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26 February 2013

why do they grow so fast??

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Max.

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Nick.

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Oskar.

I absolutely adore the newborn phase. So much. Looking at these makes my heart want to explode. I know I'm biased, but I think Rob and I make some gorgeous newborns.


I guess it's a good thing Oskar is still waking up a few times a night so I'm not tempted to have another one.


25 February 2013

sunday best!

Well, since we cannot seem to go very long without getting sick (boo) we stayed home yesterday and kept our yucky stomach bug germs to ourselves. But since I didn't share the week before's outfit here it is today! Unfortunately, it is very hard to stay put together when you have a nursing baby. I looked very polished before we left the house (I never get ready in time to take pictures before church though), but by the time we got home I looked a little disheveled...

sweater: Old Navy
top: Old Navy
skirt: New York & Co.
belt: Forever 21
hose: Target (got them for Valentine's day!)
shoes: DSW

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I would have also loved to wear a necklace since the neckline was calling for it (at least in my opinion), but until Mr. Oskar stops being so grabby jewelry is out of the question (it's tough enough having hair).

Speaking of Mr. Oskar, I went ahead and snapped a bunch of photos of us just because. I love that I have a blue eyed boy; I never thought I would. But I love that all three of my boys have different colored eyes.
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And yes, that is a zit on my face. 27 years old and I'm still plagued with bad skin. Jeesh.

22 February 2013

weekly interrogation: Michelle Smith!

After a little hiatus while I've been trying to get my bearings following Oskar's birth my weekly interrogation is back! And I'm so excited to begin again with this interrogation of my good friend Michelle! One of the best things about living here has been all the wonderful people we've met, and Michelle has definitely been a blessing in my life! She is an AMAZING person and has such a great outlook on life. (and is great to talk to!) She's also a creator and makes the cutest things; we've loved exchanging homemade gifts. She recently opened her own little business making kids clothing items and I couldn't be more excited for her as she works tirelessly at this new adventure!

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name: Michelle Smith
website:  www.facebook.com/BizyBelle (Join for fun contests, exclusive sales, and more). My store is www.etsy.com/shop/BizyBelle


1.What do you “do”?
I create fun, unique, wearable kids clothing.


2. Why do you do what you do?I LOVE IT! I love sewing, creating, crafting, but BizyBelle came as an extension of my love for my daughter. Everything that I create for BizyBelle, I make with love and care as my daughter is my inspiration 



3.Where are you from?
I am from the lovely Mitten State.


4. Favorite color?
Peacock


5. Favorite food?
I am a foodie, so this is a difficult question... I heart cheese!


6. Favorite shoes?
My converse that I wore on my wedding day. They may be old and a little tattered but they are my favorites!


7. Favorite place in the whole wide world?
As an Army Wife, traveling has become second nature but I have come to realize that my favorite place is where ever my family is.


8. Favorite piece of playground equipment?
The park bench... I am a mom, I never get to rest! Just kidding, I love the feeling of swinging (however, the seats are so much tighter on my hips than I remember them being).


9. Your funniest story?
I am a sassy blonde, I have way too many to share.


10. Mac or PC?
PC (please, don't judge me).


11. Manual or automatic?
AUTOMATIC. Uggh, the thought of driving a manual makes me anxious. In my first attempt to learn, I was a teen and I ended up hitting my parent's garage. The second time, I was in my 20's and my husband tried to teach me. Let's just say in the "Me vs. The Hill"- the hill won.


12. What do you consider your best asset?
My spirit.


13. Guiltiest pleasure?
Snacks... oh help me, I love snacks!


14. Biggest pet peeve?
Negative, mean people. They are draining and I will never understand them.


15. What do you consider priceless?
The people that I love. I know what it is like to loose people that I love and there is nothing that means more to me than those I love.


16. If you could sit next to anyone on an airplane, who would it be?
God.


17. What would you choose as your last meal?
I would have to get a sampler platter...


18. What era in time do you connect with the most?
20's-40's... I feel so strongly about that time-frame. I had a vintage inspired wedding (finger waves and all). Ahhh, I love that whole era!


19. Your motto for life?
I have a few mottos that I live by, "It is what it is"- there are some things that we have no control over, I let those things go but what I can change, I foucs on. I love to focus on the positive in life!


