sick day.

we now interrupt regular programming to bring you pictures of my sick kid.

parker had a rough day on wednesday... i had never seen him like this.  his whole body was on fire & he was limp & lethargic & wanted nothing to do with anything other than lay on top of you & watch movies.  he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to walk or play, he just wanted to slip in & out of sleep & watch his movies.  

my heart broke to see my little boy taken away for a day.  i could probably count the number of words he said on one hand.  and while secretly we really enjoyed the cuddles, we prayed his little bug would be gone soon & he'd be back to his regular mischief-making ways before long.  

i think sometimes Heavenly Father throws in a random sick day just to remind us to enjoy the good ones.  because today?  parker was pretty much back to his normal self.  he slept in an hour & a half later than normal, & when he woke up he immediately asked to eat.  after wolfing down some oatmeal & toast we went to the doctor appointment we had made the night before {when his fever was spiking & he was panting for breath on my lap} to make sure everything really was back to normal.

and yeah, he seems to be fine.  just a fluke one day bug i guess.  but oh man, when your baby is sick?  it hurts your heart. 

but after all the pitiful little faces he made in the exam room, his true colors shined through as we walked through the lobby out the front doors.  he may have been a little under the weather, but not too down & out for this:

glad to have you back p-ray.

always glad to have your votes.

if you're bored then you're boring.

so who do i talk to about getting more hours in a day?  because i could use a few.  i got a lot going on right now & it's all pretty awesome, not gonna lie.  i am actually really excited about all the things keeping me busy right now & if i had a few more hours?  well, i'd probably just try to cram more things in there.  so i guess it's best to keep it to twenty-four.

i've been talking a lot about all the projects i'm working on.  i think i wrote on facebook there was somewhere around eight home decor projects?  i may have exaggerated, but it's up there somehwere.  i'm sewing up new curtains, working on a quilt, making shelves for parker's book nook, putting up shelves & re-doing my office decor & re-accenting my guest bathroom.  here's a sneak peak at some progress along the way:

and add to those things the time spent being a wife, mom, friend, business-starter, worker-outer, healthy meal maker, pinterest-addict, blogger & part time worker?  my days are pretty full.  but i like it.  and what i've learned from all of this is that i thrive on having a lot on my plate.  so my guess is that as soon as one of these projects gets finished, i'll just find something else to fill it up with.

because i like it that way.

and i like votes.  fer reals.

seventeen months.

well folks, no surprise here.  the last month flew by & the little man got even awesomer.  he's become such a rockstar little guy & cracks us up on the daily.  he's a total goof & definitely keeps us on our toes.

i've given up on the "parker sit up straight, smile & look nice" kind of monthly-pictures & have decided to pick the ones that capture his personality.  because holy cow muh friends, this kid has him some personality.

here he is, all growed up to seventeen months.
{compare previous monthly pics here.} 

please notice how someone insisted he wear his shoes for his monthly picture.  he just had to have them on.  "shoes?  shoes?  shoes!"  is something we hear c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y around here, as well as "outside?  outside?  outside!"  he's pretty clear about what he wants.  parker loves being outside but he knows he has to be wearing his shoes before he gets to go out there.  first things first.  and then?  he'll bring us our shoes & hold them up to our feet.  "shoes!"

goofball.

parker is quickly leaving behind any hint of babyhood & is running full force into toddler hood.  i love it.  i think i'm totally a toddler mom & enjoy his newfound sense of independence.  he still self entertains like a champ & can spend a good fifteen minutes telling himself jokes in a mirror while i do my hair.  he is super attached to both sam & i & seems to have a bit of separation anxiety.  he likes it when the three of us are together.  if we're all hanging out & one of us leaves the room, he either cries about being left behind or jumps up & says, "daddy! daddy!" or "mommy! mommy!" & heads off to find you.  this makes going to the bathroom alone a thing of the past.

