A Day in the Life: 15 Months

Mason's First: Camping Trip

This face sums it all up...

Camping with a 15 month old meant spending 48 hours wiping sand, dirt, leaves, sticks and mud out of Mason's mouth. And he loved every minute of it.

We left Friday night and drove 5 hours to Big Sur. It doesn't normally take that long, but when you're in a 1987 Volkswagon Westfalia you've got to take it easy. We love this camper van. The top that is popped up in the picture makes room for a bed then the back seat lays down into another bed. There is a refrigerator, stove, cabinets and a surprising amount of storage space in there!

The weekend was a celebration for our friend Jenna's birthday and there was a group of 10-12 of us on Saturday. You can't have a camping trip without games of horse shoes, bocce ball and frisbee.

Plaskett Creek campground is right across the street from the ocean. We could see the water from the campsite and it was just a short hike down to the beach.

 One look at those waves coming into shore and then heading back out, and this was the last time Mason looked back.

 The tide would come in and as soon as it started to flow back out Mase would run full speed after it. Off I went, chasing after him and scooping him up just before he reached the water. I would run back to shore with him in my arms and the tide following me, put him down right before the waves began to recede so he could feel the cold water on his legs, and off he would go again toward the ocean. It was exhausting, but so much fun.

Then it was Daddy's turn to do some chasing.

It was so late in the afternoon that the tide came up and the water actually left us without any beach. I guess that's when you know it's time to head back to camp for a nap.

Jenna is a big fan of Jameson, so when I found this cupcake recipe, I knew I had to make them for this weekend. Behold, the Irish Car Bomb Cupcake.

Guiness cake filled with Jameson ganache filling and topped with Baileys frosting. Literally the most delicious cupcake I have ever eaten. No joke. It was THAT good.

Sunday morning Mason and I were the first ones up so we took a walk down to the beach. It was still a little foggy and everything was so quiet and peaceful. That might be my favorite part of camping-- those solemn moments first thing in the morning.

I can't wait to take Mason camping again. Our little Baby Valone fit right in with the woods and the wilderness. Although next time we'll go someplace just a little bit closer and a little bit warmer.

Before and After: Camping

Before: Ice chests full of Bud Light
After: Ice chests full of whole milk

Before: Walking leisurely down the beach
After: Running after your toddler down the beach

Before: Staring in wonder at the campfire
After: Staring at the campfire wondering how to invent a baby gate

Before: Waking up to the birds chirping
After: Waking up before the birds

Before: Rinsing dirt out of your shoes
After: Rinsing dirt out of your child's mouth

Too tired last night to upload any pictures... I'll get on it right after I wash the campfire smell out of everything!

Easy hand-stitched cards

I am a stationary person. Don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty of texting as my primary form of communication as the next person, but there is a certain satisfaction in writing a handwritten note. Maybe it's because my mom forced me to write thank you notes for everything growing up (and I still do-- thanks Mom.)

In need of a birthday card last week I scoured my card box but couldn't find just the right one. Somehow these hand-stitched cards from Make and Takes came to mind. I love when I find a project that I already have supplies for! Embroidery thread? Check. Cardstock? Check. I improvised and used a nail instead of a punching awl. I totally cheated and used the birthday candle and flower templates from Make and Takes, but if you're more artistic you could hand-draw a design or use any image really.

Then I got to thinking you could probably do this with a small hole punch and ribbon, on a larger scale. One day when I run out of embroidery thread (or patience for punching tiny holes with a nail) I'll try it and let you know how it goes.

Have a fabulous weekend! Here's a little preview of ours: ocean, mountains, and Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. Yes, you read that right. 5:30PM cannot get here soon enough...

Mason's new "thing": dragging

My kitchen apron

The hand blender (minus the blade, of course)

If it has a string, sleeve (as in, my long sleeved shirts) or cord, he'll drag it around the house.

Or... even if it doesn't have any of those things...

(And yes, that's a swim diaper and no pants. The kid has a crazy diaper rash right now.)

