Diva Delivery - SammyDress

Hey Guys! Guess what, we got our package from SammyDress delivered this week filled with our free goodies for review/promotion!

I have to call and check on the headband we ordered since it wasn't in the package but we got A dress, 2 hats, a pair of sunglasses and our MIA headband all for under $25! If you place an order don't forget to use our promo code RAMD at checkout for 10% off your ENTIRE purchase!

The sizes run a bit small, which they state on the site and give you a sizing chart to use. We ordered the dress according to the sizing chart and it fits MD perfect with the exception of the length, which is always a problem for this girl. Nothing a good pair of leggings couldn't fix!

The hats got a bit bent out of shape on their way to us as they were just mailed in an envelope with no paper or anything to help keep the form. I was a bit sad about that since they are SO ADORABLE and really nice quality! We worked this one a little and it seems to have made a recovery ;)

We love our items and loved the prices on them even more! The details on the dress are amazing! With the way this MD is growing, We're buying her new clothes every couple of months!

Spending Pennies on Pretties

I'm frequently told (and with great appreciation) how beautiful MD is and how stylish she is. We always hear "oh my, she looks like a little fashion model, where do you get her clothes???"

Here is the thing. We are a single income family with three kids and a hefty cheer tuition to pay ;) We absolutely do not spend a lot on our children's clothing but I do get creative and am willing to shop at resale stores! If it's not used, it's most likely a Target clearance or a huge score from Zulily.

**If you haven't signed up for zulily, do this NOW! go to www.zulily.com/invite/minidiva and check out all the amazing offers for the whole family!**

This outfit is the perfect example!

The plain black long sleeve tee, black 'leather' jacket, and polka dot tutu are all Cherokee from Target. They were all on sale plus there was a 25% off Cherokee boys and girls clothes on the Cartwheel App! The skirt was under $4 and the jacket under $20(originally around $40). Her adorable boots, Lucky Top brand,  were an amazing find on Zulily for under $10. A great look pulled together for under $40 from head to toe including the jacket isn't bad in my book!

On Another Note--

This weekend I went through ALL of my photos on my computer and realized I have not gotten any prints in FOREVER and guess who has great deals going on right now....SHUTTERFLY!!!! Yes, I'm ordering hundreds of prints and I can't wait to fill albums! Also getting the hubby a custom gift for Father's Day!!! Don't let it sneak up on ya!

DISNEY, Here we come!

Happy Mid-Week Everyone! Another  busy, busy week is almost over.

We were blessed with more days of sunshine and high temps so we definitely took advantage and had some park days, did a lot of long walks with BD while MiniDiva and her brother were in school!
We also made a little DIY shelf this week. We scored some crates from a local woman this weekend and got a few things from LOWES to make this beauty! Simply stained with #weatheredgrey and nailed into place with a board across the bottom and the top! We used nails instead of screws because the wood was very thin and wanted to make sure we didn't split it at all!

We Told the kids about our upcoming Disney trip and I think they are excited. We are going to spend MD's spring break there! I think MD's dad is as excited as they are! We are also going to do a day at Sea World while we are there. I just learned about the bippity boppity boutique and will definitely have to make reservations for that! What are your favorite Disney "do's" ???

 

 How cute are MD's School outfits? The yellow and white polka dot skinny jeans are from target and they are one of my favorite pants of hers. Funny story, the shorts on the right are a size 4T in order to fit her waist. But they now go to her mid thigh rather than her knee because she is average height! She got in trouble at school and told she needed to tell her mother her shorts needed to be much longer. How do you feel about her shorts? In my opinion, they most certainly aren't SHORT shorts!

I tried to get a couple Easter pics of BD for my photography class <3 She is so precious but SO SO busy, which is making it much harder to take photos of her, haha! 

Wednesdays MD has cheer so we did dinner just the two of us after. She has been mentioning a lot lately that we don't do anything just the two of us anymore and I feel horrible because she is right. I don't know how to make individual time for all three of our littles right now. I feel stretched so thin and need to make it work so I have the opportunity to remind both her and her little brother that they are important to us.

Alicia, who made my hood and suck pads has made a few more options as far as tula accessories go! She too makes little matching shoes to go with Tula's or anything else for that matter! You can look at her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sweetserendipitydesign?_rdr  She also makes really cute legging and headband sets that I want to purchase for photos. They are seriously just adorable! <3

MD Had a competition this weekend!

 We did another team dinner on Sat. night at Red Robin....THAT WAS A DISASTER! I made reservations on Friday and she tells me just to come in 15 minutes early to tell them how we want it arranged. My family and I got there at 4:30 for the 5pm dinner. The new hostess says Hey are you Heather with the group of 20-25 I say yep thats me....Then as we are waiting for 45 minutes they say well we don't really take reservations it is first come first serve but we wanted to accommodate your group. Hello, you should have told me that. We got seated at 630! Not a fun wait with a large group of children.

