Virginia Beach {Day Five}

I had high hopes to finish our Virginia Beach family vacation recap before 2015 ended, but life just got in the way! That seems to happen often!

Our typical vacation day consisted of hot tea on the balcony to start the day, enjoying the breakfast buffet, then heading down to the beach, where we spent the next few hours.  After showers and getting changed, we would go out for dinner, then roam the main street or the boardwalk.  After dark, we took walks on the beach, strolled the boardwalk, went for night swims in the indoor pool, and ended the evening on the balcony.  It was perfection! 

Here's a short and sweet recap of day five...

Lexie perfected her boogie boarding skills.

Liam practiced his walking in the sand skills and Lily logged in hours building sand castles.

We saw dolphins just a few feet off shore, right behind where the kids were swimming.  Some people thought it was a shark and the lifeguard was shocked. He said he has never seen a dolphin come that close to the shore.  This dolphin-lover was THRILLED to catch such an amazing view.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to my camera in time to capture them directly in front of me!

Grant took Liam back to our hotel for a nap, and Lexie and Dylan joined him.  Lily and I are great beach buddies.  We could both stay on the beach all day!

Of course, she had to bury me in the sand...

...but I reciprocated!

We met Olaf on the street and Lily was so excited.  She squealed when she spotted him and was the first to run over and lean up against him for a hug!

We ended day five playing in the sand. Night walks on the beach quickly became our family favorite!

Why is it that vacation always goes by so quickly?  The first five days flew by, and by the end of day five, we were already feeling sad about going home. 

Remind me again why we don't live near the beach?!?

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A Warm & Safe Night's Sleep with baby deedee: Review and Giveaway

We are in the midst of winter in Pennsylvania.  It's cold, the temperature is downright frigid after dark, and I worry about my toddler keeping warm throughout the night. 

As most of you know, Liam has Down syndrome.  Thankfully, he is 100% healthy and SO happy! But I worry so much about him.

One of the things I'm adamant about is safe sleeping practices with him.  I don't give him anything extra when he sleeps.  We skip bumpers and pillows.  We use sleep sacks.  People who have Down syndrome have an increased risk for sleep apnea and I don't want anything interfering with his sleep!

Liam has always been a fantastic sleeper.  But last month, he started to wake up and yell in the middle of the night.  When I would check on him, he was freezing.  He does tend to get cold very easily.  I don't think it's a Down syndrome thing.  I think it's a take after his mother thing!

At that point, I  felt it was safe to give him a blanket in addition to his sleep sack.  Unfortunately the problem continued. He would kick off the blanket and not be able to wake up completely to put it back on. I wasn't getting much sleep because I was constantly covering him, and when he was quiet, I worried!

I started to research other sleep sack options, and stumbled upon baby deedee on Twitter! I browsed through their products and just knew that it would work for Liam.  I sent them a tweet mentioning that I was so happy to find them and would be purchasing a sleep sack from them. Baby deedee very generously offered a product in exchange for a review and giveaway, and I jumped at the opportunity!

The award winning baby deedee offers many products for a safe, cozy, and warm night's sleep!  I ended up choosing the original sleep nest for my review. It sounded perfect for Liam!

 I was immediately impressed by the sleep nest upon arrival.  The quilted baby duvet sleeping bag was super soft and warm, and I absolutely loved the functional design and fun color!

The sleep nest did NOT disappoint!

The baby deedee sleep nest is the BEST sleep sack I've ever tried! I used a variety of brands with all four of my children, and I truly wish I would have discovered this company sooner!

A few things make the sleep nest unique:

• Shoulder snaps make it easier to put on.
• The Indian cotton is super soft.
• The cut is more narrow (cocoon shape) than other sleep sacks, which makes it cozier!
• It's quilted, which gives it an extra layer of warmth.

My favorite feature is the shoulder snaps!  Putting on traditional sleep sacks can be tricky.  You have to wrestle your child's arms into the holes then lay them down so you can slip it over their feet and zip it up.  With the baby deedee sleep nest, you can simply unsnap the shoulder snaps, slip it on while your child is sitting in your lap, and close the shoulder snaps!

