some New Year inspiration..

Today & tomorrow will be spent reflecting 2011.
Hands-down the best year of my life...so far.

I'd be lying if I said it was easy, or that is hasn't gotten harder.
But you see---
the beauty & the reward is in the challenge of each molehill and mountain we conquer.

[images via Pinterest]

xo

my ham baby

Hux is a ham.
He has been quite "camera aware" since an early age, and aside from his visit with the Easter Bunny & Santa he will cheese it up to no end.

Ever since I got my new fancy schmancy DLSR for my Birthday (Matt spoils me, have I mentioned that?) I love attempting to get a good shot of Huxley--this has gotten so much harder since he became mobile.

Hux got this super sweet snuggly long sleeve tee & wooden Little Alouette fawn from Barely & Birch. You can't tell in the photos but the print is almost tie-died looking--LOVE it!! They have a Holiday Popup Shop going on right now that I highly suggest visiting!
Perfect gifts for a baby shower, Valentine's Day, or even someone's first birthday!

(hint hint, nudge nudge)

[shirt c/o Barley & Birch, Jeans c/o Mini Mioche]

xo

a lovely little holiday

Huxley's first Christmas was a pretty big success.
He sprang out of bed and was so excited to see all of the brightly wrapped presents under his tree! We started opening them right away--telling him to "Rrrrrip!" the paper, & it didn't take long for him to catch on.

He loves ever single gift he received, although I am second guessing a lot of the wooden toys we got him that have millions of stackable pieces. I've literally been picking them up since Christmas morning.

It was such a nice holiday. Quiet. Lazy. Perfect.

We hope you had a lovely celebration yourself!

xo

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you & yours a far better Christmas than the first time you ever sat in Santa's lap....

xo

we love Bluum!

We got another Bluum box in the mail yesterday.
It was like an early Christmas present, and I was like an excited little kid opening it & checking out all the goodies!

I was even more excited that we received another tube of Episencial Soothing Cream since we were almost out! (best...stuff...ever.)

Sadly my subscription is up, but I definitely will be renewing it--a year's worth of surprises in the mail is only $9 a month! (such a good deal considering some of the full size samples cost that much alone!)

Go & check out their rates and sign up today!

While you are over there take a peek at our Guest Post on Bluum's Blog!

xo

A Very Merry Winner!

First off, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in this Giveaway!
It's because of your support that we can keep offering up awesome goods for you to win.

The winner of the Very Merry Giveaway, including an Episencial Gift Basket, $50 Whole Foods Gift Card, Dr. Robin's Gift Basket, $100 Mini Mioche Gift Card, $50 Bonlook Gift Card and Diaper & Thrush Salve from Motherlove is:

Melissa

Check your email, lady! And Merry Christmas!

xo

a year's almost done...

This blog has definitely transformed itself over the past year.
It's gone from a little digital sketchbook I once would post my watercolors or poetry to a full fledged baby blog that is all about Huxley.

We've had so much fun documenting our travels with Hux and sharing them with you--our family, & friends.

We have so many fun ideas in store for the new year too.

• Hux's favorite finger foods
• What's in our fridge
• Our favorite Mama & Baby products
• What we're reading
• New Year New Us: Matt & I's Journey through our Juice Fast (will commence as soon as Huxley is weened...so...this may not be until 2013!)

& of course...Giveaways!!

So keep stopping by & voting for us daily!
We are almost back into Top 25!!
Thank you for all the love & support..

xo

pinterest pretties

xo

time is a tricky thing...

Huxley is eleven months old today & you know what? It feels appropriate.
He's such a little man, and it would be more surprising if he was younger than older...if that makes any sense.

Time is such a funny thing when you have a child.
It moves fast & then it moves like mud.
It's Monday then it's suddenly Saturday.
But days feel like a month.

Life before Hux was far more manageable, and time was predictable---but what fun is that?

I'd much rather my house be in shambles, and my Dayplanner empty...wait, who am I kidding, I don't even keep a Dayplanner anymore! than to be without the sweet sounds of our little Destructor Baby romping around the house getting into all sorts of mischief.

He has brought so much joy to this world & uncountable blessings to our home.

This Christmas will be the best Christmas ever, because we have the greatest gift one could ever receive...the insurmountable love and honor that comes with being a parent.

[2009]

[2010]

[2011]


xo

skin savers

Winter is upon us.

I can feel it in my skin. It's dry, cracked, and just plain blah.

Hux has struggled with sensitive skin ever since he was born. It all began after we were forced to start him on formula (read more about that here). It was horribly obvious that he was having an allergic reaction to it, and I was furious with his pediatrician and myself...mostly myself for not being able to give him enough milk.



[Hux at 2 months with a bad breakout]

After switching to a hypo-allergenic formula his skin stop flaring up as bad but the eczema still lingered. We started to invest in all sorts of creams, oils, lotions...you name it, we've tried it.

[Hux at 3 months with a mild breakout]

After several brands we have finally settled on two of the best ones out there, Episencial & Dr. Robin's. They both offer natural, chemical-free, soothing protection and the proof is in how healthy and flawless Huxley's skin looks!

