Life Changing Hair Styler

Stop what you're doing and order this new hair styling tool! I'm not usually this bossy....but listen up. If you have hair that is wavy, thick, curly, frizzy, or just plain hard to handle (or straighten), you need this gadget. It is life-changing.

Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer

It's no secret I like to complain about my hair. I am blessed to have a good thick head of hair. But as I get older, the curls get tighter and more difficult to straighten. To the point where my hair stylist has now suggested I look into permanently straightening my hair. I haven't taken that step because I DO enjoy the flexibility of being able to wear it straight or curly.

But when I want to wear it smooth and somewhat straight....man it takes forever!!

First I have to dry it. And that can take a solid 20-30 minutes with the hairdryer on high. Next, if I want to straighten my hair that's another 30+ minutes with a flat iron. Or if I want that nice big smooth "blowout" look with a round brush, I still have to use my flat iron on the back of my head because the curls are so tight. So we're talking at least 1 hour of uninterrupted time. But hello, I'm a mom, so I don't get uninterrupted time.

It's a process.

Enter the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer. I was extra frustrated with my hair one day and after reading page after page of rave reviews, I bought it. And I fell in love.

This tool is like a hair dryer, flat iron, and round brush all in one. I've tried similar tools in the past and while they did smooth and dry my hair, they never truly straightened it. This one truly straightens, and I think it's because it gets so hot.

Here are a few pictures for proof:

This is my hair after I wash and dry it. (30 minutes of dry time)

OR, this is my hair after using the Revlon dryer for just 15 minutes. I'm talking, stepping out of the shower with dripping wet hair, to styled. Total time 15 minutes. In this picture you can see I ran the brush over the top of my hair, so that the ends flip up.

This week I tried running the drying brush on the underside of my hair, so that it would either straighten or curl under. It ended up pretty straight on the ends.

Is anyone else as amazed as I am?

From this:

To this. 15 minutes.

My hair got rained on a tiny bit after it was styled this week, but after running the brush through my hair for maybe 30 seconds, it was perfectly smooth again. Oh, and it's a volumizer! Normally I don't try to give my hair any extra volume, but this tool just seems to give the perfect amount of volume at the roots.

 Do yourself a favor and try out this gadget on your hair. Life-changing!


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When Number 4 Turns 2

Andrew turned 2 on February 28th, and at the time we didn't really celebrate much. I think someone was sick? Grandma Jan did come over and make cupcakes with Jenna, so we did have a yummy treat after dinner. But we decided to hold off on giving him his gifts.

My parents gave Andrew some really cute toys that he loves....including Duplo legos and PJ Masks race cars. I kept meaning to give him our gifts, but then we have been sick off an on since! (And pretty much everyone we know). So his gifts sat, unwrapped, in my room. Until this weekend, when I decided enough was enough.

Sometimes when number 4 turns 2, things get delayed and there isn't a big party or tons of presents....but we love him just the same!

Andrew opened his presents, which included a set of training underpants and a really cute potty-training book.

 Everyone loved his superhero-themed potty book!

 And then he opened his favorite present. Monster slippers!

These slippers are adorable. They velcro across the top and have tread on the bottom, and he pretty much hasn't taken them off since Saturday. Andrew is notorious for stealing all our slippers, so I'm glad he finally has a pair of his own.

Aaaand when you're number 1 and you turn 2.....you get a real birthday party. Flashback to Ryan's Mickey party! When did he get so long?

After presents I passed out brownies and whipped cream. And do you know how strange my kids are? We discovered that none of them like brownies.

 They did enjoy the whipped cream!

Happy Belated Birthday Andrew! I can't believe my baby is 2. We just love you so much and every day is a party with you around!

6 In A Bed

I haven't been able to blog a lot lately. Why? In a word, sleep. Unfortunately I haven't been spending my time sleeping....I've been trying to get the kids to sleep! It's seriously becoming a big (tiring) problem around here.

Let me preface this by saying Lucas is an amazing sleeper. By far our best. He lays down at bedtime, falls asleep, and then gets up in the morning, usually by around 7am. Perfect. The other 3? Terrible.

On any given night we've got a handful of kids sleeping in our room. Last night was a bit unusual, but when I woke up this morning all 4 kids were in our room. That's 6 people! I should clarify, not all the kids end up in our bed next to us. 1 is usually on our couch, and 1 might be lying at the foot of our bed.

Ryan has always had a hard time sleeping. Jenna used to be great but now is terrible. And Andrew can't sleep without me next to him. I'm exhausted. Adam is exhausted.

Adam and I wake up and stumble past each other in the morning, comparing stories of how many times we walked kids back to their beds in the middle of the night. Last night I fell sound asleep at 8:30pm. (Only to be woken up an hour later because of course one of the kids was already up)

What happens when kids don't sleep well at night? They're grumpy, clumsy, and whiny during the day. Add to that a toddler who barely naps more than 20 minutes, and you've got lots and lots of crying.

 Adam and I have joked about letting all our kids sleep in our room....and then leaving and sleeping somewhere else. Maybe they wouldn't notice?

Sweet and Sour

Jenna has always been extra sweet. She was by far my easiest, most content baby. She didn't really go through the "terrible 2's" and at 3 was just sweet as can be.

 Now at the age of 4, she seems to have a little bit of sour mixed in with her sweet.

She is slower to listen, and no longer complies right when I ask her to do something. She has been whining more lately, and complaining about things she doesn't like. Jenna has also become more dramatic and emotional, getting really upset when she gets the slightest bit offended or hurt. She is just overall more moody and less compliant.

Unfortunately Jenna has been getting timeouts and more chores assigned to her, as well as lots of talks about obeying Mommy and Daddy and making good choices.

I'm sure there are lots of reasons for the sour.....a developmental phase, influence from her brothers, seeking attention, learning bad habits from kids at preschool, etc.

Jenna is still overall my easiest, and still my sweet girl. I'm just hoping the sour fades away soon and is replaced by more of her sweetness!

Seven Smoothies

You all know I love to experiment with different health trends and diets. I love reading about what other people eat, and I love watching healthy YouTubers talk about nutrition. Sometimes I will listen while I wash dishes, and get ideas for new recipes to try. There is one YouTuber in particular, (HealthNut Nutrition) who always begins her day with a green smoothie. They always look good, and yet I have never thought about trying them because I'm not a big smoothie drinker. I need to have something to bite and chew for my meal, you know??

But then I thought maybe I could dry drinking a small smoothie every day for a week.....as part of my breakfast. And that's exactly what I did last week! Every morning I tried a new smoothie recipe, using my Magic Bullet for quick and easy cleanup. Seriously, I have had this mini blender for a few years now and it is just perfect for making small batches of smoothies or dips.

I chose a few recipes for inspiration, but mostly just mixed together what sounded good. I never measure when making smoothies, so I'm just listing out ingredients for you. One thing I learned is that you can hide a lot of healthy foods in smoothies and never taste them! I'm talking spinach, roasted veggies, and even parsley. It was like having my multi-vitamin all in one delicious glass.

In addition to my daily smoothie, I often ate a piece of whole grain toast topped with nut butter, avocado, or scrambled eggs. 

Berry Banana Smoothie

Banana

Spinach

Mixed Frozen Berries

Flaxseed

Unsweetened Oat Milk

I liked this basic berry smoothie, but didn't care for the crunchy berry seeds that got stuck in my teeth.

Green Detox Smoothie

Banana
Spinach
Cucumber
Ginger
Parsley
Lemon
Unsweetetned Almond Milk

I loved this unique smoothie! Very refreshing and not super "healthy" tasting. My 2nd fave from the week.

Mango Pineapple Glow Smoothie

Banana
Frozen Mango
Frozen Pineapple
Roasted Sweet Potato
Lemon Juice
Unsweetened Oat Milk

This smoothie was so creamy. I can't believe it contained roasted sweet potato.

Coffee Smoothie

Coffee
Banana
Crunchy Peanut Butter
Spinach
Almond Extract
Unsweetened Almond Milk

I liked the flavor of this one, but didn't love the froth on top. I don't like anything frothy.

Pineapple Spinach Smoothie

Banana
Pineapple
Spinach
Plain Yogurt
Unsweetened Almond Milk

Definitely my 3rd favorite smoothie. Creamy and sweet.

PB&J Smoothie

Banana
Frozen Strawberries
Peanut Butter
Chia Seeds
Unsweetened Almond Milk

My favorite smoothie of the week! This one truly tasted like peanut butter and jelly, and the salty peanut butter helped it to not be overly sweet.

Mint Chocolate Smoothie

Banana
Fresh Mint
Spinach
Coconut Milk
Mint Extract
Cocoa Powder
Cocoa Nibs

In full disclosure, I first tried this one with avocado but I definitely put too much in. I couldn't taste it without tasting guacamole, so I had to start over. This one was fun but not super sweet.

What a fun experiment! I loved stuffing all that spinach and fruit into my daily breakfast smoothies. And the unexpected bonus is that every day my kids wanted to try my smoothies, so they ended up eating extra veggies as well. What is your favorite type of smoothie?

Andrew's 2-Year Checkup

Andrew had his 2-year doctor visit this morning. It came at a perfect time because something was wrong with his eye and I wanted the doctor to look at it. Andrew began rubbing his eye around 1pm yesterday and pretty soon was crying in pain. It got very red and puffy, and neither allergy medicine or pain reliever seemed to help. He refused to open his eye, wouldn't eat, and wouldn't let me put him down. The doctor thinks he may have the start of pinkeye. Otherwise it may be a scratch that will just need time to heal.

On to his growth stats:

Weight: 25 lbs, 5 oz (18%)
Height: 34.5 inches (60%)
Head: 17.5 inches (72%)

He is thinner and taller than I was expecting. Andrew seems quite short to me, and I wouldn't call him thin either. Neither of his brothers were quite this tall at this age, although Jenna was a half inch taller.

My only concern that I discussed with the doctor was Andrew's sleep....or lack of sleep. It's partly my fault for not putting him in his own room sooner, for not letting him cry it out for hours, for still nursing him at 2. Honestly, I don't regret any of those decisions, but I still want a little boy who sleeps! His doctor didn't have any great suggestions other than tough love. He did commiserate, as he has 6 kids of his own, and they haven't all been great sleepers.

Andrew is hitting all his milestones and growing well. Overall he had a great checkup, and hopefully his eye stops bothering him soon!