I was even able to put it on while Liam was standing!  He stepped into it and I closed the shoulder snaps. It was also easy to put on while he was sleeping without waking him up. This is a winning feature in my opinion!

Of course, there is a center zipper, too.  It zips from the bottom up, so I can easily change Liam's diaper without removing the sleep nest.

Another thing I love about the baby deedee sleep nest is the size range. The sleep nest is available for ages 0-36 months. Liam was just between a medium and a large, so I chose a large so he could get more use out of it.  Let me just say, he will be able to fit into it for several more years! It actually fit my 4 1/2 year old!

The sleep nest was easy to wash and dry, and when it was finished, it looked just as new as when I pulled it out of the package.  I simply turned it inside out, washed it in cold water, and dried it on low.

A lot of people choose to get rid of sleep sacks when their child starts walking.  I, however, used them until age 3 with all of my kids.  Trust me...they are able to walk in sleep sacks and it keeps their feet warm overnight.  I don't know about your kids, but my kids lose socks while they sleep and wake up with cold feet! I know how important a good night's sleep is for me, and comfort and warmth makes a world of difference.  I just want my children to sleep safely and comfortably.

The most important thing is that using sleep sacks is safer.  I hate worrying about loose blankets causing SIDS. The sleep nest keeps me from worrying about one more thing, and as a mother who has four kids to worry about, that's a relief!

When Liam wears the sleep nest, he sleeps safely, looks cozy and comfortable, and stays warm without getting overheated, thanks to the breathable material.

 

Liam has been wearing the sleep nest at naptime and at bedtime every day.  He's a tiny dude, so it's going to be a part of our sleep routine for at least another year!

In addition to their website, baby deedee can be found on twitter and facebook. Baby deedee also offers these awesome products:

• sleep nest lite
• sleep nest tee
• sleepsie
• dabbie
• stroller blanket
• sleep pillow 
• sleep quilt
• sleep sheet

{GIVEAWAY}

One lucky winner will win a sleep nest from baby deedee in the size/color of their choice! Entering is easy on the rafflecopter widget below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


If you would like to order from baby deedee now, use THIS LINK, which will give you 20% off your entire order! 

The baby deedee sleep nest DID solve our problem.  Liam is getting a great night's sleep because he's safe, cozy, and WARM!

Thank you to baby deedee for sponsoring today's post and for keeping Liam warm throughout the winter! 

*DISCLOSURE: I was provided with a product in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Balance and Simplicity

I'm not one to make resolutions.  Honestly, I feel like they're just begging to be broken.

Instead, I decided to jump on the word of the year bandwagon.  But the only problem was I couldn't decide on just one word.  Balance AND simplicity kept going through my head.  So I chose two. What can I say?  I'm a rebel!

Finding balance has always been a struggle for me. I often feel overwhelmed. Raising four kids (including one with special needs), running a household, making time for my husband (and family and friends), blogging, and all my other commitments have me booked solid.  I end up sacrificing sleep just to get things done (even though my kids sleep great), skipping my workouts because other things have higher priority, and I'm just not making any time for myself. 

I'm not unhappy at all! Quite the opposite! I'm realistic and I know this is just a phase in my life.  I know my kids are going to grow up in the blink of an eye.  I know that one day, much sooner than I think, I'm going to be sleeping and I'm going to have more time and I'm going to be wishing it all back.

That being said, I NEED to find the right balance between everything.  It may take all year, but I'm determined to make my life run smoother!

Which leads to simplicity...

My goal is to simplify all aspects of my life. There's just SO much of everything and it doesn't need to be that way.  The simpler things are, the easier life will run.  Organization and time management are going to be my focus!

{MY PLAN}

Make our home more functional. 

Our family of 6 is busting out of our modest 3-bedroom home.  And we have WAY too much stuff.  Decluttering our home is on the agenda. I already began going through our house and donating items that we don't use or don't need.  I plan to do this drawer by drawer, closet by closet, room by room throughout the year! Also on the list is to finally finish the renovations that were started last year and create a living space that perfectly suits my family's needs.

Stop procrastinating.

