Coyotes and Cheerios

We spent some time with both families today, visiting Daddy's family this morning for a celebratory breakfast for the newly engaged Luke and Kim, then heading over to my parents for a little sleep over while Daddy was away for work.  My sister and I always joke (but we're serious) that our family could star in one of those odd ball reality shows...while most of the good footage would come from our dinner conversations (who wants to come to dinner now?!?), I am pretty sure there was enough material today to fill a half hour episode.  Highlight story- My dad is frantically calling my little 10 pound dog Winston to come in from the street.  He saw him jet out of the garage and is getting frustrated that he won't return...fast forward five minutes and he discovers that Winston is in fact, in the backyard, behind the closed fence, where he's been this whole time.  Now my dad is perplexed...if it wasn't Winston he saw jet out of the garage, who was it?  What's the logical conclusion?  Yep, you guessed it, a coyote...he alerts us to the fact he's just seen a coyote jetting out from our suburban home, at the end of the court, in broad daylight, resembling my chihuahua (later that day, we saw a suspicious looking house cat that MAYBE could have been the culprit of the coyote sighting...).

 What he does when he's not coyote chasing...hanging with Little Guy at Concert In The Park

Dinner By Design

We started out our day with a trip to see Daddy at the ranch.  He has been working extra late this week, so he didn't get to see Little Guy at all yesterday :(  I am not sure who had more fun in the corral, Daddy or Little Guy!  After work, we hit up the Farmer's Market with Noah and his mommy...we didn't just drive, no we hoofed it all the way from their house (and it was hot!) and on our way we stopped to get Little Guy a bike helmet...I know I say this a lot, but I am pretty sure Little Guy in a bike helmet is the cutest thing I've ever seen!!!  

We have been EXTRA SUPER LUCKY these last two days in that we have had not one, but two dinners made by my bestie Miss Heather...my husband covets her cooking and I LOVE LOVE LOVE when we get to have yummy food that doesn't involve my oven :)  After last night's legendary pasta sauce, we went over to their house for a full on rib BBQ, complete with watermelon, cornbread, pasta salad, roasted bell peppers, and homemade lemonade...I am getting hungry just remembering it!  Her dear hubby slow roasted these ribs to perfection and the kiddos all had a blast playing while they finished on the BBQ.  Little Guy continues to watch and chase Jackson, and Caden is the BEST entertainer any mommy could ask for!  What a great way to end our Saturday!

Audition Tape

I've said it before, Little Guy has a major slight flair for the dramatic...he can really turn up the heat when he needs to.  Here's a little glimpse at his skills...unfortunately, the best part of this episode happened right after I stopped filming- as soon as I put the camera down he quite literally COMPLETELY STOPPED CRYING, not like he lightened up and was just sniffling, no, he was 100% SILENT AND SMILING!!  Some of you may be thinking, why doesn't she pick him up?  I was on my way down the stairs to do just that, and he couldn't bear to wait any longer.  I could barely contain my laughter and the ridiculousness of it all, I had to tape it (personal favorite 19 seconds in)...What are we in for?!?

Code Brown???

After last week's Code Brown episode, I was a nervous wreck for swim lessons.  Little Guy didn't make it any easier with the fact he hadn't pooped in three days!!!  The teacher kept laughing at how paranoid we all were that it would be us this time, but when it's not your child potentially closing down the pool, it's easy to find humor in the situation.  Well, I am happy to report we did NOT have a Code Brown and, because I am sure everyone is wondering, Little Guy did finally poop later today...in a diaper...far, far, away from the pool.

Happy Anniversary

I wanna be the wind that fills your sails
Be the hand that lifts your veil
Be the moon that moves your tides
And the sun coming up in your eyes
Be the wheel that never rusts
And be the spark that lights you up
All that you been dreaming of and more
So much more, I wanna be your everything....

Four years ago we danced our first dance together as husband and wife, with Keith Urban's "Everything" playing all around us; we were in total newlywed bliss!  It has been an amazing journey- from meeting in Germany (you have to love Oktoberfest!), to an outlet shopping proposal, to the start of the next chapter together as Mr. & Mrs.!  We've made it a little tradition (three years so far, but traditions have to start somewhere!) to have delicious steak and extra special champagne to toast the occasion- last year I wasn't much fun for drinking, Little Guy was still cooking inside, but we toasted none the less.  This year I could enjoy the champagne, but we still kept to the tradition and cooked at home after Little Guy went down.  We even enjoyed a rented movie with our steaks and Little Guy slept the whole time!  Thank you honey for making me the happiest wife, and now mommy, I could ever be! 

Along with celebrating four years, we got two other SUPER exciting pieces of news!!!

1.  Our dear friends Mindy and Lance are expecting baby number 2 this January!!  We can't wait to see Evan as a big brother!  We joke that it will be ten years before all of us can have a drink at our annual January Birthday Bash Dinner...someone has been pregnant the last four years, and with this baby on the way, we're right on track for a big bottle of wine in 2022!

2.  Uncle Luke and Auntie Kim are making it OFFICIAL!  Luke proposed out at the ranch and Kim said YES!  We (really just me!) can't wait to get all the juicy proposal details at breakfast this weekend.  2013 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year!

Independence Day

Life has been a little hectic over here as we have been getting ready to host what's become an annual 4th of July BBQ.  This year we stuck to tradition with hot dogs, watermelon, and corn...oh wait, my husband scoffs at tradition when it comes to food, so we also roasted some chickens on our spit- yes we have a spit, and yes we have roasted a pig and a goat in the past...The food was delicious (if not VERY delayed...Hubby is still working out the timing kinks) and the company even better.  We had a blast seeing all the babies in their patriotic gear but we never got a picture with ALL of them together- there was always someone sleeping, eating, swimming, crying...as it is with babies.

 

The best picture we got with all four kiddos

 

 

This is really what the majority of the photos looked like

 

Almost all the babies, Ryan was sleeping and Jackson has already left (yes, I am still calling Jackson a baby!)

 After the fun BBQ, we headed downtown for some Journey music and Little Guy's FIRST fireworks show.  He and Noah were in AWE once the show started, too precious.  Little Guy got hungry towards the end and was perfectly content to nurse and snooze while the show went on.  He finished just in time to catch the finale and then was out before we even got home.  It was a great first 4th of July for all of us!

 

Waiting for the show to start! 

 

Family Photo- Little Guy couldn't take his eyes off the show! 

 

Passed out!  Celebrating Independence Day is HARD WORK!

He's baaaccck...

Daddy's HOME!!!  We're so excited to have Daddy back home, safe and sound, after his little fishing get away.  I love the simplicity of male travel; gone for four days, and all he needed was a school size backpack, THAT'S IT!  And this was hard core travel:  sleeping outside (sans tent), smelling like nature (no shower or soap), fighting off badgers (REALLY?!?)...it sounds like they had quite the adventure in Idaho!

Not one to be outdone, we kept with the adventure here in sunny California!  A quick tidbit about myself, I HATE/LOATH/DESPISE(take your pick) birds!  Not any certain kind of bird, just anything with wings, that flies, that poops on my porch, and can potentially make a nest in my attic to lay her eggs and torture/taunt/mock me with the sounds of baby birds chirping ALL DAY LONG (that really happened!)...so, what did I discover last Thursday about 1.5 hours AFTER my husband's plane took off??  A dove perched on her nest, right there in plain sight for all to see!!  How did I miss this??  You can see her from the pool, picnic table, and inside the living room!!  AGHHHHHHHH...while it isn't a badger or a rattlesnake (yes they saw BOTH of those in Idaho), the dove just about did me in...We are SO happy Daddy is home!