our week (& a half) of iPhotos | week 20/52

our week:  photo shoot mini sessions, mother's day, girl's night mani pedis, more awesome weather, the delivery of our blendtec {smoothies holla!}, more successful potty training {huzzah!}, smoothie drinking, five mile racing!!! {loved it!  hope to blog more about it!}, lots of cute shenanigan antics & a nine month checkup.

things are pretty dang busy around here this week... all kinds of photo stuff & then some travel this weekend.  hooray holiday weekend!

have a good one peeps.

where we're at, a random post.

sometimes i just like to get things down on virtual paper before i forget & this little moment in time passes & all the things whirling through my head are replaced with new whirling things.  this is where bullet points & random posts come in handy.

-->  ok, so it was on my facebook page & on instagram {until i decided i didn't like the picture anymore & deleted it... do you ever do that?} & if you follow either of those things {which you should!} then maybe you saw we got a kick ace new kitchen appliance.  wooooot.  i mean how awesome am i that i'm excited about a new blender?  we got a blendtec y'all.  you know, one of those things they demo at costco.  so the last two days here have been smoothie making heaven.  why does that make me so excited?  because it's basically jamba juice all day long up in here, that's why.  and bonus points for the amount of fruits & veggies parker will now unknowingly be chugging on the daily.  you sneaky mom.  it's been a while since i've posted some awesome clean recipes, so maybe some winners will make their way on the blog!  stay tuned for that.

-->  the photography busy season is here!  huzzah!  bring on the weddings! the seniors! families & babies!  getting all creative with my photography gives me an amazing outlet & i'm so grateful to have awesome clients that keep me busy.  i think good things are gonna come out of this summer, good things!  i have this vision of where i want to be with my photography & the only thing that's gonna get me there is lots & lots of shoots & practice.  i'm vowing to pick up my camera at least once a day to take a shot or two, even if they never get posted anywhere or edited or whatever, i'm gonna try.  hopefully that means more cute kiddo goodness here on ze blog.

-->  we have dumped milk in our family!  sam watched forks over knives & decided he was done with milk & i just don't really drink it anyway, so... peace out milk.  i bought some almond milk today that i used for a smoothie & it was pretty good.  do you drink something other than milk?  what's your favorite milk alternative?

-->  parker's potty training has gone awesome.  so awesome that : : knock on wood : : he has only had one #2 accident in the two weeks he's been out of diapers.  it's like, he just gets it this time.  and the other night he told us he didn't want to wear a diaper to bed, he wanted to wear underwear.  and guess what?  we're going on 6 nights of him waking up dry.  this is me, doing celebratory karate kicks & fist pumps.

-->  eating clean is hard.  wanna know what i can't stay out of?  chocolate chips & cashews.  put them together & it's sweet, salty perfection.  try it, you'll see.

-->  i'm addicted to instagram again.  i obsess over posting at least one picture a day but always have a super hard time deciding what to post.  if i post something & decide i don't like the way it looks in my feed i delete it.  you guys, i'm so weird.

-->  we're still a cable free family!  i don't even miss it.  we actually pick up a few local channels with the digital tuner in our tv so we're still able to watch the news & live stuff if we want.  but mostly we just use hulu & netflix & watch dinosaur train & law & order.

welp, that's probably enough for now.

here are parker & elliot just being parker & elliot.

our week in iPhotos | week 19/52

more awesome weather this week.  our week was filled with sprinklers, running {new shoes!} & time with friends.  elliot's almost crawling & p-ray is doing awesome at potty training.  my 5 mile race is in a week so i'm doing one long run this weekend & then dialing it back a bunch til the big day next weekend.  i got to do a senior shoot at the airport with an awesome girl & sam & i had a friday night date night at a fancy restaurant on the water.

i'm working all day saturday shooting mini sessions & then sunday is mother's day... so, be good to yo' mama!

happy weekend, friends!

{i post lots of my photos in real time on instagram.  do you instagram?  let's gram together! @amy_agoodlife}

elliot | eight months.

another month with our newest little man!  can't believe we're almost to the "more-time-spent-outside-the-belly-than-inside" point & staring one year straight in the face.

here's our little goofball all growed up to eight months.
{compare previous parker & elliot monthly pics here.}

this month elliot has continued to show us more & more of his little personality.  he's a goof.  he's mischievous & i know when he becomes mobile & gets older & older he's gonna be full of it.  he has a quick tendency to grab anything & everything put in front of him when he's sitting on your lap & has been known to knock over glasses or pull plates off tables.  he loves to catch the eye of strangers & give them big cheesy grins & then hide his face like he was shy all along.  he still does his "happy hands" which looks like a mix between jazz hands & spirit fingers when he gets excited.

he has learned how to stiffen his whole body & arch his back when he doesn't wanna be put in his carseat & if he had his way i would hold him all day long.  he doesn't really see the point in being on the floor & would much rather just be carried around the house on my hip for hours & hours.  we're working on this.  he is super close to crawling & is in that stage where he knows he wants to move across the room but is so frustrated by his arms & legs not doing what he wants them to do & falling on his face when they give out.

he loves books & reading stories & has figured out how to turn pages when i get it started for him.  he loves to carry on "conversations" and will make baby noises back & forth with you or blow raspberries or stick out his tongue if you're doing it back.  he has the biggest smile & cutest dimples & is still so squishy & snuggly.  this kid loves to snuggle.  he gives the best, most tightest hugs & buries his head deep in your shoulder & holds so tight to your neck when doing so.  i love his snuggles.

he has started eating solids like a champ & drinking water from sippy cups.  this month he's eaten avocado, green beans, mango, pears, carrots, bread, yogurt & veggie crisps.  he even let sam give him a bottle of pumped milk last week!  huzzah!

he's sleeping great at night.  he goes to bed each night around 7:30, wakes up anytime between 2 & 4 to nurse for 10-15 minutes & then is back asleep until 7:30 or 8.  napping is more hit or miss.  since our morning schedule is pretty busy with errands & stroller strides & things to keep parker entertained, he almost never gets two full naps a day.  let's be honest... naps kinda suck around here.  i still haven't figured out how to fit in two naps but if we miss one he's super fussy & so overtired that  trying to get him to settle down for nap number two can be a battle.  sometimes i swear he doesn't have the ability to self soothe because he'll start to settle down & then work himself back up again & do anything but fall asleep.  maybe he's just stubborn or maybe {more likely} i just don't know what i'm doing in this department.  needless to say, naptime is not my favorite time of the day.

he has formed a mild obsession with his daddy this month.  if sam walks into the room elliot lights up & gives him the biggest cheesiest grin.  if he's nursing & spots sam, he'll unlatch & try to sit completely up to see what sam's doing & then go back to eating.  it's pretty funny.  and he's still obsessed with parker, per the uge.

he's wearing some 6-12 month clothes & some 12-18 month things, weighs 21 pounds & still in size 4 diapers.  he has two bottom teeth & two top teeth that are soooooo close to cutting through, it's painful.

and?  he is still so darn cute.

love this little monster.

i dressed up & threw a baby shower

another monday!  hope you had a good weekend.  ours was full of sunshine & all kinds of time spent with my homies.  me & two of my bestest girlfriends threw one of our closest friends a welcome baby party... and for this?  i did my hair, i wore some wedges & a frilly shirt.  obviously this had to be documented.

oh & you know what?  i have a newfound respect for fashion bloggers.  because put me in front of a camera & i turn into allll kinds of awkward.  where do you put your hands?  how do you not trip over your feet?  it gets real messy.

a few party details.  we were going with a mint & yellow theme & can i just say i ate my weight in bagels & honey/walnut cream cheese?  because i did.  nothing like a good party with tasty party treats.

and here's the man of the hour... little max kimble!  this kid is all kinds of adorable newborn perfection.  already love him so much.  congrats corinne.

pretty sure i have the best girlfriends ever.  so much love for these girls.

our week in iPhotos | week 18/52

ooooohhhh myyyy goooodness you guys.  the weather this week was ridiculous.  and by ridiculous i mean it's been awesome.  seventies, sunny & overall awesome.  i will fight anyone who disagrees with me when i say that on a gorgeous sunny day, there is nowhere better than the pacific northwest.  unfortunately, those days are vastly outnumbered by the grey, damp, wet ones... but ah well.  us true northwesterners know how to power through those days & this is our pay off.  warm, sunny amazingness.

anywho, this week we spent all kinds of time outside.  outdoor stroller strides, walks & play dates in the park, running at the capitol, a dinner date at krispy kreme, some late night solo-shopping at target {score!} and lots of shorts, t-shirts & flip flops.

so we're gearing up for an exciting weekend... not sure i ever blogged about it but when we attempted potty training with parker about six months ago it started off well & then tanked.  so we gave up.  tomorrow is the big day we're dumping the diapers & attempting take two.  we've stocked up on potty treats & rewards, clean underroos & carpet cleaner.

wish us luck!

parker's 3rd birthday day o' fun | in pictures

it was a day full of all of p-ray's favorite things.  chipotle for lunch {"chocolate milk & rice, please!"}, a train ride to the zoo, four solid hours looking at animals {which parker could have easily done for twice as long... trying to get him to move from exhibit to exhibit was usually met with the line "just two more minutes, ok?"}, a train back to our car {which he fell asleep on}, dinner at red robin so he could eat "french fries for dinner!" & then back to his auntie's house to sing happy birthday & eat cupcakes & ice cream.  

it's the stuff a three year old's dreams are made of.  actually, let's not kid around here... i couldn't have put together a more perfect day for myself, really.  it was a blast.  loved celebrating his birthday with a day o' fun & pouring our birthday budget into events & treats rather than toys that will soon be kicked to the side & ignored.  

all in all, good day.