Funny Convo (Aelah is 2 Months)

Pregnancy brain was a real thing.  And so is mom brain.  My beautiful little lady definitely stole some brain cells from her momma!  ;)  Because of that...and because of the craziness of the Holidays and a last minute trip to visit family 7 hours away, I completely spaced on Aelah's 2 month update!  I was a little heartbroken.  Since her 3 month update is just around the corner....I thought I would just share a cute little story instead.

But first....here is her 2 month picture:

I couldn't believe the difference between her 1st month and her 2nd!!  Just unreal!!  

So...anyways....back to our funny little story....

We did make a last minute trip to go see my husband's family in Michigan this past week.  We have 7 nieces and nephews and it is always a ton of fun to see them!  All of the girls were, of course, extremely excited to see their new baby cousin.  And it was so fun to watch each of them hold her and be motherly in their own little way.  I especially loved the moments when they would think no one was watching and I could just soak up how sweet they were being with little miss Aelah.  Like this pic:

The boys, for the most part, were rather unimpressed.  hehe.  But that's to be expected.  However, at one point, Kyan, famous for his one-liners decided that he was going to come talk to Aelah.  She was laying on the couch next to me, he walks over to her and puts his hand up, "High Five."  I kind of chuckled and told him he might be waiting awhile for that high five.  Then he looks at me, "Well, can I give her an M&M?"

Haha.  It's funny how different boys & girls are isn't it?  I enjoyed the little giggle and someday he will get that high five!  ;)

Share some of your kiddos awesome one-liners in the comments below.  I'd love another giggle!  :)

5 Most Popular Posts from 2014

This past year was a fantastic year for my blog.  It has grown so much and I actually have readers that I don't know in "real life."  And that truly makes my heart happy.  So thank you to everyone who has become a regular here at Learning to Be 31!  

I saw a similar post from another blogger and loved this idea!  So I'm here to share with you the top 5 posts from 2014.

5. WAHM Review: Wink Diapers
To be fair, 4 of the top 5 posts this past year were giveaways.  I didn't want to count those...but I threw the most popular giveaway post in as number 5 in the countdown just to be fair.  ;)  But I love that this is the most popular giveaway because they are my favorite diapers!!  I ended up buying a 6 pack after Baby Girl had arrived and we had used a variety.  They are easy to use and super cute.  They are even Hubby's favorite! 

4. Bump Update: 40 Weeks
Our very last bump update.  Everyone must have been anxious to see when that baby was going to arrive!  ;)  And whoa!  Cannot believe I was that huge!!

3. Bump Update: Week 15
Not sure why this bump update out of all of them was in the top 5.  Maybe because it included my first comparison picture??  I'm not sure.  You all can tell me.  ;)

2. Bump Update: Week 12
Outside of my pregnancy announcement, this was my first bump update!  Neat that my 1st and my last updates made the top 5 list this year!  Not sure I'll ever be that skinny again....I think my "bump" is bigger now.  No, I know my "bump" is bigger now.  haha.  But I don't even care.  Our Little Miss is more than worth it.

And the most popular post this past year was.......drum roll please.....

1. Why We Didn't Wait the Typical 12 Weeks  

This post is one that is so very dear to my heart.  And it was my first post ever to go over 150 page views to nearly 800!!  I was absolutely blown away.  But then...it speaks to something so many women either fear or have been through.  At 9 weeks, I thought we were losing our baby....and that was just a few months after we had already suffered through a miscarriage.  This post walks through that day.  I am so very thankful that our Baby Girl is here today!

Christmas Traditions

It's that time of year when the world falls in love.  Every song you hear seems to say, "Merry Christmas...."

I absolutely love this time of year.  There is a sense of magic in the air.  People are a little bit nicer.  Giving is at an all time high.  And almost everyone (with the exception of an occasional Scrooge) is just a tiny bit happier.

Another fun part of the Christmas season is that everyone celebrates just a little bit differently.  I love hearing about a tradition I had never heard of before...or something that is extremely unique to just one family.  We have our own traditions and one I'm sure no one else shares.  ;)

One of my favorite traditions, and one shared by many, is to go pick out our tree.  In previous years we have just gone to a big box store and chose one.  Which I still enjoyed.  But this year we went to a tree farm.  Since Baby Girl is still so tiny, we just chose one from the lot.  But I know we will be going back for years to come.  Why?  Because the experience was phenomenal.  They had a cute little Christmas shop set up with tons of ornaments and other Christmas decor.  You could get hot chocolate, hot dogs...snack bar type stuff.  Santa Claus stopped by!  And if you wanted to pick a tree out of the field, there was a horse drawn wagon to take you!  There you could either cut your own or they would cut one for you.  I am very much looking forward to going as a family in the years to come.

After we pick our  tree, we go home, turn on Christmas music, and decorate!  I love going through our ornaments and picking just precisely where they belong on the tree.  Speaking of ornaments....have you ever heard of Patience Brewster?  She has designed gorgeous ornaments which you can see here.  Anyways....back to our ornaments....

After getting married, Hubby & I decided to decorate our tree in our favorite colors: green & blue.  We added silver as well to bring it all together.  The trend has continued and I absolutely love it.  Someday we plan on having a "fun" tree for the kids ornaments and the ones I have from my childhood.  But here is where the super strange unique tradition we have began.  The very first year we had a tree for the 2 of us was the year before we were married.  We didn't have any ornaments of our own so my parents sent us a box of the old wooden ones that we used on our tree each year.  Among those ornaments was a little clown, with x's for eyes.  While I know each x was meant to look like stitched eyes, but Hubby and I both instantly thought "dead clown" because in today's cartoons, x's mean the character is dead.  We laughed about the "dead clown" and he has to be "hidden" somewhere in the tree each year.  I say hidden because one day our children will have to find that clown.  haha.  But for now, he just gets a special place on the tree...even if he doesn't really match our decor...

I cannot wait for the traditions we will start in the years to come now that we have a beautiful little one to celebrate with!

What strange, *ahem* I mean, unique Christmas traditions does your family have?

WAHM Review (+ Giveaway): Skin Deep Naturals *CLOSED*

SkinDeep Naturals provided me with free product in exchange for an open & honest review.

I am SO excited to be bringing you another fantastic Work At Home Momma!  Jessica is her name and clean cleansing is her game.  hehe.  But seriously...in her own words, "As a licensed esthetician (and as a wife and mother), it’s important to make sure my family and I use clean, natural products that will help keep our face and bodies healthy and beautiful. Scanning the seemingly endless shelves of natural skin care products left me underwhelmed - effective beauty solutions produced using eco and socially responsible practices at a reasonable price point were scarce. That’s why I created Skin Deep Naturals. I formulate each product using ingredients you can pronounce....

A few years old...but still super precious!

I absolutely love Jessica's Etsy Shop!  She has so many fantastic products.  This is what she sent for the review:

Cute little package right??

Spearmint Lip Butter

This little tube of heaven is why I stumbled across Skin Deep Naturals in the first place.  We are, little by little, trying to cut out chemicals from our every day products.  My lips are horrid in the winter and I have an awful habit of picking at the dry skin.  Eek!  If I don't have something to put on my lips it ends in a travesty and my lips look awful.  Skin Deep Naturals is where I ended up when searching for something natural.  And it is awesome!  I love that I can pronounce all of the ingredients, how delightful it smells, and how wonderful it makes my lips feel!

A sample of Daily Exfoliating Facial Cleanser

This stuff is AMAZING!  As soon as I opened the package I loved the smell.  It was invigorating.  And I could feel the exfoliation and cleansing.  After rinsing, my skin was wonderfully soft, smelled delightfully, and I felt....well...renewed would be a good word.  And I'm not exaggerating.  I swear.  I can't wait to wash my face again tonight.  And the awesome part?  My skin was still wonderfully soft this morning.  Almost as soft as Baby Girl's cheeks.  ;)

Eye Make-Up Removal Pads

I have been looking for ways to cut down on our waste.  And recently I had thought about looking into reusable "cotton" pads for eye make-up removal.  These work great!  Jessica noted that her best seller is the sherpa.  While much softer, I actually think I prefer the terry cloth (both organic by the way).  I had a pretty clean face the day I used the terry cloth.  I hadn't worn make-up the day before and was using it to apply toner.  But the terry cloth managed to remove mascara from two days before that I didn't even realize was left!  I was impressed!  But I did really enjoy the softness of the sherpa.  :)  A nice perk?  I can just toss these into the hanging wet bag I have for our diapers!  To give you an idea of what size these are - I actually thought these were nursing pads at first....they are the perfect size!  With an added layer of eco-PUL these would be great for that purpose!

Super-Size Cleansing Pad

She also sent a larger style cleansing pad (also available in terry or sherpa).  I have used this to wash my face - great texture, nice & gentle on your skin.  And I have used it for a steam facial compress!  She gives the instructions of her Etsy page but basically you get a bowl of warm water, add 10-15 drops of essential oils, soak the cleansing pad, gently ring most of the water out, and lay it on top of your face.  I tried it with a mixture of Tea Tree & Grapefruit oils since both are good for your skin & energizing!  It was heaven.  As I was laying there I thought it would be perfect with some peppermint oil for when you are congested.  I'll definitely be using this again.  These would also be terrific for cloth wipes if you cloth diaper!

Skin Deep Naturals offers a ton of other great products.  For the other cloth diapering mommas out there:

Cloth Diaper Safe! (photo courtesy of SkinDeep Naturals)

Jessica's goal is to one day be able to make her products outside of her home so that she is able to be certified as gluten-free!  I absolutely love her ambition.  Here is just a peek at what else her shop has to offer:

Love her branding!  Simple, authentic, & natural!  (photo courtesy of SkinDeep Naturals)

Interested in purchasing?  Use code "FREESHIP14" for free shipping!  

As a thank you, it would be great if you could add Skin Deep Naturals on social media!  

Facebook

Twitter

Etsy

Great news!  Jessica has kindly decided to offer a giveaway for you all as well!!  Enter below:

SkinDeep Naturals Giveaway

Life Isn't Fair

Have you ever looked at the world and thought things were unfair?  If you haven't, I applaud you.  

I remember growing up and constantly thinking that things weren't fair between my brother and I.  He would get something that I hadn't and I would go running to my dad, "But that's not fair!"  And my dad would calmly turn to me and reply, "Life's not fair."  And he was right, life isn't fair.

It isn't fair that good people, genuinely good-to-the-bone people, get cancer and die before they are old.  It isn't fair that the people who step on others to get to the top strike it rich.  It isn't fair that innocent children are left on the side of the street because they are unwanted.  It isn't fair that careless people seem to have it all.  It is completely unfair that good people cannot get pregnant but that millions of babies are aborted murdered each year.

This life isn't fair.

I could go on and on with one million other reasons why.  It just isn't.

Psalm 73:1-3

Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!
But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

The writer of this Psalm saw how unfair life was.  And it caused his faith in God to falter.  This happens.  Often.  You see, ""The faith even of strong believers may sometimes be sorely shaken and ready to fail them.  There are storms that will try the firmest anchors" (Henry).

The pastor who did our pre-marital counseling was a very good friend.  While we were living in Oklahoma, away from family, Jamie took us in as her own family.  We spent any holiday we weren't home with them.  They were our "Oklahoma family" as I still lovingly refer to them.  She even offered to allow me to live there for a short time since my living arrangement at the time was less than ideal.  Though I didn't take her up on the offer, I remember her son mentioning how much that meant because she wouldn't have offered that to just anyone.  Shortly after we moved back to Pennsylvania, they discovered that Jamie had pancreatic cancer.  Within months, she had passed away.  It isn't fair.  Jamie was a good-to-the-bone person.  She served the Lord with fervor and her kindness was infectious.  

My faith faltered at this.  If only for a brief moment.  There are millions, probably billions of people that deserve to die: child molesters, murderers, the list goes one.  Yet, good people die of cancer every single day.  It isn't fair.  Jamie shouldn't have died.  Some days, it still doesn't make sense to me.  I don't think it is supposed to.  But a mutual friend of ours shared something with me: when Jamie was asked if she ever wondered why she got cancer.  Her response was, "Why not me?"

Even though she ended up with cancer and passed away, Jamie was blessed beyond belief.  As am I.  No matter what this life may bring.  And the Psalmist pointed to this.  Before he even mentioned his faith wavering, he noted what he had learned through the experience: Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart."  Goodness does not imply outward prosperity, which is what we tend to get caught up with in this life.  Goodness is much more spiritual.  We, the pure in heart, are blessed because we have God!  The truth is as simple as that!

He alone is our source of joy.  He is our wealth.  This life is unfair.  And to be honest, our life with the Father will be unfair...but in a good way.  If we got what was fair, what we deserved, none of us would be given His eternal joy & life abundant.  We would all be doomed to eternal destruction, weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

Thank goodness that the life He gives is unfair.

Our Story (Part 2): The Proposal

After a full school year of dating long distance, Hubby decided to move to Oklahoma to be near me since I still had a year of school left.  That was in June.

I expected him to propose at any time after that.  But he took his sweet time.  ;)  Summer ended and school began.  I had wanted a fall wedding.  We could go home over fall break and it would be gorgeous - autumn leaves, crisp air, you get the picture.  Once night while we were watching a movie at his place, he came around the corner, got down on one knee, and asked, "Bri, will you (*Insert longest pause of my life here*) give me some popcorn?"  I about killed him.  October quickly arrived and our fall break plans included.......nothing special.  Or so I thought.  He told me on Friday that I needed to prepare for a special day on Saturday.  I knew he was going to propose.  I kept asking him how to dress.  He eventually told me casual in the morning and fancy for the afternoon.  

I drove to his apartment the next morning fully anticipating that night to be the moment I finally said yes.  After hanging out at the apartment for awhile, me anxiously awaiting the surprise agenda for the day, we headed out.  Hubby had decided we were going to eat lunch at one of our favorite places - Big Truck Tacos (mmmmm) so we headed to that part of the city to waste some time.  One of his job sites was over that way so he drove there to show me around.  We happened to drive past our favorite coffee shop, Cuppies & Joe, which I just happened to notice was closed.  

After driving around the job site, we headed back past the coffee shop.  He pulled in the parking lot.  I told him they were closed but he insisted we get out.  There were a couple of girls who were walking down the sidewalk ahead of us - they walked up to the coffee shop door and turned away because they were closed.  I looked at Hubby, "I told you so."  But he pulled me forward.  Despite the "CLOSED" sign hanging on the door, he opened the door and walked in like he owned the place.  The shop is an old house.  And they left it very "homey."  Each room is set up with pieces of furniture - tables, sofas, big comfy chairs.  It's adorable.  Well, one of the rooms had a vase of flowers, a chai tea (my personal choice since I don't like coffee), a coffee for Hubby, our favorite cupcakes - red velvet & german chocolate, and a picture of our official first date (the trip to Falling Water).  I realized in the moments it took us to walk in the door and into the room that the proposal was not going to wait until that night.  It was happening now!

Hubby read me a poem he wrote that detailed our very own story and ended with popping me the question!  I quickly said yes!  My ring was perfect.  And he still managed to surprise me by asking me in the morning instead of in the evening.  He did say later that he completely forgot to get down on one knee because of his nerves.  But I confessed that I hadn't even noticed.

Unbelievably Happy...with scrumptious cupcakes!  :)

They tweeted about us!!

We did still go to lunch at Big Truck...which was scrumptious!

That afternoon was spent on the phone with family and settling on a tentative date.  My parents were set to have a wedding in December.  But with school, I thought that was just a little too soon.  So we planned to be wed over springbreak in March.

We ended the evening with a very romantic dinner at Benvenuti's Ristorante, which, as Google Maps describes, is "Gourmet Italian Fare in Romantic Digs."  They have THE best truffle french fries!  

Very much wish this restaurant was in PA.  :(

It was the perfect day.  One I will never forget.  And one I can't wait to tell our daughter someday.

Were you surprised by your proposal??  Or did you see it coming?

Types of Cloth Diapers We Use (WAHM Update)

**I received a free item in exchange for this review.  All opinions are my own.**

When we decided to cloth diaper, I had no idea how many different kinds were out there.  And to be honest, it was a bit overwhelming.  Not to mention all of the crazy abbreviations. I was going to give a list of all the different types of diapers and abbreviations but realized I wasn't up to par on some of them.  So instead....if you need a brief run down in that area check out this post from Viva Veltoro.

I had originally planned on using pocket diapers.  A lot of people in the cloth diaper community rave about them because of their absorbency and flexibility.  I have quite a few pockets.  But after reading this post from The Anti June Cleaver I thought I should probably look into AI2's (All-in-Two's).  I ended up doing reviews for a couple of different AI2 systems.  And I realized how much easier they would probably be.  But I held off purchasing until after we got a chance to actually use our OS (one-size) diapers.

Fast-forward to a month after Aelah's arrival and I was head over heels for the WInk diaper I had reviewed previously (Check out the original review here).  The pockets were great, super absorbent - but I hated having to reach into the diaper to pull out a soaking wet insert.  With the AI2 I can just dump it into the diaper pail.  :)  Then the cover can be reused if it wasn't soiled.

The fit of the Wink diaper is great!  We started wearing the cover around 2 or 3 weeks.  So I'm guessing she was around 8 lbs.  There wasn't any leaking!  After using all of our diapers - multiple different pockets, a couple of AI2 systems, and a few covers - the Wink diaper was, hands down, my favorite.  I can choose what inserts to put in.  Thanks to the front and back flaps, every insert we own fits and stays in place.  I haven't had a single leak with these either!  Which is saying a lot because Baby Girl is quite the heavy wetter!  Plus, since I can use whatever inserts I want, I can get a pretty trim diaper!  

As noted in my first review, Wink Diapers sells bamboo inserts and hemp inserts.  I love both!  And I usually use them together - which makes for a good night time solution.  Her bamboo inserts are the best quality of all the ones I have.  You can tell just by holding it in your hands.  Impressive right!?!

Here are a few pics of the fit on my little one...who is now 12 lbs!!

My little Chunk-a-Munk - LOVE her "Wink" tags...

Fluffy Butt!

Awesome double gussets!

So I actually decided to order more!  At the time we were getting by because Baby Girl fit in some of her OS (one-size) diapers as well as her newborns.  But I knew once she outgrew her newborns and size S diapers we were going to need more.  I am beyond glad that we ordered more Wink diapers.  They are phenomenal.

Hubby actually came in while I was changing her the other night and said "I really like these diapers," pointing to the colorful rainbow of Wink diapers, "they never leak."  Any time Hubby comments about liking anything cloth diaper related I do a little happy dance.  Yet another reason why I am very glad most of our stash is now Wink!

Full disclosure - I did have an issue with the gusset elastic relaxing in our original diaper a few weeks ago.  I am unsure if it was something I did (supposedly Oxi-Clean can affect elastics) or if it was just a bad batch of elastic.  However, since Wink Diapers have a one-year warranty, I have a replacement diaper on the way!  :)

Here's a couple pics in yet another Wink diaper, just for fun!

Love her chubbiness!!

:)

The best part?  Wink Diapers are extremely affordable!!  You can get a six pack for $59.99!  Or a 12 pack for $107.99!!  You can also buy them individually. She also has AIO's, cloth wipes, custom diapers, and more!

And guess what???  She has given us an exclusive code for 25% off!!!  That means you can get six AI2 covers for just $45!!  Awesome right?!?  Head over to her website page here and enter code "LearningToBe31" at checkout.  But hurry, because this offer is only good through the 19th of December!  

If you would, take some time to follow Wink on these social media outlets:

Facebook
Etsy
Twitter

P.S.  I just stumbled across a giveaway for a Wink Diaper at All About Cloth Diapers.  If you want to enter, head over here and check out her review.