Rifle Paper Bow: Ari Berri Bows, Rifle Paper Collar & Leash: Clothes Pups

For me personally, the toddler stage has been WAY harder than the baby stage! The whining alone is enough to make this mama all sorts of crazy! I’ve noticed that it is worse when we get stuck in a routine of doing the same thing each day. I’ve listed some activities that she loves and we try to do at least one of these each week. Whenever we add one of these to our routine we both benefit from it…. makes her happier and in turn it makes mama happier!

1. TAKE THE DOGS FOR A WALK: Tenley is obsessed with her doggies and when I let her be a part of walking the dogs she loves it! (Plus, how cute are their matching Rifle Paper bows?!)
2. CRAYON PANDA: This place is PERFECT for toddlers! I highly recommend finding a place like this in your area. There are so many different types of age appropriate toys for them to play with.
3. PLAY DATE: Finding some local mamas to meet up with is definitely key! This is a great time for your little one to socialize with their peers and for the mamas to connect too!
4. TODDLER TIME AT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY: Most local libraries have a set schedule each week that includes an hour of toddler time. At our library this hour usually consists of reading, music/dancing, and a simple craft project. This is also a great time for you to meet other moms in your area!
5. TELLUS MUSEUM: If you don’t live near here, then it’s definitely worth a little road trip to visit! Tenley loves the fossil digging area the best!
6. A MESSY CRAFT: The messier the better! The words messy and toddler pretty much go hand-in-hand. Try finger painting outside if you don’t want paint all over your house. There are a ton of great messy activity ideas on Pinterest right now.
7. BOUNCE N’ BEANS: This place is nothing but indoor bouncy houses and it’s AMAZING! You can guarantee that your toddler will be taking a good nap after visiting this place!
8. LUNCH DATE: Sometimes just a quick change of scenery will do you both some good. Treat you and your little one to a yummy Chick-fil-A date to get out of your day to day routine.
9. POOL DAY: By far Tenley’s favorite! If you don’t have access to a pool, then try a blow up kiddie pool or water table for your backyard.

Hope this helps some of my fellow mamas out! What are some activities that you and your little one like to do?? xoxo, Carrie

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So I’m pretty sure we’ve bought every sip cup out there! The Re-Play Recycled No Spill Cups are the only ones that have not leaked on us.  Any other mamas have a toddler who loves to throw their cups on the floor??! Lucky me…. mine does!

Re-Play was kind enough to let me share a coupon code with you guys! You can use the code LittleGrace2017 to snag some of your favorite Re-Play items at 15% OFF (with a purchase of $20 or more).

Learn more about Re-Play Recycled here:

https://www.facebook.com/RePlayRecycled

https://www.instagram.com/replaymeals/

Finding the perfect gift for my husband is always a struggle for me. He doesn’t like too many “material” items and the ones he does like he buys for himself, so surprising him with something he loves is not the easiest thing in the world! Anyone else have this same problem with their spouse??

He does like watches though– thank goodness! He has his everyday watches that he wears to work, but he was still missing a “nice” watch in his collection. I wanted something that looked nice without being too dressy. That’s when I found JORD Watches— PTL! I love the look of their wood watches and the Dover Series is by far my favorite!

My husband chose the Dover Series watch in Zebrawood & Dark Sandalwood (which happened to be my favorite too). The reason I love this series so much is because they all have the exposed gears face style. I just love that look!

Can we also talk about how beautiful this packaging is?! The perfect case to display on our dresser. They also offer engravings on their watches and I definitely want to get that done too!

JORD Watches is letting me share my love for their watches with you guys too! They were generous enough to give one winner a $100 gift code towards any watch of your choice! Can I just say they have some BEAUTIFUL women’s watches. So ladies… treat yourself too! Also, EVERYONE who enters will receive a $25 gift code once the giveaway ends… how awesome is that?! Just ENTER HERE!

Giveaway ends on 7/9/17 at 11:59 PM

All codes expire on 9/30/17

Luxury Wooden Watch
//www.woodwatches.com/widget-article/carriemauldin

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I was a bit nervous for our first long road trip with Tenley. She’s not a huge fan of the car since we weaned her from her pacifier. She’s a busy girl so being stuck in one place is not her idea of fun. We were headed to Destin so it’s about a 6 hour trip. I wanted to be well prepared to avoid any meltdowns! Here’s what helped us survive our first road trip…

DIY “Busy Activities”:

1. Busy Bottle: Empty water bottle filled with plastic straws. She loved putting the straws in and out of the bottle.
2. Busy Can: Pringles can filled with plastic straws. I cleaned out an old Pringles can and covered it with kraft paper. She loved taking the lid on and off and shaking up the straws.
3. Sensory Bottle: Empty water bottle filled with uncooked rice and knick knacks. I used some charms, beads, and buttons I had in my craft supplies (they included letters, numbers, ladybugs, and cats). She liked pointing out the ladybugs and cats in the bottle and shaking it up.
4. Ball & Tunnel: The center of a paper towel roll and plastic golf ball.
5. Letter Tray: Small cookie sheet and magnetic letters. This was definitely her favorite activity and the one that lasted the longest.
6. Building Blocks: Cut up kitchen sponges. She loved stacking these on the cookie tray.
7. Bag of Post-it Notes: We used these to color on but her favorite thing was to remove them and place them on her coloring book.
8. Circle “Stickers”: Color coded labels. She had so much fun with these. They were perfect for her to peel off her self too. She loved putting these on her coloring book and herself!

Also included:

1. Baby brother doll: One of her baby dolls dressed in her baby brother’s clothes. Thought this would be good to get her use to the idea of her baby brother coming this summer. Also, why is it that all baby dolls are girls??
2. A new book: She loves animals so this touch & feel book was perfect.
3. Children’s CD: This was good for times when she was getting a little frustrated from being in the car… the music was a good distraction.
4. Minnie Mouse doll, Bubbles, Stickers, Coloring Book & Crayons, Building Blocks, Play-doh, and a Slinky
5. And when all else fails an IPHONE and lollipops! The last 30 minutes definitely included some YouTube videos of her choice and a sucker lol!

Hope these activities help you on your next road trip! I’ll also add that whenever we stopped for a bathroom break or diaper change we let her run around for a minute and burn some of that energy.

We have another one trip planned this month. What are some of your tips and tricks for traveling with a toddler?

xoxo, Carrie