Love That Chicken Fried

As a family, we enjoy listening to music. Lately country has been our preference and we usually will have it on while we are eating or just hanging out with the kids. Last night we were listening to "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band and all of a sudden we hear Brayden singing along to the words..."Love that Chicken fried...cold beer on a friday night!" Then he proceeds to ask Brad if when he gets older if he can drink beer! He sounded so innocent and sweet, it made us laugh so hard.

Maddie is growing more and more each day. She is trying to pull herself up to sit and wants to crawl away during tummy time. She laughs and laughs and makes me grin from ear to ear. I try to make sure to spend as much time with her as possible and sometimes it is hard with her 7:30pm bedtime. Juggling it all has been hard some days, but Brad has been so helpful with the kids and I appreciate him so much.

I took on the new task of teaching Brayden to read. He is still 3 but is turning 4 in September. He is doing really, really well. We are using the book "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons," and I give him a sticker for each lesson he completes. After about every 10 lessons or so, he gets to pick out a toy. He likes being rewarded and it helps keep committed so, I am all for it.


I have been looking at a lot of products for babies lately and I have decided that after Maddie already having had 2 colds at 3 months of age, that I am going to order the NoseFrida. Bray has come home from school sick at least once a month. The NoseFrida has had raving reviews and I would do anything to help my baby not have a stuffy nose. She sounds so miserable. It is a rather interesting method for mucous removal, but it is definitely worth a shot. I will let you know how it works.



So excited about tomorrow. Brad and I are going on a date! They have been few and far between lately, so I am really excited to spend some time together. Not sure where we will go, but in the mood for some really good food!

First week back to work-1 Me-0

So I knew that this week was going to be rough. I had tried preparing myself the entire 3rd month that I was off on maternity leave. I had no idea that it would be this rough. I leave before Madison wakes up every morning and although we get to see each other briefly because I nurse her before I leave, it is just not the same. I was so used to spending every waking moment with her and watching her change and grow from day to day. Now I can't help but feel like I am letting her down by being away at work all day. We are so blessed to have my father in-law take care of Maddie everyday and I do not question whether she is in good hands, but I just wish that I was the one that could be with her each day.

On Thursday I decided that I was going to get my hair highlighted because it had been almost 5 months since I had gotten it done. Boy did it look bad. I knew it would take some time and so I went straight after work at 5 and did not get home until 7:45pm and by the time I had gotten home, Brad had already put Madison down. I was so happy that he was able to get her to sleep. We had just started a more structured sleep routine the week prior to me going back to work. I recommend reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth if you are every trying to accomplish a sleep schedule. That book has helped us so much in such a short amount of time. Even though I was happy that Brad was able to get Maddie to sleep, I was also so sad inside. I had just missed an entire day of her life!! I know that I needed to do this for myself. As a mother, it is important to take some time to focus on yourself, but I still felt so guilty for missing out on her smiles, tears and laughter for that day.

As the week went on, I realized that I will survive and make it through this time away, just as I did with Brayden. It does not mean though that it is any easier and I promise to cherish and enjoy every moment that I am given to spend with my children. I am so blessed and I pray that they will be happy and healthy and never doubt how much I love them.