Pssst…..I’m here and I am about to download an amazing amount of randomness upon you. Just think of me as that Starbucks coffee splurge. Grande size! It is warm and good and you don’t know how it comes together, but you are glad it is here and you look forward to the next time you get one. You can’t have one every day or you would get spoiled. See that is why I don’t blog every day…I don’t want to spoil you or burn your tongue. So nice of me. Too abstract of a comparison? Yeah, well….me no sleepy in long time.
Okay, buckle your seat belts! If I get to be too much, your exits are located above, kindly known as the “back arrow” or if you are really confused with this post then click the red “X” and forget it ever happened.
Where to start (cracks knuckles).
First of all, just when you thought you heard the words “Kellan Studios” too much. I will briefly make note of a very cool honor bestowed by my friend and lovely Canadian blogger, known as Dutch Blitz, who is the lead editor for the Arts & Design Channel for BlogNosh. We were given our very own shout-out highlighting our business. So go check it out, how fun is that? Thank you Angella, we are so honored!
Speaking of Canadians….Angella’s friend and neighbor and my besternet friend, Amanda “Kickyboots” Brown, sent Bennett two awesome gifts from Etsy. Sorry for the blurry shot, had my shutter speed a bit slow.
Amanda, Bennett will do that onesie proud. I mean who will say no to these eyes? You are the coolest…I will hit you back when your second sweetie enters the world.
Okay, now I am off to dispel a nasty rumor ( I am embarrassed to say that I spelled rumor “roomer” for 1 second and then scratched my head and wondered why that looked wrong. Man I am more tired than I think!)
Every time I post a picture of my house I get comments like:
“Where are the toys?” “How do you keep things so neat with two kids?” “I could never keep my house clean all the time”
ARE YOU SERIOUS???? Do you really think I live that way? I wish. I would have to put Chloe in a straight jacket if I wanted to keep my house perfect. So not going to happen. When I take a picture of a room it is during nap time so I can pick every thing up just for a few brief moments. Why would I take a picture of a room in chaos? So I thought, what the heck. You want to see what our Monday morning looked like?
I didn’t touch a thing…this was completely organic. Laundry, toys, Chloe with her disheveled morning hair. If you cut me I bleed. Don’t go feeling bad about your house being in chaos and glorify mine…so not the truth! Yes I LOVE order and cleanliness…but not when my kids are awake. The second they go to sleep it is all whisked away into baskets and closets.
Let’s talk about my kids. My kids who absolutely make me smile from sun up to sun down, I freaking love them!!!! I love them so much I blow up their pictures to ridiculous proportions…..
My homage to Bennett. Ryan thought it was a bit much….why not have a giant picture of your kids? I see nothing wrong with it.
Speaking of Bennett. Being freakishly tall and strong catapults you out of infancy really really fast and you are able to do way more than your average four month old. We broke out the jumper a few weeks ago and now we have our very own Tigger. It is hilarious to watch him. I so wish our bodies had sound effects. I want his legs to make the noise “doing, doing, doing” every time he springs up. But alas…they do not.
Look at him. A man, his swing and his thoughts.
closer
looks like he rode his horse all night.
I asked Chloe to give him a kiss. This is as close as she got to him making the “MMMMMM” sound of a kiss. Close, but no cigar!
Can we take a moment of silence for Chloe’s beautiful hair?
I mean..the curls and highlights and this is after being slept on all night! The next Pantene girl? Maybe?
I mean this was almost one year ago to the day.
Her hair has grown so much in a year!
So we have finally entered the world of talking. It is AWESOME….she is ridiculously funny and now I understand how parents are the only ones that can understand their kids. There are moments where I would love to buy a vowel or get another consonant, but usually in context I can figure out what she is saying.
She says Amen and raises her hand “AHH MEAN”. She says Jesus like a southern baptist pastor “JEEE-SUS”. I love it!
She says all of her colors, but our favorite is the color yellow. She says it “LELLLL-OOO” and her mouth looks like this.
She has an amazing range from low and raspy to high pitched and breathy. This kid is my laughter.
