Good morning and happy new year!

I had no intention of disappearing for almost a month, but I knew December would be a whirlwind, so I’m not altogether surprised.  I am back though, and have several upcoming posts I’m excited about.

Today, I just wanted to share a few recent favorites, many of which are from the last month’s festivities.

My sister’s wedding

My sister got married on December 16 and it was the BEST day.  I love her and her new husband so much, and could not be happier for them.  The whole day was beautiful, from getting ready together to the ceremony to the reception.

Plus, how cute was this little ring bearer?

Disney World

My sister and her husband decided to go to Disney World for their honeymoon and they kindly invited us along!  I honestly debated whether or not to go because, while I wanted to spend time with my family and love Disney World, the idea of going with a one year old sounded exhausting.  Well, it was exhausting, but it was also lots of fun!  I would be happy to share a post on Disney with a one year old if anyone is interested.  I think we learned a lot through the experience.

Family Time

Between my sister’s wedding, Disney World, and Christmas, we spent a whole two weeks away from home with my family.  It was amazing to spend so much time together and to watch James get to know all my family even better.  I wish we all lived closer!

Home Sweet Home

I was never one of those people who was happy when a vacation was over.  I always felt like they flew by too quickly and I was never ready to go home.  Until now.

Traveling with a toddler is fun, but it’s exhausting and I was super ready to come home.  James is at a stage where he plays super independently and our house is set up for that.  He required much more supervision (and much more “no”) at my parents’ house and it was exhausting.  He has been so happy ever since we’ve been home and it has felt truly relaxing.  He got a couple of new sets of blocks for Christmas and is so happy just wandering around the house playing with them.

Instant Pot!

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and I love it so much already!  So far I’ve only made basics (hard boiled eggs, apple sauce, steamed carrots, and quinoa), but I cannot get over how easy and fast it is.  I can’t wait to find more recipes and cook actual meals in it.  Does anyone have any favorites?

Thug Kitchen 101

I also got this cookbook for Christmas and love it already.  I’ve made two recipes so far (skillet beer chili mac and a cucumber salad with peanuts and cilantro) and have one more on the menu for this week.  I want to make almost everything in it and can’t wait to cook my way through the book this winter.  (If you’re not familiar with Thug Kitchen, they have great vegan recipes, but be warned, the books use a lot of profanity.)

Unruffled Podcast with Janet Lansbury

I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize Janet Lansbury has a podcast, but I just started listening and am already obsessed.  If you’re not familiar with her, she is a wonderful RIE trained expert in child development and behavior.  I plan to work my way through all of her past episodes over the next few months, but so far, this has been one of my favorite episodes.

And that about sums it up!  The next month is going to be pretty busy and full of lots of change, but I’m going to try to get back to posting at least once or twice a week.

What was the best part of your holiday season?

If you’ve been to Disney World, what is your favorite park / ride?

What are you excited about in 2018?

*Please note this post contains affiliate links – I get a small percentage if items are purchased, at no cost to you.  I only include items I love.  Thanks for your support!

Good morning and happy Friday!

This is our last weekend at home until New Years (yikes!), so we’re planning to soak  up lots of relaxing family time and do a few of our favorite holiday things around town.

It’s been a little bit of a rough week as I got my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday, which went fine, but is obviously not fun.  We also had a week of cold and rainy weather, but it was all worth it when we got SNOW last night!

You guys, it was 85 degrees here on Monday and snow is quite unusual here in Austin, especially in early December, so this was a pretty magical surprise.  I noticed it was snowing right as we were putting James to bed, so of course we brought him out in his jammies to see it.  He wasn’t too impressed.  We tried again this morning, but he really doesn’t have the proper shoes / mittens to enjoy it without getting too cold.  Still, I am loving sitting here drinking coffee and watching the snow fall off the trees this morning.

Here are a few other snapshots of our life lately!

Eating / Drinking

Unsweetened Cranberry Juice – my brother-in-law was drinking this when I was in Wisconsin and I gave it a try.  It is super tart (duh) and I love it.  I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I really like tart things, and I think this is delicious over ice.  I haven’t tried this yet, but I think it would be great mixed with club soda too.

Lemon Poppyseed Scones – These tiny scones are so cute and they freeze so well!  I tried freezing them both before and after baking and both worked well, but I think they’re a little better frozen before baking.  It’s fun to have them in the freezer and be able to just pop a couple in the oven for a morning treat.

Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Fruit – You guys, this is my new obsession.  First because it is delicious, but also because it makes the best toddler snack!  I don’t mind buying puffs for trips and things like that, but they’re not my first choice for an every day snack.  These are crunchy and delicious and the only ingredient is fruit.  I’ve only tried the raspberries, but am going to get a bunch more kinds when I go back to Trader Joe’s.

Reading

A ‘3 Gift Christmas’ can be Magical – We are not doing this this year, and I’m not sure we ever would, but I do sort of love the idea of a more minimalist Christmas.

Car Seat Guide – We had to switch James to a convertible car seat pretty early because he is super tall, but I wish I had had these guides when we were choosing!  A reader sent them to me recently and I think they would be super helpful for anyone looking for a new car seat – I find this type of safety-related decision so overwhelming.

If you’re looking for more weekend reading, check out my latest two articles on Motherly 🙂

Thinking

About reframing.  I’ve mentioned my favorite podcast many times, but one thing Gretchen and Elizabeth talk about a lot is “reframing” – changing the way you think about something, even when you can’t change the situation.  I’ve been trying to do this with my wisdom teeth this week.  While getting them removed was painful and no fun, I feel so grateful that we have good dental insurance and I could do it without it being a big deal.

I’ve also been reframing how I feel about this very busy month.  While yes, it’s been a little bit stressful at times, it’s all because of a family wedding I’m super excited about, a family vacation, and Christmas, my absolute favorite holiday.

I find this reframing strategy so helpful!

Loving

This baby / toddler stage.  James is so, so much fun lately.  He has been super happy and independent and my new favorite thing he does is dance.  It is the absolute cutest thing 🙂

Looking forward to

My sister’s wedding! And Disney World! And Christmas!  Basically, all the things 🙂

What have you been up to lately?  Please share!

Good morning!

Do you have any fun plans for Thanksgiving this week?  We are spending the holiday with my husband’s family and I could not be more excited.  I’m looking forward to cold weather, spending time with family and my best friend, and watching James explore new places!

As Thanksgiving approaches, I’ve been reflecting a lot on last year’s holiday season.  It was my first year as a mom and James was just a newborn (two months old at Thanksgiving) and honestly, parts of it were really tough.

I love the holidays and LOVE traditions.  There is a running joke in my family that they have to be careful because if they do anything twice, I will insist it is a tradition and must be done forever.  This is not far from the truth.

When I was hoping to get pregnant, and the whole year I was expecting James, I would often drift off to sleep at night imagining Christmas with a baby.  I’ve always wanted to be a mom and it always seemed like the holidays would be extra magical with little ones.  And they are.  But they’re also a lot harder.

We had Thanksgiving at our house last year, though we did not really host, as my family brought almost all of the food.  It was pretty much the easiest set up we could have, but it was still hard.  It was hard to fit in cooking the few things I’d said I would make.  It was hard when at the end of the day, James was inconsolable during dinner and wanted only me.

For Christmas, we drove to my parents’ house, which is only about a three hour drive from us.  At that point, James was three months old and I think he was taking four naps per day.  He also took a LONG time to nurse as an infant, often at least an hour.  I used to use an App to track when he ate and I remember it often being 11-12 hours total nursing time at the end of the day.

Needless to say, that made it hard to fit in all of the Christmas traditions I love.

On Christmas Day, my husband offered to help James fall asleep for all of his naptimes, and that was seriously the best Christmas present I ever received.  Now he (usually) falls asleep peacefully with no fuss, but that was certainly not the case back then!

Especially in a new place and especially when it was not me putting him down for his nap, there was a lot of crying and a lot of time spent consoling.  I was so grateful to my husband for offering to cover nap time, since I was still spending hours upstairs feeding the little guy (yes, I could have just fed him with my family there, but I’m a really private person and wasn’t comfortable with that).

Even with all of the help from my family and husband, it was sort of a hard day (though also a great one in many ways).  I know I could have done a few things differently though, to make it even better.

1. Ask for help!

Not asking for help when I need it is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses (anyone else?  Yeah, I thought so).  It is a good thing my husband is literally the most helpful person on the planet, otherwise I’d be screwed.  Still, asking for help would make both of our lives easier, and is something I’m constantly working on.

2. Have realistic expectations

Even though I was SO excited and thankful to have a new baby, I had trouble letting go of how I pictured the holidays.  I think I’ve gotten a lot better over the past year about going into to things with fewer expectations and being a little more flexible (not natural to me).

3. Set the plan

I was afraid for a while to speak up and tell people what plan / timing would work best for us with a baby.  The thing is, I sort of hate being in charge, but I was the one who knew his nap schedule the best and should have spoken up more when it came to planning things.

All of that said, I have some of the very best memories from last year’s holidays.  I remember infant James staring up at the Christmas tree, completely mesmerized by the lights.  I remember him enjoying the little toys in his stocking, smiling and kicking his chubby legs.  I remember him in his little sweater vest at church, enamored with the lights and startled by the loud music.  I remember how very happy I was to have him, after spending the previous holiday season wishing for a baby so much.

I’m super excited to enjoy the holidays with a little toddler this year and to see what shenanigans he’ll get into.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

What’s the best gift you’ve every received?

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

In addition to the obvious fact that he now toddles everywhere, I have seen so many sign that James is no longer a baby and has officially reached toddlerhood.  I used to think this would make me sad, but I can’t be sad about it when he’s so much fun these days!

Here are ten signs I’ve noticed that let me know his baby days are gone.

1. He has a special radar for finding anything in the room that might be off limits.  This mostly includes cords, electronics, and climbing on tables.
2. He throws little mini tantrums when something doesn’t go his way, making his body limp, and throwing his little head back with such drama.  He did this ALL week last week as he was teething and by the end of the week, he’d learned to throw himself on the floor, but carefully lower his head down so as not to bump.
3. He looks at me with the biggest, most mischievous smile before doing something he’s not supposed to
4. He’s fascinated by putting food in his little water glass – so gross
5. He has started helping!  He loves choosing a diaper from his basket when he needs one, handing me my shoes if I ask, and will sometimes help pick up legos or spilled Cheerios, it’s the best 🙂
6. He is always on the go, but gives the best hugs when if he ever slows down.  I call him my reluctant cuddle buddy.
7. He is getting so many little bumps and bruises, mainly from going too fast or not looking where he’s going.
8. He loves playgrounds!  This is something I really looked forward to and I’m so happy that the age of playground dates has arrives 🙂  He loves going down the slide and generally exploring and collecting rocks and sticks.
9. He thinks any and all bodily functions are hilarious.  Unless he’s tired and they they’re terrible and make him cry….
10. He is fascinated by small objects.  One of his favorite pastimes is collecting little rocks and sticks and trying to pick up bugs.  It is so sweet, but tricky to keep them out of his mouth!

Any advice from toddler mamas?

Any good book recommendations on toddler development?