Freshly Picked for boys

I had the opportunity to work with Freshly Picked again with my handsome little lad and we were able to test out some sweet moccasins.

 I loved them on my daughter so I was hoping that I loved them just as much for him, and I did.  My little man wore them for both of his 6 month and 1 year pictures as well (pics of sweet baby Edison below).

I love the durability of them and the fit.  I also really like the look of them, you can find a pair for any outfit.  It took a little while for our first pair to fit, in the beginning they were just too big on my little one and they would fly off in the car and then he enjoyed a good chew on them haha.

If you haven't seen the reviews for my other sweet little nugget, you can view it here and also here.  Looking back on those pictures, I can't believe how little my sweet Isla was, ok back to the review.

They are great quality leather and they are durable and don't fall apart.  When my daughter was little, I tried another brand that was cheaper and guess what- within one day they were scuffed and a bow fell off of them. When I had the opportunity to work with Freshly Picked, I was so interested to see how they would compare to at least the other moccs that I had previously purchased. I was so pleasantly surprised how thick the leather was, how nicely stitched it was and especially how they held up.  So of course when I had the opportunity again to work with them after seeing how adorable they are on all these little boys, I jumped on the opportunity again. I also love how many colors and designs they have and they just keep coming out with more designs!

I just love how versatile the shoes are and since my nugget just started walking and will definitely need more pairs!  I also love that FP now offers hard sole shoes for older kids.  For how much we have enjoyed our soft sole, I may have to finally try out the hard sole ones for Isla.

They have a great size chart on their website.  I always measure my kid's feet and they always have a little bit of room which is great because their moccs last longer than you think they would!  Plus, the leather will stretch out a little bit too.  I thought with both of my kids these moccasins last longer than other kids shoes in size and wear. I don't have a pic but they leave the cutest little footprint wear on the soles.

Here is the website to check out all that Freshly Picked has to offer:
 http://freshlypicked.com/collections/moccasins

You should take a peek at the moccasins, because Freshly Picked is so generous to let me host another giveaway.  I really can't say enough nice things about this company.

OK here are the rules!

1. First of all I am hosting this giveaway on my Facebook page for the blog: click here for my Facebook page

2. If you have previously won a Freshly Picked giveaway within the last 60 days (lucky duck) unfortunately you can not enter this giveaway

3. When taking a peek at the Freshly Picked website, please keep in mind that only the soft soled moccasins are up for grabs on the giveaway.

4. You must be following Freshly Picked on Facebook or Instagram

5.  Winner must be within the United States

Good Luck and take a peek of how cute the moccasins are in the pictures below!

Love the fringe on them. 

Love the FP on the soles!

Anytime Edison has the moccs on, Isla has to wear them too. Rose Gold in the pic on her, denim suede on him

cute with shorts

All moccasins come in these adorable dust bags! Spot the adorable logo in the Camo?!

Close up of the logo in the camo and the adorable stamp on the sole 

Green Camo for 1 year pics

9 Tips for 9 Months

I've been thinking about the differences between my 2 pregnancies, and since it wasn't my first rodeo this time with my son, I tried some new things and carried on with other healthy things, so here are my 9 tips for the 9 months for a healthy pregnancy.

1. LET YOURSELF RELAX.  This time around I had to chase a 2 year old while I was feeling craptacular in the beginning.  I think I took more naps while she napped than I did when she was a newborn.  It's a whole other ballgame in the beginning when you have another little person to take care of.  I had to learn to let go and sit my booty down and take a breather.  I have no shame admitting that she maybe watched a lot of Bubble Guppies.  I still would give this advice to first time moms, allow yourself to relax and take a break because motherhood is certainly a balance between taking care of your kiddos and yourself- learn to let go and relax when needed.

2. CHIROPRACTIC CARE.  This was a game changer.  I never went to the chiropractor with my first.  My son was a 10 lb baby, actually 10 lb 4 ozs and I had lots of back and pelvic pain towards the end and it helped SOOOO much.  A postnatal adjustment is GOLDEN as well.  Growing a human being is hard, you need to take care of ourselves physically as well before and after they arrive with your whole body shifting!! I had a much faster delivery and faster recovery and I really feel like going to the chiropractor regularly, helped get baby boy and my body aligned and ready for delivery.

3. DRINK WATER. lots of it.  I'm so guilty of not drinking water in general.  Drinking lots of water can help with lots of pregnancy complaints- constipation, cramping, swelling, headaches- the list goes on and on.  I would try to jazz it up with fruit or with sparkling water.  I drank a ton of Pellegrino.  Pellegrino also helped with my nausea in the beginning.  I was lucky to not to have a ton of morning sickness but when I felt super icky in the beginning, I craved carbonation.  What I really wanted was a Mexican Coke in a glass bottle.

4. ESSENTIAL OILS:  I got the OK from my doctor to use essential oils as long as I was not ingesting them (ask your doctor on their stance on essential oils before using them)  Not that they are a cure all, but I have found that it helps support our systems especially with nausea and energy!  A good source for pregnancy and nursing essential oil info can be found here: http://essentialoilblogging.com/2014/07/16/pregnancy_safe_use_chart/

A good rule of thumb is to hold off from essential oils for the first trimester. A few of my favs, inhaling some ginger for morning sickness and diffusing citrus oils especially grapefruit at that 2 or 3 pm hour where I would be dragging and of course Lavender to relax me at night.

5. WHEN IN DOUBT, CALL THE DOCTOR- There is a lot of misinformation on the internet about lots of topics, so if you are having an issue or nervous about something instead of looking on online and seeing everything that could be going wrong, call your nurse or doctor.  Look for reputable research like your doctor so you can be informed and make the best decisions for yourself.  Whether or not it's taking Zofran (a drug used to prevent nausea which has been been claimed to cause birth defects), getting a vaccination while pregnant is a hot topic, setting up an induction (is it really necessary in certain situations).  If you well informed about a topic during your pregnancy, you can make the best decisions for yourself. Another place where you can look information on pregnancy is at the Recall Center.  You could type in the search field "pregnancy" and a bunch of different topics within pregnancy will pop up like the use of Zofran, other medications during pregnancy, and a hot topic of vaccinations while pregnant.  I have found some interesting articles there, obviously you want to discuss with your doctor as well any concerns or problems to decide on the best plan of attack.

6.  WALKING and YOGA- I know a lot of people can do cross fit and run while pregnant, but I'm not comfortable doing that when my belly starts getting big, plus walking and doing prenatal yoga is so therapeutic and relaxing to me, is great exercise and the yoga stretched\s and lengthens your body as it changes.  I love me some yoga.

7. ACUPUNCTURE: I am not a big fan of needles but acupuncture has done wonders for my body, with relaxation, my circulation and swelling, all my systems in general . I even went for a postpartum appointment and that was an amazing combo with chiropractic care.

8.  EATING WELL:  I feel like this is a given, but eating lots of protein and fruits and vegetables will help.  There is a lot of foods out there that can help with those pregnancy problems that I listed in #3  (drinking lots of water).  Of course treat yourself and indulge every once in a while but I know those greasy fries never did me any favors when I was pregnant, even though they were delicious haha.

9.  BREATHE! I remember worrying about everything the first time I was pregnant.  Worrying and stress is not good on yourself and not good on yourself while housing that beautiful baby.  Take a deep breath, put yo take a bath and breathe deeply.  Everything is about to change in a great way.  I was more calm this time around in general.


What else would you add to the list for a healthy pregnancy?  I would love to hear.