St. Patricks/Easter/Chuck E Cheese Extravaganza

Okay, so the weekend before last we decided to take Clayton to Chuck E. Cheese, thinking that he might have a good time on some of the kiddie rides and would like the robotic dancing band members on stage.  WHOA, that place has gone downhill.  Imagine an amusement park in the ghetto.  It sort of felt like that.  The clientele was sort of interesting, which we noticed right when we were walking in the door and heard a group of gentlemen standing by the door talking about a "drive by."  Interesting.  Anyway, Clayton wasn't crazy about the rides, but he let us take a picture or two.
Also, we just got him this T-shirt.  It is awesome.  Enough said.
Monday was St. Patrick's Day.  For most of us growing up, I think St. Patrick's Day is a day where you wear green to school to avoid getting pinched.  Then you get older, and you realize it is mostly a holiday to give Irish people (and people who are only a fraction Irish) an excuse to drink.  As if the Irish need another excuse.  There is sometimes green beer involved, too.  Well, in Tina's family, St. Patrick's Day is an event.  The leprechauns come.  Yes, the leprechauns.  They come to bring gifts, just like the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.  Which is not the strangest part.  We're just getting started.  You see, I was not aware of this, but according to Tina leprechauns eat saltine crackers.  It's what they prefer.  So you set out Saltines for them.  Kind of like how Santa likes cookies, but with the leprechauns I guess they eat a lot of soup.  Anyway, the crackers are not just set out on a plate, but under a trap.  In Tina's family, you try to trap magical gift-bringers.  So, anyway, I don't have a picture of it, but the apparatus involved an upside-down shoebox balancing precariously on a pencil.  Under the traditional method, the pencil is attached to a string that the child holds onto, so he or she can pull the trap down onto the leprechaun when the little bastard is chomping saltines.  However, because Clayton is so little, we just balanced the box on the pencil and counted on the clumsy leprechaun to trip over the pencil.  No such luck.  Alert--he is still on the loose.
More traditionally, we had some Easter photos taken of Clayton over the weekend, and he got all gussied up.  This is one of the pictures.  He did pretty well at the photo sitting, although there were about a hundred other families going to Kiddie Kandids for pictures at the same time, so it was kind of chaotic.  Anyway, he looked quite handsome and smiled pretty well for the camera.

Spring Fever Setting In

Recently a good friend of mine from college emailed me after seeing this blog and said something like "you and your family are so cute it makes me sick."  I'll take that as a compliment.  But if you think the other photos were cute, check this out.  Yes, that's right, it's a heart-shaped pancake, and Tina made a bunch of them the other day.  Mmm-hmm, there is no limit to the cuteness of our family.  Just when you think we couldn't get much more wholesome and suburban, Tina raises her game.  I'll have my pancakes chock-full of love, thank you.
Not too much other news here.  A few recent photos of Clayton and his antics.  We've got our landscaping contractor and plan lined up for the backyard, so they should be starting work on that any day now.  Which will be not a day too soon, because we are definitely getting anxious for spring.  It will be great to have a place for Clayton to go out and play in the warmer weather.  
Tina and Clayton have been going to classes at Gymboree with Sara and Will, and Clayton seems to really like the classes.  He's picking up new words almost every day, which is a mixed blessing.  The other day I was putting him in his car seat in the garage and he pointed off to the right (where there is a horrific pile of random boxes, bins, and gardening equipment), and he said "a mess."  Yes, Clayton, you're right.  Thanks for pointing that out.

Things are still going well at work.  It's been a busy start to the year, but generally not overwhelming.  I have had to do a little travel, but so far I have been able to make most of the trips day trips rather than overnights.  The next time I have to do any kind of extended trip to L.A., we might see if it will work for Tina (and maybe Clayton) to come down and visit for at least part of the time.  

Oh, one more thing.  Clayton just got his stuffed Moose and Zee (characters from the Noggin cable network), which Tina's friend Jamil makes in her home (see Jamil and Mike's link on the right).  Clayton loves them.  I've already seen him pretending to bounce Zee up and down on the coffee table, which may be a consequence of Zee being shaped sort of like a ball.  Anyway, Jamil also sells the stuffed characters through her eBay page, and I would definitely recommend them for a kid who watches Noggin.  

