My Bella you will be three next week…
I love how happy you are! You are always ready to jump out of bed and start your day… To Live!
You want to experience life and you are not afraid of it.
I love you so much! I always want you to have that spirit…that happiness
Whatever it takes I will be here for you and your brother so you can be the best you can be!
You be you Bella…
You are SO special..
Happy, Wild, Free
xo,xo,xo,xo
Life is good. It feels calm right now. It feels good. I am happy. My kids are healthy again. Thank goodness. I have been enjoying the simple things. Park play dates, baking, coffee with friends, dinners with family, weekend trips to Disney.
We are living our story. My story. I am trying to figure out where it will take me next. I need some motivation and inspiration. So for now I am enjoying the season, holiday decor, shopping, wrapping, lights, holiday music, Oh, I love holiday music!, peppermint and all things Christmas.
We went to our first Disney’s Very Merry Christmas this weekend. It was nice. Nice to get away and be under the pines at Fort Wilderness again. Breathing deep, looking at the sky and smiling. Thankful for this time. Loving seeing my kids light up watching the parade and pointing out the Disney characters they now know. Sitting on blankets sipping hot cocoa and nibbling chocolate chip cookies holding my babies in my lap and sitting close to my family. It felt good. These are the memories I always wanted as a child. I am not sure if my kids will remember these times yet, but I will. I will remember how much they loved it. I will remember their smiling faces, pointing, clapping, running, excited, happy. We walked, swung, rode the golf cart, wore santa hats, watched fire works, attempted to ride a pony, collected pine cones, ate,drank, laughed, danced, roasted,sang. It was nice.
We have been sick here for over a week. It started with Bella, than Isaiah, me, and now Jr has a few symptoms. This is the worst the kids and I have ever been sick. It makes me realize how thankful I am for our health. Being sick especially with kids is the worst. We have this terrible cough, sore throat,fevers, congestion. When Bella goes to bed her cough comes on strong and she would end up vomiting. This happened three nights in a row. It was scary. What if I didn’t hear her she could have choked on her vomit and then what….
So Jr and I have been taking turns sleeping with each child. We have the pullout bed ready with the head propped up. Humidifier on,vicks on, lots of fluids…I took them to the Dr. on Monday. They said viral infection, let it run its course. Knock on wood my babies have never been on antibiotics and I am grateful for that. I want their immune systems strong. I asked her if there was anything we could give them for the cough at night. My babies were tired. She said Benadryl as a last resort. So jr picked some up and I googled about it. Not very well liked in the medical community. It’s so hard to know what to do as a parent, are you making the right decision. Bella was the worst at this point and the coughing got bad so I ended up giving her a tiny bit. It seemed to help a little bit. This darn cold just needed to go away. This is hard. I can’t imagine mothers of children who have terrible sicknesses and diseases. How can they see their helpless babies suffer. I feel thankful that this too shall pass and in a week or so our lives will be back to normal.
I woke up yesterday feeling like I got hit by a truck. I just wanted to lay in bed and cry. Junior came home early and I took a nap and still felt terrible so I hightailed it to the clinic. The girls there were nice and said I came at the right time they had been busy all day and this was the first time with no wait. I took it as a blessing to get in and out and back to my sick babies. The Dr. was sweet and saw how bad I looked she prescribed me a Z pack. Thank you Z pack please work magic. She said by this evening I should start to feel a bit better.
Junior was super dad yesterday. I came home from the clinic and he made me lay down more. He took care of the kids made dinner gave baths(Isaiah even pooped in the bath! he had to disinfect that too). He said I need my baby (me) I am so thankful for you and don’t think I could do this alone. He wants me well again. Our household is really a team and I am happy and proud that he is such a good daddy and is able to take over if I am down.
I called my mom. She is making Thanksgiving dinner this year. She was so sweet. She said honey we just want you and the kids healthy we can postpone our Thanksgiving celebration. Andy my step dad felt the same way too. I felt bad because she was so excited for Thanksgiving she has a wonderful menu planned and fun crafts for the kids ready to go. She even made us the yummiest chicken soup and picked me up a few groceries this week. I told her she had to stay away because I didn’t want them getting sick. I am thankful for having my mom so close to me and for her and Andy caring so much for us and our babies. I am excited to be healthy again and all celebrate together in a few days. My sister is here too so it will be a wonderful celebration.
I am anxious to get in the holiday spirit and decorate. I can’t wait to be back on top and get my little family and home happy for the holidays. I wanted to make some thanksgiving food and bake a bit too. I have my pumpkin puree ready to go. Bella loves baking with me. We will do it. It will be a little later this year but that’s ok. I am thankful for my family and for out health. I am going to get my holiday CDS out and dance and bake and smile and sing.
Family time…the best time…I love my happy little family and making great memories!!
Fall festivals, Halloween, costumes, orange everywhere, painting, baking, crafting, pumpkins, funny scarecrows, bouncing,choo choos, cool mornings, windows open, and lots of pumpkin flavored yumminess….life is good.
Where oh where is Isaiah….
There’s my sweet boy sleeping through all the pumpkin fun!
A giant pumpkin bounce house! How fun!
Pumpking painting, messy fun!
trying to get a good shot…
Our little pirate and fairy princess!
To bad they weren’t looking… Classic family pic with toddlers. 
Yarrr mateys!! Happy Halloween! xo
We have had our outdoor chalkboard up for one week now. It’s a hit! The kids love it we love it, your never to old to have fun coloring. It looks really cute in the back yard too, and it was sooo easy to make…or have my husband make. wink, wink..
I had pinned the idea on Pinterest and couldn’t wait to create our own. I knew Bella would LOVE it! By the way, i am so impressed with my Pinterest skills lately…chalkboards,breakfast cookies,fun healthy snack,Halloween crafts, what! I am like super Mom! lol. One of my fav Blogs young house love just posted about the pinterest challenge and I can’t wait to post my crafts next week. Don’t just pin it…do it! They even talk about a do it yourself chalkboard as a good one to try…check, did it!
So back to the chalk board….
The recipe is 2 tablespoons of non-sanded grout to every 1 cup of paint
Ours took 3 coats that we rolled on, and it took three days to dry (I saw where some people brushed theirs fyi rolling worked for us)
I got some great chalkboard paint inspiration over at the Idea Room where I originally got the recipe from.
Now that we know how to make chalkboard paint we can get really creative. You can pick any color paint you want and paint lots of fun things. Like labels for wine glasses, pantry containers, planters, picture frames, you could paint rocks or shells for place cards on a festive table…So many possibilities! I will definitely do it again for another project in the future. Happy coloring!
P.S. the past few posts all have IPhone photos still gotta get my cannon out more!
So its 10:30 I just finished taking a shower and I am typing this with wet hair sitting in my bed with my sick boy next to me…and where is Junior??
In the garage putting together his latest project. He is always doing crazy late night projects like this. Once he has his mind set on something he has to start it and can’t stop until hes finished. He bought a golf cart a week after we got back from Fort Wilderness. Like I said before he can’t wait to get an RV and live the camping family trippin’ dream. And of course according to Junior most campgrounds will require a golf cart to tote us around. But it can’t just be any golf cart…it has to be Junior style. Gotta love that boy. Oh, and he is bound and determined to get it done by Halloween for fun trick or treating in the new cart! ha,ha Can’t complain about that one. Bella is excited and has been “helping any chance she can get”I look forward to posting before and after picks of the new family golf cart soon!
So, I have been meaning to get on here and write and post about all the fun thoughts, experiences, and projects that are going on in my head. How do all my fav Mom bloggers do it?! They all must go on little sleep. I should be sleeping right now since Isaiah had us up at 4:00 with a fever.
