Missing the Crib

No this post isn't about missing any of our past "cribs." None of mine could compare to those of MTV's. This is simply the sadness that waxes strong in my heart for that period of time when you child is still a baby. But that is only one of the things I miss. She's moved up in society and now sleeps in her hand-me-down Mimmu Sloan big girl bed. She's discovered that she can come and go at any time, but mostly in the early dawn hours when we're finally getting some good sleep. She'll quietly come in and as she is standing only a few inches or less from my face will say, "I'm all done Mama." This is usually followed up by her first request of the day which could be anything from toast or markers to Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. I then follow that up with something like, "Here's a pillow you can lay on the floor next to my bed, and be quiet its still night time." If I didn't fear what she might do to the rest of the house, I'd probably lock my bedroom door.

Waking up early isn't anything new for her, its just that before she slept in a cage and we'd ignore her long enough that she'd go back to sleep for another hour or so and then we'd let her out. Now that she is free she's very willing to invite any and all to lay with her on her bed to watch a movie on "the DVD" (the portable DVD player). She also recognizes that at night she can put on her sad face and request "snuggles." This makes it hard to say no and we usually read a book or two and call it night. I'm sure over time I won't miss the crib so much.

These pictures are from the first time I put Noelle in her crib. She liked it so much that her feet were going crazy with excitement.

We're Baaack!

Our summer travels are officially over now that we've returned from our recent trip to Mexico, (specifically somewhere on the beach north of Bucerias in the Bay of Banderas.) We'd been anticipating this trip since January when we bought our tickets, and now it seems like a distant memory.

We didn't venture too far from our village resort except to find the taco shop in Puerto Vallerta we once loved, which was closed down.So we wandered for a long time into the older part of town and found something satisfactory, but certainly not the taco stand of our dreams. We hit the Wal-Mart for groceries and being it was Mexico things were not in their usual places. For example in the US the pancake syrup is next to the pancake mixes. In Mexico it is by the peanut butter and jelly. (Also noted was they must not eat a ton of PB &J because you could only by small tubs of PB) Almost all mayonnaise noted it was flavored with lime, and to find "normal" bacon we had to ask many people until one Wal-Mart worker unveiled the secret stash to Boo by literally lifting up other meat products to show the better quality and portions of bacon, which were not all created equal. Our second bus "adventure" was to Bucerias to find the last couple of things on our list to buy in Mexico, specifically vanilla. The day started out rainy, but much to our disadvantage the sweltering sun came out and mixed with the humidity from the rain, tried to melt our clothes right off our bodies. Besides vanilla we went to Bucerias to try out one of the local favorites which was a chicken rotisserie/ taco stand which happened to be located next to the viaduct. It must be good if all the locals eat there and for the price ($11.00 for four adults and four kids) it was great food. Never mind the chickens wandering around and the fact that you're almost sitting in the car repair shop that is practically part of the place.

We did our fair share of boogie boarding in super huge waves and rough surf (even Grandma and Grandpa took a try at boogie boarding), swam in the pool for hours on end, went to a Mexican fiesta, and got some books finally read.

Thanks for a great trip to all. Hopefully we do it again in the next seven years.

To see more pics of the trip check out Auntie's Blog or Dan's Blog.