My day of rest

Today went something like this: getting jabbed in the nose by Isaac's piercing fingers causing my nose to BLEED, Ashton finding a pen and using it on paper and everything else (my couch, the wall, my bed sheets), a dropped and shattered plate at lunch, board games found and scattered across the living room floor, a water bottle emptied carefully all over the floor and console table (followed by a sweet little boy eager to show off his handy work) a dropped and cracked tupperware at dinner, and overdone cookies. All in all, a typical day...

Sanity, please!!!

While we were in Mexico, my kids slept like a dream. Long naps, solid night sleep and we were all sleeping in the same room. Well, since we have been back my kids have refused their afternoon naps. And they are CLEARLY exhausted. The crankiness, the eye rubbing and yawning. Since they share a room, when one cries, the other does and they just work eachother up. After an hour or so of screaming Tyler orI cave and we get them up. We even tried moving Isaac into the playroom but to no avail. For the third day running Isaac cried for 30 solid minutes as I was prepping Ashton for his nap. I new where this was headed so instead we packed up and headed to Sea World. We had a BLAST!!! We finally say Believe and sat in the splash zone. I'm gald we didn't have the camera with us because we were in Shamu's direct line of fire. We were soaked over and over and Isaac didn't cry out in complaint until the fourth soaking. It was great though. I wish I could have captured Ashton's face of awe and excitement as he watched the killer whales jump out of the water and do their great tricks. We then did some kids rides and also checked out this bouncy room with soft, huge blocks that we could throw at eachother and trip, jump over and bounce on.

Despite the fun we had the kids were overtired when we got home and the recurring question is, how do I get them to take their naps. Sea World, no matter how fun it is, cannot be the substitute.

Puerto Vallarta

So my side of the family frequents Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta every few years. Tyler and I were unable to attend last time because Ashton was just a few days old...We made plans for this last trip early last September. We were unsure of Tyler's schedule since he would be starting as a resident but we set the date and sure enough that week was Tyler's first week of orientation at Lackland Air Force base as a general surgery intern. Needless to say he missed the trip, but I managed to sneak away with the boys. I don't know why I always steal away on trips without Tyler, and this time flying internationally with the boys by myself, but I have to admit I'm getting quite good at it. We meet up with my parents, Michael and Joey, and my brother Gabe and his wife Becca and kids Ashlee and Ben. We spent every morning and evening in a pool of some sort with the kids. During most naps Michael and Joey stayed in with the kids so we could go and enjoy beach volleyball and spa treatmenets. We won the two beach volleyball tournaments (my family loves to play and we're pretty good) winning free drinks. Becca won a spa treatment in a raffle our first night there and I won one a few nights later. I had to dance in front of the club members with Becca (we were the last two left) and then when the music stopped we had to hug the MC who conveniently ran and hid while our backs were turned. It was fun and the spa treatment was fabulous~!

We also took the kids to see the tigers and parrots at the zoo in the resort, went an a bike tour, ate delicious tacos al pastor at a taco stand in town, played on the beach, attempted to fly kites and more. We had a great time and while it was wonderful and my parents were extremely helpful, I don't want to go back without Tyler... Enjoy the pictures...It was beautiful!!!
















I am so tire but still have some more cute pics at the beach to post...so check back!!!

What happened to Bo?

The backyard of our house had a huge hole in the fence. This wouldn't be a problem but our neighbors have three barking dogs. Well, Ashton loved to go outside see the dogs and talk to them. He would get so excited and he took to the brown dog who is much tamer and more friendly than the others. Ashton liked the dog so much that he shared his fondest possession, Bo. Tyler was with him outside and I could here what was happening, so I quickly grabbed Ashton and headed out the door to the neighbors to retrieve Bo. The missionary in me came out and we knocked and knocked on the door until the neighbors came. Well, Bo was returned but he wasn't with us much longer.

Just look at the sweet innocent face.

Sea World

So of course being that we live just a few miles from Sea World, we HAD to get season passes. We've been a few times and Ashton seems to have fallen in love with the Dolphins....maybe I had some influence there. It feels incredible to get close enough to pet them and drop fish into their mouths. Ashton absolutely HATES feeding the giraffes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, and while he wouldn't feed the dolphins himself, he did want to be close. So we've seen the dolphins a few times, the aquarium, the penguins (however, the penguin exhibit at the St. Louis Zoo is about a hundred times better than the one at Sea World), the alligators, and the kiddie splash park. We are still waiting to get to some of the shows. Maybe tomorrow....

The things kids say...

