new baby, school and new words

I should have Easter pictures to post, but I don't...maybe my sister will have some. I was too busy hiding eggs one day or keeping the kids from fighting for the same egg. Story of my life these days. That's what in store for you - Ben and Jenny!! They had their baby last week. No worries, I think it'll take a year to get there, so enjoy the months ahead. Xavi is already saying he wants to visit Sarai to meet her brother. I shouldn't complain, as bad as the fights are the playing and giggling together is about 10 times better. Here is a picture fighting over Xavi's bike...below is a happy moment. Xavi has already informed me that we have to buy Carolina her own bike.

Here are some updates on the kids. First the school update, Xavi didn't get into Lab....oh well. Now Caro and Xavi can go to the same school next year, when she turns 2. It'll be nice for them to be together (same building and outdoor playground, different classrooms) and easy for me to do pick and drop off at one place - not to mention the lower cost and better schedule! We'll have to figure out schools but not until much later, I hope. Xavi can stay there another two years at least (before K) since he's just past the Sept 1 deadline. Maybe we can even move them at the same time??? We'll see.

Ms. Lola decided this was the week to start talking and boy did she fire it up. Below is a list of first words she started using this week. Kitty, waffle, mine, bobo, agua, jugo. Before that she had been saying no, wow, and uh-oh, which I'm not sure I would have counted as first words. I tried to record waffle because it's the cutest. I think there is too much background noise to hear it but I'll review all recordings later today.

Cinci Weekend

So I experienced another mami milestone last week. We had decided to meet the Sax family half way, in Cincinnati, over the weekend and at the last minute Daniel had something come up - so I decided to drive by myself! It's a five hour drive! Six for the Saxes so thanks for taking that extra hour! He would meet me there, as would Ben, Jenny and Sarai, but it was scary when we ventured out on the skyway on Friday morning. I have to say that I, and the kids, did ok on this little adventure. It took us 8 hours but we got there. We stopped for a long lunch about an hour into the drive and then again for almost two hours in Indianapolis at their new Children's Museum. If you're ever driving in that direction with kids and need somewhere to stop, I highly recomment the museum. The kids loved it and Xavi is still talking about this stop-over. There are more pictures below.

Here are some pictures of our and the Sax family arrival at the hotel.

The plans for Cinci included their Zoo and Botanical Gardens, which we've visited before and loved. The weather, however was not as cooperative as we had hoped, though it was a good 10-15 degrees warmer and spring had already landed there, proven by flowers and budding trees. We went instead to a really touristy Newport, KY. There is an aquarium, an expensive aquarium, there. We paid up and waited in a long line and then were herded through, in a similar line as the one outside, like...hmmm...sheep. There were lots of complaints from the parents, none from the kids. I have to admit it was a tight fit so you had to move through in a line, but (don't hate me) I liked it very much in the end. I enjoyed it and thought it was worth close to the amount we paid...not the entire $50+ our family paid but close. It's not the Shedd, but I loved the tunnels and the gators at our feet (under a plexiglass floor). The penguins looked sad (think Happy Feet) but the kids loved the tropical birds that drank nectar from little cups in their hands. Xavi is still talking about the bird that took his cup. Wouldn't go there often if I lived nearby but I'd go again, in many years when my husband has forgotten how expesive it was and the kids are old enough to help me bully him into it.

mami break through

Today I went to Target with both kids, alone, for the first time. An exciting milestone for me. I realized when I was done that I probably could have done this sooner, but am glad I waited. It wasn't so bad, though I did walk out with a Cars Bubble Bath! Paid for, but still. I guess one of them could have taken it and not informed me and the other could have had a fit in the middle of the diaper aisle. All in all a good morning trek to get some last minute things for our weekend road trip to see the Sax Family. Xavi is counting the down the days. I'm excited to see my friend, Jenny, as well. She is about a month away from her due date with baby #2. It'll be fun to catch up with her and relive old times when I was pregnant and immobile. I'll have to ask her if it was as hard as I remember - being preggers and chasing after a toddler. She's one of the most laid back people I know, so it'll be good to gauge whether two kids are as hard as I think it is when she has her little boy. These days I'm not so sure if it's really that hard or I just make it hard on myself. Now that Caro is older some things are better but as a whole it's not really easier. I know a lot of couples with two (or more!) - all grown up, college aged, a little older than my kids and same age as my kids. They all say they struggle to keep up and look sane. Makes me feel better until I run across someone with a clean car/house or who doesn't look sleep deprived every other day or who thinks I should keep up with my life better than I do. It's a good case against 3. Oh well, at least I went to Target. I'll celebrate small accomplishments.

more on haircuts and teeth

Sword, remote, paci - what else could a girl want...? These are better pics of Caro's haircut and in some you can see her top three teeth coming in and a bottom tooth too. I can't tell if the final top side tooth is in, but at this point it's a done deal. Only reason to keep track is to give her the teeth history, plus I did chart when all of Xavi's came in.

Xavi was "helping" me take these pictures that's why he's not in them and why she's smiling so much. They are getting along really well these days. It's nice to see that. Xavi flew solo after and there were some weird pictures of feet we had to erase. What a sense of humor that child has - it's all male, I think.