Seacliff Beach

McKay likes to wear his sunglasses but they are still a little big for his face. He does his best to keep them on.

Check out that grin! This kid loves going to the beach. I brought all his sand toys as well as a few other containers and a spoon for playing in the sand. What did he play with the most? The spoon!

When we got out of the car McKay said 'yay!' Seacliff is a state beach and the parking by the beach was full so we had to park up the hill from the beach and he couldn't even see where we were. He just knew he was happy to be out of the car and we were going to have fun.

McKay enjoyed 'finding' his feet buried in the sand after the water went back out. It also helped pass the time between waves - he was excited for the next wave to come!

The water was pretty cold but McKay loved being in it, especially out in the waves with Jordan. He was shivering but when we asked him if he was cold he'd say 'no, more more more'. He shivered when the wave hit them and then he'd say 'yay!' We can't help but smile every time McKay says 'yay!'

We had not even left the parking lot yet when McKay was asleep. He cried and cried when we had to say 'bye bye' to the ocean. It was a perfect day at the beach. We'll be back!

Mothers Day

Once again, I got spoiled. Jordan is really good at noticing what I need or might like and surprising me (except for when he tells me what I am getting.)

McKay loves to help us open our gifts.

I love being a Mommy to McKay and wife to Jordan.
BTW: I got a back-up battery for my camera (yay!!!), a leather arm band with a case for my mp3 player, an exercise video, socks, the movie Penelope, and a massage! Like I said... spoiled!

ConRAC Tour

Last Saturday was Jordan's turn to be on the job site while the subcontractors were working so we decided it was time for me to have a tour of the job. We had planned to have Jordan give both our parents tours while they were here but we ran out of time and it was raining most of the time they were here. I took lots of pictures so you should get a pretty good idea of the size of the project and why it is nicknamed the monster garage. Click here to see the ConRAC last August and to read stats about the job.

It was fun to actually see some of the things I have heard about. Bytheway, ConRAC stands for 'Consolidated Rent-a-Car'.

I took the top left picture so you could see how big it is in relation to Jordan. He is the orange dot. :) I took the top right picture standing in the middle of the helix. When we moved here, the crane wasn't even on the job site yet - they were still driving piles. (I sound like I know what I am talking about, don't I? :) Then we could spot the ConRAC from a distance because of the 'X' the crane made. Now, the crane is almost hidden by the building! Things happen fast! No wonder Jordan is always crazy busy. The job was originally scheduled to be completed next June, which was early for their September deadline. Now they are on schedule to be finished next April.

One thing an office engineer does, particularly on a design-build project, is fix problems. Notice anything wrong with the top two pictures? In the top left picture, the unit hanging from the ceiling is right where wall is going to be when the wall is continued up from the 5 ft cement wall which houses the gas for the QTA (Quick-Turn-Around). The unit had to be hung there for ventilation & support reasons. The picture on the top right: the duct was in the plumbers way so he CUT A HOLE IN THE DUCT to run his pipe. He was going to patch it up so they wouldn't know but he got caught by a Hensel Phelps guy. Brother.

The view from the roof. Terminal B, also a Hensel Phelps job, is going to be finished soon. Looks pretty small next to the ConRAC!

The little red hardhat McKay and I are wearing is what they gave Jordan when he first started last June. Jordan has a big head so they got him a larger hat until he hit his 6 month mark and graduated to a white hat. If you forget his name, just look at his hat. ;) McKay was pretty excited about his read hat, especially when he saw Daddy had a hardhat too. McKay had a good time playing with some friends from our ward while we were gone.

Hopefully I'll be able to do another update when the project is finished or at least almost finished. On the end (if you look at the top picture, the end on the left) there is going to be a picture of a hand symbolizing the hand of the people, made from hocky puck like things in a chain-linked fence. Hmmm... interesting!
Pretty cool job for your first commercial job ever!

Blankets, Books, Stickers & Friends

McKay is very interested in stickers these days. I was pulling stickers off some new shirts we bought for him so I could wash them and he wanted to put them on his shirt. This one stayed on for quite a while so I had McKay 'pose' for me so I could take his picture. Good pose buddy!

This made me laugh when I saw what he was doing. He saw my blanket on the floor in my room and dragged it into the livingroom. He pulled himself up on the couch to read books. The books on the right are what he is going to read. Once he reads them, they go on the left, just like when we read books together. During the winter when I was cold after eating breakfast or I was sick and wanted the blanket, I'd put it over us while we read books. It has been months since we have done that! I am constantly amazed at what McKay remembers. Bytheway, he read all those books to himself. :)

Here he is reading one of his favorite books, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with babies doing the signs. I think we have checked it out from the library atleast half a dozen times.

Ducky, Bear & Sheep
(in order of preference, of course)
the lucky stuffed friends McKay loves

I came out of the bathroom one morning and I could hear McKay in his room. Usually he comes and says 'hi' when I come out but this time he didn't. Eventually he did come see me and wanted me to go see what he was doing. He had pulled his blanket out from under his crib and was sitting on the banana chair, another thing we used to do when it was cold!

Park

Over and over again McKay climbed up and slid down. Last fall when we came to this park, he wasn't tall enough or strong enough to climb the steps alone and he always wanted to hold my hand down the straight slide. After only a couple of times with me coaching him, he was very confident climbing on his own and going down the curvy slide on his tummy!

Every time was the same: climb up the steps waving or saying 'hi' to Mama on the way, pause to 'drive', slide down and grin at the bottom like it was the first time sliding all over again. So much fun!

McKay also enjoyed practicing pouring and dumping. He was so funny to watch. Each time he dumped the bucket on himself he carefully dusted off his hands and pants.

Prayers

McKay likes to say his prayers, especially since he gets to brush his teeth afterward. We always pray for dada, mama, amma, and ampa or papa, in the name of dadas amn. He also nods his head and says 'um huh' to the other things we say, like 'yep, that is right'.

Things to Remember

4-26-09
Jordan and I were making breakfast Sunday morning and McKay kept 'scaring' us by poking his head around the corner and yelling 'BOO!'

When something is cold (ice cream, tater-tots, yogurt, string cheese, etc) McKay hunches up his shoulders and says 'uuurrrr'. He seems to have slightly sensitive teeth too.

I have some wonderful slipper socks I wear at night to warm up my feet so I can go to sleep. McKay has seen me put my socks in the drawer in my nightstand and is very eager to help me. Only, he puts them in the bottom drawer and I put them in the top drawer. I was very confused for several days about how I could have lost one sock until I thought to look in the bottom drawer. Sure enough, he had 'put it away' for me!

McKay helps his stuffed animals be sweet to each other by helping them give each other (the bear and duck or sheep) hugs and kisses and have conversations with each other. He usually gets a kiss or two from them in the process. Too cute.

4-22-09
McKay has a baby einstein poster on the wall in his room, above his crib. He had pulled out ALL the books and noticed a picture of his poster on the baby einstein book box. It took me a minute to realize what he was doing, running to his room and then coming back and pointing excitedly to the picture on the box.

4-20-09
Yesterday morning when I was reading McKay a book, he pointed to the 'F' on the cover and made his sound for frog, which is actually a pretty good croak. I was impressed. Then at church, he pointed to the 'O' and hooted like an owl. I was impressed again. Then he pointed to the 'F' in FOR and did the frog sound, and then at the O and did the owl sound. Way to go McKay!

McKay likes to raise both arms in the air and say 'yay'! Sometimes he claps his hands and says 'yay' too.

When I am changing McKay's diaper and his legs are up and in front of his face, he likes to peek around and say 'hi' as only he can do it, and laugh - fun game!

When I pick McKay up he usually hooks his arm though mine.

