A Valentine's Day With No Pie

I had every intention of a post today filled with adorable pictures of my girls in cute Valentine's Day garb and gleeful pictures of me scarfing delicious pie.

Alas, Cupid had different plans.

Back story: For the last two years, Alexia and I have taken our girls to a local pie shop for bakery treats, yummy pie, and Valentine's Day celebrating. It's such a sweet tradition, and this year was going to be even sweeter because there are now four little girls to join in on the fun instead of two.

That's where that sneaky Cupid comes in. He came a little early this year, and instead of shooting us with arrows filled with love, he got us with a nasty virus - RSV to be exact. Apparently this virus is pretty common, but when babies get it, things can get scary if it gets into their lungs. After a three-hour trip to Urgent Care (three hours! the irony!) with Mia on Tuesday night, it quickly became obvious our Valentine's tradition was going to be coming to a screeching halt.

And then I got sick, too. If being sick sucks, being sick when your kids are also sick might be the worst torture I can think of. Props to Mike for taking over for a day or two, because I was miserable, complainy, and not feeling romantical in the least. (And despite all that he still bought me roses! He's a keeper I do believe.)

Luckily, I was still able to bribe with candy persuade Anna to put on some of her Valentine's Day gear so I could get a few pictures. Despite having a crusty eye (is my child the only one whose eye starts oozing green crud when she gets any sort of cold?) I think she pulls the look off well.

Here's one of my little patient. RSV or not, she's cute.

Fingers crossed we're all on the mend. Poor Mia has been sick more times in her short life than I can remember Anna being her first two years. Her cough is getting better, and she's slowly returning to the smiley, relaxed baby we're used to. Mike and Anna, other than her eye, seem to have avoided this round of yuckiness so far, knock on wood.

And we're hoping for a rain check for next week. Because after this week, Mama needs some pie.

Summertime in Northern Michigan

Ok. I'm about to throw a whole lot of vacation pictures at you. I kind of wish I could make a slideshow and then force you all to sit there while I went through them one by one telling funny stories and trying to make  you understand how amazingly awesome these two weeks were. But I don't even think the pictures would do any justice (as much fun as you would have listening to my boring stories of dunes and waves and parades and fireworks and, well, you get the point) because this vacation truly was perfection. It was such a nice blend of family and friends and laughter and sunsets and cherry pie - all the things in life that make me happy.

And here are some of the pics snapped on my phone (and some from Mike's and some from this guy Steve who seemed to be following us around...)

Mike and Anna walking at sunset; playing on the beach at Crystal Lake; hiking Sleeping Bear; sunset at Lake Michigan
wine tasting at L. Mawby; more sunset; cherries on the beach; Uncle TJ and Anna
the pier at Frankfort (times two); waves; looking for fish
more waves; the dunes; don't worry - it's juice!; sunset at Crystal Lake

And while it seems like I have a lot of pictures, looking through them I realized that we busted our good camera out a total of about three times. My iPhone filled in here and there, but overall most of the really good stuff is captured only in my head. So I guess I'll be forced to share those slides only with myself, on the days when I need a sweet reminder of how lucky I am and how much I have to be thankful for.

Happy Tuesday!

Sand Beneath Our Feet, Big Blue Sky Above Our Heads

Saturday is vacation day, people. Which means we'll be packing up and heading out for two weeks of lake living on the beautiful shores of Crystal Lake. It also means that I have been in vacation mode for the last five days - grocery shopping and cooking anything that actually resembles a meal? Why would I do that when we're going out of town? Eating anything besides cereal and scrambled eggs hardly makes any sense when we're about to be gone, right? (I hope I'm not the only one who thinks this way - and if I am I totally blame the pregnancy for my laziness.) Although I should mention that I am slightly obsessed with the eggs I buy at our local farmers' market and sort of feel like even if I am serving brinner multiple nights a week, it is a totally legit, delicious meal.

Two bucks a dozen. I stalk the egg man like it's my job.

It's been a long, long time since Mike has been able to take this much time off of work, and I'm so looking forward to all the family time. Rumor has it the cottage we're renting doesn't even  have Internet access, so if you happen to see a slightly crazed pregnant lady wandering the beaches of northern Michigan holding her cell phone up trying to load Facebook, there's a pretty good chance it's me. Just kidding. Sort of. In all honesty, as much as I know I am obsessed with my iPhone and all the time-wasting activities it has to offer, I'm sort of excited to see how I function (and how much I enjoy myself) without all the distractions. Again, I blame the pregnancy, but I'm starting to feel a lot of nostalgia over the fact that this will probably be our last family trip as a trio and I want to make sure I soak it all in.

Even if I can't document it all on Instagram. (I'm @lesliearends if you ever want to follow along!)

I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands that pretty much sums up how I'm feeling.

Happy Summer!

I know that you're smiling, baby, 
I don't even need to see your face 
Sunset at the shoreline, we are laughing, breaking up, 
Just like the waves 
Are you feeling, feeling, feeling like I'm, feeling 
Like I'm floating, floating, up above that big blue ocean 
Sand beneath our feet, big blue sky above our heads, 
No need to keep stressing from our everyday life on our minds 
We have got to leave all that behind 

Well, I have got a sister, 
And she has got a baby with brand new eyes 
And her daddy is an engineer, 
And they just took her to the sea for the first time 
Now they're under, under, underneath a big umbrella 
Summer, summer, summer time to help us forget, nine to fives 
We have got to leave all that behind 

I have worries to give to the sea 
We can walk dear the pier is farther than it seems 

Midnight at the shoreline, fireworks above us 
A screaming bloom 
They're sent by some teenager and kid whoever you are 
I am thanking you 
Now we're dancing, dancing, dancing with no music 
What is happening, happening, happening and no feelings 
Except this is right 
We just had to leave all that behind

If You Give A Mama A Trip To Target...

I can remember a Mother's Day from when I was younger, probably eleven or twelve, where my dad took my sister and I to a Detroit Tigers baseball game, leaving my mom alone. At the time, I can remember thinking how sad she must have been, that her whole family was abandoning her on the most special of all days and how she must have spent the afternoon waiting by the window for us to return.

And then I became a mom myself, and I imagine now that the second our car rolled out of the driveway she was doing a little happy dance in the living room. It was probably the best damn Mother's Day she'd had in the history of ever.

On Friday, my in-laws came and scooped up Anna for a day of Costco shopping and visiting relatives in Grand Rapids. All week, I had been planning in my head what I was going to do with my temporary freedom, and it mostly involved a Starbucks run and a glorious, peaceful, toddler-free trip to Target where I meandered through the aisles and stocked up on Easter basket goodies. The only bad thing? The part where I had to pay for all the fun stuff I had blissfully thrown in my cart.

As if the day couldn't get better, my Target adventure was followed by a sushi lunch date with Mike. We sat at the bar, conversed like real grown-ups, and didn't have to stop our conversation twenty times to pick food up off the floor or flag the waitress over to bring us some more milk or more napkins. It was glorious.

And I swear to you, the rest of the weekend played out like that children's book, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie", because it seems those few precious hours of Anna-free time were just what I needed. I finally cleaned and organized the toys that were threatening to take over our living room. I swept and mopped every floor in our house. I washed windows. Heck, I even painted my toenails. The next morning, I cleaned and vacuumed out my car. I was on fire, and all it had taken was a soy latte, that red bullseye, and some wasabi.

Sometimes, as a stay-at-home-mom, I don't feel entitled to take days off. It's so hard to remember that even though I'm not on a payroll or punching a clock, I so need those mental health days to decompress and drink coffee alone and try on twenty things without a two-year-old trying to escape the dressing room.

All my cleaning and toe-nail polishing was followed up with a visit to meet my dear friend's baby and a trip to my parents' house to celebrate Easter. We ate cheesy potatoes, eggs benedict, and lots of chocolate, and finished the day with an egg hunt out in the yard.

This is what the mullet looks like first thing in the morning.

"No pictures!"

Ready to hunt.

My Aunt Janet is the master of the egg hunt.

I hope everyone's weekend was as awesome as ours, even if you didn't get to go to Target.

This afternoon, we embark on a trip down to Florida - Mike is fishing with his brother, and Anna, my mom and I are heading down to visit my sister. I'm looking forward to the beach and the sun. And maybe even giving my mom an afternoon or two off so she can go to Target!

Happy Tuesday!

I Need A Kristintervention

In more ways than one. For reals.

