• Coffee Dates,  Life

    Let’s Have Coffee | Vol. 14

    December 19, 2018

    It’s 4:53pm and I just made my second cup of coffee of the day. Probably not the greatest idea but I just love coffee so much that I hate skipping my second cup. 

    This is the first coffee date I’ve done since Shane was only one month old! He’s now 11 months old. That’s so crazy. 

    If we were having coffee, I’d mention how I have no idea where this past year has gone. I feel like I was in such a fog trying to figure out how to be a mom. I’m only now just sort of feeling like I’m coming out of the fog. 

    If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that we started sleep training Shane this past week because we literally had no choice. He started waking up in the night and not going back to sleep for hours. And it also used to take us anywhere from 20-60 mins of rocking at naps and bedtime. I was honestly starting to lose my mind. So we sleep trained and it’s going really well!

    If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that before I became a mom I had all of these ideas of what I thought I would or wouldn’t do as a mom and almost none of them are accurate, haha. I never in a million years thought I’d do the cry it out method, or give formula, or have a hard time putting my baby in the nursery at church. Motherhood is all encompassing and you can never know how you will react or what will be best for you or your baby until that time comes.

    If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I missed this place and I’m really glad that I’m starting to make time to be back here again. I can’t believe I’ve been sharing my life on here for 3.5 years now!

    If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I cannot wait for Christmas. It’s going to be so magical seeing it through the eyes of Shane this year. I can’t wait to give him his presents and see what our family got him too. It’s going to be so fun and special.

    If we were having coffee, I’d also admit to you that being a stay at home mom is so much harder and less glamorous than I ever thought it would be. I guess it’s easy to look at the mom bloggers on Instagram and assume that everything is going to be so fun and easy. I mean I truly don’t get how I ever thought it would like that lol. I do love staying home with Shane and getting to be there for everything as he grows, but having a lack of recognition has been a lot harder than I ever realized it would be.

    If we were having coffee, I’d say that I think that having my blog and Etsy shop now to work towards will help a lot with having something to work towards and being able to see actual growth. I’m excited for the future and to see where they both go.

    If we were having coffee, I’d ask you what you have been struggling with lately or are looking forward to. Can you relate to any of my feelings when it comes to being a mom? Please let me know in the comments. I love hearing from you guys! <3

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  • Baby,  Life

    Baby’s First Beach Day!

    September 18, 2018

    On Saturday we had our first family beach day! It was honestly so much fun. We are even debating on going back this weekend because we had so much fun. Not to mention we want to soak up all of the good weather before it starts getting too cold.

    We decided to leave around Shane’s first nap time so that hopefully he would sleep all of the way down. It was about a 1.5 hour drive to not too bad. This part of our trip was the only time we had a bump in the road. We had to stop for breakfast and the food store for lunch. My plan was to nurse Shane in the car after we ran those errands so that he would go right to sleep.

    Shane had other plans though, ha! He was way to distracted to nurse so after trying for a little while I just gave up and decided I would just have to stop on the way at a rest stop and nurse him then. So we left and this did not make Shane happy one bit. He had a breakdown because he was so tired and didn’t want to sleep. We had to pull off an exit on the highway and I had to nurse him in a random parking lot lol. He fell asleep right after and I put him in his car seat and off we went!

    He did end up sleeping all the way down though so that was great. We ended up getting there around noon, which wasn’t too bad. We decided to walk the boardwalk for a bit, then head to the beach.

    We spent most of our day on the beach and we got to put Shane’s toes in the water and sand and see how he liked it. He was having such a good time! It made Tommy and I so happy to see how much he was enjoying our favorite place.

    We even got him to take a nap on the beach, which was the cutest thing ever.

    After spending most of the day at the beach we decided to pack up and go for one last walk before leaving.

    We left around 6 and made it home by 7:45. It was such a fun little successful getaway. I’m so glad we had the time to do this as a family!

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  • Life

    Hello Is This Thing On? — Blogging Update

    September 13, 2018

    I don’t even know how to start this post! Yesterday I revamped my blog and realized that I have not really blogged much about anything other than pregnancy and having a baby in so long. Recently I’ve been thinking about this blog and have really been trying to decide what to do with it. At the very least I knew that I wanted to keep this blog up to continue documenting memories. I’ve just been debating about whether or not I’ve wanted to actually try to be more consistent or to just leave it here as a memory book.

    I’ve had a heart for blogging ever since I started back in 2015. This makes me really not want to give it up or to decide to only keep it as a memory book. Now that Shane is getting a little bit older, I have some more free time and I’d really like to devote some of it back into blogging.

    I’d like to better document our every day life and to connect with my readers a bit more. Also, I am thinking about renaming my blog so that it better represents my content. I’ve basically treated my blog as a lifestyle blog from the very beginning so I’d like to have a name that shows that. I still will be blogging about my faith too, but since that isn’t the only thing I blog about, I think a different name would be better suited.

    This post is all over the place, but that’s basically how my life is right now with an infant, haha! I’m also just still working out the details of this as well, but I wanted to write them down here in case anyone might still be reading this! 😉

    So to sum it all up, I want to be more consistent. I want to also have more intentionality here. I’m brainstorming some topics that I could write about more consistently and will be updating you guys along the way as I figure things out. I will definitely be continuing to write about Shane, my faith, and my marriage, but is there any topics that are interesting to you guys that you would like to see me write about? I’d love to hear from you!

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  • Life

    Currently, June 2018

    June 7, 2018

    Two blog posts in one week?! Who even am I? Things feel like they are starting to finally be easier and Shane has been napping for longer stretches so I’m truly hoping to be able to blog more consistently. Let’s see what we’ve been up to recently, shall we?

    There are affiliate links in this post.

    T R A V E L I N G

    We just came home from a week in Florida to visit my grandparents. It was the first time they met Shane and it was so special. It went pretty well, although it was quite exhausting traveling with a baby. The picture above is us in the airport. Having Shane in that carrier was awesome for navigating the airport. He did so great!

    G R I L L I N G

    We actually just got a grill for the first time this year and we have been using it a bunch. I’ve made this salad a couple of times recently and it is amazing. It’s perfect for lunches or sides for dinner. We’ve also been eating way too many cheeseburgers since the weather has warmed up. Definitely need to take a break from eating those for a while!

    E X P L O R I N G

    We just explored the Blue Springs State Park in Orange City, Florida. We also went there last year and had the most fun. The park is home to manatees during certain times of year. When we were in Florida last April we got the chance to boat with them (pictured above)! It was one of the coolest things. Unfortunately though this year it was too late in the season so we just walked around the park instead.

    P L A N T I N G

    We haven’t gotten to it yet, but I mentioned to Tommy that I’d like to plant a little garden in our front yard this year. If you have any tips for me, send them my way! I’ve never really planted a garden before but am looking forward to it this year.

    P L A Y I N G

    source

    Board games! While we were in Florida we picked up the games Risk and Scattergories and had a lot of fun playing those at my grandparents house. My favorite is definitely Risk. Definitely check that one out if you are looking for a new board game to play. It’s definitely pricey, but worth it in my opinion.

    So that’s a little bit of what we’ve been up to the past month. What have you been up to? I’d love to hear from you!

    Linking up with Anne and Owen.

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  • Baby,  Life

    Shane Thomas: Two Months

    April 2, 2018

    Hi friends. I’m here to finally recap Shane’s second month! We honestly fall more and more in love with him every day and can’t believe that God gave him to us. He’s such a blessing and is growing so fast!

    Size: At his two month appointment the doctor weighted him in at 10 lbs 1 oz, which was a bit weird because my scale at home said he was around 10 lbs 10 oz but that’s okay. He was also 22.125 inches long!

    We moved up to size 1 diapers this month and 0-3 month size clothes!

    Sleep: Sleep has gotten a little more consistent this month. He still sleeps about 4-5 hour stretches at a time. He only wakes up about once a night so I’m very thankful for that! Sometimes it’s a bit hard to get him down and occasionally he fights going back down in the middle of the night too but overall he’s a good sleeper!

    Naps also got better this month. We are starting to get into a little bit more of a routine and he definitely seems a lot more sleepy this month. His first few weeks I swear he never slept. He never even seemed tired – it was the most bizarre thing. But he now starts to act tired after being up for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours.

    Loves: Eating, his mama and dada, and meeting new people. He almost always gives the biggest smile to any new face he sees. It’s so cute.

    Hates: He honestly doesn’t hate much. He’s a very laid back baby. He does get cranky when he’s tired and he has to wait a couple of minutes to eat.

    Our first walk 🙂

    Milestones: Shane started smiling this month and it’s our new favorite thing. He is still super strong and is doing amazing at tummy time. He just growing so much and becoming even more alert with each passing day. We went on our first family walk this month too and that was so fun. Also, Shane took his first nap in his crib. I didn’t think I would be okay having him sleep in his room until he was much older but he sleeps so much better in his crib. I just use the monitor and check on him often. 🙂

    Personality: Shane has become a lot more laid back this month, like I mentioned earlier. He barely ever cries. He only started yelling if he’s hungry and wants to eat, and that’s about it haha.

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  • Baby,  Life

    Shane Thomas: One Month

    February 16, 2018

    Hi friends! Even though I’m a few days late with writing this post, I figured better late than never! I also have so many ideas for posts that I want to write but just have no time to write them now! I will get around to it eventually though. I’m still planning on sharing Shane’s nursery tour and my breastfeeding journey (so far). For today though let’s talk about how Shane’s been doing the past month.

    Size: At his one month appointment he was 8 lbs 7 ozs. He’s gained two pounds since his lowest weight. He is 21 1/2 inches long now. He’s starting to outgrow all of his newborn clothes and I just can’t believe it.

    Sleep: Shane is still not on any kind of strict schedule when it comes to sleep but for the most part he is doing really well with sleeping. He basically will sleep wherever we put him – and for that I am so grateful! He usually gives us about a 4 hour stretch at night which is glorious. A couple of nights he even went 5 hours!

    The past couple days he absolutely refused to sleep and that was really rough but today has already been much better so I’m hoping that was just a little phase. But like I said, he really is doing quite well with his sleep, especially at night!

    He also stays awake for much longer than most newborns I assume. Sometimes he stays up for 3-4 hours and will absolutely not sleep no matter what we try. He honestly doesn’t even seem tired when he does this. He was very alert even from the day he was born. Everyone kept mentioning that in the hospital so maybe that’s just normal for him.

    Loves: Shane is very much laid back but he does love to be bounced on a yoga ball, loves the car, and loves to be in motion.

    Hates: Waiting more than 1 second for food when he’s hungry!

    Month One Milestones: Shane’s umbilical cord fell off very fast, when he was only 3 days old. He had his first bath the next day, which he was skeptical about at first but warmed up to it very quickly.

    Shane got to meet his puppy for the first time when we came home from the hospital and she absolutely loved him! We had to teach her not to lick his face because every time she could get near him all she wanted to do was cover him in kisses. It was so cute.

    Shane also is super strong! At his one month appointment, his pediatrician put him on his belly and was amazed at how strong he already was! Even nurses in the hospital and my lactation consultant mentioned how strong he was so that’s been fun to see.

    His eyes are still dark gray, but I’m assuming they will eventually turn brown because both Tommy and I have brown eyes.

    After his first bath!

    Personality: He is already very strong-willed like his mama. When he wants something he will let you know very strongly and will not stop until he gets it!

    This little boy is seriously the light of our lives and we are so blessed to have him be apart of our family. I can’t wait for all the years to come and watching him grow!

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