Beach Weekend!

Ellie's participation in feeding the seagulls...obviously!

An evening stroll on the beach. Aaahhhh. Life is good!

Perhaps Joshua's favorite new thing... feeding seagulls!

First beach experience for Ellie!

Joshua also loved playing in the "dirt"

Last weekend, we had a wonderful family vacation. It was our first vacation since before Joshua was born! The week leading up to our vacation was pretty rough. Both kids were congested due to allergies, and they took turns waking up throughout the night. We were waking up more than we used to with a newborn around the house! Thankfully, everyone slept really well during our getaway, and it was so refreshing and fun!

Little Drummer Boy

Joshua has loved drums for as long as he has been able to express that he loves anything. He has played a plastic toddler drum with sticks attached, a battery-operated hand drum, and now, drum roll please... the real deal! Aunt Angela gave Joshua a wonderful set of drums for Christmas, and we spent the next two days talking with Joshua about being social and not throwing a fit when it was time to stop playing the drums. To his credit, Joshua does much better now, and he is even allowed to play during Ellie's nap sometimes because he plays softly when he needs to!

So it comes as no surprise that Joshua's favorite song (forget "Christmas" song; he still wants to listen to it every day), is "The Little Drummer Boy." He likes to sing the song into his little dollar store-style microphone, as he reads through his drummer boy book, while wearing a bucket, I mean, a hat on his head, while walking and drumming like in the music video, you name it! And when I say "sing", I mean that it is the first song he learned to sing pretty well by himself. (Followed pretty closely by "ABCs" and "Jesus Loves Me.") And the Drummer Boy song got us through 3 legs of travel in the car. On the 4th leg, our "music was broken". (No, it really was. At first, I was relieved to not listen to the song time after time, but after an hour or so I was ready to hear it again! Joshua still requests to listen to his Christmas song. When I start to sing it, he says he wants the "Mommy's Car" version. :)

Note to self: always be prepared

Within the States, it is relatively simple to figure things out with airlines. You simply go online and read, and you will know policies about liquids, carry-ons, luggage allowance, etc. Not so outside of the United States. Airlines, regions, and even individuals within a single airport vary in their preferences. One would think you could just read or call to get information, but after travelling in the last couple of months with a toddler, and infant (not mine), and a large pregnant belly, I am here to tell you that it just helps to expect for incredible inconvenience no matter what. If you have done much international travelling, you probably knew all of this already.

Last summer we went to Germany when I was 7 months pregnant, and no one even seemed to notice. This trip, I didn't even think about getting a doctor's note to travel because I had no use for it last summer. Big mistake. It wasn't a big deal on the way; I got some raised eyebrows and had to sign a liability form for one flight. I also had to put a pillow between my stomach and the seatbelt. I think it was supposed to protect the baby in case a suitcase flew out and hit me in the stomach... maybe they know something that I don't.

On the way back, however, I was escorted by a woman to visit the airport "hospital" where they expected me to pay for an examination that I knew I didn't need! They told me it was for my own security, and I assured them that I had seen my doctor the week before I travelled, and I felt very secure. Ultimately, I submitted to the examination, but I did not pay for it... the doctor determined that my temperature was normal, my blood pressure was normal, and I had a baby moving around in my stomach. Thanks for the helpful information!

Home again, home again!

Ok, I think I might be finished with these little breaks for awhile... at least until sweet little sister graces us with her presence! We have had a busy few weeks since we got back from the States. I just returned home from a week long women's conference in Thailand. It was a wonderful experience, but I am so glad to be back at home with David and Joshua! I have several little stories to share in the coming days about our travelling experiences. David and Joshua seemed to have a great week without Mommy, and Joshua wasn't even that impressed that I came home!

Jetlag

We had no idea how travelling would go with Joshua, but we made it to the States and through the month of pretty nomadic itinerary with relative ease. Joshua hardly slept at all during the 27 hours we were in transit to Bellaire, but he was pretty charming for 99.9% of the time. He really never showed signs of jetlag. However, coming back east has been a different story. For the first couple of nights, it was literally as if he regressed to being 3 months old where he woke up 1-2 times a night. Now, we have had two nights of 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep... but only after play sessions that seemed never ending! He has woken up at a normal time for 2 days now, so I can only hope that he will start to get tired at a decent bedtime! I have never been too bothered by jetlag, but it is because I force myself awake at the appropriate time and do my best to avoid naps that kill! Joshua, on the other hand, looked at me like I was a dream that first morning when I tried to give him milk after waking him up. He just held it in his mouth and stared at me!