Author Archives: meghan

a day in the life…

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i’ve seen a few different people do this, and for some reason i think it’s entertaining to read.

so, here is our really thrilling day…

3 am: awake to pee. check to see how much snow we got. lots! power has been out for hours. brrrrr! cover adalaide with extra blanket.

6:30 am: brian kisses me goodbye. being slightly awake makes me realize i need to pee. again. oh, pregnancy!

7:55 am: hear finley calling for me.

8:00 am: get finley out of bed. inspect snow. decline her invitation to go outside right now.

8:10 am: get adalaide up. take note of how stinking adorable she is when i go in her room in the morning. she squeals and kicks her legs and i love it.

8:11 am: walk into kitchen and see dirty dishes from night before {power was out}. think how much i hate, hate, hate starting the day with dirty dishes.

8:30 am: make our usual breakfast of oatmeal. add toppings like apples, craisons, and nuts inspired by McDonalds commercial i saw yesterday. yes, i said ‘inspired’ and ‘Mcdonalds’ in the same sentence.  finley adds her own toppings and says, ‘this is the best idea, meg’.

9:00 am: bathtime. the girls favorite activity. i love it too, because they are contained in one spot, for a significant amount of time, with minimal clean up. except for today, because adalaide peed on the floor in the 5 seconds between removing her diaper and getting her in the tub. plus, i can sit on my butt, which is becoming a favored activity for me these days.

10:00 am: naptime for adalaide. finley sits on my lap while i brush her hair. minimal screaming today! catch her wiping a booger on my pants. and incase i didn’t notice, she tells me so. i note how disgusted i am, but also note the fact that i am not disgusted enough to get up, direct her to the kleenex and lecture her about it. also note how lazy i’ve gotten.

10:15 am: dishes. by hand. i am the only dishwasher in this house. sigh…

10:30 am: snack for finley. look over recipe for dinner {anyone else obsessed with pioneer woman?} remember that we’re out of chicken, even though i KNEW we were out. We’ve already been to the grocery store TWICE this week, and i’ve forgotten BOTH times. curse my pregnancy brain!

10:45 am: since it has been deemed necessary to leave the house {brian would faint if i fed him a meatless meal}, i put forth minimal effort to look presentable. change booger pants. brush teeth. reassemble hair do. check email and google reader.

11:15 am: hear noise from baby’s room. think: she better not be waking up already! phew, she’s not. grab load from dryer to fold. also, see that i left a load in the washer overnight. oops. check to see if clothes smell musty. nothing a little bounce sheet can’t handle. collect enough nails and screws out of the washer to build a small house. note for the hundredth time that one of us really needs to start checking his pant pockets.

11:18 am: finley asks to do art. i tell her no, and remind her that her art caddy is put away for the day because she didn’t clean up her mess yesterday. quickly realize that this also punishes me because art keeps her busy AND quiet for long periods of time. drats.

11:50 am: wake the bambino up. note how very wrong it is to wake a baby, but decide we must get this show on the road. plus, if she sleeps too late her afternoon nap won’t coincide with finley’s. and i’m just not down with that at all. dipe change. coats on. hats on. make conscious effort to turn off lights, per husbands not so gentle request after reviewing electricity bill.  preemptively pop two tylenol because my ‘pelvis’  is on the verge of hurting, and i know it will be full-blown after running errands. oh, pregnancy! 

12-1:00 pm: post office and grocery store. girls sat nicely in the cart. no one asked how old my ‘son’ is. stuck to my list. grabbed coffee from in-store starbucks. good news all around. sang along to taylor swift in the car and wondered if adalaide’s first words will be from a taylor swift song.

1:00 pm: lunch time. chicken quesadilla, banana, and carrots for finley. rice, lentils, carrots, and green beans for adalaide. watched adalaide perform her ‘tricks’: so big, waving, and playing the drums. note that i need to capture it on video.

1:30 pm: doll house and princess puzzle.

2:00 pm: put adalaide to bed. start finley’s naptime regime: potty, water bottle filled, blankets and stuffed animals arranged, 3 kisses, and 3 hugs, door closed-but not latched.

2:02 pm: check email and google reader, while finishing coffee. make and devour a toasted sesame bagel with the works. spend several minutes deciding whether or not to relax or be productive during naptime. decide to split my time.

2:15-2:57 pm: do dishes from lunch, empty garbage and recycling, tidy playroom and living room. fold laundry. decide against putting away the clean clothes, because that would just be too much. instead, leave laundry on floor where it will most likely be trampled on by little feet.

2:57 pm:  lay down and attempt to take nap. coffee gets the better of me, and i can’t fall asleep. thoroughly enjoy laying in bed anyway though.

4:26 pm: hear adalaide and realize that i fell asleep. ponder how one falls asleep moments after finishing a coffee. oh, pregnancy!

4:30: get baby up. enjoy some rare time with just her.

5:00 pm: visit from cousin/neighbor.

5:15 pm: finley wakes up. time to start dinner. on the menu tonight: pioneer woman’s pasta with tomato cream sauce, grilled chicken, bleu cheese iceberg salad, and crusty bread. for the babe: mashed avocado, tofu, yogurt, and wheat germ.  turn on music. finley takes the c.d. out of the stereo and replaces it with taylor swift. not sure if i’m more annoyed or impressed.

6:00 pm: brian gets home early!  he feeds adalaide. i finish dinner. i catch him eating the baby’s food. seriously?

6:30 pm: dinner time. yummy. note how much i love pioneer woman.

7:00 pm: clean up. get really excited when i see that we’ll get a second meal out of the leftovers. less cooking tomorrow night!

7:25 pm:  finley builds a fort.

7:45 pm: bedtime routine-potty, jammers, dipe change, bottle for the babe, brush teeth, devotional, 1 song, prayers. prayers briefly interrupted so that finley could inform me ‘she tooted’. 3 kisses, 3 hugs. blankets and animals in place. door closed, but not latched. put adalaide to bed.

8:10 pm: collapse on couch with brian. baby goes crazy in my belly, like every night at this time. note how much i love it. watch modern family. hurt myself laughing so hard. seriously.

10:10 pm: to bed we go.

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While we were playing in a fort, i thought the girls look especially cute. I grabbed a couple flowers and my camera. Could finley be anymore of a poser? She makes me laugh!

2010

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When i think about the last year, the feelings that come to mind are ‘simple, stable, and content’. Even though we did a lot {remodeled our house, had a baby, got pregnant with another baby, and moved} it feels like it’s been a really low-key year. With every year that goes by, I think we are settling into our roles as husband/wife and parents a little better. That’s not to say that we’re perfecting our roles…that couldn’t be farther from the truth! I guess, as time goes on and our family grows, we’re learning to have a little more grace and lightheartedness.
If we learned anything from our firstborn, it’s that IT. GOES. FAST. In the blink of an eye Finley has turned into a sassy, brilliant, hilarious three year old. And our baby is on the verge of being not-so-babyish. We look forward to watching our girls grow and all the fun that comes with having older children, but we also know the importance of savoring each moment with them. Over the last couple months I’ve been paying closer attention to how I spend my time. Sure, I’m home with the girls 24-7, but if i’m not intentional with my time, the days get filled up with to-do lists, projects i want to get done, surfing the internet, etc. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, I’m just working on finding a balance that’s good for everyone. I’m hoping that as we go into a new year, and welcome another baby, it’s something that i’ll continue to think about.

Sometimes we look at how much our lives have changed in the last few years and laugh. We have no nightlife {how embarrassing is it that i fell asleep before midnight on NYE!}, we don’t go on exotic vacations, and we would rather buy a light fixture for our house than eat a meal at a fancy restaurant. We are really boring by a lot of people’s standards.

But, I will tell you this, 2010 was full of:

dance parties
slobbery kisses
forts
silly toddler humor
adorable baby babble
and family snuggle time in our bed.

the season of life we’re in might not be the most glamorous or exciting {unless you’re like me and you get excited about a solid nights sleep, or baby poop that is the proper consistency}. but, it sure is rewarding and oh so fun.

 the other morning we brought the girls in our bed for a few minutes before we started the day. for some reason they love playing in our bed. adalaide goes especially crazy over all the down and pillows. i listened to them laugh and squeal and i couldn’t help smiling. Then i remembered that in a little while we’ll be making room for another little girl, and i just felt so complete and content. i know this is incredibly mushy, but God has given us so much. I am just so thankful for my husband, our kids, our cozy home, and the simple things that bring us joy.

wishing you a very wonderful 2011.

and now you can throw up.

santa

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ready to go see santa

neither one had any clue that scary ol’ santa was behind them, but adalaide was terrified of the camera man who got in her personal space. there was no rallying her around, so it looks like we can add another crying santa picture to the mantel.

bliss

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have you ever had a cranberry bliss bar from starbucks? they are, well…blissful.
a couple years ago my mom found the recipe and we’ve been enjoying these treats every holiday season.

recipe:

  • cake
    3/4 c. softened butter
    1 1/4 c. light brown sugar
    3 eggs
    2 Tbs minced candied or crystallized ginger
    1 1/2 tsp vanilla
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 1/2 c. flour
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    3/4-1 cup diced, dried cranberries {i get them from trader joes}
    4 oz white chocolate, chopped {good quality white choc. chips work fine too}
    bake in a jelly roll pan, lined with parchment paper
    at 350 for 14-17 minutes

frosting
8 oz cream cheese
6 tsp fresh orange juice + orange zest from whole orange
1 tsp vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar

sprinkle additional chopped cranberries on top of frosting.
this makes a ton of frosting, so feel free not to use all of it.

proud parents

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this is a video of finley telling the christmas story. it’s a little shaky at first, and i think adalaide is pooping in the background, but stick with it. she’s the cutest!

if you’re in google reader, you may have to come to my page for the video to work.

finley recently started writing her name. i wish i could take credit for teaching her how to do it…she just busted it out all her own. yes it’s backwards, but from what i remember from my teaching days, this is pretty normal for beginners.

also, i just have to share this story. i recently went to a new moms group at brian’s family’s church. i took finley down to the childcare and dropped her off with two adults she’s never met. while i was signing her in, the man told me that the 2, 3, and 4 year olds would be going upstairs to perform in front of the women’s christmas party. i immediately got anxious because i know how shy finley gets in front of strangers, let alone hundreds of people. she’s never been on stage before or in any kind of performance, so i was sort of nervous how she was going to react. later on when the kids came on stage i made my way to the front. she looked nervous, but she gave me a big wave. she didn’t know the first song, but they handed out bells for the 2nd song {she loves instruments} and this time she knew the words. Up on that huge stage, surrounded by little kids she’s never met, she carefully rang her bell in sync with the instructor, and she BUSTED OUT THE WORDS TO JINLGE BELLS. i cried. i tried not to cry too hard, but i was so proud of her. and she was so proud of herself. on our drive home she had me call daddy, and both grandmas to tell them that she ‘went on stage’.

another christmas miracle…

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…getting the four of us to smile and look decent in the SAME picture.

oh, and it didn’t help that we attempted to get a picture while we were all sick.

here are some outtakes from our christmas card photo shoot. silly me didn’t bother ‘reviewing’ the pictures and my poor mom knows nothing about camera settings. so 95% of the pictures are out of focus and overexposed. oh well, we got something that worked in the end.

this makes me laugh. brian is done posing, and i’m saying ‘come on, just a couple more’.

seriously?!

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you guys.
my baby is 9 months old.
three-quarters of a year.
how is this possible?

she is on the go and into everything.

her favorite place to explore is the bathroom.
 she loves to crawl in there and stand up at the tub, reaching for the bath toys.
taking a bath is her favorite activity.
she squeals, and laughs, and splashes a ridiculous amount of water out of the tub.
but, i kinda don’t care because it’s so cute to watch.

she pulls herself up, and walks along furniture.

she is the best eater.
she loves sitting at the table eating finger foods {cheerios and tofu are her favorite}.

she has her four front teeth and a couple more on the way.
her hair is starting to curl a little, which is really exciting because i really
want one of our girls to get the adorable curls brian had when he was little.

she is very attached to her blankie.

brian likes to think that she’s a ‘daddy’s girl’.

her whole face crinkles when she smiles.


i am slightly jealous of her eyelashes.
strangers comment on them a lot. they also call her boy a lot.

we love her so much and can’t believe how fast 9 months has flown by!

thanksgiving

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We have so much to be thankful for this year, namely…
:: our new home
:: our health
:: brian’s work
:: our families
:: our wonderful girls
:: our baby girl {and a smooth pregnancy}
:: and most importantly our Heavenly Father

This year was especially fun because finley really got into the spirit of thankfulness.
We’ve had many, many conversations about what each of us are grateful for.

This year she is thankful for
:: hailey
:: salami
:: for “being a princess”
:: singing
:: adalaide

hope you had a great thanksgiving as well. now on to christmas decorating!

{even though we couldn’t make it all the way up the mountain to get our tree. boo.}