Rocked.

The weather was nice today and Sonnet has been bouncing off the walls lately, so we decided to head out to Red Rock and just hike/climb around all day. It was really pretty and we all had a great time. Sonnet loved climbing up the rocks and picking up sticks and "pretending like she was Diego." Haha. :) Blazey was our trailblazer... turns out he's a regular old mountain goat. Here's a few pics...

Just because it's free doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Here's another FIRST for the record books: Nate and I left Sonnet overnight for the first time! I know, I'm taking such steps towards conquering my separation anxiety. Haha. :)

Of course, Sonnet is MISS INDEPENDENT and didn't miss us for one second... I can't say the same about me, but I did have a good time.

Nate got a voucher for two free nights at a hotel in Primm, and since hey, it was free and we like any excuse to get out of Vegas, we decided to go. My parents happened to be in town and they offered to watch Sonnet.

We asked Sonnet if she wanted to go to a hotel with Mom and Dad or if she wanted to spend the night at Granny's house. She didn't hesitate. She packed her little pink suitcase with all sorts of toys and practically pushed us out the door.

Nate and I drove the whole 30 minutes up the road... and quickly found out that Primm is well... yucky. Haha. :)

We tried to laugh about it, but when Nate started comparing our hotel to all the other hotels we've stayed in during our marriage and detailing why this one was by far the very worst... well, we both got a little squeamish.

The first night, we tried to have a nice dinner at one of the restaurants only to find out that they were all closed, so we wandered around the outlet mall and then ate at Hot Dog on a Stick. I can't complain... deep-fried cheese is definitely satisfying.

We rented "The Tourist" (which I really liked), bought tons of junk food at a gas station, and snuggled in our bed talking and laughing and pretending like we weren't worried about bed bugs.

We decided NOT to spend a second night.

We packed up the next day and came back to Vegas. We went to Chili's and ate our favorite thing-- chips and queso and salsa and a Molten Chocolate Cake for good measure-- and then went to the movies. We saw "Unknown" (which was good, but not as great as "Taken") at the South Point (which surprisingly has REALLY nice theaters).

And then, because we hadn't eaten enough crap in the last 24 hours, we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard and indulged once again. (See last post about feeling fat and insert "duh.")

Eventually we made our way out to Boulder City to pick up our Girlie. She was having waaaay too much fun and we practically had to wrestle her into the car.

We got home late, unpacked, and fell asleep in our OWN clean, comfy beds. Ahhh.

Even though the trip wasn't what we planned, Nate and I had a GREAT time being alone. Nate and I both love to just "hang out." We believe that vacations are for relaxing... watching movies, sleeping, wandering, eating, talking. In fact, we didn't even ride the roller coaster while we were there. Lazy! Truth be told, the whole place was so deserted and old, we were afraid the coaster would come crashing down and Sonnet would be orphaned in one fail swoop.

But it was great to hang out with Nate without worrying about the Kiddie. He's so fun to be around and he's funny and I like him just as much now as I did when I met him. I mean, of course I love him, but I just really like him too. And well, he is pretty hot.

Sonnet had a ball with her grandparents and wasn't ready for her vacation to be over. :) Now that I've done it once, I think it'll be easier for me to let her have sleepovers at Granny's in the future. I'm sure she (and Nate) (and my sanity) will thank me for that.

The end.

What I Wore Wednesday.

How is it that the scale can say what it always says, but you can feel so very fat? Boo.

Anyways, linking up with The Pleated Poppy for WIWW! :)

Jeans and white tee- Target
Gray vest- Down East
Belt and flats- Marshalls

Flowered shirt- Dress Barn

Brown cardy and white belt- Down East

Jeans- Fashion Q

Brown shoes- Famous Footwear

Orange shirt- Kohls

Orange flower pin- New York and Co.

Jeans and black blazer- Target

Black heels- Marshalls

Black and white printed tank, black capris, and pink flower belt- New York and Co.

