Tag: mom life

Tahoe 25′

Last week we drove up to Tahoe for our yearly trip to the snow. This is always a top request from William, he is my snow lover and could play outside in it all day. We had the best time sledding, having snowball fights, soaking in the hot tub, playing uno & scrabble, drinking hot chocolate and watching Toby experience snow for the first time too. We also stayed super close to the lake so we were able to catch a gorgeous sunset before a dinner in town. This kicks off our 2025 travel and this might be one of my favorite snow trips to date. Long before Chris and I had kids and even before we were married we went on a trip to Tahoe with a bunch of friends and going back up there in the winter with snow all around always makes me nostalgic for that first trip we went on allll the way back in 2012!

25 in 2025 List

Another year came and went! For many years now I’ve created these lists – you can read about them here (20 in 2020, but basically it’s a framework to help design, and add intentionality into the year. I put bigger goals as well as small, sometimes lingering tasks that I haven’t done but want to accomplish (ie: deal with tech donations, renew a passport, etc.). In this post I’m sharing my list for 2025 including a detailed version below. I enjoying doing one of these lists far more than creating a big often vague resolution. We’re only a little ways into 2025 so it’s certainly not too late to create one of your own!

Here’s a more detailed version of my list!

  1. 1k hours outside – We attempted this in 2023 and got SO close – like 940ish hours I think. I’m excited to try this again because I feel like we are outside so much with the kids when they’re playing baseball and we upgraded our backyard set up so I really think we can get to 1k!
  2. Slow read War and Peace – I’m doing a chapter a day and following along with a substack that puts out weekly short pods with plot / character and chapter summaries. This book is insanely long and I don’t think I would have read it otherwise.
  3. Delete social media – This one is surprising but kind of happened organically. Late last year I deleted twitter because it was an absolute dumpster fire. After I deleted it, it felt SO good so I actually deleted IG off my phone in the new year. And then tiktok took care of itself lol. I don’t really have a plan as to how long or if I’ll pop back in. Right now I’m really just enjoying the freedom.
  4. Sew banquet bench cushions – I made our dining room banquet seating in 2023 but it needs some comfy cushions so this year I plan to take this on.
  5. Build living room built ins – another DIY. duh.
  6. Get a will / living trust set up – This is a roll over from last year. We. NEED. To. Get. This. Done.
  7. Volunteer – cakes for kids / help packs – I found an amazing organization that I joined to bake cakes for foster kids who otherwise wouldn’t get a cake. This is right up my alley. I found this org on the website Just Serve which shows you so many amazing volunteer opportunities in your area!
  8. Read 40 books –
  9. Renew my passport –
  10. Paint fireplace brick – this badly needs a touch up because Toby lays on it every night and gets it filthy.
  11. Take candid sports photos – I picked up my DSLR last baseball season and was happy I did. I plan to take more candids of the kids this season.
  12. Save $ & monthly budgeting with Chris 
  13. Purge 2025 items – I found a little tracker for this online and so far I’m at 50. This feels ambitious but I desperately want to simplify and continue to minimize our stuff.
  14. Use the food we have – minimizing food waste is a huge goal – I want to use up things before just running to the store.
  15. Cook with boys 1 dinner / month – dinner is statistically the meal my children eat the least of. I’m trying something new where each boy gets to pick a recipe to make for dinner once a month. And then I will cook it with them and let them help as much as possible.
  16. Be easier on myself – this is a rollover from last year and although I think I did a decent job of this, I wanted to include it because it is just a good reminder. I need the reminder to extend the same amount of grace and compassion to myself whether it’s about my mothering, my body, my productivity, as I would to a friend. I want to show my kids it’s okay to make mistakes and not beat ourselves up about it.
  17. Enjoy our outdoor furniture – literally writing this blog post from my outdoor couch, drenched in sunlight. this should not be hard to accomplish.
  18. Paint Chris’ office – I have the tub of paint, just need to get it done. Luckily he has a few work trips in the next few months so I plant to take that opportunity while his office is empty to get this done!
  19. Complete dig deeper 2x – This is a workout program that i’m 3/4 of the way through and I LOVED. I plan to do it again. It’s 12 weeks long. So it takes me a while to get through.
  20. Make a 5 senses portrait – this is a roll over from 2024, I do want to complete this. It’s basically a way to create a portrait of someone or something using your senses. I want to do it for my kids and for my parents. because I feel like it gives such a great snapshot of what they are like in this moment. 
  21. Summer of swimming – last summer we joined a great gym that has a pool that makes you feel like you’re on vacation. We utilized it a bunch but this summer I want to use it even more. And really just work on the boys swimming capabilities as well as swimming for exercise for myself.
  22. Catch up on photo books (2023/2024) – This one I put on my list every year because it’s a huge undertaking but also brings immense joy. I’m 95% done with my 2023 book, and my goal is to get 2024 done realtively quickly!
  23. Superstitious – this goal is something I really want to happen but I’m a little nervous to put it out on the internet. Stay tuned lol
  24. Start Harry Potter with Will – Will and I are doing a 100 day reading challenge together and I’m trying to really help him strengthen his reading skills and fall in love with reading. After our 100 day challenge I want to start Harry Potter.
  25. Start hiking with Toby –

I know a lot of people feel some kind of way about this new year. But for me I’m really trying to cultivate and control what I can in my own home and little community. So that’s what I’m aiming for my list this year. Like I mentioned under the delete social media point. I’m not sure if I’ll return to making IG content. I made it for so long, showing up literally every single day. And it feels so free to take a break. I’ve had this blog before I began creating content and so I think you’ll find me here this year.

Cheers

Natasha

Sunday Somethings No. 10

A recipe I tried this week was this Creamy Tortilla Soup – we finally had a cooler day or two so I took advantage and made soup. Definitely going to add this into the soup rotation.

We had a soccer filled weekend. It’s been so fun watching the boys & I’ve been using my DSLR to get photos of the kids playing.

I’m about 30% through Flicker in the Dark. I’m excited to finish it this week. And then my book club is reading Untamed for September. I read it years ago but it just became available on Libby so I’m gonna read it again after Flicker.

Last month I ordered these cord clips and they were the simplest upgrade that I didn’t know I needed. We have a little cabinet where we charge our laptops, theres a phone charger and a mini USB charger and the cords always get so tangled and drive me nuts and this was the easiest solution! For less than $10 this made such a big difference!

We celebrated Juno’s birthday this week. Our big girl turned 9! We made her a cheeseburger. and gave her all the love. She’s my first baby, my adventure buddy. Her and I would spend every days exploring golden gate park, spending time at the beach and she’s taught me so much about unconditional love.

This week I finallllly convinced Will to let go of his rocking chair that has been taking up so much space in his room. He’s my sentimental kid and he was so resistant. We actually just moved his rocking chair into Johnathans room since J still likes being rocked at night. And now his room feels SO spacious. I was worried he was gonna be upset but he told me he didn’t like it he LOVED it! lol. This was a huge win that I’ve been trying to get done for seriously 2 years.

The past two weeks I’ve been back on my meditation game. I’ve tried to make a really conscious effort to priortize some stillness each day. This is a quick 5 minute one I really enjoyed this week. I also passed 700 days of meditation recently and that re inspired me to get back into it. I use insight timer for my guided meditations.

I was chatting with one of my friends this weekend and I decided to start another work out program. I took a very big break from following a calendar and doing specific programs and I’ve just been bouncing around between bike rides, and making up my own workouts and I think I’m ready for some serious structure. So I’m started a new program tomorrow and I’m excited!! Although I do realize I’ll be starting a program when the kids have half days thanks to parent teacher conferences lol. But we’ll get it done! I also love it’s 5 days a week so I’ll definitely be able to fit in rest days.

Alright I’m spending Sunday at the hospital so time to pack lunches for the boys before my shift.

Sunday Somethings No. 9

This week started off pretty low key as I recovered from a 3 day work stretch at the hospital. So the first few days I spent giving myself grace and not doing too much. I’ve been a nurse for 12 years and I feel like I’m just finally starting to get into a routine post work that allows for rest and isn’t focused on getting as much done as possible!

Something I read: Bye Baby – I read this book in 2 days. It was SO good! 5/5 stars it was so entertaining. Then on the other end of the spectrum I suffered through a book for my book club only to then realize I read the wrong freaking book. ugh! luckily I read Bye Baby right after so I was able to rebound quickly. I also started a Flicker in the Dark which has been on my to read list forever it feels like.

