Small Victories


Small victories can be many things to different people. In our house Harper is now buckling her car seat on her own and Crew is picking up new words by the day. For us these are HUGE parent victories and I’m not embarrassed to say I feel like such a proud mama that Harper can get in by herself and buckle her own straps..Winning! In prep for my favorite season I have been training Crew early about Santa. I have been saying for a couple weeks now, "what does Santa say?" "Ho, Ho, Ho!", Crew now anytime I say that he can Ho, Ho, Ho for me! Its basically adorable and my new favorite trick to show off! From birth you do everything for them and some days you think you just can’t wait for them to do something for themselves. Then that day comes and you feel such pride that you taught them something and they are learning and growing, then you feel complete sadness that they are needing you less and less. 

Every day is a mommy battle and I think to myself if I could just get 1 hour to my self, then you have the opportunity when they go to school or hang out with the grandparents, and you are totally bummed out that your bestie is gone and you look at the clock every 15 minutes counting down the time until you can pick them up and get sassed around by your threenager. I find as I’m in my last several weeks before the new baby comes that my exhaustion level is 100% at all times but it feels like at the same time everything is in fast forward. These little people in my life are the best things that I could ever imagine, they may make our weekly Target trip an utter nightmare but they are my besties for life and just a few minutes with out them seems like an eternity. I feel selfish thinking I have to share them with the world, but on the other hand they are so incredibly awesome the world is dying to know them and it needs them to make their mark. I may be the mom with the wild banshies in the cart, but the look on face is clearly that of “ I don’t care..” they are smart and learning and love to giggle. Enjoy your weekend and spoil your babies, I know I will be! Xo



House updates

Our new house is moving right along it's very exciting! At the same time, very stressful/exhausting. I love design and I'm so happy to be able to be picking everything for my own home. However, picking absolutely everything for your house that you will have for many more years to come is overwhelming. You want to go for updated things but something that is going to be classic at the same time and isn't going to be a trend that you will get tired of quickly.

Russ is secretly hoping that Pinterest will suddenly shut down sometime soon because it can be a bit of a trap. Seeing all the great ideas and products gets my blood flowing for sure! I love a good challenge of finding exactly what I'm looking for but keeping it within my budget at the same time..ah satisfaction.

Take a peek at some of my recent house picks..enjoy, maybe this will get your design juices flowing.





Fall Favorites

Fall is upon us..hopefully, I am seriously hoping this weather sticks around! I love the 70's, that is the perfect weather to play outside without sweating to death or needing a jacket and it tires those babies out quick, bonus!! I always like to go through the kids drawers and closets to see what we need for the upcoming seasons and it always blows me away how much they have grown. The Gap is one of my favorite places for them and they never disappoint. An army green is one of my staple colors and they had great 3-in-one jackets for the kids this year that were both army green and perfect for the fall. I was able to snag both for 40% off and they kinda match each other..ah yes please!

Anyone who knows my Harper knows that she loves to get "styled" up for school. She is a dress girl and loves her accessories. I was struggling with her shoes this year, until my favorite baby shoe company came out with what they call The Next Step. They are hard sole moccasins for the older kids in your life and they are perfect for Harper. I had my mind made up to get her Toms I figured they are easy to get off and on, they would go great with a little dress or leggings, and Harper could wear them on the playground without getting mulch in her shoes. Unfortunately, the way they are cut would just not fit her foot, a bummer but it made me pull the trigger on these sweet Freshly Picked babies and I'm so glad I did! They are not only super cute and easy to get on, but that metallic color is perfect for Harps.

Hats have always been my go to style staple for Crew. You can't go wrong accessorizing a baby boy with cute shoes, and a sweet hat. I found this adorable sherpa bear hat from Gap, its going to be his favorite this year for sure. He is a boys, boy and he lovessss animals. So, when I showed him this hat his immediate response was a "rarrrrr" and giggle.

I figured with our third little babe on the way I certainly couldn't leave him out. His (and mama's) favorite pregnancy craving is donuts! I bought this adorable mini donut mold and box mix from William Sonoma, and I'm so excited to make them at home. They had all kinds of fun fall flavors, I think the two of us will be enjoying this treat..and possibly the whole box. Don't tell the others.



Back in Action

I have taken quite the hiatus this summer, and needless to say this has been one of the busiest and most epic yet! Staying busy is the name of our game and we wouldn't have it any other way, however, our cup is running over.

Harper was diagnosed with ectopic atrial tachycardia in May, which came as a blessing in disguise. We never knew she had any kind of issue with her heart and by chance it was caught by a pediatrician at
A.I. She was there for a brief stay for a kidney infection and before discharge he noticed something just wasn't quite right. To put it in simpler words, Harper's heart rate stayed at a constant rate. It stayed between 155-175 whether she was running, playing, sleeping or eating. She was put on medicine for the summer and we had to change the dose several times before her cardiologist determined it just wasn't doing the job. He soon called and said she would need to go ahead and have the surgery done. It was a long 5 1/2 hours for mom and dad, putting your baby in the hands of someone else. She had a lot of people praying for her and we knew she would make out great, and that's exactly what she did! It's truly amazing the things they can do and how quickly kids can recover! We are so blessed to live in a place and time that they are able to take care of this so quickly and efficiently. Harper is one of the loves of our lives and we are so incredibly thankful that she is back to her old self and we can out this small bump behind us. She will continue to have regular check ups with her cardiology team and we are confident she will continue to thrive.

We spent most our summer days at a pool or beach and we have quite the water babies on our hands. They both love to swim so much! Harper is doing so well and will swim a little by herself with no swimmies, she goes under water and is jumping off the sides all by herself!

Crew continues to be the sweetest little boy around. I honestly can't believe I'm writing this let alone that it was over a month ago but our angel boy turned one! That had to be one of the fastest years ever! He is so happy, silly, and chill all the time. He is definitely our go with the flow baby and is always behaved as long as his belly is full of chicken nuggets and french fries and he has his "blank blank" along for the ride. He had a surf themed birthday party to go along with his custom board that we had made for his big day. He loved every minute but by far his favorite part was eating his cupcakes. We now are proud owners of lots and lots of boy toys which both Crew and Russ are pretty thrilled about. It's pretty hilarious that no matter where we go Crew can spot a tractor, truck or animal. He is our boys boy and makes every single day better. He now says mama, dada, nana, more, barper aka Harper, and can make dog sounds and chicken sounds. His eyes light up around his barper and they are best buddies.

We thought we had a pretty action filled summer..until we got a pretty awesome surprise..baby #3 is making HIS appearance in December! We are thrilled and so happy to have another sweet boy in our lives. While it was quite the shock it's going to be perfect timing for he and Crew to be best buddies for life. We thought we would videotape Harper when we told her the news and just knew she would be thrilled because she always asks for more and more babies and she loves Crew to death (literally sometimes, her love can be rough). Once the camera was rolling and we pulled out the sonogram for her to see the tears stared rolling, we kept asking "what's the matter? You don't want a new baby at our house?" The sweetest thing came rolling off those three year old lips next..."I love Crew Crew he is my baby brother I don't want to get rid of him." Our hearts basically melted right there. We quickly reassured her that Crew is our baby and we would 100% not be getting rid of him, getting a new baby would just mean adding another person not eliminating anyone! Much to her relief she was thrilled then and quickly dried her tears to being hysterically happy. We all can't wait for our early Christmas present to arrive, we are all waiting so eagerly!!

Since clearly all of that isn't enough we added building a new house to our daily to do! We love our house but we are out of room and need to spread out for all these kiddos. We are super excited and every day we go out to see the progress. We are lucky enough to build next to our best friends and our kids are only going to grow up closer since they will be friends and neighbors. It's also really nice to know that we can send all the kids out to play together in a nice, safe area. Building a house it a busy, busy task and an exciting one at the same time. We are looking to move it right after baby boo number three arrives. New house, new baby right?

Harper has officially started back to school and we are trying to get ourselves into the swing of all things fall since our summer has come to a quick halt. If only we could get a couple days that weren't 90-100 we would be feeling a little more fallish.















Healthy

Being healthy is not over rated. For what ever horrible, terrible, miserable reason the Griffin household is struck with the stomach bug multiple times a year. It's utterly a nightmare, but this time seems to be one for the books. I have never quite been that sick in my life that I recall. I couldn't shake that bad boy for 5 days and during those days I remember telling Russ I would rather give birth. Ah, being healthy is NOT over rated!! We are on the mend, and it helps that the weather seems to be consistently staying warmer. With the windows open and the sun shining in, I have been craving some great summery foods. I love a smoothie and they are an easy way for me to sneak in a bunch of yummy veggies in without the kids noticing. Harper is obsessed with a "smmoovie" and she will slurp them down, and we all know Crew will eat anything that resembles food but these sweet treats are easy for him to love! I seemed to be in a rut creating the same ones over and over again simply because it was easy, but I have been doing some searching around and found some fun new recipes to try! Enjoy and stay healthy! xo




Hippity Hoppity Easter Made it's Way!

Happy Easter! We have had such a fun day with our little love bunnies. The weather is warm the sun is shinning and we are hopped up on a candy high..life is good at our house! The bunny made it to our house bright and early this morning, Crew loved his first basket and Harper was thrilled too! We made it to church and then home for a fun brunch with all our favorite peeps! The kiddos had an egg hunt and played non stop in the jump jump! Russ and I are amped up for an early bed time tonight.. whoop whoop, holla if you hear me for some tuckered out babies!






















We are excited for a relaxing spring break and hopefully (fingers crossed) warm weather! Hope you enjoy your Easter day! xoxo

Keeping up

Okay, I'm officially trying to keep up with my posts a little bit more. I sometimes find myself falling behind and then I end up with so much to post at one time that it's an overload! So hopefully I can do a better job. Crew is whopping 33 weeks old! Clearly everyone thinks this of their own baby but he is literally the sweetest baby on the planet and most beautiful. It is rare occasion to not find him with a smile on that sweet little face, which is made even more precious now with one little snaggle tooth on the bottom. He has mastered clapping and that is his favorite thing to do right now. He is crazy about his sister and he just watches her in amazement, I know he is thinking "I have no clue what she is doing but I can't wait to do that too!" If he isn't clapping or eating which seem to be his favs. (we are currently in the process of taking out a second mortgage to feed this little ham...joking, joking..but literally he eats everything) he is saying "dadadadad" he loves his daddy and Russ gets that ridiculously huge smile on his face, similar to the one he gets when the Hoyas take the win. Crew is the best addition to our family and since having him we are the happiest we have ever been. Harper too thinks he is the best and tells me on a daily basis, "thank you for getting my brother out of your belly, when can we get 6 more babies out of your belly?" ahhh..that's not happening but we are so glad that she has a permanent little buddy and someone to practice all her mommy skills on. Happy 33 weeks goose!





Lastly, I'm obsessing over my new favorite thing I found! Chatbooks are super adorable 6x6" photo books that use your posts from Instagram and turn them into 60 page bound books for only $6 bucks and its free shipping! I got my first batch today and they are ahmazingg! They are small, stackable and easy. Get over there and get them, follow them on Instagram for free book codes they give out all the time! Enjoy #loveChatbooks @chatbooks.



 
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