BECKY HAD A BIRTHDAY - I LOVE YOU BABY XOXOXO!!!

Yes, my Dear, Sweet Wife Becky had her Big 3-0 last month (Feb 05, 2009)! It was a grand day full of fun and excitement! She is a darn good girl, and I LOVE her dearly. Thanks for everything Becky! For any interested onlookers, here is a smattering of happenings that transpired:
1. We woke up quick, at about 9:30a
2. Had fresh fruit breakfast vittles from the AZ Farmer's Market (yummy).
3. Hiked Camelback Mountain (again).
4. Went to the legendary Joe's BBQ in Gilbert, AZ for lunch (free lunch for good little birthday girls)!
5. Came home, napped.
6. Dropped the Mimi off and Grandma and Grandpa's for babysitting!
7. Had Romantic dinner at Pizzeria Bianco.
8. Came home and....had ice cream!

It was really a lot of fun for me, and I hope it was fun for the Beckster. She is truly the love of my life, and I am so glad that we chose each other.













March 14, 2009

Dearest Becky,
I am grateful that we waited for each other and that we didn't settle for less. I am so grateful that we were married in the Arizona Temple, so that our little family can be together forever. I am so grateful that we get to go to Church together and go through this high adventure of life together, and that our love will continue throughout all Eternity. Because of you I am truly happy and feel a sense of peace inside, and my cup of joy is overfilled. No matter what happens, you are mine, and I am yours. Thanks for sharing your life with me. I know that whatever the ups and downs are, it doesn't matter, with our love and the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives, we'll be fine. Thank you Becky, for everything, and Happy Birthday Darling! Here's to a long and happy life, Sweetheart! I love you, so much.
XOXOXOXOXO
love,
Dave

p.s. BECKY, YOU ARE SO HOT!!!!!

Love Hate Relationship

I love milk.
1. It is way CHEAPER than formula, and I think the whole milk is putting a little meat on Mia's bones.
2. It is easy and accessible. I don't have to cart around a little can of formula everywhere we go now.
3. Dave is really happy because I am buying whole milk for Mia, but somehow our 1% milk stays full, and our whole milk goes really fast...hum.
I HATE milk.
1. I can't figure out why all of Mia's bottles/sippy cups started leaking recently. Every single one leaks now that they have milk in them. I don't get it.
2. Everything stinks. Somehow Mia manages to spill (and leak as mentioned before) milk down into the couch, the ottoman, the carpet, etc. We got into the car the other day and it stunk soooooo bad. We had to pull over and look under everything, trunk included wondering if we had left a diaper (gross) or a bottle somewhere. Nasty. We couldn't find anything. So when we got to where we were going, Dave took Mia's car seat out of her base and there it was. Milk had somehow leaked into the crevasses of her car seat base and dried. So so nasty. With a good soak and scrub, we are back in business.

I still think I hate milk more than I love it though.

Just chill

Did I mention she is the pickiest, most opinionated eater ever? She also likes to lounge and kick-back (with her leg out) while she eats, in the stroller, and in her car seat...okay basically any and everywhere. Just like her daddy!

Office Skills 101

I can't wait until she can really understand directions. Then I'll have a nice little assistant. Hum...

Great Grandparents

I am a little behind on posts. With getting ready to move, I came across a whole bunch of pictures that I realized I hadn't blogged about. So here's to catching up.
My Dad's parents live in Sierra Vista which is a little town in Southeast Arizona. It's about a 3 hour drive from us, and we picked a nice sunny day in February to drive down and have lunch. My grandparents were beside themselves that we came to visit, as my Nana had recently had back surgery followed by an infection that has really set her back. My grandpa is 88 years old and my Nana is 86, and they are still going strong. They went on a seven day white water rafting tour down the Colorado River about 5 years ago, and every year they go on at least one 2-3 week vacation somewhere foreign. So my Nana being sick has put a damper on their adventurous spirits and it was good for us to stop by and cheer them up. I can only hope I have their stamina when I'm old so Dave and I can go on adventures like they do!

Yes, she's talking

Everyone's been asking the usual questions, is she walking? Is she talking? Is she eating solid foods? Walking-kind of. She totally can, but she's a total scaredy cat. Talking-yes, baby talk. She talks ALL DAY LONG. I often hear her talking in the morning in her bed, and usually at nap time too. The other night I had church, and I brought Mia with me because they had nursery that night. When I got home, Dave was sitting on the couch and immediately Mia started pulling down to get to Dave. I put her down to stand and hold on to the couch and she started babbling away at Dave. Dave just kept saying, "a-huh. And what else, tell me all about it...etc." I put a few things away and a few minutes later, I went to pick her up to put her in her bath, and she started SCREAMING. She never does this. She is a mama's girl through and through. I couldn't figure out what her problem was, so I put her back down where she was standing talking to Dave, and she stopped crying and started talking away again. I guess I interrupted her conversation with her dad...oops.
Oh ya, solid foods..yes, but she is the pickiest, most opinionated eater I've ever come across. Boy, she sure is cute though...
p.s. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Mia had to wear her green shamrock outfit for good luck!

1st Birthday in 3 States

Our little is not so little anymore. Can you believe Mia Jane is already ONE??!!!?? To celebrate her birthday, we went to Texas, Michigan, and back home in Arizona where she had birthday cake, a candle, and presents galore in each place. She decided to stay awake on the plane now, and discovered a new game. It's called pull, kick, and punch the chair in front of you. I'm pretty sure that game is only fun to the one playing it though. We are spoiled too because we have a seat for her, and she still managed to be a little nuts on the flights.
Anyway...she was terribly cute at her birthday party in Texas. Our camera ran out of batteries (okay, I miss my old camera that just used AA batteries, easy to fix in a pinch), so her big first birthday extravaganza was not caught on tape. Bad parents, bad. She devoured her little personal cake, even down to the plate in was on licking every last crumb. She just sat by and watched as the older kids beat the pretty unicorn pinata to shreds, and then slept like a little baby that night. I just love her so much. She is the yummiest piece of chocolate ever.
We also went to Michigan to visit Dave's sister Karrie and her husband Dave. They live in the cutest little house that was built in the early 1900's in downtown Clarkston, which is a charming little village. I loved every minute of it. I felt like we were in a little doll house. Karrie surprised us with a birthday cake and presents for Mia the first night we were there. The weather was chilly, but it was a charming visit that was very relaxing and enjoyable.
Then we headed home to Arizona for a party with Dave's family at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. That place is so fun. It's packed with old-timers, but Mia didn't mind. We ate greasy pizza and ice cold rootbeer and listened to a fabulous organ show. We finished off the night with pink cake and thus ended our celebrating little Mia's first birthday. I personally like her first birthday WAY better than last year's "birthday!"
(p.s.-I just noticed that in both pics she's holding my cell phone. Yes...she is obsessed!!! My parents bought her a little fake cell phone for her birthday, which she loves, but if she happens to see mine...it's over. ahhhh it begins...)

With one week left...

This is before the race...bright-eyed, excited, and pre...well, just read how below to see how it all went.

I had a goal to run a half marathon within a year of having Mia, and with one week left, I finally did it! I ran my first half marathon on Saturday, February 28, 2009 in Ft. Worth, Texas. I met my sister Heather and her fiance Shaman to do it with them. It was freezing cold, and very windy!!! It was one of those chill to the bones day...but I must be a glutton for punishment because I actually had a lot of fun! It must have been 35 degrees that morning with 25 mph wind gusts. The first five miles were great-I did them in 50 minutes, which might be slow for some runners, but it was great time for me. Then the hills started. Miles 6-9 were one hill after another, and that was really tough on my right ankle. I wear an ankle brace, and those hills really did a number on my ankle and my time. When I hit mile 9, I wanted to just plow through because I only had 4 more to go, but then the cobblestone brick pavers started. Cracked, old cobblestone brick pavers. My ankle just couldn't take it. From mile 9-10.5 it was really difficult to run on an uneven surface, so between slowing down, stopping to readjust my shoes, to finally taking my ankle brace off, I really slowed down. The last two miles were okay (with one kick in the pants hill right about 1/2 mile before the finish line), and my official finish time was 2:44:35. My original goal was under 2 1/2 hrs., so I guess 14 extra minutes isn't too bad, but I was really kind of bummed when the last half didn't go my way. I will definitely do another half marathon. It was great to train for-hard at times, but the first time I ran 4 miles, then 6 miles, then 8 miles, then 10 miles in training, I felt so proud and amazed that I could do this! ANYONE can run if I can run! It was awesome. I am so glad Mia and Dave were there to cheer me on this silly little goal of mine. So get out and find yourself some windy freezing weather, brick cobblestone, hilly terrain and RUN!!


The finishers! Here we are with our cute little finisher COWTOWN Marathon medals
p.s. Mia was exhausted after the race...it's tough being a diva in a suade pink furry coat all morning.