If its a Mac, I break it.

Except for my brother, I don't think I've ever injured him. All of this to say, I broke the laptop, again. Smashed the screen, again. At least now it matches my broken iPhone? This is the first time I've tried to blog on my phone, so if it works I'll try some more. Apologies! Although you shouldn't be at all surprised if you are a long time reader of this blog :)

Cubs...take 2!

Let me preface this by saying that I have some diehard Cubbie fan friends. We have some diehard Cubbie  fan family members. However, Frank and I have ZERO interest in baseball. That's not to say that I don't love going to a game now and then...the fans, beautiful Wrigley Field, sun shine and hot dogs and when in the crazy fun bleachers, beer!! But other than that? I don't watch the game, I don't know any of the players names and I don't get sad when it is suggested that we leave early :)

Even with all that, I still jump at the chance to go to a game, especially when I can take Eddie. And this time, Grandpa took me and the boys....even Finney! It was perfect timing, too, since Eddie started t-ball a couple days later.

{cell phone pictures, because there was no way in hell I was going to be lugging the big camera around with me too!}

{the boys hanging out}

{cuties!}

{grandpa and his cubbie bear}

{me and my adorable boys!}

{you aren't a chicago kid until you've played on the floor (on a blanket!) of Wrigley Field, right?}

{and yes, these boys are being raised at chicago kids even though we live in the farms}

{this munchkin was crazy! i don't even think he watched much of the game. grandpa said he probably watched more when we took him when he was 2 than when he was almost 4 :) a very true statement!}

{between this goofy hat game that Eddie invented and stomping on the peanut shells that Grandpa dropped, Eddie was much to busy to actually care about baseball}

{and Finney and I were too busy looking cute to actually watch the game!}

{thankfully, Finn fell asleep after we walked around a bit and ate a bit}

{oh wrigley, so pretty!}

Thanks Dad for always being willing to haul me and my brood of crazies to the game, even if we are more of a pain than fun :)

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time, I read Eddie a book. It drew him into it like I've never seen before. He was leaning forward, eager for the next word, the next sentence, the next page. It wasn't about hockey, it wasn't even about sports, but it drew him in.

Source: tumblr.com via Lyndsee on Pinterest

The Lorax. I've never been so proud of my son...showing a passion I didn't even know he had.

Easter (in pictures!)

Easter was super fun this year, and since I had so many pictures I'm just going to narrate through them. Enjoy :)

{eddie at the Nestle easter egg hunt}

{over-competitive momma was pumping him up the whole time, and when the horn sounded to go, he ran like a bat out of hell.....past all of the eggs, to the tree that I pointed to with a bunch of eggs around it. Literally JUMPING over eggs to get to the tree. It was the fastest I think he's ever run, and he was SO proud when he reached that tree before the other kids. I ran behind him yelling "EGGS!! PICK UP THE EGGS!!" and he didn't get it until after his elation of reaching the tree first wore off. It was hilarious and amazing and one of my favorite moments ever}

{and I may or may not have stood over an egg, protecting it to ensure that he got at least one. For the record, he snagged three!}

{Frankie and Finney}

{Me and Eddie}

{showing off his haul}

{finney got an egg, too!}

{then the boys got to say hello to the easter bunny (finn was more interested in the grass) and we got some more candy (thanks Nestle!)}

{oh, for the love of pete. ADORABLE}

{Easter morning the boys woke up and we wandered down stairs to see what he left us. Eddie was the first awake and woke up Finn, which is why the poor babe still has sleepy face and bed head!}

{Finn found his basket first, filled with puffs and yogurt melts and bibs}

{eddie had to find his eggs first. each had a number on the front and he had to put them in order so we could read the sentence on the back telling us where that silly bunny hid his basket!}

{HEAVEN!!! That is one happy little boy. If you ask him what the easter bunny brought him, he says "a soccer ball and cones and SUGAR!". He was on such a sugar high that he started singing a made up easter song, screaming that Easter was his favorite day EVER and yes, it is completely true that we cut him off of sugar when he started screaming "Happy New Year Easter bunny!!!!!!!!!". He had us cracking up all morning long. 

{That afternoon we moved on over to Nanna and Grandpa's for Easter dinner. This was the glorious Easter tree that Eddie decorated. My mom thought I was going to do some small little tree, this thing was taller than Eddie :) and also got stuck in Rikki's hair. LOL!}

{one of my favorite centerpieces I've done yet....irises from my garden, daffodils stolen from the neighbor and twine from the garage}

{pretty}

{shame on me for not checking my settings, I love this picture and wish finn wasn't so blown out!}

{we got to meet baby Chase! such a sweet boy}

{cutie boys}

{my adorable cousins and chaser! this boy will be surrounded by gorgeous girls for the rest of his life! lucky man.}

{love}

{chase and finn playing, they're going to grow up to be best buds}

{we ended the day with Eddie's easter egg hunt, where I'm happy to say he got all of the eggs. And I didn't even have to stand over any to protect them :) what a wonderful easter!}

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and a sugar high as epic as Eddie's. 

Handsome Boys

{bunny ears, chocolate mouth....eddie's easter in a nutshell}

{oh, finney man}

Happy Birthday to the Momma

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you a bushel, a peck and a hug around the neck :)

Smiles and Swings

Saturday we had a little picnic for my Mom's birthday, and when we got back to the house Eddie (as usual) lost his shit because we weren't going in their backyard RIGHT THAT MINUTE. As with (most) 3 year old boys, things have to happen his way, all the time, the exact time he wants them. It's quite exahusting :) 

At the same time, it cracks me up to no end the love this boy has for their yard with its perfect mix of woods, open space, digging space and once the weather turns officially, pool space and sprinkler space. It is, by all means, little boy heaven. My favorite part of it all? The swing. The rope may be getting questionable, and the board takes some wobbling to get perfectly balanced, but I love it (and not only because it provides the most awesome photo ops). I've even been known to hop on (horse style, thank you very much) and take a few spins myself. There is something about the peacefulness of it all....once the thrill of pushing off as hard as you can and pretending that you're flying wears off (the fact that this swing goes over the tiered garden beds really adds to the effect), the view of this swing is perfect. You can watch the people on the deck, chatting at the table. Easily find Eddie digging somewhere or throwing some sort of ball. Listen to the people exploring the woods. All while you're swinging comfortably, barefoot (if you're me), grass stained knees (if you're me or Eddie), feeling the wind in your hair and the sometimes panic inducing stretch and crack of the rope against the tree bark. A little peace, a little adventure...this swing has it all. 

And oh, the photo ops. I love this swing. 

8 months

Oh Finney Man. If I had to list my favorite months of yours so far, I think that 8 months is going to take the cake, for sure. I feel like you've changed, leaps and bounds as babies tend to do at this age, and once again everything is coming fast and furious and I'm often left in the dust.

You're still army crawling your way around, and you move so darn quickly like this that I have trouble believing that you're even going to put the effort in to crawl any other way. Your dirty tummy is such a lovely reminder to me that I need to mop more often! You've found the dog food, but thankfully I was more prepared for this than I was for Eddie to find it, which is to mean that you didn't actually get any in your mouth. Small victories for Momma! Your other favorite places to scoot to are the curtains (serioulsy, why? you love fabric, I just don't understand. You will also haul ass to get to your sippy cup of water). You are so darned determined to follow that brother of yours, and with him as your example you're already trying to walk. You love to pull up on the couches and cruise (the computer and the remote control are your favorites to try and reach) and you have started standing on your own for a couple seconds at a time. **edited to add** 2 days later you've also started to try and climb the stairs. AHHHH!!!

Yes, you read that right. He's standing. On his own. At 8 months. And yes, more often than not I have to surpress the urge to push him down onto that cute little heiney of his, because HOLY HELL I am scared to have an early walker. Scared out of my ever lovin' mind. Anyway.

This 8 month birthday is a big one, too, because you're getting your first tooth! One of your bottom ones is breaking through that gummy little smile of yours. We noticed it yesterday, just a tiny little hole giving us a warning of what's to come. Today it's a nice little line and I can feel a sharp little toother coming through. (let's throw another one of those HOLY HELL's in here, because HOLY HELL I'm going to be nursing a baby with TEETH). It doesn't seem to be making you too miserable, yet, so hopefully it stays that way.

You, my Finney Mac, are quite a joy to be around. Everyone loves your huge and awesome smile, your hilarious strawberry hair sticks out every which way gets some giggles, but overall, your long, long, loooooong eyelashes still get about 5 comments a day.

Every morning you wake up early and hop into bed with me and Daddy, sleep and nurse for a bit, but when you're ready to wake for the day you roll right over to your Daddy and start pulling on his hair and face. You love your boys, Daddy and your bi-bo Eddie. Eddie still loves you, too, squeeling "hiiiiiii" all day long to you, with his new favorite thing being to pull you up and make you sit with him. He can't stand when you crawl away from him, and I'm not sure if its because he misses your company or because you're usually crawling towards his toys. Oh, the appeal of big brother toys is beyond anything we'll understand, because I can have every baby toy laid out and you still beeline to Eddie's things. Forbidden fruit!

I love you, little man. Sharp little tooth and all!