Christmas 2016 Pictures

since having babies, taking family pictures means so much to me. and they become even more meaningful when I look back after time has passed. to capture and freeze these moments is everything as these babies are growing and changing ever so quickly and not going to be slowing down anytime soon!

it can feel a bit chaotic at times but that's also just real life ;) kristal always amazes me at the moments she captures for us.
original plan was to be at a local tree farm, but living in WA the rain isn't always in our favor. being in this old studio downtown was just as great and no way having two kiddos out in the rain and mud would've gone well!

last year's pictures HERE. I am amazed at how much harper has changed over this last year.

it was hard to choose which to share, so here's a majority of them :)

this first one is my absolute fave.

 ...and the best for last ;) can't wait to show them both this one in a few years.

 we're heading to Suncadia for a few days this next week and we are all so ready for it. we did this last year too, and will likely be making it an annual thing for us before the holiday. there's so much busy-ness and hussle during december. we found it so nice to escape for a couple of days and just enjoy our family without the to-do lists.

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

sunshine + fall + our hjelseth life

it's been busy over here and yet not busy at the same time.

I think life with two kids is just 'busy' now. and always will be :) with a two year old and a three month old, our days have been full of potty trips, nursing, diaper changing, snack/meal making, napping, house tiddying, and such. and then we threw in loading up/unloading + packing/unpacking all four of us for a sunny week getaway. a whole lot of busy with some relaxing too! I tell ya, flying is so much work. Brandon an I both said our next trip away we are HIGHLY considering driving. 

we had such a great time in palm desert! Harper LOVED swimming all day long. Tanner often napped by the pool. and it gave Brandon and I the best view watching our precious children. they are such a blessing and as cliche as it sounds, I don't know what we did before them. there were also times where we were stuck inside the condo because napping babies make for happier babies. 

spending the week together as a family and with our favorite people tyler, angela, and lleyton was so refreshing (and no question at times so hard because of babes being off their norm). but we're back to the real Fall weather and I'm actually enjoying it! the everyday 90 degree weather was fabulous, and now we're back to the 50s and rolling right into these holiday months! and speaking of holiday months...

HALLOWEEN. 

I see all these posts/pictures of moms who nailed it with their kids' halloween costumes... 

I am not one of them. thanks to amazon prime, Harper's costume (should- fingers crossed!) be here today and I JUST picked up a semi costume for Tanner to wear yesterday. 

but hey. that's life. and we will still have just as much fun celebrating this day. and thank goodness my kids aren't old enough to know the difference yet! ha!

we're so excited to go trick-or-treating tonight. even though it's Harper's third (what??!!) halloween, it feels like her first. she gets it now and the hype and excitement is there. she's been talking about wearing her costume and trick-or-treating for days now. and once she realizes what that's all really about she's going to have so much fun! holidays with kids really are better :)

Happy Halloween, all!!
what is it you're most excited for today?!

Xoxo

-Brittney

Family Getaway | Cannon Beach, OR

life is busy. life is great. 

and it's about to get a whole lot busier and even that much better.

but before we bring the fourth member into our family (and while traveling is still ok for me) :) we decided to put a pause on 'normal' life for a day and took a little family day trip to the beach!

and it's just what our hearts needed at just the right time.

I tell ya... there honestly isn't anything in this world like family time. 

these two are my life and bring me more joy and happiness than I ever could've imagined I needed.

ok, enough with that... here's our trip! :)

a three hour road trip didn't sound too bad with a toddler. we had snacks packed, books, toys, and when needed, we could pop down the dvd player in the car.

little miss is currently working a couple two year molers in and well... enough said.

though she isn't really that bad of a teether, it does play on some of our days/moments.

about 45 minutes from arriving, and she was not having it. getting tired + cranky. and just not falling asleep... ahh! we were really having to practice our patience to say the least ;) 

and then. no joke. two (maybe three!) minutes out. she fell asleep.

cue driving around town to buy a little time for her to at least get a small cat nap in.

three hours of driving when there was perfect opportunity for a great nap... the life of traveling with children!

...and the real estate world... never.sleeps.

I was too eager for this day to really begin to just keep waiting in the car while Brandon worked and Harper slept...

so we woke Harper, got some lunch, and began to explore!

the candy store!!

this girl LOVED going around to each taffy bin and filling our bag one salt water taffy at a time! :)

and 10 dollars worth of salt water taffy later...

happy campers!!

it was just a perfect day all around. 

my absolute favorite though... watching Harper explore the beach for the first time. 

she was in heaven! we all were :)

leading up to going, we had been talking about our road trip and going to the beach. and Harper couldn't stop talking about it.

"road trip!"
"beach. ocean."

"see whales. fishies. dolphins."

this was the moment she had been waiting for!

building sandcastles with daddy.
even today she's still talking about her sandcastles :)

time to make our way to the water! this pacific northwest ocean water is cold, but she had so much fun dipping her feet in!

oh my heart. the bond between these two is enough to bring me to tears. their love for each other is so sweet.
just looking at these pictures now and remembering our day makes my eyes water. the pregnancy hormones could have a little to do with that! ;)

it was thee best day.
just the three of us away together.
it was the first day trip we've taken and I foresee it being the first of many!

Xoxo

-Brittney

Hawaii | Babymoon

it's taken a few days, but finally feeling like we're back to 'normal' life around here.

the last few days of adjusting to reality of being home and trying to get our internal clocks back on track has included lots of sleep, caffeine, grocery shopping, easy dinner meals (like grilled turkey + cheese sandwiches and mac + cheese and dinosaur chicken nuggets), sleep, caffeine, laundry, unpacking (which still is not 100% done!), and some more sleep and caffeine!

but it was all so so worth it to spend 8 days laying under that glorious Hawaiian sun! I'm especially missing it since we came back to a weekend of rain here in Washington... so ready for those summer-feeling days to return!

there's just something about vacationing with the hubby before a new baby arrives. we did it when I was pregnant with Harper too by taking a vacay to Cabo. relaxing while soaking up the sun does wonders to the mind and body. it's a refreshing feeling and makes it a bit easier in accepting the reality that life is about to get a w h o l e lot busier real soon!

the very first photo I took on our trip was of this chicken here while we were waiting for our rental car! if you've ever been to Kauai you'll know what I'm talking about... these guys are everywhere!! no joke. chickens running free around the entire island. roaming the place like they own it. but I guess they kinda do ;) 

cats too. not nearly as many cats as there are chickens, but the most friendly, stray cats all around. Brandon took a liking to them ;) 

with all these animals, we found ourselves over and over talking about how much Harper would just love them all!

and on that topic... we took this trip without Harper and it was my first time everrr being away from her over night! and for the first time away to be so far and for so long... it was so tough to leave! I contemplated many times of just packing her along with us on that airplane... but in the end as hard as it was to leave, being on a child-free vacation was just what Brandon and I needed!

our two biggest decisions to make each day were "are we going to the beach or the pool?" and "what are we going to have for dinner?"

each day we did a whole lotta nothing. and that's just how we liked it!

this was actually a double babymoon since we were on this trip with Tyler (Brandon's brother) and Angela. we were able to enjoy our babymoons together since their expecting baby boy in September!

we love vacationing together :) Brandon and Tyler can get a little bit of golf in and then Angela and I can do our girl thing at the pool/beach with the guys joining us after golf.

this sign was perfect! and completely accurate. if you're to look at the Kauai weather forecast, it says rain every.day. BUT we were on the south side of the island and that wasn't even close to being true with the sunshine and blue skies we had!

all I have to say here is... WHITE PINEAPPLE.
no other pineapple will ever compare! if you ever go, get yourself a local white pineapple!
you won't regret the $17 it costs you. promise. and yea... really... we spent $17 on this pineapple.

a quick stop to see a couple of gorgeous, powerful waterfalls on our way to the airport.
absolutely breathtaking.

PHOTO DUMP!!

we're on the homestretch to welcoming our sweet boy into this world, and this babymoon was perfect. we were able to leave feeling refreshed and are now ready to push through these next 8(ish) weeks!

Xoxo

-Brittney

Palm Desert Vacation

This is so so so so- so late!

like we got home from this trip 2.5 weeks ago. but life, yeah that, has gotten in the way of this post :) and well, taking care of my family will always come first.

anywho... I still wanted to document this trip- as it was sunny, fun, relaxing and I was with my little family!

This will mostly be a bit of a 'photo dump' of the fun things we did, places we went, and more of just us. However.. let me start off with a quick little story that I can't not share!

Day 1 of vacation. 

So the day we are traveling down to California. All went g r e a t!! Everything at the airport went great, our flights went great, and Harper did great! We couldn't have been more pleased. 

Brandon's parents have a condo down there and were also there for the week. When our flight landed, they were there to pick us up and we were so ready for this fun, relaxing vacation with our little Harper to start! I just couldn't wait to have easy, (low responsibility) days, play with her out in the sunshine, take her to new places, and of course spend some time at the pool! This little girl is a fish and loves the water!

After the traveling we were all hungry and ready for a late lunch. and we had just heard that a new In-N-Out had just (like a couple days ago) opened not far from the condo. We were all more than ready to give it a shot. I was pregnant and hungry and this was just what I needed! A burger, fries, and a strawberry shake! (the dietitian in me though - thinking yikes!)

We placed our orders and began looking for a table to sit at. and that's when it happened...

I'm holding Harper, standing right in the front entry, before I know it Harper is suddenly vomitting allll over me and anything within touching distance to us! I have to say my mama instincts reacted faster than I would have. Somehow I instantly knew where the restroom was (thank goodness I went through the women's door, not the men's) and bolted straight to it! all while she's leaving a trail of every food she's eaten earlier that day. To the sink she went. and I tell ya, it would.not.stop. It was horrible. and when she eventually had nothing else left to come up, her and I were completely covered! and then I was frozen. Brandon's mom came in to help clean up and thank the Lord, we had our suitcases in the car!! Out to the parking lot we went. Stripped down and threw on some fresh clothes.

Somehow following all that chaos we still then managed to go back in the restaurant, find Brandon and his dad, and enjoy our lunch :) not quite the start to vacation I was expecting (and thank goodness Harper was fine from there on out!) but happy to say the trip was uphill from there!

and that. was Harper's first experience to In-N-Out.
trust me, she won't forget it. we'll be sure to remember this story as she gets older :)

V A C A Y  P H O T O  D U M P!

pool days.

the living desert zoo.

birthday eve (out with hubs) bathroom selfie.

my birthday.

cute Harper, ect. :)

last picture before heading to the airport.

in the airport. wishing though that she wasn't :)

Since the day we got back home, we have so been wishing we could still be wearing our summer clothes! It's now just barely March, and sadly we have a few months still until it's shorts weather. but we're ready for it when it gets here!
It was a great trip and memories were made :)
and chances are that was our last flight with Harper as a lap child!
I am so happy we had the trip though and were able to really enjoy our time away. The quality time with Harper was priceless. It's likely that the next trip she goes on, she will be a big sis!

Xoxo

-Brittney