The Newest Ballerina | Week In Pictures

I love this picture of Hannah eagerly awaiting the start of her first ballet class.  She's been looking forward to this day for months!  We signed Hannah up for Gymnastics and Ballet this summer through the Park and Rec department.  She started Gymnastics last week (and rocked the balance beam) but she was really excited about her new ballet shoes and leotard.

The class was filled with happy and excited little girls and the instructor was great.  We left the class on a great note... Until a we got about a mile down the road and I noticed my check engine light was on.

Now I didn't talk much about this online, but a month ago the same light came on as I was dropping the kiddos off at the babysitter.  I was going to spend the whole day by myself and was only a few miles from her house.  I figured I'd make it.  

Then the car died and smoke started pouring out of the engine.  Turns out I effectively killed my minivan and the repair bill would almost completely deplete our emergency fund.  

I cussed a lot that week.

So when I saw that (effing) light come back on I pulled over immediately.  

I called the mechanic and told them to expect us (yay for 30 day warrenties!!) and called AAA to get towed.  Then we waited in the (hot.) car for Chris to rescue us and for the tow truck to arrive.  Hannah and I snapped this picture while we waited.  William took advantage of the early nap time and quickly passed out.  It turns out we have another large repair bill coming our way.  JOY!

30 minutes later Chris showed up with cold drinks and cheeseburgers and made the kids VERY happy while we transferred car seats and gave directions to the tow man.

William has been going to Gymboree for a year now, and he really enjoys it.  He's selective about which activities he participates in - he won't sit quietly while the teacher introduces the theme of the week, but loves parachute time and always drags me underneath it with him.  I love that he wants to share that moment with me each week.  His giggle is infectious and it's always the highlight of my day.

William takes a solid 2-3 hour nap each afternoon, but Hannah rarely naps nowadays.  Instead she loves to make art in the afternoon.  This is an example of one of her collages.  (I'm really proud of her for coming up with this idea on her own.  She's done it with lots of different characters and it's always really cute and creative.)  

She picks out a picture from a coloring book - in this case the castle - colors it and cuts it out with scissors, then she glues it to a blank piece of art paper and creates her own background.  Cute, right?

She's also really into Legos.  We put together this Lego Friend's set earlier this week.  (Andrea's Mountain Hut #41031 - retired)  Sadly, Hannah is completely against creatively building with her pieces and insists on following the directions (which requires mom's help).  Hopefully soon she'll give free form legos a try.  Don't tell Hannah, but the baby got her a Lego's Junior set as part of her hospital big sister gift.  I'm hoping it'll help the transition and give her something new to do during quiet time when I'm busy with a newborn.

I also (FINALLY) started getting caught up with YouTube vlogs.  I posted Hannah's Reaction when we told her about the baby, and on Thursday I posted the gender reveal.  Links below if you haven't watched these yet:

Father's Day | Week In Pictures

Although school has been out for a few weeks, this week felt like the first week of Summer.  We kicked off our Summer activities with a week of Vacation Bible School for Hannah.

Each morning I dropped Hannah off at 8:45 and picked her up at noon smiling and happy.  

Each day she'd meet me with a bag full of arts and crafts, and singing beautiful new songs she'd learned.  

Each evening we read the day's bible verse and talked about the lesson she'd learned that day at VBS.  It was awesome to hear her asking these thought provoking questions about the story of Elijah.

The last day of VBS was Crazy Hair day, and although I did exactly what Hannah asked, she declared it 'Too Cute to be Crazy' and considered it a failure - but cute.

While Hannah was busy with VBS each day, William and I had a lot of time together.  One day he spent some time with his buddy, Chase, at the playground.  William is a year younger than this little boy, but they are finally at the age where they can play as peers.

William's current favorite show is Little Einstein's, followed closely by Super Why.  For months he was obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so this is a nice change of pace with more educational shows.  He's become very interested in Letters lately so he particularly likes that about Super Why.

I still don't think William understands that there is an actual baby in my tummy (34 weeks this week), but he finally relented and attempted to feel and listen for the baby.  I'm pretty sure he's convinced I just ate too much ice cream and am making the whole 'baby' thing up.  His world is going to be rocked in July...

I'm a huge fan of Instagram now.  I find it to be an efficient way to follow brands and people that I love.  One brand I follow is Milk Makers, and recently they had a huge sale on their pregnancy cookies (which I saw during snack time) so I bought the 3 box bundle.  I can't recommend these cookies enough if you're pregnant.  They're so tasty, huge, and perfect to keep in your purse when you're hit with a craving.  My sweet tooth has been intense this week, so these were a lifesaver!

My birthday was earlier this month and I'm signed up for just about every birthday club that exists.  I'm cool with free burgers and ice cream.  I snapped this picture of Hannah and William while waiting for my Teriyaki Chicken Burger and Freckled Lemonade at Red Robin.  I order that every time I go and it's so, so, good.

