I'm Not Dead Yet

I'm guessing that only a few individuals will fully appreciate the title of this blog post, but if you recognize that infamous line, you'll understand the point in the semester in which I currently find myself.

That being said, I have fallen hopelessly behind at keeping the blog updated with our crazy adventures in Ohio so the photo dump below is my attempt to get back on track.  To say that we're looking forward to Spring would be the understatement of the century.  After growing up in Utah for most of my life I thought I was used to bad winters and had seen the worst of what Mother Nature could throw at me.

NOT EVEN CLOSE.

2014 in Ohio takes the cake.  We're over it (and obviously holding a grudge...).  I'm hoping that when I post the next installment, you know, in September, there won't be any traces of snow or ice unless it's in the form of a popsicle or snow-cone.

So here we go with the latest and greatest from Team Adams.

AJ's favorite spot these days - the bay window in our bedroom.  She likes to play hide and seek behind the curtains, and she loves checking out the action on the street below.

Steve and I turned our backs for two minutes while having a conversation, and when we tuned back into the Bug, she had ransacked my purse and helped herself to an apple.

In case you didn't know, March 1st is National Pig Day.  Our neighbors throw an annual Pig Party to celebrate, and this was my contribution to the eats this year.  Thank you, Pinterest.

Pigtails and a pigtail.  I slaved away on her party attire.  She found someone's shoes and decided to take them for a spin.

This one (and the next picture) is for my bro, Scott.  Thanks to him we have a Sun Valley Zamboni driver-in-training.

Watch out, world!

Came. Built. Conquered.

It was fun and games for about two minutes...

Then we put her to work.

AJ celebrating Chinese New Year.  The outfit is courtesy of Malcolm Litchfield; he bought this for AJ when he was in Hong Kong in January.  Pretty adorable.

This was my Valentine's Day gift from Steve.  Instead of giving it to me on February 14th, Steve gave it to me on February 13th - a definite low point in 2014.  Earlier that afternoon I managed to bust my flash drive with tons of critical information that had not been backed up on our external hard drive.  A user error of the worst kind, but the whole situation reminds me of what I love about Steve.  Even though this was meant to be a special Valentine's Day surprise (I LOVE pistacia vera...their macarons are to die for), he figured an academic crisis warranted a pick-me-up rather than waiting for the next day.

Here comes trouble!  These two are best little buds and they partied on Valentine's Day.

Midway ice castles.  These kinds of pictures have been plastered on Facebook to the point of ubiquity, but I still love the shots I'm posting here.  That place was so cool.  While we were stranded in Utah due to the POLAR VORTEX (what does that even mean?!?!) in Ohio, we decided to make the most of our extended vacation and hit up the ice castles.

Pretty.

My favorite people in the whole world.

Warning: Tooting of one's own horn is about to occur.  Proceed with caution.

TOOT TOOT!

Remember that wedding project I mentioned way back when (in October, I believe)?  Well, here are the results.  This was the most stunning wedding I've ever attended, been a part of, etc.  Seriously.  It was outrageously gorgeous, and fortunately for me, the flowers were a huge part of that.

If I fail at becoming an academic, I'm going into the flower biz.

Here are some of the photos I took of my creations.  Sam Yarbrough was the official photographer of the wedding and his photographs are exquisite (he's the professional photog...I'm not) but I haven't gotten my hands on them yet so these will have to suffice for now.

Steve and I were sitting at this table, complete with personalized table settings.  Pretty schnazzy, eh?

Ainsley was banned from the kitchen while I processed the flowers, but once I was done she had free reign with all the cut stems and foliage.  She was in heaven.

::{Calla lilies, Misty Blue, Garden Roses, Akito Roses, Lisianthus, Chrysanthemums, Hydrangea, Freesia, Stock, Bear Grass, Israeli Ruscus}::

More of the same, but now with Orchids...

This was the toss bouquet.  Emily chucked it.  As in, like a grenade.  I'm pretty sure I gasped when she threw it, but luckily I was not in thick of the action (cue, "All the Single Ladies") so no one heard me except Steve.  Yikes!  You learn to wire and secure the toss bouquet extra tight, but even still, the girl who caught it was lucky it didn't explode on impact.

The corsages for the Mothers of the Bride & Groom and the Maid of Honor were my favorite designs of the whole wedding.  This picture does not do them any kind of justice.  In case you couldn't tell, the wedding colors were cream, gold, and black so texture was everything so here we have lisianthus, ranunculus, and waxflower and some ribbon detailing to tie everything together.

I don't have a great picture of the bridal bouquet, but it was pretty awesome.  It fit the bride (and her dress) perfectly.  So glad they let me do the flowers - it was quite the experience.

One of the highlights of our holiday excursion to Utah was seeing dear friends and meeting their adorable kiddo for the first time.  All such occasions should involve food, so we decided to rendezvous (the second or third time we saw them) at the Bakery in SLC.  As you can see, Ainsley is infatuated with anyone smaller than herself.

 Buckeye by affiliation meet Buckeye by birth.  

AJ commandeered Steve's earmuffs while we explored the ice castles.

(Sorry about getting things out of order (this is back in Midway).

                                      

Favorite photo from the trip.

While I was doing flower stuff, Steve partied with the Riggs family.  Had we come a month or so later we would have met the newest member of their family.  But alas, Steve and Bug had a blast with Brannick, Juli and their kidnicks.

    

AJ hanging out with her third cousin (I think?).  Not really sure, but no biggie - they're cousins.                                             

Quality time with the Odoms.

Having a grand 'ole time of it, too!

This pretty much sums up my life with an almost-two year old.

So fun to see my dear friend Ann as a mamma.

Okay, I lied.  This may be my favorite photo from the trip...

I still love how the wrapping paper is more fun than the actual gift.

Scott's gift to Bug is my worst nightmare (hence, the reason he gave it to her).  See below.

What really drives me bonkers is that she LOVED it.  Bobble, bobble, bobble...

Yikes.  Nightmare-become-reality.  A bobble-head Gollum doll.

What a treat.

We made sure to visit some of our very favorite people during our whirlwind week - the Turners!

Hanging out with their adorable kiddos in their new house....helping them break it in. =)

Irvine/Stevens/Mitchell party!  One of my favorite aspects about trips to Utah.  Never a dull moment with this group.

We loved spending time with Steve's family (even though AJ was sick...don't look too closely at her eyes) for New Year's.  A bunch of the family got together at his grandmother's home and it was really nice seeing everyone who could be there.

Making herself at home at 2860.  My parents and their awesome toys kept her (and us) thoroughly entertained.

Meeting baby Rafe for the first time - what a darling baby boy!

My dear friend Savannah was kind enough to let us stay with them for a night in order to have a direct flight to Utah - we went to extreme lengths to make the travel experience as hassle-free as possible.  It didn't work (especially the trip back from SLC).  The Hansens were amazing hosts, especially when the polar vortex shenanigans paralyzed the entire Midwest.  We're so glad we got to see them despite the crazy weather/travel circumstances.  Good friends are the best.  And their dog, Jada, is a champ for putting up with the three littles (especially the Bug).

Buddies.

And finally, a few pics from Christmas.  We are so glad we had our own little Christmas in Ohio - it was a blast.

You'll notice that AJ progressively loses more clothing as the pictures continue (had I put them up in the right order, it would be reversed.  As the day went on, we were finally able to dress our child in a complete outfit).  If she had it her way she'd be in nothing but a diaper, and even that is asking a lot.

Skyping with Steve's parents joining our Christmas celebrations all the way from Peru!

Once again, tearing apart and playing with the wrapping paper is the best part.

Moments like these...pure joy.

.

::{ This and That }::

A little bit of this and that from Team Adams.

In case you didn't notice, we locked the blog.  We occasionally look at who visits the blog (we don't actually stalk you, but we check to see where people are viewing the blog from....) and we've noticed a lot of visits from random places where we don't know anyone.  So, per usual, we're making it private for a while.  I'm sure we'll go public again, but wanted to keep our VIP readers in the loop.

BIG NEWS!

wait for it....wait for it....

A BABY IS ON THE WAY!

BETTER YET?!?!

IT'S NOT OUR BABY BUT WE'RE THRILLED FOR THE PARENTS-TO-BE! 

(we don't subscribe to the child-every-two-years plan)

We received the exciting news this weekend - an Irvine baby is on the way and will be joining my brother's family in April.  I'm going be an aunt!  Technically I'm already an aunt, but it's different when it comes by way of your own family, and I couldn't be more excited about AJ getting a new cousin to run around with.  Let the mayhem begin!

***

Thanksgiving is behind us, but over the last few months I've been thinking of one thing in particular that I am very grateful for.  It's not a typical item that pops up on "I'm thankful for" lists, but I've been acutely aware, especially as of late, of how thankful I am that I know how to type.  Of all the classes that I took in junior high, my typing class is at the very top of the list for useful courses.  Spanish, geometry, trig, biology - useless.  However, I use the skills from my typing class EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I consider it a huge blessing to be able to streamline paper-writing, note-taking, general communication through proficient typing.

***

An update on AJ:  Her vocabulary is expanding at an alarming rate.  She hasn't conquered her "R" sounds if the word doesn't start with that letter, which makes for some very entertaining moments.  We try and keep it G-rated around these parts, but what can I say?  Sometimes she blurts out a word that sounds remarkably similar to more explicit language.  Again, we're hoping that she figures out the "R" thing soon, but I'd be lying if I said we didn't enjoy the results of her burgeoning language skills.  "Applesauce" is the longest word she can say these days, but it's pretty adorable to hear our little parrot mimic whatever we say.  She grabs our hand whenever she wants something and she does not hesitate to demand that we vacate whatever chair we occupied so that she can sit in it herself.  Precocious doesn't even begin to describe the Bug.  I think she is on an advanced placement path in life and has already approached the terrible two's.  We're hoping that means she'll reach the end of that stage much sooner.

***

Yesterday was St. Andrew's Day.  We still miss Scotland like crazy on a regular basis, but even more so on days like yesterday.  America does not know how to host a dance party.  Until you've experienced an authentic Scottish ceilidh with a live band and every man dressed in a kilt, you haven't lived.

***

When I'm not studying or hanging out with Steve and the Bug I've been spending my time doing some floral design stuff.  Why?  Because in January I will get to design the flowers for what is going to be the wedding of the century.  A good friend of mine is getting married in Utah and he and his fiancee are probably the artsy-est (I think I just made that up) and most talented people alive.  All I can say at this point is that this wedding is going to be stunning.  I feel honored that they're trusting me with the flowers.  Imagine, if you will, a classic palette of gold, cream, and black with floral heavyweights such as orchids, freesia, garden roses, and anemones.  I will definitely post pictures when I finish this project.  The other bonus (aside from doing something I love) is that we get to hang out with family and friends in Utah for a week before school starts next semester.  It's a win-win.

***

Funny story about Steve (shared with his permission of course).  He came home from the library one day with the book Big Appetites: Tiny People in a World of Big Food.  You can look it up online if you wish, but we both enjoyed looking at the hilarious pictures.  Steve then decided that he liked looking at these kinds of books because the pictures were very creative and the captions were clever.  He decided that he wanted to find more such books and had the brilliant idea of looking up "adult picture books" on google.

HA!

Fortunately, he didn't actually do that because his logic kicked in almost immediately after he thought it, but we both had a good chuckle when he recounted the experience of almost searching for adult picture books online in order to find more innocent images like one man saving another man who is at risk of drowning in a bowl of cereal, or two guys checking out the situation of a mysterious hole in an eggshell.  Never a dull moment with the Mister.  It's apparent that spending inordinate amounts of time reading and re-reading picture books written for audiences under the age of three causes one to feel the need to differentiate between children vs. adult picture books.  Welcome to parenthood?  You really should check out Big Appetites though - it's very entertaining...and completely appropriate.

***

We'll see if we get around to mailing out Christmas cards this year, and if we do, we hope we have your address (if not - please leave your address in a comment or get it to us some other way)!  We love keeping in touch with family and friends and we hope your holiday season is off to a great start.

::{ 18 months }::

This little lady is 18 months old.

Multiple people told me in the early stages of motherhood (the sleep deprivation stage, to be precise) that it gets better and better.  I'm only 18 months into this parenting thing, but I whole-heartedly agree - it just keeps getting better and better.  There are still hard days - anyone who disagrees is lying - but as this little person and her accompanying personality continues to grow, explore, and discover her world, we realize again and again that we're the lucky ones to be her parents.

She's a handful, but anyone less bubbly, friendly, energetic, wiggly, noisy, independent, or curious simply wouldn't entertain us and teach us in the ways Bug does.

So here are some things to remember about AJ at 18 months:

1) She has two speeds: sleeping or running.  This is only problematic when we're playing chase and she's having too much fun looking back to see who's coming after her and she runs into things.  Sad, yet hilarious.  We try and keep her from smacking into hard surfaces, but sometimes it's impossible - this kid is fast!

2) She refuses to eat anything unless she feeds it to herself.  She's not very picky, but she's adamant that she be the one in charge of the utensils.

3) She loves to twirl in the front room, especially if she is twirling to any and all songs from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

4) She loves looking at pictures of herself, or seeing herself in the mirror.

5) She speaks in sentences.

6) Kidding!  Just seeing how closely you are reading.  She doesn't speak in intelligible sentences yet, however, in her world she makes perfect sense and always has something to say.

7) She CAN say the following words: cracker, bottle, car, ball, mama, daddy, book, shoes, cheese, Jesus, bye-bye, happy, please, no, bubbles, baby (that's all we can remember at the moment).

8) If she could spend every possible second outside, she would.

9) She prefers trains and dirt hills to dolls - any day.

10) She's pretty good at drinking from a regular cup, i.e. she doesn't dump liquid down her front.  Not sure why I'm still surprised by this, but I am.

11) Steve is her personal jungle gym, and she gets in a good workout everyday.

12) She's got a really good arm - she throws balls around our back porch and you have to duck if you don't want to get smacked.  We're pretty sure she's a lefty, but she throws with her right arm (just like her dad).

13) She doesn't sit with us at church.  The only way she'll be quiet is if someone besides her parents will entertain her.  Bug's old nanny and her husband like to sit with her (and about five other couples in the Bug rotation), but whenever Malcolm is playing the organ in church, it takes many pairs of hands to restrain Bug from running up onto the pulpit area to climb into his lap.  They're best buds.

14) She rocks an adorable pair of pigtails almost daily.  The blonde color came from Steve, but the curls came from moi.

15) It's pointless putting on her shoes and socks (though we still do) before a car trip anywhere because by the time we reach our destination she will have undoubtedly pulled off both shoes and both socks and chucked them somewhere in the back seat of the car.

16) She folds her arms when we tell her it's time to say a prayer, but her reverence only lasts for about three seconds.  Baby steps.

17) She still has her killer smile.

18) Her kisses are...well...something special.  We'll say, "Ainsley, can I have a kiss?" to which she'll respond in the following way - a wide open mouth, and she sticks her tongue out at the last second to lay a big wet one on you.  HA!  I laugh, cringe, and love it all at the same time.  Her hugs are the best though.  She snuggles into our shoulders with her head and pats us on the back multiple times.

Here's to a fabulous 18 months!  Can't wait to see what's in store for this munchkin...