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Best Way To Spend Two Dollars on Quality Items
You can still get quality items and spend less than the cost of a happy meal.
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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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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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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…
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Navigating Motherhood and Burn Out During Covid-19
Let me start this by saying this comes from the heart. As I write this I in no way want to offend anyone or seem to be ungrateful. I just feel the need to speak from my heart and the place that I am currently at. My purpose behind this post is that maybe people can relate and feel a sense of relief that they are not alone in their feelings. Lets talk about being the best mom you can be. Lately, I have felt burnt out. It is not fair to my children, my husband or myself. It pains me to feel that I haven’t been giving the absolute…
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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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Road Trips with Toddlers (without screen time): Tips and Tricks for an Enjoyable Car Ride
We have gone on our fair share of car rides this year and I thought I would share a couple of the things we do to make the car rides less chaotic! Having two energetic toddlers confined to a car for 5+ hours can be daunting, but we have a few tricks that allow us to make the road trips enjoyable and lets be honest, tolerable 😉 It is probably not a popular opinion, but I am not a huge fan of screen time. For us, it makes my kids become little monsters as soon as we take away screens. I would rather not deal with the mood shift, so…
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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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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,…
