latest and greatest

all over the place. discovered the stairs. luckily, he's not that interested, yet.
what did you wear for your first day of school? not this, i presume.
teething and chewing on hands all day, everyday
loves grandpas beard
our new photoboards, made by Spencer's stepmom. love love love them
slingin a bottle on his own
oh and my new style. for once, i came home and declared, I LOVE MY HAIR!

trade off

Tomorrow is Spencer's first day back to work. The kiddies don't come till Monday so he's got a few days to get back into the swing of things. I think he's excited to get back to school and doing something with his days. Not that lounging around with me and Sawyer hasn't been great, I'm sure.

So that means back to work for me too. The boss here at Beals, Inc. has become increasingly difficult during naptime. Does he not realize how important nap time is to his employee(me)? I only have the chance to really get my work done when the head honcho takes naps. Productivity will decline rapidly if this persists.

He is also pulling up/standing up on furniture a lot and I am constantly cautioning him to "be careful" (as if he knows what that means, at all?)


What happened to that tiny baby who hung out and slept and ate and slept? I remember him, he didn't get into kitchen cabinets or stand in his crib crying or refuse to keep a bib on at lunch. But this new guy is kind of fun. He laughs a lot and chases the dog in his walker and claps his hands to music and likes to hold my hair in his little hands at bedtime.

It's all a trade off.

thrill of the hunt

Yesterday was a fun day of hanging out with my oldest, best friends. In N Out and thrift store shopping, my favorites!

After a day of thrift store hunting, I came home with a smattering of quality goods and spent a ridiculously small amount of dough.

Exhibit A (I tried doing one picture but all this awesomeness just doesn't fit into one shot):
Nordstroms BP cardigan

Vintage cropped black peacoat sweater. One of my favorite thrift finds ever.

Black polka dot dress

Navy blue Ann Taylor skirt. Sometimes I like old lady clothes. But it's super cute on.

Navy sailor-esque shirt.

Printed brown top. I need more pattern in my life.

Brand new skinny navy pants. Like a glove.

Royal blue Ann Taylor cardigan. It'll look cute in the outfit I have planned in my head, trust me.

Total 8 items purchased
Total $42 spent

Usually I don't spend that much thrifting in one day, but usually I don't find so many great things at once. And all of these items are in like-new condition, have no wear or tear or stains, and require no alterations to fit me. JACKPOT.

Some people might turn their noses up at buying second hand, and thats cool for you. But some of my all time favorite pieces of clothing and accessories were found drooping on metal hangers inside smelly thrift stores. I kind of love that someone else owned and loved them before me. My favorite lemon yellow and black dress maybe belonged to a sweet, older woman who held onto it well into her 70's, reminiscing about times spent dancing with suitors in that dress?

Maybe not.

But if nothing else, tell me what beats having an amazing piece of clothing, that no one else will be wearing, that you paid $7 for? Holla.

"It's my life and I'm not sitting on the sidelines watching
It pass me by
I'm leaving you my legacy
I gotta make my mark
I gotta run it hard
I want you to remember me
I'm leaving my fingerprints
I'm leaving my fingerprints
Don't give up
Don't give in
Build your house on the rock
Oh not in the sand, in the sand, in the sand, in the saaaaaand"

I like to sing this song at the top of my lungs to my son as we dance around my office. If I could turn it up louder on the imac speakers without blowing them out, I absolutely would. Yeah, it's Katy Perry and alot of her songs are very "meh.." but girl can sing and she's the long lost twin to my number one style icon, Ms. Deschanel. So, naturally, I am sort of a fan, some of the time.

With our long summer break as a 3some draws to a close, I am reflecting on what was accomplished and enjoyed over the past almost 3 months. And I had a realization today. I was a complete slacker. ALL. SUMMER.

I strayed from my weekly routine of grocery shopping/cleaning/cooking/laundry/treat-baking/mama+baby time. I slept in past Sawyers wake up time almost every day. Bless my sweetheart of a husband who got up before I even heard the little dude every day, and asked me "why'd you get up?" when I would wander downstairs after breakfast had been served and cleaned up. I cleaned every 2 weeks (if that) and didn't plan dinners or hardly make any. I shopped and went off budget entirely. I got dizzy and handed the baby off to Dad a lot. I flaked out on life.

This was supposed to be Spencer's summer break. Mom works year round for Mr. Sawyer, and yet, here I was, taking all the personal time off I wanted. It is no surprise to me (or anyone else, I imagine) that I am far more selfish than my husband. But I didn't realize how selfish I have been recently. Where I lack, he always makes up. He steps up, each and every time. I know I will spend our entire lives together wishing I could be more like him.

And with that jab at myself, I am making an end of summer resolution. (totally made that up)

For the rest of 2009 I will make a concerted effort each day to be better to and for all the people I love. Summer slacker, no more. Time to enjoy this little life I have and all the good stuff within it.

Let's go, August-December of '09.

And to repay the man for his hard work as other-mother this summer, I am tentatively planning a Padres getaway weekend in September. But we will stay at my favorite, The Omni. Is that me being selfish again?

Dangit.

want for nothing

some things i'd like for christmas (in august).

Procrastination station

Sawyer, July 4th 2009 (my sister bought him this cute onesie and I forgot to post this most adorable photo of him on his mama's birthday)


What we have been up to lately...

Enjoying the last few weeks of summer break with Spencer. Oh how sad I will be when I have to get up with the little dude in the mornings. Dad willingly took over this task for the past 2 1/2 months. We have been very spoiled. Sawyer will surely miss waking up to Spencer's funny faces.

Sawyer now has 2 teeth. Count 'em, TWO. He loves to chew on his own finger tips with his little chompers, or bite my chin. I am about to change his name to Sharp Tooth Beals.

And Sawyer has learned to wave. Not on command, of course, but only at random times when no one is waving back.


My bestie Liz is home for a month or so before jetting off to NYC to go to grad school. She lives the life. She got to hang out with the dude for a little bit. Naturally, he loved her.

Family farm

Sawyer, 9 mos, Phoenix AZ.




We took a little trip to Phoenix to visit Spencer's Dad, stepmom and brothers. We love hanging out at the farm. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention they have a little farm? They have some cows, and a bunch of acres of citrus. It's a fun place. Sawyer liked to watch the cows come eat the grapefruit that fell off the trees.

We hung out at the house, played games, visited and took a little trip to the new sports arena complex. It was really good to see everyone. I was especially happy that Sawyer got to meet his Great Grandma Beals and hang out at her house for a bit.
I love her old ranch house and her old furniture. I would love to inherit and renovate it all to be restored vintage (many, many years from now)

Since my mother has been hounding me to see pictures from the trip and new pictures of Sawyer (ya know, cause it's been an entire week or 2 since she's seen him last?)...here we go. I haven't even had the chance to clean these up yet....

Sawyer and Grandma Janice. He's still not sold on that grass stuff.
Mom, Sawyer and the herd.
Watching something funny on someone's iphone. A common activity in our family nowadays. Brenton, Quenton and Spencer.

And my new all time favorite picture:to be enlarged, printed and hung in my house STAT