Life By Krystal

Honest Family Essentials Bundle - April 2013

2013-05-08T12:02:00.002-07:00

Our April bundle is not as exciting as our past ones, I did some re-selections, but I also added a couple of their newest additions. I didn't save much on this month's bundle, but I'm thinking of bumping up my bundle next month to include more of their "add on only" items ;)

The Honest Company is a brand created by Jessica Alba and Christopher Gavigan, supplying families with safer and more organic baby products from diapers and wipes to laundry detergent and dishwasher soap. They have quickly become a favorite of mine, and I definitely prefer their performance over the "cheaper" store bought brands.

Here's what we received in our Family Essential Bundle:

Scrubber Sponge (2) | $3.95

Hand Sanitizer (8oz) | $6.95

Shampoo & Body Wash (8.5floz) | $9.95

Dish Soap (16floz) | $5.95

Sunscreen SPF 30 (3oz) | $13.95

Family Essentials Bundle: $35.95

This months bundle value: $40.75

TOTAL SAVINGS: $4.80

My referral link to join: Join Honest!

Seasoned Hard Boiled Eggs

2013-05-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

Our family favorite snack is hard boiled eggs, we have been trying out different seasonings with each batch. Our most recent batch of hard boiled eggs were seasoned as Sea Salt & Black Pepper, Sea Salt & Paprika, Sea Salt & Jerk Spice (our favorite!).

Sea Salt & Black Pepper

Sea Salt & Paprika

Sea Salt & Jerk Spice

Measuring Spoons Holder

2013-04-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

Every time I need a measuring spoon, I have to fish through our drawer of small utensils trying to find the size I need. I finally got fed up with the mess one day and collected all my spoons and put them in a tiny glass bowl that I have been holding on to for years. Ah, now my spoons have a home and can you believe I don't stress over finding my 1/2 tsp anymore? ;)

Shari's Berries for Mother's Day

2013-04-25T09:52:00.004-07:00

purchased | press sample | sponsored | affiliated | advertisement

I recently had the opportunity to choose a Mother's Day gift from Shari's Berries, although I don't have a mother to gift to, I thought it'd be nice to choose a gift that Michael and I could enjoy together to celebrate us both being awesome parents :) Since we are healthier eaters, we didn't want to pick anything sugary, so when we saw the Snack Attack we were instantly sold. This woven basket holds 10 snack packs in Hollywood Trail Mix (3 oz.), Cinnamon Almonds (3 oz.), Colossal Pistachios (3 oz.), Corn Nuts (3 oz.), Honey Roasted Peanuts (3 oz.), Honey Sesame Sticks (3 oz.), Butter Toffee Peanuts (3 oz.), Rice Cracker Mix (3 oz.), Roasted Salted Cashews (3 oz.), Smokehouse Almonds (3 oz.).

We loved the cinnamon almonds, pistachios, and rice cracker mix - those were the first to go ;)

Insanity Day 3 (ish)

2013-04-25T08:23:00.001-07:00

Well, we did not do the day 3 video, instead I did the stretches portion from day 2 yesterday. Here's the thing, I have very unhealthy hips, a lifetime issue from when I was born with one leg wedged up by my head. I live in pain every day and I also forget that it's abnormal to have sore hips. So, after doing the fit test on day 1 and the warm-up exercises on day 2, my hips are screaming in pain and completely sore inside. This level of pain usually happens when I sit for too long, stand for too long... basically do any one thing for too long. Now I'm feel regret about how far I pushed myself the first two days. It's tough to know your limit when your body can handle one limit while your hips can handle a much lesser limit.

I'm a little lost on how much I should be doing or how long I should be going for. My game plan is to do something every day, but not push through to do the entire work out until I truly can handle it. If I work my hips too hard then I run the risk of being immobile and I can't afford to do that with two little kids to care for.

