Mexico PHOTO DUMP!....Part Dos

Better late than never!  Here are some more pictures from our Mexico trip with our lovely friends.

On the beach near our house

Nate, posing for GQ

Mia and Mommy watching the waves

Monkey Mia swinging in our arms

Family pic, awwww

She knows she is cute...that might be a problem in the future :)

Yet again, she knows she's cute and uses it as much as she can

Mia/Daddy time

Awwww!

These weird ass rodent things were everywhere.  We all spent some time trying to figure out what they were and I don't think we ever found out.  Regardless, they are ugly, have no tails and don't seem to have a purpose...very similar to squirrels in MN :)

I swear, I should have stolen one of the wooden tiger statue things. Mia played with these everyday and made a "rrrawwwwrrrr" sound for the tigers.  She would feed them, make sure they had water and taunt Annie with the tigers each day.

So cute!

Jack asses ruined our photo

What good looking neighbors.  We should allow Edina Realty to use this pic to help them sell houses on our street. :)

Try outs for the circus

Oh, nothing special...just our Mexican villa for the week...no big deal :)

Love her!

Oh Mia, I love you so much!

Lovin me some kisses

High five for the hottest family on the beach!

This trip was so wonderful and a great get away for a while.  Thank you Erin and Ben for inviting s on this trip, we had a blast!  Nate and I have always placed a lot of value on traveling and we have done a great job of making it a point to travel almost every year...I hope we can continue to do this as long as we are able.  We have so much to be thankful for...

Just Sayin'

We survived our first B&B

I have always been cautious of B&B's.  Why on earth would you want to get away on a seemingly romantic trip just to be forced to share a bathroom or even eat breakfast next to people in their 60's?  Yeah, yeah, I know that it is not at all what B&B's are like...but that had always been my assumption.  Even WORSE....I have some close friends that cashed in on a one night stay at a B&B following their wedding.  Nice, right?  NOPE.  They had an option of renting a room with a CAT.  They are (were) cat lovers and reviewed several options of cats they could choose from and settled on one who was said to be friendly and liked to cuddle.  Said cat turned out to get into garbage, eat some nasty shit and ended up puking all over their room.  FUN!  They contemplated leaving and driving an hour to get home in the middle of the night but I think they settled on swooshing the cat into the hallway and getting the hell outta there as soon as the sun came up.  Needless to say, I have been weary of B&B's.

Alas, we found a B&B we absolutely loved and would recommend to anyone as it was recommended to us.  This past weekend, Nate and I decided to dump Mia for the day and night and head into Osceola, WI to stay at http://www.stcroixriverinn.com/.  It was lovely.  We stayed in the Osceola room which featured an amazing view of the river, lush bathrobes, an en suite fireplace and massive hydromassage tub with bath salts.  Moreover, there was a complementary glass of wine and snacks at 5:30pm which I could not pass up since it was "free".  Beverages and scones were severed to your private room 30 min before breakfast and then breakfast was served, also in your own room.  We DID meet one couple, but they were young and acceptable to talk to :)  They were from the cities and have traveled a lot so we certainly had lots to talk about.  Here are a couple phone pics we captured:

Here is the glorious tub

Here is the glorious bed...post "turn down service"

The main goal of this one day getaway was for Nate and I to simply relax and enjoy time together as a couple without Mia.  Don't get us wrong, we absolutely are in love with Mia...but we hadn't had a date night/overnight in a while where it was just us.  We started the journey driving to Osceola listening to NPR "Wait wait don't tell me" program.  I never realized how little I knew about current events other than what is streaming on the yahoo page or referenced during commercial breaks.  We then decided to stop at an absolutely cute little coffee shop in town and started reading the book The Five Languages of Love. Don't laugh, it's a good book so far :)  I actually recommend this book and some of it's concepts to many of my clients and although "self help books" should be taken with a grain a salt, there are some valuable tools to consider.  If nothing else, taking time to read a book together can absolutely spark some interesting conversations and allow an opportunity to just connect and enjoy our limited time together.  Without reading the whole book just yet, we believe Nate's primary language of love to be through Words of Affirmation.  With that: Nate, thank you so much for the wonderful get away and for taking care of the reservations, along with the babysitter for Mia. I appreciate all you do for our family and am so proud of the man you have become.

Ewww...enough with that sappiness :)  

Just Sayin'  

Mexico PHOTO DUMP!....Part Uno

First off, I want to offer my apologies for not blogging lately.  I have been SUPER busy at work and find myself preferring to spend time eating, sleeping, watching tv, hanging with friends or being an awesome mom...as opposed to writing a blog.  Sorry!  To make up for it...here is a "photo dump" of the first few days we spent in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico with our friends and their 1 year old.  Also, when you require more information about our trip this past month, please refer to our friend's blog for hugely detailed and comprehensive posts regarding our trip :)

Mia in her chair and the living room in the background

Our own private pool just one "back yard" away from the beach access.  I would say 70% of our vacation was spent near this pool and on our "porch"

Walking to the beach from our house...only photo we could get with Mia wearing her sun glasses as opposed to chewing on them or throwing them in the sand

Mia and I walking along the beach our first day in Mexico.  Notice the LACK of vendors and people...yeah, you're jealous :)

After putting sand all over her body, in her hair, on her face and up her diaper, she then decides to try and eat it too.

Needed to take a shower to at least ATTEMPT to get the sand off of Mia. 

When Mia has wet hair, I have a habit of either making it into a big Mohawk or doing something similar to this picture...which makes her look very similar to Nick Nolte's mug shot:

Running toward the waves...which did not last long before she got a bit scared

Annie: "Ha!!! I got her snack up!!!"

Mia: "Don't care...I got your water"

Awesome brunch spot which was perfect for kids and families: open early, great food, lots to look at (turtles, fish, colors, masks, etc.)

Nick Nolte and Annie laughing about their devilish plans

Learning how to give fish kisses...she did this ALL day and we have rarely seen it since

snuggling with me during a cool down session in the shade

still practicing...

Um, FAVORITE outfit with her cute little sun hat should only wore on HER terms...what a cutie

Yeah, still favorite pic of Mia and I

Snuggling it up with daddy, ahhhh.

Too funny! I think this is when she noticed my drink was empty and there was nothing in it for her :)

pretending to go night night

"Oh dad, you are so silly!"

Peek-a-boo!

One of the only pictures taken on our "date night"...we got severely rained on and Nate ended up covering his camera in two layers of plastic "to go" bags from the restaurant.



I have been thinking lately (again) about how fortunate Nate and I are to have such a wonderful life, daughter, friends and family members.  I had a client come in recently, and after celebrating her 15th wedding anniversary, was told by her husband that he no longer loves her and is in a "deep friendship" with someone else.  Moreover, it sounds as if he tends to always find fault and the bad out of everything in life.  When we are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, vulnerable, fearful, depressed or angry it is so easy for us to find things that "prove us right" about our current shit.   It is easy to get caught up in job stress, worries, doubts and complaints but I have so much to be thankful for and happy about.  Mexico was absolutely a relaxing trip and I hope to share more photos with you in the near future.  Stay tuned...

Just sayin'



Quick snapshot preview of Mexico...

Ahh bless!  This is one of my favorite pictures from our family (and neighbor) vacation this past week to Playa Del Carmen.  I now realize that I look kind of naked....I swear I have swim suit on!

Here is also an awesome video Nate put together on one of our last nights in Playa.

Trust me, there will be many more stories, comments, pictures and possibly videos of this past week so stay tuned.  All in all, we had an amazing time and I am so thankful that everyone is home safe and sound!

A quickie to keep you interested :)

No....not THAT kind of quickie!  I feel bad for not writing in a while and I know I won't be writing for at least another week and a half as I will be traveling to Mexico with my husband, my daughter and our neighbor friends!  I figured I could at least write a sentence or two and share at least one pic.  Last weekend, we got to attend the event of all events: Annie's 1st birthday party.  Her mother had been planning this event for months and it absolutely paid off...check it out here.  Thanks to Allison, this is a quick pic of us at Annie's party last weekend. 

Entitled:

 Best.Picture.Ever

There are just too many things to say about this picture, imagine the think or talk bubbles

above all of our heads, the possibilities are endless.

Getting pregnant, staying pregnant, recovering from being pregnant...why don't people talk about this?

I get that "intimacy" can be a private matter for some people; I would assume that most people don't share the trials and tribulations of "trying to get pregnant" with their parents and grandparents...that might cause them to think if their precious children as sexual beings and ACTUALLY having sex...ishy.  But why don't people (women mainly) talk about the difficulties, pain and frustrations involved in trying to get pregnant, going through a miscarriage and the emotional and physical difficulties adjusting to new motherhood?  Are we ashamed, embarrassed, experiencing guilt, assuming no one will "get it", feeling isolated and alone?...what is the barrier and risk involved in being vulnerable and honest to your family and close friends? 

I suppose I answered my own question: the risk is that we become vulnerable. Vulnerable to judgement, feeling compelled to console others and their reactions to our own pain/loss/anxieties, and  possibly dealing with the fact that we have to explain and describe those intimate details over and over and over again.  I have SOOO many close friends and family members that have experienced difficulty in one form or another during their journey through pregnancy and delivery.  I have found that unless you are willing to share "your story" first to others, you are less likely to hear theirs and often surprised with what you may hear.  On the one hand, this can help validate and normalize one's experience that they just had.  On the other hand I have wondered why people wait for someone else to "go first", rather than sharing their story to help prepare, guide, validate, encourage or support their friends and family entering this journey.  So here's my attempt at being vulnerable and "going first" and maybe this will inspire some of you to take the risk as well.

