Thursday, February 25, 2016

Finally Friday

{ONE}

I'm pumped to be heading to see this stud perform tonight at the sprint center in KC!  

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And tagging along with my brother in law and sister in law is pretty fun too :). Any other Blake fans out there? Been listening to his music/old and new on Spotify this week so I'm ready!



{TWO}

Do you buy clothes on Amazon? Or is it just me? Mainly because online shopping + guaranteed two day shipping is the way to go in my book.  I was on the hunt for a nice dress I could wear to a charity event that we are going to Sunday night for my work- one that will easily fit my bump.  When I found this on Amazon I was like "yes!".  It's black (for some reason I avoid color...I'm weird) and it looked like nice material and lace.
Well I got it yesterday. It's cotton and crochet. Ha. So while it fits and looks fine I'm questioning if it's nice enough, as the event is black tie optional. Jimmy says that when you're pregnant you can get away with anything. And part of me is like, yes and being cotton I can probably get a few good uses out of it this summer before my bump is no more.  So due to that and in general the event is Sunday and I have no time to hunt for anything else- I'm guessing I'll just keep and wear. No way I'll look at pregnant/sexy as this lady. Ha- is that even a thing?!?


{THREE}

On the hunt for a coffee table/ottoman.

Right now the fuf (which is amazing), is taking the place of the one we put in the basement- as it is old, black and broken.  
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We went shopping this weekend and found this and I loved it! 



Perfect to put your feet up on, kids to jump on, but I love the trays below that we can bring up to put drinks. And being customizable with the wood color and fabric I was sold.  And then the guy told me the sale price doesn't apply to custom orders and with my picks it would be over $1000 I about fainted.  Not that it's not nice- but let's be real here people- we have 2 kids now....soon to be 3. Our kids are crazy climbers, crazy snackers and have no regard for nice things.  At all.  No way we are shelling out $1000 for it.

Enter DIY.  I found a little creation on Pinterest that is just like what I found.  Jimmy told me he needs one free weekend and he'll make it. Sold!

{FOUR}

Three and a half year olds.  I swear.

Jimmy sent me a blog that he said he read every day for parenting tips - Janet Lansbury.  It is really good and I might be even more impressed that Jimmy takes his parenting worries to the Internet to read how to improve and deal with these kids!

It's just a constant battle with this man.  Doesn't want to wear clothes- ok he will. But wait, not THAT shirt. How dare we ever suggest that one? And pants- nope shorts are way better...even if it is 30 degrees. Mom won't let me wear shorts? Scream!!! 

Haha. Charlie does have his wonderful sweet moments, but right now it's these constant fights and tests that he plays on us that I'm having such a hard time dealing with.  Sounds like it's normal and testing us as this age is normal- but still!! #givemeallthewine #ohwaitimpregnant




{FIVE}

Nothing makes me more thankful than seeing the sun rise and set each day.

Some days I feel great and other days it's hard to pull myself out of bed because I'm feeling sluggish and tired and want that fifteen minutes more of sleep (which I know will do nothing).  But seeing the sun rise on the way to work makes my morning and the seeing it set often when I'm driving the kids home from school and Charlie makes sure to point it out saying "mom look at the beautiful sunset" just reminds me there is a bigger power each day and a God that loves us all so much.



Happy Friday friends!!!




Linking up with:

Sept Farm | Oh hey Friday!
Carolina Charm | Five on Friday
Momfessionals | Friday Favorites 

Three things about having three kids


So yes - I do not actually have THREE kids yet, but I will tell you, there have already been some sleepless nights thinking about the crazy we are about ready to embark upon.  SO excited, don't get me wrong because I really don't think there is anything I love more than meeting one of my children after carrying them for 9-10 months and getting to snuggle them like 24/7.  

But seriously, people have STRONG opinions when you tell them you're having three kids.  Good and bad.  So like most everything that involves being a parent and what I've learned in my 3.5 years as of of them...pretty much smile and nod and if it's not a happy, encouraging comment, just let it go in and out your ears.  Because like T-Swift says, I'm on board with the motto haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.  No use in getting stressed.  (and trust me, we have had plenty of good and bad comments!)

