and I'll never forget how that black dress

is that a heart? how surprising and sweet...

I get a little hormotional* when I'm pregnant. couple that with the end of summer boredom, and it has been a long couple of weeks for all of us. so this saturday jeff insisted we call a sitter and get out the house for a while. I think the girls needed a break from us as much as we needed a break from them, from the way they waved us off as soon as the sitter got there. we got dressed up, tried to take some hipster couple pics, (we didn't make it past the test shot, my purple blouse over my baby bump was too reminiscent of violet beauregarde) and we were out the door. 


I made jeff take me to a fancy restaurant in bellevue. I mean, we made reservations. it was beautiful. we chatted and absorbed the atmosphere and I professed my undying love ... of the upcoming television fall line up. the food was oh so delicious. and tiny. 




so right after dinner we went to dairy queen and got fries and ice-cream. dairy queen doesn't take reservations, but they sure know their way around a chocolate malt. it was a perfect night.




*hormotional :  an emotional state fueled or exaggerated by hormones. 

the new fall line for the season

look closely, can you see the bulbocity that is my stomach? poor rilla can barely fit!

tonight I saw it. that color in the air that said "fall." I looked out the window and there it was. that, color on the world that makes me feel ready for anything. the air had that chill and just a few leaves were slowly floating down in the wind. the girls tried to catch them as they fell, giggling when they swirled just out of reach, as if on purpose. I love love love fall. I don't think summer has had it's last hoorah just yet, though. this was just a sneak peek at what is to come. but it was enough to wake me up inside, and I can hardly wait for more. 


and in the mean time, I will thoroughly enjoy this three day weekend as my farewell to summer. labor day bbq!


postscript: rilla's chubby knees, wrists and elbows melt me into smoosh. she still has a tiny bit of her baby chub, and I am eating it up while I can. 

we interupt

we interrupt our regularly scheduled (pregnancy induced) television/movie indoor dwelling to bring you this brief message of sunshine at the park. 

the summer goes on and then dies quick

I have been wanting to go *thrifting lately, so for my birthday my family obliged. jeff stole away early from work and escorted the girls and I to the local thrift joint. it was a quick trip, since the store was packed, we were all getting hungry, the bladder-kicker was in full action and there was no way I was using the thrift store bathroom. but despite the swiftness of the thrift, we made some good finds. three items for the girls for ten dollars, including rilla's dress, petra's dress, and petra's sweater in the above photographs. I really love the embroidered flowers on rilla's collar, and the tiny rick-rack detailing. petra's dress is a great durable material, and I love the bold color color blocking. I have been looking for what I call an "accent sweater" for petra for a while, and this baby pink with red polka dot one was a steal for a buck fifty. easy stylin', and don't they look killer?  


now if only I could figure out how to thrift for baby boy ... I was totally lost in the jungle of boy-wear! 


*thrifting:: more than just browsing the thrift store, it is the serious combing of the racks piece by piece, item by item, risking germ and ick factor to find the diamonds in the rough. not for the faint of heart. 

seven & twenty

dear chelsea,


today you are twenty seven. or, as it translates in your head, thirty minus three. does that mean you can call yourself a woman now? you are still married, even if there is no wedding ring on your finger at the moment. it is put safely away thanks to puffy pregnant fingers because oh yah, you got knocked up this year too (surprise!) you are getting a boy this time though, and by golly if you don't just love him already. even if he does kick you day and night. you are growing your hair out, trying to get it long enough for a messy top knot. you want to be cool just that bad. your favorite past time is dinner and a movie in with jeff, which really says a lot about this stage of your life. you are getting good at saying "no" to things. or you could say, you are getting great at avoiding things you don't want to do. so either you are learning more about yourself and your limits, or avoiding  uncomfortable growth. you are not really sure which. either way you are calling more of your own shots. your girl-friends are coming in four weeks and you can hardly stand the wait. they still make you laugh harder than anyone else can. you still love a good book, a good show, and a good chat with a good friend. and a good text conversation with your b.f.f. nelly will always make your day. 


your past year was fairly even keel. it was a "shoulder to the wheel, push along" kind of year. a lot about mothering. about being a wife. seeing yourself as a matriarch. working hard to slowly improve. you have thought long and hard about your petra. she is so special, and so tender. when to help, and when to let her learn? you are just waiting to see what the worry will be for rilla. she wears her heart on her sleeve. she is easy to read, and is so willingly loved. motherhood is this ever changing beast. it makes you hurt. your hardest work is when you feel you know the least. it makes you swell and burst in the glow of it all. if you give it all of you it will destroy you. if you leave anything back, you will tear yourself apart. there may be nothing else to do but be incinerated, and be made something new. motherhood is only part of the woman, whole. you get that. but you can't help but fear that if you don't pull from every part of you, any failure would haunt you. in the midst of all this thought your days have been filled with the glorious mundane, and you are grateful for it. a chapter of sun. after last year, it was much welcomed. 


and then, there is jeff. oh, jeff. speaking of being a woman, whole, you are his wife. and you love it. you love him. this year you have started to see it is not the frantic love of your youth, but a deep even burn of a love. it carries an excitement all it's own. you are so happy together. you have worked for it, you both have earned it. he is more handsome with every passing year. you are powerless to fight it. but why would you? 


this coming year is one of change. a new baby, a possible move. plenty of preparation and adjusting. it is unsettling and exciting to you all at the same time. 


make yourself some cake. because if there is one benefit to being knocked-up, it is that no one is going to deny you cake. 

in all sincerity, 

chelsea 

entitled :: "maternal or what?"

20000 leagues

rilli-vanilli.

didn't we have a good time today? 

didn't I take you to the splash park for over three hours? 

didn't I cuddle you up in a towel, hold you and snuggle you when you got cold? didn't you put your hands on my face and say "oh my mommy, I yuv you" and give me little smacky rilla kisses? 

didn't I put you on the horse, then the seal, then the rocket, then the horse again, while your sister ran wild with her friends? 

it was you and me kid.

I really thought we were understanding each other today. 

don't let the innocent look fool you. that's half the tub of water on the floor. 

"buh mommy, I dint mean-oo ... "

proper introductions.

why hello there!


I moved! blogs that is. 


after a much longer than intended break from the blogosphere, I have decided to make my re-entry in a new place. startin' fresh. clean bean. no, that is not an actual expression. 


allow me to [re]introduce myself.


my name is chelsea. I am a twenty-six year old wife and mother currently residing in the northwest. I suck at self portraits, and can't believe that is what my nose really looks like??  

let me introduce the rest of the players. 


this is the hubs. also known as jeff. he is twenty-eight and the love of my life. he is our resident super-hero, and keeps his secret identity by working a normal 9-5er. but you can keep a secret, right? 

meet petra. she is four nearly five. she loves all thing girl, including her "rapunzel" hair. she is a sensitive little soul, and wears her heart on her sleeve. 

say hello to rilla. she is two. she is delicious. she can speak her mind rather well, and is only slightly hindered by a little "listhp." she has a head full of curls and dimpled elbows. she wants anything her sister has, and is charming beyond resistance.

this is son. baby brother. the bump. he is due to make an appearance sometime late november early december. he is a night owl that likes to kick his mothers bladder. he is loved already, the little bladder-kicker. 

my hope and dreams for this little blog are simple. practice my craft, share my observations and thoughts, and let my loved ones know how our little blooming family is doing. welcome!




*curious about the previous blog? a link is set-up under "the former" on the side.