Twin Tested Archives - Page 9 of 15

Hazel Goldy’s 6 month update + nursery must haves

Now that Hazel is 6 months old, I thought I would share a few updates about her so I never forget them. She is at the cutest age where she is so aware of everything going on around her. Here are a few things she is doing at 6 months:

Smiling (nothing is cuter than getting her out of her crib in the morning, she always has the sweetest smile)
Sitting up by herself. She loves to sit on the floor and play with her toys and is getting so close to crawling.
Waving! This is the cutest thing on the planet.
Eating real food! She hasn’t met a food she doesn’t like – even lemons and limes!
Drinking formula and still breastfeeding. I don’t produce quite enough milk for this growing girl, so we supplement with formula.
Giggling. Her dad is the best at making her laugh and there is not a sound I love more in the entire world.

Favorite things

Food of any kind
reading books
holding electric toothbrushes
singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
playing the hand stacking game with her dad

She has brought so much joy into our home. We are amazed at every new thing she does. I had high hopes of having a picture perfect nursery with every nook and cranny decorated, but then real life happened. It’s very simple and plain and I sort of love it that way.

My 3 nursery must-have items are:

A comfortable chair!! We spent a lot on our chair because we knew it needed to be comfortable enough to sleep in. Since the day Hazel was born, we have spent nearly every night in there and we are so glad we splurged on the comfy chair. It is high enough to lean your head back, it rocks and has a foot rest that pops out. We found ours at Babinski’s in Foothill Village.
Washable Changing Pad: Ok this is a topic that is heavily debated. I know most parents want to have pretty changing pads with beautiful fabric, but I love this one. A friend recommended it because it has straps so you don’t have to worry about your baby rolling off, plus you can clean up any bodily fluids easily with one wipe. Ours is the Bumbo brand and we got it at Target.
Soft Rug: I wanted Hazel’s nursery to have a cozy feel and I think that was achieved with the shaggy rug. I found it at Home Goods for $50. It’s by far Sam’s favorite part of the room. He calls it the magic carpet and plays with Haze on it every night before bed.

Of course this is just the beginning of life with our cute baby girl! Any must-have items for ages 6-12 months I should know about?

Observations of service

A random act of kindess usually entails anonymity. However, I was asked to participate in the #lighttheworld challenge and agreed to share my experience. My specific assignment was to do an act of service that lines up with the scripture “For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat.” (Day 21). As I was thinking of a service project to do my mother-in-law immediately came to mind. She volunteers weekly at the Youth Detention Center and often feeds homeless youth downtown. I asked her if we could set aside a night to serve dinner to at-risk and homeless youth downtown during the month of December. She agreed and prepared a hot meal made up of delicious orange chicken, rice, green salad, rolls, and gingerbread cookies. I should also mention that she made enough for 50 PEOPLE all by herself. This is not her first rodeo and she did it all without breaking a sweat. She has fed this specific group at the Volunteers of America Resource Center many times and was able to lead our group through the necessary steps. I want to share a few of my observations throughout the night. But before I do, here is a little background about the center. They offer emergency shelter beds, 24/7 assistance, 3 meals a day, and free legal services to 15 to 22 year olds in the community. Overall they are able to help around 800 at-risk teens every year. The facility is clean, tidy, and provides the kids with a safe, warm place to stay.

A few observations:

As we unpacked the dinner in their kitchen I found myself wondering what it would be like to have to rely on strangers for your next meal.
As an angsty teenager I was allowed to make mistakes and be forgiven by loving parents. Where were these kids’ parents? Did they know where they were or what they were going through?
These kids were once babies, just like my little Lila, that depend on parents to nurture and help them. I need to take my role as mother seriously and make the most of my opportunities to teach Lila what matters most.
These kids are fighters who are battling the world on their own and doing the best they can.
These kids are brave and polite. The vast majority offered thanks for their warm meal and polite small talk.
My breath caught in my throat when I asked one of the teenage girls how old her pretty baby girl was that she was lugging along in her car seat and she responded “3 months”, the exact same age as my Lila. This little baby did not have grandparents, aunts, and uncles doting on her every move and smile. Why was I so lucky to have a loving support system in my life? Do I take it for granted sometimes?
My attempts at eye contact and small talk felt very inconsequential to these kids that are facing unthinkable troubles in their lives. But at the very least I wanted to treat them with dignity and respect.
I hope they know that each of them matter.
God loves us all the same. No matter if you are rich or poor. I think of what Pres. Uchtdorf said in the Christmas devotional. There is no shame in being poor. Remember that the Savior of the World was born in a stable and laid in a manger “because there was no room for [Him] in the inn.”⁵

He went on to say, “Even if all we have is a handful of crumbs, we gladly share them with those in emotional, spiritual, or temporal need as an expression of our gratitude for the divine feast God has prepared for us.”

