Chugging Away

We've been hard at work and play this last week.

We had a fun little joint baby shower for our friends from the ward. Each one was on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th baby, so we kept it low key. We did a chocolate fondue night--one peanut butter and chocolate, and one plain milk chocolate. It was divine.



Beezie and I packed up and headed up to Sacramento for the day to visit friends. Our first stop was seeing my crazy-fun NKOTB friend Shauran. Here we are over the years at NKOTB concerts:


She has an adorable little boy a few months older than Beezie. They played on the carpet, rolling around and having fun while we ate lunch and caught up on the NKOTB cruise her husband so generously sent her on. Talking about the cruise fueled my DDub fire, and I am SO excited for the back to back concert dates in July!!

Our next stop was at my friend Rachels. We roomed together in Provo in 1994, and have stayed in touch ever since. She has 5 kids, so it's nearly impossible to get together. But every time we do, it's like no time has passed at all--except we have better hair, and our jeans aren't 5 inches above our bellybuttons.

We went to the Fake Cafe Rio spot I have been hearing so much about-Costa Vida. It was SO tasty! Naturally, I got the pork barbacoa salad, and I have to say, it's really the only salad I enjoy eating.

Next on the agenda was a much deserved and long overdue GNO with the girls in the city. You know the night is going to be good when it starts with car service!

Our first stop was Orson--it's run by Top Chef and Citizen Cake Chef Elizabeth Falkner. I'm sure you've seen her on the Food Network over the years.

The restaurant was gorgeous, and the food did NOT disappoint!

We started off sharing the prosciutto and melon salad. This was followed by the duck fat fries topped off with brown butter béarnaise.Re-read that, and take it all in. For the main course, JoJo and I shared two dishes: the smoked pork chop on top of creamy polenta and collard greens with an orange chutney AND the grilled rib eye with asparagus and marble potatoes. I'm drooling thinking about it.

Next 2 stops were at Roe, and then off to Cat Club. It was 90's night, and the music was awesome. I needed a good night of dancing. Except that dumb-dumb JoJo convinced me to wear these shoes. They have a killer spiked heel.

I had on cute and comfy flats because JoJo told me that everyone was going in "dressy casual." I showed up, and everyone looks like they are going to prom! To dress up my boring mom outfit, I popped on the Lanvins. They looked great, but after 20 minutes, I was ready to kill myself. I kicked them off, and probably need a hepatitis C test now.

I also got some allergy testing done. I have been getting these horrible canker sores in my mouth and down the sides of my throat. It was horrible. I basically had a raw, sore throat for almost 2 months before I caved and went to the doctor.


I would have been scared I picked up some weird disease from the Cat Club floor, but the symptoms appeared long before the shoes incident. I thought my allergy was to nuts--specifically almonds.


Nope! The culprit was soy and...gluten. I also have bad seasonal allergies. Duh. I reacted like crazy to the wheat, barley, rye and oats. It's also likely some nasal drainage (so hot!!) combined with my sensitivity to gluten. I had accidentally ingested some gluten several times, and it kicked off this horrible immune reaction, which caused the neverending canker sores. They also told me to slow down, and rest a little. I have been napping with B for the last few weeks, and its really helped. That whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" business is solid advice! Who knew?

Beezie is teething again--argh. When not shredding on her guitar like her daddy...

...and playing with her fun and exciting toys...

She's been serving me up a main dish consisting of this....

with a side of this......

...and this for dessert!

She's been a total stalker. I read an article titled "7 Signs That Your Baby Loves You" and it kind of sounds like the Stalker's Handbook--a book that apparently, B has been reading nightly. Of course, my friend Mary wisely pointed out that she inherited her stalker tendencies. I have no idea what she's talking about!

Little of This, Little of That

We've been busy little bees these last few weeks! Here's what we have been up to!

Went to Santana Row with the Atwoods to meet the stars of Disney on Ice...this is the moment when Mini met Mini. She was excited. I think we need to plan a trip to Disneyland ASAP.

I finally got the duckie print from one of my besties, Heather, framed and hung. It's so cute, and it makes me think of Eriika when I see it. Thanks, HT!

We finally installed Beezie's Johnny Jump-Up. It hangs in the kitchen, and she jumps around while I make dinner and clean up. She loves it! My boss gave it to me, and it came with a little musical mat that goes under it. When she jumps on it, it plays different instruments. We have family dances complete with horrible dance moves. B eats it up like we're Soul Train dancers.





We took advantage of a balmy day and headed up to the Exploratorium in SF. B was excited by the all of the light installations, and spinning color wheels.

Check out my sticker--it's my first time at the museum!

Gingersnap #2 was more interested in Blakely's nose...

B also got a little walker that she loves. It has a little wheel, and some spinning letters. When she gets bored with the jump-up, we move her to the walker.

She might be a little too excited by the walker!

Her favorite thing is to have her neck nuzzled and munched on. She's quite ticklish. I took a picture of Lancer getting her good, and then hopped over to the other side to see her little laugh.

Lancer does "nature walks" with Beezie in the backyard. He takes her out and shows her the different plants, fruits, birds, etc in our yard. He's been doing this since she was born. She's always interested in the plants, and loves touching all of the different textures.

I love this picture

Showing her the plants

Touching the leaves

Checking out the lime tree in our backyard

Checking out the lemon tree, and enjoying the beautiful sun

Thanks for the tour, Pops!

Lance's 43rd birthday was on Monday--President's Day. He had the day off, which was fun. We slept in and did family snuggling until 1:30, and then grabbed lunch before heading up the coast. It was a cool and breezy day. B stayed in the car sleeping.




After we got back, we dropped Blake off with the Grays, and then headed to Tamarine for dinner. As always, it was delicious. B was sleepy on the way over there...but judging by these pictures, she had some partying left in her system!



They used her new pop-up Peapod travel bed--I LOVE this thing! It sets up in 2 seconds, and is ready to go. It's a great investment. I've already used it 5 times!

We documented her messy milk face....

Logan ate a box

Blakely loves being in Papa's pocket. That's what we call it when we snuggle up to her, and she hangs out in our little crook.

She still loves her baths, and splashing around. She gets water all over the counter now.

And last, but certainly not least, B's latest tricks.

Lifting up her legs for us when we change her. What a helpful little gem.

Leaning forward in the swing

Holding her bottle...all by herself!

And educating other babies on the importance of protective sun gear..and looking fashionable while doing it!