Josh is home

After 2.5 long months, I finally have my husband back! Today was a tiring day for all of us (I'm sure more for Josh) with lots of naps and down time. Once Alexander noticed there was some else in my bed this morning he asked, "Mommy, who's that?" Then he noticed it was Josh and asked me, with a HUGE smile on his face, "Daddy home from work?" He then could not keep his hands off Josh and effectively ended the night with very little sleep. This entire day has been so nice. Hanging out, playing, just spending time together as a family, it's so wonderful. I feel so blessed to have Josh back and even more that we are going to have a few weeks free before he has to get working. Here's to a very Merry Christmas and an exciting start for our family in the New Year.

Talking about Christmas

It seems that just about everyday Alexander says something that makes me laugh or melts my heart. Today was no exception. We were sitting on the counter in the kitchen talking about baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. (My friend Mary has little figures that he likes to play with). I was explaining who they represented and that Mary was Jesus mommy like I was Alexander's mommy. He then touched Mary and said, "Mary Jesus mommy", then touched my friend Mary who was standing next to me and said, "Mary my friend." Not only did I think it was the cutest thing, but it totally melted Mary's heart. We have never prompted him to say something like that, it totally came from his heart. I just love watching him grow, think, and understand. He is the most amazing little boy.

Building a dresser #1

I have always enjoyed the idea of being able to build things. I have never had the tools or the know how to actually do it, but I always help when I can. So a few months ago Dan said he would help me build a dresser for Alexander. I was so excited. So we found instructions for one in a wood magazine for beginners and got the rest of the wood we needed (Dan had several pieces already in his shop). With being busy, among other stuff, it has taken us a while to get to the assembly part, but today we actually got to construct the case. It took us a long time with tool, wood, and miscalculation problems, but by the end of the day we got it all glued and clamped for drying over night. We are both some what of perfectionists so it took a while to just realized that the wood was not perfect so our structure was not going to be either. We did the best we could and called it a night. So here is the first picture of the dresser. I am totally excited and can't wait for tomorrow and starting on the next part. I will continue to post as we progress.

Dinner at the Booher's

Tonight we had a really fun evening at our friend's Clifton and Amy Booher's house. They are doing a week long Thanksgiving celebration and we joined them for Korean night. Clifton and his brother cooked an amazing meal. Alexander also had a great time. We have been working through some social situations with him since we have been back and tonight was so wonderful because I was able to just sit back and watch him play with new friends. He was so well behaved and such a delight for everyone to be around that it just makes a mommy proud. I was also given one of the highest complements a mother could get. I was in the kitchen visiting with the girls and I overheard someone say (about Alexander) "If I knew I could have a kid like that, I would totally have a kid" Josh and I have worked hard to have a well rounded child, but there are some things that are just born within them and I truly believe that Alexander is just an amazing kid to begin with. We are so blessed to have him as our son. PS Three weeks until Josh get's home

The one month countdown

As we hit the one month mark for Josh's return I still can't help but feel like we still have sooooo long to go before I get to see him again. I find myself day dreaming every day about the night I get to pick him up from the airport. I had two very sad bits of news today that are causing me to become even more anxious for Josh's return. Even though the last couple years have been a stretch for me, in more ways that I can explain, I still know that I live such a spectacular life. The family and friends God has given me drive me to the point of tears when i think about how much I am loved and looked after. My husband in particular has grown and changed into the most amazing man I could have ever married. I guess I just am feeling joy in the midst of some pain right now, so I guess I am focusing on the happy thought that as of today I can now say, Josh will be home in less than a month!!!!!

New things

So the big talk around my friends with toddler kids these days is potty training. Lot's of posts and Facebook status' about no accidents and toddlers going in the toilet. We are no different!!! So most everyone knows that Alexander has been going on the toilet since he was 6 months old. We have had little to no effort in getting him to use the toilet. Just in the last few weeks/months since we have been back, Alexander has not had any problems with going #2 in his diaper. Well just this morning when I was getting him dressed he told me he didn't want to wear his pull up. I showed him his Lighting McQueen big boy underwear and he said he wanted to wear them. I guess we will just have to see how today goes and if he continues with telling me when he has to go. The biggest thing in my favor is he hates being dirty, so here is to a diaper free day!!!

I have also posted a video of Alexander talking with Josh on the computer. You will see the link to the right of the blog!

Halloween

Here is a picture of my little "Handy Manny" on our way to meet up with his friends Jayden and Charlie to go trick or treating. I always thought I would be one of those parents who were against this because I have never liked halloween, but it was so fun to have the boys together in their cute costumes. They were so good and Jayden cracked us up with asking for more candy from every house we went to. I think Crystal was embarrassed a little bit, but we all laughed as he never missed a beat. The funny part now is that I have made a rule that Alexander get's one candy a day, so when he wants one he asks for his "trick or treat" and today when we were out he saw a candy machine and ran to it saying, "trick or treat, trick or treat", he cracks me up.

Under the weather

So this morning I am feeling a little under the weather. I didn't sleep well last night which has lead to the slight tingle in my throat becoming a strong cough. My dear friend Mary offered to take Alexander with her today to the church so I could get some rest and start my day a little slower than usual. Well, as Alexander was starting to get ready for his day he decided he was going to leave me at home with something fun to do. So as he climbed out of bed with me to start getting ready, he grabbed my DS off the night stand and brought it to me in bed and says, "Mommy play games." Then left the room to go get dressed. What a funny kid!! He apparently knew I was not going with them and wanted to leave me with something to do in his absence. Sadly that will not be the case, once I get my sorry butt out of bed, I have a midterm to prepare for tomorrow and a Bridal workshop on Sunday to firm plans for. I will not be able to "play game" any time today.

I love my son!!!

My Pumpkin

I know I should be waiting to put pictures up of our pumpkins, but this guy made me laugh so hard when I was done that I just couldn't wait. This by far is the funnies pumpkin I have ever carved!!! I will put pictures up of all four when we are done, but for now, here is a sample of what I did.

Pumpkin Patch

I am so excited about how we spent our Sunday. I have been waiting for 2.5 years to be able to take Alexander to a pumpkin patch. We went with Dan and Mary and had such a fun time (I have about 300 pictures and video to prove it!) We did all the fun stuff, hay ride, tractor ride, corn maze, cow roping, fed the animals, pet the pony, had the most expensive hot dog in the history of my life, and picked out pumpkins. I am pretty sure Alexander was not the only one in the group having a great time. The only thing that was missing was Josh, but there is always next year!!! I will be putting all my favorite pictures on Facebook if you are interested is seeing more.

Back in the "Game"

A lot of you know that a few years ago I did this thing called The Grocery Game. I saved so much money on groceries that Josh and I were able to put the unspent budgeted grocery money towards paying off our Volvo several years early. It was the coolest thing to see unfold. Well now that I am back home and settled in after a VERY busy summer, I am back in the game!! Today Mary and I sat down and went through lists and coupons and set out to do our shopping after dinner. As we were shopping I was feeling like we were not doing very good, but once we got home and looked at the numbers, I was so excited. Some of our coolest deals were paying $.49 for a $12.99 product, $.14 for a $4.99 product and getting several things for free, like children's cough medicine and Carmex. We had a total savings of 77% which was way higher than I expected. My goal next week is to increase that by at least 1%. I have a few others ways I am saving money on everyday products, but it would make this post way to long. I'm just excited, I feel a Sunday afternoon spent shopping is totally worth the time for all the money we are saving.

A tender heart

I read stories about my friends kids causing them to reflect on life, love, God and a crazy list of other things. After tonight I feel lead to share one of these type of stories.

As Alexander is growing up he teaches me so much that I sometimes wonder how I could have forgotten so many of the simple things of life. Tonight when I was putting him down for bed he asked me if he could say his good night prayers. Well it was more like, "mommy, Alexander pray". Then he asked to hold both my hands and waited for my guidance. As I created short sentences for him to say, I just melted at the sweet sound of his voice and the gentleness as prayed for daddy, mommy, and his family and friends. He may not fully understand what he is doing, but God knows the condition of his young heart and after tonight I just feel like crawling into my bed and asking my Lord to hold both my hands and guide me as I live this life not fully understanding what I am doing and feeling thankful that He knows the condition of my young heart. So I am going to bed tonight filled with the knowledge that I am richly and truly blessed beyond what I deserve having these family and friends in my life.

Night away

Since Josh is heading back to Maderia on Thursday I arranged a fun date night for us on Saturday. Our wonderful friends Dan and Mary, who we are staying with, watched Alexander overnight so we could have some long over due alone time. It felt so weird to have both of us away from him for the night, but we found many ways to have fun and not worry about anything. We stopped at the Woodburn outlets to do some window shopping, we went to a great new restaurant in Portland that had great food for a totally affordable price, we went dancing, we stayed at the Hotel Lucia and were given a free room upgrade, and then were served breakfast in bed. It totally felt like a mini honeymoon and just filled my heart with joy to spend such undevoted time together right before he has to leave for a couple months. These last few years have been crazy with the road we have been traveling down, but this chapter is so close to being over that I can't help but be excited despite the fact that I would be able to hug Josh until just before Christmas. So anyway, here are a few more pictures of our awesome night in Portland.

Help October 3-4th!!!

As most of you know I am working on growing my business now that we are back in the states. I never knew that being a wedding planner was where my heart would be (Thanks Stacy!!!). As part of my adventure in business ownership I am an exhibitor in the bridal shows this October and January. The fun, and challenging, part is that I am needing some help in my booth talking with brides and handing things out. If you are interested in hanging out with me at either show, and getting some free lunch, I could really use the help. The dates for the October show are the 3rd from 10 am-5 pm and 4th from 11 am-4 pm. If you are interested I would love a call or email. 503-983-0836 or helives_inme@yahoo.com.

Reading on his own

I was getting ready for the day when I heard Alexander playing in his room. Knowing that I might miss something special I grabbed the camera and peeked in to see what he was doing. I found him searching through his books then picking and reading brown bear. I know he thinks he is reading because he is pointing to the words like Josh and I do when we reading to him. Next on the list of books to read, War and Peace!! Haha, just kidding. Oh you can see the video on the right side on the video bar.

Three day weekend

I was so happy to get to have a three day weekend with Josh and Alexander. It has been a long time since we have been able to do whatever we wanted without having to work it into our schedules. This last weekend we had grand ideas of going somewhere and doing something, instead we ended up staying in town, sleeping in when we could, napping, planing games at Uncle Matt and Aunt Meghan's (sorry you guys weren't there!!), and driving around Salem/Keizer looking at houses and land. It was such a fun time to just be together as a family and plan for our future. Although we don't know for sure that we will be in Salem, we have high hopes and are praying that it will work out that way. The picture below is on a piece of property we liked in South Salem. Alexander was having a great time running around in the dirt, Josh was having fun watching!! They are just so adorable, I love these two so much.

Holding my baby

Alexander and I have been in Washington a lot since we have been back in the states. This week marks the beginning of our second week up here of our third trip since July 1. It's been great visiting with my parents, doing more redecorating in their house, and helping take care of my mom as she recovers from her hip replacement surgery. It's has really been great, but I have had not much time to rest. Today was special though. Alexander gave me a wonderful reason to sit down, put my feet up and relax for about 20 minutes. When he woke up from his afternoon nap he asked me to wrap him in his blanket (like a baby burrito), then let me rock in him my dads chair while he dosed back off for a gentle end to his nap. He is such a busy boy that he usually sits with me for 5 minutes of cuddle time, then is off on his way, or asking for a snack. So this just meant the world to me to sit and hold my baby while I got to relax. He always seems to know when I need some down time.

More growing up

Everyday Alexander does something that reminds me he is not a baby anymore. This morning we were starting our day as normal with using the toilet and getting dressed. He was laying on his bed getting ready to be dressed and noticed his pants were laying next to him. I had just finished putting lotion on him and turned back from setting it down on the side table, when I noticed he had grabbed his pants and had them half way on already. All I did was stand him up and he pulled them on all the way him self. I had not thought about letting him dress himself yet, but clearly he thinks he is ready.

This picture is of our first ride on the carousel downtown. I wish I could say he had a lot of fun, but I would more say he tolerated it. We will try again some time.

What to do

I have been thinking/praying a lot about what to do with my time now that I am home and staying. I have thought about getting a part time job, working at growing my business and taking more classes to work towards my degree. In the last few weeks I have been feeling strongly to work on getting more weddings, with that I have signed up to be in both the October 2009 and January 2010 Salem Bridal Shows. I am totally excited and just starting the planning process. If I am half as successful with these shows as I was with the last bridal show I did, I will be very happy.

On a separate note, I redecorated a couple rooms in my parents house over the last two weeks with the help of Mary, I am totally exhausted, but so happy with the results. I will post pictures as soon as Josh gets our desktop PC back on the internet.

Staying in Salem

So we have made it official, Alexander and I are staying in Salem while Josh finishes the last 2.5 months of school in Portugal. After lots of talking and thinking things through we decided it would be best for our family financially and for planning for the future if I was to be here. We are praying that Josh has a job lined up before he leaves so that I can start looking for a house and have some places lined up to look at when he gets back. There are so many reasons why we made this decision, but these are the main ones. We are pretty happy with the decision. In the mean time, he is working in Wilsonville and I am preparing for the bridal shows and looking for a part time job. I feel very content and at peace with the way things are going right now and that makes me happy.

Berry Picking

This morning Meghan and I packed up the kids and headed to Olson Farms off HWY22 and picked blue berries and raspberries. The kids were great, they did an awesome job helping pick the blueberries and had a lot of fun playing in the dirt while Meghan and I picked raspberries. The fruit was so yummy and so much cheaper then buying it in the store. I think we might do this more often now that I know how easy, fun and cheap it is. It has also inspired me to add berries to my garden next year. Here are a few pictures from our adventures out today.

Don and Kysa's wedding

This last weekend I had the joy of helping one of my best friends at her wedding. We have known each other since we were in middle school and been through a lot through the years. It just warmed my heart to be there and do whatever I could to help her and her new husband have a wonderful wedding. (I admit I had a ton of fun too!!) One of the things they allowed me to do was photographer their wedding for them. I am not striving to be a photographer, but it was a lot of fun using what knowledge I do have to capture the day. I posted all of my favorite pictures on my business page on Facebook, but here are a couple of my favorites.

Anna Inspired Cupcakes

So my sweet friend Anna made a cute flag cupcake cake for her kids for the 4th. I had already bought the stuff to make 4th of July cupcakes but had not thought about arranging them into a flag and after seeing Anna's cake I just couldn't pass it up. So here it is...

Thanks Anna for the great idea. I had a lot of fun with this thanks to you!!!

Oregon/Washington

I can't believe we have been in the states for two weeks. We spent the first week just adjusting to the time difference and preparing for Alexander's 2nd birthday. Then the second week we spent trying to help the friends we are staying with around their house and starting to visit everyone. It went by so fast and now we are at my parents in Washington. It's so good to be home. With being so busy we really have not taken a lot of pictures, but I have gotten the really important stuff. I am really looking forward to the fourth of July tomorrow. All Alexander could talk about tonight was "firwors" as he try's to call them. We were planning on celebrating his birthday with my parents, but Mom and I shopped for almost two hours tonight for a present for him and couldn't decide on anything. Oh well, I guess that just means I get to shop more later!!! Here are a couple pictures I took today of Alexander enjoying his extended family.

Homeward bound

I am so excited and can't believe we are leaving for home in a few hours. I am really not looking forward to one of our three flights. It is a 9 hour flight with a teething toddler, who most likely will not be able to sleep because he likes his room dark and since we are flying into the day our cabin lights will be on, I'm a little worried BUT that doesn't change the fact that I am excited to be home for a while. Even though we are not sure where we will be spending the majority of our time, it is close to the people I love the most (-a couple people here that I have really grow attached to). Please be praying that Josh finds work and that we can be settled soon, we really need to be prepared for the last three months back here and only God can provide what we need right now.

Almost time

As I looked at the counter clock on the right today my heart started beating fast. I have two half days and two whole days left until we are on a plane home. WOW! It has been weird preparing for this trip because I have not had much to do. Today I started packing the left over kitchen spices and pantry items, we don't plan on doing much cooking the next few days which is going to be a challenge because I am so used to cooking up a storm each night. I have also been trying to take Alexander out to do a bunch of the fun things we like to do and some I have wanted to do but couldn't. On Saturday we have a family day and went down to the center and played at the big park. There are several slides and lots of kids to play with. It was a fun day and got me excited to not hear Josh mention homework for a while. The picture here is from our fun outing a couple days ago. It's so great being a mom, especially to Alexander!!

Life is good

So I started today out kind of bummed because when we were originally planning on going home for summer we were going to leave the 11th, tomorrow. Since I have everything done except packing, I was really wishing we were leaving. However, as my day went on little by little I started to remember how great my life is. Josh is doing so good at school that he is probably getting all A's this term, Alexander is a joy to spend the day with, who can resist your precious child climbing in your lap and cuddling with you and asking for kisses all over, he is also making leaps and bounds in the no pacifier direction (with not much effort I might add) and I get to leave for home in 8 days. There are so many other reasons my heart is filled with such joy right now, but I will leave you with this picture because I have heard a picture is worth a thousand words...

So I started today out kind of bummed because when we were originally planning on going home for summer we were going to leave the 11th, tomorrow. Since I have everything done except packing, I was really wishing we were leaving. However, as my day went on little by little I started to remember how great my life is. Josh is doing so good at school that he is probably getting all A's this term, Alexander is a joy to spend the day with, who can resist your precious child climbing in your lap and cuddling with you and asking for kisses all over, he is also making leaps and bounds in the no pacifier direction (with not much effort I might add) and I get to leave for him in 8 days. There are so many other reasons my heart is filled with such joy right now, but I will leave you with this picture because I have heard a picture is worth a thousand words...

Beginning of the end

So Josh and I have been talking about when the right time is to stop letting Alexander sleep with his pacifier. Everyone has their opinions and reasoning as to when it is best. A few weeks ago I decided to give it a try, but after 2-3 minutes I just felt he was not ready (nor was I, I just have never been a cry it out mom.) I have been honestly praying that we have a smooth transition like with did with nursing and bottles, he ended both of those. Tonight when we put him to bed he did not has for it. So I gently took if off the bed and put it in the bathroom where he could not find it while he was settling down. He got up a few times, only asked one time and I didn't say anything. Just handing him tagging and his little stuffed dog. He didn't ask again and has now been asleep for an hour. I really hope this is the beginning of the end.

Girls

It has already started! Last night after we had dinner Josh wanted to go to FNAC to look at computer stuff. While he was looking around, Alexander and I sat in the surround sound area and watched the big TV. While we were sitting there another family walked by with a little girl that was probably a few months younger than Alexander and boy was she captivated by him. She was chasing him in circles around my chair. After a little bit I remember that I had my camera in my purse because of taking pictures while we were out for Josh's birthday. So I was able to capture a little bit of it on video.

Summer in the States

I am pretty sure that everyone has heard by now that we will be in the Pacific NW for the summer. We, mostly me, are so excited to be coming for a while. I have been missing my friends and family a lot the last few weeks and I just feel ready to touch and hug everyone. We will be flying off the island on June 18th with a quick layover in London, then landing in Portland on the 19th about 11:15 pm. Our plan is to visit between Oregon and Washington until we fly back on September 18. This could all change if Josh finds work. Did I mention I am exited to be coming home!!!

Boogie

This might seem like a very funny thing to blog about, but I had to share one of Alexander's cute moments. Since the day we brought him home we have tried to make washing his hands and face and blowing his nose a fun thing. I have always felt bad for kids when I see their parents holding them down to get the job done. So, this last week Alexander has developed a runny nose. So every time we need to blow or wipe it we play the boogie game. I pretend like it is all gross (which is it) and Alexander has fun blowing his nose on the tissue and showing it to me, fun right. He LOVES it. Okay so the cute thing was this morning I was sitting at the table working on some stuff and I heard him in our bathroom. I was just getting up to make sure he was not shredding the toilet paper when I saw him walking down the hall with toilet paper blowing his nose. When he saw me looking at him, he held it up and said, "boogie!" Then gave me the tissue and went back to playing with his toys. What a funny kid he is. Most children I know wipe it on their shirt or arm, not mine. He get's toilet paper and cleanly blows his nose and moves on!

My Little Breaker!

If you haven't seen the video on Facebook of Alexander doing the robot, you have to look at the link on the right panel. It still cracks me up to watch it. Also, if you are wondering what else he is doing after he is done with the robot, you might find it funny to know that he is trying to do a handstandish type thing. Usually after he is done with the handstand, he spins on his bottom around the floor. We are pretty sure he is trying to breakdance.

Cookie!!!

As most everyone knows, I have a great friend Mary who lives in Salem. She is one of the most kind hearted people I know. She has helped us out in countless ways. So yesterday we received a care package from her. I had asked her to send me some taco bell sauce and french vanilla cream, but with Mary, it just doesn't seem to stop there. Among other things she sent books and clothes for Alexander, one of my favorite Club crackers, and Oreo's. Alexander has never eaten an Oreo, until today! He really is not much of a sweets kid, he prefers fruit over anything except yogurt. I think Oreo's has now taken #1 on his food list. It's a good thing there is a lock on the food drawer because I truly believe he would go get them anytime I was not looking.

Cleaning on the brain

So I must have spring fever because this morning I went crazy cleaning my bedroom and bathroom. I striped both beds, along with moving and vacuuming underneath our bed, put Alexander's mattress on the porch to get some fresh air, everything got wiped down, or vacuumed up. Alexander also got a summer hair cut. I have just been trimming the top and shaving the sides, but today I felt like it needed to go summer short. So he laid on the counter while I sheered him like a sheep. Then he got a bath with fresh underpants and clean socks. I spent several hours cleaning and organizing, ending with great satisfaction that I got some good cleaning done. Oh and yesterday I organized both our closets. It was nice to go through his clothes and take out the stuff he has grown out of. As far as the pictures, this is him sporting his new look. For some reason he has become camera shy the last few days, so he would only let me take a picture if he was sitting in my lap. So this is sort of a "self portrait" pose. What a ham!

Time out and spoon ball

As most of you know, Josh is very creative. Today he and Alexander were playing his newest creation, spoon ball. They took a ball and two plastic kitchen spoons and hit the ball around the apartment for about 15-20 minutes, all the while Alexander was laughing histarically (as you can see in the picture). He loved the game and I am sure it will be played again.

So right now we primarily use time outs to deal with Alexander's fits. They seem to work well and he knows he has done something bad when he gets one. At one point today Alexander was trying to play with Josh's computer and he is not allowed to do that unless under supervision. So Josh warned him that if he touched it again he would get a time out. After he said that Alexander walked over to the time out corner and sat down. It made me sad and laugh at the same time. I guess being consistent really does show them something!

Milk never tasted so good!

Today, for the first time in four months, I had fresh milk! I am so excited, and I don't even like milk. Let me explain. When you go to the store to buy milk you find it on a shelf in boxes. It is so pasteurized that you don't need to refrigerate it. We do anyway, especially after it has been opened. I don't drink it really, I put it on my cereal and in my tea and that is it. However, we found out through someone through someone else that a curtain store has fresh milk once in a while. I went there to check it out and found that on Fridays only you can get it. We went there at noon today to find only 4 liters left, so we got all of them. When we got home today I was totally curious as to whether it was like milk I was used to, so I busted one of them open and poured a very small glass. To my surprise and delight, it tasted soooooo good. I don't ever remember milk tasting so light and airy. I am not going to become a milk junky, but we now have a new tradition, Friday mornings I am going to this store and buying all I need for the week!!!

I knew it would happen

Alexander has been sleeping on a mattress for almost 2 months now. He really likes it and seems to be sleeping better. He really likes the freedom to get up whenever he wants (we are working on this). I have always wondered when he would realize that he could climb into our bed when we leave the room. After all, he ALWAYS wants to sleep in our bed instead of his. So last night at 12:45 am I finally stumble into our room and hear him breathing loudly (he is getting over a cold), but for some reason it is really loud tonight. I flip on the bathroom light to find my little sweet heart sleeping on my pillow. I almost didn't want to move him. I have the most precious child.

Trip to London

This last weekend Brenda and I went to London for two days. (Really just one for her because she had to catch a flight pretty early on Saturday, but I had an extra 1/2 to tour around by myself). We had so much fun even though it was cold and started raining around 5 pm. We were able to do all of the main tourist stuff, take a boat ride down the river, see the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge (the bridge behind me in the picture), the London Bridge, the Eye of London, Westminster Abbey, the Marble arch, St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, which I got to see the changing of the guard before I left on Saturday, and a few other things. London is an expensive place to visit but it was worth it. If you want to see all of my pictures from the trip, here is a link to the album I posted on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102930&id=671141263&l=974e21bf52 The coolest part of the trip was when we arrived on Thursday night we were chatting with the reception guy and joking with him and well to make a long story short, we were upgraded to a jacuzzi suite for free. It was a very nice room and we were so thankful for his generosity.

Brenda's Visit

Brenda has been here for a week now, time flies when you are having fun. We have done so much stuff. We have toured the north side of the island, I took her out for coffee, went shopping, ate a picnic lunch on a 580 meter cliff, laid on the beach, gone out on a catamaran, and last night Mary stayed home with Alexander so we could have a "mommies" night out, as Brenda called it. Tomorrow we are going to go fishing with Eduardo and his brother, Saturday we are going to hit a different beach while we wait to pick up Josh from the airport, Easter Sunday we have 12ish people scheduled to come over for Easter dinner and so much more planned for the next week. It has been so much fun having her here. Anyone else wanna come???

Bed Time Stories

Josh and I have made it a point to read to Alexander as much as possible. Since the first day we brought him home we have read to him before bed. I honestly believe this has brought a healthy love of books. Alexander will go to his toy drawer and get a book out before he gets any other toy. When I say it's nap time or bed time, the first thing he does is run to the drawer and get a book. He has one book that is so loved that I have glued and taped it multiple times. But tonight has taken the cake as the cutest thing he has done with his books so far. We keep three of his books in the closet because I don't want them ripped. They were a special present sent to us by our friend Mary in Salem. Tonight we were reading one of them and he was having a great time pointing out animals and making the sounds as we read. After we prayed and said goodnight I set the book on the end of the bed so I could put it away after he fell asleep. As Josh and I were sitting at the table doing homework tonight I could hear him in there talking. (Side note: He is in a "bed" now so we are working on staying in bed once mommy leaves the room) Anyway, since he was not crying I left him alone to fall asleep in his own time. After he had been quiet for 30 minutes or so I went in to cover him up and make sure he was right side up in the bed and this is when I found it. He must have seen where I put the book because he had fallen asleep with it and when I thought back to when he was talking I realized he had probably gotten up grabbed the book, went back to his bed (where we read to him) and "read" the book until he fell asleep. I wish I could have walked in with the camera, he is just so sweet!! Have I mention recently that I love my son?

College Again

I have tried to take college classes through the years since high school not really knowing what I wanted to do. I felt I should try different things before I settle on what it was I really wanted to do. So, as most of you know, I have now settled on a major, Visual Communication. Josh and I sat at a coffee shop one night discussing want I enjoy, what I'm good at, and what I want to do with my time after he is done with school (besides being a mom that is). After some thought, prayer and research I found a major that I felt fit me really well. Josh got on with the idea of my knocking a few classes out of the way before we get back. So today I start my first class. PSY104 Psychology in the Workplace. I have been so excited and anxiously awaiting the start of class. When I logged on to see what the teach had to say on the first day, I FREAKED OUT!! Not in a bad way, it's just one of those things that hit me differently than I expected. I am still excited and looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, but wow. As long as I have wanted to finish college I can't believe it is actually happening.

God knows me so well...

He has given me Brenda when everyone else is leaving me. Three people I talk with regularly are all leaving me within a few days. Mary, my friend from Salem who I talk with daily, Freddy one of our roommates and Josh, are all leaving me this next week. BUT Brenda is going to be here while they are all gone. I would be so lonely and sad for their departures if it were not for the excitement of one of my best friends being here. "Thank you God for loving me so much to think of this ahead of time for me!!"

Curly Hair

I have been having some frustration styling my hair since I got it cut. So last night I decided to try something I have never been able to do. Go curly! My hair has always been to long and heavy for it to work so I thought "why not". The worst that would happen is I would wash my hair again and pretend it never happened. Well here is what I got...I have always told peolple that I have curly hair, but I had no idea this much. I took this picture just to see what the back looked like and I could not believe my eyes. So if you never believed me when I said I had curly hair, here is my proof.

A Church Family

I am so excited to report that we have found a church home. The pastor and his wife are so wonderful. They have made such an effort to welcome us and get us connected with other families our age. They called to see how I was feeling after they found out I had a cold. We had even met them and knew them by name before we even made it to our first sevice today (It is easy to do that in a small church). I am so excited because after we got home today I just had this joy and peace in my soul. I miss my peirs, my mentors, my girls and spending some time chatting with Abby (the pastor's wife) just filled me up. They are origanily from the south, so they have some of that good old american hospitality built in. They have several grandkids so they took to Alexander real quick (who doesn't!). I guess I am blabbering to say, I'm happy. We have a place now to fellowship with other believers and I have missed that a lot.

