Life with toddlers these days.

After getting over the shock that I was expecting Mariam back in 2012, since Layla was only 9 months old, one of the things that comforted me was the fact that I was going to have two little girls close in age that could potentially be each other's best friend and that they would have a playmate growing up. It's been the sweetest thing to see them play and interact with each other once Mariam got bigger. Even now Mariam will say "C'mon Layla, let's go play" in that little nasaly toddler voice and my heart just melts.

However, what I wasn't prepared for this early in the game was all the fighting! Good Lord has it been tough this past week with all the screeching and shoving. Oh yes, there is shoving. Since last year, I learned just to buy two of everything when I can so they don't fight, but that doesn't always help. These two little rascals will find a way to fight about something. Whether it's who is snuggling my left arm on the couch, or who wants to read a certain book. I've yelled a lot more than I'm comfortable with this past week, but it's very very aggravating when it's practically all day. I think part of the issue is we've been cooped up a lot together since moving to Florida. I wasn't planning on being pregnant and thought we'd be doing tons of things outdoors since the condo doesn't have a backyard, but it's been so hot and it's also difficult to take both girls out by myself with this growing belly. We try to go to the park a few times a week though. I could use some tips on how to handle toddlers who bicker and fight over toys and I'll be doing some googling later. This is a whole new ball game for me since the age gap between Serena and Layla is 8 years and Serena was an only child for a long time. I never had to deal with this before. 

Other than that, my girls are still also very loving and sweet. I thank God every day for them and I'm excited about adding another little sibling to our bunch. 

Have a great Monday!

18 Weeks Pregnant!

(As of today 18 weeks 5 days)

Total weight gain: I don't have a scale at home so I have no idea but my pants don't feel tighter except in the belly area so I don't think I've gained much since my last appointment.  

Maternity clothes? Yes and no. I found an old stash of maternity shirts in a closet so I took those out and have been wearing a few.

Stretch marks? Still too early in the game.Nothing new to report here.

Sleep: I've been sleeping a little bit better these past 2 weeks. The girl's have been better about climbing into our room in the middle of the night. Part of the reason is Mariam has started to just climb into Serena's bed instead of ours. 

Best moment this week: Feeling the baby become more active. I could of sworn it had hiccups yesterday but it just seems so early to tell so maybe not. 

Miss Anything? Breathing like a normal person. I feel constantly out of breath this past week.

Movement: I've been feeling a decent amount of movement this week. 

Food cravings: Pretty much anything bad. Haha! Fried foods, candy.

Food aversions: Nothing I can think of this week.

Labor Signs: No thank goodness. Way to early for all that, but I've been feeling a lot of braxton hicks contractions. More when the girl's stress me out or I have to yell at them for fighting amongst each other.

Symptoms: A little indigestion, not much energy, getting winded fast.

Have a great Tuesday!

Mommy & Me

I swear I must be certifiable to speed up instead of slow down during pregnancy. I always do this to myself but I guess I thrive on chaos. It's been a busy few days thus far and I'm happy to announce that the first few items of my upcoming maternity accessory line are in pre-production! I'm so excited about it and a little scared. Manufacturing a product is not cheap and there will be some financial hurdles I'll be coming across in the next 2 months, but if there's a will there is a way. 

I also want to announce that a limited amount of mommy and me tulle skirts will be hitting the shop next week! I first made myself one back in December and a friend suggested I make more but then so much happened. We moved, found out I was pregnant and then had horrible nausea for 2 and a half months...all while juggling my family and the business. So much going on, but very excited about growing the FHJ brand.

Here are a few sneak peaks. Layla is modeling the toddler version of the tulle skirt.

Have a great Wednesday and be sure to follow my shop on Facebook or Instagram to keep up with the latest!

Pregnancy exercise

I have seriously been slacking in the exercise department. For the first two and a half months I felt horrible. The nausea and fatigue were terrible! So yes I had a good excuse, but for the past few weeks I have been feeling pretty good. I'm still constantly tired but it's more the girls waking me up in the middle of the night. 

I've probably been exercising only once a week, but I am on my feet pretty much all day and do chase after the girls a lot. That definitely does help keep me fit, but I know it's not good enough. I keep on trying to find the motivation but it's hard. I picked up a cute Mondetta training top last week and putting it on with my yoga pants did help. Isn't the power of a cute outfit interesting? Yesterday the family and I went on a 3 mile walk for the 2015 Broward heart walk and it was nice to get a good boost for the week. Today I'm going to try and squeeze in at least 30 minutes of exercise.

Love the criss-cross back!

