Since I deactivated both my Instagram and Facebook accounts, I realized that there are a few aspects that I miss, and that’s sharing little glimpses of life with you and some of our favorite things. One of these days I’ll get into the why of removing myself from those spaces, but for now I’ve truly been enjoying the moments that I am able to focus more on the blog, being a better mom, and being a more present wife.

Anyways, I don’t know if I ever will hop back on social media or when, so every once in a while I want to post a little life update for you, but also for us so that we can look back and see home progress, growing babies, and more.

Home Renovations

I have really been trying hard to change my mindset about our home, and love it as it is, pre-reno wise.

We have been blessed with this house, and although it’s nothing like I want it to be or it will *hopefully* end up like, it keeps us warm, safe, and gives us a place as a family to grow + learn.

I’ve been trying to do little things to make the space a little more inviting and homey, which has definitely included picking up some pieces at the thrift store, starting the process of relentlessly decluttering, and letting all the natural light in.

Here’s some updates on our renovation:

Baby Bedrooms

We have been slowly but surely focusing on renovating the two baby bedrooms. Back when I was on Instagram, I shared a little sneak peak of the wall mural that I did in Paislee’s room, and I honestly loved the way that it turned out. I never thought that I would be the person that paints pink in our home, but it is so perfect for the space and P goes in her bedroom all of the time and just points at it with a big smile on her face. I call that a win!

For Baby boy’s room, we are in the process of reframing the closet to ditch the single door for a larger 4 foot sliding door, and retexturing everything. Once that is done, we are going to do something fun for an accent wall–and I will wait to reveal it once it’s all finished!

We just got carpet installed and we had a total HGTV renovation moment–look at these pine hardwood floors that were under the carpet in the bedrooms! We can not believe it actually. Like I’m a little sad we went with carpet. But at the same time, I’m glad we did because it makes the rooms cozy and warm for our little babies feet when they get out of bed in the morning.

The Kitchen

Then comes the kitchen. Realistically- we will probably be officially starting the kitchen until March. But despite that, we have almost everything to get started. It is going to be such a game changer in our home and I cannot wait for it to be done, and Kyle can’t wait to tear down walls!

Life With A One Year Old

Ahh, life with a one year old. I’m pretty sure a few days before Paislee turned one, toddler switch flipped and we were met with tantrums, testing boundaries, not napping, and all the fun things that come with being one.

But, it’s also brought a lot of new opportunities, new interests, new understandings, and new growth for all of us.

Paislee is turning into this sweet and sassy little firecracker, and it’s been such a crazy ride. Both of her parents are more on the introverted side, and at this moment one of her favorite things to do is talk to/wave at everyone around us and bring a lot of attention to us.

It’s been a personal challenge for me, because I don’t love all the extra attention. But in no way do I want to discourage her from her growth and learning to interact with others, so we talk and wave and engage with almost everyone we come into contact with these days.

P is going to keep me on my toes, that’s for sure.

She hasn’t quite transitioned to one nap, so here’s a quick rundown of our daily schedule:

6:30-7:00a– P wakes up usually between 6:30 and 7. She usually gets cuddles from Kyle and I and the dogs before we actually start are day.

7:00a– First Bottle. We’re slowly working on transitioning to regular cows milk instead of formula, and we’re still using the bottle in the morning and in the evening.

7:30a– Breakfast. With an egg allergy, we do a lot of things like bagels and fruit + oatmeal. P also loves yogurt, so sometimes we’ll mix that in there as well!

8-9a– I’ll clean up breakfast and we will both get ready for the day.

9-9:30a– a planned activity– anything from flashcards (you can grab them in the freebie library here), water painting, or even just reading some books.

9:30a– most days this is when Paislee goes down for her first nap. If not, she will cuddle up with me and we will read more books/take it easy during this time. Eventually we will probably start doing outings around this time once we have fully transitioned over to on nap.

10:30a– Snack

10:45-11:45a– Free Play. I will usually make myself a cup of coffee at this point and observe P play for a while, or play with her if she invites me too.

11:45a– We prep lunch together. I have been pulling out Paislee’s toddler tower and having her help me prep her lunch.

12:00p– Lunch

12:30p– We venture out, usually to the park or even just for a walk outside if it’s good weather. If it is rough weather then we will do some sensory activity here and I will pull out a couple of extra toys that aren’t currently in rotation.

2:00p– Nap number 2

3:30p– Snack

4:00p– Sensory Activity. I have been trying to do at least one sensory activity

4:30 or 4:45p– Free Play + Screen time. Whenever we finish our activity (some keep her occupied longer than others), I will put on a movie (usually Encanto these days) that sometimes she will sit and watch and other times she will play. There are definitely moments where I try to include her in dinner prep when I can, or she will just want to be held while I make dinner. The witching hour is real over here!

5:45 or 6p– Dinner. Kyle gets home between this time, so we all eat dinner together whenever he gets home.

6:30p– Wheel of Fortune and getting ready for bed. Yes, we watch Wheel every night. We do our nightly bottle, and get her pjs on in the living room so that we can all watch it together.

7:00p– Bedtime. We simply lay her down in her bed with her sound machine on, stuffed elephant, and 5 pacifiers and she sleeps through the night. If you’re having trouble getting your baby to sleep through the night, here is a post I wrote a while back sharing the method we used that has worked for us.

Third Trimester Thoughts

I am struggling to believe that I am already in the third trimester. This pregnancy has flown by compared to my first, and for that I am very thankful.

This pregnancy has also been a lot harder than my last one. With P, I truly just didn’t enjoy much about being pregnant. I was thankful to be pregnant and carry life but it just wasn’t my favorite thing.

This time around, I have struggled physically a lot more. My belly ballooned up a lot quicker which led to a lot more aches and pains, and I have been physically sick a lot longer this time.

In my last pregnancy, I was a lot more open with everyone about how it was going. This time, I’ve made it a point to keep more between our little family, and as hard as it’s been this time, I think keeping more to ourselves has been helpful for me personally. Hopping off of Instagram has also been a huge help so far mentally in this pregnancy.

I am getting a little bit nervous about the whole two under two thing, but also really excited. I wanted kids close together and I think Paislee will be a great big sister. I’m not concerned about loving two babies like most people are, I’m concerned about making sure that both babies are having all of their needs met. Kyle is gone the majority of the time P is awake during the week, so we’ll be thrown into the thick of it to figure it out fairly quickly.

Thankfully at the end of the day, God has it in His hands and I have a feeling I’m going to have to rely on Him even more so than I have before!

There’s still so much to do before the little guy comes, and I think writing this is about to kick my booty into gear to get it all done!

Here’s my current must haves for this third trimester: