The Hadleys

reflecting

2010-12-02T23:45:00.002-07:00

I've been sitting here for the last two hours looking at friends blogs. Something I haven't done in probably a year. I'm amazed at the beautiful photos, thoughtful insight, and overall liveliness of their sites/lives.

I can't help but wonder:

Why am I so busy? Am I truly living or just going through the motions of what I'm supposed to do? What will my girls remember most about their childhood? What do I want them to remember? What can I change?

I feel like an artist without color.

Things are going to change.

re-living 1989

2010-04-28T10:49:00.004-06:00

This past weekend I was visiting friends in LA and came across this dress in the H&M store. I couldn't believe it. Staring at me was the same dress I used to own at age 13. Really? Twenty-one years later my clothes are coming back in style? I'm speechless.

conversations with ella

2010-03-25T14:26:00.003-06:00

The girls can hardly wait until Lagoon opens. We constantly talk about the rides and how much fun we have. It reminded me of a moment last year when we had just finished riding the Terroride (the Haunted House). Ella loves the haunted house and so I had asked her if she wanted to go on it again. She said no and I asked her, "Is it because you're scared?" She replied, "I'm not scared, I'm just frightened."

We've been learning about money and what it takes to earn it. Then Ella and I had the following conversation:
ella: I'm going to buy things with words and money.
me: well honey, you buy things with money, not words.
ella: (getting exasperated) well mooooom...
me: I'm just trying to teach you.
ella: (frustrated) I know you're trying to teach me, but I'm trying to teach YOU.

notes from Aundi—part two

2010-03-16T14:31:00.001-06:00

The last time I recorded Aundi’s notes was almost a year ago, so I thought it was time to enter in my stack of notes to our blog. Have fun reading!

On our way home the girls were pretending to be princesses. When we got out of the car they were yelling names of princesses and Ella yelled “Hell!” Instantly she got a really scared look on her face. She hugged my leg and said, “I’m sorry I said that, I meant to say Belle.”
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On the way home the car got really quiet. Then out of nowhere Eva said, “Ella, I love you.” I said to Eva, “I love Ella too.” Then Eva got this really stern look on her face, leaned over and put her arm around Ella and said, “No, she’s my Ella.”
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So this morning we started Ella’s sewing projects. She did a lot of work on her own. I could tell she was really proud of herself and very satisfied that she was making something. While we were sewing we had a good conversation. I was explaining to her all the different types of artists, and I told her that some artists paint, some make flower arrangements, and some sew. Then she said, “When I get older I want to sew warm dresses for little girls who don’t have them.” What a sweetheart!
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Ella got kissed three times by buddy today! She was so funny about it, she said, “I think he did that because he loves me and wants to marry me!” Yikes!
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Ella looked up at me during dinner and said, “I love cauliflower.” Then she said, “It’s because I’m getting used to food.”
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[The week after we had a vacation in Disneyland] This morning while Ella was waking up I said to her, “I missed your little face this past week!” And Ella replied, “Well, I missed your whole body!” I laughed and then Eva said, “I missed your pants!”
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Ella and Eva were talking on the way home from ballet, and Ella said, “Eva, when two people love each other they get a baby…. I love you so that means we get a baby soon.” [We’ve since had “the discussion” on this topic. So funny!]
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Ella was telling Ansel how excited she is to go to Disneyland, and Eva chimed in and said with a huge smile, “I’m excited to see mommy!”
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When we got home from school there were new phone books by all the doors. Ella noticed it and said, “Hey someone left us a new book. That was so sweet of them!”
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Eva slept from 1:00-2:30. The first thing she said after her nap was, “We can’t eat birds.” Hmm. Okay. I wonder if she had a dream about that.
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Today as we were walking out of school, Ella said good-bye and Buddy shouted across the parking lot, “Ella, I love you!” Uh-oh.
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Eva and Ella were playing barbies and Ella’s barbie asked Eva’s barbie if she wanted to go on a date. Then Ella whispered, “Eva, you have to say no. We can’t go on dates till we are 39.”
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This morning we went to Wheeler Farm. I could write a book about all the funny things that happened. First we found feathers. I gave one to Ella and she spent about 15 minutes chasing the geese trying to put the feather back on them. I gave Eva a feather and she licked it like a popsicle. I had a mild freak out! Ewww! A little while later we were looking at the pigs, and there were all these rats hanging around the pig’s trough. They all scattered when we got closer. I made some sort of joke about Templeton. Ella thought that was funny. But apparently there was one rat still there, and Ella was standing between the rat and his hole. I said, “Ella look, there’s a rat by your foot!” Just as I said that the rat ran straight at Ella, it scurried right over top of her feet, and into its hole. AAAH! I had the wildest freak-outs. Yuck! Ella was fine, she didn’t freak out at all. Me, on the other hand, I was screaming like a school girl. We had a good laugh afterwards.
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Today Ella asked what skin was made of…. I tried to explain it and then I gave up and said, “Ella, that’s the perfect question for your Dad.”
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During lunch Ella asked Eva if she could have one of her peppers. “Eva, can I have a pepper? I know I don’t like them but I’m trying to be healthy.” She ate the pepper with her face all wrinkled up.
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When we got home Eva wanted some peppers, as I was cutting them up for her, she really had to pee. She ran down the hall, and back to the kitchen, she looked at me and said, “Don’t eat my peppers!” Then she ran to the potty. The whole time she was on the potty she kept singing, “I love peppers…. Don’t eat my peppers….”
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While we were at Barnes and Noble, Ella asked, “Can we go to Europe for lunch?” I laughed so hard. I explained to her that Europe is very far away and we would have to fly to get there. She furrowed her eyebrows and said, “No, it’s right next to Barnes and Noble!” It took me a second.... She meant ihop!
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Ella learned about astronauts today at school. She told me, “I wish I could fly in outer space and be an astronaut…. But I can’t.” I asked her why not and she said, “Well I can’t because I have to be a princess.”
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We had a picnic at Thanksgiving Point. We spent a lot of time looking at the sheep. Eva looked at one sheep, and went to pet its nose, and stopped suddenly when she saw all the crud on its nose. “Ewww….. boo-ber!” she said.
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This morning we watched family home movies. Ella says that she wants for her and Eva to be babies again because “we were sooooo cute!”
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Eva had a funny accident today. I heard her going pee while I was making lunch in the kitchen, so I went to help her. She was sitting on the toilet with her shorts on, going pee. I guess she couldn’t get her shorts off on her own, but she got the important part right!

"did you know my grandpa used to be a pirate?"

2010-01-05T10:27:00.002-07:00

...this is what Ella told my mom about Jason's dad.

Pirate.....Pilot....I can see how she got confused!

happy holidays!

2009-12-20T21:15:00.002-07:00

Thanks for visiting our (poorly updated) family blog! I thought I’d get it updated for Christmas; I believe there will be more traffic to our site over the holidays.

This time of year is crazy and bustling, and I really have a hard time keeping up. I’m definitely looking forward to some downtime Christmas weekend.

So, instead of writing a novel [please defer to the post right before this for the extended update], I’d like to just share some photos of the past year.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

begging and pleading

2009-11-04T12:42:00.001-07:00

I can’t imagine anyone reads our blog anymore. Considering the last time I wrote was last spring. But on the rare chance that anyone reads it…. Well, I’m begging you to forgive me and enjoy the update!

Our little family has been through quite a whirlwind the last couple years. I’m sure you’ve noticed by the lack of posting. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve enjoyed our lives, our time together, the things we’re experiencing. But it is starting to wear on me and I long for the quiet days in Atlanta, when Ella and I used to take long walks, and read for hours a day, and just….be. I feel like Eva and I have really missed out on that type of childhood.

I’m currently working two jobs again; full-time during the day, part-time at night. I also just started this crazy exercise program called CrossFit. And if you’ve heard about it, you know it’s intense. I hurt, but it’s a good hurt. I finished my first marathon in August and I couldn’t figure out why I was gaining weight after running more than 25 miles a week! I guess my body got too used to running, so that’s why I’m onto CrossFit.

Jason is busy but he only has about 7 months to go and residency is done! We have a serious addiction to house hunting right now. We fondly refer to it as looking at house porn. We’re always keeping our eye open for great homes, and as soon as he signs a work contract (within the next couple months….) we’ll be able to look seriously. Just think, 14 years of apartment living is almost over!

And then there are my babies. Of course, they aren’t babies anymore.

Eva just turned three on Halloween. She woke up that morning and had forgotten it was her birthday. When I reminded her, her eyes lit up and she said, “I three! I not one, I not two, I three!” She was so cute. We had her birthday party a couple weeks before her birthday and she wanted to have the theme of Boots the Monkey (Dora the Explorer’s sidekick). Oh, and it was a costume party. So she dressed up as Boots, Ella was Dora, and all the kids came dressed up. It was Eva’s special day and I loved watching her enjoy it. She really has such a fun personality. The words I would use to describe her are: independent, free spirit, snuggly, sensitive, comedic, and sneaky. She’s truly a unique little girl.

Eva started preschool with Ella and she’s so excited! She has been waiting to turn three and join her big sister at the Montessori school (the class for 3-5 year-olds). She’s also at Ballet West and her teacher said she was ready to move into the bigger class starting January. She is just growing up so fast and developing into such a beautiful little girl. We had our fall family photos taken by one of our photographers here at work. I think he took triple the amount of photos of Eva; he just thought she was so beautiful. She really does have such striking blue eyes. I’m terrified of the day when boys start to notice…..

And my dear, sweet Ella. She is growing up way too fast and exerting her way at any possible moment. Kind of like she’s four, going on 14. Since when did my sweet little girl talk back? Oh man, and the whining. Please tell me it ends soon! Regardless, I love her so much. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of my “baby Ella” in her face and it nearly breaks my heart; I miss that stage of her life.

But I love watching who she’s becoming. She is such a sensitive, caring little girl. And she talks to Eva like, “Put the doll over there, sweetie,” or “Come eat some snacks, sweetie.” Always the sweetie. I must say that a lot because she certainly learned it from me! She’s also become afraid of the dark, so we bought some sparkly lamps. She chose pink and Eva chose purple, of course. She likes them a lot and she does much better with them on at night.

And this little Ella is such a smarty pants. She’s way ahead in reading in her class, and writing too. In fact, yesterday she wrote a whole bunch of words on a paper. One of which was “acrobat.” With no assistance. How on earth?!..... It still blows me away. She loves reading books. We finished the first Harry Potter book, and now we’re onto the second. She loves it. She also loves her ballet class and she’s determined to dance on stage with Clara in the Nutcracker when she’s ten years old. I don’t know why that age, but she’s persistent about it. She’s also told me she wants to take gymnastics again, ice skating lessons, and violin lessons. I can’t keep up with her! “But mama,” she says, “It’s only a few things I wanna do.” Ha! It makes me laugh.

We’ve kinda quit the home school thing. They both have lost interest and I always said it would be something we did IF they wanted to. So I’ve had to back off of our curriculum. Bummer. One of the things we were learning this year was bands: Elvis, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, U2, Frank Sinatra, Pink Floyd, Beatles….to name a few. Oh well. Maybe they’ll want to start again in a few months.

We still have our wonderful nanny in our family, Aundi. She continues to write notes about these girls; eventually I’ll write them in this blog. She’s so patient with us, especially since I’ve been working so much, and so late. Our place is always a mess and every day I come home from work and she’s cleaned it up. I can’t even begin to describe how much that means to me. I look forward to the day I can quit work, but I know that means she won’t be coming over anymore and I can’t stand that thought.

Well, I’ve written a whole novel, sorry! I’ll try to post more often (in smaller increments, lol).

the last few months

2009-05-22T09:48:00.005-06:00

Everyone is busy. I know. So it seems like such a lame excuse to say we're too busy to write. And now that I've implied it, I'll leave it at that and move on. :)

I just wanted to write a few things about what the Hadley's have been up to the last few months:

Hawaii! Without the kids for 6 days in paradise. Very fun!

Ballet West Academy. The girls finished up this year and are looking forward to taking classes again next fall.

Reading. Ella started reading several months ago. The longest words she has read so far: shower, mountain, virtue...to name a few.

Running. I trained 4 months for my first marathon; then ended up in the hospital the week before and couldn't run it. Now I'm starting training all over again for a marathon in August. Jason will be running the half that day too.

7 years. Jason and I celebrated 7 years together. Cheers!

Work. I love working at Stampin' Up! and Jason has one year left of residency. Hallelujah!

Golfing. Jason bought himself some new golf clubs; then went back and bought some pink ones for the girls. The perfect daddy-daughter activity!

Dress up. Will it ever end?

Diapers. They don't exist in our home anymore! Eva, like Ella, pretty much decided when it was time and although she has the occasional accident, she is done. Hooray!

School. Ella finished her first year at the Montessori school and loved it. Next fall Eva gets to join her class. I still work with both girls on the homeschooling curriculum and we just finished that up for the summer. We'll start up again in the fall.

Camping. Our first Hadley camping trip was so much fun even though it rained pretty much the whole time. The girls can't wait to go again!

Hopefully I'll have time this summer to write, but if not, have a great summer! I know we will.... :)

Aundi's notes

2009-05-05T14:25:00.003-06:00

Our nanny is the greatest. We love her and we’re so glad she’s in our lives! Every day she writes me a note about what she did with the girls that day, what activities they did, and, best of all, the funny things the girls said and did. As a working mother, you really cherish those little notes.

The following are excerpts from her notes in the last couple months. Most are about Ella since she talks so much now. I’m sure, as the year goes on, Eva will talk more for Aundi to write about. I know I’m looking forward to it!

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Today Ella asked if she could wash her hands, then have a piece of candy, and then wash her hands again. Then I saw a light go on in her head, and she said, “Hey, it’s a pattern. Wash, eat, wash.” Not only did she figure out that it was a pattern, she found THE pattern of life. Wash, eat, wash. This girl is going places.

Ansel [Eva and Ella’s little friend] met us at the aquarium, so they got to play a little bit. I overheard Ella say to Ansel, “Just trust me on this, okay?” I don’t know what it was about, but it sounded important!

We went to Barnes & Noble this afternoon. Ella had to go potty while we were there, and while she was going she said in a loud voice, “My poop is soft!” Too which I replied, “that’s nice, Ella.” And then she said equally loud, “It is soft because I eat my broccoli.” I’m sure that was very amusing for everyone in the bathroom!

This morning Ella said, “Big bird looks like a big ugly scrambled egg.” I almost died laughing! I never thought about it that way, but she is right!

Today at gymnastics Eva pulled down her pants in the middle of class and said, “potty.” I think she is almost ready to start potty training. [She’s totally potty trained now. And so proud of herself!]

Today Ella got a huge smile on her face and I asked her what she was smiling about. She replied, “Last night I dreamt about Omi and cupcakes!”

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This last one might be a little sketchy. I wasn’t sure if I should put it on this blog, I don’t want to offend anyone, but it was so stinking cute! And you know, having a doctor in the house we don’t use nicknames for particular body parts. So I’ll edit it a bit. Please insert the appropriate words....

(Ella and Eva are in the bathroom having the following conversation):
Ella: Eva, I have a _________, you have a _________, momma has a _________. Girls have a _________. Boys have _________. Daddy has a _________.
Eva: Oooooo!
Ella: I have a _________. Look, see. That’s my _________, Eva.
Eva: Oooooo! Cool Ella!

chocolate snot volcano

2009-01-28T21:25:00.003-07:00

Aundi, our nanny, wrote this today about Eva:

"We went to Starbucks today and got hot chocolate. Eva had this huge mouthful of hot chocolate and she decided to sneeze... I've never seen such a magnificent chocolate / snot volcano. It was disgusting and beautiful!"

I can't stop laughing!

finally!

2009-01-23T21:22:00.012-07:00

Okay, it has been too long! So I apologize if this ends up being really long. But hey, I have lots of photos! It’s obviously been a little crazy busy at the Hadley home. Of course, I suppose I could blame Facebook a little for distracting me. For a while, anyway. Now I’m slacking on that too. But I digress….

Both girls had their birthdays within the last few months. Eva turned two on Halloween and we had such a fun time. This was the first year she went trick-or-treating and got used to the concept pretty quickly! My favorite part was after they put treats in her pumpkin she would say “take-oo” (or, thank you). There was one woman who was so enamored with her, she kept putting treats in her bag just to hear her say it. We're still eating the candy they collected....

Ella’s birthday was a lot of fun too. She turned four and wouldn’t let anyone forget it! She requested a blue princess party and was so excited to dress-up as a princess, except most of her friends are boys. So she let them come dressed-up as spiderman, batman, whatever they wanted. It was so cute!

