Easter 2016

Happy Easter! We had a laid back holiday this year. Since Madison had to work an overnight, we decided to celebrate on Saturday instead of Sunday. We made a special call to the Easter Bunny and he came and dropped off baskets on Saturday morning for the girls. We spent the day playing with new toys, baking brownies, having an Easter egg hunt in the living room and painting. I only took a few photos of the girls because I'm trying to be in the moment more. Although truthfully I did record the entire Easter egg hunt to sent to the grandparents.

Hope you had a lovely holiday!

A Day at the Farm

Hello! It's been a while since I updated this space. Life has been crazy over here. In case you're wondering, yes I am still pregnant. We're currently at 32 weeks, and counting down the time until baby #2 gets here. I'll post a more in-depth pregnancy update soon because I think the differences between my first pregnancy and this one are really interesting.

In current news, we went to a farm today! There is a small family farm that Madison and I drive by everyday on our way to work today and we decided to take Nora today. There was a hayride, a corn maze (which we decided not to attempt), pick your own pumpkins and some farm animals to look at, as well as a farm stand. It was just the perfect amount of fall activities and Nora had a great time. Here's some photos from our day.

We came home with the tiniest pumpkin for Nora, some apple cider and a blueberry pie. Once we were settled at home we made lunch and Nora looked at Madison and I and said "family dinner" in her sweet little voice. It was so nice to hear her say that because I always tell her how much I love it when we all sit down and eat together. Today just such a nice, simple family day. I love days like today.

Nora's Big Girl Bed

Madison and I recently transitioned Nora out of her crib into a big girl bed. I posted about trying this before, but that didn't work out so well. This time, it was a necessity because a few weeks ago Nora figured out how to climb out of her crib. That was terrifying for all of us, and while we weren't sure if she'd try it again, we didn't want to take any chances. 

We took a trip to Ikea that weekend and picked up a twin size bed for Nora and put it together that day. She loves it. I mean really loves it. In her eyes, this is probably the best thing we've ever given her. She has always likes to play in our bed and sprawl out and roll around, so having her own space to do that has made her the happiest baby ever.

I was still a little nervous that the transition wouldn't be easy, but with baby #2 on the way, we didn't really have a choice. The new baby will be getting Nora's crib, so she needed to move into a new bed before December anyway. Much to my surprise, Nora has been doing great. The first night, she didn't get up at all. She slept until 6:30 (which is when she normally gets up) and only cried because she tripped over a footrest on her way out of bed. We moved that into her closet so that wouldn't happen again.

Nap time has been easy. Bed time has been easy. I'm honestly shocked because she has been giving us attitude and not listening lately (terrible twos) so the fact that she will go down and stay in bed until it's time to get up is amazing.

This is what her bed looks like right now. We added a blue polka dot duvet cover and got some really cute hot air balloon sheets from Target. She has been relishing the fact that she can have more "friends" in bed with her, so that collection has been growing. We still need to add some artwork or something over her bed, but it really is a cute little nook. There's also a blanket squished on the side because the first night she did roll into the crevice between the bed and the wall and couldn't figure out how to get out. Daddy to the rescue on that one.

My favorite part of this transition has been that now when Nora wakes up, she requests that we read book in her bed. She gets as many books as she wants, and I get some cuddle time. Win win. 

Have you transitioned your toddler into a big kid bed? Was your transition easy, or did you have to try it a few times like we did?

DIY Fabric Princess Dolls

I love Pinterest. It is a great place to fine ideas and inspiration. My boards have a plethora of DIY and craft projects I intend to make. Now have I ever made anything I pinned? No. Until now! 

While planning sewing projects for baby #2, I came across this adorable Mermaid Fabric by Ann Kelle. I decided immediately that the baby needed a mermaid patchwork tummy time blanket, like the ones I made before Nora was born. I then realized that the Girlfriends line by Ann Kelle had all sorts of sweet patterns, such as this Princess print. I took to Pinterest to gather inspiration and see what others have sewn with this line.

