The Franks

A few of his Favorite things...

2012-01-25T12:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this post is about Easton again. Surprise, surprise. But really, let's face it, this boy takes way cuter pictures than me or Ryan. Here are just a few recents of Easton-bul. He has been a gem lately and we even just found tooth #3 poking through! He's started sleeping through the nights, plays more independently, and is such a cuddler. I love these golden times!!

Here are some of Easton's favorites lately...

Well, he loves his Grandpa and Momma. He also loves the colorful mats we put in our living room. Classy, huh? I swore I wouldn't be that kind, but it has been SO much nicer with them as Easton has been learning to crawl and walk. The tile just isn't his friend and the rug just wasn't large enough.

Holy cow does this kid LOVE water. He could sit in the hose and play all day if I let him. Sometimes he gasps for air as the water can be quite cold. But that doesn't deter him, instead it throws him in a fit of giggles.

He pretty much loves anything that squishes through his fingers, but especially loves guava (passion fruit). It's not only squishy, but he loves the flavor.

Easton has more fun playing with his Dad than any other toy available. He gets so excited when Ryan gets home. You would think I was torturing him all day the way he speed crawls to his feet when he walks in the door. They are each other's toys.

Mustaches for Big Boys

2012-01-20T12:14:00.001-08:00

This week has been another week of firsts for Easton. First off, we started giving him dairy. I know not a big deal at all, but look how darn cute Easton sports the yogurt mustache?! This kid is so awesome! Totally makes my day everyday.

Secondly, drum roll please.... he slept through the night twice this week. I don't think I have ever quite been so excited reading on the alarm clock "six o'clock", having last looked at the clock at 10pm the night before. WOW! and then having him do it twice in one week, I hardly know what to do with all this uninterrupted sleep. This little bug has been fighting this phase for a LONG while! So this is a great milestone for both Mom and him.

Also...

Easton isn't the only one trying out the mustache these days. For fun Ryan grew out his facial hair for the Holidays. The day before work he shaved it all off except for this little gem. I really don't care for mustaches. Just not my thing, but Ryan was having fun with it. Enjoy the nasty 'stache!

Christmas in a Big Nut Shell

2012-01-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

So, instead of posting a bunch of mini blogs, I am just combining all of our Christmas events together.

To start off, we celebrated Easton's first St. Nick morning. I grew up getting my stocking the morning of Dec. 6th, after St. Nick had visited the previous night. I loved this tradition and am so excited to start passing it down to Easton. It is the kickoff to the Christmas shenanigans.

Easton got a few small toys and enjoyed one of his first pieces of candy

Next we celebrated our own family Christmas, before heading up to the US to visit our families.

Ryan put Easton in a bow under the Christmas tree.

So grateful to have this little gift in my life!

Then, we were off to Utah to spend a few days with our Utah family, before heading out to Colorado to spend some time with my side of the family.

Easton got some bonding time with his cousins before we left. He LOVED sharing a bath with another kid and Harlie was happy to help wash him. So cute! It made me excited for Easton to have a sibling... someday.

We also celebrated Britney's birthday. And yes, that is cake wrapped in tin foil. Let's just say that night everybody was running around!

The next part of the trip started off with me getting us packed for Colorado. I was efficiently laying everything on the bed and getting things organized when Ryan came running down explaining that he goofed on flight times and that we needed to leave at that moment! ops. So needless to say that as I was frantically throwing things in the bag, I missed a few things like our camera. Booooo. I don't have any pictures from the Colorado trip. In just a few words, the trip was a lot of fun and a bit of unfun. It was wonderful to see family, going boarding (the first time, the second time I think I broke my coccyx:)), opening gifts, and just shooting the breeze with my sisters, grandma, and parents. My highlights of the trip were def seeing my sweet nephew, Calvin, and watching my sisters bond with Easton. Haydee was a dream and happily took care of Easton countless times! Ahh, makes me want to move closer to fam, oh wait that dream is almost realized! woohoo. I am so excited to live near fam again! Back to the holiday caption though... The unfun part of the trip was the fact that Easton kept me up at all hours of the night... this is when he started getting an ear infection.

So back to Utah we went, five days later. The trip went so fast, but we got to spend an evening with each of Ryan's siblings and we all packed into the parent-in-law's house for Christmas weekend. Among the activities that weekend was the famous Christmas Eve pajama presents.

Unwrapping Christmas PJs

Miles took his first few steps and magically I happened to be taking pictures of him!

The kids also dressed up for the nativity activity. Not much of the story was spoken, but it was fun to dress up all the nieces and nephews. Easton was asleep at this point so he's not in any of these pics. I am a bit of a Nazi when it comes to Easton's sleep schedule.

Aren't they cute?! Gotta love Jack kissing the baby Jesus. That's the only way we could keep this active one in the picture.

And just a few more pics of family around the room that night

This last collage was priceless and I had to post it! My nephew, Kaden is just a year and a few months younger than his older twin siblings. He has had to get with it quick and has learned to crawl, walk, and just about everything else at a very young age to keep up with his older siblings. He is still a bit smaller than them and is continually being mauled. Most of the time he can hold his own, but as you can see he still ends up at the bottom of the pile sometimes!

The trip was wonderful. Ryan and I were a bit down coming back to Mexico without any family nearby. It also felt like we were going on a vacation to our own home, as we had gotten so used to the American culture. We sat around the following weekend feeling quite bored after all the running around. I will say that we were trying to enjoy the boredom, since in two months our lives with be anything but boring with the move.

I loved Christmas this year and already look forward to next year. At the same time, it felt great coming back to warm weather. It was funny to be washing the car in our bathing suits five days later!

Polka Dot Boy

2011-12-31T19:52:00.000-08:00

My poor baby boy got sick over a month ago with an eye infection. Eight days later it cleared up and was soon replaced with a cold. That cleared up and then came an ear infection. As we were on vacation, we went to urgent care and got a prescription for Amoxicillin. Go figure, five days later he broke out in red spots all over his face, tummy, back, okay so his whole body was covered. Yeah, he’s allergic to the stuff. So back to urgent care we went, now in Mexico. He’s looking much much better after 48 hours. He’s been a total champ through it all too. Hardly complains about any of the past crappy weeks. Here are a few pics of him and his polka dots.

Merry Mexican Christmas!

2011-12-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

This last weekend Ryan and I headed downtown for a date. We went to see the lights and displays they put up in the plazas. It's pretty much the same every year, but it's still so fun to me. I thought I better share a blog about it though... cause I feel like it is so typical of the culture. One interesting part about it is that they include, in one of their scenes, Adam and Eve in the garden. In another scene, they have Hell. Interesting. I suppose they would like us to think about the fall and how Satan tempts us, and how we must use the atonement of Christ. I kinda like how they include different Biblical parts because I really does make you think about why we celebrate the birth of Christ and what it all means from a grander perspective.
Though, I totally admit that seeing Satan on his thrown with his imps and fire is pretty startling to see so nearby the gentle nativity scene.
I took some pictures, but only with a camera phone.

Satan on his throne

Another interesting scene is the one below, depicting a family of Mexicans with the pinata. Apparently, the Pinata with the nine points represent nine sins. Then you beat the sins with a stick till it is destroyed and you finally receive your small gifts and candy. That's where the whole pinata thing came from I guess.

Crap stupid blog erased the photo, ill upload it in a min. ...

and finally the giant Christmas tree...

Faces of Bool...

2011-12-02T12:27:00.000-08:00

I love Easton's faces and expressions! I couldn't resist a blog post of these sweet gems, which I came across while weeding out our family photos.... Enjoy! These are in no particular order.

This last video isn't about expressions, but rather a cute Daddy, Easton bonding moment that I also came across, which I had forgotten about...

Easton is prob about 4-5 mo here!

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T08:02:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year.

My friend Pau and four missionaries joined us. Thanks to the help of Pau, preparing the food was hardly a stress. We chopped, cooked and taste tested all morning and most of the afternoon. The house smelled wonderful. When the missionaries came over we stuffed ourselves then played hours of Monopoly Deal. It was a lot of fun and a special thank you to our guests for making the day memorable!

Our guests

Partay with Brandon and Sarah

2011-11-22T06:39:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful time playing with Brandon and Sarah last week. We ate, ate, and ate some more! haha. After they left Ryan mentioned to me how funny that what we kept wanting Brandon and Sarah to experience down here was the food.

I called the gorging, the pre-Thanksgiving stretch! I am feeling pretty good about it!

Anyways, what didn't we eat? It was so fun showing them our fav rest., and hole-in-the-wall places! Thankfully, neither of them got sick either.

We were also in the car a bit, driving back and forth from Mexico City and we also made a trip to the Geiser. The car rides were great opportunities to sit and chat. Though, Easton was a bit squirmy, I tried to tune in as much as I could.

The Geiser is an 1-1 1/2 drive from our house, where a geiser has been tamed and feeds several large pools. They are like hot tubs and a lot of fun to visit. There is also a "tirolesa" there, or a zipline. It was one of the most intense things I have ever done! I am not joking, it was scary! So there are three ziplines and 2 bridges. All five events are over a desert canyon-type terrain. So you feel like you are hovering far above the Earth. The ziplines were fun, but the bridges were intense. One of them had little steps you take to get across. It was a brain workout not to get vertigo. Your line is attached to a zipline of course, but it is loose, so pretty much you feel like you are crossing without any security. I know this prob doesn't sound like a big deal, but it surprisingly was. I love testing heights, like skydiving, repelling, etc, but this was a whole new thing. Since, it has been awhile since I have done anything like this, I think that also added to the hype. One way or another, it was a lot of fun and a bit intense! Great sisterly bonding, hamming it up between Sarah and I so as to distract us from the heights.

Last week was great fun! Since then, we enjoyed/somewhat-endured a 15 hour temple trip with Easton on Saturday, put up Christmas decorations and I am in the middle of my prep for Thanksgiving. It takes me about a week of work to put on this great show! Ha! I LOVE Thanksgiving. And speaking of which, I should prob get off here to make and freeze my pie crusts!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Halloween Bear

2011-11-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

For Halloween Easton was a bear. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to use the costume to its full potential. Mexican day light savings was last Sunday and so for the past few days we have been trying to get Easton on the new sched. too. Unfortunately, with an earlier-than-usual bedtime, Easton was a wreck by the time it hit six o'clock. Suffice it to say, we didn't make it to either nights of trick or treating (some Mexican neighborhoods go trick or treating on the 31st, while others go on the night of the 1st, which is Day of the Dead). Bummer! One way or the other he was going to use this costume! So I just dressed him up in it on Monday and then took some pictures... enjoy!

As he was pretty exhausted at this point of the day,

we only got a few smiley shots in the bear costume

Within moments he was back to making this face

His very concerned nanny checking him out to make sure all is well,

as Easton hits a new octave

I think all the commotion was stressing Violet out because

she tends to chase and chew on her foot when she

is stressed out or full of energy. I guess she fit both

categories here.

Almost...

There! She won!

Mom and Dad come to town!

2011-10-31T08:24:00.000-07:00


Easton walking from Hannah Frank on Vimeo.


My goal for today is to get a blog up before the end of the month, so here goes!First off HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
I will prob post another blog soon with pics of Easton in his bear costume, so stay tuned for the sweetest little Halloween bear!
I could blog about a lot of different things, but I think I will stick to my Mother's visit last week. It was absolutely WONDERFUL!
I looked forward to my parents coming out for awhile and then tried soaking them up every second they were here, and now it's somewhat depressing that they are gone again. Isn't that always the way?
So, unfortunately, my Mother was only here for three full days. My Dad came down with her, but had a full schedule with work meetings. Easton and I managed to steal some of his time early in the morning before anybody else was awake. Neither my Dad or Easton sleep in, so for once, it worked in my favor:)
Easton and I got to spend our days with my Mom, which was such a treat! I seriously felt like I was on vacation too, since I negated all chores and responsibilities and enjoyed the more tourist parts of the area. My most favorite day was going to Leon with my Mother. I wish I could relive it every week. In Leon there are giant malls with purses, shoes, and accessories. All things leather. Ryan and I went three weeks earlier too, but that didn't stop me from finding a lot of new treasures again. It was a blast shopping with my mother!
We also enjoyed daily stops at the store with the delicious horchata, trying local candy in centro and just hanging out and relaxing at the house while Easton napped. I love that Easton had naps cause it gave us time to put our feet up and just chat chat chat!
Easton loved having my Mother around and was quite disappointed when the fun stopped the day after she left. He loved all the new toys she brought down for him (thank heavens for the switch up cause I am almost all out of new kitchen utensils to give him!) and he loved all her attention!!!
My mom discovered Easton's love for walking around, while you hold him by his arms of course. When he gets excited his little feet go a million strides a second! It was really cute and I have a video ill post if I can figure out how that works...
All in all it was a wonderful week! makes it hard to go back to ordinary days... At least I get to look forward to seeing everybody at Christmas again!
Below are some pics of the week.

Split Entry

2011-09-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

(I apologize for the lack of pictures. Somehow, we have already used all the space on our comp in one year, so I cant download them till I weed out some other things to make space.)

First off, a few pictures for your enjoyment!.... It was another wonderful Mexican independence week! Love the Aztecan dances, the long weekend with the hubby and though we couldn't party late with Easton, it was a perfect lazy weekend with lots of movies!

So for the real juice.... We are moving home to the lovely USA!

The news came as a surprise and I totally admit that I bawled a little. Mostly cause I started to get that homey feeling here and was getting a bit more settled here. I feel like year one is the most difficult living abroad. Then year two becomes a lot more like home. Year three, you just don't want to leave! So in many ways I'm grateful that we aren't leaving at year three! I'm still in the position where I would be happy to stay and happy to go. I absolutely have loved living here! Being reshaped and eyes opened again by living in another culture is such a gift. Personally, experiencing my first year of motherhood here will always make Queretaro extra special! The good news is that I will never say goodbye to this place. It will always be see you later since Ryan and I plan to come back to Mexico often. I hate goodbyes, and love see you later! Wish I could leave with return tickets in my hands.

My biggest ties have been with the Jaras and my ward, and with my sweet young women, especially. Can't wait to see what these amazing girls make of themselves.

When I asked Ryan what he will miss most he said just being surrounded by the culture like walking through centro hearing the music, smelling the air, and watching the people. He also said the food. What can I say? A mans heart is through his stomach right? At least that's how it is with my two Frank boys!

For me? Well, no brainer, the climate here is impeccable and I will probably miss it more shivering my way through wisconsin winters! I will also surprisingly miss Spanish. It has been my feat as well. Languages are only a small part vocabulary and grammar, the real feel of a language is through it's people. Can I claim fluency? I suppose according to a resume I can, but in real life I still feel an amateur. Maybe it's just me but I feel like in English you can organize your words just right to convey feeling behind the words, with Spanish I feel like I was finally starting to see the light. Language has always been a pitfall for me, even in English. I don't have much talent with words.

Anyways, back to the point! On the flip side, I'm so excited to be near family, to find every ingredient for my recipes, to smell those Autumn leaves and to be able to road trip it without paying an arm and a leg for tolls or worrying about shady areas. Also can't wait for nature! Its difficult to go hiking here and virtually no swimming in lakes!

Really, the list could go on, but their are happy and sad things on both sides. We move back this coming Spring and I plan to get a head start on Ryan to find housing, cars, etc. I already have my eye on a cute cape cod, that with a little tender loving care could be my dream starter home. I foresee lots of beautiful memories there with my first little kiddos!

Now for the split entry part of this blog! Easton is six months tomorrow! Where did the time go? This last month has taken me for a spin! He did a total 180 with sleep patterns and I felt like I was dealing with a crabby newborn. This past Sunday made it all better though. His first tooth came through and it made me feel sorry for the little guy cause all that fussing was just pain and discomfort. Sunday also marked the day when he first held out his arms for me! Best moment of Mommyhood. I feel like it was the closest he's ever gotten to running up to me and giving me a hug and a kiss. You know, reciprocation. Anyways, I almost teared up. And even though Ryan shined a big gleaming light on the subject that him wanting me to hold him will get old, for now it's quite the opposite effect!

He is my little prince, complete with me as the servant:) He makes my days so much more worthwhile and even at the toughest moments, if I hand him off to somebody for more than an hour I come back missing him and so excited to have him with me again. I think the separation anxiety is not just in relation to the baby!

Anyways, he's now 17 pounds and just over 26 inches of pure bliss!

Easton Eats Squash

2011-09-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Poor baby Easton has had some not-so-fun reflux. Our peds man told us to start introducing pureed solids so that he has some positive conditioning to texture in his mouth, especially after eating his milk twice in most cases. We were told to start with green, bland chayote. Unfortunately, I can't say that positive conditioning came into play. Ryan and I couldn't help but take a bunch of shots of E-Man's ridiculous faces as he ate his squash. He didn't really fuss or cry, he just kept giving us quite the facial theatrical experience. So here are some fun pics of the event.

Part1:

"I really don't think that I like this stuff, guys"

"Eh! What the heck is this crap?"

Yeah, he's had it right about now. Hand with spoon finally recoils.

"I'm mad at you Dad"

Part2:

Ahh the motherly touch!

okay, okay, so I switched out the squash for the cereal.

See, it's not all torture.

He actually really enjoys eating off the spoon.

I think he thinks he's a big kid doing it, cause he also insists

on drinking out of our water cups at the dinner table.

"yeah, much better"

We even got a smile

So maybe next time I should switch spots with Ryan and have him feed Easton the cereal. Though, I really think Ryan was getting a kick out of it. Oh, man, this kid is doomed to be ruthlessly teased. What can I say, he came down a Frank!

The sound of grass

2011-07-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

Have you ever listened to the grass after it rains? It sounds like pop rocks on a tongue. I imagine that it is the water evaporating, making the blades of grass "uncrinkle" back to it's regular shape.

Anyways, where am I getting this from? Well let's just say Easton makes me stop and smell the roses quite a bit...

This past weekend I helped decorate a chapel for a youth activity. Of course Easton was with me and twenty minutes into decorating, Easton started fussing. So I took him outside to put him to sleep. Can't tell you why but nature soothes this boy. As there was nowhere to put him down for a nap, I took a seat under a tree once he conked in my arms. That's when I heard the grass.

My point? This is one of the reasons why I love kids... Originally I was a little put out that I had to stop decorating and put Easton asleep. But then really enjoyed being left to my own thoughts with my baby boy nestled in my arms. And I feel like thats what kids help adults do... They help us to forget ourselves and help us notice different things around us.

So thanks Easton for making me stop and hear the grass!

Dr. appointments

2011-07-21T11:06:00.001-07:00

So Easton had his second dr appointment here in Mexico. Nothing too out of the ordinary, except apparently one leg seems longer than the other. Took an Xray and we will hear more about it at the next visit... But that prob sounds a lot worse than it is. The dr thinks it's not a big deal and I'm thinking it's a discrepancy that will work its way out...