I finished my first week of my No spend September! And it felt really good and has me excited for this challenge. Our relationships with money can be so complicated and carry a lot of ish. I know for me personally one of my fears is suddenly becoming responsible for everything and having no idea where to start. Then I should-ing all over myself that I “should” have been looking at my accounts. I “should” be paying more attention. I “should” be more engaged. And then I feel guilty and terrible and then I avoid it. Such a fun cycle. Iykyk. The truth is fear is just the worst motivator – and when you move from a place of fear you almost never get the results you want. So instead this challenge was a way to move from a place of curiosity and a way to reframe something that is stressful.

I’ve been making these high protein banana / graham cracker / vanilla yogurt cups that are delicious. I’ve been eating them either as an afternoon snack or as a dessert they’re about 38g of protein.

I pulled down all the boxes for Fall and starting taking down my summer things. I’m ready to swap the seasons but it’s so hard when it’s still 100 degrees to get into the fall mood. Next week I think it’s finally gonna get below 90 so my goal is to decorate for fall!

We had a packed weekend – the boys had their first halloween party / movie night at a friends house, we had the start of soccer and we went to a block party. The block party felt like old school summer, everyone in the streets, kids riding bikes bare foot. The weather perfect. I decked the boys bikes out with glow sticks for the ride home and it was such a perfect night. I’m tired just typing it all out. As busy as it was it was also so filling.

Right now we are very much in a season of transition and a world of unknown. There are a lot of unknowns with what my work will look like in the next 4-6 months, same for Chris. At times it feels so unsettling and it can be really easy to spiral into all these unknown possibilities. This feeling of unknown isn’t new to me, it comes with the territory of start-ups. What I’ve learned is that when the future feels the most uncertain and suddenly the road has all these turns you can’t see around, it is in these seasons where grounding yourself in the here and now is the most powerful and most impactful. This week I really prioritized my morning routine of mindfulness (meditating, journaling, eft tapping) and it makes such a big difference. Rather than allowing myself to dabble in the future I focused on what was right in front of me. The little hands that interlock with mine when we walk to school. The cold, wet grass on the soles of my feet. The steam that billows from my morning coffee. The soft steady breaths of the dog that lays beside me. The sound of the squirrels chasing another in the trees. These moments, these glimmers are right here for the taking. So if you’re in a season of unknown, of change, of uncertainty know that it does not last forever. And I try to remind myself of the idea that an essential requirement for growth (be it spiritual or personal) is coming to peace with
pain. No expansion or evolution can take place without change and periods of change are not always comfortable 

❤

5 Toddler Books for BIG feelings!

If you have a toddler then you already know, the feelings are BIG. Here are some our favorite books to help make sense of these big feelings. I bought The Invisible String, before going out of town and Will LOVED it! So I thought I would share our favorites for anyone else navigating those BIG feelings.

1. The Boy with the Big, Big Feelings 2. The Invisible String 3. In My Heart 4. The Color Monster 5. My Heart

Things I love about each book:

  • The Boy with The Big, Big Feelings – does a great job actually explaining what it feels like when we get upset “feelings push out of our eyes” aka tears.
  • The Invisible String – I just love this book and the concept that we are always connected to the people we love even if we aren’t with them at that moment. Plus Will LOVED this book!
  • In My Heart – This one has so many emotions & the design is cute!
  • The Color Monster – Will also refers back to this one about feeling mixed up & feeling lots of emotions at once!
  • My heart – I love the illustrations in this one & the simple message!

Do you have a favorite feelings book? If so I’d love to hear what it is!

5 Things to Add Riced Cauliflower to & not even notice…

Cauliflower rice is one of my favorite ways to sneak veggies into meals! It easily absorbs flavors of other foods which makes it the perfect versatile veggie for adding in. Below are five dishes that go beyond “cauliflower rice”

Fajita veggies – For taco night you can find me making bell peppers, onions and riced cauliflower for fajitas. Inside a taco, burrito or quesadilla you’ll never know extra veggies snuck their way in. My kids will notoriously pick out and onion or bell pepper but the cauliflower is here to stay!

