bybmg: Boy Mom

Showing posts with label Boy Mom. Show all posts

Last summer we acquired a tent from one of Russ's friends. We set it up in the back yard once and the boys slept in it a couple nights. This summer, we decided to attempt our first camping trip outside of the back yard! The goal was to keep it simple, and I think we did just that.

This winter in Iowa has been one of the longest ever. We have had more snow than we've had in over 20 years and a lot of the bad weather happened on the weekends, which just made for more cabin fever. When we were in the depths of it, I thought forward to Spring Breaking really wishing we could do something fun. A beach sounded fantastic, but it wasn't in the cards with our budget. Instead, we looked at Google Maps, drug southward from Iowa, and landed on Branson. Neither of us had ever been to Branson before, but we figured being 6 hours south, it had to be a little warmer than we would be in March and so we booked three nights in a hotel with a water park and called it a trip!

We used to not go out to eat a lot as a family. It can be expensive and with behaviors, honestly it's easier to eat at home! But, since we started attending a new church, service and Sunday School goes later, so we really have to go out to each to get lunch in before nap time! Though we didn't realize we were doing it, we have been really teaching our kids a lot of manners and etiquette when eating out. Also, because they have this ownership, they seem to behave better when we've gone out to eat. Multiple times out to eat we get compliments on how well our boy behave.

Did you know tomorrow is a holiday? May 1st is known as May Day! There's a lot of history to May Day if you search and read about it, but around here, we celebrate May Day with May Day Baskets!

Do you ever have that idea of, "Oh, this would be so fun to do with the kids!" or, "Oh, it's going to turn out so Pinterest-y!" Well, going into the idea for this post, I was so excited. Henry had just attended a kids in the kitchen event at our local library and there he told me that made cereal and yogurt parfaits. He said that he would really like to make them again for our family, so I headed to Hy-Vee to get the ingredients.

Dear Mass Retailers,

A few weeks ago I took our son Wesley back to school shopping. He told me right off the bat that he wanted a Trolls backpack with Poppy on it and he wanted a Trolls shirt. We hit up Target and found a Poppy backpack right away. Yes, it is hot pink and yes it looks totally feminine, but he just loves it. I was so thrilled! Next, we headed to the boys clothing section and that's when the frustration hit.

It's no lie that every child is different. Henry, our oldest, was a pacifier kid. Wesley, our middle man, came out of the womb basically sucking on his two fingers and has ever since. I could go on and on listing the differences in our children, but one big lesson I've learned as a mother is totally embracing your children's differences.

I blame it all on Russ and our drive back from Omaha for spring break and trying to get every big truck to honk at us on the interstate, but Calvin is obsessed with trucks. He gets so excited every time we see them and we have read so many books about trucks over and over and over. So, when it was time to think about the theme for his second birthday a few weeks ago, trucks was a no-brainer!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #JoinTheSearch #CollectiveBias

Christmas is such an exciting time at our house and I LOVE sharing the season with our boys. I enjoy finding ways to keep things hands-on and help our boys be involved in the season! Today I wanted to share five ways we make things kid-friendly around our house in anticipation of Jesus's birthday including something new this year, Shepherd on the Search!

We're experiencing a lot of the last firsts with Calvin being our last baby. Last first steps. Last first words. Last week we experienced our last first hair cut. Honestly, with the other two, their first hair cuts were a hack job by mom at home, and really it looked terrible. When Shear Madness offered to let us try out their salon in exchange for a review, I knew that it was a chance to do a last first right.

There's a quote from somewhere that defines boys as "noise with dirt on it." With three boys plus my husband in my house, that phrase can't be more true. Messes, grime, stickiness, and all are always present in our house. Sometimes the normal cleaners I have around the house don't cut it, and I need a little more. I've always been a fan of Goo Gone. I remember taking the little bottle to college to get tape residue off my dorm walls. I LOVE that it now comes in a spray gel. It takes its ability to reach those sticky, grimy situations to a whole new level.

I received Minted.com credit in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links. See my disclosure statement.

