Meet Steve.

I cordially invite you to meet Steve the Squirrel. He comes by every Sunday to have a nice snack of nuts and seeds on our back steps. Sometimes, if we're feeling gourmet, he even gets almonds! He's become quite friendly over the last few months, coming really close to eating right out of our hands. I'm legit so scared he's going to somehow get in the house and just make himself at home one of these days.

Steve's our pal and we think he's pretty cool. He's also the closest thing Alex is going to have to a pet for the next 5 years, so there's that.

And please excuse my snowman doormat. We're getting our patio poured back there in a few weeks (!!!)and I've just been too lazy to put a spring/summer one out, knowing I'll just have to bring it inside in 2 shakes.

Happy birthday, Jill!

April is a very active month for our family with birthdays for Kyle, Alex AND Jill. Happy, happy, happy birthday to my FAVORITE sister-in-law, Jill!!!!!!!

Obviously I picked this photo because we are both extremely delicious babes in it and I am an unapologetic, narcissistic blogger. And, I was 6 months post-partum when this was taken so I needed the reminder that this current and enormous version of myself isn't going to be around forever.

Our growing boy and also a PSA on vitamins.

Alex had his 4 year well visit earlier this week and is chugging right along his little kiddo milestones.

He's 44.6 lbs (95% percentile) and is 41.25" tall (71% percentile). In an unsurprising twist, our pediatrician told us we should probably expect a big growth spurt over the summer. I sort of knew that based solely on the amount of food he's been packing away lately. I swear sometimes he eats more than Joey at dinner!

I love our pediatrician. He's always so thorough in answering our questions and explains things in a logical way. For instance, we were asking about vitamins...and he asked if we buy them from Costco or another big box store (Of course we do. Have you met me?). Anyway, did you know that big box stores cannot and do not put iron in their chewable vitamins? This is because if a child were to get their hands on the entire bottle and consume it, he or she would be at risk for iron poisoning because there are so many pills in the bottle. So, if your child takes chewables, be sure to buy them from a non-big box store if you are worried about or at risk for an iron deficiency. When in doubt, check the labels.

And the same goes for gummy vitamins--ALL gummy vitams--even for adults. No matter the size of the bottle, it is scientifically impossible for iron to be suspended inside the gelatin of a gummy vitamin, so NO gummy vitamins actually have iron in them! So again, if you or your child take gummy vitamins and are at risk for iron deficiency, investigate some other options.

This PSA brought to you by my rockstar pediatrician and the letter I.

My pregnant self has the same cravings as my 17 year old self.

And to whatever stoner who was on the marketing team responsible for creating this Munchies Cheese Fix blend of amazingness, THANK YOU for being a pothead and THANK YOU for creating what I believe to be the ultimate in snack nirvana. I knew it would be one of you that achieved snacking greatness. Way to go, kids. Way to go.

Also shown: my super kickass mousepad, which was a Christmas prezzie from my pal Jackie.

14 weeks!

bV is the size of a lemon!  
At week 14, bV is 3.4 inches and 1.5 ounces, he's almost doubled in weight since last week and keeps on growing.

bV at 14 weeks:
-  He's probably sucking his thumb and wiggling his toes in there!
- His kidneys are making urine, and his liver and spleen are doing their jobs, too.
- And he's growing lanugo, a thin, peach-fuzz-like hair, all over his body -- it will help him keep warm!

So bV is peeing on me, which is fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. In non-urination related news, every evening is still pretty much a vomit fest up in here, which is NOT fine. People continue to tell me lies that 14 weeks will be the "magical" week and I will finally start to feel better but I'm having none of it. Basically, bV is going to be grounded legitimately from the moment he escapes my womb for being such a jerk to me in his early days of life. Not cool, bV. Not cool.

In other-people-are-pregnant news, today is the magical day that my dear friend Lindsay finds out if her twins are boys, girls or a BOGO of each. I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT WITH THE WAITING. Mostly because I want to buy them this:

via etsy

I have nothing else to say today, so here's a YouTube channel you should probably subscribe to.

Anthem Lights is the best discovery I've come across today. A coworker shared their 2012 mashup with me, because she knows I heart mashups like I heart Cheez-its and Slurpees. See also: a great deal. So I spent the better part of the day with my headphones jamming to their channel on repeat and I have yet to be disappointed.



Also, if you haven't seen Pentatonix's Evolution of Music video yet, you probably should also do that today. These are considered musical prioritites. You're welcome.

How we're different.

When it comes to raising Alex, I'm definitely the dreamer and Joey is the realist. Which, in fact, is a nice little balance because that means Alex will grow up to be a logical person who has the vision to see the other side of the rainbow.

For instance, Alex sees a water tower and instantly calls it a balloon. He and I play imaginary about all the things we could see from up in the balloon, and when we're done with that, Joey tells him that's it's actually called a water tower and explains how it works.

Or this morning, when Alex found Joe's old watch in a box and thought he discovered the world's greatest treasure. He went on and on with me about how he found a "new watch" and how he is such a great finder of things, and I told him he could be a pirate on a ship collecting treasures. When he went downstairs to tell Joey about his "new watch treasure," Joey explained that it was actually his watch, but he was sure glad Alex helped him find it.

I think it's important to have balance as parents. If Alex had two of me, he'd grow up to be a space cadet with a degree in underwater basket weaving and spend his life chasing unicorns. And if he had two Joeys, he'd probably end up with lots of wedgies and wearing a pocket protector. But since he's got both of us, he can still chase unicorns and dream big, but will always be the smartest pocket protector-wearing person in the room.