Pasta Sauce – I love sneaking riced cauliflower into red sauce that I use for pastas or lasagnas! My kids never notice because the flavor of the meat sauce sauce is front and center.

Protein Shakes – This might sound weird but instead of adding ice to your protein shake, add 1/2 cup of frozen riced cauliflower. It adds a creamier consistency to your shake, plus you’re getting a serving of veggies!

Chili – a dish like chili is SO flavorful by itself it makes adding riced cauliflower easy! These are chili stuffed sweet potatoes & you’d never know there cauliflower in there.

Casseroles – last but not least next time you’re making a casserole try adding in a cup or two of riced cauliflower. Like I’ve mentioned before it absorbs any flavors and easily goes unnoticed!

I also buy riced cauliflower at costco and keep a ton of it on hand. Whenever I feel like we’re running low on veggie servings that day it is my number one go to for an extra serving!

Wild One

This month we celebrated Jman with a Wild One themed birthday party! He is our sweetest surprise & our pandemic baby. Born in July, his birth month flower is a lotus. Which grows in mud, retreating each night back into the mud only to bloom clean the next day. Lotus flowers symbolize spiritual awakening and rebirth. My eyes filled with tears when I read the description of this. Johnathan was our sweetest surprise, little did we know he would enter our lives when we needed him most, in the thick of the pandemic he would be the brightest light. His birth would remind us of the circle of life as we went on to lose my aunt a few days after his birth. I couldn’t think of a more beautiful symbol for his birth month.

We had family and a few friends come celebrate with us. I got this “wild one” birthday kit off amazon for $30 and was impressed with how great it turned out. The day of the party ended up being well over 100 degrees, luckily we had a small pool from target set up & the kids loved splashing in it. It was wonderful to celebrate our happy guy and watch him demolish his smash cake! He decided to take his first steps right before turning one and he held out on getting any teeth his first year!

Links: table cloths / wild one party kit / splash pool / my dress

Winter in Yosemite

Last month we went on our first trip in exactly one year! We went on a road trip & visited Yosemite. A few months leading up to this trip Will started enquiring about seeing snow. We landed on visiting Yosemite, because as much as I wanted Will to see snow, the idea of three days with a toddler & infant with snow as the main / only attraction did not seem like my idea of fun. So we landed on going to Yosemite & it was the perfect getaway! I thought I would share what hikes, trails we went on that were kid friendly, info about snow play areas etc in case you find yourself in a snowy yosemite with a toddler & 6 month old!

Cooks Meadow – Located on the valley floor, this trail has incredible view of half dome & Yosemite Falls & you are surrounded by beautiful meadows. There are boardwalks that make pushing a stroller easy. We were able to pull off the trail and have our lunch in a meadow with Yosemite Falls in the background. So serene.

Lower Yosemite Falls – This is a 1 mile loop that is paved, easily manageable with a stroller or a toddler. (although when did this hike it was day 3 & will was exhausted so he opted to ride in the stroller, but on any given day he could easily have walked this trail!)

Badger Pass Ski / Snow Play Area – did you know Yosemite had a ski resort?? I did not, until researching for this trip. At the time the actual ski resort was closed & lifts were not running. however the snow play area was open to visitors. William had a great time sledding. We took our monkey mat and put it down in the snow & Johnathan got to watch. We also packed tons of food for this portion – I premade a batch of chili for our trip, heated it in the morning & stored in a XL Thermos. When we got done playing in the snow we had a picnic in the back of the car with warm chili! I would say be sure to pack lots of food because to & from badger pass there is very little / no food options & I did not want to risk and hungry toddler or husband after playing in the snow for two hours!

Tunnel View – If you’ve been to Yosemite you’ve probably stopped at Tunnel View – there’s not much to do, it’s purely a vista, but I love stopping there & taking it all in! (I just popped out of the car to grab a few photos, no pulling toddlers out of carseats for this stop.

Things to consider

  • If you are planning a trip to Yosemite be sure to check which entrances are open, because many roads are closed during the winter months.
  • Be sure to check if reservations are required to enter the park as of Feb 2021 they were.
  • Depending on accommodations, at the time we booked our trip the Awahnee was still closed for overnight guests, however we booked an airbnb about 30 minutes from the gate. Something to consider is the driving factor – although we were only 30 minutes to the gate, often our actual destination was an hour or so away. So it made for LOTS of time in the car.
  • We loved our airbnb, it had stunning mountain views, a hot tub that you could enjoy the sunset from & was SUPER kid friendly, including a play structure, miniature horses & everything from highchairs to pack n plays! This is the airbnb link in case you are looking for a place to stay!