These girls are such goofballs! Seriously, how do they come up with the silly things they do? They crack me up, and every day I look forward to hearing the goofy things they say. Eva’s personality blossoms more and more every day. This particular day (and many others) she decided to smear peanut butter and jam all over her face. She did again that same night except with butter. She has always used her body as a canvas. Maybe she inherited some of my creative flair.

Then the holidays came. Ella’s dance class performed at the Festival of Trees and oh my goodness, what a stinking cutie! The whole experience was magical. Aside from the fact that she got to wear pink tights and a red tutu, she was mostly excited that she got to wear lipstick, mascara, and blush. She was in high heaven to wear makeup! “But mama,” she said, “I’m not 12 years old yet.” She was squealing in excitement.

I took Ella to the Nutcracker again this year. She was so excited to dress up in the beautiful silk and velvet dress her Aunt Michelle gave her. But she was really mad at me through the entire performance! All year long she has told me she wants to dance with Clara in the Nutcracker and why on earth would I not let her go on stage? Since she’s been bothering me so much about dancing with Clara, I decided to enroll her (and Eva) in the Ballet West Academy. They start next week and they are so excited!

And then Christmas. Ella asked Santa for a “bike with princesses on it”. So of course Santa brought a bike for both girls. Eva woke up Christmas morning before Ella and just giggled and giggled when she saw it. As you can tell from the photo, she couldn’t stop smiling. Unfortunately the tire was a little defective so we had to exchange it at the North Pole. But Ella was able to get out and ride hers (with training wheels, of course). She rode it by herself and was so proud!

Okay, I can move on to Jason and I. We do get out a lot more these days, capitalizing on our fabulous babysitter and our phenomenal nanny. Our girls love Aundi (our nanny) and it makes working so much easier, and comforting. So we were able to get out for New Years Eve. And really, it doesn’t matter where we went, it gave me the opportunity to dress up and get all “sparkly”. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

All right, I’ll wrap this up. But I did want to mention why I’ve been too busy to blog (sorry, I haven’t been to anyone’s blogs forever!). My days start out at 5:15 when I go running, because I’m training for a marathon in April. I go to work all day (and I love my job!), and then I come home and do home schooling with the girls. After they go to bed I work on my second job until about midnight. I’ve also started a new exercise class that is seriously the funnest thing I’ve done in a long time! I thought I’d only go once every couple weeks but it is so much fun I try and fit it in a couple times a week. Jason is just as busy these days, especially since he’s on call this month. Does life every slow down just a little?

I sure wish the girls would slow down from growing up... Here's some images just to make things fun.

a quote from ella this week:

2009-01-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

"Big Bird looks like a big ugly scrambled egg."

gone

2008-12-29T20:36:00.002-07:00

This is just a post to let you know we're all alive and well but crazy busy right now. I have so much to say but no time to say it, for now anyway. I'll write soon!

the queen of sass

2008-10-30T19:10:00.003-06:00

After dinner tonight I asked Ella to put her plate in the sink. Her response was: "Alright, your majesty." Jason and I burst out laughing. Had she really said that to me? So I asked her where she had heard that before and she said, "Alice says it to the Queen."

Things heard in the Hadley home while painting and carving pumpkins:

2008-10-28T22:02:00.004-06:00

"Eva isn't a pumpkin so don't paint her."
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"Don't climb up that, it isn't a ladder."
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"I don't want to touch the pumpkin guts and get my dress dirty."
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"Doesn't our pumpkin look neat?" [unimpressed silence...]
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"Quit painting your sister!"

children's song...with a twist

2008-10-26T15:19:00.002-06:00

Today Ella was singing a song about numbers and replaced a sentence with what she thought it said. It went as follows:

"One, two, I love you
Three, four, let's count some more
Five, six, PICK UP CHICKS
Seven, eight, counting is great
Nine, ten, numbers are our friends
Let's count them all again"

Picking up chicks? I about wet myself I was laughing so hard!

anecdotes

2008-10-11T22:15:00.002-06:00

Aundi (our nanny) was drinking an iced coffee and Ella says to her, "You can't drink that." Aundi asks her why and Ella responds, "because it makes you cough."

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Eva has always pronounced pancakes as "kuh-cakes." I've been trying to help her pronounce the "p" and now it just comes out "p-p-p-p kuh-cakes."

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When Eva wants my attention she says, "mama. Mama. MAMA." Until I look at her and say, "yes Eva?" She does this all the time. But yesterday we were watching the Nutcracker and, I'm not kidding, every 10 seconds our conversation went as follows:
e: mama. Mama. MAMA.
me: yes Eva
e: kuh-cacker
me: yes Eva, we're watching the Nutcracker

10 seconds later...

e: mama. Mama. MAMA.
me: yes Eva
e: kuh-cacker
me: yes Eva, we're watching the Nutcracker

10 seconds later...

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Ella and I were laughing together the other day and she says to me, "I'm so glad I have a mommy and daddy." Then she asks me, "are you glad you have kids?"

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I won't allow Ella to watch Roger Rabbit anymore until she's older. Now she wants a dress so she can show her leg like Jessica Rabbit. A three-year-old shouldn't want that!

it begins

2008-09-09T21:01:00.002-06:00

I started my new job yesterday and I think I'll really like it. I'm now working at Stampin Up! as their new Web Design Manager. The company seems really great and the people there are so nice.

We hired a nanny and she is, so far, absolutely wonderful! When I get home at night the girls are fed and happy so I get to play with them before bedtime and we really enjoy being with each other. And I get such a huge welcome home hug from them! (Something you don't get much of when you're with them all day!)

Ella also started school last week and she absolutely loves it! She only goes twice a week and it still doesn't seem to be enough. And if school weren't enough, she is so excited to have started dance class again. She always tells me she wants to be in the Nutcracker when she "becomes an adult." What 3 year old has a goal like that?

Both Eva and Ella start gymnastics tomorrow and although Eva doesn't know what's in store for her, Ella does and she, again, is super excited. This girl cannot get enough! Eva really wants to stay in school with Ella when she's dropped off and she wants to dance with her in dance class. So I figured it was time to get Eva involved in something of her own.

Aside from all that, I'm starting up our homeschool with the girls. They get so excited when I ask them, "do you want to do school now?" Their faces just light up! This week with Eva we're learning about cows, letter A, number 1, and squares. Ella is learning about the continents and the sound "ck" and how to tell time on a clock.

So if you don't see as many posts, it's obviously because I'm so busy! But I'll try to keep updating as much as possible.

13.1 miles

2008-08-28T14:44:00.003-06:00

We did it! Last Saturday Jason and I ran our first half marathon. I averaged 8.21 minutes per mile and Jason averaged 9.55 per mile. Yes, I kicked his heiny! Anyway, we're really glad we did it. My next goal: work up to the Maui Marathon for next summer....

the last seven days....

2008-08-19T08:36:00.006-06:00

....have been crazy and fun! Here's a sampling of the things we've been up to:

1) Sand castles at Bear Lake
2) Water fun at North Ogden Aquatic Center
3) Jason had to give Eva 5 stitches in her forehead
4) Beach bumming it at Pineview Dam
5) Denise got a job offer as a web design manager
6) Watching the Olympics
7) Ella wore panties all night last night! No accidents!
8) Lagoon today
9) Eva loves her new apple pajamas (she calls them "bapples")
10) Nanny interviews at night
11) Watching Monsters Inc. over and over and.....
12) Playground fun and water splashing at Liberty Park
13) Dress-up from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Every day.

So if you haven't heard from us, that's why. Here are a few pics:

twilight spoof

2008-08-13T10:48:00.001-06:00

Freakin' hilarious! (Thanks Wendy!)

Click here for a funny spoof of theTwilight trailer.....

the summer of denise

2008-08-11T12:51:00.005-06:00

I just got back from LA for the Breaking Dawn concert, and to all those Twilight fans out there, it was so much fun! Geeky fun, but fun! Justin Furstenfeld (from Blue October) sang the acoustic versions of the songs Stephenie selected. She would first tell the audience what part of the book she had in mind and then he would play. So cool.

Then she had a Q&A and she had a lot of interesting things to say about the 4th book. Which by the way, I LOVED Breaking Dawn and, in fact, teared up at the end. Sigh. I shall miss dear Edward and dear Jacob. (I'm one of those who still thinks she should have both...) Oh, and lastly she had a book signing.

Anyway, I stayed in a really cool, modern hotel and hung out at the pool most of the time. (I had to include a photo below. It was on the roof of the hotel in downtown LA. Very hip place to hang out at night!) I did take a drive to Santa Monica too just 'cause I love the ocean so much.

Lastly, did I happen to mention I was alone, again? It was fabulous! This summer will always be known to me as "the summer of Denise" and I'm sad to see it go. Indeed, I have no more alone trips planned and Jason asked that I stay home once-in-a-while. I suppose that's the clue I've been gone too much!

It has been a wild and crazy summer but I have loved every minute of it. And so, a moment of silence for the passing of The Summer of Denise....

the gods

2008-07-31T21:06:00.007-06:00

Ella and I have had some interesting conversations these days.

It all started with her recent addiction to the Disney movie, Hercules. Because of this movie we've had to discuss the idea of death and where our souls go; the gods who live in the heavens and how the greeks believed in so many gods; the difference between a god and a mortal; the role of the fates and how they decide who will die; and, of course, why Meg couldn't live in the heavens with Hercules and how he gave up his godhood just to be with her (it was very alarming to Ella that Meg wouldn't end up with Hercules in the end!).

And then the conversation always shifts to which dress she wants to wear for dress-up time. :)

watercolors

2008-07-31T21:00:00.005-06:00

My budding little artists. And, of course, they love being with each other so much they wanted to use the same paints on the same side of the easel.

Oh, and notice the beautiful painting on Eva's belly. The girl loves drawing on herself, and sticking food in between her toes, and picking at her gums until they bleed, and....yeah, the list goes on.

pasties

2008-07-31T20:55:00.006-06:00

As I walked back into the living room yesterday I happen to take a closer look at what Ella had done with her stickers. What on earth would possess a 3-year-old to stick stickers there? I couldn't stop laughing and Ella kept asking, "What's so funny, mama?"

[By the way, I did have a photo here but Jason didn't think it was a good idea to post it. So, if you want to see it email me.]

the font movie

2008-07-29T12:59:00.004-06:00

A friend of mine emailed this movie to me (it's just a couple minutes long) and being the font nut that I am, I laughed my arss off through the whole thing! (Thanks le fiffre...) I thought I'd share this bit of design humor to your world...

See the FONT movie now!

alphabet celebration

2008-07-20T13:40:00.007-06:00

In honor of Ella finishing her alphabet curriculum, we held an alphabet party yesterday. It was so much fun!

We all know Ella has known her letters since she was 13 months and the sounds letters make by age 18 months. But I liked this particular curriculum because it concentrated on the sound letters made and applied those sounds to words. Each week we learned a new composer, mammal, plant, ocean creature, color, bird, craft, math, science, and activity; all starting with the letter of the week. The next curriculum we're going to start is the sound of the week. It combines two letters together to form a sound: i.e. "s" and "t" into "st"

She has also been writing words for the past 6 months so I wanted to show how she writes her lowercase and uppercase letters. I just love it! (Yes, I'm a proud mama.)

"i wanna roam and gamble, but I need to get out of my purple village"

2008-07-17T13:46:00.009-06:00

Last weekend was crazy! Me and 3 girlfriends spent a few days in Vegas living it up in the sun by day and dancing all night long. In honor of our insane getaway, I have assembled my top 10 fave memories that maybe you won't get, but my vegas girls will!

1. Amy's purple village and elephants on stilts
2. VIP'd and comp'd into any club we wanted. Pays to make friends with club promoters. (And being a girl doesn't hurt!)
3. The mama's drink. Thank you Heather!
4. The marine, the frenchie, the taio guy....
5. Dancing on the bar in Coyote Ugly
6. Late night foot soaking with Suzy (heels hurt, people!)
7. Ben the cab driver
8. Photos with the bachelor party
9. Ceiling mirrors in our hotel room
10. Nachos. Every day. All hours.

And I suppose there is a number 11:

11. Coming home to the men we love and the kids we can't live without!

parasols and fountains

2008-07-09T10:25:00.003-06:00

Just some cute pics of my girls: Ella with the parasol from Japan and Eva with her "fountain" hair. Sometimes I want to sell them and sometimes I can't get enough of them!

the infestation

2008-07-03T00:35:00.004-06:00

Last weekend I went to the Troll 2 Infestation...er...I mean Festival up in Morgan. If you've never heard of Troll 2 how dare you! Actually, most people I talk to don't know about it. It has been voted the best worst movie ever made and has quite the cult following within the last couple years.

You gotta read what's been written about it: click here!

So why the hell am I up in Morgan wearing my Troll 2 OMG T-shirt? (See movie for reference.)

Because my cousin was in the movie and he's become quite our B-list celebrity! Or maybe C-list. :) They've flown him all over the world for screenings and Q&As for the Troll 2 fans. I'm just a Darren fan and not much of a Troll 2 fan. Anyway, his band was playing and they were showing the movie outside. And the weekend wouldn't be complete without bologna sandwiches, green punch, and Nilbog signs! (Again, you'll have to see the movie for that reference.)

[Notice how "Nilbog" is "Goblin" backwards. Oh the humanity!]

alone...but loving it!

2008-06-26T21:00:00.005-06:00

So I went to L.A. this past weekend for my friend's wedding. I haven't actually seen her for eight years; mostly because she's an actress and always filming everywhere and I've been busy with my career then motherhood, etc. Anyway, it was so much fun to see her! We met back when we were about 12 years old and have kept in touch over the years.

Here's a photo at her rehearsal dinner:But mainly why I'm mentioning this is because I took the trip by myself! No kids, no husband, no job; just ME! And what a fabulous trip it was: parties, cocktail dresses, amazing dinners, beautiful hotels, run-ins with celebrities, and margaritas on the beach.

I was reading an article about a married couple who take trips apart once a year or so. Not just apart, but alone. That is, of course, in addition to trips together and with the family. And now, after my fabulous getaway to Santa Monica, I can see why! I think I'm gonna need another weekend like this again. Maybe next summer....

don't drive drowsy!

2008-06-24T21:40:00.003-06:00

So one of my last projects at the design studio was a public service announcement for TV. My boss finally finished it and posted it on youtube -- I thought I'd include the link here so you could watch:

Watch our commercial!

I did all the graphics for the commercial: the illustrations, photography, background, etc. My boss did the animation and audio. What a great team we made!

Anyway, this project took us months and we're quite proud of it! So have a look....

makin' whoopee

2008-06-15T19:45:00.005-06:00

I took the girls to the dollar store so they could pick out whatever they wanted to give Jason for Father's Day. Ella saw this whoopee cushion and wanted to know what it was. I told her to sit on it and, after its signature "ptptptptpt", Ella beamed and said, "Daddy would love this!"

Jason just thought it was hilarious that his daughter got him a whoopee cushion. I, on the other hand, hang my head in shame that my daughters are enjoying potty humor! When will the farting sounds end?

Yup, there goes another "ptptptpt" from the other room.

friends and cousins

2008-05-30T10:20:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was a fun day for the girls. First we got to play with our little friend Jackson all day long. Then that evening we got to play dress-up with our cousins. And since we've all been sick it was nice to get out and have some fun. (And that night they passed out without a fuss!)

a REAL doctor

2008-05-24T11:08:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I had to take Ella to the doctor (she has pneumonia again...) and that night when Jason came home from work, Ella asked him, "Are you a doctor daddy?"

j: "Yes I am."

e: "I went to a REAL doctor today."

We just laughed. A real doctor? Does she think daddy is a pretend doctor? :)

ouch?

2008-05-23T23:43:00.002-06:00

Jason and I just laughed and laughed over Eva's sleeping position tonight. That's gotta hurt!

how do you say "impressed"?

2008-05-20T12:38:00.008-06:00

Jason and I spent 8 days in Japan and if I spoke fluent Japanese I'd be begging Jason to move there. What an amazing culture and what endearing people.

I would have to say the best part of Japan is the people. It's so obvious they take pride in their heritage, their city, their appearance, and their service. Is it like that in all of Japan? I don't know, but I do know we Americans, myself included, could learn a little from them. Oh man, and I loved the fashion! It was like eye candy for me. They wore patterns on top of patterns and it mismatched so much, it somehow matched. I wish I could get a way with wearing the things I saw, but I'm afraid I'd end up on "What not to wear".

I also fell in love with the kids. Everywhere we went there were school kids wearing their uniforms and color hats. They were so excited to use the little English they had learned on us. "Hello, my name is..." they would say and then giggle when we'd respond.

