Dear 3 Boys

Time is the most valuable commodity for any mother - and when you're the primary caregiver of 3 kids, and still trying to stay up-to-date with your career while managing most of the household duties on your own because you're the lucky adult who gets to stay home most of the day, then time becomes all the more precious:  it can never be wasted. Going from being a working mom of 1 and jumping to a stay-at-home mom of 3 was seriously a whole other game I was not mentally prepared for at the time.  It's been a little over a year now since I became a mom of "twins plus one," and so I decided to share a list of my top time-management hacks that help me save time throughout my day for all the other things I always need to be doing...so here goes! 1.  Prepare Supplies in Advance & Organize your Spaces When I was a classroom teacher, preparing materials for the 96 students I was teaching English to every given day was probably the most time-consuming part of...

These creamy scalloped potatoes make the perfect side dish to almost anything!  As a busy mom of 3, this dish takes me under 10 minutes to prepare, and I just set it to bake in the oven for about an hour.  There are many different versions of this dish out there, but I like to think this is the simplest, most basic one for the busiest of mamas!  This dish is also super easy to make ahead and reheats perfectly thanks to the heavy cream!  I have partnered with Farmland Fresh Dairies to use the richest, most natural heavy cream for my recipe. You can pair these potatoes with any kind of meat and veggie, and they will be delicious.  Everyone, including the kids, love them in my house.  And when you get the hang of this easy recipe, you can really get creative by adding in some fresh herbs or sliced onions when you salt the potatoes, or by sprinkling some shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese on top for an extra cheesy kick.  The more shallow your bakin...

Dear 3 Boys, The addition of Adam and Matthew to our family was one of the greatest surprises and joys of my life - making David a big brother to not one, but two brothers.  Carrying twins was a challenge to say the least.  Above everything else, I often worried about the babies health, my own, and how David would transition to sharing his parents with two other new, little people.  But ultimately, I was excited and felt truly blessed to be having twins.  I felt like I knew God chose me to be their mother and entrusted me with something He knew I would be able to handle and bare.  Our birth story was quite an adventure - the doctors and nurses all showed you off proudly to the other staff and visitors on our floor, always adding "and they were born naturally...one breech!"  All those months I went by fearing what the birth would be like, but just like the first time, I just did it and never thought about it afterward again.  When the unexpected happ...

Dear 3 Boys,  We've reused some baby items, bought lots of new things and received a few hand-me down's over the course of this year.  Some things we barely used and some we used so much that we had to buy them again because we broke them or decided that we really wanted double of them.  And well, 'these are a few of my favorite things' we've used in this past year with you all.  Side note: I really hope that some day we'll watch 'The Sound of Music' altogether because Julie Andrews and this movie rocked my childhood.  To all the mama's reading, I hope you find this list of OUR favorite items useful to you!  I've hyperlinked several of them (click on the blue wording). xo, Vicky FAVORITE BABY ITEMS FOR THE TWINS IN YEAR 1: Angelcare Bath Support  seats  - We used these for bath time until the twins were just shy of 6 months old.  They are easy to clean, mildew resistant mesh material, and you can easily stack them if you need more t...

Dear 3 Boys, I am so excited about sharing my journey of motherhood with everyone through this blog. Each of you inspire me and motivate me every day to be a better person and have given my life purpose.  Finding out I was having twins has been the most shocking news I have ever received in my lifetime, and nothing would have ever prepared me for this adventure of raising 3 boys. In April it will be a year since we welcomed Adam and Matthew to our family, so I wanted to share my greatest learnings.  These are 15 lessons I learned over this (almost) first year of my motherhood journey of having twins plus one: There is room in my heart for all 3 One of my greatest fears about even deciding to add another baby to the family was around the idea of how I’d divide my love, my time, my self with anyone other than my first sweet boy, David.  I mean, we spent 3 years together just him, Dad and myself - how could I love anyone else like David? Finding out we were g...