Tag Archives: Kids

Happy Fourth Of July 2017

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IMG_8605IMG_8607IMG_8608IMG_8617IMG_8620IMG_8621Anndd there goes the hat…IMG_8623IMG_8625There it goes again…IMG_8626IMG_8627^Caught him standing by himself!^IMG_8629IMG_8630IMG_8631Since I have been enjoying photography, I have liked to have little mini holiday photo shoots. I staged this little 4th of July mini shoot with the boys on the front porch. I realized that I didn’t get Jake a patriot t-shirt for the 4th this year when I was changing their clothes right before the pictures. I could have sworn I did too! But I figured what is more American than Cubs baseball anyway. So perfect. I had found some cute little decorations at Target and thought it would be fitting to have the little rocking chair on the front porch. This holiday photo shoot was a bit challenging with wiggly and moving Liam but I think I got some cute pictures.

Since we are finally in a nice schedule and sleeping all night regularly now, I have challenged myself to learn something new. I have decided to try my hand at editing some Go Pro videos. I have been interested in learning how to work with videos and recording some fun video memories with my family. So if anyone has and advice or suggestions on what software to use or which works best or some books or tutorials that are informative, feel free to leave any comments for me.

Hope you all get to watch some fireworks and celebrate our country’s Independence this weekend. Until next week, XOXO.

Father’s Day Painting

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For Father’s Day we painted a cute little beer crate. I know painting can be super messy but with these Toddler Finger Paints, clean up is a breeze. Liam is still a bit small to enjoy the paints or use them without trying to eat the paint. Thankfully it is nontoxic. Jake really gets into the painting and all the different colors. He was so proud he painted all the screws in the beer crate for dad. IMG_8567IMG_8569IMG_8571

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After Liam failed at painting, he got put in charge of coloring the card the boys picked out. He also tried to eat the crayons too. IMG_8575IMG_8576IMG_8556IMG_8554

We got some balloons and Jake was sooooo excited about them. He even asked me to take his picture with the balloons. I knew he would be too excited about them to keep it a secret. 20170616_113218The Father’s Day pool party I planned got rained out but everything the boys and I made for dad was a big hit.20170618_153138Delicious mini cuban appetizers. 20170618_19462620170618_161543^It was starting to storm and Jake has been so scared of thunder lately. This ended up the best daddy and boys picture we could get.^20170618_185059

It was so much fun celebrating such a great daddy. Until next week, XOXO!

Get Outside!!

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I love being outside! I am a believer in being very active and I even enjoy all types of weather. I have always said I can handle the most active kids just fine (be careful what you ask for!) and I def have some high energy boys which I LOVE! I promise I am not making that up. haha. I encourage my boys to get out and play everyday so as you can imagine, we spend alot of time outside. I think it’s totally good to let the boys just play and get dirty. We usually go through several outfit changes a day but I know they are getting plenty of exercise. In my dream house, I’d like a mud/laundry room with a mini shower/tub for dogs and kids to hose off before entering the house. (One can dream)

Here are a couple pics from playing in the yard and feeding the fish just the past week.

20170530_10314420170607_170342(0)20170607_170541Recently we’ve been making a few trips to Lettuce Lake Park nearby us. They have a fun playground and some little trails for the little hikers. 20170605_10420320170605_104412 (2)

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Hiking morning with my boys. Can’t wait to go back and bring Dad next time! 20170608_110145_00120170608_11034920170608_11040120170608_11040520170608_110409 We’ve got quite a bit of big things happening in the next couple of weeks and I see alot more mini hiking trips in our future. So make sure you get outside and enjoy the summer!

Until next week, XOXO.

9 Months

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The past 9 months seem to have flown by in a heartbeat. This little wild man is even more wiggly and mobile than his older brother was! He is one super fast crawling machine and pulling up on everything. He learned to clap and give high fives. He is finally sleeping all night. He is getting his 7th tooth. Since he started moving, he has not slowed down one bit. He loves his big brother and looks up to him so much. Watching them develop their brother relationship makes my heart sooo happy. He hates anytime someone tries to clean his face off (He is always super dirty) and getting his face wet. He is already becoming very independent and insists on feeding himself at meal times. That makes him even more messy!

I was only able to get one good monthly picture this month. Here are some out takes that really do highlight his inability to sit still!!

IMG_8542^All that I got was his little toes! He’s so FAST! So typical!^

IMG_8551^Even tried to let him stand for one and as you can see; It’s blurry.^

My crazy fast wild man… I love him so!

I will have to start planning a first birthday soon. Until next week, XOXO.

Strollin’

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We spend a ton of time driving the Little Blue Truck all around the driveway and sidewalks around the house. We got Jake the Little Tikes Cozy Truck for his first birthday and he just loves it. If anyone is struggling for a first bday idea, I highly recommend the truck or the coupe from Little Tikes. Super durable too! It has worked out perfectly since The Little Blue Truck books are some of his most favorite books. “Mama! I want to go drive my Little Blue Truck!”

For little guys, we have quite the small car and bike road ways. I always think it would be funny to see our little parade and I decided to set the timer on my camera and capture it. Randomly, it was not going well but my hubby showed up and snapped a few pics for me. I am glad whenever I get to see pictures of me with the boys too. Since I enjoy taking photos, I am rarely in my own pictures and they usually don’t turn out as nice as they would if I had taken them. A bit of a photographer’s dilemma. Well anyway here are a few pics of our Little Blue Truck Parade… I especially like this first one because we got Emma dog in it too. She will follow or led Jake anywhere!

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And just for some extra fun are a couple more snaps of the boys and I at St. Petersburg Sunken Gardens. They were really not into pictures.

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I am still working on a few new projects but we just returned from a little vacation up north to visit family. One day it will be nice to see family more often and then actually get a chance to travel to new places on vacation!

Until next week, XOXO!

Bathroom Prints

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I have recently been working on redecorating and redoing hardware in a few of the rooms in our house. One of my bathroom redo project was taking and putting some bath time pictures of the boys in their bathroom. I edited them in black and white and added a black matte with a white frame. I love how it looks. Such a cute idea for the bathroom.IMG_8260IMG_8278

2017-03-15 17.53.59We will be repainting the bathroom walls which is why I have not hung the photographs up yet.

I have been decorating with other cute ideas as well. I am working on these shark paintings.2017-03-30 13.43.38Working with illustration and paint pens for this project. I am using watercolor paper medium as well. I am planning on doing some sort of matte and frame with them but I have to finish the paintings before I can figure out what will look the best with each one.

I was originally inspired for my boy’s bathroom concept by this Shark Bathroom Rug from Pottery Barn Kids. It was on back order for quite a while and I just got it today and it is just too cute!! I can’t wait to get the walls and decor complete and finally see my boys bathroom vision come to life.

All projects are slowly coming together. Until next week, XOXO

Family Pictures: Spring 2017

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A couple weeks ago I got all my boys and Emma organized to take some family pictures. I did similar pictures when Jake was 6 months old and wanted to do some now that Liam turned 6 months. Our Azalea bushes were in full bloom and made a gorgeous photo background. They turned out so nice… it is not an easy job to get 2 little boys and my doggy baby to all look nice at the same time!IMG_8200

This is my absolute favorite. Already printed it on Shutterfly and is hanging on my photo gallery wall! I just love Jakes little smirk and how Liam is just watching Jake. That’s pretty much how they always are anymore.IMG_8203IMG_8217IMG_8236IMG_8240IMG_8245

My Love! ❤  ❤ ❤IMG_8247IMG_8248

My crazy bunch of boys clean up pretty well. I know they already are annoyed by my picture taking but I love taking these pictures. My ever changing photo gallery wall makes me smile every time I come down the stairs in my house.

I’ve been working on redoing 2 of our bathrooms and organizing my office better. Mostly redecorating and throwing away stuff we don’t need. Operation get rid of our clutter!! It’s a slow process but it’s going.

Until next week, XOXO!

Baby’s First Wagon Ride

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Wagon rides are a big hit around here so we were all pretty excited to take Liam on his first wagon ride around the house. He’s getting pretty good at sitting up on his own but he’s still unstable so I packed a moving blanket around him. And you know what, it worked really well. Jake was especially excited to have a wagon riding buddy. I just love seeing them starting to interact and play together now.

2017-02-23-11-03-112017-02-23-11-03-392017-02-23-11-03-432017-02-23-11-05-012017-02-23-11-08-412017-02-23-11-09-32Climbing and chaos is pretty much my new normal with my boys.

 Jake was super excited and proud to give his first wagon ride! A super proud big brother!2017-02-23-11-10-202017-02-23-11-10-282017-02-23-11-10-322017-02-23-11-11-50

I thought I would throw in some pictures of Jake and Emma playing together as well. Jake loves to pretend to be a dog and run around with his best friend. Emma loves having a little boy to play with too. I could not stage this cuteness!

