Field Trip - Fire Station

This morning Devin's class took a field trip to a local fire station. Joe and I were able to work it out for me to leave Westin and Corbin at home with him so I was able to tag along with Devin's class. I was SO SUPER excited to go! (probably way more excited than Devin!) My mom was always involved with my school activities growing up and I loved it. It made me feel special. I can't wait to be a PTA & homeroom mom!!!!

The firefighters were all so sweet with the kids.

They gave the kids a tour of the station starting with the kitchen, which I didn't take a picture of...

The kids thought the TV room was awesome. What a nice place for the guys to relax and have some down time!

He showed the kids the "homework" room and schedule board.

Where they do the laundry...

The sleeping quarters...

And then the cool stuff!

The station had 4 trucks on site.

I was impressed with how crisp and clean everything was! They should start a side business cleaning houses! ; )

They got to look inside...

My cutie pie!

I love him so much!

They also got to climb inside the big truck.

CHEESE!

Look at equipment and talk about fire safety.

Of course Devin had something to add to the conversation.

The kids got such a kick out of the pole!

He showed the kids how the pole/chute door works.

Devin tried his darnedest to get the chute door to open!

The "Boss" Car

Back outside...

They were shown the full gear.

And were given their own souvenir hats!

He appeased mommy and stood by the statue for a picture.

I am so thankful that Joe's job allows us the flexibility for me to be able and do these special things with the boys!

It was such a fun experience to watch Devin interact with his classmates. He has matured so much since the school year has started. I am a proud momma!!!!!

Quality Time With Cookies & A Movie

My babies are growing up way too fast.

I was chatting with my mom last night, telling her how blessed I feel.

I have three beautiful, happy & healthy children.

My mom use to , jokingly, tell me that I was stingy with my kids because I hardly let anyone else watch them.

I just don't want to miss a second with them!

I want them to grow up KNOWING how much I love them.

And remembering that I made the effort and took the time to have special moments with them.

We only have one chance to be a good parent.

I learned of a couple that lost their newborn recently... I don't know them personally but my heart aches for them. We can't know God's plans for the future or even understand them... So I will celebrate the three amazing blessings that God has given us and be super stingy with them! ; )

Russo, Table of 5

A week ago Monday was my brother-in-laws birthday. My sister, Jennifer, invited us to meet them for dinner at a restaurant to celebrate. We had never been out to dinner with all three kids...we were a little apprehensive about it... Corbin is more than a hand full and doesn't care to be still for long and I am still nursing Westin. We knew that it would be work but really wanted to help Christopher celebrate his birthday...

It started out great! Devin was chattin with his Auntie Jenn..

Corbin was chowin on chips and keeping us laughing...

Westin was content...

But the waitress was slow so we had to pull out something to do...

It seemed to work...

And then it happened...

As soon as the food came out Westin lost it! I headed to the ladies room to nurse him, which is quit hard standing up in a toilet stall.. Restaurants and most stores ARE NOT friendly to the nursing mother.

So I got Westin fed and changed and I finally got to sit down and eat, my now cold food, and Corbin looses it... Thankfully we were seated on the patio and nobody else was. (Not that I am too concerned with what other people think) But we did learn a valuable lesson.

~DO NOT take 3 children under the age of 5 out to eat! ~

Hope you enjoyed your birthday Christopher, bet you didn't think you were going to get a show with your dinner. ; )

Free Nursing Cover

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Here is the cover I got!

Bursting At The Seams!!!

No, I'm not speaking of my expanding waistline! I am talking about my heart! Today sitting at the kitchen table with Joe and the boys eating lunch I had a moment... I AM SO BLESSED!!! Not only does my husband still have a job but he gets to work from home. The boys adore their daddy and love having him here everyday! Speaking of my boys....oh how they melt my heart! They are funny, smart, healthy, ADORABLE... pretty darn perfect! To top it all off we are being blessed with another miracle. I know God has a plan and perfect timing for everything...it's just so hard to believe that I deserve all of this.

Thank you God! Thank you for picking me for this life! Thank you for giving me a husband that loves and adores me and two little boys that couldn't be any more perfect!

