Who has time for baby books?

Olivia has always been interested in babies. I think she will be a natural little momma if she's blessed to have children of her own one day. Her interest in "mommyville" became constant when I was pregnant with Nolan. I remember the first couple of times I nursed him Olivia would be looking at me with blank stares, wondering what the heck I was doing. Nearly 10 months later she's still just as interested, and always copying things I'm doing.

A couple days ago after I got out of the shower I noticed it was very quiet. If you are a mom, quiet isn't usually a good sign, unless your children are asleep. There she was sitting in my closet tinkering around with the breast pump, with her baby doll hanging out on her lap. She said, "mom, I want to feed my baby like you feed Nolan." Once again, I had to go in to the explanation of how, & when mommy's get their milk. Then she said, "okay, well I'll just pump out water then." I cracked up! Then I found myself explaining why she wouldn't get any water out of her body either. So she headed to the sink and filled her little bottles up with tap water.

While my days at home with my children can be as exhausting, and demanding as ever, moments like this make up for it. My kids give me a good laugh or two daily. I wish I could say I've written down all the silly moments like this, but I fail to do so all the time. I have written down some of my favorite memories, but seem to run out of time, get too distracted, or simply forget to write down the rest. Who knew life would be so busy with two kids? I was pretty consistent with Olivia's baby book/milestones, but have to make a conscious effort not to forget to stay on top of Nolan's. Does anyone else fall short here? No wonder my mom didn't have our baby books filled out perfectly, who would 5 kids later? I can barely keep track of what my two kids are doing. I am a picture fanatic, that counts right? Pictures tell stories too :)

Chaps, Farmer's Market, & Ya Ya's Birthday!

It's my moms birthday today and we spontaneously decided to take her to breakfast. We went to a little place called Chaps, it was AWESOME! It reminded me so much of the restaurant my brother had in Brooklyn. Great food, adorable environment(very vintage,) and to top it off, there was a farmer's market going on. There were all kinds of random things being sold by several different vendors. I know I'm a complete dork, but I bought a vintage apron, not the one I'm wearing in the picture, and I think it's so cute! Olivia suckered us in to buying her an old rocking horse, which she's named Ali. The men were not as thrilled as my mom, Liv, and I. I think Shane tried to make his way back to the car 10 different times. I love walking around little markets, and could have spent hours there. Next time I'll leave Shane at home where he'd be more content with a good game on t.v., and a beer in hand :) It was a perfect morning, and I don't use the word perfect very much.

Mom, we hope you have a beautiful day! Take time to do as you please, enjoy all the things that make you happy, relax(I know this will be hard for you to do, you can't sit still,) and focus on all the blessings that surround you. You are such a beautiful woman, I can only hope that I will age as gracefully as you have. May the Lord bless you abundantly in all your years ahead, and may you see all the good things he's doing in your life. We love you! By the way, I stumbled across these old photos of my mom, she's probably only 22ish. Mom, you are smokin' hot in these and I had to post them, hope you don't mind. I think they're great!

Here's To Adventure In Cleveland!

I had to do something that I have been dreading all week-say goodbye(temporarily, I HOPE,) to my brother Joe. On a side note, nice going mom! I have to laugh about this one-my parents had already said goodbye to Joe this morning, and then my mom called him to say "we're on our way to Kelli's too, you forgot your sweatshirt!" Now, those of you who know my mom are aware that she will stall as much as possible in hopes that maybe she can keep you around for one more day. She's notorious for accidentally misplacing plane tickets, wallets, keys, etc...she's a stinker! The whole point in me writing about that is because I know she must have purposely misplaced Joe's sweatshirt just so that she would get to see him one more time before he left. I can't deny I'd probably do the same thing if one of my babies was moving away :( Not a bad idea!

Joe is one of my best friends, and I spend time with him every week, so this will be an adjustment for me. Olivia is also very close to her uncle "Jo Jo" and will miss him dearly. Who's going to stop by and eat all my cookies and brownies? I really am so excited for him to do something new and different with his life. And for all the career opportunities that lye ahead for him. Not to mention he has one of the most adorable girlfriends on planet earth Tabitha "Tab" (in picture above w/ Joe) who also lives in Cleveland. We hope you have a fun, safe, & blessed 4 day road trip to Ohio. We love you and will miss you very much-xoxo

PLAYDOUGH

Here's an easy activity that might keep your kids occupied and happy during these rainy, cold, indoor days.
You'll need:

*1 cup Flour
*1 cup Water
*1/2 cup Salt
*2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar
*1 tablespoon Oil

Mix ingredients in a saucepan and cook until you reach a smooth texture. Turn out onto a cutting board or piece of wax paper, and knead in food coloring of your choice. You can add Kool-Aid packages for color and scent, or even add glitter for sparkly play dough. *Remember to store your playdough in a Ziploc bag or airtight container. This will help it to last a long time.

Hope this helps with the cabin fever we're all experiencing, once again. I've been surviving by lounging by the fire, and eating a ridiculous amount of sweets. Summer, please come back to us!

Good Times!

Here's what we've been up to the last couple of weeks-Memorial Weekend we had an overdue due family visit, & bbq with Auntie Shawna, Uncle Bry, and cousins Evan & Nathan. It also had its fare share of nose wipin' (all our kids had colds,) and baby chasin' (as usual.) Especially since we were out at the lake, the water was super high and moving very fast. We couldn't let the kids near the dock, and they weren't too happy about that. Spent Memorial Day cruising around downtown, doing a little people watching, and walked over the bridges and watched the raging river flow on by.

Last week we had a nice little play date with 2 of Olivia's darling little friends, Ava & Emme, and I got to catch up with one of my best friends, Jenny. Ha, who am I kidding? It's almost impossible to catch up when the little rascals are running wild. I feel like our attempted adult conversation was all over the place because of constant distractions :) After a play date my girlfriends and I will often call each other and say something like, "I forgot to ask you...., or I meant to tell you...." Got to love it though!

The weekend ended with my cousin Colleen's 30th Birthday Bash. Was great spending time with family. We managed to squeeze in lots of conversation(we were all without our munchkins,) and there was an impressive supply of wine, and yummy treats :) Was a lot of fun, & relaxing. Thanks for hosting Auntie Carol, xoxo!

A Pocket Full Of Sunshine

What a beautiful weekend! I loved every minute of it, burnt shoulder's and all. If only I inherited just a tinge more of my mom's Hispanic skin. Guess I got more of the Irish side from my Dad. Shane and I finally tackled a major project/clean up, our garage. We've been putting it off for months. It's so nice to have it all tidy and organized again. I filled up 3 large garbage bags for "good willy," (goodwill) as Liv calls it, and tossed the rest of junk into the trash. Olivia was on a treasure hunt while going through the mess with us. Nolan on the other hand decided he would use this time to take a nice snooze while in the backpack on Daddy's back. We also got to spend time with some of our favorite people, The Ruff's. Olivia and her best friend Ella were on a mission as usual. Both girls have a great sense of imagination. Olivia said "let's go the the beach!" So they made a beach out of a rubbermaid bin. Before we knew it, they had striped down and were running around the yard nakey. To be that free again! We topped the evening off by stuffing ourselves with a delicious, all American meal. Wish I could eat like that every night, it was so good! Our yard is starting to become very colorful. It's a cheerful place when everything is in bloom. I also love the fact that I no longer have to go to the store to buy flowers. Thank you Lord for giving us such simple creations that make us happy!

I'm 8 Months Old!

NJP has learned some new things this week. This little guy is so determined! He's been trying to climb up our stairs, stands up in his crib, and pulls himself up using anything that will give him leverage. I wish I had everything padded for him, I still feel bad when he gets a little bonk. Hey Laura, didn't you say there's a helmet that kids could wear to prevent bumps and bruises :)? Olivia and I were sitting with him today playing paddy cake, and he was trying to clap his little hands together and say "yay." Nobody else would know what the heck he was trying to say, but as his mom, I got it. This is a fun age. I really do think each stage is precious, but have to admit I already miss him as a newborn. There's nothing like having them sleep and snuggle with you all day long. At the same time, love it when they become interactive, and to watch them explore. He's a lot of fun, we're enjoying him! Just wish time would stand still for a bit, this is going by a little too fast for me.