This is a little late…

We visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum with some friends back on President’s Day so I’m a little behind posting about this but better late than never, right?

We took the Metro into DC, which was our first time riding it, and Brendan had a blast while I tried to keep my nausea under control. Morning sickness and trains aren’t the best mix, but at least we didn’t have to battle the traffic in the city. It was worth it- plus Brendan loved it.

  The museum was very kid-friendly so the kids had a blast running around and getting to play with lots of scientific displays, which were fun for Chris and I too. Brendan was a little young for some of it but he still appreciated being able to touch things without getting yelled at.

We had a great time and we owe a big thanks to April and Andy for inviting us! Brendan especially loved being able to run around with their kids and they kept him entertained during the more “educational” sections of the museum.

One Lucky Boy

This past week on St. Patrick’s day, Brendan got to have his favorite buddy Josh come over for a few hours.

These two are so stinkin’ cute together- they give hugs to each other, hold hands when they walk to nursery together, and in general are super excited when they see each other. Brendan absolutely loves Josh and asks for him on a daily basis, so he was beyond excited when he came over to play.

I decided to take them to the park since the weather was perfect and it’s nice to let the boys get some energy out. They played so well together.

Enjoying a quick snack together.

Here’s Brendan yelling for Josh to come and follow him.

After the park and a quick lunch of chicken nuggets, the boys needed a break so Yo Gabba Gabba was called in to help them relax.  That was the quietest 25 minutes I had all day.

And because it was St. Patrick’s Day, we had to make green cupcakes and decorate them.

Notice the difference of sprinkle amounts on their cupcakes. Brendan went overboard (like I knew he would) while Josh kept it to a normal amount. And once again, Brendan wouldn’t eat the sprinkles. Sigh. At least they had fun.

Brendan cried and cried when Josh went home but he was so worn out from all the excitement that he went to bed earlier than normal without a fight. It was awesome. I think Josh can come over every day if it means Brendan goes to be early!

Spring couldn’t have come sooner!

This week, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous and so of course we’ve spent the vast majority of our free time playing outside. It has been so nice to be able to enjoy being outside again and I love being able to open our windows and let some fresh air into our house. I’m really loving spring so far.

I love being able to take Brendan in the backyard even though it’s tiny and there’s no grass- but it’s completely fenced in so I don’t have to worry about him wandering off by himself. So I can sit in our basement and fold laundry or browse the internet while I watch Brendan through the sliding doors happily collecting rocks and chasing around “bees” (which are actually flies but Brendan doesn’t seem to get the difference). It’s been very nice to have that peace of mind that he won’t run away on me.

And this is how Brendan spent 2 hours. I really thought his obsession with rocks would have died down by now but it’s still going strong. I don’t understand the fascination but at least it keeps him busy and entertained.

Brendan enjoyed himself so much that he actually let me take pictures of him without making any angry faces at the camera. Plenty of silly faces but I’ll take those any day over scowls.

Brendan the Photographer

I decided to let Brendan run around with our old point-and-shoot camera and he went wild with it. I was surprised that he was so into it and he turned out to have quite the eye for taking photos. Here’s what he captured.

Brendan is a pro at taking pictures of his feet. I have about two dozen photos on my camera that he managed to take of his adorable little feet. It was only fitting that he clicked one for this post.

His rocks. Brendan had spent a good majority of the morning outside playing with the rocks and arranging them in different piles and I’m so glad that he wanted to take pictures of them. The kid loves his rocks.

His toy robot was also a favorite subject. That darn camera strap got in the way of most of the photos though… I’m going to have to do something about that for Brendan.

And of course his dad. Brendan took several photos of Chris and all of them were similar to this. We’re going to have to work on keeping his fingers off the camera lens.

Brendan loved taking photos so much that I think we’ll have to make this a regular post in the future to see how his skills advance. I loved getting a glimpse into the world of Brendan from his perspective.

It’s about time

I am officially 13 weeks pregnant and figured it was time to spread the word- after having two miscarriages in the last 18 months I wanted to wait until I was out of my first trimester to share the good news. So far I have been feeling horrible, although it has finally started to get better in the last week or so. Brendan has been a real champ and let me lay on the couch and take naps while he watched cartoons. I’ve been feeling a bit neglectful but my stomach wouldn’t let me do much and I think both Brendan and I are thrilled at getting back to normal.

The due date is September 19th.

Eight is Not Enough

Today marks the eight year wedding anniversary for Valerie and myself, which is hard to believe, yet at the same time completely believable since it is difficult to remember life before Valerie.

Here are some memories from the past eight years that make me smile when I think about them:

1. On my birthday before we were married Valerie gave me a small camping pillow which she dubbed "Campers." I slept with it every night and used it to cover my face in the mornings when the sun was too bright and I wanted to sleep in more. Shortly after getting married at some point Valerie took over ownership of Campers and claimed him as her own (even though he was my birthday present). If I was ever caught using him or drooling on him I would be reprimanded and he was quickly snatched away.

Switch to present day. For Valentine's day this year Valerie surprised me with a new Campers. Finally, I have my own camping pillow again and can use him without any fear of repercussion, right? Well, I haven't even had him a month yet, but recently I've been waking up to find him clutched under Valerie's arm alongside the original Campers. The lesson is that Valerie is very giving, but also greedy when it comes to camping pillows. I find it very endearing.

2. When I was in Grad school we got tickets to go to a BYU basketball game. I think they played Air Force and I think BYU won by a large margin. Pretty interesting right? Well, sitting right behind us was one of my professors with his wife. So I introduced Valerie and Brendan (who got scared when they turned the light off to introduce the players at the beginning of the game) my professor and his wife. We chatted about the game a little and probably about how I was such a fantastic student, it's kind of fuzzy at the moment, but that's probably what happened. So, another evening shortly thereafter we were at Target and we ran into my professor and his wife again. The next day in class, not sure how the subject came up, but he said "Wow, have any of you guys met Chris' wife? I mean, wow, he really married up. Chris really got lucky when got her to marry him." Sure, indirectly he was inferring that I'm a nerd that deserved to marry another nerd, but the real point is that he was completely impressed with Valerie, which is how I feel too. But it just took me by surprise how blown away he was that I was able to marry someone like Valerie. It should be noted that he met many other students' wives, but never made any comments about any of them like that.

3. One thing I've noticed after eight years of marriage is that it's the little things that Valerie does that I remember the most. She does little things like making up all sorts of songs about random things. For example "I like hot dogs, they make me take big logs!" She also comes up with nicknames for people and animals and then those nicknames change every few weeks. Her cat, Special, had about twenty different names over the span of his life and Brendan and I have quite a few as well. Valerie also likes to hide in the bathroom and jump out and scare me when I walk by, which she did this week. She also has this funny habit of reading the last few pages first in nearly every book she reads. She says she just can't handle the suspense of not knowing how things end. All these little things are small, but make me happy.

That is why eight years of marriage is definitely not enough. What funny little things will Valerie do next? For all I know she's hiding behind my desk right now waiting to pop up and knock me over.

In related news, Brendan peed in the toilet for the first time about two weeks ago. He doesn't do it regularly and in fact Valerie put him in pants today with no diaper and he peed all over his chair, but it's progress and he loves flushing the toilet, but let's face it, who doesn't?

My Happy Boy

My parents set Brendan a package yesterday and he was so excited to open it up and see what was inside. He loves both the new Sponge Bob pajamas and the fire truck! He even insisted that we bring the fire truck with us to the Dairy Queen when we went out last night for a quick treat with some friends. Thanks, Mom and Dad. Brendan is the happiest little boy today because of his awesome presents!