Ahhh. Procrastination. My friend/enemy. So many times I think, "Oh, I'll just send that email later when I get a chance." Then it's 1 AM and I realize that I never sent that email and I have to scramble to get it done! SO...I took a Just Do It Now approach at the beginning of the year and it's working well. I'm not 100% there yet, but I'm improving!

Organize paperwork.

Last year I organized all of our paperwork.  I had accordion files for everything. School, medical, bills, personal, etc. I filed away paperwork as soon as it came in.  Then over the holidays, my method escaped me.  I now have piles of paperwork stashed inside my ottoman.  As soon as I open that lid to find something, I feel stressed and overwhelmed.  I started sorting through all those papers yesterday, and filing them away. Once I'm completely done, I plan on filing away paperwork every evening.

Maintain a calendar.

I do really well with writing all our events and commitments on my paper calendar, but the smaller things often get forgotten.  (Book order due today?  Oops!) I finally ordered an Erin Condren life planner, and as soon as it arrives, I plan on writing every single thing in it!

Find balance in blogging.

Blogging is my hobby.  I love to write. I love to share my family, my ideas, and my lifestyle.  I love to connect with others.  I love to share products and companies that I believe in.  It has also become a source of income, too. With that comes more responsibility. When I team up with a company, I work HARD for them. My kids know exactly when I'm trying to work, and suddenly have a million demands. I need to make time during my day for blogging and treat it like a part time job. I will continue to only choose sponsorship opportunities that fit my family and lifestyle. I'm not going to put my name behind every company that approaches me. I'm not going to force myself to blog every single day. If I don't want to write, I'm not going to. I want blogging to continue to be fun, and forced blogging is not enjoyable! Above all, I will never stop sharing my family.  THAT'S why I started this blog in the first place. 

Capture the little moments.

My other hobby is photography.  I have thousands of posed pictures of my kids. I love those pictures, but my photography goal for 2016 was to capture the little moments, too.  THIS post had the most views this month, and it was full of all those candid moments that took my breath away! It's also challenging me to expand my photography, which makes me happy!

Read more often.

Once upon a time, I was able to read a book every day.  I'm not even kidding.  Then I had 4 kids.  If reading kids lit every day counts toward this goal, I'd be rocking it!  But I want to get back to reading books for ME.  If I'm going to be completely honest, I tried the read before bed route, but I'm usually so exhausted that my eyes shut within two pages. Yesterday I tossed a book into a storage basket in my bathroom.  If I can fit in one chapter a day while I potty train my 2 year old or supervise bath time antics, then that's the way it's going to be.  And that's exactly what I did.

Focus on just ONE thing and complete it before moving on.

This one is so hard for me! Practically impossible.  My mind seems to go in a million directions at once. In the evening, I can often be found cooking dinner, helping 3 kids with homework, wrangling a toddler, packing lunches, and doing dishes.  AT THE SAME TIME. I end up getting completely overwhelmed. I just think...MULTITASK! DO ALL THE THINGS!  I really need to complete one task before moving on to the next.

Time management. 

My To Do list is long and impossible to complete.  I'm always rushing out the door or rushing to complete a task.  I need to come up with a reasonable schedule for each day and STICK to it!

Make monthly date nights a priority.

This one is for my husband.  And for me.  We're a team and we need to make time for each other. To put it bluntly, we need to escape from our kids every so often.  We always plan on once a month and it only ends up happening a few times a year.  This year, we're going to make our marriage a priority.

Make time for the things that often get pushed aside.  

Girls Night Out (monthly) = Important for my well being. Visits with my horse = Not many years left with the first thing that stole my heart. Exercise = Important, but it's the first thing to go when I don't have enough time. (Thank goodness just chasing after my kids and a weekly walk caused me to lose 10 lbs over the past 6 months.)

Try one new recipe each week.

Confession:  I don't love to cook.  But family dinners 5 times a week are very important to our family, so I do it.  Part of my struggle is menu planning.  I DO plan a weekly menu, but it's the same things in rotation.  I have so many recipes pinned on Pinterest.  My cooking goal in 2016 is to try one new recipe a week.  We already tried this creamy potato soup and I made this delicious crockpot ravioli!

Don't be afraid to say no. 

