musings

toddlers are like cats.  they can see in the dark, sneak up on you when you least expect it, get into awkward positions/places, think the world revolves around them, and demand constant attention.

i busted my butt and got everything baked, bought, wrapped, mailed and decorated by the first week of december.  i feel ready for christmas and am enjoying the fact that i can basically relax and truly enjoy the holiday season.

the energy of the temple at christmas as families walk around and look at the lights reminds me of disneyland at christmas.  families are together, people are happy, and there is such a wonderful, magical, peaceful energy that surrounds the area.  i love it.

the older lily gets, the more i enjoy her.  she is a little kid and finds the oddest things hilarious.  i love getting into her world and going along for the ride.  and i love that she is old enough to go on various adventures and really participate and enjoy them.

the instant gratification of instagram and facebook have had a detrimental affect on my blog.  i'm not updating this space as much because instagram is just an in-the-moment blog (so to speak).  i need to get better about updating my blog, because (for better or worse) this is my journal and history.

i am getting the urge to update my space.  i feel the need for a new color palette on the walls.  the down side is, i am forbidden to paint (apparently i am an enthusiastic but horrible painter) and need to find a way to get kevin to do it.  and find the time.  also, the colors i am leaning toward (bright and "poppy" palettes) are so not in kevin's wheelhouse.  somehow a compromise of sorts must be reached.

my favorite part about decorating the christmas tree is the memories that come with the ornaments we unpack.  everything on the tree is related to a trip i/we have taken, a specific moment in my/our life, or the people i was with at the time the ornament was purchased.  it is a nice trip down memory lane and i love adding to the memories every year.

i would be totally down for co-sleeping with lily because she is a great cuddler.  she nestles against your back and is a little furnace.  plus, if she's already in bed with us, she won't wake me up when she does her nocturnal wanderings.  also, when she is asleep, i don't have to answer the same questions about where the moon, the firetruck, the trash truck, and the dump truck went 500,000,000 times/hour.  she's persistent and dedicated to her obsessions.

ireland {2014}

kevin and i were able to go to ireland for a week.  we ditched the kid and had an adventure overseas!  we landed in dublin, spent a day there, and then drove to galway for a day, followed by the cliffs of moher, then kilkenny, stayed in a castle in wexford (!!!!!), and then back to dublin for a day before taking off back to reality (i.e. home).  it was a grand adventure.  we saw lots of castles and ruins, gorgeous scenery (seriously, the whole country was colored by crayola....so pretty), made random stops, had some amazing food, and enjoyed being sans kid for a week.  between the two of us, we managed to take 1,313 photos.  i know, we're ridiculous.  and before kevin rats me out, i will tell you i was obsessed with the georgian-era doors (and other style doors, too) and took 137 photos of doors.  just doors.  did i mention i'm obsessed with architectural details?  and the georgian-era doors in ireland hit pretty high on my inner-geek scale.  below is a small sampling of our 1,313 photos.

ha'penny bridge and the river liffey
{dublin}

the irish famine memorial.  this gets me right in the feels.
{customs quay, dublin}

ha'penny bridge
{dublin}

christ church cathedral
{dublin}

door obsession
{christ church cathedral, dublin} 

we found a castle!
we came across it while driving to the cliffs of moher and had to stop and walk around.  so pretty!
{dunguaire castle}

the cliffs of moher.  it looked like a movie set.

seriously, how is this place real?
{cliffs of moher}

the scenery as we drove down the motorway. just gorgeous.

kilkenny castle

kilkenny castle

a post office box from queen victoria's time.
you can see her insignia at the bottom.

the colors!  the details!  

our hotel in wexford
{castle kiliane}

ferns castle

farewell dublin.  it's been grand!

the cuteness!

kevin and i leave for ireland a week from today.  we're incredibly excited.  but i think lily is even more excited for us.  

saturday selfie

a small sampling of the "blue tongue, blue sucker" selfies lily managed to take yesterday.  the girl is fascinated with seeing herself on the camera, and loves to push the button to take photos.  she managed to take 33.  and i have to say, she did pretty good.  

halloween {2014}

trick-or-treating was a success, lily looked adorable in her costume, and i can't wait for next year when she understands it a little more.  because this year was so freaking adorable, i almost couldn't stand it.

lily understands when she holds her bucket out,
someone puts candy in it.  

we went trick-or-treating with the paradise fam,
and lily and katriana holding hands as they walked
down the sidewalk was the cutest thing.

the aftermath

lily considers life complete--the fire truck edition

lily loves firetrucks.  LOVES them with a passion that some women reserve for chocolate.  she always wants to go say "hi" to the firetruck, she goes rigid with excitement when she see's a firetruck, and whenever she hears a siren, it's always a firetruck.  lily loves firetrucks.  on my way to pick her up after work, i passed by the community center and saw three firetrucks parked out front.  after i retrieved lily, we made our way back to the community center to see if the firetrucks were still there.  they were!  we spent an hour wandering around the three trucks, and she said "hi" to each one.  when the dispatch radio inside the trucks went off, the firetrucks were "talking."  lily was in her element and when we got to see the firetrucks drive off, it was the most exciting thing to happen in her short life.  "bye, firetruck!"  she was a very happy little girl that day.

pumpkin patch fun--part deux

our first trip to the pumpkin patch was such a success (i.e. lily lost it because she was having so much fun and did not want to leave), that we decided to make another trip when we had hours to devote to wandering and playing.  lily was enamored of the chickens and could have spent all day looking at them.  she's a fun kid and i am absolutely (mostly) loving this stage.

so many choices...

queen of the hay bales

the chickens were endlessly fascinating

"lily's driving!"

climbing the tree.  this girl is fearless and always
ready for an adventure.  that's my girl!