rainboots...

never a dull moment. or silent moment. or a say in what she wears anymore. 

:)

a date with some animals...

(i'll let you guess on the "animals" afore mentioned.)

my cute mom took me & my littles on a date to baby animal days last week. it was hhhhhhot. (i swear the first hot day of the season is like the first snowfall of the season. mass confusion. and chaos. and no one quite knows what to do with themselves.)

elle was delirious with...  heat? exhaustion? feeling sick of her mom? (probably the latter.) jude was uncomfortable because he was smothering in his hot clothing. it was seriously one of those moments when i was trying to balance the car seat (too heavy). then the bjorn (too hot). then in-arm (sun's in his eyes). bless that boy, he just wanted sleep! then there was elle. grumpy, hungry elle who just wanted attention. i'm like a lost, confused puppy at times, clueless what to do with two. you think i'd be used to this by now! alas, no.

my mom was so nice. and patient. i was a horrible date! sorry mom. i'm a hot mess. (no pun intended.)

^^just pointing out he's in 6-9 month clothing. at 2 months. bam! chunk.

^^the horse ride was so fast this is the only picture i got of elle! ON.OFF. :)

^^$4? poor things! i always feel bad when living things have a price tag. nothing like giving a dollar amount to measure one's worth:-/ awkward!

^^when did elle turn 12? she acts looks 12.

because i think this is what life now consists of...

... random moments. not really events per say, because i never manage to take more than 4 photos at a single time with my camera. lugging a 14 lb. baby in addition to his 14 lb. car seat & elle & a bag & myself means the camera is, well, not with my cargo.

so here's another post of randoms. just in case you were wondering.

^^ elle makes me braid her hair each night before bed "just like the little girls do to rapunzel in the market!" each morning when the braids come out she measures it to see how she's doing. hey, she even volunteered to let me slide down from our balcony soon when it's long enough. so generous, that child;)

^^ elle planted a bean (bean? not sure) at preschool a few weeks ago, and watches it 1,409 times a day to see if it's grown. i told her it'll take some time (more than a day or two), and she asked if she could bring it to her wedding. "miss charity [her preschool teacher] will be so proud of me when i show her after my wedding is all done!"

^^ has anyone been to jdawgs? i went with my coworkers in provo after some serious fun work for byu women's conference. ever since? i'm still craving those darn dawgs.

^^ hey, jude! (na na na na na na na na...) just because i can't get enough of that boy. couldn't you just eat that face? nom nom nom.

^^ have i mentioned before? not sure... this boy? yah, forget peeing on us. he poops on us. he's peed on us, maybe once? twice? nothing maj. poop? i cannot count the times. literally. daily. jet-propelled poop. liquified, disgusting, nasty, wet poop that soaks through and stains everything. (are you still reading?) our bedding needs washed twice a week. as does his car seat. i've nearly-concluded i should do cloth diapers just because i'm covered in poop anyway all the time. he's just so darn cute though. and proud of his talent. anyway, this is his giddiness post-poopage.

i just like his superhero pose. and tongue. he always has that tongue out, that kid.

11 weeks>>>

i've decided that jude's first 11 weeks have been sooooooooooo much nicer than my first 11 weeks being pregnant. i was thinking about that time span- how strange it is- 11 weeks. 

it seems so insignificant and random. but so much can change in 11 weeks.

then? i was so sick. it was so hot. i was miserable. he was a, what, spec still? a spec that made me feel like poop-face day-in and day-out. i couldn't sleep. i couldn't eat. 

i seriously doubted whether or not another baby was a good idea!

i still feared losing this baby inside me.

we were getting ready to leave for europe and i was completely terrified to travel that far and be so miserable...

it's been 11 weeks since jude entered our world and totally changed everything. 

i can't say enough good about this boy.

i love him more than i could have ever imagined.

i had no idea how amazing babies could be (sorry elle. no offense:)

since he likes to wake up (again) for the day around 5am (yes....5am...), i decided to go on a little run while mike stayed in bed. jude layed there. pooped a few times. puked a few times. you know, the life of an infant. 

he cooed. and giggled. and babbled loudly. he was just in a diaper since, well, he pooped and puked through a few onesies already. 

just after i left, mike said elle came in and crawled into bed where i laid jude. not knowing mike was watching, she just played with him gently...

she's such an incredible sister. 

the two of them together are something magical i tell you.

i adore these babies of mine.

i've adored these last 11 weeks of mine. 

ps- that hairline! don't you just die? awesomeness i tell you.

i'm sensing a lot of digging in our future...

over the weekend we went to the new house to add a few extra tv jacks. my dad came over to teach us   do most everything   help with the install. mike & i were reminded how un-handy we are. but we're learning! 

(by we, i mean mike.)

while the boys worked, elle made food out of dirt (she's so resourceful!). ^^ above she's adding "sugar" to some "cake." yuh-ummm!

^^ after the 98th time of me saying, "GROSS! don't touch that! it's not yours... and it's dirty!" i gave up. whatever. hence the styrofoam headband. 

oh, and why not play with a used 7-eleven cup and spoon while you're at it? awesome. i'm sure they're super sanitary. (*gag*)

^^while elle played & the boys worked, the littlest boy sat in his carseat as i stood and rocked him with my foot (my talents are plentiful).

i delighted in the shade under our covered porch like a little old lady. 

it was 70 degrees, breezy, and perfectly sunny- just about the most lovely day any person could ask for!

^^ taking my order at the drive-through via her "notebook" and "pen." 

naturally, i ordered a malt. can you tell? 

rock = malt. nail = straw. 

^^ after repeating (again) not to throw sawdust in the air, she ignored, and ended up with sawdust in her eye. after a good weep-fest, i cuddled her like mommies do, and she fell asleep. i remember her doing that once before taking off on a flight to ohio... when she was 4 months old. i have no other memories of that happening in elle's existence. she also stayed asleep as i walked around, the boys pounded and sawed, and as i laid her down and picked her up again for more cuddles. oh, golly it was fun.

^^ back at home, jude stretched out from all that car seat confinement.

^^ and having nothing to do with saturday, other than the weather was almost as nice, jude wore his first pair of shoes to church. i'm not sure why baby shoes are made, since one was lost by the time we got to church. but that's ok. they're cute for about 17 seconds while they stay on:)

new house...

sooooo... we're building a house! 

(like 1/8 mile from where we live now.)

this whole 4 people in 850 sq. ft. thing is tough! we have no extra space. no closet. no extra bathroom. no extra anything, really! jude's smashed in our room, meaning our tiny (non-walk-in) closet is blocked by the pack-n-play, so we really can't reach clothes without jumping on the bed and doing downward-facing-dog to reach clothes... super fun! elle and jude can't share a room yet because he's the loudest sleeper on planet earth (with your eyes closed, you'd swear you were at the zoo!), and because he likes to wake up and eat (*sigh*). 

it's tiring.

after talking to a realtor (or two. or three. or four), our fears were confirmed- we likely won't break even for a few more years, and since we can't imagine years more of squishy living, we looked into renting our condo and moving. the good news? the stars aligned and literally forced us in this direction. we felt (feel) extremely irrational and nervous carrying two mortgages, and renting our our first place, but we know that things are happening for a reason. we love the area, and are so excited to stay! we also love that we can walk/drive by the house multiple times a day week:) 

(no really, we walk by every night. aaaand drive by every morning.)

if you follow me on instagram, you've seen the near-daily progression. they're bookin' it! in less than 48 hours we went from a hole with cement... to a 2-story house (this was sunday when we only had a first floor. now it's completely framed, some walls are up, and windows and duct-work are in!) >>>

more to come!

date day...

^^ one of mike's best friends from high school got married on saturday, and mike & i made a day out of it thanks (once again) to my lovely parents; we went to the temple sealing and wedding luncheon while the kidlets were with my parents. it's been ages since we went to a sealing in the temple, and it was so neat to sit together and remember the covenants we made almost 8 years ago (EIGHT!?)... not to mention we were married for forever (FOREVER!?) in that same room:) 

after the ceremony, we ran in the rain (romantic, eh!?) to the mall- hey, when you're kid-less, you take advantage! and let me tell you: determined adults can do damage in a mall without kids. even when one is wearing heels. (blisters? totally worth it.) we decided 2 hours was "too long to wait for food" (the best excuse we could agree on), so we went to johnny rockets and ordered to-go: an oreo malt & onion rings. they split the malt so we could share (ooooh!)... which just meant i drank both anyway (oh.), and got twice the whip cream (i have an addiction). 

more running in the rain. 

a great luncheon. 

followed by a couple hours to play as a family, and off to the reception with the kiddos for more fun & a crepe bar i may have hit up twice. (not including the fact that i ate mike's crepes, too. and maybe elle's when she wasn't looking. 

( see, it's no wonder mike is so skinny. i eat all his food.)

FUNDAY!