5 tips for flying with children

No more long distance road trips for this family! We survived round trip flights with both girls with minimal hiccups. The girls handled the flight very well, thank goodness!

So naturally, I thought I’d share what worked, and what didn’t work.

1- ID

Obviously the adults are required to show identification when going through TSA. But I was surprised to find out the kids didn’t need any type of identification. They were able to walk on through.

2- Snacks and some more snacks.

Pack their favorite snacks! Something I also didn’t know is that you can bring food from the outside world onto the plane, they just have to check it. That not only saved some major moola but also we were able to grab the girls favorites.

3- Potty right before you board.

My child cannot be the only one who waits until the most inconvenient time to let us know she needs to go potty. So before we boarded I told her she HAS to try to go potty, even if she didn’t HAVE to go. While you’re there, you might as well go potty too.

4- Entertainment

For us it was simple. The girls love the iPad…which they don’t get to be on very often. So we loaded them up with games, movies and their favorite shows and they were entertained the whole flight. We also packed some barbies, activity books, notebooks and pens as well.

*main take away- have options!

5- Rental Car

Since we flew to Florida, obviously we had to rent a car.

Now you can either “check” your own car seats, which go with the luggage under the plane.

Or you can rent a car seat from the car rental company. (There is an additional daily fee for this).

We decided to rent the car seats from the rental company, just so we didn’t have to worry about lugging car seats as well as the girls.

*what didn’t go well with the rental car is that it cost 4x more than what our reservation said it would be. They added a bunch of added items that caused the rental fee to skyrocket…little did we know until we got the receipt emailed to us. You live and learn right?!

So there you have it! A couple tips and tricks we learned flying with the girls for the first time.

Do you have any other tips and tricks that would be helpful? If so comment below!

Peace, love and balance,

Nicole

Endometriosis

Yesterday, I had my second endometriosis related surgery.

My fist surgery was when I was 18 years old. I have been suffering with endometriosis since the beginning of high school, but I didn’t even know it.

I’ve always had severe pain with me striating, I thought it was normal. Then once might I woke up with what I though was appendicitis. I spend all night in the ER getting constantly tested, poked and prodded. I was 18, away from home and scared. During my ER visit they discovered that I had an ovarian cyst that ruptured. They highly recommended that I see an OBGYN.

So off I went to meet my amazing doctor. There was so many tests, ultrasounds and tons of trial and error medications. One medication stopped my body from producing estrogen. The side effects were awful. I lost a ton of weight and was basically going through menopause.

After being on that medication for 6 months my doctor decided it was time for surgery to remove all the endometrial tissue. I was only 18, and he knew if we didn’t take care of it there was a large possibility that I wouldn’t be able to have kids.

I had my first laparoscopic surgery at the age of 19. I don’t remember much of the post op, besides being extremely bloated for about a week.

From then on I was placed on birth control to help reduce my body from developing more endometrial tissue.

There was still a chance I couldn’t have kids, only time would tell.

I went to see my doctor around the time we were going to start trying to conceive. He explained that if nothing happens in 6 months he would want to see me, and possibly go through the surgery…again.

Somehow we were able to get pregnant on our first try. My husband and I were absolutely shocked! We thought it would take forever, happy surprise for us!

After having both girls (20 months apart) I was symptom free until about 6 months ago. And of course, I just ignored it. I was too busy to make all the doctors appointments I knew would in my future. Until one day I went for a run, and after the run I was in soooooo much pain I couldn’t even stand. That is when my husband basically forced me to go see my OBGYN.

My symptoms were:

-constant pelvic pain 3 weeks out of the month.

-TMI heavy painful periods.

– getting really sick when I would ovulate.

-severe bloating (like I looked 4 months pregnant)

-extreme pelvic pressure (like my uterus was tying to escape).

My doctor is thorough, I went though the usual female appointment that we all just love. And again more ultrasounds. My doctor explained to me that I had all options available to me.

