Backyard Discovery Playhouse, available via Walmart+.
Walmart+ is a new kind of membership that the Larkin Family has thoroughly enjoyed this year! Why? It saves us so much time and money!
20+ Can’t-Live-Without Walmart+ Products
Why to See Your Doctor Today
Today’s blog post is one of the most important I’ve ever published.
Kitchen Progress: Benjamin Moore Dove Wing
Please excuse the mess, but I finally have a kitchen update for you! Today I’m sharing some photos of the in-progress space. (Unedited because I typically think unedited photos show true color best!)
Everything is Broken All the Time
Mitch here!
As I type, I can think of five independent chores that I need to do. It often feels like I run around my house all day, attempting to fix things at the same rate that my family can break them. (Which is surprisingly fast, and probably why I can never keep up.) Can anyone relate to this?! 😆 EVERYTHING IS BROKEN ALL THE TIME. To make matters worse, I’m the least handy guy you’ll ever meet, and my repair jobs usually just cause further damage.
10 Things, 5/10
One of our favorite engagement photos by my friend Rachel! Mitch proposed on May 4th, and while we don’t really celebrate the day, there’s always something special about it. Love you, Mitch.
Grab you coffee! Here are the first 10 things that come to mind.
Mitch’s Smart Home
Mitch here!
As on of the dorkier dudes on the internet, I’ve taken it on myself to internet-enable every corner of my home. And, to the surprise of my wife, I’m here to report that it’s all working well and totally worth the effort.
Take that, Kelly!
Kelly here. I feel like my initial reluctance to “go smart” in our home requires a BIT of explanation. Cough, cough. Mitch attempted several of these projects in our first place, and we were left with giant holes in our walls for years. Sooooooo… 😆 This time, though, things went a lot more smoothly, and I really love the smart features!
Carry on. ;)
Okay, fine. This is true.
Playlist #9
IT’S PATIO SEASON! Well, it was. And then it left. But such is life in Chicago. It’ll be back!
I have this very vivid memory from last spring:
We were in the throes of the pandemic, and Mitch and I had just put the girls to bed and escaped to the back patio for a glass of wine. Things were feeling so heavy, and it was difficult to talk about the state of the world—let alone process it—with two small children at home 24/7. We’d fallen into the routine of debriefing and collecting ourselves “after hours,” but every few days, we needed a true escape from it all.
On this particular (unseasonably warm) night, Mitch turned up the tunes and we just sat on the couch, reminiscing. Not in sad “we miss our old lives kind of way; just a “we’re very lucky” kind of way. And it lifted our spirits and carried us through the next few days.
Thankfully, we’re in such a different place right now. Far less fear, way more hope! And we have so much to look forward to this spring and summer. But I might be most excited about getting those little husband/wife patio escape sessions back. Sitting… talking about life… under the stars… Noodle curled up between us… with these songs playing softly in the background. A little magic.
Lucy’s Delivery Story
Happy second birthday to our Lucy Jane! ♥️ I really don’t know how we got here. *Sniffle.* To think that we assumed a second child wasn’t in the cards, and then along came our beautiful Lucy.
(We struggled to get and stay pregnant for a long time, and ended up going the infertility route to have Emma. Two years later, I showed up in complete and utter shock at my doctor’s with another positive pregnancy test, looking for an explanation. My doctor said that the first pregnancy likely repaired my uterine lining—sorry, TMI—which made the second pregnancy possible. 😭)
So today we feel incredibly grateful and lucky. Lucy, you are perfect, and we love you so, so much! Happy birthday, Goose!
New Spring Outfits
Cashmere Tee / Demi-Boot White Jeans (See all Demi-Boot jeans here. Favorite cut!) / Metallic Sandals (Heeled version here!) / Raffia Camera Bag (All camera bags here! I particularly love the “Pale Sand” one.) / Liberty Headband / Lucy’s Liberty Jumpsuit
We had another taste of spring in Chicago the other day, so we grabbed Lucy and headed downtown for an outdoor lunch in the Triangle!
10 Last-Minute Amazonable Mother’s Day Gifts
One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten
Mitch here!
Bad news. Mother’s Day is THIS SUNDAY and you totally forgot. Don’t worry, so did I. Unfortunately, my wife and my mom haven’t forgotten. But, fortunately, Amazon Prime exists and can solve the problem for both of us right now.
Let’s get to it.