As I started to write a synopsis of 2020, I figured nothing explained this year better than the view from my camera roll. So here we go, a year in review as told in pictures…
Hunting Season came to an end
I finished the little kitchen DIY flip for the kids
Brandon and I had an amazing date night out with friends for a Valentine’s Day dance
It snowed! (a rare thing around here)
We took a few trips to the Children’s Museum (oh the germs that place must have, haha)
We spent time with family
Got away to Alexandria with friends…
and then the world shut down
I worked some from home with a toddler and newborn
We played outside.. a lot!
We did birthdays over zoom
We took walks… a lot!
We did youtube workout classes while zooming with our cousins
Brandon was diagnosed with COVID and the kids and I were quarantined to the opposite side of the house (meaning I slept on an air mattress in the nursery)
We started to go a little stir crazy!
Brandon, thankfully, recovered quickly!
We celebrated Easter at home
We took a walk around Colonial Williamsburg
We bought an inflatable slide (best purchase of 2020)
We planted a garden *well Brandon and AB planted a garden
We spent time at family member’s pools… a lot
I did some little house projects
We spent time in the outerbanks
Took outside showers at the beach
Spent lots of time down at the ocean
Had friends join us at the beach
Took roadtrips to visit friends and explored playgrounds
Spent a bachelorette weekend in the outerbanks for my soon-to-be sister-in-law
And ate our weight in appetizers with the girls!
We celebrated AB’s third birthday with balloons… lots of balloons!!
Took the birthday girl to the zoo
Mom-mom made AB and her new doll, Beatrice, matching birthday party dresses!
We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with a perfect day date!
AB started Little Kickers Soccer
We celebrated a baptism and 1st birthday for Tyson!
I worked on perfecting the party balloon arch
We took the birthday boy to the botanical gardens
Celebrated a beautiful wedding for my brother and his new wife!
We visited the pumpkin patch
And carved pumpkins
We celebrated Halloween with our little ghosts
Took more roadtrips to visit friends and explored more playgrounds
We watched the Thanksgiving day parade at home (no PA trip this year)
And visited Brandon at the fire station while he worked Thanksgiving Day
The Elf on the Shelf came to visit
And we got creative to keep Tyson’s toddler hands away from the ornaments
We made gingerbread houses
And ended the year being so grateful for family and friends, our health and a new year to celebrate!
With just two months left in the year, it is crazy to think it all has gone by this fast! We have had a busy but oh so wonderful year here. It is hard to wrap it all up but I thought for now a quick photo dump would be a fun way to run back through the year.
January
I headed to the Outerbanks to spend the holiday weekend with my sister and cousin and of course the kiddos. AB lucked out with the best cousins who lover her fiercely!
February
One of my oldest friends married the love of her life and we had the best night catching up with some of my dearest friends from childhood at the wedding. I can not be more thankful for these sweet friends who I am still so close with today.
March
Our friend Rob was running a marathon in Newport News so we got to spend the weekend with the whole family (His wife, Heather, is one of my best friends from college)! We even got the chance took the kids to the Living Museum and they had a blast.
We were at the oceanfront for Brandon to run his first half marathon!! We also got to cheer on my brother and his fiancé for the 10k during the Shamrock Run weekend. It was also this weekend we told the family we were expecting baby number 2!
April
We sold our house in Christiansburg. We have been renting it out since we left in 2010 and have had a local friend helping us with the upkeep. And while I was more than ready to let this house go (long distance landlord-ship is rough) it was a little bitter sweet to say goodbye to our first home.
We celebrated lots of birthdays and even had fun birthday party at the zoo! AB’s first trip to visit the animals was a big hit.
AB had her first egg hunt and her love of cleaning up made her an excellent egg collector!
Brandon had to work Easter this year so we went with some of my brothers and sister to show the kids all the bells and whistles of the fire house! And back at my parent’s house, a special visitor came to bring sweet treats!
I went to the most perfect bachelorette day-party which included mimosas (non-alcohlic for me and 4 other guests who were expecting!) and professional massages all in a gorgeous beach house with a stunning ocean view.
May
We did a gender reveal with the family and found out we were having a little boy!!
My boss said “you seem athletic” and convinced me to join the work team for a corporate 5k! AB was my stroller buddy and while it was more walk/run than actually racing for me, it felt good to get active!