20. Best advice you can give?
Take the time to know and love yourself. There will be enough people who will try to put you down, don't help their cause. Love yourself and trust your instincts.


Make sure you check out her etsy shop and facebook page; she makes adorable kids items!! 


*insert adorable photos of Oskar wearing the onesie she made him*  (forgive me, I never took a picture of him wearing it before he outgrew it; major fail on my part)


Right now she has a contest going on; once her facebook page reaches 200 like she's having a giveaway! So go check her out at www.facebook.com/BizyBelle!


If you'd like to participate, just click on the 'weekly interrogation' tab at the top and follow the instructions there. Hope to see you here!

21 February 2013

this kid is awesome.

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Oskar had his 6 month check-up today and it (of course) included some shots. I was dreading it, like every parent does, and ready to swoop in and comfort him the moment it was over.

Well, when he got stuck he did the whole "I'm-so-upset-I'm-not-breathing-for-a-few-moments-while-I-muster-up-a-giant-scream" (parents, I know you know what I'm talking about) and then let it all out in one giant outburst. Rob immediately picked him up and he stopped crying and started smiling at the nurse, and me, and anyone who would look at him.

While we waited to see if he had any allergic reactions to the immunizations he fell asleep in my arms. And that was that.

He's been super happy all day; you'd never guess he'd had those dreaded shots.

And that is why I love this third baby of mine. He makes things easy for me.

Well, most of the time. He does have his moments.

20 February 2013

and a follow-up to yesterday.

Here's a side-by-side of the original and the army version. I didn't think it was possible for it to be any more awesome, but this made it even funnier.



I hope the Dolphins send them one heck of a care package. I think they earned it!

19 February 2013

it's been crazy 'round these parts...

So I'm just popping in to share a couple videos that made me laugh recently.

First, the best Harlem Shake I've seen.


And second, some awesomeness from Afghanistan.


Hope you like them too!

14 February 2013

all you need is love.

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The Valentine's the boys and I made. I ordered the Valentine's Kiwi Crate and it didn't disappoint. 
HOW CUTE ARE THESE?!?!

A few little notes for today:

1. I know people love to complain about Valentine's Day and how it's only a holiday so people spend money. But me? I like having an excuse to give my main men some extra lovin'. And you better believe they are all getting loved on today. (Hey, I gotta do it while I can, right? Those teenage years are coming fast.)

2. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING MOM!!! WE LOVE YOU!! SENDING YOU LOVE AND HUGS AND SLOPPY KISSES!

3. One of my images is part of Let the Kids Dress Themselves' LOVE post today! Feel free to check it out and see all the other amazing images featured today. And you get to learn about how we all capture emotion, so it's educational too!

4. I hope all of you are having a wonderful day! And if you don't have a valentine or yours is far away, I hope you are celebrating with a little indulgence anyway 'cause you deserve it! And if teleporters were already invented, I'd send one of my handsome little men to you for a little smooch. But since they aren't, you'll just have to imagine it.

13 February 2013

ugh.

So a few years ago I posted this question about how to get sweet oranges.

Yeah, didn't work. No matter what (big navel, feel of the peel, whatever) the oranges/tangerines/clementines I buy are always bitter. Well, except the one time I bought a bag of oranges from a guy off the side of the road. But even those weren't really sweet, they just weren't bitter.

I bought a bag of clementines from Costco the other day and was so excited to eat them. Well, these are the worst I've ever had. I had to spit it out it was so bitter. And now I have a giant bag of inedible clementines. Thanks Costco.

So I'm done. No more orange buying for me. I'm gonna stick with orange juice.

11 February 2013

sunday best: baby fashion

So... We're still sick. Thankfully on the upswing (FINALLY), but still sick. So instead of wearing a cute outfit to church yesterday, I wore sweatpants at home with sick kids. So here is another baby outfit I love. Oskar is the only child to wear this since I bought it after Christmas... I figure he can have new clothes every now and then if it's cute enough.

bodysuit: Old Navy. I'm kind of a sucker for monsters.

Also, Oskar did not appreciate being put down so I could take pictures of him in his cute suit. So he made sure I knew it.
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09 February 2013

just an update.

While I have, thankfully, been spared the germs running rampant through our house (knock on wood) I have made up for it in sleep deprivation. I can't wait for everyone to get better.

Also, I'm sure no one is enjoying the downslide of my bedside manner as a result of said sleep deprivation.

But as a distraction, I present to you a photo from the past; I was looking through old photos today and can't believe how much time has passed. Our pre-Army life feels like a lifetime ago. So, here is a photo of Max and I in early 2007:
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It's funny to think back to that time; I thought I knew what I was doing... yeah, not so much. Makes me feel for all the poor unfortunate first children of the world who had to suffer through mom and dad's blundering.

Thankfully Max appears to have survived... so far.

06 February 2013

sweet baby cheeks.

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I had a good old-fashioned naked baby photo shoot with Oskar a couple of weeks ago. And while I'm not showing those cheeks to the world wide internet, you may admire the cheeks on his face.

This. kid. I'm smitten, I tell you!

05 February 2013

we love kiwi crate!

(photos from our very first kiwi crate.)
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I saw a review of Kiwi Crate on someone's blog about a year ago and fell in love with the idea. And thought about getting a subscription for my boys, but really debated the idea since I have plenty of art supplies already (so why did I need to pay for some to come every month?). But what pushed me over the edge and finally sign up was the fact that I didn't need to prepare anything. It comes all ready for us to dive in. Which was very appealing for homeschooling, I figured I would save them up for days when I really didn't have the time or energy to plan a lesson. And that's how we do it; I don't regret it one bit!

They have been fantastic, so fun, and I could go on and on. The boys love it too; I added in the second sibling last fall. While there are plenty of supplies for both boys to do something (like two wind cars in the photos above), it got to the point where they were fighting over certain things that there would only be one of (like the robot crate only had one wind-up). I think what happened is Nick finally got old enough to do the crafts himself and didn't like playing second fiddle to Max.

So if you have kids and aren't so great at coming up with crafts to do, get one! It is SO worth the cost, even if you have plenty of supplies already. Just look at it the way I do; you're paying for the endless ideas (you can go online to see more craft ideas to do on the same topic).

I am not endorsing them and get absolutely nothing for writing this, I'm just sharing for my friends who asked about it and have shown interest in getting them. They do, however, have a refer-a-friends program, so if you sign up by clicking on this you can get $10 off. Pretty sweet, huh?

I'm just sorry it's taken me so long from when I took the pictures to actually blogging about it! Guess I shouldn't be surprised though, I'm always behind.

04 February 2013

sunday best: baby fashion

There is no outfit for me today since we have all been hermits the past few days while the little ones (and now the big ones) have been battling a nasty cold. So instead I present to you some baby fashion! I try to take pictures of my favorite outfits Oskar wears since he's so stinkin' cute. And while I don't always remember to (insert sad face, especially the for the stuff he's grown out of) I have caught a couple. This one is a hand-me-down from Nick, it's one of those things that he didn't really need since I had kept everything from Max, but was too cute to pass up. Although it ended up being awesome that I bought it because it ended up being perfect for Nick's first Halloween when I dressed him up as Pubert Addams.

body suit: Old Navy
socks: Target

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He's got such a sweet face! It blows my mind sometimes that he's going to grow into a hairy man.

01 February 2013

sunday best once again!

This is what I wore this past Sunday and I loved it. I was really comfortable and felt stylish at the same time. And I'm pretty sure curling my hair plays a large part in how attractive I feel... why couldn't I have been born with curly hair?? I'm so tempted to get a perm.

blouse: Old Navy. I got it after Christmas, and since I online shop I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. I tried to get nicer tops instead of my usual tee's so I look a little more put together (even though I am FAR from it with these three kids and crazy animal). Thankfully I LOVE it!
shirt: Old Navy. It's just a light grey tee, and is necessary since the blouse is sheer.
skirt: hand-me-down from my sister-in-law. It's one of the two skirts I've been wearing since Oskar was born and I was really tired of it. But after finally getting a respite from it for a few weeks I didn't mind wearing it again.
belt: Forever 21
hose: Target
boots: Chinese Laundry from DSW

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And since I was feeling sassy I took some head shots too:
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The middle one is me cracking up because it really is kind of ridiculous to take pictures of yourself. While trying to use what you've learned watching Americas Next Top Model for years... note: I'm not cut out to be a model.