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Last year Thanksgiving was a whole lot of turkey and a whole lot of sledding. While we could easily be looking at the same scenario for this year, this week’s almost 50 degree weather is a pleasant surprise. Instead of being rushed into winter it actually still seems like fall around here.

Lakes and creeks are mostly frozen over but the greenery around still hangs on for a last stretch before snowfall.

While most of my plants are past their prime, a few stragglers soak up what sunshine they can before the days start getting short.

Flower beds that were once full of blooms are now just hidden with a blanket of leaves. I tell myself I’m “winterizing” them but really I’m just lazy and will just clean them out this spring.

In a matter of a few short weeks, summer turns to fall and soon snow is laying at your doorstep. With the orange and red scenery still hanging on and the golden morning sun filling up my front porch, it seems the autumn season is here to stay for a just a little while longer.

It’s easy to squeeze by and keep up with your normal habits and pre baby lifestyle when you have one kid. Obviously the free spiritness takes a nose dive but after a while things level out. Then you have another one, and your a goner. Hygiene takes a back seat. White in your wardrobe is unheard of. Six minute eggs, toast and fresh fruit for breakfast is replaced with an Eggo waffle that you only managed to get warm on 3/4 of it. Damn toaster. And there is a really good possibility your toddler will eat pancakes for dinner more than once during the week.
There are some things I won’t budge on. I still tend to my feet (crunchy feet and bad toe nail polish are my nemesis) and unshaven legs are just unheard of. It’s a comfort thing.
What I have learned this time around is shortcuts are essential. Once you have children you will get so much advice it’s ridiculous, and a lot of it will be unwelcomed. But if you can condense your daily routines to, let’s say, 10 minutes, your golden.
Pregnancy #2 brought a lot of nausea for me so I was able to hone in on this task early.
Here’s a quick break down of my “I need to get out of the house with both kids and still look presentable while also attempting to be on time” routine.

Marcelle BB cream. This is GOLD. Seriously. I got a sample in my Birchbox and never looked back. It’s an all purpose cover up. I personally use it in place of foundation. It’s easy to apply, has amazing coverage and it is so lightweight that I can pass out on the couch without washing my face at night and I don’t wake up with 75 blemishes already brewing on my face.

Chela Highlighter pencil. I don’t have a clue really when it comes to makeup. I guess most of the time. But word on the street is that contouring your face helps make your face look better, or something like that. I watched a YouTube video on how to use this pencil like 10 different ways and it blew my mind. I’m that lame. But it helps me look “well rested”. Ha.

Let’s be honest. Most everyone looks better with some color. There’s like 1 out of 100,000 people that looks good pasty, and I really doubt your one of them. I know I’m not. So this is a lifesaver. I’ve tried a ton of self tanners. The instant ones are a joke. If you already have a tan and need a quick fix those can manage. Remember I live in the arctic folks and our summer is looooong over. I don’t get lines with this one, it doesn’t smell horrible and I look sun kissed, just like they claim. Touché Nivea.

Chuck Taylor “Shoreline“. Who doesn’t love shoes?!? I usually have 2 types of days when Andy is working and it’s just me with the kids. A day where I’m really lazy and don’t attempt to look nice and a day where I stupidly made an appt at 10 am. This is where a shoe that is super comfy, easy to slip on and oh so fabulous comes into play. These are the most comfortable shoes. For reals. I wore them the day I got them and didn’t get a single blister or toe rubbed. They go with everything and have that scrunchy back so I can literally shove my feet in them and walk out the door. Perfection .

Keurig 2.0. Coffee is an essential part of my day. Of my life. I already have a drip coffee machine, an espresso machine, french press but you know what, simplicity is key here. Which is why I hit up my sweet loving husband for a Keurig for my birthday. It sort of feels like I’m cheating because it’s so easy. I literally need just one hand. Which is usually all I have available.

Old Navy skinnies. Truth moment. I have this exact pair in a dark wash, size 6. They fit me perfect before I got pregnant. I wore them the entire time of my pregnancy with the help of a belly band ( so comfy by the way). And they are the only pair of pants I can wear post baby, that actually button and look presentable. By presentable I mean that I have a muffin top from them small enough that can be camouflaged by most of my shirts. Plus they don’t break the bank, especially since I get them on sale. I have a green pair, a purple pair, blue, coral corduroy, and 2 pairs like these.

Meet Brittany. She is my post baby secret weapon. She is a personal trainer at my gym and teaches classes that after doing make me feel like I was jumped in a dark back alley and I’m dying a slow painful death. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic but it’s an immediate reminder when the class starts how out of shape I am.