Okay so I saved the best for last. This is not everyone’s humor, but it is 110% our humor. I got a bunch of books while digging through a pile of crap someone dumped on the side of the road (long story for later) anyway, I didn’t really pay attention, just thought “BOOKS….Chloe loves books”. Well after going in the basement to pull some of them out I came across this gem. Oh man oh man…..it is called “Once Upon a Potty” the boy edition.
I must say that I have never ever read a potty training book but I would bet money this is one of the most graphic. I mean I am all about calling a spade a spade….but…this has to be the most hilarious book I have ever seen about potty training. No stone left unturned, no question not answered…let there be no doubt how it works and where it comes from.
This is the story of Joshua and how he learned to use the potty. I am so glad they clarified what this hole is for.
Ryan and I were laughing until we were crying.
Still confused, let me show you another page.
Oh Joshua…you coiled one next to the pot and not in it!!!! That is nasty. Is anyone else confused why they are using a pot? This book isn’t that old.
One more for the road. This is the page following the one where Joshua feels the urge to poop so he remembers to go to the pot and he…..
YEAH JOSHUA!!!!! You did it!
I wish I had the time to photograph all the pages, maybe I will give you a transcript and spare you the very detailed illustrations.
So anyway, that either made you laugh, smile, make a disgusted face or erase me from your feed reader. Remember you had the back arrow and “X” option and you didn’t take it! You can only blame yourself.
Okay, off to continue to watch Gilmore Girls….I am hooked. Erin and Joy…you were right and you know what? Ryan is hooked! He isn’t requesting it, but he doesn’t mind me playing episode after episode. We even watched about four episodes in bed on Sunday afternoon on the laptop. I rolled over and giggled and told him he was the best girlfriend I ever had! He didn’t find that as amusing as I did.
Okay, that’s all I got…but man…that was a lot!
oh my, Bennett’s eyes!
Please show us the rest of that book, just got a much needed afternoon laugh.
Yay, Gilmore Girls
Oh my goodness, we picked up that book at a yard sale a few months ago and couldn’t BELIEVE how graphic it was. It had us dying laughing!
I can’t believe how big Chloe looks. Such a little girl! And Bennett is already so big! Abel was OBSESSED with the jumper and we filmed him all the time in it because he was so hilarious in it.
And thanks for showing your living room on a Monday morning…makes me feel so much better.
Mine usually looks just like that when Abel is awake.
I had this book as a kid
(Emily)
That book is HILARIOUS! Hahaha!
I love the picture of Bennett, it’s not too much, it’s gorgeous!
Wow do you put miracle grow on Chloe’s hair? Stunning!
Loved your random update, it was swell!
“There are moments where I would love to buy a vowel or get another consonant, but usually in context I can figure out what she is saying.”
Ha! Love that.
Gilmore Girls = good times.
Yeah, why is that kid in the book doing his business in a pot?
Wow, the biggest shocker was how big Chole is!! Hard to believe - that hair really IS to die for! Loved the update and seeing everyone. Sounds like you 4 are really doing well!
I had that potty book for girls when I was little! It’s HYSTERICAL! You should totally find the girl one for Chloe!
I TOTALLY want that book! Not for Emily, but for Matthew and I. Heh.
It was an honor to have you featured on BlogNosh. I am constantly amazed by the talent God has given you two.
I really do need to get Skype so Amanda and I can chat with you…
Oh that book is FANTASTIC!
Once Upon a Potty is the best! Sooo funny, my 21 month old cracks up when we read it. They have a version for girls too.
I too am now in deep smit with that book, and I don’t even have kiddos. But, still, any book that showcases #1 and #2 in a piece of pottery that looks oddly reminiscent of a large cappuccino mug is (hilarious! and) more than a little (hilariously) disturbing.
I once picked up once upon a potty in our small local bookstore and read it aloud to be funny - some older guy came around the corner as I embarassed my friends by reading and cracking up - he proceeded to tell me how much he was learning from my reading and had never seen someone enjoy the book so much. LOVE IT!
KELLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
first of all- he’s getting too big and i must see him. it’s not right that i have NOT yet! darn him for not entering the world when i was DOWN there! he’s not on my time table.
secondly- chloeeeeeeeee!? what the………? she’s like 18 now, yeah? i love her. seriously. jay and i STILL do, ‘oh wow!’ and ‘elbowwwwwwwww.’ not kidding. jay’s personal fav is still stopping in his tracks, putting his hand up and saying, ‘hoooooooooot.’
thirdly- i must continue to look at your pictures for decorating ideas for my new apartment. then again, you could just come up and help me!?? ok. i know. it was worth a shot.
lastly- I HAD THAT POO BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i screamed when i saw this!!!!!!!! it was mine and jimmy’s FAVORITE! i got all sappy and sentimental!!!!!!!!!!!!! how hilarious!????
That potty book was AWESOME!!
We have that book for Ryder…and he loves it!!
I had a good chuckle about that book! I too have no idea why the poor boy had to sit on a large cappuccino mug!?
And wow has Chloe grown!! It must be the bigger sister thing…and apparently it triggers hair growth.
So nice to see you kell…I needed my Kelly fix and it is so great to see that you are normal! LOL
It’s nice to see someone else’s house destroyed for a change. Thanks for that! Your children are adorable and are growing up fast.
We had the girl version of that book for our kids. Prudence is her name. Never figured out why they used a chamber pot though.
I hate to say it, but my sister and I had that “Once upon a potty” book! I was such a prissy girl (read it when I was older) and I can remember thinking, “Why would they put such a thing in a book?!” So funny looking back on it!
I’m sorry, I couldn’t read your post due to staring at your clean floors. CLEAN FLOORS!!! This upsets me a bit.
First of all that book made me laugh out loud. That person made $$$ off that book and here i am stuck in front of a computer everyday of my life making pennies. Second - have you seen my facebook flair “I’d rather live in Stars Hollow”. The GG are fantastically fabulous. I own every season and watch it all the time. Tommy used to watch it with me too - i know he loved it. He probably would never openly admit it but we always had Gilmore Girl dates. LOL
Funny post. The photos of your house in chaos made me feel just a little better about mine. My house is a hopeless mess of clutter and toys as you can imagine with keeping 4 one year olds all day everyday, not to mention my two. Two words… kitchen floor at lunchtime. Ok, that was technically four words. A dog would be in heaven. The potty book is great too. Made me laugh out loud. YOu have such a way with words.
I love reading your posts…especially the potty portion. Ben and I died laughing!! It is so great to see how you are doing! Your kids kids are gorgeous! We are in town for the year, lets try to get together sometime.
Keep up the great blogging…it is highly entertaining!!
I have read that book before. Can anything be published, and then make money? And why is he pooping in a pitcher?
Chloe looks like such a big girl! I’m jealous of her hair.
You would love the book Everybody Poops. I had a hard time getting my now 4 year old to poo in the potty and not in his big boy underwear. Surprisingly, this book helped, although, I did gag and laugh while reading it!
Bennett is adorable. I love the big pic of him.
Ok,ok, I admit I am such a lurker-gross. Long story how I found your blog, anyway, thanks to the potty book, lurker no more! Hilarious. I love that potty book- makes me “crack” a smile and laugh out loud every time. There is nothing like poop, pee and the like to provoke complete strangers to comment on blogs of people they don’t know. Lovely photos by the way- that is always what keeps me coming back for more.
I was wondering the same thing about your house. I just can never keep my clean with the little hands always getting into something. Now I really know. What a relief..lol. That book is too funny. I love Chloe’s Hair..so beautiful.
can you remind me what came after “and he sat and sat”…
Wow…I must say that your wedding photography is amazing! That’s one thing that I wish I would’ve insisted upon for my wedding…my mom wanted to be cheap and hire her friend’s niece. Needless to say, we don’t have any good wedding photos.
I’m going to give my friend Valerie the link to your studio page. She’s a wedding photographer in Charleston, SC and does beautiful work too…I know she’d love to see yours.
I totally remember that book! Love your kids.
Thanks for the laugh with your little potty book….and the girlfriend comment about your hubby…I’m gonna use that on mine!