27th Birthday week

I turned 27 last week! woohoo! For my actual birthday we didn't really do much. We had our first playgroup so the boys had fun going to that! Jonathan surprised me with an (all night) date night for that Saturday so I was SO excited! Thursday we took the boys to Dollywood! We got passes this year because both boys are free and I still cringe when I think about the $ we dropped...BUT we will go a lot and they LOVED it!

Friday we had some friends over for Dessert and then Saturday was our Date night!! We went thrifting for a couple hours and then had a GOOD dinner :) Love having long date nights!

Sunday was church and then boys played outside so much since it was beautiful :)

Sundays are hard when Naps get messed up/skipped ;)

 Love my mr. rolly

Our South Carolina trip

Last week the boys and I headed to South Carolina to visit my family & for my aunts wedding. We left Wednesday at lunch time and the boys did great on the drive down!

 When we got to South Carolina, my dad babysat the boys and I went to dinner with some of the girls in the family.

Thursday we played outside all day at Mawmaw & pawpaws. My nephew Kylyn was there and the boys played so well together.

 

 

 

Thursday night Easton & I watched a movie and ate popcorn. He LOVED IT.

 

Friday, the boys and I went to Ashley's house to play with our cousins and friends! They all had so much fun and Easton & Gabe played like they have been friends forever! haha :)

 

 

They didn't stop playing the whole time! :)

Saturday was my aunts wedding and after that, the boys napped then played with their cousins some more. Then my aunt Donna & I went to Ikea! eeek

 

Sunday we went to church, out to eat afterwards and back home for naps. Sunday night my parents cooked out for my birthday and then we went to get Snow Cones with my Grandma!

Sawyer's First time Eating at Captain Steve's :)

 

 

 

 

 

We had so much fun visiting and I'm glad I got to spend time with some family but we were ALL so ready to get back to daddy :)

 

Passed out on the way home!

 

Weekend recap

This weekend we didn't do too much because Jonathan has the shingles and the pain was pretty bad, but its finally starting to get a little bit better for him! (yay!)

Thursday was his day off and we went to the zoo for a little bit, grabbed lunch and then hung around the house the rest of the day.

Friday, the boys and I ran some errands and did stuff around the house. Sawyer vacuums the house pretty much all day!

 Saturday we went to Nonnie & Papas for April birthday celebrations and had yummy dinner & dessert!! Then Sunday was church, naps and Jonathan and I got to go on a date! (it's been about 2 months)!

 We shopped some and then ate Mexican....which is my favorite thing EVER! Not that much of an exciting weekend.. but still fun!



15 Month Favorites // Sawyer

Can't believe our little Sawyer is 15 months already!! I want to keep track of as much as I can, so making blog posts about it will be the easiest way for me! :)

Touch and feel baby animals book- Sawyer has been playing and touching the animals on this book for months!

Melissa & Doug knob puzzles- Melissa and Doug are my homies. Everything they make is awesome! Sawyer loves picking these pieces up and throwing them everywhere.

B. Baa baa farm house- Sawyer will go into his room at night by himself and play with this for 20 minutes! He loves the little balls filled with corn :)

Step 2 Wagon- Both my boys love this wagon so much but Sawyer loves getting in and out with the door. My favorite part...it has 2 cup holders, seat belts, AND storage under 1 seat.

Little Tykes play kitchen- I told myself that I would never buy my boys a play kitchen because its too "girly" ...um what? They both loved playing with them at friends houses and I saw one at Once upon a Child for $25 so I got it and they both play for so long!!

I love seeing what other kids love and it always helps me plan Christmas/Birthday presents, so thought I would share :)

Age: 15 months

Stats: 25 lbs. (80th percentile), 30 1/4 inches (10-25th percentile)

Clothes: 12-18 & 18 months mostly. Have to roll pants up most of the time!

Favorite Foods: Strawberries, grilled cheese,  blueberries, applesauce, chicken nuggets, lasagna, bread, crackers

Words: hi, mama, dada, night night ( ni ni ), yay, no, all done (ah da), and bye. (favorite word is no right now-says it when he means yes too :)

 Favorite Activities: Playing with brother, eating, playing outside with wagon (gets in and out over and over), petting animals (goats & dogs), running around the house with blankie, jumping on the couch (naughty), getting into cabinets, playing with toy balls, and taking baths :)

Least favorite activities: Waiting for mommy and daddy at church nursery. Getting face wiped. When he has to wait longer than 3 seconds on food.  He's VERY chill baby!

