princesses and pumpkins

my niece, ava, turned 4 and we were invited to her party!  it was princess themed and very cute and she was totally in her element.  the girls arrived in their princess best.  bivi even received an invite and although i have no princess regalia for her, my sister loaned us a faux fur stole for the event. 

 be still my heart.

a princess always brings along gpa as her trusty side kick. 

she was asleep before the presents, but that's ok.  wearing faux fur is hard work.

later that afternoon we went to a local pumpkin patch.  the summer like heat was kind of a buzz kill, but it was still fun to have a tractor ride to the patch and eat apple cider donuts.  we bought 8 pounds of yummy apples and i wish i'd gotten more.  they're amazing. 

a long, but fun day!

football time

fall is my favorite season.

i like almost everything about it.

almost.

not a football fan.

however, aaron wanted to go to a byu football game and i, wanting to fully embrace the provo experience, agreed.  i wasn't super excited about it being at 6pm since bivi goes to sleep at 7, but i opted for a sleepy baby instead of waiting until later in the season and going to a game in the snow.  my fears were not unfounded.  the game was WAY too much for her and we left at half time with a screaming child.

but, we snapped a cute picture of her, pre-melt down, in the cheerleader outfit gma got her!

aaron is a little excited to be going.

getting crazy on her chew toy...

fun fall colors

i really enjoy nail polish.  something about a new coat makes me happy.

trivia fact: i always paint my nails before i go on a trip.  the trip is more fun with painted nails.

i stumbled upon this fall opi collection the other day.  it's inspired by the new james bond movie. 

 

i pretty much want every one of the colors. 'the world is not enough' looks so fun!  however, the beauty below caught my eye.

 

it reminds me of an adult version of the glitter wet n wild top coat i had in high school.  opi is releasing the collection in october.  you can bet i'll be in line!

Fun cookies!

I found a recipe for Funfetti Cookies and have been dying to try them.

Funfetti is my jam. I had a funfetti cake every year growing up and usually make one for myself as an adult.

Sprinkles = happiness.

 I finally made them tonight and they are delicious! It is so fun to stir in that many sprinkles.

Make them today!

a must watch

Since I spend half my day held captive while feeding bivi, i watch a lot of things on Netflix.  Combine that with pumping at night and I'm quite the viewer.  Yesterday I started a documentary called tapped and it is a must see if you drink bottled water.

You can watch it here.

 I've never been a fan of bottled water.  It seemed such a waste to constantly go through bottle after bottle, especially when I can get water for free.  This film shows multiple facets of the industry that are shocking. Watch it, especially if you give bottled water to your kids.  I hope to never buy it again.

quick roller

today, in preparation for tonight's big game, i was busy frosting these...

and bivi was happily playing on her mat; occasionally stopping to watch me work.  i went to the sink to do the dishes, then turned to grab a few things off the table and i found this...

apparently she can go from mat to no mat in a few seconds flat.  i wasn't aware she could roll that fast.  looks like i have to actually start watching her now.  great.  thanks a lot, bivi.

raspberry heaven

my sister saw a place online where you could pick raspberries for an amazingly cheap price.  we put our heads together and decided to make jam.  bonus? the farm is super close to her house.  neither one of us had picked raspberries before (slave labor at gma's doesn't count), but we were up for the challenge.

the 'farm' is in this sweet couple's backyard.  they have such an ideal operation.  retired, grow lots of plants and have people come pick the fruit and haul 'em away.  it was charming!

however, i was not ready for the intensity of the berry bushes.  good thing i wore jeans!  you tied buckets around your waste and went to town.  you could eat as many as you wanted while you were picking. 

 they were taller than ava!

 bivi fell asleep while we were picking.  having a baby strapped to your chest takes the difficulty factor up a notch, but we managed!

 my hip bucket.

 weighing the goods.  7 pounds for $21!  crazy talk.

oh, and this cute little dog was the doorbell that let the owners know someone was here.  we pulled up to their house and he comes running out and barks, so they know customers have arrived.

all in all, a great experience.  super cheap and fun for adults and kids!

perfect

passed out after a bottle with dad.

just what i like to see at bedtime.

Musings

My post has no purpose other than to share thoughts swirling around in my head.

My gma passed away in June.  I had flown out so she and bivi could meet one another and she passed away a day after I left.  On bivi's one month birthday.  It is very hard to have her gone, but much better for her.  She is with her husband now and we know that's where she wanted to be.

We have a very small family and my grandparents had a lot of beautiful things, so we have all had the chance to take all that we wanted and we've had to get rid of the rest.  I am a throw it away kind of person, so it has been very interesting to be surprised at how I've reacted to giving things away.  I haven't minded parting with the objects, rather I'm sad at 'giving away the memories'.  I know the memories are always mine, but the thing that triggered it is now gone.

However, I've loved having their things around and being reminded of them in unexpected ways.  The salt and pepper shakers on my table, the painting that hung next to their dinner table that is now in my bedroom, the quilt that bivi and I lay on to look at the trees, the hand embroidered dish towels now in my kitchen, the china set I'll use with my own family one day, the music box my sister has put on her dresser.

I know they are just things, but it is nice to keep my grandparents with me each day.  Little reminders help.

sweetness

running together

bivi and i went running this morning.

my sister is letting us use her baby jogger.  i was wanting to buy one, so i'm very happy to save the money!

i picked out a route that i thought would be moderately difficult.

wrong.

try a lot harder than i thought.  the first half is all up hill and i think i underestimated the difficulty of pushing 20 lbs up a hill.  oh well.  we walked and jogged and got it done. 

bivi was happy the whole time and loved the view.  it is so nice to be able to exercise and not have to depend upon aaron to be home. 

we've got our work cut out for us!

swimming!

too cute.

i've been wanting to take bivi swimming to get her used to water.  we'll start lessons as soon as she can.  i'd rather have my child know how to swim or paddle at an early age in case, heaven forbid, she ends up in a pool without me knowing. 

my worrying could be an additional blog in itself.  i have regular dreams of the most unrealistic things happening to her.  i have no idea where to come up with my nightmares other than to say i get that portion of crazy from my dad.  but, i digress...

we recently received a swimsuit and super cute matching terry cloth dress (thanks, aunt jen and uncle derek!) and a swim diaper (thanks, mom!), so we were all set. 

i snapped this adorable picture with my phone before we hit the pool.

we had a blast.  she was laughing and squealing the whole time.  it was an indoor pool, so it echoed throughout the building and everyone was looking.  she was so amazed that her feet were moving the water.

she fell asleep almost instantly on the way home.  sounds good to me!