Simplify & enjoy life at home with littles.
In this post, you’re going to learn most of what you need to know about bringing baby home from the hospital. We’ve brought 4 babies home from the hospital, and we were definitely more prepared for those first few newborn weeks with the fourth than with the first. The first …
In this post, you will learn the BEST toddler girl gift ideas! Whether it’s for a birthday, Christmas gifts, or just for fun, I guarantee your toddlers will love these. How do I know? We have had a toddler in our house for the last 7 years. (All 4 of …
In this post, you will learn 5 ideas for how to deal with the terrible twos that actually work! We’ve gone through the two year old stage with all 4 of our kiddos, and I’ve interacted with tons of other toddlers as well. After going around the block a couple …
In this post, you will learn everything you need to know about creating a healthy sleep plan for your 2 year old. From creating a consistent nap time to healthy nightly routines to problems that could interrupt your toddler’s sleep, we’re going to walk through all the basics that will …
Today, we’re going to discuss all the things to prepare before delivery of your first baby. There are so many things to consider: from knowing a good list of items required during delivery to more mental and emotional things to prepare before giving birth. Not to mention expecting the unexpected …
Christmas is fast approaching, and I’m already hearing people joke about putting Christmas on their credit card. In the past, I’ve written about saving up little by little over the course of a year for Christmas spending. If you’re reading this in December, it’s too late for that (for this year). …
This post is meant to be an all-in-once resource for Christmas with little kids. It has a LOT packed in – everything from modeling gratitude & generosity to Advent ideas to figuring out how MUCH (or little) to actually get your kids & what are the best toys that last …
Have you ever heard of a Jesse Tree? “Using a Jesse Tree at Advent involves a series of 25 daily scriptures, devotional readings, and symbolic ornaments. Each day’s theme teaches a piece of redemption history, beginning with creation and culminating with the birth of Jesus. It is visual, interactive, and …
YNAB is by far, our favorite online budgeting tool for tracking spending and money management. YNAB costs $6.99/ month (billed annually), and the most frequently asked question I get about it is, “Why pay when there are free budgeting tools available like Mint? Is YNAB worth the money?” This YNAB …
This slow cooker vegetable beef soup/ stew recipe is from my faithful red plaid Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. If you don’t have one, get one! It’s a staple for all the basics in cooking!! Vegetable Beef Soup [Slow Cooker/ Crockpot] Ingredients 1 lb boneless beef chuck pot roast, cut …
In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to meal plan for a whole month (even if you hate meal planning). With 4 small children running around, I don’t want to spend a lot of time meal planning. So, I set up a system where I can now plan breakfasts, …
In this post, you will learn 12 simple tips for cooking dinner in the morning, 15 recipes for make-ahead dinner ideas and 10 quick & easy recipes you can pull together in less than 15 minutes. Cooking dinner in the morning has been the best meal prep tip the last …
In this post, you’ll learn which 9 items to purchase in order to build a capsule maternity wardrobe on a tight budget. We had 4 babies in 5 years (no multiples!) while paying off debt AND living on one income. So, if you are looking for some tips on a …
I hear people bemoaning the darn grocery budget all the time! It’s so hard to know how much groceries “should” be costing. In fact, one of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “how much do you spend on groceries?” or “What should your grocery bill be?” In the last couple years that …
Becoming a parent can be hard on your marriage. There’s a big learning curve, trying to figure out your new roles as parents, and how to communicate with each other. You don’t want to talk about your kids all the time, but when you finally get a quiet moment alone, …
Let’s be honest. The title of this post is ridiculous. Nothing could ever totally help you with preparing for baby. But, should you find yourself expecting a baby (or hoping for, adopting, or fostering a baby), there are a few things that might make the transition to mommy life just a …
In this post, you’ll learn the exact laundry system I figured out to the laundry overwhelm for a big family with several small children. I used to be drowning in laundry. With 4 kids under 7, there were clothes everywhere all the time. Dressup play = clean clothes all over …
Whether your food budget is $100 per month or $1,000 per month, if you want to stick to the food budget you’ve decided on, you have to know how to track your grocery spending. After all, if you have a budget, but don’t know how much you’re spending, then do …
I originally wrote this post several years ago after we got our first two babies sleeping through the night by 12 weeks. Since then, we’ve done the same thing with two more babies and thousands upon thousands of people have read and shared this post. I’ve also written a more …
Before I had children, back when I was a perfect mother, I subconsciously imagined that our mornings would be slow and cozy… I thought it would be fun to have the kids come crawl into bed with me, and we’d all wake up slowly together. There were also unicorns jumping through rainbows in this figment of …