Leavin' On A Jet Plane!!!

Channing and I took a vacation last week to Riviera Maya, MX.  It was the first vacation we had taken together since Sayler has been born and we needed it like a fat kid needs cake!!!  I almost had a full on panic attack pulling out of the driveway leaving my sleeping baby...but her Nana took good care spoiling her and allowing her to break all of the rules while we were gone so my worrying was wasted energy as they both had a blast together while we were gone.  Warning...very picture heavy post to follow. Sorry for that but I will never remember if I don't get it logged in the trusty blog.  We stayed at the El Dorado Royale and I cannot say enough good things about it.  A good friend of mine from law school recommended it and it was 5 star all the way.  The food, the service, the accommodations, the property...AMAZING!!!

So here we go...

We had private transportation to and from the resort and we felt like rock stars!

Here are a few shots of the room...we got upgraded to the

 Casitas portion of the resort and the rooms were so beautiful

Hot tub...we didn't use it once

Private outdoor shower

Covered patio

View from the back of our room and our private patio

Standing on our patio looking at the pool and swim-up bar we shared with 6 or 7 other Casitas

Beach about 30 yards from our room...paradise

We had been at the resort for about 30 minutes at this point...I got down to business (virgin daiquiri for all questioning why the preggo was throwing them back :)

We met these cute honeymooners in the lobby and hit it off!  She just graduated law school and is awaiting her bar results...fingers crossed for you Mrs. C :)

1st night dinner at the Italian restaurant...yummo.

The following 2 pictures will pretty much sum up what we did on our vacation...back and forth, back and forth.

Fun night out at the theater where they had shows and a band.

There were golf cart shuttles all over the resort that would take you wherever you wanted to go...I usually told them to take me to the place I could get nacho's :)

Lobby

He loves Mexico

We spent most of our vacation here....

  Or here.  It was brutal I tell you. We often had to take

 naps in the middle of the day to maintain our taxing schedule.

Channing was convinced after seeing the "Cirque De Soleil" 

type show that he could climb this poll no problem.  I made him put his money where his mouth was...

This was as far as he got.

More fruity drinks.

Soaking up every drop of Mexico.

Our Casita's private pool and swim-up bar.

The beautiful grounds of the resort.

Last night out with our new friends.

On our way to the airport...

Bye Bye Mexico...see you in a few years.

The Worst Thing Is Never The Last Thing

A sweet friend of mine had a Facebook status today that stopped me in my tracks..."The worst thing is never the last thing."  I think that's right. Such a complex mess of emotions I have had as we have embarked on this anniversary of 9.11.01.  At first I rebelled against this huge production everyone was making out of this arbitrary number...10.  Why is 10 more significant than 3 or 8 or 6 and 1/2?  Isn't the pain the same?  Isn't the loss just as great?  Don't our wounds still need to heal?  I'm not sure why 10 is different...but I must admit, it is.


I remember exactly where I was physically 10 years ago today. I also remember where I was emotionally.  I was going through a very difficult time personally and was staying with my 2nd family the Johnson's while I tried to piece my life back together.  I woke up that morning and started to get ready for class.  I was staying in their guest room in the basement and I had the whole basement to myself.  I sat down on a futon they had in the living room and turned on the Today show while I put on my makeup.  I immediately saw the World Trade center and it was on fire...the caption on the screen said a plane had hit one of the towers.  My mind immediately assumed a small 2 seater plane had crashed into the building.  Sad I thought.  Random too.  When have you ever heard of a plane crashing into a building? Especially in the middle of Manhattan.


Then I watched the 2nd plane hit tower 2.


"That plane sped up." I thought.  "It was trying to hit that tower.  Oh my God. What just happened?"


We all know what happened next. The towers fell to the earth like a house of cards.  The Pentagon.  The field in Pennsylvania.  The news.  The grieving widows. The heartbreak.  The motherless children. The worst thing.


I remember watching my dearest friend Steph Johnson trying to explain to her girls who were 5 and 6 at the time what had happened.  How do you explain the worst thing to a child?  After that conversation I remember walking up to her room and finding her in her closet.  We just grabbed each other and sobbed and held on.


I can remember what an amazingly beautiful September day it was that day.  I walked on campus at the University of Nebraska that day and I remember looking up at the bluest sky and realizing that for the first time in my entire life...I did not feel safe. In my own backyard...I was scared.  I changed that day 10 years ago.  Everything did.


10 years. Doesn't really seem like a long time when you think about it in the grand scheme of things.  It's not like 50 years or a hundred years.  I mean most marriages don't last 10 years these days.  And when I think about that day...that Tuesday morning 10 years ago it seems like it was just moments ago.  Weeks, months at the most.  But then I think about the life that I have lived in those 10 years. It's my whole life.  I got divorced, went to law school, graduated, passed the bar, struggled, overcame, traveled, fell in love, got married, started a career, had my first child, bought my first house, opened a law practice, and am expecting baby number 2. 10 years. In the aftermath of the worst thing you just have to hold on because you must know...it's not the last thing.  10 years can change everything.


And it has hasn't it?


This...




Is now this...







This...



Is now this.

This...

Now looks like this.



He's gone



And he's gone.



But so are they...

I'm not sure where I'm going with all of this.  Not really sure how I feel today.  I'm still shocked when I see that plane hit tower 2.  I still say to myself, "That plane sped up." Unimaginable to me...even today 10 years later.  But I also feel such pride stemming from what I saw that day.  I have never been more proud to be an American than I did that day.  Because even on the worst day...


We did this...



They ran in when everyone else was running  out...





Our streets looked like this...



And we did this with no questions asked.



And that's what I choose to remember from this day.  That beautiful, sunny, perfect Tuesday 10 years ago when we experienced the worst thing...I remember that it was not the last thing.


Because no matter what the intent...what was meant for evil, God will use for good.


Love wins. Every time.





God Bless America.

12 Weeks

I promised myself I was going to be better about posting pregnancy progression pictures with a second baby. Not for anyone else, but for me and said second baby to look back on when (s)he is feeding me tapioca pudding in "The Home."  I'm going to keep it really real right now and be honest about the reason I was so unenthusiastic about documenting my pregnancy with Sayler...I was fat.  Let me rephrase...I was FAT.  I have struggled with my weight since I was young and when I got pregnant with Sayler I was the heaviest I had been in my adult life.  Don't get me wrong, I was overjoyed to be pregnant and didn't really spend a ton of energy worrying about getting even fatter...but I was most definitely not happy with myself or my body.


So fast forward to September 2011.  I haven't really talked about this with very many people because 1) it's kind of embarrassing to talk about and 2) sometimes when people go on weight loss kicks it is all they can talk about and they fail to realize that no one really cares.  I mean good for you that you are losing weight but I don't really want to hear about how many grams of protein you are getting in on a daily basis, nor do I care about your triglycerides. Don't.Care.  So anyway, to just give a very, very limited amount of attention to this issue I got serious about losing weight around the new year and I have lost 70 lbs. since January 12th. Yay me! So feeling much much better about myself at the outset of this pregnancy...I will be documenting me regaining that 70 lbs. on a regular basis :)  (Please Lord do not let me gain 70 lbs. with this pregnancy.  Jesus take the wheel!!!).


So...now that we have that out of the way here is the first of what will seem like never ending pregnancy posts:

I'm 12 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby D is the size of a plum

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 5 lbs - It's called the "Everything I eat causes me to be sick so I just stopped eating" plan.  I was VERY sick for the first 10 weeks of this pregnancy but feeling much better now...so I know the lbs. will start packing on soon.  I gained all of my weight with Sayler in the last 8 weeks so I know it's coming. Ha!

Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing my normal clothes.

Gender: Can't wait to find out!

Movement: Started feeling random little twitches at about 10 weeks and definitely feel the baby move once or twice a day.  With a 2nd pregnancy you feel the movement a lot earlier as you recognize the feeling for what it is...not gas, but rather the baby!

Sleep: Sleep soundly for 3 or 4 hours and then toss and turn for the next 4...no change from my normal awful sleeping habits.

What I miss: Pop and the occasional cup of jacked up coffee with lots of cream and Splenda.

Cravings: Pizza and 1/2 and 1/2 iced tea and lemonade from Quik Trip.

Symptoms: I'm starting to feel a lot better. I'm still EXHAUSTED. All I want to do is lay down!

Best Moment this week: Telling my parents and all of our friends and family.

Sayler's Big News

Sayler has some news to share with everyone!!!

This March she will be a...

I thought "Labor" Day would be an appropriate day to announce that this Spring

 our family will be growing by "two feet."

We are thrilled and beyond blessed!!!

I demand a refund

Shortly after Sayler was born we bought the "Your Baby Can Read" dvd's off of Craigslist as a part of our plan to create a genius child who can read Shakespere at 3 and allow us a very early retirement desire to have educational programming for Sayler to watch.

She used to watch them all the time but we haven't for about a year now.  So today while we were playing in the toy room I decided to put in the starter dvd and she actually really liked watching all of the pictures and words.  So then I whipped out the flash cards and started going all Tiger Mom on her letting her play with them.

Then I came upon the following flashcards that have me doubting the success of this program:

Wait for it...

We're waiting to submit her MENSA application until we can fully assess the damage.

21 Months

Sayler you are 21 months old today!  

I can't get my head around the fact that you will soon be 2!!!  We have had a fun Summer together and I feel like you are officially my little girl and no longer my baby :(  Though I miss your babyness I love watching you grow and change and learn new things every day.  You are my little sponge and amaze your Daddy and I with all of the new things you do and say.  At least once a day one of us will say, "How does she know that?" You weigh about 27-28 lbs. and I am not sure how tall you are but I know you are tall for your age.  I think probably 35 inches or so.  You still wear a size 4 diaper but will transition into a size 5 by the end of this month as we are almost out of size 4's.  You wear a size 6 shoe and 18 mo. and 2T clothes.  You still love your "bee-bee's" (blankies) and are getting more and more into your baby dolls.  Mostly you like to hug them and pat them and then put them in "Eye out!" (time out)!  You are such a mother hen at home and at daycare. You love taking care of everyone and making sure you are in everyone's business all the time!

What Makes You, You:  You are still a careful little girl and are not one to jump into any new situation without some warming up.  But you have started becoming more confident and are spreading your wings more and more which makes me so proud of you.  No matter your personality or temperament you are my precious gift and I only want you to be true to who you are.  I always remind myself when you are nervous about a new environment or not sure about a new person that you are not a carbon copy of me or your Dad and that you don't need to do anything you are not comfortable with to try and please us. You are uniquely Sayler and I just admire you and the confidence you have to be you and no one else!

You Didn't Come With An Instruction Manual: Being a Mommy is such a case of 2 steps forward and 1 step back.  Before I had you I was the perfect Mom. Ha!!!  There are a million things I swore I would never do or allow you to do that guess what...we do!!! I vowed to have you weaned off of the bottle at 1 year.  9 months later you still take a morning and night time bottle. I guess I'll worry about it when you still want a bottle as you move into your college dorm...but until then I am just going to go with the flow.  You weren't going to have any juice whatsoever.  You have 1 or 2 juice boxes a day.  You wouldn't be allowed to play with Mommy's things. You have my cell phone in hand more than I do!!!  We are just walking this path together my sweet girl and learning as we go.  I really try to just go with the flow and not get to caught up in what I think I should be doing or what other people say. There are definitely some non-negotiable rules (i.e. you threw a fork at me the other night from your high chair...do not pass go, do not collect $200, proceed directly to time out!).  But other than those types of blatant no-no's...we are pretty laid back.

Curly Q:  Can we talk about this hair?  Miss Lady...this whole head of hair you have sprouted has become the bane of my existence.  You don't want Mommy to wash it, brush it, style it or even touch it.  If you see me coming with a comb and the de-tangle spray you run and tell me, "NOOOOOOOOO!" We have gone from washing your hair every night to only washing it every 3rd day because the screaming...oh the screaming.  We can only imagine what the neighbors think we are doing to you!  I'm sure you can imagine my joy when I went to pick you up from daycare one day and Dana had your hair braided and told me that you "loved" playing beauty salon and just sat like a perfect angel and let her braid it all up. Ugh!!!!  We told her we may be sending you with your comb and spray in the morning and let her deal with it :)

 

Daddy's Girl: You have become quite the fan of this guy. You are truly a Daddy's girl lately and have let me know in no uncertain terms that I am a distant 2nd.  From the minute you wake up (literally) until you lay your sweet head down to sleep you are asking for your Dada.  At first I felt like I had been voted off the island, but I know that this is a normal part of your development and it is so precious to see you snuggle up in your Daddy's lap like there is no other place in the world you would rather be.

 Things You Say:  In previous milestone posts I have written out all of the words you say.  Let me tell you I would be typing a list 10 feet long if I tried to do that now.  I have no idea how many words you have at this point but is well in excess of 50 for sure.  So I will just type up some of the funny things you have said lately.  You keep your Daddy and I in stitches with all of your Sayler speak:

• "Air go???" (Where go?  You always want to know where everyone is and where they are going.  If we say someone's name you always say "Air go?").
• "Dat Say Say mope." (That's Sayler's remote.  You can really replace remote with any and everything in the house.  If it is in your hand or you are even thinking about it...it is yours without question."
• "No. Dat my Say Say's!" (Again...everything belongs to you.  I love it when you say this and try to get you to say it all the time).
• "Eh pie-yo." (My pillow.  You love to drag all of the pillows from Mommy and Daddy's room out into the living room and jump on your "Pie-yos.").
• "Hi-woah?" (Hello?  You always say this when you are playing with my phone.  You will hold it to your ear and say "Hi-woah?" Love it!).
• "Air twuck go?" (Where did the truck go?  No even sure how you know what a truck is...but you spot them when we are out driving and are very curious about where the trucks are going.).
• "Rye dere!" (Right there!  We always ask you where things are in your books like, "Where is the kitty? or Where is the sun?"  And you always point to it and say in this sing-song voice, "Ryeee dere!!!).
• "Eh awe fwy." (I want a french fry! You are a lover of the french fry.  You would pick it over anything including a popcicle or ice cream. Last Sunday we were taking an afternoon drive and we pulled into Sonic for happy hour...what what!!!  And the minute we pulled up you said, "Eh awe fwy!"  We have no idea how you associated french fries with Sonic as we had never been there with you before...but you knew exactly what you wanted).
• "I poop!" (Every morning when we go to get you up this is the first thing you say. No matter if it is accurate or not...you want to make sure we know...I poop!!!").

 This is a picture of you in August of 2010. I can't ever remember you being that little.  Though I remember taking these pictures of you swinging for the first time...I just can't believe you were that tiny!  I can only imagine how much you will have changed by August 2012.  I am just head over heels in love with you and can't believe my luck that God chose me to be your Mama.  You keep us on our toes baby girl...and we love every minute of it! Happy 1 3/4 Birthday!!!

Love you to the moon and back,
Mama

Summer lovin'...had me a blast! - June 2011

We have had a busy summer and I am just now getting around to blogging about it! Pitiful.  My whole life I have been told I talk too much...but apparently that doesn't translate into blogging.  I need to find a way to have this blog read my mind an just automatically post.  Wait...that probably would not be a great idea.  Lots of crazy talk goes through this noggin all day long.  Best to keep that under wraps.  So while I can still remember what we did this summer I will give a quick recap:

Say and Daddy took advantage of the beautiful weather and flew a kite in the backyard (Daddy continued to fly the Princess kite all by himself LONG after Say lost interest! Ha!)

Oh how I love those chubber legs running all around!

Nana and Papa bought Sayler a cool new sandbox and she was way into "mess" as she called it.  She could not believe we were letting her dig in the "mess" with no repercussions.

My Midwest girl in all her corn-on-the-cob eatin' glory.

We took our first family vacation to visit the Beckman's in Indianapolis and Sayler had so much fun with her cousins.  She still walks around the house talking about Ayba (Ava), Nick, and Nenny (Jenny).

Sayler and Ava playing in the sand table. 2 diva's for sure!

Is this not the most precious picture ever? The 3 Musketeers!!!  Sayler loved riding on the boat! 

Like mother like daughter...we both LOVE going fast.  Sayler kept saying "mo ayah" (more air) she loved the wind in her face!

This is what happens when Uncle Jim let's us take the boat out by ourselves, Captain Ava!!!

Sayler loved standing at the very front of the boat...until, she figured out that gate could open.  Then she wanted to sit on the seat with Mommy.

All the girl cousins enjoying the boat ride.

Daddy caught lots of fish and was pretty proud of himself.

We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum which is the largest children's museum in the world and Sayler had so much fun.  She just jumped right in and loved all of the cool activities.

Looking at Daddy through the tunnel debating whether or not to crawl through.

Sayler and Ava playing in the garden.

Sayler refused to put on the rain coat that was required for the water table area...so we didn't last long at this station :)

We took our first trip to Deanna Rosa Children's Farm one afternoon and it was so much fun.  It is this awesome place in Overland Park that is designed to depict a turn of the century farmstead.  Sayler loved all of the animals and was very interested in a cow that was mooing very loudly out in her pen.  She kept mooing right back at her!

Feeding the hungry goat some grass.

Sayler liked the goats as long as they were stationary.  The minute one of them started moving she was not a fan.

Say sneaking into the fridge and taste testing the strawberry cream pie I made.

Yummy pie mommy!

June was so fun and the Summer just got busier after that.  Will update with our July tomorrow!