Monday, January 30, 2012

take THAT monday.

having a case of the mondays?

this is sure to bust 'em right in the chops.   and if you're one of those people who skips right over videos or gives them a couple seconds & then turns them off {guilty} just promise me you'll give this one 16 seconds.  because that's when your frown will turn upside down & your monday will get just a little bit brighter.

pinky swear.



happy monday friends.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

our week by iPhone - week 63

i seriously had to do a double take at my pictures from earlier this week & think hard if that was actually this week.  because it feels like for-EVER ago.  it has been a long & good & exhausting week.

here it is through iPictures {i totes made "iPictures" up.  what now apple?}


monday.  we got up at the crack of dawn & drove the two hours from sam's sister's in portland back up home so sam could go to work.  unfortunately, our house was still powerless & the thermostat said it was 45 degrees inside... awesome.  parker & i left.

we spent the day hanging out with friends but later when i ran home to pic up another night's worth of sleepover-supplies i was greeted by about 15 power trucks in my neighborhood working to get all the lines fixed.  i may have cried happy tears.  apparently five days without power made me a little emotional.

that was parker's last night curled up in a pack n play for a while.  he did so awesome though on our nomadic adventures... he's such a champ.


tuesday.  we had stayed with our friends tim & lindsey so parker got to have an early morning playdate with cami before we headed out to stroller strides.  she is obviously giving me the "ok, it's time for this kid to quit playing with my toys & for you guys to leave" glare.  obviously.

after stroller strides {where parker opted to climb on random objects rather than pose in a picture with me} we went home to... A HOUSE WITH POWER!!  it was amazing.  i cranked the heat & parker reacquainted himself with all his toys.  he may have sat in a corner for a solid half hour reading his favorite books.

the not so amazing part?  clearing out my entire freezer & fridge of rotten/spoiled food.  but watching sam & parker run the aisles of costco to restock it almost kinda made up for it.  and so did curling up with "hunger games" & some oreos to end the day.  that kinda makes up for anything.


wednesday.  we were so happy to be in our warm cozy house on wednesday that we may or may not have never even left the house.  maybe we also spent the whole day in our pajamas.  except parker... he bathed.  and then it was back in pajamas.


thursday.  i went to work for the first time in a month!  vacation, sick kid & then snowmaggedon had kept me away so i drove happily in for a day at the office & parker had an awesome day with his sitter playing with one of the largest collections of thomas the train i've ever seen.  pretty sure he spent the night dreaming of five thousand foot long wooden tracks carrying his three thousand foot long thomas train collection.  he was in choo-choo heaven.


friday.  the sun was out & there wasn't a rain drop forecasted for the whole day so despite the crispy 35 degrees outside, parker & i went to the zoo with a bunch of our favorite mamas.  the zoo was almost completely empty & the kiddos had a blast running from exhibit to exhibit.  i foresee lots of zoo trips in our future.

friday night was really exciting.  i finished "hunger games" {uh-mazing!!} and sam played a little playstation for the first time in two years.  and parker?  pretty sure he spent most the night running his thomas trains around the top of our coffee table over & over & over again.  it's pretty much his favorite thing.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

...and get on the linky here:

Friday, January 27, 2012

used books & evil doughnuts.

just to forewarn you, this should probably be two posts.  but i'm not breaking them up because i'm crazy like that & this all happened in one day so to get the full effect you get one post.  but there are a lot of pictures... so... be warned.

while we stayed with sam's sister down in the portland area last week we decided to make the most of our nomadic homeless situation & have a fun family day exploring the city.  and every time i spend a day exploring portland?  i fall in love with it a little more.  that city is legit.

we started our day off by hitting up powell's books.  this place is ridiculous.  it's the largest new & used bookstore in the world, people.  we barely scratched its surface & we were all in bookstore heaven.  i think we coulda spent another five hours there but our parking was only good for one... so we made due.  first we checked out the kids section {of course} and they happened to be having story time.  parker payed attention for about 0.5 seconds & then was off to pull books off the shelf one at a time, plop down on the ground, carefully flip through the pages & then stick the book back on the shelf until another one caught his eye.

this kid loves books.






the thomas book came home with us & he pretty much hasn't put it down since.  it's definitely his current fave.

after powell's we headed to another part of town to get our voodoo doughnuts on.  if you haven't heard of voodoo doughnuts, i'm worried you might be living under a rock.  you guys, they've only been on tv like 500,000 times or something.  anywho, there's always a line out the door & down the street but it goes fast & it's worth it.

and you get to take fun pictures of the city & your cute baby & husband while you wait so everybody wins.








it's true, good things do come in pink boxes.

despite all the hype of the donuts with sugar cereal on them, bacon covered maple bars, or the signature voodoo-doll donut, sam & i stuck with basic maple & chocolate bars & a couple old fashioned donuts.  not too shabby my friends... not too shabby.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

wordless{ish} wednesday: we've got power!


after five days & five nights without any electricity in my entire neighborhood, the lights {& the heat!} are finally on at our house.  i think at the peak of the craziness, there were over 400,000 homes & businesses in the greater seattle area without power.  that's insane.

luckily we kept warm & were taken in by friends & family for all five nights.  but you guys?  it feels so amazingly good to be home.  i've had the heat cranked up to completely ridiculous levels in the house just because i can.  parker ran around from room to room scooping up his toys like it was christmas morning... he was so excited to be reunited with his stuff.  one thing that wasn't so awesome?  throwing away everything in our fridge & freezer & then going out last night to replace it all.  not the high point.  but climbing into my own warm bed?  pretty dang good.

and now maybe life will return to normal.  whatever that is.

{linking up with wordless wednesday at and then she {snapped},  baby baby lemonthe paper mama, & a little king & i}

Sunday, January 22, 2012

our week by iPhone - week 62

holy schmoly.

this week has been nutso my friends.  nutso.  and it continues to be.  let me start off by saying that snowmageddon?  was real.  it was ruthless & took the pacific northwest by storm... fer reals.  we lost power at our house thursday morning & as of this moment on sunday morning there's still no power at our house.  it's awesome you guys.  awesome.

ok not really that awesome.

but actually we are so lucky.  we've been staying at sam's sister's place since thursday night & have been made to feel totally at home & are probably gonna be here til our electricity gets fixed {which isn't estimated to happen til tuesday!}.  i'm just so grateful we have a warm place to call our home-away-from-home!

so here's what our week looked like:


monday morning we woke up to a blanket of snow & spent most the morning watching more come down.  we played inside & snuggled until we finally got our teeth brushed & headed out in the snow to get some provisions.  parker reallllly thought he needed some cool big boy toy story underwears.  some day p-ray... some day.


tuesday.  snow continued to fall most the day so i bundled us up for some good ol fashioned snow-play.  parker had to spend some time recovering on the couch before heading out again for more provisions.  it's a tough life that kid has.

i took a quick snapshot of the snow tuesday night before bed as it started to come down in sheets as predicted.  i still never expected to wake up to as much snow as we did wednesday morning.


wednesday morning we woke up to thirteen inches of snow.  that's a lot for the pacific northwest you guys.  we're not well equipped for that much snow & it basically shuts cities down.  sam worked from home & p-ray & i did a good job of letting him be productive by playing puzzles & staying busy with other indoor shenanigans.

after sam finished his work, he spent about an hour shoveling our driveway so we could get out & stock up on necessities.  like pizza fixins & chocolate milk.  just the essentials.

the roads were horrrrible & not even the interstate was plowed.  we managed to get to the store & back in our two-wheel drive sedan but not without a shovel & some de-icer in the trunk just in case.


thursday.  this is when it got really crazy.  our power went out at about 7:00 am & we spent most the morning in our cold house listening to branches crash down due to the weight of their ice & snow covered branches.  it for reals sounded like gun shots & made me jump every time.

we ended up heading over to our good friends' tim & lindsey's for most the day since they were one of the few lucky ones in town with power.  parker & their little girl spent the day playing {he was SO excited to finally have another kid to play with for the first time all week}, sam got some work done & the rest of us watched movies & enjoyed the warmth.

so then, after finding out that most hotels in the area were without power & not wanting to not drive all the way to portland to sam's sister's place in the crazy weather, we headed home to get stuff to stay the night at tim & lindsey's.  we were stopped by a huge tree in the road on our way home & realized just how bad things were.    power lines were flung about the streets like litter & trees were snapped left & right like twigs.  it was unlike anything we'd ever seen.

we grabbed enough stuff from our house to last us a few days & headed back to tim & lindsey's only to have the power go out five minutes after we got there.  awesome.

we made the trek down to portland & have been here ever since.


friday.  sam spent a good chunk of the day getting some work done but somehow found the time for wrestle breaks.  parker relaxed by snuggling with his blanket & baby & then later begged us for a bunny at the pet store.  ok maybe he wasn't really begging but i'm pretty sure he needs one.

that was our crazy week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

...and get on the linky here:

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

wordless{ish} wednesday: snowmageddon.

so if you live in the pacific northwest, follow any blogs of people in the northwest, have friends on facebook from the northwest or maybe if you watch the news?  then you may have heard what's going on around here.  yup.

snowmageddon.

and in seattle that means "ohmygawshwegotsnowandyesoneinchtotallyqualifiesassnowday!!"  but we're pretty legit down in the south sound where i live... we got like, four inches.  look out!  close the schools, work from home, re-stock the flash light batteries & food storage because the world as we know it is stopping until the last little bit melts.  and tonight we're supposed to get hammered with more.

how does this affect p-ray & i?  it makes us pretty much home-bound.  sam takes my car to work because his car currently doesn't have working windshield wipers {which are slightly important in the seattle area... especially during snowmageddon} & he's really not the type that will call in to work for a few inches, despite his hour long-on-a-good-day-commute.  it's one of his worst features.

so while stuck at home?  we make the best of it.  and that usually means getting outside.  for most of the morning, this was our view out the front window:


during these hours french toast happened, a couple episodes of thomas & friends happened {don't get me started on p-ray & tv.  i hate resorting to tv for entertainment.  but just keep in mind we've been stuck. at. home. now for days & days... remember before this we were stuck at home sick?  gah!!}, house cleaning happened, puzzles happened, dance parties happened & then putting on snow clothes happened.

long story short?  parker's not a huuuuuuge fan of the snow yet.  he can't really walk around in it too well {his boots are still kinda big for him & hard to maneuver in even on dry ground} so his confidence in it isn't the best.  this is how p-ray best enjoys his snow time:


yeah.  he pulled out his little umbrella stroller, insisted i open it up & then climbed inside.  then he pointed for the snow.

and when i pulled him out of the stroller & tried to show him how awesome snow is to walk around in?  he wasn't convinced.


before long we were back inside for round two of puzzles & other indoor antics.


he's lucky i like his face.  because we're supposed to get another 6-10" tonight & are looking at another couple of long days stuck at home enjoying each other's company


i guess it could be worse.

{linking up with wordless wednesday at and then she {snapped},  baby baby lemonthe paper mama, & a little king & i}

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

twenty months.

anyone remember how much i apologized for being late with parker's nineteen month update post?  yeah, that's laughable.  parker turns twenty-one months in nine days.  but let's not go there.  right now?  we're talking about a cutie-patootie little twenty month old p-ray.

here he is all growed up to twenty months.
{compare previous monthly pics here.}


twenty month old parker is doing more than ever.  more words, more antics, more fun & more mischief.  he is more determined than ever to do things his way & be an independent little boy.  for the most part, he's still the awesome & easy going little kid he's always been but oh man, he wears me out some days!

he's really starting to figure things out.  he can do his little melissa & doug puzzles without hesitation & knows how to line up his thomas "choo-choos" all facing the right direction so that the magnets stick.  then he drives them off the table so they crash on the floor & yells "yayyy!" while clapping his hands.  goofball.  he's become more obsessed than ever with his blanket {"B!"} & insists on taking it every. where.  there have been some epic battles over leaving it in the car to go in a store & we've even had to pull over on the side of the road to get a dirty "B" out of the car trunk, wipe it down with a baby wipe & give it to a melting down baby.  oh yeah, & then there was the time we had a thirty minute meltdown over no "B" at the dinner table.  ah geeze.  where did my easy going little baby go?  i think he's officially become a toddler.


don't get me wrong, parker's still a blast.  he walks into a room & shouts "Mommy!" to which i reply, "hi parker!" to which he says, "HI!" in the cutest, happiest, most expressive little voice ever.  he does it with his daddy too.  he would play "tent" in our bed for hours if he could, which pretty much just consists of him rolling around under the comforter like a crazy person while sam & i hold it high up like a tent with our feet.  he only breaks to lay on his back & kick frantically at the comforter with his feet from time to time.

he's obsessed with elmo, buzz, mator {he calls him "tractor"} & thomas.  he still loves puppies like crazy & kinda freaked out on sam when he turned the channel from "tombstone" because he wanted to see more "nays" {horses}.  he still hates diaper changes with a passion & drives me crazy by throwing food on the floor when he decides he's done.  he thinks yogurt & oatmeal are best eaten by both the spoon in your right hand & by the handful in your left hand.  yeah, it gets messy.  on saturday mornings it is not uncommon for him to walk up to sam with a remote in his hand & say "football! yayyy!"  sam's a pretty proud father.


he's still wearing some 12-18 month clothes, a lot of 18-24 month clothes & 2T pajamas.  wait, 2T?  you gotta be kidding me.  he loves to snuggle in the mornings & after naptime & is really just the sweetest little boy in the whole wide world.

and?  he is still so dang cute.


love this kid.

Monday, January 16, 2012

bath time with a new camera.

so i definitely spent the whole weekend with the new camera glued to my hands.  there are a few differences in the controls & dials from my old rebel but i think i'm kinda sorta maybe getting the hang of it.  it's still gonna take lots of practice til it's all second nature again though {check out some practice shots posted on my photo blog}.

good thing i have such a willing & happy model to experiment on!  p-ray was in true form last night during bath time so i snapped a few shots.  but here's the thing... the light in our bathroom is crrrrrap.  no pun intended.  no seriously, it's bad {and ok, the pun was kinda intended}.  i had to do lots of white balance tweaking in photoshop & the such as.  overall though, i think the cute kid speaks for himself, amiright?



he's crazy about his baths.  he would stay in there all night if we let him.  but only sitting up.  getting on his back or tummy is pretty much out of the question & in his mind?  pretty much the most terrifying thing that could ever happen to a kid.  {screams people, screams.  panic.  shaking!}

and getting out?  that's no fun at all.  but there's just something about a baby fresh out of his bath all wrapped up in a warm cozy towel that may or may not be on my list of top five favorite things.  ever.


Sunday, January 15, 2012

our week by iPhone - week 61

this?  wasn't a typical week.  a sick kid, a couple trips to the pediatrician & lots & lots of elmo, buzz, woody & lightening mcqueen.  i didn't mind the movies much & there were also lots of snuggles.  so that part's good.  parker continues to get better but also continues to cough & require lots of nose wiping.  persistent coughs are so annoying!  am i right??

this is kinda what our week looked like through pictures.


monday.  ok, actually this day was business as usual.  we went to stroller strides {first time in weeks!}, colored pictures & slept in uncomfortable positions.  this all went down pre-sick-kid.


tuesday.  sick day number one.  we spent most the morning snuggling & watching movies but then i figured i'd get us out for some fresh air.  this was fun for about five minutes... then parker was over it & just wanted to be snuggled some more.  but one thing p-ray loves despite sickness?  baths.  they never go outta style.


wednesday.  after spending the majority of the day cooped up in the house, i had to get p-ray & i out & about.  we spent the afternoon at the mall buying new sweaters {ok, just one for me}, lusting over cute new boots {ended up going back on saturday & buying them... no big deal} & then sitting in the car letting a tired little boy sleep in the back seat since naptime was apparently out of the question.


thursday.  i called in sick from my day in the office to stay home with the little man who at this point was consistently hacking up his lungs & requiring regular nose wipes.  we read books while sitting in laundry baskets {mostly just parker} & threw all our favorite stuffed animals in our crib & then took naps with them.  ok that last part?  also just parker.


friday.  since the pediatrician told me parker would no longer be contagious 2-3 days after his cough had presented, i figured i'd give stroller strides a shot.  although, i still didn't let him get out at the end & run around with other kids, just to be safe.  he didn't like that.

friday was also new camera day & pizza night.  obviously parker had sufficiently stuffed himself & is telling me he can't do anymore pizza at this point.  as for my new camera?  in.  love.  but it's kinda been dark & dreary around here so i haven't been able to shoot anything too spectacular.  but spectacular?  don't worry, it's coming.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

...and get on the linky here:

Friday, January 13, 2012

a day without pixar & other randoms.

thanks so much for all the love on the last post folks!

parker is doing much better.  well, he's on the road to improvement anyways.  i know this because we made it through the day without watching any cars or toy story.  that in itself is a sick day christmas miracle.  now the little monster just has a snotty nose & a flemmy cough just like any other kid with a cold... i can handle that.  barking like a seal & struggling to breath?  not handled so well by this one.  but it looks like that ship has sailed & we're into happier harbors.  so that's good.

today is friday the 13th... anyone buy into the spookiness?  i don't.  but then i always re-think the plans i make on this day wondering what could go wrong.  but it'll probably be like any other friday night so what could possibly go wrong with dvr'ed episodes of modern family & pizza?  be jealous of my exciting life.

actually today is a very exciting day!  it's new camera day!  true story.  at approximately 2:00 pm ups should be showing up at my doorstep with a shiny new canon 7d.  yup, i upgraded.  it was time.  i had exhausted every nook & cranny of my trusty little rebel t2i & am gonna see what a bigger badder body can do for me.  so that's exciting, right?

and lastly, since i can't write a post without a picture, here's a shot from our vacation that is as random as this post.  what...?  you don't let your kid run through the mall chasing trains in his socks?  lame.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

wordless{ish} wednesday: crappy croup.

remember all that talk of routine, working out & being back in the normal swing of things?  yeah, not happening this week.

my little monster has croup.  the distinctive seal barking started yesterday morning after a few days of a stuffy nose.  his raspy breathing & "stridor" gradually got worse until after {a very short} naptime i knew he was going downhill fast.  i called his pediatrician & within thirty minutes of my call we were sitting in the waiting room.  she looked at him, took his temp {he had a fever} & listened to him struggle to breath.  "yup, croup."  before i knew it they were sticking his leg with a steroid shot & prescribing albuterol treatments.

thank-freaking-heavens for modern medicine.

croup used to be a dreaded & deathly illness.  and it can still be very serious to this day when not treated promptly.  we are headed back to the doctor's office today to make sure he is really getting better & to possibly receive another steroid treatment.  since his pediatrician had just hospitalized a previous patient for RSV, she's not taking this lightly & for that?  i'm grateful.


here's to hoping we get our giggly non-seal-barking p-ray back asap.

{linking up with wordless wednesday at and then she {snapped},  baby baby lemonthe paper mama, & a little king & i}

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

family pictures!

dudes.  duuuuuuudes.

if you know me in real life then you might know what a big deal this is.  if you don't?  just know that it's a pretty big deal.

we literally haven't had good family pictures taken since parker's been born.  nadda.  i know what you're thinking... "amy.  you take pictures of families all the time!  what's wrong with you?"  ummm, well, i haven't figured out how to take a picture of my own little family whilst also being in front of the camera.  i was complaining about this predicament to a friend who said, "ah yes.  the cobbler's son has no shoes."  exactly lindsey, exactly.

so even though this picture is far from the dream family photo i have locked away in my head {obviously sam's first choice of picture attire wouldn't be a white shirt & tie... but it was after church & it will have to do} i'm gonna take it.  and my left side isn't even my "good" side... but?  it will do.  and so what if, as sam said, parker looks like a sixteen year old girl wearing her boyfriend's shirt?  i kinda love it.  and for the record, his socks do match.  you just can't see the red stripe on his right sock.  and yeah, i realize sam & parker are making the same scowl-ish expression.  i kinda love that too.

to me?  this picture is imperfectly perfect.


a big thanks to my sister gina for taking it.

and for good measure, here is a picture that my sister took from our last trip down there in september.  it's a few months old but i love it nonetheless!  can i have that tan back please??


i should mention that sam got me a camera remote for christmas.  i suppose there is the possibility of setting the camera up on a tripod & seeing what i can get... but for now?  this will do!

Monday, January 9, 2012

our {trip} week through iPhotos - w. 60

and we're back!

holy crap, so much to say.  we're like, nine days into a new year & this is my first post.  whaaaaat?  how does that even happen?  i'll tell you how.  vacation with the fam.  limited computer access & nights of movie watching & family shenanigans that don't allow for blog posting.  and i was totally ok with that.

i kinda really sucked at taking pictures on this trip.  i managed to squeak out a few on my iphone but the trip is not very well represented.  i got a few more on my real camera which i'll share later but i kinda just decided to forgo getting those "perfect" pictures for just enjoying the moments.  i often thought of taking my camera out but then decided i didn't want to be bothered with the worries of good light, catching perfect smiles & perfectly capturing the moment.  instead i just kinda enjoyed it.  and that's ok too.

this trip was good times.  seeing my whole family is always good times.  there's just something about going to your parents' house that brings out your inner child.  aka: sleeping in, junk food eating, napping & indulging in mom's home-cookin'.  this trip consisted of lots of those things.

but now that i'm home & sitting back in my office, this kinda feels good too.  i'm excited about the new year.  i'm excited about what 2012 might bring & about some goal setting & fresh starts.  i'm excited to get back in our normal routine & to quit justifying all the junk food with talk of the holidays & get back in shape & back on healthy-eating track.  because i've kinda really fallen off the wagon.

so there will be talk of all that later.

for now, here's a few snapshots i did manage to grab of our trip with my iphone.


ugh, looking at these pictures now i really wish i had taken more!  oops.  two of my sisters & my dad aren't represented & i'm missing lots of cousins & brother-in-laws.  but they were all there too, i promise.

seeing parker with all his cousins is one of the coolest things ever.  he's the youngest of twelve grandkids on my side of the fam & it's a blast watching my nieces & nephews play with him.  he thinks they're so funny!  i'm pretty sure i have the best family ever.  i'm willing to fight anyone who tries to tells me otherwise.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.
the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

...and get on the linky here:

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