Music Obsession.

I'm pretty much obsessed with this song right now.

It's happy and fun.

You'll be singing it for days and it will leave you warm and fuzzy.

Enjoy. 

Our Anniversary {a few days late}.

Brett and I celebrated four years of marriage last Thursday.

We got to spend the afternoon together, without the kids, enjoying the sun and good food.

I kept saying over and over, "I can't believe how much has happened in just four years."

We've done a lot. We've gone through a lot.

We've had great times and hard times.

We've laughed and cried, loved and disliked, changed but remained the same.

Married life hasn't been easy but it's made us better people.

We're better individuals and we're better as a couple because we have one another. 

I thank God everyday for Brett and the family we have created together.

I honestly don't know where I would be without him.

Happy Anniversary To Us.

Easter Festivities.

We had a great Easter weekend.

We dyed eggs, went to church, had egg hunts, opened baskets, spent time with family, ate tons of good food, and relaxed.

I hope your Easter was enjoyable as ours. 

4am.

I don't like getting woken up at 4am.

I think most people would agree.

I saw a lot of the 4am hour during the first 6 months of Jacob's little life. 

Jacob would wake up for the 2nd or 3rd time on any given night and I would be angry.

More than angry.

I would sometimes just lay there wishing he would just fall back asleep, trying to ignore the crying.

Sometimes I would throw the covers off of me, stomp out of bed and say a few words I would rather not repeat.

I was tired and worn out.

About 2 months ago we decided to let him cry it out.

Hard decision but well worth it in the end.

Ever since that day he has fallen asleep on his own.

No rocking, no swaying, no cuddling, no light patting on the bottom.

We just sing a little song, kiss him on the head, lay him down and he falls asleep.

It's quite wonderful.

Except that I miss cuddling with him.

Jacob's never really been very cuddly but he would let me rock him to sleep, most of the time.

After hours of crying and screaming he would fall asleep in my arms and snuggle up against me.

I would be so grateful he finally had fallen asleep and was quiet that I would lie him down and go about the day, not thinking twice about it.

But now I miss it.

Last night he woke up crying. Usually I can give him a pacifier, turn on some music and he's out again within minutes, but not last night.

I was annoyed.

I wanted to go back to sleep. I was tired.

I took him out of the crib and starting rocking him in the chair.

As he was looking up at me and slowly falling back to sleep I realized it had been so long since I had put him to sleep this way.

I instantly had a change of heart.

Until that moment I hadn't realized I missed rocking my little boy so much.

I smiled down at him, sang softly and rubbed his little head. 

He fell asleep about 5 minutes later but I couldn't stop rocking him. 

We sat there for another 10 minutes before I laid him down.

 

Time is going by so fast and I often forget to slow down and enjoy tender moments with Brett and the boys. 

Last night was a reminder, even at 4am.

Help!

So if you haven't noticed I keep changing things around on this here blog.

I'm not really happy with the look of it but I don't know what to do.

I'm not too computer savvy but would love to spruce things up a bit.

If you have any tips or advice please pass along the info.

Thanks!

p.s. what I really want is a complete makeover done by Heather at Life Made Lovely.

I'll be accepting donations.

Stevie and Rod.

They were amazing. 

They were fantastic.

They were spectacular.

Sunday night I had a wonderful time listening to Ms. Stevie Nicks and Mr. Rod Stewart sing to a packed crowd at the Hollywood Bowl. My mom was generous enough to get tickets for herself, my sisters and I so we could attend.

I have been a fan of both since the day I was born, that goes for my sisters too.

You see, growing up we didn't watch classic movies like Sound of Music or watch cartoons like the Smurfs.

From sun up to sun down we listened to music.

Good music.

Oldies, Classic Rock, Pop, you name it we listened to it.

To this day I am a huge fan of 80's and early 90's music, thanks to my parents.

I have so many memories with my family with music as a huge focal point.

So it was only fitting that my mom, sisters and I would want to see Stevie and Rod in concert.

I had never been to the Hollywood Bowl (shame on me) and the venue is outstanding.

I recommend that everyone go if they have the chance. 

I was only able to get a couple of photos since I technically was not supposed to have my camera with me. 

It's not like I could have captured their awesomeness with my camera anyway.