So December 21st is the day to “feed the hungry”, lets all find a way to participate big or small and light the world!

A few things that are helping me survive the “4th Trimester”

{newborn photos by the wonderful Meg Turley}

First things first, I just have to say being a mom is the best! I feel so lucky to have sweet Lila here and every day gets more fun as she continues to grow and change. And obviously nothing beats baby snuggles all day long. That being said, the “4th Trimester” is very real and has been an interesting process. Women’s bodies are incredibly resilient, but there are definitely some things that have made a world of difference that I wanted to share with you.

Grandmas: Lucky for us both Lila’s grandmas live within 5 minutes. That means they visit often – especially after sleepless nights. Aside from holding and loving Lila they have offered much needed encouragement through these first few weeks of her life. I truly don’t think I would have made it through the first two weeks without them.
A husband that is your equal partner in parenting. Parker wakes up at night with Lila just as much as I do (we switch off every other night), he changes diapers, knows how to give her a bath without having her squirm out of his arms, and sings her to sleep. He has kept his same calm demeanor throughout everything which has definitely been a blessing since this momma’s hormones went a little bonkers those first couple of weeks.(cue the tears) Suffice it to say I am so grateful for Parker.
A baby wrap. I spent the first 3 weeks trying to do everything with one hand because the little lady demands that she is held at all times. Bless the heavens above for baby wraps! She fits into it snug as a bug and I have both of my hands back so I can at least brush my teeth! Parker even wore her in it this week while he aerated our lawn! #bestdad
A stroller. It doesn’t have to be a fancy one. Just something that can get you both outside for some fresh air. This has been so important for my mental health during this process. Those good vibes get flowing when you have some sunshine on your face and wind in your hair.
Minky Couture Baby Blanket. Now that the temps are dropping I am always worried that baby girl is cold. I take this blanket on all of our outings because it is small enough to wrap around her in the car seat or to have in the diaper bag just in case. And we all know that nothing tops the softness of a Minky!
Caring friends. I cannot even count how many kind friends have stopped by with dinner, a treat, or flowers. The visits have buoyed us up on some bleery eyed, exhausted days. They have made me want to be a better friend and neighbor. And yes, I cry just thinking about all of them and how much love we have felt.
The Boppy makes middle of the night feedings much more manageable thanks to the support it gives to you and baby. This is the one that I have. I also feel like it helps with back support and posture. My husband also uses it for middle of the night bottle feedings and gives it two thumbs up.
Lanolin for the nips and lips! I love the nipple cream but this lip gloss is seriously the bomb. Both heal dry, cracked skin super fast.
Belly Bandit products. I faithfully wore my wrap the first couple of weeks after delivery and it definitely made my body feel put back together again by holding everything in. It is a great precursor to a corset because it has a velcro closure which helps when your body is drastically changing in size those first few days and it is so easy to put on. I also highly recommend their shirts and dresses that are made of the most buttery soft fabric. This is the shirt I wore home from the hospital and bonus -it’s nursing friendly!
Bellefit corset. After the first few weeks I transitioned to the corset which is a total confidence booster! It helps you get back into your old clothes and have a defined waist again. This is my favorite one. I can honestly say I plan to wear it faithfully for the next six months because I love it so much.

I have so much respect for all of the parents out there! I am all for products that make it easier to take care of your little ones. If you have any recommendations let me know so we can all help each other!

Dressing the (growing) bump

Pregnancy as a first-timer has so many surprises. One of the most exciting things happened a couple of months ago when I felt the baby really kick for the first time. It is such a relief to feel a baby moving around in there! Something that has caught me off guard a bit is that my body is changing every.single.day. My bump grows at random rates and my chest just keeps expanding. I wake up not really knowing what clothing items will fit. This has made getting dressed tricky – especially because I have to look semi-presentable Monday through Friday on the show. Thank goodness for dresses! They are now my go-to. From flowy to more bodycon styles it is so nice to have something that is stretchy without a waistband! All waistbands are now my enemy. I abhor anything that feels tight and constricting. Some maternity clothes out there make you feel bigger and more pregnant than you are however I have found a few winners that I wanted to share! When you find a good thing you should share it, right?Thank goodness for Seraphine Maternity! I knew about this brand thanks to Princess Kate. She wore the brand during her pregnancies with George and Charlotte and always looked FLAWLESS. After hopping on the website I was pleased to find the exact dress she wore was available in a variety of colors and prints. Being the good sister that I am I talked Britt into getting one as well 🙂 She settled on the magenta, I went with the mint print. We both love the dress because it flows and can be worn during pregnancy and after! As for the black printed maxi, it is by far Britt’s most complimented pregnancy outfit. I went with the red dress because I needed a piece that was a little more dressed up and could flow through all the different stages of pregnancy.

Before and After pics from Brooke’s living room makeover!

Parker has been hard at work over the last few months working on some of our bigger house projects. We have now officially lived in our house for one year and it has gone by so fast! The home was built in the 1950’s and definitely needed some TLC. When we first walked through the house we made a mental list of big projects that we wanted to do and the fireplace was near the top of the list. We knew that the outdated red painted brick had to go! Along with the wallpaper. I am so happy that the previous owner only did a statement wall in wallpaper because that stuff is so stubborn and takes forever to get off. (Many thanks to my mom and brother for helping me peel it off piece by piece!) It has been a long process to do the fireplace and the rest of the living room flooring and walls but I am so happy with how it turned out! Here are just a few of the things that were done during the process:

wallpaper removed and wall painted gray
brown carpet removed and wood flooring put in
old baseboards taken out and new ones put in and painted
demo of the fireplace and rebuilding the entire wall and shape of the space with cement and drywall
building the actual wood mantel and painting it white
tiling the surround with Carrera marble

We are still working on a few furniture and art pieces for the walls but I love how it turned out! The most amazing part of the transformation is that Parker did it without a blueprint or plan! He knew what he wanted it to look like and made it happen which is something I really admire. Some advice I have if you are thinking of doing a living room remodel:

Be patient: every house project takes 2-3 times longer than you expect and there will always be unexpected bumps along the way.
Test multiple paint colors in various areas of the room. I am so glad we did this. Also, do not be scared to have them specially mix two different colors together so that you can get the perfect shade – it is free!
Decorate slowly with furniture, art, and accessories. It is really hard to know what things will look like in a space before it is finished.

Happy remodeling! Now we are moving on to start working on the nursery. 3 months to go, updates to come!

Pregnancy Survival Guide {first half}

{photo via @edeneats my fave pregnant lady/food lover to follow on Instagram}

Both Brooke and I have learned a lot in the first half of our pregnancies. Surprisingly enough, they have been very different. I had pretty bad morning sickness for the first trimester, while Brooke felt good for the most part. We thought it would be fun to put together a list of things that helped us survive so far.

DEALING WITH MORNING SICKNESS:

Trader Joe’s Ginger EVERYTHING

They have ginger mints, ginger snaps, ginger thins, ginger ale, etc. All of them are helpful in calming queasy stomachs. Having never been a huge fan of drinking ginger ale before pregnancy, it was the one thing that tasted good and settled my stomach. I’ve had friends say La Croix has a similar effect!

Vitamin B6

I started taking these vitamins after my doctor recommended them for my nausea and throwing up. It really seemed to help and I could tell a difference when I missed a day.

Overall, both of us were very lucky when it came to feeling sick. We know there are women who have it SO much worse. We were also so grateful to both feel good towards the beginning of the 2nd trimester.

