Radiant Skin with Suave Professionals�

I've been quite enamored of products containing argan oil for several years now. The multipurpose oil has been amazing for every beauty need---from skin, to lips to hair, there's not a place from head-to-toe that argan oil can't enhance.

So as you might imagine, I was pretty delighted to get the opportunity to review two new Suave Professionals^� Moroccan Infusion products--- the Dry Body Oil Spray and the body lotion.  I've been a fan of the Suave Professionals� Dry Shampoo (I use it several times a week) as well as their Suave^� Naturals Daily Clarifying Shampoo for many years now, so I was curious to see if their new Suave Professionals� body care line would live up to greatness of some of my most-loved hair products.

The Moroccan Infusion Body Lotion is a daily moisturizer that promises 24 hour hydrated skin that's non-greasy and the Moroccan Infusion Dry Body Oil Spray also says it will seal in long-lasing moisture and add extra sheen to the skin for special occasions.

We've had some cold days the last few weeks in Houston and I've been using the heater in my car and my space heater at work like crazy, so as you can imagine, my skin has been suffering the consequences. My skin really needed a serious moisture intervention since I had admittedly been lazy with my body care routine recently. I found it interesting that the products in this new line are clinically proven to moisturize as well as Moroccanoil^� and it's written right on the label!

So, let's get to the actual products--- as I mentioned, my skin is pretty dry and cracking these days and with going to swim classes with Harper, the chlorine is further depriving it from moisture. For daytime, I like to use the lotion and I prefer the dry body oil for a big night out or other special occasions when I want to look extra radiant.

Both products are infused with a fragrance like you smell in most argan oil based products---sort of rich and definitely there, but after awhile the intensity fades to a nice scent that seconds as a light perfume. With both the lotion and dry body oil, I apply all over, but focus mostly on my arms and legs. The dry oil spray can add a nice sheen to your legs---just like you see in a lot of magazines and on the red carpet.

You can find more information about the Suave Professionals^� Moroccan Infusion Body Care products at www.Facebook.com/SuaveBeauty, where you�ll tips for radiant skin, style advice from celebrity stylist Brad Goreski and enter the �Radiant Wishes� sweepstakes for a chance to win Suave Professionals� Moroccan Infusion products, a spa day or a trip to Los Angeles.

How could Suave Professionals� Moroccan Infusion Body Care products make a difference in your daily regiment? Let me know in the comments for a chance to win a $1,000 Visa gift card!

Sweepstakes Rules: 
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: �#SweepstakesEntry�; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 1/30/2013-2/28/2013.
Be sure to visit the Suave brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers� posts!

Baby Gap Picks- Paddington Bear Collection

Baby Gap recently launched an adorable limited edition Paddington Bear Collection and I'm smitten!  Below are the items I ordered for Harper. 

I always like to order online and then return whatever doesn't fit or that I don't end up liking in person.  Use the code "MORE" at checkout for 40% off of regularly priced styles and 50% off of sale styles.

quilted jacket  |  polka dot tulip top  |  eyelet trim bodysuit  |  rainboot flutter top  |  marled pants  |  embroidered flutter dress  |  graphic duo fold jacket  |  striped leggings

Happy Tuesday!

Harper Reese- 8 Months Old!

Harper is on the move this month. She can get anywhere she wants to go if she wants to be there badly enough!

(my favorite shot- taken randomly with my iPhone during her 8 month photo shoot)

She is scooting and worming herself all over the place. She also wants to pull up on everything (and pulled up on her own for the firs time today--- January 26th!) and is getting great at standing with assistance/support. She's starting to make more sounds too--- lots of "dada," "gah," "baaaa," you know, baby talk. She can also get into a seated position on her own. Before, she could sit perfectly on her own but had to be placed into sitting position. Now she just sits up by herself�which has been interesting when she wakes up in the middle of the night and the first thing she does is sit up and scream...

Watching her grow before our eyes has just been surreal. She is so responsive, interactive and interested now. She wants to grab, eat and touch everything. She responds to her name and is curious about the things we say and do. When she's on her play mat, there's a little wall where the stairs begin, and when she hears or front door open, she will lean forward to try to peak around the wall to see who's coming upstairs. 

She is eating all kinds of foods--- lots of veggies, fruits and even chicken! I'm going to do a separate post all about how I've been making baby food. My mom even made a ton of baby food with me when she was in town this past week. With her help, my freezer is stocked with baby food cubes! 