Today is my sweet sister's birthday. And while Kristin is basking in the sun in the faraway land known as Florida, I am sadly stuck in Michigan. (Although, no complaints about the weather, because I have been doing quite a bit of basking myself. Thank you, Mother Nature!)

We won't be drinking margaritas together to celebrate, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been on my mind all day, because I sure do miss her.

Do you know who else misses her?

My house.

Remember that time she came over and basically kicked my ass and ordered me around and forced me to get organized? Weeellll...let's just say I haven't exactly been living up to her expectations. I'm pretty sure every surface in my house has suffered my abuse, and it ain't pretty.

I don't think I can convince her to leave the beach to, ya know, beat me into organizing my life. Which means I must take matters into my own hands.

I've been pondering a few things I've seen on Pinterest, like a daily cleaning schedule or one of those "52 Weeks to an Organized Life" deals. I don't know. I'm feeling overwhelmed. And embarrassed.

On a scale from one to ten, how pitiful is it if a stay-at-home mom wants to hire a cleaning service? (Although, as I said to my friend Katie today, my house is too much of a wreck to probably even get a cleaning service to come!)

You gotta start somewhere, right? So Kristin, in honor of that magical day you entered the world, I'm going to clean at least one room of my house today. If that doesn't shout "I'm so happy you were born!", then I'm not sure what does...

Happy Birthday, sister! I hope your day is surface-abuse free and full of wonderful things that make you happy. I love you!

Anyone have any tips or pointers for me? Experience with those daily cleaning schedules? HELP ME!

She Puts The Color Inside Of My World

As soon as we found out Anna's due date (December 24th), I knew our future kid was going to be faced with a lot of birthday disappointments over the years. I mean, seriously, a birthday at the end of December? My birthday is at the end of October and I sometimes feel slightly shorted. Like, all my presents come in a two-month stretch and right around June or July I start feeling envious of everyone celebrating their birthdays. (Because that's what Christmas and birthdays are all about, right? Presents!)

In fact, I even came across a blog that declares March to be "National Abstinence Month" so that no one is forced to celebrate a December birthday. While I wouldn't go as far as Scary Mommy does and say that "December babies suck," I would agree that a birthday three days after Christmas isn't exactly ideal.

But you know what? It is what it is. And like I mentioned a few days ago, even if I'm exhausted and totally over celebrating and stuffing my face, I'm going to make damn sure that Anna's birthday is celebrated. Yes, we've all eaten way too much cake. Yes, she's totally spoiled by the seemingly endless amount of presents that she's opened. Yes, I would very much like to take a long nap instead of cleaning my house. If Anna's birthday was in  probably any other month, though, none of those things would be an issue. My sister said, and I agree with her, that it's almost like we have to make a bigger deal out of her birthday than we normally would, just so she knows she has her own special day.

Besides, how are we not going to celebrate the day this girl came into our world?

This year was a much smaller affair than last year's, although I did get talked out of my original idea of ordering Costco pizzas. (Boo to that - who doesn't love Costco pizza? Who?) And I of course went a little overboard on the cake, but mostly because I get a kick out of doing stuff like that. Also - Pinterest exists this year, and there were quite a few fun ideas I wanted to try out.

Behold, the rainbow.

Much less complicated than it looks. Promise. Mostly time consuming. You need to buy the gel food coloring to get the colors that bright - they sell them at Michael's. I just used two boxes of white cake mix and divided the batter into eight smaller bowls. I only have two cake pans, so it took awhile to bake the layers, let them cool, wash the pans, and start over again.This bad boy required two batches of frosting, which equaled an extremely heart healthy six sticks of butter and eight cups of powdered sugar. Yum. If I did it again, I would use the same frosting for in between the layers, but probably use something a little fluffier for the outside. I still have like half of this cake in the freezer, so hit me up if you want a slice!



We ate Mexican food, Anna showed off her new presents, and we all marveled over the amazing little person she has become.

I spent like $25 on rainbow sprinkles. Yes, I'm aware I have a problem.

Birthday crown made by my mom.

When it comes down to it, even though her birthday may not be perfectly timed, in my eyes she timed her arrival perfectly. She's here. She's healthy. That's all that really matters.

And if that's not an excuse to eat rainbow cake, I'm not sure what is.

Any December babies out there? How do you cope? Will Anna be scarred for life?