I realized the other day that I haven't actually announced our big news on the blog yet. I've announced on my Facebook and Instagram pages, so you've probably seen. But in case you aren't a social media person, but like to read my blog, I didn't want you to miss out on our big news! You may have noticed I had an extra plump belly in the photos of my last post where I shared about my favorite cleaning tools. That would be because I've got baby #2 growing inside there! We found out we were expecting the day before Thanksgiving. We felt we were both ready to have another little one, so we had Continue Reading
Twin Beach Gender Reveal Party
My sister-in-law is pregnant with twins and will be having them sometime in the next two months. We are all so excited for them! When I found out that she would be finding out the genders right around the time we would all be doing our family vacation in Florida, I kind of begged her to do a gender reveal party on the beach. In fact, I offered to plan the whole thing. Thankfully, she agreed to it! With the help of our other family members, we all threw a fantastic beach gender reveal party for twins! Photo by MindyAnna Photography Beach Gender Reveal Details I came up with a few gender Continue Reading
Best Children’s Books for Toddlers
I recently shared my toddler gift ideas, which included some big items and some great learning and creative toys. But one thing that wasn't on that list was books, and that's because I have enough favorite children's books for an entire blog post. If you love to read or you want your child to love to read (who doesn't?), this blog post is for you because these are the best children's books for toddlers. This list includes books we own and love. My daughter, Raylee loves books right now and will read them over and over. She loves when we read to her, but she loves flipping through them Continue Reading
20 Toddler Gift Ideas
A few people have asked me what Raylee would like for Christmas, and I've seen even more mamas asking what they should get their toddlers for Christmas. I do not have any difficulty coming up with toddler gift ideas for my little one. I have too many ideas, actually! So I created this toddler gift ideas list just for those of you who struggle in this area. This Christmas, Raylee will be 21 months old, just a few months short of two. She is a full toddler at this point. She loves books and learning and trying out all the things. Her vocabulary is expanding every day. So this list was created Continue Reading
No, I’m Not Ready for Baby #2.
I'm really quite surprised how often I have been asked about having another baby. The questions began really early, like when Raylee was still a newborn! By the time she was 1, it seemed most people expected us to begin trying again immediately. I'm sure that's not the case, but it was starting to feel that way! Of course, I don't mind when people really close to me ask these questions, but it does bother me when strangers or acquaintances mention it. For instance, just the other day the librarian told me I need to give Raylee a brother or sister. I know that's a normal thing to say to Continue Reading
Sunshine First Birthday Party
Wow, I can't believe I have a 1-year-old! Like I said in this post, her first birthday party was more for me than her. I did survive 9 months straight without sleeping through the night and kept all three of us alive, so a celebration was in order. We decided to do a sunshine first birthday theme because Raylee is "our little sunshine." Look at the name of my blog, how could I not use this theme? We had around 25 people come to celebrate with us, and it was a blast! I was afraid Raylee might be shy or fussy with so many people filling our house, but she was actually happy and smiley. I Continue Reading
Raylee’s First Birthday — Baby Update
My little spunky chick just turned one! Can you believe it? I am so glad that each month I remembered to take a photo and include all the milestones she hit. Gosh, they change so much so fast! If you want to see photos from her first six months of life -- check out this post. I used blankets that we received from people for each photo. Thank you to everyone who gave us a beautiful blanket, especially to those of you who made one! On the evening she turned seven months, Raylee started crawling! She had already been scooting like crazy and getting into a crawling position, but she finally Continue Reading
Sleep Training: Round 2 (The Ferber Method)
You may remember that I wrote a post about five months ago called What I Learned Through Sleep Training. In that post, I talk about how sleep training didn't work for us. At the time, that was true. I worked hard at it for weeks and weeks, and eventually I gave up because it was causing way too much stress for me. I found myself becoming depressed, so we stopped sleep training. But about three months later, Raylee was still waking several times a night, and although I wasn't depressed, I was definitely sleep deprived. We just couldn't take it anymore. We knew something had to change. That's Continue Reading
How I Survived the First Year of Motherhood
As I'm writing this, Raylee is around two weeks away from being a one-year-old. It seems like we were just getting the hang of life with a newborn, and now -- bam -- she's almost a toddler! The first year really went so fast. And it's got me reflecting a lot lately. I always thought it was a little silly to throw a big party for a one-year-old. It's not like they have any clue what's going on, and they won't remember the cake, presents, or decorations. What's the point? Well, can I tell you a secret? The birthday party I'm throwing for Raylee in a couple weeks is more of a party for me. It's Continue Reading
Taking Baby to the Beach: Two Items You Need
Like I said in my post about flying with a baby, Raylee had her first trip to Florida recently. That means she also had her first visit to the beach. Just like I was nervous about the airplane ride, I was also nervous about the beach visit. Taking baby to the beach seemed a little overwhelming. I imagined us carrying a thousand items out there and coming back covered in sand. I wasn't sure it would be all that fun. But thankfully, it was a success! Raylee loved the beach. She loved feeling the sand in her hands, and she only tried to eat it once. It was very fun getting to watch her examine Continue Reading
Tips for Flying with a Baby
Raylee recently had her very first flight. We went on vacation to Florida with Travis' family, and there was no way I was driving all the way there with her. She is terrible on car rides! But I was nervous about flying with a baby. What if she cries the whole time and everyone hates us? What if her poor little ears won't pop and she's in pain? I'm happy to report, though, that Raylee's first two airplane rides were successes. For the first flight, she was wide awake even though it was past her bedtime. There was just too much to see and touch and even taste! On the second flight back home, Continue Reading
What I Learned Through Sleep Training
When I was pregnant, people joked by saying things like, "Get sleep while you can!" At least I thought they were joking. They laughed when they said it. But it turns out, it wasn't much of a joke at all. I didn't think I could sleep well with a giant belly and bladder that needed emptied every two hours. But little did I know what was to come! You really don't get any sleep when you have a baby. The sleep deprivation is very, very real. Sadly. As far as I can tell, Raylee is just a really bad sleeper. At least I hope so. If this is normal, I might not want any more kids! Joking ... kind Continue Reading
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