the trochelmans

yet again.

2012-01-31T21:46:00.002-05:00

yet again, i have grown tired of my blog design.

so i'm working on something new.

what i have now is not something that will stay, but it will have to do for now!

bear with me.

a little bit of everything

2012-01-30T20:37:00.001-05:00

**get ready for some REALLY bad cell phone pictures!**

i've spent the past week preparing for baby. i'll be full term in a few days and i would really like everything to be done before i hit that 37 week mark...you know...just in case he decides to make an early appearance :) at 35 weeks i was 1 cm dialated and 50% effaced...and that was just after having a few days of lower back pressure and minor cramping. i've had a LOT more since and i have been so busy on my feet, too. its been gorgeous outside so almost everyday harp and i take long walks (harp-bike ride) around the cul-de-sac/surrounding cul-de-sacs.

anyways, lets get to the cruddy cell pics. i spent the beginning of last week organizing all of my babyshower gifts! the closet is pretty packed and if you could look closely, we received around 10 boxes of diapers and 22 wipes/wipe refills!

diapers for the changing table

extra baby supplies

i've also done some minor rearranging to prepare...we have the swing set up and ready to go in our living room and a cabinet in the kitchen cleared out for bottles, etc.

last saturday we got quite a bit accomplished! we spent the morning just being with the boys-our time as a four-person family is quickly fleeting and we want to get as much time in with them as possible. we went to our little town park where kane taught carson some tricks on his skateboard while harp and i rode the town on his bicycle!

we also went to target to get new bedding for the boys room (oh yeah, have i mentioned i've also taken on the task of redecorating the boys' room?! they are getting new furniture/beds this coming weekend!). we also got them new thinner booster seats that will allow us to fit the infant carseat comfortably between them.

along with working on the boys' room, i'll also be finishing up the nursery. i have everything up and organized, but now i'll be working more on the "decorating" aspect of it all :)

one last thing: i'm taking harper to the doctor tomorrow-he's had a bad cough for quite a while now that he just cannot seem to shake. it's actually gotten worse. i'm thinking they are going to say he has asthma (i had allergy-related asthma when i was in elementary school), but hopefully we will get down the bottom of it! if you remember, please keep him in your prayers!

weekend update

2012-01-23T08:00:00.012-05:00

this past friday i volunteered to go with carson's preschool class to the skating rink. now, i knew that at 35 weeks pregnant i wouldn't be able to chase both boys around the rink so i left harper with grandma for the day and off i went. my original plan was to go, plant myself on the bench, and take a bunch of pictures of carson and his classmates rollar skating (it was carson's first time!)...but that didn't quite work out ;)

for some reason i was thinking they would have beginner-walker-like things to help them stay up (like at the ice skating rink!). fyi: they do not. and with only around 10 adults (including parents) and about 25 kids, i HAD to help carson. the kids with smaller feet got to wear the plastic skates that hardly roll, but my baby has big feet so he had to wear the "real" skates. once he got out on the rink, he literally could not stand up. so i had to hold him up (and pick him up!) for around 45 minutes or so until i BEGGED the attendant to give him some plastic skates. she pitied me and we managed to shove carson's feet in the fake plastic skates.

afterwards, we left and i took him to the store to spend some birthday money, hit up taco bell and then met my mom and harper at my house. the boys and i crashed for about an hour and when i got up, i was having some minor back contractions as well as some uncomfortable braxton hicks. thankfully, kane saved the day by bringing home some NY style pizza and a movie :)

on saturday, we headed to walmart and few other places to run some errands. when we got back home, we ate lunch, put the boys down, and then got a phone call....kane's sister (aleah) was in the general area and had had a blowout. so we got the boys up and headed out to go help her. i spent the car ride on the lookout for her car and didn't think anything was odd until we pulled into our church. it was raining so my first thought was that she (and her 1 year old) had managed to make it to the church before the tire was completely gone. as we got closer, a lady we know came up to the window and told us that aleah and annlyn were inside staying warm. so we got out and when i opened the church doors...

i walked into my SURPRISE baby shower!

my family, friends, and church family stood before me. i was in such shock! most people see baby showers for consecutive pregnancies as taboo so i really never expected one.

two REALLY special ladies from our church put together an amazing shower that we will forever be eternally grateful for.

we received SO many wonderful gifts and i cannot wait to organize it all this week! :)

this is just some of the gifts we received:

we had a pretty standard sunday. church, lunch afterwards, home, nap, sunday night dinner at my parents house. and just because he's cute, i'll throw this picture of my harper in that i took with my cell at lunch yesterday:

so sweet.

hope everyone has a great week! tuesday starts my weekly ob appointments until our newest little guy is here! i cannot believe how fast this has gone by!

Batman Birthday Party

2012-01-16T08:00:00.021-05:00

**so first and foremost, my oldest baby is 5! like every mom out there, i simply cannot believe how quickly this all goes by! i could write some sappy note about how my baby isn't technically a baby anymore, but i'm afraid my hormones will get the best of me!**

the big 5 year old on the morning of his birthday!

when carson said he wanted a batman party, i wasn't thirlled...but its his day, and if he wants a batman party, then a batman party he will get!

**i will warn now that i didn't get a lot of pictures and the ones i did snap are not great quality...i was busy hosting 12 kids (not including my two!) and their parents...oh and our families as well. it was SO very worth it, though!

one more side note: i made all of the labels for the food. i simply googled-imaged the batman logo and added the food name to it (i used photoshop, but you can literally use any photo-editing website like picnik). sent the files to my husband who printed everything out for me at his work (amen for unlimited access to office supplies!) and i laminated the labels at home.

first up, the food layout:

the party punch:

(2 liter Hawaiian punch, 2 liter ginger ale, 1/2 gallon Orange Juice, served cold)

Bottled Water:

i made the labels on photoshop. copied them onto a word document. printed them out. cut them out in strips. and then used packaging tape to secure them onto the bottled water. honestly, i just kinda winged it because i didn't have a lot of time to work on them. they worked though!

Cookies:

a quick shot of the far left side of the table:

oh, and of course the cake:

my mom and i made the cake. we squirted yellow dye into a container of white frosting. frosted the cake. i printed and cut out the batman logo and then placed it on the cake. my brother outlined the logo with black icing. after we removed the paper logo, my mom painstakingly filled the entire logo in.

I didn't get pictures of the rest of the food, but the snacks included:

Penguin Popcorn
Catwoman Cupcakes
Gotham City Party Dip (a cream cheese dip and a spinach dip...compliments of my mom ;)
Robin's Raw Veggies (a vegetable platter)
Poison Ivy's Pretzels
Riddle Me This Party Tray (pepperoni/cheese/cracker tray)
Two-Face Oreo Cookies
Batman Birthday Cake

and the beverages were:

Joker Juice (aka party punch)
Bottled Water

i also made batman masks for the kids to wear. i printed and cut out this template and traced it onto felt. (each sheet of felt can fit two masks). i cut them out and tied elastic to them. total cost for 16 masks: $3.50.

harper was my tester:
(bad cell phone picture to follow)

as far as activities go, it was pretty standard party stuff. we had a play-doh table and a batman coloring table. we played the batman version of pin the tail of the donkey (aka pin the batman logo on batman's chest;) and musical chairs.

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can i just say that planning, creating, and implementing this party at 34+ weeks pregnant with #3 was REALLY hard on this mama.

but it was SO worth it.

birthday preparations

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

carson's birthday falls exactly 3 weeks after Christmas Eve.

so that raises 3 problems:

1. what kind of present does a kid need just 3 weeks post-Christmas?

2. Because it was just Christmas, our funds are drained.

3. After the holidays (which for us always extends until the New Year) I have about 2 weeks to plan AND budget for the birthday party.

see what i'm working with here?

in the past it hasn't been a huge deal...we just invite close family and that was that. but this year....this year is different. carson is turning the big 5 and he really wants his friends (both from church and school) to come.

so i've been planning and preparing diligently.

first and foremost: location. we are going to host the party at our church. because it is smack in the middle of January and because the weather is SO unpredictable (it was 15-20 degrees a few nights ago. it will be 70 by Saturday) it will be in the fellowship hall so that we'll have plenty of space to work with....and if it is warmer, then we can let them go out to the playground!

next up: decorations. i ran to party city the other day and picked up batman cups/plates/napkins, etc. it was over $30 and i didn't even get half of what i needed. after re-thinking and checking around, i decided to return the items and go with plain black and blue partyware. oh...and did i mention the dollar store sells 20 (plain black/blue) packs of plates for $1?? yeah, i think i made a wise choice :)

(source)

another rip-off i was trying to figure out was the batman party masks...party city sells these cheap, cardboard batman masks $3.99 for a pack of 4. so for masks alone, we were looking at around $15...and there was no way i was going to pay that for masks. i found this tutorial for DIY batman masks and i am SO excited about these. i'm heading to A.C. Moore tomorrow for the supplies (black felt and a roll of elastic) but i did make a test one tonight just to see if i could do it :)

here is my test one: (very sloppy and without the elastic headband)

next up: food. we are having the party from 2-4ish so we'll keep the snacks pretty simple. i did make food labels as well as water bottle labels. it was my first time creating the labels and because of time constraints, they are VERY simple. here is a peek at one of the food labels and water-bottle labels:
for the vegetable platter:

and for the bottled water (the original label will be removed and the ones i made will be placed around them.)

and last thing: Cake. i checked around and a Batman-themed sheet cake starts around $25. Oh, and we wanted to do cupcakes for both his class party at school AND for the party. once again, i took to pinterest (my BFF) and my mom and i decided we could totally pull off a batman cake. it may not be perfect, but it will definitely do. and for the cupcakes? my mom found batman baking cups.

so thats all for now! i'm still working on it all but for the most part, i have a pretty good start on most of my projects!

stay tuned for the "after" pictures!

Looking ahead

2012-01-02T17:44:00.002-05:00

**you can click on the blue links to take you to the original blog post**

2011 was such an important, monumental year for us...

in a nutshell:

-we started the year off with carson turning 4,

-followed immediately by moving into a new home after living at our previous home for 4 years.

{it was such a welcomed and blessed move.}

-shortly thereafter, our harper turned three...which also means potty-trained!-for the first time in 4 years, we were no longer changing diapers!

-but as we all know, that was short-lived ;) because in June, we found out we were expecting baby #3!

-we celebrated four years of marriage (which is no small feat!).

-we also had a huge scare with harper. there was a period of frantic concern that he may have cancer after finding a large mass in his leg.

-soon after harp had surgery (and we found out that it was NOT cancer!),

-carson started school. (read: field trips and class parties, galore.)

-we found out we would be welcoming our third baby boy into our family.

-and after a couple of years of hard work, i finally obtained my associates in both general education and pre-social work.

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2011 went by in a flash.

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and as the new year starts, we know our lives will be changing once again. this year will start off with our oldest baby turning 5 (in less than 2 weeks!), the arrival of our newest baby sometime in February, our middle baby turning a whopping 4, celebrating 5 years of marriage, and another son starting school.

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so from our family to yours...

Christmas pictures & pregnancy

2011-12-27T20:36:00.002-05:00

we hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

we've been busy with this crazy group of kids! the three oldest girls are kane's brother's daughters and the youngest "baby" girl is kane's sister's daughter. they are all between the ages of 1-6 and it makes for a LOT of chaos...and of course loads of fun!

(l-r, Azzy, Pea, Briana, Carson, Annlyn, Harper).

yes, kane's brother had all of the girls and we are having all of the boys ;)

with carson being just a few weeks shy of 5, he was SO into Christmas this year. everything about it; baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the lights, the ornaments, Frosty...you name it, he was in complete and utter awe. don't get me wrong, harper was too, but at 5 carson was able to appreciate Christmas and all of the things that go with it on a completely different level.

here are a few pictures:

preparing for santa: tossing carrots out in the yard for the reindeer and setting out cookies & milk for santa.

we told the boys straight up that they would receive 3-4 gifts (per kid) from us/santa. we've always given 3-4, and probably always will. i want them to be grateful, not spoiled. but that's a completely different post :) also, stocking stuffers are ALWAYS practical gifts. new toothbrushes, shirts, underwear, bath sponges...you get the point.

this is by far my favorite picture from Christmas. the boys had just gotten up christmas morning and kane had just finished reading a short note santa had left for them...the lighting is bad, the picture is a little blurry, and kane had very obviously just been woken from a deep sleep...but none of that matters.

i haven't done a belly shot in a few weeks, so i had kane snap one the other day. i had an appointment today and everything is going great! i'm up 29 pounds and will probably gain at least another 10...i ALWAYS gain loads of weight while pregnant and my goal was 40, so hopefully i'll stay in that bracket :) FYI, i gained 55 pounds with carson (yikes! i know. BUT i was underweight to start with, so...) and i gained 35 with harper. my start weight with this one was higher, so i'm pretty much feeling like a house, but i keep reminding myself that i can always lose the weight.

and for comparison:

hope everyone has a great week!

from my family to yours...

2011-12-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!

christmas time at preschool

2011-12-19T11:32:00.000-05:00

i just want to preface this by saying that of all the fun things carson's class has been doing lately, i keep forgetting to bring my camera. i'll blame it on my pregnancy brain. thank goodness for cell phone cameras.

friday was carson's class party. they made crafts, ate junk, and sang songs for the parents. of course harper gladly joined in.

carson is such a good brother letting harp tag along.

singing songs: these three are carson's best friends: Cheyenne, Amani, and Chase (his other BFF, Tanner, is not in the picture).

they even broke a pinata outside. harp got a few good swings in:

this morning carson's class went to a local nursing home and sang for the residents there. i was excited about this especially because my grandmother use to be a resident there and i knew how much joy it brought to them when kids came in. its been about 10 years since my grandmother was there (and then passed), but would you believe that i saw a man there that was a resident when my grandma was?? crazy. he's still going strong!

getting off the bus:

group shot:

carson-clearly not happy about having to take a picture :)

kane's brother (who we haven't seen since before he left to Iraq 6/7 months ago!) arrived last night with his three little girls, so we'll be spending the week visiting!

hope everyone's week is merry!

Christmas things, school and sad news.

2011-12-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

its been quite the whirlwind of the past week.

last week marked my last week of classes! i'm officially d.o.n.e....well for now. i'll go back for a few more years once our little one is older. i'm kinda playing that part by ear and leaving the timing up to God. if i go back next year or 5 years from now, i'm not sure. but what i do know is that i will welcome this time of "rest" (ha! do moms ever really get rest??) from school and am SO excited about it!

i take (took) full time internet classes and never have to go to campus, but last week i had to go twice to take two final exams...most professors don't make distance-learning students come for the final, but it just so happened that i had two professors who required it. normally, it would not be a big deal, as my mom (who is a housewife) could watch harp for me for a few hours so i could run to campus...however, she received a call midweek that my grandmother (her mom) was very sick in the hospital, didn't look good, and didn't have much time to live. so i booked her the first flight out to Texas the next morning, and off she went.

wednesday night i had my first final...no biggie, kane just got off a few minutes early and took the kids to church. friday morning, i had my second final....it was really tight, but we managed to pull it off. i dropped carson off at school and harp and i rushed to kane's work. harp hung out in kane's office for a couple of hours so i could get my last final completed.

sunday morning while at church, i received word that grandmother had passed. my mom is understandably upset, but she is thankful to have spent a few days with her before her passing. she is also surrounded by her sisters and my brother and sister (who all live in TX). I booked a flight for my dad yesterday (AND managed to get him on the same flight home as my mom!) and today he is traveling to be with my mom in TX and attend the funeral. my grandmother's health has been declining for quite some time and at the age of 91, it wasn't a huge shock, but even so there is always a sadness accompanied with it.

here are few pictures from the week...wednesday morning, carson's preschool class had a "gingerbread" party (they made gingerbread houses) so i went in to help out...harp LOVES to go to carson's class and hang out with him and be a "preschooler" for the day, and carson loves having me there to show off ;)

here is some of the class on the rug while i was setting up.

(ps- can you spot harper?? ;)

carson working on his gingerbread house:

sunday night was the Christmas program at church. the boys' classes opened the program by singing a few songs...of course, i forgot my camera, but did managed to snap this one (blurry pic) before leaving:

have a great week!

polar express night

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

saturday night we had a polar express night!

we made cookies, got in our PJs, and drank hot chocolate (and of course ate cookies ;) while we watched the Polar Express.

just a few pictures from the night:

until next time!

deck the halls...

2011-12-02T08:00:00.011-05:00

it's Christmas time again!

we aren't finished decorating yet, but here are a few things we've done...

the tree...i just realized how crooked my bow is! totally okay though, i'm looking for a new one anyways.

ornaments.

we have the classics:

the boys' favorite: the nativity ornaments (although there are a few with missing baby Jesus' :))

and of course some homemade ornaments, compliments of the boys.

the stockings: (can you believe we'll have an extra one up next year?!)

free Christmas printable:

and a portion of the entertainment center:

PS-those candles are my absolute favorite...forget the pricey Yankee candles, those are from Glade's Holiday line and they smell incredible! oh, and for future reference, Glade's Fall collection is pretty amazing too.

and we cannot forget the boys' Christmas bears hanging out in the corner:

thats all for now! hopefully, we'll get to crafting a few more things once my finals are over next week! we do have something far more important to do this weekend though...make our first batch of Christmas cookies of the season! and all the pregnant women said, amen!

hello again.

2011-11-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

hello 3rd trimester.

its nice to see you again.

the sore pelvis.

the waddle to my step.

and of course heartburn.

physically, this has been the toughest pregnancy for me...being my third, i kinda expected that. the waddle to my step? not because my stomach is so huge, but because my pelvis and back are so sore. BUT it has also flown by in record time. as in...i blinked and suddenly i cannot put my own shoes on without the help of my 3 & 4 year olds...and getting off the couch or floor? yeah, thats all kane. i just helplessly hold my arms up while he pulls me to my feet.

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our thanksgiving was great. incredible family, great food, and SO much to give thanks to God for. the only thing i could possibly complain about is my OB decided to play a cruel joke on me and schedule my glucose screening for first thing the monday morning after thanksgiving. pretty mean, right? ;)

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anyone else elbow the crowds on black friday (or rather, black thursday)?? my mom and brother and i did. i wasn't out to get any of the "big ticket" items, just like PJs and a couple stocking-stuffer DVDs...definitely nothing to get in a fight over. i did manage to get the things i needed and was home in bed by 2:30, so overall it was a success. i will say that the ad i was impressed with the most was the Walgreens ad! Buy 1 get 2 free laundry detergent...yeah, we are set on laundry detergent for a while!

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thats all i can muster for now...hope everyone has a great week!

my weekly thing.

2011-11-21T08:00:00.002-05:00

yes, i feel like a cow.

yes, i have in fact gained lots of weight.

yes, i do realize now that non-maternity sweaters are not flattering.

and no, i don't want to talk about it.

26+ weeks:

in other news, the nursery is coming along. no pictures yet, but we did purchase curtains, curtain rods, paint for the bookcase, and baskets for the changing table...now if i can actually get all of those things up and functioning! as said before, we aren't really doing a "baby" nursery or even a theme nursery, just a lot of neutral colors to grow on.

this last weekend marked our first "christmas" weekend of the season for us! kane and i got A LOT of shopping done for our families, although i cannot say more then that because they read my blog ;) we also got all of our christmas stuff out and in the nursery until next weekend when we'll decorate (we always decorate the day after thanksgiving).

i also finished this:

i have mixed feelings about how it turned out, but i spent way too much time on it to not hang it...so up it will go!

hope everyone has a great week!

its that time...

2011-11-14T08:00:00.006-05:00

its that time of the year...

mid-November means something big for me...just 3 weeks left of school, and i am d.o.n.e.

i've been waiting for this time for quite awhile...while most students (regardless of age) get burned out, i get energized. just knowing that i only have a few weeks left pumps me up...

so while i (was) super excited about finishing up these next couple of weeks, something pretty tragic happened...friday night my beloved computer crashed. i say crashed, but i'm not entirely sure what happened with it...theres not a virus or anything and its less than 2 years old. it just won't cut on. it doesn't light up or even act like it wants to... and everything is plugged in correctly. anyways, as it is i'm working on my netbook right now. and yall, netbooks are great for basically surfing the web, but are NOT capable of handling the programs i need for school. so hopefully when we take the computer in this week, they will be able to fix it quickly without breaking our bank.

just for comparison, this is the size difference (ignore the million little finger prints/smudges on both screens):

its also that time of year...

for Operation Christmas Child

it is such a great ministry and i love that my boys can get involved. with the hub-bub of the Christmas season upon us, (and especially now that carson is almost 5), i want them to understand that how we live is not how others live. i want them to know how incredibly blessed they are. they were so excited when i took them to the store to get the items to pack the shoe boxes.

and i was even more proud at their consistent prayers for the children that will be receiving the shoe boxes.

the other night, carson finished up his prayer like this:

"...and God i pray that the children that get the shoe boxes really like their toys....and i also pray that mama has fun on Black Friday. Amen."

Yes, it is that time of year again. ;)

nursery stuff

2011-11-07T08:00:00.006-05:00

**if you stay with me, God bless you.

so until about a week ago, we had done absolutely nothing with the nursery. which really doesn't seem like a big deal until it hit me that i was 24 weeks along, will be busy with my last semester of school/Thanksgiving, then busy with Christmas preparations, Christmas, Carson's birthday preparations, and then Carson's 5th birthday in mid-January. And then after that? Well that leaves me with about a month before #3 is here. rushing to get a nursery done at 8 months pregnant does NOT sound ideal to me, so i decided that i HAD to make it a priority to get started on it now and work on it little by little.

last saturday i had kane move out all of the unnecessary furniture to the shed. so the only furniture in there right now is the changing table and a small sofa.

we are going to keep the nursery pretty simple...beige, navy, gray...somewhere along those lines. The walls all have one coat of a beige-color paint, but need a second coat so we bought the paint this past weekend and hopefully my mom can get started on that soon! ;)

the boys' favorite past-time is reading and they have acquired quite the book collection and were in need of a bigger bookcase. this past weekend we went ahead and bought them a new one and their old one is now in the nursery awaiting a fresh coat of paint.

(the boys' new bookcase):

i know it doesn't look very big but it is quite a bit bigger than the other one.

off topic, but its funny how excited they were over it...i put their (current) favorites on the top for easy access.

here is their old one in the nursery...i'm definitely going to paint it (not sure what color yet), and go through the "baby" books that the boys don't read anymore and pass them along to the baby. actually, one of my "projects" this next week is to go through their "baby" toys, books, and clothes. as you can see, Elmo Live, two bins full of rattles/teethers, and a couple of books have already made their way over.

i also bought one of these for the closet:

quick and easy access to socks, bibs/burp cloths, receiving blankets, and onesies.

oh...and last but not least....i'm going to be organizing this terrible mess:

definitely not excited about it.

once all of these things (aforementioned) are done, i'll be working on the windows...curtain rods, curtains, and MOST importantly, blackout blinds! ;)

after that? in search for a couch slipcover for the sofa bed in the nursery that won't break our budget.

the only thing after that will be adding accessories here and there.

now after boring you to death, i'll sign off....but not without a picture of my cute little guys. Saturday morning we went to Carson's Preschool "Back to School" Bash (cowboy themed)...it was originally scheduled for September but was postponed until this past weekend due to rain.

have a great week!

just some halloween pictures.

2011-11-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

carson had his pumpkin party at school on monday so harp and i went to "assist."

i loved seeing carson interact in his class and harp had SO much fun too. they painted pumpkins, made witches brew, witches hands, spider doughnuts (my favorite ;) sang, and of course ate pumpkin pie. i brought carson home early from school and the boys and i spent the rest of the day "carving" pumpkins and enjoying this time of year (which happens to be my favorite).

here are the boys' pumpkins before we slaughtered them (carsons-left, harpers-right)

witches hands. there is suppose to be candy corn on the tips of the fingers, but somehow they disappeared.

post-slaughter. yes, i know. they look terrible.

the boys wore masks all day. we take them to several fall festivals in the weeks leading up to halloween, but have yet to take them trick-or-treating. maybe one day??

goodbye October! and WELCOME November!!!

23

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

since this is my online journal for my family, i'm going to say this a hundred times just so that i won't forget all the little details from this pregnancy...this baby is so so so active. like all day. the jabs are SO strong already. even kane can't believe how much he moves around (he's been able to feel him since around week 18ish).

i don't think i have mentioned on here just why the baby's movements are so easily felt...he's breech. now i do realize that at 23 weeks, he still has plenty of time to flip...but my concern is that he won't because he obviously loves this position so much. he plays kickball on my pelvis/bladder all day (which makes for interesting car rides :) anyways, because there is less cushioning on my lower stomach than my upper, his movements are very easily felt.

here i am at 23 weeks:

saturday night was our church's fall festival. the boys had a blast, but it was SOOOO cold. heavy winter coat/gloves/toboggan cold...which is unheard of for coastal NC this time of year.

anyways, right before we left we let the boys go crazy in the bounce houses. along with the boys were about 6 other much older boys going nuts in the bounce house...and of course you know what that means...someone is bound to get hurt.

and that someone was carson....a kid went full speed at the side of the house and bounced back hitting the back of his head on carson's face. ouch.

poor carson woke up today with such a swollen eye.

he was a trooper though. unlike little brother who was ready to seek revenge. "cuz dat kid was bad and he hurted-ed my brodder."

hope everyone has a great week!

where did october go???

2011-10-25T22:55:00.000-04:00

seriously. october flew by for us...

i was taking a look at what our November looks like and it looks to be shaping up just as busy.

i had a regular check up today (22 and some weeks) and was told that after my next appointment in 4 weeks, I'll start coming every 2 weeks. How crazy is that??? this pregnancy has flown by. the baby is doing great, from about week 18 on his kicks have been coming steadily. i cannot believe how strong his kicks are so soon! kane has been able to feel him for weeks now....i told him the other day that we would be in for some trouble if this little guy is as active outside of the womb as he is in!

school work at night consumes my time, but i hope to have some more belly shots up soon!

leaving with a few pictures...

two things...

2011-10-17T22:46:00.003-04:00

...that are completely unrelated.

A. catching a nasty cold while pregnant is the absolute pits.

B. kane and i are parents to superheroes.

and now i will go lay miserably on the couch and dream of all of the extra strength cold meds that i cannot take.

what will baby 3 look like?

2011-10-12T08:00:00.004-04:00

you know those families (maybe your mom to one?) whose kids all look alike?? sure, there are a few variations here and there (mom's nose, dad's forehead), but overall, your kids are "identical"?

well, that's not us.

my dad is white, my mom is mexican-american. kane's parents are both white. but as everyone knows, my mom's genes (as far as coloring goes) (should) trump everyone elses.

that is until i had carson.

imagine my surprise when my dark brown hair/eyes, tan-skinned self gave birth to a little white boy with light brown hair and blue eyes (they eventually turned green).

then second time around, out came harper who looked a lot more what i thought our kids would like. black wavy hair (eventually lightened to brown), dark brown eyes, and tan.

so of course i am super curious...will baby 3 have light straight hair, green eyes, dimples, and be long and thin like his oldest brother carson?

or will he have curly brown hair, brown eyes, chubby cheeks and be stocky like his older brother harper?

maybe a mixture of both?

such suspense! ;)

because i've got no time...

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

i will just post a bunch of pictures :)

between ob/eye/hair/dentist appointments, shuffling carson to and from school, 4 internet classes, and fun-filled fall weekends, blogging (in the true sense) has fallen by the wayside.

on the evenings that i do have a few minutes to spare, i would rather veg out on the couch next to kane ;)

so instead of documenting our current lives with words, i will have to do so with pictures until decemberish (when i graduate).

so here goes...

happy monday!

sneak peak at baby #3

2011-10-04T22:17:00.000-04:00

**i've had a lot of people asking me why i have had so many ob appointments lately, so i wanted to (quickly) explain...

i go to my regular ob every 4 weeks like usual. in addition to those i've also had to go to maternal fetal (high risk) ob just to make sure this baby doesn't have any vascular malformations like harp does. i went a few weeks back but they were unable to get all of the pictures they needed (he was curled up in a little ball the whole time ;), so i had another appointment today to get all the shots they needed.

everything went great and baby is perfect!

in addition, they turned the 3d/4d on so i could see my little one...

here's his first "good" picture:

(note: A. i blacked out some personal info and B. i'm just shy of 20 weeks so he still looks a bit like an alien ;)

have i mentioned lately how excited i am about this little guy??

too much fun.

2011-09-28T14:32:00.001-04:00

the boys do this all the time.

carson is taller, but harp is stockier so it always makes for lots of fun.

i swear they own clothes, they just prefer not to wear them!

(^whats up with all my choppy sentences?)

oh, and rest assured, carson has had a haircut since this picture was taken and harper has a hair appointment set up for next week.

boys boys boys

2011-09-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

we are SO excited about this baby.

to know that the boys will have another brother to love on and lean on makes me feel so incredibly blessed.

around 32514 times a day, harp walks up to my belly and makes a face at the baby.

he's going to be such a good big brother.

here i am at 18 weeks, 2 days:

fall is by far my favorite time of year and so when i saw this free printable on Ashlynn's blog, i had to have one for myself to welcome in the cooler weather:

{you can get one for yourself here}

and i also saw this free printable for my kitchen:

{this one can be found here}.

hope everyone has a good week! we have another ultrasound wednesday to see our little guy, so i'm super excited!

and the gender is...

2011-09-20T12:49:00.000-04:00

we are SO SO SO blessed!!!

just a thought...

2011-09-15T13:35:00.001-04:00

i can't believe i'm 17 weeks pregnant and am STILL nauseous. it started around 8 weeks, lessened around 12, and came back with a vengeance two or three weeks ago. i know every pregnancy is different, but i didn't experience this at.all. with my previous pregnancies, so i'm kinda new to this aspect of pregnancy. at this point, harp actually knows/uses the word "dry heave."

and one more thing...february must be a popular month to have kids. i know 5 other people who are due within two weeks of me. crazy.

preg and such

2011-09-12T08:00:00.008-04:00

okay, FIRST of all, before you see this picture of me I want you to know two things:

a. i really am not as big in real life as i look in this picture. the belly is about right in the picture, but i swear i have not gained that much weight in my legs, face etc. the angle mixed in with some loose pants make me look way bigger than i actually am.

b. however, i did just scarf down a footlong from subway. and on that note, i have mustard on my shirt.

a few things:

i'm 16 weeks and some change in this picture. this pregnancy is going by WAY too fast. i'm feeling some fluttering, and fully expect to feel the jabs soon enough. we will hopefully find out the gender next week when we have a 3d/4d. call me crazy, but we have a (definite?) boys name picked out and i'm going to be super sad if we can't use it. i think it flows so well with the boys names. we probably will not be telling anyone the name of this one until he/she is born because well....everyone seems to think they have a say in the name and it worked out so much better when we kept harp's name a secret.

i've said it 100 times before, but i have no time to blog with internet classes, etc. but carson is loving school, harp is loving special time with me, and i am slowly adjusting to our new schedule.

harp and i went to chapel hill last wednesday morning for his post-op. they cleaned up the stitches, and it looks great. right now the plan is to wait one year and come back for more testing. they want to see if it is going to stay the same size or grow. from there we will make a decision as to what we will do....i was thinking about it all on the way home and it hit me...one year from now (in addition to a 5 and 4 year old) i will have a 7 month old. that is SO wild to me.

anyways, hope everyone has a great week ahead!

edited to add:

happy 1st birthday to our sweet niece, Annlyn!

first day of preschool

2011-09-05T22:35:00.000-04:00

it is official.

my oldest baby has grown up and left me.

last friday, carson skipped into his classroom, gave me, harper and kane a quick hug, and never looked back.

i kind of just stood there, not really knowing what to do. i called his name one last time, and he gave me a big grin and waved. kane nudged me, "umm...maria? i think we're suppose to leave now."

kane went on to work and harp and i stopped at mcdonalds for breakfast. their sausage burritos were calling my name. actually, i have a feeling those burritos will be calling my name often since mcd's is just a minute away from carson's school.

carson had a great first day at school and he l.o.v.e.s. his teacher (as do i....did i mention we actually know her? she visits our church regularly, and kane and i have watched her baby in the nursery several times in the past year!)

harp and i were a bit lost most of the morning, especially harper who just lost his playmate/wrestling buddy. the poor kid walked around the house for at least an hour wearing a winter coat (it's 90° outside, by the way) while humming the tune to mister rogers' neighborhood. i think once we figure out our new routine, things will run more smoothly. we have a busy week ahead, including a trip to chapel hill on wednesday for harp's post-op.

at my last OB appointment, my doctor decided to set me up an appointment to get a 3d/4d ultrasound to make sure this baby doesn't have any vascular malformations like harp. they are pretty confident "it" won't, but i am grateful that at least we will know this time around if something vascular is hiding in baby #3. anyways, that appointment is scheduled for the 20th, which means we'll find out the gender of the baby then! and by that i mean we'll find out we are having another boy! :)

here are a few pictures from carson's first day of school:

the boys getting in another hug before leaving to school

the classic pose outside the classroom

carson putting his bookbag in his cubby

kane took a picture of our sad faces

my breakfast date.

hope everyone has a great week!

here...

