Drama in the Airport

We've been back from Mexico for nearly a week now.  Since we've been back I've been battling a terrible headache.  One headache that just wouldn't stop, until this morning.  It was such a relief to wake up not hurting.  Since I can only take acetaminophen, it wasn't even close to stopping it.

Point is, that's why I haven't blogged about our amazing trip yet.  Between, the headache and being exhausted by the time I get home and get the kids fed and to bed and dealing with wrapping and preparing Christmas things I've been completely exhausted.  Hard to complain after coming off of an amazing trip to my favorite place on Earth though.

On the way home I packed my carry on full with the most excellent Mexican ruffled potato chips ever.  Only to discover I was suddenly that lady on the floor of the baggage area trying to remove 6 pounds from my 56.3 lb suitcase.  Frantically shoving this and that into my carry on to avoid the ridiculous over charge due to the weight.

On the plane I organized pictures in my iPhoto and got the pictures ready to blog.  On the way there I slept on both flights.  Time flew by.  At one point I asked Mark if we took off yet, turns out we had been in the air for nearly an hour.  No wonder it seemed like we got there in no time at all.

Being our 5th year traveling basically at the same time of year, to the same place, we've learned a few things.  Such as, don't be two hours early to the airport because they don't start checking people in until 5am anyway.  So standing in line from 4-5 is pointless.  This year we planned on arriving at 5am.  We woke at 3am and planned on walking out the door at 4 to give us time to park and take the shuttle over. Our flights was to take off at 6:05am.  We got in line to check in at 5:10.  The line was loooooooong.  So long it had us checking the clock constantly saying, "We're really cutting it close!"  We ended up checking our bags and getting through security, hitting the bathroom super quick (a very important necessity when traveling six months pregnant!!) and then rushing (but not actually running) to our gate. We walked right on, I fell asleep and then we apparently took off.  Just about perfect.  What I didn't realize is the we had to de-ice a couple times.  It was 19 degrees and obviously freezing outside.  Let's say de-icing took 20-30 minutes. No biggie.

Until we reached Miami.  As people we getting of the plane there was this really pushy girl who kept trying to pass people on the miniature plane aisle.  Saying she's going to miss her connecting flight.  "What a spaz!!" I kept saying to myself.   Now, I had been awake for a bit watching my new favorite show (Justified) and was calm and relaxed.  I truly figured they wouldn't arrange a connecting flight you couldn't make.  We finally got off the plane and had to check which gate we were supposed to be at.  Turns out E5.  We were at C3.  We asked the quickest way to get there.  Take the train to the second stop.  Two escalators later, one loooong train ride and we were finally in section E.  "I'm going to run in to the bathroom, " I said.  "We don't have time," my frantic and high strung husband replied.  "Well, I'm going!"  I said thinking clearly we have time.  Our boarding pass says BOARDING TIMME 10:55.  I quickly used the restroom carrying an empty small suitcase, plus my small purse, plus a bag carrying my laptop, three novels and 5 magazines.  I came out of the bathroom to find no Mark.  Clearly he decided to use the restroom also.  I stood watching the digital time tick on the board with the flights.   I watched as two entire minutes pass and many men exited from the restroom, I saw our flights turning from boarding to DEPARTING!  I frantically got out my phone to call him (I thought yelling into the restroom was rue) when he answered immediately SCREAMING, "Get to E5 they're going to leave without us!"  My mind was racing.  I was still staring at the restroom and turned around and it finally clicked, I screamed, "YOU LEFT ME?!?!?"  And took of running.  Can you imagine the sight?!  Six months pregnant shorty, running through the airport with bags literally flying in the wind.  Speaking of wind, I was so winded I couldn't breathe when I finally arrived at E5.  It was empty and the lady had to unlock the door to let us in.  Mark asked no less than 10 times, are you ok?  Well, let's see: My feet are so swollen from the last flight they're over flowing out of my shoes, I haven't ran in about six months, I'm carrying EVERYTHING, and my husband just ditched me at the airport.  No, I'm not fine at all.  We got on the plane and I was still panting.  We sat down, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and then I started coughing.  And coughing and coughing and coughing.  So hard for so long the lady behind me handed me some mints.  I took one.   In hindsight I should have kept the whole zip loc.  I couldn't stop coughing.  Mark was slowing beginning to realize yelling into the bathroom for me would have been a much much smarted move than assuming I heard the announcement that it was last call and our flight was departing.  Clearly if I would have heard that I would have starting running a lot sooner.  In the end, he may have stopped the plane since he got there quickly and told them his pregnant wife was running to the plane.  However, this story will go down in history as proof (which I've already used many times) as I won't leave you no matter what.  You, however, will take off without me.  Pretty sure that will come in handy for decades to come.

