a good life.

this is gonna be random. and involve bullet points.

2012-02-01T00:41:00.000-08:00

it's one of those nights where anything i may have to say really has nothing to do with the next thing i may have to say. which really isn't that surprising because it's kinda how my brain operates on a daily basis. who likes a one tract mind, anyway? plus i'd kinda like to knock out a few thoughts so i can hurry & go curl up in bed with "catching fire". just being honest.

• you guys. i finally broke down & bought those hunters i've been drooling over. i got the black matte ones & am totally justifying it by saying i will need them to tromp through tall grass for photo sessions protecting my feet from snakes & wetness. and i live in seattle, the rainy day capital of the world so do i even need a reason to buy rain boots? seems like they should be required equipment around here, really.

• i made this crock pot mashed potato recipe from pinterest last night. they rocked our world. there is no going back to old methods at this point... the vote was unanimous {parker's vote included wolfing-down multiple bowls of the stuff & sam's included eating half the batch before they were even out of the crock pot. so i'd say it was a winner}.

• i keep complaining about not having a proper camera bag to tote my gear around in but the real reason i don't have one yet is because i can't decide on which one to buy. i drool over all the epiphanie bags & kelly moore bags & really i should just hurry up & decide because wrapping my camera up in a washcloth & stickin it in the diaper bag is losing its ghetto chic-ness real quick. but obviously i get points for looking super professional.

• i totally cheated & read reality steve's blog & i now probably know who ben picks on the bachelor. i didn't link to it because you bachelor fans might find yourself clicking away & then your head will explode when you see who wins. i've already said too much.

• speaking of this, i really suck at surprises & suspense. i googled the ending to the twilight series & ended up never reading the last book. nine times out of ten i will read the synopsis of a movie we're watching on imdb because i need to know how it ends instead of suffering through another thirty minutes with my stomach in knots. it is taking ev-er-y-thing i have to not google the end of the "hunger games" series. so far i'm staying strong.

• i've been working on a 30 by 30 list & so far i've come up with eight. i only have seven more months before i turn thirty so this may actually never happen. maybe i just need to add things to the list like "wash, dry, fold & put away a load of clothes all in one day" or "meal plan & shop for one full week's worth of meals. then stick to that plan" or "wear a different outfit every single day of the week with no repeats"... hahahaha, who am i kidding? this isn't gonna happen.

• i could eat oreos for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

• last night when sam was taking parker into his room to read stories before bed, i said, "ni-night parker... can i have a kiss?" to which he replied {in the cutest sweetest voice, of course}, "nooo!" and slammed the door shut in my face. all i heard on the other side of the door were hysterical giggles. from both sam & parker.

• this picture is one of my first attempts at using my new camera remote with my new camera in front of what soon will be the new curtains in my living room {as soon as i iron & hem them... so maybe never}. pretty sure the camera focused on the sleeve of my t-shirt & left the rest out of focus but you get the idea. cute kid, irresistibly kissable cheeks, pajamas still on at noon. business as usual!

and with that i am off to grab a stack of oreos & climb into bed with katniss, peeta & gale. be jealous.

happy first of february!

take THAT monday.

2012-01-30T00:06:00.000-08:00

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.

our week by iPhone - week 63

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

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:

used books & evil doughnuts.

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2012-01-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

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 lemon, the paper mama, & a little king & i}

our week by iPhone - week 62

2012-01-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

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:

wordless{ish} wednesday: snowmageddon.

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

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 lemon, the paper mama, & a little king & i}

twenty months.

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

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.

bath time with a new camera.

2012-01-16T00:06:00.000-08:00

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.

our week by iPhone - week 61

2012-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

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:

a day without pixar & other randoms.

2012-01-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

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.

wordless{ish} wednesday: crappy croup.

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

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 lemon, the paper mama, & a little king & i}

family pictures!

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

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!

our {trip} week through iPhotos - w. 60

2012-01-09T00:06:00.000-08:00

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:

last couple-a weeks in iPhone pics! w. 58 & 59

2011-12-31T22:32:00.000-08:00

oh hello there my neglected blog of late!

have you gotten the sense that things have been a bit crazy around here lately? no? well they have been. it's a good crazy though! the kind that usually surrounds the holidays. after being home for three days, we are back on the road headed to my family's for a little bit!

so i'm officially on vacation. again.

but since i flaked out on "a week in iPhone pics" last weekend, i just couldn't bare to do it again. here are some highlights from our last couple-a weeks!

there was christmas shopping, sam's baking, fro-yo eating, road-tripping, presents-opening, family hanging-outing, anniversary celebrating & newborn photo-shooting! whew.

happy new year!

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:

six years.

2011-12-29T22:51:00.000-08:00

{circa 2005. our engagement shoot.}

six years ago today i married my best friend.

at first i just thought he was hot but then he made me laugh {a lot!} & i realized i could be my complete & total self around him. he was smart, motivated, athletic & into sports, he had spent two years in australia as a missionary for our church {hot!} & liked to camp, fish & hunt. we clicked from day one.

today? he is still my best friend, i still think he's hot & he's the father of our child. there is nothing in the whole world like seeing your husband become a father. my heart is so full of love for the two boys in my life it hurts.

i am such a lucky girl to be celebrating six years of wedded bliss with this guy.

happy anniversary sam!

wordless{ish} wednesday: christmas in a collage.

2011-12-28T23:23:00.000-08:00

holy whirlwind weekend of a holiday, right?

yes, we're among the group of those who are still recovering. we were out of town friday through monday with sam's family & now? we're gearing up for some more time away with my family this coming week. but i had to stop in & post some pictures of our holiday. because it was fantastic.

what these pictures don't show are the hours of laughing, good-food-eating, puzzle-putting-together-ing, secret-santa-plotting & delivering, relaxing & all around general good-times-having. because that pretty much sums up our weekend.

parker had a crazy amount of fun with his nana & papa & his auntie & uncle & we all had fun spoiling him & watching him take it all in. he loved all his presents & it just makes me so much more excited for more christmases to come when he gets the whole thing a little bit more.

so because heaps of laundry & overflowing suitcases are currently calling my name {as is my bed!} here is an unedited photo dump from our day. i am so so SO sad i didn't get a picture of our little family all dressed up in our sunday best for church but i only have myself to blame. i totally forgot! fail.

i guess there's always next year. only 362 more days til christmas!

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

monkey hat 2010 vs. 2011.

2011-12-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

i just wanted to post a little hello before i sign off for the holiday. i'm not sure if i'll be on a computer at all this weekend so i wanted to post a little christmas cheer before we left!

there were a few pictures last christmas that easily ranked as my favorite p-ray pics from the season. it was his cute chubby little face smiling out from underneath his sock monkey hat handmade for him by chelsey's mom. otherwise known as these pictures from this post.

so i thought, hey? let's attempt to recreate them, yes?

i just might attempt annual versions of these pictures until he's 25. or 30.

anyways, i hope everyone has a very merry christmas & spends lots of quality time with friends & family doing the things they love & relaxing & eating lots of food. because that's what i'll be doing!

merry christmas, friends.

wordless{ish} wednesday: santa pictures.

2011-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

alright, no more mrs. hum-bug around here, people. i wasn't kidding when i vowed to get my christmas spirit in high gear & i've already crossed a few things off the bucket list. we've watched a few christmas classics, we've done quite a bit more christmas shopping {parker is done! well, until i see something else he just has to have}, we delivered home-made cinnamon rolls to our neighbors & yesterday morning i took parker to get his picture with santa!

there's really not much else you can say about our santa photo experience except santa had a yellow beard & smelled like smoke. but hey, you won't be able to smell it looking at the pictures in ten years, right? so no big.

and i usually don't love to post unflattering pictures of my child on the interwebz... but, screaming-child-on-santa's-lap-pictures are the exception.

here ya go.

they both look a little unsure, yes? maybe one more than the other. i decided to jump in & see if we could get one that didn't look entirely like parker was having the worst experience of his life.

if parker wasn't looking a little disheveled & the hair wasn't sticking to his sweaty face you'd never know he was screaming for his life moments earlier.

he'll thank me some day. or... he'll require years of therapy. we're just gonna have to wait & see how this one plays out.

merry christmas!

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

no seriously, it just gets better & better.

2011-12-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

i kinda feel like people with kids like to scare new parents. like, they're super quick to point out all the negatives instead of telling you the awesome parts.

at six months it was, "oh, he's starting to crawl? you're in for it now!" and looking back it turns out crawling was awesome. it was so much fun to watch parker gain the beginnings of his independence & explore his surroundings. it was the start of "crawling adventures" together & watching him transform from a baby blob to a little person with curiosity & personality.

when it took him a while to walk on his own & we would voice frustration people would say, "be careful what you wish for... once they start going they'll never stop!" dude, walking is the coolest. no more muddy knees at the playground & what? i need to get something out of my purse & i have to put you down? no big deal, just hang out there standing on your own.

now that we're staring toddlerhood in the face we get it all. "oooh, the terrible twos!" but you know what? i think toddlerhood is rad. i am loving toddlerhood. yes there are tantrums, yes he voices frustration now & then & occasionally he {gasp!} does things i tell him not to. but the flip side? so much fun. there is nothing quite like watching your kid pick up on something new. parker is really into naming all his body parts & will give you the run down from nose to ears to eyes to arm to teeth at any given second. he gets so proud of himself & that's pretty much the best thing ever.

this morning parker stood up on a chair in the kitchen & helped us cook for the first time. turns out, that's the kinda stuff you have kids for. kids are awesome, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. there are challenges & some days might even suck but there is nothing like having the love of a child & watching them grow... even when they're screaming at you & hitting you for changing their diaper {yes, this happens around here} i wouldn't change a thing about my job as a mom for the world.

and it just keeps getting better & better.

our week by iPhone - week 57

2011-12-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

welp, this week i have a pretty legit excuse for being a day late in posting this post. my iPhone DIED you guys. died. this is like a catastrophic life-altering event. is it sad that we live in a day where i seriously felt like the world was going to end because i had to go a day without my phone? how would i tell time? what if i got lost while we were out? what if my car broke down on the side of the road & i had no phone to call for help? or even worse, what if something awesome was posted on instagram & i missed it??

don't worry, none of those things happened.

i got through the day without my phone just fine & now am the owner of a new swapped out replacement iPhone that works. long story short, apple replaced my phone that had a corroded charging port {due to my dropping it in the toilet back in january} for a replacement fee. half an hour in the apple store & i walked out with a new phone in hand already loaded up with all my contacts, apps, music & photos. gotta love iCloud.

here's what the rest of our week looked like.

monday. parker got real excited as we shopped for candies to take to our 2nd annual gingerbread house making party. i looked really special holding my manger scene made out of graham crackers & then parker went home & passed out in a crazy sleeping position. per the uge.

tuesday. the day started a little rocky when parker threw a fit at stroller strides. i can't remember what it was about but i'm sure it involved sharing & cars & not getting everything he wanted. the day got better fast when parker's new dino-spike hoodie arrived in the mail & we went out to get our christmas tree. yay! pine tree smell! sparkly lights! christmas has officially landed in our house.

wednesday started super crafty when lindsey came over & spent the whole morning sewing stuff with me! i feel so domestic. i whipped up the start to my pinterest inspired tree skirt & she worked on some super cute felt animal puppets. we're such moms.

wednesday night i had to get a quick chinese fix & parker wowed people in his dino hoodie. i tried on hipster glasses at costco & parker made pig faces in plastic & had us cracking up. ok, that actually happened last weekend but i was short a picture & it still cracks me up.

thursday i worked in the office & enjoyed my lunch out on the town & then realized all the pictures at my work desk are about five years old. aka: not a single picture of parker. what kind of mom am i? sam compensated for my lameness with lots of wrestling. actually those things have nothing to do with each other.

friday. well my phone died thursday night so i actually didn't get any iPhone pics during the day. but i did take lots & lots of pics with my real camera & i'm sure more pictures from our day will make their appearance on the blog soon so act surprised. including parker in his sock monkey hat & parker playing outside in his dino hoodie. can you tell i'm kinda obsessed with this new hoodie?

friday night we hit up red robin & ate ourselves silly with burgers & steak fries. wow, i just realized how much fast food i ate this week & am now going to go throw up. see ya!

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:

i'm not completely failing, right?

2011-12-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

so we got our tree this week. yay! but... i still feel like a christmas 2011 failure.

i have no idea what i'm getting sam for christmas & we don't even know exactly what we're getting parker. shouldn't i have christmas lists up the wahoo by now? i find that i get most excited for christmas when i have great gift ideas for people. when i have all these fun surprises up my sleeve for the big day & i'm just super excited for it to come already so i can watch their faces as they see how awesome & thoughtful i am. {yeah i know, it's all about me!}

but... this year? i got nothin.

also? i haven't taken parker to sit on santa's lap {you want me to wait in line how long??} & i haven't watched a single christmas classic. i haven't baked any christmas goodies, we didn't get christmas cards out, my holiday crafts are laying around half finished & parker needs a christmas suit. obviously. we didn't go to any christmas parades, parker didn't perform in any christmas pageants & i didn't go caroling at an old folks home.

so you know what i have to do, right? yup. make a christmas bucket list. it means i have just over a week to kick my christmas season into high gear & get some christmas spirit up in here.

here goes:

• christmas shop for sam & parker.
• get parker a christmas outfit.
• get parker's picture with santa.
• finish my holiday projects.
• bake something delicious & give it away.
• watch my christmas favorites {including but not limited to: a christmas story, the nativity, charlie brown christmas, muppet christmas carol, how the grinch stole christmas {the old school cartoon one. obviously.}, & elf.}
• drive around & admire houses who go way too overboard with their christmas decor.

that should suffice.

but don't get me wrong... i have been listening to christmas music non-stop, i've drank my weight in peppermint hot chocolate & we got together with friends to make gingerbread houses this week. so all isn't lost. i just like to go pretty all-out, ya know? i mean c'mon... it's CHRISTMAS! it's only the best holiday of the entire year. so, no big deal.

lastly, i am kinda excited about one little thing. this little blog has officially reached 1,000 followers! it's like an early christmas present. so none of ya'll go unfollowing today, ya hear? i want to do something fun to celebrate. perhaps a giveaway sponsored by yours truly? stay tuned.

until then, just enjoy the lights on my little christmas tree. who finally got put up halfway into the month. that means it should be good til... say, mid january, right?? i'm sure sam would love that.

wordless{ish} wednesday: baby in a box.

2011-12-13T23:30:00.000-08:00

i guess they aren't lying when they say kids dig boxes. p-ray enjoyed box seats on our couch this weekend, stocked with his favorite stuffed animals & his blanket. he's very high class.

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

nineteen months.

2011-12-12T23:42:00.000-08:00

i am embarrassingly late on this one. parker may or may not have turned nineteen months over two weeks ago & is headed right into twenty months in exactly two weeks. so i'll keep this short & sweet since you'll be hearing all about his milestones again in two weeks {give or take}.

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

this kid is so much fun. i keep saying every stage is my favorite & it's definitely true for this one. he is seriously the sweetest little boy. loves to cuddle & loves his mom & dad more than anything else in the whole world. except maybe his lightening mcqueen car.... which goes everywhere with him. {we've gone through three of them. somewhere in space there is a black hole hiding all of our missing lightening mcqueens. the only reason he isn't holding one in this picture is because they were all lost at the time.}

he is getting much more verbal & pretty much every sound out of his mouth is a word of some sort. well, unless it's a car noise. he doesn't really speak in jibberish & will say just about any word we ask him to. he's a rockstar at eating with a fork & spoon & can eat his oatmeal or yogurt without any spills. the mess happens when he decides to use his hands to get the last few drops.

right now his favorite things in the whole world are cars {especially lightening mcqueen}, his blanket {known simply as "B"}, his sheep pillow {known as "baa"} & his stuffed animals {specifically his puppy & his cow... known as "moo"}. he is a bottomless pit when it comes to cheerios or peanut butter & jelly & sleeps a solid 12+ hours a night with a 2-3+ hour nap every day at 1:00. most days when i go in to get him out of bed i ask "parker do you want to get up?" and he'll say "noooooo!" {in the cutest high pitched little squeal} and dive back down into his blanket & pillows.

he has a fascination with lining things up {cans from the cupboard, cars, stuffed animals} & thinks every day has to end with a snack. he's going through a bit of a stranger-danger stage & will bury his head in my shoulder when a new person talks to him & then slowly peek out at them with a smile. it's pretty cute.

he loves to play with other kids but mostly likes to steal their "choo choos" or cars & then freak out when we have to give them back. he'll run around playing & stop every few minutes to make sure i'm around & run over to give me a hug & then go about his business. i like it.

diaper changes are still the worst thing in the world & he's starting to outgrow most his 12-18 month clothes. he has moved up to the next size & is even wearing quite a few 2T jammies. whaaat? he's still pretty small for his age though. at his 18 month well visit he was in the 50% for weight & the 15% for height.

and? he is still so dang cute.

love this kid.

now, for good measure here is a video of parker during our nineteen month photoshoot. this is mostly for all the grandmas & grandpas & aunts & uncles out there & also for anyone who enjoys anything ridiculously cute... because that's all it is. parker, being ridiculously cute. just saying.

and if you're wondering why he's looking away from the camera over my shoulder, it's because i'm sitting in front of the tv & he's busy staring past me watching picture-slideshow on the apple tv. he loves him some pictures of himself.

welp... so much for keeping this post short & sweet. you'll forgive me, right?

ps: you'll forgive me for the cheesy "mom" voice i have in this video too, right? gah! what is it about hearing your own voice on video that makes you cringe?? seriously.

our week by iPhone - week 56

2011-12-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

good week, friends. good week.

we did lots of stuff. parker's just in this little "my buddy" stage. he's like this little dude that just hangs out with me & plays & goes shopping with me & chills. so that's what our week consisted of... lots of me & parker. no seriously, that's about it in the photos. yes, sam was there too but he got a break from the camera this week. he won't get off as easily next week, i'm sure.

this is what we did.

monday started off a little rocky. p-ray woke up two hours earlier than normal & just couldn't deal. and by "couldn't deal" i mean he couldn't deal with anything. "want some milk?" on the floor tantrum-fest. "wanna snack?" tears & screams. you get the idea. an early nap ended up being four hours long during which i got lotsa things done. happy panda.

we turned our crummy day around by heading to the store to buy parker a string of colored lights for the window in his room. they're pretty much his favorite thing ever.

tuesday started with some post-workout teriyaki with my good ol co-worker friend sophal. we try to do lunch every other month or so & she loves seeing how much parker has changed in between. and i love anyone who loves my kid. win win.

then we headed home & p-ray dabbled with his softer side by playing around in my makeup bag. a little rouge can do wonders on those pink baby cheeks.

and that last pic? just parker sleeping. with his legs up on the bars of his crib. crossed. business as usual.

wednesday was probably my favorite day of the week. you know it's gonna be a good day when your kid wakes up & just wants to chill on his changing table, legs crossed, admiring some art. he's classy like that. the rest of the morning was chalk full of p-ray giggles & sock-monkey-hat antics.

to kill some time waiting for sam to get home, we headed out to the fabric store. parker wooed the old ladies in his pj-bottoms-skeleton-hoodie-sock-monkey-hat number. no seriously, the old laides LOVE him in that store. why wouldn't you?

thursday started out a little intense. ok, a lot intense.

on my way in to work i drove by this massive accident just minutes after it happened. emergency vehicles hadn't made it there yet & witnesses were just starting to gather on the side of the road. turns out the semi-truck driver hit another car from behind & then ran off the road into trees. good samaritans weren't able to pull him out of the truck before it was overtaken by flames. the freeway was blocked over eight hours & it took all day to clean it all up & get the truck out of the trees. it was awful!

then i just sat around my quiet office all day & ate a tasty burrito from my favorite taco bus at my desk. what do i look forward to every week most about my day in the office? lunch.

friday. parker clung tight to his favorite stuffed animals at stroller strides. he is so obsessed with stuffed animals right now & i love it. maybe because stuffed animals were my favorite thing as a kid & i love watching him grow attached to cute furry little objects. because what's cuter than that? not much.

friday night we babysat one of parker's friends & met up with more friends at a reading of "the polar express." it was pretty packed & the kiddos had no idea what was happening. and clearly parker had no idea how cool it is to have your picture taken with a guy in a conductor suit since the only pictures i was able to take were ones of him fleeing the scene.

maybe next year.

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:

i'm not here today... but i'm over there!

2011-12-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

at chelsey's blog, the paper mama!

she has been doing this kinda amazing series the last few weeks called "50 DIY days of christmas." everyday she posts a DIY craft masterminded by either herself or a guest blogger. welp, today is my day to put my little DIY hands to work & show off something i did my very own self.

so hop on over there & see what i did & how you can do it too. wahoo! {sorry, i had to. it rhymed.}

... posted over at the paper mama. go check it out!

giveaway day: win a scentsy buddy + scent pak!

2011-12-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

it's giveaway day, yay!

today's giveaway is brought to you by jessica norris, independent scentsy consultant. and giveaways don't get much cuter than this. let's cut to the chase, shall we?

most people have heard of scentsy, yes? the cute little warmers that melt the delicious smelling waxes which make your home smell all delicious & dreamy instead of burning those dangerous fire-inducing candles? yes? ok then, we're on the same page.

but have you heard of scentsy buddies? cutest things ever. they are plush little stuffed animals that come with an opening for you to insert a crazy-good smelling scentsy pouch. you'll probably have a hard time picking your favorite. we did.

we ended up picking "roarbert the lion" because it was basically the only animal parker doesn't have in his insanely large collection of stuffed animals. but the elephant was a close second. or the monkey. or any of them. check them all out here.

we love him. clearly.

so now you get a chance to win a scentsy buddy + scent pak of your choice, courtesy of jessica! thanks jess!

here's how you enter {mandatory}:
• visit jessica's online store & tell me which scentsy buddy you would pick!

bonus entries {leave a seperate comment for each}:
• "like" jessica's blog fan page on facebook.
• follow jessica's blog, "a snapshot of our life"
• be a follower of my blog.
• spread the word about this giveaway on your personal twitter or facebook. something along the lines of "enter to win a Scentsy Buddy of your choice from @amy_agoodlife {if using twitter} @A Good Life {if using facebook} today!"

there ya go, more ways to enter than you can shake a stick at.

can't wait to win your scentsy buddy? order directly from jessica before december 13 & get free shipping on your order AND have it guaranteed to arrive before christmas! be sure to mention i scent ya. get it? scent! HA.

giveaway ends tuesday, december 13 at 11:59 am. winner must respond within 24 hours with their shipping information & choice of scentsy buddy in order to guarantee arrival before christmas!

wordless{ish} wednesday: cars. obsessed.

2011-12-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

this kid could pretty much play with cars all day everyday. and then play with them some more.

