Keeping things simple with a smidge of Southern charm
There’s been lots of buzz going on around the Tucker hive this past week! This sweet little honey bee toddled her way right into ONE year old, and we’ve had the best time celebrating her and all of the amazing milestones she’s met in her first year!
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Mother’s Day took on a whole new meaning for me 4 years ago. On Mother’s Day 2015, we packed our bags and buckled our newborn baby girl into her car seat and brought her home from the hospital after a long delivery 2 days prior. Since stepping into motherhood, I’ve gained a strength that I could’ve only gained by wearing the title of mother. I see other moms going through their daily struggles of raising children and am encouraged by their strength, and then I open my eyes a bit wider on a more global scope, and I see a new realm of strength that I have never seen before.
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Motherhood is the most beautiful and rewarding experience I’ve ever been a part of. To say it’s all rainbows and sunshine, though, would certainly be a dose of fiction that I don’t ever want to serve to my readers. Of course there is an ample amount of those glorious sunshine moments, but so often I find myself in the trenches of motherhood doing all of the really hard things that are never really acknowledged or shown on social media.
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Before I decided to stay at home when my first child was born 3 years ago, I couldn’t yet see the emotional effect becoming a stay-at-home parent would have on me. Sure, I am absolutely thrilled to be able to experience every milestone with my girls, and I wouldn’t change my decision to be right here with them at all, but when each day comes to a close and I realize that I’ve been wearing spit-up covered pants and that my hair can’t possibly hold one more ounce of dry shampoo because I had no time for myself to take a proper shower, I start to feel a little heavy-laden.
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At 11 weeks postpartum, I’m finally starting to get really comfortable with adjusting to life with a toddler and a newborn under my wing. Balancing life with two little ones has come with it’s share of challenges, but one thing that has kept my husband and I mostly sane is maintaining solid routines with our two girls.
While establishing these new routines with our girls (and particularly our newborn,) we quickly discovered that some things that once worked wonders when our oldest was a newborn don’t necessarily work so well with our newest bundle of joy. Products and parental techniques we swore by 3 years ago don’t mesh as well with our little one in the here and now, and quite frankly it’s thrown us for a bit of a loop when trying to figure out what’s going to work for us.
It’s been 2 weeks since we welcomed the newest little Tucker tot into the world, and finally being able to bring her home into her new nursery brought us so much joy on so many levels! While her first encounter with her room was seeing a perfectly polished nursery with everything in it’s place, it was definitely a different story just a few weeks prior when I was bringing all of big sister’s newborn and baby clothes down from the attic!
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This is a big week for my daughter and I as I officially step into my third trimester of pregnancy. Though the days have certainly been long with this pregnancy, the months have absolutely flown by. With my first pregnancy, I felt great most of the time, I was an overachiever who had everything planned out to a T, the nursery was pretty much completed by this point, and it was smooth sailing waiting for the arrival of our little girl. This time around, I’m moving at a much slower pace, my joints ache something fierce, and my “planning” for baby #2 has been nearly nonexistent. However, one thing has not changed at all from my 1st pregnancy, and that’s my sudden and natural urge to begin nesting with the coming of my third trimester.
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You may have noticed that things have been a little more quiet around here than usual, but it’s with good reason!
With the completion of our new home and the holidays behind us, we decided to add on!
Our home is growing by two little feet this year, and this mama is due with baby #2 August 2018!
Throughout this first trimester I’ve been moving a lot slower and taking advantage of every opportunity I can to rest. Hopefully soon my energy will come back and Southern Made Simple will be bumpin’ (in a whole new way) once again!
In the mean time, I’ve been getting in extra snuggles and play time with this little one who is so proud to be a big sister! I covet your thoughts and prayers this year as our family is experiencing a lot of fun and exciting changes. What advice do you have for making the transition from one to two kiddos? I’d love to hear!
Things are finally starting to settle down a little bit here in the Tucker house. November was quite a whirlwind as we were busy putting the finishing touches on our brand new home that was being built, packing up all of our belongings to move, and hosting my family in our new abode just 2 days after we moved in. Whew, I get a little dizzy all over again just thinking about all of those things again! It’s definitely good to finally be settling down a bit, that’s for sure.
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When my daughter started out on solid foods at just 6 months old, I went out of my way to see to it that all of the purees she tried were filled with nothing but good and real ingredients. Quite frankly, I made the majority of her baby food myself, because the semi-control freak inside me wanted to know exactly what my baby was consuming at all times. I also wanted to make sure she was getting a well-rounded selection of foods to try, in hopes that as she became older, she would learn to love all sorts of foods and not become a picky eater in her toddler years.
First lesson learned: I’m hilarious. Second lesson learned: Despite my best efforts, I can’t make my child like something if they really don’t. Sure, I still offer her a well rounded selection of snacks throughout the day for her to munch on, but when it’s all said and done, my vivacious (and very opinionated) little two year old wants one thing, and one thing only: chicken nuggets. 
Since my toddler is all about that “nug life,” I made it my personal mission to set out and find a product that I can feel good about serving her on a regular basis. If she’s going to be persistent about eating chicken nuggets nearly every day, I’m going to be persistent about them being high quality, wholesome and free from artificial ingredients.
During my most recent shopping trip at Publix, I made a pitstop by the frozen food aisle to look for specially marked packages of Tyson® chicken products marked with the “No Antibiotics Ever” seal. Tyson chicken products are made with a long-standing dedication to quality, and because their products are 100% all natural (no artificial ingredients and minimally processed) I can feel good about not only serving their chicken to my daughter, but to my whole entire family. The people who make Tyson chicken products have a strong heritage, raising chickens since 1935. This is a brand I trust for my family! Learn about their heritage in the video below!
And now that specially marked Tyson chicken packages are made with no antibiotics ever, I have no problem at all keeping the chicken nuggets coming! My daughter gets downright giddy when she sees me pull out the red Tyson chicken nuggets bag from the freezer, and she often sees to it that I fix myself a plate and partake in the nugget festivities with her, too!
Seeing my daughter laugh and giggle while eating her food makes my heart so happy. Even though she’s proven herself to be quite the picky eater, I’m learning to not stress so much about what my daughter is eating, or if she’s eating enough. I’ve got peace of mind knowing that her very favorite food is wholesome and keeps her smiling from ear to ear, and that makes for a major #momwin in my book!
While I’m a pretty big fan of chicken nuggets myself, my husband and I are partial to Tyson crispy chicken strips. They’re a delicious and convenient dinner option for us, and knowing that they’re also made with no antibiotics ever makes them a #1 pick for us!
Next time you’re out grocery shopping, make sure you fill your shopping cart with the good stuff! Look for the “No Antibiotics Ever” seal on specially marked packages of Tyson chicken nuggets, chicken strips, Any’tizers® snacks and drumsticks!
Do you have a chicken nugget lover on your hands? Are you currently on the hunt for a wholesome and all natural product to serve your family? Make the switch to Tyson chicken raised with no antibiotics ever and feel good about the food you eat!
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