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Most Played With and Favorite Toys for Toddler Boys
As promised, here is a list of my boys (ages 2 and 4) FAVORITE toys of all time. Every child is different, but these are toys that their friends enjoy too and I believe are great buys! Best Toys for Toddler Boys: Rainbow Playground: OK, this is a huge purchase, but it is hands down the best purchase we have ever made for the boys! I was nervous that our 2 year old was going to be too young or that they would grow tired of it quickly, but y’all this has been the most played with and best purchase ever. A few tips: these bad boys are pricey so…
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Christmas Presents for Four Year Old and Two Year Old Boys
‘Tis the time of year of holiday shopping. Admittedly, I am trying to get ALL of my shopping done before December 1st. With the craziness in the world, I don’t want to be out in public more than necessary and really want to focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year rather than the materiality of it. Therefore, I have been doing my best to pre-purchase all of our family’s Christmas presents (with sales starting earlier this year, it has been a lot easier to accomplish). Please keep in mind that every kid is different, but rather than doing a list of “suggested” presents for two and four year…
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Halloween Weekend 2020: 35 Hours without Power and Family Police Costumes
We just had a wonderful and much different Halloween weekend. Covid has caused life to look a little different, and while Halloween wasn’t completely normal–we made the best of it and made it as normal as possible (while being cautious). Reid’s preschool was set to have a trunk or treat on Thursday for all the kids. We were setting up a Paw Patrol table, however, Thursday morning around 4:30 am, we lost power. The preschool lost power as well, so school/trunk or treating was canceled. They say “you plan, God laughs,” well, I planned for the days leading up to Halloween–and no power threw all my plans for a loop.…
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Vacation to Jackson Hole, Wyoming: 4 Amazing, Fun Filled Days
Drew and I just got back from an amazing 4 day trip to Jackson, Wyoming. It was a trip that was canceled twice, but we finally decided it was time to go out west to visit my mom and spend time in one of the most beautiful places in the United States. Our original plans were set for the end of March 2020 to go spring skiing (literally the week after Covid swept the nation). Then we planned for all four of us to travel out west in September, but got cold feet about flying with toddlers during Covid. After debating and deliberating SO much (seriously, way too much!), we…
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Five Tips on How to Enjoy Hiking with Toddlers
2020 is the year of our family’s new hobby–hiking! I am not much of a “nature” girl, but I love this new hobby of ours. My husband, an Eagle Scout, loves nature and exploring the outdoors (candidly, I am still petrified of snakes and get nervous every time we go on a hike). The boys have become quite the mini-explorers and love going for rides on our backs while exploring the outdoors. We live in suburban Atlanta and I never would have imagined how many trails we have within a 10 minute drive of our house–it is truly amazing! When we have zero plans for the weekend, which happens more…
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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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Family Vacation to Pine Knoll Shores, Southern Outer Banks
We just got back from a very relaxing and peaceful trip visiting Drew’s aunt and uncle in the southern Outer Banks. I don’t know how I can describe it as relaxing when we have two little boys–but some how it really restored us and brought us back feeling refreshed (rather than feeling like we needed a vacation from our vacation and a full body detox!). We travelled down to Pine Knoll Shores on Wednesday afternoon, it is a pretty long 8 hour trip and thankfully Drew was able to work in the car the whole way down (meaning, I drove while entertaining two toddlers–thankfully, they are amazing car riders!). Since…
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Honest Motherhood: Digging Yourself Out of Frustration with Toddlers
I laughed to myself as I unpackaged my new “ciao” shirt–as I thought “ciao little family, see ya later!”. Obviously, that isn’t what I really want, but today was a tough one and gosh what I would have done for a little mid-morning break! Motherhood has taught me many lessons and one that I implemented today was digging myself out of being frustrated and into a better mood. Y’all it is tough when you are on the verge of screaming at the top of your lungs—to get out of your head and calm the f*** down. But it is possible. This morning was Reid’s final swim lesson of the summer.…
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Edisto Island, South Carolina Family Vacation 2020
We just got back from our family beach vacation to Edisto Beach, South Carolina. We had a fun filled trip to our happy place and given the pandemic, I am super happy we were able to make our annual trip happen! And please let it be known that I am totally procrastinating unpacking and starting laundry in writing this post 🙂 Drew’s family had a house on the beach for over 50 years, last year their family sold the house and thankfully we wanted to keep the tradition alive despite being in a different house. We rented a house called “Doc House” that is right next to the marina and…
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Fourth of July Weekend Recap: Family Fun with Friends and Fireworks
We had such a fun long Fourth of July weekend. It was the first time in months that we had visitors–and I have to say, I miss having guests! Drew’s best friend, Jake and his wife and kids came to visit. Reid and their oldest son are quickly becoming best buds, just like their daddys 🙂 They got in late Thursday evening which allowed us to have a full day on Friday. We ventured to the pool that afternoon, followed by nap time and a quiet evening chatting and eating homemade pizza (Drew’s latest obsession, which I secretly love!). We woke up on Saturday morning and ventured back to the…
