Success

Im not saying transition has happened just yet, but little man slept in his bed last night! Aaaaand both kids slept til almost 8. The mattress was just on the floor because we didn't get to finish setting up the bed, but he only cried for 10 minutes before going to sleep.

Did I mention that the night before he climbed out of his crib in the middle of the night? So, pretty much I know how my kids work and what they're all about.

And ikea is my definition of a love/hate relationship. Ugh, that place is awesome, but really the worst. Trying to buy a lamp is a nightmare. And buying two is like pouring shards of glass in my eyes.

Happy Saturday!

big head

this is katelyn, one of my kids i babysit. shes a cutie for sure. we bonded great at first, went through a rough patch for a while, and now are on great terms again. we have an understanding now. shes close to bubba's height, but very petite, and extremely girly. 

her parents think she has a big head.... and one day they dropped her off wearing this. i didnt think it was that big until that day. 

Hungry boy

Loooove the very hungry caterpillar. Bubba-love does too. And the doggies outside playing in two inches of snow.

that's right. Haters complained enough, and got some stinking snow. I was rather enjoying my balmy fifty degrees, no coats, windows down and sunshine,thankyouverymuch. I was starting to think it was April. I'll just keep de-junking anyways I guess. Not that anyone can tell....

Only child

I think bubba monster likes all the attention, with not having his sister around. And getting to play with whatever toy he wants. He's been going from toy to toy, thrilled that mama lets him play and doesn't try and take anything away. And he slept in, waaaaay past his normal wake up. But I think he misses his sister. Sorry for all the one-photo posts. Promise lots of good ones are forth coming. Mi madre has my memory card. I'll snatch it next week! Someone has to pick up Claire....

Missing

this little blondie. I heard she was in texas, with an aunt, grandparents, and two puppies. Anybody seen her?

Rule breaking

I said I would never ever ever buy a pair of skinny jeans. And here I am, wearing them at 6+ months prego-licious. What was I thinking??? Oh yeah, that they fit inside my boots. Yes.

Did you know?

I absolutely hate having my picture taken. Choc chip cookies are my weakness. For not being a stellar cook/baker, I make really good creme brûlée. My parents are the best, and my dad is the easiest person to talk to. I don't like drinking water. Unless really cold, with ice, no straw. Lemon when available. Joe and I both knew baby E is a girl, and didn't tell the other that we knew til Christmas. (punk.) I can't decide how to spell baby's name. Vacuuming is my favorite chore, and I like being able to see how much junk got sucked up off the floor. (gross, I know) I love surprises, and always ruin them for myself, sometimes on purpose. I hate knowing a surprise is coming. My body is a strange thing. I have double jointed elbows, a shoulder blade and thumb. One leg is longer than the other. And short limbs. It's great.... I don't mind doing laundry. Putting it away when it's clean is a whole other story. Sorry mom. I have middle child syndrome. I don't know all my cousins. I haven't even met them all. But I do have cousins with grand kids. This was random. But I am avoiding putting away laundry, so, it was productive. Right?

meet the asian

susan is a roomie from my freshman year in the dorms.

susan is a rock star for so many reasons. 

she is asian. 

she is the only member of our church in her family, and is such a good example.

she finished her nursing degree, after having a baby.

she has the fattest asian baby ever. (it takes everything i have not to eat her)

she has some sweet dance skills.

she likes HP more than i do.

she is kind, sweet, smart, funny, and lets me watch her fat baby.

i love staying connected with this girl. we see each other regularly. i watched her kid while she went to school. but we got the husbands to watch kids, went out to lunch and lost track of time talking. i love having a friend that i can do that with. in fact, i saw her three times that day, and we still had things to talk about. how? and how did we end up living just on other sides of the freeway, and we dont manage to see each other more?

and she is an incredibly good cook. legit asian food- i still drool thinking about her chow mein feasts she cooked up for us. and anything she bakes. i couldnt resist saying yes to some of her cookies last night, after we already went out and had ice cream.

gotta love a good friend. 

real pictures. what?

doing what i can to embrace fall. definitely some slacking, but i'm trying. the last monthish.  

 claire looking cute with her headband. headband lasted 2.9 seconds. we try. 

take that back. i try. she doesn't.

 model man. and screeching katelyn in the background. but cute bubbers.

 i live like 2.9 seconds from here. GORGEOUS this time of year. and this isn't even super pretty yet. (this was a couple weeks ago.)

 stink bug changed her mind about pictures.and headband.

shifting gears.

family time. thats all five sibs together. missed mom and dad! and happy bday sarah bear. FINALLY 18. that took forever. 

 shifting again.

hee haw farms. i gotta know- are all pumpkin patch/hay ride/corn mazes this ghetto? i was expecting a little more..... either way. both kids had a BLAST. like, giggling most of the time.

 as soon as claire saw this dumb animal train she wanted to skip the pony ride (which was LAME.) and hop into the pig asap. silly girl. joe got in on the action though, so that was kinda fun.

 probably her fave thing after the corn box.

 pig touching. can you spot my little blondie? that was fun for her too.

 corn box. i decided this should be what playgrounds have instead of sand or wood chips. i'm sure it was dirty, but way less dirty than sand and no splinters. no sand in the eyes. awesome.

 sweet hair dude. he was unsure at first, but got into it when he saw claire going to town.

we even did this twice the kids loved it so much.

good times for everyone! we even ran into some friends and picked out pumpkins with them. the kids were kinda done by then, and claire kept getting frustrated she couldn't carry any, but so fun anyways. yay for family time! 

and yay for non-phone or ipod pics! thats a miracle, huh?

back to the byu game. i should probably not watch those. they make me physically ill, i get that into them. probably send me into labor. 

Sunday thoughts

Really long, never ending week. Sick junk raged in our house and just lots of yuck. Lots of decisions, some hard, and by Saturday I just wasn't sure how much more i could take at the time. But luckily, and by lucky I mean seriously blessed, i got to go to the relief society broadcast and be surrounded by wonderful women, and have my perspective re-adjusted. A quick chat with a friend afterwards reallllly made me reflect and made me so, so grateful for the 2.5 little ones I've got. So, so grateful for such a wonderful husband. So grateful for my entire family, especially this week for a sister who saves the day watching kids, brings a cherry-limeade, and quietly listens to me bawl over the phone for an entire conversation. all those pregnancy hormones haven't helped a dang thing, but family, and the gospel that binds us together, really does. Seriously, not sure where I'd be without either. And now, because baby craves and mommy caves, I will make apple pie to go with the tacos we had for linner. It's better than the sprinkle cupcakes Claire keeps asking for, right?

Anyone out there?

Not sure if anyone reads this anymore?

Here's a quick shot of Claire after her dance recital last night. She was being a stink, but danced her little heart out when it came time. Cute little bug. Thanks for coming to watch linds!

Oh and my younger brother is here. Pretty happy right mow.

recap

girls camp-a smashing success, if i do say so myself!

but really, after doing so much and stressing about it all, everything came together and fell into place, even at the last minute. and i think the girls enjoyed it. at least thats what they said...so worth it. although i feel kind of like i would if i had just planned the weddings of all the girls, and that feeling you get when you plan all that for that one day and then its all just over. but hopefully, like the marriage, those feelings, impressions, and relationships last, and the things they learned will stick. at least until next year!

i'm feeling a little heavy tonight, even though that weight of planning and planning is gone. maybe sadness? the week honestly flew by. the girls never stayed up past 1130, so i really got as much sleep as i normally do. i took an air mattress with me so i was comfortable, and mostly warm. i'll admit, beyond dealing with the demon spiders, endless mosquitoes and flies, and food going bad, i got pretty attached to most of the girls, and learned a lot from them. some jokingly called me "mom" by the end, and i thought "if i have teenagers like this, life will be pretty great." they are a small but wonderful set of girls, with little to no drama between them, and most of them have testimonies that shine brighter than they realize. i missed the kids, and joe especially, but it really was a treat to be among them for four days.

this week and next will be full of anticipation! i tried to not let myself get too excited about whats coming up until after camp was over, and now that i'm on the other side, things are going to be pretty great for us! beach trip with joe's fam starting next friday. pretty stoked for that one. and then marshy marsh gets home from brasil! the blessings from him being gone for so long far outweigh the sadness of not seeing him, but him being back is pretty great too.

and those sheep? the sheep i almost ran over as we were driving back from camp. came out of nowhere, around a sharp corner, absolutely no warning. i didn't take a camera, so i will be stealing pictures from everyone else this week :)

cashing in

i called my mom on my way to the gym, to catch up without kids screaming, pulling my leg, asking for milk..... she asked what i was up to. "oh, just headed to the gym, and then the sweet tooth fairy." 

insert a burst of laughter from mom, and then more from me when i realized how awesome that sounded.

half off from groupon? yes please! i didn't even need to think about that one, so much so i clicked it twice. i did finally realize what sabotage i was creating, and limited myself from that third one though! 

i only ate 2/3 of one cupcake though, k? and that was my entire lunch! those boxes have (way too many) cookies in them, and those are all for mutual tonight. lucky girls huh? lucky i made the stupid mistake of clicking "buy" twice that is!

i needed a pick me up, its been a kind of bittersweet day. being gone for a week sans kids for girl's camp means no more nursing, so i decided to make sure i didn't get sick or whatever before camp (next week!). bubba has always loved it, and we've been weaning him really slowly, but knowing that this morning was the last time has made me fight back tears all day. i know he knows. and it stinks. but i made it almost a whole year despite setbacks and whatever, and i think i'll finally be able to lose the last of the baby weight that has been nagging me for six months. and have a little freedom. little guy is turning 1 in a few weeks, and i am so excited we'll be celebrating with his twinner cousin! anyways. too much going on during summer to post more regularly, but i'll try and get something else in before camp. go find a sweet treat and celebrate a little victory for yourself!

can't... get.... enough...

www.ourbestbites.com

do it. do it now.

my friend and i randomly found these ladies at the same time, and our dinners have changed for the better.

i thought i liked pioneer woman. still do. i think shes pretty great. but i had joe get the best bites cookbook instead of PW's for mother's day.

i can't stop eating their creamy chicken (cilantro and lime) taquitos. i dream about it. with the cilantro lime rice and cilantro lime vinaigrette. and strawberry sauce on limeade. joe doesn't like the same thing twice in a row, if he did we would have had this five times. but i did have it three times. which is probably why i have literally gained five pounds in two weeks. it wouldn't be so bad if i had some self control.... but i don't. i am scared because i keep reading about some cream cheese stuffed strawberries, in the cookbook, and we all know how i feel about cream cheese.....

it just makes life better.

anyways. just do it.