happy.harvey.home.

Chatbooks

Posted on November 20, 2016 by annettelharvey

If you follow me on instagram you know I take (and post) lots of pictures. I mean A LOT of pictures. I mean I do love my kids and think they are cute but the main reason isn’t so everyone will see my cute kids- its really so I can add all of these cute pictures to my kid’s photo books. About a year or so ago I stumbled upon Chatbooks and have been hooked every since. Chapbooks allows you to customize, create and print photo books in zero time. It’s quick, easy and super affordable. You can “subscribe” and get a photo book every 60 pictures of your instagram feed shipped to you for $8. Or you can do what I do and create your own book whenever you want.

I use Chatbooks to create photo books for our kids.. birth to 1 year, 1 year to 2 years and so on. The really nice thing about Chatbooks is you can search a specific hashtag in your account and it will pull all of the pictures you have posted using that hashtag. The means finding all of my son’s pictures from the past year in no time! If you forgot a picture or two or changed your mind about one you can also easily add or subtract pictures. The date is automatically included (but you can also remove that feature) and the caption is as well (but you can delete it if you want to). It’s such a simple (and did I say easy!) way to create custom photobooks that are an excellent quality.

I HIGHLY recommend Chatbooks. Check it out, use my referral code and get your first book free (6J46PC7V) and then let me know what you think! Enjoy!

*For reference, pictured above are 2 hardcover books of about 350 pages (they are also the two on the far right below). 366 pages is the photo limit for one book. The skinniest book in the center below is about 55 pictures and is the smallest I’ve made so far.

30 Months!

Posted on November 15, 2016 by annettelharvey

Our boy is 2.5 years old today! Wow how time flies. He is officially our little man and no longer a baby. It’s hard to believe how fast the time goes. Jude weights 29lb and is 36in tall. He wears 2T and 3T tops and bottoms (depending on the brand) – Carters he is mainly wearing 3T – pants are still a little long and Gap he is wearing 2T pants and both sizes in tops.

He is full on boy and loves to run and jump and climb. Lots of climbing and jumping! Bounce houses and climbing walls are some of his favorite things. He loves using his “skateboard” (kitchen step stool) to help make pb&j or pizza for dinner. He still loves his paci but only gets it at night time. He likes to talk about the potty a lot and knows he gets candy if he goes but he is still holding strong to those diapers and usually says “its broken” whenever we sit him on the potty to try. 🙂

He loves balls and trucks and so many of his toys. His favorite color is currently purple and his favorite shirt is Superman and favorite pjs are Christmas or spiderman with a cape! He is super sweet and hugs his sisters when he sees them in the hallway at school and always wants to know why they are crying or upset. He is a big helper and will bring them toys as long as they don’t want one of his!

Halloween was a big hit and we are still watching Toy Story’s and Mickey’s Halloween shows on repeat. Hoping we can transition to Thanksgiving and Christmas over the next couple of weeks.

I love our happy and growing boy!

Celebrating 1 Year!

Posted on October 4, 2016 by annettelharvey

Our baby girls turned 1 this past weekend! ONE! I can’t believe it. It’s so true what they say, “the days are long but the years are short.” And this past year just went way too quickly. To celebrate our baby girls we had a small party at home with a pink and purple theme of course! I LOVE to color coordinate our girls – its just helped over the past year in telling them apart, especially for other people. I’m also hoping it helps them know what belongs to each girl so they have some sense of things belonging to each of them and that they don’t have to share absolutely everything! So Sloane’s color is pink and Maisie’s is purple. A friend of mine with twins calls them their birth colors. She did something similar with her twins. And I love it!

So on to the party details.. Here we go!

The Photo Shoot

We took one of our office chairs out in the woods behind our house and I took some pics of the girls while KH entertained them and made them smile for me. We used these for the invitation as well as decor at the party.

The Invitation

I was so glad to find one to match our pink and purple theme! Thanks Shutterfly!

The Outfits

I found the design on Etsy but them ordered them through a local contact who was able to make them for me. The tutus came from Amazon. $6.50 each and LOTS of colors to choose from! Can’t beat it!

