Thought Bubbles 04132016

I have been cheating on Instagram with SnapChat (TheChicSAHM)...

It's my new favorite social media platform. More intimate and unfiltered...

You can see me in all my makeup free and fitted cap wearing glory on there...

If you want pretty pics - don't worry - I'm still posting to Instagram too... (chicsahm)

All of those shameless plugs....

I got my car back from the mechanic yesterday...

I'm going to be whipping around town today running all the errands...

My curls have been popping lately...

I'm still getting that blowout on Saturday though...

Is it a blowout when your hair is short?...

Maxwell's new song is soon good....

I'm making all kinds of playlists for our upcoming voyage to the Pacific Northwest...

Still can't believe we're considering driving...

I need to start prepping for the movers...

That shea moisture african black soap has done wonders for my skin...

Pretty sure drinking lots of water has helped too...

I straight up thought today was Thursday....

It's Wednesday....

But it's Thursday now....

Why does it take me two days to do a post now?...

I blame all these kids...

I just watched a testimony from Joanna Gaines and I am beyond inspired...

We will walk to school today...

I actually have a meal to carry over from the first half of our meal plan...

Stuff like that excites me...

What does that say about my life, LOL....

I hated on snapchat at first but I am such a fan now...

I promise to get back to consistent posts...

This week has been a doozy for free time...

Mikey is doing better and better on the potty...

He should be fully trained before we move...

Hopefully...

My next round of thought bubbles will have pics...

Total Wellness in 2016 with Nature Made®

This post was sponsored by Nature Made® as a part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.

This past month I really tried my best to focus on centering myself. Our upcoming move has had me a little stressed. When I get stressed like that I find that the best thing to do is calm my days down and realign my outlook from the inside out.

If you follow the blog's Facebook page then you know I have been doing a no sugar, veggies, fruits and meat only eating challenge. I was a little skeptical about the results I'd see from it but I have to say that they have been amazing. At my doctor appointment last week I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight!

Another thing that I've been doing is taking a Nature Made® Fish Oil supplement that promotes a healthy heart. We really enjoy a nice fish dinner because of the health benefits you get from fish. With all the crazy talk that's going on right now about fish I decided that we should just start taking a supplement to be on the safe side.  Fish Oil provides EPA and DHA fatty acids, which help support a healthy heart. I also like that the Nature Made® Fish Oil supply comes from deep ocean waters and not farm-raised fish.

I found the vitamins at Walmart. Nature Made® is the #1 best-selling brand for quality vitamins, mineral and supplements* to help support nutritional gaps like our weekly fish dinners. Walmart is a great place to buy Nature Made® vitamins. There were so many to choose from and the price point was nice too!

I have also started taking daily walks with the boys while Savannah is at school. Our walks give me time to listen to myself think and enjoy a little peace and quiet. These walks have truly been a lifesaver. 

Changing my diet, taking vitamins and getting out for walks has really made me feel so much better. I am not as tired or irritable. The afternoons were normally my most dreaded time of day but after walking with the kids I have more energy and patience. I have been sleeping better at night too. I'd like to think that our walks have a lot to do with that. 

What are you doing to achieve total wellness in 2016? Nature Made® is the #1 Pharmacist recommended supplement brand in 9 categories.** Sign up for the Nature Made Daily Boost program to get a sneak peek at what other Nature Made fans are doing to stay healthy. 

You can also enter to win one of 20 $50 Walmart gift cards here!

Nature Made Wellness 5

I-C will randomly select 20 winners from all program entries and will handle fulfillment of the winning prizes.

*Based in part on data reported by Nielsen through its Scantrack Service for the Vitamins Category for 52-week period ending 1/02/2016, for the xAOC Market. Copyright © 2016 Nielsen.
**Based on US News & World Report – Pharmacy Times Survey, Nature Made is the #1 Pharmacist Recommended Brand in Nine Categories – Letter Vitamins, Omega-3/Fish Oil, Coenzyme Q10, Flax Seed Oil, Herbal Supplements, Cholesterol Management-Natural, Garlic, Diabetic Multivitamins and Mood Health Supplements

April 1-15 Grocery Haul VIDEO

Thanks so much for all the good feedback on our family dinner menu for the first half of April. It has been such a relief being able to scratch grocery shopping off my to-do list.  Here is the video for my shopping haul. In it you'll hear me say that I spent $105 at the commissary but I actually spent $109.

