Happy New Year, all! I cannot believe it's officially 2015. This month we have a lot of things going on with Simply Howland, and I'm so excited to share everything with you guys. My little sister turns 21 years old today (I cannot believe it)! I'm so excited I get to be home for Regina's birthday this year.  My mama also has her birthday on the 5th of this month! Double whammy! This will be my first time being able to celebrate their birthdays with them in four whole years. I've got a few fun things planned for them, and I can hardly wait to start the celebration. Another reason why the first month of the year is HUGE for me, is my wedding anniversary. Justin and I are celebrating FOUR years of marriage together. Such a huge, huge accomplishment for the couple that spent less than six months dating one another.

Each year seems to go by faster than the last, and I am completely grateful that I'm able to spend all my days with Justin and our beautiful little family. I'n not entirely sure what he's got up his sleeve, but I know I'm not sharing until after the special day. This month (also) just so happens to be the second anniversary for my blog. I can't tell you how happy I am that this blog has grown to heights that were unimaginable for me at one point. What started out as documentation for those closest to me during my pregnancy, has turned into a resource for people. I am thrilled that there are long time readers, and I'm giddy at the thought of adding even more in 2015.

Because of all the good things happening this month, I have decided to give something back to my readers. I am doing a sponsored review of a Tula Baby Carrier, and I have the opportunity to give one of these carriers away to one of my lucky readers. I'm pretty sure it's actually the Tula toddler carrier, but I've heard pretty good things about this baby product. Last year I gave away an ergo baby carrier, so I'm thinking this type of giveaway will continue to be annual. I'm extremely excited to do this review, and even more excited to see who our winner will be.

On top of all of this happy celebration, can you believe that my family moves in just twelve days?! I can't believe how quickly this move date has creeped up on us. I really am excited to be closer to Justin during the day though. This move is going to allow our family to spend even more time together, and I'm completely tickled about it. These past two weeks, Justin and Ava have been completely inseparable. I know she's going to be a bit crushed when she wakes up in the morning and daddy isn't the one getting her ready for the day. Their relationship is extremely special and I'm just glad that seeing daddy throughout the day is soon going to be our reality (again).

To end this on a happier note, how was everyone's New Year? I know this post is hitting the blog after the first, but I'd love to hear about how you brought in the new year! Did you go out for the night? Stay in with family or friends? Leave a comment below or shoot me an email.

Happy Saturday all!

♥- Leilani

The rewards of doing for others

Today was a pretty decent day. I went bowling for the first time in over 2 years. I got to spend some time with a couple of sweet gals, and their kiddos. Today was also the anniversary of one of the couples in my husband's company. Due to deployment there are a lot of holidays, milestones, and other special occasions that our men miss out on. In light of keeping spirits high, and smiles bright, i decided to have a cute little celebration for this wife, and her husband in his absence. They are HUGE patriot fans, and they were married on the day of the Superbowl  i believe. So i got her this:

                                           

                              

Seeing how appreciative she was, and grateful. Made my heart just warm right up. I always get more, from giving to other people, than i could ever get from receiving. I happened to have bowled my BEST game in my entire life, and ironically it occurs while my husband is gone.  & i forgot how fond i was of bowling shoes:

But none the less it was still a blast. We hit another milestone with the start of February. Another month of deployment DOWN. Yes, i have no complaints today.