the perfect little t-strap. (discount code inside!)

one of my biggest goals for the new year is being more selective of the things that i buy. (not only for myself, but also for teddy and our home.) over the years i've caught myself buying things for the wrong reasons and then i find myself with a shocking amount of excess in my life.

so, new goal: only buy things that i love. i've noticed such a difference already. dressing teddy is so much more fun when i know that everything in his closet has been carefully and thoughtfully purchased. (it's made me love getting him ready for the day, and i know i've saved money by not mindlessly raiding online sales.) 

 a few months ago i came across this small business called mon petite shoes, and they make the most beautiful shoes for babies and toddlers with simple and elegant lines and design. these shoes have soft soles, allowing little feet to grow and develop while still offering support.

i actually gasped when i opened my package from the mail. they are gorgeous.
(i think they're actually even better in person. i can't seem to take a picture that does them justice, and i'm always getting questions about them when teddy wears them.)

julie, the founder of the small business (nicest person ever, btw) began making these shoes for her two little girls in 2014, and since then her shop has grown to offer two darling styles in about a dozen colors. we have both the t-strap and the oxfords (both in the cognac color because i cannot even handle it). these shoes are handmade with love, which sounds cheesy until you've touched them with your own two hands and have convinced yourself that you need all of them. i dare you to buy just one pair, guys. double dare.

showing a little thigh, ha!

so going back to my goal- only buy what you love. when i slide teddy's chubby feet into these shoes, when i see him running with his funny little toddler shuffle in them, i feel like they're making already beautiful memories even more beautiful for me. they're the kind of thing i'd keep in a memory box- something for his kids someday to wear. i have zero buyers remorse.

also- i have a tiny pair of the t straps sitting in a box labeled baby #2, and i'm not embarrassed about it even a little bit. (also not pregnant, in case you're wondering. that box won't be opened for a while, ha!)

you can get yourself a nice little discount using the code happypear15! big thanks to julie, for making such darling shoes, and to her kind assistant jenn for being so lovely to work with. we love this company and these shoes so much!

xo

naptime with ComfortCam (with a VIDEO!)

when we moved, a lot of things changed. we went from beige apartment carpet to creaky hardwood floors. we went from a third floor walk up surrounded by trees, to a single level surrounded by bright snow (at least for now). we went from sharing a bedroom with teddy to having our own space.

maybe i'll feel different with my next, but i loooovvveedd sharing a room with my infant. i loved it. i felt like i was more informed on how my baby was doing, and because the room had so much space, and also because teddy was an incredibly low maintenance baby for the most part, it really didn't feel like an inconvenience the way i imagined it would. i remember being able to sit up in bed only a few inches and being able to see his tiny belly moving up and down gently, and feeling at ease that he was fine.

after moving into our little white house, we let teddy sleep with us for a few nights, and then transition into sleeping in his crib (in his own room across the hall) by himself. every time i heard a noise either gid or i had to jump out of bed to be sure he was okay. there's a large window in his room; did we lock it? is it too cold? too hot? maybe there's something that's making a weird shadow or noise and it's scaring him? it drove me crazy.

nap time was almost worse, because the floors near our bedrooms are creaky (charming during normal hours, and annoying during naptime) and sometimes when i'd tiptoe to see if teddy was awake, i'd find him sleeping peacefully, and then would accidentally wake him up with the creaky floors on my way out. (mamma tip- don't let your infant get used to absolute silence when they sleep. creaky floors will be your undoing. i've been un-training him and it's made such a big difference.)

i shied away from baby camera monitors after reading horror stories about hackers getting into them and doing all sorts of creepy stuff. the world can be scary, and i'd rather wake up my baby with creaky floors than possibly have some digital peeping tom looking into my house, right?

guys, this image is in full color.
it made me realize how very very white our kitchen countertops are.

ComfortCam is a smart, wifi baby monitor that allows parents the capability to view their children at anytime from anywhere in the world. best part? the VERY best part?? they're "cloud free", meaning none of the media/images/videos are stored on any sort of server out in cyber space where they can be viewed and saved from an outside source. it's totally secure and private.

when the ComfortCam team reached out to me and asked if i was interested in trying out their smart monitor, i was thrilled just to avoid the creaky floor waking situation. you guys, 3 days after using it, i was hooked. the camera is easy to set up and connect to your phone (took me less than 10 minutes, and i'm a moron when it comes to this kind of thing.)

the application that you download onto your phone or ipad is easy to maneuver around, and the camera itself has infrared lights (for hd night vision), can pan, tilt, and zoom (no way for teddy to hide from me), duel speakers, and an ultra sensitive microphone (so i can hear him, or even talk to him if i want to).

biggest deal for me? the camera streams directly to my phone or ipad and not to some cloud. i can take snapshots, or record funny things teddy does (the other day he was doing mountain climbers in bed, and gid and i were watching on the ipad and trying so hard not to laugh too loudly in the room nextdoor). when we first started using the camera, i'd keep my phone on my nightstand and in the middle of the night, i loved being able to check in on him when i heard little noises to be sure he was okay. over the past several weeks, using the camera has made me feel more confident that teddy's fine in his own room.

sometimes he stares down the camera so hard. funny boy.

do you like how awesome i look in this picture?
i mean, super flattering, right? (ha.)

people, this is a product that we've loved having in our home,
and i'm grateful for the peace of mind it's given me.

here's a short video giving you a sneak peek of ComfortCam in our home:

thanks so much for such a great product, ComfortCam!

i hope you're having such a good friday.
happy weekend!
xo


this post brought to you by ComfortCam

a corner of teddy's play room (with a video!)

okay, our friends over at tnees tpees sent us one of their darling teepees for teddy's playroom, and i've been so crazy in love with it, guys. (i hide in there sometimes while teddy naps to watch netflix, and i swear it improves the binge episode watching experience. #justsayin)

found this tiny wreath at trader joes, and i'm all heart eyes over it.

i've been in the market for one of these for a couple of months now, and i felt like everything i looked at was too big, too expensive, or too elaborate. (for instance, i found this vw bug teepee that was pretty cute, but it was a bit much for my taste.) i'm trying so hard to keep the styling in our home as minimal as possible, and the natural teepee from this shop has been so so perfect for our little playroom.

the other night we hired a babysitter while we went to the nutcracker, and we we got home she said that teddy crawled into the teepee, put his head on the pillow, and his little bummie in the air and just went right to sleep. sweet baby bear.

i've loved how mobile our teepee has been (our house isn't exactly enormous, and this has been really easy to set up, or put away if i need more space), and especially how charming it makes the space in our playroom. we've gotten several compliments, and i think teddy is just going to love it more and more the older he gets.

these teepees are hand made with love in america by a husband wife duo, come in a wide variety or styles and colors, (ugh the neutral lace would be so lovely for a little girl's nursery!!) and i can attest for the quality and dedication to the brand and quality of product.

and bonus: here's a little video of the teepee in our home:


check it out friends. promise you won't be dissapointed.
xo

ps- can you believe christmas is in five days??! 

should someone be stressed out if they haven't purchased any presents at this point?
asking for a friend.

tnees tpees
cushion & rugs (washable!)
mobile

a giveaway with eeboo!

hi. 

it's tuesday, and i really want it to be friday. 

i've never looked forward to weekends as much as i do as a mother, which is weird, since moms don't get weekend breaks from their kids. i thought when i stopped working full time that weekdays and weekends would feel the same. they don't right?! sigh.

hey let's do a giveaway to get us through this tuesday.

ever since teddy could grasp objects in his hands, he's been into waving (more like thrashing actually) his toys around, which is cute, but can easily turn into a really sad day when he drops them on his face, or they're hard or pointy. a few weeks ago while we were in dc, teddy was chewing on one of his favorite airplane toys, and after an excited jab, he scratched the inside of his mouth. so sad.

one of teddy's favorite toys right now is the noisy ball from eeboo, a thoughtful children's toy and gift company located in the heart of nyc. it's a soft, plush ball that has a soft chiming noise it makes when it's moves. (not obnoxious- and you guys know how picky i am about toys and their noises!)

the noisy ball's design is a traditional folk form toy. it has bright friendly colors, and crinkles and squeaks in a few little spots, which is extra fun to discover for little ones. it's shape is perfect for small hands, and i can personally attest that it's teddysafe (which means you can shove your face into it thousands of times without harming yourself.)

teddy's fav game right now is throwing it up the stairs and watching it bound back down towards him, or having one of us stand below the stairs while he throws it down to us and waits for us to throw it back up to him. 

do i sound like a bad mom when i say it's nice knowing i can throw it at his face and that it won't hurt him? mamma relief.

eeboo is being super generous and is sending TWO readers this sweet and fun toy!

to enter this giveaway, give their site a little visit, and shoot me a comment below telling me something that's putting you in a good mood today, k?

*as always, following me on facebook or instagram gets you more entires.*

thanks to eeboo for sponsoring this giveaway.

i hope you have a good rest of your day, friends.
xo

a giveaway with margaux and may!

okay people- it's wednesday, and teddy finally went down for a nap,
so let's celebrate with a GIVEAWAY!!!

margaux and may's blue fern swaddle ^^

i'll be the first to admit that i buy too many baby blankets, but they're soft, and cute, and i can't help myself, so this week we're giving a set away! ( if you win, maybe you'll develop a swaddle addiction like me, and we can talk through it with each other, ha!)

if you spend any time on instagram, i'm sure you've seen margaux and may's darling swaddles making the rounds. we've loved having these cute blankets in our home- they're thin and soft, and keep teddy just the right temperature. (nothing worse than a too warm blanket on a summer night!)

margaux and may's iconic feather swaddle. ^^

easy peasy giveaway- to enter, just leave me a comment below telling me one thing that you accomplished today that you're proud of. let's spread some good, shall we?

{entries double if you follow me and margaux and may on instagram.}

a winner will be sent not one,
but TWO gorgeous margaux and may swaddles!!

best of luck!! i hope you have a good wednesday, friends. xo

___________________


thanks to margaux and may for sponsoring this post.

at the park with whistle & flute! (promo code inside!)

happy monday, guys. this weekend went by way too fast for me, and i woke up with a serious case of the mondays. teddy and i both get grumpy when gid has to go to work in the mornings. everything is just better when dada is home.

anyway, let's celebrate the start of the week with a promo code for a way cute clothes company, k?

if you're on instagram at all, chances are you've seen whistle & flute clothing pop up. this company is killing it on social media with their cute minimal unisex clothes.

 i'm always on the lookout for pieces that i could have a little boy or girl wear (because baby stuff is expensive, and i want to double dip now and then, k?), and i'm crazy about these monochromatic shirts especially. why is the happy raincloud so cute to me? they have a similar one with a lightning bolt (and matching leggings, soooo...)

when we got our whistle & flute package in the mail, i was way impressed with how soft the material is. when gid touched it, he was like, "woah, do they make adult clothing?" ha.

ps- they do. (i'm getting us matching shirts to the one teddy's wearing in the pictures below...)

did i mention whistle & flute clothing is a family company, and its products are also ethically made?
i wish that was more common.

teddy  looks like a teenager in this picture and i'm crying.

i included this ^^^ picture of teddy sucking on his shirt, because he's really particular about the material he puts in his mouth. it has to be super soft. i only ever see him chewing on his bamboo swaddles. the whole time i was taking pictures of him, he wanted to just eat his shirt, lol. if it's got mine and teddy's approval, you know it's high quality, ha!

whistle & flute is being super nice and offering the readers of this blog 10% off their order with the code theveryhappypear, so go check them out right now before i buy everything, k?

this post brought to you by whistle & flute.
opinions, as always are 100% my own.

lately.

the past few days he's been cracking me up so much. just little things. like when he's taking a bath, he'll stand up to pee, or have gas, and then smile really big and sit back down. he makes little motor noises while he's playing with his toys. he laughs so easily at my jokes. who knew that having a baby who thinks you're hilarious is the best thing ever?

yesterday, i was having horrible cramps, and when i curled up on the ground, teddy crawled over to me, and gently put his head on my back. he's so sweet without even meaning to be.

he's starting to be able to breathe again when he sleeps. there's no better non sound in the world.

it's unbelievable how the maintenance people redoing our stairs (noisy!) know just when i've put him down for a nap- and yet he sleeps through the ridiculous racket. he's so tired; catching up on the past few weeks when he wasn't getting good rest in.

i was stung by a bee for the first time in my life last week.
it wasn't as bad as the hype i've built up over the past 30 years.

teddy climbs up on everything, and has learned through trial and error that it's best to go off of furniture and stairs feet first. i'm so proud of him, you guys. did i mention he took eleven steps yesterday? i feel like if i take my eyes off him, he'll start running.

the world is so scary right now. i don't recognize it. were my parents this scared about things like hate crimes and racism? has it always been this bad, and i've lived in a blissful little bubble my whole life? it feels like every time i open my computer, there's a new tragedy, a new crime. i wish we could change it overnight.

i believe there is more good in the world than bad, but i wish we were better.
xo

teddy's onesie 
teddy's bloomers
teddy's taxi rattle (his fav)

in love with lorena canals

having a baby has really made us re-evaluate the washability of the things we purchase. when i see something with a tag that says dry clean only, a little part of me wilts inside.

people warned us about this, and like a true idiot, i chose not to believe them. "you don't understand," i'd silently think in my head. "my baby will be cleaner than average." to my defense, i'm married to a man who is the cleanest person i know, so i get why i thought teddy would never make a mess.

* did i ever tell you guys about the time we were on tour in college and when we were staying in a hotel, gideon's roommate legitimately thought that the maid service had come in and cleaned the room while he was sleeping? (it wasn't maids. it was gid. lol.)

anyway, i thought teddy would be uber clean, and while all the other mammas talked about things like blowouts, i'd be teaching him how to correctly fold fitted sheets.

there's nothin' like thrown up sweet potato, and yellow baby crap everywhere to bring you back down to earth. babies are messy. they throw up, blow out, and manage to scatter anything everywhere. washability is a big deal.

when i heard about lorena canals, a company based in europe who makes machine washable rugs and cushions, i remember wondering why someone hadn't thought of this sooner, and thinking they were going to make a fortune from mamas like me who need everything to be easy to clean.

lorena canals offers various sized rugs in many different colors and shapes. we chose to get the galetta gray with a white star cushion, and we've loved having them in our home.

(i also love their world map one here, their british flag one here, and this one that looks like it has lace edges.)

lorena canals also has the most incredible black and white home collection coming to the states in a few weeks. are you swooning yet???? i'm swooning.

anyway, teddy has spilled everything from baby food, to crackers, to (ahem) pee, on our rug, and it's been so nice to know that i'm only one easy machine wash from having it in perfect condition again.

here's a peek of a day in our lives with lorena canals:(with the help of my sweet friend libby and her cute babies)

take a peek at their website, guys. you won't regret it!

xo

this post brought to you by lorena canals.

a giveaway with usborne books! (closed)

it's no secret that books are one of my favorite things to collect for teddy. gid and i started reading to him when he was less than a month old, and we'd joke to each other that we were instilling a love of literature in our (snoring) newborn. keeping up the tradition of reading to him in the morning and evening has led to him loving books, which makes me feel like a warrior mom. (most days i can't remember the last time i showered, there's lean cuisine warming up in the microwave, and i'm pretty sure i forgot to pay for car insurance for the past 2 months, but my kid loves to read, so take that perfectionism; who needs ya?! mic drop. moon walk. exit.)

this two sided cloth book about a family of owls has been so sweet.

