This recap covers Saturday May 20th through Friday May 26th!
Saturday was a BUSY day for our family! We have a weekly tradition of doing a special breakfast on Saturday mornings and on this Saturday Zach did waffles. Randomly Kye has been more into waffles lately than pancakes #trader.
We then drove up to Tifton (about a 45 min drive) to attend a baby shower! Chelsi and I went to school together in middle school and have remained friends over the years. Zach and I both also adore her husband, Chad, and we were SO excited to hear that they are expecting a baby boy!!! I LOVE that we are in a phase of life where our kids are flexible. In the past we’d never be able to drive to Tifton for a baby shower. But now we can! We are getting a tad bit spoiled with all this going and doing and flexibility! I’m interested to see how it affects our transition once Tab joins our crew.
Chad and Chelsi have done a TON of work on their home and have a gorgeous pool and outdoor space! I didn’t get to snoop around much inside the house but it’s a good excuse to go back and visit 😉 I love what they’ve done with everything I’ve seen so far!
We were only able to stay at the shower for an hour. The kids were able to swim and we were able to eat and visit for a bit before having to hit the road. I hate we couldn’t stay longer but we were so honored to be included in such a joyful time in their lives and can’t wait to meet baby Henry here soon!
YUM!
When I told Britt that it was her plate haha
Tess wanted to keep all the “lobsters” as pets 😉
Friends for over 20 years! So great to catch up!
We had to hit the road quick from the baby shower because we had another big event that day…Britt’s first exhibition (which I apparently cannot pronounce and instead have been saying it’s her “expedition”) with gymnastics! She attends a gymnastics class every week for an hour and LOVES IT. Zach and I aren’t usually able to stay and watch her in action due to Tess. She just really wants to be out there with Britt and struggles sitting and watching without participating. When we heard they were offering a “fun meet” we agreed it was a must-do. It was a great chance for us all to show Britt our support and to be able to see her in action!!!
Britt is our first child to really have a true passion for any sport (Kye dabbles but isn’t IN LOVE with anything yet). This was our first sporting event as a family for one of our children! Big moment for us 🙂
The meet (let’s just not use that exhibition word haha) was at 2:00 which is smack dab during nap time and we had just been in the car a good bit and we had come straight from the shower. We are really, really spoiled by Tess. She’s SO easy going and I wasn’t even concerned about her behavior during the meet. Maybe my lower stress about stuff is why she’s easier going? She did awesome and all of us just had the best time seeing Britt do her thing!
We were really surprised at her graduation about how serious she was and that same seriousness stuck with her for the gymnastics too. It’s awesome that she’s concentrating so much and that she takes everything she does so seriously! We’ve asked her about it and she said it’s because she’s really thinking and focusing. Which is great!!! It does give her a bit of a miserable look on her face though but I promise she was loving it 😉
It was also a big deal because a TON of parents were there. It was a HUGE crowd and she had many routines (no clue if that’s a gymnastics term or not) to do solo in front of everyone! She is much more reserved in public than Kye is but she did everything so well! We are so proud of her!!!
Fan Club 🙂
A hint of a smile!
Britt really and truly blew us away. We had low expectations because she’s only been doing gymnastics since November and the little bit she does at home doesn’t seem like it’s “her sport” haha but man she did awesome!!! And it’s been amazing to me how much she’s improved since the meet. I think this experience took her to another level with her passion. She’s carried her medal around constantly and has already asked if she’ll be able to do more meets in the future.
Our favorite part was her little stance thing they do after each routine. She put her arms out like in a shrug and it was adorable.
Here are videos from the meet:
Doing the bars (prob the moves we were most impressed with!)
Along with our crew Aunt Courtney and G-Mama also came out to support and Britt was so appreciative of everyone being there for her!
Proud of our girl!
We got done with the meet and ran home and rested for about an hour before loading back up and heading over to Courtney and Brad’s house for Colt and Payton’s birthday party!
The kids each made a card for their bff cousin 🙂
We learned something new about Tess at the party…she knows how to work people to get what she wants haha Courtney made some slushie drinks for us and she kept sneaking sips off different people. Then I kept catching her getting people to give her chips too! Future saleswoman 😉
I LOVED their party. It was very, very chill. Just a small group of family and the kids all just played. It’s truly such a blessing having cousins all so close in age because Colt and Payton didn’t need any other guests…they were completely happy just getting to hang with their BFF cousins! And my kids feel the same way 🙂
This is the adventure of getting rid of yoo-hoos. We had a TON left from the garage sale and I took them to Kye’s school to give out for his end of the year party and we took the rest to Colt and Payton’s party and FINALLY got rid of them all!!!
Best gift ever. I couldn’t resist wrapping up a picture of Colt dancing with Belle hahaha I know he’s totally sleeping with it next to his bed 😉
The kids never wanted to leave!
Monday kicked off our first true day of summer with having Kye home with us! The older two kids have timers on their lamps and will get up and play quietly…but Tess? She’s up at 6:45 and there will be NO sleeping in this summer haha!
Playing dr is the favorite game around here right now!
Our goal for the summer is to swim as much as possible!!!
The advantage of having a pool in your backyard is that no one sees you. So you can wear old bathing suits with zero chest support, old sunglasses and a random hat and no one will judge 😉
We totally and completely forgot that we have a 3D tv haha so we tried it out!
I had to go to a dentist appointment and Mrs. Charlotte came to watch the kids for me for a bit and brought Colt and Payton along. I think this is my favorite picture of them together ever!!!
My whole heart right here!
Our second book club book was Everything Everything. We met up to see the movie and then planned on dinner after to discuss. I LOVED the book and especially LOVED the movie. Y’all. It’s the perfect summer read/watch combo. The movie had me giddy. I felt like I was in high school! It’s adorable and was done so well. Perfect casting and was a fabulous interpretation of the book! We were excited to have Rachel join us this time…it was her first outing after giving birth to her first baby! So honored to be part of that big moment 😉 Neither Rachel or Karla could come hang after for dinner so Katie and I had some solo time at Steak and Shake!
We were heading to Mexico on Thursday so I needed to start packing and set Tuesday aside as an official “get packed” day. I pulled out all the preschooler games and the kids LOVED it. They were all new to Tess and Britt and Kye hadn’t played them in so long that they felt new for them too. You can see all of our family favorite games here!
Don’t Break the Ice is prob my personal fav!
We also had William over for the day which is why I set it aside as a good packing day because I knew the kids would be happily playing with him 😉
I know some people have noticed William in some of my stories on IG and I wanted to get his mama’s permission before telling their story. His family JUST moved to our town at the end of last year. During their move his mama, Sara, had some neck pain. It turns out it’s cancer. She has stage 4 cancer and it’s in her bones. They have no family or friends here and I happened to meet them because William goes to school with my girls. He’s come to hang with us a few times so his mommy can get some much needed rest. They have two older boys as well (William is 3 and the others are 9 and 12). It just really touches my heart thinking about being put in a position where you have to ask for help and you don’t have anyone nearby that you know of that you can ask. I’m thankful we got connected and that I’m able to be a hand! Please lift Sara and her family up in prayer. She’s having her 4th round of chemo this Friday. You can read more about her situation here! If you are local or would like to do something for the family please contact me as I have all their info and have a meal train set up 🙂
Packing for a trip isn’t just about the trip. It’s about EVERYONE. I had to pack each child for the time we were going to be gone too!
I also pack their vitamins for each day. Which I know may sound a bit too hardcore but I’ve found if they skip vitamins for a long period of time AND are eating all the junk food they get from everyone spoiling them then its just a bad combo. At least the vitamins help a bit to even out the junk 😉
From games to musical shows!
And, of course, movie time was a must!
I had to go BACK to the dentist AGAIN for the second day in a row which is just super annoying and frustrating. Back on Mother’s Day I bit down on a gummy bear (when we made the ice cream sundaes) and my tooth had a crazy amount of pain. Like I got lightheaded from it. Since then it’s been bothering me and I’ve noticed some discoloration. I got worried about going to Mexico and having major issues while traveling (no one wants to need medical care in Mexico!) so I wanted to get it handled before leaving if possible. Went to MY dentist Monday and was pretty annoyed that they basically just looked at it and told me I needed to be referred to a different dentist. I saw him on Tuesday and we did x-rays which looked fine. He got me some meds just in case I had any pain in Mexico and said we’d handle it when we got back.
I always like to try to do something fun as a family before Z and I ever leave for a trip. CFA Family Night was perfect!!!
Tess has come SUCH a long way with the cow!
This particular cow is really awesome and hilarious. He does all these little skits all by himself and you have to really keep an eye on him to catch all the silly things he does. At one point he sat down at a table all by himself and looked sad. Britt said “He’s waiting for me to come with him on our date!” And she went over to sit with him AND gave him a kiss!
Being silly with Tess’s hat!
Kye had a CFA gift card and was so pumped to order whatever he wanted with it!
You gotta get every drop!
It was a Game Night theme so we tried out a family game we’ve never played: Apples to Apples Junior Edition!
After dinner Zach took the kids home and I met up with Lindsay to get pedicures! I was excited to use one of my gift cards from Mother’s Day and have a pretty pedicure for the trip! I ADORE Lindsay and truly enjoy all of our times together. I’m blessed with such an incredible crew of friends!
When I got home that night it was more packing mode. I don’t know how everyone else packs…but I try on literally every single outfit. Down to my PJS. I show each outfit to Zach to get his seal of approval too haha It’s a tad time consuming! For this trip though I’ve been mentally packing for awhile so I kinda knew ahead of time what outfits I wanted to try on!
My goal was to get totally packed on Tuesday so I could spend all of Wednesday just enjoying my babies!!!
More games 😉
Pretty good stash of books to take along with me!
