A Boy Mom Pregnancy.

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Wearing:

Blanqi Maternity Tank, Carly Jean Maternity Tank, Blanqi Maternity Leggings, Nike Free Run Shoes

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We took these photos one morning in Central Park and it was cool. I am craving that cool feeling right now! Just this week I’m really starting to feel big and so round and slow and gosh… I still have 3 months left to go. I don’t think there are enough popsicles in the world to cool me down. I am not usually one to want to rush the seasons, but this time around I am fine with saying goodbye to summer and moving into a little fresh fall air. Ready for a little sweater weather, or at least the ability to feel COOL and watch other people wear sweaters ;)

This pregnancy has been different from my others. At first, I thought I must be having a girl because I was just SO SICK, and since that was unique to my other pregnancies, I assumed that meant it was a different gender. I’m so happy to be wrong! We are thrilled to be having a bunch of boys - it certainly makes for easier planning and prep! Don’t get me wrong - I am so girly and it would be fun to have a little girl, but apparently God wants to stock our family with manly men! My little boys are such wonderful people, and I am just so excited to experience raising another little one with his own personality and quirks and LIFE. I am so excited to snuggle a little baby boy again. There is truly nothing sweeter. I just need to get to the finish line without waddling my way there!

I have been a part of an amazing small group of women over the past several months, where we gather and watch an online faith-based parenting course called Moms of Men. I highly recommend it! If you have struggled with knowing how to best raise your little boys (like I have!), this course gives so many amazing resources, tools and wisdom for how to lean into your own gut instincts as a mother. I’ve also been reading this book (very slowly, haha), but I am really loving the insights about boys and how they develop and grow! When I first found out I was having Everett (over five years ago! Where has the time gone?!) I was honestly freaked out about knowing how to raise a boy. How to discipline, how to talk about sex (seriously howwwww), how to give him space and freedom but also have a close relationship where we can talk about anything - how how how?! I was so overwhelmed. I’ve learned that it’s just a step-by-step, day-by-day adaptation. As the boys are growing up, I’m growing into my own sense of motherhood. It’s a long story, slow and drawn-out, something that we are all writing together. I am so grateful for the slow pace, because it gives me time to learn and grow and make mistakes, and hopefully - learn from them too!

I am so curious about this new little boy. What will he look like?! How will his birth order impact his personality and demeanor? How will he interact with his brothers? I am so excited and also so prayerful that I can give the same amount of love and investment into this little guy as my others. It’s so strange to anticipate loving someone who isn’t quite here yet. I mean, he’s HERE (kicking me all the live long day), but you know what I mean, right?

I can’t wait to meet you, little boy! But I can. So stay put in there until it’s necessary to evict. xx

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Family Summer Trip to NYC!

I can’t go too many months before I get the itch to get back to New York. Stevie is up there almost weekly for work so we talk a lot about NYC as a family - we have a bunch of great books (this one and this one are our faves), and it helps the boys understand where he spends time when he’s working. It also has helped us create a fun bucket list of places to visit and explore! Which is just what we did as a family a few weeks ago. We loved taking the boys up there for a few fun days in the city and I just I love sharing with them all the things I appreciate so darn much about that wondrous place. In case some of you are planning a trip or curious about what to explore with your kiddos, I wanted to share!

A quick note: If you think traveling with kids in NYC is absolutely terrifying and insane - I promise you it’s neither. Like anything else with kids, it just requires some planning before the trip and some grace & flexibility during the trip. Believe me, our travel times aren’t without challenges and moments of frustration. But I truly love traveling with these boys - we have so much fun together and make such sweet memories as a family! It’s definitely worth the work and the sometimes frustrating moments that are inevitable. Definitely let me know if you have questions. Okay, on to the pictures and recs!

Central Park and Washington Square Park were our jam this time around. We were in Central Park every single day - I don’t know how people live in the city without getting into some green space every day #suburbanthoughts. It’s so grounding and green and SO BEAUTIFUL. The trees are magnificently old and feel like they have endless stories to tell. I just love it. We also love Bryant and Riverside Parks but didn’t spend any time in those on this particular trip.

