15 Minute Projects- Hanging Mementos

Yesterday, Husband and I set out to get a good long list of things done. Cleaning the bathrooms, changing the oil in my Jeep, vacuuming, and hanging the wire I bought from Ikea almost 2 weeks ago were on that list. 

#Truth: Husband had to YouTube directions to hang it. Sometimes the vague Ikea directions just aren't enough!

Backstory: Behind the door to the garage (our main entry/exit point) is this little cut out area. I have grand plans for a bench, hooks, cubbies and more, but they have not come to fruition just yet. In the meantime, we have a nice table that has 2 drawers, a shelf and 2 baskets which is providing all the storage in the area for now. A few months ago we hung up a memento board to hang invitations, tickets, reminders, and Booger's artwork. The artwork has taken over and most papers were too big for the little board, so it was time for something new.

Browsing through Ikea the other week, I saw this tension wire clip photo holder and knew instantly that it would solve our problem (it says curtain wire, but they had it in the store holding pictures!). Being able to utilize the length of the wall would be much more helpful than the tiny board.

My ever so handy Husband took over the job of putter-upper. I did get to use the drill to put in one screw, though :-) Once up, I organized Boogers art, our zoo attraction tickets, and some pictures and voila! All done!

The clips slide on the wire, so nothing is stuck in place. It almost looks bare compared to the over cluttered memo board! Booger needs to get to work making some more projects!

Room Makeover- Chunk's Nursery finished!

Welcome to the final edition of Room Makeover- Chunk's Nursery!

While this will always be a room that evolves, I couldn't be happier with how it finally turned out.

Adding the artwork to the walls instantly added some color and visual interest.

The shadowbox still makes me smile every time I enter the room.

Organizing his closet allows me to make sure I keep on top of his clothes-- adding the too small ones to the box and rotating in the correct sizes.

And finally, I bought a small drawer organizer for the corner to hold his books and toys. I debated between a shelving unit with baskets and a drawer set, but ultimately the drawers won. I wanted to stick with the gray/navy theme, and felt a white shelving unit would stick out like a sore thumb, especially next to the wood furniture.

My original thought was to put it under the window, however with the air vent and the curtains, it didn't make much sense, so next to the dresser it went.

How cute is the black box on top (it has Darth and a Storm Trooper on it)?? For $5 at Target, I couldn't pass it up. It doesn't hold anything yet, but I know it will be useful in the future. It matched his little Star Wars theme perfectly, so I had to get it!

Oh, and his window. We painted the windowsill finally, but the screen may take a bit more work. The only thing we can do to it right now is tape it back together until we get a new window :-( It won't look all that nice, but it should be functional enough for the nice cool fall nights.

 (a panorama picture, so it looks way smaller than it is)

Some things I might still add: possibly his name with wooden letters like Booger's room (maybe by the light switch or hanging behind the crib?) and eventually changing the closet and adding more storage for toys and books as he gets older (though Booger is so good at sharing with him, he'll probably just use her toys in her room!).


And now.... you get to choose the next room for Room Makeover September!

Will it be:

A) The addition: 

This mother-in-law suite was added to our house between 10-15 years ago (so not part of the original home). It is a rather large, open space with a full bathroom and closet. The plantation shutters match those in our living room and are absolutely gorgeous.... but we never use this room. It has become more of a dumping ground.
What do we want this room for? Multi-function. It's right off of the living room, so if we have people over, we open up this room (especially because of the bathroom). We also like having the small weights and bench in there. It houses some of Husbands game systems and toys, as well as all of our movies.
I want to get rid of the baby toys (though they have to wait for Chunk to grow out of first), the shelving unit and possibly one of the couches. This room needs some direction and help! The hard part is the fact that it houses the crawl space opening, so nothing can go on top of that, and next to the closet is a weird nook too...
(These pictures depict the room as is in this current moment. I like to call it crazy chaos.)

 From doorway looking straight in

(see the odd area in the back? The door is the bathroom, and in the weird space is the hatch to the crawl space under the floor...)

 (I promise I don't normally display our teacups on the weight bench...)

 (Panorama shot taken from bathroom doorway)

or

B) the Kitchen: 

Husband does not want to do this, but I do! We are no where near able to do a full kitchen remodel for at least another few years. In the meantime, I think it would be nice to paint the cabinets white again (they are so old and dingy), put some nicer paper on the shelves, get some new hardware (drawer pulls, handles), redo the pantry shelving, and potentially replacing the counter top (such a small area, it shouldn't be too expensive).

