Month: May 2022

Memorial Day Weekend and first day as SAHM!

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The past few days have been nothing short of amazing. It’s been so freeing knowing I’m not going back to work. I know this is all new, and everything is super awesome in the beginning of anything new. I’d love to look back at this day, a few years from now and compare how I feel. I have a feeling I’ll pretty much feel the same way since I’ve been working my entire adult life!!!!

So, let’s start out this post with a huge photo dump of the past few days.

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday

Started off the weekend by working out in the morning, with the pile of things from my office. Hadley gave me the idea to put “no more work” on our little sign where the coffee stuff is. And Hadley spent a little time with Grandma and Grandad, did a little shopping, and just hung out.

Saturday

Kevin convinced me to go to the lake a day earlier than I originally wanted to. His umpire games got cancelled due to rain, and we had nothing else going on. My cousin and her husband were in town and got to give Huxley some lovin! He was up once this night, but did pretty good for sleeping in a new place for the first time.

Sunday

Started out the morning by going on a mile walk by myself, it was nice to have some solo time and just breath in the lake air. Came back to the house and ate some breakfast, while Brady and his friend took the girls on a gator ride. What is it with teenagers wearing hoodies when it’s hot out??? Kevin and I took the boat out for a ride by ourselves, and to put some gas in the boat. Gas prices on the lake were $5.39 a gallon. Not too terrible compared to in town I guess. Huxley fell asleep with his Grandma, while we hung out on the dock. Hadley just loves the lake, she’s so happy there like 95% of the time. After one of Huxleys feedings, we took him out on his first boat ride while Hadley tubed with her cousin. He did so great he fell asleep! Had a delicious brisket for dinner that Kevin smoked all day, it was so good!

Monday

We left the lake mid-morning, and headed home to check out the pool. We joined a pool for the summer and couldn’t wait to check it out. So why not visit a pool on the day 99% of the population are off work? It was packed. So packed we had to get a spot on the lawn, but at least it was in the shade. We had so much fun hanging with our cousins. The pool had shaved ice for the day, and every kid loves that stuff.

Tuesday

First day at home and not working, Hadley and I decided last minute to head to the pool today, and it was not crowded at all. After the pool, we went home to change and feed Huxley, then went back to the pool for swim team practice. Swim team is something totally new for Hadley, and she did so good for not doing it before. I’m glad Kevin got to see her practice. Then we headed to Zip Dip, a local ice cream place to treat the girls on the softball team for our end of the year season being over.

The last few days have been so fun, a little exhausting but so fun! Hadley kept saying it was the best day, all day long. Since this weekend started, Huxley has decided he likes to get up twice during the night now. Not so fun. I think going to the lake threw him off a little bit, but we’ll get back to our routine of sleeping pretty good at night.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend! We sure did!

The big change.

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The time has come for me to quit work and stay at home with these two cuties! Yep, you read that right I quit my job. Today was my last day and I had to document this change in my life somehow.

I have been working in Human Resources for most of my life but have been at my employer for the last five years. It’s a long-drawn-out story, but to sum it all up is my employer wasn’t being the nicest and it was time to go. When you are dreading work every day, and it’s become more of a job than a career, it really is time to leave.

It’s a little scary going from two incomes to one, but we have plans to make it work. Part time jobs, side hustles, things like that. There’s always this blog to make money off of, and I’ve also toyed with the idea of starting an Etsy shop for my love of paper things.

I’ve never really pictured myself as a stay-at-home mom, but the time is here, and I cannot wait. I’ve had a little taste of the stay-at-home life during my maternity leave and it’s not that easy! You really don’t sit at home all day, living the life! It’s a lot of work, but I’m willing to do it all to make this work for us.

It’s going to be one fun summer, not having to work and being able to spend all my time with my family! You might be seeing a lot more blog posts of our adventures, that’s for sure!

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support, to those family and friends, and whoever else might read this from my small corner in the internet land!

Last day of first grade.

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Today was the last day of first grade for my little Hadley! I think every parent says this every year, but I cannot believe we will have a second grader this August. Time goes so damn fast, it’s unreal.

Started off the morning with our traditional “last day” photo on the front porch. She got her summer haircut yesterday, so her hair is looking all fresh!

