Battle Creek Canyon

If you find yourself wondering what to do on a Tuesday night and you happen to live near Utah County Utah, I highly recommend the Battle Creek Canyon hike. It was a multicultural experience filled with random adolescent smokers, families repelling, and waterfalls. We even saw a girl with a naked (seriously) Incredible Hulk tattoo on her thigh (basically the most hard core tat ever). How could you go wrong? Clint is the leader of our church youth group and I bet him $10 by the end of the hike at least one kid would be drenched. There were three-I made $30. And Annabelle was right in the middle of them :). 

I am very excited for my mom and sister to move in with us this year! My mom has been here 5 days total and I am already elbows deep in paint and Country Living magazine inspiration as we are decorating my craft loft/studio/office/room/place. One of my favorite things about my mom is that she is a do-er. Any project is a possibility and when I need that push of confidence to get going, she's willing to push. Her and Annabelle are such helpful souls. Bless them.

(I got a little carried away with my new photo apps but I still love these pictures)

  

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iPhone goes to St. George

My iPhone (aka Phillis) also came to St. George with us and I was so rude to not include her efforts on my last post. I am sorry iPhone Phillis. Here are some Instagram pics and a fun video I made while playing around with my new favorite video app 8mm. The music is Sondre Lerche.

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St. George

I'm back! And I've missed you bloggety blog blog! So July was nuts. Crazy busy nuts. And it was a ton of fun+driving+pumping+food+vacations(ish)+family. August is shaping up to be busy too (surprise!) but I feel lucky that my biggest life complaint is that I have too much that I want to do and too little time to do it all...poor me. So to get back to the important things...which is this blog duh...I will start with the beginning of our summer travels. Our journey begins in the southern Utah (pronounced Oooo-ta) town of St. George. Here Adams family Davey Tasha Evie Stella reside.

We couldn't wait to squeeze into our swimsuits and swan dive into their new pool. Liam went swimming for the first time and I think he was a fan. In the bath he kicks like Richard Simmons but the pool was a bit of a sensory overload...so he chillaxed and ate his fingers mostly.

Evie and Stella were most gracious hosts (of course) and with much peer pressure we convinced Evie to dive while standing! Big deal people!

And my kid is the cutest there ever was. Ever. 

Camera shy...

Ever. 

Here is my free plug for Plaid Barn (which is a big deal considering how influential I am really ;) ). Plaid Barn is a daily email for fun crafty crap and I LOVE them. That's where I got these jar lids.

We are getting there post-prego body!

And I couldn't not share these photos...

St. George turned out to be one of my favorite parts of this summer. Warm night swimming and great company made it a trip worth repeating. We loved spending time with Clint's brother and his family. Evie and Stella are 2 of my favorites of all time :).

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Breast Friends

Yo folks. So sorry for the post-lacking. I am super busy but here is a little post I wrote on the road. WARNING: I talk about boobs the whole time. You're welcome.

So all this summer travel has inspired me to post about a topic near (literally) and dear to our hearts...breasts. These culturally charged parts of our anatomy come in all shapes and sizes and serve a common function for all (most maybe? I need to research this) our mammalian friends, which is, they produce milk. And let me tell you, my calf/pup/piglet/kid LOVES him some milk. So much so that as we drive, swim, shop, eat, and play I am usually interspersing said activities with breastfeeding. This makes my girls (aka breasts) a very flexible (pun intended) commodity.

Exhibit 1: where did these come from?

This phrase ("where did these come from?") probably best describes all of pregnancy and parenting in general. Like, "Where did these breasts come from?" or "Where did these stretch marks come from?" and my personal favorite, "Where did these kids come from?". For me, and every mommy friend I personally know, mommy boobs are a total surprise. Boobs grow, areolas grow, stretch marks appear, you start leaking. All very horror-movie-ish. But the great thing about it all is that for the first time ever your boobs are this irreplaceable tool to sustaining human life. And they just know what to do without being told. For me as a mom, it's kind of nice to have one thing that doesn't need to be bossed around.

Exhibit 2: the sag effect

It is a universal fact (actually it is totally not universal, but I like to think all nursing women are sharing my sag story) that milked boobs equal saggy boobs. There has to be a reason. I thought. And a few weeks ago I had an epiphany. I told Clint, "I got it! Mother Nature makes nursing breasts saggy so that they can adjust to all positions." This makes sense. Most women are not out there yelling this from the rooftops but breastfeeding takes on many positions. Liam's personal favorite is the laying position. With a little sag in the breast I can sleep on my side or back while Liam cuddles up next to me and sucks. Never though I would be proud of the sag, but it is effective when trying to sleep and keep Nuggets happy.
To finish my epiphany story, Clint responded, "No boobs get saggy 'cus they fill up with milk and empty milk so much...you know, like when you blow up a balloon and let the air out. That balloon will never be the same."
I am still working on brainwashing Clint to agree with everything I say. Thanks for crushing my empowering Mother Nature theory babe ;).

Exhibit 3: nursing in the car (in seat belts...don't freak out mom)

So I mentioned locations of nursing and these locations are basically everywhere. In they last week I have breastfed lying in bed (a bunch), at the side of a pool, in a GAP changing room, in an Old Navy (not changing room), in a few restaurants (Nuggets got to eat too folks), in Yosemite Mariposa Grove and the location I am most proud that I safely negotiated was nursing Nugget while he was in his carseat and I was still buckled in. I hovered, more or less, and the "sag effect" chipped in a bit too. The way I see it, I wouldn't judge a momma for feeding her toddler some snacks, why judge a momma for feeding her baby milk?

Exhibit 4: oxytocin (aka: I'm sleepy)

Finally, breasts when feeding release this nifty hormone called oxytocin into your body and your baby's body. This, as I learned in neuro-psychology, is the feel-good hormone (and you thought I would never use my degree). It also makes you sleepy which thus makes mom's the victims of inadvertent naps. I feel very much like a victim when I lay down to feed Nugget and wake up 2 hours later to find him ready to play and nothing accomplished while he slept. These moments are the moments I must give myself 2 pep talks. 1: you sleep when he sleeps. period. and 2: being with your baby is never a waste of time (it doesn't last forever I hear).

So there you have it. Breast are not scary. Spoiler alert Hollywood: breast, most of the time are not even sexy. But they can be milk-makers. They can be saggy. They could possibly have stretch marks. And they are a happy gift in the world. I'm sure glad I have mine. 

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irons in the fire.

Hello all! This week has been nutzo. And it is about to get even crazier. But before we get into the crazy, lets talk pondering. I have been pondering the direction(s) to take my blog. Of course your feedback is always welcome, but here are some of my thoughts. The Wednesday Wish list just isn't doing it for me. I would rather spend time documenting and sharing my craft/scrapbook/house projects. This is tempting me to do some DIY posts...experiment a little. When I got to this point in my contemplations I realized...I want a prettier blog (1st iron). So I need to teach myself how to make it prettier...which means some of my blogging time will be reallocated to design and I will have to decrease posting for a bit. Then I realized...I LOVE to blog. I haven't had this much fun with a project in a while. So I want a good blog, one that reflects my blog vision. Thus planning good content is a must (2nd iron). And now we get to all that is crazy in life (all my other irons): 

Last week: Grandpa Adams in and out and in and out of hospital (seems to be doing much better). Liam constipation (lovely). Bought a necklace. Bought Ellen sunglasses. Breastfed Liam. Made dinner every night (this is huge, like huge for me). Worked on my book (a book I am writing with a former professor that is almost finished and I really want to finish it because it is time to move on and I am so excited for it to be published and be an official author, which basically affirms how cool [or nerdy] I am). Cleaned house (always takes longer than planned). Planted grass. Spread bark. Breastfed Liam again. Laundry, oh my laundry. P90X. 

This week: Made fringe banner and hula skirt for Husband's birthday (DIY post to come). Bough jar lids that hold a straw (for birthday party, and yes...they are amazing). Tried on pre-prego swimsuit (it fit. so happy I could cry). Bought Bumbo. Returned Bumbo (Nuggets legs were too fat and didn't fit in the seat). Worked on book some more. Trained to do customer-service emails at Husband's work. Picnic. Breastfed. Breastfed. Breastfed. 

Next week (and this is where it gets way fun/way busy): Down to St. George for Clint/Davey/Evie/Stella birthday party. Up to Tahoe for 4th of July fireworks and celebration. Over to Yosemite for Macdonald's family reunion. Lots of pictures and posts to follow. And I will finish that book so help me!

Oh...and today Husband is 28. Happy Birthday old man ;)

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Happy Father's Day Dad!

I love my dad. 

Here are a few things you should know about my dad:

My dad is a landscaper

My dad rides a motorcycle 

 

My dad has a "lucky leg"

My dad eats chips with cottage cheese

My dad is a really good snowboarder

My dad is your cable guy

My dad makes us laugh

My dad loves being a grandpa

My dad is a great teacher

My dad does a great funky chicken

My dad renovates homes

My dad mountain bikes

My dad hikes every day

My dad taught me how to use a Mac

My dad has a mustache

My dad is learning to weld

My dad has a six-pack

My dad is a great dad 

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Too good to pass up and oh I am official now!

So here is some exciting news. This psychology major, women's studies minor is on her way to being a computer geek (ish). During Nugget's micro-naps (too short to consider naps) I have been doing my blogging homework. I am designing/redesigning a custom blog with buttons, multiple pages, etc. and the first thing I figured out (which really wasn't hard but there is a learning curve here people) is to create a custom domain. What that means is that my blog URL is www.aruffledlife.com now (not alixandralewisadams.blogspot)! I'm official! Woot woot!!! This is probably way more exciting for me than any of you but this is my blog so deal ;).

K now on to the stuff that was too good to pass up. These pics are a month old but I couldn't not share. This is my brother Fischer giving Liam a bath. So perfect. He was so worried he would hurt Nugget that it took him 20 minutes to complete the bath and the water was cold by the end. Check it out:

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