one of the things i love about books is that they last longer than clothes (especially newborn sizes, ugh).  i also love that every book we buy is potentially one we'll use for other kids we may have. building an awesome children's library seems way more a worthy investment than a lot of the other things screaming at me to buy them on the internet.

so when my dear friend from college, carrie- an usborne consultant reached out for a collaboration, i was thrilled. who doesn't want/need more books?! even if you don't have kids yet- this is something you can't start too early on- i wish i would've started my library years ago since books can add up, and i want them all.

we were sent four different books from usborne, and i was so impressed with the durability and quality of the materials, especially for the price. teddy is in puppy mode right now, and his chompers are ruthless when it comes to biting things. he's been gnawing on these books for almost a month, and they've endured beautifully.

my favorite usborne book of ours is from the "that's not my" series. we have the book "that's not my fox" written from the perspective of a little mouse looking for his fox friend. each page has a different texture that teddy can investigate (bite), and i love the colors and illustrations. there's a million other titles in this series if you're not into foxes, though- ha!

carrie's involvement with usborne is fairly new; we were laughing about how sales isn't something she thought she'd ever get into, but she's been able to make a steady income as an usborne consultant (which gives me major life goals-- to be able to support my family and stay at home with three little ones!!) and she and her husband are going on a cruise in a few weeks completely paid for by usborne's trip incentives! so awesome.

this is another thing i love about companies like usborne- i'm able to help my friend support her family (as opposed to going to barnes and noble or target). if i'm planning on investing in a library anyway, it makes me happy to know that my money is going to help good people that i love. what a cool way to not only touch the lives of children through reading, but also to give to your family.

---------------------------------------

for this giveaway, carrie is generously giving away any new title of the winner's choice! (new titles come out in about a week.) she's also offering free shipping (via refund) on any orders over $100 or more now through the end of june.

entering into this giveaway is super easy:
just leave me a comment telling me why you want to win, or which book you'd choose,
 and head over to carrie's usborne VIP facebook group.

(extra entries if you're a follower of my blog, or the blog's facebook page!)

she does a lot of cool giveaways and shows cool new books that have come out, which is awesome if you're passionate about keeping your kids engaged with reading at all different levels.

here's a little video i made of usborne being a part of our life:

i tried to focus on the detail of the books, 

since that's my biggest hang up in ordering online versus in person.
i can attest to their quality and longevity!

this giveaway will end in seven days. good luck!!
thanks again, carrie! xo

(giveaway closed. congrats to jenny h!!!) 

falling for finn & emma.

part of the time we were living in salt lake i worked at the sweetest baby boutique. it was such a good job, and i loved learning about different baby products and brands. (especially when i got pregnant!) 

one of the brands we loved at babinskis, is a company named finn & emma. they carry everything from clothing (way cute options) to play gyms, to toys and rattles, to bibs, to swaddles... do i need to keep going? 

everything from finn & emma is organic, limiting your little one's exposure to harmful chemicals. 

people roll their eyes, (and i have to admit, i used to too) but studies have shown that synthetic fibers can contains petrochemicals, acrylic, pvc, and other toxins that have been linked to a variety of health problems.

if you can, it's a good idea especially when they're tiny to invest in some organic clothes for your little one. 

finn & emma is also a fair trade company. (something less common than you'd hope.) you can be assured that every piece you receive from them was created in a humane environment and paid for fairly. this makes me appreciate their brand and quality even more.

we've loved having these beautiful products in our home, and we are always getting compliments on our wood playgym. you guys know i'm all about beautiful toys that aren't obnoxious for me to look at or listen to, ha!

we're so thrilled finn & emma asked us to write about them to bring a little more awareness of organic products, and fair trade.

here's a peek of finn & emma in our day to day life:

i hope you guys have an awesome day!

xo

teddy's onesie.

teddy's playgym.

teddy's raccoon toy.

other finn & emma pieces we love right now:

these hanging toys for his play gym

this romper

and this cute polariod

this post brought to you by finn & emma