Goodbye April

I'm ready for warmer temps, flowers and sun!

Thanks JT for the perfect April 30th gif.

Back to Life

People always say it's nice being back to a normal routine once family leaves town and while I do feel that to a certain extent, it's always nice having people up here. Although Drew is a fairly simple toddler, it's nice having a few days off of bath and nighttime duties along with some free babysitting! I always take some PTO time off and generally it feels somewhat like a mini vacay!

We had lots of fun with Mimi and Grandpa in town this last week and it's an odd thought that the next time they, as well as my parents, will be in town, we will be a family of 4.

The guys constructed the crib after my in-laws painted the nursery and Drew enjoyed making cookies two times with Mimi!

Mimi never turns down reading a book and I think she read every.single.one in our entire house.

On their second to last day in town, we decided a trip to the bowling alley would be a great activity but more on that to come later this week!

Can't wait to see you both again after Deuce is born!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

My parents brought up a couple kites for Drew when they were here in March, but the weather didn't cooperate enough to get them up. Fortunately, we've had some decent weather this week with Mimi and Grandpa in town and we were able to get one up for a few runs at a local metropark. It's hard to see, but he has a huge grin on his face in the picture below and was laughing his head off.

While there, Drew even raced daddy a few times which made for a good sleep later.

YEAH! Finally a picture with his good smile instead of his cheeseball smirk!

It's been a long time since I've seen my little guy in shorts and a tshirt and I absolutely can't wait for more park trips over the next few warm months!

Royals vs. Indians Take 5

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I'm a sucker for traditions. One of our many spring traditions is going to see the KC Royals when they come up to play the Cleveland Indians. We've lived here 5 springs and this year marked our 5th time in attendance. Luckily, this year the in-laws were in town and treated us to some fabulous tickets!

For the last 3 years, we've gone from staying only the first few innings to staying almost the entire game this past Monday night. The little man did awesome and thanks to ice cream and other snacks, he sat in his seat like a champ.

Love the far right picture below where Derek is explaining baseball and he's intently listening.

I do love a good Royals game, but I absolutely love when there is 'special' entertainment. Take, for example, a squirrel that got onto the field that wouldn't leave. They attempted many times to capture this guy and the crowd kept cheering him on each time he ran free. It was quite hilarious. (Sorry - phone videos don't make for the best quality blog videos)

And now for your viewing pleasure, each of our former years put together...

2010 (barely preggo with Drew)

2011

2012

2013

2014 (preggo with Deuce)

Can't wait to have our daughter join in the tradition next year as well as not looking/feeling like a hippo.

Easter Recap

Couldn't go without recapping yet another fun holiday with family in town! It's always nice to have people visiting, but for some reason having family around when it's a Holiday is even better.

When we woke up on Easter morning, it was time to see what Drew got from the bunny...

And then it was off to church where we let Drew sit with us for the first time ever. He was an ANGEL and although I'm sure it's taboo to snap pictures in church, we did.

Then it was off to a delicious brunch at Brio. Seriously, if you haven't been you need to go and try their cream cheese stuffed french toast! 

After church, Drew found that the bunny had hid some eggs in the backyard...

And of course, we had to check out (and attempt to eat) everything in the eggs.

After nap, it was such good weather we couldn't resist a trip to the park. More on that to come later this week!

Hope you had a wonderful Easter as well!

Nature Center Egg Hunt

First of all, thanks to everyone who participated in the Easter Basket showcase! 

I looked at every single one of your baskets and have some great ideas for next year. 
You guys ROCK!

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Now for another egg hunt post! I doubt you'll remember, but a couple years ago we took Drew to his first ever egg hunt and it was just plain Cray Cray. For some reason, I thought that a city-wide 100,000 egg hunt would be fun. Um... nope. Between the obnoxious parents crazily collecting eggs themselves and the fact that there were thousands of people, it was too much for my taste. Then last year a friend told us about a local nature center that holds a smaller egg hunt with limited spots and we jumped on that bandwagon. The $7 fee includes a guaranteed number of eggs, some crafts, and the best part; touching a real bunny! Drew had a blast last year and we knew we'd be back this year.

Mimi and Grandpa are in town for the week and were able to watch Drew enjoy the hunt with a little exploration of the nature center beforehand!

When it was our turn, the kids were given a short nature lesson and then were released to find the eggs.

Once the eggs were all gathered, it was time for some inside crafts...

... and bunny petting.

My child might or might not have hogged the thing and petted it about 7 times despite other kids waiting for their chance. I secretly hope that someday he'll beg for a little bunny and we'll just have to oblige.

More of our Easter recap later this week, but for now I have a fierce sunburn to attend to. Who knew you could get fried in 67 degree weather. #ohioproblems

2014 Easter Basket Blog Hop

I don't generally go crazy for Easter, but love putting together some goodies that I know Drew will love. This year, grandparents sent a bunch of gifts including books, small goodies and wayyyyy too much sugar meaning the little guy was plenty spoiled. 

Here's a look at a few of the gifts Drew got in his basket....

Sperry's are something we get him every spring and my kid loves a good whoopie cushion (in which we undoubtedly will break within a couple months). And the peeps? I'll probably eat them all, but hey, they looked good in his basket. :)

Can't WAIT to see all of your baskets!

An InLinkz Link-up

Pancakes with the Easter Bunny

This was our second year of going to meet the Easter bunny and enjoy some yummy pancakes with our good friends, the Greulochs. Last year, Drew didn't like the bunny and wouldn't go near him, but this year it was MUCH better. I think having his girlfriend there helped as well as the fact that he was able to watch the bunny while we ate and see that he was harmless.

The problem this year was quite different and not what you'd expect. We literally had the weakest Easter bunny in history. I'm pretty sure it had to be an 85 year old woman or at least a drunk 60 year old with no muscles. Either way, this bunny could not lift my 3 year old onto its lap.

Can you see the struggle?

I mean we're talking 35 pounds here people, it's not like I'm wanting you to pick up an 8 year old. The poor kid kept smiling throughout the entire thing and even tried to climb up onto the bunny in that last shot!

Ultimately, the final picture isn't that bad and at least the old ballz bunny waved.

Then it was on to picking out his bribery tool; an egg filled with candy of course!

Once lunch was over and tummies were filled, it was time for smooches and family pictures. Charlotte, however, was playing a bit hard-to-get that afternoon.

My feet were beyond excited to be in sandals and I just love my stud in a button down and Sperry's. 

Can't wait for our tradition to continue next year with an extra kid in tow!

Five on Friday

Linking up with the ladies listed below for a sunny 5 on Friday!

{ONE}
The little man had a PJ day and a superhero day at school this week so I couldn't resist a picture opp where Bailey would, undoubtedly, photo bomb.

{TWO}
I'm 25.5 weeks today and feeling great... except for this cough and sore throat that's been off and on for 3 weeks now. Peeing a little every time you cough is so much fun... said no one ever.

{THREE}
A friend posted this saying on facebook this week and I'm thinking of using it on a canvas when baby girl arrives. I'd love to get a picture with me holding Drew and Deuce and put this caption on the bottom. Swoon.

{FOUR}
I want need a baby Geep... like now.

{FIVE}
I love a good donut, but Dunkin has officially raised the bar. Peeps donuts people. Probably the best invention ever. #preggofatty

Have a wonderful weekend!!

The Playroom & A Reminder

The playroom has been done for a few weeks, I've just been a slacker and completely forgot to snap some pictures and post about it! You've seen the reading nook, and there are still some walls that need artwork or pictures, but for the most part, it's complete.

