MACK | 8 MONTHS

Oh sweet boy. I cant believe you are 8 month old! You bring so much light into our home. I could kiss those cheeks for days. Its so funny because when he was born he looked alot like his dad but my mom recently sent me some of my baby pictures and I can see alot of me in his now. He has the deep deep blue Liston eyes so maybe, just maybe, some of my genes got in there a little bit. 

WHATS NEW

• Mack is officially a crawler and he goes EVERYWHERE in a hurry. 
• He got 2 more teeth this month bringing the total to 4. 
• Home boy can squeal louder and higher than any girl. He defiantly knows how to get my attention.
• Being outside watching the dog is his favorite hang out spot. 
• He is starting to pull himself up on the side of the tub or the fireplace. Scares his mama.

EAT

Mack is still nursing pretty much all day (and night) long. I know there are studies and such saying to not nurse your baby to sleep but its easily my favorite part of the day. I live for those quiet snuggle breaks. It doesnt bother him to take a bottle with frozen milk/formula from mitch when I leave the house for a bit so thats nice. I have been noticing a dip in my supply the last few days and he has done just fine with supplementing with formula to get his belly full. Nursing might be on its way out over here. When he was born, I told myself I just want to make it to 6 weeks of nursing so the fact that we have made it to 8 months was a huge accomplishment for me. 

He is really starting to be eating everything I am instead of baby food. Some of his favorites are bananas, blueberries, cinnamon toast, grilled cheese, chicken, and crackers. 

SLEEP

Oh sleep. How I miss you. 

Mack has never been a big night sleeper from when he was super young so I just keep waiting for that day we figure it out. He loves his naps in the day and they range from 2-3 hours each but at night he just wants to be up with his mama. These 2 new teeth have not helped that situation either. I dont remember teeth affecting Ellie this much, poor kid was miserable. since they have pooped through he has done better and he will usually sleep from 8-midnight, nurse, go back to sleep until 2, nurse, back down until 4 or 5, up to nurse, go back down, and then will be up at 730 when he hears ellie wake up. I have heard that nursing babies start to sleep better once they switch to a bottle so we will see. 

PLAY

Mack is BUSY. Into everything and wanting to do everything ellie is doing. He likes mitch and I but is obsessed with his sister. whenever she walks into a room he is in, his whole face lights up. It is the sweetest thing. He likes anything that makes noise or isnt a toy. Give the boy a water bottle and he will be content for hours. 

This has been a really fun month with our boy. We cant get enough of him. 

PHOTO DUMP

Quiting Instagram

Friends, its been awhile. But I hope to be here a lot more. I have been getting this feeling lately that I need to prioritize. Prioritize my things, my finances, my thoughts, and most importantly-my time. I remember a day not too long ago that Mack was sleeping, Ellie and I were sitting in the living room, me on Instagram and Ellie on her IPAD. I remember thinking "what am I doing??" I was so mad at myself that I had let it get to the point of me not even interacting with her. I was choosing to scroll through social media for hours instead.
I think the breaking point for me was when I went onto the settings on my phone and saw how much time I was actively looking at my phone instead of playing or being present with my kids. I was stunned and sick to my stomach.
I want to be THERE for my kids. I want to be present. I would rather be in tune with them instead of up to date on Instagram.
It’s been a few days since I have deleted the 900 people I followed and I already feel better. I can already tell my kids are happier and more engaged. Im excited to see what I can accomplish in the extra 2.5 hours I’m saving by deleting the app. (How embarrassing is that.)
So I’ve decided this is going to be the place where I save my memories/post updates about my little family and that makes me excited and happy again. ❤️❤️

AMAZON FINDS-10 GIFTS UNDER $10 (TODDLER GIRLS)

Hey there friends!

I had so much interest to share what I have been buying off of amazon that I had to dig up my old blog so I can fit it all in. :) 

A question I have been getting is stocking stuffers for toddler girls. 

 I put together 10 things so that hopefully you can find something on here that will work for your little one. 

Plus they are all under 10 bucks so..SCORE.

This list is defiantly geared towards little girls, let me know if you would be interested in a list for boys as well. 

Happy shopping friends! 

1. Ellie is obsessed with wanted to know how things are spelled right now, so she is going to love these to play with in the tub.

2. Am I the only one obsessed with these board books by Ashley Evanson? The pictures are so cute and they are the perfect length for a bedtime story. They sell these books at Bulloch Drug in Cedar  but they are no where near this price. (less than 5 bucks?? sweet.)

3. Another board book. I just cant quit these.

4. Ellie is going to go bananas over this camera. She loves lining her toys up and making them say "CHEESE!" I think its the cutest little thing. 

5. These are on their way to my house as we speak for Ellie's stocking. Now she can listen to the hand clap song as many times as her heart desires without it driving me crazy. 

 

6. So cute for your little girls that want to be just like mom. 

7. Thinking that if I get this, I wont find the cash from my wallet stashed in Ellie's room from when she plays McDonalds drive through. :)

 

8. 4 wood puzzles for 9 bucks? Yes, please.

9. A must for us in church.

10. The Trolls movie in always on repeat at our house so this just seems right to open on Christmas day.