A First Aid Kit: Travel Edition

In a few days, my little family will be headed across the country to celebrate the wedding of my sister-in-law. We are all super excited, but I am also dreading the packing process.

Can somebody else just come over and make sure we have packed every single thing we may need? I just know I will forget something essential, like the girls' flower girl dresses.

With a 1 year old and a 3 year old, my packing list is about a mile long. Oh yeah, and we are flying… normally this would be a welcomed change, but I'm so not looking forward to being inside a small space with 2 crazy girls that don't always act like little angels in public. Plus, how am I suppose to pack everything we need into 2 pieces of luggage?! No, really. How?

I figured I would start with something easy and work my way up to packing our main luggage. Without a home base, we will need a stash of first aid items to help mend little boo-boos and soothe tiny tears.

Many of these items are not needed for everyone's travel first aid kit, but they are essential for our travels. Purell and wet wipes are a must for anybody traveling with small children, as are tissues. My oldest has eczema that randomly flares up, so we always travel with some sort of hydrocortisone cream and a thick lotion. Another essential that every parent should carry while traveling is a thermometer and children's tylenol. I have too many extra thermometers from buying one while traveling because somebody gets a fever. I also always throw in adult tylenol because momma always gets a headache while traveling.

Last, but certainly not least, band-aids and neosporin. BONUS: Band-aids can double as stickers to occupy restless toddlers on long plane rides.

Now that that's done… I guess it's time to stop procrastinating and start packing all of our clothes. So many clothes.

THIS POST WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY NEOSPORIN. I WAS NOT COMPENSATED FOR THIS POST, HOWEVER I DID RECIEVE A SAMPLE FOR MY REVIEW COURTESY OF INFLUENSTER. ALL OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE VERY MUCH MY OWN.

A Stay-At-Home Mom's Weekend Survival Kit

Did you have a long and relaxing holiday Memorial Day weekend? Maybe you are a stay at home mom like me and rejoiced in the fact that you would have an extra hand around to wrangle the little monsters children.

Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury. My dear husband ditched us and flew off to California for the weekend.

Okay. So, maybe he had my approval and maybe I pushed him out the door after the hundredth time he asked "Are you sure it's okay?". I mean, this is what I do for a living. I raise our girls. I'm with them 24/7, so I think I can handle one weekend without the extra hand.

Only, I was kind of dreading it. That week had been particularly hard with both kiddos waking up in the middle of the night and a toddler acting like she was, in fact, a toddler (you know what I mean moms). I really just wanted a weekend to sleep in and trust that my husband would care for the girls.

Turns out, my husband was feeling a little guilty about the weekend too and snuck around to plan an incredibly sweet survival kit for the weekend. Little does he know that I am now expecting this sweetness every time he leaves on a trip without us.

Everything was spot on with what we needed for the weekend. It actually kind of felt like we were on a mini-vacation and led to a much more relaxing weekend than I had anticipated. Preplanned meals are always a plus, especially if I don't have to plan and shop for the ingredients.

If you are leaving your spouse for the weekend, I highly suggest you take my husband's idea and leave a survival kit! Super easy to recreate and customize. Plus, you just might win spouse of the year for this thoughtful gift.

1. A Pre-planned meal with all of the ingredients ready to go. Sometimes it's just easier to function when you don't have to think about what's for dinner, especially when you are battling toddler tantrums and baby sleep regression. Just one pre-planned will make all of the chaos of the day seem like nothing. It's the little things that get you through the weekend.

2. Gift Cards. A few gift cards will make going out to eat feel more like a little treat for your spouse and the kids. Add a gift card just for mom (or dad) and you'll rack up major points. My husband got me a Lowes gift card because he knows how much I covet new power tools more than a new pair of jeans. Although, a Target gift card would have been fab too (for all you guys without a Lowes lover in your life).

3. Snacks. I'm not even a little embarrassed to admit that my kids had one meal that consisted solely of snacks. It was the weekend and sometimes you just have to throw all of the healthy meal rules out the window.

4. Bubbly. Not a necessity, but surely appreciated, a little adult beverage to help your spouse relax after a day spent entertaining your little ones.

Super easy and it doesn't even have to cost tons of money either.

Busy Bee + Design Updates

Between kiddos, house chores, and making endless future plans with everything, I can't seem to keep my blogging hat on long enough to form a proper post. This weekend was a great refresher. No big relaxing trip or reflection time, just quality time with my mom and little sister and watching my own two little ones grow their own little sister friendship.

A few hours walking around a local art festival was enough to inspire creativity and enliven passion. All while observing the world through little eyes. A sand pit becomes a castle construction site, a public piano becomes a grand piano on center stage, and climbing an art sculpture translates to conquering Mt. Kilimanjaro (which my mom actually did in real life a few months back).

And now a few fun blogs I've designed over the past couple of weeks. Check out these amazing ladies and their awesome blogs.

Abbey at Everyday Champagne has always let do as I please with her blog. She recently decided to branch off from solely food blogging to blogging more about fashion and beauty, so a subtle redesign was in order.

Laura from Sweet Cheeks Photography has a great eye for photography! She captures incredible moments in time during her everyday shenanigans with her two blonde haired cuties.

Sarah from The Baum Squad is a fellow momma with a hilarious daughter and a deliciously chunky baby boy (seriously, this kid puts my daughters' baby rolls to shame). She, like me, blogs about everyday life except she succeeds in her scheduling and consistency far better than I could ever even attempt.

let them be little | FREE PRINTABLE

Download HERE

My littlest little girl is about to turn one. It's been said a million times before, but I honestly cannot imagine how we lived without her light in our lives. While I love how much she's growing and showing me what a big girl she is, I just want time to stop for a moment and let my little girls be little.

a letter to my 25 year old self

Dear Quinn,

It might be hard for you to wrap your head around, but in 5 short years you’ll be a full time stay at home mom with a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Those two little ladies will bring you more joy and more worries than you ever thought possible. It sounds great, doesn’t it? You don’t have to go to work everyday! No more workplace drama and meaningless customer complaints. Just relaxing and playing with your kids everyday. Oh, man. I wish you knew…

Yes, watching your children learn and grow each day is incredible, but it is also a lot of work. Work that has no 15 minute coffee breaks or end of the day cocktail hours with coworkers. This will just be a different stage in your life, no better or worse than before, just different.

While I’m sure you are having a blast down in Alabama and your stubborn tendancies will not likely take any of this advice easily, I wish you knew...

Shopping is one of our favorite things to do. Finding that adorable new dress or perfect pair of trendy shoes brings us joy, but I wouldn’t waste your money on fancy things. Pretty soon, you’ll be comfortable reveling in the moment wearing one of your 4 or 5 go-to mommy uniforms. Something that isn’t necessarily trendy, but fits you and your style + is comfortable throughout the day and makes you look pulled together when you feel like a hot mess.

While we’re on the subject of wasting your money, lets talk a little bit about how much money you’re spending eating out. Birmingham surprisingly has some amazing cuisine, it’s true, but there is simply no need to eat out every single night. Trade that in for cooking at home the majority of the time. That condo kitchen may be tiny, but spend a little time in there and learn how to cook a few recipes until you are a master chef (or at least have a handful of recipes memorized). You’ll thank me in a few years when you suddenly realize that it 4 o’clock and you have yet to plan dinner. You will easily be able to pull from your catalog of tested recipes instead of reaching for that store bought pizza at the back of the freezer.

You're not going to want to hear this one, but I strongly encourage you to take a look at your bank account. You are making a lot of money (compared to the zero you’ll be making as a stay at home mom) and it doesn’t look like you’re saving much, if any. Why not skip the bars this weekend? The amount of money you’re spending on alcohol will shock you in 5 years! (Also, in 5 years you’ll get drunk off of just 2 glasses of wine and suffer a horrible hangover after 3.) You are probably thinking that you’ll have plenty of time to build up that nest egg and you’d rather have fun now, I wish you knew...

Here’s a thought. If you insist on wasting your money, waste it on something good. All of the money you’ve wasted on clothes + restaurants + bars in your early 20s could have paid for many trips off your bucket list. Waste your money on experiences now as those experiences will be much different when you have kids to consider. Then, when you look back on the days as a newlywed, you’ll think less of the wasted money and more about the experiences you shared with your new husband.

Money will not bring you happiness, but having a little cushion of it will bring you much comfort when you are not the only one you need to support. I know it’s hard to look towards the future now, during your first real moment of independence. I’ve been there, I know. I also know how stubborn you are and that you’ll probably decline this advice with a bit of know-it-all attitude, but I just wanted you to know.

In the end, it will all turn out alright. You and your husband will work through the hard bits and live a comfortable life (even if you’ll still be paying those student loans off until eternity!). In five years, everything will be different. Not better or worse, just different and you’ll love every bit of the journey (even the hard bits). Trust me, I know.

Sincerely,

Your 30 year old self

Where's my business trip?!

This entire week, I'm home alone with my girls. I'm totally fine with it and things have gone remarkably smooth until yesterday happened. The day started out great with a trip to the museum… and then it quickly got worse.  The 3 year old missed her daddy and got very upset when I told her that she was wrong, he would not be coming home tomorrow. You know the day is not going to get any better when you start seriously arguing with a 3 year… and it looks like your losing. Then the nearly 1 year old wouldn't leave my side like a monkey attached to the back of it's momma. Normally, I would mind her clingy tendencies, but things change a bit when your significant other isn't home to help with dinner or cleaning up.

The day ended with me attempting to put the baby down 3 times before she finally settled down in her crib. Oh, and the toddler. The toddler. Without warning, she burst into tears at dinner because I gave her yogurt. I thought it would be a nice treat, but it was daddy's yogurt and she suddenly remembered that he wasn't home. You may be wondering why I'm a single parent this week - Well, my husband is away at some fancy resort for a conference. Or so he says. I'm a bit skeptical because all he has talked about so far has been all of the fancy restaurant food he is eating. You know, the type of restaurants where you don't dare take kids.  This got me thinking - Where's the conference for stay at home moms? Sure, I could plan a trip, but I'd have to pay for that myself. I'm going to need a conference where I can get my hotel + meals funded fully. There's a grant for this type of thing, right? All of the stay at home moms could travel to some fancy resort to learn about being a stay at home mom during the day and sleep a full 8 hours at night + eat a meal without being rushed + shower in peace. Please tell me that this dream conference exists. If not, I'll have to plan it during my free time. Haha. Free time. We'll have lots of that during my conference. Who's with me?

Let Life Surprise You

It is a moment like this that makes all of the rough days of motherhood fade away. Yesterday, was one of those perfect days when nothing can bring you down.  We were all up early + I got lost on the way to get breakfast + the baby didn't take a morning nap + the house remained a mess… but it was an amazingly perfect day. Warm spring like weather in the middle of February kept us outside soaking up the sun all day and I found myself free of worries, just enjoying the moment. Somewhere along the journey into adulthood, I forgot to live for today. I often worry and stress over what tomorrow's schedule brings, carrying burdens that don't really have any merit instead of enjoying the life that is going on with or without my presence.  I strive to be more like these two little ladies living for the now and forgiving freely. We should all strive to be a little more present today. A little time outdoors (with the technology put away) can do a world of good, lift your spirits + rejuvenate your soul.  So, put down that smartphone and spend at least 15 minutes today really connecting with the people around you. Listen, really listen. Oh, and BE AWESOME TODAY.

Sick Days

Has sickness been going around your house? We are hanging on by a tissue over here. The only things that helped us get to Sunday were my mom (thanks for visiting Mommo) and bottomless cups of coffee. 
So, instead of watching the Super Bowl, we are hoarding kleenex and warming up by the humidifier while dreaming of a day when we can smell again (and sleep again). 
Surely, nobody will be checking in today, but if you happen to be reading this… any tips to help get baby over a cold? She is the only one that can't really take any of the congestion relief medicines. Poor thing.

Snowpocalypse!

Okay, it wasn't that dramatic here. Just a couple inches of snow and some fun with the kids. We so rarely get snow that I didn't even have snow gear for my (almost) 3 year old and the baby had to make do with rain boots that were a size too big. Maybe next year I'll break down and buy both girls some snow gear for our one-time-a-season snow event.

Winsley really enjoyed the snow for the first little bit. She kept taking off her mittens to touch the snow and try to eat it - that's my girl! Did anybody else ski down the mountain as a child, scooping up snow to eat on the way down? No? Just me, huh? Well, this is awkward…
No more awkward than this next picture though.

Sure, it's all fun and games until Daddy throws a snowball in your face. And then Mom stops to take a picture of your agony instead of rushing to comfort you.
Don't judge! You probably would have done the same thing (at least, that's what I'm telling myself). She was fine. The only way we got her to calm down was to let her throw a snowball at Daddy's face. Gotta be fair.
The snow has pretty much melted by now, but it was fun while it lasted.

How the Kiwi Crate saved my sanity!

My aunt did one amazing job with Christmas gifts this year. Seriously, her various gifts have been true sanity savers in the short time since Christmas. 

This month has been filled with rainy days and the bone chilling Polar Vortex. In mommyhood terms this means TOO MANY HOURS spent indoors. My bag of tricks is quite large, but even I was on the verge of a meltdown after spending too much time inside. That's when the Kiwi Crate from my Aunt Shelia that had been hidden away for a rainy day made it's appearance.

So thankful. Ellignton had the best time decorating the kaleidoscope with colored stickers. If you don't have a toddler, you should know that stickers are kind of a big deal in the land of toddlers. A seriously BIG deal.

The best part about it all - everything you need for each craft is in the box. No extra parts to buy. No searching around for markers to us. It's all included! If you need a gift for a toddler, just send them one of these Kiwi Crates. Bonus points if you sign them up for more than one box! Parents will love you forever.
Hours of fun were had and my sanity was restored. I even got these neat looking photos of the kaleidoscope images from my iPhone.

Who knew making this little craft would be so much fun for adults too?!
I was not paid or compensated in any way for this post, I just really like the product.

Surviving the Messiness of Motherhood

Sometimes you're just so tired + stressed + frustrated + on the verge of tears that the only thing that makes sense is laughter. This happens a lot in the messiness of motherhood.
Well, folks. It's one of those days today. We're right in the middle of the mess - literally.

Our 10 month old slept in her crib until 5am without waking up once (it's a miracle, angels are singing!). Of course, motherhood makes you a little crazy, so I hardly slept thinking of all of the reasons why she didn't wake up for her midnight feeding. When 5am rolled around, I just scooped her up and brought her back to bed with me…
An hour later. I wake up just in time to see my baby girl vomiting all over my husband and our bed. Talk about mess! I'll spare you the details.
I'm up! No alarm clock needed this morning. And now where's the coffee?
Need a little laughter after this messy post? Check out the links that have been making me laugh at motherhood lately:

• A Frustrated Mom's Hilarious take on Conflicting Baby Sleep Advice All of it. I love it! There are so many experts out there trying to push their opinions on you and it can get so confusing. This rant is the way that most parents feel about all this advice.
• These Sleepy Parents Rewrote the Lyrics to Lorde's 'Royals' Genius. And sadly true. At least I can now sing non sesame street song while on my way to my 4th cup of coffee.
• This Book! 'I Heart My Little A-Holes' Truthfully, I haven't read this book yet, but I love laughing over the many funny blog posts from the author.
• NickMom… wait, when did nickelodeon create a mom site? Who cares. However, it does scare me a little that all of these kid brands that I grew up with are now too old for kids.

Enjoy the laughs!

