Binky

I like having a binky tethered to the crib because Maggie loves nap time (aka binky time). She also knows she can't take it with her so she is learning to be without. Gone are the days of the free-roaming-binky. Who knows where they all went... it is mystery... kind of like my wallet and Sara's sandal.

Butterfly

Would you rip the wings off a living butterfly for a million dollars?   It is one of my favorite questions and one I think about on occasions.  My answer has always been "yes" but the more I think about it... the more I realize the answer should be "no!"  The real question is about about our conscience... you know the little thing that tells us if something is right or wrong.  If you would rip the wings off a living thing... just for fun... then this questions doesn't make much sense but if under normal circumstance you would never think of harming a butterfly then doing so for money illustrates how flimsy your conscience is.  So yes, the answer should be "no" but it is still "yes".

Sparkling

You know that throwing-food-phase... it has tapered off almost completely.  Now Maggie is fascinated with water.  Today we had to stop at every fountain in the park, there are three, not to drink water but to play in the water.  Anyway, water is cool.  I would rather have her playing in water than throwing food.

New Surprises

Getting away from my family for a few days brought back a flood of memories, especially after seeing past-single-life-friends. It made me realize how much my life has changed.  I started thinking about new chapters in my life... like when I started paying my own bills... or when Taya was born... or when I got married... or when Maggie was born. It was a new chapter of responsibility. There are always times when I want to escape my new chapter and return to the days when life was simple... but even if I wished it, the illusions of wishingly looking backwards means missing a photographic moment. The hardest thing about new chapters is sometimes all the failures that come with them, especially after achieving some success. Sometimes I have wanted to turn to the next chapter... but looking back... they are all wonderful and difficult and they all eventually end... and wanting to speed through them or to linger might mean missing the new surprises.  Most of them are subtle and almost invisible...  as simple as a kind word or a smile.

Dolls

Maggie has quite a few dolls she likes to play with these days. She sucks on their arms & legs, gives them hugs and kisses, pushes them in a play stroller, feeds them pretend food, and talks to them as she would one of us. It's pretty fun to see her play with them. Today as we were leaving for church she decided she was going to take as many as her arms could carry: three. They made it to the car but not inside the building. It's one thing to take care of Maggie during sacrament meeting, another to take care of her and her three dolls.

The Pacifier

Maggie loves her pacifier. Stanford re attached it to her crib before he left and I keep finding Maggie here periodically during the day. We are trying to ween her of it. When I find her I can't help but scoop her up and give her lots of lovin'. How cute is she?!

Me & Mags

This morning we took dad to the airport. He's photographing a wedding in the San Fransisco area this weekend. I took two days off work to be with Maggie. We are having a great time! So far we've taken two naps, went to the park, ate McD's for lunch, and explored outside our condo. We also watched some Backyardagains which is Maggie's favorite show. I'm also trying to get her to stop calling me "sawa" instead of "mom." Let's hope I succeed!!

Two Peas in a Pod

Western Banded Gecko

We welcome our little visitor friend who enjoys the shade of our front entry. He likes to eat baby scorpions and spiders... how can you not like any creature that does that?

VISIT TO THE 951

I ended up taking a hundred pictures of Tonya because she was my only willing participant, everyone else was either running from the camera or crying... oh, well Tonya and I had fun... right?  nudge... nudge...

Maggie and Aunt Tonya

Aunt Michelle and baby Payton

Aunt Tonya and Tucker

Aunt Tonya

17 seconds

Maggie loves to clean, ironically as parents it only means more cleanup projects.

Pleasant Surprise

There are some benefits to incidentally living here, it usually solicits a visit from friends or family members visiting the city. Jeremy and Teresa's visit was a pleasant surprise, we went to the Omelet House, a great little hole in the wall.. next time we promise to have you over. Anyway, nothing can replace face to face contact... it is nice to see a friends face... even if is only for a few brief hours.

Remember when...

April 30, 2010

Grandma's House

Not much is going on around here. I went to get frozen yogurt with a friend and I'm watching Season 1 of Bones on Netflix. I've enjoyed the peace & quiet but will be happy to have Mags and Stan home tomorrow.

Here's some older pics of Maggie while at my mom's house. I can't remember when these were taken. I think Maggie was a little over a year. It's fun to look back and see how's she's growing.

The next few days...

Stanford and Maggie have left the fort and I am home alone. They went to California to visit Michelle & fam. and Tonya (who is visiting from Washington). They'll be back soon but I was put in charge of keeping up the blog while they are gone...so you'll be hearing from me the next few days. We'll see if I can do as good a job as Stanford.

