The Boy of Many Faces.

Ah Life. Life with a baby in it has a weird way of slowly creeping by but at the same time speeding up at warp speed.

We don't do much around here. I mean, we DO stuff, but it's boring... like doing countless Pre-K worksheets or playing soccer. Not what most blog readers want to read about. We do stare at Tyler a lot. He's in the most fun stage right now (and yes, I realize I say that about EACH stage), smiling and "talking" to all of us. Connor likes to rawr at him like a dinosaur. Tyler's not very keen on that. Brayden likes to whisper to him about how he should come outside and catch grasshoppers with him. Tyler just smiles. My life is sweet, and I find myself relishing these last few summer days where we have nothing on our calendar but fun.

We tend to go outside after dinner with the boys. Tyler is starting to use his bumbo chair, and so I snapped a few pictures of him watching the big boys play soccer with Drew. Ty is the man of many faces, which always gives me a good laugh. Hope he brightens up your Wednesday!







(not much of a face, but check out the thighs. I'm worried that he'll get stuck in the bumbo before he's able to sit up on his own. ha!)

Weekend in Review.

We have had another laid back weekend, which is fine by me, as the past 2 months of sleep deprivation have finally hit me. This past week Tyler has had a bit of sleep regression, deciding he'd rather stare and smile at us at 4:30am instead of falling back asleep. He is quite the little charmer, but when the clock reads anything before 6:30am, this momma is not quite amused by baby smiles. Add to the increased sleep deprivation, I COMPLETELY lost my voice on Thursday afternoon. I was done to a mere whisper on Friday, made the already hard task of parenting that much harder. Brayden even asked me why I had such a weird voice, and Connor replied back in whispers. Needless to say, a weekend of rest was definitely in order.

Friday night Drew treated the family to dinner out at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Drew and I split a margarita, and the boys were pleasantly content with chips and salsa. At one point, I caught Brayden eating his salsa with a spoon, like soup. Perhaps momma ate too much Mexican food when she was pregnant? ha!
In addition to the yummy goodness of Mexican cuisine, we also finally got a new point and shoot camera. I love love love to take pictures, but sometimes lugging around my big girl camera just doesn't cut it, and we also wanted something that would take good video, so we finally got a replacement for our old, broken point and shoot after two years. As if that upgrade in technology wasn't enough....

...I finally upgraded my phone on Saturday and have a legit smart phone now. I was using what I called a semi-smart phone. It had some characteristics of a smart phone but wasn't able to use all of the bells and whistles I wanted (ahem-Instagram-ahem). I'm so happy to say that I'm finally able to document our days with Instagram. My username is adollopofmylife ... in case you want to follow along ;)

Saturday afternoon I took Connor on a date. Bless his little heart, he was so excited, and did not stop talking from the minute I buckled him in the car till the minute we got home. I realized while we were out that perhaps he gets talked OVER so much by Brayden, that he's really not able to express himself that much. He was so sweet, and told me stories, and about how much he loved his brothers, he held my hand.... As if all of that wasn't enough to send me over an emotional edge, Darius Rucker's song "It Won't Be Like This for Long" came on the radio as we were driving down the road, and I about lost it. These days with my boys when they are all this little wear me out, but boy they are so fleeting and pass so quickly.




Saturday evening we went to a birthday party for the boys friend, Jack. The boys both told me their favorite part was water balloons.



Sunday we didn't do much other than church, although I did venture out with the big boys to get their hair cut.

Connor and I while we were waiting for Brayden to finish up. I love that my new phone has a front facing camera... hopefully it will help me jump in pictures more with my babies.

And of course, no post is complete without a picture of the littlest one.

I know I am biased, but I think he is the cutest. :)
Hope yall have a great week!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Pins.

Well, yesterday got quite the response from everyone. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who doesn't get around to making my bed or folding my clothes. Makes me feel just a little bit normal. 

I'm continuing my participation in Jenna's commenting challenge. I didn't have a post scheduled for today, so I figured I'd just go along with today's topic, which was favorite pins.

I have a Pinteresting confession (see what I did there?)... I pin a TON of things. That are cute, and irresistable, and that I don't have time to make/cook/create/design. It's rather embarrassing, really, scrolling through tons and tons of pins and realizing that I haven't really done much of what I have pinned. I have done a few, so I'll share those, and I'll also show a few things that have been pin worthy from my own blog.

I have done this a couple of times with my gas stove grates. Works like a charm, although I will say, the fumes are a bit much, so make sure you do it in a ventilated area (outdoors works best!).

I made this chevron picture frame last year and it is still one of my favorite things in our home.

Another fun DIY project that I did last year after we moved into the house. SUPER easy to do too.

I realize it's hot, but this was our favorite soup that I made last winter. SO SO good, even the boys asked for seconds.

If you like to throw parties for football, you need to make these. SO easy to make, and a party favorite!


I can't wait to see what everyone else has pinned... perhaps I can get my booty in gear and create and cook sometime in the near future ;)

A {REAL LIFE} Home Tour.

