motherhood where sleep is a rumor and laundry
is eternal and somehow we're supposed to be raising
tiny humans through it all we're here to laugh
at the chaos cry when necessary and remind you
that none of us actually know what we're doing
this is no manual a mom cast your mom friend
group chat but with microphones Welcome back
to No Manual Momcast. All right, so today we
are, we've done this episode before, probably
like what, six months ago -ish maybe? I think
it was the summer, something like that, yeah.
So we're talking all about what is saving our
lives right now. And you know, some of these
things might be repeats, can't really remember,
to be honest. We did not listen to prepare. No,
I did not. But you know, if it's a repeat. It's
consistent. It's timeless. Before we hop into
what's saving our lives, let's hop into our mom
moments of the week. I can start. Lloyd has really
been fighting brushing his teeth lately. It's
one of those parts of bedtime that... Stuart
usually has to handle it, but any time either
of us have to handle it, we're just, like, so
frustrated because Lloyd, like, bites his toothbrush
or, like, does anything he can to brush his teeth.
We're also full -blown in our car's obsession,
so we've been starting to tell him that Lightning
McQueen brushes his teeth. So, like, obviously,
we don't, it's not technically a lie. Ka -chow!
Because we're like, there is a scene where he
gets bugs in his teeth and they're not in the
teeth for the rest of his movie. So he probably
does brush his teeth. So I was like, oh, maybe
I can chat GBT to make me an image of Lightning
McQueen brushing his teeth. But it won't. Great
idea. It won't? It said it goes against like
their content creation standards or whatever,
something like that. How? The only thing I can
think is it must be a copyrighted image issue.
Because Lightning McQueen is probably. He has
to be copyrighted, right? But still, I feel like...
Pixar, if you're listening to this, we just need...
Just one simple image. Yeah, quick image. Lightning
McQueen brushing his teeth. I don't know how
he does it since he doesn't really have hands.
Yeah. Maybe it's like a car wash situation. I
don't know. It's like a float in the air. I don't
know. But we definitely are going to need that
because... It's like, it reminds me of like VeggieTales
whenever like they're holding anything because
they don't have hands. But it's just floating.
It's just floating next to them. Yeah, that's
fine. I just need evidence that Lightning McQueen
brushes his teeth. for lloyd because it kind
of helps yeah like he still doesn't love brushing
his teeth and still fights it but it helps like
it's it's working two percent better than it
was before so we'll take whatever we got but
yeah chat gpt won't create an image of it what
the heck so man yeah if anyone just like has
something like that would love it yeah an illustrator
maybe listening to this yeah yeah wow okay my
uh mom moment so uh we turned colt's crib into
like a big boy bed it's like a transitional bed
so you pretty much just take off one wall of
it and then they have like a little half wall
that you can put And Colt still like doesn't
really sleep through the night. He's usually
up once a night and needs help getting back to
sleep. But for some reason we're like let's,
you know, let's just go for it. I was like he
was hitting the side of the crib a lot and I
think that was waking him up. And so we're like
let's just try this because we do need that crib
soon for Cruz. And so we're like going to move
Colt into an actual like floor bed pretty soon.
And so we're like, let's test this out. And it's
actually gone really well. Like surprisingly,
he stays in it. Like when he wakes up in the
night, he's not like I figured he would just
like walk out, like get out of bed and walk out
of his room and like come into our room because
he knows how to open doors and stuff. But he
doesn't do that. He just like wakes up and he
sits there and like calls for us, which is. I
don't know why he does that because he can easily
climb out. But it's like kind of ideal. Yeah,
it works out great. However, of course, on a
Wednesday night when there was youth group, I'm
solo parenting all day long, put Colt to bed,
and I was like, okay, got him to bed. Like it
was good. All of a sudden I'm like I go downstairs
with Cruz, start to get him in his pajamas. All
of a sudden I hear Colt's door open. It's like.
And Colt comes running out of the room so happy.
Like he just like, I don't know, overcome the
best thing ever. And he was like laughing as
he's running down the hall, smiling at me. And
I look at him and I say, Colt, turn your butt
around. It is time for bed. I was like, you do
not come out of the room without mommy or daddy.
And he goes, he runs back to his room. He's like
laughing and happy. Get him back down. Second
time, opens the door again. And I was like, ooh,
now I was upset. Because I was like, of course
you do this on the night that I am solo parenting.
That's always how it goes. Yeah, it's always
the toughest bedtime. And just dad being in the
house changes attitudes. For sure. I don't know
what it is. Yeah. And so get him back in his
room third time. I say, you do not leave this
room unless mommy and daddy come in. And he goes,
yes. And so then he lays down. I say, good night,
buddy. I love you. Go out the door. Decided not
to go downstairs. Decided I'm just going to stand
there outside the door. See what happens. Yeah.
See what happens. All of a sudden I hear him.
He knocks on the inside of the door. I open up
the door and he's like, peeks his head around.
He goes, hi, mama. I'm like, oh my gosh. It made
me laugh so hard because I was like. I mean,
he didn't come out of the room. He did what he
was supposed to. Yeah. But he just, I thought
it was so hilarious. He just knocks on it. And
then that third time, like go in, get him down.
I think I ended up having to like hold his hand
until he went to sleep. But man, that kid, he
just cracks me up. And also I was like, that's
the only time he's done that is the night I was
solo parenting. Of course. Yeah. Other than that,
he stayed, he's like stayed in the bed when.
Yeah. And that's super impressive. He like fell
out of it one time. But we put like a pillow.
Yeah. So that it wouldn't be that hard. And it's
not like it's high from the floor. And he like
fell out. And like I could see on the monitor,
he just like crawled right back in and laid back
down. It's like. Great. So I think we're going
to do the floor bed pretty soon. That's awesome.
