Freshly Picked WINNER!!

Our Freshly Picked Giveaway is now closed! Thanks so much to everyone who entered here and on Instagram! I had so much fun looking through all of the IG pics that you posted, and loved reading all of your comments! Freshly Picked has the sweetest fans!

A BIG thank you also to Susan and Jodi at Freshly Picked!

So let's get down to business, shall we??

In order to chose a winner, I assigned each entry a number based on the time of your entry. I started with the very first comment here on the blog (#1), then the first re-post on Instagram (#2), and kept going in as-close-to-chronological order as possible!

I used the True Random Number Generator to choose a number randomly:

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:12Powered by RANDOM.ORG
So who is lucky number 12?? Are you dying to know?

The winner is.......

Here is the winning entry, from Instagram:

Congrats Corinna! Based on the sheer volume (and obvious enthusiasm) of your entries, I know you were dying to win!

Freshly Picked Moccasins Review

I don't know if you've noticed or not, but we LOVE Freshly Picked moccasins. Like, we really love them. We've featured them on the blog a few times here, here, and here. My mom bought our first pair for Emmett a few weeks ago, and we've never seen his little feet look so cute!

These are the Weathered Brown Genuine Leather moccs. These are sold out at the moment. 

So when Freshly Picked sent us a pair of their insanely cute, super-coveted moccs to review on the blog, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! We chose to review the Cobalt Suede Limited Edition Moccasins in a size 4.

Here they are on Emmett's feet:

Poor teething boy- those pouty lips are so sad!

The team at Freshly Picked hand-makes each pair of moccs to order, so they tell you to allow at least 10 business days for your moccs to be made before they ship. I received a shipping notification in my inbox 9 business days after we ordered, so they shipped right on time. They arrived about 4 days later, packaged in the cutest drawstring bag, complete with a little Freshly Picked logo button!
I forgot to take a picture when our Cobalt Suede pair arrived, but here is a photo of the Weathered Brown pair with the packaging:

So Cute. By the way, we ordered a size 3 in the Weathered Brown pair, but when they arrived, they were just a bit too small. They fit okay, but I knew he would grow out of them in no time so we really needed a size 4. I emailed Jodi at the Freshly Picked shop about an exchange, and she was so sweet about it! Because the moccs are made to order, they do not allow refunds, but they are happy to do exchanges. So, I sent back the 3's and received a size 4 in the mail less than a week later. Thank goodness!

There are so many things that I love about the Cobalt Suede moccs. First off, they are the cutest, most stylish baby shoes I've ever seen. I'm slightly obsessed with how cute Emmett's little calves and ankles look sticking out of them. It's almost too much. The color is so deep and striking, and the bright blue goes with so many of Emmett's clothes. They have hidden elastic around the opening of the shoe that makes them super easy to put on and take off, which is really rare with baby shoes! Big plus.

I love that they are soft-soled, so they don't bother Emmett when he's crawling around the house and learning to stand and walk. Ray doesn't like the idea of thick-soled shoes on his feet as he's learning to walk, but I really want him to wear shoes when we're outside. It's so hot here in AZ, so without shoes I wouldn't be able to let his little feet touch the ground. So, the soft, flexible leather is really perfect for us.

They are also surprisingly breathable. The leather is thin enough that it isn't constricting on his little feet, and there are vents on each side (another feature that makes them easy to get on and off) that allow air in to cool his feet. I assumed the leather might be too hot for Summer here, but they really aren't too hot at all.

The leather used to make both the Weathered Brown and the Cobalt Suede seems super durable, which is so important for babies. Emmett is a wild man who loves to destroy just about everything, and these seem Emmett-proof! I can tell they will last a long time, which is good because at $60 a pair I want to be able to pass them on to Emmett's future siblings.

I really only have a couple of criticisms of the Cobalt Suede moccs. First, and this is a really small one, it can be kinda hard to tell which shoe goes on which foot. There is a difference between the right and left shoe, but it's pretty slight. I can figure it out pretty quickly, but it would be nice if it was an instant thing that I don't have to think about when we're running out the door.

The other con that I've noticed is that the suede acts like a feather duster when Emmett's crawling around the floor in them. They pick up lots of dirt and dust, but it's not a big deal because it's really easy to clean them off. It takes a quick wipe with a dry cloth and then they're good as new. This isn't a problem at all with the leather Weathered Brown pair- they stay pretty clean.

We've had our moccs for about 3 weeks now, and they're holding up pretty well. The little tassels around the ankle curl up more and more as he wears them, which makes them even cuter, if that's possible! This is what they look like today:

Gah those shoes are cute!

Catch Up: iPhone Edition {2}

The last few weeks, according to my iPhone:

Emmett's 10 month photo was pretty difficult to catch. He's not a fan of sitting still for photos these days, and this day in particular he just wasn't having it. So, looking at the window with frog Wubbanub in mouth it is... We took that photo the morning we left for San Diego.

We left the babe in the care of my wonderful mama, and headed to California for a friend's wedding.

Our three tallest friends came along, so of course we made them squeeze into the backseat.

Here we are outside the church where our friends got married. Ray was a groomsman in the wedding, so we were lucky enough to be invited to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I love wedding rehearsals! The excitement and anticipation are palpable, and everyone is in such a happy mood. So fun!

The next day we had lunch at Stone Brewery (so awesome), and then spent the afternoon at our friend's parents house. The views from their home are so beautiful. We LOVE to visit them whenever we're in San Diego. 

Here I am at the wedding reception, pumping in the very public bathroom.. Luckily everyone was busy on the dance floor, so I was only interrupted once. Hashtag mom lyfe.

Emmett has a happy place, right there on his little chair. He LOVES to sit on that chair y'all. He smiles so big every time, and says "yaaaaaaay" in an almost whisper. It's the cutest thing he does right now!

He refuses to wear this hat most of the time, but whenever I can sneak it on, I giggle like crazy at those little ears sticking out. 

Here we are at Ikea last weekend. We planned to "run in" to grab some shelves, but of course we were there forever. Emmett was barely holding on by the time we checked out, so we had to get creative to keep him entertained. Those teeth! They slay me.

This is a terrible fuzzy photo, but I love it so much! I snuck in to check on Emmett the other night after he was sleeping, and I found his little feet sticking out of his crib. Those feet are my favorite!

I posted that photo of Emmett above on my Instagram last week. His two bottom teeth were cutting through so we had a tough couple of weeks. He was mostly happy during the day, but refused to nap or sleep at night. He was up 5 or 6 times each night crying out for me, so I spent most of my nights in his room holding him and trying to comfort him back to sleep. We were tired y'all. The above photo of me is a selfie I sent to my sister on a particularly difficult morning. I know, I'm real cute when I'm bone-tired and hating on everything.

Have y'all seen the new A Beautiful Mess app for the iPhone? It's so much fun! I like the filters in this app so much better than the Instagram filters, and there are endless borders, doodles, and phrases to add to your photos. I could (and have!) play with it for hours. The photo above and the next two are all made with the A Beautiful Mess app.

Emmett's first pair of Freshly Picked moccasins arrived over the weekend, and we're just as smitten as we knew we would be. So cute.

Enjoying a cool-ish day over the weekend. It's so hot these days, we hardly spend any time outside in the afternoons. 

I managed to catch Emmett with his hat on in this one. He hates to wear it, but it's soooo cute!

 

I call that look Emmett's teething perma-duckface. His poor little gums have been so swollen that his lips stick out all the time. It's cute but I'm ready for his mouth to stop hurting him!

Instagram Photo Wall Tutorial

I love Instagram. I'm pretty sure everyone who knows me knows that. And I love taking photos with my iPhone, but it's frustrating having all of these photos on my phone with nowhere to display them. So when I came across this tutorial, I knew I had to give it a try!

I used the iPhone app PostalPix to print 50 of my Instagram photos. I chose the 4x4 Pro Luster Prints (perfect for square Instagram photos), which range from $.29-$.33 a piece. For 50 prints plus shipping, I only spent $18.42. Not bad!
My prints arrived in the mail four days later, and I was so pleased with how they turned out! They are printed on high quality archival paper, and the colors came out perfectly. Yay!

Here is everything I used to complete this project:

Photo Prints
Painter's Tape
Tape Measure (I used a yard stick)
Level

I began by measuring the wall to decide exactly where I would place my photo collage. I had 50 prints, at 4 inches by 4 inches a piece. I knew that I wanted to place them in 5 rows of 10 photos, so my collage would measure 40 inches by 20 inches.

I decided on a position on the wall (centered and at eye-level), and began to place my painter's tape around the edges to map out my collage. I used the level to make sure my horizontal lines were perfect.

I realize now that my tape is crooked. I was able to figure it out pretty quickly and compensate.

Because I don't want this collage to be permanent, I decided to use painter's tape to adhere the photos to the wall. My husband was kind enough to assist me in tearing 250 tiny strips of tape- 5 per photo. We placed 5 pieces of rolled tape on the back of each photo- one in each corner and one in the center.