The way I framed these photos is hard to tell, but she has grown a little taller this year. And it cracks me up how she changes what she wants to be when she grows up multiple times a year. The beginning of the school year was a doctor, and by the end of the school year it was a zookeeper. She does love animals!

I was able to attend her last all school mass for the year. Little did I know, almost every kids parent would be there. By the time I dropped her off for school, came home and fed Huxley, and managed to throw on some makeup and freshen up, it was time for church.

She won the Top Mathlete award for her class this trimester! Her teacher emailed her Dad and I letting us know she was getting an award if we wanted to attend church and the award ceremony afterwards. She was over the top excited. I took a video of her receiving the award, and she was almost skipping back to our seats, it was so cute.

We started a tradition last year, balloons in the car to celebrate the last day of school! When she got in the car, she was super excited, and said she forgot about the balloons! Every kid loves balloons, and it makes for a very fun car ride! haha

Another last day of school tradition, I get her a few things to celebrate the end of the school year and the start of summer. I bought a hot pink water bucket and filled it with some goodies. Nothing major expensive, just small little items that made her smile!

After school got out, some of the class all went bowling! It was fun, and a little loud to watch a bunch of six/seven year olds bowling together. After bowling, she went over to a friend’s house to hang out for a little bit too. She had a busy, fun filled last day of first grade that’s for sure!

3 months of Huxley.

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Stopped peeing on Dad for the most part.
And doesn’t poop when Dad changes him anymore.
Constantly smiling and noticing his family a lot more.
Hadley is still counting when he smiles at her, he’s over 200 now!
He’s such a patient baby, he’ll sleep 6-8 hours at night, wake up in the morning, take Hadley to school, and be fine to eat until we get home.
Still loves to sleep in his swing during the day.
He’s getting better at burping after eating.
Taking the bottle pretty good when he occasionally gets one from Dad or the grandparents.
Soo close to rolling over!
Overall, pretty happy and content most of the time!

My little three-month-old, we love you so much.

Weekly recap.

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Back to work, the dentist, swim team, and softball! What a week.

Monday, May 16

Monday was my first day back to work after my long maternity leave. It’s been wonderful staying home with Hadley and Huxley all this time. It’s been a little taste of stay-at-home mom life, which isn’t easy. All good things must come to an end sometime. I spent the first day back working from home, and with a baby proved to be very difficult. I felt guilty a lot during the day, but I had to push through.

Tuesday, May 17

Tuesday was the hardest day of the week! Went to the actual office, and it was everything I’d imagined it would be. More on that later. My parents helped out with Hadley and Huxley, and I managed to pump more than I normally do in one sitting at home! Came home to take Hadley to her dentist checkup, and no cavities! After the dentist, we had swim team sign ups. This will be her first year doing swim team, and she can’t wait. She’s the bravest kid I know, still wanting to do swim team and not knowing a soul on the team. I can’t wait to re-live my swim team days through my child. I swam grade school, all the way up through high school! This was our busiest day of the week!

Wednesday, May 18

While my mom was watching Huxley the day before, she ordered him a new toy. He loves it! You forget how fast the newborn stage goes and how they start to need toys to at least look at during this stage. Kevin cut the lawn before it rained, still can’t get over how good it looks since we moved in three years ago. Our poor neighbor across the street, is in the beginning stages of going from septic to sewer. Hadley and Dad just chilling with Huxley and his new toy, he likes it so far. We’ve always gotten gas together to use our fuel points, and now with the insane gas prices we make it a point to not fill up unless we both can.

Thursday, May 19

Thursday was the first day I had worked out all week! It felt great. Huxley was a little more patient on this day, and I felt a little less guilty too.

Friday, May 20

Made it through the first week back to work! Wasn’t too terrible, but I am tired and glad it’s over!

Saturday, May 21

Hadley had two softball games this weekend, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Kevin loves coaching her team, hopes to do it all the way through eighth grade. On Saturday, she got to hang with her friend in the concession stand while her dad umpired a game, before our game. Someone posted this saying about kids and sports on Facebook and I just loved it, so I put it here on the blog to remember. Kids do not care about much except that you show up to watch them play. I always feel so guilty talking to the other parents during games, because I want to watch, but I also want to socialize too. It’s hard, but this saying is so so true! After all the games, Kevin came home and passed out. Poor guy was up the night before at the firehouse, then umpired games, and then coached Hadley. He was pooped. So we had a little mini movie night, popcorn on the floor while watching EnCanto again!

Sunday, May 22

Worked out first thing Sunday morning! Hadley had another game, and my parents came. They played for a little bit, and then the game was called due to rain. Hadley is getting soo much better, she’s starting to understand the concept of the game more. She’s a great fielder!

Happy Monday everyone, have a great week!

Friday favorites.

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Happy Friday everyone! Ready for this weekend to start. Softball game, and Mother’s Day! Here are some favorites for today.

UNPLUG BOX

Everyone is on their phones all the time now; wouldn’t this be awesome? To have an unplug box, and maybe designate a time every day the electronics go in here? I would love it in my house!
Unplug box

SOUND MACHINE

This traveling sound machine has been the best! I take it in the car a lot, especially when we are in the car waiting to pick up Hadley after school. The sound machine can be found here.

Shared earlier this week what’s in my diaper bag for our two-month-old. You can read the post here.

HAIR MASK

I’m on my second container of this hair mask, I use it once or twice a week. It makes my hair super soft and shiny, and I feel like it refreshes it. Mask can be found here.

FIRST TIME TAKING A BOTTLE

Huxley took a bottle for the first time this week! He did okay, I’m sure he’ll like it more as he takes more of them.

Happy weekend everyone!


Cinco de Mayo.

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Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on May 5th, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza (source). In reality, it’s just a day to drink margaritas and have white cheese and chips am I right?

While my daughter was at school, I rummaged through our basement storage closet and found these fiesta decorations from my grad party a few years ago. Perfect to celebrate today!

It’s always a good day when your baby sleeps long enough for you to shower and feel human! Wore my favorite “Mama Cita” shirt for the day, and some fun earrings from Amazon.

After school, I surprised Hadley by picking up white cheese to go. She would have white cheese everyday if we’d let her, she loves it that much. She was beyond excited. I couldn’t wait for her to see the table when we got home.

When we got home, Huxley had fallen asleep in his car seat, so we left him in there for a little bit. Long enough for us to enjoy our white cheese just the two of us! She was super happy to have some one on one time with me.

We attempted to put Huxley in his burrito outfit / swaddle, and he squirmed his way out of it super-fast. He’s not a fan of the swaddle, but it was so cute not to take a photo at least. My friend Kristin gifted this to him, and it came with the cutest little taco booties! He was moving so fast it was hard to take a good photo.

After the failed burrito swaddle attempt, we changed him into his taco footies, much comfier!

Once Huxley woke up, we brought him out with us to keep him occupied. He loves this swing, and after he’s fed, he’ll just chill in there for a while. We got to have a nice peaceful dinner tonight! Love a day that celebrates white cheese! Didn’t have any margaritas, but still enjoyed the day with my girl! Super simple things to make after school and dinner a little extra.

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Diaper Bag Essentials.

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So what goes in a diaper bag? Especially a newborn diaper bag? It’s a lot to think about, every time you leave the house with your baby. I thought I’d share what I currently am using for our two month old son.

The diaper bag we use is nothing fancy or special. And trust me, there are so many diaper bags out there that are ridiculous in cost. I like a good-looking bag but being a new mom for the second time, I need something that is more functional than pretty if you will. How I landed this bag was through insurance if you can believe that! I ordered a breast pump through Aeroflow, and after talking to one of my friends that just had a baby, she told me about this pump that comes with a bag for $30 more through insurance. After doing some research on breast pumps, I decided I wanted the Spectra S2 and when I saw that it came with its own bag, I thought that’s the one for me. The actual bag I have is the breast pump backpack, and I love it!

Wipes on this side.

Wallet on this side.

The top part of the inside has small little compartments that I’ll put in socks, travel sound machine, hand sanitizer, etc.

The bottom outside pocket has small little pockets for things also.

