SNOW DAYS & SICK DAYS GALORE!

Well hello there friends! It's been awhile, I know. I'm becoming a huge slacker when it comes to getting my pictures and blogs together...but hopefully I'll still be able to keep you all updated with our crazy days. If you haven't noticed by my Instagram posts, we've been dealing with a lovely tummy virus from our littlest...but luckily he's feeling much better and back to his fiesty, hot-headed self. ;) But before we dive into that fun, what the heck else has been going on around here? Well let me enlighten you...

We went on a fun group date for Valentine's Day with our neighbors to the Maker's Mark Bourbon Lounge. It was great food, good company and let's just say the men probably had a little too much fun. Each couple was given a bottle of wine with their meal, and since I obviously did not partake in the drinking part, Dustin was kind enough to finish off the entire bottle for us. Wasn't that so thoughtful?! Needless to say, the second we got home, he passed out, shoes on and all. I couldn't help but laugh...he never drinks anymore and I don't think he realized how much the wine would affect him. I had fun picking on him the entire next day...I mean, that's what good wives are for! 

Gavin might be picky as all get out, but he sure can devour some whole wheat crackers!

I love that this boy is the sweetest, most snuggly almost 4-year-old ever. 

Gavin has learned how to get ahold of Toby...and loves every second of it.

I had a "Favorite Things" party 2 Fridays ago. SO.MUCH.FUN. The idea of this party is to have everyone bring 5 of their favorite thing. We then draw names and give away those 5 things. Then you get to take home 5 favorite things from other people! I ended up with wine, chocolate, fuzzy socks, lip gloss & nail stuff. Plus, who doesn't love getting together with your favorite girlfriends, eating & laughing together?! We decided we need to have one of these once a month.

Then the next day...it was snow galore! We ended up with about 7 inches of snow through the week, then a layer of ice and 2 more inches on top of that. Sledding? Yes, please! The neighbors all came over since we have the only hill in the neighborhood. Fun, friends & hot chocolate...once again, such a great time! 

I showed off my 12 week baby bump last Saturday before we took the boys to hibachi.

Speaking of hibachi...Gavin loved it! He was so entertained by the chef and devoured so much fried rice he probably gained 5 pounds. So add rice to the small list of things this baby will eat. ;)

And of course, who doesn't love a bare baby butt?!

We decided to let Christian stay up late and watch his new movie, Big Hero 6, and this was the result. Maybe 10 minutes? This he gets straight from his father, for sure!

And then came the fun part of our week...the stomach bug! Luckily no one else caught it, but it was a lot of dirty laundry, Pedialyte and cartoons for about 4 days. 

Oh, and cat naps on mommy. LOTS of those.

Here was our 2nd attempt to let Christian stay up and watch his movie. Passed our starfish style. This kid is a mess!

Towards the end of the stomach bug, I took Gavin to the doctor to make sure he checked out okay and he didn't have anything else going on (he had been pulling at his ears a lot). He checked out great and of course was hamming it up with the nurses. "What stomach bug, mom?"

While stuck at home, I did a little online shopping for the oldest who has literally grown out of every 3T thing he owns overnight. I ordered tons of shorts, jeans, pajamas & shoes...but these 3 sets of PJ's were my absolute favorite. Why am I such a sucker for cute pajamas?!

Yesterday, Christian told me the baby sounded like a boy...I guess we'll see in less than 2 weeks!

And what weekend is complete without a family trip to Target?! We went there to try and find a new booster seat for Christian. He's only 5 pounds away from the max limit on his current one, and plus I need it for Mr. Gavin since he has outgrown his infant carrier. These boys and their growing...next thing I know, we'll be shopping for college supplies! 

And that's been a very brief update as to what's been happening around here! Hope everyone has a happy Monday & thanks for reading!

Happy February!

Happy Monday & Happy February, friends! I'd like to start off with a big thank you again for all of the kind words on our big news of baby #3. I think Gavin got word that he won't be the baby for too much longer, because he's been exceptionally more clingy this past week...or it could just be that pesky 5th tooth trying to break through. ;)

Although clingy, he's also been extra cute and curious. His new favorite game is to get out all of the plastic dishes and then crawl away laughing.

He also recently discovered how to climb into his baby swing and let me tell you, he uses it now way more than he ever did as a baby. I'll push him and then he will kick his feet as hard as he can to let me know he's ready for me to push him again. He was so zoned out, I thought he was going to fall asleep, but low and behold, as soon as it stopped swinging, he wanted more. This went on for a good 30 minutes...so apparently I have my own personal babysitter in the form of a swing!

Like I said, curious and cute...and so ginger!

We had our first dentist appointment for the firstborn this week. It started out a little rough because he thought she was going to give him a strep test. Strep tests for Christian are the equivalent to gouging his eyeballs out, so there was a slight meltdown until I could explain to him that she doesn't intend to shove the cleaning tools down his throat. He eventually let her give him a quick cleaning and then said, "Okay, where's my toy and sticker?" He doesn't miss a beat.

If you follow my Instagram, you saw that I had my first official pregnancy craving...hot sauce! I had it on pizza first, and that wasn't enough so Dustin made me some popcorn to put it on. To be honest though, I could have just drank the stuff.

And proud mom moment here: Christian's class got a new student and I spent Thursday night explaining to Christian how important it was to make the new boy feel like he has a friend. When I picked him up on Friday, his teacher told me he shared all of his toys and was super friendly to him. He even got a star and a certificate from his teacher for his behavior. And I may or may not have cried in the car over it...pregnancy hormones or not, I am one proud mom!

Saturday marked 9 weeks preggo for me. I'm definitely at the height of morning sickness....nausea, exhaustion and food aversions are my every day right now, but I'm trucking right through as best as I can! Christian begged to visit his Mimi Saturday night, which meant an impromptu date night for us. I made it through delicious Italian dinner (craving pasta again) and a trip to the mall before I got super tired and we cancelled our trip to movies. I felt like such a lame-o because I'm always dying to get out of the house, but all I wanted to do was go home and crawl in bed...darn you, 1st trimester!

We did find some fun goodies at the mall and I got my most recent Etsy order in the mail.

I found that adorable sweater on clearance at Janie & Jack, Preggy Pops from Motherhood Maternity & a new photo album from Home Goods. A little clearance priced retail therapy is always good for the soul...and the wallet!

One of my girlfriends has started making baby & toddler scarves, bandana bibs (shown above) & headwraps...they are so stinkin' adorable, so definitely check out her website! 

Even if you don't have kiddos, these make for excellent birthday gifts or baby shower gifts.

Kind of modeling his new bear sweater...between teething fits and super serious faces. 

In other news, Pottery Barn Kids has some of the cutest stuff ever made, and I would recommend NOT going in there unless you're ready to spend all the money you've ever made ever. To be honest, I'm not sure how we made it out of there with only these adorable Valentine's for Christian's class.

And speaking of Valentine's, it's officially February, which means it's time to decorate for the next Holiday! 

Although it's not a big holiday by any means, I'm still a sucker for cute decor of any sort.

And that's been our past week! Thanks for reading and I hope everyone enjoys the week. 

I for one am coming down with a severe case of cabin fever, so spring is more than welcome to show up any day now!

Until next time!

Peace out, kiddos!

 Happy Friday all! 

I figured I needed to do a weekly recap before our busy weekend ahead. It was kind of a snoozefest of a week *cue picture of snoozing toddler* because we're really trying to cut back on our constant errand running, eating out and overall expenses. We've been meal planning & making dinner at home more often, which is great and all, but by the end of the week, this stay at home mom is dying for some moments away from the house and kids. This weekend we not only have a dinner & movie date planned, but it's also my night with the girl's, which we planned months ago. I cannot WAIT to have adult conversation TWO nights in a row! 

We also spent the week doing a little Disney planning. We want to take the boys this spring for their joint birthday present (March & May birthdays), so we're looking at April. I can't wait to get our plans finalized and enjoy a vacation! I won't say relaxing, because I know better than that...but it's a vacation none-the-less, and I am thrilled!

Over the last weekend, I was under doc's orders to take it easy. I had a skin biopsy done on my leg, that thankfully turned out to be a very common, benign tumor. The boys were my super adorable distractors that didn't understand why I couldn't get up and chase them around. Thank goodness for a husband that kicks it into super parent mode when needed. He did meals, baths & bedtimes pretty much all weekend, so I'd say he deserves a night out as well!