Happy Mother's Day

I love this little picture! Every time I see it I think of my mom... My mom truly has been "Super Mom"! She was the room mom at school, the PTA mom, headed up functions for our church groups, band mom, soccer mom, cheerleader mom, gymnastics mom, softball mom, attended EVERY function we were in, the mom that toted around us and other people kids, hosted sleep overs constantly (and piled us in the van to go TPing-you so rocked for this one), had us all in church every Sunday and Wednesday, could throw a birthday party like nobodys business, played lifeguard so we could have our friends over to swim, drove us to and picked us up from school even though it was close enough for us to walk, always made sure that we sat down for family dinners on Sunday afternoons and weeknights, was always throwing someone at church a baby or wedding shower...and she did all of this for 4 kids while running her own business and being a loving and faithful wife to our father AND still having a social life.

Mom,

Thank you for being a Godly example of what a wife and mother should be. We didn't always see eye to eye when I was a teenager but now... you are one of the wisest people to grace this Earth! I look to you for guidance so often and you never fail me. You make me strive to be a better person! Anyone can birth a child but you are the true definition of a mother and on top of that...you are my best friend! I pray that when our children are grown they love and respect me as much as I do you.

Love you!

Why Mother's Day Is Celebrated

Preface: I am a mother that has a checklist of things to do and things to gather up when we are leaving the house with the boys Example: make bottle and pack into bottle bag with ice packs, make Devin a sippy cup of juice and grab goldfish or raisins for a snack, make sure Devin goes potty and Corbin's diaper is changed, get Corbin's diaper bag, burp cloth, pacifier, blanket, a few toys, etc. You get the picture.

This is how the story goes when I slack off and let Daddy help...

Last night when Joe got home from work he said "Let's go out for dinner" and I said "Sure, let me put on a nicer shirt and you go ahead and get Corbin up from his nap and get his diaper bag out of his room". I put on a shirt, made a bottle for Corbin to drink and sat it on the kitchen table with his pacifier, burp cloth and blanket. Joe came in the kitchen with Corbin and the diaper bag and sat it on the table next to the bottle.... I got Devin's shoes on and said to Joe "I am taking Devin to the car and I have the keys...can you bring Corbin and his stuff to the car?" So we are about to turn into the restaurant and Joe looks at me and asks ME if I got Corbin's bottle... (didn't I ask him to do that as I was walking out the door with Devin) I look in the backseat and immediately ask him "Where is the diaper bag?"...... HE FORGOT ALL OF CORBIN'S THINGS........ Needless to say we drove all the way back home to get Corbin's stuff and then drove BACK to the restaurant.

Joe is a wonderful, amazing, spectacular father...but some things only a mommy remembers.

The camera happened to be on the side table when I ran in the house for Corbin's things and I had to take a picture... When I got back in the car holding the camera I said to Joe "Ya know this is goin on the blog right?" I might have had a slight smirk on my face when I said it. ; )

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Plllleeeeaaaasssseeee Eat Your Veggies!

Does anyone else have a hard time getting your toddler to eat veggies? Ok, maybe I really don't want to hear from those that their kids ask for veggies. (It just isn't fair) When Devin was a baby he would eat ANYTHING!!!! But once we moved him to non-pureed food he wanted nothing to do with veggies or meat for that matter. All this child ever wanted to eat was PB&J and fruit! We have moved past the eating meat, he LOVES chicken but not chicken nuggets...go figure.

At every well checkup Devin has his pediatrician scolds me for not making him eat veggies and red meat. (she obviously doesn't have children, you can't "make" a toddler eat what they don't want) So I was in Target one day and was browsing the book section and found this book by Jessica Seinfeld called Deceptively Delicious. I was SO pumped about this cookbook, it has all of these recipes to make "bad food" with "good food". I so should have read thru it more at the store because it really is ridiculous how much prep time these recipes take! This momma does not have that much time to prepare meals and snacks.

I'll be real honest I had pretty much given up on the veggie battle and then I had this great idea! Devin LOVES Motts Summer Strawberry Apple Sauce and I got to thinking about what veggies I could mix in with it so he would notice....

After mixing the can of carrotts and 6 "cups" of the strawberry apple sauce it tasted too much like carrotts still...so I added 4 "cups" of regular apple sauce

Devin saw me with the apple sauce cups so I had to serve it in it, otherwise I serve it in one of his cereal bowls.

He ate every bite and I felt like such a good mommy for getting him to eat his veggies! Now how do I get him to eat green beans....?

AND Devin is fully potty trained! The only time he has had an accident in a week was on Friday and it was our fault for having him out of the house for so long. (it was a "#2" accident) He is going to the potty all on his own without reminders! I am SO proud of him!!!!!!