5 months (and 4 days)

Henry is now 4 months old! I am late on this blog, simply because we have spent the last week moving and unpacking and finding things and putting away things and finding more things and putting away more things. And we're not finished yet. Among those things we found were our internet stuff, so we are now back to being connected to the world. (Though it was kind of nice being disconnected for a while...)

Back to the boy.

Henry continues to grow and change so much. I've started adding 6-12 month clothes in the mix of his 6-9 month clothes...mostly because I can't help it. I love getting out new clothes, and it's a bonus when I don't have to yet put away the smaller size.

He still loves jumping on the lap of anyone who holds him, rolls all over the floor, and is attempting to crawl. I've actually seen him inch forward a couple of inches...so look out world, Henry will soon be on the move!

I am actually looking forward to Henry crawling...and if I eat my words in a couple months, so be it. But I think he'll be less frustrated if he is able to move and get to things on his own. Right now he is reaching and grabbing for everything, and being stuck in one spot for more than a few minutes while there is so much more to reach and grab gets a bit frustrating for this boy.

Henry celebrated our moving day with his first tooth, and 2 days later celebrated his 5 month birthday with his second tooth! And with that, we will soon be entering the stage of eating...which is so cute and so disgusting as babies somehow are able to get food in every crack (or in Henry's case, roll) of their bodies.

With David's arrival back to the states, Henry has done well adjusting to him and loves any attention he gets from his Daddy.

Unfortunately, Henry also had a double ear infection with the return to Oklahoma and the 2 new teeth breaking through. He never seemed overly fussy, but has had a lingering cough that was waking him up every time he fell asleep. And that has caused more sleep time in my bed....hopefully we will get him all corrected and back in his own bed for at least the majority of the night soon!

Henry also seems very....boy to me. Adele was so petite and cutesy. Henry is chubby and big and grunts a lot and loves to grab things and bang them on the table or throw things. Adele responds to this by politely telling him "Henry, we don't hit" or "Henry, we don't throw things". I think she is going to be in need of some patience in the future....

Love you Henry!!

Moving day!

I really dislike change. I like for things to stay the same. Don't get me wrong, I like traveling, or experiencing new things. But I like to go back to "normal".

We've had a lot of changes over the years.

David and I are adventurous people, for the most part. We love to travel. See the world. Live in a new culture. But after living in Costa Rica for a number of years, we also realized we were getting to a point in life where we wanted to "settle".

That was the plan, anyway.

So we moved back to the USA in the fall of 2010. We spent some good time with my family in Iowa. Then we moved our belongings that we had stored in Iowa up to Washington, where we moved in with David's family. We had all intentions of staying in the northwest, so we camped out in the basement of David's parents' house while we got grad school endeavors all figured out.

And then we moved to Oklahoma.

(That was not part of the original plan.)

But Oklahoma was a great option. And we moved into our rental house that we thought would be our home for at least a few years.

Tomorrow we move again.

We used to joke that if we found a better rental, we'd consider moving after the first year into something we liked better (or that had a better landlord). Then we'd laugh and talk about how much we dislike moving.

After being apart as a family this summer, and traveling to our families and being away from our home in Oklahoma, we were anxious to get back to "normal".

Adele doesn't like change either. Last year when we moved to Oklahoma, she began having night terrors based on stress, related to all the changes in her life. David and I felt awful, and did our best to try to help her emotionally and set up a home.

We are not looking forward to moving this weekend. But we are looking forward to setting up a new home. We still maintain that Oklahoma probably won't be our permanent home. David and I are kind of partial to mountains, so moving out west/northwest is still what we would hope for in the future.

We have no idea how long we will be in Oklahoma. But as long as we are here, we want to BE here. Not only for us, but for Adele. And for Henry. So we will "settle" here, and create the best home possible.

Here's to a good moving weekend. And to our new home.

A joyful reunion indeed

Well we made it back to Norman. All of us.

That's right, David is home!

Adele and Henry and I flew back in on Wednesday night. It was a great couple of flights again - no screaming kids for me! And it's a good thing my kiddos are cute, because I had one on a leash. With Henry in the moby wrap and my hands full of kid things and a computer and important documents, Adele got to wear a bear backpack. Complete with a tail, which I held onto.

I don't plan on writing a blog about kids and leashes, but I'll say this quick. I will do whatever it takes to keep my kids safe. And rather than trying to hold her hand through the airports, I held her bear's tail. And she was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.

Anyway, David is home!

So the kids and I got back late Wednesday night and made it out to the house we are staying at. It's a friend's house, a house we've never been to, in the countryside, and our friends are on vacation. It was sort of spooky. At least for Adele. (And maybe me, a little.)

So after a day and a half of running errands and hanging out in Norman, the time had come to go the airport to pick up David. Adele and I "argued" on the way there about who was going to hug and kiss him first, and when we got there we "argued" over who would spot him first coming through the doors. Adele may not have spotted him first, but she beat me to him and gave him a big hug before I could get to him.

We have spent the day today catching up, and Adele has recapped our time in Iowa and Washington by telling Daddy all about her scrapes and bruises she got. You know, the important things he missed. And David has been both sleepy-eyed from travels and wide-eyed from a bit of culture shock, trying to fit in all over again.

We now have a lot to do this next week. David starts classes on Monday, and we close on our house Friday and move in next weekend.

But the chaos no longer matters. David is home!

Our world is once again complete.

Sleep talk

This summer as we've been traveling and visiting family, Adele has slept in my room the whole time. She had been doing a good job sleeping in her pack and play, but she has now crept up into my bed and seems to never want to leave.

And she talks in her sleep.

While I understand 95% of what she says during the day, her sleep talk is a bit more jumbled as she barely mumbles out sentences. Sometimes I'll catch a name - one of her cousins, or another family member. Other times I'll hear the smile in her voice as she practically giggles.

The best was when I caught a full sentence that she called out in the middle of the night a few weeks ago - "I need my coffffeeeee!"

I do know where she gets it from.

When David gets particularly tired, he will also talk in his sleep. It often comes in the form of a question. I learned long ago to answer that question, no matter how little of the question I understand. If I ask "what?" he only gets frustrated and asks louder. I still hardly understand him. So I've learned that whatever the question may be, I need to answer confidently, so he'll roll over and go back to sleep.

I realized what I was getting into a long time ago.

On our wedding night, in the middle of the night, I rolled over and cuddled up to my new husband in bed (who I didn't know was fast asleep).

He responded to my cuddling (rather sharply, I might add), "don't touch me!"

Olympics

I love the Olympics.

I haven't watched any Olympics since 2004 - the two Olympics in between, I was out of the country and it wasn't showing on our tv.

I loved watching the Olympics growing up. Gymnastics and swimming were among my favorite sports. I simply adored Mary Lou Retton. And one time for school I had to choose someone famous to research, and I chose Janet Evans.

If I had my choice, I'd watch the Olympics all day and night. I still enjoy swimming and gymnastics, although I really love watching volleyball, beach volleyball, and track and field.

Some days Henry has woken up earlier than he should and I've been able to watch some events in the early morning hours. Sometimes I take advantage of the times both kids are sleeping and sneak in more events instead of doing laundry or picking up.

But this year I don't have much of a choice in the evening. If the tv is on, Adele thinks we are supposed to be watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And if I wait until she goes to bed, I'm usually exhausted and can only watch a few events before giving in and going to bed myself.

Maybe in 4 years I'll be able to convince Adele to watch the Olympics with me. All day and night.

8 years!

8 years ago, I married my best friend, the love of my life.

For a long time, probably even a couple years after my wedding day, I thought I could never be more in love than on my wedding day. Oh, I knew we would grow in love, and our love would mature. But weddings are magical. David and I will probably never look that good in our lives ever again! And being in front of our family and friends, cementing our love with vows, and celebrating with loved ones afterward...magical. I thought my heart would burst that day 8 years ago. I was young and in love, sad and a bit nervous to be leaving my family, excited and wide-eyed to be joining with David as our own family. 

Over the next couple of years David and I naturally grew even closer together in both our friendship and our marriage. But I still often thought about our wedding day. That feeling I had on our wedding day was indescribable. Simply put, I was so in love. 

I realize now how naive I was. I agree with the fact that my wedding was magical. And that I was truly in love. 

But not the most in love I ever could be.

8 years later, and David and I have experienced a lot of life together. We've had some great adventures. And when he finishes my sentences, and reads my mind, and plans trips for vacation or to see our families, and cleans the kitchen, and gets Adele giggling harder than anyone can, and sends me a costly text from Nicaragua just to say he loves me...

I know that I love David more now than I ever knew I could 8 years ago. 

Here's to many more years!

Things to miss from Costa Rica

It's now been almost two years since we moved back to the states from Costa Rica. I suppose there will always be things I miss about Costa Rica. But as I was flying with my two kids last week, I was reminded about a few things in particular that I miss...

-Parking for pregnant women. In Costa Rica, special parking is reserved for handicapped people, pregnant people, and people with young children. Brilliant. I missed this when I was pregnant with Henry.

-Treatment of parents with young children. In the USA, it often seems that the attitude of most people is "you were the one who chose to have kids; you keep them well-behaved and quiet". Or "it's unfortunate that this line is so long, but you were the one who chose to bring your kid along with you to run this errand. Keep them quiet." Not the case in Costa Rica. Anytime we were in line for anything with Adele as an infant, we were given special treatment and sent to the front of the line. By the other people in line. Mind you, this is also a culture in which the adults try to cut in line if they think they can get away with it. But if you have kids? People go out of their way to accommodate those parents. And if your kid is crying? Sympathetic looks, people offering to help. No glares or annoyed looks.

-Their love for babies. Seriously, Costa Ricans LOVE babies. So often I would have someone come up to me and take Adele from my arms and hold her, without even asking. I suppose that sounds like a weird thing to miss, but it came from their deep love for babies. I was out for ice cream with a friend a couple weeks ago and a woman that I didn't know tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could hold my baby. I passed over Henry, and the woman ooohed and ahhed over him with her two other female friends. She thanked me, and passed him back a few minutes later. It didn't seem odd to me at all, until I was retelling the story later and the person I was telling couldn't believe a stranger asked to hold my baby! I thought it was rather sweet.

-And finally, one that doesn't have to do with babies: Fresh juice. In any restaurant or household in Costa Rica, it is common to have 2-3 (or more) kinds of fresh juices available. One time when we were just back in the USA, David asked a waiter what they had for fresh juice options. The guy looked at him sort of confused and said, "um, we have lemonade but it's not fresh..." On a warm summer day, I would love to have a glass of fresh blackberry juice!