Two nights ago Tyler went around the house and changed out light bulbs to the fluorescent ones. He snuk into Ashton's room and was met with "Hey, I'm sleepin' in here!". Then, last night as we sat down to read scriptures with Ashton he was holding The Incredibles DVD guide insert. He had been asking us the names of the characters etc. and when I pulled out his scriptures and told him it was time to read them, he told me, "No mom, read Incredibles scriptures."

We made it!!!

I have no pictures, which is probably a good thing, because our place is just shy of chaos, but we made it. We are here in our house in San Antonio, we have our stuff, we have great neighbors, we have a yard, and we have eachother. I have so many emotions right now...I sure miss St. Louis and my friends there...but for now it's back to the unpacking. I'll keep you all updated soon!

Viewer Discretion is Advised...

Remember how I ran that half marathon last month. Well, today we were at the park and I kept thinking there was a rock or a twig in my shoe. I was wearing my crocs and they have little holes in them that sometimes allow this to happen. Well, I checked twice and nothing. So after we got home I was sure there was something there. I took off my shoe for the third time and this is what I noticed....GROSS!!! I had injured that toenail earlier in my training because apparently Nike Shox are not the running shoe the claim to be, they are more for looks. Of course I got new shoes, but the damage was all ready done.

Graduation

We are finally done with Medical School!!! Looking back I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I am so proud of Tyler and his achievements, especially for his dedication in attaining his lifelong dream to become a Doctor. Congratulations Tyler! The boys and I are so lucky to have a brilliant, loving father. He sure made the family a priority and spent a lot of time at home giving us quality time. I don't know how you managed Ty, but I am glad you did!

Tyler's parents came out for graduation, we appreciate your support!

Here is our clan. As boring as graduations can be, I was so excited for Tyler. We were especially moved when all the graduating students and Doctors in the audience stood and recited the Hippocratic Oath. What a noble, selfless job! Again, Congratulations Tyler, WE LOVE YOU!!!

What a trip

So while our kids were basking in the love of their grandparents, we enjoyed a week long trip in Texas...Sure we were under a little stress with a time crunch to find a rental house that suited us...but we had 7 whole days to enjoy eachother's company. We did however shatter our previous statements of "why did we ever argue before we had kids?". Anyways, we had a great time. We put in two rental applications, being turned down from our first, and await the outcome of second application that won't come until Tuesday.

Something I did appreciate during this process is the power of prayer. After our first application was declined and given to another suitor we prayed about our second choice before submitting the application. It was a large and fairly new 4 bedroom house and even had a large game room where Ashton could play. Our prayer was answered and the answer was NO. I didn't understand why...we really liked the home, what was it that made it ill-fit for our family? We will never know because we didn't put in our application. Instead we called our next 2 top choices only to find that they were no longer available. Our trip to Corpus had come to an abrupt end and we set off back to San Antonio to secure a home while we still had time. And now we are left to wait... But back to our trip, here are a few of our highlights:

*sleeping in every morning...in fact, today we slept in until 11:00!
*The riverwalk in San Antonio. We were there for hours! We took a bardge tour, ate dinner on the river, walked and enjoyed the beautiful foilage and fountains, and even spent a few hours in the mall on the river. It was beautiful and we ate and shopped in peace!
*The carnival in Corpus. It was a traveling one, like the one we used to go to in high school. It was pricey but I think the $18 ferris wheel ride was worth it. We were about to drop another $20 on an extreme "power" ride that swung high in the air but as we reached the front of the line, Tyler was told he was too tall for the ride!
*Delecious Thai food. The native Thai owners and chef fell in love with Tyler when they discovered he and lived in Thailand and could speak, read and write the language. We were there for hours and they did not want us to leave. It was cute!
*We ate a Golden Wok in San Antonio. As soon as we sat down I asked Tyler what Moogoo gaipan was and the waiter magically appeared and spouted off as quick as could be, the ingredients to the dish. He turned around and went to attend another table when Tyler and I decided what we would order. His incredible gift of hearing kicked in and he immediately was back in front of us writing down what we had intended to order. We were in amazement as he walked away and within 30 seconds was back with our soup. It was so memorable he got a 50% tip!
*Movies, Dave and Busters, swimming, museums, dining, and more! What a great time!
*Test driving vans...sounds dorky but we've been wanting to and it was fun!
*Hearing Ashton say "Te amo mommy!" over the phone
*Lastly, realizing how much we love and can't live without our kids. We are so in love with our kids that we were constantly buying little souveniers for them, talking about the cute things they do, and being extremely anxious to come back and see them.