"get to know me monday."

so i have a quite few questions that were left unanswered from my "ask my anything" post way back before the vacay.  i've been meaning to answer them because they were all really good ones, so i'm gonna pick a few & answer them each monday for the next few weeks.

kerry from nesting with niall asked:

"what do you do to overcome blogger's block?  how do you get the juices flowing again?"

honestly?  most days i go through the day having no idea what i'm going to blog about the next day.  i'm not one of those people who spends the weekend scheduling posts for the weekdays.  99% of my posts are written the night before.  and if i don't have anything to blog about i'll tell myself, "meh, no blog post tomorrow."  but then at some point in the day parker will do something crazy that makes me laugh, or at night while blog surfing & looking through pictures, something will hit me & i'll decide i have something worth sharing, even if it is just one picture or a random thought.

also, i try to keep in mind that this is my blog & is essentially parker's baby book, so i can't get too wrapped up in what i think others will find interesting.  i think that helps me keep it "real" & from the heart.

********************

jill from because two people fell in love asked:

"what camera do you use to take these AMAZING pictures?"

amazing?  wow, thanks!  i really do love my camera.  i have the canon rebel t2i, but it can't take all the credit... the lenses are pretty essential too.  i have a 50mm f/1.8 & an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6.  this post shows all the deets.  oh, and?  the editing software is pretty important too.  i use photoshop cs5 to really make my pictures pop.  i try not to over-edit but i'd be lying if i said they all looked exactly like this straight out of the camera.  i still have a lot to learn though.  a lot.

********************

sara from unofficial mom asked:

"how did you come up with/decide on parker's name?"

yeah ummmm.... still not sure how to explain this one to parker some day.  it was kind of a matter of one name leading to another.  and also kind of loving a girl's name.  we have good family friends with a little boy named palmer & we really loved that name.  for the longest time, palmer was at the top of the list.  then i remembered one of my favorite actresses, parker posey, & fell in love with the name parker.  how do i tell p-ray his name could very well have been the same had he been a girl?  not sure yet.

and parker's middle name "ray" was chosen after my grandpa charles ray bates, someone sam & i both really look up to & who has been an amazing influence in my family's life.

********************

ok, that's it for now!  i'll answer more questions next monday.  if you have questions, go ahead & ask 'em in the comments or send me an email & i will try to answer them in the order they've been asked.  i'll just keep on doing these posts on mondays as long as i have questions to answer!

thanks friends.

click twice to make my day.  that is seriously all. it. takes.

steppin' out saturday {with friends}

{linking up for "steppin' out saturday" at harper's happenings}

we have some friends in town this weekend.  christie & ryan {aka: "chryan"} flew over from spokane to hang out.  if they look familiar to you, maybe it's because we went to hawaii together... yeah, we just saw them three weeks ago but it had already been too long.  that's how we roll.

we started off with some tasty thai food, hit up the apple store, and then got ourselves some froyo.  i'd be lying if i said we didn't go back to the frozen yogurt place to buy seconds.  we really, really like froyo.

ps:  christie took my steppin' out photos this week & i have to give her credit.  mostly because she said so.

{linked up with "mommy & me monday" at really, are you serious?}

you guys. we moved up to #10! mostly because you rock.

weekday recap - {in iPhone pics} w.15

i started monday by saying, "freak.  i need a weekend to catch up from this weekend."  you ever feel like that?  i cleaned the house top to bottom.  only thing is, everything i did?  parker undid.  i picked up his room & within five minutes he had all his blankets pulled out of his closet, his toy box spilled, & had knocked over his humidifier sending water everywhere.  he's really lucky he's cute.

we headed out for a trip to target {what would my week be like without one} where i gave parker a bottle as we shopped.  is that weird?  i felt like i was getting weird looks.

bad news: i had an eye exam & my contacts prescription had to be increased even more. i'm so blind.
good news: that night parker wrapped himself up in a fuzzy blanket & giggled.

all & all, an awesome day.

since i had spent monday catching up on things at the house, we had to get out on tuesday.  freezing temps meant staying indoors & a trip to the mall for us.  darn.  i went on a little bit of a {much needed} shopping spree & parker happily obliged in his stroller the whole time. it felt too good to be true.

i went into work on wednesday for a meeting, but was delayed by "snow-mageddon 2011."  yeah, when it snows in the pnw people freak out.  sam's sister, jodi, had come up from portland to watch parker for the day & decided to stay over rather than brave the storm.  parker was pretty happy about it... he loves his auntie.

snow-mageddon kept us snowed in all day so we made the best of it.  i bundled p-ray up to venture out side for a walk but after two minutes of wet falling snow to the face, he decided it wasn't his thing.  we went back in the house & parker went on a bit of a rampage.  he unraveled a whole roll of toilet paper & emptied out the kitchen cupboards while i made baby food.  i'm not sure where this destructive baby came from.

we were snowed in again on friday.  not because the roads were snowy & impossible to drive on, but because sam took my car to work & i hate driving his car.  and i blame this on the snow.  so parker & i stayed in our pj's all day & got the house ready for company.  it was pretty spotless.  until of course, parker decided to pull all his blankets out of the closet & lay in them {middle picture}.  who am i to say no?

friday night ryan & chausty got here & are staying for the weekend.  pretty sure there will be more updates on this later.  happy weekend everyone!

did you take your "week in camera phone" pictures? 

there's only one rule to linking up... your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog .  and if you wanna be really cool, post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.  the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=79174" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:




and then vote here! two clicks, that's it. thanks.

ten months.

at the risk of sounding like a broken record, i won't start this post off by saying how fast the last month flew by.  and i won't be cliche by saying something like "parker changes everyday," either.  i'll just say, wow... my little boy is growing up.

so here's my little boy, all growed up to ten months.
{compare previous monthly pics here}

are you wondering what is up with this month's picture?  what is that p-ray leg stretch action going on up there you ask?  well, back when i started taking monthly pictures when parker was a newborn, no one thought to say, "hey amy, maybe you should do something besides laying your baby down on his back because when he gets to be like, oooooh, ten months, you will NOT be able to make him lie on his back for two seconds to save your life."

yeah, no one told me that.  so this picture was taken quickly before parker was able to flip back to his belly & crawl off.

here are some images that didn't make the cut for p-ray's ten month picture:

this kid is all over the place.  he can stand up, he can get back down, he can sit up from crawling, & he can get into trouble.  oh man, can he get into trouble.  most of my day is spent pulling parker away from one mischievous activity & trying to place him somewhere where the next mischievous activity is at least five minutes away. 

but he always manages to find trouble real quick.

parker loves to get into things.  he can open cabinets, drawers, & can even push open or close doors to get at what he wants.  he constantly pulls up to get into the planter in our front window & then tries to shove the dirt in his mouth before i can get to him.  he loves to go from one thing to the next & everything he comes across gets picked up & shoved in his mouth.  he self-entertains really well which allows for me to get stuff done around the house, but he is so much more fun to play with than housework is to do, so i still don't get much done.  while he plays, he makes silly little boy noises.  he squeals, he spits, he mumbles to himself, he breathes a raspy mischievous breathing noise (i don't know how else to explain it), he laughs, he makes motorboat sounds, & he makes me laugh.  he fake laughs.  he also fake coughs & has fake sneezed once.  sam & i about died.

he loves soft things.  his pillow pets, fuzzy blankets & lovies are his favorite things.  he buries his head in them, rolls around with them, & squeals & giggles.  he can stop a ball that is rolled onto his lap & will roll it back to you.  he & sam make a game of it every night.  he is saying mamama, dadada, and bababa.  not sure what the last one means.  he is eating solids like a champ.  he eats yogurt, bananas, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, cheerios, yogurt snacks, & any baby food.  we're nursing four times a day & he's taking a six ounce bottle of formula once a day.  he gives amazing hugs.  seriously, he squeezes your neck like he's not gonna let go.  he head butts on command & thinks it's really funny when you say "bonk!"  he freaks. the. heck. out. when his dad comes home.  he hugs him, he giggles, squeals, he screams, he kicks his legs, & he gets the biggest smile you've ever seen.

he has two bottom teeth & three top teeth, he goes to bed around nine & wakes up for the day at eight-thirty-ish, waking up once to nurse around five.  he's wearing anything from size six month pants & shirts to eighteen month onsies & size four diapers.

and he is still so dang cute.

love this kid.


love votes too.  really.

workin' for the weekend.

i work part-time... like, very part time.  my one day in the office does a lot for me though.  it helps me regenerate my brain cells a little & helps me remember who i was pre-parker.  it helps me keep my foot in the door for the possibility of returning to work full-time in the future, & it helps supplement our income enough to keep me going back each week.

but another thing it does?  it really really makes me miss my little boy.  today i missed a whole day in his life & i missed watching him explore all the new things around him.  everyday he does something new & continues to form this little personality that is just a total blast to get to know.  my time in the office really makes me appreciate the days i have at home with him.

i hope i never take a single day for granted.

i just love this little guy.


also?  i just love your little votes.

wordless{ish} wednesday: defiant little boy.

{pic taken with my phone}

so this is where we're at.  p-ray decided he's not a huge fan of the car seat, so he's pulled out some crazy acrobatics to avoid being buckled in.  i wish you all could see how stiff his little body becomes when he does this crazy maneuver.

i can't help but laugh.  silly boy.

{linking up with a little king & i, paper mama, supermom, parenting by dummies, live & love out loud, baby baby lemon, angry julie monday & a beautiful mess.}


c'mon. a crazy p-ray maneuver like that deserves a couple clicks right? right.

like father, like son.

i can't stop laughing at this picture.

we hit up red robin last weekend for some burgers & bottomless steak fries.  {wow, i've really gotta start eating better}.  apparently our waitress didn't bring the food fast enough, because this pretty much reflects the vibe at our booth until the food showed up.  even p-ray shot a couple glares her way.

my guys don't do well on empty stomachs.

after burgers & a couple baskets of steak fries, it was all smiles & giggles from that side of the table.  problem solved.


i'm all smiles & giggles when you vote for our blog.  not joking.

"get to know me monday."

so i have a quite few questions that were left unanswered from my "ask my anything" post way back before the vacay.  i've been meaning to answer them because they were all really good ones, so i'm gonna pick a few & answer them each monday for the next few weeks. 

mandy asked:

"what is the absolute best thing about being a mom?"

geeze.  there are so so so many great incredible things about being a mom.  the thing that pops into my head right now though, is being able to comfort my baby.  being able to scoop him up in my arms & soothe him in only a way i know how.  and that of all the people in the world, I am his mama & no one can take that away from me.  another amazing thing, is the absolute joy that having a child brings into your life.  watching him grow & experience new things & develop a personality & do things on his own is just indescribably amazing.  i really had no idea how incredible it would be.

when looking at blogs, what catches your eye?  what kind of blogs do you follow?  and which ones inspire you?

i love a fresh, clean, uncluttered & well put together blog.  i follow lots of mommy blogs, a few fashion blogs, lots of photog blogs, & a couple craft blogs.  i am really inspired by rockstar diaries. she always has great pictures of her & her family doing fun things.  her blog is a great reminder to get out, make memories, & enjoy the little things in life.   oh, & she always inspires me to try & look my best too.  she is always so. dang. cute.

{via}

wendy asked:

if you could go back in time to before parker was born, what would you say to yourself?

hmmmm... ok, so i thought really long & hard on this one.  and i couldn't think of an answer.  mostly because i don't think i would change anything or give myself any more advice than i already heard.  i mean, people told me all the time about how hard it was gonna be & of course i didn't believe them.  you just don't know until you're in it.  also, sam & i were married for over four years before parker was born so we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves & our "alone" time.  we were very ready for him to come along & the growing & learning experience has been a blast.

so maybe i would just say to myself, "it's all gonna be worth it."

{18 weeks prego with p-ray}

ok, that's it for now!  i'll answer more questions next monday.  if you have questions, go ahead & ask 'em in the comments or send me an email & i will try to answer them in the order they've been asked.  i'll just keep on doing these posts on mondays as long as i have questions to answer!

thanks friends.


no question about it. your votes rock my socks.

get to know a sponsor - {rockarooz}

today i'm introducing you to one of a good life's awesome sponosors:  shannon from Rockarooz!  read up on how she got started & check out all the super cute knitted goodies in her etsy shop. 

how'd you get into making these super cute hats?

i actually learned how to crochet at school when i was 6 years old.  the very first project i remember was a simple little purse.  come to think of it, i wonder if my mom still has that purse?  that would be a trip!  i picked up crochet projects on & off ever since that faithful year in 1987.  the baby hats themselves are actually a fairly new interest.  early last year i thought it would be fun to make a baby hat... just because they're so darn cute!  after i finished the first hat i immediately decided i wanted to create a business.  for years i wanted to turn my passion for crafting into a business but i wasn't sure how.  as soon as i made that first baby hat i knew i could combine my love for crochet, children, & fashion into a fun & hip children's boutique.  shortly thereafter Rockarooz was born!!

what's the craziest thing you've ever done?

that would probably be quitting my job to crochet baby hats for a living, haha!  okay, but seriously, i don't know if this is crazy but it sure was exciting.  a few years back a friend & i decided to backpack through ireland for 2 weeks.  i actually left the country for 2 weeks with only a backpack!  and just so you know, i've always been known as a heavy packer.  the best part though?  we were in ireland for halloween & we actually packed costumes.  if you can find anyone else who has backpacked through a country with a beer garden girl costume & patent leather mary jane heels, please introduce me!

you guys, you have got to check out shannon's etsy shop!  i kinda want to eat those little baby booties for breakfast.  Rockarooz has some of the cutest little crochet baby things... this girl has got some serious skillz, ya'll.

and, be sure to be on the lookout for a giveaway from Rockarooz in the near future!  in the meantime, check her out on her blog, & scope out her etsy shop here:

hey shannon, thanks for helping support our little corner of the blogosphere!

are you interested in sponsoring a good life?  i am accepting new sponsors for the month of march & beyond!  look here for more info.  do it.

and you're doing your part to show the love by voting right here! thanks <3

steppin' out saturday {cider mill}

{linking up with steppin' out saturday at harper's happenings.  last week lots of you asked about my boots.  you can find info on them HERE.}

we went to a local cider mill today to give parker to his first dose of farm animals.  he totally humored us & pretended to like it, but it was like forty degrees outside & the poor kid's eyes & nose were both running like crazy.  he was pretty uncomfortable so we kept it short.  we'll be back in the summer to try again.

...and we'll also be back for their fresh made apple fritters, which have chunks of apples in them.  and they melt in your mouth.  and they have no calories, so they're totally guilt free.

{also linking up with "mommy & me monday" at "really are you serious?"  check it out!}

voting for us is always guilt free. i love love love you for it!

weekday recap - {in iPhone pics} w.14

valentine's day started off as a pretty standard monday.  we went to stroller strides, hung out around the house, & p-ray played with toys.  then it got real awesome when sam came home with flowers in hand to begin the v-day festivities.  we ate pizza, we watched some shows, we had a little party, parker passed out on my legs.  and i liked it.

the highlight of our tuesday may have been the trip to target.  ok it was.  parker's ridiculously cute grin convinced me to buy him a mini-pillow pet & a new shirt for me.  yes, his grin totally had something to do with my new shirt.  what?

parker made me laugh all day wednesday.  he woke up super happy & stayed that way til bedtime.  win.  and he's becoming such a little explorer lately, he crawls through things, under things, he stands up, he gets back down, & he continues on his way.

oh yeah, & on wednesday night?  he flipped out when sam came home.  we're talking kicking legs, squealing, giggling, grabbing, thrashing arms excitement. you woulda thought i'd been torturing the kid all day.  fyi: i wasn't.

i worked in the office thursday.  this means i buy a breakfast sandwich & a hot chocolate from the cafe in my building & then get to eat it without a kid pulling my hair.  it's pretty sweet.  it's a win for parker too because he gets to play with his bff kaylee all day.  he clearly gave me a disapproving look after i picked him up to come home.

parker & i made a pretty awesome fort & climbed inside to read books.  this my friends, is why you have babies.  i can't think of one other reason.

friday night we went out for dinner in true friday night style & then came home & went to bed at 10:30... also in true friday night style.  be jealous.

did you take your "week in camera phone" pictures? 

there's only one rule to linking up... your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog .  and if you wanna be really cool, post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.  the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=76230" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:




like what you see here?  support the cause by voting!  thanks friends.