The Kavanaugh Report

If your toddler is anything like mine then you probably hear "I do it!" or "me do it" quite a bit. By using Montessori principles in my house, I'm able to reply "sure" a lot more often. It's not about giving Henry free reign, but it's about letting him exercise his independence by making a few small adjustments.  While I strive to do this as much as I can, I don't generally give him freedom with his sensory bins. I choose the contents, the setting, and any tools. While the play is open ended, the setting is not. Until now.  This week, Henry has an "I Do It" sensory bin with a little more freedom. He gets to pick the medium {water, water beads, shells, or glass bead} to make the bin exactly how he wants it. I also provided as basket of different tools and some ocean themed Toobs animals to add to the fun.  With this system Henry has an empty bin that he can truly make his own as we learn about the ocean and

Before I had Henry, I used to blog a lot about my dogs { see }. They were my babies and I loved them. Then, I had Henry and everything changed. They are still loved a lot, but in a really different way. Its really hard to explain, but they are sort of naturally pushed lower on your list of priorities.  And, when you've spent every second of your day cuddling, rocking, touching, loving another human being, when you get that human to sleep the last thing you want to do is more cuddling, touching, and loving -- you want to sleep. You adjust, the dogs adjust. And you stop blogging about your dogs.  Anyway, I recently I was having one of those perfect afternoons. Henry had fallen asleep quickly. The house was quiet. I was motivated and actually getting work done. And -- get this -- even cuddling with both my dogs. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see it -- a mouse in my house.  I proceeded to freak out  FREAK OUT. I jumped up on my chair and started screa

Fashion is really not my thing. But I guess at a blogging conference you can't just wear sweats. I don't really see why, cause that is totally what I blog in like 98 percent of the time -- but that's besides the point. So, I got some outfits together. Here's what I'll be wearing to Blogher '13 in Chicago!  1. Shirt: Ann Taylor Loft; Pants: Gap 2. Jacket: Ann Taylor Loft 3. Shirt: The Limited; Pants: Target 4. Shirt: The Limited; Shorts: Ann Taylor Loft 5. Shirt: Ann Taylor Loft; Pants: Gap I'm obviously lacking in the accessory department. And, lets not talk about shoes. But hopefully, I wont embarrass myself.  And the evening attire. It will be fun to actually dress like a grown up for a couple days. All of these dresses were borrowed from my sister, just in case you were starting think I actually owned cute clothes. What are you wearing to Blogher? Am I the only stay-at-home mom that feels completely out of my fashion element?

So, the other day at Michael's I found these giant water beads, they were just like the small ones that I love so much, but they were huge and they were on clearance! So for $0.99 I picked up a couple packages. I opened them one morning, hoping to use them that afternoon, but I was sad to learn they take 48 to 72 hours to fill. So, I waited...three days.  In that time, I notice that these beads were not quite as awesome as the ones I'm used to. Many of the beads cracked and broke before they were even done filling up.They also ended up being double the size the package claimed they would be. When the beads were ready, they still broke at the slightest touch, which was disappointing.  Despite their flaws, I had to figure out a way to use them. A sensory bin {my original idea} wouldn't quite work since they weren't sturdy enough for play. So, I came up with a simple Montessori inspired scooping tray.  The idea was for Henry to scoop the big beads f

I cannot believe that I leave for Blogher13 in less than a week. Where has the time gone? I feel like I just decided I would go! Its crazy. I'm so excited, nervous, and pumped for this conference. I really hope I learn a ton so I can grow as a blogger and bring you guys awesome content.  For the questions:  1. What session are you most excited to attend? The DSLR  Debrief! I try really hard to take nice pictures but its a struggle for me. Its something I've been working on and really hope to improve. Plus, even though I've had my camera for over a year, I still feel like I don't quite know all its tricks.    2. What BlogHer party are you most excited to attend? Probably the Fly DIY party, I love me some DIY 3. Are you attending any private parties? I am. I'll save the details for another post!  4. Will you be attending the Expo Hall? Of course! I hope to connect with some great brands while I'm at Blogher, and the Expo will be a key p

I've been avoiding writing this post. Partly because I don't want to face reality, partly because I really don't know what our new realty is.  Some of you may have seen on Instagram , or noticed in the last tot school post that we took the crib down. It was the very first baby item  we purchased. I was like 5 weeks pregnant with Henry when we bought it. And all these years later it is still one of my favorite baby things that we purchased. Now its in storage, maybe never to be used by us again.  It's a weird reality to face. Also, depressing and angry.  Yet, here we are. Officially, this cycle we are taking a break from trying to conceive. The RE wanted at least a one cycle break before checking on the cysts or trying more medication. If we want to continue with treatment, he recommends more Clomid. But do we want to continue? As I see it, we have a few options: 1. Try on our own. Pros - I don't seem to be terrible at getting pregnant. Cons - I can

Summer is that one time of year where anything seems to go. I don't know why, its part of the fun. Afternoon swimming, well, sometimes swimsuits are optional. I'm not a very spontaneous person, but there is a simple joy in just living in the moment and giving in to your toddler's innocent demand to go swimming -- now! This summer has turned out to be a little more difficult, and busy that we had intended. These moments are really helping us heal, and  remember the good in life. We are so lucky. Look at those eyes, those curls.  Maybe it's a summertime thing, or maybe we are going to be in really big trouble -- cause who can say no to this face? Seriously? It's not getting any easier. {Also notice the giant mosquito on his neck -- parenting photography fail} Am I the only one finding it hard to say no this summer?

I feel like we have been working on the letter N at tot school forever! It was sandwiched between the Fourth of July tot school week so I guess we kind of have been! Prior to this letter N tot school theme Henry could identify the letter N and say the N. He still sometimes has trouble with the lowercase n and says its u. Main Trays  On our first tray was a number circle -- N is for numbers -- I made using a small lower case n stamp. Each wedge had a larger number of n's from one to nine. Then, there were small corresponding number cards. The goal was then to match them up.  This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.  Henry enjoyed this activity but didn't have the patience to count all the n's. He did really well numbers one to five then got bored. I think the n's were a touch small for him as well making the larger numbers fairly difficult to count.  The second tray was his name with a bunch of circles missing and a small bow