Kid Updates

Time sure does fly! Nolan is about to turn 3, and Christmas is right around the corner. I'm coming to terms with it...slowly!


Most moms share my feeling of being totally enamored with my children (I mean, they are enamored with their OWN children, not mine...smile). Bailey, as my first born, will always hold such a special place in my heart and I continue to watch her grow up so beautifully. Nolan steals my heart every day, and I find myself falling more and more in love with that little guy. Here are a few updates on each of them:


Bailey
-She is reading and writing so well! I particularly love reading her "story prompt" pages from school. I think they are so telling about her thoughts and feelings. For instance, I now know that she thinks it's a really special moment we share when we make cookies together. AND she thinks my cookies are the most delicious EVER! I won't tell her that some people make cookies from scratch rather than spooning already-made dough onto a sheet and cooking!!

-I've always known she is a bit more like me than Jason. From the emotions to the bossiness to the need to be right all the time....yep. Lately she's become very hard on herself when she can't master a skill the first time. I try to calm her down and tell her that it's not important for her to be perfect at everything, especially the first time.....all the while remembering how hard it was for me when I wasn't good at something as a child.

-She is toothless as she's missing her two top front teeth. The big teeth are nowhere in sight, but I have my suspicions that things won't be pretty once they grow in, so I actually prefer toothless. We are saving money for the orthodontist. :-)


Nolan
Having always been a great sleeper, we are now facing 1) extreme nap reluctance, and 2) a refusal to sleep in his own bed or, when we win, needing to sleep with the light on. I blame Halloween for the latter, as he fears monsters. Sometimes a sweep of his room to slay the monsters helps, and other times he's just plain scared. He does reassure himself by offering, "Monsters are NOT real, momma." Sometimes, however, there's a bit of a question mark at the end of the statement, rather than a period.

-He's a man of extremes. Sometimes he's the most lovable kid you've ever seen, offering kisses, hugs and effusive "I love yous." Other times, he snubs people without batting an eye. Further, he's learned the art of hurting your feelings on purpose, sometimes saying "I don't love you" with a devilish grin. He'll change his tune when you act sad, though.

-His speech is getting a lot better and we can carry on a fairly good conversation with him. There are still times, however, when we're stumped and this leads to major frustration and potentially a temper tantrum. He'll say "I can't say something" when he isn't able to articulate his thoughts or when we don't understand him.

-Most people comment on how high pitched his voice is. I don't notice it as much, but he does sound a little like Mickey Mouse. :-) I think this is so funny since people have always commented on how LOW and raspy Bailey's voice is.

-His forehead scar doesn't seem to be fading a bit. Most days it doesn't bother me because I can put it all in perspective....it's such a tiny minor thing compared to so many other things in the world. But, I do hope it fades as he ages because it's pretty noticeable and still quite red.


That's it for now....here's a pic of the kids from our recent family pictures!

My Little Singers

As you've noticed, I've been MIA. My excuses are: 1) The camera I bought after my old one took a dip in the ocean is hateful to me.....I have to resize every picture before posting and it takes forever. I attempted to post pics from Bailey's birthday (August!!) and got frustrated! 2) I've been writing for another blog, http://reddirtchronicles.com and this has taken up quite a bit of my free time.

Here are a few recent videos. The first is Bailey at the Justin Bieber concert. Second is Bailey singing in church (it's short, as I first tried to video on our other camera), and the last is Nolan trying his hand at the same song (not in church!).

The Great Fall of 2010

Well, it's been almost a year since Nolan had to get stitches so I guess the universe thinks that's too long. Nolan fell into a chair at church Sunday, so we headed out to have his head stitched up. This cut was a little deeper and is vertical down his head, as opposed to the other scar which can be covered by his hair if he wears it a little long. Oh well, chicks dig scars.

Here are some pics.

Nolanisms

While Nolan is talking up a storm, his pronunciation and word choices are still questionable at times. But, we're making progress and conversations with him are pretty fun these days. Now, if he could only learn his colors....

I thought I would share some words or phrases he says and compare them with what he actually means.

-Wopkin - this means "napkin." Every time he says it, we go through the whole process of having him repeat it correctly, which he does, but he seems to simply like the word "wopkin" a bit better.

-Bay yay - this, of course, means "Bailey." He definitely gets 2 syllables in there, but the "l" sound is difficult.

-Oh that gosh - this is soooo cute. He says it quite frequently, with a very concerned look on his face. Obviously he means "oh my gosh" but this is so cute, I don't even correct him.

-Stool - he is constantly saying "there's Bay yay's stool" when we drive by her school. I hope no one gets the wrong idea.....

-He either speaks in third person like LeBron James or says "Me want....." We're working on the use of "I," but thus far we haven't been successful.

