What's Up Wednesday

{Joining Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for What's Up Wednesday}

How in the actual world is it already time for What's Up Wednesday? How did we get to the end of April SO FAST???

[[What we're eating this week]]

Monday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Tuesday - I was planning to make this Honey BBQ Meatloaf but we ended up heading to our local Chili's because they had a Superhero Night. The boys got a free meal for wearing a superhero cape & mask, and the restaurant had a little craft table set up as well. It was a fun Tuesday night with Batman and Superman :)

Wednesday - Aforementioned meatloaf :)

Thursday - We are having friends over, so I am needing something that is a crowd pleaser and, of course, kid-friendly! I am thinking of trying out a new-to-us recipe - these Cheeseburger Tots look so yummy for adults and kids, right? 

Friday - It's my mom's birthday, so we will probably go out to celebrate!

[[What I'm reminiscing about]]

I can't really think of anything I've been reminiscing about lately...although we did have so much fun on our Sea World trip! We got a pass that gets us free admission through the end of 2018 and are planning to go back in the fall. I'm already excited!

[[What I'm loving]]

The weather! This season has been so weird for us weather-wise. But the last couple of days have been pleasant. The other night we went on a little neighborhood walk, and it was warm enough to be enjoyable but cool enough for the gnats and mosquitoes to not be swarming. That's a rarity for south Georgia this time of year!

Enjoying the weather before the stifling spring/summer heat arrives!

[[What we've been up to]]

Eric has had a hectic workload lately, the boys have been playing outside a lot, and I've been cleaning and organizing everything I can because hello nesting!!! The other day, Wells decided he wasn't tired enough for a nap, so I recruited him to scrub down cabinets with me while Grayer slept. Ha!

When you don't want to take your nap, you help mom with chores :)

[[What I'm dreading]]

Conquering the continually growing to-do list that I've been compiling. Baby #3's arrival is getting closer and closer, and I am starting to stress with all of the stuff we still have to get done!

[[What I'm working on]]

Trying to put a dent in the above to-do list :)

[[What I'm excited about]]

Planning Wells' 4th birthday party! Although, HOW IS HE ALREADY ALMOST FOUR???? He has decided he wants a sea creature birthday party, and I jumped on that (because I have no train-theme inspiration left in me!). He requested sea turtle cupcakes, and I love these ones!

[[What I'm watching/reading]]

I finished up Summer Secrets and really liked it. With all the craziness coming up then next couple of months, I'm not sure when I'll get to sit down with another book!

[[What I'm listening to]]

Y'all. I've never been happier to listen to Thomas & Friends or Daniel Tiger or WHATEVER during our car rides than I am right now! Our van's DVD player has been broken for about a month, and while we don't let the kids watch it every time we are in the car or anything, they do enjoy watching it. And since we live kind of out in the country, it takes us a little while to get to some places/run errands/etc. I am so grateful that Eric and my uncle fixed that precious device on Sunday! True story: A few weeks ago (while the DVD player was broken), I counted the number of times the boys said my name on a 25-minute drive. Any guesses? SEVENTY SEVEN TIMES!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I am loving having the DVD player back. #allthepraisehands

[[What I'm wearing]]

Leggings, maternity pants, any shirts I can squeeze myself into...ha! I did finally buy a couple more maternity items to hold me over for the next few weeks. But I am ready to be able to wear normal clothes again! :)

 [[What I'm doing this weekend]]

My hometown is having its annual Stand Up for America Day parade and festival. We always go every year, set up our chairs on the front lawn of my parents' church (the parade passes right in front of us), enjoy being with family and friends, watch the parade, and roam the booths and let the kids ride the small rides that are set up. Look at how small the boys are in this throwback pic of us after the 2016 parade!

2016 parade, flags a-waving!

[[What I'm looking forward to next month]]

-Finishing up the baby's nursery

-Our 36-week ultrasound

-Wells 4th birthday party (his birthday is actually in June, but I don't want to risk the baby coming early and us having to cancel the party :))

-Eric getting off for summer break!!!

Girl Chat - Guilty Pleasures!

I am joining the Girl Chat link-up today to talk all about guilty pleasures!

+ I am a HUGE offender of sleeping until the last minute possible on weekday mornings. Like the last. possible. minute. I just love to sleep (and when you are a mama to littles, you take it when you can get it!). But, this is not a good trait to have when you've got two little ones to get ready along with getting yourself ready. It's not always THIS extreme, but on Monday morning, I had stopped my alarm and fallen back asleep and woke up about 5 minutes before I was supposed to leave to drop Wells off for PreK. We got ready super fast and got him there, but why do I do this to myself?????

+ My hands-down guiltiest pleasure food-wise? French fries! They have literally always been my favorite food. Weird fact: When I was little I didn't eat cake (?), so my birthday "cake" for a couple years was a sheet pan filled with french fries and drizzled with ranch dressing "icing." Not gonna lie - I'd take that over a real birthday cake even now. This shirt is way too true...

+ Another guilty food pleasure is a late night bowl of cereal. This is happening a lot right now, but I'm blaming it on the pregnancy ;)

+ Am I the only one who looks forward to sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office (when you don't have the kiddos with you, obviously)? I get so excited to pick up People magazine and read with no interruptions! The other day at one of my prenatal visits, I got called back so fast I didn't get to read anything, and I was actually a little upset. Ha!

+ I fill up online shopping carts and then never buy the things I put in. And I do it all the time.

+ Two words: romantic comedies. Seriously, rom-coms are my jam. And double bonus if it's got Sandra Bullock in it. Love her.

Join the link-up to share your guilty pleasures!

Hello Monday - Weekend Recap

We had a fun weekend, but goodness I could've used another day before Monday got here ;)

Friday

I only work about 15 hours a week and the bulk of that is on on Tuesday & Thursday. But Thursday at like 3am, Wells woke up not feeling great and ended up throwing up all over his bed. Middle of the night throw up cleaning has got to be the worst mom chore. Right? Anyway, he was feeling better by morning, never got sick again, and none of the rest of us were sick either. Nevertheless, I didn't want to risk anything, so I stayed home with the boys Thursday and worked Friday.

After work, I picked up the boys from my Granny. Eric needed to stay at work a little longer than usual to catch up on some paperwork, so the boys and I went to Chick-fil-A with my parents. Chicken nuggets and fun on the playground = the perfect start to the weekend. Then we headed home to play with Dad before calling it a night. Clearly, I didn't take any pictures at all on Friday.

Saturday

On Saturday, we woke up, ate pancakes, and lounged around the house. At noon, I went to a women's luncheon at my parents' church. Then Eric and the boys drove out to meet me at a cute little coffee shop for a fun reunion with my high school bestie. She and her daughter were in town and we got to catch up a little bit. We are both currently pregnant, so in a few months, there will be two more boys in this group!

After our coffee date, I headed to Sam's Club to get a few things and then we hung out at home for the rest of the night. Both boys missed their naps, and before I could get dinner on the table, Grayer was OUT on the couch.

After lots of prodding, we finally got him to wake up and eat before laying him and Wells down for the night. Eric and I watched a little Netflix and then headed to bed ourselves.

Sunday

It was a pretty typical Sunday morning/afternoon for us - church, then my Granny's house for lunch, and then afternoon naps. I couldn't help snapping a pic of this sweetness as we left church -  these boys holding hands melts my heart every single time. I wish they were always this sweet to each other! ;)

We had a couple of yucky storms yesterday afternoon, so our home group was canceled. Since we were stuck inside, I let the boys have a little movie night before bed. Our living room was a mess afterward with couch cushions EVERYwhere, but I'm glad they had fun.

Hope you all had a great weekend, too! You can join the Hello Monday link-up here.

Thoughts for Thursday - Confessions!

It has been soooooo long since I did a confessions post, but I've always got a few confessions up my sleeve :)

>> Wells woke up around 3am this morning saying his body hurt. And then he threw up all over his brand new bedding. Hate that my poor buddy isn't feeling good (although he seems much better this morning), and also I HATE having to deal with throw up. Not a strength of mine.

>> I feel better about serving cinnamon rolls for breakfast (like I did this past Sunday morning), if I pair it with a banana. Everyone gets a serving of fruit, okay?? (#insertmonkeycoveringeyesemoji)

>> I literally have like 4 pairs of bottoms that I wear on repeat these days because #31weekspregnant. I know I'm going to have to get a few more, but I just don't want to bite the bullet and spend the money since this is my last pregnancy.

>> When the boys are insane, I throw them in the tub whether they need a bath or not! Lol. I've always done this since Wells was a baby (hello, colic). They both love taking a bath, and even though it is literally like being in the splash zone at Sea World these days, it does kind of give me a sanity break.

>> If I am being totally honest, I am so excited that Eric's soccer season is over (and they won region champs!). We're glad coaching is done for a while and that Daddy gets to come home sooner in the afternoons!

>> We started the process of moving Grayer into Wells' room this past weekend (baby boy's nursery will be in Grayer's old room). We got new beds and bedding - you know, the new bedding Wells threw up on this morning lol - and I was so pumped about getting it all together! But we have been so busy that we haven't gotten to finish the room. I want to do some rearranging with the decor and make a little reading tent, but with all the craziness that is life these days, who knows when that will actually happen. Also, I have an entire nursery to decorate. And exactly how much have I done in there? Nada. You guessed it.

Grayer lounging in his & Wells' half-done room :)

Got any confessions of your own today? ;)

Linking up with Natalie, Annie, and Owen for Thoughts for Thursday.

Friday Favorites

Linking up with Andrea, Narci, and Erika for Friday Favorites!

Spring Break!

Eric has been on Spring Break all week (which we kicked off with our mini getaway to Sea World), and it has been a favorite of ours for sure! He has been swamped lately at work and having to stay late for soccer practices & games, so we have loved having him all to ourselves this week. There were lots of park trips! :)

Boys' Room & Nursery Prep

We are beginning the process of moving Grayer into Wells' room, and I've been having so much buying and planning for their new shared room. We are keeping it a train theme since they are both OBSESSED, so a lot of Wells' decor will stay. I have bought a couple of new things, and hopefully tonight we will have the beds assembled so they can have their first of a million brother sleepovers :)

I've also been loving planning/buying for the new baby's nursery. Once the boys are settled in their room, I'll start getting things rolling in the nursery! Nursery inspiration below!

These Pork Chops

We had some neighbors over the other night, and I kind of dropped the ball on meal prep. So I looked up a last minute pork chop recipe since that's the kind of meat I had on hand. These Brown Sugar Italian Pork Chops ended up being delicious! And that's coming from a gal who is NOT a huge pork chop fan (I blame it on my grandma who, when I was little and staying with her for a few days, made me eat a pork chop all week at her house until I finally finished it. #porkchopforbreakfastanyone #nowastingallowed)

These Sandals

I mentioned last week that my favorite black sandals finally bit the dust and I needed a new pair. One day while shopping at Walmart, I saw a super cheap pair of black sandals - like under $6!!! I grabbed them and have been wearing them nonstop. They are comfortable and go with everything, and I did I mention they were under $6??? :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Sea World Trip 2018!

Today I'm linking up with Jessi and Jenn for "What's Hap-Pinning Wednesday."

We kicked off Eric's spring break with a mini vacation at Sea World! It was a relatively quick trip (we left Thursday night and headed back home Saturday night), but it was a blast!

Thursday:

The plan for Thursday was to head to St. Augustine, FL, that afternoon. St Augustine is only 2.5 hours away and pretty much an exact halfway spot between where we live and Orlando. But first, the boys and I (and my sister and Dad who were off of work that day) started Thursday off at Wells' preschool egg hunt that morning. It was at a farm and included a hay ride, so the boys were having a great time!

Hay ride with Aunt Ashley!

The boys headed out with my parents, my sister, and one of our family friends for St. Augustine later that afternoon. Eric is the head soccer coach at his school, and they had their championship game at 4:30 - so I stayed back and went to watch his game. They WON and are the region champs for the second year in a row! Go Mustangs!

Love that coach!

After the game, Eric and I headed home for a bit to finish packing and then headed across town to pick up my nephew who was getting in late from a class trip to Washington DC. Once we had my nephew, we headed down to St. Augustine and got in to the hotel around 2am. 

Friday:

We woke up bright and early and met everyone for breakfast in the hotel lobby. I was happy to see my boys, and we all ate, got ready, and headed out for the rest of the drive to Orlando. 

We were so excited to be at Sea World (and the boys were happy to be out of the car!). One of our first stops was the sea turtle exhibit. Wells has a stuffed turtle that he just recently started carrying around, and he was beyond ready to show Timmy the Turtle all of the turtles that live at Sea World. I will say, the 3D movie at the turtle exhibit was a little intense (and the volume could be turned waaaaayyyyyy down #justsayin), and both boys were scared at times. It was a really cool video, though.

So excited for the turtles!

Checking out all the fishies!

Timmy the Turtle meeting a fellow Loggerhead :)

After we saw some of the animal exhibits, Grayer conked out in the stroller. While he was sleeping, Wells got to ride the carousel and the train at Shamu's Happy Harbor (the kids area) before we headed over to our 3:30 reservations to Dine with Shamu. 

Carousel with Dad!

This guy was so tired!

I can't say enough good things about our dining experience! The food is buffet-style (and we were starving since we ate an early breakfast and were just now eating another meal!) and was really good. The seating is right next to the whale tank (behind Shamu stadium). While you're eating, you get to see the whales and also listen to one of the trainers talk about them. After your meal, all of the people who had reservations are taken into Shamu stadium for a private little show. The boys loved seeing the whales do tricks and, most of all, "toot" (which is what the boys thought they were doing when they made noises with their blowholes. #boymomlife). 

After the show, we headed back to Shamu's Happy Harbor and let the boys ride some rides and play on the playground. Wells and Grayer both rode their first "big kid" ride - the Fiddler. Wells rode first with Eric and our friend Katie and wasn't scared at all (surprising, because he is our very cautious boy). He did great! Then my mom somehow convinced me to put Grayer on the ride. Not gonna lie, I was freaking out a bit. Grayer was not feeling it either at first, but once the ride started, he loved it. 

Big boy ready to ride!

Grayer: "Mom, why???" ...don't worry, he loved it once it started!!

After that, we headed to the kids' roller coaster. I was sad I couldn't get on with him for his first roller coaster ride (but at 30 weeks pregnant it was obviously not an option!), but Eric was excited to get to experience it with him. I made him video Wells' reaction on the ride, and it did not disappoint! We were cracking up so hard at his face on that first drop. Hilarious! We were so proud of him, and even though the video might suggest otherwise, he really enjoyed it and told us that he wanted to go again!

We headed out when the park closed at 8pm and went to our hotel, The Sheraton Vistana Villages. My parents had stayed there before, but this was our first time. It was really close to the park and was a very nice property. We were planning to just give the kids their bath, feed them, and put them down (we were all exhausted), but the pools were open until 10pm and the one closest to our room had a great kids' play pirate ship area. I didn't get any pictures, but here is the hotel's website photo:

We got the boys' suits on and headed over for about an hour. We got back, did the bedtime routine, and crashed.

Saturday:

(So, I actually remembered to take my camera into the park on Saturday (unlike Friday), so I got some really great ones...but I haven't uploaded them yet. Womp womp. I am trying to be better about taking pictures on that instead of always just grabbing my phone, but with that comes the whole "forgetting to upload them for a hundred years" situation. So, I've got a couple of my dad's phone pictures, and if I can remember, maybe I'll add the better pictures to the post later!)

We slept in a little because we were all so tired. Once we got up, we ate breakfast, packed up our stuff into the cars, and checked out of the hotel. Once we got back to Sea World, we tried to cram in as much as we could.

The boys loved having their friend Katie on the trip!

We fed the sea lions and seals, visited the penguins, checked out the sharks, and played in the kids' area again. The boys had fun riding more rides, and Wells rode the roller coaster again. When he got off, he ran over to me and proudly told me he was "SO BRAVE!" One of my favorite parts of the day had to be watching the boys' reactions during the sea lion show.

30 weeks pregnant at the end of day 2 of constant walking = struggling.

We didn't plan on staying at the park so late since we had a 5-hour trip back home, but somehow we didn't leave until around 7pm. As evidenced by the VERY candid picture above, this pregnant mama was tired and struggling by the end of day 2. But I am so glad we got to do as much as we did in the short amount of time we were there. We headed to our cars, grabbed some drive-thru grub, and started the trip home. We made it back to Savannah around 2am, transferred the sleeping kids from their car seats to their beds, grabbed only the necessities out of the car, and went to bed ourselves! We had to be up and at 'em early for a fun-packed Easter (recap here).We were wiped out from a really busy but really fun trip and are planning to go back in the fall (we purchased the Sea World Fun Card that gets you free admission for the rest of the year). I already can't wait! 

Easter 2018 Recap!

We had a great Easter this year, but we were a little bit sleepy...we drove back from Sea World Saturday night and got in at like 2am Sunday morning. I figured we would all sleep in, and I was right. I woke up and laid out everyone's {color coordinating #becauseEaster} clothes and started getting ready before everyone else got up. We got ready in record time to make it to church since we had to be there early because Eric and I had nursery duty.

After church, we headed to my Granny's house for Easter lunch. It was so stinking delicious, as always. After lunch, the boys hunted eggs. 

Then they opened up their Easter baskets from my parents, and they were so excited to get fishing poles and tackle boxes! Wells went fishing for the first time at my grandma's house a couple weeks ago, and he LOVED it. So, my mom decided back then that the Easter bunny would be bringing some fishing gear in their baskets!

Wells had a few casting lessons out on the porch, and then he and Grayer both chased the bobber when my Dad would cast the pole. Silly guys.

We got back home and put the boys down for a nap (and Eric and I may have fallen asleep, too). After naps, I ran to the grocery store while the boys stayed home with Eric and played with neighbor friends outside. Once I got back home and we had dinner, we had some more Easter fun and made Resurrection Rolls!  

While they were baking, Eric did devotions with the boys. As a side note: If you're ever looking for some devotional resources, we use RightNow Media (we are a member through our church) for devotions with the boys. They have thousands of videos, from adult Bible studies (on a huge variety of topics), to children's devotionals and Christian-based shows, to worship songs. Eric usually starts with a music video with hand motions, then reads a story from the Bible and then finds a cartoon video on RightNow Media that tells the same story. Then he usually does some kind of craft (this night was Resurrection Rolls) and finishes with another song and prayer.

After devotions, we went back to our rolls to see that the marshmallows had disappeared and left the rolls EMPTY just like the tomb!

After eating some yummy rolls, we let the boys open their Easter baskets. I like to keep Easter baskets very minimal and not go overboard. I like to put in things that will actually get used and played with and not forgotten 5 seconds later. I also usually put in some kind of toy/activity for outside play (#boymomlife).

This year, the boys got bubble bath (an Easter basket staple), some snacks (as opposed to candy...because we have approximately 3000 lbs of candy from all the egg hunts we did this season), and a bird feeder & bird seed to put out in the back yard. Grayer also got this Team Umizoomi book (his new  favorite show), and I got Wells these slippers - it's so random, I know, but he has been asking for a pair of slippers since he sees me wear mine around the house all the time. He was so pumped about them and has loved wearing them around the house! :) #mylittleoldman 

All in all, we had a great Easter. Wells was old enough this year to partially understand why we celebrate Easter, and he really retained a lot of what he learned at school, in church nursery, and at home with devotions -  it's awesome to see your children start to "get it." The boys had such a fun day, and I can't believe that next year, I'll have THREE little bunnies :)