SOCIAL MEDIA

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

What's Up Wednesday

 Hi there! I'm back today to chime in with the What's Up Wednesday crew. We have been busy as can be over here and I am looking forward to sharing what we've been up to. Let's have a look:

What We've Been Eating: Well this week we are off the plant-based wagon and enjoying all the turkey, ham, cheese, etc. My hope is that we get our fill of it this week and have no problems getting back into our groove post-Thanksgiving. That being said we have a trip to Disney planned for the the first week of December, so.... maybe not? I'm not planning to hold back there if I see something that looks delicious and isn't plant-based. You only live once, I have all the time in the world to get back into that groove. But when we have been sticking with plant-based, we've been eating things like this:

Jumbo Stuffed Shells from Oh She Glows (thanks Sarah for the recommendation!!)

or Organically Addison's Vegan Harvest Rice (so much healthy goodness in one recipe-- it tastes delicious and you'll feel like a million bucks after eating it!)

What I'm Reminiscing About: It's crazy to think that at this point last year we were in the midst of a home renovation! Not a single day has gone by where I regret any of it. It was a long process, a pain in the neck at times, but our house feels so much more like it fits us now. Our house isn't any bigger, but we are better able to use our space and we were able to stay in the area we love. It was worth it all, 100%!

What I'm Loving: Is there anything more magical than the holidays with young kids? They are soaking up all the sweetness and buying into all of it. Santa is 100% real over here and there is no question about it. Lily Grace is at the age now where she "gets" the Christmas story of Jesus being born in a manger. Seeing it all start to make sense through her eyes gives me all the heartwarming feels and makes me tear up. Christmas with kids is magic, plain and simple. I love every single second of it.

What We've Been Up To: See above-- all the holiday goodness!

What I'm Excited About: We are about to be insanely busy over the next 6 weeks-- but all of it filled with fun. We have Thanksgiving weekend, a trip to Disney, several holiday parties, traveling for Christmas, New Year's Eve in the mountains complete with LG's first ski lessons (I. CAN. NOT. WAIT!!!!), and then a trip for Devin's dad's 70th birthday. I'm going to need a nap the entire second half of January. 😅

What I'm Watching/Reading: I just finished Our Woman in Moscow and loved it. I have yet to read a Beatriz Williams book I don't love!

What I'm Listening To: I have been telling my Google Home to play Classic Christmas Songs almost 24/7 lately! Either that-- or the new Taylor Swift Red. 

The 10 minute version of All Too Well really is all it's been made out to be-- a brutally honest, detailed look at a former relationship. I love that she doesn't hold back when she writes-- but I think it's safe to say her ex-boyfriends do not agree. 😂

What I'm Wearing: I got this new sweatshirt on Amazon a few weeks ago and have worn it over and over again. It originally said it was going to be delivered mid-December, but obviously that wasn't the case. Don't be deterred if it says it will take awhile to arrive.

Camo sweatshirt/leggings/CloudFoams

I'm also living in this tunic:

And this turtleneck:



What I'm Doing This Weekend: Oh my goodness, this weekend is going to be one for the books. On top of all the fun family time and delicious food, we will be going to Blowing Rock's "Christmas in the Park" on Friday and also snow tubing at Hawk's Nest another day.

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month: DISNEY!! Our trip is finally almost here. The matching shirts have arrived, the tickets are all set to go, and we are pumped! I'll be honest this whole Genie+ and Lightning Lane Pass thing is confusing as heck so I'm hoping once we get there and see it in person we'll understand it better. Be prepared for picture overload of our family at Disney in the coming weeks!

What Else is New: So this is something I haven't written about on the blog, because I initially felt that the nitty gritty details are Lily Grace's business and not mine to share. I still believe that and don't want to go into too much detail on a public space, but have also learned over the past several months how isolating this can feel on the parent end. Many moms I have gotten to know over the past several months whose children are in similar situations have helped me to realize that having someone to talk to can be helpful. So here it is: Lily Grace was diagnosed with ADHD and possibly a Sensory Processing Disorder. I know ADHD is more common among upper elementary and older children, but to be diagnosed at 4 years old is pretty rare. I don't want to tell her/our story on a public website for anyone to see, but please please PLEASE feel free to reach out to me via email if your child may be going through something similar. I can share what we have done that has helped or some ideas from other moms of preschoolers with ADHD. If you want to reach out, please use my personal email (laurendarrell13@gmail.com). I get a zillion blog emails a day (most of them junk) and it is very easy for an email to slip by unnoticed. That is less likely to happen on my personal email. There's a lot of information out there already about older children with ADHD, but since a diagnosis in the preschool years is rare, so is the helpful information about it. There are many things that can be done to help a preschooler who struggles with ADHD, and parents don't need to feel alone or like they're starting from scratch when someone else can help.


I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving break with your families!!

6 comments :

  1. It sounds like you have lots of exciting things coming up!

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  2. Oh, enjoy your very full and fun plate for the next few months! And I think your gesture at the end is very kind and even if it only helps one person, that is so great.

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  3. Those Jumbo Stuffed Shells look good. Have fun on your upcoming trip. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  4. I am so pleased you're enjoying Oh She Glows!! Love her!
    Disney sounds so exciting and skiing! Isn't it great to have things to look forward to, as if Christmas wasn't enough.
    I love your sweaters :)

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  5. I cannot wait to see disney pictures!! I appreciate you sharing about Lily, it sounds like a good thing to open up about so others can relate/help/support!

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