My Kids Rooms// The Mango Mermaid{{+Giveaway}}

Just when I think I'm done decorating my kids rooms I stumble across something(s) that I know would perfectly complete each room.

For instance, Marcus' room now looks like this...

Whereas before it looked like this...

See the newest addition?

While the change is ever so subtle those sail flags have totally completed the room. I've been on the hunt for something to put on the frame of the bed for the longest time, but to no avail. When I spotted these custom sail flags from The Mango Mermaid I knew they just had to be placed in Marcus' nautical room.

The flags actually spell out 'M-A-R-C-U-S-'. Before adding the flags to the room I honestly had no idea each individual flag was a letter, I just loved how they looked.

I'm tempted to add other custom sail flags from The Mango Mermaid to other areas of our home. Because, nautical. And, I'm obsessed.

Here are just a few samples of what can be done with with flags:
Top left: F-A-M-I-L-Y
Top right: H-O-M-E
Bottom left: these would make the cutest gifts for a nautical loving friend of family member
Bottom right: S-E-A
The options are literally endless.

Naturally I couldn't buy something for Marcus and not see if there wasn't something from The Mango Mermaid that would tie M²'s room together. Lo and behold, I found this beauty:

This will transition nicely from a headband holder to a necklace holder as M² gets older.

With a little correspondence with Stephanie, the creator of all The Mango Mermaid goodies, she is going to give the wood a white washed look and the knobs will be brushed with some gold.  The PERFECT place to store all the little headbands I plan to put on M²'s sweet little head.

I can't help myself. Here are just a few more sneak peek's from M²'s room.

Eep! Her room is really coming together. I'm just waiting on curtains and a baby, and then room will be finished.

I won't lie. I kind of love my kids rooms and all the little personal touches that makes each room unique. Now, I just wish I knew what to do with my room (my kids rooms are so much cooler than mine).

Stephanie at The Mango Mermaid has so kindly agreed to giveaway $10 to her store for custom sail flags (but don't be afraid to check out all of her other awesome goodies; along with the flags and headband holder I have a few anchors of hers as well as a tic tac toe board made from drift wood)! Flags can be made in 3x3" squares or 5.5x5.5" squares (I had M-A-R-C-U-S done in 5.5x5.5" squares). Be sure to enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway rules:
1) Open to U.S. residents, only. 
2) Contestants must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
3) Winner will be directly emailed and informed of his or her winnings.
4) If the winner does not claim his or her prize within 48 hours a second drawing will be held and an alternate winner will then be selected. 

Happy Marcus Monday!

Starting the 4th of July week off with a little red, white and blue.

#StarSpangledKids

Happy Monday!

Week 33

Week 33!

The days are quickly slipping away.

Size of Baby // My Pregnancy says M² is about the size of a pineapple - just over 4 pounds and is passed 17 inches long.

Cravings // It's been too hot for me to really crave anything. I can't turn down some juicy watermelon, and I sure as heck won't say no to an ice cream run... 

Symptoms // I think I see the slightest beginnings of the linea nigra. 

Movement //  I can literally see feet and elbows moving across my stomach these days. It's crazy. M²'s movements are so pronounced and strong sometimes they are downright painful.

Miss Anything // I really miss my regular summer clothes. My belly is already dangerously close to being too big for some of my maternity tops, and my pickings for the rest of my summer wear are pretty slim. 
I'm also getting to the point where I'm just plain old uncomfortable. I miss moving about with ease. 

Sleep // Marcus and I have been keeping our days pretty action packed, so we're both getting some much needed sleep. There have even been a few nights where neither of us has had midnight wake ups.

Clothing // As mentioned above... Some of my maternity tops are already getting too small for this ever growing belly. And, I have about three workout tops that adequately cover my stomach. With only 7 weeks to go I'm not about to spend money on any more clothes. If you see me in the same four outfits from here on out you know why.  

