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. 

Life is always so crazy in the summer. We are now home and settled from a great vacation at Priest Lake. More on that in a little bit. But I just thought I'd update you all on a few things that have been going on in our lives as well as this pregnancy. We are getting close to having the new baby less than 7 weeks. Jay has added a new job, as if we weren't busy enough. Ha ha! He is now working a few days a month at Tri-Cities Regenerative Institute. It is very different from his ER gig, but he is really enjoying it. It is awesome that this is now being offered in Tri-Cities, they do stem cell injections as well as Platelet Rich Plasma injections for injuries and cosmetic reasons. Once I have this baby I'm dying to go have a vampire facial!! You guys should check out their website HERE. 

Welp this isn't your typical Nordstrom anniversary sale blog post today. I did add some wrap dresses currently on sale for the Nordstrom sale and I also added a few things I bought. I wasn't planning on doing too much shopping  this year but I ended up finding more than I excepted to! But this blog post isn't about that, it is all about the wrap dress. I love the rise of the wrap dress this past few seasons, I can't believe the wrap dress was only invented in 1974 by Diane von Furstenberg. Diane knew what she was doing because this dress is so flattering and versatile. I think the wrap dress truly compliments most body types and works great with pregnancy. This dress isn't a maternity but as you can see you can wear this dress pregnant or not!