"Do you know why people take a nap?"

"...cause when they wake up, they smile." - Kaia Short

Sounds about right to me.

Micah is growin up!

Today is Micah's five month birthday.  He's been turning over for about a month now, but I filmed some cute footage of him today!  (turn up your volume to catch his giggles); He's such a happy and fun little guy.  And has a strong *strong* preference for mom putting him to sleep at night.  No easy feat for David as I went out to dinner and dessert with some girlfriends tonight.  It was so wonderful to get out.  David did a great job as Micah rejected the bottle and cried quite a bit...through all of our texts, he never let on because he wanted me to have a wonderful time.  Love you David!

Micah on his zero birthday. :)

Micah on his 5 month birthday!

Bad Hair Day

This was my conversation with Kaia earlier today:

"Dad, you should get a haircut."

"I did get a haircut recently. See? Do you like it?"

"No, it doesn't look too good."

haha. Nice....thanks Kaia.

Let it be known...

My wife is amazing. Let me repeat that... my wife is amazing!

I'll skip telling you about her 30+ years of amazing-ness, and instead focus on the last few days in which she has celebrated my birthday.

It started with the morning of my birthday, with her making brownies and lemon squares for me to bring into work. My coworkers devoured them in celebration (ok, to be fair, only about half probably knew it was my birthday).

Then she secured some ultra limited tickets to the Mat Kearney concert that was coincidentally performing midday on my birthday. The show was an intimate acoustic performance for less than 30 people. It was awesome. After I was done with work, she gave me some wonderful gifts at home, including a game that I've been wanting for a while!! Then it was off to dinner with my family and hers at Red Lobster (one of my favorites... yes I know it's a chain, but I love it nonetheless). It was a great meal and a good end to the night.

As if all of that wasn't enough, she totally floored me by throwing a crazy surprise party on Saturday!! (Mind you, she's doing all of this while taking care of our two-month old baby and our 3 year old toddler, and juggling her own job responsibilities at school.) It was incredible. So many friends, great homemade tacos and fun games. I could go into much much more detail about the party, but I'll leave it at that (pictures and maybe video will come soon). Incredible.

Suffice it to say, I'm thoroughly blessed with an amazing wife.

Thank you Eileen.

"...and this bed is just right"

I came home from playing tennis tonight to find an odd sight. The house was quiet, which wasn't all that abnormal since Kaia should be sleeping and Eileen would usually be found on the couch doing some school work. However, tonight it felt really quiet.

I walked thru the house and didn't find Eileen, so I headed back to our room since that must be where she was. Well, she was there, but so was someone else. This is the sight I was treated with:

So cute! Anyway, after I put Kaia back into her bed, I heard the whole story from Eileen.

Kaia was put to sleep at her normal time, roughly the same time I left for tennis. Everything was normal until Eileen heard Kaia call for her. (Side note: Kaia never has any trouble staying in her bed. She's always done really well with that and we're blessed that she goes to sleep so well.) So, when Kaia called for Mom, Eileen went to check on her. When arriving at Kaia's room, there was no little girl. Eileen heard Kaia again, and this time the cute little voice was apparently coming from our master bedroom. Kaia had brought all of her sleeping essentials (lovey, blankies, stuffed animals, dolls, etc) into our bed and snuggled up amongst our big pillows and jazz. Hilarious. Eileen joined her and Kaia began cuddling with her. Eileen couldn't resist and so that's how I found my beautiful girls when I got home.

Awww...

A Flash of Production

Any way you cut it... any way you define it... I'm a genuine first class procrastinator. I can procrastinate with the best'em. In fact, you could say I put the pro in procrastinate. I'm not sure where I got this talent or how long it took me to hone this skill, but I would bet it has something to do with the combination of me wanting to do things just right and me wanting to avoid stepping out of my routine.

That being said, every once in a while, I will have a productive streak. A time when I get a lot done and feel really energized while finishing task after task. It can last a little as a few hours or snowball over the course of several days.

Thankfully, I have recently been in such a productive mode. Very cool. Here's a list of items I've accomplished since Monday: changed the oil on the Altima, fixed a fan, replaced the a/c air filter, built Kaia's play shopping cart, fixed the toilet, did insurance stuff, finished some design work, organized part of the garage, etc.

Even as I'm writing this list, the items seem so insignificant and simple. But these are things that I keep putting off and putting off. They take me forever to do and collectively they become daunting.

Here's to the snowball continuing...

Happiness

Well, I've been "kinda sorta" tagged by Becca and thought this was a cute idea.

Ten Things that Make Me Happy:

1) Cuddling with David while watching a movie. Actually doing just about anything with him.

2) Cuddling with Kaia while reading a book. Or doing fun acrobatic tricks with her...you'll have to ask for a demo.

3) Sitting on the beach, eyes closed, listening to the waves.

4) Taking a bath - every.single.night

5) Worshiping with friends and eating brunch Sunday mornings at Ryan & Abby's house.

6) Spending time with my g's (a.k.a. girlfriends).

7) Swimming.

8) Staying up late. Sleeping in (thank you very much David!).

9) Working at D.Sky and its wonderful folks.

10) Realizing how God has so richly blessed our lives with supportive and loving and just flat-out wonderful friends and family.


And here is where I’m supposed to tag 10 people… How about you tag yourself, though, because I don’t want to pressure anyone.

I would love to read what makes you happy!

Catch up

I know, I've been a-slacking...basically ever since this blog began. I'm hoping during this month of June to be more consistent since school's out of session.

I have many reasons/excuses as to why I don't blog:
1) I do so much work on my computer that more time online isn't that appealing.
2) What do I blog about? My friends' blogs are seriously amazing...talk about intimidating. Here are some of my faves:
Food blog by Jessie: http://jessieheaviland.blogspot.com/
Family blog by Becca (so funny!): http://ourcrazyboys.com/ - also, she's a pro-blogger, if you've got questions, she's your woman)
Family blog by Abby (so interesting!): http://ryanandabbygreen.blogspot.com/
These women also happen to be among the most amazingly talented, fun, and most wonderful people I know!
3) This blog wasn't my idea or creation (ahem, David)

BUT...it's a terrific way to document life and share it with friends and family.

Now, onto the catch up piece...

This spring, lots of time outdoors.
Dad with his granddaughters:




Grandma with her grandkids (Lisa & I):




BFFs:




Fun at the zoo with Rachel (in the log), Gideon and Jack (train pic):





After David's Birthday and his party, came our trip to San Diego:

We headed out to CA with my parents, grandma and, of course, David and Kaia



Had an amazing time with the Lothspeich's (David's longtime friends/fam):




We were so excited to spend time with Christy:




And the beach!!!!!!



We arrived back from the San Diego the day before Kaia's 2nd birthday!

Here's the birthday girl on her big day heading down to the park:




And for her bday party, she had a tutu party (seeing as she's 2 now, and her birthday is on the 22nd: 2-2). Check out this post for more: http://ryanandabbygreen.blogspot.com/2010/04/tu-cute.html

Kaia with her cousin Hannah:




Friend Dominic:




Chasing Bubbles:




Anita and Lisa celebrating Kaia:




Mother's Day (my mom, Lisa, Kaia & I):




And a few firsts:

Big Girl Bed:



First pair of pigtails:




First poo in potty:

It's here!!

Well the movie trailer I posted way back when is finally in theaters! In Tucson, I've found it at El Con.
Click here if you want to check out the trailer to this fascinating documentary! And comment/email me if you want to go see it with me. :)

David's 30!!!

For David's 30th, I knew I wanted to do something to really kick off the next 30 years. I considered a murder-mystery dinner, 3 different parties each with different groups of friends (one for each decade), or one big sha-bang. After picking the brain of a couple friends and presenting options to David, we went with the latter option...big party with scavenger hunt and dinner. My original ideas for the scav hunt were much simpler than what we ended up doing...but thanks to David, we ended up with a hunt that was perfectly complex and well-designed for the time limit and groupings of people that competed. So, here's a break up of the evening...it really was nearly the perfect party (except Samantha got scraped up pretty good (good news that she and baby are doing just fine)...darn competitiveness).

1) Scavenger hunt. Teams consisted of two cars each (6-10 players) for a total of 3 teams. Each team was given a sheet with 9 pictures (within a 3 mile radius on our side of town). Teams received 100 points for getting a picture of their team in each location. If they didn't recognize the location of the picture...there were hints below in the form of puzzles.

(Click on image above if you want to see it larger.)

On the other side of the paper, were 30 "extras" to throw into pictures...each being worth 10 points. These included things like a pic near a convertible, in a drive thru, with a biker, ...

One of the extras was a picture with David (this one was worth 100 points). He went to 3 random places and texted teams with his location...needless to say, this "extra" was enticing to all and each team ended up scoring pictures with the birthday boy himself (and this made D very happy!).


Bonuses were given to teams who arrived back before 5:55pm and a bonus was also given to the team with the fewest pictures - it was awesome seeing "grown ups" sprinting towards the house trying to make the deadline. All teams made it back before the 6:00 deadline...and the winning team ended up being the team who received the fewest pictures bonus. Myself, 3 babysitters, all the kidos, Abby and Ezra stayed behind. The babysitters (Lydia, Jennifer, Beka) were incredible...the kids all had a blast. This allowed me to do a few minor setups for dinner and enjoy my time.

Above: Winning team #3 in their Beatles-esque/Abbey Road pose


Team "doing what the sign says." (See "Open" sign in window). :D


Fight scene!


2) Dinner. El Molinito arrived, set up the Mexican buffet, and left before the teams returned. Shortly after returning at 6:00, people started eating. We had 4 large, circular tables set up in the backyard...we were able to borrow tables and chairs from my school (& a church that meets at my school)...David's coworker Dave and his kids Savannah and Jake helped us to transport these to our home and then back to the school! It was so nice of them...and saved us a bunch of $$$. At dinner, it was awesome to see people that didn't know each other previously mingling. David had a chance to sit at each table and catch up with most everyone. For dessert, we had donuts...those who truly know David weren't surprised one bit with that choice (vs. cake).

Having the babysitters there the whole time was awesome for me and the other parents as they got to have fun running around town with their spouse and team and then being able to sit back and enjoy dinner.

Above: Lydia working her magic with the kids.

Several people weren't able to come until dinner time...I believe the party maxed out at about 50 guests, ranging in age from 10 days to 86 years!

Above: Ezra with Daddy Ryan: born April 1st, 2010

Most importantly, David was on a high for days following the party. The party, all the pictures of friends and family, will be forever remembered. Thanks to everyone who made this day of celebration so memorable and joyous!

Best. Birthday. Gift. Ever.

I turned 30 years old on Wednesday. 30! I’m stoked. Despite the fact that my actual birthday was a few days ago, I actually started celebrating last weekend. Eileen threw me a party last Sunday… and not just any party, but an incredible scavenger hunt party with almost 50 of my friends and family!! I’ll let her tell you about the specifics of how she planned it and how it came together, but I just wanted to try to express how great of a gift this was for me.

When Eileen asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday party, I brainstormed for awhile with her and we eventually arrived at the scavenger hunt idea. Most people know that I enjoy playing games, so this idea was perfect. It allowed me to share my love for games, hang out with a large amount of people I care about, and create a memorable unifying event that I will remember forever.

Obviously, I knew I would like the party, but I wasn’t braced for just how much I would enjoy it. I have been on a super high ever since it started! Here were all these people representing all the many parts of my life, all in my house, all at the same time. There were friends from work, from church, from playing games, from playing sports and from school; not to mention family from my side and Eileen’s. It was beautiful.

