THURSDAY'S THOUGHTS

Painted Pattern via Herbert Green

THINKING ABOUT: On Monday, I filled a plastic bin with uncooked rice and buried a bunch of Max's little toy animals in it. I thought it might be a fun and an easy way to mix things up after our morning stroll. Just as I hoped, we had a BLAST! Real talk—three days have passed since our "low-maintenance" fun-tivity and I'm still finding grains of rice scattered throughout the house. Parenthood, yo!

THANKFUL FOR: It's no secret that Tripp and Beesly are pretty quirky dogs. Trust me. They may be pretty, but they're even MORE quirky. Yeeeeesh! But no matter how rambunctious Max might be, they remain so patient with him. Both pups are getting up there in age (Tripp 12 and Beesly 7), but they allow the babe to climb them and grab at their jowls and fur. While Flyboy and I weren't entirely gung-ho about returning to Swell Rio after the holidays, we were eager to see the three of them reunite. It was such a precious sight!

FEELING: Hawaii spoiled me BIG time. I got used to having a little color during the Winter months, and I kind of miss it. Actually, I miss it A LOT! Fortunately, I tested Beauty By Earth's Self Tanner recently, and I can't stop talking about it. It's non-streaking and gives you just the right amount of color. The best part? It's made with natural and organic ingredients. This isn't sponsored; I'm just really impressed with the product. Oh, and don't be a goober and forget to wash your hands like I did after the first application. 

EATING: I made these Thai Meatball Lettuce Wraps and they were tremendous!! Flavorful, easy, AND healthy—what's not to love?!

LISTENING TO: If you frequent this little space in hopes you'll mingle with Mother of the Year, you should probably stop reading here. I'm about to let you down with another low-brow jam. Okay, now that we cleared that up (insert eye-roll emoji here), I should tell you about my latest theme song — S. O. B. by Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats. Have you heard of it? I'm certain it's the sort of tune a director would use as background music in a fictitious mom biopic about yours truly. On a daily basis, I hear the chorus play in my head whenever I'm on my knees cleaning spilled juice for the umpteenth time or witnessing another meltdown because someone said "please" and didn't get what he wanted. I swear I'm no lush, the song is just sooooooooooo damn catchy.

WATCHING: Per my sister's recommendation, Flyboy and I binge-watched Making A Murderer last weekend. The true-crime documentary on Netflix about Wisconsin man Steven Avery is equal parts fascinating and disturbing. Yikes! Let's just say, it's far from my Bravo norm, but I'm glad I gave it a shot. Have you watched it? What did you think?

READING: Mad props to Amazon Prime for helping me whoop it up over the upcoming three-day weekend!! Woot woot! That's right, I'm about to get nose deep in parenting books, y'all. For those interested, I ended up getting the following reads: How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, The Whole-Brain Child, The New Strong-Willed Child, and Simplicity Parenting. Any bets on how many pages I'll read before I take a tip from the ol' theme song and "give me a drink..."?!?

LOVING: When I was pregnant with Max, I often wondered about all the things we'd do together. Can you blame me? I'm a planner. And although I wasn't entirely sure what I'd do with a little boy (I'm still learning), I definitely knew that we'd play in the rain with matching wellies and colorful slickers. Remember the ginormous galoshes I purchased when we found out we were having a boy? Yeah, those will probably fit in in TWO MORE YEARS. Ha! Anywho, on Tuesday, we received a package in the mail from my mom. Enclosed was the most darling raincoat I've ever seen!!! While I'd never frown upon sunny weather, I'm eager for him to wear it. In fact, now would probably be a good time to order a pair of rain boots that actually fit. It's time we make my dreamy vision a reality!

Enough about me. How are you feeling today? What are you up to? Thanks for stopping by!!