We Heart Visitors

Last weekend our friends from our Spokane year, The Petersons, came to San Diego. Seth and Mike bonded last year over their irrational, emotional, die-hard devotion to BYU sports. Seth's phone keeps track of the number of texts between him and other people. There are more texts between Seth and Mike, than Seth and me. The Peterson's had us over to their house for every BYU football and basketball game.  We've missed spending BYU game day with them. It was lots of fun getting to know their family and we're glad they stopped to visit us during their San Diego vacay. We spent one day at the beach with them and had them over for the BYU game and dinner. I didn't take any pictures other than of the kiddos watching a movie on our bed during the game. They live in Phoenix now and have their very own pool so there is a real good chance we'll be visiting them soon.

I just enlarged this and noticed Taft is TOTALLY giving me the bird! Rude. Oh and he has a slight obsession with band-aids.

This past weekend, Seth's good friend Luke Hayes and his wife Reagan and their two boys came to San Diego for the weekend. They live in L.A. and had been wanting to take their kids to SeaWorld and visit us of course. Seth and Luke (not to be confused with Lukie) have been friends since undergrad (so like over 10 years or something). We went to dinner with the Hayes' Friday night and had plans to meet them at SeaWorld the next morning but the dumb hospital had to page Seth at 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning and ruined all our plans for the entire day. Later Saturday Taft and I ate our depressed feelings through candy and frozen yogurt. It helped a little.

Luke. Seth. Missy

It was a great weekend for the Hayes' to be in town because Seth and Luke's long time friend, Missy, was also in town so we all got together for dinner Saturday evening. Missy is a fantastic cook and offered to make us all dinner the next night. I was absolutely relieved when she offered because I was a little stressed about making dinner for a professional trained chef. I mean, I do make pretty awesome tuna sandwiches, but Sunday dinners usually call for something a little fancier. I should also mention, that Reagan is a interior designer and has her own gorgeous furniture line. So Missy is a wonderful cook, Reagan is a stylish designer, and I.....make good snickerdoodles and sewed some pillows once.

Missy. Me. Reagan

It's been so much fun living in a place that people like to visit. I think we've seen more friends and family in the four months we've lived here than we did the entire year in Spokane. (Not that I blame anyone) We've had lots of fun visiting with friends and family...Keep coming!!

Luke, Reagan....you made the blog. ;)

Taft at 2 1/2

Ever since Taft was born Seth has looked forward to the toddler stage---beginning to talk, imaginations, rough housing-and Taft has lived up to Seth's expectations. Taft makes us laugh every day and I want to remember these things about him.

-The majority of the time he is pretending he is something/someone else:T-Rex Dinosaur, Flynn Rider (from Tangled), Lizard, Dragon, Firefighter, and Woody are his most common personas. He sometimes calls me "Punzel", as in Rapunzel from Tangled, calls Lukie "Pasqual" also from Tangled, and Seth "Buzz".  Taft is much easier to work with if you play along with him and call him by whatever it is he's going by that minute. For example, if it's time to brush teeth and you say, "Come on Hippo, I need to brush those big teeth" it will be 300% easier than it would be if you were to say "Taft, let's brush teeth". There have been times when I am fighting so hard to get him out the door and as soon as I call him T-Rex or Dragon or something he does a 180 and is totally ready to go. Also, if he calls you "Dragon" or "T-Rex" or whatever it means he wants you to call him that too.

-He will do just about anything for fruit snacks.

-He loves cereal. Tonight he told me his favorite food is cake and his favorite breakfast is "waffs" (waffles) and favorite dinner is "macincheese". His diet isn't very good, but he will eat broccoli, carrots, and peas and likes quite a few different fruits. He has to be starving to eat his dinner and most nights cries a little and tells me dinner is "yucky". His favorite drink is probably milk. We pretty much just give him water and milk anyway. Although, he chugs soda when he gets it (which isn't very often).

-He really likes to be read to and loves the library. However, at the moment he is turning into a bit of a tv show/movie monster. He will ask for  shows all day long. I feel bad because we have to be home for two naps a day for Luke, so I've had to start getting more creative with filling our at home time. His favorite shows are, but not limited to: anything Barney, anything Thomas, some Strawberry Shortcake movie that he calls "Candy Butterfly", Toy Story 3, Tangled, and occasionally Sesame Street and the Backyardigans.

-He went through a phase of running away from me at the park and not listening when I told him to stop, but I feel like he's gotten better. He likes the park as long as he finds friends to play with and race. He LOVES to run. He likes to sit in the baby swings and hold his arms out and act likes he's flying.

-His favorite toys are trains and cars.

-At the end of Toy Story 3, Buzz and Jessie dance to latin music. Taft was watching it one day and that part was on. I started dancing and told Taft to come dance with me. He said, "That's not dancing Heidi."

-Seth was singing the Katy Perry song that goes "...there's a party in my head..." and Taft sang "There's a party in my pants."

-Since we've been working on potty training, Taft gets a lot of cheerleading when he's in the process of....you know. Lately he's been returning the favor. ;)

-When Taft is getting dressed he'll ask me to sing the "Firefighter Song" which is something we learned from- surprise!-Barney. Basically it goes "Hurry, hurry put your boots on. Hurry, hurry, put your (blank) on" etc. He gets dressed much faster this way.

-And drumroll please....HE POOPS IN THE POTTY!!!! (cue Hallelujah chorus)

-Doesn't have a lot of respect for authority- or at least for my authority. When ever I try to discipline or ask him to stop doing something he says, "No, YOU stop it MOM." or "No WAY Mom"

-Gives really great hugs and kisses.

(We have some really great videos, but they are all on  Seth's phone so we need to figure out how to get them off)

Toast, it's so unexpected.

The other night I was driving a 13 year old girl home from Young Women's. She was talking about how she needs to raise money for a school trip to D.C. She mentioned that her school was going to have a bake sale and she thought she'd make something to sell there.

Me: "That's a good idea, what do you think you'll make?"
Girl: "I was thinking toast."
Me: "Toast?"
Girl: "Yeah, like I'll have butter and jam of course."
Me: "I'm happy to help you make cookies or something. Cookies can be super quick and easy."
Girl: "Nah. Toast is just so unexpected, ya know?"

I came home and told Seth and we laughed about it for a while. I really need to try to talk her into something else and make sure she doesn't go to her bake sale armed only with some Wonderbread, a toaster, and some Smucker's jam. It would be super sad to see her at her stand, no one buying toast.

We also had this conversation in the car:

C: "I usually go to bed around 8 every night and then wake up at 1:00 in the morning to get things situated, and then I go back to bed"
Me: "Situated?"
D (C's sister): "Yeah, she gets dressed, makes her lunch, gets her backpack ready..."
Me: "Why don't you just do that before you go to bed, or wake up earlier in the morning?"
C: "Well, I used to always fall asleep at 8 and then my cat would jump on me at exactly 1:00 in the morning. I guess my body just got used to it. I adapt really well."

World's Most Adorable 9 Month Old

Honestly, how can you not love this face?! Lukie is 9 months now and is ready to explore the world. He is super squirmy, a lightning fast army crawler, and always wants to be on the move. One of Luke's favorite things to do is shut doors, but always ends up shutting himself in a room and gets stuck behind the door when you try to open it. He is a bottomless pit these days and will eat any food that is in front of him. He is starting to feed himself some finger foods and sometimes get so excited to eat that he yells and starts shaking. He still refuses to take a bottle (only 3 more months Mister). I have to say, I didn't get what the big deal was with nursing when Taft was a baby, but that's probably because I had to pump when I went back to work and was relieved when we switched to formula. This time around though I'm glad I was able to nurse, but it sure would be nice to go out on a date without planning it around Luke's schedule. He loves baths but only likes to lay down in the tub, do NOT make him try to sit. He'll throw himself backwards and whack his head on the hard tub. Sometimes he makes a cry face that looks that that old guy from the "bitter beer face" commercials. 