2011-08-31T15:06:00.003-04:00

life has been so busy and school work has taken over blogging time!

really quick update:

irene was NOT a direct hit for us (it went further up the coast to the OBX), but we did feel tropical storm effects starting friday afternoon until very late saturday night (this was a honkin' huge storm). we lost power around 7 am on saturday morning and didn't get it back on until around 7 pm that night. therefore, we spent the entire day with family nearby who both had power. fortunately, we had no damage to our house (save for a few shingles) and no trees down (just limbs!). i think its safe to say we really dodged a bullet with this one, unlike so much more of the East Coast.

switching gears, harp FINALLY let us take off/cut off the rest of his bandages from the "biopsy". praisethelord. he was NOT about to let anyone touch it, but after much prodding and convincing (read: forcefully holding down and bribery), we got the rest of the original bandages off (which should have been done within the two weeks...hmm...)

i had a routine OB appointment yesterday and the baby is doing great. no ultrasound, but we did get to hear the hearbeat! we'll find out the sex of the baby in the next 3-4 weeks...and FYI i might punch the next person who tells me they are "praying" we'll have a girl. so beware. i also had to do the whole "history" thing with the RN again (seriously...this is my third), and she gave me one of the those "welcome to pregnancy" bags filled with magazines and other junk...i mean completely relevant material. i got home and was going through what i was going to have to trash, and umm....yeah they've upped their game since i was there for my boys. a cute diaper/wipe pouch, a super nice planner, and LOTs of formula.

***********************************

my oldest baby is starting preschool on friday. enough said. if i ever have time, i'll have to blog about that. and when his preschool teacher came over for a home visit. carson, the master blabbermouth, did not disappoint.

************************************

and one more thing...

TODAY IS KANE'S BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

hurricane irene

2011-08-23T10:25:00.002-04:00

**edited to add**

{weather here in southeastern NC has been crazy this past week. in just a matter of days, we have had a waterspout {click to watch video!}, tornado, felt shocks from the earthquake in VA, and now have a major hurricane heading our way!}

so yall heard about hurricane irene?

that large, powerful storm headed to the US coast?

yeah, well the latest projected path is suppose to bring it awfully close to (as in possible direct hit) to my area of coastal north carolina...making landfall at a category 3.

although it is still too early to tell where it will hit exactly, i'm starting to get a little nervous. tropical storms, cat 1's? i'm okay with those. but a possible 3? no thanks. been there, done that (remember Fran? or even Bertha and Floyd at lower categories?)

anyways, we are keeping a close eye out on this storm and are already stocking up on water and supplies (because there will be NOTHING left in the stores if you wait until later this week!)

we are also preparing to move further inland IF this storm does indeed head our way...

because by the looks of it, we will be impacted in one way or another.

(source)

a few things

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

as usual, beware of choppy, incongruent sentences.

my final semester of school has started so things are really going to be hectic from here on out!

i am so ready for school to be over. SO ready.

carson starts pre-k september 2...only he's going to have to miss his first day because he has a dentist appointment! go figure. we were getting the oiled changed in our car on saturday and were killing time by walking around walmart...i had planned on getting his bookbag at target (i saw a few that i liked) but his eyes fell upon the ugliest bright-yellow marvel superhero bookbag i have ever seen. i quickly talked him out of that one, and he fell equally in love with a batman one. so we caved and bought it for him. and the matching folder. have mercy, he is SO proud.

umm....so is it even possible that i'm already in my 2nd trimester? this is going by SO fast already. i'm way too busy with school at night (aka blogging time) to blog about my pregnancy weekly (like so many bloggers do), but i'll do a post from time to time!

here i am at 13 weeks and some change (ps-my face has broken out SO bad. a nasty rash around my mouth and nose, and pimples galore on my forehead. pregnancy is SO glamorous).

have a great week everyone!

last week

2011-08-15T08:00:00.012-04:00

**to get caught up, click here**

last week was (by far) one of the most stressful, emotionally & physically exhausting weeks i've ever had.

wednesday we had a full day of MRI and CT scans (with sedation..so no food/drink beforehand), and unfortunately, the Ronald McDonald house was full so we had to stay at the Sheraton that night.

thursday we checked out early and headed to the hospital. we were told to get there at 8:30, but were not even called back for general anesthesia until around 1 pm. my mom and carson were able to sneak down to the cafeteria to eat breakfast, but harp and i were unable to (no food/drink on the day of sedation)...so basically we had a hungry, tired 3 year old waiting for 4 hours and a stressed-out, starving 12 week pregnant mama NOT happy about the delay...until i realized it was because the OR we were booked for was being occupied by a little girl whose back surgery was taking longer than expected (8 hours)...yeah, i'm a jerk.

anyways, as i said before, the "tumor" they were looking before was in fact a cluster of veins! we still have several appointments that we have to go back to (early September), but i'm going to enjoy the fact that we'll have a few weeks of peace before all that begins.

we had to stay thursday night for precautionary reasons (the thigh is not a great place to have surgery on! lots of muscle and veins). fortunately, my mom and carson were able to stay the night at the RM House while i stayed with harp at the hospital. he was pretty drugged up the rest of the day, but believe me, he was back to normal when he woke up friday! he was doing typical harper stuff....like hiding his mouth in the pillow when the nurse tried to give him medicine, and sitting on his hands so that she couldn't remove the IV. you know, normal stuff.

he still isn't 100% yet, but he has managed to limp his way into trouble. by the time we got home friday afternoon, harp had already drawn on the couch with magic marker and mark ALL over my desk with a sharpie (thank goodness for google and toothpaste!). he has also spent every waking moment since driving his brother crazy. my sweet, hateful little harper. its so good to see you back to "normal".

here are a few pictures from our stay:

harp in recovery after surgery. do you see baby? :) they also gave him "frog" for being such a trooper.

the first time eating all day after surgery (around 5:30 pm). he tore that pb&j sandwich up!

harp's thigh.

just to drive the nurse crazy, he insisted on sitting in this chair instead of the bed. he was also SO upset/embarrassed that he had to wear a diaper while at the hospital. he refused to "go" in it though. stubborn. if you look closely you'll see he is picking at his wires and IV.

carson deserves a post all to himself. he had an absolute BLAST during our time in chapel hill. he loves to put on a show for people, and quickly learned he could charm his way with all the nurses. so so so rotten. his favorite part was staying at the RM House with grandma on thursday night. i took this when i went to pick them up friday morning.

and my personal favorite...

hope everyone has a great week!

AWESOME news...for the most part...

2011-08-11T15:20:00.002-04:00

**i edited a few things on here because i was in a hurry when i wrote it....like when i said it was a "venous malformation" instead of "vascular malformation" (his toe was a venous malformation)...and a few other minor points! ;)

i have like 5 minutes before i can go back and see harp, but just wanted to update...

harp does NOT have cancer!!! when the doc went in to do the biopsy, they saw that it was a cluster of veins (vascular malformation) JUST like he had on his toe (that was surgically removed twice!). even though he has had a sonogram, two MRI's and a CT, the surgeons were completely taken off guard that there was NO abnormal tissue growth!

great news? it's not cancer.

bad news? well...i don't know if i have been clear on how LARGE this "cluster" is. the surgeon said there are dozens and dozens of veins intertwined. so removing it would be a major surgery that could be very dangerous due to excessive bleeding during surgery/danger of lack of blood flow post-surgery. there is a treatment they may try first in which they inject meds into the main vessel to try and "freeze" them and stop them from growing. we will be seeing a specialist soon.

anways, that's all i can type for now. we are not out of the woods yet, but are so extremely BLESSED that it is NOT cancer!

we have to stay the night again (for precautionary reasons) and may have further treatment tomorrow. i'm staying with harp at the hospital tonight, so i might have more time to update later!

the next few days

2011-08-09T21:23:00.001-04:00

the next few days we will be in chapel hill.

tomorrow harp will be having an MRI done around noon and then a CT scan following. sometime after that we'll have a pre-op appointment. we'll be (hopefully) staying at the ronald mcdonald house wednesday evening, and then at 7:30 am on thursday, they will do an incisional biopsy. somewhere in between all of the appointments/procedures we will also meet with harp's oncologist. if everything goes well, then we will be coming home thursday.

i'm sure ya'll are tired of me ~~begging~~ asking for your prayers, but if you will, please pray for these specific things:

-first and foremost, that the biopsy results yield a cancer-free diagnoses.

-anytime harp has to be sedated, it makes me nervous...just pray that he reacts well to the medication.

-safe traveling both to and from CH. my mom and carson are both coming with me (kane will stay so that he can go to work...at this point, i would rather NOT have to worry about finances along with everything else.)

-also pray that there will be a room for us at the ronald mcdonald house. the RMH works on a priority/first-come, first serve basis. if there are not any rooms available, then we will have to stay at a hotel. they do pay a large portion of the hotel bill, but even so, it adds up. just for us to go to/from chapel hill is about $100 in gas (not to mention breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks). if we are able to stay at the RMH, then we do not have to pay for a place to stay or for food, as it is all provided for us. because we have been making SO many trips to and from CH, it would be a great blessing for us to be able to stay there!

thank you all so much for your kind words and prayers!

baby #3 details

2011-08-05T08:00:00.006-04:00

on the morning of June 16, we (ahem...I) took a pregnancy test and it was a big, fat positive! we were elated. unfortunately, just a few hours later, i was with harper at his 3 year check up and his pediatrician found a lump in his leg. you catch that? the same morning we found out we were pregnant was the same morning our world was turned upside down with the discovery of a tumor. so yeah, that's kinda how these past several weeks have been. a mixture of pure excitement (at welcoming a new baby into our family) and daunting fear (of the unknown in regards to harper).

baby number 3 is due february 24, 2012. i am exactly 11 weeks today.

at our first ultrasound, we saw the baby moving around like crazy and it had a strong heartbeat. i've debated whether i should share such personal information on the web, but at this point (with everyone knowing), we might as well throw this part in...the baby was measuring right on track, but the gestational sac was measuring quite a bit smaller. my ob told me that it was only slightly worrisome, and to "forget that I even mentioned it." yeah, doc thats not how it works. anyways, we (i'm) a bit worried, but know that all will happen according to God's will. we have another appointment at the end of the month.

we just told the boys yesterday, and they are SUPER excited! they both are pretty adamant about wanting a sister (as is their daddy), but i wouldn't mind having another boy ;) besides, we are prone to having them!

speaking of boys, i chose a male ob-gyn this time around. call me crazy but i prefer men. they are soo much nicer and "gentler" than women. women OB's also tend to have a "suck it up" mentality. anyways, this is the same doc that delivered harp (and our niece Annlyn!). i told him about what was going on with harper and he was so great and reassuring. he also told me that if we ended up having to seek treatment in chapel hill for harp, that he would coordinate everything for me.

symptoms...lets see...since around week 8 i have had pretty bad nausea...this is pretty new to me as i didn't really get sick at all with my previous pregnancies. i've also been SUPER tired (go figure), and have had lots of aches (normal). we told our families over the 4th of July weekend, and have otherwise kept our mouths shut (except for me telling a blog friend and a real life friend). ;)

if your curious, carson will be 5 when this baby is born (and in preschool during the day!) and harper will be just shy of 4. i know it's silly, but i'm worried that if this one is a boy, then how close will he be to the boys? the boys really are best friends. they are only a year apart and LOVE each other so much. so how will it work out when they have a little brother 4/5 years younger? the boys will go through school together, and this little one will be so much farther behind. and if its a girl....whoa....i will have to be extra strict to ensure that she wouldn't be spoiled rotten! by the way, the grandparents are already referring to this one as "she." ha! i have a feeling they will be in for a rude awakening! ;)

okay, so i'm sure i have bored you all to death, but just wanted to share some of the details!

i hope everyone has a great weekend! i know i will-kane is taking me to get Chili's Classic Nachos, hold the jalapenos, add guacamole! :)

...just a (small) announcement...