Ms. Stevie

Amy

Me and Erin

Emily

Mom

Mr. Rod

Thanks mom for the tickets and the wonderful night. 

It was a blast.

Catch Up.

Hi There.

Lets play catch up, shall we?

Here's what's been going down the last few days.

We play monster trucks everyday and take it very seriously.

 When did he get so big?

 The boys have made her turn so gray.

 Brett obviously missed the memo regarding me eating better.

 The boys have really started to play nicely together...sometimes.

 There was a lizard in our backyard....yuck.

 My Grandma gave me a stack of old books that belonged to my dad and uncles when they were kids. I love them and I think I'll be able to find a nice little spot for them in the boy's room.

 We planted flowers this weekend and Ethan is a huge help with watering. It's one of his "jobs".

 "Hi, I just like looking out the window."

 We make pancakes on the weekends.

Jacob is now pulling himself up to everything.

Oh, and he's not quite 8 months old yet. 

Yep, he's crazy.

He already has two little bruises on his head and I expect many more. 

I predict that he will be walking or at least trying to walk in the next month. 

He makes me extremely nervous. 

Well that's it...for now.

I went to one of the best concerts ever last night, but that's a whole other post in itself.

Bye.

Cleaning and The Kids.

Today the kids are at my Grandma's house for most of the day.

I'm doing some closet cleaning and it's impossible to get any major project done with the two of them here.

Thankfully she's always willing to have them.

And on a side note, how awesome is it that my kids get to spend time with their Great Grandparents?

I'm so lucky they are young and healthy and a huge part of our lives.

Plus, Ethan would most likely rather live at their house than ours. 

Anyway, I'm getting back to work but I thought I'd leave you with a couple fun videos of the kids.

This is one of the many contraptions we have to keep Jacob occupied. He likes it.

He's a rock star at heart. 

Swimsuits and A Diet.

The two go hand in hand, don't they.

Since the weather is getting warmer, and Brett and I are taking a little vakay down to Cabo in a couple of weeks, I've been thinking about both.

I found this cute, inexpensive suit at Target, which will do the trick for our upcoming trip.

But I really have my eye on these...

I love this teal top from JCrew.

 I currently have an obsession with strips and this one piece from JCrew is just my style.

I'm in love with the yellow bow on this suit from Anthropologie.

It's from Anthropologie, enough said.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to cover up my middle and rear as best as possible since I have two young kids and the body to prove it. 

Plus when you're running down the beach after your two year old, the more you're covered up, the less the chance of something popping out that shouldn't be shown. 

Which leads me to thinking about a diet.

I've never been on a diet. I don't really like the idea of a diet. 

I think if you deprive yourself of what you really want you'll ultimately crave it so bad you'll overdue it. Diets are great for some people and really work, but I just don't think they are for me.

But the choices I make can be better.

If I want a cheeseburger, I don't have to go to In n Out to get one. I can make a turkey burger at home.

If I want something sweet, I don't have to eat half a cake. I can have some fruit with a little sugar sprinkled on top. 

Sure, I'm going to splurge now and again. I love food and I'm not going to sacrifice my love of food. I just need to make better decisions on my day to day choices.

I was hoping to be in better shape for our upcoming trip but with only a couple weeks left it's just not going to happen.

So I'm looking toward June 1st. 

That should give me enough time to get myself on track and maybe lose a couple of pounds along the way. 

And hopefully come summer, when I'm chasing kids down the beach, not too much will be flopping about.

Grasshopper.

Yesterday there was a grasshopper in our backyard.

Ethan was amazed.

Every time it would jump he would yell and jump up and down himself with excitement.

The shrieking sounds that were coming out of this child was almost more than I could handle. 

It was hilarious...

and it made for a very entertaining late Sunday afternoon.

Blue Eyes.

Don't they just make you melt?

How.

How do you keep a 2 year old from putting their finger painted hands on their face?

How does my house become a disastrous mess in a matter of minutes?

How did my bangs grow so long overnight that I can no longer see?

How did I manage to drop my large glass prep bowl only to have it shatter all over the kitchen floor?

How is it possible that both boys have cried, whined, complained and thrown more tantrums in the last three days than in the last month?

How have I managed to make it through this week?

Coffee.

And loads and loads of Patience.