Summer, Summer, Summertime! Ooooooo Summertime!

I decided to take my own advice in my last post (about getting out more) and have a fun weekend outdoors. Tim and I headed to the Universal Citywalk (the Downtown Disney of Universal Studios Hollywood) on Saturday morning.

Here's Tim, glowing white in the mid-morning sunshine:

And here's Jean, next to the giant spinny globe thingie:
The Citywalk is actually this really fun shopping and dining area; it's also fun to just walk around and enjoy the cool environmental design:
The giant King Kong, dangling over the walkway:
A large courtyard area with trees and fountains (complete with children in bathing suits -- an idea to remember when Weston is older and a swimming pool is nowhere to be found):
On Saturday night, my husband and I had a little role-reversal, and I went to a Dodger's game, while he stayed home with the baby. (What a sport.) The Dodgers beat the Angels 1-0, and it turned out to be one of the weirdest games in recent history. Here's the ballpark:
The stadium:
We had AWESOME seats (thanks Jacob!). Here's the team:
The girls (Tak, Jean, and Ciana):

And the lovebirds (Jacob and Tak):
Then on Sunday, Tim and I decided to try out the new grill, so we threw together an impromptu BBQ with a couple of Tim's school friends. The grill's heating up:
Work it, Tim, work it! (I love your manly body structure and the manly way that you engage in the world of men!! Haha.)
Tim (the other Tim), Steve, Tim (the real Tim), and Weston.
Check out The Other Tim's massive burger. The Real Tim is quite the griller, I must say. I am delighted.

Look at the wee little baseball bum!! (Thanks Uncle Joe!)
Anyway, on a totally different subject, Weston has been especially cute lately, in that he recently discovered his toes, and now he tries to grab them every time he lies down. I attempted to capture a picture, but he's only partially touching his toes here:
Here's a slightly better picture:
He also loves to stick his two fingers into his mouth and gag himself. Sounds like a strange behavior, right? Well, we'd be confused, if Tim hadn't also done it when he was a baby. Supposedly, it's okay for babies because it teaches them cause and effect. ("...Hmm. Stick my fingers down my throat... gag. Stick my fingers down my throat... gag. I think I'm getting it...") I tried to capture a picture of this too, but one of Weston's fingers popped out right when I took it (oh well):
We're looking forward to a fun summer-with-a-baby. Unfortunately, the temperature is back up in the 90's this week! Boo!! (I was saying Boo-Urns!) So, I guess we're looking forward to a fun, stinking hot summer! Yaaaay.

Fun with Poo and Dinosaurs

I'm figuring that my recent lack of blog posts has alienated my readership, so I had to come up with a catchy title for this post. Hence, the mention of poo. And yes, that is also the subject!! Keep reading if you dare.

I've been a little bored of blogging lately (I admit it), but today I considered a few compelling topics:

-The extremely disturbing political situation in Zimbabwe right now. (Sometimes I feel so helpless in regards to fear, injustice, and violence abroad, and it's infuriating.)

-The recent demise of my cell phone. (However, I'm at peace with it, as it was time for my ancient Motorola V220 to pass on. Now I can get a new one, which hopefully won't result in stares and "whoa's" from AT&T store employees.)

-The fact that I have been up to my eyeballs in Mormon pioneer research. Our Stake's youth conference this year (right now, as a matter of fact) is a pioneer trek reenactment with handcarts, bonnets, hard tack, and even fake, flour-sack babies that die in the night. A couple of my calleagues (calling-colleagues... get it? ha) and I have been researching and writing pioneer biographies for the youth to read and study and absorb during their mini-journey. At first all the research was fun, and then it was tedious, and finally it was incredibly moving and emotionally draining. I learned A LOT about the handcart pioneers, and I think I understand sacrifice and faith in a new way now. Click HERE if you want to, also.

-Other miscellaneous topics, like Weston's first trip to the swimming pool, the beautiful weather, and my increasing love of Souplantation (where Tim and I eat almost once a week now, coupon-permitting).

