Blog Your Heart

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I have followed Stephanie's blog for a long time now.....since before I had kids.  I love her posts and particularly her Blog Your Heart series...here is the how to straight from Stephanie: 

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.

2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.

3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don't be mean. nothing here is whining. it's me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it's whining, then you don't have to read. :)

Since I'm long overdue for a post I decided to play along....so here goes: 

1. I have tabled this before here but this continues to overwhelm me in a weird way.  I love social media, the internet, and all it's goodness.....Blogging, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook etc....but in a way I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I gave up Facebook for a few years all together because of it but now I'm back on and for the most part I love it.  But sometimes it still just overwhelms me in the silliest way...like how to organize it all and keep tabs of it all and just keep up really, it just sort of seems like too much.  For example: I'll have a random thought like how I still get Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel confused...and then I think...is this a tweet?  A Facebook Status update? and then sometimes instead of sharing I just don't because I don't know where to put it. I know his is a total #firstworldproblem  but it's the truth.  I'm also sort of bad at social media in general.  I enjoy it - but I feel like I look at all these blogs that are formatted so perfectly and have all these cute little tabs etc and I just feel like mine is sort of piecemeal and also I have things on it that I wouldn't know how to remove if I tried (like the pin it button on each post :))...I don't actually think people would want to pin my posts but added it one day when I was trying to add a "follow me" button and now I think it's there for good because I have no clue how to remove it.  Then I will actually spend time trying to fix it and it won't work and I'll get frustrated that I wasted time doing something that seems so silly.  On the flipside I'm happy that I have girlfriends that I can go to to make comments like the one above....but I still love the idea of capturing things somewhere that's a bit more permanent as a record of sorts....it's why I love scrapbooking and blogging in the first place...just a place to document and really stay present, and for me allows me to have an archive of what to be thankful for and also an outlet and a way to stay positive about things.  

2. I have recently been thinking a lot about aging.  I think part of it is that having kids has made everything feel like it's moving at warp speed.  I also have been thinking lately how age besides the distinction between being a kid and being an adult doesn't really matter much.  I used to make excuses for people that were younger than me....and in a weird way sometimes for people that were older than me - but more recently I decided that is sort of crap - and I don't know if you've noticed this but it so true that there is "ageism" out there....like b/c I'm now 31 I feel like I totally remember 20 like it was yesterday...but then I go to talk to someone who is actually 20....and they look at me like I have two heads....so I hope on the flipside that I don't do that to people who are way older than me...but I'm sure I do and should probably be more careful not to.  I also have this bittersweet relationship with my age right now.  Up until the last few years I felt like my life was just getting started or just about to start, like there was lots to come....and now all of the sudden I feel like this is it and it's actually happening.  I'm a grown up.  Adult.  And that is SO strange to me in so many ways. I know that people that see me see me as who I am, a lady with two little kids, a dog and a husband....but in a weird way I still feel 23 with a gaggle of girlfriends and not a care in the world (except that at the time I had SO many cares...everything was very dramatic).  I don't care so much about getting older - like it doesn't bother me to talk about my age or anything like that - but I know that right now this blur that is my life is the stuff that I'll look back on with such fondness and that sort of breaks my heart a bit.  Like how small and sweet the babies are - it's like I've already forgotten how cute and small Jonah was just a year ago - at the time I always feel like I'm taking lots of pictures but now when I look at pictures of him as a baby or even last year I wish I had a million more so I could remember everything about him like his fat little legs or the way that his stomach stuck out and his back sort of warped forward.  And every day I smell Liam and he just smells so wonderful.  Like a mix of strawberries and milk that's a bit sour and it is such a delicious sweet smell that if I didn't write down I would be sure to forget.  

3. I have a really weird relationship with television shows.  I feel like I am friends with the cast of Girls and Parenthood, like the characters themselves and I'm pretty convinced that if I met any of the actors in real life we would be friends.  I just love both of those shows so much.  I also love Adele and Katy Perry in the same way.  I.e. I sort of feel like they are my friends in real life and want to have them over to my house to drink wine and watch TV.  Same with Ellen DeGeneres. 

4.  My life took a big turn this past summer.  I left a job that I had been at since...well really for my entire adult career.  In retrospect this likely was the best move for our family as a whole but professionally I struggled with the decision and what it meant for a while.  I'm still processing it all to be honest.  I feel like the last few months have been sort of up in the air in terms of what I was going to do - and really my identity alongside it and it is just recently that we've made the decision that I am going to stay at home for a while - I was off work this past year but really since it was part of my maternity leave it always felt like there was an expiration date on it.  Now that we've made the decision that I will be home I sort of just feel relieved - like I have this weight off my chest.  It was not an easy decision by any means.  I will miss working.  I will miss that shared perspective that Kirk and I had that came from us both being in high pressure fast paced work environments.  And I think to be a mom is tough regardless of if you work outside the home or not because if you stay home you miss out on your own life at work and to work you miss out on life at home - so there really is no perfect answer and you just have to figure out a way to navigate the best way for your family.  For us, for now this is the best thing - and I'm looking at it as a blessing that I get to be with my kids.  There is so much time in the day that we are together just us and that is such a special and nice thing to have.  I one hundred percent get frustrated and feel isolated and cut off but I do things to try to stay connected and in those moments of feeling really overwhelmed with crying/whining/messy babies I just put on YouTube and we have a dance party.  

Now for the quick monthly kid check in: 

Liam @ 10 Months:

Is faaaaaast at crawling.  

Puts EVERYTHING into his mouth.  Today it was a crayola marker (open....and purple in case you are curious).  Yesterday it was a Cars Sticker.  I saw him chewing on something so scooped him and didn't feel anything and then a few minutes later he was still chewing away so I lifted him above me and sure enough shiny metallic Cars sticker from the dollar store.  The day before that it was the fooseball ball...and the only reason I knew is that Jonah said "Mommy - Liam eats Ball" (thank goodness).  Other culprits include Ben's food (all. the. time.) and any type of fluff or material he comes across on the ground. 

Is pretty mellow and laid back.  The only time he squawks is when he's hungry or tired...and then he sounds sort of like a choking dinosaur...Kirk said that it hurts his throat to make the noise that Liam makes.  ha.  

He'll sit now in the grocery cart but after a while gets tired and sort of tips to the side or looks straight back and then starts to tip back (ha). 

Jonah @ 27 Months: 

Is so funny.  We have this little bag of random toys that were either mine when I was smaller or have been collected through the years when other peoples kids have been over...anyway he discovered it recently and loves digging into it and playing with it.  He found a mini-skateboard this week and has taken a liking to it.  He calls it "my skatingboard".  I love hearing his little toddler talk and how he's starting to put words together.  

Will now call my name about a hundred times and then when I answer say "What doing?".  Ha. He's cute. 

Will fall down a lot but always gets right back up and says "AhhhmmmOkaaaayyyyy" 

Got into Kirk's hair gel the other day and totally did his hair.  Twice.  Was super greasy but so sweet and hillarious.  

They are starting to play together and it's so cute I could die.
xoxo

old time friends

Pin It Now! there is just something about friends that you've known for a long time.
friends who you can interrupt and go off on a tangent with and talk about a million things and nothing all at once.
i am so lucky to have so many great good "gold" friends in my life.
friends who've known me since i was a girl and vice versa.
sometimes i find this whole adult world a bit lonely - don't get me wrong...i'm happily married and love the kids, loved my job when i was there....but there is just something i miss about being younger.  i think it's the constant socialization. my girlfriends were my total lifeline.  we were just always together.  skipping classes, going shopping, talking on the phone the entire evening, watching shows together while talking on the phone.  today's world is so "connected" and for that i'm thankful (i love that i can stay up to date with so many of my girlfriends that live abroade becuase of social media but there really is something to be said for a good old fashioned visit)
i am lucky enough to be one of those people that loved high school.  every single minute.  looking back i think we were exactly the crowd that you'd want your own kids to be in...."good girls" who got into a little bit of trouble but just the right amount, not the girls that were too popular that they did things that left them stuck because of bad decisions but just popular enough to be able to enjoy every minute.
i already worry about peer groups for my own kids...that cruel maze of social ranks that ends up making so many kids just hate their high school experience.  i hope my kids have the same type of experience i had growing up - and i think really all i can do is work with them to be kind and then when the time comes let them find their own way with some gentle help from the sidelines.
i had a visit with one  of my oldest and truest friends today.  she really is a keeper - such a sweet soul and goodness knows we've been through it all together....i just love her for it.
i still cannot believe we have kiddos of our own (and multiple at that), was so great to see meag and hazel today.....i mean look at these two?  melts my heart how adorbs they are.  seeing meag is a reminder of those "good old days" when life was really so much simpler.  we had no responsibilities so could spend the whole day together just being young and silly.