Mommy & daddy's Favorites: When he wont go to anyone else when mommy is holding him (hehe), his gapped tooth smile, his bow legged run, how happy he gets when he sees us & how cuddly he is!

Other Milestones: Learning how to jump, sleeping better (if he wakes up at night, we can get him back to sleep usually quick) & he's been sleeping in past 5:30 lately!!! ( I probably just jixed it), gives high fives and kisses.

Love this sweet boy!!



Traveling with toddlers & babies by yourself

Next week I am going to South Carolina to visit family for several days and its just going to be me & the kids. I've traveled by myself with them only 5 or 6 times to SC (only 4 hours away) so I am NO pro, but after a few DISASTER trips I have learned a few tricks that have made the trip easier. First off, I will share the first disaster trip that made me want to never drive alone ANYWHERE again .. ha!

When Easton was 5 months old I decided last minute to travel to SC to visit family. The 4 hour drive down there was great! I didn't stop once and he was content. The trip BACK was not the same. I left at a different time and I didn't have a REAL plan. He was sleeping as soon as I got to the beginning of "going into the mountains" as I call it. It's just the mountains on 1-40 but its 30 minutes of no where to really pull over and very curvy roads with huge trucks next to me...basically my worst driving nightmare! Anyway, he woke up as soon as we "got into the mountains" and I just tried to push through it until we hit STAND STILL traffic. My car was literally stopped and at this point he was screaming. Non moving car and a crying baby don't really go together. I tried toys, bottle, singing, music, everything and nothing was working. He got to a point where he was crying so hard that he was throwing up (which he did a lot) so I literally called Jonathan crying and pulled him out of his rear facing car seat with one hand  as I was pulling onto the side of the teeny mountain and was crying, he was crying, vomit on him and vomit on me. We were a mess. I learned my lesson.

With all of that, I have some tips and tricks I've learned and want to share with some mommies that are traveling alone or even with their spouse!

1. ALWAYS plan on driving during 1 meal & 1 nap: I always leave around lunch time and let them eat chick fil a or whatever in their car seats and then they will "play"/talk until they fall asleep because by then it is around their naptime. This is HUGE! It always saves me by 2 or so hours. When they were "babies" I would nurse BEFORE leaving and just tried to push through as long as they would let me. (4 hour drive so its not like I was starving them ;)

2. Bring TONS of snacks: I bring snacks that I don't usually give them on a regular basis so that they are excited and interested more in what I gave them! Fun snacks like fruit snacks, cookies, crackers, etc. I like to bring a basket and put it in passengers seat and fill it with snacks, toys, treats, books etc. so that I can just reach over while driving and throw them what they need.

3. Bring random toys: Sometimes I have gone to the dollar tree and gotten random fun things or I just bring things that will keep them occupied. For my 1 year old, he likes bottle brushes and empty water bottles. lol. whatever keeps him occupied. * I also limit TV a week before traveling and take away their fun toys then too so that when we are traveling they enjoy those things more!*

4. Have a game plan: My 3 year old is potty trained so if I have to stop to change sawyers diaper and let Easton pee then I know I need to put 1 in stroller while I take the other to pee. If I think about all of the things that COULD happen it helps me be more prepared for when and if it does happen. * I put a pull up or diaper on my 3 year old and just tell him to tell me when he needs to go-that way if it is URGENT and we are in traffic, at least he pees in the diaper and not all over his car seat. *

5. DON'T panic: When they both start crying/fussing while I'm driving and can't stop I just have to tone them out and stay focused on driving because the last thing I want to do is crash! Make sure your phone is charged! It seems scary to some moms but if you think about it too much it makes it harder!

So basically I just feed my kids for 4 hours straight. haha jk. I leave my house, pick up a yummy breakfast or lunch, let them eat, they hang out for a little bit, fall asleep, then when they wake up I usually don't say much to them and just wait for one of them to fuss or ask for a snack and then its snack time. If I gave them all of their toys and treats at the beginning or all at once...I would be in trouble come hour 3 of driving. I space stuff out and if things get real cray...then stop for milkshakes, let them play with spray water bottles, bubbles, hairdryers, chocolate, candy...lol they all work! ;)

P.S. My 3 year old loves his magna doodle & his water wow pad by Melissa and Doug. If you have toddlers, you should run and get one because they are amazing and don't make your whole car messy with paint or markers!

Hope this helps! :)

What my second child taught me

Before our 2nd son was born, I had heard "just wait until you have 2" about a million times.  I was fully prepared for less sleep, less time for me, less money, and less time with our older son. What I WASN'T prepared for, was the confidence and sense of ease that the second one brought (at least for us). Even though I had a quick labor and easy/fast delivery..I still wasn't prepared for how much calmer we would be and relaxed. These are the 5 things that having our second child REALLY taught us:

1. How to relax: When our 1st son was born, we weren't the "worst" 1st time parents but we definitely weren't the calmest. When Sawyer was born we realized that everything will eventually be ok. I could either cry about how little I was sleeping which would do absolutely nothing for me, or I could get over it and sleep for the 30 minute intervals I was getting. Instead of getting aggravated when Sawyer wouldn't latch quickly like I wanted to..I would just breathe and take a second and then try again. Complete OPPOSITE of how I was the first time.

2. How to take advantage of time with Jonathan: When Easton was born we would go to sleep as soon as he did and we would all sleep in different spots of the house at the beginning or have shifts so I could sleep and we would trade. We thought it was brilliant...until Sawyer came along and we realized that laying him down for the night at 7-8 was the easiest because Jonathan and I could watch tv together and both sleep...at the same time! We made sure to keep our routine of alone time "as normal as we could" so that our lives didn't seem SO changed in those first few weeks.

3. That EVERYTHING is a season: Seriously, everythingggg is a season. We thought once Easton was sleeping through the night that we were golden forever. Nope. We thought that he would always hate baths because he went 3 months screaming every time we put him in the tub. Nope. We still don't really know anything. But we DID know that when sawyer was waking up several times a night at 9 months old that it would EVENTUALLY end.

4. That we don't know anything: I don't know about any other moms or dads but for us, the 2nd child brought us a lot of humble ness. I thought that I "knew it all" because I made it through a long labor, a newborn, teething, etc. with the first. Ha! I may not be a newbie per say, but I definitely don't know everything about parenting just because we have more than 1 child. I felt like I had a HUGE head when we had our second child, but in reality the second one brings a whole new batch of different stuff. Different child means different sleep, eating patterns, attitude, etc. We learned that we are just constantly learning and to just drop the judgmental thoughts.

5. Your love will multiply: Everyone said that I would love my second child the same as my first but I just didn't believe them. Until Sawyer was born. It was amazing. I love them so much and just like it did with the first, you find this love that you didn't even know existed, all over again. My favorite part is how different they are but I love them the exact same. When Easton cleans his whole room by himself or puts his clothes on by himself and says "Mommy! Look! I did it all by myself!" I think to myself that I am so lucky and my heart is full ...until I see Sawyer barreling his way to me with his bow-legged self and throws his chubby little body into mine giving me the sweetest hug, and that is when I realize HOW lucky I am!



Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed {3rd & 1st birthday party}

Since Sawyer & Easton's birthdays are so close we did them together. Easton has been obsessed with "10 little monkey's jumping on the bed" for about a year and a half so I thought it would be cute to have a monkey theme & their party was at a trampoline park. The boys had a BLAST. Sawyer had just as much fun (if not more) as Easton. We had subs from Walmart ($30 that feeds 30+ people!!), chips, cookies that Jonathans grandma made, bananas, and cupcakes and cake, of course!

We had so much fun and the boys loved all their gifts from friends & family!! xoxo

 

 

 

 

 To my sweet Easton Tucker, I CAN'T believe you are already 3! You have taught Daddy and I SO much! You made us parents and watched us struggle to figure out how to parent. We are so in love with your sweet, caring, thoughtful, silly self. Every day you surprise me with your sweet nature. You love playing with your animals, playing anything outside, listening & dancing to music, eating, and cuddling up with mommy & daddy. Your favorite foods are potato soup, chili, strawberries & blueberries, grilled cheese, and yogurt (but you could really eat anything!) Happy 3rd birthday and we love you so much!

 

 

Happy 1st Birthday Sawyer Lane! (14 months now)  You are definitely our head strong little boy and also the cuddliest little thing! You have showed me how much MORE I can love! This year really has flown by and you are such a sweet little addition to our family! You LOVE your blankie and mama. You currently wont let anyone else grab you if you are in mamas arms ;) You love your brother, baths, playing outside, dancing, and just being rough and rowdy. You are on a vegetable strike at the moment but the foods you do eat, you eat a lot of! You starting sleeping through the night a couple months ago but you still are an early riser. Your favorite foods are blueberries, any and all bread, meat (spaghetti meat, taco meat, chicken..you just love it all!) We Love you so much my little mama's boy!