Michigan 2015

We made our annual pilgrimage to Michigan to visit friends and family. Honestly, I think traveling with kids gets worse before it gets better. The boys cried a lot in the car, and that was even with stopping and staying in a hotel.  Tim just tunes them out, but I want to rip my face off!!!
But alas, it's all worth it, right? RIGHT?

It was a fun time seeing everyone, spending time at the lake and trying out paddle boards for the first time. They make nice boats for kids to sit on and get paddled around FYI.

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, and looked back on how crazy life has been in the last five years. Of course we wouldn't change a thing. Crazy suits us!

Let the torture begin! 

Michigan!

Cousin Mandy and Blair

5 years of love! 

My first born crush

My BFF Rachel and baby Silas.  Between us, we have 6 boys! 

Boy Crazy! 

Paddle Boarding with Grandpa Brian

Visiting Aunt Shar and Uncle Lance

Daddy Pillow

Great Grandma Trudy

The pool party is over. 

Golden Birthday Boy

Our sweet little Finn is 1 today on the 1st! Golden Birthday Boy! 

We love this little peanut so much. So full of smiles and happiness. 

Happy Birthday! 

First Birthday Invitations + Minted

We have an almost one year old in the house! Little Finnley Parker will soon be One in August! This past year has just flown by and it's so crazy to think that at this time last summer I was hugely pregnant and so ready to meet our little Finners.

I've been planning and thinking about having a little party for Finn, and as a family, we have come up with some fun ideas. The older boys think Finn would like to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese's, but I have to remind them that the party if for Finn and not them.

When planning a party, of course you need some invitations! So when I was contacted by Minted to check out their Kids Birthday Party Invitations, I totally jumped at the chance. I've used Minted before for Christmas Cards and I absolutely love their designs and the quality is very nice. They also have beautiful art work too, which I happen to have a couple of art pieces from them as well.

There were so many cute invitations to choose from, it was hard to narrow down which ones I loved the best. But here are a few of my favorites...

See!! So cute! And so hard to choose just one design. I want them all!!!!  

We are so excited to celebrate our little Finn! He is such a sweetie pie, and deserves a really special day. 

Almost one! 

*I was contacted by Minted to write about their Kid's Invitations, I was not compensated monetarily, but I was offered credit to their store. 

Summer!!!!!!!!!!

I know that it isn't technically summer yet, but since my husband is done with work for the school year... it's summer!!!!!

We've finished preschool for the year for Everett. And now we've started sports camp, t-ball, and soccer camp. Anything to keep our active boy moving. Deacon will be 2.5 next week and we are having a party for him. Complete with a pinata and cupcakes and pizza. The poor kid gets such a crappy birthday being so close to Christmas, so why not celebrate his life when it's warm and sunny?
Finnley is crawling and standing and eating every Cheeto he can find on the floor. He's such a smart little guy. I mean, seriously, I show him how to do something and then he copies it. And he's so cute and little, like super, 3% on the growth charts, little. I don't care... I think he's awesome.

We have a super fun summer full of lots of fun activities. Trying to stay sane with three really active boys. My husband asks me everyday when we are going to have number 4. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM? This is the first year since 2010 that I haven't been pregnant at some point in a year. EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.
My poor body needs a break.
We were on a break!!!! (name that show)

And that is all I've got... so here is my obligatory photo dump:

NEVER MIND! Just realized that this is the new computer (the boys broke our old one grrr) And so I have no pictures on here. But this is the newest photo of Finn at 10 months. Because he is the baby and the sweetest and doesn't call me the following:
Stupid Mama
Bad Mama
Poopy Mama
Gerbil Mama (don't ask)

The other day I said to my husband, There better be a special place in Heaven for moms of all boys.
He said, Isn't just being in Heaven special enough?
ugh.

Here is the best baby in the whole entire world. Why would I need another.............. ????

LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM! 

These days...

Is it Spring yet? The days are dark and cold and I'm ready for long sunny days and warmth! We've been getting by, but it's hard to leave the house with three kids when it's minus 100 degrees outside, or so it feels. I like to hibernate, but this is getting ridiculous! The baby weight doesn't just fall off by itself when you sit on the couch and binge on Sister Wives. I want to go for a walk, or go to the zoo. Never mind, Why would I go to the zoo when I live at the zoo? Is it just my boys or are all little boys wild feral children? We are caged animals, and we need to be free! 

Someday we'll be free of the tyranny of winter! But in the mean time, here are some pics of the boys. Because what else am I supposed to take pictures of? 

"first we are going to bring all our toys out into the living room, then we are going to dump and throw them everywhere. After that, let's have a wrestling match, hurt each other and then start screaming as loud as we can. Top it off with dumping our water\juice\food on the floor and pooping our pants simultaneously. "

Frenemies

Urkel in the house! 

My peanut, like for real. He's barely on the growth charts. 

The spin-off of Hoarders: Hoarder Children. 

My cuteness cup runneth over! 

I'm pretending to share, but really I'm going to scream if you take my cookie.

My only blue eyed child.

My loves! 

totes adorbs

7 Months!

My good luck charm! 

6 Months

How can my baby be a half of year old now? He was just born!!! I love this little peanut so much!

2014 Book Review

Another year, another year of books. My goal again this year was to read 52 books. I read 34. whaa whaa. I mean, it's pretty good, but in 2013, I read 38 books. You might say, You had a baby in 2014!!! Who has time to read? News Flash Walter Cronkite, I had a baby right at the end of 2012 too... a baby who was actually supposed to be born in 2013. So for realz, I also had a baby in 2013. No excuses!! And no, no babies for me in 2015. Please girl.

I think last year when I posted my books, I wrote about each one and highlighted my favorites. This year I'm going to mix it up and use my Goodreads rating system using the star amount I gave each book. Last year my favorite book was Me Before You, by Jo Jo Moyes.
This year, I don't know that I had a stand out favorite, although I did enjoy quite a few books.

One Star: 
No one star books this year. But basically, if I don't like a book, I just stop reading it. Life is too short to read bad books!!

Two Stars:
The Best of Me, Nicholas Sparks

Three Stars:
Dad is Fat, Jim Gaffigan
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Lost Lake, Sarah Addison Allen
Blame, Michelle Huneven
Off Course, Michelle Huneven
The Middlesteins, Jami Attenberg
Labor Day, Joyce Maynard
The Burgess Boys, Elizabeth Strout
Still Lolo, Lauren Scruggs

Four Stars:
The Secret Keeper, Kate Morton
All Fall Down, Jennifer Weiner
The Matchmaker, Elin Hilderbrand
California, Edan Lepucki
Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
The Vacationers, Emma Straub
Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife, Peggy Vincent
The Hundred-Foot Journey, Richard Morais
We Were Liars, E. Lockhart
Farewell to the East End, Jennifer Worth
Shadows of the Workhouse, Jennifer Worth
Garden of Stones, Sophie Littlefield
The Girl You Left Behind, Jojo Moyes
The Valley of Amazement, Amy Tan
The Husband's Secret, Liane Moriarty
The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbough
Molakai'i, Alan Brennert
Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver

Five Stars: Aka, the best books I read in 2014
Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty
You Should Have Known, Jean Hanff Korelitz
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, Sheri Fink
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed
Burial Rites, Hannah Kent
Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times, Jennifer Worth


I have so many books I want to read in 2015. My Kindle and my Library holds are insane. My goal again this year, is to read 52 books... we shall see.

Happy Reading!

5 Months!

I love this little guy so much!