Happy Halloween!

We just wanted to wish our friends a very happy Halloween. Tonight we are going to a party at our neighbor's house and we just might make a couple trick-or-treating stops for Max to show off his costume. Of course he had to have the pre-costume Halloween outfit- this fabulous little t-shirt my mom brought him from New York. Thanks nana, he loves it! He barfed all over it just a second ago, which I think is a sign of affection for him. And Chels, if you are wondering if this background is what you think it is, wonder no more. Yes. And I passed the SAME neighbor on the way back. I was so humiliated this time I walked on the other side of the street so I could avoid saying hi.

update

see a bit of what I've been up to... here

Tagged...

Thanks Brittany for tagging me! I miss you. Even if we do talk to eachother about 40 times a day, it's not the same.
I guess we all do this once, and I tried to think outside the box and come up with some things people may not know about me. I think everyone knows the basics: I love my husband. Being Max's mom is the best thing I have ever done. Photography is my favorite hobby.... blah blah blah. But let's face it, I'm not all that exciting! So here it goes, six RANDOM facts about me...

1. It is a complete miracle that I graduated from college. I was the worst student ever! All I cared about was doing gymnastics and having fun if there was time leftover. I failed two classes, Physical Geography and College Algebra. They weren't even hard classes! I was a huge slacker and never went to class unless there was a test or something to turn in. Then I met Danny. After we got married, he woke me up and dragged my tired butt to class every day, most of the time I hardly had a chance to brush my teeth and throw a coat and hat on over my sweats (USU is in Logan, and it's freeeeezing!). Sure enough, my GPA went from a 2.5 to a 3.6 in one semester. I retook both classes, and got A's. Thank heavens for husbands who are sticklers on class attendance! I could never have done it without him!

2. I was a child star. Yes, that's right. I was a Hollywood crazed, overpaid, drugged out little kid. Okay not exactly. BUT I was in a national commercial for Crunch 'n' Munch Caramel Corn. I was three, and all I remember about it is that I was in awe of the wardrobe trailer and I was disappointed that I didn't get to wear one of the pretty hats. I also remember being cold and not wanting to do my part so many times- which involved walking with a red balloon and giving it to another little girl who thanked me, then I grabbed her box on Crunch 'n' Munch and ran away. Very exciting.

3. I am a food snob. I think part of why I don't cook dinner as much as I should is because I can't bring myself to make casserole, I have never bought a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup in my life, and I think everything is better from scratch. But I do love to bake. I love making breakfast foods and desserts from scratch- waffles, creme brulee and crepes are some of my favorites, and I love trying to make fancy desserts. But one of my favorite treats is hot chocolate. My mom made me a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of toast every morning in high school before seminary. But not just any hot chocolate will do. No swiss miss for this girl. I can't stand it if it's made with water, and I can smell the water based stuff from a mile away. At home I make ghiradelli's or I make it from scratch with unsweetened cocoa powder. At starbucks I order: Kids hot cocoa, regular heat, 2%, with whip, one pump gingerbread or pumpkin flavoring. Clearly I am a true Seattlite. One thing I hate is hot dogs. I have NEVER liked them! Not even because of all the absolutely disgusting ingredients, but because they taste bad. Sick, sick, sick

4. I have a little disease called fullpriceafobia. I love to shop. Love it. Can't get enough, weather I am shopping for clothes for myself, for Max, or home decor. Unfortunately, I have learned that I have very expensive taste and I don't have the cash to feed the addiction. Shucks. Therefore, after I got married, I became a HARDCORE BARGAIN HUNTER. Now half the fun for me is getting a deal on great stuff like ten dollar shirts at anthropologie or baby gap shirts for Max for two dollars. It's such a thrill! I love antiquing, going to Down East, and shopping on craigslist. My proudest find recently was buying an antique shabby chic dresser for $25 at a yard sale after spending all day antiquing, looking at similar items for ten times the price. I live for things like that! I have a really hard time buying anything that is full price, but I can justify just about anything if it's on sale. Danny is famous for saying "You're right Jess, we practically SAVED money by buying that!" He thinks he's so funny. Also, I have a hard time making big purchases, so when I have money, I blow it on little things like magazines and hot chocolate.

5. I am a recovering fitness freak. In college, I was a workout/ health food maniac. Every day I spent about five hours at gymnastics practice, always one of the first one there and last to leave. Then the team had lifting practice twice a weak with these crazy football/lifting coaches. Then I would go back to my dorm or apt, have an oh so healthy lean pocket, and go back to the gym to do cardio and abs. It was ridiculous! I was a little muscle woman and I had like 13% body fat. Then, my senior year, I quit gymnastics and swore I would never become the chunky ex-gymnast. Oh how naive I was! I am horrible at working out now and my attempts to eat healthy are half hearted at best most of the time. I am working on that though! Starting tomorrow...

6. I have a long term memory like an elephant. I can remember as far back as age two when I lived in Chicago and I have memories of specific events throughout every year of elementary school and preschool. I remember when my brother Tyler came home from the hospital (I was three) and the first thing I wanted to do was play with his tiny ear. I remember my cousin Rachel when she was a baby (she's Tyler's age) too, she had bright green poo, I mean florescent, and she was always cranky at church. She had a very olive skin and I told my mom she was going to be an indian baby when she grew up (how that is logical, I don't know. but I was three). I never forget a face, and I remember conversations extremely vividly, often word for word if it was interesting or important. However, I am the most forgetful person on EARTH with little things like where I put my keys or remembering to switch the laundry or that one item I REALLY needed at the grocery store. Why is that?

So those are some crazy things about me. Six people I am tagging are Sarah G, Lindsey, Sabrina, Ashley, Rachel, and Whitney. Have fun girls! I look forward to hearing what you have to share.

to dot or not to dot...

...that is the question. Vote for your favorite or make some suggestions (I'm not exactly a design pro yet)!

playing in the garbage

(see the rest of these: http://www.lookthroughmylens.blogspot.com/)

My neighbors officially think I am a crazy lady. I have wanted to take some pictures in front of this construction dumpster in my neighborhood for a while now, so I decided to make Max pose for me (again). The guys building the new house were there watching and everything. Classic. So I get the shots I want, feeling so pleased about this convenient little back drop just a few houses away, and I stop and talk to my neighbor on the way back. We small talk, let our kids check each other out, the ush. And then he gets this perplexed look on his face.

him: So, where ARE you walking from?
(keep in mind I am holding Max, my cell phone, two dirty blankets, and my camera)

me: Oh, we were just taking some pictures at the dumpster.

him: uuuh.

me: you know, it's kind of a cool backdrop, all scratched up and rusty and everything.

him: oh, you mean you were taking pictures of him at the dumpster.
(I can see the wheels turning, he's considering calling CPS at this point)

me: um, yea. I think they turned out pretty well. We'll see.
(thinking, ok, it's not like I chucked him in there and abandoned him!)

So we say our "see ya later's" and I go home feeling a bit silly. I'm sure he and any other looky-loo's in the cul de sac think I am a complete lunatic. Oh well.

Calling all cuties!

Alright fellow crazy moms, how many of you entered your kid in this!? Admit it. We all secretly believe our own child is just SUUUURE to win. =) I entered Max AND entered five photos (the limit). Call me the craziest of them all! Ha ha! I just get so caught up in being an overly proud mom. But come on. Who doesn't want a free wardrobe from baby gap? And, yes, I did superimpose Max's face on the ad. I thought everyone better get used to the idea!

just a taste

I just got back from Seattle Monday night, but I have two sets of family portraits to edit, so I don't really have time to blog about my trip! So I thought I would post a pic of my two favorite Seattle guys: my little Maxwell and my awesome brother Tyler. More to come later- but don't get too excited. I was so busy playing mom to my sibs that I didn't get much time to photograph. Bummer!

"Here comes number 14!"

...is what I hear when we drive down the road to take Tyler to work. For those of you who don't know, my brother Tyler is Autistic, and he is the sweetest, funniest 21 year old you will ever meet. He is always doing the most hilarious things, so we have lots of "Tyler stories" or little Tylerism quotes we say. As soon as he said this, I knew I had to write about it! Tyler counts UPS trucks everywhere we go. He loves them and he can spot them anywhere. It is so sweet how happy he is every time he sees one and he is always sure to point them out. On Wednesday, he saw 21 on the way to work, but the most he has counted is thirty. I'm sure after this trip is over, I will have a few more Tylerisms to share!

Here's the trouble with feeding a baby blackberry sauce...

They poop it out.

Everywhere.

At the mall.

It has seeds in it.

It smells very bad.

We are now:

minus one ruined onesie and

plus one brown striped long sleeved shirt and

never showing our faces at the RTC baby gap again.

Seattle: Ableskievers

Here we are Saturday night eating the ultimate Rands family traditional meal: Ableskievers! My dad served a mission in Denmark and this is his signature Danish dish. Its made from a batter somewhat similar to pancakes, then you pour it into the special pan and turn them around and around until it makes hollow balls. Then we fill them with yogurt, vanilla syrup, fruit syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, whatever. We each make them a different way, but they're delicious no matter what! Max seems to love them just as much as everyone else, especially with the blackberry sauce Nana made (she spoils him). I am so glad I learned how to make these this year, I even have my own pan, I have just never been brave enough to try it at home without my dad. Eventually I will! I hope to make these for my own grandchildren someday.

a

Come Fly With Me, Let's Fly, Let's Fly Away

Saturday morning Max and I hopped on the plane to Seattle to stay with my brother and sister while my parents are in New York City. I am so jealous that they are going without us, but I'm still lucky to come here and see my family. We do miss Danny though!

P.S. Word to the wise: Southwest Airlines no longer pre-boards babies. Rediculous!

Tooth number two...

just barely broke through this afternoon. Whew! I can't believe my little guy is going to have two whole teeth sticking out not long from now! He definitely notices them. I can tell he is always moving his tounge around feeling them- so he makes the funniest puckery faces!

two blogs and photogs collide

Today I met fellow blogger/photographer Sheena! We have mutual friends (Kelly and Rachelle) and saw each others blogs and decided to hook up to bounce photography ideas off each other. I had so much fun! It was nice to talk to someone who was in the same place I am starting a new business and still learning about cameras and photoshop and all that. Here are a couple shots of her ADORABLE kids, Jonah and Lucy. Thanks so much for coming over Sheena! I learned a lot (I edited these using gradient, thankyouverymuch! I like the look so much better. Thanks for the tip!).

Concentrating

My brothers used to lay on the floor and roll their cars around the exact same way!

The most expressive baby ever- she made the cutest faces!

Doctor's Office

Today Max met Dr. Kastellar, his new pediatrician here in Utah. Come to find out, Max or "Jon" as they call him at the Doctor's (so funny), is growing like a weed and developing nicely, especially for a preemie. He weighs 18 pounds, 5 ounces and is 27.5 inches long, putting him in the 24th percentile for weight and 38th percentile for height. I always expect him to be bigger than that, since he is our little chub-chub. Doctor's exact words when I told him I thought he would be a higher percentile in weight: "Well, he looks chunky, but if you were to put him next to other 8-month-olds, he wouldn't be as big." I love it.

To those of you who are already aware, I did ask the ped about Max's disappearing you-know-what. He says he is just a chunker, and it's normal, and he will grow out of it. What a relief.

Welcome Autumn

(the field near my house)

Even though I loooove summer, I am always excited for the air to turn crisp, the leaves to change color, and to drink pumpkin hot chocolate and throw on a scarf. It is such a beautiful time of year! I love looking across the fields and seeing the fall leaves with the snow topped mountains behind them. I love dressing Max in all his cute layered clothes and cozy hats. I am especially loving his thermal shirts (or as me and Brittany call them "long johns") with tee's and DIY baby legs (more to come on that topic). I just made my yummy pumpkin muffins and I love to burn pumpkin and apple spice candles. I love Martha Stewart fall recipes and Halloween ideas. I love making pumpkin shaped sugar cookies and caramel apple cider. I love snuggling with my baby in his blanket when we're chilly and I can't wait for his very first Halloween! Happy Autumn everyone!

many pictures, many pumpkins

Me and my very favorite little punkin!

One of my favorite fall activities is going to pick out pumpkins. This year was extra exciting because I got to take Max for the first time and we got to visit a REAL pumpkin patch and pick our very own pumpkins off the vine. SOOOOOO much cooler than buying them at Wall-Mart. Since the pumpkin patch is just a couple miles from my house, we have ended up making several trips.

Trip #1, Me and Kate
So much fun! Only one problem- me, forgot my wallet. Kate- only had a credit card. Since this patch doesn't give away free pumpkins or take credit cards, we had a bit of a predicament. We managed to get some great pictures of the kids though, which I guess is the most important part.

rocking the pumpkin hat

Max with the pumpkins I chose

Max really enjoyed sucking the dirt off the pumpkins, off his hands, and just getting messy in general. Such a boy. Disgusting but so cute.
Kate and Cameron. Don't be confused, Cam is borrowing Max's hat!
In front of the Peck Farms pumpkin Truck, which was chuck full of a billion pumpkins!
Max felt like he should ride in his orange stroller for the occasion. He is so festive.

Same patch second day- Me and Chelsea (plus Max and Lauren and Hallie)

Ah yes. Don't we all look so amazing in this picture!? Yikes. It was windy and so bright out. That's why we look so hot. My friend Chelsea came down with her ADORABLE twins Lauren and Hallie. They are so cute! It was a fun sneak peek into what's to come after your baby turns one. They make animal sounds, swap binkies, walk all over the place, and are just plain cute. It was so fun just catching up all afternoon and then running to the patch to actually BUY my pumpkins. Chelsea found some cute ones and even a couple mini pumpkins for the girls. Thanks for coming over Chelsea! We had a blast!

Trip # 3.

What? A third trip?! Yes. We took Daddy to the pumpkin patch with Max too so he didn't feel left out. We also went with our next door neighbors Natalie and Sid and their little girl Heather, who is just a doll. She is super talkative and had a full blown baby talk conversation with Danny! They also passed her story book back and forth during this conversation. I LOVE my cute husband and I love how sweet he is with all babies, not just our own! Afterward we had dinner together. I felt very lucky to have so much quality adult conversation in one day. I hardly knew how to handle it!

Our ghostly little family! Yes, my eyes are closed.

our front porch- there may be some rearranging...

thud.

(look close, you can see the scrape, his tooth, and another tooth about to poke through!)

So, I am officially joining the negligent mom's club. As you may know, Max is a rolling fool these days. Max woke up early yesterday morning and so I brought him into bed with us so I could feed him and maybe get a few more minutes of sleep, as I always do. A while later, Danny got up to get ready for work and put some pillows in place so Max wouldn't roll off the bed, as he always does. Unlike, usual, in my groggy state, I must have thought one of those pillows looked comfy because all the sudden, I heard a loud thud. Followed by a high pitched scream! I opened my eyes and quickly realized that I had two pillows (woops) and I knew immediately Max had rolled off the bed. I felt so stupid! I immediately jumped out of bed and picked him up. Thankfully he was fine, he cried for about 20 seconds and then he was over it (unlike me who felt aweful all day!). He does however have a lovely little skid mark on his nose to show for it- I have no idea how since he landed on his back. I don' think he would have had time to roll over that quickly. So sad!

A perfect mix

I saw this on Chelsea's blog and had to follow suit. How fun!

La Familia

This weekend was so great! My mom was in town with the priests and laurels from my home ward to attend general conference. She didn't get to come to my house, but we were able to meet up with them in down town SLC. I also got to hang out with Jordan and his so adorable friend Lizzy from Seattle. We had so much fun! The pic is Max hanging out with Jordan at Details (yes, I did drag them in there with me... we stayed a long time too). He said he would pose for the picture if he would make it on my blog! Haha. I hope you are all digging his fro, overcoat, and mustache (he has never had facial hair before, but because a stache is the only facial hair allowed at the Y, he is living it up!). He is the king of quirky fashion. Think deep V necks from American Apparel. He is such an awesome brother, I feel so lucky to have a bro that I am also good friends with. I love him so much, even though I always give him a hard time about some of his outfits. He's actually a great dresser and super original. This weekend, I gave him a his and her set of bowling balls, bags and shoes that I scored from Grandma and Grandpa D. Sounds weird, but I think it's the best gift I have ever given him. He LOVES it. It's so old school and funny. He wants to go bowling with a date and walk in with their own gear. How hilarious would that be?! The men's bag is so retro and cool, he is thinking about using it for every day use. I wish I had a picture of it. Anyway, Jord, you are officially published, I love you, and I had so much fun with you and Lizzie. Let's do it again soon!

Also this weekend, I got to meet up with my old teammate Jess Parenti and her husband Preston. We hadn't seen them in a while and it was so much fun. I also photographed the two of them and I had a blast! It's so much fun taking pictures of good friends- especially when they are as funny and photogenic as Preston and P pod. Love you guys! I will try to post their photos on the photo blog in the morning, along with a few others. They had some great ones! But for now, so sleepy. I wish I wasn't such a night person.

Here is a little tooth update on Max: his little lonely pearly white is poking through more and more every day! I love it! I can't believe how fast it is coming in. Every day he shows us a little more of it! Thankfully, he has decided not to bite me so much anymore while nursing, nice. I was sitting in the back of the car with him and he was finding my antics oh so hysterical, so I had a chance to take a few pics of it in between laughs. What can I say, I' m in love with my little one toothed baby.

I'm moving in!

Have you ever been to a store and just thought to yourself, I want to LIVE here? Exactly how I felt about a home store in Sugar House called Details. I am so in love with all the shabby chic goodness of this place! It compares to the Rachel Ashwell store in Newport. It's unbelieveable. I took pictures. There are many. Look, click, enlarge, love.

Max making himself at home on this gorgeous setee. The women who worked in the shop LOVED him! It was so cute, he was totally flirting and showing off his new tooth.


Totally going to try to make some of these for Christmas!