One of my favorite things on blogs is home tours. I love seeing how people decorate, wall colors, furniture... and how they somehow keep their house impeccably tidy despite having children. That last tidbit makes me drool a bit, but let's be honest... no one who has children can really keep a house spic and span for more than 10 minutes. Yes, children are like tiny tornadoes that follow behind a vacuum to leave a new trail of crumbs and dirt. I love my little blessings to death, but sometimes I get frustrated by the fact that my house seemingly never stays as clean as the homes you see on Pinterest. So, in an effort to fully disclose the state of my home on most days, I figured I'd give you a picture viewing of what my house REALLY looks like behind the screen.

the laundry room. It actually wasn't too bad on this day. But it almost always has something hanging on the drying pole.

the corner of most rooms has a spider, dead or alive. or both.

my table is rarely free of crumbs. And under the table... well, I didn't take a picture, but you can guess, it's about the same (although having a dog helps greatly in the under the table crumb category).

the boys bathroom is almost always in some sort of disarray. And has baby tubs taking up 90% of the counter space.

towels and soap collections abound, cluttering up most free space that they have left.

confession: I rarely make my bed. Which means I don't hold it over my kids heads if they don't make their beds either. Also, I still haven't returned most of the maternity clothes I borrowed from friends when I was pregnant with Tyler, thus the bags of clothes on the floor.

non-bed making people, unite! Neat and tidy beds are overrated, right?

I loathe folding clothes. LOATHE it. So my couch looks like this. A LOT.

I may find time to clean dishes, but they may not get picked up.

we like to keep our kitchen classy by showcasing all the flies that make it inside since MY CHILDREN NEVER SHUT THE BACK DOOR.

dusting? what's dusting?

I would love it if my dresser looked like it belonged in a furniture gallery. Instead it houses random things that don't really have a place and GI Joe, for good measure.
I think I see a consistent theme with counter tops. We also seem to have a soap collection problem ;)

the mantle is cute, but almost always has random stuff on it. To keep away from the kids. It's our last option to keep things out of kids reach since our kids seem to keep growing.
SO... Fellow moms, know that you're not alone in your frustrated clean home endeavors. And like I like to constantly remind myself, these little people won't be little for long, and someday, when my house is clean and quiet, I'll probably miss these loud and messy moments with all my heart.

Commenting Challenge: Who I Am and Where You Can Find Me.

Hey Yall! I'm participating in Jenna's commenting challenge again this year. I've done it for the past 2 years and really enjoy getting to find new blogs. I also love getting comments, so I figure this is a good way to prompt myself to comment (I'm a terrible blog commenter!) on other peoples blogs, and hopefully get a few here myself too. If you're a blogger, you should join in too!

Today's link up is supposed to share with you who I am, and how I interact with my blog friends. If you're new here and don't know much about me, you can find a good synopsis on my About Me page. I also have some pretty awesome guys in my life ;) You can find out about all my leading men on my Family page.


Even though I feel like I'm deeply immersed in blogger interaction, it still intrigues me. I've had the privilege of meeting a lot of my blogging friends in real life, which really is a fun, fun experience. I've also become good friends with other people who I've met from blogging (Jenna is actually one of my really good friends and we met through our blogs!). I would say that the the social media outlet I am most active on is twitter. I like how it feels like a conversation, and I love the quick response. I still use facebook, but it's not my go-to social media outlet. I do love blog comments, and if people leave comments I try my best to respond to them.

My absolute favorite way to interact with my blogging friends? A blog conference. I was a skeptic, but I fell in love with the conference idea when I attended Blissdom this spring. It was awesome, and I would gladly go again.

How do you connect with your readers/blog friends? If you're on any of the social media outlets, I'd love to connect! You can find me on:
twitter: @adollopofmylife
facebook: facebook.com/adollopofmylife
pinterest: pinterest.com/adollopofmylife

Short Stories from our Weekend.

We have had a restful weekend, for which I am thankful. For the past month we have had something EVERY SINGLE DAY of the weekends, which is fun, but exhausting. Add the fact that I'm still not sleeping through the night, and I was in need of an agenda-free weekend.

Drew had to work Saturday morning, which meant I was left to myself with the boys. I normally despise Saturday mornings by myself with the kids, but this Saturday was actually really pleasant. The big boys and I ate breakfast together and had a really good talk about heaven and death (we like to keep it heavy around here ;) ). Brayden has been super inquisitive about both subjects lately, which has led to some fun conversations. Connor was pretty excited about the fact that we'll get to eat with Jesus (if you know Connor at all, you'll know that this should come as know surprise-- the boy loves him some food, and add Jesus to the mix and he's pretty much hit the jackpot), and Brayden was especially concerned with knowing if we would have marshmallows at our feast with the King. As much as I hate my babies growing up, I cherish these sweet, tender moments with my boys.

When Drew got home from work we decided to brave the farmer's market with all 3 boys. It really wasn't that bad, but the heat was nearly suffocating. So we headed to the splash park for the bigs to cool off a bit.

this guy was all smiles and talks for me.

Saturday afternoon everyone was sleeping. Tyler has been struggling with naps, so sometimes I'll scoop him up and let him rest with me. On Saturday, he never woke up, so I just snuggled with him. People always question my sanity when I say that the newborn phase is my favorite, but really, how can you not LOVE the little snuggles of a bitty baby?

Drew and I finally made up our minds about soccer for Brayden, and he'll be playing this fall. B was pretty darn excited about going shopping for gear, and wanted to suit up the minute we got home Saturday afternoon. I'm thankful that soccer gear is a lot cheaper than baseball gear. We got everything he needed for less than $20.

Sunday was just a normal day for us-- church and hanging out as a family. I'm getting a little sentimental about summer ending soon, so we have a few fun things planned this week. Nothing super crazy though, as I'm still not brave enough venture out far with all 3 boys on my own :)

Tyler {2 Months Old}

Dear Tyler,

You're two months old today!

When I was pregnant with you, people would apologize to me because you were a boy. I hope you know that I've never regretted the fact that you are who you are. You are exactly what God knew I needed. What our family needed. And these past 2 months of our lives have only confirmed this.

You are a precious, precious gift to us and I marvel daily at how blessed I am to be your mommy. Every coo, every new little roll, every little cry... I love it all. I've always known I wanted to be a mom, but I have felt that until now, I've struggled with finding the rhythm to my role as mommy. And in many ways, you have helped me find it.

I love you so much Tyler Paul. My prayer is that you will bring as much light to the rest of the world as you have brought to my life.

::2 month summary::

• we won't go to the doctor for another well check until he's 3 months, so I don't know many stats. About a week ago I unofficially weighed him and he was 12 pounds. Needless to say, I get a good arm workout every day ;)
• His eyes are BROWN! My first brown eyed boy. He definitely got a lot more of my genes with the brown eyes and dark brown skin. People have stopped me in the store and commented on how dark he is and ask if I let him sun bathe. REALLY?!?
• wears a combination of 0-3 month, 3-6 month, and 6 month clothes. The 0-3 stuff is pretty snug (and really probably too small), but I am desperate to get a few more wears from some of the outfits that are my favorites.
• still exclusively breastfed, though he takes a bottle like a champ, which is nice because it gives me a break every now and then. He eats about every 2.5-3 hours, and wakes up once during the middle of the night (usually around 4am). 
• He usually takes about 3 naps plus a little cat nap in the evening every day. I am not super stickler about naps yet because we are on the go so much that he usually sleeps in his car seat or the swing. 
• He is SO smiley. I love catching his eye and watching his face just light up. He is such a happy little guy.
• He has started cooing, which is one of my favorite things. I love getting to "talk" with him. 
• The most common nicknames for him are Ty and Ty Ty. Connor still calls him "baby Tywee" to anyone and everyone he sees.

A Smiling Baby Tyler.

Just had to share a few of my favorite smiley pictures of one of my very favorite guys.

Happy Wednesday!

Sparklers.

This is a bit late, but better late than never ;)

To finish out our fourth of July, Drew swung by the fireworks stand on the way home from our day at the lake and bought sparklers for the boys. Connor was a bit apprehensive, and preferred watching. Brayden on the other hand, was so excited to have "fire sticks" and ran through the road like a sugar addict in a candy store. Such a sweet memory burned into my mind as he galloped around waving the sparklers through the air.




I asked him what he was doing and he responded with "well, that fire smoke kind of stinks, so if I hold my nose like this I don't have to smell it." HILARIOUS.


The night of the third, we woke up Brayden to watch the fireworks, which I termed "fire crackers". Brayden looked at me inquisitively and said "firecrackers? Like, you can eat them?!" ha! Love how literal four year olds can be.

Homemade Blueberry Chia Seed Jam

Every year, our family purchases a large amount of farm fresh blueberries from a local berry farm. This year we had a bit of a mixup and I ended up purchasing a few gallons too many. OOPS.

In my quest to figure out to do with more berries than we needed, I realized I could easily make homemade jam using chia seeds as the thickener. This not only made things really easy, but it also added a lot of great healthy benefits (chia seeds are a new super food Drew and I have happened upon through some of the food documentaries that we've watched. If you're not familiar, do a google search of "chia seeds" and you will find a ton of info on them). I figured I would try one batch. It only took 15 minutes of my time, so I figured even if it was something I didn't want to try again, I wasn't wasting an entire afternoon. The result ended up being something that even my kids will eat, which makes me really happy, since we eat PB&J sandwiches pretty much every day.
Homemade Blueberry Chia Seed Jam
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup honey
1.5 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup chia seeds

Combine the honey and berries in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once the blueberries become softer, I like to press them against the pan so that there's not a ton of huge berry chunks in our jam. About 7-8 minutes after heating, the berries and honey should be pretty liquid. At that point combine the vanilla and chia seeds, and allow to simmer for 10 more minutes, or until the mixture becomes thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool before storing in an air tight container in the refrigerator. 

We use this on the kids PB&J sandwiches, and Drew likes to mix it into some greek yogurt as a yummy snack. SOOOO much healthier than the store bought jams and spreads you can buy, and delicious too!

(This post is linking up with House of Rose for the Inspire Me Please link-up)