San Francisco//Lounging, Licorice, and the Pier

One of the things I love to do when I'm with family is just sit and visit with them late into the night. We can talk and talk and laugh for hours and it never gets old. That was one of my favorite things we did in San Francisco, believe it or not! One night while we were chatting, and Karina and Justin we're printing some vinyl quotes for Maddax's room, which was so awesome of them, Kurt thought it would be a good idea to give Maddax a harmless piece of licorice. Needless to say, he enjoyed it.

*If you're wondering what get's licorice out of white onsies Kevin and Robyn have this miracle cleaner that really did some magic in the washer. It's just two parts hydrogen peroxide, one part blue Dawn dish soap. The dark, royal blue kind. I made some as soon as I got home. I just mixed it and put it in a little squirt bottle. It will be blue at first but wait a day or two and it should go clear. It really is a miracle cleaner. 

Kurt and I slept in the living room so in order for us to put Maddax down for bed, Kevin and Robyn were nice enough to let him sleep in their room, in a pack and play where it would be nice and quiet. Well, we woke up one morning to find this happy trio...

^^^I really, really wish this picture wasn't blurry! His first slumber party! He was just happy as a clam watching Tangled with his cousins.^^^

The day we went into the city, we went to Pier 39 before it was time to get on the boat for Alcatraz.

Now, I'm no photographer and have no interest in being one so don't think that is what I was going for in this one. I just really like sail boats...and the ocean.

Our trusty stroller pushers

Kurt's head is cut off but this is one of the only pictures we took as a family

Next up, ALCATRAZ. 

Which is one of the coolest places ever.

San Francisco// Travelling, Muir Woods and the Beach

I asked Kurt what he wanted to do for spring break this year and he either wanted to go to St. George or California to see his brother Kevin and his family. Each were doable with our budget. Well, of course he picked going to California to see our cute California family out there. I had to work at the flower shop until 3:00 so we left then, Friday afternoon. It is about an eleven hour drive and we would get there in the wee hours of the morning, but we decided it would be ok because Maddax would be asleep for the night at 8:00 and would sleep most of the way.

Which worked out great until we made it to the Sierra Mountains at 2:00ish am Utah time we were really really tired with an hour or more to go. But Maddax did great! So that was good

Thumbs up for Chinese fire drills

When we made it to under 200 miles til our final desination,we pulled over on the freeway and did a Chinese fire drill. It. Was. Awesome.

2:47 am was our arrival time. It was about midnight when we pulled over to do our "drill".

Our first day there we went to Muir Wood National Park to see the Redwoods and then we had a picnic at the beach. Robyn's sister Karina and her husband decided to go to Cali too for their spring break and that was so much fun having them there. We had a lot of fun with them.

^^^ A cute Asian family took a "peace sign" picture right before us so we thought we would do the same^^^

Kurt calls this photo "the first vision".

Maddax loved the beach. The water was cold but he loved tapping his feet in the sand. 

Fajita Recipe

My mom sent me this delicious fajita seasoning recipe that is sooo good and I thought I would share it. I know it's easy to just pick up a little packet at the store but if you're like me you forget some times. This is easy, and inexpensive, especially if you have all of these ingredients in your spice cupboard.

Prep time: 5 min. Total time: 5 min. Yield: 10 teaspoons
By Kathy at Food.com

Approximately 2 tablespoons equals 1 store-bought seasoning packet
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed chicken bouillon cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Use as needed in recipes calling for fajita seasoning.

• 
  I did add a little bit of water to mine because it was a little dry but that is up to you. We made ours with sliced onions, sliced red, orange, yellow and green peppers, sliced olives, grated cheese, and sliced chicken, all in a little tortilla. Kurt topped his with some sour cream.
  You could make this with chicken, steak, or shrimp.
  P.S. I have no idea what is going on with these fonts.

Model Status

When Kurt got in from shoveling the snow one morning, he stuck his hat on Maddax while he was in his jumper-roo which, of course, ensued a photo sesh. It is far too adorable not to share.

 ^^Takin' the ol'  Jumper out for a spin^^

See any similarities?
                             Maddax                                                                      Kurt

Also, why does my son find it necessary to act like a gangster?



