Scrubby

I saw this really cute contraption on Pinterest where you adorably display your headbands using a decorated oatmeal container.

Exhibit A:



Except you have to eat all the oatmeal before you can use the container for something else.
So I improvised.

Exhibit B:



Two things:
1. Times the scrubbiness in Exhibit B by ten billion and you have a relatively good idea of what our apartment looks like right now.
2. We have no more paper towels.

Do I get mad props for creativity though?

*Also, for those of you who think that I have too many headbands, I would say this:

Did Blair Waldorf become Queen of the Upper East Side by wearing alligator clips in her hair?
Um, no.

I rest my case.

Last Month in Yakima

That might be the most boring post title I've ever had, but being behind on our blog stifles my creativity. Okay, here's a recap of our last month in Yakima and then I can focus on elaborating about Eugene. Whenever my sister Chelsea comes into town we do major organizing, rearranging, de-cluttering, and chucking of all unnecessary things. She is the Grand Poobah when it comes to all things cleanly.
We started with my mom's closet. It was like What Not to Wear, but less scary and more fun. My mom had to face the dreaded "360" (aka all her daughters) and we got to tell her what she could keep and what she couldn't. It again affirmed that my dream job in life is a personal shopper. (Anybody want to hire me? Consider this my resume) Anyway, it was all fun and games until we opened my mom's jewelry box(es)

Yikes.

Lets just say she had several plastic bags full of items that she hadn't worn in a long time. As sisters (and with mom's permission) we decided we would take the unwanted jewelry items and pawn them as if we had found them in the unit we bought on storage wars. (Barry Weiss, I love you!)

Long story short, we made $235 bucks by selling 3 items. Bam!

The items we sold:

1. My mom's Lil' Wayne Chain. I won't go into details, but lets just say it looked like this:


2. Cheesy star necklace.
3. Old (but in mint condition!) Seiko watch

I was slightly rebuffed when the pawn shop lady told me the vast majority of our items could not be verified as "real." Boo.
Also, a real quick word about pawn shops in Yakima, Washington.
Ghetto.
(Scrubby, indecent, weird, creepy, junky, and rip-off would also suffice)
Anyway, after cashing in our check from the pawn shops, we took my mom out to lunch.

You would think that $235 dollars might be the highlight of our "anti-hoarding" adventures. It wasn't. Perhaps the most incredible thing we found in my mom's jewelry was this:



A human tooth. And who is the owner of this particular tooth? Nobody knows. If you are missing a tooth, it is probably somewhere in a pile of rubble in the Yakima Dump. If you are offended by lack of an apology for throwing away your tooth, I can offer you some vintage jewelry...

Here are the anti-hoarders, working hard.



The last few weeks in Yakima included this:

Snuggling with Keithy.


Still loving bathtime.



Turning into werewolves.




This was taken about a month ago, but I wanted to show everyone the cute fat roll between Ev's bum and her back. It has grown exponentially since this picture was taken.


Recent milestone in Evie's life: She now eats people's shirts.



Mr. Smee, uhhhh I mean Chelsea, who is moving to LONDON, ENGLAND tomorrow! Just in case you thought your life was cool, I'm going to make you feel less cool by saying that my sister got into her dream Master's Program at the University of London. (Demography/Public Health)



We miss Aunt D!



Evie + Aunties = Sandwich





Ev totally loves the Auntie/Evie sandwich. We are all missing the Palm Springs of Washington, but Eugene has been good to us thus far. Evie is no longer sleeping in a pack'n'play in a closet, (I just wanted her to be like Harry Potter) and has graduated to a crib! Thankfully for my sanity, the transition went very smoothly.

Pack'n'play





Crib




Did I mention that we love it here?

The Blowout of 2011

****DISCLAIMER****
This is the nastiest post you will ever read.
Don't say I didn't warn you.

One fateful day (yesterday) I was cooking in the kitchen while Ev watched me in the bumbo. It was a rather peaceful scene - mother and daughter, enjoying each other's company amidst the aroma of garlic. As I was chopping some asparagus my mind began to wander (typical) and an odd thought hit me.

My daughter hadn't pooped in 2 1/2 days.
Was this possible? Did I count the days right? Ev has always been regular. And when I say regular, I mean one solid blowout per day. (usually a little before lunchtime)
Anyway, as I zoned back into our peaceful mother/daughter garlic scene I suddenly realized that I hadn't changed Evie's diaper in over two hours. What was I thinking? I had obviously gotten used to the pleasantly wet-only diapers of the last few days.

All it takes is one mistake.
Calling all East-Coasters. So, you had an earthquake? Well my daughter just did you one better.

I grabbed Ev and reluctantly looked in the bumbo.
I could almost see my reflection in the yellow swimming pool. Ev almost slipped through my arms because she herself was oozing the nasty. I ran her to the safe zone - the bathtub. (On several other blowout occasions we have had to take baths following the nasty.) As I looked at my daughter (smiling like usual) I tried to devise a plan for tackling the situation. As I waited for my brain to figure out what to do, the infant bathtub started filling up with the nasty. Ev dipped her toes in and flicked it in my face. I couldn't bathe her in a poopy bathtub! So I rinsed her off and took her to the changing table and proceeded to use about 20 wipes before she had pink skin again. I laid her on her playmat and surveyed the damage.

Here is what I did after the Blowout of 2011:
-Washed my kitchen floors and counter.
-Spot stained my carpet in several places.
-Washed my bathroom rug and mopped the bathroom floor.
-Scrubbed the bathtub, wiped down the shower curtain and sterilized the infant bathtub.
-Rinsed and scrubbed out the bumbo.
-Threw Ev's clothes away (wasn't even going to try and save them)
-Washed my own clothes (including my underwear! it went all the way through)

Once all the nasty was cleaned up, I bathed my child.

It was a long bath.

And for those of you who think I'm prone to a friend named hyperbole, you probably won't believe that 2 hours later when I went to the bathroom and found Evie poop in my hair and on my face - I laughed.

Believe what you want, but the Blowout of 2011 did happen.

Four Months

We have officially moved to Eugene and I can't wait to elaborate more on that, but for now I've got to catch up on this silly old blog.

We blessed Evie on July 10th. Yes, it was well over a month ago - practically two months ago, but things have been crazy. She looked adorable (no surprise there) and Nick did an excellent job. I don't really know the protocol is on sharing what's in a baby blessing, but I will share one thing that really stood out to me. Nick blessed Evie with the capacity to reciprocate love to all those around her. I thought it was quite profound and I can already say she makes me feel loved everyday.

We took so many great pictures with both sides of our family, but I just don't have the patience to post them all. Just envision a lot of happy smiling people.
And here's some cuteness from the Ev:






Our Fam





And the tiredness sets in...



The week of Evie's blessing we had the majority of both of our families in Yakima. It was delightful, to say the least.

The rest of the summer was pretty much a blur. We drove to Utah to visit friends and enjoy a Hague Family Reunion at Bear Lake. Ev spent a large portion of her days in a carseat, but took it like a champ.

Exhibit A:



Lil' D turned 18! (on July 27th) And while I totally believe she is beyond qualified to go to BYU, I cannot help but list several of her most memorable quotes of the summer.

1. (While playing Trivial Pursuit) Which country is the location for Machu Pichu?
Darel's answer: "Cancun!" (gotta love the enthusiasm though)

2. "Is Paris in Rome?"

3. (Again while playing Trivial Pursuit) Which famous ship was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Ireland in 1909?
Darel's answer: "The Mayflower?"

So her Geography and History are slightly rusty. Good thing she's majoring in Recreational Management/International Relations. Jokes aside, Darel is a hard-working, intelligent girl who will no doubt succeed at BYU. But as her older sister, I have to say I hope she doesn't succeed too much because that means your social life suffers! (That may or may not have been my motto while in college)



D's 7-layer birthday cake made by her loving sisters.



The party-goers









****THE FOLLOWING PICTURE IS THE BEST PICTURE I TOOK ALL SUMMER****
Lil' D is mildly obsessed with her bf the Biebs. Shea kindly gifted D a book about JB's life. Upon hearing that JB was in fact, CANADIAN, my Grandpa promptly picked up JB's biography and began to devour it. (He's from Alberta and so is my Grandma) I was quick enough to sneak a picture. All I have to say is, nobody escapes the charm and good looks of JB!



Following Lil D's birthday party, we snuck down to Eugene to find a place to live. (We had 24 hours to find a place to live for three years!) On our way we stopped by the Portland Zoo. It is quickly becoming my favorite attraction worldwide.

All of the Smart Grandkids.



Okay, that's all I have the energy for right now. More to come soon I hope. Our apartment looks like the Berlin Wall anytime after 1989. Yikes. But before I conclude this random post I have to lament that my baby turned four months old last week. Sigh. She is getting so fun (laughing, spitting rice cereal in my face, sleeping through the night, really interacting, etc.) but I seriously cry when I pick her up from her crib and she feels more sturdy and chubby than the day before. Is it possible to grow so fast? On the plus side, she is the world's cuddliest baby. She would cuddle with me all day if I let her. (I have to get some things done!)
Anyway, at her four month check up the nurse came up with a camera (they take a picture at every appointment and then print it out along with her stats for you to take home as a keepsake) and said, "Smile!"

I have the most obedient child. (for now)



Ev is also a whopping 13 lb. 2 oz! (not that big actually) She is exactly in the 40% for height, weight, and head circumference. I had such high hopes that she would get the Jordan tall gene. Poor girl, her legs get shorter and her thighs get chubbier everyday (she's too much like her mom). Selfishly, I have to say I completely enjoy her thighs - more than any other dessert on the planet actually. But I know she's gonna hate it when she's 30. C'est la Vie!

I know I said I would elaborate on the situation in Eugene later, but I'll summarize how we feel at the moment about our new home.

WE. LOVE. IT. HERE.



Can you tell?

Hans Solo

This conversation is based on actual events.

Darel: "So do you think I should bring my JB to school?" (speaking of her life-size cutout of the Biebs)
Syd: "Yea."
Darel: "Will I have room for it?"
Syd: "Yea, there was a girl in a dorm by me who had a cut-out of Hans Solo in her window."
Darel: "The composer?"
Syd: "What?" (laughing)
Darel: "Who is that?"
Syd: (still laughing)
Darel: "Is he an athlete or something?"
Syd: "Please stop talking. No, he's Harrison Ford's character in Star Wars."
Darel: "Is it that big of deal that I don't know that?"

I love my sister.

The Face is Coming to Visit

This is the Face. She is coming to visit us tomorrow! I. CANNOT. WAIT. Her birthday was yesterday (she's two!) and her aunties (with grandma's help) have prepared a post-birthday extravaganza!



This is a little bit of a catch-up post too. The first week in July, the Burnetts came to Yakima. We did a TON of swimming.

Brent and the Face




















Spiderman jumping off the diving board.
















Here she is: The Face, in all her squeezable glory.







Is there anything better than the Face? Actually there is - the Face with Coley and Keithy (and Darcee, Brent, Jenny, Katie, Debbie!). Hurry up and get here guys!



P.S. Maryjane! Please come over! :)