7 Quick Takes Friday

I've decided that quick takes are definitely the best way to share a bit about our busy life! Plus I love the number 7 (it was one of my dad's favorites...I can still hear him saying "Guess 7! The number from heaven!).

1. We had a great time in Disneyland, but unfortunately I'm still so tired from all the traveling (& fun!) that I can't really even muster the energy to describe it all in a post. I mean seriously...we've been home since Sunday and we still haven't unpacked any of our bags (we have a lot of clothes! which makes closet organization a difficult task but enables this sort of laziness...wahoo.) Anyway, back to Disneyland. We found Jack a future wife!!! Just kidding, but seriously, he and Aubrey were way too cute together. I mean melt-your-heart-every-moment cute. Both so chubby and happy and we all just had a blast.

I mean how adorable are they?! We tried unsuccessfully to get a picture of both kiddos smiling, but this one's cute anyway because Aubrey is looking adoringly at her future husband, ya know? (You may also notice the baby bump making an appearance in this photo...they are both so little that we were paranoid one or both of them would take a nose-dive off Dumbo so I was dutifully standing guard, ready to pounce as needed.)

2. I posted a few weeks ago (I think?) about Jack's new word, "Whoaw." You can see it in action here as we were leaving It's A Small World (best ride ever for a young family...music, slow/relaxing pace, bright colors, and AIR CONDITIONING!). I just die every time I watch it! He is growing up so fast. 

3. Another thing Jack learned during our trip is how to use a utensil to actually put food in his mouth! YAY! All it took was a small container of refried beans from TACO BELL (yes, that's right, I said it. If you were expecting a homemade/organic version, you've got a lot to learn about The Bacon Mama) and a spork! How funny is that?! He loved the spork! We got a kick out of it too.

Getting ready to experience refried beans for the first
 time....oh boy.

After many months, successful delivery of food to
mouth, via spork. I'm so proud. 

The whole Taco Bell experience was fantastic. We stopped off the I-5 in The Lost Hills (quite the garden variety vacation spot, if you've never been...no... I can't even joke about this, if you've never been I don't want you to plan a day trip and hate me forever!). I got in line to order food and Jack shouted, at the top of his little baby boy lungs, 50 times in a row, and quite emphatically, "MAMA! MA-MA! MAAAA MAAA! MAMA!" Everyone was smiling at how cute he was and it warmed my heart but it really made it difficult to remember what I was supposed to be ordering (everything has the same name at Taco Bell anyway...it's all crunchy/supreme/beef/cheesy blah blah blah).

4. This whole blog post is about Jack. Are you surprised? We adore him. I mean he is just the most wonderful child in the world! I am not lying when I say that two nights this week, because he goes to sleep at 7pm and we miss him so much by 9 or 10 pm, we crept into his room, picked up our sweet, sleeping (yes, I said sleeping) boy, and fought over who got to hold/snuggle/rock him. Don't feel bad for Jack, he's a great sleeper and he doesn't even notice these little interruptions, which is surprising since John and I are literally racing to his room, yelling "I get to hold him! He's mine!" We're quite the pair.

5. I know I haven't mentioned him yet, so here's some more on Jack. John taught him to give hugs this week! I wish I had a video but we are too distracted by how much we love him to capture the moment and share it. Anyway, when you say, "Give me a hug, Jack!" he sort of leans into you, with one chubby arm across your body, and snuggles in to let you hug him. It should be noted, that he thinks this also includes the phrase "hugga hugga hugga!" because that's what John does. So sweet but very confusing because when I came home from work and John said, "Jack, give Mama a hug!" Jack did, but then John started yelling about how I needed to say "hugga hugga hugga" and I didn't know what was up and what was down. Now I know the program so we're good to go, don't worry.

6. I can't keep writing about Jack, so let's hear about baby #2, in a more positive description than "the little banana sized baby who inflicted 20 lbs. of weight gain, in 20 weeks, upon my poor, helpless body." Baby #2 (Tommy or Camila, still to be determined!) has been kicking up a storm. We went to an event for work last night and after a delicious meal of filet mignon, potatoes, a few bites of green beans, as well as this delicious layered chocolate & caramel torte dessert, baby was awake and kicking! Which was very exciting because we were also there for a show (excerpts from The Phantom of the Opera) and the sporadic movement inside of my body really matched what was going on on stage. 

7. I'm making a bacon & baby bella mushroom stuffed pork tenderloin for dinner tonight. I'm excited! When I say "I'm making" what I really mean is that I will help dice/chop a bit, but John will do all the hard work of butterflying the tenderloin, stuffing & rolling it, grilling it, etc. Like I said, I'm excited! I would share the recipe but it's something I found via my amazing friend, google.com, so if you want to make it yourself, just google "mushroom stuffed pork tenderloin" and then buy the ingredients, find a husband to help you, and dive in. And then let me know how it goes for ya! :)