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My family is my whole life and I love spending everyday with my little squad. I am thankful everyday for my rough and rowdy little family. Even the no napping days (i think…)

Until next week, XOXO.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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I just wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year by sharing some cute pics we took for Valentine’s Day with my little boys. We had a little fun with a mini photo shoot in my mini studio. I did not get organized enough to print up some of the pictures and send them out but hopefully everyone can enjoy them here on my blog. 2017-02-05-08-32-322017-02-05-08-32-352017-02-05-08-33-14-22017-02-05-08-34-44-22017-02-05-08-37-29-32017-02-05-08-37-32-32017-02-05-08-37-38-22017-02-05-08-37-50-3

The next set, I tried to use a new background but it did not turn out how I had hoped. At least the boys still look cute.

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I made this super cute breakfast from some pinterest inspiration I had seen the past few weeks. I think it was a huge hit even though Jake did not appreciate the artistic presentation. He picked out the donuts because his special stuffed animal is Doughie Dog from the book “If You Give a Dog a Donut”. He woke up this morning asking for the Doughie Donuts. Annndd you know… If you give a dog a donut, he ask for a cup of Starbucks to go with it. 🙂2017-02-14-07-24-212017-02-14-07-25-31

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day filled with lots of love with everyone you see today and everyday.

Until next week, XOXO.

Christmas and the end of 2016

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We had been on the road traveling for the last couple weeks. We set out on the long journey from Tampa to Chicago then down to Kokomo Indiana. Not that long by plane but we wanted to bring our wonderful Emma with us and she would get too scared on an airplane. So it’s a two day journey in a car with two boys under 2, a dog and a ton of stuff. I know I always over pack but I get so excited to wear something different! This particular trip was honestly very stressful for me. Liam pretty much never switched to a different time zone and stopped sleeping all night. Not his fault, he’s not 4 months yet and its alot for him to do. But I felt like I was on an opposite schedule than everyone else the whole time. I can’t wait for the day when our trips that mess the kids up are for fun vacations instead of just going to see family every time since they are far away. It was so nice to get home but I still wish I had more time to see friends. The couple of playdates I did get to have made me so happy to know that there are other moms out there like me. (You know who you are 🙂 )

It was a nice Christmas. I have been excited to start doing some family traditions of our own this year too. Some of my favorite Christmas traditions is making Christmas Cookies for Santa…

2016-12-15-12-03-022016-12-15-12-18-19^It’s a wonder we got anything made with this cookie eating crew.^2016-12-15-12-29-12^Jake was REALLY into licking the bowl! 🙂 ^2016-12-15-12-29-312016-12-15-12-29-482016-12-15-12-29-552016-12-15-16-11-25^Decorating time!^2016-12-15-14-38-362016-12-15-17-55-092016-12-15-21-03-37^Cookies and wine for Santa 😉 and carrots for the reindeer.^

It was a wonderful Christmas. So much fun watching my little boy get excited and open presents for the first time.2016-12-15-22-27-352016-12-16-07-35-11-2Another Christmas tradition I love is getting matching Christmas jammies and a Christmas book to read together on Christmas eve…2016-12-16-07-38-49^Matching Christmas jammies! I ❤ these boys!^2016-12-16-08-20-502016-12-19-11-41-562016-12-20-13-15-112016-12-20-13-16-21

One of the hardest things for me about living in the south is no snow. I absolutely love snow. I was so excited to have snow to play in this year while visiting and even more excited that Jake LOVED it too.2016-12-19-10-56-262016-12-19-08-52-24^Emma missed the snow soooo much too.^2016-12-19-10-59-09^The first steps out in the fluffy marshmallow world.^2016-12-19-11-00-082016-12-19-11-02-492016-12-19-11-03-452016-12-19-11-03-532016-12-19-11-03-542016-12-19-11-03-51^SNOWBALLS! Thank goodness for a waterproof phone case!^2016-12-19-11-06-222016-12-19-13-46-132016-12-19-13-46-44^Eating snow. “It’s delicious!”^2016-12-23-16-29-052016-12-23-16-29-57^Daddy and baby snowmen.^2016-12-20-16-12-53^The boys were thrilled about our matching Indianapolis Colts hats. haha.^2016-12-20-23-16-53

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are ready to ring in 2017 this weekend. I know I am going to dress up fancy and drink fancy champagne from our super comfy couch here at home.

Until next week, XOXO.