A Happy Family

Always catching up.

2012-04-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again. There is SO much going on in our family and I've yet to document anything!! Our most exciting news is the newest member to the family. A beautiful Miniature Australian Shepard named Carly.
We just adore her! She has most definitely made our lives harder, but she is oh so worth it!

Her sweet doggie snuggles make you forget all about stepping in puppy poop with your bare feet. Almost...

We've been sticking to a very strict routine with her. We're following "The dog whisper" program and it seems to be working great! Some days are better than others of course, but I'm seriously considering converting the program from puppies to children. Carly is a better listener than most children in this household.

Chloe told me to sit the other day when I didn't give her what she wanted. Such a good Mommy that girl. :)

Noah is almost done with Kindergarten! Where has the time gone! Sometimes I look at his face and see my little baby Noah James and nothing has changed. Other times I see a toothless maniac (He's down 4 teeth!) who likes to push every button I have! He really is a sweet lil' guy. He is still very curious about everything, asks waaaay too many questions and just likes to be heard people!

I've always heard that boys are physically exhausting and girls are emotionally exhausting.Well this kid is the complete package. He is destructive and messy, yet demands eye contact when drilling you about Star Wars or Kung Fu Panda or the latest, "Where do dogs come from?"

The other day I was driving him to school and he asked, "Mom? If a girl dog needs a boy dog to have babies, and we don't have a boy dog, why do we need to take Carly to get spayed?" So I explained that it was the responsible thing to do. "A boy dog could come running up to her in the park or she could get out and a boy dog could find her." As I was saying these words I started to panic! I kept thinking "Shut up Cristina! You know what is coming because you said that!" And I was right. I looked back in the rear view mirror and instantly made eye contact with his big blue eyes and those questioning eyebrows. So I did what every good Mom does when they don't want to talk to their children in the car. I turned the music up.
"MOM!" he screamed. "MOM! Turn the music down!! How does the boy dog give his sperm to the girl dog?" (He knew all about sperm from a previous and still just as horrifying conversation.) At this point we were almost to Noah's school and I figured I better answer his question before he got out of the car and posed the same question to his friends. So I just plain and simply said, "With his hoodie Noah." Now if you don't know our family, hoodie is what we call the male part.
"Oh." he said. "With his hoodie?" I nodded and said, "Yes, with his hoodie. Have a great day at school! Love you!" And that was that.

To be continued I'm sure.

Well well well... If it isn't Robin, or spiderman or batman or whatever he is at the moment. Yesterday he must have changed his outfit 20 times! Ah, our lil' Spencenator. We love this child. He is still absolutely the funniest person I know. His timing is always perfect. Last week Nick and I were having a discussion at the dinner table about having manners. Chewing with our mouths closed, not using our fingers, you know, the usual. So, Noah asked if it was polite to eat your sandwich with your hands or if you should eat it with a fork. He demonstrated by picking up his fork and eating a pretend sandwich and saying, "Is this polite Mom?" Before I could even respond to Noah, Spencer sticks up his middle finger and says, "Is this polite Mom?"
I'm just happy we were home for that one.
Spencer is a kind, loving SMART human being and we love him to pieces! He is going to preschool and learning to read!

Then there is this one...
She is doted on by her three boys. Anything and everything she screams, she gets. She is one lucky little lady. She's been talking up a storm lately. She doesn't have the vocabulary her brother Spencer had at this age, but she definitely has been blessed with the gift of gab. She LOVES the movie Tangled. I swear every other word out of her mouth is "PRINCESS!" She is constantly asking Nick and I to sing her the "Princess song" or watch "Princess show" it's getting a little old...

Ahhhh... A voice only a mother could love. LOOOOVE HER!

We are diseased ridden

2012-02-13T15:31:00.001-08:00

And here I am. Months after my last post. Crap.

I've missed Thanksgiving AND Christmas posts. I know I'm going to regret it later on in life, but right now I'm just too tired to go that far back!

I swear my poor little Chloe has been sick since November! Constant runny nose, fevers here and there. I keep seeing posts on facebook that say "the flu has hit!" and I'm bracing myself. The throw-ups are on their way. I can feeeel it. My boys were never as sick as Chloe has been. I volunteer in Noah and Spencer's classrooms twice a week. Which means love bug has to go in the preschool co-op or be watched by a friend or my Mom while I help out my boys. Not to mention I'm trying to keep my goal of working out at least three times a week. (Which is harder then one would think with 3 kids!) So little Chloe has been a frequent visitor to our clubs Kid's Corner.

The consequence to this is having a sickly child. The other day she woke up with a rash around her mouth, on her bottom and hands and feet. I had an inkling to what it might be. Took her to the Doctor and sure enough, it's hand foot and mouth disease.

Now why on earth would they call it something that sounds so horrible? Are they trying to freak a mother out? Of course when she told me that I got a little teary eyed. Then she asked me if Chloe was a daycare baby and I full on cried. I'm a stay at home mom, and my baby is getting neglected! Geesh if I am having her being watched so much by other people I might as well get paid for it!!!

Well peeps, if you haven't noticed I've been having a full blown mommy guilt trip. I was trying so hard to be there for all my kids. Wanting to be able to go on every field trip with Noah, help out in Spencer's class and still be with Chloe every second of the day like I was with my boys. I obviously needed to learn how to let go a little.

SOOO I've taken on a little less during the day. Cut back on playdates and just made time to play with ALL of my babies. As my children get older I realize how fast time is passing. I used to think that babies were so hard. Now I realize every stage of childhood is hard on a mother. Babies cry, poop and make mushy messes and throw your back out from carrying them everywhere. BIG babies cry, make lego messes everywhere and come with massive amounts of kindergarten homework.

SO, I'm rolling with the punches. Chloe is having a different lifestyle than my boys had at her age because she has other siblings that need me. And that will make her grow in different ways than my boys. She will be strong and independent. My kids will grow up just fine because they will have my love, my life and my everything.

I LOVE being a Mom!

Chloe's 1st Birthday!

2011-11-25T14:44:00.001-08:00

I can't believe my baby girl is one. Time really has flown by.

My pregnancy with her was stressful, (Nick was studying for the bar) and after her birth was extremely stressful. I got mastitis and strep throat twice, and she was losing weight from me being so sick. It was a really rough year for us. Nick was studying for the bar, (again) and we were just having a tough time taking care of everyone.

I have such mixed emotions about her first year coming to a close. We've grown so much as a family, and as individuals. We've grown closer together, and I'm thankful for the life lessons we've learned this past year. But geez, I'm glad it's over.

I know we'll have challenges ahead, but I think I speak for my whole family when I say, we've learned what is most important. And we've learned to do without. We can't do much without the support of each other.

I'm glad I'm a stronger wiser girl. I need all the strength I can to raise my daughter right!

So back to little miss sunshine...

I love this girl!!!!

I remember my excitement when I found out I was having a girl. She has been a sweet spot in our lives, and her Daddy just adores her. Whenever she isn't getting her way with me, she'll start crying for Dadda. Chances are, he'll come save her. :)

These were my favorite jammies on her. She was so smooshy in them!

This beautiful girl is obsessed with letters. And I mean OBSESSED! She'll find letters everywhere and point to them and say "O!" or "A!" She can recognize O, A and E. But she'll also call every other letter an O, A or E too. But she's catching on quickly! She'll follow you around with a book and whine until you read her one.

She can say,

Mamma

Dadda

Noah

Bo bo (brother)

Dog

Nana (banana)

Uh Oh

No (she can say that really well)

Papa

Ba ba (bottle)

She is right on track with her big brothers! I literally can't remember when the boys started talking, I swear our kids just come with the gift of gab. Must get that from their Dad. :)

I can't wait to watch this little one grow. I'm cherishing every last moment I have with her. This Mom knows all too well how fast these years will go by.

We love you Sweety pie!

"Just keep swimming!"

2011-11-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Two down, and one to go!

This summer I really concentrated on getting Spencie water safe. No one is ever completely water safe, but the more comfortable you can get them in the water, the easier it will be for them to get themselves out of a scary situation and save their own life!

Noah is working on breaststroke and butterfly, and Spencer is starting to learn the basics of freestyle. The video of Spencer is from earlier this summer. The goal before stroke technique is getting him to roll over on his back, take a breath, and if needed, call for help.

He's got it down, and is ready to move on!! Yay! I can breath easier at the pool!

A tribute to the birthday boy!

2011-11-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Back in September, our little Noah turned 6!

I can't believe how fast time has flown by. He really is turning into one of the best people I know. He's honest, ( I can always count on him to tell me what's really going on.) he's a great friend, he's SUPER cute and extremely talented. Not trying to toot my horn here, (that's what a mommy blog is for!) but I really really think this kid is amazing!

Noah is very passionate! He does his very best at everything! His teacher emailed me last week just to tell me what a smart wonderful kid I had on my hands, and I was like, "DUH!" :)

Now, just so you're not super annoyed and jealous of my "perfect" child, i'll bring this back down to reality. While i'm blogging, I got out some stamps and paper for the kids. Spencer just went to the bathroom and I ran in to wipe him up. I walk in the bathroom and see Spencer on the potty with all of his clothes off and stamps covering every inch of his body. Including his buns, which were covered in hearts. Courtesy of big brother Noah.

We had a little swim party for him at the club. I think I'll have a swim party every year! It was so easy!!

All Noah wanted for his birthday was a speedo so he could swim as fast as his papa Bozo. (my dad)

Noah has been obsessed with animals lately, so Auntie Rachael made him this awesome animal print cake!

Excuses!

2011-11-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

That's right! I'm a loser... I've gone almost a full year without writing down a huge amount of hilarious things my boys have said. Beautiful first moment of my daughter and about a bazillion wonderful memories with my sweet family! Not to mention some awesome home improvement tasks i've taken on.
When i'm old and decrepit i'll look back on my blog and reminisce about all the fun things we used to do. I can't afford to miss out on one single memory! So, for the sheer entertainment of my elderly self one day, i've vowed to get back on the blogging saddle!

For those of you who'd like to read along, here is a sneak peak.

Dark blue frosting = Blue poop the next day.

We're baaack!!!

2011-11-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, So we've been on a bit of a blogging vacation. But, WE ARE BACK! Chloe's first year really took it's toll on us. Stress and children seem to come hand in hand. Am I right?!

We've changed our look so it will be easier to navigate through all our posts. I'm really gonna have to retrace my steps and relay some memories up in this!

To view the full post, click on the title! See ya soon!

Heaven help me

2011-09-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

Oh Spencer.

I send him outside to play, (fully clothed) and he comes inside like this.

I look over, and he has a bloody nose.

I turn around, and we're back in the emergency room.

I find chocolate all over the couch, look over, and see this face.

I ask, "What in the heck happend in here?" and I get this look.

With all the trouble and mishaps that surround this little man, I still can't think of anyone sweeter.

I sure love this little maniac.

School time!

2011-09-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

The time finally came! School has started and my boys are BOTH in it!! And as Spencer would say, "I'm in it, to win it!"

Oh man, I can't believe how fast time flies. I swear it was just yesterday we were sending Noah out on his first day of preschool! Now he is all grown up and in Kindergarten, so we kicked Spencie out of the nest and into preschool too! Well, he actually flew as fast as he could without even glancing behind him! :) He was so ready for preschool. He needed to have his own friends and his own thing outside of his family and his brother.

When Noah would come home from school last year and we'd ask him how his day went. Spencer would cut him off and start telling us some pretty crazy things he did with his imaginary friend Hushroom. So... we are very glad he has some new friends.

I do miss these two while they are gone. I read this blog post from a couple years back the other day. I must say, I don't really have those same feelings anymore. Definitely still very sad, but so happy they are progressing and becoming healthy human beings!

Spencer told me I could leave the second we walked into preschool. With Noah I was sad because he didn't NEED his Mommy anymore. With Spencie, I'm sad because he doesn't WANT his Mommy anymore! I'm so happy for him! Look at that smile, so ready for this new adventure!

Spencer and Miss Lily

Noah was star of the week this past weekend. He was able to bring something into class to share, so of course, he wanted to bring his Daddy and his drums.

The next day, Noah came home with 7 pictures from little girls in his class.

He is a ladies man!

Chloe D

2011-09-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

Look at those chubby wittle cheeks!

Oh my oh my... This little girl is such a sassafras! She's the boss. No questions asked. Her brothers are at her every whim, and that Daddy of hers - well he just looks at her and melts. Seriously, who can blame him?!

So now, on to the brag fest.

This little miss at 10 months old, has decided to walk, talk and become a bossy little Mommy. She LOVES, and I mean LOVES her babies. She calls them "Deedee!" with such a high pitched, cute little voice! She'll hug them, and pat them on the back and soothe them saying "AAAWWWW" it's super cute.

Her Mimi taught her how to point to her dolls' eyes and say, "EYE!"
Every time she does it, it makes me want to squeeze those wittle cheeks and eat them for breakfast!!

If you're sick of all the baby babble from me, then you might want to stop reading. It'll just get worse. I CAN'T HELP MYSELF!

I love this picture. This is usually how she is for the majority of the day. Scooting around in a diaper, dragging a baby around, with her brothers chasing after her.

What more can a girl ask for? A tea party with her brothers. Makes a Mommy smile. :)

Wittle smooshy wooshy bum!

Look what we did!! My mom and my sister took Chloe and Maci (my sisters baby girl) to get their ears pierced! Her Daddy was not so happy about it... Oops!

Chloe and Maci

A long time coming!

2011-08-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

I have some MAJOR catching up to do! The month of August just near killed this Momma! I'll blog about it soon, I promise!

Summer activities!

2011-07-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

The kiddos have been doing all sorts of new activities this summer. Noah and Spence are trying out some gymnastics classes and Noah is taking Karate.

Poor Spencer is too little to start, but the teacher let him warm up with them and he was so into it. It was hysterical! I wish I got a shot of his face, he was rearing and ready to beat someone up! He actually listened really well too. Unlike in his gym class. Of course he was the only child to sneek off and start jumping on the trampoline with another class. His teacher had to tell him if he didn't listen he'd get a time out. It was nice to have someone else dealing with it for a change. :)
Once he gets old enough it will be a good way to channel some of that manly energy he seems to have.

All three of the kids are swimming. Noah started the US team and will be swimming year round, and Spencer is still taking lessons with Coach Lyn and starting Otter Pups in a couple weeks!
Chloe Started lessons also. She LOVES the water! Coach Lyn? Not so much. She is definitely a Momma's girl.

And here's Noah jumping off the diving board. If this child gets a broken arm or leg, that board right there will most likely be the culprit.
Noah has been obsessed with it. He watches all the big kids doing flips and dives from it. So of course he wants to do the same. He practices over and over trying to do a flip. Running from the end, giving me a heart attack! I take my eyes off him for a second and he's hanging from the sides screaming, "MOM! Look! I look like a proboscis monkey!" And that leads to another obsession. pbskids.org. My kids LOVE the wild kratt brothers. Which is where they've learned all about proboscis monkey's and falcons and all kinds of other awesome animals.

The boys write in a journal everyday, and this is what Noah has been writing about. He seriously has about 50 pages full of info on animals.

Looks like spelling is not this kids forte. :)

A little catching up

2011-07-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hidy Ho All!! Oh my goodness! Where to begin! Well, we have been so very busy around this house. Three kids is certainly keeping Nick and I on our toes.

Our 4th of July was awesome. We had our annual breakfast and parade at the park in the morning, then just hung out with family and had fireworks. The boys were so cute. Spencer and his destructive personality was just loving the loud bangs and all the "fires!" it was a perfect day.

That tiny little pumpkin up there in blue had scrapes and burns on her poor knees. She can't help but crawl around and explore, even though her poor legs protested! Pain for curiosity! That's her motto!

Those sexy young lads there heading the front of the parade are staying with my parents while they train with our swim team at the club. My boys have been ALL over new bodies walking around, jumping on them, making them play, it's been great.

Muahahaa... I have fire!

Noah graduated from his Montessori school and is so excited and ready to start new adventures at a brand new school. His schedule has been pretty full since he left school. Play dates and phone calls and letters and notes in the mail from his friends. He sure is a popular kid. His teacher told me at his last PT conference that she's never seen anything like it. The kids just loved being with Noah! Now if only he could be so agreeable at home...

The kids have been having such a great summer. I just love these lazy summer days, making lemonade, laying out by the pool... Oh geez who am I trying to kid. Laying by the pool, Yes. Making lemonade? Not so much. I actually made some this morning and it was pretty good! Most of the time it tastes like crap and no one drinks it. My need to cut sugar in recipes makes pretty much all things bake-able or in this case drink-able pretty much disgusting. But one of my girlfriends has a loaded lemon tree and I decided to follow the recipe and make some. It was the bomb.

The boys sleeping in their tent = ADORABLE! That is until we woke up in the morning and they BOTH peed in the middle of the night. See all those stuffed animals in there?? Soaked my friends. It was pretty sick.

Oh Chloe!! She is so smushy and cute. She is crawling EVERYWHERE and cruising from the furniture now. She is growing so fast! I've been taking her into the Dr. every month so they can do a weight check. She is super tiny. She was in the 3rd percentile but I'm proud to announce she has moved all the way up the the 25th for her weight! YAY Chloe!! She LOVES the Bubble Guppies and claps and dances every time she hears music or anything close to a beat. She's got the groove!

And here it is. The cat. Ugh... I don't really like cats. But I guess when you have kids you do things for them that you normally wouldn't. Noah is such an animal lover. He wanted one so bad. So we caved and there it is. I'm not sure what his name is exactly. Yesterday it was Nico. Today it's Teddy, and the other day it was Jinxy. Nick just calls him cat. I used to call him sweetie till he scratched the crap out of me. But he's here now and the boys love him. He's pretty good with them, and he lets Chloe pull on his ears and tail.

So that's enough for now. Time for some Lemonade! :)

Sleepy Spencie

2011-04-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

updates

2011-04-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Baby in a box!!

I cannot get enough of this muncher! Chloe has been very busy lately. She rolls and rolls and get into trouble, pulls things down, eats coupons that fall on the floor, and she does it all with the cutest little smirk on her face.

Chloe is such a quiet baby. She loves to smile at you, but it's VERY hard to get her to laugh. She'll just stare at you with a grin. She is such a sweetheart!

Little missy has been busy eating a colorful rainbow of fruits and veggies! We get a box of local organic fruits and vegetables delivered to our door and it's always full of surprises! I've been making Chloe's baby food and she loves everything I give her. Yesterday our box came with lots of beets, so I pureed them, stuck em' in the freezer and pop a veggie cube into her oatmeal every morning.

I've also been making homemade baby cereal and it's so much easier then I thought it would be! This morning she had oats, barley and quinoa mixed with pureed mango and spinach!

This is her pureed beets mixed with mango. She has been pooping pink. Just like a princess should! :)

Getting some brother loving

Now onto Noah. This kid has been OBSESSED with The Magic Tree House books. They've been reading them as a class at his school and he LOVES them.

I love that he loves to read! It literally takes him 20 mins to finish one page, but he does it! The other night Nick wouldn't let him take his book to bed because he'll stay up for hours reading. Noah cried and cried to his Daddy saying "you don't understand!! I NEED to read my book!" he's a little dramatic sometimes. But I guess we'll keep him.

Reading with their Mimi!

Does anyone know how to get a child to stop biting their fingernails?? Spencer is constantly biting them. He'll even try to bit mine! He has like no fingernails left!

I love these babies.

Um...I don't know what to say.

2011-03-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

So I decided to make pancakes this morning and ran into the other room to get something. I was literally gone maybe 2 minutes (which is all this kids usually needs) he climbed onto the counter and opened the cupboard and got this bad boy out.

I just stood there and watched him try to attached it to himself for awhile, then I realized I NEEDED to get my camera before he saw me and snap a picture.

He finally saw me and said "UH, I'm just trying to get some milk for later." if you haven't realized yet, that's my breast pump attachment.

Look who's decided to grow up!

2011-03-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

Look at those little cheekers!! I could just eat them up for breakfast!

It seems that my little lady is insistent on growing up. I tell her to stop everyday, but she isn't listening. She's sitting up pretty well now, rolling all over the house, eating baby food like a big girl and she LOVES to grab onto her brothers hair and pull as hard as she can!

Geesh I love this child.

Happy 3rd Birthday lil' guy!

2011-03-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

Man oh man where have the years gone? I swear it was just yesterday this monkey looked like this

How time flies...

What can I say about our Spencanator? He definitely is a maniac, among other things. He is our comic relief and keeps us on our toes at all times. He gets into everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!

I made him a birthday cake and set it on the table unattended for maybe 5 minutes and realized as we were getting ready to light the candles that he's licked off half the frosting off one side.

He is all boy. And has a deep love for weapons. He asked for a gun with fire in it for Christmas, and when that didn't pan out he thought he'd ask for one for his birthday. I've had so many chats with this dude about guns- that they're not toys and fire doesn't come out of them. But he always comes back with, "But MOM! Darth Vader HAS to have a gun!" to which his brother will start an argument "Spencer! Darth Vader doesn't have a gun!" and it will go on and on and on. The conversations about Star Wars and Batman are REALLY starting to get to me!!! :)

Is it just me, or does Noah look like Jack Nicholson sometimes? Jack Nicholson in the shinning. Haha! He does!

Noah, Spencer, Connor and Mac. Our bud Oliver was there too, but he was running around.

We went to John's Incredible Pizza on his birthday and just hung out with our cousins and friends. The boys had so much fun and Spencer called it "Pizza Planet" and of course little miss Chloe went along for the ride and was just as sweet as ever. She really is such a blessing to have with all this crazy boy stuff we've got going on around here.

I've been trying to post this for a couple weeks now but always get interrupted. Spencer is running around pretending to do karate right now. (Thanks for letting them watch Karate kid- DAD!) Geesh Someone is gonna break an arm one of these days! That's all for now!

I LOVE MY LIFE!

A moment in my arms, forever in my heart.

2011-02-18T20:56:00.000-08:00

I'm crying... What is wrong with me!? When it comes to my babies I am a blithering idiot. I pride myself on being a girl who rarely cries. But if my kids are in pain, hurting or just plain growing up, I can't stop the water works.

My kid's went to the Doctor today and I cried for them when they got shots. I cried thinking about how fast they are growing up tonight as I tucked them into bed and tickled their backs.

This stage of life is going by way too quickly! Before I know it I'll have raised them, and the boys will be big hairy men and Chloe will be a beautiful woman.

I feel painfully aware of how fast these babies grow. I gave away most of the boys baby clothes the other day and I swear Spencer was just wearing most of them! Why can't they stay little forever!?

I read this poem in an email today, and of course, I cried. I love my munchkins. I think I'll go kiss them one more time!

Childhood Doesn't Wait

I was sitting on a bench
while in a nearby mall,
When I noticed a young mother
with two children who were small.

The youngest one was whining,
"Pick me up," I heard him beg
but the mother's face grew angry
as the child clung to her leg.

"Don't hang on to me," she shouted
as she pushed his hands away,
I wish I'd had the courage
to go up to her and say...

"The time will come too quickly
when those little arms that tug,
Won't ask for you to hold them
or won't freely give a hug.

"The day will sneak up subtly
just as it did with me,
When you can't recall the last time
that your child sat on your knee.

"Like those sacred, pre-dawn feedings
when we cherished time alone
Our babies grow and leave behind
those special times we've known.

"So when your child comes to you
with a book that you can share,
Or asks that you would tuck him in
and help him say his prayer...

"When he comes to sit and chat
or would like to take a walk,
Before you answer that you can't
`cause there's no time to talk"
Remember what all parents learn
so many times too late,
That years go by too quickly
and that childhood doesn't wait.

"Take every opportunity,
if one should slip away
Reach hard to get it back again,
don't wait another day."
I watched that mother walk away
her children followed near,
I hope she'll pick them up
before her chances disappear

Author Unknown

This would make my life easier!

