mango wants her grandpa

grandpa peterson had surgery on his achilles tendon about 2 weeks ago, so we have been thinking of him in almost every prayer so he can have a speedy recovery. brynn is very sweet and LOVES all her grandparents. she often talks about grandpa peterson especially as of lately as we talk about him more since his surgery. well, as her and i were driving around wasting time last night waiting for steve to get off of work (my car is in the shop...long story) i suggested that as soon as we get home that it would be nice if she made a card for grandpa. she was thrilled about this idea as she is really into coloring these days. so she kept talking about all the things she was going to draw on her card then stops and gets super excited and exclaims, "AND give mango to grandpa too!!!". i thought this was pretty funny and kept laughing while trying not to pee my pants (as this seems to be a regular occurrence in my present state...). brynn was a little hurt that i found this nice gesture funny, so she kept saying "MOOOM! mango wants her grandpa!!! she does!".

so there you have it. martin if you are looking for a companion, mango is yours. whats another plane ride? she loves it by now. you will never have to worry about your leg being bumped while its in the cast as mango will never be around to bother you. she never cuddles, so don't worry about your clothes being scattered in fur. she is great at getting the dust/dirt out from underneath beds as everything clings to her long fur so you will never have to worry about cleaning those spaces. you will often wake up in a panic thinking someone is in your house in the dead of night as you will hear small crashes/odd noises as the darkness brings out her psycho side. if you ever have a mouse problem in your basement, she will play with them to death. she is very low maintenance and only requires a small amount of food and water each day. if you leave your clothes out, you may find them a little warm (and a little hairy) which is nice on those cold winter days in cache valley.

and last, just look at that sweet face! how can you say no to that?! LOL!

martin, mango DOES want her grandpa.

brynn's big girl room

since we moved here in april, i have always been excited to decorate brynn's bedroom and get her out of the crib. yes, you heard me right. she STILL slept in her crib (being over 2 1/2 years old) during the time we moved. she LOVED it and never once tried to escape. she always slept so soundly in there and never gave steve and i any worries during the night as we knew she was safe. well, she would be more then happy to continue sleeping in the crib the rest of her life but i'm sort of in need of it in 8-9 weeks...so, about a month ago we took down one side rail and made the crib into a toddler type bed to prep her for the twin bed that we bought her in early july. we didn't move her into the twin back in july as we had family staying with us and needed that bed for them. i have been trying to use this move into the other room as leverage for learning how to use the potty, but that in itself is an entirely different post....SO, i took pictures today of what it looks like and am happy with how it turned out for the most part! there are a few little things i want to add to the room to complete the "look" i have in my head, but for now its pretty dang close.

my great friend emily s back in germany bought her daughter audrey this off white bedroom set and ever since then i have been in love with it! luckily, back in may steve and i found someone who was selling the sleigh bed head board, foot board, and rails for $100 on craigslist so we snatched that up real quick. i kept looking online for a dresser and nightstand that would match it, but didn't have any luck. i'm really picky with furniture and wanted something to match exactly...so i eventually went down to ashley furniture here in anchorage and bought the dresser and nightstand from the furniture line for a pretty good deal and finished the look. steve would have been fine grabbing old dressers that we see off the side of the road, but he forgets who runs the show here...LOL! I'M KIDDING!

brynn has not slept in this room yet, but i plan to start the transition soon so she isn't so angry at the baby for stealing her crib. she spends a lot of her day in this room reading her books and playing, so she's pretty comfortable in there.

i always knew i wanted to go with a b&w damask theme, and started collecting pillows and boxes while we lived in germany when i saw things. for a while i was going to attempt to make curtains and pillows, but since i'm NOT too good with a sewing machine, decided on just buying a simple black shade from target and found the pillow on the left there as well. did i mention how GREAT it feels to have a target within driving distance once again?! i'm sure steve wouldn't mind anchorage never getting one...
*the black and pink tutu on the wall is actually a bow holder that i bought online on etsy. i took all the bows off for the picture so it didn't look too busy.

*the canvas damask art is something i made with a little help from etsy and joann fabrics.
*the 3 white picture frames are from michael's on clearance and the b&w flower prints are from ikea.

*bought the comforter from target along with the black bed skirt. mango loves the bed skirt too so at times it has an orange tint to it.
*i LOVE lanterns and started collecting them back in germany. i threw 2 in the room but might replace them with other things if i find something that catches my eye...(steve is shaking his head no)

big mommy

man, brynn has been on a roll this week with the insults and random outbursts! all which are towards ME of course. way to boost my self esteem kiddo when i am literally as big as a house!

when we were in utah 2 months ago in june, grandma peterson gave brynn a few books for the long plane ride back to anchorage. one of which was "go away big green monster". brynn LOVES this book and has the whole thing memorized. let me clarify that, when she reads it to us and allows us to sometimes turn the pages depending on her mood. well, last night i was trying to clean up after dinner and she was being difficult. she was driving me crazy by grabbing things out of the fridge and attempting to pull things off the counters so i asked steve for back up. as he was trying to get her out of there so i could finish, she yells to me "go away big mommy"! thanks kid. so it's a fact, i am a big ole HUGE mommy in my daughters eyes.

so last night, i dragged my HUGE self to the gym so i could avoid any more insults from my three year old at home. and seriously, that didn't help! it's funny all the gawks and stares i get from people when i go there! yes, i'm pregnant. yes, i'm at a gym. yes, i know i look like a piece of equipment since i'm just about the size of the lat pull down machine. sheesh, it's starting to get uncomfortable going as i'm ALWAYS catching people starring at me! hahaha!

oops

brynn will be a big sister the middle of october, which really isn't that far away. to prep for the huge change that will take place in our home, i have been telling her all about the cool things she gets to do/help me with once the baby arrives. she is so excited and is always asking me questions and telling me what she will do once her baby sister gets her. i'm really happy that she's understanding and realizing (well, as much as she can at the moment) how much will change. i know she will be a great help! i'm happy that we waited a little longer to get pregnant this time around as the age gap (3 years, 3 months) for us, will work well as brynn is pretty independent and loves to assist me with things.

that being said, brynn is also retaining information/words a little too well. i let her look through one of my fit pregnancy magazines (which by the way, all those models in there?! i'm not convinced that they're really pregnant. no one looks that good knocked up!) a few days ago and she noticed a few articles in it with babies nursing from their mom's. i saw the puzzled expression on her face, so i took this opportunity to teach her a little about whats to come. i told her that that's how some mommies feed their babies food and it was totally normal. i then began to explain to her thats why my body is changing (she is ALWAYS commenting on my "twins") to get ready for the baby. i then told her that mommies special "pillows" make milk just for baby and that this was not scary at all. so since that night, she is always poking at them (i've tried to hide them, honestly i have) and wanting to see the milk. nice. its especially fun to deal with this situation in public places. nothing like being groped by your toddler in a walmart while she is yelling "mommies BOOBIES! mommies BOOBIES make milk!"

ahhh, i love my little brynn. i think i will stay home for the next few months to avoid any more embarrassment.

face lift

we were finally able to get the outside of our house painted just days before we had family visit in july. i've become very very frustrated with all the workers who have come through our home fixing things (lighting fixtures, dishwasher, installing a new sink, installing blinds, putting up new screens etc.) as they always come unprepared, late, or don't show up at all without calling. so frustrating especially when you're waiting around ALL day for nothing! we were promised back in the middle of may that our house would be painted, but kept getting shafted by the painting company that our landlord had lined up. so, i started calling daily bugging the guy and am happy to say that it worked! although the crew that did it were a little scary and LOUD, it was done pretty well and we're happy to say that our house no longer looks like the meth house on the block. check out the before and after pictures! but don't mind the yard as we are slowly getting around to fixing that up...especially the random dry patches of grass! we are having major issues with those growing back at the moment and its driving me crazy! anyone (janae...) have suggestions on what type of fertilizer actually works?! i'm clueless when it comes to yard maintenance.

from crack house:

to looking normal:

i know our house isn't super cool to look at, but that's how most homes are here in alaska! boxy, sort of dull, and lacking a ton in the curb appeal area. but, i promise that the inside is much better and i will post pictures of that later once i have each room together and looking great. all in all, we are so grateful to have found this house (even with all the stresses that we had to deal with for the first 3 months) and love the area where we live. we have fantastic neighbors who help us all the time which has definitely made the transition easier. now, if i could just get some of my friends from germany to move here life would be PERFECT! c'mon guys, ask for elmendorf please!

risk's visit

two days after the ford's left, we had the risk family come to visit us for a few days. dj and his 4 kids have been on the road, while pulling a pop up trailer all the way from palm springs california, having the vacation of a life time (check out their blog to see what they've been up to). they started from the border of mexico in california, and made it all the way to the artic ocean up in alaska! craziness! dj is a fun dad who loves to take his children on adventures like this, so we were happy that they stopped thru our place for a few days on their way back to california. brynn LOVES their little pomeranian "boo" (even though he deflowered her in utah and sort of bit her...) and dreams of a little dog of her own. his kids are super patient with brynn and have helped entertain her a TON around the house. brynn just loves her cousins and i'm happy that we live relatively closer to family (well, alaska is a little closer then germany) as we will be able to see them more.

and heidi, i'm seriously going to take you up on your offer to crash at your place in palm springs when it gets crazy cold here in anchorage! good luck getting me to leave...