Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!! 

Wordless Wednesday

OOTD - Traveling & Winter

Winter has arrived in California! It has been around the 60's, so that means we can pull out sweaters. I am sure any of you Midwesterners reading this are rolling your eyes. I plan to wear some of these outfits when I go to my parents. I need some warm, comfy clothes while I am traveling. If I think I am cold at 50 degrees in California I am going to die with the 10-30 degrees in North Dakota.  

Some of these items are new and some are oldies. I will try to link up to what I can find. 

Tee: Nordstrom

Cardigan: Nordstrom

Jeans: American Eagle similar

Booties: Nordstrom Rack

Button up: Gap

Vest: Old Navy similar

Jeans: Old Navy

Flats: Lucky

Tee: Nordstrom

Vest: Old Navy 

Leggings: Old Navy

Scarf: Express (old)

Booties: Nordstrom Rack

I am struggling to find a utility vest right now at Old Navy or Gap. I guess it isn't the season for them. They do carry them very often! I think everyone has more holiday things out right now. Watch Old Navy for the fur vests. Last year I bought mine for 50% off during Thanksgiving time. I recently started a Pinterest board just for fur vest inspiration. I don't wear it other than the holiday season. I am going to try to wear it more this winter. I really love it! 

The outfit above is really comfortable! It would be really good for traveling. There are plenty of pockets to put things especially when you are traveling with a toddler. I always need pockets when I am getting on and off planes. I need like 4 arms for getting on a plane. I really have a good system down, but still any mother could use a few more arms. 

Christmas Decor

I usually decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year though I wanted my house decorated before my sister arrived a week before Thanksgiving. I think going forward I am going to decorate before Thanksgiving. I LOVE having the decorations up. It just makes things so much more festive. G helped me decorate the tree! He has a blast putting the ornaments on the tree! 

G did a great job helping me put the ribbon around the tree! 

A lot of the ornaments were put in one place. I had to move a couple, so we didn't have clumps of ornaments. lol I tried to just let him do it himself or suggest other areas so they were spread out. Next year I would like to put a little tree up in his room. I will let him do all the decorating himself, however he wants it done. 

I bought this white Santa after the holidays one year. It is one of my favorite items. I just love that it is one solid color. The little white house on my shelf came from the dollar bin at Target. Depending on the Target some had a lot and others had none. I had to hunt for these. 

I added a few decorations above the toys. 

G knows we don't touch the decorations. One of his friends was playing with a bell. He said C that is a decoration we don't play with those. YES! I am glad he knows he shouldn't play with them and tells others not to play with decorations too!

When do you decorate your house for the holidays? 

Happy Thanksgiving from our Little Indian!!!!

Grandparents Gift Guide

One of the best things ever invented was the Amazon Wish Lists!!!! My side of the family we all have a running wish list. It's wonderful to be able to go to the list and buy something the person actually wants. It's also fun to just send them a gift expectantly too! 

What do you buy grandparents for Christmas? I am all about not buying "stuff" people are going to end up throwing in a corner or in a closet until they decide to donate it. 

Have the grand kids make a video for the grandparents. You could do one for each. Here are some cute questions you could ask the kids to answer. 

• What makes Grandma/Grandpa happy?
• What is Grandma/Grandpa favorite food?
• How old is Grandma/Grandpa?
• What does Grandma/Grandpa do when you aren't at their house?
• What makes Grandma/Grandpa laugh?
• What do you and Grandma/Grandpa do together?
• What do you love most about Grandma/Grandpa?

My mother in law loves the Shutterfly calendars. I take pictures from over the past year and make her one every year. This helps because it is one item I know she will love it!

Who doesn't love a wonderful massage? Most people do! A spa day would be amazing. A massage, pedicure and/or facial. Everyone needs to relax and especially after the holidays!!!

Gift Cards! 

• Amazon Gift Cards!!! These are great for everyone! That way they can buy what they want. Some grandparents love their Kindle, so they can buy more books. Amazon offers every thing imaginable, so this is a great idea for anyone. 
• My dad always needs things and wants things from Tractor Supply. We bought him a gift card for his birthday. He called to tell us everything he bought with it. He liked being able to buy what he wanted and getting deals on things. If you know of your families favorite store this would be a great option.
• Coffee or restaurant gift cards

The possibilities are endless when it comes to gift cards! 

I hope this gives you some different ideas for your parents. Start making your list to get your Christmas shopping completed! 

Sesame Street Live!

G loves to go to live shows! I have taken him to them since he was about 5 months old. I can't wait to take him to Sesame Street Live! He loves the characters!!! We can't wait to see Sesame Street Live!

There are 2 shows:

January 4 & 5 at the Paramount Theater in Oakland

January 6 & 7 at the City National Civic in San Jose

Use coupon code MOM to save 20% by January 6. You can buy your tickets HERE. 

I will take lots of pictures and report back on what a great time we have at the party!!! 

Miscarriages & PTSD

I have been thinking about writing a post on how PTSD is real for someone who has gone through numerous miscarriages. I have so many thoughts roaming around in my head on this topic. Miscarriages are so much more common than people talk about these days. I am not sure why it is kept quiet. If people feel shame, they don't want to talk about the heart break or what the reason actually is, but I feel it's something we should talk about more. 

I have been pregnant a lot!  I have 1 miracle little boy that I cherish so much! His entire pregnancy I didn't feel I could really relax. I didn't love being pregnant at all. I did love feeling him kicking inside me. Once I could start feeling his kicks it helped me relax just a little bit. He would kick a lot if I ate steak. There were times I would eat steak just to feel the ninja party inside! I just felt I wouldn't ever be able to relax until he was born. Once he was out it was such a relief! I remember when they laid him on my chest the relief I felt. Hearing his little cry was so sweet! 

I have gone through numerous miscarriages. More than you can count on 2 hands.  They were soooo difficult! Every time I would get pregnant there was hope that things would be ok. This time things would be different. This one would make it! And numerous times I was met with such heart break. That hope you get when you see a positive pregnancy test, but then the fear that set in after you have been through a miscarriage. You are excited, but it doesn't ever last. It's hard to stay excited when you have faced heart break over and over. You don't share with people you are pregnant because you don't want to hear their comments. You have to protect yourself from stupid people's comments. 

People have no idea how to respond to a miscarriage most of the time. Here are some things you can say to someone when they lose a baby:

• I am sorry for your loss.

• I am sorry you have to go through this. 

• You are in my thoughts and prayers. 

• Can I bring you dinner or a coffee? Or just bring them a meal! Sometimes people don't want to put you out, but if you show up at their door with a meal they won't refuse it. 

• I can't imagine what you are going through, but I am here for you. OR I know what you are going through and I am here if you need to talk. 

Things you should NEVER say to someone:

• Have you thought about adopting?

• Something must have been wrong with the baby, so God decided to take it. 

• Maybe God feels the earth has enough people, so we need to stop populating it.

• You shouldn't try to have anymore babies.

• You need to relax and not stress about being pregnant or a miscarriage. 

• It's better to have lost it now than after it's born. 

I have had people say those lovely NEVER statements above to me. WTF! I am not going to even go into the nasty thing I have wanted to say to people. People are stupid! 

For someone who has gone through numerous miscarriage once you get pregnant every trip to the bathroom is scary. You worry you might see blood this time. Prior miscarriages go through your mind often. I went through 7 miscarriages in one of my offices. One was really bad. I stood up from my desk not even knowing I was pregnant and all of a sudden there was a gush of blood on the floor. Those memories don't just go away the next time you get pregnant. Instead those memories haunt you. You worry this time could that happen again!

Being pregnant after a miscarriage is such a scary thing! My heart goes out to all of you who have experienced a miscarriage. I also understand the scariness of trying to have a baby after experiencing a miscarriage. 

Monday Thrive - November 13

1) Thank goodness today is Monday and not a Friday! I am not a fan of Friday the 13th! My friend from high school and I were always soooo superstitious. We would go out of our way to avoid a black cat. We were always on edge on Friday the 13th. Random thought I had while typing out November 13. lol

2) We just got back from South Padre Island, Texas. We were there for a week. It was an amazing trip! We did a lot of relaxing. G just loves the pool! It was hard to get him out of there at times. He liked the beach, but the pool was his favorite. The first day he was a little hesitant, but within an hour he was floating all over. I am going to work on a whole blog post about things to do in South Padre with a toddler, reviews of restaurants, review of items we brought with us, and our resort.  