he is so smart.  he knows & will point to most his body parts when asked {nose, ears, head, eyes, tummy, teeth, toes, fingers, cheeks} & picks up on a new animal sound each day.  he's got "mooo", "baaaa", "naaaaay", "oooh oooh aah aah!" {monkey}, & "bbbbbbbbbbbbrrrr" {truck} down pat.  he is obsessed with "bubbles" {taking a bath} & asks for it every night around seven.  he is obsessed with elmo, puppies & apples & wakes up each morning around seven.  lately he's more interested in reading books on his own than sitting quietly on your lap having them read to him but he still loves books & pointing to all the objects he knows in them.  he will attempt to say pretty much any word you ask him to & is proud of himself when he figures a new one out.

he loves to play with other kids on the playground {although i'm not sure they always appreciate his attempts at initiating wrestling like he does with his dad} but will stop what he's doing with the other kids every now & then & run over to hug my legs & make sure i'm still around.  he's still in all the same size clothes & diapers as last month although i can tell they're starting to get smaller on him.  he loves to blow kissses & rub noses & give big smooches before bed & is seriously the sweetest little boy.  i don't know how we got so lucky.

and?  he is still so dang cute.

love this kid.

love your votes.

our week by iPhone - week 45

holy crap we had a crazy week.  it may not appear that way through the photos but let me tell you guys it was kinda nuts.  it's time to replace sam's car, so we spent a lot of the week deliberating whether or not to buy this new car that would cut our monthly savings by a lot.  we flip flopped back & forth forever on the decision {emotional rollercoaster!} & have finally decided to pass.  i think.  ha!  who knows.

anywho, here's our week:

monday.  remember before you had kids & you thought pictures of other people's babies with food all over their faces were gross?  ha!  parker with oatmeal all over his will teach them a lesson in what's cute.

we stuck around home monday morning & after a lazy morning of sesame street & oatmeal, we headed outside to enjoy the gorgeous day & go for a four mile run... which parker always loves.

that evening i got to get back outside to shoot this girl's senior pictures & discovered this awesome graffiti wall.  unfortunately the light wasn't working with me when we were there & there were all kinds of riff raff watching us so i didn't wanna make her uncomfortable & we moved to a different spot without any graffiti-wall shots i liked.  maybe next time.

and then parker went to sleep & looked cute... per the uge.

tuesday.  my favorite shopping-assistant went to the craft store with me & studied my inspiration quilt to help me find pieces that i like.  he has a good eye for quilting fabric.  who knew?  then we drove home & while parker napped i experimented with re-arranging my office workspace & ordered a ton of prints to hang up.  more on that come friday.

then we went & test drove & fell in love with a car that we'd been looking for the last few months but realized we probably shouldn't spend that much money on a car.  then we flip-flopped.  a few more hundred times.

burrito bus burritos on the way home made us forget about big kid decisions... for a while.

wednesday.  lunch with friends & mexican in our bellies makes for goofy flirtatious little boys & cute pictures with mom.  then when sam came home him & parker wrestled & we deliberated over the car buying situation.  more flip-flopping ensued.

thursday.  i went into work for the day & parker hung out with his sitter reading books & playing drums.  he takes both things very seriously.

friday.  after parker hung out with his homies on the playground at stroller strides, we did some shopping at costco where his little face convinced me we needed that sheep-blanket-pillow-thing.  because obviously.  although after we came home he showed far more interest in the package of paper towels... ah well.

then just after i put parker down for his nap, the delivery man brought all the prints i had ordered on tuesday!  i hung them up clothesline-style above my computer & am wishing i'd thought of this years ago.  it makes me stupid happy.

friday night ended with thai food from our favorite place {where parker put away a crazy amount of rice} & test driving some other car-options.  after everyone else went to bed i got my craft on for some decorations for a shower i'm co-hosting this morning.  good times y'all.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  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!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please 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=108638" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:



thanks for your votes!  keep 'em comin' friends!

let the fall-ish antics begin!

