Tiffany & Co.

valentines day

2012-02-17T23:05:00.001-08:00

How cool is it that blogger finally has an iPhone app? This gal is happy to discover this!! Since time is always short and my to-do lists always long, my blog has fallen by the wayside. No fault of mine, I'm a {hard} working mama. I'm constantly striving to find the perfect balance between home and work and all the other aspects of life... Like fun, friends, and extended family....and every day that balance takes thought and consideration and work. Blogging every last happening in life, for me, is virtually; 1) impossible, 2) too time constraining, and 3) unnecessary. Plus I'm trying to be more in-the-present in life....more attentive, more patient, more excited about what is happening around me. That being said though, I really appreciate a new way to blog on-the-go and even add pics from my phone, when given a few minutes. Maybe I'll try and improve here and if not, well who cares, right??

Guess I'll make my first iPhone blog post about the day of love. It was low key. We don't do gifts for each other, just the kids. And since Avery is in school now we made heart-shaped crayon Valentines for her classmates. The kids and I also spent most of the afternoon prepping our Pinterest-inspired dinner of honey glazed sesame chicken over Thai rice with a side of ginger peanut Asian slaw. Yum. That evening after dinner we drank some wine, watched tv and just hung out like we don't ever seem to have time to do anymore. It was fun. The best part, for me, is always the 'together' part and that's what made valentine's day special this year. ♥

snowdays!

2012-01-23T15:29:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh. I love snow. I reeeeally love snow. But what I don't like is ice, and that's what became of the snow we got. This last week's storm was a real doozy. The kind of snow I do like fell over night on Tuesday into Wednesday morning but by the evening had turned into a freezing rain/ice storm. I have never seen anything like it before. We were in Minnesota in 1996, the last time this happened. Everything was encased in about an inch of ice...our cars, the trees, bushes, the snow looked like it was wrapped in glass. Trees started drooping and eventually snapping off and thousands of people lost power...to some it still hasn't been restored. We were without for about 48 hours and with temperatures that barely got to 35, our house got chilllllllly! Not to mention, I had Jackson's birthday party planned for Saturday. Thanks to my family who took us in for 2 nights, gave us warm beds to sleep in, hot meals, a place to store all our fridge/freezer items, and even offered to let Jax have his party there. They were lifesavers for 2 stressed parents! Now we are pretty much back to normal with the exception of all the destruction the storm left behind. Driving into my neighborhood alone looks like a bomb hit...so many beautiful trees broken or fallen over....and we were still able to hold Jackson's party at our house...

It was all pretty exciting for these 2, though. Avery had a snow day from school, and all other activities were cancelled for the week. So in between snow and/or rain fall we'd head outside to find whatever fun we could find...

Watching the first of the snow fall from Jackson's window. Notice she has 1 arm around Jax and is holding up her baby bear to the window with the other.

Our little snowman. Right after I took this picture, Jackson added clumps of snow to where his ears should be and stated that he's wearing his headphones.

...and just cuz she's so darn cute...
♥

3!

2012-01-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

Can it possibly be?

Yes, after double and triple checking the calendar, I've confirmed it. It really is Jackson's 3rd birthday.

I seriously can't believe it...

And what better gift is there on your 3rd birthday than a huge dumping of snow and daddy getting to stay home from work to play in it with you?? I can't think of much, other than breakfast cinnamon rolls, candles, and plans for a big spaghetti dinner and Spiderman birthday cake later.

Jackson, we love you more than you'll ever know. We have been so blessed to have you in this family and look forward to another year of watching you learn and grow into a fantastic young man!

Happy, Happy Happy 3rd Birthday!

i know, right? another post!

2012-01-13T23:56:00.000-08:00

I am editing photoshoots tonight and came across these. Why, you ask, are there pics of my kids in the middle of my photoshoot pics? Because they are my little assistants. I set all my stuff up and they pose for me till I get my lighting right. And I don't delete them off the memory card I'm using for a particular shoot because of this reason...a few little gems of my own cuties.

Cheese and sprinkles, they are getting too big. Way. Too. Big....

gold creek basin snow hike...

2012-01-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I got my {most favorite and amazing} babysitter Megan to come hang with the kids so I could go snow shoeing with my friend Kimberly. {Kimberly was my partner in crime in NYC back in October}. We chose the lower Gold Creek basin trail near Hyak at Snoqualmie Pass and headed up mid morning time. It wasn't hard to find the trail head, but it was hard navigating the trail as the Washington Trail Assoc. website sort of leads you astray. Regardless, we spent the entire day exploring and taking in the scenery around Mardee Lake. It was coooold and we estimated that we hiked around 7 or 8 miles round trip. We mostly did not use the snow shoes since the trail was well-packed and there hadn't been much new snow fall for awhile. Super fun, great exercise, and we're hoping to do it again at Mt. Rainier with our husbands.

ok, i just couldn't wait on these...

2012-01-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

MmmHmmm. We have a couple of little skiiers on our hands. That's right.

We're excited, they're excited, everyone's happy and we are going again.

Our first family 'ski' trip was this last Saturday at White Pass. Kory and I were drooling over the conditions but it was all about the littles this time, and boy did we have a blast. {We didn't even bring our skis.}

I'm really proud of them, too. They were a couple of little champs and I got a kick out of watching them smile all the way down the hill.

All bundled up and ready to rip!

Seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen.

She cared equally about skiing as she did about eating snow. ♥

Matches his dad on the slopes. ♥

Skiing on her own at the magic carpet. {The most genius thing since sliced bread.}

Not one to be shown up by a girl, he skied on his own, too!

Love.

Posing with mom....

Posing with dad... sadly all the other adults on the hill were too busy helping their own little people that I didn't have the heart to ask anyone to take a family pic.

What's a ski trip without hot chocolate and french fries in the lodge?? Oh, and the cross-eyed thing? Ya. That's on purpose.

Avery, you got a little something on your chin, my dear.

White Pass: Avery & Jackson's first hill!

♥

eleven to twelve...

2012-01-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

Big. Deep. Breath.

Another holiday season wrapped up and put away. Pine needles from our first real tree finally all gone. Old toys replaced by new ones, and life somewhat back to normal. Insert a big sigh right here. I feel half bummed and half relieved that the fuss and chaos is over, but miss the togetherness already. The togetherness, for me, is the best part.

Our 2011 Christmas was another sweet one. Nothing too out of the ordinary but that is how we wanted to keep it, this being {most likely} the last of its kind for awhile. And while Christmas pretty much blew up onto my doorstep before I was even remotely ready, it was memorable and special all the same.

Christmas Eve, being my most favorite part.

Kory, Avery, Jackson and I spent Christmas Eve morning at home cooking our portion of that evening's feast and getting in a 'last chance' workout of a brisk run out doors...knowing that our next 24+ hours were going to be very filling! After nap time we got all dolled up and headed to church, which was equal parts beautiful lights, a special message, and a really good time. I really love our church.

We arrived home later than usual on Christmas Eve night since we had gone to the later service and mom wanted me to snap a few family photos before dinner. It was pretty painless {for most...read on...} and turned out mostly cute. We had to get in the pics before we all changed into our jammies for our first-ever pajama dinner on Christmas Eve!

Like I said, mostly cute, partly blurry, and at least in this one my dad's head isn't chopped off. But in my defense, I had to hurry because....

...this is how the poor guy was sitting the entire time!

And of course we can never let dad get away with too much without giving him a hard time...which obviously Avery and Jackson are learning rather quickly. This part actually turned into a funny photo montage but I just couldn't upload all the photos to blogger... Good times.

These two...well, these two were angels on Christmas Eve. That is saying a lot because most days there is some kind of issue with the girl, the boy, or both at any given time of the day. It's just how it goes with this age of kids...You know, potty breaks, breaking up fights, problems with sharing...they really gave Kory and I a gift on Christmas Eve with the simplicity of some peace. They were happy, excited, and as you can tell....

...full of a whole lotta love. Creating Christmas magic for them this year was really fun. Wait till next year when they get to meet their Elf of the Shelf. {Yep, I fell into the spell of 'the Elf' and he will be making his appearance on Dec. 1st 2012!} They got bikes from Santa...they don't care about them yet but Kory and I are determined to get them to care sooner or later! We have visions of going running with them riding along side us...maybe Santa was a bit selfish in this choice of gift??? We already had to exchange Jackson's helmet, the 3-5yr Mater helmet he got was too small...that kid has an amazingly large head! {Insert adoring smile and chuckle from me here!}

We left cookies & milk for Santa, carrots for his reindeer, and a note. Santa even wrote us back!

Even the dogs got into the spirit of things. They tolerated about 2 minutes together while taking this photo...I won't lie, they were bribed with A LOT of treats. (Holly even got some new bling on her collar for Christmas!)

Love.

♥ ♥ ♥

2 days after Christmas we all went to Crystal Mountain for skiing. It rained, but we still had a blast and it was fun to get my parents out there with us.

And then Kory and I spent NYE in probably the coolest way I've ever spent a New Year's Eve...skiing Mt. Hood. We had some friends invite us to go and even though I was a little hesitant because of my work schedule, I'm SO glad we went! I ended up not having to work at all and truly had the time of my life skiing later than I've ever skied in pretty great snow conditions...the lift tickets went from 3pm till midnight, included a gourmet buffet dinner, hillside fireworks, and a champagne toast in the lodge bar at midnight. So cool.

We came home the next day and began 2012 with our littles and my family watching football and eating pizza. It was pretty perfect.

I haven't made any personal New Year's resolutions...I don't usually do that. The only thing Kory and I set goals to do was meal plan better for our busy lifestyle. Thanks to Pinterest I've been putting some pretty delicious meals together and have cut my grocery shopping time AND money down quite a bit. I know it's only 9 days into the year, but it should be pretty easy for us to keep up with seeing as we both like to eat.

It's strange to think that a year ago today I was putting Kory on a plane to Colorado for nearly 2 months and much-prefer the way this year is starting out as opposed to last. The next few months are sure to be on the chaotic side...Jackson is turning 3 soon, the overseas list comes out in about 3 weeks, Kory's studying for promotion {tests in March}, and we should hear on our orders after that. I'm trying to take it all in stride and pray daily for the Lord to ease my anxiety. I'm finding solace in little things like snuggles and kisses from my kiddos, coffee, and giant hugs from my husband.

Well, that's it I guess! Happy New Year! I pray 2012 is a blessed year for you all. It's sure to be full of new things for us!

♥

Stay tuned for a blog post on Avery and Jackson's first ski day. It was EPIC!

merriest of christmases to you!

2011-12-24T08:58:00.001-08:00

Love, the Newgard family

christmas is coming....

2011-12-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

2011 is winding down and I have been feeling a little like one of those cartoon characters left sitting on its butt after a stampede of wild animals just pummeled over the top of it. The year literally got away from me and this Christmas has been every thing last minute! I am almost done with shopping, barely started on wrapping, haven't even taken our family Christmas card picture yet... and I'm an emotional wreck.

I spilled tears in the middle of Macy's yesterday while discussing a special gift we are giving to someone extra special to us....

Not because the stress is getting to me, but because I want this Christmas to be extra special since we don't know where we'll be in these following years. I want everyone to feel love from us. I want everyone to know they're special to us. I want everyone to know that we'll be together, even when we're apart. {S***! Now I'm crying again...} And it's going too fast....

And Christmas always makes me emotional anyways. I mean, the real meaning of it. I've always been super fond of the real Christmas story...the one about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus being born in a manger. I used to play Mary when I was little...I laid in the wagon with a blanket over my head as one of those veils the women wore then, and pretended my baby doll was Jesus...my parents used to even find me asleep in the wagon all dressed up like Mary... ♥

So here we are doing all things Christmas-y and enjoying every last bit of it....celebrating the birthday of Jesus and making more memories together.

Avery's Christmas program last week was darling.

Kory and I went to his work Christmas party....

...We got all dolled up and posed for some prom-like pictures!

And one of my most favorite things about this Christmas is our live tree! It's mine and Kory's first live tree and I don't think we'll ever go back to fake again!

a quick november recap...

2011-12-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

I love this blog. My absence maybe suggests otherwise, but let's face it, I'm a really busy gal.

November came and went in the blink of an eye. It's an important month in this house, though. A special girl was born in November.

I'm super sad I that I failed to get a sweet birthday post up for Avery's 4th birthday. We celebrated in the typical manner with cinnamon rolls and candles, a family dinner at Red Robin, and a big birthday party with all our faves at Pump It Up. The biggest event of the special day was the new jewelry she got in her ears!

She was such a brave little thing getting her ears pierced. And she's been good about caring for them.

Does anyone else think the last 4 years have gone too fast? **Sigh....time is flying. This year, especially, has just flown by....

Here's Avery and all her pals at Pump It Up for her party. I was super impressed with the play portion of the party. You get to play in 2 different rooms for a looong time! However, the eating/cake/presents portion? Not so impressed. The chick running the show butchered my beautiful flower cake and it didn't seem 'special' to me. I don't think Avery noticed, but I did.

Here's Avery with her birthday cake. I love this picture.

I also treated my dad and kids to Disney on Ice. It was Toy Story so we pretty much had to go! It was a blast. My aunt Angie in MN knew one of the skaters and we got to go backstage afterwards.

Awww, they had so much fun and, despite 3 bathroom breaks, paid really great attention!

Aliens Jackson and Dad. The boys who sat behind us gave Avery and Jax these cute hats. They were $12 a piece! Wonder if their parents knew they gave them away!

Here's our new friend Maria who skates for Disney on Ice. She skates all the parts, but in some of the shows is Jessie. She was so sweet to bring us backstage, and she let me even peek at the costumes!

Other than that, our time has been kept full with being goofy, photoshoots, skiing, work, school, ballet, swim lessons, the gym, Christmas decorating and baking, a trip to Montana right after Thanksgiving, Pinterest {I have had my nails painted for 2 weeks now, 3 different colors! Avery, too!} and just the basic activities of daily living!

Love this pic of my sisters and I.

This being our last holiday season here, we are really making this a December to remember...talk about bittersweet. I tear up thinking about it.

♥

halloweek 2011

2011-11-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well, Halloween was celebrated by us over the course of about a week. And now I'm exhausted!

I flew home from New York on Thursday Oct. 20th {had an AMAZING time there...more on that later}, ended up getting low-censused at work the whole weekend (which is a GOOD thing!), caught up on life, and then hit the ground running the week before Halloween. We hit Spooners farms for some family pumpkin patch time on Monday the 24th...

The little kids and big kids, alike, all found pumpkins. For as excited as they were, I was surprised at what a little turd Jax was...I couldn't believe it. I only got a few good pics of him....maybe decisions {like picking the perfect pumpkin} make him weary. I'm not sure, but he was a real grouch!

This little gal was a blast at the farm. She was stompin' all over the place in the mud and dirt and found this little beauty...just her size.

