Tag Archives: family

mommyhood, music, things toddlers say

Things Toddlers Say (aka Family Talk)

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Every Tuesday, I like to give you a small glimpse into the linguistic wonders of my family life. I have a hilarious husband, and two wonderful but sometimes misspoken children. I know you will enjoy hearing things I hear daily as much as I do.  

Me, in reference to my belly moving: I don’t think I remember the baby moving this much this early with my other two.
Hubby (deadpan): Maybe we will finally have one with some personality.

EK’s breakfast of choice one morning this week: A brownie from her aunt Lala, blueberries, and sausage. (Weirdo.)

7:15 am, EK, shoving a princess dress in my face (rude awakening, am I right?): Help me! Mom! Help me! Now! (As if her very life depends on getting into that dress right this second.)

Hubby, preparing for his gig, singing T-Pain’s “Buy You a Drank”: Baby girl, what’s your name?
EK: My name’s Ella Kate! (Then proceeds to sing the song the rest of the night.)

My friend Lauren, at our house for dinner: Can you lean out the window and tell Uncle Drew it’s time to go home?
EK, leaning out the window to the porch: Uncley Drew! Time to go hoooooome!

Me: What do you want for lunch?
EK: A soomie. (Smoothie)

Hope you enjoyed today’s little funny sayings. What does your toddler say that’s hilarious?!

home, mommyhood, women

Currently – Celebrating Easter!

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Happy Monday! I’m linking up again today with Becky at Choose Happy for her Currently series. Join us, and just let us know what’s up with you currently! It’s a great way to find fun new blogs to follow, and to find friends. I love it!

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Enjoying || a relaxing day after a super busy Easter week. Everyone slept late this morning, and we don’t have anything on our schedule. Hopefully it’ll be a day of catching up on chores and maybe taking a nap!

Thankful for || a wonderful Easter weekend. It was full of good church, wonderful family, and sweet friends. The Lord is risen, and we couldn’t be more grateful!! There were so many celebrations we could barely keep up… We were so busy we literally didn’t get a single picture of everyone in their cute outfits! Here are a few instead of an actual “Easter photo”:

Cousins on a couch!
Elsa’s Easter outfit. What Easter dress would be complete without the Ice Queen’s crown?
Bunny love.
He was getting better at caring about the eggs by the end…
I snapped this one from behind the piano right before the Good Friday service… my favorite night of the year, I think.

Looking forward to || my mom’s arrival this afternoon! She’s staying through next weekend to help us get cleaned up, organized, and set up for guest hosting and party throwing! And of course to snuggle the sweet ones.

Excited about || my college girlfriends having a slumber party at my house next weekend! We haven’t gotten all together since our super fun weekend in December, and I’m glad we will be together again! It’ll probably be full of milkshakes and laughter and not staying up as late as we used to, but it will be much-needed time to catch up, love on each other, and store up time together for the next few months till we do it again.

Decorating || the basement! Finally! Cleaning crew comes in this week to make it really move in ready, and today I got a fabulous rug for the living room down there! Just have to find a car big enough to go pick it up – ha!

Found this rug at Homegoods – for a steal, obviously.
Snazzy custom handrail, all finished up! Now to patch the wall and floor, and build a baby gate! (Please ignore the pile of laundry at the bottom of the stairs. It rarely goes away.)

Well, that’s what’s going on in my life! Thanks for reading, and I can’t wait  to hear what’s going on with you!

food, holidays

St. Patrick’s Celebration!

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What a fun day we had at our St. Patrick’s Day event! Everyone put on their green best, shamrock necklaces and tutus (well, EK did) and ate delicious traditional Irish food (breakfast, lunch and dinner!), sang Irish tunes, drank some Guinness, and visited with old friends.

This is still at home, but it’s the only picture of her whole outfit!
They don’t make many adorable shirts for bigger boys. All that “first St. Patty’s Day” and “Kiss Me I’m Irish” stuff stops for boys around 18 month size. He’s clearly a little past that.
A little post-breakfast table selfie.
Boys being boys.
The Bedlam Boys is the name of the Irish band Hubby plays in, and they always kill it at the big party each year.
Tim Finnigan, waking from the dead! (The party is called “The Wake” and it’s based on the song “Finnigan’s Wake” – obviously what the pub is named after.)

Let me tell you a little background about this pub we love so dearly. It first opened in 2006, but I first went there in 2007 – my senior year of college. I knew it first as a bar, but it’s always been a restaurant, too. My first visit was with Hubby, who took me there for our first hangout. They’ve got a lovely back porch to spend time on, in addition to the pub inside. It’s always been a spot for dates ever since we’ve been together, whether the whole date is there, the beginning or the end. The summer we got married, we did this thing called the “90 Day Club”. At the time, the rules were just that you came to the pub, every day in a row for 90 days. It didn’t matter if or what you bought, it just matter that you walked in the door. We did it the two summers after that, also, becoming the only couple (or person) to do three separate 90-day runs. We’re kind of a big deal. Ha. We finished the last time a few weeks pregnant with EK, so she became known as the first 90 Day Baby, and her one-week birthday was celebrated having dinner at the pub.

Ever since spending 90 days in a row there, and getting to know the bartenders, wait staff, and owners, it’s felt like family when we’re there. Hubby’s band plays there a couple times a month, and it’s a favorite lunch spot or dinner place to go with our kids.

That being said, one of our favorite days of the year is the big St. Patrick’s party, so naturally, our kids will grow up having that as their big celebration every March.

home

Basement Update and Weekend Plans!

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These past two weeks have been full of exciting new things in our home! The wall upstairs has been torn out and finished off, painting is happening upstairs today, bathroom light fixtures are in, and most of the tile is finished. Hardwood floors go in on Monday, as well as the stairwell light fixture (which is the cool barrel-like one I mentioned here) and hopefully the laundry room backsplash! 

Tile detail in the shower – I love it!



Torn out wall and new “accent” wall color, without really being an accent.



Halfway painted hallway and treacherously hanging light fixture.

 Our upstairs living room furniture is moving downstairs (comfy, dark brown pleather sofa and loveseat) to make room for this new couch we just bought and whatever else we find!  This weekend will be a little bit crazy, because my parents are coming into town. They are so sweet to not complain about sleeping on an air mattress in the living room! We will all be going to Finnigan’s Wake’s St. Patrick’s Day party all day tomorrow (bands, great Irish food, local Irish dancers – several of whom I know, and of course, Guinness. 

It’s a blast, and if you’re local, you should come, too!

I’m sure I’ll have tons of pictures tomorrow to post, so stay tuned for lots of green!

home, mommyhood, pregnancy

Happenings with the Hsumans

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HEY-O! I am 17 weeks. Say WHAT?! It’s nuts. I can’t believe I’m already here. We’re getting closer naming our little guy (woo!) and I’m finally posting the much anticipated bump picture! (Even if it wasn’t much anticipated, just give it to me. Just let me assume you’ve been wondering how big the bump was.)

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The Hsu house has been struck with the stomach bug. EK had it two nights ago, a quick, relatively easy 7 hours of sickness, and then bouncing back to normal. We thought maybe it was something she had eaten… but alas, today Hubby started feeling yucky and is in the throes of it now. Here’s a GIANT prayer that J and I don’t get it. I hate stomach issues more than anything else.

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The Hsu house has been struck with the stomach bug. EK had it two nights ago, a quick, relatively easy 7 hours of sickness, and then bouncing back to normal. We thought maybe it was something she had eaten… but alas, today Hubby started feeling yucky and is in the throes of it now. Here’s a GIANT prayer that J and I don’t get it. I hate stomach issues more than anything else.

As far as the house goes, we’ve had half a wall torn out upstairs, and replaced with plywood and plastic (ha!) to keep out the draft from the basement. (This is a good place to insert how wonderful ICON is… they replaced all our furniture, rug and toys before they left that day.They are totally awesome.)

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Wiring is getting finished up, painting happened today (I didn’t get the chance to go see, but I’ll post some pictures later), and cabinets are going in early next week. I’m hoping that once the floors are done, we can look forward to having our washer and dryer hooked back up! That would be the biggest relief, because with our laundry constantly going and coming and being everywhere for lack of a place to put it, random rooms look like this:

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Anyway, there’s a mini update on the craziness that is our life right now. Here’s hoping everyone is well and life is moving on tomorrow!

mommyhood, pregnancy

Pregnant With My Third! (Volume 3)

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Written at 7 weeks.

Being pregnant is hard. Being pregnant with a kid is harder. Being pregnant with a job and two kids? My hats are off to y’all that have done this and survived. I hope I’ll join your ranks in a few months.

I’ve been feeling a little guilty these past few weeks because I feel like I’ve been choosing to either be healthy for the baby in my belly (aka take a nap, lay on the couch, eat the comfort food) or be the best mom to the existing kids (get up, turn off the tv, facilitate learning and go outside to play). Those are exaggerations, but sometimes it does feel like I can either choose to succumb to the fatigue and let the kids watch tv all afternoon, or I can choose to ramp it up and possibly make myself puke. Blerg.

Anyway, I know there are tons of you out there who have already done this, more times probably, and have great ideas and encouragement. So hit me with it! Leave a comment with how you balanced your life, or how you got the best of both worlds. I know there’s a way!

mommyhood, pregnancy

Pregnant With My Third! (Volume 2)

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Written at 6 weeks.

This is my first pregnancy that I haven’t had a full-time job. Wait. Let’s restate that. This is my first pregnancy that I haven’t had a full-time job teaching, outside of the home. I do have a full-time job right now. I mother two kiddos. That IS a full-time job.

This pregnancy has been an interesting one so far because I feel like I’ve known I was pregnant forever already. I mean two weeks but still. With EK, I found out at 6 weeks. With J, I found out at 9 weeks. Finding out at 4 weeks was awesome (my lifestyle changed immediately and entirely) and also difficult. Some symptoms I was having already (fatigue, digestive weirdness, etc)and then some seemed to intensify when I saw those two lines on that test. My fatigue went from early bedtime to needing a nap almost daily. My appetite skyrocketed, which had happened with EK. At 6 weeks, I was calling myself crazy because I was SURE I could feel the baby move. And no, it wasn’t gas. I’ve been pregnant before – I know the difference. Best response ever from my friend who received the text, swearing I could feel my lentil-sized baby move: “Maybe not that early for baby #3 – they say you are so in tune by then. I wouldn’t doubt it… Heartbeat and spontaneous movement start at 6 weeks.” Friends validating a girl for the win!

I do really want to believe that I’m so in tune with my body that I can feel every little hormone surge (yes, I’m crying about everything) and little spontaneous movement in my womb. Who knows. But the likelihood is that a lot of it’s mental. I know I’m pregnant, and I know that I’ve felt those things before… so why wouldn’t I be feeling them right now?

Has anyone else ever had super early pregnancy symptoms? Or felt like you had those “feelings” when you… didn’t?

mommyhood, pregnancy

Pregnant With My Third! (Volume 1)

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Written at 5 weeks pregnant.

Finding out that you’re pregnant when you’re only four weeks along is no joke. Why did I even take the test, you ask? Well, because I was already feeling exhausted and downright strange. I knew we had been “not not trying”. (That’s my term for not planning out days to try to conceive, but also not being on birth control. “Letting it happen” basically.) So when I was feeling extra tired and a little, well, crappy, I took a chance and peed on the stick. A FULL WEEK before my period was supposed to start. And guess what, folks? I was pregnant! Right there at four weeks. So early I knew it’d be silly to tell, but already so excited I couldn’t contain myself. That’s why when my friend Stephanie mentioned to me (in secret at the time) the next day that she was also expecting her third (10 weeks along. She was totally in the clear.) I was like “AHHH! ME TOO!!” because I knew she could keep my secret. That’s why in my “8 Truths About Being Pregnant” post, I wrote about having a secret keeper. Women are communicators. And when you have big news like this, that is totally life changing, yet you’re supposed to keep it to yourself, it’s damned near impossible. So choose a secret keeper to blab your news to and chat about plans with. It’s always a nice thing to share your news with a loved one who will pray with you, be excited for you, and check up on you till you share your news with everyone else.

