friday favorites

FRI-YAY!!
both babes are napping {at.the.same.time.}!!! so it's a good friday over here and the reason this post is happening :) Tanner had some time with daddy this morning while harper and I headed off to her kindermusik class with a drive thru donut stop on our way home :) her and I just couldn't wait so we devoured a bag of donut holes in the car. therefor she didn't have it in her to finish up her festive sprinkle donut :) I however had no problem downing my maple bar once we were home.

I'm dying for summer over here! and it's only just barely february. I came home from kindermusik talking brandon's ear off about how I want to go to hawaii. with the kids. let's just do it!
at least it's february now, a month of love and fun and my birthday! (yahoo!). for some reason january seemed like a bit of a drag. we've been having a handful of sunny days and are going to continue taking advantage of them as they come. and praying summer will come early for us up here in the PNW! but apparently I heard the groundhog says differently...

a girl can dream, right? ;)

here are a few things that I have loved lately and you might too!

.ONE.

too faced better than sex mascara
I saw a review somewhere that this mascara was suppose to be great. so I thought what the heck, I'll give it ta shot. I LOVE IT!
length + volume. length + volume.
Brandon saw the package in the trash and said "...better than sex? mascara??"
well... it's darn good, my friends ;)

.TWO.

living proof PhD night cap
this came as a sample with a package I ordered. and I'm now sold! I wet my hair before bed, put this in, then rinsed it out in the morning. and omg. my hair felt so smooth and soft from it.
more overnight conditioning for me in the future for sure.

.THREE.
zella leggings
I've been wearing these leggings since my pregnancy with harper and they are still my favorite yet. the quality is amazing! I still wear that first pair that I bought years ago (which have been washed a hundred or more times). they still fit like new and have not faded. the high, thick waist band protects my still postpartum body from getting a dreaded muffin top.
how long can I still use the postpartum excuse?? I'm probably past the point since it's been six months now... but hey.

cheers to super bowl weekend!
what food are you making?? I'm thinking a chili bar for us!

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Harper Monaé || two and a half

it has been so darn long since I've done any sort of update on Harper. and I've been wanting to for so, so long! like even way before Tanner was born.
when I went and looked back, it's actually been a year! the last time I did one of these for her, she was just 18 months old (HERE). man has SOOO much changed since then! no way I can encompass it all and explain our harper girl's last year of life. but a snapshot of where she's at now will certainly do! these littles grow and change so stinking fast!
time, you're such a thief. but also so amazing, because I just love how our bond has grown over these past two and a half years.
my littlest BFF. and I pray she always will be.

I have a section in my notes in my phone, and when I think about it, I jot down some of the hilarious things this crazy girls says/does.
it's the closest I can get to bottling up her cute little self.
--- as we're about to walk out of the house to go to the store.. (most likely target) ....  Harper: "I have lots of monies, do you?"
--- referring to hiccups as "pick ups"
--- when saying "cake pops" it comes out as "cake ..." well, replace those "p's" in pop with "c's" ;) trying so hard to fix this mixup!!
--- tanner was newborn and had a clogged tear duct. he'd have dry little crusties on his eye and harper says.. "crumb in eye!"
--- driving through construction.. "ooo big mess. gotta clean it up!" ... yes harper.. we alll would agree with you on that one.
--- music comes out "mugis" ... kinda gross cause all I can think of is mucus. but whateve.
--- at dinner one night... Me: "honey please don't touch my food" ... Harper: "I'm sorry sweetie". ok if you're gonna respond like that- touch my food all you want. heart melting.
--- Me: "should we turn the fire place on?" ... Harper: "ooo! that'd be snuggy and warm!"
--- anything that is mini/baby size/or just baby related... "aww so cuuuttee!" ... while holding it up close to your cheek. again. heart meltinggg.

Harper Monaé  --  my favorite things about you:
--- the conversations we have while you sit on the potty. so stinking talkative. just chatting my ear off. about anything and everything. so so cute! I've taken a number of videos of this :)
--- how you are in this stage of loving to help mom with everything. especially cooking.
--- oh how you love to "cheers" everything. if anything matches or is the same, we cheers. cups. shoes. lipgloss. toys. straws. nail polish. tv remote/toy remote.
--- your vocabulary is unreal. for quite some time it has just been exploding with each and every week! I love the conversations we get to have now :)
--- your love for kindermusik. one of the best decisions we made was enrolling you in this class. my mama heart bursts seeing you excel and love every minute of it.
--- you sing all the live long day! allll day long. it is literally music to my ears hearing your sweet little voice fill our house.
--- if it were up to you. your outfit choice would be a princess dress. every.day. I know I'm gonna miss the day you grow out of this!

this girl. she has more sass than I can sometimes handle. she's most certainly a two year old. her sweet heart and spirit melt me all at the same time. she has such a giving heart and is always caring about others. smart as a whip. it blows my mind all that she knows and watching her learn is something that will never get old. a personality that far exceeds anything I ever could've imagined. 

this girl is growing and changing as the weeks fly by. every day she is learning something new while also teaching me all along the way. 

precious girl, you are so near and dear to me. to think we've had you for two and a half years and all the joy that has come with it. I could just burst thinking about all the lessons and memories we'll have in the many years ahead of us.

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

friday favorites

a week's time has been flying right on by for me lately.
how is it already friday, again!?
we're suppose to have sun around our parts the next handful of days with low 50s temps. gonna do what we can to enjoy it before some rain heads our way. today it's our weekly mommy + harper time at harper's kindermusik, then we'll fit in a later afternoon walk with our favorite auntie and baby cousin. good, fresh air does wonders for us! and we're just so hungry for summer that we'll take anything we can get :)

a few things that have been making me happy lately!

--- family pictures. over the holidays my mom wanted to have kristal take some pictures for us while her and my brother were here visiting. despite how freeeezing cold it was, they turned out just how we all had hoped. no such thing as too many pictures, right :)

--- I've shared this on my insta stories a couple of times. and here I am to share it a third. this devotional is so so good. a quick easy, couple of pages a day. Jen Hatmaker, the author, writes in such an easy to read, relatable way. I look forward to reading every day. she speaks such truth to motherhood and the various challenges we mamas may face and encouragement to work through.
BUY IT & READ IT.

--- pier one room spray. with toddler potty time, we spend lots of time in the bathroom with more poop than I'd like to admit. this is the best spray I've had for covering up the stink ;)

--- netflix! we just recently jumped on the nexflix wagon and aren't quite sure what we waited for!

--- here's a personal (and not tangible one), but the Lord answered a huge prayer for us this week. we had an expensive medical bill that we've been expecting (no worries, it's nothing serious and we're all just fine and dandy health-wise) :) but it came in the mail yesterday and I was SO nervous to open it. when I did, it was literally a fraction of what we'd expected. thank you, Jesus!!

Happy Friday and cheers to the weekend!!

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth