Mexico Vacation, part 3

So here are a few picture highlights from our trip:

Mexico Vacation, part 2

We took off for Cancun the next morning & by 1pm we had landed in Cancun. After following the herd through customs we finally made it out to our shuttle. It was a short ride to the resort & boy was it beautiful when we arrived! The entire lobby is wide open to the outdoors- - there weren't any doors on the place (other than the room doors of course)! :) We had a little bit of time before we could check into our room so we wandered around the property exploring all the fun places we'd be going over the next few days. All in all it was a relaxing and beautiful vacation, minus one run in with some shrimp soup that Heather & I would rather forget!

Mexico Vacation, part 1

Mexico was fabulous! Micah & I spent 4 nights at the Crown Paradise Club in Cancun, Mexico with our friends Paul & Heather. We left Alexa with Micah's parents & headed down to Omaha on Thursday night. Our hotel room there was amazing! We stayed at the Holiday Inn downtown with a reduced fee rate & ended up getting a 2 King bed room that was HUGE! The hotel had a water park but as we took our time getting down to Omaha & had stopped for supper, there was only about an hour before the pool closed so only the boys went down to check it out. They definitely had fun down there though & we hope to go back for a weekend get-away sometime this summer.

  

Alexa is growing up!

While we were gone Alexa stayed at Micah's parents house, where she undoubted was spoiled rotten. If you doubt this fact, you should have spent the following week with her. Although happy to see us return, she couldn't quite figure out why if she wanted something she didn't get it and why if told no, whining and crying didn't change that No to a Yes! I could not believe how less than a week could change the little girl who knew the house rules, knew how to play on her own, knew how to listen to mommy & daddy...into  a little girl who whines & cries whenever she didn't get her way!

One day she wanted a toy that was litterly a foot in front of her. For a 20 month old child who has been walking, running & talking for almost a year the simple task of moving her little body to get off her butt and get the other toy should have been beyond simple. But although she wanted it, she was DETERMINED not to get it herself. "Mommy get it" I kept hearing! Yeah right child! You are less than a foot from it, I am across the room. Reach your little arm out and grab it "NO, NO, NO, Mommy DO IT!" I was told. Unreal! OH well, this is apparently what I have to look forward to as she turns 2.

Believe me, the SLIGHTEST variations in what a child is allowed to do & not to do may seem completely minor, but they are not. When a child knows that she can be surrounded by 3-4 people who will easily get her what she wants, respond in a second flat to any cry, whimper or tear, they will monopolize on it, TRUST ME! Ah the struggles of raising a child!

She's a smart little cookie too. The other morning we were spending Saturday morning relaxing in Mommy's bed (as Daddy was working) and since it was only 7am & the baby inside me makes me very tired I was trying to continue to sleep while Alexa was playing in our room. She discovered that in my drawers under a whole bunch of other stuff was some candy (I like to stash stuff around the house:)...Suckers and tootsie rolls to be exact. The problem with her finding this is that she no longer has to wait for an adult to open a wrapper, she's a big girl who knows how to do it herself! (AHHH) At least she's nice enough to want to share her exciting news of finding these suckers so she rubs my arm & tells me "Mommy, Lexa sucker!" -- I sat up & pulled her up on my lap. "Oh really," I said "Daddy's not going to like that!" With all seriousness in her voice she turns to me & tells me "daddy not home, daddy work, it ok" then she smiles and sticks the sucker into her mouth! The little stinker! Bascially telling me that if Daddy doesn't like it she doesn't have to worry because he's not home so he won't know! Ahh the road we have ahead of us - you're envious aren't you!

We decided over the last few months to try and get Alexa used to sleeping in the big girl bed in her room before #1 we need the crib for the new baby & #2 before she's too attached/scared to move out of her bed & #3 before she's potty trained so the transition doesn't make it harder for her. She we first took her out of the crib & put her in the big bed all by itself. However, the little girl would NOT stay in the big girl bed. She LOVED the idea of going in it, and if she was going to be able to sleep in it with one of us she thought it was GREAT, but the idea of staying in it all by herself - no way! She's run to the door & cry & cry & pound on it to get out! After several times of finding her asleep against the door (and having to push her out of the way to get into the room) we put her back in the crib.

