our favorite posts of all time

it's hard to believe that it's been four years since we started this blog. what began as a place for our close friends to share recipes or see what to register for when having a baby has grown into a thriving community of people worldwide that we consider an extension of our own families.

the past four years in each of our lives have brought about many stories.....some make us laugh and others have made us cry....but all have made us grow and learn.

here are our favorite posts of all time. thank you for coming along on this journey with us. we are thankful for each of you and look forward to sharing many more stories to come. 

xoxo-
heather and genelle


genelle's favorites:

the third boob: the story that started it all
all great things in life have to start somewhere. our list wouldn't be complete without this post. it gave us our name and has been the story we re-tell over and over again everywhere we go. why "the third boob?" this is why.

never-had-a-baby-body
this was our first post to be featured on "scary mommy" and it stirred up a ton of conversation and controversy. we hand never been called "fat slobs who sit on the couch eating french fries all day" before this post was published. you've gotta love a good discussion starter!

failing as a mother
there are certain posts that are so vulnerable that it is like getting a snap shot of our lives at a given moment. this was one of those posts for us. it was extremely hard to write, painful still to read and it touches moms everywhere who are walking through this journey of parenthood.

the day my boobs betrayed me
there are some #reallife moments that are just hysterical. they are too good not to share. this was one of those moments. it still makes me laugh every time i read it.

my days are numbered
even with all the funny stories and very difficult moments, there are days when it hits you. time moves way too quickly. when one of our 20 something guy readers said this post made him cry, we know we had something that resounded with many.



heather's favorites:

my sparkling truth: confessions, a single mama and the road trip
if we decide to do a sponsored post, we do so only if we love the product already and if it fits within a story we want to tell. this product fit both and was the first time heather wrote about the changes that were taking place in her family. it was scary, and the support you all showed her will never be forgotten.

why i killed my ex-husband
you can't get more raw or honest then this. it's still hard for us to read but in truth there is beauty and a future. 

heather's 40 things i've learned in 40 years
genelle's 40 things i've learned in 40 years

we both turned 40 this past december and wrote these posts. we have been friends for 20 years and although we are so alike in so many ways we are also so different. if you want to get to know us, we think these posts give a great insight to who we are and how we think. 

grief, loss, acceptance and love

sadly, at this stage of life, we don't think we even know one person whose life hasn't been touched by cancer. this is one story of how it changed heather's life. 

my 20th high school reunion: to go or not to go....that was the question

did you go to your high school reunion? heather had the hardest time deciding if she should go or not. find out what she decided and how it turned out. 

diy-- photo canvas alarm panel cover

we can't think of a post that makes us laugh more. no, diy projects are not funny. what is hilarious is that heather had put zero thought into this post. she snapped a couple photos of something she had done in her house and put it up on this place called pinterest.....and it exploded. to date, this is the single most read post on our blog of all time and gets hits daily even now. it's the gift that just keep giving? apparently, if you want a post to go viral you put in zero though and slap it up onto pinterest. hilarious, but we love the love and appreciate it so much. 

the worst memories

there are some days i will never forget for all the worst reasons. i will never forget where i stood in my classroom as a teacher on 9/11. i will never forget sitting on a soccer field as the ground started rolling during the california earthquake of 1989. my grandparents could recall in detail the news of the bombing of pearl harbor. certain moments are stamped indelibly in our minds.

for me, one more moment is forever etched in my mind. i was pregnant for the first time and my husband and i had embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. we had moved to cartagena, colombia for my husband's job and were living temporarily in the amazingly beautiful santa clara hotel. at about 3:30 in the morning of april 6th, we were woken by a phone call. i was closest to the phone and, in my sleepy stupor, did not even register that a phone call at that hour could possibly mean something horrible. as i tried to clear the sleepy fog from my brain, my father-in-law started speaking. his words were short and to the point. phil, my husband's younger brother, had been working an extra detail that night at his job as a sheriff's deputy. he was shot. he is dead. he was 25. i sat there trying to comprehend the words and then took in the weight of it all. the most distressing fact for me at that moment was that i had to pass the phone to my husband knowing the news before him and wishing with everything in me i could shield him from what he was about to hear. i looked over at him beside me, now awake in the bed and before i passed the phone to him, whispered the words, "i am so sorry." the memory of that moment still takes my breath away. 

this weekend marked eleven years since that night. eleven years of missing someone. eleven christmases. eleven birthdays. countless moments of wondering what he would be like today. i still find myself longing to pick up the telephone and call him up to chat and laugh. he was more than my brother-in-law, he was my friend and i miss him. i can't, however, even claim to know a bit of the loss my husband has suffered. so, each anniversary comes along and again, all i can ever really think to say is, "i am so sorry." it seems silly and inadequate and yet, nothing i say could ever fill the hole left by his death. 

a few years ago, we decided to work on filling up some of the holes surrounding the anniversary day with good things. we fill up the day with joy and happy moments for our family. my husband typically takes the day off of work and we fill it with activities. this weekend meant we filled it with a trip to the donut shop with the kids. a trip to build bird feeders at home depot. dinner with friends and neighbors. a movie night out. the day was filled with hugs and kisses, sunshine, conversation. we fill the day with life and family in honor of someone who is still a part of ours. somehow, bringing fun to a horrible day turns it around. i can imagine phil in all of the moments of our day, laughing with his niece and nephews, talking with his brother, enjoying it all. we had so many april 6th's in a row that were filled with so much sadness. there is something redeeming in filling years of april 6th's with something more. 

and so, we will continue to do so. we will continue to remember him and miss him while loving on our kids. we will play and laugh and hug and kiss more than we normally do. we will fill the day with life and remember him in all the greatest ways. we will remember to keep living. i think phil would love that.