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

it went down just like this.

2011-12-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

he was in his jammies, sitting on sam's lap waiting for bedtime stories by the light of his colorful christmas lights hung around the window. i was slowly making my exit out of the room {we take turns putting him down each night} & saying my goodbyes.

"nigh-night parker... sleep good! i love you. muah!" : : blowing kisses : :

"bye-bye mommy. i love you."

and then i had to be mopped up off the floor because i had melted into one big giant mess of mom goo.

sure he's said those little words before when he was repeating after me, but tonight it was different. tonight they were accompanied by a wave goodbye & a little peck of his own hand blowing me a kiss. if i could just bottle the sweetness i'd have enough to last a lifetime.

and you know what? i needed that today. because it was one of those days. he woke up a couple hours earlier than normal & just couldn't deal with things. anything. it was one of those toddler-on-the-floor-kicking-&-screaming kind of days. this? this was my payday.

it's funny how after a long day of tantrums & food-throwing, all this little man had to do is get out his cutest littlest voice, say "i love you" & then curl up in his bed holding on tight to his little bear & drift off to sleep in order for me to be excited about doing it all again tomorrow.

he totally redeemed himself.

this little monster is sick & we don't have a christmas tree.

2011-12-05T00:35:00.000-08:00

we don't know what said sickness is, but it's causing a fever & a rash & for my little monster to be extra snuggly. that last part? i don't mind at all. i kinda wonder if maybe it's just teething? he's cutting his canines right now & they look awfully painful. but whatever it is, it's actually not slowing him down one bit. so if it wasn't for the random rash on his tummy & the occasional hot headed fever, you'd never know something was wrong.

is it wrong to enjoy a sick day? last friday we literally spent the whole day in bed. we watched movies & parker felt it was necessary to wedge his little head right in the crook of my neck, smack dab between my head & shoulders. i didn't mind at all. but i did feel kinda guilty for enjoying the extra snuggles. ah well, his loss my gain.

so does everyone but me have their christmas tree by now? sam decided this weekend wasn't time yet. and by not time yet, i think he means it's not time to get out in the freezing cold, drudge around until i decide we've found the "perfect" one, drag it back to his old mazda protege, throw it on the roof & strap it down with a million jerry-rigged knots, prune it to perfection once home, drag it in the house, set up it nice & straight, vacuum the millions of pine needles up & then string the lights. because all those parts? kinda fall under his responsibility. i can't imagine why he's not excited about it!

don't worry, we'll get one this week. and for every day that goes by without a christmas tree, it just means we get to leave it up that much longer after christmas, right?? i thought so.

until then, enjoy some crazy p-ray expressions.

what is it about a kid in christmas jammies, am i right?? freaking love that kid.

our week by iPhone - week 55

2011-12-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

you guys. i'm not sure if you were aware of this but it's DECEMBER! christmas & a new year are just around the corner!! whaaaat? yup.

another week down, another week closer to christmas! yay! we did some shopping, some crafting, put up our decorations & some other stuff.

check it out.

monday. our weekly costco trip, which p-ray doesn't mind at all. he's my favorite little co-shopper. then he marveled at the "balls!" on the christmas tree in a shop & went home for pre-bedtime wrestle-mania with his dad.

tuesday. just chillaxin in the craft store shopping cart, no big deal. that night i put up our christmas decorations while blaring christmas music & sam & parker {any guesses?} wrestled.

wednesday. p-ray slept in til 9:00 & then woke up suuuuper happy. so happy that he didn't want to get out of his bed. but when he did? he asked for oatmeal & hot dog. seems normal.

then auntie jodi came up to hang out with us which was pretty much our favorite. and guess who just entered the iPhone club? my mom & dad! hooray! we celebrated by using facetime. i'm sure my mom is gonna love this screen shot i took.

thursday. i have a puffy vest obsession. i'm working on pretty much having one in every color for both p-ray & i. apparently thursday was red puffy vest day.

thursday night parker did such a good job shopping for our groceries that we rewarded him with his first very own fro-yo.

friday. parker woke up with a nasty fever so i threw him in a lukewarm bath to break it. he sat in it & whined but didn't wanna come out. goofball. the rest of friday was spent snuggling in bed watching movies in our jammies until sam got home. then we did some shopping with a happier feeling-better parker who loved the rocking horse. hmmmm, maybe santa will put one in his stocking!

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:

stickin' it to pinterest - vol. 5

2011-12-02T02:22:00.000-08:00

seems like it's been a while since i got my craft on, doesn't it?

well i saw this little diddy on pinterest & decided it was something even i could handle. i pinned it & went on my merry way not really thinking much more about it {as i usually do}. then one day i was walking around the craft store surrounded by christmasy crafts & decor & music & feeling all hyped up on christmas spirit when i walked right into a display of mixed christmas cardstock on sale. i immediately remembered these cute stars & decided it was meant to be.

such an occurrence could only be explained by divine intervention, yes?

i followed this tutorial. it's pretty dang similar to my own tutorial below... just different paper? and fonts. yes, i used different fonts.

not pictured: stapler & string. and super glue. oh & a pencil. turns out i suck at making supply list photos.

just follow the steps below. if you can't read the type on the picture, just click & it will enlarge big enough for your reading pleasure.

the original tutorial used plain ol' elmer's glue to stick the stars together. i didn't have that on hand & couldn't get the stapler to make it work either. that's where the super glue came in... stuck a few drops on the insides, smooshed the two halves together & now they're bonded for life. how romantic.

there you have it! make some in different colors, designs & sizes. then attach some string & hang 'em up all over the house... i love 'em!

special thanks to my sister in law jodi for making these along side me the other day. the stapler was her idea & i must say it was genius. pure genius jodi.

another pinterest project crossed off the bucket list. hip hip hooray!

wordless{ish} wednesday: parker & duncan. best friends.

2011-11-30T00:06:00.000-08:00

parker got to hang out with his best little buddy duncan while on vacay last weekend. they're such good friends that they already coordinate their outfits together.

and when duncan seemed bored sitting in his carseat waiting to go, parker entertained his little friend with colander-on-the-head jokes. cause that's what best friends do.

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

november {medium} sponsor love!

2011-11-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

here are a few more new blogs & fun shops for you to check out! and be sure you do. they're some of my favorites!

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our week by iPhone - week 54

2011-11-28T00:06:00.000-08:00

well, we're back. and just like every other vacay i have mixed emotions about being home. on one hand we're back in our own beds on our normal routine in the normal swing of things however boring it may be, it's also kinda nice. but mostly? boo! vacation's over.

we had an awesome time. you may have noticed it was pretty much crickets over here on the ol' blog because on this trip? vacation meant vacation. besides some internet surfing & some facebook checking, i spent last week's long weekend pretty much unplugged & it was niiiiccce. i realized going to bed before 1:00 am & at the same time as sam was kinda awesome. and that watching a movie without a computer on your lap & a blog post hanging over your head is pretty sweet too.

i needed that time away. and i also realized that i probably need to start putting less pressure on myself about this here blog. my sleep & my sanity & my family are pretty much priorities numero uno & that's gonna mean a lot less late nights staying up with the interwebz. but this is probably info for another post...

anywho, here's our week!

{pilgrim babies. family picture outfits. road trip lunch.

driving over the snowy pass. hanging out. mini mozart.

baby hangout. thanksgiving feasting. my grandma & grandpa!

ryan, christie, parker & duncan. parker & duncan going for a walk. driving home.}

i wasn't too great about taking millions of pictures every day. i managed to get a few snapshots here & there & this is what we ended up with.

we trekked over the mountains to spend thanksgiving with our friends ryan & christie & their cute little five month old, duncan. we got to see lots of friends & family, meet a new baby & visit with my amazing 98 year old grandma & 92 year old grandpa! and i am so excited to have these pictures with parker & his great-grandparents.

hope everyone had an awesome holiday & are as excited as i am for christmas! i am totally a you-don't-celebrate-christmas-until-after-thanksgiving kinda girl so now i'm totally ready to go full swing into christmas mode this week. bring on the music, the decorations & the shopping. hooray!

happy monday friends.

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:

wordless{ish} wednesday: thankful.

2011-11-23T00:06:00.000-08:00

well, ya knew it was coming. a thankful post. i would be totally lame & ungrateful if i didn't touch on some of the amazing things in my life, so here it is.

i am so in love with this time of year. and i don't know what it is but for some reason this year's holiday season feels particularly special. maybe it's because parker is actually more aware of christmas tree lights & santa & i'm super anxious to watch his reaction christmas morning now that he actually gets excited over new toys. and now he actually dances with me in the living room when i blast christmas music rather than sit in his bouncer watching me like a crazy person {i know right? why would he look at me like that?} like he did last year. to get to show these things to a little guy for the first{ish} time is pretty exciting.

and? i'm just happy. i'm in a good place. i don't want anyone to think my life is perfect, that i don't have things i wish were different or that my life is all rainbows & puppies because it's not. i just don't choose to regularly dwell on the bad things. because i have too much to be thankful for. i have an amazing husband who loves our little boy more than words can describe. i have a healthy, happy little boy who surprises me every day with how much i feel love for him. i never knew i would feel physical pit-in-the-bottom-of-my-stomach love for this little guy. and that nearly every day, i would stop & have to choke back tears because of how amazing he is. seriously, that happens. i'm totally nerdy that way.

and lastly, i am grateful for all the things i've figured out about myself in this last year. turns out i like crafts, i can sew {new development this year} & photography has become my main creative outlet. capturing the emotions of kids & couples & families & then making it into a piece of art for them to have forever is exhilarating to me. for reals. i always feel this crazy "high" coming home from a shoot when i know i've gotten some good shots & totally brought my a-game. it makes me happy.

so there it is.

we are heading out of town for the holiday so i'm not sure when i'll be posting over the weekend. i'm not really sure when week in iphotos will be up either... i'm not gonna stress about it. i'm gonna wear stretchy pants, eat lots of turkey & shop at crowded stores. i'm gonna attempt to have my family's picture taken, watch parker play with babies & visit with friends & family. i might return ten pounds heavier than when we left but that's ok... it's what new year's resolutions are for. and who wants to look skinny in family pictures, anyways?

i hope you all have a great holiday spending time with the ones you love. be grateful for everything you have, even if at times it doesn't feel like much. you can always find something to be grateful for.

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

love me some {large} sponsors.

2011-11-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

it seems like this month everyone is talking about what they're thankful for. i'm thankful for awesome people who like me & like this here little blog enough to wanna be a part of it. so here ya go, the folks who are a {large} part of my blog this month!

*****************************

"soul singing liv" {blog}

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scentsy independent consultant - jessica norris {online shop}

*****************************

"the shine project" {blog}

I'm Ashley, and I blog over at The Shine Project.

I created The Shine Project at the beginning of this year to motivate others to go after their goals, and spread their light to others. I believe that service is the best way to feel happiness and love in our lives, and I created SHINE necklaces to help remind us of our daily purpose.

Money from each necklace sold goes into a scholarship fund to help inner city high school students go to college. You can read more about that HERE and HERE. The Shine Project is in the process of becoming a Non-Profit organization so that thousands more students can have a positive future.

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and did you enter our giveaway for a super cute necklace from the shine project? because here's the winner!

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"photography by amylee" {website} {blog}

*********************************

now go show these guys some love!!

the weekend of wang.

