Exciting news!

Hi everyone! I’m back!

well not entirely…womp womp!

I just wanted to jot a few lines down to share some exciting news about my personal life and the start of my own little side hustle!

most of you may not know, unless you follow me on Instagram (@jess_g_anderson) but I have decided {WITH GUSTO} to become a…

RODAN AND FIELDS INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT!

now let me preface WHY I did it with a few things.
I know what you’re doing right now, rolling your eyes, probably. because, yes, everyone AND THEIR MOM is an R7F Consultant {especially in the South} or is selling SOMETHING. Younique, jewelry, candles, Scentsy, toothpaste, Herbalife, I mean the list goes on and on right? and i bet your inbox has been flooded with “HEYYYY GIRLLLL how are you??? {insert fluff here} wanna buy some products from me??”

yes, I’ve been there. I’ve rolled my eyes too and have even vented about it to some friends {totally apologize for EVER doing that because now i know why they were so passionate} BUT i started to do some research and i attended a brunch where i learned a whole lot more about the company and the products.

I won’t get into definitions, flow charts and diagrams but R&F IS NOT a pyramid scheme. it’s not, do your research, believe me, I did mine, EXTENSIVELY to convince my husband to *allow* {ew i hate using that word} me to do it. and if you know my husband, you know he LOATHES anything relatively close to a pyramid schemes SO IT WAS A WIN FOR ME!

I decided that i needed a boost in my skin care regimen, mainly because, I DIDN’T HAVE ONE. i mean, if you count using Cetaphil in the shower and wet wash cloth at night to take off my make-up a regimen then OKAY i had one! i really wanted/needed something to help with my scarring from teenage and pregnancy acne so I was already interested in R&F before i attended the brunch, but listening to a friend talk about her business passionately and looking at her transformations, i was sold!

so long in the long, I wouldn’t have jumped on board with something i didn’t believe in. and i really, truly do believe in the products and the company. I’ve only been using the products for a little while now and i have already seen a difference. my lashes are growing, and y’all, I had BEBE lashes before, and in just two weeks they are hitting my lid, YES! and the regimen i chose was the REVERSE LIGHTENING WITH THE ACTIVE HYDRATION SERUM and yes. that’s all, just YES!

here is another great blog post written a lot better than all of my jibberish that y’all should read. 
The Sometimes Single Mom – Stop & Read: The Scam That Is Rodan & Fields

that said, I won’t blow up your inbox or feed with promotions and/or pictures. I’ll post occasionally if a really good deal is happening or if a customer has some impressive transformations, or MY transformations even.
Don’t get annoyed, just keep scrolling.

-Not sure where to even start on choosing a skin care regimen?
Use my < SOLUTION TOOL > to find what regimen will work best for your skin type

-Interested in seeing all of the products? 
Go to my website <HERE> and take a little look around. Check out the descriptions, ingredients and some before and afters!

-Want to become a Consultant and take advantage of killer savings and a bonus paycheck each month? 
Go to my business website <HERE> and get to know the company a little more!

email me at janderson01@myrandf.com if you have any questions!

Here is a little album to scroll through from some real results.

 

Thank you to the friends and family that have reached out in support! it means so much!

weekend shenanigans

happy monday!!!
hope everyone had a great weekend!
as you can see, i’ve changed “our weekend adventures” to “weekend shenanigans”. that’s just much more us and fits us way better than ‘adventures’.
so here we go!

friday

casual fridays are my favorite!!! and i’m selling chocolate for jaz’s cheer squad…need so choco-lottttt? #MomLife

i picked up some mod pizza and a delicious salad for the fam bam on my way home from work. seriously, i could live off of their salads!

saturday

i was so pooped friday that i didn’t even change out of my shirt that i wore all day. so saturday morning looked a lot like friday night.

and the cheer season has begun! our saturdays are now completely booked up until december! first up, carwash!! the girls raised close to $600!! holy cannoli!

if you ever come over for a dinner party or any kind of get-together at my house you can almost always count on me making guacamole. i swear, it will be my legacy.

momma jo has been staying with us for the past week and will be for this coming week too! she’s been helping with watching austin while i’m back at work and until he can go to day care. thanks momma jo!! she lives in arizona so the cooler temps are a dream for her and she is literally just laying in the grass reading a book. hehehe

auntie bea is in town too!!! last time she was here austin was still pretty fresh and pretty boring to say the least haha now he’s all smiles for his auntie!

