I'm in love...

I'm in love... with my new steam mop. Oh man... I may have a new obsession. You know you've entered a new phase in life when you get this excited about a cleaning product. (I did turn 30 this year folks...) Our floors might get cleaned more than once a month or when my mom visits... (I admit that unashamedly because I have two babes under two and a crazy labradoodle to contend with...)

Couple of back stories before I dive into this love fest... I have been using a swiffer mop for years. And while it did the job, it left residue behind that kind of drove me nuts and I had to work pretty hard to get stuff up off the floor from my sweetie pie toddler man. 

We also had moved into our house a year ago, and Village Builders failed to mention that they didn't seal our grout. Their excuse?? That the sealant breaks down because it has a silicon base and has to be redone every 6 months or so, so they just decided not to do it at all. REALLY??? Really... So when did I find this out? After we moved into our house and were here long enough to get the grout in the kitchen nice and stained from cooking or having meals on the floor a.k.a. my toddler dropping food everywhere. (By the way, would not recommend them as a builder for a few different reasons... but that's another story for another more appropriate time.)Yes, I would like my grout unsealed so we can destroy the color of it in 3 months said no new home builder mother ever. (I'm not bitter at all.)

Back to the swiffer mop. So this little swiffer mop had been with us for a while. It served us well in our first home and was a good 5-6 years old. I had started ordering the refills off of Amazon of course because I could get a subscription which equals discounts, when it dawned on me that this little guy was sucking quite a bit of money out of my wallet! 

So I went on the hunt for a new steam mop. I had had one before, a Shark model, but it stopped working at some point and got chunked. But the nice thing about it was that it just used water. And it really would cut through junk on the floor. 

So I mentioned this to my hubbie, that I was looking around at them online, but wasn't ready to buy one yet because I wanted to finish using up the refills I had for the swiffer mop. He thought that was fine. Then my mom came to visit one week and mopped my kitchen, because she knows deep down it's the chore I hate the most and my floor was really gross. And that's one of the many reasons why I love her. We started keeping this mop in the garage because it was leaking (I know, long story about a silly mop) and somehow the mop ended up by the garbage can. I'm still laughing thinking about this... I don't know if she put it there or if Jackson moved it there, who knows... but Jacob thought it was trash and chunked it. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this but I had 6 bottles of swiffer solution to use haha! I went looking for it one day and couldn't find it, and when I asked Jacob he said he thought I was ready to toss it to the curb haha... Yay for marital communications! But no worries, because that means I can lavish my friends who have swiffer mops with bottles of solution aannndd more importantly I can order a new mop. And so I did. And it came. And I'm in love.

I looked on Amazon of course because they have the best ratings for products, and this baby was the number one best pick out of steam mops. And I can see why. It's amazing, which is why I felt like you needed to know about it.

Some things I like about it... It heats up supa fast, has multiple steam settings and has this great little brush you can click down in the back for hard to clean spots. It also has the awesome smell good disks you can inset into the mop for a fresh scent. What I like the most though is how effortless it was to clean my floors. I haven't had a lot of time to work on my grout stains, but I can tell a difference just in one use so I know it will help out that situation. You're welcome Village Builders. So if anyone is in the market for a steam mop, this is the one for you. You might think it's expensive, but it's a one time purchase because it runs on water. I guarantee you I spent more than the price of this mop on swiffer refills over the years!!! Enjoy obsessing over the pictures below.

I may also be in love with my new sleep mask. I have no earthly idea why anyone that knows me and my sleeping habits of lack there of has never thought about recommending one of these bad boys to me! Good grief people I can take NAPS during the DAY now!!!! WAT?!?!?!?!?! For real, I do not lie, I can sleep even after the sun comes up (if my littles aren't awake yet hahaha...) and I can even take the occasional nap if my littles' naps line up! hahahahahaha..... Actually that has been happening more often lately and I am so very very thankful for that. Anyway, this little guy was eight bucks on Amazon, and has saved my life.  (Really, Amazon, you should give me commission for all of this plus the fact that I have recruited my whole family into using you...)