We love Episencial's Bubble Bath Gel & Soothing Cream. Perfect for our bath time routine, and the Soothing Cream even has probiotics in it!

During the day I will put Dr. Robin's Daily Moisture Cream on Hux to keep him consistently protected from the dry air, and with the Natural Rice Bran Ceramides it provides that barrier his sensitive skin needs.

And you know what's great about both of these companies?
They don't charge an arm & leg for their products like those fancy French brands, which eliminates all excuses for anyone still using those nasty chemical riddled products like Johnson & Johnson.


If you want to try and win something from both Episencial and Dr. Robin's each offered up something great for the big Giveaway going on right now too!

xo

caught on camera...

Hux started busting his move!

xo

Our trip to meet Santa...

It's finally starting to feel like Christmas is around the corner.
Presents have been bought, tree trimmed, halls decked.

We even had our very first trip to meet Santa himself, and what an experience that was!
The mall was hustlin' and bustlin', but we had good timing and didn't have to endure hours of waiting before Hux got his photo taken with Mr. Ho Ho Ho himself. Huxley, well, he wasn't too sure of jolly old St. Nick, but we had a lovely time as a family just being out & about.

xo

an answered prayer by the children's fashion gods...

One of my favorite things to do as a Mommy is style Hux, but it is such a struggle to find functional, simple, clean designs.

I loathe Target's selection with cheesy, themed prints, corny sayings, horrible fabrics & so on. Even nicer stores seem to have all of those same undertones.

All I want is plain, comfortable, fashionable, oh & affordable clothes for my little man.

When I stumbled upon mini mioche and read about how designer Alyssa Kerbel had the exact same mentality as I do about children's clothing I wanted to give her the biggest hug and thank her for saving me from Dinosaur's & Monster Truck hell.

I was completely smitten with her line of adorably perfect layering basics.

This is mini mioche's premise:

• Amazing basics and fashion styles
• The absolute softest organic cotton
• Great fitting products
• Interesting and difficult to find colours, including black and other neutrals (nothing super cutesy and no pastels)
• mini mioche is designed and manufactured entirely in Toronto, Canada.

I mean, it was like an answered prayer!!!

Alyssa was so generous & sent Hux the most rockin' outfit he has ever worn--a cardigan, skinny jeans & a circle scarf.

The fabrics are so snuggly soft, & made with 100% organic cotton. The jeans--which I was hesitant about since Huxley hasn't worn jeans yet--fit him perfectly & comfortably, & the scarf..c'mon...it is the coolest thing Hux has ever worn!

When you shop at mini mioche you not only get the best basics are out there--you are supporting an Eco-consicious hardworking awesome Mama.

It's a win win.

& don't forget to enter our Very Merry Giveaway for your chance to win $100 Gift Card to mini mioche & much much more!

Annnnd...here is another little gift to you, 20% your order at mini mioche!
Use Promo Code: mmhux20

xo

A Very Merry Giveaway

*GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

It is the season to be giving afterall & here at life with the Hux we wanted to give one of you lucky readers a HUGE Christmas present this year!

Thanks to our wonderful, amazing, generous sponsors we are able to do just that!

We are giving you all a chance to win:

• A gift basket from Episencial--an amazing company with the best products for baby out there! (They've helped Hux with his eczema & we couldn't be more thankful.)
• Dr. Robin's Soothing Daily Moisture Cream--Made by a Mama who wants only the best for kiddos--another natural, gentle cream that is in our arsenal & it is magical!!
• A $50 Gift Certificate to Whole Foods Market
• A $100 Gift Certificate to Mini Mioche
  
• A $50 Gift Certificate to BonLook
  
• Diaper Rash & Thrush Salve from Motherlove

That's over $250 in prizes, y'all!

Many Ways To Enter:

- Follow life with the Hux. on Twitter

-Vote for life with the Hux. (one vote & entry daily)

-Follow Episencial on Twitter

-Like Episencial on Facebook

-Follow Dr. Robin's on Twitter

-Follow Dr. Robin's on Facebook

-Follow Mini Mioche on Twitter

-Follow Bonlook on Twitter

-Follow Bonlook on Facebook

-Follow Motherlove on Twitter

- Tweet about the giveaway: I just entered to win over $250 in prizes http://lifewiththehux.blogspot.com/2011/12/very-merry-giveaway.html @lifewiththehux #giveaway

-Grab our Button & post it on your blog (leave the URL in your comment to confirm)

-Blog about the Giveaway (leave the URL in your comment to confirm)

*The winner will be chosen via random.org & announced on December 19th!*

Good luck!

xo

& the lucky winner is...

Tea Mama!
Check your email, Mama, & congrats!!



Thank you all for participating in the TIMO Handmade Giveaway---we appreciate all of your love & support and hope you continue to stop by life with the Hux...which you should, because we have a GIANT Holiday Giveaway coming up!

xo

just another day in the life...

We have it good.
Real good,
& although we may not have much we have what counts.

You know...
love.

xo