Today I am excited to share a book written by my friend Hayley. She is a mama to two adorable girls and is trying to spread awareness about food allergies. One of her daughters is allergic to nuts and Hayley decided what better way to spread awareness than through a fun, cute book! And Hayley's book is just that!

With a title like, "Donuts and Sprinkles, Oh My!" this book is bound to catch your child's attention. The characters, Hay the Hipster and Finny the Flamingo are adorable and the illustrations are bound to captivate your little one.

Teepees, tissue garland, and moccasins?! I'm in love. :)

Hayley's website offers darling apparel (donut and flamingo leggings) along with coloring sheets you can print out, and whimsical art prints! If you or someone you know suffers from food allergies then this book would be a perfect gift (and right in time for Christmas)! And if they don't suffer from food allergies then this book is a great way to spread awareness of that regardless. :)

Hayley was kind enough to send over some art she created from the book for Blair's room. It's quite adorable and looks great on her gallery wall.

Thanks again Hayley for sending us over your book! We really enjoyed it and are proud of you for spreading awareness for food allergies. :) NOW one lucky reader will have a chance to win their own Donuts and Sprinkles, Oh My! book! Enter below. :)

The winner of the book is Shannon C. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Over the weekend I had two friends get engaged! And while I've been married almost 8 years (applause appreciated) ;) I still enjoy seeing the latest trends when it comes to wedding style..especially bridesmaid attire! My friends over at Weddington Way contacted me and challenged me to come up with a style board for a NYE wedding...wouldn't that be a fun way to ring in the new year!? NYE is usually a glam occasion so I chose a black dress from their line and accented it with rose gold accessories.

Rose gold is super trendy right now and I hope the look stays around for a while...I love it! If you are planning a wedding or in a wedding soon be sure to check out Weddington Way's stylish options!

     Everyone has their ups and downs. Last week was hard but this week I've had lots of little encouragements to stay positive and I'm going to try darn hard to stay in this place with God's help. In the gentlest way God has been giving me small lessons through Blair, my devotionals, and other blogs.

     Earlier this week I was teaching Blair that she doesn't always get what she wants...even when she says please. I went on to tell her that even when she doesn't get what she wants, she still needs to be grateful and joyful. I thought about myself and realized I don't always get what I want either...even when I beg and plead, yet I am called to proclaim God's mercy to others and be content in my circumstances.  Lesson learned (hopefully).

     I was also immensely encouraged by my devotional this week, "God often delays in answering prayer. Paul asked the Lord three times for a thorn in his flesh to be taken from him, yet he received no assurance that it would be removed but instead a promise that God's grace would be sufficient for him. If you have been knocking at the gate of mercy and have received no answer, shall I tell you why the mighty Maker has not opened the door and let you in? Our Father has personal reasons for keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show His power and His sovereignty, so that we may learn that God has a right to give or to withhold. More often the delay is for our benefit. You are perhaps kept waiting so your desires become more fervent. God knows that delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if He keeps you waiting, you will see your need more clearly and will seek more diligently, and that you will treasure the mercy all the more on account of the wait. Or God makes you wait for a while so that He may display the riches of His grace more abundantly in the end. Your prayers are filed in heaven and if not immediately answered they are not forgotten, but in a little while they will be fulfilled to your delight and satisfaction. Do not allow despair to make you silent, but continue to present your requests to God." Charles Spurgeon

     Finally, one of you lovely readers sent this blog post my way and it really challenged my thinking. I love the whole post but this part stuck out to me was when the author stated how miserable she was because she felt that if her son were to be an only child the rest of his life he would miss out. Miss out on sibling rivalry, having a close relationship outside of his father/mother, and just being lonely. Until one day it hit her...a sibling would not fill that void...only Christ can. Regardless of whether or not this boy had a sibling he would still deal with disappointment, loneliness and, faulty relationships and she couldn't save him from that...but Christ could. The was a huge epiphany to me! The hardest part about secondary infertility for me is swallowing the fact that I wouldn't be able to give Blair what she wanted...companionship through a sibling. I felt like a failure. But I finally realize she doesn't need a sibling to save her. She needs Jesus for that. Phew. ;)

     If you are still reading this I applaud you. :) You must really care about me! Ha ha. I don't bare my soul in this place to be negative, judged or criticized but so others know how to better pray for/encourage me and others in this situation. Thank you for praying for me to find joy in my circumstances and for all the sweet emails you send my way...they make my day!

     Last night we celebrated advent by visiting the Christmas Encounter at the Grove. Blair loved seeing all the animals and they always do a great job!

After we hit up the photo booth: a wiseman, goat, and baby Jesus all under the star. :)

Have a lovely weekend!

Our Christmas cards this year were courtesy of Tiny Prints and wow do we love them! I chose this card and absolutely adore the real silver foil...it sure adds a lot of festiveness! Their thick matte paper is luxurious to the touch and I love that I can add lots of photos to the back of any style of card. I was super impressed with all of their options as far as colors, shape, wording, and number of photos goes. There is seriously something for everyone! My local friends already received their cards so I hope I'm not spoiling the fun for those with zip codes farther away!

I chose the silver envelopes to complement the silver foil. I love the way they turned out and will for sure continue to use Tiny Prints in the future! If you haven't ordered your cards yet be sure to check out my favorite picks here! All photos credited to Carrie Johnson.

*This post was sponsored by Tiny Prints but the opinions are all my own!

With Christmas right around the corner I thought I would come up with a few gift ideas for the toddler girl. And while I'm sure Blair would be content without any gifts the kid/mommy in me can't help but spoil her a bit. :) Being a girl mom has rekindled my love of all things Disney princess. Pretty soon I'm going to be driving around with a Disneyland license plate frame and Frozen stickers all over the back of my car... (jk) but it is so fun!

{little people load and go train} {mickey play-doh tools} {dress up clothes} {books} {bows} {Frozen undies} {disney dolls} {balance bike} {little people nativity}

Lately Blair is loving Little People, especially ways to transport them (plane, bus, train etc.). She also enjoys play-doh and cuts it with a plastic knife so I  think she will flip over the tools. There's not much time spent at home NOT in a princess dress so this should be a win. She loves reading and I adore the illustrations in these board books so I hope she does too! Frozen panties are to keep her going strong with potty training. Trying to keep Anna and Elsa dry is good encouragement. :) Dolls are always fun for her so I couldn't go wrong with that. Since we seem to lose bows on the reg I ordered some of these adorable ones! Grandma and Grandpa are surprising her with a balance bike and she's already been enjoying her nativity (Even though she keeps calling Jesus "Moses." Poor thing getting her Bible stories mixed up!) I also thought she would like a thomas train set and pots and pans for her kitchen.

And because these toys below are her absolute favorites I thought I would include them too for gift ideas...

{baby} {dog} {plane} {stroller} {magic clip princesses} {princess castle}

I'm not really sure what boys are diggin' at this age but I hope this list was of some help to you! Happy shopping!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! This was the first year that Blair actually wanted to decorate the tree and she sure loved it! Minus the fact that between the two of us we broke 5 ornaments (can you believe I broke THREE?!) it was one heck of a good time. Now if I could just figure out how in the world I'm going to host a toddler Christmas cookie decorating party AND keep any more ornaments from breaking we will be in business.

For her ornament this year she chose Rapunzel (of course!)

And was thrilled to learn that her hair glows when you put a light up her bum. True story.

We have yet to put up our "fancy" Christmas tree in the front of our house because M has been slaving away at making us a farm house dining table! I can't even wait to reveal it to you...he's done such an awesome job and has worked his butt off. And then on second thought maybe I'll wait to put up that tree until after the toddler party...

Stay tuned for Blair's wish list! Coming your way tomorrow!

*Blair's dress from Gap

Happy Monday! To start the week off right the winner of the Autumn Designs and Co. print is Kerry! Congratulations!

And to all you lovely ladies who also entered and didn't win don't worry...digital prints are still just $5 and would still make awesome Christmas gifts. :) Head over to our shop now to complete your holiday decor!

Lastly, we are thinking about adding more prints to our shop (to be used year round) and are taking suggestions to as what you guys would like to see more of in the shop. Do you have a favorite quote or verse that you would like to purchase for yourself of a gift? Let me know in the comments below! Your opinion is valuable to us. :)

This weekend M and I went to his work party which is always awesome! This year it was at South Coast Winery in Temecula. The food and dancing are always good and they totally spoil us with a room for the night too! And who doesn't love a chance to pretend it's prom again?! Rent the Runway for the win again! 

I could get used to this view!

Selfie time! This is how sleeping till 10 am looks! Happy. Very happy!

I hope you had a relaxing weekend and maybe even enjoyed some festivities too!