I had the pleasure of watching them have fun doing the scavenger hunt. The laughter, the playful competitiveness, the joy. And to think that most of these people were strangers before the hunt started. I love watching people come together over a good game. On top of all of this, I have the whole night documented with pictures from the hunt, as well as from the dinner afterwards in our backyard. The conversations were awesome. The smiles and hugs were aplenty. And the love everyone showed me was unforgettable.

And as if this wasn’t enough, after Eileen and I cleaned the disaster that was our house… we sat outside under the stars, held hands and talked. Priceless.

Well, I’m blessed to say the least. And I truly feel humbled to have such amazing people around me shower me with their gifts of love and joy.

Thanks to everyone for showing up. For being there for me. For thinking of me. For making me feel special.

And a special thanks to my wife, Eileen. You’re amazing. Thank you.

Best. Birthday. Gift. Ever.

...

One Down...Many More to Go...

So, I check my email the other day and find this...

"Congratulations on completing the IDP training unit requirements!"

Boo yah. This basically means that I'm now officially qualified to start taking all of my architecture tests. Big thanks to Eileen for helping me with all the paperwork and jazz. Oh the paperwork.

With this latest milestone met, I now have nothing stopping me from becoming an architect... except of course those 7 tests.

Sigh.

"I wanna read a book."

When Eileen and/or I go to see Kaia in the morning, it's common for her to ask for whatever parent isn't there ("Mommy?", "Daddy?") or talk about her blanket or her "lovey". But lately, she has bypassed all of those other pleasantries and gone straight to the point "I wanna read a book." This makes me smile every time. It's so cute. I love reading with her and watching as her growing mind takes in new pieces of information. Beautiful.

Learning so much

I've been learning a lot about 1-year-olds recently...well, Kaia, specifically. Who knew that reverse psychology works at this age? Or that she would climb up everything? Or love my friend Abby so much that she says her name anytime I mention the word friend? Or be so fascinated with gum, that anytime I dig in my purse, she'd ask for it then proceed in a mini-tantrum when I said no? Or kiss our faces anytime David or I fell asleep (yes, we now pretend to sleep to enjoy these even more frequently)? Or enjoy giving her friends a ride on her toy bus?

This afternoon, D and I were blown away once again - she grabbed a much-loved Clementine out of the fruit bowl, peeled it, and ate it...all without any adult interference.

How does this happen? :)

This & That

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a wonderful lunch at Tanque Verde Guest Ranch to celebrate my mom's birthday...it was very relaxing as Kaia stayed home with sitter Jen to nap. Even got to relax by the pool for awhile. (If you haven't been here for lunch, you need to go. Awesome ranch, one of the best buffets (mmmm...dessert table) out there!)

After Kaia's nap, we headed to The Children's Museum, Jason's Deli for a salad, then to Elements church service. It sounds like we did a lot today, and you might be thinking that we had a ton of energy. But truth is D and I have been pretty sleepy all day. Getting out the house is energizing for both of us and Kaia had a blast too. :)

My friend Jessie has now visited the top 10 restaurants in Seattle. I went to check out Tucson's top 10. I was born and raised here and have not been to all of the top 10. We'll have to see what we can do to fix that - anyone want to go out? (I need to hit 2, 3, 8, & 9) Number 1 is Cafe Poca Cosa which is a favorite of mine, so I feel like I can trust this list.:)
http://www.urbanspoon.com/lb/59/best-restaurants-Tucson

Oh, and David and I have decided each year to celebrate Valentine's Day on the weekend closest to the 26th of February (since our anniversary is on May 26th). Just want to avoid the crowds, limited menus and expensive flowers...and be a little different. Hmmm...maybe we'll hit #2 (the restaurant, that is) that weekend. :)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend (& that you get tomorrow (Pres Day) off!).

Queen of Clean (for a couple hours)

D & I are pretty good at keeping our public areas clean. Recently (the last few months) our master bedroom has been the catch-all. It's awesome working from home, but there's only so much I can do before I must go to sleep. Usually keeping the kitchen clean and semi-caught-up with the laundry is about it. (D does the rest.)

