Loving Our Life Together

Toy Story 3

2010-07-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

We took Grant to the movies for the very first time. It was a huge success! When we were in the lobby we got some Reece's candy and walked around watching Grant look at all the displays. He thought the movie displays were very fascinating. He especially liked the motorcycle one. The wheels lit up and he tried multiple time to climb up on it! When we got into the movie theater it was still light in the room so we settled in. You should have seen Grant's eyes when he saw the huge screen! So all during the previews and commercials he standing on the ground and jumping. He was telling us all about what he was watching. It was so cute. I wish I had a movie camera. Good thing it was a family movie and there were other kids there! The funniest part was during this one commercial/short movie when there were all these ducks quacking. Grant yells "DUCK!" and he starts quacking really loud. Then the cows came and he yells "COW" and starts mooing really loud. Lance and I were almost crying because it was so funny! He stayed awake during the whole movie, which surprised me because we went to a 7:00 viewing and the movie did start until 7:25pm. IT was such a fun experience and Lance and I will definitely take him to the movies again!

You're My Best Friend

2010-07-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

Lance and I have our wedding anniversary coming up in a couple weeks. Yesterday we went running on the beach and actually planned out our anniverssary weekend.....we are so excited about it! As I was driving in the car today a special song came on the radio. Tim McGraw's "My Best Friend" is a special song to us because we had a good friend sing it at our wedding. We love the lyrics and the general meaning behind it all. We really are each others Best Friend. Here are the lyrics:

I never had no one that I could count on
I've been that down so many times
I was tired of hurtin' so tired of searchiin'
Til you walked into my life
It was a feelin' I'd never known
And for the first time I didn't feel alone

You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend

You stand by me you believe in me
Like nobody ever has
When my world goes crazy
You're right there to save me
You make me see how much I have
And I still tremble when we touch
And oh the look in your eyes
When we make love

You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
And I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend

You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
And oh we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
And I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend
You're my best friend

Mohawk Man

2010-07-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

Serious...

Very serious...

Auntie Tamra gave Grant a Mohawk....and it was adorable!! We even went to dinner with it!

My good friend Sarah's wedding

2010-07-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

Lance and I went to my very good friend Sarah's wedding at the end of May. Sarah and I played soccer together when we were 6 and then we went to Jr High and High School together and have been very good friends since Jr High. We got into to trouble together and had way too much fun together! We were so excited to be apart of her special day. She was a stunningly beautiful bride! The wedding was beautiful. It was located out in the Livermore valley at one of the wineries. We had a great night with some great friends and enjoyed some adult time while Grant stayed at home with Mimi and Grantpa. We even went out to a bar after the wedding with everyone! Here are some fun pictures from Sarah and Andrew's wedding!

Fun with the Hose

2010-07-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

I remember playing in the water with the hose when I was little. We loved to play in the water and squirt each other. I also completely remember drinking water from the hose! When we were at my mom's house in mid May Grant was so happy to be nakey and play in the water! Here are some super funny pictures of him and Lance!

Roommates

2010-07-02T13:46:00.001-07:00

So while all of our stuff was in transit to California, we still lived in Chicago for an extra week. Jamie was still coaching soccer at the High School and Lance had a last minute trip for work. Our very gracious and giving friends, John and Carrie Larson, allowed us to stay in their basement, cat and all. So we moved in with them! It was actually so much fun to live with them for 7 days just before we left. Everyone had a crazy schedule, but it was a great time. Grant and Jay thought it was the best thing in the world. They got to wake up every morning to each other and wake up after naps to each other. Here are some super cute pictures from when they were roommates!!

Packing and Moving

2010-07-02T13:39:00.001-07:00

We got our house all packed and ready to go. The mover's came, got all of our stuff, and then loaded it up. It was very smooth, however Grant did not like it when they took all the boxes. We were so excited for the movers to come and then when they left it was a weird feeling. Is this really happening? Are we really moving back to CA? Although the movers took our stuff, we still had 7 days to stay in Chicago with our friends....

(Even though this happened a month and half ago, I am just now catching up on blogging!!)

This Picture is PRICELESS!

2010-05-08T17:40:00.001-07:00

This was such a fun day. Grant and his best buddy Jay played so well together! This picture is just way too cute for words!

Book Worm

2010-05-04T08:07:00.001-07:00

I have been such a book worm the past couple of months and I LOVE it. I have discovered that reading is a passion of mine and it helps me fall asleep. There have been days that I read for the whole 2 hours that Grant is napping and I get nothing done at all! But that is my 'me' time and I am OK with that. I have also discovered that if I go go go too much for the whole day and do not take at least 30 minutes to myself then I start to get annoyed. My reading time is when I get in bed. I also have reading times during Grant's nap or when I am putting him to bed, should the day call for more relaxed time. Whenever I some time that I don't have to be doing something, I pick up my book!

I just finished Skinny Dip, which is nothing what it would seem. It was a really good book, easy read, and a romance/comedy. I took it from my Mom who said it was a fun read. Prior to that I finished The Help, Friday Night Knitting Club, Redeeming Love, Kite Runner, and The Shack.

So my new discovery is Half.com - it is such a bargain and a half for new or used books. I just order 5 books, 4 of which are hard bound, for $25.37 - including tax and shipping. They are all gently used, but like new books. I am so happy! Here are 4 of the 5 new books that I will begin reading today!

There is something about me that wants to own all of the books that I read. I kind of see it as a collection. So that is why I like to purchase my books rather than borrow or check out from a library. Being the frugal person that I am, I love that I discovered Half.com

Need to get back to my reading...

Study: Spanking Kids Leads to More Aggressive Behavior

2010-04-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Interesting article... And we do not believe in spanking...and we do not even really believe in "Time-Outs" - more about that later...Here is the article

By ALICE PARK Alice Park – Mon Apr 12, 1:50 am ET

Disciplining young children is one of the key jobs of any parent - most people would have no trouble agreeing with that. But whether or not that discipline should include spanking or other forms of corporal punishment is a far trickier issue.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not endorse spanking for any reason, citing its lack of long-term effectiveness as a behavior-changing tactic. Instead the AAP supports strategies such as "time-outs" when children misbehave, which focus on getting kids to reflect on their behavior and the consequences of their actions. Still, as many parents can attest, few responses bring about the immediate interruption of a full-blown tantrum like a swift whack to the bottom. (See pictures of the evolution of the college dorm.)

Now researchers at Tulane University provide the strongest evidence yet against the use of spanking: of the nearly 2,500 youngsters in the study, those who were spanked more frequently at age 3 were more likely to be aggressive by age 5. The research supports earlier work on the pitfalls of corporal punishment, including a study by Duke University researchers that revealed that infants who were spanked at 12 months scored lower on cognitive tests at age 3.

"I'm excited by the idea that there is now some nice hard data that can back up clinicians when they share their caution with parents against using corporal punishment," says Dr. Jayne Singer, clinical director of the child and parent program at Children's Hospital Boston, who was not involved in the study. (Read "Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?")

Led by Catherine Taylor, the Tulane study was the first to control simultaneously for variables that are most likely to confound the association between spanking and later aggressive behavior. The researchers accounted for factors such as acts of neglect by the mother, violence or aggression between the parents, maternal stress and depression, the mother's use of alcohol and drugs, and even whether the mother considered abortion while pregnant with the child.

Each of these factors contributed to children's aggressive behavior at age 5, but they could not explain all of the violent tendencies at that age. Further, the positive connection between spanking and aggression remained strong, even after these factors had been accounted for.

"The odds of a child being more aggressive at age 5 if he had been spanked more than twice in the month before the study began increased by 50%," says Taylor. And because her group also accounted for varying levels of natural aggression in children, the researchers are confident that "it's not just that children who are more aggressive are more likely to be spanked."

What the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, shows is that outside of the most obvious factors that may influence violent behavior in children, spanking remains a strong predictor. "This study controls for the most common risk factors that people tend to think of as being associated with aggression," says Singer. "This adds more credence, more data and more strength to the argument against using corporal punishment."

Among the mothers who were studied, nearly half (45.6%) reported no spanking in the previous month; 27.9% reported spanking once or twice; and 26.5% reported spanking more than twice. Compared with children who were not hit, those who were spanked were more likely to be defiant, demand immediate satisfaction of their wants and needs, get frustrated easily, have temper tantrums and lash out physically against others.

The reason for that, says Singer, may be that spanking instills fear rather than understanding. Even if a child were to stop his screaming tantrum when spanked, that doesn't mean he understands why he shouldn't be acting out in the first place. What's more, spanking models aggressive behavior as a solution to problems.

For children to understand what and why they have done something wrong, it may take repeated efforts on the parent's part, using time-outs - a strategy that typically involves denying the child any attention, praise or interaction with parents for a specified period of time (that is, the parents ignore the child). These quiet times force children to calm down and learn to think about their emotions, rather than acting out on them blindly.