Luke did a great weeklong stretch of sleeping about 11 hours at night, but has decided to wake up once a night again. He likes sleeping on his side and goes down swaddled, but doesn't stay that way for long. Luke and Taft have been playing together. Taft pretends he and Luke are both dogs and they crawl along the floor together. Luke still does not like Taft to get in his face too much or to be man-handled by Taft either. We tell Taft to take it easy, but also tell Lukie he's gotta toughen up. Taft will be bugging him for the next 18 years and vice versa.

Luke is starting to jabber and does those razzing sounds. He also started biting one side of his lip and I think it's the cutest thing. He's still ticklish on just about every inch of his body so it's super easy to get him to laugh. He's starting to get a little shy around strangers and has buried his face in me a few times. (I love that.) He had his check up today and he weighs a little over 20 lbs and is in the average range for weight and height, but his big ol' noggin is still in the 90th percentile.

Yesterday he pulled himself up to standing for the first time and he can now clap a little bit. I hate to jinx it, but his whining might be toning down a little. Here's hoping!

Just Something I've Been Thinking About

(i really, really wish i remembered where i found this)

You guys, I've been working on something revolutionary: Not turning into a psycho, grumpy, cleaning Nazi wife/mom when my house looks like a dump. What's that? That's really not revolutionary? Well it is for me. 

I saw this quote a while back and I've been trying to remember it. I have kids, and I'm going to have even more kids one day (hopefully), and let's face it kids are professional mess-makers and wrecking crews. Whenever I do get my apartment cleaned (yes, all 900 sq. feet of it) it stays clean for about 1.7 seconds. Instead of letting this make me totally un-fun and a cleaning lunatic who makes everyone hold still for an hour just so we can enjoy the cleanliness, I've decided to accept my life of living in a pig sty. Ok, not a pig sty (all of the time) but definitely not an apartment that could be photographed and posted on some blog for all the world to see and make others feel guilty that their house isn't as perfectly decorated, thrifted, crafted, and designed as well as mine.

My Google Reader is out of control with photography/crafting/interior design/cooking/party planning blogs that I am subscribed to and then there's Pinterest (which I do love). I was telling Seth that reading all of these blogs is making me feel like a loser. He basically didn't have any sympathy for me and in a really nice way told me to get a life. :) He reminded me that comparing myself to others (real or fake people (blogs) ) is not good to do at all. Then I listened to President Uchtdorf's talk from the Relief Society broadcast and that made me remember that I actually have a life and a really good one too. I have a real life that consists of days full of playing with kids, bathing kids, feeding kids, trips to the park, trips to the grocery store, trips to the beach, playdates with friends, changing diapers, potty training, dinner making, and pillow-talking. A real life.

I have to remember that the aforementioned blogs I read are people's jobs. They are spending lots of time perfecting each post, publishing only the best pictures, and although they made, photographed, and packaged perfectly shaped and colored macaroons for all their neighbors, they left out the picture of themselves making them in their pajamas, mascara smears under their eyes, and bra-less. (At least that's what I imagine them to look like to make myself feel better). They are professional photographers, professional interior designers, etc. They have put lots of time into perfecting their skill and talents and instead of feeling like a loser because I don't have those talents, I really need to just admire them for their talents and continue working on and cultivating my own. 

The first step here is for me to cool it on the cleanliness of my house. Although, I have to admit, if we have company coming to stay there is still a good chance I might fall back into my old ways. Baby steps.  Seth mentioned earlier this week that our house has been a more enjoyable place to be and that all of us seem happier now that I've loosened my grip on the Windex bottle. Mission accomplished.

Random Pictures

Taft and Luke playing Beauty Parlor

Ta da!

I took a quick trip to Utah last week for one of my dear friend's wedding. I was only there three full days but fit in a trip to visit my old college roommate Jessie. She has two boys too. Her oldest is 6 mo younger than Taft and her little guy is just a month younger than Luke. We're hoping they'll be college roommates. Did you know that I lived with the daughters of my mom's college roommate for a year in college? True story. My mom and Lanx took Taft to the circus one night while we were there. I don't know why they have a picture of Taft with green stormtrooper, but here it is. 

I was so glad I was able to go to the wedding. It was a very small gathering and I felt extra special to be invited. I didn't take any pictures but Amber looked absolutely gorgeous and so so so happy. My parents watched the boys while I went and I have to admit, it was SO nice to be able to enjoy dinner at a slow and enjoyable pace, not trying to keep anyone else happy. My mom even brought Luke to me so I could nurse him before he went to bed. (Although he didn't even want to nurse. Stinker.) A couple of my other friends were there at the wedding too so it was fun to catch up. 

Then A Lot of Herways Came to Town

We had a jam packed two weeks of family here in lovely Coronado. My family and Seth's family overlapped visits for a day so we all had a dinner together and welcomed Steve (Seth's youngest brother) home from his mission.

Seth's parents rented a house for the week that could accommodate everyone. Even though we live here, we still stayed in the house so we could hang out with everyone after kids went to bed. We had most of Seth's siblings there, minus Seth's older brother who is on a top secret job in the Middle East (seriously) and Seth's other brother and his family who live in New Jersey.

Taft was beyond thrilled to have his cousins. I think he followed Brauer around laughing hysterically at everything he did for the entire first evening. We had a great time with everyone hanging out at the beach and taking it easy. Seth had a whole week of vacation so he was able to spend time with everyone too.

I can't take credit for most of these pictures. Seth's sister Natalie took most of them. I hardly took any because I knew Natalie would be all over it and would do a great job, and she did. (Good ones=Natalie's Grainy/Bad Angles/Overall Bad= Mine)

Cousins. It rained the first two days of the week so one morning we headed to the heated community pool. The lifeguards were really, really uptight.

Colie (Seth's sis) . Me+Luke. Lara (wife of Seth's oldest brother). Natalie (Seth's sis)

This is Anita's (Seth's mom) BFF from when they lived in D.C. years and years ago. She just so happened to be in San Diego the same week. They are wearing almost the EXACT same thing, right down to the shoes!

This picture captures Taft's currently personality PERFECTLY. He is always on the run and thinks everything is a game.

Zane and Brauer with newly returned missionary Steve-O

Aunt Colie. Isa. Daphne

I love this picture.

Note the squat. 

One morning TONS of sea stuff was washed up on shore including this huge starfish!

Daphne sending the starfish back home

Oh Wuke.

Grammie with the goods-- Belgian candy

Taft thinks Down Dog means horsey ride.

Just having a naked tea party with my cousin. (Future blackmail right here)

The Bluths Came to Town

My sis, Tates, plays soccer for a J.C. in southern Arizona. She had a couple of games in the San Diego area so my parents and other sister made a trip to visit us and to watch Tates play. Unfortunately, the week before they came out Tates tore her MCL. Bummer. We still went to her games to support her team and to see her. I loved seeing Tates but I think I need to change my attitude about soccer before Taft or Luke ever start playing. I had a total overdose of soccer game exposure since my sisters have played since...forever. Tates was able to join us one day in Coronado for jet-skiing in the bay. It was SO much fun! I didn't think Taft would like it because about 6 mo. ago we tried to get him on snowmobiles and you would have thought we were trying to make him jump off a cliff. It did not go well. However, he loved the jet skis and kept saying that it was so much fun. I was beaming with pride at how brave he was, really I still don't think I'm over it.

My parents treated us to a day at Sea World and we had a great time. All the shows are so cool, I can't believe they can get all those animals to learn all those tricks. My mom bought a $11.00 soda in a souvenir cup so I can get $1 refills any time I go again. She's nice. Speaking of buying things, my parents treated us to everything we did. Sometimes I feel kind of pathetic letting them do it because I'm getting pretty old, but it sure is nice of them. I'll find you guys a real nice nursing home one day. ;) Kidding!

They have a really fun splash pad that Taft loved. I think an annual pass might be worth it just for splash pad.

Gwumpa and Wukie

We hung out at the beach, went to a movie with just the girls, watched soccer games, jet-skied, did Sea World, and Seth and I even got a date night out of it. Seth had to miss almost everything because of his insane work schedule, but he did get to jet-ski which was probably the most fun thing we did.

We Made Friends

Taft + Logan. They are friends even though Taft looks a little psycho in this picture and Logan looks like he wants out.

Taft+Ashlyn

We made insta-friends as soon as we moved here which is SO not the norm for us. Seth and I are quite lazy when it comes to making "couple friends". We do just fine at making our own friends but couple friends always seem like so much work. Luckily, we moved into a ward with only a few young families so they were pumped to have fresh faces to befriend. Since we've moved in there have also been a few more families move in and it's been a lot of fun. Every Sunday this summer the main park in Coronado had a summer concert series. We'd go every Sunday and meet up with our pals. The best part is all the kids play so well together. Little Logan makes Taft feel like a rockstar. Logan's about a year younger than Taft but follows him everywhere. I think Taft likes being the big kid in the situation. The kids' ages range from 7 mo. to 4 yrs. and they all have a blast together (minus the babies who don't really know what's going on)

The guys have been playing beach volleyball once a week in the evening. Seth's liked getting out in the evening and doing something active and it's fun to give the kids a chance to run and get energy out.

Have I mentioned how nice everyone is here? We have really really nice neighbors. I was just thinking today how I never want to leave this place. Now I only have to make 4.8 million dollars to buy a house and I CAN stay here forever!

Astuonis Menesius (eight months)

Luke's newest nickname from my dad is Lukas Plepis Petrauskas. He looks like he could be Lithuanian/Eastern European. Lukie is army crawling like a mad man. He's a bottomless pit when it comes to meal time. He's becoming a binky man, just like Taft was. I've told myself that I'll have to make him kick the habit earlier than Taft (yep, Taft still uses his for sleeping and still tries to get away with using it at other times as well). Luke is a squirmy squirmerson and is very curious about everything and is determined to get his hands on it. The beach is officially no fun at all for me because Luke won't stay on a blanket or towel and insists on scooching all over the sand and eating it. He's babbling more and more. Most of the time he makes the "dada" sound but has been making some new ones lately. He still is pretty consistent with two naps a day and sleeps well at night (about 12-13 hours) with the exception of still waking up once in the night to eat---although last night he didn't wake up to eat...maybe he's going to sleep through the night now?!?! That would be too good to be true. I don't think Luke really likes to be held besides by me or Seth. I've mentioned he's pretty whiney, but it seems to get worse when others hold him. He'll do okay for a bit, but it seems like 99.9 percent of the time the person hands him back based on his whining. The whining still drives me up the wall some days but the whines come from such a cute face it's hard to hold it against him. I don't know his stats for this month, we'll head to the doctor next month but I'm pretty sure he's somewhere around 18 lbs. Luke is super ticklish- squeezing his thighs, pretending to eat him tummy, or tickling under his arms will definitely get him laughing.

But I Still Love Him

Despite the poop-capades we've been dealing with I still really, really, really love our boys. I've been having anxiety already just thinking about going back to school next year. It's a YEAR away and I'm still just dreading being gone and having someone else take care of my little dudes.

Taft likes to get in Luke's crib with him and wrestle (Luke is not a huge fan though). Earlier today Taft had his arm around Luke and kept saying over and over "Best Friends, Wuke! BEST FRIENDS!" I hope one day they'll be best friends.

Taft usually wakes up in a very good mood after his nap and will usually snuggle with me for a good 15 minutes. It's one of the BEST parts of my day.

Lately Taft likes putting on pieces of clothing he gets out of the dirty clothes (gross). It's usually something that's mine or Seth's and his huge on him. He puts it on and says, "I'm a princess!" I think he thinks dresses, or things that looks like dresses are princesses, I'm not quite sure, but I've been trying to correct him by telling him he's a prince. He must have been offended him because he always tells me, "You're NOT a princess Mom!"

We live on a block that has several kids, mostly boys. The ages range from 2-9 (ish). Taft thinks all the boys are THE coolest. Whenever he sees them he gets way excited and always says "What's going on guys?!" They usually laugh and tell him to say it again. It's kind of sad because he wants to play with him so bad but they're so much older and are only interested in him for a few seconds.

