2014 New Years Resolutions

Normally I don't make a New Years resolution. In fact I haven't made one ever since before I have been married. Not unless you count the single one that I made in my head at the beginning of 2013 which was have my daughter Eden! Not an easy task but it was a predictable one!

I just didn't see the point in have a list of goal for the New Year. I always figured that if you are going to make the change then do it! Why wait till the beginning of the year to start?

Well, today I made a list.

What I need to improve on.

What I need to start doing.

What I am doing now that I want to continue because they have been greatly beneficial to our family.

What is going to happen anyway and I wrote it down because I like making lists and I am weird like that. ;)

1.) Move out of our apartment. Not sure when in 2014 this will happen, but I would love to live in a home that has a fenced in yard and has more storage like a garage or shed. We are outgrowing our beloved town home.

2.) Keep up with couponing. I have been clipping and printing useful coupons for the the last several months and we have seriously saved at least a couple hundred dollars. I have been able to keep our food budget at $200 a month for a family of 4.

3.) Lose 10 or more pounds. I have been doing pretty good in the fact that I have already lost 3 pounds before the new year even started. I hope to be at my goal weight before summertime. Breastfeeding and having 2 littles has really helped with the weight loss.

4.) Get Josiah into a big boy bed. Yes, I know, this kid is almost 3 and he is being stubborn about the way his bed is. Technically he is in a toddler bed, but its turned the other way around so that the opened side is against the wall. He still likes the crib feeling. For his birthday we have decided to get him one with a frame and he can pick out his favorite bedding. 

5.) Less TV during the day. In all reality there really isn't anything on during the day. So why do I have the darn thing on? What will I do instead? Probably clean, bake, play with my kids....there is a lot that I can do before the kids go down for their nap. :)

6.) Do something active everyday. I try to do Zumba every morning. Josiah seems to really like dancing with me. When it gets closer to the warmer months we will probably engage more into outside activities.

7.) Do a daily devotional. Something that I want to keep doing. I feel that it really has helped keep my spirits up during the day.

8.) Keep up with the housework. 

9.) Eat less bread(gluten-kinda). We have been slowly cutting back on the breads and pastas. If we do eat them then we try and stick to whole wheat bread and brown rice/vegetable pastas. People are getting really great at coming up with all veggie casseroles that taste wonderful!

10.) Be a better wife, mom, friend, sister and daughter. Because we all need to strive to be better people.

That is it for my New Years resolution! Did any of you make one up for the year 2014? 

I hope that you all have an awesome New Year.

I probably won't be able to stay up till midnight. I think that I would rather go to bed with my husband and start 2014 off like that. 

;) 

Good night all!! See you next year!

Love, Jess

What's for Christmas?

Christmas with a Family of Four

Just a few of our Christmas pictures this year! Enjoy!

Christmas(What we are not going to do)

My son is getting older and he is starting to understand some things. 

This year we wanted to start traditions with our family. We are going to start having Christmas at our house, wake up in the morning. Eat breakfast. Open our stockings and gifts all together with just our little family.

But, we are going to do something a little different. Ben and I talked about it and we decided to not introduce Santa Claus to our children. We want God to be glorified in our giving and receiving, not some make believe character. 

We will still do Christmas lights, we will still do stockings and gifts. We will still decorate cookies and sing carols. This was something that I brought up to my husband. He was not too keen to the idea at first, but once I explained it to him and he talked to a few other men(annoying, isn't it?!) he now is on board with me. 

I personally think that as a Christian family that we should do this. Now, I am not saying that this is for everyone.  I am also not saying that you are a bad person or bad parent for celebrating Christmas with Santa Claus. I don't want anyone to feel guilty either. I grew up believing in Santa as a child, so I don't think that it's bad at all. It's really sweet to think of the idea that one person gives to everyone on one day of the year. 

Isn't that what Jesus did? ;)

I think that I have proved my point. 

We will also be doing this same thing with other holidays as well. We are excited to find alternative ways to celebrate holidays with God as the center of our lives. 

I have included a video below of how our Christmas is going to be this year. Things are definitely going to be different. 

Thank you all for watching/reading. I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas. 

Love, Jess

Here is the link to my video! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0j_bf-2qlA

A Healthy Update on Josiah

Last Monday I talked about Our Small Story.

I just wanted to give you an update on how things are going with Josiah. I'll post on another page about how Eden is doing with her sleeping.

Josiah is doing much much better!
The medicine that we are giving him has been helping him a bunch. We do the daily dosage at night before bed cause it makes him drowsy. Then for emergencies if he seems to need it we do the nebulizer for breathing. Its is working out well. We still bring an inhaler for when we are out and about but so far we have not needed to use it. We went to the pumpkin patch that Wednesday and I was surprised that he didn't start coughing and wheezing. Normally with the hay and animals he would. I am so happy that his symptoms are getting better. I am going to talk to his doctor next week to let him know that everything is going well.
We will probably be doing this treatment till spring, review again, skip summer and then he will have another check up in the fall. When flu and cold season comes around that's when he gets the worse.

I am really thankful that this medication will most likely help him to play the sports that he wants without the conflict of breathing. I want him to have all options available with nothing holding him back. I think that I will be a bit more at ease when he goes to preschool next year. He won't be missing as many days.

He will more than likely grow out of this and we are looking forward to that day. :)
Thank you all for your prayers and concern on this.

-Jess

Fall Consignment Haul 2013

Check out my Fall Consignment Haul here

Although we did not get a ton of stuff. We got what we needed until the Spring!

Josiah's kitchen set was a hit and he loves the lacing beads.

I have videos and pictures on my Instagram jessicamommy22 if you want to see more! Thanks for checking it out!

-Jess

Our Small Story.

Im sleeping upstairs tonight.(hubby too)
Night #3 of doing this.
Why?
I am sleep training my daughter.
Not really my preferred method.  I actually HATE the cry it out (CIO) method. But I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't sleep for only one hour at a time. I felt like it was making me a very mean, short tempered wife and mother during the day.
So here we are. Eden only cried twice last night and both times ended within a matter of just 5 minutes. Its getting better and im happy about it. Another thing is that when I went to get Eden up this morning she was all smiles when she saw me. That little girl still loves me even though I made her soothe herself to sleep. I don't feel as guilty(or as tired) for doing it.
Today was a crazy day, but I still was able to do more than the norm. Besides the slight backache from sleeping on the couch I felt better this morning than I have in awhile.

My children definitely keep me on my toes. We had to take Josiah to an emergency doctor appointment this morning. 

First, let me explain to you about how Josiahs sickness is. Anytime that he gets a cold he most of the time get asthma like symptoms. So resulting in that I give him everything that we have on hand at home, an inhaler, a nebulizer treatment. I try everything possible so that we don't have to go to the doctor. Most of the time it doesn't work that way. So when none of those things work we go to Urgent Care or the ER and they give us the same thing over and over again. They end up giving us steroids for him to breathe better. I hate giving him steroids. It makes him hyper and out of control. This type of thing happens a lot in the early morning. I mean like 3 a.m. in the morning. When you have to to take care of two the next day it makes it hard. Thankfully I have my husband who is so patient an awesome to take Josiah to the ER for me when this happens.

Ive had problems in the past with urgent care and the ER. We get into the room quickly cause with Josiahs sickness he is top priority.  We get what we need done but then we end up waiting 45 minutes to an hour just to be released. 
So I made an appointment this time knowing that will be taken care of by our doctor and we can discuss his problems. We are going a different route this time. I have high hopes that this treatment that we're going to try is going to help tremendously.
After the appointment we went to the pharmacy. I waited in line as usual. Of course, they told me that I have to wait at least an hour to get his medication. Which is really irritating because once they get the order in they're supposed to start on it right away. With his situation he is considered top priority. My poor little boy had the hardest time breathing already and I had to wait an hour with 2 kids. I didn't know what to do. So, I went home and we got some things  taken care of and I was able to go out again to finally get the medication and come home again.

It breaks my heart to see him struggling to breathe. I use to have to take an inhaler and everything he did, so I know exactly how it feels. But to be only 2 years old and not understand what is happening is so sad.

As of right now my house is a mess. My children are sound asleep in their beds. My husband is sound asleep next to me. I'm awake watching Dancing with the Stars. And I just think how blessed I am. I looked at the prescription that the doctor gave to Josiah and I am so happy that insurance is going to be fully covering his treatment. If it were not for this we would have an extra $129 bill to pay for his medication.

Pray that this works for us. This medication will be given to him all through the winter and then we will evaluate with his doctor in the spring to see how its working.

I am not loving the fact that he is getting medication every day. But I am loving that this may be a solution for him and reduce visits to the ER for major steroids.
He may grow out of this.
He may not.

I love my little man and seeing him today be really snuggly and sweet to me when we got home just made my heart melt.
"Thank you mommy."
Smiling I said, "I love you Josiah."
"I love you too."
Even with this stressful day he made me feel so much better.

Thank you God for my strong sweet boy. Thank you for showing me kindness through him and making me want to be a better mommy to him.

Keeping Busy with the Blustery Blues

I love to keep myself extremely busy during the fall and winter months.

Although I absolutely love this season, I start to not feel so happy. 

The dark, rainy days really get to me and when I am in my house with my kids for so long without getting out I start to be a very inpatient mother who ends up being short tempered and mean.

I get lazy, I am okay with laying on the couch all day with some coffee and tea. Good thing my kids keep me super busy through out the day along with the little girl that is Edens age. All three of them keep me on my toes. I probably would be a hermit and 100 pounds overweight if it wasn't for them. 

I try to get out of the house as much as possible with the kids. For sure we go out at least once a week. That would be our Thursday morning bible studies. If we do more then that then I have a book study 2 Fridays a month with some awesome moms. Wednesdays is infant/toddler story time at the library. Mondays are filled with grocery shopping or doctor appointments. The only time that I really don't go out is the days that I am baby sitting. Normally I would babysit Tuesdays and Thursdays but because of the bible study being on Thursdays we have switched it temporarily to Wednesdays.

When Ben comes home we go out of the house after dinner just to get out sometimes.

Thursday nights are our date night, that could be anything from shopping for thing that we need cause I can't do a lot of shopping with the kids being so little still. Or we do a movie with dinner. It depends on what time of the month it is whether we do something big or not. My mother enjoys watching the kiddos so it is really nice for us to spend some time together as husband and wife.

With Ben having set days off we can actually go to the pumpkin patch with the kids. Sundays we have church and in those afternoons we are a lazy family with football or a movie.

I know that getting out with the kids is hard for some, but for me its a must. It makes the cold dark days go faster. My children seem less grumpy. They sleep better at night and eat more dinner. 

Maybe it's because we have a smaller place with not a ton of room with Josiah to play. But getting out is what works for us!

What do you do to keep you and your kids busy?

-Jess

Cotton Booty: "Good Night Sleep Tight" Box

My 3rd box from Cotton Booty and I am loving every one of them! This one is probably my favorite!

So here is my Cotton Booty Box for this month! Enjoy!

Instagram: jessicamommy22

One Size Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetter:

Comes with 2 microfiber inserts. I have a Kawaii and I do like them however, my daughter leaks through all pocket diapers at night. The only thing that works for us at night time is a fitted or prefold with extra boosters and a cover to go over it. We will give this one a try for over night though. See if it does the job! :)

Angel Dear Muslin Swaddle: 

100% natural cotton muslin. 

I love the owls. I was planning on getting a muslin swaddle blanket anyway for Eden so this is great! She has outgrown swaddling but I was really wanting one for her to snuggle with. She likes to chew on blankets since she does not take a paci. I don't have to pay $30+ for a muslin blanket now. This blanket is so soft. I can't wait to wash it so that Eden can sleep with it. It'll be great with baby #3 when she outgrows it too!

A sample from Wash with Water

I can't wait to try this. I love trying out new body stuffs for babes.

Love the stuff I got?

Here is a link so that you can get $5 off your first box!

Enter discount code CTBY1001

-Jess

Christmas photos and others

Not even October and I am already planning on getting our Christmas photos taken! I know I am crazy, but for me the earlier the better. We have to think about not only putting money aside for beautiful pictures, but we need to set some aside for some much wanted Christmas cards and I really want to get a nice canvas piece of the 4 of us. It will be our first family shoot with Eden post pregnancy.

Speaking of which, have you seen our Christmas photos before Eden? They are lovely! I'd love to show just a few of them to you wonderful folks.

Gotta love that pregnancy pose. ;)
I was about 7 monthsish pregnant here. I loved how our pictures turned out and we will be using the same photographer for this years photos. Love her! Her watermark is kept visible to show how awesome she is. We have another photographer friend that is also really great at her work, so we have to go back and forth between the two. :) She did Edens newborn photos several months back.

I think that I may be slipping in a few breastfeeding photos with my daughter just to keep for myself. I love a beautiful, modest precious photo of my daughter and I bonding while she is feeding. I think that it will be so pretty!

I have some pins on Pinterest that I have been working on for our upcoming photo shoot. We have not set a date yet(nor have we told her ;)) but it will be very soon! Before it gets too rainy and cold hopefully!

Thanks for sticking with me! I know that I've been gone a lot. Our life has been busy with Ben's new job, I have been babysitting and life with 2 kids has made me a very occupied parent.

-Jess

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

So it took me awhile to find the perfect cookie. With the combination of my oven being difficult and not having the time I am so happy to have found this!!

This recipe is basically taken from Pinterest and tweaked a little bit. I was taken through a couple different blogs to find it and here it is!

This is the post from which I took the recipe from. click here.

Here is my recipe. Obviously it's practically the same from above just without the "Reeses surprise". The soft peanut butter part is what I was going for.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter(softened)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup of M&Ms

Optional: 

Add 1/2 cup of flax seed meal for added omega 3 and fiber

2 tablespoons of brewers yeast for added nutritional value

Omit half the flour for whole wheat flour

Directions:

Heat oven to 350.

Beat butter for 2 minutes. Add sugars and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping sides of bowl halfway through. Add peanut butter and egg and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add to sugar mixture until completely combined.

Drop onto ungreased baking sheet. Cook for 8-10 minutes. I had the timer on 8 minutes but saw that they needed just a couple minutes more, so 10 minutes is perfect for mine.

This made 3 dozen cookies exactly with my cookie scoop.

Every ones oven is different.

One day when I was complaining about ours, my wonderful patient husband said to me "You gotta know your oven babe". He is totally right! :) Now I can bake cookies with no problem. 

Enjoy these lovely cookies!

-Jess

It's 5am.

Yep. Not the first time being up and doodling on my phone. Little girl doesn't sleep through the night still. Doing any kind of sleep method is impossible right not without the extra room for her to sleep in. So here I am,  sorta awake from waking up the 3-4 times prior tonight. Hope the sleepless nights end soon. I love my little girl,  but after 6 months it's starting to get rough. Pray for this momma to have strength today as well as future days like this. Gonna go grocery shopping with the 2 kiddos this morning and hoping to have a successful one. I think I'm gonna have a nap today while the babes are sleeping before one of my favorite little tots comes to visit while her mommy has her baby appointment. :) Good morning all and I'll be up in a few hours sipping on some much needed hot coffee.
-Jess aka busy mommy

Loving the Change

I am loving this new job that Ben has. 2 weeks into it and I love having him home every night for dinner. I love being able to plan stuff around or during his work schedule. I love him having Sundays off where we go to church in the morning and have a lazy afternoon at home afterwards.
Pretty soon here he will be quitting his old job and working Saturdays at his new one.
Same pay but he will only be working 2-4 hours. Another thing is that he can go in whenever he wants, morning or afternoon, they really don't care just as long as it gets done.. We love going to the Saturday market and things like it. So we can do that now!

We have been praying for this new job to come to us for a long time and we are so happy with it. God is really doing some awesome things in our lives right now and it's all been amazing!
Next step is to get a chunk of debt paid off so that we can move into something a little larger. I am looking forward to that day. :)

-Jess

An Update on my Two Littles

Both have reached amazing milestones! They are growing up so fast and I can't seem to catch up to them. They both seem to learn something new everyday. Josiah learns a new word or Eden learns a new skill. It's all so very exciting and scary at the same time.

Josiah- He turned 2 1/2 this month! We are officially 6 months away from his 3rd birthday. I am already taking notes from Pinterest and parties on what we are going to be doing.
He is daytime potty trained now. He goes by himself to the potty, he still needs a little help pulling down his pants but he is learning. He is slowly starting to have dry nap time diapers and every once in awhile a dry nighttime diaper.
He knows his "Please", "Thank You" and "Your Welcome". We have started learning colors and more animals this month. He loves to say cow and when he sees them he always moooos at them. So cute!
He jibbers a lot. I know what he is saying most of the time. It takes some translating to some people. He talks to fast and it slurrs together quite a bit still.
He is still sleeping in a crib like environment. It's technically a toddler bed, but I turned it around so that the open side is against the wall. About once a week I try to turn it around to see it he'll sleep in it with the open side. When he screams and we turn it back around. I am not too concerned about it so we are taking our time. I fear if I force it on him he won't sleep in his bed at all. He naps sometimes during the day. We give him a couple of books to read even if he does not nap. Its either a nap or 2 hours of quiet time
He is wanting to snuggle more and is definitely a daddy's boy now. If Ben leaves without Josiah during the day little man cries for him. He just misses him is all.
Josiah favorite show is any thing with Thomas the Train Engine.
He is a really great big brother, always wanted to help with his little sister.


Eden- She turned 6 months yesterday! Again, only 6 months away from her 1st birthday. I have decided to do both birthdays together. Until Josiah can say to me that he wants his own birthday, we will keep doing it this way.
She does not sleep through the night yet and the last few nights have been the worst. But that is because shes got 2 teeth coming in at the bottom. Teething has been fun!(NOT!!) It has not been a problem with breastfeeding so that's good. She wants to chew on everything because of her new found nubs.
She is grabbing at everything we put in front of her. She can roll both ways easily. She shimmy's towards toys. Ben thinks that she may crawl before Josiah did, I agree with him. She kinda crawls around in circles to get to her toys. She is starting to sit up, not super well though because she falls head first still. It is improving every day though!
She falls asleep on her own now. Sometimes she cries for about 5 minutes but falls fast asleep if it is time for her to nap.
She laughs, and smiles so much! A very happy baby girl!
We have started her on solids. We only feed her once at night during dinner time. She has had carrots, beets, applesauce and mushed bananas so far. We do give her a mesh feeder for after her food that has watermelon, cantaloupe, frozen grapes or apple slices. Keeps her occupied while I finish my dinner. Her favorite thing to do is to sit up in her Bumbo and watch me cook. She loves to come in the bathroom while I shower and listen to the sound of the water. She loves baths! Never thought a kid of mine would love water so much as she does. She could play in the bathtub forever if I let her.
She pretty much is a easy baby, its only at night when it's hard. I think that once she gets her own room nighttime will be better.

Having 2 kids has been challenging but I would not trade them for the world. If you are worried about having 2 kids 2 and under, don't be! It may be difficult in the beginning but it does get easier. They start to play together more the older your youngest one gets.
The biggest challenge is going shopping by myself. I have done this a few times, but only if I needed to get a few things. Get a carrier that is comfortable for you to carry your baby so that you can take care of your toddler with free hands. Once you get a routine down its smooth sailing. Get your oldest involved with helping you out. Make sure to give your oldest some one-on-one time either with you or their dad. Josiah loves feeling like the only child again and once he is back with his sister he seems refreshed and in a better mood. Instead of doing housework take a little time out of your day to play with your oldest while the youngest is napping. These are the things that have made a difference throughout my days. On hard days when non of them are cooperating I have Ben watch the kids for an hour so that I can go for a short drive. That helps me a lot on difficult days. Keeps me sane. :) Do you guys have any tips or tricks?

-Jess

I Love Consignment Sales!

I have been a consignor before. 

Let me tell you, there is a lot that goes on in being a cosigner. 

I did fairly well my first time making nearly almost $100! I ended up using almost all of it to pay for my kids summer clothes this year. It was a great feeling to sell and not have to really spend anything for summer clothes. 

Sadly I could not be involved this time for the fall. I had too much going on with my husbands new job and Eden is now almost 6 months. She is learning so many new things. Josiahs potty training is going at great success, but we still have some mess ups. Things that are/were more important keep coming up. With all the weddings, baby showers, bridal showers...I am beat this summer!

I still remember being a consignor back in spring and it was a lot of work. I just had Eden and she was so newborn that she slept all the time still. I really wanted to make some extra cash and help out by purchasing clothes for the kids. We have parents that help us out all the time and they would probably buy an entire wardrobe if I let them. But I like to be thrifty. Its my small way to be a little more earth friendly.

Anyway, when you are a consignor you have to go through all the steps.

Checking all your clothes for rips and stains(they will not accept it otherwise)

Washing all the clothes especially if they have been in storage for awhile.

Pressing a few collars and wrinkles. You want everything to look nice. I know that if I look at an article of clothing I am looking to see how nice it looks. Seeing a wrinkly stale toddler shirt is not eye appealing.

Then you have to go through the process of checking all of your items into the computer system. You price all of your items yourself. That's the part I hate the most.

After that tag all of your things. In my case I had to use safety pins to attach my bar-codes because I have not yet bought a tag gun. Also, you need to have enough hangers to hang all of your clothes. Even the cute little newborn onesies have to be on hangers.

Right before dropping off your things its a good idea to sort them at home. Boy from girl. Sized.

When you get to the place that your items are going to be sold, you have to put all of your things into bins and your clothes sorted out on the clothing racks. After doing all of that work, you sign up for a pick up time. (if you want your items back that is) They go to charity if you don't. If you don't want your check mailed then this is also a good time to pick up your earnings.

Its a lot of work. I can't tell you if its worth it or not. You put hours of work into making sure everything is right for selling and if your things don't sell, then it seems pointless.

But if you have a lot of items that are of great quality and are gently used then this might be for you.

Its a really great system. Working outside my home is something I would rather not do. So this is really great for moms that want to make a few bucks.

On the other side of that, I love to shop consignment! Think of it this way. Moms have babys that grow out of things. Moms want to sell their babys clothes that which they only wore probably a totally of 5xs. So they sometimes sell for really cheap! I have found some really, I mean really great stuff!

It gets harder to find nice things for boys when they are Josiahs age I have found out. 

Boys seem to be so rough on their clothes. I have a tough time finding something tasteful in consignments for him. They don't just sell clothes though! Toys are really great to buy because honestly, moms are always wanting to get rid of toys so those are super cheap.

Little hats and bows for girls are fun. I have even found a pair of baby legs for $2.

Every once in awhile I would find a good pair of shoes. Name brand shoes like Robeez(sp?) are great finds and if in good condition I take those up fast.Even if my kids don't quite fit in them yet I see if its worth the buy to save on the side until they are old enough to fit into them. 

That's what's so great about kids. They grow so fast!

Consignments take time to go through the articles of clothing, the bins of random and the piling heaps of toys on the tables. But just think of the small favor that you are doing another mom. Besides, you might find something really awesome!

Here is a consignment going on in my area this weekend!

click here

Another one to come up soon after that and I would be more than happy to post that one as well for you! :)

-Jess

Bento Lunches

Now that my husband has a new job, I get to pack some yummy healthy lunches for him!

As weird as I am, I love to pack yummy little things here and there for my family. I love to pack for picnics or road trips. Its a small way to bring out my foody, weird creative side. I'm sure that when my kids start going to school I feel like I may be the weird mom who packs food like this, or the cool mom who puts something other than a sandwich and chips in a lunch bag. 

Bento Box: Technically from Japan, a Bento lunch(box) is colorful, nutritious and compact to take anywhere.

^^^Here is an awesome example of a yummy hubby lunch^^^

So I discovered Bento lunches.
I knew about these types of lunches before, but after a fun trip to Tillamook with my mommy friends I was inspired even more. We had lunch at one of my friends, moms house and she provided us lunch which was pretty close to what a Bento lunch might be. Lot of little yummy healthy things to snack on, it was all so wonderful! I observed and I kept mindful notes to myself thinking how I can't wait to this for my own family at home. Josiah and I do mini Bento snacks at home and I would love to start doing them for lunches for all of us. Its a great way to get all the nutrients you need and I love the variety of foods that you get for healthier meal. You should try some of these Bento lunches/snacks with me! They are great and I promise you won't starve with the smaller portions. :)

Pinterest is probably THE BEST way to get awesome ideas for these. I have been pinteresting them up so that someday I would use them and I will soon enough!

You can literally fill these boxes with anything! You can do leftovers, vegetarian, Mexican, Thai, Teriyaki...oh the endless possibilities! You can do fun shapes so that it's even more fun for the kids. 

So what do you think about these Bento lunch boxes? Time to put aside that lame ole sandwich and chips for our family lunches and lets be creative!

Want to know more about Bento lunches? click here

Here is a great board to follow for ideas. click here

Browse through this little Etsy shop to get started on Bento! click here

Now obviously the hearts and the Hello Kitty is a little girly for the hubs, but all the same you get the idea right? I can't wait to let you know about my Bento adventure! I am looking forward to it! 

-Jess

A New Job: A Better Outlook on Life

My husband has a new job!!! I am so incredibly proud of him and we are so excited to start this new journey. He has been searching and applying and doing interviews for months and finally God has placed a perfect job in his life for us.

Many awesome changes are going to be happening. We have never had a set work schedule for him. This made it nearly impossible to plan things and if we did need to plan a birthday or date night he had to ask weeks in advance for it off. Or we always had to plan around events which was just stressful.

He will be working Monday thru Friday from 7 till whenever he is done. This new job is salary, so basically he decides whether he wants to be done early or not.

So now we gets weekends off! However, he will still be working Saturdays at his old job, this is to pay for the  little things. But for sure we will always get Sundays off! No more boring Sundays for us! We actually get to plan lunch with friends and relax with our families.

Pay is a lot better. He will be making as much as him working his two old jobs combined. He will be working less and getting paid the same or more.

No more greasy uniforms for me to wash(except for once a week)

Now that he has this new job we actually have a better look on things. We now know that we can move in the right direction more quickly, pay off a few things and possibly move out of our town home into something a little bigger. Pay off a few more things and then start saving to buy a house!

The thing that we all look forward the most too is the time together. He will be home every night for dinner I can actually start meal planning which was what I have been wanting to do for a long time now. Meal planning for us saves so much I am excited to pack some healthy lunches for my husband, and he is too. Its the little things it seems. :)

He starts his new job on Wednesday!

Hurrah!

Cotton Booty: Pin the Diaper on the Baby

This is my very first Cotton Booty subscription box! I was so excited today when I found out that I was finally getting it in the mail. I did cheat a little to see what other people have gotten in their boxes on Instagram, but no girl boxes were posted. So here is my little girls box. I love it! This month's box is adorable and everything in the box I can absolutely use! Yay!

So I have provided a picture above to show you everything that is in it, and I want to go over it in detail.

First things first is the diaper. Cutest girly print ever, right?!

This is a Bummis brand Super Whisper Wrap that is just a cover, but they provided a Snappi(in the color PINK I might add!) and one of the Bummis organic cotton prefold to go with it. Now I am not one for Velcro, but for nighttime this will be awesome. I am still trying to find a nighttime solution for my daughter and haven’t quite found it yet. Maybe this will get me going in the right direction.

Super Whisper Wrap with organic cotton prefold- $16.95

Snappi(Remember, PINK!)- $3.95

The next neat thing that was in the box was a teething bangle. As soon as I opened the box I couldn’t wait to give it to my little girl. She snatched it right up and started chewing on it. She loves it! I can easily wear this as a bangle or I can something like a ribbon to make it into a necklace so that I can always have it with me to keep her occupied. The only con about this item for me was that I was hoping for a colored one, but that’s alright, that just means it’ll go with anything I got on! ;)

Smart Mom Teething Bling Bangle: $12.99

Last thing is the sample. I am always up for trying different cleansing/lotion type of products. My son gets eczema easily(although it has improved)he still gets little dry spots on his body if I fail to put lotion on that area. This sample is from the Aden+Anais shop online. Free of all that yucky stuff that we all need to stay away from. I’m excite to try it! Smells so good too!

Mum&Bub by Aden+Anais- $1.00 a sample

If you add all of these products up it comes up to pretty close to $35!!! I only paid $25 for my box so that’s  $10 more than what I paid for.

