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You can see Tess's nursery tour here! When we decorated Tess's nursery we kept in mind that this would STAY her bedroom for a long, long time. We wanted a theme that would smoothly transition as she grew older. The time has come and Tess is now in a big girl bed ! We always keep our nursery furniture with the nursery, so as a child moves out of the crib they get a new bed and dressers with the hopes that they are the only furniture pieces we will have to buy for that child. The crib and those dressers always move and stay with "the baby" in the family at that time. One more round for that furniture to get used then to the attic it'll go for grand babies! We really didn't change a ton about her room. We did NOT like having a full size bed in Britt's Mermaid Room so we decided to go the day bed route for Tess. Originally I thought I'd want a day bed with a trundle but opted for storage drawers instead. Our living room couch makes a great bed IF we e...
We have all experienced sudden, unexpected news. Maybe it's the death of a loved-one. Maybe it's being laid off from a job. Maybe, like in our recent situation , it's having a scary medical diagnosis. During such times it literally feels like the world is crashing down around you. It's hard to focus on anything but the situation at hand. You feel like a zombie, going through the motions of life but unable to really live. But life DOES keep going and kids don't stop needing their parents just because tough stuff is happening. How do you keep on keeping on when it feels hard to even just breathe? Here are some of my tips for how I managed to put my big mama pants on and keep parenting even when I couldn't focus on anything but my husbands health: 1. Count on Your Village: It's easy to be hard on yourself and feel like you have to be everything for everyone all of the time. But it's OK to ask for help. You aren't facing this hardship alone and p...
There are many amazing, awesome parenting tools to take away from Babywise . Obviously, my personal favorite is the sleep scheduling. But I also am SO thankful for the concept of independent playtime. Allowing your children to learn to play on their own and entertain themselves has endless benefits. Not only are you able to get things DONE during that time period but long term it helps the child to have a longer attention span, be less likely to struggle with separation anxiety, and have the gift of enjoying time alone. I've utilized independent playtime with all of my children and start at a very early age. Here are my personal "How To" tips for successfully implementing independent playtime. Start Early Even in early infancy, I will set up a play mat in my baby's nursery. I will lay them on the mat (mine has overhanging toys) and sit a little distance away from them. I will be perfectly quiet and will be out of their line of sight, but still able ...
The past couple of years Mother's Day has been a tad crazy for us. Last year Zach had back surgery right before Mother's Day and we had to postpone it for several weeks. It was SO NICE this year to celebrate it the weekend of actual Mother's Day and to not have any major medical drama going on ;) We kicked off the day with a relaxing morning at the house. I love getting to take my TIME getting ready and Zach picked out all of the kids clothes (and coordinated them!) for our outing :) Britt LOVES matching her mama! Duh. Pics are a must for a day for Mommy! Tess is SUCH a stinker here lately with pics. She won't look at the camera...like at ALL. And then when it's not her turn anymore for a photo she'll be all about it haha Not the right moment, but the perfect smile! The surprised me with brunch at The Egg and I! Which we all LOVE but rarely get to eat!!! It was perfect! YUM. Kye was a little disappointe...
