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Today Tess is FOUR!!! Our sweet little baby girl is growing up quick :) Four years ago today you captured our hearts and have filled our days with joy ever since. 💕 Happy Birthday to our sweet Tessie! 💝
This post originally appeared on Let's Be Brave. I have carried three babies in my womb. I've experienced pregnancy and everything that comes with it. The sweet smiles from strangers, happy chatter, excitedly asked questions. I've had my belly rubbed, the sex of my children guessed, and been given enough advice to fill a book. I've also adopted a child. I've been matched with an expectant mama. I've walked around waiting and waiting for our baby to be born. I've carried the fears and concerns and anxiety around everywhere I went. Fears and concerns that are similar, in many ways, to being pregnant but without the belly to show for it. Having both been pregnant and gone through the adoption process I bring a less-than-common perspective. Most women who have experienced pregnancy won't experience adoption and it's fair to probably guess that most women who experience adoption very likely haven't experienced pregnancy. As I walked around d...
After our fun morning we took naps and ate lunches and headed back to Animal Kingdom but this time without Spear and Cam. Whew it was still super hot but it was SO much less stressful for me to be baby-free! Heading to Nemo!
Real life talk. I have a LOT of "mommy guilt" over the school bus. My hope was to always be able to take my kids to school and pick them up. But then reality hit and school gets out smack dab in the middle of afternoon nap time. And we live in an area where a TON of kids get picked up so the car pool line is crazy . Zach and I talked a lot about it and prayed on it and decided to have our first school-goer (Kye) ride the bus home in the afternoons. We take the kids every morning but they ride it home after school. We now have two kids in elementary school along with a preschooler and infant at home. When we added the new baby to the bunch I quickly realized it wasn't possible to take the older kids to school in the mornings when my husband has to be at work earlier or is traveling for business. We have to leave the house at the same time that the baby has to eat! So now, not only do they ride every afternoon but they also have to ride in the mornings on occasion from ...
First thing Tuesday morning we hit up Animal Kingdom. I am thankful that Courtney's kids aren't super into Disney as they weren't concerned about riding Flight of Passage. Lately Disney has been doing an extra magic morning hour for Animal Kingdom practically every morning in order to allow on property guests to get in early and ride Flight of Passage. I knew with it being an extra magic hour that morning that we'd have no shot at riding FOP but thankfully no one minded! Even with an extra magic hour it's still valuable to get to the park early and be up among the early arrivers so once the non-resort guests are allowed in we can make a mad dash for our first ride (this day being safari). Zach and I are used to getting to the parks early but it can be tough for such a large group of kids to have to sit and wait, especially in the heat. And it's tough for them to understand the reason behind it...it's either wait now OR have to wait in super long lines onc...
When Zach's dad first talked to him about the Ireland trip my heart instantly went out to Zach's mom. Sure, she isn't a golfer. But it would crush me if Zach planned a trip to Europe for his birthday and I wasn't included in his plans! Even if it made sense for her not to go (and I'm sure her feelings weren't hurt in the way mine would be) I still felt bad about it. I talked to Zach about trying to make sure she had some special time too while they were all away. Typically each summer there is also a Parker Family Trip with ALL of Zach's side of the family (his parents, sisters, and all the kids). Zach and I were under the impression that it wasn't happening this year so we thought it'd be nice to invite Zach's mom and sisters down to the Disney House for a few days so his mom could get to have all the grandkids together. Even though the men wouldn't be there, it'd still give her the memories and experience with all of her grandchildre...
Robyn's crew headed out first thing Saturday morning and we had a LAZY day planned. When I made plans for the trip I really wanted to make sure I carved out a couple days for JUST the kids and I. While time with friends and family is always fun, it usually results in adults talking and kids playing. I wanted to make sure I had quality time WITH my kids while Zach was in Ireland. We started our Saturday with a big, yummy cinnamon roll breakfast then had some fun playing games while Spear napped.
Zach headed off to Ireland on Wednesday June 13th. I met up with Robyn at pretty much the same time Zach left to drive down to Orlando. I've never driven my kids solo before for that long of a drive with any of them at this young of ages. I was pretty nervous about it but thankfully Spear is on the 4 hour schedule which means he wouldn't have to stop and eat because we can for sure make it from our house to the Disney House in under four hours! The Ireland Crew!
While the first week of summer recap was covering much more than a single week...the second week is covering much less ;) This post is covering Saturday June 9th through Wednesday June 13th!
Since Zach and I were on our romantic Disney trip the first true week of summer we're kicking off our first official family week of summer the week after we got back: May 31st - June 9th! (Yes, it's longer than a single week ha! I just combined the days we got back with the week following) If you're new around here I typically do a monthly summary post year-round of all of our family fun as well as an individual monthly summary post for each kid. In the summer though? I stick to a weekly post that covers EVERYTHING from that week!
Sorry I've been a tad MIA. But Prime Day has taken over my WORLD! Ha! If you haven't been following my finds be sure to check out this post here :) Yall know I LOVE some Disney movies and having a movie theme day with my kids is something I enjoy putting together and something our whole family enjoys participating in. To kick off summer this year I did an Aladdin themed morning for the girls!
Several years ago we all pitched in for Mother's Day and surprised Mrs Charlotte with family photos, which you can see here. Britt was like 8 months old I think when we had them done. Obviously a ton has changed in 6 years, including adding several grandkids to the family who weren't represented in the family photos! This year for Mother's Day Casey put together having new photos taken as Mrs. Charlotte's combined gift from all of us. Mrs. Charlotte was SO excited to be able to update her mantel picture frame (also another gift we all got her ha!) with updated photos of everyone. She chose for us all to wear navy, gray or white which worked out well because it's colors we all had in our closets! I did end up buying myself a new dress but who doesn't love an excuse for that ;) Casey has had some photos done with Shelley Jean Smith in the past but this was my first time working with her. She's BEYOND sweet and so flexible to meet us at 7:30 in the m...
Our precious Spear turned 6 months old on June 1st! I use What to Expect the First Year to see where he's at in his milestones and development and I purchased his monthly stickers here :) Yall. Has half a year flown by or whhhhhat?!?! I cannot believe it was 6 months ago that he was born!!!
I am a hardcore Babywise mama. I start implementing sleep strategies from birth to help my babies become great sleepers ( Click here for my post on how to start Babywise from birth! ). It's not easy: it takes WORK. When you put in all that work, time and effort and then your baby just isn't sleeping the way you think they should be it's beyond stressful. Sleep issues can be frustrating and it can be tempting to just say "I GIVE UP!" I've learned over my years of parenting that sometimes there are sleep struggles simply beyond our control. Enter in the high sleep needs vs low sleep needs baby.
This is a summary of Spear's 6th month of life (the entire month of May). He was 5 months old during this month. Eating: At this stage in parenting Spear I'm really sad about not nursing him. I know it was the best choice for everyone involved and I can't fathom actually breastfeeding him. Especially during those tender days in the hospital! But life is easier now with him. He's on a smooth schedule. He eats well. He's happy and content. This is the sweet spot of nursing a baby and it's when I'm really missing it. I still love the snuggles with him while feeding but it's simply not the same as nursing! He is taking 2 6 oz bottles a day (the first two of the day) then I offer between 6-8 oz of breastmilk at his 3:00 feeding and give 8 oz for his nighttime bottle. He went through a period this week where he was fussier with his bedtimes and was fussy right after feeding so I bumped his 6 oz bottles up to 8 oz for a few days and it must have been a ...
Today we continue with our Babywise Friendly Blog Network Week topic of sleep. Our spotlight blogger for the day is Christine from Christine Keys . She's posting on the topic of 5 Powerful Reasons Babywise is Effective for All Babies.
Today's posts with the Babywise Friendly Blog Network theme of sleep both work so beautifully together. Both Katrina, from Mama's Organized Chaos , and Kim from, Team Cartwright , are discussing a lack of sleep rather than ways of creating more sleep.
Today is the second day of our Babywise Friendly Blog Network Week on the topic of sleep. We have TWO spotlight bloggers today who both are offering up awesome content on this topic but from two different places in parenting. First up we have Caitlin from Twin Mom and More and her post called: 7 Ways to Establish Good Sleep Habits from Birth . I am HARDCORE about starting as I mean to go on and that means from birth implementing Babywise techniques with my infants. Caitlin offers up wonderful suggestions and simple ways to establish positive sleep habits from the start! A great read for any mom-to-be :) Natasha from Let's Be Brave is covering the opposite end of the sleep spectrum in her post today: Dropping to One Nap. When is it time to drop to just one nap? And how do you make that happen? Be sure to read her post today on tips for helping through that transition! Sleep is so important. For adults. For babies. For kids. I love that our Babywise Friendly Blog Network...
Today is kicking off our Babywise Friendly Blog Network Week. The Babywise Friendly Blog Network is a team of bloggers who are all mothers and who all use Babywise techniques in parenting our children. We all offer different views and insights on our blogs and often work together writing on certain topics and guest posting on each other's blogs. Want to learn more about The BFBN? Click here for a info on what the BFBN is and who is in the group! We have a big week twice a year where we each write on the same topic and this time we decided to keep it broad, simple, and the number one think people think about when they hear the word "Babywise" and that's SLEEP ! Each of us will be posting on this topic and this week will be filled with many helpful, relatable, and reliable posts. First up Valerie, from Chronicles of a Babywise Mom , is sharing How to Solve Sleep Problems for Toddlers and Preschoolers.
Y'all know how much I LOVE talking about all things Disney! However, there are many aspects of planning the perfect Disney vacation that I'm just not able to give a whole lot of input or advice about. One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is regarding the Disney Dining Plan. Which I have ZERO percent experience or knowledge on at all. So thankful for Carrie (from Wiley Adventures ) and her post today: The Disney Dining Plan can be one of the most overwhelming parts to planning a Walt Disney World Vacation, but it can also be one of the best parts if you know how to navigate it well.
May didn't have enough fluff for Kye to come close to justifying an entire monthly summary for him. Of course he had a GREAT month...and made THE most decision of his LIFE that month :) So I'm just sticking a few things about him in this post and then mostly covering Britt's May!
All of our family fun from May:
Right now I have all three of my children in school. My oldest is going into 4th grade, my middle is entering 1st grade and my youngest will be continuing with a third year in a 3 morning a week preschool class. Babywise techniques have benefited my family in all areas of our lives but today I specifically want to focus on how Babywise has set my children up for success in a school setting:
We we both so sad to leave our trip and have to head home! We kicked off our last morning getting all packed up. A nice perk of club level was all the sweet helpers we had throughout our entire stay :) We felt like royalty! Disney always does it right and Yacht Club was an incredible experience. Hit up that VIP snack area for the last time ;)