Video/Slideshow

If you would like to see my video/slideshow of our trip to Porto Santo last weekend, it has been added to my video sidebar on the right of this page.

Hugs and Kisses from Portugal!!

Porto Santo and Sleep

What a wonderful way this was to spend the last few hours on Porto Santo this weekend, napping under an umbrella with my sweet little boy in my arms. We had to check out of our hotel by 2 pm and the boat didn't leave until 7 pm so we had to find something to do during that time. Warm sun, ocean waves, napping with Alexander, not a bad way to spend it if you ask me! This, however, brings me to my next point. We are going to be getting Alexander a bed as soon as we can find one we can afford. He has been taking his naps on our bed recently and they have been long naps, like 3 hours most days. At first I thought it was just because he was getting sick or teething, (or liked being in our bed) but this weekend he slept on a twin bed at the hotel and we experienced the same results. I think he really enjoys being tucked in and having a pillow, so off we go to the next phase of being a toddler. Am I sad? Maybe a little, but not really because anything that gets me to sleep more at night or have a little extra time during the day is okay by me.

Sunday Nights

Sundays have become the jewel of our week. We started a little over a month ago using Sunday as a day to cook. We pick a new recipe for dinner and dessert and make everything we can from scratch. It is so much fun. It started as just Josh, Mariana, and me but has since grown. This week was really special because Freddy (one of our roommates) has two visitors from Germany (his home). So this week we went all out. Mary (our other roommate) helped me make a Portuguese dish called bacalhau (cod fish) with potatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, parsley and a little bit of salt, all baked together in the oven. We served it with salad and bread. For dessert I made a special dish from main land Portugal called Sericaia topped with a sweet pumpkin sauce (it is kind of like jelly). Man was it all good. I love Sunday's! And I hope to bring this new family tradition home with us. If you want to join us on a Sunday, sign up now!!! Just kidding.

Clockwise from Alexander, Josh, Freddy (Germany), Eduardo (Portugal), Mary(Portugal), Yan(Germany), Diana (Uzbekistan), Mariana (Costa Rica), Daniel (Germany).

Joy of my life

It's no secret that I love my son. I honestly think he is the coolest, smartest, sweetest child I have ever know. Everyday he does something to reiterated those feelings. Today is one to be noted! Josh and I were standing in the kitchen getting things ready to eat dinner and Alexander wanted me to pick him up. After I did he reaches for Josh and pulls him to us. As soon as Josh was close enough he put his hand on the back of both of our necks and pushed us together while making kissing sounds. He must have done this 6 times before we could not stop laughing. I swear my son is the coolest!!!!!

A real date

To make a long story short, we got invited to meet the US Ambassador for Portugal tonight. There was an appetizer reception at a very fancy restaurant in the harbor of Funchal. Sadly (I really mean that) kids were not allowed, so if we wanted to go, we had to leave Alexander with someone. After some debate, and an amazing trip to the mall to buy clothes nice enough to wear, we went. This was the first time in a really long time I felt like a woman and not a mom. I spent the entire night thinking of my teething toddler with frequent text messages to my friend to check in on him, but it was really fun. I got to flaunt my new hair cut and 6 euro dress; I even worn makeup, foundation, mascara, eye shadow, perfume!!! It was great. I would have posted the entire picture of us, but the angle I was standing made me look fat and I don't want anyone to think I have gotten lazy and put on a few!!! J/K. It was so nice to walk down the street, holding Josh's hand all dressed up with somewhere to go.

Big Change

So Alexander and I both got our hair cut this week. I decided it was time for another one of my big changes. I was tired of all the same things to try and get my hair to look normal and Alexander was starting to look more like me. I cut his, and for a firt time with scissors I think I did alright. The back was done with clippers. All I needed to do to get him to sit still was set him down in front of our bathroom cabinet with the door open and he did great. As for me, I went downtown with Mary (one of our roommates) and we walked around until we found a place that looked nice. The best part is it only cost me 15 euros. I would have paid anywhere between $45 and $60 for what she did. It is actually longer than what I wanted, but the hair stylest was concerned with the amount of body in my hair. She felt if we went shorter I would have had a really hard time controlling it. I'm fine with it because at 15 euros a month I an afford to get my hair cut more than once a year!!! What do you think?

Blog Changes

We have lived here on Madeira for almost 2 months now. As you all know, I had a hard time cooking when we first got settled into our appartment. Mainly because they cook different types of food and the things I am used to cooking are not typically sold in the grocery store. If it is, it is very expensive and not worth the price. I have been greatly streched in my cooking skills and have come to love, and look forward to, what I am going to cook next. In fact, Sunday has been "from scratch day". One of our friends, Mariana, comes up from her place after church and we make dinner and dessert entirly from scratch (even if we don't have to). We have had some amazing meals! My favorite so far has been the chichen rice burritos because I had to make the taco seasoning and it was so good. Josh and I both just feel inlove with it, sorry Costco I won't be purchasing yours anymore. So all of this to say that I took my list of "things we didn't eat" off my blog because I have not had anything crazy happen for a month now. Everything has been good. Some recipes need tweeking, like the spaghetti I made last week, it needed more spice. I have also be enjoying desserts, we have made apple pie, cream puffs, chocolate chip cookies (which is harder here than you think. Our German roommate had never had a chocolate chip cookie before I made them last week!). Tonight is banana cream pie. This part of our adventure has been so much fun.

Tagged

I always love it when I get included in something. Expecially being over here I fear, out of sight out of mind. Thanks Andrea for including me in this. Here is my 5th folder 5th picture.

This is Alexander eating left over pumpkin pie the day after thanksgiving, the next picture in the file is my favorite. The picture above is during the first bit, the one below is after. Every kid needs pie for breakfast during the holidays!!

Okay so I am going to tag, Aimee, Kesha, Anna, and Chris. Let's do 2nd folder last picture.

100th Post - Brownie time

Brownie Time

Tonight after dinner Josh was craving brownies, so since I had everything in the house to make them, I whipped up a batch (far cry from my past brownie in a box method). I also decided to use this opportunity to pay tribe to the reason I started this blog. With camera in hand, I let Alexander lick the spoon. He had never licked anything before so Josh and I had to show him what to do. He did good at first but then decided that putting the entire spatula in his mouth was a better idea. I took a few "self" portriats with him just for fun. I am pretty sure we put him into bed on a sugar high, but that's just being a kid right?

Knee Bouncer.com

So today we allowed Alexander to play on the computer for the first time. Josh found this cute website that has very simple toddler games. It didn't take long for him to figure out what to do and he was laughing and having a great time. If you are okay with your toddler banging on your keyboard you should check this website out. http://www.kneebouncers.com/

Alexander update

I know you are dying to hear the wonderful and adorable things Alexander has been doing lately, so here is an update.

1. He loves to clean. Any time I pull out the vacuum, and sometimes when I don't, he has to do it with me. Mostly he holds one of the attachments and runs it around on the ground.
2. He puts his dirty diapers in the trash. He has taken it upon himself to take the diaper off the bed, take it to the kitchen, and throw it away. The best part is he claps for himself and says, "yeah" everytime.
3. Prowrestly. Watch out Christian, when we get back Alexander will have some new moves for you because anytime I am on the bed or sitting on the coutch, he pushes me down on my stomach and sits on my back. I am teaching him how to say, "1-2-3 pinned".
4. Talking. His vocab has more than doubled in the last month. He says all kinds of things in English and Portuguese. His favorite Portuguese words are Até ja = see you in a minute or really soon. Then there is Por favor = please, Tchau = bye, Bom dia = good morning, and of course Olá.
5. Playing. His soccer skills are mad crazy. He can kick the ball while running. I bought him some blocks and he will sit and build and take down for 30 minutes or more at a time. No toy he has, has kept his attention for so long. Well except books. Today I told him to go get a toy from his toy drawer and he brought back both his books. He loves to read and be read to, we have such a smart little boy.

Okay that's enough bragging for now. I will let you know when he does something else so super special...

Time on my hands

The past few days I have had a little extra time on my hands at night. Instead of doing something constructive like, look for new recipes, or find some activities I can do with Alexander, I have spent the time updating my blog. I am sure you have noticed the new background and new title bar across the top. But make sure to look down the right hand side. I have added new blogs, links to some websites, and a video bar of slideshows and videos I have made. I hope these changes make it more fun to visit the blog! Any suggestions or comments as to other content you might like to see or read, let me know.

Looking Back

Have you ever looked back over your life? I mean really looked back! I was updating my blog tonight and found myself looking back in my archive at some pictures and video. The first six-eight months of Alexander's life were so hard. I was barley awake for any of it and just trying to survive the parts I was. Well, for the first time tonight I actually wished I could go back and relive the little things. His first smile, laugh, words, steps... I tired so hard to savor every moment of him with pictures, video and blogging. I knew it would go so fast and now looking back at those things I am filled with a sad joy. I wish I could hold those tiny little fingers and kiss those tiny little toes. The sound of a newborn cry still makes my heart skip a beat. The funny thing is, however, this does not make me want to have another baby. As I new child will be welcomed when/if he or she joins our family. This child will not be Alexander and those precious moments I spent with him will now only be relived through memories, and that tryly makes me sad.

The North Side

This past Sunday, we took a day trip to the north side of Madeira with most of the students in the MHCI program. Mary, one of the students, is from this part of the island and planned a wonderful tour of her world. It was amazing! Every place you looked was a photo opportunity. The entire day, I wished I was a good photographer, who had an eye for amazing stuff like this, but with my Costco point and shot camera, I couldn't do much.

God is amazing! The landscapes and views just made me think, "how creative He must be". This island is like no other place I have ever been. Sometimes when I am in the apartment most of the morning and then go out to the store to get something for dinner, I am amazed all over again. When my eyes see the Atlantic oceans on one side, and the tall mountains where terracotta roofs line the valleys I realize this really is a beautiful place.