A girls trip with my college besties (which now also includes our husbands and little ones) was to Alexandria, VA this spring. We took the kids to a farm just outside DC, went shopping, visited the playgrounds and found a little splash pad in the city. The guys took over while us girls snuck away for a little happy hour before bath and bedtimes one night.
My friends wedding reception was a beautiful evening cruise along the Elizabeth River and it couldn’t have been a more fun and romantic way to celebrate such a sweet couple.
We finished out the month with a concert in Virginia Beach to see Hootie & the Blowfish. It was an amazing night out with my husband, brother and sister! My little brother and sister are the best concert buddies and I hope I can join them for a few more next summer!
June
For Christmas last year we asked for swim lessons for AB! Turns out she is a little fish and was obsessed. The hardest part of every class was getting her out of the water! We plan to do these again in the winter. With so many family members with pools and summer trips to the beach, we definitely want her to be safe and comfortable with the water!
AB had Storybook Character Day at little school and since she isn’t old enough to have an opinion, I dressed her as my favorite parody character Little Miss Hot Mess! If you are looking for a good laugh, this series is hilarious and a spin off of the Little Miss and Little Mister books I loved growing up!
July
I worked on July 4th putting on the city firework show but got to enjoy all the fun of the holiday weekend in the sun!
We took a family trip down to Duck in the outer banks. We met up with friends for a day on the water with their boat, hit up the beach everyday with friends who came to stay with us, watched beautiful sunsets from the dock at dinner and just relished in our happy place!
The end of July, on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year, we were up in Pennsylvania to take AB to Sesame Street Place with our friends. Thank goodness it is half waterpark so we could spend the hottest part of the day splashing in the lazy river and riding the water rides. Even with the sweltering heat the kids did amazing! They ran, giggled, danced, and played all day (with a perfectly timed nap at lunch time back at the hotel). AB is still asking when we can go back to “Elmo’s House”.
August
We celebrated AB’s 2nd birthday!! We had all the family over the weekend before and on her actual birthday, took the whole day to celebrate. The day started with happy face pancakes, then to the zoo, and after lunch and a car nap, took her to her first movie at the theater to see Toy Story 4. The night ended with one last birthday candle blow out on our sweet girl’s big day.
September
September was a jam packed month. Between prepping for the baby’s arrival on the 30th (I had a scheduled c-section so the date was set), a new promotion at work, and taking in a few last park days with AB as an only child, we were on the move all month long.
The very best part of it all was when we had our little boy! Tyson Douglas was born on September 30 at 9:14 am weighing 6 lbs 10 oz. It took a little coaxing but after a few minutes, and a well timed present from mom-mom, AB fell in love with her little baby brother! We couldn’t have had a easier delivery and we are so thankful for our happy, healthy baby boy.
October
We enjoyed lots of visitors to see our newest addition and spent the month attempting to get in a little routine with two kids. After getting a little settled in I got a little stir crazy and started taking on a few little projects around the house. I am sure my husband is dreading the growing list of little updates I am planning! Our master needed a little something over the new bed we bough in July so I went to work hanging a shelf. A little more styling needs to be done, but I am loving how the room is coming along.
AB had been running around the house for months pretending to be a dinosaur so her halloween costume idea was an easy one. Now the execution of this DIY project was not so easy, but it ended up turning out great and AB loved it. Brandon, Tyson and I even joined in the dino theme for trick or treating with friends.
Now here we are with just two months left of what was an amazing year. we have trips planned and holidays to celebrate and I am here for it all!!
I completed my Winter Capsule Wardrobe in March and I loved the challenge! To recap, I combed through my current closet situation and narrowed down my everyday wear to 37 pieces (and 8 pairs of shoes). I say everyday wear because these pieces did not include lounge wear, workout gear or pajamas (I paired down those collections as well to just a few items and set them aside). Everything else was boxed up and stashed at the top of my closet.
Over the course of three winter months, January through March, I dressed from only those pieces. I mixed and matched and mixed some more. I didn’t have a cap on my accessories so I added in necklaces, bracelets and scarves as I saw fit.
