Cousins

It was so fun to get these girls together. Lydia is actually 4 months older than Maggie. While they appear nearly exactly the same size, Maggie clearly outweighs Lydia. I think she has bones of steel.

I predict a lot of fun in the coming years.

El Matador Beach

My sister, her husband and their baby came to visit us in sunny Southern Cali and all they got was rain. We braved the beach anyway. The beach is so foreboding on a stormy day. It makes me shiver and smile.

Joe and Dustin got pounded by huge waves, breaking in shallow water. See Joe, tiny black speck in picture, about to get smashed by huge wave. The waves were acutally the biggest that I have seen since living here. I am not sure that the picture does them justice.

Webb Weekend Part 2: Beach Day

The second half of the weekend with the Webbs was just as fun as the first. Maggie had her first real beach day and she LOVED it. She tasted her first mouthful of sand (I swear, if you turn your head for 0.5 sec . . . it is amazing what those little grubby hands can grab).

Whenever I would start walking away from the water Maggie would start squawking and trying to climb over my shoulder to get back to the waves. If I walked back towards the water she was perfectly happy. . . away from the water and she would start squawking. What a funny baby.

Arcade Fire and the Webb Weekend

Yay! Our last weekend was super fun. Joe's brothers Brett and Tristan and their wives Amy and Keri came and stayed with us. The special occasion was an Arcade Fire concert in LA. The Webb boys grew up with Win and Will Butler, so this is the third concert we have attended.

Some members of the band play basketball before each concert after the sound check (Win said it helps warm up his voice), so at each show we have attended, the Webbs have joined in the game. The concert was AMAZING! So, the Butlers do treat us super special, but even if you take away the all-access passes, catered food, bubbly water, and posh box that we watched the concert from (reserved for special people like band member wives and movie stars), the concert would still have been amazing. They are so talented! If you are not familiar with the band, you should check this out: http://thewildernessdowntown.com/ At the post concert party, we actually met the guy who designed this for the band. Talk about a bunch of incredibly talented and creative people all at one party.

So here are a few pics: The girls and guys waiting for the band to finish the sound check so that the basketball game could begin. I think it is funny because we are dressed up and the guys are SCRUBBY!

Some sweaty boys and sweaty rock stars. Check out how tall Win Butler is--I am wearing 3 inch heels!

And finally, our sweet view during the concert.

Someone loves her peas

What a Slacker

That's me . . . I am the slacker because it has been a REALLY long time since I posted anything. In my defense, life suddenly got CRAZY. How crazy? Well, the very abbreviated version is this: in the couple months I accepted not one, but two new jobs; we moved; also we went on vacation; also we had friends come and visit. Joe worked ALOT and we took care of our now 5 month old baby, and holy cow . . . those babies really do grow up fast!

Also, SOMEONE made the mistake of telling me that they didn't know what my baby looked like because I don't post enough pictures (you know who you are Jen :) so watch out because this blog is about to turn into baby picture city.

So, anyway . . .

I accepted a job as an ER nurse; I am pretty nervous to go back since it has been over a year since I worked as a nurse at all, but the opportunity is pretty ideal. It is just a per diem assignment, so it will be just enough to keep my skills up and my license current and not enough to take me away from my most important and most awesome job of being Winky's mother. Also, I interviewed for this job last November . . . WHAT? . . . I know! That is a slow hiring process, and a very long story for a very different day.

Secondly, Joe and I accepted a job as apartment managers (which is why we moved). This opportunity came with a little chaos because we didn't know until very last minute that we were selected for the position (i.e. "how soon can you move?" I believe were the actual words used to offer us the job), so we accepted the job and moved about a week later. We still have a few boxes sitting around, but I am happy to say that our apartment is FINALLY coming together.

In the mean time, we went on a super fun trip to Mammoth with our friends Sarah and Ryan, and found just about every other excuse possible to put off unpacking.

If you are still reading I am impressed. Now, onto my favorite part of keeping a blog . . . here are a few recent pictures (first, a few from Mammoth) and lots of little Maggie, so that no one can tell me that they don't know what my baby looks like :)

To my sweet baby,

My Sweet Little Winky,

You are now five months old and these months have gone by sooo fast. I am having so much fun being your mother. Because of you, I tell everyone I meet that motherhood is awesome. There is a rumor at our church that you might just be the best baby of all time (and I think it might actually be true). You smile and laugh so easily; you hardly ever cry. Yesterday I set you down to play with your toys. You didn't want me to set you down, but instead of crying you let out the quietest, sweetest little whimper just to let me know how you felt. Of course it melted my heart and I HAD to pick you back up. You love to play with your Daddy (he can make you smile and wiggle with excitement just by walking in the room). When he is in the room while you are eating, if he says ANYTHING you immediately stop eating and look around until you have found him and have made sure that he sees you too.

You are very talkative, and you especially love to practice making all kinds of funny noises. Your favorite sound to make right now is a grunting noise, making me constantly wonder if you are filling your diaper. You also LOVE sticking out your tongue. When you get tired you start yelling and kicking your legs because of course, you DON'T want to fall asleep. When I am burping you, you throw your arms out to the sides. It looks like you are getting ready to take off. You are learning new things everyday. You can roll from your tummy to your back, stick your toes in your mouth, and you are especially good at getting my hair into your mouth.

We love you so much! Thank you for being our little girl.