Puppy Dog Face

Collin has certainly mastered the puppy dog face! And I think it is the most adorable face ever! I love to capture it on camera whenever possible, and have quite the collection of "sad" pictures. Don't worry, I am not denying my son of the comfort and attention that he needs. Collin will sometimes just burst out in tears- especially if I set him down or walk out of his sight, or as evident in some of these pictures randomly while playing with a toy- and I like to to capture those moments. It helps me from getting frustrated when he is being so needy ;)

This is my favorite! 

One second happily playing. The next...

I sat him down for literally 10 seconds! 

I guess he didn't want Daddy to put his pj's on. 

Done with tummy time

Wicked

For Valentine's day Michael surprised me with tickets to see Wicked! Finally March 18th came around and we were able to go! All day I had my Wicked Pandora station playing to get me ready. Even though I had already seen it about 5 years ago, I was giddy with excitement. We doubled with our friends the Bird's (Camden and Michael work together). Becca and I drove downtown together, met the guys, and we all went to dinner at Mi Tierra (we weren't very impressed with the menu- a little over priced, and the service was sub par). Then we walked a couple blocks to the Majestic Theatre. There is something exciting about walking around downtown, dressed up, and holding hands with Michael. It's so fun, and I am glad we live close enough to do it occasionally. Becca brought her nice camera and was able to snap a few pictures for us- much better than what I would have gotten on my iPhone!

The show was amazing! The Majestic definitely has a Texas vibe to it- which is unique and added to the experience. Although, I like the decor of the Pantages Theatre (in Hollywood) better. The cast did a wonderful job- but it was hard not to compare them to the original Broadway cast, since that's the version of the songs we always listen to. And I had forgotten how many funny lines were in it. I am so glad that we got to see it again!

I think the going to the theatre is my favorite type of date! So far we have seen Phantom of the Opera (front row at BYU...that was a fun experience!), Rag Time and Wicked together. Here's hoping we can add many more to that list over the years! I was telling Michael that if we ever have some money to spare I would love to be a donor to a local theatre or have season tickets. And I would love to sit in one of the private boxes...someday!

Walking downtown...in front of a different theatre

And for all our San Antonio friends- we were talking to an usher after the show and he told us that 2 1/2 hours before every show (even matinees) you can enter your name into a lottery to get 2 $25 orchestra seats. And then you go back an hour later when they do the drawing (you have to be there in person to claim the tickets). I think the usher said they give out a total of 20 tickets (so 10 winners) and sometimes there are only like 40 people that show up- so your chances of winning could be pretty high. Michael and I want to give it a shot sometime...especially when The Lion King is in town!

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!