So, here's a real, before picture of our bedroom in late October. I know it looks like we messed it up intentionally. (disclaimer: if you're one of those incredibly organized friends of mine (ahem J.H., M.G., A.G., R.L.) and seeing a *really* messy room might jeopardize your friendship with me, then please, please close this window NOW!!!) :)


Tonight, after returning from dinner with some girlfriends, David and I channeled our energy toward tidying up. :) We still have a small box of stuff to go through (you can see it on the dresser near the window)and a few more items to find homes for, but I think you'll agree...drastic difference! We want to paint the walls behind the bed and the window wall...I just want it to be calming (not red)...any suggestions?



Oh, also organized our bathroom. :) Couple things that helped to clear off the countertop was 1) putting my curlers in the drawer (& David drilling holes in the cabinet to get the cord to an outlet. You can see the drilled hole in the last pic of this post) and 2) installing a hair dryer holster on the side of the cabinet (thx D!).



So, I'm gonna be brave and tell you my next project...maybe I'll actually get it done before spring. :) Kaia's closet (was supposed to clean this the week before her due date, but that's when she decided to join us). What's yours?

Girl Time!

What a fabulous weekend so far! Friday night was going to kickoff with some girls from work, sitting out on Kristin's patio (heated), eating, drinking and chatting. Too many people canceled, so we'll be picking a new date. :) My friend Melissa texted a bunch of us on Thursday for a movie night on Friday - ALL of us were able to make it! We had amazing food (choc covered nuts and cherries, hummus, rock-hard rice krispies, ...), watched a heart-warming movie (Fried Green Tomatoes), and had lots of chatting & laughter. Most of these ladies go to bed far earlier than I...we couldn't believe it was nearly 1am when we said goodbye!

Tonight (Saturday) was another girls' night - planned a couple months ago. Six of us met up at Olive Garden (along with 2 cute infants who were wonderful the whole time). We had a great time re-connecting over a 2 hour dinner and having a little break from the kidos (thanks to all our guys!).

I felt so energized, I came home and David and I "tore it up" cleaning the house. Check out the next post...I'm even going to post a before picture (gulp!).

Sorry no pics - gotta get in the blog-mindset.

Fourth Friday Fondue Fun with Friends

Tonight, we had our good friends Ryan and Abby over for fondue (sidenote: we really missed you, Giambellucas). It was delicious. Here's a brief run down of the menu...
-Cheddar cheese fondue with apples, carrots, and bread to dip
-Vegetable stock based fondue which we used to cook our raw steak, chicken & shrimp (complete with dipping sauces: Green Goddess (Melting Pot recipe), Teriyaki sauce, & Cocktail Sauce
-Dark Chocolate, Raspberry fondue with strawberries, bananas and pears for dipping

The best part was how much time we spent chatting as we ate a fun and leisurely dinner. Afterwards we chatted more and played a few rounds of "No Thanks." Thanks to Ryan for the words of wisdom which helped me to win my first round ever. :) And, Abby, very impressive...a prego lady (3rd trimester) (who wakes up around 4-5 am) and was here until midnight. (sidenote #2: Jessie, she's really awesome - not weird at all!)

Here's a few pics. Highly recommend this meal as a great way to connect with your spouse and/or friends. Email me, and I can send you more specific fondue-makin' directions. :)

Ewwww!!

This post is mainly for David's family...mostly Tim, but all will appreciate it. See the Short brothers do some weird stuff to one another like kick each other's butts (literally, but with fists and for fun). One of D's brothers also yanks on his dad's elbow (all that extra "bow skin"). But the one that grosses me out the most is when he bends his ear (or his un-suspecting brothers' or parents') forward. I have a really hard time watching...eww! Shouldn't ears have enough cartilage to prevent the top of the ear from touching the lobe? I'm shuddering as I describe this. Well, as I was getting Kaia out of the van, I noticed some ear action. The camera was right there, so I got a bit of it on tape. Enjoy Short fam! :)

Baby Movie

This movie trailer caught my attention. The story of 4 babies' first year in 4 different parts of the world: Namibia, Mongolia, Japan, & the US.