I say yes to EVERYTHING. I'm kind and compassionate, and it pains me to say no. But I need to start saying no. For myself and for my family. I have enough commitments.

Be patient.

Staying patient is a struggle for any parent.  In those instances when all 4 kids test my patience at the same time, I feel like I'm going to explode.  I need to focus on taking a deep breath and meeting needs one child at a time.

Be present.

Push everything aside. Put down the phone.  Focus on them.  Childhood is fleeting.  Our time together is limited. My kids are going to remember the moments I spend with them.  I want my kids to have happy memories of all the time we spent together! I absolutely do not want them to look back and remember me staring at my phone all the time!

Stop worrying.

Am I doing enough?  Did we read enough?  Did they play outside long enough?  Did they have too much screen time today? Are we doing enough learning at home? Are we doing enough therapy?  Are we doing TOO much therapy?  What if they _______?  What if this happens?  Those are just a few of the questions that go through my head every day.  It's so easy to doubt ourselves as parents.  But sometimes we just need to let go and stop stressing so much about their future.  It's the NOW that matters! I'm almost certain that most of us ARE doing enough.

Enjoy. 

This one is easy. ENJOY. Life is a big jumble of emotions and series of events, and it can often be incredibly overwhelming. I want to focus on enjoying the moment, living life, and celebrating all the gifts I was given.

Above all, be reasonable.  

I'm not going to reach all my goals.  There are going to be hurdles to overcome.  Things aren't always going to work out the way I planned.  And that's okay.  100% okay.  Because that's life!

Do you make resolutions or choose a word to live by throughout the year?  What are some of your goals? 

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Life Lately

Oh, January. I'm just not a fan.  It's freezing, it's blah, and it's just tough getting back into the post-holiday routine.

Life never slows down for my family, though! Here's a brief glimpse at life lately:

Liam is right on schedule with his annual January respiratory illness! He doesn't get sick often, but he gets REALLY sick every January.  I'm not sure if it's related to Down syndrome, but he has a very high pain tolerance.  That makes it so difficult to tell when he actually needs to go to the doctor. He still plays, smiles, and acts normal even when he's sick! Unfortunately, if we don't take him in time, he can go from being very mildly ill to very sick in a matter of hours.

Because he doesn't run fevers unless he's really sick, I learned to take him in at the first sign of a fever.  We ended up at Med Express on Sunday, and he was diagnosed with an ear infection and possible pneumonia.  He was wheezy, but the doctor didn't want to expose him to unnecessary radiation to confirm pneumonia.  The antibiotic she prescribed treats both the ear infection AND pneumonia, so he's covered!

Thankfully, we caught it early this time! And just in case you thought I was kidding about his annual illness, Timehop confirmed that he took an ambulance ride to the ER last year on the very same day and was diagnosed with RSV, Croup, and Bronchiolitis!  Now...hopefully an ER won't give him cellulitis this year and we'll be good until his infection next January!

Lily had a gymnastics field trip with her preschool on Friday.  She decided that she absolutely DOES want to do "jazznapstics" in the Fall.  I'm sure she will change her mind approximately 25,000 times. She had fun and I got to chase around 18 preschoolers with my camera. Coffee was needed after that field trip. Also?  Information about Kindergarten arrived today and I seriously teared up.

Lexie's Christmas present from her grandparents was a parakeet.  She named it Krispy and it was the cutest, sweetest little bird.  Note my use of was.  Lexie is a very responsible kid, and is a very responsible pet owner. She took such great care of her bird, and just adored it.  Unfortunately, her bird had a freak accident while she was at school. It somehow got its foot caught at the bottom of the cage, and must have panicked and had a heart attack.  I found it after I arrived home from picking Lily up from preschool, and my heart immediately sank.

Telling Lexie was awful.  It broke my heart.  She was devastated, and sobbed in my arms for 20 minutes.  I felt so helpless, and all I wanted to do was take away her pain.  Lexie feels so deeply, and it makes my urge to protect her even stronger. She had that bird for less than 2 weeks, but she loved it so much. I absolutely hate seeing her in pain.

