baby #2 wishlist addendum...

if you read my first baby #2 wish list and you know me well... you probably already knew this post was coming! babies are just so much fun and this stage of life is so short, that I just want to embrace it completely and not regret spending a few dollars if it's gonna make my day-to-day life easier!

so, with that said... here's a few updates on my wish list and a few add-ons! i mean, as the title states… this is just a wish list! haha

first, I ended up ordered this bag from pottery barn a couple weeks ago and it's exactly perfect from what I can tell! it's big enough, but not too big. it's a great material that seems easy to clean and it has an excess of pockets! and all the mamas said 'amen!'! can't wait to use it!!

I also have pretty much decided on a stroller and neither of them are the ones I originally posted about!! after doing a lot more research, scrolling through craigslist and reading a million reviews, I decided on the baby jogger city select double. I found a great deal on craigslist and am hoping to pick it up thursday (in indianapolis). i found it for $200 off retail price and it's new in box. ptl!!!

in my original post, a new infant carseat was not even on my radar. i noticed that target was having a huge baby sale and most of their carseats were majorly discounted (20% off + add'l 20% on cartwheel). so, this got my wheels turning to just check our carseat expiration date and make sure we were good (we bought it off of craigslist before holden was born). sure enough… expired. in december! so, i set out to find a good deal and be done with it. i knew i was definitely getting another chicco, so i picked this one out at target.

what i expected to be an easy breezy process has been quite the opposite… but i will get my 40% off, so it's worth the extra hassle. basically, target was out of the chicco carseat i wanted and the cartwheel was expiring that day. my dear target said they would honor the sale price AND the expired cartwheel deal for the carseat as soon as they got more in stock. so… after me calling literally everyday for a week and being told they still didn't have any in, i just decided to ask if i could order it online and if they'd adjust the price. to my serious surprise, they agreed! what?!?!?!?! so, i'm still waiting for the carseat to arrive, but it's a) being shipped to my door (hello, no lugging it out of the store… with a toddler… trying to cram it in my car) and b) i am getting the discounts long after the sales are over. praise the lord!! i am so excited!!

i've been familiar with aden & anais swaddle blankets for awhile now, but couldn't ever bring myself to shell out the money when there was so much other stuff that i couldn't bring myself to spend the money on "fancy" blankets. well, since we'll be having a summer baby this go-round, i think some thinner blankies will be really nice and i'm hoping these will be everything i'm looking for! plus, they're super cute, aren't they?? 

lastly (for now)… we have a video monitor with holden that i love! since he's always had a pretty little cry… as in, i can't hear him across our little house unless i had bedroom doors open and such. so, as we plan for a new baby, i am definitely going to be picking up an additional camera for the nursery. this is something i plan to wait to get until well after the baby gets here since i plan to keep the babe in with me for awhile, but it's definitely on my checklist. as holden gets older, i know it won't be as essential to have, but it's still great to be able to see what he's doing and all that good stuff! side note: a few weeks ago, he coughed and i heard him on the camera and could see something was weird and i went in his room and he had thrown up everywhere. sure, i would have found that out eventually, but i had an idea something was wrong before i even got to him.

ok, so here's to hoping i don't need another addendum (is an addendum's addendum called something different?!)!! if you think of something that has helped your life immensely with 2 kiddos, please please please chime in!!!!

beauty product duds.

i would say i have a little problem when it comes to beauty products. i love trying new products in hopes of finding that one little blush or hairspray that makes me go all how-did-i-ever-live-without-this for months.

with that said, i've found some duds recently and feel the need to share with a sister, so you don't wind up disappointed too! a lot of products that i pick up are done so per recommendation, but sometimes i find myself wandering through the beauty aisle picking up unnecessary goodies to try. it happens, right? :)

one of my fav bloggers recently posted about maybelline babylips and how wonderful it is. since said blogger has never led me astray and i was in the market for a new lip product, a babylips found its way into my cart with no coaxing. it's basically a tinted chapstick, which was kind of nice for an i'm-not-trying-to-look-done-up look, but the silky, buttery feeling that was left on my lips wore off within maybe 30 minutes. and then my lips felt more chapped than pre-babylips. kind of sad. and the color didn't last longer than 30 minutes either! womp womp.

moving on... eyelid primer is one of my makeup bag must-haves for sure. as in, if you don't currently use a primer on your lids, you are straight crazy! just trust me, ok? anyways, i have been a bare minerals primer girl for years, but at $18 a pop, it's not exactly cheap. worth it, but not cheap! a friend of mine recommended the elf eyelid primer and the $1 price tag was too tempting not to give it a shot. maybe i'm just spoiled with my bare minerals, but i hate the coverage of the elf primer (it's more white in color and goes on a little more thick than i prefer. plus, it isn't as forgiving because of the stronger pigment). i would've been over the stinkin moon if this was a keeper, but it's not quite up to my par!

thankfully, I feel like I've had more winners than duds lately, so I'll be posting about all my good finds soon!!

thank god for tomorrow's.

some days, having a toddler seems like the dream age and we have a blast all day long... and then some days, you have a day like yesterday. where by 9am, you've had 3 meltdowns, 1 timeout and countless "jesus take the wheel"s muttered under my breath.

being a mama is the only job i ever truly dreamed about and even the hard days are worth it. but it doesn't make them any easier. mamas, am i right or am i right? 

i feel like my sweet holden has morphed into an independent, jekyll & hyde version of himself and it seems like the transformation happened overnight. i guess that's why they call them the "terrible twos", huh? 

so, on days and nights where my mama soul is just a little weary, i sulk into my couch, flip on some bachelor & have a bowl of freezer puppy chow. 

thank god for tomorrow's!

back to the frozen tundra!

weeee'rrrrree back from the lovely bahamas and were welcomed back to indiana with 9 inches of snow. nine. inches. it was sheer nonsense, but there really is no place like home and we're glad to be back in our own beds!

we cruised on a 4 night royal caribbean trip and, while i know i am 100% in the minority, i really, truly prefer carnival over RC. crazy, i know! the food, entertainment, everything is so much better on carnival!!! regardless though, it was incredible to get away sans toddler for a week (especially since a new babe will be gracing us in july)! ps... i'm not complaining that we had a vacay, we just all decided that next time we'll stick with carnival! :)

i made a point to take almost all my pics on my actual camera and not just my phone and those pics haven't been dumped to my computer yet, but here's a few from my phone! ptl for vacays!

my dear becca and i! 

in nassau, we rented scooters and toured the island, hit up the market, 

ate at the best local hole in the wall and ended the day at the beach!

the beauty on our scooter ride. so peaceful!

mel & joe flew down from mn to meet us for the trip and brought their sweet 

elias with them (he stayed w his auntie for the week). he's pure sugar!

so glad to have gotten away for a bit, but so happy to be back and getting into the groove of things again! vacay (with or without kiddos) is necessity for my soul!