what my house needs

...is less e-mails, and more finger paint!

max and i did this the other day and he was in HEAVEN. go figure we decided to do it probably 3 hours after the cleaning lady left, which seems crazy. but i have to say, it wasn't a difficult clean up. not even a leeeeetle bit! i used regular old butcher paper and kids washable crayola paint. wiped up with water in less than 5 minutes. sweet.

max's painting outfit- boxer briefs of course.

next activity, TOE PAINTING! this was definitely his idea. =) but how could i say no?

look at those tootsies. so purple, so CUTE.

baby girl inspiration

i am having sooo much fun planning the nursery for baby girl, here is a little inspiration!

FABRIC LOVE

recently i was browsing PURL SOHO and discovered fabric designers JENNIFER PAGANELLI and ANNA MARIA HORNER. i threw together a few of my favorites from each, i am loving it all! i am planning on making my own bedding because i just can't find any reasonably priced sets that i like- these fabrics are giving me hope!

FRYD + DESIGN

i recently found this amazing blog and i swear, when the first page loaded i heard angels singing. her style is exactly what i am going for for baby girl's room: lots of white with pops of bright colors. so bright and clean but fun! i spent probably an hour going through her older posts. i just love everything about her style and her home. be sure to check out her girl's playroom HERE and more of her interiors HERE. perfection!

so says my rocketeer.

early this morning i was laying in bed with the laptop while max played on my bed. i looked over at him and said "hey max! i need kisses!" to which he replied,

"i tan't, i need to FWY!" [i can't, i need to fly!]

i died laughing- it should be noted that he was jumping on my white bedding with nothing but boxer-briefs and RAIN BOOTS, pretending to push the buttons on his hips like the rocketeer. it. was. awesome. for some reason i didn't have a camera near by, but chances are, this is not the first or last time he will wear this outfit. haha!

also, let's talk about something serious, like what i am going to call this blog once the baby is born?! i like danny. jess. max. but mostly max. but have to figure out something that will work with another bambino. thoughts?

a rather pregnant day.

today was weird. really good and really bad all at once. rollercoaster-y. making it a pregnant day i'd say. and so i'm venting. because really, if you can't vent on your blog, where can you? but the fact that i am even writing about this should tell you how crazy pregnant brained i am, because no sane, non pregnant woman would document this. but whatever.

the bad part?

i have a cold. a BAD one. and when you're being sabotaged by your upper respiratory system AND you're pregnant, it makes you sleep worse than you already are, your snot makes you nauseated-er than you already are (don't get me started), and you are even sleepier and lazier than you already are. not a good situation. so there was a lot of laying around feeling crappy all morning.

the other bad part, danny had a closing (we really like closings in danny's business) late in the evening in south slc. and didn't get home until 9. given my sick/pregnantness and a late night alone with max, i was TIRED. VERY TIRED. and OVERWHELMED. then, max jumped on me approximately 97 times while we watched the rocketeer, so finally we had to turn the rocketeer off. then he did it again, so we had to have a time out. then i get him out of time out and get ready for bed, when he starts kicking me. after asking him approximately 32 times to stop, i lost it. i smacked him right on his chubby little thigh, hard. he stopped, and he BAWLED. and i felt HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. and sad. and called danny. then danny came home. and i BAWLED.

i bawled about being sick. i bawled about being pregnant. i bawled about smacking max's leg (because really, don't you feel just like a complete genius when you smack your kid as discipline for kicking you??! now that's logic). i bawled because i felt overwhelmed and hate our busy schedule sometimes and danny has a golf tournament on my birthday and how is it possible that there are MORE dishes to do and i am out of strawberries and i miss my mom and i wish we had family close by that would swoop in and take care of wild little boys while his mom is sick + pregnant.

you get the idea. it was one of those cries.

and when you cry and cry and cry like that and can't stop because you're hormonal, and you have a super bad cold, you can't breathe so good. sigh.

do you have days like that?

but then, there were some really really good parts.

i did have a photo shoot, but in case you didn't notice, it poured buckets. so we had to postpone. but i really needed to get out of the house (too much snot and lounging going on at home), so me and max ventured out into the rain. this was really good news for max, who got to wear his rain boots and rain coat. which he LOVES. it was also good news because we were headed to the gateway barnes and noble, who just so happened to have his new obsession THE ROCKETEER in stock.

the even better part is that he fell asleep on the way down, so i got to spend like an HOUR in forever 21 with a sleeping kid. and i bought a new shirt and new sunglasses.

the best part is that max woke up SO happy, and just got happier and happier as our outing went on. he was THRILLED when we located his rocketeer movie, and was so sweet and thankful to the man who helped us. then he saw the coffee shop and asked for "hot toa-toa!!!! hot toa-toa mommy!!!!" and because the weather was bad, and he was so cute, we got him his very own. he was very proud.

then we left the gateway for my new favorite spot THAI LOTUS for some takeout. and while we were waiting we got a cupcake at LES MADELINES. and the whole time, he was so sweet and happy and adorable and polite to all the shop owners i wanted to just burst. i seriously couldn't handle how freaking perfect he was, and how much i loved him, and how proud that he was my little dude.

