like a child.

Kuddos if my title made you sing the Backstreet Boys song.

Like the rest of the world, I love the weekends.

Weekends are awesome because it breaks me out of my normal weekday routine, which can be a ltitle exhausting.

My job is not demanding at all, but the commute plus the whole mom thing at the end of the day can be a little tough.

I don't have to drive all over the place on the weekends and that part I really love.

More than anything, I love relaxing with Stevie.

Watching him play, standing for 30 minutes while he runs back and forth with his cars through my legs over and over again, making breakfast, taking naps together (sometimes), etc.

Stevie time is the BEST time.

This weekend, I got to spend time with my nieces.

We ate sloppy joes, bacon cheddar home fries, and made cake batter bars.

I didn't count calories like I normally do and I really enjoyed watching the girls play with Stevie.

Alexis and Stevie are SO LOUD when they are together; they run around screaming for no reason at all.

I absolutely love it!

It's my favorite kind of loud.

When Stevie went to bed, we said goodnight to Big Steve (and gave him some super awesome goodnight hugs and kisses) and had girl time.

By girl time, I mean we watched the Justin Bieber movie in bed.

Say what you will, but that JB is one talented little sucker.

He gave me the fever all over again.

The whole time they were over, I just kept thinking how quickly we grow up.

When I first became 'involved' with the Schumann family, Alexis just turned 1! 

Now she is 6 and Ashley is on her way to being a teenager!

I miss being a kid.

Maybe that's why I refuse to give up my love of boy bands/pretty boys, girly nailpolish, and choreographing songs.

I keep wanting to tell Ashley to just be a kid, but I know she won't understand.

I remember a time when I just wanted to grow up and move out.

I never thought for a second that I'd want to go back to my sunflower bedroom that I shared with my sister, lay on the top bunk, and stare at my Backstreet Boys posters that covered my walls and ceiling.

I never thought that I'd miss my mom nagging me to clean or my sisters yelling at me for wearing their clothes.

But, boy do I miss it.

I made a pact with myself before Stevie was born that I would always let him just be a kid.

The same way my mom did.

Sure, we had chores, but we were really lucky kids.

My mom and step dad used to fight, but I remember distinctly that they hid it very well; until I got old enough realize what was going on, I thought they were the best couple ever.

My mom never laid her 'grown up problems' on us.

We knew we didn't have a lot of money growing up, but we never knew how hard it probably was on my mom.

I played with Barbies through middle school and believed in Santa until I was like 15.

It was the best!

So, I will let Stevie be a kid for as long as I possibly can.

He doesn't need to hear his mom and dad fight, he doesn't need to know that I've had a bad day.

He just needs to play and have fun.

As for me...

I will continue channeling my inner child by painting my nails pink with sparkles.