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Kole

Meet Kole

Early in the morning…heading to the hospital.

Time to get started! Everything went really well. I’m a big fan of being induced and an even bigger fan of epidurals. I checked in at 7:00 am and had the baby at 2:44 pm. He was 7 pounds 14 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Oh…and he is perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Picture soon after delivery with my sweet doctor. She has delivered all three of my babies.

The girls were so excited to come and meet their little brother. When my mom told them to get ready to go to the hospital they were in the car 45 minutes before it was time to go.

I really can’t believe this picture. It seems like last week Kenny and I were in highschool making out and riding around on his bullet bike driving my parents crazy. Now here we are three kids later. A family of five.

Grandma and Grandpa were pretty excited to meet their first grandson.

And now Kenny’s pretty glad I convinced him we needed ONE more baby.

Kole is the sweetest little boy. I could just sit and stare at him all day.

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

Kenny always orders a stork announcing our new baby. I tell him it’s so great he does it for the kids but really it’s just as much for me. I love seeing it when we get home from the hospital.

Everybody is doing great. We feel so blessed to have this sweet little boy home with us. He is such a doll and we are all completely smitten with him.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support!

xoxo, Erin
Family

Getting Ready for Baby

One more quick post before I head to the hospital! This has been such a fun weekend and I am so excited for tomorrow! Here are some pics from the last week. I finally finished my “to organize before baby” list. My mom just asked why I’m posting pictures of my organized drawers right now. Well I’ll tell you. They make me happy. Organizing them made me happy and seeing the finished product makes me happy. And I LOVE to see pictures of the way people organize on their blogs. My mom thinks I’m weird. Am I weird? Does anyone else get just giddy over this stuff? Well, regardless, here are some pics for the maybe two readers like me who like to see a little organization. :)

Girls’ homework drawer

Spice cupboard (see Shari…I do have one. I have a feeling this cupboard will stay organized for a very long time…)

Miscellaneous cupboard. Cleaning supplies up high away from little hands.

On to my bathroom drawers! (Note to self: stop buying lip gloss)

I always keep a notebook in this drawer and I can’t tell you how much I use it! When I’m upstairs and the girls say something funny I don’t want to forget, when someone calls and I need to take a message, when I’m laying in bed at night and remember things I need to do the next day… it’s a handy place to have it.

These drawers will all have to be re-done once Kole is on the move, but thankfully I’ve got awhile until then. :)

I switched out some pictures and artwork in the playroom and that finished my list!

Work was done just in time for the weekend. Saturday my parents arrived. YEA! Reinforcement is here! My girls were beyond excited to see grandma and grandpa.

It’s always such a nice break for me when my parents are in town. The other night Kenny was putting Addison to bed, my mom was reading with Ellie, my dad was cleaning up dinner, and I was chillin’ with my feet up. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Today my mom and I went shopping and bought a few things for the girls.

And a few more things for little Kole. Finally getting into the boy groove! Then we got pedicures and came home and I took a nap while my mom bathed the girls and fed them dinner. I could really get used to this whole pamper the pregnant lady thing.

Next we set up all of the baby gear and I did some laundry. Look at all of that blue! Something I’m not used to seeing in my washer. I packed for the hospital while my parents and Kenny put the girls to bed. Now we’re all hanging out watching New Moon (per my request of course). It’s been a great way to spend my last day before baby arrives. With my girls I was so nervous the night before, but this time around I’m just excited! Can’t wait for tomorrow. Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments and well wishes on my last post. I was extremely touched by all of your support. I’m heading to the hospital tomorrow feeling very loved.

Off to get my Edward fix before the big day. Next post will be pics of Kole (not more organized drawers). :)
xoxo, Erin
home decor 2

Kole’s Nursery

Finally finished Kole’s nursery. I had my last doctor appointment today and will be checking into the hospital next Tuesday, March 30th. Cuttin‘ things a little close. :) Here’s the before:

and here’s the after:

A bit more boyish. I ordered the turtle crib bedding from Baby Gap on-line. After this post when I asked for help finding bedding, my mom and several of my blog commenter’s recommended Baby Gap. I didn’t even know they sold crib bedding! Thanks again to everyone who gave me on-line sites to check out. It was so fun shopping for this.

I kept the frames up and just put new pictures in them. I’m sure I’ll replace them with pictures of Kole at some point. Time to turn my scrapbook table back into a changing table!

I found these cute little green bins to hold diapers and books.

Bought all the baby supplies and organized the drawers. I’m finally feeling prepared!

I can’t get enough of these Newborn Pampers. They are so tiny and smell so good!

