St Patrick's Day!

I might be one of the few, but I really like St. Patrick's day! It is usually such a forgotten holiday, but I have lots of fond memories of celebrating St. Patrick's day as a kid. Now that Collin is a part of our family I am trying to make an extra effort to celebrate the holidays and make them special.

One tradition from my childhood is a "New England Boiled Dinner" aka corned beef and cabbage. Michael and I have been doing this each year since we got married and this year we decided to share it with some friends! Unfortunately I forgot to get some pictures, but we had such a fun night with the Bradshaw's and Swindler's! None of them had ever tried corned beef, so it was fun to introduce them to a new food and they all seemed to like it- there weren't any leftovers! We also enjoyed a green salad, green lemonade and for dessert a yummy green jello cake. The Swindler's have a little girl about 4 months older than Collin. It was so cute seeing them play together. I see a lot of play dates in the future!

I also made a fun little shamrock banner for our home. I'm excited for next year when I'll be able to enjoy it a little longer than just the few days before the 17th :)

Hanging above our kitchen sink. 

Close up- the shamrocks are sparkly!

Every (well most) Monday I get together with a couple friends and we cook. Sometimes we make bread, or freezer meals, or just a yummy lunch to enjoy that day. Since St. Patrick's day fell on a Monday we decided to make BYU mint brownies- you know, because they have a green layer ;) They were so delicious (and very rich)!

St. Patrick's day morning a little leprechaun left Lucky Charms for Michael and dyed his milk green! It was a bit selfish because the leprechaun wanted some too ;) There was also an invitation for a "magical" date night that night. I had seen a fun idea on Pinterest to have a date night where you do magic tricks for each other. Unfortunately, Collin was a stink bug during the day and only slept a whopping 20 minutes (in the car) between 10 am to the time he finally conked out for bed around 6:30. He probably cried in his crib for close to an hour when I tried to put him down for a nap, but just wouldn't fall asleep! Anyway, I was exhausted and didn't have time to look up any magic tricks, and neither did Michael so we bagged that plan. But we did have a yummy green dinner- pesto pasta!

Michael's surprise. I felt so sneaky that night :) 

Sad I didn't get a picture of us all in our green- Michael even wore his green tie to work- but all in all it was a fun day with just enough celebrating to make it a special!

Collin's Latest Trick!

He is sitting up all by himself! He did it for the first time (for longer than just a couple seconds) on March 11. I sat him on the bed and he sat up for a couple seconds and then toppled over. But I decided to give it another try and pulled out the camera...he surprised me and sat on his own for nearly 30 seconds!! I was so shocked and excited! I had to immediately text Michael and post the video on my family Facebook page. Within a few days he had pretty much mastered it and is now able to sit on his own for a few minutes. He is certainly still wobbly and gets tired- but it amazes me how quickly he figured it out! I sure love our smart little cookie!

This is the first time he sat up. I love the ending and how he lands perfectly on my pillow! 

The next day practicing on the conference table at Daddy's work.
Michael was working late so we took him dinner. 

First time sitting up in the shopping cart! It was a really quick trip into Hobby Lobby. He seemed to enjoy it, but certainly didn't look very comfortable! I think I might wait a little longer to try again, or at least only do it for quick trips. 

I love looking into the living room and seeing him sitting in the middle of the rug!
He looks like such a big boy! 

A shot from his 5 month photo shoot

Michael was getting him ready for bed- he was SO tired and all of a sudden just burst into tears. Sad, but I think he has the most adorable sad face! So of course I had to snap a picture ;) 

He had some pretty great bed head one morning! 

You know, just chilling on my bed and eating his books. 

Valentine's Day

We had a wonderful and low key Valentine's this year...although all of our Valentine's Days together have been pretty low key. How about a little flashback??

2010 (dating)- It was a Sunday, and we had only been dating for a couple weeks. So it was a bit awkward. What do we say..."I like you"?? :) We made homemade pizza together at my apartment and I think we gave each other our favorite candy.

2011 (1st after our wedding)- I had an evening class that didn't get out till 7ish. Michael made a yummy sweet and sour chicken recipe, and had picked up a dessert, popcorn and a movie. He also had gotten me a little bamboo plant. I had been bugging him to let me get a plant to make our new apartment feel a little more "homey". I called that plant our "love fern". And I am pretty proud of myself for keeping it alive for 2+ years! It even survived a summer being "plantsitted" by Michael's old roommate while we were in St. Louis. Sadly it didn't live long enough to make the trip to Texas :(

2012- Not exactly sure what we did that day. All I know is it was in the middle of the week, so I think we just postponed celebrating till the next weekend. Which ended up being President's weekend and we were in Huntsville with Corinne, Morgan and Bailey. We made a delicious Chinese feast! We ate well that night :)

2013- This had to have been the most crazy Valentine's Day yet! We found out we were pregnant with Collin the day before. And Michael was offered his job with the budget office that morning. And then later that day we booked plane tickets to SA for that weekend. I (and Michael) honestly can't remember what we did that night. I do know that I had to work the closing shift at the Law Library, so whatever we did was before 8:30. I think we might have picked up sandwiches from a favorite deli on Center St, but I can't be certain of that. Or we may have just bagged it since life was a little crazy.

And this year, 2014- Becca called me up that morning with the idea of squeezing 3 car seats in the back of her Camry (the guys had our car that day) and surprising the guys with treats at work. Those car seats were not going anywhere once we got them all in there and the doors closed! The guys were very surprised and I think they enjoyed the little break from a pretty busy work day. That night Michael and I had another yummy Chinese food feast. It's turning into a bit of a tradition. This year we tried a new beef and broccoli recipe as well as a honey walnut shrimp we have made before. And the best part of the day...Michael got us tickets to see Wicked!! I was so surprised! And we are going with Camden and Becca, and Jenn and Chad. It's going to be a fun night out on the town!

Who wouldn't want this cutie as their Valentine??
Luckily he's all mine for at least the next 16 years ;) 

My other handsome Valentine  

This little guy was exhausted by the time we sat down for dinner, but thankfully he was content long enough for us to enjoy our meal. 

Not quite sure what to think of this strange food. That's ok, more for us :) 

City Manager's 5k

I am hoping that if I blog about things within a couple days of it happening I will help me be a little better at keeping up with the blog. Let's see how this goes...

Saturday Michael, Collin and I walked the City Manager's annual 5k run/walk. Michael was going to run it, but his calves started acting up, so he decided to play it safe and walk it with Collin and I. The route went through Sea World which was pretty fun, except we didn't get to see any animals. Sad :( but it was the perfect morning for a nice brisk walk as a family- foggy and cool. Collin had a blast sitting up in his stroller! He stayed awake for the whole thing, and just enjoyed looking around, chewing on his hands (or sweatshirt, or blanket, or whatever else came close to his mouth), and letting out the occasional squeal. It was adorable, and he got lots of smiles from the fellow participants. Michael joked that he was just telling people to get out of the way.

The best part was that there were so many people that we knew there! City employees get to do it for free, so there were lots of people from Michael's office and other people he works with in the city. And for everyone else it was only $7 to register so there was a pretty good size group of friends from our ward. We have really made so many good friends here!

Our ward group!

After the race some of us met at this total hole-in-the-wall place for breakfast. We were taking a bit of a risk since none of us had been, just read reviews online. But it turned out to be a winner...despite it's very sketchy location! We all LOVED the food we ordered. I'd definitely recommend Pancake Joe's if you are in the area and in need of some yummy breakfast. But go early...our wait was about 30 minutes, and when we were leaving it was up to 45 minutes!

Michael getting Collin to hold up his finger for "We're number one!" 

Weekends are the best!

Why? Because Michael is home! So we get lots of quality family time, and I get a help with my "mommy duties"!

First of all, Michael is a huge help with Collin on the weekends! He willingly takes over most of the clothes changing, diaper changing, bathing, putting to bed/down for naps, and entertaining duties. There was one weekend where I realized I didn't change ANY diapers. It was the best! These little things occupy the majority of my time these days so its really nice to have a break.

