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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.

Anniversary Getaway to Highlands, NC

Posted on September 3, 2016 by annettelharvey

Kyle and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on August 20. Our (or really my) original vision for our 5 year was to head back to our beloved honeymoon spot and go back to Kauai, Hawaii. We LOVED our honeymoon there and I have been ready to go back every since we left. However, having 3 kids in a little over the last 2 years changed that plan up a bit and so we decided to stay a little closer to home this year. Having already travelled to a lot of the nearby towns within a short driving distance (Savannah, Charleston, Destin, Asheville, etc) we decided to try a new spot and go to Highlands, NC. We didn’t know what to expect but we were thrilled! In short, it was the perfect getaway. Only 2 hours from home, lots of beautiful scenery and hiking. Incredible food, great shopping and even wine tasting. It was the perfect little getaway for us and gave us the peaceful, relaxing, and fun vacation we desperately needed. Check out the list of everything we did below.

WEDNESDAY

Left around 10 am. Easy drive up to Highlands.
Lunch at Wild Thyme
- Kyle had the salmon BLT and I had the fried shrimp sandwich – both served with homemade sweet potato chips.
- Hiked Glenn Falls (difficulty rating is HARD and it was accurate! Tough hike but incredible falls and great views). We hiked 2.1 miles of the trail

Shopping Downtown. Our favorite store was Bear Mountain Outfitters. Lots of great outdoor items. We got clothes and shoes (Toms of course) for the kids, and I got a swimsuit for myself.
Dinner at Ugly Dog Pub – a local hotspot!
- Kyle had the 1/4lb Dog House pimento cheese hotdog, made with local beef
- I had the Dog House salad with smoked chicken
- Apparently Wednesdays are live music night so it was hard to find a seat at 6:30 when we arrived but luckily we got a seat at the bar
Walked back toward our hotel from dinner and stopped for Ice cream at Kilwins of Highlands
Sat on balcony of the Main Street Inn where we stayed overlooking main street

THURSDAY

Breakfast at Mountain Fresh Grocery (we split French toast, eggs, grits, hashbrowns, bacon, eggs, and amazing French press coffee)
Chattooga iron bridge and river cliffs trail – hiked about 2.5 miles

Lunch at Sports Page Sandwich Shoppe (basic but tasty sandwiches and sides)
Pedicures – oh yeah!
Shopping down Main Street
Wine tasting at Mountaintop Wine Shop
Dinner at Wolfgang’s Restsurant and Wine Bistro – Incredible!
- Hand breaded fried brie with a cranberry walnut compote, a lemon dijon vinaigrette and crustini as an appetizer
- Kyle had the crab cake on lobster cream sauce and pecan crusted shrimp with vegetables, orange molasses dipping sauce with a hint of scotch bonnet
- I had the cajun BBQ shrimp with asiago grits and andouille scented collard greens
- We also split a piece of the frozen peanut butter pie- it was pretty good but not as good as the appetizer and main dishes.

FRIDAY

Breakfast at Bake My Day- well known for their croissants and they were very tasty!
We planned to hit up a couple spots on our way out but decided to head straight home instead and snuggle our babies.

Here is a list of everything we want to do the next time around that we didn’t get to:

Visit/hike to Dry Falls
Hike to Sunset Rock (at sunset of course)
Satulah Mountain
Stumphouse Tunnel Park
Ugly Dog Pub (again). Great food and really fun atmosphere.
I’d probably go back to Wolfgang’s again too. Perfect date night spot and SO. YUMMY.

It’s a FIX!

Posted on August 18, 2016 by annettelharvey

I’ve received a lot of compliments lately on some of the newest additions to my wardrobe and they are all thanks to StitchFix. After gaining 60b with our twin girls and then still working on getting it all off I’ve gone from maternity clothes to needing to buy some very Large clothes to finally getting closer to that pre-pregnancy weight I’ve had my eye on for months now. Unfortunately even though I’m within about 10 pounds of my goal weight I’m no where near fitting into a lot of my old clothes. My body shape has completely changed which has become beyond frustrating. And with 3 kids under 3 years the last thing I want to do is take them all clothes shopping with me, and with limited time with my whole family on the weekends I don’t want to spend hours upon hours on a Saturday shopping solo either. So the answer – StitchFix.

StitchFix is the perfect solution to adding to your wardrobe from the comfort of your home. It’s $20 per shipment (which can be delivered as often as you’d like) and then that $20 goes to the purchase of any item you decide to keep. So worst case if you hate everything you lose $20 but as you’ll see below I liked at least one thing in each of my fixes so far and so I didn’t lose any of the initial $20 payments.

1st Fix: I kept one long sleeve green blouse perfect for work.

2nd Fix: I kept a pair of Mavi skinny jeans which are my new favorites and some Steve Madden gladiator sandals and an orange blouse for work.

3rd Fix: A yellow tank and navy floral blouse that can go over it as well as a teal blouse perfect for work.

4th Fix: Everything! A navy blazer, 2 tank blouses with navy accents, a jacket and maroon long sleeve top.*

*4th times a FIX! The 4th box I’ve received was the 1st time I kept all 5 items and enjoyed the 25% off discount off my entire box. Totally worth it and absolutely LOVE updating my wardrobe from the comfort of my bedroom.