The Decorations

I really took advantage of Amazon this year. From high chair decor to streamers to pom poms and banners, balloons, candles, straws and paper products, it all came from Amazon! Free 2 day shipping made decorating this year a blast! (And really quick and simple)

The Food

I decided to try and change things up and not do all of my typical “go to” party foods. The caprese sticks and sausage dip are the same but I also added in cheese cubes with pearl toothpicks, a fruit tray from Publix, pink and purple m&ms from Party City, pink (cherry cola) popcorn, purple (grape) popcorn, white (white chocolate candy corn) popcorn and chicago style popcorn all from Heavenly Gourmet Popcorn. Lollipops from Party City were the party favor and pictures were used for decoration. I am missing the main dish in the pic which leads me to these . . .

Ham and Swiss Cheese Slides

Heavenly. That’s all you need to know. I barely got one before they were all devoured. A definite repeat. Make them!

Cakes

Publix came through with beautiful smash cakes as well as a larger pink and purple cake for everyone else. I love how the ombre roses came out! My fav! *Note smash cakes are usually free from Publix when you order a birthday cake there. However when you customize it there is a price associated with it. Based on how these turned out though it was well worth it. I LOVED the girls cakes. (And yes they are both crying.. oh well! Glad they look cute at least!)

Family Pic

A full day but we made it and Sloane and Maisie had an incredible celebration! Big thanks to my besties, Jesslyn and Emily, for helping us decorate and make all the party food. And another big thanks to my mom for taking all the pics so I could play hostess and then just enjoy all the fun as well. And last but night least, of course a HUGE thanks to KH for being the best teammate and husband I could ever ask for. You always make party planning a blast! Love you!

1 Year!

Posted on October 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

I can’t believe its already been a year since we welcomed our sweet baby girls into this world and our family! Happy Birthday Sloane and Maisie! Seems like only yesterday and forever that we were in the hospital holding our precious and tiny babies.

Sloane Anne. Born first but I had to wait to hold you second. It’s so funny how I originally thought you were so “laid back” and then quickly realized you have a little bit of sass in you. I love how you go after what you want and lead the pack in what the next adventure is going to be. I love how you throw your head back when you want us to throw you in the air. You steal toys and pacis like you’re the boss but only with your sister. You are content to play on your own but only as long as someone else is close by, especially your brother or sister. You are big talker and love to squeal, talk, dance and laugh. I love how you suck your thumb when you’re tired and hold your wubanuub’s left with your hand. I love how you will eat anything we put in front of you – as long as we feed it to you. I love how you say “mama” and clap when we say “yay”. I love how you keep us on our toes and always seem to find a piece of dog food on the floor to nibble up. I love how much fun you are. And I love that you are ours. I love you Sloane Anne. Happy 1st Birthday!

Maisie Lynne. Born second but I got to hold you first. You gave us a little scare those first few days but I love how you quickly bounced back and made it home in record time. You are a fighter and adventurous but you are also so snuggly and sweet. I love how you laugh- big, loud, belly laughs. I love how you always have to be moving and doing something. I love how sweet you are and how you always try to hold your sister’s hand (which she doesn’t like). I love how you love to explore and how much you stand and travel from the couch to table. You are so close to walking! I love how you want to be in the middle of all the action and have everyone around. I love how you only cry when you’re tired and want your paci. I love how you eat everything we put in front of you (including what’s on Sloane’s plate) and want to do it all yourself. I love how you try to mimic what we do and clap when we say “yay”. I love how much fun you are. And I love that you are ours. I love you Maisie Lynne. Happy 1st Birthday!

Our baby girls transitioned from formula to whole milk over the past 1-2 weeks. Mainly because we ran out of formula and didn’t want to buy anymore. They have no problem drinking milk however we are having to work with them to get them to drink out of a hippy cup instead of bottle and cold milk instead of warm. We are working on it though! Their sample food schedule is below.

1 Year Schedule:

6:30am – 7oz bottle of milk (working on transitioning to sippy cup and cold milk)
6:45am- Breakfast
- Eggs, Oatmeal, Cheerios, Fruit smoothies, etc
11:30am- Lunch
- Milk
- Finger foods including meat, cheese, veggies, fruits
- Pouch or Applesauce
- Cereal bar or other teething foods
3:30pm- Snack
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Pouch
- Baby food if needed
5:30pm – Dinner
- Milk
- Samples of whatever we are eating for dinner!