before aaron & kelsey came over we all went for a walk around the neighborhood. admiring and judging people’s yards is basically the norm on our walks now.

this handsome dude enjoyed some sun while sissy & cousin olen played in the pool!

sarah might as well be an anderson

champagne…3 glasses and i felt like complete poop the next day. but chateau st michelle’s brut rosè is so good!

sunday

this dude is always the happiest in the mornings! look at those legs!!

it’s finally starting to cool off and i loathhhhheee the ac unit being in our living room. it’s so ugly, but necessary! (seattle homes do not have ac, i got lots of questions about that on snap over the weekend lol) but anyway, this came out! woohoo!

after bathtime, farmor got in some finger chewing. our boy is ferociously teething so if your fingers are near, he will use them.

austin has been trying out new solids for about a week now. i’ve been testing out the organic gerber first foods just to see which ones he really takes to so that i’m not wasting a lot of veggies but he is so hit and miss on most nights that i just decided to start making all of them now. mmmm carrots carrots carrots!

what did you do this weekend?? gearing up to send your kiddos to school? i know the south has started already but we don’t start until 2 days after labor day! seems so late!

let me know what you did or link you weekend shenanigans in the comments and i’ll go take a peek!

-jess♥

 

 

our weekend adventures

we’reeeeee baaa-aackkkkk!
our weekend adventures are back as promised!
this was a good one to start on too!

friday

we met up with our neighbor/friend and her two kiddos for crepes and shopping afterward. she had never been to jewel box so jaz & i thought it was a must!

cruz & jaz
seriously the cutest and sweetest boy ever!
we headed over to u-village for a little shopping!

camíla & austin
our other two! mila is just one month behind a and is the sweetest baby girl ever!

austin had to try out his new jim jams! maddie introduced me to kickee pants and i am obsessed now! have you felt that material!! you can get austin’s pj’s {here} 

saturday

this sweetness in the morning. swooonnn!

i was in desperate need of a pedi and an eyebrow wax so the hubby stayed home with the kiddos and and i got to sneak out for an early appointment.

this dude turned 4 months!!!
read his update post { here }

sunday

eggs & bakey for breakfast!

we went on a cleaning kick on saturday and cale deep cleaned our bathroom, including my makeup organizer. but this is how he put everything back in it! geeeezzzzz!

we went and celebrated this handsome boy’s 5th birthday!
happy birthday cruz!

grocery shopping sunday and the whole clan came with!

bedtime bottles with papa! it’s becoming quite the task to get this guy to eat without squirming everywhere and pushing the bottle out so he can sneak his hands in.

after brother went to bed, sister got to make slime! i am SOOOOOOOO READY for this slime phase to be overrrrr!!

and of course to end the night once both kids are sleeping, GAME OF THRONES!!!

told ya it was a good weekend to start our adventures back up! the weather has turned cooler over the last few days and i’m okay with it. the last month has been HOT! plus i always get excited when we get closer to taking out that god awful ac window unit.

what did you do??

-jess♥

baby a : 4 months

4 months!!!

This month flew by for us, I think mostly because I knew I was going back to work right after he turned 4 months.

This last month his personality has really shown through. He’s still pretty chill but when he gets excited, boy does he! That big gummy smile that I’ve been yearning for has also made its appearance and I DIE each and every time! With gummy smiles also came GIGGLES!!! They’re still breathy giggles but giggles nonetheless!

His head control is getting better and better with each day. He HATES tummy time, which means he’ll be a little late on the rolling front but that’s okay. The doctor said if anything he’ll roll from back to front first instead of the typical front to back. Since tummy time is a no go we keep him sitting up for most of the day which has contributed greatly to his head control. He sits in his bouncer and Bumbo really well!

Sleep…ohhhhh sleep. We hit a wall with his sleep and it’s been…fun. My big boy grew out of his bassinet so we decided to move the pack-n-play into our room to give him some more room. And since then he was waking up MULTIPLE times in the night. Finally my common sense kicked in and I thought…hmmm maybe it’s uncomfortable…DUH!!! It’s basically a thin sheet of cardboard! Uhhh I felt so stupid because once we put his Dock-A-Tot in the pack play he slept the ENTIRE night. Gahhh. IDIOT! I would’ve woke up screaming every two hours too if I felt like I was sleeping on concrete. Poor baby. Sooooo we are back to the good sleeps again! Woohoooo!!

Sister came back from Texas, after being gone since the end of June and this little dude is obsessed with her and her him! It’s so sweet to see them together. And since he can hold his head now she can pick him up on her own and carry him around. And yes he is more than half of her! I seriously don’t know how I made such a huge kid! He’s a little man baby! But anyway, anytime he sees her he smiles soooo big! It’s adorable!

We start solids in the next few days and WE ARE SO EXCITED!! I’m planning on making all of his food so any tips, tricks or suggestions are more than welcome! I have the all in one steamer/mixer so it should be relatively easy….right? Eek!

This next month will be the toughest for me as I am returning back to work full time. Womp womp womp! I really thought that I would be itching to get back to work but I’m not. I’m really not. I’m going to miss my time with my handsome boy. We are lucky in that he’s not going straight into day care. Cale’s mom, Farmor {Swedish for Father’s Mother} is coming up from Arizona to watch him for us until the beginning of September. That makes me a little less anxious but I’ll still be a mess…let’s be real!

Happy 4 months, sweet boy.

a blooper from his shoot anytime Elle is near him, whether it be big Elle or little Elle, HE EATS IT!! all the things in the mouth!

Here are pictures that I never got a chance to upload, or I did and I just want to show them again because they are so darn CUTE!!!

baby a : our breastfeeding journey

happy thursday, everyone!
in honor of breastfeeding week, i was asked to recap my breastfeeding journey with austin. i wanted to do this post for some time now but i just didn’t know how it would read and i wasn’t sure i wanted to throw my vulnerability out there.
BUT HERE WE ARE! 

baby a : my favorite things

hey y’all!
sorry i’ve been a ghost around here, i promise to get back to our adventures once jazmyne comes back from texas!

but for now, i wanted to share some of my favorite baby items that austin has! i get a lot of messages on where i got certain things and how i like them, so i decided to review/post them here!

there is quite a few, so bare with me.
{all items will be linked in the caption below the photos}

{ solly baby wrap }
obsessed.
when i had first looked into baby carriers, i thought, neh, i don’t like wraps, they look too complicated. so we bought an ergo and at first, i thought that was great but then, austin had his first growth spurt and didn’t want to be put down. which meant, i had to clean with him, cook with him, everything while wearing him. do all that in an ergo, meh, not the comfiest. plus, everytime i bent over to pick something up or put something away i would have to hold his head to my chest and then the waist belt would dig into my thighs. ENTERS SOLLY BABY! lucky for me, my whole neighborhood is either pregnant or JUST had a baby so i texted my neighbor and asked if she had a wrap and she had a solly. after watching a tutorial more times than i would like to admit, I WAS A PRO. oh my gosh, so comfy! i like the solly better than a moby wrap too, moby’s are VERY thick and austin seemed too hot in it. i would highly recommend a solly for baby wearers.

{ dohm sound machine }
cale and i have made it our mission to NOT be quiet around austin while he is sleeping. when visitors come over and whisper once they see that he is sleeping, we say nope! speak in your regular voice! he needs to get used to lots of noise while he is sleeping so that if we are out and about or at someone else’s house, he won’t have an issue falling asleep. this little machine makes the loudest white noise sound ever! it definitely helps lull him to sleep.

 
{ infantino teepee }
we got this as a gift from one of our showers and it is amazing!
1) it’s mega cute and 2) austin loves it. there is a mirror right in the middle of the mobile that is hanging down and he just lies there cooing and talking to himself. and the mobile hangs low enough where he can actually grab the toys hanging from it. it will eventually transition to a reading area that we will move to a corner in his room.

{ everything o-ball }
these toys are great for babes trying to conquer those pesky fine motor skills! the big holes allow them to easily grab and hold on to them. i bought the set but have also purchased individual ones for the diaper bag and then this { o-ball o-link } to connect an o-ball to his carseat handle so that he can play with his it while riding in the car!