2011-08-04T12:46:00.001-04:00

with everything going on with harper, we've gone back and forth debating when and how we would share this bit of news with everyone. we decided to go ahead and spill the beans...

in february 2012, we will be welcoming our 3rd blessing!!!

as excited as we are about this, we haven't had much time to celebrate with all of the unknowns surrounding harper. i've been under a great deal of stress (which I know isn't great for baby) and my pregnancy hormones have further fueled the fear of what will happen with harper.

anyways, stay tuned for the details about this precious baby (hopefully a post will be up tomorrow!) and continue to keep harper and our newest little one in your prayers!

my heart is heavy.

2011-08-02T21:20:00.002-04:00

my heart is heavy tonight, so i'm going to keep this simple. harper had his appointment today with pediatric oncology in chapel hill. walking into the cancer hospital was humbling, watching a four year old receive chemotherapy took my breath away. harp's oncologist really didn't tell us anything that we didn't know. there is a large tumor in his thigh. the lymphnodes around the tumor are swollen. they have no idea (from looking at the MRI) what kind of tumor it is. to be honest, at this point things aren't looking great. i think i've been in this state of denial for the past month, that everything was going to be just fine. the doctors were overreacting. my son is an active, happy baby and that there could be no way he could have cancer. but after today, i'm broken. the only thing dr.h told me not to do was google childhood sarcomas, specifically rhabdomyosarcomas and osteosarcomas. but of course i did. and it scares the hell out of me. next wednesday (august 10), harper will have a full day of testing, including a head-to-toe MRI to make sure there are no other tumors that we do not know about. the following day (thursday) they will perform an incisional biopsy. they chose to take the biopsy through an incision (and then cutting a piece of the tumor off) instead of the traditional way because they don't want to stick a needle in something that they don't know anything about. after the biopsy, we should know exactly what we are dealing with. i am asking you all right now to please pray for harper. pray specifically that the tumor is benign. pray that we have the strength to deal with whatever happens. because i'm broken. please lift harper up in your prayers. please.

more prayers for harper

2011-07-27T21:50:00.001-04:00

if you've been following along, then you know that harper had an MRI done in chapel hill almost two weeks ago to see if the mass in his thigh was a fatty tumor.

they were so certain that it was a fatty tumor (lipoma) that i wasn't really that concerned about it. obviously i was worried, but the doctors had all convinced me that it was just a fatty tumor and the MRI would confirm it.

a week passed and i hadn't heard the results yet. after playing phone tag with the head nurse for several days, dr. gage called me while i was at church tonight.

he told me that the tumor in harp's leg is not a fatty tumor like they thought.

he is actually not sure what it is. he took the MRI report to the head of pediatrics at chapel hill, and that doctor didn't know either.

what they do know is that the tumor is inconsistent in form. it is made up of different tissues and is irregular.

he is going to take the MRI scans to an oncologist to figure out what our next step will be (probably a biopsy).

please please please keep my baby in your prayers. truthfully, we were a bit blindsided by the whole thing.

we will continue to update when we know more.

UPDATE: Harp has an appointment scheduled with an oncologist on Tuesday in Chapel Hill.

my new hangout

2011-07-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

a new ice cream and coffee parlor opened up recently just 5 minutes down the road from our house.

we finally got around to checking it out yesterday and i now know where we will be hanging out at.

daily. ha! just kidding. but definitely several times a week!

the boys got superman ice cream, kane got a milkshake, and i got a strawberry-banana smoothie.

ohmygosh it was soo good!

hope everyone has a great week!

if you need us, we'll be at the ice cream parlor! ;)

DIY

2011-07-21T15:32:00.002-04:00

okay so let me be the first to point out that i am NOT a crafty person.

a few months ago, something came over me and i went through a yarn wreath making phase...

honestly, they didn't turn out so bad! i guess it has built up my confidence a bit.

on pinterest, i've been collecting DIY projects to complete for the whole two weeks i'll have off between summer classes and fall classes (a lot of time, right?)

here are a few projects i might tackle:

fabric poms (i've actually already made tissue poms before!)

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Maria on Pinterest

button monogram

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Maria on Pinterest

fabric rosettes

Source: cherrystreetcottage.blogspot.com via Maria on Pinterest

water bottle labels

Source: lifesweetlifeblog.com via Maria on Pinterest

(FYI i'm helping my mother-in-law with a babyshower soon!)

so...if you want to learn how to make any of the items above, you can click on the picture and then click on "source." if you want to check out all of my DIY project links click here (this will take you to my pinterest DIY page).

happy crafting!

best quotes from the week

2011-07-18T15:04:00.000-04:00

here are some of the best quotes by the trochelmans from the weekend.

{i might start doing this from time to time!}

have a good week everyone!

best brothers

2011-07-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

when the boys are about to be separated (which doesn't happen much), they hug and kiss each other goodbye.

{yall like carson's lime green pjs? ;)}

they love each other so much.

i remember when i was pregnant with harper (before we knew the gender) kane wanted a girl so bad...honestly, i'm so so so glad it turned out the way it did.

because brothers really are the best.

**harp's MRI went well. he was sedated and they started late so we didn't get home until late yesterday evening...we should know the results by monday or tuesday!

happy weekend to all!

just one more

2011-07-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

i'm taking harp to have his MRI tomorrow afternoon in chapel hill.

hopefully this will absolutely confirm that the tumor in his leg is just a lipoma.

they will have to sedate him because they aren't too keen on sticking a toddler in tunnel-like machine that makes loud noises (while expecting him to be completely still). i can't imagine why not.

oh yeah...and you know what that means right?

sedation=no food.

one of my harp's favorite things to do is eat. he's really good at it.

****

once more, please pray that the MRI will absolutely confirm that it is just a fatty tumor in his thigh.

until next time.

milestone

2011-07-11T14:20:00.000-04:00

do you see what carson is doing?

swinging himself! he finally learned how to pump his legs!

can i get an amen?

really quick update

2011-07-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

really quick update on the chapel hill appointment:

the doctor is almost certain that the tumor in harp's leg is a fatty tumor (praise God!)

it's called a lipoma and is benign.

it's actually a bit larger than the ultrasound showed, and because of the size his doctor wants to avoid removing it due to the large incision/extensiveness that the surgery would entail.

we will have to go back once more for an MRI to absolutely confirm that it is in fact a lipoma.

unless it begins to hinder harper's walking or causes pain or discomfort, the tumor will be left where it is at for now.

that's all i've really got at this point-i'm exhausted and have loads of schoolwork to complete.

thank you all SO much for lifting my baby up in your prayers, and for your kind phone calls and emails.

until next time...

we're here

2011-07-05T21:48:00.000-04:00

we're here in chapel hill!

kane was able to come with me this time, and carson is at home having special grandma-grandpa time.

because the ronald mcdonald house is never guaranteed, there is always a chance that you won't get a room and won't know until the afternoon that you need it. when i called today they said they were booked- what they do in this case is book you a room at a nearby hotel and you pay a discounted rate.

anyways, we are here at the hotel and will arise bright and early and head to the hospital for harp's appointment.

i'll leave you with a few pictures from my phone:

harp buttoning carson's shirt for him this morning

harp's baby is now missing his right eye.

poor little guy. harp fixed it though.

we will let everyone know whats going on as soon as we know something!

happy 4th!!!

2011-07-04T15:58:00.001-04:00

happy independence day!!!

{seriously...cutest niece ever}

this whole weekend, we've done a lot of this:

and this:

and we have also been thinking a lot about our brother/BIL/uncle Chris who is currently serving in Iraq

{via facebook}

and just because she's cute, i'll throw another one on here:

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

vbs recap

2011-07-01T22:45:00.000-04:00

vbs 2011: wonderfully exhausting.

carson and harper had an absolute blast all week and kane had tons of fun (and exercise!) doing the games this year.

my friend nikki and i had the 2 year olds.

should i even say more? ;)

we had a total of 6 little ones in our class...some regulars, some visitors...

to be honest, the first part of the week was rough. we had one kid who would throw his body around and scream until he made himself vomit. and vomit he did.

and then we had another kid who would scream with his fist in his mouth, and then WIPE the slobber all over mine and nikki's face. g.r.o.s.s.

oh and we can't forget our professional escape artist (ahem...noelle ;) who would just happen to escape while one kid was making himself puke and the other was wiping spit on us. but honestly, who could blame her? ;)

after we finally figured out how to calm the kids down, the rest of the week went relatively smooth.

and although i could barely keep my eyes open at the end of each night, i really did have a lot of fun with the kids (and nikki).

here's a picture of noelle and cooper...they were pretty inseparable all week!

christian (with benji in the background)

and graycen

until next year!

four years

2011-06-30T08:00:00.002-04:00

today, kane and i are celebrating four years of marriage!

happy anniversary kane!

another harper update

2011-06-28T15:38:00.000-04:00

Okay we finally have all of the kinks worked out with Harp's appointments.

The reason I called and proposed to postpone the appointment in Chapel Hill tomorrow was because I know enough now how the medical community works- I knew that we would go tomorrow, the doctor would feel his leg, look at the radiologist's report, and then say something to the effect of "Yeah, we need to get this taken care of. Let's schedule you back for next week." Yeah...no thanks. We already know there is a tumor there. After speaking with a few nurses, they agreed it would be a waste of a trip. They consulted with Dr. Gage and he was able to review the ultrasound taken here in Wilmington; he wants us to come in next Wednesday for evaluation and there is a good chance he will go ahead and remove the tumor right away so that it can be sent off for testing.

So...as it stands, we have an appointment next Wednesday in CH where they will probably remove it.

Once again, thank you to everyone for your kind words and emails...Please continue to keep my Harp in your prayers.

change of plans

2011-06-27T21:07:00.002-04:00

we have decided to postpone harp's appointment on wednesday...i called today to ask the doctor what exactly we were going to be doing at the appointment and he said he didn't have any tests scheduled at this time because he has yet to receive the radiologist's report. so as it stands, we will go to chapel hill within the next week or so when tests are actually are going to be done. i'll keep everyone updated as to when that date will be.

the week ahead

2011-06-27T15:08:00.002-04:00

our week ahead is going to be super busy.

{one}: we have vbs every evening this week-the boys are super excited!

{source}

{two}: we have harp's appointment scheduled for early wednesday morning-because we live almost 3 hours away from chapel hill (with traffic), harp and i will probably head out that way tuesday night and stay at the ronald mcdonald house. please continue to keep harp in your prayers.

{source}

{three}: this thursday marks four years of marriage for kane and me! because of vbs, we won't be able to do anything until later this weekend sometime (hopefully!)

{four}: last year my laptop crashed so we bought a desktop. call me crazy, but i actually prefer a desktop... because of the hours of internet classes i take, a flatscreen monitor is much easier (and more comfortable) to do schoolwork on then a laptop. however, the obvious problem with desktops is portability. because i know there will be multiple appointments away from home with harp, we decided to get a netbook....you know those mini-laptops with 10in screens? ;) i actually like it a lot and it will certainly serve it's purpose of getting some schoolwork done when i'm away from home!

{source}

and now that i have a webcam, i'm going to google how to skype people (i know, i know...i'm a bit behind). and once i have that figured out, i'm totally going to get up with bethany@oursimplelife. so there's your warning, bethany! ;)

hope everyone has a great week!

harp update

2011-06-23T12:44:00.001-04:00

***things are pretty hectic right now but i wanted to give a quick update.

***to get caught up on what's going on, click here

harp had an ultrasound this morning to see what the bulge in his leg was.

the radiologist and harp's pediatrician said there is definitely a "soft tissue mass" of some sort in the muscle of his leg. it doesn't appear to be connected to his bone...which is about the only good news we received.

they want us back in chapel hill so they can run tests as soon as possible...as soon as possible in the medical world could be a few weeks, but i'll know more this afternoon.

his ped said it could be just a fatty tumor....or something else...regardless, it's not suppose to be there.

for now i'm just working on getting an appointment set up with his surgeon.

thanks for everyone's prayers and kind words...it really does mean the world to us.

UPDATE: we have an appointment scheduled for next wednesday in chapel hill. we will (hopefully) know more then. we will continue to keep everyone updated.

today

2011-06-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

***to get caught up, click here

this morning is harp's ultrasound to see what the mass on his thigh is. please keep my little guy in your prayers...will update once we know something!

2011-06-20T14:55:00.000-04:00

6 years ago, a trip to the nearby beach would have looked something like this: me. towel. magazine. or me. towel. friends. no prepping. no sunscreen. no planning in advance. just bliss. relaxation.

fast forward to present day: me. two wild kids. towels. beach bag. loads of sunscreen. buckets & shovels. drinks. more sunscreen.

when we get to the beach, the boys immediately take off to the water. no fear, running full speed. i suddenly become the helicopter mom, threatening to leave if they dare go in any further. 3 panic attacks later, i coax the boys out of the water to go build sandcastles. instead, they roll around in the sand, making sure there are a bazillion grains of sand on every part of their bodies. once satisfied, they repeat the process, running towards the ocean.

life is so much different with the boys, but even so i wouldn't trade my time with them for a relaxing day at the beach.

***thanks to everyone for their kind words, comments, and emails...harp is scheduled for an ultrasound on thursday morning to see what the bulge in his leg is...we probably won't know the results right away, but i'll keep everyone updated as soon as we know something!

prayer

2011-06-16T20:18:00.001-04:00

harp's birthday was in april but i just now got around to taking him to his three year check up.

long story short, while giving harper a physical, the doctor noticed his left thigh was much bigger than his right. there appears to be a mass of some sort in his left thigh...it actually visibly bulges out.

to add more concern, it happens to be the same leg that harper had surgery on twice to remove a stubborn hemangioma (that has shown re-growth a.g.a.i.n.).

harp's doc thinks that there is a possibility something vascular has grown in the muscle of his leg...or it could simply be fat deposits. we won't know until next week when he will have an ultrasound done to see whats going on.

if your reading this, please whisper a quick prayer for my harper.

here

2011-06-15T15:07:00.001-04:00

i'm still here, busy with all of the activities that summer brings. beware: i'm going to be all over the place.

i've been taking the boys to storytime at the library for a little over a month now and they love it. i was worried about how my harper would be sitting still, but so far he's done great. starting today, the summer reading session has started so along with the usual book reading by the fabulous ms. ann, the kids have different stations that they go to to do various crafts, etc.

we are also gearing up for vbs. it starts in a few weeks and to be honest, i was a bit worried about the theme, but the boys are already obsessed with youtubing the videos, so i'm thinking it's going to be a win. i'm doing the two year olds again this year with my friend nikki so i'm already preparing myself for all that entails ;)

carson has been officially "accepted" into preschool (is an acceptance letter even necessary when your sending them to public schools? :) so needless to say, he is super excited about it.

everyday i dread the fact that i've taken summer classes. i'm still a bit burnout from the spring semester, and it is so hard to concentrate on the divine command theory or psychological disorders when the beach is calling my name.

kane's brother's kids are visiting for the week (maia 12, caleb 8), and it is SO nice to have older (ahem...responsible) playmates for the boys...it gives this mama a break for a few minutes :) plus, 12 year old girls are great for your self-esteem. "aunt maria, i love your hair. how do you do it? i love your earrings. i wish i had those. and i really like your shirt..." yeah, what can i say? i'm pretty great. ha!

until next time.

do kids even do this anymore?

2011-06-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

i'm not even sure kids drink from water hoses anymore, but mine sure do!

don't worry, the hose is {fairly} new ;)

around the campfire

2011-06-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

on saturday evening kane and i grabbed the boys and headed to our backyard for a night of "camping"

we...ahem...kane and the boys put together a little firepit (we hope to build a real one in the next few weeks!)

after cooking/eating hotdogs, we roasted marshmallows

then we crawled into the tent and told stories. we are taking the boys to a nearby campground next week for some more s'more fun.

happy camping!

disclaimer: carson

2011-06-03T15:42:00.001-04:00

carson's normal speaking voice is what others consider to be shouting. he has two volumes...loud and louder.

he also has this niche for embarrassing me in public. not like saying cute little things that make others laugh...but things that take years off my life.

there was that time he asked a complete stranger if he could touch her mole. when she said he could, he began to massage it. massage the mole on her face.

or there was the time a man at our church asked him for a high five. when carson said no, the man asked him why. "because your hands are dirty." ohmygosh.

and of course i cannot forget last sunday when we were out to lunch. three young girls walked in wearing bright, colorful clothes/jewelry. carson pointed at them and proclaimed in his "louder" voice, "mama! look at dose color girls!" noooo carson. you cannot say it like that. it's "look at those girls wearing colorful clothes."

but by far, the most embarrassing moment to date was last wednesday. to give you a little background info, a few weeks ago, my mother-in-law and i were out shopping. she bought the boys two movies...Karate Kid and Mrs. Doubtfire. now to be honest, i haven't seen mrs. doubtfire in at least 10 years. so when we popped it in that night for family movie night, i was shocked at the bad language. a lot of "hells" and "damns." kane and i agreed to put the movie away so that the boys couldn't watch it again...we are a G and PG kinda family. so lets fast forward to last wednesday night. kane had beat us to church for the weekly fellowship meal, and had already made our plates. as the boys and i walked in, the pastor stood up to make an announcement. the boys ran ahead to kane while i stopped to pay for our food. as i started my way back to my seat, (the pastor was still talking, so the church is otherwise silent), Carson peers at his food and proclaims in his loudest voice, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" oh yes he did. my heart stopped. there was a collective gasp from everyone in the room. i died. right there, i died. we took him back to a room to talk to him, and it was obvious he knew he said something wrong. tears welled up in his eyes. we explained to him that the word he used was bad. we talked some more and headed back out to eat. all eyes were on us. some judgmental. some understanding. some snickers here and there. i wanted to shout to everyone that we do not use curse words in our house. that he heard that phrase from a movie. AND THAT IT WAS ALL MY MIL'S FAULT! (hahaha juuuust kidding, Patty!) but we didn't. we just sat quietly and ate our food.

sweet carson....i will be surprised if i make it to 30.

beating the heat

2011-06-02T15:43:00.000-04:00

with the temperatures hovering around 96° (not to mention the humidity levels), any activities outside (aside from playing in the water) are unbearable.

so we've moved our weekly picnics inside.

it's a good thing the boys don't seem to mind!

memorial day

2011-05-30T21:32:00.000-04:00

clearance racks at old navy

sparklers

and watching my three guys play by the pool

yup...that pretty much sums up our day

in full swing

2011-05-26T08:00:00.004-04:00

it's been in the 90's here all week.

so we have done nothing but spend our days in the inflatable pool.

which i'm totally okay with.

happy "summer" days!

outtakes

2011-05-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

photographing little boys can be a daunting task.

for every 30 pictures, we might get one good shot in.

i mentioned yesterday in my post that the boys were being less than cooperative while we were trying to take pictures on sunday.

here are a few outtakes:

{1} we told the boys to smile. they crawled around and growled instead.

{2} harper "smiling"...he looks like he's in pain :)

{3}. harper throwing a major tantrum.

{4} hydrating in the scorching heat. take note of the dirty knees.

{5} we told the boys to walk; they ran. and carson tripped. pulling harp down with him.

{5) are you ready for this? it's totally gross. and self-explanatory.

so thats a peak into our reality of taking family pictures ;)

pictures. pictures. and more pictures

2011-05-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

my brother took our pictures on sunday, so beware of the picture-overload.

it was 90 degrees on sunday and the boys were NOT in the mood to take pictures...so needless to say, there were only a few that turned out okay. we are going to head to raleigh in a few weeks (where my brother lives) so we can get more done!

stay tuned for the outtakes!

the oj disaster

2011-05-18T08:00:00.001-04:00

kane and i woke up to this mess a few mornings ago...

kane's first thought: at least they tried to clean it up.

my first thought: ohmygosh they just wasted all of my napkins.

no use in crying over spilt milk...ahem...orange juice.

UPDATE-got my Blogger problems fixed! somehow my post editor was converted back to the "old" one? strange.

the leash

2011-05-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

if someone had asked me a few years ago what i thought of toddler "leashes," then i would have probably said something like...maybe for other families, but definitely not for us

flash forward to present day...

harper is my spirited little boy...several times in the past few weeks, harp has wrestled out of my hand and took off running in the middle of busy parking lots, ignoring my screams to stop. there have been four incidents in the past two weeks....four times that harp could have been hit by a car and killed.

so a few days ago, i went to target and bought him a "leash"

{picture source}

this is not a matter of disobedience. this is a matter of safety. of life and death. i'm not trying to be dramatic...it is what it is. i know what so many people are thinking when they see us. i know that even if i told these people why i make him wear one, that they will judge me and comment on how i should discipline him instead. my answer? i did. and it didn't work.

so until my impulsive little guy learns to hold my hand in parking lots without taking off, he will wear "monkey" (as he affectionately refers to it as).

{picture taken with cell}

hopefully this will be a short term thing...

lunch date(s)

2011-05-11T21:01:00.000-04:00

tuesday was a bad day for us.

it was one of those days where you just feel like your failing as a mother.

the boys were absolute monsters. all.morning.long.

so i got up today bound and determined to have a good day

after doing some house cleaning, i packed us a lunch and headed to the park.

the boys ran off some MUCH needed energy, and afterwards we walked over to the picnic shelter and had a picnic.

the boys were super excited. the weather was warm and the sky was a bit overcast (which was a nice break from the heat!)

i looked over at the boys several times as they munched away, simply thankful for that time with them.

because truth be told, i'm not always so thankful. especially because a certain little one has been ~~driving me crazy~~ pushing the limit lately.

{harper trying to smile with a mouth full of banana}

{carson concentrating on his drink-ps-i actually buy those sugar-filled Hi-C's for Kane, but they were perfect for the picnic...and obviously the boys loved them}

i am going to make it a point to take them to the park for a picnic once a week...even when the blazing heat sets in, i will make it a priority...because it serves as such a simple reminder to me how fleeting this time with them is, and how i should never take them for granted.

an update

2011-05-09T22:08:00.002-04:00

i've been such a bad blogger lately.

in a nutshell, here is a quick recap of the last few weeks:

Easter weekend one of my oldest and best friends came down to visit as her sister's daughter turned three (her sister being my other oldest, best friend).

my brother and i grew up with these two sisters (Heather and Jess) and after 20 years, remain close.

here is a picture of Carson, Jess' daughter, Cheyenne (the bithday girl!) and Harp (they are only 3 weeks apart in age!)

i think the boys overwhelmed her a bit :)

the same weekend, Kane's brother and his three daughters (ages 6, 3 and 2) came down to visit before he is deployed to Iraq for six months.

{me and Calleigh, age 3)

This past week was consumed with finishing up another semester of college.

i am so so so fortunate to have my mom to help with the boys while i worked quickly to finish up loads of internet-course work....and it payed off! i finished the semester with 5 A's!

then there was mothers day...i totally did not get any pictures, but had SUCH a great day. by tradition, the whole family went out for lunch after church (kane's family and mine). and with the exception of a totally rude hostess who yelled at me (don't worry, my brother got in her face for that :) we had a wonderful time.

this week i am really taking it easy and just enjoying our warm (ahem...hot) weather with the boys...i'm going to get their pool cleaned up and out this week and plan on taking many trips to the park and beach!

next week i start my summer session of college, but after the fall semester i am DONE for a while!

until next time...

move over bob harper...

2011-05-04T08:00:00.002-04:00

theres a new fitness instructor in town

he's fierce.

and incredibly strong.

these past few weeks, carson has been obsessed with fitness.

he has spent countless hours ahem..."exercising" and throwing out generalized health advice such as, "momma, you should drink lots of milk like me so you can grow to be big and scrong." or "make sure and brush your teef so they can be scrong and helfy."

sweet boy.

oh, and if your wondering, that is my headband he's wearing. kane and i do not own any exercising clothes/equipment, so carson's just going to have to make do ;)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

family

2011-05-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

impromptu picture of kane's side of the family from Easter weekend.

(we are missing kane's other brother, his wife and two kids).

love it.

still so much to share, yet still so much school work to do first!

talk to you soon.

around here

2011-04-26T23:33:00.000-04:00

when life slows down a bit (hopefully next week!) i hopefully can do a proper update on whats been going on with our family!

right now i'm finishing up another semester of college, which basically translates into writing essays, tests, and writing more essays.

then there was all of the Easter festivities.

family visiting.

friends visiting.

so until i can blog about all the fun we've had lately, i'll leave you with a few pictures:

oh, and did i mention that i didn't get one picture of the boys on Easter? oops.

tgif

2011-04-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

my favorite night of the week is always friday (along with everyone else :)

my friday nights look something like this:

my three favorite guys.

pjs.

yoohoos.

white cheddar popcorn.

slim jims. (gross, i know ;)

and a movie.

every single friday night, you can find our family curled up on the couch with the aforementioned items, making memories.

theres always a huge mess to clean up (ahem...popcorn e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.)

but it is worth every kernel that has to be painstakingly picked up.

do you have weekly family nights, and if so, what do you do?

when i grow up

2011-04-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

when i was a little girl, i knew exactly what i wanted to be when i grew up-a mother. after long summer days of running through the woods barefoot, i would retreat to my room and rock my babydolls, dreaming of the day that i could hold one of my own. granted that day came sooner than i expected, it still remains the most important thing that i will do in my adult life. motherhood has changed me emotionally, physically, and spiritually. my priorities are different and my fears have changed. i pray fervently that they will grow into honorable, Jesus-seeking men, and i pray that kane and i have the wisdom and courage to guide them. there are days when i know that i have failed miserably, and unfortunately because of their ages, those days have been far too frequent. but that is the blessing of motherhood-no matter how much you yell or make poor decisions, you have the opportunity to fix your mistakes and start new each day. i was never quite certain what career path i wanted to take, and to this day i still am not sure. i do know that the boys will always take precedence, therefore, the start of my (eventual) career will be many years away. my work right now is in the home, prepping and preparing their hearts and minds. my idea of what motherhood entails is vastly different than what i imagined it would be, but regardless, it is an absolute privilege to be able to take part in molding these little boys into what God has designated for them.

ps- another aspect of motherhood i was unprepared for?

wearing handmade necklaces made by the boys from wednesday night church...red barn and all. :)

baby love

2011-04-11T22:58:00.001-04:00

dear baby,

you are my baby's baby.

you have had quite a difficult and tumultuous life.

you were rejected by your first owner (ahem...carson)

but then slobbered on. kissed on. loved on. colored on. crawled on. stepped on. slept on. by your loving harper.

you no longer have a nose and your tail is soon to follow the same demise.

your months are quickly dwindling down, and it is then that you will be retired to the closet.

well done, good and faithful servant.

;)

bribery: potty edition

2011-04-06T16:56:00.000-04:00

i came to a realization today.

every.single.day. for the past four years (and some), i have changed a diaper.

one or both of my boys have worn diapers for over four years now.

and i am so over it.

i have always had a "go with the flow" mentality when it comes to potty training. {no pun intended}

carson finally decided to use the potty the same week he turned three. and may i add that before that, he had not used it at all.

i had decided that with harper, i would wait until his third birthday to start the process.

i secretly laugh at moms who boast that their kid was potty-trained at 15 months.

i mean seriously? what do you want? a reward? a certificate? perhaps a pat on the back?

baby books may say a child is ready for training at around 2 years of age, but i actually read (and re-read for clarification :) in my anatomy & physiology book in college that most children's urinary sphincters are not even fully developed until around their third birthday.

and i don't know about you, but i trust my a&p book more than some random parenting book or internet forum.

but more than that? i trust my kids. i trust that when they are ready, they will go.

but that doesn't mean a little prompting isn't in order :)

as in...."harp, your three now. and three year olds go to the potty, not in their diapers. oh...and if you do go to the potty, i'll let you go to the circus this weekend."

worked like a charm.

i'm not into pull-ups...i think for the most part they are just glorified diapers. BUT they are pretty great for going out in public with.

so that's my method for potty training...bribery.

go ahead and try it...all the cool moms are doing it.

Prayer

2011-04-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

(three)

2011-04-03T21:35:00.001-04:00

happy 3rd birthday to my sweet baby harper!

oh...and someone remind me to actually plan a party for the little guy next year instead of throwing one together at the last minute! :)

i love you sweet baby! now please stop growing up so fast!

she's crafty

2011-03-30T21:50:00.002-04:00

I was browsing through danielle's new shop and fell in love with her yarn wreaths. i wanted one, but didn't want to pay the $$. so i read her tutorial and decided to give it a try. let me make something clear-i am not a crafty person. at all. but somehow i did manage to put one together (this project is very forgiving:) best part?? i bought all of the supplies i needed to make two wreaths for only $10. so go check out danielle's tutorial and make a few for yourself. you and your walls will be so happy you did.

new favorites...

2011-03-28T08:00:00.004-04:00

i'm not a huge jewelry person, but i bought two pieces recently that i just had to give a shout-out to.

first up are these pendants from Created by Kasey. I went to highschool with KC and she just recently opened up an etsy shop. i seriously fell in love with these necklaces and ended up buying one! KC is ridiculously talented, isn't she?!

{photo source}

Best part? All pendants are $15 and under, AND you get free shipping! So go to Kasey's etsy shop and buy one for yourself! You'll be helping a graduate student pay for school! :)

On the absolute flipside, I also purchased a rosette necklace from Lauren.

{photo source}

I have been reading Lauren's blog for such a long time and have been following her journey through adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia (who finally came home in February!). Right at this moment, you have to stop reading my blog and CLICK HERE to see a picture of her beautiful baby boy. seriously. be prepared to have your heart melted.

anyways, after checking out kc's shop, you have to head on over to laurens'

she just added tons of new spring items to her shop, AND half of the profits go to the Ladd's adoption.

happy browsing!

brothers.

2011-03-23T21:33:00.001-04:00

they can be each other's best friend or worst enemy.

but the latter never lasts for long.

there is a special bond between brothers that is indescribable.

and i am so fortunate that i am able to witness it.

i love my boys.

afternoon bliss

2011-03-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

saturday morning trip to the park=saturday afternoon nap

forever young.

2011-03-18T08:00:00.001-04:00

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

And may you stay forever young.

Forever young. Forever young.

May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous

May you grow up to be true

And may you always know the truth

And see the lights surrounding you.

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be strong.

And may you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy

May your feet always be swift

May you have a strong foundation

When the winds of changes shift.

May your heart always be joyful.

May your song always be sung.

And may you stay forever young.

May you stay forever young.

-Dylan

it's a hat thing

2011-03-14T15:42:00.001-04:00

It's no secret the boys have always worn hats.

Newsboy caps, specifically.

The first one we ever bought was when I was about 6 months pregnant with Carson, and we have continued to buy them ever since.

They are ridiculously adorable and cover up unbrushed hair.

And best yet? You can buy them for super cheap.

At the beginning of every season, I buy the boys new caps. Their 2011 spring caps are from Gap Kids:

{source}

Everywhere we go we are bombarded with the same question: "Where did you get those hats?!" Seriously. They mainly come from the 50+ crowd (wanting to buy one for their grandsons). More than once I've actually had women whip out a pen and paper and write down the store name that we purchased them at. Hilarious.

You can buy them anywhere now. For the longest time, the Children's Place was really the only place you could get them (year round). Now Old Navy and Target sell them (seasonally).

Oh and just because I'm such a thoughtful person, I linked each of the stores directly to their newsboy/driver cap page.

Your welcome.

six posts in one

2011-03-10T08:00:00.006-05:00

so here's the scoop: (try to keep up, i'm going to be all over the place!)

{a} our dear fish that we got carson for his birthday is still alive!

amazing right?!

i'm pretty sure we hold some kind of record for keeping a goldfish alive for longer than 3 days.

especially since i'm pretty sure there were like 4 or 5 days {consecutively} where we forgot to feed it.

oops.

{b} my almost 3 year old is still not potty trained. nor does he have any desire to be. and yes, he still totes and dotes on his beloved baby.

i always get tickled when people comment on how nice the boys are always dressed. they rarely have clothes on at the house. and i mean rarely.

{c} 8 months later, the kids are still obsessed with VBS music. there is not a day that goes by where they don't YouTube the Vast Voyage video.

{d} carson has been having these odd allergic reactions to something. i'm thinking it is a (minor) food allergy because it is just on his face?? it is so strange to me because he's never had any problems before.

they start off looking like pimples and then transform into scratch-like lesions. he has his 4 year check-up in a few weeks so i'm going to have them look into it (unless it gets worse before then).