2011-02-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

I want this!!! My friend has it and I've tried it multiple times for her little guy and it's AMAZING! I totally had this idea when I was pregnant with Noah. And to think how rich I could have been! An all in one baby food machine! It's beyond brilliant!

Fictionist

2011-02-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

Go HERE and vote for our Uncle Aaron's band Fictionist to be on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine! They're pretty awesome and Noah pretty much worships his uncle Aaron... and Stuart. Noah and Spence pretend they're Aaron and Stuart, it's pretty darn adorable. Vote for them NOW!!!

She's spoiled

2011-02-09T12:33:00.000-08:00

I love to be tricky!

2011-02-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

We've been eating a lot of spaghetti squash over here! I'm planning on planting some this spring in our garden, so let the trickery continue! These pictures are pretty self explanatory. I just cut one in half, scoop out the seeds and pop it into the microwave for about 9 minutes. Fork the insides when cooked and you'll get wonderfully wriggly noodle like squash! I use ground turkey in my sauce and Lots of extra seasonings like basil, thyme and oregano. I also LOVE the trader joes brand of pasta sauce, and it's only $1.89! Their spaghetti squash is by far the cheapest I've found so far also.

Seriously my kids eat this up like crazy!! little do they know they're sucking down fork fulls of squash! Bwahaha!

The haps in this house

2011-01-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

I have been severely neglecting my blog as of late. Being a Mommy to 3 kids is a little challenging for this worn out woman over here.

But alas my dear friends, I AM BACK!

Little miss muffet is sleeping a solid 7 straight hours at night, and I can feel the fat slowly jiggling away from my mid section.

My in laws got Nick and I a Wii with a Fit board for Christmas this year. AH! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It's helped me get my smushy booty in gear! Seriously one of the best gifts ever!

With Operation "Get my body back" in full swing, Chloe being a perfect angel, Noah still wearing his torn up Batman costume, trying to keep Spencer alive and answering a ba-zillion questions about Batman, Cat woman, Star Wars and the latest, Where did Chloe come from?" I've got my plate filled!

Has anyone had to explain to their children where they came from yet? I really was not ready for that question. Nor was I ready to look my 5 year old in the eyes while I TRIED to explain.

I was rocking lil' Clo and Noah came up and asked if he could hold her. So I sat him on the couch and helped him support her head and just sat there and watched the cuteness of sibling love.

Noah then asks, "How the heck did she fit in your tummy Mom? Why did she go in there? Didn't that hurt?" so I just gave him a short and sweet answer of "well she wanted to come to our family, and yes, it hurt." I looked at his face and saw instant confusion. Now anyone who knows our Noah, knows that he has the most expressive eyebrows on the planet. They were giving me the "What are you not telling me" look, and I knew I was in trouble. "Moooom." he says, "Did she pop in there through your belly button?" This conversation with an inquisitive child like Noah could go a little farther then I was ready to go. So I simply said, "Daddy put a little seed in my tummy and she grew bigger and bigger." As soon as I said "little seed" I thought "Crap! please let my phone ring! Somebody knock on the door! Spencer Take one of his toys and flaunt it in his face!" yet, he kept staring at my face, with his cute big blue eyes and those big bushy eyebrows. "Mom?" he says "A seed? A baby seed? How did he put it in there?"

I read an article in Parents magazine about how to answer your young children's questions about the birds and the bees, literally, like, the day before, and I was all ready to talk to my kids with age appropriate answers when that day came. I guess I just didn't think that day would be so soon. All I did was laugh. I looked at my 5 year old and nervous laughed for about a minute, then stared back at him for awhile. Then I finally said, "Want some lunch?"

Maybe next time I'll be more prepared. Anyway, I have a LOAD of Christmas pictures to upload and share. It was so fun having our first "pink" Christmas!

Beautiful babies

2010-12-31T10:33:00.000-08:00

My wonderful friend Natasha took these gorgeous pictures of my kids the other day. Isn't she amazing!? I'm gonna look back on these when I'm old and cry and cry and cry. I just LOVE my sweet little family.