{one step closer}

livy's lil wardrobe
[read: mostly chloe's cute hand-me-downs]
are washed & pressed.

do i typically iron onezies & pajamas?

um...
that would be a
{big fat}
n-o.


however:
did i just this once?

yep!
{sure did...}

*i wanted to make sure
{all my love}
was all back in 'em.

[happy thursday!]

a note to self

sometimes i forget.

{so i made myself a reminder sign for our bedroom.}

‘cause let’s get real:

my life = so much better/inspired

when i’m diligent with my prayers.

such a simple little thing:

helps me deal with my constant angie-craziness.

***

last night mid-insomniac-session, i read this.

and i felt peace beyond reason.

i am so grateful that through all the many challenges of life...

[potty training & economic depressions included]

...i have a loving heavenly father that will help me fight my daily goliaths.

{if i just remember to ask...}

*happy wednesday!

the caliber of sheer {excitement} i have
for baby livy's upcoming arrival

rose about five hundred [more] levels tonight...

when i re-discovered these treasures:


the tiniest/sweetest pair of hand-knitted white baby booties...

lovingly made by my amazing/talented grandma dent.

{and i have many more equally adorable pairs in a varitey of colors.}

not only are they SO CUTE...they never come off.
they are cozy.
and stylin'.
and washable.
and so soft.
and perfect.

and just beyond-special to me,
{because i seriously ADORE my grandma.}

*i can't wait for girlie #2 to sport them everyday of infant-hood.*

finding them tonight reminded me how much i am {obsessed} with tiny-newness fresh from heaven.

i momentarily re-lived all sorts of happy emotions from when chloe was just a miniature waa-waa:


it seems like fer reals {yesterday} that we were wrapping her up like a burrito [hence the above hilarious picture], burping her like a buddha, and just discovering day-by-day the INSANE l-o-v-e that comes with bein' parents.

humbled & blessed are words that can't even begin to describe my feelings on bein' a mom to sweet chlo' & baby liv.

my cup runneth over.
{hardcore.}


during tonight's holler/claud/angie american idol party {go danny gokey!}...
i busted out & started organizing chloe's old NB-3 month clothes.

c-hop & i took inventory of everything.
{it was enjoyable.}

i plan to wash & press
all 'er little onesies/sleepers/outfits tomorrow.
*so they'll be {like-ish} new.

...and perhaps [sometime soon] go out and purchase {one-or-two} little simple-n-soft things...

[just for our olivia.]

***

[happy 3 weeks & 1 day 'til we meet!]

couch love

there are many things to dig about
livin' @ my folks house:

*fabulous company
*extra laughs, smiles, & "good-mornings"
*in-house voice of reason{s}
*an a-mazing ward fam
*helping hands/hearts when i need them most
*holly's mouthwatering popcorn
*claud's TDF cooking
*AI parties
*crushed ice & water in the door of the fridge
*off-the-hook playroom rights 24/7
*crafty projects continuously going
*shower heads that work

[just to name a few...]

***

dixon suite #5 is quite comfortable & charmingly cozy.
*my parents have been so accommodating*
[bless their stinkin' hearts.]

AND
{i even cleaned, dusted, & vacuumed today!}

***

but ladies and gents:
say hello {see visual above}
to the tightest part about our current living quarters.

allow me to introduce you to:
a dixon relic,
a sweet chunk o' history,
the most AMAZING piece of furniture ev.er.

it's true.
{all...if not [most] of my sibs would agree}
it basically rocks all other sofas [to the death.]

with it's 70's upholstered amazing-ness...
loved/torn fabric...
beyond-worn cushions...
& all.

***

it was my parents first couch in utah. {tender!}
it moved with us to arizona in '91.
it travelled with me to my college-ish apartment.
and then back to the dixon res.
after which it took a turn @ eric's bachelor pad.
and now it's b-aaaa-aaa-ck...

...for me to love & enjoy.
{thanks for buying a new leather living room set, eric!}

and later tonight,
i shall sit upon it's comfy-ness, hold hands with my boyfriend, sip a delightful beverage of my choice, and watch me some dvr'd jack bauer.

{see: it serves me well.}

***

oh! and don't worry:
i've made it my personal mission to keep this hog in the family.

as in: i kinda won't let my parents get rid of it.

afterall:
*ry-dawg still needs time to bond with it post-mish.

*and i have {no doubt} hollister will find a great future-use for 'im as well.

[that's all!]

happy *GO SUNS* tuesday!

we surround them

i just emailed our above lil photo to foxnews.com.

why you ask?

'cause our angie&myron-hearts {firmly} believe in all nine of these principles:

1. america is good.

2. i believe in god and he is the center of my life.

3. i must always try to be a more honest person than i was yesterday.

4. the family is sacred. my spouse and i are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. if you break the law you pay the penalty. justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. i have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. i work hard for what i have and i will share it with who i want to. government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. it is not un-american for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. the government works for me. i do not answer to them, they answer to me.

***

if you believe {in at least} 7 out of 9 of these principles...
email your photo to
wesurroundthem@gmail.com

visit HERE for more details.

but no matter what...
{have a happy president's day!}

another one bites the dust

my better half is now officially under the weather too.

good news is though:
apparently chloe {DOES} know how to share!

***

and despite my best efforts at avoiding sickhood,
body aches & chills indicate i am due for a few days of {blah} myself.

[i suppose] we are super thankful to be gettin' this
all out of our system before olivia joins the party...

but let's get real:
i'll be kinda ecstatic when all is good & {healthy} in the world again.

[happy monday!]
*...and pass the kleenex, would ya?

a love story

when i picture the perf
valentine's day
in my head,
i see lovely images of :

*delectable frosted sugar cookies
*lots of pink & red
*smiles & hugs
*notes of love
*hot dates with a favorite redhead
*hand holding
*sugar by the bucket loads
*fun valentines for family, friends, and neighbors
*random acts of kindness
*breakfast in bed
*sweet texts
etc.

but i don't so much
think of:


the croup.
{yuck.}

that's right:

our curly-headed toddler has unfortunately been stricken with a nasty bug here on the day/week of love.

yesterday, she even said to me
[in her sickie-mini-man-voice.]
"momma, i just can't eben smile today."
{sad face.}

my heart goes out to her & her runny nose.
[fer real.]

yesterday i started feeling sorry for myself too.
i sarcastically thought/voiced to whoever would listen:
"great, my girl is sick."
"great, i might get sick."
"great, she might get other people sick."
"fabulous, i'm going to get NO sleep tonight."
etc.

plans to frost sugar cookies &
make personalized handmade things for my fam
kinda fell by the wayside.

yesterday was [instead] dedicated to cuddling.
watching endless episodes of dora with my warm, shivering girl.
taking naps-a-plenty.
{and hand washing instead of holding.}

***

this morn around 4:03am we were up for tylenol dose #456.

i rocked my sad, miserable, croupy girl, cuddled next to the freezing open window.

and i think i had more love in my heart at that very moment
than i ever have before on any other valentine's day.

at that instant, i felt an OOC sense of gratitude for the opportunity i have to
love & nurture.

*we both fell asleep,
mid angie-happy-tears & chloe-sad-tears.

***

around 7:20, my man woke me up to say peace out.
he was off to work for 2-8hour shifts.
[and yes, that's a 16 hour day.]

he does it for us.
{because he loves us.}

and as i said goodbye back,
i felt the same feeling of gratitude for the
opportunity i have in my life to
be loved & nurtured.

***

this valentine's {may not} be filled with hot dates all dressed up, elaborate handmade cards, candle light dinners, and fun frosting sugar cookies...

but it is filled with love.
{and love is all i need.}

happy valentine's day!

a place for everything {and everything in it's place}

february [thus far] has been pretty much amazing.

i've had time to do things that i haven't had time to do in a really long time.

namely:
1. relax
2. be lazy
3. over sleep
4. grow a baby full-time style

{it's been heaven.}

whilst paryting 24/7 @ the dixon res,
i've managed to get a couple lil projects/randomicity done.

and i have muchos more on my
[nesting season] list
before baby olivia makes her entrance
exactly one month [minus 5-ish hours] from this very moment.
[yay!]

remember question #1 on this post?

well, thanks to you & your awesome.com advice,
i was inspired to rid my life of the above un-needed documents, statements, etc...that have filled 1/3 of my craft room closet forev, it seems.

i have saved {everything} since i got married 6 years ago
& office max boxes filled with papers were kinda plotting to take over our dunn-existence.

so....i shredded my life away for the better part of a saturday.
[it was extremely boring.]
{and annoying.}
[but suprisingly satisfying/theraputic.]


all i saved was tax docs, important house papers, 1 years worth of bill statements, and random files/personal stuff/receipts, etc...that i knew i'd need.

i went from 6+ boxes of semi-untouched paperwork, to this:

three happy little plastic organizational folders compliments of walmart.

*i heart polka dots, stripes, and bright colors.

[...and labeling things with stickers.]

my files are marked with little bright baby post-its...

{...so i can change them if i need to.}

it felt [fab] having recycle-bin-man come & take away my shredded clutter.

as in: i am so glad to have this project finished!

***

a place for everything
[and everything in it's place.]

...makes me feel like a new woman/girl!

{happy friday everyone!}

holl-chloe & chlo-holly respectively

blog world: meet my daughter, holl-chloe.

[apparently, that's her new name.]

'cause you see:
since we moved into my parentals abode, i've just had a {terrible} time gettin' her name straight.

9 times/10 i mix 'er up with my little sister, holly.

or now, referred to as, chlo-holly.


you'd think it wouldn't be that hard to call them by the correct name.

[but it is.]

maybe it's 'cause they're both really cute, really tiny, and really fun to live with.

{probably.}


***

oh! & ps:
[just incase you missed it...]
she ROCKED the freaking house with her mae-number @ the talent show.

as in: she's a total star.

GO CHLO-HOLLY!!!

[*happy monday!]

um, just wondering...

can we put this moment in a bottle & save it for all time, please.

thanks, 'preciate it.

[happy weekend!]

20 things

[me & liv @ 30-somethin' weeks.]

my sister did this on her blog a while back.
{and i'm copying.}

20 things about me:

one:
i sing all three verses of "never let the water run" {a really awesome barney song} to chloe twice a day while she brushes her teeth.

two:
i have 3 peeps numbers entered into my cell phone contact list.
1. julie, our awesome mesa-tenant
2. our ac guy, ryan
&
3. cafe rio
yep: i dial myron's number manually every time.

three:
i used to steal red hots from my first grade teacher's candy dish during recess.
i still feel guilty about this.
{true story.}
[mrs. brenchly: i'm sorry!!]

four:
me & myron are getting our concealed weapons licences in the very near future.

five:
i'm not a fan of travel.
[i'd rather stay home.]
but the most magical place i've ever been is boston.
i'd love to spend a spring-weekend-away with my man there.

six:
i deleted my facebook account.
the blogster's enough for me.

seven:
i think i love glenn beck so much because he reminds me of a bigger blonde myron.
conservative, opinionated, and oh-so entertaining.

eight:
today i counted the number of scrapbook pages i've created in my past four years of teaching at the store.
392 single page spreads.

nine:
i'm trying to stop my out-control-habit of saying crap every three minutes.
because every so oft my sweet/innocent chloe busts out a "cwap."
{kind of hysterical, but probably not appropriate for a 2 year old.}

ten:
last month i wore a new super-cute shade maternity shirt twice [all day long] without noticing the tag was still hanging out the bottom.
{awesome.}

eleven:
i test paper models for this cool website, as one of my many little side jobs.

twelve:
i don't dislike very many things.
but i can safely say i'm not a huge fan of:
the process of filing taxes, young women's softball/volleyball, maternity pants of all varieties, and the audition weeks of american idol.

thirteen:
i am truly the most non-observant person in the world.
i just don't care that much about learning.
you will never hear me say: "now let's look that up in the dictionary!"
i'm just content being averagely knowledgeable.

fourteen:
i'm a sucker for anything hello kitty.
i think she's {adorable.}

fifteen:
if i had all the money in the world to make a difference,
i'd open a center for young girls.
kinda like the boys & girls club.
{minus the boys.}

sixteen:
when i'm stressed,
i count in my head to five hundred+.
order calms me.
is that psycho?

seventeen:
i think my favorite song of all time is
"i'll follow you into the dark"
by death cab for cutie

eighteen:
i can't think about my wedding reception {almost 6!} years ago, without smiling ear to ear.
it was the perfect pink & orange evening.
[sigh.]

nineteen:
i still sometimes dial ryan's cell phone number when i hear a joke i think he'd like.
[he's been on a mission since july.]

twenty:
this pregnancy i have worn a size medium men's hanes gray pocket t + myron's athletic shorts about 80% of the time. i only dress up {in jeans} if/when i leave the house. [and sometimes not even then.]

k...time to make YOUR lists!!


love ya!
[happy wednesday...]

good thing i'm not superstitious

my second girlie will be arriving soon.

38 days to be exact.
[but who's counting?]

did i tell ya i scheduled my c-section?

friday the 13th of march.

so excited i {almost} can't wait.
[but i will.]

***

happy tuesday-almost-wednesday!

happenings

***

it's february folks!

*halle-freaking-luiah!!

all pre-olivia worky-ish deadlines are behind me.
and i'm feelin' GOOD!

this is a sample of the ha-uge scrapbook job/blessing i've been working on for the past 6+ weeks.

i designed a 50 page, 2ft x 4ft scrapbook for banner baywood medical center.

due to my {unfortunate} photog skills...it's kinda hard to see...but you get the idea.

big job.
glad it's signed, sealed & delivered.
indeed thankful for the opportunity.

***

um...what else?

my new class @ scrapbook etc. was last week as well.
{scrap it simple.}

here are the three layouts we did:

and here are the extra lickity-slip 4x6 panel card {ideas} that i displayed at class.
[can't wait to put my 2008-snapshot album together...]

ya know, eventually.

in celebration of being done with a very crazy january,
and the beginning of my {very} favorite month in az...

i visited rolf's to color & chop my hair.
[thanks again sis...]

oh!

and this friday night....
my CUTER than cute little sis/flat-mate holly
is performing in a talent show.


i think you [yes you] should come.
because she's basically a total professional.
she'll be playing piano/signing a song by mae.
{i've heard her practice.}
and it's amazing.

it's four bucks a seat.
@ TJH/aka my old stomping grounds.
and every ticket helps send her on a choir-disneyland trip.

if you're interested in comin', email her for tickets.
[holldoll369@gmail.com]
or read her cute blog for more information, dawgs.

and until we meet again...

happy february!
[i can already feel the LOVE!!]