18 Months of Adventure

The morning after Liam was born. He wasn't even 24 hours old yet. Sigh.

My Sweet Liam,

Tomorrow marks 18 months that your beautiful, little face has been on this planet. A year and a half has flown by faster than I ever thought possible.

The day you were born I could not stop looking at your big, brown eyes and little round face. I still can't stop looking at you. I want to sear your little face into my memory, because every day it changes.

You have always been an independent, strong-willed soul. Not even minutes after your birth you lifted your head up and looked around. I'm pretty sure your thoughts went something like this, "Hello, World! Are you ready?"

These days you are running, climbing, jumping and exploring. You love playing outside. You never meet a stranger and always greet everyone with a smile. You are saying so many things and surprise me with new words all the time. "Doggie" is your favorite word at the moment. "Avi" (avion) is a close second. Even if you just hear one while we're in the house you have to stop and run to the window to look for the airplane. You point to the sky and yell, "Avi, Avi!"  You absolutely adore babies, which is hilarious, because everyone still thinks of you as a baby. At the YMCA the childcare worker comments on how you just love to push the babies in their swings and give them hugs. You'd rather do that then play with the toys.

Not every moment is roses and butterflies, though. You have entered the world of tantrums over the last couple of months. I thought I wouldn't see this behavior until you were two, but here it is. Usually your tantrums occur if  I don't fix your food fast enough. You have always loved to eat.  Lately, I have been pulling up a chair to the kitchen counter and letting you watch or "help".  This seems to keep the tantrums at bay. This morning you spread cheese on your own toast. I was very proud of you. You are also learning that hands are for hugging - not hitting. Las manos son para abrazar - no pegar. You're getting there. Everyday is a little better. I know it takes a lot to remember all the "rules" and you're still so little, but you are also smart. That's why I expect so much from you. Honestly, we're learning together.

Now that you're 18 months you'll get to start going to a Spanish playgroup. I'm so excited that you'll be around other kids who speak Spanish too.  Next month you will take swim lessons again and I hope that you still love the water like you did last year.  So many exciting things are happening. We've had 18 months of adventure and there is still so much more to come!

I am so grateful and blessed that I get to be your mom.  Even on the stressful days, I sit back in awe of how amazing you are and how incredibly happy you make me.

I love you, nene! And I love hearing you say , "Iwubyew" back to me now. It melts my heart.

Always and Forever yours,

Tu Mami

Our weekend in Review // Mother's Day Weekend 2013

I had a lovely Mother's Day weekend with my little family. Saturday Pablo had duty, so I took Liam to check out the new Commissary. Exciting, I know, but our old one was just sad. It was so tiny! There was only one aisle of frozen food and the aisles were so small they were one way only! I think this deserves the hashtag, stayathomemomproblems. Ha!

Later Saturday afternoon we walked downtown to see the Gosport Art Festival. Local artists show off their wares every year during this fun little festival. There's live music, food trucks and even things for the kids to do. This year there were big buckets of bubble solution and giant bubble wands for the kids to play with. Liam loved running around and popping the bubbles. It was really windy, so they kept blowing right at him which made for some funny pictures. 

 

Sunday, I got to teach children's church to a wonderful group of kids. We talked about honoring and obeying our mothers. We also made a special craft for mom! One little boy kept saying, " I just knew this was going to be the best Mother's Day ever!" It was so precious! 

Liam spent the morning with Daddy and when I returned home I got two beautiful cards. One from Liam (he colored it) and one from Pablo. My Mother's Day wish was a shopping trip to Target, so off we went. Pablo took Liam to ride the kiddie rides in the mall, while I got uninterrupted time to peruse the clearance racks. It was lovely and I scored $30 work out pants for $8! Then I was treated to dinner out.  It was a fun day spent serving and just enjoying my boys. 

He was fake laughing in this picture. Goofball.

He's already trying to escape from my kisses. ha!

Our goofy family portrait.

P.S. Something funky happened when I uploaded my photos. They all came out blurry. This makes me sad and maybe at some point I'll have the time to fix them. Until then enjoy the blurry photos. lol!

An Enjoyable Screen Free Week!

I was MIA for a very good reason this past week! Liam and I participated in screen free week. Liam went 100% screen free, which did not take much effort since he hardly ever watches anything. I reduced my screen time. I mostly cut back on my social media time. I have to say it was refreshing and I learned that I can do without. :)

This week just happened to coincide with our "back to the past" trip. We took a 2 day mini-vacation as a family to Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg.  I don't think any of the settlers had smartphones, so it was nice to play along. I did take lots of pictures though.

If you'd like to learn more about Jamestown here is a great resource with info about visiting, as well.  You can also learn about Williamsburg and plan your visit here.

Our first day it rained off and on the whole time we were at the Jamestown Settlement. We still went out and saw the fort, Powhatan village and the ship even though it was rainy. Lucky for us there was a huge museum that we dried off in afterwards. The museum and all the "living" history parts are included in your ticket, so it was a full days worth of exploring.

We ate at one of our favorite restaurants in Williamsburg, Food For Thought. The food is amazing and the tables have fun conversation cards on them. The below picture is great, because we had our picture taken in the exact same spot when I was pregnant with Liam.

 Our second day in the area we walked and enjoyed the sights of Colonial Williamsburg. We didn't buy passes like we normally do, because we thought Liam is a little young to appreciate all the history. He loved seeing the animals and running free, but I don't think he would have had fun going in and out of the buildings.

 Before heading home Liam got to try his first taste of Baskin-Robbins ice cream. Needless to say he LOVED it! We had a wonderful little getaway and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do it. Planning things in the military can be very frustrating, so I'm grateful for any time we get together as a family!