What to expect and you may proceed to jump now if you'd like.

 

(Us. Summer 2010. Visiting the cabin in UTAH!!)

Maybe you've noticed and maybe not, but I've been leaning towards more of a "lifestyle" blog around here lately. Toph getting a nicer camera has only encouraged me more and more in that direction. When I started reading blogs (like last year) I thought you had to have a specific niche- DIY, fashion, sewing, fitness, cooking- in order to really blog. As I've found more blogs to read, I realize the ones I'm really drawn to just write about life and their families and what they do day to day. I've always written about that stuff but my pics have usually just been me, Me, ME! Annnd, I'm kinda over that. I love getting "dressed up" everyday but the idea of taking pics that often seems kinda ridic now. I still plan on including outfit shots a few times a month (give or take) but I really love looking back on posts about date nights and holidays and our little apartment and want to include more of them. I still keep my real journal super regularly but I like having this online resource filled with pics to look at as well. Anyway, long story short: You can jump ship now if you want! I'm giving fair warning that there's about to be a lot more of the everyday on here. Yours, mine & ours was originally meant to be a play on the whole freepiling thing (which I will never give up!!) but it works to describe Toph+me+B too and I like that. Team Tuttle FTW. :)

Talking to two.

"Bronzie, you're pretty cute."

"No. I handsome."

"Yeah, you're handsome too."

"And daddy handsome and mama booful."

"Thanks, nugget."

"You're welcome. I'm a nugget."

"HAHA!"

"I'm a nugget!! ... Laugh big again mama!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

"Stop!!! No laugh big, mama. Not booful laugh big."

Home for Thanksgiving

After a trip home I feel like I've been trampled on and left out in the rain. Because of lack of sleep. When we go home we stay up way too late, eat way too much, and talk non stop. Now we're back in our tiny apartment and I'm beyond tired, B's looking around for more cousins to play with and Toph's back at school gearing up for finals. We had a great mini vacation and it was really fun to cook with my fam, go thrifting, take tons of pics, nap on the couch (my fave!!) and leave knowing we'll see everyone again in a few weeks for Christmas!! The ultimate things I'm thankful for this year are living in Davis, my healthy boys, and being able to recognize the many blessings we receive daily. Because as they say: you better recognize! Not sure why they say it but they do.

PS: B's little turkey hand from last years Thanksgiving traced on the tablecloth? I die!

We're all cheapwads.

 

Black Friday is the best thrifting day of the year!! Since it always falls on the last Friday of the month (right?) there are some major thrift store deals to snatch up on. Long story short, I got tons  of junk for super cheap. (Birthday money="Please spend something for once, Meredith!!") I didn't get pics of it all but trust me, pure treasures.
In my fam, the motto for Christmas presents goes as follows: It's the price that counts: The cheaper the better!! Funny+inexpensive is supreme king and luckily the two often go hand in hand. It's so fun yelling out how much you didn't spend as someone is opening your gift. It's also really fun when someone opens your gift and bursts into laughter (the "X Marks the Spot" diaper of '05, Gooda??) I tend to go with all freepiled, thrifted or homemade gifts  so as not to besmirch the family motto.
Also: Holy wow. Christmas is literally like tomorrow. THIS WAS THE FASTEST YEAR EVER! In a good way.

Halloween on Thanksgiving!

I'm so grateful for the two boys in my life!!! They rock.

Especially around Halloween because I get to pick fun themed costumes and see them come to life:

Going through these pictures was so twilight zone-ish! That first pic seems like a lifetime ago. B was 3 months old and I had about 

35 extra lbs on me still. FUN. I remember drawing that scar on B's little forehead and secretly wanting to keep it on him forever because I love Harry Potter so much. Nerd mom, right here. Being a Ghostbuster rocked because the proton packs (made from trash and medical tubing) made me feel powerful!! Being Vercua was fun because I got to wear a thrifted dress that I've had for a while and act uber snotty. Easy. 
I love freepiling/hot gluing stuff together to make our costumes 5 minutes before the Halloween party. Procrastination is a tradition. 

 Thanks for going back in time with me and: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

The BIG two-four date. That wasn't so big.

I got to pick the date night activities since it was my big day so I went out on a major limb and suggested: Thai food+frozen yogurt! 
Wuh wuh wuh. It was delicious but I think we're in a rut. A totes delicious froyo rut. We did mix it up by asking rapid fire questions that I'd prepared ("What's one wish you have for B as he grows up?' "What's the first movie you remember seeing in theaters?" "Who's your favorite Bluth family member?") and we tried to play Guess Who?  The highlight of the evening was when the froyo guy was emptying out a few of the machines so he could add new flavors. Long story short: a giant bucket of frozen yogurt appeared=Mama's idea of heaven!! 
I asked him what he was gonna do with it and he just looked at me weird. 
I wanted to take it home and love it forever. So sue me.

Phone tales.

Life according to the droid:

-FALL!!! I love it. So much. 

-The coolest pumpkin ever. I saw it at the library the other day. 

-LITTLE WOMEN!!! Thanks Toph :)

-THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE TIGHTS, TIFFANY!! I love them:)

THERE ARE A LOT OF CAPS IN THIS POST. oops.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!!! And it's so fun!!

 

So there I am going through my list and having a great day when all of the sudden I see a box wrapped up on the bed. Duh, I opened it. Inside was a ginorm camera bag.  First thought? "Why would I need a camera bag for my tiny Powershot?" + "And no juicer. Dang." As I'm cleaning up the wrapping paper I see another box wrapped up. INSIDE WAS MY DREAM CAMERA!!!!! Toph has spent the last year hearing me talk about bokeh, the exposure triangle, and buying (and then quickly selling) cameras because they all sucked. (Because I kept buying super cheap ones.) Well the kid went ahead and found a good deal on the camera that will now be accompanying us to the retirement home. And beyond. It was one of the  best birthdays ever! I took over 200 pics in one park trip and I see no end in sight. The last pic was my very first attempt at a self timer pic. As you can see: I have NO IDEA what I'm doing and my background came out great while my subject (me!) is all out of focus. I'm reading every tutorial I can get on eyes on!! I need tips! I need to learn to shoot in manual!  I am so excited to really dig into photography. THANK YOU TOPHER!!!

PS: It's a Canon Rebel EOS T2i and I'm calling her Harper. Harper Reb Tuttle. It's true love.

Ambitions and also I just love making lists.

In less than 5 hours I'll officially be 24! 

Here are 24 things I want to do tomorrow to ring in my new age:

1. Take on the B morning shift so Toph can sleep in for once

2. Get breakfast goodies at Trader Joe's

3. Have a picnic

4. Exercise

5. Go to the library

6. Do a random act of kindness

7. Get a mani/pedi with my birthday money!!

8. Read my book

9. Play with B!

10. Doorbell ditch treats to someone

11. Have a living room dance party

12. Go freepiling

13. Mail a letter to someone

14. Read to B

15. Babysit Lukas (it's your turn for a date Jess!)

16. Read my scriptures

17. Write a letter to B in his journal

18. Call my fam (or you could all call me!)

19. Write in my journal

20. Pretend Twilight doesn't exist

21. Put B down for a nap

22. Hang out with Toph!

23. Eat something delish for dinner (Maybe something Thai+delish)

24. Take a break from the interweb .... see you guys next week!!

PS: I bet everyone is tired of hearing about my birthday, birthday week and me being 24. (Especially if we tweet together ...) 

To ease the burden of it all, I'm disabling comments on this post. Happy birthday to everyone!!!!  :)

Just another afternoon at the Tuttles

We totally tried to contain it to paper but B was just getting so bored and he kept hounding me to paint on his face .....
or maybe it was the other way around? Did I actually beg B to ditch the paper and let me paint all over him after already defacing my own porcelain (that means: whiter-than-white-she-so-don't-tan) skin? Duh. He was totally cool with the the 8.5x11 scratch paper prison! 
When I see watercolors though, it's uni-brow time. Good thing it washed off no problem too. Street cred intact.

Q: What do other/normal mothers do to entertain their kids? We love TV over here but I'm trying to scale it back a bit. "Trying." 
Also: Holy drool face, B. Wow.

Mini date to the temple

 

 

Recording our dates lately has been super fun for me. I love looking back at the different restaurants we've tried and all the frozen yogurt we've eaten (we might need to branch out a bit). Going to the Sacramento temple the other day was sort of a mini date, we just ran in and served for a bit then we went and got B from his babysitters. We managed to snap a few pics before getting him though and boy howdy: best.pics.ever. That nostril shot of me is by far my fave. Also, I'm loving all of the stuff I got at the swap! This mustard dress still had the tags on it!! They were Target tags, does anyone else have this dress too? Are we twins??!

Phone tales.

Life according to the droid:

-Me feeling classy in polyester. Classy but sweaty. :(

-Despite the colder weather, B still chooses to wear his floatie to the park. And I let him. When he gets frostbite from this freezing cold CA weather he'll learn!!
-Wearing one of my headbands!
-My thrifted gma shoes. One dollar for the purest foot comfort around.
-Trying to be a good mom by sprucing up B's little monkey nugget lunch.

Pumpkin muffins galore. For me at least.

 I ate 12 of these. That's like a whole stick of butter from all the frosting!!! I'm not thinking about it anymore. 

It's common knowledge that I can't follow a recipe so here's the one I made up for these muffin top-esque treats.  

I'm calling them: Pumpkinspice Muffins with Spiced Frosting.

Muffins:

I 15 oz can of pumpkin

1/3 cup applesauce 

1 large egg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar ( I use Zulka)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

- Mix everything together but the flour until smooth. Fold in the flour until just mixed.

Put in greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Makes 24-ish.

Frosting:

1/2 stick softened butter

3 cups powdered sugar

2 TB milk

1/2 tsp desired spice (I've used cloves and nutmeg. Both were great!)

- Mix until smooth. Frost muffins when cooled. EAT.

Try not to eat all the muffins in the house.

I seriously made two batches and Toph got like two.

It is my birthday week though. So whatev.