My mom also sent this to me while I was at the doctor...the ultimate escape artist. He will get to those stairs, one way or another!

We found two new foods that Gavin will eat...whole grain waffles & apples. I make him try fruits every single week, and he still acts like you're pouring acid into his mouth, so I did the happiest dance ever when he didn't throw a fit over the apple!

The boys have been loving having their play kitchen in the real kitchen, although Gavin doesn't quite understand why he can't actually eat the food. He gets the most confused ever over the fake banana & ends up throwing it out of anger. Christian makes us all kinds of meals throughout the day, and then tells Gavin to wash the dishes. That's my bossy first-born. ;)

In other news, I also almost died of laughter on Wednesday. I painted my toes during Gavin's morning nap, so when he woke up, they were still wet. He spotted the hot pink immediately and made a beeline to grab at them. I had to keep running away from him so he wouldn't grab and bite my toes, and he literally chased me around the house. At one point, I thought he was in his room playing as I was putting dishes away. All of the sudden, I see hands slowly coming underneath my legs and trying to grab my toes. I seriously fell on the floor laughing. I'm not sure if he thought they were new toys or yummy fruit snacks, but he spent a majority of the afternoon determined to get his hands on my hot pink piggies.

We had another fun day with our little cousin, and her and Gavin were cracking each other up. They spent a good hour having a squealing contest...Alaina won. ;)

And today has been a day of counting down until tonight! The boys haven't been bad by any means, just crazy! Gavin just keeps crawling around the house knocking over and pulling over anything he can, and then crawls away laughing. Not even kidding. He'll even look at me sometimes, crack himself up and crawl away as fast as he can. I caught up to him after he knocked Christian's nightlight out of the wall and he wouldn't stop laughing. He knew what a stinker he was being!

We had Panera for lunch and Gavin was determined to bite the baguette. When he couldn't bite through it, he just stuck in his mouth like a chew toy and continued his crawling/destroying agenda.

And last but not least, my nails are date night ready! T-minus 2 hours until I get to shower, shave, fix my hair, put on fresh make-up and actually feel like a woman again! Can you tell I'm excited?! We're planning on eating Hibachi and seeing American Sniper...which I'm nervous about because I have a love/hate relationship with really emotional movies. 

Until next time...hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Birthdays and what else? Babies!

Happy Black Friday! It's been such a busy week with babysitting, Dustin's birthday, my mom's birthday, Thanksgiving #1, #2 and #3, a little shopping this morning...and it's not slowing down, as this weekend is my brother's birthday, my mother-in-law's birthday and Christmas decorating. So in an attempt to keep some order in my life, let me take a little breather and post this past week's "what we did" blog.

We chased around a very mobile (and clumsy) baby...

We babysat, with a still very unsure Gavin. I think he would like her if I didn't have to feed and hold her. ;)

We watched cartoons together.

We did the dishes...AKA pulled dirty pots out over & over and then give me the death stare when I put them back in.

We went shopping for Christmas toy ideas...Gavin spotted a few he liked and gave them the "get in my cart now" stare.

We found out from preschool that Christian is apparently thankful for chicken. 

We looked extra cute in our cardigan.

We took a 'mom and dad only' roadtrip to Bloomington to cheer on our Hoosiers. Win!

We celebrated Dustin's 29th birthday at our favorite restaurant, Eddie Merlot's...followed by seeing Mockinjay Pt. 1. LOVED it!

We snuggled on the couch after Thanksgiving #1.

We celebrated Dustin's birthday (again) at Sportstime with yummy Framboise and then a trip to Horseshoe Casino.

Christian stole his cousin's headband and thought it was hilarious to put it on himself & Gavin. 

Gavin didn't find the humor.

Christian helped me feed the baby, because of course Gavin got hungry at the same time Miss Alaina was ready for her bottle.

Gavin started warming up to Alaina, and they all had fun playing on the floor together.

Dustin opened his birthday presents. Gavin was appalled they weren't for him.

Gavin forgave Daddy for stealing his presents.

And we took a bath! (Okay, we obviously took more than one bath all week...but you only get one picture.)

And that was our week before the Thanksgiving madness began. Once I get all of our family's pictures organized, I'll take a break from Christmas decorating (an entire weekend event, duh) to post our Turkey Day blog. Until then, thanks for reading!

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving & stays safe on Black Friday!