Welcome October

We were hopping out of the car when Caroline spotted the Halloween decor in the window at the little gift shop next door to the gym.

"Look mama!"

"Oh, I see all the Halloween decorations. What is Caroline going to be for Halloween?"

"Little monster!"

Well, that's not really what I had in mind for my beautiful little girl's third Halloween costume. A princess? Super Girl? Maybe a ballerina?

Andrew wants to be a skeleton. Ugh! Surely I can have one cute, sweetly costumed kiddo, right?

We've penciled in our trip to the pumpkin patch for the month. There's a fall fest at church on our calendar. Our new neighbors are already talking about what fun it is to trick-or-treat on our street and Andrew is so excited that Halloween falls on a school day this year.

I think October is the best month. I'm not stressed out about Christmas and its trees and presents yet. There are very few 90+ degree days and the mornings are cool and fresh. And there's candy and treats and parties.

So welcome October. I'm happy to see you, even if I end up with a little monster and a skeleton for my trick-or-treat companions.

Printstagram Framed + a Giveaway

My Printstagram poster is finally framed and hanging in our house! I am so happy with it and smile every time I walk by.

I ordered the 20 x 30 poster back in January after Colleen posted about her little 4x4 squares she had printed. I checked them out and decided I needed a poster to document our family's 2012.

It came quickly, but I needed to get it framed and that took me a little longer than it should have.

I had originally planned to tap into my inner DIY-er using tutorials from the Handmade Home's ebook, Handmade Walls. Brian and I talked about it a lot, but never quite got a plan in place. And well, I finally decided if it was ever going to get out of the shipping tube and onto my walls I was going to need to pay someone to frame it.

So I waited for Michael's 60% off custom framing sale, and I'm thrilled with how it turned out! (I think Ikea has a really pretty 20 x 30 white frame that I would have liked too, but the chances of me making it all the way to Ikea these days seemed pretty slim too.)

It's hanging in the hall between our dining room and the den so I pass it all the time.

There's just nothing like getting all those photos off your phone or your blog and onto your wall. The snapshots of our everyday are right there to greet us all the time.

I'm happy I went with the double mat with the little pop of sea green. It really stands out nicely since the color is in so many of my photos.

The photo quality is excellent. It was super easy to order through the Printstagram website by syncing up my Instagram account. I just selected which photos I wanted to include and they randomized them for me. Way to go Printstagram!

And because Printstagram is so awesome I'm hosting a giveaway for a 20 x 30 poster for one of you, my awesome readers!

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment below and tell me where you'd hang your own Printstagram poster. And for extra entries you can follow @SocialPS on Twitter or like my facebook page.

You can enter using the Rafflecopter below. Entries will close next Monday and I will announce a winner on Tuesday April 9th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is my first ever giveaway (I know!) and I'm so happy that it's for picture prints. Getting our family's photos out of my computer and up on the walls in our house is one of my big goals for 2013. I hope this will help you accomplish a goal of your own!

Sunshine

A big colorful rocket kite was one of the presents Andrew opened after his birthday party yesterday.

He couldn't wait to get out and get it in the air.

Brian spent some meticulous moments putting it together, and we headed to the neighborhood park after dinner, taking full advantage of the extra hour of daylight.

We may need a little more kite flying practice, but the kids we just as happy to get out in the fresh, cool air and run!

Really, running is at the very top of Caroline's favorites list.

I brought my dSLR and a new CF card that wouldn't talk to my camera, so thank you iPhone for allowing me to capture these moments anyway.

The kids' school is on Spring Break this week. We're planning a few fun activities, afternoons at the park, and a night at my parents' at the lake.

But I'm mostly looking forward to spending some quality time with Andrew and Caroline. They are so much fun, and I know that the more time I spend focusing on them, playing with them, getting to know them and showing them how truly important they are to me, the happier we all are.

I know that sounds so obvious, but so often I'm distracted, working on the next thing on my to-do list, when they should be the next thing on my to-do list.

So that's my plan for the week - remind them - remind me - that they are #1 on my list.

Well, that, and soaking up some sunshine. :)

Away

Brian's sweet old Granny passed away on Thursday and we left the kids and headed to Houston to be with his mom on Friday evening.

My mom is at our house with my kiddos. This is the first time I've left either of them over night since Caroline was born.

I'd hoped our first weekend away from them would be for a quick trip to New York or maybe a few days in Napa sipping the best of the best.

But here we are, supporting family, which is so very important to us.

And I hear the kids are doing fine.

Caroline has a cough and a cold and her top canines are thisclose to breaking through. I could see their tiny points yesterday morning. So I think she had a tough time falling asleep last night, but she slept through the night and woke up happy, so that was good news.

I slept in until 8:30 - woohoo! And the college me is rolling on the floor laughing thinking of 8:30 as sleeping in.

We'll be home late Sunday night, three bedtimes away from the kids.

I will be so very happy to wake up to their soft footsteps and squeals on Monday morning.

Toddler Times

I've finally started Caroline at weekly Gymboree classes.

Andrew and I went to Gymboree every week for almost two years. We didn't give it up until he was too old to go. I felt like the classes were so good for him. He learned to stand in line and wait his turn and play nicely with other kids. And he had a blast and burned off tons of energy.

I thought for sure I would have started Caroline way earlier, but here we are at almost 18 months and we're just now getting there. It's harder the second time around y'all.

I look at her and she's so big. Why is my baby sliding down the slides and climbing on everything and making the biggest messes that take forever to clean up? Oh. She's not much of a baby anymore.

It's hard though because I compare her to Andrew and compared to him she is just a baby, and I think this is keeping me from treating her like a toddler. I'm sure she's getting away with way more than I would have let Andrew get away with at this age.

Like I let her stand up in the chair at the kitchen table, and I don't tell her not to bounce all over the couch. I would have never let Andrew get away with that! But I guess I've learned what the small stuff really is and not to sweat it.

Or maybe I'm just too darn busy keeping up with the both of them to do anything about all that small stuff.

Yep. That's probably much more likely. :)

And oh my word - I'd forgotten how INSANE these early toddler months can really be.

Most evenings I sit down, take a deep breath and realize I've spent my day with a tiny tornado, full of destruction and energy and no defined path. But then she will say "nigh nigh" and lay her head on my shoulder and snuggle in and pat my chest with her chubby baby hand and I'm so in love.

(Yesterday she repeated, "I lub ooooo." Heart, melted.)

I know she'll be out of these out-of-control months soon enough, and I'll miss them. But right now I'm hoping a little Gymboree time will help narrow her path of destruction. :)

Project 365 on Instagram

I started a 365 project on Instagram this year. (Come follow me! I'm @MeaganMusing). I'm having so much fun with it.

I've found it really easy to take at least one photo a day, edit it in an app and then tag it with my hashtag. And that's it. Surely I can keep this up all year.

I recently ordered a poster from Printsagram of some of my favorite Instagrams from last year, and it arrived on Friday.

It totally made my day.

I can't even tell you how excited I am to get this framed and hung in our house.

I've also been using my Photojojo lenses more often since I'm thinking about my iPhone photos more. Well, I'm using the macro lens a lot.

It's amazing what you can capture on your cell phone camera.

If I could just be a little bit steadier these could be even more awesome. I'm working on it.

What have you been shooting lately?

All photos taken with the iPhone 4S, Camera+ app and edited with Afterglow.

Ultimate Weekend Recap

This weekend's theme was most definitely My Favorite Things with My Favorite People.

We had a babysitter Friday night so we ran up to the hospital for a bit to love on Anna Kate.

Oh man...she's tiny! You'd think as a mother myself that I'd remember how mini brand new babies are, but I forget every time.

After some quality baby snuggles Brian and I had a fabulous dinner out. We wanted to try someplace new and picked a southern restaurant close to our house. We got there at 9PM and thought we'd maybe have to wait for 10 minutes, but they said it would be an hour.

Sigh...we're too old to eat dinner at 10PM.

But the host took pity on us and found a cancellation and we got to sit right down to a delicious dinner.

Andrew's swimming lesson show was Saturday morning so we all headed out to the pool. Brian takes him to his lessons on Saturday mornings now, so I hadn't seen his progress. He can do the backstroke! Color me impressed. He's swimming half-way across the pool now. I really think swimming may be his sport, just like his daddy.

We had a crazy family taco lunch date after swimming, and I got to work on some house projects while Caroline napped and Brian and Andrew went to the park, Home Depot and Central Market.

We grilled chicken outside, my mom and dad dropped by, we listened to fun music. Saturday was good.

Today was full of pancakes and eggs, double stroller rides, laundry and solo grocery shopping.

See? Really, all my favorite things crammed into one weekend.

Brian has been finished with school for about six weeks now. Lots of those six weeks were occupied by Christmas preparations and celebrations and Andrew sickness.

So this weekend felt like a preview of what life will be like for us post-MBA school.

And I'm pretty excited about what's in store for our little family.

Lately in iPhone Photos

I feel like we've just been plugging through the summer these last few weeks.

I'm starting to think about back to school and football though so I know we're on the back side. We'd had the nicest weather all summer up until this last week when we hit the 100s and stayed there.

But do you know what's coming up this week?

The Olympics!

I'm looking forward to introducing Andrew to the excitement that surrounds the Olympics: the National Anthem when our athletes are up on the podium. And the swimmers - he's going to love cheering along with his dad watching Team USA swim. And I really hope he likes watching the gymnasts with me.

I have such fun memories of the Olympics from my childhood.

But that's coming up.

What have we been doing lately? Here are the last two weeks in iPhone photos.



Mostly, I've been baking.

I've had my new (wonderful, awesome, super pretty!) mixer for a little over a week, and I've already made cookies, a cake, muffins and pizza dough. I think we're going to enjoy it.



Also, Caroline's little party is coming up soon and I'm getting ready.

I've decided to keep it small with just family, but I still want it to be pretty and girly and a party.

This wild baby is worth celebrating.



She's climbing up stuff, grabbing things off the kitchen counters when I'm looking the other way, playing peek-a-boo in my drapes.

I think I'm going to have my hands full with her.



I got my big camera out today for the first time in almost a week. I don't know how all that time can go by with it just sitting on my counter, but it does sometimes.

And then I feel its heavy weight in my hands, and I remember how much I love what we can do together - me and my third baby. :)

I'll have some pretty pictures to share with y'all later this week.

{Linking up with Life on Leroy and The Weekend File for Life Lately}.

and

{Simple as That for The Simple Things}

Instagrams Lately

We went out to the lake this weekend. We were there for 24 hours and brought 22 10 overnight bags with us.

And we left no fewer than six really important items behind. ::sigh::

But you know what I didn't forget?

My cute kids.











Last week was kind of wild. We spent three nights out at the lake which means lots of time outside in the water and the sun. Andrew stayed up way too late and still never napped, of course.

And he built a Buzz Lightyear out of Legos while I was super domestic.

We're all sleepy.

I have big plans for this coming week. Number 1 goal: I will be IN BED by 11PM every night.

Wish me luck.

{Linking up with Life on Leroy and The Weekend File for Life Lately}.

4th of July Fun

We had a super fun 4th of July, but having a holiday and two nights away from home right in the middle of the week totally threw me for a loop.

What day is it?

The food in our fridge is how old??

Where did all that laundry come from??

But it was totally worth it.

We had a great day with friends and family: swimming, splashing, grilling and playing in the sprinklers.



Andrew got to help put the flags out front using a hammer. It might have been the highlight of his day.

We had seven kids at the get-together. Three babies and four between the ages of 1 and 3. It was kind of wild. But no one drowned and there was very little crying. A total win-win.

Miss Caroline helped us celebrate.

We had cupcakes with my 4th of July toppers. They were so cute!

And my sister made this awesome fruit and cheese flag.

Later than night Brian and my brother-in-law took off in search of fireworks. Because boys love fire.



I am an excellent mother and let my 3 year old play with sparklers. In his pajamas.



He thought they were great fun, and no one was hurt! Again, a win-win.

I love celebrating America!

Hope you all had fun, too!

Our Week in Instagrams

Last week was really long. Brian was in the middle of finals and didn't sleep much and we didn't get to see him much. It was hard.

But this week was awesome. He had more free time, and for that we were thankful.



{This photo makes me super happy.}

I had some quality time with the kids too.



Going to the grocery store on my own is a special treat, but I almost never count down the aisles or take cute pictures when I'm there by myself. :)

Caroline decided she was a big kid.



Seriously, I'm going to have to tie her down. How can this be happening to my baby?? I don't know if I can handle it. :( Also, she can climb all the way to the very top of our stairs. Whoa.

And I wore lots of plaid shirts.



Also, I can't get the Fresh Beats out of my head. Last night I was crawling back into bed after feeding the baby, and I realized I was humming about putting my hands in the air...do it...do it...do it. In the middle of the night.

I think the heat is getting to me.

Happy weekend friends! :)

{Are you on Instagram? I'm @MeaganMusing. Come find me - I'd love to follow you!}

Linking up with Amy @ a good life. Head over to see more fun iPhone photos!