No that wasn't the interesting part, the best part was Easton laughing through the entire visit! What kid likes to go to the dr? He seriously flirted with the dr and giggled during the physical. I guess I'm a lucky mom for that! He had his second set of vaccines as well. Both times he just pouts for five seconds and then is right back to his normal self! What a surprise! I almost look forward to the next visit as my kid is better than his normal self!

Man, Eman sure likes getting out of the house, even if it means a dr visit!

Happenings at the Frank's House

2011-06-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

This has been a long week.

Do you ever have those weeks where somehow there is something going on every day, which is very fun but also very tiring? That's kinda how it went for me.

First off, Ryan had some coworkers come down from WI, so we enjoyed their company one of those nights. They are here to work at different credit unions, so in effect, there will be a trip to Veracruz and Mexico City next week. I think I might go with them... am I crazy with a 3 mo. old? probably.

The other big event that has and will be taking lots of attention and time is that Ryan and I are moving to a new house. I absolutely love where we are living and feel a little depressed, even as I type about it, that we are moving. I love our neighbors, the pool, and just how comfortable we are in our home. I don't look forward to moving, but after talking about things Ryan and I decided that we have a great opportunity to move to a smaller home as our contract for this home is up the 20th of this month. By moving to a smaller home we will be able to save a lot more on rent. We currently live in a lovely city that had very inexpensive rent, so why are we paying so much more when we can still sit comfortably in a smaller home for almost half the price? So I will be going without the pool, which is my least favorite part... but... I did find a great "pool park" twenty minutes away with a 1.50 entrance fee. Not bad, I plan to go there a lot with Easton as he gets older. We will still be in a three bedroom home, but the house is just overall smaller in each room. Optimistically, I look forward to filling up the house better with our furniture and hope for much less echo!

The biggest stresser with this is that we need to be out of our house the 20th, we will be in Veracruz up till the 20th and the week after the 20th we go on our trip to Wisconsin and Utah. A lot of travel and moving in a small window. again, am I crazy with a 3 mo old? Probably.

So once we get things all switched over, ill take some pics!

My boys!

2011-05-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we decided to introduce the pool to Easton. I know, I know, he might be too little, but I couldn't help it. I REALLY look forward to long summers at the pool with my kids!
Ryan was in charge of keeping Easton entertained as I was getting our bag ready and what not. Of course their happened to be a soccer game on and before I knew it, our little boy was being introduced to TV and sports. This was Easton's first TV viewing and he was hooked. I had to snap a shot.

I was determined to keep the sun off of Easton at the pool. I put on this little hat, which wasn't really very little on HIM. Haha, I love my sweet baby boy! Always entertains us with his looks.

Well since we are living in 90 degree weather with a blazing sun, the water was like bath water in the pool. Easton loved it and we had him in the pool for prob a good twenty minutes before he started squawking. I think he will last longer next time too, we just didn't make it the pool soon enough before his nap.

Now all I need is a water donut to put him in!

Shout out!

2011-05-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

I just have to give a shout out to a wonderful chica from Mexico, Paulina!

She has been a wonderful friend and a great help with Easton since he was born. She has gone to the market with me, helped me bake for the Young Women, kept me company while Ryan took work trips, and even watched Easton on a ridiculously hot day while we went to the temple.

She is a smart and kind person and very mature for her age. I could go on and on about her, but pretty much she is awesome!

Thank you Pau for all you do and who you are!

Updates

2011-05-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Last week Ryan had a work trip in Ecuador. I was too nervous to stay home alone for a week with Easton, so my sweet sister, Haydee, offered to take us in for the week. So off to LA we went. I felt so blessed and lucky to go!

The week was absolutely wonderful! Easton and I spent a couple days at the apartment hanging out and waiting for the work day to end so that we could play with Haydee and Nate. It was nice to have a change of scenery and I even enjoyed a couple hours in the sun on Haydee's roof. We took lots of walks and prepared a couple dinners. My sister took a couple days to hang out with us. One day we "went to work" with Haydee and cruised around LA with her.

We also met Haydee's boyfriend, Nate. He is a wonderful person and all four of us had a great time together in the evenings playing cards, eating yummy dinners and just sitting and talking.

My sister and Nate are pretty much amazing and had me signed up for a massage, manicure (love them Haydee!:)), and a date with the dry bar (a hair styling salon). Ahhh, so wonderful! I finally got to enjoy some delicious Sushi ( I haven't had it since before I was prego with Easton)! Of course we went shopping and visited one of Nate's beautiful shopping malls that he works at. It was a lovely week and can only thank (over and over again) my sister and Nate! Thank you guys! I love you both!

Really my favorite was just seeing my sister. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about her. She is truly one of my most favorite people on this Earth!

Posted pics on Facebook but here are just a couple.

Moms and baby!

2011-05-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

First off, Happy Mexican Mother's Day!

After I left the house my appreciation for my Mother grew. Now that I have my own child, my appreciation for my Mother has grown yet again! Having and raising a child is a lot of work, takes a lot of thought and requires a bit of patience and I am only on week seven! Ha. It is also wonderful and inexplicably one of the happiest things to me.

I would just like to applaud every mother out there, especially my own, who ever worried, loved, protected, and taught. It is a lot of work and though it might go somewhat unnoticed some days, every effort is quite noble. Thank you for every sacrifice and every bit of love you have offered!

Secondly, I just finished reading my good friend Angela's post about her new baby. She mentioned a bunch of his likes and dislikes. I too don't want to forget my newborn's personality, so I am going to mention a few things here.

Well Easton is almost seven weeks. Last week he measured to be 10 and a half pounds. Woowoo! Nice going my little munchkin.

My absolute favorite things about Easton are

1. He is extremely cuddly and loves to nuzzle into my body as he gets ready to sleep.

2. Right after he wakes up and is done with his meal, there is about a twenty minute window where he is extremely alert and very happy. Several times a day at this time, I lay him on his back and use those twenty minutes to talk to him. He smiles, coos and even so much as lets out some kind of little laugh (or maybe just excited coo). He tries to talk back to me and we will go a good twenty minutes, sometimes, talking back and forth. This is my highlight!

Other things about Easton...

He is a very social boy and gets along with anybody holding him... but I must admit he shows preference to his Mama

He is getting better at sleeping at night, wakes up three times instead of five or six... but he has nights where he tries my patience and wakes up four or five times again.

Part two of the above is that the poor little guy cries in pain from a gassy tummy. I think this is the culprit to waking up so often

He eats just like me, practically inhaling his food. He is done with his meal in about 8 minutes

He loves to be moving and gets bored of a scene pretty fast. In fact I realized the other day that he gets fussy in his car seat when we are stopped at a light for a while or when we are stopped in traffic. He stops fussing as soon as we are moving again

He is getting better in his bouncer and will now sit in it for twenty minutes before getting fussy

He is great with eye contact and has been since the day he was born. I never saw a newborn hold a steady gaze for so long

He hates dirty diapers, a late meal, and a gassy tummy. It is almost always one of these things when he gets upset.

He is a stubborn little fellow and purses his lips tightly closed if he no longer wants to eat or he doesn't want his pacifier.

He still gets hiccups regularly, like he did in my belly

He flails his arms quite a bit, Ryan calls him our little karate kid

Did I mention he loves being cuddled and in motion? That is the best way to calm him down

He has had a hard time with breastfeeding but randomly decided to get good at it all of a sudden two weeks ago

He loves being hot. I mean to the point that he is sweating. Ryan loves his constant sweat mark on his arm

He's in size 3 mo. clothes already

He is quite hairy and had little tuffs of hair on his shoulders and ears when he was born

Ill add more as I think of things, but this is a pretty good start!

Baby Blessing

2011-05-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last Easter Sunday, April 24th, baby Easton was blessed at our Colinas ward, here in Mexico. Among the circle were the Bishop Campos, Luis Santana, Luis Lazano, and Dad Frank.

Here is a photo of Ryan with Easton after church.

Boom Baby- Five Generations

2011-04-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Five Generations- Boom Baby!
So excited to get a photo with my Great Grandmother! Seriously, such a highlight.

Labor Story

2011-04-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's been almost a month, so I better write this down before it slips my mind. And yes, somehow I have repressed much of the labor memories.

So to back up, lets go to March 2oth at 11 pm when I woke up with a start. I couldn't tell you why, but my guess is that I must have had a hormone rush or something as my body geared up for the main event. After pushing on my tummy a little to feel Easton's kicks I fell back asleep. Though, something felt different.

So throughout the day on the 21st, I had surges (contractions). I just figured they were the routine braxton-hicks, so I dismissed them as nothing out of the ordinary. My mother, on the other hand, was convinced that I was going to go into labor. She arranged to have family home evening at the bowling alley so that I would have to be up and about. I thought she was exaggerating but played along anyways. The bowling ally was full so we went to the movies to see Rango instead. Ryan and I kept track of the surges in the movie. I felt 8 within the two hour movie.

Throughout the night the surges came stronger and more frequent, so I couldn't sleep. At midnight they were evenly 15 mins apart, by 1 am 10 mins apart, then from 3 to 5 am they were between 5-8 mins apart. I started to get suspicious so we called the hospital and they told me to come in just to be sure. At 6:30 we arrived at the hospital and after negatives on all the checks from the resident MD, was told I wasn't ready yet. The nurse didn't buy it and requested that I had my cervix checked. I was dilated to a 4 and 60% effaced. So they admitted me.

Throughout the morning and that night I practiced hypnobirthing, which is a relaxed state of mind during labor. I listened to soft music and focused on keeping my mind relaxed and breathing. It was extremely helpful and I did just fine during this period. At about 10:30 am the surges started to get very strong and I asked them to check me. I was at a 6 and 80% effaced. I was getting tired from all the back labor. The back labor was difficult to deal with and I wasn't able to focus on the surges as well.

I had tried the birthing ball, side lying, back lying, and nothing was really relieving the pressure from the back labor. The lovely nurse who had helped that morning, suggested to move to the tub. At first I didn't want to, because every time I changed positions the surges would get stronger. In the end I went to the tub and it was SO helpful. Next baby, I am going straight to the tub! I felt less during the surges and it wasn't until about 1:30 that I started to lose it again. I had had it and asked to be checked. If the progress wasn't improving I was strongly considering some kind of numbing. Well, they checked me and I was complete. Geez, how long had I been complete for!? Good thing I asked to be checked. Those last three or four surges were tough, but after hearing that I was complete I had renewed energy. I jumped out of the tub (literally) and skated across the floor to the bed.

I realized that I had no idea what I was supposed to do next. I tried pushing, totally in vain (I was not doing it right at all). Then, mother nature tuned me in and I was able to use the surges with the pushing. In less than twenty minutes and prob only four or five pushes, baby Easton came into this world, without even a cry. They immediately brought him to my chest and for the next couple of hours, I couldn't move. I was in complete denial that I had a baby and just kept staring at Easton. Those two hours were most likely two of my happiest hours in my life. Magical. It's not like fire works went off, but it was just a gentle feeling of love. I wish I could relive those two hours every day.

So that's about it...

If you heard Ryan's side of the story, he would emphasize the fact that at some point near the end I chomped his finger. Ops. He would also mention how exhausted he was from holding me up in the tub. Wierdly, after I got in the tub my entire body went numb and couldn't even hold myself up. So glad the hubby saved me from drowning:). Ryan passed out soon after the birth and took several naps over the next day or two. People kept asking who had given birth me or Ryan.

On the flip side, after delivering Easton I had the most fantastic recovery. The moment he was out, I was totally awake and energized. If I can toot any horn, it is the recovery from a natural birth. Truly amazing! I was tired a few days later from lack of sleep, but my body felt like almost nothing had happened.

Made it!

2011-04-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, it is Friday and we are back in Mexico!!!

We flew from Madison to Mexico City on Wednesday. Then took the shuttle bus from Mexico City to Queretaro.

I can't tell you how nervous I was to travel with a three week old. When I was 8 months pregnant and flying from Mexico to Wi, Easton moved a ton through each flight! I was so nervous that this was going to be a foreshadow of the trip back. I was pleasantly wrong.

I could not have asked for a more perfect traveling experience (minus the fact that Ryan and I were exhausted). Easton slept both flights and was awake in the airports. When he was awake, I don't think he could have been more happy. I think I can say that the kid was in awe. He kept looking at all the people and different things. I began to realize how much Easton likes to be stimulated. I am surprised that my three week old likes to see so much. Must be a Frank:) because I am much more of a home body.

Even at home, during his awake hours, he is most content when you walk around the house in and out of different lighting. He tends to turn his attention to the sunnier spots. Boy after my own heart, we both have an attraction to the sun.

So anyways, I was grateful nobody touched him, sneezed near him, or anything of the sort in the airports. He seems to have made it intact! Ha, I am a worry wort.

The next day, Thursday, was not so hot! Almost as bad as day five of Easton's life when he refused to eat for twelve hours! So yes, Thursday we were all exhausted. We got to our house at 1 am that morning, then of course there were the routine feedings throughout the night and for some terrible reason we all woke up at 7 am. We ran errands all morning (we had no food in the house and needed to pay bills before our water and electric was shot off again). I nearly had breakdown number two by 4 in the afternoon when we finally finished running.

After a 10 pm to 9 am wake up and sleep routine (I am not a nap taker so I just reserve 12 hours at night to get my sleep in between feedings) last night, I feel so much better!

So blessed by Wednesday and can't get much more tired than Thursday!

Cheers Easton and Ryan!

Introducing... Easton

2011-03-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

Easton Mark Frank

Born: March 22, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Weight: 7 lb 10 ounces
Length: 19.5 inches
Labor duration: about 14 hours

One week left!

2011-03-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, where has the time gone!?
Even though it says one week left, I wonder when baby Easton really plans to get here. I have a tentative induction date for April 1st, but am considering skipping it... what's one more week, right?!
I was not too thrilled about the April 1st birthday either, especially cause Ryan has already been joking about and pushing for an April Fools birthday. Great, our son isn't even born yet and the poor kid's father is already scheming his birthday. I am still hopeful for a March baby:)
Things have been going well though and I am very content with pregnancy right now. Aside from the growing few stretch marks I have acquired (tear) and this awful cold I caught this past week, I am feeling pretty great. False labor has been going on for weeks and it's kinda fun to feel the muscles contract. Bodies are pretty amazing to me.
So I will post one last pregnancy picture. I had another growth spurt the past two weeks. I still don't feel enormous, but the picture might say otherwise. Sometimes Ryan lifts my belly for me and it feels so liberating to get the weight off! It makes me gitty to get my body back and the weight off! Now, lack of sleep, I can stand to put off for another week or so!

Foooood!!!

2011-03-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are having a couple LDS missionaries over for dinner. As Ryan is home and we are having two young guys over for dinner, I am making something hearty. I am making Pasta with Basil Cream Sauce, salad, rolls, and pie. The recipe that I found for the pasta sauce, is without fail, a hit every time I make it. The flavor is wonderful and of course there is all that cream which leaves your stomach begging for a second helping. Yes, it's one of those lean-back-in-your-chair-as-you kick-yourself-for-over-eating recipes.
As some of you might know, I almost never memorize recipes and never remember how I tweak them either. I try to write notes, but in the end I think half of what I make is forgotten and difficult to find or reinvent again. This is not one of those. Thankfully I found the recipe online and somehow I always manage to find the correct page again.
This basil cream sauce is made by Chef Vogel and after a little further investigation, discovered that he has his own website of recipes. Once I find a good recipe, I tend to experiment with others from the same webpage. I haven't ventured into the other recipes...yet, but I can assure you that if the only recipe you walk away with is the Basil Cream Sauce, you will be content.
Here is the site:
www.foodforthoughtonline.net
I hope all you aspiring chefs enjoy!

Ps, the cream sauce is very quick and easy to make! I usually add peas or roasted peppers for a little more color and variation.

Stress and joy

2011-03-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, things have been crazy lately!
So just 25 days left till baby Frank's due date, but who knows what that really means!
Last Monday Ryan and I flew from Mexico to Madison. The trip was a success and I was really grateful that I didn't really have a swelling issue or any other discomforts. In fact I was feeling so confident about my state of being that when the flight attendant offered vouchers for a later flight, Ryan and I were the first ones to the counter. I love free miles!
Then I ran amock last week, spending time with my Mother, trying to get prenatal classes finshed and meeting my Dr. for the first time (weird saying that at 36 weeks!). He is... interesting. Great Dr., totally different than what I was expecting though.
Then Friday afternoon I was working out all the kinks to getting Doodle back to Mexico after he is born. Screeeeech, eeeeek, ahhhh! Apparently, you can't take an infant over the border with just a birth certificate (unless you are by land or sea), which is what I had been told. He needs a passport after all... yeah those take a little while. So does that social security card that the passport app requires... and so does that birth certificate that the social security card app requires!! and of course it was 3:30 on a Friday when I figured this all out, three days after I am no longer advised to fly internationally! Ahh, I was about to turn my little hiney right back around and sneak onto the next flight to Mexico City. I was so stressed and there was no way I was sitting in the US for the first two-three months of my baby's life without my hubby.
I called different agencies incessantly till the clock tocked five. Dang passport call center kept feeding Ryan and I different info about it all, you need a social security #, then you don't. It was 2 to 1, not in our favor at five. Ryan felt pretty confident that this was all going to be okay and that in some weird way it was supposed to happen. Hannah's thought: Yeah, maybe it was supposed to happen to prove what irresponsible parents we will be! (When I panic, optimism is not my strength!)
So after worrying for the next couple days Ryan left on a jet plane Sunday afternoon, back to Mexico for work. Then bright and early Monday morn, I called the different birth certificate people to see if I could get a rush on that. Ryan called the passport agency and good news!!! We don't need a social security card, we can get the passport processed in a day and no longer than two weeks, and I am going to be put on the list as a priority for the birth certificate to be processed, so no more than a two week wait, and prob much shorter! Woooopeeee!

So, if all our sources check out, we will be sitting pretty on the airplane sometime in April.
If not, we will resort to plan b: travel by land or sea (that would be.... interesting).

Moral of the story:

Don't wait to get these sorts of gov't documents for your wee one. It takes forever and you will be grateful you don't have to worry about this sort of thing when you decide to travel, if you just get it done in the beginning!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

-St. Augustine

-Thank you Ryan-

Making Tacos...

2011-01-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

When Ryan and I first came to Mexico, the Farfan family invited us over for tacos. They were sooo good! Ever since then I have been hoping that Brother Farfan would take some time to teach me how to make the different salsas and meat for the tacos...

Well, the day arrived this week. They were everything I remembered! Below are some pictures of the afternoon!

This is Brother Farfan cutting up the bistek

Here is the bistek cooking. When making the meat you really only need to add a little salt and oil to your steak cooking. You also need the steak to be nice and thin. The butcher cuts the meat this way, specifically for making tacos.

Here is the Chorizo (pork) that comes in sausage links. All you have to do is remove the casing and cook up the meat. It comes seasoned... I hope I can find a decent carniceria (butcher shop) in the US!

Below is my FAVORITE salsa called salsa Verde. If at all interested in how to make this, shoot me an email and I will give you the recipe. It is a bit spicy, but you can adjust that in the recipe. The salsas are what give tacos their oomph!

The "verduras" or veggies you dress your tacos with. It really is just cilantro and onion diced up, but is soo yummy on the tacos too!

Salsa Roja: This is also a very good salsa. It has a different kick than the green salsa. The spiciness comes at the end of the taste.

Here are all the yummy ingredients we used. Tacos aren't as unhealthy as I thought. It's mostly just a bunch of veggies and meat on a tortilla. I think the stands around town make their tacos so yummy by dipping the tortillas in pork grease before heating them up... this is what prob puts on the fat cals. too, because let's face it, you don't normally lose weight eating Mexican!

I need to post a finished product picture! I totally spaced taking a picture at the end. But as we are having leftovers for lunch, I will be sure to take a picture then!

Last day at UVM clinic

2011-01-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

So, only a month left before I head up to the US for seven weeks to have Doodle. I decided to end volunteering at the UVM clinic a month early so that I can focus on getting things ready for Doodle and me and spend a little more time with Fronk. After all, these are the last days for Ryan and I to have time with just each other. I think the movie theater will be seeing us a lot!

I loved volunteering at the clinic and met some WONDERFUL people. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening I was in physical therapy (which I enjoyed more than I thought I would). I loved working with the patients there. Every Wednesday morning I moved around different Dr. offices and shadowed/helped drs during their consultations. I LOVED this as well! I was mostly with a Gen Med Dr., Dr Tinoco. She rocks and I learned quite a bit from her! Also loved Gyno.

Unfortunately, I don't have a pic with Lucrecia, one of my favs from physical therapy or a pic with Dr. Tinoco. But here are some of my other favorite people from physical therapy on my last day. I will miss working with them!

Summer again!!!

2011-01-19T12:33:00.001-08:00

So, I don't know if you could tell from my blogs in December... but I was getting a little jealous of all of you who live in four season places. More depressed, than jealous really. Isn't that ironic? Usually I get down in the winter months BECAUSE of the snow and not enough sunlight!

The holidays just didn't feel the same without the seasons changing. My sweet hubby even made me a snow man from the snow cone machine to make me feel better! haha, how ironic again?!

Well, I am finally out of that downer mood and guess what? Yesterday I woke up to the birds singing and the sun shining and it felt great! It is a balmy 80 degrees. I am back to my love for summer again. I think the flowers in my background is a pretty good description of my feelings about it all... that and that's the most Valentin-y this blog is going to get! Im not one for hearts and roses all over the place.

So pretty much I am ready for a bbq and some camping... anybody game?

I am pretty sure the only individuals who read my blog are my friends and fam., so here is your invite to come visit me and escape the winter snow!

Argh

2011-01-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

Why can't I find the option to change my font colors!?

Help?

365 days in Mexico

2011-01-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

One year ago from January 12, Ryan and I came to live in Queretaro, Mexico.

I can hardly believe that we have been here a full year. It has been such a fun and interesting experience. After having this epiphany, Ryan and I started reflecting over the year...
here are some of our Mexican highlights and things that we have learned while being down here

1. I think one of my favorite things about Mexico, which I relive each week, is the ridiculously inexpensive food at the outdoor Market. I love bringing home 2-4 bags of delicious fruits, veggies and fresh chicken for only $15. It really just makes my day every week.

2. Tacos al Pastor- These are my and Ryan's favorite Mexican dishes! Tacos al Pastor are made with tasty pork smothered in seasoning, slow cooked on a rotisserie and then sliced into a hot, fresh, greasy tortilla. Finally topped with cilantro, yummy hot salsa, onions and pinneapple. Heaven!

3. Watching Ryan learn Spanish and adapting to the Latin culture. I think he has more patience with some of the cultural isms than I do. (Ps, Thanks babe for all the mutual giggles while learning this language. Example, using "azteca" for "estaca" throughout an entire meeting or the infamous "pajero" en vez de "pajaro" at girls' camp! haha, never gets old! ... oh yeah, and como va tu oyo?)

4. Learning to pay electric bills five days before it's due. If not, they shut off your electricity for days!! Refer to past post for details

5. Realizing that Google Maps for Mexico is completely off and ends up sending you in all directions. I refuse to use it anymore.

6. Understanding what a guiso is. The typical Queretana comida.

7. Avoiding taxibuses like the plague! They are the most reckless drivers and every time I am driving near one of these beasts I realize that I am holding my breath and clenching the steering wheel.

8. Accepting the fact that the work day doesn't end until 7 pm or later for most. So when Ryan has meetings going into the night, don't get frustrated...

9. As much as Mexico City is great with what it has to offer... my motto is "get in, get out, get on with your life" for this place. There are sooo many people, traffic's crazy, and you don't want to get stuck in the wrong places.

10. I ironically enjoy the well known fact that the Narcos families tend to live in Queretaro. That's why it's nice and quiet here, nobody wants to get things wriled up... it's a family sort of town

11. Don't take your shoes off. Barefeet doesn't exist here... (You'll get weird looks if you attempt it)

12. Dressing normal here is dressing up for me normally

13. There is a ridiculous amount and variety of chilies here and I think they are eaten at just about every meal!

14. C on the water faucet doesn't mean cold...

15. You will not find Halls cough drops in the pharmacy section, but in the candy section of the grocery stores

16. Driving isms:
Emergency Flashers don't mean emergency, it means there is traffic ahead.
People will turn right/left from any lane
Don't worry if you see police lights behind you, the police keep their lights on all the time

Im sure we could come up with a bunch more... but I think this is a decent start.

Week 29

2011-01-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

Just a couple pics from yesterday's appt. Again, he was face down and scrunched up. Sorry no great pictures. He is growing big and doesn't have as much space as he used to. Dr said he was about 1.4 kg (which is 3.1 pounds)!

Doodle all balled up

(His head is on the right and the Dr. is checking

his food supply)

And this my friends is a part of the reason why we can't see his face.

He made little fists and hid his face behind them.

I think he wants to keep us in suspense and make a grand debut in a few months!

What a tease.

What the?

2010-12-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

Most of the time I can't believe I am pregnant. In fact, almost every morning I forget that I have a belly. It's quite the shocker when I look myself in the mirror. Doodle moves quite a bit though to remind me he's around and growing. I love that.

Why is it that I still don't feel that pregnant even though I am further along? Don't get me wrong, the baby kicks, acid reflux, and throwing up in my mouth never ceases, but the fact that I will have a baby in three months still seems out of this world.

Maybe I am just in a daze in my life... I still can't believe it's Christmas time and it's 3 days before the big day! I have baked well over 400 cookies in the past three weeks, read Christmas stories, spent nights decorating and doing Christmas crafts with Ryan, listened to hours of Christmas music, watched Christmas movies, gone to Christmas parties and plays and have been spending extra time on the people around me in various ways... and yet I still can't believe it's Christmas! Ryan has even been giving me the 12 days of Christmas this year! Maybe it's the swaying palm trees and the lack of decor around town that is throwing me off. Still, I am trying to absorb and think about Christ and Christmas, culturally, as much as I can. I love this time of year and I don't want it slipping by without a good fight!

A Moment of Kahn

2010-12-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know this, there is a common family heritage among the female members of my Mother's side of the family. It's called ridiculously strong women... (emphasis can be put on ridiculous in certain situations). My Great Grandmother Kahn being the one who carries this trait strongest. When we went to Grandma Kahn's house as a girl we were expected to sit quietly on her couch listening to conversation or to go outside. Even though she can be a tough cookie, I never thought of her as mean, on the contrary, I absolutely adore this woman. BUT you could not pay me to cross her!

So the qualities of such a personality trait sometimes include the words, spitfire, sassy, stubborn/unbreakable, opinionated/sure, and most often loud. Though the trait can be a weakness it has also been a strength from past experiences. After all my Great Grandmother is in her 90s and I think the only thing that will break her is her own body not cooperating to her mind's demands.

This trait has definitely trickled down the bloodline and with a latin background (meet a latin woman to know what I am talking about here) on my fathers side and the Kahn trait on my Mother's, I am bound to have moments of being a ridiculously strong woman.

So now that you know what a "Kahn (maybe I should say Harde since that is my Great Grandmother's maiden name) Moment" is... I can tell you that I had a moment of it last week. Ryan and I went to the Nutcracker ballet here in Queretaro. The ballet was accompanied by a children's choir and the Orchestra Filarmonica. It was a fabulous show and exceeded my expectations. Their was a lot of talent and many many hours had obviously been put into the music, costumes, dance, and props. I always think it's a good sign when the orchestra starts playing and you have to make a double take to make sure the musicians are playing live and it is not a recording you hear.

Well, I loved the entire performance, but was very disappointed with the audience! In my defense, I really did try to ignore the heels going up and down the passageways during the show, the chatter during the scenes and the random scattered applause at mere music pauses... but the end was unacceptable in my opinion. At the end of the performance the dancers, choir and orchestra were given different spotlights, of course so that we could applaud them. You cannot imagine what happened... maybe only half of the people there applauded! No whistles, no standing, no woots .... there was hardly even an applause. In fact several groups of people got up and left prematurely, when they were supposed to be applauding. I felt so embarrassed! I couldn't believe it so of course I can't keep my mouth shut and start bursting out words of disappointment. I just couldn't stop going off on how horrible our audience was and I kept glaring at the young adolescents sitting in front of me that stared at the stage with crossed arms (I can understand this behavior a little better if their was disorganization and bad planning, but this performance was wonderful and the tickets were very inexpensive!). I was so upset and it wasn't until Ryan started telling me to keep it down and nudging me to let it go that I realized... ops I had a Kahn moment.

Yup, that's how it goes... you start getting loud, animated, passionate, and can't let it go. At least glaring was the most I did... but I got a pretty mean glare.

Just saying... sometimes I try to keep this Kahn trait in check... but sometimes it just can't mask itself! and sometimes I think people just need to hear it.

Am I ridiculous sometimes? Yes, very. Are some of the woman in my family ridiculous at times? Yes, they have their moments. But I do love how strong the women can be in my family, so here is a shout out to them!

Doodle

2010-12-03T06:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I decided that it's about time I add photos of Doodle... (I need to do more shout-outs for this favorite tyke of mine!)

I can't find week 16 photos, which is a bummer cause those were the best ones. and our doc

only gave us the video and not the MP3 pics from this last visit, week 24:(

I will add the others as soon as I can!

Here is week 6 of our little bug

This is week 11, now more like an alien than a bug

I wish I had week 16! This is when he starts looking more like a baby!

This is week 20, of course I had to put a crotch shot up... finding out the sex was a highlight at this u/s

Another week 20, he was nuzzled down so we couldn't get a very good shot of his profile:(

Here is a pose of his meaty thigh though

So like I said, I don't have week 24 in picture form:( The little squirt took the same position as week 20s though, so again we haven't had a shot of his profile in a while!

Instead, here is a pic of the lovely stomach instead...

24 w 2 d

So Doodle still doesn't have an official name. But, he is full of personality and moves uncontrollably sometimes. Ryan has been feeling him a lot lately. I can feel his little hiccups, but my favorite is when he bounces on my bladder like a trampoline!

haha, I really have liked second trimester! Other than occasional nausea and maybe a little more emotional temperament, there have only been highlights the past couple of months!

Monarch Butterfly Excursion!

2010-11-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

Up in the mountains in Michoacan, Mexico (a 3 hour drive from where we live), you'll find Monarch butterflies that migrate from the US and Canada. They make this migration every year in November and stay there until February. Monarch butterflies only have a life span of 8 months, so it's quite miraculous that generation after generation, these butterflies continue their migrations to the same exact spots in Mexico.

So, since, I am not getting any smaller these days, Ryan and I decided to make a list of all the little trips we want to take before baby Frank comes. Seeing the migrating butterflies was one of them. We drove to a small town, Mavatio, Friday night and slept in this tiny and very old hotel room. In the morning we drove to the mountains, then up up up to the top we went. Thankfully there is a road for most of it. Then, you hike (more like a stair stepper exercise, if you ask me) for 45 minutes till you get to the top of the mountains where you see the branches of dozens of trees weighed down by all the butterflies. There were thousands of them perched in the branches. The butterflies do not leave the branches and fly around

unless the sun shines on them. And unfortunately for us, it was pretty cloudy. We had a burst of sunshine for maybe ten minutes and several of them started flying around.

It was so neat to see them all. These photos don't do justice, but the quantity of monarch butterflies hanging out in the trees was pretty incredible and as you looked around yourself you would find more and more trees in the distance with the same thing. The place we went to was

a reserve so they have many of the trees roped off to protect them. and even crazier to think about is that there were several other reserves and locations to see the butterflies in the neighboring mountains!

We had a beautiful weekend! Enjoy the pictures!

Here is Frankie, posing for a pic as we hiked up the mountain

A view going up the mountain with a pretty decent slope

This little one was perched on a twig next to me with an injured wing.

Poor thing wasn't doing so well.

Fly my pretties! Fly, Fly!

(It was pretty hard to get a shot of them flying around unless you caught

their silhouettes in a patch of blue sky)

Most of the butterflies were high in the trees, but occasionally a few

would come down and model for us:)

Here is my attempt to show you the butterflies in the trees.

Basically all the brown on the branches are them. With their wings closed,

you don't see their orange until they fly. You can make out the shapes of

their wings a little better in this picture.

We met up with a bunch of other people when we got to the top.

Everybody was very respectful and quiet as we all watched.

Woohoo, here comes the light...! Can you see how the branches are all heavy looking?

Basically the leaves on those branches aren't leaves, but butterflies.

Here is another shot, where I think you can see the

reddish brown of their wings better

Another butterfly gone solo and not too shy to come say hello down by us

(Though he was still pretty high up!)

Go Belle!!!

2010-11-29T06:55:00.000-08:00

Belle had her first cheer competition of the season Nov. 20th.

She and her team ROCKED!!

of course, they took first in their division....

and they were even rewarded the highest scores that they have had in awhile!

NICE JOB BELLE!!!

High kicks, jumps, and screams!

Getting ready on the bus at 6 am! That's my girl!

Havin fun with the girls before the performance

Fall's Beauties!

2010-10-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

So this is another belated blog, from last month. I went home to WI the end of Sept./beginning of Oct. I went at the prime time! I was getting pretty homesick for fall and sick of being at home so much. What a treat to go home and see the leaves change! I also got to help my sis, Belle, with Homecoming activities at school. I spent tons of time with my Mother! The trip, overall, was wonderful and was sooo needed. I felt very rejuvenated and lively by the time I came home again! Thanks Mom and Dad for spending time with me!

The first several pictures are from walking around the lake in Oconomowoc. This is one of my family's favorite things to do. It was my Mother's birthday this day, and this is what she requested to do. It was a lovely day!

The first pics are a stop-off along the walk. This is La Belle Cemetery, where my grandfather (Poppy) was buried. I always consider this one of the most peaceful places on Earth and have several loving memories of it when I visited it as a young girl.

The next pics are along the walk around the lake.

Yay!! A football game.

We didn't stay long, as we had to run a few errands, but I was so craving a good American football game. This is Oregon High School's homecoming game and we beat our rivalry from Stoughton!

Before the game was the local homecoming parade. My beautiful sister, Belle, was on the cheerleading float and I drove my Dad's car for some of the homecoming court!

Belle at the homecoming pep rally. Poor Belle was bombarded with hoots and hollers from Ryan and my Dad. This sort of thing embarrassed the crap out of me in high school, but I admit that it's great support! Go Belle!!

Belle is the one in the back, being held up!

This had to be my favorite moment while I was home. Dad, Mom, and I went to the lake in Madison and sat out on the pier, talking.

Man, did I love that time with them! Here are some pics!

I love these two!!

While driving back from some garage sales, Mom and I stopped at a farm and picked out some fall squash to decorate with and to eat! Not a big fan of eating this stuff, but they are neat to look at!

I absolutely loved being home! It made me excited to move back!

2010-10-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

Not really into the belly shots, but due to the family and friends requests... here you go peeps. Not too much to look at, just looking wider. Only week 16 here. I have gotten a lot bigger the past three weeks! Ill post another one soon... er than later:)

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Around mid September, I got worried about the holidays. I know that

living overseas during the holidays is never quite as good as when

you are in your homeland. So to cure that loneliness, I decided

to follow suit after my Mother (like she did in Nicaragua) and do extra fun festivities

to fill the void.

For Halloween, I decided to make my own party. I discovered something interesting

about myself as I planned this party too... I enjoy planning

and making parties but then when the hour of the party arrives, I am already over it.

So let me explain.

I have been planning for this Halloween party since September where

I spent hours creating a menu, finding crafts to do to decorate my house,

discovering the perfect eerie music

and thinking up games.

I think I gave Martha Stewart's website an extra 100 hits this month.

I decked out my house in cobwebs,

old looking curtains, fake mice, glow-in-the-dark eyes, the works, to make it

look like a haunted house. I spent hours working on cutouts and hand-made invitations.

Then I spent several

days before the day of, making carameled apples as party favors,

baking everything from scratch and even making floating hands for

Dead Man's punch. I figured out a matching costume with Fronk and everything else. I

have to say I actually enjoyed most of this, but the real reward

came a couple hours before the party when everything was finished. You can't tell

from the pictures, but I must say that it turned out pretty rad.

Then, an hour before the party, I decided that I didn't really want to have

it anymore. I just wanted to eat my food and sit under my black light in peace, listening to horror music.

Oh well, the party went on. and I spent the rest of the night running around playing host.

I had a handful of teenagers come over, as I

figured they would most appreciate the party, not being able to go to late night

Halloween clubs

or doing any of the trick or treating.

Here are a few pics of the evening...

Just starting to get the party started.

It was a costume-only party. I forget how little teenagers like to dress-up. But, I admit that I do remember the days when all you want to do is put on overalls, say you're a farmer and call it a night.

Some came out pretty decked out though. Mirna, below, had one of my favorite costumes. Dressed neck to foot, she

was covered in gauze and other medical taping. Very fun mummy!

Pretend Ryan is a greek turned to stone and not a dead angel. I was Medusa. Never a good sign when you have to explain your costume. Oh well.

Game time! My favorite game, not pictured, was trick-or-treat Fear Factor. You can find

so many great things at the butcher, here in Mexico, for this game.

Ryan rolled trick first and kicked off the game eating "dragon" (chicken) foot soup.

haha. I was nice

enough to let him eat the soup around the foot, instead of eating the foot:)

Here are pics of a couple other games.

It was so fun watching Ryan getting into the games. It was like the kid came out in him!

Yum, food. Here are a couple of fun treats I came up with.

Turds on a platter....

and bloody worms!

It was so fun coming up with this stuff. I really did love getting it all ready.

The night was fun too and after a decent clean-up,

my house is back to normal!!

Happy Halloween!

Celebrating Mexico's 200 Years!

2010-10-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last month, here in Mexico, the 200th Independence Day was celebrated. Bicentenario, as they fondly referred to it, was a big deal where they had been planning and having celebrations for Mexico's Independence in various cities across the country all year long! (that was a mouthful, sorry!) The largest celebration, was of course, in DF (Mexico City). Though, Queretaro does play an important role in the country's liberation. Queretaro is a larger, colonial city, where peace treaties were signed and later where the Mexican Constitution was signed. Therefore, we had our own festivities as well!

Thursday night, the 16th of September, is the "kick-off" to the Mexican Independence festivities. At eleven o'clock at night, every body screams out "Viva Mexico" several times and is formally called "La Grita". Prior to the grita this year, we went to our ward's dinner. It was a potluck where each member brought some kind of Mexican dish to contribute. I didn't dare attempt anything Mexican in the wake of such talented chef's, so I brought Sprite:). Needless to say the food was delicious. The following pictures are at the dinner with some of our favorite ward members!

Below is me with two of my Young Women, Stephanie and Mirna!

Ryan excited to be eating some delicious Mexican food!

Another YW, Jenny, who came home from Benemerito

(the Church's "high school" in DF. It sort of reminds me of a mini BYU).

The next morning, on Friday, we woke up and headed down town to a parade. We waited nearly an hour for the parade to make it down to the end, where we were waiting. We had fun waiting with Violet as she kept trudging back and forth in a dirty puddle. awesome. When the parade finally made it down, I was shocked that 90% of the parade were different groups of students from different schools, marching. Yup, no clowns or floats at this parade my friends. Puro students! oh yes and some military with the latest and greatest at the end.

Below, Violet and I are waiting for the parade to pass by!

(Violet does great with crowds, so we continue to expose her as much as we can to make her friendly and unafraid.

We are also pretty proud of our dog, so you will see her a lot in the rest of this post!)

The students marching ... in uniform, ahhh I would overheat!

At the end of the parade Ryan found a sweet tank...

Later that night we went to Centro, where the philharmonic symphony of Queretaro was playing outside in a plaza. It was packed and so we didn't stay as long as I would have liked. I love listening to the live symphony! The music was played to a narrative of the Mexican Independence saga, with actors acting out the battles and scenes.

Ryan and I got a little tired of standing so we went to another plaza and enjoyed the dancing water fountain.

And of course, we had to try one of the many vendors that had conglomerated down town for the festivities. Nothing like a homemade churro straight from Mexico (it was filled with cajeta (a type of caramel made from goat milk)). mmm.

The next day we headed out to the park. For those of you who don't know, going to the park is one of my most favorite things to do, especially with Fronk. It's peaceful, beautiful, and a great place just to sit and talk. Below is one of our favorite parks to take Violet to, as there are not many people and lots of natural boundaries, we are able to let her run free a little.

and the dog pictures come full force!!

The next series of pictures are some of my favorites! Fronk loves to indulge Violet in long sessions of fetch.

Sometimes they have stare downs as Violet contemplates giving up the ball for another round of fetch

Also, sometimes Violet loses track of where the ball went!

She knows that jumping up most definitely does not speed up fetch! Sometimes she just can't help herself.

Fronk got creative with the camera:)

and this is where the fetch games end... Violet spied a small family on a picnic blanket not too far off. She is never aggressive with strangers, rather she gets really excited and tends to jump up. For people who don't know her, this normally scares the crap out of them. Ryan ran after her and this is her being "dragged" back to her leash.

She is extremely friendly and for the most part a pretty good dog! (aside from jumping up and the fact that she still mouths a little)

And what good weekend wouldn't be complete without a round of bowling? sigh. I have never been good but when the extra slick floors threw off Ryan's curve ball, I pulled in a pretty tight second!

and...

ba dah ba dah ba dah, ba dat's all folks! well, for this post anyways!

Odd

2010-09-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

So I flew into Madison, WI yesterday afternoon.
Traveling while nauseous and pregnant just isnt pretty. (Ill spare the details). After a 3 hour bus ride at 2 am and catching a flight at 6:30 am, I found myself in the Dallas airport rummaging for food. McDonalds breakfast menu sounded terrible so I went to Starbucks to buy a Naked juice for $5. I was robbed.
Then I headed to wait at my gate. The flight wasn't scheduled to take off for another hour so I got comfy in my chair and started one of my favorite airport past times, people watching. The funny thing was that all the most interesting people would come stop at my gate. This has happened several times in the past as well; you find the most interesting people on your flights to Madison, WI.
I don't mean to down WI and in fact I absolutely love the down-to-earth personalities, but I can't help but admit that sometimes I find odd people on these flights.
The first woman that caught my eye and by far the most entertaining subject was a girl, early to mid twenties. She came waltzing up in a fascinating gettup. It went as follows... top to bottom... a black buret atop a lovely crimped har/straightened bang hair-do, a pearl, imitation vintage choker necklace, a black evening dress, a single black glove on one hand and shiny black go go boots. Huh.
After seeing such an interesting gettup that ended up sitting across from me, I decided to stop looking beyond my gate. The next lady I noticed sitting nearby was a woman with a back packers back pack on. Nothing that out of the ordinary right? But, then she turned around wearing an old black knit sweater with cats stiched on the front. Back pack, fine. Sweater, not my cup of tea, but to each their own. BUT, what is the likely hood of finding both pieces in the same ensemble?!
Another lady came up with a McDonalds sandwhich in hand. I watched her as she opened the carton and examined her purchase. She proceeded disecting the thing, first taking off the lettuce, the tomato, and then the bun. She ended with peeling off the bacon and dropping the slice in her mouth, licked her mayonnaise fingers and then tackled the patty. That's all she ate, oh and some more mayo. For one getting so easily nauseous, had to look away.
I mean, I think my husband likes those parts the best too, but it was just too much that early in the morning.
I realy don't have anything against any of these individuals, just am interested and quite surprised in their individuality.
Heres to another interesting morning in an airport!
U rah rah Wisconsin!

I Shouldn't Have Gotten Out Of Bed!

2010-09-03T10:14:00.001-07:00

I am actually writing about that fateful Wednesday, two days ago. (It's a bit of a long story)

The morning actually started off okay. I woke up early and headed to the UVM clinic where I shadow/volunteer in physician consultations from 8-11. I actually volunteered for one of my favorite doctors, Dr. Tinoco, who is a general practitioner. The morning was great except that I was exhausted and I kept propping my head up with my hand. I think she noticed I was tired, cause at 11 am on the dot I announced it was time for me to go (which is unusual on it's own, since I enjoy staying an hour or two longer out of interest) and her response was "get some rest".

Well, I got in the car and to my great dismay, the stinking car started acting up. The ride home was quite unnerving as our car randomly jolted and threatened to turn itself off. A problem we had had a month ago and a week at the mechanics only seemed to give a temp fix. So after holding my breath almost the entire car ride home I miraculously pulled into my driveway.

Then I got home and fixed a snack. Strangely, when I opened the fridge, the light was out. I wondered if it just burnt out and thought nothing of it (though how often do fridge lights burn out!?). I ate my snack and went about my business. Then I noticed that the microwave clock was out, the lights wouldn't turn on.... hmm, coincidence, I think not. Well, obviously the power went out. Well, I figured the electricity was out in the city. Since this happened in Nicaragua all the time in my childhood, I didn't worry about it.

Of course my phone was just about out of battery and with it's last juice I quickly called Ryan to tell him that I would pick him up at the bus station at 3pm (he took a bus to Mexico City that morning for meetings). So, I patiently read a book (as there is not much else to do around my house without electricity) until 3. I got back into the breaking down car and gassed the sucker as best I could to get it to go. After several minutes of potential whiplash, I picked up Ryan and told him about the issues the car was giving. I don't think he realized how bad the car was cause he still wanted to run errands. Haha, that didn't last. Two blocks later and after stopping on the way to pay the electric bill, we again miraculously pulled into the driveway.

As soon as I pulled up to the house I realized that I forgot to ask surveillance why the power was out. After mentioning this Ryan said that it might be off because we were three days late on the bill. Three days, come on, that's ridiculous. He called up the electric company and sure enough, they turn it off after one late day! It gets better, it takes three days to process the payment (which we had just made minutes ago), and then it would be another 24 hours until they came to turn it on! What about the fridge!? So much for that Costco run with all the frozen food we made just two days ago! Thankfully, they told us that we could repay it at their office and then it would be just a 24 hour wait.

Well the crappy part, is now we don't have a car to go to this special office. Ryan called the mechanic and told us to bring it by in an hour (ps, the mechanic lives across town!). So we decided to stop by the special office on the way to the mechanics (which wasn't really on the way anyways). So Ryan and I piled in the car and the entire time to the office I kept having panic attacks that the car would break down mid traffic. Well we made it, but guess what? Ryan forgot the bill and the workers wouldn't look up our account number unless we had a special number found on the front of our house! So, we could no longer pay the bill at the special office. At this point I just started giving up on the day.

So then we trekked our way across town (on highways, where you go fast) as the car gave out every other five seconds, and I am not exaggerating in the least! It was a very quiet ride, you know those moments when everybody is completely stressed out and doesn't dare make conversation. It wasn't until we pulled up to the mechanics that my heart rate lowered and I could unclench my hands from the seat. The mechanic was flabbergasted and after an hour suggested we take it to the dealership. Oh no, I was not about to get back into that thing, so I opted for a taxi and we could worry about it in the morning.

So we went home, and of course Mutual is Wednesday nights, so we walked to church (just a couple miles away) after we got back. Sweet Ryan "dropped" me off and then walked the extra several miles there and back to the special offices where he was finally able to pay the electric bill.