However, I will say, there are lots of helpful people that are super helpful when you find out your life is going to change forever when you see those 2 lines on a stick.  Many of them with three children of their own, giving your words of caution or things to think about with three kids.  The main one I had heard over and over again: the world is not made for families of 5.  And when you think about it, man are they right!!!  From hotel rooms, to tables as restaurants, to even things like how do you even decide who rides by themselves on a roller coaster when your kiddos are a bit older but not enough to ride alone or with each other.  So so true.  I truly do appreciate all the comments and discussions that Jimmy and I have both had with people - they really are all helpful!

Here are 3 things that I feel like I should share that I never really gave a TON of thought too before starting the process for the third kid being a reality:

1.  Will you need another {bigger} vehicle??!   
I drive a minivan, so nope, my van is amazing and I cannot sing enough praises about it.  However, Jimmy drives a mid-size SUV.  We just figured that three car seats could easily fit in his car.  HA.  After hours of researching it, measuring his car, searching the internet for all kinds of skinny car seats and their dimensions to see if it was even an option for his car, he finally found 3 that he thought would fit. So $700 later, he gets them and unpacks them and installs them all in his backseat.

They BARELY fit.  Here is the picture he took of Maddie crawling all around back there when he was installing.



While we thought they looked "fine" we made sure by getting it inspected at the local sheriff's office.  We don't want to take any chances on their safety.  Their initial inspection they thought it would work fine, but they weren't for sure so said they had to make a call to their experts.  So another few days of waiting for the final verdict.  The final {potentially VERY expensive} verdict took about 2 more days, but ultimately, we got to stick with the new car seats and luckily, not a new car.

The funny thing was to me was how mad Jimmy was because he didn't "think about this when he bought the SUV".  Oh wait, let me remind you that he bought this car on Christmas Eve of 2008.  I remember because I was there with him.  My first sit through of a car buying experience.  It's so surprising that prior to when we weren't even ENGAGED that we weren't thinking 7 years into the future when we might potentially need three car seats to fit across the back seat.

Oh my.

But seriously, the last thing we needed was to have to buy a new car.  We totally would have, but Jimmy's taste is mucho expensive, so I'm very glad we didn't have to go down that route.  Now, if kid number 4 comes our way ever in the future...that's another story.


2. The incremental cost of this kiddo!
I work in finance for my job.  So I'm all about incremental costs.  Let's be real though - I mean, in our situation it's our third kid - we have a boy and a girl and they are all going to have the same birthday month 2 years apart.  From an incremental wardrobe perspective, the additional cost is pretty much zero.  However, we both work full time...so that thing called childcare that is SO expensive but even more ridiculous for an infant?  Yeah.  At least for the first year of this sweet baby's life, you will pay an arm and a leg for their care.  With the first, we were shocked and felt a big financial impact - but to be honest, most of those costs were offset by everything anything that we used to do sans baby for entertainment (aka bar and restaurant costs, going to the movies, frequent happy hours and concerts).  With our second, we had just moved in to a new house (i.e. hello bigger mortgage) and while the new daycare Charlie was at wasn't that much more money than his old one the infant care cost literally almost gave me a heart attack.  I spent HOURS setting our budget to prep for when Maddie started daycare and what our new monthly budget looked like.  With the third, we have made adjustments to our other kiddos care to make it a little more reasonable for us and plan on sending this one to an in home for a more intimate experience for a lower cost - because I'm not kidding, 3 kids in daycare is not cheap folks.  And while many people aren't in the 3 kids in day care situation (due to one parent not working or larger spacing between kids ages), any additional family member added will cost you more money.  Whether it's in baby supplies, food, insurance/doctors, clothing, etc., so just make sure you take that into account because once that baby is here (trust me, I ran the daycare numbers first and foremost to make sure we weren't crazy and going to have to move to afford him/her), it's true you'll never remember what your life was like without them, but also just be responsible and make sure you can afford the sweet baby!!  It will make life SO much easier!

3, You're officially outnumbered - 
how do you split yourselves up!?

This was actually one that I had the realization about myself and then literally had a great conversation with an amazing coworker about it.  For some reason, which I'm sure will probably change quickly upon babe #3's arrival, I'm not terrified about being outnumbered at home.  Because we both work, when we are at home with the kids there are usually two of us there and since our only experience of having an infant with more kids is having a 2 year old as well, the fact that we will have a 4 year old (and a 2 year old...haha), who will hopefully be more helpful when asking him to do things and is great at entertaining himself, it isn't that terrifying (come talk to me in 6 months though...).

What really scares me?  When they are older and everyone is doing something and needs to be somewhere at this time for this practice, game, event.  My awesome coworker has three kids and she said they thought about having for but that was really what held them back because she wanted to make sure she was able to be there for them during those things and didn't feel like she was constantly shipping one off with neighbors/friends via car pool because the fact of the matter is - there are only two adults and you cannot be everyone at once.

I feel like I already got a glimpse of this with gymnastics this winter.  When I signed Maddie and Charlie up I had in my mind this perfect little Saturday morning family outing in which everyone goes together.  Charlie will sit with us and entertain himself while Maddie and one parent does gymnastics from 9-9:40 and then Charlie was up from 10-10:50 and Maddie would hang with us which we watched her brother do his thing.  HA.  After week one Jimmy and I quickly realized this was NOT going to work and we needed to just split up and each take a kid.  While that was easier, it made me so sad.  Because yes, I'm crazy mom and like to see my kids doing all these things that they are doing and learning and progressing.  So if I took Maddie and didn't get to see Charlie I would grill Jimmy on "what did he do?  Did he listen better?  Follow directions?  Start to forward roll?" and Jimmy's response?  "Yes".  Yeah, not the mom detailed response I was looking for.  And vice versa when I went with Charlie and Jimmy went with Maddie.  It's crazy that I was already feeling like I was missing out on something with them - even though it really wasn't a big deal.  So yes, when I was talking about this with a coworker, it really hit me that this would likely be a real issue.  And even if we do want four kids (whoa crazy town), it will be even more nuts.

Just some food for thought and some things that we did {and some we didn't} think about when deciding if adding a third kid to our family was the right decision for us.  In the end, we obviously couldn't be more thrilled we are blessed to have another sweet kiddo to call ours - and honestly 'I'm ready to take on this whole mom to three role, but who knew as an adult there were so many things to think about!  Seems like it would be a lot more fun to just go back to being a kid!

But in all honestly - no matter what - I'm sure this is how it will go.  It has so far. :)

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Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Maddie the nudist

Ok so not really a nudist, but this girl I swear.

While her brother likes taking his clothes off and even has his own hashtag for it (#charliehatesclothes)...Maddie has started to adopt the same desire to wear no clothes.  Except this might be a worst habit - at night!!!   This is naked people, including no diaper.

The first time this happened was a while back and I posted this picture to Instagram of her getting ready to get in the bath tub.  



Because...yeah.  It was a Saturday morning and we heard her wake up in her crib (of COURSE Charlie was awake because that boy is up at 6 or earlier on the dot every day) at 6AM and kind of rustle around.  Didn't think anything of it because when I looked at the monitor a few minutes later, she was laying back down flat on her stomach.

It was a Saturday, Charlie was entertaining himself, so Jimmy and I stayed in bed and drifted in and out of sleep - relishing in just how wonderful life was.

Come 8:00, big brother was getting anxious to play with SOMEONE.  Since apparently we weren't wanting to get out of bed (trust me - in bed at 8AM, yeah this was like a once in every two year thing for us - our kids do NOT sleep in), he decided to go in and wake Maddie up.  I knew it wasn't good when you hear Charlie say over the monitor "Get up --- ER - Maddie why are you naked....and what's that smell!?!?  EHHH gross!".  Oh yes.  Oh yes.

As he proceeded to run out of the room, we both ran in.  Naked 18 month old happy as a clam with her poppy diaper on the other side of the crib.  Apparently she didn't want it on so instead of crying enough or yelling, she just took it off quietly and went back to sleep.

I mean I can't blame her because - yeah, no one likes poopy diapers.

But still, gross.  Luckily, I'm pregnant and smells make me gag and then puke - specifically nasty poops so the cleaning up the crib responsibility fell to Jimmy while I swooped Maddie off to be cleaned...praying this was a one time occurrence.

