Freshly Picked: A giveaway!

It's finally here! Your chance to win an adorable pair of Freshly Picked moccasins for your favorite little person!

If you're new to Freshly Picked you've definitely been missing out. They have the cutest leather moccasins for newborns on up to older kiddos. They've come out with lots of new styles and colors and all of them are absolutely precious. I had a hard time choosing for our little gal but I just had to stick with her signature color, coral.

Coral is a color that can definitely be up to interpretations. Some would liken it to orange or red, while others still would say it's closer to pink or peach. I'd say FP's version is definitely on the peach side, which I love because that is our other favorite color for little miss Aurelia.

It won't be long before Aurelia will be running around in these pretty little things, but until then they make a fabulous addition to her coral + peach nursery decor.

Okay- 

so by now you must be ready to find out how you can win a pair! 

Just follow the rules on the entry form below and you're entered to win. 

The more entry methods you complete, the better chance you have of winning...

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This contest begins Monday February 16th, 2015 and is open until midnight Sunday February 22nd. A winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter. The winner will be announced here and notified by email at the address associated with their Rafflecopter entries. The winner will have 48 hours to reply to the email to claim their prize or an alternate will be chose.

Interested in seeing your product featured here, see the PR + Disclosures tab and contact Breaking New Ground by email to be considered. Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review. All opinions are my own.This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Facebook.  Click for additional disclosures and PR policies.

Questions, concerns, comments unrelated to the nature of this giveaway can be left on other generic posts or emailed to Breaking New Ground. 

Swim Zip Feature + Review

If you caught the episode of Shark Tank that I mentioned a few months back when I reviewed Freshly Picked, you'll likely remember another company that was featured that night, SwimZip. They make amazing UV protectant swimwear for the whole family and the tops all feature a zipper.

In creator, Betsy Johnson's words-

SwimZip is the UPF 50+ clothing brand people trust to keep themselves and their children sun safe. We feature our signature full zipper down the front of our rash guard shirts- they are so easy to put on and take off! Our swimsuits, swimwear, bathing suits and accessories are made with the best materials to our unmatched standards. SwimZip styles are one-of-a-kind, and we include a number of innovative design features. 

Head over to their about page for more about Betsy and how she started up SwimZip. 

SwimZip's clothing has been featured in a number of places, including the Today show. Everyone has rave reviews and I'm right there with them! Not only are their designs adorable, but the swimwear is functional.

We took his adorable set that SwimZip sent for a test run out in our backyard recently. Malakai is the ULTIMATE test of any type of clothing when it comes to comfort. He is very picky about what he will wear. Normally I can't get him in any shirts with buttons, zippers or collars. I had myself psyched up to talk him into putting on a shirt with a zipper, but he put his SwimZip top on with no hesitations and played without once complaining. I was totally shocked!

Goodness sakes, doesn't he look cute (and way too grown up) in the Surfer Dude set that SwimZip sent over?

{he has been so camera shy lately!}

I've struggled in the past with getting rash guards on my kiddos. My boys have been blessed with rather large noggins, so pulling something tight fitting over their head was always a chore. It's even worse trying to get them off when wet! When Malakai was still a baby we even had to cut the back of one of his swim shirts so we could get his head through! Zippered rash guards are genius! Malakai was able to get the shirt on and off by himself the first try!

This is a 5T set and is generously sized, but fits well. Unless he has a massive growth spurt I could see him wearing this next summer as well. Kai was able to move freely and comfortably even after the suit was wet. It didn't stick to him or become heavy after getting saturated like other suits do.

As I mentioned, after getting thoroughly drenched he was able to get the entire outfit off himself, no trouble. I wish I could say the same for Desmond. He tried to get his top off alone at first (he's in the "I'll do it myself" stage) but he could barely peel it off his belly. Once I got his arms out, we got pretty tuck at the head. It was difficult because of the tight fit, but also because it was sticking to his wet skin. It took us longer to get Desmond's rash guard off than it did for Malakai to get completely undressed and into the tub! I even tried taking photos to document my struggle with Desmond, but it was impossible to do both.

I adore SwimZip for their ease of use and the peace of mind with the UV protection they provide. I also can't get over all the adorable choices they offer. I think the Hang Ten set is perfect for Desmond and I would love to get the Ruffle Me Pretty suit for little sister next summer!

And now for the exciting news that I'm sure some of you are hoping for... Breaking New Ground will be hosting a SwimZip giveaway! Be sure to check back here next week!

Freshly Picked Moccasins: a feature, review, + GIVEAWAY! {CLOSED}

I've loved all of the amazing shops and individuals I've been able to feature over the years but this is the most exciting one yet! Freshly Picked Moccasins is HUGE and getting bigger by the minute. I love their start up story (which I'll share below) and have enjoyed following their success for a while now. I'm just tickled to be able to review their moccasins for you and to give a pair away!

