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Favorite Fall Activities

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Fall is my most favorite time of the year — it always has been. Not only is it the season of my birthday, but it’s the season of my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! The weather gets cooler, the leaves change, and pumpkin spice is readily available! Ha! 🙂

Our Fall has already been off to a great start! Here’s what we’ve been up to and loving lately!

Hayrides!

We went to a local Fall festival and the kids were super excited about the hayride through the apple orchard! Remy had never experienced a hayride and the last time Ari was on one was several years ago, so it was excitement across the board.

Remy laughed and smiled the whole time. Everything — the apple trees, the birds, even the far-off sound of a ‘choo choo’ — is more fun when you’re on a hayride.

Ahh, to be a kid again! ♥ ♥

Going to the pumpkin patch!

This is one of the things I love doing the most in the Fall and I’m happy to share my passion with my kids. Thus far, they seem all about it. I mean, who doesn’t love pumpkins!?

Ari has already mastered the fine art of picking his own pumpkin. The biggest pumpkin is the best, of course. Ha!

Swim Lessons at Goldfish Swim School.

Outdoor swimming may be over for this year, but a change in season is no reason to stop learning to swim! Remy is in the middle of her Mini 3 lessons at Goldfish Swim School in Hudson and we’ve seen huge progress with her abilities already.

The small class sizes of just 3-4 kids per instructor along with a fun curriculum has helped her love of swimming grow by leaps and bounds! Even during the one lesson where she cried and cried (for zero reasons), the teachers were so gentle and loving — they even had her smiling and laughing by the end of class!

Goldfish Swim School offers a state-of-the-art facility featuring hairy drying stations, swimsuit dryers, private bungalow-style changing rooms, a glass-walled viewing area, and 90-degree water for the kiddos. Teachers offer weekly feedback and help closely monitor the development of each child to maximize their swimming success.

Remy is so proud of what she’s learning —  flutter kicks, wall holds, and even holding her breath underwater. But most of all she’s having fun and keeping her Summer skills active year-round!

Fall Food + Beer.

One of the best parts of this season, at least for me, is all of the delicious food and drinks. Apple pie, pumpkin spice lattĂ©s, apple butter, pumpkin ales… the list goes on and on.

Basically, if it has apples or pumpkins in it, I’m here for it!

I mean, have you ever had an apple cider donut!? They’re delicious.

And we’re nowhere even close to Thanksgiving yet. So basically the best is yet to come!

And, of course, Halloween Parties!

I know it’s still a bit early in the ‘season’, but we’ve already been to one big Halloween party and look forward to at least two more!

My little Ninja, Skye from Paw Patrol, and little unicorn (held by Tigger) loved dressing up and playing games. Ari was especially into it. Like, extra. Ha.

He can be seen here eating all of the sugary goodies off the candy apple bar and then followed it up with an enthusiasm for apple-bobbing that I’ve never seen in another human before in my life!!

This kid, man. Freaking hilarious! I think he’s found his passion. And his passion is 1000% Halloween.

What are some

of your favorite

Fall activities !?

 

 

Back-to-School Shopping at Beachwood Place

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This being my first year sending a child to Kindergarten, I felt vastly unprepared for the amount of Back-to-School shopping that I would need to do. I mean, I had heard from plenty of mom friends that BTS shopping was intense; but it wasn’t until I got Ari’s school supply list that I finally understood what this whole BTS thing was all about.

Honestly, the actual school supplies were easy. But when it comes to buying clothes for a growing boy, I wanted to make sure my money would go as far as possible.

Since I would be dragging three children with me, I decided to plan one centralized shopping trip. Beachwood Place has helped so many generations of students go back to school in style so I knew I could find timeless but trendy staples to meet all of our BTS requirements.

We were lucky enough to be present for a fun afternoon for the whole family! Cat Coquillette was in center court for a hand-lettering workshop for both adults and kids! While I wasn’t able to participate myself (hello, cranky newborn!) it was really fun watching everyone create amazing hand-lettered art of their very own!

While my kids participated in the hand-lettering workshop, I snacked on some guac and chips from Bomba Tacos + Rum (which just opened their new Eastside location).

Then we got back to shopping. And guys? I got so. many. good. deals! Like, so many. I shopped at Hannah Anderson, Gap, Zara, Children’s Place, Dillards, and H&M and only spent — wait for it — $206!

The only thing I got full price was a pair of Native Shoes for each of the kids. Everything else was a steal! And the bonus? There’s currently a free Good Vibes gift with your purchases at Beachwood Place! The more you spend, the more gifts you receive — starting at just $50!

I’m honestly impressed with how well I did on my first back-to-school shopping trip, but I’m also grateful to have such a great shopping destination so close to home.

What’s your favorite aspect of

shopping at Beachwood Place?

 

 

STEM Education Through a Snapology Franchise

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I can’t believe we’re a mere two weeks away from the start of the school year here in Ohio! And with my first born headed off to kindergarten, it’s been making me think a lot about education and supplementing his learning with STEM activities.

STEM education (or science, technology, engineering, and math) helps to prepare our children of all ages to make a real difference in this world by helping them to learn the skills that may be missed in our traditional education system.

That’s why Snapology franchises — like the one opening in Westerville — are so important to me.

For those not familiar with Snapology, it’s a nationwide company based in play through learning with LEGO and robotics. They offer after-school workshops, Summer camps, and even birthday parties for kids of all ages.

So you can understand my excitement to know that there is a location nearby for my little guy. He has thousands and thousands of LEGOs already and I watch his imagination run wild with creativity all day every day. I just want to encourage his enthusiasm for STEM learning even further.

Science is more than a school subject, or the periodic table, or the properties of waves. It is an approach to the world, a critical way to understand and explore + engage with the world, + then have the capacity to change that… Click To Tweet

I often wonder how different my adult life would be if I was encouraged to pursue science and mathematics as a young adult. In fact, as soon as I graduated from college I regretted not getting my degree in accounting. I have such a love of numbers and mathematics, but it was overlooked in high school and thus even I missed my I think may have been my calling.

I’m happy to know that my children’s’ curiosity for STEM will be nurtured, with both the help of me and the amazing programs in our area. And so I guess I can go into this (very first!) school year with a bit less anxiety. I mean, for now! 🙂

 

What are some of the ways
in which you are encouraging
STEM learning for your children?

 

4 Ways to Help Siblings Adjust to a New Baby

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This is a sponsored blog post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Is anyone else in complete disbelief that we’re nearing the end of July already?! I can hardly believe that our third baby, Mila, is already a month old. It’s all sort of surreal.

These past four weeks have been a huge adjustment for our family. Between bringing a new baby home and having my husband at home 24/7, my two older kids, Ari (5) and Remy (2), have been having some issues. Nothing major, honestly. Just a tad bit of attitude and a few listening issues.

And I have to say that throughout this adjustment period we’ve found little ways to make the older kids still feel special and important.

Movie dates  //

My husband and I have always been movie buffs. When we were dating (aka before we had kids) we would go to the theater weekly. It was our ‘thing.’ And I’m proud to say that we’ve instilled the love of the movie theater to Ari; but up until recently, Remy had yet to go.

Well, lucky for us, the Cinemark Summer Movie Club has been a go-to in our new weekly routine! Remy has sat through 3 different movies with Chad and her big brother since Miss Mila was born.

They think this movie date with daddy is the coolest thing ever — especially since they get popcorn and “fizzies” during their big date!

Special Treats at Steak ‘n Shake  //

Bringing home a new baby can mean lots of ‘fend for yourselves’ meals, which, in our house means lots of hot dogs, fruit, and sandwiches. We’ve been lucky to have a handful of friends bring us meals, too! Otherwise, I fear our children would not have had a single home-cooked meal these last 4 weeks.

We’ve also made it a point to take advantage of special ‘treat’ meals — like our recent adventure to Steak ‘n Shake for their Kids Eat Free weekend promotion. For every $9 you spend, you get one free kids’ meal! How awesome is that?!

Steak ‘n Shake does such an awesome job of making kids of all ages feel special — from first greeting to the last sip of milkshake!

Just look at how happy this little lady is! And she ate every last bite of her (free!) kids meal!

Solo errands  //

There isn’t always time for grand adventures, like those above. But ya know what? Kids don’t need big adventures. Small errands with just one kid are equally as rewarding. That undivided attention is glorious to them!

Whether it be Chad running to the grocery store with just Ari, or me taking Remy and Mila to Target for an hour, they are happy with the extra attention.

Extra bedtime snuggles  //

The one area where the older kids seem to be struggling the most is with bedtime routines. Between illness and toddler sleep regression, we’ve had our fair share of bedtime obstacles; but even on the best of nights, we find ourselves giving Ari and Remy lots of extra snuggles just before bed.