Of course, the other half of the room is still a scrapbook room.


Half of the closet is mine. Full of scrapbook supplies.

And half of it is his. Full of clothes and baby supplies. Kole will learn the concept of “sharing” at a very young age. :)
xoxo, Erin
Mom Adventures

A bit of mom randomness



(Lovely picture. Addison was being…well…Addison.)

We moved Addison from her toddler car seat into a booster seat this weekend. I don’t know why that was the change that did it, but all I’ve been thinking about since then is how big she is all of a sudden.

Didn’t she JUST look like this? Like yesterday? Every mom says…”it goes by so fast” and
when you’re in the everyday trenches of being a mom to little ones – no – it does NOT feel like it is going by fast. In fact, some days go by painfully slow. But, alas, one day you move your baby into a booster seat in the car and there you go. All of a sudden she isn’t a baby anymore. And it suddenly feels like it IS all going by fast. Too fast.
I’ve been remembering a lot of things lately as I get ready to have another baby. Things like how good Pampers Newborn Swaddler diapers smell (before baby wears them of course), how much STUFF babies require, and how NOT fun the last month of pregnancy is. Mostly though I’ve been remembering things about when my girls were babies. I remember being so overwhelmed with love for Ellie that I was nervous about having another one. How could I ever love anyone as much as I loved Ellie? It didn’t seem possible. And then I had Addison. I’ll never forget the first night I spent with her in the hospital. She was sleeping next to me on the little rolling table bed and woke up and started fussing. I began talking to her and she just stopped. And her little head turned toward my voice. It was so obvious she knew me. And right then and there I was smitten. Completely overwhelmed with love for her. I cried and cried. And it was then that I totally understood how women can have six or more children and love each and every one of them more than life itself.

There are a lot of challenges that come with being a mom to little ones – the sleep deprivation, the constant clean up, the sibling rivalry, the struggle over every little thing from getting the kids dressed in the morning to getting their teeth brushed at night. But in between all of that you have these wonderful little moments. Quick fleeting moments when you make a connection, when your kids are laughing together, or when they say or do something so incredibly sweet. And you know it’s all worth it and you remember how much you love being a mom.
I love sharing these happy moments of my day with Kenny each night. So fun to have someone else who gets it. The other person who loves your kids as much as you do. When we’re hanging out each evening we always talk about what Ellie said that was so funny or what Addison did – that most likely wasn’t funny at the time but now that it’s over – is pretty funny. ;) We talk about things we’re worried about – Addison is a horrible eater – is she getting any nutrition at all? Ellie has a hard time staying focused in school – is she picking up on everything she needs to learn? Then we talk about how proud we are of them, how close the two of them are to each other, how much we love them and want the best for them.

I’ll be honest. I’m really nervous to have a third. Not nervous about the same stuff that I was nervous about with my first two. Not at all nervous that I won’t love this little one more than life itself. Not even nervous about having a boy (although maybe I should be!). Just nervous about the juggle. Will I be able to handle three? To keep it together? Will I still have enough time to be a good mom…and have a little time left over to be me? Will I ever organize, scrapbook, exercise, or blog again!!?? Sounds silly I know. But it’s doing those little things that I love some of the time that allow me to be a good mom the rest of the time.
My goal is to just take it one day at a time. That’s really all we can do as mom’s, right? Focus on and remember the good. Be grateful each morning for a new day to spend with my little ones who mean so much to me. Life is good. Being a mom is great. And if remembering this doesn’t help me survive, at least I won’t be pregnant anymore!!! (Cue the cheers in the background…) :)

xoxo, Erin
Holidays

Easter Fun

Last Saturday morning the girls were playing so nicely together upstairs that I didn’t want to call them downstairs to the table for breakfast. I just didn’t want to interrupt the flow. Nothing like a calm, drama free morning. Plus I was too lazy to make much for breakfast.

So instead, I pulled out this Easter tin I bought for sugar cookies…

and filled it with “breakfast.” My girls love to have blanket picnics so they were delighted to be eating breakfast upstairs for a change. Saturday’s should be less structured, right?

The Easter tin was especially fun because they loved guessing what each Easter picture was under the food. And don’t forget the toothpicks. What is it with kids and toothpicks? If I give my kids a tooth pick, food is suddenly MUCH more interesting. A little trick I use to get them to try all kinds of stuff they wouldn’t normally eat.

See. Gotta have the toothpicks.

Speaking of Easter and food, my little candy arrangement is long gone. I was tempted to buy more candy, but thought better of it.

so instead I bought this festive little Easter tree. I’m loving the sequined sparkly eggs! Can’t wait for Easter this year. Since it’s right around the time I’ll be bringing home a new little chick. :)
Here’s wishing everyone my favorite kind of weekend. One that’s lazy and drama free!
xoxo, Erin
Addison

Mermaids and More

So have you all seen the new Barbie in A Mermaid Tale movie? No! Really? It’s been out for like 5 days now. ;) It’s of course all the rage at our house. My girls got all the mermaid dolls for Christmas this year so they have been patiently waiting for this movie to come out since December. We bought the movie last weekend and since then they have been busy watching the movie, acting out the movie, begging for baths to play with the mermaids in the water, pretending to surf on my furniture, begging to go to the beach, and drawing pictures of the surfer/mermaids.

Gotta love a good Barbie movie. I know we all do. :)

Speaking of tub toys I finally got around to organizing ours. I have a “to organize before baby” list I’ve been slowly working off of when I find a minute here and there.

I found a minute the other day by throwing Addison in the tub to play while Ellie was at school. She happily splashed around in the water while I hauled to get their toys straightened.

Ahhh. Much better. I should have taken a picture of the ‘before’ because this cupboard was a sad sight.


Cleaning their bathroom cupboards felt so good that I decided to tackle our closet – Kenny’s side. My side stays pretty orderly. Kenny’s needs to be re-organized…well…too often. Addison got out of the tub, but continued playing with the mermaids on dry land while I worked.

Goodwill garbage bags at the top of my stairs are always a happy sight. :) About five more areas on my list left to tackle. Tomorrow – the spice cupboard. Bring it on.
xoxo, Erin
Addison

Project Life – Addison’s Book

Just wanted to share the beginning of Addison’s book. I decided to start her book in May of 2009 because I wanted to include her third birthday party. We celebrated it during our family trip to Cancun which made it an extra fun celebration. :) I wanted to include some 5×7’s so I decided to do a few traditional layouts to include in her Project Life book.

Those are the birthday layouts. Here is her album so far…

Her cover page is the same as Ellie’s.

I had so many Cancun pictures, but didn’t want the trip to be ten pages in her album so I developed a lot of collages (I used Picasa to make them) and just cut them up and adhered the small pictures to the journaling cards. I rounded the corners to keep the look of the vertical pictures the same.

Here are the scrapbooked layouts integrated into the album. I know I’ve said it before, but this is my favorite thing about these albums. I can add any additional memorabilia and it all works. If I have time and am in the mood to scrapbook something, I can just add the layout to the album and then go back to just inserting pictures. Perfect solution for busy scrapbookers!

Fun to add some of Addison’s quotes. (Once again – just printed from my blog)

And that’s where I’m at so far! Only caught up through August. I have two weeks until the baby comes and six and a half months of her album to do. Hmmmm. We’ll see if that happens. You should see Kole’s nursery/my scrapbook room. The room is full of baby stuff that needs to be put away, half way decorated, with scrapbook supplies all over the place. Looks like a total bomb went off. When I’m not in the room messing things up even more, I just close the door because the sight of it is a bit overwhelming right now. Crossing my fingers for some extra energy to come my way. Real quick! :)

**Update – You can see how I document “school days” here.

xoxo, Erin
Birthdays

March 11th

Last Thursday, March 11th, I turned 33 years old.

I woke up on my birthday morning to the smell of waffles. Kenny and Ellie woke up extra early to make them for me.

I also woke up to a Nordstrom’s gift card, a coupon for a new paper cutter (I ran mine into the ground with my 2009 Christmas cards), and of course…Cadbury Eggs. Waffles, Nordstroms, scrapbook supplies and Cadbury Eggs – what a delightful combination! Kenny knows me well. :)

I drove on the freeway and noticed that my flowers were in full bloom. Beautiful wild flowers bloom each year next to the freeway entrance by my house. They always pop up mid-March and I like to think they appear just for me. Wishing me a happy birthday each time I head out into the world. I’d love to pull over someday and take a picture of them, but I’m afraid I might be killed. Californians are crazy drivers. I know this because I’m one of them.

I got a pedicure and then splurged and also got a manicure. I never get manicures. A good pedicure will last 2-3 weeks. A good manicure lasts…not even 2 days and the polish is chipped and driving me crazy. So wanting to splurge for my birthday, but also be practical, I got a manicure with no polish. I quite enjoyed it and think I’ll have to try that little trick again.

I went to the store and bought myself more Raspberry Lemonade. My mom called me after my last post about Raspberry Lemonade and told me she wanted to see pictures of how big my belly is getting, not pictures of the Lemonade in my fridge. So mom, this picture of lemonade in my fridge is dedicated to you. ;)

Speaking of my belly, I also had an ultra sound on my birthday. Kole is six pounds and looking great. Smart or not smart, it is looking like he and I will soon share a birthday month.

The girls and I read “Pinkalicious” at least ten times. Because we like pink around here and birthdays and stories about cupcakes go hand in hand.

Then the girls made a special birthday tea party in my honor…

and put on a special birthday ballet performance that only a few special “friends” and I were invited to.

And I sat in a special birthday chair. The green one (“because mommy loves green”) decorated with a birthday cake drawing.

I enjoyed lots of fun mail, phone calls, and facebook/e-mail birthday shout outs. Birthdays are so fun that way. One day to hear from all of your favorite people.

That evening I got ready to go to dinner with my friends. Choosing what to wear was easy since I’m down to three shirts that fit. I thought about wearing my favorite 2 hour shoes that I got last year for my birthday…

and then looked at my belly my mother is so anxious to see and thought better of it. The shoes will have to wait awhile. Realistically until the next March 11th.

I had a great time with my friends who I love and adore. We talked and laughed the night away. I chose the same restaurant as last year.

and we got the same group shot as last year.

I told my friends no gifts (especially since they all JUST finished throwing me a baby shower). So of course…


They got me gifts. They put together a “Survival Kit” to aid me through what we call “the year of the baby.” A bag full of all kinds of fun things from pajamas to face masks to candles to my favorite candy to a “Team Edward – stand by your Vampire” t-shirt. Because who can survive a baby without a “Team Edward – stand by your Vampire” t-shirt? I know I can’t. It was a perfect gift and a perfect evening. Love my friends.

Kenny took me to dinner last weekend and then again this weekend to celebrate. I can always make my birthday stretch into at least a birthday week. Some years, when I’m really at the top of my game, March becomes my birthday month and we are celebrating for a good 31 days. But I’ve had Kenny assisting me in so many “honey do’s” to get ready for the baby that I think a good week is all I’ll get this year. I’m beginning to sense my endless requests are starting to wear on him. “Honey can you please hang these pictures, lift these boxes, and touch-up this paint? It is my birthday week you know” can only last so long. {sigh}

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special. I am beyond blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. I love you all.

p.s. To all of you scrapbookers out there…can anyone recommend a great paper cutter? :)
xoxo, Erin
Mom Adventures

Expectations

I was talking with a friend today about how I was feeling frustrated lately because this pregnancy has been really slowing me down. I just can’t get done in a day what I’m used to doing. We were talking about how it really all has to do with expectations – especially the expectations we set for ourselves and how there are times that these expectations just have to be lowered.

This is a topic Kenny and I have talked about a lot since we became parents. Kids do that to you, don’t they? Force you to LOWER your expectations. I remember our first vacation with Ellie. She was two years old and we took her to Maui. After that little adventure, we stopped calling it a “vacation” if our kids were coming along. We call it a “family trip.” Vacations are a time to relax and rejuvenate which just doesn’t quite happen with little ones. BUT, we found that if we approached these “trips” with a different attitude, without expectations of relaxing much and just planned on spending quality time with our kids (even if that means passing up dining at fine restaurants and snorkeling to instead eating chicken nuggets next to the kiddie pool) we have a much more enjoyable time. We actually have a great time. Because it’s all about what you expect.

I remember when Kenny first started working as an attorney. The first few years were really hard for me. Six o’clock in the evening would roll around and I would “expect” him to walk in the door. Every minute passed six I would get more and more frustrated that he wasn’t home yet. I spent a lot of evenings feeling annoyed that I was without a husband and picked on because I’d taken care of kids from sun-up to sun-down. Over the years I’ve really learned to lower my expectations. Attorneys sometimes put in long hours. It’s just part of the job. Thankfully Kenny now has more control over his schedule and doesn’t work as many late nights. Still, I NEVER plan on him being home at a certain time. I ALWAYS plan on putting the kids to bed. Then if he walks in the door at six o’clock, great! It’s a bonus. If not, I’m OK and happy to have him home whenever he gets here. Expectations. They really can make or break your attitude.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t ever set high expectations for ourselves. That we shouldn’t push ourselves to be or do better. Just that there are times in our lives when it helps to realize that you can’t do everything. And that it’s OK. I sometimes have a hard time with this. I think women and mothers in general have a hard time with this. We’re hard workers and want to be everything to everybody…and still have time to organize the kitchen pantry and do a blog post. :)
I am a list person. I make a to-do list each night of what I want to accomplish the next day. I’m used to bustling around, happily checking things off of my list all day long. Lately, I’m not making much progress on the old to-do list. Taking care of my girls is really all I have the energy for right now.

