Josiah Steven turns 8-months-old today. Eight months.  Eight months with him in our lives. I already don’t easily recall what life was like without him, and I know that he truly completes our family.  He has brought so much added happiness to our lives, the bond between him and Addisyn is insanely adorable, and he’s such a precious soul. These little ones keep us busy and that’s exactly what we love.  I well remember those feelings of anxiety when waiting on Josiah to make his arrival. I would look at Addisyn and ponder, would she love him? Would she feel like she was being replaced? How could I love someone else as much…

Our family is a YLEO family and has been for almost 3 years. This means that instead of heading to the doctor at the first sign of sickness I head for my essential oil kit; actually that thing is never far from me.  It also means that my medicine cabinet includes very little actual bottles of what qualifies as formulated “western” medicine and is full of little colorful oil bottles as well. Due to the use of these oils, my family rarely gets sick and has heightened immunity, but recently that was quite the opposite of my experiences.  My husband can attest that no day goes by that I don’t use…

Tomorrow our sweet little guy will turn 7 months old. Where has that time gone? I cannot believe all of his new skills and how quickly he’s changing recently, almost as much as I cannot believe that we’ve been chasing these two around non-stop for over half a year now. In the last month, Josiah has began to babble “dada” and other consonant sounds almost constantly, is beginning to scoot himself to toys that he wants, mastered solids and drinking from a sippy cup, and his first tooth just broke through yesterday. His favorite thing to do is watch his sister and bang his toys on whatever he can. He loves…

As I was getting my workout in at the gym this morning I was thinking about how little my actions often truly reflect my words.  For example, I often tell my husband how appreciative I am of how hard he works to provide for the live we live.  I really don’t know how to describe the gratitude and admiration I have for this man.  He works long hours sacrificing time with our babies; he is often overstressed at work with a lot on his plate…yet when he walks through the door in the evenings he has the biggest smile on his face and jumps right into Daddy mode. When the kids are…

Hi everyone! Recently I’ve been trying to catch up on all my posts. I mean hello, I’m doing the mom thing to two children 2-years and under, and living amidst the same business that finds us all…so I’ve had to be creative and find time to fit in screen time. This weekend I’m super excited to announce the summer giveaway you’ve been waiting for! Rachele Hirsch-Brooks and I have some fabulous freebies for one lucky reader and they just might be yours!   If you follow me on Facebook, or see me ever, you already know I was bitten by the LuLaRoe obsession several months back.  I mean who doesn’t need a closet full of fun mom-perfect, women-perfect, just…

There is one thing that has annoyed me…forever. Or as long as the “trend” has been popular if you will.  I am a reader and researcher at heart; I love to read! I love to know more about the things that interest me, therefore I frequently read blogs and online writing. You know what “trend” annoys me to my core? That one of cursing in your online writing…a lot.  First and foremost, I’m not a prude, I’m not a stranger to the nature of cussing. I don’t care if you cuss like a sailor (as long as you’re not in front of my kids). I don’t even mind if I’m reading a book that…

Summer is in full swing and we are busy packing the days full of sun, sand, and fun. We’ve had lots of family visits, beach days, and pool evenings with plenty of sidewalk-chalk, bubbles, and bike rides for all. We just celebrated Josiah turning 6 months old this week. It is surreal to think he has been in our lives 6 months already, and even more unbelievable to think that he hasn’t been in our lives forever. We are all totally enamored with him! Photo credit Leah Nisbett at Journey Through Life Photography. (Part of Josiah’s 6 month family photo sneak peaks that we JUST received! Thanks Leah!) https://www.facebook.com/Journey-Through-Life-Photography-117645249216/ At 6 months…

Wow! Our second gift from God has turned 5 months! In true mom-of-two fashion, I’m late writing this.  Story of my life now. My previously punctual self is typically running the appropriate 5-15 minutes late for everything which I now call “mom time”.  Luckily, most of my crew knows that if I say I’m leaving the house at “X” time, you can bet a few shoes will be lost, a few fresh poopy-diapers will need to be changed, and there will be a melt-down from someone because a certain item can’t be located (it could be me or the kids on this one)! The point is I’m now late on…

As usual, I’ve been meaning to write this update for a few weeks, considering that Josiah’s already 4 1/2 months as we speak (Oh, sweet second child…I promise I love you so much!)  We have been loving our crazy, busy, fun-filled, never a dull moment life with these kiddos and the days are passing incredibly fast! Josiah is officially 4 months old. He can laugh, coo, and loves to hear himself talk.  He’s not a fan of pacifiers, not a fan of crib-napping, and not a fan of sleeping through the night like his sister was at this age.  He loves to be sitting up and able to see the world and…

It seems to have been raining for weeks in Hampton Roads. We have become accustomed to  hanging inside watching the dreary weather and waiting for our chance to break out of the house before the next rainfall. Inside, Addisyn and I have been busy coloring, playing with play-doh, and re-exploring all of the toys we’ve forgotten about in both play rooms while little brother tags along doing tummy time and hanging out with us. So when Addisyn has asked me several times today, “Do you want to play with the house Mommy?” You would think my answer would be something like, “no, not again!” Instead, I respond, “absolutely!”, and I mean…