I have a lot of posts planned, but I have a rough 2 weeks coming up! I will do what I can. I wanted to post some gift guides. That might not happen since the holidays are just flying upon us. I still need to figure out what we are doing for Christmas cards! Usually I have them done and printed by now. Yikes!

3) Are you looking for some small businesses to buy from for the holidays? Check out the ihelpmoms holiday guide for up to 30% on the Best Mom’s Holiday Gifts!!! There are some great companies that are offering discount codes. I love SIC Cups. I blogged about them here. 

https://ihelpmoms.com/more/free-books-for-moms/holiday-gift-guide/

4) Next week my sister will be here for a week! We have been making menus and itineraries for the past month! I can't wait for her to come. The last time she was here was for Christmas right after G was born. It will be nice to have her here for a week. I always love having my family with me at the holidays.

Lacey wants to take her fiance to Alcatraz. I have gotten to the point I give instructions to people on how to get there, but I don't go anymore. I want to wait until G wants to go there to go again. I have already been 3 times. It's a great tour! I highly recommend it! I think once you have gone once you don't really need to go again. =)

5) There are always firsts! This year I am going to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. I want all the decor up before my sister gets here. We are going to celebrate Christmas with her while she is here. I don't want to deal with putting it all up when she is here, so I am going to do it this week with G. He has LOVED Halloween. He doesn't want to take the decorations down. I think once he realizes we are putting up the Christmas tree he will love it. I put up my Halloween, fall and Thanksgiving decorations up at the same time. I am really looking forward to Christmas with G this year. He tells us all the time stuff he wants for his birfday and Christmas. 

I hope you have a fabulous week! 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on MrsPost08 Blog. 

Brokeness

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about this guy, who he is, what he believe etc, but what I do know is this short message is AMAZING!!!! It is something we should all believe!!!

Are you tired of cold coffee?

When is the last time you were able to enjoy a hot cup of coffee without heating it up 3 times? I have a routine for my mornings. On non-school days I get up, brush my teeth, take my thyroid pill, and make myself a cup of coffee. I usually go back to bed to drink part of it as G start's to wake up. I love coffee! I have tried to give it up many many times. I have been successful at not drinking coffee for over a year at a time. Once I have it though I love the taste and the smell. I have finally gotten to a place where I am like I don't care if people have opinions that coffee might not be healthy. I need my one cup of coffee each morning because I love it! 

SIC Cups so graciously gifted me 3 of their mugs to try. I have been using them for the past 3 weeks. I LOVE them!!!! My drinks stay freezing cold or piping hot for hours! Long are the days where you need to reheat your coffee if you are using one of these amazing cups! I made a cup of green tea in my cup and it was so hot for over an hour I couldn't even drink it. I finally added a couple ice cubes just so I could start to drink it. Now one of the tricks is that you must keep the lid on the cup. I made a cup of bone broth, put it in the 12 oz salmon cup, but I didn't put the lid on it and within an hour it was cold. 

The 27 oz SIC Bottle is great for strollers! I hooked it to my stroller with a hook and it dangled nicely for our walk. It kept my water freezing cold until we got to the park. This will be a great bottle to travel with! I can add ice and water at the airport for a cold drink on the plane. It will be great to have a cold drink at the beach! 

I love this mint green mug! I use this one for tea, coffee, or smoothies. 

This 12 oz SIC cocktail cup is adorable! I don't use it for cocktails. I think the mint green is more of a cocktail size lol I do love this size for a cup of half caff coffee in the afternoon, bone broth or tea before bed. 

SIC is offering a 15% discount for YOU!!! Coupon code is ihelpmoms when you order through https://siccups.com/

These cups come with a LIFETIME Warranty!!! That alone is amazing and makes it worth the cost! We all know what happens to cups when you have toddlers! All three of the cups above fit in my car cup holder which is a must! I usually have 2-3 drinks in the car with me at all times. Water, coffee, smoothie or bone broth. It makes Art a little crazy when I have all the cup holders filled. Hey I need to stay hydrated! :) 

Check out the ihelpmoms holiday guide for up to 30% on the Best Mom’s Holiday Gifts!!! 

https://ihelpmoms.com/more/free-books-for-moms/holiday-gift-guide/

OOTD - Toddler Review

I have been trying to wear clothes that I haven't worn in a long time. I am a jeans and tshirt girl. Those are what I grab almost every day. They are toddler friendly, comfy and easy. I have gotten rid of a lot of my "office" clothing. There are just so many dressier items you can wear when your a SAHM. I dress up for church, date night, but I don't really have a need to dress up anymore than that. 

I pulled out some of these items the other week to wear. I figured I could still wear them to run errands and for appointments. Apparently my toddler now is so use to me wearing jeans & tshirts with flat shoes he feels the need to question my fashion choices. G asked me what kind of shoes are those? He was referring to the black booties. I told him they were boots. He gave me a side eye and said oh. 

A couple days later I wore the chambray shirt with the outfit above. G told me momma I don't like that shirt you need a new one. Well thanks! This is my fav chambray that I have had for years. I love this shirt. 

I have a red plaid shirt that I wear once in awhile. Every single time I wear it G tells me he doesn't like it. One day he started to have a tantrum that I needed to change. I have NO idea why he doesn't like it or why it causes so much drama. I can't think of a time I wore it where he got upset. Craziness!!! I have informed him I will pick out my clothing myself to wear. I am just waiting for this to back fire on me and he will inform me of the same things. Thankfully he could careless what he wears 99% of the time. Once in awhile he will have an opinion on a shirt or socks. 

Have your kids given their opinion on your outfit choices lately?

Monday Thrive - October 30

1) There are things as a mother I never imagined saying. 

 - If you decide to pick your nose and eat your boogers I am going to have to take the ipad away from you. 
- No, I do not smell, the smell is from the porta-potty. After my toddler announced to the entire pumpkin patch that I stunk!
- Please do not eat that donut off the floor of Dunkin Donuts that you just dropped. 
- We do not take our shoes off at the play ground to run around. You need to leave your shoes on until we get to the car. 

There are so many other things I say that I just can't think of right now. I need to start writing these things down. lol

2) Life has been crazy lately. I actually have traveled a lot this fall. I don't travel much anymore since I stopped working. G and I went to visit my cousin in Texas for a long weekend. Then I went on a girls trip which was absolutely amazing! Art, G and I are getting ready to go on vacation. We planned this trip long before I went on all these others mini trips. I am really excited for our vacation. The 3 of us haven't ever gone on vacation alone. We have gone on lots of trips to see people or taken people with us. It's going to be very nice for the 3 of us to just relax on the beach. 

3) I haven't been posting menu ideas for awhile because I feel like we have been eating the same things every other week. I go to Costco, buy whatever veggies they have, grab meat from Amazon or Costco and throw it together. My energy level has been awful lately. Part of this was because I went off paleo for a few days a month or so ago. I suffered for weeks trying to get back on track. In the future I will have 1 cheat item instead of a cheat days. Wow it really is not good for my MS. I had so many issues after not eating paleo. Also I realized every year for the past 4 years in October I really battle MS. My 2 major attacks were in October. The other 2 years when I didn't have an attack I just struggle with things terribly. I can't figure out why. My vitamin d level is good. October has been warm for us, so it isn't the lack of sunshine. I have actually gotten more sun in the past month than I do in like December or January. Our vacation is coming at a great time. Hopefully the rest and relaxation will really help me. 

4) I am looking forward to the holidays! My sister and her fiance` are coming for Thanksgiving. We are going to celebrate Christmas with her while she is here. It will just be so nice to have her here. Packages keep arriving from Amazon that my sister has ordered. G thinks he needs to open them and check what auntie has sent. Trying to explain to a toddler the boxes can't be open aren't going well. 

I am going to put up my tree before Thanksgiving this year. :::gasp:::: I know before Thanksgiving!!! I want it up before my sister comes and I don't want to do it while she is here. We have way too much tourist activities to be attending. 

5) Last week we lost one of MTC friends. I met her last year at the conference. It's hard to believe one year later she is gone. This is what gets me with MTC. One day people are working, functioning normal life and the next day they are in hospice. If you don't use Smile Amazon please consider it! Each purchase Amazon will donate money to a charity. Medullary Thyroid Cancer really could use the money for research. There is such little research that has been done for MTC. We really need to find a cure. Right now more research is being done than has probably ever been done. I donated some of my tumor tissues recently to help with the research. I am not sure if they will find a cure during my lifetime, but any way I can help to hopefully one day find a cure is so important to me. 

I hope everyone has a spooky Halloween tomorrow!!! G is LOVING Halloween this year! I love that he is so into holidays! 

Halloween Wreath

A friend posted a Halloween wreath online that was soooo cute! She mentioned she paid $60 for someone to make it for her. I sent the picture to some of my friends and asked them if they thought we could make the wreaths! Everyone was game. I think all the supplies to make the wreaths were about $20 each. We had a fun afternoon chatting, eating some yummy food and crafting! 

All our supplies came from Hobby Lobby and Michael's. We made big bows, tied on little chalkboards, wrapped some lights around the wreath and added different little touches. I stuck some tiny little colorful spiders and some whispy black feather type things. G is REALLY into ghosts, so I added a ghost bulb. 

I really love how it turned out! 

Toddler Soccer

Week 4 of soccer was much better than the previous weeks! G likes to play the different games the coach sets up. This past week they had to pick up this cones, kick their ball to the matching flag, drop the cone on the flag and kick the ball back to get another cone. G really loved this! 

When he first started he couldn't really dribble the ball. Week 4 he was able to dribble the ball across the field. It was really cute to watch! 

I think after soccer ends we will be waiting a year or two before we sign him up for another activity other than swimming. He likes to play for about 10 minutes then he is ready to go. Last week he told me he wants to play baseball. I think we will set up a tball stand and let him play baseball in the backyard. I think this is much more realistic than signing him up for these activities he has a 10 minute time span for. lol

Monday Thrive October 9

1) G and I went to see my cousin in Dallas a couple weeks ago for a long weekend. We had the best time and I LOVE Texas! There are so many reasons why I love Texas. We drove down to Waco for a few hours. 

A blogger I follow went to Waco earlier this year. One thing she said was do not plan an entire vacation to see Magnolia in Waco. I have to totally agree. Waco is a day trip. My cousin and I had 2 toddlers with us, so we rushed more than we would have if we had been alone. We went through the store. There was sooooo much cute stuff! I only bought a Shiplap tshirt. I wasn't sure how to bring back the huge adorable signs they have at Magnolia. 

G and I traveled 1,741 miles! 

Front of the Magnolia store. They also have a bakery that had a ridiculous line of about 50-75 people waiting to get in. I didn't think there would be anything inside I would be able to eat, so I didn't even wait in line to get inside the bakery. 

Inside one portion of the store. 

I loved the outside area where they had food trucks, area for the kids to run around and swings. It really is a fun place to go hang out for a little while. I don't see how you could spend more than 4 hours max at the silos. That is going through the store, bakery, getting food at the food trucks and enjoying the outdoor area. 

After we were at the silos then we went to Harp Design Co. They have a teeny tiny store with some cute things. I bought a key chain there. We went through the store in about 10 minutes. 

2) Liz and I ate so much delicious food! Mostly tacos! We had tacos at least once a day and sometimes twice a day. I felt like I had gained 5 pounds by the time I got home. lol

We enjoyed some Jimmy John sandwiches! They do have a lettuce wrap sandwich that was AMAZING!!!! 

Let me tell you about these nachos. TO DIE FOR!!!! Liz made this cauliflower nutritional yeast turmeric vegan cheese sauce. It was amazing!!!! Then she chopped up all this product and made an AMAZING mango salsa. We ate this for dinner one night and the next morning for breakfast. lol I came home and made it again for myself!  

3) G had the BEST time playing with Liz's kids! One morning he came down the stairs saying "kids don't worry I am coming down". lol He is hilarious! He just loved all of them. He has been talking about the kids since we got home. He had to tell Chris all about them. 

I brought in diaper boxes for them all one day to make cars. One of the boxes ripped. I cup all the boxes, so they were the same. I told them they now had a mini van with a sliding door. All of them thought that was the greatest thing! 

4) I love Texas! I love how polite and friendly people are. Men hold the door for you and offer to help you. Texas has mega churches all over the place. And they have tacos EVERY WHERE!!!! Mmmm I could eat tacos allllll the time! 

5) Traveling with G was good. We seem to have a great traveling routine down. He usually naps on the plane for a portion of the flight. I load up the tablet with plenty of shows for him to watch, bring lots of snacks, and bring a few new toys. Direct flights are the best! I hate having to change planes. Thankfully we can fly to Dallas direct! On the way home we flew Virgin which was fabulous because they have tv's for everyone!

Nordstrom Trunk Club Review

I recently received a Nordstrom Trunk in the mail. I haven't gotten one for over a year. If you aren't familiar with the Trunk Club it is a really great service through Nordstrom. It's a personal styling service where you work with a stylist. My stylists name is Hannah and I really like her! I am going to say this right away. The first 1-2 boxes were a little rough. It took my stylist a little bit to understand my price points and my style. Now that she gets those things she sends some amazing stuff. She also sends stuff out of my comfort level too. I like this because I am not sure I would ever try certain things if she didn't help me think outside the box. 

You are able to preview the box of items prior to them being sent. Sometimes I will decline things. I send links to other clothing or shoes and ask for them to be sent to me. I have told Hannah that I do not need anymore scarves, so she doesn't add them to my box. Seriously I have enough scarves for like 10 people. Now that I am a stay at home mom I don't want fancy things. I need kid friend clothes. I do like to invest in a pair of designer jeans. They last and are very comfortable! I bought a pair of Joe boyfriend jeans I wear a lot. They are the most comfortable pair of jeans. In my last box Hannah sent a pair of Hudson jeans. I still kind of wish I had kept them! They fit amazing, but also were sooooo soft. When you pay for denim they are so much softer than the cheap pairs. 

You can try the Trunk Club HERE. 

Here are the items I received in my box. I will try to link everything back. I am sorry most of these pictures are dark. I am struggling with lighting in my bedroom. 

I really like this top, but I felt part of it hit me in a weird place. If it had been a little longer on me I would have kept it. It was super soft!  These are the jeans I talked about above. Amazing jeans!!!! 

Twist Front Cozy Fleece Pullover

Colette Step Hem Skinny Jeans

I am actually getting this tee in a different size with my next box. I loved it, but it was a little too long for me. If I folded it under it worked great, but I would like to be able to wear it out. I will let you know how the next size works for me. 

LS SIDE SLIT TEE

This was a cute sweater. I just can't do short sleeve sweaters. In the winter I need long sleeves. I felt this defeated buying a sweater if I have to lay another item over it. 

Layered Look Cable Sweater

This was the item that was out of my comfort level, but I decided to try it anyhow. I keep seeing these big sleeve sweaters, sweatshirts and various other types of tops all over blog land. I decided to give it a try. I just couldn't do it! I felt like I had wings. I could have flapped my wings chasing a toddler around. lol

FLARE SLEEVE SWEATER

I have tried peplum tops so many times. I think they are darling on other people, but I just can't pull it off for me. I feel like it makes my hips and midsection look weird. I have a peplum just like this that I still haven't worn, so I sent this one back.

LONG SLEEVE PEPLUM CREW

This top was sooo comfortable!!! It was soft! It was short on me though. I didn't feel it was mom friendly. If I bent over it didn't cover anything. I tried this on numerous times trying to make it work. 

'Hanna' Split Neck Knit Top

When I saw these shoes I was like yuck! These are just gross! I tried them on anyhow. They were soooooo comfortable!!!! I feel I could have walked 50 miles in them and my feet wouldn't have been sore. I considered keeping them. I just didn't feel they were for fall. If they make these without the frayed-jute espadrille trim I would buy them in a second!!! 

Jinnie Platform Sneaker

Here are a few other items I received that I did not photograph.

The knit tee I didn't take a picture of was white and VERY sheer. I have asked Hannah to send it to me in some other colors. It is coming in my next trunk! 

Long Sleeve Slub Knit Tee 

The item I kept was the sneakers! They are blush pink! I just love them. They are super comfy. I think they will be great for fall! I need some comfortable shoes for the cooler temperatures that are suppose to come our way at some point. 

'Gazelle' Sneaker

If you are interested in trying out the Trunk Club click HERE. 

Let me know if you try a Trunk Club and your thoughts!