The Weekend

Let me just start out by saying, "hi, my name is Regina and I'm addicted to taking pictures", ha ha.  Now that we have that out in the open I'll share with you a few that I took over the weekend.

On Friday afternoon Cruz had another check-up with the dentist in Chiquimula.  We thought she was going to be separating his two teeth (if you'll remember she had to glue the tooth that fell out to the tooth beside it so that it would not move while reattaching).  Turns out she just checked it and said to return in a month or so to separate it.  So, we'll wait and return in a few more weeks.

Cruz getting checked out by the dentist.

He sat very still and did not move or even whimper.  He did great!

Afterwards we made a stop by the grocery store.  David had the big idea to let Cruz push his own shopping cart.  Let me just say that it was not near as cute as the photo below shows.  I needed a nerve pill by the time we got out of there.

It's been a while since I've taken him to the store with me and it will be a loooong time before he goes back.

While David put the groceries in the car the boys and I walked out into the mall.  Our grocery store is attached to a shopping mall.  We let Cruz ride one of these motorized animals.  He picked out a lion. 

He started out doing good, but was way distracted by all that was going on around him.  He could not drive it straight.  He had many close encounters with running over people and things.  He finally just got off and didn't want to ride any more.

Ben and I took a turn since Cruz didn't want to.

Afterwards we met our friends the Byrd's at Pollo Campero for supper.  That is always a fun time for us.

On Saturday morning we drove back into Chiquimula to watch some kids play soccer at a sports complex.  We had stopped by several weeks ago and talked with them about Cruz taking lessons.  We have been trying to return on a Saturday ever since but have just not had time.  We finally had a free day to go and after being there I am pretty sure we will be signing Cruz up starting in June.  He's pretty excited!

Cruz at the soccer field

It was pretty hot that day (like most days around here) so we stopped by a Sarita's for some ice cream before returning home.

This particular Sarita's has a small play land so the boys enjoyed playing a while too.  Look at my happy boy swinging!

Wheeee!

We spent the rest of the day chilling at home.  I took a photo of David and Ben when I realized they both had on red.  Cute!

my sweet boy Ben

Of course, Cruz couldn't be left out and wanted his picture taken too.

On Sunday morning we headed up the mountain to do Bible study in Lagunetas.  We had a smaller crowd due to the fact that many were away visiting in the home of someone who had just passed away.  We returned to our home in time for lunch and much needed afternoon naps. 

David and the boys playing on Sunday afternoon.

Our power was out again for a couple hours late Sunday afternoon.  When we have no power we also have no water.  It's not too fun.  I decided to cook supper a little early before it got dark.  I made us some grilled cheese sandwiches and we ate them outside on the boys picnic table.  Cruz thought it was fun.  Thankfully the power came back on right at dark so we were able to take baths and do our normal nightly routine.

having a little Sunday evening picnic

Today we are gearing up for a big week.  My mom flies in on Tuesday.  She is coming to help us celebrate Cruz turning 3.  We are all excited about his birthday and looking forward to his party next Sunday afternoon.  How can my baby be turning 3 years old already???  (sigh)

Some Days

Some days our house gets turned upside down.  Like the other day when the boys pulled everything off the changing table, put their pillows on the shelves, and pretended it was bunk beds.

Thankfully Cruz called the higher bunk, ha ha

Some days we all work together to clean those messes up.

Some days we like to let the breeze blow on our faces.

...and some days on our feet. 

Some days we crawl under the table and pig out on our secret stash of Tootsie Rolls.  Other days we hide under the picnic table with mama's giant Hersey bar from Mother's Day.

Some days my big boy likes to pretend to be the baby.

And some days my baby likes to do big boy stuff. 

Somedays are harder than others, but all days bring some type of fun.

Ben's 13 Month Update

Our sweet little Ben turns 13 months old today!

WHAT HAS HE BEEN UP TO LATELY?

*   He wears size 12 month clothes

*   He wears size 3 shoe

*   He wears size 3 diaper

*   He has light brown hair and blue/gray eyes

*   He has 6 teeth- four on top and two on bottom

*   He still has a slight dimple on his left cheek

*   He is not walking alone yet, but walks holding on to something.  He doesn't have much interest in letting go and walking by himself.

*   He is a busy little boy!  We cannot keep up with him now so Lord help us when he does start walking.

*   He plays well by himself and doesn't require a lot of interaction.  (His brother who is almost 3 still cannot do that). 

*   For the most part he is a calm little boy and very mild mannered.  BUT, he does have his moments.  He can get mad in a second and throw quite a tantrum.

*   He can be really fussy and whiny when he gets sleepy.

*   He sleeps very good at night.  He goes to sleep around 8 and will usually sleep until 6:30 or 7:00.

*   He still takes two naps a day.  A long morning nap and a shorter afternoon nap.

*  In spite of being small, he eats very good.  I haven't found a food yet that he won't eat.  He is even loving dill pickles these days.  He loves to eat and will scream if I do not feed him fast enough. 

*   He drinks whole milk from a sippie cup with his meals.

*    He likes to eat as soon as he wakes up in the mornings.  He will usually crawl straight to the refrigerator and try to open the door to get his sippie cup of milk out.  I have to have him something to snack on if breakfast is not ready yet.

*   He loves to feed himself and does a good job of it. 

*   He eats mostly table foods now.  In addition to that he loves bananas, steamed apples, raisins, yogurt, cheese, mandarin oranges, and PBJ's just to name a few.

*  He loves books.  He will sit for a long time and look at all of his books.  He likes to pull them all out onto the floor and scatter them around.  He loves turning the pages.

