Author: Mackenzie

Good morning everyone! We have had so many fun things happening this past month. I’ve been wanting to blog- but I feel like my to do list is falling on top of me … and then also I feel sucked into my reality TV shows that allow my brain to go mush before bed. Traitors, anyone?! Love is Blind, anyone?! Boy, those men are not representing Ohio well 😩. Anywho I think I’m sufficiently caught up on that train wreck so time to jump into a post!

January 24th we received our final Kiwi Co box from the subscription. This theme was wind and weather!

I also have been waiting since September for this coffee pot that is both plastic and aluminum free! It’s from Simply Good Coffee, and I absolutely love it! Worth the wait for sure. I don’t believe there are any other entirely plastic free coffee makers on the market. I still do some decaf or half caff Nespresso pods during the day because I’m addicted, but I try to make sure a couple cups are made through my new machine with my low acid & pesticide free grounds. (All the buzzy words).

Layla so sweetly gave Quinn these hand-me-downs pjs & Quinn of course had to match Slothy. Yes, Slothy has a bandaid on, because we are in a phase where all her stuffies are covered in bandaids lol.

The evening of January 25th we organized some bins in the basement and got rid of a few things. I’ve definitely got a spring cleaning itch!

January 26th we were in the thick of this year’s snowpocalypse!

Which of course called for some chili!

Tripp is very much in a water obsession phase. He loves playing in the sink, and often if I’m able to after meals I’ll just let him splash around in the sink as we’re rinsing his hands off. This Lovevery sink is great too for random times he wants to play.

He’s also become a very good helper & mimics much of what I do around the house. It’s adorable & I can’t believe how quickly we are leaving baby land and entering into toddler world!

That week for lunch I was on a kick of farro, eggs, tzatziki, hummus, veggies and avocado toast.

That evening I made a sundried tomato pork dish from the Feeding Littles cookbook. It was tasty but took a bit too long overall to make for me to keep it in the regular rotation.

We realized the highchair that Tripp uses (and Quinn used to use) is called a “Tripp Trapp” chair. How funny is that?

When Quinn was at preschool one day I made a little obstacle course for Tripp. It’s nice for him to have a little more free rein on these days.

The afternoon of January 30th we made the Neapolitan cookies together!

That evening I made a beef and parnsip dish from the Feeding Littles cookbook. Gosh this was so good.

January 31st we went to cheer on our nephew Jack at his basketball game. They had some tables facing the court which made convenient for the kids to do some activities to keep them occupied during the game.

That evening I made pizza rolls with a homemade pesto that were a major hit all around. (Again, from Feeding Littles!).

February 1st I made some zucchini fritters. Tripp and I loved them- Quinn not so much.

We went to the library that afternoon. The theme was tea party. They had little invites to fill out. Quinn decided her tea party was going to be at 5:40 AM at the Maggie Library. 3 people invited -Tripp, DJ and I. Lol! I hope that tea is caffeinated!

That evening I made my personal favorite dish of the week- a Caesar pasta salad. The ingredients honestly sounded a little gross at first blush- tuna, kale, broccoli… but all together this was a GREAT dish. Everyone loved it!

Also that evening we had a “dance party” with all of Quinn’s paw patrol characters on the magnatiles. We turned down the lights then DJ turned on a YouTube flashing colors dance video, and both Quinn and Tripp were all about it!

February 2nd we went to Storytime. Quinn wanted to make sure the Library’s Curious George from the Calming Corner attended too. She loves saying hi to George whenever we visit.

Crafts, crafts and more crafts!

That evening I made lentil patties for some wraps. I served them with hummus and tzatziki and a side of Murasaki sweet potatoes.

The next day was kind of random for lunch, but delicious. I love doing hummus on Dave’s buns with seasoned ground turkey, peas and carrots. I added dolmas this time too which I could eat breakfast, lunch or dinner daily!

Sweet lounging Moose on the kids’ stuffies.

February 4th Tripp got his first haircut! He did well. I put on a little Ms. Rachel for a distraction.

That evening we visited Mimi!

