- Cinco Drinkos -

...Or maybeeee it was more than cinco, but who's counting when you have a dinner date with your favorite amigos?! #notme

Scarlett gave a few good shakes and then one final break to the plastic maraca that the waiter gifted us, and Emma was so embarrassed by the whole scene that she just had to gulp a few margs, too.

Happy Cinco!

- #kishme - I'M IRISH! -

...But even if we weren't Irish [which I guess we sort of aren't], we'd still be kickin' it at the party of all parties; because when another March 17 rolls around, DOGTOWN is the place to BE!  We were suckered into this parade/celebration mostly by default when my bachelorette pad [so very conveniently!!] happened to be on the corner of the two main streets of the festival.  Not gonna lie: I/we threw down some kick@$$ St. Pat's Day parties back in the day, and the rest? Welp, it's history.  ;) :)

We decided to let our littlest leprechaun in on the fun, too... Matching hats with Grammy!

Oh March 2018....... You're already so anxiously awaited! :)))

- Luck o' the Leprechauns -

Life has taken a 180 since St. Patrick's Day 2013...

...and 2014...

...and holy wowzers, maybe another 180 and then a 90 in the opposite direction again in 2015 [!!!!!]...

...but regardless of the year and the circumstances and everything life throws down in between, another March is here which means it's time for another St. Patrick's Day and ain't no doubt we half-blooded but fully self-proclaimed Irishmen/women gonna be celebratin' our "heritage" and the BEST damn day of the year!  

I had to work this year, too...*tear tear and more tears*... But Grandma and Grandpa brought a special little leprechaun to visit me at lunch time...

And THEN...you guessed it! The minute the clock ticked 15:00:00, it was off with the scrubs and on with the shirt that I just realized I've worn the last 3+ St. Patrick's Days [yes, I see that I need to go shopping more frequently and I also know I have a very small sense for fashion when those few and far between shopping sprees do occur SO!...I'll probably honestly actually be wearing this same green sweater next year and that's just the way my carefree life goes sometimes. Most of the time. All of the time. #endrant]. But! Obviouslyyyy: Dogtown for the win!!! No time to waste; we showed up just in time to get a glimpse of the fun ole' fiesta and collect a few beads/parade remnants and submerge ourselves in all the authentic Irish action!  

Bottoms/bottles up with Uncle Garett!! Boo partied 'til she couldn't party no mo'...that's mah little shamrock girl!

Hope you had [at least] a third as great of a St. Pat's Day as we had! If not, mark your calendars for Dogtown 2017 [3/17/17!] and consider this your official invite to party with our fam! 

O...and may the luck o' the leprechauns be yours!  ;) :-*

- Ten, nine, eight, seven...-

...six, five, four...

[Party at Jon's! Catnap in the car on the way home...]

...three, two...

[Late night FaceTime, Uncle Blake?? Look everybody, I outlasted Grandpa!]

...one...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Yesh yeshhh, we're well aware that we're raising a night-owlish monster in this house so it was no surprise that Harper Bear sailed right on through midnight like enn bee dee.  And also like enn bee dee, she stole my main man and my ball-drop kiss SO!  I already see how this year is gonna go.....

Dude partied so hard on NYE that she slept right through Grandma's New Year's brunch!

 ...But finally got it together mid-afternoon and snapped back into action: 1:10 pm and she's already poundin' the bottle. ;) 

Cheers, cheers, and MORE CHEERS to 2015 being the best year yet!  I never imagined how great marriage and parenthood and family life could be until the Bear appeared and changed both of our lives forever.  

Bring it on, 2016; we are so excited to see what blessings you will bring!

Happy New Year, sweet friends and family! :) 

- Go crazy, folks, go crazy! -

I'm having a legitimately significant amount of PTSD this week ... I mean ... seriously ... 

What kind of Red October is this?!?  

SO SAD. 

Horrible. 

And two words [shall I even speak them?] that rub my fur even farther backwards = the Cubs.  Come on.  Muttering profanities.  This is 2015, not 1908!!!  Consider this postseason exponentially worse. Muttering more profanities.   Heath Ledger is totally sitting on a cloud in the afterlife throwing his joker head back with an evil laugh. Sooo not cool.

