Announcing...

Forgive me for my late introduction. We've been quite busy, you see.

On a hot sunny Tuesday in August, we welcomed sweet little Lilah to our family.

In the following months, we've been adjusting to our new life with three girls. And it turns out what they say is true - a baby and a toddler will keep you busy! Add a 9 year old to that - and whew!

I'm still figuring out how to get it all done. But in the meantime, we're still having fun!

Birthday girl

Somehow, I'm the mom of a NINE year old. How did that happen?!

I know, I know, all the talk of "time flying" and "enjoy every moment" and "it's over before you know it" always sounds so cliche...but underneath it all, it's so true, too.

My sweet Kaylee turned nine this week, and I'm loving watching her grow up.

It's hard to believe that she's already nine. It sounds so old! I love looking at pictures from when she was younger, and comparing them to the girl she is today.

I truly believe that children are one of life's greatest blessings. It's not always easy, and it's not always fun, but in my experiences, the good far far outweighs the bad. Kaylee has brought so many smiles, and so much love and laughter in my life. She has such a kind, sensitive heart, and I enjoy all the time I get to share with her.

She's spent her birthday week at camp, doing lots of fun things like archery, inflatables, zip lines, bungee trampolines, and rock wall climbing, and we're having a swim party with several of her friends tomorrow. Making memories - it doesn't get much better than that!

What is one of your favorite birthday memories??

Summertime beauty essentials

Thanks to Walgreens for underwriting this post. I was paid as a member of the Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all mine. Visit http://www.discoverbeautywithin.com/

Oh, summertime. My favorite time of year, no doubt! I love the sunshine, the warm weather, and being outside and soaking it all in. Playing with the kiddos, laying out by the pool, vacations to the beach, summer sports leagues - whatever your summer activities look like, you'll want to be looking your best. And let's face it, when the summer season is upon is, we all need to make a few changes to our daily beauty routine. The heat and humidity are a lot different than the cold and wind we lived with during the wintertime.

The good news is, changing your beauty routine and finding those few perfect products doesn't have to be complicated or expensive! There are so many affordable, quality brands and products that you can find at your local Walgreens.

Here are a few of my favorite summer beauty products:

First, remember to start with sunscreen! Seriously, one of the most important things you can do for your skin is to use a daily moisturizer with sunscreen. And honestly, summertime is a time to keep things simple. Who wants to go through all the trouble of moisturizers, foundations, AND sunscreens? I say no thank you! Instead, I highly recommend trading all that in for a tinted moisturizer with spf. Swapping three products for one? Yes, please! This is a good one to try:

Now that you've got a good base coat, and are protected from the sun, let's have a little fun! Adding color and a little shimmer is a great touch for your pretty summer face. Bronzers are great for acheiving both, and I love how easy it is to blend in a creamy bronzer. I like this one:

Personally, though, my favorite feature to focus on is eyes. In keeping with the simple theme, all you really need is a swipe or two of mascara to enhance your pretty peepers! And since it's summer, and you may be getting a little sweaty, I'd recommend you opt for a waterproof formula. This has always been a winner for me, as it's great for adding both volume and length:

Lastly, I like a lip product that will add a hint of color and a lot of moisture. Soft lips are a good thing! Made with all natural ingredients and a perfect color for everyone,  I recommend:

So there you have it! A pretty - and protected! - summer face with only 4 products. Easy, affordable, and beautiful!

What about you -- any great summer beauty tips or must have products?? Share them in the comments!

Isabelle's Favorite Things (part two)

A long long time ago, when Isabelle was just a wee little babe,

I wrote a post sharing a few of her favorite things. I intended to write updates to it on a somewhat regular basis, but that didn't really happen. Now that my sweet little baby is quite the active little toddler, I thought I'd share a few of her current favorites.

In no particular order...