I was completely fascinated with the geisha's. I'm fascinated with their clothing, makeup, and the overall idea of what a geisha is. It's weird, seeing them in person made me a bit starstruck.

I'm surprised at how clean it was. And yet, we were hard-pressed to find a garbage can. I sat and watched a teenage kid run after a plastic bag blowing in the wind just to throw it away.

Back on the fashion, the women wore heels everywhere. And I mean everywhere. And, as you all know, I'm such a shoe fanatic it was simply inspiring to me. Absolutely no flip-flops for me this summer. Of course I had to buy a pair of shoes while I was there! Red, strappy, very cute.

Lastly, the food. I thought I was going to starve but I ended up loving everything I ate. I tried it all (always with chopsticks, never a fork) and surprised myself when I couldn't get enough. I am sorry to say I still don't like sushi, but if ever there was a place to learn to love it, it would be Japan. I have officially given sushi a chance.

And so, it's hard to adjust to real life again -- screaming Eva, whining Ella, charges from Japan going through, etc. -- but we had such a great time. I wanted to include some photos we took:

life quote

2008-05-06T23:08:00.002-06:00

Last weekend my good friend said to me, "Live tomorrow as if you were going to be a hundred years old and as though it were your last." He's always been the king of philosophy and life quotes. And he always seems to know what to say at the exact moment in my life when it really has meaning to me. That's probably why we've been friends since we were 11 years old.

But I digress...

This particular quote holds a lot of meaning to me right now. Mostly for personal reasons that I don't want to share, but also because I just found out today that my beloved job at the design studio is gone. Their doors are closing after being open only one year. Turns out this economic downturn has effected me other than with rising grocery costs and crazy expensive gas.

And so, I begin the task (again) of preparing for our future -- in case I do live to be a hundred -- and yet, savor a good apple martini* every now and then, just to add a little danger to the here and now. Because, as the quote says, it could be my last.

*it might be more appropriate to substitute "martini" with "fruit punch" :)

an "ella"phant never forgets

2008-04-30T15:53:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago we were driving in the car and the song Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones starts playing on the radio. Ella exclaims, "I like this song!" and then starts singing along with it, "Ay, Oh, let's go!" I was dumbfounded. How on earth did my three year old know this song?

Then it occurs to me. We were playing Rock Band at my cousins (one time only, I might add) and she must have remembered it from that. Right?

That girl has a crazy memory.

Like yesterday, for "W" week, I read her a new book called "The Witch's Children" (hilariously cute book) and later that day I find her reading it to Eva. She had remembered almost all of the book enough to repeat it to a giggling Eva.

Makes me hope she doesn't remember the bad things throughout her days....

you spent how much?!

2008-04-24T14:28:00.002-06:00

So this morning I check our account and find that someone had spent $3600 on our credit card. Turns out, someone in Minnesota stole our card number and went on a shopping spree at seven different WalMarts in the area. We had to cancel our cards, get a new pin number, and fill out a bunch of VISA dispute forms. Kinda makes you feel betrayed and vulnerable. Strange feeling.

On a lighter note, I'm back up to running 4 miles a day and loving what it's doing for my figure. I'm considering buying a bikini for this summer. Something I thought would never happen again! Jason is so impressed he went out and bought running shoes yesterday so he could get in shape, too.

Last night, after we had put the girls to bed -- in the bunk bed, of course -- I walked by their room to hear them giggling together. I took a peek inside and saw Ella and Eva lying in the bottom bunk together just laughing and giggling about nothing in particular. That is a sound I have been waiting almost two years to hear!

long time

2008-04-17T22:02:00.006-06:00

Yeah, it's been a while since I've posted anything.

I'm almost completely recouped from my surgery. In fact, I've been able to start running again this week. Ah...I sure missed it. The sweat, the leg cramping, the knee pain, the 5 a.m. alarm, the...wait, why did I miss it? Oh yeah, it keeps my lazy butt in shape.

Aside from running, I've been working my two jobs and trying to stay on top of motherhood. Oh, speaking of work, I've had some people ask what I've been designing these days. It seems like my days are filled with web sites. So, here are a few I've designed (and some programming too!) so check 'em out if you're interested:

www.eatattasteofthai.com
www.silverpixelmedia.com/SPM_music_site/index.html
www.bigbobsutah.com
www.idodecorutah.com
www.pawitsroyalethai.com

All right, that's enough of me stuff.

Jason just finished a big test today that pretty much judges his whole career. Nice
pressure, huh? He's been studying for it like a madman which means he's been more of a roommate than a husband for the past month. Then again, I've been more of his patient than a wife this month.

Fun month in the Hadley home.

The girls, well, there's some fun in there. We bought a bunk bed last week and now the girls share a room. It has been quite the adjustment. But Eva has learned how to sleep in that thing vs. her crib and I think she must feel quite grown up. She LOVES it. Ella, on the other hand, has been detesting the idea of a bunk bed since I introduced the idea to her a couple months ago. She has insisted she wants her own bed and her own room. For crying out loud, can a 3-year-old really make such demands? One day it occurred to me that she was thinking Eva was going to literally share, or rather, sleep in the same bed. I explained to her the concept of a bunk and then took her to IKEA to pick one out. It worked like magic. She loves it now and loves the idea that no one but her can climb up that ladder and sleep in her bed. It's like her very own castle. And she's the princess in the top tower.

And so, we're all just waiting for the good weather to STAY so we can start the summer activities.

mmmmm.....drugs

2008-03-29T11:09:00.004-06:00

So not a lot of people know I had surgery a couple days ago to remove a cyst in my perotid gland. As you can see from the photo, I had quite the large growth under my left jawline and after a couple CT scans it was determined I had to have it removed. Which was fine with me because I swear my photos lately look like I have a fat face, thanks to my second head!

We went up to Huntsman Cancer where they cut me open from the front of my ear, around the back, and down my hairline to remove a two-inch cyst. (Sorry if the photo grosses you out.) All-in-all it was a 3-hour surgery. They did preliminary pathology on it to reveal it's benign but they're doing additional testing on it to make sure. They also took samples of my gland and my lymphnodes to make sure there isn't any cancer there either. We'll know those results next week.

My doc was awesome. If you want a referral to a good ENT, give me a call!

So, I'm doped up on drugs and sleeping a lot. And other than feeling like I got punched in the ear, I'm feeling okay.

UPDATE: Just so you know, everything came back benign. And Jason has loved being my doctor. Right now he's waiting for me in the other room so he can remove my stitches.

M1 & M2

2008-03-24T21:56:00.004-06:00

So, two of my dearest friends are moving -- you may recognize their names as M1 and M2. What the hell am I supposed to do now? There are people in this world who make such an impression on you that you'll never be the same: I have been lucky enough to experience this through them. Big elbow kisses, girls!

ponies and patties day

2008-03-18T12:04:00.003-06:00

Ella's new favorite dress is her green and pink one. So she was extra excited to wear it on St. Patricks Day. And Eva, well, she was so excited for her new sparkly, silver shoes. Don't you wish you got excited over those things as an adult? Oh wait, I do with shoes!

Anyway, I love putting these girls in ponytails. It makes me laugh to myself and I have to control the amount of photos I take. They hate it, that's a given. But I ignore their whining and crying just for my own pleasure!

I'm not feeling like myself these days. I was talking to [an unnamed source] and he said it's time for me to quit one of my jobs. I don't know what my problem is but I can't stand the thought of doing everything. But I dread the idea of doing nothing. Quite the conundrum. I'm sure there's a happy balance but I just can't seem to figure out what that is.

first run

2008-03-16T12:29:00.003-06:00

I ran my first race yesterday. Yeah, it was only 5K but for someone like me, who has never run a race in my life, I was quite proud of myself! And, I did it in my own record time: 25 minutes! Next up: a half marathon by the end of the summer.

friends

2008-02-24T12:13:00.002-07:00

I'm so lucky to have such great friends. These are people who still accept you for who you are when maybe you yourself don't know. And for some reason, good friends make you want to figure out yourself so more time can be spent on shopping rather than solving life's problems.

it all changes after a day

2008-02-19T15:51:00.003-07:00

Okay, so my last entry was all lovey-dovey, "oh I love my girls," life is fun. Well blah to that!

Would I still be a good mom if I sold my children to the circus? They would grow up around animals, which they really love, and learning how to do acrobatic moves, which would be really cool, right? Don't you think that would be a great atmosphere for a child?

