The Commercial

So....we were in a Honda commercial!! Huge thanks to obviously God's sovereignty. Yes that. Also huge thanks to Burton Casting in Austin, TX! Also Thanks to director Frank Todaro with Moxie Pictures. And thanks to my mom, for watching the kids!

The concept is two "hipster" couples leaving 1) ACL and set out on 2)Austin adventures in their new 3) 2014 Honda CRV. All of these things are things that I LOOOOOOVE! (and until the night before filming, the four actors were NOT told it was for Honda, it ended up being a surprise--I DRIVE a CRV heh heh;)

(Justin and his "Stunt Double". I can't get enough of this photo--Jeff Schwann did all the driving for the commercial, though Justin did get to drive at the end!)

Elijah's Pirate Birthday

Age 3 was the year Elijah could really and genuinely decide what "kind" of bday party he wanted.
To be honest, I have kindof loved that he has been obsessed with pirates. Pirates have somehow, for some reason become "cute"

 But let's be honest, historically if we are being honest with our kids, pirates were

Luckily, no one in my family has asked for a historically accurate explanation of who or what pirates are, so Pirate Party it is.

We did easy "rainbow" fruit spears (strawberry, melon, pinapple, grapes and blueberries), easy bannana breads with whipped cream, blue jello (with pirate boat toothpicks) & I tried my best at a "skittle cake" which was requested.

 (This "kid" cake kindof felt like one of those "Pinterest Fail" memes you see...I'm  not quite the baker)

But we had fun!
Everyone was given a mustache and encouraged to come dressed

That creepy man would happen to be my husband. My spouse. The One I Chose. 

The man never broke character. He called it his "Daniel Day Louis" performance, and used a pirate accent the entire party....it wasn't until the end Elijah realized the pirate was his own father ;)

(my life shall never be boring! if you're single, #marryafunnyman , it pays off in the end;) )

We did a Pirate Scavenger Hunt, where the kids had to find the coins in the yard, and were given a toy "treasure chest" with little pirate-themed toys as they completed their hunt. (They had to "walk the plank" to their scavenger hunt)

 All in a day's fun!!

Thanks to all who came!

Easy Breazy Beautiful Second Birthday; Trucks n' Ducks

So.....no offense to love of my life, my youngest child Kai. But...with my husbands busy workload and adjusting to coming back from vacations---trying to find a free weekend to celebrate my soon-to-be 2 year old's birthday was getting stressful.

And then you have planning food.

And cleaning.

And baking.

Then cleaning.

And party favors, decor, staying within the budget (Because, I'm just going to level with you people. Birthdays were a big deal in my house growing up. I wish I could just not make a big fuss, but I can't. It's not in my blood).

That being said....this year, I was just NOT physically able to throw a big party for Kai's Second Bday. So what did we do?

On a Wednesday.
I asked my girlfriends, and Kai's best friend, Jamie ((OKAY so Jamie's his ONLY friend #momguilt)) To come over for a playdate. No pressure. Come if You Can. Just Snacks. And Cake.

Purchased at Target.

And the Theme was "Trucks and Ducks"...because they are his two favorite things IN THE WORLD.

It ended up being one of my favorite parties to throw, because I didn't have to do ANYthing!! (except make moms coffee!) And it was a blast!

I made blue jello (back-breaking), bought the cake and snacks from target (doing anything at target kindof like free therapy ((or not so free...)), Filled the back sand box with water and put rubber duckies we had laying around in it.  Then had all the kids try to scoop out a duck with a butterfly net as the "Party Game". 

Easy. Breazy.

But still special.

Going from 1 to 2....

I wanted to write a post about what my experience was going from one child to two. 

OKAY.

So it's not the worst thing ever.


But it IS like one of my friends who has children (with same age gap) said to me before having our second:"It's just a matter of continually evaluating who needs you more in that moment. They both need you. But which one, this time, needs you more".

Those of you with 2plus children may agree with this, or not at all. I would love to hear others' opinions on the transition. But, I can say, 5 months into it---the hardest part for me has been
1) The energy required
2) Feeling sad for not giving either of my kids the attention I would like to give them.

On the first issue--I have found that it is an The good news is--that is life. I feel that it is teaching them that, unfortunately, life is not about having what you want, when you want.

Apparently, the average age-gap in N. America is 2 years. Which is us. 

perfect age gap: http://www.bounty.com/getting-pregnant/before-you-begin/the-perfect-age-gap


I guess I can sum up my closing argument with a friend's facebook post:

"My youngest was screaming her head off in my husband's arms when I came to bed. I started to talk and she calmed down, turned to me, and smiled…And then I remembered why I bothered having kids."


Amen.

Dear Old Skinny Jeans,




You're a jerk.

#secondbabybabyweight

Guess what....I had a baby!

4 or 5 or 6? month hiatus due to most wonderfully busy reason in the world:

I had a baby!

Ha! Birth was awesome. I've always told my friends who hated birth, I will birth your babies if you carry mine. 9.5 cm with this one and hardly felt the labor pains...but three months into my pregnancy, oh GIRL I thought I was gonna die!! :)

I came into the hospital 4cm dialated (minor contractions the night before and my water was leaking), the Dr. broke my water, or what was left, and two hours later I was almost at 10.
If only pregnancy was quick like that......

This little sucker was worth it.

What...did I stutter??