February Favorites Link-Up Party

By sunshineandholly on February 23, 2018

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Happy Friday!

I’m joining some other awesome bloggers today for a February Favorites Link-Up. After you read my post, make sure to check out some other blogger’s favorites linked at the bottom of this post!

February Favorites Link-Up Party | sunshineandholly.com

1. Favorite Place I Went this Month

We ended up with last minute tickets to Disney on Ice and it was a blast. I was singing the entire time and Graham cracked up every time Goofy fell down, and he fell a ton!

February Favorites Link-Up Party | sunshineandholly.com

Oh! And duh – Josh and I also went to Universal in early February. I’ve been so busy with other blog post deadlines, I haven’t been able to do any Universal posts. But I promise I’ll get them up!

February Favorites Link-Up Party | sunshineandholly.com

The Local Dish – 10 Great Restaurants Around Atlanta

By sunshineandholly on February 21, 2018

I love living in Atlanta! There’s always something to do and somewhere yummy to eat. Before kids, Josh and I loved trying out new restaurants all over town. Now, we tend to stick with places closer to home that are kid friendly. But when the rare date night pops up, you better believe we head out to one of our favorite places, or pick somewhere new to try!

The Local Dish - 10 Great Restaurants Around Atlanta | sunshineandholly.com | Atlanta Georgia | eats | where to eat

There are so many amazing restaurants around Atlanta, and it would be hard to pick a top 10. But here’s a list of a few of my favorites that you should try.

The Local Dish - 10 Great Restaurants Around Atlanta | sunshineandholly.com | Atlanta Georgia | eats | where to eat

The Local Dish – 10 Great Restaurants Around Atlanta

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family | motherhood | Motherhood Humor | parenting

10 Stupid Things I’ve Done Because of Mom-Brain

By sunshineandholly on February 19, 2018

This post was sponsored by STL Locksmiths, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mom-brain is totally a thing. After 9 months of growing a person inside of you, then pushing this watermelon-sized person out of your most delicate area, and then not sleeping more than 3 hours at a time for 6+ months, your brain starts to exhibit some wear and tear. I actually used to be an intelligent woman. I have a Bachelors and a Masters degree. But I swear my 2 children have sucked all the brain-cells out of my head. God knows what’s left in there. I’m picturing some sort of shriveled up raisin.

Here are 10 stupid things I’ve done because of mom-brain.

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family | fun | motherhood | Motherhood Humor | parenting

That Time My Son Took a Salad Spinner to Preschool

By sunshineandholly on February 1, 2018

Once upon a time, I only had one child. An easy child, at that. I had all the energy and time in the world to devote to this child. I was the best mom. (Or at least I thought I was!) I put my foot down when needed, I disciplined with care and with love. I never yelled. I never even raised my voice.

But then, one day, a sweet tiny baby girl came along, and my life was flipped upside down.

Transitioning from one kid to two rocked my world. My sweet, easy first child turned into a defiant, willful, difficult 2-year-old, and my adorable new baby hated sleeping. Like, hated it.

Fast forward to a year later. My first child was still testing me every minute of every day. My second child still didn’t like to sleep, and was starting to test her own limits. I was worn out, worn down, and scarcely alive. Each morning I pried my eyes open, willed my heavy body out of bed, and dived face first into mothering, treading along all day, without a break, feeling like I was just barely keeping my head above the water.

One morning, when Graham was 3 and Maddie was 1, I was rushing around, trying to get us all ready to leave the house. I frantically searched for clean socks, slapped together some pb&js , made sure we were all wearing shoes, and shoveled some breakfast into my kids’ mouths.

Picking Your Battles in Parenting and That Time My Son Took a Salad Spinner to Preschool | sunshineandholly.com | motherhood humor

My Goal to Become a “Yes-Mom” This Year

By sunshineandholly on January 29, 2018

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WellYes2018 #CollectiveBias

It all began with a couple of bottles of dried up paint.

#ad My Goal to Become a Yes-Mom this Year | sunshineandholly.com | #WellYes2018

My kids had been asking to paint for weeks. Each time I inwardly groaned, and cleverly redirected them to another less-messy activity. Because I really hate letting my kids paint. It always starts out fine – they innocently dip their paint brushes, mixing a few colors here and there, giggling and telling me all about the “masterpieces” they’re painting. But after about 10 minutes, it all starts to go downhill – fast! Someone starts mixing all the colors together, someone squeezes out almost an entire bottle of paint, someone starts painting her hand, face, or foot, someone starts smearing huge globs of paint all over the table… When we’re done, my kitchen looks like a rainbow exploded and I swear to myself that I’m never letting the kids paint again!

#ad My Goal to Become a Yes-Mom this Year | sunshineandholly.com

But last week, I caved. My little artists had asked so many times to paint, and I knew I couldn’t hold out any longer. I opened up the storage box where we keep the painting supplies and (to my secret delight) all the paint was completely dried up. “Oh well! Guess we can’t paint today.”

My kids were heartbroken. My little one cried. Que the mommy-guilt…

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