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Crockpot Italian Hamburger Potato Soup
This cozy, comforting (yet fresh and light) soup is a perfect simple meal for a cold night. If your family loves meat and potatoes, but you are looking for something different, yet easy, this is a great meal! It’s a spin on the traditional Italian Wedding Soup, but instead of pasta, you add potatoes, and instead of meatballs, you just use ground beef (or sausage if you wish). I served this up with some grated sharp white cheddar on top and a homemade loaf of bread. In the Winter I love cooking with my crockpot, and this meal is EASY and quick! With only a few minutes of prep, you…
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Advice I’d Share With Myself As A New Mom
I came across a note from a year ago on my phone. It had a list of things I had written down that I wanted to remember if I had the opportunity to have another child. I read through it and thought it may really help a new Mom, so I wanted to share. I called it “Notes To Myself.” SLEEPNo matter how hard you try to conquer baby and toddler sleep, there will be phases that are hard. Relax and follow your gut instead of google. Stop stressing so much and go to bed early instead of staying up. I know “you time” is tempting, but sleep is vital.…
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30 Gift Ideas For Her (That We Actually Want)
Ok guys, I’ve taken all the work out for you! All you have to do is click, buy, and wrap. Some women will just tell you what they want, but if they don’t, the key to great gifts for the ladies in your life is buying something that takes some thought/effort or buying something they wouldn’t normally buy for themselves. Things that are higher quality or even just feel luxurious are always great! I’ve included gifts from lots of price points. ($)-under $50($$)-$50-150($$$)-over $150 Now go buy your wifey-friend-mama, etc. a great gift! -Nicole
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20 Non-Toy Gift Ideas For Kids
I started my gift guide series for the sole purpose of helping parents and gift-givers to find gifts that would actually get played with and don’t add to the toy clutter. But, sometimes gifts really depend on the child and it’s hard to tell until you try something. So, another option if you feel like the child already has too many toys would be to give non-toy gifts. At a party the other night, a friend was asking me if I thought an experience would be a good gift and it gave me the idea for this post! Here are 20 non-toy gift ideas that would be great for kids:…
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15 Most Played With Toys For 0-1 Year Olds
Below are our favorite toys for that 0-1 year old stage! A lot of these toys are great for helping to develop fine motor skills. I hope this helps you with some ideas for those sweet babies in your life! -Nicole
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15 Most Played With Toys For 1-2 Year Olds
1-2 year olds are generally a little easier to buy toys for because they probably don’t have too many yet (but just wait, all the toys are coming lol). This was a fun age to buy toys. I felt like I was just as excited as my son was when he got something new! Here are our top 15 most played with toys for the 1-2 year old age. Again, he had many more favorites, these are just the things he played with over and over again. I hope this helps you with some toy ideas for those 1-2 year olds in your life! -Nicole
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20 Most Played With Toys For 2-3 Year Olds
Sometimes it’s hard to know what gifts will get a lot of use with kids. I’m going to share our favorite gift ideas for 2-3 year olds that are tried and true! I now have a 3 year old son and these were his most played with toys over the past year. Disclaimer: Make sure to read the ages on toys. Things like kinetic sand and magna tiles say 3 and up, but my son loved playing with them around 2.5. We just played with him. He also didn’t put a ton of things in his mouth at that age. So you just have to know your child. There are…
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Toy Regrets for Toddlers (Toys we regret buying for our 2-3 year old)
Sometimes as parents, we get marketed into buying so many things that don’t live up to the hype. These are a few items we bought for my son last year that either weren’t played with very much or that we just didn’t think was worth it. This is thankfully a short list, but still has some pricey items on it. I hope this helps you stay away from a few things that your toddler may not play with a ton. Remember, it’s simple things that make them happy. You don’t have to spend a million dollars. Make sure to check out my next post about our top 20 favorite toys…
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10 Toddler Hacks Every First Time Parent Needs To Hear
Some days I’ll think to myself, wow, I’m doing pretty good at this parenting thing and other days I’m running for the door as soon as my husband gets off of work. I know most Mom’s understand this feeling–especially if you have toddlers that have started throwing tantrums. My son is almost 3 and around 2.5 he started going through those developmental changes of wanting to “test Mom and Dad.” I’ve learned that as you go through different stages, there are different tips and hacks that can help make your life so much easier. Here are some of my favorite parenting hacks for the toddler stage. As you read through these,…
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Overcoming The Tough Stuff: Burnout/Anxiety/Sickness/Etc.
Yikes. The last month has been tough. Actually Fall through Christmas was tough and during Christmas my body literally just said enough. I experienced some total mom burnout, anxiety, some family losses, a major job change for my husband (a great one, but still a big change), and we were dealing with getting random weird little bugs all Fall and then covid. My son, Luke, also turned 2.5 during this time, and let me tell you what, that is no joke lol. The 2’s started lovely and then bam, threw me for a major loop with learning how to navigate the tantrums and how to discipline and all the other…
