Our new toy!

Ok, this post is coming about two weeks late, but I had to post a quick look at our newest toy!

The boys are absolutely in love with it! It took poor S 3 full days to build it, but I think it was worth every second! (Also, I helped a lot by supervising!)

We're already pretty popular with the neighborhood kids because of this new addition!

Spring break!

Hello friends!!! Sorry I've been so absent this month, it's been crazy!!!

We just got back from out spring break trip to Reno, a nice little six day vacation, which was just what we all needed! We drove out last Saturday (eleven hours in the car, yikes!!) and drove back today. I have to admit I felt like going back was going to be bittersweet, since it's the first time I've been back since my parents sold out childhood home, but I wasn't as sad as I expected to be. I mean, it was still sad, but it was still also the same old Reno that I know and love.

Anyway, the vacation was wonderful, and of course I took hardly any pictures!!! We did go to the Children's Museum, one of our favorite places, and I remembered to whip out the cell phone camera and get a few pics of our little ruffians!

This museum it to die for. I'm in love with it, seriously. If we lived in Reno I would be there all the time! It has a ton of fun stuff, but it's also not overwhelmingly huge. I feel like I could take all three kids by myself and not feel like I was going to lose one of them.

("the Cloud"! The awesome climbing structure right in the middle of everything! The kids loved it, even R went up!)

We went on a day that they had a deal that from 9am-10am it was open only to kids 5 and under. It was prefect. There was literally only like ten other kids in the whole place, and it was all little ones so we didn't have to worry about our little guys getting run over by big kids!

The painting window was a big hit, especially for R. I have to admit, this is a hard one for me to let them go wild with, because I hate the mess, but I sucked it up and watching there little face light up was well worth washing all the paint off!

I also got a nice little girls night with my best friend from high school. I miss her so much, so getting a night alone, without husbands or kids, to catch up and reminisce was awesome. We went to our usual local pizza place, ordered beers and even went over the the casino and did some gambling before we had our husbands come pick us up! Such a fun night!

And while it was nice to have girl time, I also adore her family so we had them all over for dinner at my parents house one night. Her oldest child is the same age as L2 and her youngest is the same age as R. I loved watching them all play together, but the sweetest thing of the whole night was R and her littlest kept hugging and kissing each other!

And finally, S and I got to take a night out on the town while my parents babysat the boys!

I love my hometown and it was an amazing trip. I'm sad to be back, but I'm also happy to be home!!!

Happy birthday to me!

Happy 31st birthday to me!!! OK, actually it was last Monday, but this week has been crazy so I'm just now getting around to updating. Even though I have mixed feelings about now being officially in my 30's, I had a wonderful birthday weekend.

On Saturday I got together with a group of my girlfriends from college and we went to a long lunch at a really cool downtown restaurant. We sat for almost four hours and just talked and laughed and caught up. Plus one of my friends brought her new baby, so I got some newborn snuggle time!

On Sunday we had our good friends and their kids, plus my parents (who were in town for the weekend) over for pizza and beer. The boys went crazy running around and playing and it was nice celebrating while we relaxed at home.

Monday was my actual birthday. I"m so lucky because S took both Monday and Tuesday off so we could spend time together, and so I could have a couple days of having a break. On both days he got all the kids up, fed and off to school while I slept in. Seriously, best birthday present ever. On Monday I spent the day shopping with my mom and then my parents babysat while S and I went out to dinner. 

(sorry these pictures are so blurry!!! My mom hasn't totally gotten the hang of taking pictures with a cell phone!)

We got home early enough to have cake and presents with my parents and the boys, and then stayed up watching movies. Like I said, it was pretty perfect!

A February Cali trip!

How was everyones three day weekend?

This is how I spent mine, so I'd say ours was pretty good!!!

We hopped in the car on Thursday and headed down to California for the long weekend. I have to say, at first I didn't really want to go. Life has been so busy lately that I was really looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend at home. But as usual, I ended up having a great time and am glad we went.

Unfortunately, the three pictures above are the only pictures I took all weekend. I guess we were just too busy having fun! On Friday S and I left all three kids at home with his parents and went out for the whole night. We haven't done that since L was a baby! S got us a hotel room and we went to a nice sushi dinner and saw a movie, and then just hung out enjoying some quality time just the two of us. I missed my boys and couldn't wait to get back to them the next day, but it was really nice to have some alone time! The boys also did great without us overnight, which makes me feel better about leaving them in the future!

The rest of the weekend was just spent relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather (it was almost 90 degrees!) riding horses, going to the beach, and seeing friends and hanging out with family. The boys love going out to Poppa and grandma;s house and we were all sad to leave this morning!

Back to real life tomorrow, although I'm taking a slight break from reality this week since next Monday is my birthday and I am a firm believe in the celebration of the "birthday week"!

Goodbye January!

I cannot believe it's the last day of January, where has this month gone? I feel like we have going, going, going nonstop!!

Anyway, here is a quick look at what we have been loving in this first month of 2015!!

