What Do Bunnies Do? Hop pop!

Seriously, what happened to October?

But since Thanksgiving is next week (HOLY COW!), I suppose I should post our Halloween costumes from last month. You wanna see? Promise not to be critical and instead focus on how cute Alexa is! Okay, I'll share.

So I'm a little reserved about the success of this year's costumes because of this: Alexa is supposed to be Peter Rabbit, but she has no coat...so she's just a rabbit, making me just a rabbit mom instead of Peter's, Floppsy's, Moppsy's and Cottontail's mom, and making Nick a farmer instead of Mr. McGreggor.

Alexa was so cute though, whatever bunny she was. I love our cute, little, confused family!

And to clarify, the title of the post is a conversation we have with Alexa a lot and is why I chose her to be a bunny, because I thought it might be something she chose to do herself:

Mom/Dad: "What do bunnies do, Alexa?"
Alexa: "Hop pop." [While tapping feet]

Too cute!

5, 10, and 15 Year Plan

I saw this post on a new blog I'm getting wrapped up in and I had a lot of fun talking with Nick about our 5, 10, and 15 years plans that I decided to do a post on them. This is so fun to be as specific as you can because life is pretty predictable so I think our future will be pretty close to what I'll describe here soon (sarcasm is tricky to relate through writing, so FYI I was joking...haha). I'll try to stay brief, but frankly our life is so awesome I'm not sure if I can! And without further ado...

Five years from now...
I am going to be 30, Nick will be 34, Alexa will be 6 (that blows my mind), Grace will be 3.5, Isaac will be just a brand new baby, and Pip the fish will be such a joy to all, but especially to Isaac and Grace! We're going to be busy with Alexa in Kindergarten, playing soccer, doing gymnastics, and her and Gracie will be taking swimming lessons. Of course all of this will be taking place as Nick is finishing up his post-doc from Cornell University, which means we'll stay plenty busy exploring as much of the East Coast as we can take in! We'll be renting a lovely home in New York with a surprisingly big yard and I'll enjoy nothing more than doing all I can to make the cozy (a.k.a. small) home a piece of heaven.

Ten years from now...
I am going to be 35, Nick will be 39, Alexa will be 11, Grace will be 8.5, Isaac will be 5, Owen will be 2, and I'll be pregnant with little Natalie! Pip the fish, Toby the basset hound dog, and Horton the lizzard/frog/bunny/turtle/snake/hamster/etc. will keep all the kids wildly entertained! We're going to live in our dream home up in Pullman, WA where Nick will be a professor at Washington State. He will absolutely love his work and his family and his church calling on the stake council. I will stay plenty busy taking care of everyone and working with the young women in our ward. Alexa is going to be getting into hair, makeup, boys (which will give her dad minor heart attacks daily), yet she'll maintain her free-spirit and interest in soccer. She, along with Grace, will not necessarily enjoy piano lessons, but will go to them if they want to continue in their other interests. Grace is going to be just like her daddy and love school and think science and math are the bees-knees! Isaac will be almost starting kindergarten and be the dirtiest little boy with the cutest curly hair you've ever seen! Owen will idolize his brother and the three of us will be so busy making forts and looking at bugs and jumping in puddles we'll hardly have time for things like dishes and ironing (I can only hope). And of course, Natalie, our little birth-miracle, she'll be doted upon like nobody's business by myself, her proud daddy, and her older sisters. Life will be so sweet!


Fifteen years from now...
I am going to be 40, Nick will be 44, Alexa will be 16, Grace will be 13.5, Isaac will be 10, Owen will be 7, Natalie will be 5, and our surprise boy Gabriel will be just a couple months old (Nick doesn't like that name now, but I think I can talk him into it in 15 years)! Nick and I will will be planning on a lovely trip to Brazil for our 21st year anniversary that coming summer with his money from his Nobel Prize explaining solar magnetic polarity reversal (look it up)! We're going to love the rain and everything about our house in Pullman (which will still be getting improvements made by Nick's tinkering). One thing we won't love, well, Nick and I won't love, is that Alexa will be driving and dating and doing a lot of both. She will work hard in school and will love hanging out with her friends in our kick-trash-party basement, as will Grace! I can't tell you how much Gracie will remind me of Nick, and I'll just love it so much! Isaac will be into everything a 10-year old should be into, but especially scouting and baseball. Owen, like his brother, will love baseball but will also love his first-grade class and teacher and starting piano lessons. Natalie and I will be preparing for kindergarten by going to the library weekly (like we've done with all our kids for years) and also playing with Gabe like he's a little doll. Gabe is going to be a pretty mellow dude, and just enjoy life as it comes, but still love to get into everything and play with his mommy, daddy, and siblings. Of course Toby (the most patient dog in the world...he never dies, so no worries there), Tiny Tim (Pip died a couple years ago, so we will have had this new fish since then), and Horton are all enjoying their lives as part of our family as well.

