my favorite things right now

I'm going to start posting my favorite things more regularly. I'm hoping that doing this will make me think about all the big and little things my life is blessed with. I am, of course, seriously so blessed.

So, even if it is over-the-top cheesy, here goes:

6 month old butterball babies: Seriously. I have such overwhelming feelings of total love for this little baby lately. It's hard to describe, but I just want to snuggle her up all the time. It's so nice to have at least one of your kids totally adore everything you do and smile almost every single time you look at her. I wish the other two adored me that much. This is the most I've adored a baby. Not that I love her more than I did my other two....but there is some combination of her personality and my stage in mothering that has enabled me to enjoy her, to adore this baby phase rather than wanting to just make it through with my sanity in tact.

our backyard: it is probably THE ugliest backyard you'll ever see (aside from the very lovely deck that jeff built). I'm not even going to post a picture of it....it's that bad. It is covered in black cracking asphalt and old dirty plastic kid vehicles....it doesn't get more atrocious than that, and Jeff reminds me daily about how horrific he thinks it is. But I have to admit, I love it. I can send Hazel and Charlie out there and they ride and play and dig and tire themselves to no end, all without messing up my house. It is so quiet inside, so peaceful, when Emmeline is napping it even feels like I don't have any kids. I love our backyard.

the beach in the spring: need I say more? It is lovely. As I schlep the kids out of the van and carry 50 pounds worth of gear and baby towards the beach I wonder to myself, "how could this be worth it?" And then I get my first glimpse of the ocean stretched out and surrounded by that marshy east coast beach grass and my soul feels quieted and happy and alive again. The kids explore and breath and run and play for hours and they sleep so well at night. I love the beach.

our little porta-potty from ikea: we keep this thing in the back of our van and it has saved us on numerous occasions. Hazel is just a horrible squatter........this thing makes the ride home much drier.

kidco tent: I just bought this online a few weeks ago and I'm throwing away my pack and play. It is the greatest invention....it weighs 5 pounds, folds up super small, can fit anywhere, is super easy to set up, and so far emmeilne loves it. It's perfect for the beach, but I really plan on using it in place of our travel pack and play. I only wish I would have splurged for the one a bit larger. I can't see her fitting in this one once she hits a year.

the beco: I copied one of my very cool friends and bought a beco baby carrier. This thing puts the bjorn to shame. It is ultra versatile and comfortable and emmeline is happy as a little clam in there. I've decided that it's my way to make it through airplane flights and sacrament meeting at church as Jeff sits up on the stand. It's so nice to have free hands.

Emmeline's laugh: she is a giggler, still. And instead of getting cranky when she's tired she just laughs harder and harder until it kind of sounds like a cry and then it is one and the next think I know it, she's out like a light.

the cemetery by our house: I've been running again, and I have to say that I'm so thankful for such a beautiful place to run. I run through the cemetery and up into some woods. I do it mostly because it feels so good to my soul to start off the day seeing such beauty. And spring is changing things so quickly here, even though I take the same route each day it looks totally new each morning.

projection alarm clock: I think this is a must for anyone constantly getting up in the night with a baby. There's something really nice about just having to look at the ceiling to know what a small chunk of sleep you got. Call me lazy, but it just feels easier than looking over at the alarm clock, especially when you're blind at night without contacts.

motherhood books: my mother-in-law sent me this great book for mother's day (a very early mother's day present). I have especially been enjoying the poetry. More on that when I have a chance to type out one of the poems. And then there's my mom and sisters book which I'm reading a bit of each day and LOVING.

costco's pesto: the Kirkland brand pesto that you can get at Costco is such a great thing to have on hand. I've found it very useful in trying to throw together a last-minute-I'm bad at planning meals ahead-type meal. We've been using it in salad dressings, as spread for sandwiches, in soups, for hot or cold pasta, on our pizzas. Oh yum. It's making my hungry just thinking about it. And don't be afraid to buy it in such a large jar....it keeps for a long time.

easy "do it yourself" artisan bread: this is the most amazing bread I have ever made, and the best thing about it is that it is seriously easy to make. I need to post some pictures because I can't believe that I can actually make bread that looks and tastes (and sounds....it crackles) like this. My dear friend Becca gave me the recipe and even bought me an awesome looking pot to bake it in. Try it my friends. It will change you're life. Click here for Becca's comments about the bread and the link to the recipe. (If you're going to try it out, and I think you should, be sure to put more salt in it than the recipe calls for....I put just under a TBS.)

slime: we've been making slime lately for the kids to play with. It keeps them happy for hours and is so much less messy than play dou. And I like to play with it too....it's kind of mind numbing like tetris.

Our old changing table: my friend gave this old thing to me when I was pregnant with Hazel. I've never really liked it that much, and I've spent hours over the past few weeks trying to find a dresser to replace it (it's a little hard to organize baby clotehs in baskets!). Finally I found the perfect dresser on Craigslist, moved it in, organized all the clothes and got ready to get rid of the old changing table. Then, as I cleaned it off I got flooded with memories of all the first coos and smiles and giggles that that changing table has been a part of and it made it really hard to give up (it's in our basement now). This has been all three of my kids' favorite place to be (maybe because of the undevided attention they get when there). Should I hold on to it? I'm not going ot use it again, I don't want to make Hazel use it with her kids.....so I took a kazillion pictures....that will have to do.