goodness.

christmas lights and decorations and music.

qwirkle. {it's on my christmas list, sean... fyi}

mindy gledhill's album, anchor. {at first i was kind of irritated that she totally changed her vocal style since her LDS album, the sum of all grace, which i like... and that maybe she's a wannabe ingrid michaelson/regina spektor. but i got over that and now i quite like it because her songs are sweet and catchy and fun.}

snow!!!! love it.

tension rods small enough for the long narrow window by our door.

looking forward to our third twilight-on-dvd party. always a good laugh watching it with the husbands :)

monday special at cafe rio.

how i met your mother.

de-junking & decorating harper's room. i would love to move her from our room to hers like now, but it's wishful thinking. maybe when she sleeps for more than 3 hours at a time at night.

serena's growing vocabulary. she surprises me almost daily with a new word that she knows. most recently, "home" and "walk".

harry potter for the 2nd time. still good.

panini from kneaders.

sunday movie night for the first time in at least a month!

ryan reynolds on sesame street.

this website, which makes me laugh out loud and is my go-to site when the rest of blogland is boring. but i don't like saying the name of it out loud.

all of our laundry clean, folded and put away. sometimes we don't get around to that last step.

harper's chubbier legs.

hot apple cider on snowy nights.

sisters.

{used a photo app on my phone... these looked cute when the photos were 2 inches, but not sure about the canvas setting now...}

el bebé.

{that's what serena calls her. not sure where she gets the french accent from.}

harper emmeline is one month old.
it's been a long month, but at the same time, it's gone by sooo quickly.
she is sleeping better at night... which means our sanity is slowly returning.
she is a sweetheart ♥
and we love her.

gratitude post.

i am grateful that with some windex, two rolls of paper towels, and a LOT of elbow grease, neon orange nail polish will come out of carpet.

i am grateful that i have grown into liking stuffing and sweet potatoes. what was i thinking as a child?? SO GOOD.

i am grateful for online shopping, so i could buy serena's little people nativity set.

i am grateful that the new harry potter movie was so dang good. so good, in fact, that i'm seeing it again tomorrow :)

but more {most} importantly,

i am grateful for my husband, my beautiful daughters, my family, my faith.

hope you all had a lovely holiday.

blizzard.

had potato soup & rolls for dinner.
cranked up the heat.
put up 2/3 of our christmas tree. {the bottom section was too wide for the space.}
ready to cuddle up & watch a movie.

but if it doesn't snow like 5 more inches during the night, this "blizzard" has been a big disappointment.

7:45.

a.m.

p.m.

{winter storm, dress rehearsal}

tonight!

10:15.

a.m.

p.m.

{serena & froggy baby, an early christmas decoration}

5:20.

a.m.

p.m.

sunday morning.

harper decided to be wide awake {and fussy} from noon to 9 p.m. yesterday, and again at 2-4 a.m. this morning.

serena threw up all over her bed and self in the night. {why does she not wake up & cry when this happens???}

bathed serena first thing this morning {which she was not happy about}.

put all of her bedding & stuffed animals in the wash.

dealt with her whining all morning.

she refused to eat breakfast.

she threw a fit about getting dressed.

she begged for the rest of the morning to go out to the car.

sean finally took her out to the car and waited there for 20 minutes while i got myself & harper ready.

got harper dressed in her church outfit.

picked her up to put her in the carseat and she spit up all over her clean outfit, the couch, and my skirt.

i took her to the car and she went to church in her spitty outfit.

i ran upstairs, washed my skirt, dried it with my hair dryer.

went to ward choir with the baby, and serena running all over the chapel, playing the piano, begging for dad {who was printing the programs, getting chairs, etc.}.

made it through the sacrament without having to take serena out. then she saw the kid behind us had goldfish crackers and had a slight meltdown.

sean took her to the car to get our goldfish crackers.

and then she was out.

she made it through 10 minutes of nursery, and then had to go home to take a nap.

harper, who had slept all morning & all during church, was then wide awake.

so much for mom & dad's afternoon naps.


we're tired. and praying for the day when harper gets into a decent schedule.

good & no good.

good:
netflix.
wives & daughters.
otis spunkmeyer frozen cookie dough.
good friends who rescue you when you have car problems. {thanks, erika!}
2 doctor appointments {well checks} in one week & 2 healthy kids.
the drowsy chaperone. seriously hilarious.
new boots.
new red scarf.
date night with no kids.
clementines.
maybe already putting out a christmas decoration :)

no good:
sudden allergy to one of my facial products. {itchy face all the time.}
car problems. blah. {but at least having my car die right by apollo burger gave me an excuse to stop inside and eat some delicous, greasy food...}
harper's fussy time between 9 p.m. & midnight... right when i'm completely exhausted from the day.
serena wreaking havoc on our house every time i feed the baby. {shattered a bowl and a picture frame this week.}
glee lately.
trying on pre-pregnancy jeans. WAY too soon for that.
email viruses!

18 months.

{it's not easy to get her to stand still for a photo these days...}

loves:
playing at the park.
watching mickey mouse & elmo.
her grandmas.
green beans, noodles, cheese, grapes, craisins, milk, clementines.
giving kisses & high fives.
singing.
her kitty.
bathtime.
throwing hard objects at harper's head {remotes, balls, toys, etc}.
kisses before bedtme.
goldfish crackers in the car.
when daddy comes home from work.
stickers, coloring, reading books.
going to nursery.

says:
hi, bye, no, nope, yeah, yep, bubbles {for bath}, lalala {for elmo}, drink, mickey, grandma, noodles, fishies, num num {for food... or toothpaste...}, nigh nigh, yuck, shoes, outside, baby, kelty, teagan, pumpkin, santa, ho ho ho, duck, book, mama, dada, harper {sounds like papa}, socks, pretty, bug, eyes, balloon, ball, uh oh, PU {stinky}, cracker, cookie, cheese, bean, baba {bottle}, rock-a-bye {sounds more like kuh-kuh-buh}, doll, good girl, ow, amen, choo choo {for train}, hot, cold, cool, droid {for phone}, tickle tickle, tick tock {for clock}, blanket, binky, soft, jesus, bonk, banana, please, all done, zipper, chip, brush

animal noises:
cow, horse, pig, sheep, snake, duck, cat, dog, bird {tweet tweet}, lion, chicken, monkey, frog, etc.

25 lbs 12 oz {75th percentile}
34.5 inches tall {>95th percentile!}
has 12 teeth, including 4 molars.
wears pig tails every day.
sleeps 10 + hours at night, one 2-3 hour nap.
gets into EVERYTHING. especially when i'm feeding the baby.
wears size 2T clothes & size 6 shoes.
says "hi" to everyone.
has the funniest facial expressions!

i can't believe how big & smart she is getting! she is so much fun, and has a very spunky personality. we love our big girl serena :)

yummy.

leaves.

{more not-so-awesome pictures taken with my phone...}

before & after.

i finally got around to putting hardware on serena's new dresser, so here are the before & after photos!

before:

after:

a fresh coat of white paint, new hardware, and voila! {that makes it sound like it was easy... it was actually a lot of work...} i kind of love it in serena's room.

it's beginning to look a lot like...

home.

same stuff. different configuration. it's kind of bizarre to have basically the same house, but everything is backwards. i still can't figure out where anything is in my kitchen. and i always want to turn right at the top of the stairs to go to our bedroom.

but it kind of feels like home now.

{don't mind the terrible photo... still can't find the camera cord that was lost somewhere between the hospital and home.}

♥ baby harper ♥

a little preview from jen. love it!

happy thoughts.

because lately, when i'm so so so so so beyond tired from not sleeping at night {harper has her days and nights completely backwards}, and my eye twitch is getting progressively worse, and i've just told serena "NOOOOOO" for the 100th time today, i need reminding of the happy things in life.

1. had a shopping spree at ikea. curtains & curtain rods for the whole house!
2. harper slept through her newborn photos yesterday. can't wait to see them!
3. serena has has the sweetest kiss-fests with us after bedtime prayers.
4. sean took serena to the cabin today. it's been over 5 hours since i had to tell her "no"!
5. internet is finally up & running in the new house. {lost the camera cord, so no good photos...}
6. mom is hard at work hemming my curtains! thankyouthankyouthankyou!
7. a lemon cake, just for me :)
8. a nice new view of something besides my neighbor's house when i look out the window.
9. serena spent the last hour of nursery without her dad on sunday! wahoo! hopefully she continues to like it.
10. a far easier recovery after this baby.

i feel better already.