100 Happy Days

 I recently decided to start the "100 Happy Days" challenge on my instagram (as those of you who follow me on there know)... a challenge aimed at trying to see if one can be happy for at least 100 days in a row... Early this year, the hashtag started trending and I noticed so many accepting the challenge... some of them making it the whole 100 days, some tapering off after a couple weeks or so and then just forgetting completely.

I liked the concept, sounds like fun I thought, but I was hesitant to do it when the thoughts started creeping into my mind... can I really be completely happy, all day, every day, for 100 days in a row?

For months I wanted to accept the challenge, but didn't think I could do it, now don't get me wrong, saying that makes me feel like that I may come across as a grouch (haha) but I'm really not; In fact, I'm actually a very happy person, probably one of the most optimistic people you would ever meet and I seem to find joy very easy: happiness just comes naturally to me... but then why shouldn't it? I have been blessed with such a wonderful life: the most wonderful husband in the world who is the love of my life and my best friend, an amazing daughter, 2 lovely step daughters, everyone healthy, I'm blessed enough to be able to be a stay at home wife and mother (I know so many women who would love to be), we have food on our table and a good/safe place to live... I cannot even begin to count all of the good things in my life... and no, life isn't perfect, but life is good and life is wonderful.

But like anyone, I have the occasional day where things don't always go as planned... 

Dinner doesn't taste quite as good as I think it should (I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to my cooking), the weather isn't ideal (too hot/too cold/too much rain or humidity... humidity is the big one for me lol), the fact that I'm constantly stubbing my toes (seriously though, it hurts so don't laugh, okay? Lol), Bella won't go down for a nap when she needs one, hubby has to work overtime, all the insecurities about my new "mom body" (a post for a later time), and to top it all off... for some reason the new internet we got when we moved is so slow (mind you we did pay for the faster service too) that I can hardly even blog from our computer anymore so I have to do 90% of my blogging on my smartphone now... yada, yada, depending on the day the list can go on...

Whoa! I sound like a complainer! Lol. But I'm not like that all day every day ever, just once or twice a day maybe... but that's anyone really.

You know what though? I've started realizing recently that its honestly impossible to be 100% happy 100% of every day... we're all human, not one of us is perfect.

I'm also realizing that happiness is a way of life and not an attitude or what you are when everything is going your way or even just a word for that matter! A person can be happy even if things aren't going as planned.

I realize now that "100 happy days" does not mean that every day is balloons and confetti and bubble guppies and cupcakes... but IT IS about finding the happiness in every day, the little things, the big things, the ORDINARY things! Focusing on the positives of the day and not dwelling on the fact that dinner wasn't as savory as the time before when I made that same meal, its being thankful we were able to have a meal on our table, its not about being insecure of my body and nitpicking all the little things about myself that no one else (even my husband) notices, its about being so beyond thankful and blessed that I had the chance to become a mother and that our daughter is healthy and happy and loved!

I have always been happy, but lately even more so, I feel like that my life is pretty much as close to perfect as I could ever possibly hope for and I have a contentedness and happiness in my heart that feels like sunshine and blue skies on a beautiful day that just got more beautiful.

Now I challenge you... maybe not to do the #100happydays photo challenge (unless you want to), but I challenge you to be more happy in general! To be more positive! If something happens that threatens to ruin your day (or week), don't let it! Instead, stop, take a moment to think of one or two things (no matter how big or small) that you find happiness in! Life is too short not to be happy

I've only been a week into my 100 happy days, but I know for certain that my happy days will go far beyond that and number so many more than 100!

Front and Center: Alice and Ivory Feature + A Giveaway

Kristina from Alice and Ivory and I both know that happy mail is the absolute best kind of mail, and there's nothing like happy mail to brighten ones day! That's why we have teamed up to bring you a giveaway!

One very lucky Happy Cupcake reader will win a "The Girl with the Wind in Her Hair Print" (pictured below with Bella's name), customized with hair color of your choice and also your name or your little princess' name!

Is this not the most adorable print ever?!

 

Alice and Ivory offers a wide range of products including prints of all different sizes, adult, child and baby clothing, hair accessories and home-goods (I've got my eye on a few of their throw pillows for sure!), and the list goes on! And as far as all the mermaids are concerned, I mean, c'mon... we ALL love mermaids! :)

 

Alice and Ivory is really such a fun, lighthearted and carefree brand. Its perfect for a little girls room and the rest of your home, especially if your home has an ocean inspired flair or casual free spirited vibe. :)

Just a very few of the super adorable items Alice and Ivory has to offer!

 

And wanna know what makes Alice and Ivory even better? They are a mama(prenour) owned business run right here in the United States!

 

If you want great quality and cute items, both at a great price, Alice and Ivory is the shop for you! Check them out! :)

  

All you need to do to enter the giveaway for your chance to win your very own customized "The girl with the wind in her hair" print is complete the steps in the Rafflecopter below!

You may post the giveaway image to your instagram account once per day (you must be following both myself (@lifeasahappycupake) and Alice and Ivory (@aliceandivory), use the hashtag #ivorycupcakegivaway and tag us both. Remember, if posting the giveaway image to instagram don't forget to come back and enter that you did so for your instagram entry to count. :)

The giveaway ends Friday, July 4 at midnight (EST) and winner will be announced Saturday, July 5. Open to US residents only. :)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

Baby and New Mom Mini Series: 5 Baby Products You Don't Really Need

This is the second post in my Baby and New Mom Mini Series, in this and posts to come, you will find informative info on what products are lifesavers and what products you really just don't need, all from the perspective of a new mom. in todays post I'm sharing a few items that we personally thought we could have done without and saved money. :)

 

1. Infant bathtub.
I thought we just HAD to have one. I thankfully took everyone's advice and didn't buy the most expensive one, but in the end it turned out to be such a novelty item that we didn't use a whole lot and I actually very much disliked because it seemed we got more water everywhere than actually stayed in the tub. Plus Bella hated being in there. We ended up settling on co-showering/ bathing in the regular tub (only letting it fill up a couple inches) and both are is still a big hit at 6 and a half months! She especially loves being able to kick and splash in the water and in the infant tub there wouldn't have been nearly enough room.

 

2. 4 oz. bottles.
I'm still kicking myself over this one. She outgrew them so fast (once we started giving her bottles) and after just a few months we had to go buy 9 oz. bottles. If I had to do over I would have initially purchased the 9 oz. size and used those, just filling them up 2 oz., 4 oz., 6 oz. as she started growing and eating more, especially given the prices bottles sell for.

 

3. Sterilizer.
We spent nearly $20 on a sterilizer that we've really only used a handful of times. Would have been much wiser in my opinion to just boil everything in a big pan of water.

 

4. Babies really don't need as many clothes as you'd think. I thought babies needed a ton of clothes, I mean, what if she had a blowout or her diaper leaked? But what I didn't take into consideration is that we do in fact wash clothes almost daily (lol pregnancy brain at the time haha). Plus they outgrow them SO FAST! Bella had some stuff she didn't even get to wear because by the time I remembered we had it, it was already too small; and even more stuff she only wore once or twice. They especially outgrow the newborn clothes the fastest. 0-3 or 3 month she's worn the longest so far. At 6 and a half months she's already wearing 9 month and 12 month size stuff and has outgrown most of her 6 month clothing. I mean I didn't go super crazy buying as much as some people but I think we still had too many. My advice is buy a few extremely soft comfy things that they'll enjoy wearing (Bella's favorite newborn outfit was a purple velour sleeper with tiny silver glitter snowflakes:) and a few nice outfits, but don't bother with too many expensive clothes, because 3 words... baby poop stains... I don't care who you are, your baby WILL have blowouts. Lol.

 

5. Receiving blankets.
Yep, I'm talking about those thin flannel ones. Whoever thought up these things were both smart and dumb. Smart because they are definitely a money making item: everyone buys them for you and you go buy even more because you think they must be a necessary item because everyone makes such a huge deal out of them, right? Nope. They're much too small to swaddle a child, too thin to keep them warm, and not absorbent so you cant use them for a large burp cloth. We've really only used them for laying the baby on when we change her out in public, other than the one warm day we left her blanket at home and used it to covered her legs in the air conditioned car. My advice is to not go crazy buying receiving blankets, if someone gives you a package there's nothing wrong with keeping them but having more than one package is useless. Buy swaddle blankets, you can swaddle them, no they won't really keep them warm but during the spring and summer, but that's not really the issue for us, since blankets for Bella are more about security now that its warming up, muslin swaddle blankets are basically the equivalent of a "baby sized" bed top sheet, its nice and thin for warm nights. I mean no doubt about it, the receiving blankets are cute, but they're just not practical.