We find out their weights at their doctor appointment on Tuesday. They currently wear 12 month clothes and 12-18 month pajamas.

11 Months!

Posted on September 3, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 11 months Sloane and Maisie!

Sloane keeps us on our toes. She was originally the “laid back one” but has since successfully eaten Toby’s dog food, most things on the floor and outside including dirt, and even attempted to eat one of my earrings. She loves to follow around her big brother and is the master at stealing toys and pacis (and anything else she can get her hands on.) Her first word was “mama,” but I’m not sure she knows what it means yet 🙂

Maisie is the sweetest. She absolutely loves standing and gets so excited every time she does. She is super patient, even when Sloane steals her paci (most of the time) and loves being around everyone else. My guess is that her first word will be “Dada” – she is so close!

Sloane is our squealer and Maisie is our belly laugher. They are both awesome eaters and sleepers and crawling around non stop. Their new favorite trick is clapping when you say yay! And they are always ready to wave bye-bye in unison. My favorite thing at this stage is when I sit on the floor and they immediately crawl over and get in my lap. Pure sweetness with these two! Love them!

They are currently outgrowing all of their 9 month clothes and moving into 12 month clothes. Only exception is pjs- 12 month are getting too short already and so soon we will be on to 18 month.

Here is their current feeding and nap schedules:

6:30AM – Wake and eat 8 oz bottle
7:00AM- Eat oatmeal (about 4 oz) and cheerios or cut fruit
10:00AM- Nap
11:00AM/11:30AM- Eat 6 oz bottle
11:30AM- Eat yogurt (4 oz) and pouch (4 oz) each
2:00 PM – Nap
3:00/3:30PM – Eat 6 oz bottle
3:30PM- Eat pureed baby food (4 oz combo of veggie and fruit) and finger foods
5:30PM – Eat pureed baby food (4oz – 6 oz) combo of veggie and fruit
6:00PM – Bath
6:30PM- Bed for the night

10 Months!

Posted on August 9, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 10 months baby girls!

Sloane is crawling all over, has 0 teeth, loves all foods and is a master at pulling herself up to her knees. She loves to be where everyone else is, loves to be held and is an expert at crawling over most things in her path. You know she’s tired when she lays her head down and sucks her thumb. She is a big talker and her favorite thing is her silly big brother and all of his toys- especially the box that holds his choo choo trains. It’s her favorite!

Maisie is crawling all over, has 2 bottom teeth in the center, loves all foods and is a master at pulling herself up to her knees. She likes to be held but also likes to explore. She is an adventurer – she wants everyone close by but wants to see what’s around that she can get her hands and mouth on. You know she’s tired when she starts to get fussy. Her favorite toy is her paci or anything her brother is playing with- especially his trains. She gets super excited when she is being held to stand.

Both of these girls love the water and love swimming. They also love all veggies and fruits but aren’t huge fans of meat yet. Their newest trick is getting up on their knees and trying to reach for each other through their cribs. We often find them squealing and laughing with each other. We love you sweet baby girls!

Sloane and Maisie are currently wearing 12 month or 12-18 month pajamas. They still fit in some 9 month clothes but they are definitely getting tight. We mainly only wear 12 month clothes at this point.

Here is their current schedule:

6:30AM – Wake and eat 8oz bottle
7:00AM- Eat oatmeal (about 4 oz)
8:00AM- Nap
10:30AM- Eat 6oz bottle
11:00AM- Eat yogurt (4 oz)
12:00/12:30 PM – Nap
2:30PM – Eat 6oz bottle
3:00PM- Eat pureed baby food (4 oz combo of veggie and fruit)
5:30PM/6:00PM – Eat pureed baby food (4oz – 6 oz) and 2-3 oz bottle
6:00PM – Bath
6:30PM- Bed for the night

We are starting to work toward a 10am and 2pm nap for school so the 10:30am and 2:30pm feedings will soon be at 11am and 3pm instead with 1-1.5 hour naps beforehand.

