Family
Family and toddler life
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Going to Pre-K during Coronavirus: Thoughts on Letting Go
Reid has been out of school for almost 6 months. In that time, we have navigated, learned and grown so much as parents and a family. It has been a taxing, fun, stressful, different, playful time that brought our little family closer together. The boys have become best friends and their little friendship has blossomed immensely. I know that I will look back on these days and remember the precious moments we got to spend as a family unit (as well as the stressful, uncertain times). As I write this, we are a week out before Reid starts pre-K and gets back into the swing of somewhat “normal” life again.…
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Shrimp Pesto Pizza Recipe and Weekend Recap: Pool, Lake and Family Time
Does it feel like Groundhog Day every day?! My little boys are growing up so fast and I know in a few years I will look back on the year 2020 and think wow I am glad I had so much extra time with them (gratitude is getting me through this week friends!). Every Friday night this summer, we make our favorite pizza–Shrimp Pesto Pizza (yes, it deserves all caps!). It was a creation we made about 5 years ago when we had a freezer full of shrimp and a basil plant that was going crazy. Originally, we made a shrimp pesto pasta, but in our family we love pizza…
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Whether or Not to Send Kids to Preschool During Covid-19
Parenting is a challenging season, and parenting during a pandemic is even more challenging. I have learned more about myself and how I parent in the past 4 months than ever before. I have learned to give myself grace when things don’t go exactly as planned. I have embraced the occasional TV time when I am nearing my breaking point. And I have dug deep to find fun activities that bond us closer together. We have become such a tight little family and for that I am grateful for this quarantine. That being said, one of the parenting challenges that came up recently is sending the boys to preschool. Both…
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Indoor Toddler Boy (and Girl) Activities
We have been so blessed with beautiful, sunny weather the past couple of months. My boys thrive when they are able to be outside and use their imaginations surrounded by nature. Unfortunately, our luck has changed and it has been rainy in Atlanta for the past couple weeks. The next few days calls for rain, which means this mama needs to be creative to make fun indoor activities for two rambunctious little boys. Today, I am sharing a few of the activities that we enjoy doing inside and that allows the boys to get their energy out. Since it is warmer outside, we use our covered porch to do some…
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Motherhood Lesson: Riding a Bike for the First Time
I write this with so much pride for my four year old: Reid rode a bike for the first time! I am beyond amazed that with very little assistance and skipping training wheels, he was able to ride a bike on his first try. All I have to say is: balance bikes are amazing!We gave Reid a balance bike when he was 2.5 years old. He took to it pretty immediately and loved going on bike rides around the neighborhood. At first he simply walked with the bike (probably for the first 6 months) and then around 3 he got the hang of it and would balance and glide along…
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Simple and Clean Toddler Indoor Activities
With the coronavirus in full swing and schools being cancelled all around the country (as well as most restaurants and playgrounds), there is more time for creative indoor activities. I love following accounts on Instagram like Busytoddler and DayswithGrey (local mom who presented to MOPS last year) who provide invaluable advice and activities for at home activities. These activities help kids learn, fight boredom and give moms (and dads) a break! With the vast amount of activities to choose from, you can quickly become overwhelmed and honestly, feel a little like a failure of a mother who has not tried many of these activities. Take it from me, I have…
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Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas
If you ever want to be more involved in your child’s school life, I urge your to volunteer to be the room parent. I was unsure and hesitant about being a room parent as I didn’t know how much of a time commitment and involved it was going to be, but I am so happy that I stepped up and am able to be more involved in my child’s school life 🙂 Being a room mom is not crazy involved, but you do lend an extra hand when needed. You pick out and buy the different gifts for birthdays, holidays and teacher appreciation week. You also help with all of…
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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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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…