Malakai: the ring-bearer

Malakai is going to be a ring bearer next month for the 2nd time. The first time was for my sister-in-law, Kristi's,  wedding back in September. It was interesting, to say the least. I don't recall if I've blogged about it specifically, but I do know I've mentioned Malakai's aversion to clothing. Recently, that has changed some, but I'll get to that later.

So prior to Kristi + Nick's wedding my mother-in-law did a fantastic job prepping him for the big day. Months before hand she talked it up. She made his vest for the big day and his wearing it was our main concern. Not only because it was a piece of clothing (because that alone, was enough to stress him out) but it was a piece of clothing different than T-shirts and shorts.

Now, I do take some responsibility for his attitude toward clothes, I did let him frolic around our house in just his undies for a very long time. I mean...doesn't everyone wish they could do that? I digress. So, when it was time to get dressed, it became a fight. It did get easier as he understood that if he wanted to go   that he'd have to get dressed. He was still picky about what it was that he wore. T-shirts and shorts and occasionally jeans. 

We spent so much time focusing on getting him to wear the vest, that we did forget about the dress pants and button-up shirt. The day before the wedding we were preparing to leave our house for the rehearsal and dinner when Malakai threw the most epic fit about wearing a polo shirt ("buttons!"). He got himself so worked up that he was irretrievable. Then, the puked. He was that upset about it. So, we let him wear whatever he wanted that day and knew to be really careful about how we approached him on the wedding day. We were all a part of the wedding and couldn't risk getting vomited on before walking down the aisle.

After a lot of running around (literally), some tears, and a lot of angry birds graham crackers this is what Malakai wore...

{why yes, that is a yellow Avengers T-shirt underneath his vest}

see, he wore the vest. The rest of the outfit, not so much.

Things have gotten better since then and it got even easier after I made him a list of daily routines, that he started to call his "projects", 3rd on the list is to get dressed.

 He doesn't ask me "where are we going" or "who's coming over" when it's time to put clothes on. He just does it, a lot of the time by himself.

{look mama, it's red, your FAVORITE!}

However, when my cousin Valeena asked me if Kai could be the ring bearer in her wedding next month I was apprehensive. Not because I didn't think he could complete the task, but because I wasn't sure what she'd want him to wear. I warned her about last time and that I'd totally understand if she'd want to back down, but she didn't. So, for this wedding he is going to wear a white T-shirt (hallelujah!), dress pants, shoes, and suspenders- all in brown. I have the shoes, the rest we'll have to work on. I do however have blue suspenders. I can't recall if they were Ben's when he was little, or perhaps my younger brother Cody's. Either way, I decided to warm him up to the idea of them and he blew me away with how curious and almost excited he was about trying something new...

How precious is he in that funky little outfit. My husband threw out the word "hipster", which Kai immediately repeated over and over again. whoops.

So here's hoping we can get him to wear the whole outfit this time around. And hey- anyone have recommendations on where to get the rest of his outfit?... especially brown suspenders?

I'm still here...

We had another busy weekend and I'm still catching up on work and life stuff, so the blog took a backseat for a few days. On Saturday we went to my parents' place first thing in the morning so Ben + my dad could replace the brake pads on our car. Later that afternoon I went with one of my best friends to check out an option for bridesmaid dresses. We're getting some lovely handmade convertible dresses from Erin, who co-hosted Jamie's shower with me just last month. I am going to be about 6 months pregnant at the wedding so I'm really excited for these convertible dresses and I'll definitely be able to wear it again!

On Sunday I worked and we attended service at church. I interviewed more potential volunteers, which I just LOVE! That afternoon I made dinner for Jacob + Jamie and we got to visit and hold little Justice. Malakai met him for the first time and Ben held him for the first time. Malakai wasn't too happy about me holding the baby. I think it'll be great that we have so many new babies around to get him used to in preparation for our new little one.

{what a natural}

Something not so pleasant that we were dealing with on Sunday was our washing machine going out, while it was full of clothes and water. We had to empty all of the clothes and take them in a big storage bin (because they were soaked) to my in-laws to rewash. Thankfully it's working again and after my cousin looked it over today, it seems like everything is in tact. 

On Monday I had the car, so after a day of playing and only an hour nap for Malakai we headed out to meet our new cousin Cordelia for the first time and bring her sleepy parents some dinner. We were sick when she was born 2 weeks ago and didn't want to risk getting her or her family sick. 

{so teeny + precious}

I loved finally hearing my cousin's birth story and snuggling little Delia. Malakai was more interested in exploring their house and having the dog lick his face, which is probably why he didn't mind my holding the baby this time. 