Last night we did not exercise, so today I want to do more stretches and attempt to do Day 4's video IN MODERATION :)

Insanity Day 2 Plyometric Cardio Circuit

2013-04-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

Last night we did day 2 of Insanity, 45 min video of Plyometric Cardio Circuit. In the first 15mins we did the warm-up three times; jog, jumping jacks, Heisman 123-123, butt kicks, high knees, mummy kicks. After that was a water break and Michael decided we shouldn't push through anymore. He explained that we are starting as Insanity as inactive and if we push too far we won't be able to continue the daily exercises. Makes sense, but I was really pumped to do the whole thing. I think today I'm going to complete the day 2 exercise as much as I can and then we can start our day 3 tonight. We have been doing it at night around 9pm after the kids go down for bedtime. So, I have all day to catch up on last night's exercise.

Insanity Day 1 Fit Test

2013-04-23T08:27:00.004-07:00

Last night Michael and I started Insanity and day 1 is the fit test, where you do 8 exercises at 1 minute each. I'm not an active person like I used to be so I knew my numbers would be low. Surprisingly I was able to pace myself and push through each exercise to accomplish as many as I could. I also discovered my weakness, I have really poor chest and arm strength. Push ups are so difficult for me right now, hopefully I can build up enough strength to do more than 1 push up jack on the next fit test.

Here's our numbers from last nights fit test day 1:

Kiddie VLOG - March 2013

2013-04-05T17:59:00.002-07:00

March was a fun month! Jamison has started dancing along with music and Madilyn has developed a unique way of singing along with her favorite song and movies.

Easter 2013

2013-04-05T09:42:00.002-07:00

This Easter was so much fun, we drove down to Salinas to spend the holiday with Michael's family. Madilyn and Jamison had a blast running around and eating snacks. They had Easter baskets filled with healthy snacks; granola bars, fruit chews, dried fruits, raisins, and some goldfish crackers.

Recycled Lego Holder

2013-03-25T22:39:00.001-07:00

I spotted a giant plastic teddy bear container full of animal crackers at Target a while back, we love animal crackers and I had a vision for reusing the bear when he was empty. We finally ate all the crackers inside, I washed it out and threw in all our individual Lego pieces from Madilyn's princess Lego sets. The kids love the bear, Jamison likes to carry him around the house. The best part is that Madilyn doesn't know how to unscrew tops yet so they can't dump out the Lego's without asking someone to open him up first ;)

Not New Camera and Madilyn's Photography

2013-03-24T15:01:00.001-07:00

I recently bought a Polaroid i633 camera off my brother, in hopes of upgrading my blog photography. After playing around with photos, lighting and editing today, turns out this camera won't be replacing my cell phone camera (Samsung Fascinate). I put together a little collage of how I determined it didn't work out for me, the first column are original unedited photos, second column were edited with Windows Live Photo Gallery, third column were edited with the GIMP image editing program that I recently downloaded for free and have been really enjoying! I strive to get the right natural lighting as well as tweaking the color and exposure to get the photos to look true to color and life like. Seemed like the Polaroid is a simple point and shoot with very minimal setting, the coloring is very blue/green, so it's best quality comes into play with outdoor photos or photos taken at night or indoors using the flash.

Oh, and Madilyn performed her own tests with the Polaroid camera, her and my brother were taking some photos with it and they turned out pretty good given they are a bit blurry

Kid Checkups & Mama Two Cents

2013-03-22T10:48:00.002-07:00

Yesterday we took the kids to Kaiser for Jamison's 1st birthday group/class and then they both had checkups right afterwards. Let's chat about the checkups first. Madilyn is now 2y5m 36.5" 32lbs and Jamison is now 13m 32" 26.5lbs. Madilyn's averaging in the 75 percentile and Jamison is in the 90 percentile. Jamison had a few shots yesterday, and while he was upset and crying through them, Madilyn was nearby worried with "Oh no!"s and kisses for her brother. He toughed through, but since it was about 2pm, the kids had missed their naptime as well as lunch, they were very fussy. To be honest, they were so well behaved for being tired and hungry, we were so proud of them.

