First Word?

Patrick gibber gabbers all the time, and he says mama and dad, but I have been trying to listen for a real "first word." I think I have heard him say, three times now, "hot." The first time we were getting in the car and he was standing in the seat while I put his carseat back in the car. He touched one of the little metal hooks and said "hot." I was surprised and said, "yes, that is hot." Then yesterday I was feeding him and didn't get the first bite cooled off quite enough, so he spit it out and said, "hot." I am a little surprised that this is his first word, but you never know, right? I don't think I say it all that often. I think I say "ball" a lot more often, but this is the word he has picked up. He can also so "ssssss" when he sees a picture of a snake.

As far a walking goes, on my birthday he took four steps for me, and I was so surprised I started laughing, which make Patrick laugh, so we got in a big laughing fit. Each day he takes a few steps, but nothing substantial yet. Maybe next month.

My Birthday

My birthday this year was very relaxing, which I enjoyed. Every once in a while I like to do something big, but mostly I enjoy a birthday like I had this year. I was able to sleep in until 8, which is two hours later than normal, so that was nice. Reed's one appointment was canceled, so he was able to hang out with us all day, which I liked the best. We watched some movies that Reed got me, cooked my birthday dinner, and just had a great day. For my dinner this year I picked lasagna with salad and french bread, and yummy cheesecake for dessert!

Amy and Marco came for dinner, so we didn't have to eat by ourselves, which was great, and everything turned out fabulous! The lasagna and cheesecake were the best recipes I have ever found, so if you are interested, let me know, and I will pass them along!

Aquarium

We went to the Downtown Aquarium on Saturday because I told Reed several months ago that I wanted to do that for my birthday. The aquarium was fun, and Patrick enjoyed it even though he was super tired. There was lots of stuff at stroller-level for him to look at and lots of glass to bang on. He really like the sting ray tank at the end. He almost fell in several times. We got to touch the sting rays, and they were a lot more active than I thought they were! They even have one exhibit with three tigers and tons of fish around their island. Now I am super excited for the Monterey Bay Aquarium whenever we make it to California.

Here we are by some nurse sharks. There were three of them lying on top of each other napping. This was in a large tunnel were you could see everything around you. There were some large sea turtles swimming around and lots of scuba divers.


Patrick inside of a old scuba uniform that you can take pictures in.

Yummy Cornbread

I made chili for dinner tonight and wanted to have some yummy cornbread to go with it, but something a little different. So I found a recipe and adapted it a bit, and I want to share to recipe because I think it turned out great!

1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
8.5 oz can of creamed corn
4 oz can diced green chilies
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup grated monterey jack cheese

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Mix the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowl, then combine just until everything is moist. Bake in an 8x8 pan (that you have sprayed) and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until your toothpick comes out clean.

Let me know if anyone tries this and likes it. The cornbread is moist, a little sweet, but not spicy. I think it is just right!

Thunder Storm

Tonight we had a pretty good thunder storm during dinner. Afterward, Patrick was standing by the sliding door, mesmerized by the rain. The door was open, and the rain was coming down pretty hard so that it was splashing a little through the screen door. Patrick was just in his diaper since it was almost bath time, so I opened the door to see what he would do. He crawled out onto the patio without hesitation, sat in the hard rain for about two seconds, and turned straight around. He sat down right at the edge of the door, where he was still getting pretty wet, and watched the rain. Every few minutes he would lean forward as if to try again, and then remember the rain and sit back down. When he got tired of this, he found blankie and covered up to get warm.

I wish we had a video camera to record this, but we don't, so you will have to imagine how cute he was.

House Hunting is Hard!

Just for an update . . .

We have put in about seven bids in the last month, but alas, nothing has panned out yet. We are trying not to get too discouraged, but its hard to not always feel rejected! Especially when we like the houses a lot. We are just going to keep on truckin'! We will let you know if anything pans out soon.

Fun with Family

My family came to visit last week, and we had a nice time visiting with them. We took them all over town! One day we went to the zoo, the next we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and then the third day we went to the Colorado Railroad Museum! It was a full weekend, and by the end Patrick was exhausted I think. He was really patient as we went all over town and interrupted all of his naps. He has fun playing with Tyson and Sariah, and I think they especially loved the pool. They went to church with us on Sunday, and Sariah got to be in my class. When I introduced them in Sharing Time, everyone had a hard time figuring out that they were my brother and sister. We are very glad they make the long drive all they way here to see us. We hope they enjoyed Colorado and it was worth their time.


Tyson and Sariah had more fun than it looks. They just didn't want it documented.


Patrick, of course, loves the zoo. Roar!


Come on guys! I have so much more to show you!


Practicing high fives!


It was hot . . .


Chilling with Grandma. It was nice to have more hands to carry him.


Of course, the train and carousel were the best part!

Ball House

Aunt Amy gave Patrick a fun ball house for his birthday. She gives great presents; we never would have thought to get this for him. He is a little intimidated yet, but I think he will warm up to it--there are balls!

Corn on the Cob!

Patrick ate corn on the cob last night for the first time and loved it. I usually scrap some corn off for him, but he wanted mine, so I let him try a bite, and he had it all figured out. We will definitely have to try that again before summer is out.

I Won!

We had a ward "Pie-oneer" Day party last night, and there was a pie cook-off. I made an apple pie for the contest, and I won on both presentation and taste! This is the best pie I think I have ever made. The top took me quite a bit of time, but I enjoyed doing it.