Stella Cove Beachwear Review

I received the below pictured Stella Cove swim trunks in exchange for an honest review.  Please note that receipt of free product does not effect my opinions in any way. I strive to provide 100% honest feedback about the products being reviewed, whether good or bad.  Thank you to Stella Cove for providing the trunks for my use & review.

It is crazy hard to find fitted swim trunks for boys.  I much prefer them to board shorts because when a rambunctious brother child is running & swimming & jumping, board shorts tend to sag & expose some seriously scenic full moons.

That's why I was so stoked to find Stella Cove Beach Wear!  Not only did they have fitted swim shorts, but they had them in awesome, stylish prints!  Come.  Embark on a shopping journey with me.

I chose Kravitz for Collin & Ciao for Aiden.  I also am a little obsessed over these Jurassic ones.  If fitted trunks aren't your thing, they also have the more popular board shorts for your little man in equally fun & trendy prints like Really Loud & Ohoy.  Plus, if you have a girl, OH.  MAH.  GERD.

The trunks are vibrant & amazing in quality, which I would expect for their price point.  The waist ties aren't crazy tight & they don't dig into the boys' hips, which I love because that's an issue with fitted trunks.  I really love that they can just be free & aren't pulling up their shorts while they play.  Their sizes run small, so when you order, keep that in mind.

I know we will use these trunks all summer & hopefully into next summer.  They are amazing quality, so I know they will last, I'm just worried my dudes will grow out of them.

Do you prefer board shorts or fitted shorts for your boys?  Am I just crazy pants?  Seriously, I get so annoyed with the pants pulling when they wear board shorts.

A Little Help From My Friends

They reset the numbers over at Top Baby Blogs, so I need some help gaining my spot back on the list.  I'd love it if you could take a moment of your time to click this link & vote for me.  You don't have to register or sign up for anything.  Literally all you have to do is click the owl on the left & your vote is counted towards my blog.  You can also vote once every 24 hours if you're feeling extra supportive.

Top Baby Blogs is one of the few credible sites that ranks blogs & is based on the reader's opinion.  They are also one of the main sources of traffic on my blog.  So, you can understand why I would like to be on this list.  I've never cracked the top 10, but would love to try for top 5!

I spend a lot of time writing, taking photos, & sharing my life on this blog, so I would be super appreciative of just a few seconds of your time.

Click here to vote.

Splash Pad Freedom

For J's birthday a couple week ago, we took the boys to my sister's place in 29 Palms.  Her husband is a US Marine stationed out there & we go visit them from time to time since it's only an hour drive.  They have a really awesome splash pad area for the little kids to play in & the boys love it.  They get to just be free & loud & run & be crazy kids.  It made me happy to see them so excited & just being silly boys.

I grew up having close relationships with my cousins.  Even with them living in Michigan & us living in Las Vegas & only getting summers together, we were always playing & exploring together.  It makes me happy to see that developing with Collin, Aiden & Everett.

Lace Dream Catcher DIY

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved dream catchers.  My Uncle Mike used to keep one above his bed & ever since he told me about how they work & what they do, I've adored them.  I've been seeing lots of artists do their own take on dream catchers & have loved some of what I've seen.  I decided to try my hand at my very own dream catcher.  I'm not 100% satisfied & I think I'll add some more embellishing to it before I call it a day, but this was fun & easy.

My supplies: a thrifted craft hoop ($0.50), lace from the remnants section at my local craft store, some leftover feathers from an art project I did with the kids, leftover gold spray paint from a DIY for Aiden's party, & left over twine from numerous art projects I have done in the past.  Really, you can use any kind of spray paint or feathers.  I've seen some really cool natural ones at the craft store that would look awesome on this.

I just used rocks to hold down my feathers & then painted them.  After they dried, I flipped them over & painted the other side.  It was a dry & hot day, so they dried crazy fast.  While they were drying, I put my lace into my hoop & then cut my twin in varying sizes to hang the feathers from.  I used simple double knots on all of the feathers.  The knots were the hardest part of this whole DIY.  Which is pretty great if that's the hardest thing you'll do.

J isn't a fan of this.  He prefers the more traditional dream catchers.  I do too, but I like this one a lot.  I think I'll add another feather on each side of it or maybe do some gold embellishing on the lace.  I'm not sure yet.  The beauty of this is that you can make it completely custom to your personality.  I could see a hot pink feathered one for a girl's room.  That would be so funky & cool.

PS, the photo for that frame came today.  I know you were wondering why I didn't have a picture in my frame.  Don't pretend you weren't.

Evelyn, Four Months

It has been one crazy month around the Sosa home.  My Uncle Mike recently had a work accident that landed him in the ICU.  As terrifying as it's been for my family, it was also nice to see my Dad & Grandmother who flew in to Las Vegas to be by his side.  Once I heard the news, Collin, Evelyn & I packed up & made the drive to Las Vegas to help with what we could.  I cooked a couple meals for my family while Collin & Evie spread that love that only children can, & then we had to head back home after our short two day visit.  We have Aiden's party this weekend & I had too many things to do before then.

Sweet Evelyn did what she does best & cuddled on her Great Grandma, who soaked her right on in.  What is it about babies that seem to heal the soul?  Evelyn was just what we all needed.

There were also a couple of first celebrations that this little girl put under her belt.  Daddy's 30th birthday was the first one Evelyn celebrated with him.  And it was her first Mother's Day with Mama, though I felt we should be celebrating the little ones who made me a Mama.

Evelyn is starting to chunk up a little & getting that cherub-like baby look about her.  I assume that I have the formula transition to thank for that.  No matter.  I like cherubs.  

She has lost nearly all of her thick, long newborn hair & is just about bald now.  It literally just fell out on droves.  But thicker hair is already growing in it's place & it looks like she will have a natural middle part in her hair.  With the hair loss came cradle cap.  Oh, the cradle cap.  It's torturous for a picker Mama like myself.  It is so hard to not pick-pick-pick at the skin.

Evelyn decided to say hello to month four with a bang.  A little eye infection.  Or clogged tear duct.  Or pink eye.  Or something.  I dont know.  She woke up the other morning & her eye was sealed shut.  She was grinning like some small pirate person while I was trying to keep the calms & all, "J, something's wrong with our baby."  I never thought I'd squeeze breast milk into anyone's eye before.  But it happened this morning.  And what's weirder is that it seems better.

Anyway, hello month four!  I hope you bring eye infection killing vibes & gentle teething to our little girl's life.

PS: I was nominated for Circle of Mom's Top 25 Party Planning Moms & I would be so honored if you would vote for me.  I've been putting so much energy & love into planning Aiden's party & creating DIYs for future posts for ya'll.  It would be a treat to know it wasn't going unnoticed.  Just click the badge, find my blog, & click vote.  Easy peasy.