Summer has arrived!

It went from 40 degrees last week to 95 today!  It seems like it's been February for the last 8 months.  What a memorial day.  We hit the beach today with some friends and just about every other person that lives in Chicago.  Holy cow... it was so packed.  We had a great time and it was nice to enjoy some sunshine!

It seems like everyone I know here is pregnant or trying!!  Babies being born left and right and it is so exciting!  At least this year I'm not the prego one running around the beach chasing a toddler.  :)  Now I'm just trying to keep the sand consumption under control between these two boys....nearly impossible.

Here's to summer!

Okay, a few things... we took back Noah's birthday bike that was already too small for him and got him a bigger bike.  We tried taking it for a spin tonight and Noah was a little frustrated that he couldn't do it perfectly, but we told him it will take lots of practice and time.

 Two stubborn boys... Grant would not let Noah off the bike until he kept trying.  He was not too happy until I bribed him to do it a few more times and told him he'd get a popsicle.

 Finally Grant showed him how it's done.  :)

But my main purpose for posting these pictures is to show off my camera's terrible picture quality.  My 10 megapixel Nikon Coolpix camera is only a couple years old and the pictures are terrible.  I've tried changing the settings and it just plain sucks.  Thank you Ashton Kutcher for selling me a lame camera.  Anyway, I am looking for some camera recommendations for a good point and shoot that I can keep in my purse.  No pro camera needed here, just something that gets the job done without the blur!  Help!

A few of Noah's friends got Noah a scooter for his birthday and it is by far his favorite gift!  He rode it (most of the way) to the park on Saturday....

 ....until he said his leg hurt... probably because he was doing a perma-lunge on the leg riding the scooter.

 Davis fell asleep after about 5 minutes on the swing.



birthday boy

Picture overload here... My tall, skinny Noah turned THREE today!!  He woke up this morning to open presents from his grandmas and grandpas, then headed upstairs to see his new bike and helmet from mom and dad.

 And I quote..."Hooray!"

 And I quote him again... "Thank you mom for getting me a new bike!  That makes me so happy!"  He is the cutest.

 I made two dozen coconut cupcakes (with a few tweaks this year) and we bought some from Sprinkles as well.  Cupcake overload!  They were so.dang.good. though.  Seriously.

 I wish I took more pictures of Noah with his friends... he has great friends here in Chicago.  I think we had at least 20 kids there and they were waaaay too nice to Noah and he got some really sweet gifts.  He really loves his friends, and the funny thing is... he LOVES their moms too.  He asked me yesterday if the moms were coming to his party as well.  He cracks me up. 

And I love the moms too.  :)

 For the birthday boy's dinner we took him to The Counter for burgers.  The waitress surprised him with a gigantic brownie for his big day and he felt so special!  Noah had such a great birthday and was such a happy guy all day talking about his friends and party non-stop.

     Noah is such a funny kid and the little chatterbox cracks us up every day.  His mind never stops and I think he asks at least 200 questions a day.  He is definitely strong-willed and overly independent but he is getting better each day at dealing with his temper emotions.  :)  I swear Noah is the smartest three year old around, but I'm sure I'm a little biased.  His memory amazes me and he picks things up so quickly.  He knows just about every primary song and he loves to sing and make up his own songs as well.  He is great at sports and has mad skillz with a baseball bat, tennis racket, and his basketball hoop.  (We've been cooped up a little too long in this apartment all winter, but we have a great long hallway where he and Grant practice their sports just about every night.)  This kiddo loves puzzles, his friends, games, and the ipad, but most of all he loves his family....especially his dad!  Noah loves his dad to pieces and they are the best little buddies. 

    

Happy Birthday, bud... we love you to pieces!!!

This kid loves his veggies.  Noah downed 3 ears of corn at dinner the other night.  His favorite food as a baby was broccoli, and he still loves it to this day.  Davis is pounding bottles left and right lately and he eyes all of our food when we're eating.  He also knaws on his fists like they are big, juicy steaks.  These boys love their food!

Today after church while Noah napped, Grant and I watched J. Beibs' "Never Say Never."  Uplifting, I know.  I've got the fever though.  Man, that kid is talented!  I had no idea he played all of those instruments, and at such a young age.  Maybe that will be Noah?  He's got some pretty good skillz on his guitar that Santa brought him last Christmas.  :)

Chicago was finally warm this week!  Yay!  We went to the beach and walked around Tuesday night.  I couldn't believe how packed the lakefront was on a weeknight.  I think everyone is just itching to get outside...especially since it's supposed to be chilly again this weekend!  Anyway, these two best buddies took advantage of the warm weather and enjoyed skipping rocks.

 I can't get enough of this naked baby and all of his rolls.  He is just too sweet.

