We're Going to California!

We're heading to California. We leave early Tuesday morning.

My Grandpa isn't doing too well

and this could be the last time we see him.

Although, I just heard he is doing better,

but better safe then sorry.

It will be really nice to him and the rest of my family.
It's been a few years since I've been out there,
and Russell has never been to Southern California.
I'm so excited to show him around!
 

Russell has vacation scheduled for 8 days.

It's our 4 year Anniversary!!! Woohoo!

We will be driving from Iowa all the way to California.
The ultimate road trip!
The kids are great on road trips,
and we are planning a few stops along the way for the kids
to get out and play/crawl around for a bit.

The only thing we have planned for California
so far is just SeaWorld.....
 and the beach of course!

My brother and his wife are out there right now.
They took Grandpa gambling
and have been spending some time socializing,
Grandpa's favorite pastime.

I will be posting pictures along the way on my Instagram along the way!
Follow along with us!

Talk to you soon!



*I have a DIY body scrub from Michelle Pino coming up for you DIY, all natural product lovers!!
 

DIY//Spa Night

Creepy photo right?! I had to share.

Last night I had a mommy spa night along with painting Addison's nails too. She made sure I didn't forget her and also that I didn't smudge her nails. She's such a little lady.

On to spa night.
I looked up recipes for DIY face and hair masks. This is what I came up with ------->

The face mask was found on College Fashion

• 2 TB Honey
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Nutmeg

Mix everything together and apply to your face. Leave on for 30 min. Then wash off with warm water, gently exfoliating.


The Hair Mask was found on Snapguide by Seattle Elizabeth

• Almond, Coconut, or Olive oil
• 1 Banana
• Honey
• Mayonnaise

She doesn't have measurements, but she describes it for you. Go click the link above for the instruction's. (also, I wrapped my hair in a plastic sack to keep them heat in to help it sink in)

They both worked really well for me. The mask started dripping though, but wasn't too bad. It did take some redness out of my face and made it feel a little smoother. The hair mask was great though! Before, I used an egg/olive oil mixture which totally grossed me out and smelled terrible, but worked. This one, however, was amazing and my hair was even softer then the egg one. Definitely going to keep using this one.

Thank you Hilary from The Little Spoons for our new leggings!

I entered a giveaway on The Quick Journey for some awesome cute leggings, and I won along with another blogger. This was my very first giveaway to win, and I am so excited for these cute little pants to be worn all the time. Go check out Hilary's Etsy shop for some more cute prints and also, some Velcro Belts!

 

c/o

The Little Spoons

Mustard and Cream Leggings

 

7 Months Old

This little baby cakes is getting so big.
I felt her first tooth today.
She was biting her fingers all day so I decided to check it out.
And yep, there it was.
I was so excited, which made baby kick her legs in happiness.

She sits up on her own now.
Just started to figure out crawling.
She kicks her legs and flaps her arms so quickly that she actually moves. Who knew?
But she's getting better.
Still dragging her belly though.

The food thing is still difficult.
She'd much rather touch everything around her then eat some gooey stuff off a spoon.
We're making progress though.
We did make her some pears that she absolutely loved.
Now we have a favorite food.

Her best friend right now is Mommy.
Her favorite place in the world is right in my lap.
She will drag herself over to me, dive into my lap, not very gracefully, but that's ok.
As long as she is in the general area, she knows I will help her.
And she's happy.

I love this little girl.

5 Question Friday

Today I am linking up with My Little Life: Five Crooked Halos for 5 Question Friday! I thought this would be a fun little thing to do this morning before the herd gets too busy around here, and also a way to share a little more about myself.

1. Who drives when your family is together, you or your spouse?
The husband. I take care of the kiddo needs in the car and... I like to control the radio.

2. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Introvert, definitely. Naturally, people scare me, I can't help it.

3. Are you married to an introvert or an extrovert?
Married to an extrovert. He is amazing at talking to people. Sometimes I wish I was like that. It seems so easy for him.

4. What's your favorite type of social media?
I love Instagram. I'm obsessed with taking photos of my family and my life. It's a fun way to document memories.

5. What's your favorite way to "recharge"?
My recharge time is at night when the kiddo's are asleep. When the husband works nights I just sit in my corner of the couch, turn off the tv and turn on the fan. It's quiet and relaxing.

What's in My "Cloth" Diaper Bag

I love seeing what people carry in their bags. New products, different things I never thought of, it's all fun. So here's a look inside my bag.

Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013

We had such a fun time today. Russell was the only guy too! Mr. Mom!! I love him.

We won a door prize too. A prefold, cover, and Snappi. Also, they handed out some fun goody bags that were wetbags with some fun items inside. So excited we got to participate this year.

We let Addison hang out with Grandma while we did the change. She was so worn out after only being there for two hours. She asked for a nap. In her bed.  Needless to say she is passed out at the moment. Sugar high and lost of playing equals CRASH! Grandma made her some smore's trail mix// found here// that was probably the culprit. :)

Relaxing now, Lily's eating peaches, and I just found out the hard way that there is no toilet paper in the house....

April: Citrus Lane

Shampoo and Body Wash by The Honest Company// I am so excited for this item and cannot wait to try it out. Thank goodness the girls need a bath tonight :)

Spinning Penguin by Melissa and Doug// I just love Melissa and Doug. Anything from them you can't go wrong. This wooden rattle is so adorable. I'm thinking this will be a new diaper bag toy. I hope Lily likes it as much as I do.

Little Cremes by Plum Organics// I've never tried these, but with Addison we tried the Gerber ones and she really liked them. I was talking about these with the husband and planning on getting some when Lily was ready. These my have to sit on the shelf for a little bit. Lily is just starting to understand foods.

EZ Grip Training Teether by Innobaby// This is an interesting looking teether. Super lightweight and flexible so Lily shouldn't have problem whipping it around and shoving it in her mouth.

Silicone Train Spoon by Oogaa// This spoon is so cute and the silicone makes it super soft for baby to bite down on. Lily is just starting foods so it will either distract her or make her smile (so I can shove the food in haha). Lily has this thing where she pinches her mouth shut and grunts and whips her head around making it extremely difficult to feed her. We're working on it though. 

$10 Off coupon for your first Citrus Lane box//Here

Instagram Blog Hop

Welcome to the Instagram + Vine Blog Hop! If you're new here, the Instagram + Vine Blog Hop is a party where you link up your Instagram and/or Vine accounts, find and follow new friends, and be continually inspired by what you see in your feeds! No need to have a blog, just an Instagram and/or Vine account!

How to PLAY:

1. Follow your HOSTS:

Kimberly | Instagram: @anightowlblog | Vine: anightowlblog 

Emily | Instagram: @mrsemshhh | Vine: emily emshwiller 

Angie | Instagram: @blogali | Vine: Little Inspiration

2. Follow your CO-HOSTS:

Jennifer | Instagram: @jenafur20

You can find Jennifer here: 

Blog :: Twitter :: Pinterest

 ***

Jennifer | Instagram: @mommydaybyday

 You can find Jennifer here: 

Blog :: Facebook :: Twitter

3. Link up your Instagram Web Profile:

Just link up your new Instagram Web Profile (http://instagram.com/username) -OR- your web viewer of choice in the linky below!

Note: this URL will not let you choose a profile pic from your feed, so be sure you have a picture you can upload from your computer if you use it! If you get a "Error: The requested URL returned error: 500" error that just means it can't find a picture to use NOT that your link is bad. Just click on "Direct Image URL" if you have one or "Upload from Computer". If you still have trouble, try sticking with Followgram or Webstagram to upload your profile.

4. NEW! Link up your Vine Username and/or Video!

Add your Vine username (so folks can find you) to the list below! Or link up a Vine video so we can see your cinematography at work! This is new, so there aren't web profiles just yet, but hopefully they'll be out soon! How do you find your video link? If you post your video on Facebook or Twitter, you will be given a URL that looks like this: "http://vine.co/v/bJegq22datT." Just link that up below with your username so we can find you! If you don't have a URL to one of your videos, simply link up your blog URL, but make sure the title is your Vine username so we can find you!

5. Check out and follow a few fellow Instagram or Vine friends.

Tell folks you follow that you found them through the Hop!

6. Spread the word!

Tweet about it, share it on Facebook or post about it on Instagram!

Tweet

Now let's link up!

Road Trip

Hi! We've been kind of MIA this past week, getting ready for our weekend road trip and Russell working nights all week. It was one of those weeks that seemed to fly by too fast. To be honest I can't really remember what I did. Haha

Over the weekend we went up to Russell's old town of Lake Park for a friends baby shower. We did a few other fun things like show Addison the fire trucks, which she hated. She thought they were scary and screamed almost the whole time. Russell's friend actually works for the fire department up there so Addison got the full tour, that she didn't care about, haha. He did turn on the lights for her which finally seemed to get her distracted enough to sit in one of the trucks.

It's so different up there then it is here. It so laid back and it feels like you go back in time, to the old days, where people don't care what you do and kids ride their lawn mowers to the gas station. Which happened. And in stead of parking in a parking spot, they pull up on the sidewalk and park in front of the door. Which also happened and no one says a thing. We would get a parking ticket and towed if we ever did that down here.

I loved it up there. So care free.

Starting the journey home we drove into this tiny town. I mean tiny. 3 houses, maybe and a giant abandoned school. We drove past it at first and decided to go back to take some pictures.

Oh, it was creepy. It was windy and rainy and dark and I thought about mutated beings coming to eat me. Have you ever seen the movie Chernobyl Diaries? Well, the outside looked like something that would be in that movie. I know, paranoid much.

The cool thing about this place is that it's actual history of Iowa. (we googled it) I was surprised to know that this was the first rural consolidated school in Iowa. It closed back in 1962. Pretty cool eh?

We also stopped at state park to stretch our legs a bit before hitting the road again.

 Right outside the state park was a farmers fence with shoes on every post. I thought it would be a cool picture. :)

Now it's time to relax, sleep in our own beds, and do nothing! Hope everyone had a happy weekend!

Linking up with this lovely today  ------->