first day of school

reilly in her school uniform... what a cu-t-pie!

sitting at her school desk

cooper in his transformers backpack. oh ya... it lights up.
a little boy's dream.

coop (sitting in the middle) listing to his teacher read a story

reilly and coop started school yesterday! freedom!!! that being said... i'm also extremely sad. reilly is in 1st grade. yikes. and coop-man is is in pre-school. what? my baby?? in preschool?

needless to say they both LOVE school and had absolutely zero separation anxiety! they basically ran through their school room doors with a quick, over the shoulder, wave and a "see ya later lady". i guess that's a good thing, but it makes me kinda sad. especially when i look over and see all the other mommies hugging their little darlings and getting goodbye kisses. where's my hug? where's my "mommy, i'll miss you"???

oh well.

photo of the day

coop and his dolphin... he named him seeval

yesterday we visited in brookfield zoo [in brookfield, il]. an overall a nice day, very few meltdowns. whew!

bedroom redesign... on a budget

after several years of having a hodge-podge master bedroom AND LONGING for a king size bed. we finally began a bedroom redesign. yippee!! here are a few photos of the beginning of the redesign. we still need to get a new dresser and/or paint the existing dresser and hang some artwork. other than that [which is huge] we're well on our way!

as usual, we were on a budget. my husband likes to say "champagne taste with a beer budget". here is a breakdown of my finds and costs....

THE BED... well we fell in love with this bed from z gallerie [see photo below]. it was on sale [for $699] and by the time we got our butts in gear to purchase it, it was sold out. ugh!!!
i scoured ebay and craigslist for the bed, but was unable to snag myself one. damn! so after a few days of A LOT of internet research, I found this bed... very similar and about the same cost of the z gallerie bed [when on sale]. once it was delivered it was fan-freaking-tastic! we love, love, love our new comfy bed! ahhhhh!

THE BEDDING... a very difficult decision. i always dreamed of a beautiful, fluffy WHITE bedding. like a hotel. or more specifically my favorite local hotel... the herrington inn. i once stayed in one of their "river suites" and OMG, the big [dark wood] canopy bed with fluffy white linens was wonderful. the harrington also serves warm cookies and ice cold milk before bed. heaven.

ok. back to the point.

i really wanted a white bedding. got it. but with my crazy household, complete with 2 cats, a dog and a lot of sticky fingers, it seemed impossible. that being said, i went for it anyway. so i wanted to find a really good deal, that way, if i had to replace it, it wouldn't break the bank. here was my solution....

the quilt and shams are from target. you can find them here. i love them and once dressed up with some beautiful pillows. wow!

the white sheets are from ikea. you can find them here. they are very soft and even though inexpensive, better than some of the sheets i've paid an arm and a leg for.

the pillows... oh the pillows. how much do i love the pillows! they are one of my etsy finds from dedeetsyshop called "french rose pillow". find her esty shop here. i bought 2 pillows, but plan on buying more. they're so beautiful!

BEDSIDE TABLES... i was looking for something inexpensive. figuring the bed made a statement, I wanted something understated. originally, i was looking for glass and metal tables, but my husband vetoed that idea. i found these tables on pier 1 for $99. they were on clearance, so they're no longer available. i really like the formal bed paired with casual bedside tables.

LAMPS... the bedside table lamps and lamp shades are from target. here you can find the lamp base. i can't find the shade online... sorry. these are recycled from my previous bedroom and i'm thinking of painting them or changing the shade.

ARTWORK... the artwork [above the bed] may be my favorite part of the entire room! i found them on etsy from focus line art. tracy melton is from knoxville and i love his work. They cost $62.99 for a set of 3. I purchased 4 sets, for a bigger impact.

the room isn't complete.... so i'll post any new additions. as completed.

last night...

cooper: i want to say the prayer [before dinner] me: ok cooper [to reilly]: hold my hand. cooper: dear god i love my people i love my food i love my drinks amen us: amen cooper: cheers! [holds up his milk] us: cheers! [we all clink glasses] that's one funny kid.

photo of the day

fishing in his jammies
recently my family spent a week at a cottage in sister lakes, michigan. during that time my 3 year old became OBSESSED with fishing. shhhhh.... don't tell him he only had a practice lure on his pole! needless to say... all the fishies were safe from our little fisherman.

a little walk down memory lane....

yesterday dan and i celebrated our 10th anniversary. i'm the luckiest woman to be married to such a wonderful, loving man!

photo of the day

this is one of my favorite photos from the summer. unlike the many, many photos where my kids stiffly pose or distort their faces.... here they're just hanging out in the shade on a hot summer day. despite what they say... i think they kinda like each other. sigh.

Introducing... maxwell john

my little unky. short for chunky.... but i can't bear to call him that and have strangers look at me funny.

unlike his older siblings, our unk is quite big. born in january at a whopping 7 lbs. 13 oz. i know, i know it's not THAT big, but compared to the other two, he's a giant. plus he's grown and grown AND GROWN. almost at an alarming rate. he's now around 20 lbs. (i'm not 100% sure). oh my god, i do adore every chubby, little roll!

max is very popular in our house right now. all 4 of us scramble to be the center of his world and to get the first drooling, open-mouthed unky kiss of the day. his brother and sister actually fight over "who gets to make max happy". really. i'm not joking.

a few facts about max....
- he HATES peas
- is in the best mood around 10 pm. which sucks.
- has seemed to be teething for 4 months, but has yet to pop a tooth
- can sit up
- can crawl
- can hold his own bottle
- can pull up in his crib... i know, i know he's a genius
- his siblings can make him laugh hard and cry even harder
- rubs his eyes when he's tired
- has a heart-warming smile that, even on your worse day, will brighten your mood
- may be the best baby in the world. no really

lots more on unk to come, he's ready for a bottle and is looking pitifully sad.

reilly's little friend

this is reilly's new little friend. aka calapitter. yep that's how my kid says caterpillar. giggle.

photo(s) of the day

this is how i found max when he got up from his nap today. he's never pulled up in the crib before. looks like we're lowering the mattress asap! he's only 6 months old (well almost 7). but still.

note to reader: please ignore the boogers flowing from his nose AND the fact that i totally left him crying & hysterical to grab the camera & take these photos. yep i'm mother of the year.

introducing... t. cooper deegan

little man loves the water

cooper oh cooper. what do i say? he may just be one of the goofiest kids i've ever met. honestly. he exists solely in his imagination. singing to himself, racing around shooting an imaginary gun, and dancing. oh yes... dancing. lots and lots of dancing and singing and dancing. a style all onto himself. this kid is a entertainment at it's best. thomas cooper deegan, who we call cooper is also known as.... bubble head, t. cooper, bobble head, coop-a-loop, doodlebop and little man. cooper is 3 and his sign is scorpio. scorpios are considered loyal, passionate, resourceful, observant and dynamic. this kid is dynamic, so i guess the sign fits. like his older sister, coop-a-loop was born 4 weeks early. he really wanted to arrive 8 weeks early, but medical intervention and lots and lots of HORRIBLE drugs held him off a month. thank god. unlike his hasty arrival into the world... he now spends his life leisurely traipsing through life. here are a few facts about coop... - most of the time cooper sings instead of talks (as if he was in a musical) - coop calls his sister raleigh... as in the city in north carolina - he has a favorite (crummy) blue blankie that reminds me of linus from charlie brown

come on... isn't the likeness spot-on??

- cooper is 3 with a vocabulary of a 10 year old - his favorite cartoon movie is "cars" and he calls the main caracter "speedy" - cooper thinks every red convertable is "speedy" - coop adores his sister... he lights up when she enters the room - cooper is the worst potty-trainer. ever. - cooper has a very unusual accent. dan and i can't place it. it's unique to him. all in all... he's one fatastic kid - that coop of mine.

a word to the wise

never, ever, ever teach a 3 year old boy to pee outside. although it may seem like the obvious choice in a pinch, it's just not a good idea. ok. so. we were on a camping trip. the first camping trip for reilly and coop. at the time, coop was officially potty training and running to and from the potty every few minutes... just in case. dan and i were setting up the tents and preparing camp before dinner when.... omg, are you kidding me?? it started to rain. just a little. but enough for us to get our butts in gear. as dan and i were fussing with yet another annoying tent pole, coop announces.... "i have to go potty". our response (in stereo)... "hold it". time passes. pleading now.... "i really have to go. i have to peeeeeeee peeeeeeeeeeeee. really mom." i know what your thinking.... oh no... don't do it. but i did. "ok coop.... mommy and daddy are busy and i really don't have time to walk you to the port-a-potty. so here's the deal... see that bush over there? go pee in it." he did. and he LOVED it. so if you see a naked little boy peeing in a bush... please tell coop to find a potty. note to reader: i'm not 100% sure why, but when cooper pees outside, he needs to be completely naked. i know. what the... !?!

yep... the boy smiled (8wks)

note to reader: the music in the background is an episode of oprah, i wasn't watching "the bodygaurd"

introducing... reilly catherine

reilly is our first baby and only daughter. she's also known as bug, bootsy and peanut. reilly likes to be called princess, but we feel that's a bit much! she's 6, but her attitude is that of a teenager. wow we're in big trouble once she hits junior high!

our bug was born 4 weeks early and was a whopping 5 lbs. 8 oz. she was so so so tiny... thus the nickname bug. both her daddy and i really wanted to have at least one little girl... so when the ultrasound revealed reilly, we were beyond thrilled. waiting for her arrival was the tough part. i have HORRIBLE pregnancies, so we were very anxious.

a few facts about our reilly....

- she loves to be in charge and is the "boss" of her little brothers
- her best friend since birth is gracie, she's fierce in her love
for gracie
- reilly sucks on her middle two fingers on her left hand when tired
- she also has a taggie obsession and she's very particular about the
look and feel of her taggies
- reilly thinks she has a wonderful singing voice & loves to sing and dance
- reilly hates pizza..... i know, what the he**
- she doesn't call cereal by it's name. it's either "granny cereal", "mommy cereal"or "daddy cereal", named in honor of the person she feels loves that cereal most.
- reilly is entering 1st grade next week

--a brief pause so i can cry a little--

- reilly IS an artist
- favorite colors are pink (of course) and orange
- reilly has a booty, seriously a booooooty (which i love to skoot)

that's all i can think of now, i'm sure in the future there will be many posts which will give you a better understanding of our little bootsy mama.

what's with the name??

in our family a "skoot" is a little pinch to the bum. i firmly believe my kids have the darn cutest bums and i can't resist giving them a little skoot every now and then. one day they will hate it, but until then, i vow to get in as many skoots as possible. soon enough they will revolt and leave the room bum first to avoid the inevitable "bye bye skoot". a cuddle is a cuddle, but in my family it's may be one of our favorite passtimes :)

hmmmm..... starting a blog? me?

starting a blog? why?
for years i have promised my sister-in-law i would document all the silly, funny and interesting things that happens in my home. a home consisting of 3 children (more on them later), 2 cats (larry [aka stinky] and roger) and a large yellow lab (lucy). oh ya, a set of parents.... my husband dan and me, the mommy, erin.

here is a rundown of the kiddos....
oldest: reilly catherine (6)
middle: t. cooper (3)
baby: max (6 months)

yes, i have my hands full. my only goal for this blog is to share the life and times of my family. maybe one day my kids will read this and have a better understanding of why the he** they turned out they way they did.