Behind The Scenes

We recently did our fall photo shoot! This is always such a stressful situation for me because I have to worry about outfits, making sure we have a plethora of snacks and everyone is cooperating…including the husband.

I found an AMAZING photographer who is equal parts adorable as talented. She shows up 9 months pregnant and throws her one year old on her back and gets to town! I’m impressed, to say the least!

So this time we decided to try and bring our black lab, Harley, along for the ride. He’s almost 8 years old but every bit a puppy. To say this was a recipe for disaster is an understatement! But we don’t just stop when things are tough…right?! So here is the ONE picture we got with him. HA!

Our morning appointment got pushed out to late afternoon due to a downpour which was ok with me. These oddly warm October days weren’t ideal for our sweaters! I thought the rain would cool it down a bit but what we got was a tornado of humidity which basically reverses the 3 hours I spent on my hair and makeup! Damn you, weather!! And truth be told, I could have tried to lose a little bit of weight but as I’ve learned at 33….I am who I am and I’ve accomplished a ton regardless of how the outside of me looks. And most importantly, I’m loved just like this! For the first time ever, after seeing pictures of myself I literally didn’t care what I looked like! I am so in love with the family I’ve made!

Moving on, The dog participated for a total of 30 seconds. Just long enough to get one picture! His “I was here” marked and that was the end of it! It was hot, we were dressed for the artic, and the twins were NOT having any of this picture taking nonsense.

At some point instead of doing poses we did more lifestyle pictures and these turned out really good and captured us just as we are. Literally, the one where Landon is resting his head on my shoulder was when we were walking between spots and we were just casually chatting about sleep training or something like that.

I’m just so pleased with how these turned out! I had to share with you all. Our photographer NAILED it! Can’t wait to go back to her again and again. Literally, makes me want to get our wedding pictures done again. Aka…excuse to buy another pretty dress! 🙂

Do you get yearly pictures done or your family? My bigger question is what do you do with all the blown up pictures from the years before? I don’t want our walls to be infested with our narcissistic selves! Thoughts? Suggestions?!

Cheers to being older and FINALLY having a good and confident self-image! Xoxoxoxo

So Long, Summer

Even though I hate the heat and it makes me cranky I did have a very successful summer in terms of making memories or the boys. We did two family vacations with the little shits. One with my family in Western NY and the second with hub’s parents, when they visited from Germany, near Lake Michigan (Michigan side.) 

Gone are the days of actual vacations where I used to lay on a hammock, read a whole book, and sleep in. We have now come into this very different time in our lives where we now wake up early, chase mini drunk versions of ourselves, and fall asleep early because it’s exhausting watching your kids in a place that isn’t baby-proof!! 

So a little glimpse back into the fiery hot days of summer as we start dusting off our favorite comfy sweaters. Another season over and on to the next one!

My family vacation in western NY 🙂  We rented this adorable little cottage right on a lake. My parents, my brother and his wife and two boys joined us! House full of love! 

Our vacation lake house with the German in-laws! This was an hour from our house but was nice to unplug! 

It’s just a trip nowadays not a vacation. I decided I can’t go into this expecting that I’ll  actually get a day off. That’s just unrealistic! But I did consider it as good memories for the boys and that made all the difference! 

Cheers, Summer!! Now give me cozy sweaters, pumpkin everything, and warm fires! xoxoxoxo 

Lions…Tigers…And…Birds! Oh My!

The weather has been top notch these past few days! The AC is officially off and my bank account is thanking us! Husband and I are known for our spontaneous decisions when it comes to the weekend. This one being no exception! 

Saturday was his birthday. The big 3-8!! Christ! Talk about the clock ticking. I’m 33 however, he and I both agree that having kids after 40 isn’t easy anymore. So time to get things moving and pop a few more out! STAT! Since we still have three baby chicks in the freezer just waiting for us to thaw them out, it’s pretty exciting to think about the near prospect of adding to our crazy life! 

Ok I got off on a little tangent there….

As I was saying…his birthday. Pretty low-key, we had friends over. We ate pulled pork and Mac & cheese (don’t judge…game day here!) and watched Michigan State crush Iowa. 

Sunday was gorgeous! One of those fall days that was crisp and cold in the morning and by the afternoon the wind was cool but the sun was out and was warm enough that we could get away with just long sleeve shirts and no sweaters. Randomly, after the boys woke up from their one and only nap we decided to screw cleaning the house or any of that nonsense and go to the zoo!!! 

Near us is a small zoo but still with some bigger animals in it which is exciting. So we packed up the kids in a whirlwind and off we went! 

They loved the sea otters and penguins. Weren’t too sure about monkeys at all. Those guys are scary…I agree. Lion was cool but I don’t think they understood he was real! Camels were of no interest. The Rhinos were great to see but instead of checking those out, sweet little Landon pointed out a bug walking on the fence instead. This is precisely why kids under 2 are free. 

The farmyard animals and the free roaming peacocks were the most exciting. As was the bird room filled with cockatoos and what have you. Which was fricking terrifying….its like walking into a trap. One where no one gets out without bird poop on their head! 

Anyways, it was fun and makes me excited for the days when they are older and we can go to the bigger zoos! They’ll appreciate it way more then! 

And as soon as we got home…mama cracked open a little pumpkin ale to round out the weekend. Hope you all had a good one too! Helllllloooo Fall, so could to see your sweet ass again!

Cheers!!! Xoxoxoxo

Finding The Light

The weather is finally cooler here in Michigan and my favorite season has begun! Bring on the candles, fluffy blankets, and fuzzy socks. This season gives me all sorts of renewed energy to hunker down and make the house homey. 

So as you all know I was suffering from depression since I was 30 weeks pregnant. Going on almost 2 years this December and I’ve been working diligently to find a way out. It’s been hard. It got to the point where some days I would just sit on the floor, turn the tv on, and let the chaos commence all around me. And other times I couldn’t find the patience for anything while the world seemed to unravel all around me. It was scary! I was easy to snap and didn’t feel like giving the boys the mommy snuggles they so desired. How awful right?! 

Many days I felt like such a failure! I dreamed of being a mom since ages. I went through in vitro just to fulfill that dream for Christ’s sake! I wanted this so why couldn’t I get a grip on this and be the mom I should be?! 

After a huge lab work up my doctor saw that my progesterone level was extremely low which wasn’t a shock considering I had the same issue during the fertility treatments. So she ordered me a cream to rub on my leg each day and the first few days were scary. I was aggressive and nauseous. Then a week went by and here I am…several weeks in and finally feel like a piece of me is back. 

I have the patience to make 3 meals a day, read books when they bring me piles of them to read, do fun learning and crafty things with them, clean the house, and my favorite bit…snuggle endlessly! Somehow it feels like everything slowed down finally. I can breathe again. Smile again. Laugh again. 

I’m hoping this leg cream was the fix. This would be the best thing to happen to me and my family in 2 years. Can such an easy thing fix me? Trying not to think about it and just accepting it for what it’s giving me right now! 

Keep fighting PPD, parents!!! There is a light in all of us! We just need to fix the igniter switch. 

Cheers, loves! Xoxoxoxox

It Takes A Village

One mom friend of mine once told me that you find out who your true friends are really quick when you have children. The people that come around and try to help. It’s amazing to me how true that whole statement is but more so, how surprising it is of who actually does come around.

I’ve had people from all over the place…acquaintances even, help me more than I ever thought!

When the boys were brand new a friend from high school sent me the best coffee mug. It keeps my coffee warm for up to 6 hours and it’s amazing because we all know that being a mom doesn’t always mean we get to sit down and actually finish a cup of coffee…and it still be warm! Mind you, this “friend” is someone I barely knew. We may have ended up at the same parties once in a grand while but we certainly weren’t in each others circle of friends.

Once the boys started teething and trying out solids another acquaintance of mine from high school who, again, was not in my circle of friends but we knew each other, sent me a giant package of homemade bibs and tethers. These were ADORABLE since she stayed within the theme of their room which is more or less nautical. Can’t pass up lobsters and boats! 🙂 This was just so sweet and really heart-warming.

The people who said they would help didn’t and people I never knew even thought about me came out of the wood work to help me along this path of motherhood I was navigating. I’m not sure I can ever express how important it is to be there for someone even if you don’t know them. These little things made all the difference in the beginning especially since I was juggling the post partum depression.

I’ve been trying to pass on this bundle of kindness ever since and I just can’t seem to get enough of it! Pass it on friends, pass it on.

Cheers to kindness!!!

Don’t Believe The Hype

You know how you hear the basic squabble about being a twin mom? Or even just a mom, period! The comments about how easy or hard each stage is?

“Oh…twins?!…you have your hands full! Just wait until they are crawling.”

“Once they start walking say goodbye to the happy days.”

These types of comments are pretty standard. I feel like people have heard others say it and so they think it’s appropriate to say. And then, as first time moms, we start to believe in what they say. We wait for the moments they start crawling or the moments they start walking and wait for the hard part.

But I’m here to tell you…stop listening to all the banter. It’s just blubber what comes out of people mouths. That’s right…whale fat. Pouring out. Blubbering blubber mouths.

The truth is…I kept waiting in anticipation of my days to be harder than they were. Two infants is hard. Period. When they both started to crawl, my life got easier. They could then go and grab their own toys.  They could play with each other, they could play with me! It was a whole new adventure.

And then just the past two weeks the both of them started walking! Woohoo!! 14 months and on a roll! This new phase is so exciting for us. I absolutely love them walking towards me with those big “hey ma! Look!” faces falling straight into my arms.

I have not yet found the hard parts. Maybe it’s because each day has been difficult in some ways but eventually it just becomes life. It’s not any different than the mom next door with one kid. This is my life and I love every last minute of it. And you should to!

Enjoy the milestones, don’t fear them! Fear-mongers be damned!!

Cheers, loves!

An Early American Christmas

Two more days and we will be taking our tired asses to Germany! Myself and Landon have come down with the common cold. Our first ever! We survived 10 months without any sickness, I’d say that’s pretty impressive!

Also, Christmas is a HUGE deal for me and this is only my second Christmas spent in Germany even though I lived there for 4 years. I always swindled my way back home to the states. So, we will see how this goes. But I think it will be great.

The husband’s grandmother is 92 years old and Christmas Eve is her thing. Everyone goes over and sets up the tree, lights real (yes…REAL!) candles and sits around and drinks and sings all night long. Lord help me!

While we are there my brother-in-law will be getting married. They get married twice over there. It’s recognized by the state (think town hall ordeal) and then they have the church wedding as well, which for these guys will be in May. Another trip once the boys are over a year old..again..help me! lol. Then after New Years we are headed to a spa hotel in the Alps to live out the rest of our trip. I’m HOPING for a nice break! You’ll find me naked in the sauna. Yes…naked. Lots of nakeds in there.

Anywho…we had a little Christmas here for the boys since there is no way on Gods green earth I was carting all that crap to Germany with us. They got a wagon from Grandma and Grandpa and a few other toys. Books and bath toys from mom and dad. All in all a good day I think! It wasn’t nearly as exciting as Christmases past have been but its a start into tradition!

I got the husband this nice sentimental gift of his hometown in Germany. It’s Map Art that was made on minted.com. He cried when he opened it and realized what it was! So sweet! Momma did good this year 🙂

Of course bows and wrapping paper was more exciting for the little turds but all is well! Santa came to the US and now we can head off to Germany!

Cheers!!!

 

 

A Feast For Four

Thanksgiving has always been one of my absolute favorite holidays. It’s the start of my favorite season. Halloween, which I’m not a fan of, has come and gone and then here we go with the transition from fall to winter. My absolute FAVORITE time of the year! Last year I was so massively pregnant and still had months to go but this year was so fun!

Check out my morning hair!

Granted, I didn’t get to be with my family and haven’t been able to for years now since we’ve lived all over the place but this year I tried to make it as festive as I could with our little family. The boys also turned 9 months on Turkey Day! And they will be 10 months on Christmas Eve! How fun is that?!

Excuse the chaotic mess everywhere!

The boys got to eat with us for the first time ever. All of us as a family. They got every bit of our Thanksgiving meal (minus that disgusting stuffing my husband makes with all the bits of the Turkey I usually chuck…heart…neck…liver…gag.) They loved it and I let them go ahead and make a mess and a mess they certainly made! But they looked so cute in their little “Gobble Till You Wobble” shirts.  I mean, who doesn’t love kids in ridiculous outfits.

We went for our traditional family walk afterwards and just had a blast hanging out together. I made several different drinks for the “adults” to enjoy. Since there was only two of us we made sure to realllllly live it up! 🙂 Mamosas, Baileys, Cranberry Vodka drink. Mmhmm…..Felt GREAT the next morning. Yay, me.

All in all, it was such a fun start to many years of traditions ahead. On the hard days I have this thing that I do where I look forward 25 years and think about all the kids coming home with their significant others and the house is loud and full of conversation and laughing. Watching our legacy unfold right in front of us. I literally just can not wait for those moments!

Well, crap. Getting all emotional over here with my sentimental thoughts. Stop that, Kaitlin! Pull yourself together, bitch tits!

We also split up the next day for Black Friday. The husband took Arjen (the blondie) to look for a pistol. Don’t ask….I’m not happy about it. And I took Landon (the brownie) to grab paint with me. Poor little Landon seemed to lost without his brother. He was just hanging on to dear life to his lovey bunny. Broke my heart since this was one of the first times he was without his brother! Then we met up with Daddy and Arjen at the sports bar down the road from our house and congratulated ourselves on a job well done! It’s hard work getting everyone together. Trust me.

Missing his brother!

The following day we decided that tradition is tradition and we would definitely be getting a Christmas tree this year even though we would be in Germany as of Christmas Eve. Thats ok though. So instead of going to a tree farm and spending $70 on a tree we grabbed on at Home Depot and its perfect! We love it and the babies love admiring all the lights! It does the job well! Also, I finally painted our bathroom. We’ve only been living in this house for 2 years and I painted most of it but this just had to be done as well. Ugly orange brown to a fresh new teal! Next up, complete renovation. New floors, new vanity, etc etc. Here we go!

Before and After

All in all, it was a good weekend. And now we will start our detox until Germany since drinking tends to be the tradition over there. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Cheers!!! xoxoxo

Fall Photos Are HERE!

We weren’t sure that we would fall for the typical family photos everyone does around Fall but then we decided for the first time ever we would do Christmas cards so here we are! We did a mini-session which was 20 minutes and worked out just right considering it was 3:30pm on a Sunday and these kids are horrendous at that time. Twenty minutes was JUST fine.

Here are the few pictures that we got, of course they all come in B&W as well but I’d say for the amount of time I’m pleased with what we got. I wish there were more family pictures to pick from but the one we got is good. Gonna blow that sucker right up and on the wall it goes!

 

I’m obsessed. Cheers!!

The Most Intense Love

Ask a mom what the love between her and her child feels like. She’ll probably have a hard time answering because its something shes never felt before. Unless of course, she instead, takes a look back on her days with Pablo on the beaches in Spain.

*We interrupt this message with a moment in thought*

Ok..I’m back! Whew…bucket of ice, please! Let me ALS challenge this dream right out of my head.

The truth about the love you feel comes from determination, defeat and determination once again. When I first met the boys I didn’t feel anything instantaneously because my body was just shocked and awakened from its overly large egg shaped life it just lived in. The egg was hatched and I was handed not one but two little shits with mouths wide opened.

Who.What.When.Where. How. Take them back for a second so I can wrap my head around all this.

It took me many months to fall intensely in love with them. It came from not giving up, hating life, wanting to walk out and never come back, and then the determination to survive and provide them the best that life can give. It was a big struggle for me since I had postpartum depression which actually started before their birth at about 30 weeks. Christmas was rough those months before they came. Shocking, I know. How can Christmas be anything but joyous?!

So, looking at them today… the hard days of newborns are past us (PRAISE BABY JESUS) and as I type one of them is fussing around in his crib because he decided a 30 minute nap was good enough (seriously, dude?!). They are part of me. They are the recipe I cooked up for 8+ months and now as I look at them they look like me or bits of me. Twins are no joke. It is SO hard. Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Imagine working 24/7, never a break, never a vacation, no more time for yourself. It literally consumes you when you decided to be a mom and then a stay at home mom on top of that. Phew…HARD WORK.

One of my finer moments…3 weeks after birth and trying to have a glass of wine. One sip, and done! Pretty, aren’t I? lol

But this is all why I’ve finally come back to my love of alcohol. I swore during my pregnancy I would never drink again since the idea of it made me want to vomit. That took a good 5 months after their birth to come back to me but its back and with a vengeance!

Speaking of vengeance…this kid (the blondie) needs to go back to sleep. Up I go to try to coerce him!

Is 9:30am too early to start drinking? What about just a little bit of whiskey in the coffee? Wrong?

Cheers!!!!