Meet the Shaneyfelts

Archives for June 2024

What’s Up Wednesday (June 2024)

Happy Wednesday!!! This post is late because I didn’t realize it was the last Wednesday of the month until I got up and saw a few of these WUW posts, so as I write this while feeding Banks his lunch, I hope it I get it published on Wednesday LOL

What we’re eating this week…

Monday: leftover burgers Dustin grilled on Sunday night

Tuesday/Wednesday: this casserole with lima beans (Tuesday) and roasted cauliflower (Wednesday)

Thursday: chicken enchiladas

Friday: Dustin will grill chicken

What I’m reminiscing about…

This tiny baby turns 3 months old tomorrow! I feel like she was just a week old like in the picture above. She’s the sweetest little girl, so calm, and loves her brothers.

What I’m loving…

NO SCHOOL! It’s been so nice to be able to be home and establish a good routine and schedule for the kids (and really Merritt) before going back to school and her starting her little school full time.

Another thing I’m loving…

Dustin’s new job!!!!! I’m not going to say too much about it since he’s more private, but he’s at the same company that he’s always been at, he is just now working a completely different job there than he was. His hours are SO much better. He was working 5:30am-5:30pm on a swing schedule, but now works 7am-4pm Monday-Friday. I don’t know who’s more excited about that–him or me LOL

What we’ve been up to…

Lots of waving goodbye to anyone who visits (if you come over, be prepared to have to stop and wave bye in front of our house as you drive away haha)

Swim lessons with our friends!

Lots of visits to the library–our library’s summer reading program is in full swing every Thursday, so that’s something else we look forward to each week

Lots of playing outside with the water table or water balloons

Mom and Dad snuck away for a VERY rare date night thanks to my mom! She said she would be coming over to stay with the kids and for us to leave. It was really nice!

My small group girls got together for a relaxing night of hanging out with one another!

What I’m dreading…

Nothing that I can think of?

What I’m excited about…

Well, I’m excited about just being home right now with my babies and Dustin being off work each weekend. When I think to the future of what I’m excited about, Harrison starts kindergarten and it’ll be so fun to watch Merritt experience her first holidays!

What I’m watching/reading…

Anyone else watch this and immediately think about watching it on CMT back in the day? This documentary was definitely grittier than the older one. I loved Reece and felt incredibly sad for Victoria.

I decided to start a book club at the beginning of summer because I just missed talking about books with people. It’s a mixture of current coworkers, old coworkers, and the local librarians! We met last night to discuss How to End a Love Story. We agreed it was a good story but needed more character development. And TW, there is talk of suicide. Overall though, it was an enjoyable read if you need a love story with some complexity to read this summer.

What I’m listening to…

We just finished the Tiny Theologians podcast and are waiting on the next season to start. Seasons 1-2 went through the attributes of God using the ABCs, and I want to say the next season focuses on the names of God. Harrison loves this podcast so much!

What I’m wearing…

Nothing cute! Just athleisure clothes with church clothes on Sunday. I’ll be honest, the postpartum weightless has been a struggle, and it’s been very hard not to compare myself to the women. Right now, I’m at the heaviest I’ve ever been and it’s a really hard pill to swallow because I want the weight to just fall off, and my body just doesn’t work that way.

See y’all back here on Friday for some FAVORITES!!!

Our Transition from Nap Time to Quiet Rest Time

This summer marks the first summer that Harrison is no longer napping. He’s 5 and will start kindergarten in August. I noticed that while his nap during the day was great, it started taking him so much longer at night to fall asleep. When it took him an hour one night to fall asleep, I decided that we needed to ditch the nap. I had tried ditching it last summer (or rather napping some days and not napping other days), but that lasted maybe one day because I realized he still needed a nap last summer.

I know that nap time is highly valuable to a mother. It’s probably the only time during the day that we get to pick up the house, do dishes, get caught up on laundry, make important phone calls, or even work out. Something that I heard before I became a mother was the term “quiet rest time.” I remember listening to a Sally Clarkson podcast while working out one day and she talked about her children having a quiet rest time each day. I held onto that idea for when it was time to employ that in our home.

Quiet rest time for Harrison happens after lunch when Banks goes down for his nap. We have a few rules for quiet rest time:

-he has to stay upstairs in the playroom or tv room until I tell him his quiet rest time is over

-he may watch tv if he hasn’t watched a lot of tv already that day

-if he does get to watch tv, it has to be on his Disney+ watchlist and I have to turn on the tv for him (this is the only time he watches tv unsupervised which is why he’s only allowed to watch what’s on the approved watchlist that I put on for him)

-he has to clean up the playroom before he comes downstairs when quiet rest time is over

I think having quiet rest time is wonderful for when kids are out of the nap stage. It teaches them to entertain themselves and to be self-reliant. And when Harrison is able to read, he’ll also be required to read before he can play 🙂 Quiet rest time will still remain a solo time during the day when Banks and even Merritt are old enough to ditch the nap. Everyone gets a break in the middle of the day-even Mom 🙂

This is not something that I grew up doing, but it’s something that we will always do in our home!

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday!!! I am a little late in writing today’s post (writing it Friday morning actually) because….

one

I am HOOKED on this book! I grabbed this book from our local library and texted some friends to see who wanted to read it with me and have a little book club dinner meet up this month. I started it earlier this week and it was a little slow to start. Of course, I panicked and thought I had picked a terrible book for my friends to read. BUT it’s gotten so much better that I stayed up past 10 PM reading last night which is why I didn’t get this post written! It’s a little spicy and does have some language so far. I’d say it’s a FAVORITE right now and I’m hoping once I finish the book (hopefully this weekend!!), that it stays a favorite!!!

two

Okay, my next FAVORITE is a MAJOR FAVORITE!! I am over the Stanley cup. I really only preferred it over my Yeti because it was bigger and had a handle. But I didn’t like that I was drinking out of a plastic straw and it could leak. Enter the Era 40 oz. I am really OBSESSED with this cup because IT DOES NOT LEAK. All I have to do it lock the straw and I can throw it in my bag because my hands are always full (see one year old pictured above 🙂 haha). It still fits in my cup holder, has a rubber bottom that is much quieter to put down than my Stanley, and the straw inside is metal while the outside straw is silicone. Honestly though, the best part is the fact that it’s spill proof when the straw is locked. If you’re a mom of young kids like me, this is a must. Or if you’re a teacher bringing your water every day, this will be great to throw in your school bag each morning and not have to carry it and everything else.

three

This big boy and I got some one-on-one time this week when I had to take him to the pediatric ENT for his tonsil consult. I brought the book I mentioned above and was able to read while we sat in the waiting room. I can’t believe he will start kindergarten in August! I feel like it was just yesterday when Dustin and I hopped on a plane to fly to Texas to meet our son and now I’m going to be sending him off to kindergarten. He also asked to play soccer again this fall, so we will be doing that again!

Okay, I’m off to put Merritt down for her first nap and then do some laundry before we go outside to play with the water table! I hope y’all have a great weekend!