celery in my family room.

haven't posted in a while. 

pretty busy.

everything is kinda messy around here. 

to give you an idea of the condition my house is in, i found this on my family room floor just a second ago:

the end.

10/30/08 edited to note:

that is until my SUPER visiting teacher showed up.

she watched my twins while i went to pick up addie & hollynd at school.

when i came back,

i peed.

cried.

and danced.

all at the same time.

in the hour i was gone she had cleaned up my kitchen, family room, toy room (hell room), girls room aaaaaaand folded laundry.

i love her.

i want to marry her. just for like a second.

she is super cool.

:)

thanks brittany! you made my day!

the birth announcement i never did.

12 months.

jack

• mr. busy-hands.
• picky eater. only likes carbs such as bread, crackers, potatos and cake. his favorites are yogurt and fruit.
• loves taking medicine (ironic, no?)
• rarely falls asleep when not at home.
• looooves the bath and all things watery. shows everyone our fish tank and goes nutty in the fish cave at cabela's.
• walks around the furniture. only caught him standing on his own a couple times. he's still a little nervous and has to hold on to stuff for balance.
• can climb the stairs in about 8 seconds.
• points to the deer on the wall and says "de, de, de, de, de,"
• points to the dogs and says "ga, ga, ga, ag, ag, ag, ga"
• laughs at mckay when mckay bounces and hides from him.
• mimics/copies mckays gestures.
• will NOT sit still to have his diaper changed.
• still wakes up at night.
• can entertain himself all by himself. independent. will come find me if he's hungry or tired.
• laughs alll the time and thinks it's always play time.
• thinks it's really funny to throw food on the floor.
• likes to cuddle at night.
• sticks his finger up his nose when you ask him where his nose is.

mckay

• loves to make jack laugh.
• has a belly laugh.
• still prefers the army crawl but pulls himself up to furniture.
• can fall asleep at church or other places other than home.
• very passionate about food. i haven't found anything he does not like. 
• hates taking medicine.
• loves pulling people hair and attacking their heads.
• can climb the stairs.
• loves to bounce.
• thinks he's a dog and would rather play with todd than toys.
• sleeps through the night.
• would rather hang out with mom or dad than play with toys.
• goes to dad more than mom.
• says "ma ma", "da da", "na na", "hi", "dog"
• dances to music.

ethan love.

speaking of sista-love....

i call kaydee "fattie" sometimes. don't feel sorry for her. kaydee makes sound effects with her mouth like "bllbllbllbllblllbllbllb" when i run down the stairs (supposed to be the sound of fat jiggling a la chunk from goonies).

oh--i just love it.

anyway--

she makes me laugh.

tonight, she made me cry.

i just read her blog entry about ethan, that's why. i think you should too. it answers several questions regarding the skin condition he has and it's very moving. again, i am SO PROUD of casey and kaydee. really.

that's why i cried. 

not because it's sad but because kaydee is my hero and my respect for her has exploded in the last 8 months (kinda' like my waste-line). yah--so what? so maybe i can do the truffle shuffle too.

i was going to write this in the last post but i thought it deserved its own spotlight.

now, go hug your sister and say a prayer for ethan.

sister pride.

many of you know my sisters,

kaydee, jena and kristi. i like them a lot.  

first, let me tell you about the blood sisters.

<------see that right there? that's them.

that's why i like them. 

jena, on the right, is very creative and knows how to make me laugh. (especially at ladies pffffting in bathroom stalls.) in other words, she brings the inner-child in me out (unfortunately for you) a lot. [i.e. we heart you tube together]. check out the cards she makes here.

kaydee is in the middle. 

i make fun of her a lot. whatever--she likes it. anyway,

she has this cute little baby named ethan who i adore because he has these tiny little lips and he looks at me with disdain everytime i act like a clown.

 ethan, you love me and you know it.

anyway, she kills me with her drawing skills. she just does this in her spare time:

she just killed you too, huh?

next--

this is kristi (and matt) circa 1998 (which i think is very funny):

kristi is my sis-tuh from another muth-uh. ok, i tried to sound like a rapper right there but it didn't work. kristi is my brother's wife. she's married to matt, my brother. kristi is my hero because she has more talent in her pinky finger than i do in my whole body (and she puts up with matt). she also makes yummy cakes professionally and delivers them to your door (for pete's sake!), teaches piano and is a wonderful mom to my cute niece and 3 of my nephews.

and then there's YOU. 

YES! YOU!!!!!!

don't look around as if i'm not talking to you! look at me!

THIS IS FOR YOU!

i love you all. 

i really do. i can't express that enough. 

from the bottom of my heart i want to say thank you to every sister heavenly father has gifted me. 

every single one of you has been an answer to my prayers, particularly this past year. 

we are so humbled by all you who have helped us keep our heads above water. you are all so very talented and i appreciate your willingness to listen to the spirit telling you when we needed a listening ear, a dinner, an email, a hug, a joke, a babysitter, your arms, your time. 

mckay and jack turn one tomorrow and so i dedicate this post to you. we couldn't have gotten to this point without you.

i am so proud to call you all 

"sisters".

i felt like i won the superbowl tonight.

"haylie bowler!!

 you just put aaaaallllll the kids to bed by yourself, 

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT?"

*****************************

do you ever feel like you just won a free to trip to disneyland after putting the kids to bed?

compulsive.

dear lynn,

i love you.

a lot.

you do so much for me.

you gave me a seemingly compulsive hug this morning as i stood in the laundry room witch-haired, bleary-eyed from no sleep, dried drool on the side of my chin just to tell me you hope i had a really good day. and that you love me.

that right there made my day. i made a decision right then and there, after you let me go from your embrace, that i would make today very good.

so what did i do today?

funny. actually, it's really funny. um, did i mention i love you?

iwenttonordstromtojust"kill time"andendedupdropping$$$$inmakeupjustbecausethelip-glossedmanbehindthe*mac*countermademefeelpretty. butlook!hemademyeyessparkly!

i love you? you love me? we are a happy fam--------i---leee??

still wanna' give me another hug? 

[insert sound of cricket chirping]

soooo,

it's a good thing i'll be taking that purchase back tomorrow. huh?

except for the lip stuff though. don't you think? i think it makes me kiss better.

and you look like you need a kiss right about now.

ok. i'll take it back.

there is hope.

what in the world??!!.................

well, i was wondering who i was going to "write-in". 

now i know! power to the ppl!!

ps

yes,

i too almost wet myself the first time i watched it.

especially at the end.

thanks for the laugh sweetheart!

how much is that doggy in the window?

know anyone who wants a cute little luv muffin?

click here!

new normal.

ack. 

remember 2006-2007? seems so long ago. 

what started out as a little hobby turned into a little booming business that i loved almost overnight. i was in the middle of that booming little business the moment we discovered we were pregnant with twins [add sound of needle scratching a record]. add a few more life-altering moments in the past 12 months 

[add multiple sounds of needle scratching record] and now that little booming business has returned back to just being a little hobby. [heart cracked just a little--not broken--just cracked].

which is fine. 

it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that we just need to make a new normal out of our circumstances right now. 

oh, and might i add, they are the cutest little circumstances ever!

this new normal just cannot fit in a little booming business that makes a lot of busy-mess all over the place. 

but anyway, many of you ask me if i'm still taking pictures so i guess this post is in response to all those phone calls, emails and questions......

i am. like it's going out of style. so many photos in fact, i broke my camera. and my lens. [sigh].

but i'm not doing it for money as of late, just as an outlet. the only catch is that the turn-around time needs to be tweeked a bit. case in poin

t: this photo shoot. those pictures were taken in june!!!! 4 months ago, people! i just gave the proofs back 3 days ago. it took me 4 months to proof the photos. [thanks cody and judy for understanding!!!!!]

so, i guess if you still want to hire me for a photo shoot and you're ok with the turn-around time (i.e. next year), i'm your gal. 

ack.

too bad i didn't advertise '08 holiday season photo shoots 2 years ago.

this post brought to you by "today's nostalgic photo".....

whoa. i almost pushed the "publish post" button without posting a nostalgic photo of the day.

lucky for you i remembered! (i know, i know...just humor me)...

my chubby feet with lovely pedicure supplied by my good neighbors, the smiths. 

betcha' can't say your neighbors have touched your feet! neener!

nostalgia.

the leaves are changing.

the deer are hiding.

a chill is in the air.

the twins are almost one.

and my 

heart

is

b

r

e

a

k

i

n

g.

and i don't know why.

seriously--why? it's not like i want to go through all that again. 

it has been a year (september 27th to be exact) since i was put on strict bed rest in the hospital.

...5 weeks in the hospital...

i will never forget that little trip. 

but i keep finding myself swimming in nostalgia these past few days.

and i may feed that nostalgia here on this blog. 

(read between the lines: i pity the poor fool who reads this blog for the next few weeks).

so, please, bear with me if i get a little homesick.

homesick?

seriously?

moms, you know what i'm talking about, right? that homesick feeling for when you were waiting for your baby?

no---NOT baby-hunger. 

it's different. it was so fun--so exciting. like waiting for christmas but times 100. 

who would've ever thought you'd get homesick for that anticipation you felt when you were waiting for your baby[ies]? 

what is that all about?

mind if i post a picture? (for selfish reasons of course).

so i can go, [sigh]. 

so i can remember how fat i was.

so i can remember how fat my feet were.

so i can remember my favorite fat shirt.

so i can remember there were 2. 

two. 

TWO. 

TWOOOO!!!!!!!!

so i can remember all those beeping noises.

so i can just remember.

thanks for humoring me.

glad i don't have to do that again even though it was so.....so...so incredible/awful/wonderful

getting them here!

k--thanks.

ps any extra time to waste? you can remember along with me by clicking here for october '07 or here for september '07.

head-butt couple.

hi,

my name is ammonita. (see alma 17:37)

 

it's so nice to meet you. i like to hang out with my friends and i love it when the spirited dancing girl with bouncy curls plays with me. do you know her too? isn't she just the best? i don't like it when she brings along the big mean lady she calls "mom". that big mean lady always makes us put clothes on us. booooooooringggg. 

anyway, this is the spirited dancing girl with bouncy curls. i just love her love her love her! 

i'm her favorite doll. unfortunately, i was the victim of a terrible accident a couple years ago; the dog thought i was a doggy treat--hence, the left arm and hence, the name. but the spirited dancing girl with bouncy curls always makes me feel at home and my boyfriend doesn't mind my armlessness either.

oh! would you like to meet him? his name is head-butt man. the spirited dancing girl with bouncy curls named him that. isn't it lovely? anyway, here he is!!

isn't he just adorable? i just love him. ps i love his fashion pants too! anyway, we are very honored to be able to say hello on this blog thingy. we're going to go play now with the spirited dancing girl with bouncy curls. she wants us to join our other friends at the hot tub party in the backyard. 

i hope the big mean lady named "mom" won't mind. here are my friends hanging out in the hot tub! love it! love it!honk if you like hot tub parties!!

america's next top model.

nothing like a little makeover spa treatment during the morning session of general conference.

i hope he tips them well. i thought they did a great job.

don't you think? no makeover is complete without a before and after shot:

      

777 fallout.

dear grandchildren,

remember the story i told you about me walking to school in the 8 foot deep snow, barefoot, up-hill both ways?

scratch that....

i like this story better: