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Life Lately: Embracing a Busy Season of Life

January 27, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

I’ve come around to the fact that normal life with little kids is just always busy. When you’re little, it feels like the days, months and years pass slowly. But when you’re a mom, you blink and it’s Friday once again, even though Friday feels like yesterday. You only just get into your daily routine for the academic year, and then the end of the year is on the horizon and things change all over again.

Crazier yet is with five people in our family–and my parents, brother and family nearby–it feels like someone is ALWAYS celebrating a birthday. Eric’s was last week, little A’s is next week (2!), my brother and mom’s birthdays are in March and so on.

Anyways–here’s what we’ve been busy with lately!… Read More »

Where to Find Gorgeous Wedding Stationery on a Budget

January 23, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post for Basic Invite. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own.

I’m a sucker for a good piece of stationery. I have quite a large collection of invitations, holiday cards, thank-you notes, sealing stickers, etc. and I’m always on the lookout to add to my stash. Sending loved ones notes on pretty, occasion-appropriate stationery brings me joy!

So naturally, when I discovered a new-to-me company that offers beautiful custom stationery at great prices–I had to share. That company is Basic Invite, and the photos you see in this post are only a tiny sliver of their extensive wedding invitations collection.… Read More »

Happy 28th Birthday, Eric!

January 18, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

Today my wonderful husband is 28!

The past few years of our lives have been filled with massive changes. From three kids in just over three years, to the pandemic, to job changes, to our almost-move and so many other amazing and difficult things. It seems there’s hardly a month that’s gone by without something new to adapt to.

Our family isn’t perfect, but breaking generational cycles takes a lot of hard work, introspection, and persistence. And I’m lucky to be married to someone who shares these goals–in our marriage, parenting, and life in general–and takes each day as it comes, a fresh start with the potential to be the best day yet.

I’m lucky to be married to someone who doesn’t take himself too seriously, laughs at my eye rolls over his terrible dad jokes, encourages us to get out + be social + get fresh air, and shares my love of healthy eating and living.

I’m lucky to be married to someone who is an incredibly hands-on dad, who our kids constantly ask me “is it a work day?” because they want to play with Dad, who chauffeurs us all around because I hate driving with kid noise, and who’s committed to sharing the mental load of our household.

I’m lucky to be married to someone who supports me in my career and self-development goals, laughs at the random things I say when I’m tired and always stops me for a hug (or two or five) during the workday when I’m looking cranky.

Someday, it will be just us again. After the kids are in bed, we flip between talking about how nice it will be when we can go out to dinner and enjoy each other’s (uninterrupted) company again–and scrolling through pictures of the kids on our phones, lamenting how old they look already. That’s marriage and parenthood with lots of littles!

Happy birthday to the best husband and dad we could ask for. 28 is going to be a good one!

xx Claire

StoryPod Review + Benefits of Audiobooks for Kids

January 16, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

Every 90s kid had a boombox in their bedroom, right? My metallic blue boombox lived on the lower shelf of my nightstand. It was huge, ugly, and had awful audio quality. But it got the job done–playing my CDs and cassettes of music and stories–and there weren’t really alternatives at the time.

Of course, in 2023 we have tons of tech-y options for keeping our kids entertained, from interactive toys to smart watches and tablets. The question now is how much exposure to tech our kids should get, especially screens.

Whilst I’m not necessarily a screen-free parent, we do like to limit movies and shows to special occasions for e&a. At the same time, sometimes Mama needs a minute (or a few) to get things done around the home. So when I learned about modern audiobook/story players for kids, I knew exactly what I was getting them for Christmas!… Read More »

January Week Meal Plan

January 13, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

Last month I posted a winter’s week meal plan for fun and it was unexpectedly quite a popular blog post! So today I’m back with another example, a real life January meal plan for one week–healthy-ish and delicious (and with a lazy parents’ no cook night, too!).

As always, everything is gluten-free due to Eric’s celiac disease. We are also trialing eliminating dairy again for one of the kids so almost everything is adaptable to dairy-free.… Read More »