Despite his less-than-enthused attitude, he cracked a little smile here during a wheelbarrow ride. Mad or not, he's still my favorite little guy.

Tuesday the 25th was Avery's preschool field trip to the same farm we went to as a family. She even got to ride the school bus there. This is about as good a job as I could do with my camera with a class photo. The kids were everywhere and the field trip was a tad unorganized...to the fault of the farm, not her teachers. Me, Avery, and Jackson all came home and took naps after lunch that day.

Tuesday night {and 6 pumpkins later} we carved our jack-o-lanterns. It was a big job, but we handled it pretty well, and got a TON of seeds to roast.

I couldn't get over how into the guts my girl got. She didn't miss a seed, either. I'm teaching her well.

The kids' pumpkins. 2 girls and 2 boys.

Kory's "Scream" face pumpkin.

I got this idea courtesy of Pinterest. Mine wasn't nearly as cute but it was easy and fun...my type of project!

HalloWEEKEND started off with a Friday night caramel apple making party with the Suetta and Martindale families. We had about a zillion apples, a ton of caramel, every kind of topping you can imagine, and 6 eager little kiddos. It was quite a process, but successful and delicious all at the same time. I made mine with sea salt...can't wait to eat it. {And can't believe I haven't eaten it yet...}

And somehow after the apples were dipped and sprinkled with goodies, the kids still managed to get their hands on some dessert....we also cracked them a few bottles of wine.

{Totally joking....that was left over from the adult's dinner and I posted this pic because I looked at it and literally laughed out loud when I noticed the leftover wine bottles!}

And what would Halloween be without the annual work Halloween party? Here's all the beautiful ladies. {Beth and I and our hubbies went as the Team Newetta baseball team. I didn't take many pics, but the party rocked and was pretty darn fun, especially since it was my last...}

***

Kory and I also went the the Seahawks game on Sunday. I won't say much about the game...but we had fun with our friends Kimberly and Brandon.

Halloween day {FINALLY} came and I can't tell you how cute the kids were all day long. Avery went to school dressed as a kitty complete with whiskers and a cute black nose and Jax sported spiders on his cheeks all morning. We had a ball getting ready for trick-or-treating. Some of our favorite friends came over for dinner, my dad tended the door, and we braved the chilly air and the kids got a TON of candy.

Mermaid Avery posing so beautifully by the fireplace....she chose this costume all by herself. She even wore pretty gold sparkles in her hair. That is one girly girl, if I do say so myself. ♥

Jax was spiderman. We had some technical difficulties with his mask and settled for the below way of wearing it. Man, was he cute. He kept handing us his bucket to hold once it started getting heavy and we kept telling him to use those big muscles to carry it. He'd look at us with a scowl, take his bucket, and toddle up to the next house....I ended up carrying it the last 1/2 a block or so...poor kid.

We ended up redrawing his spiders and having him wear the mask on top of his head. Still incredibly cute. Plus, I LOVE him in red.

It was Erin's brilliant idea to get this shot with all the moms, dads, and kids. I LOVE, LOVE, L.O.V.E. this picture with all my heart. It's going on my wall.

The kids are all really growing up so fast....they are getting easier and easier to take pics of on Halloween, too. This pic is going next to the above pic on my wall. ♥

Jax got a little burnt out at the end while his big sis was scampering from house to house. I was happy to have him lagging behind with us cuz I was able to snap this of my favorite boys....

...and get this one taken of us. ♥

It was a happy Halloween for the Newgards!

Now I need a nap!

Next up? A special little chicky poo is turning 4!

meet the new hulk....

2011-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Rough, tough, ready to brawl and wrestle you to the ground.

See those muscles and be afraid!

Be very afraid!

rainy day photo montage, part II

2011-10-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well, he certainly didn't care to do this.

{Check out the botton right hand photo...}

Oh well.

The rain is here and mama wanted something to do!

♥

rainy day photo montage!

2011-10-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

She's cute. And she's mine!

How lucky am I?

♥

roots

2011-10-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Most of what has been occupying my mind lately is that our move is approaching so fast.

Like within the next year now. Like, in less than 12 months now.

We don't know where we are going. And I don't mean where in the country...I mean where in the world... We have no clue.

We have made the decision to pass up our BOP {base of preference} window which is happening right now. If we wanted to, we could pick a state-side base of preference and our chances would be pretty good that we'd go there. But shortly after the BOP window closes, the overseas listing comes out...

Let me rewind for a minute.

When Kory took his current position in a training detachment he talked of going overseas with me. Afterall, this current position meant putting us on the mandatory move list after 4 years--he's been at McChord now for 11+ years...When he started talking like that, I'd clam up, get quiet, get anxious, scared, and want to shove all that into the back of my brain where I didn't really have to think about it. All I cared about was that we had 4 more years here. But in the last 18 months something has changed in my heart. I started thinking a little more about what it would be like to be somewhere different. A different culture, a different language, a different history, a different climate? I don't know. And not to mention that little twinkle that I saw in Kory's eyes when he talked about Europe...Somewhere along the way I got really excited and I've sort of stayed that way. We started talking more seriously about it and have been awaiting this time. But now it's here and our BOP window is closing in a few weeks and we aren't going to be on that list.

But will we be on an overseas list? Only time and patience will tell. If we don't end up on that overseas list, we are at the mercy of the 'game' and may be somewhere less desirable....

But, regardless of where we go, we are going.

And that's what has me a little hung up.

I feel like we are putting roots down in our little city of Puyallup. I'm in love with it here. Puyallup is growing, but quaint. Big, but little. Fast, but friendly. It's clean, it has a lot of what we love in a city, and we know {and love} people here. It has history, tradition, and a killer view of Mt. Rainier.

It's where our story began.

Our first house is here. We brought both our babies home here....

I choke up thinking about what it will be like to see it all from our riew view mirrors for the last time....

But this much I know;

We can come back. We can water these roots, eventually. I just worry; will it be the same as if we had stayed?

Probably not, but only time will tell.

The people that we love, and who love us, will welcome us back and I know our friendships will grow, even if we're thousands of miles apart. AND there's always Skype, Facebook, blogs, and international calling plans, right?!

As scary as it all seems, I am also very excited for the next chapter. I just wish I new where that story was going to begin.... ♥

goodbye, summer!

2011-09-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

I am always in awe of how fast time goes. I can't believe summer is over and we are sitting on the brink of fall and winter. I can't believe that my kids are nearing the ages of 3 and 4 and that I'm another year older... every day seems to fly by, but I guess that's the case when you're having fun, huh?

We've had an awesome September so far. We are always staying busy and when Kory and I aren't working, we are hangin' with our littles and doing something cool. We ended summer at Lake Easton State Park where the above picture was taken. It was a glorious 3 days with super warm days and crispy, cold nights/mornings. It took me a week to scrub all the dirt off my little kids, but boy was it a great trip! I promise to camp more next year...I love it. We also hit up the Puyallup fair. We ate burgers, cotton candy, caramel apples, and giant lollipops and let me tell you, I'm going to miss the fair when we aren't here anymore...

Avery is thriving in school. I have noticed a gigantic change in her overall demeanor since starting her at Cascade Christian. She's been much less challenging and more of a joy, than ever, to be with. I am loving her growing interest in art and music. We are crafting constantly, and she sings/dances all the time. She will be starting ballet again soon, per her request, and planning her 4th birthday party. (Also, per her request!) I am so proud of her. She makes me smile just thinking about her. The other night while at work I got a text from Kory that went a little like this, "I just told Avery what a good girl she is and she said, 'God gave me a good heart.'" My heart literally melted right then and there. I am so thankful for her and love every last little ounce of that girl. I sort of want to freeze time and bottle this curiously innocent, wonderful age of learning and growing. God help me when that girl leaves for college....

Jackson is 2.5 and there's not a lot more to say about that! He is messy and loud and underneath it all, a little lover. That kid gives tough love, too. Every hug is big push-over-to-the-floor-tackle-and-kiss-till-my-cheeks-are-bruised type of hug and, God, I love it. Having a boy is awesome. We wrestle, and tickle, and push, and play rough, and we laugh and laugh during it all. There's excitement over school buses, garbage trucks, dump trucks, rocks, dirt, and bugs. It's so different from anything I'm used to, growing up in a house full of girls! God blessed me big time with Jackson. He doesn't give a hoot about much and that is fine by me because another little person in our house gives a hoot about everything! He's the perfect amount of 'zen' in our crazy household!

And then there's my honey. I can't say enough about what a great guy he is. Supportive, loving, quiet, calm, collected, and level...especially when I'm not any or all of those things. I haven't ever felt closer to him than now. We have some big decisions to make about our move next year, and figuring all this out with him has never made me more sure of how he's my perfect match. He is so patient and consistent with our kids. He doesn't ever complain about having to do bedtime all alone 5 days every 2 weeks {bedtime is NOT, sometimes, our finest hour...} and he cooks for me. Just on Sunday he made me eggs Benedict for dinner. OK, well, it was breakfast for me since I had been sleeping all day...but I appreciated that more than he'll ever know. We've been trying to go on more dates lately...just the 2 of us...and it's worked wonders for our patience at home and with each other. To sit and talk over a meal, uninterrupted, speaks volumes in my book of love. He treats me like a lady on said dates, too. In a world where chivalry may be dying, I still get a taste of it regularly...lucky me!

I really hate his fantasy football though. Can't WAIT till that's over!! :)

And then me. I'm 31 now. This year was a far different birthday from last year, but just as sweet. And I'm OK with being in my 30's. {Not that I have a choice!} But it's been pretty wonderful so far, so I can't really complain. (The gray hair though? That's another story....grumble grumble....) I am getting more and more busy with my photography business at the same time that my professional career has excelled a little. I'm heading off to NYC in 2 weeks to take a Neonatal ICU RN certification review course and exam. So instead of just RN behind my name, I'll have RNC behind it...granted I pass the test... It requires a little more continuing education every year and I think it'll make for some good points on the dusty ol' resume that I'll be working on in the not-so-distant future. My main focus lately, though, has been to truly enjoy life as it is. I found myself pretty frustrated at the end of the summer and tired of my lack of alone/free-time. With the amount of work I have as a mom and wife at home, coupled with work and a budding business I was finding myself anxiety-stricken and worried a lot, which for me translates into anger and hostility...not good traits for a mom or wife! It took a good cry and a long talk with the hubby to help kick the anxiety I had been struggling with and lately I've been blessed with some really good weeks. I'm looking forward to fall now, and also to winter. We are getting the kids up on skis so need I say more about what many of our weekends will be filled with? Bring it on, baby!

♥ tiffany jeanne

so so so so behind....

2011-09-22T01:49:00.000-07:00

Jax and his new friend at the fair. This sweet sheep got about 25 kisses right on the nose from my sweet little guy....future veterinarian? Perhaps....

It's exactly 1:45am on the button. I've been editing photos from various shoots that I've had over the last month for the last 3-ish hours. I am proud to say I've finished 2 major ones, including the CD cases and packaging for the mail. Needless to say, it's put me behind in documenting our life. I have pictures upon pictures from the end of summer, Avery's first few days of preschool, and now the Puyallup Fair. But this will have to do for now...at least this week. I am hoping to devote one big post to my adorable family very soon...we have been up to so much, I hope I remember it all!

you tell me what's different in these iPhone pics....

2011-09-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Avery started preschool on Monday the 12th. Here she is all dressed and ready to go....

...and here she is on her 2nd day, today. Notice anything different??

The little pony that was holding her hair back off her face in the first picture was cut off all by her cute little self after school yesterday...with our kitchen shears.

In an attempt to make it more even and easier to re-grow, I had my friend Bre cut several inches off all around. Personally I totally love the new do, but just died when I lifted that pony tail off the couch...still tied up with that pink ribbon. I swear, my life is NEVER BORING. I would actually pay to be lazy for 5 minutes, but it's all good. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right????

labor day weekend 2011

2011-09-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Good friends, good food, good WEATHER!

Couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a long, holiday weekend.

More to come!

and so it goes...

2011-08-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

Last night and this morning...and pretty much all of this grey day...have felt like fall to me. Almost every adult summer of my life I can distinctly tell the day it turns fall and, well, this year the day was August 30th. And all I have to say about this is... CRAP. We had about 1 total week of summer here and it's over. It's chilly, we all wore pants today and I contemplated turning on the heat for a few minutes this morning...just to take the nip out of the air while I warmed up with coffee. We totally got jipped on summer this year. Where normally I am ready for fall and getting ready for cozy evenings, this year I am still longing for 1 warm evening outside enjoying a glass of red wine with my honey....an evening that I never once got to have because, even if the day was a little bit warm, the evenings weren't. Boo.

So here's to hoping and praying for a decent fall, a short winter, and for spring to come early...because I never got near enough Vitamin D these last 3 months. And I'm praying for the Good Lord above to send us somewhere with a much different, much warmer, much brighter climate than the PNW. I need it!

just cuz they're cute...

2011-08-30T16:45:00.001-07:00

oh, a few more things....

2011-08-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Something I forgot to mention in yesterday's post...I finally took my kids to the dentist. They rocked it. Avery showed Jax how to be brave, and then Jax put his own spin on things and woo'd all the ladies. I left feeling proud and so happy they didn't have any cavities since I waited longer than 'recommended age' for my kid's first dental appointment. Just checkin' things of my to-do list, you know....

Also, I have a new favorite picture of Avery: here it is in color and in b&w. It's for-sure going on my website. {Which I'm currently working very hard on!}

I recently did some re-arranging of my living room furniture. I had my sectional split into 2 for about the last year and put it back together a few weeks ago. Not only is it super comfy for all 4 of us to watch movies on, but it also works great as a trampoline, fort, and excellent hide-out for my boy-child.

The first few times he hid from me, I really had a hard time finding him...

...till those big blue eyes popped up over the edge.

This kid makes me smile...like all. the. time.

And I recently gave up on making Avery nap. It was more stressful than I care to admit. I think I win, though, because I find her on the couch like so quite often. ♥

the last several weeks, in pictures...

2011-08-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Good Lord, I have been so darn busy. So busy, in fact, that I pulled the plug on a backpacking trip with our besties this last weekend so that I could be home and actually relax for a minute... And although I will probably regret it, I will not, however, regret the perfectly calm and lazy weekend I just spent with my 3 favorite people. So, in a few short words here's what's new:

Jackson: potty trained, growing like a weed, and brave enough to jump off of a diving board.

Avery: learning about being patient, loves to play pretend, and starts preschool in a month!

Kory: working out lots with me, re-enlisting in the USAF, and BBQing up a storm at home.

Me: entrepreneur, new TL (charge nurse) at work, and working out lots with Kory. :)

Holly: turned 5 three days ago. I guess she could start kindergarten now...or in dog years, be older than her dad!

