The New Addition!!

I am happy to announce that we have a new addition to the family!! Tyler's sister Molly and Nick and Jessica welcomed another little baby girl last night at 11:40pm. Her name is Jordan Elle and she is very cute!! (She clocked in at 7lbs 10oz and 19 1/2 in). We are so excited to have her in our family and can't wait to meet her.

Welcome Baby Jordan!

My Little Fishy

Max LOVES the water!!! He loves the pool, the ocean and everyone knows he loves his bath! The other day it was really hot here so I let his Auntie Danielle take him into my parent's pool. The water was freezing so I thought he'd hate it and cry. Nope! Not my baby! He absolutely LOVED it!! He was clearly really really cold but when I took him out he started to scream and cry because he wanted to go back in. I would have let him, but I think he could have died of hypothermia. He loved just standing in the water and splashing around. It was adorable!!


Then, we went to La Jolla Shores beach with Mark and Mariah and Sadie and Tyler took Maddox out onto the sand and let him walk around and kick the sand. Then he took him down to the beach and apparently Max loved that water, too, even though it was equally as cold, if not colder!! It's the cutest thing. I'm so glad he loves the beach and the sand and the water. He's growing up to be so very very fun and we couldn't be more thrilled. Who wants a lame-o little kid? NOT US!!

Crazy Baby

Max loves the grocery store. Actually, more accurately, he loves to stand in the cart at the grocery store while I push him around.

This baby is unreal. He stands there the entire time I am shopping, holding on with all his might, as happy as can be. I think it kind of freaks people out to see such a little guy standing there. But I think it's ADORABLE!! (People also probably found it weird that I was taking pictures in the grocery store -- so be it).

Bubble Butts and Hairy Butts

So Maddox had his MRI last week and everything is perfectly normal. I really wasn't worried at all. He has no problem moving and kicking those little legs, especially while he's walking. Apparently his little hairy butt is just a testament to his Italian side. I hope someday he will be proud of it.

The MRI on the other hand was a pain in the butt. I basically had to starve him for hours until they were ready to put him to sleep with anesthesia in the afternoon to take the pictures. I'm glad we have the technology to do it so that if there had been something wrong we could have fixed it, but I'm not very appreciative of the process. Poor kid took it pretty well, though. He's a champ!

So no buts about it, my son's butt is fine and seriously cute (not to mention bubbly)... see for yourselves!!

Makin' a Nursery Is a Lot Harder Than Makin' a Baby

So I'm pretty proud of how I've decorated Maddox's room. When we found out we were having a boy I immediately started running through the possibilities of room decorating (I had SERIOUS nesting issues going on). I didn't want anything too cutesy or character-heavy. Sports themes were a little too gender specific but I also didn't want anything too sissy-like either. I finally decided on a tropical-surfing theme. I figured we were going to be in San Diego long enough and he'd probably turn into a little surfer-dude like his dad eventually. Tyler also decided that that was boyish enough so I went ahead with decorating.

First I painted his letters.

Then I painted a lamp with surfboards around the outside. I found a lamp at a thrift store that looked like a pencil. I sanded it down and repainted it and then took balsa wood, cut out surfboard shapes, painted them and glued them on to the sides of the lamp. I then made the lamp shade by covering a plain one with some rafia.

Next, I bought two fishing nets at Michael's. I glued shells onto them and hung them on his walls, one on each side of his crib.

Then I found a woman on eBay who makes wooden surfboards and paints designs on them. So I ordered one of those to hang on his wall but I was really unhappy with the design and color when it came in the mail. I asked the lady to do a dark cherry stain and totally different design. She did a natural pine stain and ugly blue stripes. So, I turned it over and stained the other side myself and then painted a design on it.

Then, the final touch was this surfboard border (or what I like to call a surfborder -- haha!) that I designed and painted, too. I used strips of balsa wood that I stained a dark cherry color and then painted little surfboards onto. Each surfboard has a different design and it goes the length of his room.

Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the work I did. I wish I could have painted the walls! But alas, no one will let me. I'm not that fond of the nasty yellowness, but that's about all I could do to his room. I hope he grows to enjoy it!

Lovin' La Jolla Loca

Tyler and I feel so blessed living here in Southern California. The weather is beautiful, there's tons of stuff to do. It's just perfect for us and our little family. And it's a great place to raise kids. Max and I get to go to the park every day! It's awesome. He loves being outside so much.


A few days ago Tyler and Max and I went to downtown La Jolla just to walk around and window shop. It was a nice afternoon spent together. La Jolla has lots of really expensive shops and art galleries. We went to the Fingerhut Gallery and saw the Dr. Seuss art display. It was really cool. Max loved the fountain and the big huge stone ball that rolled around inside it.

I love spending time together as a little family!

It's just a phase... IT'S JUST A PHASE!!!

So recently Maddox has started this new thing where he just likes to whine and cry and whine and cry ALL. DAY. LONG.

I'm seriously about to go out of my mind. From the moment he wakes up he starts with the whining that quickly turns into crying. SO, I pick him up. He's quiet for about 30 seconds and then he starts to whine again. Then cry. So I put him down. Again, quiet for about 30 seconds and then the cycle starts all over. I've tried the bouncy-jumpy thing. No deal. I've tried his exersaucer. No Deal. I've tried toys, Cheerios, fruit, Tylenol, outside, inside, car rides, sling, stroller, food, bottle, water, sippy cup, books, pictures. NO deal. I've tried his Baby Einstein videos. Deal for about 5 minutes. Then no deal.

The one thing that gets me through a day of him screaming and crying and whining is the fact that I have convinced myself that this is just a phase. Although I have seem some adults who act the same way, at least at that point you've already kicked them out of the house. But I'm almost positive that when Mattie was about 7 months old, she started this whining and crying, too. I don't think it was as bad as Max. Other blogs I've been reading have mommies that experience the same clingy neediness about this age in their infants, too. So I just keep telling myself that this is all just a phase, that this will pass, and even though it's been going on for a few weeks now, I know that it has to stop at some point.

I think one of the problems is that Maddox gets so frustrated that he can't do big-kid things. He wants to walk SO very badly. He makes me hold his hands and walk all around the house (he actually walks, too, it's not just me holding him up, he can do it minus the balance part). I can't do it all the time though. My back starts to ache badly. So when I stop he becomes furious and screams and cries.

Another issue I think he's dealing with is severe separation anxiety. I can't even go into the next room without him freaking out.

One of my biggest fears is that I will raise a whiny, needy, overly demanding child. I'm sure Maddox is too young to start worrying about this, but it's always in the back of my mind. I want to make sure Max matures into a self-sufficient man. I want him to be as independent as possible. I don't want him to need me. I'm not sure if that makes sense to anybody but myself. But there it is.

Plus, how can you not want to hold this little sweetie pie??

Proof They ARE Related

Here is proof that Maddox and Tyler are indeed related. This is in response to the numerous comments we get on a daily basis that Max and I look SO MUCH alike and he's ALL Sanzari, etc etc. But these pictures prove that Max and Tyler are without a doubt, father and son. Enjoy!

Exhibit A: See tongue.


Exhibit B: Again, see tongue.

See for yourself people!! PROOF!

Disney Walk, Old Friends, Reminiscing

This week was pretty interesting for me. It was like suddenly I had a life... with friends!! On Wednesday night Aaron Rutman stayed with us so he could go to his interview at UCSD. It was fun to see him again!

Then on Friday I met Nancy Chung -- well I guess she's Nancy Allred now -- for lunch Downtown at Horton Plaza. I got all the dirt on our old University Ward friends. That was really fun!!

Then on Saturday, Tyler, Max and I met up with the Franklins (Nate, Tawni and Sophia) at the Downtown Disneyland Disney Walk. It was really fun to get out and enjoy the great Southern California weather, show off our babies and reminisce about the good old times (Nate, Tyler and I were all in the Berkeley Singles Wards together; that's how we all met a whopping 6 years ago or something like that -- crazy!). We had some lunch at the Jazz Kitchen, then ice cream, and then strolled around for a little while. Of course we had to stop to feed Max who started freaking out because he didn't want to be in his stroller and he was hungry and he was a general cranky pants (hopefully not so cranky that it ruined every one's time!). But Sophia is ADORABLE and so nice and calm compared to ADD-Infant Boy. And honestly it was wonderful to see Nate and Tawni and how happy they are and their beautiful baby girl. We definitely need to get together again soon!!

Oh, and the only picture we got of all of us together is this awful one some guy took for us. It's blurry and totally cuts out Sophia and I look blimpish (not to mention dwarfed) but here it is anyway. For better pictures check Nate and Tawni's blog.

I got a really cute one of Tyler and Max though! Maddox really loves his daddy.

So normally in any given week you can find me rocking a baby to sleep or picking up toys or doing dishes or just sitting around watching TV, but this week was much more interesting and fun!! I loved seeing some of our old friends and catching up with them. It's so exciting to see where their lives are taking them. I hope we're all still friends in another 6 years!

R.I.P Combi Cosmo EX

Our wonderful, lightweight, stylish, comfy stroller was suddenly taken from us on Friday night. There was no long illness, no breakage, just a sudden end to our Combi Cosmo who was so young and vibrant and had so much life left in it.Seriously though, our stroller was stolen!! Right here in La Jolla!! This is how it went down. I was putting Maddox in the car after a short stop at Whole Foods for some baby food. I left the stroller behind the car so that I could lock-down Maddox in his car seat and then fold it up and put it in the trunk (I can't hold the baby and fold the stroller). When I got out of the car to put the stroller away it wasn't where I had left it. I walked around the car wondering if I had left it in a different place (as my mind does escape me more often than I'd like to admit) but couldn't find it anywhere. I then looked down the aisle in the parking lot where our car was and lo and behold, Mr. Theify McStealer was running as fast as his wigger-sagged pants and backward hat could carry him -- WITH MY STROLLER!!! That is when my mouth hit the oil stained pavement and I started to cry.

Some people have asked if I tried to chase the guy. Riiight... I left Max in the car to suffocate and die all alone to chase down the turd that grabbed my stroller. I have been known to lose it when I've been crossed but I'm not completely insane! I did drive around the parking lot hopelessly searching for the opportunity to run him down with my car and take my stroller back. But the search remained fruitless as well as my attempts to browse Craigslist to see if that punk is selling it to buy some crack for his strung-out girlfriend.

I went out that night to get a new stroller and ended up coming home with this one.
It's bigger and heavier but actually really nice. It has a much larger basket to fit my every growing diaper bag, a larger sun shade, adjustable handle, drink holders, larger wheels and Max seems to like it better. Mostly I tell myself these things to make myself feel better.

SO rest in peace Combi Cosmo EX. I hope you are off in a better world with a child who loves you even more than Maddox did (which doesn't have to be all that much since Max wasn't that in to it anyway) instead of stripped for parts and laying on some trash heap up-state.