Have a great Monday!

Darker hair and OOTD

I'm all about finding a great deal especially since I love shopping. When it was just Serena as an only child, I was more of a brand snob, but these days if it's cute I'm all for it. Wednesday I took the little ones to the park and in the afternoon when we picked up Serena from School, we had to run a few errands. We made a couple extra stops one which included Payless and while we went in for a pair of tennis shoes for Serena, I saw these adorable scalloped leopard flats for only $8! I couldn't pass that up and you can find them online and in store.

Onto something else that's recent. I dyed my hair Tuesday night because I've been getting more grey's and my hair had turned into a brassy mess again. If you see the pictures from my Easter post, you'll see what I'm talking about. I used a box dye from Clairol. I normally use Revlon, but I thought I'd give this one a try. The color I used was medium ash brown. 

So the verdict. I like the color and if it the dark gets on my nerves well at least it will fade fast, but the issue I had was it left my hair color uneven. If you look at the top two pictures you'll notice I've got like an ombre going on. H assures me it's not that noticeable, but I can tell. Oh well. I'm just going to leave it as is, I'll be dyeing my hair in a couple months again anyways and I don't want to damage it. You can't see the uneven parts in indoor lighting really.

Have a great weekend!

Our Easter weekend

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. Ours was good. We started Saturday morning off by going to a nearby park for a small easter egg hunt with some of the families that live in the condos that we do. Said park is inhabited by that little alligator above which I thought was interesting. You'll see a lot of alligators in Florida! After the egg hunt we went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch--I was craving salad! Then we came home and I took Serena to the pool.

Sunday morning was a bit of a fail. We tried to go to the 10:30 am mass and it was completely crowded. They wouldn't let anybody else in the church so we went to the "overflow mass" and that was crowded too. I feel like a bad catholic about it, but the girls and I left. I was pretty irritated that I got the girls ready and showed up early and there was still no room. Next time I guess I better get there an hour early. I did stop at a nearby park to get some Easter pics and then we came back home to pick up H and Mariam and go to the beach. The rest of the evening was spent playing with the girls and getting some work done.

Have a great Wednesday!

16 weeks pregnant!

(As of today I'm 16 weeks 4 days pregnant and these pictures are a week old from a mother daughter tea event we had.)

Total weight gain: As of my appointment last week, I put on 2 lbs.  

Maternity clothes? Just one maternity shirt I've been wearing. I've been having issues closing my shorts now so I use a hair tie.

Stretch marks? Still too early in the game.Nothing new to report here.

Sleep: Waking up either to use the restroom or one of the girls has come into our room. Some nights it takes me forever to fall back to sleep.

Best moment this week: Hmm...can't really pinpoint anything. I suppose it's getting an appointment scheduled to find out what we are having. 

Miss Anything? Having energy. Not using the restroom what feels like every 30 minutes.

Movement: I've been feeling a decent amount of movement this week. At times it tickles.

Food cravings: Sometimes it's fruit (rare though), sometimes pasta.

Food aversions: Nothing I can think of this week.

Gender: Not sure yet, but getting so close. We will know the last week of April! So excited

Labor Signs: No.

Symptoms: Tired every day. Sometimes hard to catch my breath. 

Looking forward to: Finding out what we are having! I still think girl.

Have a great Monday!

Events & Pregnancy fashion

This past weekend was full of events. By the time Sunday rolled around I was actually happy to be back in my yoga pants and ponytail. The weekend kicked off with the Boca Bacchanal which is a food and wine event benefiting the Boca historical heritage society. It was held at the Atlantic Aviation hanger in Boca and unfortunately it rained cats and dogs as soon as we arrived but that did not keep the crowd away, let me tell you. There was over 140 featured wines from world-renowned vintners and delicious by-the-bite specialties from over 30 South Florida restaurants. Guests were also able to experience private jet tours, chef demonstrations, car displays, fashion presentations from Saks Fifth Avenue and live entertainment. H and I had a great time and hope to attend next year. I also got to know a few bloggers which was fun. 

(Excuse the blurry phone pictures. Every time I move them to the computer they come out blurry.) 

The next morning Serena and I had a mother daughter tea and book discussion event at the library but I'll do a separate post on that. So Saturday evening in continuing the Boca Bacchanal event we attended a vintner dinner which was held at the homes of various Boca notables. The one we went to was held at the home of the president for the Boca Raton historical society. Her home was beautiful! Dinner was exquisite and the company was great. It's only too bad I didn't get to enjoy any of the wines, but maybe next time. 

Have a great Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday