The Porter's

Christmas

2012-01-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas was spent in our home here in Washington. We spent it with just our little family this year. We weren't able to go down to California because Sonny's work schedule has been totally crazy. He managed to get a week off after Christmas but wasn't supposed to go out of state for it. I know, I know, why call it a vacation then? yay for the military... anyways, he was scheduled to work all night long the night before Christmas Eve and also all night long Christmas Eve. He ended up not having to work Christmas Eve (THANK GOODNESS! ) Merry Christmas to me! We had a really good time together :)

Look what Santa brought Charlie!

Taylor got a lot of Ninjago Lego sets this Christmas. Here he is hard at work, deep in concentration, building away.

We all loved having a real Christmas tree in our house again this year. We even got to chop it down ourselves!

Charster helping dad open his presents

Opening presents

Like I said before, he's ALWAYS just in underwear...

Our Charster boy!

My 2 little guys in their handsome Christmas jammies! Love these kids!

Taylor

2012-01-21T11:15:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I did a photo shoot of Taylor. I was planning on giving some pictures of the kids to my parents for Christmas and realized I didn't really have a lot of recent ones of just Taylor. So I told Taylor to run around and I would take a few pictures. This is what I got: Oh, that first photo is one I stuck in there and then couldn't figure out how to delete. But isn't it cute anyways? It's one of the few photo's where I'm wearing makeup! Ha ha I figured I better take one with me and Charlie while I had it on.

Tay likes to crawl around in his sleeping bag and pretend that he's a worm.

What a wacky guy! He is such a fun boy lately- I've really enjoyed him. 4 years old is my favorite age of his so far.

Cuddling with his stuffed dog, Butch. Oh, and there's a little bit of Charlie's legs in there as well!

He was pretending he was a cowboy

Taylor is almost always in either his boxers or underwear like all day long. I don't know what it is but I find it hilarious, especially in the middle of winter, with snow outside! He never gets cold!

A 3 month's old photo shoot for Charlie

2011-12-20T16:08:00.000-08:00

Sonny's family came up to our house for Thanksgiving this year. At that time, my brother-in-law took some photos of Charlie. These were taken about a month ago, when he was 3 months old. I wish we could have taken them outdoors but it's been so super cold lately. I didn't want to freeze my little guy! But I'm glad we have a photographer in the family who does a great job. Thanks Myles!

This last one is my favorite. Such a sweet little guy- he is such a happy baby, like seriously all the time :) He is a huge smiler and wakes up every morning with a cute smile on his face. I love him so much.

Pictures from November

2011-12-20T15:55:00.000-08:00

Charlie at 2 1/2 months old

Taylor is really into crafts lately. His favorite is cutting paper up and using lots and lots of tape to create something. He recently made these "Ninja shoes." I think they are pretty dang cool!

Update... geez, I am a slacker when it comes to blogging...

2011-11-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

I can never think of clever titles for my posts so the best I could come up with is "Update." ha ha. Anyways, here's Charster- that's what we all call him in our house- Oh man, too bad it's so blurry.

Ha ha, he looks so cute in hats. Plus, it's getting so dang cold here!

Suddenly Tay doesn't enjoy being in pictures. Weird.
Love this one.

Grandpa Idaho came up for Charlie's blessing the beginning of this month. It was fun to visit with him again.

Charlie's blessing day.

My mom was also able to come up for the blessing. So proud of her second grandson!

Doing some crafts with Bami (that's what Tay calls my mom).

We visited Lattin's Country Cider Mill back in October. What's better than eating a carmel apple and checking out some baby ducks?

Pumpkin picking out day

My 2 fun guys, minus baby Charlie who slept through his whole first pumpkin patch experience.

Like I've said before, Charlie sleeps like an angel when we pack him up and go places. At home, it's hit and miss. But his daytime sleeping is improving, thank goodness!

So snug :)

Tay was a ninja this year for Halloween. He is REALLY into ninja's right now, especially the Ninjago legos. His buddy Jackson, Captain Rex, went trick or treating with us.

My bat and ninja boys!

This Halloween was pretty cold so we took Charlie out trick or treating for a little bit and then I took him back early to get warm. Sonny stayed out with Taylor and ended up getting tons of goodies.
This is where Charlie watches me make dinner every night. He is such a happy baby, wakes up with a huge smile on his face every morning, and is starting to laugh now. Such a little cutie! I can't believe how big he is. He's so incredibly long!

Pictures of my 2 little guys

2011-10-25T11:37:00.001-07:00

All the wonderful details...

2011-09-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Charlie Alexander Porter turned 7 weeks on Monday! Every day those 7 weeks, I've been trying to finish this blog entry and just never could. Geez, am I busy! And time has already gone by so fast.

Charlie is a little doll and I am enjoying him a lot. It has been a while since I have taken care of a newborn and I am learning everything all over again. It's weird how much I forgot how to do. Taylor is really loving being a big brother! He is such an incredible help to me. I am glad that I waited 4 years to have another one. Taylor is big enough where he can do a lot of things by himself, which is totally awesome :)

Taylor took this picture :) These pictures are a couple weeks old and he already looks way different! Charlie is such a big boy, a lot bigger than Taylor was, by almost a whole pound. He's almost 2 inches longer than Taylor was too. Every morning Taylor says to me, "Mama, doesn't he look bigger this morning?" It's so cute :) But he's exactly right- he really does look a little bigger each day. He is already wearing his 3-6 mos clothes. Charlie has some of the same features that Taylor had as a baby but a lot of his looks are so much different. Charlie's complexion is a lot darker than Taylors was. I remember Taylor being so fair skinned. Charlie is a bit of a stubborn sleeper. He did really well the first 2 weeks, sleeping in his own crib in his own room the very 1st night. He is still in his own room but has grown to be real catnapper. He sleeps on average for about an hour a day, unless I go out somewhere. I find myself quite often packing him and Taylor in the car or taking the dog on a walk just to get him to sleep most days. So needless to say, my house is a total mess, you know, muddy dog prints all over the wood floor, carpet total nastiness, the works. I'm trying not to care but I like to have a neat house! Oh well, anyways, Charlie smiled at me and Taylor around 1 mos old and rolled over from his stomach to his back at 6 weeks! It's too cute. I stressed out so much with Taylor as a baby and I am really trying hard this time around to enjoy Charlie and to enjoy being a mom more.

My mom was able to come and help for a whole month. I came 2 weeks early with Taylor so I had her come early, just in case I came early again. My dad also came down for a week to do some projects around my house. He built me an awesome fence for my backyard! Pictures to come soon. It was fun to have both of them around for a while. I realized how much I miss being around family. I feel like I'm out of the loop up here in the Northwest.

Well, as far as the birth story goes, I have to say that this time around was a whole lot better! Everything happened so fast with Taylor, with the c-section and all, that I had no time to think about anything or enjoy the process. This time around was the complete opposite. I found it a little nerve wracking just waiting around for the signs to go in to the hospital but in general, a lot more relaxed. I was out and about doing things with my mom until the day before I came. I made sure I was a lot more prepared and it made the big day go way more smoothly and peacefully. I had had a few contractions at night for a few days and then on Sunday, the 28th, I started having them like 1 every 1/2 an hour or so. They weren't very strong at all so I just kinda decided to wait it out. As the day progressed, they became stronger and closer together that by about 10 pm, they were about 5-10 minutes apart. I was watching Masterpeice Mystery, one of my favorite shows, I found myself not able to concentrate on the show (which hardly ever happens with my Masterpeice shows, hee hee). I felt like it was time so Sonny and I headed to the hospital while my Mom stayed home with Taylor. We checked in around 10:30 and was evaluated in the triage area of labor and delivery. They determined that I was at a 3 and about 50 % effaced. They told me that I needed to be a little more dialated in order to be admitted. The nurse suggested that I walk around the hospital for about 2 hours... I was like WHAT? 2 hours? I seriously thought they were joking. But I gave it a whirl- Sonny showed me some of the departments he had worked in and stuff. I made it to about 45 minutes and then couldn't walk around anymore. I returned to the triage area and they told me I was at a 4-5. Wow! that happened quick! I told them I wanted to bet the pain meds started right away and they informed me that they would get all the paperwork/orders submitted etc. They transfered me to the delivery room soon after that. I still hadn't received anything, no epidural, nothing yet so I was dying!!! It took them another couple hours until the anesthesiologist came. Before she came, they did give me some kind of pain med, a short lived one, that didn't really help at all but was enough to tie me over until the epidural. Once the epidural was administed, I grew really dizzy and nauseated. They told me this happened to a lot of women so I spent the next 2 hours or so vomiting off and on. SO MUCH FUN. After that calmed down, I tried to get some sleep but what with all the wonderful nurses bugging me and checking me, I didn't sleep a wink. Anyways, so to finish up the story, around 7 am that morning, the 29th, they told me I was ready to push and by 8:43 am, he was out. Madigan being a practicing hospital, there were what seemed like millions of people in the room watching me give birth. But at that point, I didn't care, just wanted it to be over with. I was very proud of myself for doing the Trial of Labor after C-section and it being a success. Did I mention that it was totally awesome to be able to hold Charlie right after he came out? Didn't get to do that with Taylor. So neat :)

So that's the story. About a 12 hour labor- not too bad. I'm still not fully recovered but almost. I had a little bit of tearage and have experienced a bit of incontinence so the doc says that'll be a while to recover from all that. But I am so happy to be a mother of 2. New pictures to follow- hopefully sooner than later :)

Charlie Alexander Porter

2011-09-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

Introducing Charlie Alexander Porter! Charlie was born August 29th @ 8:47 am, weighing in at 7 pounds 11 oz, 20 3/4 inches long. More details to come later. Here are some recent pics. ps: ignore the non-makeup me... that's just how I roll these days.

Crazy days!

2011-07-28T09:32:00.001-07:00

It looks like it's been since April since I last blogged. Wow, how time flies. Things have been crazy busy around here!!! I guess busy is subjective really but it's been crazy for me at least. I don't like being too busy and it seems like it's been out of control the last couple months. With Sonny in his residency, being pregnant, having a dog- it has been really overwhelming at times.

Sonny is now in his 2nd year of residency. He changes rotations every couple months and the hours vary depending on what department he's in. He is doing ENT right now and the schedule has been pretty nice. Starting Friday he will be doing Opthomology, which he says will be an even easier schedule. In about a month, around the time the baby is due, he will be in Plastic Surgery. I'm hoping that will be a lighter schedule too but who knows. His favorite rotation so far has been Anesthesia, mostly because he got to work by himself at his own pace. Lately he has found time to return to doing stocks again and work out at the gym. I'm glad he has time to have a hobby, besides just working.

Taylor is getting to be such a big boy. He seems to grow older every day. I love this age because they say the funniest things too. His personality has really come out. He is a crack up and I really enjoy being his mom and playing with him. With the baby on the way, he has been such a great help to me. He helps so much with the dog as well. I am excited that he will be such a good big brother. He still likes legos but has now started an obsession with camping. We've been on a few trips lately and he is really into RV's- he calls them camping trucks. He is saving up money to buy one. ha ha! He is really interested in insects and loves to read books about them. His favorite are Cinnabar moth caterpillars, which we found in a field near by. The weather has gotten nice, finally, so he spends a lot of time outside with his best friend Jackson. He is crazy about otter pops and any type of "dessert."

Jane is now 7 months old and is still a handful. I have officially concluded that puppies are way harder to take care of than a baby. She needs constant supervision and stimulation or she gets into trouble. I've only gained about 16 pds so far and I attribute that to her totally. Because of her, I have been on walks daily the last 6 months. Even though I don't feel like going most of the time, I know it's good for me and for her. She is so much fun to take on hikes because I can take her off the leash, and she especially enjoys herself around water (as you can tell with all the pictures I posted :) ) Golden Retrievers are truly water dogs. We have come pretty close to getting rid of her a couple times, because of her bad behavior, but we are trying to stick it out and enjoy the positive things she brings to our family. I know that in about 2 years or so, she will be the perfect family dog.

As for me, I have 4 1/2 weeks left until I pop. I'm finding myself a lot more anxious and nervous this time around. I think I'm mostly concerned about taking care of Taylor, the dog, and the newborn. It's also because everything happened so quick before with Taylor, having a c-section and all, and I'm trying for a vbac this time around. It's a fear of the unknown I guess. I'm so glad my mom will be coming down soon to help me. But it has been fun getting the nursery ready and I am also loving the summer!

With all the busyness, we've been on a few trips the last couple months. Taylor, Jane and I drove down to Utah in April for my brothers BYU graduation. We spent Easter down there with a bunch of family and had an awesome time. Sonny gets 2 weeks of vacation a year and decided to use one of his weeks in Idaho in June. It was a family reunion for his family and spent mostly in Rigby, Idaho. Taylor had a fun time with all of his cousins and Jane loved running around Sonny's brothers huge backyard. Sonny was able to take a few day trips with the guys in his family. They went fishing, motorbiking, and rafting. He truly needed and deserved the vacation. The girls went out one night to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. It was a small production, very family friendly environment. Taylor even came along and loved it. We had listened to the soundtrack for a couple months before so we both knew all the songs! This last weekend we drove out to Seaside, Oregon to spend some time with Sonny's dad. We hung out at the beach a lot and visited with Sonny's aunt and uncle too. It was perfect beach weather! It was fun to get a couple trips in recently because I probably won't be getting out much when the baby comes.

The water at Seaside was the perfect temperature. It was super shallow too with small waves.

Sonny had a good time with Jane in the water. When Sonny threw the ball, Jane would swim out and get it and bring it back to him. It was so cool! Dogs are so cute to watch when they swim :)

Look at Jane doggy paddle!

She was in heaven!

You can't tell but Sonny is flying a kite here. I forgot how much fun it is to fly a kite at the beach.

It was so nice being at a sandy beach again. I miss that warm sand under my feet! Sure beats Washington's rocky beaches.

Taylor with all of his gear. He is truly a beach bum, like his mom. We concluded on this little getaway that we have to live near the ocean. It's an absolute must.

Janers found some crab... yum!

Baseball and a quick update

2011-04-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Above is a couple of pictures taken at some of Taylor's baseball games. He is having a good time at them. It's funny to watch boys his age play baseball- most of the time they are out there digging holes, dancing around, chewing on their gloves... ha ha. Once and a while, somebody hits a ball and the whole team runs for it. Taylor has hit one ball without the tee but most of the time, ends up using the tee. About half of the games and practices have been canceled, because of the rain. So goes sports in Washington!

The computer that we usually use crashed a couple weeks ago. All of my recent pictures are on it. So, as you can guess, the future posts will not have pictures. It crashed in the most inopportune time, for Sonny mostly. He was just about to give a powerpoint presentation at work to some of the general surgeons and residents. Yikes! So it was a rough day for him. Anyways, just know that Taylor has grown a little bit older, Jane has grown a whole lot longer, Sonny has gotten a little more tired, and I have gotten a lot more fat. I think you get the picture.

I am now 24 weeks along and feeling ok. I've been having some acid reflux, at night mostly, and am still trying to fit into my jeans. Some days it works, others, not so much. I found some cute stretch pants at Target and wear those most of the time. I get to have another ultrasound in about a month (the one and only good thing about being a high risk patient). I haven't even started getting the nursery ready- it's still the dog's room/office/weight room/library... I have a feeling I'm going to go early, like last time. I'm trying for a v-back and the doctors said that I have a good chance of succeeding, since I had the c-section as an emergency and didn't really even experience the labor process. It'll be nice to deliver in the same hospital too that Sonny will be working at. The Ob-gyn department is delivering 250 babies a month! Because of the way the deployments work, it kind of works out that way. Hopefully I won't be giving birth in some hallway somewhere in the hospital.

Taylor and I made a trip to Utah last month for my brother Kyle's graduation at BYU. My parents flew in from California and made the long drive with us. We brought Jane along too and surprisingly, she did really well. Well, not really a surprise really- in reality, she did better than I did. I hate road trips! But we made it there and back without going crazy and had a fun time visiting with lots of family there. We spent a nice easter with my aunt and uncle and cousins there. It was really great to get out of Washington for a bit. Sonny unfortunately had to stay behind and work. Bummer. But we are looking forward to heading to Boise next month for a family reunion with his side of the family. Sonny is counting down the days until he is done with his first year of residency. He has worked so hard, especially in this last general surgery rotation, and really deserves a nice vacation.

Well, that's what we've been up to the last month or so. We are looking forward to the rainy season being over and seeing some sun already! The summer's are really nice here though- just wish it would last longer than like 2 months.

BOY!

2011-04-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

It's official... we're having another boy! We were all very surprised- we all thought for sure it was going to be a girl. But I like surprises...

Recent thoughts and happenings

2011-03-30T17:53:00.001-07:00

This time of the year in Washington is REALLY rainy. Even though we've lived here for almost 2 years (in June), I am still not even near getting used to it. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever will. It's your fault California but I love you for it. Ya, the rain still bothers me... A LOT! And now that we have a dog, I think I notice it even more. Having to dry down Jane with a towel every 10 minutes can get taxing, especially with an ever increasing belly. But I gotta admit, walking a dog in the rain isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm getting pretty good with holding a leash, an umbrella, treats, and Taylor's hand all at once! And the daily walks have done me good as well- some much needed exercise. So along with the rain, Taylor has started Baseball- following in his fathers footsteps- ha ha. Just you wait babe, he's doing piano lessons next! No- I'm glad he is doing sports. He really enjoyed his gymnastics class so I knew he would like this as well. He is the youngest one on his team but has so much fun with it. He looks so cute in his cleats and glove running out there with his teammates. I think he's going to be a master at defense- at least he takes after me in something :) He also celebrated his 4th birthday on the 19th. We had a Lego Star Wars party for him. He is crazy about Lego's right now and could spend all day playing them. I've spent many an hour on his floor, looking at instructions books, attempting to put space ships together for his Storm troopers, Clone troopers, Hoth Rebel Troopers... ya, that's right, I'm now a Star Wars expert. I know all the dudes names. We had fun junking out on pizza, cheetos, and candy at his party and I even tried to make a lego shaped cake. Looked retarded but tasted awesome. Jane is now 15 weeks and has started obedience classes at Petsmart. After one class, she already knows "sit" and the "watch me" commands. She is pretty good at fetching too. I am anxious and excited to see what this class does for her. I'm hoping it'll help with her biting problem too. But I am starting to enjoy her more now- those first couple weeks were rough. But that's what I've heard from every puppy owner. I think she's finally starting to fit into our family. We are going through treats and bones like crazy! Now to get all her vaccinations finished up and our bank account not so dry- ha ha. I am now 18 weeks pregnant and am beginning to feel the weight of it. My back has gotten a lot worse with the weight and I am just trying to tolerate it. Let me add that my buttox is all bruised from my lovenox injections. Awesome eh? Yep, tons of fun. I'm hoping to get my ultrasound soon and find out what it is! I'm on a waiting list at Madigan Hospital (the military hospital) to get it done and I'm going crazy waiting for them to call me to schedule it. The hospital is so busy! We're still all hoping for a girl. I am still trying to finish my Charles Dicken's book from like 6 months ago- crazy I know! And I'm excited to watch PBS the next couple months to watch my Masterpiece Classic shows. For the most part, Taylor and the dog are keeping me busy. I don't know how people with 4 kids or something do it. Here are a couple of recent pictures :

I'm back baby!!!!!!!!

2011-03-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hello there friends, family, and strangers who read my blog! Guess what? I have decided to start up my blog again. I took a year hiatus. Not sure why really. Well, you know how you get out of mood to do something or just plain get sick of it? That's what happened to me. But now lucky for you all, I'm back :)

It's pretty much impossible to update you all on what we have been doing since last April, but here is a list of big things I could think of:

1. Sonny started his Oral Surgery residency June of last year. The first year consists of rotating through different departments in the hospital. Some of the departments he has done so far are ICU, CCU and Anesthesia. His hours haven't been too bad at all. But I'm sure I'll be eating those words very soon; He's doing General Surgery next...

2. Taylor turned 4 last saturday. He had a Star Wars themed party. He is such a sweet boy. I will talk more about what he has been doing in a minute.

3. We bought a 2nd car, a 2006 Toyota Sequoia. I am really loving it.

4. We've taken several trips to Utah, California, and Idaho.

5. We've added a new addition to our family- a 3 month old golden retriever named Jane. She is quite the puppy, to say the least. She is such a beautiful dog but is the queen of biting and has already experienced a brutal spurt of roundworm. total yuckness.

6. One of my favorite people in the whole world passed away, my Grandma Rosa. She was one of the most classy, brightest, and funniest people I know and I think about her and miss her every day.

7. Man, I can't think of anymore but I know we have been doing stuff. Oh, one last thing... I am pregnant and due with baby #2 the end of August! We are all very excited.

So I've decided to put my back problems on hold for a while and am trying really hard to remain faithful and still believe that someday it will get better. But most of the time, it is more difficult than you can imagine. Somedays I don't even want to get out of bed. But I was sick of putting off having another baby. So we decided to pursue that instead, even though it meant 9 months worth of lovenox injections (a blood thinner- I had a kidney clot in 2003 and whenever I am pregnant, I have to be on them) and progressively worse back pain. But to me, it's worth it. I am also enjoying decorating our house (especially when my mom comes to visit and buys me a ton of stuff!). We have been exploring the Pacific Northwest a little more together as a family as well. We are trying our best to tolerate the rainy weather- we are in the middle of it right now. Good thing I got a pair of rain boots a while back :) Gotta have those in Washington. We make frequent hiking trips and drives to the ocean with Tay and the dog as well. Taylor is really enjoying the dog.

Now about Taylor :) He is growing up so fast and is such a big boy now. This age he is at is my favorite so far. He is fun to play with. I make sure to make time to play with him everyday, just one on one time, no dog etc. I was a little worried at first about the 4 1/2 year gap there will be between him and the next baby. But I think it will turn out great and I think deciding to get a dog at the time we did was good for him too, to warm him up to not having all the attention all the time. But he is hoping for a little girl, as are Sonny and I. Taylor just started playing baseball in a city league here. He is so cute to watch and is really having lots of fun. His favorite thing right now is Legos, in particular Star Wars legos. His best friend lives 2 doors down from us so they play daily and have lots of fun together. He is such a big help around the house and likes to help me clean the bathrooms! right on! I look forward to blogging about him a lot in the future. I love him so much.

Here are some recent pictures: I tried to make a Vietnamese noodle soup (my obsession right now) but it turned out like crap. I'll just stick with the restaurant stuff.

Taylor took a gymnastics class for about a month a while back. That's him on the balance beam above. He was quite good.

9 years

2010-04-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

My husband and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary yesterday! I know everybody says this but it's crazy that it's been that long. I think once you hit 10 years than that's a biggy. Sonny and I bought ourselves some baseball equipment for our presents this year. Sonny got a new bat and I'm getting a new glove. Yay! I haven't had a new one since I started playing softball in middle school. So we're ecstatic to start playing some ball! I had a couple of doctors appointments (still trying to figure out this dang back problem!!!!!) yesterday so it seemed like just a normal day. But when I got home, we decided to hit up a new place in Tacoma. Sonny found this place called "Southern Kitchen," a restaurant that had been featured in Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network and, I guess, Oprah also likes it too. Well, she was right. It was fabulous :) I had the Southern Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes, corn, and candied yams. Sonny tried out the Cajun Catfish. We realized when we got there that they didn't have a kids menu so Taylor ended up eating a basket full of french fries. Aren't we great parents? Anyways, so we stuffed our faces and boy, does that food sit hard in your stomach! But we had a great time. We'll be going out to dinner, just the two of us, next tuesday night so I'm excited about that too. We are now, as I type, getting ready to leave for the Great Wolf Lodge for a night. It's like a huge indoor water park so we are stoked about it! Taylor, I'm sure, will be in heaven. So I better go and get ready!

A visit from 2 grandmas

2010-04-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we were lucky enough to have both of Taylor's grandmas visit. They came down to wish Taylor a happy 3rd birthday. What nice grandmas! Sonny's mom came to visit first and Taylor had a really good time with her. Taylor had a bit of a fever the first couple days she was here so we didn't get out and do much. But we did get to eat out at a couple great places. We also went to our favorite beach in Steilacoom where Taylor showed her all the neat little crabs and other sea creatures. We spent one day doing a bunch of yard work, getting a spot of land ready for the garden. But most of her visit was spent building some totally awesome storage shelves in our garage. We have been storing everything in closets and are now super excited to have some storage elsewhere. Sonny and her were hard at work for less than a day and had the whole thing built! Watch out Extreme Makeover Home Edition! Thanks so much Gini :) We really appreciate it.
Sorry, these next couple pictures are out of order. Sonny went to Virginia to attend an Oral Surgery class and Taylor and I went to our beach on a Sunday afternoon. Surprisingly, we couldn't find a single crab. I must have looked under every single rock. I think the tide was too high and they were already back in the water.

When the tide comes up at night, there is this one little spot where a pool forms. It's just the right depth for Taylor to wade in and throw rocks without me having to watch him so closely.

Holding a crab. To bad it was dead :(

My mom came to visit right after Sonny's mom left. I love when she comes to visit! Taylor and I count down the days until she get here. Taylor calls her "Bami." We lived so close to her for 4 years during dental school and had a really hard time moving last June. She came just in time to celebrate Easter and what a fun time we had with her! We had an egg hunt in our backyard and did some other fun easter activities. We also worked on the yard a lot. My mom was nice enough to buy some pansis and marigolds for my garden and some other plants. My favorite part of her visit was spending a couple days doing some major decorating. Since moving into our new house 6 months ago, I have been wanting to decorating it. My mom gave me some good designing deas and tips and bought me some cool stuff for my kitchen etc.

Taylor and I planted three blueberry trees in this very area today. We are looking forward to eating fresh blueberries soon.

Some of the marigolds and pansi's in a cool looking new pot my mom got us. Love it!

This is where my little garden will be this year. It is a bit rocky (the rain does not help that situation at all!) so I bought some chicken fencing so that I could sift some out before I plant the vegetables.

My new clock

My mom and I went to Joanne's and got the grapevines to put on top the cupboards and we found most of the baskets at the Goodwill. It makes my kitchen a little more homy now :)

The Easter egg hunt in our backyard. There weren't many places to really hide the eggs well but Taylor still loved it.

I asked Taylor to make a funny face and here it is

Tay and his "Bami"

We made some easter treats, of course!

DuPont had an easter egg hunt with lots and lots of kids. He was hesitant at first but ended up getting a few eggs.

We had a good time with the two grandmas and we hope to see them again soon.

Taylor's 3 years old pictures

2010-04-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the yearly pictures we took of Taylor, and a few of our family too. I tried to coordinate our outfits. They didn't turn out as well as I was hoping but oh well, they're just pictures I guess, right? I always have too high of expectations. It started out pretty rough with Taylor and then the lady warmed him up. She had to bring out a bunch of sports equipment for him to play with. That is why he is holding something in each picture. I guess you do what you gotta do to get some pictures taken :) Oh, and don't you just love the train that Sonny is playing with in the family picture? I asked him to put it down but he just couldn't let it go. hee hee! We ended up going to JC Penney's and buying the cd that had these poses, and a lot more too. And we had a coupon that gave us a free 8x10. We chose the one with Tay wearing the baseball glove. I wanted to buy a 16x20 of us that same day but decided that we would shop around for a better rate. Anybody know of any store or online company that has a good price? Well, enjoy!

Happenings in Washington State

2010-03-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well, since my last post, nothing major has happened up here in Washington State. We're just waiting patiently for the rainy season to be done. No such luck yet; it is raining as I speak, or should I say, write. If it's not raining, then it's pretty cold. We've had a few sunny days the last couple of days stuck in with the many rainy and cold ones and have spent a lot of time outside on those ones. We have really enjoyed using the nice community green in the front yard. Taylor has fun playing with his friends in the neighborhood on it. All the little boys bring their toys out and they all get a lot of practice "sharing" them.

Taylor is STILL into his swords, I can't believe it.
A couple weeks ago, Sonny had to go a "Dentac Birthday Ball" for work. He had to go in the military dress blues. I liked the top half of the outfit (made him look like a pilot) but made fun of his band pants! Ha ha! He lucked out and found them used at the thrift store on base, where a lot of his collegues bought them brand new. I was invited as well but decided to use the admission price for some cute clothes instead! Good thing I didn't go because Sonny said it was a total drag, really really boring.

"Doing stocks"

Taylor also had a birthday on the 19th. He turned 3! He had a lot of fun opening his presents, having chocolate muffins and orange juice for breakfast, and then going to Chuck E Cheese. The first time Taylor went there he was a little too young, so he really enjoyed it this time around. We ended up staying there WAY too long though (3 hours, just playing games, talk about overstimulation!) For dinner we went to McDonalds and let him run around in the play area.

My mom gave him this scooter and he is in love with it. He calls it his "roller skater." How cute :) And sonny found this plastic armor at the thrift store for a buck. He calls himself the "knight in shining armor."

The skater in action!

Chuck E Cheese

I found a recipe for chocolate cake on allrecipes.com. It didn't turn out so well. It tasted ok but just looked strange. The recipe called for red food coloring so the chocolate cake part was red! Weird. Taylor has really been into Scooby Doo lately so we made that the theme.

Last but not least, we FINALLY decided to change his crib into a big boy bed. He did pretty good for a couple nights but now plays for like an hour and then falls asleep. Naps are pretty much non-existent but I can get him to play by himself in his room for about an hour, which is better than nothing, I guess. Taylor is doing really well with potty training. He has begun to tell me he has to go instead of me asking him all the time. Our next tackle is getting him to go in different pottys. And he has also recently learned his ABC's which is totally cool, I think.

And I am still working on getting my back better. I'm going to the Physical Therapist, getting trigger point injections, and experimenting with accupuncture. As soon as I feel enough improvement, we plan on having another baby. So for the time being, we are just living life here in Washington and looking forward to some warm weather!

The past month

2010-03-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

This last month has been full of rainy days and a couple days of sun. My cousin talked me into dying my hair blond back in November and now Taylor and I are twins! But man, it's tough keeping up with it and stuff but worth it because I think it suits me. I was a toehead (is that how you spell it?) when I was little so I'm going back to my roots.
The days that it has been sunny, we have been having lunch outside.

When it rains, we do a lot of crafts at our kitchen table. Taylor loves to cut and is really good at it! He cuts out little shapes and then glues them to paper. Lately he has been asking me to draw the letters out for him. He is really interested in letters right now. And while he does art stuff, it gives me a chance to work on my cookbook. I'm trying to organize all my favorite recipes into one big cookbook. Below is one of Taylor's sculptures, "Frosty the snowman."

We crank open the blinds in the morning when we see that the sun is out. Then we lay on the woodfloor for a minute or so and soak in some rays.

Yeah for sun!

Another thing that we do a lot of bring all of Taylor's stuffed animals downstairs and hide them under the blanket, in the "pirate cave." I'm in charge of guarding and protecting the animals (laying down with them under the blanket) while he goes back and forth upstairs to get his animals. This morning while we were doing it, I snuck a little nap in for a minute or so. This is one of my favorite games, you can probably guess why. Oh, and Tay likes to wear his belt around his waist, not even in the loops of his pants. Its a sure sign of piracy, he says.
Taylor has always liked stuffed animals and has tons of them. Lately, he's decided that they are prisoners and need to be tied up. Poor little christmas doggy :( Sorry the pictures crocked.
When we moved in last October, we heard that there were a few little boys in the neighborhood for Taylor to play with. For the last couple weeks, they have been playing a lot. They like to play with Sonny too (hee hee). He's realized that he is the neighborhood babysitter.

Sonny in action
I really really like this community greenspace!
And the other day, Taylor insisted that I take a picture of him. He then proceded to pose like this. He cracks me up sometimes! He is so full of questions lately too. Whenever we see a kid at the park, an old man at the store or whatever, he asks me "What's his name?" And every night while I'm making dinner, he asks me "What are we having?" I'm glad that he asks lots of questions! He is so observant and sees things that I don't.
I haven't got a picture of him with his backpack but the last couple months, Taylor has been going to "Tay Tay School." It's an hourly care center that they provide for military families. He's been going there about twice a week while I go to different doctors to try and figure out the back pain that I have been having the last 5 years. I'm so greatful that I found this place because otherwise, I don't know who would have taken care of him. Taylor really loves it there and sometimes, doesn't even want to come home. I'm glad that he is becoming so independent. He is also doing really great at potty training. Sonny is starting his residency in June so we are also getting ready for that. Ah! We have some great trips coming up the next couple months so we are excited about that too. So we are just hanging out here in Washington waiting for the winter to end (RAIN!) and for spring to start.

Big Day

2010-02-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

Taylor did his first pee pee in the potty today :) I have been trying to spark his interested in the potty for many months without much success. He always said that he was "scared." Once and a while he would practice sitting on the potty for a few minutes and then be done. So this is a huge step for him! We are so proud of him and hope that the rest of the training goes well. I think he is going through some kind of growth spurt right now because he has been talking really well and seems really into learning letters and numbers. What a cute little guy!

San Diego

2010-02-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

Last week we traveled down to the San Diego area. Sonny attended a continuing education course in Oral Pathology on the navy base there for a few days. After those few days, we stayed another week just too goof off.

These first couple are just some real cute pictures of Taylor that I had to include. Here he is helping me make Sonny's mudpie for his birthday.

He loves his little buddy, Butch

We met up with Sonny's brother, Bo and went to one of his trade shows at the convention center. We purchased this skim board for Taylor. We couldn't resist, it was $10.

We spent a lot of time with my family too. They came down to San Diego and hung out with us there. Here's my sister and my parent's dog, Ringo. What a cute little pooch!

Taylor is still really into taking pictures. Actually, he's pretty good at it. This one looks kind of psychedelic. Pretty cool.
Taylor's post-modern art work. Seriously, I've seen pieces like this in museums (along with hangers just hanging from the ceiling... whoever decided that was artwork must have been on crack!) I thought Taylor's work here was halarious!

San Onofre beach. We stayed one night at a beach cottage right down on the beach. The tide was low so we found some neat shells and as seen here, a frisbee.

It was a rocky beach, like those we experience in Washington

The beach cottage

We found a fun little spot in San Diego, the Old Town area. They had a lot of historic buildings and museum like shops. Therewas one little shop that must have had like a million windchimes hanging from the ceiling. What a sight! And what a sound!

I had to take a picture of this place, Cafe Coyote. It had out of this world chips and salsa. My kind of place.

We had to swing by Balboa Park again, one of my favorite places in San Diego. A great place to just relax and explore.

Grandpa and Tay studying the coy fish

I think I've posted this same picture on my blog before but I just love it so much. The palm trees, the beautiful building's reflection on the water... doesn't it look like a postcard?

And I wish I could get this picture in black and white. I think it would be neat looking.

I tried to capture the essence of this flower but really didn't do it justice. Balboa park has this indoor garden place ( really intelligent sounding huh, I forgot what they are called) with tons of flowers and plants. It's fun to walk around in.

You might wonder why I took a picture of a door... Well, we drove out to Hotel Del Coronado again this visit. Supposedly the hotel is haunted by the ghost of a woman who died there. This is the very room in which the ghost resides. Scary! I was actually pretty spooked out when walking by it.

My mom and I enjoying the warm weather. This hotel is one of the only hotels made out of wood still standing in the U.S.

Sistas chillin' by the fire at the beach

Tinfoil dinners at the beach is the best!

Sonny wanted to go to Korean B-b-que for his birthday dinner so went for it. We cooked our own meat on a grill on the table, which made the room super duper smoky.

The goods on the grill

After this trip, I'm pretty much 100% sure I want to ultimately settle in the San Diego area. It's California, but without the grimyness of L.A. There is hardly any rain but yet it's still green, no snow, the beach real close, and lots more. The only drawback, which is a big one I know, is the price of living. Hmmm, we'll start saving now!

You say it's your birthday... Happy Birthday to you!

2010-01-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

Sonny's turned 32 today! He shares the same birthday as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, lucky duck.
Along with giving him "The perfect push-up" for his birthday (actually, he bought that for himself for his birthday), I decided to frame some of Taylor's artwork for Sonny. I have been saving a lot of his drawings and paintings since he was about 1. I'm glad that I did now. He loved it.
I found the awesome frame at Micheal's for 40% off. I'm glad I found it because it goes perfectly with our Brazilian cherry wood floor. Sonny is excited to hang the display in his office.
For dinner, Sonny asked for a Chinese dinner. I found some really good Asian dishes off of this website, www.favfamilyrecipes.com. So I slaved away all day making some Orange chicken and Hawaiian Teriyaki beef. It turned about well! But the Orange chicken didn't have quite the crunch that say Panda Express has. But the sauce turned about really, really good.
We decorated a little too.

Growing up, my parents always got me a bunch of cute, little gifts too. So I thoght that I would continue the tradition.
Another shot of the dishes. Hope you had a great Birthday babe! We love you.

Emma

2010-01-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

This is for all you Jane Austen fans out there! Last year at this same time I remember blogging about Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit." This time it is about one of Jane Austen's classics, "Emma." It will be airing Jan 24th-Feb7 (every Sunday night for 3 weeks) at 9 pm on PBS.

I was extremely impressed and moved by last years "Little Dorrit" and as my family can attest to, I raved about it for like a month straight. Having seen and loved that miniseries, I am hoping that this one will live up to it's predecessor. I have seen several versions of Emma (my favorite being with Gwyneth Paltrow) and am looking forward to this new one.

If you are not familiar with the story of "Emma," here is a synopsis:

Emma Woodhouse (Romola Garai, Atonement) was born with the sun shining down on her. The radiant, privileged girl grows into a remarkable talent for matchmaking, as observed by her loving but disapproving father (Michael Gambon, Cranford) and childhood friend Mr. Knightley (Jonny Lee Miller, Endgame). When the decidedly less privileged Harriet Smith arrives, Emma meddles with fate to find her a match, until her flawless intuition is called into question. Dissuaded from more matrimonial predictions, Emma nonetheless continues to cheerfully contemplate superior men — and meets one of her own in the handsome, gleaming Frank Churchill. But after being so busy managing everyone else's heart, does Emma know her own? A fiercely funny new version of the Jane Austen novel, Emma was adapted by Sandy Welch (Jane Eyre).

As far as the actors go, I am interested to see how they do. I have seen several period dramas with Romola Garai and caught a few episodes of the tv series, Eli Stone. Jonny Lee Miller, who plays the lawyer, is the guy playing the part of Mr. Knightly.

So, sounds good huh? And if you wish to see a preview or to learn more, visit Masterpiece Classic's website: www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/ They also have a list of the other movies that will be playing this spring, one of them being a brand new version of "The Diary of Anne Frank."

Well, hoping this will be good...

Push ups

2010-01-04T14:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas in California

2010-01-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than celebrating Christmas in sunny California! I know people say that it doesn't quite feel like Christmas without snow but I beg to differ. Don't get me wrong, I love the song "White Christmas" and all but just prefer singing it rather than experiencing it. Taylor and I were able to fly down to Cali a little earlier than Sonny. Ha ha, he had to stay behind and work a little longer.

My dad built this treehouse in their backyard for Taylor. He's the only grandchild right now so he makes out pretty well (can you tell?). He had no problem going up at first but once he got up there and walked around a little and looked down, he got a little scared. With a little consoling, he was good to go again.

Eating lunch in the treehouse

We went to Disneyland about a week before Christmas and Bami (my mom) bought Taylor this lightsaber. We did all the usual rides and surprisingly, it wasn't too crowded. It's funny, I didn't realize how much I enjoyed having the annual passes and going so often until after we moved away. I guess that's the way it always is. You don't realize how good you have it until it's gone. We realized late that night, after Taylor had fallen asleep in his stroller, that he would have been tall enough to go on the Matterhorn. Man, that would have been awesome!

It actually got pretty cold at night there (notice the coats and scarf). But that didn't stop us from looking at the lights. There are a couple blocks in Glendora that have every single house lit. It was fun to look at.

We met my sister and her husband for some dessert the night before Christmas Eve. It was this little Asian tea house where we enjoyed some smothies with boba (tapioca balls) in it. I know, sounds weird but so good!

Thanks to my bro Kyle, Taylor was entertained most of Christmas Eve. Kyle plays the trumpet in the BYU marching band and happened to know the tune to The Empire Strikes Back (The Darth Vader Song). Thanks for being a good sport Kyle and playing it for Tay over and over and over and over...

My parents on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve dinner. I tried to make homemade rolls and was a little disappointed on how they turned out. Oh well, I guess it's an aquired skill. Maybe next year!

My sister, a regular Sarah Lee... Yes, it's true! Her name really is Sarah Lee!

Me and my sister Elizabeth just hanging out

Sonny being the cool dude that he is

Every year Sonny gets a funny tee-shirt from my parents. This year it was a shirt from the the tv show "Entourage." I've never seen the show but I guess the phrase "Maybe you can have it all" is used a lot, or it's the theme, who knows. Anyways, Sonny was excited to add it to his collection.

Of course, you gotta sing a few Christmas carols too on Christmas Eve too

Christmas Eve family picture

My mom gave this tent to Tay. We TRIED sleeping in it upstairs on New Years Eve. That idea ended real quick!

We also had a white elephant gift exchange. Sonny found this funny statue of a little boy playing soccer. Can you say CREEPY?

Sonny found a bunch of Thomas the train stuff on Craigslist for super cheap. What a find!

So after opening all the presents and laying around lazy for a couple hours, what do you do next? Go to a movie of course! We went to see "A Christmas Carol" at a theater in Pasadena that only charged $3! Again, what a deal!

Taylor really wanted to go to the beach too while in California and so we did, complete with a fire and all. Roasting hot dogs at the beach is the best! It was a little too cold to actually go swimming so we spent the day climbing rocks and hanging out by the fire. We had a good time feeding the seagulls. They took some chips right from our hand!

The last full day I was there, we took the metrolink down to Olvera St. in L.A. Sure beats having to fight traffic and finding somewhere to park in the city I always say.

Tay really enjoyed looking out the window at everything

My studly brother Kyle being a true metrolink rider, holding onto the bar up on top!

All of us making our way through Union Station, trying to find platform 9 3/4 ! That one is for you bosh! ha ha

Union Station was pretty cool inside, very beautiful actually, like an old-fashioned train station.

Olvera Street, where we ate the most delicious mexican food ever!

We walked a little ways up to the Los Angeles Preforming Arts Center where they preform all the plays etc. They have this awesome fountain that shoots up and down. My mom got busted for running though it!

The Walt Disney Concert Hall. I'm not usually a fan of Modern architecture but I'm a sucker for this place. Isn't it awesome! It has been featured in lots of films and tv shows.

We had such a great Christmas with my family in California and are excited to come down again soon! I will always be a California girl :)

Snow

2009-12-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

As you can see, we got a little bit of snow today! Sonny and Taylor had a grand time making a snowman together, Frosty, as Tay calls it. Sonny is the expert snowman maker. Hello, he grew up in Idaho! So I left the job up to him... ha ha. I watched as he rolled the ball all around the front yard. I was too cold to help (I stayed inside, can you see me?) Sonny was hoping that we would get a whole load of snow. I guess they close Fort Lewis when there is lots of snow because they don't have any plows. Well, lets hope for tons tonight :)

And I had to add this pic, Taylor has discovered the art of cutting with scissors. He saw me cutting out recipes the other day and wanted to join in. I found these "baby scissors" and he went to work. He would literally cut for hours on end if I let him!

Family Pictures

2009-12-11T14:52:00.001-08:00

Trip to Utah

2009-11-16T20:29:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was able to fly up to Utah (by myself!) to go visit my Grandma Rosa. She is having some medical problems right now and I thought it would be great to go visit her before the weather got too crazy. It was incredibly wonderful and relaxing talking to her for a couple days. She is the most awesome lady in the world :) So classy and smart with a halarious sense of humor. I love to be around her. It was a much needed break for me as well. My family had the chance to meet up with me there too so it was a little family reunion as well. I also got to hang out with my fun cousins that I hadn't seen for a while.

We went to Johnny Carino's for dinner and pigged out on some scrumptious Italian food

My sister Sarah and the wonderful lady herself, Grandma Rosa

My second cousin, Hayley

Cute little Dylan

The lovely pregnant (Jayme) and engaged (Kristen) cousins! Congratulations you guys!

The best mother and grandma a girl could ask for

Mr. Intellectual, my dad

Jayme and my aunt Caryl

My totally bodacious sisters

Uncle Jim and my cousin, Tammy

Mom and my bro, Kyle (the dating machine)

All of us together for dinner

All of my siblings with Grandma. We love you Grandma Rosa!

Just some cute pictures...

2009-11-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

We had a reallly great halloween this year. It started out a little bit rocky but ended well. For the past couple weeks or so, I've been planning Taylor's costume. He had told me about a month ago that he wanted to be a mummy. He is really into watching the Scooby Doo movies with all the classic monsters and I thought it was a great idea too, pretty easy really. So I got to work, went to the Goodwill and found white pants and turtleneck and a white sheet. My plan was to soak the white sheet in tea bags over night, rip it into long strands, and once dried, wrap them around tay. The white clothes would be worn underneath the peices of sheet. I was pretty excited and proud of what I had done at this point. The tea bags made the sheet look really old and ancient. But come the night before halloween, while getting ready for our ward trunk or treat, I began to wrap him up. He was fine at first and then suddenly realized he didn't like the idea of being wrapped up or something, I don't know. You got to be kidding me! I told him everything I could think of to try and talk him into it but he wanted nothing to do with it. Great... so we ran to Carls Jr. for dinner and then to Target, crossing our fingers that some kind of costume would be there that he could wear. This is what we ended up with:
Jango Fett, from Star Wars, one of the only costumes left there. taylor is familiar with Darth Vader but wasn't familiar with this character, honestly, neither was I. I had to google it :) It took a little convincing at first to get Taylor to agree to the costume but once he saw the picture of the bounty hunter with his gun and I told him he looked like a robot, he was in.
The costume was still a little bit big but we made it work.
But he refused to wear the best part of the costume, the helmet. I don't blame him really, cool looking but bothersome.
Tay didn't understand the concept of trick or treating when we first started. After the first house, he wanted to stop and eat the candy and go home.
The loot
So he told everybody that he was a "robot guy."
Taylor warmed up pretty fast to trick or treating. After a while, he wanted to go up by himself!

This was our porch all decked out the trick or treaters. The picture isn't very good but if you look closely, there are a few spider webs too.
Of course you always have to make some kind of yummy halloween dessert. I never have before but thought it would be fun to start doing it.
And I also made some Calzones and they even turned out pretty good. Yea!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Stairs slide

2009-10-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Halloween Time

2009-10-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Halloween is probably my second favorite holiday. I just love all the scary decorations and all. Since the season has started, Taylor has really been getting into monsters and ghosts and all the other halloween characters. He loves the old Scooby Doo movies because they are always solving mysteries in haunted houses etc. So this year, he has decided that he wants to be a mummy. I'm going to try and put it together myself so we'll see how it turns out (pictures to follow :) It's funny, I always ask him if he's a big boy and he says, "No, i'm a happy halloween boy!" Anyways, so in the mist of all the moving chaos, we managed to squeeze in a few halloween activities. My mom came down to help us move and we had fun hanging out with her.

Our porch all decked out for Halloween, well, sort of. I don't have many "nice" Halloween decorations. All of mine are from Dollar Tree and Big Lots. That probably wouldn't look very cool in front of our new house.

Carving pumpkins. Taylor loved the finished product and lighting it but wasn't really interested in carving it. It's ok though, I enjoyed it!

So, I've decided to never wear makeup again... just kidding. But it seems like it lately eh?

I tried to make carmel apples but didn't do very well. The carmel hardens so fast! And for some reason, the apples seemed really bruised and nasty tasting after I put the carmel on them. I don't know what happened. weird. Taylor just liked the carmel part, he could care less about the apple.

NEW HOUSE!!!

2009-10-19T21:10:00.001-07:00

It finally happened! We got a house! It's almost like it's not real :) It hasn't really hit me yet, even though most of our stuff is moved in. We had one of our pods delivered on saturday and the last one is coming tomorrow. It's weird, I hadn't seen any of that stuff for about 4 months, seems way longer than that. We didn't have a couch for 4 months. Let's just say, the floor and I got to be real good friends.

Our house for the next 5 years. We were the first and last to make an offer. We found it posted on zillow without any pictures and decided to check it out. Good thing we did. We both love it.
The cute entry way

The living room and family room kind of mesh into one, just separated by half of a wall. It's pretty nice because it makes it feel like one big room.

The biggest room I've ever had. I feel like a queen :)
On the second floor just above the stairs is a really nice spacious loft area, a perfect playroom for Taylor.
Taylor loves his huge room
The only bathtub in the whole house is the soaking tub in the master bath. Taylor is in heaven.
It's funny- the area with the toilet is about the same size as the whole bathroom in our apartment. Why do they make so much room just for a toilet?
Wonderful walk-in closet
I didn't know how I would feel about having a two-story house but I really like it, a lot.
We're going to use this fireplace a lot with the cold winter ahead of us. Isn't it pretty? Ignore the no-makeup me... who needs makeup while moving anyways?
Sonny absolutely loves the Brazilian cherry wood floors. I am realizing too that it is way better than carpet, especially on the first floor.
And another plus, NO carpet in the dining area !

I feel like the kitchen is almost too fancy. I don't miss the white linoleum floor that we had in Loma Linda at all :)
There is even a small fountain thingy in the backyard. Somehow, I don't think this feature will last very long in the backyard with a toddler.
I've always wanted a front porch!
side gate leading to backyard

nice brick pathway in the side yard
And a pretty big backyard I gotta say. Big enough for me to take care of, that is.
A view outside our front door. The community green space right outside was definitely a huge bonus!
The neighborhood is beautifully taken care of. Kind of reminds me of a 50's suburban town.
Sonny and I went into house hunting never thinking we would live in a PUD (planned urban development) but we really really like it so far. It is so safe for kids and Sonny's bike ride to work every day is now 5 miles instead of 10! Now to get some furnishings for the new house!

Fall in Washington

2009-10-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sonny had a four-day weekend so we decided to take a little trip to Olympia, the state capital. It's only about a 45 minute drive and a really pretty one. All across Washington right now you'll see this:

I didn't think I would cared about having a fall season but it is pretty cool.

We drove by the old Capital building. Geez, what a place! Right up my alley.

We'll have to get him one of these, he would not get off this thing!

We found a fun country farm and pumpkin patch place to hang out at :)

Tay got a kick out of feeding the different animals, especially the rabbit.

This goat wanted to eat Taylor's pumpkin

Great, we're BOTH not looking at the camera...

Tay found a pumpkin for me too

Man's best friend

2009-10-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

About a week ago we received this in the mail:

Looks pretty real, right? Ya, that's what everybody in Washington has been thinking too. It's especially shocking to people when you take it for a ride in a stroller, strap it into the grocery cart at Costco, and have it ride in the front seat of the car. It's even fooled the security guards on Ft. Lewis. That one was pretty funny. Yep, evidence that a dog is truly man's best friend.

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-09-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

I was one lucky girl last weekend. I got to experience two of my most favorite things... "The Deadliest Catch" and Theater. Sonny's mom, sister, her husband and little boy came down to visit from Boise. On Friday we went to the Puyallup Fair. It was much more "countrified" than say the LA Fair. Sure, I love the LA Fair and I grew up going to it every year but this was a true country fair. About half of it was cows, no kidding. Taylor is now a huge fan of cows. But the animal exhibits have always been my favorite too so that was just perfect. Even though it was a very hot day (where is the Washington rain?), we had a great time strolling around and trying out all the junk food fairs have to offer. But by far, the coolest thing to see was this:

I always get giddy when I get to see somebody from tv or movies in person. It's just exciting. So we stopped by "The Deadliest Catch" booth and caught a glimpse of Jonathan Hillstrand, one of the captains of The Time Bandit, a crab boat on the show. It was pretty neat. We even got to see him rev up his harley at one point. There was a line to get autographs and pictures with him too. If it was Sig Hansen from the Northwestern, I would have stood in line for sure :)

Here he is

The next day, while the husbands took the kids to a zoo, Sonny's mom, sister, and I had a chance to go see "Wicked" in Seattle! I saw Wicked for the first time back in 2007, right after I had Taylor, and had forgotten how exhilerating and moving this play was.

It is such an extraordinary piece of work with all it's actors, sets, etc. It is truly magical and you almost come out of the theater a different person. For sure, a better person for experiencing it.

We were all really really excited! Me, Well, lets just say, I could hardly stay in my seat most of the time.

The ceiling of the theater was unreal. Extremely detailed and decorative, a bit of Baroque style in it.

Our seats were actually pretty good. We bought our tickets last minute and were thinking we would be in the nose bleed section. I was so glad we weren't. You almost can't appreciate it as much when your so far away. ok, enough, enough, I know. I can't help it :)

My red hair (it's was supposed to be burnette)

2009-09-14T16:34:00.001-07:00

The pictures do not do my hair justice at all. It is a lot redder in reality! I was going for burnette, I really like my hair burnette, but it seems like whenever I dye it, it always turns some shade of red or orange ( I used to dye my hair blond a lot in college and it would also turn orange???) oh well, good thing it comes out in 28 days.

Just an update

2009-09-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on things here in Washington. First of all, I haven't really checked my blog really closely lately and I realized just a few minutes ago that attached to my Monet picture of the day (on the right side of my blog), there were somehow attached to it some questionable advertisements (Yikes!). Sorry about that guys. Hope it hasn't been there for a while.

Not much new going on here. I'm just listening to some David Bowie presently and having a bit of a breather. We've been checking out the sights in Washington, going to a lot of beaches, and watching a lot of "The Deadliest Catch." Sonny and I are totally addicted to this show! try it! It's funny, we joke about it, it's one of the few things that we both like and have in common:) We realized that they film pretty close to us, well, the Bering Sea, and that a lot of the fishermen are from Seattle and that their boats are docked here in Seattle somewhere. Cool! Sonny is hard at work, well not really, the army has been pretty easy on him so far. He always tells me that there is no incentive to excel or get ahead in his position right now. He's pretty much on his own and has a lot of free time in between patients to read or surf the web, which he loves. His patient load is way lighter than what he had at Loma Linda so it is a bit of a break for him. A break that he greatly needs before starting his killer residency next year. Ahhhh! He purchased a bike on amazon a while back and has been biking it to work every day. It's about a 9 mile bike ride one way. Tay and I and go and pick him up every day when he is done. Tay gets a kick out of showing our military I.D.s to the guys at the base gate each time. They are usually pretty nice, especially when they see on my card that I'm a captain's wife. That's right baby! The base is pretty basic, no real cool looking buildings or anythings, just designed for use etc. But Sonny's office is right by Gray's Army landing Field where all the big planes and helicopters are.

We are still looking for a house too. We are waiting for a house to come available in Dupont, a town right next the base. It's basically a military town with lots and lots of families, which I like. And a lot of wives that have their husbands deployed, which is basically what I will be next year when Sonny is in his residency. So we can all hang out together and be miserable! ha ha...The town is pretty safe and pretty small too. But the houses are really expensive and super small with no yard. I call it the Orange County of Washington. Everybody wants to live there:) But there are tons of parks and amenities for families to take advantage of. So we are hoping to find a house there soon.

Taylor is really enjoying living in our apartment (he's the only one:). He loves the 3 flights of stairs we have to go up (gag!), going to the pool, playing basketball, and going to the "pirate park." He is getting more familiar with his potty. He was scared of it for a while. He doesn't quite know what to do yet...mostly just likes to strip down and watch movies (scooby do is his fav right now) while sitting on it. Hopefully one of these days, he'll leave a little gift in it for us! He is definately a toddler now, begging for toys and all. I can't take him to a store without him mentioning getting a new gun! Oh, and he loves taking pictures of EVERYTHING with our camera.

As for me, I've come to the reality that we will be in this apartment for a while and hence, have put some pictures on the walls. I had Sonny go to our pods (which are still in storage) and get some more things for us. We have yet to get our mattress off the floor! And I decided to dye my hair last night. I was getting terribly bored with my hair. But I decided on a color that will wash out in a month. Thank goodness because it looks really really RED right now. Not that red isn't lovely, but mine is more like orangish/reddish. It was supposed to have been cinnamon stick, a warm medium brown. Whenever I dye my hair any color, it tends to turn a little reddish. weird. Once I actually straighten it, I'll post some pictures:)

We are excited to have some company in town this weekend. Sonny's mom, sister and her husband are coming in town to hang out. We will be going to the Puyallup Fair (they have some of the guys from "Deadliest Catch" there!) and best of all, going to see WICKED! It'll be my second time seeing it but Sonny's mom and sisters first. Yay, theater, I love you!

That's about it. Time to get off this computer and get some things done.

Bami and Bopi

2009-08-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

My mom (Bami) and sister (Bopi) came to stay with us for a week. Taylor has really missed them. It was so fun for them to come and hang out with us for a while.

We took the Washington Ferry to Bainbridge Island one day. We tried to get Taylor excited about it, telling him we were going on a big boat. He wasn't too crazy about it, probably a bit disappointed. He was thinking more on the lines of a huge cool pirate ship, I think.

Yep, it was super windy

A neat view of Seattle

By the Space Needle, in the Seattle Center, we found this goldmine. The biggest fountain ever! And it even squirted in time to music (does that make sense?)

The Space Needle was surprisingly tall... always reminds me of a flying saucer:)

Taylor loves to run everywhere!

Sonny and Taylor got this wet the first minute in the fountain.

We went to this joint called Top Pot Donuts in Seattle. We ordered a dozen donuts and scarfed them down.

Taylor had so much junk food that week! Eh, what the heck, why not.

We also stopped by Pikes Place Market, a gigantic Farmers Market downtown Seattle. We sampled some really salty Salmon (gag) and bought some Yakima Cherries.

I love buying vegetables that are outside like this, I don't know why. Just feel super cool doing it.

My sister loves Bigfoot! No, just kidding. She just gets suckered into having her picture taken with weird, random statues. It's a little tradition that we have. You should see our collection. Taylor is kinda liking being in pictures now. He voluntarily stood there and waved. Cute:)

Poor little crabs:( But so yummy!

Sonny and I have started getting addicted to the show "The Deadliest Catch" so we were way excited to see these King Crab.

The beach we usually go to in Steilacoom, a cute little town by us, had a really really low tide one morning, usually low I guess. We got lucky and were able to see tons of sea creatures. They were swimming all around us! We rescued this sea star from the shores and threw it back into the water. Just doing our part to save the world baby!

This crab got pretty mad at us. We bugged him for a while, trying to get him to crawl. I guess he didn't want to play with us.

Where we are walking here is an area that is usually covered by about 15-20 feet of water. So there was seaweed everywhere! Kinda gross.

Taylor got brave and touched one of the big Sea Stars.

I thought they were pretty cool too. Dang, I should have been a Marine Biologist.

Every single rock was covered with seaweed. Taylor's boots really came in handy that day. I need to get myself a pair bad. Flip Flops just don't cut it.

It's so baffeling how the ocean tides work. I just can't understand it. We took Sonny back there that evening hoping it would still be low so that he could see all the cool creatures, but sure enough, it was back to where it usually was. So weird but so cool.

And here's a video of Taylor doing his new "evil" laugh. He also calls it his "Happy Halloween" laugh. Ignore me in the video, I'm really annoying as I try to get him to do the laugh:)

Oh Captain, my Captain

2009-08-10T21:50:00.001-07:00

Sonny started his job at the Fulton Dental Clinic on Ft. Lewis today. He will be working there for a year before he starts his Oral and Maxillofascial Surgery residency at the Madigan Army Medical Center. He is now a Captain. Pretty cool eh? When he came home tonight, he told me that he basically did Anti-terrorism training all day on the computer. Totally cool dude. Here he is in his new Army Combat Uniform that he paid a bundle for. We were able to find him some used boots at the Goodwill too which saved us some $. What a steal! We only have one car at the moment so Sonny purchased a road bike online so that he could start biking it to work everyday. I refuse to be stuck at home all day without a car! Sonny doesn't seem to understand why I need a car but all you stay-at-home moms know what I'm talking about, right? If he's lucky, I might let him use the car once a week:) Luckily, there are a couple stores around us that Tay and I can walk to, if we had to get out. Anyways, so Sonny's back to the working world and we'll hopefully get back into the routine of things. As far as the house goes, we are still waiting to hear about our USDA loan. Hopefully it will all work out and it will go through! The weather has gotten a lot cooler, thank goodness, so no more homemade swamp cooler. It actually rained today so I think the raining had started:) If it wasn't for the extreme heat this last month, I probably wouldn't be so happy about the rain. It really isn't too bad, yet, that is. I do enjoy the smell of wet cement...

