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Feb 27

Survival Guide: Flying alone with a toddler and a baby

We’ve traveled quite a bit with our kids. It’s always been all together though. I have flown with Rowan by myself twice but never both of them. The thought of being out numbered by kids on an airplane has had me totally freaked me out. When the chance to go to Florida came up though, I bit the bullet and decided to conquer my fears. All in all it wasn’t too bad. Finley was pretty fussy to be honest but I just found out she has a double ear infection so I think that had something to do with it. The lovely folks over at Lily Jade just send us this gorgeous designer diaper bag and it totally saved my life on this flight. When traveling by yourself the less you have to carry the better. It will make it so much easier and make you less stressed if you don’t have tons of bags to drag along. Because lets face it, you are already going to have your hands full with the kids. The fact that this bag can be worn as a backpack was seriously the biggest help on this trip. Plus, the inside is HUGE. I was able to pack everything I needed for our day of travel for both kids in there.

Here are some other tips I found really helpful when traveling by yourself with your kids…

1. Bring a stroller. The stroller was essential for getting everyone around the airport. Especially between connecting flights. We seriously had a Home Alone moment (running top speed to make connecting flight) and if I didn’t have the stroller we never would have made it. We have a double Maclearn. We LOVE it!!

2. When we first got to the airport and checked in at the desk, we asked if Kev could get a special clearance ticket to go through security to help me with the kids. Did you know you can do that? I never knew that until a few years ago. Not having to go through security by yourself is so helpful. Besides, then he gets to stay with us until the moment we get on the plane.

3. Plan your flight (if you can) for when your kids will be well rested. I use to think it would be helpful if it was around nap time because then maybe they would fall asleep on the plane. HA! Chances are (well, with my luck), they won’t and then you are left with an over tired, extremely fussy baby. It’s better to have a happy, rested little one to play with.

4. Just give yourself a break. It will be tough and it will be stressful. Just know you are doing the best you can. The calmer you can stay the better everything will go. Forget if you can, that you are on a plane with other people. I know it’s so hard! As soon as Finley would start crying I could feel my blood pressure rising. Just remember not everyone is annoyed they are crying. I know when I hear a baby crying I just feel sympathy for the parents and well, most of the time I don’t even notice.

5. Snacks, toys and activities. Here is everything that I fit into my Lily Jade bag for the trip. 1. Mini Eggs (these were for me!) 2. Coloring and activity books for Rowan 3. Headphones and iPad for Rowan loaded with new games and movies 4. Her little toys she picked out for the trip (cheetah, my littlest pet shop pony and Cinderella) 5. A few toys for Finley. She doesn’t “play” with much, just gets into everything that isn’t a toy 6. Her bottle 7. Snacks 8. Teddy 9. My iPhone and charger 10. Aden and Anais swaddle blanket 11. Diapers, wipes and kleenex 12. Hand sanitizer 13. YumEarth Organics Vitamin C gummy bears and lollipops

*A Lily Jade bag is definitely an investment piece but their quality and function will last you well beyond the baby years. I have the Caroline bag and it’s on sale at the moment! A must have for your baby registry.

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Dress: Old Navy
Sandals: Sam & Libby from Target
Scarf: Target
Watch: Michael Kors
Madeline Bag: c/o Lily Jade

On Rowan:
Dress: gift from Little Hip Squeaks
Floral Crown: gift from The Wishing Elephant

On Finley:
Shirt: Gap
Shorts: Gap
Scarf: gift from Little Hip Squeaks

Tagged

Feb 26

Down in Florida

Feb 26 | Family Adventures + Travel

Welp. In a very last minute decision, we jumped a plane and headed south. We are spending the week in Florida at my parents. It just so happened that both my sisters were coming down to visit and I didn’t want to be the odd one out. We haven’t all been together as a family in almost 2 years. It’s been super laid back so far. Lots of boat rides, sitting by the dock, late night walks, hot tubs, dinners around the kitchen island and good ol’family fun. Being with family and by the water is just good for my soul. I just wish Kev could be here too. There is pretty much nothing I love more though than being on a boat. I mentioned this on instragram, but being on the water just seems right. It makes life seem simple, easy and beautiful. It slows things down. The wind in your hair, the warm breeze, it all holds so many childhood memories for me. I love that when we come down here, Rowan gets to be part of this too. I hope she grows up loving being on the water as much as I do.

Here are just a few pictures from our first 2 days here. (All pictures were taken by my talented sister Amy).

Feb 20

A Sweet Potato Stamped Library Tote Bag

Feb 20 | Crafts with Kids

We have been going to the library a ton lately. We’ve also been trying out ALL the libraries in the area. Seriously, we are trying so hard to not go crazy this winter. Every time we check out at the library I think “why did I not bring a bag to put all these books in?”. I must look like a crazy women with Finley on my hip, holding hats, gloves, books, movies, my giant purse, and trying to hold Rowan’s hand through the parking lot. One day I put the books quickly on the hood of the car as Finley started slipping. I opened the car door, got everyone buckled in and drove off. Totally forgetting about the books. I luckily remembered 2 seconds later, but I had to search around the slushy parking lot for the books. Doh!

Needless to say, when this little DIY Tote bag package arrived from our friend Phoebe of El Sage Designs. I knew exactly what we were going to make with it. A library bag for Rowan!! It comes with everything you need! It has instructions, an organic tote, black ink, and ideas on how to make polka dots. Phoebe suggests you use a carrot to create polka dots all over the tote. Wouldn’t that be so cute? We decided to use some sweet potatoes and cut out a heart and an “R” for Rowan. It’s a super simple craft, with super cute results. I decided to add some embroidery to ours after Rowan was done stamping.

I am pretty happy with how it came out. I love that it took a team effort!

Thanks Phoebe!

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Feb 18

Tips for Surviving the Winter with your Kids

Feb 18 | Motherhood

Don’t get me started on the 3ft+ of snow outside. It’s beautiful, yes, but I get to a point mid January when all the fun of Christmas and New Years wears off. All that I’m left with is the bleak outlook that winter is still another 2.5 full months (sometimes if we are lucky). That’s the Northeast for you. I would like winter to be around 1.5 months tops. Spring and Fall could be stretched out in my book. The hardest part about having little kids during winter months is not all going stir crazy. The winter blues are real and can get out of control if you let them. Here are some practical tips that help us all stay sane.

1. Get out of the house everyday! I have to get out of the house at least once everyday or I go crazy. Try and plan some fun activities. Find when story times are, find a local gymnastic gym that has open play, find a Mom’s group, etc… Even if it’s just to go to the post office. The act of getting dressed and getting everyone out of the house is super helpful.

2. Search Pinterest for easy activities to do at home for toddlers. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS ON PINTEREST TO DO. You don’t have to be super creative either to do a lot of them. You and your toddler will have fun trying something new to do at home. Did you see this idea on A Cup of Jo?

3. Play outside. I know. I know. Getting everyone bundled up in winter/snow gear takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R! But even though Rowan will last about as long as it took to get everything on her, it’s always worth the fresh air and rosy cheeks.

4. Mailing lists. Does your town or county have a website of local events going on? Usually they have mailing lists you can sign up for. I am on a mailing list around here that sends out an email every Thursday of the weekend happenings and what events are good for the kids. It’s great. Keeps me up to date on festivals and fun things that I wouldn’t have thought of doing otherwise.

5. Playdates. It is easy to become a hermit during the winter. Invite some friends and their kiddos over (even if it means your place will look like a bomb went off). Trust me. It will be worth the adult conversation while your kids play together.

6. On the weekends when you all get to be together, really try to get out there and do something a little extra adventurous. Take a small road trip, explore a new town, or bring the kids to disney on ice. It helps make the weeks not feel sooo long when you have something to look forward to.

7. When all else fails… build a fort!

Here are some super random photos from the last few weeks as we’ve tried our very best to enjoy these cold, grey days.

^^both girls loving the new spring headbands from Little Hip Squeaks

^^ the cutest family portrait from the talented and lovely Linda over at Though Very Humble. Thanks Linda!!

