We actually turned 3 a month ago but I just wasn’t able to get birthday photos done.  I got the prettiest Twirly Tulle skits from Ele Story and I was dying to do a little photo shoot but every day either had too much going on, or it was too cold to do outdoor photos and too overcast to do indoor photos.  Anyway, we finally got them done and I couldn’t be happier!  It’s so crazy how, in person, I look at the girls and they look like my babies still but then I see them in photos and they look so grown up WAH!!!  

So far, we’ve always done their birthday photos in denim shirts and tulle skirts so we continued on with the tradition.  View their previous birthday photos here:

We Are One

We Are Two

The wall silhouettes are from Von Jet  and they are sitting in front of their own silhouettes (left to right A, G, L)

As you probably guessed, getting 3 toddlers dressed, hair combed, shoes on, AND having nice weather to go out and take some nice photos in between naps, meals, snacks, meltdowns, and everything else that comes with toddler mom life, is a rare occurrence to say the least.  But I did it!

Kristin, owner of Boho Baby Boutique handmade these custom tie died rompers for us and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.  Boho Baby Boutique is a bohemian inspired collection of handcrafted, one of a kind designs. Each piece is repurposed from vintage fabrics and preloved materials to create up cycled, wearable heirlooms for littles to treasure for always.  I got these a size bigger than we’re currently wearing so they’ll be able to get a lot of wear before growing out of them.  Kristin was sweet enough to offer you (my readers) a coupon code for 20% off too!  Use code: TRBLOG16

Moccassin hard sole shoes from Gracious May

I’m only about a month late getting this post up…. better late than never though right?!  

As usual, things are crazy around our house.  We’re still trying to unpack and finish getting settled in our new house and we have 2 year old triplets!!!!  WHAT?  How are they 2 already?  It seemed like they were little babies FOREVER and were never going to get big and then all of a sudden they are big girls wanting to do things for themselves and talking.  They say words I didn’t even know we had taught them or they knew.  It’s crazy.  They are still petite little things at probably just over 20 lbs (they haven’t been weighed in a few months) and they are wearing size 18-24 months mostly.  They are running, trying to jump, climbing, and being the cute little girly girls that they are.  They steal toys and food from each other but are usually pretty good at giving it back when asked.  They love to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy on the couch and give each other hugs and kisses.  They also tickle their sisters which is pretty darn adorable.  They all love pillows and blankets and have their own “banket” they ask for all day long and take to bed with them.  Cats are a favorite right now too which is why we go them the cute cat pillows.  Anaia (left) is currently attached to her Koala or as they call it “nleoo nleoo”.  She takes it to bed with her and flips out if she loses it or someone takes it from her.  She also loves playing “where’s Anaia?” where she runs in the kitchen and hides in the corner and then runs out to where we can see her and laughs hysterically.  Grace (middle) snatches toys from her sisters all day long and then runs away smiling.  She does usually give it back when I ask her to though.  She is the most daring of the 3.  She loves being tossed into the air and going for airplane/bee rides.  Lily (right) is such a sweet heart and a goofball.  She rolls around on the floor squealing and doing karate kicks while she laughs.  All 3 girls love to laugh and are really very good girls overall.  They are toddlers so they have their moments of irrational tantrums and wanting to be held all day but what kids don’t?   They are also really into to who is who and what items are whose.  They’ll hold up a blanket or toy and say “Grace’s” or “Lily’s” or “Anaia’s”.  They LOVE books but are also are very good and tearing them apart so it’s not uncommon to find random book pages laying around.  The next time they pick up the book or random page they get very concerned and say “ohhhh nooooo!”.  Something else they say often is “WOAAAHHHH!!!”.  I didn’t realize I would say that a lot when they would fall down or do something exciting and I guess they picked up on it haha.  We absolutely love these girls more than we ever knew we could and feel so blessed to be their parents. 

Here is their birthday photo from last year when they turned one.  I can’t believe how much they grew in one year!

Macarons and birthday macaron stacks: Honey B’s Macarons 

High Chairs: Ikea

‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘We Are Two’ glitter pom pom banners: Little Dovie

Tea Party Themed cookies: Flour-De-Lis

Peaches & Cream tutus: Little Miss Tutu

Kids Mason Jar Tumblers: The Mason Bar Company

Gold Initial Gift Tags: Glam Banners

If you know me, you know I have a love for beautiful blankets and throw pillows.   When I see a good one, I can’t seem to pass it up.  