1- go on birth control

2- start the shot that removes my estrogen

3-have surgery.

At first I was just going to try the shot again. But after talking with my husband we decided to have the surgery and be extremely proactive about getting on medication as soon as possible. I really just wanted to get it over with and not go through all the different medications again, when I knew in my heart that I would need surgery eventually.

So, yesterday I had my second surgery. I wasn’t nervous, I’ve been through all of this before, and my doctor has done all of my surgeries, so I KNEW I was in excellent hands. Honestly the hardest part was not being able to eat or drink (including coffee).

My doctor talked to Justin and explained that he got all the lesions out, and that if we do decide to have more children it shouldn’t be an issue (this discussion is an interesting one in our household).

So, I was starving and caffeine deprived. Honestly that was the worst part. After I was discharged, we got food and I took my pain medication. That was my night. The hydrocodone is no joke. I was out like a light for most of the day/evening. I should have taken more medication before I actually went to sleep for the night, but I was too lazy. And that was a huge mistake. I woke up through out the night in extreme pain. Again, too lazy and painful to get out of bed.

This morning I felt like I was hit by a bus. I don’t remember being this sore after the surgery (maybe because I’m getting old 😉) I don’t plan on leaving my couch until it’s time for bed.

He was able to use my old incision sites, and I’m still super bloated

With how much pain I’m in today, I couldn’t imagine what it feels like after a c-section. You women are amazing.

If any of you have or are experiencing any of the symptoms that I listed above, go to your doctor and see if you have endometriosis as well. Unfortunately they can only diagnose it with the surgery but they can calm your symptoms with medication prior. And you may not need the surgery. Everyone is different.

Thanks for reading my endometriosis story!

Have a fantastic weekend

Peace, love and coffee,

Nicole Rae

---

I’m back!

Hey friends!

Long time to talk.

But have no fear, I’m back.

Things have been a little crazy the past couple weeks and I honestly wasn’t even thinking about blogging. I started to ask myself if it was really worth it. Should I be spending my time doing something else?

This morning I got my answer. A simple Facebook comment was all I needed to reignite this blog. Huge thank you to my comment-or (you know who you are 😉)

So here I am ready to drive right back in.

What have I been up to? What’s been going on in my world?

1- I started putting a lot of time and energy into my side hustle. Which is a huge reason I’ve been MIA on this platform. There is so much to do and create to get this up and running to its full potential! I’m super excited to share more soon! In the mean time if you are a bride to be or know a bride to be…holla at me!

2- A couple of weeks ago my grandma passed. I’ve dealt with death before but this was different. Maybe because I’m older? Or because I am a mom? It took me awhile to actually process that she really was gone. It all happened so fast my brain didn’t want to believe it. It was even harder because I was grieving in secret. I didn’t want my girls to see me that way, I’m not ready to explain that whole process with them.

Side notes- my husband was absolutely perfect during this time. He got off work early to help me, he comforted me, he just sat in silence with me and held my hand. I couldn’t have had a better partner during this process…because let’s face it, I’m still trying to process it.

3- Being a working mom. I love my day job and I love being a mom. But sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day. And lately I’ve been a pretty awful housekeeper, distracted mom and inattentive wife. All things that need a little extra something. I’ve been set Pinterest and the World Wide Web for tips and tricks on developing a schedule to help you get things done. No luck. If you have any suggestions please please let me know! I’m all ears!

There’s a little snippet of what’s been going on and where I’ve been.

For the next couple of days I’ll be hibernating…with highs of -22…I’m not leaving my house!

Peace, love and balance

Nicole

Here it goes…

Welcome to my journey of trying to balance being a (working) mom, wife, adult and everything else in-between. I am definitely not going to sugar coat anything. Because lets be honest here…life is HARD. As perfect as some people’s lives look according to what you see surfing the web, EVERYONE was going through, was going through or is currently going through some difficult situation. I’m here to help show that life isn’t always perfect, and it can feel like it will never get better. But it will.

Through these blog posts I’ll cover a wide variety of topics. Most topics will come from what I’m currently experiencing or things from the past. Opening up and sharing vulnerable stories and information will be tough. However, I have learned the power of sharing these tough life stories. (No worries, there will be plenty of happy experiences as well!) If just one person reads my posts and thinks, “me too..”, my job here is done. I am by no means saying I am any sort of expert in anything. My whole purpose of this blog is to share my experiences and what I have learned in the process.

Thank you for joining me on this crazy journey we call life. We are all in for a bumpy, glorious, belly laughing ride!

Peace, love and coffee,
Nicole Rae

 

 

What is going on with 2019?

Has anyone else felt like 2019 has just been one big roller coaster ride? I don’t mean to be dramatic or anything like that, but seriously.

January was awful. So many bumps in the road and heart break that I couldn’t imagine it could possibly continue.

Then February came and was like, just wait! There’s more!

Not only have we (The Kernens) been riding this crazy 2019 roller coaster but it seems like everyone around us has been too. As soon as things are looking up, something else happens. I’m sure you have seen or noticed it as well. Like what is the deal? Did we make some sort of deal with the devil, or what? Will things ever calm down a little?

Tomorrow is the first day of March, which would have been my grandma’s birthday (for those of you just joining us, her passing would be part of my January tragedy).

So what can we do about this? If anything?

A little thing called law of attraction is how I am going to help improve the rest of 2019.

What is “Law of Attraction”?

Basically, if you are positive, you will notice more positivity around out. If you are negative, you will notice negativity around you. You attract what you emit.

You want to eat a healthier diet? Focus on that, think about it. What are the steps that need to be taken to accomplish that? Literally envision yourself eating a healthy meal.

I know, it’s a little woo woo. BUT try it before you knock it. It truly has worked for me in the past, and it’s time to jump back in.

Join me in making the remainder of 2019 a little bit more positive.

UPDATE:
For those of you following along.
-This week I have worked out twice and have full intentions on working out tonight when the girls go to bed.
-My water intake is still sub par.
-I cannot help myself around cookies and ice cream.
-Getting to bed on time is still a work in progress, I’ve had a sick little lady this week who needs her momma.

How have your goals been going this year? How can you make your 2019 better?

Peace, love and balance

Nicole Rae

Brynlee’s 2nd Birthday

My baby turned 2 at the beginning of February. It’s exciting but also sad. She is no longer a baby and has officially entered toddlerhood. And I have so many mixed emotions about that.

With her birthday being in the heart of winter in Wisconsin, we have to be creative as to where her party is. We want people to have fun and not just sit around our house trying to make awkward conversations.

So this year we decided to have her party at Luv2Play in Appleton, Wi. It is an indoor park and every child’s dream. I really like it because I feel really safe letting the girls run wild. In order to enter you have to wear a wristband with your child’s name on it. And when you leave they make sure everyone’s wristband matches before they cut it off. There is like no chance my kiddos will run out the door. It’s so nice to have one less thing to worry about!

They have everything from a padded floor, arcade games, ball pits, slides, building blocks, party rooms and a food court. It really is a one stop party center. The best part is all we had to do was show up! They had our room decorated (Minnie Mouse of course!) and food and the cake ready.

We were there for 5 hours, and the girls still didn’t want to leave. They were running and playing so much that it only took them 2 minutes in the car to fall fast asleep! Which was nice after a day filled with so.many.children running around like crazies.

There’s a little snippet of Brynlee’s special day with friends and family… now to think of next years party…

UPDATE:

-I have only been in bed by 9:30pm twice.

-I have not been drinking the water.

-I have only “worked out” or done yoga twice.

Basically I have already failed. But I’m going to keep trying. I just have to somehow make it a habit. I’ll keep ya”lol updated on this journey 😂

Love and balance,

Nicole Rae

Getting Back on Track.

2019 has started off pretty crazy over here at the Kernen household. Between illness, death, schedule changes, car issues and weather, life has been chaotic. There hasn’t been much if any time for me to think let alone do anything for myself. Time for that to change.

This coming week looks promising (I really hope I didn’t just jinx myself). We may actually get to start a system and routine that will make day to day life flow smoothly AND make time to do things we ACTUALLY enjoy!

I’m using this post and my amazing readers as my accountability checkers. For me I am much more motivated if there is a chance that I will let someone down..even if it doesn’t really effect you.

Here are the things I really want to start prioritizing.

Reading for fun.
-I love love love reading. Mostly thrillers and mysteries (if you have any suggestions please let me know!) It is EMBARRASSING how long it takes me to actually finish a book. I can go weeks upon weeks in between opening my book. My goal is to crack open that book a couple times a week.

Running.
-Even though it is winter in Wisconsin, I do have a YMCA membership that is getting dusty. I’m going to try to get there 2 days a week to run. I used to run A LOT, I was actually known for running. And lately I’ve been craving it. So I’m going to indulge.

Practicing Yoga 3x a week. 
-Last year I was practicing DAILY. Now, I’m lucky if I practice once in two weeks. If you haven’t tried yoga…you should. It is life changing! There is no need to go to a class…Youtube is FULL of free yoga classes you can join in on. My favorite is Yoga with Adrienne.

Resting.
-I am always on the go. Always doing something. Which is why I think I am always so exhausted (along with not excising and eating junk…that is a work in progress too!) I just want to make sure I am taking 10 minutes a day to just sit and not do anything or to just fully enjoy reading, watching a movie or snuggling my girlies.

Eating well.
-The holidays got me in a big way this year. I know too many people who have amazing talent in the kitchen…which does not help that myself control around amazing food is non existent. My main goal is to cut way way back on the sweets and “junk” foods…this shouldn’t be too hard, right? It is way to easy to grab something quick and easy when you need a quick snack. So my plan to counter act that is to have some pre prepared healthy snacks that I can quickly grab and not feel guilty about later.

Sleep.
-I STRUGGLE with sleep so much. It never fails, I am always up until almost 11:00 pm…and have to get up early. And of course, I hit snooze so many times my husband has to kick me and tell me to get out of bed. Which then means I have way less time to get myself ready and out the door to work. It is no fun rushing every single day. My goal is to be in bed by 9:30. No scrolling through social media, no last minute anything. Laying down by 9:30 pm. THIS will be super hard, but at this point it is so so necessary!

Alright guys, I told you my goals….I’ll check back in a couple weeks letting you know how it’s going. I’m really hoping the combination of everything will help my overall health and mood.

Don’t worry…there will be other posts in between. You can’t get rid of my that easily!

What are somethings YOU need to prioritize?

Peace, love and balance
Nicole

Mom of girls

As many of you may know, I am the proud momma of two little ladies. I often get asked what it’s like raising two girls, especially two girls who happen to be close in age (20 months). It’s a crazy fun ride but I don’t have anything to compare it to…besides hanging out with my nephews. But that isn’t really the same thing.

Let’s start in the beginning…

Diaper changes

I’m assuming most of you are familiar with female anatomy, so you know there’s a lot of crevices that need to be cleaned. Which can super awkward for a first time dad..but you gotta do what you gotta do. My piece of advice: wipe front to back and change the diaper ASAP to avoid infections. Infections are no fun for anyone.

Drama. Everything is drama.

I’m not exaggerating. With girls, if you heaven forbid, put their hair in a pony tail instead of French braids (even though they asked for a pony tail) be prepared for at least a 30 min melt down. Don’t even ask me what happened if you give them the wrong cup.

Kaylee is the queen of drama queen central. You scold her for something (that she knows she did wrong) and she’ll put in her poutiest face and say “but I want to be a good girl”. Or tell you that you don’t like her anymore and you are being mean to her. Hen she’ll go sulk in her room, fully expecting you to go comfort her. Giiiirl. My favorite is when I ask her to do something and she responds with “my back hurts” or “my legs hurt”. When I know she’s fine because she was just running around the house like a crazy person.

Clothes

When I announced I was having a girl everyone told me that I’d have so much fun dressing them. And I honestly thought I would. All those pictures of fashionable kids on Pinterest is just an illusion. It’s all fun and games until they decide they want to dress themselves. This is especially hard when you are a matcher. I can’t stand when things don’t match. So when Kaylee puts on blue palm tree leggings with a Green Bay Packer shirt I have some issues. But don’t worry, they love their outfit 😬.

Another thing I’ve noticed with having girls is the amount of laundry. Like holy smokes, I feel like I could cloth 4 kids! Which is because Kaylee wears on average 3-4 outfits a day. Why? Who knows. I know what your thinking…tell her not to. But she does it on her own AND put the previous putting the hamper….so I pick and choose my battles.

Getting ready to go anywhere

When I get to leave the house in anything other than scrubs I try to take full advantage of it, but doesn’t always happen (hello top knot and leggings). So that means I have to not only get myself ready…but the girls. I never knew what an utter inconvenience it was to put shoes on until I had my girlies. It takes about 3 outfit changes and 2 melt downs over hair brushing and styling before we come to an agreement on the days “look”. Only for them to not like it once you’ve reached your destination.

I never understood why some people’s children looked like models and the mom looked like she just crawled out of bed. But now I get it. It takes so much time and energy to get the kids looking presentable that by the time you have to get ready your just done. And just don’t care. So, I see you momma. You rock those yoga pants and sweatshirt and feel like a friggin goddess. You deserve it. (I know I do)

The sass is real.

They probably get this from me (or so I’m told). But dang, these girls will give you the stankiest of stank faces there ever was. They even put their little hands on their hips when they have something real important to tell you. I can only imagine what the teenage years will be like.

Love – hate relationship

This is like the craziest concept for me. The girls will fight and fight about nothing the. 2 mins later they are back to being best friends. There are so many days where they upset each other just by looking at each other. But other days where they can’t even spend 5 minutes apart.

I’m excited to see how their relationship evolves over the years. I know there will be lots of ups and downs…I’m assuming over clothes and petty girl things. But I’m really hoping as they get older they will be best friends. That they will always have the other to lean on.

You will be jealous of your husband.

Yeah, you read that right. From what I’ve observed girls have a very special place in their hearts for their daddy. (And boys for their mom). Why else are the sayings “momma’s boy” and “daddy’s girl” so common?! The girls absolutely love snuggle time with dad just as much as they love play time. There were times where both girls ONLY wanted dad. Which kind of sucked for me, but also was so sweet to watch.

I whole heartily feel girls who have a good relationship with their dad will have good relationships through out their life. Their dad sets the standard for future relationships, they know how they should be treated.

My girls couldn’t have gotten a better daddy.

My thoughts on parenting girls

I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to my girls. I’m your classic hover-mom. It could just be me, but it seems like kids are meaner than when I was in school. Especially in today’s social media society it is so easy for people to comment, like and troll one another.

Our main goals for raising these girls are:

-Keep then safe.

-Make them feel safe so they will come to us with any questions or problems.

– Teach them kindness and compassion.

-Teach them the importance of an education.

-Teach them a good work ethic, and that they have to work hard for what they want.

-Teach them to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life.

-Teach them to respect themselves and others.

-Teach them body positivity, everyone is beautiful. No matter what shape or size. That they don’t need to fit a certain mold or look a certain way.

-Teach them to always be themselves. There is so many fake people in this world, just be genuine.

The best way to teach these things is by example. Even on the hard days. Your kids are always watching you, even when you think they are not.

—————-

Being a girl mom is a challenge at times…but being a mom itself is challenging as well. I feel being a girl mom teaches you a lot about yourself that your never knew or understood. It also helps you understand why your parents were the way they were 😝

If you’re a mom, I salute you. If you’re a girl mom I understand.

For all I know boys could be the same, but as of right now…all I know is how to be a girl mom 💁‍♀️

Peace love and balance,

Nicole

Surviving the Holidays

Tis’ the season to be…stressed out! I don’t know about any of you but the holiday season used to completely stress me out! There is just so much to do with so little available time to do it. Add in two little ones and growing extended families and it’s a recipe for some straight up craziness.

So here is some ways I’ve managed to make the holidays a little less stressful over here.

Shopping

Part of this tip is a little late in the game for this year, BUT it can help in the future. I KNOW this will sound crazy but we do some serious damage to our Christmas lists on Thanksgiving night and Black Friday.  We got all the girls gifts during those crazy 18 hours of shopping and about 80% of the rest of our list. This may or may not work for everyone. I know a lot of people don’t like dealing with crowds and missing “family time” during thanks giving…which brings me to my OTHER holiday shopping tip. Enter, Cyber Monday! Cyber Monday allows you to spend the quality time with your family AND avoid all the craziness of actually going to the store. My mom did ALL of her Christmas shopping on Cyber Monday for the first time this year, and I don’t think she’ll ever shop any other way again. Honestly, how can you beat sitting at home all comfy drinking some hot coffee, shopping away in the comfort of your own home? Another tip that goes along with online shopping is AMAZON. Like seriously, I buy so so so much from here (including every day items). If you don’t have amazon prime…it’s definitely worth looking into. 

The last little shopping tip I have relates to grocery shopping. I love to bake and we always have some sort of Christmas dinner at our house. Usually around Thanks Giving we plan the meal and which desserts we want to make. Once we have the list or ideal, we slowly start picking things up at the store. During the month of December, when we go grocery shopping we just grab things we KNOW we are going to need for the dinner or for baking. Just last week I bought an embarrassing amount of chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, flour and sugars. But now, I won’t have to run last minute and hope to goodness they have some! This typically works the best for us, and I really think it would help you too!

Baking

I used to get completely stressed out trying to figure out when I’m going to have time to make all the cookies and desserts I want to make. I would also get upset if I wasn’t able to make what I wanted because there just wasn’t time to. That’s when I decided to actually plan an entire day or at least afternoon completely dedicated to baking. Typically I like to do all the baking the weekend before Christmas that way the desserts are nice and fresh. 

Also, you could make and freeze some cookies (sugar cookies typically freeze pretty well) ahead of time. That’s just one less cookie to make for santa 😉

Gift Giving

Lists, lists and more lists. Buying gifts is overwhelming to say the least. What we’ve done to make this a little easier is doing Secret Santa with the adults in our extended families and buying each child a gift or two. We have started a family facebook group where everyone can post their list and their child’s list so we don’t have to worry about physically handing people a list.

For our little family, we buy our girls gifts and get each other one gift. As our families grow it would be absolutely crazy to buy everyone a gift. For one, I know I do not really need any gifts. I’d much rather watch my kids eyes light up opening their presents. 

Family Time

Spending time with extended families can be a challenge. So many people in one space and the kiddos are usually extra wound up with excitement. I used to get super stressed out that people were being too loud during “nap time” or they were trying to feed the girls something I didn’t agree with. It’s taken A LOT of practice and patients to try to let all of that go. I know I’m not perfect at this but I honestly do my best. Because this is the best part of the holidays. Family getting together to ENJOY each other’s company. YES, the kids schedule may be completely throw off. YES, the house will be a disaster. YES, it will be loud. YES, the kids, and you, will eat way too much sugar and carbs. But guess what? It’s absolutely nothing to stress over. The whole things will be over way to fast and you won’t get that time back. So why spend the limited family time you have with everyone stressing out because your kid dumped over the toys or will only eat cookies. You can pick up the toys tomorrow and they can eat veggies tomorrow as well. 

I know it’s much harder said than done…but try to relax and ENJOY your crazy family. And if there is something you don’t want to happen (ie. kids eating candy or a certain room you don’t want anyone to enter) address it BEFORE the event. That way, hopefully, most issues can be avoided. 

I hope some of those tips help make your holidays a little less stressful and much more enjoyable. 

Happy Holidays!

Peace, love and balance,
Nicole Rae

• 5 tips for flying with children
• Endometriosis
• What is going on with 2019?
• Brynlee’s 2nd Birthday
• Getting Back on Track.

To be thankful this holiday season.

The holiday season is upon us. And in this consumerism atmosphere it can be extremely hard to not loose sight of the meaning of the holiday season.

It doesn’t matter if you celebrate the holidays for religious reasons or not. The holidays are for coming together.

Just think about it. During the holidays you see and spend time with those you normally don’t get to; due to distance, schedules or life events. The holidays always bring those we care about together.

It’s hard to remember what it’s truly all about when advertisers are showing us that we NEED to buy more and more to show those we love, that we do love them. Not to mention, trying to keep up with the Jones’. It’s no wonder so many people get stressed out during the holidays.

I know it’s nice to buy people amazing gifts. It makes you feel good to see them happy. I absolutely love buying presents for people. Recently my favorite gift to give is something the person themselves wouldn’t buy for themselves. BUT it’s something they would if there wasn’t a constraint. Also, I love gifting experiences (ie. movie/concert tickets). People are so much more thankful when the gift comes from the heart.

Be thankful his holiday season.

Be thankful you have good health. (something too often taken for granted)

Be thankful you have a job. (Even if it isn’t your dream job, at least you can make a living)

Be thankful you have a home. (Big, small, beautiful or shabby)

Be thankful you have friends and family. (Sometimes friends ARE your family)

Be thankful you are able to be with friends and family.

Be thankful you were able to buy gifts.

Be thankful you can have a nice holiday meal. (Even if it’s nothing fancy)

Be thankful you can decorate.

Be thankful for any and all gifts you receive. Someone put time, money and thought into it for YOU.

Just be thankful.

There is so many more things we can and should be thankful for…things that we often take for granted. Many of us are much more privileged than we think. So this holiday season, just be thankful.

Let those around you know that you are thankful. It will mean the world to them.

What are YOU thankful for?

How will you be thankful this holiday season?

Peace, Love and Thankfulness,

Nicole Rae

My mommy hacks

It’s been said a million times, but parenting is hard. And eventually, every parent figures out the best way to parent their kiddos. Especially when everyone’s schedules are crazy. Through a lot of trial and error I’ve figured out some mommy and/or parenting “hacks” that have made navigating this whole parenting process a little smoother.

Washing dishes at grandma’s

Hack #1- Always, and I do mean always, have snacks.

Kids tend to get whiny and unruly when they are the slightest bit hungry. Even if they just ate…like 5 minutes ago. So we typically have a handful of their favorite snacks in the diaper bag ready to go. Once we no longer need a diaper bag, I plan on having a stash of snacks in my car and I usually have some sort of snacky food in my purse…because I tend to get hangry as well.

Hack #2- Always have baby wipes with you. 

I cannot tell you how many times a lonely baby wipe has saved our butts…literally. Not only are my kids messy, but I am as well. I’m constantly spilling things. And with kids, for some reason things just end up sticky. I’ve had random people, friends and family ask for a baby wipe when we are out and about. So I will continue to buy baby wipes…because you never know when you are going to need one!

Hack #3- Drive until they fall asleep…this WILL NOT work for all kids.

With this one, use your best judgement…you know your kid better than anyone. When I pick up my kids after work (I typically get done early afternoons) and I KNOW they need to nap, I’ll drive around our neighborhood until they fall asleep. Once I know they are really sleeping I’ll head home. This is where it gets tricky. One of my girls can sleep through anything, so I usually take her in first and lay her down. My other kiddo usually wakes up and ends up having to cry it out in her crib to finish her nap. BUT one crazy kid is better than two if you ask me. For me this works about 90% of the time.

Otherwise I guess you could drive around and hang out in your car if you have time to kill?

Hack #4- Get the diaper bag ready the night before.

I hate, hate, hate rushing around at the last minute. So I ALWAYS make sure the diaper bag is fully stocked before I go to bed. When the girls were little that would include getting their bottles and snacks put in the bag. I would also figure out how much milk I needed to pack for the next day so I could put it in a freezer bag inside the freezer–grab and go!

As the kiddos get older I have their outfits picked out the night before as well…eventually I’ll have them pick out their outfits the night before to hopefully avoid the “I don’t know what to wear” phase.

Hack #5- When your kid won’t nap. 

So Kaylee is an awful sleeper. Always has been, and probably always will be. So, sometimes the ONLY way I can get her to nap, when she desperately needs one, is to do something a little unconventional. I’m probably going to get some slack for this BUT it works for me and my family so…there.

I usually set her up on the couch with a snack, a drink and a movie. Then I simply walk away…I usually do laundry or yoga. Just go somewhere they cannot see or hear you. This works 9/10 times for us. The first time it happened I actually wasn’t expecting it. So then one day when all attempts at night time failed I tried this again…and ta da! It worked.

So you can try it or not, but it will continue to be my go to.

Hack #6- Brushing your toddlers teeth. 

I actually have a couple different “hacks” rolled into one, lucky you.

First, if your child has a good imagination you can tell them they have sugar bugs on their teeth and you need to brush them away. At first I would have her open her mouth and tell her I can see them! Then I would brush for awhile and say “I got another one!”, “Let’s see if there are more!”. I would continue doing that until everything was brushed well. Kaylee absolutely loves this. So every night before bed she tells me we have get the the sugar bugs off of her teeth. She never fights us on it.

Second, if your child just absolutely hates it. They fight and scream and it super stresses you out. Buy them a cheap battery operated electric toothbrush and let them play with it. Having them chew on that will be MUCH better than not brushing at all. You could also just give them a regular tooth brush and have them chew on it…something is better than nothing.

Third, monkey see, monkey do. Brush your teeth infront of your kids. Kids just want to be just like us! (It’s the only time we get to be cool…). So if they see you brush, they will want to brush. This also works great with older siblings! The little ones just want to be just like their big bro/sis.

Hack #7- Get them involved. 

We’ve all been there. Your kid wants your undivided attention and you have a million things to do. This used to drive me crazy. But now, I ask them for help. Like stated above, kids just want to do what we do. Something has boring as wiping the counter, is a new adventure the a kid. We have play cleaning supplies, so I’ll ask the girls to grab their broom and sweep the floor for me. It makes them feel so special. Also, those swifter duster things…kids love those! And it’s super easy for them to do. I just can’t wait until they are able to put their own laundry away!

Hack #8- Routine, Routine, Routine.

Half the time kids don’t know what to do with out being told. Which is why a routine is so amazing. Routines don’t have to be super complicated, just an order of events so they know what’s coming next. Basic example that works for us: dinner, bath, playtime. We do this every night, so as soon as the girls are done eating they know to head to the bathroom and get in the tub. The rest of the night goes pretty smooth because they know what’s coming next.

Well, I hope this helps someone out there…or even makes you consider what are YOUR mommy/parenting hacks?

If any of you have some mommy/parenting hacks you’d like to share PLEASE DO! I’m always looking for ways to make life easier!

Peace, Love and Balance

–Nicole Rae