In other news...

Where does the time go?! Seriously... I'm starting to get a little anxious about the small amount of time that we have left until our little family of 3 becomes a family of FOUR. I suppose to start with, I owe you this little update:

That's right folks! Apparently we breed boys over here at Diapers & Divas. A funny thing happens when your second kid is on the way... You don't do much to prepare. I've done some random things around the house like go through our stock of baby clothes to see what we might need:

My the looks of it, we aren't hurting for clothes for our newest little guy. This is all just for newborn to 9 months. But I organized it all nicely into space bags, the ones where you suck the air out with a vacuum, so that I can just grab the bag with the clothes we'll need for that stage. When he's starting to grow out of that stash, it's time to grab the next back, throw it in the washer, and bam! we are good to go!

I also came across a few new things, or new-to-us things, after having loaned out Will's baby clothes to a friend or two. I got our clothes back, and then some! What a nice surprise! A couple of my favorites:

A little velour Paul Frank sweat suit?! Are you kidding me?! And check out the little monkey ears on the hood. I die. It's just so cute.
And a little old man cardigan! There really is nothing cuter than a little dude rockin' an old man sweater and some dark jeans, and maybe a pair of chucks.

Will was eager to help me that afternoon, so I put him to work:

The kid loves to use the vacuum wand. So instead of him running away with the attachments and using them like they're swords, how about we do something a little more productive... ;) He's a pro. He's definitely going to make a great big brother.

There are a few other things on our To Do list to prep for this little dude's arrival, like:

• Re-organize Will's closet. I'm thinking something along the lines of what Jen over at I Heart Organizing did for her boys:

And another great inspiration pic by another blogger:

• Our Master Bedroom will be getting a little makeover, too. Wittle Bird will be bunking in our room for a while so as to hopefully not totally turn Will's life completely upside down all at once. The first step in taking care of that is that all of this has to go:

Scary, right? The desk is going into storage, the shelves on the wall are coming down (maybe re-purposed in the closet re-do you saw above), and the bags in the corner need to go to Goodwill. Our dresser and TV will be going into this lovely little niche. Wittle Bird's crib and changing table/dresser will be going on the wall where the dresser currently is. Do you follow? Don't worry, I'll be sure to do a post about the whole crazy process. I'm also thinking about a stenciled wall where the crib is going. Just to kind of define it as it's own little space. Here are a few fun things I'm thinking:

[stencil from Royal Design Studio Stencils]


[pinterest]

[or maybe a fun ombre wall]

[and I love how bright and cheery this space is]

Decisions decisions...

So that is where we are at: Thinking about, thinking about prepping for some rearranging and some reorganizing. Do you have any tips or tricks for housing two boys' in a 2 bedroom condo? I'm all about finding ways to make the most out of our small space. Did you totally lag on preparing for the arrival of your second kiddo? Please tell me I'm not the only one... ;)

Outfit Challenge: Pop Pants

A little bored with your jeans and black/blue/white easy go-to top? Throwing on your Uggs or flip flops a little too easily these days? Us too. But you’re a mom. It’s ok… Or so you keep justifying to yourself. You’ve got 8,000 plates spinning in the air, so let’s add one more. Seriously though, you’ll be SO glad you added this one. And if one or two plates fall, that’s ok because you’ll look amazing while cleaning up those broken plate pieces!

Let me introduce you to our newest addition… The Outfit Challenge!
It started, mostly, because Lani and I tend to buy the same stuff. It doesn’t hurt that we text each other “Hey! Old Navy’s got [fill in the blank] on clearance! Should I get this one [insert text pic]?”. 3,000 miles apart and we are still each other’s shopping companions…

A few fun new pieces in our wardrobe lead to making a bit of an effort to mix up our closet. Reach for the Pop Pants instead of the acid wash jeans… What?! They’re back!
Sorry, that’s one 80’s revival I will not be a part of… But I digress.

We made a little pit-stop on Pinterest to check our Style boards for inspiration:
             

And since Lani and I have a lot of the same pieces in our wardrobe, we thought it would be fun to see how we style the same pieces. We are currently obsessed with the Pop Pants trend, thus our first challenge. We each own at least 2 pairs. I think Lani might have 3 now… I’m just waiting for Pay Day.

First up is Lani:
  
Here she is sporting an embellished cap sleeve top from H&M, magenta POP! pants by Mossimo from Target, and cognac spiked heels by Betsy Johnson. (You like my fashion show play-by-play?) Lani tried to push herself to be a bit more daring with color, too. I think she succeeded. She’s not a regular Mom, she’s a cool mom! (name that movie!)

And we have to get a close up of those shoes because I need something spikey in my life:
Adorable, right?! Studs on a bow is like the peanut butter to my jelly.


I took a bit of a different approach:
  
Earrings are from Target, red plaid scarf from Old Navy (men’s section), heathered chocolate cardigan Merona from Target, white blousy top from my sister’s closet, rope and leather belt from Target, red POP! Pants from Old Navy, Rickki tan boots from madden girl.

I am digging neutrals with a pop of color, right now. I also LOVE layers, and these boots. I practically live in these boots because they are flat and just so dang comfy. Oh! and my other new favorite accessory… LIPS! I splurged and picked up MAC Viva Glam matte red lipstick with the red enriched cremestick liner. I die! It is so smooth and goes on like buttah! It is a great red, not too orangey or pinky. And it lasts a crazy long time. I eat and drink while wearing it and maybe touch up once throughout the day. Yes, $15 for lipstick and $15 for lip liner is steep, but it wears so well and I always get compliments on it. Of course the compliments make the $30 price tag a little easier to swallow. Every girl deserves a treat like this now and then.

So what is your favorite outfit? or accessory? Maybe it’s a pair of boots you can’t live without?! Share with us! We’d love to see!
Post your pics on our Facebook wall or send us a shout out on Twitter!
We’d love to see how you style your pop pants and maybe we’ll share our favorites in a post! Let’s all get out of the Mom Jeans rut and turn in to the MILFs we are!

2012 In Review

Well kids, here we are at the beginning of 2013. It is utterly mind bottling how fast time flies, but even more so when you're chasing crazy lunatics around your house. Let's kick off 2013 with a quick look at the awesomeness we created in 2012. It's always a good motivator to see that you did more than just sit on the couch, watching Friends re-runs, eating Cheetos. 

Here we go:

In JANUARY, we both started Etsy shops. 

Lani has LEMON SQUEEZIES:

              

Super cute, right?! From bow ties to capes, she's got you covered! I don't know about you, but I need a turban headband for the days when my bangs need some taming.


An then there's PAPER MONKEY:


  
Need a cute paper banner or book page apple to spruce up your decor? Check it out! The paper flower clips are great for a little girl's hair, or your blazer's lapel.

FEBRUARY it was time to get our butts in gear:

Lani started her Master Bedroom makeover with a coat of paint on the walls.

And I did a little refreshing of our Living Room throw pillows by making a few new pillow covers:

MARCH

A pretty little organizer happened:

APRIL

Lani threw Jagger a very colorful birthday party:

And we made Will an Iron Man trike for his birthday:

MAY

I tackled a friend's living room wall with a picture frame collage. I think it's my favorite one I've done.

JUNE

We got painty with a new wall color in the living room:

And Lani got crafty with some adorable teacher's gifts for the end of the school year:

JULY

Lani got down to the nitty gritty and tiled her Master Bathroom floor:

You can check out the process here, here, here, and here.



AUGUST was a big month for us. Lani and I both went back to work full time. Talk about a big adjustment for us and our families and our DIY schedules. HA! But the day before I started my new job, I decided to paint my Master Bathroom:

And Lani's Master Bedroom revamp kept on truckin' with this fab rug upgrade:

SEPTEMBER was a time for more Master Bedroom and Bathroom upgrades. Check out Lani's progress:
A little Martha Stewart Garbadine goes a long way:

And some painted drapes in the Master Bedroom:

OCTOBER was a busy month, and maybe a little too busy because we didn't have much going on over here on the blog-front. We did have our first trip to the ER for a broken finger:

You can definitely count on us to keep it real around here. First trip to the ER, first cavity fillings (yes, PLURAL fillingS), and 1st day at preschool. Talk about a traumatic parenting month...



NOVEMBER
We got a lesson in accessorizing:

I tackled another subway art:

And painted my kitchen...again:

DECEMBER was very merry for us from a Pottery Barn NOEL sign knock-off:

To a super adorable Hot Chocolate Bar:

And we finished up the year with a yarn pom wreath:

You can definitely expect more awesome projects from us! Happy New Year!

XOXO,   

&