For dinner we had a Green Chef meal that just seeing the picture is making me crave it all over again! It was chicken crusted in breadcrumbs and a ginger lime peanut sauce with a lime agave slaw and topped with sriracha ginger mayo 😋. YUMMM. We said it tasted like something we would eat a restaurant in Austin!

February 5th we stopped by Hobby Lobby to get things to make valentines for Quinn’s class. On the way home she asked if we could go to breakfast. I glanced in the back and Tripp had just fallen asleep- so it was actually perfect timing. I swung into Garrett’s Mill, transferred him carefully to the baby wearing carrier, and then we all ventured inside. Quinn and I had a lovely impromptu date while Tripp slept through the whole thing! It was certainly a bit risky if he had woken up, but it went smoothly as could be.

After, we came home and made the valentines bags for her preschool party.

The bags included stickers, a coloring bookmark, an animal eraser and a small heart along with a Bluey valentine from Quinn.

We also hung up the Valentine towels we found!

We found a few little things for the sensory bin too.

February 6th I made a practice smash cake for Tripp’s birthday. I wanted to make it with a heavy dose of banana since he’s banana obsessed, but this one ended up being a bit dense. The flavor was great, but if I gave him the whole cake I worried he’d gag on it. Back to the drawing board! It was fun though because we had Quinn use this cake to throw a little pretend party for her stuffed Moose!

Tripp has started napping well independently especially for his second nap (which I fear he is already dropping lol!). But when I can take advantage of a contact nap you bet I do!

That evening we had another Green Chef meal- this time a delicious vegan pasta!

February 7th we visited Nanny. It was such a lovely visit. Nanny loves Elvis so we listened to a few tunes & the kids were all about it! They also loved the birds at the front!

February 8th Quinn and I went on a little date to Peninsula Coffee House! We’ve wanted to try this place for a long time, and this was a great day for it.

Heads up if you’re local- it was a real challenge finding parking. The lot for the coffee shop is tucked behind the shop and is essentially one way. I found myself stuck between ice banks, an SUV and a dumpster without being able to turn around (backing all the way out wasn’t an option either). I was just about to call DJ for backup after a million small point turns when the SUV that was blocking me pulled out. It was such a relief after all that drama! I didn’t dare take the SUV spot and get stuck, so we went for a plan B.

We drove to Lock 29 and parked there. It was going to require a longish walk through some snow, but it was a pretty day (even if a bit cold). I was honestly a bit grumpy about the parking situation, but as we started walking Quinn’s imagination went wild and she started pretending she was rescuing baby polar bears. We had so much fun because of this little hiccup. It reminded me to embrace the detours with a bit of a better attitude!

We walked in and thankfully found seating right away. It’s such a great coffee shop. It’s situated on the tow path so they have a little refreshment station of different protein bars and such for purchase, but they also have an assortment of delicious baked goods and even Daisy Cake pops! My high school math teacher is the owner of that company, so it was fun to see they sold them (and of course I got one for Quinn).

I also got a delicious hemp bar with an au lait, yum! We had fun chatting and working on a sticker book together. This sticker book has become our go-to coffee shop activity.

We absolutely loved this time together 🩷.

February 9th I got a Pilates set & ankle weights! I’ve been dealing with quite a bit of inflammation and water retention lately & realized all the HITT and running I’m doing may actually be making it worse. My nervous system is in overdrive, cortisol through the roof majority of the time, adding a HITT routine and running is just more adrenaline and cortisol. I decided to try Pilates to see if this will more gently help my body get into a more parasympathetic/restful state rather than constantly flooding myself with stress hormones. So far I have loved it and I actually think it’s helping!

We were low on groceries but I made a sundried chicken with corn that was actually so good! Sometimes I feel like the end-of-groceries meals end up being some of the best surprisingly. Forces extra creativity!

It’s wild how quickly Tripp is turning into a toddler with preferences, likes and dislikes and has so much fun personality. He loves to make us laugh! And get into a bit of mischief haha.

Well let’s wrap here! More fun coming down the pike.

