Cooking with the little people (well, at least the older two) is always so much fun, especially now that they’re older and can really help out. We all love dinner time because it’s the one time during the day we can all get together to sit down and talk about each others day. I necessarily don’t love to cook dinner or think about what we’re going to have BUT I do love that its a time that we can focus on our little people.
We just discovered Hello Fresh and I am loving it because it takes the thinking + stress out of dinner a few nights a week. With soccer practices, dance lessons, and everything else, taking the time to prepare a nice dinner is few and far between these days — and I doubt it’s going to get any better with baby #5 coming in less then 7 weeks. I was a little specifically because sometimes the food isn’t so great with these sort of things, but I was presently surprised at how great the food is!!
Hello Fresh has great, healthy recipes to pick from + they provide fresh ingredients that are delivered right to our door which saves me another trip to the grocery store! The recipes are super easy to follow and I love that it’s not time-consuming either – super quick + simple! Plus, they also have basic meals which is what my people like best. So that was a game changer in my book.
Hello Fresh was so kind to offer my readers $35 off their first box!! How great is that! Use the code KAILEE35 at HelloFresh.com and just wait for your yummy meals to be delivered to your door! I’m so excited for you guys to try it out! Happy weekend friends!!
Family pictures — any love that word? Yeah most likely not, until they are all over with. Am I right?! With the holiday’s coming (and fast) that usually means family picture time. So mom’s stress level doubles and little people tend to not listen or want anything to do with anything. Haha. I used to stress like a CRAZY women over family pictures!! Don’t get me wrong…I still stress a bit, but I’ve just learned to not really care anymore and I know now we will always get a good “candid” shot.
So to help relieve a little bit of that stress, today I’m sharing some of my tips + tricks to help with the whole family picture process!! And trust me…we’ve had a lot of experience with “family picture taking” because of my job/business (which I love) and well all the previous 10 years of family picture before.
You would have never guessed it (okay well maybe in a few pictures) but Hayden was in the WORST mode EVER!!! Like she didn’t want to do anything we asked her to….like move, stand, hold a hand, or even walk!! (nightmare) But we just kept going and totally let her do her little thing, and she eventually snapped out of it. (see below, haha)
So my biggest tips are:
1. Pick out your outfit first : (Because you want to feel confident + comfortable) and when you feel good about yourself you’ll love your pictures more!! Trust me on this one.
Also, if your self-conscious about your mid-section (which I think some of us are) I’d go with a flowy dress or top so you don’t have a second thought about it. I love dresses for this reason + they are usually nicer then a top + bottom look. Free People and ASOS always has good ones and I love this one HERE. Free People dresses can be a bit more expensive, but I promise if you love the fit, and how it feels you will wear it to death!
2. The less matchy-matchy you are the better : Plus I think the images turn out wonderful. All of our last-minute pictures where I’ve had to throw random outfits together –that necessarily don’t match perfectly always end up the best. This year I picked my dress first and then just kinda went off what the boys already had and let the girls pick out their favorite color of dress. I didn’t even worry about matching. (hayden actually picked out a green dress, but it was back-ordered) and I think that color would have been better and made us less matchy.
3. Have a “wild card” outfit : So have a random floral or pattern print or a crazy pop of color that just helps balance all the matching colors out. Usually we have someone in a floral to mix things up or years ago Hudson wore a pink neon shirt and those images are still may favorite to date!
4. Patterns + textures : Always have someone in a stripe or dot pattern along with the wild card outfit to add some pattern play into the mix. Adding textures help add more depth + dimension to the image rather then just everyone in a cotton tee. I love knitted cardigans, a scarf, or even a linen shirt or shorts for the boys to break it up a bit.
5. Bribes : I see nothing wrong with bribes for family pictures!! I usually have skittles or gold fish for the kids in Joe’s pocket and will pop one in the kids mouth here and there when they are listening. Or for this shoot in-between every pictures for the baby — because that is all he wanted. AND, tell your kids they can get a reward like ice cream or a night at the park if they will listen to the photographer without a fuss. It always helps and we really go and do it afterwards, because who doesn’t need ice-cream after all of this.
