The Outdoor Life

The boys and I are so happy with spending most of our awake time outdoors.  I am so grateful for this beautiful earth and nice weather so we can enjoy God's creations, and for the perfect backyard!  We spend hours in the backyard and I am so spoiled when it comes to entertaining toys and things to do outdoors.  Many of the toys we have, like the sandbox and the bike trailer, were given to us by generous family members and neighbors.  Here's just a few things we do around the yard.

 Wagon rides down the hill.

 Daily snacks outside are a must.  Once in awhile Brian will get really into the sidewalk chalk.  His favorite thing is to draw lots of lines and then connect them.  The only picture I have of this is the one above.

 Timmy in particular loves snack time on the picnic table.  I think he likes being a big boy.

 Swings. What can I say more?

 Both kids love the playset.

 My favorite is the garden.  Brian loves to find and eat the red strawberries and I just love that something is actually growing!  That lettuce behind him still hasn't gone to seed and we've been making salads from it for months.  More on the garden in a later post.

 Oh the sandbox.  I never in a million years imagined I would love a little green plastic turtle filled with sand so much.  Thank you turtle for the hours of entertainment you have provided for my one-year-old.  The three-year-old likes it too, but you make Timmy so so happy.

 And thank you zip-line for how easy you are to pull up the hill and for the countless squeals and bursts of laughter you have provided.

 Timmy has finally grown to love the bike trailer and it has provided the most exercise for me yet. 

Bubbles - the best way to get Timmy to stand on his own for more that 1 second.

One Year Old Timothy

 Our little guy is one year old!  We have been busy busy busy.  Well, Mark in particular has been busy and Timmy's birthday was no exception. So, in order to fit in a little party time that included Daddy, we had cake first thing in the morning after Timmy's favorite breakfast of strawberries and cheerios.  We sang the birthday song and Brian happily helped Timmy blow out his candle.  Then we all enjoyed some delicious cake.

 Now really, isn't he one of the cutest things ever?

 Afterward, Mark went to work and we had a nice day playing at home.  Mark knew he had to work late into the evening so we went in the late afternoon to visit him.  On the way, we stopped at the dollar store where Brian picked out a few little toys for Timmy and we got some balloons.  As expected, the balloons were the hit of the day for Timothy.  So was seeing his favorite person in the world, Daddy.  We took Mark away from work for a bit to get some dinner at the delicious My Thai restaurant.  Following dinner we said goodbye to Daddy and went home to bed.  It was a very nice day.  I hope you had a good Birthday Timbo!

 A few days later it was Mark's brother Tony's birthday, so we celebrated with the Hsiao family and sang to Timmy and Tony.  Thanks Hsiaos for a lovely evening and fabulous food.

 Days later and he still will not let go of those balloons.

Timmy at One Year

~Weight: 20 lbs. 2 oz.

~Height: 30 in.

~Still crawling, but walks pushing a baby walker or holding on to something else.

~I think he says "Mama" but that's the only word.

~Has 7 teeth.  4 on top, 3 on bottom and one on the way.

~Loves his brother Brian and doesn't quite know what to do when he's not around.

~Loves to clap his hands.

~Dances to music mostly by waving his arms wildly in the air.

~ Scrunches his nose and breaths in and out really loudly when he wants someone to laugh at him.

~Is now on bottles of formula and refuses to drink more than a sip of cows milk.

~Has become a picky eater.  He drops any food (most food) off of his tray onto the floor if it is not exactly what he wants. What he wants usually includes some sort of berry or something totally unhealthy like Cheetos.  When I try to feed him from a spoon or fork he gives it a good whack with his hand as it comes towards his mouth and sends the food flying. 

~Loves to wrestle and role around with Brian and Daddy.

~Likes to play with balls and toy cars and actually uses both the way they were meant to be used.  He throws the balls and drives the cars around the floor.

~He has finally discovered how not to eat the sand in the sand box and playing in the sand has become a new love of his.

~Happy to go anywhere in the backpack and usually the stroller too.

~Goes to bed usually about 6:15 p.m. and wakes up at different times depending on the week and day.  For the past week he was waking up at about 7:15 a.m. until this morning when he decided he wanted to wake the whole house up at 5:55 a.m.

Even when he wakes me up ridiculously early, I can't help but love love love this kid and then love him again even more.  We love you Timmy and Happy First Birthday!

San Diego

When my wonderful parents heard about the construction we are doing on our house that included blasting holes in the wall and a lot of dust (more about that to come later), they suggested I come to San Diego for awhile to let Mark and his helpers get the big stuff done without the kids around.  I was so excited and so grateful for their generosity.  There is no way we could have lived here while that work was being done.  

So in the morning on May 11th I flew with my little boys to San Diego to stay with my parents for 10 days!  Thank you Mom and Dad for bringing us down there to be with you!  It was truly a fun and special experience for us.  I am most grateful that you were able to spend so much time with the kids and that you got to know them so well!  Thank you for taking care of me.  I was so spoiled.

I did have my hands full with the kiddos, so getting my camera out and taking fabulous pictures was rarely my first priority.  I'm glad I snapped a few pictures though, because now the vacation is over and it is only in my memory and pictures.

We went to a beach on Mission Bay.  Brian loved all of it except when he got too cold to play in the water. There was a fun alternative to playing in the water though.  Mission Bay has so many playgrounds right next to the beaches.  Brian somehow got Grandpa to push him on the swings for what seemed like forever.

We spent some time at the San Diego Zoo because we can get in with my parent's passes.  I love the San Diego Zoo.

This was one of the 4 or 5 times we went to Sea World.  Sea World is a simple 5 minute drive from my parent's house and is a fun place I can take the kids by myself if my parents are busy at The Center.  The first thing Brian wanted to do was go touch the starfish. 

Playing in the Mormon Battalion Historic Site courtyard early one morning before other visitors arrived.

Our Sunday activity was visiting the beautiful San Diego Temple.

The sleeping situation was a new experience for all of us.  The kids slept in the same room for the first time ever.  Some nights I was surprised and proud at how well they slept.  Most nights presented some difficulty in getting both boys to sleep and to stay asleep.  The diminished amount of sleep resulted in Timmy taking a lot of naps in the backpack and his carrier, and Brian being only slightly more difficult to deal with during the days and nights.  Really they were champs.  Mom and Dad were so understanding and forgiving about the middle of the night issues and the super duper early morning wake-ups.  

One afternoon we went to the beautiful beach out on Coronado Island.  We searched for crabs and enjoyed the view.  Too bad it was a little too cold to enjoy the water.

Grandma took us to the model train museum at Balboa Park.  While there, she bought Brian a conductor's hat, scarf and train whistle.  He was unbelievably happy about that hat.  He wore it everywhere for the rest of the trip.

The highlight of San Diego for Brian was riding on the train.  It was a cold windy wet day and we were thinking of something we could do that wasn't totally outdoors.  My mom decided to take us for a ride on the metro to the downtown train station.

We rode down to the main station and then rode home.  Brian was so happy to ride that train.  He was so sad when it was over that after his nap we got back on and rode downtown again where we walked to the USS Midway Museum.

This is Brian the conductor in the cockpit of an old fighter plane on the USS Midway aircraft carrier.  He loves all the buttons and switches.

The first day we were in San Diego overlapped with the last day that Alli and her kids were there.  We all went together to the sailing ships. After just getting in from the airport I was unprepared with my camera so I don't have pictures of that first day.  My mom took Brian back to the ships to get some pictures of him in his pirate hat and eye patch.  He's saying "Argh!" in the above picture.

Timmy enjoyed most of the vacation from his perch in the backpack on my back where he was very content.  Once in a while I would let him out to explore.  He's still crawling, so there weren't that many places I could set him down on the ground.  The Battalion courtyard was one of those nice sanitary places though.  He liked splashing in the water.

The last morning in San Diego Grandpa took us to Dog Beach where dogs are allowed to run and play.  Timmy fell asleep in the car so Dad stayed in the car with him while Brian and I enjoyed watching the dogs play and fetch their toys.  Brian found a nice little spot to play as well.  He loves the water and sand.

Our last afternoon in San Diego was spent enjoying the Shamu show at Sea World where my dad held Brian on his lap and my mom held Timmy on hers.  I was left with no child to hold (struggle with) and I enjoyed that show as much as anyone could enjoy a whale show.  I love my parents and I love that my kids love them and I love that they are such wonderful grandparents.

 Following Sea World we stopped at a local Chinese buffet.  Brian's favorite food is Chinese food.  The waiters and waitresses got a kick out of watching him in his conductor hat gobbling down the Chinese cuisine.  

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR EVERYTHING!

Mother's Day/Mark's Birthday

Mark's Birthday was on Mother's Day this year.  It was a nice day for both of us.  My favorite moment was when I picked Brian up from Nursery at church.  He was jumping up and down saying, "Mommy, look what I have for you! Look what I have for you! Happy Mother's Day!"  I was not expecting this first experience of receiving a gift from one of my children to be so emotional.  I was totally overwhelmed to the point of tears with feelings of love, joy, and gratitude.  I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be Brian and Timmy's mother.

My favorite part about this little gift the Nursery leaders helped Brian make for me is the missing paint on the right index finger.  When they put paint on his hand he was wearing a band-aid on that finger.  He was very particular about not getting paint on the band-aid so they only painted the finger around it.  That is so Brian.

We had a small party for Mark with our own little family that evening.  Brian was excited to help blow out the candles.  Happy 29 years Mark!

Easter

We had such a fabulous Easter weekend!  On Saturday we went to Alli and Dave's for the big Easter Egg Hunt!  It was so fun, and Brian is still talking about "gathering eggs with cousins."  Thanks Alli and Mel for the delicious food, the fun times and the photos. 

 Brian was pretty good at finding the eggs and even though Jordie was much faster and they were usually going for the same egg, Brian still got more loot than I wanted to let him eat.  He was nice enough to share with me.

Sunday morning bright and early Brian went on a little treasure hunt to find his and Timmy's Easter buckets.  Alli gave me the idea to draw little pictures of places in the house and put them in the eggs.  The egg at each place led to another until he found the buckets in the end table cupboard.  Brian absolutely loved the treasure hunt!

 Timmy liked the eggs.

 I know you're probably wondering why I included the picture above.  I like it because it's the only picture that captured the best moment for me.  Brian found the buckets in the cupboard behind him.  He was so excited he just could not hold still and while he was jumping around Timmy crawled into the cupboard to check out his little bucket.  (If you look closely you can see Timmy in the cupboard.)  Timmy then decided that playing in the cupboard was more fun than anything in his basket and he threw it out the door in order to make more room to play.  I'm glad I didn't spend much time and effort thinking about what to give Timmy.

 After church and naps, we picked up my Grandma Joyce and took her to Mark's parents house for a wonderful Easter dinner.  It was such a nice end to the perfect Easter holiday.

I really enjoyed this year teaching Brian about our Savior Jesus Christ and the Resurrection.  Figuring out how to describe the events of Christ's life, the Atonement, His death, and the Resurrection in terms Brian would understand helped me to think more deeply about it all.