dear husband.

i know this whole skiing trip with the guys sounded like a good idea, but mila and i are seriously starting to miss you over here. it's just not the same. i mean, don't get me wrong, i do love a clean house. and the house has been really clean since you left. seriously. C.L.E.A.N. CLEAN! and the occasional neko case track that plays on the stereo is nice to be able to listen to without having to immediately skip to the next song.

but seriously. mila really isn't quite herself since you've been gone. i wish i could re-create your constant drumming on tables, couches....windowsills......well, everything, but i just don't quite have your talent. and your voice, i think she misses your voice as well, the way her little ears perk up when your voicemail comes on the phone is a little too sad for me have to witness even one more time. and OH YEAH! YOU. 

two more days of this? really?? you can go ahead and come home now.
please and thank you,
m + j
xoxo

even though.

two-thirds of the gignac house is still nursing a flu {cough-cough}, we weren't going to let that get in the way of some valentine's celebrations. the husband and i started the holiday a little early by going on a mini-date for some wine {still waiting for those anti-oxidants to start attacking this darn sickness} and picked up pizza on our way home. but todayyyy, mila is joining in on the fun and it's all valentine's gifts, lunches, and bowling balls from here!

:: happy valentine's day to all ::

and so we wait.

on the surface it may look like i didn't get much done today {okay, maybe i didn't accomplish much beneath the surface either}, but all in all, today's day of waiting has actually been a pleasant one.

last night, nick and i went to his mom's house to make possibly the freshest salsa ever with loads of freshly-picked veggies from each of our gardens.

and today, when husband came home at lunch, he mowed the front yard while i micro-managed by eating some fruit curbside.

mind you, this is what our yard looked like when we moved in:

...pretty much burnt to a crisp.

then at about one, i felt something we haven't had for over a week now: cold air blowing through our vents. i do love the fact that on the sunny west coast and many parts of these beautiful united states, air conditioners are not necessary, but corpus christi is not one of those places. dry air and mild temperatures just don't exist here, it's humid and it's HOT. especially in the summer {which for us, ranges from about april to october}. so imagine my joy when i finally saw the complete installation of this

in our backyard. especially considering the fact that it's the most efficient system we could get and should cut our electricity costs by about sixty percent.

between all of the 'busYness' of today, i finally worked up an appetite that i knew only buckwheat pancakes could satisfy {and no, all of the above did not happen before noon arrived, my pancakes were definitely consumed riiiiight around three o'clock}.

i've made buckwheat pancakes from scratch before but today i just didn't have the energy, so i bought this mix from the store. it definitely needs a LOT of tweaking. i went by the instructions on the box and the only thing that got me through them {besides the fact that i was STARVing} was that lovely little bottle in the background of the last picture. sugar-free maple syrup, which makes just about anything taste better. especially oatmeal.

aaaaand, i may have watched last night's episode of 'the real housewives of new jersey'. i can't decide how much/little i like melissa {teresa's sister-in-law}, thoughts?

so much for a 'lazy' sunday.

there is still much work to be done, but my new workspace {tomorrow marks my first day 'at THE office'} got a big nudge in the right direction.

i really don't know when my urge to change nearly every wall in my house from white to 'anything but white' will die. although, surprisingly, i actually love white walls....in the right space but our house just isn't that 'space'. so color it is and color it shall be. i'm still waiting on a new desk chair and a few other office necessities but until they arrive, i think i will be just fine working in this *new* room.

on another weekend note, the south texas summer is quickly approaching and with it brings lots of fresh produce that we took full advantage of this past saturday and sunday.

this thing weighed no less than eighteen pounds- no lie -had barely enough room in the refrigerator for it. luckily i realized this half-way into dicing it up, because that gave us a chance to use my very neglected juicer and drink our dose of lycopene with some strawberry + watermelon juice.

one thing led to another and before i knew it, i was filling two gallon-size containers with various juices.

and then the husband came in with some fruits from el jardin.

and if THAT wasn't enough, nick's mom has been so generously sharing some of her hand-picked tomatoes with us. nearly every year her tomatoes dominate her garden, leaving barely anything else to compete with them, fortunately it is a welcomed takeover.

crap.

really hate when i have to be reminded of how good of a person husband is and how much i can let my moods affect those around me. sometimes {ok, pretty much all of the time} when he's in a great mood and so happy, i come waltzing in just to rain on his parade.

i'm sorry husband for being so poopy sometimes. but thank you for your patience. i love you.

and here he is looking cute and perfect. probably my favorite picture of nick, because he definitely wasn't in the picture-taking mood but he did it anyway.

this is how we look.

when husband is appearing cuter than ever and therefore helps divert one's eyes away from my giganti-sized belly.

SOOOO ready to meet you miss mila.

this is what our mothers' day looked like.

wayyyy too much fun watching this kid. he's seriously THIS happy all the time {not according to his mom, but we never see another side of him and i'm fine with that}.

this little girl making her way through my kitchen. after reorganizing the cabinets,

she decides that she deserves a little treat, with mom's permission or not.

no need for words.

getting some practice in.

again...words can't do this picture justice.

and lastly, this little guy {again} because this smile seriously never leaves his face {and the little carrot-orange nose doesn't hurt}.

obviously the husband has some serious fatherly instincts. he didn't get in front of the camera once, although every one of his pictures has at least one kid in it. might need to get some new shelving space for all the pictures and photo albums in miss mila's future.

hope everyone had a lovely mothers' day.

a few things i've kind of been loving lately.

this wallpaper. because our hallway bath has this EXACT color of tile so it gives me a little hope.

this bedroom. because the bed is so perfectly placed. on the floor.

this wonderfully, thoughtfully un-thoughtful way of displaying photographs.

these shelves. because i never ever tire of inside-out kitchen cabinets.

all of this. because it looks like it came right out of my nanee's house.

this. because it made me instantly think of my brother.

and this. because she's wonderful. and we've barely even met.

and this guy. because he thinks he's cool. but pictures like this make him very un-cool.

i never was good at that whole 'waiting' game.

plus, after the husband so effortlessly put together the crib this weekend {thanks nick}, i was finally able to get some things on the walls. while it's not one.hundred.percent complete, baby mila's room made some serious progress this weekend.

although i've said numerous times that we're keeping our baby-buying purchases to a minimum,  these pictures don't quite seem to convey our approach. but actually, the only item we've purchased solely for mila's room is the crib {and mattress}. the 'alfabeto' print above the dresser is actually a gift from my mom that we plan to keep long after each of our children master their alfabeto. and as for the 'rocking chair of my DREAMS', that was a gift from nick's dad that of course we will ALWAYS have {thanks charles and ray for your timeless design}. other than that, the room just took a lot of painting, planning and reusing of furniture we had. i still have a few minor additions to the room {lamp, sheets for crib, etc.}, but so far, we're pretty proud of my stellar design skills.

in addition to her room, baby mila has a growing library that got a substantial jump-start as well.

{a little spanish practice to make 'lita proud}

i stuck with the classics.

our week {and a half} in pictures.

{assembled the stroller, thanks sister}

{some shoes in my dreams}

{fruit + salt + lime + chile = a gift from mexico}

{we received some perfect planters from this guy}

{i ate one too many of these}

{celebrated our one-year anniversary together}

{doing this}

{and catching this}

now a year and a week into our marriage and expecting our first baby. i love you nick.