Baby Shower for Clarissa Cope

No, Baby Clarissa is not being named for the timeless show that I am sure most of us watched, "Clarissa Explains It All." Supposedly, it is actually a family name, but we have no way to prove that, now do we? Anyway, I think Clarissa is an ADORABLE name...Clarissa Renee Cope. How cute is that? Love it!

Well, while Baby Clarissa won't be making an appearance until sometime late next month, we had a party in her honor thrown by my Aunt Cheryl to celebrate her and her mommy, my cousin Valerie. You may remember Val from previous posts as she is one of my favorite people and I was so excited to be in town for her big day. I was hoping to surprise her and I think I pulled it off (otherwise Val is an awesome actress...which she actually is, come to think of it!)!

That's a surprised happy look, right?

Doesn't she look amazing for 36 weeks? I know, you can't even tell she's preggers!

Cousins!!

This is my Aunt Cheryl...don't we look alike?

(except for the obvious part that she is much more tan than I am :))

Cheryl is my dad's younger sister and Colin loved her!

Congrats, Val! We can't wait to meet Baby Clarissa :)

Swingin'

Nana has a swing for the grandkids...

Did I mention how much Colin LOVES to swing?

Just Playing Around

Back here in California and Colin is getting spoiled by all the attention!! On Saturday, Colin was getting a little cranky (surprise, surprise!) so we put out a blanket on the lawn and let him eat grass and play with our dog Indy. He loved it!

Indy and Colin have the same hair color!

I miss you Daddy!

Nine Months In, Nine Months Out

From this day forward, Colin has now spent more time out than in!

Here's a speck of Colin just 5 weeks in:

And today:

I love this kid! He is such a funny boy and is always making us laugh.

He now has 6 teeth and is no longer a little vampire baby :(

Like his "faux" hawk? He has a bunch of hair on top (and nowhere else) and everyone has been pestering me to spike it...

I think HE thinks he's pretty cool!

He loves to crawl to technology and a pyramid of blocks ONLY...he just won't crawl to me!

He likes to eat puffs, but he isn't quite coordinated enough for it and ends up eating his fingers instead.

He is constantly jabbering to himself.

Colin is starting to imitate things that we do, like pat the ground, wave (he kind of just raises his arm), shake his head, and blow bubbles...he can blow bubbles (read spit) better than we can!!

I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!!

And here are his stats:

Height - 30 1/4 in (off the charts, people!)

Weight - 20 lbs 13 oz (52nd percentile)

He's Mobile!

Colin officially started crawling on Sept 7th and he's been in trouble ever since! Naturally, he is only interested in electronics: our cellphones, laptop, iPad, video camera, remotes...yeah, pay no mind to all of your toys, kid!

It really is so cute watching him move around the room...I just need to baby-proof our house!!

Cedar City...the conclusion!

The Painted Pony and the Little Mermaid

If you ever find yourself in southern Utah in the summer or fall, please do yourself a favor and go see a show at Tuacahn. Oh my goodness, I love Tuacahn! It is an outdoor amphitheatre set up against the beautiful red rock cliffs of Snow Canyon State Park outside St. George, Utah. Two years ago I was completely blown away by their production of Aida and this year The Little Mermaid definitely lived up to my high expectations.

But what is a good show without a great dinner first? Derek and Lisa suggested The Painted Pony to start our evening and I am so glad they did! They had the most beautiful, picture-worthy food! Forgive all the food pictures, I couldn't NOT take pictures of these fancy creations!

Crab cakes and guacamole with red pepper sauce

French onion soup served in a HOLLOWED OUT ONION!! How cool is that?

The most decorative scallops I've ever seen

Bacon wrapped duck

Seriously amazing beef tenderloin

Derek and Lisa

(notice the super cool "pewter" goblets? Loved the decor!)

Forgive this less than flattering picture of me! I had just eaten my weight in delicious food, topped off with a perfect Creme Brulee and this salvage art pony was too neat not to photograph!

Off to the show...

I guess Derek sees himself as more of a Sebastian than an Eric!

Thanks to Lisa and Derek for the awesome seats!

Afterwards, we had to take a picture with sweaty (it was 95 degrees!), ripped, and golden King Triton! His pants were a little too tight not to laugh about...poor guy! Lisa got to take a little of King Triton home with her - a little of his golden grease smeared on her white sweater!

Chef Louie

This makes me laugh! Flotsam and Jetsam were played by these two very skinny, short, hip-shaking, electrically-charged, spandex wearing guys...yeah, so the guys HAD to get a picture with one of them!

Now, I have to admit that the show was SUPER corny. The new songs were not nearly as great as the originals and the lines were dripping in cheese, but I loved it! The special effects were amazing! Such a fun show :)

Cedar City...part 3

Hanging with Lydia

Colin and Lydia were so adorable together! Lydia was constantly checking on "Cah", giving him tons of hugs and kisses, and playing with him. I love it when these little cousins play together!!

Too sweet!!