{Our New Addition}

I can't believe it's been a year since I've blogged. I definitely need to get back into it. So many fun and exciting things have happened in this past year.

In May of this year, I went from working part-time to full-time at my current job, just a different position. I became the receptionist for our office and I absolutely love it! It was a huge blessing and came at the right time.

Weston started pre-k 3 at a new school in August! He loves it and is already learning so much. We were having issues with his previous daycare and I'm so glad we decided to move him.

The most exciting thing though... is that we welcomed a new addition to our family.

Lucas James arrived on Friday, July 22 at 10:01am via c-section. He weighed 7lbs even and was 19.5" long. He was born with a dark head of hair and beautiful blue eyes.

 We are completely in love with him, and he definitely completes our family. I will be sharing my pregnancy and his birth story in the next few days. It sure was a whirlwind and different than his brother's.

I hope to be blogging regularly now. Sharing our lives, adventures with the boys, and just fun things.

Be on the look out for Lucas' birth story, Weston's birthday party theme, and fun fall adventures!

Until next time,

Kaylyn 

Life Update

Hi guys, just wanted to give y'all a little update about what's going on in our lives right now. Work has changed my schedule while our receptionist is out on maternity leave for 12 weeks. So I'm working more hours now. Josh got a promotion at work, and he's been working more as well.

Along with that, we're planning a trip to Disney for Oct. 1st through the 4th. We're so excited as it will be Weston's very first trip to Disney world as well as my 26th birthday (on the 1st). It's been a bit overwhelming with all of the information out there, but I'm slowly weeding through it. I'll make a post all about Disney planning coming up.

After our Disney trip, we're planning a vacation to the Florida Keys!! Luckily for us, we have family that live down there. This trip will also be Weston's first trip. I've been going since before I was born so I'm so excited to start this yearly tradition with him.

I'm in the beginning stages of planning Weston's 3rd birthday party!! This year Weston has picked Paw Patrol for the theme, and I'm actually excited about it, more so than I thought I would be. This year his party is going to be before Christmas which I'm a little nervous about. But I'm trying to get as much planned and purchased before even Thanksgiving so I can focus on Christmas and the true meaning of it.

If that wasn't crazy enough, we're also in the process of saving up money so we can buy our first house next year. My goal is to buy and be in our first home before Christmas 2016. I want to have Christmas and Weston's birthday party at our home next year. So that gives us a little over a year to save the money needed for home buying expenses (down payment, closing costs, inspection, etc.). I can't wait document our journey to home buying. I think it's going to be a lot of fun, but a lot of stress as well. But I'm so excited. I can't wait to have OUR home.


This is just a little update on what's going on in our lives right now. Of course, I didn't include Halloween events or Thanksgiving. So the next few months are going to be super busy for us as a family and for me as a mom & wife. I hope I can blog more often about what's going on. I'm definitely going to be working on a Disney post in the next couple of days along with a Paw Patrol Inspiration board and our journey to home ownership!

Don't forget to stop by and say hi!

Happy 2.5 Years Baby Boy!

Weston turned 2.5 on Friday, June 26th. It seems just like yesterday that he was born, but now here we are 2.5 years later and having so much fun with him. 

{STATS}

Weight: 25 lbs

Length: 34"

Shoe Size: 7-8

Clothing Size: 18-24 Month, 2T

{FUN FACTS}

Knows his ABC's

Knows how to count from 1-10

Knows all his colors

Songs: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald, Row Row Row your Boat, Jesus loves Me, Itsy Bitsy Spider

Took swimming lessons this month

Went to his 1st Vacation Bible School this month as well

  

{FAVORITES}

Shows: Paw Patrol, Blaze the Monster Truck, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jack & Neverland Pirates

Color: Green

Toys: Trucks

Stuffed Animal: Turtle

He's been in daycare a year and has learned so much. His vocabulary has grown. He's putting together questions and sentences better than some of the 3 year old kids in his class. We're still working on potty training. He's not too interested in it right now, but I'm hoping he'll find interest soon! He loves both Windsor & Diesel, but Windsor's his favorite dog by far. 

He loves to read books, watch truck videos with daddy, and play outside. 

We only have 6 months left until his 3rd birthday, and we just started thinking/ planning his party {that's another post coming soon}.

   

Baby Boy, 

You have made these past 2.5 years so much fun and exciting. They've definitely been hard, but well worth everything. I can't wait to see how you develop, learn, and just grow over the next 6 months and years. I'm so proud of the great little boy you've become and I'm so proud to be your momma. You make my momma heart burst! 

Love you baby boy! 

Love, 

Mommy

Easter Basket {Bucket} 2015

This year has been SO much fun being the Easter Bunny. It was so fun thinking of things to get Weston to put in his Easter basket. I love gift giving so Easter is no different. With Weston's birthday the day after Christmas, there aren't any gift-giving holidays in the middle of the year except Easter. So I had to do his Easter basket big. His daddy thinks I'm crazy, but Weston sure enjoyed it! His reaction to seeing his Easter basket was so rewarding and worth everything. 

Here's a preview of what went into his Easter basket this year! 

 

Here's his Easter bucket all put together. Sorry for the poor quality photo. It was 11pm Saturday night when I took a picture of everything put together so he wouldn't see it.

 Weston loves Paw Patrol and Blaze the Monster Truck shoes on Nick JR. So it was only fitting to get these 2 DVDs from Target when I saw they were only $7 a piece! 

 A new pair of flip-flops is a definite must for his Easter basket since we live in Florida. Found this cute pair at Target for $7.99. 

 The Easter plate was perfect for Easter dinner and you can't go wrong with Mickey Mouse silverware set. The plate is from the Dollar Spot at Target, and the Silverware set was $1.98 from WalMart.

 Weston's just now starting to get into puzzles so I thought this Mickey Mouse puzzle would be a cute addition. I found it in the Dollar Spot at Target. The Planes gummies & stickes I got at Dollar Tree.

 We're starting a garden this summer so I thought this would be a great way for Weston to get involved. I got this cute little 3 piece Paw Patrol gardening set at Target for $5.

 

We are extremely big Ford truck fans in this house! His room even has Ford signs hanging in it. So when I found these 3 Ford trucks at Walmart (for $3.97 each), I just had to get them!

 

Weston loves going to my Mom's house (MiMi's) and loves going on Picnics so this cute lunch box and water bottle were the perfect addition to his basket. I got it at WalMart for $4.97.

 Another puzzle from the Dollar Spot at Target and a cute little truck from WalMart.

 Of course it's not Easter without the true Easter story. So I found this book which is great for his level. and of course a bubble wand from WalMart for $1.

 A gigantic Paw Patrol coloring book is a must!

The only candy his basket included where the Plane gummies above, the lifesaver gummies, and Reese's pieces. The cute little car Easter "eggs" I got at Dollar tree. The Easter bunny used those to show Weston the trail to his Easter basket {or should I say bucket}. 

  I got this super cute Mickey Mouse tumbler cup at WalMart for $4.97. Weston loved it!! 

 I can't wait to use these with Weston. He's going to love them! I found this at our local Dollar Tree. Can't beat a buck for Disney products!

I also included 2 Usborne books: The Big Book of Tractors and The Big Book of Trucks, both of which Weston LOVE! (Thank you Blayne Burke of House of Burke for introducing me to Usborne books)

Hope you had a great Easter & hope you enjoyed looking at what the Easter bunny gave Weston!

Spring has Sprung 2015!

A few weeks ago, we had Weston's Easter pictures taken by our wonderful photographer Amy Haring. She's the same photographer that has taken every professional picture of Weston since he was born (besides the ones taken in the hospital the day after he was born).

Anyways, the first 2 years we did Easter pictures, Weston was not feeling the bunny rabbit at ALL. But this year, he did AMAZING! He was hugging, kissing, and trying to pick the bunny up (poor bunny!).

Easter 2013

Easter 2014

Here are just 5 out of 20 of this year's Easter pictures! 

If you live in North Florida area, I highly recommend Amy Haring Photography. She's absolutely amazing at everything she does. She has a true passion for photography and that shows in all of her work from newborn, to children, to weddings and more. Visit her website at http://www.amyharingphotography.com/ to book with her or for more information. She's well worth the money!

New Year, New Plan{ner}

2015 has certainly began busy! Between working, being a wife, and mom my days are certainly filled to the brim. But this year, I wanted to organize my time and myself better than in years past. Yes, I used to have planners in high school and college, but of course they were for assignments, studying, etc. Not for cleaning lists, appointments, holidays, etc. 

So this week's post is all about my planner. I bought a new planner a few weeks back that I'm hoping helps me keep my goals. I've written them in the back of my planner so I can always refer to them. I've also written the ones that pertain monthly through out my planner. I'm so excited to start using my planner religiously.

I've browsed Pinterest and even Instagram for planner ideas and how others use their planners. I was blown away! I never knew there was so much to planners. People color-code their to-do list, put stickers for different things, and use washi tape.

Here's some examples I found off google images: 

photo credit: google images

photo credit: google images

See what I mean?! Craziness! I don't have the time to do ALL of the stickers, color-coding and washi tape, but I do plan on doing a little of each.

I want to color-code written things, use washi tape for events that may need to be rescheduled or holidays and stickers for bill payment, when I get gas or groceries, etc. So many options, so little planner.

Cover of my planner. May add my name in stickers later.

My particular planner is nothing special like an Erin Condren, Emily Ley, or Plum Paper Design. It's just a $10 planner from Wal-Mart, and for a rookie planner user, I think that is plenty spent. I bought some post-it notes from Target for $1 and some washi tape from Wal-Mart for $0.97 a roll. I don't want to spend a bunch of money since I'm just beginning in this whole planner world. I also bought a set of 5 Papermate flair pens from Target. They're perfect for color-coding things.

Monthly view not filled in totally

My color-codes I'm using are:
 Blue - Weston
Orange - Josh
Purple- Kaylyn
Green - Bills
Pink - Holidays

I do plan on getting colors for blog posts & meal plan plus I'm sure I'll add more colors as I get used to planning out my weeks.

Weekly View semi filled in

Post-it notes from Target Dollar Spot

Some of my favorite places to get supplies are Target & Walmart. I got the cutest Valentine's Day washi tape from Walmart the other day for $1.97 a roll. 

Obviously I'm just starting out, so I'm sure my system, way of planning, utensils, color-codes will evolve as I find my groove and system. 

I'm making sure this year I'm organized, and I truly believe this is going to help. I'll definitely keep you updated through the blog and on instagram. 

Happy {late} New Year and Happy Organized, Planned Out Year!

Moo...Weston turns 2!

This past weekend we celebrated Weston's 2nd birthday...farm style. I had so much fun planning this farm themed bash. I started planning his party in July since his birthday is the day after Christmas, and I knew the party would be shortly there after.

We held his party on Jan. 3 at noon which was an ok time. Noon is usually his nap time, but he did way better than I expected. It did, however, affect him later that evening and into Sunday.

Anyways, now onto what you've been waiting for...pictures and details.

Details:

"Weston's Farmer's Market" banner: Me
Food signs: Me
"Weston is 2" banner: Elenie Counts (Instagram @eleniewcounts)
Rag Banner: Etsy Shop WithLoveKenzieAnn
Mason Jar Cups: Etsy Shop CherishedBlessings
Cow Print Straws: Etsy Shop InTheClear
Cake & Cupcakes: Pattie Cakes
Chalkboard Poster: Boopteylu Boutique
Balloons, Cow Print Tablecloths, Plates, Blowers: Birthday Express
Solid Tablecloths: Walmart