Speaking of my son, this is how crawling is going these days.....

.....oh wait, it's not. I'm surprised I got a picture with his head up. He usually just lays it on the floor totally defeated. But lets be honest, do I really want him to crawl and tear everything apart and grow up? No. So it's fine. Ugh I just want to eat him up. Especially in that^^^ picture.

We'll Eat You Up--We LOVE You So!

The title of this post is from the book Where The Wild Things Are and I am getting it for Maddax because I always tell him that I'm going to eat him up. Our Valentines Day was pretty low key this year as usual. So low key, in fact, that I didn't even take any pictures.We went out to dinner the night before to avoid crowds and long wait times at restaurants  Kurt got me flowers that I picked up myself because I'm working at a little flower shop that Maddax's babysitter owns. Kurt really pre-ordered them and I brought them home with me because it was convenient. Maddax and I got to pick out a cute shirt courtesy of Old Navy (Kurt didn't want anything), and we came home ate some pizza and snuggled on the couch for the remainder of the evening while eating lots of heart shaped candy and those delicious, chocolate, Cadbury Eggs that are already out for Easter (we are addicted to those and are convinced that they should sell them year round).  It was a lovely evening spent with my two favorite boys and we enjoyed ourselves.

I love these boys with everything in me and even though I think Valentines Day is kind of a silly holiday, I don't mind eating countless amounts of candy in the name of LOVE. Not one bit.

Also, I love you for visiting our blog. It really is nice of you. :)

Some Trivia and the Super Bowl

Fact: I have been to State Drill Team every year since I graduated.
Fact: I secretly wish I was still dancing and competing.
Fact: I miss coaching.

We went to the State Drill Team competition on the first Saturday in Feb. It's something that my mom and I do every year so I guess you could say it's a tradition. I love watching all of the dancers bring their "A" game for what seems like the most important day of their lives. That's how I felt back in the day. It seems silly now, but when dancing consumes all of your time it feels nice to be rewarded and to know you're one of the best teams in the state.

Then, I was on the other side of competing as a coach. I loved my team and the connections I made with those girls. Sure, it comes with a load of drama but knowing that I helped those girls improve in one way or another is equally rewarding as winning and totally worth it.

We took Maddax and to say he was so GOOD would be an understatement. If you think about it there is constant loud music and cheering and tons of people everywhere and he handled it like a seasoned drill team goer. Kurt only allowed it because the next day would be a full day of watching football. Maddax loved watching the dancers though. He would not take his eyes off the bright, glittering, costumes and constant movement. His dad is certain that i'm ruining our child but I have this feeling that Maddman is going to be a big, solid, boy and his destiny will be to play football. So I'm not worried!

Sunday was of course the Super Bowl. Is Super Bowl one word? Oh well. If you remember my family's Super Bowl party from last year, you'll know that it's kind of big deal. Like a legit holiday. This was Taylor's last Super Bowl party for two years since he will most likely be leaving for his mission this summer. It just so happens that his favorite team is the Ravens so he was beside himself the whole game. 

The food was delicious and we had a lot of fun laughing at the commercials...and Ashley^^^ This is her signature pose. My  two favorite commercials were the Oreo cookies vs cream commercial and the Doritos one with the goat. How awkward was that Go Daddy one?

You'll have to excuse my parents hideous couches. They will be replaced soon since they will be empty nesters.

 ^^There was way more food than this but I won't post all of those pictures.^^ We still had my dad's famous hot wings along with, meatball sub sandwiches, club sandwiches, smokies, chicken noodle soup( for the dieters), pizza, chips and salsa, and my sister made a delicious spinach artichoke dip. I mean do we know how to party or what?

 ^^He was in heaven playing with his cousins and his grandma and grandpa^^

^^^ Isn't my mom beautiful???

 ^^My handsome dad^^

^^Apparently someone thinks they are royalty^^

And this is what we looked like when the power went out.

December

I'm so sick of these month to month posts so I am finally done with them and i'm combining December and January. And then. BOOM. Done with month to month crap.....for now ;)

We went to temple square with my best friend Aubrey and her husband Jordan. It was snowy and chilly and I loved it. I love Christmas lights and the temple so it was a win win. We went in to see the Christ statue and it was a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season. I think we will make it a tradition every December. There is nothing better than feeling Christmasy with hot chocolate, twinkling lights, snow lightly falling and in the company of good friends.We also went shopping at City Creek and went to dinner at The Pie. Who doesn't like shopping and pizza? All good things.

For Christmas my grandparents always have a party on Christmas Eve. It is fun being with my mom's side of the family. We do a white elephant gift as well as a regular draw-the-name-out-of-a-hat gift. This party is so funny because it has been exactly the same since I can remember. We have the same food, same games, same table setting and my family always sits at the same table. It's funny. Christmas was so fun with Maddax this year. I loved pretending he knew what was going on and getting excited for all his presents.

 ^^^That hair in my eye totally bugs me. ^^^

 Christmas morning with his stocking. He makes everything so much better.

January has pretty much been full of sicky babies, school, work and Aggie basketball games. My mother and father-in-law came to visit us for a weekend and Maddax loved all of the attention. He showed off jumping in his jumper-roo that he got for Christmas. We were going to go to a hockey game but Maddman got sick with a cold so we said, "mmmm, better not." -Fat Amy from the movie Pitch Perfect. If you haven't seen it. Get. It. Now. I quote it all the time. I digress. Now he has a cold and pink eye. So I am actually home from work with him right now catching up this ol' blog.

 ^^^BLURRY! Dang point-and-shoot.^^^

These next pictures were taken in December so he has two new teeth poking up now but I wanted to post these and write about my 7 month old Bubba.

-His nicknames are, Maddman, Maddawg, Maggix, sugar booger, bubba, big guy, and little hoot owl because he makes these little owl sounds that are so adorable.
-Weighs in at a whopping 20 lbs. and 28 inches long. 90th percentile for Height people....
-Can sit up, roll over both ways, and can almost clap his hands.
-He was sleeping through the night until he got sick. Now his nasty cough wakes him up a lot.
-I don't have to rock him to get him to go to sleep. I just lay him down and he puts himself to sleep.
-He sleeps with a favorite blanket and has traded Brutus the Bear for Marcell the sock Monkey.
-Still takes three naps everyday.
-Loves his babysitter April Luck, Auntie Ash, and all of his grandmas and grandpas, and mom and dad of course.
- He is pretty good to go to new people. Sometimes he will pull out the pouty lip and we just tell him to be brave.
 -Eating solid foods and loves all of it. He didn't like green beans at first but now he loves them. He's just like his dad and will eat anything you give him.
-He can hold his own bottle and always plays with the nipple when he is finished.
-He isn't nursing anymore. It makes me sad but i'm happy we were able to make it seven months.

-He has no interest in crawling right now.
-Loves reading books before bed time while his is having his bottle.
-I love when he jabbers and talks to me. He jabbers when he plays with his toys too.
- Will watch any movie or tv show and especially anything with lots of color. His favorites are Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Tangled, Sid the Science Kid (Soooo annoying) and Curious George. We are currently in the process of having him watch Baby Signing Time and I swear he can already sign "more". Am I a bad mom for letting him watch movies? Probably, but he loves it and sometimes it's the only way I can get him to calm down if he is screaming. Don't Judge. ;)
-Loves music.
-Making him clap his hands, or patty cake makes for an instant giggle or smile.
-He is so tender hearted so if you really scare him, or pretend like your crying or if there is any really loud noise, he will pull the lip out and it breaks your heart. On the signing movie there is a part where they teach the sign "hurt". It shows babies signing hurt and crying. The first couple of times he watched it he cried with them. It doesn't get sweeter than that.
-So adorably ticklish.
- He is such a good, happy baby with the sweetest giggle and smile. (Although, he shows he has a bit of temper when you take something from him that he really wants. It's usually something he isn't supposed to have.) We are completely smitten with him and I can't get enough of his slobbery, open mouth, baby kisses and those big blue eyes.


NOVEMBER POST BELOW....