WHY WE LOVE HELLO FRESH

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This post is in partnership with Hello Fresh Canada. All opinions expressed are my own!

The best days are the days when we arrive to a Hello Fresh box on our porch.  We're very big fans of food in our household. Both Luca and London absolutely loved food from their very first bite...it must be the Italian in them ;) 

So let's just say when the box arrives, we get real happy in our house.

So here's what you will find in the box:

• Dry ingredients and produce for three different meals
• Meat for each meal (or no meat if you get the vegetarian option)
• Recipe cards for each meal

It's packaged so beautifully too!

And it's super easy to cook. Just follow the directions for the recipe and you'll have an amazing dinner in about 30 minutes! They are perfect for a busy week, where you don't want to meal plan but don't want to spend a ton eating out. They would also make a great gift for someone a new mom, someone who's moved to a new home or anyone who loves cooking!

We've had Hello Fresh a few times and honestly, every meal we've had has been SOOO AMAZING and also very fun to cook. James is more of the chef in the family but I made the chicken dish above all by myself and it was super easy.
Oh, and we still cook a bunch of the recipes from past boxes we've received!

If you haven't tried Hello Fresh yet, use the code HELLOSSHEART to save you 40% off your first box!

XO,
laura

SPRING BUCKET LIST

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Happy first day of Spring my friends!!! The weather in our neck of the woods has warmed up quite a bit and I am SOOOO HAPPY. This time last year, I was 12 weeks pregnant and gearing up to go back to work so I didn't have too many things on the bucket list but this time around, I'm NOT PREGNANT and not working, which means I'm SO excited to enjoy the warm weather with my kiddos!

Here's what's on our Spring Bucket List...

• Visit the petting zoo. We have gone once already but London was sleeping so this time around I want to go with both kids awake...Luca just loved the baby goats and I was so thankful that the goats are soo good with children. If you live in Victoria, it's a must, no matter what your age is!!
• Build a sandbox in the back yard.  I'm happy to report that this one is already done! Luca just loves it and it makes our backyard time much more enjoyable!
• Build a garden box and plant veggies.  So this is the next project on the honey-do list! Right now I'm studying to see when we get the best light. If you are a gardener, I'd love your tips!! Our backyard gets a lot of shade but there are some spots that get sun in the morning and different spots that get it in the afternoon. Is morning or evening sun better for gardens?
• Tackle Spring Cleaning.  See my list in this post!
• Visit NYC!!!!!  Our flight is booked and we cannot wait to visit my brother and sister in law in May!!!
• Enjoy an outdoor picnic.  James has a very busy April lined up so I imagine we'd do this in May when it's much warmer and much lighter at night.
• Run 5KM. This is a personal goal for me, but I want to get to 5km! 

So that's on our Spring Bucket List. Not too much, because I just really want to enjoy the season without putting crazy expectations on it. My maternity leave is absolutely flying by so I want to enjoy as much time just being with my babies as possible.

I'd love to hear what's on your Spring Bucket List! Let me know in the comments!!

XO,
laura

LONDON ROSE // FOUR MONTHS

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London Rose is now 4 months old!! Well....almost five months, ha. MAN February FLEW BY. I'll do my best to remember last month, ha.

LONDON AT FOUR MONTHS

WEIGHT: 14lbs 15oz

HEIGHT: 24.5 inches

WEARS: She's now out of 0-3 months and is fitting nicely into her 3-6 month clothing! Buying little girl clothing is SOOOO ADDICTIVE. I had some credit at my fave consignment store and bought her a few things, but man, I want to order EVERYTHING! How cute is this number from baby gap? And this coat from h+m!!! #DYING

SLEEPS: Well this past month we officially sleep trained her! I have a whole sleep training post in the works but what sleep training means is a baby can put their self to sleep on their own instead of being nursed/rocked/swaddled/soother to sleep. We had our girl's conference at our church and I needed James to be able to put her to sleep. So I had my last night of nursing her to sleep (I had been nursing her to sleep about 50% of the time.) We did a bit of cry it out/fuss it out but never let her cry for more than 10 minutes.
We also transitioned her out of being swaddled (did one arm out for a week and then both arms out) and also the dockatot. She took it all really well. She still wakes up once a night to eat (somewhere between 4-6!) but for about a week she was doing twice a night...thank goodness she went back to once! 
If she doesn't drop the last feed by 6 months, I will night wean her then but for now it's not too bad. 

