Currently in May.

a pile of stuff, made aesthetically pleasing in black and white

Digging: through everything in this house. I'm figuring out what needs to go, what needs to move with us, what can be listed on Poshmark, what can be donated, what can be trashed. I'm being particularly strict about my own clothes. If I haven't worn it in 1-2 years, it needs to go. The weight, physically, of carrying around and moving belongings I don't use is super evident this time of year. 

Weeding: same thing. Weeding through everything. I didn't start packing earlier because I didn't want to get ahead of myself. I packed up way too early last spring, thinking we were moving for sure and we just didn't. So now I have nothing packed and we're supposed to move this month.

Also I do like pulling weeds. I find it relaxing and grounding to be in the dirt. I may do that this weekend too. The front yard landscaping (poorly maintained at best when we moved in) needs some upkeep. 

Enjoying: We just finished watching The Beast in Me on Netflix and I'm always supportive of Claire Danes being unhinged. I've been watching old episodes of ER because I find that relaxing and I thought about rewatching all of Once Upon a Time. I dipped back into season 1 (I think I originally watched in near-real time) and it holds up. 

Eating/drinking: I wish I had fun new recipes to share! Mostly I'm relying on my tried and true brainless meals. We had spaghetti last night. Having homemade pizza tonight. 

I did get a restock on this probiotic from Just Ingredients. It does not disappoint! I actually have a ton of frozen fruit to use up before we clear out of this house so I told myself I'd start doing a protein smoothie every day but so far that hasn't really happened. I hate dealing with the blender?

Shopping for: I did a restock on this cleanser from Adel. It lasts a very long time and it turns out that oil cleansing is really good for my skin. Also, something that is very much a want and not a need: I love these totes from Baublebar. 

I was going to put together a haul of what I've gotten from Amazon in recent months but here's some of what I've shopped for lately...       

 Honest cleanser. I ran out of my La Roche Posay oil cleanser (cannot recommend enough) so I decided to try something new. This is great for sensitive skin. 

This is an absolute steal for under-eye patches. 

This is the best mascara I've ever used, ever. I've had a few tubes over the years. I don't always want to spend $20 on mascara but it's worth it. 

I got two of these tanks a month or so ago. I realize I have some major wardrobe holes but, really, I just need summery tops and these are great quality. I got mediums and they're pretty loose. They wash very well. 

Another absolute steal: I have dry hair so I keep I'm always on the lookout for products that will add moisture. This shampoo/conditioner is exactly what I'm looking for and is a bargain at $12 for both. I've been using it for a month now. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Linking up with Currently!

                                      

Friday things, 8/4

In case you missed it:

A Day in the Life

Currently in August

Well, a goal has been met. I was up before both my kids today. This was the time when I got out of bed. 

Wells woke up 45 seconds later. But a goal met is a goal met. 

Wells is the first one. I find Sutton trying to crawl out doggy door and on top of the coffee table often. Wells was never this adventurous. 

Our house was built in the 80s, remodeled a few times, and we still find everything wrong with it. 

He and Hunter Biden likely are the same in this regard. 

I never noticed this with Wells. With Sutton, it's all I think about. Mostly because all she will eat is fruit. In fact, I need some ideas. 

She eats bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. She will eat cheese, crackers, eggs, sometimes noodles/mac and cheese.

There's nothing else. I don't remember this with Wells? I'm ready to start stuffing vegetables into smoothies. I bought some leakproof smoothie cups last night because this is getting ridiculous and exhausting. 

Prime example: I needed to take a dog to the vet on Wednesday. I chose sleep. I woke up at 8:09am. Both kids were still asleep. We needed to leave for the vet at 8:30am in order to get there on time. So getting myself and two kids (and a dog) ready in 20 minutes was a production. They literally ate veggie straws for breakfast in the car. 

(I was thinking really hard about food and what I can do to give them more on-the-go options: neither eat bars of anything sort. Wells eats cereal for breakfast and Sutton eats eggs. There is no good way to do this parenting thing, I'm convinced.)

I'm still eyeing this and I don't know why. 

I thought this was funny but we don't use bath bombs, ever. We all get horribly itchy from them. 

Sometimes I catch Wells under my Netflix profile too. 

Again with the food. 

Linking up for Friday Favorites!

Oh, a complete side note: since Bloglovin' doesn't work anymore, I am missing a lot of posts from bloggers I usually follow. What's the best way you've found to keep up with blogs?

(Sorry, Instagram isn't the same as blogging.)