From there, I began adding photos. I didn't think too much about which photos I was putting where- I just started building the collage, knowing I could move photos here and there to find the best place for each one.

Once I had all the photos up where I wanted them, I ran my hands over each one to make sure they were all firmly adhered to the wall. Then I removed the painter's tape around the edges, and admired the finished product!!

The whole project took under an hour. We were able to knock it out during Emmett's notoriously short afternoon nap! Did I mention I spent less than $20?? I know that made my husband happy.
It's not perfect, but I love it. We managed to fill a conspicuously blank, hard-to-fill wall space, and display so many of our favorite photos all at once. And yes, I know I take tons of pics of Emmett! I just can't get enough. :)

***Because I loved using the PostalPix app so much, I reached out to them, and they have generously offered a $10 credit towards prints in their app! To enter to win this prize:

1. Follow this blog.
2. Visit the PostalPix website, and download the PostalPix app.
3. Leave a comment below telling me how you would use your prints!
4. For an extra entry, follow me on Instagram for instructions!

Good luck!!! I will announce the winner on Friday, 5/24.

*Available to US readers only. 
You can enter to win once a day through Thursday, 5/24!

Update:

And the winner is.... Jenna Guizar! Thanks Jenna!
 

NikJDesigns on Etsy

For my first giveaway, I have teamed up with Nicole from NikJDesigns to give one custom fabric bucket to two lucky readers! 

I found this super cute Etsy shop a while back on my friend Morgan's blog, where she uses her large bucket to hold towels in her bathroom (so smart!). I loved Morgan's bucket, so I decided to work with Nicole to design a few for Emmett's nursery. She is so sweet and so fun to work with. We use our buckets to hold diapers, wipes, onesies, toiletries.. you name it! I love our buckets so much, I even used them for Easter baskets this year! 

To enter, follow this blog (click the "Join this site" button on the right side of this page), visit  the NikJDesigns Etsy shop, and leave a comment below telling me which fabric you will choose if you win! You can enter once a day! I will choose a winner on Friday using your comment number (1st to comment is #1, 2nd is #2, etc) using this random number generator.

For a chance to win a second basket (!!!), like Nicole's Facebook page, and share my post about the giveaway on your timeline as many times as you want!

GOOD LUCK!

And the winner is:

Lauren Eggers!

Lauren, shoot me an email (annakate25 @ gmail.com)for instructions on how to collect your basket!

Bloglovin

I just joined Bloglovin! Have you heard of it? It's a great way to keep up with all of the blogs you love to read. You can follow my blog here: 
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Here's a funny Vine video of Emmett's new favorite game....!

A New Look!

As you can see the blog got a big redesign over the weekend, thanks to Erika at The Fairy Blogmother! She did a redesign giveaway on Instagram last week, and I was the lucky winner! (I know I've been annoying all of you who follow me in IG, but see?? It was worth it. :)

I am soooo thankful to Erika for being so generous, and for putting so much effort into the blog's new look! She was super nice and really easy to work with, so if you're thinking of adding any new features to your site, check her out here!

What do ya'll think of the new look?

Confession:

I have a confession to make ya'll:

I'm addicted to my iPhone.

This isn't new information. Everyone who knows me and spends any real time with me knows that I love my phone, and I'm a preeeetty big fan of social media.. It's probably fair to say I tend towards over-sharing.. I'm not able to spend a lot of time on my phone during the week while I'm at work, so I tend to be attached to my phone in the evenings and weekends.

I'm a big "like"-er on Facebook and Instagram (follow me here!)- if I like it, I "like" it. And I love posting little videos of Emmett on Vine (a really fun video app! find me-my username is anniekarate).

Here's the thing: I've started to notice that my beloved iPhone is affecting my relationships. I've found myself catching up on Instagram at the end of a long day while I give Emmett his dinner, totally missing out on funny noises and facial expressions. Today I tuned out my sister telling me about her day while I perused Twitter. I've started to notice that when my phone is in my hand, I have a hard time being present to the people in my life. Isn't that terrible? I don't want to be that girl, that sister, that wife, or that mother! I spend my days missing my sweet baby boy, so why in the world would I waste a single minute staring at a screen when I could be playing with him!?

So, I've decided it's time to break the habit. Starting this weekend, I've decided to follow Taza's lead and turn off my phone on Sundays. It feels a little bit crazy, a little bit exciting, and a little bit scary, but mostly I'm really looking forward to a whole day with my family with no interruptions! I'm hoping my little experiment will help to wean me, and who knows, after a couple of Sundays I might not even miss my phone at all!