this is how we roll...

bayley has this dance she does
she begins with the very first beat of the sesame street theme song and it just takes off from there
it's a ritual, no matter what she is doing.  eating. playing. whatever.  when that first beat is heard, it's like "oh my song's on, i gotta perform!"
and she is just in the zone. dancing.
like a deep squatting, bouncing, head down, hippie, tribal dance that comes and goes with the beat
and it makes me smile so big and laugh everytime
what a moment to witness. it's pure, simple, yummy life

speaking of life, this is a great book about how great life can be


i haven't finished this book yet, but so far it has changed me forever, for the better and i am so grateful for it.

so in our recent efforts to simplify, i find myself being more content with what is and less likely to become distracted and run to the local Target (i'm pretty sure they used to own my soul) in hopes that buying forty dollars worth of random crap i didn't need will pull me out of the funk i was feeling.  only to realize that now i have to put away and deal with the forty dollars worth of crap and i forgot to buy razors which is the reason i went there in the first place so now i'm still in a funk and i have hairy legs. shoot.

so i am trying to shop less and live more, and i think it's working.

our trek to the beach was grand















i keep looking at bayley everytime i pick her up and thinking "this is all gonna be gone soon"  these crazy toddler years.  and even though it challenges every ounce of my being at times, i'm going to miss this so very much.  so we are eating up every crumb of life right now... not wasting a single morsel.

the other day, i decided to follow through with a project (another new thing for me).
i went out to our tiny plot of dirt and i started digging away like i was mining or gold or something (in reality i was feeling frustrated and needed to blow off some steam).  digging up plants, getting rid of old mulch, i was a woman on a mission and it felt amazing!!!  i found worms deep in the clay-y earth, potato bugs, and a super creepy centipede that looked like it could eat me.  adam put together the 2x4's into a nice garden box, i filled it with rich organic soil and -badabang-a garden was made.  i planted broccoli, yellow squash, and basil. 



"beauty is the promise of happiness"  -stendhel



these pictures hold a deeper meaning for me, i love them with all of my heart
there were no outfits planned, no props thought up, no special place to drive to at sunset....
just pure spontaneous fun
jumping on the bed, curtains open, eating a fruit snack, in the moment



























"if you want to be happy, be"  -tolstoy

happy monday

xoxo
-abbey

spring has sprung

i love spring, it seems simple.  and these days i am loving simplicity and the beauty found in it.
like,
cool foggy mornings
a rainbow variety of flowers
lush green mountains
pastels
in season fruit and veggies
&
fresh new beginings

a local organic farm called mcgraths opened up this weekend so we took a tour of the animals and bought some yummy produce.









one of my favorite pictures, i snapped it nanoseconds after i heard her say "bunny kiss"








a birthday party with a jumper, she is still asking to "jump" 2 days later










more pictures than words tonight.  most of them seem to tell a better story than i could right now.
time to go sleep well, i always do after sunday yoga.

Our road trip to Reno

i think i'm still recovering from the 16 hour drive each way, but it was fun and wild and great.

getting stuck on the donner pass driving through what i considered a horrific blizzard listening to "hey diddle diddle" on repeat for 2 hours straight was my most vivid memory.  that song now gives me chills.


bayley summed it up the best when we asked her about her trip "music and lights" she said. 


we celebrated my great aunts 80 th birthday with her 5 daughters and my mom and grandma.  i love spending time with family, it's not always the greatest, but it sure does build meaningful memories and the time spent never seems wasted.
















"one, two maga's"  bayley was always counting her grandma's

thank you maga's, we had a wonderful trip.

20 months and on our way to Reno

Twenty months is full of surprises.


(oh how i love this face!!)

and although i know she is almost 21 months, i want to record each month in it's glory for as long as i possibly can.



so surprises.  like taking out my cake pan to bake the most delicious chocolate cake only to find an alphabet letter stuck to the bottom.  a blue "y".  or sitting down to watch the tail end of the oscar's and finding a turkey baster stuck between the cushions.  and not so fun surprises like last night's hour and a half toss-a-thon after waking at 130am, finally resulting in a baby rolling off the bed, a thump and crying.  she is fine. i only wish we could have caught on film mine and Adam's reaction to the whole thing.  Charging at her like crazy hyena's or something all distraught from no sleep and pure fear pulsating through us.


playing in the rain






her vocabulary has far surpassed our understanding of half of it.  she talks so much and i try so hard to recognize what she is saying, but sometimes i have to just smile and nod because i have no freaking clue what she is jabbering away about.



this morning she woke up so happily and looked at me and said "hi mama, hi dada"  "hug?"  gave us big hugs and kisses and then said "dada sleepy".

tonight she looked at kitty and said in a motherly and excited tone "big girl" after kitty ate a piece of chicken we gave her.  i was cracking up.

she is feeding herself a lot lately, sweet potatoes are her favorite to do.  i made the mistake of letting her do strawberry yogurt by herself while i surfed the web.  there was quite the splattering of yogurt everywhere
only moments later.  she is doing so well though, and she has to learn somehow.



Daddy bought her a fancy mickey mouse trike today and i texted him this evening telling him i was going to kill it and throw it out the window afterwards.  it's really cute and she loves it, it just has so many loud abnoxious noises and buttons and she gets frusterated because she can't ride it yet so she just sits on it and pushes the buttons and then asks me to help her off and then 5 seconds later she wants help to get back on it again.



snacks packed.... we are off to Reno, 4 generations driving in a rented nissan altima.  To go celebrate my great aunt mary's birthday with her five daughters.  Let the fun begin!!!

to Adam
We will miss you sweetheart, have a fun and relaxing weekend.  We love you so much.
xoxo,  your girls