Our 8th Wedding Anniversary

Shanne and I celebrated our 8th anniversary this past July. He surprised me with a planned trip to Santa Barbara. We spent the weekend at the Bacara Resort & Spa in Goleta. It was beautiful.

This is one of the walkways along the shore.

Coastal sage is one of my favorite smells.

We loved spending time at the spa. The best part were the soft robes we got to wear. All the swimming pools on the property were saline-filled. I really enjoyed our time there and I wouldn't mind visiting Santa Barbara again someday.

The Bacara owns the land surrounding their property. They grow their own vegetables & fruits in a 10-acre garden very close by and they offer tours of their avocado & citrus groves.

The resort was built in the spanish colonial style (which I really love). The room we stayed in had its own private balcony. It was such a relaxing time.

We found out that the resort was built right next to a historical site where the Japanese attacked the mainland during WWII. I was really excited about this news because it made the place even more interesting. Luxurious & historical...right up my alley. :)

The sign reads...On February 23, 1942, at 7:00 PM, during one of President Roosevelt's Fireside Talks, the Japanese Submarine I-17 shelled the Richfield Oil Field Facility at this site with 28 5-inch rounds. Not since the War of 1812 had the U.S. Mainland been attacked by a foreign power.

I had to take this picture. Its crude oil that seeps up naturally from the water. Along the beach there was quite a bit of it. We weren't aware of it until we got back to our room that it had got on the bottom of our feet and we had to spend some time getting it off. Even though the crude oil is there its still a beautiful stretch of sand and nice to walk on.

We visited the Santa Barbara Mission. It was pretty neat.

Broccoli

Okay, I think that every parent has the right to brag every now and then. My kid eats broccoli! Initially he wasn't very sure about it, but then I guess he was intrigued by the odd tree-like shape and he decided to try it. Turns out he likes it...a lot! I actually have a hard time getting him to eat non-green veggies. Okay, I'm done. Well, not really, if you think about it that's what family blogs are all about "bragging". I'm a Super Proud Parent! Yeah broccoli!! Okay, done.

More Moments @ Disneyland

This was our 2nd trip to Disneyland. This time grandma & grandpa Sleder joined us.

1st Trip Ever! to Disneyland

We couldn't go on too many rides at Disneyland, but we found a few that he really liked. Most of the rides in Fantasy land were too dark for him, so we didn't even try, but he loved Dumbo and the Winnie the Pooh ride. He danced on It's a Small World. It was so much more fun seeing it all through his eyes.

For those of you that may not know, this is my favorite shirt to wear. Shanne thinks I wear it too often. I made the mistake of wearing it at home while working with bleach and now I have a small bleach stain on it. :( Its my "lab shirt". Its a bunch of chemistry geeks working on their latest experiment...basically it's everyone I work with. Everyone in my lab has one. There was talk of having our last names printed on the back but it never happened. I really like the fit and feel of the soft cotton. Visit http://shirt.woot.com/ They have some cool shirts. Everyday the shirts are different. Prices are $10 for "the shirt of the day", then they go up to $15. If you join the email list then you get special pricing & discounts. Last month they sent out a $5 off coupon. Sizes run small so get a larger size than you would normally wear.

Boogie Wipes

Some claim that they don't do anything, but I tend to disagree. Boogie Wipes have been fantastic. When Jordan has a cold he often will have the awful runny nose and when he sleeps he would sometimes wake up with a crusty nose. Rather than wipe with a dry tissue or even a moist tissue or a baby wipe, using these wipes works so much better and there is very little fuss involved. I would recommend them to any mom (or dad) with a little one. They are made with saline and they are super gentle on sensitive little noses. Great product!

Super! Towel

Jordan's grandma Sleder made him a bath towel with a 'J' for Jordan on the hood and the "Superman" emblem on the back. I like to tell him that the 'S' is for super Sleder. :) Its his super towel!

He's a Natural

Jordan loves basketball. I had never taken him to watch Shanne play, but somehow after Shanne put this together, Jordan knew exactly what to do and no one taught him how. We were astonished! Just a few days ago, Shanne caught him dribbling the ball. Of course, by now he's seen Shanne play a couple of times, but we're still impressed. He also loves soccer and we go to Shanne's games every Sunday night. Its fun to teach him to cheer for his daddy. There is something so precious to watch your child do something for the first time and realize that its just the beginning of firsts. Suddenly things like using a fork & spoon for the first time and sitting on the potty become great & exciting accomplishments. I remember even tummy time being so amazing to watch...the first time he rolled over I felt like doing a cartwheel. I love, love, love being a parent and I thank God so much for such a blessing and reward.

Soooo Good!

Still playing catch up...Jordan has since decided to eat with his spoon or fork and he leaves the bowl on the tray, but I love looking back at how things were. I totally didn't mind the mess on this particular day. This was the start of learning to eat with a spoon and he decided that it just wasn't cuttin' it.

Oatmeal tastes much better when its spread all over your chin, cheeks and forehead.

Taking it back!

That's right people! I'm taking ownership of this blog! From now on I will post something every couple of days instead of months in between. Its feels pretty good. I'm queen of procrastination, so when I get something done I feel really good about myself. Be right back with some pics! :)

Baby Shanne

This is Shanne the "worker man". That is what they called him when he was a kid. I think Jordan looks a lot like his daddy, especially at this age. What a cutie-pie!

Jordan has a lot of tee shirts that he could wear, but as I looked through pictures to post I've noticed that he wears this particular shirt most often. I don't really know why, but I really like the color orange on him.

Mother's Day 2010 - Dedication Day
Great grandma & grandpa Espino &
Grandma & grandpa Sleder were in attendance.

Man of Many Words

Well, not yet, but he's definitely on his way. He does have a few down pat. Here's a list of his current ones (updated on 9/29/10). My original post on 9/26 was missing quite a few words, so here is the up-to-date list:

no (he does not say "yes" yet)
hi
hello
bye
up
hot (almost everything he eats is "hot", even fruit)
dog
cat
duck
bees
pig
kiss
baby
babies
towel
pee pee
poo poo
toilet
potty
tissue
bubbles (his favorite word)
dada
momma
mommie
mom (one I'm really not ready to hear)
papa (what he calls Shanne's dad)
Ta Per (what he calls Casper)
car
boat
ball
clock
boots
sock(s)
shoe(s)
toast
cheese
peas
peach
moe (supposedly "more" because he's only happy once I've given him more of something)
head
eye(s)
ear
nose
cheek(s)
knee(s)
toe(s)

Looking Back...Again

Just look at that gait. He had the cutest strut when he was just starting out walking.

Hello Blog

Ah, where to begin...so much time has passed since I last posted anything on our blog. I feel awful...well not really, but I should right? Time to play catch up...again. :) There's something about having a child that almost forces you to remember what it was like to be one and you become really creative again. Jordan is just starting to play "pretend" with his toys. He drives his toy cars around the family room making the vroom sound. Its so great that he occasionally will entertain himself. He also loves sword fights with his light sabers. Legos are a favorite too. I love my little boy!

Stairs!

On this vacation, our little champ learned how to climb stairs. Jordan and I have a little bit of history with stairs, so I was a little bit nervous. His grandpa keep a close hand behind him. This concludes our pictures from Kauai...well, if you're viewing this then its the start of the pictures since I seem to have a trend with our blog in posting pictures backwards, so scroll down and view my latest posts until you get to our First Beach Visit post.

River Tubing

We went river tubing while we were on Kauai. This is part of the river we went down. The last picture is of the vehicle we rode in to get to the river.