Backtracking to the 1st birthday group, it was nice. There was only one other family there, their boy's birthday was a day before Jamison's. It was our first time seeing Jamison next to a fellow 13mon old, the differences were vast! We talked about eating habits, temperament, preferred toys and milestones. I found it interesting that the other boy was the same age, but significantly smaller than Jamison, I feel like our little boy is a giant for his age (we later found out he's in the 90th percentile, so ya! haha). I also found it odd that the other boy wasn't walking yet, he just started to stand up with support, he still eats baby food, BF's and they have him forward facing in their car because "he doesn't like to rear face". I understand everyone has their different parenting preferences, but I nearly had a heart attack when I heard them talking about the car seat situation.

OH! The group leader also talked about food and drink recommendations and portion sizes. If you follow my Instagram, you've seen photos of my daily mama duties, as well as the foods and drinks they consume.

They eat fresh fruits and veggies every day, they drink a full sippy cup of whole milk in the morning and at bedtime. They only drink juice that is organic or natural or that I juice myself with veggies and apples. They do not eat processed foods, no unnatural sugars and rarely any filler-snacks like puffs or crackers. I'm very adamant about them eating healthy. It's taken me all my life to rid of bad eating habits that I never knew were bad until I was mature enough to understand it myself.

Apparently Kaiser recommends milk only once a day, at 8 oz. They suggest no juice (they did not specify what type of juices, but the leader showed a Motts juice container as an example) and only water for when they are thirsty. They also suggest breakfast, lunch, dinner and 1-2 snacks in the day.

Like I mentioned earlier, I juice veggies and apples for the kids juices, or we buy organic apple juice if we're lazy. Any time they drink juice, it is cut with water 50/50. Also, our kids always want warm milk in the morning and night, but they still drink a cup of watery juice and a cup or two of water throughout the day. They also each 3 meals and ~2 snacks every day.

I feel that our eating habits are healthy, but I for sure won't cut back on their milk and juice portions, they understand how to drink when thirsty, so most of the time they don't even finish their juice cups. I love that their juices are pure, I'd rather them drink healthy than snack unhealthy when out-n-about.

Okay, so that's the gist of yesterday's Kaiser visit. I'm feeling pretty rebellious about the whole juice thing, but we both agree on the kids eating habits, and ultimately our children are still much healthier than the majority of the kids in the world, so I'm not going to make a big deal about it.

oxo

Krystal

Honest Family Essentials Bundle - February 2013

2013-03-16T10:56:00.001-07:00

I didn't get around to opening our February Honest Company bundle until early March because we all got sick and lazy in a whole week. So, after I let the box sit for a while, I finally had a chance to sit and film an unboxing video. This bundle was so exciting because they had 3 new items available to select, and I love to try everything they have to offer!

Here's what we received in our Family Essential Bundle:

Suds Up (dish brush & dish) | $12.95

Aromatic Soy Candle (Sweet Orange Vanilla) | $19.95*

Dish Towels (2 towels) | $7.95

Conditioning Mist | $5.95

Multi-Surface Cleaner | $5.95

Oxy Boost | $7.95

Family Essentials Bundle: $35.95

*candle was an add-on, got 25% off, came to $14.95

This months bundle value: $60.70

TOTAL SAVINGS: $14.75 (includes the 25% off add-on)

My referral link to join: Join Honest!

Easter Baskets for the kids!

2013-03-15T11:24:00.003-07:00

I recently got the opportunity to choose something from PersonalCreations.com for Easter, I decided to go for a pair of baskets for the kids, these are the All In One Easter Baskets, Deluxe Bundle, $24.99. I had been debating on getting them baskets for Easter this year, I've never celebrated Easter before so I had to do some research online about how it's done for the kids. Since Madilyn is 2y4m and Jamison is 13m, I won't be giving them any candy, but I figured these baskets are such great quality that we can save them for the years to come. This year I'm going to keep the stuffed bunnies in the basket and put in some organic fruit/veggie treats and some little cardboard books for fun. I LOVE the personalized touches to these baskets, they are so adorable and I love that you can choose the colors. The candies are super yummy too. Michael and I had to have a taste! I like the variety, since Michael doesn't like peeps and I don't care for chocolates, we have a nice selection to munch on ;)

