addict.

i've decided i have an addiction to shopping. when i go online and pick out shoes, i get a rush, like a literal rush of adrenaline, heart pumping faster, excitement... when i click the "complete your order" button, i feel a sense of exhilaration, like i am the best shopper ever.

yet it occurred to me today, that this is supposed to be our family blog. yet many of these posts are dedicated to my success shopping. i was a little embarrassed that this takes up an extensive amount of my blog, however most of the people reading this know my shoe fetish or have read about it at least, {and my husband never reads this so he could care less what i put on here} sooo if you don't care, move along down the blog reader then.

anyhow. i got some money to DSW{the best shoe store in the entire world btw} in the mail a couple weeks ago and spent many hours grazing through their website to find the perfect shoes, none of which called my name, so i saved it. until today, when i got a $10.00 off coupon for my birthday. score one for melissa. soo, i got $30.00 to spend. after several hours of debating between three pairs, of which my husband ultimately decided which ones i should get "those look like they're made out of rubber melissa" or "ehh they aren't my favorite" or "don't you already have a pair like that?" {to which i answered "definitely not, these are waay different"}, we narrowed it down to these  {in black} aren't they just fabulous?? i know  i know, i have great taste.

now, because my membership is used when the lowry's come into town and buy extensive amounts of shoes {huzzah tiffy and kassie} and when my mom comes into town, i am a premiere member of the DSW rewards club. ohhhh yeah. be jealous. basically that means i get next day shipping for free. so i'll get them tomorrow {that's worth $24.50 just so you know}. =)

all in all, i spent $10.62 on shoes that cost $69.00 + tax + $24.50 for shipping. success.

i wish they had a degree or a job for excellent bargain shopping. or finding good deals on clothes. or something along those lines. cuz i'm pretty much amazing at it. man, i still get excited thinking about those shoes. i have a problem.

brecky breck.

after a successful trip, we are back in the natural world. well technically, that was the natural world, but it was gorgeously unreal.

{isn't this place gorgeous?!}

 in case you don't know, breckenridge is about 2 hours outside of denver. and at about 16,000 ft. meaning that it's ridiculously hard to breathe. and push a stroller up a hill. on the plus side, i probably walked like 5 miles everyday and pushed him everywhere, including up several hills {so this is the first trip this summer where i actually did something, and my pants feel it funny how that works}.

did i mention i finally fit into one pair of my pre zakary pants?? it's only been 3 months!! huzzah huzzah! you people who just have it all melt off within the first month have no idea how lucky you are.. we've still got about 10 lbs left, but out of the 45 i guess that's not too shabby.

back to the trip, i will say we did absolutely nothing but shop. my kinda trip. =)) the bub's a little too little to do any of the biking/hiking/rafting things they offer so there isn't much i could do with him. especially since he still needs to eat every 4-5 hours.

i'm too tired to think of what we've learned this trip so here are the pictures instead:

{lunch time/nap time}

{the strings on my dino hat are quite fabulous}

{can you tell what i'm watching??}

{his face in here cracks me up}

{my stroller friends. they kept me company in every single store mom went in}

{i don't know how we're ever going to say no to this face, it's adorable}

all in all this was a great week with the girls, we shopped, ate delicious food, went to shows, walked and walked and walked and slept. the little man is quite the travelling pro. he's been on 5 flights and hasn't cried on any of them! our next adventure starts next week when we go to the beach while levi's at scout camp. 

inspiration.

{this picture makes me laugh}

so we're in breckenridge, and we've been contributing quite nicely to the economy up here. with new ski clothes for the babe and me, some fabulously sparkley TOMS shoes, books for the little man, shirts, hats etc etc. i already have a box i need to ship home.

but anyways, we went to this store called magical scraps. it was amazing. ive never wanted to buy so much stuff in a store in my life. but i could make all of it. if i had a sewing machine. it inspired me to make some super cute tihings for the little man.

p.s. anyone have a decent sewing machine i can buy?? or know where i can get a good one not too pricey??

{we bought this there and they made it special for us, they didn't have it in his size so i got to pick the color onesie and the color of background fabric too, and it costs $30.00!! i could make a fortune off these!}

{we slicked our hair down today, and it lasted all of 2 hours}

gone.

holy moly this summer has gone fast! i'm going to colorado on saturday with my mom and grandma {and of course with the babe, levi lacks in the food department} for a week, then we come back for a week, and then go to the beach while levi's at scout camp. and then it's our anniversary {2 years!}then we have 2 weeks until school starts. where has it gone?! on the plus side, this is my last semester at BYU. huzzah huzzah!

 anyways, levi's been home all week because he didn't have anything to do at work and was basically getting paid to sit there and study for his DAT. so what have we done?
+ gone to the veteran's pool {not as ghetto as you think, i was pleasantly surprised}
+ got a new car {long story, but thanks to the lowry's a subaru legacy}
+ i got a new phone, {downgrading our plan so we're not paying $50.00 for data, no more blackberry =(}
+ started new seasons of tv such as lie to me {i've never heard of it, but it's fascinating. definitely recommend it}and prison break {little too hard core for me, levi loves it though},
+ made the most delicious cafe rio in the whole world {dead on recipe as well}
+ made fabulous breads/desserts
+ been to the baby doctor [twice] for a rash and a clogged tear duct
+ and played with baby lots and lots
it's a nice break to have the husband home all the time, especially since i am going to be gone all next week.

weekend.

apparently i had lots of fun this weekend. 

this blog showed me how to do this, now it's not nearly as good as hers was, i'm still perfecting it. theres only so many white shirts i own, and it takes me ages to do this, i gotta get better, but i do love them so much!

and i made this too, i'm expanding my headband enterprise, there are so many different types out there. =) this blog showed me all these different kinds and i'm so so excited to get crack a lacking.

tres.

holy moly! can you believe the munchkin is 3 months old?? i can't. 

here is what baby loves now: 

--our ocean friends. mr. octopus is his favorite. these provide hours of entertainment. well several minutes worth anyways.

--oh no! baby has begun to watch tv when we watch it! even when changing diapers like in this picture. dang it... 

--looking ridiculous. smiling his silly smile at us. he has begun to stop and stare at the camera when i get it out, which leaves taking videos of his cool tricks somewhat difficult.

-- sitting up. he's much more content to sit someplace than to be lying down except in mom and dad's bed of course. we're getting better at holding our head up now which makes it a lot easier. 

happy birthday babbbyy =) muah!

oh canada.

phew! this last 3 1/2 weeks is over! let me tell you how nice it is to be home.... in our house, with our own stuff. not that we didn't enjoy our trip but home is just so much better sometimes. now we'll be home about 2 weeks before me and baby are off to Breckenridge, Colorado with the grandma and great grandma for some partying times. i figure by that time, i'll be bored and ready to go, especially because i broke our tv today (apparently sticking a plant on top of a tv and then watering it is not the best idea. who knew?)

anyways, what we learned in canada:

1. we hate ants. the basement had like 10,000 ants in it. they were in our bed. they crawled under my pj's and g's on my bum! (tmi i'm sure, but seriously i almost swore at them) they even managed to come all the way home with us and crawl out of my suitcase. the devils. i hate them.

2. idk how people give birth in canada. it's so much easier in the states! tashina had her baby and man was i glad that i had mine down here, because i don't know how i would have survived without the drugs, the pillows, the ice, the pads etc. etc. i have a lot of respect for those ladies now!

{we're pretty cute.}

3. again, mom is outta shape. that stupid banana boat killed my arms sitting on the back, and i literally couldn't straighten them for about 5 days. ridiculous.

4. always bring extra stuff onto an airplane. we were delayed about 4 hours on the way home but luckily brought on baby's stuff so he had pj's, blankies and extra diapers so he could go to bed. us, on the other hand were freezing our tails off at the gate because the ac was on full blast. next time: sweatshirts and snacks will be included in baby's suitcase.

5. eclipse is fabulous. end of story.

6. baby is huge. everyone thinks he's 4 months old. and he definitely is not. but he is getting better at holding his head up. he tends to be extremely lazy, just like dad so i've heard, and he'll just sit there with to the side for ages.

{burlington coat factory has the cutest little man outfits eh? he looks all grown up in his outfit!}

7. walking the halls at church is fabulous. i've never done that before since being in nursery all the time but i did it last week and i talked to so many moms, it's like a little party out there =)

8. taking family pictures is quite an ordeal. however they should turn out fabulous i hope.

9. there's no place like home.

{he looks like he's singing a tune in his bumbo}

{we're a pretty cute group of babes}

love.

i have found a fabulous blog here that showed me how to edit photos this past week, and i am LOVING it! it's totally free, {well you can upgrade to do like touch ups and stuff, and my father in law was supposed to do it for tiffy's account but ended up doing it for mine hehe} am i the only one who's never used picnik before? seemed like it because my sister in laws knew exactly what to do lol but in any case.... it's pretty much fabulous!

{isn't the little man just so incredibly cute??}

i also found a blog here to do signatures at the end of my posts. man i am becoming incredibly awesome at blogging. =)