2011-11-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

what would you do if you had the entire weekend to yourself?

drink nothing but chocolate milk? sew til 2 am? sleep in til 9:30? check, check & check.

because this last weekend i did. sam took parker over to eastern washington to visit his parents & go to a washington state football game while i stayed back to hang out with girlfriends & shoot a family session.

thus: the legendary weekend of wang.
{if you can't remember where i got the nickname of "wang", you may need to revisit this post.}

at first i thought it was crazy. i told sam i had a girl's night out planned for friday & also had a family shoot on saturday. "hmmmm, ok." he replied, "i think parker & i will go to my parent's this weekend & i'm gonna go to a wsu game with my dad."

you guys? it's a six hour drive to sam's parents. parker has NEVER been that far away from me. i have never been away from him for longer than a night. i didn't believe it. but then? it sounded amazing. having the house all to myself for two days & two nights? for the first time in TWO YEARS? oh the possibilities! i could sew. i could paint. i could edit. i could blog! i could... do laundry? yes, it was on the list. while watching a chick flick! i could do all these things without regard to nap time.

by the time sam & parker had the car loaded up & were driving away it was all i could do to keep the giant smile off my face. don't get me wrong... i love my husband & my kid more than words but one little weekend to myself? glorious.

i had pretty big plans. besides the girls night & the family session, all my plans involved me being locked up inside my house like a hermit with lots of loud music. i only got about half the things on my list accomplished but it was pretty awesome nonetheless. to get to be nothing other than me for one weekend. not a wife, not a mom, just me. it was needed.

and by the end of those two days? i needed the boys in my life back. i missed 'em & they missed me. distance truly makes the heart grow fonder. and i'm so grateful for a husband that isn't afraid to take his kid off on his own & give me a little distance every now & then.

i'm a lucky girl.

our week by iPhone - week 53

2011-11-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

here we go... the first week in our second year of the weekly camera phone link up! it was a good one. lots of errand running, p-ray shenanigans & photo shoots. typical.

monday. parker started our week off right by emptying out all the canned goods onto the kitchen floor. isn't that how you like to start your monday? then we put on our matchy-matcherson chucks & ran errands. i love my little shoe twin mini me.

monday ended with some typical sam/parker antics & a cute sleeping baby snuggled up in bed with his sheep pillow.

tuesday. parker enjoys piling up all the balls we own & then looking mischievous while i enjoy having eyebrows with some shape. who has two thumbs & is sold on eyebrow threading? this girl.

tuesday afternoon i got to take some maternity pics for my bestie. this is how i do.

wednesday. sometimes eating oatmeal is better when you use two spoons. double the pleasure, double the fun. we met up with sam at costco where parker stopped to admire a motorcycle on display... his papa would be sooooo proud. {this one's for you papa n.!!}

thursday. i packed parker up to take him over to heather & kaylee's while i headed to work on a yucky rainy day. p-ray got to go to story time & obviously toyed with the idea of making a move on kaylee. i stopped by the craft store on my lunch hour & got a little bit giddy at all the christmas paraphernalia, the smell of cinnamon & the christmas music playing. it's like christmas!

during bath time parker made it rain & then got his face smooshed while i smooched him. parker & sam played pretend "nigh-night" before bed... it's one of parker's favorite games. {pretending to be asleep & then cracking up when he opens his eyes & surprise! isn't asleep. the cuteness is off the charts.}

friday. parker got right to work emptying the cupboards & then hydrated at target through a silly straw. apparently this was all very exhausting so he recouped on the floor with his pillow & sheep friend.

friday night was girl's night to say goodbye to our sweet friend angela who is leaving us & moving to canada!! sad! we will miss her & her cute face. hey angela, enjoy all the hockey & maple syrup & don't forget about us, eh?

...and get on the linky here:

flashback friday: a year in iPhone pics.

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

so i mentioned i completed a year in iPhone pics right? well, i did. and it's been an awesome year. my first "week in iPhone pics" was posted november 20, 2010 & had 14 blogs link up. i've now posted 52 weeks in iPhone pics & have had as many as 62 blogs link up at a time.

you guys, if you're not taking out your phone to snap those every day moments that seem too minor for a full-on camera, you should probably start now. i'm so excited to have these snapshots of our life to look back on & remember what life with my little family was like in parker's first year of human-hood. because it's fun.

so here's a highlight reel of our entire year in iPhone pics. some of my favorites from november '10 to november '11, in chronological order.

truth bomb: you're about to scroll through lots of pictures. and it was hard to narrow it down to this many!

you've been warned.

every day just gets more & more fun with this little guy. can't wait to see what the next year in iPhone pics brings!

wordless{ish} wednesday: we did it.

2011-11-16T00:51:00.000-08:00

we surrendered our kid's ever-growing mullet to a pro.

as you can see, it went really well. more pictures to come.

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

wish every day could be like sunday.

2011-11-15T00:37:00.000-08:00

we had another busy & awesome weekend. i really need to come up with another word besides awesome to describe things. how about rad? we had a rad weekend. we ran errands, went out to eat, i shot two family sessions, went to a three year old's birthday party & slept in til 9:30. thank you sam.

but my favorite day? is usually sunday. especially the ones where sam gets the crazy idea to make something new for breakfast. this sunday was buttermilk-chocolate-chip-pancakes. from scratch. yeah, that happened. have i mentioned my husband's favorite food is all things breakfast food? i like that about him.

sundays are usually spent in our pajamas ninety percent of the time... the other ten percent we dress up for church. so then that means after church my hair is all done, i'm makeupped & i've done something with my day. but i'm right back in my pj's. i like that about sundays, too. there's something about lounging around in baggy sweats & a t-shirt with cute hair... am i right?

what's your favorite day of the week?

it's giveaway day: necklace from "the shine project"

2011-11-14T00:06:00.000-08:00

it's giveaway day, yay!

i'm so so excited to bring you a giveaway that benefits an amazing cause. i not only encourage entering this one so you can win a super cute necklace for yourself, i recommend heading right on over to ashley's site & buying ten more for all your friends! because they are affordable like that. especially when you use my exclusive discount code at the end of this post!

so here to tell you about the giveaway is Ashley of The Shine Project. what she is doing is so selfless & amazing & well, i'll just let her tell you about it herself!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm Ashley, and I blog over at The Shine Project.

Today, I am giving away a shine necklace to one lucky winner!

And ALL of you will receive 10% off of your total order!

Go HERE to see more shine necklaces and order information. There are even options to personalize your necklace with dates and initials...and are affordable holiday gifts! In your email order, write GoodLife10 for your code.

Here's how to enter (Leave a comment for each!):

1. Comment below with who you'd give shine necklaces to

For extra entries:

2. Follow The Shine Project blog HERE

3. Like The Shine Project on FB HERE

I cant wait to meet all of you!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

thanks Ashley.
there ya go! three chances to win.
giveaway ends november 20 at 11:59 pm pst.

our week by iPhone - week 52

2011-11-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

and here we are, week fifty-two. i officially have an entire year's worth of weekdays recorded through iPhone pics & posted on the ol' blog. so that's cool. i have loved hosting this link-up meme & don't even have to think twice about whether i'll do it another year... ummm, YES. i love looking back at what we were doing six, ten, or twelve months back & seeing how parker has changed & reliving those every day moments. so much fun.

if you haven't been linking up, you should do it! start now & just start by one picture a day. or two. or be crazy like me & do six. post 'em, link up, & get excited about having an awesome visual journal of your year that will put you right back in those moments when you look back. it's crazy. i look back at our first week in iPhone pics & i can't believe how it just seems like yesterday. time flies muh friends.

anywho, here's week fifty-two.

monday. our old friends ryan & christie were in town from spokane all day so sam took the day off & we had family day. it started with parker & five month old duncan bonding over some sesame street in the lazy boy & then ended up at the mall for some shopping & eyebrow threading. yes, christie talked me into the eyebrow-hair-plucking madness & i think i kinda liked it.

that night parker & duncan bonded some more. parker was asking duncan to touch his face & then giggling like a little monkey when he did. cutest thing ever. i'd be lying if i said it didn't make me excited for him to be a big brother some day.

tuesday. parker & i kinda slept in & missed stroller strides, so we took advantage of the sunny crisp fall day & went for a run. it was the first time i had gone running in a couple months & it felt GREAT. parker liked it too. almost as much as he liked lining up all his cars on the coffee table when we got back inside. goofball.

wednesday. have i ever mentioned how parker & i count down the minutes until sam gets home? seriously. once he walks in that door he & parker are inseparable. they're pretty much bffs.

thursday. i worked in the office & got to sit through some totally awesome training that i had absolutely no problem staying awake for! {that was for my co-workers who read the blog... *yawn*}.

then i drove home in the pitch black... yes, at 4:30. daylight savings schmaylight savings. but it was all made ok when i got to peak into the bathroom at two of my favorite little heineys leaning over the bath tub.

friday. we started our day off with some stroller strides & a mustache mo-vember playdate before heading to p-ray's eighteen month check up. we celebrated 11:11 am on 11/11/11 by hanging out in the exam room & taking pictures to commemorate the moment. what'd you do?

then we went home where parker emptied out my cupboard on the kitchen floor in a very tidy line. i think he was trying to tell me how approximately a quarter of those cans were expired & needed to be thrown out. thanks p-ray. mental note taken.

we partied it up friday night with some college basketball watching, p-ray's first haircut & dinner at the costco food court. because we're classy like that.

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:

wordless{ish} wednesday: hair cut fail.

2011-11-09T00:06:00.000-08:00

i've mentioned a couple times how we're pretty excited parker is establishing a legitimate head of hair. it's only taken him eighteen months to grow it & we're pretty proud. however, it does tend to be a little unruly & could possibly even be classified as a mullet in some parts. i think i once referred to it on here as a "skullet." shhhh, don't tell parker.

last sunday sam decided he had had enough & wanted to try & trim up the thick, long hairs in the back & the stringy, thin hairs on the sides that fall over parker's ears. i gave him the go ahead as long as he knew i'd probably kill him if he messed something up.

he set up a chair & some books & i of course grabbed my camera.

parker resisted. he pushed away at the scissors & gave pathetic little whines that instantly broke our hearts. about thirty seconds into the hair cut, it was over. with all original hairs in tact & no trimmings to show for it.

how could you say no to this face?

we're calling in the pros this week. and i think a little candy/sucker/milkshake/movie bribery might be in order. books just didn't cut it. haha, i'm punny.

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

weekend adventures.

2011-11-08T00:57:00.000-08:00

we had a perfect weekend.

there was a quick trip down to portland to shop & visit family & an awesome mini adventure involving food cart burgers & starbucks hot chocolates. sam may or may not have ordered his hamburger served between two grilled cheese sandwiches which was surprisingly delicious.

we came back home to host friends from out of town for a couple nights & made our weekend stretch out a little longer. sam took monday off & i took a couple days off from computer things to enjoy the family & friends. it kinda makes me think more time away from the computer is in order. but who am i kidding? i can't quit you.

i hope everyone had a great weekend & made the most of the extra hour. now if someone could just help me figure out how to make parker realize he's supposed to sleep an hour longer, i'd be much appreciative. because my night owl ways aren't adjusting well to the 6:30 am wake up time. ouch.

our week by iPhone - week 51

2011-11-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

ummm, did anyone else notice that in one more week we will have done an entire YEAR in iPhone pics?? wow. i have loved doing this & i love going back & seeing what our weeks consisted of. although, i can pretty much always sum up each week by saying "we went to stroller strides, we hung out with friends, parker was cute, sam & parker wrestled before bed, bath time, repeat." but hey, at least it's documented right?

here's last week.

monday. we started halloween off by workin out with pumpkins at stroller strides. what better way to work out on halloween than by crunching while holding a 25 pound pumpkin? then we came home & made some witch hat halloween cookies {which were delicious} & got ready for some serious trick or treating & halloween partying with friends.

tuesday. after a morning of stroller strides & dancing around the house, i headed out to shoot a family session & parker got to go over to kaylee's house to play & watch movies. he totally pulled the, "oooh i'm scared, i need to scoot closer to you" move with her during beauty & the beast. he's got game.

that night sam had to work a little late so parker & i headed to taco del mar for some burritos & a mommy-son date night. he makes a pretty cute little date, if i do say so myself.

wednesday. wednesday started off a little rocky after parker got a pretty mean goose egg on the ol noggin. but after a four hour nap we decided to turn our day around & head out to get peppermint hot chocolate {my first of the season!} & play with friends at our favorite fabric shop.

i've never seen him have so much fun at a fabric store before... but i guess rolling around on a bean bag pillow with a cute little girl will make just about anything fun, right?

thursday. after a long day at work {i was kinda exhausted from a late night of workin on my website}, i got to relax at girl's night out with my besties at the spa! facials & food & girl talk is pretty much the recipe for a perfect night. and then i got to go home to my cute little boy sound asleep & lookin cute. win win.

friday started off with tickles from kaylee at stroller strides & some goofy lunch time antics. then sam came home early from work & i headed out to shoot a super cute family session! i'm gonna be so sad when all these fall leaves shrivel up & go away... they are making for AMAZING pictures.

then we headed down to portland to shop at the nike employee store for WSU alumni night. parker was NOT impressed with our mascot, butch. t. cougar. it's ok, he'll come around. we shopped til we dropped & walked out of there with eight pairs of shoes. don't worry, it wasn't all for us. but that little white box on top of all those orange ones? some sweet new kicks for parker. can't wait to show them off!

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:

thanks for the votes.

legit.

2011-11-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

check this out.

this is what i've been spending a few late nights doing when i've been neglecting this here blog. so can ya do me a solid? can ya take a peak & let me know if it works for you? take a look around & tell me what you think? hate the auto play music, think i should take it off? because i'm debating. i'm not honestly the auto-play music kinda girl but i've found that 95% of all photog sites have background music & i kinda like setting the stage for my photos. but let me know what you think.

also, a week in iPhotos will probably be delayed until sunday this weekend. we're heading out of town for the night & i just need to be with my fam & not worry about scheduling a post... ya know? just kinda one of those times. but don't worry... there is all kinds of p-ray cuteness via iPhone just waiting to be put on display from our week.

hope everyone is having an awesome friday & all set to enjoy the weekend.

wordless{ish} wednesday: hallow's eve.

2011-11-02T00:59:00.000-07:00

i totally failed to get the perfect picture of parker's halloween costume. but even with these super poorly lit in-the-dark snapshots, you probably get the idea. parker loved his vintage baseball player costume.

and? he carried that bat to every single house, up every single driveway & up every single street that we trick or treated. all while refusing to be carried. he had a blast. he never caught on to the phrase "trick or treat" but he did manage to tell every single person "please? thank you! bu-bye."

and i'd forgotten how much fun trick or treating was, especially when going with a big group of friends with kids around the same age. we're totally already counting down to next year. so much fun!

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

votes rock my world.

eighteen months

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

i know i promised some halloween pictures but i wanted to knock this update out since it's already a few days late. and by a few days i mean seven. i partially put these posts off because of the pictures {it's almost impossible to make parker sit still} & i partially put them off because i feel like a broken record. yes, time is flying by. yes, parker is developing into the coolest, funnest little kid ever. and yes, he is changing fast & doing new things every day. so how do i make each post unique & un-broken-record like? i guess i can't because all these things still apply. i can't help it if my kid is awesome. consistently.

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

i kinda love eighteen months. parker gets better at communicating every day & picks up new words all the time. he says "please" & "thank you" in the cutest little voice i'm pretty sure i've ever heard. he always gives a big "hi!" when he walks in a room & never fails to tell someone "bu-bye." he's gotten really good at eating yogurt or oatmeal with a spoon on his own which is pretty awesome for the ol' morning routine. he blows kisses but then expects you to kiss his hand too & still loves going "na-night." he's back to loving story time & would read books on your lap for hours if you let him. he is obsessed with matchbox cars {particularly his lightening mcqueen} & will play with his block train {"choo choo!"} for a good 20-30 minutes independently.

he wakes up anywhere between 7:30-8:30 which is awesome for my night owl ways & watches about 30 minutes of sesame street with me in bed until he tells me it's time to eat. he's become more attached to his blanket than ever & constantly sucks one particular spot that really stinks no matter how often i wash it. it's gross. he's starting to get some hair which is longer in some parts than others & refuses to let us cut it. we're gonna call in some professionals sooner than later. he's learned to run which cracks me up every single day. watching his little legs move as fast as they can down the hall for breakfast every morning makes him look like such a little kid & i love it. he likes to look at my camera lcd or iPhone screen whenever i'm taking pictures to see what it looks like. he is obsessed with watching movies {otherwise known as "bideos"} on our iPhones so we have to keep them hidden 95% of the time. because he can unlock them & navigate to the movies.

he loves apples & bananas & grapes & eating everything with a fork. he's still in size four diapers, wears either size four or five shoes & all twelve to eighteen month clothes. he's small for his age. he's still sitting rear-facing in the car & is fine with that. i would love to turn him around but i'm currently resisting the urge. he loves to color & is a blast to take to restaurants where he can color on the menus. we seriously stop & wonder every single day how we were blessed with such an amazing little boy.

and? he is still so dang cute.

love this kid.

love your votes.

pinteres-ting on hallow's eve!

2011-10-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

i can't not post on halloween, right? it's only one of the funnest holidays of the whole year. i mean, seriously. candy, pumpkin patches, pies, cookies, crisp fall air, spooky movies, kids in cute costumes & all kinds of fun decorating? i'm in. except for the part about the pumpkin patch... it wasn't until saturday night that i realized we never made it to one this year. MOM FAIL. oops.

anywho, i'm not failing at doing at least one halloween themed thing that i pinned on pinterest. because if you're anything like me, you created a whole halloween board & had grand ideas of making decorative spiders & gorgeous pumpkin centerpieces for the table & all that stuff. turns out, i didn't have a single pumpkin in my house until this morning... and even that one is still sitting in my car.

ok, enough about me. on to the cute craft!

i saw this a while back & immediately liked the idea due to its simplicity. three ingredients, no baking & it's chocolate. win win win.

here are the steps... as if you need them. the hardest part about making these is saving some of the fudge stripe cookies to make witch hats out of. i like to eat them.

and that's it! easy peasy. and cute, right?

now go have a fun halloween & come back tomorrow for what will hopefully consist of cute parker costume pictures. but ya never know... it's impossible to get a picture of anything but the back of that kid's head these days.

happy halloween!

halloween vote?

our week by iPhone - week 50

2011-10-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

and then another week went by. we had fun, we worked out, we ate ice cream, we made cookies, we went shopping. you know... the usual.

here's what it looked like in pictures:

monday morning was gorgeous so parker & i got ourselves to stroller strides for an amazing workout in the sun. then we came home & had a dance party & played with stuffed animal friends. just a typical day with my favorite little man.

when sam got home we spent a couple hours working on project toy box. my chalkboard paint panels were cured & sam was anxious to frame it up. parker watched to make sure everything was being put together according to code. and he made sure the chalkboard was up to his standards, of course.

next up? more painting, the lid, & legs! then, toy box debut.

tuesday was one of those days where we had nothing on the calendar & the house didn't need a whole lot of attention. so what'd we do? shopping trip to the mall & target of course! parker passed the time by playing with cars on the floor of the gap & looking extremely bored/annoyed while i tried on clothes at target.

while parker was not enthused with me trying to snap pictures of his cute post-bath belly, he was reallllly into the puppies sam was showing him on youtube. then he slept with his bum in the air & i took pictures. obvi.

wednesday involved a costo trip with a cart full of babies. parker was really into sharing the front with his bff kaylee, but not into looking at the camera when we were trying to take a picture of all four kiddos.

after parker recovered from his post-nap-groggy state {one of my favorite times of the day}, we headed out to the grocery store to pick up things for dinner & most importantly, pumpkin cookies.

thursday. after work p-ray & i went for a lovely walk with some friends & hung out for a while at the playground. most of my playground pictures of parker look like this because he's usually running towards me with that exact look on his face. love the look of my baby when he's high on playground.

after some father/son snuggles & bedtimes, i stayed up into the wee hours of the night editing & finalizing a couple client albums. did i mention i love what i'm doing these days?

friday. i kinda forgot to take any pictures {or maybe they were all just starting to look the same to me} until we were getting ready to head out to our church's trunk or treat. so consider this a sneak peak at p-ray's vintage baseball player costume. more on this to come.

friday night involved a walk in freezing weather to get blizzards, hanging out in pj's watching dvr'ed shows & then some more working late into the night. so yeah, it was good.

AND
bonus points if you noticed the changes in the blog design! i was already sick of the yellow header & am now really into this super simple one. whattya think? love it or hate it?

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:

thanks for the votes.

is this the part where i get emotional?

2011-10-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

when parker turned one? i took it like a champ.

i was so excited for what my baby was becoming that i never had any of those "holy crap where did that first year go? where is my baby?" emotional meltdowns. i embraced my emerging toddler & waved bu-BYE to those itty bitty baby days.

but today? the day where parker turned eighteen months & one day? it hit me. he is growing up & there is nothing i can do to make it slow down. he's now closer to a two year old than a one year old & pretty soon i won't be tracking his age in months. the years will fly by. he'll stop blowing me kisses & squeezing my legs for hugs & soon enough, he'll be walking out my door to college. he won't fit in my lap for stories or stand at my feet with his arms in the air saying "up! up!" i'll probably feel weird tickling under his chin to make him giggle & he'll lose interest in matchbox cars.

these days are numbered.

why is this hitting me now? because i think i'm realizing just how fast time can fly when you're having fun. these last six months since parker's birthday have seriously been a blink in time.

right now? parker isn't malicious. he doesn't know how to intentionally hurt anyone & he doesn't know anyone is capable of intentionally hurting him. he doesn't know what this world has in store for him & all he knows is his mommy & his daddy & how he loves his blanket. how he loves stories & puppies & throwing sawdust in the air. he starts his mornings with a small dose of elmo & loves to point at my nose & my ears & my eyes while i sing to him before bed. right now? he is perfect.

we don't fight, he's never called me a mean name & he's never talked poorly of anyone. those things will change. i won't be able to lift him up anymore & he'll go places without me knowing where he is. and the kicker? is that parker will spend the vast majority of his life not even living under our roof.

someday i'll have to let him go.

medium & small sponsors rock my world.

2011-10-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

check out & show some love to this month's medium & small sponsors!

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wordless{ish} wednesday: mom fail?

2011-10-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

tell me i'm not the only mom who has taken her kid into a target dressing room to change his diaper & then conned him into not screaming bloody murder by letting him watch movies on her phone & then proceeded to leave him there whilst she tried on clothes.

anyone?

ps: p-ray turns eighteen months old TODAY. whaaaaaat? i am not sure how this happened, because there's no way that many months have gone by since i birthed him out of my womb. it's impossible. monthly update post coming soon.

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

votes rock my world.

feelin' the passion.

2011-10-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

if you clicked on this post in your reader cuz you thought it might contain some steamy juicy details about my home life, you will be sorely disappointed. no steamy details here folks. this is all about me & my current love of life. yup. sounds super cliche right? blogger writes about how wonderful life is. *yawn.* but sorry, this is me being cliche. i'm just in a happy place right now i guess.

i am having a BLAST with this photography stuff you guys. i can feel myself getting better with each session & really finding my style & getting better in my editing. i've made enough to pay for a lens upgrade & hope to be upgrading my camera soon too. that? gives me butterflies. so what if at the end of the day i made absolutely no profit... right? ha. money is overrated.

but seriously, i am addicted to photography at the moment {don't let your eyes fool you... that says pho-tog-raphy}. i live eat & sleep this new business. and i can't get enough of it. i have to force myself to do other things because i don't want to burn out in a week, but if it was up to me? i'd set up 14 sessions a week, i'd edit pictures 24/7. i'd email perspective clients all day long, i'd revamp my pricing sheets & my invoice forms & update the photography facebook page nonstop. it's like i'm back playing "business" as a kid. what? you didn't set up folders with labels & have a briefcase with files in it & arrange inboxes around your room as a kid? loser.

ok, i know that this is more than just fun & games. eventually the novelty will wear off & it will feel like what it is. work. there may even come a day when i'm not enjoying it & the financial gains aren't panning out & i become another statistic... because the odds are against me. did you know that 85% of all photographers don't make it into their 3rd year? true fact. but the fact of the matter is that right now i'm feeling this. it's something i am super excited about & when i wake up in the morning it makes me happy. so i'm sticking with it.

this also brings me to another topic... finding your passion. why did it take me {almost} thirty years to find something i absolutely love & feel like truly brings out the real me? and since it did take that long, why is it ok that we're supposed to decide our life's career path at 18-19 years old? not cool society. not cool.

but despite the fact that it's taken me this long to take the plunge, i'm glad i did. and i'm grateful for all the support & good feedback i've gotten by those around me. sam has been an awesome cheerleader/business manager/advisor/idea-bouncer-offer as well as my friends & family. and i've had awesome clients that have made the experience awesome so far too.

and then there's this guy. he makes me happy too. so there's that.

our week by iPhone - week 49

2011-10-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

another whirlwind week folks. this week seriously went by in a blur & i can't believe the weekend is almost over too. someone. PLEASE make time slow down. ok? i'll be very appreciative.

i was kinda lacking in the iPhone-picture-taking department this week. sometimes i'll be in a situation where i know i should whip out the phone & attempt to take pictures, but then they don't come out doing whatever is happening justice, or i missed the ginormous smile parker was making or it's too dark & the picture is blurry & i'm like, "well that was 30 seconds i'll never get back." ya know?

but i did take a few, so take a look.

monday. after i buttered parker up by letting him throw sawdust on the big toy at stroller strides, i proceeded to take him down a peg or two by spending some time at the craft store. poor kid. but he forgave me when he saw the cool new "BATH" decoration in his bathroom, so that's good.

that afternoon he chased squirrels around the wildlife refuge with sam while i had a family session {yes, that is parker hurdling the boardwalk & staring down a squirrel}, & then i stayed up into the wee hours of the night editing this said session. because most the pictures looked like this & were adorable... so obviously i couldn't stop.

tuesday. you guys, i swear we did lots of stuff on tuesday but for the life of me i can't remember what. well, besides ride around in a shopping cart eating samples & giggling at trader joe's & then go home, eat an apple & spy on our neighbors, of course.

wednesday consisted of some happy-pretzel eating at target {as if there's any other kind of pretzel eating}, some closet cleaning where i found this old newsboy cap & took a picture that i hoped wouldn't show my dirty bathroom mirror as badly as it does {don't look close} & then some pre-bedtime father/son cuddles. we did other stuff, but apparently those were the highlights.

thursday. while parker hung out with heather & kaylee at stroller strides crafting & playing with cars, i worked in the office & treated myself to some chipotle for lunch. which was kinda awesome. amazing. delicious.

friday morning p-ray & i went to starbucks with all our stroller strides homies {because class was cancelled due to some unforeseen downpouring} & had time for some mommy/son photoshooting while waiting for our hot chocolate. isn't parker thrilled?

friday afternoon i drove to my family session in the pouring rain since they didn't wanna cancel {how's that for some true pacific northwesterners??} & came home soaked & happy. we had an awesome session. then it was bath time for parker where we practiced color sorting. i figure it's probably time to start teaching my kid something.

...and get on the linky here:

thanks for the votes... keep 'em comin!

this guy.

2011-10-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

{linking up with the paper mama's photo challenge: "face." because? this face kills me.}

oh man.

i started this post off in my head with the intention to rant a little. but as i sit down here at the computer in my quiet house in my quiet little office while everybody else sleeps, i just can't do it. i can't complain about this guy & his chubby little face. so i won't.

but what i will say? is oh my gosh you guys, he's changing. not like cracking voice, oily-skin-acne-face changes... oh no, thank heavens not yet. not for like twenty more years i don't think. he is however changing into a little boy. he is getting so much more strong willed & independent & with this new found independence comes a new found determination to do things his way. or maybe it's just a newfound determination to do things.

and just because sometimes it's not exactly what i would love for him to be doing doesn't make it any less amazing. yes, it's taking so much more energy out of me to chase after him & try to keep him entertained with what he should be doing & yes we do have the occasional showdown over wether or not he is going to pick up some of the food he threw on the floor at lunch, but know what else he does? a lot. like, he actually tells me he wants to eat. he doesn't just sign "eat," he walks into the kitchen, pulls his bib off the hook where it hangs, walks over to his high chair, holds his bib up to his chin & says "eeeeaaat!"

so what if half that food ends up on the floor, splattered across the cupboards, or smeared across the curtains right?

and who cares if the kitchen floor is hardly ever walkable because it's constantly covered in canned foods & cake mixes from the lower cupboards? parker can't help it if those things make perfect stacking blocks & are super fun to line up around the edges of the kitchen rug while i cook, ya know?

i guess he's just doing what any curious eighteen month old should be doing & i guess i'm just reacting like most every other mom... ~~going crazy~~ learning to be patient. because really, at the end of the day it's all pretty amazing. sure, sometimes i get my hair pulled, my face scratched, or my shoulders bit from an angry kid who would rather stay on the floor playing with cars than get picked up to have his messy diaper changed, but i also get random hugs, kisses & snuggles too. so i guess it evens out? yeah, it does.

actually no, it's not even. it's way better than even. i had no idea being a parent would be this awesome. i had no idea that watching parker learn things & laugh & have fun & grow & explore would bring me such a crazy amount of happiness. like actual, physical, i-can-feel-it-in-my-gut happiness. because that happens daily.

so the moral of the story? after all the food throwing, hair pulling, face scratching, & mess making is said & done, i would still have it no other way. my kid is growing & developing & loves me despite the screams for "daddyyy!!!" through diaper changes.

for that? i'm grateful.

always grateful for votes. but you knew that.

october large sponsors are rad.

2011-10-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

have you noticed that "rad" is kinda my new word? the weird thing is that i don't think i've said it out loud once. i just call things rad in my head & in my blog apparently. anywho, here are the awesome people who believe in this little internet space i call home enough to actually sponsor it. they're rad. see for yourself:

jessica from scentsy.

who hasn't heard of scentsy? i'm pretty sure only people living under a rock. we love our scentsy warmer & i pretty much want to drink the wax out of the dish since the smells are so tasty. but then again i tend to get all the food-related ones like "toasted sugar cookie", "baked apple pie" & "sticky cinnamon bun" so i really only have myself to blame.

and have you seen scentsy buddies? ummm, pretty much some of the cutest little stuffed animals ever. and add in the yummy smell pack factor? heaven scent. ha! i'm so punny.

good news: jess sent us our very own scentsy buddy to try out {we got "roarbert the lion"}.

better news: she's giving one away on this here blog very very soon. stay tuned.

{shop}

________________________________________

jamie from lilybaby

by now ya'll should be used to seeing jamie, owner & mastermind behind lilybaby, & her pretty face around these blog parts. but how much did you guys love her teepee giveaway? i loved it long time.

didn't win? bummer. you should probably go check out her etsy shop asap & treat yourself to some retail therapy by picking up an "avery hoodie" {i know you all love that one} or a super cute dress for that little lady in your life. you won't regret it. jamie's items come at ya completely handmade by herself with love & skill jampacked into each stitch. promise.

{blog} {shop} {facebook}

________________________________________

amy from photography by amylee

ok yes, this one is me. shameless self-promotion. don't hate... you would do it too. and while we're talking about it, ya need any pictures done?

{blog} {facebook}

now go shop!

and maybe even vote?

wordless{ish} wednesday: little projects.

2011-10-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

you know how i've been talking big lately about all the projects i have going on around my house?

{this is where you smile & nod}

well i've made baby steps of progress. but the problem with mixing up the decor of your house is that you can't just change one thing. i mean, if you change a color scheme everything has to go. and then you realize this has become more than just getting new curtains, now you have to get new throw pillows & wall accents & oh my gosh wood furniture doesn't look so good with these things let's paint everything white! but it's like i always say, go big or go home. i really do always say that. in fact, i never stop saying that.

so i decided to give you a little sneak peak into my home at a couple of the little projects i've completed around here that make me a happy panda. and turns out? some are even pinterest inspired. so maybe this is kinda a mini-stickin'-it-to-pinterest post? ok yes, it is.

oh & ps: this is totally not wordless... just in case you hadn't figured that out yet.

number one. my wire-clothesline-picture-holder thing. there are two lines & the top one is about 4' long & the bottom one is about 5' long. they go on much longer in both directions than this picture shows. they are hung above my computer monitor & keep me company late at night as i blog & edit into the wee hours of the night. weird? not at all.

i was inspired by pictures i've seen like this & this, but really it's not that original it's just something i've seen around & liked. so i did it.

rundown:
- wire = $2.50
- pictures = $14
- mini clothespins = $0 (already had)

total cost: $16.50. and it makes me very, very happy.

number two. new sheets & quilt. i've had a recent obsession with all white bedding. there is nothing like a bedroom with a bed that has fresh crisp white bedding, right? think: posh hotel. yeah... now we're talkin. and you should know by now that i have become particularly obsessed with quilts. this is actually the quilt that started Quilt-pocalypse 2011 & after being super frustrated that i couldn't find fabrics i liked as much as these, i ended up just ordering the real one online. if i had done that in the beginning? i woulda saved a pretty penny. but it's too late, & a fabric buying monster inside of me has officially been born.

i am still working on making a handmade quilt though... someday i will reveal it to all of you. oh yes, i will.

total cost: let's not talk about it. because i'd have to include what i spent in my original endeavors of attempting to make it. oh, & please don't bring this topic up with sam.

let's move on.

number three. big wire organizer baskets. these may not look like much to you but they mean the world to me. ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration. they're really not that big of a deal. but they do bring lots of order to the top of my office bookshelf & for that? i'm grateful.

i was inspired by this & actually plan on hanging a chalkboard above them, similar to the picture. and i'm going to paint the bookshelves white like the picture too. i'm such a copycat.

rundown:
- each basket = $7
- black spray paint {they were ugly metally metallic originally} = $4

total cost = $25.

number four. my bathroom makeover. it's a work in progress. but here's a little peak at my mini-project inside this bigger project. i'm not sure why i'm so proud of myself for spelling "BATH" in my bathroom but so far i really like it. i bought the letters from joann's on sale & didn't have to do anything besides stick on those velcro sticky things & eyeball the arrangement. it was done in five minutes. maybe that's why i like it so much?

rundown:

- each letter = $1.50

total cost = $6. and that's a price you can't shake a stick at.

so there you go folks. some of the little things around my house that i've been working on & proof that i'm not all talk when it comes to my millions of home decor "projects." because i wouldn't want you to think i was saying all those things just to sound cool. because i know it sounded really really cool... that's what you were thinking, right?

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

votes are also cool.

steppin' out: colour ess-plosion.

2011-10-17T01:07:00.000-07:00

whattup party people.

i hope you all had a terrific weekend because i sure did. i had two photog-sessions & a whole lotta quality time with my two main men. our weekend involved some around-the-house-DIY, some fro-yo, some of sam's tasty cooking & a whole lotta time in our sweats. wins all around.

saturday morning we got the crazy idea to make a toybox/bench thing for the living room & after about half an hour of plans-drawing & designing, we were off to home depot for supplies. our creation involves wainscoting on the sides, trim all around the edges, white paint on the outside & bright blue paint on the inside & chalkboard-painted-panels on the front. it all sounds good in my head, we'll see how it pans out.

i did manage to get out of my sweats long enough to dress up for a few hours at church. looking at this outfit in retrospect, i'm thinking i shoulda gone with my brown boots since the whole ensemble was loud enough without introducing the red ones, but whattyado?

ya live, ya learn.

{linkin' up with mandy at harper's happenings. you should too!}

i'm also kinda excited because i just purchased another big-girl camera lens. i took the plunge & got myself the 50mm f/1.4. it won't come for a week or so, so i probably won't get any sleep between now & then. you can expect a lot of loopy posts on account of the no sleep. this girl is excited.

and last but not least, a giveaway winner! congrats to:

nicole! yay! let's get in touch & figure out how to get you your teepee. congrats friend!

you can feel like a winner by clicking twice to vote. it works, try it.

our week by iPhone - week 48

2011-10-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

another week has come & gone & now we find ourselves in the middle of october. whaaaat?

our week was awesome. it was busy, it was rainy, it was lazy, it was productive, it was sunny, it was lots & lots of fun. and apparently parker slept in lots of crazy positions this week because there's lots of that too.

just see for yourself.

monday. we woke up to pouring rain & although stroller strides was indoors we opted for a lazy morning at home. lazy mornings are just better when it's pouring outside, right? actually that lazy morning involved lots of cleaning & catching up on stuff around the house, but when all those things are done while never changing out of your pj's? it feels lazy.

then the UPS man brought parker's new boots & he celebrated the occasion by wearing them around the house over his pj's. i snuck out for an hour or so to take some senior pictures & parker did some extreme sleeping.

tuesday. we actually fully intended on making it to stroller strides tuesday morning but when the rain started coming down in buckets we *ahem* accidentally took a wrong turn & found ourselves at the mall. oooops. hate when that happens. i also hate when my favorite stores are having 50% off all markdowns & i'm forced into a shopping spree frenzy. hate it.

after our shopping excursion we came home & parker put the new boots to good use. man, i love that kid.

wednesday. holy moly friends, we made it to stroller strides. after we got our workout on parker had his friend kaylee get a little fresh with him & he wasn't feeling it. and by "fresh" i mean, she tried to hold his hand. and by "not feeling it" i mean he cried & pulled his arm out of his sleeve. maybe i should teach him to be a little more subtle.

and you guys thought you were gonna get through this week without having to hear about Quilt-pocalypse 2011. oh you're so wrong. three of the seven fabrics i ordered online arrived & i celebrated by slicing them up into millions of pieces. yup.

and then parker slept in a weird position. unless you sleep with your arm up in the air, then it's business as usual.

thursday. while i sat at work thinking about how my hair is ridiculously long when straightened & how my shirt/sweater combo looked like ketchup & mustard, parker watched movies in his sitter's car {forward facing! oh the horror!} & bundled up to watch girl's soccer. he told me his day was awesome.

during bath time he decided his bath-alphabet made better rug toys than bath toys & threw them all out of the tub & i punished him by making him take about 15 self portraits with me. trust me, he was sorry.

and apparently parker enjoys sleeping with his feet hanging out of the crib? i don't know what else there is to say about that.

friday. after stroller strides we just hung out around the house reading books & the such as until it was time for me to head out to a photo shoot with one of my favorite families ever. i posted a few of the pics already on the photography by amy lee facebook page, so feel free to check 'em out. you know you want to.

after i got home we drove off into the sunset {which was gorgeous} to our favorite mexican restaurant & stuffed our bellies full of carne asada, beans, rice, chips, salsa, guacamole, prawns, french fries & animal crackers. the last two were me snitching off of parker's plate.

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:

thanks for the votes... keep 'em comin!

wordless{ish} wednesday: the hat.

2011-10-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

one of the most frequent questions i get through comments/emails/twitter/instagram/etc. is the following:

"how the heck do you get him to wear that hat?"

well, honestly he wouldn't at first. we would put it on his head & off it came. but we kept trying & finally this last summer he realized that wearing his hat would keep the sun out of his eyes, so he starting asking for it any time he stepped outside.

but to this day if he realizes he's wearing it indoors, off it comes.

goofball.

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

vote?

fall. in cookie form.

2011-10-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

ok, have i talked these cookies up enough?

maybe it's not just the cookies themselves that are so amazing, but the feeling of being in your toasty warm home when it's dark & rainy out & football is on & the house is all lit up with warm lights & you have a batch of these bad boys baking in the oven... it just feels like... FALL.

but also? it's the cookies. they're kind of a big deal around here.

• wet stuff: 1/2 cup butter, 1.5 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla

• dry stuff: 2.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp salt.

• 1 cup pureed pumpkin, 1 cup chocolate chips

*sidenote: i never said these cookies were a health food. but if you do feel like cutting out some calories/fat/cholesterol, substitute the 1/2 cup butter for 1/4 cup applesauce + 1/4 cup butter, & sub the egg for 2 egg whites. you won't really tell a difference... but it is kinda annoying to do the extra steps. just sayin.

i always use my mixer for these. i throw the wet stuff in the mixer & mix well, then put all the dry stuff in a bowl & sift well. easy peasy.

this is an important step. you have to add the dry ingredients to your wet ones alternately with your pumpkin. so add a cup of your dry ingredients, mix, then half a cup of your pumpkin, mix, then repeat with the rest. it just works better that way.

mix in some chocolate chips & now we're talkin. {with our mouths full of cookie dough, of course.}

i usually use an ice cream scoop & drop dough balls on the sheet in about 1" chunks. they look like they're gonna be teeny but they puff up quite a bit. plus, smaller cookies have less calories so you can eat more. duh.

throw them in your oven at 350* & bake until the bottoms just start to get golden. in my oven it never takes a second over 10 minutes, but it runs hot. so just watch them.

now, you can go ahead & eat a few fresh from the oven if you want. but take it from me, these cookies are better the next day. it's weird but true. something about the way the chocolate hardens up & the flavors of the cinnamon & nutmeg come out after cooling down. so save some for the next day if you can!

i promise you won't be disappointed.

votes never disappoint.

it's monday, here's what we wore on sunday.

2011-10-10T00:06:00.000-07:00

happy monday yo's.

i hope you all had a beautiful weekend. mine was kind of a blur... i worked a lot & sam & parker did a lot of hanging out. big ups to sam this weekend you guys. he totally covered for me lots & lots while i was out shootin' it up at my sessions. not lying, every time i came home to a clean house & another load of laundry folded. he planned our sunday dinner & even marinated our pork roast overnight. yeah, i scored big time in the marriage department... be jealous.

so here's a what-we-wore-steppin'-out-sunday post because i haven't done one in a long time. and today i was reminded why... sam hates taking these pictures {minus one, sam} & telling him "just one more" is like pulling teeth. plus, i am so awkward in front of the camera.

can you say mary katherine gallagher here? ah well, here's what we wore to church yesterday.

{linkin' up with "steppin' out saturday" over at the haps!}

so i think we're gonna get parker a hair cut some time this week. yup, even stringy-haired male-pattern-baldness-looking boys need haircuts. it'll be his first & we're just gonna have the uneven wispies trimmed. not sure it'll make much of a difference but it makes my heart sink a little thinking about it... and i thought for sure i wasn't one of those "i don't wanna cut my boy's hair" moms. at all. but i'm also not too huge on the skullet which, i don't wanna lie, he kinda has going on. so there's that.

also i gave in to a major craving i was experiencing, as i do every fall, & finally made a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies this weekend. it's everything that's awesome about fall crammed into cookie form, i promise. so look forward to me sharing those with you this week... in picture & recipe form, of course. you get to enjoy them vicariously through me! lucky you. but you should probably make some for yourself. you'll thank me.

have a good week!

i'll thank you if you click a couple times to vote. thank you!

our week by iPhone - week 47

2011-10-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

so yeah, this post is a day late. but sometimes a girl just can't do it all ya know?

i had four photo shoots this week guys... yayayay! i am so happy to say that my photography stuff is keeping me busy but i am sad that i don't have an extra five hours in my day to do all the blogging/parker picture editing/laundry folding/sleeping that i also wanna do. ok, maybe not so much on the laundry folding.

anywho, another week has come & gone. and this week? will forever go down in history as the week my quilt project {check that, projects} turned into a monster. it's a MONSTER!! i may or may not have gone to the fabric store four times this week & i may or may not have ended up buying more fabrics from three separate online sites. yeah, that may or may not have happened. i'm telling you... it's a monster.

ok, enough about that for now... here's our week!

monday. oh wow... big surprise. we started the week off with a trip to the fabric store. look how excited parker is as he waits for me to get my stuff together. it's almost like he knows where we're going. that kid's a freakin' trooper i tell ya.

those fabrics? they're going into quilt one. yup, we now have two quilts in the works. quilt one & quilt two. this is a whoooole other post my friends.

after a five & a half hour nap {not joking}, parker washed his hands of all that nonsense by shampooing up his head & creating masterpieces on the walls of the bath. and then skyping his nana.

tuesday. clearly heather & i were pretty excited to be reunited at stroller strides... it had been a week since we'd seen each other after all. how cute is her belly, anyway?

oh my gosh i'm so lame. laying out all my fabric colors made me way too happy. at this point i think i have what i need to make the world's most perfect patchwork quilt when in reality this whole mess was just starting. so naive.

tuesday night consisted of blasting some new downloads on the way to costco where p-ray shoveled samples into his mouth. business as usual.

wednesday. stroller strides with homies followed by... ugh, buying more fabric. {stab, stab, stab}. i have a sickness.

wednesday night consisted of a much overdue girl's night. pedicures, mexican food, fro-yo. that's the making of a perfect night, muh friends.

thursday. i worked. lunch time-errand running for me, video games & walks for p-ray. he hung out with his girlfriend kaylee all day... he likes a girl who can make him laugh... what can i say?

when we got home we found parker's new boots from target.com had come & he was pretty excited about it. until we realized they were girl boots... & thus returned them. oops. then wrestlemania ensued.

friday. i multi-tasked by reading emails & planking at stroller strides while parker went for a ride on the playground toys... he likes them a little bit. his crazy antics continued on for a pre-naptime wrestle-sesh & then after an hour nap he woke up happy & ready to get some dinner. we hit up red robin for some coloring & bottomless steak fries. win.

...and get on the linky here:

thanks for the votes... keep 'em comin!

flashback friday: a year of p-ray in a shopping cart.

