Birthday Swing

Todd got me this for my birthday:

(We used the timer for this picture. We are amazed that we are all looking at the camera and smiling.)

Porch swings have been an important part of me and Todd's relationship. We first started dating during the summer after first year of law school, and I was living at home at the time. We would go to my parent's house to "work," but ended up spending hours and hours on the porch swing, talking and getting to know each other. Even though we got engaged and married *very* quickly, I feel like we really did get to know each other well because we spent so much time together not working, sitting on the porch swing.

It was also on the porch swing that we first told each other we loved each other, and where Todd proposed. So, I am thrilled about having a porch swing in our new home. We've already enjoyed the nice weather out swinging with Joseph, watching him play with other toys out there, and blowing bubbles.

And I said, What about Breakfast with Mommy?

To celebrate Valentine's Day, we went out to breakfast at a little crepe place that just opened up down the street from us.

Joseph really liked saying "crepe! crepe!" over and over again, so we tried to video it.

Joseph doesn't respond when he's asked to perform on command--especially when we ask him to re-perform something he had just done. Here's what happens when we try to get him to say "crepe! crepe!":

Why I like this video:

• (0:01) "What are you eating?" "mmmmmm"
• (0:09) The one time he says "crepe," (0:09) he pronounces it more like a French speaker than either of his parents ever do.
• (0:25) At the end of the video, he notices some strangers walking by and says "hi!"

Here's another video of that same morning. I like this video, because in addition to not saying "crepe! crepe!" over and over again, he just gets a great, amused look on his face as he rocks back and forth on the chair, and then tries to get more strangers to make eye contact with him so he can make them laugh.

March Madness

This post is going to be quick, because I have to write it during time outs and commercial breaks.

We've only got a few minutes left during the Utah State game, and the Aggies have taken their first lead of the game.

Keegan and Linds this is for you:

They'd better win this one, because with his Cougars out of it, Joseph is now pulling hard for the Aggies.

The Happiest Place ... And The Unhappiest Place

Todd and his mom (a.k.a. Nana) shared their birthday at the end of February (the day after I finished the Bar), so we decided to head up to Disneyland to celebrate and introduce Joseph to the place. Todd and I haven't been since we were kids, and it was really fun. It's a lot more compact than I expected, but that was nice because it was quick to get from place to place.

Joseph wasn't a fan of waiting in line for our tickets (or waiting in line for anything else), so we let him run around the entrance area for a bit and he loved it.

Joseph doesn't really know many Disney characters yet. He knows Nemo, of course, and he also knows Minnie because we got a Minnie toy in a cereal box a few weeks before going and made sure to teach him who she was. So I was happy that about as soon as we entered the park, he saw Minnie in the distance and got really excited yelling "Minnie! Minnie! Minnie!" Unfortunately, Todd and the camera were not with us at that point and we didn't get a picture.

We decided to start off by riding the train because Joseph loves trains, and he really liked it. He didn't want to get off. Here he is waiting and then riding.

Then we had to do "Small World," of course, even though I never really liked that ride. It was one of Joseph's favorites.

I know I'm making a really weird face in this picture, but Joseph is cute, so I'm sacrificing my dignity and posting it anyway.

Next up was the "Finding Nemo" submarine ride (which, when we were kids, was just some random submarine with mermaids and stuff). So, as excited as we were to go on a ride where he knew the characters ... it totally scared him. So much for that.

But here we are before the terror:

Then we went on "Autopia." I think he was still a little young to enjoy this because, though Todd put him in the driver's seat, he wasn't really getting the whole driving thing.

Following that, we went on Buzz Lightyear, the Jungle Cruise (which he enjoyed), and Pirates of the Caribbean (which he also enjoyed). Here are some family pics and pictures of the birthday boy and girl (and Joseph) near Pirates.

He also HIGHLY enjoyed the parking lot, storm drains, rocks and sticks on the ground, stairs, and a dead bee.

Here he is with the bee:





And stairs:

By that time, Joseph was getting a little worn out, so Nana and Brent took him home and Todd and I stayed to go on the grown-up rides. Thanks to FastPass, we were able to go on all of the big rides, and then we also went on most of the little kid rides that we hadn't gone to with Joseph because we wanted to see if they were what we remembered.

All in all, we are major Disneyland fans and are excited to take Joseph back (especially as he gets older). It's very clean and well-maintained and really, we felt like kids again.

The day after our day in the Happiest Place on Earth, Todd and I spent some time in the Unhappiest Place on Earth: the Emergency Room. To spare the details, Todd is fine, but for a while they suspected he had appendicitus. We had to wait for about 8 hours in the emergency room for them to come to the conclusion that he didn't. But he was still looking so cute: