3/27/2017

Books that keep 2-Year Olds Entertained






Last month we shared a few of the learning activities we do with Bella and this month I want to share with you a few new books that have been added to our collection in honor of national reading month!

As a teacher's kid I know the importance of reading and have it inscribed deep in my veins since my mama was a Literature teacher while I was growing up, so not reading was never an option. 
Till this day when we go on a cruise or a laid back vacation you will always find me reading a book, and now as busy as life may be I still find the time to squeeze a little reading here and there!

Is our hopes to instill that in Bella's life as well, and we have bought her plenty of books and so have our friends. A few months ago her aunt (from El Diario Pink Blog) gifted her the cutest book ever. 
Peek-a-boo, I see who? A Bible Guess Who Book goes into Christian stories and simplifies them enough for kids to understand.

We also have Counting with- Contando con Frida. She loves counting the fruits and veggies in it. I have to be honest when we first got this book I use to put it aside during reading time but now is one of my favorites! Bella counts and names everything in the book perfectly.

Lastly, in our book list is this Einstein baby book collection Bella got last year and it still is a favorite of hers. We carry these in Ziploc backs or pouches and bring them out when we are on the go. She loves making every animal sound and pretending to read.

Here are a few more for your collection!
Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!





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3/24/2017

What We are Loving Friday

A few of the items listed I received for an honest review, but as always all thoughts and opinions are my own




Happy Friday Friends!
We are always excited for the weekend and this weekend we have no plans, really no plans out all. We are going to enjoy our time as a family and relax a little after spending the last few weekends preparing for Bella's 2nd birthday.

Wanted to share a few of the items we are loving and hope you guys can get to love them too.

This product is really God sent! We got our dock back on Feb 21 and Bella has been sleeping in it for a good month and has been loving it. She doesn't sleep in her crib the whole entire night but we are working on that and her dock has helped to at least be able to put her down and have her sleep in her own bed for 5-6 hours straight! That is as good as it has ever been on her own. I have a post on this coming up with a discount so you too can get one!
Use this link to get $10 off your dock

We have bought a few shoes over the past two years and I have to say that these are one of our favorite and Bella's as well. She won't take them shoes off and requests them all the time. They look adorable with whatever you pair them with and are comfortable enough for them to wear all day long with their rubber soles on size 4 and above. Bella is very vocal so I'll take her word for it! On top of that, they are super affordable and have a huge selection of colors. Oh, and they also have moccs, and because I think you too need a pair SweetnSwag has issued for your ENTIRE purchase. 
Use code: thecupcakehome for 15% off

Funny story, when we first received the Moxfords we tried them on and she slept, yes SLEPT, with them because she didn't want to take them off, even funnier I have a video of her not wanting any other shoes except her Moxfords!


Lester got the idea of buying this for Bella's birthday and we opened it on Wednesday and she loves it. She loves to jump so we knew it was the right choice. I just wish I could get one in my size. Maybe I can convince him to get me a trampoline in the future!

I'm a girly girl and from the moment I found I we were having a girl I dreamt of turning her into as much of I girl as I am. Having her in dresses or cute shirts all the time, millions of bows and painting her nails. But babies are babies and everything goes in their mouth so I delayed painting Bella's fingernails for almost 2 years. I painted her toes once when she was 16 months but that's about it. I looked for many organic nail polishes and found a few but nothing that really convinced me. About two months ago I got a packaged from Kid Licks and as unsure as I was of it, we gave it a try. Kid Licks is a brand of organic EDIBLE nail polish for your little ones. I have to say they don't have a lot of colors to choose from but the have pink and red which is just about the colors any girl needs.  I love it because as a mom I'm a worrier and having Bella's nail polish chip and her eating it was not something I am willing to do. 
Use code: thecupcakehome for 10% off



3/21/2017

Spring Cleaning Bella's room edition

 “This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of OshKosh B’gosh; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.”



Yesterday was the first day of Spring and we couldn't be happier!
All the colors, flowers and the weather is perfect. 
Spring also means spring cleaning, taking out the huge, over the top coats and bringing in the shorts, dresses and adding colors to every article of clothing!
Over the last few month we have collected so much clothing for Bella, I like to blame it on the fact that Bella is growing like a weed, but truth is very hard for me, and daddy too, to not get her everything we see because she looks adorable in everything, we are biased I know!
This week we decided to clean Bella's closet and put aside clothes that don't fit, winter clothes, and all last season colors and styles and her room now is a breath of fresh air. I won't say clean because really, how clean can a toddler room be?!
But if you are looking for some tips and tricks  here is what and how we do it! 

1. Buy Storage Bins.
 These are big in our house. We have a few to hold the items that she has outgrown and one extra for the items that are too big, shoes and clothes included. We separated them according to size and store them clean, which brings us to #2.

2. Storing clean clothes.
 I know it sounds crazy, you are about to store them and not use them for a few years or ever again, but it is so much easier to take the stain away once is fresh making it easier to re-sell or re-use later on. They won't have the soft baby smell but the will be clean. Don't be afraid to throw out the stained ones. They will only occupy more room, if stored and let's be honest you won't use them again.

3. Separate the brand new items. 
Most of the items that still had tags we passed on to family members since there is always a baby. It makes it even sweeter to see that piece used and loved by someone else.


4. Clearing out the Toys.
This is really the part I hate the most. There are always so many toys and Bella is attached to every single one, and I hate throwing things out, but it has to happen. We threw out all of the toys with missing pieces, passed on the daycare the ones she can live without and kept a few that we will replace later on. Something that helps us in our daycare is rotating the toys. That gets them to love and not miss-use them, and it's something that we have started implementing with Bella as well. 

5. Taking advantage of every item in their room. 
We have baskets that hold the messiest toys, a designated shelf for books and a wall of tutus. Yes, a wall of tutus. This is a new addition to her room. We hang all of her tutus as a piece of art and she gets to not only practice her colors but we build her up by letting her choose the color she wants on.

6 And Lastly building a new wardrobe.
With kids growing like crazy, things can get expensive and purchasing items that last and stand busy kids is hard. We took a trip to OshKosh B'gosh and grabbed a few pieces from the Field of Fun Collection and I'm happy to say that they have been washed a few times and are still standing, and guys they are adorable and toddler approved. 

Bella got to pick out one accessory and she was torn between a purse or a hat and the hat won! And doesn't she look amazing? I think she made the right choice. 













What I love the most about their collection is that every piece can be dressed up or down to match whatever you have happening that day, and is an added bonus that Bella loves them.

And take advantage of this coupon and fill your kids closet with some beautiful color for a reasonable price!

 And for all you mamas with older kids don't worry OshKosh B'gosh is now offering sizes up 14 so you can match them perfectly with their little sister or brother, they are going to love, or well, at least you will!

Click here to find the store closest to you!


3/07/2017

Meet Rocco

If you follow us on Instagram you have probably met the newest member of our family.
Luke Rocco.









We are adjusting to a new member and one, in fact, that requests so much attention but bring oh so much love. This sweet little puppy has brought me to my knees cleaning, haha, but has also sort of convinced me to like dogs.

I have honestly never been a dog person but Lester and Bella sure are, and with Bella's doggie obsession we were happy to.

This sweet guy was Bella's Christmas present and let me tell you they sure do love each other.
Rocco still doesn't know how he feels about Bella 100% of the time as she chases him around the house but about he is about 45% sure love her.


Ever since getting him we took him to the doctor to trim his ears, apparently is something people do, and given him all his shot and he is a new doggie! He has grown so much and so has our love for him.

Isn't he cute, though?



Look forward to reading more about him and seeing his cuteness on the blog as well!




3/01/2017

"Voy"





Esta entrada queria escribirla en Espanol ya que es mi primer idioma y muchas veces el idioma en el que pienso. El idioma el cual hemos ensenado a Bella y el que ella mas usa.

Hace un meses nos dimos cuenta, Lester y yo, que Bella hablaba mas Ingles que Espanol y teniendo familia que solo habla Espanol es mas que importante que ella los entienda y que pueda hablar con ellos. Cambiamos varias cosas y cambiamos nuestra manera de hablar con ella hablando completamente en Espanol.
Despues de unos meses y un viaje a Guatemala Bella habla mayormente Espanol y lo entiende perfectamente, gracias a Dios.
Bella tambien esta en la edad que empieza a querer retarnos con sus conversaciones lo cual nos lleva a el tema de esta entrada.

Usuamente cuando llamabamos a Bella, ella iba a donde estabamos y hacia lo que le pediamos, fuera algo tan simple como recoger los juguetes o dar besitos pero ahora la senorita a decidido usar la palabra "voy". Para todo.  Nuestras conversaciones siempre van algo asi.....

Yo: Bella
Bella: mama
Yo: Bella ven
Bella: Voy
Yo: no Bella voy no, ven ya.

Despues de unos minutos viene y me dice "mama" 
Como diciendome aqui estoy, que paso.

Sinceramente me hace reir tanto. Es una nina con tanta personalidad en un cuerpito tan pero tan pequeno, pero me hace ver las cosas muy diferente. Me hace querer ser mejor en todo y ser mejor ejemplo para ella. Pero en esta ves, me hace recordar nuestra relacion con Dios. 

Nosotros vivimos nuestras vidas corriendo, siempre ocupcados o buscando que hacer y muchas veces nos encontramos tan ocupado con cosas que no valen la pena, con cosas que no son importantes que no escuchamos la vos de Dios y cuando si la escuchamos respondemos con un "Voy".

Oimos que Dios nos llama, no que nos necesite, sino que quiere hablar, quiere una relacion con nosotros, quiere que trabajemos para su reino y respondemos con un voy. 

Con un voy que no llega a ser accion en si. Que solo se queda en palabras! Sin recordarnos que somos hechos para glorificar su nombre, para estar a su dispocinion. Que somo vasos vacios hasta que El llega y nos llena y nos da una luz, una plenitud que solo con El podemos tener. 

Seamos sinceros, cuantas veces le has dicho a Dios voy?
Ya voy Dios , al rato leo la biblia.
Ya voy Dios, dentro de una hora oro.
Ya voy Dios, ahora estoy ocupado/a haciendo algo mas y no puedo servirte. 


Y vuelvo y les repito, en realidad llegamos a ir,o se queda la palabra sin accion?
La diferencia entre nosotros y Bella, es que Dios a pesar de ser nuestro padre, El no es como los padres terrenos, que nos obligan a hacer las cosas. Que nos obligan a estar cuando no queremos, que nos obligaban a comer cuando no queriamos.

Dios es un Dios de amor, suavidad y el caballero mas grande. El no nos obliga.
El, atra vez del espiritu Santo y la biblia nos ensena como y que debemos de ser pero no nos obliga. 

El no nos trata como caballos con orejeras, El nos da la liberta y es de nosotros volver a El, prestar atencion y escuchar su voz y acudir a su llamado. 

Dime ahora que le diras a Dios cuando te vuelva a llamar? Estaras listo para ir? Estaras listo para lo que el te llame? Como responderas a su llamado?

Mateo: 11:15 "El que tiene oidos para oir, oiga

Juan 15:16 "No me escogieron ustedes a mí, sino que yo los escogí a ustedes y los comisioné para que vayan y den fruto, un fruto que perdure. Así el Padre les dará todo lo que le pidan en mi nombre."



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