Details: 
Wall color: Sherwin Williams Cottage Cream
Bunting: Made by muah with felt triangles from Michael's
Chalkboard: Chalkboard paint on an old BB&B framed piece of art we weren't planning on hanging again
Chalk holder: A Lowe's drawer pull attached upside down (genius right? thanks pinterest!)
Shelving: Expedit unit from Ikea with bins from amazon
Train/Lego table: Craigslist find last year!
Art corner: Decal from etsy and all hanging art is Drew's

We plan on selling Drew's old rocker on Craigslist since we were gifted a much more comfortable chair for Deuce's nursery so it won't be there much longer. I'm obsessed with the bright, cheery wall color and just love the other color accents in this room. SO much better than playing all those hours in our dark basement in our last house!

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Also, just a reminder that in one week, the Easter Basket blog hop begins!

**I pushed the date back from the 14th to the 16th in order to give people more time to get their baskets together! 

Hope you'll join in the fun and link up what you got your kiddos/spouse/pets/family/etc for Easter! Simply grab this code to copy the image into your post, enter your info with the linky tool when it goes live and hop around to see other baskets!

<br /> <a href="www.sarahandderek.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrEZwTL6AQg0KWN0k2J88Ks_gnin87x0seSunXpaJRFjvUXM6Zx7U9AfZ5FykV_wFPYd5lUb9D60lQn7qCfC8P9P3HEksPwS-lxCWtAkvRlyZQxCDPG9VHH8AoucDml4BWQ1exJtdpdo/s1600/Easter+Basket+Blog+Hop.jpg" height="400" width="330"/></a><br />

Resale SCORE

I think I've mentioned it before, but I've been really bad about preparing for baby girl. I'm almost 25 weeks and we haven't done a thing in the nursery, gotten any baby items out or cleaned, and even worse; I've bought like 2 onesies. I realize I could still have 15 weeks of incubating left, but there have been two people I know recently who had their babies around 25 weeks so I'm officially starting to freak out.

Anyway, back to the post.

I had never gone to a baby/kids resale, but have 3 planned for April with this past Saturday being my first. I went with my girlfriend, Lana, and had my bag stocked with $1 bills ready to be spent. With our starbucks in hand, we were there right when the doors opened and headed in to find some gems. She's got two kiddos and I had several items I was in search of for both Drew and Deuce.

Here was my fear walking in; I'm super stingy when it comes to used items. I refuse to buy used shoes, socks, undies and won't buy anything that looks worn or beat up. I've never had any luck at consignment stores and garage sales have only been good for basic, plastic toys. After a few minutes browsing the selection at the first sale, I noticed that a lot of the boys items looked very worn, but it was quite the opposite with the girls. There were tons of Janie and Jackie and Baby Gap pieces that were just darling and in awesome condition. Knowing I was heading to two more of these in the coming weeks, I didn't go crazy, but feel like I scored BIG for less than $40!

I got a TON of pajamas and onesies, but was SUPER excited to find so many adorable outfits not centered around pink! Sure she might only be in a swimsuit one time at the very end of this summer, but hey, it was only a $1 so you can't pass that up right? And that yellow two piece below is for next summer. Isn't it just adorable? We might not have a single diaper, but at least she'll have a swimsuit. 

And now, I'll leave you with my tips for shopping resales:

A) Sniff out the good stuff, literally. The booths that smelled like moth balls or dirty diapers generally didn't have the best stuff. Avoid at all costs.
B) Grab fast. If you see something you like, just pick it up and then make your decision. Then you won't miss out on a pair of baby Uggs in awesome condition for $10 like I did.
C) Jackpots are best. As you are perusing outfits and see a booth with tons of high end clothing, make sure you check out everything they offer. That's where you'll find awesome accessories and adorable shoes for the baby.
D) Go with a pro. My girlfriend had been to several of these and was so helpful in finding adorable gems for Deuce.
E) Load up on dolla billz. Sellers don't like $20 bills so bring those $1 bills and make it rain.

Cheers for thrifty shopping ya'll!