My Sunday Seven!

I am a lover of Etsy. A serious, head-over-heels, passionate lover of Etsy, to my checking accounts detriment. And I squeal with delight when one of my treasures arrives in the mail. So, I thought I'd do another post sharing some of the shops I love the mostest! Most of these, I have purchased from-- some of them are ear-marked for a rainy day.....and lucky for me, I live in north Florida, so we get plenty of them :) Oh, you can just click on the RED text to be taken to the mentioned site!

1) I LOVE The Vintage Pearl!! Go check them out, and I bet you'll love 'em, too. Amazing jewelry! I recently got a necklace for Mother's Day, and I cherish it! Not and Etsy shop, but still handmade!

2) Curly Birdie makes some of the sweetest baby shoes around!! Oh, they are just too sweet for words. 

3) Leave You In Stitches- a MUST for mama's with little girls! In my opinion, clothing made the way little girl's should dress! Sweet, innocent, and ruffles and girlishness galore! You have no idea how sad I was when the item I added to my favorites list sold this weekend. But I've got my eye on this one, and I WILL satisfy the desire to get the sweet pinafore with the ruffly bottom I saw. Oh, you wait.....

4) So there's this pillow.... It's just lovely! RoxyCreations makes a ton of lovely things, but that pillow....

5) Poco Loco Creative- breathtaking art! Just looking at her shop transports me to very peaceful place! She mixes media and the combination is stunning!

6) I've mentioned Little Hailey before, but I'm certain it bears repeating! Lovely hair things for your little ladies at incredible prices. And I promise you, you will NOT be disappointed. The quality is great, and the designs are unique and oh so cute! A couple orders ago, she was kind enough to throw in a sail boat clip- free!- and my daughter LOVES it. She is wearing it in her hair right now....as she is sleeping :)

7) Lilacs & Lollipops.....even their name is super sweet! My sister took it upon herself to throw me a one-woman baby shower, and this was one of the amazing treasures she gifted me with! A lovely nursing cover, but even more important- a nursing cover with nickel buckle, instead of the adjustable ring!! Why is this so exciting, you ask? Well, because with the o-ring that most covers use, you have to thread the tie through the ring and adjust it every time-- hard to do with a hungry baby on your hands! But the new design allows you to get the tie perfect, and leave it in place, and just buckle the tie on. Genius! And beautiful! Thanks KELL!!!!!! I love it!!

So that concludes this post of 'Some of the reasons I work from home', alternately titled 'Why I am up until 1 am' :)

Since I have shared with you, please, share some of your favorites with me! Really....I'm always looking for ways to spread the cash love around. Friends are supposed to share found treasures, right? So share, won't ya?

jumpin' jack splash

I was iChatting with my sister and we were sharing old videos and pictures, and I came across this video from last summer. Just look at my squishy little baby!!! He was, and still is, the happiest little guy around.

me + evie, evie + me

I'm very pregnant. Very. And I've been a bit uncomfortable, mainly due to this sticky, energy-sucking heat spell we've been having.  But, instead of whining about the heat, my semi-hourly trips to the bathroom, my hip aches and yucky indigestion and heartburn, I am trying to put the focus back on the amazing wonder that is growing within me. (Okay, so I guess typing all that is not quite saving my gripes, is it?)

But really, I do cherish these moments with her kicking and squirming inside me. For some reason, this little girl really digs my right side-- most of the time you can see how lopsided I am. She's a dancing queen when I eat strawberries. And I am guessing, like her brothers and sister before her, she is quite content to stay in her warm, reasonably quiet, very cozy space, and won't budge until she's evicted.

And evicted she soon will be. Until then, though, I am loving this time with my girl, and loving the anticipation that builds in my home until the day we get to meet her and touch her sweet face.

please pardon the spots on my shirt here.....jack decided to wipe his chocolatey, hershey kiss-covered face on me right before I snapped this.

like sands through the hourglass....

This week has me totally out of sorts. I had a Real Estate course that I had to attend to maintain my license, and that meant Jeremiah got to play Mr. Mom for a couple days.  He took the kids on nature walks, went to the zoo, and visited the park in 100 degree heat that I would not dare. And he did do laundry. But the living room is overrun by toys, paper from art projects, and dress up clothes strewn about. He tackled some of HIS to do list: he painted the dining room, the kitchen, and got the trim cleaned up. And apparently Jack got some of HIS to do list taken care of to-- he got into the craft area, found some RED (yes, RED!) acrylic paint, poured it on our floor, and then finger-painted ALL OVER the place. Oh boy! We got the paint off the floor, but not completely off our front door, the kids table, or his feet. We ichatted with my sister to show her what Jack had done, and all she could do was laugh. Yeah, it's super funny when it's not your house :)

Here are some of the pictures of what the kids did with Daddy while Mommy was hard at work.....well, at least, while Mommy was at work. And can I just say how blessed I am to have a husband who takes the kids on adventures by himself instead of spending the time in an air-conditioned home in front of a TV-- with the exception of World Cup Soccer, of course!!!

we started the weekend with a moonlight movie at the beach on base! great, free fun!

after living in FL for about 7 yrs, we've been lucky enough to only see these things at the zoo

when it comes to ferocity, that lion's got nothing on jack!

our zoo has a splash park, thank goodness, because it was BOILING that day

my wild bunch

this wasn't with daddy, but for daddy. $1 for each bobblehead and tons of fun! I heart Michael's.

nature walk at castaway island on another VERY hot, but gorgeous day

what I love about living in FL- green, beachy, and blue skies!

it's impossible to get one of all them looking at the camera!

case in point

notice the pink cheeks? did I mention it was HOT??

the heat was awful, but afterwards daddy got them smoothies!

enjoy the princess role now, girl, 'cause you won't be the only one for long!

time to head home......

Just Dance!

Here are some pictures from Kaiti's 1st dance recital on Monday. She had 2 performances- ballet and tap. And she was amazing at both. The mere fact that she walked on the stage was HUGE because my little girl was quite content in her shy little shell up until about a year ago.

getting ready....her first time wearing makeup that wasn't disney princess lipgloss

pretty girl

about to go on with sarah and avery!

taking the stage!

kaiti is in the front middle, looking down :)

and jack broke our camera before the ballet performance, but hopefully I can get some of those from some of the other moms that were there. thank to Shasta, I have one picture of her after the show!

my tiny dancer makes us so proud every day!

Outta the mouths of mama's AND daddy's AND doctor's!!!

If you spent more than a few minutes in my home, none of these comments would surprise you. In fact, I'd probably have a lot more to share with you, but they seem so normal in the moment, that only occasionally do I think- hey, I should write that down.

There are a couple things in here that came out of my husbands mouth.......I bet you can't guess which ones :)




"What do you have in your mouth? Open! Spit it out boo boo! Seriously Tyler-- how are you so sure THIS QUARTER in your brother's mouth was yours? They all have that guy on it."

"Honey, can you please take that out of Jack's hands? No, it's not just a baby wipe! It's a baby wipe he just dunked in the TOILET WATER! Because, I don't want to touch it- that's GROSS!"

"Wait right there Jack! WHAT- What do you mean 'don't worry mom, that is not poop on jack's arms and face'? What is it??? Well, why is he covered in peanut butter? Ohhhhh, honey.......... giving Jack a jar of peanut butter is not a good snack idea."

"Did you just say 'Unfortunately, mommy doesn't let snakes in the house'? Oh. Okay. Just wanted to make sure I heard that right."

"Please take your hands out from your pants. Now. We live in Florida and it's summer- there is NO WAY your hands are so cold that you need to put them in there."

"That's not funny, Jack. Stop laughing you guys. Throwing cold muffin dough at me is not funny, and you laughing at him is only encouraging him to throw more at me. STOP LAUGHING!"

"What's going on Kaiti? I'll be out in a second- I need to rinse the shampoo out of my eyes. Why are you screaming like that? Getting you fruit snacks does NOT qualify as a 'major emergency' so please don't scream for me like that again when I'm in the shower."

"Why do you always try to take your pants off? Why?"

"Who put the oatmeal on my side of the bed? Oh, well, thank you. Because, I didn't know it was a bedtime surprise, but yes, I love it."


"Why are you walking around with hair spray? Well, go get a swatter, but this is not what we use to kill flies."


"No, that's not a meteor. Because it looks exactly like a balloon. If it was a meteor, all these people would be running for their lives, that's how I know."

---and making a special guest appearance, one of Jack's doctors, 'cause I love ya'------

"Oh, wait. I think I found it. Yep..... I think..........hang on..........yep, there it is! The second testicle! Wonderful!!!'

amazing

A youtube treasure that captures that moment that every military family knows. 


You might want to grab some tissues :)

Our Summer Plans

I thought it was a cute & exciting way to get our ideas on to paper about how we'd like to spend the summer! This gives the kids something to look forward to, but is also a realistic way to plan our time- yeah, I made sure to include a pajama day. I'm good like that :) I am well aware that with a newborn, some of these 'to do's' are going to be left to daddy, the family we have coming to visit, or are going to have to follow a serious trip to Starbucks.

So, if you call or stop by and we're not here, this is what we'll be doing :)

cute hair clippies!!!

Just wanted to come on here and share a recent Etsy shop discovery! I was looking for sweet little hair bows and hair accessories that would hold little wisps of newborn hair, and came across Little Hailey's Boutique. You have to go check it out.....the prices are unbeatable and she has a ton of unique, lovely designs that work for fresh new babies to young little ladies!

