Happy Monday and happy first full week of 2020! We had a fun weekend with our little fam and celebrated Caleb's 30th birthday this past weekend! He turned 30 on Saturday and he chose taking the boys to see the new Star Wars movie as what he wanted to do to celebrate. It was such a special day and activity for him to experience with the boys. He's loved Star Wars his whole life, so for him to be able to take his boys to see one of the movies in theaters...let alone the last one of the saga, was truly a dream come true for him. I definitely teared up at the beginning watching him snuggle with Kai and read the opening scroll to him. ALSO, the movie was fantastic...people are crazy for not liking it! We ended the day with vanilla cupcakes w/ caramel buttercream frosting that Kai and I made and they were so delicious! I'll definitely be sharing the recipe on here soon.

Today I wanted to share with you all about Wrigley's "new" dog food that he's been eating. A while back, I had done a post on the food that Wrigley use to eat and ended up taking it down and putting a note up in a different post about how we were no longer feeding Wrigley that food due to the company dealing with lawsuits regarding their food. I'm not entirely sure what came of the lawsuits and if what consumers were suing them for was even true, but we didn't want to chance it regardless of the outcome. I'm happy to report that we've found Wrigley an incredible all natural dog food that he has been thriving on for the last year! We've been feeding him Redford Naturals Lamb & Potato and not only do we believe this is a healthy option for him but we can literally see it. He has more energy and just seems all around happier. We noticed a difference in him after just a few days of eating this food!

THE INGREDIENTS
​All the ingredients that is listed in this dog food is real. If you look at the list yourself, you'll be able to tell what each thing is, which I absolutely love. I want to know the things that Wrigley is consuming every day. This particular recipe that we feed Wrigley has lamb as the main ingredient followed by turkey meal, dried potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, and dried peas. I personally love that this recipe has peas in it because peas are actually one of the best foods you can feed your dog! I found this out thanks to Kai dropping peas all over the floor and ensuring it was safe for Wrigley to eat them. Wrigley has never been a big fan of chicken so we sought out a blend that didn't have chicken in it and landed on the lamb. They have plenty of other options though including a chicken option and a salmon option.

GRAIN FREE vs REGULAR RECIPE
There's been a whole debate on whether or not we should be giving our dogs grain free dog food and I'm here to tell you that we should all be steering clear of grain free food for our pups. The only reason to give our dogs grain free dog food is if they have an allergy to grain. This advice is coming straight from multiple vets, including Wrigley's vet. Feeding our dogs grain free dog food can actually increase their risk for heart disease. Redford Naturals offers plenty of both types, grain free and regular, which is another reason I really like this brand. It caters to both groups and makes it easy for us to know that Wrigley is getting all the nutrients he really needs to live a long and healthy life.

WRIGLEY'S MEAL SCHEDULE
Wrigley gets 3 scoops of Redford Natural lamb food every day totaling 1 Cup of food per day. He gets a scoop for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but he tends to be a grazer. He goes back and forth all day long to grab some here and there, so we make it a point to always have some food in his dog bowl. We've taught Kai not to mess with it but on the occasion he does love to feed Wrigley, which is the cutest thing. Wrigley does get a decent amount of table food these days thanks to Kai's messiness but for the most part, this dog food is his main source of food during the day! He hasn't gained any weight since being on this food and has remained very healthy since switching over. Wrigley just turned 8 back in November.

I hope all of this was helpful for all you dog moms and dads! Just remember, if you plan on switching your dog's food, slowly wean them off their old food and on to their new food. If you can't do this for any reason, you can do a hard stop and offer pumpkin to help clear and reset their digestive system and then offer them the new food. If you’re interested in trying out Redford Naturals for your pup, you can purchase it at Pet Supplies Plus. It comes in a 4 lbs bag and a 28 lbs bag.
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Be sure to follow me on Instagram for lots of cute pup photos!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you welcomed 2020 in the perfect way for you whether that was a night out on the town or cozied up at home. We opted to stay in this NYE and have a quiet and cozy little night at home. We put the boys to bed, snuggled up with some Prosecco, and listened to some good music while the year changed from 2019 to 2020. It was perfect for us and exactly how I wanted to start out this new year and decade! It brought me pure joy...which is my word of the year for 2020!