Well, you interested?! I just know that you are dying to get one of these fabulous boxes! Go on over to CottonBooty.com and sign up! 

Thank you Cotton Booty! I love this box and I can’t wait for the next one to blog about!

-Jess

Potty Training: Day 4

You can read about the beginning of our potty training journey HERE

It's been going really well! 

Josiah has not peed once on the floor since Day 3. He did do a poop and pee over nap time today. But that's OK, nap time and bed time accidents are harder to master. It'll take a few more weeks before he gets that down. 

Today we did a bold thing and let Josiah go out in public with his big kid underwear and NO plastic pants. He did so well! We went to the splash pad, so I'm sure that he probably did a little tinkle in the water. 

He is getting the hang of the potty training thing. 

No more diapers for this guy! 

He'll be rockin the big kid underwear Sunday at church this weekend. Probably with plastic pants though just because I don't want to risk any accidents while he is in the children's area.

Look out ladies! Cause there is a new big boy in town. ;)

PS. Remember my Cotton Booty subscription? Yep! It's on the way! I can't wait to do a review for you guys!

Potty Training

Josiah is almost 2 1/2 years old. He has been showing some signs of ready to be potty trained for awhile now. Just recently I have been motivated to do it. My friend is getting her daughter(who is just over 1 1/2 years) to go potty and that kinda motivated me. Also, I figured that summertime would be the time to do it! He won't be freezing his little buns off with this 80-90 degree.

So far training a boy hasn't been too bad. He still has his mistakes.

On day one he had a lot of accidents. The first thing I did in the morning was explain to him, no more diapers! You are a big boy now! Time to go pee pee on the potty like mommy and daddy. "OK" he said. :) Then I showed him his big boy potty and we practiced a few times getting on and off the potty.

He peed more on the floor than in the potty that day. He probably did a couple of drops in the toilet.

Day 2 we were still getting use to it but he was determined. He peed a total of 4 times in the potty!! We still had to remind him quite a few times but he went in the right place!

This is day 3 of doing this and he has not peed on my floor yet! yay!

This morning was a huge deal because he woke up with a completely dry diaper! He peed all of his nighttime pee in the potty(which was a lot!). Not something that I was expecting. Way to go kid! I made him a special breakfast this morning because of it. Pancakes with strawberries and blueberries. yum! I even let him pour his own syrup. I was so proud of him that we had to celebrate some how. 

"Thank you" he said after his breakfast. He must have loved it! :)

The only thing that we still need to work on is the poop. Good thing I stocked up on carpet cleaner spray(I use the pet kind). Cause I have been cleaning up lots of those kinds of messes lately. Gross I know, but this is reality folks! 

We aren't at the end of the road yet, we still have a long while off but I am excited for him. 

Something that did happen this morning that I forgot to mention. He did have a small accident. He was right in the middle of pooping. He yelled "OH OH!!" mid-poop and ran to the toilet. 

Well at least he gets it! He had to clean up his poop mess just like all the other messes.

 I make him help me clean up his accidents, I think that helped with this process a lot.

I just want to put some pointers out there to moms who want to potty train their little boy and if your little man is ready, he should pick up on this potty training thing real quick.

I cloth diaper, but this can pertain to anyone really. Just be prepared for a lot of washing for awhile!

Put away all things that go on your childs bum that will make him/her feel dry when they wet.

Disposable diapers have a liner that will make them feel dry when they pee. If you cloth diaper and you use some of the fancy kinds they may have a stay dry inner liner. They need to feel wet when they pee, otherwise how would they know if they made an accident?

Use underwear and if you are concerned about the pee get those plastic pants that pull up.

We started using prefolds with covers for when he naps so he feels wet if he pees in his bed.

Naked time is better than you think.

All day at home we do naked time. Yes, it calls for a lot of pee messes, but they understand when they have made an accident. Also, they might have a hard time trying to figure out how to get their underwear down. They might make an accident by the toilet if they are struggling to pull down their underwear. If they are unfamiliar with undressing themselves then naked time at home is the way to go! 

Don't forget the potty!

I recommend getting the ones that go over the toilet that you already have. We have one that is small and sits closer to the floor but we never use it. We actually use it as a step stool to get to his regular potty. It's not like mommy and daddys potty so it's harder for him to envision peeing in it right now. It'll be easier for him to pee in it when he's a bit older.

Pottying on the Go?

For now we just put him on the public pottys backwards. You'll have to take their pants completely off to do this but it works! Or, you can get an on the go potty chair that fold up really nicely to go in your purse or diaper bag.

Here is one that walmart sells, pretty sure that you can get them anywhere though.

>>>>>>Travel Potty Seat<<<<<<

Well I think that's all I have to say. I have said pee, poop and potty more than I should have probably.

Hope these little things help! If there is anything else that I should add to my list then let me know!! I would love to know what you moms did to get your toddler on the pottying track!

-Jess

We go to the Beach!

First time going to the beach with my two kiddos this year. 

(This was last Monday(7/8) btw)

We had a blast! Ben didn't get to go this time but we hope to make a few outings(beach/camping) before the summer is up. So my mother took the kids and I instead.

The weather couldn't be anymore perfect. Sunny, slightly windy and the water was actually warm! 

Yes people! You heard right! Oregon beach water was warm for once.

Josiah and my mom had so much fun playing in the waves. Josiah kept on taking daring steps that were a little to far into the waves for my comfort. He is becoming such a dare devil now.

Eden had her feet in the sand for the first time. She being a baby, was unsure and couldn't care in the least. It was just a nice relaxing day on the beach. Eden and I sat back and there really wasn't a ton of people there. I nursed her out in the beautiful warm sun and she fell asleep from the sound of the waves. I would too! ;)

Beach fun

After a little fun of playing in the waves I had Josiah come back to play in the sand for a bit before we left to go and eat lunch at Mo's. I was craving some yummy clam chowder and theirs is one of the best around. 

It was a good day. Successful. Of course the kids were fussy at some time and I had to take Eden out of the restaurant because she would not stop crying. But hey, its my mommy life. :)

-Jess

Cotton Booty

As silly as that sounds, I'm sure that you'll love what I am going to be talking about!
I decided to switch my Julep box subscription.
Why? I really wanted something more for my kiddos and the nail polish thing just wasn't working for me in the fact that I don't have the time to paint my nails as much anymore.

So I switched to a cloth diaper subscription! How awesome is that?!
I haven't gotten in my first box yet but for this month rumor has it that there is going to be some teething jewelry. Which is great because I was planning on finding something like that for Meme anyway.

Once a month from Cotton Booty I will be getting a diaper(which usually is a well known brand) a fun item and a sample.

I was looking into last months and it looked pretty great!
A Bumkins diaper
A Bumkins Dr. Suess wet bag(I wish I had it!)
A sample for nursing moms to try.

Everything in the box retailed for over $30.

Either way I love surprises and if I don't particularly need what is in the box I know a lot of lady friends who wouldn't mind a little something. ;)

I am excited to see what is in this next box, I can't wait to review it for you ladies. :)

-Jess

A little update on our little family

It seems like I say this every time when i don't write a blog for a long time and I'm going to say it anyway just...well...just because. ;)

It's been so long and I am sorry that I have been MIA. 

There isn't really a good excuse as to why I have not been writing. Not a lot has been going on. We are mostly busy being a family. :)

Josiah is learning new words everyday still. We make conversations over mealtimes and before and after bedtimes. He is probably the best big brother in the world. He has made up a name for Eden all by himself. One day he just started saying it. If you point to his little sister and ask who she is he will say, "Meme!" He loves her so much and helps out with her by patting her tummy and back when she's crying. He plays with her and shows her his favorite toys telling her what they are and such. He always kisses her every chance he gets. I honestly thought the opposite with this kid. He has a kind gentle heart to everyone. Yes, he has his moments, but for the most part he is pretty easy going. 

A video of Josiah talking to "Meme"

Eden is rolling over now. Both ways! She smiles so much when she comes into contact with anybody. Laughing is probably the hardest thing to get out of her. Her tickle spots are hard to get. Breastfeeding has been an amazing experience with her. No major challenges yet! I haven't had any problems with supply. After the first 6 weeks it has been smooth sailing with her. She is very much attached to me I have noticed. If she is not with me its just a matter of minutes before she starts crying. There are very few people that she tolerates(you know who you are);). I guess the attachment come with the breastfeeding. Josiah was never like this(he was mostly formula/bottle fed)

She is 4 months now, we are going to be celebrating her 1/2 year birthday party next month when she is 5 months. 

Eden making faces

Now about me. :)

I have been getting fit and feeling good. I haven't really lost anymore weight, but instead my body is getting more toned. For a long time now I have been wanting to start running again. Since I have started running I feel stronger and more energized in my days. I have gone from fast walking a half a mile to now I can run a little over a mile with just a few days a week. I have to be careful when I run because not only can it affect my milk supply I can get really bad asthma attacks. I have been training my body to do what i t used to and I hope to be able to run a couple 5Ks next summer as well as a couples mud run with Ben. I am so happy that I am getting back into shape. Ben has picked up working out too. We want to be energized parents that get out and do stuff with out kids. We are outdoorsy type of people and are excited for this summer of zoo trips and camping with the kiddos.

That's about it for out little family update. Still adjusting to our adorable new addition and loving what our family is becoming. I can honestly say that right now I am happy with 2 kids. But I think that once I see all the babies that my lovely friends are having I'm going to start having that itch again. Darn babies. Why do they have to be so cute and their mothers so happy when they bring them into this world. ;)

We have decided that there will be no talk of having #3 till Eden is 2+ years. We love the idea of having 2 kids wait 4-5 years and have another 2(or 3). It all kinda depends on where we are at in life and what God's plans are. Both our babies were pretty much planned.

Thanks for reading guys. I hope that you all have an amazing summer.

Love, 

Jess

PSSST....I HAVE A SECRET!!!

A really great giveaway! If you can guess what the giveaway item is then you get an extra entry in the contest! I even give you a small clue. ;) Giveaway announcement is on Friday so get to guessing! 

Only 1 guess per person please! :)

Thanks for following as always! 

-Jess

Routine?

I had a routine with Josiah, he was the easy one to fall asleep on his own. When he was Edens age I would just leave him in his crib and he would fall asleep all by himself in his quiet dark room.

Eden is a whole other story. This girl will only fall asleep if she is a.)rocked or b.)nursed.
I really don't mind too much, but this might become a problem when she is a little older. I have a swing that is wonderful but she will outgrow it someday. I don't want her to rely on me to get her to sleep. I am not a fan of the cry it out method at this age because she is still quite new to the world.

Since birth I have only swaddled her at night to get her to sleep long stretches. She sleeps anywhere from 6 hours to 9 hours. This is so nice!
Daytime sleeping is a lot more challenging. She has the hardest time with it.
I just realized last night that maybe I should start a routine with her. Duh!
Breastfeeding is established, she nurses every 2 hours to sometimes 4 hours, and it would be nice to have a break from the both of them at the same time.
Why didn't I think of this before? Probably because I have ultra mommy brain and I thought that I knew it all. ;)Well I just proved my self wrong! haha!

Wanna know what else is awesome? She won't take a binky from me. Nope! I still take one in the diaper bag just in case for the sitters, but she only wants one thing from mom.