Doesn't he look happy though?

Weekend Fun

Enjoying strawberries with Mom

My first attempt at cinnamon rolls-- I'm pretty sure anything made of butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon tastes good (even if you use yeast that expired in 2004)

Sunday night dinner with friends

(Super yummy sangria made using this recipe)

The pups and the kids wearing each other out

Have I mentioned we love Spring?

Endless shoes and organic laundry soap

First off, this is a long post, but if you make it through to the end there is a good chance you'll learn something you didn't know before. I have to share a few awesome things I've discovered in the last couple of weeks-- and skimming the post is totally okay-- so here we go.

Find #1: Google's "Shopping" Search
So, as a banker-by-day I am required to wear black shoes and I've been searching for work shoes that are "eco-friendly". In case you were wondering, NO ONE sells black pumps that are environmentally responsible. Or if they do, they are way, way beyond my price range. I finally found the Clarks Taipei at both Zappos and Piperlime for $78. In the midst of all this searching I happened to notice the Shopping option on the Google toolbar (you know, up there with Images and Maps) so I typed in "Clarks Taipei black" and lo-and-behold. Endless.com were the first results and they were $59.90!

Find #2: Endless.com
Free overnight shipping. Free return shipping. Best price I could find (and seriously, I checked everywhere-- including Ebay.) There you have it. Short and sweet. Check out Endless.com.

Find #3: Clarks shoes

Tage is obsessed with Eccos. He searches them out on Craigslist and Ebay. Don't ask me how many pairs he owns... but I have a feeling I can no longer give him a bad time about it. When my Taipei's arrived I had run home for lunch so I opened them up, tried one shoe on and oh. my. goodness. Seriously comfortable. I immediately took the other one out of the box and wore them back to work. I've been wearing them for a couple of weeks now and they are still awesome, all day long. Thank you Clarks. And they're pretty cute too, as far as work shoes go. P.S. Since we're on the subject of shoes, go read the shoe post HERE, complete with an adorable model, from A Woman in her Thirties.

Find #4: Eco Nuts

Okay, okay. I know you're thinking, "What the?" This find is completely unrelated to the previous three, except for the fact that it is too awesome not to share. I've been looking for green cleaning alternatives lately and found Eco Nuts laundry "detergent". They are literal nuts, like from a tree, that you place in a small pouch and toss in with the wash. I ordered a regular size box that is supposed to wash 90 loads of laundry (or 50 if you use hot water) for $10 ($15 after shipping.)

This is what they look like. Crazy, right? The pouch is tiny and it takes me a while to find it when I'm transferring clothes from the washer to the dryer, but they seriously work! Mason's diapers are just as clean as when we were using baby detergent, take up about a million times less space (and if you live in 900 sq. ft. this is important), are cheaper AND do not harm the environment. After the Eco Nuts have run their course in your washing machine, you can use them to make handsoap or an antimicrobial multi-purpose cleaner for your house. Seriously. How awesome is that?!

So there you have it. Some cool stuff you might not have known about. Or maybe you already did! Whew.

Brothers

You'll have to excuse how grainy this photo is-- it was taken with Uncle Jared's cell phone this morning.

This is Uncle Justin taking care of Mason.

Haha!

Mase is napping, of course. Don't you love how even as adults siblings will always act like, well, siblings?

My brother Justin takes care of Mase on Mondays. This morning was such a smooth goodbye, it was awesome. I love that my kiddo is growing up with our families-- it is the whole reason we moved back home when he was born.

Both of my brothers abolutely crack me UP when it comes to watching their nephew. Justin has coined the term "nap crap" which makes me giggle every time I hear it (I'm the mom of a boy so I had to learn to appreciate a certain amount of potty humor.)

Last week I asked Justin if Mason went down for a nap okay and he replied that he, "Chirped and hummed and tore his cage apart," referring to the Pack N Play. His verbage is hilarous.