The girls were so excited to get 1st place at the Master's tournament. MD has not stopped talking about it all week! We got a funny text that the girls did great but they could have been better if they focused during warm ups, I guess they were a bit spastic, haha! This makes our crazy wednesdays, the extra lessons, the practicing and stretching at home all worth it! Congrats, MD. We are all so very proud of you! I love MD's team, all of the adorable and sweet mini's and the amazing families we've gotten to know over the year. I am sad that our year is coming to an end. We have the showcase and then a couple weeks later tryouts for next season!

Miss MD wouldn't be able to participate in Cheer if it were not for all of our amazing family. We have had great success in finding sponsors, fundraisers and her auntie christie has made HUGE contributions. We are so so grateful for all of the amazing people in our lives who love and support MD as much as we do! THANK YOU, ALL!

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

PS. I have some exciting news!!! Our personal website's for Arbonne are up and running! Check out the Pure, Safe and Benefecial products Arbonne offers at http://heatherpilkington.arbonne.com 

We have a lot of catching up to do!

Hey All,

So sorry it's been a minute since we caught up! We've been swamped! Md's daddy got home a couple days after my birthday! YAY! Since then we have been so busy running around, with school, looking at houses and all the other fun things grown ups do ;)

Rachael, who is working on MD's Pageant Dresses has stopped by for a couple of fittings and I am so excited to see the end results. They are not your typically princess dresses you see at pageants but MD isn't your typical girl. These were designed just for her. From her interests and choices in sketches and fabrics. The pageant is only 2 weeks away!

MD had a little incident last week. She was playing at a friends and hurt her hand when they were goofing around. We brushed it off thinking it was no big deal at all. MD is a pretty tough girl and typically doesn't complain a lot and only mentioned it hurting a couple times. The next morning she couldn't move without crying that her hand hurt. It was overnight covered in black and blue bruises and swelled up!She couldn't color, get dressed or anything so we decided to take her in to the Dr's. We figured better safe than sorry and the Dr agreed and wanted to get an X-ray since her swelling and bruising were so crazy! They explained lucky her little bones aren't all fused together yet so she avoided a fracture but we kept it in a wrap all week and it's still giving her a little trouble, poor thing! 

 

MD's daddy and I have been pretty dedicated to getting back in shape and have been doing P90x again. I always seem to have a horrible time AFTER I have had my babies with weight gain. With Baby Diva I gained a total of 6 lbs when I had her. I had lost 35 lbs just two months after having her. I have gained all of that back in the 5 months since. I don't get it?! Anyways, it is what it is and we are trying to make healthy changes to fix that problem! How cute is MD working out with us! Do you and your family "get fit" together? What activities do you let the kids join in on?

 This week has been pretty exciting for me. MY NEW TULA CAME <3 I had myself convinced it was ridiculous and my Ergo was JUST FINE. I didn't need another carrier. Even though I really liked my friends when she was here. They are so soft and comfy and cozy and ohhhh man, I just love them. Well, then a Willow popped up on a Tula B/S/T for retail price. I had to. I HAD to. I mean, that never ever happens and it was the print I had been drooling over. As it turns out I was having some suck pads and a hood made for my ergo to test out. I quickly emailed Alicia letter her know I scored a Tula and she made some quick alterations! How cute are my accessories? Baby Diva seems to love them, too! And she has them in her etsy shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/SerendipityCloth?ref=shopinfo_shophome_leftnav for almost half the price I've found them anywhere else. I do think I like to wear my tula without the hood so I'm not sure if i'll keep it on or just fold it up and put it in the front pocket! I think on my next pair of suck pads I'll ask for more of a flare at the bottom, too since baby diva likes to pretend she is an owl and turn her head far back to chew on her carrier. She is just so afraid of missing out on whats going on in the world, ha! Look how big she is getting. Sitting up all by herself and chewing on just about anything she can get her little hands on, including the dogs.

         

     

LOOK!!!! We also got these today to review for you guys! THEY ARE AMAZING! They have Elsa, They have rhinestones, THEY ARE PINK. I mean, it's like the staple shoe for a mini Diva. I found Rahmel on Facebook. He started off just making these for his daughter(aww) but he has started making custom designs for purchase. Anything from collegiate, NFL, Cartoons, you name it he's got it! And they are put together so well. The stitching on elsa is very sturdy. I totally give these babies 5 stars! You can get ahold of Rahmel Oliver at rahmel12@hotmail.com about the shoes! Make sure and tell him you read about them on raising a mini diva :)

 
 


Between MD's Cheer practice from 8-11 this morning and meeting Rahmel and Alicia to get products we had about 1.5 hours to play at the park. It was a perfect day weather wise and all three little people had a great time. They played at the park, ran around in the fields like crazy people and MD's daddy got them Dip n Dots Ice cream. He even let baby diva try a dot...she wasn't super impressed with it. We had an amazing family day and I'm so thankful we get to make these memories. We've had a rough year and it makes me appreciate the good things a bit more.

MD's little brother started Occupational Therapy a few weeks ago.

 For some time now I thought he was just the child from hell. It sounds awful, I know, and some may understand while others judge, but it's true. He was NAUGHTY all of the time. I mean ALL of the time. He was hitting and biting and kicking and the tantrums he was throwing were honestly overwhelming. They would leave both him and I in tears by the time the day was done.

But then it started being more than just him being naughty. He could not make a decision to save his life. He would have anxiety attacks over which pair of underwear he was going to put on or if he wanted apple juice or milk and no matter what we decided on once it was happening it was all wrong. And I mean actual anxiety attacks where he is shaking and crying and feeling scared and confused.

His tantrums were not normal tantrums, either. They were violent. Toward us, toward himself and anyone else in his path. He was gone when he'd throw these fits. He would repeatedly say I want my mommy as I would tell him Buddy, I'm mommy i am right here. It was terrifying. He was confused about what had happened and a lot of times didn't recall most of his fit.

Finally I broke down and reached out to my sister in law. She suggested we mention it at his 3 year appt and ask to see an OT. IT HAS HELPED SO MUCH!

MD's little brother has sensory disorder. He is over stimulated easily. He is an extremely intelligent little boy. He can count to 100, loves to sing us songs and is very verbal and speaks better than a lot of the children in MD's class. He has zero developmental delays and we are really thankful for that. But in certain situations we have to be accommodating! One example, his sisters choir concert. He had a total meltdown. He was SO SCARED of all the kids there. He repeatedly begged to go home because of all the kids and I, again, thought oh he's just being naughty. Then music started and he was shaking and crying telling us it was to loud and he just wanted to go home. I feel awful now.

I truly don't think this will affect him much in the long run as long as we help him find ways to cope or more importantly prevent his anxiety early on in life. His teachers would have never guessed he was having such a hard time and a lot of my friends thought I was crazy for thinking he was naughty. Oh, but those he trusts have seen his anxiety attacks and have seen his meltdowns. His therapist explained when I asked why he was SO SHY and so reserved at school and then just EXPLODING at home that he is anxious and scared at school. He doesn't want to let anyone down or be in trouble but he feels safe and comfortable at home and lets all of his bottled up anxiety out here.  It is truly so sad to see a 3 year old with severe anxiety and we are committed to parent in ways that are productive and proactive. His therapist is an angel, he absolutely loves her(which is rare for him. he's very selective on people he likes and will typically be honest about his feelings, ha) and we have had 2 whole days this week alone where we didn't have massive melt downs(little fits here and there and night terrors but I can live with that ;) ). Part of it is us being proactive and patient but more so he is doing so much better himself!

Wish us luck on this new journey with him as it will bring peace to our whole family. We are so glad we get to share it all, the good and the bad, with you. Much Love. 

OH.MY.WORD

I like to pride myself on my ability to juggle life. I've always been better off busy. I love taking on projects and having goals. Right now however, I have to admit I've taken on more than I can handle. I woke up to a beautiful sunrise, rushed MD and her little brother to get ready and out the door to school and had a mini anxiety attack. Where do I even start?! My current commitments include Full time student, Full time mommy, Instagram for a Rescue I volunteer with, MD's crazy schedule of pageant and cheer practice, all on top of MD's daddy being gone on and off. It's not so much the constant to do's but more the lack of me time. I need to find a way to take an evening to myself. I recently read an article on why moms are bad friends and oh my gosh is it ringing so true lately. I simply do not have the time or the energy at the end of the day to be a good friend. I'm more often than not turning down invitations due to sickness, practice, schoolwork, etc. (Speaking of our Instagram Find us and follow, pretty please! Help us find these babies their humans!)

These crazy times certainly make me look back to when I was working 50+ hours a week and maintaining MD's crazy schedule with the help of our amazing nanny, Kasi and my bestie Christie. Our little family would not have made it without their help while MD's daddy was gone from May-Oct! Kasi even helped with Sergeant when he was just a pup! We will forever love and miss her! (no she's not dead, I'm still mourning the loss of her as our nanny over 1.5yrs later LOL) Here are some pics of MD from that summer! And how cute is baby Sergeant sitting for MD!              

 

It was my turn with this awful stomach bug our family cannot rid ourselves of so MD attended our friends Tea party baby shower without me. A friend of mine picked her up and let her tag along. BD and their brother had felt off all weekend as well. I took them (baby diva and their brother) for a walk while MD was at the baby shower so their daddy could get some work done hoping the fresh air would do them good! Apparently baby diva hasn't gotten over it yet since she's had 4 outfit changes today due to throwing up, ha! She started off all cutesy, then I gave up and went with pajamas! 