This upcoming month will be an adjustment for Harper (and for me) because she is starting a new daycare/school. This is the daycare we have been on the waiting list for since I was 21 weeks pregnant and we finally got the call that they had a spot for Harper in one of their infant classes. We are lucky it worked out the way it did, since if we were on the list much longer, they would have had to move us to the toddler waiting list and we would have been lower on that list than the infant list. Plus, toddler spots are more difficult to get because babies are moving up into those classes so spots don't become available often. This new daycare is really more of a preschool environment and they really focus on learning in addition to fun. We love Harper's current daycare teacher, but we really like the environment, learning and spaciousness of the new daycare more. Though it will be hard to leave her current class, we felt the transition would be easier now, versus Harper having to transition to a toddler class in her existing school and then having to do that transition all over again when she's older and more aware.  Hopefully she will love her new teachers and baby friends.

Harper got baptized this month which was very special! We planned her baptism so that it coincided with my mom's visit and she was so happy to be there. I'm so thankful that my mom and mine's relationship has really had the opportunity to heal and blossom since Harper was born. You can read more about that here.  My mom got to spend the entire week one-on-one with Harper and I know she enjoyed having that time to bond with her since she doesn't get to visit often. Thank God for FaceTime! We FaceTime several times a week! I think Harper recognized my mom right away since she sees her and hears her voice on FaceTime. We weren't sure if she would make the connection but it seems she did.

Here are Harper's 8 month updates:

Weight: Harper is about 19.5 pounds. I will find out her height and head measurements at her 9 month appointment. 

Health: This month is the first time Harper has ever been on antibiotics. She was sick over New Year's and had a very high fever and was just miserable. She has been battling a cold for what seems like months now. One Saturday a couple of weeks ago she woke up and one of her eyes looked really pink so we took her to the pediatrician. It wasn't pink eye, but the pedi suspected she might have a sinus infection since she had been battling a very stuffy and runny nose going on 2 months. She also developed a mucousy sounding cough, but she only coughed once in awhile.  She seems to be on the mend now. It was tough to see her so sick, but she's a trooper and has handled it better than I would. 

It doesn't surprise me that Harper has been sick since she goes to daycare and is exposed to lots of germs (and the babies all just pass illnesses to each other). I figure since she's exposed to germs so young, she might not get sick as much when she's in grade school. Here's to wishful thinking!

Sleep:  All over the place. One night she will go to sleep at around 7 and she will sleep through the night until 5 or 6 a.m. and one night she may wake up a few times crying and sleep until 4. I would say of 7 days, she has 4 good sleeps and 3 not so good ones. When she wakes up really early, we just bring her to bed for an hour or two until we all wake up together. I've heard that babies' sleep gets interrupted when they are sick and when they are learning new skills, so it makes sense. She does know how to put her own paci back in so many times she will wake up a let out a little cry but find her paci, pop it back in and go back to sleep.  We used to run right up to her nursery every time she let out a cry, but now we know better. I will let her whimper for a few minutes because I find that she will usually use her paci, self soothe, and put her head back down and go to sleep if she has a few minutes to resolve whatever woke her. If we go in there right away, she almost never goes back to sleep on her own (though sometimes just rubbing her back will do it, it depends how awake she is).

We lowered Harper's crib mattress this weekend since she learned to pull up on her own. It's all the way at the lowest level now and her crib feels like a little baby jail, haha!

Social: Harper has had a couple of playdates and also sees all of her buddies three days a week at daycare. We laid low for a couple of weeks when she was really sick.

Diet: I am still exclusively pumping for Harper (read more about my pumping story here).  Hallelujah y'all, I finally got down to FOUR pumps per day!!! I could literally cry tears of joy. I thought my supply would plummet, but thankfully it has only gone down 2-3 ounces some days. Other days I'm pumping the exact same as when I was doing five pumping sessions a day. I know it doesn't seem like a big difference, but it really did make things easier for me to drop that one session. My freezer is so full of frozen milk that I may be able to wean from pumping at 10.5 months or so and start to use that stash for the remainder of her feedings until 12 months. That would be just lovely. 

As far as solids go, Harper is doing awesome!  I offer foods she doesn't seem to like over and over, as recommended, and she ends up loving them. She even laughs and gives all kinds of vocal feedback when she particularly loves something. Most of the time, it's like you can't shovel it in fast enough. LOL. She will actually protest if you are not on your game with baby food shoveling.

When my mom was here we made a TON of baby food and it's all divided up by type in the freezer now. We made sweet potatoes, chicken soup with carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.  Harper has also tried green beans recently. She loves apples so I make those all the time. I feed her two cubes at each meal (I microwave them and test the temperature with these spoons which turn white if the puree is to hot). I still mix Earth's Best organic baby oatmeal into her fruit puree for breakfast.

As I mentioned last month, I love making baby food and I love watching her expressions as she tries new things. We've even given her peeled apple slices and banana chunks to try eating on her own.  We didn't do baby led weaning, but I'm trying to give her some softer foods to hold and explore with supervision.

I also bought some of the Plum Organics pouches everyone seems to love to carry in Harper's diaper bag. We haven't tried them yet but I figure they will be good to have on hand for when we're on the go!

My mom told me that I was a great baby but a horrible eater. She said I would take an hour to finish a bottle and would spit all of my solids out. Haha. She was so happy to see Harper eating the way she does. 

she likes to eat her crib, too! nom nom nom...

Likes: Getting into a sitting position all on her own, putting everything in her mouth, eating books, scooting all over the place, pulling up (or trying to pull up) on everything, screeching enthusiastically, screeching when angry, eating, stroller rides, the swing at the park, her green sprouts stacking cups (go figure the $5 toy is the most loved), bath time (most days), pulling mommy's hair, waking up in the sitting position and screaming, smacking things with her hands, Lulu.

Harper just smiles with delight when she's in the swing at the park by our house!  We use an Itzy Ritzy highchair and cart cover when she's in it. I find the puffy filling of the seat cover helps to "fill out" the seat and gives her better support when she's in there since she doesn't fill out the bucket seat. The first time I ever put her in this swing, she immediately started to eat it, so it helps with that a little too, even if it doesn't cover the chains. If you want a swing cover that does, a friend of mine has this one  but I like the one we use since it can be used for highchairs, carts and swings.

Postpartum: I'm feeling good!  I feel like I've finally adjusted to our schedule and have our routines down really well. It took awhile to feel totally comfortable so I hope this new daycare doesn't shake things up too much, but I realize there will be a period of adjustment. 

I also feel a lot more confident about everything lately. I think every new mom questions everything in the beginning wondering if you're doing the right things and making the right choices and whether or not you're reading your baby's cues.  I'm in a place where I feel more comfortable now. Of course I still have moments of uncertainty like any first time mom, but more often than not, I'm able to tell myself I'm doing a good job.

Last month I shared my postpartum body update, and not much as changed. I'd like to be strong again and when I'm a year postpartum I'll start thinking about the next steps to getting some muscle back onto this body.  Right now, long walks to the park are just fine with me!

Clothes: Harper is growing out of a lot of her 6-12 and 9 month clothing and is increasingly wearing 12-18 month clothing. I would say 90% of her clothes are Baby Gap and they tend to run small and shrink in the wash. She does have a few 6-12 items that are still going strong though. I packed up most of her clothes already. I looked in her closet the other day and it was so much more bare than just a few months ago. Sometimes I can't believe she ever fit into those tiny onesies and sleepers when I look at them.

Baby Gear Love: Still way behind on these posts. I would say that lately she just loves to move around so much that it's been anything she can get her hands on. I do want to mention that we LOVE our Summer Infant color touch video baby monitor. We had MAJOR issues with the first one we had. It would literally move on its own as though it was possessed by demons. It's a touch screen and it would just move without anyone touching the screen.I read some reviews on amazon with others having the same problem. I contacted the company and they did send me a completely new monitor and took my old one back. So that was a good customer service experience and our new one works perfectly. You can literally see your baby breathing on the screen.

Crying: Harper doesn't tend to cry for extended periods of time, but she cries. She cries if she sees her bottle or her food bowl taken out of the microwave. It's like she thinks you're not going to give it to her. LOL. You'd think she was food deprived as a baby with how much she wants the food NOW.  She cries if she's tired. I don't classify her as a baby who cries a lot though. It's pretty minimal. She cries when she sees strangers sometimes. I'm talking full-on pouty lip, red-faced cry. Poor baby.

Milestones: Harper can pull up on her own (did that for the first time today after many attempts!), she scoots all over, can crawl backwards (still working on forward crawling), can get into a seated position on her own and is babbling more. She is also really good with her pincher grasp.
update: Harper started to crawl on January 29th, 2014, a couple of days after her 8 month birthday!

waving hello to you�

On Harper:

Dress- from Marshalls, bought when I was pregnant (not recent)

Headband ? Willow Crowns

Thanks for reading and hope you had a great weekend!