-He also has a few phrases he uses constantly. Unfortunately, they aren't ones I want him to use! He calls everyone a "silly poopy pants." This is always followed by a belly laugh that tends to be contagious. Or, better, he says "me farted" just to get Bailey laughing and then they both say it 500 times until they lose interest in their little game (that takes awhile and we are usually in the car when this exchange begins).

-He's following in his sister's footsteps and trying to manipulate us in times of discipline. When he's in trouble, he'll stick out his lip and say, "Daddy HATE me." Of course, the desired result is an abandonment of the disciplinary course and a big hug for the little persecuted guy. It doesn't work, but it is a little sad that he actually knows that word at age 2. We can thank Bailey for that one! On the flip side, he likes to love and cuddle and spontaneously voices his love for all of us.

Lots of Catching Up to Do....

Bailey's birthday party will be this weekend, so we haven't officially celebrated yet. However, Bailey turned 6 on the 23rd. She started school just prior, and before that she was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding....we've had an eventful couple of weeks!

As you can imagine, I simply can't believe Bailey is growing up so quickly. I guess it happens to the best of us! I am trying desperately to enjoy every moment with both kids because I know how quickly I'm going to turn around and they'll be teenagers. I thank God every day for the blessing of them in our lives and ask him to guide and protect both their bodies and spirits.

Here are some pics...enjoy! I got a new camera (since I ruined our old one on vacation) and I'm really disappointed. While the new one has way more MPs, I had to compress them for file size so they look terrible here. Maybe I'll figure out a way to compress them just a little to still preserve the quality!

This is random, but I took a pic of Nolan sleeping the other day. Doesn't he look big?!

Here's Bailey and mom after her birthday dinner (at Souper Salad...ha!). She has started doing this heart thing in pics...not sure what's up with that.

Grandma and Pop Pop shared in fun.

The best part of going to Souper Salad....ice cream with sprinkles!

This was before school....showing off the cupcakes I made (okay, bought) for the kids in her class.

Another random....pretty girl, crazy hair.

Lines up in the gym on the first day of school.....friends from kindergarten made it an easy morning!

My big girl!

First grade is going to be awesome!

Anxiously awaiting 8:00 a.m. so she can go into the gym with her friends.

Posing with momma before the wedding.

And with daddy...

I know these are out of order....sorry.....Nolan playing in my brother's tux shoes the night of the wedding.

Bailey and her co-flower girl, Trinity.

Dancing at the reception.

More reception.

Getting ready to walk down the aisle....looks like they are discussing their strategy.

Nolan enjoying some guy time with my brothers (well, 2 of them as Cooper is allergic to the sun....ha, ha)

Enjoying some of that great ice cream Grandma Cruson has!

Conner is great!

Climbing the walls (literally) at Leigh's rehearsal dinner....with one of my cousin's children.

Trying to pose with momma....not sure what happened.

Only a tad bit better!

Another of my cousin's children.

Hanging at Grandma and Pa Pa Cruson's house.

Adults Only

Some of you have already seen pictures from our vacation on Facebook. So, this post is really for those who don't partake in such guilty pleasures or simply want a little more trip commentary.

Yes, Jason and I went on our first-in-seven-years trip without children. It was a challenge to make it happen, with many "but Bailey would enjoy the beach, too" thoughts threatening to discourage our couple getaway. But, when all was said and done, we dropped the kids off with my parents for the week and headed to good ole Mexico!

We went to an area of Mexico to which we have not been before...the Riviera Maya. Supposedly the further south you travel, the better the beaches. We opted for a more secluded all-inclusive resort (the only way to travel, if you ask me!) which required a bit of car travel from the Cancun airport. We had a nice driver, Jose, who toured us through some very dilapidated villages at 100 miles per hour. Jason and I also got to experience our first exercise in intimacy since we shared the front seat during that 90 minute ride...it's not as romantic as it sounds. :-)

When we pulled up to our resort, we let out a big sigh as it was everything we could ask for....beautiful and serene.....and safe, which was certainly something in the back of our minds about the current state of affairs in the country. We immediately scoped out the entire resort (it's small), changed into our suits, and headed for the pool. We were SOOO hungry, having eaten only breakfast very early in the morning, so caught the tail end of the lunch buffet and had our first islandy drink. I think Jason had a margarita and I had a mojito. I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it!

So, I won't drag you down the memory lane of each day we were there, but will instead rely on a trusty bulleted list to share some highlights!

The food was INCREDIBLE. Some people think you can't find good food at an all-inclusive. Either I'm super easy to please or that's simply not true. We even had the best Italian meal (yep, in Mexico) that we've ever had in our lives. We really tried to control what we ate, meaning we went into the experience trying not to be too gluttonous. We even did an hour of cardio in the gym each morning to try to counteract some of the calories. At that, our vacation diet simply couldn't hold up to the previous 1,200 calories per day we were eating (well, that's what I eat, I'm sure Jason eats a bunch more but he still watches it closely) and I'm now trying to lose the 4 lbs. I gained as a result of all the fun. Boo, hiss.

Adults only resorts are interesting in many ways. We've never stayed at a place that doesn't allow children. However, when booking the trip, I thought "What the heck? If I'm not bringing my kids, why do I want other people's kids running around?" What I didn't really anticipate was how QUIET everything would be. Multiple times throughout our stay Jason and I wondered if the pool was open, as we could hear nothing but birds chirping as we walked along the path leading to it. Another interesting bit of info that I probably should have realized is that no kids equals topless women. There seemed to be quite a few Europeans visiting this resort, and we saw our fair share of boobs. The interesting thing to me was that this wasn't just on the beach or in a sunbathing chair. Nope, these women went to the bar, the pizza deli, the towel shack - you name it - without their tops. Weird. There was one girl who did water aerobics with the group activity leaders without hers. Jason got this on video, although I might get kicked off the internet for posting it, so I won't.

Jason had his first ever massage and ate gelato for the first time. Both were wonderful! We upgraded our room upon arrival in order to get a renovated room with a king bed. Along with that feature, we also received massages, champagne and chocolate covered strawberries in our room, and a private dinner on the beach. The massage alone was worth the upgrade. The dinner on the beach was really fun, too. Perfect weather, wine, smoked salmon, steak, shrimp.....and now I'm hungry.

I have freaky skin that repels the sun. So, after day 1 when I got absolutely no color from lying by the pool, I decided to ditch the sunscreen. I knew this was a bad idea, but thought I could rectify the situation if I got too burned. Well, while I'm sure I got SOME sun, I didn't come even close to burning. Jason would tell me that he needed to sit under the palapa because he could feel his back burning. But me? Not so much. Instead, I got a horrible looking heat rash on my neck and chest each day. I looked like I had the worst case of teenage acne you can imagine. This would clear up slightly when I was out of the sun, but I still ended up wearing necklaces to dinner to try to cover my chest as much as possible. I remember this happening to me once before, but it's been 10 years or so since it did. Now, a week later, I simply look like I always do....maybe with a few more freckles!

You can't even be anonymous in the Riviera Maya. We ran into some people who live in Piedmont, which is just a few miles from our home. It's a good thing I wasn't topless at the time (just kidding!).

I ruined our camera while looking for sea shells for Bailey. One day, we took a walk down the shoreline to pick up some interesting shells. I had the camera and my shoes in one hand, and a bunch of shells in the other. I had sand dripping down my arm, so I went to wash my hand off in the ocean. Just as I bent down to wash it off, an unexpectedly strong wave came over me and got both hands/arms wet....including my camera bag. I hurriedly dumped everything out on some dry sand, but the camera was already too wet. We were bummed to not get to take pics the rest of the trip, but equally as glad that the actually SD card was fine, as I have hundreds of pics on there that I would be heartbroken to lose. And, I got a new and better camera out of the deal....I realized I had a Best Buy gift certificate left over from last Christmas that 100% covered the replacement. What a deal!

Being in the jungle was amazingly beautiful. It also brought some sleeping challenges. Every morning at 6 a.m. a devil bird would land on the balcony outside our door and make some noise I've never in my life heard before and can only describe as a mating call. In the distance we'd hear a return call. This would go on for about 30 minutes and then they'd stop (perhaps due to the mating?). In any case, it was hard to sleep in and I actually went outside and told him (her?) to cut it out a few times.

The couple time was awesome, but we did miss our kids! We called and checked in once each day, but only managed to talk to them twice. I think they were fighting with each other both times, which helped us focus on why it's good to get away! But, when we started our journey back home, all we could think about was their cute little faces! I wasn't supposed to get them from my parents house until the following day (our flight got in at 10:30 p.m.), but we started to conjure a plan to get them home that night. Coincidentally, my mom actually proposed this to us as an option because she had to work the following afternoon and it was actually less stressful to deliver them late than wait for me to get there the next morning. So, we had our cute family reunion at about 11:15 p.m. and the kids stayed up with us until well after midnight.

It was a wonderful trip, but it is also great to be home. Enjoy the pics (before the camera/ocean episode)!

Jason said he probably would have written "Go Spurs" instead. What a romantic!

I called him Tom and fed him a banana.

I never had to get up with my official drink fetcher on hand!

This was on what we called the "serenity path." They had music piping through from somewhere in the jungle and we always felt like we needed to have on robes and be chanting something.







After one of our morning workouts.
Trying to get some sun. As stated earlier, my efforts proved only marginally successful!





This is what the kids did 99% of the time we were gone!