Aside from the sweet designs and unique clips, she is willing to customize orders and responds quickly to questions! Can't wait to get my pretty little things!

Find a site that you just fell in love with? I'd love to hear about it!!!

NOT ME! MONDAY!!!!

I think it's been a couple weeks since I've done a Not ME! post....but trust me, it is not for lack of those Not Me! moments. My husband was gone for a while and I felt like it took everything- AND I MEAN EVERYTHING- I had to keep it together and maintain life while he was away. We definitely share in the responsibilities, but more than that, I always feel so much more capable when he is home. When he's gone, I definitely feel like a fish out of water. So much for the 'liberated' and independent Shannon I think am.

About those NOT ME! moments.....

While my husband was away, I spent every second loving and nurturing my children, and teaching them important life lessons. Very important, knowledge-fostering, character-building lessons. I certainly did NOT teach my 19 month old son how to fetch a clean diaper and a hand full of wipes when I asked him if he needed to be changed. And I was NOT so impressed with myself that upon my husband's return, I said 'Hey, look what I taught Jack Jack!!!!' And less than 24 hours after his return, my husband did NOT beam with pride when he taught Jack the last step of that process-- how to take his own dirty diaper out of the room and throw it in the garage!

Last week I had to take all 3 kids with me to my OB appointment. I was hoping to be in and out and have Tyler back to school in no time....I had to take him with me because I didn't have anyone who could drive him and had I dropped him off, the poor kid would have been more than 30 min early. Unfortunately my best laid plans were thrown when my OB detected something during the doppler. She sent me- and my 3- upstairs to L & D to get some things done. It was a very long, very tough, very crazy making 4 hours as I laid there, stuck in the bed, as my 3 kids were free to roam about. I can assure you that I held it together, even as Jack was opening the can of medical waste, Kaiti knocked the stroller into the monitor that set it off because she inadvertently unplugged it, and Tyler walked out to the Nurse's station to request goldfish and sweet tea. It was NOT me who started crying like 3-year-old in front of my kids, while shrieking 'I NEED DADDY!!!!'

Yesterday, we made a quick trip to Target. It was raining outside, so my husband was kind enough to let me and big kids out in front. I took Tyler and Kaiti into the women's restroom while we were waiting for Jeremiah and Jack-- a pregnant bladder can ALWAYS be relieved. The bathroom was full, so I walked into a stall and told the kids to wait at the sink for me. While I am in the restroom, the following conversation most definitely did NOT occur.

T: Hey, Mom, can I have a quarter please?
Me: Why do you need a quarter?
T: Because they have a game out here you can play, but you need a quarter.
Me: Um, I don't think that's a game honey.
T: Yes, it is, I can see it, and it has prizes.
Me: Tyler, trust me buddy, that is not a prize you want to win.
-- snickers now from the other stalls-
T: Yes, I do want to win one. I've never played this before.
Me: Tyler, that 'prize' is really just for women.
T: Well, what is it?
Me: It's just something that women are concerned with, not boys.
T: Well, I'll give it to my sister. Or let you use it.

Finally, last Wednesday proved to be a hump day that felt more like a mountain I need to climb! It did NOT begin with me being jolted from sleep, definitely aware of how rested I was, with a quick glance over at the alarm clock to see that it was not on. Our lab sometimes lays in the spot where the cord is, pulling it out of the socket and rendering my alarm clock useless. All this created another check in the Tardy column for Tyler. When we got home, I decided to pull some chicken from the freezer to make chicken caesar salad for dinner. (If you know me well, you know this is a VERY BIG DEAL. Cooking chicken makes me nervous, and when my husband is gone, my kids tend to suffer from poultry deficiency.) As I was walking from the garage freezer to the kitchen, I felt a liquid dripping down my leg. Well, it was NOT the dang chicken juice leaking from the package and creating a nasty, killer trail that spanned the length of my home. NO WAY!! Freaked out and ready to toss my cookies, I quickly grabbed the mop and Pine Sol (which, by the way, happens to have a smell that sets my hormones a blazing- but that is a topic for another day) and quickly mopped up the trail of the deadly juice! Yes, it is deadly. Well, fine,  I'm not 100% on that, but still. Have I mentioned how freaked out I am by chicken? Anyway, after less than a minute of mopping my tile, I heard the phone ringing and rushed to grab it. Of course, I remembered that the floors were wet and slick with water and Pine Sol.....so I did NOT step on the floor, have both feet go out from under me, and come down very hard on my backside, causing both a seriously bruised tush and ego. What little sense of power and competence I was still clinging to at that point went right out the window.

don't even get me started on this aphrodisiac in a 28 ounce bottle.....good stuff!!