Five Things

Oh hey, Friday, and oh hey, February!!  It's officially back-to-work month and though I know I'm going to cry on the 21st (and probably the 19th and the 20th and who knows, maybe every day until then!), I'm getting excited that next month is March and March always brings about all sorts of happy feelings for me.  Spring break, warmer weather, the return of baseball - can't beat it!  Anyway, here are five things on this Friday.

| one |

The hubs and I snuck away for our very first date night since Rhett on Tuesday for the Eric Church concert.  Eric is the one singer we both just love and Craig bought me tickets as a birthday gift.  This was the forth time we've seen him live, the first being at a small venue in Topeka in 2012 when I was pregnant and before Eric was as well-known as he is now.  Anyway, I swear each concert is better than the last and this one took the cake for sure!  He performed two sets broken up by an intermission--and then came back on for an encore.  39 songs total according to the Kansas City Star and so many of them that have been huge hits.  Anyway, it was a ton of fun--clearly, when you don't get home until 1am--even though I had to pump on the way there and again on the drive home.

| two |

Speaking of, earlier this week I decided it was time to kick my pump to the curb!  I had been wavering back and forth on whether or not to continue pumping upon my return to work.  My schedule this year would have allowed for it, though it wouldn't have been easy so I was looking for signs to persuade me one way or another.  I'll spare you the details, but let's just say my milk was a nice shade of raspberry from cracked and bleeding nipples - again.  I decided that that was enough of a sign and started to wean myself almost immediately.  Not to mention, he's eating more, I was producing the same; we were having to start supplementing anyway.  I'm currently pumping four times per day and only for 20-30 minutes instead of the 45-60 I was doing before.  It has already been a huge weight off my shoulders to feel like my life is not quite as controlled by a darn pumping schedule and as bittersweet as it may be (#lastbaby), I do look forward to my life returning to normal once again!  (In other news, we moved Rhett into his crib and it has been going fabulously!  More normal life things!! 👏)

| three |

Last night, I did something completely out of character and signed up for Beachbody.  I am so not a person who has ever worked out regularly (or at all--I hate it, I really do) but I'm still carrying 20+ extra pounds of baby weight and I became quite upset last weekend when none of my clothes fit.  So I bought an all-access membership to Beachbody and I'm going to start drinking the Shakeology shakes once per day, as well.  My blog-turned-real-life-friend, Brittany, (also a mom of three) is my "coach" and she actually has an entire blog devoted to her fitness.  To say I'm nervous would be a huge understatement, but I have to do something about these L-Bs because I'm definitely not buying all new clothes come summer!  I may kick start the program with a 21-day fix.....but you know, not until after the Superbowl obviously!!  Anyway, I got the Cafe Latte flavor of shakes and I have high hopes they're going to be comparable to these.  Hahaha kidding.  Haha sort of.

| four |

 Speaking of the Superbowl, we're throwing a party similar to last year: BYFP.  Bring your favorite pizza.  In case you need further explanation, that can be found here.  I highly suggest throwing a BYFP party because it requires little to no prep, which is in part why I offered to host. 😉 

| five |

And not to end on a sad note, but a friend of a friend has a 4-month old in the NICU because of something that happened at daycare earlier this week.  My friend doesn't know many details, except that a miracle is their only hope right now.  This is a third baby and a boy, so it really hits home.  Please pray for this little baby and his family.  I simply cannot imagine.  

And so I don't end with such somber news, here are some of the sweet smiles we've been getting from Rhett lately!  I just love this little kid so very much!

Happy Friday!

Linking Up With:

Momfessionals and A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites 

September F A R M for Oh, Hey Friday

Smidge of This for Five on Friday

Instagram / Facebook / Bloglovin' / Pinterest / Twitter

A JORD Wood Watch for my Valentine (with a Giveaway!)

It seems like Christmas was just yesterday, but alas January has nearly come and gone and the next holiday is already upon us - Valentine's Day.  Craig and I don't typically celebrate the hallmark holiday, but when JORD reached out to me and asked if I'd like to gift my husband a men's watch to be featured on my blog, I couldn't say no!  Besides, he works so hard every day to be able to provide for our family (yes I work full time, as well, but his salary > teacher salary) and I am very proud of him in his {not so new anymore} role as a manager, so it was nice to be able to use my blog to reward him!

As fun as it would have been to surprise him with a watch, I also wanted him to love it so I let him choose his favorite.  He chose the Dover Series Black & Koa watch.  The black is very classy, yet the natural koa gives it a casual look allowing him to wear it to work, to church, or while working in the garage on the weekends.  Additionally, the visible gears through the sapphire crystal glass makes this unique watch extra manly (aren't all guys curious about how things work?) and gives it a super cool look.  And because the watch is made of wood, it's surprisingly lightweight!

Using JORD's wrist sizer, I ordered the watch pre-sized to perfectly fit Craig's wrist.  Though I didn't customize the watch beyond its size, you can do so by engraving either the watch itself or adding a personalized engraved message to the cedar box the watch is packaged in.

So if you have a special Valentine in your life, check out JORD's line of men's watches here...or if, by chance, you are in the market for a new watch for yourself, you can find their women's watches here.  I'm eyeing one or two for myself. 😉

And now for the fun part!  JORD is giving away $100 to one lucky reader!  One person will win but everyone will receive a consolation code worth $25.00!  Entering this giveaway will take all of one minute (I promise) and let's be honest, I don't have that many followers so your chance of winning is 👌😉.  Enter by following this link HERE.
The contest will close on February 5 at 11:59pm. 
Both the $100 and the $25 codes will expire on 4/30/2017.

Luxury Wooden Watch

This post was sponsored by JORD, but all opinions--and my hunk of a model--are my own.  

P.S. Craig, happy early Valentine's Day!  I know we don't do gifts regularly, nor did I pay for this watch, but if I had, you deserve every bit of this gift and then some.  You are an amazing husband, father, friend, and employee.  Your co-workers are lucky to have you, as are the four of us at home.  Life gets crazy and I may not tell you often, but I appreciate you more than you know and I am lucky to have found my best friend to live life with.  Love you, honey!

Year in Review 2016

 Another year is in the books!  Before we turn the page to 2017, I want to look back on our 2016.  Mostly highlights but a few low lights, too, and one photo that summarizes each month of our year.  Enjoy!

January

We rang in 2016 with our neighbors and then celebrated my 33rd birthday at Top Golf with those same neighbors just a few shorts weeks later.

February

The highlight was definitely our neighborhood progressive dinner (aka my last hurrah...see March).  Low light?  Well, that would be Craig tearing his ACL while playing "old man" basketball.  Hence the crutches in the photo...

March

This was the month I learned about Baby Sides 3.0!  During my spring break week to be exact.  Which meant I had time to scheme something and surprise Craig when he got home from work.  And surprised he was!

April

Holden's turned two.  Craig also had ACL repair surgery...horrible for him, but also pretty horrible for me in my first trimester of pregnancy!  I'm certainly glad that's a thing of the past!

May

I finally got to announce my pregnancy to the world.  May was also the start of a fantastic summer at home with the boys!

 

June

In June, we learned Baby 3.0 would be yet another boy!  But first and foremost, we learned he was healthy after a terrifying scare with Down Syndrome.

 

July

Brantley turned 4, we celebrated our 6-year wedding anniversary, and we took a family trip to Chicago.  We had so much fun except for hand, foot, and mouth disease that decided to plague both of our boys while there.

 

August

Woo hoo, we got a minivan!  Technically, I think this was the end of July, but it's too big of a milestone not to be included!  Holden was also potty trained during August, which was a pretty big accomplishment.

 

September

September brought Brantley's first day of Pre-K - and I was excited to learn both of his teachers were from Iowa!

 

October

Lots of fall things in October, but the icing on the cake was trick or treating with the cutest pirate and his parrot!

 

November

What I thought would be baby month came and went without a baby (barely).  But we did get to enjoy our first-ever Thanksgiving at home, which I loved every minute of!

 

December

We completed our family by welcoming Mr. Rhett Kauffman into this world 11 minutes into the month of December.  Dare I say this was the best month of our entire year?

Wishing all of my friends and family and happy and healthy 2017!