2011-10-07T00:06:00.000-07:00

so if you've been reading this blog for a while now you know it's not uncommon for me to feel that an impromptu photoshoot in target/fred meyer/costco/the fabric store/insert-any-other-weird-public-place-here is totally necessary. because duh, it is.

the other day, as i was uploading the most recent batch of parker-in-a-shopping-cart pictures, it dawned on me that dang... i have a whole collection of these bad boys. i felt the need to revisit some of the earlier ones & that's exactly what today's flashback friday is all about.

here goes. {almost} a full year of p-ray in a shopping cart.

december 2, 2010 - target. my first day out with the new camera. parker is about 7 months old & can barely sit up in the cart. squishy, floppy, little chub.
{originally posted here.}

december 11, 2010 - fred meyer. epic mom fail... nuff said.
{originally posted here.}

february 16, 2011 - target. just got back from hawaii & needed a pick me up. obviously this worked. parker's about ten months & extremely happy about this trip to target.
{originally posted here.}

april 5, 2011 - costco. another rainy day shopping trip, which was pretty much the highlight of our day. eleven months & not too sure about the sample lady.
{originally posted here.}

august 22, 2011 - joann fabric. clearly a bit delirious from the amount of fabric shopping i'd been doing. sixteen months & chewing with his mouth open.
{originally posted here.}

september 8, 2011 - costco. he's just here for the samples.
{originally posted here.}

october 3, 2011 - joann fabric. again... not too pleased with the fabric store. seventeen months & wearing the same jacket as picture #2.

and there ya have it. from seven months to seventeen. this kid puts up with a lot of shopping.

do you think i'll be able to get pictures like these up until he's eighteen & headed to college? like, "here's parker, sitting in the cart picking out sheets for his dorm at target." i might... because yes, i am that crazy.

happy friday, yo.

thanks again for your votes. they reset the numbers at top baby blogs every four months & if you like what you see here from time to time go ahead & click to keep us ranked towards the top-ish. thanks!

oh no! pouty-big-lipped-little-boy needs your help.

2011-10-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

it's that time of year again... the time that makes parker very very sad. they've reset the votes at top baby blogs! if ya don't mind, could ya click this link & help turn parker's frown upside down? we need your votes to get back in the top ten & i promise, he'll love ya for it.

thanks.

>>> or CLICK HERE!<<<

don't like clicking text links? click this banner instead. it's all the same! thanks!

stickin' it to pinterest - vol. 3

2011-10-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

remember back in this post how i said pinterest gave me anxiety? how i worried about after all the time i spent pinning, i would never actually put all the carefully placed & picked pins to perfect pin-ity use? well here i am. continuing in my endeavors to make use of my well curated pinterest boards & stickin' it to the pinterest man.

go me!

{see previous projects here & here}

this was actually something i'd seen a long time ago... before the days of pinterest {aka: the dark ages. what'd we do before pinterest?? dishes? sleep?}. when i saw these shelves pop up on pinterest in a couple places i decided it was time to incorporate them into p-ray's room. it had to happen.

the very first place i saw these IKEA spice rack shelves turned bookshelves was here, but they popped up again here. it's not like you need a super detailed tutorial on this one, but who would i be if i didn't provide one? not the amy you all know & love. that's who.

here goes.

it really doesn't get any cheaper to make some sort of awesome wall-storage for the little man's books. at $3.99 a piece i think the whole project cost around $20 after the spray paint & wall screws were bought {the shelves don't come with anything to hang them by}. check out IKEA's website & see if yours carries these sweet little racks.

remember, they're sold as spice racks so they're around the kitchen shelving stuff.

obviously you don't have to do this, but i wanted to match the shelves to the rest of p-ray's furniture, which for the most part is white {check out his whole nursery tour here}. also, make sure your husband doesn't care if you get white paint all over the garage floor despite painting on top of something. lucky for me, mine didn't. because yeah, that happened.

it wouldn't be from IKEA if it didn't require "some" assembly. but lucky for you & me it's pretty easy to put these bad boys together. unless you're prone to wrist cramping from the the little wrench that's included when putting in the screws... which i may or may not be. ok i am.

it was pretty obvious where this needed to go. we read books on p-ray's great-grandmother's hand-me-down rocker before naptime & bedtime but had nowhere handy to store the books. so... duh.

it's true. while sam helped me level the shelves & hand-drill holes into our wall, i got caught up in lots of p-ray picture taking. i couldn't help it. because how cute is he watching toy story on my phone with all his stuffed animal friends??

{sidenote: sunday was kind of another sick day for him. i thought he was 100% better, but turns out it's more like 75% since his fever has been coming & going. boo.}

parker LOVES his new reading nook. he loves being able to sit on your lap & have all his books on display for his choosing pleasure. just when he was getting impossible to keep settled on your lap for story time, this glues him right back down into that chair. and for that? we're loving it.

and for your viewing pleasure... two more pictures. because i couldn't decide which one not to include & thus? included them both.

vote? thanks!

a good life giveaway! - {Lilybaby Teepee}

2011-10-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

it's giveaway day, yay!

today's giveaway comes atcha from a real life friend of mine, jamie. jamie is a super talented seamstress & can whip up pretty much anything with a few pieces of fabric, some coffee & a few hours in the middle of the night. because that's when she crams in all her work designing & creating items for her amazing shop lilybaby! the rest of her time is spent wrangling these two super cute munchkins.

bad news? right now her etsy shop is a little on the empty side. she's been kept very busy lately filling custom orders so her on-hand items aren't many. good news though? she is available for custom orders & does an amazing job with items all across the board. crib bedding, hoodies, dresses, you name it i bet she'll do a rockstar job at creating it.

more good news: today she is giving away a teepee to one of my readers. yup, just like p-ray's teepee seen below, this could be yours.

i'll let parker take it from here.

"here's the outside... here's me in the inside... and now here's me running around in the yard eating an apple off the ground. catch ya later!"

so how can you get a teepee like this for yourself?**

**please read this before entering:
the teepee is held up by moderately long pvc pipe poles which would be really difficult to ship.... SO:

if you live in washington state in the greater seattle/south puget sound-ish area, jamie is willing to give away the main canvas along with a set of poles & come meet you to deliver the goods.

if you live out of the seattle area she will ship you the canvas with pvc pipe pole specifications. it's super easy to go to home depot & have them cut the poles & it costs less than $10.00. so please don't let this be a deterant from entering!

ok, now that the fine print's out of the way, here's how to enter:

• visit lilybaby's etsy shop & comment here telling me what you'd love to have!

and bonus! you can do any number of these bad boys for extra entries:

• "like" lilybaby on facebook & tell jamie wether you're local or would need to have the teepee shipped out of the area.

• follow lilybaby's blog.

• favorite lilybaby's shop on etsy.

there ya go! four chances to win & as always, leave a separate comment for each entry ya do. giveaway ends october 10 at 11:59 pst.

and remember, if you live out of the seattle area, please only enter if you're willing to go buy the poles for the teepee! many thanks.

also? many thanks for many votes too. thank you thank you thank you.

our week by iPhone - week 46

2011-10-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

happy october everyone!!

this week f-l-e-w by. and i don't even know why! i feel like i got hardly anything accomplished & it's all a blur. why does this happen? it was a quick week, but it was a good one. here it is in pictures:

monday. we woke up to pouring rain so instead of going outside to stroller strides, we opted to run errands. that's kind of a work out, right? a work out that includes eating target pretzels anyways. anywho, parker decided to take a snooze so i let him catch some z's while i waited out the monsoon happening outside of our car. and yes, myspace-fish-lips-pictures totally help pass the time.

after braving the torrential downpour, we spent some time trying on zebra hats & buying supplies for home decor projects that took place in the garage during nap time. mmmmm, spray paint fumes. {GAG!}

tuesday. we woke up to sun & blue sky so we got outside & went for a run which made p-ray & i both very happy. parker was so happy he decided to put his empty squeezy pouch on his head & declare himself hilarious.

that evening i got to do an awesome senior session which may or may not be one of my favorite shoots to date. check it out here.

and then parker slept like a newborn all bum-in-the-air style & it made me happy.

wednesday. parker's sick day. i had to work so parker stayed at home with auntie jodi. i'm so grateful he got to stay home with his auntie & spend the day snuggled up to her with his favorite movies. if sam or i can't be home with him? she's the next best thing.

after work we spent the evening cuddled up on the couch where parker slipped in & out of sleep until bedtime where he was pretty freaking cute. again.

thursday. parker & i made a quick trip to the pediatrician to make sure he was fine after his weird day of high-fever-lethargicness on wednesday. he wasn't too fond of the doctor's office, but he was a big fan of the cute hat i tried on at target {ps: love these hats, but what the heck do you wear them with??}.

thursday night we hit up some fro-yo. it had been far too long. and yes, parker wore his pj's all day. and clearly he liked it.

friday. parker tried putting some of his best moves on his girly-friend cami at the playground but she just wasn't into him. it's ok... the rejection wasn't anything some time playing with the springy-riding-toy-thingy couldn't fix.

friday night was spent getting burgers & running errands. don't worry, we have a hot date planned for saturday night so we're not totally completely lame.

and then there were more sleeping pictures of parker... sorry, i can't help myself! and i can't help that my phone's flash makes him crinkle up his face in the cutest way ever. it just happens.

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:

thanks for your votes! keep 'em comin' friends!

sick day.

2011-09-30T00:26:00.000-07:00

we now interrupt regular programming to bring you pictures of my sick kid.

parker had a rough day on wednesday... i had never seen him like this. his whole body was on fire & he was limp & lethargic & wanted nothing to do with anything other than lay on top of you & watch movies. he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to walk or play, he just wanted to slip in & out of sleep & watch his movies.

my heart broke to see my little boy taken away for a day. i could probably count the number of words he said on one hand. and while secretly we really enjoyed the cuddles, we prayed his little bug would be gone soon & he'd be back to his regular mischief-making ways before long.

i think sometimes Heavenly Father throws in a random sick day just to remind us to enjoy the good ones. because today? parker was pretty much back to his normal self. he slept in an hour & a half later than normal, & when he woke up he immediately asked to eat. after wolfing down some oatmeal & toast we went to the doctor appointment we had made the night before {when his fever was spiking & he was panting for breath on my lap} to make sure everything really was back to normal.

and yeah, he seems to be fine. just a fluke one day bug i guess. but oh man, when your baby is sick? it hurts your heart.

but after all the pitiful little faces he made in the exam room, his true colors shined through as we walked through the lobby out the front doors. he may have been a little under the weather, but not too down & out for this:

glad to have you back p-ray.

always glad to have your votes.

if you're bored then you're boring.

2011-09-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

so who do i talk to about getting more hours in a day? because i could use a few. i got a lot going on right now & it's all pretty awesome, not gonna lie. i am actually really excited about all the things keeping me busy right now & if i had a few more hours? well, i'd probably just try to cram more things in there. so i guess it's best to keep it to twenty-four.

i've been talking a lot about all the projects i'm working on. i think i wrote on facebook there was somewhere around eight home decor projects? i may have exaggerated, but it's up there somehwere. i'm sewing up new curtains, working on a quilt, making shelves for parker's book nook, putting up shelves & re-doing my office decor & re-accenting my guest bathroom. here's a sneak peak at some progress along the way:

and add to those things the time spent being a wife, mom, friend, business-starter, worker-outer, healthy meal maker, pinterest-addict, blogger & part time worker? my days are pretty full. but i like it. and what i've learned from all of this is that i thrive on having a lot on my plate. so my guess is that as soon as one of these projects gets finished, i'll just find something else to fill it up with.

because i like it that way.

and i like votes. fer reals.