There's a Bun in the Oven

A deliciously fluffy buttery bun does sound damn good right now, but there is actually a numero tres in my big ole' belly.

So I'm at that stage where I'm not really showing, but if I wear something fitting it looks like I'm just fat and frankly finding something flattering to wear in my first trimester is pretty freakin' difficult.

My good friend introduced me to Tobi.com and well it's 50% off sitewide baby and how can I pass a deal up?!
Use code: FOREVERMORE, ends tomorrow Sept. 24 at 11:59 p.m. so HURRY!

Just a note, I strictly usually only shop sites with free shipping, free returns, and duh promo codes!

I'm eyeing shift dresses for dinner and non-alcoholic beverages with some tights and booties or a special occasion where I can fancy up with some statement necklaces.

Yes I'm hiding that little bump til I actually look like I'm pregnant.

        

I also love Asos.com which carries trendy maternity clothing when I'm bigger, yay! 

For 25% off use code: FW14AWESOMENESS.

   

Happy Shopping!

Great Wolf Lodge and State Fair of Texas

My recap and review of my GWL trip has been long overdue.

We had a 4 hour drive which wasn't too bad, thank goodness for our portable potty! Seriously, best investment I've ever made and it's not even that pricey, about $23. Purchased from Amazon. Wish I bought it sooner. A million times better than using those germ infested public restrooms. Yuck!

Great Wolf Lodge Deals

We traveled on October 7 - 9, there was a 20% off deal. I noticed they also had Halloween festivities going on which started on October 10 which I thought would be more fun for the kids, but I compared the prices and during their Halloween deals room prices went up. For 2 nights, we paid about $400. 

What to pack - for a 2 night trip

• Plenty of snacks and drinks for the road trip - keep in mind the lodge has a refrigerator and microwave
• Portable potty
• Plastic bags for trash
• 2 bathing suits
• Puddle Jumper floats - the lodge has floats for the older kiddos, but if you have toddlers and you have puddle jumpers definitely bring those
• Swim cover-ups - their websites state that you must wear a cover-up when you enter the hotel but you will see people who don't listen to their policy. I recommend you wear a cover-up because when you enter the hotel after coming out of the waterpark, it's pretty chilly
• 2 cute pajamas - storytime is in the lobby at 8pm. 
• Dress up and/or casual wear for dining outside the hotel and exploring Dallas.
• We didn't spend all day at the waterapark even though it's open from 9am-9pm, we probably spent less than 4 hours a day and we only visited it once. The waterpark is smaller than we anticipated as well. 
• We only had dinner once in the hotel, we ordered a box of pizza and ate in the hotel room. We didn't get to try the restaurants in the hotel. There are so many restaurants to eat nearby and/or if you don't mind driving 10-15 minutes into Dallas there are a wide array of options
• Grapevine Mall is nearby, it's more of an outlet mall which is awesome. LegoLand is located here. We didn't check it out because it seemed overpriced and small. 
• However, I couldn't resist shopping at H&M with their buy 1 get 1 free sweater sale. The H&M near us is always crowded so it was nice to shop without chaos

GWL Review 

• As we arrived to Great Wolf Lodge, we were able to check-in early at 3pm, check-in is at 4pm and they even upgraded our room. We originally requested two queens, but were surprised to walk-in to a KidCabin. A KidCabin includes a full size bed with a separate area with a bunk bed and a twin size bed. More room than we needed for the four of us, but the girls loved climbing on the bunk beds.
• Indoor waterpark wasn't as big as I thought it would be so there wasn't much to do to be there ALL DAY, I wouldn't want my children soaking in chlorine for that long anyhow
• My girls 3 and 4.5 years old were not tall enough to ride the big slides, big negative for us. At Schlitterbahn we were able to get double tubes and ride with the girls.
• The water was a little colder than we expected
• Would have been nice to have tubes for smaller children for the lazy river and wave pool
• We traveled in October and the outdoor water park was not open
• Before storytime begins at 8pm and the robotic characters tell a story and sing songs. You can barely hear what they are saying, the sound system is just not great. A squirrel came out with a staff member afterwards and read a story. The children were more excited to see the squirrel.
• The buffet was not open 
• The Arcade and Cub Club are really small and of course all you do is end up spending more money
• We didn't even bother looking into the MagiQuest game, appeared pointless and a waste of money
• The rooms were nice and clean. No complaints about housekeeping.

