Speaking of Malbec...

The whole idea for this post came from a bottle of Malbec. You see, last night The Husband and I had one of our favorite kind of dates. The kind where we wait until the kids go to bed, sit on our own front porch, open a bottle of wine, and talk until we can't keep our eyes open any longer. We love our porch dates, and, in fact, we love our Malbec. It's one of our favorite wines. The Husband actually popped the question over a bottle of Malbec, in a restaurant called La Rueda, in Iguazu, Argentina. Here's one of my favorite pictures from Iguazu, beautiful, isn't it?

Brings back memories....we used to go to Argentina for two weeks every year at Christmas. The Husband had family there, and, well, we'd go to visit. The seasons are switched there (Southern Hemisphere), so when we'd go at Christmas it was summer there - Heaven!! Add to that the fact that we stayed in our family's home instead of a hotel, and had the best tour guides - our family - it was always a fantastic trip. Anyway, The Husband's family has since moved on, so it's been almost three years since we've been - booooo. We miss it. While enjoying our porch date last night, we talked about how we would love to take the kids there one day, and how we would greatly enjoy revisiting our old haunts. Here are a few of our favorite places:


Iguazu Falls

As I mentioned this is where The Husband and I were engaged. It is a beautiful place, I can't do it justice in a few sentences. If I could only revisit one place in Argentina, this would be it.

San Telmo

This where we'd buy most of our Christmas gifts for the family back home. It has WONDERFUL shopping, traditional stores, antique stores, artisans...plus nice cafes. The Husband accidentally ate cow tongue here, and if I'm feeling mean, I'll remind him of it. To this day, oh, about 5 years later, he still turns green at the memory.

The Gum Tree - I couldn't find any really good links for this, but it's a 200 year old tree in the middle of the city. Some of the branches have grown so big that they are held up by supports. A cafe is located across the street from the tree, and they've set out tables and chairs, so you can have a cup of coffee or lunch while sitting in the shad of this magnificent tree!

Jumbo

As the link says, Argentina's answer to super Walmart, only more fun, you never know what you'll see in there - one time we saw an entire hog's head in the meat case. Can you imagine walking into super Walmart and buying a hog's head from the deli? Note the 50-something checkout lanes! They don't just have regular checkout lanes, either. There are the express lanes, the pregnant women lanes, and the lanes for those with small children, the delivery lanes, and lastly, the "normal" lanes.

Rio Alba (don't have a photo, there's one in the link)

This restaurant was close to where we stayed when visiting. It was a fun place, we called it the "Pink Restaurant," because it used to be painted pink and that's what the kids dubbed it. We ate there about every other day on our trips and never tired of it.

Hopefully one day we'll make it back!

We've been busy...

June has been BUSY!! I am beyond grateful that it's over, and glad that I survived ;)
Besides all the birthday hoopla, The Husband and I made a few minor home improvements.
Here's the first one:

I don't have a before picture, but we used to have a trendy, square-shaped light here. The Husband accidentally broke the cover (or if you want to be technical, the lens) almost two years ago. You read right, two years ago. So, for the past almost two years we've had bare fluorescent bulbs in our kitchen. Nice. Needless to say, it looks much better now.

Here's the second one:


The Husband is a military brat, so to speak, and he spent about five years in Iran back in the seventies. He was just a child when he came back, but he ended up with these beautiful Iranian prayer mats. The are at least 30 years old, unraveling a bit, and were living in our attic. So, for Christmas, I had them matted and framed. They turned out great, and The Husband loved them, but they've been living propped up against the wall since Christmas. Yes, since Christmas. So we finally figured out where to hang them, which was A LOT harder than we anticipated, because they're so big with the matts and frames. As you can see, though, we finally found the perfect place.