{ bath time easy kneeler }
life.saver.
it’s knee pads AND elbow pads! seriously, something that seems so petty and simple is really something, i think, all mamas and papas need.

{ halo sleep sack }
when austin was born up until he was about 10 weeks, he hated to be swaddled. HATED it! but then, once he figured out he had arms… boy did those things flail when it was time for bed. so we resorted to swaddling and these things are great! they keep his legs in the open position that they are supposed to be to prevent hip dysplaysia and keeps his arms in real tight! search the ‘halo sleep sack’ for different options in print and materials.

{ love to dream-swaddle up 50/50 }
to go with the last item, we are now trying to transition austin out of the full swaddle. instead of his arms being glued to his side, they are up by his head and he is still able to suck on his hands. my other mama friends and neighbors have raved about this swaddle while they were transitioning their little so we decided to give it a go! so far so good! cale always giggles when he sees him in it though.

now here are a couple of our splurges that we loveeee.

{ freshly picked moccs }
love these little shoes! and now they make little loafers! ugh swoon!

{ lily jade diaper bag in camel }
if you know me, you know that i love everything camel and this is no exception! i always get so many compliments on his diaper bag and it’s so roomy i don’t even need to carry a purse. it also comes with a tote on the inside that you can take out. prettyyyyy nifty if you ask me!

{ stokke ‘trailz’ stroller }
smoothest stroller ride. we love this thing. it’s easy to break down and stuff in the trunk. not to mention, stokke has all kinds of accessories and add on’s to make the babes more comfy.

let me know if you have any questions about anything specific! whether it be ones i posted here or any you’ve seen on my social media.

-jess

baby a : 3 months

3 months!

yes, you read that right. my sweet baby boy is 3 whole months! what a little ham right?? look at those cheeks…look at them!!

this month austin started holding his own head up {for the most part} if he gets really tired, he’ll just let that thing flop!
he found his hands. when jaz was a baby, i would always say that she was holding her baby bumblebee because she was always holding her hands together and stared at them. austin does the same thing now and i swoon! seeing what they do the same is so sweet!

austin took his vaccinations like a champ! barely even cried! and didn’t seem too fussy afterwards either. woohoooo. and a couple days later he finally got to go visit sissy at school for lunch!

he found his pitch in his voice too! not only does he coo but now he throws his voice which might be the cutest thing ever.

if we are friends on Facebook then you saw my post about having the most serious baby on the planet. and from the messages i got and online forums, it’s pretty indicative of the type of personality he will have. which comes as no surprise considering how chill his dad was/is. he really is the most content facing outward so he is able to observe everything.

oh oh and he is sleeping through the night! 9ish to 5-6ish!!
IT’S AMAZING!!!
i’m going to give it a couple more weeks before i move him to his crib. just to make sure he doesn’t regress. fingers crossed for us!!

we have completely weened to 100% formula.
{it was a tough decision and one i’ll touch more on in a separate post dedicated to exactly that.}
and mannnn can this boy eat!! goodness gracious! that being said though, we are still spit up free! you have no idea how grateful i am that austin doesn’t ever smell pukey!

austin still loves his baths. if he won’t settle down for bedtime or is extra fussy then we will just pop him in a quick bath and more times than not it works!
he is obsessed with his oball. he loves that thing. probably because it’s the only thing he can grip and keep a hold of haha.
he loves his teepee! we got this as a gift from one of our showers and it is amazing! he goes crazy in it!

austin hates getting anything pulled over his head. shirt goes on, he gets scared and usually cries. shirt comes off, he gets scared and usually cries. blanket accidentally touches his face or hair…he gets scared and usually cries. so i usually try to distract him and move like a ninja to try to get it over as fast as i can.

it’s been such a fun month! i’m really excited about month 3 though because this is the beginning of the age where we will really start to see his personality come through. maybe his first giggle, i am dying to hear his laugh. and thennnn month 4 we can start foods!!! here’s to another amazing month!

here are a few of my favorite photos from the past month.

i may look mad as hell {RBF} but i love this! i love my babies!!

nap time on papa

sleepy smiles after an early morning feeding

we started story time before our afternoon nap now!

it doesn’t get much cuter than that

is it weird that i think he’s incredibly cute when he cries? poor baby

put your dukes up!

nap time on papa again! the freaking sweetest!

the sweetest boy in all the land!

HAPPY 3 MONTHS MY DUDE!

baby a : 2 months

2 months!

and just like that, austin is 2 months! and what a great month!
we are cooing so much more now! i’ve learned when and how to get the most of this guy’s little voice. he has to be completely full, diaper changed and propped up. sometimes he’ll coo up a storm on his back but more often than not he has to be propped up on the boppy!

wanna hear something amazing?? austin never spits up! that’s impossible you say?? but it’s not and it’s amazing! jaz used to spit up all the time so everything smelled like baby puke but not this guy! there was one night that he projectile vomited his bottle but that’s because i’m an idiot and let him down a full 4 oz bottle without stopping to burp him. doh! my bust! but even then it was right back up as soon as it went down and hadn’t even curdled yet so it doesn’t count!

how many moms are familiar with the 8 week growth spurt?? what a freaking doozy! literally happened overnight. he slept from 9 to 6 and i was like oh my god, i have the most perfect baby! that morning he woke up, ate, took a 20 minute nap, woke up was hungry again ate 2 more oz…took a 10 minute nap, woke up ATE AGAIN! THIS WAS THE WHOLE DAY FOR 4 DAYS! i’m almost positive he gained 3 pounds in just one week. cale and i had to google, “can i overfeed my infant” apparently you can’t so that’s good to know.
and because he wasn’t napping, he was sooooo fussy. however, he did let us sleep at night so THANK GOD! it was rough you guys but just like it started, he went back to his normal routine overnight.

i’ve tried to keep him on as much of a schedule as i can. not so much during the day but just in the morning and at night. morning time, he’ll wake up around 4:30 eat, burp, get a diaper change and go back to sleep till around 6 where he gets a little fussy. i’ll get him out of the bassinet and snuggle with him a bit. at 7 i’ll nurse him which usually won’t fill him up so then at 8 we supplement with a bottle. then its off to take jaz to school. at night i am trying to get him down when we put jaz to bed which is at 8 but that hasn’t really been working in my favor. so he’s usually down by 10 and won’t wake up till 4:30.

we had another sickness run through our home again and taking out both jaz and cale so we are really working on getting everyone healthy again. jaz seems to be back to normal so i’ve been letting her feed him and hold him as much as he will let her since she will be leaving next week for her summer break in texas. she won’t be back till august! get in as much baby snugs as possible!!!!

turning 2 months old comes with the icky first set of vaccinations…blegh! that happens later today so i will update you on how that went next month! i know austin will be a champ, it’s more me i’m worried about since i will be alone. 😦 i’ll probably cry. get it together mom!

it’s been another great month home with my boy! he is proving to be the most chill baby ever which, according to my mother-in-law, is just like his papa!

likes // still loves his baths, loves when women sing {men not so much}
dislikes // getting his hair brushed…but loves when i wash it, weird boy,
weighs // 12.3 pounds
length // not sure we will see at the doctors today! but he is in 3-6 month clothes sooooo
eye color // dark slate grey, still! yessss!
hair color // black brown
nicknames // mr.sweetface, a, duderz, bud, handsome
sleeping through the night? // kind of? 10-4:30
tummy time? // working on it! not his fave but he enjoys his mirror!

happy 2 months baby boy! 

baby a : nursery reveal

this is a way overdue post!
AUSTIN’S NURSERY REVEAL!

i wanted to stay neutral with a’s nursery just in case our next babe is a girl. i also stayed away from the typical “boy” theme that has cars, dinosaurs. trucks, etc. i really hate those things, ESPECIALLY on baby clothes!

so here you go! the sweetest nursery for the sweetest baby boy!

{ all items will be linked at the bottom of the post! }

 

we realized after putting everything up that we were going to need much longer shelves. eek!

above the rocker

personalized quilt // pottery barn // { here }
elephant // pottery barn // { here }
personalized elephant rocker // pottery barn // { here }
hanging clouds // pottery barn // { here }
rocking chair // target // { here }
accent table // homegoods
jellycat elephant // nordstrom // { here }
changing table // pottery barn // { here }
crib // pottery barn // { here }
crib bedding // pottery barn // { here }
light fixture // land of nod // { here }
rug // target // { here }
wall art // etsy // { here }

sooooo you might be thinking to yourself…geez did pottery barn throw up in there?
and the answer to that is…yes, yes it did!

i love how everything turned out and it will be perfect for the next babe should it be a girl!
if you have any questions about specific items, please feel free to email me or comment!

baby a : 1 month

welcome back!

i will be doing monthly updates on austin so keep on reading to follow all of his milestones with us!

i realized that i never posted his “just arrived” photo so here is that preciousness!

look at how teeny! weighing less than his birth weight, around 6 pounds 7 oz and a little jaundice. poor dude, but i’ll get into more of that in a bit!

1 month

what in the actual heck! how has it already been a month?! that is just bonkers!
look at the tie and where it’s at on him now! i did not realize he had grown that much already!

this first month with austin has been everything i’ve expected it to be. exhausting, trying, boring, AMAZING.
coming home with austin was so different than coming home with jaz. i was so sick with jaz {they hit my spinal cord with her epidural and i had a spinal headache} that i don’t even remember her first few days. but i know for a fact they weren’t as easy as austin’s first night(s) home.
my body really just whipped right back to it’s normal self. i was hardly swollen in ‘the’ area which is not what i remembered with jaz and i was up walking around just a couple hours after having her. the only thing that hurt was where they put the epidural and my uterus contracting down to normal size again. BUT THAT’S IT! i felt like wonder woman! cale & i even went to babies r us and target 2 days after having him. seriously, wonder woman!
i attribute his easy nights to my awesome recovery, had i had a c-section or just a rough recovery, i can’t imagine what it might have been like.

from night one at the hospital, austin slept for 3-4 hours at a time. we had 4 different nurses come in to try and help me wake him up to eat but he just wasn’t having it. because of this, they pricked his foot a couple times just to check his glucose levels. they always came back great so they weren’t too concerned. because my labor went so fast and he was out in less than five minutes, they said that can make babies super sleepy.

after bringing him home, he kept this up. halla-freaking-luya! it was amazing, you guys!
the weekend after we brought him home, we noticed he was becoming a little more yellow. at our appointment that next monday, the doctor said he had a mild case of jaundice. they checked his bilirubin levels and they weren’t high enough for him to have phototherapy so she just said go home and set him next to a window undressed. which..if you live in seattle, you know how hard it was to find any kind of sun this past month. ***sighhhh*** but because of his jaundice, we went back to dr everyday for 3 days so they could check his levels again. by day 4 he was perfect and didn’t need to come back to the dr until his 6 week check up! woop woop!

mom’s with newborns or any kids, know that these first few months are pretty borrrring. he literally eats, burps, poops and sleeps…AND REPEAT. it hasn’t been until this past week that he’s been staying up for 30-45 minutes in between his day naps.

we just started moving him to his crib during the day to nap. i really, really, want to get him used to his crib for when we switch him from the bassinet next to our bed {no, we do not cosleep} to his crib at night. i did this with jaz and she has always slept in her own bed. it was such a seamless transition that i wanted to do the same with austin and luckily, i have a husband who 100% agrees.
so for now, he’s in the bassinet at night and will be until around 6 months or when he starts sleeping through the night, and he naps in his crib during the day.

he’s not smiling on his own yet, still just at his own gas. i am hoping to see those handsome grins in the next month!

even though he is only a month he already likes and dislikes quite a few things!
likes // baths, mama’s chest, papa’s arms, sister’s voice, his hands, mama’s boobs
dislikes // his weiner being cold, being hungry for more than 1 minute, being swaddled, getting strapped into the carseat {he loves the ride though}

weighs // around 7.5 pounds still in newborn clothes
length // 21 inches
eye color // dark slate grey, we are hoping that stays! it’s beautiful!
hair color // black
nicknames // mr.sweetface, a, duderz, bud, squeaks {he only squeaks when he nurses}
sleeping through the night? // no, waking up around 2 and then again around 4:30-5. morning routine & feeding starts at 8 and then every two hours until 10 pm.
tummy time? // we just introduced this to him last week. he’s little and came early so his muscles aren’t quite where most 1 month olds should be but he doesn’t get irritated and he flips his head from side to side so yayyy!

we can’t wait for him to start cooing, smiling and holding his floppy head a bit better!

happy 1 month sweet boy!