Sunday Outing

Friday was my Mom’s birthday and to celebrate we had a day out in D.C. yesterday.  Our original plan was to go to the Newseum, but road closures because of events going on in D.C. made it hard to get down there, so we decided to go to the Cathedral instead.  My sister lives right across from the Cathedral and is lucky enough to go to church there.  It is absolutely stunning. 

We had lunch at Cactus Cantina, an adorable and delicious pink lemonade cupcake across the street at Something Sweet, and then headed to the Cathedral. 

 

the stained glass was amazing.  I definitely can’t do them justice with my camera

this was a tiny organ in the children’s chapel.  Isn’t it cute?

view from the 7th floor observatory deck

more stained glass- this was on the seventh floor also

standing in one of the gardens

Yes, Luke is absent from all of these pictures.  The only time we took pictures with people in them was in the gardens, and Luke wasn’t quite sleeping, but was definitely kicked back relaxing on the verge of a nap at that time, so i didn’t disturb him.  He was so good all day!  I wish I had gotten more pictures of the main area of the cathedral.  It’s humongous and gorgeous.  There is so much to look at.  We’ll have to do the Newseum next time!

Vacation

We left the house around 4 am Friday morning.  We had a very smooth trip in with no hiccups. 

Picture from the plane of beautiful clear blue water

We arrived at the resort around 3:00 and found champagne and of course, a towel creation

Some pictures of the beach

our room was on the top left of that building

hanging out on the beach playing the travel Monopoly game… which ended up being the best 5.00 investment ever.  We played alot… like 100 times.  Not much else to do in a hotel room in the rain.

Drinking their beer, El Presidente

I am not kidding you when I say this is the only picture Tommy and I got together while we were there…  whoops…

p.s.- how’s about my face is one big freckle?  I’ve never had this many freckles until I was pregnant… coincidence?

sunrise on our anniversary from our balcony…

…and then it proceeded to rain the rest of the day.  Hard.  And we were both pretty ill at this point with colds.  We got massages in the morning, which were amazing, and then spent most of the rest of the day in bed. 

The little hut in the middle of this picture is the swim up bar, which we loved :)

another view from right outside our window.  The “Palapa Hut,”  which was a restaurant and bar. 

So, to summarize:  We definitely had some good times and relaxing times, but bad weather and bad colds were a pretty huge letdown.  I guess we just had really high expectations of day after day of lounging on the beach and in the pool, and it was more like day after day of clouds, rain, sore throats and sneezing.  These factors made homesickness/missing Luke way worse.  I think as time goes on I’ll look back on the vacation more fondly, but right now I’m honestly just so happy to be home.  But, I’m so thankful to have had that time with Tommy <3

I’d like to give a huge shout out to my girls Melissa and Becca!  When we arrived in Miami we found out our connecting flight to National had been canceled and we had to reschedule a flight into Dulles.  Melissa and Becca picked us up from Dulles at midnight and drove us to National to get our car.  Love you boos!  Owe you big time!

First Romp In The Pool

Luke loved playing in his new inflatable crabby pool tonight after dinner!  I also got some video, but I actually took it on my real camcorder, and haven’t quite figured out how to get it on my computer.  I’ve only used it once.  That was at Christmas.  I seriously need to get a hold of the technology in this house! 

Also, I had written a 9 month post about Luke last week and thought I posted it the same time as the anniversary post, but something must have gone wrong and it didn’t post, so now I’m just saving it for tomorrow when we go for his 9 month appointment.  I can’t wait to see how much he’s grown!

spikey hair- my favorite!

 

a little splash in the face!

  

checking out his little belly

We’re Baaaaaaack…..

Just a quick post to say that we have returned to Los Estados Unidos!!  We are SO happy to be home!!  Luke grew, by my estimation, at least 7 1/2” while we were gone!  He was so stinking cute this morning when I went to get him up I thought my heart was going to explode.  My small camera from the trip is dead and I can’t find the charger, and my big camera has a fully charged battery that is laying around somewhere… I can’t find it.  What else is new.  So, as soon as I get my technology together I’ll post some pictures from our trip and of Luke. 

We had some great times, but also some terrible weather and some terrible colds, so I could not be happier to be home. 

Two Years

You got someone here wants to make it alright
Someone who loves you more than life right here
You got willing arms that'll hold you tight
A hand to lead you on through the night right here
I know your heart can get all tangled up inside
But don't you keep it to yourself

When your long day is over
And you can barely drag your feet
The weight of the world is on your shoulders
I know what you need
Bring it on home to me


You know I know you like the back of my hand
But did you know I'm gonna do all that I can right here
I'm gonna lie with you till you fall asleep
When the morning comes I'm still gonna be right here (yes I am)
So take your worries and just drop them at the door
Baby leave it all behind

Baby let me be your safe harbor
Don't let the water come and carry you away

You got someone here wants to make it alright
Someone who loves you more than life right here

"Bring It On Home" by Little Big Town
We'll be celebrating our anniversary on Monday with massages on the beach :)

Odds and Ends

Just a little catch up from the past few days…

Monday was Tommy’s first day off with his new schedule working 4 10’s.  He enjoyed his day off with the baby.  Today was his second Monday off and I think it’s going to end up working out well.  It’s kind of an adjustment having him get off later every day, but since Tommy works on Saturdays so often, it’s nice for him to have a whole day with just the two of them.

Saturday after work I went with my cousin Amanda and Aunt Carol on a quest to pick out fabric for Amanda’s baby girl’s room.  Instead of buying bedding her Mom is going to make a quilt, bumper, and skirt.  We started out doing a little shopping at Ross, went to lunch at Mimi’s, and then went to JoAnn Fabrics.  Luke was an angel all day.  He was making the cutest faces and noises and was just a joy. 

Sunday we went to the Blue Crabs game.  It was Luke’s first baseball game.  He started off not too happy.  I’m pretty sure he had sunblock in his eyes.  Does anybody have tips for this?  I only put it on his arms and legs, and tried to be very careful about keeping it off of his hands.  He didn’t have any sunblock on his face, but somehow I guess it got transferred from his arms/legs to hands, and then to his eyes and he was not happy.  I felt so bad for him!  His little eyes were red and he kept rubbing them.  Our seats were in a very sunny section and I think that made it worse.  Plus, we were worried about him getting burned, so we moved to a shady section.  Once we were in the shady section, I think his eyes flushed out a little and the sun wasn’t making him squint and he opened up.  He’s been doing alot of talking and yelling lately. 

After the game we went to Chipotle to grab something to eat and I was reminiscing about the stages of eating out with the baby.  In the beginning it was leave him in his carrier, cover him up, and he’d sleep right through.  Then it was leave him in the carrier but he would wake up and want to be held the whole time.  Now, he sits right in a high chair and eats his own food and chats with us!  Such a change in nine short months!

Other things Luke has been doing lately are pulling himself up on everything and saying “dada.”  I still don’t think he knows who “mama” or “dada” are, but he is saying both of them now.  I can’t wait until he’s actually calling me that instead of just babbling it :) 

Now, the best part… pictures and videos!

This was one day last week after a nap.  His hair looked so funny I had to take some pictures

“Mama I’m having a bad hair day, now leave me alone!”

not too happy at the beginning of the game

Hey, this is kinda fun!

I love how in both of these videos you can tell there’s a distinct moment where he’s just “done.”  Not funny anymore. 

And here he is losing his mind over a Ritz cracker, something I’ve been giving him the past couple days along with his puffs and yogurt melts when he has a snack.  He does the same thing when I pull out the yogurt.  Sorry the video is sideways… sometimes I struggle with technology.

We’re leaving very early Friday morning for vacation.  Although I am so excited for vacation I can hardly think straight, I am also starting to worry about how I’m going to feel about leaving Luke.  I’m not worried about him being taken care of, I’m not even allowing any thoughts of “what if something happens?”  I’m simply thinking about missing his smiley little face for six days.  :(  I have a feeling that interspersing naps and cocktails throughout the day will hopefully help tuck these thoughts into the back of my  mind…

One Word Wednesday

**Satchel**

Happy Mother’s Day!

I know I'm a day late, but I was on the road for much of yesterday and once I got home I just really felt like relaxing with Tommy and Luke instead of blogging. Okay, so weekend recap.
Friday we started off the morning at "Special People Day" at Sage's school, ANS. Luke, Bonnie, and her Grandma were her special people. I was just kind of there... to hold Luke :) We had prayers and Sage's class sang a very cute song, and then it was lunch time. I left Luke with Bonnie to go scoop up Melissa so we could head to Ocean City. We picked Luke up on our way back through La Plata and we were on our way!

Melissa's horoscope on Friday told her to "take a road trip with your best friend. It'll help clear your head and help you make the right decision." Melissa decided the right decision was to go to Cracker Barrel for lunch, so that we did. Luke had applesauce, orange wedges, and his very first lemon!! It was so cute to watch and he was such a hit! An older lady who was sitting facing him got up to leave and told me "I could just watch him eat all day! He is just the cutest thing!"

Luke’s first lemon.  He really didn’t make faces that were too terrible.  He wouldn’t let it go!  He had a clamp on it with those little teeth. 

We arrived in Ocean City, Becca got there shortly behind us, and we headed to Dumser's for dinner. My Mom hadn't seen Luke in a full week, the longest amount of time since he's been born and she was completely smitten. After dinner we headed to Seacret's to see our very favorite band, Crushing Day!!! We've been mildly obsessed with them for several years now, and it was just as fun as always. Although I will make two notes on my night out. I really shouldn't drink for two reasons. One, I am totally obnoxious. Two, mothering is not easy the next day when you want to crawl into bed and sleep all day. I've only been out a handful of times since Luke's been born, and I ALWAYS pay for it the next day!

Saturday we just lounged around, recovered, played with baby Luke, and once my Mom got home from the beach we went to get massages! Melissa surprised me on the way to Ocean City by telling me she had made an appointment for me to get a massage as a Mother's Day/graduation gift!! It was SO amazing! I wish it could have lasted for another hour :) We got home and headed out to dinner. My Dad had given me money to take my Mom out to dinner for Mother's Day. After dinner my Mom headed home with the baby and Melissa, Becca, and I headed to the movies to see Date Night. I thought it was really funny! It didn't get the greatest reviews, but I laughed out loud a bunch of times. Then, we headed home and all fell asleep watching Betty White on SNL.
Yesterday I woke up on my first official Mother's Day. People told me Happy Mother's Day last year, but it's just totally different to hear your baby giggle on Mother's Day than to have one growing inside. Luke got up pretty early and played for a while, and then went down for a nap. While he was napping Melissa and I decided to go pick up breakfast from the Bayside Skillet. We were about to leave and I realized my wallet wasn't in my purse. I remembered hearing something hit the floor at the movie theater, but I looked down and didn't see anything, so figured it was nothing. But yesterday I realized it must have been my wallet. So, we went to get our food, and I was freaking out. It was only about 8:00 so I couldn't call the theater yet. I had backed out of my parking spot at the restaurant and a car backed right out of her spot into my passenger side door and dented it pretty badly. We exchanged information and I complained the whole way back to the house about how I have the worst luck ever. We got home and started packing and cleaning and when I went back in my room Melissa had left a card on my bed. The actual card said:
Babies are the best-
little hands that grasp a finger,
soft cheeks that rest on shoulders,
tiny arms that reach out to receive love,
and sweet smiles that can fill a heart with joy and hope.
No wonder we love them so.
Babies are the best- especially yours.
Happy First Mother's Day

Then Melissa wrote:
I'm sorry you feel like you have the worst luck ever, but I personally think you are one of the luckiest people ever to have people like your parents, Tommy, and of course Luke in your life. And, we're all lucky to have you!

It made me simultaneously smile and want to cry! It really reminded me to be thankful for everything that I have. My family and friends are what matter, and I literally could not ask for more love and support. I am completely surrounded by people who love me and my family. I'm getting choked up typing this! Mother's Day is no time to gripe about the little things, it's a day to celebrate the people who shape our lives. And, this year, I'm privileged enough to be a life shaper!

We headed out around 11 or so, went to the movie theater, and my wallet was there! I was so happy to not have to rush to get new stuff before vacation in a couple of weeks! Luke was really good on the ride home. He got fussy a couple of times and Melissa just reached around and pumped him full of puffs. We made it all the way to Bowie before we had to stop. We went to Ruby Tuesdays and Luke was so good again. He was a big hit with the waitresses and everyone was stopping by to say hi. He stayed in his high chair the whole time and just played with his toys and ate more puffs.

When we got home Tommy was still at his Mom's for a little cookout. There were roses and cards waiting for me in the kitchen :) When Tommy got home Luke couldn't close his mouth for like three minutes. He just kept staring at Tommy with this humongous open mouthed grin on his face. It was so stinking cute. Tommy got Luke giggling, we played, gave him a bath, put him to bed, and then Tommy and I watched a movie and went to bed around 9:30. It was a great day.

Okay, so before this marathon post ends, I have to say thanks to our Moms for making us the people we are today. They've given us help and encouragement every step of the way. My Mom takes such good care of Luke and he loves coming to Grandma's house! Where he's allowed to play with his murse without judgment :) Tommy and I both have very close bonds with our Mothers, and I hope Luke and our future children feel close, comfortable, and protected with us.

I hope all the Mothers reading this had a wonderful day!