Hello and happy Monday to YOU! Did everyone have a great weekend?
Before I get to a little recap, a couple of quick things…
- The winner of the $100 Sears gift card giveaway has been chosen and emailed (congrats, Kristin!)
- Today is the last day that my Usborne Books party will be open, so if any of you are interested, be sure to check it out today (you can do that HERE!!). I’m seriously obsessed with the books and want them ALL!
Alright, now that we’ve got those two things taken care of, here’s a peek at some weekend highlights. And of course, it wouldn’t be a highlights post without featuring these two. <3
Unfortunately, Lucas woke up on Saturday with a bit of a cold so he wasn’t the happiest of campers all weekend. We spent a lot of time making sure that he wasn’t trying to give his big brother kisses, but I most definitely got coughed on right in the face at least half a dozen times. I give it until Tuesday before my nose starts running like a faucet…
On Saturday, Jay spent pretty much the entire day helping out our friend Josh (long time readers may remember him from our Outer Banks trips <— that was a fun post to go back and read and totally makes me want to go baaaaack) and his brother install the carpet for our basement (FINALLY!!!).
By the time they finished, it was getting close to dinner time. My parents actually offered to take Lucas for a little while, so he had a few fun hours playing at the pool and at Huck Finn’s Playland (which turned out to be a much bigger hit than when we tried to bring him last year), despite not feeling 100%.
While big brother was out having fun, little brother got stuck at home watching mom and dad make dinner.
We have a Blue Apron delivery for this week (which I had actually forgotten to skip, so the other two meals aren’t necessarily ones I would have chosen – we’ll see how they go!), so we each took turns prepping/cooking and enjoying a beverage while hanging with the little guy.
This meal in particular (Summer Vegetable Gnocchi) was absolutely delicious, and I loved how it’d be super easy to recreate at home because there weren’t any special spice blends or anything like that. So we definitely saved this recipe card.
Before actually sitting down to eat, Alex had to be put to bed…but much to our dismay, he’s been making bedtime rather challenging for the past week and a half or so. He goes to sleep fine, but then he wakes up like 10-30 minutes later…and continued to wake up shortly after being rocked to sleep. Sometimes it happens once, and sometimes it happens for 2-3 hours…
So we attempted to enjoy a little time out on the porch, but between Alex’s continuing to get up and Lucas getting home shortly after, porch time was probably all of about 5 minutes.
Ahh well…ya win some, you lose some. But seriously…if anyone has any tips/advice for the current bedtime fiasco, I’m all ears.
Sunday was a fairly chill day. We worked on getting the basement filled again with some of the toys that had been sitting in the storage area, which Lucas was totally thrilled about.
I got an hour to myself to take care of the grocery shopping while the guys stayed at home.
During nap time, we hung up this new valance that I got for the kitchen and am totally in love with.
And then we had my mother-in-law over for dinner to celebrate her birthday!
Clearly, we still haven’t gone out to buy any birthday candles…
But I think it was okay since we had this delicious treat to make up for the lack of candles.
Good news for you guys? I have details on this bad boy coming for you guys later this week. Hopefully.
I hope you all have a great week ahead! Is this seriously already the last full week of August? Where does the time go?!
Heather @Lunging Through Life says
Love the basement! It looks so nice and if you want to send Jay our way, I’ll gladly take his help in getting our basement finished ;) haha Ok so did you hear about the wonder weeks? Some people dismiss them but they were right on with my daughter. I know there is one 8 weeks from the due date, and it effects sleep. I remember a time when Annabelle would go to sleep and then wake up 30-45 min later and itd take everything to get her back. Sometimes it was hours. Then the wonder week was over and she was back to sleeping. It made me feel better when I knew it wasn’t something I was doing and it would pass. Some of them last quite a few weeks but it’s fun to see what they are learning. There’s an app or a book. i have the book but I think the app works just as well from what I hear.
Courtney says
Haha thanks! I’ll let him know ;)
And YES I have both the app and the WW book! He doesn’t “appear” to be in a leap right now, but I know they can always be off by a week or so, so maybe that’s possible?! I totally agree that the book is amazing and definitely helps get you past some of those “OMG what is going onnnnn?!” moments!
Brynn says
Mitch would fight his naps when he was going through a phase and was scared. Have you checked out the Wonder Weeks book/app? It is amazing. I heard about it from Eat Live Run and it was a game changer. I think your dessert will be, too! :)
Courtney says
Yes, I have both! Technically he’s not “in a leap” right now, but I know it can always be off so perhaps that’s it?!
Christina says
I don’t have great advice, just sympathy. Our little one has been doing the frequent wake ups for 2-3hrs after going to bed for a few months now.
(We have a strict bedtime routine, regular naps, experimented a bit with different bed times… You name it (and I do have the WW app)) I’ve come to the conclusion that this is just what he does and we are rolling with it now.
Hoping it’ll just be a short phase for you!
Courtney says
Oh my gosh, a few months?! It’s so tough because you think you’re good for the evening and then…you’re not, lol. I suppose it could be worse and happening in the middle of the night, right? ;) Hope it ends quickly for you, too!
Christina says
That’s what I’ve been telling myself! Imagine this was happening even for the last 3hrs of the night? ?
I do have to say that he has a day here or there when he’s down after one more wake up. But you never know, haha. He just turned 7mo, so I’m hopeful that we have the longest stretch of bedtime debacle behind us. Maybe. Hopefully. Probably not, haha.
Meg Zuehl says
Your basement looks amazing!!! Will you post a post on how Jay did it? We have an unfinished basement and I have no idea where to begin with it. I am so impressed that you did the whole thing yourselves.
Bethany @LuluRuns says
That cake looks amazing!! Love ice cream cake :)
Char says
Is there any chance he has reflux? maybe your Dr can assist. Katie was super fussy until my sister got some drops for her.
Haley says
I would maybe check on reflux and your diet close to bedtime? If not I would maybe just let him cry and see if he can re-settle himself. My daughter went through that around 2.5/3 months and that was the only thing that worked. Even though it’s hard to listen to! Little ones are so hard to figure out sometimes!!!
Angie says
I always recommend the website and now podcast Precious Little Sleep. It has articles about all sleep issues for kids of all ages. It has helped me a ton! Good luck!
Kaitlyn @ Powered by Sass says
I cannot wait for that dessert recipe. I’m drooling just looking at it!!
Claire says
We had a text book baby and she would wake at any milestone or for any issue that u can think of during her baby stage :-/ so I feel ur pain….I do believe a lot of research that I did pointed to overtired….even in her toddler years until now (almost 3) she’d wake more through the nite if her nap was missed or she was extra stimulated through the day….I’m praying our second child due in November is a little more easy going ha
Tracy says
I understand having ads on your site but dang you sure have added a lot to yours lately
Courtney says
Thanks so much for the feedback, Tracy. I switched ad networks a couple of months ago and am still trying to figure out a good balance of them all. I appreciate your comment though and will absolutely consider that as I’m doing my own site audits.
Tracy says
Your welcome! I love your blog, been reading it for about 3 years now! Your kids are adorable! :-)
Tricia says
I love that valance, but even more, I love those pendant lights in your kitchen! Did they come with your house or did you buy them somewhere?
Courtney says
Aww thank you!! I bought them from ELK Lighting!