Well, May sure is moving right along…it’s hard to believe that this weekend is Memorial Day weekend!
What’s also hard to believe is how quickly the years fly by.
I’ve enjoyed taking a look back to 2010 (January, February, March, and April), and today, I’m sharing some snippets of May 2010.
By May 2010, the kids were six months old. I truly remember enjoying this time. They were good sleepers, good nappers, and Hadley’s colic had improved so much. She was a happier baby. They also started sitting up more and were able to have a bit more fun.
Propped up in the bed…what cuties!
They both had little frogs that a friend of mine had given them. Their names were Finn and Fern.
Hadley was very serious during her playtime with Fern.
We celebrated my first Mother’s Day! (Shew! I thought I was tired then. haha!)
Trav’s brother got married, and we traveled a few hours away for the wedding. Hayden wore his onsie with a tie on it, and Hadley dressed up for the occasion too…matching headband and all!
Family photo…
A big milestone was that we started cereal right around Memorial Day weekend. I remember thinking that we had a good routine down, and I didn’t want to really add anything new until school wrapped up. So, we started cereal at the end of the month.
Anyway, cereal and solids were hit or miss for a while.
The kids also had a new fun activity at six months…bouncing around in the jumper.
Oh what fun!
We just had one jumper, so they learned to take turns at an early age 😉
Oh what I wouldn’t give to hold those six month olds one more time!
I’ve had a lot of fun taking a look back at 2010. The kids were itty bitty, but it’s been amazing to see their month to month milestones.
I’ve shared January, February, and March of 2010, and today we’re taking a look at April of that year.
Well, April means Easter, and the kids were all decked out for their first one. Look how excited they are about their Easter baskets! (haha!)
That Easter morning, we snapped a few pics…big smiles!
…and we even got a family of four pic!
I went back to work when the kids were 16 weeks old (or maybe 18 weeks?) which was right after Easter.
I remember loving dressing them in the spring months once it got warmer. Also, Walmart was a “go to” for clothes, and there were so many cute and affordable options.
They spent lots of time with their friend. My friend had her daughter a few days after I had the kids, and they’ve been friends ever since! Hayden was dressed to impress with his tie onsie!
He found Hadley’s hand…too cute!
Bath time was definitely a daily evening activity. We had one little tub, so one at a time, they had fun in the bubbles.
Big kids in the ExerSaucer! It was so nice when they could stand up and entertain themselves for a while.
And…the Bumbo was another milestone. Sitting up and staring at me…Hadley was a very serious baby.
Hayden looking over his first racing form. haha!
I know we spent lots of time outside as the kids were getting older and the weather was warmer. Looking back, having them in late fall into winter was hard. I mean, it was easy to stay home and away from the germs with the cold weather, but kind of like how I still feel when the warmer spring temps arrive…it’s literally a breath of fresh air!
I hope you’re able to spend some time outside today. I’ve really embraced the sunshine and going on walks lately.
I hope your week is treating you well! I’ve enjoyed taking a look back at the year 2010 when the kids were babies! While they were babies, it’s amazing to me how much they changed month to month while looking back at these pictures.
I shared Throwbacks to January and February, and now it’s time to take a look at March 2010.
This month was still all about the Boppies….and apparently immunizations based on the little Band Aids on Hayden’s little legs.
We were still in the throes of Hadley and her acid reflux and Colic…but she liked being on her belly, so tummy time was a way to pass the time.
We played lots of dress up in March, apparently! I know the blue outfits were in preparation for Easter…and the sweaters kept them warm in the cooler temps of March.
Around this time, Hadley was struggling with turning her head from side to side. Her little neck muscles were so tense that we’d have to massage them, rotate her neck to get the muscles loose, and even make sure when we laid her down to alternate which side she was facing. It all worked out, but I can tell that was something we were working on in the bottom left picture.
I distinctly remember taking this pic of Hayden. He was such a happy baby. I’d put him in this romper as an alternate choice for Easter if the weather was warm. What a sweetie!
Louisville cousins came to stay for the night!
Then, we made the trek to KC for the kids’ first visit to see my KC family. The usual nine hour drive took close to twelve since we had to stop for feedings along the way. Trav and I drove the kids there, and I stayed for about a week. Trav flew back to Lex, and then my brother drove back to Kentucky with the kids and me. He was moving to Lex at the time, so that plan synced up nicely.
Here they are in their KC baseball shirts.
For reference, here they are in them after they wore born:
They’d put some meat on their bones!
We brought all the things with us including one bouncy seat!
Tummy time and trying to roll over.
I dressed the kids up in sweet little clothes to meet extended family, and they had lots of time with my parents and Gma too.
When it was time to pack up, my aunt had the idea to prop them up in their little suitcases, and this has always been one of my favorite pics!
Once we got back from KC, I had only a couple weeks left of my maternity leave.
February is just chugging along, isn’t it? Speaking of time moving quickly, I enjoyed writing the January 2010 Throwback Thursday, and it’s hard to believe that 2010 was SIXTEEN years ago! Today, I’m taking a look back at what we were up to in February of that year.
So, when I decided to do these TBT posts and focus on an entire year, I didn’t really think that when looking back at the first few months of the kids’ lives, these posts wouldn’t really be action packed! haha! I do like having these memories to look back on though…
The kids would often nap in the same crib…it just seemed that they always wiggled their way to each other and this kept it easy. I’d forgotten about how we used to wrap them up like little burritos! Pro tip at the time was to put down a “sheet saver” or “crib bib,” so if one of them spit up, we didn’t have to change the sheets. Maybe that’s still a “pro tip” now…
Hadley was a very intense baby. Around this time, we realized she had acid reflux and colic…she spent a lot of her time on her belly.
Hayden was the easiest baby without a care in the world. Sometimes, if I had laundry to take upstairs, I’d just transport him this way. haha
Boppy time, belly time, and a paci was often the only way to soothe Hadley.
First Valentine’s Day! Look at Hadley’s cute little heart onsie. Don’t worry…they didn’t eat the chocolate! That being said, of course we read the book.
I’m not sure why I didn’t find something else, but I used the top of a box (ha!) to mark each month.
February can provide some mild temps, so we did go outside whenever we could. Looking at this double stroller kind of stops my heart! What a flashback.
We had time to play dress up! I remember that my cousin gave Hadley this sweet butterfly dress. Very rare to see a smile from Hadley, so she must have loved the dress too 😉
Of course, the days with two three month olds really did center around feedings and naps. They were sleeping through the night by twelve weeks, so I think we were hitting our stride around then. I’ve always been grateful for my good sleepers, but I think the consistency, routine, and schedule helped with that too!
Today, I’m starting a new series since I look back on this blog as a kind of scrapbook/snapshot of my family’s lives and activities.
I didn’t start blogging until 2019, so there are many years that aren’t captured fully. This year, I think I’m going to try and write Throwback Thursday posts focusing on an entire year…
…starting with January 2010. Honestly, I guess these posts will focus mostly on the kids, but I think it will be nice to have some sweet memories in one place.
The kids were born in November 2009, and so much of those first couple of months is a blur. ha!
The kids were born a few weeks early, and Hadley was in the NICU for a couple of weeks. That, coupled with the fact that they were born in late fall/ early winter and we didn’t want to risk them getting sick, I stayed home for almost 18 weeks with them.
Honestly, being a stay at home mom to twin babies was hard…with a capital H. More than once, I told Travis I was going back to to school the next day! That being said, I’m glad we stuck it out, and things did get a bit easier/more predictable once they slept through the night (at around 10 weeks, I think), and we got Hadley’s acid reflux and Colic under control.
Here’s a look back on a few favorite pictures during that time. (I took way less pics back then!)
These outfits were a fave and had the little animals on the bottom. Precious.
I know in the pic above that both kids look serious, but Hadley looked serious for the first year of her life. Now, she is the easiest going kid, but man oh man was she a tough baby. Like I said above, she had acid reflux and Colic which had her in a tizzy most of the time. We’d hold her and massage between her little eyebrows trying to get her to relax. Hayden was so chill, and I was grateful that I had at least one easy baby.
The babies spent a lot of time in their Boppy’s! I would often prop them on the couch and hold bottles for them at the same time.
I remember buying these little monogrammed onsies off Etsy, and they were a fave. I think I still have them somewhere.
Believe it or not, I actually remember the day I took this pic. My mom was coming to visit, and the weather was bad. Trav had to drive to Cincinnati to get her, and I got the kids dressed, so they’d be ready to see GG.
They spent lots of time on the play mat. Hadley hated, hated, hated being on her back.
We had lots of time to hang out for photo shoots. Notice that Hadley is on her stomach…truly the only way she was happy for months on end.
Trav’s brother took these pics, and I love that they are in black and white. Again, we had lofty goals for a little photo shoot, but Hadley fussed and fussed, so we could only really take any when they were on their stomachs and eventually sleeping.
Hadley on the right with her paci (AKA our life saver)
It really was a difficult phase, but it was a sweet one as well.
We did it! We made it through the first day of school, and all three of us had a great first day back to school.
Speaking of school, last week I shared a special day I had with Hadley before she started Kindergarten, and now I’m sharing about the day I spent with Hayden.
Hayden had similar day, but he still got to choose some of our activities. After dropping Hadley off at the sitter’s house, Hayden and I went to the same park to walk the same trails…
…and he completed the same nature scavenger hunt. My other cute little lefty:
It was a nice morning!
Then, we headed to get a gas station treat. He chose Twizzlers and an Icee.
After that, we spent some time at a pet store. During this summer, both kids had gotten little fish bowls, and his fish didn’t last very long. So, on this day, we went and picked out a new fish…
…and took it home to put it in the fish bowl.
Then, it was time for lunch…at Chick-fil-A.
Like Hadley, we went and played a couple of rounds of putt putt golf.
I’m sure he beat me! 😉
Then, it was time for tennis!
He used to spend lots of time running around these courts.
After tennis, of course we had to cool off with some FroYo!
A sweet treat to cap off a sweet day with Hayden! It was a special day, for sure.
Hello and happy Thursday! Well this week is just trucking right along. With school starting next week, it got me thinking about the kids and their elementary school years. I feel like I’m always nostalgic for those days. Today, I’m taking a look back on something fun I did with each kid before they started kindergarten.
I was so nervous, but also excited, about the kids starting kindergarten. I wanted to spend a day with each of them before we all went to school. So, I chose a day and let them both choose a few activities, and I sprinkled in a few as well.
Here’s “Hadley’s Day” in 2015 before school started.
I dropped Hayden off at the sitter’s house, and Hadley and I went for a walk in a nearby park to get our day started.
We did a scavenger hunt while we walked. My cute little lefty:
We’d been on these trails before, and she had a great time.
We found everything on the list!
After that, we made a pit-stop at a gas station, and she could choose whatever she wanted…apparently, her love for sour candy started early!
Then, we stopped by the dance studio and signed her up from classes. In kindergarten, she took a combo ballet/tap class, and that was the start of her falling in love with dancing.
(This pic is at one of the classes once those started…missing a tooth and smiling!)
Then, it was Taco Bell time. Hadley still loves Taco Bell…I think she’s had it twice this week!
After that, I took her for a pedicure. This was her first time getting one, and I found a place that had the chairs for kids. She’s been a diva ever since. haha
Then, it was time for putt putt golf which was the perfect way to cool off on a hot summer day.
One more treat for my sweets…we stopped by the cupcake place, and she chose a cupcake for herself…
…and for Hayden. She’s still a very thoughtful girl.
As you know, I’ve always made a big deal about going back to school. I want the kids to be excited about the start of a new year. We used to take a day to get back to school haircuts and go by school supplies followed by lunch. Sometimes, we still make it to the outlet mall for them to get some new shoes. At this point, some years, we’re just winging it!
During the elementary years, I did a back to school breakfast …
…and in middle school we did a back to school brinner.
Last year, we went to IHOP for dinner a couple of days before school started. I hope we get to do the same thing this year.
Anyway, this was a special day with Hadley, and I will share Hayden’s day soon!
Well, this post is coming to you a bit late, but it’s one that I wanted to share as a follow up to my posts last week.
Last week, the Share Our Livespost was about travel memories…which got me thinking about the first time we took the kids to Disney World in 2015.
Today’s Throwback Thursday post is a follow up to that one, and I’m sharing about the other time we took the kids to Disney in 2019.
Here we are in 2015…
I had just started my blog when we returned home from this 2019 trip, so I’m assuming I shared at least something, but I couldn’t quickly find it in the blog archives…so here we go with a recap:
On another trip to Siesta Key in 2019, we planned a second trip to Disney World. This time, we decided to stay at the Polynesian the day/night before our day at Disney World. Our friends are frequents as Disney, and they graciously shared their Disney points with us, so we stayed the one night using their points/rewards!
We drove from Siesta Key, and arrived at the Polynesian in time for check in.
These kids got the hang of Polynesian life real quick!
We checked in, got the lay of the land, and hit up the pool. The kids also hit up the hot tub.
After a day of pool activities, we cleaned up, snapped a family pic…
…and went out to eat in Disney Springs. I don’t remember where we ate, but I think it was an Italian restaurant….with balloon fun…a Minnie “hat” for Hadley and a dinosaur for Hayden.
That night, we watched the fireworks from our hotel balcony. If you read my post last week, I shared that when we went to Disney in 2015, the fireworks were rained out. We kept that in mind this time, and our hope was to see them from our balcony the night before and then leave Disney the next day before the fireworks to head back to Siesta Key.
Thankfully, our plan worked!
Who doesn’t love Mickey waffles for breakfast?
We took the monorail (I think?!) from the Polynesian to Disney. So pretty!
Another round of Etsy shirts for these two.
Did you even go to Disney if you didn’t take a pic in front of the castle?
I don’t have a ton of pics, but I know we rode all the rides…including the classics like Dumbo…
…with a few laps around the track.
I didn’t buy the Disney photos, but I have this screenshot from the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. So funny.
Like in 2015, we had a reservation for lunch, but it wasn’t with the characters. We kept it a bit more simple, but were excited for the a/c, a place to sit down, and some food to eat.
Then, we did get a little bit of rain…just as we were at the Swiss Family Robinson house.
Fun fact…Swiss Family Robinson is one of my favorite movies! …and a sweet memory I have from after the trip is that as soon as we got home, we watched the movie as a family…and both kids loved it…especially Hayden.
Since it was raining, I remember we scrambled to find something to do inside which apparently was the Haunted Mansion.
Hadley’s face…priceless!
I do think we ended our day riding Splash Mountain because if we got too wet, we were headed back to the car.
We left around dinner time, changed our clothes in the car, with the kids putting their pj’s on, and stopped for food on the road.
Another trip with sweet memories, but the kids never really asked to go back! Like I said, I’d like to check out the other parks some day, but that’s not on our immediate list.
Hopefully, the kids have sweet memories from those two trips!
Why is this week flying by?! Also, why is it raining nearly every single day here? It’s hard for me to plan my pool time, but I did get a couple hours at the pool yesterday.
Anyway, in Monday’s Share Our Livespost, I shared about a few favorite vacation memories which included when we took the kids to Disney World in 2015 for the first time when they were five.
Last summer, I loved sharing some throwback memories, so today I’m taking a stroll down Disney World memory lane.
In 2015, we’d gone to Siesta Key with the kids and another family. We stayed at Trav’s aunt’s house like we always do, but we decided to take one day to drive to Orlando and go to Disney World.
Our friends have boy/girl twins too that are two years older than my two. My friend’s sister is a Disney planner, so that was so helpful in planning our trip. My friend and I purchased cute shirts for the kids from Etsy (maybe my first Etsy purchase?!), and the night before we were going to Disney, we gave the kids the t-shirts and let them piece together all the fun. All four of them were excited, jumping up and down which is such a sweet memory.
Anyway, we left the house around 7 AM and drove to Orlando for the day.
This was us on the ferry (I think?) on the way into Disney World.
We made it!
Making memories with friends!
We spotted the king and queen of Disney…Micky and Minnie.
I don’t remember all the details, but we did have the fast past, and that was so helpful. We rode everything we’d hoped to including some I didn’t think we’d be able to ride (due to the kids being little) like Space Mountain!
I remember prepping Hayden as we approached the ride that he might be too short. I swear it was because he was wearing his hat that they said he was tall enough. Well, when we got to the ride, I realized he’d be sitting in front of me and I had my hand on his shoulder for the whole ride. Since it’s so dark in there, I wasn’t sure if the squeals I was hearing were good or bad, but as soon as the ride was over, he looked back at me and said, “That was the best ride ever!” So sweet to see him experience those things!
I’m more of a Dumbo ride girlie!
I think we just had one sit down meal which was lunch, and the kids got to meet so many of the characters.
Oh, Eyore!
3D time!
…followed by the tea cups! I think we hopped on the tea cups while Trav and the other dad figured out our next stop.
They were trying to make me dizzy.
Of course, they had to drive on the race track!
Who doesn’t love the carousel?!
So many sweet memories!
The kids each got to choose one item from the gift shop!
The castle looked so beautiful at night.
Unfortunately, it rained and they didn’t have the fireworks that night. That was definitely a bummer, but we had a great day overall. I think we got back to the house around midnight.
We also took the kids to Disney in 2019 (I think?!), and that time, we stayed one day/night at the Polynesian and did one day at Disney.
I’m glad we’ve made the time to take the kids to Disney, and maybe we’ll get back there one day. Trav and I are both in agreement that one day seems to be enough, and we aren’t Disney fanatics. I’m interested in Universal Studios and Epcot, but we’ll see. We used to joke that the kids didn’t realize you can go to Disney for more than one day since that’s all we’ve done. haha!
Apparently, I didn’t take a ton of pics on that trip, but I liked looking back at that time!
Shew!! This week has kicked my tail. Besides starting back to school for meetings and professional development, Travis was out of town the past few days, so I was doing “all the things” at school and at home…including waking up at 5:30 to take Hayden to cross country. That’s usually “Super Dad’s” job!
As our summer break winds down, I’m looking back on my first summer as a “stay at home” mom with the kids.
Obviously, before the kids were born, my summers weren’t so structured or busy!
Even though it was fourteen years ago (how is that possible?!) the summer of 2010 was one of my favorites.
I was a little nervous going into that summer because juggling two kids on my own was going to be a lot of work! (Side story: I was on maternity leave from the day the kids were born (November 20) until mid-April after spring break. I had about eighteen weeks off with them. Around early February, I called Travis at work on a Friday and told him I was going to go back to work the next Monday. Being at home with two babies was hard work. Hadley had acid reflux and was often fussy…and I felt overwhelmed. He told me to hang on and think about it and that things would get better. (If I went back to school and then changed my mind, I would be giving up my FMLA) Well, we found out Hayden had colic, and about ten days later, both kids started sleeping through the night. That was a game changer! I did end up enjoying the remainder of my maternity leave with them 🙂
Anyway, that summer was so good. The kids were on a great schedule, they slept ten (or more) hours at night, took a two hour morning nap and a shorter afternoon nap, and they started to interact with each other. Honestly, we had a really great time together!
There was lots of tummy time…
…and rolling over…
…and sitting up!
They could sit by each other and entertain each other and play with toys. Plus, they weren’t crawling yet (that milestone came later in the summer), so I knew they would stay put!
(Also, FYI- Hadley was a very serious baby. I blame the acid reflux. Once she turned one, she lightened up and became her happy, free-spirited self that we all know and love.)
We were home quite a bit, but we’d go on walks and hang out on the back porch.
We even got a little pool that they could splash in on our screened in porch. They loved it.
Bath time was always fun!
They loved hanging out with our dogs, Shiloh and Scout. The pups were good to the twins.
We went to KC around the 4th of July, and that was the beginning of them wearing red, white and blue for the holiday.
On the drive back from KC, we decided to stay the night in St. Louis, so the kids had their first overnight at a hotel.
They thought it was great! Smiles and pacis 🙂
They really started to interact with each other and become besties!
I know we did more, but apparently I took less pics in 2010 😂
And…here are my big kids now:
Every summer has been great, but I will always look back fondly on those less hectic summers when they were little and needed me a bit more.
I’ve always felt like teaching has provided me a great balance with time with my kids during holidays and breaks as well as continuing my career in education.
I can’t believe next week they’ll be in high school!
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