McKay and I were shopping before Easter and passed a bin full of stuffed animals, some of them HUGE. McKay wanted to hold a couple of them and hugged them like they were long lost friends, especially a yellow duck. I convinced him it was time for the animals to take a nap and reminded him that he has stuffed animals at home (which, he never plays with except to throw on the floor - so I didn't feel the need to buy him MORE though it was tempting) When we got home I showed him his duck I had put up on the dresser, due to the previously mentioned animals on the floor and he latched onto that and it has now become a favorite. He even lets his stuffed bear stay in his crib with him. Only sometimes though. 'Ducky' always gets preference.

4-10-09
One of McKay's favorite songs is the monkeys swinging in the trees 'teasing Mr. Crocodile'. When it gets to the 'snap' part, everyone waits to 'snap' until McKay does it. He likes to tease us by pretending to snap several times before he actually does, and loves it when he 'tricks' us.

McKay notices the moon in the sky whether it is day or night. He also loves to look at the stars and sing 'twinkle twinkle little star'.

The dog in our 'Hey Diddle Diddle' book laughs hysterically when he sees the cow jump over the moon - and McKay loves it. I think that may be where McKay learned what the moon is because I am pretty sure Jordan and I didn't teach him - he just pointed to it one night and said 'moon'.

McKay uses his hip/leg to push in drawers, especially the drawer where we keep the wipes. After I noticed him doing it I realized it is because I do it a lot. :)

When I am doing something on the computer and need to buy a few more minutes of peace, I can give McKay my calculator to punch buttons and he is happy. Take note: an accountant in the making!

4-5-09
When I blow my nose in the morning, McKay always uses one square of toilet paper and 'blows' his nose too, folding the tissue after each 'blow', just like Mommy.

Another game that never gets old: looking for McKay's hands that are 'lost' in his sleeves or under his tray.

McKay LOVES to say 'mammaaa' (with the last aaaa's getting more and more shrill) over and over and over again, even when I answer or say his name back to him.

4-3-09
McKay has figured out how to 'shrug' his shoulders. It is super cute to see his tiny shoulders do such a grown up thing.

A Day in the Life

*Please don't feel obligated to read all this. It is my attempt at recording what life is like right now for us since this is all the record we have! Do watch the video at the bottom though. :)

Today was a typical Thursday. For breakfast McKay and I had cereal. McKay kept saying 'O' and pointing to the box. Sure enough, when I brought the box closer to him, he pointed right to the 'O'. Once he got down from his highchair, he brought me his 'O' magnet saying 'O'. Good job buddy! Then, as I helped him finish up his cereal, he 'counted' to five on his fingers, one finger up at a time, starting with his thumb. He doesn't say the numbers but he is counting them in his own language. He finds things to count all day long.

Next, I called my visiting teaching partner to see when she is available to go visiting. She is doing her masters at UCLA (yes, in LA) so she is only available Fri-Sun. I left her a message but McKay really wanted to talk on the phone. I asked him who he wanted to talk to and he said 'ama, papa'. So we called and visited with Papa McCleve for a few minutes. McKay did eventually say 'bye bye' after I convinced him (I think) that Papa couldn't see his cute little hand waving into the phone.

Thursday morning is library story time so as I was getting ready, McKay worked on taking everything out of the bathroom to sweep, like we had done the day before. This is the reason I usually sweep the bathroom when he is asleep. Cute little helper.

McKay loves the 'Young Ones' program at the library where they sing songs with lots of actions and hear a few flannel board stories. The teacher is great and McKay is so cute. He waves excitedly to the teacher when he comes into the room and does all the actions. Afterward he is always very anxious to play with the puppets and props used that day. The teacher knows McKay by name and we are usually one of the last to leave the room. Next week is the last time until July. :(

For lunch McKay had 3 fish sticks he dipped in tartar sauce and then he took a nap while I blogged. :) When he woke up, we turned on one of his favorite cds, Leap Frog Baby and I started making dinner. It was a beautiful day so we had the door open and McKay could hear our neighbors coming home from work so he started to ask for Dada. I told him Daddy would be home in a little while so he waited at the door and called for him. Then he did his running game which consists of him starting at the door to the utility room in the kitchen and waiting for me to say 'ready... Go!' and he takes off running into my room and back. We play this game a lot when I am doing dishes or cooking. He is a cute little runner and is getting so fast.

