Ben's Journey Below the Equator

Although it appears that Ben was having a nice relaxing trip to Argentina, Uruguay and Chile; filled with trips to vineyards, fortresses, dance clubs, soccer games and horseback rides, he swears that he was doing a lot of work too. As he puts it, "This was a class I took. We were in meetings every day, like, all day." However, they did find plenty of time to enjoy the beauty and culture of Argentina and Chili. (Uruguay was a day trip).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!

To the love of my life...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You light up my/our life Ben. We are so glad that you made it home in time so we could celebrate your special day with you. You complete me. You make our family whole. You give me strength where I am weak...I'm everything I am because you love me. You've had me from hello and God bless the broken roads that lead me straight to you. I like ya, I love ya, I want some more of ya. I am the luckiest gal in the world to be with you to infinity and beyond. I swear, by the moon and the stars in the sky...I'll be there. XOXOXOXO
PS. If you've read this far...stay tuned because we'll be posting about Ben's trip to South America soon! And we'll have lots of pictures of our little puppies too! YEAH!!

She's going the distance....

I don't know why but I have always wanted to swim across Folsom Lake. I've always thought it would be cool--something great to add to my "to-do"/"accomplished" list. Well, it seems that I might just be able to have my chance! On June 28th, there is an organized open-water swim around the lake! So, with one month left for training the question is: which distance do I do? The .6, the 1.2 or the 2.4 mile?? What do you think??

Update

Eliza is 4 months old! At her check -up she weighed in at 16.5 lbs and looked great according to the nurse. However, remember all those poopy diapers I'm always complaining about?...well, it turns out Eliza has a dairy allergy. Yep, that's right! So I am no longer eating dairy. I didn't think it would be that hard except that I LOVE cheese and that is what I normally eat for snack--so I'm having to be creative when the hunger hits. I've decided though I'd rather have to go off dairy than chocolate. Even though there are more options of dairy, I don't think I could go without chocolate for too long...I'm too weak.

In other news, we made it safe to California! After 14 hours of driving the kids had had enough as had my dad and I and we were so glad that we were done. The kids actually did really well...even poor neglected Xander. Let's just say that mom got so excited at the home stretch, she didn't think to change his diaper. :( I'm such a bad mom! Things have been good here and it is very nice having family around instead of being alone in Glendale. Ben is still in So. America for one more week and we are missing him VERY much. I know that once he gets here it will be like he was never gone but just a word of advice...don't let your husband leave right after finals...you'll feel like you haven't seen them in months...oh wait! I haven't really. But kudos to Ben because he maintained his GPA--yeah!

I'll update with kiddo pictures soon but I'm using a different camera and don't know how to upload the pictures. I'll learn soon! :) Until then...

Vigilance

I do not have any pictures to share today. Instead only to say that as summer draws near I am reminded of the importance of a parents need to constantly know where their children are. Today was such a day. After a mundane morning of packing and cleaning, the children and I needed to get outside. I thought swimming would be a perfect activity. I got the kids ready and headed to the pool. Once there Xander crawled out of his stroller and removed his shoes. I was parking the stroller when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Xander diving into the spa! I knew he had recently overcome his fear of going underwater (thank you Elia and Alivia) and I was SO excited about that but I did not think that he would ever just jump in. Thank you to my neighbor for reaching in while I jumped in after him. I know my little fish will learn to swim, and I tried not to be too alarmed...the scolding came more for not listening & waiting than for swimming because Xander thought he was swimming and don't want him to fear the water. He really does think that he can do it all by himself and maybe after this summer he can but for now...mom or dad must be in the pool first. With that said...PLEASE, when you are around the pool this summer, do not think that someone else is watching, do not think that floaties are enough, do not assume they are completely water safe until they really are...there is nothing more important than parent vigilance in water safety. Sorry for the discourse but after my scare today, I do not wish it on anyone!