Black cardy- Target

Black shoes- Payless

Blue flowered shirt- Maurice's

Jeans- Fashion Q

Black shoes- Payless

My Personal Life.

Last week I drove to Santa Barbara... by myself! That's right... for the first time in almost 4 years, I spent a night away from Sonnet. Haha. :) It was a big step for me. But Nate was off work and he encouraged me to go. He's better at my job than me so I knew she was in good hands. Plus, I got to miss the whole carpet installation mess! :) I'm very much a loner, so the hardest part for me about having a child is that I'm never alone. It drives me nuts... but at the same time, I can't seem to bear leaving Sonnet for more than a couple hours, so I guess it's my own fault. Anyways, Nate offered to watch her and told me it was "now or never" to get out on my own for a couple days, so away I drove...

My reason for going was to see my best friend Jenae who just had her first baby. I know I was no help at all because babies totally perplex me (and she and her fantastic husband have things so under control that I was probably just a hindrance), BUT I just had to see the little guy and get a chance to hold him while he was still a "newborn." I also really wanted to see my friend. We've been friends for a lot of years and once in a while I just miss her. We didn't do anything hugely exciting... we just wandered around town a bit, ate some good food, she talked me into buying a hat (which I adore), and we talked. It was so good for me.

I also had selfish reasons for going. Now, nobody pass out, but I'm finally getting to the point where I feel like I want to have another baby. No, this is not an announcement. I'm just saying that the thought doesn't terrify me like it used to. In fact, I'm even circling around the idea with some excitement.

But it's no secret that I'm afraid of babies. For real. Sonnet was a really good kid and we had no major problems... it was just a lot harder than I expected it to be and I really struggled for the first few months. I remember walking down the hall holding her when she was 6 months old and I thought, "This is OK. We're going to make it."

But before that, I don't remember much. Then, when she turned one and started walking and talking I finally understood why people like kids. From then on, it's pretty much been a blast and I've been too afraid to put a damper on that by bringing another baby into my less-than-capable hands. I am not a multi-tasker.

But anyways, like I said, I'm starting to get that longing again. So really, I went to Jenae's for a recon mission. Haha. :) Jenae is a very calm, natural, strong person. She doesn't really get her feathers ruffled. She has a crazy sense of humor and she can pretty much make a joke about anything. She can also handle just about anything. So I knew that having a newborn wouldn't stress her out like it did me. And I figured that watching her work would give me some reassurance. "See, it's not that hard. You can survive this. Look, we're actually laughing. Isn't this wonderful? I am woman, hear me roar..." You get the picture.

I figured if I hung out with Jenae and her baby for a couple days and just watched them do their routine that I would realize that having a newborn isn't as traumatizing as I remember it. Maybe it would inspire me. Maybe it would remind me of all the good parts...

I think my plan worked. Jenae almost made it look... easy. OK, a newborn is never easy, but she at least made it look enjoyable. Doable. Rewarding. Possible.

So the trip was a success. I survived the ridiculously congested road between Vegas and Victorville. I met the handsome, sweet little Eli Jeppesen. I got to see my oldest friend be a Mama. I went to bed and slept well without worrying about Sonnet in the other room. I ate some good food. And I decided that maybe Sonnet will get a sibling after all. Someday. :)

Check.Check.

When we moved in our house two years ago, the backyard looked like this:

It's a pretty decent-sized yard, but it was the only yard on our street that wasn't landscaped. Boo. We tossed around a few ideas of what we wanted to do with it, but in the end, what we really wanted and what we could afford/what was practical ended up being two different things. We had a huge stack of pavers that someone had given us so we decided to put those to use. We knew we didn't want lawn because we didn't want to water it, and Blaze's pee would just kill it anyway. We thought about turf, but it cost a lot. We also knew that we didn't want a whole lot of vegetation because, well, I would probably just kill it. We finally settled on doing most of the yard in concrete.

First, we raked rocks. And raked and racked and raked. I swear those things breed in the night. Once it was graded, we used the pavers to make borders of where we wanted the concrete and the planters to go. Nate laid sprinkler pipes. Then we used last year's tax return to hire one of Nate's friends to pour the concrete. Last spring, we splurged on two gorgeous trees... and a few months later we ripped them out because they were dead dead dead. Boo. So, the yard sat for a while...

With part of this year's tax return, we bought two new trees (which are supposedly VERY tolerant to every condition and come with a money-back guarantee!) and the decorative rock we wanted for the sides and inside the planters. I planted a few rose bushes (and one is actually growing already!) and we really love how it turned out! There's basically no maintanance... it's really clean... and it's fun to play out there. We have room for the Bar-B-Q, the table, and my swing. We've already eaten out there a million times. Sonnet rides her bike around and around the "track" and colors on everything with chalk. We play hopscotch and two square... it's just so nice!

Our neighbors just moved out and they gave us their shed (which made Nate really happy because it got all of my holiday decorations and the baby stuff out of the garage). Anyways, it was one of the last big projects on "The House List" and we're glad it's done. Check it out...

My rose bush is blooming! :)

The other big project on our list was the upstairs flooring. When we moved in this house, there was white carpet everywhere. And it was filthy! Yuck! We replaced the carpet in the family room downstairs with laminate flooring last year and I did the bottom half of the staircase in wood (see here), but the upstairs was a bigger project.

Finally, we spent the bulk of this year's tax return on new carpet for the upstairs. We got 4 bids and RC Willey came in the cheapest. We kept our old pad and just got new carpet. We went with a dark brown that has some flecks in it. It's really cheap carpet, and it's not real plush, but it matches the walls really well, it'll hide dirt, it's NEW, and it's not white! Yay! We love it so far.

And it's really nice to have these two big items checked off our list. Now, it's time to move. :)

Carrots.

When I was pregnant with Sonnet, my hair started coming in gray. No joke. I thought maybe it was temporary- like that blasted morning sickness- but no. Four years later and I still have waaaay too much silver at my roots. If I was 50, I think I might just embrace it as the right of my wisdom, but since I'm still a couple years shy of 30, I just can't handle the gray. So, every 4-6 weeks, I dye my hair.

A couple years ago, I found a box that I love and I pretty much stick with it. For those of you people like me who have to (or want to color your locks) and are too cheap to pay someone to do it, I swear by Loreal Perfect 10. Takes 10 minutes, doesn't smell bad, it doesn't fry my hair, and the results actually match the color on the box. Oh yeah, and it covers my grays. I go for #5R. It's like a medium/dark red-ish brown color.

But once in a while, I get all crazy, and I start thinking about how I really want red hair. Like red red. I've always had a thing for red hair. I think I like it because it's so rare. Only 4% of the population of the world has naturally red hair. Why can't I be one of them? This is the color I most covet:

Ahh!!! Love it! I also like this color:

It's a little darker than Marcia's do and closer to my natural color (natural color?), so when I attempt red, this is usually where I end up.

I've never actually gone to a stylist and told them I want red hair. I've always been too chicken. I don't know why. I don't really care all that much about my hair and if I end up hating it, well, I'll just dye it brown again.

Instead, I try to do it myself from time to time... yesterday was one of those times. I just went one shade lighter on my Perfect 10 box. I did a #6R instead of a 5. It was called "medium auburn" or something like that. I just wanted something a little lighter and brighter than I usually do... and something a little more red. It worked, but I don't think my hair looks that much different from what it usually is. Or maybe I'm just color blind.

But, I mentioned my little experiment on the blog yesterday and had a few requests for pictures. Really, I was just checking to see if anyone reads this thing, but since I aim to please, here's a couple shots of moi.


I know, how lame is it to take a picture of your own hair? Awkward! Plus, I don't think you can see the color all that well. Or maybe there's just nothing to see. Next time I get this hankering, I think I'm heading to a professional and really going for it! Just call me Carrots. (Gilbert Blythe, anyone?)