Anyway, for the first week after I found out, all Hubby and I could talk about was how we were ever going to keep it quiet (no caffeine? no alcohol?) until I was at least 10 weeks along. We were devising plans, thinking of “mocktails” (which is ridiculous because I’m a wine and beer gal, not much girly liquor drinking for me) and trying our hardest to think of excuses for “being super healthy” since it was during the holidays. In hind sight, I should’ve been coming up with excuses for why I needed so many naps… that’s what’s been the most obvious, but maybe everyone doesn’t know I’m taking these naps…

Anyway, that’s it for today. If you’re enjoying hearing about the past few weeks you’ve missed, check the blog tomorrow for more!

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Beginning the Basement Renovation

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Y’all. The basement renovation is happening. And it is happening FAST. We (when I say we, it’s really Hubby and his buddy) have been tearing out the basement (carpet, crown molding, sheetrock, interior doors, fixtures, etc) for the past two weeks, and the crew is coming over the next few days to do the rest of the demo and start moving the bones of the place around to make room for NEWNESS! I am so excited.

I’m also really nervous. It’s going to be loud. My babies like to sleep. Not sure how those two things are going to go together. Also, we won’t have laundry for basically the entirety of the project. That’s a little scary for a family of four. My mother-in-law and a few others have graciously told us their laundry rooms are open for our use, and we are so grateful to have family and friends close by to help us out. It’ll be like living in a big city where no one has their own laundry space and everyone goes to a Laundromat. Except the Laundromat will be a friend’s house. With cable. Thank goodness.

The entire basement is either packed into our UNIT in the backyard, sold, donated, or stored in a friend’s garage. That includes furniture, linens, baby clothes and toys my kids have grown out of but we aren’t ready to part with (I mean, I’ll need them come summer!), Hubby’s and my out of season or rarely worn clothes (including my zillion bridesmaids dresses that I can’t figure out how to deal with), copious amounts of musical/sound equipment, and other various things that for some reason we can’t part with but don’t really belong upstairs. Soon, all the kids’ bedrooms will be downstairs, we will have a laundry room and a mud room, and lots of the spacing problems will be taken care of. I can’t even imagine how wonderful that will be! Come on, three months. Pass quickly.

Has anyone else lived in a home while a renovation was happening? How about with young kids? How did you survive?!

books, mommyhood, random thoughts

Ponderings on “What Alice Forgot”

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Once I finished Where’d You Go, Bernadette? I read the next suggestion from my friend Ginna…

Here’s a short book review of What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty:

what alice forgot

It’s good. Great, actually. It is thought-provoking, to imagine losing the memories from ten years of your life. Alice falls off a spin bike at the gym, and when she wakes up, she thinks she is ten years younger and pregnant with her first child. She doesn’t remember her three children, crumbling marriage, or anything else from the past ten years. The greatest thing about the book is her journey to find herself, combining the woman she is at 40, and the woman she was at 30. There is heartache and pain, but also grace and redemption. I flew through it, just needing to know what the next page said.

Now that you’ve got the synopsis… I’ll tell you this: I’m not quite yet 30, but it made me brutally aware of how much can happen in ten years. Obviously, the last ten years of my life (aka my twenties) were vastly different than my thirties are going to be. My twenties consisted of college, partying, traveling, job searching, falling in love, getting married, and birthing two kids. My thirties will be full of raising toddlers (read: potty training), choosing schools (and running the chauffeur service to get various kids to various places), doing laundry, hosting holiday get-togethers and getting to know my kids in every stage of their lives. I can’t imagine waking up halfway through my thirties, and not remembering anything about it.

But on the other hand, what would I want to be the same? Which things would I want to wake up ten years later and know would be consistent? My marriage. My relationship with my kids (no matter how old they were). My friendships. My place at my church. Those would be my priorities, if I had to choose something to be consistent throughout my life. Just thinking about what I’ll be doing ten years from now makes me want to focus on those things more than ever, so that ten years from now, I’ll know where I stand.

What would you think if you woke up, and didn’t remember the last ten years? Would you have wanted something to change? Would you like where you stand?