I spent a lot of 2019 angry, sad, and tired. I finished out the year on a high note of being very happy and refreshed from giving birth to Finn, but if I'm being totally honest, most of the year was not like that. So this year, I want to continue down the path I started at the end of 2019 and focus on the joy of life.

First off, I want to bring joy to those around me. Whether it be a stranger that I smile at to brighten their day a little more, to my closest friends and honing in on their love languages. One of my personal strengths is reading people and understanding them, but doing so takes time. I want to take that time to really focus on others to bring more joy in to their lives. Most importantly, Caleb, Kai, and Finn. They bring me more joy than I could have ever imagined so I want to ensure I am doing the same for them each and every day.

I also want to bring myself more joy. I know from personal experience you can't just be happy at the snap of your fingers. Trust me, I tried that a lot in the last 2 years...it doesn't work, at least not for me. It takes time and sometimes it takes help. I struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety for awhile after giving birth to Kai, so I have promised to be honest with myself that if I start to feel that way again, I will seek help sooner rather than later. It's never something you want to admit...that something's wrong, but it's so important for not only yourself but for your family, too. At the end of the day, if I take care of myself mentally, physically, and spiritually, I will feel joy. I don't need to do big, grand, fancy things for myself, I just have to take care of myself and allow myself to be who I am. What I've learned is when you finally love yourself for who you are, that's when you will finally be happy with your life. I want to make sure I am always in a place to feel that way and truly feel the joy in life. So I'll be focusing on doing whatever it is I need to do to bring myself all the joy in the world!

I hope you start this year out focusing on whatever it is you need to do to feel joy and better yourself, as well! Share with me in the comments some of your resolutions, mantras, and words of 2020!

Happy Monday, dear friends! I can't believe 2019 is almost over. Is it just me or did this year fly by!? This year has been a crazy one for the books years for us. We started out the year with a one year old and now we're saying goodbye to it with a toddler and a newborn! At times it's seems like a lot but having Finn in our lives has also given me so much drive and focus. He is exactly the REFRESH I needed this year. He has given us so much love and joy already and I'm so grateful I was able to spend this year focusing on my time with Kai and preparing for Finn to join us. I've been able to let go of so much negativity that has been weighing me down and have been able to move on from the complicated emotions that 2018 brought. I'm truly looking forward to what 2020 is going to bring for our little family, but I'm so grateful for 2019 and the growth that happened during this year. I started my dream job this year, had such a powerful birth experience, and gained a lot of confidence in myself as a mother and woman. Let's take a walk down memory lane of this refreshing year!

I always look forward to a new year and a fresh start but I will be a little nostalgic for 2019 though. It's time to say goodbye though, so cheers 2019, it's been refreshing!

Hello hello everybody! I can't believe this is the last week of 2019! Where did this year go?! I feel like every year flies by faster and faster but I am so looking forward to what this next year is going to bring.

Now that Finn is here, it's time to do our monthly baby dates again for the next year! I'm so excited to be sharing these kinds of posts again...I really missed them after Kai turned one. I'll be titling them "Little Finn Bug Dates" and my goal is to most them monthly as close to the 23rd as possible. We call him our little love bug, so that's where is nickname of Finn Bug comes from. I ordered these fun little wooden monthly signs from Juniper Engraving and plan to use them for the monthly photos we take of Finn, too! So let's dive right in...

Weight: 10 lbs 4 oz
Height: 21 inches

Your birth was truly miraculous, Finn. Within days, I was feeling wonderful and from the moment I held you, I felt like it was the perfect fit. Everything felt so natural with you! You latched within the first 45 minutes of your life, you fit like a glove in my arms, and you were just so calm and peaceful with both me and your dad. We had to stay in the hospital for an extra day because of how quickly you came in to this world but it all worked out for the best. You had a little bit of jaundice after your first day of life, so it was a bit of a relief to have the doctors and nurses close to check on you for that extra day. Our hospital stay was so relaxing and peaceful, so I was grateful for the extra time to snuggle and bond with you, too. We came home on Monday, November 25th and started our journey as a family of 5!

You of course met your grandma within the first couple of hours of your life along with your big brother. They came to visit us every day in the hospital and were there to welcome us home. You also got to meet some of your great aunts and uncles as well as your Nana at your big cousin's birthday party! Nana held you all night at the party and you absolutely loved it. We wish your grandpa could be here with us, too, but we know he is smiling so big and looking down on you from Heaven.

You fit right in with our little family. Kai absolutely adores you. He gently pats you and loves to give you kisses. He gives you hugs in the morning when you wake up and enjoys holding you on the couch. He asks you to play all the time and likes to bring you his cars to share. You might be Wrigley's favorite right now, too. He loves how tiny you are and how you aren't a little terror on him, ha! He loves to give you kisses, too, and is always close by to keep you safe.

You're a bit of a lazy eater and love your sleep. You liked to fall asleep while nursing a lot and it was a bit of a challenge keeping you awake, especially that first week of your life. You lost a little too much weight by the time we took you to your first doctor's appointment so we turned to supplementing with some formula from a bottle to bring your weight back up. We only needed to do this for a couple of days though as my milk came in after only two days of nursing and pumping at home. You're nursing and drinking from a bottle like a champ now and gained two pounds in your first month!

Right off the bat, you got to celebrate your first Thanksgiving! We stayed home and celebrated this yummy holiday with just our little family. Grandma came over in the morning for pumpkin pancakes and we watched the Thanksgiving parade. Dad made a mini Thanksgiving dinner that we all enjoyed and just had a nice little cozy day at home. We've had plenty of adventures since then though! The following day, we went to the mall and you and Kai met Santa! We've had a good amount of trips to Target, went on a drive to look at the Christmas lights around town, and went to your big cousin's birthday party. Our favorite thing to do though is to just stay cozied up at home and enjoy our Christmas decorations and watch lots of Christmas movies.

Your favorite things to do are eat, sleep, hang out with your big brother, baths, slinging, and tummy time! You love being on your belly and I love getting down on the floor with you. You always open up your big beautiful eyes and look at me. You enjoy being in your rocker or swing and having Kai come say hi and bring you cars. You've been a wonderful sleeper and have given Mama and Dad some good stretches of rest during the night. I love snuggling you and watching all your cute facial expressions all the time. You like to make grumpy faces and you have the cutest little side smile right now.

You've brought so much more love and joy in to my life, which I didn't think was possible until you were here. Sure, I've been a little apprehensive this month but mostly it's because I love you so dang much. We're in a great groove now little one, and you truly fit in so perfectly with our family. We all love you so much little love bug, welcome to the crew!

Our time in the hospital with Finn was truly so special and peaceful. It was an amazing bonding time with him and it was actually relaxing this time around for us. I truly loved just snuggling with Finn in bed and I actually got up and moved around this time, which made a huge difference. We rocked in the chair and sat by the window. We kept it simple with minimal visitors so that we could just bond as our little family and get me the proper rest I needed.

These photos perfectly capture the pure happiness we all felt those first couple days of Finn's life and I can literally feel my heart beating in my chest when I watch the video that our dear friend Brandie created for us. It brings true tears of joy to my eyes and I'm so excited to begin this next phase of our journey.

​I can't believe at one time I was frightened to bring this little life in to this world. From the moment Finn was born, it felt like he's always belonged in our family. I instantly fell in love with this little boy from the moment I witnessed him coming out of me. Yes, I sat up enough that I could see him coming and it was the most magical thing I've ever seen. I'm so honored to be his mama and I still can't believe how blessed I am to have two little boys that I get to love an unfathomable amount.

Photos and video courtesy of Bourbon Oak Tree Photography & Film