Yucatan Vacation - Part One

We left last Monday for Merida, Mexico and had a somewhat long flight from New York to Houston and then to Merida. We were delayed in NY and literally ran to our connecting flight, and were the last ones on the flight. Sam was really a trooper. She was great on the flight, a little whiny on the descent but overall was great. We watched a Elmo DVD for about 30 min but she basically played the whole flight. She finally fell asleep while waiting in the customs line in Mexico, which by that time was 10 at night (for her, actually 9). We pulled up to the hotel to find out it was La Carnival, basically Mardi Gras in Mexico and it was right in front of our hotel. Sam slept right through it and we went up and went to sleep while Tim and Peter went to check out carnival. This pic is Sam and Tim as we ventured out to Carnival the next day. It was so crowded we couldn't use a stroller so we were so glad we had the Ergo with us. It was exciting to get there during such a fun party but it was also so crowded that by early afternoon we went to hang out at the hotel pool and skipped the crazy part of Carnival. Samantha really liked the pool, putting her feet in only, she wasn't too into swimming, the water was pretty cold.

I don't know if any of you have an Ergo, I really like it. It takes a bit of getting used to but it's very comfy, especially when on the back. Samantha seemed to be very happy in it for the first hour or so, and this was in 90 degree heat. I think it will be good for walking in the spring when it's a little warmer.

We're Back

Back from Mexico... we had a great trip. Once I find my camera amongst all our luggage I will post pics and tell the stories. The trip was great but we are tired. Samantha survived a long flight. From New York to Houston to Mexico. She was great on the plane. She wanted to be everyones friend, saying "hi baby" to everyone. I think we're calling her baby too much because she started calling everyone that. She learned some new words, cheese (as in when taking a picture) bubble and hola (just kidding). But there were some others I think. She loved the Mexican food, I think she might be a Mexican in another life. She was a pretty friendly little girl overall, the sleeping wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful either. More about that later. I gotta fo unpack and find my camera. Pics later...

Sleepy Baby

How cute is this? Samantha actually just passed out while playing one night at like 7 pm. Which of course messed up her whole bedtime routine because she took a 3 hour nap and then woke up at 10. I really thought she was going to just sleep through the night from 7 but no such luck. She usually doesn't go to bed until 8. Well right now she's being a bit whiny and wants me to come play with her. By play with her I mean she wants me to sit next to her while she plays and hand me things when she feels like it. I'm not sure why she needs me next to her but apparently she does. I'm off to watch Samantha play with the castle.

Happy Times

Well we have a very big weekend coming up. First of all it is the Annual Sledding Weekend at my parents house. We got the snow just in time. I think we got about a foot of snow on Wednesday and now everyone who's anyone is coming up to go sledding. Believe it or not I have not gone sledding during the Annual Sledding Weekend. I'm not sure why, maybe this year will be the one. Two other things happen to be much more exciting than sledding to me. One is that I am having a "spa day" of sorts tomorrow. I'm getting my hair cut at a actual hair SALON not super cuts, not even close. Then I'm getting a manicure/pedicure at a actual spa, not a $15 quick manicure place and I am getting my eyebrows done (I think). I am going to be oh so glamorous by tommorrow afternoon when I'm ready to start sledding. I haven't done anything like this in years, seriously. The mani/pedi was a gift so I figured I could splurge on the haircut. I'll get the eyebrows done if I can drive the 10 minutes in the other direction to do it. Living in the middle of nowhere, nothing is close. So we'll see... Oh, yes the #3 thing is that we are going to Mexico on MONDAY! Yes, Monday. I can't wait, I'm packed, Sams packed, Tim is... of course not packed. But that's play he will be and hopefully he won't forget anything. Anyone have any tips for flying 6+ hours with a one year old? Wish us luck...

Itsy Bitsy

Sam was just relaxing on the coach hanging out with her milk and watching the Wonderpets.

I Love My Tummy

Samantha loves her tummy. Whenever you're changing her she rubs her stomach like a little genie. It is so cute. Just wanted to leave you with a cute pic while we were off in Mexico. Enjoy!

Ski Bum

Samantha is getting ready for ski season now that we finally have some snow. Isn't that amazing? It's half way through February and this is our first real snow that is sticking around for more than just 1 day. I'm pretty sure Samantha isn't that into her goggles. They looked pretty cute though. I think her ski career might have to wait until next year, seeing as though she can't walk yet.

Those Were The Days

Samantha was feeling reminiscent of the old days when she saw this swing. It is the same swing she used to have when she was a wee little one. She was grabbing at the fish and then climbed right in. I think she would've stayed in there for awhile if we let her. How cute is she? And there's Elmo looking on from behind. Elmo is one of Samanthas new favorites. When she first got TMX Elmo for Christmas she was scared of him but now she loves him. She's an Elmo (I mean Melmo) girl. She has TMX, Hokey Pokey, Spanish Elmos. She has a phone, books, and probably other toys I can't remember. She just woke up from her nap and wants me to hold her. I'm going to go see if I can get her to play with her toys. But she is just too cute, she's hear listening to music and saying la la la, while swaying back and forth. Oh yeah, she's also throwing everything from my desk on the floor, that's not so cute. Gotta go, more later...