Best Part of the Week/ Looking Forward To… // 

1. I had an appointment Monday to check in on M². She's still head down >hallelujah<, and my doctor and I discussed delivery plans. It's crazy to think we're already to this point.

2. Marcus and I have been steadily checking off items from our Summer Bucket List:

Summer Movie Express - $1 Movies!

I bring him to see the show. I go for the popcorn and air conditioning. 

Point Vicente Little Fish Tails by the Sea

Story and music time.
The boys were far more interested in the stories than with the music and dancing. 

Arts and crafts to coordinate with the stories read.

A little play time after the stories and crafts to burn some steam.
I hope this kid understands how lucky he is to have such an amazing 'backyard.' 

Southern California Live Steamers

We waited an absurd amount of time (1 hour) for a 5 minute train ride. Marcus was a champ and waited so patiently. He also thought riding the rails was pretty cool on those tiny little trains. With free admission I can't really complain. We'll call it a win, and check it off the list! 

Ice Cream Dates!

We are only six days into summer and we've already managed two ice cream trips. I highly doubt those will be the only two of the summer. 

I have a few fun things planned for next week, and I can't wait to get out and explore with my little man.

Have a fabulous weekend!

My Curious Chef

It's been pretty steamy in these parts the last few weeks, and I've done my best to avoid the stove and oven as much as possible. But, on our last grocery run I made a turn down the baking aisle only for Marcus to quickly spot the Funfetti cake mix and Funfetti frosting. Who am I to deny my little man the simple pleasure of the goodness of Funfetti? I was mindful in knowing an early morning baking session wouldn't heat up our house, so into the cart went the cake mix and frosting.

One early morning this week my Curious Chef grab his very own baking tools and help me whip up some delightful Funfetti cupcakes.

My baking utensils are kind of large and a bit bulky for Marcus' fat little fingered hands. Thankfully, Marcus' Curious Chef tools are some of his favorite things to pretend cook with in his own little kitchen (his all time favorites are his spatula, cupcake decorating kit and the tongs - sweet Judas he's obsessed with those tongs), and the Curious Chef tools are actually designed for real cooking and baking.

The size of the utensils are just the right size for his little hands, and maneuvering each utensil is a breeze for him.

Our baking adventure looked like this (never mind we're still in our pjs and our bed head is on point. I did mention it was early morning, right?):
We placed cupcake liners.

We poured.

We mixed.

We measured out batter.

And then we baked.
And waited.

Each and every step of our baking process held Marcus' attention. And each and every step Marcus was able to genuinely help me using his own Curious Chef tools. He was in heaven. Any time I tried to step in and help he quickly dismissed me and informed me he could do it all on his own.

The hardest part for both of us was waiting for the cupcakes to bake (20 minutes is an eternity to a 3-year old and a pregnant lady who is jonesing for a cupcake), and then we had to allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting them (another eternity of waiting). I heard, "Mommy, can we put frosting on them now?" No less than 84 times. But good Lord, when I let Marcus loose with the Curious Chef cupcake decorating set it was worth the wait.

Watching as Marcus carefully added his frosting and sprinkles in such a particular manner was a riot - especially considering the final product was kind of a train wreck.

The odds of as much frosting going into Marcus' mouth as going on to the cupcakes was very, very high.

How about those finished cupcakes.
Beauties, right?

We had the most fabulous morning: I let my child loose in the kitchen with his Curious Chef tools, he was able to truly help bake some goodies, we were able to do something fun and different with our morning, and we both were left eating tasty cupcakes for breakfast.
Breakfast of champions, no?
We may have also had cupcakes after lunch, too... #motheroftheyear

We love our Curious Chef products so much that we want to share a great deal with you. Through July 1st if you order $25 or more of Curious Chef products you can receive a $10 discount using the code: CuriousChefSummerFun

Disclaimer: I received these Curious Chef products in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. 

Trains, Ponies & Carousels (Griffith Park - Part 1)

With summer seemingly in full swing, and a rare weekday spent with Scott at home, I knew we needed to get out and go on a little adventure. Generally we stick around our area of the city (because, L.A. traffic), but on this particular day we ventured out to explore a bit.