This is so fun to think about, but as I was writing I thought of about a billion variations to this game plan that I would be just as excited about (a couple include adopting internationally and doing a foster-to-adopt program out of birth-order). Whatever happens, I am so happy to have Nick, Alexa, Ray, Melissa, and the rest of our family along for the ride from here on out. Isn't my life going to continue to be incredible??  

 
Our wonderful family of three!

A Cleanliness Confession

I'm kinda ashamed to admit this, but here it goes:

I pretty much always have a clean house.

That feels really good to get off my chest.

The past few days I've let things slip a little, which means 4 un-ironed shirts on the couch and a basket of unfolded laundry in the living room. A couple small clutter piles on the counter-tops, but that's really about it.

So last night I spent an hour and a half after I put Alexa to sleep to tidy the place up. It's addicting because as one thing gets put away, it feels so good and I want to do more!

I am more than slightly embarrassed by this seemingly good obsession because some of the best moms I know throw cleanliness to the side and instead go on grand adventures with their children, teach them how to do wonderful and exciting things, and are so bushed by the end of the day that there is no energy left to clean.

I'd like to be more like that. In fact, I actually had a previous post all written up where I took pictures of my little piles of messes around my house to prove that it's not always clean, to convince myself that I can throw cleanliness to the wind and be as random and spontaneous as these other great moms I know.  (Especially blogging moms. It seems the first thing blogging moms honestly admit to the blogosphere is that their house is not always clean.)

But the fact is, most of the time things are pretty tidy around here. Maybe things will change as Alexa gets older, but I really don't think so. She already helps to put her toys away.

Alexa and I rarely get out of the house. Any out of the house activity can only last about an hour, and then it's nap time again, so it's just easier to stay home and let her roll around on the floor with me and her "frienemies," a.k.a. her toys and stuffed animals. She has just as much fun doing that, and I love it, too. We do go out a few times a week to the park or on a walk, but the time spent outside the home is pretty minimal. Not a whole lot of adventuring around here, I am sorry to say.

So, for me, a clean house is essential to maintain my sanity. Since I spend most of my time here, and relax on occasion (which was the problem last night--I wanted to read but the shirts needing to be ironed were in my reading spot), then things have to be tidy.

This maybe a surprise to say anyone that knew me circa 1986-2006, but getting married and making a goal to "never go to bed with a dirty or messy house" while on our honeymoon really helped. There's nothing quite like waking up to an empty couch and no dishes in the sink. It's a fresh start to a new day.

I'd like to say I'm a cool, adventurous mom, but for now, I'm learning to accept myself as the mom who is teaching her 5-month old how to put her bottle in the sink when she's done eating.

Super cool, I know.

I'm starting to explore black and white photo-ing, and I thought the low color contrast of these would be a good place to start.

Thursday Thirteen #21: Advice to My 14-Year Old Self

I stumbled across this post and decided that I have a lot of pointers for my 14-year old self. To give you an idea of where I was at when I was 14, I just started my freshman year of high school and my family and personal life was pretty confusing...as is I imagine for most 14-year olds. I had just been kissed, and dismissed, by my first boy, my middle school friends were doing things I didn't want to do, and I was in a big new school and felt lost and forgotten. Without any further adieu...

1. Let people take pictures of you; you don't always have to be the photographer and you are going to miss out on saving these special memories you are making.

Thursday Thirteen #19: How We Cope in the Off-Season

Just so you know, college football is kind of a big deal at our house. Especially BYU Football. Infact, you'll be interested to know that Nicholas purchased season tickets for me back in 2005 and proposed after the BYU-Utah game.

He's watching the USC-Hawaii game right now, on the first night of college football this season. The first of many, many nights.

So, in the 8 months between seasons, here are a couple things we have done, this year and in years past, to keep us preoccupied so we don't break down in tears every night.

1. Crush small children.

2. Entertain chubby babies.

Let me just say, I love the drool dripping from her chin!

3. Play Smurf Princess.

4. Get knocked out.

5. Capture a sunset.

6. Discover a new species of alligator that prefers snow.

7. Be patriotic.

8. Be intellectual.

9. Explore treacherous jungles.

10. Play with paper panchos.

I remember making this in second grade. My mom's awesome for saving it!

11. Discover exciting new wardrobes.

12. Find our future dream home.

13. Find our future dream automobile.

My Father-in-Law, the Superhero

Serious.

His lair is underwater and he explodes out of it...without skis.

Funny story: when I was a little girl my sisters and I would make believe in our ginormous backyard that we were outlaws...with super powers. The super power I chose was to control water, and I discovered this super power when one day we were running from the law and I got thirsty and a cup of water appeared in my hand. 

I know, incredible!

And according to Nick's mission zone, his superhero name would be Nice Nick Nelson. Catchy, no?