Living Large

 :: Friday, Robb and I continued our two-week streak of dating by going out to eat at Cubby's. We ordered the Tri-tip sandwich, the original Mr. Beef (spiciness levels were ranked girl, boy, and man...and Robb refused on principle to order girl, so we had to go back for water refills), and rosemary fries.  Delicious.

Then we snuck candy bars into Star Trek: Into Darkness and stayed out 'til 10:00. We party hard.

(I've always found it ironic that the Little Caesars in Provo is right next to the Diabetes Specialty Center)

:: Father's Day was a little anti-climatic, at least for me. I hopped out of bed when Colby woke up at 5:54 so Robb could sleep in, but after a shower he was off to a church meeting...where they stole my thunder and fed him breakfast.  Then I had a meeting and by the time I got back Robb was gone again. Dinner was my only opportunity to show how grateful I am that Colby gets to wake up every morning with this wonderful man in his life. We had pork loin, mashed potatoes, and rolls. I felt very Martha Stewart, which probably means I need to put more effort into our dinners.  Anyway, it was a wonderful evening, just the three of us.

 :: Monday we went to BYU's Museum of Paleontology for FHE and tried to get Colby excited about dinosaurs.

 We weren't very successful

but he did enjoy pushing his stroller around (and nearly knocking over exhibits in the process)

 :: For the first time in almost eight weeks they needed me at work.  I was on-call and came in around 11:30am. I've never worked a night shift, not even as a lowly student desperate for clinical hours, but on Tuesday I got the closest I will ever get to one. They needed someone to stick around until 10:00 and those extra four hours were rough. I now have a new respect for those on night shift.
:: We split our starter tomato plants with my brother and then two of ours died after getting power blasted by the automatic sprinkler system outside. Our remaining fighter is still going strong and we're hoping for a least a couple of tomatoes before we move.

:: Colby's embraced modern art in the form of towers.  I randomly find little buildings like this all time now.

:: Wednesday we went to BYU's Carillon Concert and listened to the bells play, "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof and other songs for a half hour before Colby decided he had enough culture for the day.  We weren't ready to go home though, so we trekked over to the Creamery for some Raspberry Cream Cheese ice cream and then sat and watched a gang of kids corner and attempt to catch four harassed looking ducks.  

:: Friday was our ward party and I'm now inspired to use our Dutch ovens (although I have to learn first).  Amazing food and I'm really going to miss our friends here.  Only two months left in Provo.

Dating Dilemmas

 :: Even when we were dating, Robb and I never really mastered the "dating" aspect of a relationship (if that makes any sense) and then Colby came along...and now we're lucky if we squeeze one in every other month.  But all that's going to change, hopefully starting now.  For our date last week we packed up our homemade pizza, water bottles, and grapes and drove to the Paul Ream Wilderness Park for a picnic.

The Provo River runs alongside it on one side, a stream flanks the other, and right in the middle is a duck pond

 Filled with ducks who are accustomed to handouts

 It really is a magical little spot and I'm sure we'll be back for another visit.

 We weren't quite ready to go home, so we stopped at Macy's for some frozen yogurt (believe it or not this is their smallest serving size) and a little quality cart pushing time.

 :: The Gonzales family came over for dinner on Sunday and good-naturedly put up with our sweltering apartment.  Our swamp cooler blew air in, but didn't bother with the whole "cooling" aspect and pumped the 90 degree air directly inside.

 :: Colby and I spent a large chunk of Monday in the air-conditioned library and that evening our landlord finally took pity on us (we'd mentioned the problem several weeks ago and had to remind him we were still roasting) and fixed our swamp cooler.

:: My Grandma and Grandpa Rigby came to visit with my cousin, Josh, in tow.  I haven't seen Josh since high school and it was fun to catch up with everyone.  Then they took us out to lunch at Los Hermanos (Josh apparently is camera shy).

:: We make daily trips to the park, slathered in sunscreen.  Colby likes to steer and occasionally go down the slide. His real love is bird watching. The minute he sees one his eyes light up and we have to follow it.

:: Wednesday our friend Janeese volunteered to babysit and we got to attend the Temple.  Before leaving we noticed we were low on a few things we buy at Costco and decided to make a trip there after our session.  As we walked out the Temple doors, a little old woman behind us started calling, "Hermanitos, hermanitos!" She asked if we spoke Spanish and then explained she needed a ride to Costco so she could buy a special kind of cheese to make the tamales she sold.  I don't believe in coincidences. I know Heavenly Father cares about and sees to the needs of His children, even with something as small as a lift.  I am grateful for Consuela's reminder.

Colby playing with our Costco oranges

Reader's Digest: April and May

:: My amazing sister-in-law, Emily, graduated with an elementary education degree from BYU

:: My parents came down to visit and I forgot to take pictures!  Anyway, we had fun, Colby went swimming for the first time (he was pretty neutral about the whole experience), and we celebrated Emily's awesomeness with dinner at Tucanos. 

:: Celebrated another anniversary with Robb.  4 years!:

After our reception, my Grandma Fredley put our wedding cake topper in her freezer...and there it remained until last April.  We were brave enough to try a dime-sized piece and even though it tasted surprisingly good, we decided it probably wasn't safe to eat any more.

Emily babysat for us and we tried Black Sheep Cafe for the first time.  

The Cactus Pear Lemonade and my grilled street corn were amazing, but we weren't quite as blown away with the entrees.  I love exploring new places with this guy.  I found that deeply comforting as we sat talking about what life will hold for us down in Arizona.

:: Unexpected Mother's Day at home (I was scheduled to work) and 12 on 12:

01.  Sick baby
02.  Breakfast (I opted out of the in-bed part)
03.  Colby and I go back to bed
04.  Play time in PJs
05.  Familiar favorite
06.  Lunch: Mac and Cheese
07.  Fever getting higher
08.  Mr. back from church
09.  Sick boy snuggles with Winnie the Pooh
10.  Dinner: Hamburgers
11.  Trip to the Urgent Care (fever not responding to Tylenol)
12.  Grateful for 24 hour pharmacies and that we still keep burp rags in the diaper bag (Colby threw up on me in the car)

And then he had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics (hives and bloodshot eyes)...poor boy.

:: We love visiting the duck pond at BYU

:: Mother's Group: My ward has a group of girls who meet to together once a week for playdates.  They're amazing people and we have so much fun together.  Our friends Suzy and Michelle moved out this month and we already miss them.

:: Robb spent an entire Saturday replacing the engine mounts on my car.  It used to vibrate when I went above 60 mph and I guess all the rattling did a number on the mounts.  The sad part about this picture is not only is he stuck out there on his day off, but it's also pouring down rain.

:: Memorial Day Weekend

Friday:  I made an amazing pizza. Chicken, artichoke hearts, and pesto all bubbly and golden.

 Saturday:  We participated in our building's yard sale, attended the Gonzales' baby shower, and spent the night with my Grandma and Grandpa Nielson.

 Sunday: The next morning, after Grandpa's famous scrambled eggs, we drove on to Kaysville for Robb's cousin's mission farewell, spent a few hours hanging with family, and then drove home and had my little brother over for dinner.

Monday: We drove down to the Nebo Loop and hiked to the Devil's Kitchen.  It's probably the shortest hike I've ever done, but Colby hiked all 0.6 miles of it by himself.

We had plans to hike another similarly short hike further down the loop, but Colbs zonked out before we made it.

Colby Update 16-18 months

:: He's walking!  On April 1st I took Colby outside to get the mail.  He let go of my hand at the bottom of the stairs, shifted his weight around a bit, and then took his first steps.  Robb naturally came outside when he heard my excited shrieking and caught Colby's second try.  The third unfortunately ended when he tripped and smacked his forehead on the cement step (he's taken several more spills since then and with all his bruises in various stages of healing, he looks like an abused child).  He also figured out how to get from sitting to standing without something to pull up on the same day.

:: And he's climbing...and rearranging the furniture.  Suddenly things that were completely out of reach (like the microwave) are now fair game because Colby can push a chair into position and then climb on up.

:: He's learning to use his imagination.  He feeds his daddy pretend goldfish from his cup and likes to bring the wii remote up to my ear for a telephone.

:: He loves to "help" wash the dishes.  He's actually a little obsessed and no matter where I hide his stool (he has a stool now, the cooler kept slipping away from the sink when he leaned forward), he manages to locate and drag it back.  His assistance consists of splashing around and mixing my clean silverware with the dirty stuff, but he's started to load the cutlery onto our drying rack and I have dreams of him being a real helper someday.

:: Temper-tantrums started.  My own tantrums are things of legend (the most memorable probably being when I started poking holes in the bread wrappers at the grocery store and when my mom told me to stop I flung myself to the floor and screamed, "don't kick me, Mommy!" at the top of my lungs when I hadn't received so much as a spanking at that point), so I was sure the mom curse was coming for me (you know, "Just wait until you have kids!").  I just didn't think they'd start so soon.  Colby's first tantrum lasted 38 minutes and started when I insisted on changing his diaper.   I moved him to his high-chair, thinking a little breakfast would distract him.  It didn't, but I was impressed in his ability to shriek while simultaneously swallowing bananas :)

:: Loves to chase and be chased.  He squeals with delight when you finally catch up to him (I like to nibble on his neck and stomach), but he's not exactly sure what to do when he catches anyone.

:: Experienced his first car wash (obviously, it didn't phase him much) 

 :: Carries his blanket around everywhere.  We try hiding it every once in awhile, but he'll find it.

 :: His need to help is not limited to dishes.  Lately this boy insists on putting clothes in the washing machine and dryer, sweeping (not quite as successful there), and pushing the vacuum with me.

:: And he's discovered the joys of baking.

:: Stats::