Livinglovingandexploring!

Hi there!! For anyone who is NEW to coming and visiting my blog, or checking out what I’m all about – I figured I’d do a quick update/reminder! Those are always helpful to me, so why wouldn’t they be helpful here?

I’m a wife of 6+ years to Tyler (IDK WHERE the time goes!). I am a mom to two AMAZING little guys, Declan and Tristan. Declan is 3, but he’ll be 4 in October. Tristan is 2 and he’ll be 3 in January. We *were* members of the 2 under 2 club as they were only 15 months apart, and boy was it fun LOL!

We have 5 cats, and 2 dogs for now. Who knows when that number will change though as we LOVE our pets! 🙂 The cats are all relatives to one another – I got the mom as a kitten about 12 years ago; and she popped out some babies before we had her fixed; so I kept all but 1. Therein, 5 cats LOL. They’re amazing with my boys and some of the five even get along with the dogs and try to cuddle them…which honestly just confuses the dogs. But, it is what it is.

So, the dogs – we have a mini-mix of some sort, Brenna, we thought she was a part pitbull, but recently a vet told us she didn’t have pitbull in her…so I’m no longer sure what she is but she’s about 45 or so pounds and an absolute love bug. She’s incredible, feisty, and we miss her like crazy as she’s currently with my in-laws due to an ACL tear! Meanwhile, Gunner, well, he’s an English mastiff, and he’s GIANT! Most people don’t quite know what to think of him when they see him; some folks think he’s CGI (HAHAHA!); some people want to cuddle him, and yet others are petrified LOL. All depends on who you ask. We adore him!

I am currently working full time, and part-time on this blog as often as I can; though that is challenging at times. My job became remote when COVID came around this year, and the learning curve has been steep trying to maintain a semblance of normal life whilst working AND watching my boys full time. There have been a few downs, but MAJOR ups! I will find a way to never go back into an actual office, one way or another!

We’re also in the process of moving… UGH. I HATE moving. With the unrest, riots, and general craziness that is our world now, we’re moving to a more slow-paced town. It’s only an hour from where we are now, but is infinitely slower and more relaxed. Or as some people I know like to think – it’s a po-dunk town (which couldn’t be further than the truth LOL), but it IS much smaller than the city we’re in now, so I understand the sentiment.

We’re actually coming up on our 2 year anniversary in our current home – as of this upcoming Labor Day weekend. So, we think we’re going to rent a U-Haul or something like that and get out of dodge that weekend. We’ll still have to come up and clean, do the finishing touches, make the lawn presentable, and that sort of thing, but regardless, the time is fast approaching! We’ll be in a new city for the Holidays and I’m honestly excited about it!

I dislike moving away from my immediate family, but fortunately, Tyler and I love to travel, so the measly hour that we’re apart from family is literally nothing. I mean, we once took a two week road trip across the States and stopped at all sorts of interesting places, camped outside, stayed in hotels, had the car break down on us, went to a small town carnival in Northern California, and so many other adventures. Driving is pretty much what we like to do in our free time.

I’m also heavily invested in ColorStreet nails, which I ADORE, and am sooo excited for the fall lineup to come out so I can start showing them off! (If you want to host an online FB party and possibly win some freebies, let me know!)

Now a bit about each of us, if you’re interested. 🙂

Tyler, my hubby, is in his early thirties and works outside, all day, every day. COVID didn’t affect his job very much at all, thankfully! He is an old Irish dancer (we will be teaching our kids someday!), a dog lover (he really isn’t a fan of cats, he just deals with mine LOL), a wonderful dad (the kids adore him, unless he’s tired because then he’s grouchy), a terrible gin player (the card game), and loves to be seated in a good old Irish bar listening to a local band (McGurks, here in St. Louis is his FAVE!)

Declan is 3, but he’ll be 4 in October (I know I’ve said this more than once, but where does the time go?!) and is the most AMAZING little guy. He loves Brenna and ALL five of the cats but is a bit wary of Gunner as he’s so big lol. He JUST became fully potty-trained and we are all THRILLED! We had a bit of a “relapse,” if you will after he had his cardiac procedure done and had to stay in the CICU overnight (but that’s another story all on its’ own). He adores RAWRS (dinosaurs) and he’ll be the first to tell you that he knows everything about them. This is obviously not true, but you’d think by the number of dinosaur videos he watches on YouTube, he’s maybe close LOL. He does know the difference between a tyrannosaurus rex and a pterodactyl, which I think is impressive for being 3. He is also a huge fan of Lightning McQueen and playing with his friends; though Tristan is his BEST friend 🙂 When they’re not fighting. He is my little dude and one of the lights of my life. This world became a better place when he came into it (fighting the whole time I might add – made me have an unplanned C-section, the stinker!)

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Tristan, our 2-year-old, is nothing short of perfection and is THE CRAZIEST HUMAN BEING I KNOW. Considering he was in the NICU for about 3 weeks when he was born, also via C-section since he was over 10 lbs (my doctor didn’t want me split in 2 if I did a v-back LOL), he’s been through hell in his short life so far! Doctors couldn’t identify what exactly the problem was when he was born, and he was in/out of urgent care, emergency rooms, and the PICU since then. It’s been about the past six months I’d say where he’s been relatively “normal,” if that’s even a thing and hasn’t had a crazy amount of visits to doctors. So, hopefully, that was just a phase and he’ll be “good” from here on out lol. Tyler and I are tired of the doctor visits, doctor bills (though honestly, both 2018 and 2019, we hit our deductible within January of each year 🤣🤣🤣), and medicines. That all being said (I could write a book on our doctor visits with these two LOL as Declan was no walk in the park either, but he was NOT in the NICU, thank God!) Tristan loves ALL of the pets, especially Gunner, who he regularly climbs on top of, sits on with his toys, grabs around the neck and hugs. You get the picture 😂. He also is a huge fan of anything Declan has. It can be a transformer or a hanger, and either way, it’s suddenly Tristan’s favorite thing in the world and he must have it immediately! LOL. He mainly growls at people as his greeting and BOY can he give you a glare! Gets it from his momma I suppose 😊!

As you can see, I adore my kids. They’re my world, and I truly can go on and on (and on, etc) about them. I love planning for their birthdays and making them happy. I want them to be outside as often as they can to play in the dirt, play in the sunshine and have fun! We routinely look for bugs, and we’ve started naming off what we think the clouds look like to us (Declan swears one was a rabbit last weekend lol). We’re honestly considering home-school for their futures, but since they’re just 2 and 3 right now, it’s not a decision we have to make immediately. I think a lot of what happens will be due to COVID. We’ll just have to play it out and see how it all turns out down the road. We want them to explore, dive into nature head first and love it! I can’t wait to see how they develop as they get older! I’m sure the attitude will drive me nuts (or to drink) but we shall see!

Then there’s me. I’m also in my early thirties, and I enjoy singing, reading, dancing, playing with my boys, discovering new places (especially National Parks!), and visiting with my family and friends. I love a good glass of Moscato d’asti or a bottle of cider! Christmas is easily my favorite holiday, followed closely by Halloween. I have several totes of decor for each one. Plus, my birthday is a week before Halloween, so that’s a bonus for me. I’m hard to get to know if you don’t already know me, but once you do, I won’t shut up. I’m actually really introverted, but I can put on a good show of being an extrovert without too much trouble (just don’t ask me to get up in front of an audience 👌😜) I had a dream to travel to Ireland someday, and it came true in March of 2019! I can’t wait to go there again (someday!) I love traveling and discovering new places, meeting new people, and getting to know the history of a place! I have a gigantic bucket list that keeps expanding!

My goal is to get this blog up and running proficiently enough to be able to earn an income of some sort from it. I’d love to eventually expand into other things too, but I just take it one day at a time! I am always on the look out for ways to improve! So if you have any suggestions, let me know!

Right now, I’m looking forward to tomorrow being Friday, as this week has been pretty tough. I think this weekend may be a weekend of just relaxing, spending time together and hopefully getting out in the sun a bit! I hope whoever took the time to read this has a fantastic weekend and is doing good themselves! I’d love to get to know you! Feel free to send me an email or a comment!

Love ya,

Kelly Ann

I’ve posted a few other updates on here before and if you’re curious, feel free to check them out, here and here. 😘