It's pretty funny looking through the gallery of photos and coming across one's I've never seen, like this one. That face just makes me laugh. She knows she shouldn't be climbing on the table, at least when mom's home. But with dad, it's a whole other story. I've missed playing with her tonight and giving her a million kisses. She is such a joy around our home.

Everything

Everything is documented... it is just a matter of publishing it to the world... that I am not so good at. I like to take pictures, not share the pictures. Anyway, I found this happy event. A collaboration between Jeremy and me. Our awesome sandcastle... no easy task... mind you.

Secret Garden

These pictures remind me of a secret garden and story my Mom once told me.  The story was about a reoccurring dream.  Her dream had a secret door which led to another part of the house that nobody knew about.  Whenever my Mom needed to relax she would sneak away to her secret part of the house.  Her little cottage was clean and quiet.  It was the perfect place to take a nap.  Although she could only visit in her dreams, she went there often.  Then one day she found her secret door open... when she went inside she discovered my Dad and the entire place was a mess.

Our daily park routine

Visit with the dogs

Explore the bleachers

Search the grass for dangerous objects

Button

Hamaker

Farewell to the Hamaker family... BJ and Claire will sail where the wind takes them... currently, to Washington. I remember when I first met BJ and his description of Claire... it was very romantic... but it wasn't just words... he was devoted to Claire and his family.  I wish I had picture of BJ with two kids under his arms... a classic Hamaker... they were always carrying someone.

Squirrel

Our little pet squirrel eats almost everything... including our plants. All of the plants in this picture are now dead. You could blame it on the heat or you could blame it my irregular watering schedule or you could just blame it on the squirrel.

Mud

We were walking around the day after our big rain storm... there wasn't a single puddle in sight, go figure... Maggie was training to be wire walker and walking on the curb wall when she slipped and splat... that black dirt turned out to be mud... I don't know how kids do it... but they are like a magnets to dirt.  I just let her roll around in it for while... she seemed happy with her new discovery.

137 days dry

It rained yesterday, breaking our recorded dry spell of a 137 days... most people wouldn't get excited about a  0.01 inch... but we did!

Pacifier

Maggie finally dislocated her pacifier from the crib. I tethered it to the crib but after months of working on it she finally broke it off. She probably smuggled a nail into her crib and slowly scratched it free because that cord was strong.

PS. Happy Birthday Mom:)

Today was awesome because Sara made all the arrangements for our day... all I had to was drive.  She wanted to go hiking (I know... I thought it was a little strange myself... but honestly I had nothing to do with it).  We drove out to Mt. Charleston and hiked three miles (round trip) with a 1,000 ft elevation gain.  We followed a steep series of switch backs which lead us to our beautiful destination, Marry Jane Falls.  I tell everyone I feed Maggie rocks because she is so solid, but try hauling 30lbs of sleeping rocks up a mountain.  It was great for her because SHE WOKE UP right when we arrived... ahh perfect... what did I miss?  Maggie bounced and hummed... the whole way down.  At the bottom we ate lunch (courtesy of Sara) and drove home.  Thanks Sara:)

Marry Jane Falls

Everyday

Have you ever tried doing something everyday?  We tried eating oatmeal everyday but we soon grew to hate it.   But what if... what if we just kept eating it... even though we hated it... would we ever start to like it again?  If we had the gall to push through the mundane and the strength to get to the other side, would we find ourselves liking oatmeal more than we ever did before?  Well, I really wanted to go to bed without posting but I guess I am not ready to give up on my little experiment.  The picture was Sara's idea... and I figured why not... sometimes families are like oatmeal... there are a lot of things we do day after day... there are a lot of mundane tasks like cooking and cleaning up... even the fun things we do everyday become tedious sometimes... but if we have the gumption... there are rewards to repeated tasks... discoveries and secrets to be uncovered.

Licorice

We love red licorice... but black licorice is the best!

Licorice

Peek-a-boo

Maggie loves to play games. One of our favorite games is being squished by pillows or the oversized exercise ball. She also loves hide-n-seek and running from monster. Her imagination is blossoming, just the other day we spent ten minutes eating imaginary food... she thought that was a blast... the best is that smile and giggle.

Yellow

I finally tore down the flower border and repainted the kitchen.  If I knew how easy it would be I would have done it before we moved in... the closet on the other hand is a different beast... it took me an extra day of sweat and blood to get everything in... what a nightmare but it honestly keeps everything more organized.

Martha Stewart's Cornbread Yellow

New Closet

Compacts 300 cans for food storage

Section: Basic Concept was to keep everything visible

City Center

Back in June we went for a little picnic to the city.  We picked up KFC and got lost wondered around the City Center... it's huge!