Bunk Beds:

We finally got rid of L2's toddler bed and moved the boys into bunk beds. They love them! L thinks being on the top bunk is the coolest thing ever (it's it, BTW!) and L2 is loving being in his big boy bed! This setup also freed up some floor space in their room and we were able to put in the awesome Tepee tent that their aunt got them for Christmas. Basically, they now have the coolest room in the house.

Baby Bed head:

R's hair is finally coming in more, but it is exactly like L's was like at the same age! Super fuzzy and there is not a lot of it, but the child gets the funniest bed head!!!

Baby's in bathrobes:

Just because, is there anything cuter???

Baby's in beer boxes:

OK, I realize we are focusing on R a lot right now, but he is just so darn cute. I love this age. He is the sweetest little baby and he gets into everything and he loves exploring!

Successful Doctor visits:

After three years of L2 being the worst at doctors appointment, we have finally figured out the trick. It's all about bribery. Instead of waiting until the end of the appointment to offer him the requisite lollipop, I show it to him at the beginning and tell him the only way he will get it is if he is good and cooperative. He is now an angel at doctor visits. 

He also likes doing a little light (and upside down) reading in the waiting room!

Girls' Night Out:

My college roommate came into town from Chicago and we went out to dinner with a bunch of our sorority sisters. It was a great night of laughter, and stories and catching up. I love these ladies, and even though I don't see them as often as I would like I love that we can always just pick up where we left off.

Date Night:

After a much needed girls night, I realized that S and I also needed some grownup time away from the kids. A wonderful friend of my parents offered to watch all three boys while we went out to dinner at a nice steakhouse. Even though we are totally pizza and beer, sport bar, relaxed atmosphere type of people, there is something special about dressing up nice and going to a fancy restaurant. We order a bottle of wine and had fillet Mignon and talked about things other then our (wonderful) children.

We only stayed out for two hours, but it was two amazing hours and I think we both feel recharged and re-connected!

So that was our January! I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of February! We have Valentine's Day coming up, and I think we will probably take a trip out to California that weekend, and then it's my 31st (I mean 29th!!! Totally my 29th! 29 forever!!!!) birthday!!!

Kickball

We are back in sports season! We got a little break during the holidays, but now we are back at once a week practices and Saturday games! I love it, but I do think about how crazy it is going to be when we have three little boys all playing sports! Right now it is just L and it takes a lot of time!

But we love it! This season he is playing kickball, and so far he is having so much fun. Honestly, if you have a little kid that is about to start sports for the firsts time, kickball is the way to go. We started with Soccer and then Tball, but when L was just barely four I think the rules and everything else of those games were a little to much for him to get. Kickball is perfect, it is definitely what I want to put L2 and R in for there first sports!

Plus you have never seen anything cuter then a bunch of four and five year old chasing around a kickball. Half the time every kid on the field ended up running into the outfield to chase the ball…. including the kids on the team that was kicking!

Athletics have always been such a huge part of S and mine lives, and it makes me so happy that L seems to find them equally rewarding! 

Happy 2015!!!!

Wow, how is already nine days into 2015!!! Now that the holidays are over time is flying by and I feel like I'm still trying to get organized and catch up!

We really had a wonderful holiday season this year, and we were lucky that S ended up with a lot of time off! This has been our first full week back since mid-December and we are slowly getting back into the swing of things!

Let's see, what's been going on with us since Christmas? We had a nice New Years. S had to work New Years Eve, but he got off fairly early and we made steaks for dinner and even managed to stay up till almost 1:00 AM watching movies and drinking champagne…. quite a feat for parents! Needless to say, we were tired the next day, but we managed to get up and get moving and took the kids to see Night at the Museum 3. It's always a little hit or miss to take them to something that's not a cartoon, but they all did well and seemed to enjoy it.

The rest of the week and weekend was all about cleaning up Christmas stuff and running errands, and then on Monday the boys were back to school. It was a double edge sword having them home. I love spending the extra time with them, and we get to sleep in and take things a little slower, but they get bored and they would rather be in school. I think the only downside to them going back has been adjusting to getting up at 6:45 again! When they're not in school we all tend to sleep until at least 8, if not later!

I also got back into the swing with the gym this week. I took a lot of time off over the holiday, and I definitely put on a few pounds. I'm not happy about it, but I know I can work them back off and I'm glad that I relaxed and had fun over Christmas. (But I"m working super hard and I'm ready for them to be gone like now!!!)

Oh, and the most exciting thing that has happened!!! I have a brand new niece!!! My brother and his beautiful wife had their gorgeous baby girl on New Years Eve! The unfortunate thing is that they live in France, so I don't know when I will meet her. But the fortunate thing is, they live in France!!!  I think I need to start planning my trip!!

So, that's pretty much it. We're all just getting back to it. I do love the New Year though. I know it's kind of cheesy, but it always feels like such a fresh start. And it's 2015 guys!!! How crazy is that!?!

Happy New Year!