Monster Trucks

Before I get to posting some of our Spring Break adventures, I can't forget to post our pictures from the monster truck rally. Now, it was at the small Sears Centre, and I should have know that it wasn't going to be a huge thing. BUT. They adveritized !!!!!!!!!!!!!TRUCK-O-SAURUS!!!!!!!!!!!! and I believed that it was going to be awesome. (spoiler alert) I was wrong. Either way, Eddie had an amazing time and thought it was just as bad ass as I wished it was. My dad, Mac and I had fun being in awe of the second-rate-ness of it all. But like I said, Eddie thought it was the coolest thing in the world :)

{we got there well after the "meet and greet" truck thing was over, but ran down anyway, gave the big smiles and were the last ones allowed in. HA!}

{Eddie coloring on Chalkboard Chuck. Such a cute idea for a truck (even though it sucked) but I thought it was such an interesting idea to get kids to feel involved}

{boys will be boys....}

{eddie was THRILLED to have headphones. He still loves the wear them and thinks they are absolutely hilarious}

{the first thing that confused us.....isn't there normally dirt at these things??}

{Eddie resting on Mac's knee. I have never seen him do this with his fingers before, but it was funny and adorable. I think he was a little nervous for most of the trucks and leaning towards Mac gave him just enough comfort...}

{our seats were dead center, which was fun. Except when the not-so-truck-o-saurus turned towards us....then he flipped his shit}

{obviously so intimidating. HAHAHAHAHA! This thing was hilarious. It had, no joke, a 10 minute build up story about some island that it came from, some guy finding it and teaching him to eat cars for audiences? I dunno. I was just in awe that they were trying to make this POS sound cool. But apparently it was enough for Eddie, because like I said above, when it turned to come to us he FREAKED out. I think it was the fire coming out of it's nose. But I broke it all down for him..what the arms were made of (like a garbage truck!) and how it didn't have wheels but tracks like an excavator, and suddenly he was fine with it}

{Mac's MONSTER TRUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! face}

{Eddie's MONSTER TRUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! face}

{Grandpa's......confused? scared? face}

Eddie still plays "monster trucks" with his cars, so I know that he enjoyed it. I can't even imagine what he would have been like at one of the big and real monster truck rallies, I know for sure that he really would have freaked out over the real Truck-O-Saurus! 

Eddie's phone dump

{uncle mac built eddie a tent for our sleepover the other night. eddie was over the moon!}

Finn's Phone Dump

My bestie

This past weekend we celebrate my wonderful best friend and bride-to-be Stef. We started with her bridal shower and ended with her bachelorette party and it was one full and fun day. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted of the shower the ones I have make me smile.

{i was so in love with the flowers...I wish i made about 40 more!}

{our "lucky in love" theme had Oma playing blackjack with dealer Casey}

{taylor and tatiana}

{love these wonderful women! taylor, me, stef and tati}

{my crazy little man}

{so then we said our goodbyes and hustled downtown to this lovely view....the green river! st. patrick's day in chicago!}

{love this girl more than I can say, love love love seeing her so happy!}

{whatcha doin' heather?}

So there ya have it. The few pictures are random and tell a confusing story at best, but believe me when I say that the day was really fun. We went to Wrigleyville and it was crazy, then randomly found a guy we went to high school with who was having his bachelor party and I left around 2am when they started bar hopping more.  Gotta love the randomness that Wrigleyville always brings! I got home at 3am and Finn was awake at 5:30. Thank goodness for strong coffee and friends that are worth the lack of sleep.

Enjoy

I'm sorry for the delay, and while I feel like I say that all the time around here, the real truth is that I've just been enjoying our early spring...taking trips to the zoo, playing outside, enjoying the breeze and the sweet smell of sun screen on tiny limbs. It's 80 degrees most days, and when that happens in March, we take advantage.

Living in a farming community has really changed the way I look at things, it has given me the itch to cultivate and grow and nourish my family with home grown foods. I'm itching, literally, to begin my vegetable garden and Frank passed on advice to me from a farmer he had lunch with. "Planting early will bite you in the ass". I'm trying, really and truly trying, to take the advice of people who really live off the land, people who have done this for generations and know much better than I. But oh, I've got tanned skin, my freckles are out in full force, trees are flowering and my plants are coming up and the feel of dirt under my fingernails just feels so right.

I'm going to try my best to heed the advice of the wise and not plant, but trust me on this, I will be outside every second I can. Because, since I'm such a good listener, I will trust that the frost is comin', and this sunshine needs to be taken advantage of. 

See you when it rains, little blog. 

Pool time

Eddie may love hockey, but deep down, I know he's a fish. Hopefully Finn will be the same! He had his first time in the pool the other day, with Eddie happily flittering around us, and I know that some where I have almost an exact picture of Eddie and me, but I can't find it anywhere. 

{and oh, he loved it. he kicked his little froggy legs immediately and didn't even mind me dunking him underwater. Frank (as always) freaked more than the baby}

{"I'm in a speedo tryin' to tan my cheeks"}

Hopefully with our fall/winter swim season over, I can get more pool time in with my boys! It was so fun and good to know that I can handle both of them in the pool together. Makes me looks forward to my parent's pool this summer, too!

Yum!

The other day Finn was going nuts over his lunch, which resulted in me trying to take pictures and video for Frank. While they're totally blurry, they're also hilarious, and I love them.

{we made the biggest mess ever, but he was having a blast pulling at the spoon and my hand and after a couple of sneak attacks, he even got the bowl. crazy man!}

Baptism

Blessed are the mommies and daddies, for they shall hold sweet babies fresh from Heaven.

Their hearts shall be filled with pure, unconditional love, and they shall guide their children's first steps towards God.

{Finn's official baptism photo}

"God must have known how much love you have to give and how beautifully His example lives in you....that's why He chose the perfect home for your new baby - and the perfect parents, too."

(auntie stef gets the best cards)


Finn's baptism was wonderful, if you forget that I had to walk and bounce a crabby Finney around the church. Also, please ignore that although it was girl scout appreciation day and there was a baptism, the pastor thought that ADULTERY, pre-marital sex, etc....was an appropriate sermon choice. (Mac claimed it was awesomely and hilariously uncomfortable, my mom said she couldn't decide whether or not to run and cover the poor girl scout's ears or shoo our family out of church, Frank and Uncle Mike had flash backs to Catholic church/school and needless to say, Erin was very happy that she lives with us). It made for wonderful conversation at our little brunch after at my parent's house.

I only got one picture of Finn in his baptism outfit (bow tie made my God Mother Erin!), so I may have to put him back in it to get more pictures of the cuteness, even though Finn christened it himself with some puke. Totally natural for anything of Finn's.

{Finn's god parents, Erin and Keith}

Eddie did as well as to be expected in church and a new kid's area, and of course, snacks from Erin. Back at my parent's, he got a baseball and bat from Aunt Lorrie and Uncle Chuck (!!) and played almost the whole time outside with Grandpa Frank. Finn got completely spoiled with love and once again, we were all reminded how lucky we are to have such wonderful family and friends. 

{probably the only time I saw these two all day!}

{Keith WILLINGLY holding Finn!}

{this girl? i love her. even though all day she said "I pulled a Maggie" when she did something ditzy. Brat.}

{one of the favorite toys of the evening. The paper that Eddie's bat came wrapped in! The boys were cracking up playing peek-a-boo in it, and Finn loved rolling and chewing and otherwise beating the crap out of it}

{hugs}

{And the other favorite of the day? Cousin Jen's taggie blanket}

{love at first sight}

{caught in the act! Finn says..."uh, problem?"}

And as if that wasn't enough (and I haven't even gotten to the monster trucks the night before!) we went to Woodfield that night to check out the Disney Vacation Club. Eddie loved the kid's area there (cookies! apple juice! toy story!!) and we some gift cards for dinner and tickets to Legoland. We may or may not have gone to get the free shit, lol! 

Aaaaaaaand leave it to me to swear in a post about Finn's baptism.