Well, today I’m sharing with you a brand that I have absolutely, head over heels, fallen in love with.  Not only are they gorgeous and comfortable but they are also made right here in the U.S.A. and with environmentally-preferred materials.  Their main material is recycled cotton!  Evermore Living‘s products are made of pre-consumer recycled cotton whenever possible.  The suppliers they work with purchase unused cutting waste from large apparel manufacturers that would normally end up in a landfill or incinerator.  It is then sorted by fiber content and color, eliminating the use of any new dyes, chemicals/pesticides, or water.  The fibers are then blended with polyester and/or acrylic for strength, resiliency, and color-fastness which is spun into the yarn you see in their products.  Not only does the recycling process benefit our environment, but it also provides a truly unique aesthetic that is soft and luxurious, attainable only by the blending of recycled fibers.  Evermore Living can be found online at www.everymoreliving.com, on Instagram, and Facebook. 

Evermore Living and Wash With Water recently teamed up to create a beautiful children’s line as well that bring bath time and sleepy time together… the Dream Big Collection.  Here’s a little peek

I think that one of the first things most women think of when they start trying to conceive or get pregnant is the nursery.  What room will it be in?  What colors will we use?  Well, plans I had in my head for what it would be like to start a family and be a mother changed pretty quickly when we found out we were having 3 babies instead of one.  Despite what God continues to teach me about my plans vs His, I am a planner.  I like knowing how my whole week is going to go when I wake up Monday morning haha.  

I had planned as best as I could before we even started trying to conceive.  I contacted our insurance company to find out how much it would cost us out of pocket to have a baby.  For a few years I had been working temporary technical recruiting jobs for large IT companies full time, and building my portrait photography business in the evenings and weekends.  The hope was that I would be able to leave corporate America and be a photographer full time when we started a family.  I figured I would be out of work for maybe 2-3 months and then I would pick my photography business back up.  Well… I learned pretty quickly that my plans were not God plans.  My temporary job that had been extended several times and was slated to go through August, ended without much notice in June.  I was just starting my 2nd trimester carrying triplets and was unable to find another job.  I also could not do photography much longer because of the physical constraints that come early on with a high order multiples pregnancy.  We had purchased what was pretty much my dream house a year earlier and I had imagined us starting a family in that house.  I pictured myself, with my husband by my side, carrying a newborn baby through the front door and up the stairs to the nursery.  It became apparent pretty quickly that we weren’t going to be able to stay in our house with 3 babies on the way and only one income.  Plus, we knew that we would mostly have some hefty hospital and medical bills after everything was said and done.  So… a bit brokenhearted, we sold most of our belongings, put the rest in storage, and moved in to my in-law’s basement about 2 hours away.  

I ended up being admitted to the hospital less than 2 weeks after my baby shower at 26 weeks.  There I remained until the girls were born at 31 weeks.  Since the hospital was a couple hours from my in-law’s, going home was not an option.   I was pumping and breastfeeding along with recovering from bed rest, preeclampsia (lots and lots of swelling), and a c-section.  The girls each lived in the NICU for 77 days.  For 110 days total, the hospital walls were our home.  We were discharged with 3 preemies on feeding tubes and had some obstacles ahead of us still but were just so glad to be leaving the hospital.  We couldn’t wait to be able to hold and kiss our babies when we wanted to.  

It took most of an entire day to get all 3 babies discharged.  By the time we got checked out, and drove the couple hours home through a blizzard, it was pretty late.  We walked in the house and downstairs with 3 tiny babies.  They walked me over to a room (that was previously my mother-in-law’s sewing room) and to my complete surprise, they had put together a nursery for us!  It was beautiful!  As happy and emotional as I was that we had a nursery when I didn’t think we would have one at all, I still yearned to be able to pour my heart and creativity and style into a room for my precious girls…. some day.

We were finally able to move back into our house when the girls were almost a year old and I vowed to decorate a nursery if it killed me (not literally).  I wanted so badly to create a beautiful space for my girls.  I knew that our family would have so many pictures and memories in that space and it had to be perfect.  First was the paint color.  I decided it needed to be mint but there are so many shades of mint.  Did I want it to be bright, or more pastel?  More blue or more green?  These were not easy decisions.  I finally decided on a subtle mint but still wasn’t sure how to choose the exact color.  My husband was going to buy paint for me so I found the perfect mint shirt that was Lily’s and sent it with him to have them color match it.  He helped me paint the walls mint, I painted the changing table coral, and that was my starting point.  

