Spring Breakin

Diva has two weeks.  TWO WEEKS off for Spring Break.  Did I mention it was two weeks?  That’s 10 school days.  She’s in kindergarten for crying out loud.  It’s pretty grueling I suppose.  She’s been so stressed.  All that gluing and coloring and ABC’ing is getting to her.

Anyway.

In true Spring Break style, the neighbor girls donned their swimsuits and had a water fight.  I guess this vacay hasn’t been so bad because they spend all their time playing outdoors with their friends.  And I get to hang out with this boy:

Don’t you just want to squeeze him? Oh he’s so yummy. 

And here’s to one more week.  I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

General Conference

I am so excited for General Conference this weekend.  How fortunate we are to hear the words of our leaders and our prophet twice a year.  It’s amazing to me that every time I listen, I hear something I know was meant for me.  I love the Gospel and the peace it brings. 

And I know that if you pray to have your mind and your heart open, you’ll hear things that were meant for you as well. 

                                                                                

*click full screen*

Quatre

*Did you know I took French in high school?  Yeah.  A lot of good that did me.

 

Four years ago this peanut was born and we are so incredibly lucky and blessed that she is a part of our family.  It would be empty without her. 

Love you little Munchkin.

 

6 weeks

It’s hard to believe that a little over six weeks ago he wasn’t “here”.  I feel like he has always been part of our family.

He currently…

loves to smile.  Working on smiling more and more but you can see it in his eyes.

doesn’t sleep through the night.  yeah.  Last night it was four times.  Add that to a scared almost 6 year-old with a wild imagination who likes wake mom up to be assured that all the doors are locked and it will equal one tired mama. 

only fusses when he’s tired or hungry or needs a burp (knock on wood.)

has two sisters who shower with him with love and adoration every second he is awake (and a lot of seconds when he’s sleeping as well).

Loves to sleep on his tummy.  Sue me.

Is a spitter.  New territory for me as my girls were not spitters.  So if I see you and I smell like baby vomit…well then, now you know.

Sadly cannot tolerate when mommy ingests Cadbury Mini Eggs (I KNOW!!) So I’ve given them up.  I KNOW!!

Is so unbelievably adorable and lovable.

He will lift you up

Family First

This last week the cousins were in town.  It’s always the best because all the kids run around and entertain each other and my sister and I are left to snuggle our delicious babies in peace (most of the time.)

My comical little niece.  One of her favorite things to do is throw herself on her uncles.  It’s the funniest thing.  Apparently she does this to her daddy a lot.  Hmm…throwing herself on men (watch out for that during her teenage years!)

 But seriously…she’s hard to resist. 

She and Munchkin went off a lot on their own and a few times we walked in on them playing in the tub, using their cute little imaginations.

After snapping a few pictures Munchkin asked, “Mommy…did you get a picture of my soap?”  I said, “What?”  “My soap!”  Sure enough, after looking through the pictures…I found it.  Can you? 

They enjoyed painting on the computer.  Also, what is it with kids and potty talk?  If more than three of them are together it’s poop this and pee that.  They think it’s hysterical.  We had to nip that in the bud a few times.

Sadly they had to leave this morning and I’m going through withdrawal.  Wish they lived a lot closer.  My sister has a few pictures of our little men together so I’ll have to snake those from her later.

After hangin with cousins we went and hung out with Papa and NeeNee after they got back from an extended stay in Hawaii (don’t be too jealous, it rained most of the time and they passed around the flu with their fellow travelers.)

We (as in everybody but me because I was busy taking pictures) played a little “baseball” in their backyard.

Being with family is our favorite thing in the entire world.  Hence the name of this blog.

Lately

Somebody is excited about something…

Any guesses as to what it is?

5.5 weeks

In other news…baby acne is clearing up so I can finally take his picture again. (kidding..kidding…maybe)  Photoshopping that crap out is way too tedious.  Poor newborns.  They have such host of skin problems; peeling, shedding, cracking, cradle crap cap, acne, diaper rash, eczema..etc. It’s a tough life.

Those baby smiles are melting my heart.  This little boy…such a precious gift.  Honestly I’m surprised he has any skin left as it is…since he is smothered in kisses all day.  Like I said…tough life.

It was a rough morning.  Diva smacked her sister, Munchkin screamed bloody murder, woke the baby and time outs were had.  I had been up every hour or so during the night and not in the mood for shenanigans. 

After things calmed down a bit, I fed G-man, left him sleeping in our bed and began breakfast clean up. 

After I couple minutes I noticed it.  Silence.  Too much of it.

I went into my bedroom and saw two girls snuggling their baby brother. 

A tender mercy, for which I am so grateful.

 

First week

 

You’re going to hate me for posting this recipe. Or love me.  Depends.

Today was my first week “back in business” as a full time mom.  I had the luxury of having my wonderful husband home for four weeks.  He took care of the girls, took Diva to school and tended to the mundane activities of the day.  I was able to nap, sleep in and enjoy my little boy to the max. 

And now that dream land is over.  Back to life.  Back to reality.

You want to know what I did on the very first day?  Got a migraine.  It was an, “Are you freaking kidding me?!” migraine.  And probably my worst yet.  I’ve mentioned the migraine auras before.  I know as soon as those start, I’m going to be in a world of hurt. I had my very good friend’s birthday lunch to attend so I dealt with my obstructed vision and went out.  Probably not the smartest idea seeing as I had to drive.  I even downed my prescription strength Ibuprofen hoping it would kill it. 

I was soooo wrong.

As soon as my vision cleared and I was sitting in a bakery with my friends, it felt as if a vice was slowly squeezing my brains.  I could not think straight.  My friends started to notice and demanded I go home.  My wonderful friend took Munchkin for me and I drove home as fast as I could because I was very soon going to puke my guts out.  And I did.  And then I had to literally crawl on my hands and knees back to my bed (thankfully G-man was sleeping away in his carseat). I crashed on the bed and did not move a muscle for at least two hours.  KC came home for lunch at some point and gave me a blessing.  I then fell asleep for a bit and woke up feeling 100 times better. 

I usually get migraines after I have a baby.  It must be a hormonal thing.  Gotta love that.

Anyway that was the first day and thankfully the rest of the week has been much better.  Despite a lack of sleep I’m feeling good. 

Good enough to tempt you with some AMAZING cookies.  Thank you BrownEyedBaker.  I hesitated posting this because I promised my dear sister I’d give up sugar for Lent.  Well that went to hell in a hand basket pretty quickly, let me tell you…especially when migraines CLEARLY call for chocolate.  Sorry Lindz.

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 16 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!  They are evil.

Neverending…

 

We don’t have cable ‘round here.  We have maybe 5 channels through our basic connection but that’s about it.  We actually haven’t had cable for several years.  Don’t want to pay for it.  So we do Netflix and love it.  A long while ago I put something on our queue but forgot about it. 

Yesterday it came in the mail after I returned #1,324 of BarbieFairySomethingStupidandObnoxious movie.

It was The NeverEnding Story!  I was so excited.  I thought, “Hey the girls will love this!  I was obsessed with this movie when I was younger!”

And then KC brought me back to reality.  He asked, “Are you crazy?  That movie is scary.”

No way! It’s totally awesome. 

Oh wait.  That’s right.  The wolf.  The big scary heads.  The giant rock eater.  Sinking Artex (break out the tissue.)  The giant turtle.  The swamps of sadness.  The southern oracle.  The scary half naked sphinxs.  And of course…the Nothing.

Woops.  Maybe they wouldn’t like it.  Yes it would definitely scare the living daylights out of them. 

So it turned into a date night movie instead.  That’s right.  My 30 something year old husband and myself of 27 almost 28 years very much enjoyed watching this movie last night.  It was very nostalgic.  Cute Bastian and the creepy old book store owner.  And where in the H was Bastian’s dad this whole time?  Did he just not give a darn where his son was all day?

Looks like the girls will have to wait a few years to watch it with us. 

And most importantly..after 20 odd years I finally realized the name he calls out is MoonChild.  What the??

Bunkin up

“That’s why they call it bunkin’ cousins!”

“I think they call it, ‘Kissing Cousins.’”

“But we’re not kissing..that’s the point!”

name that show.

Guess who’s bunking up these days?  Well, as of today. 

This Ethan Allen beauty was…get this…FREE.  A very generous friend of a friend was getting rid of it and we snatched it up.  So awesome.

Girls no longer have to share a bed, but methinks they’ll probably end up on that top bunk together most nights anyway.  They’ll figure out they like their space sooner or later.  Hopefully sooner.  The giggle fest//barbie escapdes/punching/spitting crap they do every night has to end some time.  I’m going bananas.

Wish us luck.

And well look who is three weeks old?!  I heart him.