The rest you can pick up from the pictures...enjoy!

Avery: avoids looking at the camera at all costs.

This is Jackson after a typical day: that is ketchup and purple popsicle on his face and down his chest.

We recently kenneled Holly at her favorite pet resort while we were off celebrating our 5th anniversary... and she came back looking so pretty...just in time for her 5th birthday!

He's taken to running out to the sidewalk to drop rocks in the storm drain...dressed or not...

Cutest pool boy I ever saw!

From the 4th of July...ya I'm that behind.

On the 4th of July both Jax and Nolan fell asleep on me during the fireworks show.

Norah and her sparkler on the 4th.

Papa and the kiddos at my aunt and uncle's house.

From one of the few nice summer days we've had...at the new spray ground in Brown's Point.

Another from the 4th of July.

Our besties on the 4th. ♥

Avery, you're a firework.

in business!

2011-07-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sort of official!

I got my logo today...and I really love it!

Be on the lookout for a Tiffany Jeanne Photography website, blog, and Facebook page.

I'm SO excited!

and here we are!

2011-07-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

5 years later...

a house, 2 {awesome} kids, a dog, jobs, bills, a budding business, every day life...

...and he's still the one I am excited to see after a long night at work, to tell my big ideas to, to laugh with, cry to, and snuggle with at night. He's my favorite person and knows me better than anyone else on Earth.

I am so lucky to call him my husband!

Happy 5th anniversay, Kory!

I ♥ you!

avery jeanne and great gamma jeanne

2011-07-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

Aren't these the sweetest photos ever?

On Monday we spent one last day with my grandparents before they flew back to MN. They were finishing up their visit with my aunt and uncle in Snohomish and headed up there with high hopes of swimming in their awesome pool and catching a few rays...but the weather didn't cooperate. So we spent most of the afternoon all watching the Toy Story movies and eating my Aunt Sharon's delicious cookies. Avery snuggled up to Gamma Jeanne for a long time to watch her do her needlepoint....the sweetest thing. I remember doing this very thing with her... ♥

Learning the basics.

Sneakin' a few Eskimo kisses!

Love!

I'm so happy to have been able to get them together with my littles one more time before they left. Seeing them once a year just isn't enough sometimes. Luckily these 2 have this memory to hold on to until next summer! ♥

blog-able stuff...

2011-07-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

It sure has been easy to get behind on this blog lately! And although it sure doesn't feel like summer around here, we are busy doing summer-ish things. You know, like BBQ's, swimming (in the cold), play dates, trips to the ice cream store (even though it's cold...), and spray tanning since I can't freakin' get a tan when it's cold!!!...you get the picture. But I can't forget to post about the lovely time I got to have in Minnesota last month for my cousin Jillian's high school graduation party. I flew my mom and I out as a mother's day gift to her and we spent an awesome 5 days with our mid-west family that I know will be unforgettable for all of us! The highlights of the trip for me were visiting Target field and watching my favorite baseball team (the Twins) win against the Texas Rangers, a quiet dinner with my grandparents, and perusing photo albums over at their house after dinner. I love Minnesota. I sort of always have...but mostly because of the special people that live there. I reeeeally want to go back with Kory and the kids and hit up another Twins game...because now we all have lots and lots of Twins gear to wear! And drinking wine with my Aunt Angie is always fun, too! ♥

Meg.Me.Jillian @ Target field.

This pic is for my dad :)

Oh! I learned how to turn this....

....into this! (I will NOT divulge how many times I tried this, though!)

Mom and I with our matching Twins shirts. We bought some for Krista and Jamie, too.

Angie and Jillian at Jillians grad party. Such totally gorgeous gals!

My lovely Gamma Jeanne and Papa Jim. We surprised them for this visit and then a few weeks later they were out here for their annual visit to Washington....so I've gotten to see them lots this summer!

i really heart montana!

2011-07-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

We travelled to Montana the last week of June in hopes of finding warmer weather, to see our family, and to cuddle our brand new baby niece. We had a beyond-lovely time. Every time we visit seems better than the last, and I think it's safe to say that I'm sort of falling for Montana. Well, this trip has me truly smitten. The weather was perfect, the company even better, and we made a lot of special memories....{hence the large number of photos I just spent an hour uploading to this post!} Our kids are, by no means, perfect travellers, but they get better with each road trip, and I even managed this darling gas station photo...

You can really see how grown up they are getting. So independent and with strong personalities, to boot! It's not too often that I can manage a darling photo of both of them...so this happens to now be a new fave of mine.

And thank heavens for portable DVD players...with 2 screens. Coupled with lots and lots of snacks and treats we had a decent drive out there. They even napped which saved me about an hour to actually face forward during some winding roads and mountain passes.

It was all fun and games once we got there. I'm telling you, I could use my niece Bridget around more often! She is such a good cousin and a huge help to me when it came to carrying big loads down to the lake!

She even loaned Jax her softball gear so he could try his hand at baseball. Future MLBer? Yes, please!

Her and Jax have become quite the little duo. They were always running off to play and Jax is still asking if we can go to her house tomorrow. Seriously sweet, and makes me wish I could take him over to her house more often. It sucks living 8 hours away!

I also did a photoshoot for my new baby niece Kasey Lee. She was born on June 20 at 6:03 pm and is about as perfect as a baby can get. I am SO lucky to have gotten out there before she was a week old to do her newborn photos! Here Jax is helping me test my lighting. He makes a good subject, too.

These are just a snippet of the amazing photos of her!

This bowl belonged to Kasey's great, great, great grandmother Annette. She is growing so fast I'm sure it won't be long until she doesn't fit into it at all!

5 Carveys at Kerr Dam.

Flathead lake is pretty full right now so the gates on the Kerr Dam are all wide open. We had to visit it and I found it totally amazing. Sadly, while I was uploading pics, I forgot to put some of just the dam on. Check out my Facebook in a few days and I'll try and have them up on there.

4 cousins. Of course, one of them isn't looking....

I think she was hot...cuz she got a little grouchy down at the observation site...

Yay! Us 4 all looking at the camera!

A grouchy self portrait...

...maybe hugs from mama will make it all better.

While in Polson, it's imperitive that you eat at Burgerville. Kory raves about the french fries there. I don't really care for them....

...But Jackson would tell you that they are...

...finger-lickin' good!

Of course, when we weren't running around seeing the sights, chasing bears out of the yard, or looking at deer or something, we were snuggling Kasey. I just love how proud Avery is to be holding her in these pictures.

And although I'm sure she would LOVE having a baby sister, I'm just not so sure that's gonna happen...

We took a few boat rides...naturally when you're on a lake, that is the thing to do. Jackson didn't get the memo and had a hard time adjusting to the boat rides...He and I snuggled for most of the 1st boat ride but he warmed up towards the end of the second one...

Bridget likes the boat!

One night Avery and Jackson went fishing with daddy and uncle Steve...they simultaneously both caught their first fish at the same time!

Jackson and uncle Steve actually ended up catching 2 fish!

What a natural! {Learning from the best, too!}

For our last day in Montana, Kory's parents took us on the boat all around Flathead Lake. We saw the painted rocks, a few ridiculous mansions, lots of 'dream homes', some animals, and ended with a spectacular hike on Wildhorse Island. {The names gives meaning to the fact that a herd of real wild horses actually live there!}

This little chick really digs the boat!

One of the wild horses.

And a new baby colt born this spring!

Hot and sweaty, but lovin' the island!

Grampa Tom and Avery walking down to see the horses.

Heading back to the boat....

Other things we did? Golf cart rides, Bocce ball, fires, s'mores, BBQ's, good food....and few more tries at fishing...

...if the fish aren't biting, blow kisses to mama!

{This is why the fish weren't biting...} Holly sure loves Montana...enough said.

Tucker snorkeled for lake treasures and lost water toys....

...Jax was a little perplexed by the get-up.

And we enjoyed a sunset or two...

My boys ♥

Kissin' dad on the dock...

...I wanna kiss dad, too.

And I adored Lynn's peonies...A LOT!

We celebrated Steve's b-day. Jax picked that seat because it was closest to the ice cream cake....

...but after the candles were blown out, it was passed down to Grampa Tom who cut it for us. Jax waited....

...ever so patiently...

...for a delicious bite...

...mmmm!

All gone!

We had an awesome time...and I'm trying to convince Kory that we need to plan another trip out there before fall.

♥

my little martian!

2011-06-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Looking perfectly poised and pretty in between performances. This gal was a total shining star. They were little martian princesses...how cute is that? I did most of the make up for the little girls, too... and the sparkly purple bun buns just kill me!

Avery's first ballet performance was on Saturday and to say that I was one proud mama would do no justice to how I felt. My heart was so full of love for that little girl that I cried when her number was finished. Everyone laughed, but I couldn't help it. She rocked it. Nailed it. In my eyes, she stole the show. She looked the cutest, did the best, and made me smile from ear to ear for the rest of the weekend. I'll admit, I was nervous at first. The people at the YMCA had originally scheduled just a single 6pm performance, but once that sold out within hours of tickets going on sale, they added a second show. And she'd been acting a little funny at ballet lately...you know, talking ALL morning about ballet and then once we got there, pitching fits about the smallest of things. But she surprised me and had herself a grand ol' time. The 1st performance I could see how nervous she was. About half way through it she sort of froze. The second one, they had to practically drag her off the stage. {That's a true story!} It was perfection. Her teacher was amazing and I feel so blessed that Avery got to have her for her first ballet teacher. I have a million photos from the afternoon, so perhaps I'll try and post a few, but the above pic is far and beyond my favorite. ♥

i miss my blog!

2011-06-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have been one busy mama lately. I've been working, taking pictures, making a new business, going on trips and not posting about hardly any of it because at the end of the day I'M TIRED! The best part of it all is that I've been having some pretty sweet days with my little munchkins. Maybe it's the slightly warmer weather and the hope that maybe summer will start soon but things have seemed a little brighter lately. I also spent a fabulous 4 days in Minnesota catching up with family I hadn't seen in a while and spending some sweet moments with my lovely grandparents. Don't fret, more posts coming soon. I took the weekend off and will definitely make the most of it by hanging out with my honey, watching Avery's dance recital and celebrating all the awesome dads in my life. All these days off make being a stay at home mom a little more enticing but I love my busy life. Things are good here. And I'm happy. ♥

isn't this fun?!

2011-06-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

I can't even put into words how much fun I'm having with these photo shoots. It's so freeing doing something you really love doing! Not that I don't love being a nurse...but I'm a creative person and don't usually get to be super creative at 3am while caring for tiny babies. This is much different...and so fun. I love everything about it. The scheduling, determining the location, the PHOTOGRAPHY, the editing, and the sharing of what I've created--and it's only been 3 shoots. I'm currently in the process of business license applications, naming my business, and developing a website...all stuff that is completely foreign to me. So, if you've helped me at all along the way {and you know who you are!} THANK YOU! Following are a few of the pics I've done. I'm learning more and more about making my photos better and tweaking my editing to make things spot-on. If you're interested in a shoot, don't hesitate to contact me!

tjnewgard@comcast.net

{Luke: 6 months}

{Kristjanna: Class of 2011}

{Marquelle and her girls, Mara and Gracelyn}

{Gracelyn & Mara}

{Mara: SUCH a photogenic girl! The camera seriously loves her!}

{Mara & Gracelyn}

{Marquelle & Girls in downtown Tacoma}

♥

memorial day weekend...

2011-05-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

We stole outta town for the last few days to Nampa, ID where my sister Jamie lives. Boy, was it fun. Here's a little sneak peek at a few pics of the kids during a bonfire/jumbo 'smarshmellow' roasting extraordinaire. They are adorable. ♥

step right up!

2011-05-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

...and get a photo session!

Thank you all so much for the interest in my photography! I got an overwhelming response to my call for volunteers for photoshoots, I'm just so excited! Below is the list of still-available time slots for a free photo session. I have 2 booked, and I'm waiting for 2 babies to be born {a boy and a girl!}, both in June! There are 4 more time slots to fill...I would still like to do a few family sessions and I'm always game for photographing babies and kids. The sessions will work first come, first served. You can message me on Facebook, email, or comment here on the blog. If after these 8 sessions I don't feel quite ready, I may be asking for more volunteers, so stay tuned! Thank you!

The available dates and times are:

{location to be determined upon booking the time slot}

Wednesday June 1st @ 4:30 pm

Thursday June 2nd @ 4:30 pm

Monday June 6th @ 5pm

Thursday June 16th @ 5 pm

♥

Email: tjnewgard@comcast.net

Had to add this little keeper of Avery and her daddy! ♥

dreaming big...

2011-05-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

With a little encouragement from some of my closest peeps, I'm starting off on a new adventure. My hubby gave me a seriously sweet mother's day gift and in the card wrote to me, "Dream Big."
Sooooooo.....
That's my plan. I'm in the midst of planning a small photography business where I would like to specialize in shooting portraits of families and babies....and hopefully expanding from there. What I am focused on right now is building a portfolio that I can use for advertising once the business takes off. I'm really passionate about photography and have been feeling very moved lately to take it to the next level.
What does this mean? I need models. If you are interested in some family, newborn, toddler, maternity, or engagement photos, please let me know! I will be scheduling some free, one-hour photoshoots over the next few months in order to build a solid portfolio with hopes that my little dream will grow into a reality.
Below you will see the photos I took of my bestie's family, the Suettas, in downtown Tacoma. It was my first 'real' shoot and I seriously had a blast. I will give you a CD with 20-30 full resolution, edited photos {including the rights to those photos} and have you sign a waiver stating that I can use the photos on this blog and Facebook for 'show and tell'. Just comment in the comments section here or shoot me an email at:
tjnewgard@comcast.net

Thanks!

we are sick.

2011-05-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that a 30 minute trip to the neighborhood park will help lift our moods. The sun is out and I was thinking that maybe it could work some of its healing powers on us...we are a sick little bunch. So I medicated all three of us {Kory stayed behind to take a hot bath since he has a fever now...} and off we went for a breath of fresh air.

Underneath our hoodies are runny noses, sinus infections, sore throats, fevers, coughy lungs, goopy eyes, and little bodies with little energy.
We don't care much what we look like right now. Messy hair, mismatched clothing, no make-up, and tired baggy eyes...
But being outside, even for a minute or two sure felt good.
We even picked some wishing weeds...

...and we're all wishing we feel better really soon.
PS. Blogger has been really ticking me off lately when it comes to the formatting of my posts...grumble grumble....

what i SHOULD be doing right now...

2011-05-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

...is NOT editing pictures, blogging, or drinking that extra cup of coffee...
What I SHOULD be doing right now is ALL the dishes we used this weekend that didn't get washed, stripping beds, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing toilets, vacuuming, wiping the kitchen down, and probably it would be a good idea if I washed my hair today. I swear, all this yard work makes the house work go by the way side.
So I'll leave ya'll with these two cute pics of the kids from the weekend...which was glorious and sunny, and busy, and productive, and left me wishing that the weekend was just one more day longer. Whose idea was it, anyway, to make a 5 day work week and a measly 2 day weekend? I'd like to punch that guy in the nose....

Just remember this: don't get between this little guy and his cheeseburger...

...and a trip to the beach on a sunny day will cure any bout of cabin fever, for sure!
***
Stay tuned: we got family pics this weekend...and I got to take some family pics of our favorite friends. Good stuff coming this way!

dear beautiful spring day,

2011-04-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

...Thank you for making it possible for my Avery to pick some flowers.
Love, Tiffany ♥

projects underway!

2011-04-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

Well, our backyard revamp is heavily underway. I'm so pleased with how fast and relatively easy it has been to transform our boring yard into something I know we are going to love. No photos yet....I'm hoping to do one big blog post when the project is complete. I can tell you, however, what we've done thus far: installation of a French drain, 5 yards of dirt delivered and spread to level out the yard, smoothing of the dirt, a flag stone walkway placed that goes from our back yard to the front, an entire re-seed of grass in the front and back yards, and only about 3 trips to Home Depot or Lowes! Kory is really the brains and the brunt behind it all since he has the know-how to execute my brilliant plans...aren't we a good team? I'm doing what I can to help him with the big stuff while watching our two little helpers (who are crazy for dirt and all things muddy! Who knew, right??)...Oh, and I'm definitely documenting all of this with my camera. Stay tuned...as soon as the grass is in there will be lots of pictures!

Avery the dirt princess... (picture taken Saturday when it was 65 degrees out)...

...and Jackson Jonathan, evil mud warrior and ruler of all earth worms and yucky slimy things....

bein' girly

2011-04-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add this to my Easter post. Avery asked me to take a picture of our shoes because we were both wearing some that were pink and shiny. ♥

easter sweetness

2011-04-25T15:02:00.001-07:00

I took Easter off this last weekend.
I had to.
I had to for my family. For myself. For my Jackson who had not yet had his mommy home for an Easter in his lifetime.
I had to for my emotional well-being.
And although I know it was a crazy, busy, run-your-butt off kind of weekend for my dear work friends, I just couldn't be there. When I didn't get Friday off and cried for an hour before going in, I knew I needed to stay home for the rest of the weekend. And even for us tough cookies, you just have to tap out sometimes...and really, work will always be there.
And Easter was just what I needed.
Sweet, fun, relaxed, and good.

I baked this mahogany cake from scratch. It was delicious and fun to make...and sooo pretty.

I dressed my kids up, curled Avery's hair, hid eggs, found eggs, ate candy, took a nap, and had a wonderful Easter dinner with my family.

I wished Sunday was as beautiful as Saturday...but I got a few good pictures before the monsoon hit...

Pretty as can be.

Lookin' good, my little man.

Tulips just make me feel happy.

And my NaNa's new Yorkie, Suzie, is such a doll!

All this Easter sweetness makes me smile.

Don't worry, I work Mother's day too...and plan on being there.
But for now, this is just what I needed.

♥

isn't it spring?

2011-04-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. My days have just been getting away from me. Lately it's been get up, make breakfast, clean up breakfast, drive to whatever activity we have scheduled or run whatever errands need running, get home, make lunch, clean up lunch, pray there will be a naptime, laundry or cleaning {or usually both}, make dinner, clean dinner up, give baths, fold laundry, kiss everyone goodnight, go to sleep, and start all over again the next day. And then next thing I know it's been a week and I'm back to work already. Sheesh! We need a vacation! So many changes are taking place with us that it's hard to keep up... and as the kids are growing up we are adding more to our schedules and I'm finding less time in the day to blog. And heaven forbid I do it when someone is awake because this is usually what happens when I take my eyes off my littles for a few quick seconds...

...disasters of epic proportions...

{This is NO joke...these kind of messes happen almost daily...}

So, today is a day that both little ones decided it would be good to nap and I have decided that it's as good a time as ever for a little update!

Kory & I:

As the last 2 pictures portray, we've gotten into skiing. Well, gotten back into it, I should say. And since old man winter is draggin' his feet on his way outta Washington, we've gone twice this month! I have my first-ever brand new pair of skis...and Kory who is a really good snowboarder does too! He has decided to make the switch back to sticks so that next season we can each teach a kid to ski. He had his first stab back in the boots yesterday at White Pass and I must say, did a pretty darn good job for not being on skis for over 10 years! True to form, he picked it up quickly and I'm sure will be out-skiing me by the end of next season. {I have skied for 27 years!!!} We'll see though. We've been working our tooshies off both in our jobs and in our home. I've been spring cleaning and drawing up some plans for a backyard revamp, and a master bedroom renovation {which he doesn't know about yet...} while Kory's been busy organizing the garage and trying to kill the moss in our grass that is out of control from all the wetness lately. I'm forseeing lots of Home Depot trips in our future, but I'm excited for the end results....and even more excited to enjoy the backyard this summer with BBQ's and sun bathing! We are also trying to get some vacations on the books. I'm really hoping for a romantic getaway to Maui and a family trip to Whistler...or vis versa...We'll see though. One of our biggest accomplishments of the year, so far, has been becoming a binkie-free household. We've now been clean and sober for 28 days. That's huge, people.

Mostly right now we are just loving spending time together as a family and cherishing those sweet, little 4 days off a month we have.

Avery!

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that she's 3! I mean, where'd the time go? I remember blogging about her when she was, like, 3 days old, and then 3 months old...and 3 years old seemed too far off to even think about. But here we are...our little 3 year old, blossoming into quite the young lady! She is rather artistically inclined and will spend, literally, hours painting with water colors on blank paper. I have stacks of artwork that I can't bear to part with and am wondering what to do with them. Perhaps sell them on Esty? I mean, she's good. She is still loving ballet and we have continued to love watching her excel at it. She is still spunky and really sassy at times, but also quite articulate...and listening to her talk just kills me. That imagination she has is incredible. She is girly, and picky about clothes, and makes me nervous for her teenage years but I seriously love that girl with all of me. She is pretty, and has good hair, and the sweetest little nose I ever saw. She's a summer gal and never quite got into winter at all this year...I can't seem to get her to wear anything but summery dresses and sandals...her outfits are usually just one big modge podge of compromise... And did I mention she starts preschool in the fall? Ya, I almost just fell off my chair as I typed that....

Jackson!

All boy. Still messy, still hungry, still into all things boyish, and loves to be nakey.

He'd spend a whole day throwing rocks, eating dirt, and finding bugs if I let him. He is growing faster than ever and can pretty much almost out-eat his dad. He picks his nose, he farts and laughs at it, he poops a lot. He stuck half a crayon up a nostril a few weeks ago that I had to fish out with some needle-nosed tweezers....{Now can you see why I don't blog much??} He is Avery's best little buddy and my little sweet heart. He gives awesome hugs, plays kitchen with the best of 'em, and can say "NO!" like nobody's business. When he throws a tantrum, watch out. When he has a stick, or a ball, or a rock...watch out. When he's swimming, watch your nose...but when he's in the right mood, he'll love your little socks off with hugs and kisses and snuggles. I really can't stand it when he throws fits which he started doing a lot of when he turned 2...but he is quick to say, "Sorry" and move on to the next thing. And his little voice and all the little words he says...someone just wipe my heart up off the floor already! Sometimes he'll wear a big beaded necklace or headband to get in touch with his more feminine side, but usually does this under the persuasion of his sister or while naked so it's all kind of a wash, in my eyes.

Oh, and he's left handed. For real.

***

Well, Avery just toddled into the office carrying 4 princess dolls and her blankie....she needs a little snuggle and to dye some Easter eggs. We are also off to our 1st Home Depot trip for the above-mentioned projects and Subway for dinner when Kory is home from work. So, I'm signing off for now and hoping it won't be another 20 days till I can blog again but, hey, I'm doing my best!

we heart moclips!

2011-04-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

We did Moclips again. It was our 3rd year in a row with some of our best friends and it was definitely another trip of a lifetime! Good times were had by all...and it was just the right kind of relaxing getaway that we {especially us adults} all needed...

It was some mellow tunes by Casey on the guitar, food fit for royalty, and enough drinks to make us all merry for 3 days straight. It was movies, lazy afternoons, and multiple walks down to the water to watch the tide roll in and out. It was a try at razor clamming for the men, and lots of hours bonding over food in the kitchen for the ladies. {How lucky am I that my bestie is an AMAZING cook!?}

It was a little trail of sugar ants by the window and finding treasures by the seashore.

It was red wine, gin, vodka, and a few beers after the kids went down. {Not necessarily in that order, and definitely not all at the same time...!} It was hours in the hot tub, drinking and talking late into the night about any and everything that came to our minds. Afterall, what are best friends for?

It was a super moon! No, really, it was! The tides were much higher and lower than normal and the moon much bigger and brighter than normal.

To Jackson, a super moon weekend obviously meant something completely different, though. ♥

It was hours and hours of coloring by the window and a little bit of a preference for indoors than out for miss Avery.

It was grapefruit mimosas in the mornings, and coffee with Baileys in the afternoons...and naps for all in between!

It was building sandcastles and dodging sneaker waves...

...or snuggling up on the couch with a whole bowl of popcorn and some juice to watch Despicable Me for the 100th time.

It was walkin' with mommy, cold hands, wet knees, and a few tears...and cute rain boots.

...it was flying kites and loving Buzz Lightyear...

...it was fun for daddy to fly the kites too.

It was smoochin' in the pirate ship.

It was being a little perplexed, somewhat overly tired, and just slightly cranky at times.

It was finding new things...

...and throwing lots of sticks, rocks, mud, and sand.

It was lovely.

I think we'll go back.....

wild things...

2011-03-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

...and they sailed away in their private boat to where the wild things are...

Had to add these really quick. I'm pretty obsessed with the b&w one...it might be my fave in the whole of 400+ I took on our trip. ♥

sneek peek @ what's coming....

2011-03-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

Now that I've taken a 20-day, unplanned hiatus from my blog, I'm super behind. I have too many pictures to edit from our most recent adventure to the coast that the post is going to take awhile...and I've only edited one photo...the one on this post...and now I work the next 2 nights again! Stay tuned because we had a fabulous time and I got some real beauties of the 'Newetta' children at play by the sea! ♥ Also, I do believe it's time for a little update. Coming soon, friends, coming soon....

happy birthday, kory!

2011-03-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

To the best husband a girl could ask for...

and the best daddy a kid could ever dream of...

Happy birthday, Kory!

♥

last weekend was...

2011-03-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

...close to perfect. It was relaxing...productive...anxiety-free...and fun...

...it was eating pancakes while sitting on the kitchen table nakey butts...

...it involved a little Buzz Lightyear and crew...

...and some much-needed playtime at the park with swings...
...and a long walk for the dog....

...and it was about making funny faces at daddy that photograph like you're mad...

...it involved some swimming, eating pizza, watching movies, and taking naps...

...cooking breakfast, lounging, and cleaning house...

...getting all dressed up for a fun date night and a late-night burger at the Ram...

...and it was exactly the type of weekend that makes not having every weekend off TOTALLY worth it.

♥

avery's 1st ballet slippers...

2011-03-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to photograph Avery's first pair of ballet slippers for quite some time...and with my 50mm lens that had been broken for awhile. {I know that they'll be too small for her sooner or later and they are SO cute!} Well, the lens is back from repairs and the light was perfect in front of my sliding glass door today...and I'm quite pleased with the results. I'm going to frame these and probably hang them in her room...her first, tiny, darling, sweet, precious pair of size 7 ballet slippers. ♥ I just never, ever want to forget these moments...

She is loving ballet...and excelling at it! I'm so proud to sit and watch her every Tuesday, it's ridiculous...my heart literally almost bursts with joy watching her dance! She is learning quickly and can put her feet in 1st-5th positions...needing a little help sometimes with 3rd, 4th and 5th. {She gets confused on which ways her toes are supposed to point.} She loves her teacher and class never seems quite long enough for her. I have already enrolled her in dance sessions through June...when she will have her first recital! ♥

together, my most favorite way to be!

2011-02-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

Kory's home!

But not before we spent a fabulous 5 days on the road together...to say we had a blast would definitely be an understatement. Despite getting one nasty, helluva cold, I had a few days with my husband that have been added to my list of top 10 best days of my life.

The day after I arrived in Colorado Springs Kory took me around to see some of the sights. We stopped first at the Garden of the Gods....some gorgeous {random} rock formations just outside the city. We walked around, took pictures, marveled at the sights, watched some rock climbers, and enjoyed the SUN!

Beauty at its finest, with a nice little path to enjoy.

Love it.

From Garden of the Gods you can see Pikes Peak, elevation 14,000+ feet.

This is just a glimpse of all the cool stuff you can see in Colorado from various points of interest in the state. I reeeeally like it there...more on that later.

We also checked out Manitou Springs...a great little touristy town right at the base of the mountains and just outside Colorado Springs.

The whole point of my trip out there was to watch Kory graduate from the NCO Academy at Peterson Air Force Base. Don't mind the cheesy background of Kory's room, it was the best I could do of a pic of both of us all done up for a fun night.

And you gotta love self-portraits.
What I do love is my guy in uniform. {Whistle, whistle!!}

Friday morning we were up bright and early and hittin' the road towards home. We drove through Breckenridge, Vail, past Aspen and into Utah. The drive was AMAZING and made me sorta fall for Colorado. The climbing, hiking, camping, skiing, the views, the fresh mountain air....all great features, if you ask me. For those of you who don't know, we are up for orders in about 18 months and looking into where we can go next without ending up somewhere we don't really want to be. We have been heavily weighing the options of going overseas. {Germany or Spain...slight possibility of Australia....} but also have a few state-side bases we like...Peterson now being one of them... {and much closer to home than Europe.}

Anyway, as we were getting ready to cross the state border from Colorado to Utah, we kept seeing signs for Moab. Thank God for the iPhone...we discovered that Moab and Arches National Park were a mere 32 miles out of our way and we took advantage of a spontaneous opportunity...and we went!

So glad we did...it is one of this country's most beautiful natural landmarks and we had so much fun seeing all the cool stuff there.

Us at 'Park Avenue'.

Us in 'North Arch'.

Me in 'North Arch'.

We were running out of time before the park closed so we took the lower trail to 'Delicate Arch'. This is one of the most famous of all the arches in the park and is featured on many Utah license plates. You can see how large it is...there is a person standing to the right of the arch in the photo...

That night we stayed in downtown Salt Lake City after about 12 hours on the road. The next morning (Saturday) we made it to Nampa, ID., where my sister Jamie lives. We crashed at her place, had a yummy pizza dinner, drank wine at my friend Jen's house, and were back on the road relatively early on Sunday morning.

Kory surprised me by booking the King Sunset Suite at the Cave B Inn and Winery on the Columbia River for our last night on the road... It was hands-down one of the nicest rooms I've ever stayed in...a huge king bed, 2-person Jacuzzi overlooking the river, floor-to-ceiling windows...so romantic and the perfect end to our trip. I only wish my cold hadn't hit its worst point at 3 in the morning that night...luckily I have the best hubby ever who sat in a steaming hot bath with me until I was able to stop coughing and catch my breath. In sickness and in health...we make the best of it!

There is a trail from Cave B to the river...it's a few miles long and downhill all the way there...which means uphill all the way back. It felt good to get out and move our legs after so many hours in the car...but my lungs weren't too happy after this little hike.
We arrived home in Puyallup on Monday afternoon and spent the evening snuggling, tickling, hugging, kissing, and playing with our little ones, and celebrating my dad's 'double nickels' birthday! Avery and Jackson were both SO happy to see Kory when they got up from their naps. It was fun to watch them reunite and I've been enjoying watching them wrestle and tickle several times over the last few days. Nothing has felt better than having my family home together. NOTHING at all.

Kory has had this whole week off as we all recoop and readjust to us all being home. It's been really nice for the kids to have some time with him, and BONUS...we've had snow!
So, we've been playing in it, eating it, watching it fall, and wanting more. It's unlikely we'll get any more this year but it sure has been a neat late-winter treat for us Washington people!

My boys have matching hats...this is the first time they've worn them together...too cute, if you ask me. Jackson has literally been glued to Kory's side for the last 4 days....someone reeeeally loves his daddy!

This picture is a tad blurry but I had to post it...Avery had just nailed Kory with a snowball.

We woke up to sun this morning...and a temp of 18 degrees. The snow that fell should stick around for a few more days which is fine by me because it's SO pretty.

Snow kiss.

And there's nothing quite like a cup of hot cocoa with a silly straw to thaw out cold noses, cheeks, and hands.

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.
♥

And last, but certainly not least, Avery had her first trip to the salon last evening. She did awesome and had herself a ball!

Below is the 'before' pic:

She literally had all the gals in the salon in smiles.

Here she is after her trip to the shampoo bowl.....

...And VOILA! Gorgeous as can be, a few inches shorter, and beautifully curled!

Tonight it's back to work for me. Kory will be home with the kiddos this weekend and we will continue to settle into the normal chaos of our life...which I happen to love with all my heart. Thanks to those who offered me loving words, support, help and encouragement during the last 7ish weeks. I can honestly boast that I have the most incredible family and wonderful friends that a girl could ever ask for...so, THANK YOU!!! ♥

...and to my awesome guy...thank you for an awesome 5 days on the road and the incredible surprise at the very end. I love you more than I could ever say and am SO HAPPY to have you home again! XO

made it!

2011-02-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

Well I arrived in Colorado Springs yesterday pale, queasy, and pretty sick to my stomach...not at all how I imagined I would be upon getting here! Funny how after 30 years I become motion sick. It wasn't all me, though. The flight from Seattle to Denver was a bit turbulent, but the descent and landing pushed me over the edge...and were probably the roughest I've ever experienced. I'm pretty sure that if I had to sit for 1 more second on that plane {20 rows back} waiting for people to get off I was going to toss my cookies. No bueno. I had forgotten how huge the Denver airport is. I had to walk almost 60 gates to get to my connecting flight which took longer than anticipated since I was feeling so ill. I had to stop three times: once for water and snacks, and when those didn't help, some juice, and then the bathroom. An hour later I was feeling just perky enough to actually board my second plane...and the bonus was I got to walk outside to my plane and the fresh air was just what I needed...

My flight from Denver to Colorado Springs was easier, mostly short...like 20 minutes. I think we reached the cruising altitude of 12,000 ft for about 2.5 minutes before starting our descent. My gate was, of course, at the very end of the terminal, so after a long walk I finally got to see my man.

We aren't really the type to run and jump into each other's arms and cause a big scene, but I can tell you our first kiss was good! He grabbed my bags at baggage claim like a perfect gentleman and we were off to a lovely dinner where we literally talked the entire time about all the stuff we've missed out on from each other's lives for the last 6 weeks. We ate at AI steakhouse...a Japanese type place where they cook your food in front of you. It was delicious and I felt almost back to normal after dinner. We spent the rest of last night sharing a bottle of wine and getting reacquainted.... ;)

Colorado Springs is really flat...not at all how I pictured it. It's located right at the base of some mountains, but other than those mountains, it's flat as far as the eye can see. I can see Cheyenne Mountain from here...you know, the home of NORAD {which totally fascinates me} and the city of Colorado Springs kind of reminds me of Puyallup with one big, huge, main road and lots of businesses off that. Everything is brown but the winters here are wierd...one day it's negative 2 degrees, and the next day it's 62...or something like that. The air is really dry and I can already tell the affects of that in my throat which is SORE and my face feels tight, like I need more lotion on it.

Loving being here with my favorite person, missing my kids, and excited for our adventure home. Don't be alarmed but both routes we are deciding between have winter weather advisories and blizzards on the way so we will choose carefully...or just change our stops around. I'll be sending check point texts to my most important of peeps {dad, mom, Jamie} all along the way.

All in all, life is really good!

little treats for my sweets

2011-02-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

Valentines day was lovely. We had a casual morning, gave a few valentines to each other, ran some errands, did a Starbucks date {just us 3}, and completely enjoyed each other's company. In the evening we spent a long time Skyping Kory and talking to him about how soon we will all be together again! {CANNOT WAIT.}

Little gifts for my little Valentines.

Avery got a mini Tinkerbelle doll, some Hello Kitty Stickers, and some 'some.'

I don't think I've ever written on my blog what my kids call lip gloss; they call it some. They even say, "Mommy, can I please have some some." It's so cute {and clever!} and I hope they never outgrow it. ♥

Jackson got a few more cars for his train set...the boy loves his trains!

Gotta love Target. I found the cutest {cheap} Valentine's inspired tees for them. You're reading Jackson's right...it says "Chick Magnet." {And it's true!}

Sweetest little thing ever...and she smiled for me. Oh, my gosh, she smiled for me!!!

Definitely was a happy Valentine's day, indeed!

♥

I'm off to Colorado in the morning to see my big Valentine. I can't wait. My bags are packed, I'm checked into my flight, and have the house all in order for my mom to stay here with the babes. Like I said before, what I'm most excited for is all of us being home under one roof and getting back to normal...it's so soon I can hardly stand it!

happy valentine's day!

2011-02-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to be spending this day of love with these two little sweeties! And in a little over 48 hours I'll be celebrating with my big sweetie!

Happy ♥ day!

today, in pictures.

2011-02-13T16:28:00.000-08:00

friday morning pancakes

2011-02-13T10:21:00.001-08:00

Right now my kids are really into whole wheat pancakes. They will each eat an entire pancake for breakfast so I make them a lot these days. Avery has also had a pretty vested interest in what is going on in the kitchen, so it's fun to let her help.

Really, though, she is growing up way too fast....

superbowl, shmooperbowl....

2011-02-07T17:16:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I've been minus my 'person' for quite some time now, I had a LOVELY superbowl weekend that didn't involve one single second of football. Besides not liking either team that played (like, AT ALL), I really don't care for the sport....So, I didn't watch it.

Instead we filled our weekend with relaxation, movies, playtime, art, friends, family, shopping...and a little red wine.

Keep in mind that this last weekend came on the tail of a nasty invasion of germs in this household. First it was unexplained fevers that lasted several days, then the stomach flu hit all 3 of us, and finally strep throat for the little boy this last week. I won't go into detail, but I'm still cleaning up from the disasters that insued during all that. Needless to say, we deserved some quality down-time on the heels of these crappy 3 weeks....so we took full advantage of the fact that we all felt good at the same time and just enjoyed one another.

Friday night I had my nose so deep into a book that I stayed up until 3 am reading. When Avery toddled into my room at 0730 on Saturday, I didn't even feel that tired. We came downstairs, I put on some coffee and read while she started a movie....Barbie's the Princess and the Pauper--HORRIBLE, but she likes it and I didn't have to watch it. When Jax got up we put in Toy Story 3 (a FABULOUS movie) and I made whole wheat pancakes. After breakfast I read until the movie was over and then we went to the park. We were the only ones there for awhile, and it was cold...but we had a blast. Jackson was so tired from playing that he skipped lunch all together and went straight down for his afternoon nap.

Saturday evening we had the Suetta family over for Beth's awesome minestrone soup and the left over ice cream cake from Jackson's birthday party. Oh, and some red wine...can't forget the wine! The only missing link was Kory. And I think I can speak for all the Newetta kids (that's what we call them... Newgard+Suetta ...haha!) when I say that they L.O.V.E. each other and always have a great time...as evidenced by the dog pile and giant smiles in the following picture! (If you look really close, you can see that Jackson may be sitting on Nolan's head...too darn funny!)

Sunday I tried to get myself and the kids to church but couldn't seem to get us all functioning and out the door on time. Instead we met my parents at their house and left the kids with Papa for the day and I went on an all-day shopping trip with my mom and Krista. We had SO. MUCH. FUN. I found the perfect dress to wear to Kory's graduation dinner (which is NEXT WEEK!!!) and lots of other cute things for my trip out to see my hubby.
Now we are just hanging out and hoping the next 8 days pass quickly. I can't wait to see Kory...I miss him SO MUCH. I'm really looking forward to spending some alone time with him...but what I really can't wait for is the moment that all 4 of us are together again under one roof. Everytime the phone rings Jackson says, "Daddy?" I think we are all sick of phone correspondence and so very ready for some real 'face' time.

turning 2 is so fun!

2011-01-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

I'll try to keep the wordage short on this post...there are a lot of pictures of us celebrating Jackson. There were just too many to choose from...especially these next four...could hardly contain myself when I finished editing them. I think my dream job is to become a birthday party photographer. I love capturing all those 'happy birthday' moments. ♥

Our birthday morning tradition of cinnamon rolls and candles. I could hardly believe it... Avery ate her entire treat...it was a ballet morning and I could definitely tell she had had a bit of sugar before going...she was SO excited to be there.

Jax looks about as delicious as the cinnamon roll. He is such a big boy now...2 years old and all!

Happy, happy, happy!
♥

Making his wish.
Wish big, little man. You DESERVE whatever great things life has to offer you!

On his real birthday I made cupcakes to take to my parent's house. The frosting turned out about as blue as it gets...and Avery helped with the sprinkles.

My mom joked that it gave Avery a 'foo man chew'. I don't even know if I spelled that right, or if that's even the correct term for her blue mustache, but I got a good giggle out of it!

Jackson:1 Cupcake: 0

As if anyone doubted the score would be so....

Jackson's b-day party was yesterday. I did a Disney Cars theme and ordered pizza and an ice cream cake. It was crazy and so fun. I loved having a ton of kids over playing at my house and celebrating my boy. We REALLY missed Kory...well, I did. It was not easy having him gone for Jackson's birthday.

The above picture is of him sneaking a drink of Erin's water...she was standing right behind him. Talk about having the camera in my hand at the exact right time...

Norah and Alissa. The cutest pair of besties I ever did see. ♥

Even though we kept the party kinda small, he was still spoiled silly!

Pillow Pets: I had no idea what a phenomenon these little guys are. All the kids were stoked to see him open this one...they all started telling us which ones they have. I wish I could have been the one to have invented them...and at about $20 a pop, that person is a bazillionaire, I'm sure.

Cake time was so cute. I had Kory on Facetime for this and we all watched Jax have lots of help blowing out his candles. He needed a little help with that last one...I think Norah (who was to his left) actually was the one to blow it out finally! What are friends for?

How funny is it that 5 kids are on the bench at my kitchen table? Guess a little cake is good incentive to sit extra close to your buddies!

The kids really enjoyed the ice cream cake...but I know a few adults did too.

I have to say, Baskin-Robbins did a delicious job. Normally I like to make the cake, but it was easier to have them do it this year.

Jackson makes this face now accompanied with a funny little noise that sounds like his voice is quivering. He had all his party guests in stitches...

...how could you not be in stitches? He's so dang funny and cute!

Happy, happy birthday, you handsome little devil, you!

xoxoxoxo

lookin' up!

2011-01-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

Well, this week has been much better than last, by far. I think the kids are finally settling into our new {temporary} normal without daddy around. It's still hard having him gone, but we are managing {or coping?} much better than initially. I guess all that hardship just goes to show how much Kory means to those little ones. I'm so glad he is their daddy and that he is SO good at it. We talk to him several times a day and we usually Skype after nap time...it's been SO nice to be able to see his face. And I especially love it when he wears his glasses while we Skype....HOT-TY!

So, this has been a big week for us! I have been working all my scheduled hours and not taking any low-census days, which is always nice for the wallet! Thanks to my parents, working while my hubs is away has been a breeze. My mom and dad rock...I owe them infinite thanks for everything they do for my family...I just don't know what I'd do without them close by.

And now Avery is officially in a big girl bed. She has all of my old furniture from when I was younger {all freshly painted a beautiful white}, and that includes a full-sized bed all to herself. She, of course, looks teensy tiny while sleeping in it, but our evenings and nights have been much smoother since the big transition. Her crib {which had been converted to a toddler bed} is now set up at my parents' place for Jax. I'm not going to lie...walking in to her room after my dad had finished assembling the big girl bed brought me to tears. What was once a beautiful nursery for a precious little baby is now my little girl's hideaway. She has her little dolls and toys stashed away in every nook and cranny and when I look around at her 'organization', I can only smile because I see that it all makes sense. The room is her place to pretend, explore, play, and rest...and I love it even more than when I designed it for her as a baby because it has her touch all over it...so bittersweet for me, watching my girl grow up. ♥

Also this week Jackson turned 2 and we had a really nice day celebrating him. My mom made a few pizzas and I brought cupcakes over to their place and we had a mini party for our boy. Books and cars were the theme for gifts. Jackson LOVES having stories read to him and he also LOVES playing with matchbox cars. Kory was even 'present' for gift opening as we were able to Facetime with him on our iPhones {which, in my eyes, is the coolest phone in the world because of this...}. It kind of felt like he was there and I think Jax had fun showing off his cars to dad. This weekend I'm throwing a little, low-key party for him with a few family members and our closest friends. I'm really taking it easy for this party...ordering pizza, getting a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake, and putting on some football. All I want to do is watch my boy have fun with his besties.

Other than that, we are frequenting the YMCA a lot...between my workouts, Avery's ballet, and now Jackson's swim lessons we are always there! I have also discovered a little gem not too far away from our house...McDonalds. Yep, you read that right. It has an indoor playground with tables all around it that I can sit at and sip diet Coke while the kids run around and pretend there are dragons chasing them...cuz for some reason that's what comes into their mind when they are there. Actually we have only been there once, but I'm planning on taking them there today with my mom for lunch. Fun times.

So, on to a sweet 7 days off and some fun stuff planned ahead. The countdown is at 26 days until I fly to Colorado for Kory's graduation from the NCO Academy and a long road trip home with him. I'm happy to report we are doing much better but we just can't wait till our favorite guy is back home with us! Love you, Kory!

And stay tuned for pics from this week...I have some real cute ones I'm excited to edit and post!

my little boo is 2!

2011-01-18T06:24:00.000-08:00

Today I am remembering 2 years ago when Jackson entered our lives and how from that very moment, at 6:24 am on 1-18-09, my heart would never, ever be the same. I don't think even his daddy swept me off my feet so fast as Jax did...a true charmer from day one.

I love him.

I love him SO much.

He has made this family whole and filled whatever little gaps that might've needed filling. He is quite possibly the sweetest and coolest person I know...and I am so blessed to have him as my son.

Jackson Jonathan...

He's funny,

He's smart,

He's a good hugger,

He's soft and squishy and squeezable,

He has THE most kissable cheeks I've ever seen,

He is the cool to Avery's hot, and the yin to her yang,

He's handsome...and every day gets even more so,

He has the brightest, twinkliest, bluest eyes ever,

He's a split between a mama's boy and a daddy's boy,

He's a people pleaser,

He's nice,

He's mellow,

He's shy,

He has a birthmark on his right leg, just like I do,

He has my dad's eyebrows,

He really likes cars and trains,

He's kind of a lady's man,

He's curious,

He's the Jax-man!

He's a swimmer...one that we have to keep an eye on!

He's our boy...and the best surprise I've ever received.

♥

Happy 2nd birthday, little mister J-man! We love you so so so very much. Cheers to another happy and healthy year and many more to come, little buddy!!

my tiny dancer

2011-01-12T22:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Avery's much-awaited and anticipated 1st ballet class.

She looked darling, and SO the part of a ballerina.

Bless her heart, mama put her in the wrong attire...apparently for even 'Bitty Ballet' there is a dress code...pink, black or white leotards with pink leather ballet flats. She was in a blue outfit that she had picked out on our special outing together last weekend and in plain black ballet slippers. Her teacher had her go barefoot because the floor was too slippery for just tights. She was a little bummed, but I think I was more-than crushed. Nothing like showing up with your daughter to something you've both been excited for and seeing all the other moms putting their daughter in the right stuff while you rush yours off to the bathroom to strip her down to just a wrong-colored leotard. For real, I almost cried...it's been that kind of a week...

But all that aside, she had a good time. Her teacher, Miss Laurie, is fabulous and so nice and sweet, so that made it a little better. And after about 10 minutes of being kind of unsure, Avery started to enjoy herself...she can even put her feet in 3rd position now when asked.

♥

On another note, I believe my girl is struggling the most with Kory's absence. I have quite the little she-beast on my hands at current. Night times have been the worst they've really ever been and I'm SO frustrated. I bought her a night-light to see if that would help...since all other things haven't...and I think it may be doing the trick. She is finally asleep as of the last 15 minutes, but not without a few, "I have to go poopy," or "I need _____." (Insert random stupid toy that I have no clue where to find...) Or, "I have a Holly hair on my binki." You name it, the girl has pulled out all the stops when it comes to stalling bedtime...I'm staying firm and not giving in to most of her ploys...but it is very taxing. I'm going to need a BIG glass of wine and some free time when these next 5 weeks are over....

a few of my favorite things...

2011-01-10T22:22:00.001-08:00

...from the 2010 holidays.

I decided that I would go backwards since I uploaded an ungodly amount of pictures to this post. Read on, if you dare!

A quick update on how the first 10 days of 2010 have been: in a nutshell--okay. I'd maybe give this month a 5 or 6 on a scale from 1-10 so far. It is hard without Kory. I miss him, Avery misses him, Jackson misses him, and our dog is such a slug without him...Our whole house is a little off-kilter and I am really in a funk and it's showing. He's only been away since Thursday and we are still trying to find a good routine...it's really thrown bedtime off...no bueno, that's for sure. I'm praying every day for patience, grace, and forgiveness. I have had to ask Avery and Jackson for forgiveness 2 times today for yelling and slamming a door...kind of humbling, if you ask me. I mean, I'm 30, for gosh sakes. But luckily tomorrow is a new day, Avery is FINALLY asleep, and I'm getting to that blog post I promised. We have a few distractions to look forward to in the next few weeks, too. Avery starts ballet tomorrow and Jackson starts swim lessons with me in 2 weeks. We'll be fine, I promise....but we reeeeeeally miss our daddy!

***

New Years: I worked NYE this year and so did my bestie Beth. We rang in the New Year with a quick glass of sparkling cider and then it was back to drawing labs, answering alarms, and tending to little ones. I'm pretty sure Kory and the kids were asleep as the clock rang midnight...funny, cuz 5 years ago Kory and I were dancing it up in downtown Seattle, all dolled up and sharing a bottle of champagne...my how life has changed!! Beth and I had New Years day off, so after sleeping a few hours, she brought her little family over for some dinner, games, and movies. It was a fantastic evening and we even got all 4 kids to lay down and watch a movie {for 10 minutes} while us adults played a game of Scrabble.

A few days late for Christmas, snow came. A lot of it stayed around well into the New Year because the temps got pretty chilly, too. {Which also made for a couple of slippery commutes to and from work....}
Between Christmas and New Years we took another trip up to Mt. Rainier for some more sledding. This time my family joined us. It was snowing and blowing...and so perfect. I got a TON of awesome pictures...and some downright hilarious ones...enjoy as you scroll on down!

Our 3rd sighting of a cascade fox! This little guy had NO fear and I am worried, since we saw him so many times, that he's going to be killed by a car eventually.

This stellar jay was definitely looking for food.

My dad and Avery walking and talking around Narada falls.

I seriously thought my mom was going to pee in her snowpants, she was laughing so hard while sledding with Krista and Jamie... You should see the picture of my dad sledding with Jackson. Poor Jax was completely sprayed with snow and may now hate sledding forever...

Me and my girl.

Jax and Papa.

Oh my cheesiness.

{Love him, though.}

Krista would never tell anyone this, but she has always loved eating snow. It's ok, so does Avery.

Yummers.

Mom and Jamie.

Cutie patootie all bundled.

Jamie is seriously an awesome auntie. She let Kory and I go on 2 much-needed dates during the holidays.

Just a little shot of our snowy drive up to Paradise.
***

The next set of pics is of Christmas morning....

This is the "cheese" face with a 'ginki' stuffed in the mouth.

Jax got a workbench for his bedroom...and all the tools to go with. He is one stylin' handy-man, that's for sure!

Playin' the Christmas elf and passing out gifts.

Us on Christmas morning...Kory, dad, Jackson, Avery, Krista, mom, NaNa, John, and Lilly. Missing from the pic are me, Jamie, Ellie, and Holly. After every Christmas morning I think to myself, "Mom's house is never going to be the same! What a mess!" But she always manages to get it back in order after some serious Christmasing!

Somewhere in the middle of it I sliced open my finger with dad's freshly-sharpened knives while cutting a lemon. I didn't feel good for a hot second after it happened, but I'm happy to report a complete recovery from my Christmas injury.

Avery was probably my favorite to watch this Christmas. Everything was pretty exciting to her and she just wanted to open, and open, and open presents. She is still talking about {and wearing} the darling Tinkerbell dress that Santa brought her!

I almost cried when she saw it! I'll probably remember that moment forever!

***

Next: Christmas eve...my favorite part of Christmas!

We had to select the most perfect cookies to give to Santa. Actually, the hardest part about this task was getting Jackson to quit trying to eat them, hence the bite mark out of one of the carrots.

And a tradition since I was a little girl: opening one gift on Christmas eve which is ALWAYS jammies.

These two looked just delicious on Christmas eve. And here they are both saying, "Cheeeese!"

{Maybe I need to think of another word to have them say while trying to shoot pics of them...to avoid the inevitable "cheeeeese" face...???}

Once dad got the hang of using my camera (this is making me laugh just typing it!), he actually got a few cute pics of me with my sisters...

...and one of me with my favorite gals!

I love this picture of Krista...she has always given the best gifts. Each one so well thought-out and perfect for whomever is receiving it.

Here we are! All 4 of us...trying to take a simple family photo and it never quite turns out!

***

A few days before Christmas we had a little gift exchange with the Suetta family.

Just too cute for words. I think the gift of the night on this particular occasion was a 1st addition Fred Beckey book signed by the famous climber himself from Casey to Kory.

***

After all the shopping and wrapping had been completed, and before Christmas was underway, Kory and I took the kidlets up to Mt. Rainier for a solo Newgard sledding trip. It wasn't snowing this time, we did see the fox and the stellar jay, and a grey jay {pictured below} actually flew into our car!

Jax showing me his new mittens.

I know, Jax. I think dad's pretty amazing, too.

Pretty, but awful pesky...this little guy flew into our car going after a cracker. {No, we didn't coax him at all! We didn't!} But it scared me and the kids half to death. And when it was all said and done Avery loudly stated, "I don't want that pigeon in my car!"

Ouch, Mr. Grey Jay. I do believe you were just called a pigeon!

***

Anyway, Happy New Year! We sure are looking forward to what 2011 brings us!

a quickie post...

2011-01-06T16:10:00.001-08:00

It has been a crazy few weeks...story of my life. Christmas was LOVELY, but also about the only 2 days I had to really relax. I worked New Year's weekend and today just sent Kory off to Colorado for 6.5 weeks to the NCO Academy...with promotion comes more training...sigh.

We stock-piled December with tons of fun stuff with equally great photos to document all that fun...all of which will be coming soon....bear with me.

The above photo is from Christmas Eve. Avery is really hugging Jax (NOT wringing his neck), and Jackson makes that face when he says, "CHEESE!" They both have candy-cane staining their cheeks and Jackson's mouth is full of carrot...and no one ever looks at the camera! You know what? I happen to love it. It captures life to a tee...and makes me smile! No perfectly posed pictures for this family...those of you who received our Christmas card can attest to that! Ha!
Happy New Year to all and lets hope I can get a good post up before we are all saying Happy Valentines Day!

merry christmas to all!

2010-12-24T14:02:00.000-08:00

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Let us not forget that Jesus was born on this special night!
♥ ♥ ♥

right now i am loving...

2010-12-18T15:12:00.001-08:00

Sarah McLachlan's "What Child is This".
Lucerne's White Chocolate & Peppermint coffee creamer.
My very dark hair!
That Avery is completely 100% potty trained. No pull-ups even!
That Jackson wears big-boy undies during the day!!
My Christmas Scentsy smells...I'm almost out of them, Cara!
That I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done, but none of the wrapping started!
Poached eggs. Yum-mers.
Lots of days off with Kory coming up. Yay!
White Christmas lights.
Red wine.
That all 3 of my bathrooms are clean right now. Double yay!
I have a new dress to wear and a hot date with my hubby planned.
That my kids love Santa! I love him too!
My Christmas cactus. I've had it for 5 years and this is the 1st year it's bloomed in December!
Hot buttered rum. Again, yum.
My running shoes. Of all the shoes I own, they're my fave.
Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush lipgloss in 'Candy, Baby!' My favorite.
My tattoo. I reeeeally love it.
Costco photobooks. Super easy, fun, and make awesome gifts!

A little random, but kind of fun!

another year on the nice list!

2010-12-17T12:33:00.000-08:00

The picture says it all...my kids love Santa Claus. Like, reeeeally love him.

Avery walked right up to him and told him she wants a Tinkerbelle dress and Jax just kind of stared in amazement.

They ate their full-sized candy canes in record time and I'm pretty sure Santa is going to treat them well this year!

murphy's law and Christmas...

2010-12-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

Doesn't it always seem true that as soon as you blog about something you're excited/happy/thrilled about, the opposite comes true? I mentioned previously about how I was really into Christmas...well, it seemed that by the end of last week my Christmas spirit was suddenly hitting rock bottom. We just finished up a stressful 'rebid' at work...the first ever in the history of our unit and not only did it leave the morale of myself and my fellow co-workers extremely low, but it left about 20 of my co-workers jobless. To say that we are heartbroken would be an understatement and I believe it will take us quite some time to regain trust in our organization and rekindle the deep love for our unit that many of us had. We are a passionate group of people and have been shaken hard during this...and having it fall right at the holidays has been a slap to the other cheek. I'm happy and relieved to say that I have my exact same position as before, but that is not true for many of my friends....

Right as the rebid was coming to a close, Kory was sent to California last minute for 3 days. With everything going on, it was sort of a rough 3 days for me...

On top of that, some days are just hard. Kids are needy little beings and I had little to give by Friday while waiting for the 'call' from my managers regarding the position I was being given. The light at the end of the tunnel was a planned 2-night getaway to Bellevue with my mom and NaNa to do some Christmas shopping. Kory willingly let me escape and I was able to get a bunch of shopping done. We braved the monsoon-ish rains around here and actually had ourselves a little ball. Friday was dinner at the Keg and a red-box movie with champagne and chocolate. Saturday we literally shopped till we dropped. Sunday we finished up a few little things, had Panera for lunch, and I came home to my little family (and had to quickly hide all the presents!). We cleaned bathrooms, gave the kiddos a bath, and decided to try and enjoy the last 2 weeks of Christmas time no matter what stressors come our way. In the grand scheme of things, I know I have it really darn good. I am blessed and for that I am thankful.

So far this week has been fabulous, despite the rain. Avery and Jackson have been great, I just mailed my Christmas cards and am planning on starting my cookie baking tonight. With all this hustle and bustle I find that I am sort of dreaming of a white, snowy, destination Christmas (like to Whistler....) where we don't have to worry so much about gifts, but more about how many runs down the ski slopes we can get in before lunch...hmmm. Maybe next year.....but for now, I'm mostly loving this busy, crazy, chaotic Christmas season...and praying for a SUPER relaxing and cozy Christmas eve and day!

♥

Picture of 'Snowflake Lane' in Bellevue...you can actually see the how hard it was raining....gotta love Christmas in the Northwest!

a whole lotta love goin' on around here!

2010-12-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhh... tis the season, no?

I am having so much fun with Christmas all the sudden! I finished the inside decorating on Friday afternoon and today we put the last of the lights up outside. My camera and I are friends again and I could harldy wait to post these precious pics of my little favorites!

Is there a cuter pair around? Not in my eyes.

Seriously, I am smitten. Head over heels. Love them to bits!

And this little man still has the most kissable cheekies this side of the Mississippi. Wait, no...the most kissable cheeks on this planet. Even when he's crabby I can't help but kiss that darling face!

And what a little sweet heart...using the last bits of last summer's side walk chalk to draw all over our driveway. Love her.

And even grouchy, he takes a good picture....

...but daddy will make it all better with a little snuggle.

♥

I even got our family Christmas card photo today...stay tuned, I might post it on Christmas day.
♥

these little baby blues...

2010-12-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

...melt my heart.

♥

turkey, tattoos, Tangled, and the Seattle marathon!

2010-11-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

**Sigh...** Is it over? Thanksgiving has come and gone SO fast!

What a fabulous weekend it was, too. Mixed in with our usual Thanksgiving traditions was a handful of new experiences that made me even more thankful for this blessed life. I feel so lucky to have the people that I do around me...

♥

Thanksgiving was low-key and spent over at my parents. We enjoyed Scrabble, red wine, a little football, some naps, and a delicious meal. I {of course} worked all weekend before Thanksgiving and then on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I had come down with a nasty cold but still made it through all 60 of my scheduled hours. I normally have 2 nights off after my weekend on and this past week kicked my butt only having one off. On top of all the hours and the yucky cold we had SNOW. Lots and lots of snow, and ice, and wind...ugh. It's just not a winter storm unless I have to work...I'm pretty sure of that! But all in all, Thanksgiving was nice and my mom did a killer job on our delicious feast! Someday maybe I won't have to work and I can cook for it... ?!

And then there was Black Friday, which is just not for me.

I have never gotten up at 3 or 4 am to venture out with all the crazies in search of Christmas gifts...in fact, Kory let me sleep in till 9am! (Love him!!) He shampoo'd our carpets, I caught up on laundry, and then headed out in the afternoon with my sisters to Action Tattoo in Auburn to get our angel wing tats that we've been talking about for the last 5 years. Talk about a fun and memorable day with two of my favorite gals! I just love the tattoos {in honor of our angel-sister Alyssa} and am so happy to have shared that with Jamie and Krista. Our dad even thought they were cool and got a little choked up when we came home and showed him our new ink.

They turned out SO pretty and I'm proud to have this permanent reminder of our dear baby sister. It's also a sweet reminder of how fragile life can be. When I look at it I think of how blessed I am with my two sweet babes, my amazing man, my family, and my friends....

♥

I was about 3.5 years old when she passed away after a long, hard battle with spinal meningitis. There isn't much I remember about her that doesn't involve Seattle Children's hospital. The nurses always gave me orange or grape popsicles so that my parents could visit with her. She died on January 17th, 1984 after nearly 6 months of being in the hospital...you can imagine how special it is to us that Jackson's birthday is January 18th. And not only does Jamie share a birthday with her {2 years apart}, but I became a nurse because of those experiences I had so many years ago. We can see that God has given us miracles in our sorrow and for that, we are so thankful. Thankful for those little reminders of our sweet girl and rays of hope and happiness in a life that can sometimes seem so dark. I don't know how my parents said goodbye to their baby, or how any parent says goodbye to their child. When I think of it, I can only hug my own children a little tighter and say prayers of thankfulness for their health and happiness. We have always thought of Alyssa as our angel, and even though the day she died was sad for us, it was a happy day in heaven as she was welcomed, with open arms, by our savior Jesus Christ.
♥

Friday evening Jamie treated me, Krista, my mom and Avery to the movie Tangled in 3D. Going along with the title of this post, it was Avery's first movie in a theater! She LOVED it! I mean really, really loved it. I don't think she moved a muscle the entire time except to get on my mom's lap (the seats were too hard for her to keep down...she's too light!) and I am SO excited to take her to more movies. We had a blast... I cried 3 times during the movie (it's super cute), and ate enough popcorn for at least 10 people. Two thumbs up from Avery Newgard and her mama!

She even sat and watched the credits at the end!

The girls with the stylish 3D glasses!

I ♥ girl's night out!
♥

Saturday Kory and I ran a few errands with the kids and then dropped them off with my parents so we could head up to Seattle to pick up my race packet. I was craving some alone time with him and had a really fun few hours with just him. We picked up my stuff, shopped downtown a little, and {of course} hit up the Seattle REI. After an hour of perusing REI we headed back to my parent's where we took our annual Kellett Christmas card picture (the above picture is NOT what we used, but pretty darn funny!) and I stuffed myself with mom's spaghetti!

Sunday was the Seattle Marathon!
The below pic is of mom and I just before the start of the race.

What a journey it's been training for this marathon. I owe HUGE thanks to my mom and Kory for 1) Taking on extra duties like dinners, chores, extra time spent with the kids, and re-arranging schedules so that I could spend hours and hours running and training; and 2) For being my biggest fans and a huge support to me on race day. I am getting all teary thinking of how I wouldn't have made it past mile 17 if they hadn't been standing there with Beth and Casey Suetta cheering me on!

During my training I fought through feeling tired, feeling defeated, working night shift, hating the shorter/colder days, rain {so much rain!}, a nasty cold 1 week before race day, being a mom and a wife, and the overall busy-ness of our life and I ran a damn good race! I am really, so very proud!

At the start line with my biggest fan, Kory. He and my mom met me 4 times during the race and he was smiling and cheering every time. He carried my fuel and dispensed it as needed, and that coupled with his darling face really got me to that finish line!

There I am crossing the start line!

Here's the winner who came in a mere 2 hours and 4 minutes before me. I'm in awe of these guys that run marathons in just about the same time that most people run a 1/2 marathon!

Mile 17.
I was telling myself I wanted to quit.
I wanted to cry.
I'm waving in the picture, but choking back tears.
If Kory, mom, and Beth and Casey hadn't been there I might've walked away from this marathon. Different parts were hurting at different points during the race...but they all sort of converged on me at once during mile 17. Kory gave me water, fuel, and a pep talk and I was on my merry way to mile 18. Like I said, HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to my cheerleaders! It meant the world to have you there!

Just after mile 19 the course gets hilly. Actually, like straight up hill for 2 miles. The pic of me above was at the top of the hill and I was inside 20 miles with a little less than 6 to go... I was thinking, "I'm almost there!"...and SURPRISE! There was Kory! I hadn't thought I'd see him again until the finish line but they found one last place to watch me run by. So glad they did because the big hill=big cramps in the calves for this girl! They all said I looked better at the top of that hill than I did at Mile 17.

Oh, and the glorious last 0.1 miles...sprinting to the finish! I got tears the second I ran into Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center. A marathon is definitely an emotional race.
And I can't wait to run another!

Almost there!

Done and DONE! Official time: 4:34:38. I'm in full recovery mode right now and having a hard time even climbing the stairs. Kory says I'll be a hurtin' girl until the end of the week...but I assure you that I'm smiling big as I waddle around my house! ...And crazy as it may seem I'm planning the next race... ! But for now it's all hot baths, a massage, some protein shakes, and lots of rest. Lots and lots of rest!

arctic blast 2010...

2010-11-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

Arctic blast...that's at least what the news is calling it. Of course it hit during my weekend/week to work, right before thanksgiving, and just as I got sick...I mean, it just wouldn't be right if I didn't have to drive to and from work in crap weather... But, all that aside, I LOVE it when it snows. Sometimes I think I'm somewhat meant to live in the desert (or Hawaii), but when it comes right down to it, I think I'd be most happy in a place that experiences all 4 seasons. As short lived as this Arctic blast might be, I'm happy to have it here and am sort of hoping it means more blizzardy nights and sparkly, white mornings this winter season...

Although last night I felt especially icky, we still had to go outside with the kids...this is Jackson's first big snow and even though we could only stand it for about 25 minutes, it was fun to get out and play. It was a bonafide blizzard, in my books. I know all you mid-westerners are laughing at me right now, but it was really blowing out there and snowing quite hard, as evidenced by the following picture...

Brrrrrr!
Snow drifted up onto the porch and started blocking the front door a little, and we had snow drifts in the corners of all the windows! It really looked so beautiful!

And even though the temps this morning were hanging around 17 degrees, last night made for a gorgeous, snowy morning around the neighborhood. Kory got a 2 hour late report to work so after coffee, breakfast, showers, Zicam and lots of nose-blowing (for me), we bundled up again and ventured outdoors.

I am very lucky. My kids' snowsuits from last year fit them perfectly again this year. Yay!

Jackson falls down a lot in the deeper snow but he sure makes a cute little guy all bundled up. He had on so many layers he could hardly sit!

A snow angel.

♥

After our outdoor adventures we came in and I made us 'real' hot chocolate...meaning I steamed up the milk with my espresso machine and everything.

I ♥ snow days!

***

I have 2 more nights of work this week and then get a long weekend with my family. And trust me, we have enough drama at work to make me SO thankful to be having a long weekend coming up!We have a lot of great things planned...Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house, Christmas decorating on Friday (Kory doesn't know that part yet...haha!), Saturday my sisters and I are getting {very small} matching tattoos in remembrance of our 4th sister Alyssa, and Sunday {drumroll, please} is the Seattle Marathon. I'm really praying to be healthy enough to run so these last few months of training aren't wasted...but I'm going to play it by ear and see. No use killing myself in the name of 26.2 miles...but I reeeeeally want to run it.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

♥ tiffany

this makes me smile!

2010-11-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

♥ ♥ ♥

celebrating our 3 year old!

2010-11-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

I believe it was a very happy birthday, indeed, for miss Avery Jeanne! We celebrated as a family on her real birthday, and then threw her a royal princess party bash this past Saturday. She was the belle of the ball with her curls, her crown, and her twirly tutu...

She plays the part well, and looks good doing it!
A princess has to have her hair curled so that her crown sits just right.
♥

Auntie Jamie came dressed as a magical woodland fairy princess.
♥

And before the night was over, Avery was dressed as Rapunzel!

What's a boy to do when the house is literally barfing up princess?

Join in the fun!

Cute friends helping Avery open her gifts.

A few home-made decorations made the party just right.

Love my little princess! Happy 3rd birthday, Avery!

my girl!

2010-11-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

She's 3!

Today we are celebrating her and everything that makes her her.

Stay tuned for a bigger birthday post, but for now we are busy playing with balloons, dancing, and eating birthday donuts with candles for breakfast!

Happy birthday, Avery Jeanne! You are loved so VERY much!!

a breath of fresh air!

2010-11-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

We had somewhere to be at 11 am this morning.

The park.

It is GORGEOUS outside today and we had a picnic lunch and playdate planned with the Grube Gals.

My plan was to get up when Kory left for work (6:30am) and get showered, but I ran 18 miles yesterday and couldn't muster the strength to get up until the littles did. 7:30 am they were awake and wandering into my room. (Well, Avery wandered in...Jackson was calling "Mommy!" from his crib.)

So, determined to get a shower, I went out on a limb and snuggled them in together on the couch with their juice and milk, put Mickey Mouse on, and dashed up to the shower.

I just never know what they're going to get into if I leave them for even 5 minutes...so a quick prayer, and an even quicker shower, and Voila! A successful morning was had by all!

halloweekend 2010!

2010-11-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Halloween was SO fun this year! And while I never got around to putting up ANY of my cute Halloween decorations OR carving our pumpkins, we still enjoyed a lot of our 'annual' spooky festivities.

A few days after I got back from Maui we went to Spooner Farms in Orting to their most-amazing pumpkin patch. It was more of an 'in and out' operation...Jax got awfully crabby and started getting a little destructive with the pumpkins so it was a quick trip. Thank God we decided against the corn maze...being stuck in there with 2 toddlers might've been a disaster!

They both objected to riding in the wheelbarrow but once they saw how fun it was, they cheered up a bit.
How cute is this spider?

Searching for the perfect pumpkin is tough business and pumpkins are heavy! Not sure if the dent in this one is from Jax or not...

Resting up before the big search!

Our load of pumpkins...$42 worth....

The annual pumpkin house picture...my camera was still acting up so the pics are a bit over-exposed. That was another frustration of mine while at the pumpkin patch...
***

Saturday before Halloween we attended my annual work costume party. You'll see by the following pictures that the costumes were especially great this year.

We matched the Suettas and were Bavarian people. I LOVE these costumes Beth and I wore!

The Von Newettas!

Here are all the ladies at the party...

...and all the gentlemen. The boxed wine and the Arabian drug dealer were my fave! (You know, after the hot Bavarian blond guy!)

Sunday, Halloween, was a BLAST! I spent some time with Avery up in my bathroom curling her hair and putting on her clip-on earrings and crown. She was darling in a Little Mermaid ballerina dress. I had SO much fun getting her ready.

Love her to pieces!

She was so proud of her beautiful crown...but the earrings sent the outfit over the edge into ultimate princess-ness! She wore them for over 24 hours!

We had quite the crowd over to our place for trick-or-treating. My parents, the Suettas, and the Riggs all came over for candy and home-made chili. Special thanks go out to my dad for manning the door while all us parents and Nana went out to get lots of candy! This was the best I could do of a pic of all the kids. Avery is hidden in there behind Caitlyn and NO ONE is looking! haha!

Little monkey Jax with a banana in his pocket and miss ballerina princess...love love, and love!

After about 4 houses my kids just plopped down in a driveway and started looking through their buckets. In fact, Jackson wanted to hold all his candy in his hand which proved to be a problem the more he got. He practically had to drag that thing into the house after we were done...it was SO full!

Jackson certainly proved that slow and steady wins the race. He hung back with daddy and got handfuls of candy after the other kids left the door. I love this picture...someday (probably next year) he'll be running with the rest of the kids and won't want to hold either one of our hands...

Me and my sweeties.

♥

Darn, this one is a bit blurry, but it's the ONLY pic of the 4 of us.

We definitely had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Now, I'm off to cut open my pumpkins and bake the seeds!

(And since I skimped on the fall decorations, I'm going all-out for Christmas! Can't wait!)

...in maui!

2010-10-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I was here...

... in Maui, HI.

Warm, tropical, beautiful, fun, relaxing, and one of my most favorite places on earth.

It's been a bit of a CRAZY week since returning, hence my very LATE posting, but it was a super nice visit to the islands with some of my favorite gals from work.

This is Black Rock where we snorkeled with 3 GIANT turtles and lots of gorgeous fish. What amazing creatures those turtles are...you can check out some under water photos of them on my friend Beth's blog. We also discovered Yogurtland at Whaler's Village just down the beach from here...and we ate there 3 times! Yum!!

This is looking down Ka'anapali from the Black Rock Sheraton Hotel. I'm proud to say I swam in that water and laid on that beach every single day I was there!

I love how everything in Hawaii is just a bit slower. There's no worry about time when you're there...just where you're going to get your next lava flow. {Or in our case, a simple vodka drink!}

We stayed on the beach until the sun went down...and a few nights, we remained in our 'spot' well into the darkness... I can attest that skinny dipping by moonlight in the warm waters of Maui is definitely a must at some point in your life!
But mostly, I loved being make-up free with wavy beach hair every day. So easy, and so 'Hawaii'.

One morning we did sunrise on Mt. Haleakala.

Boy, do I wish I had researched this a little bit better...I did not know that you go from sea level to 10,023 feet above sea level....and I did not dress warm enough. With freezing fingers I managed a few good photos, withstood a very loud Japanese commentary on the event, and made it back to the car in record time after the BOB {bright orange ball} made it's debut for the day.
Not sure I'd do it again, but glad I did this time because it truly was beautiful.

After sunrise, we spent the day on Makena beach thawing out and watching the waves get bigger and bigger into the afternoon. Makena Beach.

We didn't go to 'little beach'. We had our own 'little beach' one night near our hotel....what can I say? When you're with 10 other crazy ladies, things can get a little crazy!

Love this place. Love that there are no buildings, no hotels, no restaurants, and the parking lot is a ways away, so no car noise. Just waves, skim boarders, locals smoking pot and jammin' to reggae in the palm trees, turtles, and a gorgeous view all around you.

This was my 'picture of the day' on Makena beach and it was unintentional. I was shooting the wave and in popped this guy on his skim board. Then my battery died and my camera got a little sick. {No worries, it's better now and I am SO relieved!}

Truly another memorable trip but this time my heart ached a lot for my family, maybe because I stayed one day longer than last year. Everywhere I went I kept thinking how much one of them would 'love this' so much and my arms literally hurt to hold my babies... I wanted them to see the turtles, swim in the warm waters, build sand castles, play in the surf and see all that I got to. I've vowed that my next visit to Maui will be with them!

Until then, it's on to Halloween festivities, a birthday, a party, and running-running-running like crazy because I am officially registered for the Seattle Marathon!

here once again!

2010-10-17T18:45:00.001-07:00

Maui--relaxing, warm, just a bit (ok, a lot) slower than life at home, and perfectly tropical with the right amount of sand, sun, and surf. It's quite possibly heaven on earth...and I'm here.

It's our 2nd annual trip, just ladies and we are LOVIN' it. So far it's been incredible. Lots of beach time, snorkeling, swimming with sea turtles, lava flows, giggles, dancing, and good old fashioned fun. Tomorrow holds a sunrise trip to Mt. Haleakala and McKenna beach...it is quite possible that I am in love with this island!

Aloha from Hawaii! Stay tuned for my photos upon my return!

today we fed some ducks!

2010-10-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Rule #1 of having toddlers is sometimes you gotta break the rules.

Not the big ones, just the dumb ones.

Like the "No feeding the waterfowl" rule at Bradley Lake Park. Ya, I was that mom...the one that gets her kids all excited to go feed some ducks for the first time ever...only to realize it's not really allowed at the place you're going. So what'd we do? Found a nice, semi-private little part of the lake where four mallard ducks were hanging out and we fed them. And it was cute!

At first we sort of scared them away. You can tell most people follow the rules because these ducks swam away as soon as my kids came running down to the shore. We made due with throwing small pebbles and sticks into the water. I told them to NOT get their feet wet and there goes Avery bending the rules a little...hmmm, wonder where she gets it!

They both liked climbing on the fence, too.

Jackson: handsome, and a handful around the water!

But he makes up for it in cuteness...seriously. He's perfect.

In case there was any confusion, she's the big sis.

And she's darn good at it, too.

Eventually the ducks swam back, and once all the bread was thrown into the water we admired them feasting from afar. These two just sat down and watched them eat...and then Avery stuck her arm around her little bro...

...and planted a little kiss right on his cheek.

It is possible that my heart might just burst from loving these two so much.

I'm a thankful mama.

today we made cookies!

2010-10-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

And, albeit messy, they are so yummy!

Whew! What a production a few batches of cookies can be with my Avery and Jackson around! I'm finally done wiping down the kitchen and cleaning all the dishes from cookie making and lunch, but we sure had a memorable afternoon. Both little cuties are napping now, and I'm enjoying a Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper and some Top Chef: Just Desserts. ♥

This was the pre-egg sugar/butter mixture. It's an understatement to say that this delicious dough spoiled lunch...for all 3 of us!

Most of my pictures of Jackson looked like this...with his WHOLE hand in his mouth!

She literally licked dough off the counter...silly girl!

My hand mixer is broken so I used the beaters and mixed the dough myself. I think my arms will be sore in the morning, but at least these two got some beaters to lick clean!

In this picture she is telling me what to do. She is SUCH a bossy little almost-3-year-old! I have to laugh because it looks like Jax is interviewing her with a beater.

I told her I'd take away her white chocolate chips if she didn't do a cute face for the camera. I know, bad mom for bribing, but I got a cute kissy face out of it!

And lately Jax has been making this face when the camera comes out. It's just what his face does when he says, "Cheese!" It doesn't even really look like him!

And somewhere in between baking batches of cookies and making lunch, Avery changed into her fairy dress and this headband again. What you don't see is the purple flower flip flops on her feet. (The dress is bright red, the headband light pink...) ♥ x 100!

fun days...

2010-10-05T16:33:00.001-07:00

It's fall! And we're busy hangin' out, doin' our thing!

We've been gettin' a little crafty around here, too!

We've been decorating...

...playing t-ball, walking to the park, enjoying the grocery store a little more (?!),

having family swimming dates at the Y, eating mini DQ blizzards, laughing and tickling lots, rootin' on the MN Twins,

stayin' in jammies till lunch time,

or dressing up all day long!

We've been making a family of pumpkins on the window, {the big one is daddy, I've been told!}
and using fun Halloween stickers to make cute Halloween cards.

a fall update!

2010-09-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff going on around here, as always.
Not only are we busy with a million different activities, but there are a lot of changes happening. The kids, especially, are growing, thriving, and keeping us on our toes!

Here's a little update:

Miss Avery Jeanne:

Always one step ahead and constantly coming up with new ways to drive us crazy! {In a good way, though....mostly!} If she's not getting into/emptying her drawers and changing clothes 85 times a day, she's getting into my lip gloss and squeezing half the tube over her lips...more is always better in the eyes of an almost-3-year old! She has a nack for fashion, as seen above, and if I let her go out in some of the outfits she chose, we would get more than a few laughs, I'm sure! She still takes a good nap most days and is slowly but surely letting go of the beloved binki....I'm really hoping to become a binki-free household by her 3rd birthday...we will see, though! {I said that when she was turning 2, also!} She is good at most things she does and has started enjoying books and puzzles a little more than usual. The girl LOVES dancing and, true to form, had a total ball at her first wedding reception last weekend. She'll talk, talk, talk your ear off and a lot of what she says is down-right hilarious...this girl has me in stitches all the time. And while sometimes I really have to pray for patience with her, I know that she is my spunky, little mini-me....but when I least expect it she showers me with hugs and kisses, and gives me a good laugh when I don't even feel like smiling!

the Jax-master:

Do not be deceived by the scary monster face he's giving the camera in the above picture, this boy is still sweet as they come. Growing tall and round altogether, I have a hard time carrying him any where! According to my parent's scale he is less than a pound away from his sister's weight! He talks, smiles, and laughs hysterically at burps and farts! Such a boy, his play of choice is wrestling, tickling, and 'flying' around the house pretending to be an airplane. He'll out-eat a room full of kids and inevitably make the biggest mess, too! Sometimes I don't know what's worse between his messes and Avery's attitude! He also enjoys flushing the toilet after dumping a bunch of TP in it, {he actually went potty on the potty a few weeks ago!} pushing the kitchen chairs around to wherever he needs to be, and loves throwing balls all over the house.

As much as these 2 keep us busy, we are having the time of our lives with them...there is never, ever, EVER a dull moment in the Newgard household, that is FOR SURE!

This is the face Jackson makes after someone {or he} burps, farts, or makes some other awkward noise. It's always followed by this deep chuckle that, in turn, makes everyone else in the room laugh. Kory will spend countless minutes burping on purpose so that Jax makes his face...too cute, but sorta makes me sick to my stomach! haha!

And I couldn't resist putting a picture up of Avery's new shoes. She calls them her "sparkwee" {sparkly} shoes...and they are just her.

Kory and I:
Heading off to the Gorge on Saturday for one last hu-rah to see Jack Johnson perform, and busy as can be with our family life. I know it seems we are always running off for some other new adventure, but once October is over, we don't really have anything else planned. We {well, mostly Kory} are working on getting the house all ready for winter and sometimes these projects are just BIG and not-so-fun. The gutters are cleaned out, most of the pavement is pressure-washed, and the grass is getting its winter fertilizer soon. Kory is fully emersed in the world of fantasy football, and I'm still running my buns off {well, trying to, at least!} I've got my sights set on the Seattle Marathon on Nov. 28th and am giving myself 3 more weeks of training before I actually sign up. I found a great training program that {so far} I love and Kory's taken on the role of my coach. He got me some new fuel I'm looking forward to incorporating into my training, and he motivates me to get out there and go even when I don't feel like it...trust me, there are days when I don't feel like it! He took a few weeks off recently to be home with me and the kids, and I can speak for all of us when I say that we really enjoyed the together-ness. Life is ever-changing for us with 2 little ones rulin' the roost, but we are making it and are happy and healthy...true, sweet blessings in this busy world we live in!

a very sweet surprise...

2010-09-28T14:06:00.001-07:00

After a perfectly sunny day of turning 30 Kory told me we had dinner reservations at a secret location and that we had to drop the kids off with my parents at 6.

Curled hair, makeup done, and 100 tried-on outfits later we were on our way...

We walked in the front door and I was greeted with a loud, "SURPRISE!" from almost all of the people I love most in this world.

Talk about an overwhelming feeling of happiness! The entrance alone brought me to tears!

There was wine, good conversation, laughs, beautiful gifts, and a most-delicious spread of food prepared by my mom and sister Jamie.

Thank you doesn't seem like enough to show my appreciation for the work put into making my 30th birthday absolutely unforgettable. I really really REALLY felt the love!

True to form, Jackson loved the cake. He also loved the jelly beans, cheetos, and Mountain Dew that auntie Jamie kept feeding him! That white shirt he was wearing may not ever be the same....

I was given one of the coolest gifts of all...the first 2 years of this blog published into a book! More tears were shed over the opening of that gift!

My BFF from high school {Sara} made the journey from Lake Stevens to celebrate with me! We always seem to pick right back up where we left off...especially in the laughter department!

Hugs from my favorite little girl. I loved that my bestest friends and their kids were all there. I loved that there was a constant sound of kids playing, laughing, running around...it made the party just THAT much more perfect!

A lot of the really good pictures are on my mom and dad's camera. Hopefully I snag a few from them and post a few more.

Thank you to all that were included in this party. I can't say it enough...THANK YOU!

To my mom: I know you stressed, cleaned, worried about the 'surprise', cooked, prepared, loved and bent over backwards to make this party PERFECT!

To Kory: I love you SO much. Thank you for all you did to make my birthday special. You give the best gifts and always make me feel like a princess!

To my dad: sometimes it took you too long to take a picture but I loved the ones you got! Thank you for picking up all the balloons and bringing Krista down from Seattle!

To Jamie: you came all the way from Boise and worked your little buns off with mom preparing everything! Thank you, love!

And to my family that had my book made for me...best gift ever! Thank you from the bottom of my heart...I will cherish that book forever!

on life, love...and turning 30!

2010-09-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

All week long I've been thinking about this day and feeling a little unsure. Not that I can help that my birthday {my 30th birthday!} was just around the corner, but I just didn't know how I felt about being 30. But here it is! The big day!

The big 3-0!

Needless to say, it kind of got me thinking about the big 'milestone' birthdays in my life and how different it is turning 30 than, say, 5 or 12, or 21...

In my childhood years my parties were all about themes...a 50's party, a few roller skating parties, slumber parties, and Barbies galore. Sweet 16 brought me my first real boy/girl high school party where even a few seniors came. When I turned 18 I had a party with my friend Leighann who shares my special day to which I wore denim overalls and slowdanced with a boy I crushed on all 4 years of highschool {in front of my parents! haha!} At 21 my college roommates threw me a surprise party whereat I drank Cooks champagne out of a wine glass and had to skip my 8am aerobics class the next day. When I turned 25 I was engaged to the man of my dreams, buying a house and full on in the swing of planning a wedding....

And here I find myself on my 30th birthday; relaxing, enjoying the sunshine, sipping coffee and snuggling on the 2 cutest kids in the entire world. I woke up to a man I married 4 years ago and love more every day I spend with him. {And he spoils me ridiculously rotten!} I got texts from both my parents shortly after 4am saying happy birthday...they nailed my birthday to the minute! (I was born at 4:15am). My sister Krista called at 1:08am from her friend's frat on Greek Road at UW and they all sang me a wild rendition of happy birthday...and my other sister Jamie is home from Boise this weekend because it's my birthday. And don't get me started on the wonderful Facebook comments left all over my wall.

My heart is literally overflowing with love!

I don't feel very different than I did yesterday, at age 29. I am disappointed that my face is breaking out like a teenager's and I have more grey hairs on my head than I can count...but my heart is so full. I'm in a good place and am surrounded by AMAZING people that never fail to show love abundantly. {Thank you for that, my peeps!}

So here's to not just another year, but another decade! So excited to see what's next!

fun stuff we do...

2010-09-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here I sit on the very last day of my 20's attempting to catch up with our latest goings-ons from the past month and failing somewhat miserably at it!

As I type the kids are sorting through all of my scrapbooking stuff and putting stickers all over each other...kind of cute. The last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy...but mostly the fun kind of busy. I just uploaded 300+ pictures and tried editing them....there ended up being a lot to post, so again please bear with me! I couldn't choose!

***

Fun:

Activities that are enjoyable or amusing; lively or joyous; playful; often boisterous.

Fun is having your grandparents visit and go to Northwest Trek with you and babysit while mom and dad steal away to Portland for 2 nights.

Fun is holding grampa's hands while walking through the forest.

... It's visiting Papa at work and leaving him artwork on his office white board...

Fun is the Puyallup Fair with good friends and exciting rides! {Like the carousel!}

Fun is walking hand in hand with your best friends,

and snuggling mom when you don't feel well.

Fun is watching the giant sling shot shoot high up in the air with daddy!

(And fun is looking just like daddy!)

Pretty french braids are fun. And functional, too!

Fun is riding in a car with a new friend since your brother is still too little for the rides...

And fun is the fair after dark!

It's fun to bite the little crunchies off your Krusty Pup stick!

And fun is eating ice cream after the fair and listening to the guy playing jazz music outside the gates.

Fun is yummy yummy ice cream cones with your little brother....

....who always, always, always makes a mess no matter what he eats!

And it's pretty fun {and funny} to give mom the last, soggy bite of your ice cream cone!

***

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall that is suddenly upon us!