Today I have started the routine process. I have realized that I don't really know what the heck I am doing sometimes and about %99.99 of the time I am just winging it. Is that what all of you moms do? Just go with your gut and hope it works? So now I swaddle her for nap times for now. I want to get this thing going and I figure since she sleeps so well swaddled, I might as well use that to my advantage. Eventually I will wean her from swaddle in the daytime once she has her routine down. Nighttime swaddles usually stay till she can break out of it and/or roll over.


My routine process for today has started like this with just my kids:

• Wake up at 8 feed Eden
• 8:30 get Josiah's breakfast going and wake him up
• 9-9:30 swaddle Eden to sleep
• 10 get Josiah a snack
• 11:30-12 wake Eden and nurse
• 12-12:30 Josiah lunch
• After lunch Josiah nap 
• 1:00 swaddle Eden to sleep
• 3-4 nurse Eden
• 3-4 wake Josiah from nap-then a snack
• 5-5:30-swaddle Eden-start dinner after
• 7-7:30 bathtime for both kids
• 8:00 Josiah bedtime(Ben puts Josiah to bed)
• 8-9 nurse Eden then swaddle

Well that's what my day looks like with the kiddos.

When we are out and about we don't really change the plans for the kids. Eden sleeps really well in her car seat and/or being worn and Josiah can do without a nap if needed. 

I always take a shower at night. I used to take one in the morning before the kids got up. That changed once I got spit up on too many times during the day resulting in another shower. So night time showering it is. :)

Besides, that gives me the chance to shower with my hubby ;) ;)--if ya know what I mean. haha!

When did you mommas start a routine with your little one? If you have more than one kid, was one harder than the other?

-Jess

So cute!....But.... :(

Guess what?!?!?!

I made this super cute dress from scratch!!!

Isn't so cute?!!

*********BUT********

I am so mad! 

Why?

Well I'll tell you why!

It was meant for Eden and it's WAY too big for her. Seriously this could fit a 3 year old! I wanted to make somthing that would go from a dress to a t-shirt late on. So depending on your little girl it would be a 2-3 year old dress to a 6-7 year old long shirt and probably could fit longer than that. Especially if you have some sewing skills and/or have tall skinny kiddos.

I really don't want to keep it for 2 years or longer if it don't fit her by 2. I don't grow tall children by any means whatsoever...I mean look at my husband and I! We are on the shorty-average side. I would rather it go to someone who would actually use it this summer. :)

So who wants to buy it from me?! :)

$5! Only because it's my first and there are a few flaws that you can't really see unless you are up close. 

So bummed that it won't fit Eden. :( Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

P.S. buyer needs to be local this time.
If I get enough feedback then maybe I'll make more in the future and I would be willing to sell throughout the US.

Thanks for reading guys!

-Jess

My New "Diet".

Most everyone can tell that I have lost a good amount of weight. Although I am still 10-15 lbs from my final goal weight I am healthier than I have ever been.

Breastfeeding has helped tremendously! I eat as much as I did when I was pregnant and the "diet" from pregnancy has not changed.
My soda habits are still kinda bad(3-4xs a week) but it is a lot better than before! If I do drink soda then I try and drink more water that day then any other.
I eat more fresh fruits and veggies. I always try and include a fruit and/or veggie in every meal and in at least one of my snack times. I have 2 snacks a day in between meals. I have to have something to eat in between otherwise I would eat 2xs more at a meal. Which to me is not the greatest thing to do and it makes me feel pretty crummy afterwards if I do eat a lot at a time.
I am active with my son, we go out of the house at least 2xs a week. Once to the library for toddler story time and once to the park. When Ben is home we try and take him out to the park more than that. Get that active toddler energy out! Makes for a sound sleeper too!

I meal plan now. My husbands schedule is always kind of wonky every week, so once I get his weekly schedule I go off to write out a meal plan.
The days that Ben works late at night and cannot eat dinner for us I prepare a salad for myself and a Josiah friendly dinner for little man. That usually consists of leftovers or a fun night of corn dogs or homemade mac'n'cheese. To save some money I sometimes go over to my parents house if Ben is working. I get a nice break when I do that and Josiah loves to play at Nana's house! ;)

All the other nights I try and make completely different meals throughout the week.
One night it'll be a beef or hamburger dish.
Another night I'll do a chicken dish.
Then a dish that I include fish in.

This makes leftovers extra yummy and a lot to choose from for my lunches.
Also, most meals that I make that freeze nicely I make extras of and throw it in the freezer for a few weeks. I love doing this! I get more time with my family when I do it this way. I prepare the extra dishes when both my kids are cooperative for nap times.

Wow. I just realized that this blog post went from my "diet" to meal planning! haha! maybe I should get off of here before I get myself into trouble. ;)

Meal planning helps me to look for yummy healthy recipes-coupon great deals and if you do it right, makes the food budget go just a little bit longer. :)

Pre-Prechool?

Both the moms and I have talked and discussed for a long time about doing this and it is really going to happen!
Starting this fall Josiah will be starting "school". Technically it's a daycare for his age, but he is going to learn so much!
I am going to already be cooped up in the house with 2 kids this winter and I really want Josiah to be able to have some fun after the summer is over. I already go out with the kids 2x or more in a week so that he can get his energy out. He sleeps so well at night when we do.

This school that he is going to has a waiting list. My MIL and I went way back in November to get him signed up for this. It is seriously one of the best early child ed programs in town I think.

Eden will be about 7 months old when we drive him to school, he'll be 2 years and 7months. He needs this, big brother needs a playtime with kids his own age.

Remember how I talked about his development in a blog post a couple weeks ago? Well him going to school is going to help with tremendously! He is starting at the earliest that they are allowed to start.

My little man is growing up. This summer we will be keeping our eyes peeled for:

mud/rain boots
a backpack
a lunch pail
school clothes

You all know how I like to get the best possible deal on things that we need want. ;)

-Jess

PS I'll be talking more about this school when I get more info. I am so excited for him, I can't wait till he starts!