The Bad Luck Stroller

I don't know what it is with me and the jogging stroller, but we have serious issues. It is SO NICE outside today, so I decided to take Parker for a little jog. When I left, I noticed that he seemed to be leaning to the right a bit, but he usually leans to one side, so no big deal. I ran to the Jordan River Parkway trail, then ran to 104th South. I'm sure this means nothing to most of you, but I was quite far from home. As soon as I stopped before turning around to come home, I noticed that the back right wheel was kind of wobbly. I got a bit nervous, but kept going. I decided to check the tire...it was flat. Luckily we have a pump in the bottom of the stroller, so I pumped up the tire hoping it would solve the problem. It didn't. I was kind of freaked out, especially since I wasn't even on a normal road where someone could come pick me up (not that I would get in a car with a stranger again--luckily I had my cell phone with me so I could call Joe at work). I made it to the normal road and just started praying that I would make it home. Luckily we made it home in one piece...sort of. Literally the second I turned into our driveway, the wheel fell off. No joke. My prayers were answered!!! I called Joe and asked him if he'd noticed anything wrong with the stroller last night when he took Parker running. He said "Well, the back right wheel looked a little wobbly..." That would have been nice to know beforehand! All's well that ends well, though, right?

Happy Birthday Uncle Michael!

This is a pretty old picture of Michael and Parker. It was probably taken sometime in November soon after moving into our house, but I think it's adorable. Michael's a really cute, fun uncle. His 22nd birthday is tomorrow (March 14th)...crazy! Michael got home from his mission to Honduras last August. It has been GREAT having him home. He's just grown up a lot and has really developed into a great, well-rounded guy. One thing we all are amazed at is his amazing memory. I don't know if it's because he was the youngest child in our family, so he observed a lot, but he remembers EVERYTHING. He remembers things about my life that I don't even remember! When we were driving to San Diego, different songs would come on and he would relate them to me and my friends. He would say things like remember when you borrowed this CD from Scott Glaysher forever? I totally didn't remember things like that until he said them. Pretty funny. I love having Michael close by. He's a very sentimental guy...he loves making memories. Him and Joe wanted to go in the hot tub late Saturday night. I really just wanted to go to bed, but Michael convinced me to go "for the memory". He calls my mom everyday, which she loves. What boy does that? Anyway, he'll make some girl really happy someday. He hates me giving him dating advice, though. He'll go out with whoever he wants! Anyway, feliz cumpleanos Miguelito! We love you!

Weekend of Weddings

I have to write a post about last weekend...it was great in lots of ways! Joe's cousin, Vicki got married on Friday. I was planning on just staying outside the temple to watch Parker, but when we got there, my sister-in-law Rachelle offered to stay outside with the kids. It was great to be in the temple. After the wedding, I went to pick my mom up from the airport. She'd been in San Diego with my sister all week (not fair). It was funny because the wedding luncheon was at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building right after the wedding. Joe and Parker stayed there while I went to get my mom. I kept trying to call Joe when we got back so that he would just come outside, but he didn't answer...his ringer must have been turned off (even though he promised me he'd answer when I called...oh well). We decided to just go inside and my mom would watch Parker while I went in to the lunch. Well, when we got there, Sheri (Joe's aunt) saw my mom and kept telling her just to come in and eat because there was a TON of food. My mom felt like a wedding crasher coming for the food dressed in her jeans (she looked really cute, though!) It was fun having my mom to myself for a few hours afterwards. Once my dad got there that night, we were busy doing more wedding stuff, but my mom and I just got to hang out for a while.
Friday night was a wedding dinner for my cousin, Jeremy. It was at the Wight House in Bountiful. It was really nice. It was so cute to see Jeremy and Heather because they were SO in love and SO excited to get married. It made me think of our wedding day. Being engaged was hard, but so fun at the same time. There's just something so nice about being committed to someone and looking forward to starting your life together. Marriage is great, too, but once the honeymoon is over, you just get used to being married and it's easy to forget the excitement you felt before the wedding. Jeremy and Heather's sealing was beautiful. I loved being in the temple two days in a row...it was a great reminder of the blessings we're promised if we keep our covenants.
I'm usually really uptight about Parker getting his naps and going to bed early, but I was somehow able to relax this weekend. Michael was shocked when I went out to lunch after the wedding instead of taking Parker home to go to sleep. I guess I needed to maximize my time with my parents since they were only here for two days! I think Parker getting no sleep for three days helped him adjust really well to the time change because he's been ready for bed super early since my parents left.
I LOVED having my parents here. My mom and I were talking about how distance has made our family even closer. I've lived away from my parents pretty much since I went to BYU in 1998 minus a few months here and there until we moved back to California in May 2005. Joe and I lived with my parents for a few months. For some people, this might be a nightmare, but for us it was great. Even when we moved out, we probably hung out with my parents more than anyone else. Of course they took care of us, fed us, etc., but we felt more like they were our good friends than our "parents". Now that we all live far away from each other again, it forces us to really appreciate every minute that we do get to spend together. I feel so blessed to have such a great family (on both sides!) Now we just have to figure out a way to get my parents and Kimberly and Devon to move to Utah...hee hee.
I couldn't end my blog without another picture of Parker and his AWESOME expressions! This was taken Saturday night at Thaiphoon (a Thai restaurant at the Gateway mall) where we celebrated my dad's and Michael's birthdays. It was WAY past Parker's bedtime, but he's our little social butterfly, so if people are around, he's pretty happy. Notice the rice scooper in his hand...he loves playing with wooden spoons, spatulas, etc. Watch out if you're close by...he waves his weapons around without regard for anyone or anything. We love our boy! I

Running with Parker

Here's a picture of Parker in his "running clothes". Luckily it wasn't snowing the day this picture was taken....

Whatever Works...

Yesterday I was trying to get ready for the day and Parker was driving me nuts! He just wanted to be held and got mad if I put him on the floor, in his high chair, etc. Finally I decided to just set him in the bathroom sink since he would be closer to me. It worked! He just sat there banging our toothbrushes on the bathroom mirror while I did my makeup. I guess that new trick will only work until he figures out how to turn the water on, but it was a lifesaver!

Hot Tub

After reading my last blog, it probably seems like Joe and I are in denial that we live in Utah. We're supposed to stay inside during the snowy winter months, right? Well, we spend lots of time outside...here's a picture of us and my brother Michael (who jumped face down into the snow...crazy boy) in our new hot tub (thanks to Bob Barker). It's great, but isn't so fun running back through the snow into the house afterwards. One problem with our house (that we hope to remedy soon) is that there is no entrance to the backyard from inside. We have to go out the front door and around to the side of the house to get back there. Hello neighbors! Oh well....I do love the hot tub, but I definitely miss California-like weather!

Moments of Bad Parenting...

I promised my Grandma Hand that I would have an update today on my blog, so I thought I would write about a funny morning last week. It wasn't so funny at the time, but looking back I guess we can laugh. Joe likes to take Parker out jogging in his jogging stroller. I went with them one morning a few weeks ago when it was snowing outside. Parker usually does fine because we bundle him up in his snowsuit with a hat and gator (is that how you spell it?) on, so all that is exposed to the chilly air are his big blue eyes. He's usually perfectly content...he gets into a sort of daze where he's not really making any noise or any sort of expression, but we assume he's enjoying himself since he's not crying.

The last time we took him running in the snow, he actually fell asleep, so apparently the snow didn't bother him. This wasn't the case this time around. As soon as Joe and I started running, (I'm sure we looked ridiculous to begin with...taking a baby out in a snowstorm) I knew Parker might not do as well as he had before. The snow was coming down pretty hard and it was really windy. Parker got into his trance at first, so we decided to keep going. After about 5 minutes, though, he let out a few cries. I wiped the snow off his little cheeks and we kept going. A few minutes later he started crying again, so I told Joe that we needed to turn around.

Joe wanted to keep running, so I decided to turn around by myself with Parker. By this time, we were literally in a blizzard, and things were even worse going the other direction. We were running straight into the wind, so snow was getting all into Parker's eyes. (Of course I was only worried about him...not myself, although I only had on a thin long-sleeved t-shirt, gloves, and a headband over my ears). Anyway, I decided to take Parker out of the stroller and carry him. So here I was in the middle of a blizzard walking down a busy street carrying a baby and pushing a stroller. I tried to hide behind Parker because I was so embarrassed.

After a few minutes, a lady in a minivan stopped and asked if we were close to home or if we needed a ride. I said that we were close to home and kept walking...I should have gone with her. We WERE relatively close to home, but not close enough! A few minutes later an old man stopped across the street in his truck and asked if we needed a ride. I was feeling desperate by this point, so I said YES! Luckily he really was a nice man and took us home (which took less than a minute by car, but would have been atleast 5 minutes walking!) I got inside and started crying and felt like the worst parent EVER! I'd taken my baby out in a blizzard, got in a car with a stranger, held Parker on my lap while riding in the car, etc. We got into our car right afterwards and went to find Joe. He felt terrible that he'd left us when I told him what had happened. We all survived, but no more running with a baby in the snow! I can't wait for spring!

HE'S MOBILE!

So I guess I'm excited about this new blog thing, so I have yet ANOTHER update for the day. PARKER'S CRAWLING! He's been slowly progressing over the last few weeks, but now it's official. Joe got him on video this morning going from one side of the living room to the next....yikes! He's so cute wiggling his little body across the floor.

IRREPLACEABLE

The title for our blog (for now) is irreplaceable for a few reasons. First of all, there's a song by Beyonce called Irreplaceable that I love! It's funny because Kimberly tried to call me a while ago, but accidentally called my old California cell phone number. Anyway, the girl who now has my old number has that song playing instead of a normal phone ringer. Neither Kimberly nor I knew what song it was, so both of us just always sang to each other "to the left, to the left" thinking it was funny. (Of course I prank called the girl after Kimberly told me that to hear it). Anyway, while Michael and I were in San Diego, he started playing that song on his ipod. As soon as it started, Kimberly and I both started laughing because it was THAT SONG! So I made Michael listen to it over and over on the drive home. The message of the song is that her boyfriend is definitely NOT irreplaceable. My family, however, IS irreplaceable to me, so I like the name. To the left, to the left.....

Like Mother Like Son....

This is a picture of me and Parker on the beach in San Diego. I think it's hilarious because we both are super white and have the exact same look on our face. I definitely don't LOVE this picture of me, but I can't help but laugh everytime I see it.