Fashion Friday #4 {Pass the Mustard}...

This is such a super hot color right now...

However...

It might not be later...

So my solution?...

  Spend as little as possible on trendy items...

Shopping at stores like...

Forever 21, Old Navy and Charlotte Russe...

Pass the Mustard by amandastreight featuring gemstone earrings

Mustard by amandastreight featuring oversized rings

Quoting one of my favorite fashion icons...

~Fashion is not a luxury, it's a right~


Link up your fashion below...

He Loves Me...

Misc...

So Tuesday Aidan Kale did not have one accident in his diaper...

Not ONE...
We were super proud of him...

And he was super proud of himself...

It makes the next day that much more difficult when he does...

My driver's side car window got smashed out at work...

It was a cold 30 mile drive home...
I was talking to Aidan about something last night and apparently asking too many questions...
He looked at me and said "Mom, we will talk about that later"...

I have had horrible headaches for the last few months at work...

Yesterday, management finally figured out the smell permeating through the office was a gas leak...

Not JUST one...

BUT TWO...

I have been toying with the idea of a Fashion Blog in addition to my Mom blog...

Feedback?

Aidan and Daddy are going to the Kansas City Royals home opener today...

I am SO jealous...
Can you tell I just needed to vent talk...

To Boot...

One of my very favorite Spring looks is the mix of boot and skirt...

I think it is a perfect way to cover up my soooo not tan legs...

While embracing the warmer weather...

Let me be clear...

This is NOT the look I am suggesting...

Something more along these lines...

To Boot 
And here is one of my own versions...

Do you like this trend?
I am linking here...

Don't forget...
You are invited to link up RIGHT here Friday...

Shredding Take 2...

So I started to Shred back in February...

My boys got sick...

Ear infections...

Little sleep...

I got sick...

Even more exhausted...

One week into it...

I quit...

But today I dug the DVD back out...

And started again...

I can't say I love working out...

But I love the way it makes me feel...

Here is praying for my family's health so I have no excuse to get off track...

Overcome...

I didn't dream of becoming a Mommy...

I didn't think much of it...

Even into my latter 20's...

I was way too self-involved...

I had a precious little nephew...

Freedom to do whatever I wanted...

And when the thought of children crossed my mind...

It was never a priority...

I was 30 when I got pregnant with Aidan Kale...

Planned but not thoroughly...

Kind of like, why not...

I cried when I saw his little heart beat for the first time...

I cried when I realized he was not a she...

I cried when I looked at the ultrasound photo thinking he looked like an alien...

My labor went so fast I did NOT have time for an epidural...

And I was NOT happy...

I was in so much pain my OB had to tell me to stop screaming and push...

And afterward...

I was in shock and hurting so badly I couldn't even hold him...

I confess this because when everyone said the love you would feel for your child would be indescribable...

I doubted I could love anyone as much as I loved my husband...

I confess this because though I know you might wonder what kind of Mom that makes me...

I know I am a great Mom...

I confess this because though I can't pinpoint the exact moment it happened...

It happened and happened quickly...

My love for my son became so incredibly strong it often brings me to tears...

Overcomes me at the most mundane times...

When he is singing in the backseat...

Playing "woo woos" independently...

Waking from his nap, Woofie, Digger and Blanket in hand...

And it IS indescribable...

Having Aidan Kale awakened more than a motherly instinct in me...

It literally made me a better person...

Someone who knows and embraces the value of unconditional love...

Paving the way to becoming the mother I needed to be for Baby Kam...

Whose entire being I drank in from the moment he was born...

If someone were to ask me...

Is being a mother what you thought it would be?

I would say absolutely not...

Not even close...

Even in it's most difficult forms...

 

It is so much better...

'Tis the Season...

I have a feeling we will be in a stadium all summer watching our nephew Logan play baseball...

And the next summer watching Aidan Kale...

And the summer after that watching Aidan Kale and Kam...

The boys seem at home already in the bleachers...

And Logan has his very own cheering section...

'Tis the Season...

Fashion Friday #3...

After work on Tuesday...

I changed my clothes...

And joined my boys fishing...

I caught ONE teeny-tiny fish...

But at least I was stylin' when I reeled it in...

(Boyfriend Jeans ~ NY&Co, Tweed Flats ~ Cato, Shirt ~ NY&Co, Jacket ~ 7 years ago, Necklace and Earrings ~ Premier Designs)

One of the many reasons I blog is the inspiration I find in fellow bloggers...

From photography...

Marriage advice...

Crafts I can never quite master...
Exercise motivation...

To FASHION {what to wear, how to wear it and where to buy it}...

There is a lot of inspiration out there...

Visit the links below and be inspired...

Inspire others and link below...

Hirschsprung's Heartbreak...

Just when we think Hirschsprung's has taken a backseat...

We feel like we've found some sense of norm...

We are reminded that for now...

This disease has the upper hand...

A disease that allows you to breathe for just a moment...

Until it breaks your heart...

Over and over and over...
Last night was the sudden onset of bleeding diaper rash...
I know some of you might think we don't change his diaper regularly but that isn't the case...
Kids with Hirschsprung's cannot control their bowel movements and a simple cough or sneeze can elicit stool in their diaper...
Apparently Aidan's daily enemas have not been thoroughly cleaning his bowels and he has had several small stools over the last few days...
These few small stools {sometimes stool doesn't even reach the diaper but instead remains close to the anus} quickly escalates to full blown bleeding diaper rash...
 And my baby hurts and cries and fights us when we need to change his diaper...
And we have to hold him down...
And the sensible side must overtake the emotional side because otherwise I {we} couldn't do it...
And we cuddle him, snuggle him, let him sleep in our bed...
Because that is all we CAN do...
We can't make this disease go away...
We can't buy a cure...
But we can LOVE him...
Console him...
Tell him we are sorry...
Spoil him a little too much...
That is what we do...
And will continue to do...

Spring Break...

One of the best things about our subdivision is that we have our very own stocked pond...

For men like my husband...

Nice weather...

And free time...

{He is on Spring Break}...

Can only mean one thing...

Aidan is quite the little fisherman...

Which makes his Daddy VERY proud...

He caught 9 fish yesterday...

{And also became enamoured with the minnows, going as far as putting the dead ones on Keegan's head}...

They invited cousin Kaidon to join the fun...

I see spending a lot of weekends this summer right here...

{Friday I will show you what I wore to reel in my one and only catch of the day}...

Raising Boys...

{LOVE these...}
Raising Boys

Author: Roberta I. Teague  

I scrub the wall of fingerprints,

Pick up the mounds of clothes.

I sweep the dirt that shoes track in-

Wish I could use a hose!

Meals are served from dawn to dark,

Dirty dishes crowd the sink.

Just when they’re washed and put away-

Everyone wants a drink!

The washer pulls the dirty grime

From pants worn thin and patched.

They look so very neat and clean-

Yuck, look what the pockets hatched!

Broken bones and bloody knees,

I should have been a nurse.

I take it all in shaky stride-

Just grateful it’s not worse!

Screams and shouts and arguments

Test the keeping of my cool.

They left the neighbor’s faucet on-

See their new front yard pool!

A soothing bath is ecstasy,

A reward at the end of my rope.

Raising boys isn’t really bad-

But first I must wash the soap!

A rose can say I Love You,

Orchids can enthrall;

But a weed bouquet in a chubby fist,

Oh my, that says it all!


Boys in my House
Author: Erin Jo Kilmer
There are boys in my house - and Spiderman shoes
And 200 papers in various blues.
There's Bob (he's a builder) and Thomas the Train,
There's a fireman coat to wear in the rain.
They have cars on their shirts and frogs on their hats
There's a glove and a ball and a red plastic bat.
There's dirt on a face and a smudge on a nose;
Grass stains on knees and sand between toes.
There's bathtime at night with bodies to scrub,
And when we're all done there is dirt in the tub!
There's bandaids and bruises and curious bumps,
There's smiles and laughter and sometimes there's grumps.
There's odors most icky; there's boogers so green
There's more yucky things than I'll ever get clean.
There's piles of laundry; there's stories at night;
There's bedtime and bathtime and dinnertime fights.
There's cars and there's trains and there's books about trucks
There's Scoop, Lofty, Dizzy, and Travis, and Muck.
Sometimes there are bugs, and sometimes there are frogs;
Sometimes they are lions, or dinos, or dogs.
There are cute little vests and darling neckties
Dragged right through the mud - oh what a surprise!
There's running and climbing and jumping and falling
And laughing and crying and hugging and brawling
And rolling and losing and finding and creeping
And whining and stealing and sometimes there's sleeping.
There's tantrums and time outs and extra loud noise -
There's love in my house shaped like two little boys.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

Just leave some puddles...

For us to play...