what have i done?

this year, for christmas, jarred and i have decided to not buy each other gifts and instead to make or do something for each other. very sentimental and lovey dovey and all that. only problem is, i have no idea what to do! and this whole thing was my stupid idea! it's not that i can't think of things that i could do, but i can never decide if my ideas are good ones or not. it probably doesn't help that i'm not very sentimental myself. it's not that i don't care, i just need help. so why did i come up with the idea of doing christmas this way? good question. i'll let you know when i figure out what i was thinking at the time.
i'm pretty un-creative when it comes to gift giving so this is going to be a disaster. don't judge me too harshly though, because i'm pretty sure he doesn't know what he's doing either.
and yes i realize christmas is next saturday.

pray for me.

thankful.

i have so much to be thankful for this year.
a new baby
a healthy and happy son
a wonderful husband who takes care of me
great friends
great family
a home...
i could go on.

i love thanksgiving
mainly because it's an excuse to see family
but also because it means the official start
of the christmas season.
and i'm unashamed to say that we've actually had our tree
up for weeks.
judge me if you want,
but if target can do it, so can i.

happy thanksgiving!

i don't even like pumpkin

at least i thought i didn't.
that is until i decided to bake these
pumpkin bars for my wonderful husband.
because he likes pumpkin.
and i like him.

ok so it's really more like a thick pumpkin cake.
with homemade icing.
yuuuummm!

pre-baking

post-baking

it's kind of like cinnamon roll icing.

it was really good guys.
i promise.
the pictures don't do it justice.
because i need a new camera.

i think this will have to make a reappearance
for thanksgiving!

cutest dinosaur i ever did see.

well i'm back from my hiatus.
actually i finished re-reading "hp and the deathly hallows"
a week ago.
and i've been slightly more than harry potter obsessed
since.

in other news, we took corb and rylee to
knock knock night at church on wednesday
and corb had fun as a dinosaur.
it's not the costume that i would have picked...
but he really wanted to be a dinosaur.
pretty cute though if i do say so.

roar!

rylee really wanted to be a pirate.
we said no.

so she was a turtle instead.

she was happy with this decision.

back for round two of candy gathering this weekend!

hiatus

i will be/have been
on a hiatus for while
as i am currently spending
every ounce of free time
re-reading harry potter and the deathly hallows.
i'm just excited for the movie.
i don't care if you judge me.

cup of jo style

these are adorable
and this is making the best out of a rainy day
and this makes me want to drink tea every day


from uncommongoods

just a reminder.

a prep prep preposition
is a special group of words
that connects a noun noun noun
or a pro pro pronoun
to the rest of the sentence.


...in case you forgot.

10 things i've learned in 3 years

1. it doesn't matter how early i wake up to get ready...i will still be late.
2. having children is like having pets in more ways than one.
3. the person who coined the term "terrible twos" must not have had a child live to see three.
4. sitting on the couch and watching tv while children sleep is, for all practical purposes, "a date".
5. i can feel every emotion within a 30 minute time span when i'm with my children.
6. fat cheeks are the best ones to kiss.
7. the freedom to go to the bathroom in privacy is often taken for granted.
8. jesus built the ark. not noah. (believe me i've tried to convince him otherwise)
9. every letter is the letter "m".
10. being a mom is the hardest thing i've ever done, but the most worth it.

you probably think this post is about you.

hey squirming baby in my arms
don't you know that this is naptime?
don't you know that this is mommy's favorite
time of day to drink coffee and do mindless activities
like browsing the internet and watching movies?
don't you know that your poor mommy is sick today?
don't you feel sorry for me at all?
oh you don't?
ok.
i'll hold you then.

30 from the last 24

1. i have blonde eyelashes
2. i hate having blonde eyelashes
3. i don't floss everyday
4. i bite my nails
5. i used to cry if something in my room was moved even an inch
6. really i did. ask my parents
7. i got married when i was 19
8. i love to bake but i actually own no mixing bowls
9. how did this happen?
10. i love oprah even though she annoys me to no end
11. i'm afraid of the dark
12. i had 3 different majors in college and it took me 6 years to graduate
13. that's ridiculous
14. swishy jogging suit material, satin, and silk make me gag
15. this is a problem for an interior design major
16. and for someone who grew up in the 90s (jogging suit fad)
17. i pretended to hate my brother growing up but i really wanted to be just like him.
18. don't tell him that.
19. really don't. it will give him a big head
20. i seriously considered joining the navy instead of going to college
21. i'm glad i chose college
22. i hardly ever cry
23. i never wore my retainer in high school
24. big mistake
25. i really like being alone
26. i had a crush on Raphael from the live action teenage mutant ninja turtles movie
27. he was the red one
28. my brother and i played x-men together even though he was much too old to be playing x-men with his little sister
29. i used to say i never wanted children
30. i now have 2 and i wouldn't change that for anything

i miss you.

i'm coming back to you NY.
someday.

take over

God
consume me with your love.
fill me with your spirit.
give me patience.
give me peace and boldness.
take over my life.
amen.

he's here!

yesterday, my best friend Erin gave birth
to her precious, perfect baby boy
Devin Bradley!
i just love him.
and i just love her.
and i know Erin's going to be a great mom!

if i could...

from modcloth

yes please.

monetary donations welcome.

look at those cheeks

when i look over and see this face
i just can't resist.
i picked her up.
i'm holding her.
she's sleeping.
sleeping and snoring a little.
i love it.

all is right in the world.

thank you sweden.

this weekend we discovered

the wonder of this thing called
baby bjorn.
i'm sure you've heard of them.
heck, you might even own one.
well we didn't until this happened...

and this...


we went to the first friday walk through
in the paseo art district downtown with
jarred's brother terry and sister in law darci.
they had this beauty to carry their 8 month old
sydney in and we got curious as to the
usability of the baby bjorn.
needless to say we discovered that the baby bjorn
could also be called the toddler bjorn.
corban liked it.
for a little bit.
i promise.

because of our experience with the baby bjorn
we were compelled to purchase one for ourselves.

thanks for the gift card aunt sue.

we tested our new purchase with a trip to the
zoo on saturday.
she liked it.

overall i would call this labor day weekend a success.

in the mean time...

so i've been faced with the fact
that my daily activities don't lend themselves
to riveting blog posts.
what? i know.
so while you wait for me to come up with something
worth reading, enjoy this collage of my beautiful
family.

yes i'm a little

alot

indecisive.
sorry.

finally!

after months and months of trying to
potty train this boy, it's official.
he's been wearing big boy underwear
for 2 weeks.
it's about time!

one down...one to go.

is 2 months too young to start potty training?
darn.

i've decided

i'm going to be a vegetarian.
well i'm going to try it at least.
i'm giving myself the rest of this week
well really until we finish off our groceries
to enjoy eating animals.
i'm not doing this to try to prove a point about injustice toward
animals or about ethics.
i really don't even like animals that much.
really i just want to see if this focus on eating more leafy greens and fruits
will help me in my efforts to get in shape. along with my elimination of meats, i'm
going to try to eat less processed foods altogether.
i'm really going to focus more on natural, organic, when i can afford it,
foods.
i hear rumors of a whole foods market coming to OKC.
i'm sure it's outrageously expensive, but just the thought of
shopping there makes me giddy.

yes dad, i'm really doing this.

i feel like such a hippie.

GOOP

i love goop.com

and i love gwyneth paltrow for creating it.

actually i just love gwyneth paltrow.
it doesn't hurt that she's married to chris martin.
i love chris martin.
in a non-crush kind of way.
more like in an "i love coldplay" kind of way.

ok that's all.

time flies.

it really does.

did i say excellent?

current song: friends
artist: band of skulls
good song.

so i was looking at the pioneer woman's blog today. love her. you can find her here. she takes excellent pictures and i was thinking, "i want to take excellent pictures too". and then i thought "you know i could take excellent pictures if i had an excellent camera." ok well maybe i couldn't, but how will i ever know if i don't give it a try? but the truth is that i don't know the first thing about cameras or photography. i wouldn't even know what kind of excellent camera to buy.

do you have an excellent camera?
i need help.
also, i need money.
thanks.

you know who else takes excellent pictures? my mother. that's right. my very own mom. so it's gotta be genetic or something. she actually just got back from a middle eastern excursion in Israel (why is that the only word i've capitalized so far? actually it really bothers me to not correctly capitalize words when i'm typing, but honestly i'm too lazy to do anything about it.)
anyway...back to my photographer mother. she's great. if you don't believe me, see for yourself...

yeah she's good.
love you mom.

why do i continue to do things that kill me?

that's what i asked myself when i woke up today.
why? because last night i did this...well not exactly this. i played indoor soccer last night.
and i can guarantee you that i looked nothing like that girl because she's got game.
let's be honest, i probably looked a little more like this kid...i would like to thank the very nice guys and gals who let me play on their team though.
they were very nice and didn't make it obvious that they were annoyed
with how absolutely horrible i was.
but regardless of playing horribly and my body being in complete revolt
today, i completely enjoyed playing.
i'm ready to play again.
so if anyone wants to be on an indoor team, let me know!

sore

today is day 4 of working out. i am beginning to remember why i never worked out regularly before. i think the last time i did any kind of regular exercise was in high school when i played sports. yeah, it's been a while. i'm determined though. i've never been so determined to get in shape. so this better work...

get excited

teddy bears

you know what i don't like?

teddy bears.
no, i don't have an aversion to teddy bears in their purest form.i can appreciate this guy for what he is. i mean, i don't mind them as stuffed animals.
but when people take the teddy bear too far, you end up with things like this...
the ever popular teddy bear baby room. one lesson that can be learned
from the 80s is that teddy bears should never EVER be used as a design motif. period.

but some more extreme uses of the teddy bear include...
the teddy bear jacket? that's right folks. get yours now before winter hits.
i've got mine ordered already.
and then there's this...

somebody took their love for teddy bears so far as to try and become one. this picture honestly just made me laugh so hard that i had to include it. i mean, really...why?

ok i feel better.

adele and reminiscing

right now i'm

listening to adele

(i recommend this album if you don't already have it)

and reminiscing over some old photos.
here are a few. i know you may not know some of these people. indulge me.
it's ok to laugh at them.

high school...

high school sweethearts
college...
who's the guy in the red? oh wait that's my husband. isn't he handsome? i don't know those other weird guys...
well that was fun.