i'm blogging.

question. what do you get when you combine one mom + one dad + two ear infections + a husband who works 12 hour days + a husband who is a grad student + a new church calling for the wife + no computer + no way to upload any pictures + a really busy, mischievous, hilarious little baby?

answer. no posts on the blog. that's what.

despite the fact that life on my blog has come to a stand still, my real life has done nothing of the sort. these last few weeks have been busy and crazy and wonderful and fun and hopefully this is the end of my blogging slump. i mean, i've really missed these stupid posts!

here are a few snapshots of our life lately. happy friday & happy weekend. we are still alive ;)

ps. i wore these pants today. the brightest ones thus far (i am really overdoing it with the whole colored denim trend, you should know). i really loved all the weird looks i got while i was walking around downtown and stopping for a slice of pizza and groceries at harmons. evie was a little bit embarrassed, but there's just nothing like hot pink pants on a dreary day is what i always say.

finally friday.

old collage from one of the blog posts i restored---holla!

hello! how has your week been? it's friday and the vow opens today. do you have your tickets? are you getting ready to go? i bought tickets for myself and some friends just this morning and i swear to you i scored some of the last seats in the state. it almost feels like a mini twilight premiere, no? channing tatum don't fail me now!

we've been home most of this week. evie picked up some sort of flu bug and anytime i even think about leaving the house she starts coughing and gagging and crawling into my lap to be rocked, and you just couldn't pay me a million dollars to drag her to the grocery store right now (okay maybe you could pay me a million dollars, but i won't accept less!). hoping she starts feeling better soon, because i had/have big plans for this weekend.

since we've been home-bound, i've been desperately trying to fix the blog during evie's nap times these past few days. our hard-drive is full and the pictures need to be moved to an external hard-drive & i really, really want to fix the blog before i wipe them all out. it's been a daunting process, trying to upload all those pictures again and i've learned a few things about myself in the process...

1. i take lots of pictures. like,  thousands of pictures. and i post way too many on the blog (some of these posts had 40+ pictures on them, i kid you not.)


2. when i import pictures from my camera to my computer, i like name the folders things like "mmmmk" and "random" and "whatever i don't know". this makes finding pictures for old posts so fun!


3. i should never cut my bangs again. never, ever. can someone please remind me of this the next time i convince myself to cut my bangs. dear self: NO BANGS.

4. we've had some great times & i am so glad i have been blogging about my life all these years. sometimes it's hard to even remember what things were like pre-evie, but then i read our newlywed posts and cringe/cry because some of it is just so cheesy sweet.

i'm hoping to have all my photos uploaded again by the end of next week. that's my goal-so help me! so far, i'm most excited about these specific picture-heavy posts being restored in all their glory!! (i think number five is my favorite!)

one | two | three | four | five | 

cheers to the weekend!

how to cook dinner with no hands.

evie is currently cutting FOUR STINKING TEETH. at one time. and one of them is a front tooth (the other front tooth is already in) and boy do i feel sorry for her. and for me. but mostly, for me.

i mean her.

when these teeth all show themselves she will have EIGHT STINKING TEETH in her mouth and now doesn't that just seem wrong? she is the size of 6 month old (barely) and i worry that her teeny tiny little body won't know what to do with all of those teeth. i mean, i could feed her a pbj if i wanted to (she could seriously bite and chew it) and when she smiles, it's not gummy in the slightest. she has all these teeth in that baby mouth of hers and i have to brush them. it's weird.

when evie isn't teething she's a peach. happy, independent, content, made up of rainbows and sprinkles and sunshine.

when evie is teething the storm clouds roll in over the valley and suddenly it's all drama all the time. where she is typically happy to play by herself, teething evie wants me right there, right beside her, the entire time. where she usually sleeps 12 hours at night, teething evie wakes up at least once or twice and just wants mama to hold her for an hour or so while she goes on and on about how much she hates to teeth (i'm with ya, sister!). where normal evie usually allows me cook dinner while she jumps in the bouncer, teething evie is like HOLD ME! NOW! AND DON'T YOU GET IT I AM TEETHING!!!!

in case you can't imagine teething evie, here is a visual:

teething evie has been staying with us for over a month now, and gosh that teething evie is so much fun! sassy, too!

as a result of all of this, my dinners have been suffering. the husband has been working really late this month, so it's just me and teething evie when 6pm rolls around and i seriously need at least 4 more arms.

the other day i had planned to make pioneer woman's penne a la betsy (a favorite of mine) which is actually a very simple pasta to make, except it requires the deveining of shrimp (wherein you rip the shrimp's veins from their fleshy little bodies one at a time) which can be a bit tedious and time consuming and might cause a mother to say to herself as she cuts open those little suckers while her baby cries and tugs on her pant leg "what the hell am i doing?!"

needless to say, i had to re-think my dinner ideas. which is where blessed pinterest comes in, because i am certain i got the idea from there (except i cannot find a specific pin) and last night, i kid you not, i cooked dinner with no hands.

first i dispersed some refrigerated biscuits onto a baking sheet really quickly while still holding teething evie on my hip. next, i sprayed a muffin tin and filled each slot with 2 slices of ham, a little pat of butter, one cracked egg and plenty of s&p.

i threw the biscuits and the eggs into the oven for 15 minutes during which time all mothers were free to hold their babies and no one was mad at me!