And on to our next project, first I will post some before pictures:


Yes we had a ghetto yard, complete with astro turf where the grass didn't grow. The Husband and I had our house built, it turned five years old this past May. At the time of building we were involved in about three costly ventures, not the least of which was planning our wedding, so we decided to save some money and do the landscaping on the new house ourselves. If you are laughing hysterically at that ridiculous idea, you should be. We put down sod ourselves, dug up years old (and VERY HEAVY) crepe myrtles, and planted a pretty nice front flower bed. The front looked okay, but the back, well you've seen it. However, here's the new and improved backyard! It only took five years to do it! (the fence is next on our list, and you can definitely see why)

That's about all, The Husband and I are enjoying a well-deserved rest. I do have one more picture to show you, though:

Can you see that there's a fly trap hanging above my kitchen table? We have a bit of a fly problem, may be the dog door, I don't know, all the neighbors are having fly issues, too. Anyway, we bought a few outdoor and indoor fly traps. I thought we would put the indoor traps in an out-of-the-way place and hope for the best. The Husband had a different idea. Yeah. To make matters worse, we have a very open floor plan. When you walk into our front door you can basically see the entire downstairs, save for the master bedroom and bathrooms. So, when you walk in now, surprise, fly trap! Besides looking tacky, do you really want to eat your meals under a fly trap. "Oh, I'm sorry honey, I couldn't hear you, did you say pass the potatoes? The sound of dying flies buzzing in my ear drowned out your voice." Gross. The Husband honestly HONESTLY thought this was a good place to hang a fly trap. Ladies, see what I'm up against? ;)

Attitude Adjustment

It was "one of those days" around here today. A day where nothing catastrophic happened, but lots of little things happened.


Again, and again, and again.....


So by dinnertime, when The Husband was still at work and I was alone with these heathens, I mean kids, I'd had enough. I was to the point where I was thinking of putting the kids in a box in the front yard with a sign that read, "Free to a good home."


(not really, but a mom can daydream, can't she?)


Anyway, after the kids went to bed, late, of course, I decided I needed an attitude adjustment. So here goes,

(and btw, I totally stole this idea from a blog I read a few years ago, not the exact words, but how it's presented. If I remembered where I read this, I would give credit, but I don't...)

I'm thankful for my messy, cluttered house because it means that a family lives here.

I'm thankful for my dirty house because it means that I spent quality time with my children today.

I'm thankful for not getting to see enough of my husband because it means he has a job and can earn a living.

I'm thankful for my "bigger than I'd like" belly because it means that I've had the privilege of bearing children.

I'm thankful for my meager bank account because it is the result of me being a stay at home mommy.

I'm thankful for Little Man's tantrums and teenage-like behavior because it means he is developing a strong personality that can carry him far in life.

I'm thankful for family drama because it means that I have a family that loves me.

When you put it like that, it doesn't seem so bad...

Little Man is "Too Cute" Part 2

Little Man is grandchild number four for my in-laws, so the grandparent names had long been established before LM's arrival. When LM was about 1 1/2 and just starting to talk we realized he didn't really care for Grandma and Grandpa's names, as he had given them new ones. Monger and Pocker. He still uses them to this day.


We love us some crackers at our house. Any kind of cracker at all. Our favorites, though, are Ritz and Cheese Its, or "Cheesetulls", as LM calls them.


Of course, the ever popular "aminal" for "animal."


We were working in the yard today, and while I was digging a hole for a plant, LM goes, "Oh, that's a good hole, Mommy." So I told him thank you and let him know that he was a good encourager. He replied, "Yes, yes I mam." (that's LM speak for "yes I am")



Little Man is very observant - the other day he stated, "The zoo has lotta smells."


Like every child, Little Man goes through phases where unless it's cookies, cake, candy, or ice cream, he won't eat it. During one of these phases, The Husband and I were trying to entice him to eat his dinner, specifically his chicken. I know I mentioned that Little Man loves Mighty Machines, especially the episode about the farm. So on this night, The Husband and I were getting nowhere with LM, who was in danger of going into a diabetic coma from too much sugar throughout the day, and The Husband says, "put that chicken in the combine!" (the combine = Little Man's mouth, in case you were wondering) So now, every once in a while, during a nice quiet (ahem) dinner, Little Man well yell out, "Put that chicken in the combine, chew it up!" All I can say is, it works :)


I call these posts "Little Man is too cute!" because I tell LM that he's too cute all the time. Now he's started using the phrase himself. He'll do something that he thinks is funny, and he'll yell out, "I too cute!"


Here's how a conversation went between LM and me the other day,
Momma - "Little Man, do you want to go to the store with Daddy or stay here with me?
LM - "I go to store with daddy. I sorry, but I love my daddy."


LM has gotten into the habit of replying to "I love you" with this phrase, "Yep, you do love me."


We don't use the baby monitor much for Baby Girl, as she's usually within earshot. Since she's started sleeping more upstairs, though, we've been using the monitor more. LM is not yet used to us using it for her, and he gets a little worried when he hears her cry through it. A few days ago she started crying as she woke up from her nap, and LM said urgently, "Mommy, Baby Sister's trapped in there!"

Sometimes there is NO question about who's in charge...

It seems like sometimes God whispers, sometimes He hollers, and sometimes He slaps us in the face, so to speak. After being out of town for two days, I log on to facebook for the first time since Friday and see a notable picture next to a friend's name. The caption says something like this, "Single car wreck on the interstate, tire blew, flipped three times, happened just before crossing the county line. Everyone's ok, (and here's where it really got me) baby didn't even have a scratch." This isn't their car, I didn't want to "steal" the image, but this is a similar picture:

There were four people in this car, my friend, her husband, her mother, and her sweet baby who will turn one later on this summer. From what I understand, the mother was unhurt, my friend and her husband needed a total of five stitches for minor cuts, and the baby didn't have a scratch, bump, or bruise. There was no head trauma, no major lacerations, no broken bones. Talk about a miracle. All I keep thinking about is how God had his hands all over this family, for there's really no other explanation for how they all walked away from this.

Little Man and I were in a bad car wreck last June, not half as bad as this one, but bad enough that I don't want to have an experience like that again. Learning of my friend's accident brought back all the memories. I remember the sheer terror that lasted for a few seconds after realizing that we had been in a bad wreck and knowing that my baby was strapped in the back seat. I was also four months pregnant with Baby Girl, and was so worried about her. It seemed to take such a loooonngg time for the doctors to check us both out, and I was so wound up and worried until all the tests came back and we were both deemed to be okay. To this day I feel like it was only by the grace of God that we weren't seriously hurt.

Like I said, sometimes God whispers "I'm here, believe in Me." Sometimes He hollers it out loud, and sometimes, like here, there's a circumstance where we can see, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He's always with us.

Growing up...

Every once in a while I get a big ol' slap on the head and realize that there is a real, live, miniature human being walking around my house. I hope you're not laughing (or that you are) at that statement, because it is soooo true. That big ol' slap often happens when I'm in the kitchen and Little Man is playing. I'm usually engrossed in trying to make something for dinner, and I look up to see only the tip top of his blondish, curly head moving over the counter top as he walks around. He, too, is usually engrossed in some type of play, and to see him so intent makes me realize that he is a Real Little Person. Not a baby, or a toddler, but a person! That big ol' slap also happens when Little Man does or says something really cute, and I think, "where did he get that from? I never did/thought/showed him that!" Then I realize, he's not me, he's, well, him. I seem to have this thought more and more as Little Man gets older and more independent. And by independent, I mean INDEPENDENT! Not only are, "no, I do it," or, "no, Mommy, like this," recurring phrases in our house, but Little Man is able to do so many things on his own now. As his sweet little personality continues to develop and shine, I realize more and more that he's not just my child, he's his own little self. Let me tell you, it's a jolt, every time. It's just a bit surreal to be having long, very intelligent (and intelligible) conversations with the child I gave birth to a few short years ago. It's an experience that I treasure, though. I absolutely love watching my first-born baby grow into a person. He's not my little baby anymore, but truly growing into a little man.

Dear Little Man...

Dear Little Man,

You and your daddy went fishing the other day, at Uncle C. and Aunt S.'s house, and you had such a wonderful time that I'm writing a letter to you so you will always remember that fun day. About a week before, your daddy went out and bought you your very own fishing pole. It looked just like daddy's, if only a little smaller. You were beyond excited, and couldn't wait to try it out. So your daddy fixed up the pole, tied a little weight on the end, and took you into the front yard to show you how to cast. Little Man, you took to it like a pro, you were casting and reeling in, casting and reeling in, and you even tried to catch Mr. Jimmy with the little weight at the end of the line. Sadly, your momma wasn't right in the head and didn't take a single picture of this momentous event - silly mama! Well, after about an hour of practicing, your daddy thought you were ready to go fishing, and we had a big fishing trip planned for the next day. The weather, however, didn't cooperate, and it rained and rained over the next few days. Your daddy was clever, though, and on the first sunny weekend he took you to the pond! You had a blast. You learned how to hook a worm, cast in the water, reel it in, and you even caught fish! Four nice-sized fish! What a wonderful day! Your fishing day wasn't without incidence, thought. Uncle C. and Aunt S.'s big dog ran up to you and scared you, and you dropped your fishing pole in the pond. Daddy had to fish (haha) it out. And after a while you decided to forgo fishing to play with your cousin. I can't blame you, either, as she was willing to share a big bag of marshmallows. Mama took you over to the edge of what you call "the big spooky forest," and may have scarred you for life. Overall, it was such a happy day, and one none of us will ever forget.

Love,

Your Momma

Snuggle Bunny

One thing I've noticed lately about Baby Girl, she loves to snuggle! When she's in the bed with her daddy and me, she will always turn to one of us and maneuver herself as close to us as she can get. When she's in her bed, she's usually like this,

Now do you see why I love snuggling with her all night?

Baby Girl

Here's an update on Baby Girl. This post is mostly for me, as I want to try to remember what she was like at seven months of age. Right now she is:

• Doing baby push ups, you know, where she pushes up on her hands and tippy toes.
• Trying to crawl, she can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She can also scoot backwards around an entire room.
• Sitting up and playing on a blanket like a pro. If she's sitting on a blanket next to the coffee table she reaches for the magazines and newspapers to chew on.
• Loving her big brother. LOVES, LOVES, LOVES him!! She follows his every move with her big, bright eyes. She wants to be his best friend.
• She has recently said "Dada" and "Mama," and they weren't just babbles, they were real words :)
• Eating cheerios, she can reach for them and pick them up with a pincher grasp.
• Mostly sleeping through the night in her pack n' play, although a few nights a week she snuggles all night with mama.
• Screeching and screaming when she doesn't get what she wants, oh my but are we in trouble!
• Kicking like crazy in the bathtub.

And my favorite:

• Giving big, open mouthed baby kisses.

And we're off...

It's June, probably the most craziest month of the year for our family.

Why is June, of all months, so crazy, you ask?

Well, in my immediate family there are seven birthdays in June. These include one sibling, two grandmothers, two mothers, and two fathers. My step-father's birthday is the day after Father's Day. My dad's birthday is one week after Father's Day. And, oh yes, there's Father's Day, too. The "What to buy for the dad's??!!" question becomes a constant thought in my mind starting in early May. I still have no idea what I'm going to do for the dads, they are always so hard to buy/do for. They do have hobbies, but we've all exploited those hobbies for so many years, I mean how many fishing/golfing/Harley gifts can dad's receive before it gets old? We've also done the picture gifts a few times. Again, how many picture coffee mugs/mouse pads does one dad need? Mom's are easy, take them out to lunch, or for a manicure, send flowers, or give a coffee or book gift card. The moms absolutely love these things. Dad's....hmmm. This year I'm drawing a blank. Not to mention that our gift budget for June is only rivaled by our gift budget for December.

Sigh (I seem to be doing a lot of sighing these days, I promise it's not all that bad!)

Maybe if I don't think about it, then it will all go away. You think?

Too Many Cookies, Corduroy

Are any of you (I think I'm talking to myself, but I'll pretend that someone out there is actually reading this blog) familiar with the book, Corduroy Goes To The Doctor? It's a cute little children's book about Corduroy the teddy bear, and about his visit to the doctor for a checkup. The book describes all the procedures for a checkup, like the waiting room, the nurses, checking the eyes and ears, and, yes, the weigh-in. In this book, when Corduroy steps on the scale, the doctor says, "...and gained a lot of pounds. Too many cookies, Corduroy."

Well, that's me.

Sigh.

I've reached that point where not only is the baby weight not falling off anymore, it's coming right back on.

Right in time for summer, baby!

I have to get my behind into gear, swimsuit season is here, and in the last two weeks, I've fallen off the exercise wagon and gained five pounds. Yes, that's right, I've gained FIVE POUNDS IN TWO WEEKS.

I've resorted to posting pictures of healthy, fit women on my fridge and closet doors. I pretend not to hear the snickering from The Husband, who has eaten a few too many cookies himself.

My beach trip is in exactly ten weeks, and if I can lose a pound a week, I'll be okay. Not great, but not ashamed to put on my suit next to my thin friends and family, either. I have, after all, had two babies within the past 2 3/4 years - I have a little leeway.

Wish me luck. If I fail I'll have to use Baby Girl as a distraction. When holding an exceedingly cute baby on one's hip or lap, no one actually looks at the holdee's hips or lap.

Now off to go look at pictures of flat abs and toned butts for motivation. Ta ta!