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Getting a Toddler to Nap or Have Quiet Time
The frantic, fabulous or ferocious fours–which one is it?! A few weeks ago, in tears I was googling and reading every article I could about a child in their FOURS. I originally thought that it was the terrible twos and the three-teens, but never heard anything said about the fours. Well after doing about an hour of research, I found some evidence that the fours aren’t all peaches and cream.Let me back up and give some context of mothering my current four year old. Reid is about as good of a kid as I could imagine. I used to call him my angel baby and angel boy–he has his faults,…
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Training for a Half Marathon in 7 Weeks
I did it, I successfully ran the Atlanta Half Marathon in 1:50!! After a long 6 year hiatus from distance running, I am BACK 🙂The thing that I want to share most is my training, which is something that is COMPLETELY different than my past marathon training. Training for the Atlanta Half Marathon, I was all about showing myself grace and taking it super easy on myself which I believe paid off in the end. It is crazy to me to think that I averaged less than 8:30 minute miles, when I was training at a 10:30 pace!Here is a little breakdown of how I trained for the half marathon…
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Reid’s 4th Birthday Party at the Fire Station
I officially give all the props and credit in the world to mothers of Pinterest and event planners who plan elaborate birthday parties. It takes an incredible person to event plan and I personally would love to know how they stay sane and not stressed to the max! HA! While event planning is not in my wheelhouse, all the stress and planning was definitely worth it!! My little boy is obsessed with fire trucks–he will tell you that they are “his favorite” and that his favorite color is “red, like fire trucks.” When I asked what he wanted to do for his birthday he said he wanted to go to…
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Reflections on Christmas 2019
Can you believe it is already 2020? I feel like the lead up to the holidays was super fast and then the actual week between Christmas and NYE flew by…and here we are a week into 2020!Our Christmas 2019 was unlike any of our prior Christmases. Before having kids, we traveled to family to have Christmas with a big group (either Drew’s family or mine). After having kids, still we have a rather large Christmas gathering just at our house instead of our parents. But this year, none of the grandparents wanted or were able to come to our house for Christmas. I’m not going to lie, at first, I…
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Happy Bit: Taking a Break from Social Media
In this season of life and of the year, I am aware of the need to live in the present and guilty of not. Raising toddlers is a great reminder of living in the present. I read somewhere that kids up to the age of 7, always live in the present. They do not have the mental capacity to have regrets or forethought to fret about the future. Not sure what happens at age 7, but I am certainly in awe of the human brain to allow children to stay in the present/innocent bliss for as long as possible. My thought is that if my boys are constantly in the…
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Taking Family Photos with Toddlers: Our Family Pictures 2019
Wow, getting ready for family pictures can be super stressful. After 4 years of getting pictures done (really 6 if you include engagement and wedding), you would think I would have it mastered–but no such luck! The most important lesson I have learned is to go with the flow when it comes to taking family pictures.I set my expectations super low this year and it really helped us relax and get some fantastic pictures. I feel like in years past, I put so much pressure on us to take good photos and everyone to be happy–but the reality of it is that toddlers will act how they want and you…
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Halloween 2019: Fireman and his Crew and the Stomach Bug
Y’all, who knew that the stomach bug could fester in your house for over 2 weeks?! I certainly did not! We have been fortunate to have all sets of grandparents visit over the past 2 weeks. The boys (and us) love spending time with family and it was such a special treat to have my mom stop by for a quick visit before heading to Maryland, my dad and Mimi watch the boys so Drew and I could go to Clemson and my in-laws to celebrate Halloween with us (all within 2 weeks of each other).Unfortunately, the stomach bug infected our family the Sunday before my mom came into town…
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Motherhood Lesson: Being Mom can be your Purpose
I would love to live 6 different lives. Truthfully, there is a part of me that would love to be a small business owner who lives in a small town or a headstrong attorney in the city or an influencer exploring the world or a socialite who parties like crazy or a badass in JAG or just a mom who is raising her babies and supporting the home for her husband and children. The last one doesn’t sound very glamorous (and frankly, it isn’t!) but it is exactly where I want to be and the life I want to be living.It has taken me a while (and trust me, I…
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Camping with a Toddler and Baby: Our Trip to Balsam, North Carolina
We just got back from our first camping trip as a family of 4. I was apprehensive about camping with a baby and a toddler, but boy I am so happy we did! Drew grew up camping with his family and Boy Scout troop and finds it important that we raise our boys loving the outdoors. I am more of a “city girl” when it comes to the outdoors, but figure that since camping is so important to my husband I could either “join em” or be left out.For our inaugural camping trip with Walker (we went camping with Reid when he was 15 months old), we went to a…
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Long (kid-free) Weekend at St. Regis Bal Harbour
Drew and I just got back from the most refreshing and revitalizing mini-vacation. We spent 3 days and 2 nights at the St. Regis Bar Harbour, courtesy of his company! It was such a wonderful vacation that really snuck up on us and allowed us to have some time to ourselves.We flew out first thing Friday morning and checked into the hotel around noon. We thought that Friday was going to be the only sunny day, as there was a strong chance of a tropical storm (thank goodness the weathermen were wrong!), so we maximized our suntanning time. We laid out on the beach, went for a walk on the…