Getting Crafty: DIY Starbucks Ariel Decal

My heart was hurting for a Starbucks Ariel decal, so I filled my hearts desires and finally made one!  I used a Circuit Explore Air 2 and Cricut Vinyl in Silver Glitter and Grape.

I googled Starbucks Ariel and found this image:

I, then, saved it to my computer and uploaded it into my Cricut images.

When you upload it, upload  as a simple image and get rid of all the white sections.

Then save as a cut image.

Once that is done, insert the image into a new project.

I created a circle the same size as the image and placed it as a background.

I cut the circle into the Silver vinyl and the image into the purple vinyl.

Weed away the parts that are white.

Place your silver vinyl on your item, and your Ariel cut out directly on top.

Father's Day Gift Guide

Father's Day is three weeks away and it is time to start thinking about what to get your dad and/or husband!  Both my dad and husband are pretty outdoorsy and like things like pocket knives.  They're also kids at heart and enjoy fun things!  I've put together a Father's Day Gift Guide based on things they would like but also included some items in case the men in your life could do without a pocket knife.

This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to purchase from one of the links below, I’ll receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!


If you're planning on shopping online, use Ebates to get cash back rebates!  It's so easy! You won't regret it! In fact, you get $10 just for signing up!



1) Pocket knife
My husband is always losing his pocket knives, so I know it's always a good gift.  His favorite brands are Kershaw and Gerber which can be found at Academy in their hunting department.

Kershaw Oso Sweet Folding Knife

2) Khaki/Camo Shorts
Summer is HOT in Texas!  These guys can never have enough shorts.  In fact, my dad specifically requested shorts for Father's Day!  My dad prefers khaki, while my husband loves his camo.  JC Penney has shorts for both of the men in my life at an affordable price.

Arizona Classic Fit Cargo Shorts

3) Drone
Men can just be big kids at times, so why not give them something to play with?  These things are crazy popular with kids AND men!  Your husband and kids will definitely make some crazy fun memories while playing with a drone!

Holy Stone F181W Wifi FPV Drone

4) GoPro
Planning any family adventures this summer? Amazon has a great price on the GoPro Hero 4 with an adventure bundle!  Perfect for capturing your summer fun memories!

GoPro Hero 4 Session Action Camera Ready for Adventure Bundle

5) Amazon Echo Dot
This thing is crazy awesome!  Your husband will love being able to blast his music, control the thermostat, and so much more with this tiny device.

Amazon Echo Dot

6) Dollar Shave Club Subscription
This would be a great gift that both you and your husband would enjoy!  Admit it, we all enjoy a well-groomed man coming home from work.

Dollar Shave Club Membership

7) A Personalized Gift
Etsy is the GO TO site for personalized gifts!  Choose anything from a photo frame, mug, t-shirt, beer bottle openers, you name it!  This will be my husband's first Father's Day so I plan on commemorating it with a special photo frame and picture.  Visit Easy for tons of Father's Day Gifts!

First Fathers Day Picture Frame from ThePictureFrameShop

8) DIY Gift
DIY gifts are always fun and personal.  I found a pin on Pinterest with tons of DIY gifts from kids.

DIY Fathers Day Gifts from Kids

9) Video Games
When my husband gets some down time, he likes to blow off some steam by playing Call of Duty.  Do some research on the games your guy likes, go through his game collection to see what he already has.

Call of Duty Black Ops III Zombies Chronicles

10) Quality Time

Nothing beats quality time with the fathers in your life!  Do something special with them to make them feel loved on Father's Day!

Remember! Don't forget to use Ebates when shopping online for cash back rebates at hundreds of stores!

Two Month Baby Update

Aurora is two months old today!

She weighs 10lbs and 15oz.  And she is 22.5 inches long.  That's a 3lb weight gain and 3 inch growth in 6 weeks.  She is no longer in newborn diapers!  She's moved up to size 1.  I still use Pampers Swaddlers.  She's also starting to get too long for newborn clothes.

She is can sleep a 6 hour stretch at night, and takes 3 naps a day.  She still likes to sleep a lot.  She is still breastfeeding and eats a lot.  I do feed on demand, so I don't track how long between feedings.

On car drives, she likes to look out the window before falling asleep.

She loves her daddy's kisses and snuggles.  She is seriously the best snuggler ever.  She also loves naps with her mommy.

She likes to sit in her chair with her toys that hang above her head.  I attached a bunny that has a little noise maker in it, and she move her hands to get it.  I'm not quite sure if this is on purpose or just her sporadic movements.

She holds her head up like crazy when we hold her and likes to look at us and at her surroundings.  She is starting to do tummy time for a longer period of time and is lifting her head a lot more during tummy time.