Spanking may stop a child from misbehaving in the short term, but it becomes less and less effective with repeated use, according to the AAP; it also makes discipline more difficult as the child gets older and outgrows spanking. As the latest study shows, investing the time early on to teach a child why his behavior is wrong may translate to a more self-aware and in-control youngster in the long run.

90 to 19?

2010-03-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

So I have been in DESPERATE need of some new jeans lately. I don't think any of my friends have experienced the body change that I have, or at least not as drastic. My pregnancy took a huge, major, crazy toll on my body and it has not been the same ever since. And I am not talking about a typical change that all women go through. Oh no! First of all, I gained 77 lbs with my pregnancy....see if you know any who can top that! Don't get me wrong, I am not proud of that or anything. My body stored so much water that within the first 10 days of giving birth I lost 35 pounds. Take that Biggest Loser! Hahahaa. But seriously my body just needed water and so I drank around 10 bottles of water a day when I was pregnant- crazy. Anyhow, back to the point. Though I have lost much of the weight, my body is crazy different. I lost a ton of muscle in my legs - I used to have super strong legs. I also used to have a pretty good backside, junk in the trunk, butt,.....whatever you want to call it. I say that only to now say that I have a 'flat mom butt'. It is so weird. And it BUGS me! Jeans just don't fit me anymore. Jeans have never been easy for me to fit into. My legs were a bigger size than my waist and it was difficult. To put it plainly, I had an athlete's body. However, there were certain brands that always fit and there was no problem. So to get back on track, I had to go jean shopping recently - (obviously the second most exciting thing to do next to going to Disneyland!) I got a pair from Express, a favorite place of mine to buy denim. Score! And I also found a pair at GAP, however I did not buy the GAP ones because they were not on sale...such a cheapo! Well, Lance and I went to the Outlet Mall over the weekend and I was going to go the GAP there to get my jeans. I decided to stop into to the Lucky store because Lance's mom always wears Lucky jeans. (She has fantastic taste in jeans) Well it was a special day because I found a great pair of jeans that fit me very well. AND I also happen to fall upon a pair of jeans that were marked down from $90 to $19! Yep, I got both pairs! And so that is my ridiculously long story, with unnecessary details, about how I got lucky at Lucky!

Something New

2010-03-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

We have 2 new things around our house....

My friend Carrie is letting us borrow this table and chair set for children, thanks to our other friend Brandy who gave it to Carrie. Anyhow, Grant has really been enjoying sitting at smaller tables with chairs his size. Lance and I have actually been talking about getting a set, but we just have not pulled the trigger yet. The day I brought this home from Carrie's Grant was in heaven. He wants to have lunch at it, color on it, and just sit. It is really cute to watch. He thinks he is big time for having his own table and chairs.

The other new thing we have is a set of plates that have dividers in them. ($1 each at Walmart) I actually wanted to get these after I was at my friend Amber's for lunch. She had them and I loved how she was able to separate the food. It is actually a good reminder for me to give Grant at least 3 different food groups for his meals. He is also very excited to use them. I can tell he thinks he is more like Mommy and Daddy because we use plates too. Surprisingly, it is more fun for me to prepare his meals because I am using something new as well and it makes me feel good about what i am feeding him because I try harder to be sure he gets healthy and nutritious food!

No Words Needed !

2010-03-23T11:09:00.001-07:00

Zapatos

2010-03-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Grant got 3 new pairs of shoes lately. I love shoes! I have not had a chance to splurge on shoes for myself, but I can live with that. Instead, Grant really did need some shoes and so he got some zapatos! (shoes in spanish) All three pairs actually came from Nordstroms. That is the best place on earth to buy shoes for children. Now, I realize it is a bit more expensive there, so maybe try Nordstroms rack. Anyhow, the Vans are just adorable! I love them. I had to buy some orange and brown shirts to match, because you cant just wear them with any outfit, at least in my opinion! The Crocs are freaking awesome!!! Grant can wear them no matter what the weather because you just put socks on and they are like regular shoes! However, the Crocs are the best because they are so wide and comfortable. Grant has such wide feet that they fit the best. The Puma's we found on the sale rack at Nordy's while we were in downtown Chicago for the day. We could not pass them up. Lance went through a faze in which he had 3 pairs of Puma's and those were the only shoes he ever wore. In fact, he just got his red ones out of the closet because they are practically brand new. Funny story behind the red Puma's, but you can ask Lance to tell you that one! Anyhow, I love all of Grant's new shoes and highly recommend that you check out Nordstroms children's shoes!

The Giving Tree

2010-03-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

I read this article today :

"The man who gave us all The Giving Tree is posthumously giving us even more poems to enjoy!

HarperCollins Publishing announced that a untitled collection of 120 to 130 new works and poems by Shel Silverstein will be curated by the author's longtime editor Antonio Markiet and released next year. This marks the second release of work from Silverstein since his passing in 1999."

Very exciting because I love his work and I love books!

Growing Grant

2010-03-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

Some things Grant has been up to lately:(as of the past 2 months)

feeding himself with a spoon and fork
Carrying around his blankey after his naps
repeating animal noises - he knows the lion, the elephant, the dog, and the duck
stepping up small stairs and trying to walk up regular stairs
sitting in booster seats at restaurants
helping clean up his toys
he has 12 teeth - all 4 molars!
throwing things in the garbage can when asked
talking on his cell phone all the time
giving presentations and announcements
cleaning the floors and walls with paper towels (I don't know why!)
standing on chairs at the table
throwing tempers for a diaper change :(
grabbing my purse and telling me "bye bye"
loving all of his shoes
saying "more" after we tickle him
wiping his own face after meals
learning to say some new words - spoon, done, book (that's all I can think of right now)
understanding almost anything we tell him
running to mommy and daddy's room when he wakes up

Parenting is so much fun and we are really learning a lot. We are trying to teach Grant that it is not Ok to hit when he gets frustrated. He is not necessarily hitting us, but the wall or the floor, and occasionally us. He knows it it is not Ok but it his frustration of not yet having the communication with us that he wants. However, it is so neat to see him learning so much so fast. We actually went to dinner as family on Fri and Sat night this week and Lance and I almost forgot he was there both nights. He just sat in his booster chair and ate his dinner and then played with his crayons like such a good boy. Lance and I really enjoyed talking and sharing things with each other. That won't happen every time, but he is becoming more independent and it is very special to watch happen.

We won't be the best parents ever, we will make mistakes, and there will be very difficult moments. We will learn things we like from other parents and things we don't like. We will make adjustments to make things work for our family.... But we are having so much fun going on this journey and watching Grant grow.

It's true...

2010-03-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting/sad/happy/difficult (and many other emotions) news! We are moving back to California! Lance got a job offer with a new company and we will be moving back to San Diego. We are very excited about this for many reasons, but we also have some sad feelings as well. We have lived in Chicago for over 2 1/2 years (by the time we leave) and we have loved every minute of it! Lance and I moved here 3 months after we got married. We both agree that it was the best thing for us. We were off on our own and we grew in so many ways. We really became each others very best friend out here, even more than before. We did not know anyone and so it was up to us to find things to do, explore, have fun, and go on this adventure together. It was really so much fun to do it with each other and no one else!

It will be very sad to leave some of our friends. We were very blessed and made some friends pretty quickly and got involved in a great church and a small group. I can say that I do not look forward to our last night hanging out because I do not want to say goodbye. Well, maybe I don't have to...HOPEFULLY they will come out to California and visit us!!

Chicago is where we decided to start a family and buy our first home. Chicago is where we learned how to live in the snow and stay away from the mosquitoes. It is where we went to the Cubs, Sox, and Brewers stadiums. It is where we bought our first pieces of brand new, real furniture! There are so many first things we did out here and all of them were very exciting!

We lived in such a perfect area. We are very upset to be leaving the Naperville/Oswego neighborhoods. Downtown Naperville is so much fun and so 'us'. We love the restaurants, the river-walk, the park, the fountain, the bars, the coffee shops, the chocolate/ice-cream/cookie dough stores, the book stores, and all the other wonderful aspects of downtown Naperville. We would love to pick up downtown Napes and move it to Ca with us.

Lance will be traveling back here to Chi about once or twice a year. I am sure he will set up dinner with his buddies and will be excited to see everyone! I will be excited to get a phone call from some of you telling me your vacation to Ca is coming up and you need somewhere to stay!! I will also be excited to follow blogs, get Christmas cards, catch up on FB, exchange stories, and talk with my friends out here. It will be very hard to leave the friends I have made. They have all had an impact in my life in some way. Whether it is being a parent, being a better friend, being a wife, or being a better me, you have all helped me grow!

We are still here and look forward to more memories. We are probably moving in late May, but it could be June or July. Lets focus on the time we do have together!

Valentine's, food, and wine!

2010-03-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

Our Valentine's Day was wonderful! We woke up and immediately got showered and dressed. Before we left the house we let Grant open his Valentine's Day gifts. Lance did all the shopping for Grant and I was so pleased with what he got. It was simple and not overdone. He had this super cute monkey Valentine's bag with red tissue paper. Grant thinks tissue paper is pretty fun, so that was perfect! Grant got a gardening set with a shovel, rake, hoe, and watering can. He was very excited to get them out of the box and play. He also got a chocolate basketball and a chocolate football, which I ate most of!

Then we headed out the door. We made plans to go to the Pancake House, a very popular breakfast restaurant. The wait was over an hour, however we planned to go there because Lance's friend from high school works there on the weekends and she got us a seat with literally no wait at all. I could not believe it! It was very generous of her. Grant had pancakes and eggs, and Lance and I had the biggest omelets you can imagine! We were stuffed!

After breakfast we decided to drive around the Ranch Bernardo and Poway areas of San Diego looking for communities in which we want to eventually buy our second home in. We are still a ways away from doing that (we need to sell our Chicago house before we buy, and that could be a few years) but it was still fun imaging ourselves in each community and talking about the positives of each location. That is where the semi cheesy picture comes in of our wedding rings. We were just having so much fun driving around. Grant was being so silly in the backseat and we kind of had one of the moments where you look at each other and say " I love you so much and always will!". Cheesy, but so sweet and deep.

Later in the afternoon Lance's grandma and her husband came down for our very Italian early dinner. If you did not know, Lance is 25% Italian......yes he looks likes a Luigi or Giovanni when he has a mustache! Anyhow, Lance's mom made some over-the-top delicious manicotti. she made a red sauce with meat and a pesto with veggies. I will get the recipe...you have no idea how good they were! Anyhow, it was such a beautiful day - I think it was mid 70's - so we ate outside and Grant got play in the backyard all day. Grant also go to open some Valentine's gifts from Non and Grandpa. He got a super cute Valentine's Spongebob book. Lance and I also got some super fitting gifts that we love. I got a new book, always a perfect gift for me. And Lance got a bar of soap! Ok, I know what you are thinking - that is the most outrageously weird gift for an occasion! And yes, perhaps it is if it were a bar of Coast or Dove soap. Have you ever heard of Kiehls? It is a skin care brand carried by Norstroms. If you are picky with you r skin care products or have sensitive skin I HIGHLY recommend Kiehls. They also have the very best chap-stick known to man! Anyhow, they also carry an oatmeal bar of soap that feels so good on your skin. Lance I love the oatmeal bar. So, that is all to say a bar of soap as a gift can really be a wonderful gift!
Later that night we put Grant to bed and enjoyed some wine! Lance's dad is a wine lover. He gets all these fancy bottle from all over the place and knows a lot about wine. It is so fun to sit around, hang out with the fam, and enjoy a couple bottles of wine!

We really had a perfect Valentine's day. It was relaxing and we didn't have to stress over anything! We hung out, ate a lot of good food, and enjoyed our family!

5 little ducks went swimming one day...

2010-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

One day when we were in San Diego we went over to the Duck park. This is a huge pond with a tone of turtles and ducks. We had such a good time. Grant loved that the ducks would come right up to him. One even pecked his shoes - they got a little too friendly! I was so happy to capture the cutest pictures of Grant with Lance's parents. We had such a fun day and we will definitely do that again!

San Clemente Superbowl

2010-03-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hanging out

Lance and I

Let the games begin...

Petty and Randy playing washers

Grant wanted to play as well

Busch family - prom style

For Superbowl 2010 we went up to San Clemente to Randy and Candi's house on the beach. Right when we got there Lance and Randy went to the airport to pick up Petty and to go do the grocery shopping for the day. It was such a beautiful day, high of about 75, that Candi and I took the little munchkins for a long walk and to play at the park. (Let me back up and say that Sydney Rose was born in the beginning of December and so this was our first time meeting her! She is beautiful!!) We had so much fun walking and playing at the park. Grant even met a little friend to play ball with on the grass. It was cute watching them learn how to share the ball. Just as we were walking home the guys got back to the house with Petty and the groceries.

Food: Candi is a very good cook and so we had freshly made chili, homemade pulled pork, and freaking awesome burgers! We also had veggies, guac, cookies, and all the other typical dips and treats for a party. Ya, we ate a lot!!!! But I will say it was delicious!

Games: We all love playing games and we do it in good fashion....with bets of course! The guys started with a game of washers, a new favorite game we discovered when Randy brought his homemade set out to Vegas. After this game Petty coined the phrase "Guys, we are mature adults and do not participate in childlike activities". This was all because Randy and Reid would not hold up to their end of the bet - doing a handstand in their underwear! Kind of one of those moments you had to be there for, but we seriously laughed really hard about it for about 3 hours! We also played a ton of card games, the Superbowl pool, and some other silly bets. I almost forgot to mention that Grant won the Superbowl pool!! 40 bucks!

Grant learned how to climb up on things at the Busch's. He was trying to get up on the cooler and he succeeded! It was then a game - climb up on the cooler and stand on top. He loved it and was very proud of himself.

Almost everyone was cheering and pulling for the Saints and so we were hooting and hollering all 4th quarter. That was such a fun game to watch and such a cool story for the Saints to finally win! We had a great Superbowl Sunday.

PS- did you know they are thinking of making it Superbowl Saturday?

Grant's Favorites

2010-02-03T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a few things Grant has been doing and or liking lately

Blueberries and "Nana's" - Grant loves eating them
Saying his first two word phrase - "Mo Nana" - More Nana
Trying to step up stairs while standing
Understanding two part commands -ie, Get the keys and give them to Mommy
Trying to say Thank you - "Thu Thu Thu"
Calling the kitty - Wiggles his fingers and makes kissing sounds
Sleeping in his own big boy bed
Playing in his sensory bin
Playing with his Golf clubs
Wanting lots of horsey rides on our backs
Wrestling with Dada
Skyping with Grandparents
Communicating very well with gestures and sounds
Dancing to music all the time
Walking backwards
Saying 'Boo" for peekaboo
Turning in circles
Blowing kisses

That's all I can think of for now - I lost my list somewhere. It is just incredible how big he is getting and how fast he is growing! I can barely stand it, he is getting so big!

We just love him to pieces!

No More Monkey Sleeping In My Bed

2010-02-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

Good News everyone - Grant no longer sleeps in our bed! Yes, make your comments and judgements all you want, but Grant was sleeping in our bed from about 9 months - 14 months. We learned our lesson and probably will not do it again with our next baby. However I will say there is something so sweet and precious about having your angel sleep right next to you! But Lance and I were both ready to get him out! For some reason I was calm about the whole transition. I figured he would wake up in the middle of the night once or twice for a few nights and that would be it. And that is exactly what happened. By the 8th night he slept all through the night! He has since been waking up a bit, but that is because he has pneumonia and a bad cough. We did not put him in his crib however. Grant sleeps in a big boy bed, our futon. I like it because it is low to the ground, so if he wakes up and tried to get off, he can without falling off the bed. As of now, he does not get out of bed on his own. He waits for Lance or I to get him from a nap or in the morning. Well, I guess one morning he came in my room, but Lance was traveling and I heard him wake up so I called him in. Anyhow, Lance and I are so happy to have our bed to ourselves, And truthfully, we are so darn proud of Grant for being such a big boy and transitioning to his bed with ease!

Sensory Bin

2010-01-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

Wheat Pasta

Dry Beans

Dry Rice

Grant has his own sensory bin! My teaching side has come out and I am so glad that it is working and Grant loves it. Sensory bins are so good for children in a multitude of ways. Here are just a few: gripping a utensil, fine motor, scooping, dumping, measuring, hand eye coordination, focus time, concentration, and keeping things inside an object while still managing to play. I am so impressed with Grant for many reasons, but one I am so very proud of is his clean up skills. When something falls outside of the bin Grant knows he needs to 'Pick it up and put it in'. Literally any time something falls out he automatically picks it up and puts it back, even without Lance or I asking him to. I am happy about this because clearly I do not want a huge mess, but also it is teaching him to clean up and put things away. Currently, his favorite item in the bin is the dry beans. He has a designated spoon for mommy, which is so funny. I never asked for the spoon, but he always gave me the biggest measuring spoon. Even when he has 2 spoons in his hands he will look at them both, locate the big one, and give it to me. He cracks me up. They are all so much smarter than we give them credit for.
We are missing a picture of one other thing we put in the bin, and there is good reason for that. I thought it would be such a great idea to try marshmallows in the bin. Grant is no fool. He started eating them! By the hand fulls! He knew it was food and there was no telling him not to eat it. He knew better, and so instead of going to battle, I just took them away. Why would he play with food that tastes good?
I am so glad I started Grant with his own sensory bin. He can play with it for a good 20 minutes without getting up! It is quickly becoming a favorite activity of his.

It's A Snow Plow

2010-01-26T14:57:00.001-08:00

During one of our snow storms, the snow plows came through our neighborhood and cleared our driveways. Grant thought this was so much fun to watch. He sat there for the entire 10 minutes it took the driver to clear our driveways. Boys and Trucks - they just love them!

Wicked!

2010-01-18T19:06:00.001-08:00

The Orpheum Theater

The girls waiting at Bart

In the Theater

After we got in trouble for taking pictures, we still had to get a few that turned out!

So we were super sneaky!

Right after Intermission, as the show started back up again

All of us in front of the Wicked sign!

My mom treated my sisters and I with a trip to San Fransisco t go to the Broadway show Wicked! We were so super excited we could hardly stand it. My grandma Karen used to take us to a show once a year when she was alive. I feel very lucky to have seen so many of them. To name a few, I have seen Phantom Of The Opera, Grease, Annie, Cats, West Side Story, Beauty And The Beast, and Fiddler on The Roof. I am totally into the singing, dancing, and acting. I have always missed my dancing days and so it kind of brings me back. They are all so talented and they make it so moving and entertaining to watch. So we took Bart to the Civic Center and my mom had arranged for us to have dinner at this fancy restaurant in a nearby hotel. Dinner was delicious! We had a great time talking about our 5 year goals and plans. That was really enjoyable. We made it to The Orpheum just in time to grab some candy and go find out seats. We were in the front row on the second level. By far the best seats in the house! My preference is to never be on the ground level. You don't a good view of anything, I have been down there during intermission before. Anyhow, there is no good or justified way to describe the show. Wonderful singing, great dancing, very humorous, super creative writing, small little lines or moves that were so perfect. It was simply amazing. The creativity and writing was unbelievable. It was such a perfect Girls Night Out and we had a fab time! Thanks Mom!!

Pier 39 - Fisherman's Warf

2010-01-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Family pic

Grant going for a ride

Love the Wyland Muriel

Grant at lunch - the empty docs behind him are the homes of the Sea Lions

Cute hat huh?

Walking with Dada

4 lonely Sea Lions

Lance, Grant, and I drove into the city one day during our Christmas vacation in California. Lance and I have bot been to San Fransisco many times over the years. It is always a fun trip no matter where you go or what you do, and this time was especially fun because it was Grant's first time the city. It only took us about 35 minutes to get their from my parents house, which was nice. Random fact of knowledge: there are 17 toll lanes to get on to the Bay Bridge! That's right, 17! We chose to go to the very famous Pier 39 because we thought Grant would love the Sea Lions. Unfortunately there were only 4 Sea Lions! The people were saying that they left at a very strange time to get some food. Typically at the time of year there are hundreds of Sea Lions...oh well. We enjoyed walking outside in the fresh air and smelling the ocean and the clam chowder bowls! Lance took Grant on the Carousel, which was fun. Grant didn't really show any emotion, but we could tell he liked it. We let Grant do lots of walking, which is his favorite thing to do. He is pretty good now at holding our hands and not wanting to go off on his own, although of course he still does at times. We went to Sea Lion Cafe to have lunch. It is the cafe that overlooks all the Sea Lion docks. This is where we learned about the Sea Lions. Most of the people who work there know a lot about the animals because people go to the cafe mainly for the sight of the animals. We did more walking, looked at the big Christmas tree, and then made our way home. It was a great day in the city and grant really enjoyed himself!

NYE 2010

2010-01-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great house party on NYE 2010! We were at my parents in Pleasanton and had a fabulous night eating, drinking, and playing games with family and friends. My mom made 2 delicious lasagnas for dinner and my Dad went up to Castlewood and grabbed some appetisers from the grill. He got pot stickers and wings and they were so good! We scarfed them pretty quick! We then popped the champagne! Everyone in our family loves of champagne, so we could hardly wait to have some. At this point it was just our nuclear family. We had a great toast to family, health, and the new year and got right into the games! We started with a little game called 'Apple To apples'. At this point Donna, my mom's best friend, and Jim, Tina and her two boys were over. This game is perfect for all ages and so that was a great way to start so that everyone could participate. There were some pretty great moments with cards that read 'Scientific engineer, Juicy, Beatles, and scratchy'. Grant wanted to participate as well, so he sat on the couch with my dad and they had their own little side game going on of Indian Poker. They are 2 peas in a pod! Shortly after Grant went down for bed and we started to play Cranium. This is a fun game, unless 1 team keeps winning and nobody else gets a turn! My dad and Donna won the game, and some of the other teams only got 3 turns! But it is still a fun game to watch. Lance and my mom made a side bet that whoever lost had to do 25 push ups in front of the TV. Technically Lance was further ahead of my mom so she lost the bet. She stayed true to her word and did her 25 push ups, while tooting a song with her party blower. That is very typical of my mom; Making everyone laugh while she is the silly one! Tina's younger boys brought over some great NYE party poppers, hats, blowers, and glasses so we all grabbed some to ring in the new year. The countdown began.......and it was 2010! Good food, good drinks, good laughs, and good people - It was a great way to start a new year!

Them Boots

2010-01-17T14:57:00.001-08:00

Check out these way cute boots Grant got for Christmas from his Auntie Jen and Uncle Kev. I have been looking to get him some boots since the beginning of winter. The problem is Grant has very wide feet. The Ugg boots did not fit at all. He couldn't fit into his size and the next size up was way too big. We also tried a snow boot and they were way too heavy. You should have seen Grant try to walk in the snow boot. He looked like a drunken sailor. Well, the problem has been solved because these boots are perfect. They fit and they are cute and warm! Did I mention he loves them? He brought them to me on 3 separate occasions and asked me to put them on him. It is very cute! Thanks Jen and Kev for the Timberland boots!

Expressions

2010-01-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

I just love his smile!

And I adore his cute little expressions!

I love him!

Our Christmas day

2010-01-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

Grant having his christmas breakfast

My sisters and I being silly with our champagne

Grant with his Grantpa and 2 Great grandpas

Grant and my parents 12 foot Christmas tree

We had such a wonderful Christmas. This year we in Pleasanton for Christmas with my family. Our day started around 7:30am when Lance,grant, and I went downstairs. After we woke up, everyone seemed to quickly trickle downstairs. My grandparents always come down from the mountains and stay at the house for the days surrounding Christmas, so they were there as well.

I made 2 trays of quiches the day before Christmas, so we all enjoyed some delicious sausage, egg, cheese, and chili quiches on Christmas morning. Of course Grant got a special order of cheesy scrambled eggs! For drink choices there was coffee, Orange juice, and my Grandma's special Christmas punch. We keep it on the stove during Christmas season so you can enjoy a cup whenever you please. It is apple juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, with slices of oranges and sticks of cinnamon. It is served warm and is so good!

After breakfast was over the fun began! Grant opened his stocking first. Lance and I agreed that the stocking would be small toys and some toiletry items. So he got a few small toys, some crayons for the bath, and a tooth brush and tooth paste. Low and behold, the tooth brush was the best gift ever! Grant walked around with it in his mouth for about 2 hours! Then we all went into to the front room where the tree and the fire place is. This is where Grant got to open his Santa gifts. Lance and I wrapped them in tissue paper so they were easy to open. We learned that trick from his first birthday! I think Grant had more fun opening the gifts than caring about what new toys he got.

At this point my sister and her husband had arrived at the house so we opened our stockings. Yes, my mom still does a stocking for my sisters and I. there is a funny story with our actual stockings, but I will save that for either a later post or a post for next year because I don't have a picture of it right now. Anyhow, we always love our stockings because my mom does great toiletries, everyday items, and cute little things.

Shortly after we opened our stockings my mom's uncle, Uncle Carl, arrived. After everyone got a refill on their drinks, we began our Christmas morning. We all got spoiled as usual. My mom and Dad love giving gifts and there are always a ridiculous amount of gifts. We all love giving gifts as well, so it is always a really fun morning. A few highlights: Lance got my grandpa a nerf gun to protect himself from his neighbors. Hilarious! My grandpa doesn't really like any of his neighbors and he is always mad at them for some reason, so this was funny. Lance and my grandpa usually give each other a silly gift every year. Also, my brother in law Kevin is difficult to buy for in my opinion. He is a HUGE golfer and super into cooking. We always get him a gold shirt. I swear the past 6 years we have given him a golf polo, so this year that had to stop. After discussing this with my sister, we agreed that he would pick something out for himself and we would just give him a check. I know this isn't the most personal gift, but we figured it would be fine for this year. Anyhow, I taped the check to the bottom of a brick and wrapped the brick in this huge box. It was labeled "To Kev, From Tiger". This way he would not know who it was from. He opened it and saw the brick and went crazy. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. He didn't even realize there was a check on the bottom. He simply thought someone played a practical joke on him! Classic times. The rest of the morning was fun and special. We all kind of take turns opening gifts so we can all see what each other got. The last highlight was a gift that is a yearly gift. My grandma and papa always get my older sister and I a bottle of the infamous Elliston champagne. (More to come on that in a later post.) Well, this year Jana turned 21 so she was included as well. She was very excited to be included for the first time! Below (or above, I don't know how to work the pictures) is a picture of us being super silly, as usual, with the champagne.

