Have you ever truthfully UNPLUGGED?! Before this trip I can honestly say I had not for more than two nights since I was in high school. How terrible is that :O I remember this time so vividly, and as I was getting ready to go on this current trip my aunt reminded me of it. I was a sophomore in high school and my parents were taking me for two nights to a cabin with no cell reception, I almost cried; ashamed to say this but I’m completely serious. 15 years old and my world seemed like it was crashing in when my parents told me I wouln’t be able to send ANY TEXT MESSAGES. How awful of them right?! I obviously am laughing now thinking about this and slightly embarrassed, but hey whatcha’ gonna do.

Here I am eight years later and *got* to unplug for five days and it was an amazing feeling. We went and stayed in a cabin on a lake with family; went fishing, drove the quads around, swam at the lake, played games, kayaked. We got way too many mosquito bites, caught a few toads, and hiked to a gorgeous waterfall. My favorite thing to watch was Dekker being SO into everything. I didn’t pack toys or an iPad just incase, the wilderness is what you get. At the end of everyday his feet were black, his face was smeared with dirt, but he loved it so much.

I was needing this time to step away so bad. I didn’t feel the need to scroll through my phone every night before bed, check my emails, or text anyone. Although we literally could not. haha. This time was spent interacting with my family, and focusing on the relationships in front of me. I highly suggest if you are feeling like you need to recharge to completely unplug. Sometimes at night I will put my phone away(which is good and enough) , but those five days made me feel so good and much needed.

We have been spending so much time in our home town, and we are LOVING it. Not going to lie I am going to be a little sad leaving here next month, but until then I am soaking it up. We finally found a place in Vacaville, so the first of August we will be headed that way again. This lifestyle puts us always on the move, and with two kids I for sure am I always on the move as it is.

I never realized how much I didn’t get out that often until we were here. Although my house might look like a pig pen, we are enjoying time with family and friends. Maybe I need to find a better balance.. haha. Taking the boys to places we love and grew up doing is such a joy. Chasing Dekker around our hometown and enjoying every minute!

Kanon’s denim outfit and Dekker’s shirt are from the lovely Blu & Blue : They have the cutest buttery soft denim clothing for little ones!!

I’ve chatted a little bit about being this non-realistic SUPER MOM before, and as much as I wish I was that I just am not. I don’t know every answer to everything about parenting, but I always love to share how I do things in hopes to help someone out there. People always ask if things were easier the second time around. In terms of some knowledge I’d say yes, but over all I would say you pretty much start from the bottom again. I say this because every baby is so different, and you have to play the guessing game on whats going to work this time.

Lets talk sleep. sleep. Sleep is super important around here, but if we miss nap time then we suck it up and deal with it. This might sound crazy, but I think our kids feed off the energy we put out there. I am easy going and our lifestyle is all about being flexible with no plans, so I feel like our children most of the time are really well with adjusting. Majority of the time Kanon takes a morning and afternoon nap( about an hour plus each) , and both kids are in bed by 8 pm.(Dekker also takes a 3 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon). I am not saying if you are out and about just let your kids skip naps, but occasionally when we are lets say wanting to see fire works I let my kid stay up late or maybe we had a day at the zoo. Lets just say we don’t let our kids schedules run our lives completely. haha. If nap time is delayed thirty minutes that is OK for us. And if we need to adjust nap time to an hour earlier to make it somewhere in the afternoon, that is OK for us.

Now for our bedtime routine.. kids do need a lot of  consistency in their lives, so we do try and have it there as much as possible. For any first time mamas, or pregnant mamas my key of some really good sleepers is starting on a schedule right away. I can’t explain how important this has been for especially for Kanon. I was a lot more strict with Kanon, because you dont want to have to sleep train later on( which we did with Dekker). Here is how our night time routine goes>>> 1. Baths and/or clean baby with a wipe ( everyone gets a better nap sleep when you’re squeaky clean) 2. Always put your kids in Pjs( We LOVE our > BABYBREEZ <Sleepers for both boys.) 3.Brush teeth( we started this really young with Dekker and he loves to brush his teeth now) 4. diffuse oils ( I am all about some yummy oils diffusing during night time to help my kids sleep) 5. Wrap Kanon in swaddle ( I forced this kid to like a good swaddle haha) 6. Feed/ burp (Kanon) 7. Lay Kanon in bed awake 8. Read book with Dekker

Sleeper by BabyBreez

Photography by Angela Nunnink Photography

XO

We spent the last week unpacking and settling in Vacaville only to find out we would not be calling that home. A few empty promises and it did not work out exactly how we had expected. This life is so wild, and right now it is REALLY wild. We are missing a huge factor on where the heck do we park our home?!  I talked on my Instagram about the feelings during moving and all the changes that go with it. The stresses are at a all time HIGH over here. We have stuff all over the place. Piles of laundry in both of our parents houses. Hoping around from house to house. Sleep schedules on wack.  My car even looks like I live in it currently. We are ready to get to the place we will call home.

We have been searching for *that* place, and for now we are headed to Auburn, CA. We will be bouncing around a lot more than usual, which could be pretty fun but also crazy..haha. Mu husband will be commuting A LOT. But honestly  this is kind of how I imagined things would be when we first started traveling, but we have been lucky to have been able to stay in three places for such a “long” time.  Here goes nothing.. more traveling, and a lot more adventures ahead for this family of four.

We are still SO blessed and happy to be by family; Auburn now only being a 30 minute drive from our parents. This is very temporary, but we are excited and ready to take this all on. Wish us luck!!

XO

Photography by Angela Nunnink Photography

Happy Thursday guys!!  We got THE CUTEST mom and tot subscription box in the mail. If you want your heart to melt go check out my Insta stories (@blakeashlyn) of my big boy opening it up. I think he gets more excited than I do when he gets mail. I’m sure all kids are like this, but its just so special to them. This little box comes with goodies for mom and your littles. Win Win.

This could be a perfect gift for nieces, nephews, grand kids, or your own children. In our box we received it was handpicked from some awesome small businesses that I will share the names of below. Go check these adorable boxes out!

In our box we got the cutest shirt from Little dude n dudette that says “The Future”. The actual best multi color felt numbers from Buckettoyz. These are so perfect for my boy who is learning his numbers and colors right now, and this makes it so fun. Next, who doesn’t love a good wooden toy?! Timber Wolf concepts is a family owned shop that makes all their own toys and crafts and Dekker got a little bus that is perfect for this car loving boy. Last but not least mama got the yummiest bath tea. This made the whole box smell sooo good. It is almost like a bath bomb but its called a bath tea and is all natural, vegan, and cruelty free. The bath tea is from Soapy Layne and all homemade in Orange County, CA.

I always like sharing what is making my life easier with two(kids) these days, and as difficult as it may be; getting out more often helps so much. This big guy is an explorer. We have to let him run out that energy.. and boy OH boy come 5 pm and he is a loony if he didn’t have a busy day. This morning we went to Seal Beach and enjoyed some much needed walking around just the four of us. Morning Beach walks are my all time FAVORITE!! 65 degree weather with a little mist is heaven. These are the types of things I love about traveling around. We came from the mountains have done are fair share of time in the desert, and now to have the beach a quick ten minutes away.

Now lets talk about this crazy 2 year old… he is officially in the stage of wanting to pick out his clothes. AHHH.  Last night he ended up with some yellow leggings and green shorts over the top. haha. You win some you loose some peeps. Not only does he want to pick his own clothes out, but if you put clothes on him that he isn’t diggin’ YOU are in trouble. This romper from RAD REVOLUTION KIDS has been a favorite for him. He may have worn it already twice this week… It’s only Tuesday. He says its comfy, and trust me if they had it in my size I would be ordering it. Also They have the cutest little swimmers for boys, swaddles, and more. Go check it out, so soft and great quality. We are IN LOVE.

BABY BOY IS FOUR MONTHS OLD! Once again I can not believe it. Now to the updates and the cool things happening with this big bad  four month old. He is all smiles. I mean look at that big smile below.  He is SO curious about his big brother and everything he does. I think his favorite thing is to just watch Dekker play, he is so content when this is going on. He officially can roll over now. yay! Hitting those milestones over here. Dekker loves to help him roll over during tummy time its pretty cute.  Kanon showered us with his first few giggles, there is nothing better than hearing that for the first time. First time was giggling at Mimi (my MIL) apparently she is pretty silly. He still sleeps almost twelve hours every night. Baby boy loves his blankets so much. He will be upset and you put the blanket up to his cheek and he is happy as can be. We are struggling with tummy issues, which is so sad. He is one gassy? pukey? baby. haha. He has discovered those little hands of his and is a slobber monster already. This month he went on his first train ride. Pretty exciting for a baby, but the rest of us had fun. On to the next month of your life baby boy. To start this month off we are headed on his first plane!!

I get asked ALL the time, ” how do you do it?! I could never do that”. If you’ve followed me for a while you know that for the past TWO years my family has been traveling around California in a renovated fifth wheel trailer. We have moved three times so far, which is not as much as I had expected but it is still a lot for the average person.

I would like to say I love traveling and this lifestyle, but things are definitely not always easy. There are days when I may have melt downs, because I want to be by family or because there is more clutter than I would like.(Living in a small space gets messy very easily) There are days when I want to buy all the home decor in the world. There are days when I want to sell it all, and buy a house. Small quarters with FOUR people, less storage for clothes, toys, food, and definitely space. So how do I do it?! My answer to this is pretty simple. We do this to be a family. So my kids and I can see my hubby and their dad every night. So that I can fulfill  my dream job of being a stay at home mom, and my husband gets to work in the field he loves. We get to spend weekends together going to the beach, exploring new towns, and living our lives TOGETHER. All of the cons to living in a small space are no where near to the pros. We get rid of things often when they are no longer needed, we have to meal plan to fit all the food, and living in tight quarters forces us to explore and get out more.

Although this is temporary, and this chapter in our lives will end in a about a year and a half; we will be ready and happy for our next step in our adventure.  Our days of no dish washer, no privacy , and very small kitchens will be over. Until then everything we need is all right here in this 35 foot trailer.

Photography by Megan Genovese

This year mother’s day happened to fall on Dekker’s 2  1/2 year  “birthday”. This boy made me a mama, and boy does he have my heart. Two and a half year olds can be such a pain in the booty, but they are SOOO cute I can’t take it. ugh. I am obsessed with his little voice learning new things, and his goofy personality. In the past three months Dekker has had two elbows out of socket.. pray for us that this doesn’t happen again. I think I said that last time, but hey the more prayers the better. This last time happened when we were in Las Vegas.. all of about two hours in!! I knew instantly when it happened because he had the same reaction.. poor guy! After FACETIMING an ER doc, and having a friend who was going to nursing school help us it was good as new. In his words “It working! It working!! Look! It working”, as he waved his little hand. So as you can tell life with Dekker is an ADVENTURE!!  He is a lover of all things; ninja turtles, robots, planes, and trains. He loves going to the aquarium, and the park. His favorite foods are broccoli, Mac n cheese, pb&js, quesadillas, and chicken. We are on week two of potty training and it is going much better than expected. YAY!

Dekker’s biggest achievment in the last six months has been becoming a BIG BROTHER! How on earth did I get so lucky with these two. Adjusting was tough, but these two little boys are everything to me!! When Dekker isn’t purposely throwing toys at his brother, or trying to lay on him( basically giving me a heart attack on the daily) he can be a sweetie pie to baby brother. He is always concerned when Kanon is crying, and tells me to help his brother. haha. Every morning he wants to hold baby brother and kiss his little forehead. The moments where he is so tender and sweet to Kanon kill me!! The sweetness does happen often, but there are times where I just have to keep them apart. haha. This may be a little snippet of my future guys!!

There is so much to learn little one, and I am so eager to see what these next six months bring! How can he possibly be so big!!!

xoxo

Photo by: Megan Genovese

As you know our family is on the go A LOT. Recently the boys and I took a trip to Vegas to go meet family for my cousins 21st birthday. I forgot how much stuff you have to pack with a baby :O You really have to be ready for anything, there are always the unexpected sickness’, the blow outs, and of course the endless spitting up when it comes to Kanon. On our trip my family members had been helping me with the boys and I forgot to check when we went out to breakfast if the diaper bag was still full. You betcha’ it wasn’t… Dekker may have had to squeeze into his little cousins diaper for a few hours. Being unprepared is SO stressful. Any first time mamas out there… go everywhere with diaper bag loaded, and double check every time you leave the house haha. Two things that I always have on me our these two products from Nuby.

First are these all natural  pacifier wipes. I have a binky boy over here, and it is always dropping on the floor when we are on the go. These are perfect to keep in your bag. They come with 48 vanilla milk flavored wipes available at baby depot at Burlington or Kmart.

Last thing is my FAVORITE baby product I own you guys!!

It’s the breathe-eez portable nasal aspirator, immediate and effective relief from nasal congestion. I can’t say enough good things about this honestly. Kanon is sick right now, and it has saved the poor little guy. You control the suction( which may gross you out), but it works SO well. If baby is happy than mama is happy right?! Also I love this one because it comes in a small case for easy travel, so I always leave it in my diaper bag just in case. Even better its available at Amazon.. go get it!!!

Sponsored by Nuby