Preview of house: Kitchen, Dining and Living

Many people have been asking for pictures so....here is a little preview of our new house. Unpacking is going well despite matthew going out of town two days after the move :) We really just have the basement left now!

We are not hanging things on the walls or painting until we have lived here a while. We want to make sure its how we love it before permenanty hanging things. So excuse how bland it all is!!! Enjoy the preview!

Kitchen and dining with steps to patio

Kitchen and dining

The door between the fridge and stove is a walk in pantry. The door to the far right of the picture is to the garage.

Living room. Far from the permenant layout

Living room. Again not the permenant layout. I love the big window looking out to the backyard and the cornfield :)

The backyard. We still have no sod because it keeps raining an it cannot be put in while its this wet. So for now our kids just stay covered in mud :). We LOVE the view though. Love it. We will relish it while it lasts because who knows when the farmer will sell for residential development; that's how our house was built--used to be a cornfield.

Cancun: Summary

Overall, we had a relaxing wonderful time in Cancun!  It was just the right length of time; long enough to get kid schedules out of my brain and short enough so that we did not miss the kids too much.  The goals were achieved; we recharged and reconnected and relaxed. Our first vacation, of any magnitude, since the honeymoon was a success.

Day One:  We had to leave for the airport at 3 am and arrived in Cancun around 11:30 am. We had virtually a whole day there on our travel day which was nice!  We spent the first day learning about the dining options, hotel offerings, navigating through the hotel and other logistics.  After a little beach time we had dinner at the buffet followed by a water dancing show. Good first day.

Day Two: We sorta explored a few other hotels for curiosity sake and then booked our snorkeling excursion for the following day. We laid around at the pool and beach sipping cool refreshing beverages. We ended the evening with a dinner reservation at one of the three restaurants included in our package--seafood! We watched the evening entertainment: Mexican heritage (dancing) and movies in bed!

Day Three: See my last post on snorkeling. To get over my sea sickness, we took a long walk--probably 5 miles! I wore a rash guard snorkeling to prevent burning but took it off for the walk so I got a lil pink walking. Silly me. That night we had reservations in a Spanish restaurant followed by the nightly show---urban dancing hahahaha!

Day Four:  We took it easy on the fourth day.  It was actually a little challenging to sleep in; we both woke up around 7 and then kept waking up every 30 minutes or so until 900.  All we did was lay at the pool and join in on random hotel activities...volleyball, basketball, kayaks etc. We made reservations to try out the third and final restaurant--Mexican for that evening.  By the time we arrived, I was starting to feel really sick.  I think the change in water finally hit me; it happens to me all the time.  I did not eat much and after sitting there smelling the food for so long I felt VERY sick.  I had to leave Matthew there and go back to the room.  We spent the rest of the evening just watching movies, which was actually super fun.  When we dated all we did was watch movies, so it was fun!

Day Five:  Again, we tried to do nothing and accomplished it quiet well! We met a couple from Scotland early in the day and spent the rest of the day talking to them.  They were so fun to hang out with and we spent a lot of time laughing about all our funny idiomatic expressions.  A bad storm blew in and so the four of us went in side and played bingo and jenga over drinks the rest of the day.  I hate we missed them so late in our trip---they were so fun!  That night we went back to the Mexican place since I did not get to eat there the night before.  I think it was my favorite!!!!  After dinner we listened to OTHER hotel guests sing karaoke and chatted with our new friends; this may have been the most fun night!

Day Six:  We had to check out around noon so we just laid on the beach until we had to shower.  The weather was still overcast but no bad storms like the day before.  We were very delayed leaving Cancun--first it was an a/c issue, then the a/c issue HAD to be fixed before departing, then we did not have enough fuel after sitting around like that, then we had to get more fuel....lalala.  By the time we arrived in charolette, we had 20 minutes to get through customs and border control, which includes picking up our bag.  Everyone on the plan was late for a connecting flight so everyone was RUNNING.  After getting through customs and border control we only had FIVE minutes bfore the connecting flight left.  A Us Airways rep was waiting just past border control to direct people as to whether their flight was gone yet or not...ours was not on the list at all.  She told us to stand in a line to get a hotel and I said "if it isnt on the list then you don't know if its left yet right?"  She responds "Well thats true.  Maybe it hasnt left.  Its on the opposite side of the airport.  Run.  Leave the bags, even carry ons."  We did not hesitate.  We RAN...I told Matthew to leave me behind and make the plane wait.  Since we had to go through security again, he ran with no belt on and I ran with no shoes; we were quite a sight.  Out of breathe, we arrive seconds before they close the door.  2 minutes behind us another couple from our Cancun flight ran up out of breath!  WHEW!!  Our bags did not arrive in Mississippi, but I did not care---I just wanted to see the kids!!!!!!!!!!!
I could tell the kids had SO much fun at Gamvrell Manor and that made the Cancun trip even sweeter.  They played in a pool, had treats, fed chickens, watched movies, road the "bad boy buggy" (like a gator thingy), fished, picked veggies from the garden, got eggs from the chickens, played with Uncle Mateo, and slept GREAT!  Thanks Mia and Papa.....we were able to enjoy the trip because of you!!!



  Waiting to depart!!

The Beach

First night!

Space Team...played it a lot!

From out Balcony

Dinner!

Seafood

We drank so many of these cappuccinos!  SO GOOD!

These were as common as rabbits on Omaha or squirrels in the south

Playing a lil basket ball

It was fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cancun: snorkeling

We went snorkeling today. My last snorkeling experience in Hawaii was a tad disappointing--I could not blow the water out of the snorkel when the waves would come over me. Call me a wuss, but I just could not do it. Determined to try again (and succeed), we book a speed boat and snorkeling trip.

After arriving at the wrong marina and getting off at the wrong stop, we arrived just in time to suit up in our life vests and snorkel equipment. Matthew drove us in a small speed boat out of the bay into the Caribbean, following a guide. Speeding through the calm bay I thought "I can drive this thing on the way back". Then we reached the choppy sea. We went airborne more times than I can count; I felt like one of those bobble head dolls bouncing in the boat. Whew, finally...the reef.
Much to our surprise we literally drove our boats out to the middle of sea. Land barely in sight. And we just hopped out of the boats with fins, snorkels, masks and life vests; it was a bit menacing to just be out in the open ocean. It turned out to be a great time, the vest kept us above the water so our snorkels rarely got covered with waves. We saw several bright colored schools of fish, a huge sting ray, barracuda, beautiful coral, trumpet fish, and more!

After an hour it was time to load back in the boats. We sa in the boats all tied together for a while...and then my motion sickness kicked in. YUCK!!!
Needless to say, matthew had to drive the speed boat back. So other than turning a little green it was a beautiful adventure!



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Cancun: What the heck time is it?

So far cancun has been so relaxing! I miss my littles like crazy but I know they are well cared for and having the time of their life at Gambrell manor.

Our first full day here we wanted to be somewhere for an activity by 8 am. My alarm goes off at 740 am. I look at the room clock and it reads 540 am. Confused, I conclude the hotel clock must be wrong. My phone has to be right because it auto updates. We roll out of bed and scurry to the lobby to wait for our tour guide. We arrive at the lobby to find it quiet. Slow. Uninhabitable. After waiting several minutes we bumped into a computer and what to my wondering eyes should appear but 7:14 am as the current time. I respond to the discovery: "what the heck time is it!?,

Not only had my phone failed to update the time but the room clock had a portion of the display burned out (8 read 5, 6 read 5, etc.). So, we woke up at 6:45 am on vacation....who does that!!!???? 6:45!!!! Now we know....now we will sleep in!!!

18 Months of Caleb Asher

It is so cliche to say it but, time sure is flying by!!!  Caleb turned 18 months old on April 27!

Caleb 18 months

Addison, 18 months

They look SO much alike except Caleb is my chub-ster :)  I am astounded at how much they look alike!!!

