Long weekend

The weekend was long but fun!

Friday I went out with two of my girlfriends. Hours passed and we realized we all better get home before anyone started to worry! 

 These two kept me laughing! Thankful for genuine friendships and where you can just totally cut loose. I was happy that Andrew and Liam had a night together and I could actually enjoy my food without wrangling a toddler. It's good self care to laugh and feed myself without little fingers. 

Saturday we got coffee & donuts and drove around town and explored. We're always finding new places and we love driving to a close town that has super cute houses. 

This was my grandmas old house when I was super little. Excuse Andrews massive cinnamon roll. 

 I worked two weddings Saturday & Sunday. 

Saturday was interesting.

 Sunday was a blast! 

The Sunday wedding was so beautiful! Her wedding was like a fairytale. I love seeing all the work go into a wedding. Some are interesting but they are almost always beautiful! 

Monday we had a slow morning. The weekend was incredibly busy for me. Working weddings is fun but exhausting. After Liam took his morning nap we packed up and left for an afternoon in the city.

A smiling picture?!?! It can't be!

     
  

                                      

We went to a coffee shop in SF called Site Glass. Andrew's co-worker recommended it and it was super delicious! They roast their beans on site. We both has cold brew vanilla latte's and I also ordered a sea salt carmel covered in chocolate. 

How adorable are they?!

He didn't actually drink any. =)

We headed to the marina district to play in the grass and try to snap some shots in front of Golden Gate. As usual, fog. It was fun never the less.

Such a great shot of my energetic boy!

His moccasins are from Little Rebel Apparel on Etsy.

Blurry, but sweet with a fog covered Golden Gate. Ah well.

We hope you had a fabulous weekend! 

Love Forever,

Chel Chel

My first Mother's Day

Last year around this time I was just weeks away from having Liam. I enjoy that we share his birthday month with Mother's Day. May will always be an exciting month from now on. 

Last year, I didn't quite feel like a mother yet. Yes, I was one because I was 9 months pregnant but I wasn't in the daily routine of being a mom. It was hard for me to say thank you when I was wished a happy Mother's Day. 

As I look back now though I think I should have been a little more grateful. A lot more actually. I never knew the pain of what other women might be feeling. Since becoming a mom my eyes have been opened to a whole new world that we moms can experience. Between an empty womb, traumatic birth stories, breastfeeding, single moms, death of a young child. All of the in between. I just was naive to those pains you can experience as a new mom. 

I never want to be that ungrateful. Liam is the most beautiful child. He is joyful, hilarious, busy, curious about everything, loves being out in the world and soaking it all in. He is my child in that sense. He just wants to love life and run with it. 

This Mother's Day I am so grateful. I'm so privileged to be Liam's mom. This little boy has changed me in ways I never thought possible. He has taught me to slow down, relax and go along with the ride. That it's okay if everything isn't perfect. He just wants me. All of me. 

Happy Morhers day to all the moms out there. To all the moms who think you aren't good enough, you are. To the ones struggling with that longing for a baby, you are enough. To the single moms, grandmas raising babies, the mr. Moms you are all enough. We as moms are all enough and worth it. 

Love forever, 

Chel Chel 

// babies guide to Disney

My husband and I took a quick trip to Disney this past weekend. We had tickets from our first year anniversary but we only were there a day out of the three days we had. My husband got really sick so we had to drive home. I was so grateful Disney let us come back! We had up to two years before they expired so we needed to use them or lose them before the summer! 

Going with a baby this time is very different! It was still super enjoyable but now after going with a little one I have some tips to having a magical time at the happiest place on earth! 

One: don't stress naps! We have a pretty flexible schedule at home but Liam goes down around the same time everyday and takes one two hour morning nap and a one and a half hour/two hour afternoon nap. At Disney, he just napped whenever he wanted for however long. I thought he was going to be really messed up but he actually did really great! I honestly cannot recall much crying or fussiness. We just went with the flow. 

Two: Take a break in the afternoon! We went back to the hotel to have lunch, nap/rest and just get off our feet in a cool room. We went in March but it was nice to have a quiet room to relax. 

Three: take breaks at the park to feed. Liam is bottle fed so we would stop and start his bottle and then let him finish in the stroller. They have mom rooms though if you wanted more privacy or quiet to either breastfeed or bottle feed. They also have really awesome changing stations. 

Four: watch the parades! I never did this before I had a baby and I am so glad I did! It was so fun and while Liam doesn't look totally amused here he really did enjoy it! 

Five: there are a good amount of rides you can go on! We went on small world first to test out if he would even like rides but he loved them! He just looked around and took in all the magic! He went on small world, haunted mansion, jungle cruise, Pirates and buzz light year. Any slow moving ride babies can go on. All of fantasyland is pretty much golden!

Six: meet characters. Preferably awake but everytime we wanted to meet a character Liam was asleep. Go figure. This was also something I never did before having a baby. 

Seven: get a Mickey Mouse hat! Seriously. Adorable. 

Eight: have fun and go with the flow! Stop when you need too. Relax and enjoy it. It's hard to have a plan with a baby because they can be unpredictable. We honestly had the best time we've ever had at Disney. When he slept we just cruised around, are snacks and took pictures. It's really a fun experience watching your baby take it all in! Truly magical! 

Any other tips you have? 

Love forever, 

Chel Chel 

// What's in my diaper bag

I recently sold my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag and bought this Skip Hop bag! I am so thrilled to have this diaper bag. It's much more suitable for me and my lifestyle. The PPB bag was to bulky, hard to open because it has a flap that went over the bag, I couldn't easily grab the changing pad because it was attached inside the bag and I never had enough room for bottles unless they were on the outside. While I did love that it was a backpack I honestly don't think I will miss that feature to much. Plus, my hubby said he's happy he doesn't have to carry a flower bag anymore! 

Left to right:

Burp cloths

The Vintage Honey Shop teething necklace

Sunglasses

Huggies diapers

Wipes case

Target wallet/ cellphone holder

Baby Einstein toy ( current favorite) 

Formula holder

Chapstick

Lipstick

Hand sanitizer 

Diaper cream 

Nose spray

Pouch to hold all the small things 

Dr. Browns Bottles 

Bibs

Extra socks

Sophie the Giraffe 

Romper outfit

Hat

Planner

I keep my Beco Baby Carrier in the car and extra blankets in there. Although, living in California now I don't need as many blankets unless it's the morning or evening. 

I have so much room still in this bag. I could fit my baby carrier and blankets if I wanted too. 

I like te seperate pockets too so things aren't getting lost. The outer pocket isn't as deep so it's easier to navigate what I need.

This bag also has two outside pockets which im sure my keys and other miscellaneous items will end up in. 

My favorite feature is the bottle space. There's one on each side and I love how secure they are in there! The bag also has stroller clips on the inside and super handy to have just sewn in and not have to worry about.

The back pocket holds the changing pad and I love that it just comes in and out. Super handy!

What do you carry in your diaper bag? What are your necessities? What are your favorite diaper bags? 

Love Forever, 

Chel Chel 

// Homemade Laundry Soap

I finally needed to make laundry soap again! My last batch lasted me a little over a year. I couldn't imagine spending money on laundry detergent very few weeks ever again. I was able to go to Walmart and get all my supplies and it took me less than 10 minutes to put this all together. Up front it costs aroun $30 dollars to get the supplies which include the jar. Walmart had this one for around ten dollars. 

Here's what you will need:

1 box washing soda

1 box borax

1 run of oxi clean ( the smaller tub) 

1 Zote soap or Fels Naptha. Either will work. 

1 Purex Crystals. 

I picked this one up because it said it was hypoallergenic for baby but any of those downy crystals they have now will work so pick a scent you like! I added the Purex crystals to add some softener. My clothes tended to get a little static and not as soft as using a normal detergent and so far I'm happy I added this in to this batch! 

I picked up the Zote soap instead of the Fels Naptha soap. It smells a lot better and it's a fun pink color! 

You will need a cheese grater to grate that up and that is the most work it will take to put this all together. Grate it into a garbage bag.

 Once that's finished add all the other ingredients and tie the garbage bag off and start mixing! I would shake it but it's pretty heavy so I just kept rolling it around my counter to get it mixed. Then I cut off an end and started pouring into my jar! 

Ta-da! 

The oxi clean comes with a scoop with four lines. I use the bottom one for my normal laundry and half for towels and linens. Like a measuring cup so about 1/4 filled for everyday laundry. 

That's it! Super easy and it only adds up to a few cents a load. Can't beat that! Anyway I can save money, I'm in! Plus this jar just looks so cute in the laundry area. 

Love Forever, 

Chel Chel