{Currently} in March.

Loving. That it's been decent being-outside-weather this week. 

Mostly.

And not today of course because it's been raining for 16 hours straight and is set to continue.

Starting. To implement some new habits for Lent. Let me explain, I guess.

Adding in: 

The Quiet Time Companion Bible reading plan. I find that The Bible Recap doesn't do it for me..I get more facts and less opinion out of my John MacArthur study Bible and a simple list of what to read. 

Pilates. There is nothing that works better. Post-partum fitness round-up coming soon.

30 grams of protein for breakfast. Believe it or not, I'm more likely to do Bible reading and Pilates before breakfast than I am to add 30 grams of protein to breakfast. I just can't do breakfast most days. This is the one I'm struggling with most. Theoretically, it's not hard because I could just make a smoothie. 

Also, giving up: 

Complicating dinnertime. This would take more explanation but I'm really trying to make life easier on myself right now and not harder. 

Twitter. Okay, well, I took Twitter off my phone. It's actually made a big difference. Now I just find myself doing a scroll through once a day or so on the iPad or laptop. And I do try to stay off of it altogether on Saturdays and Sundays because nothing productive happens in the news cycle on weekends. 

True crime podcasts and  their corresponding Facebook groups. This one is complicated. First, TC is a depressing hobby. Second, no amount of anything can make me care about every facet of the Murdaugh trial. Third, I feel like I'm getting shallow dives and opinions from some sources and unnecessary story-telling from others when it comes to cases. 

My exception to this rule is The Prosecutors, of course. I jump on their live show on Youtube just about every week (cringe, right?). They are so smart and interesting and I love that they give "most likely" scenarios and not just random speculation and anecdotes.

 (An example of this is Crime Weekly's current series on Jennifer Kesse: I know the case/facts pretty well but I don't care what Crime Weekly has to say. And I certainly don't need the stage set by explaining to me what is in Florida.)

(I felt this way about Kathleen Peterson too. No amount of anything could make me really care about that case. And, obviously, it was an owl attack anyway.)

ANYWAY. That all falls into a specific sub-genre of interest so I get it if it doesn't make sense to you lol. 

Finishing. Some product empties to share here!

My favorite serum is the Beauty Counter vitamin C one. It's $$$ so I bought some smaller sizes that were on sale around Christmas. I use it almost every morning. 

This cleanser is a favorite for sure. Again, smaller size but it lasted for about 3+ months with almost daily use. My favorite thing about Beauty Counter is that you don't need to use a lot of the product to feel the results from it. 

And then I tried a new body wash. I guess this is technically for men? It's the one that smelled the best when I was trying to decide which one to get at Walmart. I generally like Native products. It's not the *best* on the EWG scale but certainly not the worst. 

Trying. To find formal wear. We have a formal event in less than two months and I'm at a loss. The last time we had one of these, I ordered from Rent the Runway. It seems silly to pay $100 to rent a dress when I can just buy one for $50-100 though. I initially grabbed one from Amazon and it wasn't terrible but I feel I could do better. Then I got one from Nordstrom and it was fine but the fit was off. A bigger or smaller size wouldn't help, and they only have the one size available anyway. 

FUN FACT: they never tell you that your ribs will never actually go back together after you have a baby :) You can lose all the weight and tone up all you want. Ribs don't tone. 

My biggest requirement is that it not be floor length. I don't feel like myself in a floor-length dress, I guess. I like patterns and interesting necklines too. I don't like for it to be "basic". This one has an open back but I'm willing to try it. 

Lulus

Also trying to resist buying things like this:

Something about living in southern Missouri and having a baby girl? I don't know. Every day is a battle.

Going. To pick up our medical records from the hospital. Seriously cannot unrecommend the Ft. Leonard-Wood hospital enough. 

Mask picture for posterity! Because they are still required in the hospital on the army base :) 

March 1st was actually a great day to do this because Sutton was born last March and this is, thank goodness, closing a chapter. 

Linking up for Currently in March!

11 months of Sutton.

