{Personal} Living Life a Little More Slowly

Diaper bag by Seaport Stitches

Doing this the second time around, I'd like to think that I've learned a thing or two about motherhood. Although, I'm definitely re-learning and remembering things forgotten (i.e. diaper blowouts, creating a new sleeping schedule and cooking/cleaning/doing the laundry with one hand), one task that is teaching me a whole lot is leaving the house. With a newborn and a toddler in tow, time is usually not on my side. So, I've reminded myself of a couple things and figured I should write them down for refreshment and/or let some new mommies in on a few things.

1) Don't plan on being everywhere on time. I tend to stress out if I'm late to events and outings. Having a new baby though, I've re-learned to be patient and more lenient in this area. Usually, others will understand too and life isn't about rushing through it. You will get to your destination eventually. If though, I must absolutely be somewhere at a certain time, I tend to get everything ready(this includes myself and the kids) about 3 hours ahead of time.

2) Make sure everything is absolutely ready to walk out the door about an hour before you have to leave to give you time to relax and feed your baby. Since I'm breast feeding, I have to make sure our little girl is full and happy before I put her in the car seat. Otherwise, we will be making a stop or two on our destination to feed her which is definitely not uncommon.

A few places we've stopped so far? An Autozone parking lot, a gas station, a dirt lot next to a gas station, a dirt lot next to a stop sign where we imagined giving tickets to several cars making california rolling stops (I must laugh at this one), a grocery store parking lot and off a random dirt road as I counted 110 cars on a train going by...just to name a few "detours". My husband and our three year old son are complete troopers because they have sat patiently at just about every stop!

I remember just how quickly Levi went from being an itty bitty baby to being a rambunctious, independent toddler. I know our little girl won't be so little real soon so I'm enjoying Lyla's time as a wee one. The snuggles, the little giggles, the feedings, the random stops, the diaper changes, the tiniest outfits, the innocence, the coos, the cries, the soft skin, the spit up and all. I'm remembering to live life a little more slowly and enjoy it a day at a time.

Life Lately

A little compilation of Life Lately. I'm a momma keeping up with two kiddos now. Trading sleep for coffee and baby snuggles, clean shirts for spit up stains, skinny jeans for yoga pants and quiet time for chore time. I've been taking a break from the shop to spend time with my family and I am so thankful that I've been able to do so.

Follow along on my personal IG page @kayla.lsp for more.

Morning coffee...seeing how I'm currently sleeping in 3 hour increments when it comes to bedtime

Family trips to the Farmer's Market

Morning Kisses and Baby Smiles

Afternoon chases, bug hunts and flower picking in the sunshine

 Afternoon snooze fests...because it takes a lot of energy to keep up with the babes

Morning, noon and night feedings.

 Movie dates on the couch

Bike races

We recently got some chickens and and they are finally laying eggs! Mornings have now included egg hunts.

Follow along @kayla.lsp for more of life.

{Personal} Levi's Robin Hood 3rd Birthday Party

On December 2nd 2011 at 11:01am, our little Levi was born and changed our lives forever. He just turned 3 recently and I'm wondering where the heck the time went!! It seems like yesterday he was just learning to crawl like a little caterpillar in a big world, hitting peas out of our hand as we tried to feed him, exploring his tiny fingers and toes as he gnawed on them and filling diapers like it was his favorite past time.

Now, our little man is so grown up with an innocent curiosity of world, testing boundaries, limits and heights as he leaps from the highest of them. He is so brave, so smart and so intuitive. I am so thankful for this tiny, yet bursting soul of his.

To celebrate Levi's birthday, we threw a Robin Hood themed party for him. (Well, two parties actually because last year, there were SO many people in our home that it was a little difficult to even walk through. We decided to split it up this year). It was all pretty last minute due to many things going on these past few weeks and since we really didn't have the funds to get super fancy, we made do with what we had. I whipped everything up just a couple days prior to the party. The only thing I bought were red streamers from the dollar store which gave me a grand total of $1 spent on decor ($1.08 if you include tax)! Below are tips and tricks I used to come up with decor pieces.

Here are just some highlights of the themed party decor. All of the photos captured during the party where on phones but the majority was on the video camera. There is A LOT of footage so I have yet to finish the video to share but will once it's complete.

{enjoy}

...and the morning of his birthday.

I actually debated cropping this one but realized that this is Levi. He doesn't care if his bed head is totally crazy, his pants are missing (which is weird because he went to bed with pants on) or if he's only wearing one sock. He's happy and that's all that matters this morning!