But anyway.........  I'm trying to mature from my habitual ritual of constantly dwelling in negativity, so let's turn this post around! I dug up these pictures from back in August when we loyal Cardinals fans were still bringin' out the brooms: sweep, sweep, and more sweeps -- and putting "W's" all over the board like en bee dee.  This hurrr' was the St. Louis team we know and love!  Also: incessant cheers for unlimited beers!  (...And of course all-inclusive seats/food and AMAZING friends!)  Now THIS is how I like to remember my Cardinals. :)))  

Check it out:  annual L&D night at the ballpark!

[The rentsies were in another party box down the hall, so they came to visit our pad! ...After barely being able to break past the usher as noted in pic on the left!]

"Go crazy, folks, go crazy!"  Ho-kayyy, Jack Buck. We're goin' cray alright! 

REDBIRD/FREDBIRD/L&D LOVE! 

Our T-shirts this year were made in memory of an amazing L&D nurse who recently lost her hard-fought battle with breast cancer.  This Cardinal win was for you, Gina!!!

Don't forget:  L&D Night at the Ballpark 2013!

Cardinals baseball says, "Ciao for now!"

...But get ready for spring twenty-sixteen.................. 

#revengebesweet  

- Big Momma's FIRST M-Day -

Wellllllp, now that it's damn near Father's Day, I guess I should go ahead and rewind to:

May 10, 2015:  my first Mother's Day! 

I'm a mother, what what?!?!?

My thoughts on being a momma are still so humble jumbled.  Mother's Day came and went like any other normal day, but as I reminisce back on last month's memories and photos it's STILL so surreal to think that I'm a mother.  Delicate and forgiving and beautiful and joyful and trusting and tender and loving and feminine and embracing and steadfast and cultivating and and and and annnnnnd... <--- ALL qualities that I bunch up together and stuff into one fluffy little person that we traditionally call "MOM."  I don't think the fact that I'm a mother has sunk in yet, and maybe it never will; I doubt I'll ever be able to fully wrap my head around how unworthy I am of the big important fun special GIANT job God gave me to raise a beautifulllll little baby girl.  

Holy profoundness! 

Today, I decided to see if Google could help me put some words to the awesomeness of a "mother":

But nope.  Big fat fail.  [#1, yes.  #2, I'd like to always hope that's not the type of "mother" I am.............]

Whatever.

Enjoying a very special cup today while I go through pics + reminisce on my very FIRST Mother's Day!  [Yes, I made my own gift... Go ahead and judge me real good!]

M-Day 2015 started off with 10:15am Mass with my family + brunch at our house.  Pic credited to the dear [onlooking] husbands, because even on Mother's Day there is plenty of dish-washing and cooking to be done by the mommas... 

Resa's first "Grandmother's Day!"

Time to feast...

...and then open gifts! Harper made some special surprises for her grandmas.  [Ditto on the gifts for her Grandma Ann, but she was celebrating M-Day in New Orleans!]

Thennnn we enjoyed a lovely afternoon at Copper Dock Winery!  [All of us were there, but again, onlooking fathers...]  Harper loves to be outside! 

Heading home.....but not before cleaning up a suuuuper stinky explosion of the poopy sort.  Yes, it definitely takes three people to change a diaper of that caliber after an afternoon of wine chugging. :/

Happy Mother's Day to my momma and all the other beautiful mothers out there!!! You are so loved and appreciated!!!

- Bottoms up! -

Prettttty sure this year was the first time I've ever celebrated Cinco de Mayo when the milk supply tops the margarita supply, but there's a first for everything eh? ;)

I loved being pregnant alongside some of my very best L&D nurse friends, and I love even more now that our babies are all similar ages and will grow up together!  It's so much fun for all of us to discuss the babies' milestones and send pictures back and forth that we thought it would be a good idea to get all the new mommas and babies together for a Cinco party.......BUT.......we had .n.o..i.d.e.a. how chaotic it would be!!!  So many babies!!! We could barely carry on a conversation with each other without this baby pooping or that baby puking or two or three babies crying...

...So for the lack of conversation, thank goodness there are photos that sum up our night!  ;) 

Bottoms up, bay-bay!  [Milk bottles, that is...] 

JR meets his future wife! We have been waiting for this moment for 7 weeks!!!

Milk coma x 2.  [They really do love each other though.]

If arranged marriage was still a thang [or is it?], these two would FO SHO be tying the knot in about 20-25 years.  

Harper hangin' with the big girls! 

I spy FOUR crying babies!!!  Cinco: you have a new game face...

...but I have to admit, it's pretty damn cute and I like it. I like it a lot.

Cheers!