Sandy Day

Last week we went to the beach. I haven't ever taken Alex to the beach for more than an hour without the pack in play, so I wasn't really sure if he would like it.  Boy was I wrong.....First things first, snack time.

Luckily his hands only went in his mouth once and I think he had a flashback from Hawaii and remembered sand does not taste good.

He played with Ryker and Nicholas for 2 hours and they kept saying hey baby don't take my shovel....haha

He was fascinated by the birds who eventually found our snack bag and helped themselves.  That was our cue to leave.  

He was loving the sand so much he kept laying down in it, too funny.

Laying down in the sand was a result of this.  There was sand in everywhere....ears, diaper, eyelashes, hair, toes, but that means it was a successful beach trip.

The weather was 75 and perfect and did I mention it's February.  I love California more and more the longer I live here.

Nicholas and Alex

Walking in the sand.

 Telling me about how much he loves the beach.

It was a good day. 

Eleven Months

 At Eleven Months Alex is.....

Walking, he started taking steps around 9 1/2 months and started walking everywhere about 2 weeks ago.  It is the funniest thing to look over and see this little body walking around our house.

He loves the park.  His favorite things are the swings and the slide except I try to avoid the slide since I'm usually going down it with him every time.

Loves to play games especially with his Dad.  His favorite is when Al hides and says I'm going to get you.  He screams and laughs and trys to jump on me.  

He has been into staring at his wrists lately and watching them move back and forth. 

He got his 7th tooth on the bottom and I think he's getting more because he is biting everything including my shoulder yesterday.

Points at things he wants especially when he's eating. Speaking of eating he is doing great.  He usually has oatmeal for breakfast mixed with juice and water.  For lunch I feed him fruit or veggie and for dinner he usually eats what we have or I have a ton of pureed vegetables and chicken noodle soup right now.  Today I pureed some fresh strawberries and blueberries and he did not like that.  He doesn't like bananas or avocado yet.  He loves spaghetti, lasagna, spaghettios, and mac n cheese (all very healthy).

He has tried Indian and Thai and seemed to like it.

Had his first cupcake....trying to keep him away from most sugar.

I still nurse him 2 times a day and will hopefully have him weaned by 13 months latest.  I started introducing milk and he seems to like it.

Loves to empty drawers, wipe boxes, and my purse.

Gets upset when he doesn't like certain things we are doing or food we are feeding him.

Has a corner he goes to almost every time he goes to the bathroom.

Loves the dishwasher and would stand on it if we let him.

Switched him to a big car seat yesterday and he loves it.  

Talks a lot and uses his hands a lot, very expressive.

Loves to play with his toothbrush after I brush his teeth every night.  

Transitioning to 1 nap.  The last couple weeks he either refuses to take his morning or afternoon nap and will just cry.  He sleeps through the night and boy is it heaven!!  I finally took everyone's advice and let him cry it out for a couple of nights which was the worst, but in the end it was totally worth it.  

Rock 'n' Roll

Call him crazy, but Al ran another half marathon last Sunday.  That means on February 5th he ran the Huntington Beach Half Marathon, February 11th he biked 100 miles in the Palm Springs Century Ride, and then on February 19th he ran the Pasadena Rock n' Roll Half.  I didn't think he should do it because he has a Half Ironman at the end of March and if he hurt himself it wouldn't be worth it.  Will what do you know?  Al hurt his IT band and he will never admit it, but he should have listened to his smart and intelligent wife :)  haha. 

He didn't decide he was running it until 2 days before and ended up running it with Adam who he works with.  

They finished with a great time 1:50 (I think) and I'm bummed I didn't get to watch.  We went to church after he was finished, so it was right in the middle of Alex's nap time and you know how important those naps are especially before 3 hours of church.  The most frustrating thing was Alex didn't even end up taking his nap.  I think he's transitioning to 1 nap a day and I wish he would hold off for a few months.

Thanks for taking these pictures Victoria and way to go Adam and Al.  

Moving On

Last week we had one last dinner with our friends the Hickman's.  They are one of the first couples we met in LA and have been friends with them ever since.  They have a baby girl, Madison who was born a few months before Alex and they love eating out like we do.   They are moving to Sacramento in a couple weeks and we are going to miss having them so close.