I've always been a person who labels things. As a teacher, I see the lost and found overflowing with valuables left unclaimed. It drives me crazy to see expensive sweatshirts, jackets, shoes, and more just left without care. I want to teach my boys to be responsible, but I also know they have a lot going on in their little minds throughout the day, so when I heard Minted had personalized name labels that will stand up through the wash, I was pumped!

I ordered three sets, one for Henry, one for Wesley, and one with our last name and phone number.

I'm joining in with some fabulous ladies to be a part of the Picture Perfect Project. Each month I'll be sharing a few photos I've taken with our Canon EOS Rebel T3i. I decided with this challenge to focus on documenting of each of our boys in their element. It might look messy, but I just want these photos to capture the every day life we have. I don't really plan to edit the photos in any way except for possibly cropping them a little.
The pictures I took this month were on the morning of the Fourth of July. We didn't leave the house much on the Fourth, and I was a-okay with that. The weather was GORGEOUS with the high being right in the upper 70s. It was pretty humid but we didn't have to sweat it out and I was glad.

People often make the comments about baby boy clothing:
"Girl clothing is just so much cuter."
"Boy clothing is so boring."

It doesn't have to be that way!

I'm over at Whitney's blog today sharing how you can make a cute capsule wardrobe for your baby boy!

This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure statement.

Easter Baskets are always so fun to put together! This year, I had three ~~baskets~~ bags to fill. It's hard not to go overboard, but I think I did all right. I realize this post probably doesn't do much help for you right now, but pin it for next year ;)

The boys' bags are from Pick Your Plum. I got the two older boys' bags a couple years ago. I saw they were available again last year, so I ordered one for Calvin before he was born. It was actually the first thing we got with his name on it, and I joked with Russ that there was no turning back from his name!

I'm joining in with some fabulous ladies to be a part of the Picture Perfect Project. Each month I'll be sharing a few photos I've taken ~~with our Canon EOS Rebel T3i.~~ I decided with this challenge to focus on documenting of each of our boys in their element. It might look messy, but I just want these photos to capture the every day life we have. I don't really plan to edit the photos in any way except for possibly cropping them a little.

So, I totally planned to get out the DSLR this month, but we were outside playing, and it was just too much to go back inside and get the camera. So, I snapped away with my iPhone. These were moments I just wanted to capture! Enjoy!

This month's pictures were captured on our snow day, which was February 2. The lighting in the house was just great with the sun reflecting off the snow. I took more than three pictures of each boy, but I am sharing just three (and a little bonus at the end). I realize a few are a little out of focus; something I need to work on for sure.

When Henry was six weeks old, Russ and I did what many new parents do, and hauled him in to get some professional pictures taken. We spent absolutely way too much money for the quality of photos that we got, and we decided we'd instead buy our own DSLR for future kiddo photos. Now, we still get family photos done every year, but besides that, we wanted to do our own. Russ has done a fifty billion times better job at using the camera than I have, but this year, I'm taking a stab at it.

I'm joining in with some fabulous ladies to be a part of the Picture Perfect Project. Each month I'll be sharing a few photos I've taken with the DSLR. We have a Canon EOS Rebel T3i. We have 17 - 55mm lens. Russ tells me it's called a "walk around lens and it's 2.8 aperture all the way through. Just passing along that info for you camera junkies. I am really just learning how to use it. I can white balance. I can change the aperture (though I didn't when I took these photos). I can attempt to use the rule of thirds (sometimes).

I decided with this challenge to focus on documenting of each of our boys in their element. It might look messy, but I just want these photos to capture the every day life we have. I don't really plan to edit the photos in any way except for possibly cropping them a little. This month I have three pictures of each boy.

Aren't they adorable! Way back when we found out Calvin was going to be a boy, Ninja Turtles for Halloween just stuck in my head.

I thought it would be fun to do a little throwback to Henry's first birthday since it happened before I blogged in this space. When we were picking out names, Henry was the boy name that just stuck. It's classic. We love it, and hey, it even has a candy bar to go along with it!

Russ's Aunt Karen had given us an Oh Henry wall hanging after he was born. I adore it and it still hangs in his room. I lucked out and found birthday hats that were red and yellow!

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