Crazy Like A Banana

Y'all, I want to introduce you to somebody incredible! She's my momma.

My girls call her Mommo and love her to pieces. I know, I know. Everybody thinks their mom is incredible and they're usually right. Moms in general are incredible. Not that Dads aren't also great, it's just that Moms tend to do things that far too often go unnoticed. After a while, you just kind of expect your mom to be there and do what she does.
Mommo is always there. Always. She is always the first to comment or 'like' one of my blog posts on Facebook. She was one of my first big Etsy orders and she would buy up a million tshirts if she thought it would help me succeed in my new job. And although I could fill up 10,000 post with ways my mom is an incredible mother + daughter + sister + grandmother, I'm not here to tell you that.
You see, she finally decided to do something a little crazy for herself. Right about now, she's on her way up to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Say WHAT?! Yes, you read that right. My mom, grandmother of 2 (4 if you count dog children), is hiking up the side of one of the highest and most famous mountains in the world. I get chills just thinking about it. 
I shouldn't be surprised by her adventurous attitude. She's always been a pretty incredible lady. 
Say a little prayer for this incredible woman and I'll try to talk her into guest posting about her African adventure when she gets back.
Oh, the title of this post? It's just a little something that Tanzanians say to answer the question "How are you?" Very fitting for Mommo. Here's a little freebie if you are loving this Swahili phrase too.

Download Images: Computer Screen | iPhone 

A Little Naptime Spa Day

Hi there, friends.
Are you shocked?! I'm making an appearance 3 days in a row. On a Saturday, no less. I know, I'm just as surprised as you are. I guess I've got a little bit of my blogging mojo back.
Some of this renewed blogging energy is probably due to my recent at-home spa day. I don't have a lot of free time away from the kiddos, so I fit my relaxation time in during the rare moments when both of my girls are napping at the same time.
One unusually warm day in December, this little miracle occurred. I found myself with two sleeping kids and a box full of goodies.

The perfect ingredients for a 30 minute Spa Day... because busy moms have to fit in their relaxation time between naptime and cleaning up the unbelievable mess that two girls under 3 can make.
A comfortable headband to keep the hair out of your mud mask, but goes with your mom uniform in case you forget to you have it in your hair. The aforementioned mud mask. I especially loved this one because it was more of a mud infused paper mask (all of the skin benefits without the mess).
Bonus points if you have time to paint your nails! I only had a chance to get one coat done before the littlest one woke up, but it looked great… for a few hours. Maybe I should have taken the time to add a top coat?
If you do remember to take the headband out of your hair, you can easily spritz it up with a little dry shampoo. We all know that it's probably been a week since your hair has seen real shampoo (only a fellow momma can truly understand what it's like to have no memory of when your last shower was). 
And no spa day is complete without a nutritious treat; however, I was not a big fan of this product. I usually find most SOYJOY snack to be quite delicious, but this one just didn't excite my taste buds. Disappointing, but at least I actually had time to try it during my naptime spa day.
What about you? Any mommas out there have a go to relaxation routine when naptime comes around?
This post was brought to you by Influenster. All opinions are always 100% my own.

Fresh Face Friday

In an effort to get unstuck, I'm shaking up my make up routine. I'm not one that makes a fuss over makeup, especially since having kids. Honestly, I usually stick to make up that I've used since high school. No, I don't have 10+ year old makeup - I just use the same brand / type of foundation that I've used for years whether it still works for me or not.
That's why I was thrilled to receive Rimmel London's Stay Matte foundation for review. I have never tried any of their products + I am eager to find a foundation that actually works for my skin and lifestyle, so this was a fun surprise.

I am not going to pretend to be a beauty blogger here. My review is pretty straight forward. I loved the coverage and it was really comfortable to wear 12+ hours… let me tell you a little secret- sometimes I am so tired at night that I don't wash my makeup off before going to bed. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone. 

There may have been a few days where I knew I wasn't going to see anybody all day, so I left on yesterday's makeup. Don't we all have those days though?

My favorite bonus to this makeup was that a little dab of the foundation covered my entire face AND there was really no need to add concealer because the foundation covered so well. This just might be my new foundation.

What are you doing to shake up your makeup routine?

This post was brought to you by Rimmel London #StayMatte. All opinions are 100% my own.

The Multitasking Momma

1. The insane ability to pick any object up with your feet.
2. Negotiating with terrorist toddlers under highly intense situations.
3. Knowing every single word to 100 kid songs and being able to sing them all at a moments notice.
4. Speaking of singing… Ability to turn any request into a song.
5. Ability to survive a week with ONE 3 minute shower and very little sleep.
6. Extremely good hearing.
7. Ability to creatively disguise vegetables in toddler meals.
8. Bilingual and most parents can also claim to be trilingual with most toys now offering a Spanish option. What? Toddlerease totally counts as a language.
9. Master scheduler! Even if your little one has not joined any activities or isn't "on a schedule", you are still responsible for daily naps + feedings on top of feeding yourself + shopping + cleaning etc.
10. The power to persuade… without a doubt, moms have mastered the power of persuasion. How else do you think a mom goes to the store without buying every toy in sight?!

Getting Unstuck

I want to run.  Just get out without a destination or a time limit. I've been feeling stuck lately. Stuck in my eating habits. Stuck in my routine. Stuck in the monotony of being a stay at home mom. Stuck in fears of failing with new ventures. Stuck in what seems like an endless stream of need-to-be-answered emails and a to do list that never gets done. Just stuck. And it's not fun. I just want to run away for a few hours and come back to a new day with no evidence of unaccomplished tasks or failures. An organized home. An empty inbox. A clean slate. Surely, many stay at home (or working) moms can sympathize with what I'm feeling. No matter how supportive or helpful your spouse tries to be, the housework and childcare mostly gets dropped into the mother's pile of things to do, to worry over. We (moms) put ourselves last and this train of thought is not easily undone.   I yearn for the day when I can feel less guilty about putting me first. Even typing it out makes me feel guilty and most of that guilt ties into judgement of others. This mom club that I put myself in can be a judgey bunch. I often can feel the judging eyes of other moms burning through my back as I say something or do something that they don't approve of… shouldn't we be sticking up for each other instead of reveling in other moms struggles? I sick of being stuck! I'm done with it. Just done.  It's time to break through from this ho-hum cycle and spread positivity in my little corner of the internets (and in real life too). If you 'stuck' with me this far (see what I did there), thanks for listening to me rant and feel free to speak up if you think I'm sinking back into a negative tone on this little blog. :)

Happy Monday!

Top Ten Tuesday | Dealing with an Difficult Boss

I've been having issues with my boss lately. I try so hard to get through the day without angering my boss, but it seems that I am always doing something wrong. Here are my tips for dealing with a easily angered boss.

1. Help out, but don't help too much.
2. Don't EVER look them in the eye.
3. No talking unless you have permission.
4. Whisper when talking to coworkers about the boss.
5. Download google translate to help you communicate with your boss… I still haven't found my boss' native language, but you just have to keep guessing until you get it right.
6. Start singing or tell a joke to try to diffuse the situation.
7. Hide away in the bathroom until your boss' anger subsides, if necessary.
8. Don't take anything personally.
9. Whenever possible, spell out words like I-C-E C-R-E-A-M and B-E-D-T-I-M-E.
10. When all else fails, give them a big hug and tell them you love them no matter what.

If you haven't figured it out by now, this is my boss…

… being the parent of a 2 year old can sometimes feel like you are under the rule of a tiny dictator, but then you realize that you are the one in control and laugh at these silly everyday dramas.

Doggonit

So, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything… life has gotten in the way once again. For the past month, my 6 month old seems to think that she should wake up every hour to play and practice standing. If it weren't for the gloriousness of a good cup of coffee (or five) and Winsley's late night giggles as she amazes herself with her new skills, I might have puled all of my hair out already. Winsley is a big trickster - It's hard to get frustrated with a little girl who smiles and giggles so much. Anywho, I'm back! Lots of updates to come, but for now I'll leave you with some cuteness from this past weekend.

We were dog sitting for my little sister and Ellington loved every minute of it. After the first few hours, she acted as if Birdie (the dog) had always lived with us. 

Winsley didn't really notice that Birdie was there most of the weekend. Whenever she did catch Birdie in her eyesight, she giggled and smiled like crazy.

Birdie was rescued from the local animal shelter and I don't think my sister could have found a better dog. She is the sweetest! And she could not have been more gentle around my girls. We spent lots of time outside and I just let her roam around with out a leash on most of the time… well, she didn't really roam. Birdie is the type of dog that would rather stay glued to your side than run off to explore.

Such a blessing to have this sweet little lady join our family for the weekend. I cannot image why anybody would have abandoned her at the shelter, but I'm glad that they did and she found a home with my sister. :)

Top Ten Tuesday | Happiness

Monday night was a rough one. An overtired toddler and a fully awake baby made for a tear-filled bedtime. Y'all, I'll be real. Monday was just one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days! Although I'm dreading the day ahead for fear of another awful day, I'm trying hard to be positive and start off on the right foot. So, I'm looking for the happy spots in my day. 

Happiness (to me) is. . . 

1. a good cup of coffee. One of those elusive cups of coffee that I get to enjoy in it's entirety without warming it back up in the microwave is especially nice. 
2. a toddler running down the hallway and yelling "It's wake up time, Mommy!" I would welcome an extra 5 minutes of sleep, but I do love her enthusiasm for the morning and I hope this means that I won't have to drag her out of bed when she starts school in the future. 
3. chubby baby faces. Who doesn't love fat babies (besides Lyle Lovett)?
4. coloring. My daughter much prefers taking the paper off of her crayons and then breaking them all to coloring in her coloring books, so I relax and use broken crayons to color while she's busy making a mess. 
5. taking a walk outside. With the distractions of today's technology, a nice walk through our neighborhood usually means peace and quiet. Bonus points for seeing our neighbors and starting a friendly conversation. 
6. the convenience of a digital camera. Sometimes, I hate technology. Then, the digital camera makes me fall in love with all of the simple advances we've made. Instant gratification at it's finest. 
7. having a dance party in the middle of the day. This tradition will continue until my daughters are aware that my dance skills should be an embarrassment. Until that day, I'll continue to rock out to the 90's greatest pop hits. 
8. seeing my girls bond as sisters. Having 2 sisters of my own, I know all about the instant friendship you gain with a sister. My girls love each other deeply already and my heart smile each time Ellington runs to comfort her crying sister or Winsley laughs hysterically at her big sister. 
9. seeing life's everyday miracles through the eyes of a child + learning something new each day. It's been a long time since I've stopped to think about the amazement of a plane flying in the sky or the simple task cooking dinner. My toddler is constantly questioning 'Why?' - which can be annoying until I pause and think. . . I don't know 'why'. 
10. hugs and kisses from two adorable little ladies all day long.

What brings you happiness everyday?

Linking up with Emily from Manhattan Emily for Top Ten Tuesdays today. 

Weekly Wishes | Running

Before I get into my wishes for this week, let me give a little update on last week's weekly wish. No, I didn't exactly accomplish this goal, but I did get a kid break that helped to recharge the batteries. My incredibly helpful mom took care of the girls for a few hours while I attended a bridal shower and continued to keep us all entertained on Saturday (even though she wasn't feeling 100%). I love my girls, but sometimes a few hours away from them can do amazing things for my energy levels.  I'm still sleep deprived, but it's getting better and I know that this will not last forever.  This week, my wish is to get running! John and I are both signing up to run an 8k in November, so I really need to jump on the workout train. The plan is to run three times a week without the kiddos. A little mommy break + workin' on my fitness = win win, right?  Gotta run - literally. :) Linking up again with The Nectar Collective's Weekly Wishes.