Family walk one Sunday evening, and Collin's first time sitting up in the stroller!

But my favorite thing about the weekend is getting to watch Collin and Michael play together! Michael is such a great Daddy. I love to see Collin smile and laugh at the things he does. On weekdays Michael isn't usually home from work until 6:30. Collin goes to bed between 7-8 and somenights is pretty grumpy starting around 6 or so. Many nights Michael gets home with only enough time to help get him in his jammies or carry him up to bed.  And if we are lucky Collin occasionally wakes up for his first feeding of the day when Michael is getting ready for work. It makes me sad that Collin doesn't see much of his daddy during the week, and I can definitely tell a difference in his personality when this happens. I honestly think he gets sick of being with me all the time! (Which is ok, because I get sick of it too sometimes).

Snuggles with Daddy one night before bed

We love to visit Daddy at work to break up our days! I believe Collin was practicing sitting up in this picture, with a little help from Daddy to support his back. This is one of their favorite things to do together :) 

Not quite sure what to think of Mommy's cold milkshake, taken during a recent outing downtown. 

Anyway, today I had a moment today where I was overcome with gratitude for these two boys in my life and so grateful to have such a wonderful man to help me raise our family! I stood in the dining room looking down the hall to the living room and just watched Michael and Collin play for a couple minutes. Michael was pulling Collin up to a standing position and giving him kisses and then laying him back down again. And then Michael was helping Collin "exercise" his core muscles by lifting his legs up while Collin lifted his bum off the ground. Collin thought this was hilarious and was just grinning and giggling. And I loved that Michael was cheering him on and laughing with him. It really didn't last long, and I am probably not doing a good job describing it. But it was just a perfect moment, and one I hope I don't forget!

One Sunday I came downstairs to this scene...the book Michael is reading is "Raising Responsible Children" :) 

If Collin hears Michael's voice while eating he immediately has to stop and find him. It's adorable to see him recognize his Daddy's voice, but frustrating at the same time. Sometimes I have to tell Michael to leave or not to talk.  

One of our rare mornings seeing Daddy before he goes to work

From my "moment" today- practicing standing and kisses from Daddy! 

We sure love Daddy and all he does for our family! 

My Birthday!

I turned 23 last month and had such a wonderful day! It started out with a breakfast delivery and some pretty flower from Becca, Bronson and miss Evie.

Beautiful flowers from Bronson and my visiting teacher

Then it was time to head downtown to meet Michael for lunch. We went to this little Greek place just a couple blocks from Michael's office. So yummy...I love Greek food and I could eat it all the time!

Visiting Daddy at work

Perhaps the highlight of my day was an afternoon nap with Collin! Funny how my idea of fun is sleeping these days ;)  Collin normally sleeps in his own crib, but occasionally I love to just cuddle him in our bed and join him for his afternoon nap!

Sweet Snuggles

Later that day we enjoyed a simple evening together as a family. We ate BLT's, and Michael surprised me some yummy chocolate desserts. Which made for delicious dessert for the rest of the week :) And the best surprise of all was my birthday gift from Michael...a rocking chair for Collin's room. We haven't actually bought it yet, Michael wanted me to be able to shop for it myself (smart man!). But I can't wait to get it and be able to rock my sweet baby in it!

Had to get a birthday picture with my baby boy before bed. He was a good boy and went right to sleep so Mommy and Daddy could enjoy a quiet evening together. 

Finding out my birthday present. Michael made a little word scramble for me to solve and hid the letters in a book he  I picked out for me ;) 

Martin Luther King Day

Michael had MLK day off so we were able to enjoy a wonderful day together as a family! We decided to go hiking at Pedernales Falls State Park and then treated our self to a delicious dinner at Salt Lick BBQ. The weather was gorgeous! Such a beautiful day for January, and warm enough for shorts. And the BBQ was delicious! Michael had the all you can eat dinner, and I had an assortment plate. We both agree that the brisket was by far the best brisket we have ever had. We couldn't get enough of it! It was such a fun day to get out of the city, and enjoy being together!