stupid technology

I decided to update the blog and in doing so lost all of my stalkees. SO not worth it.

I went hiking.

This deserves its own blog post because it's a real rarity. I think I have been on, like, 2 voluntary hikes in my life. I have actually been on 6-ish total (4 of those were for girls camp certification, so it really doesn't count because I was forced to go to certify--sneaky church).

Anyway, we went hiking Saturday at Stewart Falls. Here is the proof:

 nature!

He's so dang cute.

This was the only one where Oliver was looking...

So there you go. I'm a hiker!

Oh, this picture has nothing to do with the hike, but it's pretty precious, so I had to include it:

 (Sean's intramural game)

crafty mccrafterson

When we lived in Texas, I spent nearly every, waking moment at my sister's apartment (she lived approximately 20 seconds from my front door). One afternoon we impulsively decided to make a quilt. Here was the problem: I didn't own a sewing machine (well, I actually had owned one, but decided to return it behind my mother's back for store credit--don't worry she knows now and I have gone through the stages of grief and remorse (even though, bless my mom's heart, she just laughed at me and said, "How does it feel to have spent that money on a machine when I had already bought you one?")--and at the time (3 years ago) I never saw myself as a sewer). Anyway, Kristi and I went out and I bought me a sewing machine with all the 'fixins--rotary cutter (FYI: my little brother cut off the tip of his finger with a rotary cutter--use with caution!), self-healing board, ruler, fabric pencil, trimmings--you name it, I bought it. Kristi is fantastic with a machine and is a great teacher, despite my many breakdowns and frequent excuses to quit sewing for EVER. 

Phew. Long story short, I made this:

Sweet, huh? Holla! 

So, this is a gift for our good friends, Kristen and Riley, who are due to have a little girl any day. If you go to etsy or baby boutiques these sell anywhere from $50 and up (I'm not even joking a little bit--I have never seen one under that). I knew I could make one for a fraction of the price. I read 3 or 4 different tutorials online and pretty much winged it from there. I seriously could not be happier with how it turned out. There were some trial-and-error moments, but my stupid quilt prepared me for that (and by stupid I mean frustrating from time to time, but pretty and exciting). None of the tutorials I read explained how to add the ric rac, but I think I pretty much mastered it after a few trial runs.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures of it!

(you better believe I sewed those buttons by hand)

(Don't mind the sweatshop in the back)

(mmm...ric rac)

If you have any questions about it or anything, just let me know!

my personal book club

I haven't reported my readings in quite some time. I finished Eat, Pray, Love--I liked ok, I guess, but likely won't read it again. It was somewhat painful getting me to read through the whole thing after the "Eat" portion she spent in Italy, which I hear is the issue many faced when reading it. Oh, well. Happy to have finished it and am looking forward to seeing the movie to see if it is any better.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week were spent devouring Suzanne Collins' delicious treats of Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. Yummy. I looooooooved these. Easy reads, great story, good writing, and in the end the Katniss picked the appropriate suitor, meaning, the guy I was hoping she would end up with, because I'm a creep and I totally get into the whole romantic part of every book I read and it really affects me negatively when the romantic part goes awry, prevailed.

Don't you judge me-I bet the same thing happens to you.

Anyway: 

You won't regret reading them!

rape hill duck pond

There is a duck pond on the southeast side of rape hill on BYU's campus--I know, weird placement for a pond where young children and cute roommates congregate to at dusk. Sean and I have always wanted to visit but never really had the motivation to go. Until last week. We grabbed some buns that were nearing the end of their life and took a jaunt down to ye ol' duck pond. Not gonna lie,  it was disgusting. The pond was milky-esque due to the pounds and pounds of bread deposited daily that go uneaten and swell up and become buoyed masses floating around haphazardly. It was also disappointed because those ducks are the laziest ducks I have ever seen. They are all fat and just lay in the grass (literally) and wait for people to throw bread within chomping distance of their beaks. Heaven forbid the ducks actually move for their food. And on top of that, they just sit in the bushes while the sprinklers keep them cool. Can you believe that?! So lazy. Anyway, Oliver wasn't really interested in the ducks--and who would be with how lazy these ones were. He just wanted to eat the bread. So we let him.

(he's been doing this weird, sudden, intake of breath, thing. This is what it looks like)

(that bread in my hand is for Oliver--he could sense the ducks laziness and was in no mood to encourage that)

happy august

Why? Because in 1-6 days after August 19th, depending on my location, this little baby will be joining us:

Yes. This is the new Britax 70 Boulevard--in cowmooflage. Why yes, it does match my infant carrier (Britax Chaperone). And yes, I did get this carseat for 20% percent off even though it hasn't even been released yet. Shall we cheer to this? Cheers!

Here's my cutie-patootie. How can anyone possibly resist those big, brown eyes?

busy busy busy

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of company and activities. It all began 2 1/2 weeks ago when Shantele (Sean's step-mom) came to town, followed a week later by Matt (Sean's dad). We always have so much fun and eat insanely well when they come to town--probably too much of both, in fact. Nana (Shantele) bought Oliver a table toy that he literally shrieks in delight over. Here are some pictures (and a video) to showcase that:

(sometimes he screams at the table, too)

I always get complaints that there are never pictures of Sean or I on the blog. That's typically because I almost always look disgusting and unpresentable when we pull the camera out. Here is the best I can do:

(just woke up--both of them)

So, we had a 4-day window before Sean's mom, Lisa, Miles, and Riley (younger brothers) came and this is what those days consisted of--Oliver ignoring me, tumbling over, and being cute:

(thinking he's funny ignoring me)

(karma)

We're almost up to speed, now. Lisa and the boys got in late Friday night of last week. We spent the afternoon up in SLC at Temple Square and Gateway. Sunday after church we headed up the canyon to Vivian Park and had a BBQ and played games. Auntie Holly was able to come up and hang out and fed Oliver his first taste of watermelon (I love his pokey ears!):

And after a long afternoon of no nap, grandma came to the rescue:

There's the quick update! I'm going to go clean the bathroom now--three boys in one bathroom equals complete nastiness. 

little man

We took Oliver to the parade in Provo for the 4th of July and this was what he did (I love how his legs look!):

And when he finally decided to wake up, he was entranced by the Curious George balloon:

This picture serves no purpose except to display how darling Oliver is and to show off his tooth:

book log

I love to read. 

I used to read much more than I do now. 

I am going to change that. 

I have decided that when I start a new book, I'm going to post it on the blog so all my stalkers will hold me accountable for finishing it (and not in, like, 2 years, but in a timely manner). I will then do a brief synopsis of it because I often think the things I say are infinitely more important than they really are. Now, here is the current book, received as a gift this past Christmas from Sean's mom, Lisa. I have about 10 books from Sean's parents that are on the list I need to read, but I wanted to finish this before the movie comes out (yes, another book turned movie):

I'm about a third of the way through it--so far, so good. Gilbert is pretty funny and has some of the best metaphors I've read in quite some time (though, they still pale in comparison to those in Chocolat--Joanne Harris just speaks to my soul). I'll blog about my undying love for Chocolat and Joanne Harris in a later blog.

Oh, Oliver.

*Please, please disregard my annoying baby-talk voice. 

1st video: Oliver standing up--who is this kid?



2nd video: It appears as though Oliver is speaking--you tell me: