Author Archives: Kaylee

About Kaylee

Just a lady in a happy marriage with a happy baby girl Ivy, you are the apple of my eye xoxo

Potty Trained!

March 11, 2018

Never thought this day would come!!! I literally didn’t think I would even try to potty train Leo till he was three (he’s 2 years 9 months), but HERE WE ARE! WHOOP!

I happened to take out the potty chair a few months ago, just to see… and he wanted NOTHING to do with it. So I was like, okay, not gonna push it. But every once in a while, I would mention the potty to Leo, and he’d say, “No Mom! I want you to change my diaper!” UMB. But, what about MY wants LEO! He didn’t care. Anyways, so, we didn’t bring it up again for a while, until another month about a month ago, and finally he was like, “Yah!! I got on da potty!” So he pulled his pants down, took off his diaper, and WENT! WHAAAAAAAT. I was like, LEO!!! All while rejoicing thinking this is gonna be easy to train him!!! But also thinking, you little shit, you could have been potty trained months ago!!!

We dove straight into the 3-day potty training method. Naked and hunkered into the house. He picked it up pretty easy, which was SO DIFFERENT of an experience than with Ivy (read here). Ugh. Can’t even go back there. Leo only had 1 accident the whole three days, but pooped in his pants the second day, haha. So we were pretty good to go! So proud of him!!! I hate that first time out in public where you are full of anxiety and are asking your kid every other ten minutes, “Need to go potty? Need to go potty? Need to go potty?” How annoying are us Moms!!!! But the good boy told us when he needed to go and he went! WHOOP! Go LEO!

Now, this was about 3 weeks ago and since then he’s only pooped in his pants once and has only had one more accident! Such a big boy!! So nice being back to only one kid in diapers! Another milestone completed! Holla! Proud Mom!

1 Reply

March Favorite Things

March 9, 2018

So someone the other day was saying that they do a purge for Lent. Literally, pack up one bag a day, for forty days, and haul them off to Goodwill (or wherever, I prefer a non-profit – like the St. Francis House in SF!). Sounded BRILLIANT to me. I could totally do that!!! But then, something is seriously wrong with my brain, I thought about everything I could replace with all that stuff gone! Ugh! So not the point Kaylee! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Anyways, you get the idea, time to ‘spring clean’ and get rid of some old! I love to go through my closet. I feel like I do it at least once a month! Now if only I could do that in our office cupboards… meh. Anyways, here are some of my favorites for March that I have in my cart! SO ready for some more springy tops!

one // two // three // four // five // six // seven // eight

1 // Kristin Ess is a hair goddess! She’s a celebrity hair stylist for lots of celebs – Lauren Conrad and Lucy Hale among them, two of my faves! She has a line of hair styling products at Target and I LOVE THEM.This texture spray is so fab – makes your hair kind of piecy, and I love that look. I have the shampoo, conditioner, texture spray, beach wave spray, and mousse, and they’re all GOLD. Follow her on Instagram! @kristin_ess

2 // This bag. Do I even need to explain. The terracotta color… OBSESSED. Comes in antiqued purple too

3 // Stripes and ruffles! So pretty. Could be casual and/or flirty for date night. More stripes (similar here) – want it! And I’m kind of totally into all the button up tops right now.

4 // Glossier Cloud Paint. I LOVE IT. It’s blush as a paint. I got the dusk and puff colors and they are so fabulous. Easy to dab on and what’s so nice is you can mix the colors to get your perfect shade. I also have the Phase 1 set and I am loving the face wash and priming moisturizer!

5 // We love to entertain – holidays, friends, parties, girls, whatever. This punch bowl would be so fun to have at a gathering! Matching swan glasses as well

6 // Really love these Mary Jane mules. The buckle clasp is super cute and the heel is perfect. Adore the color too. These loafers too!

7 // Love flirty date night tops! The lace around the open back is so pretty. Also loving all the trumpet sleeve styles like this top!

8 // Always drawn to black or white home decor. This black tray would look so good on my table I’m trying to fix up right now! Comes in other colors (gold, copper, and silver), and shapes (oblong (weird word) and round) too

HERE ARE SOME MORE OF MY FAVORITES
Swipe right, then click on the arrow to view more <br />

Awake My Soul

March 6, 2018

Sometimes, ya just need a break.

From work, from kids, from life, from social media, from… whatever. I’ve been in that phase for a few weeks (maybe months!) now. Just needing a break from everything. I needed that time to get recentered with my soul and mind and character, explore new spiritual callings in my life that are fulfilling me in ways I never knew, and to have some private time with the family to just be together. It’s been weird, but good weird… discovering new thoughts and feelings I haven’t had before and being off the grid a bit with social outings and social media. I even read a book! A REALLY GOOD BOOK! I haven’t sat down to READ since, I swear, before I had kids (#embarrasing). Kinda loved spending free time nestled on the couch reading and learning instead of mindlessly scrolling instagram.

One thing that remains true and has sunk down even deeper during this break, is my wholehearted love for my kids and family and how that should be my number one priority. Being around them more instead of saying yes to everything and being pulled in 142 different directions bc I can’t say no (#FOMO) has completely filled up my cup of life. Loving on them is all I really want to do.

Turned into an old soul I guess! I’m feeling like such an old lady just wanting to be around my kids and husband all day! My post about Faye a while ago is really hitting home and I want to soak in every drop of our kids’ innocent young sweet love and also have more deep mind-fulfilling conversations with my husband more often. I feel like we’re always talking when the kids are vying for our attention and our conversations never get finished! Nor can I focus! More convos after the kids have gone to bed. Or just more date nights with no distractions!

Plus I’m constantly thinking of my relationships with people. Are they genuine, are they good for me, are they people I want to be associated with, am I feeling satisfied, am I being a loving friend, and most of all, do I feel like myself or a better version of myself around them… all so exhausting and tearing me into pieces.

My brain has been cluttered with so many thoughts and I’m trying to strain out all the bad and keep in the good. It’s made me really reflect on how to lead a more wholesome life and to reevaluate the important things in our lives.

Kind of made up a new family motto:

More family time, less obligations.
More husband/wife dates, less couples dates.
More memory making, less social media.
More presence, less multitasking.
More doing, less thinking.
More praying, less worrying.
More church, less excuses.
More intention, less clutter.
MORE LOVE, less of everything else.

Feeling like a better version of myself this month than previous months and have brushed off some cobwebs up there. Embracing this glorious mess that I am! My soul is yearning for so much more and I’m heading on the right track. Thanks for putting up with me friends, family, and followers! xo

m u m f o r d + s o n s

2 Replies

Faye // 8 Months

February 13, 2018

Faye is 8 months old!!! I just can’t handle it. After my last post (read here) all about having that one last baby to soak in all the last firsts, I’ve been super clingy to Faye! This Mom thing saps me up sometimes and I get so emotional about it all! Tearing up writing this post thinking how fast it has gone and what a big month of growing this was for Faye – crawling, pulling herself up, and clapping! All the Mom feels!!!!

Faye’s biggest accomplishment this month – CRAWLING!!! She basically sat up for, like, a week, then started crawling! Such a big girl! Already trying so hard to keep up with her sister and brother. She is EVERYWHERE already. Mostly ends up under the table for some reason, but can crawl her cute little tush everywhere.

She also pulls herself up on everything! This is one of my FAVORITE stages when you walk into their room and see them standing there in their crib waiting for you! For some reason that just makes me swoon each time! It’s so cute!

Faye also loves to clap! She started that this month too and it’s sooooo adorable. Her big chunky hands and wrists meeting together and her smiling and giggling. So cute!

She’s being such a good eater too – LOVES yogurt! Her favorite! I do baby led weaning, so she’s been eating whatever we eat. Still nursing but mostly she loves her food.

Faye sprouted two more teeth this month – so she has two on the top and three on the bottom. She can literally rip steak pieces out of the strip of steak I give her!

Still not quite sleeping 12 hours. She’ll have about one day a week where she will sleep from 630pm-630am, but otherwise, mostly makes it till 4am, nurses, then goes back to sleep. I don’t want her waking up Ivy! So I go in there to nurse, don’t know if I’ll ever be able to just make her cry it out!! #lastbaby

She also moved in with IVY!!! Woo hoo!! I finally got the courage (read that post here). It’s been going well. I wasn’t sure if Ivy was a hard sleeper or not so I was really nervous, but she’s toooootally a hard sleeper. She doesn’t move a muscle as Faye is crying at night, so that’s good!! Ivy loves to go in her crib in the mornings to play together, soooo cute!

Sweet Baby Faye! We love you so much and you bring us all so much joy!!! I want to go squeeze her right now while she naps!!! Totally obsessed with her!

Three.

February 11, 2018

Three kids was our magic number. Three wonderful kids. We’re so thankful for our children and it’s hard to admit we are done, but three is our biggest adventure.

John and I wavered between two and three for a long while. On one hand, we were very content with the two we had. We had fears of adding another – outnumbered, more money, harder to go anywhere, table of five, how do we even begin to fit in a car, more money, do I need to get a minivan, how the heck do we travel, did I mention more money??? ugh … so many fears pulling us backwards to stay at two. The older Leo got the easier it was to just keep the cruise control going from there.

On the other hand, we didn’t go into our pregnancy with our second child thinking this was our last. I didn’t savor the last little baby kicks I’d ever feel, or those baby hiccups rocking your belly, or the miraculous birthing experience to see what the body is fully capable of, seeing your baby – the baby you and your husband created – for the first time, or the first sweet latch to make mama cry, or even the first gummy smile or adorable giggle that completely melts your heart. I needed to experience it all again knowing these were the last firsts.

We went for it, throwing our fears and wallets out the window and went for it. Three. We’d have three.

And I am so happy we did. Experiencing the pregnancy to really savor each and every moment was such a gift. I yearned for each ache and pain and kick and hiccup, knowing it was the last I’d ever feel. I yearned to have another birth story to share and compare. Mostly, I yearned for just one more baby, to smell the sweet newborn smell, to snuggle and cuddle and immerse my love in her fully and completely.

Knowing it was our last baby has even changed me as a mother. Really enjoying each cry or meltdown or hug or kiss has made me patient and 10x more loving (if that’s even possible) than with my other two. So much of taking care of babies for me was going through the motions, I never really liked the baby phase. I couldn’t wait till they were walking, more independent, talking, more personality… but here in this day, in each moment with Faye, I’m wishing she’d stay little, wishing for one more gummy grin, wishing for her to stop growing up so fast, cuddling her so sweet when she cries. It’s made me so aware of how fast time flies right by us. How did we even get to THREE? And now here I am, snuggling our last baby with every ounce of me given up to her.

So if you’re at all on the fence… do it (literally and figuratively). Going into a pregnancy (or adopting or whatever means to have a baby!!!) and having a baby KNOWING IT WILL BE YOUR LAST, was the best thing for my heart and soul (Chicken Soup for the Soul sh** right there). Like a gift from GOD each and every moment.

Three was our magic number.

2 Replies