April Update

Half way through April? How? Less than two months until the wedding? No way!  
SO MUCH has been going on around here.  We've been so occupied with showing/selling our house, finding a new house, checking out new school districts and neighborhoods, and getting wedding details taken care of, the long spring break just wasn't long enough.

K3 turned 8 months.  He is pulling to stand and speed crawling all over the house.  He loves the recent nice weather since we've been going for walks and spending more time outside.  It's a whole new world.  And he is LOUD.  Babbling like crazy to anyone who will listen.  He has two tiny, new babies in his daycare class, and the baby fever is real, people.

O and JD started Little League.  Well, games don't start until this weekend, but they had a parade and practices.

I had a birthday and was spoiled to death by Keith.  I'm a lucky girl!

The older boys have become obsessed with this #disneyside app that turns your face into a Disney character.  What they don't know is that the app saves all their selfies to my phone.  It's pretty awesome.

Keith and I enjoy spending time with our friends and family at a couple's shower at a local brewery, but I'll post lots more wedding stuff as it gets closer.

Isabelle Grace Jewelry Review & Giveaway

When I was asked to choose a piece of Isabelle Grace Jewelry to review, I spent way too much time browsing their site and daydreaming about all the different ways I could personalize each piece, gifts I could give to my friends and friends' daughters, and the gifts I would like to receive.

I liked that each piece is meant to be an heirloom, and I could create a piece that tells my story.  Instead of using my boys' initials, I decided to tell my love story and get a piece with my and Keith's initials.  

As with all their pieces, the necklace I designed is handmade in the USA.  It arrived surprisingly quickly and beautifully packaged.

This is the Initial Bar necklace I chose.

I love the way it came out, and it's perfect for everyday wear.

It survived a lot of this!

Isabelle Grace is kindly offering another necklace for a lucky reader.  Use the easy entry below, and good luck!
If you're looking for more, check out Isabelle Grace Jewelry on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Disclosure: Isabelle Grace Jewelry sent me a free product to review.  All opinions are my own.

January Update

Happy New Year! Being snowed in for the third day in a row is a great reason to play some catch up, so here's what's been happening.

K3 is 6 months today (or 0.5 according to JD and O)!  He is very much enjoying playing with toys, rolling around, and trying his first foods.  He is just starting to sit up on his own and is thisclose to crawling.  The teachers at daycare can't get enough of his big, flirty smile, and his transition to "school" has been as close to perfect as could be.  One thing he has developed a strong dislike for is wiping his nose- which became a problem during his first cold, but thankfully we are past that!  Hooray for NoseFrida and Boogie Wipes!

Toys!

More toys!

String bean! mmmm

The wedding is getting closer.  135 days away to be exact. We finally found someone awesome to officiate the ceremony, so since that is actually the most important part, everything else should be falling into place over the next few months.  I am beyond excited, and the thought of wearing my dress, eating the food, looking at all the beautiful decorations and flowers, dancing to the band, partying with all our friends & family, seeing the boys all dressed up, and getting married ALL ON THE SAME DAY is blowing my mind.

We got the biggest Christmas tree ever and celebrated for weeks.  

After getting it in, we were a little nervous to cut the strings.

It was such a perfect tree, and I think I talked about how happy I was to look at it at least three times a day.  Also- gigantic trees make your presents look small.  Next time we get a big tree, we'll have to put the gifts in extra large gift boxes.

Our boys are very lucky to have so many loved ones to spoil them, but the amount of gifts was overwhelming. We spread the opening out over a few weeks, and I think that helped them actually remember and appreciate the special things they were receiving.  

the grownup table

master decorator at work

We hosted Christmas Eve dinner here for my family, and since I had to work right up until Christmas Eve, I ordered all the sides from our favorite local gourmet market and only had to cook the ham.  Easy peasy!

We rang in 2015 at Sesame Place with friends.  We first went after Thanksgiving and enjoyed a rainy day in an empty park.  NYE was a bit more crowded, but the parade and fireworks show were awesome. This season was my first time playing in the new Cookie's Monster Land, and although I miss our old favorites like the bed bounce and the giant nets, they did a really nice job of adding more rides and experiences to that area of the park.

It's blurry, but I don't care.

fireworks don't phase him

Keith and I have mastered getting the kids to bed early and easily in a hotel, so we were able to enjoy the day as a family and have a peaceful evening once the kids were asleep.  

We had to call in the fire department. In her old age, our dog, Macy, doesn't care much for our rules.  While we were out, she dragged a bag of potatoes off the stove, and in doing that, turned on the burner (even with those child-proof things on the knobs). It didn't ignite, but the house filled with gas.  Keith got home first and was so smart not go in, leave the lights off, get the dogs out, and call the local fire department.  Pulling up to my house and seeing lights flashing and firemen in gas masks definitely was something I don't ever want to experience again!

We hope you're enjoying the winter as much as me and my boys are!  Added bonus: I can now see the floor of my laundry room.  Only took three days!

September Update

With so much change happening over here, I want to start documenting it monthly.  So for now, I'm going to cover the kids, wedding planning, and other things that will eventually include going back to work and house buying.

JD had a big month! He is now riding his bike without training wheels!  Swinging independently is also a new favorite.  It seems like we've been explaining how to pump his legs for years, but something Keith said to him a couple weeks ago clicked, and now he's running straight to the swings and flying super high for the entirety of our playground visits.  He had his 5 year checkup and is tall, thin, and healthy.  I cannot wait to see how well he does in Kindergarten!

very serious and cautious

O is now comfortable wizzing around on his two wheeler (with training wheels), and he also finished two sessions of swim lessons at the town pool.  He is fearless, funny, and totally determined to do everything his big brother does.

slowing down to smile

He asked me to take a picture of his sticker after class every day.

K3 is now 1 month old! He is a great sleeper and a very happy, easygoing little guy.  At his one month checkup we learned that he'd gained over 3 pounds and grew 2.5 inches.  We've had a lot of real smiles, and we sometimes catch him smiling at his toys on the bouncy seat, although it's love/hate for them. 

They can't get enough of him.  I'm hoping his first words aren't "get out of his face" because he hears it all day.

Personally, the transition to 3 boys has been going smoothly. I was nervous about forgetting things like how to burp a newborn, but it all came back.  We started giving K3  bottles of pumped milk at 3 weeks because I want to make sure there are no issues with bottles before I go back to work.   JD never took a bottle, and O wasn't a huge fan either, so even though pumping and washing bottles is annoying, I am committed to giving him at least one a day until I go back.  So far he's drinking it, but he's not really happy about it.

He's happy about almost everything else.

JD and O recently got back from spending a week with their dad.  It was good timing for Keith and I to have some bonding time with the baby, and the older boys had a lot of fun.  The house was too quiet and I missed them terribly, but the positive that I focused on was that I got to nap when the baby napped.  

JD left this note for me and told me to look at it when I missed him.  He's such a thoughtful, sensitive sweetheart.

There was also celebratory cake for keeping everyone alive and well this summer.

Wedding planning is slowly happening.  Most importantly, we've chosen a date for next June and booked the venue and band. 

We're getting married in the backyard of this beauty.

It will be an outdoor, tented reception, and we're going for a family-friendly, rustic-ish, North Fork feel.  We love that our caterer only uses foods from the east end of Long Island (Montauk tuna, Aquebogue duck, Peconic Bay clams, Briermere pies, etc.), and we're having fun picking out our menu.  

Keith has a big collection of antique bottles that I am hoping to incorporate.

We have a few ideas for decor/theme, but can't figure out colors. I have to start thinking about bridal dresses, but I really want to lose at least ten more pounds before I even think about trying on dresses.  My goal is to have as much of the planning (and paying) done before I go back to work so it doesn't feel stressful.  

I was really hoping to get an update posted on the first of every month, but since I already blew that, I'm going to aim for an update around the beginning of each month.  This will make up for the guilt I feel at being 4 years behind in getting pictures printed and into books- at least I'm preserving some moments in time so I can look back at them and smile whenever I'm about to lose my mind.

Wordless Wednesday: Not Your Average Family Photo Shoot