March has ended (this post is surely overdue!) and I am happy to report it was a great experience! I used the time to better understand my style and the pieces that I enjoy and I feel look best on me. There were a few pieces that I had chosen for the wardrobe that I never seemed to wear, and with only 37 pieces to pick from, I obviously didn’t like it enough if I still didn’t choose to wear it. I noted these styles (fit, color, look) and made a mental note to steer away from these pieces when I make any new clothes purchases in the future.
The last weekend of the month of March, I went through all the items, set aside those I did not seem to wear and those that would now be out of season (mainly the chunky sweaters). Next I picked from the winter capsule those items I still wanted to keep out and that would work for spring. I then pulled all the boxes from the top of the closet and went through each piece and kept out those that I wanted to include in the Spring Capsule.
With a little bump to dress, it was quicker to narrow down pieces since ‘what would fit’ became the first question I asked myself as I was sifting through the boxes. I quickly realized I did not buy much maternity wear when I was pregnant with AB and relied on flowy blouses and sweaters with fitted maternity tanks underneath.
After choosing my top pieces I did a little online shopping to add in a few new pieces, focusing on the styles and fits I liked best in my winter capsule. I definitely limited myself to a small budget. I still had such a large amount of boxes at the top of my closet that it seemed like I had plenty of pieces to pick from. I also am hoping this will lead to a large purge of those pieces that don’t ever make the cut of a capsule. (I don’t plan to do this for at least a year, especially since some pieces I would have picked for the spring capsule if I was not pregnant).
My Spring capsule was a success and I stuck to my picked pieces for April and May. I have a tips and tricks post coming soon, but one that I relied on for Spring was the “shop a friend’s closet” tip for event outfits. My college roommate was the best and lent me two dresses that she had worn when she was pregnant with her little. I had a black tie wedding to attend at the end of May and nothing in my closet (capsule wardrobe or the boxes above) that would work with the event attire and the baby bump! Katey was quick to send a perfect floor length gown as well as a shorter dress option that I ended wore to mother’s day dinner with the family.
I am giving myself some grace and starting my Summer Capsule a month early. The warm weather has arrived early in VA and with temps in the 90s plus a baby bump that I swear is growing by the minute, my spring pieces weren’t quite working and I needed a fresh summer start. That’s the joy of the capsule process, truly making it work for you! So now i am all set to finalize my summer clothes and maternity pieces to have a fun and fashionable summer!
When a coworker asked a few months back about what infant carseat we had for AB I couldn’t help but tell her all about our carseat/stroller that I am obsessed with! I then promptly took her out to my car to do a full demonstration of how easy the car seat was to use with the stroller! Haha, I can’t help but share a good find!
Now that we have had the Evenflo Pivot system for over a year, I still can’t get over how great it is. The system includes the carseat and base, stroller frame, and stoller seat/bassinet. When using the stroller you can either attach the car seat or the seat/bassinet attachment. AB was an amazing car napper, so it was so convenient to take her carseat straight out of the car, snap it into the stroller frame and run my errands. Now that she has outgrown the infant seat, she can hop right into the stroller seat attachment and is ready to go!
The bassinet feature is what first drew me to the set. The seat attachment has two snaps that unhook to turn it into a bassinet for the baby to lay flat in. I loved it! There are two times that stand out to me when I was so thankful that we had that option. First was at my grandmother’s funeral. We had a family luncheon after the service and AB was only two months old. It had been a long morning and she was due for a nap. We pushed her stroller in, laid down the bassinet and she could snooze away in the restaurant while we spent time with the family. Another outing was to a restaurant with friends. It was getting to be AB’s bedtime but we were still hanging out, so again we were able to grab the bassinet, and AB went right to sleep in her comfy little “bed”. We have used it more times than I can count when she was little. AB has never been one to nap on anyone, she has always preferred to have her own space, so for her, this was perfect!
And if you are looking for a nice light option, this fits the bill too. The carseat was one of the lightest we found and the stroller frame is fairly lightweight as well (which came in handy when the elevator outside the Nordstrom was broken and I had to lug a sleeping AB in the stroller down the stairs…).
I can’t rave enough about tall the simple and easy to use features of Evenflo Pivot. I recommend it to all my friends who are in the market for their little one. And now they have come out with a version that is build-able!! So you can now attach two seats to the stroller!
(and this is in no way an ad… I just love to share a good product that we have used and love!)
