digging in the dirt & general conference weekend.

moments like this ^^ (and this & this) are purely elle. she is on all the time. straight-up energy and drama and enthusiasm from sunrise (pre-sunrise, let's be honest), to sunset.

 wait for it...

...bam! frozen.

long live the days of being elsa.

the next best thing for elle after being elsa, is to dig in the dirt we still call a yard...

...followed closely by being attacked by her dad. 
who makes her laugh until she pees her pants. 

what a great general conference weekend! mike & i went to the conference center on saturday morning, and "watched" the rest of the sessions from home (watching is a relative term with kids around). we baked lots and went on a few walks in between. 

oh, and of course, did more digging in the dirt. 

*styling of elle done by elle herself. as always. there's nothing like it! :)

week 1...

mike was able to take this whole week off work. awesome! except... every time i think of him going back to work on monday i tear up (or cry. usually i cry). i have no clue how i'll do this alone. i feel totally inadequate! how lame am i?? we've never had 11 straight days just being together at home... trading off trying to catch a cat nap a day (if we're lucky). wearing pj's 24/7. waking up 5 times a night in a sleepy stupor to a squealing baby. getting used to feeding a human 8+ times a day (do you even pee 8 times a day? 8!? that's a lot!). balancing the needs and cuddles of a perfect newborn while also trying to entertain a 3-year-old in less than 900 square feet mid-winter (we did go on a long walk outside today- how delightful!). adjusting to 2 is so different than 1, but it's been such a wonderful week of family time...

^^ "playing with elle."

^^ in my lipstick for the 20th time in one day.

^^ helping give jude a bath.

^^ daddy/daughter date.

how to make your pregnant wife pee her pants before halloween...

(scene: sunday morning in the crazy petersen house. amanda on the couch, trying to finish her lesson before church. making a cake for dessert. trying to entertain a sassy 3-year-old who somehow has lost the ability to hear most of what i say since she turned 3 almost a month ago...)

mike: "i'll be back in 4 minutes..."

(mike disappears into the bathroom, turns on fan. elle & amanda look at each other with puzzled faces. amanda resumes her lesson. elle resumes throwing pillows off the couch, narrowly missing a cup of teetering apple juice.)

...10 minutes pass...

(mike comes RUNNING OUT OF THE BATHROOM wielding a bat, looking like this... clown music playing eerily in the background. insert a giddy elle, and screaming amanda, who is fairly certain she will die at any moment. amanda hates clowns.)

i yelled at him for quite some time afterwards. not.cool.

a short while later while i thought mike was in taking a shower, he proceeded to LEAP from behind a door and tackle me to the ground, pin me down, and scream in a terrifying clown voice in my face.

i proceeded to scream like i was being murdered, and naturally, peed my pants.

so.mean.

you cannot do this stuff to a pregnant woman. or... me... anytime.

you thought i was kidding with the peeing my pants thing? yah, i wasn't.

p.s. - i maybe almost peed my pants while taking these pictures. he kept creeping up on me. 

UGH! i hate clowns.

elle's 3rd birthday weekend...

we had lots of cupcakes. and a cake. on multiple days. we celebrated friday - monday (her actual birthday). monday while mike worked, elle & i got gussied up- she requested i do her hair curly (repeated 3 times in one day thanks to that silky hair that refuses to hold curls), and paint her nails. my nails were also requested to match. we met mike for a lunch date (elle's lunch request: cafe rio), followed by playing in the grass and some sunshine. that night, one more round of fun, this time, a little family party with a super fancy cake made from scratch by her amazing daddy + in-n-out for dinner (don't count our calories), + visits by my parents, and mike's dad and fiance... oh, the fun we all had! also shown below: multiple dresses. stick-on earrings (remember those!??!). fingers topped with olives. daddy coming home w/ a card & flower for the birthday girl. elle learning to cross her eyes at the dinner table- hil-arious. not photographed: elle's reaction as she opened each gift, repeated multiple times (beginning before she actually got to the present inside): *gasp. gasp!* "OHH! it's SOOOOOOO kuh-UUUUU-TE! ohhhh!!!!" her long-anticipated tangled wedding dress was revealed (she's obsessed with brides), and our entire house (including our vaulted ceilings) are covered in gold glitter. still. a week later:) man, she's cute though! if anyone's in the market, that dress is the nicest, most well-made princess dress, ever! it's so pretty! :) she was one lucky lady- thanks from us all for all her fun presents and birthday wishes!!

if we were to play favorites...

...mike would totally win. his daddy skills blow my mommy skills out of the water. 

while mike was out of town, i took elle on girl dates- i.e.: to share a bagel, ride the train (well, you know!). cool  stuff, right? right!

apparently while i was gone, mike took elle to a princess festival. seriously? a princess festival? seriously, mike- why didn't you just take her to disneyland?  i can't compete with this.

here is how their time together fared...

splash pad // princess festival // "reading" a map rather than a book