Ella won't sleep. When Ella doesn't sleep, mom doesn't sleep. And when mom doesn't sleep, well, let's just say I'm holding my vocabulary back to a PG rating.

Granted, they are cute.

But I still want to sell them.

plumber's crack and bulbous bellies

2008-02-17T21:47:00.003-07:00

How cute are these girls? We are having so much fun with them. Most of the time, anyway.

Eva is growing up so quickly. Both of them are, really. Eva is growing out of her clothes -- again. The unfortunate thing is the next size up is the summer gear. Please stop snowing so I don't have to buy more winter clothes!

[Sidenote: I am SO sick of the snow and cold weather. Just let me take the kids somewhere without battling coats, gloves, hats and boots.]

And today Ella said, "My underwear is small." I'm thinking she's being her typical anal-retentive self until I check out her panties. Sure enough, her plumber's crack is exposed -- and that's with her panties pulled up as far as they'll go. Good freakin' night! I guess it's a good thing Jason works and I have two jobs.

But holy crap these girls make me laugh.

Eva sounds out of breath all day long. It's like her huge, bulbous belly drags her body down and she runs out of breath just to keep moving! Oh, and if she had her choice, she'd read books 24/7. It cracks me up. She picks out a book and walks backward with her butt pointing straight at you until she finds your lap to sit.

Ella is so independent. Her new favorite thing is Didi & Ditto, a computer game I bought for her to play on my computer. I came in one day to see her parked in my chair playing her game. Apparently she had started everything on her own. I guess she needs me less and less these days.

Oh, and the other day she says to me, "I have to work." Okay, I'm thinking, that sounds like me. So I set her up on the ol' PC and she starts typing away and clicking the mouse. She starts saying things like: "What is going on here?" and "Why is that happening?" Then she hands me a toy and says, "here, play with this while I work." Is that what I sound like? Gotta change that.

Jason and I celebrated our six-year anniversary a couple weeks ago. Dude, it's really been that long. Crazy.

I'm still running every chance I get. It's a great a escape for me. I'm training for a 5K this spring and by the end of the summer I want to run at least a half-marathon, if not a marathon. Gotta firm up these fricken' weak ankles of mine.

Until next time -- and hopefully I can get back into blogging again.

cabin fever

2008-01-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

After two weeks of being stuck inside we all had a touch of cabin fever. So on Monday we all went outside for some playtime in the snow.

Sidenote: it feels like it takes two hours to get kids ready for wintertime play, and then within ten minutes they're done. (Especially after Ella did a face-plant in the snow!) It seems like such a lot of work for nothing, but even those few minutes did everyone some good. I suppose it's worth it.

Since this last illness pretty much kicked my kids in the butt, we are no longer taking them to daycare. DONE with that. My friend, "M2", has them three days a week until May when she has her baby. Then I'll be looking for a nanny-type of situation during the summer. And after that, who knows.

We're just so sick of, well, sick!

still down

2008-01-16T11:02:00.001-07:00

My poor girls are still sick. It's been over a week now. Oh, and another illness to add onto the Hadley diseases is pneumonia. That's what Ella has now.

It's times like this when you really start to miss playgrounds, window shopping at the mall, ice cream cones at McDonald's, playdates, library toddler time, and anything else that doesn't involve medicine and tv.

104.5

2008-01-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

That was Ella's temperature last night.

All day yesterday her temp wouldn't go below 101.5 and by 4:00 it was back up to 103.8. So Jason took her to Primary Children's where they did all the tests and x-rays ("They took a photo of my heart and lungs, mama") and everything came out normal. Good thing. I guess she just has a particularly nasty pink-eye infection that causes all the coughing and fevers.

And then by 11:00 last night the fever spiked to 104.5. This was even WITH all the medication she's taking. So I stripped her down and gave her a lukewarm bath ("Don't give me a cold bath. Please don't give me a cold bath." She kept begging with her poor little laryngitis voice. It only came out as squeaks and whispers.) and that only helped her go down one degree.

Eventually, by 5:30 this morning, her temp got down to 99.5.

Eva isn't as bad, although she's still battling a low-grade fever. Both girls just want to sleep all day today.

Some day I have to go back to work -- I haven't been to work since last Monday -- and it's looking highly unlikely I'll be in on Monday. I'm sick of daycare.

quarantined

2008-01-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I've had a little more time on my hands lately, or at least enough to post more often. Well, we've been quarantined for three days now; only leaving the house for doctor visits.

Diseases in the Hadley home this week: pink-eye, ear infections, sore throats, croup, fevers, and cranky dispositions.

Steer clear.

red mama

2008-01-11T00:41:00.001-07:00

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Red

Your color is red, the color of racy sportscars, blushing cheeks, and luscious roses. Red symbolizes passion, romance, and love. So, since you're ruled by red, you probably trust your feelings more than your brain and tend to act spontaneously. If you see something you want, you go for it without thinking twice — impulsive is your middle name. You don't wait around for people to make decisions, either; you dive right in. Quite the romantic, you pay close attention to your emotions. In fact, if your heart isn't in what you're doing, you won't be satisfied. Of course, even when you do pour all your energy into the projects you tackle, your impetuous nature means your passions can shift as frequently as the wind. That's why some reds have trouble with commitment. Our advice? Next time you're feeling fickle, think before you act, if possible. You might be surprised at the results. Overall, though, it's great to be red. No one lives life more completely than you do.

Take this test >

i got tagged

2008-01-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

My friend decided to tag me which means I have to list seven random/weird facts about me. Do I have ta? (*whining*) If I don't, she'll keep harassing me. You know you will, M!

I want to mention that I am now exempt from all future tags and other such blogging phenomena. So don't even consider it.

1. I like to dip my toast in yogurt
2. I hate being called Dee Dee
3. I think Bella should have both Edward and Jacob (I just don't know the logistics in that situation)
4. I'm sitting here in my IIE shirt and maternity pants (I'm not pregnant, people!)
5. I feel bad for Britney
6. I believe there is our universe and an alternate universe (I won't tell you what I'm doing in the alternate universe)
7. I love picking the wax out of Eva's ears

the world is over

2008-01-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

Please, a moment of silence for the passing of World of Warcraft......

.....Now, a moment of applause for the passing of World of Warcraft!

Jason has decided to retire his character from the world of online gaming, probably much to the dismay of his guild and fellow online gamers. But who gives a crap what they think. The point is, does he want a wife or a guild?

(Don't you dare say that's a tough choice.)

hmmm....happiness

2008-01-04T20:32:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine and I were talking today and the subject came up: Can anyone ever truly be happy? It seems like we're always in the pursuit of happiness; always waiting for that next big moment, wanting more time for family or self, working for more money and financial stability, making ourselves better people...you get the picture. At what point does a person say to himself: "I'm happy just where I am." Is it possible that that moment will never come? My friend posed the question: Is it possible that happiness just comes in the process because you'll never reach a finished state?

I'm starting to feel like I just better enjoy the here-and-now because the happiness we're all striving for is impossible to be reached.

Oh, and I should add. These are just some thoughts rolling around in my head, people. It isn't a cry for help!

produce some babies!

2008-01-03T13:16:00.001-07:00

Last week, after we were driving home from one of the hundred family Christmas parties, Ella announces, "I need cousins." Jason and I look at her, laughing, and say, "But Ella, you were just playing with your cousins." She's silent for a moment then says with gusto, "I need MORE cousins."

Hear that family? Start producing 'cause we need MORE cousins!

merry frickin' christmas

2007-12-20T12:18:00.001-07:00

I love Christmas, although the title says otherwise. I felt this title adequately describes this photo. It seems that the girls, and Santa too, didn't want to have their photo taken. Oh, someday I'll have one of those picturesque Santa photos to be proud of.

So, I didn't send out a Christmas family newsletter. I just have too much do! Come on people, the last time I updated our blog was on the 7th. Gees! How does anyone keep up? Enjoy the blog 'cause that's the closest you'll get to a Hadley newsletter!

Ella and I went to Nutcracker a couple weeks ago. I can't believe this barely 3-year-old sat through and LOVED the entire thing! I thought she'd get bored through the serious ballet moments, but I'd have to say those were probably her favorite parts. She did get mad because she couldn't understand why I wouldn't let her go down and dance too. At the beginning of Act II when the pageboys were dancing she turned to me and said, "where are the ballerinas?" I said, "those are ballerinas. They're just wearing pants." She was so mad. "I want the ballerinas in tu-tus!" Precious.

We had Ella's birthday party a couple weeks ago. She planned her party:
denise: Do you want to go somewhere fun for your birthday like the aquarium or the Treehouse?
ella: No, I want to stay home
d: What kind of birthday do you want? [I thought for sure she'd say a princess birthday]
e: a yellow one
d: Do you want to play games at your party?
e: No. I just want to play with kids.
d: What do you want to eat?
e: cupcakes
And then she proceeds to tell me she needs a yellow dress for her party. So there you have it. Ella knew what she wanted! Eva ended up getting sick so we moved the party to McDonalds (Miss Donalds, as Ella says). But she loved her party. She had so much fun. She scored on all the princess gifts. Jason and I gave her a construction vehicle set just to offset the girliness!

And Eva walks everywhere! No more crawling for this girl. And she's so proud of herself too. Just this morning she reached up to the table when I wasn't looking and dumped my granola all over the floor. When I saw what she had done she gave me the biggest smile, as if to say, "Look mom! I'm big enough to reach on the table!"

Since it's been so long since I've written, Eva has said her first word: Duck. She said it last month. She knows the duck says, "kak, kak" and she knows the monkey says "ooo ooo." I love these moments!

Eva loves our Christmas tree. She's surprisingly gentle with it. She'll just sit on the couch, staring at it, and say "ooh" and then a bunch of babble that makes me wish I understood!

Jason works and studies, works and studies, works and studies...... He works so hard and I can't imagine what a harder residency would be like. I thought this residency was supposed to be one of the best, for crying out loud! I think his favorite time of the day is when he gets home in time to kiss the girls goodnight. Ella runs into his arms and covers him with hugs and kisses. Eva reaches her arms up as high as she can and giggles until he picks her up. Completely priceless moments, in my mind.

And me, well, I'm freakin' busy. This month, between all the Christmas shopping, a week of sick kids, and my two jobs, I've been stretched pretty thin. Of course, I have to make things even more complicated by giving some really time-intensive gifts. (I can't mention what they are considering they're for some people who read this!) All-in-all, I am quite happy with my life, my family, and myself.

After my second job ends mid-January, I'm taking up running again. My boss has been an inspiration to me. He just ran his 49th marathon a few weeks ago and said the company would pay for any marathon I enter. So I guess that's a goal of mine this year. Since I've let myself get so busy my body will be starting at ground zero. It'll take time.

Have a merry Christmas, happy hanukkah, and a fabulous new year!

"snakes in my bed!"

2007-12-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

The other night Ella woke up screaming that there were snakes in her bed. The poor girl was thrashing around, convinced they were slithering around her legs. She refused to sleep in her bed that night and insisted on sleeping on the couch. As she was walking to the living room she started screaming again. Apparently the snakes were all over on the ground too. So, I don't know if she was actually awake, or sleep walking, but she was seriously tip-toeing on the carpet to avoid the snakes. I felt so bad for her, but on the other hand, I couldn't help but laugh.

She finally settled down and fell asleep again.

The next morning, after I told my boss, he asked me if I had let her watch "Snakes on a Plane." Not that I was planning to, but definately not now!

happy thanksgiving

2007-11-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Eva's turkey hand

For those of us dealing with 35 degree weather: stay warm!

miniature players

2007-11-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ella loves playing golf (or "golfball" as she calls it) on the Wii so we thought it would be fun to take her miniature golfing. We found an indoor course and spent the afternoon trying to teach her how to hold her golf club. She is such an independent "I do it!" kind of girl that we couldn't convince her to just let us show her. You should've seen the many ways she held her club. We laughed the whole time! After
the second hole she figured out that it was much more fun to hit it once, pick up her ball, and drop it in the hole. "I got it in the hole!" she would excitedly announce.

She obliged Jason and I by dropping our balls in the hole too. That was the easiest game of miniature golf I've ever played.

Oh, and Eva was just happy as can be with a club of her own. She even tried to swing it but realized it was a bit too heavy.

Jason and I couldn't help but laugh when we compared our miniature golf experience now to our experiences as teenagers. The goal back then was to see how many kisses you could steal from your date. Now? Well let's just say kissing was on the back-burner and keeping kids from falling into the water was in the forefront.

LOL is not what it seems

2007-11-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

I do love blogging, I just haven't had the time these days. Here's why:

My old company in Atlanta has hired me to design their magazine every month starting with the December issue. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it because it takes about 40 hours from start to finish and, come on people, since when do I have 40 hours of free time just lying around? Turns out I CAN squeeze it in. Not consecutively though.

The details...

I work at my cool day job at Silver Pixel Media on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. (Oh, and you can check out our website if you'd like: www.silverpixelmedia.com. I promise you'll get jealous!) And then every night for 2-3 weeks I work until midnight on the magazine. What a crazy schedule but I really like what I'm doing.

And then....

On my days off I get to play with my girls! They're in school three days a week and I really think they needed to be in a social setting. Ella especially. But I LOVE being home with them on our free days. And you know, I think they appreciate being around me now that they're in school. Ella definately gives me more hugs and kisses than ever.

And so, if you don't hear much from the Hadley family for the first two weeks of every month, you know why. But be happy about it. 'Cause that's what's paying for your durn Christmas presents!

LOL

(Yeah M, that's for you:)

thank goodness there's a doctor in the house...

2007-11-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

...or it could be titled: "the things I'm willing to do to spend quality time with my husband."

And yet another title: "the things my husband had to do to convince me to sit still while he sutured my finger."

(I suppose I inherited my mother's weakness for kitchen knives.)

halloween week

2007-11-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

Aside from all the puke this week...

(by the way: this bug also inhabited the bowels of both Jason and I. So after the girls were finished with their nights of vomiting, Jason and I followed suit. Fun.)

...we have had a fun week, both with Halloween and Eva's first birthday. So, here's some pics from our week of candy, fun, and costumes:

Jason dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow (minus the eye makeup) and Eva HATED it! She screamed every time he went near her in his costume. Guess she's not a Johnny Depp fan.

And here's our sweet birthday angel...that is, when she isn't screaming because of her scary pirate daddy!

Ella and I as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story 2. I had to include a photo of Ella from behind because I just think her yarn braid is so cute!

And now that Christmas stuff is already on display in stores, I suppose the spirit of Halloween has breezed on past us and ol' Jack Skellington is back in Halloweentown. And so, too, my Halloween blog will come to an end. But not today. 'Cause I really need to sleep....

puke

2007-10-30T12:09:00.000-06:00

That's all I've seen since Saturday night.

So, Eva was puking all night Saturday. From about 9:00 pm to 4:00 am. The poor girl could barely keep her eyes open because she was so tired. I slept with her on the living room floor, listening to her little whimpering, and tried to catch all the puke. Oh, the joys of motherhood.

Then, Monday night Ella decided to do the same. From midnight to 11:00 am this morning the girl hasn't been able to keep anything down. She keeps wanting to eat or drink and then just pukes it all up. The poor girl puked all over her hair and blankets and down her pajamas last night so I had to give her a midnight bath. Oh, she was so mad at the whole thing she screamed like a banshee. I'm sure the people above us thought we were abusing our child. I slept in her room on the floor catching her throw up every 40 minutes. Again, the joys of motherhood.

My back hurts.

I'm tired.

Please, please no more puke!

all right already

2007-10-25T21:22:00.000-06:00

So my dearest friend (you know who you are, M) has been harassing me every day: "update your blog already!"

We're both hopeless addicts. And I love how we complain about other friends who haven't updated their blogs. We're such the same person.

But anyway, my excuse for the lack of posts is: we've been out of town, I've been working, I had to get costumes together for parties this week, uh, I have two kids, and, oh.... I had to wash my hair.

Speaking of costumes....

My cousin gave me her beautiful costumes she makes and I thought Ella would absolutely die over them. But no, she wants to be Jessie from Toy Story 2. Then she said, "Mama be Woody." So there you go -- I'm a guy for Halloween. (I'll post Halloween pics eventually.)

So back up to the out of town part I mentioned. Jason and I escaped the girls and drove over to Lake Tahoe for his brother's wedding. What a great escape! I got to sleep the whole drive there and back, read my book, AND I got to dress up all purty-like. Here are some pics:

If only you knew all the Photoshop work I did to myself. Seriously.

On the way there, Jason pulled over at the Salt Flats and stated that his whole life he's never had a photo on the Flats. Hmm....neither have I. He's such a good thinker!

Oh, and I thought I'd mention that Eva finished her antibiotics today. No more sick kids....about frickin' time!

sick and love

2007-10-15T21:41:00.000-06:00

We're back to being sick again. Crap.

Well, just Eva anyway. Her ear infection is worse and tonight she developed hives. Jason's pretty sure it's from all the Motrin we've been giving her. My poor baby girl!

Ella seems normal, Jason seems normal, and yes, I am still normal! (Well, that's debatable at times....)

Oh, and I would like to announce that Ella is officially potty-trained and has been for a week! Next to come, night-time training.

Let me mention that I LOVE my new job! It is seriously the coolest job. I feel like I get the best of both worlds: an awesome job and being with my girls, too. How lucky is that?

We finally had our family photos taken yesterday -- thanks to our timed camera! I thought I'd show some of our favorites. I suppose I'm unveiling them a bit early since they're meant for Christmas. Oh well, act surprised when you get one in the mail.

The whole fam damily:

This is pre-hives:

"Cheese!"

"You're okay, Eva."

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

2007-10-11T22:20:00.000-06:00

"I know."

So, after more than a week of kids being sick, really sick, we're finally back into the real world. I'm back at work, girls are back in school, and Jason is back at work. Poor Ella had bronchialitis and an ear infection so she was on three medications plus a breathing treatment three times a day. I think we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas about 30 times this past week. Hence the above quote.

Anyway, the medication Ella had to take was absolutely disgusting. The only thing I could bribe her with was Disney princess band-aids. I hope you can see how her legs are covered in band-aids! (They're on her arms too!)

Oh, and Eva took her first steps three days ago. She giggled the whole time!

doomed, I tell ya

2007-10-02T21:46:00.000-06:00

Today we found out Eva has an ear infection (poor baby girl!) so she started her amoxicillin regimen. Jason is doing much better too -- he finally quit hacking up a lung and he's over his fever. And Ella, well, after Saturday's vomitting session she seems to be back to her old self (and on day five of no accidents!).

Needless to say I've been surrounded by the sick and afflicted! I don't know how I've escaped it so far. I'm waiting for my time. Should we place bets on what I'm gonna get? Let's see: vomitting, earache, coughing, or fever.
Wow -- let's hope not ALL of it!

However, as my friends can attest, I have been bitten by the stupid bug. But that's a story I choose not to repeat....

Funny story that happened today:

ella: Go Mama, go!
denise: Go? Where do you want me to go?
e: In the kitchen
d: Why do I need to go to the kitchen?
e: Make Ella pancakes

If it wasn't so freakin' funny I would've scolded her for not saying please.

day 6

2007-09-29T12:29:00.000-06:00

This is day six in our potty training adventures. I'm happy to report that, even though Ella has been throwing up all day from some stomach virus, she is still excelling in her training! She hasn't had any accidents for a couple days and she's still so excited to wear big girl panties.

Speaking of...

The other day Ella saw me sitting on the potty and she said, "Yay mommy! You go pee-pee in the potty! You get a treat!"

Priceless.

two-faced

2007-09-26T22:32:00.000-06:00

I had to laugh at the end of the day when I realized the gem I had on my camera:

This would be Eva: happy and bright-eyed in the morning. Ready to take on the day and fill it with laughter, discovery, and yummy food.

This would be Eva too: grumpy and slept-on-my-face in the afternoon. Ready to suffer through the day and fill it with screaming, pooping, and clinginess.

Remember, these were taken within a few hours of each other. Some days, it's like Jekyll & Hyde.

Touché

2007-09-24T20:34:00.001-06:00

Jason wonders why I didn't post a family photo with ALL of us in it and why I haven't written about him. To which my reply is as follows:

When was the last time we HAD a family photo taken?
(Uh, he says, never?)

Tell me what to write about you.
(Um, he says, I have to study.)

Here, here.

"Cheeeese, Gromit. We'll go where there's cheeeese."

2007-09-22T19:30:00.000-06:00

Ella believes there is a mouse who lives in her closet (thanks to the encouragement of her daddy). She named him George and, apparently, George is always hungry for cheese. The other day I was putting the laundry away in her closet and came across her "offering" to George. I couldn't help but smile -- and of course take a photo!

bump and ice

2007-09-20T23:03:00.000-06:00

Sounds like a dance move.

Today I got mad at Ella for playing on my computer (a big no-no that she is ALL too aware of). She ran out of the room yelling at me and throwing a fit when she slipped and hit her head on the corner of the air vent that sticks out from the wall. How the crap did she manage to hit the singular, one-inch dangerous area in a long hallway?

She cried and cried and I couldn't believe how big the bump became! With tears streaming down her face she said, "I need ice bunny." I grabbed her ice bunny out of the freezer, put in a movie, and Ella sat on the couch for 45 minutes diligently icing her bump.

Look how freakin' huge!

Ella's savior: ice bunny

"mama tired"

2007-09-18T16:10:00.001-06:00

Last night Ella and Jason were talking:

e: it's dark outside
j: why is it dark?
e: the sun went night-night. Jackson went night-night too.
[Ella loves her friend Jackson]
j: yes, he is
e: Eva went night-night too.
j: yes she did
e: Mama not night-night. Mama tired.

Indeed, I wasn't asleep. And I was tired.

the first

2007-09-13T03:21:00.000-06:00

"You're brilliant. We can't afford to lose you."

After realizing I have a dozen blogs I visit regularly, I decided it's finally time to write my own. Let me just say up front: I hate blogging. It's just another thing to add on to my plate. Don't I have enough to do already? So I can't guarantee I'll have a lot of new stuff to add, or interesting for that matter. On the other hand, I could really get into this. Oh, and please, to my writer friends, I am not a writer. I know you don't end a sentence with a preposition, but that's the extent of my writing abilities. Oh, but if there's a typo I'll find it in a matter of seconds.

But I digress.....

In the last week I've had five people ask, "What are you doing these days? I hear about your girls, but not about you." So this first entry is about me. Because, um, I matter too. We have a whole lifetime to talk about the girls anyway....

The last two weeks have been insane! Apparently I do matter. A lot.

A couple weeks ago, much like tonight, I couldn't sleep. So just out of curiosity I started looking at some jobs. For those who know me, this is common practice. I like to see what's out there. By 3:30 a.m. I had applied to four jobs. By 9:30 (that same morning) I had heard back from two and set up interviews. One interview was that afternoon at 3:00. By 6:00 that night they offered me the job.

Holy crap!

It was fun to call Jason that day: "How's your day? Oh by the way, I had a job interview today." Pause. Quiet. Registering..."You had what?"

It's with DownEast Outfitters in their corporate offices. It's a one-woman team (i.e. me) and I would be doing all of their design work for their catalogs, merchandise, in-store signage, web etc. I'd even be involved with photo shoots with the models. I'd work 20-24 hours a week, setting my own schedule. They even said I could work from home part of the time.

I called the second job to cancel the interview. They called me back 10 minutes later and said they loved my portfolio so much and they still wanted to meet me. How could I refuse that?

Long story short, at interview #2: We love you but need someone fulltime (I don't wanna do that, I say). Can we work freelance with you with a guarantee of 50-60 hours in the next month, at $50 an hour? (Duh! I'm thinking.) We have a project we're willing to spend a lot of money on: diecuts, embossing, lots of paper ideas, etc. (Score! says the designer wench in me.) Did we happen to mention it's $50 an hour? (Okay, they didn't repeat that, but I was repeating it in my head!)

But it doesn't end there. (If you need a break from my pride, feel free to return later when I start to write about the goofy things Ella says.)

This week I started working on the freelance project and presented my ideas today. What did they say about it all? You read it at the top: "You're brilliant. We can't afford to lose you."

Please, a moment of silence to honor the passing of my insecurities. Aahhhhh.....

I left the presentation with a sweet new job offer in hand. Still 24 hours a week. But: More money. Sign-on bonus. Paid vacation/sick. And a Sam's Club card.

Did I happen to mention it's down the street from where I live and across the street from my girls' school? It was meant to be.

I start Monday. Well, officially my paycheck will show that I started last Monday. It's a start-up design studio who has some great connections to the music industry and pharmaceutical companies. I'll be doing everything from simple, clean design for healthcare, financial, and publication companies to crazy, all-bets-off, show-us-your-dark-side music cd packaging. And a few other things in between.

Whew! It's tiring to write about just me. Or it could just be that it's almost 4:30 in the morning.

I can probably guarantee the next 20 entries will be about my girls. But at least you know something about me!