On Saturday Kohl's sponsored a car seat check.  This was my first time having my car seats officially checked and it was a great learning experience.  I was able to pick the technician's brain about different layouts to accommodate foster children, and I was told that my car seats were the best installed they saw all day!!  We had to remove a headrest, and we switched Hannah to a seat belt install since she had just hit the weight limit for LATCH.  (I knew that she was getting close but waited to switch it until we had the seat professionally installed.)  She also helped me install the infant car seat base, so we're all ready for baby!  

Well, the minivan is ready for baby.  I still have some newborn laundry to do.

I can't get over how old William looks in this picture.  

My little boy is getting so big! (He turned 27 months this week.)

The week ended with Father's Day.  I snapped this picture at our Go To restaurant choice - Sweet Tomatoes.  Seriously, I love this place.  They have an extensive salad bar that the kids go crazy for, and everything is already bite sized, so when we get to our table I don't have to cut everything up for them.  Moms know - this is huge.  They also have these tiny little ice cream cones which the kids beg for.  Tiny dessert that appeases toddlers?  Winner.  I've signed up for their Club Veg and regularly get a coupon for 2 adult dinners with beverage for $19.99.  Hannah is a couple dollars and William is free.  Family dinner at a restaurant for under $25!  

I love this face.

Mother's Day and Father's Day are very laid back at our house.  There's no footprint art or ugly neckties given as gifts.  Instead we usually start the day with a great breakfast and go to church.  All day you are not the PIC - Parent in Charge.  No diaper duty, no mediating bickering kids, no bedtime duty.  You just get to enjoy your family and then when they throw a tantrum your partner takes over.  It's awesome.  Plus dinner is your choice.  

Overall this was a great week.  We were busy in the mornings, but spent a lot of quality time together in the evenings.

Note - This Summer is going to get crazy once the baby arrives in late July.  If you haven't already added me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter make sure you do!  I update each of those platforms on a near daily basis.

Video Roundup for July 27th - August 2nd

With VEDA (Vlog every Day in August) and Vlogust kicking off this week, my YouTube subscription box is overflowing with videos.  In case you're having a hard time keeping up with the new videos and mine got lost in the shuffle, here are the videos I posted this week:

Epic Water Slide - Roadtrip Part 2 (watch Part 1 HERE)

I really love this video.  We left Grandma's house and on the way home we spent the night at a water park, camped at Yellowstone National Park, and the slept in a hotel in Boise.  I edited down over 4 hours of footage, so this video is full of the best clips from our vacation.

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Birchbox vs Ipsy - July 2014

This month's Battle of the Beauty Boxes was perhaps the closest match up yet.  Fabulous cosmetics and skin care products, testing out new brands, and a few favorite products as well.  Which box came out on top in your opinion?

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Julep Nail Polish Unboxing - July 2014

When I got back from vacation I had all my subscription boxes waiting to be opened and so I filmed them all in one day.  Thus, this is the week of the green shirt.   I really enjoy my Julep box each month because I have some control over what colors I receive and the products are always full sized so I feel like it's a great value.

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Citrus Lane Unboxing - 17 Month Old Boy - July 2014

I have been receiving Citrus Lane boxes for over 3 years and really enjoy them each month.  I like that the products are a surprise each month, but that they're catered to my child's gender and age.  Here's William's box which included this great pretend cell phone from Plan Toys

A big thank you to all of my subscribers!  I've almost reach 17,000 subscribers which is incredible and humbling.  If you haven't checked out my channel yet, here's the link:  TheBubblelush

Behind the Scenes in Seattle - WITL 65

I really like this week's Week In The Life video (WITL 65) but we had such a great time and I took so much footage that I couldn't fit in some of the photos that we took on a trip to Seattle.  Like this gem:

If you haven't watched this video yet, make sure to check it out.  Hannah graduates preschool, we attend the annual company party at the Museum of Aviation, and then we spent Saturday morning at Pike's Place market watching them catch fish, drinking Starbucks and eating delicious pastries.  And at the end of it I got to stop in to Marie Bitsandclip's birthday party and finally meet her son Luca.  It was such a fun trip!

It's Happy Hour | WITL 58

Week In The Life 58 - It's Happy Hour!

I attempt to set a Guinness World Record, Hannah wears baby clothes, William is a pizza head, 

Chris eats goldfish by the handful, and we all celebrate with cheesecake.  Life is as it should be.  

Subscribe to theBubblelush on YouTube and you won't miss a vlog!

==Sign Up for Julep and Get your first box FREE with code FREEBOX

Learn more about Julep.  Here's a blog post I wrote about the May Boxes: 

http://www.bubblelush.com/2014/04/sneak-peek-of-juleps-fresh-colors-for.html

==Check Out These Videos:

ONE YEAR AGO: http://youtu.be/3dbXN244Kls

LAST WEEK: http://youtu.be/5rsGqlgROGk

==WHAT DOES WITL MEAN?

My name is Carla, and I've been vlogging our family for the past 5 years.  Through infertility, pregnancy, and now life as a family of four, I film little clips of our daily lives and combine them into Week In The Life vlogs.  Follow along, get to know us, and don't forget to subscribe!

==Other Places To Find Me:

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Hannah Found The Golden Egg

In the latest Week In The Life vlog #57 we go grocery shopping at the Asian Market, William throws up on me, I dance around to Bruno Mars instead of cleaning, Hannah shows off her April Kiwi Crate, we dye Easter Eggs and all then celebrate all the Easter family goodness.

William is 12.5 months old and Hannah is 3.5 years old

I've gotta admit, I love this video.  Hannah was SO funny during the Easter Egg hunts.  There is a bit of an audio sync issue at the end of the video, and I spent days trying to fix it to no avail.  It's minor, but in case you were going to let me know, I know - but thank you. 

Tip Toeing in the Tulips - Throwback Thursday

Springtime in Oregon means a trip to the tulip fields for our family.  I shared footage of our trip in last week's Week In The Life vlog (WITL 56), but thought I'd share some more pictures from this year - and last year!  When I look back at our annual tulip pictures I see more than just flowers and smiles.  I can see everything we were feeling as a family at that moment.

Last year we went a little earlier in the season because we wanted to bring Christopher's parents out to the fields while they were visiting from Minnesota.  In this picture William is just 10 days old, which means I'm 10 days postpartum - and I look haggard.  I was exhausted, and I've got some impressive sleep deprivation wrinkles.  We had just begun the process of transitioning to a family of four, and the growing pains were tough for everyone.  Hannah was so excited to have the attention of 4 adults including 2 grandparents that were doting on her, and was so proud to wear her big sister backpack she'd received at the hospital the week before.  It was windy that day and in my rush to pack for our first family outing with TWO kids, I forgot a coat for myself.  I was cold and could barely walk the fields, but wanted to badly to sit that aside and savor this day with both of my children.

Thankfully this year we hit the fields on a gorgeous sunny April day with fields fully in bloom, two kids excited to run around a farm, and everyone got 8+ hours of sleep the night before.  William had no interest in looking at the camera and seemed to attract every ounce of dust and dirt in a 5 foot radius of him.  He even managed to fall into the only mud puddle we saw that day.  He was caked in dirt by the end of the day and enjoyed every second of it.  

Hannah really hated posing for pictures.  The sun was too bright for this Northwest girl, and she would rather roam up and down the rows looking for broken flowers because she knew she wasn't allowed to pick any (farm rules).  Every time she saw someone that worked at the farm she explained that she didn't pick them, she found them, and she was going to take them home and keep them forever.

Chris and I had a wonderful day watching the kids explore.  I love this picture of us, and the picture of Hannah below turned out so cute!

 

Each year I take a picture of Hannah in the wooden shoes, and this year William joined her!  

It's amazing the difference a year makes.

For our first vacation as a family back in 2011, we went to San Diego with a 10 month old Hannah.  In the middle of Balboa Park, Chris took pictures of me throwing Hannah up in the air.  She loved it.

Just like his big sister, William laughed hysterically after every toss and I was able to capture some great shots of 12 month old William in the tulip fields.

I love the perspective of this shot.  He was so happy!

Watch the video below to see more of the beautiful flowers at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Oregon. (Video Link)

Merry Christmas! WITL 41

Week 41 - December 23 - 29, 2013

Merry Christmas everyone!  When I started editing this week's footage I had over an hour of video to pare down to under 20 minutes - because let's face it, 20 minutes is still MORE than enough.  Because of this I kept other days minimal and just focused on Christmas morning and present opening.

Christmas Eve church service was really nice.  My parents came with us and the kids looked so cute in their outfits - William with pinstripe vest and pants and a hot pink pocket square, and Hannah with a beautiful dress that she fell in love with at the store.  Unfortunately we decided to go to the 4pm service, and Hannah was so excited to see Memaw and PaPa that she went down late for a nap and woke up with a grumpy overtired attitude.  William ate puffs by the handfuls and was jabbering during the service.  It was far from picturesque, but in other ways it was exactly how church with a 9m old and 3 year old should be.  

Christmas Morning was better than I imagined.  Hannah and William slowly made their way through the presents and we were still opening some well after dinnertime.  They spent the whole day playing, laughing, trying to walk, watching Little Mermaid, and playing with Play Doh.  I just had to include a picture of Santa's cookie plate.  Hannah did a great job writing Santa! (She's 39 months)

Speaking of 'trying to walk' William took his first real step on Christmas!  

I didn't get it on film, but I captured nearly every failed attempt.  Figures.  Oh well. 

And finally - look at my 'little' girl.  She's wearing her Belle earrings which make her look like a teenager.  She's so smart and sweet and beautiful.