School almost done

Thursday marks the official close of my spring semester. Phew. I can honestly say that the last 3 months have been the busiest, and arguably, the most stressful of my life. I am not really sure how I managed to keep all of the balls in the air that I did. Now I can focus on summer, my kids and my job. I am taking one online course over the summer but that should be reasonably easy and I am not going to start that until June.

Next week we leave for our big trip to California which will be great because I actually get more than a few days there and can see most if not all of my friends. Kevin is making the drive out with me and I will be making the drive back with my Dad. So at least I won't be doing it with two kiddos by myself.

I am starting to get concerned about this swine flu thing. Given that both of my kids are in school/daycare it seems like if a case breaks out anywhere near there that it could be terrible. No cases have been found in Colorado yet but I have to admit I am watching the stories with anxious fear. Silly, probably, but these types of things cause me to worry.

Delaney turns 3 this Sunday. I cannot believe she is turning 3! Crazy. I am hoping to write her a letter this week and post it on here because we have definitely gone through some changes over the last few months since I wrote to her last.

Kevin was gone for two weeks in China and it nearly killed. Even though my Mom was here to help it still nearly killed me. I had so many projects, papers, and school work to complete all the while trying to keep up my 20 hours at work. It was a really bad two weeks. I am hoping that Delaney acts a little better when we are in California because it was very embarrassing to see her behave like an out-of-control brat when she was here. If 3 is full of behavior like that I am not sure I want her to turn 3. A friend of mine recently told me that her oldest child didn't throw tantrums. Ever. How can that be?!? Delaney started throwing tantrums at 9 months and hasn't looked back. She could be a professional tantrum-thrower.

Garrett is teething and fussier than usual. He is finally sitting up, he did that right about at 7 months. He still doesn't roll over or show any interest in being mobile. I LOVE that about him. He is so content to just sit and be. Yeah Garrett! Two days ago his babbles took on a different sound as he is repeating ga-ga-ga-ga-ga and da-da-da-da-da and ya-ya-ya-ya. It's really cute.

I hope to be able to get back to more regular posting now that my school work is over. I am also looking forward to getting back a clean and organized house, and being able to work out more than once every two weeks. Come on, summer!

Milestone for The Bug

We have hit a new milestone with Delaney, and one that I am not entirely happy about. She has figured out how to reach up onto counters to get what she wants. The other day I put some cashews on our cutting board and was intentionally hiding them from her because she goes bonkers over any kind of nut and you can't get her to stop eating them. Well... I was doing one of the million little things it takes to keep the house functioning and soon noticed that not only was Delaney missing, but the cashews were too! There she was in her room quietly and contently mowing down a half-bag of cashew nuts. She is not that tall so I definitely have to wonder how she managed to see they were there in the first place and how she found a way to get up there and reach them. Ugh. Now even the counters aren't safe! There is so little left in the house that is sacred from the children. The bathroom... fuggedaboutit! Delaney opens the door even when I'm in there asking for privacy. She takes things out of my nightstand, my closet, my bathroom drawers, my backpack, my purse, you name it. Nothing is sacred anymore. Our house is too small and I find myself searching for the highest nooks and crannies that are unreachable for her but there are so few of those now. She's like a little mouse, fitting into and reaching things I never thought possible. And she leaves traces of everywhere she's been just like a mouse. My house has been invaded by a very large, messy, nosy, and hungry mouse. And her name is Delaney.

Funny snippet

When we were in Mexico, here is a little conversation that happened between Delaney and us:

Me: Are you going to be sad when we leave Mexico, Delaney?
Delaney: Yes!
Me: We're going back to our country. Did you know Mexico is a different country?
Delaney: Yeah, and Mexico has a king!
Kevin: No, Mexico actually has a president just like the United States. Do you know who the president of our country is?
Delaney: (pause.....) Santa?
Kevin: (Laugh) No, Santa comes to every country, but we have a different president, do you remember who you voted for in the election at school?
Delaney: Rack Obama!

Pics from our Mexico trip

Re-entry into busy world

We returned late Monday night from our amazing trip to San Pancho, Mexico. We went with 3 other families and had a total of 18 people in our party. It was our neighbor's 40th birthday celebration and I think he was immensely pleased that he had such a good crew surrounding him for 7 days straight.

San Pancho is about one hour north of Puerta Vallarta and 20 minutes north of Sayulita. There is little to no tourism in San Pancho which is absolutely lovely from a peace and zen point of view. There is one hotel in San Pancho called the Costa Azul but it is not a high rise or luxury resort by any means. We rented two houses, one high up on the hill and the other was right on the beach which was a perfect home base for body surfing and ocean swimming.

Delaney did great for most of the trip, save for a few meltdowns when she didn't want to stop playing in the pool or playing with the big kids. She sort of learned to swim a bit as she could jump in and get across a small pool without swallowing much water. I think she is actually close to being able to pull herself up for breaths, because she definitely has the movement thing down.

Both of our kids slept pretty bad for the trip which made it not exactly a restful vacation, but we'll take it. Kevin and I were lamenting the days when vacations were actually vacations. When you have little kids it seems like taking them out of their environment almost makes life more difficult, so how can that be called vacation? They didn't eat as well, sleep as well, and we were very homebound at the house because of napping attempts. Thank goodness there was one other family with young kids so we all got to sit by the pool and chat with each other.

Garrett cut his first two teeth while in Mexico and has two more on top coming through. He was fussier than normal as a result of this and the lack of sleep but all in all he was still a great little boy.

Our travel day returning was a complete nightmare as we had two children in simultaneous meltdowns regularly throughout the day. Picture massive tantrums in immigration lines, on public restroom floors, you name it. We were very glad to be home and I think we have decided that we will be car-bound for all vacations in the next year. I think it's just a time in our lives when it might be easier to stay close to home and not venture too far away. My friend Lara calls this "lowering expectations".

Now I am getting ready to face four of the busiest weeks I have ever encountered. Kev's parents are coming into town in a few days, Kev has a trip to China coming up and I have major projects due in all of my classes. But on April 27, most of the misery ends and my summer starts. It can't come soon enough!

I plan to post some San Pancho pics soon. :)