Family photos!!

As a photographer I am always behind the camera so once a year I have a fellow photographer do some family photos for us. This was the first time we had photos with a family of 4. Katie didn't think to much of having her photo taken. I haven't quite trained her yet! :) my oldest apparently was being pretty silly however I didn't know it I thought she was doing pretty good. She knows the drill though! 

Here are a few from the photo shoot yesterday a couple Christmas one I am hanging on to for a bit! 

My hot hubby! Even if he hated having his photo taken he did great! 

IPSY November 2013

Man I stink at keeping up with this blog. I have great intentions but... Well life happens!

I came home last night from my first family photo shoot with a family of 4 and had my IPSY bag on my porch! 

Great bag in my opinion! 

Check out the bag itself. I am not a gold girl but this will be supe cute for Christmas or mate in the diaper bag. However I am sure once my 4 year old sees it I won't have it any longer. 

Great stuff this month!

1. 

Nailtini nail polish in champagne love it will be trying it soon!! 

Have been wanting a shade like this. 

2. 

Be a bombshell lip crayon in hot damn 

 

I was wanting to try a bright red for the holiday season! 

3. 

Star looks eyeliner in topaz 

This is the 2nd silver eyeliner I have gotten from a beauty subscription. I love the idea but have no idea how to wear it. Any advice?

4. 

.em Michelle Phan lip stick in nude. So pretty for a neutral lip! 

5. 

Pixi bronzer in subtly sun touched can't wait to try it! 

6. 

Galaxy chic eyeshadow from bhcosmetic in Aphrodite 

Not a color I would usually wear but excited to try it!!

Great bag this month. It's my first IPSY bag. If you are interested in getting an IPSY subscription yourself please comment and I will send you a link to sign up. Of coarse you don't have to use my link but I sure would appreciate it! 

Have a great Sunday!! 

Petunia pickle bottom sashay satchel

I made a video on how I pack my Petunia Pickle Bottom Sashay Satchel this is a organic cotton print. This is by far my favorite diaper bag.

However I am taking my first trip to Norstroms this week and well they have a lot to look at so my opinion may change but I don't think it will!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOH1qHK2Do


If you want to get your own and check out the other prints that are available look here http://www.petunia.com/

Momzella nursing tops!

Ok I love nursing my LO but I don't always like fighting with my clothes to do so. I learned about these momzella nursing tops and ordered one. Well It was instant love they are so easy to wear, look good, and are soft and stretchy.

Here is the link if you want to check them out yourself.

Momzella

Here is a video I did on them too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjQI3vakPUY

My favorite is the xlong tank top and the hoodie.

 Here is one of the tops

And the crossover tank

 This is the extra long tank

And all you have to do is lift it up!

Cover Boo nursing covers!

I love to add style to my outfit all while taking care of my baby what could be better check out these nursing covers by cover boo they are wonderful!!

I do wish mine were a little softer I think a few washing will help with this but if you don't know what a cover boo nursing cover is check this video out and subscribe while you are there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0hg2Njeyrk

How to braid your wrap!

OK I love my soft structured carrier and my wraps and my conversions I think they all have there place. However I don't like storing my wraps folded and I need to keep breaking them in some more. I know that the ways to break in a wrap are to braid it, wash it, steam it, simply use it, and sit on it. Weird I know but it just softens the fibers. I searched for how to braid a wrap without a whole lot of luck other than 1 youtube video so I made one myself!!

So here is a link if you too need to learn how to braid your wrap it super easy once someone shows you what to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZARi4je5rg

Chunky arms and baby clothes

Ok I know I am not the only person with this problems so I am posting how I fixed it for others with this issue. Lots of baby clothes this time of year have long sleeves that are gathered at the wrist yes they are super cute. However if you have a chunky baby you have to go up a size for their arms to fit!!! These clothes fit my little one fine for about 2 weeks into this size them they were cutting into her wrist didn't seem to bother her but I know I would hate it so I decided to fix it. 

Here are the sleeves I am talking  about 

This is a Gymboree shirt from the fall 2013 line. 

If the sleeve elastic is independent of the seam it's super easy to fix. All you need is a seam ripper. These are sold mostly everywhere I have even seen them at Kroger. Here is mine 

What I did was pull the elastic away from the material where I could see those stitches holding it together. 

I used my seam ripper to cut those stitches all the way around on the top and bottom of the elastic. 

When I was done I had the elastic attached to the middle seam and nothing else. Be sure when you go to cut the only thing on the seam ripper is the threads these things are sharp and will cut the fabric so just take you time and watch what you are doing so you don't get any holes in the shirt. 