If you have questions let me now! If you’re ready for your first FIX use my referral link: http://stitchfix.com/referral/8303082 #stitchfix

Anderson Sunflower Farm

Posted on July 2, 2016 by annettelharvey

Today we took our 3rd annual trip to the Anderson’s Sunflower Farm. Located less than 10 minutes from our home this has become a favorite summer tradition. We love walking through the sunflowers, taking pictures, and then bringing home some flowers and honey to enjoy. It’s the perfect summer morning treat!

A New Venture!

Posted on May 28, 2016 by annettelharvey

As of this evening I’m starting a new venture.. I’m skipping the garage sales and giving online selling a whirl! If you’re on Instagram check out @harveyhangers. I’ll be updating it regularly with adult, toddler, and baby clothes (and other baby and kid items as well.) And no… we aren’t done having kids 🙂 I’m just trying to purge the excess a little!

Jude Turns Two!

Posted on May 16, 2016 by annettelharvey

Over the weekend we had a birthday party for our favorite TWO year old! I can’t believe he is two already! The days are long but the years are short.. really short! Here’s a recap of everything we did to celebrate our birthday boy!

The Outfit

You can’t have a birthday party without the perfect outfit. 🙂 I wanted to get something for Jude beyond the normal birthday shirt with a number on it. I found this cool shirt through VazzieTees on Etsy. It comes in a variety of color combinations. It was perfect for the big day.

2. The Invitations

We invited all of the kids from Jude’s class to his party. 8 kids and their siblings! That’s a lot of pre-schoolers 🙂 We sent an evite this year instead of paper invitations which worked perfectly for the amount of people. We decided to suggest no gifts since we have plenty of toys for our boy already and kept the party to 2 hours. It was the perfect amount of time.

3. The Decor

We aren’t big into themes so for Jude’s party we opted for Elmo and Sesame Street plates and cups and napkins but then went for general blue, red and yellow colors for the remaining decor. I also printed a picture of Jude from every month of the last year from his 1st birthday to his 2nd and made a banner for over the fireplace. The triangle banner was actually a purchase from GroopDealz about 2 years ago. We had some balloons around the house and then one Elmo balloon that sang “Happy Birthday” as well.

4. The Food

What party would be complete without a tasty spread. Our goal after last year was KEEP IT EASY. We ordered a nugget tray from Chick-fil-A, a fruit tray from Publix, we made pigs in blankets, a sausage and cheese dip for chips and a caramel toffee dip for apples. We also set out individual bags of goldfish from Costco as well as applesauce pouches. There were also several coolers setup with drinks for all ages. To finish it all off we of course went for an Elmo cake from Publix.

5. The Favors

What two year old doesn’t love chalk? I debated what to do for favors (if anything) but then found these boxes of chalk at Wal-Mart for $.97. They were a big hit with all the kids and perfect for a fun giveaway.

6. The Fun

What do you do to entertain about 10 two year olds? Get a bounce house and throw some balls in there! We were fortunate that a friend actually offered us her bounce house for a very discounted price weeks before Jude’s party. We jumped at the opportunity and purchased some additional bounce house balls on Amazon as well. We also had corn hole for the adults and a couple of little tykes cars and a tunnel as well. Between this and all the food (not to mention our playroom inside that the kids seemed to find!) there was plenty to do for everyone.

7. The Result

I think its safe to say we all had a great time- especially our sweet boy! It was the perfect day to celebrate Jude turning 2!

TWO

Posted on May 15, 2016 by annettelharvey

TWO. Happy Birthday to our sweet boy Jude William. Hard to believe you joined our family just two short years ago! Jude loves and adores his “DaDa!” He also loves hugging his sisters and helps me walk them into school every morning, hardly ever leaving their side. He loves to play with his Elmo, Little Tykes car, any type of ball, play doh, coloring and crafts and he loves loves his paci. He reads books to school every morning and at night in his bed. He loves to dance after he takes a bath and talks ALL DAY LONG. ? He is so silly and sweet and loves, loves to cuddle. You find him most often in someone’s arms. Our favorite game is chase and he is already an expert at avoiding me when I try to take his picture.

Jude can still fit into some 18-24 month clothes but we are finally phasing those out and wearing all 2T now. He wears size 4 diapers and eats everything we eat. He still loves water and milk (and juice on special occasions) and his favorite foods are probably applesauce, strawberries, taco meat and goldish!

We are so blessed by the gift of our sweet son. Happy Birthday Jude William! We love you!

7 Months!

Posted on May 1, 2016 by annettelharvey

Happy 7 months baby girls. In this past month you both started solid baby food and are slowly getting the hang of it. Applesauce is the current favorite. You both are so close to sitting up on your own but not quite yet. Maisie loves to roll all over and is hardly ever in the same place you leave her in. She also loves standing and playing in the exersaucer and moves backward in Jude’s walker. Sloane is still our laid back baby- often content wherever she is and just wants to be held and talked to. Crazy weekend so pj pics were the best we could manage this time around. We love these babies!