Have you ever visited Yosemite in the winter?? I would love to hear about your experience or your experience taking young kids to national parks! After this trip Chris & I are really making an effort to take the boys to more parks around us! Leave me your favorite parks in the comments below!

Postpartum Must Haves

Postpartum can be a roller coaster & anything you can do to make life a little easier or comfier is a no brainer. Below are 10 of my postpartum must haves this time around!

  1. After Ease drops – this tincture helps with afterbirth contractions that typically become more painful with each consecutive pregnancy. I added a few drops to my water before breastfeeding & I noticed a big difference when I used it versus when I forgot.
  2. Frida Mom Ice Maxi Pads – These are AWESOME. I know at the hospital they give you ice packs but i found these to work SO much better, colder, lasted longer – highly recommend.
  3. Cute Button Down Pajamas – It’s easy to feel really frumpy & gross postpartum, none of your clothes fit, you want to wear something comfy & easy to breastfeed in. Treat Yo Self & get yourself some cute soft pajamas, you won’t regret it.
  4. Heating Pad – I tucked this into my hospital bag. Depending on your labor you can definitely feel like you got hit by a train. Although my labor was significantly quicker & less dramatic this time around, once my epidural wore off my back was SO sore. I don’t know if it was from the epidural itself, or if it was from a way I was laying, either way a heating pad can offer relief if the advil just isn’t cutting it!
  5. Placenta Capsules – this is by far my top postpartum must have! I encapsulated my placenta my first pregnancy & did it again this time around. Although still not widely practiced here in the US, placenta encapsulation is extremely popular in Eastern Medicine – benefits include: replenishing Iron stores in your body, decreased postpartum depression, decreased anxiety, increased energy, increased milk supply. Last pregnancy I wasn’t certain that the pills helped, I felt good but I didn’t know if the pills were part of that. This time it was our second day home & I remember this feeling coming over me of just wanting to bawl. And I hadn’t taken any of my pills yet, Chris suggested I take one & see. Within two hours I felt SO much better. I felt like myself. Now I take 2-3 daily. I notice a boost in energy & mood when I take them. If you’re interested in encapsulating your placenta but don’t know where to start, I have found that often times doulas will offer encapsulation services!
  6. Nursing Tanks – I like these from H&M they come in a lot of colors / prints & are fairly affordable.
  7. A good water bottle – I personally couldn’t live without my hydroflask, I love ICE cold water so this bad boy serves me well. I’m never without it. When I’m breastfeeding I’m incredibly thirsty & it’s one of the best ways to keep your milk supply up.
  8. Nipple Cream – I used this nipple cream when I was breastfed William. A little 1oz jar will last you for so long.
  9. Hakka Pump – Breast pumps can be SO pricey – this little silicone pump from amazon is a great snag. It’ll run you under $15 & just put it on the opposite breast while feeding & it’ll catch the let down. However it’s not great if you have an oversupply of milk as it can cause your oversupply to be worse.
  10. Tap Light – this little light is one of my absolute favorites. In fact I often gift it to new mamas. It is super light weight, cordless, and can be dimmed & changed from warm to cool lighting. I packed it in my hospital bag this time & I loved having instead of having to turn on the aggressive hospital lighting. Once we’re home I keep it on my bedside table for middle of the night feeds & in fact we still use the one we got for William two years ago!

30 in Scottsdale

A few weeks ago we went to Scottsdale to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was such a fun long weekend. My best friend & my parents joined us & it was so low key & relaxing. We stayed at the Scottsdale Mccormick Ranch which has an awesome pool, that you can walk into. Will LOVED it. He was so brave and would just walk right in, which had us realizing he needs swim lessons ASAP because he has no concept of what to do when he gets too deep (literally). We also went and saw a Giants preseason game, which is always fun. All in all it was a great weekend with great food & even better company & it definitely felt like a special way to ring in 30. (which I still can’t believe I am!)