Catalina Island

For Tyson's 30th Birthday, I surprised him with a trip to Catalina Island!  Growing up in California, I have been to this island a few times...but it's been forever!! It seriously is the best place to getaway for the weekend where you feel like you're going somewhere far, but still close. We took Luka with us on this trip since he is nursing so everything I had planned for us to do is all kid friendly! And we did it in one full day! Here's how the day went...

We woke up early and took an Uber over to the Catalina Express that was leaving at 7:30 that morning. This is the boat that takes you to the island at a high speed making it only a one hour long boat ride.  There's up to 30 departures daily year round!  It's such a fun way to start off the trip and your kids will love it!  Once we got to the island, we went to the Pancake Cottage for breakfast which was super close to where the boat docks. It gave us just enough time to then head over to the Glass Bottom Boat Tour that we reserved ahead of time.  This was such a cool way to see the sea life without having to get in the water!  It is insane to see HUGE schools of fish and so much life under the water out there.  The water is so pretty and clear making it easy to see everything.  After that, we walked over to the golf cart rentals which is a must to do!  It's so fun cause you can rent the golf cart for an hour and they give you a map so you can drive around the whole area of Avalon that has all the priceless views you see in pictures.  They do require that you have a carseat for infants which we had brought with us since we had a stroller. After the golf carts, we headed over to the beach area to get some Vitamin D!  The weather was so nice, in the high 70's! After that we walked along the path that takes you to the Catalina Casino which has been the focal point of entertainment and glamour since it was built in 1929.  We didn't get to go inside it but its so beautiful walking around the outside. That night we headed to dinner at Blue Water Avalon which is a MUST!! Request to sit outside so you can have the prettiest views of the harbor.  The food was to die for and we loved every single thing we got with the best service! We then headed to the dock to catch the Catalina Express that left at 7:30 that night.  We were able to watch the gorgeous sunset right before we left and then enjoyed a warm ride back in the commodore lounge which I highly recommend doing. It was the perfect amount of time for us!  There still is so much more you can do there like kayaking, snorkeling, zip lining, jeep tours, and paddle boarding so we will be heading back again one of these days for more!! Click the link below to watch the vlog Tyson put together of our trip!

Luka's Birth Story

In honor of Luka being one month old today, I thought I'd better get his birth story up so I'll never forget any of it! I can't believe it has already been a month since he has been here with us.  The last month of being pregnant seemed longer than the WHOLE pregnancy. And now, time is just flying so fast again.  

My due date was May 20th. I was planning on getting induced that day if he hadn't come already before then. My body was already dilating but no signs of labor.  I was doing all the old tricks to get him to come early but nothing was working!! I went to my 38 week appt and had them strip my membranes with hopes of putting me into labor sooner.  But nothing came of it.  A few days before I turned 39 weeks, I was feeling horrible and in so much pain all the time.  I had no energy to do anything and just felt useless.  I was so ready to meet my baby.  I called my OB office and asked if I could change my induction date for May 14th instead.  Luckily it was open that day!  The night before I called the hospital to see what time to go in and they told me to plan on 7:30 AM but to call before I came in to make sure.  That night I didn't sleep AT ALL!! My adrenaline and excitement was already going and there was no way I was falling asleep.  I had showered, got ready, ate breakfast all by 6 AM and then called the hospital. My heart dropped and I broke into tears when they told me that they had a ton of people go into labor through the night and that I would need to be on call for the day. NOOOOOO!!! As silly as it sounds, I was SO crushed! I layed on the floor, cried all my makeup off and felt like I was never going to have this baby. 

It was 1 pm when they called me to get there by 2pm. Umm finally!! I get into the hospital and from that point on, everything literally went perfect. I was already dilated to a 4 by myself. I got the epidural right away and felt so amazing! The doctor came in and broke my water and we just waited! It was a few hours later that I started shaking really bad and couldn't control it.  Then I started feeling a lot of pressure from contractions.  Everything went super fast after that and the doctor came in and prepped to deliver the baby.  This is my all time favorite part of the hospital experience and always dream about this moment the whole pregnancy.  The excitement is unreal and its truly the most happy times of my life.  The doctor told me to push and right away he said the baby would be out in the next two contractions!  I was SO SHOCKED!! I was expecting to push for at least an hour!!! Tyson and the nurses were cheering me on because they could already see the baby!! You better believe I pushed so dang hard after that and 6 minutes later, Luka Wils made his debut!  I always wondered if I would have the same emotion that I had when Nixon was born since that was my first baby. And oh my gosh, it was just as amazing and indescribable.  I was the happiest person in the world just blubbering away.  My first thought was, where the heck did all his dark hair come from!!? I did not expect that!! Nixon had no hair the first two years of his life! Anyways, I told the nurse I wanted to do skin to skin and she made that happen right away in the midst of the chaos.  I appreciated that so much and those were the best moments having him lay on my chest for a good hour before anyone took him away from me. He was acting hungry and latched on right away. It was pure heaven. We did it.  We made it through the 9 months of pregnancy and I would do it a million times over again for him! Since this was late at night, it wasn't until the next morning that Nixon came to meet baby brother.  I was so anxious and excited for this moment too!  When Nixon came running in, he jumped on the bed with me and didn't even notice I was holding Luka haha. It took him a minute to see him and he instantly was so happy and totally knew that was the "baby brother" that was in my belly all along. It was sooo precious and I'll have those memories engrained forever. 

Happy One Month Sweet Boy!!! We LOVE YOU!!!!

   

NIXON'S TWO SWEET BUBBLE PARTY

Another birthday party in the books for Nixon!  We still can't believe he is already 2 especially since it feels like we just threw him his first birthday party which you can see here!  As I was thinking of a theme, bubbles came to mind. I have never been one into character or toy themed parties so I wanted to do something a little more simple.  We also were able to use my mother in law's gorgeous back yard for the occasion which worked perfectly!

Before I went shopping for this party, I knew exactly the color scheme I was wanting but wasn't too sure on the type of decorations I was looking for. Zurcher's party store has always been my go to for any type of party I am throwing.  They literally have everything you are looking for in a one stop shop!  When I walked into Zurcher's, it was so easy to find all the colors I needed as well as decorations to keep the theme. The main focus of the party was going to be the treat table.  I wanted that to be the statement piece and the way I started was with the balloon arch.  I used all the different shades of Zurcher's balloons to create the first look.  From there I was able to add in all the fun party decor, food trays, apothecary jars and treat cups to finish the look! So happy with how it turned out and high hopes for another amazing year!  Also, all of the party decor can be found in store or online at Zurcher's where you can see the feature of this party on the home page! 

xo,

hayley

p.s Click here to watch our Vlog from that day! 

NOMATIC TAKES OKINAWA

Tyson, Nixon and I were so lucky to have such an amazing trip to Japan! We love reminiscing on this trip and what a GORGEOUS place Okinawa is!!! I still can't believe sometimes how we managed to take Nixon all the way to the other side of the world but I am so glad we did it! When it came to packing for this trip, I needed to be as organized a possible because I had SO MUCH to bring for both Nixon and me. Not only did I have all of our clothes to bring, but toys for Nixon, activities for the travel, snacks, books, diapers and wipes.  We came across these amazing travel bags by Nomatic.  If you guys haven't seen these yet, you've got to go check them out.  I have never felt so organized in my life.  There are so many pouches, bags inside of the bags, and compartments where I was able to separate everything by category.  We had so many people asking us through the airport about these bags and of course we told them our honest opinion about how they are just flat out the best travel bag to have.  To give you an idea, here are some of the compartments it has: laundry bag, book pocket, water bottle pocket, laptop and tablet pockets, shoe compartment, underwear compartment and valuables pocket to just name a few!! Click here to check out all the details of these bags and you'll be convinced to get one for your next trip!! 

xo,

hayley