The other special thing about Christmas day is all of our visitors. We have so many family and friends that stop by the house during the Christmas season, but Christmas day was special. My dad's dad, Papa Marshall, always comes over around 9 or 9:30 so we can open his gifts and give him his gifts from all of us. We also usually get to see my grandparents good friends Bill and Karen Barry. They are long time friends of our whole family. Bill's son Bobby was born with cerebral palsy and is such a great guy to be around. He is a little younger than my mom and he always used to come play at their house when they were little. Anyhow, Bobby is a great singer and really good at the piano or keyboard. So while they were visiting we got our old keyboard out and let him play some songs for us. It was so much fun. We also got a visit from Kev's brother Bob. He also stops by for a bit because they always leave for a bit to go golfing. Kev has 4 brothers and they have a long tradition of a round of golf on Christmas day. Lance was jealous he couldn't play (Although he did get to play 4 rounds that trip at some high end courses, which he was very happy about!)

So with all of the gifts and all of the wonderful guests, we actually did not finish opening presents until 12:09! We were so shocked. The only reason I remember the exact time is because I went to the kitchen to get some water and looked at the time. That is a record. Craziness!

Grant got an another present after we were done opening gifts. Mimi and Grantpa got him a Big Wheels motorcycle. It is adorable. It is a 3 wheeled bike that makes a ton of noises and has flashing lights. Grant was in heaven. Although he clearly can't peddle by himself, he still loved getting on and off by himself. It took a couple of tries, but he soon mastered that thing!

Then we got some more visitors! My dads brother, Jim and his girlfriend Tina and his two boys came over. It was a lot of fun to see them. We actually got to see them a lot that trip, which was a great time.

When we were done with Christmas morning everyone went to get showered and we started in the kitchen. Isn't Christmas always about food and the kitchen? I will admit, this year I was not as involved in the kitchen because I took the last shower and put Grant down for a nap. During that time the prime rib was put in the over and the potatoes and broccoli were prepped. Our dinner was amazing! We always have prime rib on Christmas, but this was the best one yet. And I am just totally in love with the cheesy potatoes and the broccoli casserole. Those are 2 of my all time favorite dishes. so basically I really enjoyed our dinner. What did Grant have for dinner? Blueberries, a blueberry muffin, and potatoes!

After dinner we had more guests over. Uncle Don and aunt Gay and cousin Julie came over. They are really my dad's aunt and uncle. Anyhow, Julie is pregnant and looks so cute with a belly! We had a great time with them, especially because uncle does loves champagne. So of course, we broke out the champagne again. They stayed over until about 11:30. It was so great to just sit and chat with everyone.

All in all, we had a really great Christmas day. It was so 'us' to be with family and see more friends and family all day. That is Lance and I to a 'T'. We have always been so involved with our friends and family and always very social. Grant was such a good boy and really had fun with all of his new toys. We are very lucky for the wonderful people in our lives.

Grant's Christmas Jammies

2010-01-17T06:58:00.000-08:00

Grant got to open 1 present on Christmas eve, as is a family tradition with both Lance and my families, and our new family tradition

There is something in there

Look at that cute Christmas Eve outfit!

Wow, what s it?

Of course it ended up on his head!

Look at my Buzz Lightyear Jammies!

I love this sequence of photos!

Write 'em or Print 'em?

2009-12-11T12:24:00.000-08:00

I saw a segment on the Today Show and it got me thinking. They were discussing if Christmas Card Emails were appropriate or not. It made me quickly think that sending an email as your Christmas card, in my opinion, is not good Christmas etiquette. I don't think I will ever do that. However, I quickly thought about what we do for our Christmas cards. I go online and set up the photo thing and send them to get printed. All I do is lick the envelope, put the stamp sticker on, write the address, and maybe throw in a cute Christmas stamp on the back. Really, it only takes me 30 minutes to do all of that for all our Christmas Cards. So am I really doing anything better than sending a Christmas Card Email? Well, I guess I am doing a little better.....but not by much. Could I write them all out?

First things first - I am in NO WAY judging people who send the cute printed pictures from Shutterfly or any other company. I have done it for 4 years now. In fact, I really look forward to everyones pictures, so PLEASE keep doing those. I was just thinking that I would like to put an extra touch to our Christmas Cards in the future.

My Mom always hand writes all of her Christmas Cards. I can even visually see my Mom's handwriting on the cards she sends. This makes me think I should hand write them. However I also know it takes my Mom a very long time to get her cards done. I remember as a kid she would always try to get them done early so she wasn't worrying about rushing to get them done.

With this said, I also realize that individual notes on every card takes a great deal of time....which I could use to do other things such as, scrub my kitchen floors, Comet the toilets, or FaceBook! Ha haa! So then my next thought goes to--- Get the pictures Printed and write a Christmas Letter!

This also brings me back to my childhood. I loved, and still love to this day, going to my Mom's house during Christmas and going though all of her Christmas Cards and seeing the pictures of old family friends we haven't seen in 10 years and reading Christmas Letters from them. I learn who went to college where and who is married and all the fun stuff. My parents have always had a lot of great family friends and so catching up with what everyone is up to is so much fun.

Back to my new idea - Write a Christmas Letter and do a picture as well. There is one problem, Lance thinks Christmas Letters are dumb. He thinks they are just for bragging and exaggerating and telling people of silly things they would rather not care to know. In fact, as we discussed the topic for this year he said something like, "What are you going to put in the letter? Grant learned to poop in his diaper and it stinks. Oh, he also learned how to eat Cheerios". We both laughed at each other and decided not to do it.

However, I put myself on the receiving end for one second. I would LOVE to get a picture and a letter from our friends every Christmas. Especially from those we may not talk to on a monthly basis. I would love to hear of vacations, children, adventures, milestones, school, and everything else that goes on in their lives over the past year.

So, I am making an executive decision(I think) !! I will send a Christmas Letter and a Christmas Picture from here on out!

As for this year, Please enjoy our family Christmas Card!

Brown Yogurt?

2009-12-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

Grant went from being a very good eater to a slightly picky eater it recent months. He still is pretty good, but he sure lets me know when he doesn't want something. He seems to be stuck in a routine of the foods he likes and does not want to try anything new at the moment, so we are fine with sticking to what he knows he likes. However, I have always struggled to get him a good amount of vegetables. I always put them in his noodles and tried to hide them in eggs. Well, he has caught on and is making things more difficult. I have since resorted to adding vegetables to his yogurt! Grant loves yogurt and would eat it for every meal and snack if I let him. When I am putting groceries away I have to be sure that he does not see the yogurt if it is not snack time or lunch. So I decided to add baby food vegetables to his yogurt.....and it worked! I added sweet potatoes to his berry yogurt twice now and he ate it no problem! Thank goodness! The only weird thing is the combination turns the yogurt a funky brown color - yuck! Good thing he doesn't care! Now I feel I can give him more vegetables!

Grant's Pictures

2009-11-10T19:14:00.001-08:00

Alrighty, so our baby turned one. Here are the pictures I am really thankful for. These are by our Friend Melissa Heinemann. I am so proud of her work and so thankful for her time. These pictures are timeless and so special to us. Just wanted to share them with everyone because I love these pictures so much. Enjoy

Family Pictures

2009-11-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

Our good friend Melissa Heinemann is an amazing photographer. We are so blessed to have her in our life. She just loves taking pictures, especially of children, and so she took some time to take some great pictures of our family and of Grant. Just wanted to share these two of our family.

1st Birthday Cakes

2009-11-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

Grant's 1st birthday cakes were so awesome that they deserved their own post! I am so happy with the way all the turned out. They were both totally Grant! Sporty and Monkey - that's all him! Just wanted to share with everyone how darn cute his cakes were! He did eat the Monkey cake - but the sports cake got in the way of Grant's bedtime! Special thanks to both of Grant's Grandma's for getting such special and cute cakes!

What is someone's trash is our treasure!

2009-09-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Grant has been getting a bit bored with his toys lately. He really enjoys playing with his friends' toys and anything in the kitchen, but just is not as interested in his own toys anymore. Whenever we go to Target we sometimes will walk down the toy aisle.....but have you seen the prices on the toys? Holy cow, if you want to get 3 toys you can easily spend $100. They are so expensive. Anyhow, I went over to Bye Bye Baby the other day, which is a gently used children's store. They sell clothes, toys, strollers, and anything else you can think of that you might need or want for a baby. Grant and I scored! We got mini piano that makes noises and sings song, we got a school bus filled with large duplos(legos), we got a fish that you put these little blocks in, and we got a mini BBQ!!!..... and guess how much I paid for all of it? $34 bucks! The mini BBQ alone I guarantee was about $50 brand new. It comes with ketchup, mustard, spatula, hamburger and is so cute. Long story short, I am so happy that I spent my money wisely. I Cloroxed all of the toys and feel as they are new!

You Can Call Me Betty!

2009-09-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Apple Crisp baking

Waiting to be baked

Delicious Applesauce

After our recent apple picking, we came home with about 30 apples! If you don't know me too well, I am no Betty Crocker....in fact, I am far from that! So I was very proud of myself for making homemade applesauce. It is so very good, even Grant loved it! 1 point Jamie, 0 points Baking Disaster! I then got a recipe from a friend and just made 2, yes 2, Apple Crisps! I actually had a lot of fun baking, and believe it or not, did not mind the clean up! The only problem is, I still have about 15 apples left! What the heck am I going to do with them? Any suggestions? As for now, I will not let go of the tally......Jamie has 3 points and The Baking disaster has 0 !!! (Please note that I am famous for Cookie baking disasters!)

Apple Picking

2009-09-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

We decided a good way to kick off Fall, besides football and chili, is to go to an Apple Farm! Our friends, the Larson's, joined us as we drove out to Honey Hill Farm. We had such a good time. To begin the day we had some of their homemade doughnuts......delicious! We then got to see the goats, horses, geese, chickens, baby chicks, and ducklings all before we started picking our apples. Grant just loved the live animals. Westarted off our journey by walking all through the apple trees. Lance enjoyed finding just the right apples, Grant enjoyed seeing all of the apples on the trees, (which he thought were just millions of balls) and I enjoyed snapping pictures and being outside. It really was a lot of fun. We walked further back on the farm and found the pumpkin patch. This was also fun because we grabbed a pumpkin and let Grant and his friend Jay play all around it. We all enjoyed watching the two boys play with their apples and the pumpkin. They were being adorable! We later jumped on the hay ride which was pulled by a tractor. Grant thought this was just amazing. He watched the tractor the whole time. He totally loved being on the hay ride. It took us to the Empire Apples, where we filled the rest of our apple bags. While over in the Empire area, we all ate an apple. They were pretty darn good. It felt pretty neat to just grab an apple of the tree and eat it! Talk about ORGANIC! Anyhow, the day was so much fun and really enjoyed the outing. We already decided it will surely be an annual event! Enjoy the pictures!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2009-09-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Um, YES! We are definitely ready for football. We kicked off football season with some homemade chili and lots of football. We are very excited about this football season! Lance can be a little louder this year, which he is thrilled about. Last year Grant was a brand new baby and so Lance was super quiet and I think he missed his cheering. We are also looking forward to watching football with our friends and BBQ'ing all season long! Please note: if you are wondering why we never invite you over to watch the Raider game with us it is because we never invite people over for the Raider game. Lance needs to be focused and prefers to not be entertaining while watching the Raiders. If you think you are a football fan, I am sure you are and I am sure you are dedicated to your team, but there is no one like Lance! Thats why I love him so much though. He is very dedicated, will never leave his team, and will fight with them until the end!
We are also excited for the Raiders to play on Thanksgiving, however they play at 3 and we are wondering what they means for Thanksgiving dinner, because God knows Lance will choose the couch over the dinner table. And lastly, we are also excited about being in California on January 3rd. That is the day of a Raiders home game and we will hopefully have tickets to the game!!

Anyhow, we hope every enjoys football season as much as we do, and if you dont, then we hope you at least enjoy some beer and good food on a Sunday!

Another Round

2009-09-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Lance and his parents relaxing in the lake

Grantman swimming in the lake with Mimi

"Mom, this is serious business driving the boat - don't take my picture"-Grant

With Great Grandma Mare and Great Papa G

I even took my naps on the boat

Floating in my starfish

Aw, with my Dada

This post is way overdue. Back in July we went home to California for a vacation. We spent most of our time at my parents house in the mountains at Pine Mountain Lake. There, we enjoyed boating, golfing, and family. This trip was so fun and special because it was with both of our parents! Lance's parents came up from San Diego, which was so awesome. My parents were also there as well as my two sisters and my grandparents that live up there. We absolutely love spending time on the boat. It is one of our favorite things to do. My parents also truly love the boat. They enjoy boating with their friends, having cocktail cruises, and taking the boat down to Don Pedro, which is the bigger lake. Down at Don Pedro we can go faster and tube behind the boat. There really are not words to describe the fun we have while on the lake. It is a family party and we all love it. We were so proud of Grant for doing so well. We would spend all day on the boat and in the water and he just loved it. Grant would take his naps on the boat and wake up nice and happy and ready to swim. There are so many funny stories and great memories - but that would make this post even longer! It was such a fun trip and we cannot wait to spend another week at the lake next year!

PS- The name of my parent's boat is Another Round (Golf, Cocktails, and Boating)

Into Everything

2009-09-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

Grant is officially into everything! I have to be completely honest and say that it is not driving me entirely crazy yet. However, it does drive me nuts at times - specifically when I am doing anything in the kitchen! He knows how to open cupboards now, but this is the only one he will open in the kitchen, which is so weird. He opened some in the bathroom this morning, but that is about it. He has only shut his fingers in the door once, so we will see if he learns from it. As for now, he loves the fact that he can get into everything!

Straws

2009-09-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

Grant loves to get into things that he shouldn't be in. He really likes to play in the kitchen a lot. He enjoys playing with the lazy susan because that is where I keep all of my tupperware - I am fine with that. He tries to crawl fast towards the fridge when I have it open, but I quickly close it because I am not OK with that. His new thing is to pull up on the window ledge and look outside, which I am perfectly fine with. He also likes to get into the pantry. I don't like him to play in there because there are probably a million things he should not touch, but the stuff at his reach is actually, for the most part, fine for him to play with. They consist of water bottles, soda liters, paper plates, and other such things. There is also a paper bag with a 200 count of straws. Grant got into them and I let him play with them. I know they could be dangerous if he put them in his mouth and crawled around, so I made sure to watch him. He was really just playing with them and having a good time. It was something new that was not one of his toys - which clearly makes for a super cool new toy! As he was playing Missy, our girl kitty, comes wondering over. She thought he was trying to play with her. So for a couple of minutes Grant would wave the straws around and Missy would try to catch them and eat them. It was so cute because Grant was loving the attention from Missy. He obviously rarely gets up close and personal with them because they still run from him. However, Missy was loving the attention too and did not care if he would get loud or touch! I was happy to have caught the moment! Cute huh?

Avocados vs Strawberries

2009-09-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

These are two of my very favorite foods. I love avocados and I also love strawberries. If there is a choice of flavor for something, whether it is ice cream, cheese cake, or cream cheese, I always prefer strawberry. I also absolutely love avocados. I love chips and guac and actually really like to make guacamole. ( I also have a secret ingredient I like to add to my guac!) Grant also loves both of these foods. They are super good for him and require basically no preparation other than being cut up. So far it sounds like we just love strawberries and avocados, right? Well we do, but I have a bone to pick with avocados!

You would think that strawberries, being red and juicy, will stain everything. Well, I actually have a great carpet cleaner that gets the stains out and strawberries actually come out of my clothes in the wash! So I feel pretty good about feeding them to Grant. Back to the bone have to pick with avocados - They stain everything. What the heck? They stain my clothes, they stain Grant's clothes, and MOST annoying of all they stain my dishes and silverware! This is super annoying. I have to scrub, I mean scrub, the spoons, knives, and bowls that touch avocados. It drives me crazy!

We will continue to eat avocados in our household. However, I simply wanted to point out this interesting fact: strawberries do not stain(usually) and avocados do! Weird!

He struck again!

2009-09-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

Yep, that is Dodger. He is at it again, being the naughtiest cat ever! I would first like to mention that his new playground area is in fact in the soy bean field - Yes, the place where he went missing for about 6 hours. I found him playing in there again. And guess what? He doesn't get to go outside much anymore!
Now to the picture. Dodger is a very protective cat. Whenever Lance travels he stands guard at the top of the stairs until I go to bed. Once I go to bed then he comes in the bedroom and either sleeps on Lance's pillow or he sleeps in my doorway. He is very funny. His latest spot is laying in the doorway of Grant's room. This is where he prefers to take his naps. I was in Grant's room the other day putting away some clothes, and what little surprise do I find? Dodger was taking a nap in Grant's crib. Now, I know that many cats do this, especially when you first bring a baby home from the hospital. It is the cat's way of showing its jealousy. Nope, my cats aren't jealous anymore. He was just being naughty. I have NEVER caught them in the crib before.

This cat is driving me crazy! You don't even want to know all of the bad things he does, so I will will just tell of the funny and unusual!

(Excuse the creepy big eyes - flash on phone is not very good)

Where's Spot?

2009-09-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

We read Grant 1 or 2 books before he goes to sleep at both nap time and bed time. I have a great passion for children's books and we have hundreds of them. However, we only have about 20 board books. Board books are the books for younger children that are made out of thick cardboard pages, so kids can be more rough with them. Anyhow, Grant definitely has a favorite. Where's Spot (Why doesn't my blog offer underline?) is his favorite book, and ours as well. It is a lift-the-flap book, which Grant just loves. He loves lifting the flap to see the animals that are hiding. Spot's mom, Sally, is looking all over the house for Spot because it is dinner time. In each place she looks there is a different animal. When Grant lifts the flap, every time he smiles so big. It is like a game of peek-a-boo for him. I love the book because of its large print and short sentences. It really exposes children to the symbols of our alphabet and each individual letter. Even at Grant's age, it is very important to see print. I also like how the flaps are different shapes and sizes and lift in different directions. It helps with his fine motor and challenges him a bit. The truth is we have read it so many times that he knows which way each flap goes! Every time I read it to him I get excited to see him smile!

1st Tooth

2009-09-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Grant popped his first tooth.....finally! Lance got his teeth late when he was a baby and teeth are genetic. So our Doctor told us that Grant would probably get them late as well! So, at 10.5 months Grant got his first tooth! Hooray!!

Confession

2009-08-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, since I love to laugh at people and their funny stories, I might as well share the wealth. Here is a good one. While I am absolutely, definitely not Betty Crocker or Paula Dean, or anything even remotely close, my cooking is.....well alright, my cooking is probably a little below average. I can cook a mean lasagna and everything else is just average-ish. Fortunately Lance and I are not too picky and so dinners are easy, quick to make, and good.

Well, the other night we were ready to make dinner and neither of us felt like anything in particular, but we didn't want the same old dinners that we usually make. So I decided that we would have pasta, no sauce, Parmesan cheese, and artichoke hearts! Yum. So I cook the pasta and chop up the artichoke hearts. I drain the pasta and go to get the olive oil. Problem, we don't have olive oil. Now this is rare for our household. We always have olive oil. So I tell Lance the problem and he suggests a little butter. Genius, why didn't I think of that. I go to the fridge and we have no butter. Now, this is not rare. We never use butter. Maybe we use it if I make grilled cheese for lunches, but that is not very regular. Other than that, we never use butter. So I decide that I will just make do with what we have. I had some vegetable oil so I just used a smidge of that and then put in some artichoke marinade, thinking it would be like a salad dressing or something.

After all that we sit down for dinner. Fortunately I prepped Lance in saying, " I really don't know if this is going to be good at all". Well thankfully I did, because Lance took one bite and said, "Jame, I'm sorry, this is disgusting." So I took a bite just to confirm and sure enough it was gross.
I was not up for making another meal and neither was Lance.

So we ended up going down the street to Buffalo Wild Wings. Now, for all of you Californians reading this.....Chicago has had BWW for a very long time and that is one of our favorite places to eat out here. I know they opened one up in Dublin, so I hope you all enjoy it!

Anyhow, we are thankful that BWW saved us the other night. It sure was nothing to be proud of.....but go ahead and laugh - I cooked something that was not edible and according to Lance, "disgusting"!

We Built A Fort

2009-08-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

Playing with my fun Daddy!

We were bored the other day and wanted to do something fun and out of the ordinary, so we built a fort. The architecture was very simplistic - four dinning room chairs and a big old blanket! Grant thought it was the coolest thing ever. When he decided to come and play with some toys his face was priceless. It was something new and different and he liked it. Some days go by and I feel like we are always just playing and sitting in the front room. It gets old after some time. So, we spiced it up and did something different! Glad we did because it sure was fun!

Playing in my fort!

A Worst Nightmare

2009-08-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

Just over two years ago my sister Jana was in a terrible, horrible, very scary car accident. There is no need for details. All that matters is that she is here with us today. We are VERY lucky for that. Since then I have been very paranoid of Lance's travels. Lance drives a lot for work, leaving early in the mornings and driving home late at night. I am always nervous of him getting in an accident and that scares me very much. No matter if he is driving across 3 states or driving just 3 miles down the road to the grocery store, when he is leaving I always say "I Love You. Drive Safe". I know just how dangerous driving can be. Two weeks ago, my worst nightmare came true.
Grant and I were in the car driving to the pool to meet a friend. Lance calls me and says "Do not freak out, I was just in a bad car accident but I am fine." My heart sank and a million things raced through my head. Sure he was telling me he was fine, but what does that mean? He only has 3 broken bones, fine? Or he only sees a little bit of blood, fine? There could be a million kinds of fine. I could hear a woman in the background say, "Oh my gosh, are you alright?" At some point I asked what happened and he told me that someone hit him from behind on the freeway. The conversation was very brief. Lance told me he needed to make sure someone was calling the police and he promised to call me right back.
Side note----- Lance was on his way home from an appointment and I remember him telling me it was about two hours away. I just didn't know how far he was on his drive.
If you know me well, you will know that I am very anxious about getting all the details about any situation. Even when Lance is on the phone with someone else, I am always putting in my opinion if it involves me, or interrupting in some way. I know that is a terrible habit and I even get mad at myself for it. That is all to say that I was desperately wanting more details of his health and wellness and of the accident, but also knowing that he probably needs to take care of some things like insurance, police, and all of that stuff.
Eventually I get more of the story and start making my way to where Lance is located. He was about an hour away. I was so thankful to give him a hug when I saw him. Then I saw the car. Wow. That is when I was overwhelmingly thankful to hold his hand and stand next to him.
So what happened? Lance was driving with the flow of traffic which was about 45 MPH because it was a construction zone. He was on the freeway in the left lane. A Ford F150 comes flying through, going between 70 and 85 MPH and hits one car, then hits Lance, and the hits a Semi. Lance gets hit from behind, does circles all the way across the freeway to the right lane, then all the way back to the left lane and smashes into the cement wall head on. Yes, we are thankful he is alright!
Of course there are more details, but none of them really matter. The very scary thing is that sometimes it doesn't matter how good, safe, or reliable you are as a driver. There are people out there who can cause very serious and scary accidents. The bottom line for us is that we are so very thankful that Lance only walked away with some burns and back and neck stiffness/pain. It turns out the pain is gone and the stiffness has faded. The burns from the air bags have since disappeared.
There is only one real reason that I even decided to write a post about this. I really just want everyone to remember how dangerous it can be on the road. Please be safe. Don't speed. Whatever it is that you are in a hurry for, it can wait. It is much better to be safe and late, then injured, or have caused an injury, and early.

Dodger The Cat

2009-08-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

We have two cats. Our boy kitty is named Dodger. He is crazy. Every morning he sits at the front door and just meows until I let him go play outside. I leave the front door cracked open and the cats go in and out as they please. They come in when the dogs are out playing and then go back out to be adventurous. The really great thing about them is they will come inside when I call them, just like dogs. Dodger, especially is really funny with this. He almost gets excited when I call him in and he sprints inside so fast, as if it were a game. Anyhow, the other day he did not come when I called him. Now, this has happened before. Sometimes he is lounging under a tree and just doesn't want to come in. So I go down to the field and get closer to him and then the game starts; He sprints home! So I walked down to the field and didn't see him. I know he is very adventurous so I just went back in the house and figured he would come home shortly. Like I said, this has happened before where he takes his sweet time coming home.Well, our girl kitty, Missy, starting acting nervous, like she knew he was missing or something. So I went back out a little bit later and still couldn't find him. So Lance went out there to check, and this went on all day. I thought either he went too far and couldn't find his way back home, or possibly maybe something jumped out of the field and ate him. I don't know what, maybe a snake or a fox - do they even have foxes in IL? Anyhow, I go out there yet again at about 5:00. I was in the middle of making dinner so I asked Lance take over while I went outside. I took the cat treats with me, because I know that whenever the cats hear me shake the cat treats they make a be-line for me. I am out there walking the edge of the field and looking around and all of a sudden I hear a faint meow that is clearly Dodger. He is in the field approximately 30 feet or so deep. OHMYGOD! I sprint home as fast as I could and tell Lance I need his help. We turn off the stove, grab Grant, and Lance puts on his steel toe work boots. We go down to the field and try to get hm out. This field was a corn field last year and now is a soy bean field that has corn patches in some places. The soy beans are about 2-3 feet tall and there is no way that you can see anything in there! The plants are very close together and the cat cannot see basically anything either. So Lance tries to find him but the cat keeps going another direction. So I am a little on edge and I take over. I put on Lance's big old boots and have at it. I am stomping down all of these soy beans in a panic to try and find that cat. (Part of me felt bad for destroying some soy beans, but then I realized that my cat will surely die if I don't get him out....what can you do.) There are millions of bugs all over the places. Bugs I have never even seen before. There are also thousands of frogs jumping all over the place. It really felt like I was on the show "Dirty Jobs". Well finally I find him and I pick him up. I put him down on the grass for just a minute and he falls over. The poor cat is so dehydrated and tired that he can't even stand up. He also is a filthy mess. He was so muddy and yucky - so I had to give him a bath. So we take him in and fill the sink with water and give him a bath with my tick and flea killing shampoo (Thank God I bought that for no reason last year because it came in handy!) So here is a picture of Dodger, all nice and clean and wet, trying to lick himself dry!

-----There is a side note. We forgot to close our garage that night. So our neighbor texts Lance at about 10:30 to let us know it is still open. So Lance runs out to close the garage and when he comes back in he tells me that there are tons of frogs in our garage. So the next morning I go to take a look and sure enough there were about 15 frogs in our garage - and some of them were big and were also dead. EWWW. They were disgusting. So I had to chase them all out of the garage with a broom and then get the dead ones out as well. ------

Thank goodness that fiasco is over! Damn cat!