I took a pair of sissors and cut the elastic out. Now the end of the sleeve is open and not tight on my daughters arm!!

After a wash the little holes will disappear and you will be the only one who knows!! 

If the elastic is in a pocket on the bottom of the sleeve or is part of the hem at the end you will need to go back and re hem the sleeves so they don't start to fray. 

Hope this helped someone. 

Bath and body works, Old Navy and Carter's haul

Then Ok so I collect all the coupons in the mail and the ones you get when you buy something in a store and try to headed out every once in a while to redeem them. Today was bath and body works, old navy, and Carter's. 

First stop bath and body works I got a coupon, well 2 in the mail for a free signature series full sized product. I have one to my oldest daughter and we went. Here is what all we got for $27 I also had a  20% off coupon we used and shipped the sales. 

Then we got coupons to shop again. 

We got 

2 shower gels 

3 lip glosses 

5 hand sanitizers 

2 lip gloss holders 

Our total was $27.44 

Then off to Carter's where I had $10 off a $10 purchase 

I got these pants 

My total $2.20

Then off to old navy I had some reward bucks to spend plus the stuff and save event where you got 30% off and a free bag 

2 sets of socks a sweater and a top for my oldest 

Then for my youngest 

3 mix n match tops and 3 pants plus a fleece lined pair of pants. 

After rewards and coupon it was only $24.77

Plus we got this bag!!

Not a bad day if I do say so. We also has to return a toy to toys r us that didn't work and my oldest found a horse dress up station with different interchangeable hair on clearance for the same price as the flying fairy that didn't work!! Woohoo a toy that cost a lot more she was able to exchange for since it was on clearance. 

Great shooing day this just shows you hold on to those coupons!! And store rewards. 

A girl and her frog

My oldest loves to catch bugs and frogs. We have several bug cages. The bugs are released in a timely fashion. 

Tonight she caught a frog now she catches several but this was probably the biggest she caught and in the dark! 

And yes she is crazy dirty from a fun filled day with friends and helping dad in the yard. And the rain boots well let's just leave that as she is full of surprises. 

Easy dinner

So as moms we always need easy dinners. 

This is more of a technique than a recipe. 

When I go to the grocery store I buy at least 5lbs if hamburger sometimes if its a good sale I will get 10 lbs. 

Then the first chance I get I cook it all!!! Sometimes making hamburgers out of 1 or 2 lbs and freeze them uncooked or save them for that night dinner. But all the rest I cook. 

Here is 4 lbs cooking I always use 2 pans and sometimes if I have 10 lbs I will do it in 2 pans in 2 batches so I know it cooks even. 

I use my handy pampered chef mix and chop to make this east! 

After its cooked I put it in freezer safe Tupperware and freeze it in 1 lb page ages. 

This was only 2 lbs the other two were still cooking. My lovely stove doesn't cook even!! 

Now on a bad night I will pull one out defrost it on low in the microwave or in fridge if I know in advance and its ready for dinner. 

I will use this for tacos, spaghetti, we make a mystery stew which is simply hamburger Mac and cheese with tomatoes, or anything else I need hamburger for!

Makes dinner super simple for those days when I need it and we aren't eating out. 

Saves time and for us money. If I went to the store for just hamburger I would leave with a lot more. So having it cooked and ready for the next several weeks is amazing!!

How to get rid of all those baby clothes.

Ok I know getting rid of those baby clothes is hard!! They are so cute and we have such memories of them. Plus I didn't get rid of any of my 1st daughters secretly hoping for another girl!! 

Well now we are growing out of these little clothes and they have to go! We have way too much saved! 

For the newborn clothes I just made a huge lot and sold them cheap on eBay. Now we are out of 0-3 mts clothes so they have to go as well. Some I will put in local consignment some may go to ebay and the rest will go to goodwill. 

We simply can't keep them all. I am saving an outfit here or there but most have to go! Yes their are tons of memories but I can't use them!! Plus the extra few dollars helps get new super cute stuff. 

So my advice just do it and don't look back. Yes I keep saying I wish I hadn't gotten rid of _______ but in reality it's gone there isn't anything I can do about it and we didn't need them!!  

If you have lots of cute stuff you can't  part with think about making a quilt or have someone make it for you. 

Better yet if your husband is like mine he hates clutter hates saving stuff and isn't attached it to. Let him take it all to goodwill or another place like that for you. A women's shelter is always looking for kids clothes consider donating it there! 

My girls!

Since this who blog is about me and my girls I thought I would share a couple photos. 

This is my 4 1/2 year old, AnneMarie. Since I am a photographer she gets pictures at each year and each 1/2 year and I couldn't be more happy I do! She changes so so much and living everyday life I don't notice it. 

Just incase you like my photos check out my other work http://www.photojennictn.com and http://www.facebook.com/photojennicphoto 

I am in Tennessee just south of Nashville! 

This shows her personality so well. 

Here is my newest addition baby Katie. 

This was her newborn photo. I will be doing 3 month ones next month! He has changed so much. 

Here are a couple more. 

Obviously I hired someone to come in to take this one! Even a photographer can do it all them selves. 

I do have a husband even if I don't talk about him much on here. And he hates taking photos. Here is one before I had Katie. Same photographer as the one of me. 

Nursing pads disposable vs. reusable

When I had my first daughter 4 1/2 years ago I knew I wanted to breast feed however I had no idea anything about it. I had a c-section with both my kids and in recovery I just popped her on the boob. I didn't know what I was doing and had little help at the hospital. I am very thankful she nursed like a champ or I would have probably given up. At home once my milk came in I keep leaking through my shirts and figured there had to be a solution. Found disposable nursing pads at Target. Woohoo!!

With my second I knew better and bought a box before she came home. But I had also received some reusable ones in the mail when I ordered something else. 

This got me to thinking reusable ones were a great idea less waste and less money!! So I picked up a few more while I was grabbing last min baby stuff. Packed my bag for the hospital with both! I didn't need any in the hospital but did as soon as we got home. Used the disposable for a day then switched to the  reusable which was a horrible idea. I would leak of coarse and I stuck to them horribly. It hurt to take them off and I had to express milk just to get them off. Ok this wasn't going to work. I asked other moms and a lot had the same problem. 

So I waited until my mil settled down some we had a good routine even if she did eat every hour and a half and I wasn't leaking as much during the day. Decided to try them again and I am happy to report that I can use them during the day!!! Now they of coarse don't have the gel stuff in them so if I real a lot or get hot and sweaty I have to change them more often but that isn't a problem with all the laundry we do around here. 

I still use disposable at night since I am not fully awake when Katie decides to feed I don't want to rip them off by mistake and I leak more at night but this has drastically reduced the amount of waste!! Which is always a good thing. And they cost less. The disposables ones can get expensive. 

So if you made it all the way through this rambling post the point is if you couldn't use them at first try again! You never know if your milk has changed you maybe able to now!

Nursing tops.

Ok so I have a love for clothes and this didn't stop because I was pregnant or now that I am nursing. However I also hate for anyone to see my body especially now. Therefor I have been wearing nursing tops all the time or the few tops I had that I could easily nurse in. Nothing that had to be pulled up. This was if I was out or if anyone was in my house. Which is most of the time.

 The other night while nursing I ran across a YouTube video about how to make your own. Nursing tank tops! I was siting in bed nursing my littlest to sleep at the time so I couldn't get up and make one even though I wanted to. You will soon realize I spend the evenings nursing my littlest to sleep and surfing YouTube! Anyways I found this blog after watching her video on nursing bras. I was so happy to find this just what I needed!

The next morning I made my own out of some old camisoles I had. Then I ordered a couple from kohls in other colors. By the way kohls has a sale going on right now and coupons so I grabbed some for $6.99 less 30% can get any better than that! Have you looked at nursing clothes are expensive!! It seems like if they put the words nursing or maternity in front of clothing it automatically doubles in price! Don't get me wrong I have some nursing clothes that I love but these tanks would expand my wardrobe by a lot!!!

So I made a few and have already worn them!! Love them. Check out babybellykelli for the complete instructions!

Welcome

Hi everyone this is all about my life with two girls! I am Jennifer and I have two beautiful girls. One is 4 1/2 the other is 2 months. This blog is all about everyday life with a baby, a kid, our everyday life. I own my own photography business the rest of the time I stay home with my girls. Which is rewarding and stressful at the same time but I wouldn't have it any other way. Ever since I had my youngest a whole 2 months ago I have became obsessed with all things baby. Lots of these things are new since my oldest was born but then there is a lot that I simply didn't know about. I didn't have a group of mom friends and I wasn't in any moms groups. This time I am in a few moms groups, have mom friends and joined our local MOPS group. Who are we well.... That is an ever going question. We breast feed and I like to wear my baby. We do not cloth diaper. I plan to make my own baby food. I have a obsession with diaper bags and bags in general. And most importantly I have been obsessed with YouTube and videos on there from moms about life and kids! Especially kids stuff. Therefor I decided I love baby stuff love learning new things and talking about life with kids why not share it with others. I plan to show you all what stuff I love, how I do things, how to make things, and let you into our life with two girls. Welcome to our world! Let jump right in!