I’m sharing #MrsMeyers in my life as part of a Mrs. Meyer’s sponsored series for Socialstars™ Spring Cleaning. I hate mess. My husband hates mess more. Have kids, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. What they did not say? It’ll be messy as all heck. This month I’m all about embracing my inner minimal lover and ridding oneself of all the excess. I’ve talked about it a ton, and I’ve got my nose to the grindstone. And ridding ourselves of things doesn’t just mean a less full house – it also means less stress! However, kids come with their own obstacles. Tantrums, imagination, and MESS. All of the above. And a lot of it! So how do you deal with kid’s messes? I have a few ways to combat the chaos! 3 ways to deal with your kid’s mess: Don’t. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s perfectly OKAY to not be able to deal with the messes! Maybe that means you need to re-distribute the toys. Maybe that means you should get rid of some. Maybe it means you need a helpful little elf that comes in at night and purges you of your things. That’s okay. Get […]
This post is sponsored by Carter’s; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I have been pretty open about the fact that going from one to two kids has been a struggle for us. And when I say struggle, I mean it. I recently described it as someone taking our lives and throwing them into a blender. What we thought we had under control is now a chaotic mess. It’s crazy, it’s loud, but it is oh so sweet. My toddler, H, has probably had the biggest change of us all. Where he was once the center of our world, there’s now another contender he has to share that space with. Jealousy has recently become a big issue that we struggle with. So while my pretty Instagram squares show off a light and bright picture of our days, real life is anything but. Yet that doesn’t mean the wonderful moments deserve to be ignored. In fact, the harder my days are, the more important it is to me to focus on the good for the day. So through all the chaos, I can look back and lock away the moments that made my heart surge. Because these moments […]
I was so excited when the team at Freshly Picked reached out to me to get a sneak peek at their new Marketplace. We are huge fans of Freshly Picked moccasins around here. In fact, they are the only shoes my son wore for almost the first two years of his life! Susan, the mama behind the cult favorite mocc brand, remembers when she was just starting out in the new baby product category, and wanted to use her brand’s success to help other small shops. The Freshly Picked Marketplace does just that! It was created to introduce parents to amazing small shops, learn more about their stories, and have an easy platform to shop them all. Susan and her team at Freshly Picked hand pick each and every single small business product that’s included, so you know they’ve got to be good! When our box arrived from the FP team, I couldn’t wait to see what brands were inside. My bank account can attest to the fact that Instagram shopping is a dangerous place for me, and I was curious to see if I would recognize any of the brands or products. I totally lucked out and had goodies […]
Toddler Snack Ideas: Healthy Nibbles for the Picky Eater in Your Life Anyone else with a toddler who one day will eat anything you put in front of them, and the next will only eat cheese sticks? Anyone? Please say yes! This last month has been a total battle of the wills when it comes to H holding out on eating until he gets what he wants. Which he does, eventually, because I can’t make myself send him to naps or bedtime without something in his stomach. Because of this, I’ve been trying to come up with creative snack ideas that are both healthy, but also something he will actually eat. The first thing I did? Find awesome snack containers! I swear, put a peanut butter sandwich on a regular plate, and my toddler will push it away, but if it’s on a dinosaur plate, or his digger plate? Oh man, step back and watch him chow down. These Snack in the Box and Drink in the Box, made with TritanTM plastic, holders both delight H because they look cool, but also make me happy because they’re so durable and easy to clean! Do you need toddler snack inspiration? I’m sharing a […]
Third Trimester Maternity Style It’s hot. So hot. And I’m so so so very pregnant. I don’t want to have to rack my brain for cute maternity style ideas. So what do I wear when it’s too hot outside to function and I’m too exhausted to put effort into myself? A maternity maxi dress, of course! This casual long grey maxi dress is perfect for summer, and is so easy to dress up or down. For a dinner out with my two favorite guys, I threw on some comfortable and stylish Dolce Vita neutral wedges, and a few coral bracelets. In case it gets chilly in the restaurant, my new Boppy Infinity Nursing Scarf gives me a little extra coverage. My tiny tornado, H, is wearing quite possibly the cutest Hawaiian-esque set from Little Me. We took these photos with Toni of Sydney Studios & Co in the cutest little area downtown. H was loving all the cars and bikes that were passing us by, and kept “ooh”ing and “aah”ing over every motor-enabled thing that he saw. Getting him to stand still to actually be in pictures is quite the adventure these days, so having the cars go by was an awesome distraction […]
A Toddler-Approved Breakfast Recipe Our mornings are always a little rough around here. Half the time I’m barely awake, wishing I was crawling back into bed to catch a few more Zzzs, and the other half I’m frantically trying to get our acts together to get out the door to run some of our million chores. If you have a toddler, you know the latter never works out the way you plan, and suddenly you’re sitting in the lobby of your local oil change shop and your almost two year old is lacking one sock, his cup of milk and his very favorite dump truck, and then you realize you have yet to feed him an actual breakfast. I mean, not that anything like that ever happens to us, or anything… but I’ve heard it can, because, you know, #Mombie. Most of the breakfasts I usually cook H either require an oven or a stove top, which just doesn’t work for us on those aforementioned crazy days. Admittedly, more times than not, I’ll just throw a few NutriGrain or granola bars into my bag for H to eat on the way. However, the Mom Guilt has started adding up, […]
5 Fall Flavored Green Smoothie Ideas Take advantage of Fall’s in-season fruit and veggie harvests to create deliciously healthy green smoothies that the whole family will enjoy!
Sweet Potato + Granola Pancakes A Toddler Approved Breakfast Idea We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but sometimes it’s hard for me to get motivated to actually make a real meal. I am by no means a morning person, so waking up is a struggle enough, let alone waking up and making a healthy breakfast for H and I. Because of this, I easily fall into a ‘breakfast rut’: scrambled eggs with a little feta mixed in. However, H is on a bit of an egg strike right now, which is totally throwing me for a loop! The graciously sweet person he is, H let me sleep in until almost 10 o’clock this morning before he decided to get up for the day (I tell ya, moving him to a queen bed on the floor is easily the best parenting decision we’ve made so far!). While this was awesome because we both got to catch up on some sleep, it also meant I had a very hangry little person screaming at me for food! My mom had just sent us some of her amazing granola (recipe: here), and when I saw the leftover sweet potato […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links and I was sent product in exchange for my honest and unbiased review, as a part of the Nuby Parent Bloggers program. Toddler Approved Peach Smoothie I’ve shared some of our favorite toddler approved green smoothies before, but I like to mix it up for H every so often so he doesn’t get bored of his daily drink. He’s definitely starting to get more picky about what he will and won’t eat, so a smoothie is a great way to sneak in some healthy goodness to what he thinks is just a sweet and yummy snack! My parents took H to a vineyard and fruit orchard this past weekend, so we are swimming in peaches. I’m definitely not complaining as peaches are basically the best summer fruit out there, but my waistline is hurting after enjoying so many of the peach crumbles that we love, so it was time to mix it up and enjoy them in a little healthier of a way.
This post may contain affiliate links and / or I may have received one or more of the products mentioned for free in exchange for my honest review. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that H hasn’t always been the best eater. At our recent 15 month checkup, his pediatrician asked me to really start pushing solids. He said at this age, H needs to be nursing less and eating more ‘real’ food. While he has gotten so so so much better (seriously though, it was like a light went off the next day and he decided he did, in fact, like to eat), I have found that if I make a smoothie, he’ll run off with it and suck it down by the time I find him hiding in the laundry room corner. I started using my Nutribullet (my favorite of all 4 of my blenders) to make him a giant batch of a fruit and veggie smoothie in the morning and refill his Nuby No Spill™ Two Handle Super Straw Grip N Sip™ as he finishes them throughout the day! This Nuby No Spill so far is my favorite cup for him to drink […]