A hodgepodge of a post.

#1:

Ah...mastitis...we meet again.

Is is not enough the I freely disown the ladies for 1 + year to give life to my children?

Is it not enough that my dresser drawer is packed with bra sizes all up & down the board thanks to my ever-changing size due to pregnancy, nursing, then post-nursing weirdness, then back to normal?

And is it not enough that normal, really never is normal. 
EVER AGAIN.

Well then.  Bring on the plugged ducts & infection.
Kind of how I'm feeling right about now:

#2:

Au revoir, Uncle Austy.

We had a good run.

4 years of a good run, in fact.

I'm not entirely sure what it was that eventually made him leave.

Possibly:

The rats that decided to move into the garage?

Tatty getting put into the Bishopric, thus leaving Aust to be my wing-man during Sacrament meeting with the kids?

The fact that sometimes the dishes come out of the dishwasher not perfectly clean...& I'm too tired to care.

Maybe it's because Tat chases him around the house blaming him & asking him where his lost key is?
Could it be the creepy messages I leave him on the shower walls with Avy's bath crayons?
You know, things like, "Good Morning, Nakey!"
Or perhaps he really believes me when I tell him I cook with breast milk instead of cow's milk to save moola?

But alas, Austy claims it was just time to get his own bachelor pad.

We've had some good times.

#3:

First ever family photo shoot!

I have some seriously talented friends.  I want a cool talent/hobby too. 

But until then, I must recruit my gifted compadres to help me out.

My awesome friend Meghan took these up at Stanford.

They turned out perfect...just as I'd hoped.

THANK YOU!!!

(pics to be posted soon)

here's the link:

Meg's awesome work!

#4:

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Who knew the Pilgrims & Native Americans (as they call them in preschool), feasted on bagels & Pilgrim Reese's pb-cup hats?

#5:
Dear Savvy Shopper is back in action!
After a mandatory hiatus from the sleep gods, I think I am back.
I've missed scouring the web & sharing deals.
It's a part of who I am.
It feels good to be back.
DEARSAVVYSHOPPER

#6

Buddy's 1st Birthday!

Had a lazy morning.

Spent the afternoon at the park.

I made a cake.

Avy added her own personal touch.

We sang & ate some goodness.

Opened some presents.

#7

Buster's Race Car Party!

Avy's a party planner.  She plans way in advance.  Since Buddy was about 5 months old, she has requested we throw him a Race Car party for his big numero uno.

So we did.

The only bummer was that it poured rain, so the festivities were all held inside.

Here's what we did:

Race Car Oil Box Bowling

Roads on the floor

Race Car Cake

(which by the way I totally forgot to bust out until the after party!)

Little Race Car Bear Creations





Look how clever the wee-ones are...they put lights on their bear cars!  Genius!

Cars Art Station

                                      

Cars Puzzle Station

& the Ever Popular & Entertaining...drum roll please...

Uncle Austy, the Race Car Driver.
Strike that, he named himself "Uncle Haus" for the day...
he thought that sounded like a good race car driver name.

He led the tots in a rousing rendition of Red Light Green Light & a few car songs.

He handed out Racing Certificates to all the kiddos:


He stuck Gold Cups on everyone...signed by "Haus":

In sum, it's been yet another fun & busy week around these parts. 
Go ahead & join me in wishing
Austy cozy housewarming wishes to the bachelor pad,
Linc a Happy 1st Race Car Birthday,
 Avy Happy Thanksgiving to the Pilgrims & Native Americans,
Tat good luck with finding his lost key.
& best wishes for Hayley's mastitis to leave & never return.

THE BIG 1

Terms of endearment for gingersnap #2:

Buddy.  Buster.  Guster.  Binx.  Tubby/Tubs.  Linc. 

& very rarely, Lincoln.

Whatever we call him, he's a love.

He's a heart-melting, monkey-climbing, kiss-giving, little love.

Does he still keep us up all night?

I haven't slept more than 5 consecutive hours in a year.

(except the 1 night I was away)

Does he throw more tantrums in a day than his sister has ever thrown in 3 years?

A day?  Try an hour.

Does he purposefully get our attention before he knocks over the laptop or touches the outlet or shakes the lamp?

Every day.

Does he throw his head back and smack my face on a daily basis?

Without fail.

Did he poop on Zac Effron's face yesterday?

He most certainly did.

But even still, this little cherub has had me wrapped around his finger since Day 1.

We love you Buddy!

You are so funny. I often find you laughing & talking to yourself.

Your favorite song is, appropriately, Happy Birthday To You & whenever we say,

"Linc, sing us a song," you sing Happy Birthday. It sounds like, "Ahhh Beeee....." but we know what you're trying to say :)

You love peek-a-boo & patty cake & can't wait to "toss it in the oven."

You love your daddy. You choose him over me all the time.

In your own special language, you say:

dada, mama, avy, baby, austy, hi, bye-bye, thank you, uh-oh, up/down, all done, & that.

You've been taking about 5 steps now for the past week!  You're so close to cruisin!

You love to climb.  You are always looking for new gear to use as your base to hoist you up to a higher level.

You're favorite person is Avycakes. 

You loved her from the start & you patiently put up with a lot of her shenanigans.

(i usually don't apologize for gnarly pics of myself, however, please forgive this one. this was the day before giving birth. & not to mention we had just hiked, so cut a large, tired girl some slack.)

You have a sweet, super kissable face. 

You are so much fun & make life at the Atwood ranch very, very happy.

Happy 1st Birthday!!!