This morning Ben had to be at work at 5:30am (he usually goes in at 7am). When the alarm went off at 4:30am I was pretty confused...so was Ben, because he turned it off in his sleep! He startled awake at 5am, which also woke me. I instantly felt sick and struggled to go back to sleep. I've been feeling more nauseous than I have thus far. I'm pulling out all the stops: protein rich snacks, hard candies, fruit and lots of water. So far so good!

petite

This past weekend I went on a mission for some new dress pants. All of my other pairs don't fit, which makes me sad because I have a couple of really great, like-new pairs that are now 5 sizes too big (to avoid any awkwardness, I am not going to talk about my specific size).

Being 5'2" makes finding a good pair of pants pretty hard to find. I usually just deal with the length issues or have my very talented mom hem them up for me.

I went to Target first since I had a few other things I needed there. I did not anticipate the issues I ran into. Their selection was very small and nothing fit correctly. They had a large selection of their clothing on clearance, but no dress pants.

Next I went to the mall. I'm not a fan of shopping in the first place, and I RARELY go to the mall. I can't even remember the last time I went by myself. I was hoping that JC Penney or Gap would have what I was looking for. Well fitting dress pants for under $30. Sadly I couldn't even find well fitting pants after looking above my price range. I was getting pretty frustrated.

I went to Macy's, Charlotte Russe, and Ann Taylor Loft. The Loft had a petite section with a ton of great choices. I fell in love with one too many pairs of their pants, because they were $80! However, everything was on sale for 40% off. I didn't want to spend that much, so I tried a few other places, including Forever 21. I can't wrap my mind around that place, it stresses me out (which makes me feel old).

After 3 hours of shopping, I felt defeated. I looked online, but didn't want to deal with the hassle of shipping things back + forth. I decided to go in to Old Navy while Kai was napping on Sunday afternoon. I found some really great sweaters for me + T-shirts for Kai on clearance with an additional 40% off. They had barely any dress pants in "short" length, and they happened to be in everything but my size.

I decided to go back to The Loft + use my birthday money to get the pants that I loved. I couldn't believe I was making my 2nd trip to the mall in two days. I barely go that many times in a whole year. There are a few styles that are really similar so I had a hard time remembering which ones were my favorites. I tried them on all over again and discovered that I am actually one size smaller than what I had tried on the day before.

There were 3 pairs that I really liked. So, I decided to get Ben's opinion. I bought all of them to take home, with the plan to return two pairs after he helped me narrow it down.

{Black Cotton Trousers, Grey Fluid Structure Pants, + Linen Denim Trousers}

Last night I put on a little fashion show. We still had a dilemma, Ben liked all three as well. However, he was able to rank them for me. He liked the Linen Denim Trousers best, followed by the grey pants and he wasn't the biggest fan of the black (he thought they were too plain). 

I still couldn't decide between them, so Ben smiled at me + said I could choose two. I asked him if he was sure a half dozen times. Then I still couldn't decide for myself, so I went with his choices and am taking back the black pair. Of course they are the least expensive. 

It's hard to believe that it was such a hassle to find a decent pair of (petite) dress pants. I was especially surprised by the lack of choices at big department stores. I've discovered that nothing in the juniors section looks even the least bit appealing to me anymore, but everything in the ladies or "misses" sections is usually too old for me. 

Petite or not, tell me, where do you shop for pants? How much are you willing to pay?

Thankful on a Thursday: just the two of us

Today is our slowest of the week, just Malakai + I at home. I plan on enjoying some one on one time with my boy. Once he goes down for his nap I'd love to sit around and eat pumpkin bread and catch up on all my blog reading. But, since the rest of the week has been and will continue to be such a blur, I have to catch up on laundry, dishes, and all other sorts of household chores. I'm okay with that, it's the job I chose.

With now having two part time jobs, I've found that keeping up with things at home is becoming more of a challenge. While having a messy kitchen, a bed full of laundry to fold, and turning the guest room back in to a catch-all space isn't my ideal situation, I still get to spend most of my days with my son and I am so thankful for that.

I'm also thankful for...

461. adorable galoshes that Malakai loves even more than I do.

{the big picture is one I found on my camera after Mima babysat yesterday, LOVE!}

462. the few moments I get to myself to update here + work on a few other hobbies.

463. the surprise blessings received when serving others.

464. watching Malakai catch on to new things so quickly- he's soaking it all up like a little sponge these days!

{we only "taught" him nose, the rest he picked up on his own} 

465. the rewarding feeling of Kai learning something that takes a little more time to master (sharing, not hitting, the usual toddler stuff)

466. a working vacuum, a broom + dust pan,  a washer + dryer and other helpful tools for getting things done around the house.

467. internet friends.

468. The time we got to spend watching the game with family, despite the outcome.

469. all 895 square feet of our home sweet home.

470. hearing my boy chatting to himself happily after a good nap/ night's sleep.

What are you thankful for?

Organically Grown Giveaway! {CLOSED}

Organically Grown recently contacted me about doing a giveaway for my readers, and obviously I said yes! They have lots of great organic clothing for babies, kids, men + women. Here's a little more in their own words:

"Organically Grown has begun to play an active role in the organic revolution. 

Our apparel is made from organic cotton, which is grown by safe, 

pesticide-free methods from plants that are not genetically modified. 

We support the organic farming community and organizations worldwide 

that are committed to a green, sustainable environment. There is a direct 

connection between what we wear and the effect it has on the earth."

One lucky reader of Breaking New Ground will receive an infant outfit from Organically Grown's winter collection! There is some super cute stuff!

Giveaway Details

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post relevant to the following entry requirements. Be sure that your email address is easily accessible in your profile or leave it at the end of each entry comment. example: emailme at gmail dot com (to avoid spam + such). Be sure to leave one comment for each entry. 

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Organically Grown's website and leave me a comment on this post about your favorite product. 

Extra Entries:

~ Follow Organically Grown + Breaking New Ground on Twitter (1 entry, leave a comment with your twitter ID)

~ Tweet the following "win a cozy winter outfit for the little one in your life from @organicallygrwn + @ShanLeAnn http://bit.ly/hkYrwO {ends 12.14.10} " (1 entry per tweet, 1 per day, leave a comment for each)

~ Like Organically Grown on Facebook (1 entry, leave a comment)

~ Share the following on Facebook  "Win a cozy winter outfit for the little one in your life from Organically Grown + Breaking New Ground  http://bit.ly/hkYrwO {ends 12.14.10}" (1 entry, leave a comment)

Did you catch all that? Lots of ways to enter + share the love. If you can't wait for the giveaway and want to gift some cozy organic clothes this Christmas head over to Organically Grown to take advantage of the great products + free shipping!

This giveaway will end December 14th  2010 at 11:00 pm PST. Winner will be announced + notified on December 15, 2010. Winner will be selected at random via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond in order to claim the prize or it will be awarded to an alternate. Winner will provide a size + gender preference for the outfit and will be sent a style chosen by Organically Grown. 

Open to U.S. residents only. Comments subject to removal without notification based on their relevance to contest. All comments will be verified. So, please be sure to follow instructions carefully. 

Questions? As always click on the "email me" button to send me a message. Please do not leave a comment here that isn't intended to be an entry into the giveaway. However, feel free to include additional comments within your entry if you want to leave some love for Organically Grown.

Disclosure: I was contacted by Organically Grown. I received no compensation for hosting this giveaway. As always, all opinions are my own. Click for additional disclosures and PR policies.

Best of luck!

Photo Friday: 9 months

Today is Malakai's 9 month "birthday" as my mother-in-law likes to call it. Just like every other month that has gone by, this one has been a blur. Malakai is doing so many new things and I'm always amazed at how he literally grows up before our eyes. I see God's works in children as they learn and grow so quickly and I'm so thankful for the blessing that is my sweet son.

Today has also been a blur of a day. We went to watch Henry today at 7am and got him just after noon. We did a bit of a photo shoot in the sun for his 9 month photos and will do some more later this afternoon in another outfit that I didn't remember until it was nap time.

These are 12 month clothes! The button up shirt is one my cousin gave me at my baby shower because it looked like something Ben would wear. It truly does. I always envisioned Malakai wearing it on his 1st birthday, but since it fits now I doubt it'll be suitable come July!

Happy little jumpin' bean

we ventured onto the back porch. All he wanted to do was grab the grass.

So we went back in the house and took a few in his new room, which happens to be the most clean and organized in the entire house.

We have his 9 month appointment this afternoon which means in a few minutes we'll be leaving to pick up daddy early from work!

Happy Friday everyone.

giveaways

I'm working on hosting additional giveaways in the near future. I've made some good contacts but will keep them to myself for now.

I've also received an offer for an discount code exclusively for my readers to a great clothing site.

I've already said too much! More details to come in the near future, stick around!

photo friday- the usual subjects

Practicing our independence

whooooaah!

Graduated from the bumbo to the high chair, Daddy's legs are grateful

The return of our friend Henry

Who learned to clap over Christmas break

An obsession with mama's hard-plastic starbucks cup

showing off the adorable Baby Gap outfit  that mama & daddy got me for Christmas

watching Henry play while mama takes pictures

Happy weekend everyone!