Mexico City

My older brother got married! We were able to fly down to Mexico City for the wedding last week. My family and I kept saying how we had never seen Keith so happy before. As long as I can remember, it was a battle to get him to even smile for pictures; not the case anymore as you can clearly see in pictures below. And had I ever seen him dance before? The first time was at his reception when they danced to their song. But I guess that's what you do when you're in love. You can't stop smiling and suddenly you're Fred Astaire. He is so incredibly happy which makes all of us so incredibly happy for the both of them. We are so grateful to have Shalom in the family. She's pretty awesome. :)

We had some rather interesting experiences there. The driving around the city is pretty much a chase-scene from a Borne Ultimatum movie. The one time we happened to be at a stand still, we witnessed a guy get out of his car and start punching the window of another car. We were sitting in the car right behind it and if the attacker would have taken a second to turn around and look at us, he would have seen 4 pale-face, deer-in-the-headlights, scared American tourists. Correction: make that three. My mom was wanting us to get out to help the guy.... sure mom, you take the lead. :)

Then there was the night in the hotel when there were guys pounding on doors and running. I happened to open the door to catch them and discovered one guy in briefs and one with just a towel on. They didn't speak English but I'm sure they could tell how pissed off I was, regardless of the language barrier. I'm just glad the guy didn't drop his towel while running away.

And then the time when Lincoln got trapped in the elevator by himself and got sent up four flights and we weren't able to get in another elevator to go after him. Ryan bolted to the other side of the building as I yelled, "2nd FLOOR, no 3rd FLOOR.. NO, WAIT.... 4TH FLOOR! HE'S ON THE FOURTH FLOOR!!!" Ryan had to run up the stairwell to get him. Let's just say, Lincoln didn't ask for any more elevator trips after that experience......

To my new favorite couple... Congrats Keith and Shalom!!!

the 9 month miracle

It's raining outside right now and it's been pouring since at least 4:30am. I usually love being woken up to thunder and lightening, but when it's so loud that it wakes up your 9 month old, every rumble of thunder makes you want to run outside and tell the thunder to stop being so thunderous! Luckily, the lightening and thunder has subsided and now it's just pouring like crazy outside. Ryan's left for work and I'm wide awake with more than an hour before the kids wake up. I thought about crawling back in bed and watching some home renovation shows before they wake, but I'm trying to stay diligent with this blog.

Simon turned 9 months 2 weeks ago and I feel like a light switched has finally turned on. I don't think any mom wants to admit they're having an extremely difficult time. Simon has been the child that has always had something sort of difficulty since he's been born. Three cases of thrush, THREE, then teething, then a cold, then a sinus infection, then another cold, and more teething--- all the while, demanding to be held and couldn't be left anywhere without crying. Whatever happened to independent play-time?? Oh, and then there's the fact that he's a chronic 40 minute napper...

I love this boy, through the good times and difficult times-- and we've had our share of difficult. All that aside, he cracks me up and is SUCH a cuddle-bug (sometimes I feel like he's more of a leech depending on the day). Lincoln wanted nothing to do with me straight out of the womb, so having a  child who wants to nuzzle his head on me chest is refreshing. Sometimes, he'll pause for a second to lift his head up off my chest to look at me, smile, and then lay it back down. SWOON!

He's officially crawling and his two favorite things to do are watch Lincoln and go for wagon rides. Oh, and he also likes to look incredibly cute. :)

28 feels great

Ryan left me a card in Simon's room next to his crib, knowing I would see it first thing in the morning when I get him up. I would love to share everything he wrote, but I'll spare the sentimental words and just say, I've been blessed with a husband who makes me completely happy.

The weather was perfect. Perfect weather, in case you don't know, is 75 degrees, sunny, with a light breeze. Perfect! I took the boys out for a morning walk. Lincoln rode his strider bike that he's mastering beautifully and Simon plopped himself inside the wagon and just enjoyed the ride and the entertainment provided by Lincoln.

We took a little picnic to the park around lunch time-- by picnic I mean, snacks from home and chicken nuggets for Lincoln.

Enjoying spaghetti dinner outside and laughing at the all the "sauce-smiles". Dinner was slightly rushed because we were being eaten by mosquitoes. 

We took the party inside for dessert. Simon ready to stab a bite out of my pie...

and one of those trick candles brought out the best giggles from Lincoln. I never blew out a candle so many times before, but each time got more and more funny.