Baby Signing Time Volume 1 DVD


Oh my goodness, Isabelle LOVES her Baby Signing Time. We don't have her watch any other TV shows or movies (I'm not hardcore against it, but we opt to do other things with our time) but we chose to introduce this since Isabelle currently is choosing not to talk, and we were hoping to give her some form of communication. Anyway, she will sit for the entire time this is on - a full 27 minutes, and watch, enraptured. She's learned few of the signs, and we're really enjoying it. As of now, at 17 months, Isabelle can sign: eat, drink, milk, banana, cereal, cracker, more, fish, dog, mom, diaper, potty, shoes, please, thank you, sleep, baby, signing, time.

 I realize those are terrible pictures, but Isabelle is signing fish, then cracker, for her goldfish crackers.

Nuby No Spill Sipper

We tried several different kinds of sippy cups in this house, and this one was the clear winner. I like it because it has no valves and is easy to clean, and Isabelle likes it...... for whatever reasons she has.

Isabelle got a Cozy Coupe for Christmas, and even though all it's done it sit in our living room, she still plays with it on a daily basis. She's content just to sit inside, and wave to us from the window. I can't wait to take her outside in it, and watch her drive around!

We love having this booster seat as opposed to a high chair. It attaches to our normal dining room chairs, Isabelle is at the right height for our table, and it's so much more space friendly. Easy to attach, easy to use, easy to clean, fun detachable toys, detachable washable tray...I love everything about it. I'd highly recommend this to all moms. And Isabelle always looks pretty happy sitting in it too :)

What are some of your favorite things??

Who? Comics with Kaylee

Thank you to who?Comics for sponsoring this post and encouraging my child to read biographies in comic book form! Please click here to learn more about the app. And follow who? Comics on Twitter for updates

I am such a big believer in the importance of reading. And thankfully, Kaylee is quite the little reader herself, and can often be found reading anything she can find - books, magazines, and comics. Reading opens a whole wide world of reading.

Additionally, she also loves all things technology - playing on the computer, using her ipod touch, and when she's allowed to, taking over the iPad to play games.
And when you can find something that combines these two things - reading and learning, and fun, state of the art technology - well, you've definitely got a winner!

I was recently asked to review an app offered for the iPad. who? Comics is a collection of biographical comics on worldwide figures written for children ages 8 and older. I think that this is still a fairly new app, because the selection of biographies is still pretty small - there were about 30 different comics offered. The cool thing, though, is that there's a nice mixture of historical figures and contemporary figures. Some of the biographies include Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., and Coco Channel. A great mix of people, known for all different reasons!

The who? Comics download comes with the Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates comic for free, and additionally, Kaylee opted to read the who? Comic for J.K. Rowling and Walt Disney, which I thought was a fun selection. Kaylee and I both liked that the storyline for the biographies started with the person's childhood, and went through their whole life story. Even though they are written in comic form, I still feel the biographies are inclusive and factual. Also, I thought there were some really sweet and encouraging parts in the J.K. Rowling comic, as you can see below.

The comics were fairly well written, although not without the occasional typo or mistake. (I was actually proud of Kaylee's sharp reading skills that she noticed a typo!) I think the comics were drawn well too, and were engaging to kids of all ages. (as you can see, Kaylee didn't expect to have to share with Isabelle!)

This app works really well on the iPad. The screen is large enough that you get a really good sized comic to read, and you simply touch or swipe the edge of the screen to turn to the next page. It's easy to navigate and easy to read.

All in all, we really enjoyed the who? Comics app and its stories. Kaylee spent a solid hour reading her comic, and would occasionally stop her reading to tell me something interesting about the story. (Did you know the name Dumbledore, from Harry Potter, actually means bumblebee? Fun fact for ya!) I think this would be great for all late elementary and middle school students. It's definitely educational and informative, but a fresh change from boring encyclopedia articles and biographical books. Check it out in the itunes app store! 

Thank you again to who? Comics for sponsoring my post. Please click here to learn more about the app. Visit who? Comics for updates.