Many of you know that I am a pretty open book when it comes to lots of thing.  I share blunt and personal information with those I trust and I also tend to ask very blunt and personal questions of others.  Sometimes, I forget that other people are very private and that this tact can be aggressive and scary.  It is never my intention to be rude, I just love hearing people's stories and get bored talking about the weather, home improvements, tv shows and food.  Anyway, I was suppose to have a baby sometime mid-March 2009, but I had a miscarriage in mid-August 2008 while I was roughly 11 weeks along in a pregnancy.  There was never a heartbeat and the "baby" didn't really grow much past 6 weeks; however, it took my body about 5 additional weeks to know what on earth was going on and that this would not be a viable pregnancy.  I decided to let the process happen naturally and wanted to avoid a D&C procedure because it just sounded so scary.  The "passing" process took about 3-4 weeks and that was annoying as hell.  But...everything was fine, I had no physical pain or complications with this process, but it did take an emotional toll on me.  I felt an extreme amount of guilt and retraced almost every step I took during the 11 weeks thinking it was something I ate, something I drank, something I said, the way I slept, the stress I had, the yoga I did or even the air I breathed.   I thought it was clearly "my fault" because it was my body and my responsibility to make sure everything was perfect.  Although I do not want to wish a miscarriage on anyone else, it brought me a HUGE amount of relief once I started hearing the stories of others who had gone through similar things and having friends who subsequently had miscarriages.  Maybe it wasn't me, maybe it wasn't my fault, maybe the statistics are right that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in a miscarriage and it has nothing to do with the fact that I have red hair or drank that cherry coke.  Getting pregnant the first and second time was very easy for us...we did have that going in our favor.  I would ask myself: would I rather have had a miscarriage or have extreme difficulty getting pregnant?  Does one have to be better or worse than the other or can they BOTH be valid experiences of loss?  I think they can. 

Like I said, I know tons of people that have gone through a miscarriage and I equally know tons of people that have years of difficulty getting pregnant.  Additionally, I know tons of people that have experienced a lot of depression and anxiety as new mothers.  For me, I tend to get wrapped up in having irrational guilt about ONLY having a miscarriage.  I feel bad that it was easy for us to get pregnant and feel bad that I did not experience postpartum depression or anxiety.  I feel guilty about having huge local families that are banging down our doors to babysit.  I feel guilty about leaving Mia for overnights even though I know she is safe and loved.  It makes no sense...why would I want to feel guilty about our blessings and support system?  Logically, it makes no sense but emotionally, there is something in me and I have seen it others that tends to stifle their joy, successes and pride around people who have suffered or have had difficulties.  So where do we go from there?  How can we create a space where we celebrate our successes and joys of mother/parenthood and also honor and support the loss or difficulties we experience too? 

Take risks, be vulnerable, go first and ask specifically for what you need from your family and friends.

Mia 15-16 months

I have been avoiding writing a blog for a while since we had not transferred any photos on to our computer.  Now that we have a few pictures (even though these are a few weeks old), I can get on with my blogs.  

Mia will be turning 16 months on the 24th and I still feel as though she changes with every moment and every blink of my eye.  Here are some fun pics we have taken lately over the "holiday season":

Mia reading her new favorite book about circles, an awesome Xmas gift

Mia with all of her loot on Xmas morning: books, buckets, puzzle, stacking cups,

train set, ball maze thingy and her favorite Snoopy and Woodstock playing the piano

We finally took a long overdue trip to the Children's Museum and we had an absolute blast!  We had wanted to visit the museum for several weeks but things came up, we got snowed in a few times and we even got stranded once because our neighbors garage was on fire and the block was full of fire trucks.  Regardless, we finally made it and Mia loved it.  Here are some shots from the visit:

She LOVED crawling through this cave thing and going down the slide

Note her tongue sticking out as she concentrated....much like her grandfather, Sandy

I made it!

Had a blast playing in the water world section of the museum, she could play there for hours I bet

New Years Day at Ruby's house, sitting at the drawing table

We also took a cold weather trip to the Como Zoo, where Mia fed a fake turtle and ran away from us in the jungle.

Mia has started to test her boundaries and likes to run away from us...

and then turn around to make sure we are following her

I'm such a big girl!

Another month zipped on by and we continue to be the most grateful parents for our wonderfully happy, healthy and hilarious daughter.   Coming next month: first family (and neighbor friends) trip to Mexico, here's to a safe travel experience with minimal drama in the airport and on the flight!!!