BEAUTY:

Skin

This has been one of the toughest parts of pregnancy. Both Brooke and I have noticed major changes in our skin – more oily and a lot more breakouts while pregnant. This is probably due to the fact that both of us had been taking either birth control pills or other medication to deal with acne. In pregnancy, you really can’t do much to help with skin issues. It also isn’t helpful when there is a camera getting close-ups of your face every day 🙂 This has made skincare an even bigger priority. We have had to find things that are very gentle, but still cleanse the skin. We have stuck to the brands that our dermatologist suggests – mostly Cetaphil products. I have also used Phytoceane cleansers that are super gentle and smell amazing. Good to remember this part won’t last forever!

Makeup

Thank heavens for makeup! We’ve said it before and we will say it again. When you are not feeling pretty, a little makeup can go a long way. The only big makeup change we’ve made is to use less oil based makeup and more powders. Our favorite new finishing powder is Too Faced Primed & Poreless – it just gives your face a nice matte (but not too matte) finish.

Lash Extensions

I think every pregnant woman should try these. When nothing else is working out, you can still have great lashes! Not only do they save time, but they make me feel good even if I have no makeup on. I’ve been getting mine done by Melissa at Salon Lydia for a long time. I can easily go 5-6 weeks in between fills, so it is a very worthwhile splurge in my life.

CLOTHING:

It’s normal to sit in front of your closet and cry after you break the zipper on your favorite skirt because it no longer fits, right? Well, I sure hope so! Ha. My changing body has been very humbling. I can no longer fit into most of my clothes that I love and it’s kind of sad. BUT! Then I remember that it’s because I’m growing a beautiful human being and my stomach is supposed to be getting bigger, so things are exactly as they should be. All of that being said, there are a few pieces of clothing that I would highly recommend.

H&M Maternity Pants Why fight the zipper anymore? I can’t find the ones I have online, but these are similar.

Why fight the zipper anymore? I can’t find the ones I have online, but these are similar. The plain black ones are game changers. So comfortable and they look like real pants, while they feel like you are wearing pajama leggings. I wear them a few times a week.

Pink Blush Dresses

This dress company is great at making dresses that flatter and fit a pregnant body. My personal favorite and most worn item is this super comfy Black Hi Low Midi Dress.

SLEEP

Get a humidifier! One of the odd side effects of pregnancy is feeling extra congested (at least for me). My mom recommended getting a humidifier and I don’t know why I didn’t buy one sooner. Having the humidifier on while I sleep has made a big difference in feeling like I can breathe easier.

Boppy Pregnancy Wedge $13 it’s the perfect size to sleep with in between your legs or underneath one side.

Body Pillow although it feels like there is a third person in bed, it’s worth it! So comfy.

EMOTIONS

Oh wow. They are up and down and up and down and I started crying when Sam asked me if I wanted a milkshake 🙂 I think one of the things that helped me the most is to actually stop researching and reading. I have found it just stresses me out and I end up feeling overwhelmed. I normally love to read, but when it comes to maternity and pregnancy books, I have decided to set them aside for the next little while. Right now I am trying to enjoy these moments as a family of two before everything changes.

Thank you for all of the kind words and advice. I would love to hear what helped you survive the second half of your pregnancy! Any tips and tricks?

The Week of Extreme Nice

Hi friends! We’ve told you before, but we are huge fans of author Gretchen Rubin. Many of you have probably read her book, “The Happiness Project”. Well, we picked the book for our book club on The PLACE for the month of November. For those of you that haven’t read it, Gretchen created a year-long Happiness Project for herself. She creates a theme for each month and then comes up with a few concrete goals to work on. This time re-reading the book, I loved the February chapter focused on marriage. One of Gretchen’s goals is to do a week of extreme nice – meaning that she picks one person to be extremely nice to for one week. She picked her husband and she made the goal to not criticize him, nag him, or snap at him. I decided to try it. Oh my gosh! What a great week! The trick is that you don’t tell the other person you are going to do it. I have since challenged all of my friends and even my poor Sunday school kids to try it out. Here are a couple of observations:

When I wasn’t immediately trying to get my way in every situation, I was able to see Sam’s side much more clearly. For example, we were buying decorations for our Christmas tree and I thought I really wanted white lights. Well, it was the week of extreme nice, so I let Sam pick. He went with rainbow colored lights. This probably would have bugged me a few weeks ago, but after coming home and putting them on the tree, I love them! It also made ME happy to see something make Sam so happy.
Attitude is everything: when I began each day with a positive attitude towards my spouse, the little stuff (like forgetting to cap the toothpaste) didn’t bug me as much.
Looking at things from your spouse’s point of view is healthy – I realized that Sam and I are so different and look at many things differently, but that is why we are so good for each other. Many times Sam is a lot more logical than I am and in most cases, he has thought through decisions much more extensively than I have, so it’s good to give him a chance to share his ideas (because they tend to make more sense in the long run).
I loved Sam so much more by the end of the week. I was able to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective. I am so lucky to have a loving husband who truly bends over backward to make me happy.
We had more fun! I realized I can be very bossy and stubborn, especially when it comes to our evening plans. When I let Sam choose what we were doing, we had tons of fun!
I give my kindness to everyone before I give it to Sam. I spend all day trying to be kind to friends and co-workers and by the time I am spending time with Sam, he often gets the tired and grumpy version of myself. Putting him first in my happiness expenditures really made a big difference in my happiness. He is the center of my world and it felt good to make the effort to make him realize that.
I tried to come up with one kind thing to do for him each day. Most days this just meant that I made the bed or cleaned the kitchen. He didn’t notice everything, but I could tell our lives ran smoother when I consciously thought of something kind to do for him each day. This was a lightbulb moment for me because these simple acts usually take under 2 minutes and I am normally so slow to do them.
Sam never asked why I was being so nice. Ha! I think this is a good thing. Hopefully, it means I am not a terrible person because he didn’t notice a huge change. He was pleasantly surprised to hear about it when I told him I got the idea from Gretchen’s book.

For our book club on the show, we got to interview Gretchen a few weeks ago. It was so great – except for the dozens of technical difficulties that came up. Many parts of her book are about maximizing your time, being responsible, etc. – I felt the opposite of that explaining that we were having issues with a brand new audio board. I shouldn’t have worried because Gretchen was so kind and understanding. She was a joy to talk to. It was fascinating to hear from her perspective what sticks out to people most from her book. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest you do! Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

We don’t need to be perfect, but we can all try to be a little better! If you try the week of extreme nice, let us know how it goes!

A few before & after pictures from Brooke’s house

Now that Parker and I have been in our house for 8 months I thought it would be fun to share some before and after pictures. We are far from finished, but I wanted to show you some of the progress that has been made. To prep for our projects, I curated a Pinterest board to zero in on the styles that we liked. This helped immensely, instead of just showing up at Home Depot to look through all of their options. To describe the house when we bought it I would say it was just blah. An older gentleman owned the home and it had brown carpet, different shades of paint on the walls, and was desperate for some new energy. We decided to go for clean and crisp aesthetic that made people feel welcome. Here is a peek at some of our recent before and afters!

Flooring: We ripped out the flooring throughout the entire house. We started in the living room. You can see there was brown carpet there leading into brownish tile in the kitchen. We replaced it with dark wood flooring throughout the main living area and kitchen and new carpet in the bedrooms. What a difference a new floor makes! Also, people are not kidding when they say taking down wallpaper is the absolute worst. I feel lucky that we only had one wall. The previous owner was a painter and many of the walls were different colors throughout the house. I wanted to make all of the areas flow nicely together so we chose a pale gray to cover all areas. We had Home Depot mix a few different colors together for us, I would be happy to share the paint “recipe” if you are interested. Parker is laying out his plans for our new fireplace and mantle now, I think it will make the room feel very cozy!

Kitchen Backsplash Before & After. As you can see there was an 80’s Southwest theme going on in the kitchen. We opted for some white subway tile and light gray grout. I love how it turned out, it feels so much cleaner! Not to brag but Parker did a GREAT job with the backsplash! My brother helped him start the project and they were able to knock it out in a few days. So glad I married a (willing) handyman. Our next project in the kitchen is to paint the cabinets – please send over your tips and tricks!

Before and After of our front door. Missing from the before photo is the metal storm door that weighed about a million pounds. I am so happy that we went with our white craftsman door. It’s cheery and really changes the entire look of the front porch. The casing still needs to be painted but we have to wait until spring time when the temperatures get a little warmer to do that. Now I look forward to putting a different wreath up for every season! We feel so lucky to have our home and we are enjoying all of the extra space for now. Our main goal was to make our home a place where people felt welcome and comfortable. I will keep you posted on our other updates as we go along!

