California Corn

A travesty has occured.

During our stay in California Jonah had his very first taste of corn on the cob. And as you could probably guess...it was NOT Iowa corn!! Now, I am not sure what will happen to Jonah's status as an Iowa native when this gets out. I am pretty sure they could revoke our residency for something like this. That being said, I am willing to post pictures of his first real corn experience anyway because they are so cute. Here he is showing off how he can hold his corn correctly and chomps on it like a pro. (Phew...at least he won't get made fun of by his Iowan friends for his technique!) He gets a little lazy at the end...but who doesn't when they are full of sweet corn?

Father's Day

One the many family events that we got to participate in while back home was Father's Day. It fell on the last day of our trip, which was perfect because the Reeds and Smiths usually get together for dinner on our last night in town anyway! Before dinner Jonah presented Daddy and Pop Pop with handmade originals to wear. For Papa Roy's shirt, Jonah was able to get a little help from the other Cuz's who were in and out of the house all trip long! As you will notice, Papa Roys shirt is a bit cleaner and more organized looking than Daddy and Pop Pop's shirts are. I guess that's the difference between a couple of kids being well directed on a project and one running wild with it! All the shirts turned out darling though and are gonna be keepsakes for sure!

Here are the Smith boys modeling their pieces. 

Pop Pop getting to pose with the artist. 

Caught ya! Silly time with Pop Pop. 

How sweet of my daddy and my boy! Love it. 

A rare chance to capture my brother in a family photo too. Awesome. 

Zoo Time

Since there is no zoo in Iowa City, we decided that it would be fun to take Jonah to the zoo with a couple of family and friends while we were in Fresno. It has been years (obviously) since Andrew and I had gone to "Chaffee Zoological Gardens" in Fresno and remembered it as being a pretty bleak place for the animals to live. We were reassured by Andrew's sister and mom that it has been overhauled tremendously and is a cool place to visit. So off we went with the Macs and the Jacksons (sans the other daddies) to take a trip to the zoo.

Jack and Cuz Noah are both zoo members so they were pros at knowing what to see and what to leave out as we made our way through the zoo. Jonah pointed out every new thing that he saw along the way. The boys decided that sea lions were a must, not only because they splash in the water, but also because their pool is surrounded by a super cool cable "fence" that is worth a little attention of its own.
 

We went to see the elephants of course. They are so huge! Jonah was pretty into watching them in all their glory.

Cuz Noah had to grab a picture with the alligator since he wore a shirt in honor of him!

Jonah practiced "walking" with Dad in the shade by the monkey house. Then he decided to just hitch a ride.

There was a field trip there that day so they had an alpaca out for the kids to pet. They let our boys pet him as well as long as they didn't pet by his face. Of course Jonah pushed the limits there, but Andrew made sure he came away with all his fingers.

The funniest/saddest part of the day was in the rain forest exhibit. One of the workers offered to get a parrot down from a tree for the boys to look at up close. Cool, right? Except that the parrot squawked unbelievably loud in Jonah's face and made him cry! He settled down as he watched the parrot play nice with the other two boys but when the parrot came back to him it squawked again! No more parrots.

We ended the day with a few snacks, a group shot,and some sleepy boys to drive home.

Birthday Build a Bear

Before Jonah's birthday party, Andrew and I took him to Fashion Fair mall for Build a Bear. I have wanted him to make one for a while but wanted to wait until we had a significant reason and until he would be at an age where he might actually enjoy some of the process. We tried to let him take part in as much of it as he could so it was really his bear.

First he picked out the one that he wanted from the line up. (We might have narrowed down the options a bit.) Then we took the bear to be filled with fluff til he was just the right amount of squishy. Jonah picked which heart he wanted inside his bear (a plaid one), thoroughly "kissed" the heart and then pushed it inside. When the bear was all sewn up we took it to have it's first air bath.

 Jonah held on to his new buddy for the rest of the trip through the store. After naming the bear Buddyroe on its birth certificate (Buddy now shares Jonahs birthday) we headed home.

In the car ride home it was apparent that Jonah had made just the right choice for a new friend.

Party Time

On June 14th, my baby turned 1 year old. This will not be a sentimental post, as I am still reeling from the trip overall, but a recap of how Jonah spent his special day.

We started the day with a photo shoot of Jonah and his cousins (post to come) since all four were together for his birthday. After that we headed to the mall to Build a Bear to makes Jonah's birthday present from Andrew and I (post to come!). With his new friend in tow we went back to the house for a quick nap before his party.

I decorated for the party as Jonah slept. The theme of the party was "Little Monsters" since we have sort of adopted the monster theme for Jonah ever since he was born. Just like the monsters in his bedroom at home, none of the monsters for his birthday were scary, just playful. A table was set with the theme colors (aqua blue and lime green, highlighted with multi color polka dots) and accessorized with Little Monster party hats for the guests. The monster cake was made by GG and was delicious as well as perfectly suited for the day. Each guest left with a personalized bucket of goodies including crayons, monster dolls, stickers, and pages to color.

At first Jonah was hesitant about eating his birthday cake. He is more of a "poke the food" kind of guy rather than just digging right in. After a little coaxing from Nana he finally got a taste of what he was missing and dug right in. Blue frosting...cute, but not practical. Blue fingernails, blue tongues, yummy!

After the cake we took a quick picture of Jonah with his Mama, Gramma, and GG. I just love it when all 4 generations are together! Post photo opp we headed outside for a little splash pad action! (Having a November birthday myself, I was always jealous of the kids who had summer birthdays and got to have swim parties. Now my son is one of those kids! Yippee!)

Jonah loves the water and took to the splash pad like a fish (pun intended)! His other party guests didn't love it as much. While I am sure that Cuz Hunter would have gotten right in (he had to head back home before the waterworks began), Cuz Noah and Jack Mac were more apprehensive. Luckily Jonah seemed to be oblivious to the anxieties around him and just splashed away! Noah warmed up to the experiance eventually and Jack dabbled a bit, but neither embraced it like Jonah. He stayed in the water till he was shivering, splashing about and trying to bite and catch the spouting water.

Cambria

The day after Stacey and Jared's wedding, the Iowa Smiths, Jacksons, Reeds, and Akinas headed to Cambria for a quick jaunt to the beach. Between tired moms, melting down kids, and inclement weather it ended up being an even quicker jaunt than originally anticipated, but at least we made it! Being Cambria, the beach was a little less "beach" and a little more "rocky cove", but it was still beautiful and a welcome sight for my eyes. (I didn't realize how often I went to the coast as a California resident until we moved to a landlocked state and I no longer had the option.)

Amidst the rocks we found a little patch of sand for Jonah to squish between his fingers. Cuz Noah was not a fan of the cold, wet sand but Jonah didn't seem to care at all. Jonah also loved the tide pools that were nestled in between the rocks. He is drawn to water and, though it was cold, he splashed and splashed his feet and hands in it. His only objection to the experience at all was when I took him out!

We tried to point out the sea lions lounging on the rocks in the distance, but they were a little too camouflaged for him to see. He had plenty to point out himself though (pointing is one of his newest tricks) with Gramma and Pop Pop, rocks, birds, and waves all around. The excursion was not at all what I expected it to be, but it ended up being a cool time none the less.

My Best Friends Wedding

As usual, our trip to California is as packed as can be.

The day after we landed we celebrated Andrew's 32nd birthday with a few close friends and our families. After that there was one day to get all of our ducks in a row before we headed to the coast for my best friend Stacey's wedding. Stacey and her fiancee' Jared (who got engaged in December in Chicago) decided to get married at a beautiful winery in Paso Robles on Saturday June 12th (they are quite the travelers apparently!). On Friday Andrew, Jonah and I headed to the coast for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. (We stopped at the James Dean Memorial site along the way. Hey...why not?) I got to meet Stacey's new in-laws for the first time at the rehearsal and found that they were just as sweet and lovely as Stacey always said they were. I am sooooo happy for her since loving your in-laws makes a WORLD of difference in the long run as well as the short! We met the other members of the wedding party, practiced walking the aisle, and then shared some Mexican food together. After a little girl talk back at the house we rested up for the big day.

My mom and dad came along with us to help with child care for the weekend since I was all over the place with wedding stuff. They got a lot of face time with Jonah which was great and Andrew didn't have to act as a single parent for the entire trip! It was incredibly nice to be able to spend really focused time on Stace as we took care of all the little "getting ready" details. She was absolutely gorgeous, as I knew she would be. The hair, the dress, and the jewelry all worked together perfectly. The location was awesome too. Sunshine falling across the vineyard, rolling hills in shadowy pastels, and a classically modern winery set the scene.

The coolest part of the the whole day, as I anticipated it would be, was the time seeing Stace and her fiancee'/new husband together. I cried countless times between the prayers, vows, speeches, and slide show. I was/am so over the moon about this man that she has chosen. I love the way that she is with him; the new domestic side of her that has emerged, her desire to serve him, and her tenderness when he is with her. I love that he is so smitten with her and that you can see in his eyes how cool he thinks she is. (I always thought that "seeing her through his eyes" was kind of a cliche' thing to say but it is really true with Jared.) I love that he is gentle with her and takes her heart into consideration with all of his decisions. His desire is to protect her and be sure that she is treated right by everyone. Seeing them communicate amidst everything in this hectic weekend gave me a new appreciation of their relationship.

I feel so blessed that I was able to be in Stacey's inner circle for her wedding. I am overwhelmed by the faithfulness of God in her life and in their union. I love her intensely and love her even more and more as time goes on. Some people are your friends just for a season, but some are friends for life. There is such security in knowing that Stacey will be in my life forever, and now so will Jared. I could not be more excited about that.

I Crack Myself Up

Last week when I was working, Andrew captured this video of Jonah laughing. Andrew did nothing to prompt this behavior; Jonah was just being silly and cracking himself up. His laughter is so genuine and free that I could listen to it forever.