Stats:  Coming soon.....all I know is BIG

Diaper Size: Five

Clothing Size: 2T

Shoe Size: 6??  Lil feet!!!!!

Caleb Likes....

...giving hugs

...being tickled

...giving kisses

...books

...to giggle

...anything sweet or salty

...Broccoli Potato soup

...to do everything his sister does

...cars

...to talk to Daddy on the phone

...music

...bananas

...to dance

...open doors even after he has been disciplined for it multiple times

...to play with balls

...to sign

...to flirt

Caleb Does NOT like...

...to have his diaper changed except first thing in the morning

...eating anything green without lots of encouragement

...sitting still

...being disciplined

...waiting for food the moment the urge hits him

...being denied access to touch, see or be near mommy

...being buckled into the car seat

...having water dumped on his head

...strangers

...being told NO

Personality:  Strong willed.  Loving.  Compassionate.  Curious.  Tender.  Energetic.  Leader.

Eating:  Textures and the size of the bite are his hang up.  Strange texture with not enough seasoning gets spit out and big bites of anything come back up.  He actually is a good eater when he isnt over thinking things; for example when we eat out he is usually thinking more about whats going on than he is what he is eating.  Also it's funny--he likes our homamde guacamole but not plain avacados; he likes broccoli potato soup and brococoli orzo but not the brocoli chopped up alone.

Allergy/Intolerance:  When we go to his well visit next month, we will discuss testing skim milk to replace almond milk.  Lower/Non fat dairy seems to bother him slightly less.  He can have baked/cooked dairy in moderation.  We limit it to one "serving" a day because otherwise his diapers are unmanageable and they bother his skin immediately after going #2 in them :)

Sleeping:  He is a great sleeper.  When he wakes up early or during nap, he patiently waits for someone to come get him.  I am glad we kept going with BabyWise even though it was so challenging those first 6 months when we did not know what was wrong with him.  I am sure as soon as I type this, something will happen to change my statement.  He sleeps 12 hours at night and about 3-4 hours worth of naps.  I do not know if he is sleeping all those times or resting, but that is the expectation.  Any less sleep and he is a hot mess.

Paci:  As always, we limit it to in the bed only.  I only recently noticed that he is really liking his paci; we would take it away but I am about to face an 18 hour drive alone and I will need the help.  He takes it out right when it is time to get up and has never asked for it any other time.  We will probably wait until shortly after two to worry about it.

Independent Play Time vs Play Time with Others:  Caleb has fantastic attention span during blanket time or play pen time.  But when he has much more freedom, he jumps from one activity/item to the next.  I think this might be normal, I am not sure because I know Addison is NOT normal.

Routine:  We are in the process of dropping his morning nap.  Here is a rough outline of how the routine will look once all the dust settles...

First Birthday October 27 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

December 2012

December 2012

January 2013

January 2013

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

March 2013

March 2013

March 2013

April 2013

April 2013

To my sweetest little boy:

Oh Caleb, my heart skips a beat thinking about how much I love you even as I type this.  I never understood how intensely parents could love more than one child until you were born.  My heart's capacity to love grew so much when you entered the world.  We have been through some trials my sweet love, but I think that will always make us close--so I am grateful for the trials.  Your name, Caleb, means "whole hearted" and you live each moment with your whole heat and I love that about you.  My favorite part of your name, Asher, means fortunate; we are fortunate to be a recipient your endless hugs, kisses and laughter--I think anyone else who knows you well would agree.  I hope you understand that I would do anything for you Caleb.  I would lay down my life for you if it meant you were exempt from pain, especially after I watched you be in pain for so long as a baby.  I hope that you understand i dicipline you because I love you more than any other human can love you.  I want you to be godly, righteous, loving, caring and beautiful (I mean on the inside) person and that's why we have time outs.  NOTHING, NOTHING you will ever do will stop or even decrease my love for you.  My little Asher, I consider it a privilege to be your Mommy.  I am so glad that God gave me this time with you.  As your big sister always says "I love you even more than much". 

With all that I can give you,

Your Mommy