Road trip

You know I hate driving, right. But I love Jana so alas I will take the Honda down I-35 tomorrow to Des Moines to celebrate Jana's bachelorette weekend in style. Not only are we hosting a cocktail party for the girls but we have chauffeurs to drive us to the off, off Broadway production of Legally Blond, a classic I am sure, followed by a night at a piano bar. Should be a memorable but still tame affair. Jake is on daddy daycare this weekend so I will be missing my daughter a.k.a. The Berry Queen (loves strawberries) or Tootie Two Step (almost walking) yet again!

What stands on two legs, has 3 teeth and likes to smell her own feet?

Yep, it's Nori. What a goofy girl. She realized it is hilarious if she takes her sock off, sniffs her foot and then when I say " Oh, pee ewe!!", she laughs and laughs! In the car today she said all her words: "Mama", "Dada", "Oh, wow", "Hiiiiii", "Yeeeah", "No no no" and then her favorite animal sound, "Grrrr" like the big cat lioness. Hmm, what else can she do? She likes to help me fold diapers by handing me the liners or better yet, unfold our freshly washed & folded clothes from the laundry basket. Tammy taught her a few signs but the main one she knows is "all done" when in the highchair (as if you had any doubt once the food flies all over the floor). She can pet and point to Dorothy but when I ask her to say "doggie", she just pants & barks. When she is sleepy she will crawl over and lay her head in my lap. It is amazing to watch a child learn. We love our little ma'am!

We're back!

Aqua blue waters

We had a wonderful, relaxing trip!! I am more tan than I wanted but you know how those daily yoga classes on the beach do that. Jake became addicted to "estretching" too and he referred to us as the "yoga fiends" on this trip. We enjoyed water, walks, and just being together. The very first night as we were watching tropical fish off the pier, a 4 foot shark swam past! I also saw a dead puffer fish on the beach and some iguanas so it was better than a trip to the zoo. Our room was awesome and the resort was gorgeous. It was our first time at an all-inclusive and better than we imagined although we preferred the specialty restaurants to the buffets. We lived on twice daily lattes (made with whole milk, so good) and guacamole. We each read three books: I read The Hours, Born on Blue Day, a memoir about a mathematical savant with Asperger's and The Unquiet Mind another memoir about a clincal psychologist with manic-depressive illness. Jake conquered Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Copper River and also Born on a Blue Day.

Sand art by the fiends

We missed our baby girl but she had a blast with her grandparents who took excellent care of her! Not only did they care for her around the clock, walk our dog and clean our house but acted as our airport taxi service and cooked us dinner! We are very blessed to have such a great support system and that Nori has such awesome, loving people in her life.

This girl does not like snorkeling

This guy could not see a thing without his glasses

Small ruin and cenote we hiked to...

Beautiful Mayan prints at market in Playa Del Carmen

Pretty! Playa Del Carmen marketplace.

To see more trip photos, click HERE

Happy Valentine's Day (better late than never)

2009

2008

tropical times...

In less than 24 hours I will have my tush on a white sand beach. I can not wait for the warm weather but it is so hard to leave my precious, wonderful, adorable, almost-walking babe! Grandma Liz & Grandpa Steve are here ready to take over, my five page instructional manual is typed & laminated and the stage is set for some quality intergenerational bonding. I know you don't feel that sorry for me but still. It will take me a bit to switch gears from mommy mode to beach babe and get used to just...Jake. But, I am sure I will figure it out over a pina colada or two.

love from the Riviera Maya,
Megan

Fashion

If you were going to make a T-shirt like one of these, how would it read? See more fun adoption gifts at Cafe Press!

What up?

What kind of sister bakes you a cheesecake? The best kind!

Isn't it so much more fun out when the weather is warm? We took several long walks/stroller rides with the B-O-B off-road jogger this weekend (or The Robert as we refer to it). Jake pretended to be Bear Grylls on a glacier (pronounced "glass-ee-er") as we trudged over snowbanks, puddles and ice flows. He had me rolling on the slushy sidewalk as he described his survival techniques for frozen lands such as biting on dog poo to avoid losing consciousness in the cold. Maybe you had to be there but just know his canteen was made of aluminum ("all-loo-min-ee-um"). To quote the Britney Spears, "there are only two types of guys out there: ones that can hang with me and ones that are scared". She is so wise.

The little mommy and her tap dancing baby

Other highlights included dinner at Mannings with the hockey boys, packing, working out, dinner at The Nook for Casey's birthday and romping around with Tootie McBootie (i.e. Cutie McBootie) who was an extra cuddly, kissy riot this weekend. We leave for vacation on Friday so I am trying to get as much time in with my baby as I can before we go. Gramps & Grandma are going to stay at our house to babysit Nori all week and my list of instructions is already 4 pages long and growing. They are going to looooove me!

One year photos...

Cake Wrecks

"When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong" Click here for more fun!

Go football teams!

The Hos hosted a lively Super Bowl Party tonight which was very kid-friendly (i.e. we are all home by halftime). Lo Lo and her hunky cousins, Tyler & Tanner, showed the babies how to play like big kids by running laps around the house. The babies, Nori, Liam & Makenna, conspired to sneak out and go TP houses when they are older. And all the parents ate ribs, mac & cheese and Amy's delightful carmel bars while making sure no one lost an eye. I think I could like sports.