Happy Birthday USA

its that time of year again. 

fireworks, hotdogs, cut off jeans, snow cones and que the angles...parades.

gabe is in crazy patriotic heaven!

 and mr. mac is following suit and catching the fever!

he was a little hesitant as the procession of police motorcycles did a synchronized little diddy right in front of us with sirens and horns blazing.

but he soon realized with each passer bye, loud or otherwise, came candy

and seemed to adjust pretty quickly!!

. 

 its hard to believe that its mid summer of 2014 and its been a whole year since July 4th of 2013

life continues to rocket past, we've had big changes in the last 365 days, enter babe number 3. 

but some things never change and one of those things is the fact that

I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

I love this country and the opportunities it allows me and my kids. 

so as we throw down another chili cheese dog

we will try to take a moment or five or six

and remember those who have made it possible to live this amazing life. 

to all those who serve, have served and will serve our country,

THANK YOU!!

2 & 4

 what happens when you tell your nana that you want a super hero cake for your birthday?

i bet she goes to costco or wally world and orders some subpar number with an iron on like screen print of your favorite masked hero laid carefully on top of a boring old rectangular cake. 

enter nana nancy, cake decorator extraordinaire!

i really should be doing a post solely about this cake, 

she is really setting the bar high for the many birthdays ahead  

and while i think it deserves its very own post

i have to get down the deets on the birthdays before they escape me. 

so the MOST AMAZING CAKE OF ALL TIME will have to share the spotlight.

these two birthday boys are freaking awesome!!!

I'm so glad, almost every second, that they are mine!! ;)

although i'm not sure how i have a 4 year old and a 2 year old 

when i only gave birth to them not 2 seconds ago. 

  i wanted to get gabe and mac matchy matchy jammies one last time

since gabe is fast growing out of the Toddler sizes and entering the S, M, L, XL part of life,

where its not easy to find the same prints as the "baby" clothes. 

i had no choice but to also snag a pair for the littlest little, 

because nothing is more nauseatingly cute then bothers all zipped up in the same get up!

and then there's the small detail of

 using the excuse to have left over cake for breakfast on Macs actual birthday!!

(i was so glad he complied cuz i would have hated to celebrate alone)

*

happy birthday big and middle!

i love you more then just a little! 

(thank you, thank you, i'm here all week)

Six Months of Pure Pax Pleasure!

 how delicious is this kid!!

i mean seriously. i can NOT get enough of him.

he is the happiest baby to ever luge down to planet earth and if i'm being quiet honest i think he might be the cutest!! 

 this kid is proof that God will not give you more then you can handle.

he is a breath of fresh air. 

i imagine having him as a baby is what it would be like to have a girl. 

(put down the weapons, i realize some of you may have a little girl that is extra challenging, but from my observations, most baby girls are pretty chill at least 50% of the time)

see with my first 2 i still haven't experienced "chill" any percentage of time.

i love them madly, but chill, they are not!

then this kid comes along...

and i understand what it means to sit through a church meeting with a baby on your lap that holds still and its not because they are sleeping. 

i understand what a peaceful car ride is,

(when its just me and him)

 or how some parents take their baby to the movies or out to dinner with them

and they just sit there in their car seat with their slobbery toy as happy as can be. 

  i never understood those things before.

i just thought all people with babies or toddlers lived a crazy, loud, chaotic, non-stop, energizer bunny kind-a life. 

and if they had their little ones in tow and they were quiet and happy 

they must have been heavily medicating them,

because there was just no other way they could be acting so, i don't know, lovely?

but it turns out,

some kids have a "low" switch

because this kid is mellow jello and totally awesome.

I'm thinking people who have a whole gaggle of kids must have babies just like this one 

because if i was guaranteed to have more little pax men, well, i would go get myself knocked up right now. 

just sayin...

his smile, cheeks, lashes, belly laugh, green eyes, dark hair, and squishableness are all just a big bonus. 

 we love you little Paxy Poo i think we'll keep ya around!

Eggs and Engagements

i promise its easter and not a photo shoot.

but it may as well be. 

i mean look at all these beautiful people. 

i'm actually not sure why we haven't been contacted by whoever takes the pictures that come in the really expensive frame, when you buy them. 

because 8x10's would be flying off the shelves everywhere and we would be fake family for people all over america.

it may take a couple shots, but you can't rush perfection!

and on a completely unrelated note,

this is CLASSIC Mac these days.

his facial expressions and excitement kills me. 

the easter bunny nailed it, as you can see. 

i mean, a mickey mouse sucker?!

can life get any better!!

well... yes, yes it can, because we also get to add another lovely lady to the family.

my bro austin tricked this awesome girl into joining crazy town on October 11th.

hooray for new sisters!!

i need more girls in my life. 

happy easter!!

gold medal

i was out on a run the other day pushing the double stroller with 2 sick babes who desperately needed some fresh air and no music because i needed to be able to hear their little whines and whimpers

when i passed one of my neighbors on the trail,

she said as she ran past sporting her iPod and solitude

"running with a double stroller, you deserve a medal"

and you know what kept going through my mind for the rest of my run... 

 how YES, YES i did deserve a medal. 

not because i was out running, which was more for my sanity then anything.

but because i was going on week 3 of ear infections and RSV and bronchiolits and breathing treatments and antibiotics and vomit and fevers and the dreaded man cold

 (visit http://www.ashleyandamber.com/2014/03/manfreakincold.html for more info on that) 

but because i had not gone out for milk and kept on going.

and that my friends is why ALL OF US MOMS out there deserve a medal

at some time or another.

and not just any old medal, a GOLD. FREAKING. MEDAL.

because we keep waking up and showing up.

and coming back for more. 

no matter what!

i could be all "melt your heart, these three boys are my gold medals and i don't need anything more"

because they are all pretty dang fantastic and i don't know what else could be better then being a mom to these monsters, sick or healthy.

but sometimes, whether we want to admit it or not,

WE WANT MORE

nobody said to Michael Phelps or Joan Benoit. 

You are stupendous at what you do..... good job... keep it up... see ya around!!

NO, they are handed a freaking medal.

and yes i realize i'm never going to stand on a podium while the national anthem plays and be handed a shiny piece of hardware for being the best mom to play the sport!!

but i'm going to show up and lace up and do my very very best for these little men

cuz when all is said and done they really are better then any gold medal. 

but i still went and bought myself something bright and shiny 

as a reward for not putting 500 miles of open road between me and my 4 sick boys.

and for the record if i was gonna have a theme song playing while i handed myself these new kicks

it would be

"EYE OF THE TIGER" or anything from the original "FOOT LOOSE" sound track!

*

 KEEP 

CALM

AND

MOM

ON

*