^^We’ve been drinking so many smoothies in our house. My favorite at the moment is zest and juice of 1 lime, 2 cups packed spinach, ice, half cup of water, scoop of plain greek yogurt, one green apple, large scoop of ground flaxseed, banana, and a little squeeze of agave nectar. Mmmmm

^^Art project, art projects, and more art projects. We went on a cold winter walk one day before the snow dump and collected things to make a nature study with.

^^sometimes I take pictures of the girls and can’t believe how big they are. Finley’s shirt is from Geo Fox Apparel, Rowan’s cute dress is from Little Hip Squeaks.

^^Aww little Fin. I thought I was ready to wean her, but we both aren’t ready yet. I’ll take the sweet moments with her as long as I can.

^^ we had a little valentines day party for Rowan and her girlfriends last friday. It was chaotic but lots of fun! And there was for sure a Frozen sing-a-long that took place for a good 45 mins.

Ok, you ready to see what happens when Kev is bored by Olympic Ice Dancing and decides to make ridiculous pictures in photoshop instead? Here is the original… He’s always wanted to try to take a picture of Finley when he tosses her up because she always has the biggest smile on her face. He was on the bed with her and I was sitting on the ground looking up. That is why it looks like she is way high, although she isn’t at all. This picture is funny enough by itself.

and now this….

OMGOSH. I can’t even. It cracks me up so much. I literally choked on my tea when Kev showed me last night.

Ha! I am pretty sure this winter is turning us all crazy.

Tagged

Feb 13

Marriage | Staying Friends and Choosing Love

Feb 13 | Lifestyle

This post has been on my heart for a while and it seems only fitting with Valentine’s Day on Friday that I get it out there. Not that you need one specific day to tell someone you love them but… On our 5 year wedding anniversary Kev and I headed off to Paris for a few days (Wow! Almost 3 years has passed already!). Rowan was only 9 months old at the time and stayed with her Grandparents while we were traveling. She, of course, loved it! It was the most wonderful trip – LIKE, EVER. It was so magical, romantic and just a whole heck of a lot of fun. During the trip I got an email from a women who was very angry that we had taken the trip without Rowan. She said something like “You shouldn’t have had kids if you were going to be so selfish and leave them to do what you wanted to do.” I was very hurt by the email back then. What a blow to a new parents self esteem. Times passed and well, I haven’t thought about that email in a very long time. However, it popped into my head a few weeks ago and I just laughed. I felt sad that whoever that was couldn’t have seen why I would want to go away with my husband. That her and her husband didn’t have that kind of relationship where they could value that importance.

Long before we ever had kids, my husband was there. He was first. When I got back from Alt Summit a friend asked if I was able to have a good time being away from the kids. Truth is, I can. I can be in the moment and appreciate the small break away as an adult. I miss them every second of the day, but you know who I miss the most? Kev. I have the hardest time being away from him.

Kev will always come first.

Our relationship will always be top priority because I love my kids.

However, that doesn’t mean the kids get neglected. They are not second rate in any respect but it does mean that it’s ok for Kev and I to make it a priority to go out on date nights, to get away every now and then and to make sure they know how important our love is for each other. I think the best thing we can do for our children and our home is to have a happy, healthy relationship. In doing so, I always want him to be my very best friend. It’s an aspect of our relationship that we choose to nurture. Before we started dating, we were friends. I don’t think that is the way it has to happen, but for us it worked. We hung out a lot as friends in college. Lots of late nights up in the art studio cramming to get projects done. We shared so many interests in common: Art, music, cats, strong bad (jk), love of adventure, hockey, being silly, etc… Slowly (or not so slowly for someone – cough, cough, Kev) friendship turned to love. Now 8 years later our love is greater than ever but it’s still based on friendship. There is no one I would rather be with than him. I don’t care what we are doing, where we are or what our circumstances are. If we are together, then I am home. He truly completes who I am. I am still my own self, but in him, I am a better version because he is my strongest cheerleader and my encouragement. He listens to my dreams, my fears and my struggles. He knows every part of me; the good and the bad. He is my truest friend.

