First Family Vacation!

7.29.2019


Hello and welcome to a new week, friends! On Sunday we got back from our first family vacation as a family of 4! We took the kids on a long weekend to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and had a lot of fun. Of course, J won't remember anything and told me the bug on the front porch of our air bnb was his favorite part of the whole trip, but I think R's getting to an age where she actually recalls events. (Although her idea of time is random, and every story she tells happened "yesterday" ha).

I've been going through the pictures I took and have more to share! I used to take a lot more pictures on trips, but it's so hard to bust out my nice camera when I'm chasing a 3yo and 2yo. I did take a bunch of videos, though, for a trip recap video I can hopefully get to soon.

Hot Springs is about a 6-hour drive from us. We left Thursday morning and came back Sunday afternoon. I felt like we did a pretty good job mixing in seeing some sights while also making it back to the air bnb for naps and such. We've actually taken R on a few different trips when she was younger than J, but other than our what feels like monthly visits to Texas to see my family, we've never gone anywhere with the 4 of us. Hopefully I'll get a post up with more pictures and stories soon. Have a great week!

The Mimmo Caddy: Solving the "My Car is a Hot Mess" Problem

7.15.2019

I received a product for free in exchange for this review.

A few months ago I saw a blogger I follow post about the company Mollie Ollie and specifically their Mimmo Caddy. It has a number of different functions, but I personally thought it looked like the perfect thing to keep in my car for general trips and also our longer drives to Texas. I reached out, and they kindly sent me a Mimmo Caddy to review. Excuse me while I'm awkward need R to get in the photo with me ;)

Before I go any further and you start skimming (I see you), I wanted to let you know that they are having a Prime Day Sale! Today and tomorrow (July 15 and 16) get 10% off 1, 20% off 2, or 30% off 3 of the Mimmo Caddy! If you miss that or don't want to buy right away, you can use the code 10LadyOkie for 10% off starting July 17 and going for 2 weeks.

What I love is that it stays in shape even when it's empty. There are velcro inserts, so you could keep them out and have an even larger center area, or you can have dividers like I did. 

I really like the outside zipper pocket, which has these elastic pieces to hold smaller items, maybe pens or nail clippers or just whatever you think you'll need. And the material is soft and chemical free! 

I'm thinking this will be great for our road trips to Texas and keeping handy in the car for being out and about. My little Ford Focus has treated us well, but that thing is a hot mess and needs all the help it can get.

For now I added a few diapers (actually pull-ups, because A Certain Someone is peeing in the potty holla!) and a thing of wipes, a set of extra clothes for each kid for emergencies, plus some books and a car toy. It will be great for keeping their water bottles handy and any snacks I pack for longer trips.

If you're interested in checking out the Mimmo Caddy for yourself, don't miss their Prime Sale July 15 and 16! Or, use the code 10LadyOkie for 10% off starting July 17 and running for 2 weeks. Thanks to Mollie Ollie for letting me try out their Mimmo Caddy!

4th of July Weekend: The One Where We Did All the Things

7.07.2019

Hello! Did all my American friends have a good 4th of July? And did all my non-American friends have a good 4th of July minus the fireworks and the waving of American flags? ;) 

Both Jordan and I were off work Thursday and Friday, and it was the best 4-day weekend I can remember in recent history. Mostly because I can't remember the last time I had a 4-day weekend. We ate popsicles on the back deck, went to the park multiple times, went to the science museum, went to a 4th of July party, stayed up late to watch fireworks, had a friend come over, got ice cream, and I took an afternoon nap every. single. day. while J napped and R watched Daniel Tiger (she hasn't napped in over a year and a half; we've tried), and I have no regrets about any of it.

I also love that the kids get more time to be together. Since they are at daycare all day during the week in separate classes, sometimes I feel guilty and wonder if it's going to hurt their relationship at all. But they really do love each other, and there are some super sweet moments. Of course, they also can get into it pretty hard, but we always make them apologize and give hugs, and I pray they will grow up knowing they always have each other.

It's crazy hot here in Oklahoma, and I don't even care. Summer can stay forever as far as I'm concerned, minus my most hated of all things: mosquitos. I tried to sit out on my deck last night after the kids were in bed and they destroyed me. They don't care one squat about Jordan, which he claims is from all the garlic he eats constantly (seriously never met anyone who loves garlic as much as that guy does), but they have always loved me, and I do not share their feelings.

Over the weekend we discovered our bird, which we were told was a boy when we bought him a year ago, is actually a girl. Jordan came running in shouting something about Moses having laid an egg. AN EGG. I was like, what? Apparently they can lay unfertilized eggs, and the kids were very confused and excited about the sudden appearance of an egg in the cage. Jordan was like, "I had suspicious... I never could get her to sing like male birds are supposed to." I said, "What do girl birds do?" And he said, "They lay eggs." There are currently three eggs. So that's happening apparently. 

I pretty much don't watch TV these days, but my long afternoon naps the past few days have given me the ability to stay up past my usual bedtime, and I've been watching the Netflix show Dead to Me. I don't know if watching 6 episodes in 2 days is a true "binge watch," but that's certainly more TV than I've watched at one time in a very, very long time. I was a little scared because it's Netflix and rated TV-MA, and I was prepared to turn it off if it was bad, but I was surprised to find that so far, the worst of it is really just a fair amount of the F word. I don't say that lightly, of course. I don't like the F word. However, if I have to choose that over nudity and a lot of crude sexual references, I'll take some cursing. Anyone else watched it? I have a few episodes left still!

Jordan and I also watched the new Netflix movie with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston Murder Mystery. We are really living up our long weekend! We never watch movies! It was ridiculous as expected but mildly entertaining, and I didn't hate it. I wouldn't watch it again, but it was amusing and not as dumb as other Adam Sandler movies I've seen (I've just never been a fan of that type of humor.)

I read Daisy Jones and The Six in about a day over the span of two days. The kids have been loving our splash pad in the backyard, and I got some good reading in on Thursday while they played for an hour or so. Here's my Goodreads review if you're interested. Basically, it is getting a ton of buzz right now, and it's legit. Super creative, unique book. I read it, but I think it would be an excellent book to listen to on audio.

On July 4th, I took engagement photos for a friend of Jordan's. Or, should I say I took photos *of* their engagement. So far in 2019 I've now taken photos of a home water birth and a live engagement. These type of events are stressful! Like, if you miss the moment it's over and done, and you can't be like, oh wait, yeah... my setting was off and the photo is blown out. Can you get down on one knee again, and can she act surprised?  Or, So, the photo of your baby coming out of you was way too dark. Can you please put him back in? I don't think so! But thankfully she said yes, and everything went well, and I think I got some good ones. Really expanding my photography portfolio this year! Not that I'm going to quit my job and be a professional photographer, but it's fun.

I'm not happy our holiday is over and it's back to the daily normal tomorrow BUT, my birthday is on Wednesday, so that's fun! The kids have swim lessons all week, so I think we will probably just wait and go to dinner to celebrate next weekend. We are going to try a new-to-us pizza place! I love doing something new for my birthday. But on the actual day, I'm thinking I'll take a half day in the afternoon, and maybe leave work and go home and take a nap before picking up the kids. Although honestly I'll probably cave and go pick them up immediately because I can't handle it ;)

Hope you had a great weekend and have a great week!

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