Harper's Baptism

My apologies for the absence lately--- a lot is going on right now and I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and update the blog. My mom is in town, work has been super busy, my husband, Harper and I have all been sick and we found out the other day that we (finally) got into our top choice daycare, after being on the waiting list since I was 21 weeks pregnant (more on that later).

I wanted to share some photos we took after Harper's baptism.  We put off her baptism for quite some time because it was really important to my mom to be there, so we planned the baptism to coincide with her visit (my mom is a pediatric nurse so they are restricted on when they can take vacation time, otherwise she would have been here at Christmas!)

The baptism was held at the church my husband and his family attended during his youth (they're all still members).  It was a really nice ceremony!  My sister-in-law even flew in so she could be there. We had a lovely brunch afterwards and enjoyed a day of blessings and family.

Harper's Godmother Candice got her a pretty piggy bank as a baptism gift.

I'm so glad my mom was here during such a special moment in Harper's life. Unfortunately, Harper's Godfather had to cancel his plans to attend the baptism because his job required him to travel out of state at the last minute, but we know he was there in spirit and we will find another time to celebrate with him.

As for the new daycare---it's bittersweet. We really love her current daycare teacher (she's the main teacher, two others left within the last few months). She is such a lovely woman and I am sad because we will both miss her very much. On the other hand, this new school was always our top choice for many reasons, including the strength of the toddler and preschool programs. Harper will start in their infant class and then move up at 12 or 14 months. We were fortunate to get in when we did, because if we hadn't taken this spot, we would have had to move to the toddler waiting list, which would place us further down the list. That would mean Harper would have to transition to a toddler class at her current daycare and then transfer to the news school when a spot became available (which could have taken quite a long time). I think the transition is a little easier the younger the baby is, so though it will be hard, I'm glad we got in when we did.

The new daycare also has cameras. I can't decide if this will be a good thing or a bad thing. In one sense, it's going to be so nice to sneak a peek at Harper during a pumping or lunch break at work�and on the other hand I wonder if it won't just make me miss her even more? In any case, I think it's a nice benefit and I look forward to being able to see her interacting with her teachers, friends, napping�whatever she's up to! 

Did your baby ever transition to a new daycare? How did you make the process easier? 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Must Ask Mama- A Monthly Series

I'm so excited to be participating in the Must Ask Mama series with 5 other fabulous bloggers! 

Kilee from One Little Momma

Hi Everyone! My name is Kilee from ONE little MOMMA. I am a wife, momma, and handmade business owner living outside of Kansas City.  I love to thrift shop, and I am a die hard DIY'er and can spot an upcoming trend years in advance.  I blog about fashion, easy DIY projects and real life as a SAHM. I've been married for 7 years and I have my hands full with three little boys Easton (3), Kesler (2) and Knox (8 months). My husband and I own a business called ONE little BELT where we hand make and sell belts for babies and toddlers and leather jewelry for women.

Denise from Gratefully Inspired

Hey there!  I'm Denise from Gratefully Inspired where I blog about life's little blessings - mixed in with some fashion, food and of course mommy-hood!  I'm mom to a giggling and cuddly 6 month old, Georgia - and I didn't know just how sweet life could be (or how little sleep you actually need) until my baby girl was born.  I love dance parties, red wine, chocolate chip cookies and salty air.  I live on the coast with my little family where we believe in sunsets, sweet tea and family dinners. 

Veronika from Veronika's Blushing

Hi, I'm Veronika!  Veronika's Blushing is a personal style, lifestyle, beauty and home decor blog I started in 2009. I'm 30 years old and I live in Houston, Texas.  I have a beautiful 8 month old daughter, Harper Reese, and I've been married to my husband, Kevin, for 4 years. Our first "baby" is our shi tzu-poodle mix, Lulu (he�s a boy). In addition to being a wife and mom, I work full time as a public relations specialist for a not-for-profit organization and I feel blessed to have a job that I love and find very fulfilling.  

Lynzy from Sparkling Footsteps

Hi Everyone! :)  My name is Lynzy and I am the face behind the lifestyle blog, Sparkling Footsteps. It focuses on personal style, motherhood, exercise and just life in general. I am married to a handsome fellow who happens to be a doctor in the ER (I work in the ER as well as a Physician Assistant). We welcomed our first little nugget named Olivia this past September and we just cannot get enough of her. She has changed our world for the better and we continue to be inspired by her every day. We enjoy traveling, healing others through the world of medicine and being the best parents we can be!

