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.  

Simon's first time to the beach and 2nd child problems

Well, there was that condo we rented memorial weekend this year that a case of meningitis prevented us from going to. The owner "gracefully" let us reschedule (keeping our deposit made it much easier for her) and we were able to go last month. We had literally just gotten back from Ryan's dad's funeral and Simon had been sick that whole week. The idea of leaving again two days later seemed miserable, but I'm still glad we went--- not to say it wasn't partially miserable, because it was. We slept like garbage the two nights we were there and Simon was really struggling. He's actually just getting back to normal after getting on a second dose of antibiotics. This poor kid has been through the ringer (and subsequently putting me through the ringer and SUB-subsequently me putting Ryan through the ringer with my stress).

I would take Lincoln to the beach early in the morning and we got to have some one-on-one time. We ran around, we buried the car in sand, we chased birds and let the tide chase us. Ryan usually stayed back at the condo while Simon was sleeping after being up most of the night. They would occasionally make a few short appearances, but Simon just wasn't having it and his first time at the beach left us with about 2 pictures on Ryan's phone. This only confirms the "2nd child problems" when you compare the number of pictures we took of Lincoln the first time he was at the beach. It was practically a full-blown photo shoot. Sorry Simon. We'll have your photo shoot at your second time to the beach, okay?

And this is how we feel whenever we go out to a sit down place to eat that requires waiting for food and keeping Lincoln from terrorizing the place or Simon from getting fussy. When you join the parenthood club, you develop a talent that becomes very useful, almost a necessity. You learn to  inhale your food. Seriously. You don't do much talking or visiting with your spouse and you wait until you're paying the bill to ask if they liked their meal. 

And one of Simon's few pictures from the whole trip. We still love you, Simon... even if we don't have the pictures to prove it.

all about a sore foot

When Ryan and I were dating and living in Idaho, we would go over to my grandparents' house to visit them. My Grandpa had passed away shortly after we were married, so some of my last memories with him were from those little visits. This is what those memories consist of...

I remember a particular time when Grandpa was sitting in his usually spot on the couch in his usual clothing attire, a plaid shirt.  Ryan and I were talking with Grandpa when Grandma came whipping into the living room on her electric scooter. I believe the chair was fairly new because her steering was still a little erratic. Anyway, as she came ripping across the living room, we heard Grandpa let out a big painful yell. He hunched over to rub his foot that Grandma blindly ran over. He told her to come over and to stick out her hand. He gave her a tiny swat on her hand. I'm not sure what was funnier, him scolding her, or her barely pausing in her tracks to let mumble a half-hearted apology.

On another occasion, we were over to their house for dinner. We were all sitting down and Grandpa had just taken a sip of his favorite drink, root beer. He smacked his lips and said "aaaaaaah, that's the good stuff". Unfortunately, his moment of enjoyment was painfully interrupted as Grandma came wheelin' up to the table to join us... and then, another yelp of pain. Grandma, once again, ran over his foot with her scooter. Someone buy that man some steel-toed shoes, will ya?

That poor foot of his. It must have been so painful. Why am I sharing this story? Well, I've experienced a similar pain since I've become a mom of a toddler. My experience isn't exactly the same, but to be honest, I think it's equally as painful if not more. I don't know what goes through my toddler's head to think it's okay to come over to me when I'm sitting down, and stand on my bare foot. That thin layer of skin on top, gets twisted by that wide, husky foot of his and it KILLS!!!! And apparently me yelling "OFF! OFF! OFF!" doesn't get 30lbs off my delicate dainty foot any faster. It's one of the worst physical pains having a toddler has ever inflicted upon me. (First being the time I stepped on his tiny hot wheels helicopter in the middle of the night. I cried.)

I guess it's been a learning experience and as much as I like to think of Grandpa and me as a victim, there is some fault on our side. Grandpa, you should never have been anywhere near grandma's path while she was in her scooter. And for myself? Well, I shouldn't be sitting around the house unless I'm wearing steel-toed shoes.

My little Simon turned 8 months two weeks ago. Seriously, the second baby grows up faster. It's really not fair. Simon is by far my cuddle-bug and I just relish every time he lays his head on my chest and just sits while I rub his back. He's so content in my lap, in fact, that he is still holding out on crawling. That's okay; just one less child to chase after and one less child to be tearing the flesh off the top of my feet.

