skye and will's magical stories

3 things

2012-02-16T20:15:00.001-07:00

1. will came home with all of this amazing stuff. people from his department pitched in to get us lots of needed items from the registry plus other amazing things i never thought about needing. we are so appreciative and feel very loved.

2. the drawer pulls came in, so now the dresser for e's room is complete.

i love how it turned out.

3. i think there should be a law against pregnant women getting sick.

as if this last stage of pregnancy doesn't already have enough uncomfortable moments...adding a cold or whatever this is...well it's just criminal.

i kept thinking i've been so lucky to have made it this far without catching some nasty bug considering i've been around lots of sick people. my luck finally ran out.

i stayed home from work today to sleep a ton and try every other natural remedy hoping that i can stop this before it gets worse.

poor timing too....my baby shower is saturday and i want to feel good enough to fully enjoy it.

i am extra whiney right now...in case you couldn't already tell.

the monster

2012-02-16T08:29:00.001-07:00

who would've known that this little alligator wind-up toy could cause such a ruckus.

we laughed so hard watching the kitties reaction to it.

houndstooth was not about to be afraid.

she swatted at it and tried biting it.

she is brave.

pellegrino on the other hand was pretty terrified of the giant scary alligator.

he kept running from it and acting as if it i might gobble him up at any moment.

good thing his sister was here to rescue him from that terrible beast.

houndstooth is always battling the monsters in the house.

she takes on the dreaded vacuum and lint roller all of the time.

no wonder pells has a nervous breakdown when houndsie isn't around.

the time i sulked on valentine's day

2012-02-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

i could write some mushy valentine's day post about how much i love will but he already knows how much i love him every single day....not just today....and i don't want to make anyone nauseated with some sugary sweet lovey dovey thing...i'll save that for a random day when i can catch everyone off guard.

instead i'll tell a different story that i feel is more important to be told on this day of love.
unfortunately i don't remember the details like i should because i never knew how significant and special this little story would become for me. i wish i would have appreciated the moment much more but as we all know sometimes you don't realize how important a moment can be until the person attached to it is gone. little did i know my dad would be departing from this earthly life not long after this took place.

once upon a time on valentine's day when i was about 19 or 20 years old i was seriously bummed about not having a valentine like most young girls tend to be on this day of great expectations. i was at work and so was my dad but he had called and asked me to meet him outside of my office. i was busy pouting all day and didn't even appreciate the fact that my dad took a break from his busy day to surprise me because i wanted a "real" valentine.....shame on me. my dad handed me a card and kept encouraging me to open the card over my head but i wasn't being a good sport. i can still picture him smiling and biting his tongue the way he did when he laughed and felt he was being extremely clever. i can't remember if i did end up opening the card over my head or not but either way an explosion of confetti flew out once it was opened. i wish i knew where that card was today. i keep those sorts of things so i know it is somewhere in a box, most likely at my moms house. i'm sure the card holds a short but sweet message my dad wrote in an attempt to brighten my day. i now feel so foolish for sulking like i did but at the same time i feel very blessed to know that my dad was observant enough and cared enough to make a special effort just for me.

happy valentine's day to all of you out there and remember....it's not worth it to pout if you don't have a valentine this year because at some point you'll have one. or maybe the valentine you have isn't quite what you are hoping for but chances are that person loves you more than you can imagine.

kewpie bib

2012-02-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

i've had a thing for kewpie dolls for many years.

although i'm not really a theme type of person kewpies are going to make an appearance at my upcoming baby shower.

knowing this, one day my aunt asked me to send her a few of my favorite kewpie graphics, so i did.

she had this bib made for baby e and i adore it.

luckily i didn't have to wait until the baby shower to get this gift because it has e's name on it and since we are still keeping that relatively top secret my aunt decided to give it to me early.

i can't get over how adorable this is.

pellegrino's sand dollar

2012-02-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

i'm on the couch reading a book while will watches one of his shows. i hear a noise in the other room that sounds like someone is digging around in a paper bag. earlier today i spent a bunch of time doing baby laundry and taking things out of e's closet that were stored in there. one of the items i had moved out of her room into the office was this bag of sea shells from my trip to seattle in 2008.

i walk in the room to find pellegrino perched on a box furiously digging in the bag of shells. he flung one giant shell out and then kept digging with more than half of his cute body in the bag. once when he was a kitten i caught him with a small sand dollar he had taken off a shelf in the kitchen. he seemed to really love that sand dollar but being the mean mom i am i wouldn't let him keep it.

next thing i know he stops digging in the bag of shells and runs out of the room as fast as his little legs can carry him. i figured he had snagged one of the shells because he seemed to run like he was guilty.

i go to our bedroom and find him sitting on the bed with his prize next to him.

a sand dollar.

he kept looking around all nervous maybe because he thought houndstooth was going to come steal his prize.

i didn't have the heart to take away the gem he worked so hard for. instead i propped it up against him and took a bunch of pictures of the funny boy that keeps me laughing.

perfect dresser finally found

2012-02-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

for the past several months we have been searching for the perfect dresser to put in e's room. i had a vision in my head of what the dresser would need to have in order to pass the test.

we went to antique stores, furniture stores, looked online, but nothing seemed to be just right.

yesterday we decided to stop at the antique stores once again and finally we found it.

the entire thing was painted a pale yellow like the color of the drawer pulls. i wanted something aqua with a more distressed look so will made that happen.

i love the details like this and the keyholes.

i love that it's old and real wood.

i ordered ceramic drawer pulls from anthropologie to complete the look.

i can't wait until they arrive and we can have one more project marked off the list.

i've been in a sort of panic these days about making sure we have the things i think we need and making sure everything is done before our sweet little girl arrives.

pregnancy and food

2012-02-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

people keep asking if i have had odd food cravings and i really haven't.
first trimester all i wanted to eat was anything that didn't make me feel nauseated but it was challenging because almost everything made me feel nauseated. i do remember living off of bananas (can't even stand to look at them now), taco bell bean burritos (still like them), and subway veggie sandwiches (haven't had one since). smelling or seeing certain foods from the first trimester make me want to barf. i can't even handle the smell of the perfumes, lotions, or deodorant i wore in the beginning. i don't like certain songs i listened to then or movies i watched then. it's really weird but i feel traumatized by most things involved with the first trimester and i think it is just because i didn't feel good then.
once i got past the sickness i have noticed i find a few foods i really want for a week or two straight then i move on to different items but nothing has been really rare for me...it's mainly stuff i loved before.
the only thing that has been out of the ordinary is i'm usually a vegetarian and i've had red meat a few times.
the following items are ones this pregnant belly of mine really loves at the moment....

1.chocolate! i'm thinking this baby girl is going to be just like her mom....a lover of chocolate.

it's funny because in the beginning i didn't want chocolate at all and for anyone who knows me that is just strange, but once i hit the 2nd trimester i was all about chocolate again.

2.strawberries....i have been eating them almost every single day for a couple weeks now.

i'm obsessed.

i also went through a raspberry phase.

3. vegetarian corn dogs with lots of mustard. these have been a top dinner choice as of late. i even had them for breakfast once.

4.rice krispies with almond milk...no sugar added.

this is my go-to snack. i don't want it in the morning but usually in the afternoon or evening.

my favorites aren't limited to these items but i've noticed these are the things i seem to be buying over and over during the past couple weeks. it's kind of funny that we end up going to the store really often and we get the same little pile of groceries. wondering what i'll be extremely fond of next week?

strange sunday

2012-02-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

i was not a major fan of today.

it started out really great but then one thing after the next happened that made me sad.

first sad event...

houndstooth disappeared for the entire day. usually we let her and pellegrino out to play in the backyard when we are home and they stay in the yard for the most part. they might venture to a neighbors yard for a few minutes but almost always come home when called and never stay out of sight for more than a few minutes. both pellegrino and houndstooth went missing today and after a couple stressful hours pells came home but no sign of houndsie.

we drove around looking for her.

will rode his bike looking for her.

we tried all sorts of tricks.

contacted neighbors.

prayed.

as it began to get dark i went into major panic mode and cried a bunch.

i just assumed the worst because it was so unlike her to be gone like that.

as pellegrino was becoming extra clingy and whiney this evening all of my hopes of her returning began to fade away. next thing we know....she shows up!

we cried happy tears and gave her ten billion hugs.

then she snuggled up on will's lap and purred like crazy.

second sad event...

i recently managed to find the dress i wore to the temple as a baby when i was sealed to my parents.

my plan was to have baby e wear this when she is blessed.

it was sort of stained and rough looking so i put it on a gentle cycle in the washer and it came out like this.

one entire sleeve completely shredded.

maybe with some modifications it can be fixed but i was really upset that it came out of the washer like this.

i guess i should have expected it to be a little more fragile considering it is over 30 years old.

third sad event...

when admiring my tiny ecosphere i discovered that one of the 4 shrimp had died.

not that i was extremely attached to each little shrimp but still i felt a bit of sadness.

at least all my nervous sad weird energy enabled me to be productive...

i did what seemed like 50 loads of baby laundry and got a bunch of stuff organized in her closet.

also over the weekend we got e's pack n play put together.

pellegrino thinks it is his.

kind of like he thinks all the baby items are his, but that is another story for another day.

flashback friday #32

2012-02-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

circa september 2009

i snapped this one of us as we were driving to have our engagement photos done.

it is insane to think how far we have come since then and how much has changed.

we have grown as individuals and as a couple.

we have experienced amazing moments and dealt with things we would rather forget.

i'll always look back on those beginning times with so much fondness.

next thing you know there is going to be a third little person in all of our pictures.

i am happy to have a whole new batch of firsts to experience as a family of three because that batch of firsts we experienced as a family of two were magical.

daydreaming

2012-01-31T09:08:00.000-07:00

one of my absolute favorite baby pictures is this one of my mom and i.

i have been daydreaming about lots of stuff lately but recreating this picture with sweet baby e has been at the top of my daydream list.

30

2012-01-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

30 weeks worth of baby bump.

it amazes me that she still has several weeks to grow in there.

slowly hiking with the 5 furry beasts

2012-01-29T12:06:00.001-07:00

we went out to my mom's house yesterday and while there took the dogs on a hike.

this was my view for most of the journey thanks to the big belly slowing me down but i didn't really mind.

luckily will, brulé, and steinway slowed down several times to keep me company.

i was pretty amazed by my shadow.

and this magic tree.

boz.

a lovely mangled dead tree.

buddha.

mascara.

steinway stole the show with her complete love of the snow patches.

she kept rolling in the snow, licking it, and making the cutest crunching noises when she would bite the snow.

oh fluffy girl....you make us smile.

i can't get over her clydesdale legs.

those 5 fluffs are the bright spot to any day.

what life will be like in weeks

2012-01-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

circa may 1980

me and my mom.

time just keeps going so fast. it is hard to believe that in a matter of weeks my life will look like this.

i really don't think i'll be able to fully grasp or understand all of it until it happens.

my emotions these days go from excited to nervous over and over.

hold my marshmallow

2012-01-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

so my mom and i are driving back from bullhead this afternoon. we had an important reason to go there and then decided to make a quick stop at target before heading home. i should have never gone there while hungry because all of the sudden everything in the snack aisles at target seemed wonderful. we get the necessary items and some snacks then go about our merry way home. as i'm trying to negotiate an intersection and eating a chocolate covered marshmallow heart will calls on my phone. i answer the phone then blurt out to my mom...."hold my marshmallow!" maybe not the funniest thing in the world but will's puzzled reaction on the other end of the phone along with the giggles my mom and i always tend to get turned into an all out uncontrollable laughfest. will cracks up because my mom and i are laughing so hysterically. i could barely see to drive because tears were filling up my eyes. we both had mascara running down our faces. we could hardly catch our breath. i was wheezing as i was laughing.....also known as helicopter laugh to all of us. it was absolute insanity and it continued for a good portion of that 40 minute drive home. just as we calmed down...we'd start back up again. moments like those are some of my favorites.

this is us attempting to document our mascara stained ridiculous faces.

29

2012-01-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

29 weeks worth of baby growing in this belly of mine.

i convinced will that he shouldn't be left out this time so he gave his best 29 week impression.

i'm glad he is such a good sport.

new paint job

2012-01-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

we had a wildly productive weekend.

we made long lists and checked almost every item off the list....serious teamwork.

i love that sort of thing. there's nothing quite like relaxing in a clean house with hardly any to do's hanging over my head.

painting my toenails has been on the list for a long time. i usually always have them freshly painted and pretty but this belly of mine has prevented that lately.

will being the amazing husband he is decided to help me out since i can't comfortably reach my toenails.

he was a little concerned that his paint job was too messy, but i kept reassuring him that it was perfect because in my opinion...it is.

i can't imagine a better pedicure.

shoe art

2012-01-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

our master closet just isn't big enough for the both of us and i've had issues with the way things seems so unorganized in it for a long time. over a year ago i saw an idea similar to this online and will recently made it happen...

we got some wooden trim at home depot.

will cut it to fit and painted it and now i magically have more room in the closet.

not to mention i feel like i have art in my closet now with a bunch of my pretty heels hanging on the wall.

there wasn't room to hang all of them on the wall but at least they aren't all piled up in a mess on the floor anymore....makes me happy.

28

2012-01-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

28 weeks worth of baby bump.

i seriously can't believe how fast this pregnancy seems to be going....time is flying by!

the cloud mobile

2012-01-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

one day i asked my super talented friend brandi if she could make a mobile for our little love based on the cloud painting i did below.

of course she was awesome and got to work on it right away and now i am the proud owner of one of her mobiles.

it is absolutely adorable and i love it!

we have yet to get a crib or even decide where we want the crib to be in the room once we get it.

for now the mobile is in a temporary spot in the room and i smile each time i go in there.

isn't it magical?

seeing baby e in 3D

2012-01-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

keeping up with her true fashion she was a stubborn baby today for the ultrasound.

every moment of it was still so magical to me though.

seeing her sweet little face and tiny hands and feet.

amazing.

these pictures are pretty self explanatory but i'll still tell you about each one.

here is her beautiful face.

she wasn't much for staying still or being in the right position to get a good shot.

my mom says she looks like my dad in this one.

this is her adorable tiny foot.

i want to kiss it.

here is her fist.

i think this was the point she threatened to punch us because she didn't want to be bothered any longer.

her profile.

she looks so sweet and content.

this is a blurry picture of her face with either a foot or hand coming up to her face.

from very early on we noticed she likes to have a hand up by her face but this time we saw she liked having a foot up there too.

flexible little yoga baby.

we did see her suck on her fingers once which i really enjoyed.

every little move she made fascinated me.

after cooperating for a bit she turned over and refused to give us more pictures.

stubborn like her mom and dad i guess.

27

2012-01-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

27 weeks.

sometimes the baby bump likes to go to the gym....here we are after such an outing.

steinway and the belly

2012-01-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

the big fat fluff of a girl steinway came over for a few minutes on saturday.

she was cute and funny as usual and we enjoyed her visit, minus the kitties, especially pellegrino.

i can't help but take a million pictures of this beauty.

at one point she ran into e's room and grabbed this stuffed sea turtle.

she began biting it repeatedly to try to make it squeak.

we thought it was very cute.

then i had the turtle ride on her back, which she didn't mind at all.

steinway once had a belly like this.

she is still the ultimate mother.

just like i hope to be.

26

2012-01-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

26 week baby bump

her wiggles are getting way more obvious these days to the point where it seems my whole body jumps when she gives a hard kick. i completely love every single squirm and intense kick i feel.

out with the old...in with the new

2012-01-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

i think most people are thrilled about getting a new car especially when the new one has fancy extra features.

i might be the exception...well both will and i might be.

so this is our old fj cruiser

it was a wonderful vehicle that i loved completely for about 5 years.

she even had a name.

sassy.

i get all sentimental and attached to everything....including vehicles.

we traded her in today for a newer version.

it's something we've been planning to do for a while now for several reasons.

sassy had a manual transmission which was something i sometimes loved and other times hated.

will loved that about the car all the time.

as my belly has been growing and i've had to move my seat back i could barely reach the clutch to shift.

so this new one makes driving way easier,

not to mention the other new features that are really neat plus we got a fantastic deal.

but still i have such a hard time with change in general and maybe the pregnancy hormones are making it worse because i couldn't help but feel sad as we drove home with a new vehicle.

will understood because he was a little sad too....probably not as much as me.

we are so silly but i'm sure we aren't the only ones out there that get attached to vehicles and such.

i guess in a way i felt like i hurt sassy's feeling by leaving her behind on that car lot. i can probably thank disney/pixar for such irrational thoughts.

now time to name this one and learn to love it as much as sassy.

pellegrino saves the day once again

2012-01-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

this is the story of

houndstooth

pellegrino

and the bathroom drawer.

one night a couple weeks ago we were putting the kitties out in the living room like we always do when we go to bed. we couldn't find houndstooth but since she sometimes likes to sleep under the couch we assumed that's where she was. we got tucked into bed and not too long after pellegrino begins crying at our door as if something is really wrong, so we realize houndstooth must be somewhere in our room and pellegrino misses her.

he has warned us before when his sister wasn't where she was supposed to be at bedtime. we searched all over our room, closet, and bathroom. then i had remembered that about 30 minutes prior to us going to bed the bottom drawer in the bathroom had been left open by will and i closed it without thinking twice.

i told will to check the drawer just in case but i doubted she would be in there.

he opens the drawer and......

there she is curled up in a little ball sleeping on a pile of washcloths.

i thought it was so cute and kept laughing about it for the rest of the night.

cute that pellegrino saved his sister once again......who knows how long she would have stayed in there if he wasn't so vocal at our bedroom door.

and cute that she was just relaxing in the drawer as if it was totally normal.

decorating e's room

2012-01-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

over the weekend we finally had some time to get a little work done on e's room.

upon first moving into the house we knew right away the pink trim in one of the bedrooms had to go whether a baby girl was part of our future or not.

we just aren't pink people so gray was the new color of choice.

goodbye pink.

hello gray.

the kewpie doll print is something vintage we picked up in jerome many months ago, before we knew our baby girl was part of the plan. i've always had a thing for kewpie dolls and i have a small collection that i'm excited to share with our little doll.

early on in the pregnancy i found these super cute prints on zulily and knew they'd be perfect for her room.

i still have another one to frame and add to the wall once we get the frame painted, but so far i'm loving the 5 that are hanging up.

the other art in her room are paintings i've done.

the only one that was specifically for her was the owl family which was used to announce our big news a few months back. the rest of them were ones i never wanted to part with and now i'm glad i didn't because they seem perfect in her room.

we still have quite a bit to work on before her room is really ready, but i adore the mix of things that have come together so far.

celebrating brandon

2012-01-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

we went out to dinner to celebrate my brother's birthday last night.
without sharing too much i must say i'm thankful for the following....
*that will can remain calm and be helpful in an emergency situation (because i certainly can't).
*that everything worked out just fine.
*that we are all here to enjoy another day....slightly traumatized but alive.
*that i have a brother who i love and admire in so many ways.

happy birthday brandon....now it's time to have a real fun celebration completely unlike the one last night, because making it 30 years in this world is truly something to celebrate!

25 & 2012

2012-01-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

last night we celebrated with a few rounds of apples to apples and balderdash with my mom and brother.

i didn't think i'd make it to midnight but i did...yawning the entire time.

we know how to party.

25 almost 26 weeks worth of baby bump.

i can only imagine that this will be such a magical year for us...full of so many new experiences. in a few months we get to meet our baby girl and that is both thrilling and terrifying to me but mostly thrilling.

happy 2012!

nautical harajuku mini

2011-12-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

the second installment of harajuku mini recently came out. i kept telling myself that i wasn't going to go crazy but then i found out it was all nautical themed and i can't resist nautical cute stuff.

so here are the items baby "e" scored. my mom tried to tattle on me as we were shopping. she text will telling him i was going to buy a bunch of stuff and his response......"e" already has me wrapped around her finger, tell skye to have fun.

i love all of it but this little jacket is something i REALLY love. i wish it came in my size!

there was a little mermaid backpack and this shark one. originally i had the mermaid one in the cart but for some reason i couldn't stop thinking about the shark version. my mom voted shark and then i text will a picture of both and he voted shark too so even if it is kind of boyish we don't care. i've already daydreamed about her carrying this around on her first trip to disneyland.

a package from tco

2011-12-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

he did it again.

i got home and saw a package at the door from tco.

i called will right away and excitedly blurted out that there was a package from the calico organization at the door.

he laughed, told me he loved me, and then said i had to wait until he got home to open it.

my response was....you are so MEAN!

then i begged a bunch to open it right away but he wouldn't budge.

luckily he was home within about 30 minutes and i got to open my christmas present.

it was the vintage style lock necklace that i had been admiring

and i couldn't be happier about having it.

he always seems to know how to make my day.

a different christmas

2011-12-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

our christmas was a little different this year and actually i liked it.

we decided with the expenses of a new baby it wouldn't be smart to buy gifts for each other.

i absolutely love finding the perfect gifts for will, as does he for me, and i really love wrapping them up all pretty so i was worried it would feel weird without that fun stuff.

not that i think it's all about the presents anyway but let's be honest....who doesn't love that traditional thing?

i still got a few fun things for will's stocking because i couldn't resist and he still managed to be sneaky and get me one gift because he couldn't resist.

mine is supposed to be here today and he wouldn't give me any hints which has nearly killed me.

we also gave each other cards and since i'm such a sucker for the perfect card with the perfect words written in it that was enough for me.

well that and this gift in my belly.

the baby girl.

when a giant box arrived at our doorstep a couple days before christmas i told will... this is our gift.

i still have a hard time believing that in a few short months a sweet little baby is going to be sitting in this carseat and going for rides in that stroller.

i have always been the type to love the anticipation of an event only to feel blue about it afterwards.

all of the excitement building up for days only to be over in a matter of minutes.

since i was a little kid i remember being sad after the presents were opened and christmas was over.

the bonus of this year was that i didn't feel that way.

we enjoyed time with family.

my mom and i had extreme laughing fits while running errands and baking cookies.

we saw a movie with my mom, brother, and grandmother then went out to a nice dinner.

it was a lovely break from the day to day busy schedules we all have.

highchair stealer

2011-12-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

this highchair was no longer needed by some family members of mine so it was passed to us.

i kept wondering what pellegrino would think of it since he has already been so curious about other baby items we have acquired.

yes he climbed right in and sat there like it was his job.

he thought it was his very own highchair much like i expected.

hopefully pellegrino is cool with sharing because in approximately 3 short months it'll be time to share.

24

2011-12-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

hello 24 weeks and belly that seems to be growing by the minute!

the secret knock

2011-12-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

it seems like every single time i tell someone the baby is kicking and they feel my belly she instantly stops kicking. i've been trying to get my mom to feel her kicks for a few weeks but it wasn't happening. all that changed last week, i think it was last wednesday. i had stopped at my moms office on my way home and e played her trick the second my mom put her hand on my belly. so then my mom says she needs to do a secret knock to let e know that it's her grandmuzza. there is this secret knock my mom has done for as long as i can remember, she does it whenever she comes over to our house. so she does the knock on my belly and within seconds she gets a response from e in the form of a kick. we laughed so hard. so my mom tried her secret knock two more times and instantly she got a kick both times. it was the funniest cutest thing in the world.

my first minnie

2011-12-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

my friend alex recently went to disneyland.

being the super thoughtful guy he is, he brought back a my first minnie for baby e.

made my day!

alex is as disneyland obsessed as we are so he must have thought we needed to start e's obsession early.....smart thinking alex!

that first date

2011-12-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

3 years ago today my life changed...

all because he took me on our first date.

i'm so happy he asked me even if i wasn't exceptionally nice.