Happy Birthday my little love!! You are the light of our lives. <3

Decor Tips

Arrows: I used sticks I collected from outside and felt I had on hand. Cut the shapes and glued them to the ends of the sticks. The kids loved them and they are gentle to touch if they are thrown!

Feather garland: Just some twine and a bit of glue added to the ends of extra feathers I had. Anything can be turned into garland right?

Triangle garland: Got a bunch of paint chips from home depot, cut them into triangles and glued them to twine. Love the paint chip idea because you can choose from SO many different colors so you are bound to find what you are looking for. We are going to use this garland in his room too.

Wood target and "let them be little" sign: We have a bunch of extra wood that we use for the fire pit in the backyard. My husband cut a few pieces for me, I used what paint I had on hand, grabbed my brush and painted away. I actually created the "little" sign for the kid's bedroom a while back so I was able to use that in the decor as well.

Feather/arrow cupcake toppers: I cut the ends of some feathers off so the feather sorta made a "V", glued them to some tooth picks and wrapped them with a bit of twine. They are supposed to look like little arrows going into the cupcake.

Robin Hood Prints: Googled images and also made my own from the movie.

Cupcakes: Target! Ok, I LOVE the vanilla cupcakes from Target but I love them even more when they are half off-$3.49 for a dozen! Go into Target the day or night before a party and look in the bakery (I found mine in the bakery markdowns). The markdown dates are still good until the following day or 2 so everything still tastes great (the cupcakes still tasted amazing even days after that-especially if you keep them in the fridge)!

What do you do to keep events within a small budget? Favorite decor tips? Food tips? etc.

{Personal} Slow Down.

This season has been a busy one as I'm sure it's been for everyone else. Several penciled in days full of events, errands and things to do have taken over the norm. 

As much as I love seeing our family, friends and marking things off a list, it just feels amazing when you can take a step back and enjoy life in the moment.  

Relish in the last couple weeks of this season.

Linger in stillness a little while longer.

Breathe.

I've learned that when there is constantly something to do, miracles get missed and the smallest things in life get taken for granted.

This season is a hard season for many of us-especially in our family with the remembrance of many deeply loved ones. Slowing down to appreciate and be grateful for what we have, who we have and who has left meaningful impacts in our life truly is what matters most...not checking menial tasks off a list, making sure your holiday decor is just right, or spending our savings (or lack there of) and running up credit cards on things because that's what Christmas is all about. 

Find the raw beauty in life and let those that you love, know. Even in a messed up world, there is so much to be thankful for. 

Slow down.

24 weeks & 5 days.

"Be still and know that I am God..."

Psalm 26:10

{Personal} Celebrating our 4 Year Wedding Anniversary

Now that mine and my husband's 4 year wedding anniversary has past about a month ago, why not finally blog about it right? Ay yi yi, I really need to keep up to date on the blog a bit more.

My husband surprised me with plans to the beach while Grandma T watched our little man for the afternoon. We headed to Newport Beach for lunch at Jack Shrimp. They have my FAVORITE plate of food-Jack Rice. It's this yummy, spicy cajon rice in garlic butter sauce with chicken breast meat and jumbo shrimp (I get it on the side for my husband because I don't care for seafood). It comes with french bread too and dipping the bread in the sauce...SO good!! Definitely recommend this place if you are anywhere near Newport.

After lunch, we headed to the pier where we rented a tandem bike for a few hours. SO FUNNY! We've never rode a tandem bike before and I really thought we were going to fall over several times. It took a while to get used to...after a few wobbles and near accidents into brick walls, we got the hang of it and biked down the coast and around the pier.

We then walked the beach, ate some yummy chocolate covered frozen bananas and drank fresh squeezed lemonade in the sunshine. Refreshing.

We headed home later in the afternoon and got ready for dinner at a delicious Italian Restaurant near our home where we shared alfredo sticks (a.k.a. heart attack sticks that taste too delicious not to eat) and a pizza with all the fixin's.

We also shared good conversation where we reflected on this past year of marriage (something we do every year) and what the future may hold. Communication is so important in any relationship and being able to share our thoughts and feelings with each other is something I pray we will always keep between us.

I am so incredibly thankful for this man whom not only I love with my whole heart but who loves me and I know it. God is so good! Here's to another many, many years ahead of us to do life together.

Celebrating Today with a Chocolate Chip Muffin!