Yeah. I don't know if Lloyd would stay in this
bed. Yeah. You can't even get him to stay in
his chair at dinner. So. Yeah. I mean, we still
like strap Colton. So it's. Yeah. I think this
is not my mom moment, but I think we're going
to have to get a second high chair. So that way.
Lloyd can like stay strapped in because dinner
is just a battle every single day right now.
We ended up buying like a booster. Michael's
grandma bought us like a booster seat for the
chair. We have a booster seat, but it doesn't
have a buckle. Oh, yeah. Maybe we just need to
get a different booster seat or something. I
don't know. Yeah. Well, let's just hop in to
what's saving our lives. Yeah. Do you want to
go first? Sure. Okay. So my first one is planning
lunches the way I plan dinners. Oh. For me, like,
I do most of the meal planning and, like, prepping
and grocery shopping and all that for our household.
And for dinners, I, like, sit down and I'm like,
okay, Monday we're going to have hot dogs. Tuesday
we're going to have pork chops. Wednesday we're
going to have burgers, whatever. And then, of
course, sometimes throughout the week it, like,
gets mixed up. Like, oh, I forgot to defrost
something, so whatever. But for lunches before,
I had always just been like, I'll just, like,
make sure I have lunch stuff in the house and,
like, figure it out as I go. And then lunchtime
always turns into, like, a disaster. because
I'm hungry and Lloyd's hungry and everyone's
crying and stressed and all of that. Um, so I
finally started planning lunches similarly where
it's like, even if it's like Monday is PBJ, Tuesday
is chicken nuggets, Wednesday is PBJ. Yeah. You
know, it could be, sometimes it's like just that
simple, but that way when like lunchtime comes
around, I just don't even have to think about
it. It's like, okay, today's PBJ. And again,
sometimes it like adjusts like, oh, we have leftovers.
So we're going to have that today or whatever.
And also on side note the feeding littles lunches
book is super helpful it's not like a cookbook
but it's more of like meal composition book more
or less so it'll they give suggestions like what
things to put together for a meal for your kids
yeah um which is super helpful to just like get
ideas and stuff and lloyd loves looking through
it so he'll go through nice point out stuff and
he's like i want that usually it's the cookies
yeah oh always always yeah yeah so but that's
my first one it's just Planning lunches more
intentionally to make my... Day -to -day, a little
less stressful. Yeah, that's good. And lunchtime,
a little less chaotic and generally less tears.
Not always. Yeah, right. Mine, I guess I'll skip
ahead because one of mine is similar. What's
saving my life is just easy meals and then meal
prepping, which I definitely do not do the meal
prepping. Michael does the meal prepping. But
we have, so we have a Blackstone. And so we'll
go to Costco and buy like a huge pack of chicken
thighs. then just like cook up the all the chicken
thighs and then we'll use that like in variation
for the week and then easy meals as far as like
um we do a lot of like trader joe's meals um
like the frozen meals um maybe like i love a
like costco throw it in the oven yeah we don't
do a ton i actually i'll do those for knight
stewart's gone yes because there's less let's
clean up yeah oh for sure i love a meal that
you can just throw in the oven i also like for
lunches too i try to keep it fairly simple for
lunches for colt like honestly he eats he eats
the same two or three lunches pretty much every
single day it's usually like lunch meat and cheese
some type of cracker and he Always eats a pickle
for lunch. He loves pickles. Or we'll do like
peanut butter and jelly, usually in Uncrustables,
which I actually have one sitting next to me
right now because I also enjoy them. Usually
a pickle and then like cottage cheese. So like
I'm like I'm hitting most of the food groups
here. Yep. He likes it. He'll eat it. That's
huge. Yes. And then I also eat pretty much that
variation of lunch every day. So we keep it simple.
Yeah. I almost never do a different. yeah lunch
or meal then he has again maybe it's a little
bit different where it's like unless yeah unless
we're doing leftovers then a lot of times i'll
do something different for myself but yeah i
just can't imagine trying to make two meals no
and usually it's like Colt is really into eating
on his helper stand now. So it's usually we're
just like standing in the kitchen and he's on
his helper stand and I'm just standing next to
him and I'm just like, I'll pull out the lunch
meat and then like put some on my plate, his
plate. And then he's like eating that. Well,
then I pull the cheese out and it's just kind
of like a eat as we go situation. And I mean,
it works. It's not like the best thing, but it
also. requires zero thinking for me and that's
what i that's what i need yeah especially on
work from home days and solo parenting it's like
i need simple yes yeah same just as little like
that's part of why we have the exact same breakfast
every single day every once in a while it's like
oh we have bagels that are gonna go to bed or
something like that but otherwise it's scrambled
eggs sausage and fruit yeah yeah i never have
to think about what's for breakfast love it okay
my next one is Having a day, quote unquote, to
myself. So Wednesdays my parents take the kids.
So I am still working on those days. So it's
definitely not like a day to myself because I'm
still working and I usually have one or two meetings.
But the house is quiet and I can like focus on
work. So if there's any big projects I'm working
on, I can like actually focus on those as well.
I also tend to get a lot of housework done on
those days. mopping that doesn't happen nearly
as often as it should or even just getting laundry
put away yeah that's good and it also like i
think one thing Maybe people are talking about
it and I dismiss it. But one of the hard things
about being around your kids all the time is
that you like kind of forget that you like them.
Like, you know, you love your kids. Yeah. But
when you're around them all the time and they
start driving you crazy because you don't have
a second to breathe, you forget that you also
like them. It's hard to like go back to neutral,
I guess. Yes. Yeah. Because then you have a day
like, you know, the days when you're solo parenting
for 16 hours or whatever that you're like, just
all the things are driving you crazy. Yeah. So
you forget. No, this is like a really cool kid
that I get to spend my time with. So I also think
having that day away from them helps me get back
to neutral. The evenings are kind of tough sometimes
because their routine is thrown off and we're
still figuring that out. But just having that
day to myself and like, I have my own breakfast
that's not scrambled eggs and sausage that I
actually want. Or I'll go to King Soopers and
pick up a lunch for myself. you know something
you know something fun and different sushi or
something not dino nuggets exactly yeah so it's
just nice to have like a little bit of separation
and yeah i think that's so healthy yeah it's
not even really time to myself which is weird
but it feels for sure like it is yeah and the
like the productivity of things just increase
so much it does yeah yeah and you're like how
did i not get all this stuff done before i have
no idea because now I'm pretty sure if I wanted
to, I could get all of my chores done in one
day. Yeah. And before I had kids, I felt like
I could never get anything done. And I don't
know. And like, I legitimately felt that way
too. So I don't know what it is. Yeah. It's like,
did my speed increase or was I just super lazy?
Yeah. Who knows? No idea. Yeah. Okay. My next
thing is Amazon. specifically Amazon Prime and
what's weird is I didn't used to have my own
Amazon account I would just always like text
Michael or ask him to order something which now
so I finally created my own Amazon account which
is probably not like good for our bank account
but like now I'm not like texting like hey can
you order this I don't know this toy or like
this coloring book or whatever I just like And
now he's like, why are 10 packages on our doorstep
every day? Definitely our Amazon purchases have
increased and I need to limit my spending. That's
another problem. Was Prime Day, did you get a
lot of good things? The only thing I actually
ordered was a new sound machine because ours
broke, which is funny because I was chatting
like with their help, I don't know, help text
number last night. And Michael said he had done
this before, but I was chatting with them and
they just decided to send us a new one. So now
we have, rather than having two with one that
was broken, I replaced that one. Now we have
three because they're sending us a new one. But
it actually works out great because we need one
for Cruz's new room. That's going to be... And
you never know when you need an extra one. Honestly.
Like humidifiers, we overnighted a humidifier
one time because we already had one. Yeah. And
then Zeta was sick. Oh, no. Zeta was just like
really stuffed up when she was little all the
time, even when she wasn't sick. And Lloyd was
sick, but Zeta was still in our room, so we needed
two. So, yeah. Yeah. You never know when you
need extra stuff like that just in general. Yes.
So I'm not like mad about it. It was a great
deal with a Prime Day. So I was like, let's just
do it. But that's the only thing I ordered, surprisingly.
I put a bunch of other things in my cart. Didn't
buy them. Put them in the safe for later. We'll
try again later. Yeah, Amazon's been a real lifesaver.
And honestly, like for Colt, if I'm like, hey,
buddy, do you want to like pick out a coloring
book to order? It's like a fun like thing for
us to look at together. And then he picks one
out. And so it's also nice. I have created wish
lists for both of the kids. Oh, that's smart.
With like my approved toys to then send to grandparents
and aunts and uncles and stuff like that. Partially
because a lot of times people are like, what
do they want? And of course, whenever someone
asks you that, you're like, I have absolutely
no idea. But if I think about things like throughout
the months leading up to birthdays or Christmas,
then I can just add it real quick. Like, oh yeah,
this book he was interested in or something like
that. So then you can send that. out and it's
toys that you've approved too hopefully it's
that was a great idea i need to do that yeah
i highly recommend that for kids okay what's
your next one uh my next one is doing like little
tidies during nap time so i know last time i
talked about that i do like my 10 minute tidy
or whatever at bedtime and i still do that and
for a long time that was the only time i really
tidied up during the day For me, I was like,
why would I clean up earlier? Because Lloyd's
just going to make the house a mess again. But
then I started to notice like, oh, sometimes
in the morning he'll only play with trucks, but
in the evening he'll pull out all his books or
vice versa or something like that. So a lot of
times if I tidy up during nap time, then when
I'm tidying up later in the day, it's just less.
Sometimes it's not. Sometimes he also pulls out
every single thing we've ever owned in the like
four hours between nap time and bedtime. So I've
been trying to tidy up during nap time. Not quite
as much as I do at the end of the day, but just
enough to like make the rest of the day not quite
as messy. To help your sanity. Yes, exactly.
Yeah, it's like this mess is actually an illustration
of what my brain looks like. There's also studies
that show that the amount of energy our brain
takes to like... ignore clutter is like an insane
amount really so that's why mess actually makes
you feel like more exhausted and more stressed
is because your brain is actively trying to like
ignore the clutter yeah which i was like oh that
makes sense that's why like bull stewart and
i get more stressed out if the house is messy
which of course is all the time yeah but yeah
why if things are cleaner if like you naturally
feel calmer yeah it's like it's an actual brain
function thing i feel that 100 it is uh an example
of, so in Cruz's new room, which is our current
guest room, I'm trying to like, he is just growing
so quick. He's just a big boy. So he, I need
to switch out his clothes again because he doesn't
fit in. What size is he? Uh, nine to 12 months.
Okay. Yeah. That's not too, it's not, it's not
too, too big. He's six months old. And so I like
have a bunch of the clothes like laying out on
the ground. And Michael like sorted them all
by size for me, which was nice. We didn't put
them in the drawers yet. This morning, Colt literally
just created a tornado in the room. The clothes
are everywhere in the room. Nothing's folded
anymore. It's just a disaster. And that's just
a representation of my mind right now. Yeah.
Yeah. That sounds about right. Yeah. So fun.
Okay. My next one is. family coming to visit
which can be like a really positive thing it
can be negative in some senses too but for the
most part like when family's coming to visit
it it really does take a lot of like stress off
my plate i feel like you've had a lot of family
really since cruz was born yes it's been quite
constant it's been pretty pretty much like probably
every three -ish weeks there's someone visiting
that's nice i would say and then they're here
for like About a week. So probably about every
month we've had someone visiting, which like
by the time they get here, I'm like ready for
extra hands to help again. And it really does,
especially on like those solo parenting days,
when then someone is there from my family to
help, it like totally takes the stress off of
how difficult those days can be. Even if it's
just as simple like Michael's aunt is in town
right now. It's as simple as like when I'm putting
Colt down for a nap, I can know that she's like
hanging out with Cruz. Right. You don't feel
like you have to rush as much. Yeah. It's like
I can really actually spend that one -on -one
time with Colt, which is nearly impossible whenever
it's just me trying to handle both boys. And
I feel like pulled in different directions. So
that really, I mean, it does save my life to
have family coming to town. That's super nice.
Yeah. So my next one, you said this last time.
And I wasn't working. I wasn't back to work last
time and now I am. So grocery pickup. That I
have not. Actually, that's not true. I have gone
into the grocery store since I've been back to
work, but like. Not nearly as much. Maybe three
times. Yeah. And I've not done a full grocery
run except for Costco because you can't do drive
up. Yeah. Our routine right now is I pick up
on Fridays. I schedule it during my lunch break.
We pick it up. Then I go to Sonic and get my
sweet treat. Yes. And it's just, it makes life
so much easier. Oh, yeah. Because also then like
the actual process of like quote unquote shopping
where you're like adding things to your cart.
Like I can do that while I'm breastfeeding. I
can do that while we're sitting and watching
TV. And honestly, I think it's saved us money,
too, because I'm totally like the go up every
aisle shopper and be like, oh, this snack looks
good or like, oh, maybe we'll make this. And
it's easier for me to see like what's on sale.
Yeah. I mean, they have it off of that. Yeah.
So I can base it off of that or like go through
your coupons and be like, oh, we can have this
this week because there's a coupon for ribs or
grocery pickup. It's just a game changer. It
is. It's been, it's made such a big difference.
And yeah. Cause then the other option is we would
do it either on the weekends, which somehow it
takes like seven hours to go grocery shopping.
I don't know why. Yeah. Or Fridays when Stuart
gets home from work. And then at that point,
our entire Friday evening is shot. And by the
time we like get home and make dinner, then it's
bedtime. And we're like, what happened? Yeah.
I swear. Like, so we go to Costco probably every
other week or every three weeks. Yeah. And I
swear it becomes like an outing for the day of
like we either do this before nap time or after
nap time. And then like the rest of our day is
shot after that. And usually if we do it in the
afternoon and we buy all this food, we end up
getting takeout or like going through a drive
-thru because it's just too difficult. So we
also go – I think we usually go to Costco every
other week. It's like our consistent routine.
And we've kind of just like made it the like
– pre -decided decision yeah if that makes sense
that we're just gonna get dinner there yeah we'll
go we'll eat there or last week stewart was working
on a project so i went with the kids and then
just grabbed a pizza and brought it home yeah
that's so because one it's also way cheaper so
cheap costco food court yeah clutch prices are
unbeatable yeah and it's just more convenient
because then you don't have to go home and cook
something and then all of a sudden it's like
actually bedtime and everyone's cranky yes so
yep Yeah, the one by our house, they're redoing
the food court. So that's the one downside. So
that's why I think that would be our normal plan.
Yeah. But they like decided to remodel it or
something. So, yeah. I mean, they haven't updated
that Costco in like since I've been alive. Yeah,
probably not. Okay, my next thing that's saving
my life. It's not really like. a choice, but
it just is, is that both of my kids are in the
same size diapers. That's super convenient. Yeah.
Yeah. So they're both in size four and I mean,
Cruz is just, he looks like a toddler cause he's
just a big boy. Um, and then Colt is kind of
tiny for his age. So, um, it works out. Uh, the
plan is to, is to really potty train Colt very
soon. Cause he is, he for sure is ready. I just
don't know if I'm ready. And then, yeah, just
them being the same size diapers makes it so
nice of like. I don't even have to think what
diaper I'm grabbing. And you don't accidentally
grab the wrong one. Yeah. And like we went, when
we went to Costco, we just bought like two packs
of size four rather than size two. Yeah. Which
isn't a big deal, but it just is like that simple
little thing. Sometimes those little things make
the biggest difference. Cause you're like, I
just have one less thing to think about. Yeah.
Yeah. Wait, are we out? Which size are we out
of? Should we just buy both? Yeah. Yeah. All
the things. Yep. Yeah, and it's nice because,
like, sometimes I'll be, like, have Colt go grab
a diaper for either him or Cruz, and so then
he doesn't even have to, like, not that he knows,
but he's, like, he'll still grab one and be,
like, Cruz diaper? And I'm, like, oh, yeah, that's
great, buddy. Whereas it's, like, all over the
same, buddy, but, yeah, it's great because he
never grabs the wrong one. Perfect. Yeah, I love
it. Okay, my next one is Sonic Runs. Ooh, nice,
yeah. So we have a Sonic that's about... Four
and a half minutes from our house. Love it. I
think we can get to Sonic and back in less than
10 minutes. Nice. But also if you order drinks
on the app, it's always happy hour. So it's always
half price if you order them on the app, which
means you can get like a giant 40 ounce drink
for like a buck 50. Yes. Okay. What's your drink
of choice again? So if I need caffeine, my go
-to is Dr. Pepper. Okay. But Sonic also has a
blood orange syrup right now, which if you do
their lemonade with a blood orange syrup is that.
So that's like really my go to drink. If I'm
going to Sonic, that's generally my go to drink.
If I need caffeine because I need caffeine and
I don't drink coffee, then I'll get a Dr. Pepper.
Nice. The girl at Sonic knows my car. Oh, for
sure. So usually she's like there with my drink
before I even park. And I mean, I don't go a
lot. Is that an embarrassing thing or is that
like a, you know what, I've made it. They know
me. I mean, a little bit of both, you know. It's,
yeah. I mean, I go twice a week. So it's not
like I'm going daily, but I go. That's me at
Dutch Bros right by my house. Same thing. So,
yeah, Wednesdays when the kids are gone, I go
pick up a drink because that's the other thing.
I'm not going to load up both the kids in the
car to drive over there and get a drink every
day. That's way too much. But I go on Wednesdays
when they're gone and then Fridays when I pick
up groceries because we're already in the car
and it's right next to King Soopers. Nice. So,
yeah, highly recommend Glitterless Lemonade.
I'll have to try that. That sounds good. A little
bit tart, which I love. That's my preference.
Yeah. And if you have the app, it's always happy
hour. That's smart. I will just download the
app for that reason. Yeah. I love it. Okay. My
next one is play places. Yes. Yes. We have been
just going to a lot of play places recently.
Our routine has kind of been. So on Wednesdays,
Michael goes into work later because of youth
group. And so we'll usually like go to either
Chick -fil -A or McDonald's for breakfast that
morning and then let Cole play on the Play Place.
That's what we did this morning for breakfast.
Yeah. And it's so nice because especially the
Chick -fil -A that we go to with the Play Place,
it's not one that like I have to go up in there
with him. He can, he like can climb on everything
easily himself. And so that's nice because we
can just sit there and watch him and he has the
best time and it's so fun. And I feel like that's
like. Our outing for the day, especially on Wednesdays,
because I'm not really taking the boys anywhere
else on my own, except like a grocery pickup
or a drive -thru somewhere. It's been fun, like
a fun activity for... us to get out of the house
and um also i feel like it's easier than a park
because they're already kind of contained they're
contained and most play places are designed for
younger kids like there's just less spots for
them to fall yeah i don't have to like stand
right next to him as he's climbing up this yeah
and it's enclosed and yep yeah so um I do love
me a good play place. I know they're probably
quite dirty, but... It's just building his immune
system. It's fine. It's fine. It's totally fine.
Yeah. And my next thing is Cars pajamas for every
day of the week. So... The same ones or different
variations? Well, so here's what happened. There
was... Lloyd's all about cars right now. Yes.
Specifically like the actual movie cars. Okay.
We love Lightning McQueen. And so there's like
a $5 pair of Lightning McQueen pajamas at Walmart.
And we're like, obviously we got to get them
for him. For sure. And then it turned into this
thing where he would be in like actual tears
and not like a tantrum, like actually sad the
nights that they were dirty and he couldn't wear
them. So. I decided to just buy a bunch of cars
pajamas so that we don't have that problem. So
not all of them are like Lightning McQueen branded.
So we have one pair that has like construction
trucks on them, which he loves, road builders.
So we're all about that. There's one pair that
has like classic cars all over them. So he's
fine. Our like backup pair if I haven't done
laundry is we have one that has Yetis driving
snowmobiles. Obviously. Obviously. So, and he'll
settle for those, like, worst case scenario.
If all other seven pairs are dirty. Yes. He,
like, every night, car's pajamas, car's pajamas.
That's so cute. And Stuart always, like, looks
at me first, like, I think we can, yep, car's
pajamas are clean. They're clean. We're good.
We got some. So, yeah, we have a pair for pretty
much every day of the week. That's cute. And
he gets very excited to wear them. I love that.
And it makes bedtime easier because we don't
have all the tears when laundry hasn't been done.
Hey, it's like a choose your battles type of
situation. Like I could just spend like 30 bucks
on some different jammies or, you know, put up
a fight every single night. So 30 bucks it is.
It makes them happy. One of the things I heard
that I tried to like live by as much as possible
is. the two great tragedies of childhood are
never getting what you want and always getting
it when you want. So I'm like, this is the, you
get what you want. Yeah. And it's just, it's
such a little, it's a little thing and it brings
him so much joy. So, yep. Yeah. There we go.
I love that. Yeah. Colt hasn't like quite obsessed
over anything like that yet. Like he has things
that he really likes, but nothing where it's
like he has to be the Mickey Mouse pajamas every
night. He wants to wear his dino shoes and cars
clothes. I love it. Okay. The next thing, speaking
of Mickey Mouse, next thing saving my life is
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. That is like Colt's go
-to show right now whenever I let him watch TV.
I'm not like entirely annoyed by it. I love a
kid's show that doesn't annoy us. Yeah, it's
like kind of fun. I don't know. I can see how
it will annoy me. soon but there's like so many
cute phrases that colt like sings along to like
og or the current one well we've seen both okay
i think we're in the more current one right now
which i'm like i know it's so overstimulating
because of so many bright colors and but it's
so fun with uh yeah him singing like singing
along to it saying oh toodles yeah it's just
like kind of fun for me to watch him watch it
um and it's also like our go -to like if he's
not playing independently and I have to feed
Cruz and he's like just not having it he'll watch
that for a little bit and so it's not like the
most ideal but it is saving our lives they also
have he loves at the grocery store they have
like mickey mouse snack packs um which i always
i was like i'm never gonna be the parent to buy
like these like themed snack packs because they're
like but you'll eat it so yes but and they're
like 3 .99 a piece of course and it's literally
like little mickey mouse crackers cheese and
apple slices i'm like i could do that easily
at home but the fact that it comes into mickey
mouse shape it's like the best thing ever so
he when i when we do have them which is like
i don't know every couple weeks i'll buy like
two of them he goes mickey mouse snack pack mickey
mouse snack pack Maybe you need to get some like
Mickey Mouse stickers and just put them on things.
That's so smart. Like, hey, this banana is Mickey
Mouse. Yes, that is so smart. But he, I mean,
he loves Mickey Mouse. I told Michael, I was
like, we're going to probably need to take him
to Disneyland in the next couple of years, potentially.
Neither of us are like, we don't really like
Disneyland. I can see how people love it with
their kids. But also I think you might be terrified
of like the, of Mickey Mouse, like actually seeing
Mickey Mouse. I mean, Mickey Mouse at the parks
is like seven feet tall. Yeah. Yeah. And this
is a tangent, but last week at church there,
we went to visit Michael for a bit and they were
holding a, like a youth event that they do every
month. And there was, one of our students was
dressed up as a bear and like one of those. Big
bear costumes that like blows up with the fan.
And Colt was terrified, like sobbing, so scared.
Yeah. Poor, like I felt so bad for him. By the
end of like the time there, he was able to go
up to him and just like. touch the touch the
bear but he's like fixated and is still talking
about it so I'm like Disneyland yeah Halloween
we're like Halloween it's gonna be a toss -up
we're gonna either be very terrified of Halloween
or love it and then same thing with Disneyland
as we're talking about it I'm like I think if
we went now he would be absolutely terrified
yeah and there's not i mean i guess they do have
like kids areas and stuff but i feel like there's
less to do at this young yeah yeah we might wait
till he's like maybe four yeah four or five or
something so yeah mickey mouse clubhouse love
it mickey mouse clubhouse all right my next one
is leaving earrings so this is kind of a weird
one but i know we've talked about a little bit
on mic and definitely more off mic like I'm in
a phase of just like nothing really fits. I don't
know what to wear. Yes. Even if the clothes that
I had before fit well now, my needs for my outfits
are different because I'm keeping up with a two
-year -old and an eight -month -old. So just
like figuring out how to get dressed every day
is kind of the worst. But I did notice that the
days that I put on earrings, like no matter what
I'm wearing, if it's jeans and a t -shirt, if
it's sweats, it just looks slightly more put
together. Yeah, that's good. But for some reason,
like putting in earrings every day is just, again,
sometimes just that one extra step is too much.
But because Instagram knows my thoughts. um i
got targeted ads for leave -in earrings that
are made with like a good enough metal that they
don't irritate your skin but also not like a
fine like a precious metal so yeah they don't
tarnish or anything like that so you can wear
them in the shower in the pool and blah blah
that's nice um and so i got a couple pairs of
those and have just been like i've just put one
pair in so far um and just been wearing them
Makes you feel a little bit more put together.
Yeah. It's just like a little thing. And again,
I don't have to think about it in the morning.
It just like already exists. And it makes pretty
much every outfit look a little more put together.
Like a little more classy. Yeah. I don't know.
And I'll just take whatever I can get at this
point. Yeah. I don't even know when the last
time I wore earrings was. My mother -in -law
got me a nice pair for my birthday, so I've been
wearing more because she gave me those. Nice,
nice. And then I was like, those I know I can't
wear just, like, all the time. Plus, they're
the kind that, like, they're a normal kind, so
when you, like, lay down, they just, like, poke
you in the head. Yeah, that's a really good idea.
One thing that's saving my life is overnight
face masks. Yeah. So going off like the self
-care kind of vibe. So I'm really into these
like collagen face masks right now. I don't know
if you've seen those, but you like you put them
on and they're like white. And then if you sleep
in them like overnight there, they go clear because
like all the collagen like goes into your skin.
And I swear and I don't know if it's like. because
it's like a wet face mask but like when you take
it off in the morning I feel like my skin is
so glowy and I just feel like I'm like I just
did something so good for myself because I just
like had all this collagen go into my skin and
I just like took care of my skin overnight um
and yeah I've I saw them on Instagram I mean
all the All the influencers I follow have been,
like, promoting these face masks. So finally
bought them. And the one downside is I feel like
you kind of have to, like, lay on your back at
night. Yeah, I definitely sleep, like, on my
face. Yeah, yeah. At least until it's, like,
actually, like, set on your face. Then you can
kind of, like, turn on your side. But you definitely
can't be, like, a full head in the mattress type
of sleeper that night. But yeah, when I wake
up, I'm like, I feel like I've already accomplished
something. Whenever I take off this face mask
and I'm like, I just look like I'm glowing. I
don't even need to wash my face right now. No.
Yeah. I'm like, I just feel ready for the day.
So if you haven't tried out the collagen face
masks, highly recommend. They're only like $13
.99 for four of them. Oh, that's not bad. On
Amazon. Yeah. One of my big Amazon purchases.
That sounds great. Yes. I'll have to get the
link. I probably won't wear them overnight. Yeah.
You can do them for like, I mean, they say like
30 minutes and it's still, it just doesn't turn
like clear. So you're not getting as much of
the collagen, but it's still like doing the same
thing. Yeah. I'll have to check it out. Yeah.
All right. My next one is Stuart just in general,
helping with the kids. And also as a side note,
he has been working on, you can see them. the
bookshelves in our like studio space they look
very very good good job he like custom built
them which also means for the past like pretty
much month every minute that he's not working
and he has been like working on these for me
um because they're my anniversary gift and but
he's finally done with them which one super thankful
to have bookshelves that look super nice but
also that means he's kind of like back in the
game with helping with the kids and coming up
with ideas like let's go to the park and let
lloyd go down the slide 87 times or last week
the past couple weeks have just like not been
great but so last week was super exhausting and
so on friday He texted me while he was still
at work and was like, hey, come up with something.
Or like, why don't we both think of something
to do tonight and we can figure out, like, get
a house and do something fun. So we went to Anderson
Farms, which is, I think they're open like summer
and fall, but it's like a very fall type place
where they have like a petting zoo and a pumpkin
patch. And you can rent, we didn't rent one,
but you can rent a fire pit and most of the activities
that are. In the base ticket price are stuff
that Lloyd wanted to do. There was a slide that
is built into a combine, and he's obsessed with
combines right now. He was super excited to see
that, and we got to see real tractors and stuff
like that. Cool. So yeah. So back to Stuart,
like he had just been like, Hey, it's been a
rough week. Let's do something. Yeah. And been
super like proactive about, about that. And Lloyd's
obsessed with him right now too. So yeah. Which
is super sweet and fun to see. That is sweet.
Uh, Michael is actually my next one too. So yeah,
I feel like going off of what you said, like,
I feel like Michael is just, he's just so fun.
Like he's just a fun dad. And I know like, For
me, I know I'm a fun parent, but I can't come
up with nearly as much like fun random games
like in the house like that Michael comes up
with. And especially after a long like work from
home day and Michael comes home and he always
like I know he's exhausted from the day, but
he always just like kicks into high gear like
dad mode and is like helping cook and clean and
also be the fun parent. And he's just really.
really good at like all honestly all of those
things all at the same time and he's just so
fun for cole and cole is also obsessed with him
right now yeah um every morning lloyd wakes up
go see dad at work yeah yes nobody we we don't
go to dad's work like that's the thing we don't
go to his work we've never gone to i mean maybe
once but not that you'd remember that's funny
yeah we uh sometimes on on wednesdays like the
long solo parenting day for me, we'll sometimes
go and visit Michael at work. And so every day
after nap time on solo parenting days, Colt will
wake up and go, see daddy, go see daddy. And
I'm like, either yes or no, depending on the
day. But I think he thinks that every single
day we get to go see daddy, which we don't, but.
uh when we do it's like the best thing ever and
he and then his his listening ears turn on and
he's like ready to go put gets his shoes on and
he's like go see daddy now like sure buddy let's
go we'll go yeah yeah i also this is kind of
a tangent but i also realized so for our life
stewart gets up before printing and is like gone
for work before the rest of us are up Pretty
much every day. And then on Sundays, he plays
drums at church, which means he also gets up
before the rest of us. Yeah. And so on Sundays,
Lloyd wakes up and I'm like, buddy, do you want
to go to church and see dad? And I don't do that
the rest of the week because that's not where
he is. He's working in a wood shop the rest of
the week. So we don't get to go see dad, you
know, working with power tools. But I think Lloyd
thinks. that Stuart's full -time job is playing
drums that's so cute because that's the you know
that's what he sees when we go see him he's playing
drums so I think I'm pretty sure right now Lloyd
thinks that his full -time job is at the church
playing drums every single day I love it that's
so cute which is adorable and I guess we can
let him think that for now yeah that's fine you
know someday he'll no harm he'll figure out that
that's not what dad does every day That's so
funny. He's like, why does dad have to come home
from his drum job and then take a shower? Yeah.
Because he has wood chips all over him. Yeah.
That's so funny. Okay. Things to look forward
to, just in general. We don't have any big trips
planned or anything like that. But also, I've
kind of noticed that smaller things to look forward
to are almost more beneficial. because they happen
more often but even like we have a halloween
party coming up in a couple weeks so it's like
oh you know that's gonna be fun yeah so when
days feel just like super mundane and repetitive
and a little bit groundhog day yeah there's something
it's like oh that's something different that
we have coming up we're gonna hang out with friends
we're gonna get dressed up it's gonna be fun
well it's gonna run around with other kids yeah
and actually October has been kind of crazy for
us. I feel like we have something every single
week. But yeah, just like some little things
to look forward to. That's a little bit outside
of just our normal routine. That's smart. Yeah,
I think it helps a lot. And again, we don't have
anything. I think probably the biggest thing
we have coming up is my sister and her husband
come out for Christmas, but that's not for a
few months anyways. Yeah. And that's like the
biggest thing. So everything else is just still
pretty small. But I think it does help. Helps
break it up. It helps break it up. And then on
weeks like this week that I was telling you before
we started recording, it's just been like kind
of a rough week. Like Lloyd's been in a little
bit of a mood. Both kids have been super clingy.
Then I just have like, okay, you know, Friday's
coming and we have this going on. So, you know.
I just have to get there, you know, and I don't
want to have that attitude for everything all
the time. But it is helpful when it's a rough
day to be like, OK, just have to make it to Friday
and then. Yes. Yeah. So that's been huge. I feel
that. OK, my next one is baking and not on my
own, but with Colt. That's so fun. Yeah. Which
is. A hundred times messier for sure. And takes
three times as long. Yes. And honestly stresses
me out sometimes in the moment. But he loves
it. He has a cute little apron he puts on. And
also it's like it breaks up the day. It's like
an activity that I like don't have to think a
ton about. And then also like we've been making
so we have a zucchini plant outside. And so we've
been making a lot of zucchini bread. Of course.
And so that's like our go -to. I made a zucchini
ragu the other day. Ooh, you'll have to send
me the recipe if you have one. Oh, I think we
got it from HelloFresh, but I have the recipe
so I can send it to you. Because I thought of
you guys. I was like, oh, they still have zucchinis.
Yeah. Yes, we're not getting nearly as many,
but zucchini bread has been a big one because
it's like. it's fun to bake and then Colt loves
it. Like it's a fun little treat and it's just,
yeah, it's a fun activity that we've been doing
together, especially on solo parenting days.
Um, because yeah, I can put like Cruz in the,
in his little like activity center and then Colt's
up on his helper stand and we're like baking
and it's just, I don't know. It's a fun, I feel
like it's like a core memory for me that I'm
going to like when I look back on their childhoods,
like I'm going to think about. baking zucchini
bread together and how fun that was so yeah we'll
see what else we bake whenever there's no zucchinis
left but i have plenty of things like chocolate
chip cookies oh yeah my mom has a great recipe
for chocolate chip cookies Love me a good chocolate
chip cookie. I've forgotten every single thing
I've ever baked in this moment, but I've got
some good ones. I love it. Okay. What's your,
is this your last one? This is my last one. So
you have Wednesdays as your solo parent night.
Most Thursdays are my solo parent night. Stuart
has rehearsal for church and I haven't done this
every week, but having someone over like having
a friend over or grandparents or something like
that makes a huge difference yeah like during
bedtime routine or just like some time during
the day usually like dinner time dinner time
so even not necessarily bedtime um i mean it
kind of depends on like who it is and what the
situation is but like i had a friend over a couple
weeks ago and we just like watched a movie all
of us together and like ate dinner on the couch
and Lloyd spilled his dinner on the couch. Classic.
But it just makes it a little bit easier. Kids
are better behaved I feel like. And it like it
helps your like mindset and attitude towards
things. Just having another person around. Yeah
there's someone else to like redirect things
if things are going chaotic or whatever. So again
it doesn't happen every week. But when it does
happen, it just like makes such a big difference.
Yeah, that's good. Okay, my last one, this is
going to sound so cheesy, but this podcast. And
I feel like it's important to have something
outside of parenting. And obviously we're talking
about parenting, but this is like my hobby, I
guess. is this podcast. It's so hard to find
hobbies and do things whenever you're just like
in the thick of it. But I was talking to Michael
about it today and he was like, he was like,
yeah, I really think that's, it's good for you
to go and do this. And I was like, yeah, I do
too. And so I, yeah, I think that it's just important
to find something, whether it's a hobby of some
sort or, but I feel like this is my hobby. yeah
for this season yeah me too and it it really
does it does help me not only the fact that we
get to do something outside of parenting in a
sense but also that we're like talking and relating
to each other yeah on lots of different points
and sides of motherhood so yeah i'd agree yeah
it's always fun to like hear other mom's stories
and all of that yeah and come up with new ideas
yep yeah well uh we'd love to hear what's saving
your life Let us know on Instagram. Yeah. Yeah.
We'll try to put a question box up. Yep. Let's
do it. Well, do you want to do your win of the
week? I would love to. Okay. This is something
we've been working on for a while with Colt and
it just. hadn't happened until recently and I
feel like embarrassed to say it but we finally
transitioned Cole off of bottles and he's just
over two but man that kid loved his bottles so
much and it was such a fight trying to do it
almost not that we were trying to do it too early
or anything because I mean he's just drinking
whole milk and he he really would have them at
like nap time bedtime and he just like hated
sippy cups for the life of him drinks water out
of sippy cups just fine but when it was milk
it was like a big deal like he hated them so
much i don't know if it was like how the milk
was coming out of it or what but then like one
day i was like you know what buddy i was like
this cup is so cool like to just a dollar 99
sippy cup from walmart or whatever And I was
like, do you want to try your milk in it? That
would be so cool if you did that. And he was
just like, yes. And I was like, okay. I was just
like, didn't make a big deal of it. Poured the
milk really quick, gave it to him. He like drank
it fine. And then the next day I was like, I
like didn't even like say anything about it.
Just poured it right into the same sippy cup.
Washed it obviously. And he just like grabbed
it and like went up to his room. I was like,
oh my gosh. I was like, did I just, did I just
do this? I was like, did we just, like, get rid
of bottles for him? That's so great. And he just
hasn't said anything about them, hasn't gone
back to it. We're never going to mention them.
Yeah. Obviously, Cruz, like, Cruz still has bottles,
and he's, like, he likes the same ones that Colt
liked, the Dr. Brown's bottles. And so, like,
he still sees them, but, like, he hasn't, like,
made a big deal of it. If he's seeing Cruz use
them, then that would make it harder. Yeah. But
I think maybe because we, like, made it, like,
oh, man, like, that sippy cup's so cool. And
he's like, yeah, you know what? That is cool.
I am a big boy. So I don't know what we did.
But finally, I feel like that was, like, a burden
that, like, I was feeling, like, kind of embarrassed
about. Slash also, like, I knew. We needed to
transition him. Right. Which like our next thing
is getting rid of his passy, which that is like,
I feel like that's going to be a huge fight and
I'm not ready for it, but. You'll get there.
Yeah, we'll get there. Yep. Okay. What is your
win? My win. So we're like obviously trying to
teach Lloyd manners, like please and thank you.
And he's pretty good at it. And the one thing
we've never prompted him to do, but he started
picking up naturally is saying, bless you. that's
so cute and it's so cute so he'll even say bless
you to the cats and he also like always says
like the person or cat i guess that he's saying
bless you too so like if i sneeze bless you mama
bless you dad bless you ricky like it's and it's
just that's so cute because again like please
and thank you we like have to prompt him to say
um he'll say it on his own sometimes but we've
never told him to say bless you to someone so
he's just like so he just like picked up that
that's what we say when someone sneezes that's
so interesting and even the first time he said
it to me i was like what are you saying because
of course like he's two so his words are still
like yeah you know jumbled you know how it is
anytime they have a new word you're like wait
i think well let me figure out what this means
um so it's definitely that i was like oh i you
said bless you that's that's thank you buddy
it was really sweet and so cute Pretty much anytime
someone sneezes, he says, bless you. For some
reason, it's cutest when he says it to the cats.
Yeah. Bless you, Ricky. That's adorable. Yeah,
that's my win. It's just this naturally polite
thing that we didn't even try to get him to do,
and he's doing it on his own. You're like, I'm
the best mom. My kid's so polite. It's all me,
obviously. Yeah, right. Well, that's enough oversharing
for today. If you enjoyed hanging out with us,
hit subscribe so you don't miss the next round
of chaos. And if you're listening while hiding
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Momcast, where motherhood is messy. At least
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next week. See you next week.