One Down, One To Go

Jared finished the first day of testing...and felt pretty good. Tomorrow is his last day of testing and I know that he will sleep well tomorrow night.

My Husband ROCKS!

Jared is taking the New Mexico Bar Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. He has worked so hard to prepare for this.

Jared:

We are so proud of you, and thankful for all that you have sacrificed for us. I know that today was stressful. You are awesome and I know you will do well.

We love you.

The Way To A Boys Heart Is Through His Bum

I was just reading my sister's blog and found that she wrote a hilarious story about my child.

I decided I needed to share:

(my sister wants me to give her a shout out for helping me come up with the fabulous title for this post)

Who Is This Child?

Our daughter LOVES long hair on men and boys. Her current crush at school has shoulder length hair. Here are a couple of her favorite hairstyles:

Andy Kim (singer from the late 60's)

Danny (current American Idol contestant)

And here is the latest additon:

Billy Mitchell (from The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters) - although she doesn't like him, she really loves his hair.

And of course, she LOVED when her daddy had long hair.

I don't know where this girl came from. I LOVE short hair on men, but at least my daughter knows what she likes and stands up for it...even when it is in questionable taste.

Free at Last

After eating many of my mom's artificial plants, our cat Lunchie had to have surgery to remove them from her stomach. I guess she didn't realize that plastic does not decompose! Don't you love animals? Anyway, after costing us more than I ever thought possible, we brought home the little darling. Of course, after having surgery she had to wear a cone...and did look quite funny. Last night we finally took the cone off and she is a very happy kitty. And I am very happy now that I don't have to hear her scratching the plastic all night - although it was pretty funny when she would spend 10 minutes licking the plastic since she couldn't lick anything else. Poor little unloved kitty! Hope she appreciates us!

(By the way, she is trying to squeeze her entire body onto my flip-flop...guess that is a comfy place to sleep.)

Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley CA

Since Detroit didn't have school and Grandpa didn't have work, we decided to go to Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley. It was wonderful. Our first stop was the miniature steam engine, which you can ride through part of the park. Detroit really enjoyed it and Joaquin did not move the entire ride.

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THE TRAIN:

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THE PASSENGERS:

Detroit and Grandpa

Grandma, Joaquin & Mom

Next, we went over to the Little Farm and got to feed cows, pigs, goats and sheep. This was Detroit's all time favorite event of the day. I think she had named every animal there by the time we left.

The view of San Francisco from the park:

Fun in the Sun

My husband calls it torture, but I call it adorable.

(Okay, so maybe the sunglasses are a little torturous.)

Kick His Ask!

This is one of the funniest things I have ever seen, so I had to share. Kids can be so funny!

Joaquin and his Mommy

I am rarely in our pictures since I am always the photographer, so I decided I needed to post these pictures that my sister took on Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's the e-card I was going to send, but didn't get around to doing.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our family and friends!

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We had a wonderful Valentine's day. I was able to go to Detroit's school and help with their Valentine's Party. It was a lot of fun. They played games, made a cute Valentine bag and ate fondue. Yes, I said FONDUE. They had all sorts of goodies to dip into the chocolate fondue. Why didn't I ever get a fondue party when I was in elementary school?

Tonight we had a festive dinner with heart pizza, heart shaped jello and even heart ice cubes. Detroit was delighted. It was a nice day even though we miss Jared.

Jared, Happy Valentine's Day!

To Jared:

I love you and appreciate the sacrifice you are making for us. I know it is hard to be away from each other and we know that you are doing it for us. You are awesome!

Ten Things I Love About You:

1 - You have the kindest heart ever; you make people feel good.

2 - You are an awesome dad who appreciates all the small moments.

(case in point - I know you will be crying by the end of this video)

(Up until Littlest Pets took over, Detroit's all time favorite thing in the world was Care Bears. She owned every plastic figure, most of the mini stuffed animals and LOVED watching the movies. In fact, when she was three, she used to give us the "Care Bear Stare" if she ever got in trouble. Anyway, this particular scene from Care Bears II reminds us of a very precious time in our lives, and neither one of us can watch it without getting choked up.)

3 - You have a sweet pirate goatee.

4 - You say the nicest things to me...even when I don't deserve it.

5 - You cry and you wear pink (because that is what real men do).

6 - You make me laugh every day.

7 - You are bigger than me.

(I always said I would marry someone 6'4" or taller)

8 - You have beautiful blue eyes and I love the scar on your eyebrow.

9 - You are generous.

10 - You love me.

Every day that goes by I am so happy that you picked me.

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To Daddy - Love, Detroit:

Dear Dad,

I wish you a happy Valentine's Day. I wish you were here to celebrate it with us. I miss you. I just wish I could be with you. Here are FIVE things I like about you.

1 - You are my dad.

2 - You are silly and make me laugh.

3 - You and mom are the best people in the world because you are kind.

4 - You were the first person to hold me out of the hospital.

5 - I love the way you look...you are handsome.

I think you are an awesome dad. I am thankful for you.

I LOVE YOU!

Swinging

Another beautiful day at the park, so we decided to let Joaquin try the swings.

A little unsure...

I think he likes it!

It's always fun to swing and lick your clothes at the same time.

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Joaquin and his Daddy:

9 Months Old

Joaquin turned 9 months old today. He is such a happy boy and we are so lucky to have him. He loves to sit and play with his toys. He is not crawling yet, but is definitely starting to move around. He rolls around and also enjoys laying on his back and propelling himself by kicking. I discovered this talent after I changed his diaper and did a mommy no-no by leaving him lying on the bed while I ran to get something. To my horror, I heard a thump followed by loud wailing and ran in to find him on the other side of the bed - on the floor. He also loves to eat, but mostly enjoys babbling while he eats which results in lots of spraying of food.

Today was exciting because we found that he can clap on cue. Jared clapped and Joaquin imitated him and from that point on when we tell him to clap, he does (for the most part). This is the first evidence that he REALLY understands and can acknowledge what we say to him. It was a very exciting development! We are also working on teaching him the "Baby Signs" for more and kitty. He doesn't do them, but he is definitely paying close attention.

Joaquin's other favorite pastime is hanging out in the bathtub. There is nothing he likes more than wild splashing. His eyes are usually bright red by the time he gets out from the amount of water that gets in them. He really is a joy (most of the time) and I can't believe how quickly 9 months just passed by.

Daddy's Home!

Jared came home for the weekend...hooray! We are soooooooooo happy to see him. It has been a whole month since he left. He is currently hanging out with his mom in Utah while he studies for the New Mexico bar. My parents decided we needed to see Jared and kindly flew him home for the weekend. He was here in time to go pick Detroit up from school and the absolute joy on her face upon seeing him almost brought me to tears. Joaquin keeps studying him. I think he realizes he knows him and recognizes his voice, but is still trying to put it all together. Jared goes back to Utah on Monday and we are planning on enjoying every moment that he is here...even those we are going to spend studying!

Baby Hair

I am not sure why I find Joaquin's hair (and yes, he has some) so funny, but I do. I look at it and I just laugh. Maybe it is the wispiness, or the fact that it only circles the base of his skull, but I think it is adorably hilarious. The funniest moments are when it is messy. I didn't even know itty-bitty hair could get messy.

from the front:

from the rear: