Keepin it real.. What am I doing??

This beautiful human being gives me a run for my money. He can be the most loving, endearing, behaved, thoughtful, polite little guy and in the same day turn and be a destructive, mean, disobedient, out of control boy. For some reason I thought that life would get easier as a mom after he turned 3; I thought he would only get easier as he gets older and figures out how to communicate.... um... ha! 

I'm just keeping it real today... being a mom to a 3 year old boy can be absolutely exhausting emotionally and physically (but mainly emotionally). 

Honestly I have no idea what I'm doing sometimes. I will go to bed some nights and think about our day and go to sleep wondering if I'm doing this all wrong. Does anyone else ever feel that way?

 I ask myself... what if I am disciplining him too hard? what if I am disciplining him to little? what if I am saying "no" to much? what if I am killing his spirit?

 I honestly feel like in the last 3-4 months this job as a mom just got a whole lot more serious. I'm trying not to make it serious but I feel this new weight. I think it's the weight of knowing that my precious Sawyer baby is not a baby anymore and is quickly turning into a little boy. I ache for his heart to know Jesus and I ache for his heart to have a spirit of thankfulness, gentleness, kindness, patience and overall love for other people. As hard as you try you can NOT control a 3 year old but my prayer is that I will protectively guide him toward the cross and discipline him in a way that shows him LOVE and doesn't damper his spirit. 

I talked to a mom the other day who has 4 teenagers at home and I  I asked her if she had any advice for stay at home mom's with toddlers and babies at home.. She told us.. "You are in your hardest years of parenting! Whatever you do focus on the heart of your child and remember that behaviors will phase out but his heart will always be the center of who he is." 

I find that statement helpful in two ways. One being I want to focus on his heart with our disciplining but also I want to always remember who Sawyer truly is. He may test the waters and he may want to act out when he feels like he's not getting attention but I want to remember who he is in his heart of hearts. I know that he is a tender soul with a heart that loves people. I know that even though he kicks his baby sister sometimes that he does truly love her and his behavior is showing me that he is crying out for attention from us. I know that he has a desire to please others and please us. I love who Sawyer is. I love his heart to pieces. I may not have the first clue how to child rear but I do know my son is a precious spirit that God has graciously blessed me with and I just know that God has His hand on his life. 

So I think as mamas we all need to take a deep breath and let the little things go and focus on how awesome their little hearts are. Focus on saying "Yes" to them more than "No" and focus on spending intentional time with them filling their precious souls. If you have it figured out please let me know your secrets but if you are like a lot of mamas including me that feel lost in this process of parenting I think we should just all remind one another that we are doing JUST FINE and that these kiddos will end up being JUST FINE! 

Happy Friday! Enjoy your families!  

Summer Catch up Part 1

Before vacation we had many fun summer days that I never posted about. We had playdates, pool days, spent many hours outside soaking up the sun. I have dragged both kiddos shopping a few times, we have played games when it's too hot to play outside, we spent an entire afternoon with our old beloved dog Emma and most importantly we have a new niece, Anna Kate Warnock! I am still waiting to meet the doll baby in person but we have facetimed a few times to get our baby fill and can't wait to see Brooke and the babies in a couple weeks. 

So instead of explaining every picture I thought I'd just do an overview and then let you enjoy the cute pics! 

More catch up to come, don't worry! 

Happy Thursday! 

8 months

This is obviously a little late. She turned 8 months on the 17th but we were out of town and then she has been sick so I haven't had time to take her pic or even think about writing blog posts. But here we are finally.
 More has happened between month 7 to 8 than I can even believe. She has gone from a non crawling baby to crawling anywhere her heart desires. She has gone from a barely talking to jabbering away. She has gone from a non stander to a sturdy stander who stands up on EVERYTHING.  I feel like her little personality grew up this month. She is so fun.


- When she is not sick she sleeps 12-13 hours straight now. Sometimes she'll wake up around 6-7 and then I'll take her a bottle in her bed and she'll suck it down and go right back to sleep until 8:00 or 8:30. She usually goes down around 7:30-8:00. Still takes two naps one in the morning and afternoon that are both around 2 hours each.


- She is crawling everywhere into every room. Sometimes I lose the child b/c she will independently explore. Talk about life changing! My job is officially constant now. I call her my little puppy dog b/c she will quietly crawl toward me and nuzzle her head at my legs until I pick her up. I think it's the sweetest thing ever.


- She stands up on everything. Pulls herself up now on whatever she can find that is her height.


- She loves, loves, loves eating. She has really chunked up in the last two months b/c of solids. there has not been one thing that she hasn't liked. She still takes 4-5 bottles a day that are 6 ounces.


- She still wears 12-18 month clothes and some 18 month clothes. Big girl!


- She has a new dance move that she does anytime we sing to her  or when her toys play music or when yo gabba gabba is on. She flails her arm and bounces up and down and tries to sing along. She also has learned how to clap her hands to patty cake patty cake.


- When Andrew gets home she says Dada and crawls right to him. (of course it wasn't mama that she said first!). She says baba for bottle and that is about all she says besides random jabber.


- Still loves her infant seat and I actually dread the day we have to get a big seat. She is so happy on all our car trips and even still sits in it when we go to restaurants and shopping (Even though it's 100 pounds now). So different from her brother.


- The only time this girl cuddles is when she is sick or when Yo Gabba Gabba is on. If we need a still Brooklyn for a moment I can definitely use Yo Gabba Gabba and it will catch her attention.


She is such a joy to be around and we love seeing how much she enjoys life. She is such a light in our family. Brooklyn we love you so much and love watching you grow and learn every day. You are one sweet girl!


Happy 8 months! Stop growing now please ;)

Back from Paradise

I know, I know, I know... I have been absent all month basically! For good reasons, I promise! One being something I have to share later and second being that I was gone on vacation all last week! 


We went to Vero Beach, Florida for a week with out kids and with two of our close couple friends. We had THE BEST TIME! My generous and gracious aunt has a gorgeous condo on the beach and she so sweetly let us stay in the most amazing place I have ever stayed. She is a incredibly talented designer so of course every inch of the condo was eye candy and the view was INCREDIBLE... 


We went with two couples that we have been best friends with for as long as I can remember and it made for a fun, comfortable trip. We laughed constantly (Mainly because our husbands keep us rolling) and we truly enjoyed our time together. 


We left the kiddos with both of our parents and everything was going perfect until my mom called me about Brooklyn. She got super sick while we were gone and even had to to the hospital for a day. She has croup and then it turned into pneumonia and she was one sick little girl. My poor mom and mother in law! We came home last Thursday to a very pitiful baby girl and are still nursing her back to health after 9 days of this junk, three doctor visits and 2 hospital visits. So... I definitely was back to reality fast after our dreamy vacation.. 


But the trip was amazing and I wouldn't have traded that break and time with friends for anything. I feel like a refreshed mama and person.. 
Here are some pics of our fun trip!

 The awesome rental we had all week! Ha!

 This is just a taste of how gorgeous this place was. 

 Where we spent most of the trip.. It was a gorgeous pool that we basically had all to ourselves right on the beach. 

 Love these girls so much. 

The only other downer of the trip was that after the second day my hubby could literally not walk on the beach b/c of this! He got blisters the first day running in horrible shoes and his feet got torn up.  

 The waves were HUGE the entire time we were there. This pic was after one took us under unexpectedly. 

 I know this is blurry but this was our own private elevator that took us to the condo. We felt like celebrities. ;)

So I am officially back to reality and back to blogging! I have so much to catch yall up on that you might get sick of me now. ;)


Happy Tuesday! 

Yummy Monday: Paleo recipe roundup

Here are a few recipes that we have enjoyed. I have made these all multiple times b/c they are scrumptious! 

This is a great healthy dinner... 

Chicken and Brussels Sprouts

Recipe HERE

 These muffins are awesome and if you want to make them more like a dessert muffin just add some carob chips or dark chocolate chips. I actually just took some out of the oven. 

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Recipe HERE

Andrew claims this is the best chicken salad he's ever had. I don't know about that but it's a great Paleo chicken salad. I made my own mayo to use with this, the recipe is HERE. 

Paleo Chicken Salad

RECIPE HERE

Sorry for my lack of posts! I have had a big project over the last few weeks. I will share about it soon. Hope you all are doing good! 

Happy Yummy Monday! 

Yummy Monday: Easy One Pot Meal

I made this recipe up a couple weeks ago when we were running low on groceries at the end of a week. Andrew said that it has been one of his favorite meals that I've done in the last few weeks. We have quickly made this a once a week meal b/c it's sooooo easy and takes no time to prepare.

Baked Chicken Drumsticks and Veggies

- 5-6 Chicken Drumsticks

- 2-3 cups mixed veggies (We used frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower)

- 1/2 onion chopped

- 1/4 cup chicken broth

- 1/4 coconut milk

- Seasonings of your choice.. I used lawndry's to coat the chicken and salt and pepper and garlic powder for the veggies. 

Place frozen veggies and onions in the bottom of a medium size pyrex pan. Season veggies to taste. Place Chicken on top of the veggies and season the chicken drumsticks on all sides. 

Pour the coconut milk and chicken broth in the dish and cover with a Pyrex lid. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and then take off lid and let bake for 15 more minutes. Make sure chicken is cooked through and take out, drain some of the liquid and enjoy! 

This one is healthy, tasty and super easy! 
Happy Yummy Monday!