don't you?

i totally totally love rain. and snow. and sweaters, scarves, mittens, boots, hot chocolate, halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, etc.

i'm loving this weather.

but i also love sitting on our {very dead} back lawn with baby s. she really loves it. and she has been SOOOO bored at home today.

dear weather man,

please predict cool-ish, perfect, fall weather for at least a month before you start with the snow. my baby needs her outside time. or she gets a little stir-crazy.

♥ ariel

misfit.

am i the only one who has absolutely no

interest in

affection for

or

desire to own

DOGS?

i often feel like i am.

i don't even think i want a cat anymore. i loved my dear {beloved, handsome, adorable, sweet} tabby. but he was a part of the family since i was little. and while i sometimes i see a kitten and need to bring him {i could only have a he-kitty} home, i then think about the hair all over my house and i'm positive i could live without him.

sean says all kids need a dog. i disagree.

no pets for me, please.

a few things.

1. my computer has been sick. you probably have noticed my lack of posts :)

2. kelty's birthday party at chuck e cheese was so fun! pictures to come.

3. i got together with my friends last night to celebrate alicia finding out the sex of her baby. it's a boy!!!!

4. then we all gathered around alicia's computer to stare at pictures of baby brecklyn who arrived yesterday. we ♥ her already! congrats tiff & whit!

serenabee winners.

we thought we would let serena decide:

at first she wanted to eat them all at once. but she was able to narrow it down to two:

congrats to dan-izie, who will receive the charlotte headband {my personal favorite}

and

kara, who will receive the anne headband.

also:

eliza, who was the first to notice my jane austen themed names, will have to make a hard decision between the mary clip and the elinor headband.

♥

congrats, girls! email your shipping addresses to serenabee{at}live.com!

and to the rest of you, feel free to go buy the fancies you said you wanted :)

♥ ♥ ♥

open for business.

♥ ♥ i won't be around this afternoon to announce the winners, so i'm extending the drawing until this evening at 7:00pm. ♥ ♥

i finally have my etsy shop up and running.

for the grand opening, i'm doing a giveaway!

♥

how to enter:

1. visit the shop.

2. comment on this post.

{in your comment, let me know which "fancy" from the store you would like!}

♥

two winners will be announced tomorrow at noon!

♥

i hope you all like the store. it's a fun hobby, and if i can make a buck doing it... why not? OH on a side note: if you live by me or see me often and you want to buy something from the store, email me {serenabee(at)live.com} your order and we'll work it out so you don't have to pay shipping.

snow white?

you will probably do a double-take next time you see me.

goodbye blonde. hello opposite of blonde.

real food.

serena had her first taste of real food {rice cereal} over the weekend. we figured she was ready since she was getting mad every time we ate in front of her. and, not surprisingly, she loved it. this girl would eat anything, i'm pretty sure. i can't wait until she can start eating the really messy stuff!

the oaks.

over the weekend we went with our friends to their condo up in eden. we stopped at the oaks in ogden canyon and had a yummy dinner. i always love going there.

serena liked watching the river.

then we stayed up all night playing cards. what is more fun than that?

and i'm sporting the anne headband in that picture, in case you were wondering :)

littlest model.

little model.

i didn't need to give aria much direction... she's just so darn cute! thanks, gina :)

beauty.

isn't heather just the most perfectly perfect hair model ever?

i can't wait to get everything in order and open up shop!

time. where does it go??

things have been less stressful this week, but we haven't been any less busy. sometimes i wonder when things will slow down?? i am so not one of those people who has to stay busy all the time. i think i'd like to stay completely un-busy for a least a week, to recover from all of the busyness.

a few things.

serena went to her dr. appointment today and the results are in:
height: 26 inches {off the charts}.
weight: 15lb 1oz {85th percentile}.

she's one big girl! she did pretty well with the shots. her dr. told us that she tilts her head to one side all the time... so we get to practice some stretches :)

♥

one explanation for all of the busyness is that i'm trying to set up a dang etsy shop. it's kind of a pain... especially when you're a perfectionist like i am. i'll keep you posted on this. hopefully it will be up and running in the next few days, and i'll kick it off with a giveaway.

♥

three things that made me smile today:

1. a parade float driving past me going 55 mph, leaving a trail of glittery float particles in its wake.
2. airplane shadows.
3. blasting {really blasting} my radio on the way to choir. sometimes i need to feel like a teenager for a few minutes.

love in the form of vinyl.

check out these vinyl masterpieces from DecoMod walls. aren't they to die for? i especially love the hummingbird and the "emma" pieces, though of course mine would say "serena". love love love them. take a peek into the shop. it's lovely.

chubber legs.

have i mentioned how much i love this girl's chubber legs?

dusk is the very best time of day.

especially on a nice, cool, end-of-summer evening.

♥

this week has been stressful.

{like i-wanna-pull-my-hair-out-massive-headache-when-will-i-ever-catch-a-break!? stressful.}

and so has the weekend.

but we have managed to sneak in some perfectly end-of-summer-y things.

like a delicious end-of-summer stew,

which included every vegetable from the collective gardens of family & friends

who begged us to relieve them of their produce.

and a walk over to the playground at sunset.

making ourselves a little sick on the twirly toys.

♥

and a drive at dusk.

windows down.

miley cyrus playing.

{i'm not ashamed. i like her new song.}

baby sleeping in the back.

husband behind the wheel.

and i forgot for a few minutes about the stressful things.

and enjoyed the cool summer air.

{and then i got a bug in my eye.}

♥

ahhhhhh dusk.

four months.

miss serena at four months:

she loves to stand up all the time {with help, of course}.

she does this new funny thing where she covers her eyes while she's eating {see above}.

her hair is getting lighter and redder all the time.

she has a fat roll in her left leg, and not in her right.

she has giggled twice {about 2 weeks ago} and we haven't heard it again since!

she loves going for walks outside in her stroller.

she sleeps for about 10 hours straight at night.

she's outgrowing her 3 month clothes, and is not big enough for 6 month clothes yet.

she loves looking at herself in the mirror.

she gets mad when we eat in front of her {time for some real food??}.

she's getting MUCH better at tummy time.

she can hold herself up with her arms for a minute or so before getting tired.

she's almost rolling from back to front.

she talks all the time.

she is still a little cuddle bug.

she's getting so big i can hardly stand it!!!

her 4 month appointment is next week so i'll post the stats soon.

today my mom took me & serena to the utah state fair {opening day and $2 admission!!}. if you have never been to the state fair, i highly recommend it! i had never been before and it was so fun! like 100x better than any county fair i've ever been to. we didn't do any rides, but there were a lot and they looked way fun. i would like to go back at night and do rides sometime.

we mostly walked around, looked at the animals, ate navajo tacos and funnel cakes, looked at all of the fun booths, etc. my favorite was looking at all of the fine arts that were entered into the contests. uhhh-mazing. i need to take up quilting. and sewing. and knitting. and seriously WHO KNEW there were so many categories to enter under!!??? scrapbooking? canning? porcelain dolls? you name it, there was a prize for it.

but BAD NEWS to anyone going to see the butter cow. it tipped over last night :( we saw what was left. hopefully the artist puts it back together.

anyway, it was a hot hot hot day and we were soooo exhausted after. serena was so lethargic the whole time because it was so blasted hot. she didn't really care about the animals, but i loved them :) thanks for taking us, mom!!!!!