{e} my dad's cousin owns a resale shop here in town and so kane and i went last weekend searching for nightstands for our bedroom. we scored. big time. check it out, we got both nightstands for a whopping $30 (altogther!). and a plus? they match our bed.

{f} health update: the proof is on the microwave.

i did start taking multi-vitamins (after a slight mix-up of buying one-a-day vitamins for women ages 50+), but i have failed miserably on the junk-food front.

after the previous post was published, i polished off the rest of my snickers icecream. and then yesterday i saw these at the grocery store:

they were singing to me, begging me to buy them.

so of course i couldn't resist.

and i will enjoy eating every single one of them, guilt free. :)

confessions of a junk food addict.

2011-03-07T15:27:00.003-05:00

confession time. i am incredibly unhealthy. i am a soda-junky, caffeine-feining, dessert-loving mess. i always have been. regardless of what some may think, i have never had an eating disorder (anorexia, specifically), i simply lose weight when i'm incredibly stressed. i have never cared about my weight, nor have i ever had to watch what i eat. genetics and young age are on my side. however, just because i'm "thin" doesn't mean i'm healthy. i've always been aware that i am unhealthy, but have never done anything to fix it. i have never changed my diet, nor do i exercise. i rarely eat meat and only drink milk if it is mixed with chocolate or in my coffee. what may seem odd about all of this is that i care (sometimes too much) about what my kids consume. they drink milk like its going out of style. eat wheat bread only. have fruit for snacktime. take daily vitamins. you get the point. but i do none of these things. my unhealthy habits seem to be quite obvious lately. since the move, i have been soo sluggish. exhausted beyond belief. in a bit of a funk. and i really think this has to do with my eating habits. while preparing for the move, we ate fast-food non-stop. i was simply too busy cleaning and preparing to make healthy dinners, and it was just soo easy for kane to pick up a pizza on the way home. i gained weight. about 10 pounds in the past few months. which is okay to a certain extent. but the added weight has served as a reminder to me that i have got to get my heatlh under control. i really need to take care of myself. let me just make something clear....i am not trying to lose weight. i am simply trying to feel better. so here is my (beginners) 3 step working plan: i will start taking vitamins. i will drink 17 oz of water a day (i drink none now. zip. zero. so 17 oz is a lot for me!). i will no longer eat oreos/cheese puffs/snickers icecream when the boys are in bed at night. so thats my beginning plan. i really belive i am addicted to junk. so instead of setting myself up for failure, i will take baby steps in the right direction. so if you see me shoving mcd's in my mouth, don't hate. ;) i love fast food-i don't see that being cut out of my diet anytime soon! :)

your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

2011-03-02T16:36:00.000-05:00

As hard as it is for me to comprehend this, my sweet baby will be starting preschool later this year.

i dread it. like, really dread it.

i keep thinking of ways to get out of it.

just so that i can have one more year at home with him.

but then i realize those thoughts are coming from a place of selfishness.

i even thought about homeschooling him. but i quickly realized this was just not a great idea. i don't feel led to do so, and i really don't think i could get much accomplished with his very own fan club (ahem...harper) by our sides.

i think Carson would thrive in a school setting. he LOVES to be around other children. he loves the idea going to "school."

i'm pretty sure he'll give me a quick wave on the first day of school, while i cry an ugly cry.

separation anxiety. at it's finest.

when i think about "letting him go" i ponder on whether or not preschool is really a necessity?

he's known everything he needs to learn in preschool for years now.

i've been blessed (and sometimes burdened ;) with a child who has rain-man memory. seriously. i'm not trying to brag or tell you that my kid is a genius, but i am not exaggerating when i say that the kid can memorize ANYTHING. which obviously aids in learning.

as i type this, Carson is sitting on the couch teaching harper geography, specifically that the golden gate bridge is located in san "phran-kicko" (his knowledge exceeds his speech :) he has been interested lately about where states are located at so i printed him out a map of the US and the kid about fell over in excitement.

i do not share the same enthusiasm.

anyways, point being, as these thoughts circulate my brain, i struggle with whether preschool is even worth it. will he actually benefit from going? or will he simply be "baby-sat" for five hours a day?

anybody have thoughts on this? i'm kind of new to the whole school thing, so any thoughts are appreciated!

ps- anyone know which song the title of the post comes from?? if you get the lyrics stuck in your head, then your welcome. ;)

(snapshots)

2011-02-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

:incredibly random head shots of our family:

{kane}

can you tell he just woke up?? :)

{maria}

{carson}

{harper}

embracing masculinity-part 2

2011-02-23T10:31:00.000-05:00

i was making breakfast this morning when one of my {masculine} little guys walked in the kitchen and proclaimed rather loudly, "Moommmmmmaaa!!! look what i did!"

i looked.

and this is what i saw:

can you guess which son of mine did this?

i'll give you a hint.

he's got curly hair and a sneaky smile.

sweet harper, i don't want you to grow up. BUT i do want you to "grow out of" this annoying stage your in!

bear with me...

2011-02-21T08:00:00.002-05:00

So...I finally got a new camera!

Kane and I went out Saturday night for a child-free dinner (by the way...for the locals-you HAVE to try Brixx Wood Fire Pizza at Mayfaire...it was the BEST pizza I have ever had!!! There are also other locations dispersed throughout the South) Anyways, afterwards we strolled around Mayfaire and wandered into HH Gregg where we bought a new camera. I've never had a dslr camera before, so I haven't a clue how to work it! :)

I've been playing around with it and finally figured out how take pictures...If I ever find a free moment, then I plan on watching some tutorials! (i.e. how NOT to cut off someone's face while taking the picture! ;)

Out of three of my test subjects, I only had one who was actually willing to pose for me.

and if you guessed it was Carson, then you would be correct.

he loves having his picture taken.

actually, he just loves to be the center of attention.

so i'm just asking that you all bear with me.

i'm not a photographer. nor do i want to be. i just want to be able to take "good" pictures of my family (i'm totally willing to settle for decent).

soo....anyone have any tips on how to work the thing? i have (from i what i understand) a very simple, easy to use camera....only i seriously have no clue what i'm doing! :) any help would be appreciated!

my must-haves

2011-02-18T09:00:00.007-05:00

this is about to be the most insignificant post i have ever written.

but thats okay.

i thought it would be fun to list my daily "must-haves"

maybe one day i'll look back on this and laugh?!

so here goes...

my number one favorite thing that i could not function without (exagerating a bit?) is my crossbody purse:

{source}

for obvious reasons, it is an absolute lifesaver when i'm out and about, juggling the boys. regular purses constantly fall off my shoulder, so crossbody purses are perfect as they allow me to easily access cash/cell/etc. without having to worry about it sliding down my arm.

another of my must-haves are my Toms. they are ridiculously comfortable and easily coordinate. i've had other brands of canvas slip-ons and they suffice as well. Toms are my favorite brand because of their "one-for-one" campaign-for every pair you buy, another pair is given to a child who does not own shoes.

{source}

next up is tresemme no frizz-creme. need i say more? i have bushy/kinky/wavy hair that is sooo hard to tame. i have straightened my hair almost every single day since middle school (which cannot possibly be healthy) and this no-frizz creme helps control the fly-aways. i have easily tried a hundred different brands over the years, and this one (so far) prevails.

{source}

another "necessity" of mine is my beloved covergirl clean make-up. i have (naturally) incredibly dark circles under my eyes. the skin around my mouth is red (a constant rash from various irritants) and the rest of my face is pale white. with so many different color tones going on with my face, covergirl's clean makeup does the job in making my face one tone (for the most part ;) i haven't really looked into other brands because i'm not keen on the idea of spending too much $$.

{source}

and finally, my chapstick. due to the aforementioned color-tone issues, i have yet to find a lipstick color that looks good on me. and to be honest, my lips are addicted to chapstick. i constantly have to reapply for fear of red, burning lips. my favorite is the classic softlips brand.

{source}

so thats that. my daily products that i cannot live without (joking).

V-Day

2011-02-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

Kane and I have never been big on Valentine's Day.

Some years we go out to eat, other years we skip the dinner out altogether.

Because of the recent move, we decided to opt out of Valentine's Day this year.

Because really, why save aside one day out of the year to honor your significant other, when you have the opportunity to do so anytime you wish?

Commercialism, folks. Straight-up commericalism. But thats another post ;)

Regardless, my honey brought home two of my favorite things:

A box of chocolates:

{source}

And a bottle of Hatteras Red:

{source}

And now I'm spending the evening eating my chocolates and having a glass (or two...) of wine.

But not with my husband.

No...I'm doing so while writing a paper for class.

That's life, folks!

Happy Valentine's Day!

coming along

2011-02-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Our new home is finally starting to feel like "home."

We've been here for a week now and are starting to settle into a new routine.

Everything is going great except for one thing...

The boys have been absolute monsters since the move.

Especially a certain curly-haired little brother.

But I won't embarrass anyone by calling out names.

Moving on...

We have been without living room furniture this week and were able to purchase some new ones this past weekend. We did not want to spend too much money on couches (that the boys will inevitably ruin) so we chose a fairly inexpensive sectional.

Here is a "before" picture of the living room: (i know i always say this, but please excuse the quality of the pictures...my camera is t.e.r.r.i.b.l.e. i'm hoping to get a new one soon... :)

and after:

As you can see, I have yet to hang ANY pictures...I actually want to wait and get new frames, so it will probably be another week or so before those get put up!

I have lots of things churning around in my mind right now, so (maybe) I'll get those out in form of posts soon.

Have a great week everyone!

embracing masculinity

2011-02-10T09:00:00.003-05:00

Harper is a masculine little guy.

He is so secure in his manhood, that he has no shame in sporting headbands and carrying mama's purse.

His hair is getting so long, the headband might have to become a necessity soon! :)

settling...

2011-02-07T09:00:00.008-05:00

We are officially moved into our new house!!!

We moved on Saturday, which happened to be a nasty day in our area filled with sheets of rain, galore.

Even so, we were able to get everything moved over by early evening!

We are soo grateful for our family (and church family) who helped! Kane, my dad, brother and church friend (Shannon), through the pouring rain, moved the furniture. My mom stayed at our old house cleaning and my mother-in-law stayed at the new house babysitting the boys. I went back and forth helping to load the vehicles, clean, and unpack at the new house. And I cannot forget to mention another church family who supplied tarps to protect our furniture from the rain.

This past week has been exhausting, but the efforts of all have made this move as smooth as possible.

At the moment, we only have 3 boxes that need to be unpacked and we are waiting on our living room furniture (couches) to be delivered sometime this week. (It is quite amazing how much you take things like seating for granted when it is absent!)

Otherwise, we are settling just fine!

I absolutely cannot believe how well the boys have adjusted to living at our new home! They just LOVE their new bedroom! And I must say, so do I!

Here are a few pictures of their room...I'm not completely done with their room (hanging pics, etc.) and I want to get them a nightstand too.

More pictures and updates to follow!

Be Back Soon...

2011-02-02T09:00:00.005-05:00

We are moving this weekend!

{source}

This week I have been preparing our new house, packing & cleaning our current home, and completing mounds of schoolwork. Have mercy, I am e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d. There is simply not enough coffee in the world.

be back soon! (hopefully next week?!)