Sunsational swim school swim lessons

pink suits c/o Kortni Jeane

Well, this summer certainly flew on by. We had our summer bucket list made and were set to check those items off. We weren't so successful this year with a newborn and all but our number one priority was getting the girls some swim lessons. I was determined to find something that worked with a newborns schedule, a program that made getting to swim lessons easy for all of us and most importantly something that I knew my girls would feel comfortable with. We live in SoCal and have family members with pools but my girls have always been afraid, they don't like to feel cold, get their hair wet, heaven forbid water splashes them, lol so we just never pushed it. As they've gotten older we have learned more about pool safety and knew it was time for Jules especially, to get over her fear. 

When I came across, Sunsational Swim School I knew they were the right fit for our family. They are the #1 provider of private at home swimming lessons in America. This was a big selling point. We were able to schedule a time that worked for our family and have an experienced swim instructor come to our grandmother's house so grandma could watch the new babe while I watched the girls swim. How amazing is that? They specialize in highly effective private lessons that make learning to swim fast, fun and convenient. And they provide you with instructors that have at least 2 years experience and are CPR/First Aid certified. They are also the only swim school to offer a learn to swim guarantee for kids 3 and older, another big plus. 

We were partnered with the sweetest instructor, Karina. I let her know at the first lesson that Jules was pretty terrified about getting water in her face. It was bad, she wouldn't let us give her a regular bath witout putting a towel over her face. That same day she got Jules to go under water! Under! That in itself was a huge win. I was so excited to see my super shy girls open up to her so quickly. I loved the way she spoke to them, how comfortable she made them feel and how she showed them just how much fun they could have in the pool. They learned how to float & Jules was jumping into the pool and submerging her head into the water by the third lesson. I have recommend Sunsational to so many of my mommy friends. I love their teaching styles and how convenient they make lessons for families. For more information head to their website by clicking here.

We partnered with Sunsational Swim School on this post, all opinions expressed are 100% my own.

peach and mint suits / two piece suits 

three across / our favorite car seat

The question I get asked most now that I have three kids to tow around is, "what car seats do you  use to get three across?" When I was pregnant with Jackson I only had my Mercedes ml 350 for a year. It was my dream car and I was determined to make it work. I tried at least, but more about that later. I searched high and low for car seats that would fit three across. My top three must have features were,  saftey, comfort and style. I was able to find all three with Clek Foonf's! Jason and I were sold when we came across all it's safety features (see them all here) especially the extended rear facing instillation. We like to rear face our kids for as long as possible so that was a big plus. We had also never had a carseat with an anti-rebound bar or steel and magnesium sub-structure. When we saw these seats in person we were impressed at how strong and sturdy they were. It also has a 50lb weight max for rear facing and a 65lb max for forward facing, this was another big selling feature. Our girls are small so we knew we would get great use out of the seats. Another big plus was the sleek, modern look of the seat and all the color options available. We decided to do convertible car seats for all three kids including our newborn, all we had to do was add the infant thingy to his seat. (you can read more about our decision to take that route here)

*headrests were removed for the photo only*

I was able to work closely with Julie, from Clek and learned so much on not only three across but carseat safety in general. Here are some very important tips you should know when going the three across route: 

1. Each car seat should be installed independently tight (meaning that when one seat is removed from the three across the other two are still tightly installed without it in place), with less than an inch of movement side-to-side and front to back at the belt path. 

2. Place forward-facing seat in a seating position with a tether anchor. 

3. Booster seats need more space on the buckle side to allow the child to buckle and unbuckle.

4. Educate booster riders about making sure they are unbuckling their seat belt each time, and not accidentally unbuckling a harnessed seat installed next to them.

5. Contact a local Child Passenger Technician for assistance when having trouble.

Here are some more helpful car seat reminders:

For reference Julianne is 4, weighs 34 lbs and is just under 40 inches. Kourtney is 2, weighs 25lbs and is 34 inches. Jackson is 3 months, 15lbs and around 24 inches.

I'm not going to lie, I was shocked at how perfectly they fit in my Mercedes. I was just a little nervous since my back seat seemed so small. Jules and Kourtney were happy to sit together and hold hands and Jules was super excited to get to sit next to her baby brother and help mommy! My goal to keep my car lasted about two weeks after Jackson was born. I quickly realized my teeny tiny trunk area was not going to cut it with my boat of a stroller, the diaper bag, the kids toys, the extra clothes, all the extra baby stuff. I know you mommies know what I'm talking about. We ended tup rading in my Mercedes, what I thought was my dream car, for a Honda Odyssey, the dreamiest car ever! Yes, I became that mom and I love it! We still do three across the middle seat because it's so convenient. I love that I'm able to slide the doors open (guys, sliding doors) and let the girls get in on their own. Jules still doesn't know how to fully buckle herself so I am able to just turn from the front seat to tighten her straps. She is seriously such a great help with both Kourtney and Jackson. When the baby cries, she is able to reach over and give him his paci and she loves keeping Kourt entertained on long rides. We love this seat and will eventually transition Jules into their booster seat once that time comes. For now we will continue to enjoy our seats knowing our precious cargo is safe.

p u r c h a s e  h e r e 

Foonf carseat c/o Clek / a small commission may be made via affiliate links / Thank you for supporting the brands that support my blog and family! 

Back to school breakfast

Well, Jules officially had her first day of school and it was a success. I had been stressing, like all us  first time preschool/kindergarten mommies do. I had been making a conscious effort to make things run as smoothly as possible during this very big transition for the both of us. I made sure to include her in everything from shopping to getting to pick out her very own first day of school outfit. She made sure, about 100 times, that she would not be staying at school for lunch and requested over and over that I plan a surprise for her when she woke up for her first day of TK. Done, anything to make her first day extra special. She is in the half day program so the no lunch thing was easy. As for the surprise request, that made my day. I love that she is my mini me and enjoys celebrating anything and everything. I knew I had to do a fun breakfast, it's kinda tradition to have a themed breakfast for any and all special days around here. See some of our fun breakfast's here, here & here.

My husbands favorite book to read to her since she was a baby is, Oh, the Places You'll Go! I knew I had to include a quote on our letter board. As for the decor, I saw a pencil banner on Pinterest and pulled the color scheme from there. I asked one of my favorite handmade banner shops, Jules and Kenna, to help out. She made the banner, the bag decor and the pancake toppers. It all came out better than I expected. Our sweet friend from, Little Paper Farm, surprised us the day before school with the alphabet banner. I fell in love and had to incorporate it! The woolie ball garland is from our favorite, Hooray Everyday.  As far as the rest of the decor, it's all from Target including the table and chairs.

p i n  m e 

pencil banner c/o Jules and Kenna / alphabet banner c/o Little Paper Farm / letter boards c/o Lowell&co

s h o p   t h e   b r e a k f a s t   b e l o w :

stylish backpacks for mini boys + girls

Jules was a little hesitant about the whole going to school thing. This will be her first time away from me, other than going to grandmas & cousins houses for the day. She was pretty worried about the idea at first. She made sure she wasn't going to be taking naps, and definitely didn't want to eat lunch without us. Luckily, she is just starting with t-k so she won't be doing any of that. I've tried my best to include her in all things school to get her a little excited and comfortable with this new adventure. We sat down together and picked our favorite backpacks for boys and girls. She ended up picking the lavender, Fjallraven Kanken, because it's her "faydit' color.  I desperately tried to convince her to get the camo or that gray, but she's such a girly girl, just look at her picks. Anyways, I thought it would be fun to put together some boy picks that I would choose for Jacks, just for you boy moms! I Like what we selected and think we came up with a good variety that can work for either boys or girls.

pink / b&w dot / gold / cheetah / white cat / lavender / purple dot / peach / hello kitty

camo / gray / Star Wars / hunter / Mickey / black / football / rock / green

m o r e   p i c k s