Happy Anniversary My Love

Two years ago today I had the privilege of marrying my teammate, my best friend and the love of my life. It was a long journey to get to where we are today, but I think it's been a pretty great ride. He is the only person with whom I can imagine sharing the blessing/challenge/joy/insanity of parenthood, and I am greatful for every day we spend together. In honor of this special day I wanted to share some things you may or may not know about my Matt:

He is extremely generous.

He doesn't hold a grudge.

He rarely stinks! The man can skip deoderant and hit the gym and come out smelling like (manly) roses.

He loves a mango.

He doesn't make me promises he can't keep.

He remembers everything and it drives me crazy. (There husband, I said it. Happy Freakin' Anniversary.)


He won me over by following me around my apartment and reading from my roommate's Human Sexuality book about the Grafenburg Spot. (Yes, it's what you think it is.) I had to ask my roommate if he was funny or creepy; she assured me he was funny. She was right.

He really thinks he could fly a helicopter in an emergency.

He is a wonderful daddy.


He was an early talker and one of his first words was "condominium".

He submitted to watching "Dirty Dancing" with me to prove I was special.

He built our home computer. It mostly works.

He has an incredible amount of patience.


He once hit Ian Ziering in the head with a penny.

He knows a lot about space. (Like that the biggest thing in the solar system is Jupiter's magnetosphere. See, I listen.)

He would like a Diet Coke with lemon, please.


He can do the work of at least two people and is rarely appreciated for it.

He can lift really heavy things.


He is insanely good at Guitar Hero.

He sometimes screws the gas tank on so tight that I have to ask strangers to help me get it open.

He folds his t-shirts like they are being displayed at a department store.

He hates Crocs.


He has donuts and McDonald's every year on opening day of the NFL draft. So I have donuts and McDonald's every year on opening day of the NFL draft.


He can't wait for Luke to be old enough to have donuts and McDonald's on opening day of the NFL draft.

He wants to know how everything is made.


He is the only person I know that has a favorite airplane. It is the SR-71 Blackbird, thank you very much.

He taught me that sometimes you have to come out of cover 2 and run a weak-side blitz.


He had insomnia in college and at hour 68 without sleep, a statue of a horse started moving.

He is a loyal friend.

He makes better chicken and pasta than me.

He hates the snow. I mean he REALLY hates the snow.

He has learned to love broccoli. I will take the credit for that one.

He used to have a Nissan Altima and all the hubcaps fell off one by one. Now when he sees one driving he always looks to see if it is missing a hubcap. It usually is.


He wants Luke to be a long snapper in the NFL (because that is the most underrated position and he will always make at least the league minimum).


He hates butternut squash and there is nothing I can do about it.

He knows a little bit about everything and I learn something new everytime we go on a roadtrip.
He always knows how to fix-it after a fight.

He bought me my own DVR so he didn't have to watch...well...any of my shows.

He wanted us to change our last name to Awesome when we got married. He was only partly joking.

He has a dimple on his cheek that he made by falling on the corner his toy box when he was a kid. Ouch.

He used to be in a yo-yo club in college. (Husband: "It wasn't a club! We would just yo-yo when we pulled all-nighters in the workshop, and I got really good at it." Wife: "Sure.")


He is very loved.

Happy Anniversary Husband, My Love, Mister, Hunnybunch, and BW (I'll give you a dollar if you can remember that one!). Eventually we'll make it back to our room at the Hyatt, but for now, I'm happy to just be wherever you are. On our wedding day I promised that I would spend every day trying to make you as happy as you make me. I hope it's working. I love you. Wife

An Afternoon with Jack & Julie

Matt and I headed up to Glendale today to hang out with our good friend, Julie, and her hilarious son, Jack. Here is Julie holding Luke.







And here is the wild man himself, Little Man Jack.






Jack and Matt had a great time spinning coins and watching them fall into the sink. In true kid fashion, Jack could have played this game all day. In true adult fashion, Matt was ready to quit after 5 minutes, but played for a long time to make the little guy happy. It was good practice for him!




Jack is hilarious for many reasons. First off, look at this picture. Secondly, he loves delivery people. He wants to hug them. The guy that delivered lunch today got a big hug from Jack. Also, Jack is not supposed to touch the curtains in the house because his parents don't want him to pull them down on himself, or to fall through a window. Good points, right? He doesn't agree. After multiple incidents and a couple of time outs, Jack gave up his curtain-grabbing escapades and went to play in his parents' room. I found him laying on the bed with his head pressed against the window. I pulled the curtains aside and said, "What are you looking at buddy?" and he yelled, "No touch curtains!" Touche little man. And finally, after hearing a strange thumping sound coming from Jack's room Julie called out, "Jack, what are you doing?", and he replied, "Not doing!" Love this kid.





Thank you Julie and Jack for a wonderful afternoon! Next time we'll make sure that Jordan is around, too!

Amy & Ryan's Wedding

Last weekend we went to the wedding of my best friend from high school's little sister. Got that? Adrienne and I have been friends for about 15 years (Adrienne, can you believe that??), so I have seen her little sister grow from a little girl in her catholic school uniform to a lovely and sweet young lady in her wedding gown. The ceremony and reception were beautiful and we had a great time showing Luke off to everyone.



He is such a good baby. He slept through the ceremony and woke up just in time to party at the reception. He had multiple offers from relatives of the bride and groom to take Luke as their grandson, and he had more kisses from new friends than we can even count.



He even did a little dancing with daddy.













So, I was in charge of picture taking, and I had a lot of wine. We really don't have any good pictures. These are the best of what we have. From now on, husband is always in charge of pictures and must use the fancy camera.

This Is Why We Live In Huntington Beach

Matt and I took Luke for his first beach walk in the Baby Bjorn. He LOVED it! So did Matt and I. Here is a sampling of the fun.

Weekend Part 2: A Day with the Bakkens

Luke decided that the only way to sleep at Nonni and Papa's house is in someone's arms, regardless of the time of day. Naps were split among all of us, but I took the night shift. And while I love sleeping with Luke, he seems to come out more rested than I do. However, we make a cute pair, don't we?


So when Nonni and Papa offered to take him for a walk and let me sleep that morning, I greatfully accepted. I woke up 2 hours later to the smell of bacon and eggs. Gotta love being taken care of by mom.





We had some playtime with Luke where he showed off all his new skills: flying with mommy and stading with Nonni.

Then the Sheehan's made another appearance and Luke had his first dip in the kiddie pool. His feet were really the only thing being dipped, but he seemed to enjoy it. Of course he had to share the pool with Cousin Kenzie and 300 dinasaurs, but he's into group activities and didn't seem to mind.

I've had a very productive morning--2 posts!! But I've just been spit up on--again--and must go change and entertain the baby.

Sleepy Boy

I hurt my foot on our jog yesterday. I'm not sure how bad it is, but I don't think it's a good sign to feel a "pop" when you put pressure on the ball of your foot. I didn't think a jog or walk would be a good thing today, so I thought I would indulge my craving for pancakes and take Luke out to breakfast. I called my practically-across-the-street neighbor and friend, Debbie, to see if she wanted to join me, but she was in San Diego and didn't feel like making the drive for a couple of pancakes. I know, crazy right?? So instead, Luke and I dined alone. Well, I dined and he watched. He's quite good company. He got many oohs and ahhs from the other patrons and I was a proud momma.

But the real reason for this entry is what happened when we got home. We played for a little while and then he fell asleep on my drool-soaked shoulder. Seriously, my shirt is sopping wet. When I laid him down in his crib I just had to stop and marvel at the love I feel for this mini-Matt-with-a-SMIDGE-of-Lisa. I love when he is awake and smiling, but I LOVE to watch him sleep. I love it so much that we have a progression of sleeping Luke pictures that I'd like to share with you.

We'll start with sleeping in the hospital,

and with family (he's getting bigger!),

and finally, the many positions of Luke. I can't wait until he's allowed to sleep on his tummy. He sleeps so soundly! Stupid SIDS. I wonder what he dreams about? Hopefully milk and hugs and trees. He loves trees. The last picture is the inspiration picture of Luke sleeping today.

I can't believe how big he's gotten and how much he's changed since we brought him home. That's all. Thank you for indulging me and loving my little boy. As you can see, I'm pretty fond of him myself.

Weekend Part 1: The Sheehans

Matt, Luke and I headed to Sacramento last Thursday for a long weekend with the Bakkens and Sheehans. I can't seem to find time to write about all of the happenings, so I'm posting this update in small portions. I could have worked on putting this together during Luke's nap today, but I decided to nap with him. So, no housework done and no update written, but a much happier mommy in the long run. Here is the first installment!

We spent Friday with my brother and his family and got in some quality time with the niece, Kenzie. She is so sweet with Luke and is very concerned when he cries. She let me know very quickly that the baby cries because he's hungry. Duh, Auntie Lisa, feed the baby and he won't cry. This kid is so smart and full of funny things to say. She has a new big girl bed with Disney Princess sheets. When I asked her which princess was her favorite she tilted her head and replied thoughtfully, "Hmm...I'm not sure exactly." When my mom, aka Nonni, asked if she could see Kenzie's room, she said, "Of course you can!" in her sweet, high-pitched voice. And the best: she has trouble saying the "f" sound and the majority of dinner was spent trying to make her say "Fish have freckles" which she pronounces "Shrish have shreckles." We got it on video; I know, we're jerks.

We took a walk to the park for a little post-dinner exercise and I learned that Kenzie's love for me is conditional and I can easily be replaced by Nonni if I make a wrong move. After all, I am L.A. Auntie, as my loving brother named me, and Nonni is a permanant, local fixture. And, Nonni is fantastic.

Luke was sleeping and I thought I'd get in a little play time with Kenzie. We played chase and had a grass fight and did some gymnastics. We were having so much fun, and I was thinking that I can't wait until Luke is 2 1/2-years-old. And just then, things went awry. We were playing the "It's Mine" game and I told her that the jungle gym was mine. This did not go over well. "It's mwine!" she yelled back (yes, she says "mwine", I know, so cute!). I thought this was all part of the game so I said, "No, it's mine and you can't come on here." Followed by chants of "Mine!", "Mwine!", "Mine!", "MWINE!" At that point I could see and hear that the little lady was starting to lose patience with me so I said, "Why don't we share it and play together?" to which she yelled "NO" and followed with an ear piercing scream. This was the end of play time with Auntie Lisa. She grabbed Nonni by the finger and took her away to play without me. That will teach me to disagree with a 2-year old. And it will also teach me to enjoy my little man sleeping quietly in his stroller.

However, Luke did wake up while we were at the park, and this is what he thought of being roused from his slumber:

Stay tuned for "A Day at the Bakkens" and "Amy's Wedding" coming soon to a computer near you.