Pre-Sunday Nap

ahhh... It's bright in my room but not in my face!!!

I'm also in love with these little stud muffins. Can't have a post about loving things without including them. Where would I be without them?? Probably still teaching and being miserable about STAAR scores and filling my weekends with grading papers. Definitely don't miss that part of the job! My littlest munchkin turned 5 months a couple of weeks ago and his older brother is just as emotionally stable as ever ... haha... hope you enjoy the pics. 

There are no words for this haha... the expressions are perfect and so unprompted.

One of my sweetie pies.

Because taking selfies in the car on the way to church is supa fun.

Jude's Nursery

Oh those poor second babies... they are four months old before their nursery is finished. Of course, their older sibling's nursery was completed months before their birth... but this time around we weren't quite as prepared hehe! Part of the reason was because big brother was still using the crib, so we had to get new bunk beds for him and go through that whole transition, which has gone well so far! We also had moved last October, so this room was our "catch all" room for a while, then Jackson's play room for a few moments and then finally we cleaned it up for my serious man Jude. 

I love his room. It's so cozy and cute I think, and so many pieces in his nursery have special meaning because of who they are from or where I got them from. (Disclaimer: If my sister sees this she will not approve of my pictures because the lighting is horrible haha... I probably should take some lessons from her!!)

We got our furniture from Ikea. The matching chest of drawers is in my older son's room. The bicycle on the wall was from Jacob's aunt, I just repainted it. The laundry hamper is from 31 bags, as is a TON of other things we have because both of my sister in law's sell it haha! The shelf on the right is from my classroom, I repainted that as well.

I found a couple of sweet things on Etsy for my little Jude, one being the name meaning in the middle and the verse at the top from the book of Jude. I also got the other two framed pictures off of Etsy too. Etsy is the best place to go to find personalized, unique things for your baby's room!

Our rocker is from Little Castle, and is probably my most favorite thing we bought for our boy's rooms. It is so comfy! The table on the right was from my Granddad's office. My mom let me take it home after he passed away right before I had my first son. The rug is from Hobby Lobby, and the basket and ottoman poof are from Target. I love the "shake, rattle and roll" portraits in the corner, they were from Jackson's shower and made by the friend that hosted my shower!

I love wall collages... I'm a little obsessed with wall collages... sometime I'll have to post about my stairwell collages because they are getting a little out of control but I love them so much! Most of these things were from Jackson's room, but there are a few new items. The cross-stitched bicycle was from a good friend of mine, as is the Jude decoupage. We got his name at the little friend shower that was given to us to celebrate him! (and Yes I was just a tad excited about the name haha) P.S. that is Jude's sonogram in the frame... There was a good chance that it would still be Jackson but I did switch them out haha...

My Mother-in-law made our bedding for us once I picked out the fabric. I found this bicycle fabric online and then found multiple sites that sold it and was able to order what we needed. The chevron blanket is a stroller blanket from Pottery Barn Kids. I absolutely love their stroller blankets!

These bicycle portraits were given to us from my Mom when we had Jackson. Also an Etsy find, and I absolutely love them. You could choose the colors so it was easy to perfectly match them to the bedding.

The little bag is 31 again, and the lamp was recovered by a friend I used to work with. Love the picture from my friend Kelsey! See, I told you we have bits and pieces of all kinds of people and memories in this room!

I love this little corner. I have spent so many hours already rocking my baby boy here, nursing and feeding him and cuddling him. (The stool in the picture was Jacob's (my hubbie) when he was growing up.)  I think nurseries are probably my favorite rooms to decorate, and it was really tempting to do a new theme for Jude, but I love the bicycles so much so I just decided to keep them! There are so many thoughts and dreams associated with his room, so many sweet beginnings. Nurseries are such special places, so I am glad I got to share Jude's with you! Here are some of the newborn pictures of my little love bug. :0) The first couple were taken in the hospital, and the others are a month later.

Chubster.