Now, not everyday is dreamy. I don’t want to give off a false picture. I will always love him, but somedays it’s easier to love him than others and I know it’s the same for him. Everyday I wake up and I choose to love him though. In the beginning, being in love is so easy. Everything is new and awesome. Unfortunately, life goes on and the beginning butterflies can fade. 8 years later you are left with a household that is nonstop with kids, chores, responsibilities, and very little time for each other. It could be very, very easy to settle in the routine of life. To accept the way things are. Let’s face it, we are tired. Very, very tired. It would be so much easier to put the kids to bed, turn on the tv, watch all night and then go to bed with very little real conversations. I won’t accept that though. I choose to love him more than that. I choose to make an effort to show him that he means the world to me. I choose to make sure he knows I love him more now than I did 8 years ago. I choose to make him feel special, loved and respected. I am not always great at it, and I fail a lot (most) of the time but I pray that God will show me how. God is the greatest example of love and I am constantly in prayer that our marriage can mirror that. I want out marriage to be selfless, grace filled and deep.

You don’t have to travel or go out to stay connected with your husband. Because lets face it-certain stages in life aren’t the easiest for you to be away from your kids (nursing being one of them). We honestly don’t get to go out very often. Are closest relative lives 3 hours from us. Sometimes we have “date nights” at home. We plan them. If you don’t, chances are they won’t happen. When Kev gets home, we play with the girls, I get them dinner, they eat and off to bed they go. Afterwards, we cook a nice dinner for ourselves. We sit down together with no distractions and eat and talk. We drink a glass of wine. We sit on the couch together and actually share things with each other. Like real conversation, not just 2 sentences that get interrupted by kids. We might work out together, we might just continue to talk, we might do something creative together. Whatever we do, it’s together and it’s not watching tv. I have nothing against tv. Sometimes it’s super fun to watch something together, but don’t let that be the only thing you do together.

I encourage you to find new things to do together as a couple. Find new hobbies to share with each other. If you don’t have interests in common, pick something to try together that you can agree on. When Kev started running with me this past year it seriously brought us even closer together. I may have dragged my feet a little because running has always been my solo thing. I do still enjoy getting out there by myself but doing it together has seriously been so fun. Running a marathon together was way better than running it by myself. For Valentine’s Day we decided to find something to do together instead of just going out to eat. We found a candlelit hot yoga class on Friday night and signed up. We’ve never done it before and I am a bit nervous but at the same time I know it will be so fun. Even if it’s awkward and I suck, I know I will be there with Kev. At least we can laugh about it after. Or maybe we will be yoga experts and love it so much that we keep going. Who knows!

p.s. Have you ever tried the Love Dare challenge?
p.p.s I had way too much fun looking through old photos. Sorry there are a lot.

Feb 12

Preschool Valentine’s | Homemade Bird Seed Feeders

Feb 12 | Crafts with Kids

I won’t lie. I’ve been looking forward to this day since before I had kids. I dreamed of the day when I would get to make Valentine’s Day cards with our kids to bring in to school. The day is finally here!! Tomorrow is Rowan’s Valentine’s Day party at school and we’ve been busy all week making little goodies for her friends. We decided to make some cute bird seed feeders in the shape of hearts for her to give out. We designed little bags to put them in. Rowan colored in the hearts on the bag and painted some paper for us to cut the hearts out for the top. Now let’s just hope the snow doesn’t rain on our parade. My fingers are crossed school doesn’t get canceled tomorrow.

Ingredients:

4 cups of bird seed
1 envelope of unflavored Knox gelatin
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup of water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 Tbsp corn syrup
Heart cookie cutters
Cooking spray/ or oil
Twine
Straws
Wax paper
Cookie sheet
measuring cup

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix everything but the bird seed together. Mix well.
2. Add bird seed. Stir until combined evenly.
3. Spray inside of heart cookie cutter with cooking spray.
4. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.
5. Place cookie cutter down on baking sheet, fill with bird seed mixer. It will be sticky. You can use fingers or you can spray your wooden spoon with cooking spray to help.
5. Pack cookie cutter with mixture. You can use the back of a measuring cup to pack it in and make it flat.
6. Poke a straw through the heart towards the top.
7. Lift cookie cutter. You should be able to slide bird seed heart right out.
8. Respray cookie cutter. Repeat all steps.
9. Let them dry for a few hours to over night until they are hardened.
10. Tie twine through the hole and then give as gifts or hang outside on your tree

Happy Valentine’s Day.
(To see another super easy preschool bird feeder craft I did- head on over to the Little Hip Squeak blog and check it out!)

Tagged

Feb 10

My Everyday Style | Alt. Summit Edition Pt. 2

Feb 10 | My Everyday Style

Here are the 2 other outfits I wore during my time at Alt. The camo outfit I wore the day my panel spoke. Pretty sure this was one of my favorite outfits of the trip. Funny how much of a pants person I’ve become since having kids. I hardly ever wore jeans before kids. Always skirts. Now my closet has more jeans than I probably need but Oooh I love a good pair. These camo ones are no exception. Love them.

The skirt I wore to our fabulous sponsor dinner Wednesday night with Furbish. What a wonderful group of ladies. Our table was so much fun, it was decorated with such great accessories. Furbish has the coolest items for sale on their site.

OUTFIT DETAILS:

Leather sleeve striped shirt: J.Crew (on sale!)
Camo Jeans: Urban Outfitters (similar)
Necklace: Gift from Furbish during our dinner.
Tahari Cap Toe Flats: Marshalls (similar)
Watch: Michael Kors

OUTFIT DETAILS:

Skirt: Random store in Mall. Can’t even remember name. (Similar)
Moto Jacket: Forever 21 SOoooo long ago. (similar)
Sheer Black Buttons Up: Forever 21 (similar)
Boots: Madewell (similar)
Watch: Michael Kors

Feb 07

The Girls | 02.07.2014

Feb 07 | Motherhood

I posted some of this on instagram the other day and loved the idea of capturing a bit of who they are right now so much, I wanted to expand and share here as well.

ROWAN WINTER: 3 years 5 months. She thinks her full name is Rowan Snow Winter Richardson. Loves dancing, playing dollhouse, doing “projects” and playing “tag you’re it” with daddy. Is taller than most 4 year olds (a few 5 year olds too). Loves to be with friends. Has such spirit and spunk in her. She surprises me daily with how brave she is and how big and kind her heart is. She is sensitive yet tough. She wants to do everything herself. ALL.THE.TIME. She says words like “blanklet” for blanket and “Prenzels” for pretzels. Her favorite foods are carrots and hummus, cucumbers, “peanut butta” and yogurt. Loves to eat out at “po-lay” (a.k.a chipotle). Is always saying “I have a great idea! Let’s have a family date at po-lay”. She gets so excited over doing new things. Loves traveling. She always wants to be out doing something. Is always saying how “adorable” Finley is. She is the best big sister. She can make Finley laugh more than anyone. She is very self sufficient and independent but loves to be cuddled. I am pretty in love with this 3.5 year old stage- the melt downs are epic but oooh everything else is so good. Such a little person.

FINLEY JAMES: 13 months. Her personality has exploded x 100 since Christmas. She has always been just the sweetest, most complacent little thing. She has turned into a monkey and a half over night. I love it though. She is still fiercely loyal to her mama. She freaks whenever she thinks I am leaving. She is into everything. Loves to throw EVERYTHING in the toilet. Including the apple tv remote this morning. She is the stubbornest little peanut I’ve ever met. Weighing in around the 30 percentile for her age (50% for height). She is built so differently than Rowan. Her coloring is much darker than Rowan’s too. She has the softest skin. I can’t help but snuggle her little naked self after baths. She has the funniest sense of humor. She thinks certain things are just hilarious. She loves to be chased and thrown on the bed. She thinks playing in blankets and pillows is about the most fun a baby could have. She sleeps every night with 1 giraffe and 1 pig in each arm. She will hold them ALL NIGHT long and will still be holding them when you pick her up out of the crib in the morning. She loves sitting in little chairs just her size. Her favorite foods are raisins, green smoothies, cheese sticks, black beans and quinoa. Since the day she entered our lives we couldn’t imagine life without her.

Feb 07

Favorite Finds

Feb 07 | Lifestyle

Have you heard of Everlane yet? I am pretty obsessed. They make it so easy to look effortlessly cool and chic. I have countless of their tee’s, sweaters and their short sleeve raglan I wear more often than I should admit. Their prices are great too! Plus, they have an awesome business model that I really respect. Check them out if you haven’t already.

Here are a few other favorites from this past week…

1. I’ve been dying to find the next race we are going to run. How awesome are these shoes? the color!! and this running jacket is perfect for the up coming cool spring days.

2. I’ve become slightly obsessed with Kid President.

3. This dress! Gasp. It’s so beautiful!

4. Love this sweet DIY heart shaped planter. So cute!

5. A cute little gnome bottle opener.

6. This post made my art teacher heart so happy!

7. This plaid shirt is so perfect. I would wear it everyday.

8. Chocolate dipped pretzels!! Mmmmm.

9. I know we are way, way far off from sandal weather but… I need these for summer.

10. Love this post from Drea. She is one of my most favorites.

11. Searching the West Elm sale pages is turning into quite a favorite past time.

12. All my favorite jeans over at Urban outfitters are on sale for $39 bucks!!!

Feb 06

Valentine’s Day DIY Crowns for Toddler and Baby

Feb 06 | DIY Tutorials

I’m a big fan of making headbands and crowns for my kids. I made Rowan a crown for her 2nd birthday, a flower headband for Finleys 1st birthday and special Christmas handbands for the girls this year. I can’t get enough. They just look so darn cute on them. We always have a fun Valentine’s themed breakfast on Valentine’s Day. This year I decided I would make crowns for all of us to wear and I thought it would be fun to share how you can make one at home too!

^^ 1. You will need lots of felt. You will also need a sheet of that extra thick and stiff felt that you can get at the craft store (usually right with the regular felt). Trimmings! Any kind of trimmings you want- buttons, ribbon, pom poms, etc… Some quilt batting and some 1″ elastic.

^^ 2. Using the length of the thicker felt, cut out your crown shape. I made Rowan’s a shorter crown and then cut taller peaks on mine. The thick felt is going to be the back of the crown. The stiffness of it will give it the support it needs to stand straight.

^^ 3. Pin the crown cut out on to the color of felt you want the front of the crown to be. Sew around all the edges on the sewing machine. If you don’t have a sewing machine you could always just hot glue the 2 pieces of felt together.

^^ 4. With scissors, cut around the edge of the sewn edge. I used a pair of pinking shears to give it the zigzag cut.

^^ 5. Chose a few colors of felt to make hearts out of. For each heart you will need 2- 2″ squares of felt. Layer between a similar size piece of quilt batting. Making little sandwiches sort of. Felt, batting, felt. Draw a heart shape on the front and then sew along the line on a sewing machine. The batting in the middle will give the heart a cute little fullness. Trim the squares to just along the sewn line of the heart. If you don’t have a sewing machine you can hand stitch around the batting or you can just cut a heart shape form the felt and be done with it. No sewing required.

^^ 6. Attach hearts to crown with either hot glue or stitching on a button. Add any kind of embellishments you want. I debated adding pom poms to the peaks but ended up just leaving them plain. I do think it would be cute though! I hot glued the green pom pom trim to the bottom. Measure around your kid’s head and see what length of elastic you need to add to it. It should be snug but not too tight. The elastic should have to stretch just a little to fit their head. Either hot glue to sides of crown or run a quick stitch across on the sewing machine.

^^ 7. Sew a few extra hearts to create a little headband for your baby. You will need the hearts, some cute felt rosettes and then either some extra elastic or if you want you can cut across a leg in a pair of tights. That is what I always use when I make headbands for Finley. It’s soft and super stretchy. You can learn how to make felt Rosettes by watching this You Tube video I found. I apologize for the cheesiness of the video. Haha. Isn’t the music awesome? You will not need a lighter for felt. It won’t fray. Just shows you the basic idea of twisting the felt to create the flower though. Cut your felt about 1/2″ to an 1″ wide and then follow how she makes hers with ribbon.

^^ 8. Then I just hot glued mine all together. I glued the hearts in the row, then glued the little strip of elastic (or tights) to each end of the hearts. Then hot glued a few of the rosettes to each side. Totally up to you how you arrange it all.

