Dear April 14th,

Please come soon.

I can't take much more of Noah being two. 

I would appreciate you taking his poor behavior with you when you come.

Thanks a million, 

an irritated mother

go cougs...

we're here in pullman for the weekend

so far we really like it

well, not all the snow

that we're completely unprepared for

but other than that it's pretty great

cute little city

the ward we went to was sooooo nice today

people were so friendly

like hugging me, inviting us for dinner, wanting to help

and we're just visiting

plus we're being put up by the world's nicest person

so yeah.. pretty much...we love it

good thing too since we are planning to move here

in two months

like it or not

best. day. ever.

we had the perfect day

i love seattle

we got a super good parking spot at pike place

walked around the market

looked out at the water

walked around some shops

bought a few little goodies at anthropologie

took the kid's first little bus ride

bought some brazilian soda 

our fav

(and doesn't count as pop because it's from brazil, right?)

then stopped at dicks for lunch

it was wonnnnnnnnnnnderful

i am who i am

since high school

or maybe earlier

people have been asking me

what i am

as in

where i'm from

i've been asked if i'm

egyptian

from somewhere exotic

italian

arabic/middle eastern

an eskimo

i told a girl in beauty school i was half black and she believed me

today someone asked me if i'm from equador

frequently people start speaking to me in spanish

and i have to explain (in english) i don't understand

despite my looks

and a year or two of spanish classes

not that i mind

i just hate to disappoint

by telling everyone i'm from washington

as are my parents

and i have distant ancestors from Spain

and some Native American blood in me

but nothing too exotic or recent

so, do me a favor

tell your friends

i'm just a caucasion girl

that looks a lot like i'm from somewhere else

first date

today michael and i went on our first date in 

whoknowshowlong 

we went here

and then made a quick stop 

here

it was a delicious day

zoo

today we went to...

the zoo

we hadn't been since last year a few weeks before we had hazel

here's a pick of us then

here's a pick of us today

we're getting a lot more use out of our phil and ted's now 

we even got to bring the world's greatest dad

he is in between quarters right now 

so we get to play all week long

we really liked the pink flamingos

noah enjoyed the kid's play area

and we warmed up a bit while we were in there

turns out, it was a pretty cold day

but mostly dry

noah's just one of the orangutans

hazel was pretty cold so i covered her in blankets

 and wore her in the ergo

it was a really fun day

and now hopefully noah will stop begging us to go

sweet baby

happy first day of spring

and 

my new niece

halea butterfly hoffmann

was born today

at 11:27am

happy day

michael

i'm so happy

and i'm glad i'm happy

i have the world's best husband

and i'm so happy to be a mom 

i have the two most wonderful children

they bring me so much joy

michael is the best husband i could ever have

he's so nice

and agreeable

and lets me do ridiculous things

and likes it

he treats me like a queen

always

he thinks i'm hilarious

like really thinks it

and i'm kind of funny but he really thinks i'm funny

rarely does he even get irritable

and i totally irritate him

and pinch him

and mess with him

and sometimes even argue with him for no reason

except maybe it's a bad marital habit that i formed before i met him

i miss him

he's such a good man

my mom says he reminds her of President Hinckley

i see it

michael is amazing

he's such a good dad

he forgets noah's not his biological son

unless someone else mentions it

then it catches him off guard and he remembers

but it makes no difference

noah is his

just like hazel is his

i love him

i'm glad he's mine

i'm glad i made the moves i made that led me to him

it's so funny how we came to be

i had to be divorced and a single mom 

it wouldn't have ever happened in a million years otherwise

even if i was just divorced, i wouldn't have met him

i had to have noah too

it's just amazing

i'm so grateful

Heavenly Father knows so much more than i could

i didn't understand why my life was how it was for so long

even when i was seventeen and getting married 

i didn't know why

i thought someone would stop me

i'm so glad they didn't

i'm glad i had that experience

and noah

and now i know what i want in a husband

and it's all michael

and now i have hazel, too

what a wonderful life

i love you, michael

pain

today while i was waxing

i remembered how after i had noah

(natural childbirth)

i could think to myself while waxing

this is nothing compared to that

and just imagine that pain and it felt like nothing to wax

today waxing still hurt

i think that natural childbirth is too far removed

 maybe it's time for another baby

problem(s) solved

before

after

we decided to use leftover paint from the living room of our last apartment

it's a pastel aqua color

my favorite

and finally

 the suspense is over

making it's debut blog appearance

...

our new couch

all the sudden i feel a little...

glamorous

thank you craigslist

i love new (old) furniture

nothing to do with the post

just a picture of how i'm making noah wear his undies

since he refuses to wear them the right way today

and...he's loving it

before

last night after the kids were in bed

i decided to take out the garbage

i know, very unlike me

what are husbands for?

and at the dumpster i found a dresser or two

i couldn't tell

i asked husband to come look at them with me 

we found two dressers in poor condition 

wet

and missing drawers

we left them and came inside

but i couldn't stop thinking about one of them

it needed work

and it was missing a drawer 

but if i don't love and care for it

who will?

it would just go to the landfill

and that would be the end of it's adventurous

apartment dwelling life

who better to take care of it than us? 

we love projects

so we decided to make it into a tv stand

we used part of the other dresser as a shelf inside

michael is quite handy

and just use the missing drawer as a space for our dvd player

and sanded it until we're ready to paint it

for now it has some old knobs on that we had lying around

but we're going to buy some new ones

and a fresh coat of paint, of course

i just can't decide what color to paint it

it'll have to go well with the new turquise 50's couch we're picking up tonight

more pictures on that later

yay

i love new (old) furniture

furniture trouble

i'm having some trouble

a few months ago my husband and i sold all of our furniture

 it was pretty good furniture

 and turns out, we now need furniture

so we've reaccumulated some

but i don't love it

need i remind you how ugly things hurt me

so anyway

my husband 

(we'll call him michael for the sake of this post) 

thinks it's great if we get new furniture

especially since 

we're moving 

in under 3 months

 to a little town without much happenen'

at all

so i've been scouring craigslist for furniture

 since we don't really shop anywhere other than people's homes and abandoned parking lots

oh unless we're feeling really fancy

 then thrift stores and the as-is section of ikea might be an option

the trouble is

 every time i show michael what i find on craigslist

he thinks it's too expensive

i wish he would throw me a bone

i refuse to move and live on your childhood 80's couches for the next 3 years

sorry, no

any suggestions on free/ultra cheap

 (for my ultra cheap husband :)

 super rockin furniture?

depressing

sometimes i like to look on etsy

i can window shop for hours

i see how talented people are

sometimes i dream of being like them

being able to create something

and not have it be an accident/miracle

maybe one day

how are some people so dang cute?

i'd like to learn how to paint

or make things

or dance

or live in the city

oh the glamorous life i don't have

if only i didn't feel this deservedness to have everything i want

like a really cute house

and everything in it that would look fabulous

maybe it's the youngest of 6 in me

it's hard being poor

untalented

and unable to shop at anthropologie for every piece of clothing i own

woah is me

win win win

i am totally diggin' this potty training thing

having one kid in diapers is a breeze

not to mention the benefit of cute little undies

 and pinching noah's bum all day

plus washing and changing way less of these 

which makes my life lovely

if only hazel were ready too...

productive

today i 

got up

late

gave a haircut

got the title request notorized for my red car

(i somehow lost it)

and sent off

picked up pictures i had printing at target

attended a home family and personal enrichment meeting

i'm the leader, you know

applied for my passport

we may or may not need it this summer

either way, good to have

went thrifting

 and antiquing

i have no energy for making dinner tonight

or last night 

i took a nap while michael cooked

good thing i have such a hot husband who will pick up the slack when i need it

all in all, it feels good to get these tasks off my shoulders

i hate things weighing over me

and mental to-do's haunting my thoughts

well done, wednesday

and ps. tonight michael needs to study

how sad...

guess i'll have to watch tv by myself

antm here i come

shhhhhh

i'm only a secret fan

my husband

i tend to keep mental notes of when people are rude to me

of course it's an awful habit

and i should really remember the good things people do and say

but i am who i am

so anyway

michael, this is to you

why are you so rude

like last night when we were watching the office season two 

and i said i wanted popcorn

why did you tell me you wanted popcorn too

like i'm supposed make it

how rude

then when i was drinking grape juice with ice in it

and i was chewing the ice up  and spitting it back in the cup of juice

why did you look at me like that

you know i love crushed ice

it's not my fault i have to crush it myself

and then this morning when i was putting on a long sleeve shirt

over my short sleeve shirt

why did you ask me how many shirts i've tried on today

rude

watch a really neat video about my religion here

sunday

hazel on the potty seat, looking at garfield just like noah

i love this face

the kids in the bath for the first time together

they loved it

i made hazel another dress

this is my first time actually adding sleeves and not just bs-ing it

thanks for modeling, hazel

i'm lame

my husband is at work

my kids are

both

napping

i cleaned up toys

took a shower

flossed my teeth

brushed them

put deodorant on

and moisturizer

which is all quite neccessary

but really

this is what i do while i have time to myself

if only there were laundry to fold

oh, the life of a yummy  mummy

fun friday

we went to my parent's house yesterday

to celebrate of course

it was my mom's birthday

and since my parents got married on my mom's birthday 38 years ago

it was their anniversary, too

the kids did pretty well on the 2.5 hr drive...for the most part

noah fell asleep

we pulled over because hazel got fussy

we happened to stop at an ice cream place

and got super good giant cones

when..noah woke up

it was a shame because even with ice cream in hand

poor michael had to share

i'm not so good at sharing ice cream 

and a movie playing

he was still very upset from being woken up

in this picture you can still see his little sad eyes

 miss hazel didn't mind driving too much

except for the time she was sleeping and noah whipped a blanket at her face

waking her up

she did mind that

but look...here she's happy

noah enjoyed some good old trampoline time

the trampoline he's on is the same one my parent's bought used when i was hazel's age

a few parts have been replaced but the metal base is the same

pretty neat, i think

don't mind the duct tape

michael and my dad enjoyed a little motorcycle trip to town

and then michael and noah spent some good male bonding time on the tractor

noah couldn't get enough

i got to hang out with my mom

 color her hair 

(which she didn't want a picture taken of) 

and rummage through her fabric

i realized how similar our taste is this weekend

i've always known i got my funky taste from my mom

i've always loved her jewelry 

hair styles

70's decor

but it was funny 

we both picked the same cute fabrics for me to take home

i just love that mom of mine

it's march 6th

mom,

you are such a wonderful example

you have taught me to be a kind and patient mother

to be a hard worker

to love animals

to love the Lord

and the strength of a woman

my very favorite thing about you is

 that in all your wisdom 

you let me learn on my own

and support me the entire way

no matter which way i choose

i am so grateful to have you 

thank you for being my mom

thank you both for being my parents

i'm sure glad that vasectomy didn't take

and that i could experience life under your care

you two have raised 6 beautiful children

and you're on your way to having 18+ grandchildren

who are lucky to have you as grandparents

happy birthday mom!

happy anniversary mom and dad!!!

i think my husband is secretly from new york. he says, "yestaday". here's our yestaday.

me yesterday.. see my cute hair flower? she made it

thanks for paying it forward, kelsey!

pillowcase dress i made for hazel yesterday

it doesn't look that cute on so i'll need to do a little altering..

with the matching pillowcase i'll be making myself another pillowcase skirt

michael could not stop complaining that he was cold so i let him wear my scarf

pretty cute, i'd let him borrow it if he asked nicely

and hat 

not so cute

he looks a little aviator-esque

and he's pretending to pick his nose with his pen for the picture

noah buried hazel in my fabric

how sweet...

and he tried my headband on

oooooooooh yestaday

the shirtdress

i made this last night

very simple

(as is any sewing i do)

and a little 1920's

fhe

yesterday for family home evening

we went to the temple

it was beautiful

noah loved it

he wants to go inside

hazel was tired, she woke up when we got there

but she still allowed some pictures to be taken of her with her giant flower headband

noah enjoyed every aspect of the temple

the fountain, the statues, and lots of rocks to play with

his only hang up was that he wants to go inside

he will soon enough, i'm sure

so beautiful

super fun weekend

we tried whitey tighty's again...peed through two pairs

drank some hot chocolate 

(not the winco bulk garbage, i'd rather drink dirt)

let the dishes stack up until i couldn't stand it

we go through this every weekend

we walked to the park

(as well as VV and Freddy's)

did a little tree climbing

a little swinging

heavens no, not that kind of swinging

you perv

then some church

daddy and noah matching

hazel and mommy

we made a new habit of reading scriptures in the morning 

with the kids

rather than the evening with out them

it seems to be going well

ummmmmmmmm

 this weekend i did something horrible

i could write about it but....i don't want you to think less of me

oh ok here it is

on our walk to VV (value village)..

 well first of all

before i forget

the most hilarious thing (i almost peed)

we were jogging

michael was pushing the stroller

and he started hopping on one foot

maybe you had to be there, he went for like an entire block hopping super fast on one foot

...

ok ok, so we were at VV and we're in line

and it was taking forever

which was fine, we were having fun

and the sweetest little old woman 

whose first language is not english

was having trouble writing a check

she didn't know how

and was asking for help to write her check

the cashier wouldn't help and told her she needs to only  use debit/cash if she can't write checks

anyway, cute little lady was having such a hard time

and people were getting angry

and michael offered to help write it on a seperate piece of paper

so she could copy it onto her checkbook

the cashier said no

and the sweet lady looked at me and said "Sister?" while holding up her checkbook at me

michael assumed her literal sister was standing behind me

but i knew she was asking me

and i got nervous and the cashier said no

 so i just smiled sympathetically

anyway, the cashier finally helped her

and she got through it

and we got through the line and left the store

then michael mentioned that the sweet old lady looked familiar

and i wondered if she was in our old ward or something

then yesterday, Sunday we pulled into the church parking lot and i said,

"Michael, is that her?!" 

walking to church all alone

it was!

i could have died

i didn't recognize her at the store

i felt such a heavy weight on my shoulders when i walked into sacrament meeting

imagine, her recognizing me as a sister from relief society and me not helping her!

had i known that i know her i would've helped her

i'm such a jerk

she didn't seem offeneded or anything

but i definitely felt the need to repent

and be more willing to help my fellow sisters

blugh, i know 

other than this humbling experience, we had a lovely weekend