Valentine's Day + A Long Weekend + A New Addition

Thanks to Valentine's Day and President's Day, it seemed like a very long weekend, which is now sadly over. We kept pretty busy, so here's what we were up to and how we celebrated.

Valentine's Day:
I found it pretty funny that Baylee wass able to fit into the same outfit that she wore last year for Valentine's Day. This year she didn't have all the drool/spit up, though! So, above is last year, and below is this year.
For Valentine's Day, Ben set up a little scavenger hunt for me to do while he was at school and work. Baylee and I had to figure out different clues, starting on the bag of the yummy souffle from Panera he bought me that morning, and ending with some beautiful roses he had hidden for two days. If you know Ben, he is not for flowers on Valentine's Day and never buys them for it (he hates how the prices are jacked up), so I was very surprised to get them! That night we went out with Ryan and Anna to dinner at a restuarant called Stacy's. It was very good, but we were a little surprised by the set-5 course-$75 menu. It was nice to get a break from Baylee, as cute as she is, and to have a meal where you aren't telling your kid to stop making messes. I got a second night of this Friday when Ben's parents watched Baylee while we went to eat (just at Chili's) and then watched a movie at home.

New Addition!!!:
Saturday Ben had a midterm and tried to be sneaky afterwards and surprise me with a new car! The surprise got a little spoiled, but I didn't care. I was just so excited to get a nice new car that actually runs well and that I'm not worried to drive in the rain! So, we are now cruising around in a Silver 2008 Honda CRV. And we love it!

Sunday Fun:
Baylee wanted to be helpful and get herself dressed for church. I had the outfit picked out already, but she thought she'd help. At first her skirt was inside out, but it must have twisted and gotten the right side out.
Here she is putting on her own tights, which I think are inside out and backwards.Notice she only made it through getting one leg in, and if you look closely, her onesie isn't even snapped and her diaper is sticking out. Don't worry, we didn't let her leave the house like this, and she had a sweater that she didn't get on herself either. It also helped that I fixed her hair.

After church we went over for our usual Sunday family dinner at Ben's parents. Ryan and Anna and kids were there, as usual (but plus two kids they were watching), and Mike and Laura and Abigail were also there. After the other kids left, Baylee had a lot of fun with Abigail.
When Abigail was getting her pajamas on, Baylee decided it was ok for her to get hers on, too. Then she laid next to her on the floor.Later she gave Abby hugs and kisses. She loves babies (but sorry Baylee, no brothers or sisters for you for awhile!)!

President's Day:
Yesterday Ben had school and then we had lunch (sushi) with Mike and Laura before they left to go home, and then I went to work. Afterwards Ben went back to school and when he got home we ate at Mimi's for dinner and then went to the store, where we gave Baylee one of the free cookies from the bakery. Too bad it was full of red sugar crystal sprinkles (it was leftover from Valentine's Day) and Baylee's face turned pink from it. When we went to get her ready for bed, she was excited to play around without her pants on and keep us entertained and laughing.
What a goofball!

Well, this concludes our weekend! Hopefully this weekend will be a lot of fun! Only three more days!

Happy Valentine's Day, Daddy!

Don't send a lame eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

I Love You, Daddy! Love, Baylee

Pancake Tuesday & Dancing Wednesday

Yesterday was free pancake day at IHOP. They were giving each person a free shortstack (3), and then hoped you would donate money to the Children's Network in place of paying for your pancakes. So, we went over and found it not only to be Free Pancake Day, but also Kids Eat Free Night. So, we scored double! Baylee usually just shares our food, but she got her very own plate of food instead. I got juice and we also ordered our free pancakes (of course), some hashbrowns, and bacon. Our total bill-$8. You can't beat that! We did donate $10, and also left our poor waitress a $10 tip. I think she had been getting all the people who just wanted the free pancakes and all the highschoolers who don't know how to tip... Last night's dinner was a good deal-especially since I didn't want to cook and didn't get done with work until about 6:30.

Tomorrow for Valentine's Day our reservations for Melting Pot didn't work out. :( I'm bummed, but we were able to find somewhere else for dinner. It'll be fun just to have a nice dinner without Baylee, and she'll have a lot of fun playing with her cousins. I think Anna and Ryan are looking forward to no kids also. So, Valentine's Day should be fun, I hope!

Speaking of Valentines Day.....So, tonight is the Youth Valentine's Dance ages 12 and up and I get to go be a chaparone. I'm just hoping I don't get asked by one of the young men to dance....

Another Wasted Saturday

It's no secret that we really need a new car. So, last week I was looking at cars online and noticed the Jeep Patriot. We've been trying to find a car we can lease for somewhere around $200-$250 a month. So, online it showed that even if we got the Limited edition with a GPS and 15000 miles a year, it should only be $288. A little more than we wanted to spend (since we don't know what our job situation will be in a month or two), but we thought we would probably be able to even do that one. So, Saturday Ben and his dad went to the Jeep dealership to get one. Ben was there for quite awhile and called me to see if I would be fine with a Sport instead of Limited and no GPS, since we have a portable one that was just as good. Fine with me, and it was a smaller payment. Well, Ben ended up bringing back our Jetta. No new Jeep Patriot. When he went to work the numbers with them, it was going to be about $350 a month, even though that one should have been around $230 online. Quite a bit of a difference. So, once again a Saturday was wasted at a car dealership, and we missed our friends Evan and Brooke who we haven't seen since before Thanksgiving I think (they were down here on Saturday). I am so sick of looking for cars!!! Especially the part where someone (or the website) tells you they can get the car for a good price and then you get to the dealership and it's not that price. AHHHH!!!

On the good side of Saturday, in an effort to get me in a better mood, Ben took me to get my favorite cupcakes and to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in Emeryville. It was all very yummy!!!!

Brittany, Will YOU be my Valentine

Hey Britt,

I know we already have plans to go to the melting pot on Valentines Day with Ryan and Annie. And I know that you want flowers but I hate how the flower companies jack up (I mean really jack up) the prices around this time for them. And I know that I am a little different. But will you BE MY VALENTINE. You are the only one I would want as my Valentine. I guess Baylee can be my valentine to but I want a REAL valentine. There are many other Hearts in the ocean waiting to get gobbled up by you but I hope you will choose me. Look at me girl, aren't I so neat. Wouldn't you think your collection would be complete? Wouldn't you think you were the girl, the girl who has ... Everything? (Song to the tune of Part of your World in Little Mermaid.) I would love to be the final piece in your collection. I want to be a part of your world. I will do my best to not slobber all over the place and have some manners at dinner. So please choose me. Please let me be YOUR valentine.

You might be thinking I am a little weird right now. And you might be thinking that you don't want to be my valentine. You might as well grade my heart like a piece of cheese if you are going to say NO!!! But it’s OK to feel that way. I have a trick up my sleeve. I made a little something for you that will make you want me no matter what. Here it is. Enjoy:

JibJab Sendables!

Girl, I’m here for you. All those 1 times of night when you choose Baylee as you Valentine. And just ran out with that Baylee. Baby, I knew about it, I just didn’t care. You just don’t understand how much I want YOU to be my Valentine, do you? I’m here for you, baby. I am here for you! (Boyz II Men, End of the Road. When that guy with the deep voice does his sexy talking.)

I Love you Brittany! Give me a chance. LOVES AND KISSES and X’s and O’s

Love,

Ben “The PARTY Machine” (A ROAR comes from the crowd) HHHHAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas we decided, partly because we were traveling, not to do Christmas presents. So, instead, we decided we would take a trip somewhere. Our somewhere ended up being DISNEYLAND! and it ended up being this past weekend. Baylee was so excited to go and kept reminding us that Disneyland is where Minnie Mouse is. We drove down to Southern California on Thursday night and stayed at Ben's sister, Missy's, house and then her and her two boys joined us at Disneyland for a little while on Friday! So, here's some pictures from Disneyland:

First thing we did when we got to Disneyland was try to get into the Blue Bayou restaurant (the one in the middle of the Pirates of the Carribean ride). Since it was a little before 11:30 we got right in! The kids loved it and actually behaved very well. The kids menu folded into a cute little pirate hat! The food was really good, a little pricey, but very filling! It was such a fun little place to eat!
We went a on few rides and eventually made it into Fantasyland where all the lines were either long or broken (we had bad luck with rides being broken or breaking while we were on them...). Baylee really wanted to go on the Dumbo ride, but she settled for sitting in this one instead.
We got Baylee some Mickey ears and then headed over to Toon Town. Baylee loved Minnie's house. Minnie walked through it while we were in there, but she was in quite a hurry to get somewhere.

We also went through Mickey's house, which was a lot bigger than Minnie's. At the end the kids got to meet him! Baylee was a little freaked out about meeting the characters up close.
Also in Toon Town was a little playground where we were able to let the kids just run around and play. Baylee's favorite was of course the slide. As soon as she got down she ran around the corner to go again and again and again and again.........
While we were at the playground we noticed Minnie had reappeared to do a meet and greet. We took Baylee over and she was so excited in line! She kept pointing and saying "Minnie!", but of course, as soon as we got her up there she freaked out a little. We also met Pooh and Eeyore earlier in the day. Toontown was where the picture taking somehow stopped.

Missy and the kids left us after that. We stayed and went on a few more rides and then ate at ESPN restaurant. We stayed for the fireworks and then drove to Ben's sister, Jenny's house.

Saturday we hung out with Jenny and Andre and kids. Ben worked out with Andre and Jenny and I took the kids for a walk and to play at the playground. Mike and Laura and Abigail came down and we all went for lunch, where Andre gave us a little lesson in Veitnamese food. Afterwards the girls went shopping at the outlets, except for Baylee who stayed with Ben (it was nice for me to have a break), and the boys played at Jenny and Andre's. After the girls got back the boys cooked us breakfast for dinner! It was soooo yummy!

Yesterday we were planning to go to California Adventure (we had a 2fer pass) for a few hours, but it was pouring. Ben had to finish some homework, so I got Baylee down for a nap and then went out and ran a mile on the treadmill. It was the first time I had run, or even worked out really, in about six years..... it took me a little while to finish (13:45) and I didn't have good shoes, but I was proud of myself for doing it. Later we got lunch at Boston Market (it was one of my favs when we lived in Colorado) and went to the mall to get some gifts. We stopped back at Jenny and Andre's for a little bit and then headed to Missy and Brant's for dinner. Baylee had fun playing with the kids before we left to drive back home. We did manage to get a couple more pictures, including this one:Missy and I think it's pretty funny that Baylee and Charlie are the same size. They both weigh 22 pounds, and are almost the same height, and Charlie is about 6 months younger than Baylee. We love that they both have curly hair!

We had a really fun time this weekend and wish it could have lasted longer! We are hoping that we will be able to go to Spring Training next month (that would be our next vacation), but we aren't sure yet with Ben having finals and graduating. We'll see! He's almost done!!!!!!!

Oh, yeah, and Merry Christmas to Ben and Baylee!