We all have at least one of those days...

Hey there friends. I would like to take a quick moment to do a mini victory dance in honor of the fact that it is Wednesday and that I am posting on my scheduled blog day :) yay me! Sorry sometimes I have to celebrate the little things to remind myself that I did accomplish at least something semi productive... Especially on days that I can't find motivation and just can't seem to get anything done... 

 Today I woke up with the very best intentions to tidy my house do the dishes, vacuum, finish a load if laundry, and even invite a friend over but wouldn't you know it my first trimester hormones dictated it was a movie day in pjs with zero productivity and barely keeping my eyes open! So with all the best intentions to tidy and tackle my to do list I found myself with a headache and extreme fatigue ultimately deciding pregnancy wins today! Other than feeding the kiddos and only accomplishing the absolute necessary tasks that come with caring for toddlers and taking my prenatal vitamins zip, nada, zilch, and not a thing got done and you know that is ok... I'm having an off day and off days are allowed sometimes as mamas we put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to get it all done even when it means pushing through pain, sickness, and overall blech! I don't know about y'all but that is overly exhausting and when we put ourselves at risk we put our family in a difficult position. My mama always reminds me that if I don't take care of myself I won't be well enough to care for my little MnMs! It's a balancing act and while we still do need to care for our kiddos (especially being a stay home mama) is it really necessary to work ourselves into the ground to finish that laundry when we feel like dog poo that got stepped in by a giant wearing steel toed combat cleats (it could happen)!? I truly don't believe its necessary to drive ourselves into the ground just to finish a couple chores... we know our own personal limitations and we know when we just.. can't so listen to yourself! It's ok to take a break and have a pj movie day with your littles! It's really ok to go to bed early so you can recover from a rough day and in my opinion it's ok to order takeout for the fam when you really just can't even see or smell raw meat without retasting every meal you've eaten since the third grade!  :-/ ugh thanks again first trimester symptoms for being awesome, and by awesome I mean so NOT awesome! Urgh! But while preggo symptoms just kick some serious rocks at times, pregnancy is absolutely worth it when we hold our babies for that first beautiful moment of their life! And I can't wait to hold our precious miracle in my arms and remind myself just how worth it the first, second, and third trimester really are! :) 

... anyhow y'all it's really ok to have rough days but remember that it's just a rough day not a rough life it's only one day you can't let it get ya down forever. I am probably going to make a few more trips to the ladies room before the night is over but in the mean time I am going to snuggle under my blankets next to my MnMs and watch the Brave Little Toaster and sip gingerale with a cold compress on my neck. Haha I'm going to enjoy spending time with my littles and get those cherished snuggles while I can and then I am going to tuck them into bed after supper and bathtime and rejoice that I made it through another day tuck myself in bed and hopefully zonk a bit early! Hope y'all have a wonderful Wednesday with your loved ones and remember that it's ok to slow down every once in a while :) 

Much polkadot love and very tired hugs... Shannon :) 

Ps... Bumpdate: we are 11 weeks and a day :) picture update later sorry dumb smart phone :) haha 

SAHM - My new Wifestyle and adventures in Mommyhood!

Good evening, everyone! I write to you as our long weekend together comes to and end, and man is it a gorgeous evening! :) It has been a great weekend, but this past week has been pivotal for our family. 

First, I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day and weekend! If you haven't already, be sure to take a minute and thank a member of the armed services for their time, sacrifice and commitment to our country. Let us also remember to thank their families! Sometimes we forget about the mothers, wives, husbands, and children at home waiting and sacrificing all the same. 

Moving on...  

During our travels to and from New Mexico, MH and I really sat down and talked about whether or not I should continue working. We always knew that we would like for me to stay home with baby C, but it was all a matter of figuring out when it would be the right time. Long story short, everything happened much more quickly than MH and I had planned for several reasons, but last Monday ended up being my last day and I am proud to announce that I am now officially a SAHM - stay at home mommy! :D I honestly couldn't be happier! Since being home, I have been able to accomplish so much at home. I feel like I have a much better handle on our finances, our home, and C's schedule. 

In the adventures of mommyhood, I - well, we - started crib training C last week. That first night was really hard, even though C did really well! After rocking him and laying him down in his crib, I walked out of the nursery and cried a few proud, bittersweet tears as I watched my baby boy on the video monitor. I can't believe how he is growing up! I am such a proud mommy, though! We had two kind of rough nights when C fought, but he has taken to his crib beautifully and had slept great! All but one night in the last week, he has woken only once! Last night, he woke up (technically) 3 times, so that was a little rough; but his schedule was a bit off, so I can't blame him too much. 

In the way of my wifestyle, I have found that I really do enjoy making this house a home for my family and taking that stress off of my husband. I enjoy being able to have him come home to a clean house and dinner waiting! It just puts a huge smile on my face to know that as the provider for our family, MH has less stress when he gets home. It truly means the world to me! Over the weekend though, we busted our humps! We had some time with family on Saturday afternoon and then worked in the yard all day yesterday. MH got the lawn mowed a fertilised, during which I trimmed the trees and weeded and trimmed the garden... It's a pre-existing garden and I'm hoping to learn a little something about gardening so that I can do some transplanting before it gets too hot outside. I did used to do quite a bit of gardening with my mom growing up, but I haven't done it myself at all. In fact, I've never really been able to keep much alive. I killed a cactus. Worse than that, I killed a bamboo plant. :/ I'm still gonna give it a try though! :) Anyway, our last project was building Rue puppy a dog run! We got it put up on the side of the house and she seems to be seriously loving her "mini yard"! We were absolutely exhausted by the time we finished and so was baby C! Sitting in his stroller and watching to make sure we did it all right was very tiring! ;) The good thing is that we got our day started fairly early, so we finished early enough to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening watching movies and having family time. It was a good day. 

Today, MH got to stay home with us and other than just doing regular chores, we pretty much just had more time together; and this evening, we went to have a little "picnic" with the in-laws, as a bunch of them just got back from a beautiful vacation in Mexico! It was great to see them all! One cousin is getting ready to get married and another is getting ready to welcome a baby boy (their second) this August! That's two babies and four Weddings this year for our family! Then of course, we will have C's first birthday, but that's still a ways away! - thank goodness. ;) 

Coming up, I have some projects that I have in mind, and I am excited to share them with you all! My first one is experimenting with cloth wipes to add to our cloth diapers! This week, we are also getting ready to start C on purées! I'm excited to start making them and I can't wait to see C's reactions as he starts discovering foods! :) I will keep you all updated with these upcoming adventures for sure! I know this is kind of a short post, but I will make up for it next week. I have this nasty dry cough from allergies, so laryngitis is inching it's way in and trying to take over. Therefore, I am a bit extra tired. 

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful, beautiful week! 

Zebra love and hugs! 

Ashley 

The decision!

Hey all! Kailly here!

Hope you are all having a beautiful weekend. Memorial Day is such a special weekend. It isn't about the barbecues or the extra time off, but about those serving for our country. Those that have served and lost their lives. And, to me, it's about those risking their lives for our freedom past, present and future. Love this country and our military!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've made a decision about blogging. I'm going to take a month off. As much as I love to blog, our family is so busy right now. N is turning one in two weeks, and we will have family in town. Then the three of us are in a wedding two weeks later, so adding in all the showers, parties and wedding fun, we are jam packed! So, for the month I will likely be silent. Ill pop on if I can and will continue to share the girls posts!

Ill miss you all! See you in a month once the busy days subside a bit :)

Love,
Kailly

Yep my pregnant brain...

Hey y'all it's Shannon! So basically I lack brain cells on a normal basis being preggo for sure doesn't add any new ones to aid my can't-ever-think-itis! Once again I have forgotten to post on my newly scheduled blog day sorry folks. So here it is a short and simple blog update for y'all. 

Attention Bumpdate Edition: Baby News!! 

Well officially I am 10 weeks and a day preggers! My littlest little is about the size of a prune now and as seen on our first ultrasound quite the wiggly, active little sea monkey :) cravings include hot dogs with relish, CHINESE FOOD!! Fruit and chocolate, peanut butter and celery and cheese cubes , and veggies and ranch! :) I am feeling more and more rotund each day even though little sea monkey isn't taking up a whole bunch of my belly real estate yet... Wonder why that is?! But hey so long as baby #3 is happy and healthy I'm content to gain the weight for baby! :) we still do not yet know if we are team pink or team blue this go round but we shall see. What do y'all think pink and bows or blue and bow ties? :) 

Hmmm what else is new... Oh yea I chopped off my hair. I've been wanting to for awhile but have never been able to muster the courage to go under the scissors ;) but the Texas heat and my pregnant must simplify everything instincts gave me the final shove toward the salon chair! :) and I gotta say I am absolutely loving my new do too! It's easier to wash and wear ;) saving money on shampoo and conditioner and brushing my hair and styling is a snap! :) 

What else is new?? 

The MnMs helping mommy run errands and yes this picture is in Walmart haha...

The littles have been super helpful cleaning house and gettin things ready for Daddy to get home finally after what feels like forever, we get to have our most favorite fella home with us!! YAY!!! We are all super excited! I should have a few project blogs to share with y'all as I have big plans to reorganize my linen closet, garage, and our master bedroom so hopefully updates coming soon! (And maybe even on my scheduled blog day haha... Sorry y'all).  :) anyhow I hope y'all are having a great week and that y'all enjoy your weekend!! 

Sending you big preggers hugs and as ever lots of extra polka dot love... Shannon :) 

C's first time out of state!

Hello, all! Ashley coming to you a bit late this Monday evening! Sorry about that, by the way. I thought that this week, I would just give you a bit of an update on our little family. Next week, I will write about more "mommy-central" stuff, and I hope to share with you a bit about my chronic conditions, but we have been quite the busy little family these last two weeks. 

You all may remember that we went to a Wedding where MH fell and hurt himself pretty badly. As it turns out, he did break three ribs. He went to his doc for a follow-up once we were home and settled a bit, because the amount of pain he was in was just increasingly intense. Seeing him in so much pain is very upsetting... Especially when he gets hiccups. 