Rowan and Finley’s supremely awesome varsity letter cardigans were a gift from The Wishing Elephant. Aren’t they just the cutest?

Feb 03

My Motherhood Is…

Feb 03 | Motherhood

One of my favorite things about motherhood is that as much as it’s a personal journey it’s also so uniting at the same time. We all go through the ups & downs. They may be a bit different for each one of us but I am sure we share so many similarities.

My Motherhood is…

…is a white t-shirt (most perfect tshirt ever) and jeans more often than not

…is being tired 99% of the time

…is messy and beautiful all at the same time

…is having way too many toys inside my shower

…is always eating meals that are cold

…is having a heart so full it wants to explode

…is still listening to the Veggie Tales cd way after I’ve dropped Rowan off at school

…is doing workout videos while trying to do a burpee over top of a crawling little one

…is wanting to have time alone yet never not all be together

…is having a Mary Poppins size purse that we could probably live off its contents for multiple days.

…is having spit up or food stains from tiny fingers on my clothes and not caring. It’s too much trouble to change

…is so excited for bedtime to come, but as soon as they are sleeping longs to hug and kiss them again.

…is crying at the drop of a hat when it comes to anything about my kids.

…is fully believing that I have the best/cutest kids in the world

…is sometimes so boring yet so overwhelming all in one day.

…is laughing until crying over the funny things that Rowan says

…is singing Phineas and Ferb (or Frozen lately) super loud with Rowan while cooking dinner

…is choosing to spend any money I used to spend on myself on the girls with out even a second thought.

…is drowning from the piles of laundry that need to get done

…is knowing how to carrying groceries, a baby, a diaper bag, my phone, keys and the hand of my toddler through the parking lot without dropping anything

…is being able to pick out the cry of my baby instantly in a busy room of other kids

…is staying up way too late to try to get everything done

…is not being grossed out by pretty much any of my kids bodily functions

…is digging deep and finding the patience to answer the 100,000,000th question Rowan has asked me today

…is thinking that every stage I come to with my kids is the “best” stage they’ve had yet.

…is knowing just where to tickle both of them to make them laugh uncontrollably

…is feeling weepy over seeing Kev become hands down one of the best Dads out there.

…is waking up countless times through the night to give water, to find teddy, to bring to the bathroom, to scratch a back, to tuck in, etc… even though I can barely keep my eyes open.

…is a daily reminder of God’s love for us as his children

…is dreading the day when you will have to let them go and live their own lives

…is being covered with stickers or temporary tattoos on any given moment on any given day (and yes, that is a temporary tattoo on my arm)

…is so blessed beyond belief.

My Motherhood is a whole lot of things all rolled into one giant roller coaster and it’s the best ride I have ever been on.

JEN; Tshirt: c/o Everlane, Jeans: Madewell, Boots: TJMaxx | Rowan: Overalls: H&M, Headband: Little Hip Squeaks, Shirt: H&M | FINLEY: Dress: Gap, Scarf: Little Hip Squeaks, Moccasins: Freshly Picked

Feb 01

Simple, Yummy Snack | Broiled Grapefruit with Honey & Cinnamon

Feb 01 | Do It Yourself

I have a major sweet tooth. I love my greens and veggies but boy, oh boy 3pm hits and I can’t think of anything else other than candy or chocolate. I don’t drink coffee so many it’s just that idea of a pick me up. I’ve been trying not to give in and grab that handful of chocolate chips when the feeling hits though. Instead I’ve been trying out new snacks in the afternoon that are both healthy and maybe a bit sweet. Here is one of my current favorites…

Broiled Grapefruit with Cinnamon and Honey:
It’s about as simple as it sounds. Cut the grapefruit in half. Drizzle with a tiny bit of honey. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Stick them under the broiler for about 5 mins. Viola! Tart, sweet, and a bit savory. I love that it’s warm too. Perfect for cold winter afternoons.

Give it a try!!

Happy Weekend Everyone!!
xoxo

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Simple, Yummy Snack | Broiled Grapefruit with Honey & Cinnamon

Hi, I'm Jen!