Talk about a close call.

We finally landed at Cancun and I was still hot, literally and figuratively.  But that quickly faded as all our luggage did manage to get there, which the flight attendant told Mark it wouldn't be on our flight because we were so late.  I called Bullshit on that one from the get go.

Soon, the 87 degree weather hit our faces and we boarded our shuttle and we were off to Paradise.

Which Words Do I Love Best?

I'm not sure which words I love better:  I'm all packed for Mexico or We leave for Mexico TOMORROW!
They're both awfully good!

I always forget how much planning it takes to get ready.  Pack the kids for 6 days and bring the stuff over to dad's.  Make arrangements for the dog. Three days of lesson plans at school.  Plus Christmas is just 14 days away.  There's a lot happening.  All the more reason to go to Mexico!  

All year we talk about going.  We watch the iMovies.  We have pictures all over the house.  We've made lists about what we need to take.  What we want to do when we're there.  Our top favorite memories.  What I CAN drink while we're there.  It is by far our favorite topic. (Besides our children of course.)  

This year will be different.  No ziplining, no swimming with the dolphins, no hiking at Telum, no drinking.  But we are going to try Cozumel again.  My snorkel gear is packed.  I'm going to do some extreme shopping.  We're ready for some quality time.  I love the excitement of getting into that shuttle at the Cancun airport and that 45 minute drive to Playa is the ultimate anticipation.  Dropping our bags at the entrance of the resort and going to check in while the pretty little Mexican lady bring us fruit juice in champagne glasses.  I love opening our room door for the first time.  I love walking to the beach for the first time and taking in all the beauty we've been missing for the past year.  We will try many different restaurants.  We will experience different things together.   I love it all.  

There's a lot to do today, however, in 24 hours we'll be on the plane.

Slip & a Fall

It snowed a lot today.  It snowed through the night and all day and it's still snowing.  I drove to Auntie Sandy's to get the kids this morning and then parked the minivan.  Very very slippery and a LOT of snow.  I spent the day doing laundry, organizing, packing, brought the kids stuff to my parents.... Tons of fun.  The kids played outside from 7am until basically 5:30pm until Christian was literally crying in the snow.  Got them warmed up, fed and in bed and I sent Mark to get me an entire pumpkin pie.  He had just walked in the door with it when my brother called.  My grandma fell outside and was found in a snowbank and the ambulance was on the way.  He had been up all night and day plowing and asked if I could get to the hospital.  I called our amazing neighbors up the street and they were over before I put on clean socks.  Luckily, the ambulance brought her to the hospital just three blocks from our house.  We walked in and saw her on the gurney just being wheeled into the ER room.  We were able to go right back to her room.  I was breathless and could barely speak because I was on the verge of crying.  As soon as I saw her I started crying.  She told me not to cry. I was happy she was talking.  I had no idea what she was going to look like or if she was going to be able to talk.  She looked so little all wrapped in blankets.  Turns out she was at church with a friend attending a funeral.  The neighbor's car got stuck in the shared driveway so it couldn't be plowed.  So when her friend went to drop her off she dropped her off at the end of the street.  Grandma walked the driveway and waved to her as if she was ok.  Just after she drove away, grandma slipped and fell 'like a ton of bricks.'  Her glasses flew off and she couldn't get up.  She laid in the snowbank calling for help about 15 minutes.  LUCKILY a neighbor actually heard her and called 911.  She was completely soaked and freezing when she got to the hospital.  They had heated blankets on her and around her head.  We left when another family member showed up.  They were waiting on an X ray of her shoulder.  Thank goodness it wasn't her head or her hip.  Hopefully, just a shoulder that will heal.  

Luckily, I had a pumpkin pie waiting for me when I got home.  Hopefully, we'll have a Snow Day tomorrow.

State Fair 2012

State Fair 2012

One of our favorite days of the summer is spent at the State Fair.

It's fun to do the same things year after year and notice the differences in the kids from year to year.

Such as the Book Nook (I can't remember what it's called actually - but our former librarian from school volunteers at it and gets the kids excited.)

Little Farm Hands

Kiddie Rides

The kids went through a Fun House

and came out COVERED in bubbles.

It was adorable.

Of course, the day wouldn't be complete

without Mark winning an absolutely enormous stuffed animal.

The kids do love it.

I named him Diggity Dog.

I was at the beginning of my pregnancy and completely exhausted.

So Mark had to walk the dog all the way back to the minivan while the kids and I parked ourselves on a little bench.

And enjoyed a corn dog, or two.

Look at Victoria's face.

She is a proud and happy little girl!

My parents met us out there and picked the kids up

but not before Victoria earned her Blue Ribbon for finding 

a word the starts with each and every letter of the alphabet around the fair.

It was a very fun family day.

Looking forward to seeing how it goes next summer when we're back to 

pushing a stroller around the fair. 

Our Non Traditional Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving this year was very non traditional.

About a week before, we decided we should spend the holiday at a water park.

I booked a room at Water Park of America for Thanksgiving Day.

We convinced (forced) Christian to take a nap and then we were off at about 2pm.

We were in the water by 3:30.  We loved the hotel room.  It had a nice little room for the kids with two sets of bunk beds.  This was ideal since the kids were already arguing about who got the top bunk.

The patio overlooked the water park so we could watch people try to 'surf.'

Christian started off at the little slide.

He wasn't standing still for long.

 This little darling was having the time of her life.

I had tons of fun, but not being able to go on the water slides was a bit of a bummer.

However, both our kids were tall enough to go on everything.

They went on every water slide Mark would go on.

The only one Victoria didn't like was the 10 story family slide.

Christian loved them all.

 While those three were off having a blast I had my swollen feet up reading 

Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother's Soul.

It was so nice to have time to relax and enjoy my kids

 - born and unborn - 

and my hard working husband.

No lists.

No cleaning.

No organizing.

No worrying about a thing.

No phone calls.

No work.

Nobody other than the four of us.

Just pure fun family time.

On Thanksgiving night we had dinner at the hotel.

Mark and I had a prime rib dinner and the kids had chicken fingers.

They ran out of pumpkin pie (which is nothing short of a travesty for me)

but did serve pumpkin bread pudding. 

Mark and the kids loved it, however, I opted for a second  third dinner role with butter.

The kids were exhausted when we got back to our room.

 We had so much fun, in fact, in the morning when we were packing

Mark suggested staying another night.

I thought about the long list of things I had to do at home and then said,

"Hell yes!"

That gave us an entire day at the water park.

While the kids were off playing Mark said something like 

he's never seen a brother and sister so close in his life.

I quickly answered they're only like that because they have to be.  If there was someone else here they wouldn't be playing together.

But I've been taking a closer look.  And noticing, they are really close.

Maybe because they're so close in age.

Maybe because they truly like each other.

Either way I love it.

The following morning I peeked into their little room at the hotel and they were watching TV and they were both on one top bunk.

They didn't have to be in one bunk. 

They chose to be close.

Ever since then I've been noticing how kind they are to each other.

Just today Victoria was telling me all about how the students in her class got to choose TWO books for their book bags and Victoria picked an I Spy book for Christian to look at.  That was after she read Curious George to him.

Very very sweet.

I enjoyed the Lazy River.

It actually wasn't very lazy and there was a cool cave with waterfalls to go through.

Here's three of the cuties passing by me while I was reading.

We spent an hour at the arcade the first night.

Christian had his eye on the 200 ticket sword.

That's all he wanted and was thrilled when he walked out of there with it.

There's Christian coming down a slide.

But you can't see him because that guy ran in front of me to wave to his kid.

See Christian now?

It's like I Spy on the blog.

They really liked this thing and I loved how they were laughing and working together.

The wave pool was by far the kids' favorite spot.  

I didn't mind floating around in it for a while but the current was pretty strong and I was tired of getting beaten by the waves.

The kids hopped aboard a "Pirate Ship" and couldn't have been more thrilled.

We needed a lot of snacks after such full days of playing.

We went back to the arcade the second night and played more and cashed our tickets.

Victoria was THRILLED to be able to get her 1,000 ticket puppy in a purse.

Little did she know she was going to get another one in the morning.

She named them Liley and Maddession.  

She named them and is allowed the spellings of the names.

She takes her mothering of stuffies extrememly seriously.

It was a fabulous Thanksgiving.

We're already talking about how much Baby will love it next year!

23 Weeks

Last week I was 23 weeks pregnant.

Our little baby now has taste buds (how cute is that?)

and I crave

* cinnamon

* sweets in general

* chocolate

* ice cream

* pickles

and yes, Ted, Peking Chicken;-)

This baby is getting bigger by the day.

I'm not kidding, bigger by the day!

My 24 week appointment is tomorrow morning.  

Looking forward to hearing the little baby heart beat!

Dear Baby

Dear Baby,
Tomorrow will mark the 24th week of my pregnancy with you.  For weeks now I wondered if I would ever get sick of being pregnant and actually want you out.  I love having you inside my belly.  I think about you more than you'll even know.  The other day in the lounge I had an extra brownie (ok - since you're the only one who really knows I had TWO extra) and you were dancing like crazy and I started giggling out loud.  It felt so cute and funny while I imagined your tiny little feet going crazy due to sugar overload.  I love to feel you move and I tell your sister and brother, "Oh, our baby is awake."  I love when they place their hands on my belly hoping for you to move.  I love to lie in the bathtub and relax.  As soon as I relax you wake right up and start to party.  I absolutely love it.  The other day I was sitting with another pregnant lady and she was complaining about being pregnant.  I nodded in agreement because it seemed so awkward to admit I love (just about) everything about it.  Today at Michael's the cashier asked when I am due.  I smiled as I said, "March 24th."  She asked Victoria if she wants a brother or a sister.  She said sister, as usual.  As we walked away, Victoria asked me how the lady knew you were in my belly.  I had to laugh because you are getting so big it is definitely impossible to disguise your bump.  Each Sunday I love to wake up to check the app. on my phone to learn the new facts about you for the week then daddy creates a chalkboard sign describing you for the week.  I love the anticipation of wondering if you're a boy or a girl.  I'm often heard saying, "Next year at this time Baby will be __ old."  It's fun to think that next Christmas you'll be here celebrating with us.  I love to wonder what day you'll be born.  I love to think about the exciting day I'll give birth to you.  I adore the thought of you meeting your daddy.  The one thought that brings tears to my eyes every single time I think about it is the moment when your sister and brother lay eyes on you.  Christian talks about touching your cheeks and kissing your lips.  Victoria speaks of teaching you this, that and the other thing.  She believes you're going to be an early reader because she's going to teach you everything she knows.  (I hope you are a very patient child - she would appreciate that.)  I love to think about what kind of personality you'll have.  Will you be more like Victoria or Christian?  Will you have her love of learning or his athleticism?   Will you be right handed like her and daddy or left handed like Christian and me?  Will you have bright blue eyes like the two of them?

Even though each day I get a little more prepared for you to join our family, right now I'm perfectly content having you all to myself.

Love,
Mommy