Also, let them just be them. The candid photos always turn out the best and they will be the moments that are true and remembered – not the super posed one where everyone is smiling perfect. (even though we like those ones)
6. Timing : Try to do a time when you know your baby or toddler will be happy. Like right after nap time, lunch or even dinner. Or if morning is their thing then try to do pictures then!! I think this helps the mom’s stress level a million times. Also, make sure your people are all fed and not hungry because that makes a huge difference with their moods. Gosh, I even get hangry sometimes. Haha.
Well I hope some of these tips and tricks help with your next family pictures AND I’d love to know all your tips and tricks, bribes and anything else to help make the whole process go smoother. Really, I love hearing all your advice!! Love you guys so much and thanks for all your support here!!
xx – kails
Also, I rounded up some more great maternity dresses to wear for photoshoots below. I’m loving the maxi dress look, especially for fancy photoshoots because I feel like the long, flowy dresses look more elegant!
As you all may already know, one of my favorite things to wear while pregnant are dresses. They are so easy to wear while pregnant and a lot of the time I can find non-maternity dresses that stretch really well with the belly + will still be great to wear after baby. This olive dress is non-maternity + fits so perfect with my ever growing baby belly. Plus, the little extra detail on the sleeve makes all the difference! It’s super stretchy so I don’t feel like I’m suffocating, but it bounces back easily + keeps it’s shape so it doesn’t look stretched out after I’ve worn it! I am loving this color for the fall and winter!! Olive goes with just about everything in your closet – from browns, to blacks, even pink and tan.
Remeber, when looking for different pieces for your closet it can be something as a litttle extra detail on the sleeve, hem, or neckline. Those peices can add that extra touch + demention to all the rest of your basic staples.
Thanks for always stopping by! And if you have any questions or want me to post about anything specific for the holidays, please feel free to share! I always love hearing from you guys!!
With end of the year dance recitals + the constant holiday music performances quickly approaching, we defiantly have Christmas on the brain! The little people have started making their holiday wish lists and giving us all of their gift suggestions. I swear if I don’t write their ideas down I completely forget them by time night falls. Please tell me I’m not the only one with this problem?!
This year I was quite surprised by a few items Hunter has mentioned — like she wants “workout clothes”, a purse that goes across her body (like mom’s) and a few sciencey things. And of course, Hayden has copied and said the same thing. haha.
I always love stepping out of the box and not getting the kids your normal socks, underwear and clothes every year. Joe and I try to think of fun and practical gifts, but something the kids actually need. Last year, we got all the littles new soccer cleats and shin guards + fun new practice outfits that we normally wouldn’t buy. Because, how fun is it to play in “your own cleats” instead of hand-me-downs all the time?
This year the girls are super into “workout stuff” — I’m blaming my sister who lives in her lululemon gear + tennies 24/7. Haha. No…we have always been an active family with soccer, gymnastics and dance going on through the entire year. I think they have both just caught onto the “style” and love how comfy active gear is!! We have started our Christmas shopping and are surprising the girls with some of their favorite ivivva by lululemon accessories+ a fun outfit. The girls are also gifting their friends with these super cute ivivva water bottles and hair ties! I rounded up a few of our picks to start your holiday shopping!
Also, all you moms out there — make sure you enter ivivva’s first major contest. It’s basically the BEST TRIP EVER!! The trip includes: 4 round trip flights to NYC for you, your little girl and your bestie mom/daughter duo + 2 nights hotel stay in Manhattan, a night out including a show of your choice and an ivivva shopping spree + MORE!! To enter click HERE!! Good luck!!
There is less then 9 weeks till baby #5 makes her debut! How is that even possible?! It has seriously gone by so fast. We are in the middle of getting ready for our little miss and a few weeks ago I reached out to all of you mama’s and asked your best double stroller recommendations and a TON of you suggestions this stroller. So I thought we would give it a try. I can’t believe we’ll really be pushing around a double stroller soon!
We took this double stroller out earlier this week with Hayden + Houston and we absolutely love it! With the city select, there are so many different options that you can work with. You can rotate the seats around so you can have them both front facing, parent facing, or even sibling facing. The stroller can be a single seater or a double seater and it has the best options for accessories! Hayden loved the Glider Board attachment and thought it was so fun to ride on. What’s also great is that it folds up really easy and is super simple!
The only down-fall (that I see) is that it seems really long (length wise) to push — but then again we’ve never used a double stroller. And all my friends are assuring me it’s just because I’m not use to it. haha. But other then that they have thought of everything and we are loiving it!
Also, we’ve teamed up with Baby Cubby to share some of our favorite baby gifts for the holidays!! Baby Cubby is this darling baby boutique that has anything and basically everything you can think of for baby – all in one place!! (which is what I love) Their customer service is amazing + they’re the sweetest people around!! The Baby Cubby Holiday Gift Guide is pretty much spot on for all my favorite baby items we already own and used with Houston…and are pulling back out to use with this baby coming soon.
I am loving this crib from their gift guide along with a bunch or our true favorites like the 4moms bouncer, my ergo baby carrier (for when baby is older) and my all time favorite diaper bag here. Well, I hope this gives your a few ideas for those sweet babies or mama’s to be for your holiday list!! I’m currently getting all our favorite gift guides together for the holiday season so let me know what gift guides your looking for and we will try and get to them asap. Thanks for all your support!!!
Last weekend with Joe down to the coast. I definitely had to shop in these sneakers (because pregnant/comfort problems). I seriously can’t get enough of the dress + sneaker look.
I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend so far! My parents came up for Hunter’s birthday weekend last week and were able to watch the kids for a little bit so Joe and I could go out by ourselves and have a little date night + spend a the weekend on the coast. This last week the weather has still been in the mid 80’s and I have been living in my dresses all week! I have also been loving my black jeans and have been pairing them with everything. Thanks for always stopping by and have a great weekend!
It’s finally starting to cool down a little bit here in Cali so we’ve been really trying to make an effort to get out and do some activities as a family outdoors. I’m sharing 5 of our family’s favorite activities do to during the Fall + these are some that we have done so far. Hoping to ad a few more the the family bucket list!!
pumpkin patch
apple or orange picking
night at the park
service project or clean out
weekly walks
Pumpkin Patch — The kids always love this and enjoy picking out pumpkins for Halloween + Thanksgiving as well. Most pumpkin patches have fun activities for all ages in the family, so it makes for a great family outing that everyone will enjoy.
Park Night — Park nights are always fun and refreshing and the kids love it when dad joins in. We will usually order pizza and eat it at the park or do a late night and pick up pizza on the way home. That way there’s no clean up and we all can get to bed at a decent time. I’m loving watching Houston try and run to keep up with the big kids. This night was the first time he had been on a swing — so it was a pretty big night in our family.
Weekly/Daily walks — You don’t necessarily always have to do something huge every day or every week. Just getting out of the house and going for a walk will usually always satisfy my little people. The kids also like to ride their bikes sometimes while I stroller Houston around. The fresh air is nice and the one on one talks with the kids are my absolute favorite.
Apple / Orange picking — We have a ton of orange groves right by our house…well, technically they’re pretty much everywhere along with apple orchards, berry and a ton more fruit orchards. The kids love to each pick a few things and bring them home to put in their lunches for the week or share at soccer practice. But Houston thinks everything is a ball. haha.
Clean out + service — We like to do this a few times a year just to give back in our community + plus we like that it teaches the kids to share their toys that they don’t really play with anymore. I shared a details post HERE. We have also done this in our garage and given bikes away that the kids have out grown. They love dropping them off to our local good will and wheeling them in to their favorite part of the store.
All white outfits and all black looks are some of my all time favorite combos to wear! I love that you can throw a long duster cardigan over any all white or black look or pair it with a leather jacket or denim jacket and it can change the entire look. With winter coming, I thought I’d share a couple tips when styling your winter whites.
wear winter pieces: you know how linen feels like a summer dress…that’s what I’m talking about. Go for your sweaters, over sized cardigans, and chunky knits. These have heavier materials which makes your look more cozy and ready for winter.
wear different shades of white: creams, super light tan, caramels, and blush, which is a new favorite of mine, are perfect “off white” options to pair with your favorite white jeans.
darker shoes or accessories: I love to mix my whites with a darker booties or black leather bag. Lots of winter pieces are dark so mixing those rich neutral tones with a blanket scarf or even beanie help to winterize your look.
With winter coming, lots of dark pieces are often worn, so mixing it up a bit with some shades of white brightens up your winter look
One of my favorite looks right now is mixing basic dresses with some fun sneakers! It’s such a simple and casual look that is perfect for fall + perfect for all you on the go mom’s. Check out my latest post where I share three tips on “How to Style Sneakers with a Dress” HERE.
I love this grey non-maternity dress (that is under $60)! It’s bunched on the sides which gives it some stretch for the belly (I sized up one size, yet it still fits great for those who are not pregnant. I love finding great non-maternity dresses that I can wear while pregnant and that can still work for after baby — because who doesn’t love to save a bit of money? And when you find a good basic staple you want it to last!! I also love these simple Nike’s that look great paired with this dress. It gives the outfit a fun + sporty look. Who else is loving the sneaker trend right now?!!
As you know, I’ve always been a huge fan of dresses + wear them constantly! They’re so easy to dress up or down and you can pair pretty much any accessory or shoe with them. With all of my pregnancies, I have basically lived in dresses. They have great stretch for my ever growing belly and I always feel comfy and not like I’m suffocating under lots of layers.
Lately I have been loving to pair my dresses with some fun sneakers. I love the look it gives by pairing the two because you get the best of both worlds: a sporty + girly look that’s perfect for on the go! I thought I’d share a few of my favorite tips on how to style your sneakers with any dress.
no show socks : Don’t even think about wearing a sock that shows!! That will ruin your whole look. I love these no show socks or sometimes I don’t wear any socks.
find the right sneaker : I personally like the less bulky sneakers + lightweight!! I love these ones and have them in black and grey as well. They are super lightweight and go with anything.
your dress : I think a few years ago there might have been limits on this…like don’t wear a sparkly dress + sneakers BUT at this years fashion week I saw so many women pairing sneakers with anything from flowy pleated skirts, to body-con dresses, to everything with sparkles. So I think the possibilities are endless!! As long as you feel comfortable and confident – GO FOR IT!!
I’ve gathered up some of my favorite maternity dresses that I’ve had my eye on and also some of the best sneakers– all from Nordstrom (because you know I love the free shipping)!! Happy shopping loves! And as always, thanks for stopping by!
So right now I’m currently looking for some nursery inspiration for the little one on the way. Crazy to think we are doing this again – so soon! Pinterest has been so fun to look at and I’ve seen so many nurseries that I am dying over – check out a few of my favorites I’ve pinned on my nursery board on Pinterest HERE. I’ve decided to share some of my favorite nursery pictures + ideas with you all.
I am loving this rug + am really in a need for a another crib for the baby since Houston is still in his crib. Two cribs. Ahhhh. This time I want to invest in a good rocking chair / recliner as well. I’m so excited to decorate this nursery with some pink, black and grey! Or that is what I’m thinking so far. With Houston, we didn’t find out the gender and did a gender neutral nursery, so this last time around it’s fun to know what we are having!
Some of my favorite stores to get inspiration from + look at nursery furniture are The Land of Nod, Pottery Barn Kids, and Nordstrom. What are your favorite colors for baby girls right now? Or if you have a great rocker/glider you love PLEASE share!!
xx – kails
This is what Houston’s nursery / playroom looked like. You can see more pictures + get direct links to all the items HERE.
I’m finally sharing our night at the pumpkin patch last week. We all had so much fun (even Joe) and there were so many activities for the little people to do. We try do get out and do something as a family at least twice a month and have a family night weekly. Just to stay connected and unplug from the world. You can see a bunch of the activities below.
So I’ve had a bunch of you ask what are some of my favorite staple pieces to buy for fall. So I thought I’d share my favoriteI basic staples for the whole family. For the little people I like to buy a nice pair of neutral colored booties (mainly for the girls) or a great pair of Hunter boots because they are so durable and can last forever! You all know my love for Hunters!!
I also like to get the boys at least one pair of good jeans because they are simple and can be paired with anything. Plus, you can dress them up or down depending on the outing. For myself I can’t go without a dark pair of black jeans that go with everything. This is probably one of my must have staples for women!! I wear mine weekly and now have a maternity pair too! Think black leggings – dresses up. haha. Everyone needs a basic stripe tee as well – I got mine here for $19!!
As for the men in your life….they all have such different style. For insensate Joe does not like to wear pants!! Seriously, I think he owns two maybe three pair and will mostly only wear them for date night. He lives in the most basic shorts and tees, and has always been this way. But truth be told he’s in scrubs every single day. Slowly I’m getting him to add a few more stylish pieces to the closest. Baby steps people, baby steps.
Now that Halloween is over (anyone else feel like that weekend lasted forever?) what are some of your favorite fall activities?! We are trying to get a bucket list together for November and I can’t think. I’d would love to hear your ideas — so please share!
