Cruise wear- sneak peek..

I am a huge lover of Maxi's- whether they are skirts or dresses... They are beyond comfortable and they can be dressed up or down so easily.

Here's the latest maxi I will be wearing for our formal night on the Disney cruise.  Although this is more of a fun summer look, it can transform into stunning formal wear.  Pics to come when we come back ;)  

Can we just talk about how amazing my hat is?  I'm obsessed!!

Outfit Details:

Maxi- believe it or not, it's from BJ's wholesale.  But here's my next maxi purchase

Hat: GigiPip

Sunglasses: Diff- Stella Style

Shoes:

  (Similar) 

Bag: Kate Spade

(Similar)

A special thank you to the bestest photographer- Sophia and the cutest assistant, Jameson.

Do you prefer Maxi dresses or skirts? 

Finally! My Hair Tutorial- How to curl your hair

You mamas have been asking me to do this for months and I am so flippin' excited to finally present...

My hair tutorial!!!!

WOOOHOOO!!!!   

This is my second tutorial since my first was 18 minutes long... #longwinded

I know our time is precious as mamas, so I tried it again and got it down to a little over five minutes. #italktoomuch

Please feel free to ask me any questions.. I linked my products to Amazon (just click the picture) so you know exactly what I use. 

Thank you so much for your patience and much love to you mamas, The Diamond Tribe!  

My secret weapon:

One of my favorite hair sprays:

Texture spray (not the exact one I used):

 I put my curling iron in a sleeve like this as soon as I'm finished- it's great, plus easy for travel.

Don't Sit On it!

:::Results of Brayden's preschool speech evaluation::::

Many of you have asked how Brayden's speech evaluation went in regard to qualifying for services due to his speech delay in articulation (read about how wrong I was here), and I apologize for not updating you sooner.

So in a nutshell, he definitely qualifies for services, two times per week for 30 minutes.  

But here's the kicker...he can't start the services until September.  This felt like our sucker punch! #ouch

Because he is a preschooler (age 3-5), services are given during the academic school year.  Now that we are in the month of June, we have to wait until the Fall.  If he had an extreme delay, I believe (don't quote me) he'd receive services all year round; since his articulation isn't THAT severe, September is our start date.

Now, we could reach out to a private agency and see if our insurance company will cover services if we were to do them now. The Hubs and I are exploring this option.  But one thing I can tell you... I am kicking myself in the you-know-what for not completing the initial paperwork when I requested it.  

I won't lie.

I probably sat on completing the paperwork for 2ish months or so and I feel pretty terrible about it now.  My thought process is if I completed it sooner, maybe he would have received services this academic school year?   

But instead, I held it off-convincing myself he didn't need it and got upset with the Hubs when he asked if the paperwork was completed (because who wants to fill-out 13 pages of questions, anyway?)

Sooo.... we are just going to take that "mama of the year" award and throw it out the window...

If there's one thing I've learned throughout this whole process, even when we did this for Sophia, is an evaluation in any area of concern CAN'T  hurt.  If you are a little bit concerned your child isn't speaking clearly or maybe you're noticing some fine motor or even sensory issues, get him/her evaluated- it's free through your school district!! 

Take your pride (I'm a middle school special education teacher #irony) and throw it out the window.  Although we'd all like to think we are experts when it comes to our kids... I learned pretty quickly articulation is clearly not a strength of mine. 

If you're debating about starting the process for any evaluation, feel free to contact me and I can point you in the right direction.  As difficult as it may be to admit our babies need help that they can't get from us, it's our job to make sure we get them what they need in order to thrive and be successful.  

Take it from me, it's not a sparkling moment NOW, but when your child can say "leaf" instead of "weaf", you've done right, mama <3

A day in the life: Dinna time!

I am often asked, "How do you do it with three kids?"

Well, I invite you to take a look at a typical evening in our home (minus The Hubs) as I'm prepping dinna! 

The day in the life of The Nikola Clan getting ready for dinna- a gluten free one, too! 

And the shrimp were a bust!

Any other mamas relate to my crazinesses during dinna time? 

I Swore I was Right

Mamas...

Have you ever felt you knew you were 100% right in your thinking?  Like you were so confident that you just didn't even consider, "What if I'm wrong?"

Well... I'm here to admit...

I was wrong and I feel pretty ding, dang, dong terrible. #icancry

Let me explain.

But first let me say, I know this is NOT the end of the world and everything will be fine (me, dramatic, no wayyy). As I always do, I share my thoughts with you mamas with the hopes you can relate or say, "Shoot... it's not just me!"  #loveyourtribe

Sooo, going back to that whole being wrong thing...

If you follow me on FB, you saw last month I took Brayden to get evaluated for speech services.

We got his results a few nights ago and just by seeing the expression on The Hubs face, I knew exactly what he was reading and I knew I was wrong...

UGH...

UGH...