Steal or Splurge: Lip Liner

{I’m wearing Urban Decay on the left, Palladio on the right}

We are 100% in love with lip liner lately. We realized if you cover your entire lip with liner and then either – a) leave it plain b) put gloss over top or c) apply lipstick over – it lasts all day long! It just stays on really well and defines the lip. So, after trying lots and lots of different kinds – we wanted to compare cheap vs. expensive.

We tried out very similar lip liner – the only difference is the price.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil $20

Palladio Waterproof Lip Liner $4.99 (certain colors are $2.99)

Our final takeaway – they work the same! Both stayed on all day and held their color. So for this one, we say definitely go for the steal!

You can watch the video below for the full story – just click expand to make it full screen.

10 things you can only do in Japan

Parker and I just returned from a 9 day trip to Japan. Our main reason for going was to visit our brother and sister in law and their adorable 1 yr old baby. They are currently living in the center of Tokyo and were incredible hosts and tour guides! I had heard great things about Japan but prepared for how much I would love it. The city is spotless, no graffiti or trash anywhere. The people are kind and considerate, even when the subway is jam packed there is no yelling or shoving. I felt very safe the entire trip. The women have incredible style, always looking feminine and demure. And the food is incredible! I loved absolutely everything that we did, but to simplify things I decided to put together a list of my favorite 10 things that we did that you can only find in Japan.

ONSEN or JAPANESE BATH HOUSE: Being naked with strangers may sound terrifying but it was actually very spa-like and relaxing. I was hesitant when I first arrived at the bathhouse but after the initial shock wore off it was great. Men and women are split up into different bath areas. It was surprising to see moms and daughters together as well as little babies enjoying the water. At the onsen we enjoyed sushi and also got crazy fish foot massages – I was absolutely dying because my feet are so ticklish! Definitely a fun, cultural experience.
CONVEYOR BELT SUSHI: The sushi in Japan did not disappoint! If you find a restaurant with a conveyor belt it makes it really easy to pick and choose what you want to try. I personally loved the salmon and tuna rolls.
DISNEY SEA: We made a last minute decision to go to Disney Sea. I had no idea what to expect. The park is built on the coast and incorporates water into everything, even to the extent of building a Meditteranean looking village with gondola’s! I loved it and would definitely go again.
RAMEN: The only ramen I had ever eaten before Japan was the 50 cent version. We were lucky enough to try quite a few different variations with udon noodles and different meats. All of them just made you want to cozy up in a sweater and relax. Although I am still working on my chopsticks skills…
HARAJUKU: This is a fun little shopping district in Tokyo where you see some of the anime fashion. Bright colored hair, big platform shoes and a lot of My Little Pony. They also have photo booths that photoshop you to look like Barbie, not the best look for Parker 🙂
GYOZA: Better known here as pot stickers, gyoza is very popular in Japan. We went to a restaurant entirely dedicated to different forms of gyoza. Then on our trek into the mountains of Hakone we happened upon a tiny little hillside restaurant with a Japanese grandma at the head of the kitchen that made gyoza from scratch. They were heavenly!
TOKYO DOME: This is where all of the baseball games happen, but there is also an amusement park outside of the dome that is a blast! If you go after 5 pm it is around $25 for a pass to go on all the rides as many times as you would like. My favorite happened to be the roller coaster called Thunder Dolphin that took you high above all the skyscrapers and then dropped you straight down, even zooming through a building at one point.
SHIBUYA: This is one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. Insider tip – go to the 2nd floor of the Starbucks on the corner so that you can get an overhead view of the chaos. Perfect location to record a time-lapse. You can see my husband’s here.
HAKONE: They call this the Switzerland of Japan. It took a couple of hours by train to get there. In Hakone we saw an active volcano, a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, and a shrine that was in the water.
HIGH TECH TOILETS: The toilet seats are heated and spotless – even in places like 7-11! The Japanese people are so clean and tidy that I never once came across a bathroom resembling what you would find in America. The toilets are capable of doing so many crazy things (i.e. bidet?!). I now feel like I need to buy one for my house. In the winter time a warm toilet seat can’t be beat!

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