As for today, it’s Things I’m Loving Friday tiiime! If you’re new around here, every Friday I share a short roundup of some of the things that make me smile every week. I also love it when you guys join in the fun and tell me a little bit about something you’re loving every week, too!
Have a great weekend, my friends!
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Beginning Harry Potter with Chase
I never could’ve anticipated how much joy I get from experiencing some of my favorite things from childhood all over again with my children. Seeing the boys light up at some of my favorite books, family traditions, games and movies is just this wonderful blend of nostalgia and joy.
Earlier this week, I began reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with Chase. He immediately loved it and we read for 90 minutes straight on the couch together. (Thank you to Rhett and Ryder for overlapping naps that day!) Chase laughed out loud at a lot of the silly magical things that happened in the first few chapters and seemed enchanted by the story from the beginning. We’re now looking for any pockets of free time to curl up and read together and I’m so happy he’s enjoying one of my favorite stories so much! Also, I’ve heard absolutely amazing things about the illustrated versions of the Harry Potter books but welcome thoughts from anyone out there who may have these books, too. I know Chase would love to have some pictures to look at as we read together but another part of me likes the idea of him creating his own images in his head. Any feedback you might have about the illustrated editions would be so appreciated!
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Rhett’s Frenulectomy
Early on Monday morning, I took Rhett to see a pediatric dentist in the area to have his lip tie checked out and potentially addressed. Once Rhett’s two front teeth came in, I noticed the tissue connecting his upper lip to his gums was incredibly thick. It caused a big gap in his teeth and when I sent a picture to my friend Kaitlyn, she said he definitely had a lip tie and encouraged me to get it checked out. (Kaitlyn is an SLP in Jacksonville, Florida and her encouragement is the only reason I got Rhett checked for a posterior tongue tie when his spit up went on and on for months. Also, it’s worth noting that many babies have a gap between their teeth and that’s totally normal and not necessarily indicative of a lip tie.)
After speaking with a highly-recommended pediatric dentist in our area at length, we opted to have Rhett undergo a frenulectomy, a simple procedure that removed the connective tissue causing Rhett’s lip tie. The procedure was quick and lasted all of 10 seconds but the real fun came later as we’re now supposed to do some stretches/exercises every five hours to make sure his lip tie does not reattach. Let’s just say Rhett is NOT a fan but hopefully we’ll only have to do them for the next two(ish) weeks or so. I went into a lot of detail about all of this on Instagram Stories earlier this week so I don’t want to be too redundant in this space but if you’re curious about everything or have any specific questions, just let me know in the comments section of this post and I’m more than happy to elaborate on everything. I never realized how common lip and tongue ties are (apparently it is a dominant trait!) and I’ve heard from a LOT of you with little ones you think might be in a similar boat so definitely reach out if you have any questions.
I was on the lookout for a delicate paperclip chain necklace in a shorter length because I wanted to use it as a layering piece with some of my other favorite gold necklaces. This $11 Amazon find fit the bill and the quality was way better than anticipated. It’s a great length (I’m wearing it on the shorter side) and I’ve been loving it paired with my heart necklace. (Note: My heart necklace is by Gorjana and has unfortunately been sold out for months but this Etsy find is similar!)
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Good Inside with Dr. Becky Podcast
I adore Dr. Becky and her thoughts and advice on parenting have repeatedly helped me as a mother. She gives advice and applicable solutions to common parenting issues that feel rooted in love, a desire to understand and kindness. A lot of her guidance is centered in helping a child understand what they’re feeling and helping a child regulate complicated emotions. Her podcast, Good Inside with Dr. Becky, is filled with topics that many parents can relate to going through with their children and I’ve really enjoyed listening to her thoughts and advice surrounding topics that may be top-of-mind in our house at any given time. She also clearly gets that most parents are busy and overwhelmed and keeps her episodes nice and short (under 30 minutes) which I also appreciate.
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September 2021 Top 10
In an effort to be better at taking the time to analyze some of my analytics, a few months ago I began sharing a monthly recap in my Friday posts highlighting my top 10 blog posts and your top 10 favorite finds from the blog + Instagram. Hopefully this will also help you check out some blog posts you might have missed or help you easily locate an item I’ve mentioned in the past that got buried in blog/social media mayhem.
Here’s a peek at was you guys liked best in September 2021!
Top 10 Blog Posts:
- Orange Juice Marinated Chicken Thighs
- Three Minute Egg White Oatmeal
- A Weekend at Jellystone Golden Valley
- High Protein Oat Bran
- Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
- Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf
- Rhett Is One
- 10 Preschool Lunches
- Oatmeal Apple Crisp
- DIY Memory Boxes, Butterflies and a Peek Into Our Weekend
Top 10 Favorite Finds:
- Crayola Pip Squeaks Marker Caddy (Our boys’ favorite markers in an organized caddy)
- QUAY Sunglasses (A Trunk Club surprise and my new favorite sunglasses!)
- Take A Look, It’s In A Book Tee (A Reading Rainbow throwback!)
- Freshly Picked Baby Moccasins (Amazing quality baby shoes. We’ve loved them for all three boys.)
- Delicate Gold Paperclip Chain Necklace (Only $11 and a great layering necklace)
- Memory Box Supplies: File Bins / File Folders / Name Decals + File Stickers (I hope these bins are helping you guys feel more organized, too!)
- One Teaspoon Jeans (Hooray for jeans that are actually comfy!)
- Rolling Cart (This is the cart that used to hold Rhett’s diapering supplies that we turned into a craft cart for the boys)
- Denim Dress (A great piece for fall — adorable with a flannel tied around the waist. Size up for length!)
- Picasso Tiles (Our boys play with these every single day. Truly! Highly recommend two sets for more building fun!)
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Friday Flashbacks
Favorite Halloween Books for Young Kids (Some of our family’s favorite fun reads for little ones!)
Winning Cornbread Recipe (The best cornbread!! Easy to make and perfect to serve with a bowl of your favorite chili.)
Question of the Day
What is one thing making you smile this week?
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Wanted to tell you I made the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins yesterday. They are delicious!!! My kids and I all LOVE them!!!
I see this being a repeat recipe quite frequently!!! Glad I made the double batch!!! Thank you for sharing.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
Hooray! So happy you liked them — thanks for letting me know!
Hi Julie!
I just bought the illustrated first book for my little girl. My thiught was reading the first book and having the illustrated version as a keepsake. She is going to love looking through the illustrated book when we are already on to reading the next books in the series.
I love your thought of Chase forming his own pictures. So sweet. Whatever you decide, the books are a wonderful special time for parent and child as a read aloud
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Caitlin! Keeping the books as a keepsake sounds so special <3
I also thought I would buy the illustrated books as keepsakes but my kids have read them so many times (by themselves now) that they are falling apart. I decided I would rather them be well loved anyway. You won’t regret the illustrated versions, I promise! Even my 2 year old would listen because he loved to look at the pictures.
Aw, I love that they love the books so much. That’s so wonderful!! And what you said about your 2-year-old listening is so helpful to hear — Right now Ryder seems to come in and out of listening if Chase and I are reading (he’ll do a puzzle or play nearby) but I think he’d LOVE it if he could pop in and see some pictures, too.
I love your posts highlighting your boys’ current favorite things. As a BiBi (Granma) of six ranging in age from 8 mos. to 11 years, finding things for birthdays and gifts is quite challenging these days. Your recommendations are always a home run with my group!
Also, your posts about what YOU are loving help me pick great gift items for my daughter and two daughter-in-laws.
Don’t ever quit doing what your doing! I appreciate you!
Sheri your comment definitely made me smile this morning! Thanks so, so much!! You sound like a very thoughtful BiBi!! SIX grandkids — how incredible!! <3
YES to the illustrated version! They are wonderful. If you plan to watch the movie with him when you are done reading, his imagination of how the characters appear will be skewed a bit anyway (not that that’s bad!). However, be aware that depending on what rate you read the next books in the series, you may get to a point where the illustrated versions are not completed yet. I read the illustrated of 1-3 to my daughter, but 4 hadn’t been completed yet when we were ready to start it. She was a bit bummed to not continue with the illustrated, but they’re being released very slowly at this point.
Good point about the movies — we are planning to watch them as we finish the books!! I also didn’t know all of the illustrated versions weren’t out yet so thanks for the heads up about that as well.
Love, love your blog! A post about storing kid stuff would be awesome. Also a post on favorite pictures books of yours (KathEats did one once which was nice). Thanks for sharing your life with us!
Thanks for the blog post suggestions! I’ll absolutely keep them in mind.
Any book recommendations .. I always enjoy your book reviews on this blog
I’m currently reading The Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson and enjoying it! I’d recommend her novel Matchmaking for Beginners over this one though if you haven’t read it already.
It’s actually comforting to read you’re on the other side of the lip tie procedure! We just saw the dentist this week and learned our 3-1/2 year old has a tongue tie and a severe top lip tie too! After hearing we’d be doing mouth exercises multiple times a day for many weeks, I hesitated… I appreciate hearing your experience! As always, thanks for sharing as there’s always someone who can relate 🙂
The Harry Potter illustrator, Jim Kay, is married to my friend 🙂.
I have read the first three books to my 7 (now 8) year old and he loved the illustrated copy. Also I found the illustrations broke up the longer books a bit when reading aloud.
But as previous commenters have noted, the illustrated series isn’t all published yet. But it might not matter if you are planning on leaving the later books until Chase is a little older (as we have done with our son). Evan is disappointed not to be able to read the final books and watch the later films but films 4 onwards have a 12 rating in the UK.
Since you enjoy your paper clip necklace, check out http://analuisa.com/. They have a delicate paper clip ring in many sizes . Very cute and would be perfect with your necklace!
Hi Julie! Did you end up buying an extender for your heart necklace? I noticed that yours was sitting much longer than mine, and when I researched extenders on Amazon I saw that they actually have a very inexpensive gold Gorjana necklace extender! It just arrived today and I’m excited to try it out.
Have a great weekend!
Funny to read your thoughts about the illustrated Harry Potter books because my husband and I were just talking about them yesterday! My son is one month younger than Chase and we finished reading the third Harry Potter to him this week. Yesterday, we looked through the illustrated version of the third book and I found the illustrations to be pretty dark. We occasionally modified what we read if we thought it would scare our son, but the illustrations of Sirius Black in the Shrieking Shack or the Dementors would have definitely scared him. So maybe look through the books before you buy to see what Chase would think!
I wanted to recommend the Halloween book “Trick or Treat” by Bill Martin Jr. It is sold on Amazon. Your boys will love it and it is fun to read to children. It involves trick or treating and then a wizard casts a spell and each door they get a treat but it is said backwards. My children loved this book for many years and we still have a very well worn and loved copy saved. Also – so happy to hear that Rhett’s procedure went well and hope the next 2 weeks he does well so it heals perfectly. Enjoy your fall weekend.
I missed your Insta stories about the lip tie! Are they saved, or could you do a quick recap? Your sharing about this helped me realize I think my 11-month-old may have one too… thank you!!
you are SO bad, good? for my amazon purchases. thanks! lol 3 of those necklaces purchased….
Hi Julie. I enjoyed this post and the content you delivered. However, I would like to ask about a few things that align with this post. While you have a work out regiment established, I think it’s important for you to acknowledge a few things. Obviously, you are quite naturally thin, and would likely return to this condition regardless, as it’s simply genetic. Also, your diet is extremely healthy, and could even be considered restrictive by many people. (I guess I just eat and drink a lot more than you LOL). Also, you had extensive help with your mom being there for weeks on end to help with the baby….most people don’t have that privilege. This allowed you ample time to rest, work out, etc.
I also am lucky like you in that I bounced back at 42, losing all my baby weight and then some within two weeks. But, I recognize it was simply luck and genetics. I just don’t want you to give the wrong idea to your readers, as honestly, some of this is simply beyond their control.
I love your blog, and your family is simply the cutest. I would like to see a less curated version though. I think it would make you a lot more relatable to your readers.