*   He can make a mess in no time.  He loves to pull everything onto the floor, pour out his toys, and just destroy his room.  The messier the better for him.

*   He crawls to the bathroom each night when he hears the water running.  He also loves to play in the toilets.   We have to keep the bathroom doors closed at all times.

*   He loves balls

*   He still puts everything in his mouth

*   He loves stuffed animals and anything soft.

*   He still sucks his left thumb when he is sleepy.

*   He loves anything with a silky or minky dot fabric.  He loves to lay down on the soft part.

*   When he gets sleepy we just go lay him in his bed.  He will fall asleep on his own and will usually stay in his bed and play very quietly when he wakes up. 

*   He travels very well in the car.

*   He likes to watch cartoons.

*   He loves music and always dances when he hears it.

*   He likes to blink/ squeeze both of his eyes shut and grin at you.  It's his way of being silly.

*   His favorite toy is whatever Cruz currently has in his hands.  He screams for everything Cruz touches.

*   He is not a very affectionate child and does not like to get a lot of loving. 

*   He does not like to have his face and hands cleaned after meals.

*   He is a daddy's boy but he does not like to share his mama with Cruz.  He gets so angry if Cruz sits in my lap or loves on me.  He will crawl over and try to push Cruz away- screaming the whole time. 

*   He holds out his arm towards something he wants and grunts at it.

*   He does not say many words yet, but mumbles all day long.  He tries really hard to communicate.

*   He is very ticklish

*   He likes to sleep with his legs hanging out of the bed rails.  Many nights he wakes up stuck and will cry out for us to come rescue him.

*  If he is getting into something he should not be doing and we try to go remove him from it he has started crawling away as if he's running.  He giggles the whole time.

*   He loves for Cruz and I to sing "You Are My Sunshine" at bedtime. 

He is a silly little boy and can be so much fun, but don't let that sweet smile fool you, this boy is a mess!!! 

Mother's Day 2013

Here are a few family pictures we took on Saturday morning.

David had planned to do Bible study in the village of Nearar Sunday morning but late Saturday evening they called and said they needed to cancel.  That left us without a place to go so we just spent the day at home.  It was a lazy day and I enjoyed it very much.  We played games (Cruz loves Connect Four).  We read books.  We colored.  We played ball.  The kids played in the kiddie pool.   We just took it easy.

This was my Mother's Day gift. 

David always makes me homemade cards for my birthday and Mother's Day.  Cruz helps him.  I look forward to seeing what they come up with each time.

He and Cruz also made me this.  I love it! 

Our lunch consisted of grilled chicken strips, zucchini casserole, and homemade macaroni and cheese.  I had a Dr. Pepper to go with mine. 

After eating it was nap time.  The boys both slept extra long.  So much so that we were wanting to wake them up because we got bored.  You know it's bad when you want to wake a sleeping Cruz!!!  ha ha 

This is Ben during nap time.  He has started sleeping with his legs hanging out of the bed rails.  The only problem is he gets hung up sometimes during the night and will cry out for us to come rescue him.

Here is another recent picture of him sleeping that way.  He cracks us up.

Supper consisted of leftovers.

We also ended the day with a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream.  It was yummy!

I enjoyed getting to spend the whole weekend celebrating Mother's Day.  I love being a mom!  I am very thankful God allowed me to have children.  I am very blessed with my two boys.  It's a HARD job raising them and there are days when I am completely exhausted (more days than not), but what a joy and privilege it is. 

Butterfly House

On Saturday morning we drove over to Copan, Honduras for a little Mother's Day outing.  I wanted to visit the Butterfly House there. 

The welcome sign

They advertise butterflies, gardens, a cafeteria, a hotel, and a dental clinic.

me and the boys at the entrance

The first thing they do is show you some butterflies in the caterpillar stage and the cocoon stage.  You then walk behind the dental clinic and enter though the back waiting room.  The butterfly house is on the back of the clinic.  While passing through you can see the dental chairs and many posters showing teeth and dental stuff on the walls.  It was a little weird, but hey, we've come to expect that around here.

Once you enter the covered gardens you are given a map showing all of the different types of butterflies to look for.  This particular day there were very few butterflies to see.  The guide told us that there are usually more during the rainy season.  That should be beginning in a few more weeks.

The gardens are really pretty.

me and the boys

I loved all of the flowers they had.

Trying to take a picture of a butterfly is HARD work.

They have a small museum with information on butterflies.  They had several glass cases showing many of the different types.  They were very pretty!

They have a small creek running through the property.  We crossed over it on this bridge.  On the back of the property they have a couple cabins that you can rent for the night.  They are rustic, but would be a fun, quiet getaway.

Afterwards we drove into town and ate lunch at Jim's pizza. 

Both boys fell asleep on the way back home and slept for several hours.  During that time our friends Josh and Jessica called to invite us to supper at their house in Chiquimula.  We had to wait until Cruz woke up so that we could go.  He slept over 3 hours total.  We drove into town and had a fun night eating and visiting with them.  A recent Stateside visitor of theirs brought down some sausage that is made in their home area.  It is called Conecuh sausage and it was delicious!  It reminded us of the link sausage we always bought from Wilson's Meat House in our home area.  Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!

They make fun of me for putting everything on our blog so I purposely took a photo of the sausage cooking on the grill to share with you all.  It makes me want some more, ha ha.  It was very generous of them to share their home treat with us.  We are glad they did.

David had bought me some roses while in Chiquimula.  When we got home that night he gave them to the boys to give to me.  I always love having fresh flowers in the house.

Cruz picked out these yellow ones for me.

We got home late and were tired.  It had been a full day, but was most definitely a fun one.