43-Months-Old!!!

I'm writing this at 5:30am, up in Maya's dark room. It's my second time up here this morning, because sometimes she likes to wake up super early and play when she should be sleeping.

Like that time last week. When I heard her in the monitor at 3:30am. I went up to her room and she was playing with her trains. Light on. Wide awake. I put her back to bed, and 20 minutes later heard more movement on the monitor. I went up to find her light on and her changed into a leotard. Twenty minutes after that I sent Chris up and he ended up laying on her floor until she finally fell back asleep (and then I had to wake her up at 7 to get ready for school). We found out the next morning she had gone and woken Callie up at 3:30am and eaten a stash of Valentine's candy that Callie had hidden up there. 

You can't make this stuff up.

This little spitfire has made our lives a lot better and a lot more interesting...for 43 months now!

 

 

And we couldn't be more thankful.

 

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! I have a lot of them for you today.

First up: Gosselin family!

 

Then, Callie Joy.

 

And me and Maya.

 

A year ago we had a wedding shower for Mari, this year we had a baby shower for Laura! Looks like Mari wore the same dress. :)

 

Lastly, the girls in February weather!

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday! First off, I forgot to post Maya's preschool picture on Friday.

 

Doesn't she look so old?!?!? When I went to see the options of pictures to order a couple weeks ago, I landed on this one because in all the other ones she had a goofy little grin with her tongue sticking out. Silly girl. 

And then of course I had to find Callie's first preschool picture. And do a side by side.

 

Same shirt. On purpose.

And in the spirit of side-by-sides in the same clothes, how about this one?

 

I pulled out that dress this morning since it has felt like spring this weekend. And then found the picture of me wearing it, and of course, couldn't resist the comparison.

And now, on to our weekend. The girls went to a Lego Batman "event" at Target with Chris yesterday morning. Sounds like it was a lame scavenger hint that ended at a $10 off $50 dollar toy coupon (that they did NOT use). But Callie has been obsessed with Lego Batman so she had fun.

 

I'm sure we will be going to see the movie soon.

While they were doing that, I was at Laura's first baby shower!! Amy and Emily threw a lovely shower with lots of awesome ladies attending.

 

There was delicious food, fun games, and adorable baby presents.

 

 

 

Yesterday afternoon we hung out outside because it was awesome out.

I wanted to get a picture of the girls jumping, and had some pretty hilarious outtakes. I never got one with both of them off the ground. Maya didn't quite get it when I counted "1...2...3...jump!" As you can see, she was doing her own thing.

 

She had a lot of fun reacquainting herself to the playhouse.

Also, I have major eyelash envy.

This morning I went on a chilly run, but got to see the sunrise. Not quite Mexico caliber, but was still pretty.

 

Then the girls and I made pancakes.

 

After church we went to Boom's house and walked to Izzy's!

 

We also got to hang out with family friends Randy and Lori, but they were still ordering ice cream with Boom when I took this picture.

It's President's Day tomorrow so it is a long weekend! Have a great week.

A Picture Update

It's Friday!!

This week has been pretty chill... just back into the groove of school and work and everything.

Maya hung out at Boom's house on Monday.

 

And then Tuesday was Valentine's Day. They both got a stash of cards and treats from their amigos at school.

 

Maya hung out with G-ma on Wednesday, and then we got a car wash! Also, Maya insisted on taking a bunch of pictures with my phone. The only one that vaguely turned out was the one of me across the kitchen.

 

We have been able to spend time outside the past 2 nights after school. It has been awesome!!

 

Tonight my mom, sisters, and I went out to dinner and then to the light exhibit at the arboretum. It was beautiful!

 

 

We get to go to Laura's first baby shower in the morning!!!! And in honor of that, a baby bump in front of a light display made out of plastic bottles.

 

 

Have a great weekend!

The Mexico Post!

Hey all!

So I just worked for almost an hour on my awesome Mexico post, and then my stupid aging computer freaked out and I lost the ENTIRE THING.

And it was so good.

So I will attempt this again but am afraid all my funny quips and heartfelt platitudes will be forgotten. We shall see. (Photo credits: almost everyone on the trip! We all put our photos in a shared folder so they are not all mine).

As I mentioned on Sunday, Jim, Coco, Larry, Mary, my mom, Mari, Josh, Chris and I all convened in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico last week (or part of the week in my case).  Jim and Coco rented a BEAUTIFUL house that was perfect for all of us to relax in and enjoy each other's company.

One of the highlights of the trip for me were the sunrises and sunsets.  A group of us were always awake around 6:50am to watch the sun pop up over the line where "the sky meets the sea" (to steal a line from Moana).

Truly breathtaking

And in the evenings we watched the sun go down behind some cliffs in the west.

It was a full moon while we were there.

On Thursday night we took a 2.5 hour sunset cruise, so we were able to see the sunset beyond the cliffs.

We also got to see amazing whales playing in the water.  There were three of them near our boat, and they were really active!  I put together a couple minutes of video highlights that I took on my phone.


IMG 1798 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Back to the sun- I took Timelapse video of the sunrise and sunset on Thursday, which I put together in this video.


IMG 1913[1] from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

One morning I managed to capture both the sunrise and the moon set in a panoramic shot.  I don't know how it will turn out on the blog, but it looks pretty cool on my phone.

As for the rest of the days and nights, we stayed relaxed and happy.  We all enjoyed laying poolside and playing in the water.

We sat by the pool in the evenings too, with the fire lit.  And one night there was an impromptu fireworks display that we could see.

Jim, Coco, Chris and Josh got out on a couple different golf courses throughout the week.

And I got in a couple of post-sunrise runs.

It felt so good to be running outside without 4 layers on!

The food was AMAZING.  A woman came in to cook us authentic Mexican breakfasts every morning, and we ate out at a couple of great restaurants too.

And we had some delicious drinks, of course.

On our last night we went to a Latin-Fusion restaurant to celebrate Jim's birthday.  YUM.

Chris and I were able to spend time together, and took a lot of selfies to send to the girls.

It was such a special treat to be able to spend time with my aunts and uncles on my dad's side.  We talked about him a lot, and he was on my mind constantly while I was there.  We all were able to laugh together and cry together and acknowledge the big presence that was missing.

It was another bittersweet reminder that sadness and longing can coexist with joy and gratitude.

And for that, I am grateful.

A Valentines Day Timehop Tuesday

Happy Valentines Day!

 

A Picture Weekend Wrap-Up: Mexico Teaser Edition

Hey all!

So...Chris and I got to see the sun this past week.  Like real sun- in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Chris, my mom and Mari met Jim, Coco, Larry, and Mary down there last Sunday.  Josh met them there on Tuesday, and I met them there on Wednesday.  I will be doing a whole post about it later this week, but for now, here is a teaser!

It was a wonderful family vacation.  And more on that later this week.

In the meantime, the girls stayed with G-ma and Pa.  They had a great time...except for...guess what?!?!?!?!  Callie got freaking STREP THROAT while we were gone.  It included some super high fevers, a trip to minute clinic, and even some puking.  Poor G-ma and Pa.  And poor Callie.  They were all major troopers while we were (feeling guilty) laying in the sun.  But despite that setback, they had fun.

Poor Cal had to miss a day of school and a dance class. But she read a whole lotta books while she recovered.

And Maya kept them all entertained with her constant chatting and playing.

Thanks to G-ma and Pa for dealing with unexpected illness while we were away relaxing.  We really REALLY appreciate it!

When we were traveling home from Mexico last night we had a layover in Denver.  And as we were riding on the moving walkway to our gate, Chris happened to notice a pilot coming the other direction. He was our high school friend, Brent.  He is a pilot who lives in Colorado but is based in Atlanta. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?  What are the actual chances of it happening that we were at the Denver airport, on the exact same opposite moving walkway, at the same time?!?!?!  Like ZERO, so I had to take a picture.

Anyway.  We got home about 9:30pm last night, so we didn't see the girls until this morning.  They were happy to see us, and it was great to be back home with them.  We played some school this morning, and Maya was the teacher.  You will see what I mean by her chatting...holy moly.


IMG 1874 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

The girls and Chris went to Sunday School while I did PILES of laundry. And then there was a much needed grocery store run and playtime at the Wicks' before coming home to work on VALENTINE'S cards for school on Tuesday.

I hope you all had a great weekend.  After I have everyone's pictures from the trip, I will do a whole sun-filled Mexico post.