Happy 1st Birthday, My Darling Gracie!

Happy 1st birthday to my Gracie! From the moment I first laid eyes on you one year ago, I felt an indescribable love that I never knew existed. I love you with every inch of my being, and I am so blessed that you chose me to be your Mommy. You light up your dad’s and my lives more than you will ever know. You are the most happy, loving, kind, energetic, beautiful, strong, goofy, and charismatic person, and you radiate love and light to all those around you. I have loved watching you grow this past year and sharing your “firsts” with you, and I look forward to what this next year brings. I love you with all my heart, Monkey. I met you on June 30 last year, but the truth is, I’ve loved you my whole life. Happy 1st birthday my love<3

Love,

Mommy

The Vintage Honey Shop Review + Giveaway!

Before Gracie was born, I researched everything we would need from birth to her first birthday.  Upon my research and planning, one of the things I wanted to buy was a teething necklace.  I had heard great things about them; not only are they are good for teething, but also for baby to grab onto during feedings or when being worn.  Through Instagram, I stumbled upon a shop called The Vintage Honey Shop (henceforth TVHS) that sold handmade, natural, and adorable teething + nursing necklaces.  I purchased two of them, and liked them so much, I purchased another one at a later date.  I loved them!

Recently I was asked to review one of their necklaces, and they kindly gave me a new one to review.  My review below is based on ALL of my experiences with TVHS (including my own purchases and the one they provided), but the pictures are of the necklace they kindly gave me to review.  Even though they gave me this necklace, these opinions are my own and in no way were influenced by them.

TVHS necklaces are handmade and wrapped in beautiful fabric to match any style!  Here is a blurb from their “About” section on their website because it takes the words right out of my mouth:

Every necklace is handmade with massive amounts of love, hard work & dedication in creating the very best teething + nursing necklace on the market. The Vintage Honey Shop is all about making moms feel special, from the design of the necklace to the stunning packaging. Its more than a just a necklace, its about having something that makes new mamas feel pretty & knowing that they are wearing a handcrafted piece of jewelry that is safe, functional and stylish!

This statement couldn’t be more true.  You can tell each necklace is made with love and care from the packaging to the product.  When you open up your package, you see a delicate and shabby chic wrapping of tissue paper with a lace doily and tied with striped baker’s twine and a button with their signature bumble bee; it’s absolutely delightful.

The wrapping was so pretty I didn’t want to open it!  Once I did, the beautiful necklace was revealed.  It was the traditional teething necklace (no wooden teething ring attached) in a gorgeous green floral fabric.  The color is so vibrant, that my pictures don’t even do it justice.  I just love this color.

The necklace closure is a satin tie that is very easy to tie, yet secure around your neck when baby pulls on it.  After opening the package, I tied my green floral teething + nursing necklace around my neck and picked up Gracie.  She was immediately drawn to it and couldn’t stop playing with it.  She was grabbing at it, putting it in her mouth, and moving her arms up and down with excitement while still grasping it.

Playing with her new necklace worked up an appetite.  As I sat down to feed her, she continued holding on to it, and did so during her entire feeding.  She loves this necklace as much as I do.  Like I said, before the opportunity to review this fabulous green floral necklace, I had purchased a few on my own in both styles (the traditional necklace like the green floral one, and the teething ring necklace which includes a wooden teething ring).  Below is a picture of all my TVHS teething + nursing necklaces.

There are so many colors and patterns to choose from on their website.  Seriously, there is a necklace to fit any style!

Gracie and I are so thrilled with our TVHS necklaces that we are giving one away to one lucky reader!  To enter:

1. Comment below with why you want one of these fabulous necklaces.
2. *Bonus entry* follow me on instagram @sparklemags and comment here to let me know that you are following me on instagram.

Giveaway closes next Wednesday, January 20^th at 12:00pm (noon) PST.  The winner will be announced here on the same day at 2:00pm PST.

***UPDATE 1/20:  THE WINNER OF THE VINTAGE HONEYSHOP NECKLACE IS REBECCA GAINEY!  Please email me at magsoneil (@) gmail (dot) com by Friday, 1/22 :)**

And for all my readers, here is a 15% off code to The Vintage Honey Shop:  VHSHARE.  Go check out their site and choose your own fabulous necklace(s) at an awesome discount!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Gracie!

And just like that, my little monkey is 6 months old!  She loves chewing on her hands, grabbing her feet, and playing in curtains.  She loves to laugh and smile, and she thinks her dogs are the funniest things in the world.  She is constantly rolling over, so we have to keep a watchful eye on her.  She can sit unassisted for a good period of time but she prefers to stand.  I swear this girl is going to walk before she crawls.  Her favorite thing to do is bounce/jump.  She loves to grab everything and put it in her mouth {toys, mommy’s necklaces, spoons, paper, and more), except bananas or avocado.  Her favorite foods are peas, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash; she is not a fan of apples.  She lights up when she sees Mom and Dad.  She is approximately 17 pounds of pure happiness, and is the light of my hubby’s and my world.  Happy ½ birthday, my darling girl. Your daddy and I love you to infinity and beyond.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Love, The O'Neils

Christmas Eve Festivities!

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house 

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; 

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, 

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; 

The children were nestled all snug in their beds; 

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads."

Merry Christmas Eve!  It's hard to believe that Christmas is tomorrow, and it's Gracie's 1st Christmas!  Even though she will only be 6 months on the 30th, she has more presents under the tree than anyone else :)  We definitely spoil our little girl, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This year is a little unconventional, as my hubby and I are hosting Christmas Eve dinner tonight!  This is the big celebration in my family, and for the past 40+ years, Mom and Dad have always hosted; Dad makes his famous spaghetti and meatballs that he learned from his Italian god father many years ago.  Recently, some very exciting things have happened that gave hubby and I the opportunity to take on the family tradition and host.  My Daddy got married!!!  I absolutely love his wife, my stepmom, and I am beyond happy they found each other.  More of that in a later post though :)  Since they recently got hitched, and are moving in together and settling in, my house is the party house this year for tonight's festivities.  Dad is still cooking though (phew!).

I am so excited for tonight.  As I said, Christmas Eve is our big shindig...lots of wine, laughter, Christmas music, more laughter, and this year, BABIES!!!!!!  We have four babies in the family who will be celebrating their first Christmas Eve and Christmas this year...my Gracie, my cousin's daughter who was born 10 days after Gracie, and my other cousin's twin boys who are 6 months older than Gracie.  We cannot wait to see their little faces light up :)  And I have a super cute Christmas Eve dress for Gracie to wear :)

With that said, I am going to leave a few pictures of our happy girl here for you to enjoy:

Gracie's 1st time meeting Santa

Sweeter than a Gingerbread Latte (onesie courtesy of @perfectlysparkledd)

Head Elf (onesie courtesy of @perfectlysparkledd)

Our happy girl :)

She was absolutely fascinated by the lights

Her stocking made by her cousin...it's HUGE!!!

Always smiling

She loves her doggies and they love her

My family <3

Baby & Mommy Must-Haves

A few friends have asked me what I found to be the most helpful items for baby {and mommy}, so I thought I would share.  Please keep in mind the below list was built with newborns in mind.

Must-Haves for Baby

myBaby HoMedics SoundSpa On-The-Go:  This was incredibly useful in the first 6 weeks.  We brought it everywhere, and the nice thing is it clips onto anything (stroller, car seat, crib), or we would just hold it while we held our daughter to help lull her to sleep.

Fisher-Price My Little Snugapuppy Deluxe Bouncer:  We still use this all the time!  Since she’s not mobile, yet, it’s great to put her in when you have to go to the bathroom, pump, make a bottle, whatever.  In the beginning, I would bring this into the bathroom with me and put Grace in it while I showered.  I would leave the shower door open so I could see her (showers became somewhat of a luxury the first few weeks, especially after hubby went back to work, so I had to figure something out otherwise I’d go 3 days without showering!).  She loves napping in it too.

Summer Infant SwaddleMe Adjustable Infant Wrap:  These were super helpful, because Gracie would break out of a swaddle blanket no matter how tight we wrapped her.  These are the “cheat” swaddle, and they velcro shut to help keep baby in.

Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets:  If you can afford to splurge, the Bamboo ones are so unbelievably soft!  The classic muslin Aden blankets are wonderful too!  We use them for EVERYTHING!...as a blanket, burp cloth, car seat canopy (we do have the actual car seat canopy, but it’s really heavy and can get hot…this is nice and light), playing peek-a-boo…you can’t have too many of these bad boys.  Plus they have some super cute designs.  Another great brand is Little Unicorn.

Cloth Diapers for Burp Cloths:  These make the best burp cloths!  They are super absorbant, more so than any other traditional burp cloth we’ve used.

Lady Bug Development Toy:  Of all the stroller/car seat attachment toys, this one is by far Gracie’s favorite.  I think because it has so many colors, the mirror, rings, crinkle sounds, a squeaker, soft material, silky material, etc.  It has the most stimuli in one toy, and she is so fascinated by it!  You probably won’t need this until 2-3 months, but I wanted to add it to the list anyways J

And we can't forget Mom!  The list below is what I found the most helpful right after coming home from the hospital.

Must-Haves For Mom

Mesh undies:  If you are giving birth in a hospital, ask to take home a bunch of the super sexy large mesh undies.  I read about them and thought, oh I won’t need those, I’ll be in my Hanky Panky thongs in no time.  Wrong!  Those mesh undies were all I wore for the first two weeks post partum.

Tucks Witch Hazel Pads:  These were a godsend after giving birth.  They felt so good, cooling and soothing, and I truly believe they helped shorten my heal time.  Sometimes the hospital provides them, and if so, ask for an extra container to take home.

Always Extra Heavy Overnight Maxi Pads:  Along with the super sexy mesh undies, these were so wonderful the first 2-3 weeks post partum.  You bleed for weeks, like a period (sometimes heavier), constantly.  These pads were great because they can handle the amount.  I would place a couple of the Tucks Witch Hazel pads on this pad, and it was a perfect combo.

Granny panties:  For when you run out of, or want to graduate from, the super sexy mesh undies, Hanes granny panties are great because they fit the Heavy Maxi pads.

Sitz Bath Spray:  This stuff is AMAZEBALLS!  It definitely helps with healing and soreness down there, and feels so good.

Those are the items my hubby and I to be the most useful the first several weeks with Gracie, and the mommy items are a must.  Take it with a grain of salt, as everyone's baby is different, everyone's birth is different, everyone's needs are different.  I'm just sharing what worked for us/me.  And below is a picture of our happy girl :)

4 months old

Gracie's Newborn Shoot

I'm very late in posting this, but better late than never right??  We had Gracie's newborn shoot when she was just 6 days old, and I couldn't be more in love with her and these photos.  Thank you to SisterLee Photography for capturing such precious moments.  Gracie is now nearly 3 months old, and has already changed so much {another post to come on that later}.  But in the meantime, enjoy some of our favorite photos from her newborn shoot :)

My favorite picture ever <3