and he even cooperated for a couple iphone shots. see? see how ADORABLE?

this is definitely the part of the day i want to remember.

that, and this one other really good part. that's the part where danny got home, got him ready for bed, did the dishes, hugged me and listened to me for a long time (we talked for a while, and then we got to the part about my mom living far away and being out of strawberries, and he knew it was a pregnant day. so we just hugged because there is no point in talking), and then danny led us in a game of MAKE A FORT AND RUN AROND THE HOUSE SHOOTING STUFF WITH OUR FINGER GUNS. it's max's favorite game pretty much. tonight we shot Calico- the bad guy in the movie BOLT, and "Nachees" (um, Nazi's. you heard me.) the bad guys in the ROCKETEER. but that's a whole different story. then danny read max's favorite books while i snuggled max and listened to danny's awesome story telling voices. and we had prayers, and felt really thankful for the good and the bad and everything in between.

and then we had snuggle on the couch time while max yelled out questions and excuses from his bed.

yea. that was all awesome.

Cancun: Isla de Mujeres

oh, cancun. how we love you! this is the second year in a row we went to stay in the same place and we just can't get enough. i have SO many pictures to share that i hardly know where to start (no, seriously. i'm feeling overwhelmed). a lot of my favorite shots are from isla de mujeres, so we will start with those i guess. =)

NORTH BEACH! the water is so calm, clear and shallow- just perfect for max. he was in the water allll day!

this kid was CONSTANTLY covered in sand.

with max right now, everything is some kind of WEAPON! i swear he is all BOY. here he is shooting at me (or maybe my camera? he hates it) with a snorkel. i seriously don't know where he gets this stuff.


cranky face. he makes it A LOT these days, especially if the camera comes out!

some of my parents friends from seattle met up with us for the day at la isla, they have twin girls max's age: sally and jane. these three made quite the wild team! they were so funny to watch. max called them "sawwy and sawwy" (both sally! haha!) for a while, then they became "sawwy and jawwy" awesome.

MI FAMILIA:

well, here's the christmas card shot.

danny's sister leslie came too! it was SOOO fun to have an extra girl around, and an extra shopping buddy! doesn't she look like a total babe?

me!!

danny and i on the street on the way back to the boat.

my gorgeous mama

and handsome dad

my little sister mackenzie, the little hottie. but she's the baby of the family, so me and danny call her baby kenz. the best is when MAX started calling her baby kenz. haha!

i LOVE this shot of tyler and my dad. getting a good shot of ty is next to miraculous!

kenzie and max sharing some ice cream in front of the cooolest wall ever- i could have shot here for like an hour, but we had to hurry to the ferry. boo.

SOME PRETTY SCENES:

my big shopping heartbreak: this hand embroidered thing. it was big enough to use for a bed spread or large table cloth and i wanted one soooo badly! but they wanted about $300 USD. i just couldn't justify it! did i mention it came in a ton of different colors?! it was a sad, sad moment when we finally walked away.

muchos more pictures to come. wow.

pregnanter and pregnanter.

let me just preface this by saying i really debated about posting these. i mean come on, who is CRAZY enough to post pictures of themselves 23 weeks pregnant in a bathing suit??! especially when you're not exactly one of those super model types that looks like twiggy + a baby bump.

but then, i thought, why not? i spent way to much time in my college days (easily the most fit i will ever be in my life- thank you USU gymnastics) feeling like i wasn't good enough. looking back, i wish i would have appreciated myself for what i was! i would seriously KILL to look like that again! and now, even though i have a big belly, even bigger boobs, and a round face (that part just gets worse. oh boy.), i want to appreciate this time in my life and embrace this fuller version of myself. i don't want to look back and wish i could have seen the beauty of my round pregnant body. and you know what? i like these photos. i felt special and proud of my body and proud of being a mother. preggy pics in hawaii was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and i am so glad i did it! so here's to feeling pregnant AND beautiful. and we always thought it was an oxymoron. =)

oh, and the photographer? none other than my beautiful, talented mother. thanks mom!!

i love this one- good shot mom! my flower fell out and she caught me legitimately putting it back in. just so you don't think i am the biggest dorkiest poser ever.

on a second note. i have for yeeeears loved red lipstick, but usually i don't have the guts to just WEAR it. my goal in Hawaii was to wear it a lot and get used to it! Officially consider me a red lipstick wearer. HA!

oh man. am i really clicking publish? i think i am. here goes nothin'.

back to reality...

after an amaaaazing week in cancun!! we have been loving every second of the sun, and now here we are just in time for a storm warning tomorrow. ha, welcome back to springtime in salt lake! oh brother. anyway, here are just a couple of pics from last week! more to come. =)

aslo, if you left me a voicemail or text message last week, i just received them tonight back in the u.s. so i will be getting back to you tomorrow! i will also be trying to catch up on e-mails- sorry for the delay!