Disney Wordless Wednesday

This weeks theme for Disney Wordless Wednesday is The Disney Days of Summer. If you believe yourself to be a Disney expert then you know more than anyone that trips to Disney in the summer can be sweltering hot.

The only pictures from this collage actually taken during the summer are the one of my sister and I noticeably sweating, and the one of my parents being "gangster" on Splash Mountain. The rest are from my Disney College Program...check out that sexy Jungle Cruise Skipper costume :) and from our trip this past April.

Enjoy and obviously have a magical day :)


Linking up with: Focused on the Magic

The Terrible Twos Tuesday

Alliteration aside, the terrible twos are upon us and it is definitely an adventure to say the least. There are days when William's mood is amazing. He's sweet and cuddly and super adorable. Then there are the days when he is none of those things, and is crabby, irritable, and a royal pain in the butt. And when he is crabby and irritable you best believe mommy and daddy are crabby and irritable.

Not a happy camper.

We joke that his Hilary is showing when he is throwing a temper tantrum because I cried and had tantrums ALL the time when I was a baby (and well into my teens). In third grade I didn't want to go to school, so I chased my moms car down the block after she dropped me off. Definitely not my proudest moment, especially since everyone in my family picks on me to this day about it!

All of this temper tantrum business started over the past month, and I think that part of it is the move and being a new environment. With the move, it has been difficult getting into routine while getting adjusted to the new house and unpacking everything. Now that he is getting older, I find that when he doesn't have a routine he tends to be crankier than when we have a "structured" day.

So now I am trying to think of ways to make our days more structured. I know the easiest one is to have set meal, snack, and nap times, but I find myself getting lost after that. I'm a very visual person, so I need to see it to get it. On Monday's we have a mommy-and-me class at The Little Gym, and it helps that it is the same thing each week. But after that it tends to be a free for all the rest of the day.

I found this great article at Parents.com about establishing a toddler routine, and it had this sample schedule:

6:45 a.m. Wake up, play in your bed
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m. Get dressed, brush teeth
8:30 a.m. Read books and play
10:30 a.m. Morning snack
11:00 a.m. Arts and crafts
11:30 a.m. Listen to music
12:00 p.m. Lunch and cleanup
12:30 p.m. Naptime
2:30 p.m. Afternoon snack
3:00 p.m. Outdoor play/walk
5:30 p.m. Dinner
6:00 p.m. Playtime and cleanup
7:00 p.m. Have a bath/brush teeth
7:30 p.m. Pajamas, story time, lullabies
8:15 p.m. Bedtime

Now William has been sleeping until about 9am every morning for the past year or so, and I question if waking him up earlier would help with the tantrums. :/  We'll have to test it out and see what works best. I know that if he enjoys waking up early, I'm going to be one tired mama because I have NEVER been a morning person. Oh the things we do for our babies.

This would be me if we start waking up at 6:45 everyday

Lazy Weekend Recap

Well we had a lazy Father's Day weekend. It involved watching TV and being lazy on the couch. I also got loads of sewing done, and the house is almost completely unpacked!

I'll be back tomorrow with a look at our master bedroom and closet. Have a great Monday :)

Saturday Instagram Recap

It's Saturday, which means it's time for the Weekend Instagram Recap over at Pearls & Curls. I had a rather busy Instagram week.

William playing with the sand table my parents got for free.

Enjoying Bachelorette party shenanigans with my friend Jen.

The pretty fabric mail I had waiting for me at home.

William being cute.

One of my blocks for the Scrappy Trip Around Bee.

My blocks for the Scrappy Trip Around Bee folded and ready to mail.

Gorgeous Constellations fabric I bought to make Jeff a quilt.

Block #1 of my June Sisters Ten BOM.

Block #2 of my June Sisters Ten BOM.

Babysitting my nephew Jack.

Jeff and I went on a date and I started my Flying Saucer Beer Tour this afternoon!

Potty Training Success

I think it is safe to say that William is mostly potty trained and it is AMAZING! I say mostly potty trained because he still will not go #2 in the toilet. He has gone two whole days wearing big boy underpants without having any accidents.

I think the main reason we had so much success is because we didn't force it. He got a big boy potty for Christmas, so we always had it there in the bathroom and would occasionally sit him on it. The first dozen times he sat on the potty nothing happened, it took about a month for him to feel comfortable using the potty.

He would use the potty on and off and even pooped in it a couple of times, but we never really made it a routine. Then about a month ago I bought him some big boy underpants and started this potty training thing full steam ahead. And to my surprise it worked out amazingly!

Since I stay home with him, we did the naked trick. (i.e. he's naked all day so you can teach them that their poop and pee goes in the toilet). We did have several potty training fails, including poop and pee on the floor several times.

He has gotten to the point where he can tell us if he needs to use the potty. UPDATE: We've gone 3 days so far wearing big boy underpants without any accidents. We went out to the store and everything! He is still wearing a diaper over night, but I don't think that will last much longer. This morning when he woke up the first thing he said was "I pee in bed". So he knows that he is doing it!

As much as I have loved cloth diapering William, I cannot wait until he is 100% potty trained! I'll do a victory dance and shout for joy when that day comes.

This properly depicts my excitement about William being potty trained :) I've become addicted to Arrested Development!

Disney Wordless Wednesday

So I just had to participate in this weeks Disney Wordless Wednesday post over at Focused on the Magic because the theme is Disney Dads.

My parents have been taking me to Dinsey since I was 4 years old, and we have countless stories from all of our trips. But my favorite trip was when we went in November and took William for the first time. I made this collage with pictures from that trip of my 2 favorite Disney Dads :)

This vacation was the most amazing one I have been on in a long time and even Jeff admitted that it was the best vacation he had ever been on in his entire life! I definitely think we turned him into a Disney Dad :)

Linking up to: Focused on the Magic

Scrappy Trip Around the World Bee

I just recently finished up some blocks for my first quilting swap! I joined the Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilting Bee, put on by Julie at 627handworks. It was a lot of fun and I loved the Honeycomb of ladies that I was grouped with.

Each of the participants were grouped in Honeycombs of 6 people and we all made one scrappy trip block for each of the other members in our group. We all used this tutorial from Quiltville to make the blocks.

I really loved being a part of this swap and I can't wait until round 2 signups begin :)

Off till Sunday :)

Well bloggy world, I am off until Sunday because I am going to Austin to celebrate my friend Jen's Bachelorette party!! We're going to have some shenanigans, and William gets to stay with his grandma and grandpa.

Hooray for grandparents and a girls weekend! See you Sunday :)

Unpacking Progress

I had every intention of posting this last night, but sleep won out and I was in bed before 9pm last night. Now that I have slept almost 10 hours, and have had an entire day to be productive I will finally post this post :)

I have made pretty good progress with the enormous task of unpacking all of our stuff. My first priority was the kitchen because Jeff and I felt like fatties and were tired of eating out constantly. I would have to say that about 98% of the kitchen is unpacked and useable. I don't want to call it 100% done because there are still a couple of things that need to be organized.

I am still getting used to having an island in the kitchen. I kept forgetting about it while unpacking, so it remained empty until the last few boxes.

I used the island to store all of our small kitchen appliances like the crock pot, magic bullet, toaster, etc. I also stored our basket of vitamins, protein powders and blender bottles down there.

Directly to the left of the refrigerator I made a drink station with the coffee pot on the counter. In the drawer I put teas, coffee, and Crystal Lite packages; and in the cabinet I stored plastic cups, coffee cups, and water bottles.

At this point in time, underneath the sink is very tidy. I want to get those awesome Command clips to hang my gloves. I used to feel like an old lady wearing gloves to wash dishes, but I love them and will never go back to not wearing them!

source: IHeart Organizing

Just like this from IHeart Organizing btw I love her blog! She has so many amazing posts about organizing your home.

I want to make a cover for my Kitchen Aid so she doesn't get all dusty. And I can't wait to find my box of cookbooks so that I can put them on that amazing shelf.

My metal pans are stored in a drawer in the bottom of the stove. I had a drawer like this in my stove when I lived alone in college and I have missed it since moving out of that apartment. I love the convenience of it, plus they surprisingly don't get hot as hell down there when the oven is on.

My pantry and spice cabinet are on the verge of being a hot mess. I literally just threw the stuff on the top shelf of the spice cabinet up there. I really want some baskets and things to organize stuff that is "needed" but never really has no place to live i.e. baking supplies.

Tupperware! It's orgainzed right now, let's see how long it lasts :)

It wasn't until I unpacked that I realized how many glass glasses we have. And I was really sad that one of my crystal margarita glasses broke in the move :( now I have 5 instead of 6 so sad! Looks like someone at margarita night gets a plastic cup.


This is the kitchen command center. I love this thing! I found it on sale at Target and it has been amazing. I keep the markers in the junk drawer and I'll write big events and when bills are due. Plus if Jeff wants something from the store, he'll write it down for me because he knows my mommy brain will forget it. Damn mommy brain!


We are trying to save money, so I have been restraining myself from going to buy any new organizing things that I have been desperately craving. I'm waiting until after Jeff has been working for a while and we have saved some money. But I have been making a mental list of things that will be useful additions to the kitchen.

Now that the kitchen is "done" I'm onto the next room! Gonna try tackling the living room next : ) Wish me luck.

Sunday Social

This week I am doing something new and linking up to the Sunday Social over at Ashley Lately. I hope everyone is having an amazing weekend :)

 

1. What is your favorite Social Media outlet? 

I am completely addicted to Instagram :) 

2. Do you subscribe to any daily news reads? If so which ones?

I have Google Currents on my phone, and I'll check it every now and then. 

3. What is your favorite magazine to have by the pool? 

HGTV magazine or Food Network Magazine

4. What is your favorite summertime song?

Anything fun and upbeat. I'm totally loving the Jonas Brothers Pom Poms right now!

 

5. What is the best summer concert you've been to?

Definitely the Jonas Brothers! My sister and I love going to their concerts, and we're going to another one in August!