Taft has been good at sleeping lately but usually gets up three or more times before he finally falls asleep for the night. The getting out of bed sequence usually goes:

1. "I need water."
2. "I need to go potty."
3. "I need one toy."
4. "I need water."


Luke is army crawling all over the place now. I really have to watch him because he always seems to go straight for electrical cords. He is a very smiley boy. He is just about perfect in every way, except for his whiney hours from 5-7. Oh-my-good-gracious, that kid can whine. It's at the perfect time of day too, when I'm trying to get dinner ready and the house picked up. Combined with the whining, my anxiety level is just about through the roof.  He still doesn't have any teeth yet (Taft had his first two by this age) and although he drools non-stop I still don't see anything swelling or breaking through. He loves to roam around the floor when Taft's not around, it means he gets to play with whatever toy he wants! Even though Taft loves Luke, he has a really hard time sharing with him. No matter what the toy or thing is that Luke has, Taft snatches it right up. Lukie does not like it. I gave Luke his first puff treats this week and was trying to get him to feed himself. Instead of picking up the puff out of my hand he would just lean over with his mouth open straight to my hand. Luke is a great sleeper and I think maybe a little bit lazy. He sleeps about 12 hours (getting up once to eat) every night, takes a 2ish hour morning nap and a 2ish hour afternoon nap and is already tired again by 6:30. He's super ticklish, likes to attack your face with his hands and mouth, and will rip big chunks of hair right out of your scalp. Oh and his blue eyes make everyone swoon.

This Post is About Poop...Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

About three weeks ago I started a 3-day potty training program. It promised if I put myself and child under house-arrest for 3 days,while watching the potty trainee like a hawk, use the correct terminology, and stay positive then the program would work.

The program was working wonderfully and I couldn't believe that it went so well! Since the first day Taft has not had one wet accident-not even at night. Taft is doing so well with numero uno and is always super proud of himself when he goes. HOWEVER, number two is NOT happening and I want to punch myself in the face. UGH.

We googled "my toddler is afraid to poop on the potty" and all we got was a whole bunch of other parents in the same boat with no answers. One lady said her 11 year old still has issues (Please bless that isn't us in 9 years)

He hasn't worn diapers or pull ups since the beginning of training...but we find ourselves cleaning some really gross undies every other day. Taft has gone in his unders, in the tub, in a jacuzzi, and on Seth (yes, it was very traumatic for all involved). As far as bribes/rewards go we've tried candy, stickers, ice cream, toys, a Rolls Royce, and The Moon. He doesn't want any of it if it means he has to poop first.

Help. Us.


p.s. Don't say maybe he isn't ready, because he is. (Remember, he has no problems whatsoever going peepers.) He knows when he needs to go, he knows where it's supposed to go, he just WON'T.

p.p.s I haven't talked about poop more in my entire life than I have in the last 3 weeks.

p.p.p.s Aren't you glad I blogged about this?

More with Lanx + Pete and Carissa Visit!

This action cracked Auntie Lanx's sunglasses

One of Taft's most popular stances

Sandy Five o'clock shadow

Soaking up the attention from Lanx, Carissa, and Pete

3 out of 4 siblings...We missed you Tates!

It didn't take too long for Taft to warm up to Pete and Carissa. By the end of the day Taft was absolutely ga-ga for Carissa.

Even though Pete and Carissa were married in May, they haven't lived together until now. Pete was already in San Antonio, TX for work but Carissa and Jayda stayed in Stockton, CA until Jayda and Carissa both finished up school. Pete and Carissa stopped through Coronado on their move to their new home in Tejas. We missed seeing Jayda but her parents decided to spare her the agonzing 20+ hour drive to Texas and she'll be flying with her uncle later this week.

It was great to spend the day with Pete and Carissa and get to know Carissa a little better. Taft was smitten with Carissa, it was pretty funny to watch. We spent the day at the beach and went out to dinner on the bayside (Pete's treat!). We spent less than 24 hours with them, but we were just glad they went out of the way to stop by and see us.

Speaking of Pete, look at this table he built for his new family (with very few tools I might add...)