Judging by how Huntley reacted to both Easter bunnies she’s encountered last weekend, I’m actually quite glad I didn’t fork out the money for photos with the mechanical bunny at SCP… these are the professional photos taken at both events.
[Photography by Taylor-K Photography]
[Photography by Dana Grant Photography]
And some more photos from our at-home Easter photo-shoot:
As I’ve mentioned many times before we are so lucky to know so many wonderful mommies and babies from our playgroup. While this was probably only half the group, having as many babies as we do – it was a babies galore as always! The mama who hosted is also pregnant and did such a wonderful job with the egg hunt! Eggs were filled with stickers, animal crackers, fun bunny jewelry, finger puppets, dance scarves, etc. It was definitely very egg-travagant for a bunch of one and under babes. Mommies brought Easter gifts and each baby went home with lots and lots of goodies! I had Huntley personalize her own Easter bags for her friends and filled them with gummies and marshmallows and bouncy balls in plastic eggs, NUK Peter Rabbit plates (which didn’t quite fit in the bags), and mini play flutes. I got to admit, our bag was nothing comparable to some of the other little Easter favors! Huntley received some amazing fun gifts including board books, coloring books, glitter/metallic crayons, lots of fun squishy toys, glitter and light-up bouncy balls, yummy treats, and some wonderful DIY Easter projects that were definitely “nailed it” Pinterest-worthy! Mama loves all these goodies, because these are the kinds that we like to toss in our diaper bag and bring with us to entertain her through OB check-ups, waiting at restaurants, and sitting bored in her car seat.
Group photos never happen anymore, even though we always attempt it despite a bunch of crying babies, but I did my manage to “catch” some photos of these little tykes at the party.
This Spring has been a great one for many mommies and daddies we know personally! It’s been baby after baby with many of our friends having their babies born this season. Luckily I got to hold three newborns this week, yes, THREE, all in one week! And I swear with each one I got teary-eyed and filled with all that ooey-gooey mommy-love you might call “baby fever” and you might have already caught notice of this if you follow me on Instagram. Funny thing is, I’m about to have one in like two months, which is probably another reason I’ve been feeling the way that I feel when I’m around all these littles – heightened hormones right?!
It was such a pleasure and actually quite nerve-wrecking at first getting to meet and hold Sincerely Kymberly’s three-week-old baby Lewis since I haven’t held such a little person in so long! Baby Lewis was a dream – he was such a handsome, calm, sweet, mellow baby and still with that newborn smell which all mommies love so much! I am so glad they came out from Santa Barbara and we got to hang out with them a bit at Irvine Spectrum.
During our playgroup’s Egg-cellent Easter Egg Hunt and Party baby Mayson, who I already got to see a few days before, woke up and I got to hold that gorgeous little two-week-old beautiful newborn! Knowing her big brother already, for some reason I had pictured her to have very similar looks and demeanor, but she is actually quite the opposite from him! While I call her brother “all boy” she is definitely a “girly-girl” for the win! She is bright eyed, rosy cheeks and full of smiles, something that seems foreign to me since I had a little mean-mugger with my Huntley. Meeting and holding little Mayson really put it into perspective for me how our little Penelope might just have a total different personality from our first and I just can’t wait to find out what she’ll be like!
This week ended with no April Fools joke as I warned my best friend’s husband, “this better not be a joke” when he texted me the updates of my girl Angela and going into labor on April 1st! Alas, he settled my worries as he texted me back baby Jax’s first photos! Boy was this little boy just the cutest and a lot smaller than I expected him to be with such a tall daddy! He is his spitting image but with such adorable red apple cheeks and mama’s perfect pouty lips. By the third newborn, I was totally comfortable and wanted to hold him the minute I stepped foot into the hospital room, but of course as a mama myself who’s given birth too, I had to check up with my best friend/new mommy and see how she was doing after her emergency c-section. Gratefully, she was doing fine and had a happy birth story to tell.
The following morning, we received wonderful – just wonderful news from my sister-in-law who’s also expecting very very soon! Fingers are crossed all around by the family and here’s to more healthy new born babies to come! Can’t wait to meet my niece Marlee!
Since I still haven’t taken Huntley to see the mechanical interactive Easter Bunny at SCP, I decided to put her in the Le Top dress that she didn’t get to show off on St. Patrick’s Day and did a little impromptu Easter photo-shoot (in our backyard as always). Huntley had so much fun blowing bubbles and is getting quite good at it too!
Since learning of our master bedroom addition, I’ve had one particular “big purchase” item on my mind 24/7 and that’s finally being able to have a Cal King sized bed! Tanner and I both feel that our bedroom has to be exactly the way we want it to be and there’s been a lot of debate on colors, style, and decor (those including the chandelier which I am so ‘pro’ for and he is so ‘against’). We love how our current bedroom came out, everything from the blue walls and grey tufted bed, to our white ZGallerie mirrored dresser (yes, we debated on this too and came to a compromise in the end). Now with our new room addition coming to reality within a month we are getting ready to design!
After some debate on color and change of heart on the color purple/plum, we’ve now considered our current green from our living spaces but in a more light minty tone for the new walls and I’ve come up with some ideas of how I’d like to go about the room – just hoping I can pitch this soft and romantic concept to the hubby as well. Wish me luck!
What colors do you like for a master bedroom and why? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This past weekend was spent practicing for the real Easter Egg Hunts to happen on actual Easter Day. I think after two consecutive fun-filled mornings Huntley finally gets it! We started off Saturday morning after a short 45 minute nap, just mommy and me in Huntington Beach at a local-run event complete with Easter egg hunting (which she was great at), face painting, bounce house (although Huntley is still too young for this, she liked watching the older kids inside), and a visit with the Easter bunny (who she is definitely not a fan of).
[Forever 21 Lace Bow Hair Clips . Baby Gap Floral Pleat Pocket Dress . Saltwater Sandals}
Last year with Huntley only being a few weeks old she didn’t quite understand the Easter bunny, let alone ‘sitting’ and we ended up taking her Easter photos with the cute mechanical interactive bunny at South Coast Plaza. She was so round back then, I always say she looks like a little egg next to the bunny! I had hoped to take photos with this bunny every year, but $30 just seems way too much money spent on one picture…
This year, we’re a week away from Easter and are in full Easter-mode! Tanner and I discussed our desire to go to Easter Vigil at our Parish and are really hoping to make it with baby girl, even though it cuts so close to her bedtime. We’d like to follow the next morning with Easter Mass, Easter brunch and of course Easter activities for Huntley – those including an egg hunt or two!
Today we went to the Spring Fling at The OC Mix – SoCo and had tons of fun, despite the crowds and bit of chaos, we even bumped into four of our baby playgroup friends! We got there just in time for the first round of the egg hunt and Huntley was so lucky to find so many eggs, but instead of putting them into her basket like she did yesterday, she had already learned of the prizes and treats within the eggs and would throw back each egg after attempting to open them…so while many of the big kids left with 10-20 eggs in their baskets our little Huntley was just so happy to have the three she put in hers! We then took Huntley to get her face painted and this girl hates sitting still, but for a pretty face painting complete with glitter she will sit still ready to say her “oohs & ahhs” in the mirror when all finished!
[Little Monroes Crochet Headband . I’m quite “OBSESSED” with this Baby Gap “Wild Horse Poplin” Dress and I’m so glad I was able to snag one before it was SOLD OUT! Ummm, can you say #shopaholicmommy? . Baby Gap Suede Oxfords]
With the home addition/renovations going on at our little Home with Walls and being in SoCo, it was the perfect place to look for inspiration so we left the crowds at The OC Mix and headed to one of my favorite stores Pirch and perused the bath section. Huntley enjoyed playing with the shower head showroom and even conducted her own shower show by pressing away at all the buttons. She was also in love with all the bathtubs and even wanted to try out every sink faucet since she’s obsessed with water and loves washing and drying her own hands! She had so much fun playing in the store and seeing all the different appliances and decor – the girl loves design I can say she’s truly a girl after my own heart!
When we were ready to head back, I noticed that my sister and friend Sally were on their way over so we decided to stay and wait to hang out with them for a bit. Sadly, by the time they had come the events had died down and there wasn’t much for the babes to do. Luckily the petting zoo was still open and I was also able to get a yummy grilled cheese sandwich at Shuck. After the petting zoo we walked around some more shops, got an acai bowl (which we loved) at Birdie and enjoyed some more family time before heading home.
Sharing some of our Instagram pics as well:
With Easter just around the corner and having a full-on one-year-old toddler on our hands this year, I’m super excited about filling Huntley’s Easter basket and also getting her in the Easter spirit! This is really important to me to engage in all these holiday festivities since I didn’t have Easter baskets in my childhood. Feeling pretty embarrassed about this, I actually had to ask Tanner what a traditional Easter basket was like and how they’d celebrate the holiday, other than Easter egg hunting, which of course I already knew about.
After being told that the Easter basket is sort of like a stocking, instead of ‘stuffed’ it’s ‘filled’ with fun, I’ve been gathering a few pieces to fill Huntley’s Easter basket with. Her basket from last year seems a bit too small for all her goodies this year and since she was so little there wasn’t much in there other than some soft books, two ruffled romper, socks, and bunny ears. I’m actually considering getting her a bigger basket, but maybe I’ll leave that as a task for next year when I have two baskets to fill!
If I were to get her a new basket this year, I would love to get this Pottery Barn White Sabrina Easter Basket in a size Large with the Tulle Ruffle Easter Basket Liner. Loving all the girly-ness of this basket and liner!
And what to fill it with?
This year with the warm weather we’re getting her in SoCal, I’ve decided to get Huntley another pair or two of Salt Water Sandals in Gold (already bought at Nordstrom) and maybe Pink.
These days our girl is all about accessorizing, so I just had to include some new accessories in her basket! Since we have an ongoing joke about my left hand being the “rich hand” as I use to wear my jade bangle (which I still need to get gold clasps made for it) and my push present from my in-laws (a London Gold charm bracelet), as well as my engagement/wedding/push rings, I thought it was only fitting to give Huntley a “rich hand” as well – LOL! So we got her a 14k gold twisted cable cuff and a 14k gold/pink crystal stackable bracelet to go with. Lucky girl!
Of course with Huntley’s love of books, or at least touching them and grabbing them off the shelf non-stop, I thought I would add to her collection some more bunny books. As I mentioned already, she got quite a few soft ‘baby’ bunny books last year, but this year I am planning to incorporate some more of her favorite touchy-feely kind of books like Pat the Bunny and classics like Guess How Much I Love You.
With swim class ready to begin again and with this growing girl (who has a big booty) I decided to add some new iPlay swim diapers in a bigger size of course (those including this adorable Flamingo and cute Bike ones) into her basket! And I couldn’t help but buy in multiples and bought Penelope matching ones as well!
Since our baby girl is really turning into quite the toddler these days I decided to add some more big kid drinking cups The Wow Cup for Kids into her cup/bottle collection. We actually bought one of these to try out several months ago after a few suggestions from our playgroup mamas (Huntley really enjoyed using this cup despite not having a handle, but unfortunately lost hers at Disneyland) so these will be her replacements.
And of course there will be the fillers – plastic eggs filled with Princess Goldfish Crackers, fruit snack gummies, crayons, etc.
Are you putting together an Easter basket too? If so, what are you filling it with?
Since our room addition should be complete within a month from now, I have spring cleaning on my mind and am ready to clear out that crazy garage of ours and all our closets! I am ready to start fresh while still keeping the theme(s) and style of our nautical home. The existing bedrooms will still be styled the same in Huntley’s room and our old room/soon to be guest room (with Penelope’s new room as an exception).
With the glider/swivel chair being moved into Penelope’s nursery from Huntley’s nursery, there are some empty spaces that need to be filled or at least made to look completed. Here are some of my finds and wish-list for Huntley’s room conversion from baby to toddler-hood!
I would like to move the play kitchen currently in our living room into Huntley’s room and would love to add this Pottery Barn Finley Play Table & Chairs or something similar. (How cute would this be?):
I would also like to add a new furry rug in the room since our last one was ruined when Huntley spilled chocolate milk on it… this sheepskin rug would work perfectly to replace her old one (new rule: No eating & drinking in the bedrooms!):
With our house renovations and spring cleaning, we would really like to have our living spaces be more kid-clutter free (of course we’ll still have a few toy baskets in the rooms, but I ideally I would like to put away most of the toys or have them in the girls’ rooms. So it would only make sense to add a basket or two in Huntley’s room. These Wee Woodland Crochet Bins from the Land of Nod would be perfect!
And for a growing girl with a growing closet, I would love to have the Elfa Closet System installed in her closet as well as my own (because it’s been on my own wish-list for what seems like forever!):
If you have any, what are some of your plans for the new season?
Here’s another event posting for our Throwback Thursday post – this was my dear friend Angela’s bridal shower last year and I can’t believe she’s about to pop and have her first baby Jax in less than a month! It was of course hosted by all her bridesmaids including myself and was thrown at our little home with Walls.
The colors were yellow, grey and white and the theme was a “Sunflower Tea Party” in our backyard under the patio. If you’ve been to our house for any kind of gathering you’d already know that we are mason jar glass drinkers and our house is a bit Anthropologie and Pottery Barn style with teacups, vintage water carafes and tea pots, milk glasses, etc – so it’s actually quite easy for us to set these kinds of atmospheres and themes.
I am so excited to share with you my review on the Nuby Garden Fresh Easy Pop Freezer Tray! With the weather being so hot this past weekend and a daughter who likes to chew on ice due to her teething (four new teeth coming in), I thought it would be a great idea to create something fun with this tray! Although this tray is marketed and “specially designed for making fresh-frozen baby food in quantity at home,” Nuby also challenges you to “be creative” with the ingredient and new foods!
Since spoon-feeding was not the route we decided to go with (baby-led weaning for the win), I didn’t want to puree foods. Huntley loves to feed herself and weaned herself rather quickly from food packets and purees. She also really enjoys feeding herself via utensils or her own two hands. Although I’m sure a popsicle tray would’ve worked for this easy recipe, I loved the idea of not having a stick in this recipe so that you can use the frozen-ready baby food for two uses – frozen or thawed!
My quick easy Orange Creamsicle Yogurt Recipe: (Enjoy frozen for a cold treat on a hot day or thawed/stirred with granola as breakfast for baby as well as for mommy/daddy – yay to multiple uses!)
Of course you may decided to puree if you like, before placing in the tray. And of course you can exchange the ingredients with perhaps apple juice and different fruits/berries you have on hand. Like Nuby encourages “be creative” with ingredients!
This freezer tray is perfect for making baby food in quantity and is great for babies who are just starting to eat solids or already do. The bendable soft ‘flex silicone’ freezer tray makes it easy to remove, although to be honest, I struggled at first. I kept banging it against the chopping board before I realized how easy it really is! Simply push the bottom of each cube and it simply slides out of the tray – genius design! The lid stays put and doesn’t spill, however, with more watery substances like juice I would suggest not over-filling to the top when in liquid form so that it won’t freeze shut (Note: this makes it harder to remove the lid). You can prepare and make food at home with simple ingredients as well as treats (like the above). I can’t wait to share with more recipes in future!
Here are some more product features you should know about the Nuby Fresh Easy Pop Freezer Tray:
Where you can find it:
Please visit Nuby USA!
I did not receive any compensation for this post, although as part of this program I received items to sample or review. As always, all opinions are my own and 100% honest.
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A Home with Walls 
