Mommy, Leah & Daddy Favorites

More of our family faves to enjoy the sun and a cup of coffee (or warm milk) in our backyard!

Mommy: Marc by Marc star sunglasses / Daddy: Hugo Boss metal shades / Leah: Sunbelt aviators

Mommy: Anthro monogrammed teacup / Daddy: Initech coffee mug / Leah: Doidy trainer cup

And, in case you missed it, click here to see my last Mommy, Leah & Daddy faves post!

Birds, Flowers & Pigtails!

We recently bought a family pass to CuriOdyssey, a science and wildlife center at Coyote Point.  Leah loves the hands on exhibits and getting up close to all the animals.  She especially likes bird watching in the aviary and seeing all the colorful flowers in the butterfly garden.

Here are some pictures from our trip with Grammy and Poppee this past week.  Leah was also sporting pigtails for the first time!

Hellooooo Kitty

I think I can officially say my daughter is obsessed with Hello Kitty.  She has 3 hello kitty dolls, 2 tshirts, and a book.  Her third spoken word (after mama and dada) was "kitty".  She may have been influenced slightly by her mother, as you can see from my iPhone case here.

So, as I've been putting together her Easter basket, naturally most of the things I've gathered are kitty related.  I still need to add the DIY felt carrots and chick cake pops to her basket too.

Leah picked out her own Easter basket at Walgreens after she took her passport picture.  It was a toss up between the hello kitty bucket and the hello kitty plush basket. She decided on the plush, I'm not sure why Ray was sad about that.   Don't you love Leah's mug shot?

If you still need Easter decor inspiration, check out my yarn egg wreath here!

Yarn Easter Egg Wreath

If you didn't see my previous post, Easter is just around the corner and one of my Spring projects was making an Easter wreath!  I was inspired by this yarn egg wreath on Pinterest and I ended up choosing non-traditional Easter colors because I'm not too fond of pastels.  Overall, it was easy to make, but it took a little more time than I expected.  I worked on it a little each night for about a week.  Here are the materials I used:

• 12" foam wreath
• 6 large plastic eggs
• 24 medium plastic eggs
• 12 small plastic eggs
• 5 different shades of yarn or twine
• Glue gun and A LOT of glue

Once you have all your materials together, all you have to do is start gluing and wrapping your eggs!  I ended up wrapping my eggs 3 different ways... (1) single layer wrap (twine egg in the above picture), (2) haphazard wrap (bottom multicolor egg), and (3) yarn ball wrap (right lavender egg).

I attached the eggs directly to the foam wreath as I went, starting with the large eggs, medium eggs next, then filling in any gaps with the small eggs.  If I had to do it all over again, I would have wrapped the wreath with yarn before I attached the eggs so I wouldn't have to worry about any of the foam showing through.

I love the way it turned out...bright, cheerful, and puts me in the mood for Spring! Next on my Easter to dos...Easter baskets and take Leah on a trip to see the Easter bunny! :)

Skinnier Banana Nut Muffins

Last week I was planning on bringing homemade banana bread over to my friend's house for a play date, but of course, I ran out of time.  I took out my backup box of banana nut muffin mix and wanted to somehow make it healthier since each muffin is a whopping 210 calories with 9 grams of fat! I decided to sub applesauce for the oil and added a 1/2 cup of ground flax seed for added fiber (1/4 cup I mixed in the batter, and the remaining 1/4 cup I sprinkled on top of the muffins).  I also used soy milk and egg whites. 

They turned out moist and fluffy and my husband couldn't even tell they were a healthier version!  I did some research and found that with my substitutions each muffin contained 50 less calories, 5 less grams of fat, and almost 2 grams of added fiber!  That made me feel less guilty about eating 2 ;)

two bottom teeth + a sprig of hair

While backing up the millions of photos we've managed to take over the past year, I ran across these adorable pictures from Leah's 9 month photo shoot.  They were taken by our photographer, Carleigh, last fall at Rancho San Antonio.  Leah had just two bottom teeth, a tiny sprig of baby hair on the top of her head, and was still scooting on her bottom to get around.  Just 5 months later she's running around, singing, dancing and almost has a full head of hair (I like to call it her baby mullet).  Gosh they really do grow fast.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day...

Mommy, Leah & Daddy Favorites

Just a few of our fave reads and wears lately photographed on this overcast Thursday in our backyard...

Mommy: Sam Edelman ballet flats / Leah: Tiny Glitter Toms / Daddy: Vans

 Mommy: Cooking Light Family Cookbook / Leah: Leah's Very Happy 1st Birthday / Daddy: The Dead Do Not Improve

 Mommy: Anthro Polka Dot Blazer / Leah: Striped Hooded Blazer / Daddy: H&M Cardi

Spring Forward

The days are getting longer, the trees are blossoming and the rain is gone (for now).  Despite my allergies, I love Spring and Leah is loving it too!  Last year she was stuck lying on a blanket in the shade.  Now she is off and running, exploring nature, and enjoying her new found freedom outside! 

And don't forget to set your clocks 1 hour ahead this Sunday, March 10th!

Steph & Ray on Style Unveiled!

One of my best friends recently got engaged and she's been knee deep in wedding planning.  It brought back a lot of memories of when my husband and I were planning for our big day...gosh that seems like ages ago!  It also reminded me that our wedding was featured on Style Unveiled!  I dug up the link and I thought I'd share it with you all!  :)