In our 3 years of marriage we have met a lot of great people since we lived in Vegas and LA.  I feel like when you don't live in Utah everyone is always moving around.  Every couple we were friends with in Vegas doesn't live there anymore and a lot of people we are friends with in LA have moved or will be moving to a different city or state.  It's kind of bittersweet, but we wish them all the best and hope they keep in touch.   We had dinner at Samba Brazilian Steakhouse at Universal City Walk.  Al loves Brazilian Steakhouses.  I on the other hand don't feel like I can ever eat enough and no one ever has grilled pineapple anymore.  Is that another Utah thing only at Rodizio Grill?

Alex was getting a little restless so we turned on Baby Einstein for him to watch.  Look at his perfect posture.

I made a surprise birthday request for Aaron's Birthday in August, haha.

After dinner we walked around  Citywalk since we paid $10 to park.  Alex found his dad a trophy.

We put him on stage

We let him try on Forest Gumps shoes.

divulge in some Chocolate Syrup or so he thought.

It was a fun night and we will miss you guys!!  Come back and visit soon.

Girls Night

Last week a few of us had a girls night and boy was it fun.  We had dinner in Old Town at Wokcano and talked about girl things.  How great do Ashley and Jenny (left side) look after having babies 1 month ago?  Amazing right.   

The sushi was yummy and the company was fabulous.

The highlight of the evening was our massages after dinner at Master Wong's.  Master Wong's is one of many massage places in the San Gabriel Valley.  When I say massage place I don't mean a spa, I mean a foot clinic that charges $15 for a 1 hour foot massage.  It's always a little surprising to walk in there and see about 20 huge chairs sitting in one room filled with people getting massages.  The best part is they had Christmas lights up, so before we walked in Natalie said Look it's Christmas in there...hahah.   They start you off with soaking your feet.

Then they move on to your shoulders and neck.  Ashley's masseuse loved her.  He said something like are you a dancer?  and she said a dancer?  no I just had a baby.  

I would say it's about a 15 minute foot massage and the rest is your back, neck, shoulders, and  I swear they are secretly acupuncturists because they touch all your pressure points and boy does it hurt.

How great is this picture of Jenny and Sachia?

Such a fun night filled with lots of laughs.  We definitely need to make this a monthly event.

and a random video of Jenny getting massaged.  Gotta love Master Wongs!

Walking

It's official Alex is walking!! I had a feeling he would be an earlier walker and sure enough at 9 1/2 months he started taking steps and now at 10 1/2 months he is walking everywhere.

He is also mastering the art of climbing.  His favorite thing to do is climb the subwoofer by the side of our couch and have us lift him over and then he does it about 10 more times.  This is also his favorite spot to go to the bathroom.  Without fail every time he goes over there he needs a diaper change about 10 minutes later.  I guess he just needs a little privacy.

This last week he has gotten really confident and walks all over the place.  He still doesn't know how to stand up on his own, but I'm sure that will happen soon enough.  It is so cute to watch because he is still a little wobbly and his body gets so stiff ,so he walks a little like a baby Frankenstein.

The other day I was sitting on the couch and heard him drinking something.  I looked back and he had grabbed his juice box off the table and was drinking it...lol   I've never let him drink one on his own, so it was pretty funny, smart kid.

Back to his corner :)

and a little video clip of him walking.

Valentines Day 2012

Al and I both picked out our presents before Valentines Day. Al has been eyeing these wheels for his bike for almost a year and to show him how much I love him, I let him buy them.

Being the practical person I am, I settled for a dyson vacuum.  I've been dying for one since we got married 3 years ago and since I love to clean it only makes sense that I need one.  On the box it says no loss of suction and boy is it right.  This vacuum has made cleaning that much better.

Our actual Valentines Day was filled with love.  I made Peanut butter cookies with Reeses hearts, so yummy.

and baby food for Alex.

We shared lots of laughs.

We made Al Valentines Cards.....one from Alex that I helped him scribble on :)

and one from me with one of those cheesy poems with names of candy bars.

We went to the park with some friends from church and Alex stole a chicken nugget from the big kids.

So many great girls and thankful to have them all in my life.

Al was so sweet and brought me home 3 roses signifying our 3 years of marriage, chocolates, a card, and a cupcake.  

My friend Victoria dropped off this adorable Valentine.  I needed a shovel and I'm even happier it's a pink one.

That night we went to dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant in Pasadena called Gale's.

What's better than 1 Valentine?  2 of course and I'm so glad I got to share it with Al 5&6

I'm not really into confessing my love for Al on our blog because I would rather just tell him, but since I know he reads this thank you for being such a great husband and father.  I Love You.  Happy Valentines Day.