I had some large tissue paper flowers that my sister-in-law made for my baby shower.  She had kept them for me and I knew I wanted to use them but I wasn’t sure how. I initially thought they would hang on the wall but then I thought about the ceiling.  Then I thought how amazing it would be if I could cover the entire ceiling!  I started looking on Etsy and Pinterest for tutorials and/or a shop that could make some for me since time was not something I had a lot of.  I ended up finding Pretty With Sprinkles and thought her tissue paper pom poms mixed in with the larger flowers from the baby shower, would be perfect (in my head anyway).  There was no way to really know what this was going to look like without doing it… so I went for it.  She made me about 50-60 poms in different shades of pink, peach, white, and coral.  They were also in various shapes and sizes.  I was planning on making a few giant crepe paper flowers and lanterns myself to add but after making one flower and one lantern, I realized I was not going to be doing any more.  It was a lot of work!  As the flowers were being hung, the room and my vision started to come to life.  It. Was. Perfect. Even more beautiful than I had imagined.  It really had become the focal point of the whole room and like nothing I had ever seen before.

I started getting more ideas and ordering things online and slowly but surely it was coming together.  Every time I thought I was about done, I would see something else on Instagram or Pinterest and find just one more detail the room needed.  Well, it’s finally done… and it’s everything I had dreamed it would be.

I love supporting small businesses and working mamas whenever possible and I am overjoyed that I was able to have so many amazing shops contribute to my vision.  Below all of the images, I am providing links to where you can purchase almost every item in the room.

My hope is that you enjoy this space as much as I do!

Tissue paper pom pom on ceiling: Pretty With Sprinkles

Pom pom pillows, mini pom pom and animal pillows, pig pillow, small canvases on bookshelf wall, sweetie dolls on bookshelves: Live Sweet Shop

Gold glitter name banners: The Bannerie

Gold polka dot crib sheets and changing pad cover: Ivie Baby

Plush camera toys: Bloom Theory

Door Silencer: Latchy Catchy

Gold sequin “hello” pillow cover: Cushion Cut Decor

Canvases “Happy Girls Are The Prettiest” and “Small Steps Every Day”: Vine & Ever

“You Are Loved” peach with gold foil print over changing table: Lucy Darling Shop

Floral scripture card over changing table Colossians 3:2 : She Reads Truth

Crochet bunny rattles: The Faded Wildflower

Floral gift wrapping paper on changing table shelves: Love Mae

White wood house shelf on wall next to window: DeMeeuw handmade wooden houses

Triplet Illustration on canvas over crib: A Spoonful of Faith

Handmade custom baby dolls: Sew Many Pretties

Peek a boo house pillows: Ink & Bobbin

Floral “R” initial card: Lucy Darling Shop

Floral hoop art names on door: Miss Tweedle

Toddler pillow cases: The Olive Grove Shop

Teal metal storage table: Amazon

White fur rug: Rugs USA

Cotton knit storage basket: RH Baby & Child

White rocker lounge chair: Houzz

Pink pom pom trim baby blanket in knit basket: A Little Lady Shop

Pink smiling cloud wall hook: Eina Designs

White floating bookshelves: Smart Furniture

Hoop hair accessories organizers: LuLu & ChaCha

Cribs: Ikea

White fawn nightlight: Pottery Barn Kids

Cloud pillow with pink bow: Cali Cuteness Couture

“Jesus Loves Me” and “A Parents Prayer” prints: Sacred Made Shop

I have been keeping this secret for a while now…. I’m so excited to be able to share this with you finally!!! The Young Living Essential Oils BRAND NEW Premium Starter Kit was just released!

Young Living has compiled months of research and member feedback, and worked on design improvements from business trendsetters like Apple and Beats by Dre, to create a new and INSANE BRAND NEW STARTER KIT.  Holy gorgeous.  And it is the PERFECT lineup of oils.  I’m pumped to get these into every single home and get people taking charge of their health.  The healthcare system is there when we need it but WE are the ones who are in charge of taking care of our bodies every day, supporting our bodies’ systems BEFORE they break down.  How empowering is that?

Feast your eyes!!!

The kit comes with a diffuser (you choose which one!), 11 of the most popular oils, a roller, samples, and awesome literature!  Plus when you grab it with me, you get $20 back from yours truly, I add you to our awesome oily fb group, and you get access to The Happy Oils handbook!