My thoughts on Mother's Day

I have a soft spot in my heart for Mother's Day (MD).  As a woman that has gone through lots of infertility treatments, I know just how sucky some MDs can be.  A few years back before getting pregnant with Noah, we were in a ward where babies were being born like crazy.  Every Sunday in Relief Society women would share good news moments and it seemed like they were always about babies..."I found out I'm pregnant!"..."We found out we're having a little girl/boy!"..."I only have 2 more weeks to go!"...etc, etc... I hated this.  I really hate good news/bad news moments sharing in Relief Society.  Still to this day I hate them.  I remember one Sunday I just wanted to punch someone in the face so I just got up and left in tears.  The MD before I got pregnant with Noah, I knew I wasn't up to it, so I skipped church all together, just because I didn't want to hear about everyone else's adorable children, their pregnancy stories and how grateful they were to be moms, the "stand up if you are a mom, or just all the women {to make people like me not feel left out}" after sacrament meeting to get your MD gift from the bishopric.

Now that I am a mom, I still ache for those that cannot get pregnant, or have not yet had children.  I have an aunt who after years of struggling with infertilty, doing rounds of ivf that keep failing, finally adopted.  I know the decision must have been difficult to adopt, but they are the proud parents of two cute little boys that keep her on her feet, can drive her crazy, but most importanlty are the joy of her life... just like my two little boys.  I know that if our ivfs kept failing, eventually we would have adopted as well, just to have a family.  But all of this is so expensive!  IUI, IVF, adoption, etc... it is not cheap!  It is just not fair that something that should happen so naturally is so physically, emotionally and financially draining.

Why?  Why does this have to happen to the best of the best?  The people that actually truly want children so badly?  And yet there's babies being born left and right to mothers that should not be moms!  Why?!  I don't know.  But I do know that our Heavenly Father knows our challenges.  He knows our struggles.  He knows that our trials only make us stronger.  I think that through faith and patience that the desires of many women that truly want children, that eventually it will happen....one way or another. 

So, as I sat there in church yesterday watching those cute little children sing out to their moms "mother dear I love you so" I thought about how grateful I am that I have truly been blessed with two miracle boys.  I thought about all those women still aching to be a mother.  I thought about all of the dumb comments that people made to me when we were struggling, trying to get pregnant...like, "I hope you're not jealous, but I'm pregnant."  "Maybe you just need to relax and you'll get pregnant."  "Do you think you would want to come to this baby shower, even though you haven't been able to get pregnant yet?"  etc... you get the idea... I thought about the time when I thought to myself during one of Noah's crazy fits... "this kid cost us how much money?!"  And I realized, again.... that being a mother is the most difficult and rewarding job and  I am so thankful that my Heavenly Father answered our many prayers and blessed us with children. 

Some days I tell Grant that I will go to work for him and he can stay home with the crazies - or just the one crazy - because man, it can be rough.  But I have to remind myself how badly we wanted these angel babies and how blessed I really am.  I am beyond grateful to be a mother.  I hope that women who are struggling with infertility are able to find comfort through the hard times.  I hope that every woman that is trying to become a mom can have a child.  I hope that others can find it in their hearts to comfort those who are struggling, and help bear their burdens. 

So on this MD, my thoughts are to all of the hopeful mothers to be.  My prayers are with you and you are constantly on my mind.  You are the ones that will make the best mothers, there is no doubt.  Happy mother's day and keep on keeping on!  xo

This was taken from my camera phone again, but Noah got new loafers for Easter and was trying to master the moonwalk.  We had to hike up his pants a bit to get the full effect with the white socks and all.  Go MJ!

On a stroll downtown with the boys.  Good thing Noah's beanie happen to be in the car because surpise surprise, it got really cold.

 I started giving Davis a little rice cereal last week.  He didn't quite get the spoon feeding yet, so I put it in his bottle and he drank away.  We'll have to keep practicing having him eat it from a spoon.  I can't imagine how much more he'll bulk up once adding in more food, other than formula.  (He was 16 lbs 10 oz. at his 4 mo. checkup!)

Grant made a yummy mother's day dinner.  Japanese curry and corn on the cob.  Delish!

Swingin

These are all from my camera phone, hence the bad quality.  I LOVE Chicago for all of the neighborhood parks.  I can think of 5 parks within walking distance from our place.  Davis has been loving the swing at the park at the end of our street this week.  We got out twice when it was briefly warm enough to escape the apartment. 

Most chill baby, right here.  He just hung out for a good hour in that swing and never made a peep.

 

I think Noah needed to go potty or something, but of course he wanted in on this swing action.

Alright, so I'm sick of talking about how cold it's been here and how cute my boys are...well, not really the last one, but I'm sure my two readers might be.  :)  Here is a post about things that I love, in honor of Oprah and her farewell season.  I will post some of my favorite products in no particular order.  Exciting, I know. 

• Essie nail polish - specifically the nude shades
• My running shoes - I think asics are the best, but my big toe has come through the mesh on top of my last two pair, so my current kicks are the nike lunarglide... so far, so good.
• Nike dryfit workout tanks and lululemon wunder under workout crops
• Big train vanilla chai
• Shark steam mop
• Bath & body works vanilla coconut candle
• Jo Malone orange blossom fragrance
• Clorox cleanup
• Havianas flip flops
• 5 hour energy - When I'm tired, I'll drink 1/2 of one of these before a workout to give me a boost
• Joico moisture recovery shampoo/conditioner
• Mac lipgloss

There you have it.  Just a few things that came to mind.  :)  What are some of your favorite products?