UGH...

Brayden's articulation isn't where it should be... According to the testing, his articulation skills are at about a 2.6-year-old.

He just turned 4.

The special education teacher in me is saying, "Don't look at the numbers...we'll just contact Sophia's speech teacher and she'll work with him, just as she did with Sophia."

But the Mommy in me still can't BELIEVE I thought he was OK.

Sophia's articulation was much more severe than Brayden's.  Sophia's "Okay" was "Otay".  Brayden can say "Okay" but "computer is "computa" and Leaf is "Weaf".

I was wrong.  I swore I was right...

UGH...

His preschool special education meeting is in a few weeks and we'll discuss whether or not he qualifies for speech intervention, which clearly he does.

Of course, we will advocate for him so his speech will clearly be intelligible...

                    

In the meantime, I will swallow my pride and just think about what I've learned from being wrong,  again.

A. It still hurts to hear and admit your child is not "where he should be" when compared to others his age.

B. As cliche as it sounds, it is absolutely true that every child is different.  Just because Brayden doesn't struggle with the same sounds Sophia did, doesn't mean he is clearly understood.

C. Brayden is following in his mama and sister's footsteps #speechhelpforall 

Have any of your children receive the same early intervention service(s)? 

We are Pretty Great Mommies!

Happy Mother’s Day to my Diamond mamas!!

Just wanted to share this quote that really resonated with me from a mama whom I recently discovered and quite honestly, can’t get enough of- Rachel Hollis!! 

Nice reminder, right?!?

This is something I have to keep in the back of my mind. I do not consider myself "perfect" by any means, but accepting the fact I can lose my iiiish here and there and not feel defeated is OK.

I’m a pretty great mom and so are you!! 

Being a mama doesn’t come with a manual and this journey isn’t a walk in the park...

Shoot...

At times, it may feel more like Jurassic Park.. but given the title of "Mommy" is something...

something special... that fills my heart...

"Mommy, I spilled my drink a little bit.."  I mean, how can you love someone so much after cleaning up their spilled orange juice all over the kitchen table, chairs, and walls hours after it was JUST cleaned?!   #thankyouB

It’s a mamas love!

Now go ahead and enjoy your brunch, mimosa, or possibly some peace and quiet and remember, we are pretty great mommies! Go sparkle!

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month! #sparkleswithceliac

Besides Justin Timberlake reminding us it’s May #sorrynotsorry

May is also an important month in our household; it’s celiac disease awareness month!!

Throughout the month, I will share a series of posts about our family's journey living with celiac disease, providing resources, and explaining how our household is gluten free for our six-year-old daughter, Sophia, who was diagnosed with it at the age of two-and-a-half.

"Celiac diseases a serious autoimmune disorder that can occur in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine." -Celiac Disease Foundation

In Sophia’s case, once she eats gluten or has food that has "cross-contamination" (gf food cooked on the same surface as foods with gluten) she vomits uncontrollably for 2-3 hours (you can read about our last experience here). 

Luckily, she hasn’t had an episode in almost two years!

Sophia's eying-up a gluten free cupcake made into a donut! 

Since Sophia was diagnosed almost four years ago, there have been a plethora of resources that are now available to educate and assist those with this disease. Because The Hubs and I are verbal in the celiac disease community, we are often sought out and asked for advice on how we live with this life-altering disease.

One of the first things we recommend to others who are first diagnosed is this app. which is available for iPhones and Android devices. 

The Gluten-Free Scanner scans barcodes of foods and will tell you whether or not it's gluten free! #lifesaver

It's super simple to use.

1.Scan the barcode of the food you're checking

2. It will tell you:

A. "It's Gluten Free"

B. "No gluten containing ingredients" (Then I google the company to see if I can find anything in the nutrition section of the website)

 C. "Contains gluten"

D. "Buy the upgrade for $3.99" ::::the upgrade is worth the money:::: #buyit

We use this in grocery stores or even at birthday parties to scan food items that don't already have the GF label.

This App is user-friendly, even to the point where my father uses it when he buys snacks for Sophia. #ifhecandoitanyonecan

Secondly, we recommend attending the Mid-Hudson Walk for Celiac Disease for our friends here in the Hudson Valley area. 

This walk and vendor fair takes place on 

Sunday, May 20th, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

at the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie

and is organized by the Digestive Disease Center Community Fund and the ongoing research programs of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. 

After the walk, participants are able to obtain information about the disease, sample/purchase gluten free foods/beverages, watch cooking demonstrations from a Culinary Chef, and not have to ask, 

"is this gluten free?"

You can register the walk Here.

Here is our team for last year #teamsophiaandlily

I will continue to share our story and encourage you to share yours if you or a loved one have this disease. 

 Yes, it's life-changing but living with celiac disease and following a gluten free diet is manageable more than ever.  In fact, I would even say Sophia #sparkleswithceliac