Bay Area Bargain

Todd and I had a great date last night. We dropped Hazel off with her best friends, the Moss boys, and grabbed some In-N-Out. We went to a park we'd never been to before, found a patch of sunlight, laid out a blanket and ate our burgers and fries, then read a few chapters of our latest read-together book, Pretties by Scott Westerfield. (Todd and I have been reading books out loud together since before we were engaged, and we love it. We've read a lot of fun books together.)

Then we went bowling at Homestead Lanes, which was a screaming deal. We did cost-comparison with two other bowling alleys in the area, and this place was far and away the least expensive (think a quarter of the price). Shoe rentals were a dollar, and an hour of playing was five dollars a person, so we got to bowl three games for a mere $12.00. It took us back to our Alabama days, when we were in a bowling league. We're definitely both rusty, but it was a blast.

phone pic

For some reason, getting out of the house without Hazel this week was a huge recharger for me. We've had a handful of date nights in the past few months, and they've all been fun, and it's always nice to get to feel like newlyweds again for a few hours, but this week I really NEEDED it, like, mentally. I don't know what the deal was. I guess I'm getting worn down. But yay for date night!

I married a funny man.

One of the things I first liked about Todd when I met him was his wit. What can I say, clever lines that make me grin or even gasp have always attracted me. It is the best being married to someone who makes me giggle and who works hard to hit the shock factor. He makes life exciting.

Here he is imitating his teenage brother's facebook profile picture:
Last night we stayed up way too late, and that always makes Todd super loopy. We were kneeling down, trying to say our nightly prayers so we could go to sleep, but Todd would not settle down. Instead, he started copying me. Like, how you did when you were in third grade. Right away he got me laughing, so most of it involved him giggling in his girl voice and matching my body language, right down to pretending to tuck his hair behind his ears and closing his eyes when I did and everything. How was I supposed to stop laughing at that? It was a long time before we finally went to sleep.

Tire Chub

I have often heard that women "show" earlier with second pregnancies than with their first. This is sort of the case with me, but it's a rip-off and I'll tell you why.

My baby bump is the same as it was with Hazel. I'm 12 1/2 weeks now and it's jutting out a little bit, but no one would be able to tell the difference but me.

But I absolutely look pregnant. Ahem, much more than 12 weeks pregnant.

I've been carrying around this annoying tire of stomach skin since Hazel was born, the extra stretched out stuff that I just have not been able to tighten back up. It wasn't bad before I got pregnant again. I wasn't quite as skinny as before, but it wasn't very noticable unless I was in a swimsuit.

But the new baby has been pushing that tire up and out, taking over its hiding place and shoving it out for the world to see. There's nowhere for me to tuck it in anymore.

So that is what is "showing" and making me look pregnant. I've had several foreign neighbor ladies tell me - not ask me, but just outright jump into the congrats - that I'm expecting. I know everyone can see it, although American culture disallows us to mention it until I'm a lot bigger.

I have to know: am I just chubby, or is this what everyone else means when they "show" earlier than they did last time they were pregnant?

Ahoy, Matie!

We Bonners had a swashbuckling good time attending the 4th Annual Northern California Pirate Festival on Saturday. We spent countless hours surrounded by boots and boobs, eye patches and swords.
We listened to melodious pirates and piratesses singing nautical numbers, window shopped for pirate booty ($600 for a pair of leather boots!), watched a small arms firing contest, and even sighted a Scottish pirate swordfight.
For lunch we scavenged up a two-pound turkey leg. Although tempted by the Greek food, we decided it would be a shame not to eat like a buccaneer while we were there. And did we ever!

(For the record, Todd and I have both sworn off turkey for a few weeks to recuperate.)

Hazel seemed to adore it all, from the bubble-blowing pirates on the boardwalk to the "boo's" everyone was walking around in (boots), but especially she adored this live owl we discovered sitting on the ground in one of the booths:
We sat and watched it twice, all the while Hazel going "who, who" at it.

My favorite part was when I overheard a piratess on her cell phone, saying, "There's a lot of skanky pirates here, and I'm more of a Renaissance pirate." I ran and told Todd and we laughed and laughed, and thought about taking comparison pictures, but decided a picture of a skanky pirate (of which there were many to choose from) might be a bit too scandalous for such a family-centered blog as mine.

The biggest disappointment was that they were having a nautical cannon ball fight, but not until two and a half hours after we had to leave. I would have loved to have seen that! Maybe next year...

Hazel's going to be a . . .

Todd and I are jumping out of our skin dying to announce our great news. I am pregnant! I am 11 weeks along. We were planning to wait until the first trimester ended, but we can't stand it a second longer. We are so stoked to have another delicious baby in our family. I am due December 31st, so all bets are on for whether or not we'll get a 2010 tax deduction. ;)

If you've been having a hard time getting ahold of me in the early afternoon, it's because I take a nap every single day while Hazel snoozes. I absolutely would not survive without that respite. I have been a lot more tired this pregnancy, but in all other ways it has been an easier first tri. We'll see how the rest of the journey goes!

I'm a blog slacker.

My mind draws a blank whenever I try to think of what to post. Todd made the first year and a half's entries into a blog book for my birthday last fall. We were looking through it two nights ago and couldn't stop laughing. My blog was much funnier when we lived in Alabama! Click here to read one of my very favorite posts from the past.

Now all I write about is Hazel. And while I find her amusing, it is not quite the same as seeing pictures of Nascar Santa or close-up shots of Todd's mustache. Sorry, guys. I am going to strive to remember the goofy parts of life and write about them again. I swear my life still makes me giggle!

But in the meantime, Hazel is really adorable. She has just started to be able to tell us animal sounds when we ask, and, miracle of all miracles, she actually demonstrated her talents on video instead of just running to my lap to watch what I hadn't recorded yet! Check it out.

She is getting so big. She had her 18-month birthday yesterday. Can you believe it? It boggles my mind until I think about Sundays, and then I am just so grateful that "it went by so fast" because we are dying to send her to nursery during church!

She's just starting to get into pretend play. Today she was making her baby doll, puppy, bunny, and teddy all cry like babies until we gave them drinks, changed their diapers, or put them to bed. I am stoked for her imagination to take off!

Hazel always seems to have her arms full. She likes to carry as much as she can handle, and then just one more thing. Here she is trying to keep her kitty and both her purses with her while she rides her bike around the house. Busy girl!
And I found it so endearing the way she carried her snack over to the chair in the living room, propped herself up on the armrest facing away from the rest of the house, and made it her own private dining area. Also, I was pleased to capture the way she admires her shiny silver shoes (which she begged me to put on her feet about 4.2 seconds after she woke up from her nap). She makes me laugh!

Update

The Two-Hour Flight:
Hazel did better than expected. I packed a bag full of crafts and new toys, which kept her happily occupied most of the time. And the lady at the check-in desk did us a huge favor by placing us in the bulkhead next to the ONLY empty seat in the entire plane. It was awesome to have that extra space to spread out onto. Haz happily strung pasta on pipe cleaners, squished playdough, investigated a new sticker book, and was pumped full of snacks. There was a half hour in the middle where she started to lose it, but she calmed down when she was standing on my lap looking back at all the people on the plane, as I quietly sang "Old McDonald" into her ear. Really, she was a champ. Thank goodness for direct flights, though.

The Wedding:
Scott and Caprice are now happily wed. I'm so glad I got to go. You wouldn't know it by the contents of my camera, though. I took not a darned picture of anything but Hazel. My sister Emily did take a few shots of our little family, however, and I am thoroughly pleased to have an up-to-date family photo. (Check out the header.) But anyway, it was fun to see them so completely mesmerized with each other. So cute!

Todd:
Todd was in Alabama up until the day before the wedding. He asked for a layover in Salt Lake on his flight back to Cali, and hopped off. He met us at the hotel we stayed at Friday night. (My parents live in Logan, the reception Friday night was in Payson, and events started in Salt Lake at 8:30 Saturday morning, so we booked a couple rooms at a hotel a block away from the temple and had a big family sleepover.) Hazel was [almost] as excited as me to have Todd back.

Todd caught the same flight back to San Jose that Hazel and I were on, and boggled my mind by getting Hazel to fall asleep in his arms a few minutes before we loaded the plane. Hazel napped in his arms for over half the flight, which really helped things go better.

Random:
Todd came back from Redbox a couple nights ago with "New Moon." I know I'm totally behind on this, but I've got to say it anyway. Edward's chest disgusted me. Maybe it was the stark contrast to buff, tan Jacob, but when Edward took his shirt off to step out onto the Italian plaza and reveal himself as a vampire, I recoiled at his patchy hair, his super white/gray skin, and his complete lack of muscles. How could Bella choose him over Jacob?

Random Thoughts When I Should Be in Bed

Hazel is obsessed with THIS song. (There weren't any super sweet videos on youtube, so sorry you have to bear with the American Idol footage.)Every time it plays on our iTunes playlist, she bounces around and begs me to pick her up to dance. She seriously gets stoked when she hears it. It's darn cute.

I'm gearing up for a trip to Utah for my brother Scott's wedding. I'm super excited for him and his fiancee Caprice! And it will be a blast to get together with my family, especially my sister Emily who I haven't seen in nearly a year. But I am scared of the plane ride with the monkey. Hazel's always been an awesome traveler, but last time we were on a plane she could barely walk, and now she practically does flips off the walls. Pray for me on Tuesday!

Todd's in Alabama for two weeks for more military training. I'm tired of not living with my husband. It's so old. Hazel asks where he is every day and it breaks my heart. I haven't ever sat down to crunch numbers, but he's already been gone one year out of five. Then there have been weekends every month, weeks here and there, and even a couple stretches where we've been apart months at a time. I bet we've been together about 7 out of every 10 days since we've been married. Not cool. I demand more man time!

I made ginger cookies tonight and only ate 6. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. ;) Good luck making it through the rest of the weekend without gaining a few pounds!

I'm trying to read "The Ropemaker." It was recommended. I feel weird about it. I've had it over a week and am less than halfway through, so that's already a terrible sign. I like it when I open it, but I never want to open it. I'm debating whether or not it would be worth bringing to Utah, or even keeping. Should I just return it to the library? I have another book on the hold shelf.

Okay, time to sleep.

The Latest Trick

Hazel has started a little skip and a jump move, appropriately debuted amongst puddles after the rain yesterday. She displayed her new skill repeatedly today, indoors and out. She is delighted with the air she can catch (and the reaction I give her, I am sure!). It's pretty amazing to think that this time last year we were cheering her on as she mastered rolling over.

Overstimulation Equals Money Saved, Not Spent

I went to the mall last night and hated it.

Why am I surprised? Every time I go to the mall I hate it. Which may help explain why I haven't been to a mall in two years.

It's a combination of overstimulation and expectations destroyed.

I think to myself, The mall will have a bigger selection. Which is true, to a point. But not a larger selection of what I am looking for, which is just reasonably priced, modest and classy clothing.

Most of all, I hate weaving through the thick throngs of people amid the noisy music and the bad lighting.

But there was one thing I saw that actually brought a smile to my face. True, it was because of its disgusting absurdity. But I giggled a little and took a picture on my phone.
HOW is that mannequin supposed to make me want to step inside that store???

And where does everyone else go to shop for clothes?
Target ain't doin' it for me no mo'.