Clayton in St. George

So, the week before last, while I was in L.A., Tina and Clayton went down to St. George, Utah, to hang out with Tina's parents.  I think Clayton had a good time.  The weather is so nice down there this time of year, so Clayton was able to go outside and play a little bit.  And Tina got to play a little golf with Paul while Grandma watched Clayton.  I flew back into Salt Lake on Friday morning, then drove down to St. George.  We all drove back home on Sunday.  Clayton does pretty well on the car ride, considering it is about four hours.  We only had to stop once on the way back home.

Not much else going on right now.  Tina and Clayton are still going to his Gymboree classes with Sara and Will.  Spring is almost on the horizon, so we are starting the planning to landscape and fence our back yard.  The hope is that this summer, it will be totally finished back there, so Clayton will be able to go out and play.  And since it will be fenced, we will probably keep the dog, Snoop, here with us more often.  He's been in St. George most of the time since we moved into this house.

Also not too much new with my work.  I am still working mostly on litigation for accounting firms, with miscellaneous other things mixed in every once in a while.  Not exactly glamorous, but it's not too bad.  I am hoping that if I have to travel to L.A. much more for the case I have going on down there, that I can just do day trips, flying down in the morning and back in the evening.  I just don't like being away from Tina and Clayton overnight if I can avoid it.

Lame Week Begins

Well, this week is not going to be fun, at least for me (Jared). I have to go to Los Angeles for work from Tuesday afternoon until Friday morning. So Tina and Clayton are taking the opportunity to visit sunny Southern Utah for the week, and left this morning with Grandma to drive down to St. George. I know Clayton is excited to see his "Papa" in St. George, but I already miss him. After I get back on Friday, the plan is for me to drive down, and we'll all spend the weekend in St. George before driving back up together. I am hoping that I will have the chance to see my friend and old college roommate Kevin while I am in L.A., but I don't know how much free time I'll have. Anyway, Tina probably won't be posting anything this week, although she might be checking email occasionally on her phone. I am sure she'll be back in blogging action next week.

Super Bowl Sunday

This Sunday, of course, was Super Bowl Sunday.  We're not really big NFL fans, but Jared kind of likes the Patriots from his years in Boston.  Even he admits it's not as much fun watching them now that they have been dominant, since it's kind of like they're the Yankees of football (and we hate the Yankees).  The other factor is that Jared hates Eli Manning, supposedly because Eli was a jerk and refused to play for the team that drafted him out of college. Anyway, we didn't care too much about the outcome, but it was fun to see an exciting game for the Super Bowl.  I took a picture of Jared and Clayton sitting together and eating popcorn during the game.  Jared is looking especially attractive with his rolled-up jeans (he had just come inside from shoveling snow) and his sweatshirt.  We had a lot of snow that day, so it was a good thing we didn't try to host a party or go out to one.  We are getting SO sick of the snow this year.  It seems like there's another storm every other day.

Clayton and I have been cooped up in the house a lot with the weather, and he has been pretty cute lately.  He is getting to be quite the climber, and knows how to climb up and stand on pretty much any chair in the house.  Here are a few recent pictures of his latest antics.

Snow Day

Okay, time for another update.  Today we were hit with a big snowstorm here in Draper.  It was probably 8-10 inches deep.  It's a good thing it is a holiday, and I didn't have to go into the office.  I don't know how I would have even gotten my car out of the driveway.  Anyway, we decided to take Clayton out to play for just a little bit.  He hasn't ever really played in the snow before, and he didn't know exactly what to think of it.  At one point he tried to crawl into the snow, but didn't realize that his hands would sink into it.  He ended up with a face full of snow.  Despite that, he eventually got to like it, and didn't want to come inside when we were done.  We didn't stay out too long, because Clayton has had a bit of a cold this past week.  But he seems to be feeling much better.

Also, we have some other recent pictures of the boy.  Last week Tina took Clayton and Casey (Clayton's cousin) to the aquarium in Sandy.  

I was at work, but I'm told Clayton had a good time.  He seems to like animals and fish (he just recently started saying fish--although it's more like "ish" at this point), so I imagine looking at all of the different kinds of fish was exciting.  

Last night, Clayton had a bath before bedtime.  He usually takes his bath in the morning, so I think he was a little more enthusiastic about the change of pace.  He started splashing and splashing out of control.  Half of the bathroom floor was soaked, but it was pretty entertaining for me and Tina.  It's a good thing he didn't get the camera wet. 

Clayton continues to surprise us and amaze us on a daily basis.  Today we found out first-hand that Clayton has figured out how to climb onto the top of the desk.  We didn't even know he could climb onto the office chair, much less the desk itself.  But I walked into the office and saw him on the desk, pointing at the background screen of the computer, which was showing a picture of him with Tina's dad, his "Papa."  And Clayton was saying "Papa," which I have also never heard him say before.  After the shock wore off (here I thought the office was childproofed), it was pretty funny, actually.  Tina and I have noticed that he often seems to develop new things in quick spurts, and right now he seems to be taking up a bunch of new things.  He is saying more words, like "yeah," and "Snoop" (the dog), and "shoes."  And he's really starting to enjoy playing with his basketball hoop, and dunks the ball every time he finds his basketball.  Except most of the time his basketball is unavailable because he has thrown it over the gate and down the stairs toward the basement.  He's a lot of fun to watch.

It's Cold!!!

Clayton and I have been spending a lot of time inside lately because it has been SO cold outside. He has developed a love for doing laundry. Whenever he hears me go into the laundry room and open up the washer or dryer, he comes running around the corner.  He has to be the one to unload the washer and hand me the wet clothes, and then I can put them in the dryer. It's so funny!

Although I hate the cold and the snow, Clayton loves it!  He loves putting on his boots, coat, hat, and mittens and going out in the cold.  

I know I posted earlier how much he hated playing in his new ball pit that Santa brought, but he has learned to love it.  Especially if mom or dad get in with him and play.  

Clayton has never been much into his stuffed animals, but lately he loves playing with his cat he got at Build a Bear that he named Allen. 

He has been carrying him around and giving him loves.  He never showed any interest in him until now.

Christmas 2007

Christmas was good this year.  We can't believe all the stuff Clayton got.  He was so funny Christmas morning.  He woke up, and came downstairs and didn't know what to think.  He slowly walked around all his toys and didn't know what to play with first.  Santa brought him a ball pit (which he is now scared of), a basket ball hoop, tons of books and toys and that was just Santa!  We spent Christmas morning with my family and spent the afternoon with Jared's family.  It was good to see everyone, and Clayton had fun playing with his cousins. 

Before we had our family Christmas parties, Clayton hosted a party with a couple of his friends, Will and Nadia.  They had a lot of fun chasing each other around and playing.  

 

Much longer overdue update

Okay, it's been a REALLY long time since we updated this page.  Far too long.  So we are turning over a new leaf, and we are going to use this page to share updates about our family with everyone.  And both of us will be contributing.  So anyway, a lot has happened since the last time we updated this, which was in April.  Construction on our new house in Draper, Utah was just getting started then.  They finished building the house in September, and we moved in the week after labor day.  Here's what the new house looks like. 

Right after we moved into the house, my friend Jamil from high school came out to visit with her husband Mike and their cute daughter Hailey, who is about the same age as Clayton.  They had a lot of fun playing together.  It was great to have them out here, and we hope Hailey can come visit Clayton again soon.

Also since April, Clayton has been growing like crazy.  He turned 1 year old on August 29, and now he is walking around the house and trying to talk to us.  He had a luau party for his birthday with just a few of his friends, and they all went swimming in the pool at our old place.  It was one of the only times we ever used the pool in the three years we had our townhouse, but Clayton was very cute.  He thought swimming was great.

Clayton is very active and mischievous.  One night Clayton was playing in the kitchen (we keep the sharp stuff out of the unlocked drawers so he can play), and then it got quiet.  Jared went into the kitchen to see what Clayton was doing, and Clayton had figured out how to climb into the drawer.  Jared took pictures.

Clayton also had a very cute Halloween costume.  He was a spider.  We didn't take him trick-or-treating, since he couldn't really eat most of the candy.  But next year I think we will take him.  Or at least Jared will.  I won't go out in the cold.  

Overall, Clayton is doing great.  He's still big and healthy, and he likes music and books.  He is very funny, and he always likes to be included in any joke, making a point to laugh whenever anyone else does.  He doesn't quite realize what is going on with Christmas yet, but he likes the Christmas tree.  His favorite word is "light," and his latest thing is to point at the light switch and keep repeating "ight" until Jared or I turn the lights on and off.  It never gets old.  Okay, it gets old.

In other news, not much else is going on.  Jared has been working at his new firm, Howrey LLP (we hate the name) for almost a year, and he likes it a lot.  It has been a good move, even though he has had to work very hard sometimes (like in July, when he was in D.C. for three weeks straight).  We all got very excited when the Red Sox won the World Series, and again when Boston College made it up to #2 in the country, but it's been a bit of a letdown since then.  I have been taking ceramics classes with Dina, Olivia, and Casey, and that has been fun.  Clayton and I went to music classes with his friend Will and Will's mom, Sara, in the fall, and we will probably start some new classes soon.  Mostly for the past few months I have been occupied with trying to put the house together and keep Clayton under control at the same time.  We are still not completely settled in, but things are put together enough that it is starting to feel like home.  One great thing about being in the house is that we are part of a neighborhood now, with lots of young kids around.  I have been playing Bunko with the girls in the neighborhood, and everyone is really nice.  We really like it here.  Anyway, I guess that's all for now, but we plan to post on this page a lot more from now on.  We have a guest room in our house, so we hope to have more friends come visit us soon. 

Long overdue update

When we created this blog last year, we had great intentions of frequently updating it with pictures of Clayton and family news and everything. As it turns out, babies are time- and energy-consuming (who knew?), so we haven't kept it up to date. In fact, we never updated it when The Boy was born. We will try to do better.

Here are a few recent pictures of Clayton, who is almost 8 months old. In other news, since this page was last updated, I have changed jobs. I left my old law firm, Parsons Behle, and am now in the Salt Lake office of the D.C.-based firm Howrey LLP. It was hard to leave a great place like Parsons, but overall the move has been good, and the people at Howrey are great.

Tina has had her hands full at home with Clayton (pictured with his uncle Logan). They took a music class with other moms and young kids this winter, and Clayton is showing early signs of being musically inclined. He thinks he's singing along to the radio whenever we're in the car, but he seems to have forgotten all the words. He also likes being sung to, particularly "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and some song about rolling off the bed that Tina and I had never heard before their music class. Now that Clayton is old enough to entertain himself a little, Tina will be taking some online classes during the summer semester. Also, next week, Tina and Clayton will be traveling with Clayton's cousin Olivia to Charlotte, North Carolina, so that Clayton can see his girlfriend, Hailey. It will also let Tina see Hailey's mom, Jamil, Tina's best friend from high school.

The main other news item for us is that we are building a house. The house will be in Draper, Utah, a little farther south than our current home in West Jordan, but not as far west. It will be pretty convenient for me to get onto I-15 for my commute. Here is a picture of our lot, which was taken before construction started. Since then, our hole has been dug, our foundation walls poured, and our underground utility connections have been installed. Framing should begin shortly. We'll try to post more pictures soon. We're pretty excited about the whole process. The new house will give us a lot more space and privacy than our current townhouse, which is quickly becoming too small as Clayton outgrows his clothes, toys, swings, and pretty much everything else.

Welcome!

This is our first effort to create a page with news about the family. Tina and I have been married for nearly two years, and we are expecting our son (to be named Clayton) to be born in the next 4-5 weeks. We will use this page to post pictures of the boy when he arrives. In the meantime, he is busy gestating, as you can see.

According to the doctor's estimates so far, he's a healthy, big boy. If he gets any bigger, Tina just might tip over.

Until our genetic offspring makes his appearance, Tina demands that the pets be referred to as our "children." In that spirit, here is a picture of our boy Snoop:

He's a handsome one, and quite the protector. He has already staked out Clayton's room as his space, and won't let anyone else in there. Especially not his "sister," Coconut:

Well, there goes my last shred of masculinity and self-respect. I've posted a picture of a cat online. On that note, good night. We leave you with a picture of me and Tina in Newport Beach, California, in July. I'm the one on the left.

Jared