5 minutes before the timer went off, i threw a slice of cheese on top of each egg and then hurried and picked teething evie back up of the ground before she freaked her freak, and as she got started on our dinner, i even found the time to blend together a little berry+greek yogurt smoothie for dessert.

teething evie channeling her old self and loving our dinner

i have to tell you, people, the whole dinner was just simple and delicious (and the leftovers went to work with g disguised as breakfast). and my husband totally liked it better than the penne a la betsy from the night before, which blows my mind, but whatever. guys are weird.



this was definitely not the worlds most impressive dinner, but you try cooking anything with teething evie around, IT IS NOT EASY!

ps. before you say it, yes i know you can buy shrimp already deveined. sweet g bought them for me and he thought that they were

pps. teething evie is up from her nap and i don't have time to edit, so yes, you probably found at least 25 typos.

i believe.

today i decided to write a credo. so, without further adieu i give you..

my little and very serious credo!

. i believe that every woman fully deserves: a really amazing (and expensive) concealer, a killer pair of perfectly fitted jeans, a signature scent, a diet coke at 3pm (if she wants one) and a date night.

. i believe that black goes with brown. that leather goes with lace. I believe you should wear what makes you happy and i believe you can totally pull that off.

. i believe in rearranging furniture as a form of therapy.

. i believe that nothing is more beautiful than confidence. i believe in the power of being kind to yourself. i do not believe in hateful self-talk and the body bashing so many woman do. i am not perfect, but you won't hear it from me. i love my body and i believe in accentuating the good.

. i believe that you can be a wonderful mother and still want alone time.

. i believe that an episode of grey's anatomy can get you through even the worst kind of sadness. i do, i do!

. i believe that phones, ipods and ipads do not belong in or anywhere near bathrooms. say it with me now! the bathroom is a NO PHONE ZONE!

. i believe that i will never stop being the person who is always late and always clumsy and always dropping her electronic devices in the bathtub. i believe that's okay.

. i believe in apples with peanut butter. and greek yogurt with honey. and vanilla ice cream with strawberry jam.

. i believe in saying i'm sorry. in getting over yourself. in realizing when you are wrong.

. i believe in one little spoonful of ice cream any time you feel the need. i do not believe in depriving yourself, but i do believe in portion control. hence, just one spoonful never hurt anyone. i do not believe in "all or nothing". (i once read that victoria beckham hasn't had a cookie in something like 10 years and really, how sad for her. a cookie once a year (or once a month even) really won't ruin your life, posh.)

. i believe that really horribly scary movie previews should be banned on most tv channels. i believe that they scare the hell out of me when i am home alone watching the bachelor at 9pm. i believe i never asked for that!

. i believe in being nice to your waitress even if the food is bad and i believe that i never could have married someone who isn't.

. i believe in being silly. i believe in playing. i believe in living room dance parties.

. i believe that j bubba will never stop eating his poop no matter how many times i google ways to stop him.

. i believe that it's perfectly fine to turn on an episode of mickey mouse clubhouse in the mornings and kind of half-sleep while half-watching evie.

. i believe that nothing good happens before 8am. nothing!

. i believe that things work out. i believe that sadness comes and goes. i believe that trials are necessary even though they suck.

. i believe in singing loudly in the car. i believe in driving with the windows down. i believe in a big gulp from 7-11 to accompany you.

. i believe that kids should be allowed to stay up until midnight on new years eve. and i believe they should be able to have a sleepover and make a really messy art project in the kitchen. i believe some parents need to chhhhhillll out.

. i believe in hugs. oh my gosh, i believe in hugs. i believe that i will never stop needing a hug from my mother and i believe that boys should learn to say "i love you".

. i believe in a really healthy breakfast and a good session of yoga.

. i believe in oprah! so much, do i believe in oprah!!

. i believe in sunshine. i believe that if you are feeling down you probably really need to just open your windows and let some sunshine into your home. and if that doesn't work, i believe you need to count your blessings and/or take a shower.

. i believe that husbands deserved to be kissed goodbye in the morning, but i do not believe in getting out of bed to do so.

. i believe you should sleep in if you want to! and if you can! and really, though, why not?

. i believe in laughing gas and an ipod at the dentist.

. i believe in taking pictures.

. i believe that telling my daughter i think she is beautiful will not make her any less intelligent (really, people?). i believe she needs to hear that from me. i believe it is my responsibility to brag about her, and adore her and teach her to love herself.

. i believe in actually swimming in the pool and getting your hair nice and wet and never just sitting on the side.

. i believe in doing things that scare you.

. i believe that life goes on.

what about you? what do you believe?

a list.

Who knew this could happen to me, but I seem to have fallen out of love with blogging?!

Here's a small list of a few things that are making me happy lately, to hopefully inspire me to get back in the groove. (Or take a little break, maybe? Go private? We will see.)

01. My sweet little baby being such a devoted Mama to her new sweet little baby. She won't set that baby doll down. I love it.
02. Our Christmas tree, white lights, snowflaked windows, and all of the wrapped gifts under the tree. So much better than last year's Christmas surroundings which included the brick wall out my hospital window and the hospital tray at the foot of my bed.
03. G-money wrapping up these dang finals and finally being able to hang out a bit! After a full weekend of nothing but tests from 7am - 2am each day, last night we went out for burgers and fries and then came home and watched the Republican debates while I wrapped some Christmas gifts. Hallelujah!
04. The Christmas cards we get in the mail most days. Wish greeting cards were sent out all year, right people? They make me so happy.
05. Finding a good substitute for my love of Diet Coke and slowly developing a love of Fresca.
06. Matching flannel shirts with my little brotha.
07. Watching Christmas movies with Evs in the afternoon.
08. Lots of holiday shopping and outings and running into friends who are doing the same. Makes me hate the mall so much less.
09. Eating my favorite ever crunchy roll for lunch today. Sushi in December?! YES.
10. And finally, snow outside my windows right this very minute!

 and these pictures, because i looovvveee her.

oh, december.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Also, the busiest.

Instead of blogging I've been:

• Planning Evie's first birthday party which is next freaking month! What. The. Devastating.
• Designing the invitations.
• Working on her baby book, because I guess when she turns one then she technically isn't a baby anymore, and I need to have that book finished, and seriously, can somebody just hold me while I sob?
• Painting and sketching and painting some more.
• Decorating my house and sitting under all of the twinkle lights! I currently have two strands of lights in the house, plus 3 on the Christmas tree. It's magic up in here.


• Christmas shopping for myself, G and other special individuals. Evie's presents are purchased and wrapped and sitting under the Christmas tree. One of them even already got opened. Santa was on top of that shiz.
• Watching Home Alone with my baby in the afternoon. It never gets old.
• Baking Cake bites and candied almonds and pecan bars and chocolate and caramel covered pretzel sticks with my Mom and Christy.
• Cooking some delicious pastas and soups and staying on top of G's leftover requirements like a professional.
• Wiping noses and catching sneezes and nursing my baby back to health only to watch her catch a new cold two days later. And again. And again. And so forth.
• Loving opening the first few Christmas cards as they roll in. Yes, please!
• Planning Christmas parties and planning to attend Christmas parties.
• Helping Evie cut 2 new teeth! Double the fun! Or double the misery! Either way. (They can totally be seen on either side of her two bottom teeth in the picture below.) 
• Attempting to do something with her crazy hair, without the use of clips or bows or headbands which she refuses like a champion.


• Cutting snowflakes to tape to the windows. Kind of like your 3rd grade classroom? Yes. Kind of amazing? Definitely. When you live in a glass house, its just necessary.
• Supporting G-studious while he takes the hardest finals of his whole life and works on the first problem for THREE STRAIGHT DAYS. The first problem. Three days. Pray for us. Really.
• Trying to type with Capital Letters. Under case letters look so much better and it just hurts my soul.
• Addressing Christmas cards. Want one?
• Cleaning, laundering, Peek-a-booing
• And occasionally, sleeping. (It's 12:28 am now)

How about you? Busy?

Ps. I managed to spell "Christmas" wrong two times while typing this. Goodnight.

big gulps, huh?

question.

if you happened to be at the gas station at 12:42am last night and witnessed one pajama-clad woman wander in and purchase one enormously large mug you would assume the following...

a. she really loves diet coke. like, a lot. and this mug is the only mug large enough to fufill her middle-of-the-night diet coke craving.
b. she just found a turtle and needs somewhere to put it.
c. she has lost her marbles.
d. her freezer mysteriously stopped working in the middle of the night and she doesn't want all the precious breast milk she has stored to thaw, but she doesn't even own a cooler (who doesn't own a cooler?!) and the grocery store is closed, so this giant mug full of ice and bags of frozen breast milk is the only thing she can think of.
e. whatever the problem is, her husband obviously wouldn't help her.
f. all of the above

if you answered f, you might be right, except i didn't actually find a turtle (but i do love myself a diet coke before bed) and i don't think i've lost my marbles. at least not yet.

but yes! the freezer stopped working and g man was sleeping (and seriously not that concerned about the whole situation when i woke him, in case you are wondering) and i did MY BEST, okay?! i mean, i was concerned because of THE BREAST MILK! THE PRECIOUS BREAST MILK! the breast milk that i use every now & then when my baby needs a bottle at church and i'm wearing a dress that doesn't allow for nursing and just think about all that time spent making extra breast milk on top of the breast milk i have to make anyways, and DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS?!

we don't own a cooler (who doesn't own a cooler?!) and the grocery store wasn't open and when i wandered into the gas station as a last ditch effort my tired, tired heart whispered to my brain "just buy the freakishly huge mug already and never look back!".

and so, that is what i did.

of course, i returned home around 1am only to find that my freezer was working again and all was well in breast milk land and i was really really tired when i woke up this morning.

and now, a final question.

what the HELL am i going to do with this thing!!!?

i am pleased about the number of times this post says the word "breast". also "milk". hello brothers!!!

ps. name that movie.

beat the blahs.

all weekend i was feeling the blahs.

i cannot lie to you, my friends!
i've been feeling the blahs.

i don't know why. i mean, i have no right! friday night my sweetest mother-in-law gave up her entire evening to come to my house and play with my baby so i could go on a date with my very own norwegian lover. and he took me to sushi at happy sumo, even though it doesn't fill him up (bless him) and then to a movie, which i ended up loving with my whole heart. we spied on some really gross couple fondling each other outside the theater and examined new pants at the gap and then i found a stray stuffed bat to bring home to j bubba and really, good heavens, how could any of this lead to the blahs?!

the next day, we even packed our little family of 3 up in the car and went to the zoo! the air was the perfect combination of warm and cool and there was a faint dusting of leaves on the pavement. we sat through the bird show (where the famed owl flew right over g's head!) and spent plenty of time with my lovers, the elephants, so i don't know how any of that could have led me to the blahs, either?

i don't know, my friends! i tell you, i have no idea.

last night, while pondering all of this, i decided i'd had enough. dinner had been cleaned up, the baby was washed and in her crib and my norwegian lover was in the bedroom watching a football game as i sat in the living room watching the emmy's (because really, we just cannot compromise sometimes) and then, there it was, so i went into the bedroom to declare it!

"i've had enough!" i cried. "no more football, no more emmys! even if it kills us we are just going to sit on this bed and stare at each other (or something??) until i feel better!"

so off the tv went and out came all of my irrational, completely random and totally bizarre thoughts and feelings for all the throw pillows to hear. g listened as well as any norwegian lover can and then, somehow, i found myself receiving a back tickle in return. soon the back tickle turned into a body tickle which always makes me certain my life is going to end right this very instant if you don't stop tickling me!! and then i paid him back with a healthy dose of face touching (which can i just tell you, g the norwegian LOATHES) and soon, i had him begging for mercy.

like magic, that made me feel better! (?)

the state of affairs this morning.

me: matted hair. drank some orange juice. still in pajamas. actin' a fool.
g: studious. skyped into class. doesn't appreciate the wife's silliness and interruptions. scruff.
evie: bathed. dressed. ate rice cereal and a banana. thumb in mouth. napping.
my closet: needs to be organized.
the bananas: are almost ready to be baked.
my jackets: i love them with my whole heart!!
pandora: bieber.
date night: was last night.
sushi: is gooood.
ryan gosling: was in my dreams.
i own: red pants!
i also own: green ones.

 

thank you for listening.

recently.

• evie has become a fan of biting things. need i say more? i mean, really, NEED I SAY MORE!?
• and, i went ahead and dunked her in the pool. she was completely shocked by it and took several minutes to get her bearings, but not a single tear.
• j bubba and i have been working on our relationship. 
• the husband has been stressed to the max getting ready for his upcoming trip to china and his new life as a student/employee/dad/husband/son/slave, etc. i think he is just realizing how hard it's going to be (i swear for a while there he was just thinking it was going to be TRIPS!) wish him luck, folks.
• i have been trying to figure out how i can make him a little study area and provide him with a way to keep all of his shiz organized while he accumulates a million studious things. or in other words, who wants to come to ikea and buy stuff with me?!
• evs and i are preparing to go stay with the parents for a few weeks.
• we've been going to weddings, weddings and more weddings.
• i've been melting into a pile of sweat every afternoon as i carry evie and walk the dogs up and down the aves. but, hey, good workout!
• toby has been sleeping. seriously, that's all.
• we've been waging a war against any and all fruit flies in our home. 4 dead so far. 
• i've been meeting friends for lunch and park time and trying to be a better girlfriend, in general. you here that, ladies!? let's get together!
• and number one on our list of recent activities: a new nephew born just yesterday!