Good things about her getting bigger:

Super duper looking forward to no more bottles! I think I slowly started cutting Wells off at 12 months and he was done by 14 months? Maybe 15 months. With Sutton, I'm following some Formula Mom tips and I got these cups for milk and I'm still going to do her bottle as a sign for bed. Here's the thing: I held onto bottles longer with Wells because it was the spill-proof way of him drinking by himself in the car. Sutton is not a car-bottle drinker. She's never even figured out the method for it. She lays on the floor to drink her bottles, usually. 
Actually, I'm super duper looking forward to not have to mix formula. It's a constant in the back of my head: do we have formula mixed in the fridge? While I think the pitcher is an absolute game changer, I'm ready for her to move on from this. We do have a few canisters of toddler formula I'm going the start using this week. I bought it during the panic of not being able to find formula last May, in case things got really bad. So I'll use that up and then move her onto whole milk. Wells drinks 2%, Scott and I usually have Lactaid skim in the fridge because we like the flavor, so we'll be in the Land of 3 Milks for the next year. I think I switched Wells to 2% at age 2. 

What about pacifiers? What's the plan for getting rid of them? Wells didn't use a pacifier so I'm clueless. She loves her little llama pacifier. It's like her friend at this point. 

Her favorite foods are when Scott makes her breakfast. Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, he gets up with Wells and Sutton first and makes eggs and toast. Otherwise, she like club crackers, grapes, strawberries, pouches of fruits and veggies, and basically whatever we're eating. She's not a picky one. She's never been an oatmeal fan but she did try her first green smoothie this past month and she loved that. We do keep some baby puffs around for her and some teething crackers but she doesn't like the "baby" snacks the way Wells did. Sometimes I feel like she's had everything under the sun already including pho, Indian food, etc. We've always just kind of given her what we're eating. Then I remember that Wells had ice cream around 10 months and she hasn't had any yet and I feel okay about food choices for her.

She's not walking but is pulling up on all the furniture and enjoying the independence of getting from point a to point b. I'm good with this. She's fast too, when it comes to crawling. Usually she can be found near the dog water if I can't see her. 

She is truly the happiest baby I could've imagined. I think I said it before but she'll often wake up around 9pm and I'll get her from her crib and play with her while we watch tv at night (most recently, The Last of Us, The Bachelor, and The Menu which are not things we can watch while Wells is awake :)

We seriously enjoy that one on one time with her for 30 minutes or so most nights. 

I seriously enjoy taking her everywhere with me because no one doesn't like Sutton. She's the sweetest, smiliest girl and so good in the shopping cart or the stroller. 

When it comes to personality, she is the opposite of Wells. He's always been more emotional than her though, even as a baby. Sutton is much more even but when she wants something, she yells. She is determined. I watched her curse out her toys in baby yells because one was stuck in the basket and she wanted it. 

All I can think about here is that my introduction to Sutton was during my c-section when they pulled her out and she was actually yelling. No cry. Just angry confusion. Which makes sense. 

Time to start prepping the 1st birthday party supplies this week. We won't be going as big as we did for Wells, but I have some plans. 

Sutton's nickname is Squishy and Wells and Scott call her the Squishiest of the Isnhiest, which just reminds of Love, Actually and how the Prime Minister's secretary is called Plumpy lol. 

Phone Photos.

 This is just a random collection of the types of pictures I usually share on Stories. My content there ranges from non-overshared memes (i try to be original, thankyouverymuch) to baby stuff (and the preschooler when he obliges) to the political and to the faith-filled (speaking truth is important). Also, dogs.

These are unedited and out of order. (such is life so ENJOY)

My favorite pjs for babies and toddlers are the Burts Bees ones. The quality and variety for the price is the best I've found. 

Loves the mirror

Went to the hospital to order medical records. Masks required (:

The positions we twist into to get a baby to look at the camera...

 Shark's mouth

We renewed our aquarium/museum memberships. It's the one easy indoor activity we can do all year round.

She was more interested in whatever than she was in the real penguin. 

Jellyfish

Boba. Which is basically a milkshake.

Baby's first Vietnamese

My baby restaurant hack is back: You put everything they need in a ziploc bag. When they're finished being all messy, you put it all back in the bag and then deal with it at home. 

Trying new headbands. Still not sure.

Me too.

Pre-dinner charcuterie

More mirror time

New game. Batteries not included obviously.

Lunch. No one ate the muffins I mentioned making last week, don't worry. Wells refused and she fed hers to the dog. Scott liked them. 

Any time I hear a baby yelling, it's because Wells has done this to her. 

Oh, that's better. 

Grocery store maybe?

First smoothie.

Wells' lunch...Smoothie is pineapple, almond milk, banana, hemp hearts. 

I couldn't get dinner on the table fast enough last night (and don't worry, no one ate it :) :), so Wells and Sutton had a banana and Cheerios feast at 4:30pm. 

Probably why they didn't eat.