this picture says it all for how our day has been...

poor little sunshine isn't feeling well. I thought she was over her cold and sickness this last weekend but today she was back at it. grumpy, constantly attached to my mama's milk, and she was hot. poor babe went to sleep tonight with a 103 degree fever. I hope she kicks it by tomorrow, I hate seeing her sick.

There are just some times that it is hard to be a mom. The third time I tried to put her down for a nap and she wouldn't go I almost lost it. I had to walk away into another room to regain my composure. It wasn't her fault, she just couldn't rest without me there. Part of me wishes I had just given in the first time and slept with her, instead of trying to leave her in bed alone. poor sick little babe.

I will pray tonight for more patience with her tomorrow. And I will pray that her body bucks up and heals itself. All I can do is pray and help as much as I can. Let her nurse every twenty minutes and carry her from room to room. It's not like I have anything else that needs to get done, right? That actually is right. Tomorrow is her day.

I declare it so.

so on that note, happy M day tomorrow, and g'night...

i swear...

it looks like the felt monster threw up in my craft room.


and yes, my craft room is always this messy, just not necessarily all over the floor. I've been working on some fun projects for work, yay!

M is finally feeling better from her cold, thank goodness...


But I can't seem to get it fully out of my system, so I am still kind of down for the count. Hopefully I'll wake up feeling better tomorrow. Today it's been mostly a head cold, lots of headache and jaw pain. That and I am absolutely exhausted.

I am wishing I were headed to Canada this week to see my sis and her kids and my parents who are headed there for a visit. It will be killer knowing they are only 14 hours away. But I didn't seem to think about the fact that I would need an updated passport, as well as one for M, and even if we did have all of that, driving alone with a 1 yr old in the middle of winter for 14 hrs straight, ugh, no thanks! So have fun guys, we'll miss you!

Oh, and did I tell you already? We have tickets to this in AZ in May and mom and dad are coming down to join us from alaska, it is going to be the concert of a lifetime!

happy Sunday!

a day to dance, and dance we did.

today was a crazy sunshine of a day with little Munch being wild and full of energy. So about 3 this afternoon when she still hadn't taken a nap, we decided to dance...

and dance we did.

first, to Toto's Rosanna.

(and did I ever tell you Jordo and I saw them in SLC a few years ago, we got free tickets through freecycle and within 20 minutes of calling the offerer, or whatever, we were picking up the tickets and on our way, it was spontaneous and AWEsome!!)




































































and then i had to try on my new coat, again, for the 15th time, and so the dancing had to restart, this time to neil diamond's cracklin' rosie, a classic.

























































and that's basically how the afternoon went. little miss sunshine still never took a nap, but on the plus side she went to bed easily tonight and we got to eat pizza, hang out with family, and watch star trek, which was actually surprisingly pretty good, all undisturbed by the munchkin.

it was a lovely friday, the best kind.

oh, and my new coat, I LOVE it, thanks Grandma and Grandpa, and Mom and Dad!!!

my "not-so-little" cousin, he's amazing!

So when I was quite a bit younger I would babysit for my aunt while she taught sewing lessons and then she'd sew with me and I'd spend the night. We didn't do it all the time, but enough times that her baby Tim and I, or TJ as I called him, we developed a special bond.

Here he is, all grown up, sing the national anthem! What an amazing guy, love him!!

a lovely friday

We've had a lovely day today so I thought I'd share a few pictures from it.

M has been sick, but she was in a much better mood today than last night because her fever had gone down, yay! But we still spent most of the day nursing, eating, and watching fun movies. That's always the best thing when you're sick!

:: M, trying out her new stroller. We've been meaning to buy one of these smaller umbrella strollers for quite sometime, to keep in the car always, but I didn't want to pay a lot and most of the cheap versions, for some ridiculous reason, seem to have disney characters plastered all over them. Is it so ridiculous that a mom doesn't want cartoon characters all over her kid's stuff!?


:: Yesterday I picked this little ladder up from a craigs list listing and I LOVE it! This wall is sort of akward in our house because you can't center something over the TV cabinet, and so to feel balanced the decor piece has to either be really big, or just really long, and I love this!! (Oh, and on the TV is playing this DVD, LOVE it! I need to do an entire post just about that CD/DVD! The song that was on at that moment was "I Am a Paleontologist")


:: I have been wanting to buy a down coat for a while so I used some Christmas money and ordered two from Lands End. M is trying to help me decide which to keep, unfortunately I don't think i like either of them!?? eek! I guess the search is still on for the perfect coat, I LOVE this one at REI, maybe I will just have to splurge...


:: Enjoying a nice fruit smoothie made with lots of orange juice to help little M's cold... she is loving smoothies, who can blame her??


Love you all! Happy friday, have a splendid weekend...

Oh, and Happy Birthday Lizzy!!!!

as you all know

i love jibjab

and you may not know, but i have always wanted to be a figure skater... cutting edge is one of my favorite films...

and so, there is nothing to do but introduce...

me, as I have always wanted to be!!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

and Jordo, as I have always wanted him to be. :) okay maybe not but he does make a lovely partner... :)

dance with me tuesday...

so basically i love to dance, it relieves stress, tension, allows your body to flow and your mind to relax, i love it. I don't do it well, but I have fun while doing it.

my friend heather has been posting dancing pictures on her blog, to remind her to take the time to relax and dance each week, and I keep saying I am going to join her. so here we are, me showing my dancing tuesday to all of you.

so go ahead, turn up the tunes and take yourself for a spin around the dance floor.









dance with me.

I've been MIA, but Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Except for the Christmas tree, decorations have all come down and been put away in boxes in the basement. I just can't bring myself to take the tree down yet. Maybe this week. I am known for leaving it up until February. We have a fake one in these poor student days to save money, so I can do this no problem and I love it!

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever and it's pretty much true! I miss it, but I just haven't had much time to do it, so I felt like writing just a quick note so I feel more on top of my life!

I have made some new years resolutions and I haven't written them down yet. It's always easier to follow things when you write them down so here goes:

1. make more family dinners, I am a terrible cook! I need a bunch of easy go-tos that I can just whip up any day!

2. sew more clothes for M. I always said before I had her that I would sew a lot for her, and yet I find my evenings being wasted away watching movies and tv shows instead of accomplishing that, and I think I could save us a lot of money of I put a little more effort into it!

3. save money from my new job, my goal is to save half of what I earn each month, it shouldn't be hard, since before I didn't have any of the money at all!

4. read my scriptures more. To be honest, my goal is to read once a week, one good study time each week, where I really read hard. I know this isn't very much but sometimes right now I'll go several weeks without reading, honest. So I think it's a good goal.

5. brush M's teeth daily. I am TERRible at this! I can never seem to remember, I need to work it into her nightly routine for sure so it gets done every day!

6. go on more dates with my husband. this one we'll need help with, but one thing I think we want to do more is swap kids with other couples for date nights, at least 1-2 a month.

7. eat healthier - now for this one I need a specific goal, something to shoot for each day or week, but I haven't decided what it is. We are low on funds so I have to be extremely creative with grocery shopping. I will update this one when I figure it out... any suggestions for how to make yourself healthier while staying on the tightest budget in the world? pretty much any ideas would be an improvement, but I know I have to have a specific goal, because when I just say "i want to be healthier" it never happens, one pan of brownies later... :)

8. clean more regularly. when we first moved into this house I had a specific weekly schedule for what got cleaned on what days and it worked really well, so I am going to start that up again.

9. give more energy to my callings at church. I am relief society enrichment leader, which I do okay at, but Jordan and I are also webelos leaders and we just got our first two boys and we have NO idea what we're doing, so I want to really try hard to get those boys involved and help them love the scouting program, fingers crossed!

10. have more joy in my life, be more patient, radiate happiness, and just all around remind myself to love life more.

okay, so for now that's it... If I think of more I'll add them on the blog so I have some accountability, I love how writing things down makes them so much easier to stick to.

So joy to all of you in this new year... if you didn't get a Christmas/New Year card from us that's because we didn't make any or send any out this year. With my new job and just getting ready for the holidays I guess I just never got myself together... Next year for sure!

Happy Holidays and Joy and Love for you all year long!!

little snow baby

We ventured into the snow for the first time today.


I'm pretty sure little M loved it. She was a little cautious at first but as soon as I showed the snow to her and let it drift off of my hand and sprinkle in front of her then she liked it. She definitely wasn't quite as much of a snow child as her mom is, but one day she will be.


She is getting so smart these days. She mimics a lot of things I do. She knew exactly what her hat was for and she kept trying to put it on, it was so cute!


She has a little trouble walking in her boots, while we were bundling up in the kitchen she kept falling onto her bum and then I think because her snow clothes are so puffy she would fall on her back... so reminding me of A Christmas Story...


I LOVE winter. It's so much fun to share that joy with my little one, lovin' her.


We knew that you alaska grandma and grandpa would love this, we're doing our best to turn her into a little alaskan, so far so good.

xoxo

green smoothies: holiday style

::and a happy bench monday to you all::


::we decided to go holiday style with our green smoothies this morning with a festive mug and straw, lovely, we've been missing our green smoothies, we need to get back in the habit::


::M's first green smoothie, had to cut a bigger slit in her lid to allow it to go through, but it worked, and it was a hit::


::ooh, i think she likes it!::


::yummmmm...::


happy monday and happy beginning of the holidays, yay!!

for the love of sweater pants and a happy bench monday to you all...

so I think I have a problem. I cannot help but make pair after pair after pair of sweater pants for little M. Poor girl has at least 7 or 8 pair and the best part is they are made out of old sweaters, so great!



my sister Megs and I were talking the other day about the greatness of these sweater pants and how we wished there were deliciously warm sweater pants for adults because hey, how come the little ones get all the goodness?


and so... I did it. :)


I took all of the scraps from the sweaters I had used to make her pants and I made myself some wool legging pants!!! I LOVE them! I have been wearing them pretty much since I made them last night and they are warm and cozy and fabulous.



They're a little bright, but hey, most of you probably know by now I love random crazy colors so they fit in perfectly with my wardrobe. The first thing Jordo said to me was, so... are those the kind of pants you plan on wearing out in public? :) But he also said he liked them even more than my patchwork corduroy pants, which I love, so hey! Maybe I am on to something!

Oh and happy bench monday... love you all!

art, i want you...

found this via:
betz white, a creative soul i admire

Todays Mama Giveaway!!

Now, we all know how fun it is to enter giveaways, but can I just say I am especially excited about this one?? As you know I have been trying to get my hands on a Madsen bike since forever, basically since I saw them come out. I guess the owner is actually friends with my old boss, that's how I found out about them to begin with.

Anyhow, Todays Mama is giving one away!!!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
A Madsen bike, a puffy down jacket, fabric, gilmore girls, a happy baby

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?
My husband made me a cradle two Christmases ago that looks like this one, and it is gorgeous...

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?
I'd love to give people more intense gifts like a quilt, but money and time always prohibit it.

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
As a child? Well, I remember one year in high school I asked for two different thing that were both kind of expensive, but I really wanted both. I knew I would only be getting one so I had prepared myself for that. Christmas morning I opened both and I cried. I was so grateful and humbled and appreciative, it was a good feeling.

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?
Well, since M is only 1 yr I suppose just mama's milk is on her list. But she does need a few more learning toys, things like puzzles and stacking toys.

6. What is your favorite holiday food?
Oooh, brie with anything really I think. I have tried so many delicious brie and cracker recipes, and that is what makes it the holidays for me!

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
Well, a scarf for one special friend, and then I actually haven't narrowed the list down for everyone else, can you believe that? I better get on it so I don't end up making stuff the week before Christmas, or the night before!!!

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
Little Women. Although it isn't really a holiday movie, I watch it year round, but the feeling I get when I watch it is the same warm and cozy feeling Christmas brings.

9. Favorite holiday song?
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas or maybe I'll be home for Christmas... I think it's a tie.

10. Favorite holiday pastime?
Not a specific one, but just when it snows on Christmas Eve. That is heaven for me. As a kid we always did Christmas Eve at my Aunt Teresa's, and we would drive the 40 minutes home late at night in the dark and often in the snow... I loved that. Christmas just isn't the same unless it is snowing. :)

Yay!!!! I love the holidays! Off to make some cocoa now! Take care and fill out the meme too, and if you win the madsen you have to give it to me!!!!

Love ya!!

Happy Birthday little M!!

M celebrated a birthday this last week so I thought I would share a few pictures from the fun night...

Happy Birthday little one! You are the sweetest thing that has ever happened to your dad and I and we love you!

Dad has this laminated name card thing for some of his classes at school and M just LOVEs it, she loves playing with it and eating it, so for her bday dad made her some of her own colorful laminated name cards and she has loved playing with them... some of the simple joys of childhood!


Her main gift from us was this cute walker/pusher cart thing from Ikea. She already knows how to walk on her own so instead of it helping her to do that, she just loves pushing it around for fun. She fills it with random stuff and pushes it from room to room, she even figured out right away how to get it turned around when she runs into a couch or wall, she's a smarty!


The theme of the party was cupcakes and so for M's little birthday cake I took a chocolate cupcake and sliced it into three layers, and I put icing in between each one. She LOVEd it! She was soooo cute when we brought it out. In fact, she wouldn't keep her cute bday crown on until I tricked her by putting it on at the same time that we brought our her cute cupcake, she was so excited she forgot about the crown!



She was such a mess!!! Even after a bath she still had chocolate cake behind her ears and in random little crevices here and there!!


I made 4 different bases of cake for the cupcakes: chocolate, spice, funfetti, and strawberry. And then we had 4 different kinds of frostings too: strawberry & cream, cinnamon sugar, chocolate, and just vanilla. Then I just mixed and matched the frostings and cupcake bottoms. I was going to make peanut butter frosting for the chocolate cupcakes as I had tested a few weeks ago, but I was running late and then M fell and cut her lip open just a few hrs before the party was going to start, so I decided no one would know if I just skipped that frosting, oh well!



And these, well these are cupcake bites... I have wanted to try making these for awhile so I thought this was the perfect time to go ahead and try them. They were okay, although the inside tasted weirdly like raw cake batter, not a huge fan of that. Might try it again sometime, but we will see. The before picture is just of the balls of cake mixed with the cream cheese frosting, and then the after picture is of them on the table after being dipped in the melted candy and decorated with sprinkles. They were supposed to look like cupcakes in the end, that didn't turn out as I had planned, but I still think they were kind of a fun addition!



thanks everyone who came to celebrate our little sunshine and how much she has grown in the last year!!

love you all!

Halloween, just a little bit late I suppose :)

I meant to put these on here the day after Halloween, of course, but hey, better late than never. isn't M adorable in her little flower costume? i was so proud of myself that I was able to make the entire costume out of fabric and supplies I already had! Happy Halloween, just a little bit late!!

this is for grandma and grandpa...

and whoever else comes to watch it too!





loves from us.

happy halloween friday.

vlog #2 - happy tuesday

M

in all her day-to-day glory.

i haven't had a lot of time in the past few days to blog, but I did finally upload a few weeks worth of photos so I thought I'd give you guys a few shots of M and how big she is getting!!

she is almost 1 year!


and what's up with this one... she looks like she's treating the baby monitor like a phone... we don't even have phones like that anymore!!



this was a practice for M's bday party. the theme is going to be cupcakes and we're having 4 different kinds. one of the kinds I am in love with but had never made is chocolate with peanut butter icing. this was a practice and they were DELicious!



ohhh... even her sad face is totally adorable!



our adorable girlie. lovin' that cute little thing. she's in that stage though right now where she doesn't have great balance but loves to stand and walk along walls. this means today we had about 5 or 6 major head crashes and mama rescues.

oh, and guess what else she did today, she licked the walls of the church. yuck! she was just walking along the wall with her hands and then all of the sudden she just leaned in and licked the wall, blegh!! and then of course she did it like 3 more times before I rescued her into my arms, crazy kid!

love you all.

night.

little green designs vlog #1, oh my!

so I am a little bit nervous putting this out here, but hey, it feels good to be me, to be free, and to just let go! love you all!!



eta: I realized I hadn't put bohogirl's addy anywhere... so here she be.

loving this:

found it through bohogirl, love her too.

:)