the past few weeks..

i did my first TWIN photoshoot. to top it off, they are about Parker's age so it was interesting. such a great learning experience and I actually got some really great shots!

i've reopened the shop

i've been working on lots of new products to put in the shop

i've been chasing after a crazy {almost} 2 year old

i've been working on LOTS of dinosaur themed things

basically, life feels crazy. i have tons of posts coming up with pictures, recipes, and more iteresting things.. i promise! but for now, have a picture.

hello December.

How is it December?

How is it that I am supposed to be sending out the invitations for Parker's 2nd birthday party, today?!

I'm supposed to be sending them out today, but they aren't finished yet (oops!) so they will hopefully be going out Monday.

Speaking of Parker's birthday party..

All my ideas for it are really coming together! If you remember, I was kind of waffling on the colors of the party. I loved the sprinkles I had, but it just didn't feel right to put the whole party in those colors. So I've incorporated some tan, red, and leaf greens. The dinosaurs are still going to be in the bright colors. I decided to make mini lava cakes, which I am SUPER excited about! I'm also a little nervous, because it will only be my second time making cake from scratch. (No more box cakes for us since we switched to Real Foods, again I promise to post more on this at some point). My first cake ended in almost disaster. The middle didn't cook. I had planned on layering ice cream on top of it, but saved the cake my scooping the middle out and putting the ice cream in there. I still don't know what I did wrong, but I'm hoping since these will be cooked in cupcake pans, that it won't happen again.

Other than the ideas, I basically have nothing done. This just isn't like me. But with everything that has been going on, I haven't had time to do anything! So now I have 6 weeks to get EVERYTHING made and ready. I can do this.. I hope.

Blog Much?

Wow, I've been super committed to this blog, huh?

I've kind of been distracted with a lot of personal things lately. Nothing too horrible, but still, nothing I feel I can share on the interwebs. sorry! & yes, everyone is ok.

I've shut down my etsy shop for awhile. I just have too much going on right now & I can't give it the attention it needs. I'm hoping to open it back up around February.

So what have I been doing? We've been going to the park a lot, trying to get all the outside play time in that we can before it starts snowing.

I took some fall pictures of my sisters-in-law

sydney

jozie

journey

Yep, my sisters-in-law are little. Sydney (who is actually step-SIL) just turned 9, Jozie is 8, Journey is 10. MIL and FIL had the boys, then waited 14 years and had the girls. Got divorced just a few years ago, MIL remarried. There is also Preston who is Syd's brother, he's 11. Their house is usually madness and I have no idea how they survive.

Anyway, I've also been:

Writing (not on the blog, obviously)
I made Parker's Halloween costume (he was quail man!)

Working on a baby shower present for my best friend Heather

Started NanoWrimo

Started twitter! You could follow me ya know! ;)

Switched almost completely over to Real Foods, more on this another day.

I'm sure there is more, but the point is, I've been BUSY. I actually came to the blog to escape my NanoWrimo. I just needed to write something other than that story.

Oh yeah, I write. Not professionally or anything, but seriously. Most people in real life don't even know this about me. It isn't something I like to talk about. Mostly because I'm afraid they'll ask me what I write about, and I'll have to say 'murders' or 'destruction of the world' or 'stalkers' and they'll give me that look like I'm crazy. I used to write poetry in High School. I just recently picked up writing stories, but I haven't finished one. I'm hoping Nano will push me to just finish one. Maybe one day after that I can talk about it more. Or maybe not.

Ok, this was a nice long distraction, but I feel like I'm rambling now. Hopefully I'll be back in a few days!

operation: dino birthday

Plans for Parker's second birthday party are already in full swing! Last year, I started planning when he was like five months old, so this year, I actually held off a bit longer. We don't do over the top, super expensive parties. I just like to make almost everything myself, and I like to have tons of little details to make the parties extra special. I like for people to come to the party, have fun, and remember it!

I sort of stumbled onto this year's theme, when a friend bought me these:

Dinosaur sprinkles! My first thought when I seen them was, "this is the second birthday theme." Since then, I've went back and forth on it. I was afraid it was too bright, or that the pink & purple were too girly. But after much thought, and reassurance from the husband, I've committed to this theme. We figure, the bright colors will be fun in gloomy January, and toddlers love all colors!

The first thing I did was make a trip to Hobby Lobby to find paper to match the sprinkle colors. I found the perfect colors and bought a few sheets of each. I already have a cricut cartridge that has the dino shapes, so I got to work cutting them out and seeing what color combos I liked.

Adorable, right?

I'm going to sew a bunch of these together (in a ton of different color combinations) and use them as streamers! I'm also thinking of making some cupcake toppers (still haven't decided if I want to do cupcakes or a sheet cake). I'm going to pick one T-Rex that I like the best to use on the invites (in a bigger size of course!), and also make the banner out of this paper as well.

For the goodie bags, I found these crayons, and I'm going to make some coloring sheets based on the cricut shapes. I'd love to find some sort of theme appropriate candy, and maybe get some of those dinosaurs that expand when you put them in water. Also, dinosaur stickers would be fun (Parker LOVES stickers!).

More fun things I'm considering:

Pin the tail on the dinosaur
Finding dinosaur themed music (land before time soundtracks?)

Dino themed menu
A hat like this for Parker

Dinosaur shaped cookies (I need to use up those sprinkles!)

That's all I have for now! I'm sure right now there are things I haven't even though about, but I have plenty of time! I would love to hear suggestions from everyone!

three years

Three years ago, we boarded a plane and flew to Vegas. Only a handful of people knew. Three years ago, we got in a limo and went to a chapel. We walked down the isle together, with only two witnesses watching, and vowed to love each other forever and ever and ever.

first haircut

I have had been putting off Parker's first haircut. Just thinking about chopping off those curls made me want to cry. I was looking at him the other day, with his hair in his eyes, and I just decided.. it's time. So the next time Ben went to get his haircut, we all went. Parker watched his Daddy get his haircut, he climbed around and we told him it would be his turn next.

We put him in the chair, and this happened

But, he played with Daddy's phone, and the old ashtray on the chair (don't worry, it was clean!)

but when those didn't work, the barber busted out the big guns

Yep, a sucker! His first! Once he had that, he was perfectly fine! I wish I could say the same for myself. Once we got home, I cried more than he did. His hair was just SO short! I just wanted it trimmed so he could see. But seriously, now that I've had a few days, I'm fine. His hair has practically grown back. So we'll be doing it all over again in a few weeks! :)

**Fun fact: Ben has been going to that barber shop since he was a little boy!



A Bad Week

This past week has been horrible! Last Wednesday, I woke up and couldn't move. It took me 10 minutes to painfully roll out of bed. That was 6 am. By 7 I was calling/texting Ben to tell him to come home. I couldn't pick Parker up, it was so painful to sit or stand. Ben didn't get any of my texts or calls (he has ZERO reception at work). But he called me at 9 during his break. I was in tears and told him he had to come home, now! Well, it took my back until Friday to get better. But then, Monday, I got some sort of stomach virus! (I told you it was an awful week). That little bug lasted until late Tuesday. I'm just thankful that Ben and Parker didn't get it. (Maybe it was something I ate?)

So, no fun stories, or inspirational pictures today. Just letting everyone (anyone reading this yet?) know where I've been. Tomorrow will bring something prettier (hopefully!)

vacation

ben has worked the past 11 days. 12 hours each day. & it has sucked. to top it off, parker has his last canine coming in (horrible!) and he no longer stays in his crib. he has been climbing out of it on occasion for the past month or so, but it was rare. then the other night (when that tooth started to come in) he refused to stay in bed. so, his mattress has been on the floor, and that is where he sleeps. the toddler rail is going to take up to 8 weeks to get in! (FAIL on planning ahead). blah. anyway, all of this has me dreaming of going somewhere beautiful with my boys...

like, the grand canyon

or morocco

or france

hey, a girl can dream, right? ;)

what is YOUR dream vacation?

all of these pictures are of resorts owned by AMAN. they did not pay me in anyway to promote their resorts, i just stumbled upon their website and absolutely fell in love with ALL of thier resorts!

hello.

i had sorta, kinda, maybe, lost hope in blogging. i started a blog when i got pregnant with parker in 2009 and basically abandoned it when he was born. oops! but he is now 18 MONTHS old, and i think i'm ready to fully commit to this blog world. i've never stopped reading my favorite blogs and i just love peeking into other peoples' lives! so, why not give everyone a chance to peek into my our life?!