And she's goofy like her daddy!

How I got back to my Pre-Pregnancy Weight in Two Months

When I was pregnant, I gained a total of 37 lbs.  I know many women gain less than that, and many women gain more.  Before I got pregnant, I weighed 124 lbs.  I am only 5 ft tall, so to me, I was a little heavier than I wanted to be.  When you are short, you tend to show weight gain pretty easily.

Tomorrow, Aurora will be two months and I am back down to 124 lbs.  I actually have a feeling that I'm going to drop more weight.

This was me at my baby shower on February 11th at 32 weeks pregnant.  It's the last picture of me pregnant.  I had Aurora at 38 weeks.  My total weight was 161 lbs when they induced me.

This is me now.  Sorry I cropped out my head.  I looked awful!

I had a vaginal delivery with no tearing, but when I got home, I did not allow myself enough time to rest.  I was constantly moving around, doing things around the house.  Because of this, I am still sore in my "down there" area.  So I can't really work out.

So how did I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight?  I changed the way I eat.  And breastfeeding burns tons calories.

It's not a diet exactly, since I am breastfeeding, but I do eat better.  I also eat smaller portions more often.

I kept it simple.  Trying to lose weight does not have to be overwhelming.

First, I do not drink soda.  All I drink is water, but this is normal for me before, during, and after pregnancy.

I allow myself one day to treat myself to dessert, and that's Sunday.  The only sugar, other than that, is from fruit and yogurt.  I don't do processed or frozen foods.  I don't do fast food or junk food.  I will be the first to tell you that I used to eat a LOT of junk food and fast food, so this was really hard for me.  But I was determined to lose the baby weight!  If I, of all people, can do it, I know you can too.  I also cut out bread, which I think really helped too.  Because I used to eat bread like crazy.

For breakfast:
Two eggs & two slices of turkey bacon
or
Oatmeal with add-ins such as peanut butter, honey, cinnamon, bananas, berries, etc.

Snack:
Yogurt

Lunch:
This varies!  I will usually eat my more hearty meals at lunch time.
Yesterday, I made chicken stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese.
And I had three chicken breasts, so I made it for two other days this week.
You can choose what you want for lunch, but make sure you have a meat and veggies.

Snack:
Fruit like watermelon, bananas, apples, pineapples.  These are just what I chose.

Dinner:
Salad.  H-E-B has these awesome pre-made salads that are usually 200-300 calories.  I choose to eat salad at dinner because I do not want a heavy stomach when I go to bed.  The Fiesta Salad is definitely my favorite.  They also have a Chef Salad and Cesar Chicken Salad.

This meal plan has also not negatively effected my milk supply.  Aurora gets plenty to eat and has put on a healthy amount of weight, which I am happy with because she was only 5 lbs, 11 oz when she was born.

Making better food choices has helped me shed weight without working out.  My workout is doing chores around the house.  Plus, I live in a two-story, so I spend a lot of time going up and down the stairs throughout the day.

If you change the way you eat, you can get down to your pre-pregnancy weight too(:

7 Things that Change once you Become a Mom

It's been 8 weeks and 2 days since I have become a mom, and it's been a lot to get used to.  It's crazy how much everything changes!



1) No more nice, long, hot showers.  They may still be hot, but they certainly aren't long.  I'm constantly rushing, because for whatever reason, it's when I'm in the shower that Aurora seems to be the neediest.

2) Hot coffee is no longer an option.  Because you are not on your schedule, you're on the baby's schedule.

3) Your body does not look the same.  I admit it, my boobs are saggy, my butt is saggy, and it's hard to tell where the stretch marks begin and end.

4) I totally took grocery shopping alone for granted.  It's so exhausting unloading a baby and groceries into a car and then getting them all into the house!

5) You will always have spit up on you.

6) It takes me a lot longer to leave the house.  At least an hour and a half.

7) Goodbye, comfortable sleep.  Goodbye, sleeping in.  Goodbye, sleep in general (at least, at first).  Aurora was waking up every hour, then every two hours, then every three hours.  Now she sleeps five to six hours.  Know why?  I fall asleep with her on my chest while I'm burping her after a feeding.

These may all seem like complaints, but they really aren't.  They are just things I happened to notice once I became a mom.

In all honesty these are the 7 things that change:

I would rather take a quick shower, so I can get back to Aurora.

I could do without hot coffee, as long as I have coffee to energize me so I can keep up with her.

I actually feel more confident about my body, stretch marks and all, because of what my body did: it created life.

Grocery shopping isn't easy any more, but man do I feel awesome getting it accomplished!

Sure, I've had people point out spit up on my shirt but I think of it as Aurora leaving something with me so I'll think of her when I'm away from her.  Silly, yes.  But I can't help but smile when I see it.

I may not be on time, but at least my daughter has been changed, fed, burped, and will be comfortable by the time we leave the house.

And I would much rather have my baby girl in my arms, than sleep comfortably on my stomach.  Because nothing beats looking down at that sweet girl because one day she won't fit on my chest anymore.

Aside from those 7 changes, you are the biggest change.  You become completely selfless to your needs because this tiny human being that is half of you, that came from you, that spent 9 months right next to your heart, is the most important thing on the planet now.  And that life that you created is worth giving up everything.

5 Summer Dresses Under $30 on Amazon

I am feeling that summer heat!  It's time for summer dresses, ladies!  I found some affordable dresses on Amazon, and I couldn't believe how cute they are!  Here are my favorites that were rated with 4 stars and up!


This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to purchase from one of the links below, I’ll receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Fensace Women's Sleeveless Scoop Neck Summer Beach Midi Flared Tank Dress

ECOWISH Women Spaghetti Strap Irregular Hem Summer Casual Boho Beach Dress

Halife Women Vintage Sleeveless Deep V-neck Floral Printed Fit and Flare Dress

FSOOG Womens Open Back Casual Fit and Flare Floral Sleeveless Dress

Meaneor Women's Sleeveless Striped Casual Loose Tank Summer Dress

These dresses are amazing for all being under $30, and if you have Amazon Prime, you can get them in two days!  Each of these dresses comes in other colors, which I love!  Because let's face it, we all have a favorite dress that we loved so much that we had to go back and buy in two or three different colors(;

My First Mother's Day

Last Sunday, I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day with this little cutie.  Today she is 8 weeks old and motherhood has been the most tiring and rewarding experience.  I am so grateful to finally be a mom.  I've always wanted children and wanted to start a family as soon as I could.  I love this little girl more than life itself.  I never knew what a parent's love was like, but now I understand.

To all the mom's, you are amazing and beautiful!  I hope you all had an amazing Mother's Day last week!  (I think every day should be Mother's Day!  I never knew how much it took!)

Here are some fun mom posts I found on Pinterest:

https://www.eumom.ie

https://kidfol.io/kidfolio/home

https://www.kohls.com/

For more fun mom quotes, you can follow my Momma Quotes/Prayers Pinterest Board,

DIY Newborn Photo Session

Newborn photo sessions can range from $100 to $300.  I wanted newborn photos for Aurora as much as the next new mommy, but with the upcoming hospital bills and everything we spent just to get her nursery set up, I did NOT want to pay for newborn photos.  So I did the next best thing!  A DIY Newborn Photo Session!  And even better, I used my iPhone 7!

Here's how I did it:

I found a little bin that Aurora would fit comfortably in.

I filled it with soft blankets, washcloths, etc.

Then I picked out a pretty blanket to lay over it.

I placed this all on a sturdy bench in front of a blank wall.

I chose a cute floral headband that my mom recently bought for her.

I got a blanket to cover her with that wouldn't clash with the blanket she would be laying on.

I waited until she fell into a deep sleep so I could position her any way I wanted.

She made a few silly faces while I was snapping photos, but finally I landed the perfect shot!

It only took about 15 minutes!

Now, like I said I used my iPhone, so I used an app called Filtera to get that professional photography look.  Just play around with the filters and adjusting settings.  Depending on your lighting, you'll have to figure out how to get the same look.

Download Filterra Here!

Want the floral blanket I used in my newborn's photos?  Find it here!

Mardel Clothing for Women

It has been a long time since I have been to Mardel.  I moved to a new area a year and a half ago, so I'm not as close as I used to be.  But recently, I've been shopping online and I am impressed with their tops for women!  I thought I'd share what I found!

Pray More, Worry Less, Drink Coffee

Let Go, Let God

Be a Warrior, Not a Worrier

Hope Anchors the Soul

The Struggle is Real, But so is my God

Are these not the cutest tops ever?!  Check out the rest of Mardel's cute tops here!

Re-Branding!

The Mud Loving Diaries is re-branding and getting a new name!  It is now Turley Territory!  I am hoping to blog a lot more often.  I hadn't blogged on The Mud Loving Diaries in a really long time and now that I have found the motivation to start blogging again, I felt it was time for a change.

So... Welcome to Turley Territory!

I'll be writing my first post this Thursday on how to do a DIY Newborn Photo Session! You don't need to pay a professional photographer $300! You don't need a fancy camera either; you can use your iPhone! And I'll tell you how(;