San Clemente

So through a series of events that I will go into another time, Aaron texted me last Thursday and told me his Mom was going to watch our kids and we would be going to California for the weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary a few weeks early. So Friday morning we dropped of our kids at Grandma's and drove the 6 and half hour drive to San Clemente. It was a long drive, but well worth it we had a great weekend!

The drive there was pretty uneventful, we took a route that had not toll roads and we were surprised because it took us through very rural parts of California that we didn't know existed and it was very beautiful. We even saw some mountain goats. I was more excited about that than Aaron.

We pulled up around four and realized that the condo we had for the weekend was really nice, like HGTV nice. It was right near the beach with a balcony over looking a little cove that stretched out to the shore.

Aaron always throws a face at me when I want to take pictures of him, like most men I think. But I know he likes having pictures. I got this one when we walked down to the beach and got pizza and pazookies.

The people who owned the condo were  very nice and even gave us a little anniversary gift. Granted it was champagne so it was wasted on us, it was still sweet. They also gave us some Gouda cheese, which three days later we realized  needed to be refrigerated so I guess I will have to try Gouda another time.  

They had just finished remodeling.

Since this trip was a short one we didn't venture out of San Clemente but stayed there and enjoyed the beach. The owners of the condo had every beach toy you would ever need. So after breakfast we rented some wetsuits and headed down to the beach. Aaron and I had never worn a wetsuit before, we were pretty grateful for them as soon as we hit the water. Its the end of April so you can imagine its not the warmest. But it was still fun. The waves were pretty big, left over from the storm that had come through the night before. There was nobody else out there, we were kind of like, do they know something we don't? But we went in anyway and body boarded. I only caught one wave. After about 25 minutes we were back on the beach. Somethings are more fun when you can do them. We laid on the beach for a while and watched some lifeguards train. They were brave they ran into that cold water in just their swim suits.

After the beach we went into the shopping district and got some Mexican food. It was good but nothing compared to Arizona. We walked through some shops and ended spending most of our time in the candy shop. I got the candy above and realized they tasted a lot better when I was 7. But it was still fun try them again. We did get some very good chocolate from a little shop... wish I could remember the name, I want to go back someday.

The rest of the afternoon we relaxed and then in the evening we had California rolls and caught a movie. It was nice.

I took these picture about 15 minutes before Aaron and I got soaked by a wave on Sunday morning, which effectively killed Aaron's phone. So that was a bummer. Other than that it was a perfect weekend. It was nice to get to spend the weekend with Aaron, just him. I had a great time.

16 Months

I am smitten with this little boy. So smitten. He is a little Mama's boy and I am soaking it up. So here is the latest in Rocky's world.

He is into everything! Daisy was into most things but this kids is much more mischievous. He also loves to drop things into the toilet so far the following items have made a dunk into the bottom of the bowl: a remote control, a mini mouse play camera, numerous hot wheels, gold fish crackers, a flip flop, and a spoon. Please don't think I am never watching him because I do. He is usually in the bathroom with me as I am getting dressed and that's when he does it.

He is so cute to me right now.

He is a good eater. Today he was enjoying a rice crispy treat at Grandma Melba's. I think some of it made it in his mouth.

This was the day I noticed he popped some teeth, two more bottom ones. I took a fancy picture and sent it to Aaron because Rockwell is not the best teether, I fear molars.

Check out those little legs! A happy helper:) 

So the only way I got him to ween was to give him a bottle, plus it got him to drink whole milk, which our doctor urged him to drink a lot of to help him chub up a bit. He weighed 19.2 pounds last visit at 15 months. Bumped up from the 10th percentile to the 12th:)

Today we played with his shoe. He has the best laugh just like his dad very contagious. This shoe was hilarious.

He is my cuddle buddy. Every morning we snuggle while he drinks his bottle and we watch a show. His favorite thing to cuddle besides me is his blankie. He has two a blue and a green one. He likes to chew on them and wiggle on them and squeeze them. I like when a child has a special thing.

He is so helpful.

So having a little boy has been a new experience. Apparently little boys have a favorite "part". Rocky found his a while ago...it's so funny to me for some reason. I think he thinks it's pretty funny too by the look on his face.

He is also starting to say some words. So far he can say: Dada, mama, no no, nana, hi, hey, amen, nigh nigh, he was trying to say grandma this weekend too. Its an amazing thing to watch a little person learn language. 

