{our summer} in a nutshell...

well, technically it is still summer but we've been so busy that i'm kind of ready for fall. shhh, don't tell anyone. i really feel like summer just started and all of a sudden october is staring me in the face. i guess life goes faster when you're having fun, right? or something like that...

sutton and i took a trip to new york back in july to visit all of my family. i had planned this back in april before i knew what was in store for us. more on that later... my mom and brother, ethan, arrived in ny about a week before we headed out. the second day they were there they got a call from the assisted living home that my grandparents live in saying that my grandpa was stuck in his chair, unable to get up at all. and my sweet grandma, who has alzheimers, probably didn't even realize that he had been sitting for hours on end. no pun intended. my mom and her siblings went to check things out and to try to get him out of his chair. fail. my grandpa is not a little guy and the four of them could not even get him up. they had no choice but to call the ambulance, which then took him to the hospital in canandaigua. turns out he had an infected pressure ulcer, pneumonia and his diabetes was out of control. things were not looking good. he was put on three different antibiotics and the doctors told him that he could have to stay on them upwards of three months. three months?! that's a long time to have IV needles in you. they also told him that he wouldn't be able to go home. ever. he would have to live in a nursing home. and the kicker...he wouldn't ever walk again. so basically, he would still be alive but what quality of life would he be living? all of the kids were there and they had a good conversation with grandpa and he decided he didn't want to have to use all of this medicine just to keep him alive. i think he said something to the effect of,  "well, i guess the tribe has voted." and then, just like that, they unhooked all of his machines and took him off of his insulin. he now had free range of all the coke, chocolate and salt-n-vinegar chips his heart desired. the only bummer is that he didn't feel too well so he didn't have much of an appetite. you think that stopped him from eating all the things he had been told for so long he couldn't have? no way. true simpson form. he was kept comfortable in the hospital until they had a room for him down at the VA. i was so thankful that he decided to stick around until sutton and i could arrive. this is what we were greeted with the first day we went to see him and the rest are some pictures of the shenanigans that went on during his short stay in the VA.

you can't tell from this angle but we were greeted by grandpa with chocolate smeared all over his lips. i'm pretty sure he was making out with it. this must be where i get my love of chocolate

aiden, grandpa and heidi ann

incontinence runs in my blood

and they let this guy be a bishop??

we ordered special bananas just for fritz

it seems like it should have been a really, really sad time but surprisingly for me, it wasn't. don't get me wrong, of course I was sad and it was hard to see grandpa not feel good but i can't help but believe he stuck around long enough to bring many of us together. i got to see family i haven't seen in years. i will always cherish those moments i got to spend with my grandpa fart. a few days before he passed i leaned down and whispered how thankful i was that he saved that  LDS missionaries card he got when he was 12 and was brave enough to look him up when he was well into his 30's. i thanked him for joining the church and for always being a faithful member. and i got a smile! he had been basically unresponsive except for the few mumblings and hand squeezes here and there but he definitely smiled when i said this to him. my aunt leigh saw it so i knew i wasn't dilusional. he was a wonderful, grumpy, stern, inapropriate, family oriented, faithful, outgoing and social man who loved food more than anyone i know. grandpa bob, you have left behind a wonderful legacy with your seven children, many grandchildren and too many great grandchildren to count. we love you always. till we meet again, grandpa.

i also had the best time with my twin, heidi. her little guy, aiden, is six months younger than sutton and they had quite the love/hate relationship going on. she still talks about him and we have been home for over two months.

so my cousin "twin" has a problem with the thinning shears. she is addicted. so we had a little thintervention. 

out on canandaigua lake. most beautiful lake ever. 

heidi and ethan, remember that one time you went tubing in moldy life jackets? 

floyd, "fritz! it/s a size 52 chest life jacket!!!"
fritz, "i have a weird chest!"
ummm....something like that. 

she was laughing so hard she fell down and i'm pretty sure she peed her pants. it happens to me, too, sutton. 

blue walking into the sacred grove. i could have stayed there all day. so peaceful and the spirit is so strong. 

grandma and blue in the sacred grove.

we were so happy that ethan got to fly to chicago with us on our ride home.  and yes, blue had her binky on the plane. judge not. 

we had the best time in new york and i am so happy that we had the opportunity to go! i just wish my family lived closer. i love them so so so much. 

after we got back from new york we moved into our new house! pictures to come. it was a crazy week and i'm pretty sure i could have ended up in the mental hospital if it weren't for all of our amazing friends who helped in more ways than i could have ever imagined. 

so, as if i didn't have enough going on i decided that we needed to make our annual summer trip to visit my family in nevada. we hadn't been home since christmas and i was very homesick. plus, we won't be able to travel over thanksgiving OR christmas this year because of this....

yes, that's right. two. two nuggets in my belly. debuting near christmas. we are so excited. and so scared!

i had an ultrasound on morning of the day that sutton and i flew to nevada. but...i didn't look or find out that morning. i had their genders written down in a card so i could take it home and give to my mom for our reveal, which was going to be two days later when john drove down. not peeking was the hardest thing ever!!! no one believed that i could do it. but, i did. the morning after john arrived we had a bunch of family over for breakfast and so that we could finally find out what these babies were! i had always thought it was a boy/girl and john thought boy/boy. my mom is so cute and she made two baskets, one for baby A and the other for baby B. then she took pink/blue balloons and poked holes in the balloons that the baby was NOT. so if the baby was a boy, the pink balloons would deflate. i grabbed a pink balloon first, although i don't actually remember doing so. i tend to get all weird and panicky when all the attention is on me. i hate it actually. i think i get that from my parents. ha. so...we all had a balloon in our hands and mom counted to three and guess what? mine stayed up! all of the blue ones deflated. of course i got teary eyed because i was really hoping to have another girl. onto baby b. i grabbed a blue balloon, john grabbed pink. the entire time i was silently hoping for a boy. i'd love love love to have a little boy and i know it's every mans dream to have a son to do manly things with. mom counted and we blew up our balloons. and mine stayed up!!! a boy and a girl!! we are so excited, i don't even have words to explain the feelings i have! now we are working hard on picking names. i think we have them but i always find myself thinking of others. being super indecisive is probably one of the hardest things when it comes to baby names.

the rest of our week in lovelock went by way too fast. we played games, spent time outside, went to my grandma's 80th birthday party and mostly just spent time with family. sutton had a blast and i loved watching how she interacted with her cousin, emmery. i've never seen her like that with any other little person. they seriously acted like 14 year old best friends. they had us cracking up the entire week.

i have no words. 

this is mark. mark has a girlfriend. therefore, this is what mark did the entire week we visited.

my parents took us all out for their 35th wedding anniversary. their idea of romance is wack but hey, the chips and salsa were amazing.

something tells me blue has no idea what she is smiling about.

best $10 rip off ever.

watching the "parade" in lovelock for frontier days.

nothing like a real life baby doll to boss around.

gordon's first selfie. i love my dad.

now that's one happy 80 year old.

my cute, blurry brothers.

this may be my favorite picture. ever. 

or wait, maybe this one is. 

cup of ice for the long ride home. hey, it kept her happy for a good 30 minutes. 

now that you're two...

sutton blue,
lots of exciting stuff going on in our lives! we are buying a new house and will be moving in two months! you will have a big yard to run around in and lots of pretty flowers to help me take care of. mommy and daddy are also working very hard on another top secret surprise for you :) so, needless to say, life has been busy.

you truly are my best girl in the whole wide world. your daddy and i love you so much. we still check on you a dozen of times during the night to make sure you are comfortable and sleeping well. you like to kick your blankets off, make them into a pile and then lay on top of them. you still wake up happy in the morning and i usually hear you yelling, "hi!!!" or "hello!!!" over and over again until one of us goes in and gets you. sometimes you yell "mama!!!!" and that's my favorite. you still love to run into our bed and snuggle while you drink your milk. it's my favorite part of the day.

you always ask for "minnie" after you're done drinking your milk. i like you to play and be creative with your imagination and not watch too much tv but i usually let you watch one "minnie" show in the morning while you eat your breakfast. your favorite episode is one where they give pluto a bath and big bubbles take over and mickey gets stuck in one. you always have to have your bubbles in hand when you watch it. you love to go outside and blow bubbles. who am i kidding? you love to blow bubbles anywhere and sometimes i even let you do it in the house. lately you hate when i take your picture and it makes me so so sad. i'm pretty sure its karma for all the pictures i took of you when you were defenseless. now you straight up throw the hand to me and say no. you aren't sassy at all ;) you still love to shake it to loud loud music. you are constantly going into your room, shutting the door and turning your cd player on and up as loud as it will go. i call them your one woman dance parties.
currently your two favorite movies are frozen and tangled. for a while it was frozen and only frozen. i forced tangled on you because i couldn't handle frozen one more time. i needed a healthy break. we both did. i don't let you watch movies every day but when i do you usually watch bits and pieces here and there because you are like me, too busy to sit still during a movie. you're a pretty picky eater these days. some of your staples are; avocado, cucumber, mac-n-cheese (organic so that's totally ok, right?), pizza (or pee-ya to you-this is what you ask for every meal. morning or night), any fruit, fruit snacks, cheese and chips. you seem to be healthy and still lead with that belly so i'm not too worried :) you also LOVE "mum" (aka gum) and are constantly snooping through my purse hunting for some. you love wipes of any form, baby or antibacterial. you never think one is enough and if i am not careful you could go through a pack in about 15 minutes. you love to help clean and throw things away for me. i love that you're such a sweet helper. you are also super duper mischievous and i love every bit of it. your favorite game still is to play hide-n-seek. you also love to watch track with your daddy. he even taught you how to get down into the proper race starting position and when he says "GO!" you get up and run laps around the couch as fast as you can. you really,  really love when we read books to you. currently you have two that you are obsessed with; where did daddy's hair go? and walter the farting dog. yes, you love to read about the farting dog. we can thank grandma for buying you both of those books :) you are starting to talk more and more. you started saying "yep" instead of "yes" and it's possibly the cutest thing ever. you also started saying "more" with a crazy irish accent. it sounds like you are saying "marre". i love it and i hope it doesn't go away.

here's a glimpse of the many, many pictures i take of you. sorry.

you're a watermelon eatin' fool. just like your mama.

at one of our favorite restaurants, gravy. i think you drank a pint of ranch that day.

pops came to visit! you loved having him here and still ask for him every day. 

we're going to have to work on that cheese face. 

mothers day with my best girl.

you love to play "track" with daddy. i think he might love it even more than you do! 

you love playing memory games on my iPad.  (you are going to be brilliant, i just know it.)

you always have to stop at our family pictures and point out who each person is.

frolicking, like usual. 

you bring more sunshine and joy to our lives than you will ever know, baby girl! we are absolutely crazy about you and so so love watching you become you.

and then you were two

happy, happy birthday my sweet sutton blue. i can't believe you are two years old! you are the cutest, funniest, sweetest and most impish two year old i know. your grandma, grandpa and uncles, ethan and mark drove from nevada so they could celebrate your birthday with you. they never used to come visit  when it was just me and your daddy so that should let you know how much they love you! i had to have a minor surgery early this morning and i was sad i wasn't there when you woke up. but grandma, grandpa, mark and ethan gave you lots of birthday morning loves for me and your daddy. i think grandma brought you 87 presents. i stopped counting...we bought you lots of balloons and put them in your room so you would be surprised when you woke up. you loved them! i had to stay home and rest for a few hours after my surgery so everyone decided to take you to the zoo so i could have some quiet time. i was sad i couldn't go. you had a great time and daddy said you loved the giraffes the most. after the zoo you came home and had a nice long nap. when you woke up we went and got some yummy mexican food (the pizza place we were going to take you to was closed. i was sad because i know pizza is your favorite!) and then came home and you opened a few presents and ate your chocolate birthday cake. you're just like your mama, chocolate is your favorite! you kept wanting to blow out the candle. over and over again. uncle markie was nice enough to keep lighting it for you. your uncles love you so much! we had the perfect day celebrating your second birthday. we are crazy about you and you bring an immeasurable amount of joy to all our lives!

you.love.guacamole.

you were mad at your mean mama for taking the phone away

happy birthday to my best girl! 

you sat by grandpa and looked at your new books while he put your new scooter together

a big thanks to aunt chan for your awesome new scooter! 

chunky puke and a leopard snuggie

hey sutton, remember that time when for no apparent reason you violently puked all over our new car (and yourself) as i was pulling into the mall? i was on a mission. i had a very important hot date with the genius bar at apple. you were acting totally fine the whole morning. la de da. we chatted on the way to the mall and you seemed just dandy. my phone hadn't been working in a few days and i really needed to get it fixed! i even made sure to leave the house early (which is a miracle in itself) so i wouldn't run the risk of being late and losing out on our appointment time. as i was pulling into the mall out of nowhere you started retching your little guts out. i felt helpless because i was driving and i couldn't immediately comfort you. first my heart broke, and then my nose. man, you stunk. rancid is the word that comes to mind. i parked the car and got out, bracing as i assessed the damage. it was definitely a 9/10. chunky sour milk puke covered your hair, clothes, car seat, and back seat of the car. congratulations, you officially christened our new car. it was wretched. we don't have a home phone and i knew this was the only chance i had to get mine fixed so i hurried and stripped you down and magically found a leopard print snuggie that was in the car. i know, random. i wrapped you up in it and strapped you in your car seat. you seemed cozy and content for the moment so we headed in. i was praying that you wouldn't do that again in the store. can you imagine? at this point we were obviously late so my praying took a different focus. hoping they would take mercy on me and still let me have a spot. the guy took one look at you and said, "we'll get you right in."score. we were permeating puke fumes so i imagine he wanted to get us in and out as fast as possible.  things were looking up...the girl helping us took a look at my phone and said it probably wasn't working because i had dropped it several months ago and the crack was in a vulnerable spot that might be causing the issue. she said normal procedure would be to replace the screen, which i would have to pay for and that would take about 45 minutes. but...since i had a naked hillbilly baby and was in a super big rush she overrode the policy and gave me a new phone for zero dollas. holla! so, thanks baby blue for helping mama get a new crack free phone. i'm just sorry you had to puke your guts out. tear.

disclaimer:

i did stop by h&m on the way out-i didn't want her to have to drive home naked :) and she was totally fine the rest of the day. i'm thinking she was just a little bit carsick and her morning milk didn't sit quite right. and cleaning puke out of a car seat sucks. big time. 

it snowed. and she hated it.

it snowed. a lot. might not sound like a big deal but trust me, it was for portland. it started coming down on thursday and basically didn't stop until sunday. then some icy rain came which made the roads real fun to drive on. most roads here don't get plowed which makes for interesting driving conditions.  and...we live in a pretty hilly neighborhood so that makes it more of a challenge to get out. there were so many abandoned cars. everywhere. i had a few die-hard clients on friday and saturday and i am sure glad my ohio boy drove me to and from work. he hasn't lived in ohio for a long time but he still has mad skills. john was so excited that it snowed and he kept trying get someone to go outside and play in it with him. i like to look at it. from inside. little blue takes after me. at one point he got desperate and even tried to get the dogs to have a snowball fight with him. (that lasted about five minutes) on sunday, once the blizzard-like conditions had subsided we got bundled up and went for a "walk." which really meant try to get some fresh air while taking very graceful, dainty steps so you don't fall on the solid sheet of ice that had formed over the snow. we found a safe spot to set blue down so we could take some pictures and she was instantly terrified. she didn't want her feet to touch it, she didn't want her hands to touch it...she was having none of it. she's lucky we live in the pacific nw and she won't have to worry about snow like this for probably another 5 years!

sutton finally has her kitchen up and running. i'm slightly embarrassed to admit it was a christmas present..someone procrastinated building it (ahem, john) it was worth the wait-she loves it!  

grammie sent sutton the best valentines day package. here is some of her loot. 

crap. she's not a baby anymore.

i feel like life has been so busy since we got home from our christmas vacation. i hear that january is over and it is now february. stop it. what?!  i decided that is mighty fine with me because january has never been at the top of my list of  favorite months. i'm probably going to get punched for saying this, but....it has been so sunny and nice out and i'm desperately craving some gloomy/semi-rainy days. and by semi-rainy i mean i want it to rain after i'm home from getting in a dry run. doesn't it work like that? ha. i had surgery about two weeks ago and was stuck inside for the first week after. that was hard for me. i'm not good at just sitting and doing nothing. i actually really suck at it and i blame it on genetics. if you knew my mom, you would understand. actually, my mom and my dad are that way so i was screwed from the get-go. however, i must say that having friends bring dinner and treats over does not suck. it's hard not having family close but i can honestly say i have such good friends that have become my family. anyway, i'm glad that is over with and that i can get back to being active,  running and getting ready for some exciting stuff that we're going to be doing this year.

and for sutton blue, the little girl that is growing too fast.  everyday i tell her to slow down and stop growing up so fast but she doesn't listen to me. speaking of not listening, she is usually very good at listening to me and doing what i ask her. (unless it's iphone related) yesterday she took my phone off of the charger because it's one of her favorite things to do and well, because she can. i can't turn my back on her for a second without her trying to steal my phone (or the remotes). then she went and stood in her "corner" (the spot between my nightstand and the wall) because she thinks i can't  see her there.  she just kicked back and fired up pandora because she needed something to listen  to while she did some serious scrolling through my pictures, mainly to watch videos of herself over and over again. can you say narcissist? when i swiped it away from her you would have thought the world was coming to an end. i don't want her to have my phone all the time. iPhone privileges are reserved for emergencies only. (like grocery shopping or a doctor appointment) lately when i really need her attention and want her to look at me when i have something to tell her, all i have to do is get down to her eye level and ask her to look at me. and she does. except for yesterday...she looked at me for a split second and then stared over my shoulder without blinking or moving...an inch. she was being so defiant and was not about to give in. oh the stubbornness!!! i even called john in because he HAD to witness what was going down. he lasted 29 seconds before he went into the closet and probably peed his pants from laughing so hard. i wanted to laugh, too! but i had to be the stern one and not show signs of weakness. i had to make her earn my respect. ha. i'm only being semi-serious, this is not gang initiation. i wish i would have taken a picture of her face. she was killing me! it took every ounce of self control to not lose it and start laughing hysterically. 

one of her newest obsessions is picking up the "poo" when take the dogs for a walk. i love that she loves to "pick up" the poop. (and no, i don't let her really pick it up. not yet, anyways...)and she always has to put the bag on her hand all by herself. see.

she loves "checking" the mail. over and over again. once about fifteen minutes of this obsessive/compulsive behavior has passed, i have to (gently) drag her cute butt home.

 and then this happens... 

we take a pit stop outside the front door to watch for planes/people/dogs. in that order. 

and then she tries to trick me into letting her stay outside even longer.... 

someday, blue will look back and wonder what she did all day long when she was a toddler 

(good thing she has an awesome mom who blogs about once every 6 months) so it's my goal to take about 654 pictures of her per week. i'm not joking. here are some of her favorite things to do as a 21 month old lady.

she watches RHOA (don't judge) and no, she isn't usually allowed to watch tv 4" away from the screen. it was just an intense scene so i made an exception.

she makes blankets/stuffed animals into a body pillow while she sleeps. every day, every night.

she rummages through the fridge, steals random items and hides them in her shopping cart. don't let those pigtails fool you. she is a villain.

she goes to the park with her cool parents. her daddy is just a little kid trapped the body of a balding man which makes him extra fun to hang with. i'm just the unpaid photographer.

 she loves looking out the window. at anything. anytime. 

she loves to cut the fruit aunt connie sent her for christmas 

she loves to try and leave sacrament meeting early so she can get to the nursery first

she loves to give random things "showers"

and....unwrap all of mama's tampons 

she loves to not listen when i tell her it's time to go inside

she loved going to watch frozen in the theatre. she got to sit in a big girl chair with big girl popcorn and big girl soda. she was mesmerized and sat still the entire time. 

sutton blue is becoming more independent every day.  she can now walk up the stairs like a real human. it scares the crap out of me but i know i have to let her learn for herself. plus, i don't want her to be an adult who climbs up the stairs like a monkey because her mama held her back when she was little. that would be weird. when she was an itty bitty she would give affection to her dogs and inanimate objects freely. to us, her loving parents who feed, shelter and nurture her...nothing. nada. zip. zero. i'm very happy to share that things have changed. she is a little lover face who gives the best kisses and hugs. we always do a "family hug" before bed and she smooches us and tells us "secrets" before we lay her down. it's the cutest thing. eva. 

immensely enjoying every second we spend together as a family and cherish my alone time with blue. don't worry, i share.... john still takes fridays off so he can watch her while i work at the salon. i'm so thankful that he can do that because they have such a sweet bond that melts my heart. i love my family.