Yosemite, but I call it Yo-sa-mite.

Chris and I are trying to be more adventurous these days.  Instead of just playing the, "What do you want to do? I don't know, what do you want to do?" game, we are trying to go out and see the world. Sometimes planning trips can be complicated.  Coordinating with people, packing, finding time and just getting people to want to go.  We have decided to just make things happen.  We'll only be there for a day? Let's go anyway.  Packing is about as enjoyable as getting pants on an overly squirmy nine month old?  Pack anyways.  No one else seems interested in sharing in our adventure or can come (maybe because we planned it 2 hours ago)?  Go anyway.  It has really made our lives more exciting.

Chris has also gotten really good at pulling the car over and going someplace that I mention I've wanted to go to.  I'm used to just letting places pass by and thinking, "Well I'll go there sometime."  Chris has started making those sometimes happen right then.  I love it.

One of our adventures this summer was going to Yosemite.  Or as the locals call it...Yo-sa-mite.  Just kidding, the locals don't call it that.  In fact, if you do call it that, people promptly correct your pronunciation and assume you are stupid.  But it's worth it. 

We spent the day exploring Yosemite and then spent the night at one of the park's campgrounds.

Top 6 Things of Note from the Trip:

1.  This was the first time I had used a bear box while camping.  Visions of people being dragged from their tents by rabid bears because they left a scented Kleenex in their sleeping bag, kept running through my head.  I scoured our car for any stray tampon or napkin that might have any sort of perfume and locked it up tight in that bear box.

2.  Yosemite is really beautiful.  All the shear canyon walls and huge waterfalls are amazing!

3.  Sometimes I felt like we were at an amusement park, because it was so busy there.  Instead of waiting in line for rides, we were waiting in line to get our picture taken in front of some waterfall.

4.  Pine cones work really well as kindling.  Those things go up in flames.  We saved a few pine cones for your collection Momma Kaylee.  But then we burned them...because it was that fun...and they were covered in sticky sap...you choose.

5.  At one point we zipped up Little man in the tent so that he could roll around on the blow up mattress and play with toys.  But then he rolled a little too far and ended up wedged between the mattress and the zipped up tent door.  We could see his little face squished through the mesh fabric.  I ran over to help out the poor little thing and hurridley unzipped the door.  And then PLOP, the little man fell out and landed on the forest floor.  When I picked him he had a face full of dirt.  It was so cutely pathetic. 

6.  I learned that people are very generous.  We met a few people at church and within a few moments of meeting them, Chris was asking if we could borrow camping supplies.  They all agreed and we made a couple friends in the process. 

Jack in his little carrier and bucket hat.

Jack and I taking a rest.

Jack liked to use Chris's ears as handles.  And who can blame him.  It's almost like Chris's ears were made for just such a thing.  But, sometimes he dug in too hard.

Selfies in front of Yosemite Falls.  The tallest waterfall in North America.  Look at Jack's little eye poking over.

I should make a post dedicated to all of the strange places Jack has had his diaper changed.

On our way to one of the falls we found this log that people had carved their names into.

I found this rock that looked like a turtle.

Chris's turtle face.

Yosemite Falls.

All of these people wanted pictures of this buck.  They kept creeping closer and closer to him to get a better picture.  I was just waiting for the buck to ram one of them with his horns.

Ta da!

I'm pretty sure I was being mocked in this picture.

The little and I.

These next few pictures I like to call...the downward spiral of Jack's journey in the baby carrier.

I just loved that Yo-sa-mite and hope to return again someday. 

Here lies the sexiest photo of Chris and I to date...

Here it is...revel in the sexiness. This picture was really just Chris and I making fun of other people taking themselves too seriously.  But now I see why they do...cuz' we are looking FEE to the IERCE.  Fierce. Tyra would be so pleased.  This picture was taken at a baseball game.  We went with the Solar Panel Company that Chris is working for this summer.  

Here's little Jack at the game.

Sometimes he holds this little dog in his mouth.  No hands.  He just sucks.  (That sentence could sound mean if taken out of context.)  And look at how wee his little hand looks compared to his head!

One more photo of the cuteness.

The baseball game was mucho fun.  Chris watched the game like a normal self respecting person.  I created a scavenger hunt so I wouldn't die of boredom.  People watching at sporting events is the best.  Especially if you have a pair of binoculars...stalker much.  Sadly I was not so prepared this time around.  I had to rely on me old peepers to do the job.  And just in case you find yourself bored at a baseball game, here is the scavenger hunt.

1. One of the players adjusting their cup.  And I don't mean the kind you drink out of.

2.  3 and 0 count.  I have no idea what this means.  Chris told me to write it down.

3.  A foam finger. This is surprisingly hard to find at a baseball game.

4.  Someone tripping.

5. A spilled drink.

6. A heated argument.

7. Pick off.  I think Chris made some of these terms up.

8.  A Kansas City fan. Or any fan from the opposing team.

9.  A hot dog.

10. A crowd ball.

11.  Someone picking their wedgie.

12.  A Mascot.

13.  A Bro Hug on the field.

14.  High 5 on the field.

15.  Butt slap or "good game" on the field.

16. Horn player.  There was a very incessant person below us, who kept honking this darned horn.  We wanted to find the culprit and stare at him with judgement in our eyes.  Kind of like you do when you pass a really slow driver on the highway.  You want to see what the idiot looks like so that you can more fully resent them.

17.  A bat...of the flying variety.

18.  Darth Vader's March.  Turns out only BYU plays this at sporting events.  Apparently I've never payed close enough attention to notice this. 

19. Ice cream cone.

20. Cowboy hat.

21. People making out.

22. An on field collision.

23. Duck face selfies. 

24.  And the wave.  But it has to make a full pass around the stadium.

 Here's a random photo of Jack as Martha Washington.  Thank you Mandi for the idea and the giggles that it provided.

Early on in California we also ventured to Texas Roadhouse.  Here I am impersonating the evilness known as the armadillo. 

And here is Jack with said armadillo.  Look at that armadillo's sneaky little taxidermied eyes.  It looks like there are a million evil secrets hiding behind those eyes.  You may also notice that there is the same little dog in many of these photos.  He will feature more prominently later in this blog. 

And here are a couple photos of Chris and Jack at a Veteran Day's firework show.

Jack chilling at one of the little houses at a mini golf course.

Sometimes unsavory things must be done on the green.

 

And this last photo is of Chris taking a little snoozer in the tent in our living room.  Just some normal stuff.  And check out Chris's backside.  OW OW!

Unitl the next time. 

Jack at 8 Months

The little Jack-O is growing so big.  He is in 12 month clothes already.  Sometimes I miss my tiny little bundle of Jackness...

Remember this little thing?  Such a cute little ball.  And he looked like little Baby Grinch. 

Jack's Top 3's.

Top 3 Cutest Things He Does:
1.  Gets really excited to see Chris and me and then crawls..I should say scoots, towards us as fast as he can.
2.  Rests his head on my shoulder.  The first time he did this was a few weeks ago.  I loved it. I cried.
3. Guys I swear I say this every time, but it's kind-of his only trick, Kisses.  They are adorable...and slobbery.  So very slobbery.
4. Oh wait I just remembered another one. He has taken to dragging our little stuffed hippo around with him, sometimes with his teeth. And then he will rest his little head on Baby Hippo.

Top 3 Least Cute Things He Does:
1.  When I am feeding him, Jack has taken to grabbing the spoon with his huge mits.  Then we have a tug of war over the spoon while food gets everywhere.  He is a strong little fellow, and he holds onto that spoon like its the last life preserver on the Titanic.   And Jack's hands are no little things.  Chris's mom said Jack is like a little lab puppy.  He hasn't grown into his big paws yet.
2.  Four syllables, Di-a-rrhe-a.  Diarrhea. (I genuinely hoped you clapped that word out).  The last few days I get Jack up in the morning knowing that I will need to wash all of his clothes and blankets.
3.  When we were in Utah, Jack would scream...REALLY loud.  Not like crying screaming.  More like, "Ahhhhh! Give me attention!"  Just one scream.  Since we've been home and life has gotten back to normal he has stopped doing this.  I sort of wish he would do it once more so Chris could see what I'm talking about.

Top 3 Favorite Things:
1. FOOD!  Not just the stuff you eat.  We had a friend over for dinner and he turned to Jack and grunted, "FOOOOOD."  Jack loved it.  If I ever want him to giggle I just have to look at him all wide eyed and say, "FOOOOOD."
2.  Cords.  Still.  If he sees a cord, he makes a B-line straight there.  I swear he's going to think his name is "No Cords!"  He also enjoys a good shoe lace and straps on a bag.  Anything stringy really.
3.  Smiling at people.  He's my little Sunshine.

Top 3 Least Favorite Things:
1. Being put in his Pack and Pay to go to bed.
2. Getting cords taken away from him.  He's started to cry and get mad when this happens.
3. When I hold him super tight to fall asleep. Usually Jack will just go to sleep on his own, but, ocassionally we have to put him to bed in our arms.  Like when he is super inconsolable or we are out and there is no where to put him.  The only way he falls asleep is if you hug him really close to you as he tries to push away.  Usually after one push/hug his eyes will start to droop.  Instead of rocking him to sleep, I call this holding him to sleep.

Top 3 Accomplishments:
1. His two front teeth have just started to poke through his gums.
2. He can get from a scooting position to sitting up.
3. He's starting to pull himself up to things.

Top 3 Funniest Things Hes Does:
1.  When he gets really frustrated he clenches his little fists and his little teeth and lets out a long grunt.  His little hands start to shake and his face gets really red.  It's so funny to see such a small thing full of so much angst.
2.  He kept trying to go through a glass door of an entertainment center.  He bonked his head and just went back for more.
3.  He uses his feet as another pair of hands.  He lays on his back and passes toys back and forth between his feet and his hands.

Chris and I call Jack our little Bull-gator because he looks like a bull dog and when he scoots it looks just like an alligator.

Giving me the cold shoulder.

Jack's first selfie.

He was just loving this little hotel lotion. 

This one cracks me up.

I just thought the world should fully appreciate the size of Jack's mouth.  It is gi-normous.

So I know these pictures look shockingly similar to last months photos.  But I promise he IS a month older in these.   

Until next time...

The post where I suffocate and Chris has the best sleep of his life.

I'm just trying to get all caught up on this here blog.  So here are some pictures from when we made our way to California.

We decided to take the longer, scenic route down the 101.  

We stopped at the beach along the way.

Chris had a fun time climbing all over the rocks.  I had a fun time trying not to crash head first into one of those little tide pools while holding Jack.  And Mandi...brace yourself....that purple mass is in fact barnacles.  A whole slew of them.  Breath....and recover from this.  (FYI, Mandi and I have an intense fear that involves barnacles.)

We made it to the half way point from Grants Pass to San Jose and decided to stop for the night.  We rolled in about 11pm to this shady little Motel.  We walked into the office to check into our room and this little old Indian man at the desk was doing a strange jig.  I thought he had a stool behind the desk and was working on building up his calves, because he kept hopping up and down, up and down.  But then while he was walking around getting things ready for our room he still kept going up and down, up and down.   And when he was running our card he had to time his button pushing so his finger would make contact on his downward descent.  It was like up, down, push 4, up, down, quick push 5, up, down, fast get your finger over to the 9.  It was quite a thing to behold.  

This little encounter made me a little nervous about this Motel.  Our actual room wasn't bad...except is smelled strongly of bleach.  Strong as in, I had to sleep with a T-shirt over my face strong.  And because I've seen too much CSI, my first assumption was that someone had been murdered in our hotel room and had used bleach to clean the mess.  Meanwhile, Chris had the best sleep of his life.  OF HIS LIFE.  THE best sleep EVER.  Apparently the mattress was softer than the softest of clouds.  Chris strongly contemplated stealing the mattress and strapping it to the top of our car.  So, I guess I thought the mattress was okay.  But it changed Chris's life.  Forever.  For-ev-er.  You think I'm being sarcastic, as I thought Chris was being when he was telling me of his new love affair with this mattress, but he loved it that much.

 After Chris's night of euphoria and my night of near asphyxiation (remember: t-shirt over face) we headed back on the 101 and stopped at this beauty.  Chandelier Tree.  A redwood so big you can "easily" drive thru...but make sure you tuck in your side mirrors. 

I spent the weekend with my sister, while Chris went to Manteca and got our apartment set up.  I came home to find everything all ready for Jack and I.  Complete with my favorite Costco muffins.  

 And these beautiful flowers.  I just love that Chris.  He is the cutest little fellow ever.

While we are on the subject of Sexy Chris...check him out wearing this lovely bucket-yamaka.

I'm glad we took the scenic route to Manteca and so far we are loving California.

There is a lot more about our California adventures to come.

Update, Chris's comments about the mattress:  I can't even begin to explain the wonderfulness of that mattress. If i had to use just one word... the first word that comes to my mind is divine. Not only did i contemplate stealing it then, sometimes i wake up remembering how lovely that mattress was and i find myself plotting the perfect motel mattress theft.

Jack at 7 Months

Jack's 7 Months Top 3's

Top 3 Cutest Things He Does:

1. He does these little fake coughs when he wants attention.  At first we thought there was something caught in his throat.  But it's just his way of saying, "Oh hey parental units...Look at this cute little thing...me."

2.  If I put my head towards his, he'll stick his forehead on mine and giggle. 

3.  I love when I am doing my own thing and I notice Jack is being quiet.  Then I look over at him and he is just staring at me and smiling.

Top 3 Least Cute Things He Does:

1.  Digs his nails into my face.

2.  His spit up has started to stain our carpet.  I can't keep up with all of the spots and our carpet is starting to look cheetah print. Nasty...carpet cleaning here we come.

3.  Tries to roll around and drink his bottle.  Then he gets mad when he can't get any milk.

Top 3 Favorite Things:

1.  Our shoes.  He spends a large part of his day eating our shoes that we keep by the door.  One time I looked over and he was vigorously licking the bottom of Chris's flip-flop.  It was like he was trying to get it clean with his tongue.  Apparently I'm not too worried about germs because I never try to stop him...insert awkward "I just realized how this may appear to others" face here. 

2.  Electronics and wires.  I am constantly arranging cords so he can't reach them.  And he learned to scoot by trying to get to Chris's phone.

3.  When Chris comes home.  He gets so excited, he just giggles and flails about.  His arms go back and forth super fast. He's laying on his stomach, so it looks like he's trying to swim away.  It's like he is so surprised that his favorite person isn't gone forever.

Top 3 Dislikes:

1. Waiting to be pulled out of his car seat...still.

2.  Being hungry.

3.  When he can't get to something he wants to play with.

Top 3 Accomplishments:

1.  He's learned to scoot.

2.  He can sit up on his own.

3.  I think maybe, hopefully he is starting to recognize his name.  

Top 3 Funniest Things He Does:

1.  Sometimes I will hear random little wails and it is because he has gotten his arm caught on the straps from his diaper bag.  He can't figure out why he can't roll away.

2.  We took him to the pool the other day and when we put him into the water he did these little gasps and made the biggest Wallace and Gromit face I have ever seen on him.  Which is saying something, because he has pulled out some beauties in the past.  It sounds heartless, but his little panicky self is hilarious. 

3.   His personality has changed around strangers.  He used to laugh and giggle at anybody.  Now when people he doesn't know try to talk with him and get him to smile, he just stares at them.  Unblinking.  Like he couldn't get anymore bored.  It's funny but also a little distressing.  I don't want people to think I hate them because my spawn gives them a judgy face all of the time. 

Throw a little more judgement in this photo, and you have the face Jack makes to strangers.

I just continue to be amazed at how much Chris and I love our Little Thing.