Oh Suzanna!

Tyler and I knew each other for about two and a half years before we actually started dating. Little did I know when we first met I would be falling in love with him a few years later. On our second date I remember thinking I could end up with a guy like him and the third time we hung out, I knew that he was the guy like him that I wanted to end up with. We were at his house, hanging out in his bedroom talking about who knows what when Tyler opened up his drawer and pulled out a harmonica. He started playing "Old Suzanna"  and then asked me if I wanted to make a request. I asked what he could play and he responded that he could play "Old Suzanna" or any song out of the hymn book. His brother had sent him the harmonica on his mission (thanks Todd!) and Tyler had pretty much learned the whole hymn book those two years he was gone. While we sat in his room, me requesting songs and him playing them, I knew he was the guy for me. I loved that he could play any song out of the hymn book on the harmonica.. how cute is that? I mean really?
This morning Tyler, Owen and I were hanging out in our room playing around when Tyler opened his drawer and pulled out the same harmonica he played for me on our third date and started to play "Old Suzanna". Owen immediately started bouncing up and down, letting me know he wanted to dance to the music and we spent the next half hour dancing.
I had no idea five years ago that I would spend the rest of my life with Tyler but this morning, I couldn't help getting teary eyed thinking about how lucky I was to have ended up in my bedroom dancing with my little guy to hymns being played on a harmonica.

Thank you Anne Kolb

Last Saturday it was around noon when I looked around and realized that Tyler, me and Owen were all still in our pajamas, watching TV and being completely unproductive. Then I looked outside and all I saw were blue skies. I figured that we better take advantage of the 80 degree weather we were having. So, I talked Tyler into jumping online and finding something for us to do. Here is where we ended up:

Ok, so you can't tell where we are from this picture (oh but aren't they handsome?) but it is a park about ten miles South of here called Anne Kolb Park and Nature Center. I don't know who Anne Kolb is but I thank her for her park. It was gorgeous! They had these cute little nature walks out to gazebo's that looked out to water.  Like this:

BTW... for all of you eco-friendly people out there, the nature walkways are all made out of recycled plastic, how cool is that?

I had a few favorite things about this place. First the mangroves. Do you know what mangroves are? I didn't... but it's a kind of tree. It doesn't sound like a tree does it? It sounds like something made up. Tyler kept pointing to the side of the nature trail and saying things about the mangroves. So much of the time I can't tell if Tyler is serious or not so I really thought he had just made up the name mangrove but it turns out he didn't. It's real and it's beautiful. See...

Ok, so in this picture, it may look just swampy but in real life, it's gorgeous. You'll all see when you come out to visit us.

So on our way to one of the gazebos, we passed a little museum. It only cost one dollar to go in so we figured it would be worth it. Although we probably won't be taking anybody else there anytime soon, it was totally worth it for Owen. There was a nurse shark and a fish swimming around and he couldn't get enough. 

And I couldn't get enough of this:

Does anyone know how a seahorse swims? I was trying to see if those little things on his back were fluttering but I couldn't tell, I was so curious I looked it up when I got home. (Thanks google!) Those things on their backs are fins and they propel them forward and then they have other fins behind their eyes that help them steer. Interesting right? Maybe not to you but to me it was.

A few more things they had to offer there that we didn't have time to take advantage of were kayaks, paddle boats, basketball, volleyball, a little water park and fishing. We plan on heading back there with each of you when you come out to see us. Do you notice I keep mentioning you coming out to see us? If I keep planning on it, you've got to come right? Especially if I keep enticing you with places like the Anne Kolb Park and Nature Center.

Celebs

So we saw these guys at dinner the other night...

If you don't know who that is, it's Anna Kornikova and Enrique Iglesias. Not really A-listers but still kind of fun to look over at the next table and see that some celebrities are sitting by you.

