Riley is 7 Months

Oh, how quickly the time seems to go by. My little man is growing and growing. He happens to be such a happy baby and makes being his momma an easy task. Here are some stats for Riley:

Age: 7 months

Stats: He weighs about 20 pounds. I think I put that last month but he was actually more like 18 1/2 pounds. I am not entirely sure about his current length but he is in size 12 month clothes!

Nicknames: We still mostly call him Riley. I've started saying Riley bug, little guy, and Payton loves to say "big guy" and "baby."

Milestones: Riley is rolling like crazy and knows how to maneuver himself to get wherever he wants to go. He also loves spitting and blowing bubbles. Bath time is still a favorite of his.

We have increased the foods that Riley is eating to include mashed potatos, carrots, green beans, crackers, and applesauce. He has also started using a sippy cup.

Sleeping is also going well. There have been many nights that Riley slept straight through. Other nights, he's typically only up once (hello 4am).

Favorite things: Riley loves putting anything he touches in to his mouth. Yep, straight to the mouth. He is also loving foods and trying new foods. This is very unlike his sister, who took a long time to warm up to foods.

Riley loves to laugh and smile. He seeks out his mama and sister and intently watches all they do. He thinks watching burpees is hilarious so his mom does them whenever she exercises.

Oh, how Riley loves having his feet massaged and his head rubbed. Both calm him and help put him to sleep. I find myself doing figure 8s across his head constantly before nap time.

Signature moves: I would say his most recognizable signature move is his biggest smile. The second someone makes eye contact with him, he just lights up. He will be seen banging his hands on everything (tables, windows, and bath water seem to be the favorite spots right now). He is getting to that stage where he wants whatever I have so I prepare that when I hold him, he's doing what I'm doing. Lastly, Riley gets really excited throughout his day and loves to squeal and flap his arms and legs in anticipation. Needless to say, Payton and I spend most of our day trying to get him excited.

Happy 7 months Riley! I can't believe we are now getting closer to the one year mark! We love you so much!

Our Valentine's Day Weekend

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! We didn't do much as we normally don't for this day. This is more of a day where we make sure to remind those we love how much they mean to us.

We spent the weekend with a full house! My mother, sister, and niece visited as well as my husband's parents. It was so good to see family. 

My sister actually came on a mission. She wanted to find her wedding dress for her marriage this fall and she was successful. It took several hours but she finally found her dream dress. Coincidentally, it was the first of hundreds of dresses she tried on. I wonder how often that happens?

 

We spent the rest of the weekend lounging and enjoying all of our guests. The only thing we really did Valentine's Day related was heart shaped pancakes. They were delicious by the way!

Can you believe this is about the only picture I have of such a good weekend? I decided to enjoy my moments instead of capturing them. Sometimes, I think we all need that. Putting away the phone is generally a good idea. 

I do have a very beautiful moment from this weekend that a picture would have never done justice to anyways. During the chaos of all the people at our house, I typically escaped to the bedroom to feed our son in quiet. He's at that age where he gets easily distracted so the silence helps greatly. My daughter decided to come, too, with her brother's water (we just introduced the sippy over this weekend). She sat with me on the bed and patted her brother's head while he fed. During times when he paused to look at her (and smile like crazy), she would offer him water. She's quite the helper. It was so sweet.

Monday rolled around in its typical fashion, relentless and fierce. The hubby went to work and both kids got up sick. I was feeling well until late this evening. What a way to start the week!

Happy Monday!

The Blizzard of 2016

Well, we survived the blizzard of 2016. Sure, we had a few bumps, like forgetting to put the mower with the blade in our garage and breaking our shovel, but we lived to tell the tale. That's what's important. We also didn't lose power, our sanity, or any sleep over the blizzard. Priorities, people. 

On a more serious note, we were really blessed not to lose our power. Some people did in this area, which can be scary in such cold conditions. That was a huge blessing for us.

Let me start by saying holy snow, batman. Payton had been watching and watching for snow for about a week before, basically as soon as the warnings were announced that we could get a blizzard. Once the snow was here, Payton didn't even know how to handle herself.

I naturally jumped in and kept the kids entertained. Snow ice cream anyone?

Sprinkles are a necessity with snow ice cream.

We also had snow for breakfast, hot cocoa for snack, stayed in pajamas all day, and baked chocolate chip cookies repeatedly. We turned our back patio into a sledding hill and spent both afternoons sledding the time away. I love snow days.

 

And the snow kept coming.

It was a blizzard indeed. The hubby got 2 days off work and we loved the extra time with him.

The cats were brought indoors, which was a huge hit with both kids, the adults, and the dogs. Seriously, it was a full house.

Although we are all back to our normal routine now, we are still seeing snow everywhere. I'm guessing it will be hanging around for awhile.

TGIF!

Toddler Hair

Someday down the road, after trying millions of hair care products, my toddler daughter may wonder what products will ever work for her. I thought it may be a good idea to post about what products we currently use to keep this mane tamed. One day, my child, I will be ready for your question on hair care.

Can I just say, I love this head of curls. Love, love, love. Seriously. Her hair just might honestly be a slight obsession of mine. Curls for days...

So what do we use? We keep it simple. We use Doterra essentials shampoo and conditioner in the bath. After getting her out of the tub, I spray It's a 10 miracle leave-in treatment and brush through her hair briefly with a pick. I finish with a small amount of Brocato curlinterrupted curl calming balm and scrunch her hair together as I apply.

About 1-2 times per month I put coconut oil in her hair and let it set for the entire bath, rinsing it out before I get Payton out of the tub. Her hair looks oily (and kind of gross) for a few days but then it looks extremely shiny and healthy after that.

We had a period of time where Payton's hair had pieces in the back that were extremely coarse and dry. The remedy we found for that was the coconut oil and limiting how often we wash her hair. Daily washing doesn't work well for our daughter so we try to space at least a day or two between hair washes.

So, that's it and it works for us. As a side note, we also have found we can't wash our daughter's skin every day either. She has had eczema since birth and every other day works best for her. We have found Dove sensitive skin soap to be right for her sensitive skin. We also have to stay away from scented lotions.

Keeping it simple and easy it what seems to work best for this mama. I can only keep up with so much! ;)

Happy Wednesday!

A Quick Recap of Our Week

This has been a hard week for me in so many ways. I don't even know where to begin. Our toddler has had many accidents recently, despite going months with no potty accidents. I think she's sick but can't quite decide what she has (a cold, an ear infection, something viral). Maybe she's just growing. It's really hard to know.

Payton also decided to take a nose dive out of her brother's crib this week while her father was getting her ready for bed. He was sent into a panic thinking he was going to have to take her to the ER for a broken leg. Luckily, that wasn't the case but she is bruised badly and has been sore.

As I watch Payton growing so much cognitively, I can't help but feel so sad about how my baby really isn't much of a baby any more. How does time go so fast? Why can't we go back and restart?

Along with mentally struggling this week, Riley decided to spend a bit more time awake at night. I also added to this problem by going to bed later at night than normal. I feel physically exhausted and mentally drained. Thank goodness it's the weekend.

Despite all of this, I still have so much to be thankful for and appreciative of:

These are the moments that make life so worth while. A good laugh at snack time, a snowflake party complete with fairy wings, a sleeping baby, finding a stick that reaches "high up to the sky," a happy baby, a cuddly toddler, and outside play. These events lifted my spirits this week and reminded me of the greater purpose I'm serving.

And, in case you're wondering, yes, that wild, curly hair absolutely matches her personality! Isn't it gorgeous though?

Have a great Saturday!

Toddler Tales

Payton keeps us entertained always. I mean always. There is rarely a dull moment with a toddler around. I thought I'd share a few of the fun moments she brings to our household.

She always wants a "tweet," which means a treat. Bribing her with a treat works in our favor at the time. Double bonus, she views almost all foods as treats, including fruit.

Where she used to get dressed as soon as she woke up, she now begs to stay in pajamas but add a "tutu." A tutu equals any skirt. 

Notice the pajama bottoms? At least she's half dressed. This fairy outfit is a huge hit with her as well as a pair of wings (she badly wants to fly), a Minnie Mouse and Cinderella costume, and her actual tutus. Please note that she is practicing running in this picture. She practices every day now. 

I can't control the hair. I seriously can't. It gets fixed many times a day but between rolling on the floor and jumping on couches it's constantly in a state of messiness.

You will regularly find us in the kitchen, where we love to bake as much as we love to eat. Payton constantly asks to help and spends most of her time as our helping sidekick. 

And this is what we get when I let her dress herself:

Headbands, sun hats, and "tutus" galore.

What's life without a little flair anyways?

The Beauty of Disney on a Thursday

With another snowstorm blowing through, we spent another day stuck indoors. I really wanted to shake things up but that can be hard after a long night of almost no sleep. I decided the best I could do was give in and turn on the tv. Sigh.

As I was scrolling through our dvr, I noticed we had Cinderella on there. Can I just say, I love a good Disney movie. Since Payton hadn't seen it yet, now was the perfect chance to introduce her. Payton, meet the wonderful world of Disney. Disney, meet the wonderful toddler, Payton. And, thus, their relationship begins.

I couldn't believe how sucked in she was. She danced through all of the songs. When Cinderella got her ball gown on, Payton ran to get her "tutu." 

She was just the sweetest to watch. As Cinderella lost her shoe, she went and grabbed her white shoes. She only put on one. Gosh, she picks up on so much these days.

Riley and I sure love to watch her and become a part of her world.

Isn't he so serious? He loves just taking us all in. Believe me, we keep him entertained.

So, another day is almost done for us and I just can't help but be thankful. Maybe being stuck indoors isn't that bad after all.

Happy Thursday!