Quiet at the Concert!

2009-07-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a good one!!! So we went to Ravinia, an outdoor concert venue with our friends the Stefanksi's and the Larson's. We left Grant with our friends Brian and Jamie, which is a great story in itself and will post about that next! Anyhow, the concert was some symphony orchestra. We were more interested in playing games and enjoying a good meal with one another than we were of just sitting and listening to music. You can bring food and drinks, including alcohol into this venue so we all brought some piece of the meal and some drinks. Lance and I arrived right as the concert started and everyone went very quiet. So we just thought that people were going to listen to the beginning or that maybe someone was going to give a speech or something. Well, everyone stayed fairly quiet the whole time! And I mean, pretty darn quiet. So we enjoyed our delicious dinner without really talking to each other, other than loud whispers here and there. When dinner was done we were just chatting and hanging out, in voices just above a whisper. Now, I know I am loud person, but I have toned it down over the years. I was not being loud and had only had 1/2 glass of wine, so was not feeling silly either. A woman walks over comes right up to me and says, "I can hear you all the way over where I am sitting. There is not talking during the performance. Thanks" and she walks away. WHAT? First of all, I was truthfully not talking in a normal voice, I was talking in a loud whisper. Secondly, there are no rules about no talking during the performance. and yes, we did read the handout and the tickets to be sure! It was so strange. So yes, I Jamie Hunter, got Shh'd at an outdoor concert. WEIRD ! Even though we could barely hear each other the whole night, it was a great night of fun and we had a wonderful time making fun of the fact that we had to be quiet!

Grant's First Haircut

2009-07-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

On Grant's 9 month birthday we decided it was time for a haircut. The good news is he has a ton of hair like his Mom and Dad! We went to Kid Snips where they specialize in childrens haircuts. We got to pick out a DVD for him to watch while he sat in his cool car. We chose Winnie the Pooh. He did not care about watching the movie at all. HE just wanted to play in his car. He was such a good boy. We even got to take home a certificate with his picture on it and a snip of his hair! Hope you enjoy the photos!

Look at my cool car!
Look at me!
Playing with the race car!
I see you !
Family Picture!

Will Crawl For Beer

2009-07-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is one of the first videos of Grant crawling.Around 6.5 months Grant would scoot and roll all over the house, but just was not interested in crawling. Then he started pulling himself up on the couch and walking along the couch, and still no crawling. Then we made some progress and started crawling backwards! Now, around the 8 month mark, Grant is a crawling machine! Lance gave him a bit of an incentive.....some Beer! Be sure to watch him spit out the beer after he drinks it! This is especially funny because Grant would drink beer instead of milk if I would allow him to. Why do all babies love the taste of beer? Anyhow, please enjoy!

Mother's Day

2009-05-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

We had such a special Mother's Day. My boys took me to downtown Naperville for a very yummy brunch. The food was delicious! We ate outside and enjoyed the beautiful morning. I tried something while at brunch that I have never had. Believe it or not, I had my very first Bloody Mary. DISGUSTING ! I would have rather had whiskey for breakfast! I will never have that again. I am not a picky eater, or drinker for that matter, but that was just horrific. Me no likey! My boys then walked me over to this really cute purse shop and had me pick out a bag. That was a wonderful surprise! Then we spent the rest of the morning walking the riverwalk and enjoying the day. We watched the ducks and the river and Grant really enjoyed it. He just loves to be outside, so he was in Heaven! Lance and Grant also gave me the sweetest, most heart felt card I have ever received. It made me cry, but more importantly made me realized how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband and a sweet baby boy. I feel so blessed. I love my family!

More Food Pictures!

2009-05-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

Green Beans and Sweet Potatoes that did not make it into the mouth!

Grant and his food

2009-05-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

We introduced Grant to baby food a while ago. We started off with oatmeal. The oatmeal did not go over well at all. Not only was he trying to learn how to use his tongue and learn how to swallow a different texture, he also just was not really liking it. We tried it for about a week and then we moved on. Next we tried rice cereal. We had a bit more luck with this....or should I say Lance had a bit more luck. Grant wasn't really eating good for me, but he would eat it from Lance. There were even two instances in which Lance had to make a second helping because Grant was going to town! We then introduced green beans. That did not go over well. I have learned that my sweetheart Grant is a stubborn little guy. He literally closed his lips and would not open them. So then we moved on to sweet potatoes. No luck. Applesauce. No luck. Is he going to eat anything?

Well, we have had luck with some interesting adult food. Sometimes we give Grant our food to suck on and he just loves it. We have given him apples, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, french fries, pickles, and even a jumbo shrimp. Grant loved every single one of them! So I know he likes the flavors and I know he is ready for more, I just can't get him to eat the baby food. So I am going to go to the store and see what toddler food I can find for him to hold and suck on. Wish me luck!

Destroyed!

2009-05-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

Please Excuse our lack of posts lately....My computer crashed! The good news is that I can most likely recover all of our documents, pictures, and videos. The bad news is I had to buy a new computer.

We will get back to blogging shortly!

Grant got into something...

2009-04-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

We had our first uh oh !!(I'm sure of many to come!) Grant really likes to play with the bag of wipes when we are changing him, probably because of the noise it makes. The other night we were all just hanging out and he was just eyeing the bag that was sitting somewhat near him. We decided to just let him play with it. Well, about 1 minute of not paying attention lead to this! Grant managed to open the wipes and pull out about 15 of them. Of course he thought is was such fun - and I thought it was such a waste! However, it was very cute! (Poor quality picture because I could not find the camera so I had to use my phone!)

Food !

2009-04-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we decided our sweet chub-chub needs to get some more meat on his bones, so we introduced him to real food! Grant started eating solid food on Lance's birthday. He is eating banana oatmeal at dinner time. It is a slow transition while he learns how to use his tongue to help him swallow, but he seems to be doing great. We have let him suck on green apples and oranges prior to this and he sucked all of the juices out of them both. That was our sign, he is surely ready! Here are some pictures of Grant's first real meal!

It's bathing suit time! (In CA at least)

2009-04-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

We did not make it out to the Beach when we were in CA (we'll do that a different time), but we did put Grant in his bathing suit and let him play in his pool/bath tub. It was such a beautiful day out and so we all hung out in the backyard and watched Grantman play in his pool with some toys while giggling at himself! He just loved the water and played for quite a long time. We cannot wait for Chicago to warm up ! Soon we'll be at the real pool. Enjoy the pictures!

Grant's first Dodger game!

2009-04-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

When we were back at home in California we went to Petco Park in San Diego to watch Manny and the Dodger's play! We had such a good time, minus the fact the Manny did not hit a home run! We had a great lunch at Soleil K at the Marriott with Lance's parents, sister and brother. We all then went to the game and sat between left field and third base, about 20 rows up - Awesome seats! Grant really enjoyed himself and really loved being outside for such a long period of time. He even got in a 30 minute power nap in the 6th inning!

It was such a fun family day at the ball park and we look forward to many more!

Yes, that is Lance and Grant with the General Manager of the Dodger's, Ned Colleti !

There's Manny !!

All Clean!

2009-04-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from Grant's first bath in the big boy bath tub! We have finally stopped bathing him in our sink. While the sink was perfect because of how bog and deep it was, Grant was just too big. He was ready for a bigger area where he could play! We got him this really cute Ducky bath that can go directly in the bath tub. It is perfect for him because he can sit up and play with his toys, and lay down to get his hair washed! He just loves it! It is so fun to watch him play and splash all over. He also really likes his new bath toys. He would stay in there all night long if we let him! Now we have a happy, clean baby who has a bigger bath tub to play in !

Walk on the River

2009-03-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

We went out on a walk in downtown Naperville the other weekend when it was nice and sunny. We have such a beautiful downtown here with tons of fun things to do. There are many different restaurants, coffee shops, great shopping, book stores, bars, parks, and so much more. On this outing, we walked the river and watched all the kids fly their kites at the sled hill! It was a very fun Saturday evening! Grant is learning to love being outside. Poor guy has been cooped up in the house all winter because it has been so darn cold! Hopefully Spring is just around the corner so we can enjoy the outdoors a bit more. Here are some pictures from our outdoors adventure!

Superman on St. Patty's Day!

2009-03-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here is our Superman! On St. Patty's Day it was fairly nice and sunny outside, (a great surprise!) so Daddy and Grant went outside to play. Lance was flying Grant all around and he was loving it! It was so cute and fun.

Even though we are not Irish, I had to buy this cute 'Kiss me I'm Irish' t-shirt. The funniest part is he was way too big for it! Enjoy the cute green pictures !

Up and Running !

2009-03-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

So, I have finally started our blog! (It has only taken me about 5 months - better late than never!) I think this will be such a fun way to post various thoughts, ideas, events, and adventures our family takes.

As for now - Grant is growing so quickly, it is just amazing. He turned 5 months old on Tuesday, and it seems as though time has flown by. Here is an updated picture of how so very cute he is!

Enjoy, and come back for more !