Stuff I'm Lovin'

This is kind of a hodge-podge list of stuff I've "discovered" in the past month. Bear with me :)

• We don't have a whole lot of Valentine decorations (truth be told, it's never been my favorite holiday), so when I saw this on Pinterest, I figured, what the heck, I could give it a go. I actually really like how my version turned out:

• Ordered this about a month ago from a Groopdealz special (the maker is Your Spoiled Baby). LOVE how it turned out. :)

• The bestie gave me a late Christmas gift over the weekend. You can't get much more "us" than Ohio State BFF necklaces (Angie wears the I-O). I absolutely adore this!

• In an effort to actually get the boys to eat dinners I make (or at least something other than buttered noodles for the upteenth night in a row), I've been hitting the internet for ideas. That again led me to Pinterest, and then to this lovely lady's blog:

         So far, the two recipes I've tried (Italian Sausage Goulash and Hummus and Turkey Pinwheels) have          been winners, though I did substitute tomatoes for the roasted red peppers on the pinwheels. I'm           actually excited to try more recipes on her list!

• And then there's this guy. I'm kind of in love with him, too. :)

Seven Weeks Down, Four to Go

Littlest is seven weeks old today. :)

As you can see, he's not exactly short on personality, either. Wish I could raise just the one eyebrow like that.

He's SUCH a fun baby. He continues to eat & sleep well, he's full of smiles, and he's starting to take an interest in his brothers. I love spending my days with him.

But Justin reaching the seven-week milestone also means I only have four weeks until I return to work.

Just as when I reached this point with the other two boys, I have mixed emotions about returning. Ideally, in an absolutely perfect world, yes, I would love to be a stay-at-home mom. 

This world is far from perfect, though, so that's not our reality.

Which is not to say I'm destroyed about going back to work, either. I took Mr. Magoo to the office for a visit yesterday, and it was SO nice to visit with folks I haven't seen since I (literally) ran out of the office two months ago.

There's something to be said for a being in adult atmosphere :)

The thing that makes me a bit nervous is the new routine of it all. Mike works long shifts a few days a week, so those days it's just me & all three boys in the evenings. I think I've been handling it pretty well (as I told Mike, it's not easy, but that doesn't mean it's bad), but then again, I've been home all day to take care of random household chores.

The transition to working 8 hours, then coming home with the brood to cook dinner, eat, clean (both the house & the boys), and play with the munchkins has me a bit on edge.

I want my time with the boys during the week to mean something; I want them to remember Mommy & Daddy as interacting with them in the evenings as opposed to frantically trying to do laundry while making dinner and running the bath at the same time.

You know, like this:

So it's on my mind. But I've got four weeks to figure it out.

Nothing like feeling rushed.

My Week (54) in Instagram

 Monday 1/14/13: Resized and rhodium-plated. Reunited and it feels so good! :)

Monday 1/14/13: It was a good cupcake. 

(You should have seen Nolan; no photo since I was sick on the couch)

 

Tuesday 1/15/13: Just over a month old and already in the Bumbo. Zoiks.

Tuesday 1/15/13: Ginger ale, tissues, soup. Or, how I spent most of my week with this damn cold.

Thursday 1/17/13: Smiley guy is six weeks old!!!

 

Saturday 1/19/13: After a long hiatus, monthly playdates have returned!

Saturday 1/19/13: Fifty-five-degree Saturday in January = enjoying an ice cream cone outside.

Saturday 1/19/13: Late-night funny faces :)

Sunday 1/20/13: Matching PJs!

Want to link up? Head over to Suzanne's blog!

Monthly Mumbles, January Edition

10. I've been battling a NASTY cold since Sunday. For reals. I haven't had one this bad since I went back to work after having Nolan and had to be exposed to my petri dish of an office. The cloudy feeling in my head has finally subsided a bit, but my nose is still a faucet. Crossing my fingers that the kids don't get this, but I'm not too optimistic.

9. We had family portraits taken over the weekend. Ideally, I would have loved for Megan to capture images our new family of five, but with Mike's work schedule during her holiday visit to Ohio, we just couldn't make it happen. Oh well. I'm okay with how it came out, even if I'm in serious need of a haircut:

8. Mike & I did something yesterday that we've been talking about for awhile--we refinanced our home loan! IT FEELS SOOOOOOOO GOOD! We're making some serious progress on our "get financially healthy" new year's resolution--and it's only January!

7. We had temperatures in the 60s last weekend. Nothing like getting spring fever in the middle of January--only to have it crushed when remembering we still have ALL of February to get through. {Le Sigh.}

6. So much fun stuff coming up for my soon-to-be-five-year-old; I booked his birthday party at an ice cream parlor, I signed him up to play T-ball this spring, and we have Kindergarten registration next month! I can't believe we're at this point with my little Aiden already. I'm both excited and hesitant for him to grow up; I love the new experiences, but it's hard at the same time.

5. This is one of my favorite things in our bedroom (apologies for the fuzzy photo). :)

4. My dad is officially retiring at the end of the month. He's actually already had his last day of work, but he's enjoying nearly a month of vacation before the whole thing is done. Dad's not big on parties, so we enjoyed a low-key celebration at a local steakhouse a few weeks ago on his last week of work. I'm excited for him to start this new phase of his life! If anyone deserves a chance to relax, it's my dad. TRUST ME. :)

3. I have grand plans to start potty-training Nolan this weekend. We're going to go S-L-O-W with this, and if it doesn't seem to make sense to him, we'll scrap it for a few months. But I really, really, really hate buying diapers for two kids.

2. Justin is 6 weeks old today, which also means I'm going back to work in 5 weeks. I have a lot left to accomplish here at home in that time--most notably spending as much time as possible cuddling my little man. :)

1. Excited to put out St. Patrick's Day decorations next month! As soon as Valentine's Day is over, it's time to "bring out the green" in our house. And green also means spring...c'mon, spring...

Wordless Wednesday: Not to Be Forgotten

Little brother has been getting an awful lot of play here in the old blog lately (He's new! He's fresh! He's adorable!), but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about the two older brothers...

 EXTREME CHEESE!!!

 I can't believe he let me take pictures of him.

Lately he buries his head in the couch when he sees my camera.

Love this shot, especially since they typically won't get this close to one another without fighting.

I'm excited for the day I can add Justin to the mix, but for now, Nolan's having some issues with the definition of the word "gentle." We'll get there. :)