boo.

i do so well with posting and then this... nothing. crickets.
i suck.

i'm hoping to kick blogging ass in january. well, maybe starting the sixth, not the first. we shall see. it's been beyond hectic with the holidays and nick's work and a four year old and five month old! as much as i love looking back on the blog, there are just some days when i want the two hours i get to myself before my bedtime, when i don't want it to be spent blogging. there is a husband, and tv shows or movies, and cleaning or baths and books that sometimes win out.

so stay tuned. ;)

ten on tuesday. 12.17.13

- i am in love with this chapstick. that's saying a lot. i'm not a big 'chapstick' brand girl.

- have a new favorite shot: pineapple juice, grenadine, and vanilla vodka. so good.

- got a ten year present from work. didn't realize i received my coworker's. had the wrong engraving on the back. oopsie. guess i was super excited to open that ipad air!

- ben is so excited for christmas. he's counting down the days now that we're in single digits!

- think i need to start collecting gloves/mittens for ben. he lost one today. it was on mitten clips and he only walked outside to go to pee wee sports. not even for recess!

- it was snowing this evening and my mom was going to finish her christmas shopping. showed her amazon. she was done in 5 minutes. and she said i'm her favorite daughter. {ha!} ;)

- as much as i hate the craziness of december, i love that i'm getting to spend time with friends that i don't usually get to see. so thankful that everything fell on different weekends for the first time in years!

- i need to purge my closet. again. just did it when melie was born. think i'm going to start a home organizing/cleaning project in the new year. seemed to work well when i did it a few years ago.

- melie is starting to laugh spontaneously. so fun.

- cookie exchange and pot luck at work today. why do people call it a carry in? any who. my taco dips were a hit. made two hoping to bring some home and they were both gone!

20 things.

love this. hope it's not too tiny. couldn't find a source. had to copy directly from pinterest. ;)

photo friday. it's not even winter!

i really did not want to get out of bed yesterday!

Pop Danthology 2013 - Mashup of 68 songs!

so fun. love mash ups!

apple trifecta

i'm not a fan of either photo. didn't have the patience to walk around and find good lighting. so i'm sharing two crappy pictures of three fabulous pieces of electronics. yay for the new mac book and iPad joining my trusty ole iPhone. {i've missed my macbook terribly and i'm super excited to play with the iPad!}

ten on tuesday. 12.10.13

- brr. i'm ready for spring.

- pretty sure that my christmas cards are going to be valentine's day cards instead. ;)

- after the giant blogging push, i have lost all motivation again. hopefully, soon!

- i've been told that little miss amelia has to wear her tutu every bears game from here on out!

- i think i only need to buy gift cards and i'm officially done with christmas shopping.

- elfred hasn't visited this year. maybe he will still pop in? {ugh, i suck this year!}

- forgot i had to walk through snow to get to work yesterday and wore my crocs. yeah, i'm a thinker at 650am!

- i found a new addiction: pink lemonade emergen c. think i have a new something to add to our subscribe and save purchases each month!

- ben is fighting the sniffles. hoping he holds em off and that melie stays strong too!

- got a new mario game. nick didn't even know about it. what kind of gamer is he? now to find the time to play it!

bear down!

they're ready. :) go bears!

wordless wednesday. my two cutie pies.

per ben's request. a photo with his sister. 11/30/13. i phone photo. edited in instagram. 

ten on tuesday 12.3.13

- i did it! blogged every day in november. thank goodness i did that challenge or i never would have caught up!

-  got my posts out of order, chronologically, again. i suck. oh well.

- got a new coat. hooray black friday sale. it's an omni-heat from columbia and it's super warm. which is saying a lot for me. i'm always cold. can never find a good coat.

- cannot believe it is december. where has 2013 gone?

- trying to figure out how to rearrange my living room for the darn tree! all this baby stuff makes it crowded!

- i really dislike migraines. especially ones that last for 24+ hours.

- really wanting to find time to go through all of the presents i've purchased and finish up my shopping!

- looking forward to friend time this weekend.

- i want to reread the hunger games trilogy again. feel like i forgot everything when we watched catching fire.

- tried to not be a mac snob. but i am. i can't help it. i just prefer em over other computers.

amelia marie: four months.

ben's four month post. 


- weighs 16.1 pounds! holy what?! and is 24.5 inches. 
- started laughing.
- mastered rolling over.
- wearing size 1 diapers. just til we run out. she should be in size 2s!
- in 3-6 month clothing.
- found her feet and loves them. like it's an obsession.
- still blows bubbles like crazy.
- taking 6oz of formula every 3-5 hours during the day.
- sleeping from 9-630 every day!
- is still a pretty chill baby.
- loves holding your thumb.
- fights napping... still.
- likes to be sitting up. i think she's nosey.
- isn't the biggest fan of standing, yet.
- has the cutest inverted squeal. is that what it's called? ugh, i suck.

miss rosy cheeks.

she tried to grab mr. bear.

hey good looking. how you doing?

weee! i'm a happy girl.

phew. i'm tired.

what chu looking at?

her innocent pose. who knew babies had so many faces?

uh, mom... a little help here!?

feet!

imma get you!

love! 

and laying with mr. polky bear. 

this is fun! mom can't catch one with my legs out. i'm fast!

wip 11.16.13

friday:
a lazy day home.
love watching her sleep. sorry for all the sleeping baby pictures.

nick brought dinner. that's a whole lotta fries!
had a picnic night. watched a movie. can't even remember what! so sad since i'm actually only a two weeks behind in posting these. i need to keep more detailed notes!

saturday:
got up early with this cutie pie.

nick had to go to work. my mom came to visit with ben. he complained to grandma that she only spends time with baby. that she leaves when he gets home.

nick got back and we had visitors. had planned on making meyer's specials. it was raining and yucky. so we turned them into grilled versions on the stove. still super tasty.

ben and his olive fingers.

declan and his sword swallowing skills. let me tell you, dave was very proud!

mike enjoying our endless supply of candy. we never eat it. some of it is probably 2 years old!

the babies.

the boys.

plus two more boys.

playing frisbee.

nick convinced dave to stay and watch superman with him. steph had to leave and do a thirtyone party thing. mike and ry had baby stuff to do. i tried to sleep on the floor. didn't really happen with miss sage running around. oh well.

sunday:
nick and ben ran out to target and jimmy john's. then the crazy storm rolled in and we spent some time in the basement. thankfully, we were okay and so was the house.

came back upstairs and watched some football and ben and nick played with ben's new bow and arrow.

this little girl enjoyed making silly faces. 

ben wanted to hold his sister.

 

once the kids were asleep we watched more football. totally should have switched to something that wasn't kid appropriate. it's funny how we forget. like when disney jr is on and the kids have been asleep for like an hour!

wip 11.9.13

friday:
ran out super early. got a pedicure. {still searching for a good one.} picked up amelia's birth certificate. how did we forget about it?! was hoping to get home before our peapod delivery. it was supposed to come after 11. i got home at 1030 and my mom was putting it away!

miss cutie pie loves her giraffe. 

and naps on her mommy.

called it a night early. had a busy day planned.

saturday:
trip to michigan with the girls. we had talked about it at one of our girl's nights. completely forgot about it and then saw it on the calendar. we decided to give it a go. even if it was way last minute.

val drove and shelli was copilot. raquel and i chilled in the backseat. shelli made us take the scenic route and pointed out the red and yellow trees. it was kind of late in the season so they weren't super plentiful. but still pretty. we passed aunt teek's. took me a minute to figure it out. they all had a good laugh on my behalf. 

shelli's shoes. only shelli would have a pin that told her what foot to wear what shoe.

it was windy. windy. had some strangers take our pictures.

i am not one to pass up a swing.

pretty lighthouse. such an awesome blue sky, too.

the water almost got her. ;)

just so pretty.

we walked the strip and did some shopping and a wine tasting. never heard of warner wines. the lady who served us was awesome!

i am in love! my garage smells so much better after this stuff! sorry amelia.

and my husband requested the adult version....

these were my favorite when i was little! 

lunch at the stray dog.

the best pizza: pesto, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and red onions. delicious!

drove around and started out winery tour. first stop: karma vista. love their vibe. we were not a fan of our server.

thankfully, they had pretty views to make up for the stinky lady!

had to do some non alcoholic activities.
chocolate garden. {if some of these look familiar, it's because nick and i did a similar tour about a year ago.}

i decided to go with the white chocolate ones. something different.

and cider mill since it's practically next door to the chocolate place.

silly girls went and played at the dinosaur farm.

i was distracted by the cool clouds and sunlight.

back to liquor!
round barn. so crowded. not very fun. usually i really like them. it was just too crazy and disorganized.

gravity. i really like it there. maybe not the best wines. but i love that it's paired. and you can sit quietly at a table.

got a text from nick while we were there. ben wanted meatballs so nick ordered out. {we did have meaballs in the freezer but i guess that's a lot of work!} and i asked if they even changed out of their jammies. he responded that they hadn't and it was wonderful!

i was distracted and a certain red shoe-d friend stole my chocolate and replaced it with a twix!

more cute boy pictures.

and a cute girl for good measure.

decided to try our this distillery.  had made some friends when we were shopping in new buffalo. we ran into them at every shop. then joked about the fact that we were all planning on lunching at the stray dog. couldn't believe it when we sat down next to them! chatted with them about our plans for the rest of the day. joked about meeting them for dinner. actually ran into them again at round barn and they had mentioned that they stopped here. decided to give it a go. was on our way back home.

brought nick a growler of cider something.

came home relatively early. was a long day. we were gone for 12 hours. had planned on staying the night and then something came up with one of the girls so we played it by ear and just called it a night.

sunday:
nick went to work and i hung out with the kidlets.

miss happy, chubby-pants found her feet!

hung out and enjoyed one another once nick got home. i really like having one day to do nothing and just spend time together. not rushing around or anything.

pulled up her activity center.
i think she likes it! doesn't stay in it for very long. still a bit too little. but so fun to see her interact with things.