so very sad...

I am that is.

Because i can't figure out why on earth my camera takes such blurry pictures lately

There have been so many great shots that have been ruined by the inability to focus or the fact that my shutter is spazing out so it doesn't shut fast enough.

Or it could just be that i don't know squat about that thing.

It's probably a combination.

But it deeply saddens me because rather than memories that are relished in the moment and then soon forgotten, these are fuzzy, ghosty looking pictures i can forever keep and almost remember...

Like So...

(If you click on it, it will enlarge and you'll see what i mean)

Off to find ANOTHER website helping me figure this out...

This...

... is what happens when you wait two weeks to do laundry.

5 huge dryers full.

I'll admit it though, i don't mind doing laundry at the laundramat. Sure i'd like my own washer and dryer in my apartment so we could save time and money but i feel so efficient when i go. I get everything done at one time and don't have to face the clothes again until next Friday.

I'm a slacker because i still have yet to take pictures of our new place. It's on my never ending to do list. I promise. Soon.

We got Noella's new born pictures back! Here's a few favorites.






Becky Trudell did a GREAT job.

We've had rain all last week. It was a bit depressing. But yesterday was warm and sunny. too warm in fact. So warm, that we got our very own air conditioner. It's a fancy one that tells you the temperature of the room. It was 88 when we put it in the window. It took 5 minutes to bring it down to 78. This thing just might save our lives this summer.

Jason and I realized something rather sad the other night. We don't have any friends in NH that we aren't related to. We need to get out more... I suppose it will be easier when Noella's a little bigger and can go to play groups and whatnot. But. Still... we should go make friends. We are shut ins on the weekends. We need a life.

Now! On a happier note!

Here's a fun video of Noella smiling at her Daddy. She loves him so. Sorry about the odd angle. It was taken on my phone.

New digs

We are done moving. Finally.

...well... truthfully, we were done a week ago. But we are done with most of the unpacking now. Just Noella's room and a few odd boxes in the kitchen full of homeless items.

We like it here with the exception of our noisy neighbors. We were spoiled with how quiet our other building was and the fact that we were on the first floor. Now we are sandwiched between a young man with an awesome sound system and love for anything with a heavy bass line and a heavy footed couple above us. We can only assume that one of them works second shift because otherwise they never sleep because it seems like someone is moving around all the time up there. Also, we live next to the busiest McDonalds in the area. Strike that. The ONLY McDonalds in the area.

But the positives are that this apartment is positively huge compared to our first place. We have room for our giant leather sectional, the little loveseat that was shoved into Noella's room previously, two desks, an entertainment center with Jason's prized 42 inch plasma tv AND still have a little space open by the door for a shoe mat and my credenza with plants. Our kitchen has space to have a little table so no more having to eat in the living room (well... we do until we can get a set of chairs for said space). We also have a real pantry AND a linen closet. Our coat closet has doubled in space and our bedroom easily fits our queen bed, both dressers and we don't have to sleep in a closet anymore! YAY!

Noella is apparently a fan of our new place. :)

I'll post pictures as soon as i get a chance to take some. Cross my heart! (i'm very excited to show you guys because there are a lot of vintage touches here that i LOVE.)

Miss Noella has been having a rough time lately though. I wonder if it's the move or just her age but she doesn't want to nap unless she's on our chests. It makes it kind of hard to do things in the afternoon though there are some days i don't mind because it means i can take a little siesta too. I just hope it settles down again soon and she can get back into her routine. We had just established a good routine before we decided to move and now the poor little thing's life turned upside down.

She is also not a fan of tummy time. She grunts and whines and kicks when we put her on her tummy. It's hard to make her do it because she seems so unhappy but i know it's going to benefit her in the long run. But she seems to be getting the whole sitting up thing well. She can sit up pretty much by herself now. She just needs a little support on the small of her back.

Noella is becoming more and more like a little me everyday. She has an attitude and man does she know how to use it. She's also a super duper chatty little thing! She loves to babble away when she wakes up in the morning and when she's on her exercise mat. She is growing so fast. I saw a two week old the other day and it kind of made my heart ache for the days when she was that tiny. Not that she's gigantic now or anything but she's almost double her birth weight already and at least 4 inches longer.

Noella and Daddy just two days after she was born
Noella and Daddy just two weeks ago

See what i mean? She's so so big. Time is flying too darn fast. How do i make it slow down?

a so very talkative baby.

Mother's Day and stinky feet

We took some pictures after church on Mother's Day. It was sunny and warm and the forsythia looked glorious (though you can't really tell in this shot because the sun decided to hide the moment we were in formation for pictures).

