Thursday, June 29, 2017

Thursday confessions...

Ok I finished Mikey's 10 month blog post....now onto his 11 month (need to finish up) and then start on Maddie's THREE year old post (she turns three on Tuesday)!!  And then Mikey's ONE YEAR.  And then Charlie's FIVE YEAR.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....my babies.

Anyways, I haven't blogged in FOREVER about random stuff and not sure when I will again because life is busy, but here we go.

Linking up with Sparkles & Lattes today.


Confessions:
  • Totally haven't had sugar for a week and was so good ---- treated myself (and the kids, really) tonight to shaved ice and it was SO good
  • Traveling to Chicago is BLAH.  Had to do it again this week for work and while the weather was nice, the flight is short....it's still BLAH and I'd rather be at home with my peeps and going into our KC office.  Ok there, I said it.
  • We got a new cable provider and now we have all the premium channels - and while I rarely watch TV, I have started watching The Affair on Showtime on demand because I read an article about the show's writer as a working mom and "having it all" and she intrigued me and so then I decided to watch the show - it kind of reminds me of Big Little Lies so far --- not really, but kind of.  I want to know what happens but don't have time for these episodes every night!!!  But I do love that one of the doctor's from Chicago Med (ok, I do watch that show on DVR) is on there!
  • I took off last Friday to buy everything for my kiddo's birthday party's this next month - I did and bought a bunch of the random Party City stuff for favors (for big kids) and told myself I'm DONE.  That's it.  But you guys - I have issues and just can't.  Mainly because there were some REALLY easy DIY projects that I can do that my kids and their friends will love.  So yes, I'm taking all that favor stuff back to Party City and we are DIY-ing some light sabers with pool noodles AND DIY-ing princess wands.  Not sure when I will do that, but since I'm combining Charlie and Maddie's birthday parties...what the heck, right?  Jimmy is annoyed....but I can't help myself to a nice little DIY project
  • However....I will confess I am NOT going all out for Mikey's party (sorry bud!).  Just a nice little family BBQ for his first birthday celebration....that's allowed, right?
  • I go back and forth like every hour between the two mentalities "I'm SO tired, I should just chill out and stop doing everything" to "I LOVE MY JOB, I LOVE DOING BEACHBODY AND I LOVE MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS --- I WILL GIVE 150% TO ALL OF THEM" #crazylady #seriously #butstilltired #thatiswhatcoffeeisfor
  • My family (aka Jimmy and I) have an online shopping problem - even our neighbors said something to me last weekend about how we ALWAYS have boxes on our porch #oops
Ok - I think that's all for now.  What do you got for me today?  Something you need to get off your chest?  For some reason, that felt good to get off my chest (even though I'm guessing literally no one reads my blog anymore haha!!).  Happy Thursday!


Wednesday, June 28, 2017

10 months of Mikey Carter!

Oh Miguel.  10 months old.  



I'm incredibly behind on your monthly updates.  I have actually had SOME thought about your first birthday party - I promise.  Ok, kind of.  I'm going to order the invite this week.  I promise.  And you can ignore the fact that you turned 10 months old 17 days ago (ok 17 days ago when I WROTE this....but it's now over a month now since I hit publish.....).  EEEEKKK.  But what I can promise you sweet boy, while your monthly progress on the blog hasn't been kept up to date in quite as timely as a manner as your brother and sister might have been, you have been loved on just as much and I would argue EVEN more.  Why?  Because not only are me and your dad loving on you, but your siblings are OBSESSED with you.  Still.  Which is good news because you're turning into quite the little man and fight/play/steal/"talk" back to them and they still like you - so YEAH!



Milestones:

  • Two months of crawling has made you like a pro.  Ha.  You are EVERYWHERE.  
  • Pulling up on everything
  • Don't kill me ---but I *THINK* this is the month that you got your first teeth - been a long time coming for sure, but those two little guys on the bottom popped through!
  • You moved up to pretty much all 12 month clothes this month as we busted out the summer gear for warmer weather.  I love seeing you in Charlie's old onesies and clothes - makes me all nostalgic!
  • Size 4 diapers still but I think your dad changed to size 5 on subscribe and save
  • You still were taking 3, 8 ounce bottles at day care during the day + eating breakfast, lunch AND a snack there.  You are quite the little food lover!  I can barely keep my milk supply up!
  • Speaking of food - you will pretty much eat and try everything.  You have your favorites - love turkey, black beans, cheese and all breakfast food (eggs, waffles, pancakes, french toast).  You fit just right in our family because we are breakfast LOVERS.
  • You kicked off month number 10 with a bang - April 20 you FINALLY got tubes.  Oh man, it was a long time coming and you did great.  We spent the day at home together and after one day you were sleeping better and feeling great.  You did have one ear infection right after and at the two week follow up you had to get the gunk sucked out (HORRIBLE if you have ever had to do as a parent watching your kiddo!), but after that and the steroid drops, you have been golden.  AHHH!!!  Love tubes. 


Things you like:



  • Still love your milk - from the boob or bottle - you don't discriminate!
  • You love crawling around and finding random toys to play with - as long as they are not tiny legos (which we have a TON of those!), we're ok
  • You LOVE balls.  Soccer balls, baby balls
  • Bath time with your siblings.  You could sit in there forever splashing around.  You don't even seem to mind when Maddie pours tons of water on your head.
  • Love playing in the play kitchen and opening up/closing the fridge and oven doors
  • You love playing peek a boo too - the little giggle is just AHHH.  Melts my heart
  • You have found the beer fridge and you like it 



Things you don't like:

  • Getting set on the ground when you're in a bad mood - but sometimes mama needs two hands and you are HEAVY!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Still not a fan of screaming in our house....Maddie tends to do that a lot


Special memories:

  • Celebrated your cousin's, Jay, first birthday party!  It was an awesome fiesta - you boys + George (Jay's cousin) are all within a few months of each other and we decided we need to bring this picture out at your high school graduation!!!
  • Went up to Lawrence to hang out with your bud Calvin - you guys were a riot together and he had lots of cool toys! (insert pic from May 7)
  • Went to your second Royal's game - but this one was at the Hall of Fame suite with mom's work - that's the way to roll!
  • Celebrated our first Mother's Day together - I am so lucky to be your momma, sweet boy!  And your siblings - you guys are just the best.  


A note to our sweet boy:
TEN months doesn't seem like that's possible.  You are seriously the happiest little man and we love having you as a part of our family.  Your siblings love you SO much that they keep asking for another baby (HA) - probably because you're so great.  Even Ms Marie constantly reminds me of how awesome and sweet you are and she should know with all the kiddos she has taken care of.  Your skin is so soft and you smell so good - two things I wish I could bottle up and keep with me forever as a reminder of this short time in your life as a baby.  Your first year is coming to a close and you are doing more "big kid" things than I would like to admit.  I love it and hate it because I love seeing your personality emerge more and more and see you learn and have fun with your friends/siblings, but I'm already like WHERE DID MY BABY BOY GO?  And looking at your siblings and how they have grown so quickly, I know that feeling will continue.  Can't wait for the fun and excitement of seeing all your new skills and tricks to come in the next few months!

We love you!
Mom & Dad

********************************************************************

Charlie | Maddie | Mikey 10 month comparison pic!

hahahah these kids!!

Other fun pictures from the month too!


Love me and my baby boy!



His brother LOVES him so much.


Grana and Pops with grandkid #11 and 12!


Oh MADDIE. She sure gives you a run for your money!


While he's been a good sleeper - he does have some early morning wake ups and he doesn't mind hanging with mom while she works out!


These three are always up to SOMETHING.


I have been traveling at least once a month for work and it kills me to be away from them.  While dad holds down the fort, coming home to these three is so sweet!


We did Noah's 5K - despite the cold and rain and we all survived!


He's like "mom, you're crazy!"


THESE TWO = TROUBLE.  I just love watching their relationship!


#photographybycharlie


STANDING UP one day!!!!!!!!!!!


Flexing with his mama.


Ergo and loving that beer with his dad!


And...while he's mostly really happy....there are ALWAYS moments like these because of #teeth #tummyissues #younameit  But I still love him when he's angry!




Friday, June 2, 2017

Memorial Day road trip!

HIIIIIIIIIII

Radio silence up on this blog because #work #kids #life

I HATE not blogging.  So much.  But I'm going to be honest with you, it just is the last thing on my list of "to-dos" right now and as much as I hate that, it has to be because the other things are priority.  But it's my job as the mama to document life.  And while my IG is always bumping, I love this blog - so when we took a trip to over Memorial Day weekend to visit my grandma and then tagged on a quick drive up to Minneapolis, I took a bizillion pictures like I always do...but was determined to get them on here!!  And here we go.

We kicked off the trip actually by leaving somewhat on time - YEAH!  Getting everyone in the car and picking up my dad by 8AM - calling that a win.  I had plenty of snacks and was the designated snack passer outer from the back seat while Jimmy drove and my dad was in the front.


I'll spare you the details of the drive.  Estherville, IA is supposed to take around 6 hours (according to Google Maps), but of course it takes us 8 :)  Because kids and their bladders.  I don't think either of the big kids slept except.  Oh wait, they might have right before we got there but it's ok.  At least there were no accidents in the car and plenty of movies and snacks!

The best part is always making it there is going into my grandma's room and seeing her smile!!!  Literally her face when she sees our kids is just so awesome and worth every tantrum and stop and whine that our kids give us on the drive up.  They also feel the same way about her.  

The last time we saw her in person was last September when Mikey was only 2 months old.  So you can imagine how excited she was to see our kiddos because while Charlie and Maddie are older and have grown, Mikey is a totally different kid!!  What a difference 8 months makes.




We brought her lots of pictures to hang up, some flowers, licorice and lots of hugs and kisses.  We even went on a tour of the whole nursing home (when we were there in September, she was actually on hospice care and was very weak.  By God's good grace - it wasn't her time to go - and here she is in May holding Mikey and having Maddie and Charlie take her on tours!!).  Since we had not even gotten to our hotel, we left my dad there and went to check in and, of course, the most fun --- went to the pool.  This was second on the list under seeing Great Grandma.  Indoor pools are the bomb!


I didn't get any pictures, but my aunt and uncle who live in Estherville came to our hotel after they got off work and my aunt and uncle who live in Cedar Rapids came in town (so nice!) so they all came - with my dad and grandma - and brought Godfather's pizza and we all ate it and drank beer and then watched the kiddos go swimming.  The weather was just perfect too, so we got some patio time in.

And then.....bedtime.  In a hotel room.  My dad stayed at my aunt and uncle's house, so it was just the five of us.  But it is so hard with just one room - when we are used to four!  But it was big enough to put Mikey down in the pack n play on one side of the room and then play Star Wars on our laptop on the other side while everyone snuggled in a bed to watch a movie.



While the beds were full (minus Mikey in his pack n play), we only have one wake up and I'd say overall it was a good night!!  The next morning we got up and ate some breakfast before heading back to see my grandma.  The kids and my dad helped hang up some new pictures we brought her on the new bulletin boards - she loves the pictures.  And all she wanted to do was hold Mikey!


The weather was BEAUTIFUL (no wind even!) so we decided to take grandma out to the park just around the corner.  And BOY was it a park!  I took some snaps of it but didn't get pictures.  (and on this trip I learned about the memories setting in snap chat - wish I would have learned about it sooner!)  It was AWESOME.  Maddie loved the pea gravel - thank goodness we have it at home!



Since most of our pictures with Grandma are in her room - this was an awesome one with Iowa scenery behind us!


About lunchtime, we headed out from Estherville to the big city of Minneapolis!  Now why would we drive EVEN more?  Ha.  Well, what's surprising is that the drive home from Minneapolis is the same or less than to Estherville because it's a straight shot on the highway.  So we figured - extra day off - why not take an extra road trip to a fun city and make some more memories??

For some reason, that 2.5 hour drive was SO long.  Ha.  But we made it in time to check into our hotel and walk over to the Mall of America.  Yes, we stayed right outside of the mall and it was touristy, but great.  Walking there made it SO much easier because we could just take our strollers and not have to deal with in and out of car seats and the parking there!  It was great!

Of course the first thing we hit up was the rides.  The kids love it.  But so did Jimmy. HA.  Maddie didn't nap, so she wasn't quite as excited.  And I have a little run in with a #judgymom - yep.  Maddie was getting off a ride and literally sat down and threw a fit on the floor.  This mom that had a daughter younger than Maddie (who obviously is unaware of the fun that almost 3 years old will bring) literally looked at me and her and me and her instead of just walking around her.  Seriously ladies, MOMS need to support each other.  Not judge.  I was pissed.  Ha.

But on a more exciting note - Mikey got to go on the carousel with the big kids.  And he LOVED it and so did the big kids.  Yeah for three kids all doing the same thing!!!




We went on a few more rides and then it was time for the LEGO store!  Oh how I wish I had saved those memories in snap chat because I got some awesome snaps and IG stories of these kids in awe of the walls and walls of legos.  They, of course, went straight to the Star Wars section and they picked out some of their favs.  Maddie loves Rey and go that!!  They were THRILLED!




And Mikey?  He was thrilled with the map of the rides.  And I love him for that.


We did a few more rides before we got hungry...


....and just angry in general (she was angry but smiled for me)


We got some take out and headed back to the hotel for the best part - swimming, right??!  

One thing that I have found from this trip ----- these two?  They are going to be up to NO good.  Haha.  Their relationship.  I swear. It's one of a kind.  One of my favorite things is seeing all three of my kiddos relationships develop with each other.  


And remember my aunt and uncle that I said live in Estherville?  Well they were up in Minneapolis for the Twins game on Saturday and came to our hotel to hang out some more.  They apparently didn't have enough of our kids!  And my uncle Bruce tried to show Jimmy that Mikey was a Twins fan - Jimmy was like NEVER. 



After swimming...the night didn't end!  We were on vacation and that meant late bedtimes.  So everyone got in on the lego fun!  Love this crew! 

'

And then it was time for movies with Papa!!   


We stayed in a TownePlace Suites and it was great because it had 2 bedrooms and a kitchen and living room area - so plenty of room but also the two rooms (with doors!!) was key!  

Maddie slept in and WHOA bed head!


Free breakfast and a workout in a gym!?  OK!  My dad was awesome and instead of doing it upstairs with no weights, he told me to go get it done!  Great way to start the day!


And seriously.  Just this kid.  I love him. 


We decided to head downtown to go to a 1:10 Twins game.  And it was crazy but fun!




Awesome awesome weather and even better company!




And thankful for somewhat empty concourses so this lady could just push her brother around and entertain him! 




And thank goodness for diaper bags full of all kinds of goodies - including colors and coloring books!





Mikey was the only one that snoozed (#canthang) and then (of course) I made us grab a group picture before headed back to our hotel.  We had dinner reservations at a Japanese steakhouse that night at 6, so we wanted to make sure we had time to get back and relax a bit before then.


I'd say they were pooped!


Dinner was AWESOME.  The kids were mesmerized and the adults were stuffed!


The saddest part of the trip was us totally not realizing it was SUNDAY night and stores in the mall close early then.  We had told Charlie he could go back to the lego store and get another set of legos if he was good all day.  But we finished dinner around 7 and it was closed.  He was devastated.  But thankfully, after a few kicks and stomps, we told him that there was a WalMart near by (Papa had told him he was buying - and I told Papa he got the good end of that deal!!!) and they could take a boys trip there when we got back.  They did and he was thrilled and I got to spend some time with my younger two and laugh at them!

The next morning we were up and on the road by 8.  It was a LONG drive.  Charlie was whiny.  


But we made good time and a stop at Chik fil A - so that was good.  And we played the animal game (where you are supposed to think of an animal and then other people ask questions about it to try to guess what animal).  It was fun but Maddie picked CORN as her animal.  Oh jeez.  Probably a had to be there moment but I laughed so hard that I cried on that one. 


 We got home around 4 and then my mom came over with dinner at 5:30 (along with my sister and her husband), so by the time that was over with.....we had a LONG weekend.  And everyone was feeling it.  Especially this little man.  He was a TROOPER.


But really - any trip with kiddos is tough.  I'm thankful that my dad tagged along and got to see his brothers and mom, but also for that man to man defense.  Lord knows we always need that to make sure no one goes missing or gets stolen (#paranoid).  Even though it was exhausting --- especially because I literally had to get home and do laundry and then head to Chicago the next day until Wednesday night --- so worth it.  I'm guessing our kids will be talking about those hotel pools for years to come.... ;)