Anyway... This last weekend, we got to go to New Mexico for a cousin's graduation from high school and we are all so proud of her! For those of you who don't know, we live in this little town WAY south west in Colorado, that we may as well be a part of New Mexico. It was a 6 hour drive that took us about 7 1/2 going there and 8 coming back. Baby C did SO well! As well as one could expect a 5-month-old to do. The whole trip was a new kind of challenge. I packed every single one of C's cloth diapers, bringing disposables along just to be safe, and made sure to bring plenty of wipes. I also brought along his wet bag and Nappy bucket, so we didn't end up with a grocery sack full of stinky diapers. On our last trip, I had time to toss diapers into my parents' washer before we left, which mostly helped me for when we got back. But this time, I knew there just wouldn't be that kind of time, nor the means, necessarily. I'm betting the hotel we stayed at had a washer, but we really weren't there very much, so I honestly didn't even check. This time, I really thought everything through before I packed it. I packed all of C's diapers into his diaper bag, and more than enough clothes into a small suitcase for him. I separated out his plain white onesies, coloured/patterned onesies, pajamas, and pants. Of course I brought socks and shoes, but he didn't really need his socks with how hot it was. It the front pocket of his suitcase, I packed disposables, with a big package of wipes. I also packed his little Batman backpack to keep close by in the car with his "traveling diapers", back up wipes, and two extra onesies and an extra pair of pants. His favourite toys (giraffe, teething book, rattle, and truck) also went in the Batman backpack, as did his eczema cream and baby sunscreen. Since C was with me the whole time, I found no reason to bring bottles, but packed my pump (manual), freezer bags, and a bottle cooler with an ice pack. MH and I got our shared duffle bag and the toiletry bag, and then we (of course) brought the pack 'n' play and C's bumbo just in case. 

Again, baby C did so well! He slept most of the ride, though he did appreciate company and entertainment when he was awake. I drove the whole way down there so that MH could sit comfortably, so he ended up on baby entertainment duty.  When we got into town, we went over to MH's aunt and uncle's house and joined them for dinner. When we finally got to the hotel, C was absolutely exhausted and slept the whole night! He only woke up at 5:00 am and then let us sleep a little bit more until we needed to get up to get ready for breakfast and then graduation. All through the graduation ceremony, C was amazing! He didn't make a peep! He only got mad when he had soaked through his diaper and pants and we didn't notice, because he had been napping in his car seat. After that, he got sleepy, and therefore a bit cranky. But I was able to snuggle him and he fell asleep even in the middle of quite a bit of noise! I was (and still am) so proud! :) Saturday night, he didn't sleep nearly as well, because he ended up napping on and off all day, but never got a full nap. He did, however, allow me to go with MH, his dad, cousins, and brother and sister-in-law to the first movie I had been to in theatres in over a year! That was so nice of him, and it was so sweet of MH's grandma to baby sit! Though, from what I hear, it was MH's Aunt M, who snuggled the little man to sleep. :)

^C got sleepy at the graduation party and crashed in his stroller! I moved our little winter baby inside fairly shortly... He was soaked in sweat! Lol

Anyway... All in all it was a great trip! We are so excited for cousin E and so proud of her! She even graduated with Honors and as part of NHS! :) We're even more excited because she decided to go to school where MH and I met, which is one town over! Woohoo!!! Baby sitter!!! ;) hehe! Just kidding... Kind of. It was a fun trip visiting family and we are still settling back in. I still haven't finished unpacking and poor MH is still in loads of pain, so this may take a while. :P 

Well... I hope you enjoyed my update! Have a great week and we will see you next Monday! 

Zebra hugs and love, 

Ashley 

A Project and a Thought

No idea why this photo is sizing strange, but this is N and I today!

Hey everyone! Kailly here. It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Hope you are all doing well. It has been a crazy few weeks for us. L and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on the 7th of May, and we are quickly approaching our beautiful daughters first birthday. I am in birthday mode fully, and have been spending some time on pinterest finding ideas. I swear they should call it "thinking you've been looking for 5 minutes, only to realize it has been hours." Oh, and we celebrated Mother's Day too!



So, while looking at birthday projects recently, I decided to look into toy box ideas. N has toys in her nursery, that I store in fabric bins in a cube organizer. We have a leather ottoman in our living room that looks like furniture, but stores toys. And, she had a big basket in our play room of toys. But, things were getting a little crowded. I wanted to get her  toy box. After seeing how ridiculously expensive they are at stores, I decided to build one. Once realizing I didn't have the tools I needed, I decided to keep researching. On pinterest I found an idea using an Ikea toy box. We have a fairly new Ikea by us, so I chose to head there with my step dad a couple of Fridays ago and see what we could find. We found the toy box. It has white plastic type sides and light oak wood for $14.99.

We then headed to Joann Fabric. N picks out her outfits daily, her hair bows, socks, everything, so I knew she would want to choose her own fabric. We walked through the clearance aisle, and she pointed at a few. I let her choose between two fabric choices whittling it down to the final pick. White fabric covered with lime green flowers and cute pink elephants! So cute!

The next morning when N was napping, I took the wood pieces outside and painted them pink. We had paint left over from when we painted her nursery, so I used that. We didn't end up using it in her nursery either, so I had plenty. Originally, I got a sample from Home Depot, and used about half on her toy box. Once that was dry, I measured the fabric and cut it while the iron was heating up. Then I attached the fabric to the box. I loved the outcome! But, some of my edges were rough due to dull scissors so I added some ribbon with the help of N's Godmommy! It was her idea and I am super thankful! We love it!!

 

 

 

 

 

Also, just wanted to let everyone know that I am struggling with blogging. Believe me when I say I love to blog, and get my feelings out. But, lately I am just unsure about it. So, I may take the summer off to be with my family. I still haven't fully decided, but I am going to think about it and pray about it. I'll let you all know next week!

Love,
Kailly

 

Cleaning out my closet!

Hey y'all Shannon here :) just a quick blog post today. I actually attempted to post yesterday (Wednesday) but somehow my post got lost and didn't save or update unfortunately. So first off I really hope y'all have been having a great week! I know I have enjoyed our week so far! We have been attempting to get reorganized and getting better prepared for baby #3 and overall just enjoying our summertime weather with our newfound neighbor friends :) yay! So I suppose I will share a few of my latest organization strategies with y'all tonight as I can't remember exactly what I had written before :) here goes... 

The above pic is from last week my current bump date won't load sorry will post again soon :) 

Operation organize everything is a go!! I am not sure if it's a serious case of 'nesting' or if this is my belated spring cleaning episode but lately I have been itching to clean and reorganize absolutely everything! As I have been going through and tidying and organizing I've felt so much relief because I feel like I am simplifying my whole world!! I know these aren't new ideas nor can I take credit for inventing these concepts but these are the latest helpful tips and tricks that I have been trying to implement and I've actually been seeing some very positive results.

Mostly I've been tackling my overstuffed closet and dressers (yes plural I am ashamed haha) having variety is fantastic and trust me I very much enjoy having multiple options but lately it's come to my attention that I had several garments that were dormant hanging in the closet you know that shirt you love the color or that your sweet relative gave to you... I saw some of these items and decided it was time to simplify and pare down! 

1. My first priority in my closet at the moment is to create a comfortable, functional, and true to my personal style maternity wardrobe, this does not mean I went straight to the nearest maternity store though! I have some pieces that already have and will do double duty pre pregnancy and during the preggo months. My goal is to use what I have and not purchase a whole new closet of maternity clothes doesn't make much sense to me to go out and buy all new when it's a temporary change to my clothes... So simply make it work is my current closet mantra! 

 

I have chosen to add a few staple and in my opinion essential maternity pieces (a few empire cut shirts a simple long white maternity shirt and a colorful versatile wrap dress but this also brings me to my second closet/wardrobe rule 

2. When you add one subtract two! My sweet local neighbor and gal pal has been accumulating quite a Shannon's clothing collection when I add a new item of clothing and buy something new I reevaluate the pieces in my closet and find two things that I can part with and either pass it on to a friend or toss it in my donate bag for someone else to use. I love the feeling that sharing what I have gives me! So the way I've been looking at those once oh so treasured high heels and tops I haven't worn in ages as a way to bless someone else it makes no sense to me to keep it in my closet just to sit and gather dust and cobwebs eww! Why keep it when someone else can actually use it and maybe even just love it as I once did too :) 

3. The less I keep the less laundry I end up doing! Perhaps this is my lazy streak showing but I'm not a fan of piles and piles of laundry that seemingly never end! So this simple somewhat selfish thought has also been motivation to do a clean sweep of my closet and drawers! 

4. Less stuff is much easier to keep today! It's a simple concept but it is an elusive one. In the materialistic society we live in where it's always about upgrades and the latest and greatest its beyond easy to accumulate a ton of just stuff, stuff we don't actually use and stuff that when it boils down to it just take up space. So when I simplify and muck through the stuff my house is tidier and much more organized! 

I don't know how y'all clean out your closets and I am curious share your tips and tricks below please because I love reading new organizing tips! I wish you very clean closets and happy organizing I have to sign off a bit early because I have my pregnancy labs/bloodwork scheduled bright and early tomorrow! But again happy organizing I know it's sometimes daunting but if you break it into smaller tasks it becomes a much easier goal to attain! Best of luck y'all! 

Sending you some fun summertime sunshine clean closet hugs and as ever all my polka dot love... Shannon :) 

Now, this is a story all about how...

...my husband slipped, fell backside down! ;)

Happy Monday, everyone! Whew! It is a busy month for our little family. This last weekend, my cousin got married and MH was a groomsman. It was a gorgeous wedding and I deeply enjoyed seeing family that I hadn't seen in years! We had to travel about 3.5 hours away for the wedding to the city where I grew up. It's not a bad drive and baby C does excellently in the car! On Friday, we left early in the morning so that we could pick up MH's tux rental with more than enough time to spare before the rehearsal and dinner. It was a good thing we left so early, because MH needed bigger shoes and a smaller jacket and fortunately, Men's Warehouse was able to pull it all off by the end of the day Friday. The rehearsal went well and dinner was a blast! The wedding was Saturday morning and was at a GORGEOUS outdoor venue, just outside from the reception site. The ceremony was just perfect... The Bride was simply stunning, the groom was dashing; the ring bearer and flower girl were thoroughly adorable; the officiant was well-spoken (my aunt); and the vows were the perfect combination of romantic, realistic, and comical. My side of the family stuck around outside for pictures and the were released for brunch. The aspiring photographer that I am, I stuck around to get pictures here and there, when I turned my head and saw my sister rushing towards me saying "MH fell! He fell down the stairs!" This might have caused anyone else a bit of comic relief, but MH has a history of back problems due to previous injuries. So my initial reaction was "oh great..." as I walked inside. But as I got further inside, I saw people huddled around MH, who was on the floor, clearly not okay. My heart stopped, a frog caught in my throat, I dropped my camera off goodness knows where, leaving my child with goodness knows who, and sprinted to him. He couldn't take a breath, and obviously wasn't seeing my face or hearing my voice. His face was bright red and he looked terrible. As it turned out, his shoes had slipped on the over-shellacked wood stairs (which my niece had almost fallen on moments before, until my sister made her grab the railing), and he landed squarely on his tailbone before hitting his right upper back, sliding down the stairs and smacking the back of his head at the bottom. Later, he said that his vision went black and his ears were ringing, so despite everyone yelling and trying to talk to him, he could hear nothing. He tried standing up, went immediately pale, and nearly passed out, before my dad and some others helped him to sit in a very nearby chair. Trooper that my husband is, he shook it off, went to grab his extra tux shirt (he was covered in coffee), and pushed through until the very end of the day. Later that evening, we did end up in an ER/urgent care Center, and they checked him out. After a physical exam, the doctor figured MH was mostly bruised, so gave him some meds for the pain and sent us on our way.

MH still pushed through the next day at my parents' house. It was my first official Mother's Day and I got to spend it with my mom! My grandma, aunt and cousin were also in town from Tennessee for the wedding, so they came over to see baby C and my nieces and nephew, and it was also their first time meeting MH. It was a great Mother's Day! But soon, baby C started to completely melt down. He was simply DONE; done being passed around, done not being in his own home or bed.... Just done. So, I packed us up and with some help, got us all ready to go and on the road. Poor MH was so miserable on the drive home, but we got home at a fairly decent time after stopping to pick up our puppy, Rue. We all slept pretty well last night, but MH did end up leaving work early because of all the pain he's in. If you remember, last week I hit my first bout with mastitis, and the antibiotics really challenged my supply. Unfortunately, this caused my to burn through my entire freezer stash of pumped milk, and so this morning, when I realised that I had 7 ounces of rancid milk that I would have to get rid of and only 5 ounces for the entire day, I had no choice but to stay home. Now, this stinks a little extra, because I'm supposed to be gone this Friday as well, so I now need to find a way to work 20 hours in three days, and I'm still not sure that I have enough milk for baby C for tomorrow. I will likely be up every two hours all night pumping, but I have to feed my child! So... Such is life, but this too shall pass.

I've been having a little bit of a tough day today through. My neck is definitely misaligned, my right elbow is out of place, my left hip is feeling terribly uneven, and my left shoulder is on the verge of dislocating. This all leads to a good amount of pain, but with MH completely unable to bend over, everything falls on me for at least the next few days. Poor C is still "recovering" a bit from his weekend, so he's a bit clingy today, just wanting extra mommy snuggles, but also incredibly exhausted. He did give me a three hour nap today, which is absolutely unheard of for him, so this gave me the opportunity to get a jump on some laundry. I'm trying to find a way that I will be able to prepare for our next trip, which is this coming weekend, while leaving the house in at least a decent state, all without MH's help. Fortunately, he's understanding. I did have my first experience with giving baby C a bath without MH's help tonight. It didn't actually go terribly. Haha! Usually, he screams the whole time, but being that he working so hard on sitting on his own, I adjusted his bath, and suddenly, he saw his feet under water!!! This was so cool to him! His rubber ducky helped too! And when he figured out how to splash the water... All bets were off! Hehe! I had to take the kid out before he was ready, because the water was getting chilly and I could feel his skin getting a bit cold. Needless to say, this week is going to be a challenge for me; but with the small victories, such as a fun bath time, it makes every moment worth it!

Baby C turned five months old yesterday... Just in time for Mother's Day, so here are some of his five month pictures that I snapped today:

I hope you had a marvellous Monday and that you have a terrific Tuesday!
Zebra hugs,
Ashley

Blessings, Opportunity, and the Adventures of my precious MnMs

Hey there y'all! :) Shannon here, blog-casting live from my living room :) Funny story I went through all day yesterday believing it was only Tuesday and as such missed my new scheduled blog day sorry y'all I swear I have a brain whether it's functioning at full capacity has yet to be seen :) It's been busy busy at my house lately Hubbers got to have a delightful weekend home with us and is back out in the field so just me and the boys and our .5 version ;) again for a bit. So we have been trying to stay busy and keep ourselves distracted with various projects and adventures. I just want to share some of our adventures with you so without any further ado ...