One extra story, one extra leg rub, and one extra snuggle and hug go a long way.

And when all is said and done I try to remind myself that they won’t remember the struggles of these early days as a family of 5. Nope. They’ll remember the special moments that are so small they seem insignificant. That’s the hope that I cling to in the moments of chaos — to just turn simple moments into long-lasting memories.

 

 

Postpartum Update // Two

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I can’t believe this little lady has been with us for three whole weeks already! Honestly, the last few weeks have felt like months — but I look down at my still-soft belly and feel my organs still shifting back into place and I remember that, oh yes, it’s only been three weeks.

Sleep  //

We’re riding the roller coaster of sleep over here. Some nights are great while other nights are completely overwhelming. That being said, this child is still a much better sleeper than her siblings ever were as infants. The other night she slept for 6 hours straight, which to this day is still hit or miss with Ari and Remy.

I know, I know… I’m lucky. Very lucky. But there have been nights with constant screaming and zero sleep as well. And those nights are really, really, difficult. I truly think I have PTSD from Remy and on these nights I get incredible anxiety and flashbacks of her infancy.

One thing that has helped is consistency. If I keep her actively keep her awake in the afternoon (which means she’s screaming and angry) and put her down around 7:30 – 8:00 PM, she’ll sleep for a few hours straight. So we’re sticking to this schedule as much as possible.

Breastfeeding  //

Nursing Mila is still going well. My supply seems to have stabilized a bit and I’m no longer engorged. But, gosh, there are days where I wish I wasn’t her only way of nourishment! I know that all nursing mamas have felt this way at some point or another, but there are some days where I wish I could just sleep and hand her off to my husband.

Maternity Leave + Paternity Leave  //

Speaking of my husband, he’s still on paternity leave. Actually, he went back to work for two days before I begged him to take two additional weeks off. I was overwhelmed from having a sick toddler and a newborn (Remy contracted Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease the morning of the 4th of July and has been super contagious ever since). So he has been home with us — Thank GOD.

I decided, however, to get Ari and Mila out of the house by returning to work at the end of last week. It was a gentle transition back for all of us. Ari got to see all of his friends from the YMCA and play all morning, meanwhile I handed Mila off to my coworker and snuggled other babies in childcare. It was great!

The Big Kids  //

HFM Disease really threw our world upside down. I mean, it was awful. She woke up on the 4th with a fever and threw up. I thought “Oh no — another stomach bug!” But the next morning she woke up without the fever, but with bumps around her mouth and booty. And then all over her legs, feet, and hands.

We did a digital appointment with a pediatrician so I didn’t have to take everyone out of the house and she confirmed that, yes, it was HFM. When she found out I also had a newborn at home she cringed. I had to do my best to keep her away from her new baby sister — you know, the one she’s been obsessed over since the day she was born.

That’s the point at which I begged Chad to take another 2 weeks off of work.

Luckily, at 10 days after the fever, all of her symptoms seemed to be completely gone. Which meant she could finally get out of the house for a bit. So I took her to our favorite place — Target!

This cart hammock from Binxy Baby makes our frequent trips to the store a million times easier. Not only do people seem to compliment it nonstop, but I have the entire cart free for groceries (which certainly wouldn’t happen with her giant car seat in the cart).

Ari, however, has been able to get out and enjoy himself quite a bit lately. I took him and Mila on an adventure to the LEGO Store for their monthly mini build followed by lunch and he was in HEAVEN.

I had zero distractions from him since his baby sister slept the whole time, so he loved having my undivided attention.

He’s also been going to Tot Time in the park still and he participated in our community Goldfish Catch (which is basically filling up the community wading pool with goldfish and sending the kids in to catch them — ha!)!

So he’s been living the good life while Remy has been miserable. But here’s hoping we’re on the upswing for everyone!

Mental + Physical Health  //

Mentally, I feel mostly okay. I’m still surprised that I seem to have avoided any signs of PPD/PPA thus far. And my most difficult times certainly seem to be the moments where all of the children are screaming and demanding, which is to be expected.

And physically I’m feeling pretty good. My immediate postpartum weight loss seems to have leveled off a bit. I’ve not ever been one of those nursing moms who drops weight quickly. In fact, my body seems to think it needs to go into hibernation mode while I’m breastfeeding.

So I’m starting back on Weight Watchers to keep myself accountable — plus, they take into account all of the extra food I’m supposed to be eating as an exclusively breastfeeding mom! And I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into my workout routine soon!