Disclosure***

Kiddy VLOG - February 2013

2013-03-08T09:43:00.001-08:00

February was a hectic month, Jamison has been teething off and on and acting very emotional and clingy, but he also had his first birthday on the 20th so that was a very exciting day. It's so funny how kids keep you busy 24/7 and then a birthday pops up and makes you stop for a day and reflect back to when they were born, all their first milestones of rolling over, crawling and first steps. For Jamison's birthday we went back to Super Frank's Adventure where we had Madilyn's 2nd birthday too. Madilyn had fun playing, while Jamison and us ladies were at the table eating pizza, rushing to open his gifts and enjoy some homemade cake from our friend Alexandra, Cakes By Alexandra, which was amazingly delicious and not super sugary (since I don't give the kids sugar yet).

Oh, and we measured the kids, Madilyn is 37" (2y4m) and Jamison is 31" (1y) tall, they practically look 10mons apart, March is going to be a relaxing month because we have a big family Disneyland trip coming up in April (I'm feeling a bit terrified of caring for the kids on the road, but it should be fine since they are so well behaved and easy going) hopefully I'm able to get a lot of video and photos of our first Disneyland trip, I haven't been there since I was a little girl. It's strangely emotional thinking my first time back to Dland will be with my own children :)

Toddler shades don't really fit her well

Madilyn colored her face with a washable marker

Wearing mama's shades

Making Lamby dance to the morning radio hip hop!

Strawberry teeth

When Michael comes home from work Madilyn likes to jump into our bed with her books

Being artsy on Grampa's 3yr memorial

Madilyn wears daddy's hat when he's at work

Baby Woody

When Jamison turned one he got his first daddy ride!

DIY Play Dough

2013-03-01T11:32:00.003-08:00

A friend's mother recently shared with me a recipe for homemade play dough and since Madilyn is LOVING it so much, I thought I would share how to make your own non-toxic play dough.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl:

2 Cups flour

1 Cup Salt

3 tsp. cream of tarter

Mix the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients:

2 cups boiling water

2 Tlbs. oil (wesson, etc.) not olive oil :)

food coloring (add to your desired color)

Cook on top of stove for a few minutes... or until it gets "firm".

Cool slightly, and knead 5 times.

Even let the "little ones" knead after it cools a bit...it's very comforting :)

COOL COMPLETELY before storing in a plastic contain or bag.

Graze LightBox - February 2013 (again?)

2013-02-18T08:45:00.001-08:00

This week we received and devoured our Graze LightBox for February. Here's the snacks we got and our thoughts. (click here to read my introduction to Graze).

UPDATE: Just noticed they added a new feature, you can select to have your box delivered every week, every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks. We just updated our account to every 4 weeks and changed our box from the LightBox to the NibbleBox.

Get your first box free with our invitation!

Our personal invite code: 43599R3

Signup: http://www.graze.com

LOVE! The Mango Chutney was amazing!

LOVED it! The tiny fudge cubes were so delicious!

Like it - didn't really taste like seaweed though

LOVED this, even though Michael doesn't even like coconut, he loved it too!

Kiddy VLOG - January 2013

2013-02-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

It's a small vlog this time, my camera has been working off/on, so most of the footage is from my cell phone - which is also working off/on. Ya, I need to upgrade my electronics sooner than later ;)

Some January photos...

Graze box subscription - January & February

2013-02-10T18:24:00.000-08:00

I recently signed up for the Graze monthly subscription, I got a free 1st month box AND a free 5th month box when they announced their US launch in January! In case you haven't heard of Graze, here's some information:

$5.00 a month
"we started inventing snacks that tasted good and were healthy for you" each box features four individual snack creations - from sweet to savory to tangy
boxes include little booklets with personal invite tags as well as nutritional facts for all the snacks featured
choose from a "lightbox" of low calorie snacking or a "nibblebox" of maximum variety
option to switch your box from light to nibble to light at any time
option to push your box delivery back one week (in case you're out of town or need a break)
enjoy your Graze box and return to the website to rate your treats to help personalize your next box
Invite your friends, they get a free box, while you get $1 towards your next box or you can donate it to the Graze School of Farming in Uganda

Our Thoughts:

We love this subscription and we're sticking to it, as well as telling all our friends and family about it. We love healthy snacks, especially for the kids, and the 8 treats we have received so far are delicious and safe for the kids to munch on with us.

Our personal invite code: 43599R3

Signup: http://www.graze.com

PACKAGING

CHECK OUT OUR JANUARY GRAZE BOX

Loved this one a lot

Really liked this one

Loved it

Liked it

click to enlarge

CHECK OUT OUR FEBRUARY GRAZE BOX

Loved it a lot

Loved it

Interesting... lol

Liked it

click to enlarge

How To: Homemade Parfait

2013-02-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

I have been on a parfait kick this year, so I thought I would share my latest parfait creation. I think it'll be fun, and hopefully inspiring, to share our parfait creations when we concoct a new recipe.

step 1: begin with a layer of organic vanilla yogurt

step 2: layer of sliced green and red organic grapes

step 3: layer of Post Grape Nuts dry cereal

step 4: layer of organic vanilla yogurt

click to enlarge

step 5: layer of sliced organic strawberries

step 6: layer of honey

step 7: layer of organic vanilla yogurt

step 8: top it off with a generous layer of General Mills Wheaties Fuel dry cereal

Honest Family Essentials Bundle - January 2013

2013-02-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to bump up the bundle subscription frequency to every 4 weeks, because now we are in need of restocking our Honest supplies. This month we are trying some of their newest products, plus I re-picked the laundry detergent again, LOVE that stuff!!

Here's what we received in our Family Essential Bundle:

4-in-1 laundry pods | 50 pods | $15.95

laundry detergent | 70 fl oz | $12.95

toilet cleaner | 27 fl oz | $5.95

bathroom cleaner | 24 fl oz | $5.95

floor cleaner | 24 fl oz | $7.95

Family Essentials Bundle: $35.95

This months bundle value: $48.75

TOTAL SAVINGS: $12.80

My referral link to join: Join Honest!

Madilyn's OOTD 1/24/13

2013-02-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

Madilyn's top was too cute not to share, this is from Gymboree, the leggings are just black ones from Walmart.

Coming Soon: Prabal Gurung for Target

2013-01-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

We're excited about the launch of our first design collaboration of 2013 - Prabal Gurung for Target. This New York designer came on to the scene in 2009 when he debuted his first collection, he's known for modern designs that have been worn by Michelle Obama and Kate Middleton.

Here's what you need to know:

In stores and Target.com Feb. 10, just in time for Valentine's Day, through March 23, 2013
All items will be available online and there are several web-only items
Approximately 80 items, including women's apparel, jewelry, handbags and shoes
Priced from $19.99 to $199.99 for apparel and $12.99 to $39.99 for jewelry, handbags and shoes

His lovely designs are inspired by a girl's journey through love, the Look Book is available on Target.com

Jamison OOTD 1/12/13

2013-01-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

Jamison had his first trip to the park this month, even though it's cold out and we could only be there for an hour, he had tons of fun on the swing and standing in the grass. This was also his first time wearing shoes, so unfortunately walking around the park was a no-go, poor boy fell face first into the grass. I think he needs more practice walking in shoes at home :)

The coat and jeans are from Gymboree, and the shoes are Genuine Kids for OshKosh, which you can find at Target.

ON INSTAGRAM :)

Madilyn's OOTD 1/20/13

2013-01-27T11:26:00.001-08:00

Madilyn wore this outfit last Sunday when we went to visit some friends in San Rafael, it's super cute! Everything is Cherokee, which you can find at Target in the US (they have a map of stores on their website if you're out of the US).