The Adventures of my Fearless MnMs!

Little M reppin' mama's 'bibness' (business)

I absolutely love watching my boys grow and learn and imagine! I enjoy their silly antics as they play together and with other littles. I just love being able to participate in their games and fun too. I am constantly inspired by their ever growing imaginations! Each of my boys has their favorite animals, and favorite things to play and right now the favorites are for Big M Sharks, pirates, building things, and playing cars and driving things around for Little M Dinosaurs, pirates too, finding treasure, and going on dangerous adventures with obstacles like crocodiles and big trees ... Some of their adventures lately ... Our house was an underwater castle with sharks circling us up on the ceiling! There is and has been a T Rex hiding in our coat closet for quite some time now. I love the simple imaginings of a child and how a blanket and a kitchen chair can be magically transformed into a tunnel, a tent, a house where more great adventures are planned out. I can't help but giggle when molding playdoh transforms my littles into budding artists and aspiring chefs! There is an extensive excavation site in our backyard where the boys have found diamonds, and dinosaur bones, and even dug up buried treasure.... 

Big M being goofy with playdoh

Their creative imaginations can turn a straw into a snorkel and a paper plate into a school bus steering wheel and I love watching as "Mr. Bear" and "Little Lion" have each become babies to feed and change and tuck in with sweet little kisses!! I feel incredibly privileged to be welcomed into this kid club where the only requirement is your imagination I love that my sweet boys choose to include me in their grand adventures. I feel like I have a free all inclusive pass to adventure and fun through my MnMs goofy antics and their incredible ever growing imaginations! I love my boys so much more than I could ever accurately articulate!! I am so unbelievably blessed to be their mama and to be witness to their adventures and joy! I can't believe how amazing they are how much they know and how quickly they learn and grow so fast!? I just am so thankful that every day that we share together is another adventure and I can't wait to see what adventure is in store for us tomorrow. 

The Scent of Success

SO MUCH FUN!!

And speaking of adventures ... I, myself have been on an adventure and new journey of my own lately. As of April 1st I am an Independent Scentsy Consultant and I am loving it! I have been having a blast being on such an awesome team and sharing the products that I seriously love! And I just have to share I have been successful through all of my customer's, friend's, and my family's wonderful support and encouragement!! So I just have to say thank you! And a special shout out to my lovely gal pals Kailly and Ashley for being awesome customers, encouragement and for always being willing to listen to my Scentsy stories and updates. Kailly has ordered from me just to help me reach certain goals and she's been a doll about it! Ashley hosted a party for me and was certainly the hostess with the most-est and highest sales out of all my hostesses to date!! Thanks ladies you seriously rock my socks!! I have to share that each of my customers and hostesses have all been so incredible! With everyone's support I was able to reach my first 3 personal Scentsy goals: in my first fifteen days I reached $500 in sales, had my first successful Scentsy parties, and in my first month of being a consultant I reached $1000 in sales and earned my first promotion!! A HUGE thank you to all of you for being so supportive and wonderful I really could not have reached my personal goals with out all of you! I absolutely love Scentsy and am so happy to share all the awesome products and the fantastic Scentsy opportunity with y'all, my friends and family! I am just so excited to be part of a company that I honestly believe in that treats me like family instead of just another employee! I love being a part of the Scentsy Family! :) If you have any questions or maybe you are interested in setting your own hours and bringing home some extra cash each month feel free to email me at mrsarmypolkadotmommy@gmail.com  or call me (337-378-3482) I would love to chat more, answer any questions, and share my Scentsy story with you! :) Also friends if you haven't had a chance to check out the latest Scentsy products you can always visit my website and you can even order online:      https://daniels.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home 
Thanks again everyone for your support and encouragement in my Super Scentsy Adventure!! 

Bountiful Blessings!

Adventures are fun no matter what age you are whether it is an imaginary quest of epic proportions or a new work from home business venture! And there is no greater adventure than growing a family and our newest little is growing every day. I just love being a mommy and getting to experience pregnancy!! Of course there are some not so pleasant symptoms at times but it is just such an incredible, rewarding experience. To me pregnancy is not only a beautiful opportunity to establish a forever bond with our unborn child but is also a time in our lives that we get to be a part of one of God's most magnificent miracles!! As He forms our babies every tiny feature we are given the privilege to carry an active miracle inside of our own bodies! It's truly amazing! I can't help but feel God's overwhelming love when I carry one of His beautiful miracles inside me! I am so blessed to have my wonderful children and am so grateful that God has chosen to bless our family again!! I just can't wait to hear that little heartbeat and see those teeny tiny features soon! I can't begin to explain how excited I am to have another baby nervous about how our family will adjust but I know that God will make a way! Thank you all for your prayers and for sharing your excitement with me and my family! Love y'all! Hope you each have a fantastic rest of your week and remember to hug your loved ones and especially your little miracles :) 

                     Bumpdate! 

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our hearts 

~Winnie the Pooh

 
Enjoying the scent of success, wonderful opportunities, basking in God's blessings and embarking on new adventures... 
 great big sweet smelling hugs and a little extra polkadot preggo love ... Shannon :)

A Quarter Life

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your weekend was fun-filled, and fabulous, with lots of family time! :)

This is going to be a short post, as all three of us are sick... Again. I swear, we keep cycling the same crud through. To top it all off, this momma has mastitis, and it SUUUUUCKS. It could be worse, I'm sure, but it still isn't any fun at all. In any case, we still had a fun weekend for the most part! Saturday, I did a photo shoot for a friend, as she is graduating nursing school! It was a blast and she was a fantastic model! It also helps that the weather was great and the sun was absolutely perfect. Photography has always been something that I've enjoyed and I love capturing people, places and things at their best as well as their worst. And lately, as opportunities in my and MH's life have presented themselves, I have been finding myself in the middle of a slight identity crisis. Don't get me wrong, I'm very confident as a mommy. No, I don't have all of the answers, and I'm FAR from perfect, but I still feel very confident as a mommy. However, I'm having a hard time trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. There are so many things I love, but only a few that I think I'm actually good at, and even still, even fewer of them that present me with the reality of any kind of income potential. I've tried my hand at photography and photo retouching the last few years, and I feel like I get better and better and learn with experience. Not to mention, I enjoy every waking moment of a photo shoot and the subsequent photo editing. I really just love it! So, I've started working to find new ways to market myself here and there, and it seems to be going pretty well so far. I have a few more sessions scheduled for this month, and I simply can not wait! My biggest goal is to find a Wedding to do. I love Wedding photography and would love to be able to market myself for all kinds of people photography. But, as a friend photographer pointed out, I don't want to limit myself to ONLY people photography. I still enjoy landscape/nature and artistic photography, but I don't know that I have as much of an opportunity for that at this point in my life. Still, I'm hesitant to shut that door completely.

Anyway, Sunday was MH's birthday and we celebrated with his family, and he even got a piñata! It was hilarious watching him and his brother trying to beat the candy and money out of the clown piñata. Yeah... I said clown. It was terribly creepy. People think MH and I are weird though... We never surprise each other with gifts... We always just pick out our gift and go get it (usually before the actual day) haha! I guess I shouldn't say we NEVER surprise each other. After all, MH did surprise me this year with a pre-planned visit from my mom and my niece. But I'm talking gifts here. We always know what we're getting, but hey... I've never gotten something I didn't like, and I don't think I've ever gotten MH something he didn't like! So, it works for us. In any case, it was a fun day, complete with a Cinco de Mayo cake that said "Niño, Feliz Cumpleanos, blanco!" ("Happy Birthday, white boy!")

Last week, baby C had his "four month" check up (half a month late) and also got his shots. He was such a trooper! He hardly cried for his shots, which meant that I didn't cry! Haha! I can't believe how big he is getting! He is just learning, and growing, and exploring and experimenting and I love watching as much of it as I can! But this morning, I had another "mommy guilt" moment. I was getting C ready to go, and he was just being extra sweet and smiley, in spite of his cough and stuffy nose. I looked at him laying on my bed while I packed up his diaper bag, and just kept saying "ohhh... I don't even kind of want to leave you!" Yeah... This whole working mom thing just isn't vibing with me anymore. :/ But I do what I can.

Well... That's all I've got for today. Sorry if this was boring for you all. I'll be sort of using you as a sounding board for a while, while I continue to figure out exactly what I want to be when I grow up.
I'm not going to torture you with an OOTD pic today, as it's not cute, what's going on right now. Haha. But I will share some cute little "artsy" photos I have of baby C instead!

Zebra hugs and love!

Ashley

Where have I been all my life??

Hey y'all it's Shannon...  :) I am so sorry I have been MIA lately! It's been super crazy busy at our house these days. Hubs is still in the field which means that this mama is flying solo for a bit longer. Which is challenging as I potty train 2 small boys, maintain a level of acceptable cleanliness in our chaotic home, and continue growing a tiny human inside of me and all the while I've been growing my Scentsy business and even managed to earn an award and my first promotion!! (woot woot) ;) Needless to say I have been one busy mama and throughout these past few solo weeks I have been learning how easy it is to stress yourself out! I have seen just how quickly I can feel overwhelmed when everything feels like it keeps piling up. So here are my tips to de-stress and still feel accomplished at the end of the day without burning yourself out.

1. I have started attempting to wake up at least 15 minutes or so before my littles so that I can enjoy some me time first thing in the morning. Whether I use that time to have a cup of coffee/tea and read my Bible/devotions, or I hop in the shower to feel more refreshed and ready for the day, or let's face it just get dressed and look semi human! Regardless of what I accomplish during that time it's just that extra boost in the morning that helps me face another day. 

2. Once the kiddos wake (lately they have been rising with the dawn it seems) we give good morning hugs and kisses and typically have breakfast and watch some cartoons I attempt to get my dishwasher downloaded and reloaded with the previous nights' dinner dishes. For some reason if my sink is not clean and empty my whole house seems to fall apart like the sink has it's own gravitational force and all clutter and mess is just drawn toward it .... I swear. So trying to keep my sink shiny and dish free is a priority for me. 

3. Try to be as flexible as you can .... this is hard but children will be children and they will inevitably make messes and or need your attention at this very second or they will just lose their little minds! So when I find a spare minute to organize or attempt to fold laundry or some other quick fix chore typically my kiddos will absolutely NEED my full undivided attention at that exact moment... so rather than fight them and allow laundry to take my time I try to include them in whatever I am doing but if it's just more of a hindrance than help it's just worth it for my sanity to tuck whatever it is away and go play with the littles or at least find them a new productive activity.

4. Kids are repetitive and kids get very wrapped up in whatever they are doing at a specific moment so they can be difficult to refocus sometimes and it's easy to become annoyed by, "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mama, mama, mommy mommy, mommy.... MOMMY!!!!!" But in those moments I try to remind myself that they are MY babies they are my amazing beautiful blessings and they are just kids they don't understand....  it's easy to just be sidetracked and not spend valuable time playing with them and learning and growing but it's not worth it.... 

5. This is probably most important.... Give yourself permission to make mistakes and to let some things go... Super mom is not a realistic or attainable goal!! Trying to be Super Mom is a way to work yourself to the bone and dig yourself into a deep depression... Does your house have to be spotless? Really? Does it? So what if there are toys on the floor if you have kids that means they are playing and having fun! Do you really have to hand frost 47 cupcakes with elmo faces on them complete with textured frosting fur .... No! If you are trying to keep up with Miss Dolly Domesticity who is absolutely perfect (and remember no one is, so this is false) but if you are trying to keep up with that gal  who is just always beautiful her house is spotless her kids are the best most well mannered children you've ever seen and she sews her own clothes and bakes cookies and pies for everyone for absolutely any reason and her garden is perfect and she has everything together ... Stop now .... it's okay to not be a Stepford wife and mother!!  Why do women put such ridiculous expectations on ourselves?!? I know I like to be presentable and have a clean house too heck, I even dabble in some crafting and baking from time to time but we DON'T have to do it all!!!! Just giving ourselves permission to be ourselves and not try to be some kind of super mom allows us to feel accomplished with our own realistic goals!

   We all have to do lists a mile long.... make breakfast, get kids dressed, let the dog out, do the dishes, do the laundry, fold the laundry, finish the dishes, wipe down the table and counters, vacuum the living room, make beds, clean the bathroom, pay the bills, run the errands, grocery shop, make lunch, re clean kitchen, more laundry, more cleaning, more cooking, and by the time we get our kids in bed our head is just spinning and we are done for the night we barely make it into our bed let alone try to shower or prep ourselves for tomorrow. And for what really, don't we all wake up and do it again the next day... so what I'm saying is wouldn't we all be happier if we put less on our to do list and spent more time with our family and friends! I have learned that good friends will look past your 'mess' and just be happy with your time! Kiddos really don't care if your bed isn't made or theirs for that matter, though I agree it should be done from time to time does it have to bog you down on that to do list we all get wrapped up in?? I guess my new strategy is this... if it's only going to stress you out more than it is going to benefit you to do it right now just worry about it another time! There is so much we would like to do and enjoy but feel like we can't because we are still striving to be that perfect mom or that perfect wife and really for what? I love when my kitchen sparkles but my little MnMs laughing and giggling as we make playdoh animals and dinosaurs means so much more to me than a spotless white glove inspected kitchen! I enjoy having all of my laundry clean and folded and put away but it's not worth it to me to do four or five loads of laundry and miss out on my boys getting those grass stains on the knees of those pants... Right now my boys are little and they want me around and someday they won't anymore so I don't want to miss a minute of that sweet laughter or those infectious smiles and especially their creative little imaginations that can transform a blanket and a chair into a deep dark cave where the bats are sleeping mom! or can turn a paper plate into a steering wheel.... these are the memories I want to make WITH my children not as a bystander who washes dishes and folds the laundry... I'm their Mama and not a nanny they are MY littles and no one elses so why forfeit those amazing memories for a pristine perfect house and an alphabetized pantry and pinterest inspired homemade curtains!!? Well think what you will of me but I choose to live with a little mess in my life and soak up all the memories I can! Our babies won't be little for long so really why stress ourselves out with that to do list and miss them growing up?? Now am I saying that our homes should be a disaster and completely unlivable absolutely not. Kiddos need a safe healthy environment to grow and thrive in but that doesn't mean we have to have our house spotless 24/7! (I hope this is making sense my pregnant brain likes to jumble my words and thoughts a bit at times) but any how ask yourself what is SO important on your to do list that you will choose to spend time doing that over spending time making memories with your children and the ones you love?

Hope y'all are having a fantastic week and that your memory banks are abundantly wealthy! 
sending your sunshine hugs and polkadot preggo smiles...Shannon:)

BUMPDATE/OOTD 

baby appt is comin' up any guesses how far along we are??