Pumpkin Patch

On Friday me and a couple of girlfriends took our kids to the Del Mar pumpkin patch. It was nice because it was during the day so it wasn't busy and the kids could run around and you didn't have to be on top of them making sure they weren't getting into trouble. There were a bunch of rides, not as big as fair rides, but smaller so little kids can ride them. There was a bounce house, blow-up slides, a petting zoo and a train...it's the perfect place for little kids! I think next year he'll really be in to it. This year he was only big enough to ride the little train ride (that I had to squeeze into as well) but he loved it. Big smile the entire time.

He loved running up and down the rows of pumpkins and touching every single one of them. We didn't take the kids inside the petting zoo but the workers brought the goats to the fence and let them touch them and get a closer look. At first Caiden was a bit hesitant when one of the bigger goats stuck its head through the fence right at eye level. But when the smaller goats came over he didn't hesitate to stick his hand through and pet them.

4 year anniversary

Marc and I celebrated our four year anniversary on Thursday night. We stayed home but my sis had Maine lobster sent to us. We got the package via UPS Thursday morning and I open it up and there's a cooler inside the box. So then I open the cooler and there is some ice and seaweed on top, I push it around and see a lobster. I pull it out and it's still moving! That's right, both of the lobsters were still alive.

When Marc got home later that night we took them out and showed Caiden, he was touching them with no problems. We also did a lobster race...the one on the bottom of the cooler that I hadn't been messing with all day won.

Sara also sent us clams, we steamed those things up but unfortunately we're still not into them. We gave it the good college try and I'm proud to say I took the first bite.

It was fun to try something different! Thanks, Sara!

And Happy Anniversary, Marc! I can't believe we've been together for 8 years and already married for 4. It feels like just yesterday when we met at the Halloween party in Pacific Beach. To another 8 years! Love you, babe!

Back to reality

Cabo was fantastic. It was so nice to get away and not have anything to worry about. It's pretty crazy how I was able to acclimate so quickly...ha. This was our first trip without Caiden and we went for 5 nights/6 days. There were 10 of us total and we all left behind the kids. Whenever I felt a twinge of guilt I had the other girls around to confirm that it was okay that we left. All the parents were taking care of the kiddos so it made me feel better that we left them with the in-laws. I felt bad sometimes because it's a lot of work and they aren't used to it, but again, everyone else was in the same boat as well so it helped.

Upon arrival the transportation service had cold cerveza waiting for us!

We stayed at the same hotel we stayed at a year and a half ago when we went on our Babymoon and we also stayed there about 6 years ago before we were married, it's the Sheraton (we're Starwood junkies). The guy at the front desk remembered us and gave us a room upgrade and told us to contact him in advance next time we come so he can give us a really good room upgrade! Score on totally coming back! And the waitress at the breakfast place we go to every day remember me, too! When I was pregnant I had her make me a mocha (because I couldn't drink the unlimited mimosas) and when we walked in she saw me and with a big smile asked if I wanted a mocha. It was so sweet.

So typically we like to visit new countries and not stay at the same hotels. But this is one place where we can't say no. Cabo is typical of most Mexican destinations...you just lay by the pool or beach...and that's exactly what we wanted out of this vacation. We pretty much sat by the pool all day, drank a whole lot and went out to delicious dinners every night. It was amazing. My body is pretty worn down tonight, though. After sitting by the pool for 5 days, today was a complete 180 with chasing Caiden around and being there at his beckon call. Today was one of those days I wish I could just go sit at a desk and type on a keyboard.  haha.

It was Craig's birthday so the restaurant brought out a lantern that he got to throw into the ocean. Much better than the time we were in Bangkok and they were getting thrown into the power lines.

We facetimed with Caiden every day. Probably more for us than for him. He would be in to it for a minute or so but then he was off. Regardless it was really nice to just see his face.

It was close to 7pm when we got home on Monday night so he was pretty tired and ready to go to bed. He was laying on the couch with Fery and when I walked in he just looked at me and smiled forever. He didn't try to get up but he just smiled and smiled. I figured he was thinking: Are you real? I'm not convinced so I'm just going to smile and sit here until you get really close. Then Marc walked in 30 seconds later and he leaned forward and said dadda?

I know Fery and Osi spoiled him rotten and played with him every single second so I'm sure he didn't miss us too much. A huge thanks to them, as I know they were exhausted when they left, and then had to fly all the way back to the east coast today. Hopefully they have many more memories like this ahead!

And now I need to stop speaking with a bad Spanish accent...hey yo gringo!

Short and sweet wedding travel

We left Thursday morning bright and early and took an hour and a half flight up to northern California for a wedding. Caiden was as best as he could be...slept the entire time.

We flew in to Sacramento, rented a car and drove 20 minutes to Davis, a small college town. Marc probably said that he felt like the oldest one there 10 times. The wedding was on Thursday evening so we had to hurry and get ready, meet the babysitter and jump on the shuttle bus to the wedding all before 4pm. Meeting the babysitter was going to be a big deal for us, since we've never left Caiden with anyone but family. The groom's cousin who lives in the area hooked us up with a high school senior from the school she teaches at so at least she came recommended. We only had about 10 minutes to spend with her before we had to jump on the bus for the wedding. She was the sweetest girl and Caiden didn't seem to mind at all. No kicking or screaming or anything...ha. He was obsessed with the balcony we had off our room and when we were leaving we probably said bye bye like 15 times and tried to get a million kisses but he wasn't having it...he was just happy to be on the balcony.

His first nap was right when we arrived, before the sitter showed up.

She sent us a few pictures throughout the night and said he didn't have any problem falling asleep...I thought for sure she was just being nice. I pictured him standing up and throwing his blanket out of the pack n play over and over again. But truth be told, he was a trooper and didn't mind sleeping in a pack n play in the middle of the room at all.

This is the picture the sitter sent us a few hours in. Looked happy to us!

So the wedding was in the middle of nowhere at a place called the Inn at Park Winters. Literally dirt roads took us to a beautiful venue you wouldn't know existed if you were just driving by. I didn't take near enough photos...these were the only few I took. 

The wedding didn't shut down until 1am and we didn't get back to the hotel until 1:30am. We fell asleep around 2 and Caiden woke up right on time at 6am. We were parents of the year that morning, let me tell you. We were really wishing that babysitter was still around. Luckily Caiden could tell we needed a nap a few hours after he woke up so he obliged by napping with us at 8:30am. 

After the nap the bride and groom had arranged for a lunch and hayrack ride tour of the groom's parents nut farm just outside of town. His parents own 600 acres of a walnut farm. It's harvesting time so we were able to see how it all went down. The coolest thing was this machine that grabs the tree by the trunk and shakes it until all the walnuts fall to the ground. It literally shakes the ground you are standing on. Caiden enjoyed the hay rack ride and watching the tractor that was pulling us. It was really a great way to spend the afternoon.

On the way back to the airport on Saturday Caiden fell asleep. It was going to be his last nap and we didn't want to wake him up after only 10 minutes so on our way we drove through downtown Sacramento. The only cool thing we saw was the state capitol.

The flight home wasn't near as good as the one there. It was at 4:30pm so around 5/5:30 Caiden was hungry, tired and cranky. He wasn't a complete nightmare but there were a few times where I looked around to see if I was getting any dirty looks. The 5 hour flight to DC next month is going to be interesting. Timing is really key to flying with a baby. Unfortunately it's not always possible to schedule a flight around their nap schedule.

Airport fun!

I was really not looking forward to having a one year old in a hotel room with us but I was really happy with how it all went down. The balcony was a lifesaver because he was happy just being out there looking down (we were on the second floor). He did get antsy a few times and we had to go let him walk the halls but otherwise it was all good. Even though he went to bed early it was totally fine. Marc and I watched a few shows in bed on the ipad with earbuds in and Caiden didn't notice at all. Overall a very successful trip and it has eased my worries about the upcoming ones!

Oh, and just a heads up.  Marc and I are headed to Cabo with a group of friends in a few days. The inlaws are coming to stay with Caiden. Wish us ALL luck!

Pics of the weeks

We haven't really done much that is overly exciting this past month, hence the lack of interesting posts. Those weeks are coming soon...wedding in wine country next weekend, 6 days in Cabo for adult only libations the following weekend, family weekend/wedding in Napa in early November, Thanksgiving for a week in Virginia then Christmas in Nebraska for two weeks in December....woooza.  I am so looking forward to all these fun things.

In the meantime here are some fantastic pics from the past few weeks.

When Caiden gets up from his naps he's real snuggly, sometimes. It's the best when he just wants you to hold him so he can snuggle a little.

A few blocks from our house is a rec center that was built a few years ago. During the day is the best time to go because no one is there. I can shoot a few hoops and Caiden can take a ball and run around.

I took him to his first music class last week. He loved all the toys that he could shake like a mother.

Seriously, my sister gets the cutest pictures of him.

After a few beers...for us, not Caiden.

Sign language

We received really good reviews from some friends on a video that helps learn sign language. I was skeptical in the beginning -thinking there was no way Caiden would sit through a video.  But I was wrong. He's captivated by it. It's so cute, if you start singing the song ("Baby, baby, baby signing time"). He gets so excited and starts saying, "baby" over and over again and dances over to the TV and points at it until you put it on.

We've been showing him the video once a day for a month now and he is finally starting to get it. All the reviews on Amazon and our friends told us it takes a month or two before it finally clicks and then they just start doing it. So true. He knows how to tell us when he's hungry which is so awesome. It makes life so much easier. He also knows how to sign 'more', but chooses to say it instead which works for me. He knows how to sign cracker, milk and bird as well. Before the video I would do sign language with him while he ate but I feel like he wasn't understanding...who knows, he probably was, it just takes awhile.

The video is about 30 minutes long and he never wines or cares about anything else when it's on. It's the only thing I've really let him watch on TV but I don't feel bad because he's actually learning something. Such a lifesaver sometimes. I would highly recommend this video for others...at only $20 it's so worth it.