We are lucky enough to have a 4 day holiday weekend ahead, so AB and I are hoping down to the outer banks for a quick overnight trip. We are so lucky to have such a great vacation spot just 2 hours away! I am packing up our overnight bags and picking out a few podcasts to listen to on the road trip. I thought I would hop on and share a few of my current favorites in case any one else is hitting the road and needs a little listening recommendations.
Stuff You Should Know
Two guys, Chuck and Josh, spend each episode covering a specific topic that they have heavily researched. Each episode is a new topic and they cover the gamut while adding in a little comedic banter! They have discussed How Patents Work, How Twinkies Work, The Strange Story of Seamonkeys, How Allergies Work… and so, so much more. This podcast has been around since 2008 and with an episode a week (now they are up to 3 a week), there is plenty to choose from. This is a podcast you can scroll through and start any where and bounce around between topics! This is my favorite by far!
Be There in Five
Kate Kennedy is the owner of Be There in Five which creates remind-doormats but this leg of her business is different. She spends episodes deep diving into all the latest celebrity and reality tv gossip! She does her research and really stays on top of the who’s who of pop culture. She also talks about some of her personal business ventures and gives an inside look in to the day to day workings of a small business. She has also become a published author and discusses that process as well. This is my go to for a little one sided gossip and girl talk!
My Favorite Murder
Karen and Georgia are two ladies who love a good murder mystery. During each episode Karen and Georgia each present a murder (or murder mystery) that they have researched. They give the history and complete story with some comedic humor to lighten up some dark topics. As a big fan of murder investigations I was hooked right away with this one. There is a lot of chit chat at the beginning of the episodes which, if you are just there for the story, may be too much, but I enjoy it all. They also have a bonus episode each week where they read letters that listeners have written in with their own hometown murder stories!
Rebutting a Murderer
Dan O’Donnell is a journalist who followed the Steven Avery case and uses his podcast to present the prosecution side of the Making a Murder Netflix documentary. He follows episode by episode with more detailed information that was presented during trial that is left off in the documentary. The documentary is one-sided in showing Steven Avery as an innocent man and I really liked listening to this podcast to be able to see the information from the other side as well! There are 10 short episodes that correspond with season 1 of Making a Murder as well as episodes to correspond with season 2. You need to have watched Making a Murder to follow along.
The Dream
The first season of this podcast is about the MLM (multi-level marketing) company concept and how they work. Now, this show is definitely anti-mlm, but it is interesting to hear about the similarity of mlms to pyramid schemes how they legally must work to not be considered a pyramid scheme. The host also interviews different people involved in the business so you get to hear some of their perspective. Again, it is definitely portraying the negative sides of MLMs but not all the people that she interviews regret joining their respective MLMs.
Dave Ramsey
I started listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcast after reading his book The Total Money Makeover (I am definitely on a “new year’s resolution/organize my whole life’ kick). This podcast is from his live radio show, where he discusses his debt free lifestyle how tos. He has “baby steps” to get from where your life currently is financially to where it can be debt free. He takes calls from listeners asking about their specific situation and what questions they have at each baby step. He also brings on guests who are in no debt (no credit cards, no school loans, and own their home!) to do, what he calls, their “Debt Free Scream”! They discuss where they started and how they achieved financial freedom. I find this one interesting, educational and motivating!
I find myself listening to podcasts in more places than the car. I turn them on when I am doing dishes, getting ready in the morning and when I am trying to be productive during nap time! Do you have any great podcasts that are your go-tos to add to my list?
I loved getting to put AB’s nursery together and one of the easiest displays I did for her room is her bookshelves! I saw the idea on pinterest (what did we do before we could find all these wonderful ideas all in one place!) and it was so easy to recreate.
This does require a trip to Ikea, which is never a terrible thing, but I did have to wait till a trip to DC to go to the closest one to us. (The one down the road from us in Norfolk will be open next year and I can not wait!!) But the only other supplies you will need is paint, a little sponge brush and screws (with screw anchors) to attach the shelves to the wall.
Now, this Ikea item is sold as a spice rack, so be sure you are looking in the right section of the store to find them. Ikea sells bookshelves that are similar, but I find I like these smaller sizes perfect for her little book collection.
To make them match her nursery’s design better I painted them. I painted the front rod, than after some drying time putting the pieces together like the Ikea instructions show. Then you just hang on the wall in whatever layout works for you.