Things to do in Central Park with kids:

• bring a frisbee and run/play freely on Sheep’s Meadow

• explore the 10+ playgrounds (some with splashpads - if you’re visiting in summer, bring a towel!) Our faves are the Diana Ross Playground (westside), the James Michael Levin Playground (eastside) and the Heckscher Playground (just north of Central Park South).

• see a show at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Puppet Theater (seriously, these shows are SO incredible!) Puppetry feels like a lost art (kind of like tap dance?) and I love that this form of puppetry is still celebrated here.

• grab lunch at Shake Shack at 77th & Columbus Ave. and walk your lunch into the park. We like to eat on the big rocks that overlook the lake :) Yum I want another Shackburger right now…

• walk from the Bethesda Fountain down through the mall (a gorgeous tree-lined pathway)

• play on the Alice and Wonderland statue on the eastside of the park at 75th street. It’s really fun for the kids to climb and it overlooks a pretty little pond and it’s just such a peaceful reprieve.
  
  We didn’t get to sail boats or do a horse carriage ride yet (two requests that we couldn’t make happen this time!), but those are still on our list!

A tower of blondes.

I wear my Blanqi supportwear every day - if you’re pregnant, you have to check them out! Made walking around the city so much more bearable, especially since I tend to carry big, heavy babies. My favorites are the maternity tanks - an absolute must for any pregnancy! I wear one everyday, either by itself or with layers.

Juice Generation!! It’s become a family fave.

^ The BOB Double Stroller that has endured a lot of abuse over the years traveling with us - it’s still rocking!!

We took the boys to get cronuts at Dominique Ansel Bakery in SOHO! It was so much fun sharing a sweet treat there. I honestly have no idea how we were able to snag some because when we used to live here, the line was LONG and they would sell out first thing in the morning. But they were SO GOOD. I can’t remember what the flavor was - they change it monthly but whatever it was, it was GOOD. We also really like the DKA and Everett chose some kind of Nutella bread and he chose well. Haha I’m so proud.

New buildings going up all the time!

We explored two museums on this trip - first, the American Museum of Natural History (Daxton is REALLY into dinosaurs right now), which we have spent a lot of time in on multiple trips. They really loved it this time and the dinosaurs wowed them more than ever. Haha I love this age. And we also visited The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, which was awesome! It literally has a space shuttle on the ship. Like, in every direction, this is a dream museum for boys.

I forgot to mention that we found an EXCELLENT pizza place that is completely kid/family-friendly called Patsys Pizzeria - if you are looking for something on the upper west side, you will not be disappointed! I can still taste the goodness.

“Cleaning fossils” at the American Museum of Natural History. They were cracking us up. We found the Discovery Room this time around and it is honestly such a perfect place for kids to get hands-on! So often, museums can be a bit boring because they can’t actually touch anything, but this is a dedicated space that is for kids to use their hands and discover! They dusted away at fossils (pretend ones), used those fossils to build the structure of a dinosaur, pet little live critters (I’ll admit I was grossed out), used a telescope and microscope, you name it! It was really fun to see their minds at work in a new way. I HIGHLY recommend visiting this room if you come to the museum.

We got mildly addicted to Juice Generation a few years ago and now we basically go as much as possible whenever we’re in the city. “Get Ur Green On” is my favorite juice!

The Alice in Wonderland Statue in Central Park! We had never been there before but they LOVED climbing it! It looks out over a beautiful pond - would be a great spot to bring a book and read for a bit. That wasn’t really the case for me, but if you were alone it would be splendid.

Everett really wanted to visit “Town Square” (Times Square), and we didn’t have the heart to correct him because it was SO CUTE. So off to Town Square we went. Haha for like 10 minutes. Then we left again because oh, it’s so bright. It’s one of those places that you HAVE to go to see a show, but otherwise you don’t really want to be in that mess of lights and sounds.

^ My dream is to one day see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular here!

To make things easy, we usually stay at a hotel close to Central Park. Our favorites are The Warwick (where we stayed this time around) but if that one is sold out or if the prices are crazy, we like The Hilton NYC Midtown, which is located just across the street. Honestly, it’s just nice being able to walk the kids into the park everyday, so this location works well for us. Also there’s a Starbucks on the way from our hotel into the park #priorities. But there are SO many trendy, cool hotels everywhere - I’m always filling my bucket list with new ideas!

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There you have it! We had such an amazing trip. I loved watching the boys light up at so many new experiences this time around. They have been so much littler in the past when we’ve taken them to NYC that I have just made all the decisions about where we eat and what we do, but this time around they had opinions! They wanted to walk more, which I’ll be honest, terrified me at times, especially when we were close to lots of street traffic. But just like anything else, it took a little practice and learning and we were all finding our rhythm as a family exploring the city. And all their suggestions and ideas were so much fun to make happen. Except when Everett insisted we ride the subway and I watched Daxton basically lick one of the subway poles while we were riding. I felt like I was in slow motion yelling, “NOOOOOO”, but thankfully, somehow, he didn’t get sick after that. Ahhhh I don’t even want to think about it.

We had so much fun! I also put together a little IGTV episode about our trip, you can see it here. Do you have questions? Have you ever taken your kiddos on a city trip? Did you/they like it? Would love to hear from you!

Baby #3 is a...

BOY!!!

We can’t seem to get enough boys around here! You can just refer to us as the wolf pack now, because I think three boys qualifies us. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Verrrrrry surprised that this little person is another boy (because I always think I’m having a girl and I’m apparently always wrong!) but I am so thrilled. These boys are my entire life and I have become a better person because I get to be their mom.

I didn’t grow up in a household with boys, so I am constantly leaning into the Lord’s wisdom for how to handle situations that I am SO not equipped to handle in my own right. These boys have challenged me, caused me to have to get sharper and lean into my intuition and grow in my parenting approach (believe me, reading a lot of parenting boymom books these days…) I am giggling at how funny my life looks every day with these loud, funny, imaginative, wonderful little boys. I truly believe God knows exactly who our family is supposed to be and I am just so honored that I get to raise another little boy in sweet family. I truly feel like it’s a big responsibility, since we are living in an amazing age where women are more empowered with opportunities than ever before. It’s going to take mighty, humble, confident men to thrive right along side all these empowered women and I truly feel the call to do my very best with my boys. They are going to be (and already are!) such incredible men! I’m overwhelmed with love.

Soooo since I won’t be having tea parties with little girls, alert to all my girlfriends - I’m gonna need my fill of tea time, manicures and skincare shopping. Please do those things with me.

We are SO excited to meet you, little man!!! Your brothers are already planning presents for you, discussing where you will sleep and who will get to wrestle with you first (Everett has dibs, but Daxton is pretty feisty so we’ll see!)

We love you so much! Can’t wait to meet you in November!!!

P.S. - Shoes are matching New Balance for infant & toddler (on sale!)

Exercise Power Hour!

The weather around here has been whack. It warmed up about a month ago, and then the temperatures decided to plummet back into the 30's like a big fat April Fools trick. It's almost Easter and I fear my grass shall never been green again.

So even though it's been stupid cold (sorry, my New England friends, but seriously, people live in the South to be able to enjoy spring temperatures when it's actually spring, which it is now, so I have no idea what's going on) - but, we've been going outside anyway. Every day after the boys wake up from their afternoon nap, sometime in the 4 o'clock hour, we high tail it outside and move our bodies. I've started calling this exercise power hour, because even though it's not exactly enjoyable temperatures (and my flowers haven't bloomed so there's no yard decor going on), it's still so important to move and play and get some fresh air. For their sanity and mine - cabin fever has gotten real around here these last few weeks and we all need the sunshine, even if it is still bathed in winter's chilly breath.

I decided to start giving Everett some exercise pointers. I taught him how to do squats, lunges, push ups and planks. And since he loves to run, we sprint in between these sets and really get our blood pumping. And it's been SO much fun! Daxton just toddles around and watches us, but I actually picked him up the other day and squatted with him for extra weight and GOOD LORD. I could only do 3. That kid is hoss.

My activewear was sent to me by Yandy.com and I chatted about the line over on 5 Minutes for Mom. Check out the post I wrote about why moms should never apologize for living in their activewear! Because for real you guys. It's my mom uniform.

Happy Friday to you, friends! xx

Help a Mother Out.

New motherhood is a foggy time. It's joyful, overwhelming, exhausting, sweet, memorable... there is nothing like that swift season of having your brand new baby fall asleep on your chest, grab your fingers, search your eyes for the answer to every need. When you're in that moment, it can feel like a very long time, but it really is a fleeting season.

I wanted to share a few ways to help out those new mothers in your life. My friends and family really banded around me as I was healing from my c-section with Daxton back in December. I don't know what I would have done without the help and support I received - it was everything during a time that I was hurting, processing and recovering. I am so so grateful that I was surrounded with an abundance of love and support, and I wanted to share the things that were so nourishing to me during that season. Because while baby gifts are a sweet gesture, when it comes down to whether you should buy a pack of onesies or buy a sleeve of blueberry muffins - a mom of two wants the muffins! Just trust me on this one.

1. Meals!
This was hands-down, my favorite gift from anyone and everyone. It made me feel so loved and cared for when people took the time to cook for me and my family. Having entire meals delivered to my door was actually healing to my heart, since it took care of my family, so it was one less thing to stress about. And postpartum, I was stressed. This is by far the most immediate way to meet the needs of that new mama and her family. And meals don't have to be fancy, gourmet, home-cooked creations (while that is amazing, obviously) - but it can be take out! It can be the wings and mac'n'cheese from the Kroger buffet! It can be Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits. Just one less need to have to worry about when I had a busy toddler and a needy newborn on my hands. I loved knowing that I didn't have to worry about feeding everyone, too! There are a few great websites like Take Them A Meal and Mealtrain that make organizing a meal delivery with friends and family super easy. If you have a friend who is about to pop, offer to organize the meal train for her - it really is such an enormous blessing.

2. Paper products.
This kind of goes along with the meals thing, but I thought it was such a simple and genius addition to the postpartum meal times. Duh! Paper products! Then there are no dishes to do! I don't know why this was such a foreign concept to me, but when someone brought over a meal with a stack of paper plates and napkins, it was like the Heavens parted. I'm sure my weeping wasn't just due to hormones, in this case those were actual tears of wonder and joy too.

3. House Cleaning.
One of my dear friends gifted me a professional house cleaning session as a baby gift. What a brilliant, generous gift! It had been a looooong while since my floors and bathrooms had really gotten any cleaning attention, so her gift came at the perfect time. But even if you can't gift someone a whole house cleaning session, you could show up on her doorstep with some Clorox wipes and Windex - I promise, if you offer to vacuum up her living room and kitchen, she won't be able to say no! And since you don't leave the house much when you're a new mom, it's really nice to have your environment clean and neat.

4. New Pajamas.
This one might not matter to everyone, but my sister-in-law gave me the prettiest purple pajamas for me to lounge around in postpartum, and it was the BEST. I felt so pampered, having my matching pajamas on, even if I hadn't showered and my hair looked like a rat's nest. And still, six months later, I feel so pretty and cared for when I put those jammies on. And it was really nice having someone bring something over for me, not just for the baby. In fact, last week I picked up another pair of matching pajamas at Target, and I've kept them in almost constant rotation since then. It's not the kind of thing I would normally buy for myself, but it makes me feel so cozy when I'm in the house so much.

5. Staying Connected.
I've recognized this second time around that I tend to isolate myself during the postpartum months. Obviously, because most of my time is accounted for in babyland, but also, it can feel overwhelming to get out of the house to do things. So I will say that having people who reached out to me and asked to hang out or come over, or even just texted to check in - all of these things really helped make me feel loved and connected, even during times where I wasn't making an effort to connect with anyone outside of my family. I really appreciated those friends who continued to badger me with love and support and encouragement - those connection points gave me so much strength when I was exhausted and overwhelmed!

My postpartum experience this time around was difficult. I am so grateful that people around me pushed extra hard to love on me while I attempted to put up a brave front - I needed the help, even though I didn't really want to ask for it. So if you know a new mama and you ask her what you can do, and she doesn't answer you - try out a few of these! I promise you, she needs your support - probably more than she would care to admit.