Nap Time. Baby Book Time.

Posted on July 9, 2016 by annettelharvey

Nap time and bed time often mean baby book time around here. I’m slowly trying to keep the girls’ baby books updated so I don’t forget the early days while they still feel somewhat recent.. emphasis on “somewhat.” 9 months seems like a long time and most of it definitely has become a blur. Thankfully I use a baby book that doesn’t seem overwhelming, the pages and prompts are simple- and I love the sleek modern design. Mushybooks has become one of my favorite baby items and I use them for all of our kid’s baby books.

When you order a Mushybook you choose your design and then it arrives with a nice cover protector. The baby book covers everything you could need from birth to 1 year. Bonus features include additional pages for showers, toddler years and more. I just completed the first toddler page for Jude now that he has turned 2.

For the pictures in all of the books I like Social Print Studio (formerly Printstagram). Social Print Studio pulls from your Instagram account (or your camera roll and albums if using the iPhone app) and gives you the ability to select the photos you want to print. I use their 4×4 square photo option to print pictures. 24 pictures for $12 (plus $6 shipping) isn’t horrible. Especially if you plan out the pictures you need for each page ahead of time and knock it all out in one or two packs of 24. The pictures are a matte finish and arrive on a thick white paper. I love how they hold up and I love how they match the modern look of the Mushybooks.

I’m an overall happy customer and big fan.

9 Months!

Posted on July 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

The girls turned 9 months old today! We are pretty sure Sloane will be the first to talk and Maisie will be the first to crawl. Maisie has learned how to pull the tabs off her diaper and Sloane is an expert at stealing toys and pacis- even though Maisie is quick to steal them back. Sloane loves to wave and Maisie loves to be held. Both girls are doing great with all their puréed fruits and veggies and have enjoyed everything except black beans. They still have “stranger danger” but are quick to warm up to anyone who talks in a high pitched voice and makes them laugh.

Sloane weighs 16 lb, `13oz and is 27.5 in long. Maisie weighs 16b, 12.4oz and is 27.25 in long. They are both true to size in clothes except for pajamas. Most clothes are size 6-12 month or 9 month. The only exception is pajamas due to their length. They both wear 12 month pajamas.

Here is their current feeding and nap schedule which we transitioned to between 8-9 months old. (Still hold onto 3 naps which is amazing!)

6:30AM – Wake and eat 8oz bottle
7:30AM- Eat pureed baby food or oatmeal (about 4 oz)
8:00AM- Nap
10:30AM- Eat 7oz bottle
11:00AM- Eat yogurt (4 oz)
12:00/12:30 PM – Nap
2:30PM – Eat 7oz bottle
3:00PM- Eat pureed baby food (4 oz combo of veggie and fruit)
4:30PM- Nap*
6:00PM – Eat 7oz bottle
6:30PM – Bath
6:45PM- Bed for the night

We love our sweet baby girls. 9 months. Can’t believe it! ?? Happy Birthday girls!

*About a week after our girls turned 9 months we dropped the last nap of the day. They started to take a long time to fall asleep at night and weren’t as tired anymore. Once we dropped the third nap they were back to their usual selves and fell asleep almost instantly once we laid them down for the night.

Toys for 1-2 Year Olds

Posted on June 11, 2016 by annettelharvey

Over the last couple of months I’ve notice a transition as Jude has stopped playing with some toys and become more attached to others. Below is a list of some of our favorite toys for ages 1-2 (and still favorites for growing 2 year old). In no particular order…

Tupperware!

OK so I realize this isn’t a toy but seriously anytime I unlock the “Tupperware cabinet” and let this little boy dive in and pull everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, out he LOVES it! It honestly captures his attention for a good solid 20-30 minutes (which is a long time in baby/toddler world!)

Kid Trax Toddler Quad

We got this on sale at Babies R Us right before Christmas. As you can see Jude LOVED his Christmas morning ride. This is a motorized ride on specifically for 18 month olds. It goes slow enough for this age group but is also an introduction to a motorized car which is a lot of fun.

