Style || Summer Trends for Kids

This year's summer trends are involving lots of embroidery, tassels and pom poms and for little girls it's no different. I picked a few faves from one my favorite stores...J crew. Now that Gus and Olivia are practically in kids sizes (where did my babies go?! I can't believe this is happening and it's giving me bad case of baby fever!!) I can finally shop at crew cuts for them!! eeekkkk!! Can you sense the excitement?! 

All of these picks are from the Online Factory Store -- which by the way is amazing!!!  

Once again, I am a sucker for color. love the brights. I also love what they did with the regular chino shorts --making them more feminine by adding ruffles. Genius. Lots of colored shorts that you can mix and match with almost any of the tops below!

1 || 2 || 3

4 || 5 || 6

7 || 8 || 9

And well, for the boys, Navy is always in. at least at our house. Gus is going through a phase where he only wants to wear blue. But lots of colored shorts and seersucker --which are two faves of mine. I think Gus has has a pair of seersucker shorts every summer since he was born. And it's such a neutral! You can easily pair it with almost any color. 

1 || 2 || 3

4 || 5 || 6

7 || 8 || 9

What are some of your favorite Summer trends for your kids?!

xoxo

Elda 

{Five on Friday}

Happy FRIDAY!!!! Seriously guys, TGIF!!! This has been a long week for us!! But I am so happy that the 5 on Friday link-up is BACK after a brief Summer break! yayyyy!!! 

{one} A few years back I purchased a Mary Kay lipstick  in Berry Kiss and the lip liner to go with it in and I whipped it out again this week for a more "fall" look. And I'm pretty much loving it these days!!

{two} My sister in law got me this fab top for my birthday along with some fab sunglasses!! I wore the top yesterday for the first time and I just cant seem to stop wearing the sunglasses!! I'm wearing both  in the picture above and here is the full body picture!

The top is so comfortable and pretty forgiving! ;)

{three} There has been lots of talk about halloween over here...I've been asking Gus what he wants to be for halloween this year and he keeps telling me "Cars". I've had no luck finding a cute Lightning McQueen costume online so if anyone finds anything or has any suggestions....they would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm not crazy about this one from the disney store

This one is a little cuter from halloweencostumes.com but of course it's out of stock. 

He also keeps telling me that Olivia wants to be Sophia! haha so I guess thats maybe what she will have to be. That should be an easy one to find. 

{four} I had a little bit of a health scare this week and I had a very important doctor's appointment yesterday. I went in pretty terrified but he was very optimistic about everything and that really put my nerves at ease a little bit. I have to have some tests done anyways but I have faith that everything will be okay. Please keep me in your prayers!

{five} I made my first wreath this week...our front door was looking rather sad so I spruced up a little something!

Not too shabby for my first wreath, huh??

I hope you have a great weekend with your family and friends!! 

xoxo

Zulily Mountain Buggy-Nano + a Giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

There is a new addition to the side bar of this little blog--if you haven't noticed you should scroll down and take a look  at the new  zulily ad!

 I have was accepted to become a member of the zulily  Affiliate program!! Yayyy for me!! I love all of the great opportunities that are coming towards me, as a product of the blog!  This program gives me the ability to make a profit of any sales through the blog. I make a small percentage off of anything that is purchased through the links that I post on here. 

If I personally am going to buy something and I know someone can make a percentage by me just purchasing through clicking on their clink, I generally try to do that. There are so many bloggers that do this and gives us a chance to make blogging worthwhile! 

 From now on you may see me talk about  zulily events going on and those links are already set up to my account! 

To kick off this  zulily adventure, zulily  has a new stroller/travel system they have just released, the  Mountain Buggy - Nano Travel System - Nano Travel System. This stroller features the lightest car seat on the market and the stroller folds up into a shoulder- strap bag! say WHAT?!?! yep, you read correctly, a shoulder strap bag! This is a one-of-a-kind system that only  zulily offers right now. Here's the catch...

We can BOTH win one!!

 I am entering the zulily Mountain Buggy - Nano Travel System and if I win than one of my lucky readers wins one too!! 

All you have to do to enter is comment below, Starting today 8/19 - Thursday 8/21 letting me know what Nano color is your favorite...You can check them out here! 