I had heard and seen many of the great things Griffith Park had to offer, and I knew there were trains to ride. Naturally a trip was needed. So off we went.

The trains were small, and cute, and sparked serious interest from the little man.

We gave Marcus free reign to pick any seat he wanted. He chose the caboose.
The train took us on a mile loop, and Marcus was captivated the entire time. The quick loop was great, but we weren't ready to head back home.

While on the train we spotted ponies to ride nearby. When asking Marcus if he wanted to ride the ponies he excitedly agreed to saddle up.

At first Marcus seemed a bit apprehensive (see Marcus' expression above). His only horse riding experience had been on those carnival ponies that walk around and 'round in circles. These ponies gave a bit of a different ride.

The ponies followed a gated trail at a slow and steady pace (there was an option to ride faster horses, but we thought we'd better ease into everything). After the first lap around the track Marcus looked like an old pro.

I even managed some smiles, waves, and thumbs up.

If you haven't seen the :10 video on InstaGram be sure to check it out. I die every time I watch the little wave and thumbs up. He's like, "No big deal, ma."

When the ride was over Marcus was beaming. I'm pretty sure that may have been the best $3 ever spent.

Our last Griffith stop was a ride on the carousel.

The carousel itself is from 1937, however, some of the horses on the ride are from 1885. Holy old.

After a spin on the carousel our first Griffith Park experience was complete and totally successful. We had one very happy little man.

I had no idea just how much Griffith had (has!) to offer, and I've already got a few more trips to check out even more at the park this summer!

The start to the #macke2015summerbucketlist sure was an awesome one.

2015 Summer Bucket List

The official start to summer kicked off two days ago and I thought it was high time I jumped on the seasonal bucket list bandwagon and create/share the 2015 Macke Summer Bucket List. 

Aside from our pretty regular beach and pool trips I knew we needed a little more to spice up our summer days. I also created this list because these are the last few months just Marcus and me, and I want to have as much fun with the little man as possible before his little sister arrives in August. 

Without further adieu, our 2015 Summer Bucket List: 

If you're in the Los Angeles area, or plan on visiting L.A., and would like more info on our bucket list items click on the links below for more details.
$1 Movies (available in most cities) // Angels Game // South Coast Botanic Garden // Cabrillo Aquarium // Discovery Cube // Griffith Park - Ferndell Nature Center // Griffith Park - Southern Railroad // Griffith Park - Travel Town // Kidspace // LA Science Center // LACMA // LA Zoo // Lomita Railroad Museum // Maritime Museum // Noah's Ark - Skirball Cultural Center // OC Fair // Point Vicente Interpretive Center - Little Fish Tails by the Sea // Pretend City // Red Trolly Rides // Seaside Lagoon // SoCal Live Steamer Museum // Zimmer Children's Museum
#macke2015summerbucketlist

Because it's felt like summer for the past two months we've already managed to get a few of these checked off (I'll share more details of our completed summer bucket list items soon). Also note Ice Cream DateS. I've made that plural, for obvious reasons.

Our list may seem a bit long. Perhaps my aspirations to get all these things done this summer is a bit lofty. But, it can't hurt to try and do/see/experience something new as often as possible in the next eight weeks.

What's on your bucket list? What am I missing? What just *needs* to be added to fill our days with fun, and play, and lots of laughter?

Linking up with one of my favorite ladies, Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me, for her Mom Talk Tuesday.

Happy Marcus Monday!

Of all the bleached blond haired, tan skinned, Cali boys I know, this one has stolen my heart.

Hang loose!

Happy Monday!

Father's Day

My little man is pretty lucky to have such an amazing dad.

I can't wait for our little lady to experience all the love her daddy has for her, too. 

To my own dad and father-in-law, we are so fortunate to have such exceptional men in our lives. We love you both very much and hope you have the best day.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!