Easter 2017

I hope you all had a fun weekend!

Easter officially became one of my favorite holidays this year... capped off by a surprise visit from my parents!

Though I could do without the double pink eye and colds that two out of three of us have right now. Not sure how my boys got so sick but our house has been on a bit of a struggle bus since my parents left. This could also be partially due to a crash in sugar levels after finishing the last of our Reese's eggs...

The weather was absolutely perfect so we soaked up the sun at Magnolia Plantation's Easter egg hunt on Saturday. Rowan was a bit intimidated by the large crowd of parents charging towards the eggs with their toddlers in tow (I don't blame him) but slowly got into it after tasting every piece of candy in each egg he found along the way.

 
For some reason Easter egg hunts apparently suck the energy out of adults too?! Or is it just me?

We decided after Rowan's nap to set up egg dying outside on our patio while my husband grilled some burgers. It was the perfect evening, with surprisingly little mess to clean up considering you never know what to expect when you give a toddler 5 cups of dye to drop eggs into.

On Sunday we went to an early church service and headed home to host Easter brunch with my parents and close friends. I went a bit overboard on the basket filling... every year I forget what I bought and keep adding to it but the practical things like a shark towel and new red Natives were a big hit! And the bubbles... Always bubbles.

We tried hard for a good family photo but I think Rowan was starting to feel pretty crummy at this point so we took what we could get.

He's now on day two of eye drops and hanging at home with me... honestly if I don't get pink eye and his cold after being sneezed on a million times, I must have some kind of crazy immune system. Fingers crossed!

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Easter 2016

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

With no family in town and rain all weekend it was a low key holiday for us but as delayed as I am on this post, I couldn't let a holiday go by without sharing a few snaps for memories sake!

Lots of drool and animal crackers going on in the photo above. What can I say, we keep it super glam around here!

We opted out of the official egg hunt at Magnolia Plantation on account of the torrential downpour and my unwillingness to put a poncho on my kid. We eventually made our way there once the rain passed and what was left of the egg hunting crowd was on its way out, so I actually think it was good timing.

The petting zoo was probably the muddiest but biggest hit of the day with Rowan. He stared at the animals for a few minutes before charging at them and causing us to scoop him up before he sent the startled animals to crazy town.

We're looking forward to going back to the plantation on a prettier day for sure but it was fun to get out for a little!

And just like that, another holiday is on the books!

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Five on Friday :: Easter Edition!

Happy Friday, friends! This week I officially hit bad blogger status, despite all the posts I had planned! Hate when that happens! Anyway I haven't done any Friday favorites in a while so lets get to it!

Linking up with Natasha, April, and Christina!

One. Easter Basket Goodies

Sippy Cup. Toddler Plates. Mint Sleeper c/o Softsie.

So I think mama needs to get a bigger Easter basket next year or maybe curb the shopping habit, because Rowan's beach toys, bubbles, and stuffed animal don't even fit! I'm so excited to add one of the Softsies sleepers in his basket though, its the softest thing ever and I'm really wishing they made adult sizes. 

Two. Daycare Teacher Gifts

R's teachers are so great and I wanted to give them something small for Easter so I put together these bags with Eos lip balm and other egg-shaped chocolates and slapped a tag on it (made with Canva). Super quick and easy! I'm pretty sure my husband thought I was losing my mind when I requested egg-shaped chocolates on the grocery list...

Three. Herb Garden

Herb Markers via Target Dollar Spot (similar also love these metal stamped markers)

Is it weird that finding those chalkboard herb markers in the Target dollar spot encouraged me to have an herb garden again? Ha! I have quite a black thumb but somehow managed to keep most of them alive into the Fall last time, so here's hoping I can do it again!

Four. Saddle Bag Love

I just ordered this pretty Old Navy bag yesterday to replace my old blush bag and I'm so excited! It's 30% off today, such a good price! I had to try really hard not to buy the cognac color too.

Five. Day Date

My husband and I took off work today so we could have a day date because #stillnobabysitter but hey, I'll take it! We still don't know what we want to do... beach, downtown, lunch, so we're just going to wing it!

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend! I'm so excited for Easter brunch and to see Rowan egg hunting with his little girlfriend, Violet. Bring on the weekend and mimosas!

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Toddler Easter Basket

Since returning from rainy Napa, Charleston has graced us with all the sunshine and hot temps. I'm definitely not ready for shorts weather but it's been so nice during our family walks!

Rowan decided this week he could walk himself rather than ride in the stroller so in true helicopter parent fashion I waddled next to him trying to stop him from face planting and then eating leaves while he was on their level. It must have been quite the entertainment for our neighbors!

I'm kind of skipping over St. Patty's Day this year (words my 21-year old self never thought I'd say), but I've been compiling things slowly for Rowan's Easter basket! I can't believe its only a week and a half away! We're planning to take him to an Easter Egg Hunt so I brought out the plastic eggs so he could practice this week.

And by practice I mean, he leaves them around the house for us to pick up after bedtime.

He's really good at it.

And if you really want to keep your toddler entertained, put some animal crackers in the eggs. You'll get a solid 5 minutes out of it.

Here are some of my other favorite things for toddler Easter baskets! And don't worry girl mamas, I've got you covered!

Wooden Sheep Push Toy. Lucas Rabbit (Love this one for a little girl!). Bathtub Crayons.
Sippy Cup. Beach Toys. Pete the Cat Book. Also love these little chick jams for the girls! 

I'll probably fill plastic eggs with snacks and a paci. I'm sure those will be much more entertaining anyway!

For the record those bunny ears lasted 1.3 seconds. And I had to bribe him with aforementioned animal crackers.

Mamas- what are you putting in your little one's basket?!

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Baby's First Easter

Gorgeous weather, family, a cute babe, and lots of food. That pretty much sums up our Easter weekend.

For months Rowan's Easter outfit has been hanging in his nursery waiting to be worn. It was one of those outfits that you just can't pass up. Fast forward to Sunday morning as we were hurriedly getting ready for Church (we're never, ever on time) and our little chunker barely fit in it!

We squeezed him into it anyway with the cutest penny loafers ever, which kept falling off.

I can't even... That face! He naturally didn't notice his Easter basket but we had to document it anyway. 

I put on my face, switched dresses last minute because my post-baby body just didn't fit in my favorite coral dress like it used to, and posed for some family pictures.

Squinty eyes and all.

But one of my favorites from Rowan's impromtu Easter photo shoot... because his face and that lean is just too damn good.

 
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

And in other, fun blog-related news... Stephanie, Laura, and I are joining forces for a weekly link up starting this Friday! It's super easy after a long week, just share one thing you can't live without! Note: Wine, Target finds, or the comfiest pair of yoga pants all count.

Hope to see y'all link up this week!

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Friday Favorites

Happy weekend! I can't remember a time when I was more excited for the weekend. We officially survived my first week back to work with only one minor mom-guilt breakdown from me. Now we're prepping for Rowan's first Easter and hosting dinner!

I'm linking up with Christina and crew for a quick edition of Five Four on Friday!

ONE. Desserts. 

Of course dessert is my main concern for Easter dinner, since I know my Mom has the rest covered (great host, right?). I haven't had much time to bake lately but I'm looking forward to making these gorgeous rose cupcakes again! They are really easy, see the tutorial here, and can be made with store bought cupcake mix and frosting if you're pressed for time.

TWO. Rowan's First Easter Basket

Bucket Hat (Janie & Jack Outlet). Swim Diaper (Similar). Llama Llama book. Sandals.
Smocked Bubble. Basket (Michael's, with DIY liner).

I know he won't know what the heck is going on, but I had such a good time putting together Rowan's first Easter basket! We're all set for summer with his first smocked bubble, a reversible bucket hat, swim diaper, and adorable sandals. I just couldn't pass them up! What do you have in your mini's basket?

THREE. Target.

Not Easter related, but I'm trying to figure out where I can put these gorgeous stools. Also, I'll take one of everything in this picture.

FOUR. This smile.

Bouncer. Stay & Co. Hat (love their fabrics, so soft!).

I don't think its possible to kiss these cheeks any more than I already do! This smile just makes my day!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Easter Weekend Recap

Is it just me or does anyone else need another day off after this weekend?! I'm moving slow today so I'm just going to do a quick recap of our lazy weekend!

Unfortunately our weekend consisted of non-stop rain so our Easter picnic plans had to be cancelled. I decided to make my Mom's delicious brown sugar and pineapple ham for dinner and I have to say I'm pretty proud of how my first ham came out. We also had some white chocolate covered popcorn for dessert while watching half of House of Cards season 2.

 

Excuse the ugly red, black and blue colors. This is what happens when you're in yoga pants all day and have no one to impress with your table setting skills.

With Ruby still on the mend, we all tried to make up for the lack of sleep we've had over the past week. We have to be really careful that she doesn't lick her incision or sit on her leg wrong since her mobility is limited, so every time she moves in her crate both of us wake up and make sure she is okay. I can only imagine what it will be like when we have a kid!

Poor pup cuddled in like this for most of Sunday

The good news is she is getting better every day. The bad news is she knows we are hiding her medication in food manages to spit it out every.single.time. She also creepily stares at us at night, probably plotting against us for keeping her in the crate rather than on the bed at night. Spoiled!

It was so nice having nothing to do this past weekend, but I did miss our families and wish we had more energy to go out and about. Here's hoping this week goes by fast! I hope you all had a great Easter!

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Easter... Picnic?

I may or may not be getting way ahead of myself by all this picnic talk but the weather is so perfect right now I couldn't resist. If you wait until summer to picnic in Charleston you'll be dripping with sweat and getting attacked by mosquitoes. Gross.

One of the things that bothers me most about living so far from family is that we miss out on visiting for Easter dinner or Mother's Day brunch. Since Ruby will be recovering from her surgery we're planning to have a little picnic in our back yard for Easter.

Honestly, we don't picnic often.  In fact, the last time we tried to picnic with Ruby at the beach, she single-handedly knocked over our drinks and dug right smack next to the blanket, throwing sand in all of our food. Unfortunately we forgot the booze that day so ummm, lesson learned.

If all goes well this time, maybe we'll be able to do this a little more. It's still a picnic if its in our backyard, right?!

 1 (cheaper version here). 2. 3. 4. 5. 6 (this one is great too!).

These are just some of my favorite picnic accessories! Of course, don't forget some acrylic wine glasses. We have a few of these and they come in handy, especially if you get clumsy after a glass or two! And if you're not having wine, I love these floral paper straws with a mason jar!

Also, you can't beat the food boxes and wooden flatware. They get bonus points for being as cute as they are easy to cleanup! 

So what are your Easter plans? Anyone else into the picnic thing?

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