I know that one month from now (when I’ve once again entered life with a newborn) my to-do list will say: take a shower. And it will have been a really good day if I’m able to check that off.

Expectations. They really are what it’s all about. And this post is to remind me that now is a good time to start lowering mine.
xoxo, Erin
Addison

Tuesday Randomness

Well, it’s Tuesday and this is not a Project Life post. Of course as soon as I commit to posting my progress each Tuesday, no progress happens. I didn’t get much done on Addie’s book because my pictures took longer than I planned to get back. I mentioned before that I tried ordering my prints from a new site. The site is scrapbookpictures.com and I have to say that the quality was pretty good. I was happy with them. The only down side is not getting them back immediately. I ordered them on a Saturday and they arrived the next Friday so it took a week. When you check out the website and picture prices you’ll notice that you can choose your level of quality. I paid a little more to have the prints analyzed. I didn’t save a ton on 4×6 pictures, but I did save a lot on enlargements. I’ll definitely use this site to order my bigger prints but probably stick with my photo lab for the rest just because I’m too impatient to wait for the mail. :) Anyway – hopefully next Tuesday I’ll have some of Addie’s book to share.

Speaking of my Addison…you may remember from this post that she is NOT a morning person.

It always takes her awhile to wake up and get going.

But once she’s had some time to adjust and a little breakfast…

my curly headed firecracker becomes her true mischievous self.

The last pic of her stealing the candy is blurry because I took it so fast and then tried to grab her before m&m’s started disappearing. The m&m jar had to be put away in the cupboard. As for the rest of my little Easter display, there isn’t much left. Wish I could blame it all on the kids. Guess I’ll have to blame it on Kenny. :)

p.s. March is National DVT (Deep-Vein Thrombosis) awareness month. My mom’s darling friend, Sherie, lost her daughter Natalie at age 23 to DVT. She has created a blog to remember Natalie and help raise awareness about DVT. This month my mom and all of Sherie’s many friends decorated socks for DVT month. They all turned out so cute! Check out her blog and the darling socks at rememberingnatalie.blogspot.com. You can click on the side link “project – get your sock on” to learn what the socks have to do with DVT. Such a fun idea to raise awareness about DVT and a great way to honor her daughter. We love you Sherie!
(if you decide to read Natalie’s story at the bottom of the page, have a box of tissues ready)
Have a great Tuesday!
xoxo, Erin
Fun with Friends

35 weeks and a baby shower

35 weeks along. Not much to update. I’m not sleeping well. I go to the bathroom about every 25 minutes. Everything is puffy and swollen. It was a cold rainy day and I turned off the heat and have had the fan on high. Kenny and the girls were watching the science channel in sweatshirts huddled together under our big Charger blanket. I’m uncomfortable. And big. And hoping to pop soon. And still wondering what was up with the science channel.

My darling friends threw me a baby shower last week.

A great night full of wonderful people…

wonderful food…

and wonderful gifts. Thank you so much to my friends – I love you all. The shower was perfect. And I’m thrilled about finally having so many fun boy clothes!

This picture just made me laugh. C’mon Erin. Stand up. You can do it. (Funny the challenges you face daily when pregnant – standing up, putting on your shoes, fitting through the grocery store isle…)

All of the gifts were folded up in gift sacks when I went to bed after my baby shower. The next morning I found this downstairs. The girls had pulled everything out and were oohhhing and aahhing over it all. “Mom! Is this all for baby Kole? Isn’t this so cute!? I love this! Will he wear this swimsuit to the beach!?” I jumped right in and showed them everything and the three of us oohhhed and aahhhed together. It made me so happy that I have girls. When I had tried to show Kenny some of the stuff the night before he had nodded and said “Looks good – glad you had fun.” Guys. They just don’t get it.

Ellie told me today that my stomach was so big she can’t remember what it looks like smaller. Then she asked how you make a baby in your stomach. I deferred to Kenny who said “Well….first you get married and then decide you want a baby and the girl gets pregnant.” (I’m thinking – that was the best you could do? Although I know I couldn’t have done any better.) Then she says, “So you just think it and then you’re pregnant?” I told her it was hard to understand and we’d talk about it when she was a little older. She said “Can you tell me about it when I’m eight? Eight is my favorite number.” Then we conveniently steered the conversation in another direction – we were suddenly very interested in knowing exactly why eight was her favorite. :)
xoxo, Erin

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