Happy To Be Three

About 7 months ago, give or take a few days, Arden turned three... And about 7 months ago, give or take a few days, Jameslyn was born.  Both were very special moments, and both of them involved me being tired, huge and pregnant/not pregnant.  Arden definitely got the short end of the stick on his birthday.  We just got a grocery store cake, had over our parents, sang and called it a day.  It was totally a legit birthday, but it also could have been better.  For the next 7 months, I talked frequently about the party that I was going to have for Arden.  Themes, food, people, etc.  Well that talk never materialized into an actual party...

Guilty mother that I am, I decided that I just needed to have the damn party and that no matter who showed up or what decorations I actually managed to make/buy that the party had to happen.  It was a nice party and he was happy to be three, because, well because he doesn't have a say in the matter.  We got a bouncy house, I made a cake (I think that's sorta my thing now...) and we ordered food.

The day started off with a knock on our front door at 6:45 am; the bouncy house was in da' house!!!  (Or really the back yard)  Despite being 3 hours early, we were all like: awesome and there was bouncing and sliding before 7:00 am.  The party ended when the birthday boy laid down on the couch and fell asleep; party over.  I know it wasn't over the top, or jaw dropping, but it was legit fun, something that cannot be overlooked and certainly the number one priority to a three year old.

Wanted: A Baby Sister

Not too long after we told the boys that they were going to have a sibling, the gender talk started.  My husband was firmly in the boy camp- thought it was a boy and wanted a boy.  I, on the other hand, thought that it was a girl and said I wanted either a boy or a girl... but I won't lie now, I really wanted a girl.  As most things went in our household at the time, I figured I would be outnumbered in the wish-upon-a-baby-boy-star, but surprisingly that wasn't the case; the boys really wanted a baby sister.  Obviously, there's nothing that we could have done at that point to grant their wish, but they were the first two people I thought of when we learned it was a girl; her big brothers were going to be happy.

So far, they love having a sister and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that she's great.  On the rare occasion that she cries for longer than 30 seconds, one of them comforts her by saying, "I'm here Sissy, don't cry."  I realize that this kindness and concern may only last for another few years, and eventually they may become the cause of her tears, but for now I'm sincerely in love with their love for her.  They are much more gentle with her than with anything else in the whole world.  When they talk to her, they both use a soothing, higher pitched voice.  They, above all else, show me that they love her and that's all that I've ever really wanted, love for my children.

This week, I've been nearly ready to put her in her crib.  (I know, I know; that beautiful nursery that I'm so proud of hasn't gotten any real use...) We've been hanging out more in her room and she's spending little periods of time in her crib to grow accustomed to it, but when all is not well and Sissy is done with the crib, her brothers come rushing in and soothe her and tell her not to cry.  And she stops and watches them and then everything is right in the world again.

A Little Break

Well, I've returned from an unintended mid-spring break.  The time away was for a good reason, I was caught pretty off guard during a family tragedy that I will write about later and needed to take the time to spend with my family in order to be well again.

During the time away, nothing too much happened.  The days went on and the kids grew up; I missed the blog... Is that weird to say?  Probably, but this blog is that feeling I have at 2:00 am when something mom-genuis pops into my head.  It's a guilty little thought when I see the kids doing something awesome that I want to scream and shout about! like Baby girl rolling over at 7 weeks.  Most of all, it's a place where I've been as real as possible about a lot of things: motherhood, my marriage, my family, etc. and this newest chapter is something that I feel compelled to share.

Please be patient with me, I've got a lot of photos to share and little stories to tell.  A kinda big announcement is coming your way by the end of the week, so stay tuned.  Until then, here are some pictures from Mother's Day, please enjoy their simplistic beauty, which translates to a not taking a shower and snapping photos on the iPhone.

Family Pictures

Over the weekend, we I decided to get family pictures taken.  We went to a chain picture snapping store and we scheduled the first appointment of the day.  After twenty minutes of different poses and promising candy and then taking it away, we finally managed to get a few adorable pictures of everyone, myself included!  We bought the "rights" to the pictures so we got a cd with the originals on them and I know from the picture numbers that we took about 70 frames in order to come up with about 15-20 good shots; there's a lesson in all of this, be patient... and if you ever work in a chain picture store, don't ever show up to work hung over, that would be a nightmare.

Here's some of the winners:

And here's one picture that me laugh, allow me to explain.  Before we went, I told the boys that they could do a silly picture. However, they didn't get that you only do one silly picture so here were their faces every time the photographer told us to say cheese; for about three seconds they'd be completely fine and smiling and then she'd step away to take the picture and they be like this:

I love this picture so much, because it's an accurate representation of who they really are.  The photographer wanted me to get birth announcements for Jameslyn using this picture and I declined... but if I did, here's what they would say:

J is for Jameslyn

For those of you who have noticed that I've been gone for a few weeks now, I am happy to announce that it was for a very, very good reason; I had a baby.  A baby girl to be exact.  Jameslyn (more on the name to come) joined us about a week ago and has been such a wonderful addition to our family.  I can't wait to share more details of the last nine months and her first days.

Until then, here's our baby girl.

A Messy Little Project On A Snowy Afternoon

For those of you who don't live on the East Coast, let me tell you how the weather's been: crappy.  Cold, rainy, snowy and icy are just a few of the weather elements that have crossed our paths recently.  One of the things that's the opposite of crappy is that I've been able to have quite a few "home days" with the boys.  No work for me, no day care for them.

I am determined to make these days fun, whether they like it or not.  And let me tell you, most times it's a not.  They are pretty skeptical about what I want them to do with me and the majority of the time some outright refuses to do anything, opting to just play with Ninja Turtles or something...

But sometimes, after they realize that they're missing out, they will come around and start to inspect.  Once the activity looks good, which is really code for not completely educational, they pull up a seat and join us (or sometimes just myself, because I will still do the craft or activity without them; there's no point in all of sitting around playing with Ninja Turtles, right?).

One of the more successful projects that we've done together was the dough for Dad that we made the other day.  As me and Arden would say, it was a messy-mess, but well worth it.  I got out the flower and let them pour as much water as they wanted- we made "pizza" with gross, imaginary toppings and then saved it for Jim to eat  inspect when he came home.

Needless to say, he didn't eat it, but he did appreciate the thought...

This Year We're Going To Do Happy

Whether you've seen Despicable Me 2 one hundred times or not at all, this song is where it's at.  When the main character in the movie falls in love, he's all happy and he makes the world happier to be in; that's what my family and I are going to do this year, make the world happier to be in.  This song is going to be our anthem, our jam, our move-out-of-our-way-if-you-ain't-bein-a-part-of-our-happy-because-we-don't-got-time-for-it... But don't get it twisted, it's not like we weren't happy in 2013, it's just that this song didn't come along until we bought Despicable Me in November, so we didn't have a matching anthem all year.

My wish for you and your family and friends is a happy 2014 and lots of Pharrell Williams on repeat.  And when you think you've heard it too much, listen to it again and be happy.

I Did It

The other weekend, in the midst of an quickly cancelled trip across state lines because of the weather, I decided to do a little look-a-back at the ol' blog-arino.  And guess what?  It's my freakin' anniversary!  I've been doing this thing for three years; hard to believe.

I started this blog because, well because everyone else was doin' it and I was all like, I'm just as good as they are!  But over the years, it's sort of become an easyish way for me to keep a scrap book for my kids without actually doing the work of keeping a scrap book.  I'm a sucker for any stories about my childhood and I think it will be pretty amazing for my children to have this opportunity to look back at what was going on in real-time... okay, well maybe not real, real-time, but close enough to real time.

It also allows me to do this for the sake of my blog; like taking pictures, going overboard at parties and read tons of other blogs and get inspiration- all without feeling guilty.

This next year is sure to be even better and I'm excited to continue my blogging journey.

We Totally Made This Christmas Garland

It's not everyday that I can think of a pretty inexpensive craft that my kids can help with; usually inexpensive stuff equals not toddler friendly.  But this, this is different.  As I was flipping through the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens (don't knock it, that magazine is cheap and has some good ideas in it), I spotted this garland; it may not be the prettiest, but it sure looked easy.  I tried to find a link to the actual garland that was pictured, but gave up after searching various things, so if you click on the link, it's just gonna take to the plain old main page, feel free to 'search it up'!

Here's all that you will need to make a pretty spectacular, easy, keepsake Christmas garland.

Paper Straws (I got mine in the dollar bin at Target a while ago)
String of any kind
Scissors
Wooden beads

Approximate cost (if everything is bought new)- $10.
Difficulty Level- Easy

Start by laying everything out and then telling your kids not to touch anything so that you can snap a picture for your blog, that will go over well:

Next cut each straw into small pieces, I cut each of my straws into thirds.

Then I approximated how much string I would need to fill, knotted one end and let the kids go to town; alternating between a bead and a green and red straw. Of course, I had to assist to the point that they could actually help, which really means pulling the string though the bead or straw.  That lasted for a few minutes, evenutally they both decided that they'd had enough and quit half way through, but it was fun while it lasted.

Once you reach the end of the string, and may or may not still have kids helping, tie off the other end and snap another picture, 'cause look at y'all, you just made something pretty awesome.

Hang it up.