I wasn't ready to give up though. So I took the crib & moved it to the middle of the room, right up against the side of her big girl bed (its a double bed). After she slept in the bed that way a few nights, I lowered the side of the crib that's next to the bed to its lowest position. This way if she wanted to, she could easily crawl out & sleep on the big girl bed. She slept in it that way for over a week and never once got out of bed! So we took the next step - we took off the side of the crib next to the bed (its "convertible" to a "toddler" bed). She still would NOT climb out! In the mornings I'd hear her calling "Daddy, mommy, I awake, I wake up" So I'd go in her room & pull her out of her crib, and then I'd usually set her down so she could play in her room.  She would immediately climb up on the big girl bed & into her crib to get her dolls & blankies -- she obviously has no problem going in & out of the "broken bed" (this is what she calls her crib now).  We enjoyed several weeks of this blissful state of transition as each day she'd end up sleeping more & more on the big girl bed & less on the "broken" bed.

And then one day out of the blue, she decides she can crawl out. It was morning & I was in the bathroom just getting out of the shower. I look up to see this little hand opening the bathroom door. Around the corner she peaks her little head & she says to me "hi baby" "Hi baby, Good morning" I tell her back. "I awake" she informs me! When Micah came upstairs to get her I asked him if he had let her out of her room/bed. He tells me no and asks why. So I relayed the story to him and we both were somewhat surprised that she crawled out herself. That night we put her back in bed & dreaded the thought of her trying to crawl back out. Thankfully she stayed in bed that night as well. The next morning, about 6 am to be exact, she did indeed crawl out however, and so we just pulled her into bed with us for the last 20 minutes before our alarms would go off. Considering it was just before our alarms would go off we didn't think much of it, after all, last time around she was coming into our bedroom at 3am or the middle of the night each night. However, after a couple more days of this the horrible bed times began.

Alexa has always been a fairly easy child to put to bed. She LOVES to sleep and goes to bed pretty early (6:45 pm) and typically sleeps until 6:30-7 when we wake her up in the mornings. This too has changed. She now cries and cries & bangs on the doors or plays with toys for at least 30-40 minutes each night. We've adjust her bedtime to be closer to 8 now which has actually helped with the bed-time process. We have also returned the side of the crib to the "broken" bed. Each morning she keeps asking for the broken bed back, but we nicely have informed her that only when she stays in bed will she get it back! Someday perhaps we'll win this battle- - hopefully before November?

Family News :)

Well the newest change in our house has been the fact that we're expecting our second child this November!

Thankfully, this time around has been a lot better than Alexa was, instead of being physically sick all day & night, it has been mainly only in the late afternoon/evening. This has been great for dealing with work, where at least I can typically make it through the entire day just feeling nausious (which is way better than loosing everything 24/7). After I come home I usually crash (because I'm exhausted) and the awful 'morning' sickness typically kicks in between 4 - 8 pm.

Thankfully I have reached the point where its the downhill slide (I'm hoping) This week has been my best yet (from the time the morning sickness started) and I have to say as long as I'm resting I'm pretty much doing okay which is very welcomed at this point! I'm hoping with how busy we'll be this summer that the majority of this pregnancy will just "fly" by!

Oops, its been a while!

So much to catch up on, where oh where do I start?

The last time I was on here (QUITE awhile ago!) a few things were different:

• There was snow on the ground & all over the place


• I was about to head on vacation to Mexico


• I had just found out that I was pregnant

So needless to say a lot has changed over the last 3 months which has led to my lack of posts. Here's my attempt to catch up!

Praying for the mercy of the Lord

So tonight after work we stopped by my Mom's house so Alexa could spend time with her. While we were there Mom gave us an update on my Uncle Roger, my Dad's older brother. He has had cancer for quite a while now, battling it for well over a year and it looks as though his battle is almost over. He has been suffering even more since December, going in & out of the hospital with very little they could do for him other than medicate him. He has now been released to home hospice. Although from what I am told the Doctor's said he could have up to a month, he seems to be saying he has 4 days (which is what he said on Monday, meaning tomorrow he expects to leave this earthly world.)

As sad as I am for his wife and his 2 sons, my cousins, I find myself first of all envying his family and secondly praying the Lord take him quickly to ease his pain and suffering.

I know most people may wonder why on earth I would envy his family. The reason is rather simple to me -- I would have given almost anything to have a chance to say goodbye to my father(his younger brother) who died of a very sudden massive heart attack in Sept of 2008, only 2 weeks after having been given a clean bill of health. I know my father loved me & I know he knew that I loved him. However, that provides minimal comfort compared to if I had simply had the time to say one last goodbye, one last I love you, one last thank you...

I pray the Lord takes my uncle home, that he ends his earthly suffering that he may join my earthly and my Heavenly father in Heaven and that he may never have the pain of this earthly world again. It is a very hard & difficult time for their family and all my relatives but I pray that the Lord grant us all his peace and mercy.

Uncle Rog, please know I love you and am praying for you daily. Aunt Carol, Ben, and Brandon, please know you are in our thoughts and prayers constantly. May the Lord uphold you in His hand and grant you His peace during this difficult time.