Mountain Buggy- Nano Details:

• Includes the Protect Infant Car Seat one of the lightest on the market at 8.3 pounds

• Lifts out of its sturdy LATCH base without disturbing Baby and into the Nano easy-push 13.7 lb stroller
• The stroller folds ultra compact into a shoulder-strap bag to simplify travel for a family on the go
• Available for $349.99 with free shipping! 

 I want to know what your favorite color is! I think mine is the black...just because the stroller we have right now is red! 

What's yours? Comment away!! 

Weekending + First Day of Pre-k 3

I hope you had a great weekend! We did--it was pretty low key. Gus had a birthday party Saturday, so that was pretty much the highlight of our day--along with a trip to toys r us which of course, included a meltdown from each of the toddlers. It was bound to happen. When does it not? 

Back to the birthday party-- The dad of the birthday boys is a fireman so they had his crew stop by the birthday party with the firetruck. Saying the children were ecstatic is an understatement! The were THRILLED! They got to climb onto the firetruck and pretend to drive it and put on the firefighter helmets. 

Sunday, was a lot of relaxing. I did some grocery shopping, napped with little Gus and we took a family outing to the park. Nothing really exciting but a lot of quality, down time, which was really nice since last weekend was quite busy! 

Today is our sweet boys first day of Pre-k 3. Since he had such a fantastic experience the few months he was in school last year, he will be going 5 days a week part-time, meaning basically until noon, this year. He is so excited to start a new school year, a fresh start, a new teacher, a new classroom. Part of me is so sad he is growing up so fast. I really wish time would just freeze. He is such a good age right now where he understands a lot, remembers a lot but he is still an innocent little baby. 

But he really loves school and as long as loves it--we may as well encourage his love for learning. 

So weekday mornings it will be just little Livey and I. I have to get a new weekly routine going with my favorite girl. Today-- it's all errands. lots of errands. her favorite. (can you hear the sarcasm). I'm excited though to have more girl time with the little lady! 

On another Note-- Don' t forget to enter the giveaway for an outfit from This and That for Kids!! The giveaway ends Friday so hurry! You don't want to miss your chance! You can get to that post by clicking here! 

Happy Monday! 

Timeless & Classic + A Giveaway || This and That for Kids

So remember when when I had mentioned that we did a photoshoot for a Children's Smocked Clothes Company? Wellll....I got the pictures back from the shoot for this feature and they are so adorable!!  I am so excited to feature them on here because this clothes is just classic and timeless! 

Their fall line is to die for! I am kind of biased, I think, because I love anything smocked for Gus and Olivia! But the quality of the clothing that This and That for Kids offers is top notch! It washes great and can be used for everyday wear AND for special occasions. 

I love that they carry matching sets for siblings of all ages but in different styles! As you saw, we matched Gus and Olivia in the first few pictures with the Smocked cows. In this last picture, Olivia and big cousin, Valeria, are matching in the lady bug outfits! 

You can check out This and That for Kids here and check out their AMAZING summer sale here! I already snatched up a smocked bathing suit for Olivia that is just adorable! They have some adorable holiday pieces  that they've already started posting on their Facebook and Instagram and those always go quickly, so you'll probably want to grab those fast! 

This and That for Kids and I have teamed up to give away ANY outfit of your choice to one of my lucky readers!!! 

 And using the coupon code "ELDA10" you can get 10% off of any purchase from This and That for Kids  !!!! So go to their website and check out their super adorable timeless looks for your little ones!!

Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**The Giveaway ends Friday, August 22nd. The winner will be announced within 48 hrs**

{my experience with breastfeeding}

In honor of National Breastfeeding Month I wanted to share a little bit  of what my experience with breastfeeding was, in hopes to inspire or help  mommies-to-be out there who are contemplating breastfeeding or mommies who are, currently, going through a difficult time breastfeeding their little ones. 

I want to start off by saying that breastfeeding is not for everyone. Every mother, every baby and every circumstance is different. Your first child may be able to breastfeed like a charm and your second may not be able to at all. I also want to add that I am not a medical professional so everything I will be  sharing is based upon my experience and what I have learned breastfeeding two children.

When I became pregnant with Gus Jr. breastfeeding was always how I wanted my baby to get his nutriance. I did a lot reading and research. I knew that it was souly the healthiest and most organic source of nutrience for my baby. A mothers milk is made of the exact vitamins and minerals that her baby--it's basically gold. 

Several experienced women had told me it was difficult at first--like a lot of things but I really didn't know to what extent.  Well let's just say it was wayyy more difficult than I ever imagined it to be. Gus latched on great from the very first time I tried to feed him in the hospital. Latching is something many women have a lot of trouble with so I was lucky he latched on so easily, me being a first time mom.

My breasts were sore for weeks. If I didn't feed every 1.5-2 hours my breasts would get engorged. And it was exhausting --very exhausting. and frustrating. Especially considering Gus was a large baby. He weighed 8lbs 14oz. 

At the beginning I wasn't producing enough milk to feed him. He was eating all the time. I did supplement with formula here and there--mainly for nighttime feedings so he could sleep a little longer, since formula is heavier than breast-milk. 

After a rough first month or so, I finally had breastfeeding down. I was able to breast feed him for 9 months. I had to stop breastfeeding him because I found out I was pregnant with our little  princess. And my experience  with her was a completely different story. I was only able to breastfeed her for about 2 1/2 months.

When Olivia was born, I kind of already knew what to expect and honestly, I was expecting breastfeeding to be just as easy, if not easier than it had been with Gus--well besides the initial first month. She didn't latch on immediately like Gus did. It definitely took her a few tries. 

A couple weeks after we came home from the hospital, Olivia started having crying episodes. They were high pitched but I figured she was just having gas since Gus had the same thing and we did some exercises with her that we had done with Gus when he was little. That seemed to soothe her for a little bit.  Nothing would make her happy. She screamed in the car seat, in my arms, wherever. We actually stopped going a lot of places because her crying episodes were so bad. 

Well after multiple doctor appointments and several formula's later her pediatrician told Olivia had an allergy to a protein in milk. By that point I had already been supplementing with formula out of the frustration, that I couldn't calm her down. We tried Enfamil Premium Newborn, Enfamil Gentlease Enfamil ProSobee (a soy based formula) and then finally the peditrician recommended we try Similac Alimentum. That did the trick. It was much much more expensive than the regular formula and breastfeeding, obviously. 

I always carry that guilty feeling that I breastfed Gus longer and gave him a better source of vitamins for  much longer than I was able to with Olivia. But like I said earlier, every baby and every situation is different!

I definitely would not have been able to do it without the support of my husband and my mom who pushed me during those initial days/weeks. I think a strong support system is crucial for success in breastfeeding. It requires a lot of patience--a lot of understanding from your spouse or partner. It really helps a lot to communicate your feelings with your support system. That initial time when you come home from the hospital and after you have given birth is filled with lots of changes in your lifestyle, your hormones and not everyone copes with it the same. Believe me I shed many tears breastfeeding with both babies--but that's just me. I'm a crier. 

It requires a lot of sacrifice from your part--you cant eat a lot of things depending on how your baby reacts to it. The baby also depends on you more than normal. You really almost have to have the baby with you at all times unless you are pumping but I found that, that required a lot more work, that I simply did not have time nor the energy to do. 

For the women that are able to do this, it truly is a wonderful and beautiful thing. And it is a gift to be able to nurture your baby with something so organic that you can produce. It is truly amazing how mother nature works!!

I hope this was somewhat helpful information, if you are a mommy-to-be or if you are past this stage, I hope you enjoyed reading this! 

Top 5 Favorite Baby Products

yayyy for me! I'm on a roll this week...this is my third post this week! This rarely and I mean RARELY happens!!

I would not say I am a baby expert by any means but having a second child who is already a year old...makes me think I've been in the baby world long enough and have tried enough baby products to be able to recommend my faves and have enough knowledge to do so! After two babies, I am sharing my top 5 essential baby products and why I think they are fabulous!