Our Final Family-of-Four Photos

It's that time again!  Time to share our most recent family photos!  We do photos once per year...any more than that and I think the hubs would shoot me.  I like doing them in the fall because, duh, Christmas cards!  However, this year I struggled with what to do exactly.  Baby 3.0 is due at the end of November.  He'll be here in plenty of time for Christmas.  But I'm a planner.  I like to order our Christmas cards early.  The idea of waiting for a baby to join our photos, then waiting for the photos to be taken and edited, then ordering and sending cards amidst caring for a newborn stressed me out.  Big time.  Plus I wanted one final photo session as a family of four.  So I went ahead and scheduled our photos for October.  Yes, I'm still using these for our annual Christmas cards and yes, the cards will include the baby's name but no picture.  But it is what it is.  I hope to send out newborn announcements shortly after Christmas to semi-make up for it! ;)

As for the photos, I used the same photographer for the second year in a row, Whitney Revelle Photography.  I adore our photos from last year and Whitney has two young boys herself, so I know she relates well to our family!  We met Whitney at 8:30 on a Saturday morning and she worked her magic for about an hour.  To my surprise, Brantley behaved amazingly well and for the most part, cooperated like we asked.  Holden was another story, but she somehow still managed to get some good shots!  Once again, I am in love with these pictures and I will likely treasure them for many, many years to come!

I'll be sharing a sneak peak of our Christmas cards soon, so stay tuned!

Links to past family photos:

2011

2012

2013

2014
2015

Potty Training Round 2

It's been three weeks now, but our house is officially diaper-free!  For a few months anyway!  I never expected that potty training Holden would be as easy as it was.  He's always been a stubborn boy, very feisty, and tends to do things on his own terms.  And there are plenty of times that he refers to himself as a "baby", unlike Brantley who always loved any and all things "big boy".  On the other hand, Holden had been telling us for a few good months every time he "poopied".  He would also knowingly pee in the shower, both good signs of being potty-training-ready!  Still, I wasn't overly confident about the process.

Like he did with Brantley, Craig took a Friday off of work.  For whatever reason, he offered with Brantley and did the same with Holden.  And I certainly wasn't going to deny him of the opportunity!  After all, I carried the babies for a good nine months; the least he can do is endure day one of potty training solo. ;)  We purposefully waited until I was back at work so that we could send Brantley to daycare and Craig could focus solely on Holden.

And like he did with Brantley, he started the day with a special Daddy/Holden breakfast of donuts.  And fluids.  Lots and lots of fluids.

Holden had a few accidents, but also had a number of successful trips to the potty--both #1 and #2!  Leave it to Craig to keep track of his successes and failures on the chalk board...and then take a picture!  I nearly died when I saw this pop up on Instagram!

We made sure to fill our treat bowl - a few books from Target's dollar spot, stickers, and other junk, but his go-to reward was marshmallows.  This weird kid doesn't like candy so we had to get creative with his positive reinforcements.

Saturday and Sunday brought a couple more accidents, but mostly just successes in the bathroom!  As the 3-day method suggests, one of us stayed home with Holden the entire weekend.  And basically didn't leave his side.  We didn't ask him if he had to go potty.  Rather, we gave him the power.  We reminded him constantly to tell one of us when he had to go.  Again, all part of the 3-day method we have followed with both boys and have had good luck with.

On Monday, it was time to send him back to daycare.  I was pretty nervous.  Ms. Stephanie has six kids to watch, after all, three of which are younger than Holden!  To complicate the matter, she had an infant starting that day.  A 3-month old.  3-month old babies require a lot of attention!  Great timing on our part, huh?  The first day at daycare, he had two {pee} accidents, but both were en route to the bathroom.  And to our surprise (more like shock!), there have been no daycare accidents ever since!  

At home, we've had maybe three accidents since our weekend of potty-training, but otherwise it's been smooth sailing!  He was never afraid to poop, like Brantley was, and he just seemed to take to the potty like it was his job.  I'm still in shock at how easy it was!

(Side note: He wears a pull-up during nap and bedtime, though he often wakes up dry.)

So now we have two kids in undies.  Two big boys running around our house.  Time really does fly!

A huge thank you to my husband for being the awesome potty trainer you are!  If I'm being honest, I'm not sure I have the patience for day one of this business, but you, you seem to rock at it!  You have been very patient with the boys and have been such a great teacher, motivator, and reinforcer during the process.  Which means, we better stick with a similar plan with 3.0.  Obviously. ;)

 

Although two kids (boys) using the potty has it's drawbacks (more laundry, sorting of underwear, pee on the floor, and more butt-wiping), I don't miss changing diapers in the least bit and I plan to enjoy these next couple of months without diapers before it starts all. over. again.