San Francisco

As part of a yearly time-share thinga-mabob, Ryan's family invited us on a vacation to San Francisco. I'd never been outside that airport and since it would be over our 2nd anniversary, we thought it'd be a great excuse to get away for a week. To be honest, with the thought of leaving our 3-month-old, as well as subsequent days of crying spouts and thoughts of the most assured psychological harm I would be causing my son, (Obsessive worrying comes with the mantel of motherhood, right? :) ) I almost didn't go and even looked at plane tickets half way through the trip. But with enough reassurance from my loving husband and Grandma and Grandpa Herd who would tend our little son, I decided to go (stay :)) and try and have some fun...and we did!

I really do love Ryan...it was just really cold on the bay at night! :)

Ryan at UC Berkley. When I flew in later that day, I told him ironically what happened on the plane. The girl sitting next to me said I looked like I went to Berkley. Hmm, little did she know that I'm a regular listener of Rush Limba!

Six Flags: Even though the wait was an hour long, this ride was worth it!

Chinatown! This place is huge; we didn't even see half of it. But I did walk out with a sweet pot sticker press that my sweety bought me. :)

"Can I take your picha?"

Sea Lions at Pier 39. These guys' whole day consists of sleeping on the pier and literally fighting for the best spots. It was comical to watch these 800 lb blubbers push each other around and off into the water.

The famous Boudin Sourdough Bakery. They had this big window where you could watch the masters at work...I was in heaven!

Ghirardelli Square...Oh my goodness is all I can say. :)

Ry luvs long walks on the beach :)

One of the funnest things we did on our trip was to rent a tandem bike and peddle the Golden Gate Bridge and it's surrounding areas. Here we are with Alcatraz in the background.

ALCATRAZ! This was definitely a highlight of the trip. The tour was given by actual wardens and inmates of this once maximum-security prison.

JELLY BELLY FACTORY! I was seriously like a kid in a candy store. (I kinda was in a candy store now that I think about it :)) And for all of you kids, young and old who are fans of Harry Potter's Berty Botts every flavor beans: they've expanded their repertoire of vomit, grass, and dirt to flavors like rotten egg & skunk spray (and yes, I tried them both! blaaah!)


This artistic piece of "Aaaanold" (sorry about the glare) is made with 100% Jelly Belly's...crazy the time people have on their hands.

We took a day trip to the redwoods and WOW, HUUUUGGE! Yes, that's a single tree behind us. We were both looking at the top of the tree when the photo was shot but because of the lighting it looks like our own little sacred grove experience or something. (sorry, that was probably a little 'sacrilege') :)

Just to give you a sense at how big the redwoods are...this one was taken from inside the tree. There was a hole in the trunk large enough for us to crawl in. We were standing up straight and accompanied by five of Ryan's cousins as well.

Not only are they tall but these things are oooold as well. Ryan and I were joking around and figured that the timing works out, give or take, that Moroni could have planted some of these redwoods.

Our condo was actually located an hour north of San Francisco, in the middle of wine country. On our last day we decided to take a tour of the Korbel winery. (Don't worry, we had white grape juice normally reserved for the kids during the wine tasting portion of the tour. :))

Ryan's mom (on the left) and aunt Lyn acting a bit tipsy at the wine tasting :) I would be too if I just spent $800 on a bottle of sparkling champagne!

Ty AKA Dude, Little Stud, Little Man Child, Mister, Son, etc!

For all of you Brian Regan fans out there, this one's for you. "You were so kind enough to feed me and I don't know how to thank you other than...pinky fling!...thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart...from the depths of my soul! yadda, yadda, yadda" :)

Oh to be like a baby and have the ability to sleep anywhere!

I swear this kid has terrets syndrome (sp?)...his arms are always moving! :)

"Mister" started smiling a couple of weeks ago. He seems to currently reserve them only for his mom, dad, Grandma Herd and uncle Ryan, though! :)

Little Man Child is also starting to focus on things more consistently...time for mom to start setting good examples because he'll be a sponge from now on.

Ty with his favorite Uncle Ry, who, by the way, is a better little mother than is real one!

Snugglin' with mom :)

Just chillin'....again with waiving arms! :)

Dude with his Grandma Herd...and looking pretty cool if I do say so myself! :)

So we're definitely on he verge of creating a little chunk. He currently eats 4-5 oz every three hours and if I give him more in between feedings, he'll take it!!

Calming down after the dreaded bath time :)

Sooo, I've realized that being a Herd automatically dictates that you have the "nickname gene." It's almost impossible to call someone by their first name and almost more impossible to have just one nickname. Ty, aka Little Man Child, aka Little Stud, aka, Dude, aka, Mister, aka Son...those are just our most common titles for our baby boy who is now 10 weeks old! Honestly, he'll be learning to ride a bike tomorrow!

Spring Has Sprung!

Ok, maybe it's now closer to summer than spring, especially since we live in Utah and two seasons are more the norm than four. Nonetheless...

Ty and I were out for our daily walk (it's all the exercise I have the energy for these days :)) and I couldn't help, at seeing all of the beautiful foilage, but feel a little "Polyanna-ish" and started playing "the glad game" for spring, flowers, sunshine, etc. Here are just a few pics from our walk. Maybe they'll help put a little spring in your step as well! :)

Introducing...Ty Richard Worthen!

I can't believe our little guy is 6 weeks old! The old addage you hear from mothers is soooo true: "enjoy every little moment...time goes so fast!" I've tried to take this to heart as much as possible. At one of those lovely 3 am feedings I was rocking Ty back to sleep and started to think about all the things I already love about him.

"I Love How"

*I love you know he's a boy without even looking at him by the manly noises he makes...Grandpa Herd's nickname for him is "Little Grunt."

*I love how he snuggles into me when I hold him.

*I love how sometimes he'll just lay on the floor and look around at his new world.

*I love how funny it is that he can be crying at the top of his lungs and literally one second later he'll zonk out. zzzzzzz

*I love how, when he's hungry and you present him with food, his mouth goes crazy like a little bird.

*I love how he can guzzle down a 5 oz bottle in 5 minutes. (Porker!)

* love how his adorable smile looks...even though it's just a reflex, I see it often.

*I love how, with few exceptions, he can be inconsolable, until you hand him to his mom and he'll calm right down in her arms.

*I love how peaceful he looks when he's lying on my chest, listening to my heartbeat.

*I love how he already know and feels so safe with his parents that he won't sleep unless we're near.

*I love how like his dad he is...even when he's not crying, he never stops talking aka grunting or making noises with his tongue.

I LOVE YOU SON!!