Overall, the girls did have fun. We wanted to try something new and different but I wouldn't make this an annual trip. Actually, I don't think it's worth coming back. I personally prefer Sea World.

State Fair of Texas

We have never been to the state fair so we definitely took advantage of our trip which coincidentally fell during this time, wahoo!

I was a little disappointed. There is all this hype about the State Fair, but sorry I wouldn't drive 4 hours for it, maybe if I didn't have kids? 

• Parking was $15. When we left, we saw $5 parking which was the same distance probably closer 
• We went on a Tuesday, which offered a $5 admission with an empty Dr. Pepper can. We stopped by a gas station to buy the cans and emptied them out. 
• Regular priced tickets are pretty steep!
• General admission: $17
• Child (under 48" in height) $13
• Child under age 3 admitted FREE
• Seniors (ages 60 and over) $13
• Seniors FREE every Thursday
• We visited the aquarium, which was small but worth looking at if you want to get out of the heat, but requires admission
• The Chinese Lantern Festival looked really interesting, but we didn't want to spend more money - Adults $14, Children $9 (ages 4-12)
• We spent a lot on food, carnival rides and games
• The place is huge and we were too exhausted and didn't even make it to Big Tex :( 

We had a great memorable trip and very much enjoyed our visit to Dallas!

Wedding Guest Fashion Sense

I love weddings. I love the flowers, the decor, the bride's wedding dress, the bridesmaids' dresses, the tuxedos...it's all beautifully thought out and perfected together just like the couple confessing their love to one another. When you are a guest to a wedding, sometimes it can be difficult to decide what to wear.

My Don'ts and Uh...can you say inappropriate? 
Hoochie Wear - a dress two sizes too small, cleavage in your face, and too short - higher than mid thigh and if you bend over I can see your a$$. Sorry ladies, leave this dress for the club. It's probably better if you wear some black slacks and a really nice blouse.

Jeans - why on earth do people think it's okay to wear jeans? You wear jeans everyday as your casual attire, so HELLO isn't a wedding considered super formal? I had a couple of people wear jeans to my wedding including a cousin. If only you could see the look on my face.

White/Ivory - do I even need to explain why? The bride wears white/ivory and she should be the ONLY person because it's HER wedding not yours.


Day and Evening Weddings
This past weekend I had the lovely honor to attend two weddings. One was a brunch wedding and another was in the evening.

Day ~ Classy Coral 

Coral A-line Cutout Dress, Blazer, and Necklace, Forever21  |  Olsenboye Heels (old), JCPenney

 Lace Clutch (old), Marshalls  |  Double Link Chain Stretch Belt, Agaci

My heels are adorably cute, surprisingly comfortable and my fav of all affordable!Not sure if you noticed, but I'm wearing panty hose. Yea who wears panty hose nowadays, well I had an allergic reaction to penicillin and these red itchy spots were all over my legs. Horrible timing.

You can't see my belt on my dress, but it gave the dress some personality.

I have to admit my dress was RIDICULOUSLY inexpensive (frugal fashionista), but you wouldn't know because I accessorized it up. I love love the coral pink. I HEART Forever21. You can get so much for so little. Yea, the quality might not be as great as a $100 dress but how many times will you be wearing that $100 dress?

With a solid colored dress I can have fun with accessories and layering pieces for different looks.

 

Husband ~ Striking Suit

Unfortunately, menswear isn't as inexpensive as us ladies. 

Loving the tailored grey suit and the patterned socks are sexy.

Suit, Light Blue Dress Shirt, Tie, Socks, Express  |   Hugo Boss Lace-Up Dress Shoes, Macys

Evening ~ Wanderlust Watercolor 

Dress, Necklace, Heels, Forever 21 

I didn't have a great picture of myself and the model did the dress better justice. Now the slight negative thing about Forever 21 dresses is everyone shops there. The worst thing that can happen at a wedding is you might see someone wearing the same dress as you AND damn it happened to me! 

My girls were with me so I was running after them constantly and I had to walk by this girl all night! Thank goodness for my oh so comfortable heels. AND to make matters worse, she was in the ladies room when I walked in. I HAD to say something to make it less awkward so I went with, "I like your dress." Still AWKWARDDD!

The Girls - Blushes and Blue

Dresses, Macys and Palais Royal  |  Ivory Rose Headbands, Old Navy

Twas a beautiful day and night of weddings and it's always fun dressing up!

Grocery Shopping with Little Monsters

It's that time where I dread when my fridge is almost empty and I have to make a trip to the grocery store. Grocery shopping in general stresses me out because there is so much I need to buy. I don't even bother with grocery store coupons and yet I still find myself cutting them out. 

And when I actually have a coupon, I can't find the darn item to find out it's sold out. What the...seriously?

To add to the dismay, you would think since my children are walking and early preschoolers now they would listen, but Kylie my 3 year old hasn't seem to get over her " terrible 2's." I don't know what her deal is, but when she doesn't get what she wants she throws the biggest tantrum EVERRR. This girl loves to shop, but mommy can't buy her everything so NO means NO.

It's embarrassing and I just want to run and hide. What do I do? I give her the evil eye, she doesn't budge. I try to calm her down, nope doesn't work. I try to make make a deal with her, she could care less. 

So I simply ignore her, can't even get all the things I need on my grocery list,  hurry  to check out and get the hell out of there. 

Glam Up Fall with Beautiful Booties

I have yet to own a pair of booties, but I do have a pair coming in the mail! Can't wait to rock these bad girls. I must admit I wasn't a big fan, but my style and love for fashion have changed over the years. In the midst of soul searching, adjusting to marriage life, being pregnant and being a mom, it took me awhile to discover my style  + what looks fab on me.  

These are just some of my favs. Wish I could own them all, a girl can dream.

 I'm all about glamming up and not having to spend a fortune. These gorgeous booties are $80 and under.

1. Forever 21, $36.80  (available in black & brown)  |   2. Forever 21, $39.80  
 3. Call It Spring, $80 (available in black)   |  4. Go Jane, $36.40 (available in black & nude)
5. Forever 21, $36.80   |   6. Tobi, $60  |  7. Agaci, $32.50 (available in black & tan)  |  8. Zara, $69.90

Marriage IS a fairy tale....just in reverse

My girls like to play with their toys and they have too many of them. They seriously have 3 designated rooms with toys and yet they still seem to scatter them throughout the entire house. The living room, the hallways, the shoe rack, the kitchen, my clothes drawers and all sorts of fun places.

Happy Cleaning!

Sassy Swimwear for the Little Ones

Next week my husband finally has vacay. OMG yes! I seriously NEVER see my husband. I'm hoping I get to squeeze in a date night in there somewhere.

We are going to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX  (check out the deals they have before you book + will be posting a review).

I purchased a couple of new swimwear for the girls and had to make sure their old ones still fit - they grow so fast :(


One Piece VS. Two Piece Swimwear
I personally prefer a one piece swimwear versus a two piece swimwear for the girls. Most of the time I find that the bottom may run too big and when in the water it tends to fall off especially going down a water slide. Always having to pull it up for your kiddos is quite annoying!


Potty Training Turmoil
My 3 year old Kylie is pretty much without diapers, BUT I have to constantly and consistently remember to take her every 30 minutes just in case. She has a problem with informing me when she has to go and has been doing #2 in her undies. Can you say GROSSNESS?! No, I'm not used to it and get irritated every single time and she apologizes afterwards. Weird thing is she fights me and sometimes bites me when I make her go and she ends up doing the potty when I finally force her on the toilet.

She is perfectly fine with sleeping without a diaper through the night. If I'm lucky during her #2 fiascos, I just happen to catch her in the moment of straining and I turn into Super Mom and dash to the potty. I've tried everything! I guess I'm just an unlucky parent, she does have a stubborn strong willed personality. Oh please let this phase be over ASAP!


Swim Diapers 
I NEVER find any that actually work. Do they even exist? Or are they just made for catching #2s in the pool which thankfully has never happened, however she did pee in them because I've felt the warmness dripping on me when I happen to hold her or I see it dripping down her leg.

I'll probably be putting swim diapers on her during our trip unless she does #2 beforehand.


Cute swimwear photo shoot ~

Orange Grapefruit Bikini (4T, runs a little small), Target   |   

Red White Polka Dots Ruffled Tankini (3T, true to size), Target 

Blue Polka Dots & Stripes One Piece ($12.95, size 2-4Y, true to size), H&M   |
Floral One Piece (sale $3.95, size 3T), Old Navy  |  Purple Floral Tankini (4T, bottom runs big), Target  |
Purple Tankini  (3T, true to size), Old Navy

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Old Navy

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Don't have a card? 20% off 

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H&M 

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