MA BELLY.

I was recently introduced to PicMonkey and all I gotta say is I.am.hooked. I mean, I heard about it when Picnic shut down, but I had also just gotten PhotoShop so I didn't pay any attention to it. As it turns out, PhotoShop can be a wee overwhelming for us wannabes, and PicMonkey is waaaay slick and super easy. I'm all about simplifying these days as i'm lucky to even find a few minutes to play around on it.

It's like a whole new world of possibilities has opened up right before my very eyes! (Thank you, Tiffany!) I'm playing around with it today and having all kinds of fun. I made this collage, but before you see it you should know that: 1. I went my whole pregnancy without sharing these photos with anyone! I was a little sensitive about the size of my belly (and the baby!) 2. In hind sight, I should have left my shirt down. 3. This blog is ultimately for my kids and preserving our memories, and I want Otto to have these. 4. I can't wait to rock my pre-baby body again. I hope that it comes back!

Ok, with all that said, no judging please. I'm just a Mama who was capturing love for her baby. xo

Also? I totally just busted myself. We knew we were having a boy. We just kept it a secret from ya'll. Sorry 'bout that. It was fun having a little secret, but also really hard. We've already decided we won't do that again ;)

BABIES DON'T KEEP.

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

-Ruth Hamilton

*Otto's newborn pics, taken at six days old. Photo cred goes to the lovely Jen Bahn.

MINNEHAHA FALLS.

If there's one thing our family likes to do together, it's to get out and explore. Preferably with a hike involved. We're still swallowed whole by winter here in good ol' Minnesota, but that didn't stop us from going on an adventure.

A few weeks ago we couldn't stand being cooped up anymore, so we bundled the kids up and went for a short hike at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. We hiked down to the waterfall, which happened to be frozen, and Doodey fell in love. He hasn't stopped talking about that mind blowing waterfall for going on four weeks now. We thought it would be fun to make it our goal this summer to find as many waterfalls as we can.

While summer hardly seems on the horizon, we've gotten a jump start on that goal. Last weekend we headed downtown and took the kids to Minnehaha Falls. It was a gloomy, chilly, April day, but that didn't slow us down.

Naturally, the kids were ecstatic to be out in the fresh air. As were we.

Who knew sewer drains were so fascinating?!

While the stairs down to a closer look at the falls were roped off due to ice, we managed to find a walking path and make our way down there anyhow.

It lead us to many pretty sights along the way. And also many treasures for the kids to find, like soggy leaves and muddy sticks. Perfect.

The hike was totally worth it. Even without the green scenery, it was still beautiful.

 

 

Back at the top, we enjoyed our first picnic lunch of the season. We would have loved to stay and explore longer, but our meter had run out and we had no more change. Boo. Note to self: always bring ample amount of change when heading into the city.

 

 



 

Since we were already a little chilled, we decided we'd top ourselves off with some ice cream. We found a quaint little joint called Snuffy's Malt Shop. It was fun.

 



 

We're making good headway on our waterfall quest. Know of any more in Minnesota? Obviously there's plenty, but we would love suggestions!

 

Have you made any summer plans yet? What quests are you setting out to conquer?

EASTER.

We started our morning with an egg hunt...

Then we moved on to coloring some eggs. I'll be honest, life with three kids can get kinda hectic, so yeah, we dyed our eggs on Easter morning. Good thing the bunny hides the plastic ones, and we didn't leave him hanging.

Sissy and Dude had a ball watching the eggs turn colors, although Dude wanted to check on every egg every three seconds.

But they turned out...even after I got side tracked feeding the baby and accidentally boiled them for thirty minutes. Instead of fifteen. Whoopsie.

I tried to capture my three bunnies together before heading out to Grandma's for lunch, and yeah, that went well. But I've been told that getting three kids in one frame is a miracle in itself. So I guess if you look at it that way, it was a success.

But at least I got a cute one of this floppy little bunny on his first Easter.

We enjoyed lunch at my Mom's, and dinner with my Dad's side of the family. Otto got to meet lots of people for the first time, and was spoiled with gifts. Lucky lil' fella.

And after running around with their cousins for the better part of five hours, my kids crashed and burned, and to home we went.

Happy Easter!