No air conditioning

2009-08-05T14:35:00.001-07:00

This is what you do when you don't have air conditioning. Looks like fun eh? um, NO!!! It was interesting, though, waking up to a huge bowl full of water next to me. But the tactic did work surprisingly well. Yep, pretty much nobody has air conditioning in Washington. So, keep this idea in mind, all you people in hot states, or in Washington this summer...

PS: Sorry Albertson's for taking all your ice.

Last 2 weeks

2009-07-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Life at 8417 82nd St. SW #304:

My birthday cake that Sonny and Tay made me... there are no candles because Sonny thought I was turning 31...

Taylor is absolutely loving the pool in our apartment complex. He wants to swim constantly, even in cold weather.

Spitting water on me

A circus trick

Tay has figured out that he can take his favorite toys with him everywhere!

Great picture eh? We went to Red Mill Burgers in Seattle for my 30th b-day. It's supposedly one of the best burgers in the U.S. It was pretty dang good!

One of Sonny and Tay's favorite things to do... throwing rocks into the water... totally a guy thing

A cold day in Washington

Oh man, I wish he would have been looking at the camera!

Tay's croc boots are perfect for the rocky beaches here

And lastly, I forgot to post this earlier, this is where I slept the first night in our apartment... before we had access to anything in our pods...lovely

and this is where Sonny slept... he refused to even buy an inflatable pool mattress at Walmart ... and he said he didn't need a blanket too... what a trooper. Needness to say, he regreted it the next morning.

our washington life, at present

2009-07-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got out of the Marriott and found a pretty nice apartment 1/2 hour away in Lakewood, WA. It's about 10 minutes from Fort Lewis, where Sonny will work, and about 30 minutes from Seattle. Lakewood is lots of small lakes and tons of military people. It's going to be fun when Sonny finally gets his uniform then we'll really fit in! So, we signed a lease only until the beginning of October because we hope to have found our home by then! We are both already sick of the apartment. We live ono the 3rd floor and have discovered that we have some very crazy neighbors...And Sonny doesn't have to start working until the 27th so we're busy house hunting, getting our apartment situated, and checking out a different beach every night. There are tons by us! Rocky ones though, no sand. But still really beautiful. We unloaded about 1/3 of our stuff, just the stuff that we need for 3 months. We had some help from the missionaries, thank goodness! Anyways, Taylor is loving swimming in the pool (he gets the go in only if he wears his floaties... he's had too many close calls... he tried to jump off a huge rock into the ocean... yep). It's funny how kids don't like wearing them, too restricting I guess. taylor has adjusted pretty well. The first few nights were tough and lately, he's started to say, "go home, go home!" oh man, how sad, how do you explain to them about that? But we're doing ok. I've been spoiled living by family for so long that it is really strange and sad not having them close by. and not having an instant babysitter! But we are liking Washington so far. I'll post some facts about Washington soon, and some new pictures too!

First outing

2009-07-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of our first official outing in Washington. We drove to this waterfall about 1/2 from where we're staying, called Snoqualmie Falls. We hiked through some really pretty woods down to the rushing river. It was perfect weather too and the water was so clear and clean. Right before we left, Sonny decided to go all the way in, fully clothed! It did look kinda fun. But I was too chicken to join him :) It sure was really nice to be out in nature for a little bit!

Washington!

2009-06-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

We are now officially out of California and into Washington! Sonny drove our car up on Friday and Taylor and I just arrived by plane last night. It is the weirdest thing in the world but very exciting! It feels like we are on vacation and will eventually get back to our usual lives back in Loma Linda. We got so used to being in California and in a familiar and comfortable environment that it is quite the change! We are staying in a nice Marriott Suites in Renton, about 20 minutes south of Seattle. It has a huge pool, which Tay loves, and a continental breakfast. I think staying in a Marriott presently adds to the unusual-ness of it. Once we get settled and buy a house (hopefully in the next few months), things will feel more normal. We had the chance to visit Tacoma for the first time back in 2007. We came during Christmas time when it was pretty cold but this time, we arrived during the summer. It is perfect weather, about in the 70's. We were glad to leave the very humid, sweaty heat of California. So, for our first day here together, Sonny and Taylor took a dive in the pool this morning and then after naps, we all drove into Seattle. We were planning to visit Pikes Place Market again but unfortunately got there after closing. We decided to just walk a little bit down by the piers and then got some dinner there. We are having so much fun here so far!

The Marriott Suites where we are staying right now

A little bit of Dicken's in Seattle... a neat shop with weird, historical trinkets and things

A view off one of the piers where we ate dinner

Taylor found some water in Seattle

We found a big shop full of just pirate stuff. Taylor was in heaven

Aaarrrgh!

A cool view down towards the water

Big tall buildings

A fountain close to Pikes Place Market

A distant twilight view of the Space Needle

Where we grabed some dinner

Riding the pig at Pikes Place Market

Driving into Seattle

Yea 5 freeway!

And lastly, sorry, I had to add this, a disgusting, scary 200 year old mummy they had displayed in the Curiosity shop!!!

PLAYING AROUND

2009-06-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

Disneyland without kids rules!!! Don't get me wrong, I still get a kick out of going on Pirates of the Caribbean with Taylor over and over but once and a while, WOW, it's super nice not to have a stroller attached to me! So, Sonny and I finally had a chance to go to D-land with some good friends. Thanks Nelsons and Records for coming along with us. We had a blast! We got there around 7 pm and found out that Disneyland park was closed but that California Adventure was still open. It was the second to last day for people to use their annual passes until it starts to blockout for the summer so I wasn't surprised. But somehow, crowds and lines are ok when it's just adults! Well, I love roller coasters and so was very excited to go on California Screamin', twice... in the dark is the best! We soared over beautiful Cali (oh, how I'll miss you) and got totally soaked on the rapids ride. I love the Tower of Terror :) I always get nervous on it even though I've been on it many times. Once California Adventure closed, we headed over to Disneyland park ( For some reason it opened again) and caught the Indiana Jones ride. We were going to try the single rider line but when we got there, they weren't giving out any more passes. Just as we were about to leave, one of the workers found some for us. So we had about a 10 minute instead of a 90 minute wait. Totally awesome! By midnight, we were all really pooped from running around like a bunch of teenagers, you know, trying to get in as many rides as possible! We had a fantastic time and will miss all of our friends when we move :(

We are family

2009-06-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time with both mine and Sonny's family over graduation week. We did a lot of fun things!

My Mom, Sister, and Roy engaged in a deep conversation... My great uncle Roy came down from Valencia to spend the day with us! It's always fun to see him.

We all stayed in an awesome time share right on the beach (loved it!) in Oceanside for a couple of days. We ate at a nice restaurant on the pier where Sonny and his brother shared the "Slam Fest." They literally slam a pile of seafood on the table on a piece of paper and just dig in. They both pigged out big time!

Here Sonny's sister, Carley, and her husband Myles are enjoying their yummy dinner. They came down from Boise.

Me trying once again to get a "decent" picture of Taylor and I. It never works! Great pose, eh? Half way up, half way down...

Us at a secluded beach in La Jolla. It was a pretty cold day but still... it's the beach! It's always beautiful no matter what! Behind us is a rock full of grazing Sea Lions.

Taylor's swimsuit was a little too big!

Sonny's brother Bo and his wife and kids drove all the way down from Rigby, Idaho. They were nice enough to hang out with us at the freezing cold beach! The kids really enjoyed collecting sea shells and found a cool sand crab.

An attempted cousin picture! crazy!

We spent a day at Disneyland with his fam and even got to ride Thunder Mountain together!

All of us waiting in line for Thunder Mountain! Yeah! Our one big ride of the day!

Taylor went back to take a nap and when he woke up, was happy, refreshed, and ready to continue his day at Disneyland. It was so nice to have the timeshare so close so that he could take a much needed nap and so that I could rest too:) Here Tay is waiting for dad to come take him back to D-land! I love those shoes!

Sonny's family wanted to take a gander at the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. There were lots of crazy but cool people down there. Tay even got to meet his buddy, Captain Jack Sparrow! I have no idea who the guy is next to him...

On graduation day, we got a pirate ship pinata for all the kids. Tay loved all the chocolate candy (tootsie rolls)

My sister, Sarah and her husband, Rocky, came down for the party from Orange County. And that's my cool dad walking into the picture too.

Tay loves his swords and wacking things so hitting the pinata was right up his alley.

We also spent a day at the San Diego Zoo. What a nice place! Overall, we all had a fun time together. Thanks to mine and Sonny's family for taking the time out to come down and see Sonny graduate!

Taylor's sword collection

2009-06-04T19:29:00.001-07:00

Hello everybody and welcome to Taylor's sword collection! They have been accumulated over the last year or so, or since he has become a pirate. Yes, obviously, he is still mad about pirates, swords, skulls, treasure, etc. Just call him Blackbeard. He is pretty dang good at fighting too. He has become quite go with a sword. And with good I mean brutal. Sonny and I have been stabbed many a time, just ask to see the scars. So, to no surprise, he has broken some. And the word "sword" has finally made it's way into his vocabulary. I've been trying to teach him it for months now. It is a difficult word though for a toddler to learn I guess. So he no longer calls them "huns" (I have no idea why he called them that in the first place). I'm looking forward to seeing how big this collection will get...

GRADUATION!

2009-05-31T22:35:00.001-07:00

Well, the day has finally come! Sonny graduated from Loma Linda University last Sunday, May 24th. He is now a doctor! Wow! I don't think it has hit me yet. But it has definately been a hard, busy, yet wonderful 4 years. There have been many late nights for Sonny at the library and many lonely nights for me at home (I can't believe I made it through!). Sonny has worked very (well, extremely) hard all 4 years; he worked so hard that he was #5 in his class of 90 students! Awesome, eh? Yep. It seems that all of Sonny's hard work has paid off. I didn't want to believe it the first 2 years of school but now, I am so proud of him. Sonny received several awards during the several graduation events we have attended lately. He got an award from the American Medical Association of Oral Surgery, was inducted into Loma Linda's National Honor Society, and most importantly, graduated with honors in Oral Surgery and Conscious Sedation. He got to wear a cool sash over his graduation outfit (they called it a "skull"?)...Taylor was hoping it was a real skull... Sonny looked like a real stud!

Sonny's family all came down to witness the blessed event. We had a big party at our house complete with pinata and all. We stuffed our faces eating Cafe Rio styled burritos with all the Mexican feast trimmings. Sonny received some nice gifts: a watch, gift cards, $, and a toolbox from me! My next blog will be about our trips around SoCal with his fam. So, Congratulations babe! Our next adventure = Tacoma, WA!

Tay in his suave and cool pinstriped suit

Can you see him up there?

The hot grad!

Future Dentist :)

L.A., Huntington Library, and a Baseball game

2009-05-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the things we have been up to in the past week:

We went down to the Garment District in downtown L.A. again last week. It's a fun place. I like to people watch there. Here's Tay in one of the shops wearing his favorite thing...high heels baby!

We also visited Huntington Library a few days ago. It was Tays first time there and he had fun exploring everything. I had forgotten how incredibly beautiful it is there...

Taylor was TOTALLY obsessed with the coy fish in the ponds. They were huge!

Doesn't this spot just look so peaceful and quiet?

Yep, the sword came along too.

The Japanese Garden (this is where Tay had a total breakdown from having no nap:)

The Children's Garden where they had lots of water for the kids to splash around. It was so hot that day... some of the adults were splashing around too.

Lastly, Sonny took Tay and some friends to a Dodger's game, his second baseball game. He lasted almost the whole game! crazy! I don't even think I could do that.

8 years yesterday!

2009-04-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sonny and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary yesterday! Wow! But it has truly been a wonderful 8 years. We met at BYU in January of 2000. We were both living in the same apartment complex and met through a friend. We had a few classes together and got to know each other until the semester ended in April. We had started dating in March and Sonny decided to take a job in Palmdale as a Pest Control salesman so that we could spend the summer together in California. We dated the whole summer and into the next school year and then got engaged November 2000. We got married in the Los Angeles Temple, my favorite temple (why? hello, I'm a Cali girl!) and, of course, it was an incredible day.

Since we have been married, we have had lots of amazing experiences. Here are some of the places we have lived: Provo, Utah (where, for the last 6 months we lived there, we house sat for a family who had 1 dog, 3 cats, 2 ducks, and a chicken... absolutely loved it, except for the ducks...those suckers are so mean!) , La Verne, CA, here, and soon to be Tacoma, WA.

Here are some of the places we have traveled to together: New York City (Sonny interviewed at Columbia University), San Francisco, Washington D.C. (for an externship at Walter Reed), Washington State (also for an externship at Fort Lewis), and hopefully in 4 years, Germany (I knew I took German in high school for a reason!) And that doesn't count all the layovers during all of our flights.

Anyways, love you hun and I look forward to our fantastic future together!

I wish I was an architect...

2009-04-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

In college, I majored in Humanities but my most favorite classes were the ones where I learned about architecture. I remember being totally and utterly amazed by so many of the structures that had been built around the world. Whenever we go out anywhere, I am always on the lookout for cool architecture. And when I see something I like, I snap a picture. Last weekend, we planned a trip to Balboa Park, San Diego to check out an event called Woofstock (I know, sounds totally lame...). Besides the fact that I LOVE dogs, I thought Tay would also have a blast seeing the tons of dogs there. Well, it turned out to be not what we expected. It was pretty much designed for families that had dogs. So we decided just to walk around the fabulous park and see the sights. Here are some of my favorites:

Easter

2009-04-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter this year at my sister Sarah's house in Laguna Niguel. My parents and little sister, Elizabeth (home from BYU Idaho for spring break) were also there. My sister's husband, Rocky, also invited some of his family. We all had a terrific time and enjoyed a huge dinner together. Taylor's favorite part was playing with Sarah's miniature dachsund, Daisy. He was busy the whole time just chasing her around the house. Rocky's brother has 2 children and Taylor really had fun with them. I've noticed that Taylor really loves hanging out with older kids... it's funny to watch. He's never shy around them and actually likes to show off a little. Taylor has such a funny sense of humor. I love it! Anyways, I put together a bunch of eggs with treats in them and we had an easter egg hunt in her backyard. While putting them together, I was trying to think up something funny to put in some of the eggs. Since I was a kid, I have always loved pickles and I remembered how growing up, my Nana (what I called my dad's mother) used to put a piece of a pickle in one of the eggs. It was always a tasty little easter snack! Overall, I think I liked looking for the eggs more than Taylor. Like any other little kid, as soon as he realized there was candy in the eggs, he wasn't interested in the hunt anymore. Like I've mentioned before, Taylor lives for chocolate. We also had a fun time visiting with Bosh (oops, I mean Elizabeth!)

I forgot to mention that Taylor also got an awesome Easter basket, and yes, Sonny got one too. He insisted. A couple days before Easter, we dyed our eggs. And the next day, dyed them over again (but this time in juice and water... pretend dye!). Taylor was fascinated with dying eggs for a few days there until every last egg had broke. Altogether, it was a fun holiday with family!

Attn: fellow Charles Dicken's fans

2009-03-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

I have been a major follower of Masterpiece Theatre since I was a teenager. My mom got me hooked to it. For those of you who are not aware of what Masterpiece Theatre is (it's actually called "Masterpiece Classic" now), it's a program that they have on PBS (for us, channel 79). It's on Sunday nights and they make wonderful and beautiful movies. They are called "made for tv" movies, so they aren't in theaters or anything. Anyways, starting this Sunday night, and continuing every consecutive Sunday for like a month, they are showing one of Charles Dicken's works "Little Dorrit." I have never actually read it or seen it but have read others by him. Here is a little summary of what it will be about:

Amy Dorrit's (Claire Foy) gentle spirit has never been dampened by the confining walls of the Marshalsea Prison she's lived in her whole life. Despite the dark shadow of debtor's prison, Amy lovingly cares for her father William Dorrit (Tom Courtenay), the longest serving inmate. A possibly redemptive light unexpectedly shines in the form of Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen), who has been left with the intriguing threads of a mystery after his father's death — threads that will intertwine his family and fate with the Dorrits. Clennam's exhaustive search for answers involves murder, fortunes gained and lost, the upper echelons and lowest dregs of society, and most surprising of all, a tender romance. Adapted by Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride and Prejudice), Little Dorrit, based on the book by Charles Dickens, is a sprawling story as timely as it is moving.

If you love Pride and Prejudice (with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) and other English classics, you will probably like this. If your not familiar with Charles Dickens, his stories mostly take place on the dirty street of London but are always full of interesting characters. So it will be a bit more dark and grimy than Austen so be prepared. Anyways, hope you enjoy and if you are interested in learning more, just go to www.pbs.org!

A Big Day for Tay !!!

2009-03-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Well, at exactly 6 pm tonight, Taylor turned 2 ! We had a great day together at D-land (I know, why go on his b-day, he still gets in free?). I figured I'd check out the crowd and see what other little kids had their birthday today...Ok, pretty much the whole world... it was beyond crazy. It's funny, I always plan ahead and attempt to get there right when it opens and every single time, ya, it never happens. So I got there at 11 and left around 2. It was a very quick trip but long enough to be ready to go home. Of course we went on Pirates (Yeah!) but spent most of the time at California Adventure where the crowd was much smaller. Tay mostly swam, or sprinkled, in the water area and for the first time, enjoyed getting sprayed in the face! It was fun to watch.
The trip home was quite entertaining as well. While hitting major traffic, of course, (ya, I always plan and attempt to leave before the dreaded 91 deadlock but you know... Ah, I hate the 91!), for the first time ever, I saw a car switch drivers! while driving! and then cross over like 4 lanes in 2 seconds. Insane.When we got home, the rest of the night was spent spoiling the heck out of him. We had some yummy Carl's Jr (Tay likes the chicken stars) and then had some Cold Stone. So Tay had a total of 2 ice creams and one cupcake today, all chocolate (or as he says, "dat dat.") But his favorite part of the day was getting his Jack Sparrow action figure! I was questioning whether or not he would be into it but he definitely was. He loves putting Jack's hat on and off and placing his sword in and out of his hand! He's only had Jack for not even 24 hours and has already lost his "effects" (what Pirates call weapons and such) a couple times in our front yard grass! Anyways, we had a blast celebrating his special day with him.
We also had a little party, Pirate themed of course, for him last Sunday with my family. He got lots of great gifts and had lots of fun with everybody. Taylor is also really into shoes right now, any kind of shoe, my shoes, girl's tap shoes (from the white house), flip flops, whatever. So he got a lot of shoes for his birthday. He loves to play in water so my mom gave him a pair of red Mickey Mouse boots, which will be perfect for Washington too. We attempted to make the Cafe Rio burrito thingys and they turned out pretty dang good. Instead of a cake, I decided to go for cupcakes. So we had a great party and I had a blast planning it.

We love Taylor and look forward to watching him grow up! He is such a cute and funny little boy who lives for swords, boots, and chocolate.

Close Encounters of the Disney kind...

2009-03-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

He loved them, especially Tigger! They were buds.

My pictures of you...

2009-02-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of new pictures to show what we have been up to lately:

Making Valentine's Day cookies with Grandma and Grandpa

Tay's curly hair

Tay's new obsession is building a "Pirate Cave" in the living room

Riding the turtle with Grandma and Grandpa at the San Diego Zoo

"Homey-G"... Taylor loves to wear my hats, shoes, and sunglasses all day long around the house!

And he loves umbrella's and to help hold them- that's perfect because we'll be using them a lot in Tacoma!

Watch out for Captain Taylor Porter!

Us with some cute bears...

Tay modeling his glasses while in line for Toy Story

On the bridge at D-land

Taylor all of a sudden has started to say a bunch of words. One of them is "wa-wa" (water) so now it's water 24/7. Everywhere we go, we look for water, and of course, pirate swords...

The Song of the South-Tales of Brer Rabbit

2009-02-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

Taylor's new favorite video on you tube has become the "Tales of Brer Rabbit" from Walt Disney's "Song of the South." It's got the wonderful song "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah" in it. If you haven't seen it, it is great, a real classic. I remember watching it when I was little! Uncle Remus tells the story of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox in hopes of teaching the lesson that you can't run away from trouble. It is actually what the ride Splash Mountain at Disneyland is based on. I love children's movies and books etc that teach valuable lessons like this, which is one of the reasons I like Dr. Seuss so much. Sometimes it's a lesson that adults need to be taught as well. I often wish I could run away from my troubles! Anyways, Taylor loves it- we usually watch it after his bath every night. Towards the end of his bath he always says "Hmm Hmm," which signals that he is ready to get out. Again, if you haven't seen Song of the South, "Hmm Hmm" is what the hummingbirds and bumblebees say to Uncle Remus when he is looking for the blue bird on his shoulder. Taylor also gets a kick out of Brer Bear when he gets the buttons and tail ripped off him. It's hard to explain, you'll just have to watch it.

The Getty Villa

2009-02-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

So, we have been doing a lot of excursioning the last couple weekends. We figured we better see all the amazing and beautiful places in southern california before we leave. Even though I have lived here most of my life, there are so many places that I have never been to but have always wished to see. The Getty Villa is one of those spots. It is in Malibu, right next to the ocean. Take a look:

The Getty Villa is home to an extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. It is modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Here is the Peristyle located just outside of the museum.

One of the hallways in the Outer Peristyle. I loved the Corinthian columns that lined it.

The Romans painted the walls inside of their houses with decorative motifs to give an illusion of being outside with nature.
One of the two bronze sculptures at one end of the pool- it is a replica of the real piece of art found at the Villa dei Papiri.

The Inner Peristyle

The Marbury Hall Zeus. It was found on the grounds of the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, Italy in the late 1700's. Really wish I had this in my house!

Taylor fighting the Roman's with his favorite thing in the whole world right now, a sword.

Taylor and mom

The boys chillin' by the pool in the Outer Peristyle

Trying to get a family picture and again, failing to get a decent one. Oh well... hope you enjoyed the tour and hopefully got a little taste of the ancient Roman world.

Tacoma, Washington!!!

2009-02-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY found out where we will be moving this summer! We are very excited to be moving to Tacoma, Washington this summer! It was one of our top choices and is close to some of my family and pretty close to Boise where Sonny's family is. We visited there in December 2007 when Sonny did an externship there. We stayed on the air force base and I remember two things about it: lots of rain and trees! I think the rain will take a little getting use to but it is also near the ocean which I am exstatic about. I know, I know, it's not like the beaches here but it's still the ocean! I know that we are really going to love it there! I think Sonny is a little disappointed though that he won't be able to tell his friends that he will be living in Hawaii...

A day off...

2009-01-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

What did you do for Martin Luther King, Jr. day? We did this...

This is why I love California... any questions?

You can go to the beach all year around!

We enjoyed the beautiful day with friends and loved seeing the different kinds of entertainment Venice Beach had to offer...

Here is Taylor and his little friends Hallie dancing with the cool roller skaters. I had a halarious video of this but for some reason, it wouldn't upload.

The "Metal Man"

Trying to get Taylor to hold still for a second to take a picture was pretty much impossible...

He preferred to run free and crazy in the water and as you can tell, had a grand old time!

One of the many pieces of artwork around Venice... well, in my opinion, I wouldn't really call this art but whatever...it was still interesting to look at

And, lastly, here is Sonny standing in front of "Muscle Beach." We were looking around hoping to see Arnold but instead caught a glimpse of a really buff guy in a tight speedo... nice.

Our Pirate Dinner Adventure... Aaaargh

2009-01-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

For an early birthday present, Sonny and I decided to treat Taylor to the Pirate Dinner Adventure in Buena Park. We found a good deal on the internet and just couldn't say no. We had been wanting to take Taylor to it for while and knew we should do it before he changed his mind and wasn't into pirates anymore. We invited my parents to come along too. Taylor really loves his grandma and grandpa. Altogether, it was a really fun night! It was a long show but full of some good entertainment. They had a pre-show where they gave us appetizers (better food than the dinner given later on). It was all you could eat appetizers including ravioli's, which Taylor loved, fruit, party weiners, salad, and other yummy stuff. After the appetizers they took us into the main theater where they served us dinner while we watched the show. The set and props were excellent and the show took place on a stage which was on a ship in the middle of the room. The show was a little disappointing... we were hoping to see a lot of swashbuckling action but instead were treated to a bunch of shirtless guys beat up each other. But they did include the audience by having us cheer on our group pirate and sing and play some games. It got better towards the end when they had some neat special affects with dry ice and lights. But I think Taylor had a fun time. He loves his pirates! Here are some pics:Taylor got really excited at this part when the blue pirate and the bad guy pulled out their swords and started fightingHere's us with the star's of the show, the blue pirate and the princessThe boys with the captain of the ship. Aaargh! Like Taylor's red shoes? Yep, Pirates of the Caribbean crocs.
Taylor even got his own sword that makes sounds and a pirate necklace. These are now his two new favorite toys

Animals and Swimming

2009-01-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, to celebrate the Boards being over, we visited the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. There was great weather to enjoy and no crowds to fight... don't worry Disneyland, I still love you most. Taylor's favorite area there is the petting zoo.

He just loves those domesticated deer! He can't get enough of them and loves to sit right down next to them, or on them.

Taylor and Sonny had fun with the Lorikeets. I was a little scared of them, weird huh? I think it's because they just fly around crazy, landing on peoples heads, etc. Last summer, Taylor got bit by one.
These guys were my favorite (the apes are usually my favorite but Taylor wouldn't stick around long enough to watch them). They really didn't do much for the 10 minutes I watched them but they are just so strong and majestic.

It was such a nice day that we decided to let Taylor splash in the water a bit. Sonny has a plan to make some of these things, I call them animal sprinklers, next summer...

The next Rembrandt... or Einstein

2009-01-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

So don't you ever as a couple wonder what your child will be when they grows up? I think he will be the next famous portrait artist but Sonny has a more left brained idea...

Christmas time

2009-01-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time with Sonny's family up in Idaho for Christmas. We spent half the time in Rigby (what I like to call the frozen wasteland) and the other half in Boise. We actually got sort of "snowed in" while staying in Rigby... now that's a weird feeling. Taylor had a great time seeing his grandparent's, playing with all of his cousins, and enjoyed playing with all of their toys and all of his new toys, especially his pirate ship that he got from grandma. As always, Taylor befriended a cat at Sonny's brother's house. He loves animals! We also had an awesome time going shopping, swimming in an outdoor heated pool, eating out a lot, watching some movies, partying at the new years eve party, and other fun stuff . Here are some pictures of our fantastic times:Taylor and his cousin, Eriksen, eating lunch togetherSonny and Taylor on Christmas morning. Taylor loves his chapstick... New Years Eve party for the couples. Us girls trying to look white trash... well, more like 80'sTaylor and his cousin, Izzie, riding the truck ride at Chuck E. Cheese
Taylor and Sonny making a snowman in front of grandma and great grandma's house. Taylor enjoyed playing in the snow in Boise more because it wasn't as cold there
Taylor shoveling off the driveway
Sonny and Taylor in the snow in Rigby

My husband... the Oral Surgeon !!!

2009-01-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well, a couple days before we left for Boise for Christmas, Sonny found out that he got excepted to the military's Oral Surgery program! Yay! Even though I knew that he would, I was still relieved. It totally made my day. I knew he would because he's got all the requirements they ask for, plus tons more, that I just knew there wasn't any way they would refuse him. A few seconds after Sonny found out he got in, he told me a very vital piece of information: that those who apply directly out of school, like Sonny, very seldom get in. They tend to pick those that have been in the military longer and who have experience being a general dentists. Kind Sonny, knowing I would freak out if he told me the truth, chose to keep this truth from me the last couple months, which in the end, I am very grateful for. Thanks babe! He saved me a lot of worrying. Anyways, so yep, he got in but we still do not know where. We should be finding out anytime now. Sonny is hoping for San Antonio, Texas and I, I don't know where I want to go, anywhere but Washington D.C.! And hopefully somewhere not too cold (Rigby, Idaho almost killed me over Christmas.)

Hair band, tie, todder uggs, and our first Christmas Tree

2008-12-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

So, lately Taylor has noticed the hair bands that I wear all the time and wanted to try one on. He leaves it in for a couple minutes and walks around the house thinking he's real cute. He would have made a really cute girl! It's funny, he also likes to help me put lotion on my legs in the morning.
A neighbor of my parents gave us a cute little tie for Taylor. It's his first. So we dressed him up all cute for church. It's amazing how grown up he looks with a tie. Also that morning, Sonny gave Taylor his second big haircut. He looked up on you tube how to do it. Turned out pretty good! Taylor's hair is really difficult to cut, not because he moves a lot (we give him a popsicle during it) but because it is so thick. We like to keep it sort of long because we love his curls in the back.

I decided to get Taylor some red uggs... just kidding. These are my slippers that Taylor just loves to wear. We're going up to Rigby, ID for Christmas and will probably be walking through a lot of snow there. These slippers will give him great practice; they are probably somewhat like walking through snow. They make you walk kinda weird.
Lastly, I talked Sonny into getting a real Christmas Tree this year. We've never had one, not even a fake one, since we've been married and I thought for our first time, we had to get the real thing. It's a cute little one from Walmart ( It looked so much bigger at Walmart). I realized that I pretty much have no ornaments so we bought a bunch of little cheap things. Sonny and Taylor decorated most of it and did a fantastic job. I'm surprised, I thought Taylor would have knocked it down by now but he likes flipping the lightswitch on the wall to make the lights turn on better!

THANKSGIVING VACATION

2008-12-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving break was a very fun couple of days! We stayed here in Cali with my family and hung out with everybody. My brother Kyle came home from BYU and it was really fun to see him again. He is looking great. On Wednesday, the day that was supposed to be rainy, turned out to be a perfect day for Disneyland! It only rained for about 10 minutes total. The longest line we had was Buzz Lightyear. Taylor had a chance to finally go on the Pirate Ship, the Columbia. It hasn't been working for a while. He was hoping to meet Captain Jack Sparrow in person in New Orleans square but didn't get the chance. Anyways, we had a good time there as usual. Thanksgiving dinner was at my family's house in Glendora. My sister Sarah and her husband Rocky drove down from Orange County to join the festivities. I attempted to make the yams and they surprisingly turned out pretty good. They tasted like candy! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and had time to just relax and eat... Taylor thankfully slept most of the dinner. He didn't want to try any of the food though after he woke up. He preferred his grilled cheese. But he did love the pumpkin pie! I preferred the key lime pie. We took some family pictures later on in the day. We haven't had one taken of all of us in a long time. Friday the girls all went out to a movie. We saw "Australia" and we all enjoyed it. It was super long but I always look forward to Baz Luhrman's work. He always does neat stuff. It was a fun Thanksgiving break and we are looking forward to Christmas break in Boise.

Buzz Lightyear : a part of the family... sort of

2008-11-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

So, sadly our Disneyland passes have expired and Sonny and I have been debating on whether or not we should renew them for another year. We decided to hold off for a while due to the pricyness of them (is that even a word and if so, is it spelled correctly?). Anyways, but we forgot one very important fact. The fact that we know somebody, not just somebody but the most awesome person in the world (and I'm not just saying that so that I could use your passes) that is part of the Disney family! My sister Elizabeth is pretty much best friends with Buzz Lightyear- she works on the ride. And that also means that she knows all the Disney secrets like, for example, did you know that they are making a whole new land patterned around the disney movie "Cars ?" Yep. Anyways, so luckily she can get people in free 16 times a year and she is only working there until next month. So that means that we can go like every week! Maybe twice! Right Bosh (Elizabeth)? Thanks bosh, you are the best! Here are some pictures from last week...

I've been tagged...

2008-11-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, here goes...

5 things I was doing 10 years ago?

1. Having a blast in my sophomore year at BYU Idaho (at that time, Ricks College.)
2. Probably decorating our apartment for Christmas with my awesome roomates, Julie, Melinda, and Kimberly.(I know, super early, but what else is there to do in Rexburg in the dead of winter?)
3. I hadn't met Sonny yet, we didn't meet until January 2000, so I was enjoying hanging out and checking out other cute boys!
4. Suffering through a bad brake to my right leg and wearing one of those ugly, painful boot contraptions the doctor forced me to wear... I took a bad fall off a snow mobile during Conference weekend. I know, serves me right huh?
5. I think it was around then that I did a little experiment. My roommate and I tried to see how long we could go with just eating Malt-o-meal for every meal. It was around the same time that I gained about 15 pounds!

5 things on today's list?

1. Figure out what I'm making for dinner... something with chicken...
2. Crossing my fingers that Taylor takes a nap. As my last blog said, he lost his teddy bear at Disneyland, of all places, and has not been sleeping well at all!
3. Turning in our rent
4. In the morning, go for a brisk walk with Taylor, which I did! Boy, am I out of shape. I need to start exercising more.
5. Clean Sonny's office, what a mess :)

5 snacks I enjoy?

1. A bowl of cereal
2. a giant pickle
3. fruit snacks, preferably fruit by the foot (I know, what am I, 5?)
4. Taco Bell
5. Candy Corn, I got hooked this Halloween...

5 places I've lived from Birth?

1. Layton, UT
2. Fremont, CA
3. Modesto, CA
4. San Jose, CA
5. Glendora, CA

5 jobs I've had?

1. Mom, of course the best but the hardest
2. Laboratory assistant and Courier at both Foothill Presbyterian Hospital and Westcliff Medical Laboratories
3. Medical Records Clerk at both Orem Internal Medicine and Pomona Valley Family Clinic.
4. Records Clerk in Student Services Center at Loma Linda University
5. and the worst, some fast food jobs like the Bagelry, Flying J restaurant, and the Cannon Center at BYU.

Ok, now I tag all of my dental wife friends, you know who you guys are...

Taylor's costume... of course a pirate!

2008-11-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

So, we didn't get very good pictures of Taylor's costume this year. He would never face forward long enough to get a frontal view. Anyways, most of his costume was clothes that he already had. I kind of just put the vest together last minute... using scissors and duck tape. hey, it worked and he looked really cute! Of course, he wouldn't keep the hat and eye patch on though. I decided that I would be a pirate too. The night before my parents had a pirate themed Halloween party so I just wore the same outfit. I'll have to post some pictures of it later. It was pretty authentic looking. My dad actually built a sail looking thingy on his porch in the back yard and also put together a steering wheel. And Sonny (the party pooper, ha ha ha) was supposedly a fisherman. Because of the whole lost teddy bear thing, we didn't go trick or treating or anything but I wish we would have tried it this year. By the way, the bear is still lost and the company Sugarloaf is having a hard time finding a duplicate in their warehouse. We got it so long ago that they don't have anymore. I think Taylor is slowly but surely forgetting about it, I hope anyways. I'm just trying to use one of his other stuffed animals to take its place and see if that works. Wish me luck!

Lost Teddy Bear

2008-11-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, a really really awful thing happened... and it's all my fault and I feel so guilty about it. My mom, sister, Taylor and I went to Disneyland. In the midst of all the chaos and crowds, I lost Taylor's most favorite possession, his teddy bear. He has a habit of tossing things out of his stroller very often and I usually see it happen but for some reason, I didn't see him toss out his teddy bear. I knew it was bound to happen one of these times. When he has his teddy bear with him, I usually watch him like a hawk because I'm so deathly afraid of it getting lost. And so, it happened. And me being the worrysome, anxious person that I am, I had a cow, and am still having a cow. We all tried looking, I know he dropped it somewhere in tommorrow land, but what are the chances of finding it? Pretty much no chance at all. So i've been calling the lost and found there like every hour but have had no luck. So Sonny and I have been frantically searching around town and on the internet for a second teddy of the same kind. It's a Sugarloaf teddy bear, light blue, and wears a diaper. I have no idea who even gave it to us, somebody at the baby shower I guess. And even worse, we found out that it most likely came from one of those crane vending machines that have stuffed animals, the ones you see in arcades and stuff. So anyways, we've had no luck and Taylor since Thursday has been skipping his naps and not sleeping well at night at all. He has to have this little bear to sleep. We had some activities planned for Halloween, like parties and stuff, that we've had to skip because of this. So if any of you know of where I can find another one of these bears, let me know. Attached is a picture of it. It's interesting, I think in a way, I sort of became attached to it as well. It's funny how something so small and seemingly trivial can make a huge difference in your children's life.