Closing time

Guess whaaaaat?!?  We are officially no longer "homeless," although we won't move in for a couple of weeks while we paint and have other miscellaneous tasks completed.

The closing went off without a hitch, and I am very much looking forward to this next chapter for our family.

Sea World Recap

Due to our vacation debacle, we decided we should do something since R had taken two weeks off.  Our time was limited and we definitely did not want to deal with flights again.  Sooooo, R had the brilliant idea of spending a couple of days in San Antonio, only a short drive from home.

I wasn't quite sure how G would handle Sea World.  A two year old isn't the ideal age for an all day excursion, so we had agreed to stay as long as G was happy.  Once the grumps started, we would leave and head back for the resort.

Two shows and one sea lion feeding later, we were on our way out.  Ha!  We didn't last long, but neither did G in the car, falling asleep in a record time.  The resort was a nice getaway, and we enjoyed sitting pool side and eating s'mores at night.

The time was too brief, but it was a wonderful time and I'm grateful for our little vacation.

Enjoying the kiddie pool

Enjoying some room service - sorry for the poor quality phone pic.

The resort has a Looney Tunes breakfast - G wasn't too sure about Bugs and Daffy.

The Kids Club at the resort was a hit!

Yes, yes, yes!

It's no secret 'round these parts (spoken like a true Texan)... I am an Olympics fanatic!  After watching the trials earlier this summer, I am so pumped for the opening ceremonies tonight.

Women's soccer ... track & field ... swimming ... gymnastics ... yes, please!

The hottest, coolest time in Texas...

No, I am not brave enough to take my almost two year old to Schlitterbahn.  But apparently, I am crazy enough to take him to Sea World tomorrow!  Shamu, here we come!

Yesterday my mom came up with the brilliant idea to go to this new pool close to their house.  It has splash pad fountains, a big playscape in the middle of the shallow area, kiddie slides, etc.  A kids' paradise, indeed!

We picked up my two nieces, and the five of us drove the entire five minutes (hehe) for an afternoon o' fun.  Gigi was in charge of the two girls (ages 7 and 5) while I was obviously busy with G.  He loved the fountains and was curious about the playscape until the big orange bucket on top filled up with water and he happened to be standing in its splash zone.  Oops.

We had three different snack breaks in the span of an hour and mostly just wandered around looking and watching.

He was veeery excited about his new Mickey Mouse chair and kept pointing to it and yelling, "Hot dog!"

Then we found Gigi and the girls and I decided to take a risk and get him to swim with me.  Lately he has been hating swimming for whatever reason.  He loves to be around the pool, but not actually swimming per say.  I climbed in the pool, had my mom hand me a not-so-certain G, and we took off for the other side.  He did his usual complaining until we got to this little bench that I put him on.  That's when something clicked and he decided it wasn't so bad.  He jumped off that little bench to "swim" to me about twenty times in a row.  I was getting tired of squatting in the three feet of water, but it was so worth it to finally see him enjoy swimming.  Hallelujah!

Of course he was back to his cranky toddler self when it was time to change into his dry clothes!  After our little afternoon outing, I've decided that three kids in my future can wait a little longer.  :)

Our new "normal"

I wish I could say that what I am about to write was a crazy dream, but if anything, it makes for good blog fodder.  We arrived at the airport on Friday bright and early for go 'round dos.  Another drop off by my kind parents, hugs outside the car at curbside, and the lugging of bags to the check-in line with little G in tow.  R swiped his DL to access our tickets, but instead of an itinerary, a blank screen indicated that we did not have tickets.  So then he swiped his credit card.  Nope, no go.

R banged his fists in frustration and quickly whipped out his laptop to bring up the flight information.

...

Turns out, our tickets were for a flight scheduled to head out on Thursday.  Doh!  I quickly grabbed my phone and called my parents to do a U-turn and come back.  The look on R's face said it all - he had goofed big time and he knew it.  He flies on average twenty-five times a year and has flown internationally many, many times.  He is the planner when it comes to booking flights and getting to the airport.  I learned a valuable lesson though - always check what your partner tells you!  One for the record books, folks!

Needless to say, it was a huge disappointment to us all, but we are bound and determined to get to Costa Rica soon... maybe in January or February, our new target date.

*****

With all of the crazy transitions going on around here, I am trying my best to keep as much normalcy as possible for G.  Same, but different.

Like pizza dates with mama...

And play doh fun in the high chair...

And kitchen play...

As well as having a grand time playing with some of the vintage toys that my siblings and I used to play with...

Note to self - keep G's toys for future grandkids.

Of course, his world will all get turned upside down again when we move into our new home.  But life will go on, and this too shall pass.  For the time being, we will focus on our new "normal."  Same, but different.

Confessions

I am not a fan of the bubble necklace that everyone has either been blogging about or wearing it... sorry, peeps.  Just not my style.

That song "Call Me Maybe" drives me ca-razy.  The only thing more annoying is how much air time it gets on the radio.

I finally went to the movies with my mom (ha!) and little sis to see the highly touted "Magic Mike."  There were a handful of old ladies, one lone male, and a gaggle of middle school girls (yikes).  I thought it was just okay.  Entertaining, but not worth the price of a movie ticket.  Wait for it on dvd.

My mom recently had her blood work sent off and found out that she is gluten intolerant, as well as highly sensitive to a variety of other foods.  I've suspected for some time that I have a gluten intolerance, so I'm hoping to have my blood work done soon to find out.  I know I will have to probably change my diet substantially (blah), but it will be for the best.  We went to sample a few things at a local gluten free bakery down the street.  G was a big fan of their cupcakes!

*****

G is finally fever free... I am hoping for smoother sailing at the airport tomorrow with a sweeter little boy in tow!

Spoke too soon!

Folks, we never even left the airport!  We arrived early, checked in with relative ease, got through the long security line that had already snaked itself around four times before six a.m., went through the lovely body scanner, and headed to our gate... only to find out that our flight was delayed... by two hours!

This would cause us to miss all subsequent connections, so after watching R talk passionately (hehe) to the lady behind the counter and talk on the phone with United/Expedia for three hours (fo realz), we decided to ring my parents.  They had been so kind to wake up excruciatingly early with the rest of us to drive us to the airport and agreed to come back through now rush hour traffic and get us.  Best parents ever!

United couldn't get us out to Costa Rica any earlier than today, but that would have been a painstaking journey through Houston--->Dallas--->Miami--->San José--->(four hour drive to) Dominical.  No gracias.  

SO over the airport, as was mama.

We canceled and re-booked for Friday, so fingers are crossed all will go well then!  In hindsight, it's actually a blessing we didn't make it because once we got up on Monday from a looooong nap after the airport catastrophe, G was running a 103.6º temp.  He ran a high fever all day and hasn't been fever free since then.  I took him into the pediatrician yesterday to make sure we weren't dealing with an ear infection before boarding a flight.  Ears are perfect but he does have the coxsackie virus.  Blisters in the back of his throat, fever, low appetite, lethargic, and general grumpiness are his key symptoms.  If he still has a fever tomorrow morning, the doctor requested that we bring him in one last time before our trip.  

You know he's sick when he will do this!

And we're off!

Tomorrow morning we will leave at four a.m. to head to the airport.  Costa Rica, here we come!!!  R's stepfather and partner (yes, you read that correctly) just built a house on some property that they have owned in Dominical.

I can't wait to see this...

and dig my toes in the sand!  This is G's first international trip - getting his passport was quite the experience, but everything has been taken care of, our bags are packed, and we are ready for some R&R!

Goodbye house!

The house closing was uneventful (in a good way) and successful - thankfully no Friday the 13th bad omens (no, I don't really believe in that).  The traffic light gods smiled upon me as I made my way to drop off G at his school, so I took that as a sign that it would be a good day (yes, I believe in that).  For the time being, we are homeless until we close on our new house the first of August.  

We have many wonderful memories in that house... it's the house I picked him up for our first date.  It's the house where I found out I was pregnant and stared at the four pregnancy tests in shock and disbelief.  It was the house where G learned how to crawl, said his first word, and took his first steps.  It was the house where we became a family.

It was R's first house and he has lived there for twelve years.  I teased him at the closing that I was only a senior in high school when he bought it (fyi, we have a fourteen year age gap).  He is definitely more sentimentally attached to it than I am, but it was still a bittersweet moment when he finalized the deed.  Sad to leave behind such a great house that we literally just remodeled but exciting to think about this next chapter we are about to embark upon.  

My parents graciously allowed us to stay with them until we move into the new house. All of my IRL (In Real Life) friends whom I actually talk with probably remember some details from our last rendezvous at my parents' casa when were going through the house remodel.  Don't worry, amigos, things are a-okay.

So long, house.  Thanks for all of the memories, and I hope that the new owner finds just as much happiness there as we did.

Confessions

This blog post was inspired by some fellow blog confessors this week!

1. So much for zero tv for G - we caved and he's been obsessed with Elmo and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  As in, so obsessed I can't let him see my laptop or iPad without asking for "mo" and saying (while signing), "Peeeeeeease."

We.are.DOOMED!

2. Piggybacking my first confession, I may or may not let him watch one episode of Mickey Mouse in the morning so that I can get more shut eye.  I feel major mom guilt for using the iPad as my snooze button, but that hasn't stopped me from still doing it yet.

3. The main reason I am doing this is because he now sleeps in our bed every.single.night.  Yes, we currently have a family bed.  It started a few weeks ago when we got lazy and brought him into bed if he cried out in the middle of the night.  Of course the sneaky little dude picked up on this and quickly demanded that he sleep with us... as in, if he cries and we go to comfort him, he will point to the door towards our room.  We are suckers and need to get him back on track once we are in the new house. That should be fun.

This is what a co-sleeping toddler looks like.  We.are.DOOMED!