I came across a post about a pair of pajamas that was made from the princess pattern, and the left over fabric was used to make tiny stuff dolls. Adorable! I wanted to try it as well, and it was incredibly easy and quick to do during Nora's naptime. 

You can find the full instructions here, but all you need to do is cut out the individual princesses, sew a backing on while leaving an opening at the bottom, stuff with fiberfill, and sew the bottom closed. So easy! I love quick projects like this because I feel so accomplished being able to finish in one day. 

We are heading to California next month, and I plan on keeping these as a surprise toy for the plane ride for Nora. She's not that into princesses, but she loves dolls so I have a feeling that these will be a hit. Once I make the new baby's blanket, if I have any leftovers I might end up making little mermaid dolls too!

Do you love Pinterest, and have you every actually made anything you pinned? Let me know in the comments below!

Freshly Picked Moccasins: Review & Giveaway - CLOSED

In our home, we really love Freshly Picked moccasins. These soft soled shoes are stylish, durable, and comfy for little feet. The 100% leather shoes are easy to put on and take off, but most importantly, they stay on your baby's feet! Nora is tough on her shoes, she spends a lot of time outside playing and we really have trouble finding shoes that won't be destroyed after a week of daycare. Thankfully, these moccasins are perfectly handcrafted to withstand a crazy toddler day.

If you are interested in getting a pair of these moccs for your baby, my number one recommendation is to follow the size chart! We are now on our third pair of moccasins and Nora's first two fit her perfectly as soon as we got them. This time, I guessed at her size without actually measuring her foot. Even though she is a size 6 in most toddler shoes, the size 6 moccs are much too big for her. We recently received the gorgeous Stay Golden Suede Moccs pictured above, and Nora won't be able to wear them until the fall. I'm kicking myself for getting the wrong size because this pair is so cute I really wanted her to wear them this summer. Luckily, the warm golden tone will be beautiful in the fall when these are more likely to fit her. 

The upside to this is, I got to go through old photos of Nora wearing her smaller moccs for this post! I'll take any excused to go through my photo archives. 

Nora's first pair of Freshly Picked moccasins were Platinum. Not quite silver, and not quite gold, these shoes were perfect to go with any outfit. 

Our second pair were Golden Rod. These bright yellow moccs are so sunny and cheerful, they were the best summer accessory. 

My personal favorite, Nora's moccs staying put during a long day at Ikea! Anything to make a trip to Ikea less stressful gets an A+ in my book.

Now it's your turn to win a pair of Freshly Picked moccasins for your baby! One reader will win a pair of moccs in their choice of size and color. To enter the give away, all you have to do is head to the Freshly Picked website and leave a comment below telling me why you love Freshly Picked, and which color you would pick if you won. For additional entries, follow my social media sites below and leave an additional comment telling me you did so. 

1. Follow Hello Kelcey on Facebook

2. Follow Hello Kelcey on Twitter

3. Follow Hello Kelcey on Instagram

4. Follow Hello Kelcey on Pinterest

This giveaway ends June 7th at 11:59pm. Good luck! 

Congratulations to the winner, comment #5- Susan Sharp!

Baby #2!

There's going to be a baby! Madison and I recently got the wonderful news that we are going to become a family of 4 this Fall. We are beyond thrilled to be growing our family, and Nora is so excited to be a big sister! 

Madison and I want our children to be fairly close in age, so this timing feels perfect. Nora will be just under 3 years old when the baby arrives, which we think is a good age difference. She is currently in the "little mommy stage" where she likes to take care of her baby dolls by feeding and rocking them to sleep, so it will be very exciting to see how she acts with a real baby in the house. We both think she is going to be a wonderful big sister. 

Almost as soon as we found out, I asked Madison if I could make an "irrational purchase" and ordered these adorable matching sister bear and baby bear shirts from maisonwares on Etsy. These shirts have been saved in my Etsy favorites for months, ever since we started talking about having another baby. They are so cute and such great quality. I can't wait for Nora and the baby be able to wear them at the same time! That willl be about a year from now, so I suppose I can be patient. 

I'm am now even more excited to have this space, because I started this blog after Nora was born. It will be so fun to blog during this pregnancy so I can share the process of preparing the nursery, packing the hospital bag, and getting Nora ready to be a big sister. I hope you're as excited as we are to start this brand new journey of becoming a family of four!

Easter 2015

Happy Easter! We had a pretty quiet holiday this year, which was just fine for us. With all of the things that have been going on lately, it was nice to just spend a day at home with each other. 

Nora's birthday is coming up in a few weeks so she got a pretty small Easter basket. We did end up giving her one birthday present early though, because I may have gone a little overboard while shopping a couple weekends ago. In her Easter basket she got a new color book (Crayola Color Wonder because she likes to draw on her face), a Easter plate and utensil set (thank you Target $1 bins), a stuffed Goofy doll, a set of play car keys (because she likes to steal ours), and some empty Easter eggs. She also got a Fisher Price Little People aquarium playset (the early birthday present) which she loved! It has a little spinning pool and she had fun spinning all of her people around. 

We spent the morning watching movies and playing with the new toys. Goofy definitely needed a ride on the car. 

Nora really liked the Easter grass, and she finally got to wear a dress that has been in her closet for a year.

Nora took a nap and slept for almost 3 hours, which was just enough time for Madison and I to watch Interstellar. The rest of the afternoon was nice and relaxing, except for one hormonal Mommy meltdown. It's ok- we got through it. Sometimes that happens, but we didn't let it ruin our day. 

I tried to take Nora for a walk, but that lasted less than 10 minutes because it was so cold. Hopefully next year it will be warm enough for an Easter egg hunt! But until the weather warms up, we'll just enjoy our cozy family days in.

On Growing Up

No denying it, Nora is growing up. She is going to be two years old next month, which blows my mind. I can still remember her being a tiny 6 pound baby that just liked to sleep on me. Now she runs all over our house, tries to dress (and undress herself), and talks in full sentences. It has been amazing watching her grow and develop. She is so smart and very independent, but still very much our baby girl. 

The other night, Madison decided to take the front off of Nora's crib to turn it into her first "big girl bed." We had been talking about doing this for a while, because Nora loves to crawl into our bed and cuddle with the pillows and blankets. Look at that happy face! She was so excited. 

The first night went ok. She didn't even want to read a book before bed because she was so excited to sleep in her big girl bed. She slept from 7pm until about 1:30, when she woke up with teething pain. We let her sleep in our bed the rest of the night because she was very upset. All in all, it was a good first attempt because she didn't try to get up and play with her toys at all. 

The second night was very different. We have been trying to keep her bedtime routine the same, so that she knows when it is time for bed. She went down fine, but within 15 minutes, she was up playing with her books. I went in, laid her back down and told her that she needed to go to sleep. 15 minutes later, up again and trying to open her door. We decided to put her crib back together and told her that it was a privileged she would need to earn again. Honestly, she seemed relieved to me. She loves her bed, and we have a really good bedtime routine. 

This whole situation made me think about how different every child is. I know some kids who have been able to sleep in a big bed as soon as 18 months. Nora is clearly not one of those kids. She sat up and learned to crawl later than babies her age. She didn't walk at by her first birthday, and first words followed after that. It never bothered us, because we know all babies grow and develop at different speeds. 

We know now that Nora isn't ready for the responsibility of a big girl bed, and that is fine with us. She also has no interest in potty training at this age. We bought her a little potty to use, but she gets very upset whenever we ask her to try it. I had thought that she might be potty trained by 2, but since that clearly won't happen, we'll aim to work on it this coming year. I never want to be the mom that forces these things on her kids, I know she will come around it in her own time. 

I love watching Nora grow up and learn new things, but a part of me also loves that she is taking her time doing it.