 (yes, this is my entire kitchen... the door on the left goes to the backyard, door on the right is the pantry and the door at the back is to the dining room)

Husband says we should save time and money for the remodel, but knowing us, it'll be at least another 5 years before that happens (he says next year, but no way!). We have big plans for it, including opening up the wall behind the fridge into the dining room, relocating the sink to the back wall (which means replacing that window which is huge, but too low for cabinets) and adding a small island.



Leave me a comment with your choice, and tune in next Wednesday for the result!

Meal Plan Tuesday

I've had great feedback on my Meal Planning post, so I thought I would do a small follow up.

Saturday morning Husband had to go into work, so the kiddos and I had a lazy day. We literally did not get out of our pajamas until 3pm. For Booger, that meant she spent the day in a t-shirt and her underwear...Chunk actually spent the entire day in his onesie, but he's a baby so who knows the difference, right? I put him in a fresh one before bed, so I can still call myself a good mama. Don't mind the fact that he hasn't had a bath in probably a week...

I let Booger watch TV or play her puzzle games on my iPad while I couponed and made lists. I wrote out all the meals (listed below) for the week and what ingredients go into each.

Here's a printable version for you! Meal Plan List

After that, I went and made another list separated into sections. I know my Target pretty well by now, so I tried to make the list in order of the store. Produce, then meats, then canned/boxed, etc.
Here's another printable for you!   
Grocery List

After plugging in the staples and extras not associated with dinners, I went back to my dinner list and added all the items from there. If there were multiple, aka avocados are in several dinners, I put tally marks next to the item. That way, in the store, I know how many of each item I need in order to have enough to cover all meals. We do tend to go back to the store after a week to stock back up on produce.

This week, I decided to switch things around. We're trying to get away from processed food like Goldfish, fruit snacks, etc and eat more real foods. We are by no means perfect, and still like our "junk", but we try to do better where we can. Especially with Booger. She loves fruits, and will eat some veggies, but also loves her graham crackers, fruit snacks, cookies, etc. A treat is a treat, but I'm attempting to do away with things in packages.

So this time, in addition to the dinners, I made ideas for breakfasts, lunches and snacks too. For breakfasts, I added items like English muffin breakfast sandwiches and breakfast burritos. Those I am planning on making today and freezing. That way, we can pop them into the microwave and have a nice healthy meal with minimal work.
Some other things I'm planning on making ahead:
** mac and cheese (freezing into smaller batches for Booger for lunch and dinners)
** trail mix (bought nuts and raisins, adding some popcorn, cheerios and maybe fruit at the time)
** cheese and crackers (bought block of cheese, going to cut into squares for snacks)
** meatballs (easy to add for pasta nights, or even for a lunch for Booger)
** pancakes (put into the freezer and popped into microwave for breakfast)
** popsicles (for snacks; made by blending fresh fruit; using a popsicle mold we bought from Ikea a few years back)

It'll be quite a bit of work, but will pay off in the end.
Here are some of the ideas I put together for Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks.

And here are the dinners I planned for the next few weeks:

Now, to go update my Menu chalkboard!

Kiddo Krafts-- Stained Glass Painting

We love crafts in this house. Play dough, beads, painting, coloring, you name it, we like it.
However, crafting with a toddler is difficult. Usually it takes longer to set up the activity than Booger actually spends doing it.
Paint, for example. Booger loves to paint and make pictures. She likes to paint wooden items like frames, birdhouses, letters, etc. Its a great activity. It only takes about 3-4 minutes to set up (put the paint in the cups, make sure she has a bib, paintbrush, etc). On some days though, the painting activity only lasts as long as 3 minutes. "All done painting!", she says after putting five brush strokes on the paper....

Safe to say, painting is a bit more of a rare occurrence at my house. But when I found this option, I knew she would be all for it. It entertained her for about 30 minutes, and she demanded I leave it on the window for later!

Stained Glass Painting:

Materials--
** Paint
** gallon sized Ziplock bags (double zippered on top is nice to make sure the paint stays in!)
** painters tape
** optional: q-tips, paint brush, anything soft to move the paint around

1. Squirt a generous amount of paint in each bag. We did 2 colors per bag, but you can do more if you want! Make sure theres a decent amount, it'll make it easier for the pictures to "erase" by spreading the paint back around.

2. Get most of the air out of the bag, and close up tight.

3. Using painters tape, adhere to a window, sliding door, floor, table, etc. The stained glass look comes from it being on a window or door, but it could be just as fun on a table if needed!

4. Let your kiddo make pictures with their fingers, paint brush, or anything they can find that won't puncture the bag.

Some things to do:
** use it as a learning tool: write numbers, letters, shapes, words
** pucker up and kiss it for an outline of lips!
** press your hands on it and see your hand print
** zig zag the middles to combine the colors (bonus if you have colors that make another one-- red and yellow to make orange in the middle)

Have fun!

Room Makeover- Chunk's Nursery Part 3

This week, I finally tackled his closet and got it nice and organized.

The problem with his closet is that it was custom made for my husbands militaria collection, which includes numerous shirts/jackets. Husband and his dad made shelving and re-did the closet just for his collection. It has two bars with a shelf in the middle, which is unusual for a normal closet. We chose not to change it at this time, as it is usable. Once Chunk is older and using the closet on his own, we may change it (I can barely reach the top bar myself, and I'm 5'7". Husband is 6'4" so he was able to use it easier).

Also, when we replaced our upstairs carpet a few months back, we did it in stages-- the kids rooms/guest room first, then the hall and master bedroom second. When it was time to do the master, we moved some of our items from our closet low bar into Chunk's room so they could access our closet floor easier. And there the clothes stayed for months. Husband actually thought I had donated some of his shirts he was looking for the other day (we did a small closet purge on Sunday), and lo and behold, mama found them in Chunk's closet! Whoops!

Now that our clothes are out, Chunk's have some more room on the bar. Since it's summer, he only has his little t-shirt onesies hanging. I'm not a huge fan of hanging every size (though there are some super cute clothes dividers out there!), so I only hang the size he is currently in. That also helps when Booger or Husband is getting him dressed. Yes, Booger picks out Chunk's shirt every morning :-)

I organized the other items in his closet as well: on the floor holds two toy bins with toys he is no where near ready to play with (but Booger would take out constantly, which is why they are in the closet for now), a large tub full of clothes (I was blessed with a family I taught swim lessons to that gave me a ton of boy clothes from their child for Chunk!), and a "too small" box. Did you know diaper boxes make great additions to any room of your house? More on that later this month! I have a box in each kid's closet, so as soon as I find something that is too small, into the box it goes. Once the box is full, the clothes get taken out.

Now that I have one of each- boy and girl- I don't have to store the clothes anymore. I either try to sell them to other moms for cheap (which is how I get a lot of the kids clothes), give them to friends who have kiddos, or donate them. We will be purging all the clothes in storage by the end of the month for sure (that garage sale we thought we would have never happened...)

Anyway, I didn't take a before picture because I did all the organizing while also helping Booger do other things and Chunk playing under his play gym, and I totally forgot. But here is the after! It looks so much cleaner, neater and more pleasing to the eye. 

Left to do:

** paint inside of window frame
** fix window screen (to the best of our ability so we are able to open the window in nice weather-- the whole window needs replacing, but we are not at that stage yet)
** fix closet doors (when carpet was installed, the doors became too long, so they drag on carpet)
** install shelving or some sort of organization for books and toys

Stay tuned: 

Next week is the last Room Makeover- Chunk's Nursery addition. I'll be posting two options for September Room Makeover for you to help me decide which room is next!

Also, I'll be posting more Kiddo Krafts, the final reveal for the family room bookshelf (the trip to Ikea earlier this week helped finish it off decor wise), and *hopefully* my likes/loves/needs from the new Ikea catalog-- if it ever comes in the mail!

Meal Planning

We do a lot of things in order to save a few bucks here and there. Husband is constantly on the phone with our cable/internet provider to find the best rate possible. We do a lot of small repairs on our home and vehicles ourselves. I buy the kiddos clothes used from other moms in the area.

But one thing that also helps when it comes to one of the bigger expenses each month-- groceries-- is meal planning. We basically eat the same foods for breakfast and lunch each day, so dinner is where the plan comes in handy. So what exactly do I do when meal planning?

1. Pop out the planner. 

I take a look at two weeks at a time. I have a list of dinners we usually have, plus some that I might have pinned on Pinterest or saved from Facebook. By looking at my planner, I know which days I might have time to make a more extensive meal, or which days we have to have a quicker dinner. Sometimes I even go as far as looking at the weather forecast to see if its going to rain-- if not, maybe we could grill!
Once figured out, I pop the meal on the bottom of each day so I know what's coming up.

2. Write a list. 

I write two lists, actually. The first is everything off the top of my mind that we need from the store, basically the staples. Then I write down the dinners we are having, and what ingredients go into each dinner. Next, I cross off the ingredients we already have, and add the ones we don't to the list. Last, I make a whole separate list that is divided into categories-- produce, meats, breads, dairy, frozen, etc. (I don't always do the second list, but if I have time I try to. It makes glancing at the list in the store a whole lot easier!)

3. Coupon. 

We mostly grocery shop at Target, so I go onto the Cartwheel app first and add any coupons there. Then, I use the Grocery IQ app to print coupons at home. I'll usually star or highlight items on the list that I have coupons for, so I am doubly sure I am buying the correct brand or correct amount to use the coupon. I also paperclip the coupons to the list so they actually make it into the car with us!

4. Chalkboard

This is my favorite part! A year or two ago, I decided to jazz up the awkward wall in the kitchen with a chalkboard frame. It didn't fill up the space quite enough, though. And I was looking for a way to let Husband know what was for dinner each night, so I didn't get the "I didn't know we were having *that* tonight. I'm not in the mood for *that*" (Followed by evil glares from me-- don't worry, he ate it anyway). So off to the store we went to create a Menu board! We got the long chalkboard and small squares from Michaels. I spray painted the squares with chalkboard paint on one side, and hot glued some ribbon around the edges for a more finished look. Then we screwed some eye hooks into the frame and top of the squares so they can come on and off for easy writing. And voila! Our menu board was created.  Each week I try to get the menu up so everyone knows what's for dinner that week. Sometimes I'll put two weeks on there and divide each square into 2, but not always.

It seems like a rather lengthy process, right? I try to stay on top of it by writing down items we need from the store as we run out. I also try to keep a list of regular dinners we like, so I can glance at that and grab ideas rather quick.

Sometimes I don't do any of the above until the day we go shopping, and that always ends in disaster. We end up spending way more money than usual, and don't have enough dinner ideas to last the two weeks, which means extra trips to the store during the week.

Meal planning is just one thing that we do to save a few extra dollars here and there. What are some things that you do? Do you meal plan for the week?

5 Things I Do With My Kids Everyday

There are good days and bad days when living with an infant and a toddler. But no matter the way the day is going, there are a few things I make sure we do every day (when possible).


1. Read. 
Not only is reading super important when developing language skills, reading skills, comprehension and more, but its a great bonding time between parent and child. Booger loves her books and being read too. These days shes always on the go, so we don't always get a specific story time, but we will always read books before nap and bedtime. 100% of the time. We usually let her choose which books she wants to read. Most of them we've read dozens of times, and she knows all the words already. We'll pause every now and then and she'll fill in with the word, or sometimes the rest of the sentence. It only takes a few times for her to memorize a book, so we know she is really learning from reading!

Booger also loves reading to Chunk (or picking a book for me to read to both of them), so his story time is starting just as early as hers!

2. Exercise. 
This can be as little as dancing around the house to Disney songs on Pandora, or as big as going for a long walk outside. I recently bought Booger a mini toddler trampoline to help get some of her energy out. I recently read somewhere that toddlers should be getting between 60-90 minutes of exercise PER DAY. Anyone who has a toddler knows that the number could be exhausting for you as the parent. Some options we give Booger are: playing downstairs on her slide, tunnel, trampoline (we even made it into an obstacle course-- down the slide, through the tunnel, jump over a book, bounce on the bouncy ball, turn in circles, bounce on trampoline); going outside for a walk; playing with Cozmo in the backyard; playing chase in the upstairs hallway. If she hasn't gotten enough exercise in the day, we usually sense it around dinner time. She starts to get very fussy, whiny, frustrated and temper tantrums begin. With the addition of the trampoline, we can ask her to go bounce (or have her Minnie Mouse bounce) and she is able to expel some left over energy.

For Chunk, exercise is nursing (lots of energy spent there, did you know?), tummy time, playing under his play gym (the lil legs really go!), or dancing around with mama.

3. Go Outside.
Fresh air does wonders for kiddos. The sun also wears them out pretty nicely. I'll admit, now that Chunk is here, its more exhausting for me to get everyone outside, but we try to do it at least once. Whether its going for a walk (either kid in the stroller, but longer walks have Booger in the stroller and Chunk in his carrier on me), playing in the backyard, or going to the park or pool, we try to get some fresh air in their little lungs.

4. Laugh. 
At some point in Boogers young life, I called tickling "shaboogies". No idea how it started, but it stuck. Sometimes the Shaboogie Monster comes, sometimes she gives us shaboogies, sometimes we shaboogie Chunk-- all times end in hysterical laughter from all parties. How can you not laugh when hearing a baby or small child laugh? Its contagious.

