This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click through and make purchases through those links, I can earn a commission. For more information, feel free to see our full disclosure.
Happy Monday & Happy April! Is that crazy to anybody else? Just me? I hope everyone had a great Easter celebration over the weekend!
Back in February I decided to start a monthly favorite things post to highlight some of the fun things we did during the month as well as any fun new products we purchased or particularly enjoyed. It was fun and so I’m doing it again – this time for March. Instead of just recapping March though, I want to also give you a quick look ahead April and some of the things I’m working on!
March Wrap-Up and Favorite Things
March was definitely another whirlwind of a month. We took our first overnight trip as a family of four, started to get on a somewhat predictable routine, and baby Hug turned 2 months old. It’s hard for me to fully accept how quickly the time is flying by, but I have really been itching for warmer weather around here after we had such a great tease of spring early in the month.
So without further intro, here’s a little bit of what’s been going on over here in the last month.
Celebrating
My brother in-law’s wedding. We took our first weekend trip (and first overnight trip period) as a family of four a few weekends ago. The wedding ended up being really beautiful and it was a great time to spend with so many family members from all over the country. One of my favorite parts was watching Little play with some of his cousins.
Reading
Baby Wise and 1-2-3 Magic for me because that’s the season we’re in over here with a toddler and new-born.
Little has been reading all the animal books he can get his hands on from the library and our favorites are this Seedlings series. We have at least 16 of these books currently checked out. #noshame
He’s also been enjoying getting a new book each month from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. I actually love this too. If you have kids under the age of 5, I HIGHLY recommend you check to see if this program is available where you live. If it is, you simply sign up and wait to be approved. Once approved, your child or children will receive a book in the mail (mailed to them with their name on it, which is VERY exciting for little ones) each month until they turn 5 at no cost to you. I recently signed Hug up, and we’re waiting on his first book. You can check for availability here!
Making
Fun bird nest cookies for Easter and sticker eggs for Easter! There were so many other fun things I wanted to do for Easter, but to be honest, just wasn’t able to get around to. Next year…
Eating
These banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. We made them twice in March to salvage some really ripe bananas. Little called them banana cookies and they were a great treat to make together while keeping us from wasting the bananas.
Buying
A farm animals t-shirt for Little and a new hair dryer for me. I bought this sweet t-shirt from my friend Justine over at Little Dove Blog and Shop.
I also bought this new hair dryer for myself after seeing it reviewed by some of the bloggers that I follow and have enjoyed using it so much. It get my hair a lot straighter than using the hair dryer alone so I don’t always feel the need to straighten my hair with the straightener after.
I also picked up this dry shampoo after so many of you recommended it on Insta-stories and was able to go 4 days without washing my hair before it started to look crazy. So you could say we’re BFF’s now.
Routines
I am so happy to report that we are getting on a somewhat predictable schedule around here. Little is taking a nap again (insert praise hands emoji here) and Hug takes 3 naps each day. Sometimes they overlap well and I can get some work done and other times they only overlap for a little bit, but I can at least better plan our days knowing about how much time I have between naps.
Looking forward to
Warmer weather. I think that speaks for itself. It’s been so cold over here and while I know that spring is coming, I am ready for it to be here to stay.
Around the Web
- Free stock images for bloggers – fun and feminine stock images for bloggers from my friend Alexandra over at These Mama Moments. The feautre image of this post and the pin are both from this collection of images!
- Long Days, Short Years – a really honest essay on motherhood from Bethany over at Waves and Lilacs
- Dyeing Eggs Naturally – another one by Bethany and I’m in love with how the colors turned out! We’re doing this next year!
- Why Parenting Shouldn’t Be Easy – loved this so much and have read it over again! By Melissa over at Loving Life Moore
- The One with The Ladder – a short real life moment in marriage by Bee over at La Vida Vera. This was too relate-able for me and I’m sure so many others. Be sure to check out Bee’s blog for a healthy dose of real life and inspiration.
On the Blog
March was hands-down the best month on the blog to date. My leprechaun sand post went somewhat viral and ended up being viewed close to 20,000 times which was a pleasant surprise.
I’ve been working to come up with more fun kids activities to share here as well as to incorporate more personal life updates and things that we’re doing here as well. I realized that when I read blogs, I really enjoy feeling like I’m getting to know a blogger and get to actually follow along with the things they share. So I’m hoping to be able to share more of those kinds of things.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to celebrate the blog’s birthday over here. That’s right – Live Well Play Together is turning 1! In some ways that’s crazy and in other ways it seems like I’ve been doing this for so long. I’m excited to see what Year 2 has in store.
Looking Ahead: An Announcement
Finally, I’m really excited to announce that I’ve partnered with Baby K’tan as a Brand Ambassador for the coming months. That means that over the next few months, I’ll be sharing some of the ways I’ve been using Baby K’tan products as I’ve been adjusting to life with 2 little ones. I got my first Baby K’tan Baby Carrier when I had Little and used it some. But, now that I have two, baby wearing is something that I almost depend on to be able to get things done around here and I’m looking forward to sharing that with you all so stay tuned for that!
In Case You Missed It
And in case you missed anything on the blog in March, be sure to check out the recent posts:
Leprechaun Sand: A St. Patrick’s Day Science Experiment for Kids
20 St. Patrick’s Day Crafts & Activities for Kids
Postpartum Body Image: 5 Things I’ve Learned & How I’m Embracing It
No-Bake Mini-Egg Bird Nest Cookies for Easter
Day Trip NC: Our Trip to the Greensboro Science Center
Sticker Eggs: An Easy Easter Craft for Toddlers
And that’s a wrap! Three cheers for a fun and productive April, am I right?!
Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date with the latest and greatest over here!
I would LOVE to hear your take on BabyWise sometime! I’ve listened through the audiobook twice and am wondering how realistic/helpful the principles are to implement. It all sounds great in theory! 🙂 Found this looking back through for your ‘favorites’ posts! 🙂
I am happy to share – or talk over any of what we’ve done! This time around, I have been a lot more intentional with sleep habits and trying to start them from the beginning. (We haven’t done any sort of official sleep training since he’s just over 4 months old at this point.) BUT, the biggest take away for me was understanding how often babies need sleep (usually ready to nap about 60-90 minutes after waking up), and not waiting to gently put baby down asleep, but instead drowsy so that he has been working to learn to fall asleep on his own from the beginning.
This is not to say there is not a lot of snuggling – especially in the newborn weeks because babies like to snuggle a lot and so do I. But, especially once his naps became more regular, for example, I always wait to put him in his sleep sack until I finish nursing him. So, I nurse him, lay him down in the crib, put on his sleep sack. Even if he has fallen asleep nursing, this wakes him up just enough for him to be awake when I get the sleep sack zipped up and he then goes back to sleep on his own.
I could talk a lot about this, so always let me know if you have any questions. I like Baby Wise. But I will always say to do what feels right for you. And just be flexible. All babies and mamas are different!
Excited for you!! <3
Those bird nest cookies are so adorable! What a fun Easter treat 🙂
-xo, Azanique | http://www.lotsofsass.com
Thanks, girl! I made them again for Easter Sunday and they were a hit!
Cheers to a great April!
I LIVE by that dry shampoo when I get blowouts, it’s so good! Congrats on your viral post, such a great milestone for a blogger and happy anniversary! 🙂
Marissa
Thank you!! I have definitely been getting good use out of the dry shampoo these days because #momlife 😂
Happy April! You look adotable wearing the Baby Ktan. I had a pink one but could not get the hang of it.lol
Thanks so much! I have really been enjoying the K’tan. The YouTube videos have been a great resource to me in making sure I’m using it correctly.
Congrats on your leprechaun sand post going viral! So exciting! Looks like you had an awesome month. But like you, I am also looking forward to warmer weather. 🙂
March really was a good month! Hopefully the warm weather is here to stay and the pollen will be short lived! 🐝🌷🔆
Dry shampoo is every new mom’s must have. I love that brand too. So exciting about being a brand ambassador for Baby K’tan!!! Can’t wait to see what you do with it. Sounds like March was a busy one! Hope April is just as full of fun! <3 Jamie
Thanks so much! I really can’t believe I waited so long to add it to my cabinet! I have been loving the K’tan! It has been a huge help in letting me get things done with the boys!
I love a good recap post! Congratulations on all the good things that are going on!
Thanks so much!!