Mackenzie

P.S. this post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I might earn a small commission if you make a purchase. Please know I’ll only ever share products I truly stand by and use! 🫶🏻

I’m a bit behind on making a post, but I simply could not resist hopping on the 2016 nostalgia bandwagon. 2016 is one of my all time favorite years. It was absolutely my favorite year before Quinn and Tripp came into the picture. I was surprised to see so many people also hold the same fondness for it that I do. I think I thought my love for it was circumstantial, but I also think culturally it was such a fun time- probably partly due to the music; the music was *the best*. Social media was simply fun- “doom scrolling” wasn’t part of the vernacular. We also had yet to live through a worldwide pandemic. Most people my age were graduating college or in their early 20s- simply a fun time of finding our feet as young adults. 2016 was a huge year of change and FUN for DJ and me. We were married in August of 2015, so it was a large part of our first year of marriage too.

I graduated from nursing school and we packed up our things and moved to California! Our entire life and the entire world felt like it was on the horizon. Endless possibilities. We made trips to Michigan, Baltimore, MD, New York City, a restaurant in the Ozarks, Fort Worth to visit my mom and Pete, New Mexico, The Grand Canyon and Monterey. I actually lost a lot of my photos in 2017 when my phone crashed, but I’ll share some of what I have left! Thankfully I still have many of those photos embedded in the posts I’ll link!

As soon as we moved to California, I started this blog. Here’s my first post! I can’t tell you all how much I absolutely fell in love with blogging. Well, clearly, 10 years later I’m still here so I suppose that is evidence in itself. Previously this blog was under the name “Mack Marie”, and my tagline was “living loving learning”. When the word “basic” came into the cultural zeitgeist I realized I could probably be the poster child. Out of self-consciousness I quickly deleted my tagline as to try to break free from the Ugg boot loving, chevron printed, Starbucks pumpkin spice drinking, live laugh loving box. But, alas, I couldn’t shake my basic ways entirely as evidenced by my beloved chunky necklaces worn far into 2018, being a far too frequent Target shopper and my expert level knowledge of The Bachelor franchise. Nonetheless, I was embraced here in the blog world- and wow, those were fun times! I felt like blog world was on fire & when I moved somewhere that I didn’t have a community, I immediately found community here. I really miss those internet days! I’ll never forget my first ever hosted meet & greet– does anyone remember those?!

We spent the summer settling into our Cupertino stomping grounds, exploring new restaurants (oh how I miss the food!) and frolicking about Northern CA. I always used the word “frolic” when we lived there. It felt like the Bay Area was our playground!

At the time, I was 22 and studying for the NCLEX. Even though I was studying for boards, for some reason it felt so much less stressful than all of nursing school had felt. It was the first time in so long that I didn’t feel a tremendous amount of stress and pressure. I felt like I was truly living for the first time; I genuinely remember thinking that. I reflect so fondly on who I was then- a bit naive, incredibly motivated and so excited about what was to come. That world-is-your-oyster feeling is something special to reflect on! “Endocrine disrupting chemicals” weren’t even on my radar, I published recipes on here that would be considered quite “mid”, and I went on long runs in the mountains by myself.. where there were mountain lions- ahh to be so carefree again lol.

2016 was the year of Snapchat filters, artsy coffee shots & The Chainsmokers. “Closer” will always be inextricably linked to 2016 for me.

I was so proud of our first apartment that was decked out in HomeGoods and TJ Maxx (I still remember I made countless trips back and forth).

We got involved in a church that we loved soon into moving there. I joined the church hiking group and made lifelong friends, Tammy, Dani and Sara there!

I discovered Peet’s coffee- my obsession. I became friends with the barista, Connie, who worked at the one near us. She reminded me a bit of my mom. She was there nearly every day I stopped by to study, and I so enjoyed our chats. I wish we had stayed in touch, and I hope Connie is doing well today!

2016 was the year I discovered podcasts and listening to Serial became part of my personality. We also discovered one of our favorite restaurants to date- Mt. Hamilton Grandview.

The last 10 years I have lived, loved and learned a lot…even if we no longer have throw pillows that say so. Oh 2016, you will always have a special place in my memory!

Hey hey! Hope you all are having a wonderful January so far. That feels almost sarcastic considering we live in Antarctica, I mean Ohio, but, genuinely, I hope your year is off to a good start! January has been a bit of a whirlwind. I’m excited to recap it because I feel like my head has been spinning lately, and blogging always helps slow that spinning down!

We have a couple last few days of 2025 to wrap up then we’ll jump right into 2026 :). December 28th I started the day with eggs and toast with some of Amy’s homemade chili crunch sauce. I’m addicted. I could drink it!

We stopped at Giant Eagle that day, so naturally Quinn picked out some gorgeous blooms. It’s become one of my favorite traditions we do whenever we’re at that store.

That evening was how most nights look lately for dinner. Nothing fancy, just something nutritious that both a preschooler and a baby will be able to eat and enjoy. This evening it was pulled pork from the crockpot with quinoa, mixed veggies and broccoli.

Our Mimi (Quinn and Tripp’s Great-Grandma) makes all the great-grandkids their own picture book when they are born. Quinn absolutely loved hers and Tripp got his very own for Christmas too! She cuts out pictures from magazines and adheres them to each page. It’s just really special & I had to share! 🥰

Tripp is fully obsessed with Moose. He will point at him whenever he walks in the room & we have to make sure he doesn’t tackle him every time Moose decides to lounge on the ground. It’s pretty stinking adorable though. Quinn also serenaded Moose the other night singing “I love you soooo much, you’re my sweet boy”. If the video wasn’t so long I’d have to post it. I’ve watched it so many times- it’s precious. I feel like most of my camera roll is just adorable videos of the things Quinn is saying and the things Tripp is doing. It’s hard to really capture it all into a post- this time of life is just magical in so much of what doesn’t even get captured. For instance, last night while I was putting Quinn to sleep she wanted to sing the Barney song together. She’s fully on a Barney kick, which warms my 90s-born heart. Anyway, at the end of our song, she said, “awww that is sweet. I am going to happy cry”. It was cute. I’ve explained to her how I’m “happy crying” before & it’s so adorable and funny when they decide to try out a phrase they’ve heard before.

Anyway, apparently I’m feeling a little rambly today! December 30th was an easy dinner of lamb, green beans, roasted carrots and couscous.

I definitely serve most of Tripp’s food directly on his tray otherwise the whole plate is going on the floor lol.

On December 31st we FaceTimed my mom with her and Pete’s new puppy, Stella!!! Moose got to meet his Aunt too although they both slept through the introduction.

Quinn and Tripp were thrilled!

That evening we decided to order in Pizza from Athena’s. I just love their vegan pizza options even though I can technically eat dairy again & this time I opted to try their spicy seven pepper pickle pizza with vegan Hidden Valley Ranch, vegan mozzarella, dill pickles and a “fiery hot & spicy seven pepper magic dust blend”. I mean idk, but that sounds like a must try! Put a magic dust blend on anything and count me in!

It was good! I couldn’t do more than about one slice because it was a lot going on, so naturally I dug into DJ’s pizza too lol. DJ and I were saying there has to be some type of name for someone who orders the “novelty” item but then wishes they just got the more standard thing. I’ve definitely been guilty of this… more than once. Haha.

At 6 pm, we put on a kids’ countdown on TV (a recorded one you can play anytime). We had the party hats, party horns and clappers. When the music was playing after the “Happy New Year”, I went to pick up Quinn to dance and the party horn dug into her gum a little causing it to bleed. I felt so awful. She was ok but it definitely hurt :(. Thankfully it didn’t interfere with her falling asleep and she forgot about it by morning. I spent the rest of the night getting the house in order. I especially like to start January 1st with a decently clean home.

We spent January 1st just relaxing at home. Quinn went straight into art mode!

For dinner, we had chicken with Roots sweet potato fries, peas and I also had it with a slice of the pickle pizza. The combo was great!

Is anyone else an offender of opening every cabinet/the fridge and not shutting them behind you? I do this every time I’m cooking & I don’t know why I’m like this 🤣. I’m just exposing all my quirks in this post.

After Christmas, Quinn got on an Elf Pets streak. Kinda funny how she decided she was into it after the holiday season was over, but hey, whatever works!

She randomly decided that day to take all of Moose’s toys from his crate and throw them on the stairs. Why? I have no clue. Poor Moose Man just constantly putting up with his little sister’s antics lol.

Those first couple days of January are a bit of a blur. I had a horrific headache that I had a hard time getting rid of.

January 3rd we had a fun family day out. We went to Barnes & Noble and ran a couple errands. My headache had mostly subsided. But then that day I started getting blurry vision and pain on one side of my neck over my carotid. The symptoms were concerning enough to go to the emergency department. We were there until about 11 pm, and thankfully everything came back ok. They suspected an atypical migraine. I’ve had migraines before but this was so different – I never had the blurry vision after the worst part of the headache or the neck pain. Very thankful all was ok though!

We had a funny experience there. While they were gathering my history, I asked them to make a note that I was breastfeeding so any meds given to me were breastfeeding safe. Of course they agreed then we went back into the waiting room to await the CT scan. One of the nurses called our names and brought us back to an exam room (he was quite young and looked a little uncomfortable). He pointed to the room and said “here’s your room, we will need it back as soon as you’re done though”. I thought a bit of an odd thing to say considering we weren’t planning on moving in haha. He then said “just let us know when you are done!”. I said “ok, no problem, but tell who?” And he said anyone at the desk. And then I just looked at him a little confused and said “and just clarifying- done with what?” And he got kind of quiet and goes “feeding your baby”. It suddenly all made sense! I explained Tripp didn’t need fed (he was actually totally asleep at that point), and that I had a cover if he was hungry. He said someone said I needed a room to feed him, which I’m not sure where that came from, but I’m guessing from our convo about the meds needing to be breastfeeding safe. The whole situation was genuinely funny, I just felt bad for the young lad who seemed so uncomfortable about it all. It was extremely nice of the staff to find us a room too. But thankfully we were able to give them back that room very quickly 😂.

Gigi picked up Quinn from the ED soon after we arrived (around 8 pm) and helped get her to sleep. When we got home Tripp wanted to play with his DJ table. It was midnight. Ok Mr. Night Owl 😆.

The next day, January 4th,the migraine was still there but subsiding. I attempted to make some broccoli fritters. Tripp was in a bit of a food strike for a solid week after having the flu. He didn’t much want these, but Quinn enjoyed them.

That day we just stayed home. It was very low key.

Marie and Jorge made us a calendar of all the doggies and Tripp found Moose immediately on it 🥹.

Tripp is also in his making magnet soup era. This is how I often keep him preoccupied while I’m cooking.

January 5th we went to the store and found pine berries! I thought it would be fun to try something new. We all loved them! The package did not last long. They taste just like strawberries.

I also got this cookie granola to try! It was tasty, but I still think I prefer the chocolate sea salt.

January 7th we went to a storytime. I absolutely love story time with the kids.

Quinn used to be quite bashful during story times and didn’t participate much. She has gotten much more into it and is now coming out of her shell!

The theme that day was unicorns. They have a little craft after and that day they made unicorn horns for the kids to wear. So sweet.

That evening we drove to my sister in law, Kylie’s, basketball game! Last time we went we grabbed coffee from a delicious coffee shop called Happy Bean on campus, so we had to stop there again.

It was so much fun to watch her play! The kids did well too.

January 8th Quinn lived in her make believe world with her dolls. I just love this imaginative/creative age.

While I fed Tripp, she really wanted to feed her own doll haha.

She did give her a bath after, the responsible mom that she is.

The weather was actually fairly nice that day so we went to the park. At the bottom of the slide, water collects and Quinn calls it her pond. She collects various things and throws them in. That day we talked about what and why certain things sink and others float.

For dinner that night we had a broccoli cheddar risotto from the feeding Littles cookbook with some chicken.

The newest flowers Quinn picked out 🙂.

That day we tried to get Tripp to wear shoes. It was an utter fail. He reminded us of dogs that put shoes on for the first time and don’t want their feet to touch the floor. He was not about it. I never had that problem with Quinn, so I’m not really sure what to do? Tripp is walking now too- so he kinda needs to learn to wear shoes lol.

The evening of January 9th we had some white bean burgers from the Feeding Littles Cookbook. This is one of my favorite recipes from there personally, but Quinn and DJ weren’t really about it. At least Tripp liked them haha!

I also made some chickpea coconut cookies with peanut butter added from the cookbook. They don’t look pretty, but they actually are quite nice. I like them for the kids since they aren’t loaded with sugar. I even let Tripp try a nibble since there’s so little in them.

January 10th I made some lemon ricotta lasagna with pumpkin and kale for the kids before DJ and I headed out on a date night for my birthday!

I had been craving Ken Stewart’s Lodge’s truffle mushroom toast ever since we had it a couple years ago.

It always feels weird driving in a quiet car. I also never sit in the front seat anymore either unless I’m driving, so that also felt odd haha!

We went before the dinner rush. It was so peaceful. I’m writing this with a smile because this dinner was so lovely & having that one on one time with DJ was such a gift.

We started the meal with lobster deviled eggs. Need I say more?!

And here is what we came for! The truffle mushroom toast!!!!

It actually was even better than I remembered. It’s so phenomenal. The way they serve the whole green onion with the toast reminds me of CourtneyCookInsta. Are you familiar with her? She went viral for a cheese stuffed sweet potato, but she has such a sweet personality and the way she appreciates and loves food is so endearing. Anyway, sometimes she’ll just eat a whole green onion with her food & that’s what it made me think of!

DJ got one of their steak specials – wrapped in seafood!

We shared creamed spinach as a side.

And I got their scallops. This is probably my favorite scallop dish I have ever had. It was unreal. The scallops were served over butternut squash risotto with pancetta and feta. Perfection.

That was truly one of my favorite meals to date. One for the books. Usually we would get the peanut butter bomb for dessert but we were so stuffed. It takes a lot for me while breastfeeding to ever feel genuinely stuffed, and that meal did it hah!

Gigi said Tripp did really well! It really felt like a turning point. His separation anxiety is definitely improving!

January 11th we went to the Hudson library to change things up a little bit. They don’t have quite as much in the way of things to play with but they did have a dog there that day that the kids could read to!

The dog’s name was Daisy. Quinn just adored her. She picked out a really sweet book and it took everything in me not to start welling up while reading it! Quinn repeated the words after me. It was sooo sweet. I can’t remember the name of it- if someone knows based on the illustration please tell me! It’s about a baby growing up, all the things they will do “soon”. I really wish I knew the name.

We played tea party, with the blocks and then some magnatiles. To pass more time we also did a photo hunt in the library. First I took pictures throughout for Quinn to find, then DJ did a round for her.

When we got home I had to get a bit creative for dinner. I made us some stir fried chicken and then these Jess & Ben’s fries- these are SO good!

We had our leftovers from Ken Stewart’s – so we put a little of the truffle mushroom sauce with the chicken and divided up the side of creamed spinach.

January 12th was a day at home, although we did run a couple errands.

I found this granola while we were out. I do still like the chocolate sea salt Purely Elizabeth better – but it grew on me!

January 13th was my official birthday. I wanted to go out for frozen yogurt since I haven’t been able to have it in so long. We all went out as a family to Sweet Frog in the evening & it was just delicious!

January 14th was another story time. This time it was rainbow themed!

This feels like a good place to wrap! Stay warm and safe out there, friends!

Mackenzie

Hi everyone! I have quite a few friends transitioning from 1 to 2 kids this year. A couple of them have asked me for some tips and I think I just have stared at them blankly thinking Girl, I’m barely surviving 😂. However reflecting on this past year, I do think I have some things that worked/I would go back and tell myself. Of course, these tips may not help everyone, may seem obvious and all babies/family dynamics/etc. are different- but who knows, maybe it will be helpful to someone!

– Something I recommend that worked well: Giving your oldest a gift from the baby! Quinn was all about Daniel Tiger at the time, so in the hospital when she met Tripp we gave her books and a Daniel Tiger story reader from Tripp. She loved that (and still does). Also when Quinn met Tripp in the hospital DJ was holding him, not me- so I had my arms free to scoop up Quinn. This was a tip I was given before I had Tripp, and I’m very glad we did that!

– In the early days, when baby is super sleepy, make sure to focus on time with your oldest. I prioritized quality time with Quinn (assuming Tripp was fed, changed and content) and it was huge in helping her with the transition! Tripp did eventually start voicing his preference for me, but the first few weeks he was so content cuddling with anyone and just slept most of the day anyway. I still got so many wonderful newborn snuggles with him naturally, but I made sure to prioritize time daily with Quinn. Getting quality time with Quinn has been way harder as Tripp’s gotten older with his separation anxiety (and recently mobility), so I’m grateful I soaked up that time with her to start things on a good note.

– Avoid the temptation to rely on snacks & screen to appease your oldest. I really wish I could have told myself this one! Of course, I’m not saying we’d have done none, but I think we used these as a crutch and distraction for Quinn at times. We had some habits and routines to clean up when the dust settled so to speak, and I just wish we had set a better precedent from the get go. And sticking to a routine with the food/snacks is sure to avoid a lot of battles and meltdowns.

– Involve your toddler/preschooler as much as possible. They LOVE to help! We had Quinn’s helper tower next to our changing table and she helped me pick out a diaper for many of those early changes.

– Make sure your baby takes a bottle. You’re probably thinking “duh!”. But I did not make much of an effort with this and it has made it tough to go anywhere this first year for long periods. Since I knew I’d be staying home I didn’t really bother, but there were situations where that came back to bite me. For example, one time we had to leave a wedding early because Tripp refused a bottle.

– Don’t compare your second postpartum journey to your first. I fell into this trap big time. I had an easier postpartum time overall after my first, but the circumstances were so different, and I am now a mom of two! What a blessing, but I was doing a disservice expecting things to look similarly to the first time. My body didn’t “bounce back”, we get out less, the house is much more of a mess, who even knows what my hormones are doing- and it’s OK!! Giving yourself grace and time is very important.

– Accept the help. The first time after Quinn I felt pretty comfortable managing things without a lot of help outside of DJ. After Tripp I understood the need for a village much more. It’s so important to accept the help where you can.

– Take it truly one day at a time. Those early months can feel like Groundhog Day often, but it helps to find something specific for you to look forward to for yourself each day- for me it was a walk or an afternoon mug of Nespresso. Understand that everything is a stage. The hard ones, the amazing ones. One day at a time.

-Doing all the things (getting both kids ready, leaving the house, making meals, finding routines) is a muscle that needs exercised. It WILL get easier the more you do it. You will find your system. It just takes time & it will need adjustments as the kids grow and needs change.

-Don’t underestimate what a midday dance party to toddler bops can do for everyone’s mood! …Along with just being silly. Silliness has been such a great way to connect with Quinn even if we don’t have a lot of actual time one on one. There’s always a way to make a moment silly, you just have to find it/create it.

-Get outside as much as possible

-Have a toy bin rotation system. This helped sooo much in those early days! I’d just bring out a bin of toys Quinn hadn’t seen in a while & it did a decent job occupying her.

– Two things can be true at once. This may be my number one piece of advice. I can’t tell you how many tears I cried over the guilt I felt for struggling in the first year of this transition. We had our healthy miracle baby I had prayed so much for, and yet I was still struggling big time. I felt weak and undeserving of the tears- “what is wrong with me?!” I thought. But those trenches are tough. The sleep deprivation is tough. The managing your own nervous system, your toddler’s and a colicky baby’s nervous system is tough. It’s ok to be the most grateful, full of love, overjoyed you’ve ever been while also being exhausted, feeling isolated and admitting you need help. It took me a long time to realize how absolutely ok it is for all of this to exist at once.

Despite how hard some moments of this time of life can be, there’s never a question that the joy of the newest addition outweighs the difficult moments in a truly inexpressible way. Your heart will grow in a way you didn’t even know was possible! Seeing your little ones bond is a taste of heaven! The sweet moments are even sweeter, the fun moments are even more fun! You have so much to look forward to that you may not even realize now.

Well thank you for letting me babble. Not sure that this was even all that helpful, but maybe it will resonate with someone out there!

Mackenzie