You'll also hear me make reference to our pantry. I keep it stocked with chicken broth, sugar, flour, rice, potatoes, bread and whatever snacks I plan to get for the kids. Let me know if you have any questions. It is my goal to not spend more than roughly $150 a week on groceries and that includes cleaning supplies, paper goods and healthcare items.



If you have any grocery tips please give them to me! I'm in the process of looking for a coupon class on Youtube. If I add coupons to what I'm already doing we could be saving so much money. How do you grocery shop and save money?

April 1-15 2016 Family Meal Plan

Where is 2016 going? Why is she in such a rush to be over with already? April got here super quick. As promised I am going to share our family dinner menus throughout the month.

I'll also share my haul after I have gone shopping. The video will share deals I found, where I shopped and how much I spent. You'll be able to view the videos and all that info here on the blog but you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when a new video is posted.

To make things easy I decided to break things up by two weeks. So here is the menu for the first two weeks.

I'll share the next half of the month on the 14th. Please let me know if these are helpful. I appreciate any pins, shares, comments as this let's me know that you want me to continue sharing our meal plan.

What do you think about our menu for this month? Stay tuned for the haul video and follow me on snapchat (TheChicSAHM) to see behind the scenes shopping footage! Happy April!

Potty Training Tips & A Fun Success Song with Pull-Ups® Learning Designs®

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

Potty training little Mike has been going well. We have made some progress thanks to all of the suggestions and advice I received on the Facebook page. I have been reminded that there are several stages to the potty training process and not all kids will go through them as swiftly as others.

Once I received everyone's advice about how they trained their little boys (I swear I didn't experience any of this with Savannah) I decided to buckle down and embrace the challenges that come with potty training. The first thing I did was revamp our bathroom to make it more toddler friendly.

I tried to skip this step and it back fired. Big mistake. While in Walmart one day I grabbed a cool potty stool, a potty seat with handles and Pull-Ups® Learning Designs®. The key for me was to purchase two of everything. This allowed me to make the bathroom downstairs and upstairs an easy place for him to go potty.

Once the bathrooms were all set for him I knew we would have success. I think it made the entire situation less intimidating for him. I guess it's hard to focus on going to the potty if you're worried about falling in it.

To create his space the first thing I did was get rid of everything that wasn't essential to potty training.  All of that other stuff was a distraction. I replaced some of our adult things with a woven basket filled with Pull-Ups.

This makes it easy to grab a new pair if he needs them. Savannah potty trained so fast that I never used them with her. I like that Pull-Ups are soft, comfortable for him and incredibly stretchy. He's learning to pull up his underpants all by himself.

When he's playing I don't have to worry about accidents if he doesn't make it to the potty in time. The wetness indicator shows us if he's wet and that's been super helpful.

Of course, one of the most important parts about potty training is finding out what incentive speaks to your child. We use a sticker chart but what Mikey loves the most is his potty song. One of my many talents is freestyling (I'm kind of kidding) and Mikey's success song is one of my latest tracks.

Steal the lyrics below or create a song for your little one by thinking of a song your entire family loves and switch the words until you come up with something you can all sing together to celebrate success on the potty.

Walmart has a wide selection of baby products to fit your family's needs. My entire potty training kit for one bathroom came in around $30 (for one bathroom). The Pull-Ups® Learning Designs® were $8.97 and Mikey loved the Pixar's Cars Lightning McQueen design. Find out which type potty training character your child is here.

Mikey is actually using the potty when he sits now and I owe that to all of you that gave me your best tips and advice. Any other potty training tips you'd like to share?

Learn more about Pull-Ups® Learning Designs® available at Walmart.

Our Weekend Away as a Party of Five

I'd like to give a shout out to all the Moms who came before me that have taken road trips with their families. I now understand that it is no small feat to travel with multiple small children.

Y'all are the real MVPs.

We were only gone for about three days and I think that was a great amount of time to be away for our first trip as a family of five. My husband participated in a fitness competition right outside of Dallas. The town only had four hotels. We decided to stay at the hotel adjacent to the convention center where the show was taking place. I figured that would make walking back and forth to the event easy for me and the kids.

This was my first time stay at a Hampton Inn and Suites. I didn't know what to expect. The free daily breakfast (which wasn't great - thank goodness there was a Waffle House and IHOP close) and proximity to the convention center is what made us choose them for our trip. I was very surprised to see that the rooms were nice. I think my favorite part about the room was that it came with a nice size fridge and microwave. That was a must for me. I needed to store milk and snacks.

I packed a cooler for the kids with everything I could think of. Going to the store for everything little want or need wasn't something I was interested in doing. I will never go on a road trip without a cooler. Ever.

The only thing that I would change about our room is that I wish my husband had reserved an actual suite. I'm not sure how that break down in communication happened but we'll have to get it right next time. 

Some of the things I learned about traveling with three small kids is that when the trip is not necessarily about them you must bring stuff to keep them entertained. They did great (surprisingly) but I certainly was not prepared for all the down time we had. The hotel didn't have Nick Jr. or Disney Jr. so letting them get their fill of TV wasn't an option. 

We did bring our mobile TV box but the internet at the hotel was extremely slow. In retrospect none of this was an issue until it was time for bed. Next time I'll make sure to bring more books, activities, and movies that have already been downloaded to a device. 

The show itself was very interesting. I learned so much about how your body responds to food. To hear people talk about their meal plans and workouts was actually pretty fascinating. I definitely have more respect for the sport and the women that compete in it. They are on some super strict meal plans. I like eating everything the world has to offer so this sport would never be for me. I'll continue to support my husband from the sidelines.

So - if you plan to take your kids along for a ride that's not about them here are my tips for you...

Pack a cooler with everyone's favorite drinks (I also put fruit in our cooler!)

Bring a tote bag filled with everyone's favorite snacks

Call ahead to see what the movie watching, tv channel situation will be

Bring activities for downtime (books, crayons, play-doh - something)

Look up parks and playgrounds in the area (this was a lifesaver)

Schedule your drive time around nap time if possible (another lifesaver)

Plan for the pool (this helped but was difficult to do when I was solo with the kids)

We'll be on the move again when it's time for us to move. This trip was a nice eye opener to what our upcoming trip will be like. Hopefully I'll be more prepared for that one. What are your tips for traveling with kids?

Operation Snap Back™ Link Up: The No Sugar Challenge

Last week on the Facebook page I shared that I was doing a meats, veggies and fruits only challenge with a friend. At the beginning of the week I was skeptical about the results I would see but towards the end of the week I definitely noticed a change.

First of all I was less bloated. Way less bloated. The puffiness in my face, arms and tummy went down quite a bit. This reminded me that my body responds (good or bad) to what I'm eating. I'm not one of those people that can eat whatever I want as long as I'm working out. I have to eat right too and this challenge reminded me of that.

The next thing that I noticed was that my metabolism shot up. Brace yourself for TMI - but I was very regular. More than I've ever been since having Moses. It's been great. Pooping makes me feel like toxins are being released so I'm normally pretty bummed if I miss a day of pooping. Aren't you glad you know that about me now?

One of my favorite benefits from the challenge was the fact that my skin seemed to respond really well. My skin seemed brighter and clearer. I actually have a glow that I didn't buy from MAC - that's been nice too, not gonna lie.

So I'll be doing the challenge again - as soon as I finish eating this Chinese we're having for dinner. I plan to start again this coming Monday. I'm running a 5K in May and my training for that will start April first.

Before this post is over I also want to share that my husband participated in a fitness show this past weekend. It was such an eye opening experience to the sport. We learned a lot. Mainly - that you are literally what you eat. He did great and he plans to do another show soon!

Do you have a fitness related post or story to share? Fatima and I would love to hear your story! Use the hashtag, #OperationSnapback on Instagram or drop your link here to share your blog post.