clean Eating Valentine Treats

Happy early Valentines everyone! If your a mom like me then your little one is bringing home a sign up sheet for their Valentine party and your kinda stuck on what exactly to bring. Or if you don’t have kids your trying to come up with some ideas on what to make your husband, boyfriend, or group of girlfriends. No matter who your celebrating Valentines with the idea of this chocolate filled holiday might give you a little bit of anxiety, all I can think about is how am I going to resist all the yummy treats? I can sit and say all I want that I’m only going to have 1 maybe 2 chocolates but who am I kidding….we all know I would eat the whole dang bag of chocolate and then some. So in order to resist the temptation I have went on the hunt for some “healthier” clean eating food ideas for Valentines Day! Hope you guys enjoy these little treats I have found and they inspire you for your own Valentines Party! //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

 
 


Hot Chocolate Covered Strawberries //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

source: cleanfoodcrush.com


Ingredients:

  •  3-4 ounces dark chocolate
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt
  • 1 lb. Clean/Dry Strawberries

Directions: 

  1. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate, stirring constantly with a whisk.
  2. Add remaining dry ingredients/spices – combine well. Remove chocolate from the heat once melted. 
  3. Dip, your dry strawberries into the melted chocolate. I hold them by the stem…coating chocolate on each side.
  4. Place on a parchment lined flat sheet pan.
  5. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Fruit Hearts on a Stick //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

Using a heart shape cookie cutter shape fruits such as watermelon, cantaloupe, and/or pineapple.
 
Serve with Greek Yogurt as a fruit dip
 

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

source: cleanfoodcrush.com

Ingredients:

  • 1 smashed banana – must NOT be overly ripe. If it’s a brown banana – these will not work.
  • 6 Tbs. Natural Peanut Butter (please do not use the oily parts. That makes the cookies too soft)
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • Optional sweetener: 10 drops liquid stevia, 1 Tbsp raw honey, or 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup (I don’t add sweetener – they are sweet enough for me, but definitely NOT overly sweet)
  • 2 Tbs. unsweetened cacao powder

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f
  2. Combine the ingredients.
  3. Once those ingredients are combined very well using a fork, then mix in 1/4 cup cacao chips / dark chocolate chips}  
  4. Drop by rounded Tbsps onto a coconut oil greased cookie sheet.
  5. Bake for 12 minutes

Yield: 12 cookies, depending on the size of your banana.

Greek Yogurt Covered Strawberries //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

        source: preventdisease.com
Ingredients            Greek Vanilla Yogurt
            Strawberries
 
 Directions Slice strawberries in half. Spoon Greek yogurt onto a shallow dish and dip the strawberries in the yogurt. Place dipped strawberries in a plastic container lined with parchment paper and freeze.
 

Chocolate Filled Raspberries //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

source: addapinch.com




Ingredients
  • 1 pint fresh raspberries
  • ¼ cup milk or dark chocolate chips
  • ½ teaspoon coconut oil
Directions
  1. Place fresh raspberries into a mini-muffin tin to help hold them for ease in filling.
  2. Heat chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Pour into a zip top container and snip a tiny hole in the bottom corner of the bag. Squeeze the bag to fill each of the crevices of the raspberry with the melted chocolate. Place muffin tin in the freezer for about 15 minutes to set.

Chocolate Covered Bananas //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

source: marthastewart.com
 
Ingredients  
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 6 popsicle sticks or wooden skewers
  • 2 bananas, peeled and cut crosswise into thirds
  • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts

 
Directions
  1. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of gently simmering water. Stir just until melted.

  2. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Insert a popsicle stick in one end of each banana piece. Dip banana, one piece at a time, in chocolate, spooning on additional chocolate to cover.
  3. Sprinkle each banana with peanuts, and set on prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, 20 minutes, or up to 3 days.

Strawberry Yogurt Pretzels //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

source: helpingkidsgrowup.com

Ingredients

  • 1 large bag mini pretzels
  • 2 cups strawberry yogurt
  • 4 cups confectioners sugar

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 250ºF.
2. Beat together the confectioners sugar and yogurt until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Add up to a cup more of confectioners sugar if necessary to make it thicker. Stir in the pretzels.
3. Place the pretzels on a lined cookie sheet. Turn OFF your oven and place the pretzels inside, propping the door open slightly. This will help dry the frosting. Allow them to sit there for 3 hours before removing.



Chocolate Chip Clouds //assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js

 

Ingredients: 
 

  • 1/2 cup egg whites (room temperature)
  • 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 300°F. Cover cookie sheet with silpat or nonstick silicone pad.
Using a mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together in large bowl at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar a little at a time, then vanilla, beating well after each addition until you get stiff peaks, the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is glossy.

Sift cocoa onto egg white mixture; gently fold until combined.
Fold in chocolate chips. Drop mixture by heaping tablespoons onto cookie sheet. Makes 30 to 32 cookies.

Bake 34 to 40 minutes or just until dry. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely on wire rack. Store covered, at room temperature

Peanut Butter Fudgy Pops

source: Beachbody.com
 

Ingredients:
1½ scoops Chocolate Shakeology
1 Tbsp. all-natural peanut butter
1 cup nonfat milk

Preparation:
1. Place milk, Shakeology, and peanut butter in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.
2. Pour evenly into four ice pop molds; freeze for 3 hours, or until hard.