What am I going to do with this crazy kid

My third born has been a constant surprise since day one. My daughter was almost nine months old when I found out I was pregnant with him. To say I was shocked would be putting it lightly but even though it wasn't a planned pregnancy I was beyond elated to be adding another little bundle of joy to our little family. He continues to keep me on my toes through out my pregnancy. I had some bleeding mid way through and a really bad bladder infection which I couldn't take meds for and he was a very active little bugger when he wanted to be. He kept on surprising me when I went into labor at 37.5 weeks. I was in complete denial that it was actual labor because I had plans to go out and buy a belly cast since he was my last. I had wanted one with each pregnancy but never went out and bought one so I was determined to do it that time. Well he had other plans. I called my husband and he scrambled to get home since I was doing a home birth. Even my midwife barely made it in time LOL. Three and a half hours of labor and he made his appearance. 

At just under a month old he had emergency surgery to fix a stomach problem, pyloric stenosis. He stopped nursing all on his own at a year old. Hated pureed food and went straight for regular food. Started walking at 11 months. Started running not long after he was walking.  Started talking in full sentences before he was two. Climbed out of his crib like a pro at a year and a half. Being a dare devil. 

He continues to amaze and scare the crap out of me every day. I have never seen a child with such curiosity or so much personality. I absolutely LOVE it. He is my wild card. In a lot of ways he is like his brother or his sister but he is also very different. It's so much fun watching him grow and seeing what he will do next.

The other day while I was getting the kids lunch ready he started talking/yelling at me. Now when Shawn talks he has so much personality to him that it just amazes me that a 2.5 year old is actually the one talking. Half the time I can't help myself from bursting into laughter at what this kid comes up with. 

Case and point:

You can hear me laughing and yes I even snorted. That is my wild, full of personality, keeps me on my toes, drives me batty and makes me laugh constantly 2.5 year old little love of mine.

It snowed in February!

Do you know how rare that is out here. We live in the desert of California so snow period is rare but this late into winter is almost unheard of. I always down play what the weather reports for out here because we don't see much weather so I don't like to get mine as well as the kids hopes up but when I woke up this morning it was snowing. 

The kids were beyond excited. Now there was barely any snow and even after it coming down for about two hours it is now all melted ::Insert sad face:: But hey it was pretty while it lasted!

Wordless Wednesday

My daughter loves to have little tea parties and ever since I became a mom to a little girl I couldn't wait for the day we would have tea parties together and play with barbies, do each others hair and everything I remember doing as a little girl. 

Looking at this picture today I am thinking how good a nice hot cup of tea with a touch of honey sounds.

So, I have come to the realization that...

I take a lot of pictures. People always joke with me that I am a picture whore, we all get a good laugh out of it because really it is true. But after going outside earlier with the kids and playing for a bit it truly hit me. Wow I really do take a ton of pictures. 

My husband has been telling me for a while now that our memory is almost full. Two times now he has had to buy extra storage on the computer just to facilitate the mass amount of pictures I take. So I decided to see exactly what that amount really is. 

Here it goes:

Since 2003 when I started taking pictures I have 65,398 items. That is my general folder that I put all pictures in. Sixty five thousand! In this year alone I there are 1,598 items, and it's only the middle of February. In 2010 I there are 10,004 items. Yikes! That is an average of a little over 800 pictures a month.

So yes my love/obsession with photography is real. My dream is to actually learn how to fully use my camera to it's potential so I can snap pictures even faster instead of using auto. Now I have been dabbling in the manual and automatic aperture settings for a few weeks and I have to say I am loving it. Pictures have so much more depth to them. So if I can continue on down this road I will be a very happy camper.

Now what would a post about photography be without some pictures I took earlier today. 

And just because I found this cluster of pine cone's neat I am adding it on here too. Looks like a star to me.

Saturdays tunes to clean to

Weekends are typically my days to clean the house. With the three little one's running around it isn't always easy as pie to get the house clean. The youngest tends to run around after me and mess up what I just cleaned. So one way I try to get the kids involved in cleaning is to turn on music. They love listening to music and it gets them along with me in a good mood so we all dance and sing and clean together. 

Today I am listening to a little bit of Muse 

and a little bit of One Republic

Those two songs are my favorites by those bands. An added bonus to having the kids listen to music is they get an appreciate for all types of music out there. We listen to a very eclectic variety. I always tease my husband that on his play lists he goes from Megadeath to the Beatles and then to Ozzy. 

We also play music in the kids room when they go to sleep. My oldest favorite song is Dazed and Confused by Led Zepplin. Now if that isn't just awesome for a seven year old to even know who they are but to also already have an appreciation for their music then I don't know what is. For me music is a form of art and I am trying to incorporate all different forms of Art in my childrens life. Whether it be music, plays, paintings, or simply drawing with them. I don't want my children to grow up sheltered and not have known about culture. So for me this is just one of my ways of sharing that with them. 

Wordless Wednesday

I couldn't pick just one picture for this weeks Wordless Wednesday, well technically I could I just didn't want to. We had one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've seen in a long time last week and really it would just be cruel if I only shared one picture. It's like talking about this amazing dinner I ate without sharing the whole recipe.

So here you go, the whole enchilada.

Making healthy choices

I know it's not always the easiest thing to do. Especially if you are one of those people who are constantly on the run. And having a fast food establishment at every corner doesn't make it any easier. I get the temptation. And being a person who loves carbs and sweets it can be difficult at times for me to put aside the temptation and reach for a healthier option. But here's the thing about me. I LOVE salads. Seriously love everything about them. For me making them is half the fun. I eat salads pretty regularly and an added bonus, my children enjoy them also. So what is my point of this post. Well I just wanted to share a quick and easy salad recipe with you all. This is my go to salad. 

What you will need:

Package of iceberg salad mix

Fresh spinach

Romaine lettuce

Red bell pepper

Orange bell pepper

Onion

Green onion

Green olives

Tomatoes 

Mushrooms

Pre-cooked chicken (cubed)

Salad dressing of your choice

Toss in some of the iceberg lettuce mix. Remember you will be adding more lettuce & spinach and other ingredients so don't put in too much. 

Some people eat spinach as is but I prefer to chop it up a little bit. So chop if you'd like or just throw it in whole. 

Slice up some romaine lettuce and add it to your bowl.

Now that you have all of your lettuce's it's time to chop your remaining veggies. I completely forgot I had some green olives and tomatoes in the fridge so they aren't pictured here but I also slice those up. I like having the food be able to fit in my mouth and not have to cut it when I am eating so I slice and/or chop everything.

Throw all the veggies into the bowl. Now it's time for the chicken. I cook with chicken breasts and lightly season them with onion salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. No oil or pam in the pan. Let the chicken cool for a few minutes so any remaining juices stay in the chicken and keep it moist. Dice it up to bite sized pieces and toss that in as well.

When you're finished you will end up with some sort of deliciousness like this



For my husbands salad I used blue cheese dressing. One of my favorites is Annies Shiitake & Sesame  dressing. I found it once and can't find it again so I am going through withdrawals but it is seriously the best dressing I have ever tried.

And there you have it. A quick and easy salad sure to fill you up and something you don't feel guilty about eating.

A day out & about

The weather was gorgeous yesterday. You couldn't have asked for better weather or better timing. With all this "cold" (all you east coasters don't smack me haha) we have been having the past couple of days to have a nice warm day was just what the Doctor ordered. So seeing as I just couldn't sit around and do nothing on such a nice day I loaded the kids up and made a spur of the moment decision to have a picnic at the park.

Loaded with a blanket and water bottles we went over to Subway, grabbed some nice healthy sandwiches and made ourselves a little picnic.

His expression really says it all. Mom I am eating don't take my picture LOL I couldn't help it. It's a rare opportunity because he is actually sitting still long enough for me to capture a shot of him.

After lunch we walked over to the playground side of the park and let the kids play for about an hour. Baby girl fell and hit her head about 30 minutes in so we sat and watched the boys play for the rest of the time spent there.

When the kids faces were bright red from running around we packed up and left. Seeing as my mom lives about one minute from the park we went to, we stopped by there. As most of our visits go we stayed for the rest of the day just playing and having a good time.

This picture, though blurry, cracks me up not only because little man is such a cute little guy but also if you look closely you can see both my sister and I in each of the glasses lenses. Well actually you can see our arms and our cameras LOL We are both photography lovers.

Just had to throw in this picture of my gorgeous sister.

And my Dad picked up a tricycle for little man the other day. I'm thinking he had a blast playing on it since he rode it for about an hour.

And I couldn't pass up taking this shot because, well because I couldn't.

That was our day in a nutshell. Food, park and fun. It's making me look forward to summer even more!

Wordless Wednesday

There are two types of people in this world. Cat lovers or dog lovers. I am a dog lover. I've never had a cat and with my husband and daughter allergic even if I for some odd reason wanted a cat I couldn't get one. But that's okay because I would rather snuggle with a rolly polly big dog any day. 

Now that being said I still cannot deny the beauty in cats eyes. They are so captivating when you actually get a good look at them you can't really help but be in awe. I caught one of those rare shots of a cats eyes at my parents last week and had to share for this weeks WW. 

Announcing: Gypsy