summer fun

here is alanna getting on the bus to camp. i'm sure she is having a blast. the weather has been good since she left. it's hot (in the 90's), but the humidity has dropped a lot since last week. perfect for a week spent mainly outdoors.

sunday afternoon, malcolm and i went to a party at my friend lana's house. her little daughter addison turned one, so we went to her birthday party. they had a slip n' slide set up in the back yard. malcolm had fun splashing around in the water. he loves being outside.

malcolm playing with some big kids

getting wet with lana's son damien

he was getting squirted in the face with water from the slide, it was pretty funny


hot, wet, and covered in grass


eating animal crackers on the stairs while lana and addison opened gifts

i didn't get any photos of addy at the party, so i stole this one off of lana's facebook page. she is so cute! oh, and look, there's my foot on the right, haha

date night & camp

friday was our anniversary, so yesterday danny and i went out to celebrate. danny's mom and dad came to our house to watch the kids (thanks guys). malcolm was really good, he didn't cry at all. we don't leave him in the care of others very often, but he is always pretty good when we do. we went to the movies and saw "away we go", and we both really liked it, except the scene with maggie gyllenhaal which was pretty hard to watch, haha. she was insane. it was a cute movie though. you should rent it.


after the movie we went out for thai food. it was sooo good. i have only had thai twice since i've lived here, the first being about a week and a half ago. danny never really wanted to eat it, so we never did. i brought some leftovers home from a ladies night out last week, and he thought it was good. he loved his dinner last night too. it was a bit pricey, but perfect for a special night out. i hope we can go there again soon.

when dan and vicky left our house, they took alanna with them. she is going to camp this week. her bus actually left early this morning, so she should be arriving at the facility in a couple of hours. this is her 3rd year going to 4H camp, and she loves it. this year they are going to a new location, so it will be a different experience for her, but i'm sure she will have a blast. it's going to be a bit strange not having her home this week. the house will be quieter than normal. i wonder if malcolm will realize that she's been gone so long? we will see her on friday afternoon.

oh, and...

believe it or not, danny and i met on myspace. true story. so the song from the wedding scene in napoleon dynamite has always held a special place in my heart... and it totally makes me laugh! it's pretty appropriate for us, don't you think!? haha.

so this was my gift to danny

since fathers day was on sunday, and i had no budget left, i had to be crafty, so i made him his gift. i drew it this week, while malcolm was napping. i haven't drawn anything since i moved to nc. i used to draw a lot, maybe i should start up again.

i also made him his favorite cherry "cheesecake"

this is what danny gave me, and i love it! it's huge. i actually don't even know where to put it. my nightmare collection is a bit out of control, and my "nbc" cabinet is already full... looks like i'm gonna have to rearrange some things in there.

4 years ago today

on june 26th, 2005 danny and i were married. can you believe we've made it this long?! haha, just kidding. it was love at first sight, for sure. i knew from day one, that he was the guy i would marry. happy anniversary husbandito. i love you. xoxo.

our announcement

husband and wife

our elvis! he was so fat, it was totally awesome.

funniest wedding ceremony ever

our rings

our chapel in vegas


officially a family



with lana and nathan


look how little alanna was!


three generations of hart ladies


my folks and alanna strolling along the strip



i can't believe how much alanna has grown in the past four years.


new york, new york casino, where danny and i stayed


and of course, every trip to las vegas has to include a stop at ronalds donuts (vegan)!

baby books

i recently finished up malcolm's first photo album, and his baby book (there are a few things that i need to add, but all the photos are in), so i thought that i would share. i found the albums on clearance at target right after christmas, so i also bought one to update alanna's baby photos too. her first two albums were small and coming apart at the seams. these books are very nice and sturdy, and super cute. it took me a while to get all the photos uploaded, printed, organized, and dated (yes mom, i put the dates on the back of every photo!) i am really happy with how they turned out! photos are important to me, especially ones of my kids.

and this is malcolm's baby book. sorry about all the photos, but i want my mom to see all the best pages.

malcolm likes...

...beets! since it's summer, we've been frequenting the local farmers market for locally grown, in-season produce. this week we got: cantaloupe, blueberries, peaches, new potatoes, tomatoes, sweet corn, and beets. i made the beets and beet greens last night for dinner, and malcolm loved them! that's my boy, haha. alanna and i love them too. danny... not so much.


...naps with mommy! malcolm gave his daddy this awesome wolverine blankie for fathers day. it's for them to take naps under, but i actually got to break it in with him because danny had to go back to the shop. he snapped this photo of us before he left.

...sleeping in his crib! finally! he is sleeping sooo much better these days. this past month, he has been in bed every night before 1 am, which is drastically earlier than he had been going to bed before. actually the past two weeks, he's been in bed before midnight, usually 11-11:30 pm, and last night he was asleep by 10:45! plus he stays in bed for a full 10-11 hours. so awesome. i am really thankful that his sleep schedule has improved so much. we are almost to my goal of a 9 pm bedtime. this "crying it out" thing couldn't have worked out any better, and i am so glad that we did it... and that we all survived, haha. thank you chanelle, for giving it to me straight. i'd heard it many times before, but your comment really made me realize that i needed to try it again. i love this lil' sleeping baby!