Rocky loves to play. He loves to play with Daisy. They look so much a like but are so different. Rocky is the opposite of Daisy. He is not busy like Daisy. He is busy but he will slow down and watch tv. He  also cries when I leave him places. Every time I drop him off at the child are in the gun he cries until he can't see me anymore then goes and plays. Daisy could have cared less if I left her. It's sweet though whenever I come get him, as soon ass he sees me he runs to me with open arms and a smile! It's nice to be wanted. He loves slides and goes down face first. Anything with wheels or buttons he is playing with it. We love this boy!

Easter 2014

Holidays are better spent with family. So that's what we did. We made the trek to Pinetop to see grandparents for Easter. I have been missing my parents and trees and everything that feels like my first home. So it was good to share a Pinetop Easter with Aaron and my kids. It's was a rainy weekend, which was just fine with us because I love any change in weather ever. Plus that was probably the last time I will wear a sweater (my favorite article of clothing) till I go camping this summer.

Our first Easter activity was the annual Easter egg hunt at woodland park. I remember doing this as a little kid, I never found the golden egg. It was a little chilly until the second they let kids out onto the field, that's when it just got down right cold and started to rain. That field was probably cleared of eggs in under 5 minutes flat. Aaron and I split up mostly because Daisy was faster. Rockwell got a respectable three eggs, the limit per kid was ten. Daisy got her ten and promptly laid claim to rocky's three as soon as we got back to grandma's. 

Up next was dying eggs. This was the first time I have done this with Daisy, she was interested but not blown away. We did get some pretty colors though thanks to the kit we got from the Papa family. Grandma tried the all natural approach and used turmeric and blueberries to dye hers. It was a bust though and her eggs ended up in our cups. 

I don't think Rockwell had a clue what we were doing but he was a happy boy.

Later that afternoon Aaron and I snuck away for some Easter shopping at the LDS bookstore. We stayed a while there and ended up getting a collection of john bytheway talks. There was $80.00 worth of more talks of his we wanted but that's for another day.

I also really wanted a good cupcake, so after the bookstore we drove into show low to find one but all the bakeries were closed... On a Saturday afternoon... In a town that depends on tourism... Just saying might be wise to be open on a Saturday afternoon. So we didn't get a cupcake, but did find a Nova that I think sparked Aaron's imagination, like he imagined we had $4800 to spend on a muscle car:). Obviously that didn't happen.

My parents stake conference was also this past weekend so they had to go to the adult secession. We stayed home since all babysitter 12 and up were either at stake conference or Prom. We had a good time though. We watched the Garth Brooks Vegas show. Made us both wish we could have seen it live. Aaron always jokes we should name a son Garth. I like Garth Brooks but I'll pass. When my parents got home we went and saw Draft Day. It was actually very entertaining, we like it.

Sadly though the next morning when rocky woke me up at 5:45 grandma was not up yet, which is weird if you know my Mom. Turns put she caught a stomach bug and stayed in her room till we left. So she missed our egg hunt and finding of baskets. So here are some pictures Mom.

 It was a good weekend. We will have to do it again minus the flu:).

I am Having A Hard Day...

 is what Daisy told me this morning in the juice isle of Safeway. And she was having a rough morning, it all began because she didn't get the red towel after her shower. We have been sick this week. And when I say sick I mean the worst flu bug I have ever had. It was so bad. I won't go into to much detail but we all got it to varying degrees, I am pretty sure I got the worst of it. It started with Rockwell on Saturday afternoon and Sunday then the rest of us on Monday and Tuesday. Luckily Daisy and Rockwell didn't get it too badly. I feel like I am introduced to new levels of motherhood every so often and this was one of those times. I only am writing this down because I am curious what my mom's life was like when she was in my same shoes. She often says she knows things like this happened but doesn't remember the small details. So someday when Daisy hopefully has her two children, she can read this entry and know I was once there too. And when I say "there" I mean doing unmentionable things into the toilet and trash can at the same time while my one year old laughed on in entertainment and my three year old kept saying "you sick mom? when your done you can read me a book" over and over while trying to shew them from the bathroom .Anyway...

We all have been getting better each day. This bug kind of wiped us out, which is why Daisy has been so very tired and as she put it having a hard day. Sick kids are so sad. But I have a small confession. I kind of like it when they are sick. I don't like them to be sick. I HATE cleaning up puke and usually they are in bad temperaments when they are sick but they sssllloooww down and its wonderful. Daisy is like a little pinball pinging from one thing to the next, but when she doesn't feel good she wants to cuddle and watch movies and sleep. She even feel asleep next to me on the couch during our third or fourth viewing of Monsters Inc. It was so sweet. This past week for some reason brought into focus how little my kids still are and how much I love that I get to be here for them when they are sick. I get to hold little hands and squeeze cute little bodies. I get to be the one that makes it all better at 2 O'clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday. I love it.