I definitely recommend using the screw anchors because I have stopped AB more times than I can count from using the shelves as a little pull up bar to hang from!
Before she was born I styled the shelves with all the sweet books we were given at baby showers but I will be changing out all the lower level shelves to board books and the infamous “indestructible” books that she can grab herself. She loves to pick out a book from the bottom shelves each night to read before bed!
One of my favorite pieces of furniture in the house is AB’s dresser. That simple ikea dresser is one of the hardest working pieces in our house. When i was pregnant I organized and reorganized those drawers to make all her adorable little outfits fit. And of course when she came, I reorganized again to make everything functional. I wanted to share the ways we keep AB’s dresser simple and organized and what has worked for us.
The Hemnes Ikea dresser has 4 small drawers across the top and 4 larger drawers, stacked 2 by 2 underneath. I love how the top smaller drawers can help corral some of the little items a baby needs. I also snagged drawer organizers to help too.
Top Drawers
In the first top drawer I keep diapers! The drawer organizer fits the diapers perfectly so they aren’t jumbled in the drawer. On the side of the organizer I keep any extra wipes from the package that don’t fit in her wipe container I keep on top of the dresser. (Extra packages of wipes I keep in the closet).
The second drawer I kept burp rags and diaper creams and powders. I can probably retire these burp rags now that AB is a toddler but they are still nice to grab when she’s being extra messy. I also stash disposable changing covers to throw in the diaper bag.
In the third drawer I keep her pajamas. I roll up her footie pajamas and fold in half her pajama sets. I have her mittens still in the drawer from when she was little to wear while she slept so she wouldn’t scratch her face.
The last top drawer I use to keep her bibs and more burp rags. These are some of the burp rags my mom had made her. I grabbed plastic bins from the dollar store to use to section off the drawer.
Bottom Drawers
The organization of the lower drawers has changed a little since she was a newborn but my system has stayed the same.
AB has a lot of basic onesies so I fold them in half and roll them up so I can see each one. For her long sleeve onesies I fold the the sleeves in and roll up. Her t-shirts are folded in half and stacked standing up (a version of the Kondo method). The drawer organizer has nice little compartments, so I use the smaller ones to stash her chunky sweaters.
I use the fold in half/stack upright “method” to store her pants so i can see them all. In the back sections I stash her little socks. This drawer also keeps her tights, personalized burp clothes and, behind those, extra diaper pail bags and the random loose socks that are constantly adding up (where do they go?!)
The bottom drawers have had a rotating function. When AB was a newborn, I kept hats, sleep sacks and a few outfits in the next size up (she seemed to grow every night!). Currently, it keeps hats, an apron from Thanksgiving, an extra diaper carrier, shorts and bloomers, and outfits in the next size up.
The last drawer I use for her little shoes and slippers! AB can easily get in to these bottom drawers, so keeping just a few items in them makes it easier when I have to clean them all back up! haha
AB’s bedroom has a great sized closet so we have plenty of room for her coats, dresses and nicer outfits. It is a space that could use a little reorganization, but that is for another day!
I also kept an extra basket in the bottom of the closet to keep clothes as she grows out of them. Then when the basket is full, I box it up and store it in the closet.
The labels and organizers help when putting away the laundry and keep me organized.
How do you organize dressers in your toddler’s room? Any tips ad tricks to corral the clutter?
When we moved in to our house 4 years ago I was so excited with the size of the master bedroom closet! I figured we could never fill it up… boy was I wrong. Now the shelves aren’t overflowing (at least on my side) but I do have to say, there are way more clothes in there than what sees the light of day. I have started the routine of laying my clothes in the evening for the next day but I know I could save time and enjoy the process a little more if I found a better system. I know it’s been around forever but I figured I would use the fresh start of the new year to take the time and do a capsule wardrobe. I have done small versions of the capsule before but this time I am investing a little more time on the prep side and really committing.
Prep Work
Now in the past I picked out my capsule “pieces” and pushed all the rest of the items to the side in my closet, and the times I have tried this I found myself getting uninspired a few weeks in and grabbing some extra pieces and then, before the capsule time was up, I had merged all my clothes back together. So to keep myself committed I picked out my pieces for the winter capsule and took everything else out of my closet and drawers and boxed it up! I am pretty sure my husband thought I was crazy when he came home to moving boxes and trash bags full of clothes!
Breaking the “Rules”
I did take a few liberties to make this capsule idea work for me and created a few mini “capsules”. There is a “Lounge Wear Capsule” which is for comfy clothes that, while still presentable (I cleaned out any overly worn pieces), I won’t wear out of the house during the winter capsule. So in my drawer I kept some leggings, a couple oversized cardigans, and a few shirts. These are pieces I will wear after work or on weekend days when I am staying inside. I have a “Workout Capsule” for workout clothes. While I don’t make it to the gym too often, we did just get a family gym membership and plan to go on the weekends together. And lastly, I created a “Pajama Capsule”. I did go through each of these areas and pull just a few pieces to be included in the mini capsules so that I could really commit to pairing down the whole wardrobe.
The Capsule
So I whittled my main capsule down to 37 pieces of clothing and 8 pairs of shoes! The plan is to wear only these pieces from January 1 – March 31! I have been pinning outfit ideas on pinterest and will be super nerdy and spend way to much time mixing and matching these items to get the most out of them. My hope is to simplify my wardrobe, find the style that fits me best and be a little inspired along the way!
So here is the breakdown of the items I am working with!
As the new year approaches I am ready to get organized and the first place I like to start at the office is by refreshing my planner. There are a lot of great ones on the market, and while there are some that I have liked, I haven’t been able to find the one to that works best for my work days. So two years ago I sat down and drafted a planner page that works for me!
So I am hopping on today to share this printable planner page if you are looking for a new organization tool for the New Year!
I use this at the office so my main focus is Monday through Friday. I leave a space at the top to write in my work schedule (working special events, my schedule can change week to week). Then I use the appointment space to write in any meetings for the week and I use the to-do list to plan out my day. My purpose for the side by side days is so if one task is not completed, it can be shifted to the next day. If I have voicemails in the morning, I will use the bottom of the to-do section to write those out. On the reverse side of the planner page I like a lined sheet to jot down notes throughout the week!
I love using the disc-bound notebooks for work so that I can add my own planner pages and add meeting notes and program plans in other sections. If you haven’t seen these planners in action you definitely need to check them out. Levenger was the first company that I saw these disc-bound notebooks from and while they were beautiful, the Circa brand was a bit pricey for me at the time. Thankfully Staples came out with the Arc system a few years back and I was hooked! You can change in disc sizes as your needs change… I could do a whole post on these notebooks alone!! Now there are so many disc-bound notebook options on the market you can get exactly what you are looking for in great price points (Martha Stewart, TUL, and Arc are all great options).
Click –here– to download and print a planner page and start your new year on an organized foot!
This year for AB’s birthday, we focused more on celebrating with friends and family than gifts but of course we had requests of what she would like. We are so lucky to get some great hand me down clothes and toys from my brother who has a little girl a year older than AB so she honestly didn’t need much. But I did send a few ideas and thought I would share to anyone who is gift giving to a little one this year!
*AB has all of these and will vouch that they are well loved!
We eventually will build a play space for AB on the second floor but for now this tent fits in her bedroom and she is in it constantly! She loves to play peek-a-boo with the doors and has even crawled in to “read” a book by herself on occasion. This is also very well loved by our dog and he will usually sleep in the tent when AB goes to bed.
The radio flyer is a great gift that will last a while for AB! This model will grow with her up to a tricycle so I know it will get a lot of use. She loves to be in it and with the thicker wheels it can handle the terrain of the yard or our gravel driveway.
This may depend on the child but AB will happily draw for thirty minutes before she attempts to eat the crayon and we have to change activities. (I know some kids will immediately attempt to eat them and may need to wait a little longer for this gift.)
For the little one who has more toys than any playroom can hold, sometimes a practical gift is best. An adorable hooded towel, toddler dinner plate, or new sippy cups may be just right!
You can never go wrong with books for little ones. These are two of our favorites: Never Touch a Dinosaur (a touch and feel book that’s pretty cute) and The Monster at the End of This Book (a classic and possibly one of my favorites to read her… in my best Grover impersonation!).
She understands that the shapes fit in the holes but is still working on getting them in herself but she sure loves to try. I love this toy cause clean up is easy and the toy itself holds all the pieces.
