Kindergarten!

It happened.

I have a baby in school.

I know he's so happy and excited to be

in school, but this Mama is counting the minutes until

we can pick him up at 2:50.

Where has the time gone?

Sorry for the Cameron overload lately. He's had some pretty

monumental days as of late. But don't worry, I'll be back to blogging

about all my babies very soon! :)

Interview With A 5 Year Old

As I said in my last post, my oldest baby is 5 years old. 

I can hardly stand the idea that 5 years have already gone by. 

I feel like a couple blinks ago I was just learning the art of diaper changing.

But,  here we are, 5 years into the wild journey of parenting.

Now, I could tell you how big he's gotten, and how tall he's grown...

but I thought it would be much more fun to interview him this year. 

Maybe I'll do this every year. I'm sure these kind of posts will be fun to look back on.

(Just for the record-he's growing at a rate that can't even be explained. 

And it's costing us a fortune!)

CAMERON'S FIVE YEAR INTERVIEW

What's your favorite color?

Green.

What's your favorite food?

Chicken.

What's your favorite sport?

Basketball. (Lord, help me. Don't tell Dad.)

What's your favorite movie?

How to Train Your Dragon 2

What's your favorite animal?

Zebra.

What's your favorite thing to do with Dad?

Build Legos.

What's your favorite thing to do with Mom?

Snuggle. (Awwww!)

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A Police Officer.

What do you like most about having two siblings?

Always having someone to be with. (I swear he actually said that.)

What's your favorite memory?

Playing on the beach with all my cousins (actually his second cousins)

and going to the Zoo for my birthday.

8.31.14

Today is Cameron's birthday!

His requests for today? Pizza and the Zoo!

Lucky for Mom and Dad, those are two things his siblings were happy to do too.

This morning started with donuts and presents, another Cam request.

Shortly there after, we made our way to Como Zoo.

It was such a nice day! Sure it was warm, but with the breeze, it was almost perfect.

Unfortunately, wrangling 3 kids made it impossible to take as many

pictures as I would have liked to, but I got a few good ones.

Once we had our fill of giraffes and polar bears, we headed to Cosetta's, 

an Italian pizzeria, for pizza and cannolis.

Well there's a birthday cake in the oven, and kids who need naps, so I need to run.

His 5 year update will be up in a couple days!

5 Minutes.

5 MINUTES IN MY HEAD

How the hell is it already 3:30?!

Scratch that, why isn't it 9:30?

I'm so tired.

But my to-do list isn't getting any shorter.

Crap. Did I put the laundry in the dryer?

When did I even put it in the wash?

UUUGGGHHH. I better just wash it again.

What's for dinner?

How is it that I'm the one who makes the menus, and does 

the shopping, and yet I can never remember what's for dinner?

I need a hair cut.

And to take this now hideous nail polish off.

Maybe after the kids go to bed.

HHHHAAAAAAAA! Doubt it.

How can kids this little, make a mess this big?

Dumb question, Katie.

There's 3 of them.

You know who really needs a haircut? JP.

I'm not really feeling his Justin-Bieber-circa-2010 look.

And he probably needs his diaper changed.

I'm so over diapers.

What's on Eva's face?

Sparkly lip gloss. Great.

I wonder where else I'm going to find that.

Better find it before Dad does.

Did Jason ever figure out what to grill this weekend?

I couldn't use a night off of dinner duty.

What's for dinner tonight again?

Where's Cameron?

Shit! The laundry!

DIY Canvas Print

I originally saw this quote on wood being sold in an Etsy shop,

and totally fell in love with it. But I couldn't justify forking over $55.

After giving it some thought, I figured out a way to incorporate this quote 

into my own home... but for less than $10.

All I had to do with buy a canvas!

I had all of the other materials needed.

I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures of the process!

I wasn't sure it was going to turn out as awesome as it did, so I 

didn't even think to document the steps involved.

So I'm going to give it my best shot at writing out directions.

1. Paint your canvas. This will be the color of the words once you're finished.

 I actually used several shades of gray, by mixing gray and white acrylic paint, 

so it wouldn't seem so uniform.

2. Print your quote on regular paper with whatever size and font you care for.

3. Cut out the letters. This was the worst part. It was very time consuming

to cut out each letter, but it cost me nothing to make my own "stencils"

versus buying them.

4. Map out the quote on the canvas. Obviously, wait until your first coat of paint

is completely dry before doing this part. Once I had it mapped out, I used regular

tape to secure each letter to the canvas. This part was pretty time consuming too.

I rolled small pieces of tape, and stuck them to the back of each letter so they wouldn't

interfere with the quote itself.

5. Paint the entire canvas black (or whatever color you prefer). I used a small sponge

to blot the paint onto the canvas. I also made sure to do this in straight down motions 

to keep the letters as crisp as possible. And by using a thin layer of paint, some of the texture

of the original canvas came through... which I really ended up liking. It also

seemed to give it an overall aged appearance.

6. Once the black paint was about half dry, I used a toothpick to lift the paper letters

enough so that I could pull them off with my fingers. It got a little messy, but I go exactly

what I wanted out of the project.

Happy Painting!

#widn

#whatimdoingnow

Happy Saturday!

My husband is out golfing with a few friends today, and with the shitty humid weather,

the kids and I are spending the day inside. And I have to admit,

after the last several crazy busy weekends, I'm happy to spend a day inside.

It certainly doesn't help that my Norwegian blooded children don't tolerate

heat and humidity very well.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a little of what we've got going on today!

After running a few errands and grabbing some lunch we made our way back home.

First priority of the day? Watch Aladdin.

Maybe that's the clique thing to do this weekend, but after the death of Robin Williams

earlier this week, I don't want to do anything else. This is the first celebrity death

I've lived through that actually feels devastating. That was a heartbreaking headline to read.

An afternoon movie wouldn't be complete with out popcorn. 

But instead of your usual popcorn, we opted for popcorn with a twist.

OREO POPCORN!

It's super easy and totally delicious.

We popped one bag of popcorn, drizzled it with melted white chocolate,

and sprinkled the whole works with crushed oreos. Once the white chocolate

had re-hardened, we broke it all into pieces, and piled it into a bowl.

After the movie, two out of three kids crashed, and I had a few minutes to do 

a couple things for myself. So I threw on a face mask and whitened my teeth.

I even managed to do a full "lip treatment" too.

GlamGlow is a bit more expensive than other masks, but this one is worth

every penny. I really see instant results. I love it!

For a "low key" day, I feel like it's been really productive! And it's only 3 PM!

I love days like this. 

You're All My Favorites

I know I just did a July favorites post, but I have to talk about this book.

Back Story: JP was baptized almost two months ago, 

and he happened to have been gifted several books (my favorite kind of gift).

Last night I finally got around to incorporating his new books into the kids'

existing collection. I know, best Mom ever. Only took me 8 weeks.

Anyway, in his pile of new books, I saw:

You're All My Favorites

By Sam McBratney

Illustrated By Anita Jeram

It looked very similar to the book Guess How Much I Love You,

which I'm fairly certain every single parent on the planet loves,

so we decided to read it at bed time last night.

Turns out, You're All My Favorites is written and illustrated by

the same people as Guess How Much I Love You.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I could hardly get through it without crying my eyes out.

It's so perfect.

It's a short story about three little bear cubs.

The oldest bear cub is a boy.

Cameron.

The middle bear cub is a girl.

Eva.

And the youngest bear cub is another boy.

JP.

The bear cubs are told every night that they're the most wonderful little

bear cubs in the whole world. But they start to wonder which bear cub is

really their parents' favorite. And so the parents explain how they're ALL

their favorites.

And speaking of favorites, this book just went to the top of the list.

July Favorites!

First of all, how is it possible that tomorrow is August?

My son turns FIVE in August! Whoa.

Anyway, I always like reading these kind of posts, and thought it would be nice 

to share a few things that I've been loving lately.

I have LIVED in this "MAKE ME COFFEE" tank from Thug Life Shirts.

I'm completely obsessed. 

Who doesn't love mason jars? 

I have found 9,784 uses for them around my house.

EOS Balm in Sweet Mint.

Because I love all things mint.

International Delights Iced Coffee.

Their light versions taste just as good as the regulars!

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer.

I actually have a bit of a tan this summer so I've been using this

bronzer to help my regular foundations stay wearable.

NYX Butter Gloss.

I might actually have every color. They're so inexpensive

and the color payoff is awesome!

L'Oreal Visible Lift Blur Concealer.

Like I said, with my current tan, I don't need much make up.

But this concealer is amaze-balls.

Timi and Leslie Rachel Diaper Bag.

Oh My God. Because yes.

:)

7 years.

Yesterday was the 7 year anniversary of mine and Jason's first date.

I don't know if all couples recognize this anniversary anymore, 

but we do. We don't buy gifts for each other or anything,

but we always make sure to acknowledge it. 

7 years ago last night (to be exact), we went out to dinner and saw

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.

And we haven't spent more than 48 hours a part ever since.

No joke. (Is that pathetic?)

I love him more today than ever.

He's the peanut butter to my chocolate,

the bacon to my eggs,

and the lyrics to my song.

A weekend at the lake!

We were finally able to escape reality for a few days... and it was glorious!

I can't even begin to express how badly Jay and I were in need of a vacation.

The lake is a 5 hour drive from our house, but was managed. 

We broke up the drive with a picnic lunch at an awesome park.

But despite our best efforts, Eva got a little impatient towards the end.

All was well once we busted out the Frozen soundtrack though!

It couldn't have been a better long weekend.

The weather was perfect.

The water was warm.

And the beer was cold.

Cameron's highlight of the trip?

Probably torturing his girl cousins with a dead snake.

And each night ended with this little guy totally spent from the day's activities.

Until next time...

Cancer sucks.

We have a close family member starting chemo this week.

Jason and I have known several people faced with the battle of cancer,

but this is the closest to home it's ever got.

So in honor of Mitchell and his fight, and because he's

half a country away from us right now...

Here's a little message from my littles!

And to everyone else who has fought this fight,

win or lose, I hope you were and are surrounded by

all the love and support in the world.

#kickcancersbutt

#goteammitchell

#officialcheerteam

#tbt

Greetings from the road!

We are officially on vacation!

Only 3 hours between us and 4 days on the beach!

It's been awhile since I did a #throwbackthursday post,

and I couldn't resist the urge for a little nostalgia.

How cute are these boys?

I stole this picture from my husband's phone.

As excited as I for our beach vacation, I'm anxiously

awaiting fall weather!

#bros 

#bestfriendsforlife

WEEKEND RECAP

I hoped to get this post up on Monday, but it's been a wild week.

We're leaving for vacation tomorrow and packing for 3 kids is a much

larger task then I remember from last year.

Eva and I had a Mommy-Daughter date Saturday night.

After dinner...

And a drink for Mom...

We went to a play at a local theater.

We had so much fun! And Eva did great! Minus repeatedly asking me to bring her on stage to dance with the prince.

The boys stayed home and a had Transformers pizza party.

Earlier in the day, I put a small tent up in the living room, and Jason

tells me the boys didn't leave the tent once while we were gone. 

Sunday was spent almost entirely outside, in the kiddie pool.

This family couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

JP IS TWO!

Holy smokes. 

Where have the last two years gone?!

Age: 2 years

Stats: Um... big and tall?! He's 37 pounds, and

I don't have the specifics on his height.

Clothes: 4T shirts and 3T shorts/pants

Favorites: He's all peanut butter, all the time. For the most part, he's a really

great eater, but if given the choice, he'll just take a peanut butter sandwich

and banana, please. He loves super heros and Woody from Toy Story.

I LOVE how he says, "Whoo-DEE!" and "Bah-gah". If someone could just explain to me

how bah-gah is supposed to translate to Buzz Light-Year, that'd be great. And just like his

big brother and father, he loves Transformers. Preferably Bumble Bee.

Words: Like I said, "Whoo-DEE!" is one of my favorites right now. He talks a ton, 

and has far too many words at his disposal to name them all, but "balloon", "love you too", and

"What doing, Mommy?" melt me. Every. Time. Oh! And the way he calls Eva, "sis-ha" 

and never by her name.

Not exactly thrilled to be participating (or lack there of) in a photo shoot.