Happy Patty's Day.

Let's be honest... I have an irrational fear of the color green. Really, I just don't like it. Especially that bright, artificial color--- it makes me freak out. Green food? Barf! Green decorations? Not interested.

So suffice it to say, we don't do a whole lot of St. Patrick's Day celebration around these parts. No leprechaun snuck into our house last night and left green footprints or gold coins or green pee in the toilet (for real, people do that?). We did not eat green eggs and ham for breakfast and our milk did not suddenly turn to the color of mold. I don't even own food coloring. Eww.

I told Sonnet that today is a holiday called St. Patrick's Day. It's an Irish holiday, but I don't know the meaning behind it. Most people wear green on this day so she could wear green if she felt like it. Turns out she had a shirt that Gramma Suzy had given her with a shamrock on it, so at least she looks festive today. I know, I'm such a boring mom. I'll do better on Easter.

But hey, I did dye my hair red. Irish people have red hair. See, I'm totally celebrating. The end.

My Girl and The Dog.

Sonnet pretty much lives in this polka dot swimsuit. Even in the dead of winter, it's her favorite thing to wear. She changes her clothes about 5 times a day, but somehow she always ends up wearing this. I call it her uniform.

She wanted me to take a picture of her jumping. Haha.

Gorgeous, Darling.

And since I'm totally one of those people, here's a few more shots of Blaze.

Jumping to catch a ball. Haha.

Missed a ball, but it's a funny picture.

The end.

Art.

Sonnet is our resident Van Gogh around here. She is always drawing something. That girl can demolish a blank notebook in about 60 seconds flat! I happen to think that her pictures are all masterpieces, but then again, I may be a little biased.

Last week she sat down at the dinner table with a piece of paper and a blue marker. A couple seconds later she held up her artwork and said: "Tada!" Nate and I asked her what she drew. She goes: "Hello, it's a monster eating a cheeseburger!" Once she said that we both burst out laughing because that's exactly what it looked like! I forgot to scan that masterpiece into the computer and now I have no idea where it is, so you don't get to see it for yourself, but trust me, it was fabulous. Instead, here a few random samplings of Sonnet's art from the last few days...

This is Mom, Blaze and Sonnet. I'm the blue girl, Sonnet is the pink girl, and Blaze is the yellow guy with "four legs and his tongue hanging out." The little blue thing by Sonnet's feet is a flower that "she's going to pick for me." Aww, cute.

This is our whole family. Mom, Dad, Sonnet (with big yellow pig tails), and Blaze at the bottom. The orange thing is the sun and the line represents the sky. I like how she got everyone's hair color right.

She's also been practicing her spelling. Her handwriting is getting really neat... it used to be that one letter would take up a whole page, but she's getting really good at controlling her spacing and all that. She still draws a few of the letters backwards-- mostly b's and d's and p's get switched around, but I'm really proud of her. Again, here's Blaze (with the four legs and tongue) and Sonnet.

My name.

A card she made for Pop Pop. She figured out how to spell his name all by herself!

A card she made for me today. She loves rainbows!

This concoction took her like an hour to draw. She made it for Nate one night and then put it by his uniform so he could take it to work the next morning. The detail cracks me up! The red rectangle thing in the bottom left is a fire truck with "tires and hoses sticking out." The yellow and red lines in front of it is the "fire that it's driving to." The colored dots above the fire truck are "the lights on the buildings that they're driving by" and the crazy black lines everywhere represent the wind "because they're driving fast." There's a sun in the top left and the line is the sky. The little blue circles above the line are clouds. The crazy looking thing on the right side of the page is the fire station. She even put the right station number (15) and an American flag on top! She wrote Dad's name and her name too. I was seriously impressed by this work of art. She asked Dad if he showed it to all "his friends" at the station and if they "loved it." Haha. :) We sure love our little artist!