oh yeah that's right.  today is the first day of fall muh friends.  wanna know what's awesome about that?  well besides apple crisp, pumpkin cookies, boots, sweaters, football, cinnamony-spicy candles, & holidays that encourage hoarding candy & eating turkey until you pass out in a tryptophan-induced coma?  for starters, it's supposed be to 80 degrees here today.  apparently fall is the new summer in the pnw.  i'll take it.  i have the next ten months to wear boots & sweaters anyways.  but i'm still gonna hoard candy & make chocolate chip pumpkin cookies... it just feels right.

wanna know a secret?  my heart hasn't been into blogging this week.  i've kinda been all over the place & by the time i open up this blog at night i am already completely drained.  this results in a significant decrease in the flow of wittiness & inspiration from the fingers.  i am t-i-r-e-d.

and no, i'm not pregnant.

i've been spending lots of late nights working on the new photography biz {think fun things like business models, learning tax laws, insurance policies & web design... yawn} & working on home makeover projects.  if you're curious, the count is now up to four uncompleted projects.  but they're all moving along steadily... kinda.

and i feel like i can't really post any pictures until they're completely done.  but when is a home decor project ever really done?  for example, i picked out some awesome fabric for new curtains in our family room so as soon as i hem those bad boys up i can show you right?  wrong.  because next i have to change the throw pillows.  and of course the wall decor around them is all wrong.  so it might be just a little bit longer... but i am so excited to switch things up around the house.  it was SO needed!

so until my craftiness surfaces on the blog again, you'll have to settle on cute pictures of my kid.  yes, it's p-ray, celebrating the first day of fall by nom-ing on an apple.

sidenote:  ya see that tee pee from lilybaby in the background?  you could have one just like it if you win my giveaway next week.  so get excited, get very very excited.

and now?  i'm excited to go to bed.  because it just might be the first time i'm in bed before midnight.  or 1 am for that matter.  thank goodness p-ray likes a good dose of sesame street snuggled up with me in bed first thing in the morning.  that part is actually kinda awesome.  sorry baby-watching-tv haters, it's true.  early morning sesame street baby snuggles?  are the best.

also the best?  your votes.

wordless{ish} wednesday: a typical photoshoot.

parker has pretty much lived his entire life with my lens in his face.  say what you will, but i like to think he'll look back & appreciate all i've done to capture his every expression on film.  oh yes he will, bygoshdarngeewillikersbygolly {don't worry, i don't say any of those words in real life.  i have to maintain a certain amount of street cred, afterall}.

now that he's toddler-ing around i would say approximately 90% of my pictures end up being of the back of his head.  the blurry back of his head.

but every now & then he is a willing little participant.  and every now & then our shoots actually go like this:

"seriously... more pictures?  who does this woman think she is?  who does she think i am?"

"well, i suppose a couple more pictures won't hurt.  i can't really blame her... i am kind of a big deal."

"hmmmmm... the sooner i get this over with the sooner she'll let me get back to playing in that pile of dirt over there.  yes, yes!  my plan is coming together perfectly."

: : : evil laughter : : :

"ok here goes... one cute face coming right up.  get your camera ready, lady."

"there it is.  that's as good as it's getting.  hope a cheesy "first-day-of-kindergarten-school-picture-face" is enough to keep her at bay for a while.  i got dirt to get into."

and yup, it was totally enough.  i can't get enough of that little face!

{linking up with wordless wednesday at and then she {snapped},  baby baby lemon, the paper mama, & a little king & i}

two clicks for cute little faces?

september sponsor lovin'

it's time to quit complaining about my home-decor, take a break from the cute parker pics, & step away from the pinterest diy's.  today we take a minute & recognize some awesome ladies who are worth checking out.

behold, the september roster of sponsors.  click some links, do some browsin'.  tell them i sent ya!

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{you'll probably notice that jamie's shop is a bit empty at the moment... she is taking a little break to catch up on orders.  you can still contact her for custom orders & watch here at the blog for an amazing giveaway from her soon!}

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{blog}  {etsy}  {facebook}  {twitter}

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sponsor me for free? click twice.

it was a run dmc & red sweats kinda day.

you guys put your feet inside your sweats like that too right?  no?  do it.  it's pretty much the only way to wear sweats.  and now you know.

yesterday was the good kind of sunday.  the kind where you spend the day cozied up inside in sweats & a t-shirt watching football & smelling your food cook in the crock pot.  it felt like FALL.  it felt awesome.  i got all kinds of productive in the morning & then all kinds of lazy in the afternoon.  which is how sundays should be.

i'm still on a i-want-to-rip-my-house-apart home decor makeover rampage at the moment & i definitely have at least three diy projects going on at the moment, with about five more in my head just waiting to be started.  i promised sam {and myself} i would finish the ones i've started before beginning more.  boo.  this is the part where i wish i could snap my fingers & find myself in the home i've pinterested.

and while we're on the subject of things amy wants, here are some other things i've been coveting.  because let's face it... we all have a list.

my "if-money-grew-on-trees" list?  includes hunter boots, a macbook air or pro {haven't decided which}, that sweet case to tote it around in & an epiphanie camera bag.

what sweet thing would be first on your list?

and also, do you guys realize fall really starts for us northern hemisphere-ians in four days?  yup.  september 24th is 2011's first official day of fall.  so get out your chunky sweaters, light your cinnamon spice candle & bake something with pumpkin in it.  because fall is kinda the best time of the year ever.

EVER.

your votes are always on my wish list.  always.

our week by iPhone - week 44

umm, wanna know something funny?  

after uploading & editing all these iPhone pics, i realized that i took pictures of absolutely nothing else besides parker, sam & me... every single picture contains a face.  it's my family's face overload this week guys.  hope you didn't come here to get your fill of inanimate objects.  

here we go:

monday.  parker has learned how to blow on his food when it's hot.  only he hardly parts his lips & has to think about it very hard.  kills me.  after breakfast we played a thirty minute round of open-and-close-the-door peek-a-boo.  and i wonder where my day goes?

after sam got home, we headed downtown to walk around one of the new state buildings that he designed.  we walked around the grounds & he pointed out all the details that he put into the plans.  it was a big shiny moment for him.

tuesday.  parker did me a solid & slept in until 8:30.  we celebrated by going for a 5.25 mile run... don't we look happy?

oh yeah, & tuesday was sam's birthday.  oooops, no picture of sam on his big day.  but really?  that's probably exactly how he wants it.  so instead here's me, looking ready to go get some dinner out.  but then we realized we weren't that hungry & went to target instead.  happy birthday to you sam!  here's a new swifter mop.

wednesday afternoon p-ray & i got all ready & headed out to lunch with our friends jessica & ava.  {you might remember ava from here}.  then our friend jamie joined us with her boys mason & avery & gave us the coolest gift EVER.  helllllooooo new teepee!!

be jealous.  ok, don't be too jealous... i'll be giving one away on the blog soon.  jamie is offering one from her shop, lilybaby, to one of my readers very soon.  stay posted!

thursday.  while i fought to stay awake at work {maybe because i was up til 2:30 wednesday night?} parker ran errands with his sitter.  the pictures she sends help me so much to get through the day.  being away from my little man is hard!

friday.  i was back in my room getting ready for stroller strides & came out to the front of the house to check on parker.  i couldn't find him anywhere & then realized he was sitting quietly in his teepee reading a book.  commence heart melting.

after stroller strides {where we busted out like 1,001 squats}, parker very carefully organized the playground's sawdust collection.  someone's gotta do it.

and hellllooo cute new iPhone case!  i wasn't expecting it to come from rachel shingleton's etsy shop until late next week & was sooo happily surprised that it showed up early.  i've been staring at it all night.  after i stopped doing cartwheels & flips over my new iPhone case, we went out to dinner as a little family where parker ate a nutritious dinner of ketchup, bread, & crayons.  yum.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  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!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please 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=107559" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:



thanks for your votes!  keep 'em comin' friends!