The fountain at the mall

Both of the twins chose the same suit and rash guard, despite there being about half a dozen fun choices.  I was surprised with the one they picked, but I like it, and it will be cute on them.  I thought they might pick the ones with surfboards, sharks, or even skulls instead of crabs.  And then I found a whale set for Bacon that was just so adorable that I had to buy it- so now I’ll be returning the set I bought him the other day!

I bought the girls suits the other day, and wow, Lili looks way too old.  I need to put her in a big shapeless sack or something!  I do need to find them coverups, I didn’t have much luck at the mall today.  I even bought myself a bathing suit, because the only one I could seem to find that fits is a maternity one.

I think we’re ready for summer now!

One of our favorite fast food places is Arby's. I love the variety of foods they offer, and that it's different than the standard burger and fries. My personal favorite are the loaded potato wedges- they are SO tasty. I also love the Market Fresh sandwiches and wraps for when I don't feel like roast beef.

They are always adding new things to the menu- and right now they have two new King's Hawaiian sandwiches! This new twist to the classic Roast Beef sandwich is only going to be around for a limited time, so be sure to try one soon! According to Arby's, one bite you'll experience Rost-Beef-atopia! Roast Beef Paradise!

The Arby’s KING’S HAWAIIAN roast beef sandwich comes with an extra helping of freshly sliced roast beef piled high on a soft ans slightly sweet King's Hawaiian bun. And the Arby's King's Hawaiian Roast Beef & Swiss sandwich has the same extra helping of roast beef and King's Hawaiian bun, but is topped with Swiss cheese, crunchy pickles and cream Dijon spread.

But that's not all- to celebrate this awesome pairing of Arby's and King's Hawaiian, Arby's is hosting a Hawaiian Getaway sweepstakes! Someone is going to get the chance to surf in paradise- the grand prize winner will receive a round trip for two with four nights stay in Honolulu, and a premium group lesson at Hawaiian Fire, one of the island's premier surf schools. For details and to enter Arby’s Hawaiian Getaway Sweepstakes, go to www.ArbysKingsHawaiian.com from April 29- May 26.

BUT I’m all moved, and everything should be up and running now, so it’s back to blogging!  I figured today was as good a day as any to catch up on my Insta-Whatever-Day-of-the-Week posts.

As you can see, I got a fun new app that lets me add text and doodles to my pics, and I’m kind of addicted to doctoring them up…

Being a mom is scary, especially with your first baby.  I remember being released from the hospital 24 hours after giving birth to Ethan, and I just couldn’t believe that they were letting me take another human being home, and that I was responsible for meeting every single one of his needs.  I’d never even changed a baby’s diaper when I had him, and they wanted me to do things like bathe his slippery little squirmy newborn body?  They trusted me to know when he needed to be fed, changed, burped?  I was so afraid I would do something wrong to break him.

There I was, barely more than a kid myself, living 18 hours away from my own mom for the first time, and it was overwhelming!  I went into labor 4 weeks early, and hadn’t even read the last chapter of ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ yet- I thought I still had time.  My mom is a school teacher, and I was due right at the end of the school year, and she had plans to come down and stay with me for the last week or two of my pregnancy so she’d be there when I went into labor and could help me during those first few weeks of new motherhood.  But because he came so early, she still had two weeks of classes left!

Luckily  she was able to take some vacation time and she hopped on a plane as soon as I found out that Ethan was indeed making his debut that day.  She missed the birth, but thankfully arrived just in time for me to be released from the hospital.  I don’t know what I would have done without her- I had no idea how to breastfeed, what normal post-partum bleeding looked like, or how to properly swaddle a newborn.  Without her encouragement and support, I would have been a basket case.

This is why I think JOHNSON’S Baby CARES program is so important! Moms need that reassurance from other mothers, to know that they’ve been there, and that you’re doing OK.  Sending a card and letting someone know that they are doing a good job can brighten their day, and let them know they’re not alone in this crazy parenting club.  And since this program is partnered with Save the Children, it’s the perfect way not just to reach out to one of your mom friends, but also to help other moms and kids in need!  That’s because for every card sent, shared or liked, JOHNSON’S Baby will donate $1.00 to Save the Children, up to $150,000, to benefit early childhood education.

So send those cards!  I know we all have days where something so simple as an e-card can make all the difference!

SO!  On to fun stuff.  Bacon!  Yesterday, Logan turned FIVE months old!  How the heck did that even happen?  This was the first time he was super cooperative with our little amateur photo session, and we had a blast.  I took a few with the Tonka truck from his newborn fail shoot, just to show how big he’s gotten.  (Chunky butt is up to 13 and half pounds already!)  He was much happier this time to pose with the truck, even if I couldn’t get him to sit in it again.

Now if only he’d sleep through the night… or at least only wake up once and then go back to sleep instead of waking up and screaming for two hours…

Planning for retirement is not something you think you need to worry about when you’re in your 30′s but Aaron is only a few years out from being eligible for military retirement.  It’s starting to sink in that we’re going to have to leave the security of being an active duty family.  The Marine Corps has provided us with certain comforts- for example, we don’t have to worry if we can afford medical care.  This has been especially wonderful with my high risk pregnancies and Ryan’s cancer treatments.

To be perfectly honest, Aaron and I are the worst when it comes to managing our money.  Neither one of us are even remotely prepared for this upcoming life change.  We aren’t knowledgeable at all as to what it’s going to entail, and what is going to be different for us.  I recently read an article called 7 Tips for People Planning to Retire in 2013 and realized just how completely unprepared we are.  We need to stop  living paycheck to paycheck, but it’s so hard to find the extra money to put away!

We won’t be the typical retiring age, and Aaron hopes to continue working for the DoD as a civilian once he retires from the Marine Corps.  So this confuses me even more- I don’t know what tips and tricks relate to us and what are only applicable to those retiring at age 65+.  I’ve come to the conclusion that what we really need to do is to sit down with someone who can advise us.  We need more than just the military’s career planner, we need a real financial adviser.

Genworth Financial offers long term care insurance, life insurance and retirement solutions to help people secure their financial lives, families, and futures.  Through their site, I was able to find a list of questions to ask a financial adviser about retirement.  It is a great place to springboard and figure out what we need to start looking into our future.

 Have you started planning for retirement? 

I know we just celebrated Mother’s Day, but really we should take the time to appreciate our moms (and other family members!) more than one day out of the year.  Johnson & Johnson recently launched their For All You Love campaign which celebrates the selfless and unconditional caring of caregivers, and all the ways they care for those they love.  During this campaign, J&J is also planning on donating $25K to Save the Children because they recognize their commitment to the health and well being of both kids and moms world wide.

If you haven’t seen it already, you can watch the introductory ad for this great campaign right here:

As a mom, I put my kids needs before my own on a daily basis.  From staying up way too late and sacrificing sleep to go pick up the teen from a friend’s house, to buying someone else ‘the most awesome pair of shoes’ when mine are falling apart, to not going to the bathroom when I really have to because a baby is FINALLY asleep on my chest, putting their needs before mine is a regular occurrence.  Having kids changes you, and having eight really means you lose part of yourself- although I love every minute of it and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I think back to when I was a kid, and how I never had a doubt in my mind that my mom loved me and would do anything for me.  My childhood memories are happy ones, and  I try every day to create the same sort of feelings of being loved, safe and happy for my kids.  I hope I’m able to do so, and I hope they look back on their growing years with as many good thoughts as I do.

This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, Johnson’s established Baby Cares Care Cards, which are digital cards encouraging moms to share positive messages and encouragement with other moms- while supporting Save the Children at the same time.    I know Mother’s Day has passed, but you can still help- just pick and share a card at Johnson Baby Cares and share it on Facebook.  For each one sent, shared or liked, Johnson’s will donate a dollar to Save the Children (up to $150,000).  This money goes to benefit early childhood education programs that foster education and reassurance for new moms- so not only will these cards spread encouragement to the moms you send them to, but they’ll also facilitate moms in need with the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully support their own kids!

After a handful of outtakes, we were able to settle on one where all eight kids (for the most part) looked nice and normal, and where you can see all of their faces.  We had Walmart’s one hour photo print it in an 8×10 and grabbed a frame when we went to pick it up.  I’m so happy to have an updated picture of the kids on my wall, next to Spoon.  (Because where else would I put my kids?)

Our house came with a big garden out front- but unfortunately, neither Aaron or I have any knowledge in gardening.  But Ethan took it upon himself this weekend to attempt to figure out what were weeds and what were flowers, and he spent a good long time working out there to make it look nice.  He also brought me an adorable teacup with flowers in it for Mother’s Day.

Once the sun started setting on Sunday night, Aaron pulled out the fire pit and we made s’mores.  The twins were especially excited about it, and as nerve-wracking as it is to have two 3 year olds near an open flame, it was a lot of fun.  Bacon even had a little lick of a marshmallow.

It was a good weekend.  Relaxing, low key, and spent with all of my favorite people.

I’m a HUGE Dunkin’ Donuts coffee fan, and one look at my activity on Foursquare or even my Instagram feed will prove it.  So when I was given the opportunity to host a Dunkin’ Donuts in-home party to share the three new spring flavors (Coconut, Strawberry Shortcake & Triple Berry) with some of my friends, I jumped at the chance.

Since moving to NJ, I haven’t had the chance to make many new friends, however, there are several people that I’ve known for years through various online groups who are now close enough to meet up with in person.  I figured this was the perfect time to invite some of them over for coffee and a playdate with the kids!  We ended up with 8 kids under the age of 5 at my house, and it was a blast.

Everyone who came brought snacks as well, and I really wish I’d thought to take a photo of just how much fun food there was!  Instead, we were too busy sipping on our coffees and having adult conversation.  I didn’t even think to take a photo of all the kids that were there- but I did manage to snap a couple cute ones of Logan entertaining the little ladies.

Out of the three new flavors, Coconut was by far the favorite for everyone who tried them.  It’s delicious both iced and hot.  All three flavors are available at your grocery store- but only for a limited time- so hurry up if you would like to try them.  And don’t forget to stock up on your favorite, since it won’t be around forever!

Strawberry Shortcake Dunkin’ Donuts coffee & a strawberry cupcake?  Perfect breakfast after dinner treat.

These flavors are great for the spring and summer, the same way I find the pumpkin and gingerbread perfect for fall and winter.  Tasty both hot and iced, you can’t go wrong with such versatile blends.

Not so very long ago, social media, smart phones, and all of the technology we take for granted didn’t exist.  Kids played outside and read books instead of playing video games and surfing the web.  And no one gave a second thought to leaving the house for a day and with no way for people to get in touch with them!  Now, the idea of leaving home without your phone and not checking in on family and friends is almost absurd.

This Mother’s Day, MetLife is challenging everyone to take part in their #SocialBlackout movement.  Instead of updating Facebook with your Mother’s Day activities, or adding pics to your Instagram feed, we should be giving our moms the undivided attention they deserve as we spend quality time together.

To learn more about MetLife’s #socialblackout initiative, you can check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/metlife

You can find the #socialblackout information right here: http://on.fb.me/ZHDxFu

If you have a lot of kids like we do, especially those that are teens and fully immersed in their technology, this is a great initiative.  I’m sure many families have a hard time communicating with each other at times.  People get immersed in their phones, tablets, and laptops and it’s almost as if you have to text them when they’re in the same room just to get an answer!

We don’t have specific plans this year for Mother’s Day.  My mom is visiting for the weekend, and we just want to hang out and relax, and maybe shop.  I think we’ll end up going out to eat at some point- probably Saturday since everything will be so crowded on Sunday.  I’d also like to get a new photo of ALL of my kids together, but who knows if there will be cooperation!

What are your Mother’s Day plans?