Baby Shower

On Friday Ian's work threw us a baby shower lunch. It was so much fun! Almost all of the ladies in the office came and then the 2 other designers that work with Ian came for most of it as well. We had lunch together and talked and opened presents. It was pretty low key and nice. I so appreciated them thinking of us. The group gift was the cradle swing that I really wanted and this adorable bouncer. It is made by Boppy and is very soft and snuggly. Weston was having a hard time understanding that it is baby brother's chair and not his, so I let him sit in it after I put it together then we went and put it in the nursery. Weston hasn't tried to sit in it since, so I'm hoping we won't have too much of a problem on our hands, however he hasn't seen baby brother's new swing yet . . . I have no doubt jealousy will ensue. :)

Mimic

Today was a nice day. Aunt Jules is in town and she was home with us all morning. Most of that time, she was in bed and then doing her hair, but still. Weston and I ran to the library then came home and hung with Jules for bit. We went to lunch with Jules and Alex at Cafe Rio and then headed off to meet up with some friends at the dinosaur playground (this fun play area at South Town mall). We had a great time and it was nice to visit with my friend Dawnie. By the time we left, Weston had thoroughly worn himself out and I barely got him home awake so that I could put him down for a nap.

Playing in one of the rides at the mall just outside the playground. It's the truck one, of course.
Ok, skip to the point of this post . . . Weston has turned into a complete 2 year old mimic. He has already copied almost everything I say on a regular basis. One of my favorites is his tendency to use the phrase "probably should" at really random and funny times. The other day he was getting into the car and kept saying "holy smoke" over and over. It was funny.
So last night at dinner he was trying to spear a piece of curly pasta with his little plastic fork and Ian and I were both watching his attempts. After about 3 or 4 tries he looks up at us and says "I having issues." It was so funny. He's never said that before, but we say it to him sometimes when he's having trouble doing something we know he can do. Ian and I tried not to totally bust up at the table, but we definitely got a kick out of that.
Today we are back to our same old life with not a whole lot going on. I had a doctor's appointment this morning and am 50% effaced!!! Yay something's happening and eventually this baby will come along! I still technically have 3 weeks to go, but I'm shooting for 2 or less. :) Weston loves to go to the doctor with me. He plays with the stuffed animals in the exam room and likes to have his turn on the table where I poke his tummy and listen to it. I think he's starting to have a realization that we really are going to bring a baby home one of these days. We were sorting through his old baby clothes and he was trying to put on the little tiny size 1 shoes and I was like, "those don't fit you anymore. They are baby shoes, not big boy shoes." He then said "baby brother have little feet." Hopefully he will get along great with the new baby. In the meantime, I am enjoying the last of my "only child" days with the little mimic.

Rockstar in Training

So last night I stayed late at work because of a "rush" project for a client. Weston and Shannon came by to visit me when I took a dinner break. Someone at work had guitar hero set up on their machine, so I played it a bit when I needed a break. Weston was very excited to try as well. Having pretended to be a "guitar player" for a number of years now, it's no surprise to me that I seemed to pick up on this new digital re-creation of those delusions of grandeur with great vigor. Shannon, having never pretended to play guitar before, did not do so well. She made it 25% through the first song before she was "booed off stage". To give some of you a bearing of reference on her performance (and this isn't meant to be insulting to my wonderful musically inclined wife, but is presented purely in the interest of science), Weston made it 21% before meeting the same fate.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not bagging on the game because it lets you pretend to be a rockstar, it's great. And It does take some skill that may or may not be related to actual musical talent. Anyone unfamiliar with the game should check out this video. From what I gather this is the hardest song, on the hardest difficultly level.



If anything, playing a bit of Guitar Hero, along with some Rockband (a competing game that equips you with a mic and drumset in addition to the "guitar") with my young men, has inspired me to play my guitar a bit more than I have in the past year. I think there are two other important contributions to the newly forming calluses on the fingertips of my left hand: 1) Wynn Burton. 2) Location, Location, Location.

Let's Address #1.
My friend at work, who started back in August, plays the actual guitar "just like he's ringing a bell." My second guitar (shout out to Will Fisher for the hookup, MTX sticker and all) sits by my desk at work. Wynn has taken to playing it from time to time and it just makes me happy. So I pick it up probably once a day and just plink around a bit between rendering video files, and waiting for conference calls.

Reason # 2
Now, as you faithful readers know, things are changing at our house. With the long awaited arrival of the new baby chair, coupled with Weston switching rooms, my guitar now sits in its stand out in the den. Before it was in the "spare room" . In any case... out of sight, out of mind. Now that it's within reach of the comfy chair, and the computer, chances of me picking it up have greatly increased.

I do enjoy playing. Its just one of those things I need to devote more effort into if I want to progress any further with it.

Storytime

Weston LOVES to go to storytime at the library. They have preschool age kid storytime and baby storytime. We usually go to both since he asks every day if we are going to storytime. He recently became brave and started sitting in the very front and listening very intently to the stories. He is getting good at following directions and doing the hand motions with all the songs and fingerplays. Anyway, yesterday was the cutest. He insisted on wearing his Bob the Builder hat the whole time and sat in the very front totally paying attention. It was too cute. These aren't the most amazing pictures since they're from my phone, but still.

Weston trying to follow along with the song about twirling the bandana in different hands. He did pretty good.

Puppy Love

So today Weston was really wanting to go "run errand" and brought me his shoes. We were going to go visit Ian at work and have lunch with him, but it was too early to go there yet, so I got his shoes on and started driving thinking I would figure out someplace to stop and play on the way. We passed a Petsmart, so I pulled in and took Weston inside to look at the fish, birds, mice, hamsters, etc. Well, they had a grooming place attached with a window you could watch through, so we spent a lot of our time looking at the doggies getting their hair cut. Weston said "have doggie at our house?" I was like, "um, not today." So this afternoon I've been checking out the puppy listings on ksl.com. It's really not smart because now I really want one. I know its not feasible yet, but this spring when we put up a new fence in our backyard I think we will start looking for real. I just couldn't resist putting up a couple pics of puppies I would totally adopt today. They actually look really similar but are different dogs. Can't wait to make that a reality for my little boys. :)

Baking, Friends and Young Womens

We had a busy busy weekend. Friday night we had our combined Young Men/Young Women activity at the University of Utah. We went and watched a gymnastics meet with the youth. It was the closest thing to a date Ian and I have had in awhile. We had a pretty good time and a decent turnout. Weston sat this one out hanging at home with our friend Becca.
Saturday kept me busy baking for our get-together with some friends that night and getting all kinds of stuff ready for our Young Women's New Beginnings program. I was frosting little star cakes and practicing the piano for the music and preparing my little blurb about Personal Progress. Anyway, it was quite the morning. Later that evening we had some friends over we know through Ian's work. We had pizza and chatted and watched Wizard People and helped the little ones play nicely together. :) Unfortunately I didn't get to taking any pics while they were here.
Sunday was a busy one too with Visiting Teaching in the morning, church, then a little more prep for New Beginnnings. I ran off to set up and drop off decorations and such while Weston was still having his post-church nap. The program came together pretty well, I thought and looked nice. I'm glad it's done with. Well, as many of you know, I missed watching the Oscars because of the program, but Ian recorded it for me, so we started watching it around 9pm and I didn't get to bed until midnight. I'm pretty bushed today, but I'm banking on napping with Weston this afternoon. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Weston helping lick the beater while I was making cookies.



While I was practicing the piano he got into this get-up, so when I turned around and saw him like that brandishing the hose from his play vacuum I just laughed and had to get a picture.

New Chair

We finally found a chair to replace the lovesac with in the den! It has only taken a few months to decide on one. We looked at a bunch when we were shopping for dressers, but didn't really see anything we loved. I found this one on ksl.com classifieds a couple nights ago and drove down to check it out and pick it up. The lady I talked to was slightly crazy and an admitted "flake" (her word, not mine) so it ended up taking me almost all night to convince her to sell me the chair and to pay for it, but it was worth it. I love it. It's totally Shannon sized. It also reclines. I also love how it opens up the corner in the den and makes things fit in a little better. The lovesac was fun for a few years, but it was time for some grown up furniture that utilizes our space better. Anyway, check it out!

This is Ian playing with Weston and tossing him in the lovesac the night before it disappeared. Good times.


The new and improved corner.


View from the front door.


The chair is ready for it's close-up. ;)