My new favorite game is finding ways to make Chunk laugh. Yesterday, he laughed every time I cleared my throat, for about 5 minutes straight. It got to the point where Husband thought something was wrong with me because I was 'ahem-ing' so much! But Chunk loved it and hearing those small, throaty giggles get me every time.

5. Learn. 
Children learn through play. They learn by mimicking. They learn by watching. They learn by listening. Every day they are picking up new words, thoughts, sights, sounds, tastes, etc. There are times when I am conscious about making Booger learn (What color is that? How many are there? What does that mean?), and times when its a complete unconscious thing. Children are always watching and learning, so it's up to me as a parent to watch what I do and say.


We try to make every day a good day, but as parents of small children know, that is not always possible. We cannot control everything, but there are some things that we can try to do our best on. These 5 items are the ones I try to consciously control every day, in order to have good days!

15 minutes projects-- Shadow Boxing

No, I'm not talking about teaching the kiddos how to become a boxer! I'm talking about creating shadow boxes for their rooms!

After Chunk was born, I realized I needed to do something with the hospital bracelets, tiny baby socks, etc. Booger's bracelets were still sitting in a bin, doing nothing. It was one of those "I'll get around to it sometime" type of project that 2.5 years later never happened.

A few weeks ago, we popped into Michael's and found these boxes on sale. I didn't want something too big because A) they were more expensive and B) I didn't want it to be a large focal point in their rooms, but a small addition with little items. Yes, I marvel over the boxes with lots of pictures, baby items, coming home outfits and such, but considering I don't even know where Boogers outfit is, I knew I wanted just a small reminder of precious times.

 the box measures approx 6"x14"

A few days ago, I carved out some time to prep and finish the boxes. I gathered all the items I wanted to put in:
** hospital bracelets
** painted wooden initial
** baby socks
** hospital/baby picture
** ultrasound picture

I debated adding things like their height/weight/time born, etc but at the moment I left that out. I may go back and add it in the future.

Some other items you could add:
** coming home outfit
** family picture
** newborn sized diaper
** hat or other items worn in hospital
** baby blanket or portion of one
** babys footprints

The first fail I had was using the insert to cut out the background paper I wanted for each box. Upon lining it up in the box, the "duh" part of my brain went off-- the insert was smaller than the actual background. Returning to the drawing board, I used the background itself and cut a new piece.

 

Then it was just arranging and taping/pinning things down. There was a lot of trial and error that went into the arranging portion. Each time I would to go pop it into the frame, something would fall off, be too close to the edge, etc. Each box took a while. The bracelets and socks are pinned down using straight pins, everything else is taped.

Which led to fail #2. Chunk's letter fell after day 1. I went back and hot glued it (careful not to get it on the ultrasound pic, as I may want to remove/change/keep them later) to the background paper.

Husband hung both boxes while I was out of the house yesterday morning, and my heart practically burst when I saw them on the walls. Yes, Chunk is still a baby, but seeing his and Booger's boxes on the walls almost made me cry. 

Tucked into a corner, but still makes my heart flutter. Booger's box is in the same corner of her room, too.

I'm so happy with the new additions to their rooms!

Room Makeover-- Chunk's Nursery Update

Happy Wednesday, Thursday! Husband was out yesterday getting tattooed, which took longer than expected so unfortunately we did not get to our project until this morning...

Our week got kind of busy, so we haven't done too much in Chunk's nursery. However, we did manage to find and hang some awesome artwork we found on Amazon!

I typed in "baby star wars art" and one of the first results were these awesome watercolor-ish pieces. I loved them so much, I didn't even look at anything else. Husband loved them too, and I let him pick the final 3 pieces to hang. We got Rey/BB8, Darth, and R2D2/C3PO.  I absolutely loved the Yoda one, but we decided to stick with all vertical prints since we put them on the same wall.

Thanks to Amazon Prime shipping, we received them yesterday and practically ran to the store to grab some frames. Two of the prints are 8x10 and one is 11x14, so they were easy to get regular frames for (purchased at Target).

The back wall used to have just the crib, but once we got the rocker, we put the crib on an angle in the corner to make room for it. We centered the artwork on the wall, so eventually when the bed goes back, it'll still look right.

I love that the pieces bring some more color into the room, but don't look overly baby-ish. I think they're pieces that he can have for a while, which is fantastic.

The other wall piece we ordered was this vinyl decal, also from Amazon. We put it on the wall over the changing table/dresser.

The frames came with templates to put up so we didn't make any mistakes and have to put multiple holes in the wall. We measured, taped, and nailed!

Oh, and we had a little help:

Both Husband and I are in love with the artwork and how it really is starting to make Chunk's room feel more personal and lived in.

And the final results:

Next up:
** paint inside of window frame
** fix window screen (to the best of our ability so we are able to open the window in nice weather-- the whole window needs replacing, but we are not at that stage yet)
** fix closet doors (when carpet was installed, the doors became too long, so they drag on carpet)
** fix inside of closet and remove our clothing
** install shelving or some sort of organization for books and toys

Check back next Wednesday for another Room Makeover Update!

(PS- did you see a little addition to the wall by the window? Be sure to check for an update on that in the next few days!)

Road Trip!

Yesterday we packed up the bags, loaded the car, and took a Road Trip!

Ok, I lied. It wasn't really a road trip. More like a short drive to see the in-laws. The trip still took just over 2 hours each way though. Thankfully, everything went smoother than the family above!

What are some tips and tricks I use for taking 2 kids on the road?

Tips:
** for a nursing baby, feed right before you get into the car. That way they'll be sleepy and full, which hopefully will lead them to sleep the whole ride. Chunk was up a bit, but was quiet and content during those brief moments.
** for older kids, try to leave close after a meal, so they are also full and not going to get cranky as soon as you get on the highway.
** for those in diapers-- change right before getting in the car. Bring many backups.
** for those that are potty trained-- use bathroom right before getting in car. If newly potty trained like Booger, use a Pull Up for the car ride. Booger did great, and the pull up was completely dry when we got to Grandpa's. She went straight to the potty and used it! Better safe than sorry though!
** pack snacks that are easy to eat and pass around the car. Fruit snacks, pretzels, grapes, Goldfish, etc. are all good options. Also, ones that won't cause a mess if spilled! Pack them in reusable items like snack cups or zip lock bags so they have a home in case you don't finish them (or said child decides he/she doesn't want them any more...)
**bring extra of everything-- each kid had an extra pair of pants, diaper/underwear/Pull Up, and shirt. I had an extra burp cloth, bib, wipes, and more. My bag weighed double what it normally does, but when Booger had a small #2 accident, I was glad for the backups!

Tricks:
**Let the kiddos choose what they want to play with. We keep a box of small toys by Boogers car seat. Before she gets in, she chooses a toy. For a longer drive, I let her choose a coloring book, some stickers, and any other small item from the house to bring into the car. That way, she knew what was coming, what to ask for, and didn't get upset from the surprise of an unwanted toy (because mommies can't ever choose the right thing, right?)
   *keep the bag of toys up front with you. Pass them back one at a time in sporadic intervals, so each toy is appreciated/wanted. Don't use the whole bag within the first hour!!
** because Booger was a bit cranky when we left, I used my car diffuser with some calming oils to get everyone relaxed and unwind in the car. Unfortunately, Booger did not take a nap on the way down as we assumed she would. She did sleep about an hour on the way home, but that was it. Thankfully, she went to bed at her normal time without a fight!
** Let babies cry. When Booger was little, she would cry the last 30 minutes of the ride home every. single. time. This time, Chunk cried almost the last hour. And guess what? There's nothing you can do about it. Booger was a bit cranky (no, I don't WANT the song on! Turn it off!) due to lack of sleep, so the last hour was interesting. Besides pulling over, which usually makes a baby crankier, you just have to let it go. Chunk got upset when the car stopped so I could take Booger to the bathroom at a rest stop, and it was downhill from there for him (never stop a moving car with a sleeping baby!)
   *this is if you know they aren't hungry, are safe in their seat, not cold/hot, etc. Luckily neither of my babies cared much about a dirty/wet diaper, so I knew that wasn't bothering him either. 

What are some of your tried and true tips/tricks for car rides with littles?

My Morning Routine

Are you fascinated with how people start their day like I am? How super successful people plan, execute, get started and have a productive day? I'm constantly pinning articles on Pinterest about how to get moving and get more done.

A lot of the time, it starts with getting up earlier. Thumbs down from me! But, with Chunk waking up during the night still, I did notice that waking up earlier has helped. My new rule is that if I am up after 5:30am, I stay up. Otherwise I won't wake back up in a timely manner! Since Chunk, I've had a horrible time waking up with alarms-- they'll go off, I'll turn it off, set another, and fall back asleep. I absolutely cannot wake up these days!

So what is my morning routine like?

5:30-6:30am (depending on if Chunk woke me up or an alarm/husband did)-- wake up, throw my FitBit on, head downstairs to make breakfast (if up before 6, I might start a blog post, or chill in bed with my iPad for a few). I try to get a jump start on things by making/setting the delay for the coffee the night before. That way its ready to go when I get downstairs.

6:30-7am: make breakfast for myself, husband, Booger and the dog. Let dog out. Eat breakfast. While eating breakfast, we watch the news/ Good Morning America and I make my daily To Do List.

7am: wake up Booger. Take her potty, downstairs for breakfast. Say goodbye to husband.

7:30am: Get Booger dressed, teeth brushed and onto mama's bed to do hair. Turn on Disney Jr while we do hair. Mama then gets dressed, ready for the day, and gets some work done on the computer. I usually open my EC planner and make sure it's up to date for the week. Continue a blog post or start creating one.

8:30am: Wake up Chunk. Get him dressed and fed.

9am: ready for the day! Start activities/play, go to the park, run errands, etc. Whatever has to be done in the day is usually done between 9-11am.

We try to have a pretty relaxed morning schedule, but we are creatures of habit. Both myself and Booger do best with strict routines, and we don't like to stray from them very much. Even on weekends when Husband and I tend to wake up later, it throws everything off and Booger can become quite the terror or have a more cranky day if so. She likes to be up at 7, down for her nap around 11:30. Usually wakes up by 1, eats lunch and continues on with the day. Interrupt any of that, and she's not a very happy camper. I'm the same way-- my morning routine has changed drastically since having kids, but there still is a routine I follow daily. Do I have to be up at 6 with my husband? Absolutely not. Do I wake up anyway to get the day started? For sure.

Come September, Booger is starting pre-school. She will be there Mondays and Fridays from 9:15-11:45am. So, our schedule will have to change a bit. Most likely, we will adjust all weekdays to follow that schedule so she's not thrown off on random days (especially Monday mornings!).

Well, its 8am here and that means I'm working on my planner and blogging! Time to wake up Chunk soon! Except today we're taking a road trip to my in-laws house so Husbands grandparents can  meet Chunk. Naps and the day will be thrown off, and I'm already expecting Booger to have a cranky evening as she normally does when we make this trip. She sleeps almost the whole way home, which means shes wide awake come bed time. I'll be posting how we get through a short road trip (2.5-3 hours) with kiddos tomorrow!

Book Review- It Ends With Us (Colleen Hoover)

Well, she did it again. Colleen Hoover has managed to grab every emotion possible within one book.

**Warning: Major Spoiler Alert. This post will contain spoilers for It Ends With Us. You have been warned.**

BOOK REVIEW:

It Ends With Us is a compelling story about how to make the hard decisions about love while dealing with real life problems. It's not a fairy tale love story, no matter how much you are rooting for it to be. It's realistic, shows real problems that people face every day. It shows the pain and struggle that people internalize  and don't normally verbalize.

It shows that you are not alone. That a book can really make a difference in people's lives. A deeply personal book for Colleen, she writes from her own truth, her own reality.

What I loved about this book:
** the real factor. The love between Lily and Ryle, Lily and Atlas. Two different types of love because Lily was at two different points in her life, she was two different people. At 15, love is such a strong emotion, it consumes you like nothing you felt before, mostly because its an emotion most 15 year olds haven't felt before. Its why teenagers love so deeply, so quickly. In her early 20's, Lily has to deal with life- a job, an apartment, bills, rent, etc. Love is still a deep emotion, but it is not at the top of her list. Meeting Ryle did not consume her (though it consumed him!) as it did with Atlas. With Atlas, at 15 years old, she had nothing else to think about, no other major worries in her life. With Ryle, things get in the way, the mind gets distracted.

**the real factor, part 2. Like I said, this is no fairy tale. There main plot line follows abusive relationships. Lily's father/mother, which is an intentional abusive relationship, and Lily and Ryle, which is more of an accidental abusive relationship. How Lily has to deal with both is a driving part of this novel. We want it to end with Ryle and Lily living happily ever after, but that's not real life. She makes a decision and sticks with it, no matter how much it rips our hearts out (not to mention hers)

** Friendship story lines as much as love story lines. The friendship Lily develops with Allysa (even though shes Ryle's sister) is just as fabulous as the relationship story lines. Lily turns to her as an employee, as a best friend, as a sister. She hits a wall when it comes to talking about relationship issues with Ryle, but eventually knows that she is her best friend and will be non-biased when needed.

What I did not love about this book: 
**the jumping between timelines. I've never been a fan of the back and forth of past and present, so that's just my personal opinion. I loved reading about Atlas and that story line just as much as I loved reading about Ryle. Honestly, they could be two different books and I would be totally good with that! (More CoHo? Sign me up!)

**the ending. I always want more, more, more!

AUTHOR SIGNING:

I had the pleasure of attending a Q and A and signing with Colleen Hoover yesterday. I quietly fangirled in my seat for the duration, and got flustered when it was actually time to meet her. What did I want to say? "Hi Colleen! I love your books! You inspire me to be a better writer, to actually work on my stories, to write like you do. Thank you for your novels!" What I ended up saying- "Hi... (she signs and takes a pic) Thanks so much!"

I'm a loser. (and took a really bad picture!)

Colleen answered a ton of questions during the speaking portion. Questions about her work, life, writing, etc. Seems hard to imagine she's only been writing/publishing for just under 5 years! She's had so many books come out in that short amount of time, and I love almost every one of them (list below). The best thing about her books are that they are different. Each book has a very distinct tone and plot to them- they are not all your basic girl meets boy story. She mentioned in her Q&A that her goal is to make the current book completely different from the previous book.

Here are my favorite CoHo books, in order:
1. It Ends with Us (on sale now!)
2. Hopeless (also on sale!!)
3. Losing Hope (sequel to Hopeless)
4. November 9
5. Maybe Someday

All of her books are amazing, however. Check them all out. I say in advance: You're Welcome.

Calming the Toddler Tornado

Meet Booger:

I love my daughter. She is absolutely adorable, super smart, hysterical, full of life, the best big sister in the world, and an absolute terror.

In other words, she is a toddler.

And toddlers are assholes.

There is no way around it-- the mind of a toddler is finicky thing. You think men don't know what women want? Try figuring out what a toddler wants. If you think they want what they say they want, you're wrong. If you think they want the opposite of what they say they want, you're still wrong.

The moral of the story? You're wrong. Period. Don't try to reason with them. They bite. Don't try to get ahead of the game and assume you know they want a PBJ for lunch because that's their favorite food, because today they hate PBJ.

Did I mention they scream? They scream if you look at them wrong. They scream if you don't look at them. They scream if they want you to play with them, but will scream when you come over to play. They will run away to play with another toy and scream if you don't follow them. They will always burst into tears if you try to make a Lego house when they ask you to make a Lego house. Know why? Good, let me know, I haven't figured it out yet.

When Booger was born, I told myself I would be the best mom ever. I would never smack her butt, never have to raise my voice. She would listen to directions because we would talk and be close and I would raise her to be a wonderful person.

Then she became 2. I laugh at my ignorance and am grateful I already have very low expectations for Chunk. Trust me, the lower the expectation with a toddler, the better. The more sanity you'll save. The less you'll beat yourself up when things don't go exactly according to plan.

Today has been one of those trying days. The tears, the screams, the throwing, the hits. Since after nap and lunch, we've had maybe 10 minutes of peace in this house. Booger is a walking Tornado.

I have tried so many things to get her to calm down, especially when there is no reason to be freaking out in the first place. We've done time outs, time ins, quiet time in her room, and ignoring her until the tantrum stops. Currently, we are working with essential oils, or as Booger calls them, her "smellies". After a time out, I would let her sniff the cap of an oil, usually lavender or Peace and Calming. Whether its the deep breaths, the oil, or just taking her mind off the crazy, it worked.

Yesterday, I made her a diffuser bracelet. We put some White Angelica, Lavender, and Peace and Calming on it. Of course, within a few hours she managed to break it (it was an old, old bracelet of mine, so it was worn out already). For the short amount of time she had it on, however, the tantrums were minimal. If she started getting frustrated and angry, I told her to smell the bracelet and she calmed down. I even caught her doing it all by herself once.

I searched Amazon today for a kids bracelet and found one I think will work for Booger. She likes to be able to take it on and off, so the simple snap should be easy enough for her.

So many things haven't worked so far, but I'm hoping this gives some amount of peace back to our family. Toddlers are no joke. Between the 800 questions they ask every 3 minutes, to the crazy amount of energy they can have right before bedtime, to the complete mix of emotions within seconds, toddlers are a force to be reckoned with.

 I'll let you know how the bracelet works out, but in the meantime, let me know what ways you use to cope with a crazy toddler!