She's been napping amazingly lately! Her regular schedule looks like
7am wake up nurse play
8:30/9 nap 1 (I usually wake her up after 1-1.5 hours)
10:00 wake nurse play
12:00 nap 2 (usually 2 hours!)
2:00 wake nurse play
4:00 nap 3 (I usually only let her sleep for an hour here!)

HIGHS: Hers and Luca's relationship developing. I feel like it took him 4 months to realize that she's not going anywhere, ha. It's like something switched and now all he wants to do is cuddle her. It's seriously the sweetest. And she just LIGHTS UP when he looks at her. I'm pretty sure he is her favourite person.

LOWS: We're still working on the bottle situation. She finally took the Nuk bottle but so far has only done 1.5oz. Another low was us all getting sick AGAIN. Seriously, cold season, you can go away anytime now.

PARENTING: She's definitely more aware and interactive these days and it's so fun! Everyday I try to get a bit of time on the floor with both kids...it's my favourite.

POSTPARTUM: Oh man, this is still SO HARD. I still haven't run yet but I want to, ha. I still have 19lbs to go until I'm pre-Luca weight and my goal is to get there by the end of the year but guys, it's MARCH so I better start doing something!!!

LOOKING FORWARD TO: We booked a trip to NYC in May! We'll be leaving Luca at home and just taking London. I'm excited to have that special time with her but obvs will miss Luca sooooo much! I'm also looking forward to her starting solids next month!!!

Oh London, I LOVE being your mama.

XOXO,
Laura

WHAT'S ON OUR SPRING CLEANING CHECKLIST

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You guys...SPRING IS ALMOST HERE!!!! We've had a late-ish winter for us up here as our daffodils are just starting to bloom (they usually start blooming in early February!)

With Spring just around the corner, I started to make a Spring Bucket List (which I'll share in a couple weeks) and believe it, or not, SPRING CLEANING is on that list.

I don't think I've ever in my life done Spring cleaning but this year I'm not pregnant or working so I have lots of energy AND my new favourite cleaning tool.

We picked up The Libman Company's Microfiber Wet + Dry Mop. I'm loving this mop because I can use it wet or dry. I ran it through our house and it picked up waaaay too much of my hair #postpartumproblems ha. Another reason I love it is because it's machine washable...less waste yaaaay! We got ours at our local Canadian Tire.

We also love the The Tornado Mop! Mopping all floors is a MUST for Spring Cleaning!

And ps. if you sign up for The Libman Company's email list, you'll get a coupon to save you $3!

pss. can we talk about how amazing Luca's expression is :D

As mentioned before, I really want to organize my house this Spring. I'm on maternity leave until October so I want to get on top of everything before I go back to work. I'm talking about implementing systems...systems people! I may be setting myself up with too high of expectations but here is our spring cleaning list...

OUR SPRING CLEANING CHECKLIST

• Clean + organize toys (Need to put away some small things that London could choke on as she's getting mobile!!!)
• Organize built in cabinets (also shoot our built ins finally now that the sun is coming out!!)
• Clean and organize kitchen food cupboards 
• Finish London's room (decals up, closet organized)
• Clean and organize linen closet
• Wash all windows and window ledges (probably my least favourite thing ever)
• Wash all floors and baseboards
• Order prints + frames for our bedroom and organize dresser
• Clean out gutters (James' job, ha)
• Plan out vegetable garden

I'm also trying to give myself grace too and finding ways to get Luca involved on the cleaning. He likes to be a part of everrrrrything I do. So I'm on a mission to get him involved instead of me being annoyed with him getting into what I'm doing. Parents, send me your tips!

I'd love to know if you do Spring Cleaning in your household and if so, what projects do you tackle? Let me know in the comments!

XO,

Laura

FAVOURITE THINGS

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Do you and your hubs/bf give each other Valentine gifts? We don't but I always hint/tell him what I have my eye on, ha. 

These right here are a few of my favourite things...and they all belong to my fave colour palette: white, marble, rose gold and pale pink!

1. Starbucks water bottle (In store only) I love this water bottle because it comes apart in the middle which allows you to give it a good clean!
2. Cobble Hill Soap (made on Vancouver Island yay!)
3. Tweezerman eyelash curler
4. Beautycounter Brightening Mask (perfect to get rid of dull winter skin)
5. Chelsea King Scrunchie (I've been living in this!!)
6. Caseapp Phone Case

XO!
laura