SFC and JRT

Here's Samantha and Little Jim. This is from Super Bowl Sunday. They came to visit and we had a lot of fun. Little Jim is so cute, and so good! I don't think we heard him cry once. Hopefully we'll see him again soon. Samantha wanted to play with him but he was just into watching the game (boy stuff).

Hello Again

I'm not getting into the routine of not posting again. First of all I've been having computer problems, for some reason I cannot stay online. I keep getting booted off which makes it mearly impossible to post and upload photos. I'm working on it...

Last weekend we went to the Childrens Museum in LI with Emma Kate and Christian. It was fun but Samantha was a little young. Then I had to bring Samantha with me to my girls night. It wasn't too bad she was pretty good after she had some "warm up time" and didn't want me to hold her. Sunday we came back home and started getting ready for our trip. I was getting stressed because I have to work all week but it looks like today might be a snow day so hopefully I can get stuff done today.

And let's all send Lisa some good luck wishes that she finds her cat who ran away last week. You can visit her at her blog over there on the right under blogs I like. Good luck finding your way home Farley.

Stay warm and I'll try to post some pics...

New Game

Samantha is at the stage where she likes to play games over and over again. This past weekend we discovered a new game we like to call it "Put clothes on moms head and then laugh uncontrollably when she shakes them off" or for short PCOMHATLUWSSTO. Yeah, that's really not much shorter. Anyway, I was taking out Samantha's summer clothes to get ready for our Mexico trip and she decided to put some on my head. When I shook it off she laughed so hard and said more. So we did it again. It was so cute how funny she thought this was. So we did it again. And again. And again. By the 203rd time she was still cute but I definitely wasn't as amused. It's amazing how toddlers don't get tired of seeing something SO MANY TIMES. Finally I convinced her that it would be funny to put the clothes on her head. She thought this was fun too, but not as funny as when I did it. Oh well. At least it wasn't the game where she pulls all the folded clothes off the bed one by one when I'm not looking.

Unhappy Baby

Samantha has been pretty miserable lately. She has a slight cough, runny nose, and is just not happy. I thought she had a cold, which she did but finally today I realized that it's also her teeth which is making her double unhappy. Her molars started coming in right around her birthday but I guess they're really taking their time because right now the widest part at the middle of the tooth is coming through. As I mentioned before we're getting company this weekend, so I really want her to be happy. She's not napping well because of her cold and molars which does not make for a happy baby. She's actual napping now and I am afraid to make any noise because I don't want her to wake up. Usually I'm normal and a little loud and she doesn't wake up, but this teething cold infested baby is not my normal baby and she is waking up at the drop of a hat. When is Samantha going to get a break? She needs to get better and stay better. We're going to Mexico in 2 weeks and I can't have a sick baby when we're there. Tim wants me to stay home from all our groups the week before we go, but I don't know. I hate to miss 2 weeks in a row. We'll see...

Family Time

We have a very exciting weekend planned. First of all, Tim & I both have Sat/Sun/Mon off together. This never happens, 3 whole days in a row together. Tomorrow we're going shopping together (I know, exciting stuff). Actual more than shopping we're retunring things that I bought last weekend that Tim decided I didn't need. A pair of new jeans, cell charger for car, 2 new shirts for Samantha, I think that's it. Tim isn't a total tyrant the cell charger we found at a better price elsewhere, I guess Sam doesn't really need the shirts, and after further thought the jeans aren't all that flattering. If we didn't open it already he definitely would have returned the Elmo (actually Melmo) DVD we bought, but Sam already watched it! Too bad!
Anyway, tomorrow night Tim and I are actually going out with other people from around here (I think we did this 1 other time since last May).
And on Sunday Jim, Lisa, & Baby James Ryan are coming to visit. Tim hates that I always call him BJR but I haven't seen him enough times yet to come up with my own variation of his name. Lisa what are you calling him these days?
And Monday we'll still be visiting with BJR and then relax on our own.
Yipee! I'm really looking forward to our weekend.
However, Samantha is feeling a little under the weather AGAIN! This time she has a cold. I hope she's feeling better by Sunday, tomorrow night her grandparents will be watching her. Since Dec 31st Samantha has had pneumonia, stomach flu, and a cold. Will it ever stop? I'm really hoping she is feeling better tonight and tomorrow. And I really want her to sleep through the night tonight because Tim and I have plans tomorrow night and we really don't want to be dead tired for them...
Send us healthy vibes through the internet please...

How cute are her facial expressions in this pic?

Sleep Needed

In the past 10 days there have been 3 nights were Samantha has been up FOR THREE HOURS! I don't know why she is up, she is crying at first and then she is pretty happy. I am into the cry-it-out method but in this scenario I don't think it works. We tried last night to let her cry but she just got angrier and angrier. When we got her she had a really wet diaper so maybe that was part of the problem. Her molars are still coming through so maybe that's part of the problem. I don't know what to do besides pray every night that she'll sleep (and we all know I'm not much of a prayer).And she doesn't sleep a lot during the day. No more than 2 hours in naps. Any suggestions on how to handle her new desire to be a night owl?

Here she is with Greta.

The 3 little kids

Weekend

We had a great weekend. Friday we didn't do much. Saturday we went to Long Island and had a playdate with Jack, Emma Kate, Christian, and MC. It was really fun, it was so nice to get the kids together. Samantha was a little hesitant at first, but she warmed up by the end. Then we went to Emma Kate's to meet her new baby sister Peyton. Sam had a lot of fun, she played with Greta, the 200 lb. mastiff and was not scared of her at all. She played playdoh with Emma, which I think she was a little too young for. I think she might of ate some, but I'm not sure. These pics are from the end of the night. Emma wanted to get in the crib so I put Samantha in too. It was so cute. Samantha was laughing so much at Emma, and in 1 picture she's just looking at Emma with a huge smile on her face. Too cute... but I am so tired from the weekend that I will post more pics another day.

Late Resolutions

Okay, so I did make some sort of resolutions this year. I don't totally believe in resolutions, because any time of year you can choose some things to work on, the ones that have to do with me as a person are: be more organized, keep careful track of budgeting, keep to my cleaning schedule, read more, and of course exercise, or at least eat well. Some of those most people probably say, then I have some regarding Samantha.

- Make an effort to always tell Samantha what things are to help her learn more words. She's doing great so far. When she points and makes a grunting noise, stop her and teach her the word that she wants to say.
- Make more of an effort to read with her. We read every night, but sometimes it's 1 book sometimes 4. I want to give her time to play with her board books, let her get used to looking at pictures in books and turning the pages and not be in a hurry. Also I want to read with her in the morning and for at least 15 minutes before bed.
- Get rid of the pacifier. I've mentioned this before. I'm now keeping one in the car, but only giving it to Sam if she desperately needs it. The rest are staying in the crib. If we lose them that's it we're going cold turkey. I'm not buying anymore!
- Be conscious every day of making sure she is getting a balanced diet (I'm pretty good with this but I just want to keep it up as she gets older).
- Of course, work on walking as always. Congratulate her whenever she does it so she continues.
- Limit TV time. I always said no TV but she loves Elmo so much that I just bought her a Elmo DVD. I figure it's better to have that to watch every so often then to turn on the TV and just watch whatever show is on. So now she's allowed to watch Elmo, I guess. She calls him Melmo. It's really cute, I couldn't resist getting it for her.

New Games

Samantha has discovered wallets. So we gave her my old wallet with some old cards in it and this is a favorite new game. The problem is, she has also discovered the word mine. This morning she pulled all the cards out of the wallet, and I went to put them back in for her and she started getting mad and saying mine, mine.
She also knows right from wrong, sometimes. This morning she was off in the corner playing with her wallet and I said, what are you doing? She looked at me and quickly turned her back and did something. So I went over and she had found a penny that she was putting in her mouth. She knew it was wrong from the way she looked at me and hurriedly did it. When I asked her for it she gave it back right away, so that's a good sign.
Whenever she shows signs of having a "tantrum" which isn't too bad yet, not full blown tantrums I try to be really strict with her. I walk away and let her have the tantrum. Which is easy and fine when you're at home, or at someone's house who you know well. But as she gets older and is having real tantrums what do you do when you're out in public? Oh, that's right, my daughter won't have tantrums and will be extremely well behaved, I forgot...
I think we're in for some tough times ahead, my girl is a toddler... I can't believe it.

Viva Mexico!

I don't know how many people know but Tim has accepted a new job in a just opening Mexican restaurant. We are really excited, it is really close to home and a very exciting opportunity. Tim has been working diligently on the menu for this restaurant that should open in May. He has been coming up with all sorts of yummy authentic Mexican concoctions, as well as the regular burritos, enchiladas, tacos etc. Just thinking about it all gets my mouth watering. We have no Mexican restaurants around here and I think it should be a big hit. So you'll all have to come visit and go to the restaurant once it opens. I've also mentioned before that we're going to Mexico next month, and you can see the pics over on the right bottom of this page. We'll get to get some ideas and look at a lot of cultural sites. If you know of any really great Mexican restaurants send it over out way. We'd love to check out their menu or know about their decor to get some ideas. Hasta Luego. Boy I really have to brush up on my Spanish before we go...