Signature Moves: He is still my little sweet heart. He is so kind and snuggly. 

He's also become quite the little dancer as of late. Pharrell's Happy is a major hit in this house.

Mommy's MOST PROUD Moment: Would "everything" be a super lame answer? He's

the best little brother and his siblings think the world of him. At this stage, they

all get a long so well. He makes me proud every day.

Guess who's back?

Guess who's back?

Back again.

Katie's back!

Tell a friend.

Guess who's back?

Guess who's back?

Guess who's back?

Guess who's back?

Guess who's back?

Guess who's back?

Guess who's back?

Nah, Nah, Nah.

Just kidding.

But in all seriousness, I am back.

Finally. After a long hiatus for nothing more then LIFE,

I'm making serious time for this little blog.

I like writing.

This is for me and I need more me time.

So stay tuned...

#tbt

I love looking back at "old" photos of my kids, and Throw Back Thursday is as good of an excuse as any!

Showing off their winning cars last Father's Day. 

They participated in several matchbox races and totally stomped the competition. :)

I am so ready to ditch the winter coats and beanies for flip-flops and sunnies and this picture doesn't help...

My Cancer SCARE.

The last couple of weeks have been more than crazy.

I certainly didn't see this emotional roller coaster coming, but all-in-all we survived.

Here's what went down...

Long story short, since having my third child, I've had some not-normal things going on.

In lieu of those things, I finally decided to see my doctor the week of February 10th.

After much discussion, she suggested I have some lab work done. No big deal.

By Valentine's Day all but one lab was back and everything was normal.

We went out of town that weekend and I totally forgot that I still had a lab test outstanding.

Fast forward to the next Tuesday.

After a game of phone tag, I was finally able to connect with my doctor.

She reviewed all of my lab work with me again, saving the "worst" for last.

My last lab left me with results no one saw coming. 

Without getting into too much detail, the normal range for said lab is between 6 and 80.

Mine came back at 382.

My doctor didn't waste any time letting me know what the next steps would be.

Results THAT out of left field are most often seen in patient's with ovarian cancer.

That was tough to hear.

I'm 26 years old.

I have three little kids and a husband.

Cancer wasn't even on my radar.

I needed an ultrasound and additional labs right away.

So the very next morning, Wednesday, I was back at the clinic.

Looking back, I feel awful for the ultrasound tech because I was in no mood to

be chatty. She knew why I was there, and despite her best efforts, we spent most

of the ultrasound sitting in silence. 

And don't even get me started on the lab tech who used a dull prison

shank to draw my blood. It was an awesome day.

On Thursday I was notified that my ultrasound was normal.

And on Friday she called again to tell me all the additional lab work was normal too.

Not knowing what to do next, my doctor decided to consult an 

endocrinologist at a local, much larger, facility.

He recommended even MORE lab work, and repeating the lab that set all this off. 

And again, the new lab work was normal.

And the real kicker....

Keep in mind, "normal" is between 6 and 80...

This time it came back at 25.

Yep. You read that right. 25.

I was FLOORED! And thankfully, my doctor was too.

Her and I were both speechless. She was convinced that the lab messed up somewhere

the first time. My husband and I were dragged through hell for days, for no reason.

As happy as I am that it was a false alarm, this kind of false alarm is inexcusable. 

The worst part isn't even how emotionally taxing it was on me, but that

SOMEONE ELSE GOT MY ORIGINAL RESULTS!

SOMEONE COULD HAVE CANCER, AND NOT EVEN KNOW IT

BECAUSE OF A POSSIBLE LAB ERROR!

I have actually lost sleep worried about that woman.

And while the investigation as to what "might" have happened is still ongoing,

I pray everyday that there isn't someone else out there thinking everything is fine, 

while a quiet cancer wreaks havoc..

We are at WAR.

We are at war people!

The battle lines have been drawn and the stakes are high.

Each and every time we think we have the enemy in check, backed into

a corner with no way out, they muscle their way through!

We can't back down. We can't walk away.

The anarchy that would follow is unimaginable. 

No matter how hard we fight, the battle never ends.

We are gridlocked and we can't catch a break!

This is not a new war. 

This war was fought by our mothers (and fathers) before us. 

There are no new tactics and no battle plans left untried.

But we march on...

We continue to fight because it's all that we know.

The war is at your doorstep and in your home too.

The war on...

LAUNDRY.

I don't even know where to start when it comes to laundry.

There was once a simpler time. When it was just me and my husband, the laundry

wasn't even an issue. A couple of loads a week, no big deal. Throw in 3 kids

and the situation has gotten out of control. I hold on to the memories of what once

was when I'm up to my eyeballs in footed pajamas and toddler t-shirts.

I can wash, dry, and fold a load every

single day and STILL not stay ahead of the game.

My washing machine, Lolita, and I are on a first name basis these days.

No one warned me about all of the laundry that comes with a kid!

Clothes, blankets, bedding, towels... WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME?!

I'm here today to admit my defeat! I can't keep up the fight!

As long as everyone has something clean to wear

each day, I'm not going to worry about how many baskets of dirty clothes need attention.

The baskets aren't going anywhere and lets face it, as soon as I empty one,

my 3 monsters (4, because my husband fits the profile too) fill it back up.

I have lost the war.

Alright, alright. In all seriousness, if this is the worst part of our days,

we have it pretty good. And I wouldn't trade any of my babies or my husband

for a few less loads of laundry a week.

But I'd be lying if I said the three baskets that need to be folded and 

the two that need to be washed weren't stressing me out just a little bit...

My Slightly Sensitive 4 Year Old.

Time for another Cameron-does-the-sweetest-things segment!

Preface: We are Netflix obsessed in this house. We almost NEVER watch

anything on regular cable. That being said, my husband came across a show

called Flash Point. I have no idea if it's on/was on in the states, but it's based in Canada.

Long story short, it's a police drama that my whole house now likes.

Before you start lecturing me about age appropriate television for my children,

I will say, that they don't watch this alone, and the writers have done a great job

keeping it family friendly.

Blah, blah, blah... get to it, right?!

So anyway, Flash Point has sort of made it's way into our nightly routine as of late.

After potty breaks, clean diapers, brushing teeth, pajamas, and bedtime snacks,

we usually migrate to the sofa for the next episode.

A few nights ago, the story line revolved around a birth couple abducting

their biological child from the child's adoptive parents. There's a few tense moments, 

but in the end, the police recover the baby and return him to his parents, unharmed.

At this point, Eva and JP are asleep, and it's just me and Cam hanging in there for the ending.

I just happened to glance over at Cameron at the moment the baby is brought home,

and he's got TEARS IN HIS EYES. 

Me (slightly panicked): "Cam? What's wrong?"

Cam (starting to cry): "I was just so worried about that baby, Mom."

It was so sweet! I went on to explain that it's just a show, but the baby made

it home just fine... that there was nothing for him to worry about.

We quickly decided to call it a night, and I walked him upstairs to tuck him in.

Just as I thought the baby worries had passed...

Cam: "I need to talk to you."

Me: "Okay. What's up?"

Cam: "If we get another baby, are bad guys going to try and take

him from us? Like the show?"

I was already regretting letting him watch it, and now I felt even worse.

Thankfully after reassuring him that no one would come in our home and

try to take any future babies from us, he fell asleep without issue.

And yes, he's still asking us to "get" another baby.

His sensitivity and concern was so sweet though! I'll be totally honest, 

he's not always the nicest brother and the kids have their scuffles, but at the

end of the day, he really does have a gentle heart. 

And I love him all the more for it.

Are you there?

Well, hello!

Where the heck have ya' been?!

Just kidding. 

It was me who disappeared. Kind of my thing. ;)

I'm SO bummed that I didn't finish BLOGMAS! I had some really

exciting blogs planned... but I totally under estimated how busy we would be.

Christmas party. Christmas party. Christmas party. My birthday. New Year's. The FLU.

Yeah. We had the flu. It was awesome.

All-in-all, it was a pretty good couple of weeks.

Even with the body aches and cold sweats.

Here's a little holiday photo recap.

And possibly my favorite part of the holiday, our gingerbread house! Hurricane edition!

And this is about as good as it gets when making Christmas cookies

with toddlers. But I think they're perfect.