Family

  • Family,  Katie Marie

    Mom Shaming

    Mom-shaming…it is something has become WAY too prominent.  I’ve been mom-shamed too many times to count.  For some reason, everyone has an opinion and they think they need to voice it.  I have totally been a mom-shamer as well.  It is easy to jump to conclusions and assume the worst.  What prompted me to write this post was my beautiful, intelligent cousin.  She tweeted about a mom who seemed would rather play a game on her phone than give her children any attention.  The things she was writing that this mom was saying…well let’s just say if I were the one overhearing her I would’ve totally stepped in.  But my…

  • Family

    Gifts for Him-Father’s Day Ideas

    We all have someone special in our lives that is a father figure; whether it is your own father, a father-in-law, grandpa, husband, partner, coach, teacher…someone to look up to and give you advice and unconditional love.  With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, I wanted to share some of my picks for gifts.  And if the man/men in your life are just as difficult to shop for as my husband and dad; then this post will really come in handy.  While I am a little late in the game for posting, these gifts would be appropriate for any occasion. One of my most favorite gifts I gave Mr. Man…

  • Family

    So Long Kindergarten

    Photo Credit: The Photo Guys I just can’t believe Yo-Man graduated kindergarten today.  It seems like yesterday he was insisting on only peeing outside…and constantly asking to play hide-and-seek.  He’s constantly making me laugh at the same time challenging my patience.  Yo flew into our lives on May 14th, 2012.  His due date was the 13th, which happened to be Mother’s Day but decided to torture me and wait another day.  When he did decide to evict himself he was out in a little over 3 hours.  Scared the crap out of me and my epidural didn’t even kick in until he was already born.  I kept yelling at the…

  • Family

    Kid Laughs-Jokes and Riddles

    Camping in McCall, ID 2015 Believe it or not, growing up I was a rather serious kid.  I would offend easily and dished out a lot more than I could take.  It wasn’t until I started dating Mr. Man when I began to change.  He is such a tease and totally changed me.  He taught me how to laugh at myself and to live in the moment instead of worrying about all of the ‘what-ifs’.  He has definitely passed that along to the Amigos.  I’ve never been around a sillier bunch of boys.  Half of the time they don’t even mean to be silly.  They love jokes, riddles and to…

  • Family

    My Road to Motherhood

    Growing up I was not one of those girls who fantasized about getting married and becoming a mom.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry and have children; I just assumed it would happen when it happened.  I grew up with an amazing mother, one who has been a wonderful example to me, which is probably partly why I just assumed I would be a mom someday.  My mom would have snacks ready at the kitchen table for my siblings and I  every day after school and we would sit, complete our homework, and tell her about our day.  When I did think about my future and when I would…

  • Family

    Mother’s Day Gifts

    Every mom loves feeling appreciated, especially on Mother’s Day; but trying to decide on what to get mom can be difficult.  There is always the easy, predictable route of flowers, chocolates or chocolate covered fruit and a card.  Or…you can maybe be a little creative this Mother’s Day. I absolutely love taking baths.  It gives me an opportunity to decompress and not be bothered by kiddos for a while.  Bath bombs and bubble bath are definitely a favorite.  Bath bombs have become so popular that they can be found at Target, Walmart, Walgreens etc.  But if you want to make the mom in your life to feel special, Lush has an…

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    Summer Fun

    I am always looking for fun…yet cheap things to do with my kids during summer.  Not much else is more annoying when kids constantly whine and say things like ‘what are we going to do today?’  Or ‘I’m bored mom, what can I do?’  And like the good mom that I am…whenever any of my amigos says something along those lines I follow it up with ‘well, there is laundry that needs to be folded and toilets and showers that need to be scrubbed.’  A personal philosophy of mine is a toilet can never be scrubbed too many times…especially when 5 boys live under 1 roof. When my kids’ school…

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    Battling Infertility

    Rewind 15 years and you will find a very different Katie Marie.  Within my first year of marriage, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome).  At the time it wasn’t completely detrimental news.  Mr. Man and I were still college students and weren’t looking to start a family until at least one of us had our bachelor’s degree and started a career with health benefits.  Receiving the diagnosis of PCOS wasn’t something I thought about too much until a year after when we decided we wanted to begin trying to start a family.  After a lot of medical testing, 2 major moves with the Air Force, and some pretty physically…

  • Family

    Chore Charts

    I am a list maker…I have a compulsive need to check things off, I even add tasks I’ve already completed to my list just to check it off.  My planner is filled to the brim with lists.  So…it only makes sense to force my check-list compulsion on my boys.  Of course, it has absolutely nothing to do with the little issue of the amigos having selective hearing and a mom who is super tired of repeating herself over…and over…and over……… I even went all out this time with the charts and had them laminated.  Now to make sure the novelty of them don’t wear off too quickly with the 3 amigos.…

  • Family

    Rhys Christian-The Caboose

    Rhys’ story began long before he was born.  After YoYo joined our family, I knew we still had one little spirit up in heaven waiting to come down to us.  As the years went on that feeling would not leave me.  The catch is, I really don’t like being pregnant.  If children came by a stork, I would have 12 kiddos, but, alas, they don’t.  It wasn’t that I had overwhelmingly hard pregnancies in the past, I just don’t enjoy sharing my body.  Most women love the feeling of the baby moving around inside.  Not me, every time the baby moved all I could envision was the scene from the…