Brittany from Brittany Louise

Hi! I am Britt, and I am a new mama to Scarlett Isabel who is 9 months old, wife to a medical student, and aspiring photographer. I am a southern soul, romantic, and love to celebrate. On my blog I write about my perspective on life, babies, marriage, style, and all things I am passionate about. 

Erica from To The Sea

Hello! My name is Erica. I'm an attorney, Marine Wife, and former personal trainer. I'm originally from South Padre Island, Texas, but military life has taken me to Hawaii, California, Tanzania, and (soon) Virginia. I love surfing, hiking, music, and art. I have an almost-two-year-old daughter and a baby boy due in April. I blog about parenting, fitness, travel, and life on the move.

The WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW of MUST ASK MAMA

WHO: As mentioned above :)

WHAT: A mama's post series that will feature your questions that you would like all of us to answer. Each month we will feature three questions from our readers (linking back to your blogs as well - or you can choose to be anonymous!) and we will all have an answer (from our point of view) for each question. This way you can get a perspective from six different mamas, because we all know every baby is different!

WHERE: here on the internets! 

WHEN: Once per month

HOW: You are able to submit your question once the post goes live for that particular month. Send your questions to sparklingfootsteps (at) gmail (dot) com. The first three questions will be answered the following month!

Harper's First Swim Class!

Today we took Harper's to her first swim class!  We signed her up to start last week but we had to delay since she was so sick over New Years.  We will go once a week for 30 minutes. Harper is the youngest in her class right now followed by a 9 month old little girl.

I love that the classy is mommy+baby or daddy+baby. It's so nice to share that fun time in the water. I was a "water baby" so I think it's good to introduce children at a young age and as they get older, teaching skills like floating and getting to the side of the pool and climbing out are crucial (and life-saving).

I remember as a kid, my parents could not get me out of the water. I was obessessed with swimming, being underwater and playing games in the pool. Though Canadian summers are short, I spent most of them in a pool or at a waterpark (do any of my fellow Canadians remember the water park at Canada's Wonderland? So fun!) I also did swimming lessons at our local indoor pool and swam for fun year-round. In high-school, I was on the swim team in 9th grade�and then our Catholic school teachers went on strike and we didn't have sports for three years, which sucked.

Our first class was really fun. They keep the water at 90 degrees which is awesome and we spent the class introducing her to the water. We had two teachers in the class and we spent some time floating with support, playing with toys in the pool, singing songs with actions we could do with the babies, etc. Harper seemed to like it!

These are some shots my husband took at the end of the class. He also shot some videos during the class that I posted on my Instagram.

I hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend! You can see a little video of our swimming fun here.

Waiting for our class to start...

Going for a walk after swim class (BTW, it was like 73 degrees here today so I ended up taking her hat off and the blanket. Couldn't believe how warm it was!) We took a nice stroll to the park and had some fun on the swings. Harper LOVES the swings. She laughs and smiles the whole time!

My bathing suit- La Blanca- I absolutely LOVE this suit---it's flattering and great quality. If you're tall like me, make sure you adjust the strap to the longest setting. 

Harper's bathing suit- Carter's (no longer avaialble, but I LOVE this one)

The Terrace Dress

It was another chilly day in Houston and I opted to dress for both warmth and comfort with a new dress from Madewell (really loving that store lately!) paired with tights, flat boots and a jacket.

I originally saw Madewell's terrace dress in-store when I was making another purchase but I told myself I'd try it on next time. Madewell.com had an additional 30% off of sale items recently so I jumped at the chance to buy the dress then. When I saw it a few weeks earlier, I noticed it looked like a really small fit so I ordered a medium (the ponte screenplay dress I own from the same store is a small, and fits perfectly---even length- wise, which was surprising).

When the dress arrived I put it on and it was very tight in the waist and chest, so heads-up, this one fits really small---and it was also just a tad too short in the medium. I ended up exchanging it in-store for the large. The large is the perfect length, though it's a bit roomier in the waist than I'd like. I can always have it altered but I think it looks okay for now.

My favorite part of this dress is the heavier tweed fabric. It's a beautiful mix of colors including a deep burgundy. I didn't own anything like it so I decided to go for it since I got such a great deal.

dress- madewell | jacket- banana republic (LOVE this similar one) | tights- target (similar)| boots (old)- nine west (similar) | scarf (old)- j.crew (super cute similar)

Here's a better look at the silhouette of this terrace dress, including the front "V" shape:

Hope all of my readers in the colder states and Canada are keeping warm & staying safe!