Once Daddy got home, we had dinner. My glass that was cracked finally decided to break and we had 2 cups of water all over our kitchen table. Then, I was pouring water into my new glass and watching what Jordan was doing and poured more water on the table as my glass overflowed. We now have a very clean table! McKay didn't quite understand what was so funny but he laughed with us anyway.

After cleaning the kitchen, we got McKay ready for bed while we watched Wheel of Fortune. McKay likes to clap and there is a A LOT of clapping on that show! Books, Prayers, Teeth, and bed for McKay. Jordan and I exercised, showered, worked on the computer and went to bed.

So there you have it. That is a typical Thursday for us these days.

Swimming

Monday was too hot so we went swimming with some friends in the ward. We are lucky it doesn't usually get up into the 90's here. McKay enjoyed being in the kiddie pool that is 1ft deep. He also had a lot of fun kicking and 'swimming' with Mamma in the big pool. He was not ready to go when it was already past nap time. I think we will be swimming a lot this summer!

Check out that awesome suit I got for him. SPF 100+ and UPF 50+. I didn't have to put much sunblock on him and he was much better protected than he would have been any other way unless we had stayed inside all day! No sunburns on this boy! It breathes really well and dries quickly. Plus I think it will help keep sand out of his diaper when we go to the beach. Yay!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

In Vallejo CA there is a Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It is about an hour to an hour and a half drive from our home in Santa Clara. And we have season passes! Last Saturday we decided to make Six Flags a part of our summer fun and headed out for our first visit. Next time we will take a different, more direct route and it will only take an hour and fifteen minutes to get there. Unfortunately there is no way around the toll bridge which is $4 per car. Good thing we are getting a good deal on the passes & parking! This park is really unique; it has all the animal shows similar to Sea World, lots of the big roller coasters common to Six Flags, over 20 rides with NO height requirement (lots of options for McKay), and lots of animals that you can just go look at like at a zoo or aquarium.

Anyway, we got into the park and happened upon the dolphin show which was just getting started. I was parking the stroller, but Jordan said right when he and McKay walked in and McKay saw the dolphins doing their flips, our not-fun-at-all drive up became totally worth it. In fact, I think part of the reason we enjoyed the park so much was because of our sweet little McKay.

One of our favorite shows of the day was the dolphin show. In fact, we even considered going back again for the next show. That is until we remembered we can come back anytime this year and that there is a lot more to see!

21 months

McKay wasn't ready to leave the dolphins yet so we went down to watch them a little closer. He liked to watch the dolphins play with their ball and would wave to them every time they swam away.

When McKay first saw this ride, he was excited and wanted to go on it so badly. He did pretty well waiting for our turn, even when we didn't get on when I thought we would - we were the first in line for the next ride.

He wasn't too sure about the ride at first. Jordan got a kick out of his expression, which reminded him of a picture of him at about McKay's age with the same expression at Disneyland. It only took a couple of spins and McKay was laughing and having a good time.

They have a Thomas Town which has this Harold the Helicopter ride, a Bertie the Bus ride and a Thomas Train ride that goes around the park. It was the Saturday at the end of spring break and apparently the park had not anticipated the crowd because we didn't have a map of the park. We were lucky enough to get a xeroxed copy of the show schedule so we just stopped here and there on our way to the shows. Next time we will go for a train ride!

Click on the collage to see the pictures closer. Obviously I had a hard time narrowing down which pictures I wanted to post. :) The elephant show was also a favorite. I have never seen an elephant in real life be so cool! McKay likes elephants a lot more after the show. It was funny to watch the elephant keep asking for more treats while the trainer sat on her side and taught us about elephants. I think he had everyone's attention when he laid down and had the elephant step over him. Especially after explaining that the elephant couldn't see her feet or him! Another favorite part was when the elephant wiggled her ears. (Wiggled seems too mild of a word to describe it... maybe waved would be better.)

After the show was over, we went to the edge of the ring and pet the elephant. Now McKay can say he has touched an elephants tusks.

Shade was limited there so next time we will make sure we are early enough to not be sitting in the sun.

Our favorite part of the sea lion show was when McKay barked/growled like the sea lions.

By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired, especially with no nap for McKay. While we waited for the killer whale show, McKay made friends with the lady sitting in front of us. He gave her 'five', 'knuckles', 'skin' and even did a little dance with her. He was very comfortable and made her wish she had a boy (she had 2 older girls). McKay makes friends wherever we go.

Next time we will sit in seats with a better view and make sure it isn't the last show of the day and I think we will enjoy the killer whale more. It still was good though.

On our way out we saw a huge walrus who was very interactive with the group of us who were watching him. He was clapping his flippers, which McKay loved.

Our first day was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed how much the animals liked us. It was so much better than a zoo where you can't get the animals to do anything. It's gonna be a fun year!

Caltrain Lunch Date

Last Friday afternoon McKay and I went for a train ride! A friend in our ward organized a lunch date/train ride. We got on the train in Sunnyvale and got off in Palo Alto. McKay and I almost missed the train. Apparently I need to add at least 10 minutes to our 'getting ready' time for applying sunblock. We were literally running to catch the train. McKay was laughing at me when I was rushing to get him strapped in the stroller before taking off running through the parking garage. A train worker helped us get all the strollers on the train & out of the way. He also helped by unloading all the strollers once we stopped. However, he unloaded an extra stroller. Yes, the train was long gone but someones stroller with a bag full of snacks and diapers was left on the side. Bummer for someone! Their Day of Fun just got more complicated!

After we left the stroller at the station, we caught up with the rest of the group at the Peninsula Fountain & Grill, not to be confused with the Peninsula Creamery a few streets down (ahem!). As we were walking in to join the rest of the group, a man leaving asked us what we were all doing. He'd never seen so many babies before. 'Is there a baby convention going on or something?' :) We used ALL the highchairs & booster seats the restaurant had and still were a few short. McKay and I got a sandwich with home style fries & and chocolate fudge shake that was 'mmm'.

Deb and I are both councilors in the Young Women Presidency. Her little Elle is 10 months old. Deb is a lot of fun and reminds me of my cousin Amy.

McKay had fun looking out the window and choo chooing.

What a fun afternoon!

Easter

After the ward Easter Egg hunt, we took a little impromptu family picture.

We had been having Easter egg hunts in our house and a few outside before the ward hunt so McKay would sort of know what was going on. He did well with picking up the eggs but he didn't seem to see any reason to pick up the candy on the grass! For several days after Easter, McKay would ask if he needed to bring his basket whenever we went somewhere. Besides swinging with Mamma (the only child seat was taken), McKay also enjoyed playing with a sheet of plastic he found, chasing it in the breeze. He was entertained the entire time we were visiting with friends and had a lot of fun running as fast as he could. He is getting pretty fast.

Easter morning the Easter Bunny didn't come until after breakfast & McKay's bath. McKay was too excited and busy to pose for a real picture, though I did try. (sigh!) He enjoyed finding eggs, eating his candy, and he almost mastered his new puzzle by the end of sacrament meeting.

McKays newest words: 'eeas' for Easter, 'meomo' for Elmo, 'dadas' for Jesus, 'eee' for yay,'papa' for Grandpa, and 'amma' for Grandma. He is saying more and more each day!

Miscellaneous McKay Moments

McKay was 'helping' me make dinner and I guess the broccoli must have looked good to him because he helped himself and actually ate quite a bit. He doesn't always eat broccoli well so I let him have as much as he wanted.

With the exception of when he is wearing this swimsuit, McKay always seems to think it is a hat. I have no idea where he came up with this but invariably when he sees the suit, he puts it on his head. I was going through his drawers and taking out everything that was too small for him, including the suit, so it was nice and accessible for him. I was having a hard time getting him to look at the camera for a picture so I started asking him to do animal sounds. See if you can tell which is which. He is doing a sheep, a chicken, a snake, and a pig.

This one is just a mix of the rest of the random pictures on my camera - my attempt at finally catching up a little. :) McKay likes to play in our closet and is always touching Jordan's belts that are hanging down. Well, Jordan left his belt in the front room one Sunday evening and of course, first thing on Monday morning, McKay found it and wanted to wear it. It wrapped around him twice and still was a little big. (Note: The belt is almost too big for Jordan too - not to wrap around twice though! ;)) It was fun until he realized he couldn't pick anything up off of the floor. Somehow I managed to catch his frustrated expression.

This kid wants to do everything we do. The middle picture is McKay 'exercising' on the stair stepper. The top right picture was taken shortly after McKay woke up from his nap, hence the pacifier. I thought he looked so funny clutching his new found love 'ducky' and the grocery store receipt that must have been too cool to be thrown away with the rest of the recipes he took to the bathroom trash for me. It is pretty long.

The bottom right picture is our dresser. The reason I took the picture though is to show how it looks after we do laundry. I frequently fold clothes in my room during which time McKay plays in the closet or whatever he finds to do. When we are done, all the handles on the dresser are flipped up. Funny boy.

So the noises McKay is making in the picture above are (clockwise starting at the top-left): Either the pig or actually a smile (maybe I did get lucky once... I can't remember now), hissing like a snake, clucking like a chicken, and baaing like a sheep. I do have the rest of the zoo too but I thought 4 were enough. :)

Done!

Tax season is over! It was fun (sick, I know) but I am glad it is over. The last couple of nights before the deadline I was up till 2-3 am so I actually took a nap yesterday. Wonderful! The only problem was that between the nap & thinking about the activity for Young Womens next week (it is going to be SO fun!), I didn't fall asleep very quickly. Today, even though I really wanted a nap, I didn't take one and hope to get to sleep early. That always feels better anyway.

I mopped my kitchen floor today and am SO HAPPY to have a clean floor! I won't tell when the last time was that I cleaned it. It was the first thing to go when I was spending my nap times & evening/nights working. I dusted & vacuumed the living room & bedrooms yesterday, including wiping down the couches, and will give the bathroom a much needed scrubbing this afternoon. The bathroom hasn't been cleaned since Jordan did it a couple weeks ago. Gross! I love a clean house and the only time I can deal with it being messy & dirty is when I don't have the time or energy to clean it. Other things like cooking dinner & doing laundry take priority. We must eat & have clothes to wear - plus McKay loves helping with the laundry. One thing I must say though is that we never missed a library story time or reading to McKay. He loves it!

This situation I have is really perfect & wonderful. I get to be home with my little sweetie (and my bigger little sweetie) and I also get to do taxes and associate with people who are also sick like me and like doing taxes. It is nice to be appreciated & feel like you are really good at something. I was asked (jokingly of course) if I would move back to Utah for next tax season. :)

Now I will go back to working a few days a week and to free Saturdays to go to new places and to revisit places we love. McKay and I will walk to the park everyday and Jordan and I will do our best to show McKay all the wonderful creations of our Heavenly Father - we'll try to make a dent anyway. We have a lot of fun things planned for this summer - it will be a summer of nothing but fun fun fun, so look out - it won't be too hard to beat my blogging track record for the first 4 months of the year though. It never is. And come next January, I will be itching to get back into doing lotsa taxes again! Love it!