So I posted on instagram a month of two ago but about my fire ladder and a few other of my fire safety items. I was surprised to see how many comments I got so I thought I'd put together some of our fire safety tips. Leo is now at the age where we understands dangerous situations so we have started talking about these important topics. I have quite a few little things to touch upon so I thought I'd do a 2 part blog post on our safety plans and tips we practice in our house and some things that I need to address as he gets older. With that let's talk about fire safety. 

I had been so pumped for Leo's Bug Birthday. I had literally been planning this birthday for months. As we watched the weather for the weekend of his birthday we saw a legit blizzard was coming 4-6 inches of snow and 30 mph winds. We decided to move the party to Sunday, still the weather didn't improve much, but we did have 7 little friends make it to celebrate with Leo. We had 17 kids that had RSVPed yes so needless to say ALOT of them were unable to attend. It is funny because my birthday is a week before and my Mom told me my 3rd birthday was also snowed out and only 1 friend was able to come to my party. I guess 3rd birthdays just don't go in our favor.

 Since I put in a lot of work I figured I'd share the birthday as a blog post. I think the key in doing at home birthdays for young kids (in the winter) is to have a lot of different activities for them to do. Despite the low attendance we had a blast and the next day Leo's cousins were able to finally get out of their driveway and they came over and we did all the activities again. So basically we got to have 2 parties so I think it was worth it! 

So this blog post is all about what I learned last week about being a Mom. Being a Mom is hard. I'm a stay at home mom and I can't tell you how much I still rely on HELP! For some reason there is a lot of guilt for me when it comes to asking for help especially from Jay.  This past week was more challenging than normal. Jay was on a 7 day in a row stretch at work, Leo was coming off being sick for a week, Monroe was starting to get sick, I was still not feeling better (I've been sick for a month), it was my birthday week, and we have a billion things on our calendar,  And I just needed help.  

Toddler meals are tough and the older Leo has gotten the more picky he has become. I'm showing off some of our favorite meals that doesn't require me to make 2 different things for dinner. What I've learned is that my toddler personally does better with deconstructed meals. So taking the same meal like spaghetti but separating the meatballs and noodles. I'll quickly go over a week of meals in our house for Leo and what he was having and what we were having. Lunches for us tend to be more peanut butter and jelly, hot dogs, pizza, and other freezer foods.  But for dinners I try and not let him have processed food and get him used to eating what we eat. 

First time Christmas pajamas family over here!! I begged Jay to do Christmas PJ's and he finally agreed to it. He said no onesies and not to make him look stupid.... I mean you have to have a bit of a sense of humor when the whole family is wearing the same PJ's. This is a Christmas tradition I hope we can continue for awhile... or at least until Leo tells us it isn't "cool" anymore. So I'm showing some of our jammies and giving you some ideas... you might still be able to order yours in time for Christmas. 

I may of gotten a little ahead of myself this year with the craft advent calendar. But this year I tried to do something really fun for Leo for Christmas. Each day instead of candy he gets a new "Christmas Activity". I tried to do all crafts then I realized that might be really hard so we had to add in some other activities like seeing Christmas Lights, Visiting Santa, and watching the movie Frozen and Polar Express (which is actually a terrifying movie for children). So I'm quickly highlighting a few of our favorite Christmas crafts and activities. 

Monroe is almost 3 months old.... where in the heck did the time go? It makes me so sad that we are kind of out of the newborn phase. Although I miss how little she was I am happy we are to the phase where we have 3 predictable naps and where she sleeps 12 hours straight with no nighttime wake ups! She has really been such an easy baby, she really only cries if she's hungry or in her car seat. With Leo we relied on a lot of movement and bouncing with her we really haven't had to do much. You just lay her down and she falls asleep. I tell Jay on a daily basis, "how did we get so lucky getting such an easy baby"... then he reminds me that she will get us back in her toddler and teenage years. So now this second time Mom is rounding up my all star newborn items that were key with both Leo and Monroe and a few things that I needed to get me through the first month. 

It is finally time to show you all Monroe's nursery. As I've talked about before I went ALL GIRL on this room! It was a bit overwhelming for me the first few days especially the purple paint but I do love how it turned out. I know one day the wallpaper will have to come down and she will ask to paint the tongue and groove white but until then we will relish all the colors and patterns.

Oh goodness here we go, today wanted to share with you my fears of it not just being Leo and I anymore. As we are expecting baby sister any day now. Staying home with Leo has been life's greatest blessing. Although at times it has seemed really hard it has been so worth it. We had Leo during Jay's final year of residency while living in Portland where we had no support system. Jay's hours were rough, the weather was terrible, and living in a duplex was challenging as I was constantly worried his cries would wake up our neighbors. There were trying days but they soon faded and the days continued to get better. Jay graduated and we moved back to the Tri-Cities where we have a huge support system. Jay worked less, Leo became easier, and most of all we had help. Leo is now 2.5 years old and despite his Dad working a lot less I still am solo parenting quite often. But I don't dread the days or nights anymore alone with him, I actually look forward to them as I love our time we have together. So with that being said this stay at home mama is having a hard time giving up all my one on one with my sweet little boy. Today I share those feelings and fears as I write a little letter to Leo. I am sure one day he will read this and be so embarrassed but I know I will love to look back at this and remember how I was feeling the days leading up to baby sisters arrival.

Can you guys believe it is back to school already? Summer always flies by and I swear having kids makes it fly by even faster. We headed to Columbia Center to do a little back to school shopping. Back to school shopping was so long ago for me but I remember how much I used to look forward to having that time with my Mom and browsing the stores. . I  loved it but I will say think it is even more fun as a parent. I had such a great time shopping for Leo and I can't wait to show you guys what I got.