4. I secretly love having my snuggle buddy right next to me at night sometimes (though more often not).  Last night he insisted that we share a pillow, which is extremely rare since he is usually fussing at me if I am anywhere near his pillow.  I told him that it made me happy that he is such a sweet boy.  He responded by grabbing my chin and planting a big kiss smack on the lips.  Love that boy!

5.  I kept seeing people on FB post about the new movie, Magic Mike, and I had no idea what they were talking about until I finally asked someone.  I guess I don't watch enough tv to keep up with the latest movie previews.

6. We staged our laundry room when we put the house on the market with baskets full of white towels, per our stager's recommendation.  I left the tags on the white towels because we already have plenty of towels, and we really don't have the need for eight more.  I took them back to Target last week and got my refund.  I feel partially guilty since we did "use" them, but only to look nice in baskets.  Target has an excellent return policy, btw.  Not as good as Nordstrom, but close!  Then when we moved yesterday, we hadn't unplugged our second fridge in the garage to let it thaw out.  So what does R want to put around the fridge while it's in storage?  Towels to keep any possible leaking water from getting on the storage floor and ruining anything around it.  He requested eight towels to be exact, so back to Target I went!  Grumble, grumble.

7.  Moving the day before you close is not advised.  At all.  It makes a stressful situation one thousand times more stressful.  Especially when you have so much crap stuff, that it takes the movers from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 a.m. to pack it all in their truck after two trips to the storage unit ... that they almost spent the night at since they stayed past the closing time and couldn't get out of the gate even though they were specifically told the gate would close (re: lock) at 10:00 p.m. (p.s. longest sentence ever!!!)  Thank goodness for a random stranger behind them who knew the master "secret" code to open the gate.  Whew!  Now we just need them to unload the remaining truck later today and we'll be set ... until we move into the new house.  Oy vey!

8.  Moving is incredibly hard on toddlers.  For some reason, I thought G would handle all of these transitions this week easily.  Not so much.  He has been in major tantrum mode and especially clingy and insecure.  Even his teachers at school commented on the change, and when I told them we were packing and moving this week, they connected the dots immediately.  He hated seeing all of his things packed up, hated coming to my parents only not to find them here (they are at the beach with the rest of my entire fam), and hated any other change.  Babies and toddlers thrive on routines.  Duh.

9.  It's always nice to find money in unexpected places even if it's already yours.  I love finding cash in pockets of coats, etc, but this laundry pay out took the cake.  Apparently R left $180 in cold, hard cash in his jeans pockets.  Best day of laundry ever!  Hehe.

10.  Cookies make everything better.  Especially ones that you don't have to bake yourself.  Now if my suitcases could only pack themselves...

Thanks for allowing me to vent, erm, I mean confess!

Going to the chapel...

I don't know if I've mentioned it much on here, but my little sister (the only little sibling I have) is engaged and getting married in early August!

We are only three years apart and as girls/sisters will do, we fought like crazy and played together like crazy growing up.  We have been there for each other through the ups and downs of relationship heartaches, job woes, and life in general.

So, of course, I was thrilled when she asked me to be her maid of honor and couldn't wait to throw her a bachelorette/lingerie shower.

This was the last official party at our house before we move.  We had food and drinks, played the newlywed game by asking her questions that her fiance, Chris, had already answered, and she opened her gifts.  Then we hit up downtown and when I finally crawled into bed at 3:00 a.m., I was so thankful that I had volunteered to be a designated driver.  So worth it once you have kids!

My mom with all three daughters

The spread!

 I got the idea off of Pinterest - I hope you can tell what they are!  :)

Older sis 

Sangria station

"Newlywed" game - she had to put a marshmallow in her mouth (a la Chubby Bunny) for every incorrect answer.

Ready for downtown!

Lovely ladies

I love throwing parties and was very thankful to have the help of my older sis, my soon-to-be sis (brother's gf), and my mom.  What a fun night!  I already told her I have dibs on her future first baby shower... hehe.

The fourth

So I'm a little behind, but better late than never, right?  We had a very easygoing, low key 4th of July.  We started the day at my older sister's neighborhood for their parade.  Apparently it is usually a big deal, with lots of kids riding decorated bikes and scooters, inflatables, snow cone stands, etc.  This year, though, it was a bust.  There were maybe four other families besides ours and it lacked the usual police escort, so we made one big (ha!) loop around the park and called it good.

Nothing says patriotism (or the sign of a good poppa!) like a temporary face tattoo!

Cousins

Most of the parade!  

After the parade excitement and some cousin play time at Poppa/Gigi's, we went home for lunch and naps.  G "helped" dada water the yard before we headed out to our friends' annual party.

G didn't mind the fireworks at first, but then decided they were too loud for his taste.  He preferred snacking on some watermelon and apples instead.

He had a hard time choosing between the red and green!

On the way home, we could see some fireworks from the car.  G would "oooh" over them and ask for "mo."  Safe to say, he's a fan from afar and comes by it honestly.  When I was a little girl, I hated the noise from big fireworks and had to use cotton balls in my ears.

Photo courtesy of Nick Brill