Randomness

 I love the beautiful trails here in Northern Cali- even if I can't run them, because of baby, I still like to walk them!

 Did I mention that Brett left us for 10 days to go to Costa Rica?!?! well, he did! And we were sooo happy when he got home! (especially since that meant I didn't have to sleep with every light on in the house anymore :) 

He went for some training for work. He had a good time, but it was really just work the whole time.

 10 days is a long time to be without dad. we had to to come up with some fun things to do. Washing both cars one day kept Parker thoroughly entertained- although all he wanted to do was spray me with the hose!

 To split up the time we went up to Reno to visit my sister and her 4 girls. It was a blast and Parker loved being surrounded by his girl cousins

 They taught him awesome things like wearing bows in your hair...

 having picnics...

 and even how to wear high heels! (sorry brett)

 we had fun at the park too. Reno is so pretty, just being at the park made me feel like we were camping at Tahoe. The smells from the pine trees and the mountain air are beautiful!

 And of course it wouldn't be the start of summer without Benicia's farmers markets!

 And Parker loves riding his bike, just like papa.

Exciting News!

 Parker making pizza dough- not the exciting news, but just adorable :)

 We celebrated Brett's 27 birthday this year with the family! I made a Neapolitan cake- it was super delicious! And we had a million cupcakes for all the kids- it was so fun.  I am so thankful for Brett and for the amazing man he is. He is such a hard worker, and he is the BEST dad ever, and an amazing husband and best friend. I'm so thankful for him in my life!

 For Brett's Birthday weekend I planned a secret date and kept it a secret for like a week! which is a record for me. usually brett's really good at getting surprises out of me- but I kept him guessing all week long. I loved it. :)

We went to the Dead Fish for dinner. It's a restaurant in Crockett, right on the water. It was delicious. I got some crab pasta and Brett got some shrimp/crab alfredo. I want to go back soon, first because it was so yummy, and second because I want to order a big roasted crab that I get to crack open and eat! it just sounds so fun, and I wish I wouldn't have ordered it that night!
After dinner we went and saw Iron Man 3, super good movie!
Brett was in heaven- he loves seeing movies, and when you have a baby it's a rare occurrence to be able to go! Thank you mom and dad for watching Parker for the night so we could have such a fun date! :)

 The exciting news!!

Parker will be a big brother in November! We are really excited and feel so blessed, especially after I had a miscarriage earlier this year. It makes me so thankful for my healthy pregnancy so far. 

Parker says it's girl- but we'll find out June 25th! 

We are really happy about it!

Our days

Our days are filled with things like putting diapers on Elmo, catching snakes (not me!) re-doing furniture and hanging out with friends.
There's still a lot of work to do on the house, mainly the yard- but we are loving having a home and being close to friends and family!

lots of work

 This is the back of our house- we have this huge, super old wisteria plant that is covering our backyard overhang- and during the warm days, it is swarming with huge, black bumble bees. like the biggest bees I've ever seen. You walk outside and just hear a humm- from all the bees. It's actually pretty cool and not scary because the bees never come down from the top layer. 

our yard needs work, we just had a new fence put in this weekend (the old one was literally falling down and we could see our neighbors pool- not so comforting when my 2 year old can see it too)

we're getting ready to rip up the dead grass to lay sod soon- so dad and parker are always covered in dirt!

the inside was pretty much ready to go- we had our sofa delivered yesterday, so I'm almost ready to post pictures of the inside! ;)

 Constant Projects!!

 Parker is such a "help" :)

kitchen table

of course I did not take any "before" photos. I don't know why I can never remember to do that. But basically this table was one giant hunk of brown, scratched wood. My parents found it on the side of the road and my mom's "eye" knew it would make a great kitchen table! 

So they offered it to us, and my mom helped me re-do it! 

It has been perfect for our kitchen and we loved it. 

we added knobs and the white bottom paint, then distressed it and added a poly finish so it is nice and shiny. The top already had some time of laminate finish, so i re-stained the wood and then finished it off with a poly finish too. 

pictures of it in my kitchen coming soon! (as soon as I clean the kitchen up a bit :)

poor blog + a great link

This poor blog has been so neglected! Part of the reason is because every time I think of doing a blog post- I think of how much I have to catch up on and that exhausts me!

