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Toddler Brunch with Bumbo

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Last weekend, our little family headed to True Food Kitchen for post-church brunch. It only opened last year, but has quickly become one of our favorite restaurants in the city (tofu lettuce wraps, fall harvest salad, fun fruity cocktails, delicious beet juice – yes, please). At 17 months, Isla has become increasingly agitated with sitting in uncomfortable, wooden highchairs at restaurants, so we decided to bring our Bumbo chair for her to sit in instead. It’s super light to carry and straps easily onto chairs. Although there is an attachable tray that tucks into the back, it puts toddlers at the perfect height to use the dining table. As you can see from these photos, Isla feels (and acts – reading that menu upside down!) like she’s ‘one of us’ when she’s in her chair.

Gift Ideas for a 1 Year Old Girl

GiftIdeas1yearoldWith almost three weeks passing since Isla turned one, we’ve now gotten to use many of the wonderful gifts that she received on her birthday. She is one lucky lady to have been spoiled rotten by family and friends. We got cute clothes, learning toys, plush stuffed animals and “bay-beeees.” I’ve had a few people ask me what was most useful, as they were going to be buying gifts for a one year old girl (most gifts work for boys too!) and didn’t want to get a gift that would be returned or left in a box.

I’m sharing some of our favorite items today, but most importantly, I’d love if you chimed in with other ideas in the comments below! It’s always so helpful to hear what other mamas think!

Lastly, there are some important things to take into consideration before buying gifts is the amount of storage the family has. Do they have a play room with lots of bins for toys? Do they have a big garage where they can put a toddler car? If the family has limited space, stick with smaller items like books and clothes!

Documenting the Every Day

If you’ve been on Snapshots & My Thoughts for more than 2 minutes, you’ll know I’m obsessed with take photographs (hence my decision to turn it into a career!). When Isla was born, I became paranoid that she was growing too quickly and that I would forget what she looked like on day 27, 35, 89, etc. Therefore, I had the genius idea that I would make a ‘Photo-a-Day’ book. When it came to which site I would use to document these memories, I immediately thought of Shutterfly, as I have 14 photo books (seriously) printed from this incredible company already, and you can definitely consider me to be brand loyal. YearinPhotos

Do As I Say And As I Do

Do as I say and as I do Mom Talk Advice Role Model Babies

You’ve probably heard the phrase: ‘Do as I say not as I do‘ a thousand times in your life. As a new mom, I keep on thinking about this adage and how flawed it is. Every night, I pray that I will be a good role model for Isla (and our future kids), and in order to do this, I need to act the way I want her to act. Therefore, my mom mantra is going to be ‘Do as I say and as I do.’

This statement applies to all aspects of life, from being kind and respecting all individuals to eating healthy and staying active. I cannot tell Isla to eat all of her veggies if I’m stuffing my face with pizza, nor would I be able to scold her for talking bad about a classmate if I constantly gossiped about my friends. Although many of the examples I can think of pertain more to a few years down the road, I know that I need to get into a good routine now so that she doesn’t grow up watching Sasha and I have bad habits.

One example of us getting into a bad habit is with our meals at dinner time. We spend a lot of money at the grocery store every week, buying organic veggies, fruit, meat, etc. to prepare all three meals at home. There is a delicious health food store and restaurant a stone’s throw from our house that is very reasonably priced, and so a few weeks ago, we decided to get takeout from A Moveable Feast every night (Monday through Friday) to see if we saved money by eating out (making our grocery bill significantly smaller). Not only did we spend less on food that week, it was such a relief not to have to cook dinner and clean the dishes. By gaining thirty minutes every evening, I felt like a new woman!