Today is cause for celebration! After 21 days of putting my shop on "vacation," I am finally sending out my LAST order that was scheduled to go out this month!! 

July kept me really busy with orders to catch up on but I can now really say that I'm on vacation...at least for another 10 days-if I don't extend it another week. This month has been pretty hectic and has brought some exhaustion and ups and downs (for example, read a bit more in this post). If I extend the vacay, it would be until early/mid September but I haven't made up my mind just yet. I will keep you posted!

Until then, I am celebrating with a chocolate chip muffin!

Have a beautiful day my friends!

I'll love you forever...

"...The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be..."

by Robert Munsch

I love you little bug. I love you more than I could ever articulate into words. Sometimes my heart aches from the unconditional feelings I have for you.

No matter what, I want you to live a life of joy. A life that was given to you not because of mommy and daddy but because of our sweet Lord and his purpose for you.

Hold tight to your courage and remember that you are braver than you know, more compassionate than you may feel and worth more than anyone may say.

I love you. Daddy loves you. Your grandmas love you. Your grandpas love you. Your aunts and uncles love you. Your cousins love you. Your baby friends love you. But most of all, God love you.

I pray you never doubt this or underestimate the power of unconditional love. 

Recently (San Fran, Mohawks, Kite Dates and Summertime in the Water)

Happy Friday...evening!! It's been a while (long while) since I've done a "recently" post so I grabbed my computer and headed to Starbucks once the husband got home (since he has projects to get done) and the babe is asleep. 

I have an iced green tea in hand, a comfy Ninja Turtles shirt on ($4 at Target...heeyy!), messy hair and my prescription glasses on. I probably look like I just got out of bed but honestly, where I live, super casual is the norm.

Anywho, I thought I'd give a little update on life recently other than the shenanigans in the craft room-that will come later.

First things first, I've been watching Creative Live for quite some time now. It's usually playing in the background as I'm working because these workshops are so incredibly enriching in knowledge when it comes to the handmade market and small biz. Seriously, if you are looking to grow your skills and learn new things, turn into CL pretty much at anytime and you will get just that! Best thing is, it's free education too!

Here's the best news yet, I recently signed up to be a part of the live studio audience for one of the workshops coming up and just got an email of approval to attend! I will be in San Francisco next month for a few days (my first time going to San Fran)!! I'm so excited to go and get some serious brain food to feed into my shop! I also get to go with my friend Tara from Laila's Charming Pieces who also got accepted. This is pretty amazing for the both of us!

This trip lends some major guilt though because this means I will be away from my family for a few days. I tried talking my husband into going but since I will be gone pretty much all day at the workshop-every day, he decided that it didn't quite make sense...I guess he's right...I will miss him but it is too great of an opportunity to turn down. I am so thankful for such a supportive husband and family!

Since it's officially summertime-& HOT, we've been spending a lot of time outside playing in the water. Whether it's on the slip n' slide or spraying the hose, these moments make our home feel like HOME.

We had a "kite-flying date" in the backyard. It ended with my kite getting stuck in the neighbors tree with pink streamers tangled around the branches. Maybe next time I will tie my kite strings around Levi's pant loops so he can't let go of it. Ha ha!! It was so much fun while it lasted though!

We made strawberry, banana crepes with walnuts one afternoon. YUM!! This makes me want about 5 more.

This momma's heart stopped when I walked into the living room the other day and saw that my husband gave our son a mohawk! When I agreed to a hawk, I was leaning more towards a little "fohawk" but lo and behold, our baby turned into a little man with his new do.

I'm not going to lose sleep over it though because his hair will grow back and honestly, if he's going to have a mohawk, I'd rather give him one now rather than have him walk through the door as a teen with one! LOL

Ay yi yi!

I went out for a quick mommy date with my friend Tara. We went and saw "Mom's Night Out." After seeing it on Mother's Day and balling my eyes out, I knew it was a must see for Tara as well. As young mothers, this movie is so incredibly relatable! Again, the tears came and the laughs were had.

My husband and I got to spend time with some of our favorite babies (ok, so maybe they are too old to be called "babies" now but they will always be babies in my eyes)! Our little Caleb and Julia came over for the night to visit as they all jumped on the bed and ran around the house with Levi. They are his "besties". 

Summertime in the desert brings evenings that feel like paradise with the warm breezes and cotton candy painted skies. Every night, the Lord's canvas doesn't disappoint.

These nights remind me to breathe and trust as I gaze up at the vast skies.

So thankful for this life.