Is it more important to journal my life than getting that extra half hour of sleep?? That’s what I told myself tonight just write on your blog for a half hour you will feel so much better…. I actually feel so much better already. I do think it is so important to document life’s moments. I love looking back at where I was in life and how much I have grown and maybe places where I still need growth. A girlfriend of mine is pregnant with her second and she just told me how she thinks she is in denial about how much her life is going to change with two. I told her oh my gosh…I felt the same way. I was so busy with my first that when it was time to give birth to my second I remember thinking is this really happening…I feel like I just found out I was pregnant! I think it was a whirlwind for me since Bella was only 16 and a half months old when my second was born. What! How the heck did I do it! Isaiah is 16 and a half months old now and I can’t imagine having a newborn now. As of now we decided we feel so blessed with the two children we have and think this is it. I miss being pregnant though…I would like to pregnant again. I love the feeling of knowing my baby is growing inside of me everyday. It just amazes me and I love planning and dreaming and hoping for that baby. Now looking back and after talking with my friend. I SO wish I had more pictures of my pregnant self and that I wrote down all those feelings I had as that pregnant self. It just made me think how I should take the extra time to remember life’s moments. Blogging is such a wonderful way to do it. Now I just need to get faster at uploading pictures and using my Cannon more.
I went to a Jewel Kade party last night that my friend who I have been trying to ge together with for months invited me to. We met at our child birth class before our baby girls were born and actually found out we have mutual friends in common and we even went to college together but were not friends at that time. I was supposed to meet up with her over the weekend but had to cancel after a bit of a crazy night out the day before. (My sisters friend was in town and we had a girls night…it was fun! but the morning after wasn’t that fun..Especially when you have kids and have to get up early and there is no chance for a nap. ugh) Junior had a bit of stomach ache yesterday and I knew he wasn’t feeling good but I didn’t want to have to cancel again. So I didn’t offer to cancel even though I think he was hoping I stayed home. Bella went with me so he just had one baby to take care of for a few hours. So I was excited to finally meet up with my friend last night. We got to chat and look at beautiful inspirational jewelry. Of course I had to order a family photo charm and can’t wait to get it and wear it! We are going to get our families together in a few weeks and are excited for our fiery, sparkly daughters to meet and play.
As I was driving there I was enjoying the cool night air and the way the sun beams were shining softly through the clouds as the sun was setting. (I have been loving this time of night lately around 6:30-7:00 it cools off and is so nice to be outside)It was a peaceful moment. I remembered reading sometimes when things seem hard and obstacles get in the way it means we shouldn’t just give up we should push through and see what can come of it and we may be pleasantly surprised. Just like with this blog or a new friendship…it may not be easy at first but if you push through the hard parts there may be a beautiful reward at the end. Excited for this new chapter to start and to grow and bloom even more!
I am tired so I will add some pics tomorrow. Nighty night. Hope Isaiah sleeps well and feels better tomorrow.
How many calories are in a handful of M&Ms…How about 10 handfuls? Ugh, I don’t even want to look it up! Why did I buy those cute fall M&Ms for yesterdays play date….
Fall Candy,Cookies,Monster Bubbles, Elmo cake and Fun with Friends!
We had a play date here yesterday. Lots of backyard fun! Daddy put up a huge sunshade over the play ground for us. Just so happened to be a cloudy day yesterday so we ended up not needing it after all his hard work. It will be much appreciated on all the sunny days to come.
The kids had fun running around. Especially after eating Andrews birthday cake! Bella has a little playhouse the boys got a kick out of too! They were going in and out playing in the pretend kitchen, rearranging the chairs, and peeking out the shutters.Oh, and pulling the flowers out of the boxes. ha,ha gotta love those boys!
Sometimes I think twice about having a playdate at my house since it is a lot of kids and with two-year olds it seems like all they want to do is run! But I am glad I did have one here after I saw them having so much fun. There are six of us Moms 3 with two kids 3 with one and one is in the oven. We all met at Baby Boot Camp a fitness class for Moms and babies. We rotate playdates every week if we can. Things are changing as the kids are getting older and starting school and as new siblings arrive. We try our best to keep it up and invite new mom friends along the way too.
Bella loved swinging and enjoyed having other kids her age to play with. We have a bubble blower that makes huge bubbles that the kids thought was great! They couldn’t wait to run and pop the big bubbles! Hearing them so excited and squealing was so cute! Note to self: Bubbles are awesome entertainment for toddlers! We have tried to do craft activities with them in the past but when they all get together they don’t sit for to long. So the back yard was the perfect activity. Sure there is clean up afterwords but my sweet mom friends always help before heading home. This is what life is all about. Enjoying our kids,getting messy, and embracing this time in our lives. Oh, and the M&Ms were pretty yummy too!
Junior and I decided to make an Outdoor Chalkboard I found on Pinterest the night before the play date. I am slightly addicted to pinterest! So many cute fun things!! We thought it would be a fun surprise for all the kids. Since it was such a cloudy day it was still tacky when everyone came over. So we will get to use it next time. It was easy to make too! I will let you know how we made it on my next post.
I have had my current diaper bag since Isaiah was born. So, 16 months….I am in the market for a new one. I am not sure if I want a traditional diaper bag or a big purse/Camera bag. I always like carrying a bag. Even if I am on a date night or Moms night I must have a cute purse in tow.
I really love my current one. It’s the skip hop Versa. With two kids still in diapers I need a BIG bag and prefer one that can be a cross body bag too. If you are going to be a mom of more than one child anytime soon cross body’s are great to free up your hands to wrangle you kiddos! This one has been very versatile while still looking stylish. It even has an extra zip down the middle that makes it bigger! I had a fun floral Vera Bradley one when I just had Bella but this has been wayyy more functional with two babies. It has side clips that come undone and attach to your stroller or cart or what ever you can hook it on. Handy, especially when you have a side by side double stroller you can’t just drape it on. And you don’t have to worry about digging through your bag to find your hooks since they are built-in.
Skip Hop Versa
I also like skip hops Studio Diaper Bag. It’s a bit more fashionable than the versa but not as practical with two kids.
With all that good stuff said I am still dreaming about a new stylish bag. I also have my DSLR camera that takes up a lot of space. I am trying to be better about taking more pictures and learning how to take better ones too. I have seen quite a few cute camera bags that could be camera/diaper bags.
Here is one from Lua that I have been eyeing that I originally saw on Kelle Hampton’s Blog enjoying the small things. Lua just came out with Clutches too that you can carry or pop into your already cute diaper bag.
Cute Camera Bag/ could be Diaper bag
This is another stylish sophisticated Camera Bag/Diaper Bag option I Found. From Jo Totes. I am a pink girl and love this color! Wish there was a pic of the pockets inside…
Jo Totes Pink Gracie
Ohh just saw this one on Etsy!! LOVE…love the print and its a cross body!
Darby Mack
I recently read this post from Tori Spelling raving about my Skip Hop Versa. Its her fav too! Check out her post here. ha,ha even though she can afford a designer bag she still prefers the affordable versa. I have to agree its a great bag and I think I will keep my Versa and buy one of these fun ones too. The hubs likes that I have the black one….just in case I ask him to carry it on a family outing he doesn’t feel awkward carrying it. He has a diaper dude that he uses when it’s just him and the kids. This is a great option for Dads and it has a padded section for his iPad or lap top. So, Daddy or Gramma if you are reading this post I am leaning to the Darby Mack…it would be a nice Christmas presie!wink,wink.
We went on our family vacation to Disney World last week. Our first vacation as a family of four. These are the memories I have been dreaming of! We are lucky to live in Florida and be so close to so many fun family destinations. We booked a cabin in Disney’s Fort Wilderness and bought a 5 day ticket plus water parks for the week.
We were packed and ready and excited to go, Woot! Bella had been on the countdown for days. Gramma,Grampa, and Titi were joining us for the first two days too! Let the fun begin! Check out my packed Mini! (Minis are hot in case ya didn’t know…)
We were going to hit a park each day and go to a water park in the afternoon. The kids had their Mickey shirts and ears. I even got Jr and I Mickey and Minnie shirts too. Ok, maybe more than one shirt and flip-flops for Daddy too. lol! He wasn’t to sure about the flip-flops but wore them like the number one dad he is. I put together the kids a surprise goody bag full of fun Disney toys. Tinkerbell flash light, coloring books, bouncy ball, twirly straws…Bella was so excited to see all her treats. I had fun planning and putting our trip goodies all together.
The cabins have a full kitchen so we planned our meals and brought food for the week. It was nice to relax and cook in the cabin and not have to worry about rushing out to dinner after a long day of fun. Plus, Junior is the king of the grill and put ours to good use! (oh yeah, we have 4 grills at home! Crazy Daddy.. Bella recently told me he is the better cook! What!)
Fort Wilderness is such a great spot for families. Grampa rented us a golf cart and we had fun touring around the grounds and finding all the best spots. Bella loved pretending she could drive.(while it was parked of course) Every night they have a campfire sing a long with Chip and Dale and a guitar player. Popcorn, smores on the campfire, and then a Movie under the stars after the sing a long. The kids had a blast doing the hokey pokey and singing along to the songs. Even Isaiah was shaking his booty. You can even see the nightly fireworks from Magic Kingdom if you head down by the lake after the movie.
Junior has been dreaming of buying an RV ever since we became parents. After all the fun we had he can’t wait to get one of our own! Sounds fun but I like how the housekeeping came and cleaned the cabin. That’s not gonna happen in an RV. I would have to be the housekeeping…hmmm. Vacations are to relax not work right?! Well, with kids everything changes, even vacations. Not too much time to ourselves anymore. So I guess I wouldn’t mind taking care of an RV if my family was having fun and making great memories.
Vacation was fun. The way we pictured it in our heads didn’t look quite the same way in reality. This was our first week long family trip. So we learned what works for us.We didn’t go to a theme park and a water park in the same day…everyday like we thought. The kids got pretty tired out after a morning at a park. Going to the evening sing a long after dinner was the perfect end to a day at Disney. We said next time we will just go to two parks Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom and enjoy the campgrounds awesome pool.
Daisy kisses. xo
Bella got her ”Happy Face”-Bella.
Bella went on her first roller coaster with Daddy. Can you tell she loved it!!
We went to Typhoon Lagoon water park one morning. It was interesting with our toddlers. After we took a half hour to find a shady spot and put their sunscreen on we hit the kids section. Bella had fun on the little slides but there wasn’t much for Isaiah to do. It was pretty crowded with kids and parents too. Daddy played with Bella and I went and cuddled with Isaiah while he took a nap and I people watched and sipped on a yummy margarita. I enjoyed that part. Warm sun, toes in the sand, margarita by my side. Now that’s what I call relaxing on a vacay. We were glad we tried it out but decided our kids were a bit to young and we would have had just as much fun at the pool at fort wilderness. Heck, they even have a fun kiddie slide and wading area for them there.
Oh, yeah Daddy got a toothache the day we arrived. It was a tooth he had just got filled a few weeks prior and he ended up having to get a root canal on the third morning we were there. Pretty crazy, but he was in so much pain and wanted to enjoy our time. He was a new man after the procedure and the kids and I had a great morning riding bikes down to the main hall and checking out the parks and pony’s too!
Over all it was a great trip and we learned what works best for our family. We are excited to go back and are already talking about a long weekend in December to enjoy some Holiday fun with Mickey.
So, I keep finding myself wanting to blog about my life as a mom. I keep waiting for the right time to start. I got on here a few months back and set up the blog, wrote a few drafts and tried to figure out what the best time would be to write. I have come to realize that the time will never come I just have to make the time. I stressed on what I would write and if it would be interesting enough. How would I edit it…make it perfect. Life is so full right now with a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old. It doesn’t have to be a perfect post every time. I just need to start writing! I want my thoughts and experiences to be written down. I want to inspire other new mommies. Let them know hey, you’re not the only one going through this right now. Let them know my joys, my dreams, my trials my tribulations. I have a lovely life and I want to live it!! Oh, how I want to live it. I don’t want to hold back anymore! So boom…here’s my first post on my blog. My names Lisa and I am about to bloom!! Oh, and cheers its Friday too!
