Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today I'm linking up with for Friday Favorites!

Favorite #1: Stormy weather!

Most of the East Coast is preparing for the effects of Hurricane Matthew, and my hearts go out to everyone in Florida right now. Here in North Carolina, we aren't supposed to see anything too rough, however, we are expected to get some good storms and high winds. A rainy weekend spent inside sounds lovely to me! Bring on the movie marathon! We got all prepped this week, bringing in all of our outside items and making sure anything left was tied down. I ran to the grocery store to get bottled water, and this was the bread aisle:

Good thing I had an extra loaf in the freezer, or no sandwiches for us! 

Favorite #2: Photo Shoot!

My dad humored me this week for a fun little photo shoot! I needed to get some practice in, and we was a great model. We got some great shots, I think. :)

Favorite #3: This boy!

I could just eat him up. And simultaneously pull my hair out. He is a HANDFUL these days, but I wouldn't change it for anything. This morning he said, "Mom, my throat is dry. I feel like a fish out of water!!" 

I mean, where does this kid come up with this stuff?

Favorite #4: Hair

My hair has been cooperating lately, and that makes me happy :) I'm just a frizzy-haired girl living in a humid world, so if my hair cooperates, it's definitely a good day!

That's all I've got for this week, short and sweet! It's time for some brunch at our favorite local spot and the library to stock up on books for this rainy weekend.

Have a great day!

Things I Don't Want to Forget

As there is a good chance that Hannah will be our last baby, I feel the passing of time much more clearly this time around. It's only been three years since Dylan was Hannah's age, but it seems like a lifetime since then. I already feel like I can't remember what it was like to rock his tiny little body, or have him reach for my face while he fell asleep. So, here are some things I don't want to forget...

How Dylan asks "Why?" approximately 900 times a day. It's infuriating sometimes, but I love his hunger for knowledge.

When he kisses Hannah when he thinks no one is looking and whispers, "I'll take care you sissy, don't worry."

When he pretends to make YouTube videos in his room. He'll say things like, "Okay kids, what are we going to do today?! MAKE SLIME!" It's hilarious.

When he points to each individual thing on his plate and declares, "That's disgusting. This is ok. This is yummy. This is GROSS." (a real boost for my culinary self esteem, let me tell you)

When he goes silent in the bathroom for a long time and I ask him what he's doing, and he says, ".....Nuffin!!" Always a sure sign that he's slathered the counter with toothpaste.

That he would swing all day every day, no questions asked.

When Hannah scrunches her nose when she smiles, or does her "aggressive smile"- teeth bared and all.

That Hannah likes to be double rocked... back and forth in the glider while simultaneously being jiggled. It's exhausting, haha!

Watching her systematically clear out Dylan's toybox when he's not around. Barely 9 months old and she already loves getting into big brother's things!

That she's going through a serious diaper ninja phase. It takes all our strength to hold her down during a change, because she wants to flip over and crawl away. Always on the move!

Speaking of the ninja phase, she also doesn't want to sit in the shopping cart anymore. She wants to twist around and stand, like Jack Dawson at the head of the Titanic. She's queen of her world.

How Daddy taught her to wave and now she does it ALL the time, even to strangers in passing! Slowly getting over her shy streak.

Having two young children can sometimes be a test in patience and sleep deprivation, but my kids are my absolute world. They are the best little people, and I take no credit for that. If anything, they are teaching me how to be a better mom every day. 

Love their little hearts.

Have a great Wednesday!!

Weekend Recap

A weekend recap on a Tuesday... how's that for behind?! That feels like my life these days. Always one step behind the game! 

On Friday evening, we always have Family Movie Night. It's such a simple concept, but Dylan especially looks forward to it all week. We pick a movie, pop some popcorn, and put away our phones for the night. This time, we watched Room on the Broom. Dylan loves that book, and the movie version is just so cute. 

find it here!

Saturday morning was Dylan's soccer game, which was even more of a mess than usual. The kids were completely uninterested, too busy roaring like lions and chasing their shadows. Still, endlessly entertaining!

The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning and doing household chores; not the most exciting, but definitely necessary! The kids went a little crazy towards the evening, and we were at our wits end. So, we made dinner at 4:00pm, which tricked the kids into being in bed by 6, and it was GLORIOUS. I recommend time deception to small children any day!

Sunday we had plans to go to the Seafood Festival, but we got rained out. Instead, we went to a nice lunch at Red Robin (campfire sauce for the win!), browsed the mall, and went to Sam's Club. When I was younger, I thought there was no place in the world more boring that Sam's Club (or Costco). Now that I'm an adult, it is the most MAGICAL PLACE ON EARTH. It's like Disney. I mean, a 35 pack of Diet Coke for $8?? 

Sam's Club. Feeding my addiction one amazing deal at a time.

It was a low key weekend, but much needed! Next weekend is Mumfest, one of my favorite events of the year. Can't wait!

Have a great Tuesday!

Friday Favorites!

Today I'm linking up with Andrea, Narci and Erika for Friday Favorites! 

It's been a crazy week, and I am SO glad it's Friday! Let's get right into it...

ONE

The song "River" by Bishop Briggs is my ultimate jam right now. It gets me so amped up, and I sing it like nobody's business in the car. SO GOOD! If you haven't heard it, go listen right now!!

TWO

Shortly after Dylan was born, I stopped painting my nails. For a multitude of reasons, mostly because I was not interested in the upkeep that comes with removing polish every couple of days. Not to mention, who has an hour to wait for their nails to dry? Not this momma!

I recently started painting them again, and have really been enjoying all the new fall colors! Something about having my nails painted just makes me feel like myself. One of those things that fell by the wayside when I became a momma, and I'm so glad I'm coming back to it now!

THREE

I don't know if I can really count this as a favorite, but I watched the debate for the first time in my life! I was really uncomfortable the whole time, but I eased the pain by face swapping the candidates :) Follow me on snapchat for more! (ashley.laporte)

FOUR

This is a double favorite! I'm loving the cooler weather that Fall is bringing us (and by cooler, I mean like 80- Fall in Eastern North Carolina is more like summer!) and I LOVE that Hannah is now big enough to ride in the wagon! We've been doing wagon rides everyday and it's so much fun for everyone. This particular wagon has seatbelts, so she is secure in there, and she loves riding around like a big girl. Santa brought this for Dylan for Christmas, and I can't say enough good things about it! If you are looking for a wagon, I highly recommend this one!

FIVE

I love Fridays, because we do brunch with my Dad every week! He recently retired, and I've loved having him around more. And a big old brunch ain't bad, either! We've also got plans to hit up the library today, and make SLIME! I'll share this on the blog next week!

Have a great week, everyone!!

My Favorite Baby Items

As a second time mom, I am by no means an expert on all things baby related, but I do feel like I have some serious experience under my belt! There have been a few items that I've used in the past three years that have made motherhood so much easier that I'd like to share with you!

Ikea ANTILOP Highchair

This highchair is AMAZING! With my first child, I bought a super expensive, padded, fancy highchair- and I immediately regretted it. Trying to get smooshed banana out of that padding after every meal? No thank you! This highchair is so budget friendly, and amazingly easy to clean. It's super cute and streamlined too, so it doesn't draw too much attention to itself. No one wants a spaceship looking highchair in their dining room!

HoMedics Noise Machine

I swear by white noise for sleep for my babies! I love it too, but it's especially sweet for getting those little babes to fall asleep and STAY asleep! We live in a smaller home, and this is great for drowning out any noise we may make after the kids go to sleep. I have two of this particular one and they are great!

Glider

I am still using the same glider that I had when Dylan was a baby, and it has held up like a champ! I have always loved rocking my babies and find that it's an amazing way to cuddle and bond at bedtime. 

Teepee

I've had my eye on a teepee for my kids for years, and I recently found the ultimate deal on one from Target on clearance! The kids have had such a blast playing in it, it's equal fun for Dylan, who is almost 4 and Hannah, who is 9 months! It's rare that I find something they both enjoy playing with so much!

Vera Bradley Diaper Bag

Now, I know Vera Bradley is not everyone's cup of tea. I, for one, have always loved it and have a pretty extensive collection. I even have Vera Bradley potholders! But, my love for the patterns aside, let me tell you- this is THE BEST diaper bag. Tons of pockets, easily washable, lined interior for easy wiping, lightweight, long straps... I could go on and on. It also comes with a coordinating changing pad! I got mine when Dylan was a baby and am using it again with Hannah! And, bonus! It doubles as an amazing overnight bag! 

There you have it! My most used and my most loved baby products. I hope you enjoy!

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Hannah: 9 months old!

I've been doing these monthly updates for Hannah on Instagram, and I thought I'd share this month's on the blog as well!

This beauty is officially 9 months old, and getting her picture this month was an ordeal, let me tell you! She is crawling all over the place and wants nothing to do with sitting still. She has 3 teeth and is working on her 4th, two on top and two on the bottom. 

She is eating pretty much everything we are at this point; she has completely sworn off purees and spoons. She wants to do everything herself! Her favorites are puffs, cheerios, and shredded cheese. She can also get down on some chili, as she proved last week :)

She is in the 73rd percentile for weight and 17th percentile for height.. my chubby little shorty :) 

She still sleeps like crap, she's completely unpredictable and needs A LOT of attention in order to fall asleep. I always laugh when I see other parents post pictures of their kids falling asleep in weird locations, or while watching TV, etc. Hannah needs the sound machine at the proper volume, the appropriate level of darkness, rocked at a precise speed (not too fast and not too slow or she'll never close her eyes!). She also needs to be wrapped up in a soft blanket with her arms inside, or she'll claw your face off instead of drift peacefully off to sleep. I can't wait until she's a teenager, I'm going to wake her butt up everyday at 6 am :)

She is starting to really enjoy playing with Dylan, when he calms down enough to play with her, that is. I can't wait to see the kind of relationship these two develop.

I can't believe my baby girl is 9 months! She's going to be a year old before I know it. Please excuse me while I go cry my eyes out...

Have a great Monday!

A Day in the Life of Us!

I love peeking into other people's daily lives, so I thought today I'd do a little Day in the Life of Us for you!

I picked a this particular Tuesday because it was Dylan's first day of soccer practice, which we were all excited about :)

Up at 6am to get this crazy train rolling! I have to get up really early if I want to get a shower before the kids wake up, and even then I don't usually make it. Dylan is having his breakfast before preschool and I am having my hot chocolate... I hate coffee, but love having a warm drink in the morning!

Off to run our errands before preschool! I like to get my running around done earlier in the day so the afternoon can be saved for naps and catching up on ALL THE THINGS, so we ran into Target before dropping Dylan off at preschool.

Being in Target at 8:05am also means you can be a little goofy in the One Spot :)

Dylan is off to preschool! He's going to our church for preschool and really loves it so far. He only goes 2 days a week, but that's plenty for now. While he was in school, some of the other moms and I had a baby playdate with all the younger siblings. It was so nice to catch up and spend time with mommy friends.

After preschool, we headed home for lunch and naps. This little chunky girl has been giving us a run for our money the last few weeks, 8 month sleep regression is no joke! She is up 5-6 times a night and fights naps with everything she's got. This photo was me celebrating getting her cute little butt to sleep! :)

While the kids napped, I did laundry and picked up the house. I also spend about 15 minutes during naptime browsing social media, and having a little "me time". It helps me refresh for the evening!

It felt like we were in the car ALL DAY! I woke the kids up from their naps and we hustled out the door to pick up Daddy from work and head to soccer practice. Dylan was so excited to wear his new shin guards and cleats!

That gummy grin and nose scrunch just kills me.

Soccer practice was endlessly entertaining, watching the coaches trying to wrangle six 3 year old boys was hilarious. Dylan did really well, and seemed to really enjoy the games they played. We set up camp for the hour on a blanket to watch them and had a nice afternoon in the sunshine and breeze.

Once soccer practice was over, it was a mad dash home to do dinner, baths and bedtime. I didn't plan ahead this day, not realizing how crazy it was actually going to get, so I didn't have anything planned to do for dinner. We ended up having PB&J sandwiches and leftovers. Now I know, the crockpot is my friend on Tuesdays!!

After the marathon of getting the kids bathed and into bed, I collapsed into bed myself with an episode of the Office. The best way to end any day, in my opinion.

Whew! I'm tired just reliving this day in pictures :) It's not the typical day for us, but it was definitely a fun one!