Jelly Belly

What do you do on a Saturday when it's raining outside and everyone is going stir crazy? You go to the Jelly Belly factory and get a bunch of free candy! Andrew loved the 'pencil shavings' flavor he tried and the 'rotten egg' flavor he picked for me really hit the spot. Little Bug just thought we were trying to poison her when offered a tasty Jelly Belly.

Blubber

A couple weekends ago we went to see the Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo State Park with one of Andrew's lab mates and friends. It was a great activity and we had a lot of fun going. That said, I thought it was funny to hear comments on the beauty of the elephant seals. Maybe it's just me, but beautiful doesn't come to my mind first when I see these animals. Powerful and amazing seem to fit, but beautiful is a stretch. The highlight for Little Bug was of course discovering lots of little treasures, aka rocks.

Another year gone by

Thinking back, we are slightly impressed with ourselves for getting a Christmas card out last year. Little Bug was only a month old but somehow we managed. Maybe it is just that we would rather feel impressed with ourselves for getting a card out last year than disappointed with ourselves for not doing it this year. We considered sending one later in January; maybe a Happy New Year type of card, but we all know that line of thinking was merely to help with the guilt. Sorry everyone, a blog update is all you get.

This year has been good for us. Little Bug continues to grow. At the moment her two favorite pass times are getting in and out of boxes and hording any sort of treasure she finds, such as acorns, rocks, paper bits, etc. Currently, her favorite word to say is “no.” Andrew and I are trying to teach her what “no” means but so far it is just what she says while doing something forbidden. For example, repeating “no” while climbing into the dishwasher is still unacceptable.

As for us, we are still in school. However, we are looking for this year to be the one that we finally kick this nasty going to school habit. We both started chewing more gum. Please follow up with us on this one. Everyone can use a little encouragement every now and again.

We’re excited for the upcoming year and wish you all the best!

Chicken walk

This past Thanksgiving we were able to head over to Utah and spend the week with all of Andrew's family, minus one. Little Bug had a blast following her cousin Natalie around. As a result, her eyes were opened to the concept of jumping. Ever since, Little Bug tends to walk/run around with her hands behind her back as if about to jump. One day she'll progress to step two and get some air. In any case, I finally got it caught on camera the other week while at the zoo. It just makes us smile. We call it the chicken walk.

New Years

Some years back a friend of mine and I did a San Fransisco Hang Over run across the Golden Gate on new years day. I thought it would be fun to sign Andrew and I up this year. Sadly, I don't think the run is held anymore. However, we thought it would be a fun way to start off the new year. So across the bridge we ran! Little Bug was pretty excited to be allowed out of her stroller to take some steps on the bridge and Andrew and I thought it was a great way to start the new year. We're looking forward to another good year together!

Christmas

We spent Christmas this past year with my family. It was especially fun because we were all together except for my oldest sister and her family. Christmas eve was spent doing the usual festivities: making cookies for Santa, writing Santa a note stating how good we all were for the year, eating pork chops and rice for dinner, hanging our stockings, and re-enacting the nativity scene.

Little Bug was angel #2 for the nativity. Here she is all ready. Despite the look on her face, she was pretty excited to have a sparkly thing on her head, aka halo.

See evidence below.

Andrew walking Little Bug to her part in the nativity.

And our little crew of actors! Such sweet little people.

Christmas morning...I think Little Bug is already chomping on a chocolate covered raisin. Santa must have read her letter.

Her favorite toy.

She tried with mixed success to commandeer the cooking toys from her cousin.

It really was a fun Christmas and Andrew and I are already sad we have to wait another year for it to come around again!

Let the battle continue

Running away from dad is the best

Merry Chirstmas

Dear Santa,

This is the first time I've sat on your lap and am not too sure about this. Your beard is kind of scratchy, you smell a little funny, and mom and dad keep squawking to try and make me smile.

However, I hear you are the guy who can get kids the things their parents won't let them have. I've been pretty good this year so I would like to ask for some more plastic bags to play with. Everyone keeps taking them away. Also, can I have some of those chocolate covered raisins? Mom and dad are pretty stingy with those treasures. Lastly and most importantly, can I please have some of rascal's dog food? Every time I get my hands on some, someone pries it from my mouth.

Sincerely,

Little Bug

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid happens to be my favorite childhood Disney movie. When I was 8 years old, I made my poor brother-in-law watch it with me as I sang and acted out all the parts. Needless to say, I've been pretty excited to show all the classics to Little Bug. Yesterday I decided for whatever reason it was a good day to open her eyes to the world of Disney, specifically The Little Mermaid. I couldn't help but to take a snapshot of her pleased face. And for those who are completely horrified that I decided to show my 1 year old a movie, don't worry, Andrew agrees and is also horrified:)