Since I Was Away....

I can't believe I haven't posted since September!! That is downright AWFUL!! How does one do all the things one wants?? Sigh. I really want to know. :) We've been crazy busy and will be even busier come March when our second little one comes along. We're super excited and super stressed. Lol. :) We have career changes, moves and another baby all scheduled to happen around the same timeframe. It's gonna be interesting to say the least. :) Now if I could just master the "duck technique" where I look calm, serene and totally in control while paddling like crazy beneath the surface. My "paddling" tends to show most days. :) 

Here are a few things that have happened since I last posted (ages ago):

We FINALLY came home from Mammoth Lakes! WooHoo!! This gal was so happy to get back and plug in with her girlfriends. :) We were home for 24 hours and promptly left for Santa Monica for a little family outing. 

Dan felt it imperative that he show our little guy his first arcade while we were there. :) 

Before coming home, we went to the beach in Malibu and had lunch together at Neptune's Net, the little cafe from the movie Point Break. 

Our little guy was totally fascinated by all the sand. :) Back to the ocean, sitting in one big sandbox.

About a week after getting home from this trip, we left for the east coast and went to Washington DC and Richmond, VA. Our little guy got to meet his cousin for the very first time....

 I think it's safe to say he liked her. :)

Grandma flew to see us in California the same day that the little guy and I flew back home. We had two days to plan his birthday party. Instead of The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme I'd been planning for MONTHS, we went to Party City and picked out a theme and ready-made party. What's a girl to do when she's under the gun and has so little time?! Sigh. I now have a container up in the closet entitled "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." That will be our 2nd year birthday party apparently. :D

Here's the little birthday boy with Grandma.

With Mom and Dad

I think his impressions of his first birthday party can be summed up with this...

He liked the cake....

But he LOVED the girls. :)

In other news....

Our little guy experienced his first trip to a pumpkin patch,

was a Dalmation for Halloween

and joined Gymboree classes, which he LOVES.

That is just a little bit that has gone on since I last posted. I could ramble on and on, but I figure if I'd wanted to ramble that much, I should have blogged more. :) I'll do my best not to be such a stranger. I miss blogging and I miss reading blogs. Must try to stay awake after my little guys finally crashes at the end of the day to fit in these things. :) 

A Beautiful Walk and The Day of the Mammoth Lakes Bears

On Monday my little guy and I walked up at Lake Mary while my husband went for his run. We did a little over four miles and, while my little guy napped at least half of the way, I enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. 

Part of the walk is really wooded. 

There are a couple of little streams along the way.

Sign that made me smile.

Isn't the lake gorgeous?

Ironically, as I was walking along pushing the little guy in his stroller, I thought about the fact that this was probably the first spring or summer that I had been to Mammoth and NOT seen bears. There have been years where I've seen lots of them. This year, I hadn't seen a single one. 

About 15 or 20 minutes later, a momma and two cubs crossed the street right in front of me. So what did I do?? I pulled out the camera, of course. :D 

See the second cub lagging behind? :) The one right behind the momma was brown. The one lagging was black and was exploring and getting into EVERYTHING. It was so cute.

That same night around one in the morning, I heard a bear in the dumpster outside our condo. My pictures didn't turn out so well, but Brian (the runner we're sharing the condo with) went outside and got some great ones!

This bear was B-I-G.

It hit the jackpot too. He was at this for a good hour. 

Check out the white markings on its chest. So pretty....from a distance.

This one is my favorite. It shows you how big this guy was. 

I thought it was funny how the very day I'm musing about the fact that this is my first spring or summer trip out to Mammoth that I haven't seen any bears....I ended up seeing four. :) 

This Week's Little Lonely Post :)

I can't believe this entire week has gone by and I haven't posted a single thing. So sorry for being a slacker but I promise I've been keeping very busy with my little guy. We've been reading, singing, learning to put the right shape in the corresponding hole in his little wooden toy, rolling the ball back and forth and wherever else it might go, etc. etc. etc. 

He's stood without holding on to anything a couple of times now. The first time he stood for about 20 seconds and then started clapping for himself. It was too cute for words. Today after a very short 30 minute nap, the little guy joined me in the kitchen to "help me" finish getting lunch together. His help includes holding on to my leg and hollering or opening every cupboard and drawer available. I was in the midst of whipping up a yummy chicken curry salad (I'll share the recipe next week) when I realized he was not holding on to my leg anymore and I hadn't felt him slide down to sit. I turned to find him balancing in the middle of the kitchen floor! My little guy is growing up. (I don't know whether I want to smile or tear up after that last sentence.) 

Moving on....

Both my boys and my two little furbabies are sound asleep and now is my chance to get in a little blogging.  :) A moment ago I heard thunder in the distance. The wind blowing through the open window is carrying the smell of rain. That is one of my all-time favorite smells. Everything seems very peaceful and I'm feeling quite content at the moment. :) 

Today marks 12 weeks pregnant with our second little one! I can hardly believe it! After a scare early on, things have been going really well. I would post a picture, but I'm about twice the size I was at this stage of my first pregnancy, so I think I'll refrain. :) We're praying for a healthy and happy little one to be a friend and sibling for our little guy. Our little family is growing. We were just slow starters, but we're making up for lost time now! :D 

I'll do my best to be a better blogger next week. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend and squeeze in some time for a nice cup of coffee. :)

So I Have A Little Announcement To Make... :D

It looks like our little guy is going to be a big brother! :D

I'm still a little bit in shock, but oh so excited at the same time. Our little guy and the newest little addition will be just 14 months apart. I told my husband that we'll just be very happy, very exhausted people for the next several years and then we'll be golden. :) It would probably be a bit easier if I were about 10 years younger (LOL), but I'm so incredibly happy that after such a long journey to have just one child, we're suddenly blessed with the expectation of a second. :) We had an ultrasound this morning and it was so incredible to see the baby (the size of a peanut right now) waving it's little arm and leg buds around like crazy. The doctor was cracking up because the little thing wasn't gonna sit still for anything. 

Now you know the secondary reason for my sporadic blogging. I have been SO INCREDIBLY TIRED, like almost unable to hold my eyes open kind of tired. I didn't really have that with the first pregnancy, but I wasn't chasing around a 10 month old then either. :) He's keeping me so busy that by the time he takes a nap, I fall asleep right along with him. :) The condo up here in Mammoth isn't all that clean right now and the meals aren't all that gourmet. I'm just trying to keep my head above water and stay awake most days. :) 

I'm going to try to start blogging on my fitness blog again this coming week so that I can try to stay active and accountable through this pregnancy. I'll be starting my little walking program. Please feel free to come over and join me there as well. :) I need all the company I can get in that arena. We're up in Mammoth Lakes and it's hard for me to be away from my girlfriends. As busy as I am here, it's also lonely. I'm looking forward to going home for a couple of weeks in October as well as heading to the east coast to visit my sister and new little niece! 

Aren't they just so cute! 

If any of you wonderfully creative women would be interested in doing a guest blog, please contact me with the project or recipe you'd like to share. I'd love to feature some of you while I'm away from home and most of my supplies, etc. Blogging is about community, right? :) Heaven knows I'm missing that up here. :) 

Just wanted to share our exciting news with you. I couldn't hold it in any longer. :) 

Hope you're all having a great Thursday! 

Girlfriend Inspirations In Portland

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, our family went out of town this past week. We used to live in Portland and it was good to go back and see family and friends while we were there.

I had brunch with a couple of girlfriends one morning and we had so much fun! We all used to teach 2nd grade together and I have missed these girls so much since moving away. 

I don't miss the Portland weather, but certainly miss these Portland girlfriends! :)

My girlfriend Shauna was the hostess and she made everything so cute! 

She had the most adorable straws I've ever seen. I can't remember exactly where she ordered hers from, but I did find them along with alot of other fun things over at The Sugar Diva.

My girlfriend Stephanie is the cutest pregnant girl ever. We were loving our sugar-rimmed glasses. It made our OJ taste oh-so fancy. :)

Check out this adorable play area Shauna and her husband put together for their little girl! The teacher in me is "all kinds of lovin' this!" :D My little guy loved the little mirror that was just his height.

I even got inspiration in the guest bathroom! I LOVED these pictures and knew immediately that I wanted to try to make some for my little guy. What great gifts these would make! Just a bit of wood, paint, mod podge and scrapbook paper and you can go to town! I think I know what I want to do for my nieces next year! :)

The nursery was adorable. Shauna had decorated quite a bit with Pottery Barn Kids as inspiration. Check out the butterflys. Don't they just make you happy? Shauna gave me two that she had leftover to use as a template. I can't wait to try it! If I still had a classroom, these would totally be going up on the walls every spring! :) She got the idea for the dollhouse shelving from PB Kids. She showed her husband the picture and he built it! I SO wish I had that kind of skill! The things you could do!

The PB Kids mobile was adorable. I took a picture so I could store it away for a future project. I really liked the simplicity of it. So perfect for a little girl's room.

I loved the different letters she used to spell out Emerson's name....

Let me know if you try any of these projects! Hope you've been as inspired by Shauna's place as much as I was! :)

Consistency Wanna-Be

I so want to blog everyday and share incredible projects that I've worked on while my sweet little man has been napping. The problem is, he doesn't really nap. I'm not kidding. This little dude can sleep 20 minutes twice a day and he's good. He's still waking up three to four times a night to have a little snack. This momma can't even remember what a full night of sleep feels like, much less two+ hours to call her very own. By the time he actually crashes in the evening, I'm doing good to get my kitchen cleaned up from dinner (oftenwhich was prepared while wearing him out front in the bijorn) and drag myself upstairs to maybe catch a snippet of news before falling asleep. I'm trying, ladies. :) Thank you for bearing with me. I have so many great projects swirling around in my head and piling up in my "to do" file. Just you wait til I can carve out a little time for myself and I'll be amazingly consistent. :) 

For those who have just recently joined me, I'm so happy you're here! Thanks for sharing my little piece of the blogosphere. Please jump right in and let me here from you. Here are a couple of pictures of our life the last week or so...

 Our little guy sitting in the grass for the very first time

 Our baby and furbabies chillin' together

First time in the pool! :)

Lots of home life goin' on around here. I'm loving every minute of it. :)

This coming week I'm going to share the story and the recipe behind these two pictures...

Lovely.

Life After Baby

Well, it has been quite some time since I've done anything of a "craftsy" nature, but we do have a NEW ADDITION to our little family! Our son is 5 weeks old today and his dad and I couldn't be more thrilled or proud. I haven't yet figured out when to work on my little craft projects, etc. so my posts may be a bit sporadic for awhile. Please don't give up on me though! We'll be up and running with a routine soon enough! 

Life after baby is awesome and busy and exhausting, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  :) I can't wait to get to know our little man and watch him grow and explore and learn. It's hilarious the things that are becoming common-place around here. I get peed on, pooped on and spit up on daily and nothing really prepared me for the amount of laundry that comes with a baby! It's quite impressive the number of outfits this little guy can ruin in a single 24 hour period. I think our current record is six or seven. Glad to know he's getting plenty of milk. :) 

Our little furbabies have adjusted fairly well considering the fact that their entire world changed in a day. Lexi has even snuggled up and napped with our little guy. 

How sweet are these two?! :D

Hopefully, we'll be posting regularly in the not-to-distant future. I have lots of projects and recipes I'm looking forward to sharing soon! 

Ready for Baby*Ready for Fall! :D

Well, we're in the last stretch before our baby boy arrives. Less than one week to go before my due date and I can hardly wait! While I'm waiting for our "little man" I've been nesting like a crazy woman. The other day my mother-in-law and I picked up some pumpkins at Trader Joes and now I feel like my porch says, "Fall."  

Now we're just waiting for our little fall arrival. :)