January Snapshot

One of the things I've really missed doing was my self-portrait project. I did a weekly self-portrait in 2017 and those are some of my favorite photos from that year. I took a break from them last year but wanted to start again, on a smaller scale, this year. I'm going to share a monthly self-portrait here for 2019. It's so interesting to me to see what parts of motherhood have changed in the last two years and what parts have stayed exactly the same.

I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the boys playing the other day and on a whim decided to snap a few self-portraits. The light was great and Jax wanted to snuggle so I didn't put any planning into these. I just clicked the timer and hoped they were in focus! The first one is a great shot for this part of life. We spend so much time reading books with one or both boys snuggled up in our laps. The second shot is something I never want to forget. Jax is really into smooching everything right now with a big ol' "muaaaaaaaaaah." Especially stuffed animals and puppets. He pulled this monkey up as I started the timer and I love that this is what we ended up with!

Day In the Life - Mom of Two Littles

One of my favorite things to do is write down what a day in our life looks like with the kids at different ages. It's like a snapshot of how chaotic our days can be with little ones and how that changes as they grow. This day happened to play out the way my ideal schedule would go. However, at least a few days a week this schedule gets thrown out the window for errands, commitments outside the house, lazy days, etc. I believe kids thrive on schedules so we try our hardest to give them routine. I also try to remember that deviating from the routine is just as important for them to learn! So here's what our days currently look like with a 1 year old and 3.5 year old.

7 AM: I try to wake up and be downstairs by 7 just to get a few minutes to myself. I read a quick devotional on my phone, make the bed (this is new so I don't expect that to last), and sneak downstairs. I've been trying to get my yoga in right away in the morning before the day gets in my way. A lot of mornings one or both of the boys join me before I can get started. Jax has been feeling kinda icky this week so he was extra snuggly when he woke up. He nursed and then snuggled in my lap while I started yoga.

8 AM: Once we've all woken up the boys usually play and watch PBS while I attempt to throw breakfast together. I'm not a huge breakfast person even though breakfast food is my favorite. Both the boys love to eat breakfast though and are usually hounding me for food as soon as they're fully awake! Sometimes the TV distracts them long enough for me to get food ready in peace. Usually Jax is hanging off my legs and Mav is blasting me with questions about the world.

 9 AM: Breakfast is finished anywhere between 9 and 10 depending on how long they've played while eating. I used to get the kids dressed as soon as they woke up. Then I'd end up changing their food covered clothing after breakfast almost daily so now we eat in our jammies. Getting dressed has become a game of who can run away from mama the most before you're dressed haha.

10 AM: After several rough months we've finally gotten Jax on a regular 2 nap schedule so he goes down from 10-11. This is usually when I attempt to clean up one area of the house. It's also when I try to give Mav some one-on-one attention by doing his "school work." Every day he says "Mama, you know what we haven't done today?! My schooooo werk!" (He says it in the sweetest sing-songy voice, I need to record that before he stops saying it.) I wasn't ready to send him off to preschool this year so we chose to work on some things at home. A friend shared this workbook from Costco and it's been the perfect starter to his school work every day. Then we finish up with some sort of activity if there's time.

 11 AM: If we have errands this is when we usually try to sneak out of the house. It becomes a bit of russian roulette because it's so close to lunch time and the boys often get hangry. Sometimes I feel like it takes an hour just to get all the shoes, coats, and hats on everyone to get out the door. I know I'll miss helping them some day so I try not to get too wound up about how long it takes.

12 PM: I didn't feel like braving errands with my camera so there's no shot for this one. If we weren't running errands this is usually when I'm throwing together lunch and trying to get a load of dishes going. I try to make sure I sit down with the boys during lunch and actually talk with them. This also forces me to eat like a functioning adult instead of just snacking here and there.

1 PM: Since we were running errands we didn't get back until 1 which made lunch more rushed. Gage waiting under Jax's chair is how 100% of mealtimes go unless we put him outside. Once they finish up lunch its straight down for naptime, the goal is asleep by 1:30. They're both exhausted by then so they fall asleep pretty quickly.

2 PM: Since we're in BSF this year I've started using the first part of naptime to read my Bible and get at least a few questions done. This is also when I do my daily gratitude list, finish writing my to-do list if I haven't already, and get distracted by my phone for longer than I want to admit.

 3 PM: I work on my to-do list once I'm done with my Bible study. This day I had some computer work to get done. This is only a small view of how chaotic our office/mudroom is right now. I had it nicely cleaned and then the winter gear came out and everything else piled up in here too. I wish I could avoid it but both of our laptops crapped out this year so the only access to a computer we have is in the office. That's also why I'm terrible about blogging on a regular basis. It's hard to get down here and still keep a good eye/ear on the boys.

4 PM: The boys wake up anywhere between 3:30 and 4:30. I let them sleep until they wake up but more often than not I'm in there to wake them up at 4. We hang out and play until Mark gets home from work.

5 PM: If we're on our game (which doesn't happen often) then someone will cook supper right away and we can eat before 6. That's what happened this day but usually it's closer to 6:30 before we're eating. When we moved to this house I made it a rule that supper is to be eaten at the table as a family. That's how I grew up and it's really important to me that my kids have that too.

 6 PM: This is usually when we are eating supper and having some family time. Rough housing, video games, books, building with blocks. Every night is different!

 7 PM: Family time and the beginning of their bedtime routine. This night they decided to "help" me decorate the Christmas tree. This is usually one I do myself since I let them help decorate the other tree. But they were having fun so eventually I broke down and stopped trying to stop them from decorating it. I can always move the ornaments later.

This is generally bath time on the nights they need one and then we follow their bedtime routine around 7:45. If I had my way it would be lights out by 8 but it usually crosses over into the 8 o'clock hour. I don't mind because usually bedtime is full of snuggles and giggles.

8 PM: We finish up the bedtime routine with books and prayer. Jax nurses for a minute before jumping up to join in on the book. The boys get snuggled into bed with one last kiss and the we cross our fingers that they go right to sleep. Right now they're falling asleep within 10-15 minutes but sometimes it's rough. Mav has been known to still be awake when we check the monitor around 9 or even as we're getting ready for bed around 10.

I want to know, how similar does your routine look to ours if you have little ones at home?

Fall at the Hanson House

We look forward to Fall all year long and then it passes way too quickly! The way the leaves explode in color gets me every year. This is the time of year I always want to do all the things. I try to cram the few free weekends we have full of fun outings as a family. As great as it is, it can get exhausting quickly! 

We took a day trip to Duluth on a whim and the boys loved it! They could have sat watching the bridge go up and down all day long. We've also gone to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch which are always a blast! But to be honest, Fall tends to get pretty expensive with all the extra outings. We only have two kids and it's already pricey, I can't imagine how it will add up as our family grows. What I'm starting to realize is that the boys have an equal amount of fun playing in a leaf pile in the front yard. Smacking sticks against the ground. Walking a trail in the woods. All things that are free and don't require anything but getting outdoors.

I think there's all this pressure to keep up with everyone else and do every single Fall outing you can think of every year. Who has the money and time for all that? So next year our Fall "bucket list" will include more things like exploring in the woods, playing in the leaves at home, and hiking places we've never been before. It's so easy to get caught up in all the hype but my boys just want to hands on explore without being hounded with rules. So my new goal is to do more of that and less of what I feel like everyone else is doing.

Traveling With Little Ones

Last week we got back from our first family vacation to Florida. Now, we travel back and forth to Iowa quite a bit in the car but this is the first time we've gone so far from home. This is also the first time either of the boys have been on an airplane! I did tons of scouring the internet and asking friends for their best tips for enjoying vacation with little ones.

I would say my two biggest tips now that we're back are to make wherever you're staying feel like home and start off with low expectations for your kids. When we travel anywhere that we're staying overnight, I always bring small comforts to help my kids feel more at home. A sound machine to help them sleep, small loveys, and some essential oils that we use to help them feel more comfortable. I usually try to follow their normal routine as closely as I can so they know what to expect. Although we took the "it's vacation!" attitude this trip and we're paying for it over a week later. The boys got so far off their schedule and it hasn't been fun trying to get them back to it. We stayed in a condo instead of a hotel and I think that made a big difference in them settling in too!

The other thing I highly recommend is to lower your expectations. Of course you want to have a good time on your well-earned vacation! Hey, it's been 5 years since we took one so I totally get that! You have to remember that kids are still kids and when they are out of their normal element, they're going to act up. For example: I packed loads of toys and snacks in our carry-ons for the boys. We had two flights lasting a total of about 3 hours each way. We knew Maverick would be fine with movies and snacks, he took the long day in stride. I thought surely because our first flight was so early that Jax would sleep on the plane and then we'd pacify him with snacks and distractions. NOPE! We made it through the first flight alright but the second flight ended with me crying in the airport. Yikes. I had way too many expectations which made it so much harder on me when things went wrong. Honestly, that rough flight set my expectations much lower for how the rest of the week would go and I needed that! The boys had normal meltdowns for their ages but were champs all week so we took everything else in stride and laughed as much as we could.

We were lucky to be traveling with family so we got to spend alone time with each of the boys! That rarely happens at home where both of us get to spend time with just Mav or Jax. Those memories alone are worth their weight in gold! The few sour spots were far outweighed by all the fun we had. Traveling with kids surely comes with its difficulties but don't let that stop you from taking them along for the ride! And travel with extra help whenever you can because it saved our sanity haha.

For Daily Use

There are a million products out there that are "must-haves" but that changes for each family. There are things my friends swear by that we hated or things I love that they hate. I wanted to put together a list of five items I use on a daily basis as a stay at home mom of two boys three and under. Having these things make our days run significantly smoother!

Video Baby Monitor-
We've had 3 different video monitors but the one we got most recently has been my favorite. I wish we had just spent a little more initially to buy this one! It pans the room, between the boys' beds, which saved us from having to buy two cameras. I use it every night and every naptime to check on them without going in the room. Once I go in the room its game over for naptime so checking the monitor to see how they're acting first saves their naps at least once a week. We had a camera we could check over wifi but it glitched a lot and both cameras broke after a year. When we need another camera for future kids, I plan to buy an extra camera to use with this monitor.

Cheerios-
No joke, we go through family sized boxes of cheerios constantly. They're great for breakfast, snacks, on-the-go, tide the boys over when supper isn't quite ready. I love to have the Honey Nut variety on hand but when we're going through baby-led weaning we keep the multi-grain kind because they can't have honey before one. We just recently tried the banana nut kind and those are delicious too! In all honesty, this could say any kind of cereal because we branch out sometimes but I prefer cheerios over anything else!

Ring Sling-
We have 3 kinds of baby carriers including a wrap, a soft structured carrier, and ring slings but slings are my favorite for every day use. My favorite brand is WildBird! We also have a Sakura Bloom and a Beachfront Baby for use at the pool. Once I got over the learning curve to using them I pull them out at least once a day. They're great for nursing hands free, settling Jax during the witching hour, keeping him contained while chasing Mav, and holding him while running errands. I love that I can easily stuff it in my diaper bag and it takes me less than a minute to put on or take off. I know it can be done but I don't know how anyone with more than one kiddo gets through their day without babywearing!

Pandora-
We have Pandora playing pretty much from the time we get up for the day until the kids go to bed. Every. Single. Day. I should honestly pay for the upgrade so we don't have to listen to ads but I'm trying to save money! Our playlists range from Disney to Christian to club music and lots of stuff in between. Chances are if you stop by our house we will have to turn the music down because it's usually blaring! It can shake us out of any funk or motivate us to get things done. Music is powerful! It also keeps us from having the tv playing all day long as background noise which is a bonus.

Kitchen Timer- 
This is such a random one but I use our kitchen timer so often. I had been looking for an old school timer for a long time and was ecstatic when I found this one. I hate the timer on our oven so I use it whenever I cook or bake. I use it for the kids, when Mav needs to clean up or finish his food, when Jax was doing tummy time. I even use it when I'm speed cleaning the house. There's nothing wrong with the timer on my phone but I love using a physical timer! This one has held up being dropped and tossed, splashed with food and water, and being cranked over and over by a certain toddler. It didn't cost a lot and I love the simple look of it. I'm tempted to buy another one just in case it ever breaks down the road!

Some of these items you may have seen on must-have lists before and others may have thrown you for a loop. It will be fun to see if this list is still the same in 6 months or a year! Hopefully this some of these can help your day run a little smoother!

What are a few items you use on a daily basis? I'd love to know!

Welcome!

My reason for starting this blog is to share about my love for motherhood and home decor as I'm learning on the fly. I'm still fairly new to being a mama so I'd love to share what works for me and our family along the way. We moved to Minnesota last Summer and bought our first home just weeks before our second son was born. Growing up in the country fostered a love for all things "farmhouse" before it was a decorating style. The older I've gotten, the more farmhouse just feels like home to me. I've gotten myself elbow deep in decorating books and instagram accounts trying to make our house feel pretty while raising these little farm animals! Follow along as we make this house a home and do our best not to mess up our kids too much!