And then it happened again the following Saturday morning.  #seriously

So we learned our lesson and stated putting Maddie only in pajamas that were zip up but had the snap thing on the top (we have some hand me down ones that just have a zipper all the way up, which she obviously has no problem at all taking off).  And we thought all was well for awhile - and then...last night, it happened again.  It was Monday and for some reason it was a Mooonnnndddaaaay - if you get my drift.  Like just ready for the day to be done.  Charlie would NOT go to sleep and I was getting so frustrated with him and Maddie was asleep and had started crying and Jimmy was nowhere to be found - ok really he was cutting his hair in the garage and then shaving/showering in our bathroom, but from my vantage point I was like "OMG help me husband!".  So I left Charlie and went into Maddie's room and walk in and she's butt naked just standing there yelling "poop!!!" pointing to her diaper.  I was like "NOOOOOOOOOOOO".

Thank goodness, she was crying wolf because there was in fact no poop in the diaper - but then I was just plain confused (I'm sure she was too).  And before I could do anything, Jimmy came in and said, I'll handle it just go to bed.  Um...ok.  So I literally got in my pajamas, washed my face, brushed my teeth and immediately turned off all the lights in my bedroom and got under the covers.  When you tell me to go to bed, I will do (even if my intentions were to gather last minute tax stuff).  

And then I couldn't stop thinking about EVERYTHING.  Like why is Charlie so frustrating to me lately and how do I take a chill pill?  Why do I feel like the worst mom ever like 80% of the time?  Why does my baby in my stomach not kick me more so I can feel them and know they are ok?  And WHHHYYY is my daughter a nudist?

Yes friends, I did think that. While I am guessing hoping this is a stage, you can't help but blame the girl because really I just think she hates the diaper.  She pees AND poops in the potty before her bath and is obviously taking her diaper off when she doesn't want it on - so maybe really we are letting her down as parents and should attempt to potty train her?  But God help us, so much work.  The weekend with Charlie was like #givemeallthewine and when you're pregnant I'm guessing it might look more like #givemeallthequesoandchips - but still.  Just a long weekend for everyone. 

This post really has no point.  Except that I used to be awesome at documenting all these crazy, funny, weird things Charlie did and poor Maddie is getting no love.  So yes, it does have a point.  The point is to document her current love for being naked - and praying that stops promptly at age 2.

But for the next 4 months - I will let her be naked when she wants because she is so darn cute.  As long as she learns to do her business on the potty and not while running around naked.







The end.

Friday, February 19, 2016

It is FRIDAY

Ok - seriously, how was it a four day work week this week (for me at least).  DRAGGED...

Here's some things!

{ONE}

If you missed this announcement yesterday - we are having another baby!  Yes sir.



Details here on #3.

But what was more amusing to me was that since I'm almost halfway people that know already have been like "when are you going to announce it?" and I was just waiting until my last doctor's appointment - but as it turns out - 2 years ago today was when we found out Maddie was a GIRL and posted this picture and post for our family and friends. I'm a weirdo about dates, so for some reason - I love this.


NOTE - - this was 2 years ago - we don't know what this one is mom! Haha - she thought I was telling her something yesterday!




{TWO}

Since we are not finding out the gender - I've been dreaming up this little one's nursery for awhile for something that we can use both for if it's a boy or girl.  I have an obsession with arrows...that's the conclusion I have come to.  I'm obsessed with these (to just list a few).

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But don't want to pay that hefty price tag...my aunt is amazing and is willing to whip up, I just have to find the fabric - where do you find specific fabric?  I've been to stores - but they have nothing like this.  I like spoonflower.com (awesome idea) but any other ideas?

However, I did buy this dresser yesterday off of a facebook furniture swap group for $150 --- and they delivered it that day (WHAT?!).  I was planning to just buy a white dresser from IKEA but then this was too good to pass up - so I'm planning on painting it a fun color after some encouragement from a friend!



{THREE}

Ok random - but I seriously saw this on facebook as well - and died laughing.



I have a co-worker that LOVES Chik-fil-A, so I told her this would've been perfect!!! Haha!  I mean who wouldn't want a bouquet of chicken and fries?


{FOUR}

Speaking of chicken - did someone say chicken?

Apparently Jimmy felt bad for not doing anything "exciting" or "romantic" for Valentine's Day - so he heard about a new restaurant that just opened in KC that apparently has delicious fried chicken.  Like he claims he heard it was better than Stroud's (which is famous KC fried chicken that I love).  So he is taking me there tomorrow night and I'm excited to try it!  Originally from a tiny town east of Memphis and now has expanded: Gus's Fried Chicken!



{FIVE}

House projects.  I'm on this weird thing where I'm really into house projects.  Maybe it's a burst of second trimester energy?  Or that my dad is feeling back to normal and I just feel like he wants projects?  Or BOTH?  Ha!

Either way.  My handyman dad has been in full swing this week at our house (while moonlighting as a substitute janitor at his old school in the afternoon/evenings).  What is on his agenda this time?  A mini bar area in the dining room - that he has brought this idea...
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...to fruition (still in the works, but seriously, we talked about this on Saturday morning and he's already bought the fridge, the cabinet (cut it), moved the electrical outlet up, ripped up the carpet - he's amazing - seriously.  


(dang I literally JUST hung these paintings up that I got in Paris last summer and now I'm going to have to move them and put some fun "drink" decor up I think!



Excited to have this done before the first weekend in March when I'm co-hosting a baby shower for my awesome sister in law Hillary, at our house!  Will be a fun (and more importantly, functional) drink station!!!  Thanks Dad!

Happy Friday and weekend - hope everyone has a fun (and relaxing) weekend!




Linking up with:

Sept Farm | Oh hey Friday!
Carolina Charm | Five on Friday
Momfessionals | Friday Favorites 

Thursday, February 18, 2016

And here we go - Baby #3 is on the way!

To many of you that know me in real life, this may be old news to you as I'm almost 18 weeks along - but GUESS WHAT blog world?!  We are having another baby...in July (of course!)!!!!!!!

While I was a little late to make this announcement and wanted to make sure everything was going as best it could in this pregnancy, here is how Maddie and Charlie announced it to some family and friends through our annual Valentine's Day cards.  




Seriously it's crazy!  Three kids - all almost exactly 2 years apart.  But bring.it.on.  

Now that I'm done with the yucky first trimester (this has been my worst first trimester experience in all of my pregnancies), I'm looking so forward to adding a little baby to the mix.  Some {many} may think we are nuts, but I'm getting more and more excited by the day.  After watching Charlie and Maddie grow up together and their amazing relationship develop, I feel so blessed that we are able to add another one to our madness.  Charlie is so excited to be a big brother again and already requested we name the baby "Alcides Escobar" (Royal's player).  Maddie doesn't quite understand - but the good news is this girl loves babies and especially real ones.  Every time we meet/visit a baby she's always trying to kiss it and give it things and hug it (even when I'm holding it and not her).  So hopefully she keeps that big sister instinct going after she turns two!

Timeline of events Baby #3:
  • A week and a few days before Thanksgiving I have a dream that I'm pregnant and my sister threatens to kill me because she's getting married June 4.  I wake up out of a deep sleep in a panic and take a pregnancy test - it's negative and I sigh with relief that she's not going to kill me
  • That next Saturday (weekend before Thanksgiving) - I wake up and immediately know I'm pregnant.  Take a test and confirm it.  Then cry because I think my sister is going to kill me.  I immediately go over to her house (and take my cute kids as bribery to not kill me).  We also had to ask her and Casey if they would take our kids if we die (as we were in the middle of preparing a will)....so I had to ask her if she'd take three.  She knew immediately that I was pregnant before I could even tell her and was really happy for me.  And happy that we had not ordered bridesmaid dresses yet
  • November - January - I'm nauseous, tired, pukey (without actually puking if that's possible..guess that's really nauseous), and did I mention TIRED?  Seriously fell asleep every night for like 3 months putting Charlie to bed.  
  • February - FINALLY start to feel like a normal person.  Oh, a normal person with a belly already!!  Guess that's what will happen when it's you're third, right?  Or so they say!!
We got to see the little peanut and hear it's heartbeat around 8 weeks which was amazing and has had a strong heartbeat at each monthly appointment since which is just music to my ears.

It's hard to believe the halfway mark is just around the corner and our 20 week sonogram is in just a few weeks.  Even more fun this time?!?!  We are NOT finding out the gender.  This took a bunch of convincing by me from my husband, but I REALLY want to wait and find out in the delivery room - as hard as it is.  Some people love it and some people think you're crazy, but we found out the gender with both Charlie and Maddie and I'm so glad we did, but with this one I just feel like I want to wait.  We have both genders with all the clothes and toys and baby stuff you could possibly need (helps when all your kids are born in the same month!), so after some convincing Jimmy agreed we could wait - even though he really wants to know (who doesn't!?).

Ask me if I still feel like this during and after the 20 week sonogram and the tech asks "are you SURE you don't want to know!?!?".  haha.

We are so pumped and couldn't be more thankful for all the love and excitement we've received from family, friends, coworkers and random people.  We are beyond excited and praying for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy little baby at the end of it to add to our family.  Praying every day for that.

Official due date?  July 21- 24 (lol - this is under debate.  At first it was July 21, then we thought it changed to July 24, but then at my appointment on Tuesday they were like - July 21, right?  At this point in my life, I'm positive the baby will not come on either of those days - so I'm fine with the range!!)  Right smack dab in the middle of Maddie and Charlie's birthdays - so to say that July is a busy month for our family might be an understatement - but we'll take it and can just have one big birthday party month!!  (Maddie's bday is July 4 and Charlie's is July 31).

So here we go friends - while the journey has already been well on it's way for a while, I'm excited to start documenting the rest of it here!!  I have been HORRIBLE at bump pictures, but I'm trying to keep it up.  It is easier because I got a fun app - I only have 2 so far (maybe 3?) but I'll try to keep up for this babe's sake.

Tips on having 3 kiddos!?  We are excited, scared and over the moon at the same time!!!



Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Weekend fun: Wichita, Presidents Day fun

After gymnastics, we headed straight to Wichita for a quick weekend trip to visit Lauren and David and see baby Landon again - and we were planning on meeting Katie, Barry and their kiddos there too (they drove up from Oklahoma).

It was an easy drive for the most part and the kids were good - it's always a hit or miss when you try to drive during nap time - crossing your fingers that they will nap.  Luckily, both kids were pooped from gymnastics and did nap!!

We got there right at the same time as Katie and her family and the kids started playing and we started loving on Landon.  Katie's boys are just 6 months younger than our kiddos- and they had a good time, even though I felt like Charlie and Maddie bullied James and William the whole time (sorry Katie!).

Time flew by and the boys watched the KU vs. Oklahoma game in their awesome theater room (luckily KU won for Jimmy's mood) and the kids just ran around after each other and showed Lauren all the places she is going to need to baby proof in a few months when Landon starts to crawl and get into everything - ha!  Isn't that the truth!?

We ordered some pizza, ate that and in the mean time, the Ruddick family headed back to Oklahoma and we started to settle in for the night.  Maddie is literally obsessed with Landon.  We couldn't get her away from him and from the looks of it, he was pretty interested in her....


...except when she started getting all up on him.

But seriously - I'm SOOOOOO disappointed at myself for not demanding that we take a picture of the three girls and all our babies.  Like I'm the picture crazy person and I should have just made everyone sit down and do it because I'm so mad we didn't get a picture of all the kids!! GRRR!  The crew is multiplying over again and it needs to be documented!

After we put the kids to bed, we all went downstairs to have some wine and watch some TV.  And then we got too old and tired and it was time to go to sleep.  I slept with Charlie - which was "interesting" but after a while after I got in there, he settled down we had a good snuggle sesh.  

The next morning, Charlie was up early (as usual) and we all got dressed and met Ali and her gang at the Donut Whole - which was DELICIOUS. Oh my goodness.  All kinds of delicious cake doughnuts.  We got fruity pebbles, red velvet (in honor of Valentine's Day!!!) and even one with gummy worms on top - talk about delicious.  So we got to meet Baby June and then Nelle, Maddie, Henry and Charlie got to run around and act like crazy kids together.  Being with Ali and her family always makes me feel so NORMAL, which I love so much.  Like yep, it's ok that my kids are a little crazy and maybe don't listen to me all the time.  Because hers don't either and I love them and her for that.  She's a great great gal with an amazing family.

We headed back to Lauren's to chat with them for a little bit before we headed out. Luckily for Charlie (and all our sanity), we only got about 40 miles out of town when Lauren called to say David found Charlie's backpack that we left and all his cars and guys - pretty much the ONLY toys he's obsessed with and plays with.  Oh jeez.  So we turned around and she met us half way (thank God for great friends!) and the toys were saved.  We are horrible at leaving toys places for sure.

After a quick bite to eat, all the little people passed back out about until we got to Kansas City.  
Thank goodness!  But seriously, are kids just not the sweetest when you stare at them while sleeping?


I also came home to some fun Young Living Essential Oils that I'm excited to try!!!


While it was Valentine's Day...my sister had offered to cook dinner for my whole family, so we headed over to her house and enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner with salad and some dessert - thanks Aunt Lulu!

Of course we capped off our V-Day with the most romantic thing ever - watching the Tanner and Jade bachelor wedding - yes we did.

As for Monday?  The stock markets are closed, so I have the day off and my kids school was closed too - so we got to spend the day together.  I did want to run to Hobby Lobby and my dad offered to come over and hang with them - which was so nice and made my shopping trip more fun, but also more expensive!  I might have spent too much money at Hobby Lobby and IKEA already on Friday for our entryway details, but then bought some more for the buffet in the dining room.  I'm a fan (just need to remove the price tags!)


I came home to these three watching a movie and couldn't help but laugh at this scene.  Hahahaha.  And where are my kids clothes??  I'm glad that my dad decided to stay clothed!


After lunch and a nap, we were excited to have some girl time to just hang out while waiting for Charlie to wake up!


It was so nice that we headed to the park....for about 15 minutes.  Haha my kids.


But then we stopped at Sonic happy hour and everyone was happy.

I love that Maddie got up on this chair by herself to enjoy her slushie and look "outside"



Such a big girl now - and such a great weekend.

We loved spending time with friends so much and glad that our kids travel well too!  And the day off was an extra bonus - even if I did spend too much money - at least I got some cute decorations on sale :)





Gymnastics is FUN

Kid's activities.  Oh my. 

So here's my overall thoughts on them in our life right now- they are fun, they really are.  However, at my kids little ages, sometimes it can be too much.  So we try to keep it simple, especially since we don't want to fill every weekend with activity after activity (especially since most are parent/tot and we have to run around and participate), but at the same time, it's nice to see them in a new element, learning and interacting with other adults and kids and having to take directions from another adult (and see how they listen...or don't).

Charlie has gotten to participate in the majority of activities at this point (he did soccer last Spring and t-ball last Summer), but I wanted to do something that Maddie cakes could do too.  We have gone to a few fun birthday parties at a local gymnastics place - so this fall I was on the hunt for a reasonable gymnastics class for both of them.  We found what I thought was a great class with AMAZING teachers nearby for both of the kiddos.

What was funny about the whole thing - was that I am already learning the cold hard facts that sometimes it's easier to separate the family then for everyone to go together.  Yes, that is the advice that I've gotten from so many wiser, more experienced mamas...the more kids, the less parents and the more you need to split up.  I thought it was the perfect schedule with Maddie from 9-9:40 and Charlie from 10-10:50; we could all go at 9, Charlie would hang out and then we could run to Quik Trip as a family...then come back and all watch Charlie's class. HA.  Joke's on me right?  Oh yeah.  The first week, Charlie literally whined the WHOLE time during Maddie's class how he wanted it to be his turn - then when it finally was, the cried and didn't want to go out there.  Maddie was ok for like 5 minutes and then was a mess, so Jimmy took her out to the car.  Yeah - we separated from then on.

Lesson learned I guess!?!?

Anyways - Maddie was a stretch because the youngest you could be in the class is 18 months old and Maddie turned 18 months 3 days before the class started.  However, she didn't look like it, so when her immaturity (for the class, not her age) started to show when she didn't want to wait in line and follow parent or teacher directions...it was amusing because everyone was looking at her like "come on!" and I wanted to scream "she's still a baby".  Oh man, parenting is hard.

But really - after 6 weeks, I was super super proud of her because she did awesome and made such great progress.  She did get so much better at listening and following directions in the class and doing all the activities.  And best of all - I know she had SO much fun and felt like a big girl that she didn't just have to watch big brother do it.

Her favorite?  Like most of the kids - was running on the trampoline and "jumping" in the ball pit!!



Oh - and the stamps every week after class.

#itsthelittlethings



As for Charlie.  Oh jeez, this kid.  Every time I think I know how he's going to react to something - he totally catches me of guard.  I was convinced he was just going to LOVE gymnastics.  We had built him up a ton and he acted so excited.

Enter the first class and I literally was soooooo frustrated with him.  Given, this was the first activity in which we were there but not participating with him (he does all kinds of sports and activities at school during the week with a coach, but we are not there), he refused to go out there by himself.  Not sure if it was because he was scared or just because he had sat through the last hour watching me participate with Maddie - but I literally had to threaten him to get out there (oh those parenting moments that we are not so proud of).  But once he did and one of the teachers was just amazing with him and he got to stick with her, he was just fine.

It was fun each week to see him become more and more confident getting out there with the group and teachers each week.  He literally RAN out there the last few weeks so excited to do "nastics".  Of course he loved the trampoline too!!!  And LOVED jumping!



And he was so awesome at following directions (towards the latter classes), that it was fun to see him and all his new moves.  Beware this video is long, but it's mainly because we all have to wait patiently for other kids :)





Check him out on that balance beam!

So will we do gymnastics again?  YES!

Not right away because Charlie is going to do soccer again this spring, but I do think that they both really liked it and it for sure got lots of energy out on cold winter mornings too!

Any activities that you have tried with your kiddos that have been wins or fails!?!?

Monday, February 15, 2016

Entryway transformation


As promised on Friday as part of the Five quick things...the quick entry way transformation.

Here is our "entryway".  Aka just a wall to the right of our door right when you walk in.  We have our office (now playroom) directly to the right of our front door when you walk in and the dining room entrance right to the left, so there is no closet for people to throw coats/things or really anything.  Not a huge deal by any means, but the other day I was looking at this measley little table and lamp sitting there that I purchased back in 2008 when I had my 655 sq ft condo and thought to myself - I can probably make this wall a lot more functional.

My biggest complaint was that during the winter when people have coats on and they come into our house (not even for a party but just like one or two folks) there is no place to put them unless I have them walk through our entire first floor of our house and drop them in the mud room area off our garage.  I mean it's a total #firstworldproblem, I know, but just thought I had some time that I could dedicate to transforming it.


So here's what I did!!!!


And here's a close up of the shelf (that I built) and the awesome sign (I got Jimmy this for Christmas) and mirror, along with all the fun accent items that I got at Hobby Lobby for the shelf.


(everything on the shelf is from the Hobby Lobby spring collection, mirror was on clearance at Bed Bath and Beyond that I've had forever and spray painted, sign is from Pretty in Polka Dots)

I LOVE it and since it's what we see every time we walk down the stairs (which you can probably relate is quite too often when you forget things or children are yelling at you to come get them, wipe their bottom, etc.). 

I love that the small bench is functional with the drawers to put outside stuff for the kids (shoved some scarves, boots, hats and gloves in there) and also if people prefer to take off their shoes they can take a quick seat there too.

As for the shelf/coat rack thing - I had a predicament there and the builder in me came out.  I couldn't quite figure out what to do with the space where the light switches were above because all the racks you buy at the store have hooks all the way across, which wouldn't work for us.  So I just ran to Home Depot, picked up 2 pre-cut 36 in boards, took my right angle clamps and the nail gun and a shelf!  Then I screwed the six hooks in and found a cheap picture frame at WalMart.  I spray painted that.  After painting the shelf with the paint that I keep on hand that matches my trim/cabinets, it was done!!  And I love it.  I just had to find the studs and get Jimmy to hold it up while I drilled it in.



I also used my mom's tip of taking wrapping paper to make sure it looks like you want it to.


And finally - a side by side for you.  I'm VERY happy with the pops of color and the functional additions to this small space!  


What do you think!!?