Sidewalk Chalk and Play Doh

When I need some “me” time 🙂 or time to get some stuff done chalk and play doh are some all time favorites. They are perfect for toddlers because it keeps them busy and they can do it on their own. When it comes to playdoh I usually put Jude in his highchair and he will play for a good 20-30 minutes. These are great toys that don’t take up a lot of space and are a “must have” for your toddlers.

Little Tikes Lawn Mower

Jude is in the stage where he wants to mimic everything we do. He still loves any toy that lights up and makes sounds and has pieces that come off and on – but he also loves being able to do exactly what we are doing when we do it. The little tikes lawn mower is super cute with lots of little features and special additions. We liked it better than a bubble mower. And before you think this is only for little boys, we also have the “Just Like Home” vacuum cleaner as well that makes sounds like a real vacuum. Jude loves to follow me around and help me vacuum and then will take his mower outside and help his dad mow. We love these toys!

Mr Potato Head

We took Jude to the store in hopes of picking out a Woody or Buzz doll for Christmas when he was 1.5. Instead we left with Mr. Potato Head. There is something special about this little guy.. it might be the addiction Jude has had to the movie Toy Story but all of his little pieces also make him very fun to play with and provide hours of entertainment. “My Head” is played with everyday and is a must have in our home!

Little Tikes Car

And saving the best for last.. Jude actually received this for his 1st birthday. It has remained a long time favorite (and still is). There are many different colors and version but the little tikes red car is an all time favorite.

Other ideas (especially for boys of this age) include duplo blocks, balls, cars, firetrucks, dump trucks, school buses, planes and trains 🙂 Seriously.. when it comes to boys you can’t go wrong with some trucks and balls to play with.

Toys for Under 1

Posted on June 11, 2016 by annettelharvey

Most of my blog posts are the result of friends asking me questions about my experience. Having 3 under 3 doesn’t make me an expert but it does mean that babies and toddlers are on the top of my mind ALL THE TIME. I love our 3 and I love talking baby. Probably because its something I can get excited about and feel like I know at least a little something about. So this post is in honor of a dear friend who has a baby boy a couple months younger than our girls and was looking for some toy recommendations for babies under 1. While we try to stay minimalists in the toy area (we try- I didn’t say we are successful) we certainly have our share of toys around the house. These stick out as some of our favorites that all of our kids have used and enjoyed.

LeapFrog Learn and Groove Musical Table

This is actually a great toy around 9 months when babies are starting to try to pull up and stand. Jude didn’t start walking until he was about 13/14 months so this toy was still great in the early 1 year old days for him to stand and play and push buttons.

Vtech Walker

Another great toy for the early stages of walking as you can adjust the wheels to have more or less resistance. The girls also sit in front of this toy and can push and play with the buttons. Jude is 2 and will still grab this occasionally and push it around.

Baby Einstein Walker

We actually got this toy for Jude when he turned 1. He liked it for about a week and then quickly realized he could move around a lot more not “constrained” in this walker. He then went to pushing it around instead of riding it which kind of defeated the purpose. Our girls are now 8 months old and one of them is in this at least once a day. They love it and they can move around in it really well pushing on the floor with their feet. It is perfect for their age and will be used a lot until they start walking.

Evenflo ExerSaucer

When one baby is in the walker, the other is in the exersaucer! This has been a family favorite for all of our kids. There is lots to look at and play with. It has lights and sounds and is great for jumping as well. You can even take it apart when they get older and change the shape to make a “table” that they can stand at and still play with. While exersaucers do take up space – having one has become a necessity.

Rattles, shakers and other miscellaneous toys

I still have no idea how we accumulated all of these little random rattles and stuffed shakers.. but we did. From soft toys that make noise to harder toys that light up to balls with shakers inside and little dolls with rubber hands and feet that act as teethers- all of these random little toys seem to mysteriously appear all over our home but at this age they are actually perfect for our girls to play with. When your baby is too small to sit up or is just learning to sit up but can’t move around yet, having some small teether toys that they can learn to hold and pass from hand to hand and chew on is actually pretty important. It helps them learn and gives them something to do at this stage. So while these toys might add to the clutter they are a helpful addition for this short time frame.