Dylan started basketball at the beginning of December and he had his first game on Saturday.  After 5 years of baseball, I can honestly say that I like basketball so much more.  The games are only 50 minutes long (compared to those 2 1/2-3 1/2 hour games) and it's actually exciting to watch.  Every Saturday through the end of February will now be spent at basketball games, but it's okay.  He loves it!

We went to my sister's house for dinner on Saturday, and Liam loved spending time with his cousin, Elijah. He wasn't too sure about the crying, though! Liam is almost 2 1/2 and Elijah is 12 weeks old, and, well, there isn't much of a size difference! (Although it was confirmed that Liam finally reached 24 lbs!  Woo-hoo!)

The Steelers are heading to the next round of playoffs.  Let's just say that last quarter of the playoff game on Saturday night was ROUGH. Watching my husband watch the game gives me major anxiety.  Obviously, Liam felt the same way!

This book.  Over and over and over again! But it's SO good and it's great for OT!

It's REALLY cold right now. Winter definitely arrived with the new year. Wearing lots of layers, keeping the fireplace on, and snuggling is the only way to tolerate it.

I finally got the chance to take down Christmas today.  I'm currently in the process of decorating for Valentine's Day.  I think another trip to Target and TJ Maxx is in order...

As for me, I'm exhausted from trying to keep up with 4 kids and our busy schedule, and staying up way too late. My current goal is making this girl smile.  Even if it means taking unflattering selfies at her request. It doesn't get any more real than this!

That's the last 4 days in a nutshell! We definitely know how to keep busy.  I'm just hoping for a break from the sickness and the sadness.
  
How is your January going so far?

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*Linking up for Tuesday Talk with Our Pretty Little Girls.

Christmas Eve, Simple and Sweet

Christmas came and went so rapidly this year!  It seems to go by quicker each year. Slow down, time! Please?

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve, but I didn't document it as well as I usually do. I was too busy enjoying the moment with my sweet family! I truly can't believe how quickly my kids are growing up and I want to soak up as many memories as I possibly can.  I want to remember them, exactly as they were this Christmas Eve, forever.

Christmas Eve is always so quiet for our family until the evening.  I wanted to make the entire day more fun, so we started our Christmas Eve by having some dear friends over for a visit.  After they left, we decorated our Gingerbread House and baked more Christmas cookies!

It was unusually warm this year, so we took advantage of the amazing weather and headed outside for a quick Christmas photo (or two or three)!

Grant had to work on Christmas Eve.  The end of the month is always very busy in Grant's office, but we were disappointed he couldn't come home any earlier.  As soon as he got home, we headed over to my parent's house for dinner.

My sister, Andrea, and her family joined us, along with my niece, Meagan, and her family. It was nice to spend time with them, but I'm not going to lie:  I miss our former Christmas Eves that were filled with all of our family members.  I know things change, but I really do miss how we used to celebrate Christmas Eve together! That being said, I am very grateful for the company of my awesome parents!

Our evening with my parents and family passed far too quickly (it always does), and soon, it was time to spend Christmas Eve with Grant's family.

We ate, talked, and just enjoyed being together.  The kids eagerly participated in all their favorite Christmas Eve traditions: opening their new Christmas Eve pajamas and book, getting new ornaments from their Grandma, opening gifts from their Nannie and Uncle Scott, and opening their gift from Grant and I. They had a great evening!

The second half of our evening passed by just as quickly as the first, and midnight was rapidly approaching! We gathered up our crew, drove home full of excitement, and completed our Christmas Eve routine.

The kids hung their new ornaments on the tree, put out cookies and milk for Santa, put their Santa key on our front door, threw homemade reindeer food and carrots into the front yard, tracked Santa's progress with Grant, and eagerly jumped into bed!

Despite their excitement, it didn't take long for the kids to fall asleep. They had a busy day! After the house fell silent, Santa arrived! And just like that, the house was transformed by the magic of Christmas! I was so excited for Christmas morning. Being a parent makes you feel like a little kid again!

In the wee hours of the morning, I found myself staring at the all the Christmas lights and feeling so thankful for everyone in my life. Even after all these years, the beauty of Christmas Eve still takes my breath away!

Stay tuned...

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