And speaking of Celebrities, I have something embarrassing to admit... once upon a time, I was a celebrity news addict.  I loved nothing more than to sit down with a bag of peanut m&m's and a People magazine. I knew all of the top celebs, who they were dating, what they were wearing, where they were living. I loved the section in US where they talk about how "they are just like us... see they go to the same restaurants", etc. In the past few years, I've kind of grown out of the star gazer that I once was, mostly because I don't work at a dental office where I have People magazines at my disposal but there are still a few celebs that I like to keep up on. Tonight at dinner Tyler told me some very disturbing news about my favorite Hollywood couple. These people, right here:

Don't they look happy? I always thought they were the best couple. When Sandra Bullock won an award for The Blindside and she was thanking her amazing husband, I cried (I realize this isn't that uncommon for me to cry at something so small, but still). Anyway, like I was saying, tonight at dinner Tyler let me know that they are splitsters. Apparently, Jesse found love in the tattooed arms of another woman and I'm honest to goodness sad about it. How could this happen? Is it too much to ask that some Hollywood couples don't cheat on each other? I guess not.
Well, this post has nothing to do with us being Florhodeians so can you forgive me for blogging about something so unimportant to anyone out there but Sandra? I just had to get it off my chest.
And just for the heck of it... isn't this a handsome little bugger? He just got a hair cut.

The Luck of the Irish

So tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, my personal favorite holiday of the year because it's also the anniversary of one of the best days of my life. Tomorrow will be mine and Tyler's three year anniversary. Last night we went to dinner with a few friends and I was talking about our courtship and how I pretty much chased Tyler for two and a half years before he actually gave in an married me. While we were dating my mom would ask me if I really thought it was worth all of the chasing. Don't get me wrong, my parents loved Tyler (because who wouldn't?) but she was just worried that I was investing a lot of time into someone who just wasn't in love with me. But, I just knew that we were meant to be together. I was in love with him and he just seemed like my perfect match. And guess what... it only took him two and a half years to realize he was in love with me too. And he was well worth the wait.

Every day I am so grateful that I married my best friend, a person who can make me laugh so hard that I get this weird donkey laugh going, who I can talk to about anything, who is the most amazing father to Owen, who makes me want to be a better person, who can grill the most amazing tri-tip you've ever tasted, who assures me it's just the way my shirt was hanging when someone asks me when my second baby is due, who can do the best Donald Duck impersination you've ever heard and someone who has taught me that bad TV can actually be really good if you're watching it with the right person.
The list could go on and on but I don't want to bore the few of you that read this blog with too much cheesiness. I just want to say that I'm so grateful that Tyler finally gave in to my persistance and I can't wait to see what our future has in store for us. And just for memories sake, here are a couple of our favorite pics from that day...

mmmm.... isn't he handsome? I can't wait to see where the journey called life takes us together. Happy Anniversay you sexy sexy man!

When push comes to shove...

While we lived with my parents for the month before we moved to Florida, my parents got this little ice cream truck for Owen that he could push around. You know the ones that they can ride on or they can push from the back? Well, he fell in love with it. At the time, Owen loved to ride on it, he didn't understand the appeal of pushing it. However, once he started pushing it, he's come to realize that he loves pushing anything, whether it's meant to be pushed around or not. No matter what it is, if he sees that he can use leverage to push an object, he'll do it. Just a few examples...

A bookcase for my "Little House on the Prairie" books. He dumps them all out and pushes just the case around.

This is a high chair at a restaurant. When we took him out to go get in the car, he immediately wanted out of my arms to push this around.

Laundry is by far his favorite chore because he can push the laundry basket around while I'm folding clothes.

This is a chair from our kitchen table. As you can see, the ice cream truck is sitting in the background waiting to be pushed but Owen wasn't having it. He was all about making the kitchen chair move.

This one is not so weird, at least the stroller has wheels. He is not a fan of riding in it but he loves to get out and push.

Tyler and I keep speculating what kind of profession a person could have with a love for pushing things. We haven't come up with much. My mom mentioned that he could push a broom around, maybe be a janitor and she also mentioned that he could be the guys who work for the grocery stores that have to push the carts back into the store. Tyler likes to think more along the lines of an offensive lineman. Any other thoughts out there? Please give me some hope that my child will do more than want to push a broom around...

I feel like it's the day after Christmas...

You know how you look forward to it for months up to that day? Then the day comes and it's just as great as you had hoped it would be but before you know it, it's over. Well... that's how I feel today. The week before we moved here my mom and I sat down and planned her first trip out here. We wanted an exact date to look forward to once I got here. Well, for that month between when we moved here and when my mom arrived, it was about all I could think of. I couldn't wait to show her our cute little house and the area we live in and all of the things that we have already come to love about Ft. Lauderdale. The days leading up to her arrival, I was writing down all of these things I wanted to do with her; I thought we could go the Farmer's Market and concerts in the park and the beach a couple of days. Well, she got here and it was a little cooler than I thought it was going to be and because my mom is so laid back and is happy just hanging out, she spent most of her days doing this:

This is my mom walking around with Owen trying to convince him that rocks are not food. He wasn't buying it.

This is her holding him while he sleeps. Cute right? I loved when I walked into the living room and saw this.

Anyway, we did actually do a few things that I had planned.  Here are just a few highlights...

We went to Shark Valley and saw a ton of alligators. This is one of them.

There were not only alligators but also turtles. My handsome, strong, courageous husband snuck up on this speedy little turtle and snagged him before he could get away so that we would have this photo op.

We would walk along the Riverwalk every morning and there is a little Irish pub that we wanted to try so one night we walked down there. We sat down to eat and we asked the waitress to bring us a kids cup... this is what she brought.

It's Miller Time! Florida may not be quite as family friendly as Utah.

We also spent a day at the beach. Owen was loving it. We took some books to read so we could relax as well but most of the time we spent getting pictures of Owen. This was one of my favorites... I love this little guy.

So yesterday was like the last minutes before you go to bed on Christmas night. You trying to soak up all the Christmas you can before you have to wait another year for it to come again (I'm being overly dramatic, I'm going to see her and all of you within a few months) but you know what I'm saying right?

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

When I moved to Ft. Lauderdale I didn't know anyone except one girl named Melanie that I had met once. She is a wife of a guy that works with Tyler and I was hoping that even though we had only met once that we would really hit it off once Tyler and I moved here and guess what... we really really did. Tyler went out of town the first week we were here and Mel was there to take care of me while he was gone. She made sure I felt comfortable in Ft. Lauderdale, she made sure I wasn't eating alone at night and she made sure I knew where all of the best shopping malls and beaches were. I can tell she and I are going to be lifelong friends, at least I hope we will.
Something else to know about Mel is that she is with child... or she was until yesterday. I woke up at 8:00 am and was laying in bed trying to talk myself into getting out of the covers when I got a phone call from Mel. Landon (her husband) was out of town for work and she needed a ride to the hospital because there were a few warning signs that she thought were false labor. I went to pick her up and on the way to the hospital she was telling me and herself that she was not going to have a baby because she was only 36 weeks pregnant. She was sure it was false labor and that they would be sending her right home. She wasn't due for another four weeks and without Landon in town she wasn't about to have that baby. She was so sure of it that she didn't even tell Landon to get on a flight home. However, as she was saying these things to me and herself, her water had already broken and her contractions were four minutes apart. Needless to say she WAS in labor and she did in fact have a baby yesterday... a beautiful baby boy. Unfortunately, her husband did not make it home in time for his child's arrival. Because of that though I was lucky enough to witness the birth. While I was in that hospital room, after little baby boy John arrived,  it got me to thinking about my own child's birth.
When Owen was born we took a lot of pictures but we never journaled anything about his birth or my labor or delivery. I'm not going to bore you with any of those details on this blog but I am going to bore you with pictures because other than taking them from my camera and putting them on the computer, I haven't done anything with them. I haven't even put them in a baby book for the little guy. (bad mom?) Also, before I go to bed tonight I'm going to write in my journal about my labor, delivery and the feelings that Tyler and I had when we first saw Owen. It was the most amazing, spiritual experience of my life. He was perfect and we were lucky enough to be his parents. I honeslty never thought I could love him more than I did that day and guess what, I was wrong. Every day I'm amazed by how much more I love him than the day before. Ok, enough of the lovey dovey cheese for now. Isn't he amazing though? I seriously can't get over how much I love this little guy...

Why does it look like I'm trying to force my child to look at the camera? I swear I'm not, it's just the way my hands are positioned... or maybe I trying to force him to look. I really don't remember. I guess that's what I get for not journaling anything about it until a year after his birth.