So, I'm just going to bite the bullet, and give you 7 pictures and a video that has basically summed up our past couple months.. we have very exciting lives apparently- it only takes 7 pictures to sum up 2 months for us ;)

 We bought a house! (pictures of the house coming soon) 

being in a house is awesome. having a yard for Parker to get his wiggles out is even more awesome- having a helper to clean/vacuum for me is the awesomest

 My handsome boys ready for church on our new area rug that I love

signing our lives away on a million pieces of paper for our house!

We are still madly in love :)

I was definitely spoiled for my 24th birthday this year- we went to Ruth Christ steak house. basically, one of my favorite all time places in the world. Brett and Parker also brought me breakfast in bed that morning- which as it turned out Parker was confused and thought that HE was getting breakfast in bed- so he stole my bacon and smeared it all over our bed sheets. 

I know what you're thinking, "wow Emily, bacon for breakfast and steak and lobster for dinner? you pig." But remember- it was birthday. Your body doesn't recognize calories/fat on your birthday, you didn't know that??

 

my mom and my 3 sisters and I went on a girls trip to Tahoe in early march-

It was so so fun and just the break I needed. 

 we ate delicious food, and treats and watched all the chick flicks we wanted and no one complained that it there wasn't enough guns or fighting or shooting. It was great!

 + i recently found this article on another blog today and I thought it was so applicable to me, and I thought it would be a good read for a lot of ppl : 19 things to stop doing in your 20's. 
(even if you're not in your 20's- it's still a great read)

This would be busy Parker these days. If he's not dancing, he's singing, if he's not singing then it's to quiet and you know he's doing something naughty like putting a whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet and trying to flush it. which he did this week too.

WHEW... ok, that takes care of the catch up! no more back tracking!

p.s. I have a goal of at least posting every other day starting Monday of next week. I like to document things so I don't forget them! Hopefully I can follow through!

Catching Up

Have I mentioned that life is crazy right now? That we're in this weird transient, not settled, part of our life? we are in the process (fingers crossed) of buying a home here in the Bay Area, close to family & friends. We are so excited, and are hoping to be in our new home beginning of February. 

sooooo.... since we decided to move out of our apartment to look for a home, we are living with Brett's parents right now, before we get into our home. 

Living with his parents has been great. really, it has. It's been fun and a great change from our apartment living, including hiking up 3 flights of stairs and carrying bags of groceries + a squirmy baby + my diaper bag + whatever other junk I didn't want to leave in the car. It was not fun, that's what I'm trying to say. 

As fun as it's been at his parents, something happens to you when you're not living at your own place, with your own things + your own "house hold" responsibilities. Hmmm.. what's the word??

oh ya.. LAZY!! 

haha, I've been such a slacker on so many levels including updating this blog. 

Brett and I always joke that we will get better at "Y" or "X" or something equally as important when we "finally get into a house".

 

Well, we've said this so frequently over the past couple months that I'm afraid that our list of things we need to improve on is HUGE!

But, we aren't in a house yet, remember? so.. we don't have to start just yet. ;)

Anyway, as misplaced as our lives have been over these past couple moths, here are a few highlights:

 My newest niece Kennedy Jewel Blodgett was born 1/5!

(That makes niece/nephew # 29 for Brett and I, with #30 coming this July!)

 Parker goes to the Dr. for some shots and tells the nurse "Dank Doo" for his shots, and he has no tears. 

"That's a first" is what she told me. Little does she know, this boy was thankful for the awesome cameo band-aids she gave him, not some needles poking into his little chubby legs. 

 My adorable niece Nora in her newest Christmas hat

 Parker & Duncan

 Parker helped with this gingerbread house for like 30 min. And he was very careful putting candy pieces on + licking frosting off his fingers alternately! This boy loves to help his mom in the kitchen, whenever I'm in the middle of a meal or dessert making, he tries to pull his chair up to help me stir, mix, beat or whatever it entails.

I love it, and I want it to become a regular thing of ours- I want to raise a boy who loves to cook!