oh, HOME, yes I am ho-oo-ome.

 Last Saturday we bundled the kids up at 4:30 am, lugged our baggage down to the car and boarded a 7am direct flight home to Los Angeles. Oh man, if there were such a thing as a meter to measure butterfly excitement levels, mine would have been off the charts. Butterflies were flying every which way in my stomach as we made our descent into LA, trying not to look too creepily and hastily over the two people blocking my aisle view gaze out the plane's 12" x 15" window. Downtown LA > West Hollywood> Century City > Westwood > Santa Monica - my eyes were following each city as we flew overhead. We landed, quickly picked up our rental car {which is so weird btw that you have to be 25 to rent a car, yet you can buy a freakin house or car by 25???}, picked up lunch at our favorite California Chicken Cafe and settled down by the pier. We had been gone for 18 months, yet it seemed liked we never left.

Muscle Beach was a huge hit with Ev, as well as watching the "choo choo"{rollercoaster} on the pier.  Warner mistook the beach as a place for winter hibernation {I couldn't blame him after the clouds came rolling in}, and slept the whole time in the carrier, which subsequently kept me warm so it worked out.

The kids were complete gems on the flight. COMPLETE, no fallacy there, COMPLETE gems. And so after a long day with an early early start, we packed up our mini-van {loved driving that thing around town ;)} and drove up to grammy and papa's houses in Clovis.

wed.

“HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” 

- Jon Krakauer

4 years ago today I found myself at the altar with the man I had majorly been crushing on for a very long time. Still crushing every day. I'm ever grateful we were wed for time and eternity.

3 months at heaven's door

I've reached that point. That point when I have to stop everything I am doing when I see that mouth grin from side to side, ears perks up, and eyes disappear into his big gobbly cheeks and just smother him aggressively in kisses one right after the other. BAM! BAM! BAM! I'm an addict.

This boy, man... this boy is heaven sent. I have never embraced such a mild and tender spirit before. There is something so innately pure and calm about him. He is plain beautiful, inside and out. He is angelic, simply put.

Today you are three months old, Warner boy! You are the light of my life.

*** I realize these are 6 pictures of Warner sleeping and they pretty much look the same, but each angle of him is so stunning that I had to slap them all up here!! I can't decide which one (or two!) to print off to add to our family photo wall... any thoughts?

a marriage saver

Hahaha, oh boy, I should carry this one around in my pocket and pull it out every time I eat something sweet. Jared, I love you, but I can not fathom how after 4 years of marriage you still can't grasp this.

I
DO
NOT
SHARE
DESSERT!!!

PERIOD... :)

merry & bright

Sooo... I'm 26 years old and I still had yet to experience a balloon dropping until this past Saturday night. It was thrilling, folks, let me tell ya! Actually, what made it thrilling was seeing Evelyn's face light up when the thousands of "boo baa's" started falling. We went to Jared's company party on Saturday night down in DC, met up with some friends for tacos, and scurried by the National Christmas Tree. 

There was a 10 minute period where I stood on the curb on the corner of New York & 14th, cuddling Warner in my arms. Jared took Evelyn to get the car and so there my baby boy and I sat waiting and watching the cars go by. I'm a people watcher. Are you? I'm always captivated by human interaction. I think about all the millions of people in the world, all going about their own business, all loving a specific someone, all having dreams. Some are happy, some are sad. All are struggling in this life, rich or poor. As Jared pulled up, I waved to Evelyn in the back seat. My loving husband came out and folded the stroller while I buckled Warner in all snuggly in the carseat, handed Evelyn her sippy cup and off we drove through the city lights. At that moment I was people watching the three people in my car. And I loved what I was seeing. That night was especially merry and bright.

P.S. I did a fun interview over here last Friday. I'd love for you to check it out :) TJ runs such a great blog! 

a nightmare

I finally figured out a way where Evelyn will let me hold her and rock her. The downside is it involves her having a nightmare. Last Friday night she screamed out "mama! mama!" through her tears at about 11pm. I ran in and swooped her up, lovingly shushing her and putting her head on my shoulder. I could feel her body relax as she calmed down with my embrace and within seconds she was back to the serenity of her sleep. I could have stood there and rocked her forever. The moment seemed so rare that I took the time to remember everything, burning the moment into my heart. I couldn't believe how long she was, how much she had grown. Of course I hold her every day, but I hadn't held her and craddled her in the silence of the night in probably a year. She is not a cuddler and never sits still for longer than a second. So to have her in my arms again in such a fragile dependent state reminded me that this growing girl will always be my baby. Whether she's 23 months or 23 years, I hope whenever she is scared she will cry out "mama" and know that I will race to hold her.

I still can't believe in 6 weeks she'll be two years old! Mind blower!

a very yuletide weekend

Man, these photos are splashed with the color red! I guess that means Christmas has officially taken over our household.

We had a fab weekend with all kinds of jubilee festivities. From lights, to cookies, to a visit from St. Nick, we were soaking up the yuletide! I must admit that I am super proud of Evelyn for never shedding a tear for Santa last year or this year. Brave gal, that one.

The Big W.B.O. in the BumbO!

 

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

NNOOO!

NO! No! no....

Is he allowed to do this? I mean, is the kid allowed to grow this fast? Goodness! I was reading on the bump monthly markers to do with kids during their first year, and I thought, wait, Warner's going to get BIGGER? Like, in 9 1/2 months he'll be a year old! How can I stop that day from ever coming?! We've already reached the bumbo stage. Breaks my heart, but also makes me break out in a smile. Oh, the deliciousness this boy possesses is UN-REAL!

And his number one fan is big sister. She would carry him around all day if she could. What's better than a baby doll? A real baby, of course.

 Oh, Mr. Warner Bradley, you are a sight for sore eyes.

I hope you love these bombshell posts I've been dropping of just photos exclusively of my kids, because I do ;)

Happy Friday!

how to bribe a model

When I needed a model to try on some of my new bows for my shop, I called up Evelyn and asked her if she would be willing to spare me a few minutes to help her mama out. "Evelyn, will you come put this bow on?" "No, no!" she replied. We hear a lot of that word these days :) But I really needed these photos and no wasn't cuttin' it so I bribed the gal with some cheerios, her sippy cup, and her favorite dvd - a 60 minute video of footage of JUST HER. She loves that homevideo. And just like that I had a model in my "studio" {aka milk-stained suede chair and a poster board}.

Took us a couple of tries with the smile there, but we finally nabbed some good ones ;)