Barefoot Contesselle

Mommy's Little Hippy

I took the girls outside last night for their nightly run...just kidding, but not really.

Eva got out of getting any pics taken of her because her friend Wyatt saw us outside and he ran over to play, so again, these are all Elle.

This is a classic Elle face, like she's just about to say something but she's still thinking about it.

I also realized that for all my friends and family who don't live close I never mentioned Ellie's milestones, like that she started walking a few months ago. Oops. And that she's talking so much now, mostly baby babble, which is SUPER cute and entertaining. She also knows a few words like:

• Hi (Eeeeeeee)
• Thank You (tuk-eww)
• Hello (Her-Row)
• Bye (Buh)
• Eva (Vuh)

and of course Mama and Dada. I will try and get some of these words on video along with some of her "tricks." That's right, she's got tricks.

This is our new neighbors daughter, Jeremy picked her up b/c she was heading towards the curb...as you can tell she wasn't that happy about it. Right before this pic was taken they were looking at each other and it was really cute, but I missed it...stupid family camera.Her name is Maya and they are only a month apart...I'm sure they're destined to be best friends and rule over all the nursery kids...they have older siblings, they're super tough.

Careful what you wish for...

For those of you who are unaware, brushing Eva's hair is usually pure torture. Lately though (thanks to my Pantene) it hasn't been that bad, she's decided to be a "big girl" (her words not mine) and not cry when I brush her hair. Of course due to the fact that I slather on the Pantene just on her ends, brushing doesn't take long at all, I also combine that with the new 2-in-1 Johnson's shampoo for "older" children (using the Pantene last) and it boasts for a mostly pain free hair brushing.

So imagine my surprise when Eva calls me to the bathroom and tells me she cut her hair and she doesn't like her hair anymore.

Looking at the precious locks on the floor it didn't really compute. I never thought she would lob off her hair. I could see her pulling it out before cutting it.

I've been begging her to come with me to get her hair cut for months, I hate brushing it and if we cut off even 3 inches my life would be better.

So as she went on and on about how she wants to get her hair cut short and doesn't like her hair anymore because it gets knots in it my eyes started to well up with tears. I was in shock. It wasn't quite everything I was hoping for.

Needless to say I'm ignoring her. I'm never bringing it up again unless she mentions it.

p.s. that little curl I'm holding is nothing, she lobed off about 6 inches all together in one little section...it's even shorter than the bangs I've been having her grow out for over a year now. :(

Yee Haw!!

It's Pantene

Like all good stories this one has a past.
Eh hem, Do you know the song.."Feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you only you can let it in..." it's a fairly popular song and Pantene Pro-V has been using it on their commercials. Eva loves this song and thus leads to her asking me if she can get Pantene too. Really? My four year old is already succumbed to advertisements. I mean, toys, games...sure but, shampoo? The sad thing is that I bought it. I too like the Pantene commercials and I want my hair to look like a shining mass of brilliance.

So after using the product, Eva was outside a few weeks ago (this story is quite old b/c I wanted to have a pic of Eva to go with it...and it still hasn't happened so I opted for the Pantene visual) and she was with my friend Heather V. This was their conversation that Heather told me later:

Heather: "Wow Eva your hair looks so pretty."

Eva: -with a pompous sigh- "It's Pantene."

Thank you media for corrupting my 4 year old. But I must say her hair shines like plastic Barbie hair. Curse you aqua scum!

Artsy Crafty

My friend Heather and I were talking last night as I was doing an impromptu visiting teaching...she's leaving Tuesday for 3 weeks!! Anyway, we were talking about mothers that really try and do things with their kids, moms that play with their kids and could care less about chores because your kids grow up so fast. And how easily pleased kids are with doing more or less "lame" crafts. So this morning I got some of my craft stuff out which included:

• pom poms


• googly eyes


• kidney beans


• $1 store stickers


• markers and glue

And Eva was ECSTATIC! She had the best time gluing everything onto paper and creating little pieces of art. I decided that Elle she have a chance too, so for Ellie's b-day my mom and dad got her this huge coloring book for toddlers and these special little things that hold crayons for toddler hands, so today was the day I finally pulled it out for her to try. She loved just holding the little crayon holders but after a little bit she saw what I was doing and tried it for herself. I got one pic before my camera batteries died, so no pics of Eva, sorry Eva fans.

Kickback babies

Elle is very 'kickback' especailly when she eats lunch. When I'm doing things in the kitchen I don't buckle her into her highchair, so she can get the most comfy whilst she eats. This is my 13 month old daughter eating ham:

Have you ever seen a baby so kickback?

And then there is my other daughter who was practically hidden amongst all of the blankets in the living room while she eats, from the kitchen I could hardly even see her behind Elle's playpin:

Camping 2008

I finally put together some pics of our camping trip. I haven't really been on top of the whole blogging thing for a couple of weeks...I promise I'll get better. Anyway, I noticed that I didn't actually take a lot of pictures on our camping trip because it rained the whole time, which means I was inside most of the time and THAT means I was reading...almost the entire time.

All of these pics were taken on the last morning we were there, except for the first one. Pathetic, I know.

Here's one of Ellie in her little portable play pen, she was SO good, she stayed in this about 90% of the time, besides sleeping in it too, and she never complained.

So this was the last day we were at Honeymen, and the girls both woke up super early so I decided to take advantage of their impromptu photo session.

You can see Jeremy in the background still sleeping. Everyone slept through them being all crazy.

Even though they look so different they can be exactly the same.

I love this one because they are making the same face.

And my new favorite pic. I love that I captured them holding hands. They are so sweet with each other sometimes. Ahhh, sisters.

Eva Update

So we went to Eugene this morning to see the pediatric neurologist. It wasn't anything new. The only thing new is that if/when she has a 3rd seizure he will be putting her on medication. I was glad he didn't want to do it now. But more or less things will continue to be the same around here and we'll do what we need to do if we need to do it. :) Did you enjoy reading that? I thought so.
I promise I'll get some pics up...I may try and get a mini fantasy Friday up...

Happy Father's Day

Not only is my husband an incredible father to his girls but he is the sweetest most awesome husband EVER.

First I'll share some sweet things he does with the girls:

EVA:

He goes out on dates with Eva to Petco (one of her favorites places to go)

He takes Eva fishing...he takes time off of work to come home and take Eva fishing!

He cuddles up with her at night

He let's her comb his hair and put hair clippies in (he really loves this...the hair combing anyway)

He let's Eva play "Dr." and she gets rags wet and wraps them all over his...by the end he looks like he's been sweating for four days but he doesn't even care...Eva loves it.

ELLE:

He teachers her what her pointer finger is so she can follow along when he reads to her.

He gets EXTREMELY excited when she does something new with him (even if he knows she already has been doing it for a while. If she does something with him he gets SO excited like he was the first person to see it, ever.)

He loves that she looks so much like him, he loves caring her around and people saying how much she looks like him

He loves it when she falls asleep in her arms, he loves to just hold her.

ME:

He let's me go out all the time and cleans while I'm out and puts the girls to bed...he's a much better housewife than I am.

He never complains about anything

He tells me I'm a good mom even though on days I really don't feel like it

He let's ME get stuff for Father's Day instead of him, seriously, it's awesome. Here is our conversation on Saturday night:

Me: "Hey, we have some extra money, maybe I should go out and get you something for Father's Day."

Him: "Nah, I don't need anything, I don't really want anything."

Me: "So you want me to go and get some new shoes instead?(kinda sarcastic, but underlying...very serious)

Him: "Yah."

Me: "Seriously?"

Him: "Yah."

---I was gone about 2 minutes after that on my way to Famous Footwear, where I got these:

So totally awesome. Just a little description for you, these are Madden Girl by Steve Madden, they are called, "Luuna" and have a 4.25" height with a 1" platform...and that sweet cut out. I love them!!

Thank you Jeremy for letting me get something for Father's Day...you're the best! And I hope you had a wonderful Father's Day.

I will mention that Jeremy said that he had the best Father's day breakfast ever, that he couldn't believe it and it was the best Father's day gift I could have ever gotten him. I made homemade sausage biscuit (and egg) sandwiches...his favorite thing at McDonalds. What can I say, he's easy to please.

Fantasy Friday: Kickin' it old school

Not literally but in the sense that these are all going to be shoes.

I thought to myself, self, you really love shoes yet you never spend the money to get shoes that you really love. Mostly I think about it on Sunday's because I wear my MJ Crocs pretty much everyday of the week, so come Sunday I want to wear some great heels and I turn to my shoedrobe and it's sad...very, very sad. You see I use to buy two pairs of shoes a month...maybe more, when I worked at good 'ol Payless but that was in 2003, not that I haven't bought shoe since then (I have, trust me) but I've bought as little as possible. Like most moms I like to put my daughters in super cute crap and I live vicariously through them. But, NO MORE, I pledge that I will buy a pair of shoes that I really love that scream SUMMER LOVIN' (or something along those lines) so that I can feel a sense of pride on Sunday once more.

This all stems from the fact that my outfit last Sunday would have been 10 x's cuter if I had a pair of espadrilles. Eh, hem, onward:

So cute, what more could I really say. We all know I'm a big Betsey Johnson fan, I just love the little ties, they are so carefree and a little flirty. Btw, there's nothing wrong with having flirty feet. I've put up two pics because there's something lost in this view that you may have never known.

There's the sweet little cute out, I like anything that has a little surprise...something you weren't expecting. Whether it's a cut out, a texture, a unique design...it adds to your personal style, it says something about you. These BJ's can be yours for $212. All I will say about these Frye sandals is: love the color, love the design, love the height. $180.

These are adorable. Just so you know, bows are in right now, not like hardcore bow tie bows, more like light, "limp" bows if you get what I mean. Anywhere too, on your shoes (ie: this adorable Miss Sixty sandal), your jewelry, on skirts, shirts, you get it. I just saw this little sandal and thought it was so dainty, I love that it wraps a little around the ankle and the color is soft ans sweet and it would looks cute with shorts or a sundress, even skinny jeans, cute. $132.

Now when you first look at this shoe you may think, "Eww, mustard yellow, helloooo." but I think "Statement!" I think these are a hot shoe. Not only are the patent so you know these babies are going to shine, but the yellow has this basket weave type pattern to it (something that is unique!) and I love the metallic roping and heel. There was this great pink color but it came in a flat not the heel, so I opted for the heel. Besides, I know you think, what can I wear this with? Trust me, you can wear this...and you should probably not have anything else yellow on, at least not a main piece. Let me think, dark denim wide legs jeans and a white button down. Ohh, one of those new floral blouses and a navy pencil skirt, that could be hot. When pulling off a statement piece, remember, if you're scared always, always rely on your neutrals, when in doubt, you could wear this with anything black, white, grey, khaki or navy. Like a khaki circle skirt and a grey boat neck tee, that would be so cute. These shoes are by Due Farina (a name I don't think I've brought to you yet) and are $400.

I know these aren't exactly my style, they may be yours, who knows...I definitely think they're cool. I could see a little 18 year old in super short shorts and a vintage tee rocking these studded sandals. These have a great sense of style none-the-less. D&G $895.

Now these are the opposite of the yellow Farina pair, these you can wear with color. Solids. A hot pink skirt with a black blouse...that could be hot and tons of silver jewelry. These are fun, a statement piece, I'm all about making a statement with your shoes, your shoes can really say a lot about you. I know that sounds a little weirdo but I totally believe it. That's why women have to have a ton of shoes, we're not one sided, there are many facets to our personalities, different shoes can express different things about ourselves. These are from LAMB $297.

I really, really, really love these sandals. They are slightly gladiator but they have a great summer style. I love the color, and I loved the buckles and I really love that it's a sandal but it has the "t" going up the top, that will make your foot look slender. Trust me I need all the help I can get, I already had big feet, and then I had two kids. Anyway, these are STEVEN by Steve Madden, and if I had an extra $149.95 I would have already had these on their way to my humble home.

Have a great weekend, and I hope you can get some great shoes that express yourself, that make you feel really good, shoes that you love and could look at all day. That's the dream.

And happy Friday the 13th....my most favorite day of the year.

I thought I would bring to you one of the many reasons I love the internet, bwe.tv

...We're baaaack...

Last week I was going to write and say we were leaving for a week of camping but I was a little busy making sure we brought everything we needed...hence no fantasy Friday either.
So we're back, we went to Florence and stayed at Honeymen (our favorite campsite) in the heart of the dunes. Luckily we were in a YURT or else it would have been totally miserable.
It was relaxing and I read the whole time.
Eva had a blast of course, she went fishing and crabbing with Jeremy and my dad. While my mom, Elle and I stayed in the YURT, Elle played and napped I read and my mom scrapbooked Elle's first birthday.
I'm glad we're hope and can scrub the stink of campfire off. barf.
As soon as I go through my photos I'll get some on here.