And I can't fail to mention how  extremely observant Simon is. He's always keeping an eye on Lincoln... probably keeping a close watch so his feet don't get stepped on, as well. Man, I love these boys...

lucky 7's

August was a good month for us--- 7 years of marriage and Simon's 7 months!!

Our anniversary has always been a thought-out, planned celebration. We usually go on a trip or plan some new adventure, but this year was different. First of all, we aren't around family that we could pawn the kids off to for an overnight, and second, we have two kids now! Heck, even a trip to the grocery store with both kids is a complete hassle-- let alone a trip that's intended to be romantic and relaxing. Forget about it. But let's face it, 3 hours without kids is a vacation in itself.

Even though this year was rather simple compared to other anniversaries, it was just as memorable as always. We hadn't made any set plans other than having a babysitter come over that night. An hour before she arrived, I asked Ryan what we should do. I had to pick up my jaw off the floor when he told me he had already planned something. WHAT???!!! This guy always keeps me on my toes....(literally, too. See picture above ^^)  The next part is hilarious...

We got in the car to drive and within three minutes, he pulled into a shopping center by our house. What the heck? Just past the grocery store, to the little shops next door, he parked in front of an Asian reflexology spa. This wasn't your typical massage spa with tranquil music in the background, soft white sheets to lay on, and where your masseuse talks to you softly to prevent disrupting the ambiance. This special place had red lanterns hanging from the ceiling, floral china decor, and concubine art on the wall-- Ryan informed me as we walked in that he booked me a massage "...aaaaand they don't speak English."

I convinced him that he couldn't miss out on a massage from such a place as this one, especially on our anniversary. What kind of loving wife would I be if I hadn't convinced him to partake in this interesting experience--- he agreed.

And then it was one of the funniest experiences we've had, trying to ask them if they could do a couples massage. They initially took us to two separate rooms where we had to ask again if we could have two tables NEXT to each other (talking loudly and slowly with hand gestures usually helps when speaking to someone in a different language). They FINALLY understood, so Ryan helped carry a massage table from one room to another, banging walls in the process and having the owner speaking some type of directions (or profanities??) to Ryan. The rather large exposed guy (or woman??) getting his rub down right next to us was probably much disturbed. Not much privacy in this place.

The massage was a whole other experience in itself--- One of those "I'm-going-to-jam-my-elbow-into-pressure-points-you-never-knew-existed" types of massages. I seriously thought at one point, he was trying to do the sleeper-hold on me as he grabbed the back of my neck and pushed really hard on some pressure points. I laid there thinking... "I'm literally going to pass out..." At one point, I even turned my head to look at Ryan. I was barely able to muster out a sentence before the guy grabbed my head, turned it back into the head rest, and pushed it down so I couldn't turn and talk with Ryan. I didn't have the courage to talk to Ryan much after that. AND THEN!!!! They managed to give me a second degree burn (okay, not really) on my back when he threw a scalding towel down without letting it cool for more than a millisecond. That was nice. Didn't even have to pay extra for that.

We later found out that they do speak a little English when they asked for a bigger tip. Oh Ryan, my love, thank you so much for such a memorable experience. You're definitely my "butter half".

And now for my other 7. 

My smiley Simon. 

He's seven months and is finally mastering his roll. I know every child is different and a parent shouldn't compare their children, but Lincoln was 5 months old when he started crawling. I would be lying if I didn't say I thought there was something wrong with Simon. Why isn't he rolling much? Why isn't he sitting? Is there something the matter with my child??! No. He's just fine. He's just doin' his thang...or not doin' his thang... whichever. :) I take comfort in knowing he doesn't succumb to peer pressure, even though I've laid down a heavy dose of it to get him to try and crawl...or sit on his own. 

He's got two little teeth poking through and is starting finger foods. He's got the perfect face for rocking a mad cow-lick and by his stellar fashion sense, he thinks I rock--- he's clearly very intuitive, too. Speaking of how I rock, I've been teaching Lincoln to give me compliments. The two we're working on are, "you wook pwitty mama," and "you my bes fren." Clearly I'm using my child to boost my ego, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, right? 

He held the sitting pose for about a solid minute! WOOHOO! The trick is to put him in almost a splits-pose. He'll grow up with great flexibility.