Ultimately, I decided to write about poo. And dinosaurs. But first poo. This morning I was feeding Weston when I heard one of his usual butt-squirts. I continued feeding him (mistake #1), and then upon picking him up off the Boppy, noticed that the entire mid-back-section of his onesie was covered in a growing yellow poo blob. Yep... it was one of those. A leaker-upper. BIG TIME. I quickly dashed him to the changing table, and then tried to figure out how to place him on it without getting poo-stain on the changing mat cover. So, I stood him up and proceeded to unbutton the onesie. Once it was up to his shoulder blades and his back was exposed, I used a massive number of wipes to clean the poo off his back. Then, realizing that I needed a third hand to manage all the poopy wipes, and also realizing that the changing mat cover was inevitably going to be poo-covered, I laid him down on it, set the poo-wipes aside, and then tried to very delicately pull the onesie up over his head. However, my dexterity was apparently faulty (much to my dismay), and rather than slipping the onesie quickly over his head, I managed to slide the poo-onesie right up the back of it. GREAT. Now there are little yellow poo bits all in his hair. So, I stand him up again, grab another handful of wipes, and proceed to wipe the poo bits out of his soft blond hair. As the pile of poopy wipes in the Diaper Genie basin continues to grow, I lay him back down, remove the diaper, and use another 40 wipes to clean his bottom, all the while balancing him precariously on the edge of the changing mat so as to avoid the poo streaks in the middle. Finally, when he is finally de-poo'd, I transfer him to the loveseat, re-diaper him, and then beg him not to roll onto the floor while I clean the changing pad cover, remove it, carry it to the hamper in the hallway, return to the nursery, jam the massive poopy diaper wad into the Diaper Genie (slamming the lid so as to activate Quarantine as quickly as possible), carry his poo-onesie to the bathroom and start to clean it off (and partway through, decide that it is utterly unsalvageable and toss it into the trash), wash my hands twice, return to the nursery, and replace the changing pad cover. Finally, Weston comes back to the changing table, and we proceed with putting on his new outfit. Whew.

All the while, Weston was giving me one of those perfectly contented looks, as if to say, "Don't look at me! You're the one who wanted to become a mommy." Haha... good memories some day. But today, lots and lots of poo.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, I'll conclude this post with a dino-themed photo story. (A Jean Anderson Joint.) I need to get out more.

Red, the sneaky red dino, silently approaches the baby Weston, completely unbeknownst to the baby, who is calmly enjoying some blankie time...

Red continues to approach the oblivious baby, feeling more confident, and still making no sound whatsoever...

Uh-oh! Suddenly, Red the red dino jumps on the small child (losing his balance momentarily due to the extremely squishy tummy-terrain), and prepares to conquer him!!!

Ha ha ha... that's what you think, Red! I've got a trick or two up my sleeve!! proclaims the baby Weston.

Behold, the infamous slobber attack of the baby Weston!! (Take that, you soft cuddly dino fiend!!) Red is frozen to his spot, helpless against the sudden turning-of-the-tables by the tricky baby Weston.

But wait! The baby Weston pauses and assesses his attacker. ...Maybe you're not so bad there, Red, he thinks. After all, you are delightfully soft, as well as very bold and eye-catching.

Okay, the baby Weston decides. I think we can be friends after all. Here, have some blankie. (And they lived happily ever after, Weston and his loyal buddy Red.)

Beverly Hills, What a Thrill!

Thanks to Tim's summer schedule, Thursdays have sort of become our "Family Fun Day" since he has off from work that day (at least up until this week, when he started a new freelance project... oh well). Anyway, last Thursday, we went on a little day-trip to Beverly Hills!! All day long, my perpetual, excited chanting took one of three forms:

(1) "Beverly Hills, what a thrill! Beverly Hills, what a thrill!" etc., from Troop Beverly Hills. Does anyone else remember this movie? Okay, does anyone else love it as much as I do? Since I've been married, I've actually had multiple girls' nights singularly devoted to watching this film. I am such a child of the '80s. (Down with the Red Feathers!!)

(2) "Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be!!" Yay Weezer. And thanks for the new album, as well as the new primary color to add to the collection.

(3) The theme from Beverly Hills 90210: "Dunna-nunna, dunna-nunna (clap! clap!)" etc. Again, child of the '80s.

First we visited the La Brea tarpits, one of the top sources of prehistoric remains in the world (things like mammoths, direwolves, sabretooth cats, etc.), as well as Vada's mood ring from My Girl 2 (just kidding, he didn't really throw it in, Vada):

A fabricated "prehistoric scene" in the tarpits, which had a heartbreaking sign next to it, about how the mommy mammoth got stuck in the tar while her mate and offspring "watched helplessly"... I cried a little:
Ahh, the lovely scent of tar in the morning, coupled with my delicious Trader Joe's trail mix:
Tim's just cute as a button:
Then we went to LACMA (the Museum of Art), which, we discovered, is RIGHT next to the tarpits. We saw lots of amazing works of art, but we liked this guy especially, who I'm going to call Mr. Block-O. If Mr. Block-O could come alive at night, don't you think he'd just be dancing all the time?
Woo! Swing it, Mr. Block-O! I think if he had a face, he would be smiling.
Then it was time to visit Sprinkles cupcakes!! (You may recall that I posted about Dots cupcakes previously, which is our local cupcakery. Sprinkles is nationally known, so of course we had to conduct a taste-test.) There was a line outside:
Getting closer to the door:
Yay, we have cupcakes!! FAMOUS ones!!

Our delicious bounty is shown below. My determination: Dots is great for its convenience, but Sprinkles cupcakes are phenomenal. The cake alone is to die for - rich and moist and buttery, like springy pound cake (if that makes any sense). My mouth is watering, just thinking of them. I can't wait to get more some day, especially the vanilla/vanilla variety, which seemed to be the absolute best, in our opinion. They are all very pretty, though:
Next we strolled along Rodeo Drive (and surprisingly, no one told us that we looked too poor to be there):
Another scene of the street:
I had to take a picture of the Valentino storefront. I do not currently own haute couture clothing, and I never will (let's be realistic here), but of all the designers out there, I love Valentino the most. Everything is so elegant and simplistic:
For example, here is one of my favorite Valentino dresses worn by Keira Knightly on a previous Golden Globes night. Love it love it love it:

Finally, the Reg Bev Wil (seen Pretty Woman lately?), which sits at the intersection of Wilshire and Rodeo. Gotta love it:
Okay, now for some pictures of the Smunch, again for my mom's sake. Here he is, sporting his awesome Spider-Man t-shirt from Auntie Dana:
This picture was taken just outside our apartment, where I was sitting on the steps, lifting Weston up so that he could stand on my lap. Instead of standing on my lap, he started extending his legs out in front of himself and pointing his toes, like a wee little gymnast (haha!):

Week in Review

For some reason, it feels like this past week was really busy. On Monday evening, we joined a group of friends for a pasta-themed potluck dinner at Lacy Park (an adorable, out-of-the-way park in San Marino). The only photo-documentation of this evening is below, courtesy of Dana W (and featuring a really weird-looking Jean, whom I would request that you ignore while glancing at said picture):

On Tuesday, Tim didn't have work until the afternoon, so in the morning we all went to the free day (yay!) at the Natural History Museum:
There's a new exhibit there, featuring the painstaking effort of cleaning and organizing the fossilized remains of Thomas the T-Rex (could they really not think of a more imposing name for a T-Rex than "Thomas?"), which can be viewed right on the premises:
The ginormous jaw:
This sign cracked me up:
And Weston got to experience his first hands-on museum activity:
Most of the time, though, he looked like this (staring blankly while going to town on that delicious little hand):
That afternoon, we had some fun playtime on the play mat:
I love the chubbo arm and the drop of drool on the bottom lip:
He enjoyed some wiggles on the changing table:

And then in the evening, he got some more time with Daddy. I LOVE this picture... what is better than a "Born in the USA" t-shirt, with a squishy little gut hanging out (hahaha):
Doesn't this look like it could be modern art? Or does it look like alien-albino baby?
On Wednesday evening, we headed to Disneyland because we realized that our cheap-o passes will be blocked out for most of the rest of the summer. We headed first to the Mission Tortilla Factory to get our free tortilla, and we were delighted to see that they were making the flour tortillas that day (which we greatly prefer over the corn):
Weston got settled into his happy little carrier:
Here's the new, soon-to-open Toy Story Mania ride in California Adventure:

The ride may not be open yet, but the gift shop is! Ha.
Weston and I rode the carousel (a first for both of us):
And Tim stood in front of our little seahorse to take pictures. He tried to lean against it even though it was sliding up and down:
Riding the Chew Chew Train:
Tim trying to escape the giant rolling ball:

And now Jean and Baby trying to escape the giant ball (nice face, eh?):
On Thursday, we had quite a busy day. We went to JCPenney for Weston's three-month portraits (so cute and fun!!), then saw Chronicles of Narnia at the theater, and then ate a late lunch at Clearman's North Woods Restaurant (this crazy, log/saloon-style restaurant where you can throw your peanut shells on the floor), and then went to Kohl's for some clothes shopping. Here is a photo taken that morning of the elusive Long-Haired Jean in her native habitat:
We also played with Weston's new Bumbo seat that day. These things are apparently all the rage (or so it seems)... they're made in South Africa, but Target stocks them, and supposedly they help small babies to develop their abdominal muscles in order to sit upright. Here Tim's reading Everyone Poops to the little guy:
And here he is again, still checking it out:
On Friday evening, I attended the Stake Beehive Conference at Arcadia Wilderness Park, which was organized by my friend Laura D. (We both serve in Stake Young Women.) The initial tent set-up:

Laura D and Taylor (not her husband) hanging out and talking tents:
Jessica kickin' it in the kitchen and rockin' the carne asada:
Getting-to-know-you games:
And delicious dinnertime:
Yay for the Beehives!!! You rock!