We’re still very much in survival mode and I’m certain we have some major changes coming next week when Chad officially goes back to work. So keep sending all of your positive vibes our way!

 

 

Disclosure: I received the Binxy Baby in exchange for my honest review. As always, all opinions herein are my own.

Prenatal Self-Care with Make-Ahead Scrambled Egg Muffins

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NatureMadePrenatalDHA #CollectiveBias

As a new mom, one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was the following:

Plan, prepare, and adjust your expectations as you go.

Pregnancy and adding a family member are, at best, an adjustment. And, at their toughest, they are a battle. I consider myself in the lucky category regarding pregnancy. We never had any trouble trying to conceive. I began taking my prenatal vitamins the moment we decided to try for our most recent baby and, though convinced it surely could not be as easy to get pregnant as the previous times, we became pregnant almost immediately.

But all of my pregnancies were very different. The first time around I felt invincible — I ate what I wanted, failed to exercise, and still felt relatively great. But that was not a healthy pregnancy. I struggled to recover and get back my health postpartum. Eventually I did, but it was harder than it should have been. The second time around I was too sick with hyperemesis gravidarum to maintain any bit of health. But the third time around I made a vow to myself and my family to be a healthier, better version, of pregnant me.

Using a 5 month supply Nature Made® Prenatal Multi + DHA from Sam’s Club.

The easiest way for me to stay on top of my health during pregnancy was making sure to attend regular OB checks and purchasing a 5 month supply of Nature Made® Prenatal Multi + DHA from Sam’s Club. I knew that I was doing everything in my power to provide the essential vitamins and minerals needed to properly develop my baby’s nervous system.†

Having the 5 month supply means that I can focus less on running out and more on keeping myself healthy and at my best.


Remaining active.

I also maintained my exercise regimen — which is something I had failed to do previously. I continued teaching cycling classes and coaching gymnastics, all while also participating in group exercise classes such as Zumba and kickboxing. Sure, my stamina and level of physical exertion certainly changed, I stayed active and did my best to maintain a physical lifestyle.

And I have to say, it made a huge impact in how I felt. I was able to keep up with my kids and give my energy a boost when I was feeling sluggish. As a bonus, the exercise made my pregnant body sleep so well!

Stocking up on healthy foods. 

As a busy mom of two already, I needed to fuel my body with foods that would help me keep up with chasing them around. One of my favorite ways to keep us all from starving is to buy the pre-washed and pre-cut fruits and veggies from Sam’s Club. This way when a tiny toddler comes screaming for “snaaaaacks!” I can just open the fridge and hand her a carrot! It also helps that I love raw veggies and that they are an excellent way to keep me from eating the unhealthy foods neither I, nor my baby, needed!


Make, bake, and freeze. 

With previous pregnancies I gave in to every craving under the sun. I am honestly fairly certain I lived off of ice cream and Philly cheesesteaks my entire first pregnancy. But it turns out you shouldn’t feed your family ice cream and cheesesteaks every day, so something had to give with this third pregnancy.

Enter meal prep. My nemesis and my saving grace. See, I’m not a huge fan of cooking. I like to get it all done so that when I’m hungry I can just eat — no waiting. So the saving grace is that I can prep meals ahead, make them, bake them (or cook them), and freeze them in smaller amounts for later.

And what better way to freeze items than in cute, bite-sizes, so that my kids think it’s ‘fun‘ to eat! Did you realize you can put basically anything in a muffin tin and it suddenly changes the way that kids see meals!? All jokes aside, this really and truly works!

That’s why I’m sharing one of my favorite healthy meals that can be made ahead and put in the freezer to grab and go — Easy Scrambled Egg Muffins!

Easy Scrambled Egg Muffins

I grabbed all of the items from Sam’s Club so that I could make a big batch to freeze and have handy.

Ingredients:

  • 18 eggs
  • 1 C chopped spinach
  • 2/3 C whole milk (or 2% milk)
  • 2/3 C flour
  • 2/3 C grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 Tbsp basil
  • 2 small tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 tsp. baking soda


Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
  2. Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Slowly mix in milk.
  3. Stir in black pepper, sea salt, and basil.
  4. Fold in spinach, tomatoes, and cheese.
  5. Add flour and baking soda until thoroughly mixed.
  6. Use 1/4 measuring cup to scoop into muffin tin.
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let stand to cool. Enjoy and freeze extras!

Good for you, delicious, and easy peasy!

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.