♥

my tiny ecosphere

2011-12-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

this is a neat little story for you. over the weekend my mom, will and i attended a couple christmas parties. at one of the parties i saw a glass globe full of water and a few other things, the items were all sealed in....never to be opened. at first glance i thought it was interesting until i noticed there were tiny alive creatures in there and then i was amazed by it. come to find out a few people at the hospital had received these ecospheres as a gift from some company. i wanted one and i wanted it bad. it was all i could talk about on the way home and the first thing i looked up on the internet that night. my mom said how when she initially saw these spheres she knew i would love one and if we were all exchanging christmas gifts this year she would have purchased one for me. come to find out they are pretty pricey. so i basically gave up the idea of owning one since items for the baby are more necessary to purchase these days than ecospheres containing itty bitty shrimp.

today i got a text from my mom saying she had something for me and she was really excited about it. i had a feeling it was the little glass globe i desired but i didn't want to get my hopes up so i talked myself out of thinking that was what it could be. turns out my mom went to a meeting at work that included a white elephant gift exchange. someone who didn't think the ecosphere was so amazing gave this as the white elephant gift. my mom spotted it and stole it from the first person to open the gift. she then promptly hid the sphere so that nobody else would decide to steal it.

i didn't mean for the flash to go off because i didn't want to startle the little guys but if you look closely you'll see all 4 shrimp.....which i plan to name. if you have any name suggestions feel free to share.

my new little shrimp friends are very low maintenance. everything they need to survive is in the sphere and they can last for two to three years or longer. with the proper amount of light and being kept at temperatures between 60-80 degrees this tiny ecosphere has all the right ingredients to thrive on it's own.

i'm so glad my mom was able to snag this for me today because i love it.

e loves her grandmuzza

2011-12-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

taken at 23 weeks...

i told my mom this last week that i'm pretty sure her and baby girl have some sort of magic chemistry. i've noticed the last few weeks in particular that when my mom and i get together we laugh like crazy over the most silly things, and i can't help but think that it's because "e" really loves her grandmuzza.

i just got a few hard kicks as i typed this so i'm pretty sure that is e's way of confirming what i've been suspecting.

ornaments with history

2011-12-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

so my mom came over with the following ornaments this weekend...

this was my very first ornament many moons ago. love that she found this.

every year when we were kids gram would make an ornament for us grandkids.

this one is from 1983. she would usually pick a theme and then we would pick which character or color we wanted most. that particular year she made carebear ornaments it seems.

apparently i was all about funshine bear.

this is just a pretty my mom knew i'd love.

and same with this.

i especially enjoy the history on those old ornaments and that is a major reason i'll most likely never do a themed tree....i find the random assortment (with stories) much more interesting.

my favorite eotm

2011-12-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

so last night the four of us...me, baby e, will, and my mom...went to the hospital christmas party to celebrate the employee of the month one more time.

i had hoped he would win employee of the year but it didn't happen.

i don't know the person that did win but i hear she is deserving so good for her.

still i selfishly wished will would win because in my mind he was the most deserving.

you can say the same about cullen, right nicole?

i made will do embarrassing things again like pose with his picture up on the wall.

he didn't seem to have any trouble being silly for the camera as soon as cullen arrived.

there were several great people nominated this year....

although these two goofballs kind of stole the show.

i am starting to understand what having a baby belly really means....it means that you have to be prepared to be the center of attention even if you don't want to be. it means you get extra hugs and plenty of belly rubs even from people you wouldn't really expect to receive them from. also you get asked a lot of the same questions over and over. but you know what....i'm actually enjoying all of it even if i originally thought i wouldn't. i realize that in a few short months i might miss those moments, so for now i'm taking in every bit of celebrity my expanding waist brings.

employee of the year 2007 posing with employee of the month september 2011.

my mom is one of will's most hardcore fans so of course she was there to cheer for him.

oh and my mom....she did it again. she managed to make me laugh really hard over silly things. as far as i'm concerned there is some sort of magic spell that takes over when she is near the belly. she and baby e must have a special connection that makes me turn into a giggling lunatic. luckily this time my laughter didn't result in changing outfits like last time.

tiny bracelets

2011-12-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

my friend camille sent us a surprise this week.

these adorable tiny bracelets that she made for our baby girl.

so sweet....i love them!

missoni baby bedding

2011-12-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

i have spent all sorts of time browsing the internet for the perfect crib bedding. while many of the options were cute and something i liked i didn't love any of them. i wanted something that really spoke to me and something that wasn't traditional. well today i found it. another thing i didn't want is the whole billion piece crib bed set with the matching this and matching that for several reasons. so what i did was order the quilt and crib skirt then i'm going to get plain jane sheets and a plain mesh breathable bumper. i've been reading about how babies can get up against the bumper and smother themselves so i'm opting for the safer kind.
so here is my colorful wildly patterned choice of baby bedding!

thank you missoni for target for having something different that excites me!

snow pictures with my loves

2011-12-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

here are a few more shots from our winter wonderland excursion at my moms.

we didn't dress in enough layers so we were freezing, but i couldn't pass up the chance to take pictures in the beautiful snow with my love and the tiny love in my belly.

pellegrino's bumbo seat

2011-12-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

as i was sorting through baby stuff over the weekend pellegrino decided to join me.

he also decided that he is a baby.

i'm thinking he is not going to be super thrilled about the new addition to our family.
in his mind this is his bumbo seat.

he climbed right in and relaxed as if it was something he's done all his life.

this was the point he was taken out of the seat.

he might have stayed in it all night and possibly demolished it if i didn't remove him.

a real snowflake

2011-12-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

you know how when you think of a snowflake you think of something like this.

but in reality when snow is falling it doesn't look anything like that.

it's more like fluffy blobs.

well when we were out at my moms getting ready for christmas pictures i noticed a snowflake fall in my hair that looked kind of like the picture above. i got so excited and showed it to my mom, she thought it was really neat too. then i had the bright idea to take a picture of it but it melted before i could get a picture.

a few seconds later another magically shaped snowflake fell on my hair again and i took a quick picture but i was so worried about it melting that i couldn't get a very clear shot.

so here it is...

trust me....it was magical! even if the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

christmas picture chaos

2011-12-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

this weekend marked the 9th time that we got together for our annual christmas picture with the dogs.

after the very first year our dogs went from 2 to 5 and then we added a person....will....back in 2009. i got really happy thinking about how there will be another person added to next years picture....a little girl.

every time we get together for this, it is quite the fiasco. none of the dogs want to cooperate at the same time. one or more of the humans has a funny face from coaching the dogs to sit still. then there is always someone with their eyes closed. this was the first time we had snow in our christmas picture which was so exciting but of course added to the challenge of getting a good shot. the snow which had stopped before we made it out to my moms house, picked up again just as soon as we got out there to pose. it was so cold but so beautiful. there are usually 100 or so shots taken and we are lucky to find one that is acceptable. our photographer has changed over the years but the instructions are always the same....just keep snapping no matter how crazy we look because that is the only way we get a winner. i kind of wish that this is the one we were sending out because it is the most accurate representation of our group. for the first time in history our winning shot was the very first picture taken.....i'll post the winner once cards are sent out. more on our snowy adventures next time.

sad to happy

2011-12-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

you know those days where you feel sad or cranky for no reason?

i was kind of having one of those.

then as the evening arrived things got better.

here's why:

this surprise package was at my door from brandi.

she sure is a thoughtful one.

oh and just so you know brandi....will and i took turns reading that book to each other.

it is really cute.

this stuff arrived for our baby love.

i've read a few articles about how toxic the usual baby products are so i'm all about trying different natural products. yes, the typical baby stuff smells yummy and it makes me want to use it, but after learning the bad stuff there is no way i could use it without feeling terrible.

p.s. this stuff smells pretty yummy, earthy but i'm totally fine with that.

we had game night next to the tree with my favorite chocolatey treat these days (cadbury christmas balls).

houndstooth admired my skip-bo skills from under the tree.

i guess i didn't give the kitties enough credit because they have been really good with the tree. only one ornament has been taken off so far. they just like to snooze under there, which i think is really cute.

baby bump

2011-12-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

22 weeks worth of a baby bump.

this is mainly for you aleasha.

a name that starts with e

2011-12-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

i got these colorful letters to hang in our baby girl's room.

i would show you her entire name but we are keeping it a secret until she arrives.

a few people know it, but they also know how we want it to stay top secret.

i'd say the number one question i am asked these days is...

have you picked out a name?

my answer is usually...yes, but we aren't sharing it with everyone yet.

one small reason we've been quiet about her name is because i have this silly fear that someone would steal it. but the bigger reason we've been quiet is because i do not want to hear any negative feedback.

i'm far too sensitive and quick to anger these days (dumb hormones) to hear a negative response about our very personal choice of name for our daughter.

in fact i've never really understood why someone would give their not so nice opinion about such a thing but it happens all the time.

in my mind everyone chooses a name for their own special reasons. they pick something because they love it, doesn't mean i have to love it, but it also doesn't mean i need to say anything about not loving it.

here are a few fun facts....

-before we got married we discussed baby names and i mentioned my idea for a girl. i thought will wouldn't like it but he actually did so for almost 3 years now that very name has been our plan, unless it just didn't seem to fit her.

-i have always planned on going with a name that is not traditional or common.....that is just what i like and really what else would you expect from someone named skye.

-i like the idea of using family names for a middle name so her middle name will be just that, and when i'm ready to share i'll explain why we chose what we did.

-i had a mini meltdown when i discovered a couple years ago that someone used the name i had planned for my daughter. it was a complete stranger that did this so obviously she didn't do it to personally attack me, she didn't know my plan, but still i was kind of worked up about it because i guess i take the naming business pretty serious.

cats and a dog

2011-11-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

we had a visitor tonight.....my mom brought boz by for a few. the humans of the house were happy to see him but the felines were not happy at all and i have proof.

these mean stare downs went on for quite some time. boz whined and scratched at the door in an attempt to get closer to the kitties and they made it very obvious that they weren't impressed.

houndstooth seemed especially territorial. that tiny kitty is not afraid of anything.

boz only stayed for a few minutes. after he left it took some convincing to get the kitties back inside.

they had what i call bottle brush tails and dorsal fins...they were all puffy.

if pellegrino could talk i'm pretty sure this would be the point that he would be cussing me out and letting me know boz is never allowed over again.

more baby stuff

2011-11-27T15:15:00.001-07:00

getting baby things has been so fun.

here are her most recent outfits...

parts of this hello kitty set was something i had hoped she could wear home from the hospital. unless she is a giant baby (which i doubt) it seems all this stuff would be too big. i guess we will see.

my mom got her this adorable jacket.

more harajuku mini magic.

this little horse outfit is something i couldn't resist because for one it is so cute and for two it is a graphic by old time disney artist mary blair. i've always admired her work. she is the person who designed the it's a small world ride at disneyland and since that was my favorite ride back when i was 4, i guess i've admired mary's work for a long time.

this tutu is another harajuku mini item....i love it.

houndstooth shoes....because in my opinion everyone needs to own something with houndstooth print.

and then there is this outfit. when the harajuku mini line was released this was the outfit i wanted most. i searched all over for this one and couldn't find it. 3 different trips to 2 targets and still no outfit. my aunt searched for it too. then i contacted my friend michaela in vegas and asked her if she could help me track it down. a few phone calls later it was found....the last one in the size i needed.

she gifted our little girl with one stylish outfit.

while on the topic of baby stuff i have to mention just how thankful i am for the generosity of friends. the linn family hooked us up with all sorts of baby goods.....so many clothes and many other amazing items that we needed. their kindness really means so much.

oh christmas tree

2011-11-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

this is going to be our third christmas as a married couple and it is the first time we have put up a tree. the first christmas we were too busy searching for a house to buy and getting everything settled from the wedding that we didn't really have time to deal with a tree. i promised we would make it happen the next year. then last year we didn't feel like spending the money on a tree and decorations since we had just returned from disneyland and we were going to be hosting thanksgiving for the first time. after christmas was over last year i was determined to not let another year go by without a tree so we purchased one and i shopped for ornaments from my favorite stores.

i am so happy we did all that because i love our tree.

we were pretty sure the kitties would be naughty with the tree so to avoid messes we opted to put it up in our bedroom since we could minimize their exposure to it.

looks like we made a wise decision because i already caught pellegrino trying to swipe an ornament.

houndstooth did a bunch of supervising of us assembling the tree. she wasn't quite sure what to think of it.

i have been playing christmas music like crazy and

i've decided i could easily spend the majority of my time sitting in our room gazing at the tree.

i think our baby girl likes it too because i could feel her wiggling a bunch as i admired the tree last night.

will has been bummed that he can't feel her moving yet but last night she even gave him a tiny love tap.

thanksgiving

2011-11-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

we didn't make final thanksgiving plans until a couple days before the event. first it was going to be at my house with only 4 people, then my house with 16 or so people.

then gramps decided he wanted to have it at his house.

so a crew of about 20 people crammed into their house and we feasted.

later that night family and friends came by our house for cookies, games and these pretty sugared cranberries.

so easy to make and so fun because they look like they are covered in snow.

we had some of the muscles in the house stir the cookies.

while the other muscles held baby jet.

there was trivial pursuit for the smarties.

will couldn't get enough of jet. he keeps talking about him now that he's gone back home. he has also been talking to the baby girl in my belly and tells her how he can't wait for her to arrive. i think he has baby fever.

it was a day full of way too much food and being with the ones we love.

laughing fits lead to...

2011-11-24T08:13:00.002-07:00

i don't know the last time i laughed so hard and had so much fun doing simple things. my mom and i spent yesterday afternoon running errands and baking. there were several moments during our hours together that we laughed uncontrollably over the dumbest things. you know the kind of laughter where you can barely breathe and you have tears rolling down your face and you feel like you might pee your pants? well embarrassing but true....i did just that. i peed my pants from laughing so hard and not only did i do that once but twice! thankfully it didn't happen while we were in petco like i thought it might, both ridiculous incidents happened while at home. i blame it all on the baby girl that is currently perched atop my bladder. i wonder what she thinks when i laugh that hard?
i could certainly have a million more afternoons like the one i had yesterday. i love my mom.

ultrasound of a miracle

2011-11-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

i had an ultrasound yesterday. you know...the ultrasound where you have to drink gallons of water first and hope you don't pee your pants.

it was so interesting to see all of our little girl's organs.

i was most amazed at seeing her heart beating close up and watching all four chambers do their thing.

i felt so thankful to know that each part of her tiny body seems to be healthy and growing at the correct rate.

we got a special little sneak peek of her in 3D.

she also wiggled around a bunch which was fun to see, but it doesn't really make for the best photo of her.

so here she is body facing forward, head turned to the side, with a little arm up and hand next to face.

she had one or two hands up near her face almost the entire time, which i thought was really cute.

although i think anything is really cute when it comes to her.

it is so unreal to know that this little miracle is happening inside me.

the wedding of a cousin

2011-11-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

this is certainly the season of weddings.

over the weekend we drove to phoenix to see my cousin lisa marry her love raphael.

it was a lovely wedding and i have to say i adored lisa's carefully thought out song selections.

i am not one bit surprised at the music and some of the other little details that were special which she planned. below are a billion pictures of family and friends enjoying the joyous occasion.

my mom decided we should take pictures in the mirror during a potty break.

i really got a kick out of watching gramps and gram dance.

another weekend of love.

movie date

2011-11-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

sometimes you just have to take the day off work and go to a matinee.

that is what we did friday so we could see breaking dawn.

yes we are a couple of those weirdly obsessed people.

books way better than the movies obviously.

but still i could hardly wait to see the movie, cheesy parts and all.

closing up shop

2011-11-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

it's official....

the shop will be closing for a little while.

set to close.....early next week.

not sure when it will reopen.

there are still a few paintings for sale so if you are interested in getting one please do so before next week, or if you are interested after the shop closes you know how to contact me.

♥

for the tiny fashionista

2011-11-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

we rushed to target as planned to purchase a few harajuku mini items for the baby girl.

i was seriously bummed to find that the little plaid outfit i wanted most was not on the racks, and none of it can be purchased online. i asked a lady working at target about the missing outfits, since i had them all memorized, and she said there was a delay in the shipment. she assured me that the rest of the items should be arriving later this week so another trip to target for me.

i was lucky enough to score these adorable items for our tiny fashionista.

and the bum of the pants ♥

my plan is for this to be her first christmas dress and the coat pictured above can be worn with it.

i hope i was good at guessing sizes.

tutu outfit complete with leg warmers

this plaid skirt probably won't fit her until she is really old but i never can pass us anything plaid.

not only did we get the clothes but we purchased our first box of diapers.

i felt so confused by what brand to get and what size but with za husbands help i made a decision. you should have seen us debating over which ones to buy. we stood in the diaper aisle forever trying to figure it out. so she now has diapers and wipes....it's getting official.

the wedding of a best friend

2011-11-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

over the weekend we spent a little time in sedona for the wedding of our very good friends. michaela and i have been friends for close to 15 years. she is a person who is very dear to me. she is someone i love spending time with and someone i have made tons of fun memories with. her husband chris is also a friend. in the past few years i have had the chance to really get to know him and i'm glad he is a part of the group. luckily will and chris have also become friends because when the four of us get together michaela and i can have our girl time without worrying that the guys are bored. their wedding was beautiful. the ceremony was held out by the creek and it was just perfect with all of the colorful trees in the background.

michaela looked like a dream. her dress was stunning, really everything about her was. she had that permanent smile that i remember having at our wedding. i asked her if her cheeks were sore from smiling so much....they were.

good thing marcy was at the wedding too because we were basically glued to each other. she had me laughing all night. she was so obsessed with my belly during the evening. she kept talking to the baby girl inside and basically wouldn't keep her hands off my tummy. i never knew having a baby in your belly turned you into an instant celebrity. all night people were touching my tummy and saying sweet things. marcy wouldn't let the night go on without snapping a picture of the famous belly.

i love marcy.

i also love the beautiful bride.

next we all took turns getting our picture with our favorite groom.

it was quite the magical evening with a few of our favorite people.

10 years

2011-11-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

i still miss my dad every single day.

st. george part 3--the end

2011-11-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

the last part of our trip was full of more of the same mellow fun.

i got baby presents from amerest and cydney. it was so fun to open all the cute stuff!

xyler was extra funny and silly

we put a few finishing touches on the insane halloween decorations.

when amerest gave me directions to her house the sentence said...

you'll know which house is mine because it looks like halloween threw up on it.

she wasn't kidding.

i loved all of the halloween decor....too bad i'll probably never be that motivated to decorate for halloween.

we kept being instructed to stick our tongue out for pictures.

i love this picture of xyler and will.....the lighting, their expressions...i just happened to capture a gem.

so glad we were able to spend a nice weekend away with friends.

marble track

2011-11-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

one day za husband and i were discussing some of our favorite toys from childhood. i told him how a few of my favorites were at gram and gramps house when i was a kid. i explained probably 3 toys there that were especially important to me that i played with on a regular basis when at their house. one of those toys was a marble track similar to the one pictured above. being the thoughtful guy he is, will secretly searched online for a marble track like the one i described. he found this one and bought it with intentions to not mention it so i could be surprised by the mystery package at the door. well he's about as good at keeping a secret as i am....terrible at it. not too long after he made this secret purchase he told me about it because he just couldn't hold it in any longer. i love this present because it is thoughtful and takes me back to a special time in my life. i'm sure our little girl is going to love it at some point in the future too.

st. george part 2

2011-11-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

the next day of our st. george trip consisted of lounging around the house and spending quality time together.

we talked a bunch, did puzzles with the kids, finished carving pumpkins, jumped on furniture....you know....just the normal stuff.

xyler decided will is way cooler than me. several times during our stay x would come up to me as say....where's will or go get will.

it was really sweet to watch how much fun they had together.
not that i had any doubts, but will is going to be such a great dad to our daughter. little kids absolutely love will. children always seem to be drawn to him and he is so good with them.

♥.

2 years

2011-11-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

today marks two years of marriage.

two wonderful years...

and we are hoping for a billion more!

hello snow

2011-11-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

the first snow of the season decided to make an appearance last night.

something about watching snow fall makes me very happy....maybe because it rarely happens here.

i stood outside in the freezing cold to watch it for a while.

then i got cozy in bed and watched from there as the ground was being covered with big fat white fluffy flakes.

this morning....snow was gone.

but i really enjoyed watching it fall last night.

being bold

2011-11-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

i've made an observation about my closet and our baby girl's closet.

i hardly own anything pink...and barely anything pastel.

pink is lovely but just not a color i'm drawn to.

it seems our little girl is trending the same way.

below are a few recent purchases....

looks like she is going to go for bold colors and patterns just like her mom.

make room for baby sale

2011-11-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

my art room is slowly evolving into a nursery for the baby so......

the following paintings are majorly on sale in the shop.

i might be closing up shop for a little bit considering how busy i am with other things and how unmotivated i have been with painting.

now is the time to grab a painting if you so wish.

st. george part 1

2011-11-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

over the weekend we took a road trip to st. george, utah to stay with my friend amerest and enjoy halloween festivities.

first on the list after our arrival was pumpkin carving, well the start of it anyway.

amerest had tickets to a really neat halloween show that us 6 adults would be attending that evening.

thriller was held at an outdoor amphitheatre. we couldn't take pictures during the show. i did have opportunities to get pictures of the zombies, which stayed in full character, walking around during the intermission but i was too amazed watching them sneak up on people and making sure one didn't sneak up on me that i missed out.

in a nutshell the show included several different acts which were performed by a professional dance team.

there was music, all forms of dance including ballet, special effects, and acting which kept us entertained. we were quite mesmerized by the slightly frightening performance.

amerest and i waiting for the show to begin.

on the way out i managed to get a blurry shot of one of the zombies that tried to get us.

after the show we went to a pumpkin patch/farm.

amerest wanted all of us to go through the haunted corn maze attraction at the farm.

when she told the stories of previous years attending that attraction i was so freaked out and practically refusing to go. i don't do well with that sort of thing. the rest of the group wanted to attend so i had to suck it up and go. when we got there i spotted a sign that said pregnant women should not go through the attraction due to risk of falling on unstable ground. i thought that was my ticket out but it wasn't. we waited in line for what seemed like hours in the freezing cold to get to the haunted corn maze. i could have taken so many cool pictures there but i didn't even think to bring my camera, i was too worried about what was ahead. when we finally made it to the attraction i kept reminding myself that everything was fake. will held onto me really tight and we went slow even when we were being chased by chainsaw wielding zombies....not fun. we made it through without incident. i did jump a few times and i hated the end where we had to push through what seemed like two giant black bounce houses pushed up against each other, appropriately named the birth canal. i am claustrophobic but it was the only way out so i did my best to stay calm. i have to say that the work which went in to building that attraction was amazing, the actors were really good. it was the best/scariest haunted maze i've seen, very impressive and spooky.

celebrating 51

2011-10-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

tonight we went to dinner to celebrate 51 years of my mom.

3 generations....actually 4 if you count the little lady in my tummy.

za husband, za muzza, grandmother whistle, za bruzza

it is so easy to celebrate my mom on her special day.

we love her.

flashback friday #31

2011-10-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

circa 2009

my mom at my wedding.

today is this foxy lady's birthday!

she makes 51 look hot!

i love you mom....happy birthday!

our baby is.....

2011-10-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

with help from houndstooth and pellegrino we are thrilled to announce some pretty big news.

they reluctantly dressed up in pink bows to let you all know that...

it's a girl!

baby bat

2011-10-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

we went to ross looking for picture frames.

what did we leave with?

a baby bat costume.

will's reaction to this costume was hilarious.

he spotted it first and basically wouldn't leave the store without it.

he said he doesn't care if it fits our baby next halloween,

it's worth it just to see the little one dressed up in it once for fun.

i agree.

reminiscing and looking forward

2011-10-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

this is where i would like to be right now.

our plan was to be there the week of november 7th to celebrate 2 years of wedded bliss.

we were going to do a repeat of last year.

i can't tell you how many times the two of us would randomly say how we missed disneyland over the last year. we would talk about all of the fun we had last time and dream about the fun we would have this time.

i have to admit that when we discovered a little baby was on the way i panicked a bit.

not just because it would be changing our vacation plans but it would be changing everything we were used to for the last couple years.

i don't tend to handle change well, and while it was an exciting change we've always dreamed about i didn't think i was ready. the first thing i said between tears when i saw that positive pregnancy test was "now we can't go to disneyland!"

we laugh about that statement of mine frequently.

i am really so thrilled to be a mom. it just took a little bit for the initial shock to wear off. now that the nausea is over and i have more energy i've really been able to embrace this magical time in our lives.

do i still want to go to disneyland? yes.

are we still going to try to go before the end of the year? maybe.

even if i can't ride any of my favorite fast rides there are still the favorite slow rides.

does the thought of taking our child to this magical place make us so incredibly happy? absolutely!

backyard campfire

2011-10-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

it's a good thing will is around to remind me that it is fun to be spontaneous on a saturday night, and make a fire in our backyard for smores.

harajuku mini ♥

2011-10-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

as some of you know i am pretty obsessed with gwen stefani. i am a fan of her music, style, personality, clothing lines, everything really. i even chose to wear a l.a.m.b dress as my wedding dress. not long after i found out i was pregnant i discovered that gwen would be doing a baby/childrens clothing line with target called harajuku mini. i can't imagine a more perfect time for her to release such a line.....i secretly think it was just for me. haha. so here are a few adorable outfits:

last night i actually had a dream about the harajuku mini clothes and rushing to the store to buy every outfit. then i woke up this morning to discover that the lookbook was released online and i've been planning the items i will buy.

i don't think i can describe how excited i am by this.

my mom and will certainly understand how thrilled i am and they might think i'm a little crazy.

colorful pumpkins

2011-10-22T09:29:00.001-07:00

since we will be busy halloween weekend we decided to do our traditional halloweenie thing a little early.

last night we put on nightmare before christmas, enjoyed a little dinner, then got to work on our pumpkins.

i saw this really neat idea on another blog and decided we should give it a try.

all you need is crayons, lighters, and pumpkins.

this is the pumpkin i worked on.

this is will's

i intended to keep going on my pumpkin and then do the same thing to some of the mini pumpkins but our lighters ran out of fuel so the rest of the pumpkin decorating was postponed.

maybe after we finish our busy halloween weekend we can still carve a couple because i really want to roast the seeds.

mmmm....my favorite!

hooray for our tradition and colorful pumpkins!

flashback friday #30

2011-10-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

circa 1973

my beautiful grandmother.

4 happy thoughts

2011-10-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

things i am happy about......

the pumpkin plant has started to produce a few pumpkins but they only seem to last a week and then fizzle out and die. this one seems to be thriving and is the biggest yet so i really hope it continues growing.

either way it has been fascinating to watch this plant take off over the months.

i saw these ziploc bags in the store the other night and almost did a happy dance.

i don't think i've ever wanted ziploc bags so bad in my life.

i held them up and looked at will with the sort of pleading face a child would give it's parents over a toy.

of course he just smiled and told me to get them.

now i'm afraid to use them up.

looking at the halloween decorations displayed around our house.

as most of you know halloween is one of my most favorite holidays.

especially because of the pumpkins.

and last but certainly not least....

the fact that we got to see our baby again during an ultrasound today.

our baby is extra stubborn.

this little one seems to love to cross it's legs and curl up in a cozy ball.

we still aren't completely certain on the gender but pretty sure.

hoping that next week we are more than 90% sure.

we did get a couple more cute pictures of our darling that i'll post soon.

our stubborn baby

2011-10-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

today we had an ultrasound to determine the gender of the baby. the last ultrasound we had a couple weeks ago the baby was stubborn and kept moving but wouldn't move to the right positions for the tech to get certain measurements that were needed. this time i was hoping the same thing wouldn't happen since i have been wanting to know the gender so bad! well baby was pretty difficult again. thank goodness we are friends with the ultrasound lady because she said we can stop in whenever and she will take a quick peek. she did say that she is 90% sure the baby is a _____________.

i don't want to reveal until we know for sure. maybe in a couple days we will go back in and see if this baby will stop being so modest/difficult.

here are two of my favorite pictures from the visit today...

in this one the baby is looking right at us.

i think it's neat how it seems a little halloweenish with the see thru skin and bones.

and in this one the baby is on it's tummy in a stink bug pose with legs tucked under it.

i think the baby stayed on it's tummy most of the time. during the last visit it stayed on it's back and even did a little headstand.

i think i could easily be entertained staring at that ultrasound machine all day long.

there is nothing quite as magical as watching the little life inside me move around.

x and t made my day

2011-10-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

i had the pleasure of watching these little cuties for an entire day during the weekend. their moms...my friends....drove from st. george to handle some business with the recent death of their father. a very sad time for all. when my friend amerest called to ask if i could watch them i gladly accepted. although i've known both x and t since they were born, i haven't spent much time with them over the last couple years so i wasn't sure how they would adjust. i'd say they had a lot of fun since they told their moms the next day that next time they go to aunt skye's they want to stay longer.....12 hours just wasn't enough.

they were so sweet and funny. will had a blast with them as much as i did. we kept finding ourselves watching them do cute things or say cute things then we would look at each other and smile or if one of us noticed something we'd quietly point it out to the other.

our day consisted of disney movies, coloring, going for walks, playing in the back yard, and the kids trying to get the kitties to sit still long enough to pet them.

i missed x and t the next day.

i'm really excited we will be spending halloween with them!

the unwanted house guest

2011-10-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

now that the weather is cooling down a bit we tend to open the french doors in our room as we get ready for bed each night. last night we did just that so we could get some fresh air. we were procrastinating brushing our teeth so we sat on the bed talking for a little while. i finally decided it was time to brush up so i get off the bed and take a step towards the bathroom when i notice something on the floor. we have these leather rugs in the house that tend to shed so at first i just thought it was a piece of leather. as i bent down to pick up the "leather" to my horror i noticed it wasn't that at all. it was a tarantula! i jumped up on the bed and in a panicked tone told will what was on the floor. i am not a fan of spiders at all! in fact i am so afraid that i get chills all over my body for at least 10 minutes after an encounter such as that. will isn't crazy about spiders either but he is braver than me. he picked up a shoe and began scooting the giant beast towards the open door. at one point it crawled up on the shoe and will quickly dropped it while i screamed. he finally got the furry monster outside and shut the door which we will NEVER leave open again. it took me a good 15 minutes to finally get off the bed. as the night continued on i went over the possible things that could have happened. it could have crawled in bed with us. i could have stepped on it barefoot during my middle of the night potty breaks. it was very near my purse, it could have climbed in and gone for a trip with me to work. all of the terrible scenarios wouldn't stop entering my mind and i actually lost sleep over it. before we went to bed i had will search all over the room with a flashlight and promise me that he did in fact get that nasty critter outside. i still can't get the initial image out of my mind and if i think about it too much i freak myself out.

*apparently i didn't have a problem with spiders when i was a little kid because i made this cute guy.

meeting jet

2011-10-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

see this cute little dude....his name is jet.

oh and he isn't really little...he's a big boy, such an adorable big boy.

we are good friends with his parents and we were delighted when they drove to town for a day last weekend. we were able to spend quality time with chris and camille and meet jet in real life.

i always love spending time with them because it is so comfortable like we have known each other our entire lives.

will and chris were friends since they were young kids and it is always cool to hear their wild childhood stories.

i wasn't able to meet them until a few months before will and i got married but it was easy to see that we would all be great friends.

chris and camille used to live in england and they recently moved to vegas which i cool because they are much closer to us.

now to kind of change the subject...

you know how i'm a major fan of skeleton keys right?

well this is the key that chris and camille used on their house in england.

and guess what....

they gave it to me so i could add it to my collection!

such a cool thing for them to share with me and i will always cherish it.

side note....camille told me that i have to have a girl so her and jet can get married and we can all be one big happy family. hopefully we will see if that is an option at some point this week!

the best pizza

2011-10-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

this is a post i have held onto for weeks because i couldn't really mention pregnancy related nausea and food aversions without spilling the baby beans so here it is now.

in the beginning of the pregnancy i felt sick and yucky. for a few solid weeks i was nauseated almost all day. it was a real struggle to eat because nothing sounded good.

one day during those sick times i had a craving for homemade pizza from our friend matt.

matt makes the most delicious pizza.

will mentioned my craving to matt, and being the nice guy he is he totally made me a pizza the next day.

it was the best.

turns out we are having a pizza date with matt's family at their house tonight.

i'm pretty excited.

for the baby

2011-10-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

this baby that is growing in my belly is extremely loved already.

he or she has been gifted with a few little things but nothing has been sweeter than the words that have been written for it. i don't like calling the baby "it" but i don't know what else to say since we aren't sure of the gender yet (hopefully soon).

several weeks ago will gave the baby its first card. the card was full of wonderful words that i know he/she will appreciate someday. i was in love with the fact that will thought to do something like that.

the card shown above is from my friend marcy aka aunty marcy.

she wrote the sweetest words to the baby which i love to read and many years from now this little one will love to read those words as well.

the magical news!

2011-10-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

today is my dad's birthday.

i couldn't think of a better day to make such a monumental announcement.

on august 6th we found out that our family is going from this:

to this:

the new addition is set to join us in the early days of april.

stamp dream

2011-10-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

at the beginning of the year i remember hearing that the post office would be releasing disney/pixar stamps. since i'm obsessed with most of the disney/pixar movies i was pretty excited about this news. as time went by i totally forgot about them, then last night out of the blue i have a very lengthy complicated dream about these very stamps. i went online to see if they had been released yet and they had in august so i was a little sad thinking i missed my chance to mail letters and bills with such cuteness. luckily we needed to make a trip to the post office today anyway and guess what they had.....my stamps!

what our weekend looked like

2011-10-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

our weekend consisted of the following:

1. street drag races

2. a billion games of clue

3. homemade vegetable soup.

za husband was lucky enough to get us the fancy vip tickets to the street drags for free. we were able to avoid some of the obnoxious crowds and sit in the special catered area which was nice. anything car related is very exciting to will so it's fun to enjoy that with him and have him teach me things.

so maybe we didn't play a billion games of clue but we did play about 10-12 games and guess what....

i won every single game. poor will was very close several times but i was just a little bit luckier or quicker. i don't know if he's ever going to want to play clue with me anymore.

the last few sundays we've been cooking a nice time consuming meal together which proves to be fun and yummy. i decided since we finally made it to the lovely month of october, soup was a must.

kitty panic

2011-09-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

we rarely let the kitties in our room so when the door is closed and we are in there pellegrino meows at the door.

he usually only meows a couple times and then goes about his business. last night was a different story. he sat outside our bedroom door meowing as if something was seriously wrong and he wouldn't let up. when we opened the door he kept up his cries so we knew something really was wrong. we went to find houndstooth since she wasn't in sight. we searched her usual hiding spots but couldn't find her, so we tried the usual tricks that get her to come out but she wouldn't appear. eventually will went to the kitchen and opened the pantry, because they have been known to get closed up in there before. guess what happened....houndstooth came running out. i can't get over the fact that pellegrino knew she was in trouble and needed our help. he wasn't going to give up until his sissy was free. his anxiety went out the window as soon as he saw houndstooth come out of the pantry. what a smart funny little kitty he is.

nest discovery

2011-09-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

these little eggs were recently found by za husband, in a nest on the ground in the corner of our yard. i thought it was quite the magical discovery. i think it is a nest made by quail, and if the eggs weren't hollow and abandoned we'd have new baby quail hatching in our yard any day now. it was really amazing to see how the bird that constructed the nest dug a spot out in the ground then used all the weeds to make a safe spot for its babies. too bad we won't be seeing babies hatch from those pretty little eggs.

the promised pictures

2011-09-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

as promised...

here he is getting sympathy for having to pose next to the plaque while people are walking down the hall and he is clearly embarrassed.

i should have waited to take the pictures because the little box that is missing his name in this picture was filled in a couple days later but oh well.

i'm lucky i was able to convince will to let me take these pictures in the first place.

making a big deal of his accomplishment made me extremely happy.

leaves make a great bed

2011-09-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

as i was getting out the fall decorations pellegrino decided the perfect place to relax was in a bag of leaves.

it is so easy to love him.

blossoms and bees

2011-09-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

our accidental pumpkin plant has really taken off.

it has stretched way further across the yard than i thought possible and its latest trick is these giant flowers that open in the morning and close in the evening.

i was mesmerized by the bees playing in the flowers the last few mornings so i had to take lots of pictures of them.

i've been a little bummed that we have yet to see pumpkins but after doing a little online research i discovered the bees are a really good sign.

the bees collect pollen from the male flowers which are the ones they are currently obsessed with, then they transfer the pollen to the female flowers and pumpkins should start to appear.

so i am anxiously awaiting the arrival of pumpkins.

hopefully they decide to appear with this first bloom, although sometimes they don't according to the internet.

oh and bees are magical if you really think about it.

plaid love

2011-09-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

pellegrino has a thing for plaid

he takes after me.

castle door

2011-09-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

on friday we had a new front door installed.

it was something we had considered doing for a long time.

i'm lucky to have a brother in the business because he was able to hook us up.

i told brandon i wanted a castle looking door with a peek-a-boo thing.

apparently the part i call a peek-a-boo is called a speakeasy in real life, but i prefer using my own made up language.

here is our old door that we don't miss.

this is the new door without the peek-a-boo installed.

brandon and his friend eddie installing the door.

they actually worked on this house together when it was being built before we ever knew it would become ours, so it was cool to have them share stories about that.

the finished product with the peek-a-boo closed

then open

peeking

we are thrilled about our new door.

you know you are maturing when a purchase like this is just as exciting as new clothes.

longer weekends please

2011-09-19T09:30:00.001-07:00

i vote for longer weekends because i love days when we are able to get away and explore and

enjoy every second together.

two days just go by way too fast.

last weekend when we ran away to flagstaff for the day.

as we were driving home za husband spotted this old empty place

he knew i'd love to take a picture of it so we had an unexpected photo shoot on the way home.

the no trespassing signs only allowed me to get so close but it was still fun.

a pretty magical day indeed.

fair enough

2011-09-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

last night we went to the fair.

i enjoy the fair for the following reasons and these reasons only...

1. visiting the cute animals and petting them/talking to them. (will's most favorite thing)

2. walking around the building to look at photos and art.

3. tigers blood shaved ice.

as for the rest of it.....yuck.

i do not enjoy the crowds of obnoxious people

the general dirtiness

constantly walking through a persons cloud of cigarette smoke.

but those not so pleasant things aren't quite so bad when i'm with my favorite.

p.s. i did not get sneezed on by a horse this time so that was good.

flashback friday #29

2011-09-16T15:57:00.001-07:00

circa july 2008

with two of my favorites marcy and michaela

at our 10 year high school reunion.

the thing we swore we wouldn't attend but then we went and had a blast.

about houndsie

2011-09-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

here's what i know about.....

houndstooth......she's cute and funny and the best cuddle kitty i know.

where's pellegrino?

2011-09-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

i recently discovered that if we can't find pellegrino we should probably

check the dirty clothes pile in the laundry room.

it seems to be his new throne.