what the december?

i know, way too long. can't believe it's the middle of december and that christmas is just 9 days away. sheesh! i've been wanting to post these pictures FOREVER and just haven't felt like i've had the time to do it properly. with each day that passes there is more and more i want to post and write about, funny anecdotes that i know at least family would get a kick out of among other things (beth gets funnier and funnier by the second and hyde is just a tornado these days) and it just gets added to the to-do pile that grows like a mountain before me. having said that, this post is going to fail in the here's-what's-going-on-in-our-lives department and just be pictures. family pictures taken by a good friend that were long overdue. these are just a few of the awesome ones. 

halloween. 2012.

alright so it's been a week since this great holiday, and almost exactly a month since my last post. this last month has seemingly been very busy. i had lots of photo sessions in october, which was great, but also used up nearly all my spare time, and i am still behind with a couple more to edit. hence the tardiness of everything. nevertheless, here we are. i am happy to report that halloween was a major hit. like, MAJOR. beth was a little bee, and hyde was batman. well, we classify him as that because he wore batman pajamas. close enough for me.





beth had the best time ever. we finished up dinner and got dressed, and after snapping a few photos, i then told beth she had to wait until it was dark to go trick or treating. poor girl. it was torture. every 5 minutes, "mom, is it dark yet? can we go now?" and then i made her hand out candy for a little while before leaving a full basket on my porch and we ventured off into the crowded neighborhood with a couple of neighbor kids that beth likes, and who made it about 10 times more fun for her.

they ran up the first house and knocked on the door, and as they were waiting beth exclaimed, "i can't wait for they come!" and when they did, she appropriately yelled "trick or treat... thank you!!!" and then they all ran, ran, ran to the next house... she had the best time. it was such a blast. the weather was nice and warm after a 68 degree day, so no winter coats necessary. and we hit every house on both sides of our long street before coming back with full buckets and tired legs.

one of the best moments of the night was when the neighbor kid asked me if he could come to my house to sort his candy. oh yeah!!! you have to sort your candy - that's like, the best part of the night! inventorying and qualifying the loot from all the hard work! i had totally forgotten about that and got nearly as excited about that (the way i used to when i went trick or treating) as i did at watching beth run from house to house, thoroughly enjoying this newly understood holiday.

so they came back and spread out all the goods, going through each one and putting them into specific piles. beth, of course, just dove right in to the eating part - forget the sorting...  well, maybe that will come next year.




to this day, beth still asks me if she can go trick or treating again. it's hard to explain to a two year old that she has to wait a year for the holiday to come back around, and can't just put on her cute little bee costume any old day she wants to and run around the neighborhood expecting to get candy for it. (even though i would give her some any day of the year if she came to my door - she was that cute.) so i reverted to distracting her by telling her that santa has to come first. and that after santa comes we have to wait a long time and then we can go again.

know what her response was? "santa?! and he'll bring me presents? oh yeah!!!" i'm sorry, what? you remember santa? and yes. the answer to that is yes. the girl remembers santa. i was shocked. but frankly, it got me really excited about christmas. if halloween was this much fun, i can only imagine how amazingly stellar christmas will be this year.

can.not.wait.

i'm tempted to put my tree up early this year. maybe next weekend. tempted....

at two and a half...

i haven't done a solo-beth post for a long time. and i should. because man, has she changed and grown up. overnight it seems like. the conversations i have with her are unreal. i don't have to talk to her in simple english or extra slowly, and for the most part, i don't have to repeat myself 8 times for her to understand what i'm saying. we have actual conversations.

she has started using words like fine, words that i associate with a teenager's vocabulary. like when she's in the bathroom with the door closed and i ask her if she's okay and she responds with "yeah, i'm fine" and i just look at the door and say okay. and in my mind i'm thinking "but are you sure? you're only two... you're in there by yourself... i can help you if you want..." and so on. but no, she doesn't need my help. she's fine.

she is immensely independent which i love/hate. i want her to grow into a strong young woman who can hold her own, but i wasn't expecting it to come so naturally, so early. but yes, for the most part she is certainly self sufficient. she wants to do everything all by herself. and for the most part, she does: gets dressed, turns on the ipad and finds her game, gets out the toy she wants, opens the door and runs outside to play, goes potty...

she's now in big girl panties (hallelujah) and, as mentioned, handles most of it all on her own. she just goes in the bathroom without making any kind of announcement, closes the door, does her thing, and comes back out. she doesn't use gobs of toilet paper and she even puts the lid down after she flushes. now that's a girl well taught :) but she does it all on her own.

she is incredibly imaginative and playful - always turning things around the house into something else we can play with, and ever since we made a giant fort in the family room two weeks ago, she begs me everyday to make a tent. she likes to hide in the tent from the monsters (who are ever-present guests in our house), which probably stems from monsters, inc. - another she asks to watch everyday as hank and i are getting ready in the morning.

she loves her brother and likes to play on the floor with him or lay down and hold him on her belly and then throw him around. he loves the attention and laughs hysterically when she rough houses with him like that (80% of the time. for me that's a win/win). she always asks to go to the park, and i oblige as often as i can, glad that she likes to be outside in the sunshine and fresh air. we get it in as often as can now before the weather turns cold and it's not comfortable anymore.

she likes to think she's 5 or even 8 years old, rather than two... when all the other kids are playing outside (most of which are at least 6 years older than her), she rushes out to join them and acts like she fits right in. sometimes they entertain her and other times not so much. she bosses them around like she owns the joint, so really i don't blame them for not wanting her around (and i'm sure i didn't want a 2 year old around when i was 8 and playing with my friends). but when they do let her play, my insides swell, because it's funny to me to see her hold her own so well, and also just to think that she she's now living the classic childhood dream of playing out in the street with the neighbor kids, chasing each other and running around like crazy. and i love that it wears her out :) she's not afraid of anyone or anything it seems like, and is always talking to the strangers that pass by our house when we're outside, saying hello and asking their name. she is friendly and outgoing.

she doesn't need to sleep as much as she used to though, which is somewhat annoying. she doesn't fall asleep until probably 9:00 at the earliest every night no matter when we put her to bed. we still shoot for 8:00 even though we know it's in vain. and she's up by 7am like clockwork regardless of when she falls asleep. it's kind of a pain honestly. but if that's my biggest problem, i'll take it.

then again, all this other cuteness is really dependent on how much sleep she's gotten. when she's tired, she gets cranky and all these great thoughts i have about her go out the window. this post might as well not even exist when she's tried and cranky. but for the most part, she is funny little girl that says hilarious things that make me laugh and love her all the more. for the most part... :)

and clearly i'm biased, but she just has these moments where she is just so beautiful to me. like in this pictures. it's one of my favorites. i love the way her hair falls around her face. for some reason her hair always defaults to looking loose and sometimes messy, and i like it.



life is just awesome sometimes. i can't believe i created this one. how lucky i am.

my nemesis, dinner.

so here's the thing. dinner and i just don't really get along these days. you may have noticed from previous posts, but it's the last thing i want to do, or put any brain power into after getting home from work. the sad thing is that i actually like to cook. when i have the time (which seems to be rare these days) and can cook with little interruption (which is NEVER), i really enjoy creating a wonderfully delicious meal that i can sit down to with the man and maybe some friends, or other wanted company.

but these circumstances are few and far between lately, and my appetite for cooking (pun totally intended) has, well... diminished a little bit. okay, a lot. it's a little easier on days when i'm home and not rushing in the house at 6:15 and feeding hyde one thing, and then feeding beth something else, and then finding something for hank and i to eat. nevertheless, the energy to do it, just isn't always there. i'm sure most of you moms out there can relate.

well, needless to say, the fam still needs to get fed. and in an effort to fulfill their needs as well as maybe reignite that spark for making a good meal, i still try to cook. (i'm not saying i bust out a great meal every night friends, don't be misled), but i do try. my approach is just totally different now. i am constantly on the lookout for quick (and i mean QUICK), easy meals that aren't waffles or cold cereal - my there-is-just-no-way-i'm-cooking-tonight go to's. in fact, i'm usually looking for a good healthy meal that i can feel good about eating that also fits the fast and easy criteria.

so the other day i stumbled upon this little gem:



huevos rancheros as reinvented by ourbestbites.com (photo courtesy of them as well). 

OMG kids, it was so good, and really pretty easy and fast. like, 25 minutes from start to finish fast which i'm certain i can get down to 18 now that i've done it once and won't have to keep looking at the recipe. very low cal and incredibly flavorful which satisfies both the man and me. here is the link, for anyone interested: www.ourbestbites.com/juevosrancheros     oh, and vegetarian, but still so fulfilling!!!

you would think i'm getting paid for this post, but i assure you i am not. it was just.that.good.

i added chopped cilantro and sliced avocado on the top which added some calories, but it also added just the right amount of extra flavor to balance out the meal and give it that extra mexican feel. also, the salsa you make was about enough for 3 servings (in our case, anyway), so if you're planning to serve more than that, i would recommend doubling the recipe. so good you guys. SO.GOOD.

and for the record, i am always looking, so if you know of any other good recipes that are similarly fast, healthy, and easy to follow, please send them my way. i will owe you forever. ps: my sister is already off the hook - she sent a miniature cookbook's worth of awesome recipes some time ago that i've used a ton. to her, i'm forever indebted.

seriously, so good. must try.

oregon coast

as mentioned in a recent post, we made our way over the coast of oregon after the happy couple had left for mexico and we had a full day to entertain ourselves. we saw a few different parts of the coast, traveling a bit with the rest of the fam, and then hank and i split with our chillins and headed north a little ways on our own. we found this wonderful beach that i can't even tell you the name of, but it was awesome and was one of those we kind of just stumbled upon. there was no one - and i mean no one - else there. we could see the end of the earth in nearly all directions, and other than a small horse riding crew that got within 200 yards of us just to pass over the hill and back to the parking lot, the rest of the time we were all alone. we literally had the entire beach to ourselves to frolic around and play and squeal and laugh and scream as loud as we wished. the land was so flat - the sand was wet for a mile before we hit water, and even then we had to walk another mile before it would crash over our toes and onto our ankles. which made it perfect for the kids. hank was really wishing he had his skim board. my favorites from the day:



beth's first look at the ocean in her tiny little life. this was before we went our own way up north and found the other beach. after letting her take it in for a second, we walked out to the water, rolled up those little capris and let her put her toes in. 10 seconds later she was soaked in salt water. i'm pretty sure she was in heaven. which of course sent me in heaven. it was so fun to watch her face and just enjoy her wildness let go free here. she had the best time of all of us. wish we'd had 4 more hours of daylight...




from instagram at the first beach




as described - huge beach. just us.




yep, you better believe it. he ate sand all day. and he liked it. there was just no getting around it friends. much as one could try...




there's that sandy face again...




and not the only one, either.





after spending as long as we possibly could there, we picked up two clean outfits sized 4T and 6mos, and found a restaurant right on the water with incredible views to top off our evening. the kids were wiped and slept the whole way back to the hotel, and hank i talked about how glad we are that our kids (and both of them do) love water.

it was an impeccable day.