123....

Today I weighed in finally at my pre-pregnancy weight before Vincent. But I am still baffled by how I do not look like this....

That's me (green bikini) during college cheerleading, and I weighed 125...

Now where is my nice looking bum these days?

And my somewhat perky chest? 

And my flat tummy?

And my toned arms? How in the world are my arms not toned from toting around 50+ pounds of baby boys?

I weigh less than I did in these pics yet I am NOT NEAR as fit as I was! TOTAL BUMMER. I still feel like I could lose 10 pounds and still not look like I used to. I guess that is what 2 babies does to your figure. UGH. 

Does anyone else feel like they gained a Kardashian booty after childbirth? Because I totally do. It is like no matter what I do, it is STILL there. I fit into my jeans again but they just do not look near as flattering as they used to, I can not HELP but always stare at my bigger bum when I look in the mirror. 

Okay it is not as big as Kim K's but it is way bigger than pre-baby!

Now that I am down to my weight...I will be working on toning those areas. 

Wish me luck. 

PS I cannot believe I shared my weight with the world...

Memorial Day...

Happy Memorial Day from my family to yours! 

Check who popped their third tooth!

Safe travels! XOXO

Carolina Love-Middleton Place Plantation

I am finally getting to some vacation posts! Yesterday I finally put the suitcase away, it was no joke sitting in the middle of the upstairs hallway, it sat there for a week empty, yes I am that lazy that I just kept walking over it or pushing it to the side! Don't judge me! :) But I can now say we are completely unpacked & settled!

Middleton Place Plantation was our first stop on our way to Charleston. We "oohed and aahed" as we drove down the roads leading up to the plantation. It was so peaceful and quiet and all the houses were far apart and down long lanes. When we pulled up the drive to the plantation my jaws dropped in awe of what I was seeing. The house was GORGEOUS, there were sheep in the front lawn and a horse drawn carriage coming down the dirt drive. I was biting at the bit to get out of the car and start exploring! 

 We got the kids out of the car and applied their sunscreen (this is the day of my BURN), we walked up and decided on which tours we would take (We did the African American Tour and the House Tour- would do neither if we went again). The grounds were immaculate. The gardens were breathtaking. They are all geometrically planned to a tee! It is rather insane! 

We were there for pretty much the whole afternoon, there was so much to see and do! So much history and beauty...usually I am not big on history stuff but this was very interesting! By the end of the day we understood the ins and the outs of plantation life for the home owners and also the slaves. When we were on the African American tour, the guide went into depth about how the slaves were treated and I teared up numerous times, it was so hard to hear all the horrible things that happened to them! Good thing I was wearing my sunglasses or everyone would have been staring at the crazy mom crying! haha

Here are some pictures from the day! I suggest going here if you are ever in the area! 

 They said there was gators in the lakes, I did not believe it until I saw him sunbathing....eeeek!

They had peacocks all over...and this one let us get up close and personal! 

This visit only reinforced my love for the South and for wanting to live on a plantation!

Seriously!? Thursday

I always love Becky over at From Mrs to Mamas Seriously Thursday so I decided to join in this week. I will try to make it a weekly thing but lets face it, I am a little spacey when it comes to staying on a schedule!

So here goes...

Seriously....to all you RHONJ fans...I am already annoyed with Melissa and Kathy. I love Teresa so they need to back off of her! Melissa seems VERY immature and drama filled. Her sisters are downright rude and trashy and do not get me started on Kim G. You would think women mature with age, ha...not a chance with these ladies. I hope Teresa and her brother can get along especially for her poor fathers sake but I am a little skeptical with Melissa's drama mixed in, with all that said I AM LOVING THIS SEASON!

Seriously...okay since I am on a Real Housewives kick, let me switch to RHOOC, Alexis's dress line was not all that couture! haha I thought it sucked and I would NEVER wear any of them...they were so short and not at all practical. I usually like Gretchen but she was being a total B about Vicki not being there. Chill the frick out Gretchen. Vicki was bleeding from her BUM...haha TMI by the way. And her and Slade...not.going.to.work.out. Rip the band-aid off now and walk away.

Seriously...Vincent just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. HOLLLLLLLLLY COW. It will be a fun day for us. Oh and it's raining so that means it's an inside day...yippie!

Seriously....I get a TAD annoyed when my friends without kids are "OH SO BUSY" and do not have time call. Really, you want to talk about busy!? The phone goes both ways....

Seriously...Jordan and I went to see Cirque Du Soliel this weekend and it was sucky. Okay maybe that is a little harsh, but it was not near as good as Cirque Dreams. If they come to your city definitely see Cirque Dreams over Cirque Du Soliel, they did MUCH cooler stuff, and the show was cheaper! 

Seriously...We are so darn busy this summer. It is insane. It is like we look forward to having an open summer and then BAM every weekend is pretty much full, good thing we do a spring vacation vs summer vacation!

Seriously....Luke is a BULLY. He has a super bad temper. Every time him and Vincent have their separate sippy cups out, Luke wants Vincents, so he swipes it. (I call him swiper...swiper no swiping) I used to nanny so Dora lines are embedded in my head. Anyway when we take Vincents cup from Luke he FREAKS and screeches as if you were hurting him. Little. Monster. AHHHH

Seriously...I always want to do a post about What I am Loving This Week...but somehow most of the things I would write would be food related haha. I am sorry I love me some FOOD and goodies!

Seriously...Last weekend our church had their huge Festirama, so we took the boys and I was SHOCKED by how trampy all the girls were dressed. It was not just a few of them, almost every teenage girl had shorts that looked like boyshort underwear. Crap boyshort underwear may have covered more than what they wore. I get it, I worked at Abercrombie during college and wore all their clothing but NEVER was any of their stuff of slutty. I mean do parents NOT look at their child before they walk out the door. Hello teenagers, you are pretty and would look so cute and nice in a sundress, preferably not as short as your shorts! I have decided once the boys get in school I have to get back into coaching cheerleading so I can mentor the kids in some way...aka to not be skanky! UGH But maybe their parents need a lesson on being parents too....come on people let's get with it!

Okay I think that is all the ranting and raving I have haha. 

Seriously how cute are my little boys!?!?!

These pictures were from Fort Sumter last month...

Head on over to link up ladies....xoxoxo

The Great Outdoors....

FINALLY....We can escape being trapped inside! I am beyond excited to actually be able to walk outside at any given point of the day and not have to bundle up with a coat! 

A few things I love about summer is clearly the warm weather (aka tanned skin) and being able to cook outside and have fires! But topping that list is smores! YUMMMMMM....I had to stop at the store to pick up milk on Saturday and of course I had to walk right by the aisle with all the smores supplies in one spot screaming "BUY ME!" Since I am a softy I of course bought them because I know how much Vincent (and myself) enjoy anything chocolate! So we made a little fire and cooked the first smores of 2011 this past weekend! 

(side note...have you ever made smores with Reese Cups instead of Hershey's Bars...HOLY HEAVEN!)

Some more stuff that caught my eye at the store were these adorable kid's adirondack chairs, 7 bucks each at Meijer....and Vincent loves moving them around the yard (that in itself is an hour of fun every day haha)! 

wrong feet lol 

Blowing slobber bubbles

 Of course that night it started raining...I am so over the rain situation...please stop!

Yesterday I was telling Jordan how excited I was that my allergies have not been bad this year, I was saying that I thought maybe they had went away since they supposedly change every 7 years....but my words were eaten last night when the ITCHY watery eyes started...I AM SO SAD about it!!

We have had high pollen alerts the whole past week and I was fine until last night...we went to a park with a lake so I am not sure if there was a particular tree there or something that got me but they are now in full effect...yippie....NOT!

Oh and one more thing that is glorious about summer is the garage sales and all the goodies that come with it! Now I am not a pro garage saler like my pals Chrissy and Haley but my first ever find was this weekend, there was an estate sale down the road at the most amazing old house ever, it was like from a storybook, very old and charming. Anyways this is what I found....

It was only 12 bucks...SCORE! I am going to clean it up and put our flat screen on it in our bedroom! Pics to come when I finally get around to that! haha

We have a crazy busy weekend this weekend and I am so excited! My friend Chrissy who is pregnant with her first baby is having her baby shower on Saturday (PS she is the CUTEST pregnant lady ever...she's still skinny I love it!!!), so we are heading home to spend the weekend at my parents. We also have some other parties to attend so it should be an exciting weekend in Amish Country! 

Hope you all are having a great week! Enjoy the holiday weekend ahead!

Houston...we have TEETH!

9 months into his life Luke has finally popped some teethers!! He decided to pop 2 bad boys while on vacation haha! Perfect timing...I can not get a good picture of the bottom tooth but the top one is popping out nicely!

I cannot wait to be able to get better pictures when they fully pop through! The funny thing is he has the top left one and the bottom right...I cannot wait to see his crooked smile! He is such a little monkey! 

Also in Luke news he can completely climb the stairs!

Clearly he is at the bottom since I am constantly right behind him anytime he makes a break for it!...and he is actually choosing to right now as I type....

Bye.....

TOMS....love them!

I have been looking to get a pair of Toms for awhile, I just never got around to ordering them. When we were in FL we went shopping and came across the Tiny Toms for kids in the Journey Kidz shoe store and I had to have them for the boys! They did not have them in their sizes so I had to order them online! If you do not know TOMS mission statement, when you buy a pair of shoes they give a child in need a pair of shoes. One for One! I figured instead of 2 pairs, why not 4 so I bought us all shoes! PS they are cheaper online vs in the mall. I think they are 10 bucks cheaper for adults!

I was so excited to get the package when we arrived home from vacation, it was like Christmas!

And yes I bought Jordan and I matching ones....bahahahaha...

I wanted brown and so did he!

Lukes are still a little big on him and Vincent has such FAT feet that I had to get a size big so they would fit in! 

I have been sucking so bad at blogging lately! SORRY lol!

Since we got home from vacation things have been hectic, Jordan was gone 4 days last week so I had my hands full with unpacking and the boys! Plus it has been gorgeous outside so we have been spending a lot of time outside playing and also doing some gardening! 

I pinky promise you will see more of us in the near future.

Anyways go get some Tiny Toms for your little one! Or get matching husband and wife pairs and be dweebs like us! Use this code ShareTOMS to get 5 dollars off your order! I found that online, I ALWAYS check for coupon codes before I check out...9 out of 10 times I find good codes! 

Hope you all have a happy Monday!! XOXO

Back home....

Vacation is done and over with! (TEAR)

Of course while we were gone it was pretty much summer like here in Ohio (70s-80s) then the second we get home it is all rainy and cold! Go figure! But vacation wise we had AMAZING weather! It only rained one of the days we were in Charleston, thank God for the Cougar 2 Stroller, it has a rain cover so the boys did not get one drop of rain on them...us on the other hand... yea we were soaked but it made the visit to downtown so much more fun!! I did not let the rain stop me from getting Ben & Jerry's and soaking in all that is historic Charleston! The boys were also so toasty under their rain shield that they even started steaming up the thing!! EVERYONE was commenting on it, they thought the stroller was the bees knees and also asked if they could ride in it...Heck ya jump on in!!

 Here is a cute picture from one of the stops that rainy day! 

They seriously took turns napping! It was hilarious! Luke was so happy when we stopped at one of the historic theaters to catch a break from the crappy rain! 

I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE with South Carolina now...I even decided that since we will one day live in a plantation home that I will start dressing the part...

I will churn Jordan butter and make the boys chocolate milk straight from the cow that I milk in the morning ...

Okay...yeah right! But I did love the South, and am JEALOUS of all of you that get to call it "HOME". One day we will join y'all and sit in our rockers on the front porch drinking sweet tea watching our kids run around in the yard! Seriously I have these pictures in my head, Jordan and I no joke picked out a million houses that we would buy! Ahhhh....I can only dream for now!

Anyways back to where I was going with this post...

The DRIVE...

I must say I was VERY nervous about all the time we had in the car. The first day we went from Ohio to Charlotte, NC. The following day we went from Charlotte to Charleston, SC. We stayed there for a few days then on Mother's day we went from Charleston, SC to Tampa, FL. Stayed for the week then made the dreaded drive from Tampa, FL back to OH! We spent 40-45 hours driving over the vacation, I would say out of those hours the boys (Luke) only cried maybe 45 minutes! HEAVEN!!

So our secret to driving long distances is this...leave EARLY, I am talking like 3am (I know it blows but it is so worth it)! The most we drove in a day was 8 hours, but when you leave at 3am that puts you at your destination before noon, give or take some breaks in there! But seriously it was a breeze, we were very blessed with great behavior out of them! Throw in a few snacks, toys and iPad games and you are solid! We will always play the 3am leaving game any time we vacation! 

I have like a bazillion pictures which I will be posting over the coming days and weeks! 

But for now I need a shower, I feel yucky haha and I need to get ready to watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey premiere! Woot Woot! Cannot wait to finally have my beloved Teresa back once a week! I hope she flips some more tables! LOVE HER!

You all better be watching that tonight or else we may need to end our friendship :)

Joking........or am I?????

Until next time...XOXO

Wordless Wednesday- Vacation Style...First Taste of Saltwater!

Craptastic BURN!

We are  now ending day 2 of vacation, well actually day 1 since yesterday was mostly spent driving (which was AMAZING, if I must say so myself...NO cries the ENTIRE drive!)

We left at the buttcrack of dawn (3am) so the boys slept most of the drive! Heaven!

We stopped in Charlotte to visit my best friend and have dinner and also to break up the drive a little, it was a nice visit, it just sucked unpacking everything just to stay for one night only to pack it up and then unpack again tonight haha! 

Good news is that the boys are all asleep so I am one happy momma minus this....

That... there... would be a sunburn y'all! 

(Since we are in the south I can OFFICIALLY say ya'll!! Get used to it for the duration of my trip y'all!)

I think I am so tough that I can just not wear sunscreen on our tour of the plantations today...Halfway through Jordan said I was getting a little pink, I said "No biggie, I never burn!" I guess my poor skin really has not seen sun like this for almost 2 years, so words eaten!

Jordan HATES sunburns so he always lathers up, and he cringes every time he looks at me, haha He said he is sad for me!! (Thanks baby!) It is 10 times worse since I took a shower tonight! Needless to say tomorrow I will be hitting my shoulders with spf50!

A few highlights of the day:

Jordan and I milked a cow! Me and Annabelle the cow had a lot in common, she only gets milked twice a day so she has nothing on me!

Vincent used my toothbrush to scrub the bathroom floor, then dipped it in the toilet, then put it in his mouth!

I just said "Oh MY!" and Jordan asked "What?" 

I could not speak. haha.

I just stood there is awe of what was happening. Then we of course all laughed. I love Vincent!

Vincent pet a HUGE Clydesdale horse, and Luke pet a regular horse

McDonald's in SC does not have HONEY!?!???! How on earth can I eat my fries without it!

Luke is crawling (real style now) he usually army crawls around our house since it's mostly hard wood or tiles but now that his terrain in carpet in hotels he had to step up his game!

Free wine at our hotel makes me a HAPPY mommy! 

People in the south really are NICER...Thank the LORD!

That's all for now...time to sleep off this sunburn!

(good news is sunburns=tans) yippie