We went to Britt’s second chiro visit prior to gymnastics and it went great! We saw a different dr this time (the same one who adjusted Tess) and he said her biggest thing she needs to work on is sleeping on her BACK. That her misalignment in her jaw is mostly from stomach sleeping. Which I sleep in the exact same position that Britt does so I guess I need to work on back sleeping too!
While Britt had gymnastics I told Kye we could go and do whatever he wanted as long as it was near her gymnastics location (because we only have about 40 min). He opted for Toys R Us to look around for Christmas ideas (yup, in May. He’s my child with that planning haha). It was downpour all day which is one of those times where I loathe having to go anywhere. And having to go multiple places? Even more annoying. In and out. In and out. Open all the umbrellas, close all the umbrellas. Get soaked buckling kids in. Get soaked unbuckling them. Over and over!
He was pumped!
Of course every toy Kye wanted, Tess wanted too.
Biggest and Littlest 😉
Zaxby’s before church! At this point it’s like our second home haha we have such a set routine down!
That night Zach was SO SWEET and brought our wedding album and honeymoon album to me for us to look through together. It all brought back such great memories and really made us feel even more excited about celebrating such a huge milestone of 10 YEARS of marriage!
We didn’t head out until Thursday afternoon so there was some time that morning for a little mama spoiling 😉
Zach made some homemade chocolate syrup awhile back so I put it on top of cinnamon rolls: YUM.
Yes. More games. I think we’re done with dr and now we’re all about game playing 😉
There is also always some sibling bickering with games too 😉
And bicker a lot when it comes to music haha
Leaving town for a week meant cleaning out the fridge!
For a long time Britt talked about wanting to do something different for her birthday this year. She had told me she didn’t want a birthday party and didn’t want Disney. But that she wanted me to plan it and surprise her. Then Easter happened and I gave her a Shutterfly book from her recent Disney Birthday Trip. I truly did not even THINK about how that would influence her (Zach doesn’t believe me but really I didn’t!) and now she’s decided she wants Disney again this year. Oh darn 😉
Of course the 180 days out for her birthday fell while we were in Mexico. I wanted to get everything figured out prior to us leaving to make the booking process as smooth and quick as possible (because it meant me waking up at 5 AM in Mexico time to do it!!!) It’s also super mega tricky to plan her birthday because, hello adoption. Will we have a baby then? Will we be comfortable/able to leave the baby at home? We will want to bring the baby? We will want to bring someone with us on the trip? I just made all our reservations for 7 and figured I can always call and change them to 5 if we don’t have a baby by then or don’t bring him along!
SO thankful for sunshine so we could have one last pool dip before we left!!!
The water was SO COLD though after all the rain! So we opted to go inside and cuddle up and watch Rapunzel instead 😉
Leaving the kids is ALWAYS hard. I think because we travel pretty often people assume it’s not a big deal for me. But it is. It’s hard. I get a LOT of anxiety leading up to the trip. And this one was no different! We really try hard to do all we can to minimize the burden on others who keep our children. Mrs. Charlotte LOVES to have them but we still try to spread them out if possible a bit. I know two kids is easier than three! For this trip Kye spent two nights with Courtney AND went to the beach with them for a day trip. Then he stayed with Aunt Karen. Britt then stayed with Mema for a night. All of this (aside from Kye staying with Aunt Karen) was a first time thing. I was SO NERVOUS about the beach trip situation. I know he’s 8 and I know he’s totally and completely safe with Courtney but it’s just nerve wracking for a mama to know her baby is traveling 4 hours in the car and swimming at the beach all day and I’m not there! I love that he’s old enough now to really be making memories and having experiences that he’ll remember FOREVER and I LOVE that he got to do so many fun things!
We also used this as a time to really talk about trust and about how as he gets older it’s up to HIM to know right from wrong and make good choices b/c HE wants to, not because Mommy and Daddy want him too. With greater freedom comes greater responsibility and this was a LOT of freedom for him and it was an opportunity for him to gain more of our trust, or lose it. I knew he’d do GREAT and was very proud of him for thinking through somethings in advance. He said he planned to eat beans whenever he could and to only drink one “special drink” (Fanta) all week. I’m always so proud of him and it was tough leaving him at Courtney’s!!!
We then dropped off the girls at G-Mama’s and they were both so excited as well! All of our kids LOVE time with G-Mama! She knows how to make things special and so fun! It makes it a little easier to leave all of them knowing that they are all in such good hands and having such a wonderful time while we are away.
I mentioned to Mrs Charlotte about Tess’s poop situation. Which is basically that she’s still pooping in her diaper at naps and night and hadn’t made any real progress with going in the potty for poop. I guess Mrs Charlotte saw it as a challenge and she sent me this before we even flew out from Atlanta haha!!! Tess went in the potty for G-Mama and did AMAZING with it while we were away! So proud of her and so thankful for Mrs Charlotte for making it happen 😉 Whoop whoop!
I heard from Courtney that everything went GREAT with the kids at the beach and that Kye had a BLAST! I loved seeing those happy faces! It was Colt’s actual birthday and it was so special that Kye was able to spend it together with him!
Get ready for our Mexico fun!!! 🙂
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My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
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