The cutest little couple! 

so thankful for a great visit today
xoxo

Currently

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I decided to mix things up a bit for this month and capture things in a slightly different format: 

Currently

Jonah's version (@26 months): 

Watching: Lorax, Buzz and Woody, Dora. He also kind of likes Finding Nemo but I had no idea that it was sort of scary.

Loving: Building things.  Stacking blocks, legos, starting to get into imaginative play - it is really cute.  Chooses a different stuffy almost every morning to bring downstairs to come and have breakfast with us.  

Going: "Dee-ice" (downstairs) - always wants to go "dee-ice" and "play hockey", also always wants to go skating and sledding (MORE!) Truthfully he's going everywhere all the time.  Has started asking me "Doing Mommy?" when he wants to know what I'm doing.  

Making him happy: Helping out around the house (he helps make the beds by passing me the pillows), putting back food into the pantry after meals, mopping the floor.  

Liam's Version (@9 months):

Watching: Jonah and Ben.  

Loving: His newfound freedom of crawling! 

Going: To daycare!  Just one day a week so I can focus on school but I think he's ready for it and he seems to like it so far.  

Making him happy:  Food!  Finally.  

Currently

My version: 

Watching: The Bachelor and Parenthood and that's pretty much  it.  Parenthood is seriously the best show ever.  If you haven't seen it you need to start watching it, it's like funny and serious and realistic all in one.  I just love how relatable all of the characters are.   

Loving: Stella & Dot.  When I started it was because I wasn't ready to go back to work full time but wanted something in the meantime to keep me connected with people.  I just love how surprised I've been with how much I've enjoyed it so far.  I've met some great people and I'm seriously in love with all of the jewelry.  

Going: On a date night once a week.  This is seriously the best decision we've made in a while.  It's been totally worth paying a sitter once a week to just have some time with Kirk and I just the two of us.  We're so lucky that we have so many great people in our lives but combine that with the kids and we just never really got time the two of us to hang out.  We're both liking our weekly pizza nights as just a casual and fun way to stay connected.  

Making me happy:  All of the exciting adventures coming up for me this year.  I cannot WAIT for all of the trips planned.  

Making me sad: I heard sad news that my mom's dog died last night - hurts my heart for my parents because they are such dog lovers and he was such a young dog.  So sad for them.  

12.12.12

Pin It Now! Today is a special day as it marks little Liam's 8 month anniversary.  And reaffirms that I only blog about my children.  There is lots going on around here - I wish I could capture it on a more daily basis like this blog or this one - but whatev's at least I blog once a month right?

This month Liam is all of the sudden a chunk.  He just seems so substantial, can pretty much sit on his own now (with the occasional sad topple over and cry).  He's finally starting to eat some foods other than formula but this has been a veeeeeery slow process.  I joke that its because the poor thing is always just on the go as part of this family of four that he doesn't really get the time devoted to eating but then the reality of it is that that's probably really not a joke at all but the truth - he seems pretty happy though so that's great.  His latest trick is blowing noises to people and waiting for a response.  So cute.  He's a champion sleeper at night, normally the second one up (after Kirk, before Jonah and I) and I can't imagine a cuter start to my day.  He loves fluffy blankets and brushing his teeth.

This one:

just melts my heart every day.  Two years and one month old this week - he is a going concern.  I realized when I went to choose our pictures for this years Christmas cards and literally had one or two to choose from from the entire year of him smiling.  Because he just doesn't sit down long enough to catch a picture.  Loves Santa, snowmen and hockey.  All of the sudden really into playing with other people "Mommy play?" and totally onto me if I try to sit down and play "MOMMY - PLAY!!!" - so down on the ground with mini sticks I go.

I have loved seeing the way these two boys are growing together - Liam is under the weather this week and yesterday Jonah went up to him as he was crying and gave him a big hug.  Melted my heart.

I have had a bunch of great Stella & Dot trunk shows and have met some fabulous women through the process.  Becoming a stylist was just what I was looking for and actually has ended up exceeding my expectations - I'm really loving it.  I just finished a marathon session of watching the entire season one of the show Girls.  It was seriously so fabulous and well done.  But reaffirmed my feelings that I'm getting old.  That was a bit of a random ramble but have to go now Liam is up!

xoxo

Two

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Last week we celebrated two.  Two years old - from baby to boy in the blink of an eye.  I thought the first year flew by - but this year?  Literally flew.  I cannot believe my baby is two!

We had a fun day on Jonah's actual bday together.  It was a weekday so he played hooky from daycare and spent the whole day at home - with a special visit from Grandparents and some Facetime to Nana and Nono in Florida.

Trying to take his picture is seriously difficult. He is always on the go and a blur of energy.

I had ordered a hockey cake earlier in the week so the two of us went to pick it up in the morning and I got him two star balloons.  He loved them - carried them all the way to dinner and home again.  We hadn't planned on a big party for this year but luck would have it that our neighbours stopped in right at cake time so that made it more fun!

He LOVED his big gift - ministicks and two nets.  Ben ate the ball within the first hour or so so we replaced it with a few from the dollar store.

This one continues to amaze me with just how easygoing he is.  He is seriously a sweetheart.  At 7 months is not so into eating any type of food except for bottles and Baby MumMum crackers.  Will tolerate the odd apple through his mesh popsicle but that's about it.  Is a great sleeper and just loves life.  

Have a great day! xoxo

Ok so not to brag or anything

Pin It Now! ....but I'm pretty sure these are the best pumpkins ever!

I'm so happy with the way they turned out.  I can't really take any credit...this wasn't my idea at all... I found the initial inspiration from Interest with a Cookie Monster pumpkin:

Source
but it looked like the mouth part had been carved out and that seemed like a lot of work so I just used black paper instead! I LOVED how easy these were to make, and Jonah loved helping make them and now loves saying hi to Elmo and Cookie every day.

If you want to make these yourself all you will need is:
Red paint
Blue paint
A pack of styrofoam balls
A pack of styrofoam eggs
Orange paint
A paintbrush
Black Cardstock
Glue
(I had a few of these things in my art supply already but got the rest at The Dollar store)...then you just paint the pumpkins, wait for them to dry and then glue the eyes, nose and mouth on! The mouth was the hardest part, I tried a few different ones on each pumpkin but found these ones with the little dots at the side of each mouth worked best.

Also - I have some big news....

 I have been busy over here with a new project - I signed up as a Stella & Dot stylist and I am having so much fun!  I have 6 shows coming up and looking forward to each of them - I just LOVE everything about the company and am finding it a nice break from the kids that I can for the most part just slot in when I have some downtime.  It's perfect for me for now - if you are interested in learning more about becoming a stylist or hosting your own event let me know - I love to talk about it!

 These are a few of the new social media buttons that they made available to us - aren't they cute?

And just because I love to share - here are a few of the pieces I'm ogling today:

Serenity Stone Drops

I normally wear studs but thinking these will be a good transition piece for me to try out a longer style

Petra Bracelet

This is SOOOO gorgeous in person, looks like a diamond encrusted sleeve!  Will be perfect for the holidays.

Mercer Wallet

I LOVE this wallet.  I just got a new wallet for my birthday so a new wallet is the last thing I need but I can't stop thinking about this baby.  The fringe zipper?  The pink interior?  Sigh.  

Have a great day! 

xoxo

You guys...

Pin It Now! I can't even believe how my life is just a jumble lately - a good jumble but a jumble.  I realized I TOTALLY forgot that Liam turned 6 months old this past week.  Oops.  So official pics to come but also tomorrow marks Jonah's 23 month marker....he is almost TWO.  Bah.  I can't even handle it.

Jonah is just such a big old joy of a boy...
He knows how to play with things.
Zooms cars and trains.

Is super good at puzzles and sticker books

Loves to climb and play

In fact - if you follow me on FB you know this already but today was his first class at gymnastics.  He ended the class looking similar to the above photo.  Covered in sweat with his hair matted to his head.  The kid just LOVES to GO.  

Liam @ 6 months

Is super cute.  

He is getting so much more animated and "talking" - I swear he said "Hi!" to Kirk this morning when he was having his bottle

Has all of the sudden praise the Lord above started sleeping for longer stretches at night.  Till 6:30 or so - it is so great. 

Isn't so into cereal but we're trying

Has his 6 month appointment tomorrow so we'll get the stats but I'm guessing he's gained a lot - seems much chubbier then the last appointment

For me things are good - there have been a lot of changes around here as of late but none of them bad, just new routines and things to get used to - and also some exciting things that I'm working on that I'll share on here soon.  Scrapping has taken a back seat to business but I have an entire scrapbooking weekend coming up soon so am excited for that!

Have a great day!
xoxo