Digging Out

We came home from vacation this weekend to over a foot of snow, and while Bo loved playing outside in the sun everyday in Austin, he begged to go outside and help Wes shovel the deck last night. They always have so much fun out there and then come inside and warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.

Is That My Birthday & Bo-isms #14

I have been talking to Bo quite a bit lately about his birthday and that it is coming up next week. He understands that he will get presents and a cake and that he will be 3 years old but that's about it. He still does not understand that a birthday is just a day, not a thing.

While driving this afternoon, he pointed out the side window of the car and asked if that was his birthday over there. And then tonight he went over to the living room window, looked both directions and said, "Mom, I can't see it. I can't see my birthday coming." How do you explain to a 2, almost 3 year old, that his birthday is coming but will never show up at the front door?

And then there's the cake. Oh, the cake. I asked him today if he would like an airplane cake for his birthday and he said, "Yes. And trains, and cars, and a space shuttle." Ummm, I do enjoy baking every now and then but I think that goes well beyond my level of expertise. I was just going to make a long skinny rectangle, ice it gray for the runway and stick some toy planes on it, but now I've got to turn into Martha Stewart-Gone-Mass-Transit by next week. Any suggestions?

Dear Grandma & Grandpa

Me and Sam and you and you stay here, Mommy & Daddy go Cancun. On concord. Go airport. And me and you and Sam play. Trucks. Build houses and airports. Watch bulldozer movie. Play race cars at Children's Museum. Cocoa Puffs. Go McDonald's. I'm so happy. M&M's for Valentine's Day. So much fun. Thank you. I love you.

Love, Bo

Marcia & Karl - I can't thank you enough for watching the boys for us. I know they had a great time, and consequently, so did we. Thank you for being such awesome grandparents. Our boys are lucky to have you.

Rewind - To Cancun

I finally found a cable to get the pics off our camera. Yay. So here are some pics from our kid-less week in the sun.

The wedding was beautiful, the weather warm, and the group never dull. We had a great time but by the end of the week, we were more than ready to get back to the boys (and thankfully we did so with a tan).

Our Room At Cancun Palace

The Pool

Matt (the groom) & Wes

First Night Out in Cancun - Bryan, Lisa, Wes, & I

About To Go Snorkeling

At Senior Frogs

Who The Hell Gets Their Nose Pierced In Mexico?!

Zip-Lining (super fun)

Crazy Wes

Another Great Day At The River

I have a ton of pictures to post from Cancun but those will have to wait. For now, I will post some pics from today.

(And to catch you all up on where in the world we are . . .Wes and I flew from Cancun to Omaha on the 19th to reunite with the boys, spent the 20th there with Grandma & Grandpa, and then on the 21st (yesterday), Wes flew to Fairbanks and the the boys and I flew to Austin. Wes will then fly back down here to meet us on the 27th - YAY)

So, these pics from today are from the River. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Cancun

I can't even begin to express how relaxed I am. It's been all sun, naps, drinks, massages, good food, more drinks, more sun, and 2 phenomenal uninterrupted nights of sleep. It's fabulous. I actually just woke up from a 2 hour nap up in our room where the cool ocean breeze blowing in and white noise of the surf crashing outside our twelfth floor window acted as a sort of natural tranquilizer; better even than the best Valium out there. (If only I could figure out how to take the surf and breeze on the plane with me. Now, that would be nice.)

Wes and I miss the boys but know they are in good hands with Grandma & Grandpa. We have many pictures to share but didn't bring the upload cable with us (oops) so no pictures until we get home on Thursday.

Stay tuned . . .

A Little Of This & A Little Of That

1. I am always trying to find new activities for Bo to do inside and one from this week was decorating paper plates with potato stamps. I made one into a star and one into a rectangle. I didn't have any paint or ink pads so we used water with food coloring. Not the best, but it worked.

2. I wouldn't say Sam is crawling crawling yet but he is on the move. He has a few different techniques of moving.

(a) If he really wants something (usually one of Bo's sippy cups or the perfect train track Bo just built), he will do a sort of uncoordinated crawl scoot on one foot and one knee that is exhausting to watch because it is jerky and takes so much out of him to get where he wants to go.

(b) He also does this thing where he reaches as far out in front of him as he can from a seated position (almost into a plank) and then flings his butt back over to sit up again where his hands were. This technique usually gets him about 12 inches at a time, only it's 6 forward and 6 to the side, and it always ends up with him facing the wrong direction. Not very efficient or productive.

(c) He'll start (a) or (b) but end in a face plant. Unfortunately, yesterday he did this onto one of Bo's matchbox forklift cars which punctured his cheek next to his nose. Poor guy.

3. All this time I have thought Bo was a picky eater but we are really in store for it with Sam. Holy cow, the boy (don't let his size fool ya), does not like food. Almost everything I put in his mouth gets spit right back out at me. And by spit, I mean full on spitting contest spit. It splatters my face every time.

Things he does not like - all baby food, bananas (what baby doesn't like bananas?!), peaches, cottage cheese, yogurt, baked potato, avocado . . .

Things he does like - squash, sweet potato, mango, scrambled egg, cantaloupe, saltines, graham crackers, mum-mums and any other of the gerber graduate munchie fluff foods that are more air than food. So all in all, not much in the nutrient rich department but definitely heavy on the empty carbs.

I am beginning to think it is mainly a texture thing but with only 2 bottom teeth, it's not like he can gnaw down on a cheeseburger and fries, and he definitely doesn't eat an equivalent amount of the foods above to even come close to the amount in a stage 3 baby food jar, so I sure hope he's getting enough of what he needs. 4. Bo is finally over the stomach flu. Thank God. It was not a pleasant week of smells around here but he is all better and back to his usual fun self. We celebrated by going to the choo-choo house (Barnes & Noble) and McDonald's yesterday. It had been awhile since he'd been out of the house so it was a great trip for us all. We had a great time.
5. Sam has started to pull himself up on toys and in the crib. It's crazy to see him standing. He's not a baby anymore. And with all the new adventuring, he has his first head bruise from bonking it on the coffee table. If he's anything like Bo, it is only the first of many.6. Bo has always been really empathetic. Tonight was no exception. On the way home from town, Sam was a little fussy and then all of a sudden Bo started screaming. It took me a minute to realize what he was saying but he was all upset that Sam had dropped his stuffed puppy. Bo was borderline hysterical. I pulled into the nearest gas station parking lot, retrieved the puppy, gave it back to Sam, and Bo was happy as can be. Sam didn't even care but Bo sure did.