This diaper bag isn’t anything fancy, but it’s not hideous either. It works for me. I love gray, and I love that it’s a backpack. Before I had my son, all I wore was a backpack purse anyway, so this was perfect.

Inside my diaper bag:
– two outfits (always like to have extra)
– burp cloth
– nursing cover
– changing mat
– socks (usually have two pair)
– traveling sound machine
– mini trash bags for diapers
– hand sanitizer
– diapers
– wipes
– wallet
– Desitin (not pictured, forgot to take it out of the bag)

It’s nice to be prepared when you have a baby, because you just never know what will/can happen when you are out and about. I’d rather have too many things than not enough. If I notice the wipes are getting low, I’ll throw another pack in the diaper bag because you will run out when you least expect it. This diaper bag is super functional, and easy to carry, and can hold all the things. Super happy with this diaper bag!

What are your favorite diaper bag essentials?

Our newborn schedule.

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Everyone knows there really isn’t such a thing as a newborn schedule now is there? In the first few weeks, all babies do is eat, sleep, poop and repeat. So why bother having a schedule some might ask?

Babies, kids, and adults, all thrive on routines and schedules.

We are two months into the newborn phase of our son Huxley. The schedule we’ve adapted to, is followed pretty loosely but for the most part we stick to it as a guideline.

Here is the schedule I’ve followed for two weeks now. I wish I would’ve started it from day one, but it is what it is. I started it at seven weeks, and so glad I did. For two weeks in a row, our newborn has slept from anywhere to 4-7 hours straight at night. I feel like that is awesome at this stage for newborns!

I do believe that breastfed babies do tend to eat more often than formula fed babies, because breastmilk doesn’t leave them full for as long as formula does. I always feed him if nothing else is soothing him, even if it’s before the “scheduled” time to eat. Babies are human beings, not robots, your motherly instincts kick in and you do what you have to do.

With this being my second child, I am much more relaxed with everything. And I mean everything. If he doesn’t eat at the time he should, then he doesn’t eat. He eats when he eats, and you adjust accordingly. You’ll figure it out, trust me!

The main idea of this schedule is to not let your baby sleep more than an hour and a half during the day, between feedings. Some days he might sleep for 45 minutes, or an hour, or not at all. When that happens, I try my best to keep him awake and happy until the next feeding time. Now he doesn’t always make it to the time exactly, he might be off 30 minutes, or even an hour. And that is okay! Like I said before, these are babies, not robots. They are trying to figure out this life in the short time they’ve been here. Which is our job as mothers and parents, to help them figure it out because they need help!

You can adjust the schedule to fit your lifestyle. For example, if you start your day at 5am then have that be the start time and go from there. If you’re a working parent, adjust it to give you time to get yourself ready then get the baby up, etc. Some mornings, my son wakes up at 6am, instead of 7am. It’s all however it’ll work for you!

I have to say, this schedule has been a lot of work, but worth every second. Having a baby is a lot of work. Feeding your baby is a lot of work, however you choose to feed them. Everything about babies is lots of work (but I love every second of it!). And it’s very easy to let them nap for 3+ hours so you can get things done or even rest! But remember, babies need routines and structure. The more you do it, the more likely they will stick to it.

For naps during the day, he’ll either sleep in his swing downstairs, sometimes the car seat, or in his crib. Wherever he ends up napping, I always leave it light in the room. Sometimes we use a sound machine, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we are loud, sometimes we are not. All depends on the day, and what is going on.

For bedtime, I do the same thing every single night. He sleeps in his crib; the room is dark except for his sound machine which is also a nightlight. It’s the Hatch Rest+, which is a sound machine, night light, kids alarm clock, all in one. It’s awesome. We turn that on, put the same color on (you can choose the colors), change his diaper, put some lotion on his legs and sort of massage him, feed him, and then off to bed!

Not every night is the same as far as the amount of sleep he gets, again, they are babies not robots! His record so far has been four to seven hours straight of sleeping at night since we started this schedule. I don’t know if it’s all because of the schedule, or all because of how he is growing? Either way, I think it’s a little bit of both. Now from my experience as a mom, I recommend going to bed as soon as your baby does. The laundry can wait, or whatever it may be, getting rest is far more important at this stage. Unless you are breastfeeding, then I’d recommend pumping really quick before you go to bed, so your boobies aren’t hurting hours later. After you pump, then hit the sheets!

With my daughter Hadley who is now seven, I’ve learned to make bedtime a fun thing! She loves to sleep, always has since she was itty bitty. We’ve always told her how good of a sleeper she is, how she can sleep through thunderstorms, make it a big deal, things like that. She’s never been the type that won’t go to bed for fomo (fear of missing out). Which has been a god send! I know boys are different, but hoping our son feels the same way about sleep as his sister does!

For morning wake time, if he’s awake I say, “good morning” and turn off the sound machine/night light, open the blinds and let all the light in. Anything to help them differentiate morning time, from nighttime. If he’s sleeping, I will wake him but not let him go past 8am. It all depends on your lifestyle, and you adjust things to adapt.

So, there you have it, the schedule we’ve been using for our newborn! I understand this might not work for everyone, but if you aren’t following some type of schedule, I recommend trying to find one that works for your lifestyle. I never followed a schedule this early with my daughter, and she is the best sleeper! I found this particular schedule on one of the mom groups I follow on Facebook. The group is called Baby Sleep Training Tips & Help, which can be found here.

Hope this can help you, or at least lead you on the path to find something that works for you and your baby!

Weekly recap.

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Lots of walks, total fail at dinner, pumping, and smiles in the car. It’s all recapped on the blog!

Monday, April 25

Started off our week with a walk with Kevin and Huxley! We typically walk around the neighborhood a few times totaling a mile or two. Later on in the afternoon, we did some tummy time with Huxley. He wasn’t a huge fan overall, but we’re working on it.

Tuesday, April 26

In the middle of the night, like 4am, Huxley woke up just once, so I had to feed him. When I got back to our bedroom, I find Kevin like this all sprawled out and on my side. Cracks me up. Huxley is smiling more and more every day, can’t get enough of him! I tried to make a new recipe for dinner, and it was a total failure. Kevin said it looked like a cat threw up! Hahaha! It soo did. We both tried it, and it was soo gross. The photo on the left down below is what I made, the photo on the right is what it was supposed to look like. Hilarious!

Wednesday, April 27

After I’ve exercised, or fasted until lunch, I start most of my days off with a smoothie and/or eggs. When we are waiting for Hadley to get out of school, lately it’s been hit or miss with the baby. He’ll either have to eat, fall asleep, or be awake I just pray he is happy and doesn’t cry. Breakfast for dinner, Paw Patrol waffles and grapes for Miss Hadley.

Thursday, April 28

Today was one of those days where Huxley barely napped, I had zero time to do much of anything but feed him and keep him happy. No shower, nothing. But I managed to work out late in the afternoon and felt ten times better for the rest of the day!

Friday, April 29

Some days I pump a lot (for me), and other days it’s not much. This day was a lot! After we dropped off Hadley at school, Huxley and I went to Kroger. I forgot how hard it is to grocery shop with a car seat in the cart, especially if you are getting lots of things. Sometimes I send Kevin pictures while he’s at work, when he asks what we’re doing. I’ll send a pic and say, just walking around the house trying to get him to sleep! Sitting in the school parking lot, waiting for Hadley to get out of school, I’ll sit in the backseat a lot to feed him, or just keep him occupied back there. We grilled out steak for dinner, and then had a movie night and watched Encanto! Hadley holding Huxley’s hand was just so cute!

Saturday, April 30

Chilling in Huxley’s room while feeding him, and always hoping for a successful transfer to the crib for a nap! Later in the day, Huxley passed out long enough on our bed for me to fold some laundry. On our way to Cancun for dinner, Hadleys favorite restaurant! We brought one of Hadleys games, travel Hangman. It always keeps her occupied during dinner and off the iPad!

Sunday, May 1

Hadley had a softball game, it was beautiful outside but so so windy! My lovely hubby set up the tent for Huxley and I to get him out of the sun, and with him being in the stroller it helped with the sand storm when the wind blew.

After the game, we had to finish an earth project for school. She picked a plastic water bottle, and turned it into a small planter. She put dirt and seeds inside, and decorated with ribbon.

Happy Monday everyone. Have a great week!