Hold on January, let me take a breather....

Holy long time, right?  You might have thought we forgot how to type or something!  Almost friends...almost.  

Are you a "New Years Resolution" kinda person? I'm not.  Never have been.  But this year's different.  
More on that later.

It's been downright cray cray around here.  Please tell me you relate?

We spent Thanksgiving in Nashville, as we always do.  We came home and got to have an awesome date night out with none other than Mr. Garth Brooks!!!!  

Then left two weeks later for Disney.  Came home and two days later it was Christmas! Talk about hectic. 

Like packing and unpacking, then packing again. And long car rides and long shopping days.  Then another car ride and a quick flight that ended in puke.  

Yes, puke.  

Then princesses and parades and lines.  

Ohhhh the lines.  

And more charters and yes...more lines. And trolleys and monorails and some not-so-friendly mousekateers (more on that in a future post....they lied...it's not the happiest place on Earth).  

Then baking cookies and frantic last minute wrapping at midnight.  Lots of family and a whole lot of food.  More gifts. More food.  More toys.  Noisy ones...thanks family...

But most importantly....

MEMORIES.

Soooooo many gosh darn memories....

It's 10PM right now and I have two sleeping babies.  The house is quiet and as I sit in my dark bedroom typing... I'm taking my time...watching Shark Tank (secret obsession) ....taking deep breaths and .....soaking it all in.

All of it.   

I've had a lot of time off of work over the past two months due to holidays and our Disney vacation.  I normally work 8-5 everyday and have little time at home with my girls and hubby.  This past two months has been stressful and exhausting but oh so fantastic all at the same time.  I've been able to spend some quality time with my family and make memories that will last a lifetime. 

We're so very blessed and sometimes it's easy to forget that.

Enter New Years Resolution here...

We've got a very sick baby on our hands this week, which led to more time off of work for me.  I've seen doctors twice, Walgreen's too many times to mention and have a small pharmacy sitting on my kitchen counter.  About 3 hours ago I found myself sitting in the middle of the living floor surrounded by building blocks and dress up clothes and tissues and Tylenol, with a two year old on one knee and an 8 month old laying helplessly on my shoulder.  And slowly but surely the tears began to fall.  I felt helpless and exhausted and like I couldn't make it one more hour until bedtime routine.  Then, Paisley turned around and looked at me like she'd just seen a ghost.  I'm not sure if she's ever seen me cry.  She slowly sat back down on my knee, this time facing me.  She very slowly and gently wiped away my tear and whispered "ohhhh don't cry baby".   

Enter more tears...

She somehow got it.  She knew sissy was sick and Mama needed her help.  Her little finger to wipe away my tear and her sweet little whisper made it all ok.  

Unfortunately, my girls are used to me being gone a lot.  I have to wake up almost every day and explain to Paisley why I can't play with her today, but will as soon as I come home.  And then, I lie and tell her I'll be home really, really soon.  The 3 hours a night I get with them seems to fly by.  So these past two months of vacations and holidays and me being home a lot more than normal has created a couple of adorable little mama's girls.  

And this mama is choosing to be present.

Because in a few short days, life goes back to normal.  God-willing my sweet little Guthrie is healthy by Monday, our normal routine will once again be in full swing.  And, my hours with my family will be minimal again.

So, I'm choosing to be present.  I'm putting away the phone.  I'm not thinking about work.  I'm playing on the floor with my kids and having real conversations with my husband.  I'm going to stop staying up too late and start eating healthier so that I feel better.  I'm going to spend more time doing things I want to do that I don't take the time for.  If I do things that make me happy, I'll be happier for my kids and my husband.  And, I want to show my children how to be happy.  Not stressed and tired and on a time crunch.  

I'm choosing to be present in 2015.  

What are you choosing???

We went to the Zoo...

Eight weeks have come and gone and it's time for me to head back to work.  Thankfully my Dad Boss was kind enough to allow to spend an extra two weeks at home with my family before officially jumping back into the whole "Working Mama" thing.  We've been working hard trying to finish up some projects and spend as much quality time together as we can before Monday rolls around!  Soooo…..we decided to go to the Zoo.

Yes, the Zoo.  

With a two year old and a one month old.

In June.

In 85 degree Midwest humidity.  

I'm pleased to report, that it was MORE than a success!  I did some major planning before hand.  We wanted to keep things budget friendly, comfortable for the baby and fun for the toddler!

The plan was to prepare lunches, snacks and plenty of water and drinks the night before.  I had my cooler ready to be loaded by the fridge.  The diaper bag was packed and ready.  All of our clothes were set out.  Breakfast was prepared, in the fridge and ready to eat on the go.  We basically had to wake up, feed Baby G, load the truck and hit the road.

I made sandwiches, bagged chips, froze water bottles, had ice bags ready, fruit chews, cheese sticks, fruit, candy bars, and any other possible snack the hubby, toddler or baby might need!

I was prepared.  
Very prepared.  
Or so I thought…..

Have I ever told y'all that we make some good sleeping babies!?!?  KNOCK ON WOOD. 

Like clockwork, Guthrie goes to sleep around 9PM and wakes up around 6AM every. single. day.

My plan was to use Guthrie as my alarm clock, as I have every day for the past 7 weeks, feed her, load the cooler and bags, get dressed, wake up Paisley and head to the Zoo. All in that order.

So, it's Zoo day and I've prepared my butt off the night before.

Morning comes.

I hear Guthrie start to move around so I roll over and glance at the clock.

It said 8:12.

8:12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't start judging, y'all!  I absolutely refuse to complain about my 7 week old baby sleeping for 11 hours straight!  Not gonna happen.  That sweet girl is is a Godsend and I know how lucky and blessed we are! 

Sleep away, Baby G!

So we continued with the plan.  Fed Guthrie, packed the bags, got dressed, loaded the truck and hit the road.  Two hours behind schedule.

It was 10 AM.

We live two hours from the Zoo.

We stopped for gas and grabbed some fuel for Mama and Daddy, too!

We arrived at the Zoo, found parking and loaded the big ol' double stroller.

We walked into the Zoo.  
It was 12 PM.  
Time for lunch.

Then….finally…it was time to check out some animals!!!

We started with an animal show which Paisley really, really wanted to participate in….

We rode the train…

Stopped for Dip N Dots regardless of the fact that I had packed every snack ever created....

Checked out more animals...

Took a few naps….

And then....

a big ol' animal took a dump right in front of her precious little eyes!

and, "Mama! It was yucky!!!"

Oh..that face...

The face of a successful zoo trip.  Poo Poo and all. 

Charlie and I were so pleased with the day's success, that we even treated ourselves to a beer! 

Here's our best "Zoo on a budget, with two young kids" tips!: 

• Pack your own lunch, snacks and drinks

• Don't pay to park, if possible.  Our zoo has free parking in numerous places around the zoo entrances.  

• Arrive earlier than we did to get better, closer, free parking!

• Check out the Zoo website before you go and know your potential expenses and savings.  We bought safari passes which were $12 each.  That let us ride the train and the carousel as many times as we wanted, plus passes into the children's zoo, movie, 4-D simulator and stingray exhibit. All of those things were $3-$5 per person, otherwise. And, considering Paisley rode the carousel about 175 times, we came out ahead for sure.

• Grab a map once you arrive and plan out your day.  You don't want to make the trip only to see half the zoo and walk in circles all day.

• We even saved money on gas by using our Kroger Card points and scoring $0.40 off a gallon!

• Take sunscreen and bug spray! 

• Take breaks.

• Take your time.

• Allow your kids to truly take in every moment.  Even the poo-poo ones!

• Don't keep the little one strapped down to the stroller the ENTIRE time.  Let them explore.  This also means you will need to take turns chasing them.

• HAVE FUN!!!

We had such a great day!  We laughed till we cried and made some really great memories!  

And, Paisley is still talking about the stinky poo-poo….

What budget friendly, kid-friendly trips do y'all have planned this summer!?! We'd love to hear your tips and tricks to making them successful!  

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Love of Family & Home