YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OILS



I have been a fan of essential oils for a couple of years now but I am always learning new ways to use them & about new oils, which is why I am really excited to team up with Lindsey from Young Living Essential Oils. I have found essential oils to be so beneficial in all aspects of life, from cleaning to acne to sickness to sleep & so many others. I swear, there is an oil for just about anything!

When we travel I always make sure to bring a few oils when we travel.  I tend to swap out which oils I take with me depending where we are going, so for out trip to Utah I brought along Thieves spray, Gentle Baby, Lemon, Thieves & Lavender essential oils that I got from Young Living, I also brought a little jar with coconut oil to use to dilute the oils.

Thieves spray // This spray is a total game changer & I really wish I knew about it before! It works as a antibacterial, which is so great for airplanes & your little ones hands touching everything! It's also good to spray in your mouth when you have a sore throat.

Gentle Baby// The last couple of weeks have been the first I have used this oil & it has been amazing. It calms Milo right away, which has been so helpful since he's getting 6 (yes, 6!) teeth right now. It also has helped his diaper rash which comes from his teething. This is also a really great oil for chapped/ dry skin so I have used it a ton on my own skin since being in Utah with all of the dry air.

Lemon// Lemon smells so fresh & happy & it seriously lifts your mood when you smell it. Diffusing Lemon makes your home smell so fresh, I love it. I also like to mix it with my moisturizer when I have a blemish because it is known to help.

Lavender// I love to use a tiny bit of lavender mixed with coconut oil on my kids pressure points before takeoff to help relax them & (hopefully!) help them to sleep on the plane. When we are home I like to diffuse this by our bed for a calmer sleep.

I have loved learning about oils & would love for you to learn with me. Make sure to check out Lindsey's website & contact her if you are interested in learning more, she has helped me so much with oils. Also check out Young Livings online group to help learn more about essential oils & the Young Living started kit that comes with 11 oils + a diffuser (my favorite way to use oils)!

BIG KID RIDES

Milo's leg in this picture kills me. It kept falling & he kept putting it back up, haha!
We managed to fit NINE people in one teacup! 6 of them might be pretty small, but it's still impressive!
Cedar found his new favorite spot in the stroller: the basket. 
Last week Shannon, Ashley & I chanced the weather & went down to Disneyland. I had been wanting to go for days but it was pouring, so the first clear day we had we went for it & it ended up being the best. day. ever. It had been pouring rain that morning so I think it scared most people from going because by the time we got there it was sunny & totally empty. We're talking zero lines, zero crowds & complete bliss. I'm sort of dreading going on a busy day again because it was SO nice, haha. For the last few months Shannon, Ashley & I have managed to make it to Disneyland about twice a months. Between the three of us, we have 6 kids 4 & under at Disneyland, so we probably look like a hot mess walking around. There is definitely a lot going on, but it is so much fun. The kids love it & I think its pretty magical that they get to go with their best friends as often as we do. Sometimes it gets a little tricky with the rides so we take turns taking the three older kids on rides that the babies can't go on, or if a baby is napping one of us will sit out while the others go on the ride.

The last few times we've gone I've measured Cedar to see if he could go on Thunder Mountain & he always comes up just a tiny bit short. BUT! Cedar has finally hit the 40 in. mark which is a BIG deal at Disneyland, cause it means he is tall enough for a lot of the big kid rides & he was SO excited. I actually don't know who was more excited, me or him, but either way he got to go on the rides. Thunder Mountain was Cedars first big kid ride, he went with my sister who met us for a couple of hours & Johnny. He was so excited before going on the ride & then my sister told me that he had zero emotion on the ride, but at one point said "i miss my mama"! Haha, so sweet. After the ride he couldn't wait to tell me all about it though which was really cute. A bit later we were walking by Splash Mountain & he asked:

"Mama, can we go on Splash Mountain?"
"No, you're not tall enough Cedar bug"- me
"Ya I am! I'm a big boy. I promise I won't be scared."-Cedar

How could I say no to that? We went to the line, got him measured & he was tall enough (luckily it had been raining earlier in the day so I brought rain boots & jackets)! So I took Johnny & Cedar on it & he LOVED it. They were both a little scared & wanted me to hold onto them, so I was leaning forward holding Johnny in his seat & holding onto Cedar next to me which was a little tricky, but we managed. Right after the ride ended they ran out, jumping up & down asking to go again so Ashley took them. Being 40 in. is a total game changer for Cedar, haha. I am dying to go back & take Cedar by himself so we can really hit all the big kid rides!

WEEKEND RECAP



I usually try to stay off of social media over the weekends, it doesn't always happen but for the most part I'm pretty good about it. Buuuut that doesn't mean I still don't take a million pictures, so I'm starting a weekend recap post. All Last week in didn't just rain, it POURED which is pretty rare these days in, as Austin calls it, sunny southern california! The rain was totally needed & I really loved it, rain is my weather, call me crazy but I like the gloomy, coziness of it all & almost prefer it to all the sunny hot days we get here. People think I'm insane, but oh well. I loved it, but it is hard for the kids to be cooped up all week, So my friend Ashley & I took advantage of the sun on Friday & took the kids to the beach. It was surprisingly really warm at the beach, I had gone in jeans & a sweater expecting it to be cooler & was glad I wore my bathing suit underneath my clothes cause it got hot! All the rain had created a canal at the beach we normally go to & the kids were loving it, running back & forth across from beach to beach. It was such an unexpectedly good beach day & then the rain came. It had been so warm, so sunny & then it came pouring down on us! Luckily we were already packing up to go, so we just moved a little quicker to the car.

Austin & I were lucky & got TWO date nights in over the weekend, which was soooo nice! Especially since he had to work on Saturday (who does that?!?!), I got to hang with him some more. Sunday we met up with my sister & her family in Santa Monica for dinner to celebrate my nephews 12 birthday. Cedar was SO excited to see them & he & my other nephew, Russy, were looooving running up & down 3rd street like the crazy boys they are. The two of them together is pure chaos. They are either belly laughing as hard as possible, or sobbing, there is no in-between with those two & while it can give a headache, I kind of love it.

In other news: Austin has been working his new job for two weeks now & loves it, which is so so good but it is taking me a bit to get used to him working more often! Before he had a super flexible schedule which was great but it's all good, he loves this job which is more important & we're doing a pretty good job getting it all figured out with our schedules!

Cedar started his new preschool & he really loves it so much, it's pretty adorable. He was so nervous & excited the first day, but after he couldn't wait to tell me everything they did & of course the most important part of the school to him is that they have toy animals for him to play with, haha. He's happy going & I'm happy cause I get a few hours with just Milo & to myself when Milo naps, so it's a win win for everyone.

I've started meditating again & I really have seen such a different in myself & in my daily life, I'm loving it. It's been a few years since I was really good at doing a daily meditation & I am really happy that I've started doing it again. I'll talk more on it later.

I've been thinking a lot about my little corner of the internet & what to do with it. I love blogging but I am craving more of a direction instead of my rambling posts. What do you guys think? Are the rambling posts too ramble-y? Do you like them? do you want more of a series going on? What do you want to know or hear about ? I'm open to any & all suggestions! Let me know!

LAGUNA BEACH

Last week Austin & I babysat my sisters kids for three days while she had to go out of town for work & it was so much fun. Cedar adores her kids SO much,  they are 12, 10 & 7 & each of them play so well with my boys, it's really fun to watch them. One day after getting them off to school Austin & I decided to go to Laguna Beach. We both really like it there, it is such a cool little beach town with a really artsy/beach vibe going on which I really like. 

While we were there we shopped around the streets, got gelato despite the chilly weather & had amazing mexican food at La Sirena. If you're ever in Laguna, you need to go. It's a total hole in the wall, off a side street spot but it is delicious, I'm already planning to go back asap! We played on the beach & Cedar spent a lot of time "splorin'", as he said, the rocks. It was pretty cute watching him climbing all over them, jumping off & getting brave. He is such a tentative kid so it always surprises me when he does things like that & it also really makes me happy! I love watching him grow & get more comfortable testing his boundaries. 

NEW YEAR NEW ME

Jk, same old Kerry. 
I don't know why but I don't like the term "resolution" so I call them goals. Something to strive towards, to make me into a better person, a healthier person physically & mentally & a happier person. I've always felt it is important to be in touch with yourself, to have your "own" thing & since becoming a mama of two it is HARD work finding the rhythm of having my own thing & sometimes being in touch with myself. I mean, you know you're deep into motherhood when you feel panicky, thinking you lost someone or something when you go somewhere by yourself, haha. I am so used to having those little babes with me every second of the day I almost don't know what to do with myself when they aren't around. Almost. It's taken me some time but I have finally figured out how to be more in touch with myself amongst the chaos, but I really want to focus on it more in the new year. It's something that I need. When I was planning my goals I tried to focus on certain areas that I want to be better in & they all had to do with health in one way or another. I want to be physically healthier, mentally healthier, eat healthier & be happier. After figuring that out it was pretty easy to pick my top goals for the year, so here they are:

Eat sugar free 5 days a week // Don't worry, i'm not going off ALL sugar, cause that is impossible for me at this time, but i'm striving to eat food without any added sugar (fruit is allowed!), 5 days a week & once I feel i've conquered that I'm going to try for every day. I know from experience that I feel so much better & am a lot happier when I eat healthy but instead of doing a diet to be healthier, I want to make more of a life change, so this is my baby step towards that.

Remember I matter too // This may sound silly to some of you, but this is legit. There are days where I don't shower because I just don't have the time, it seems like these days I rarely have 5 minutes to myself & I am always getting called from someone & somewhere in the house. It's pretty tiring & I can forget myself & forget to check in with myself. More than the physical it messes with my mental needs. Like I mentioned above, it is so important for me to be in touch with myself & since I have finally found my groove & found a way to feel in touch with myself through the chaos that is life, I don't want to loose it! So a big goal for myself is to remember myself, to extract myself from life for at least 15 minutes a day, to let my mind wander & be empty & to write. Writing is by far my best form of release & I have finally started writing in my journal again & it has been heavenly (totally bought this journal when Milo was 3 months old with intentions of writing & meditating once a day, did not start doing it until a month ago & at my best I do it 3 x's a week! This is what I'm talking about, I suck at follow through).

Read more to get my inquisitive side going // I love to read & I have noticed that I read less books that make me question & make me think & I read more of the easy, you don't have to think kind of books. Don't get me wrong, I totally love those books but I really want to start reading the books that make me think, that give me new insights & teach me new things. Seems easy enough.

Go Exploring // Austin & I really want to make an effort to go somewhere new at least once a month. Somewhere new meaning a new town nearby, all the way to a different country if we have any opportunities! We both love to travel & explore but get caught up in the day to day grind & sometimes forget to do it. This way we will make a better effort to checking out new & exciting spots.

Sweat 5 days a week to be strong // When I was first thinking about my goals I wrote "be physical 5 days a week" but I wanted it to be more than just being physical. I'm already semi physical everyday cause i'm chasing after two boys! But more than that I want to sweat, I want to work my body, push it to it's limits & get stronger & healthier & that's not going to happen without a little sweat. (sidetone: I totally hate to sweat).

Be more here rather than there // I have a constant stream of randomness running through my brain 24/7 & sometime it can get totally distracting. Anywhere from thinking of what I need to do, to what I want to do, to what I should be doing, to whatever the celebrity gossip is, to what's going to happen in a new episode of whatever show... there are constantly things happening in my head. I want to learn to be more present & aware of what is happening around me, to not get so distracted that I miss out or don't enjoy the moments I am living.

Less screen time as a continued habit // This is a constant goal of mine. I've mentioned before that I do my best not to use my phone or my computer in front of my kids unless it's for phone calls & the occasional text, but I still think it is something I can work on. If there is one thing I don't ever want my kids to say is that "mom is always on her phone" or for them to think that it is ok for people to constantly be on one. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people are on their phones all the time, especially in group settings rather than enjoying the company of the people around them. So less screen time for me.

What are some of your goals? Are you going to set goals? I'd love to hear what you want to work on for the upcoming year!

2016 IN REVIEW

JANUARY // matching with my boo at the beach

FEBRUARY// beach days all month long waiting for baby to come

MARCH // Cedar & Milo meeting for the first time
APRIL // First family outing to the Getty
MAY // China
JUNE // Cedars third birthday!
JULY// Roadtripping to Utah & Jackson Hole, hiking with the family
AUGUST // Austin & I went camping with friends while the babies stayed with grandma & grandpa 
SEPTEMBER // family trip to hawaii 
OCTOBER // donut costume for halloween

NOVEMBER // Thanksgiving spent in the snow in Utah
DECEMBER // Christmas

2016 was a year full of learning. We learned how it is to have two kids, we learned a new groove & what works best for us as a family of 4. We learned how to lean on each other through difficulties & how to accept help from those around us. We learned the struggles that come with starting a business on your own but we also learned how important it is to keep trying. We have had a lot of ups & a lot of downs this year but it has also been a lot of fun. We got to spend so much time together as a family with Austin working primarily from home. We soaked up all the time that we could together, going to the beach, going to disneyland a lot, making little road trips here & there, checking out California as much as we can going up to Santa Barbara all the way down to San Diego. It has been a fun year. 

The year may not have gone how we imagined, moving in with my Mom last December we had plans to move out around April, but here we are still living with my Mom. It has really been such a blessing that we have been able to live with her while Austin has been pursuing his dream job. There have been a lot of times that we talked about him taking a job elsewhere for a big company, but we both knew that was a short term fix, that he would most likely work crazy hours & not love the job which wasn't what either of us wanted. So we decided to push through the trials of starting up a company, ending it & then ending up getting a really great job offer that will take us in the direction we want to go. WE have been pretty lucky despite how unlucky we may have been feeling during all the hardships. I'm so proud of Austin for being so persistent & not letting it get him down, that he kept trying. To see his hard work pay off has been the best. 

2016 was fun & I think it was a year that we needed to go through. We have come so much closer in the last year, it's really amazing. I think Cedar, Milo & I are all going to have Austin withdrawals once his new job starts & he gets busy, so we are going to soak up the free time that we have left! I'm excited to see what 2017 brings us.