You LIKE your mother-in-law?????

I've heard that a lot.

If you know me in real life, you see that I get along with my mother-in-law. 

(If you’ve had a baby, I’m sure I’ve given you an LKB homemade onesie or hat.  If you’ve complimented something I’ve worn, it was probably LKB inspired, or a gift from her.)

My mother-in-law is seriously cool.  I love that about her, but that is not why I love her.

Just 2 of the reason I love LKB are:

• I love her because she loves Ben.
• I love her because she loves Piper.

My faith and my family (both immediate and in-laws) mean more than the world to me.  I know I’m not unique for counting those 2 things as my pillars.  At the same time, I know countless people that don’t get along with their in-laws. 

That would suck.

Ben and I get along with each other’s families.  No, we're certainly not all perfect and we are not all close.  You won't find our families kissing on the lips, holding hands singing kum ba yah, but I think we do both get the importance of family.  Maybe we both need family is a better way of describing it.

Ok, what I’m trying to say, and am finally now getting to (84 paragraphs later) is that I think LKB and I get along for reasons far deeper than our love for home decor and clothing. 

Here are a few of the key things that make our relationship work:

• LKB and I love many of the same people!  (Heck, she birthed and raised Ben and adores Piper.)
• LKB and I both value family.
• LKB and I want our relationship to work because we value family.
• LKB and I have a lot of common interests!

Does LKB think we have too much junk food in our house.  Yes.  Does LKB send me email links condemning pop.  Ugh...Yes.  Does she tell me about her friend's daughter who has never had real sugar.  Yes, frequently. 

Does that bother me?  NO.  Not at all.  We are family and we both want the same thing -  Great, close relationships within our family.

If I had a mother-in-law who wore shoulder padded blazers, drew her lips bigger with lip liner and was a blue grass groupie, I may not have as much in common as her, but I'd hope we'd find a common love, which would be easy since I married their child.

GAP love!

Today 7 of us girls, 4 of whom are 2 and under, hit up the Mall of America together.
I'll introduce you to the mall rats:

LKB - You know her.
Trish - LKB's other daughter-in-law, my sister-in-law and also one of my closest friends.
Finley - Trish's 2 year old, adorable, vivacious little girl.  She and Piper could pass for twins and are BFF's!
Willa - Trish's perfect 2 month old daughter.
Liv - Trish's other perfect 2 month old daughter.
Me - You know me.
Piper - You know her.

The little girls were great - we even made it through a practice lockdown with no tears!

Ok, I need to get on with my point.  GAP GAP GAP! 

Have you been to the Gap lately?  I'm in love!

We started off at Baby Gap.  My goodness.  If I won the lottery or sold many many more Invisible Fences (that's my actual job) I'd have bought the whole store.

The 4 little girls got matching tutus and legging combos.  So cute I can't stand it.

Then we elevatored the double stroller, toddlers and ourselves down to the women's section.

There were bargains galore!  Yes, Bargains at Gap.

We all 3 bought different colors of cardigans on sale for $13.99 each!  Fun colors and everything!  I can't find pics online, but I'll tell you - THEY ARE CUTE!

The only problem is that LKB, Trish and I will have to constantly call each other before getting together to be sure we're not matching.  The little girls, on the other hand, we'll call to make sure they're matching!  :)

Whenever I feel nauseous

(which is all the time since Friday)

I keep thinking of the beautiful reason for this feeling.

If it looks anything like the generic baby above, she/he is sure to be a heartbreaker!



Mother-in-law Girl Fun!!!!

Long ago I got an idea from my friend Mary, who has 11 kids in her family. Lots of sisters, lots of sister-in-laws. They always seemed to have something going on. I remember her telling me, no one ever wanted to leave the party first because then everyone else could talk about them. They are Irish and Italian- and I always wanted to have some of that excitement and closeness.

One very cool thing that Mary's mom started, each year around Mother's Day, all the sisters and sister-in-laws would go out for a special lunch- and NO ONE would miss. They would also have a girls weekend at the cabin. I kept that idea tucked away for when I would have a bigger family. When I finally had 2 daughter-in-laws and 2 daughters we started a Girl's Night out, around Christmas. We would go eat at the mall, or go have our nails done... great fun. We have missed doing this due to babies and other conflicts. So this year we really need to do this again, and I think a better time will be around Mother's Day  when things are not quite so hectic. They are great moms and also I love having the interaction with my younger girls who adore the time we all spend together. So get ready girls.. we have to set a date!

Developing a Complex?

Just 8 months ago I took a picture of my little beauty and noticed a shocking resemblence to Nick Nolte.

Piper has seen the side-by-side pic and gets a real kick out of it.

Last night watching Celebrity Apprentice, whenever she'd see Gary Busey, she'd get all excited and say, "That's me, Piper"! 

Maybe I'll have to do side-by-side pics of Piper and Michelle from Full House.



A Cute Love Story

Once upon a time 2 little girls were adopted from Korea. Their moms became friends and coordinated play dates, birthdays, movies and sleepovers.

It's after one of these sleepovers that this fairy tale really got moving.

Quinci stayed at Nellie's during Christmas break.

 When it was time to return home, our families got together for dinner.

Nellie's older sister Mickey came along for dinner. While at dinner, Quinci's mom asked Mickey if she had a boyfriend. No was the answer!
Quinci's mom said, "you should go out with Ben."
From that moment things took off. Quinci's mom called her son Ben on the way home. Ben called Mickey for a blind date. Mickey said yes!

From then on it was true love.

Ben and Mickey were married On Dec. 5th, 2004

and the rest is history.

Two little girls have been blessed with being more than just girlfriends-

And Dana and Linda still get to go out for lunch!


Happy Birthday Mickey!!!

BIRTHDAY OVERLOAD!

Was everyone born today, or was it just my family?

Have I told you I have the greatest mom?  If I haven't it's because this blog is freshhhhaa!

Well, today is my mom's birthday!

Looks like my mom and LKB could be sisters. 
But then Ben would be my cousin, so no thanks on the sister thing. 

My little brother (who's 100 pounds heavier than I am) has a wife, Krista (who's 100 pounds lighter than I am)!

I love her.  It's her birthday too! 

Coincidentally, it's her identical twin sister's birthday as well.  Ironic or what?

My sister-in-law is the one on the bottom...I think.  :)

Happy Birthday to you 3!

Dorito Lovin'

I've always been attracted to pretty much every single thing about Ben.  He's an easy one to love!

After 6 years of marriage, I realize the more I'm with Ben, the more I love him and find out new things about him to love.

One of my favorite things about Ben, I didn't notice until around year 4 of marriage. 

I'll share:

The manchild starts out eating his Doritos like a civil human being.  Placing between 1 to 3 chips in his mouth, he chews them (crunching slightly too loud, simply because he's enjoying them) at a standard pace.  A few seconds later, Ben will go back for 1 to 3 more, eating them at a standard pace as well.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  And then it gets good...

Looks pretty normal, eh?

Just when I think that boy has had enough chips I realize, oh no, he has NOT had enough!  That point is where the excitement begins.  Ben starts literally whipping Dorito after Dorito after Dorito into his mouth.  It's so fast and so furious you feel like fireworks are going off!

We now call it a "Grand Finale".  He does it every stinking time he has chips. 

Ben even admits this finale wasn't up to par since the chips were basically just crumbs. 
I've gotta get that cute man a fresh bag and get a pic of the finale!

It's charming.  It's endearing.  It's awkward to watch and I LOVE IT!

You all are going to want your significant other to do the same.  :)