Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Balancing It All

I was seriously blown away (and flattered!) by the responses to my recent poll for topics asking for a post on how I "balance it all." I prefer to keep my blog a positive little place full of our highlights, but there is definitely a lot that gets left on the cutting room floor! So let's take a deeper, honest dive into how we are currently balancing all the things in life...

WORK: On one of my hardest days at the office my working mama boss told me "You're a GREAT mom! You're a GREAT employee. But you will never be both on the same day! And that's okay!" TRUTH. So much truth to that. I am constantly struggling to balance being a good mom and a good employee. There are days I can't pick up my sick baby (who desperately wants mama) from daycare until after an important meeting. There are nights I race through dinner, bath and bedtimes just so I can return to work. There are days I cancel all of my meetings and get behind in projects to be home with sick kids. There are many mornings I'm late to work because I can't peel myself away from my babies at daycare drop off. There are conferences calls I can't pay attention to because I'm on the other line with a teacher reminding me for the third day in a row I've forgotten to bring diapers. In fact, Thomas was sent home twice last week in pink shorts he borrowed from a girl friend because I forgot backup clothes. I could go on...

*Side note: I also recently wrote a post on A Day in the Working Mama Life! This is still a pretty accurate picture of our daily routine!

COOKING: I love to cook! But when two starving toddlers come barreling through the door at 6 pm we usually have somewhere between 3-7 frantic minutes before epic meltdowns begin. So Matt and I scramble to thaw blueberries, nuke chicken fingers, rip the film off lunchables or dump a can of whatever I can find onto a plate. But hey, they always get organic milk! Ha! As for the adult meals, I honestly don't know what I would do without HelloFresh! We've been using this service for meals 3 times a week and on the other nights I usually whip up something easy like tacos, breakfast, cereal or Lean Cuisines.

BLOGGING: On a great week I like to write 3 posts, but as you've probably noticed there are many weeks that I can only scrap together a 5 on Friday! Blogging is my creative outlet and is a way for me to capture our family's day to day life, significant events, recipes and more. I normally blog during the kiddos' naps on Sundays or in bed at night. You probably also noticed that my blog is FULL of grammar and spelling errors because I'm usually exhausted by the time I sit down to a fresh page and a blinking cursor. Also, I want you all to know how much I love your comments on my posts. I do read them all and truly wish I was better at responding to them!

HUBBY TIME: You already know about the marriage commitment Matt and I made to spend more quality time together. Our marriage isn't perfect but we are happy and are always working to keep each other first! Some ways we make our marriage top priority: we try to connect at least once throughout the work day (even if only by text or email), we always give each other the first kiss (before the kids) when we meet at home after work, we save our dinner until after the kids go to bed to eat together without distractions, monthly date nights out, we love to leave notes or small surprises for each other, at home date nights in the backyard and more!

So there you have it! I may be balancing it all but it's definitely not pretty and we're doing the best we can! I could absolutely go into a full post with more details on any one of these areas so feel to leave me a comment if you have any questions!
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Monday, August 15, 2016

Weekend Rewind

Another great weekend!
Let's actually rewind back to Thursday. Caroline's teacher followed us home from school to watch the kiddos so Matt and I could sneak away for a few baseball innings. Matt is the sub-committee Chair for the Family Law Section of the Mecklenburg County Bar which hosted a fun social event at the game. We had a great time!
After the kiddos went to bed Matt and I had another at home date night. We grilled Jamaican jerk pork chops and sat on the back deck late into the night sipping cocktails, enjoying music, snacking on cheesecake and playing Bananagrams!
Saturday morning Caroline insisted on making her own breakfast. We raced Charlie up to the vet for a nasty hot spot infection. Oh, and Thomas lost a contact (that we later found in his car seat!!!!!)!
 Saturday afternoon we attended a pool party for Caroline's best gal pal/classmate/neighbor!
Caroline totally tricked mommy and daddy into each giving her a cupcake.
Back to the porch we went after the kiddos were in bed to eat dinner and play Skip-Bo.
Sunday morning we took Elmo and the kiddos out for bagels, ran all our usual errands, played outside and attended another one of Caroline's friend's birthday celebration! 
 
And that was a wrap on the weekend!
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Friday, August 12, 2016

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! Thank you all so much for your blog and post suggestions!!! I always enjoy hearing from my readers and am really excited about all of the ideas you gave me! Keep an eye out for some new posts coming your way! Also, I can't wait to check out your favorite blogs to my reader!!
one. Let's talk dinnertime, shall we? In our house dinnertime can be a bit of a battle with two toddlers. Unless it's takeout no matter what we cook for Caroline she takes two bites and exclaims she is "all done!" We've found that the dinner setting is key to our success. This includes changing up where and how we eat. It's like she gets distracted with excitement over something different and actually eats! So to switch things up at dinner we sometimes watch Sesame Street, some nights the kids are side by side in high chairs, sometimes they eat sitting on the counter top, sometimes outside, etc. etc. Most recently we added a The First Years Mickey Mouse Helping Hands Feeding Seat to our collection and let the kiddos take turns eating in it. And for some reason it's miraculous. Whichever mini doesn't get the chair gets to use our new Mickey feeding set and Mickey sippy cup!
 
Clearly it wasn't Caroline's night to sit in the Mickey Seat. Or Thomas's night to have the Mickey cup.
two. PSA for fellow mamas of picky toddlers: Annie's Pea B&J Pockets are a huuuuuge hit at our house and are a great way to trick your minis into eating some peas! FYI, I can only find them at Target.
three. If you haven't already tried Trader Joe's Avocado Oil you need to add it to your shopping list! I just picked up a bottle two weeks ago and it is hands down the best oil for cooking I've ever used. I am obsessed.

four. In non-food news, I have a question for you all. I need help with sunscreen! I am almost certain that I have a sun (or possibly an SPF) allergy. It only affects my face but anytime I apply sunscreen to my face it breaks out into an itchy rash that turns into blotchy redness and then dries out my face and flakes for weeks. So truthfully, I try not to even use sunscreen on my face (I know, I know!!!) and usually wear a hat instead for short bursts of sun exposure. However, the best sunscreen for EXTREMELY sensitive skin that I've used so far is Josie Maran's Moisturizer with SPF 47. I just ran out but before I reorder for Jamaica I wanted to check with the fellow sensitive skin ladies to see what y'all use. (And hopefully it's cheaper.)
Also sun related, I just ordered Heliocare after doing some research. I haven't tried this before but I'm excited to see if it helps reduce the nasty side effects to my face from sun exposure.
five. A few of you emailed me from Monday's post asking where Caroline's dress is from. It's from Old Navy and we have it in two colors (navy and light red)! The back is SUPER cute too. Currently on sale for $13 but is only left in warm stripe (pictured above).

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Wanna join April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...
1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).
2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 
3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!
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