swenson family update

hi, its been a while since i've updated the blog. here is a little of what we have been up to this year!

first up is what we all look like. here is the most current family photo taken by our friends Dave & Ashley. we are so lucky to have such talented friends!

this year we put our old house up for sale and it sold with in 24 hours, and we found a new one in about the same amount of time. we closed a month later on both houses and moved into our new home! 

its been a crazy but we have felt very lucky and blessed. this move was so right for us. we LOVE being here and have been so happy!

mick and i have never been happier. we have our days but they are rare. we have had so many opportunities to grow our love and friendship this year already and i can't wait to see how the rest of the year goes! we head to Mexico for the second time this year and i have officially started counting down the days.

mick doesn't like this picture but i do. he was just goofing off while i tried to take his picture and it ended up being awesome. haha! anyways mick is doing great! he is still working at qualtrics which has been going good and treating us well. he is growing that beard and swears he will never shave it. i don't want to talk about it the mustache. haha! he got scuba certified and will be diving with sharks this month! he works so hard to provide for and take care of our family and i couldn't be more grateful for him.

apprently i need to take more selfies...this is the only picture of just me. haha! i am also doing good with a touch of crazy. running my own business and being a full time mama isn't easy but it is what fills my heart with passion and love and purpose. i get to wake up to this life that i have worked so hard for and i am feeling so blessed. i move my business out of the house this month and into an office. AND FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT! i'm not pregnant. people keep asking when #3 is coming and i will explain below why there haven't and wont be been any announcements of that sort...for a while anyways.

kenny recently turned four and he has been the best ever! four is officially my favorite age. he makes us all laugh with the things he says and does. he makes up stories, reads and writes! he loves preschool, hanging out with his friends and the human body. he has a couple of human body books that he reads non stop. i think he will be a doctor when he grows up. he is graduating to a big boy bike this month! gosh he is getting big and it kills me. i would freeze time on this age if i could. 

philip is my crazy active busy busy busy boy. about 98% of the time Mick and I feel like we wont have any more kids because of this guy. he is just naughty and always causing mischief and always bleeding. he creates the biggest messes and doesn't go to bed anymore. BUT he is the sweetest guy with the best hugs and kisses. he is starting to talk in sentences and its the best ever. he loves being held, chocolate milk, crackers and cooking eggs. he will be the chef.  

disneyland was by far our favorite thing we've done as a famiy. we can't wait to go back this year!

this was the middle of january. no snow.

where dream catcher baby HQ will be located. its being renovated right now so it will look a little different. i can't wait!

smoothies are the boys very favorite. we try to sneak as many veggies into those things we can!

kenny: "did you know i go to school. oh and i am a hockey player." mick's dream come true.

my phone has been gone for over a week now and posting on instagram has been the most difficult. so here i am hoping this will reach a lot of provo locals! i will be participating in another "Small Shop Round Up" hosted by Lou Lou and Co. Last time was a blast! There are some amazing shops coming as well (all listed below)! come and see all the new items i will have there (sorry, no big bow dresses this time).


saturday || september 20
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
115 east 200 north


shops attending (these are their instagram handles) @dreamcatcherbaby @loulouandcoshop @letsplayground @light_and_ink @anniekblake @lauragzundel @tatertotshoppe @camilialund @hellomaypole @ellouiseandco @ellienewellart @paigecanderson @hellosparrow @madebyjewls @flordeluzshop @the_paytons @brunosapparel @pearlandjane @belleandwhistle @theposhplum @ambercdickson @signonthex @bootsbybecca @oatsandivy @dear_miss_k @agoldengarden @youdolldesign @lyou_blyou @kensiekate @thebeeskneesshoppe @olliescubby @asdarlingdoes @flyawaybands @craftystash @greenstitches @voulezjewelry @mylittlefancies @madebymarywithlove @ivoryk @thelandofsalt @shopavenlie @statelytype @wildplumco Little Sweet Shoppe

Meet PJ Swens

let me just tell you about this day.

we woke up. i changed a stinky diaper and sat my boys down for breakfast. i made eggs and gave them some raspberries. i left to go help kenny and came back to philip (who we mostly call pj) looking like this. he managed to pull the [brand new] carton of raspberries (it was a costco size carton) onto his tray, he opened it, smashed about 80% of them and threw the rest all over the kitchen floor. yep. i stuck him in the bath tub, ran down stairs to throw a load of laundry in, grab him a towel + some clothes. as i was doing this (maybe about a minute in) i hear kenny say "oh hi nakey baby!". he had climbed out of the tub and found his way down stairs butt naked. oh well. as i was finishing loading the washing machine i noticed he had his head on the ground and his butt straight up in the air. i laughed and looked between his legs which made him laugh. that is when i saw the little pile of poop he had just pooped all over my carpet. awesome. i ran upstairs really fast to grab some paper towels and was so excited (can you hear the sarcasm) to find a really big poop and a trail of tiny poops + a stream of urine all over my freshly mopped kitchen floor. i ran back down to grab pj and put a diaper on him so he wouldn't go poo or pee on the floor again. i cleaned every thing up and fell onto the couch and buried my face into the cushions. kenny wanted to read a book so i sat up to read to him. about 5 minutes later i hear a noise in the kitchen so i go check to see what it was and i find pj had dumped an entire jar of jam all over the table + chair + floor.

w.t.f.

so i gave him another bath and put him down for his 11 o'clock nap.

Finding MY Beauty

What a wonderful life I have been given. So many opportunities have come my way and I am truly grateful. I was recently interviewed by my beautiful friend Kayti who is the lovely and inspiring woman behind The Be{you}ty Bureau! As I answered each question I tried to not think about it too much and just speak from my heart. Say the words that came to my head. Its not easy for me to do because I am SUPER shy. I don't look at myself and see beauty. I don't contemplate my goodness or my good qualities. I'm usually pretty hard on myself. Doing this interview for this AMAZING series has made me see myself in a different light and that its OKAY to look at myself and see beauty and my goodness.

Thank you again Kayti!

Go to this link for the video: http://youtu.be/RkjWbkm8dFs

Go to this link for a bit of my story I shared on Small Fry Blog: http://www.smallfryblog.com/2014/05/25/an-adoption-story-jessica-swenson/

CLOSED g i v e a w a y || gold pin dot big bow dress

i am just feeling so grateful for everyone right now. i recently shared a very personal, private, sad, triumphant and happy part of my life over on Small Fry. i was so nervous. it took me 49 minutes to actually send the email and i literally almost passed out once i did. there was no going back now so i definitely cried really hard until i gave myself a headache. i pulled out my phone at least a dozen times to call them, text them, beg them to not open the email. i guess you could say fear in all forms took over and was really freaking me out.

i tried to forget about it. then they each replied and the things they said made me cry (happy and grateful tears) and gave me courage, strength and helped me remember why i sent it in the first place. it definitely was not for the attention. it took me over 20 years to even accept some of the things i wrote down let alone have any desire to share them with someone...even my husband. it wasn't because i wanted to tell people bad things happened to me and then have everyone feel sorry for me. it was 100% to share the true miracle of adoption. i shared those things with the hope of spreading...well...HOPE. hope in overcoming the bad. hope in adoption.

i have had some horrible things happen to me. more than what i shared in that post but through the miracle of adoption and through pure will power (it was my choice) i have broken the cycle of addiction and sadness. i have a wonderful life filled with joy and many imperfections but all in all still happy. 

okay, this isn't where i was planning for this blog post to go...haha! but here we are. and all i wanted to say was thank you. thank you for the kind words, the texts, the phone calls, hugs, well wishes and even the purchases made from my shop! T H A N K  Y O U!!!

I am a gift giver, its my love language. So here is a giveaway for you! Love you all so much!

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED