3x12

so i admit that i saw this idea on another blog and i'm stealing it. the idea is to take and post a picture once a month of all of us. i am terrible at getting pictures of the three of us, but i love when i do, so this will be a really good way to keep me on top of that. a journal of sorts. and i confess i am excited.

i actually really love this photo, too. it perfectly captures a typical saturday or sunday morning. beth in bed with us as we desperately attempt to continue sleeping - hoping that for some miraculous reason she will want to keep sleeping too (after just waking up from a 12 hour nap). it never happens. let's be honest, what are we thinking...? but for some reason we always try.

so we end up just lying in bed as she climbs and crawls all over the place... eventually the blinds get opened, the sunshine floods our room, and somehow or another marley usually ends up in the middle of it all. it's great. despite our failed attempts at additional sleep, and a sad realization that the days of sleeping in are probably gone forever, i love spending the first part of my day this way. it's a break from the weekday rush, and i'd rather be woken up by little miss beth than an alarm clock any day.

after a good half an hour or so of this, beth gets tired of being confined, and she and the man get anxious for breakfast, and our day officially begins.

that's why this picture is so awesome - because it is us. us just as we are in real life. and i love it.


my life, that is...

light

you guys, look.

this picture is significant, not because it's the most beautiful sunset on the earth (though it isn't bad), but because i took this photo at 5:19 on my way home from work.

there was still light outside on my way home from work. do you know how huge that is? i breathed in, smiled, and watched the sun fall behind the mountains the entire drive home. so excited that i got to see the light fade.

it's been a while. a long while.

we are entering a new phase. light on the way home from work means we are getting closer to being able to take beth for walks in the evening before bed, grilling out on deck, taking bike rides after work, and lazy parties in the backyard.

i know it's only january, but these are the things i look forward to. those wonderful days of spring are only getting closer and closer. with sixty degrees today, i am hoping we'll see a few more warm days this winter as the light stays longer.

and if it does?

we'll be golden.

i am the winner

let me tell you why i am going to win

mother of the year.

there are several reasons really.

i will share just some of them with you.

to start us off, you should know that

i let her eat cords and other electric things.

like, all the time.

because i have given up hope that she will ever stop.

you should also know i let my 10 month old daughter

drive the car. just to and from daycare is all...

and seriously?

she loves it. she absolutely loves it.

taking us down the home stretch..... opening the garage door.... and we're home.

she totally knows what she's doing.

and here is the best reason of all:

a little while ago i was letting beth play

on the kitchen floor while i was doing some cooking.

she was playing with some large utensils and plastic bowls

as i was chopping up some spices, garlic, and things of the sort.

next thing i know, she starts whining.

"what is it babe? what's the problem..."

within 30 seconds she is really starting to cry.

"what is wrong with you? did you hurt yourself? are you bleeding?" no blood.

and now she is in a full on scream.

"beth, seriously. what's the matter?"

and then it starts coming out...

of her nose.

gobs and gobs of white mucus, running out of her nose like crazy. she is rubbing her eyes, gagging, screaming

and hank and i are totally clueless.

and then it hits me.

"oh my gosh, she totally ate some raw garlic! it must have fallen on the floor while i was cutting it up."

poor little girl didn't know what hit her.

by now hank is holding her over the bathroom sink

in case she decides she wants to barf it up,

i am making a bottle

with the hope it will somehow overpower that

raw little chunk of garlic sitting in her stomach (yeah, right),

and the girl looks like she would rather die

than deal with all the stuff coming out her nose

and eyes and who knows where else.

i can't decide whether to laugh or panic -

my innate altruism tells me to laugh

while the new mom in me says to call the nurse line.

with only minimal success with the bottle,

we decide to wait it out.

it's just garlic... eventually it has to work its

way out of her system, right?

right?

well, thankfully it did. about an hour and half later. poor girl.

yep friends, mother of the year. right here.

i get it

i get it. i totally get it. most people would kill to have one of these and i never really got why. i was more of a what's-the-big-deal-aren't-they-all-the-same kind of gal when it came to these.

but now that i have one, i understand what all the fuss was about.

uh-mazing! and i have to give all the credit to hank. the man got this thing on black friday at about 3:30am. (are you impressed? because i am). best way to do it, i guess. i am changed. i will never go back. who knew a vacuum could totally enthrall me?

oh, and that blasted crochet blanket? check.

one for the books

friends. let me tell you what i found the other day. let me tell you why the pack'n'play is in beth's room. and let me preface this by referring back to this post (namely just the end of that post).

the other day when i went to get beth out of bed, i was slightly overcome with the smell of poop. now. let me just say that this is not an abnormality. in fact, i get a yummy whiff of that just about every morning. i walked over to the crib where beth was eagerly awaiting my arrival, and to my dismay found that she had exploded out of her little pajama pants and up her back. unfortunately, this was almost not surprising as it was certainly not the first time we've dealt with this before either.

"oh joy" i said as i reached in to get her.

and then i saw it.

it was everywhere. and i mean everywhere. somehow this girl had managed to get poo smeared (in a large amount) all over the bumper, the crib sheet, her blanket and even the crib toy attached to one of the crib bars (on the opposite side of the crib as the bumper smear). yes friends, we had a mess on our hands.

i repeated my sarcastic "oh joy" remark to the power of 10. and then i sighed. a big long sigh.

and the cleaning began. first the girl: off with the clothes and straight to the bath. and after that was finished, i took her down for her breakfast bottle, as she was starving by now, and totally forgot that i needed to get the crib cleaned up. nice one linds. so when nap time came, out came the pack'n'play. the obvious solution.

and thus she slept in it for both her morning and afternoon nap while every content of her crib was washed, scrubbed, and cleaned.

in the evening i put her in it to keep her somewhat contained while i put her laundry away and she went nuts! she loved it! she played in that thing by herself without toys or blankets, having the time of her life for a good 45 minutes. it was hilarious.

hank wanted to leave it in there for good, but i refused. even though it was pretty funny.

oh yes, and to top it all off? the same day we found that she has four teeth coming in right now. FOUR. poor girl.

poor us.

and yet, we wouldn't change a thing.

well, maybe just one or two....

i love this girl

she is funny. she is a pill. she is growing so fast. and she is a handful - and becoming more of one every day as she gets smarter and smarter and better and better at playing dumb. but even still she brings such joy to my soul and added purpose to my life. after taking the week off work and just being home, just being a mom for a whole week, i was reminded of this to an even fuller extent and remembered that i work so hard now so that someday i can be home all the time and not just a couple days at a time. such a rascal, this girl. but such a joy.



and so we open up a new year. and a good one it will be, i have no doubt. life is so good right now - hank and i are in such a good place, we have fun together, we laugh together, we love being together and to watch him with beth is the greatest thing on the planet. things only seem to get better and better every day. but as most do with a new year, i have resolved to setting new goals for myself. things that need to get done, things i want to get done, things i hope will make me a better person. break bad habits, instill better ones... the goal is to complete one every month this year. start them now, finish them then. i'm sharing my list so you all will help keep me in check. here goes:

january: finished that blasted crochet blanket
february: shake the last 10 pounds
march: find and learn how to make a flan cake that hank keeps telling me about
april: buy a new camera. a really, really nice one.
may: run a half marathon
june: take beth camping
july: hike a 14er
august: go to lake tahoe
september: read the book of mormon, all the way through
october: spend more time with my grandparents, good one-on-one time
november: remember to buy hank an anniversary card
december: finish paying off one of the big ones

now, i know that most resolutions made this time of year go unchecked, unfinished. not these ones friends. they are happening. i've set it in my mind that they will making it a pretty big year but i am totally up for it. and you? have you made some too???