everybody do your share.

Daily, I am amazed at Tatum's ability to destroy the living room in a matter of 10 seconds flat. If that, even. Seriously, such talent in that girl...
And it's not even that she's making a mess (initially) because she's playing with things. It's as if she can't start to play, until every toy, every book, every single thing is out of place and strewn around the room. Maybe there's a method to her madness, I don't know.

What I do know is that as fun as it is stepping on toys and books all day long, I do need a break from all of the excitement (ahem) come Tatum's bedtime. So, Josh and I have this new thing we've decided to start doing each night, as part of her bedtime routine...We have her clean up all of her toys and books. And she does it! And oh, girlfriend is good. I mean, see all those tidied toys pictured up top? She did that (basically) on her own.

Here's how it goes...

Me: (sitting on the floor, start to pick up a couple of books) Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere! Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!
Tatum: (runs from whatever she is doing to start collecting all of her books)
Me: (continue singing, arrange books as she puts them in basket)
*Repeat cycle for toy basket + stuffed toy chair*

A friend said on Instagram that it's really good to start them doing this young, and that she did with her son who is now 3, and he is awesome about always remembering to pick up his toys and things. Crossing my fingers that the same will hold true for T!

Does your toddler have "chores"?

on giving in for sanity's sake.

Lately there have been quite a few times where I've given in to Tatum's wishes for the sake of my sanity. I'm of the camp that thinks this is perfectly okay and actually quite important for one's mental health.

But (and this is KEY, people!) always make it seem like it was your idea.
Great parenting tip, right?

So, when Tatum wanted to get our friend Boyd's socks out of his clean laundry pile and play with them? I got them out for her and undid the rubber bands that kept them together. Then, I threw them all in the air and yelled, "SOCK PARTYYYY."

When Tatum was non-stop fussing, nothing was helping, and I just wanted to drink a dang cup of coffee? I said, "I have an idea! Let's watch an episode of Dora!" Gets her every time.

See, I'm still the boss, just more of a Michael Scott type at times. And what's so wrong with that?

happy baby, happy flight.

Our flight to San Francisco was our third time flying with Tatum. The first two times, she was only 3 months old, so she basically just slept the entire flight. This time around she is 8 months old, so I was um, pretty much terrified about flying with her. I would love to be the person who just lets peoples' glares, stares, or snarky comments just roll off their back...but that's not me. I was so nervous that she would cry the entire time and everyone would be giving us those "If looks could kill" eyes.

So, I did everything I could think of to avoid this happening.

+ We thought it would be best to fly at a time when she would be most likely to sleep through the flight. Our first flight and layover, she was awake (fighting sleep towards the end), but really well-behaved (thankfully). Our second flight, she slept all but 45 minutes at the end, when she woke and decided it was time to entertain the plane. So thoughtful.

+ Fly Southwest Airlines. Seriously. Just do it! We almost didn't, but I happened to mention it to Josh right before we purchased tickets. He looked into it and they are so great, especially for families. You can check two bags (per person), a stroller, and a carseat...for free! Yay. Also, they don't have assigned seating, which we really loved. Families with kids under five get to board in the second group, so that makes getting to choose your seats pretty easy. We even had a free seat beside us on both flights. One guy almost sat by us, but when he saw we had a baby he bolted. Thanks, dude!

Most of these items probably seem pretty obvious, but I thought it would be nice to add anything and everything we packed. Sometimes even the best of us have that one little thing we can't seem to remember. 

Obviously if you're a breastfeeding mom, the bottles, brush, and formula won't apply to you. (Less packing, yay!) The first time we flew we just brought a regular container of formula. Boo to that. We never even use that in our day to day anymore. The to go packs are so much easier and way less messy, so they are the perfect choice for a flight.

We downloaded an episode of "Dora the Explorer" on Josh's phone before we left, just in case. Tatum doesn't really watch much tv. She just doesn't care. However, she does occasionally enjoy watching Dora for about two minutes. We figured it wouldn't hurt to download an episode to distract her if she got upset or bored.

We actually didn't bring T's birth certificate or immunization records either time, but when we were checking in we were told we might want to have her immunization records faxed to us. Obviously Tatum is a baby and doesn't look two years old, but she told us that if you get the wrong person you just might run into some trouble, so it's just best to have it on hand. 

You will probably need to tweak this list to suit your child, but I hope it can help even a little bit!

teething.

Teething is in full swing over in these parts.
For the past few days Tatum has had a runny/stuffy nose and Robin (Josh's mom) told us that that can be a sign of teeth coming in.
It could be coincidence, but I'm pretty sure she was right, and it is related.
Tonight we found that her two little bottom teeth are popping through.
I can't wait to see that toothy little smile.

In addition to the nose stuffiness, she was also in a terrible, sad, whiney mood today.
Obviously I get it.
I'd be pissed if I had teeth cutting my gums, too. Sorry, sister.

Baby bad mood = I need a brownie.
It's no homemade, straight from the oven goodness, but it'll do.
Love you, Debbie.
<3

The Littlest Aunt.

My little sister, Chloe, is probably the best kid (of the girl variety) ever. She's 6 and gets more + more neat every single day. Recently, Josh and I talked about how she's starting to look so "grown up." She's looking less baby faced + way more kiddish. I saw it a lot in these photos I took yesterday. It kinda kills me.

It's a hard thing to explain, but since Tatum came along it has been difficult on me a bit to balance the two of them. Chloe was always "my baby." Not reealllyyy, but you know? But now I have my REAL baby, and I know that I'm still struggling with learning how to make time + attention for Chloe, too. That's important to me, because we've always been so close.

Eventually, we'll find the flow and I'll make it work. I'm trying. I hope she knows that.
BAH. I just love her so much!

P.S. Sister has an awesome tan!

i choose you.

{typical josh. also, weirdest picture ever for this post.}

•I choose you – above all others.
•I choose you – above myself.
•I choose you – above my children.***
•I choose you – above my career.
•I choose you – regardless of income.
•I choose you – in spite of your weirdness.
•I choose you – in spite of my quirkiness.
•I choose you – so I will forgive when you’re wrong.
•I choose you – so I will repent when I’m wrong.
•I choose you – so I will give you the benefit of the doubt.
•I choose you – even when I think you’re stupid.
•I choose you – even when you treat me like I’m stupid.
•I choose you – when we’re in debt.
•I choose you – when we have more than we ever dreamed possible.
•I choose you – when you succeed.
•I choose you – when you fail.
•I choose you – when you’re nice.
•I choose you – when you’re not so nice.
•I choose you – when you’re beautiful.
•I choose you – when you’re messy.
•I choose you – when you’re healthy.
•I choose you – when you’re hurting.
•I choose you – when we agree.
•I choose you – when we disagree.
•I choose you – when all’s right with the world.
•I choose you – when everything falls apart.
•I choose you – when life is busy and we don’t get to see each other.
•I choose you – in those quiet moments that it’s just the two of us.
•I choose you – your dreams, desires, & hopes.
•I choose you – your hurts, habits & hang ups.
•I choose you – your family.
•I choose you – above my own rights or opinions. This is mutual submission out of mutual respect.
•In light of every other possibility - I choose you.


A friend shared that with me the other day, and I immediately emailed it to Josh.
It's so, so spot on and reading it made me so happy. Everyday with Josh, I make the choice to love him, and him me. It doesn't just happen...Love isn't some magical, sunshine and roses type of deal.
Because love isn't just a feeling inside of you.
It's an action.
And man, sometimes...Love. Is. Work. It just is.
But from my experience, it's some of the most fulfilling work that there is.
And every single day I am so happy that we have made the choice, put forth the effort, and really loved each other.

-----

On a less serious note: I cannot stop thinking about Pokemon now. "Joshua! I. CHOOSE. YOUUUUU." Yep.

With me, you get some serious, but also a lot of silly.
It's called balance, guys.

***JUST FYI, before I get any comments on it, I take this to mean that I make time for Josh + it's not always about Tatum, that I consider his opinion first, that I respect his decision making, and so on.