The new kit has 4 diffuser options.  I have all 4 and love them all.  You really can’t go wrong with any of them.  What I like about the The Home Diffuser is that it has a setting with 30 second intervals.  It’s nice when you just want a mild aroma over a longer period of time.  Down side to the Home diffuser is that it recommends distilled water.  All of the others recommend tap water.  I use the Dewdrop diffuser in the girl’s room because it also functions as a humidifier and we live in Colorado where it’s dry.  I love the modern, slique look of the Bamboo diffuser for any of our main living spaces and this was probably my favorite until I recently go the Aria.  I’ve had my eye on the Aria for a while and decided it was time when they released the new kit with the Aria diffuser option.  It’s very fancy and spa like, and I love that

In the past year that I’ve been sharing my love for Young Living Essential Oils, I’ve had almost 2,ooo of you join me, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me!  If you’re ready to join us and detoxify your house and your life, here’s how…

Click HERE to order.

Be sure that my member number (1922173) is in the sections for enroller and sponsor.

Once you sign up as a Wholesale Member, you get the wholesale discount forever after on anything you ever need which is 24% off! Being a Wholesale Member does not mean you have to sell Young Living nor does it mean you have to sign up for automatic shipments.

* to be eligible for the $20 back, you must create a New Wholesale Member Account and purchase any of the Premium Starter Kits (Thieves and NingXia Red kits included)

There are other EOs out there but through all my research, Young Living brand is the only one I trust and the only ones I’d use on myself & my family, including little ones. They have a Seed to Seal promise–meaning they control the product from the beginning growth of the plant, tree, root, etc. all the way to the bottle you receive. They own their own farms & use essential oils on their crops. It’s the only company that does this!

So… I had posted a couple of little teasers on Instagram and Facebook letting you all know that we had a fun little project we got to be a part of and here it is!!!  Arizona Central Credit Union (www.azcentralcu.com) featured the girls in a commercial!  How fun right?!  Here it is!  

I’m back and this week I’d like to tell you about a brand of organic and healthy baby/children’s food products.  I breastfed the girls for the first year and am pretty particular about what they eat still at 15 months old.  When they were tiny preemies in the NICU, they all seemed to have really sensitive stomachs when given anything but breastmilk.  I do my best to cook for them but, with three babies, it’s hard to always have something quick I can grab when they get hungry.  These girls eat pretty much non stop.  As babies they always did best and ate most when I fed them on demand rather than keeping them on a 3 hour or 4 hours feeding schedule and to this day they are grazers.  They prefer small frequent meals which is actually a great habit but it’s hard on Mama haha!!  My husband found Happy Family Brands Organic Superfoods and the girls LOVE their snacks!!!!  No really…. like they know how to ask for them and as soon as we pull out some yogurt bites or creamies or puffs, they all come crawling over as fast as they can.  It’s great to have snacks like this on hand so I can get them munching while I prepare their meal or to throw in my diaper bag for on the go.  

Launched on Mother’s Day 2006, and founded and operated by moms, Happy Family is a leading premium organic food brand delivering optimal nutrition for the entire family. Today, Happy Family provides organic foods for babies, toddlers, kids, and even adults! It’s delicious, convenient and made with a mother’s touch for all ages, all stages. What could be happier than that? 

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Enter to win 1 of 3 Happiest Toddler Packages (1 year – 3 years old) – $25 Value

Each Toddler package contains as selection of our most popular products for ages 1 and up. You will also receive additional coupons, educational resource cards and Happy Family swag!

To Enter:

Head over to my Instagram and follow the instructions on the Happy Family Giveaway photo.  

Must be a U.S. Resident to enter

You can find Happy Family at www.HappyFamilyBrands.com, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.  Also join thier Generation Happy community (quarterly e-newsletters) HERE

Mommy and Me items have always been a big hit I think.  I remember having a couple of outfits that matched my mom when I was a little girl and I always felt so special wearing them.  It’s a little hard finding Mommy and Me items with triplets because most things come as a set with only one item for Mommy and one for Baby.  Bracelet sets are something I found that I am loving though!!!  They’re perfect with three identical girls because I can assign each baby a color and then incorporate all 3 of their colors into mine.  Here are two very different but equally adorable and stylish versions.  The braided set is from Hazel Love Design Company.  Also pictured are bow and pastel Pom pom headbands from Miss Rubylocks, and Flora Fawn matchbook paper pad and Chapstick from Live Sweet Shop.  

The second set is a beaded version from Poppy Lane & Co.  I love the look of bracelet stacks!  Pictured also are Beatrice Bunny goodies from Live Sweet Shop.