First of all, let me just say that I am not a fan of Babies R Us what so ever! I had my baby registry there with Gus and the babies r us brand products are very low quality and completely over priced! I have found so many baby products significantly cheaper at target, Walmart and even Amazon.com

The big things, yes, I think it is smart to go gender neutral, if you're planning to have more children down the road. Babies are expensive, they come with a lot of "stuff" so it's nice to be able to use some things again with the second child, if it comes out to be a different sex. The high chair, swing, bouncer, and Jumperoo are all things that babies use for just a few months and then you're done with them! Well, I take that back...the high chair you get a lot of use out of but it can still be gender neutral to get more bang for your buck!

1- Gender Neutral Crib-- We have the Fillmore Crib by Pottery Barn Kids. It's white, a classic style and if you just change the bedding it could work great for a boy or for a girl. A good crib, in my opinion is a good investment to make. We didn't make the investment when Gus was born and bought a Graco crib and by the time he was done using it...it was all banged up. not worth it. 

So when Olivia was born we figured we would just make the investment and purchase a quality product. I've loved it! Pottery Barn cribs are excellent quality and completely worth the investment!

2- Pottery Barn Kids bedding--PBK has the best bedding in the world!! The quality of materials they use are amazing. Gus only used PBK sheets when he was a baby and then when Olivia was born I bought the bedding set minus the sheets and found the cutest printed sheets at Target, so naturally I got them. After washing them a couple times they got too rough for her skin. I had to go out and get PBK sheets for her! I saw such a huge difference between PBK and target sheets! (Sorry Target! I love you for everything BUT baby sheets) 

Olivia has the Scalloped Pink Pique Bedding Set and Gus had a Nautical Set that they

don't make anymore. 

I know there's a lot of researchers and baby experts out there that say not to use bumpers. There's "breathable" mesh bumpers which I think aren't very cute. But I have never had a problem with the babies and crib bumpers! 

Gus transitioned from a bassinet to a crib at like a month and a half because he didn't fit in it anymore. And Gus was about 14 months when Olivia was born and had just started walking. I was absolutely terrified he would knock the bassinet over with the baby in it so Olivia never slept in a bassinet! When she came home from the hospital she went directly to her crib!

3-Britax B-Ready Stroller + Britax Chaperone Car Seat Travel System -- I love Britax! Honestly, when I was pregnant with Gus I didn't really do much research on Strollers and car seats but I knew that Britax was pretty up there safety wise. I really just got this system because my sister-in-law had the exact same one at the time and my in-laws wanted to get it for us as a gift!

 Later, I came to find out how important it is to have a good travel system and how convenient it is with a newborn! We would just open the stroller frame up and the car seat would just pop right in! When I got pregnant with Olivia, we bought the second seat adapter for Gus to be able to sit in the stroller as well. The best part is we can use it as a single stroller or a double stroller. 

It is a little larger than most strollers and takes up quite a bit of room in your trunk but it is quality. But for a double stroller it is acctually a pretty decent size! We have used it non-stop with two babies and it still works great!

This is another thing that would be better to get in a gender neutral color! Yes, the pink is super cute for a little girl but if you have a boy after that, you're kind of stuck with a pink stroller, unless of course you can buy a completely new system!

I think this is the product that has saved my life having two babies under 2!! 

4- Avent Bottles-- I have only used Avent bottles with my two and have LOVED them! I used the older model with Gus, that had the ring inside! Several times, I ran out of the house with just the bottles and not the rings and that was just disastrous--stories of a first time mom! I would always have to end up buying bottles wherever I was or replacement rings! Motherhood fail!! but other than that I loved them! 

When Olivia was born, they had already come out with the new model (Thank God--No more rings!!) and I loved it even more than the older model!

5- California Baby Sunscreen-- I will confess I just started using this on my little ones and I love it!! My children haven't gotten a sunburn, living in Miami! Olivia's skin is sooo fair and sensitive and this sunscreen didn't irritate her skin and she didn't get a sunburn! It is a little more expensive than regular sunscreen but it works miracles!It is mineral based and gentle on babies' sensitive skin! I definitely recommend it for beach trips! 

You can order it on their website or Target carries it in the store!

**Disclosure: This is completley my honest opinion on all of these products and I have not been compensated to write a review!

What are your favorite baby products?? 

Kinder Companie + Hippity Hoppity Giveaway

Awhile back, I found Kinder Companie through another blog and fell in love with her designs, products and most of all her ability to customize. This Etsy shop dedicated to making and selling children's bowties and hairbows was right up my alley! 

 I love matching Gus and Olivia. I should really say color and print coordinating because there is only so much boy/girl matching you can do! So I asked Christy to make them Easter coordinating hair bows and bowties with the same fabrics...eekkkk! I was soooo excited with this possibility!!! 

Before I go any further about how excited I was about this shop has excellent customer service....when I say excellent I mean 110%. That makes giving someone business a hundred  times better!

So anyways I was sooo pleased with these fabulous products that arrived at my doorstep, once again! (This is not the first time I custom order from Kinder Companie.) The quality is amazing, they don't fall apart! The color choices she offers are so so cute! 

I love that the alligator clip liners on the bows are scalloped...it gives it a little feminine touch ;) And  the size of the bows was just perfect! We love our bows nice and oversized...the bigger the better!

The bowties wrap around the neck and close with velcro, making it adjustable as your little ones grow! 

Here is how I styled and color coordinated the bowties and the hair bows on Gus and Olivia...

In honor of Easter being right around the corner, we are giving you a chance to win $30 store credit to Kindercompanie to get some cuteness for your little ones! 

The giveaway will go until Monday, April 7th at noon! 

Good Luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Olivia's Fabulous First Birthday Brunch

I was a little MIA last week due to Olivia's birthday taking over my life haha! Well on top of planning a birthday party I had family coming in town and regular day to day life with two little ones so blogging had to temporarily be put on hold! 

Olivia's birthday party was such a success I am so pleased with how everything turned out. Between having my parents in town and Olivia's birthday we are so exhausted...still trying to recuperate from all of the festivities! 

We had originally planned to have just a small get together here at our home but from one day to the next it sort of spun out of control and before we knew it we had 30+ people coming so my sister-in-law so generously offered for us to host Olivia's Fabulous First Birthday Brunch at her house. She saved us with this because there is no way we would have fit in our apartment. I am so thankful for family! 

I had found this idea of decorating wine glasses with glitter on Pinterest so instead of wine glasses I used Champagne flutes! I went up to Ikea and bought some champagne flutes because you don't want to ruin some nice ones, which were very cost effective and glittered away! I think I paid like $4.79 for a box of six flutes. Perfect! 

While I was glittering away I thought it would be cute to put a strip of glitter on the bottom of some clear plastic cups for guests to drink out of as well. the modge podge and glitter I bought went a long way! I also used the small cups for the Strawberry glitter Parfaits and the fruit loops!

I rented hot pink tablecloths and I found this pretty white and gold striped wrapping paper at Target. If you're a target regular, I'm sure you've seen it! Anyways I used it as table runners over the hot pink table cloths and I used it to wrap some cardboard boxes to give some dimension and height to the main table. The straws I found at Michaels and Target!

The centerpieces I whipped up in two seconds...I bought the tissue decorating balls at Party city, opened them up and hot glued them to some glass vases my sister-in-law had and BAM...I got some quick and easy centerpieces!

I made some tassel garland out of tissue paper in gold light pink and hot pink and strung them around Olivia's high chair and on the pool fence right by the table outside!

Menu:

Ham and Egg Cups 

Crossants with Strawberry Jelly

Maple Bacon

Mini Arepas 

(Traditional Venezuelan Dish)

Strawberry Yogurt Parfaits

Red Fruit Loops

Cake Pops

Strawberries and Cream

Pink Frosted and Sprinkle Donuts

Mini-Powdered Donuts

Mimosas (for the adults)

Juice boxes (for the kids)

Ham and Egg Cups

The Link is above on where I found this recipe!I wish I could say it's one of my own because it's so simple and soooo yummy! These were a hit!

The cake pops were made by Sweets by Dee and they were excellent! If you are in the Miami Area and would like her info shoot me an email!

This was Olivia's fabulous cake! 

I tried to incorporate pink breakfast foods as much as I could...Obviously the main dishes I couldn't really make pink haha. 

I made this little "1" sign out of the same wrapping paper and some leftover scrap-booking paper I had from her baptism. 

Here we are! My little family of four!

Happy Birthday my sweet Olivia!!

These two are too much!

Gus and Olivia having some daddy daughter time!

The sweetest!

I hope you're having a wonderful week so far!

xoxo