Friday Randoms ~

Kids are so funny. Last night, Ryan's back was hurting, and Brooke self-appointed herself as "Dr. Brooke," and decided to give him a check up. :) After putting her hand to his forehead, she declared, "You have a Bieber." (meant fever) After another second of contemplation, she said, "Yep, you definitely have a Bieber," then told him that, to feel better, he needed grape medicine. ;-)

This morning, Pierson patted his head, and said, "boy." Such a smart little guy; he's used to patting his head when I ask "where's mommy's boy?" Then, he patted my head, and said, "boy." Well, 1 out of 2... still made me proud. ;-)

So much to do this weekend! Errands, hair cut, (Pierson was SIX MONTHS OLD the last time I had it cut..) more landscaping, and whatever else we get into. Now if only the weather will cooperate.. Happy weekend!

Butterflies & Blogs ~

Today is deliciously warm and beautiful, so I took the opportunity to get the kids outside to help me with decorating the large tree in our front yard with big, plastic Easter eggs hung with twine. :) Brooke especially enjoyed helping me by handing me each egg and suggesting where I should put it, while Pierson simply enjoyed cracking them open and leaving them strewn about the yard. As the last egg was tied, he whined, pointed towards the dangling eggs, and said, "ba-oon!" (balloon) He wasn't too happy that he could no longer play with them. So, I gave him the now empty basket, and the three of us walked around the neighborhood picking yellow flowers. (dandelions :) Good and tired kids make for a gooood nap.

His new thing recently are eyes: he likes to point them out in books, on his character cars and trucks, on us, on himself--he even pointed out the eyes on a neighborhood dog today, whose owner had stopped so the kids could pet her dog, and said, "eyes!" He knows the names of pretty much everything on his face and body, but eyes are his favorite right now, and it makes him so proud of himself. :)

It's a very good thing that I haven't bought any Finding Nemo-related party supplies just yet. (Not that I would, being this early, but still.) Two days ago, after she watched an Angelina Ballerina episode where Angelina had a pet butterfly, Brooke started to pretend that she had imaginary butterflies. She then announced with a gasp, "I'd like a butterfly party!" I said, "oh, really?" She said, "and a pink butterfly cake." Gosh, she's specific. Pink butterfly cake it is!

I'm of the mindset that birthdays are really special.. you don't have to spend a lot of money to make your child's birthday a really special day, but I do put quite a bit of time into them. Ryan doesn't understand my fascination with it, but I LOVE planning parties, even just little ones where only family is invited.

Lets just say.. the more I look for inspiration for a butterfly party, and butterfly cake ideas, the more I hope that she doesn't change her mind again before her actual birthday! This would be so fun. :)

Speaking of changing minds, I've changed my blog design already. I wasn't really liking the green at all, but I think I'm happy with this new design. For now. :)

Wordless Wednesday ~

iRun ~

As of Saturday, my 28th birthday is now less than a month away. (5/9) In spite of not really wanting to be a year older, I AM pretty excited about my birthday this year, because... I'll be getting these:

(K-Swiss Tubes 100 in "Sunrise")

Ryan and I talked about it a couple of months ago and decided that our gifts to each other this year would be new athletic shoes. (He will also be getting K-Swiss Tubes) I know, there's no surprise aspect, but we both need a new pair, and we're getting GOOD pairs. Not in all cases, but in most, you get what you pay for, and it's become increasingly evident that I need more supportive shoes, especially after suffering a stress fracture in my foot last month, and STILL aggravating it when I work out too hard. It's annoying. I literally can't go running, unless I want to walk with a limp for a few days. And I have to position my foot just so on my elliptical machine to prevent hurting my foot.

Ryan actually did some research on shoes for me, because I want a good pair for running that also has substantial arch support, since that seems to be my biggest problem. He came up with the K-Swiss Tubes 100. I tried them on at Lady FootLocker, and they felt AMAZING. (I even ran around the store/jumped around to really try them out. Sorry, LF.) I also tried on the Asics Gel-Kayano 17, because I've read that they're excellent running shoes, not to mention super pretty. (though literally twice the cost of the K-Swiss) Honestly, there was no comparison. The K-Swiss were light and "squishy" while the Asics felt like a lead balloon.

Normally, I buy everything in PINK. It's a sickness, really; I'm a sucker for anything pink. But I'm pretty proud of myself, because I'm branching out and trying something new and bold. :) At first they look a bit shocking, but at the same time, that's kinda why I like them. The sunrise color won't be released until 4/29--just in time for my birthday, and I CAN'T WAIT. :)

Happy (rainy) Tuesday!

Hop, Hop ~

We participated in our first Easter activity yesterday afternoon--an Easter Egg Hunt! We had to wake the kids from their naps, (which I never normally do, but I'm so glad that we did!) but they quickly got excited when we told them where we were going. :) I didn't mention it before naptime, because I know that, at least for Brooke, that would've meant that NO sleep would happen.

We followed "the Easter Bunny" (I use that term very loosely) through a tunnel, and out into a big field to find the eggs. I actually told Brooke, "that's not the REAL Easter Bunny, just someone pretending to be the Easter Bunny, since it's not Easter yet." Seriously, the costume was so bad that I couldn't even tell my 3 year-old that it was the REAL bunny. I mean, if that was the real bunny, I wouldn't be very excited if I were 3! Anyway, she didn't seem bothered, and was so excited to hunt for some eggs. :)

(For what it's worth, yes, just like Santa Claus, we talk to the kids about the Easter Bunny. Even though the Easter bunny isn't the REASON for Easter, we include it. Kids have such wild imaginations, and I think it just adds to the excitement of a holiday. If they're taught the real reason for Easter (and Christmas, for that matter) then I don't see the harm in it. That's just our own personal opinion. I know not everyone agrees with it, and that's fine.)

I'm SO thankful that they had the egg hunt scheduled for Sunday afternoon rather than Saturday. It was so cold, rainy, and dreary on Saturday, but absolutely BEAUTIFUL yesterday! It was the perfect day to be outside. As soon as we got home, we changed and took the kids out for a long walk, then let them run around in the backyard before finally having to come inside for dinner. I love this time of year. (but I don't love that I had to kill my first spider of the season--a little black one with pinchers! Gross. Spoke too soon in my last blog post, I guess.)

Anyway, pictures! :) We only took video while we were there, so I just pulled pictures out of the video that Ryan took.

Kids & I ~ Yes, they're not looking. The fact that they sat still for the picture makes it a Win! for me.

Hope you all had a great weekend! :)

18 Months ~

Yeah. I know. I don't know how it happened, either, but Pierson is 18 months old today! It's a rainy, cold-ish day, (after a couple of beautiful, warm, sunny days!) and thankfully we don't have to go anywhere today. It's a good day to be inside, play, snuggle, and watch Cars:

- Picture of the kids taken a couple of night ago. They were exhausted after a long day of playing outside. :) Pierson is finally willing to share "his" chair. It's pretty cute, I have to say. -

A week from today we'll be heading back for Round 2 of Easter pictures--this time as a family. :) Our most recent family picture was taken at Pierson's birthday party, so I'd say it's about time, don't you think? :) Hopefully we'll get at least one good one to frame and hang in the house. I'm excited!! Are you excited?

Have a great weekend!

Galore ~

You know your son has possibly committed a few too many wrong doings against his sister when... Ryan asks him to "go tell Mommy you're sorry," and he makes a bee line for his sister, hugs her, and says, "sorry." (But goodness, does it do my heart good to hear my little man in training say he's sorry! He's already a step ahead of the game.)

If you're not a friend of mine on Facebook, then you've missed quite a few pictures in the past 6 months.

First, there was Pierson's Fall Fox birthday party...

Then Halloween...

Then Thanksgiving..

Then Christmas...

Winter..

Valentine's Day..

(My very first Tiffany necklace!)

And lastly, Easter pictures of the kids.

Whew. I promise that this will be the longest post you see from me! Well, now that we're all caught up.. bye for now. ;-)