My parents, of course, got to take some pictures too. They enjoy being grandparents so so much it's almost ridiculous. It's immensely helpful on the weekends when Jason and i just kind of need a break for a moment from passing her between us throughout the day. We can always call on the grandparents to come give her some lovin'.


Jason made me sit on the couch when we got home before i could change and start my usual Sunday afternoon pick up. He went into our room, opened the bottom drawer of his dresser and pulled out a box. It was small and square and i didn't recognize it. It had little metallic flowers all over it. Then he did something he almost never does. He grabbed my camera before he handed me the box. I opened it and cried almost immediately. It was the Mother's necklace i had picked out last year right after i found out i was pregnant. It couldn't have been more perfect. It was a collaborative present from Jason, Noella and my Parents. I put it on and haven't taken it off since.
It's hand stamped and says "you are my sunshine" on one pendant and Noella's name on the other with her birthstone. I couldn't believe they remembered. It made my mother's day.


I had so much fun this mother's day and got all sorts of free stuff just because i'm a mom. It made me feel really good. My neighbors gave me a big pot of pansies, i got a geranium from the young men at church, and i was given a free corsage at Shaw's all just because i'm a mom. It's pretty cool to be so recognized just for bringing a new life into the world. :)

Now, onto the stinky feet part of this post.... (I'm sure that's most of the reason your interest was peaked to read this post anyway.... )

My feet stink today. And you know what that means to me? That i did something. That i was productive enough to break a sweat.

Wanna know what i was doing?

I was packing and moving things all day.

We are moving. again. I know, i know. You're asking, 'didn't you JUST move in January!?'. Yes, we did. We moved to get prepared for Noella. So we wouldn't have to try to squeeze a baby and all the stuff that comes with her into our teeny tiny bedroom in my parent's house. It was a cheap and very available little apartment. And it's worked. until recently that is.

I've decided to quit my job and be a stay at home mom and so spending $80 a week in gas just to get Jason back and forth to work. So i looked for a new apartment to try to save us a little money. Thank goodness we have an awesome landlord who also owns several other properties and just to happened to have an apartment in the town Jason works in that was recently renovated AND has new appliances and was available immediately. So we looked at it, decided 'why not' and started packing.

It's a second floor apartment and the bedrooms are smaller than what we have now but the kitchen and living room are so much bigger. Not to mention that there are SO many closets which makes me SO happy! We have space to put our linens that isn't a big ugly tote in the bottom of Noella's closet and a real pantry and a HUGE coat closet! And we have a lovely space in the kitchen for a table so we won't have to eat on the couch anymore. I might even have room to set up a small project table/desk area in the living room. We also have a back entry with a little deck area.

We will be officially moved in on Saturday. I'm working little by little all this week to get the non-essentials and little pieces of furniture moved over so when Saturday comes, all we have is one trip to make with the bigger things like the bed and dressers. It's going to be hard to move in the bigger things because we have to bring them not only up a set of narrow stairs but TWO sets and they are both outside (because the inside stairs are way too narrow and they have a twist in them) So pray it doesn't rain that day and that everything fits in that way. I sure hope they do!

These are my favorite stinky feet. though, they don't really stink. I just like to pick on her and say they do. :)

Spring time and other happenings

Spring is finally here and boy is it wonderful! The trees are flowering and the flowers are blooming! It's sunny and warm and it makes me oh so happy to see color in the world again. There is nothing worse than a barren gray world whilst we wait for the season to finish changing. I don't like the transitional parts of the year. Everything looks so darn depressing in New England!

I've started working again. well... sort of. What i do depends on how much mail the company receives and things have been slow. Really slow. As in i've worked 2 days in the past two weeks. But both of those nights i've been gone, i've been miserable and tired since i don't get out of work until 11 and then Noella wakes up at around 5 to eat. I've been super awful and took it out on Jason when it really wasn't his fault. I know i should work because we could use the extra money to build some savings but that shift kills me. I've applied for a job closer to home so i'll have a 10 minute drive instead of 35 minutes.



Noella and Jason have been really bonding lately. She loves to watch hockey with him and will babble on and on when he comes home. He's also starting giving her baths which is something he has waited to do until recently because she's been so tiny. They are too freakin' cute together. He's such a great daddy.

I've also been playing around with my camera a little more and i've gotten some pretty cool shots and figured out how to take decent pictures now. It's pretty cool what technology can do these days! i'm looking to take some portraits soon for some families at church to play a little more and maybe build up a portfolio.


Sunday is Mother's Day. I'm really excited to be able to celebrate it as a mommy this year. It's going to be a special day. There have been lots of wonderful women in my life who have helped to shape me into the woman i am today and hope they all have a super special day this year too. It's going to be a memorable one for me for sure.