(MD with sweet Grace at the Baby Shower)

(Don't worry, I never walked away from her while she was in her bumbo...I had it in the bassinet because the dogs always manage to smack her in the face with their tails when we sit on the floor!)

I got the sweetest message about MD from my friend Rachel, who the shower was for. I was so disappointed I couldn't go and when she sent me this it warmed my heart, ha! She is such a sweet woman and I'm so excited for her to be an amazing role model for their sweet princess!

" I just wanted to tell you that it was such a pleasure having (MD) there. She was VERY adorable and so sweet. My mom talked about her for hours after the party last night. She said the sweetest things and toward the end was on the floor playing with Grace keeping her company so Amanda could walk around. I just thought you should know you had one very well behaved little lady who honestly made everyone's day!! Please tell her again that I said thank you for coming. "

I am so proud of MD for so many reasons. She is so talented at anything she sets her mind to and she is such a loving person. She has the biggest hear yet has plenty of Sass to balance it all out, ha ha. She is such a smart and driven little girl and I never, ever want to be the one to make her think she can't achieve anything! We will 100% back her passions and let her follow her dreams. Today MD is wearing her "work" outfit as she called it. These mini black slacks are THE most adorable thing I've seen! She topped it off with an Elsa(fishtail) braid and one of BD's new headbands from Claire's! OH, and the shoes! Of course with a work outfit you have to wear heels! 

(Sorry it's a bit blurry...My iPhone hadn't had it's coffee yet!)

Then, this afternoon I got another sweet message from a friend! The universe must have known I'd been feeling down and needed a little love. Hilary is the mom of one of the girls on MD's cheer team(They even share the same name, how cute!)  and we met at the gym. I absolutely adore her! They have the sweetest family(they are the ones that bought our pizza the night before our competition!). She just started her own blog and she text me to let me know she loves our blog and it inspired her. <3 AWWW <3 check her blog out! http://inhillville.blogspot.com/2015/02/when-baby-turns-one.html

Thanks again for catching up with us! Much love!

MLK Weekend

Wow, I thought last weekend was busy...This weekend was pure chaos. 

First, MD's daddy had some things come up at work so rather than a 4 day weekend he has worked all weekend in preparation to leave us :(. It has been up in the air when he was leaving but now we know it's Soon! We don't know where he's going or when he's coming back and greatly appreciate prayers! 



Let me just tell you....Doing it all on your own with 3 is so 
much harder than 2 for some reason! Once again MD had 
a saturday cheer practice! Luckily it was 1-3 so we didn't 
have to be up at 6am to get ready for this one, ha!
They learned the ending of their routine and it is so stinking
 cute! We signed a contract stating we wouldn't show routine 
videos, so here is a cute pic of MD in her cheer uniform! 

  
So we spent the afternoon at Target while MD was at cheer! This weekend they have a great selection of clearance clothes with an additional 20% cartwheel! We got MD some shirts for less than $2! I didn't get much of a chance to look through the adult clothes since MD's little brother was restless but the cartwheel discount applies to ALL clearance clothing and ends today! Target is one of my fave couponing places :) The pic on the left is a shirt I got her from clearance and I just Love it! The Bow on the right is an accessory we won from Megan's Hair Candy! Check her stuff out on instagram @meganshaircandy or her etsy shop www.meganshaircandy.etsy.com

(Sorry for the blurry pic, but it was MD in true MD form, haha) RIGHT after cheer we raced off to MD's friends birthday party! It was an adorable Frozen party at this really cool pottery place and the kids got to make plates with either olaf or a handprint snowflake! MD and her little brother had a blast and I'm so glad we were able to make it. This place still doesn't quite feel like HOME but I'm glad to have met some of the other amazing mom/friends I have! I need to get out of the house more often so I remember this!




We skipped out on Church today. We are all exhausted and want to spend time together before MD's Daddy leaves. Plus, we have to go find him a little notebook he can bring with for skyping and finish his packing! He's totally anti-social media so he won't read this and I can tell you all my little secret. I did most of his early on packing since we thought he was just going to have time to grab a bag and hop on the plane. I hid little notes all over in his pockets saying we loved him and missed him, etc! Well then the a-hole comes home and starts rearranging everything packing new stuff and pulling out the stuff I already packed HAHA. Great, now I have to find a way to be sneaky and get the notes into the new pockets! 

Since I have you all here I'm going to open myself up to ridicule! I am taking some photography classes this semester as it's required for my degree (starting in Feb) and bought my camera last semester so I could practice. I want to be able to take my own photos of the kids! This is one I did of MD's little sister last week. Just in our home, using a flat sheet and natural lighting. Let me know what you think, where I can improve and any other tips you might be able to offer me!