how did i get so smart?

this morning ara ran up to my computer and pushed tons of buttons really hard. after that i went to type and some of my buttons were messed up and typing the wrong thing. i got rull stressed out. i tried restarting my computer a couple times and was starting to think about calling sony or whoever about my warranty when i realized... hmmm the u is a 4. the p is a *.... and all the buttons that are messed up are on the right side of the keyboard....

numlock.

anyway this blog was going to be about what's been going on lately.

we've been busy.

it all started when noah was born (nov 8th)... then our crazy family holiday season started we had seth's brother's bday (nov 17th), thanksgiving (nov 27th), seth's bday (dec 1st) and now we're heading onto ara's birthday on the 17th and a week later christmas is here.

i do feel like i'm doing pretty good at the whole two kids thing... going to the grocery store isn't even a big deal, except for when i get home and have to bring everything up the stairs by myself, which has ALWAYS been annoying. on the 1st i went to the bank and had to get all our bills situated and stuff so it took a long time, nola was having those audible baby explosions the ENTIRE time... so when we got outside i put ara in her seat and took nola out of the ergo to see that there was baby crap on my shirt, my sweater, her clothes and her blanket. i had two wipes left... i had an hour before ara's nap, forgot an extra pair of clothes for nola and needed to go to trader joes and target. somehow i got all the poo off with those two wipes. found something to wrap nola in to get her home, went home, changed my clothes, put her in clothes (all in a very calm manner) and went on my way! that was the same day that somehow i was also able to take a shower for the first time while i had them BOTH here by myself. that being said, i am starting to feel a little depressed again, just about having to be home all the time. i get so jealous of seth sometimes when he gets to leave and just go work, in peace. i know i'm not the kind of person who was made to be a stay at home mom and not do anything else.... i can't wait until nola is old enough that i can somehow get out there and get a job. i need it.

seth and i got to go on a date for his birthday, which was really fun, except nola didn't like being watched very much, so we had dinner and had to skip the movie to go get her. then we had a 'family birthday' for seth at his parents house last night, arabella stole the show, she was hilarious last night and super cute, seth got some harmonica's and arabella was just playing one and dancing around the living room. .... anyway for his family birthday i made this cake that his family always makes for birthdays, it was his great grandmothers recipe and this was my first time making it for him because he usually asks for mudpie. so yea its a cocoa angel food cake. and i feel like there's always been all this talk about how its crazy to make and i had just built it up in my head and was worried about it turning out, blah blah blah.... in the end, it was super easy and turned out great! which i'm super exited about because its soooooo stinkin good its something i will make for our friends birthdays too when we have them for dinner, or maybe even just for a saturday. haha...

on that note, ara has been helping me in the kitchen lately, she helped me with the cake. using the mixer, putting ingredients in. she's been cooking the eggs with me every morning.... and it just blows me away because she'll look up at me when we're cooking with this look on her face like the best thing in the entire world is happening in our kitchen right at that moment... and it is. this especially means a lot to me because its just another dream of mine that comes from changing my past into a wonderful future. my mother never really cooked or baked much. she taught me to make an apple pie, but that's the only thing i knew how to bake and i didn't know how to cook until after i got married. i've always thought about how if i had daughters one day i wanted to give them those things, that knowledge and i just wanted to share in that experience with them. i want to prepare them to be self sufficient and also to be amazing wives and mothers who love to make delicious things for their families.... and now i get to do that. i absolutely love it. and just to see that sweet little face looking back at me filled with more joy than i've ever seen in her eyes... that look is all i could ask for in life.

here are some pictures from the month....

ara in glasses, some from the zoo (from benji's birthday), some from seth's birthday.
(dont mind my double chin)