Don't be fooled by my brother Jared though. He was entrusted with a certain three year old once and fed her chocolate for dinner. Lets just say he learned his lesson (the hard way.) He is also notorious for photographing sleeping toddlers surrounded by empty beer cans and cigarettes hanging out of their mouths.

Oh, how I can't wait to be an aunt to their kids one day!

Evening fun

We ♥ Spring

And dirt

(Notice the previously mentioned top teeth on display)

One for you...

One for me...

Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Paci free

Three weeks now without a pacifier!

I'm not gonna lie, the first two nights were rough.

It is so nice to be free of it though. No more searching the back seat of the car while driving, looking for a pacifier that has been chucked. No more clamoring for binkys in that middle of the night in the dark that have been flicked out of the crib.

Of couse two top teeth decided that as soon as we went paci-less was their perfect opportunity to break through. So, maybe the tough part lasted slightly longer than two nights.

But, we're free.

And now Mason has a matching set of top teeth for those bottom two that came in 4 months ago.

Yippee!

Easter

If this blog is anything it is honest. In case you would like a reminder of some of the "real life" stuff I've shared, you can check out the post about when I was in a car accident on Christmas Eve at 32 weeks pregnant and we had no heat in our house when it was snowing outside. Or you can read the post Tage wrote during my postpartum depression after having to go back to work last year. Then there's the recent one about all the croup and colposcopies. So, in the spirit of transparency, I can easily say this could have been the worst Easter I can ever remember having.

This is the closest we got to a family picture. That is because we didn't spend it as a family.

Don't get me wrong, I think Mason had a good time. He was spoiled by his grandmas and got to go to Sunday school. (Side note: WHY do grandparents insist that small children, like the adorable 14-month old pictured below, need candy and chocolate? Argh! Anyway...)

We did get to spend time with my extended family. Mase loooves his uncles, that's for sure. They are pretty smitten with him too, if you ask me.

I said above that this could have been the worst Easter I can ever remember having. It wasn't. And not because some serious crap didn't go down (because it did, and it still is) but because I was reminded that when I just can't keep it together, God can.

I have failed at a lot of things in life. I've failed as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend and as a wife. I'll fail someday as a parent too (not to say I haven't already.) As I sat in church this morning with a stomach ache caused by two days of emotional turmoil, I was reminded that I can come back from despair. No matter what I am going through or how devastating my circumstances, I know God can, and will, lift me out of my own desperation and loss. He enables me to live with hope.

Secondly, I can come back from defeat. I had no idea how defeated I really felt until I read those words. It is so easy to let life wear you down. I am fortunate to have some of the most incredible women in my life who continually lift me up and encourage me and I am so thankful for that. Your friends can only do so much though. Especially late at night when I am having trouble sleeping and the anxiety over all of my failures seems overwhelming. It is during those quiet moments in the dark that He reminds me that I have already experienced forgiveness. His forgiveness is all I need.

Then there are all those plans I've made that have gone wrong or turned out the opposite of what I expected.That's where Jeremiah 29:11 comes in. I include that verse in the "About me" of this blog so that I will read it regularly and be reminded. I can bounce back from doubt. Doubt in myself, my choices, my purpose. Thanks to God, I can be confident about my faith, and be confident in His plan for me.

All that to say, it will be all right. I don't mean to be "preachy" although most of this came out of the sermon at church today, and I don't know what will happen or how to fix things or how to change things (or even what needs to be changed) but I do know that I'm not alone in it. My life is not my own and neither is Mason's. I know without a doubt that all of our needs will be provided for, thanks to the unimaginable sacrifice Jesus made for us. For that I am eternally grateful.

Easter treats

Happy Easter card from Oh My Handmade (free download!)

Homemade marshmallows using this recipe

Cutie pie picture of my cutie pie kiddo taken by Mel

We delivered these treats this week via Mason's diaper bag. A small thanks to our incredible families who help us out SO immensely. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Wishing you a meaningful Easter Sunday and lots of precious time with your families.

♥