Welcome to my Scenes From the Month series! In these posts, I share the highlights from my previous month ranging from the simple, everyday things to the more memorable events. One of the primary reasons that I blog is to keep a scrapbook that I can look back on in the future, and these posts help serve that purpose. Now that I have babies, everyday moments are extra special!
May was so much fun! We (finally) had Caden’s first birthday party, Mother’s Day, my birthday, our 10 year anniversary, my mom’s birthday, and Memorial Day weekend! There was so much to celebrate and to document here.
Favorites from the Month:
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Fiction Book – The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah. Kristen Hannah is such a gem. She can create really well-written stories about friendship, but she can also knock historical fiction out of the park. This book, focused on a family in a small Texas town during the Dust Bowl, is wonderful. I didn’t know if I’d be interested in the storyline, but I loved many of the characters and learned a lot about a piece of US history I had not spent much time thinking about before.
Nonfiction Book – The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi. This book focuses on how to be a genius about things that matter and lazy about things that don’t. I loved it – gave it 5 stars! Since reading this, I starting following Kendra on Instagram and listening to her podcast. She is full of wonderful information and tips!
Music – Speaking of Kendra Adachi, I’ve been loving her Spotify playlists. I don’t use Spotify, so I always have felt like I’m missing out on the fun playlists various people share. But I recently found the app SongShift which will convert Spotify playlists to playlists on other music platforms, including Youtube Music (which we currently use). It’s fantastic! I especially love Kendra’s playlist called “The Scenic Route Pt. 3“. It’s full of moody, beautiful music that I have never heard before.
Movie/TV – We flew through Mare of Easttown on HBO. Such a good thriller that keeps you guessing!
Item – My in-laws gifted me the Hatch Restore for my birthday. I love it! I love being able to set up a night time “routine” that helps me relax and focus on reading and journaling (rather than scrolling). It plays relaxing sounds of your choice – I have a few different sounds set up depending on if I’m having a long reading night or a short one, but the sounds signal to me when it’s time to set the phone aside to read, then wind down, then fall asleep to the “pink noise”. And it wakes me up with really gentle nature sounds and a sunrise.
Activity – I have two – Caden’s birthday party and celebrating our 10 year anniversary!
Accomplishment – Finally making progress on a project I’ve had in mind for a long, long time.
Photos from the month, top left to bottom right:
(1) We had more fun at swim class this month!
(2) Getting ready for Caden’s (very delayed) one year birthday party! (There were definitely tears shed in the making of this banner.)
(3) A glimpse of Daddy doing bedtime
(4) Our little drummer boy!
(1) On the day of Caden’s birthday party, we dedicated him in our church’s Parent-Child Dedication service. Many of our family members came to the dedication as well as the party – it was so fun to celebrate our Baby Boy!
(2) Caden wearing his one-year-old crown. He wasn’t so sure about it! We did a Milk & Cookies theme for his party.
(3) The party was a lot of fun. It had been POURING the day before (Saturday), so we had postponed the party to Sunday which ended up being a beautiful day.
(4) Caden and his great-grandfather, Papa! Caden was stuffing his face with cookies.
(1) To celebrate our 10 year anniversary, we dropped the kids off in San Antonio with my parents and checked into the Hotel Emma for the weekend. This is a dream hotel that we had been saving for a special occasion! We got so much rest, movie watching, and reading in.
(2) We enjoyed the hotel’s beautiful library where they made the most delicious margaritas!
(3) Our big celebration dinner was at the new Mon Chou Chou just across the street from the hotel. We throughly enjoyed the French food and atmosphere.
(4) Mother’s Day was really nice. We went to lunch as a family, and I got to spend most of the rest of the day resting!
(1) & (2) As the rain cleared out and the weather starting warming up, we hit a splash pad where the boys had a blast together!
(3) Caden doesn’t have much patience for listening to books being read to him, but he sure loves sitting in a pile of books and flipping through them!
(4) Just a baby and his Kitty Cat!
Not pictured:
- A birthday date night
- A very important doctor appointment in Houston where I was diagnosed with PPPD
- A Memorial Day weekend trip to Sea World with Gramma and Grampa
Have a great June! Stay cool!
{Thanks for reading! Want to know a little more about me? I’m a CPA learning how to balance a career with motherhood and regular travel while planting roots at home in the Austin, TX area. When I’m not exploring my home city with my husband Daniel and baby boys Carson and Caden or cuddling with my chubby orange cat Banana, I’m probably either out on a playdate with my son or planning, packing for, traveling to, or daydreaming about our next adventure. After all, my travel mug collection is never complete. If you have wanderlust too, be sure to follow me on Instagram (and InstaStories!), Pinterest, and Facebook, or subscribe to my blog!}