Tips and gear for life with three children

~ Casey Mastrianna ~ Leave a comment

I feel like all the posts I read before having our third child (Emma!) centered around how crazy you are for having a third child, ha! Really, it was not the most encouraging information I’ve found, that is FOR SURE. Even separately from that info, going from two to three had caused me to encounter all of those emotions.. you know—terror, fear, excitement, freaked out, scurred, elation, super scurred, more.

As you may have surmised, many of these feelings were perpetuated by these small people outnumbering me, their ages at the time (3.5 + 1.5 + newborn), etc. This is all we’ve ever wanted to be sure, but there were some practical points to it all that freaked us out a bit. Since we’re newbs with it, and since I couldn’t find a ton of positive content about welcoming a third kiddo, I thought I’d share a few saving tips that have kept me functioning and—dare I say—totally loving this ride!! Down below, I highlight some gear that has literally saved my life every single day. Continue reading →

5 things from “The Art of Tidying Up”

~ Casey Mastrianna ~ Leave a comment

Copy of two to three littles

This year, we’ve been combing through our belongings and really ridding ourselves if anything unnecessary to our lives. Extra clothing, toys, items in storage, papers, books, etc. I’ve been working at this for a few years now but only in small spurts but continually not feeling like it’s making a big enough dent. So the most recent process has felt promising in the pursuit of not overwhelming our lives Continue reading →

Roaring camp

~ Casey Mastrianna ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been a little on the brink of a cold, so I’m extremely thankful for James taking the kiddos for breakfast as I snoozed the morning away. Once we mustered our crew together, we drove up to Roaring Camp! It’s a nearby spot that takes you on a steam engine train, similar to that of a logging train from the 1800s.

We caught the two o’clock ride. It’s a jolty open air train that creeps and crawls into the Big Basin forest in Felton, surrounding you with fresh air, Redwood groves and flashes of warm sunshine when it can reach you. Continue reading →

Emma at five months

~ Casey Mastrianna ~ Leave a comment

This girl is five whole months!! She is growing in her interactive ness, getting so tall in my arms and holding her body up so much (even though tummy time is her least favorite on the daily to dos). Emma loves being anywhere in the vicinity of her sibs.. Kate is always handing her toys and hugging her and just saying hi. Luke will find her at the opportune moment and just make faces with her, she loves that. She loves to be on my arm/hip/forearm/shoulder/whatever! As long as she is cuddling and in the action.

She loves to cuddle.. she will stay in one position in my arms, very still and very sweet. She’s been chattering since the start and is still pretty loud with much projection. She’s still a great nurser and is prone to holding my shirt or stroking my shoulder when she does (bahhh 😭). Definitely had a bit of a sleep regression these last weeks but she’s pushing through and we had a couple few good nights even with the wake ups. Oh lawd we love this girl.

Christmas bits and pieces

~ Casey Mastrianna ~ Leave a comment

This Christmas season was filled with so many non material gifts for our family–so much quality time being near the top of the list. We started off break with a great end to James’ school semester and a fog of sickness. Whilst recovering, we did day trips to local spots, an evening at a fun light show over the hill from us, had drinks with friends and spent some time catching ourselves up on life and looking at the upcoming year. Continue reading →

Kate is TWO

~ Casey Mastrianna ~ Leave a comment

I ended up writing this directly to Kate! And for what reason I can’t entirely say except that it’s 1130pm and I’m tired by don’t want to miss a moment to write down my love for this girl. These next photos also best represent the many sides of our little girl!

Gosh. What can I say about this little love? Kate. You are feisty, hilarious, so intelligent, very very soft (even when you pack a lunch of sass) and so amazingly thoughtful towards others. If you could, you would hand feed our entire family, change their clothes, bathe them, cuddle them and kiss them a hundred times over. Your name means pure, and I see that ever so clearly in you. You are the purest sense of whatever you’re feeling or experiencing in a moment, it may change swiftly and abruptly without warning, yet somehow, you remain purely whatever the next moment provides you.

You are already a wonderful companion, you make us all laugh and feel special. You somehow remember to hand Emma a toy when the moment is right (how you even knew she would want one is beyond me!). You love to point out when someone is funny! .. I treasure our morning cuddles with you and find security in your nonchalant bedtime preferences (just want to go to bed!—no frills!). And girl, you love your yogurt. Your speech has grown incredibly! You are passionate, super aware and you don’t ever want people to experience hardship (especially if brother needs a talking to). You are simply lovely my dear, and I cannot wait to see all that this year of TWO has in store for you!

Carmel adventures

~ Casey Mastrianna ~ Leave a comment

This was a sweet day last month that I hadn’t gotten around to logging, but the kids and I were looking for a easy access beach to frolic on and came across this one in Carmel, which is about a 45 minute drive from us. We had the sweetest drive around the winding ocean front road, peering at all the driveways with “race cars” lined up in them (see: fancy houses) and either singing or chatting away. Kate loved playing with the sand but locked up every time she had to walk on it, so I found myself carrying Emma in her car seat and Kate (i had my fair share of sweaty moments).

Being on the beach with the kids is so nostalgic for me. Most weekends as a child from early spring to early fall each year were spent walking the railroad tracks with my mom to play at the beach. I look back and imagine that’s where she got a good amount of her reading done. Balancing on the long railroad beams or skipping from wood step to wood step, trying not to get rocks in my sandals as we went. Setting up camp, arranging all my sand toys and then running back and forth with a bucket between the waves and my little world I’d created, adding water to my moats or baked creations.

Mostly, the kids ran around playing race cars and scooping up the fine white sands in their little hands, asking me to chase them every few minutes. We made it back to the car, poured out half the beach at our feet and moseyed home, stopping for a much needed coffee and trip to the farm stand.