The silver lining is that she’s a good friend of mine so I know she’s in fact not actually trying to kill me. And because of her I was once in shape. So I’ll keep at it until I can get back in that bikini. Ha. I’ll settle for being able to button my pants without a couple jumps and deep breaths in.
My other must haves are deoderant on hand, granola bars stashed in the diaper bag and my phone charged so I can watch Hulu during those late night nursing sessions. But you can probably manage the rest. I can’t do everything for you guys. Geez.

We’ve been fortunate in the last few years in that Andy’s work schedule has him home for most of the holidays. This year though means he’ll miss out on trick or treating with us, so we decided to have a Halloween party.
Growing up my siblings and I didn’t celebrate holidays. This might seem outrageous to some of you, but we never lacked for things and have cherished memories of so many things other than what we would have gotten for Christmas or birthdays.
I celebrate holidays with my children now, but Andy and I share the common thought that holidays should have more than a materialistic meaning. It’s a time to give back and make it special for not just ourselves. I hope that when my children grow up, they have beautiful memories of the times we shared together and not just that they got a 14 lb chocolate bar from the kook down the street.
Halloween is fun because you get to dress up and you get oogles of candy. But it’s also a great reason to have a party. To gather your friends and family and spend time together. For me, that also means lots of good food and of course prizes! Duh.
I have a tendency to get a bit of anxiety and always want things to be perfect. I stress a bit and think everything has to be in exact order. Then it’s the little things that melt those stressful moments away. Like the smiles of our guests and the giggles of all the little kids. The laughter I can hear from inside the house and the glow in the dark tag session all the nieces started. Tiny people in adorable costumes and the smell of pumpkins that still lingers even the day after we carved.

It had snowed the night before so we opted to set things up in the shop. Cans of paint and tools on the wall make the decor even better in my opinion.

Chilly hayrides were remedied with a toasty fire and lots of hot chocolate.

Pumpkins were carved and lit and the neighbor boy made for a delightful edition to our Halloween decor.

The party died down long after the chili was gone and once the fire was just warm glowing embers.
Last nights marshmallows went in Hayden’s cereal this morning and straw scattered the yard and porch.
Not only are the pumpkins now warm from the morning sun, but so is my heart thinking of all the wonderful people in my life that I get to share this life with.

Okay, so I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve done a 52 post. Sorry about that. But the long wait is over and it’s a fun one.
Andy and I decided it was due time Hayden got a haircut. I had put it off for soooo long because she has such beautiful hair. She’s a bit rowdy though and hates having it tended to. It would get stuck in her clothes and armpits. Snag on the seatbelt of her car seat. And I started to notice she would hold it up when going to the bathroom because it would tickle the top of her cheeks. Alright, I get the hint.
We made an appointment for both Andy and Hayden so it wouldn’t be quite as scary. I was so amazed at how well she did, she had a blast.
BEFORE:

She was so excited to have a pink cape and she was immediately drawn to the hair stylist since she had “really nice pink hair.”
The best part of the deal was that her hair was long enough to donate to Locks of Love. Hopefully we get to make the day for a little girl, or boy. You never know, maybe there is a super rad little surfer boy who needs some curls.
This meant chopping most of it off. I’m surprised how calm I was as I watched her beautiful locks get hacked off. Okay, that’s extreme. Stephanie did a great job.

I had it built up in my mind that it would be traumatic for her. She would cry and break down once she saw her long ponytail in her hands… Oh, how wrong I was.

It was like we had just bought her a new toy. She giggled and whipped it around until I had to finally take it from her before she destroyed it.
AFTER:

It’s a win win all around. She’s in love with her new hair, as am I. And we hopefully are helping someone in need.

Now for the part that makes this suitable for Project 52. One of my very favorite peeps was doing the same thing this week! Along with her boyfriend. Meet Beverly and Mason. The long haired extra awesome sauce couple.

The two chopped their mops and came out looking just as fabulous as ever.

Who would of thought these two lovelies could even get any better? (wink,wink)

It feels so wonderful to give to a good cause and even better that it was something as simple as a little ol haircut.

Even when you don’t work and weekends aren’t really your “days off”, they still just have a special standard to them. Our Saturday morning proved worthy by starting off with blueberry pancakes, Hayden’s favorite.

I had my book club meetup Saturday night and opted to bring a pasta dish with coffee cream sauce. So delicious and easy, thanks April. It needs 3 hours to steep so while we cooked pancakes, I worked on my sauce.

This handsome little man got a bath and I decided the pile of laundry on my couch probably should get folded, it’s been a few days.

The tiny little got some fresh clothes and a snuggle in, and was soon fast asleep. Now I could back to that pot of coffee that had been calling my name.

Hayden helped with laundry, which consisted of her laying on it telling me I was doing a good job. She got bored fast and settled in to catch up with Daniel tiger videos on the IPad. Which gave me an excuse to get my horror flick on.

I don’t remember much of the first Carrie but this remake wasn’t the worst one I’ve ever seen. I know what your all thinking, I should totally be a movie critic.
Sunday consisted of sunshine and soaking in autumn. It’s officially fall in Alaska. It comes earlier for us and goes so fast. But it is so very much my favorite.

The leaves start to scatter the yard and all the foliage turns golden. Tiny fungus friends make their appearance.

My plants get their final bloom in and soak in the morning’s inviting sunshine.

Everywhere you look you see signs of seasons changing.

All this is motivation to get my autumn groove on. Which consists of pumpkin baked goods and decorating the house. I might even have caved this weekend and slurped down a PSL. For those that are out of the loop, that’s a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. I make jokes at the expense of this phenomena, but totes McGoats they are delicious!

Hope you all had a warm and cozy weekend and now it’s back to the Monday grind…

Mornings come reeeally fast now that we have a newborn around. Andy had a hunting trip planned for today and Reid had a checkup so I knew before hand today would be tricky. My first time with two chiclets and I was on a schedule. I’m a horrible morning person already, let alone trying to get three people out the door on time. I was so truly proud of myself when I got up at 8, got both littles up, fed and dressed and even managed to get in a shower and breakfast myself and out the door at 9:30. Here’s the catch though. This is what my house looked like when I left. (I’m actually mortified to show this but it helps the story)

This is the result of a toddler “entertaining herself” and one tired mama catering to a baby that was having a “I refuse to let you put me down” day.

I attempted to do the dishes so many times the night before and this morning and this is as far as I got. A countertop of chaos and a half emptied dishwasher.
What I didn’t take pictures of is myself. I am a hot mess. Sleep deprived and smelly is the best description. You guys, I have to put deoderant on like three times a day. I have no explanation for it. It’s fall here. 60 and breezy. So climate isn’t an issue. It could be the fact that my body has morphed into a dairy cow. When Reid isn’t nursing, I’m either being spit up on, or leaking. You can imagine what I smell like. I’m a real beauty these days. Getting off track though…
I decided to go with the lesser of two evils. Be late and anxious and scrambling to maneuver through traffic to get to the doctor on time, or leave my home in shambles and deal with it later. Two doctor appointments, a trip to the grocery store and a short visit with my sister in law later, and I was back home to manage the mess. Luckily one of the littles fell asleep and got a nap in.

The other little remembered he was hungry and needed a diaper change, so the cleaning was delayed. I discovered fast with him that once he’s tended to he likes to snuggle for a bit. The solution? Enter the Happy wrap.

This wrap is a god send. Reid loves it. He burrows against me and once I get a few dishes in, he’s fast asleep.

I got as much done as I could, a joey in your pouch becomes limiting at some point, and set the mister up in his swing. The other thing I discovered was the vacuum puts him right out. Sooo handy.

Turbo mode kicks in and I start the dance most mamas know. The “go as fast as you can because your baby is going to start screaming at any minute” dance. A short break in between for a diaper change and a feeding and I managed to get the house in order.

Just in time to finally help this rising star search for You Tube videos of Opera singing per her 8 billion requests.

Oh, what will tommorow bring?

I’ll be honest. I didn’t know how I could manage to have room in my heart to love another little person as much as Hayden. But in the last week my heart has grown 137,000 %. This tiny boy has completely taken over me. He’s so perfect and I can’t handle how much I love him. There is this little part of me that is already sad he’s a week old. His sweet little round head fits so snug under my chin and he has that intoxicating newborn smell that I never want to wash off.
Hayden is such a good sister. Even though she’s still up to her usual antics, like demolishing my houseplants with her toy dinosaurs and eating all 30 boxes of yogurt raisins in one day, she helps me so much already. I am convinced she thinks Reid is a dog though. She constantly asks to “pet” him and describes him as cute and fluffy. We’re working on it.
Without further ado, the story of how we welcomed Reid Philip into our lives.

I had been ready to pop for a while. I’ll leave out some of the details but for those that know the lingo, I had already lost my plug, baby had dropped and then dropped some more, was dilated to a 4 and was having regular contractions every day. This kid was coming, yet being a little stubborn. So after much discussion with Andy and my doctor we decided at 39 weeks I would be admitted and have my water broken, hoping that was the last little push I needed to get things finished.
We arranged for Hayden to stay with family for the weekend and headed to the hospital at 6 am last Saturday. The drive in was so pretty and calm, it was peaceful and a perfect start.

We got checked in and set up in our room, and at 7 am my doctor broke my water. The waiting began…

Now here’s the issue I’d been having all along. I would start having contractions 3-4 minutes apart, that were strong and almost up to my pain goal. This would continue for an hour and a half and then just vanish. Like my body was on that last leg of the race and decided “Eh, I could use a water break. I’ll catch back up later.” This continued on until 10:00 that night. “Alright doc, I gave it a shot on my own. Let’s get this baby out. Seriously.” I had been given Pitocin with Hayden and wasn’t opposed to it, just knew it would intensify it all very quickly and wanted to try to let my body do it on its own. I had missed the memo my uterus sent out though that it wasn’t going to stick to the agenda we had discussed. Awesome.
They hooked me up to the drip within an hour and gave word to the anesthesiologist she would be needed soon. Not soon enough my friends.
They ask you to set a pain goal. On a scale of 1-10 at what point do you want an epidural. I opted for a 5. At 4.5 I gave the nurse a jingle and said I needed some drugs thinking I’d get a jump on it before it started getting serious. What I didn’t plan for was contraction hopscotch. It went from 4.5 straight on up to 8 in a hop, skip and a jump. And at this point my singing started. When I really want to yell because it hurts so bad but instead my yells trail off into a little jingle. Finally, an eternity later, and the magical cart filled with drugs arrived. Sherri was the calmest person on the planet, which I appreciated and she began her work on my back.
After some hmmmms and huhs, she told me that trying to administer the epidural on me was like trying to sew leather with a small needle. “Are you a runner or exercise a lot?! Man, this just like solid wood. Look at this Bobbi, it just won’t give at all.” What should of been a compliment, that at least part of me was in shape, was useless to me at this point. I didn’t care if she needed to use a hammer, just get the damn needle in. What I imagined as an hour later, though I’m sure it was 10 minutes, Sherri’s work was done and they laid me back to let it go to work. Soon I was warm and cozy and was telling Sherri she was my absolute favorite person right now.
My nurse Mary Rose was explaining that I would now need a catheter and as soon as my contraction finished she would insert it. Only the contraction didn’t stop and I informed her “You know what? I’m just gonna push, because he’s coming. Right now.” She exchanged the catheter for her phone and rang the front that Dr. Harrison needed to come ASAP. Just a few minutes later she arrived and the magical dance of labor began. It’s all kind of a whirlwind at that point. Poor Andy held my airplane grade puke bag that I began hurling into and the baby garb was laid down on my bed underneath me. This sounds really awesome now doesn’t it?! Ha.
The nausea subsided and I just remember being told PUSH. I missed the first contraction, kind of gun shy on that one. Then ONE contraction, TWO contraction and THREE and that sweet release overcame me, and a gooey squishy little man was put on my chest.
It’s hard to sum up what you feel at that point. Exhaustion, relief, excitement. The human body is an incredible thing. The fact that you created this little being and watched him grow for 9 months and he’s now pink and squirming on your chest, it’s surreal and overwhelming.

I feel like they could have given him a more comfortable first weigh in. Sorry buddy.

The madness died down and we then just got to focus on our beautiful baby. He got cleaned up and checked out, and then it was all snuggles from there on out.
We had a small scare during labor and when his head came out, the cord was wrapped around his neck. He came fast and it was quickly removed and luckily it had happened on his journey out and didn’t cause any damage other than some small markings behind his ear. We were blessed with a healthy baby boy and don’t take that for granted one single bit.

Reid Philip Yochum. All 7 lbs 9 oz of him, born at 1:37 am on Sunday August 17.

We tried to get some sleep but it’s a lot to wind down from. Andy gave it a solid effort.

We finished out the day at the hospital, welcomed family and friends to meet our newest addition, and had Hayden dropped off that afternoon to introduce her to her brother. Unfortunately, she wasn’t real impressed. The balloons were more entertaining.
We stayed the night and checked out by 1:30 on Monday. We got home and got all settled in as a new family of four.

Looking back now, I don’t know how I ever thought I couldn’t love two even more than I love one. I remember being pregnant with Hayden and being utterly terrified and how I struggled that first year to find my place as a mother. All those fears and worries have just melted away and this little boy has brought so much to our family. Those scary moments when I thought I couldn’t handle two, have now transformed into a longing for another. Who knows when or if it will happen but when it does, I’ll welcome it with open arms. Because nothing can beat this kind of all consuming love. This can only be called heaven.

I had a tiny little person! We’ve been a little busy lately and then got really busy with this beautiful, perfect, scrumptious, squishy boy. I just can’t get enough of him.

No worries. We leave the hospital tommorow and then I’ll fill you in on his arrival story. If I can keep my hands off him long enough.

Hayden and I headed into Anchorage earlier today to pick up Andy from the airport, to find out on our way his flight was delayed due to weather. We were within 10 minutes of town so no use turning around, we’d simply buy some time and rummage around town until he made it in.
In our travels, Mary Lambert’s song Secrets came on the radio. It’s a catchy little number where she shares her “secrets” with the world. Like the fact that she wears mom jeans, and enjoys her disfunctional family. It made me laugh and gave me an idea on how I could entertain myself while waiting for Andy to arrive.
We all have unique personalities. Lots of little things that make us tick. And I bet you all have hilarious little quirks that some of your closest friends don’t even know. No one is perfect and it’s all those silly things that make us real. So I invite you to kick back, open up and share some of your dirty little secrets with your friends and family. Start your weekend off with some laughter.

1. I have the biggest sweet tooth of probably any one you’ll meet. Like go out of my way to find dessert. I once resorted to cooking a frozen apple pie I had and waiting up most of the night to eat some. I polished that puppy off in a matter of a few days. By myself. Oye.

2. Careless Whisper by Wham is my ultimate favorite jam. I know every single word and you better believe I rock it.

3. Children scare me. I get really nervous and don’t know what to do with other people’s children. Especially babies. Good thing I’m pregnant.

4. I have movie amnesia. I can watch a movie and 10 minutes later not be able to quote a single line. Don’t ever pick me for “Name That Movie” trivia. We’ll lose.

5. I can’t eat leftovers. Oddly, cold food freaks me out. Especially cold pizza.

6. I laugh at most everything. Even at inappropriate times. It gets me into trouble.

7. I’m horrible at doing dishes. So much so people have commented on it. Multiple times.

8. I often think about elementary school. And how my friends and I played double dutch. All the time. And then I get sad because jumping rope is super rad and people should do it more often.

9. I just recently quit shaving my arms.

10. I’m not a morning person. At all.

11. I can’t brush my teeth without having to pee afterwards. Even if I went right before I brushed my teeth.

12. I can only name a few presidents. Which include Lincoln and Washington. The obvious ones. And I feel good about the fact that I even know who our Vice President is now.

13. I flunked math in high school. Two years in a row.

14. I’m entirely convinced mermaids are real.

15. My tv guilty pleasures are Teen Mom and Love and Hip Hop.

16. I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t get on the country music train. It gives me the ebbie jeebies.

17. I DESPISE tomato seeds. They are slimy and evil and if at all possible I’ll remove them before eating the tomato.

18. If I found a genie and was granted wishes, one of them would be that I lived in the real life version of the show Friends.

19. The most common things that people learn about me in a short amount of time are a) I LOVE Swedish fish and b) I love all things miniature.

20. I’m a cat person.

There you have it folks. Now maybe you know me just a little bit better. Try it, you might just have some fun airing it all out.

This is currently what it looks like around here these days.

I know I have legs and feet, they are just hard to come by. We’re near the end people, and my inner organs couldn’t be happier. I remember being huge and uncomfortable last time, but this kid really has it out for me. He’s pretty active during the day but it’s at night, right as I’m falling asleep that I imagine he takes out his spoon and is trying to tunnel his way to freedom, using my bladder as his bean bag chair to rest on during breaks.
Luckily, it’s been a gorgeous summer and I can catch up on some relaxing in the sun.

And when my feet and my back are killing me and I need a moment you can find me here.

When I notice that the dirty laundry is starting to overtake the laundry room and we don’t have a single clean fork, this is usually what happens.

(don’t worry, I am wearing a shirt in that picture, it’s just nude colored)

It’s very apparent it’s about time to pop, considering that pants are no longer an option in my wardrobe as you may have noticed in my pictures.
Next week starts my weekly doctor visits and guess who couldn’t be more excited to go and push buttons?

In even better news, there is a squishy precious baby girl due in less than 2 weeks and we can’t wait to get our hands on her! It’s about to get baby crazy all up in here. Happy weekend!