In the morning Ryan somehow got the car to the dealership and by the afternoon we had the car back, with a very minimal bill (in the end, all it was, was a cable that needed to be replaced).

Back at home the electricity was still out and after packing ice in the fridge tried waiting patiently. When we called the company after our 24 hours were up, some idiot claimed to have come by and reconnected the electricity. Lies. So then we had to wait another 24 hours for the techs to come by again. Joy.

Well, at 12 pm today, they reconnected the electricity. Just 48 hours, lots of melted ice cream, and 2 camp-like nights with candles and flashlights later!

Vive Mexico!

Who knew!?

2010-07-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so last week I finally found me some popsicle molds. For anybody looking, just cut to the chase and go to Target! I spent way too much time trying to search for just the right ones!

Anyways, I have been wanting to make homemade popsicles for months now. Especially cause I love them and it is about $4 for six of em here. I am sick of the high fructose, over-priced suckers! Yay, to healthy homemade ones!

So anyways, I have had this plum smoothie popsicle recipe since last summer and finally decided to make them last night with Ryan. Long story short, the recipe called for 1 tsp corn syrup (which was divided between 12 popsicles), which I did not have. So I dragged Ryan into the fun and we went to Wal-mart to buy a bottle of corn syrup. The shocking part of this story comes next.

When I found the corn syrup selection all three of the different brands had babies on the front and advertised that corn syrup was great for babies! (Huh?) It says that you can pour it on their cereal and in their milk (just a couple of examples found on the back of the bottle!). It did say that the corn syrup was fortified with two B vitamins! Don't think that this would be my number one source, or even number 50 source for these B vitamins!

Okay, what the!?!?!

.... (five mins later)

Ohhhhhhh.

Okay, apparently it acts as a diuretic! I went searching for a pic to post and stumbled across that info...

Well, just for anybody who is curious the Mayo Clinic doesn't actually recommend this remedy and suggested more water, fruit juice (such as prune juice) and baby food.

Well, this was a very successful post! baha!

Guess you learn something new everyday. I suppose this post can't be too much in vain... it has info for the Mom's out there!

Mexican ranch!

2010-06-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

So, this past weekend was Girls' Camp for our Stake. Since I work with the YW in our ward, I went to camp. It was... fun. I will admit that I haven't really been a fan of YW camp in the past. I liked the year my Mother organized it, because she made the schedule nice and flexible. Camping to me is relaxing and enjoying nature. I feel like in girls camp you are always running from one thing to the next. Oh well... I still enjoyed spending time with all the YW. and actually did have fun with some of the activites.
Ryan came along with Memo, the YM pres.. They were the priesthood holders in absence of our bishop.
The first day, we got to camp, did getting to know you activites, ate lunch, and sat around a fire. Of course it rained quite a bit before bed so we had some problems with flooding in some tents. They aired out okay and things resumed nicely. I forgot to take pics of the first day... but here is what happened on the second!

Day two: We woke up early, did some streches, then headed for our walk.

Here is a view from the ranch, early that morning.

My handsome Fronk!

Ryan and I posing under some cactus that we found on our walk.

Above is a cute little frog that Fronk found on our walk... beneath is a picture of all the Young Women at Girls' Camp.

Here is a group shot of most of the Young Women in our ward that made it to camp

Here is a picture of what our hike looked like

Ryan striking a pose after the walk

After the walk we ate breakfast... yes it was an early walk (What girls' camp isn't complete without having activities until midnight, then waking up at the crack of dawn)! After lunch the boys started taking down the tents.
While packing up the tents the boys found this lovely spider lurking underneath our things! Eck!

And as the boys were busy packing up tents, I was busy doing activities (like relay races, telephone, etc.) with the Young Women. During one such activity, something in the distance caught my eye...
... it was Memo with a piece of tent tied around his neck running around like a superhero, and Ryan, in all seriousness, taking pictures! What the!? There is no doubt these boys are still young at heart!

Here is a picture of me and the Young Woman during the relay race. I am proud to report that we took first place!

After the activities we were free to do whatever we wanted at the ranch. They had blow up toys, tirolesa, and of course... a mechanical bull. So, of course Ryan gave it a go... not sure what happened to the camera at this point... but, here he is!

The after-riding-bull look. Yeah, I guess it hurt quite a bit... he wasn't at all interested in trying it twice!

And that's about it. After the free time, we ate lunch, then headed back home at five. It might as well have been midnight again, because we were exhausted!

San Luis Potosi

2010-06-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back and on a roll blogging.

Yesterday, Ryan and I woke up early (well, Ryan did at least. at 6am for a Young Men's thing). We had church responsibilities until noonday. Then, we swung by our favorite torta hole-in-the-wall place and picked up the highly delicious hawaiian sandwiches. Yum.

Then, we ate on the road to San Luis Potosi, a city 2 hours away. (Ryan got the notion that he wanted to visit a new city this weekend. San Luis Potosi didn't have any too exciting attractions, but nevertheless that's where we decided to go). Though it is fun to get lost, we printed off a google map of the city. We noticed in the upper left hand corner a nice big green patch. PARK! We love the park! I really think visiting the park is one of my most favorite local things to do. So, anyways we went and guess what we found... GRASS. I know this probably doesn't sound too exciting, but it was for us, because I think this is the first park that we have gone to that has it! In fact, this is the first place I found in the area with nice long, soft grass!

So with big areas of grass and trees, Ryan couldn't resist the temptation to climb a few... so that is just what he did. I love that he still yearns to climb trees. I sprawled out on the grass and relaxed. What a great beginning to our day of discovery.

After getting bit by a few mosquitos, Ryan was over the park. (It's funny how Ryan loves being outside so much, but can't stand bugs... they pretty much go hand in hand. I guess when he is outside he normally is moving and isn't bothered). Anyways, I think Ryan is partly allergic cause his bites always get really big.

After the park, we went to the centro plazas to walk around. We found great parking (which is hard to come across) and started making our way towards one of the churches. We realized that we left our camera and made our way back. A car close to ours had a boot on it... uh, why? there weren't any No Parking signs. Then a man washing cars came up and said that we needed to pay for parking up a ways or that we would get booted... whew, that was a close one. For once, I am glad we had to walk back to the car for something we forgot!

So anyways, we found the normal churches and square gardens that speckle the downtowns in Mexican cities as we walked through the globs of people, occasionally stepping into a shop. It was fun and relaxing to watch the people.

Soon it was dinner time. We spent the next hour and a half looking for something that sparked our interest. I told Ryan that I wanted a Mexican style Chili's... and on our way out of town that is exactly what we found, nestled right in a shopping mall parking lot. On our way in Ryan noticed these towers with guards with binoculars. Live surveillance services! Ha! Took a quick snap then sat done and ate yummy local enchiladas and pastor, a personal favorite.

And that was about it folks... might not sound too exciting... prob because it wasn't... just relaxing time together. I love that. My most favorite conversations with Ryan are when we drive longer distances, so the four hour car trip in one afternoon was surprisingly a highlight. We always get on interesting topics... you know to be or not to be stuff:)

Oh yes, and we picked up a big bushel of strawberries on the way back. Freshly picked that morning and sold on the stand that afternoon! That will be dessert for the next several days!

I love all the fresh fruit here!

Wameru Zoo

2010-06-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I spent forty five minutes trying to find the small theme park in Queretaro, only to find out that it is closed due to a recent fatality. Scary!
So we spent the next forty five minutes looking for the Zoo here in Queretaro. When we first got there, we were surprised that it was about 7 dollars to get in... especially since all the entertainment here is so inexpensive. When we got in we were pretty disappointed! Roaming around were some cows and horses in the same dirt field we found ourselves walking through. One little cinderblock house had an iguana on one side and a baby monkey on the other. With a few small windows and most of the shades drawn you had to try to angle your vision to see them. That was just about it! Oh, yes and the pony ride you paid another few dollars to walk around in circles five times! Ha! My parents' house has way more to look at; it would have been a safari in comparison! We were pretty bugged, but tried to make the best of it... so we spent fifteen minutes playing with the monkey and taking pictures of the sparse animals there.
Well, of course our camera battery ran out shortly after the last monkey picture. A few minutes after that we realized that you could curve around back and there were more chimps... a few steps later a herd of zebras, a rhino and ostriches... a few more steps and we discovered that we had another fifteen or so acres left to explore filled with animals. Pretty impressive for a local zoo actually. I counted 8 tigers, loads of monkey, a few giraffes, the usual. Our favorite, though, was the huge hippo just on the other side of some cactus (that I guess was supposed to contain this who-knows-how-many-pounds animal). We were only two feet away as his huge mouth chomped on some hay. That was pretty fun.
We ended up having a nice afternoon... only sorry that we don't have more pictures... we are horrible with keeping things (ie phones, cameras, video cameras, etc) charged, found, and in our hands.
I keep trying to work on that...

Baby Violet at 3 1/2 Months

2010-06-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Baby Violet is definitely growing. Here she is at 3.5 months. Her new favorite toy is the stuffed bear that a friend donated to her. (She also loves the crackling noise the water bottles give her when she crunches on them... so the bottle in the background is not us just being dirty:)) I give that bear three more weeks till it is stuffed with fluff no more!

Hmmm...

2010-05-28T12:28:00.001-07:00

Better? I think I like this background much more, personally... Though, I take a LONG time to make decisions... so, this might change again.

Leslie, just tell me when you want to skype... and Ill show you! xo

hmmmm

2010-05-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

Not sure what I think about this background... just playing around, but don't have time tonight to continue searching... what do you think, too busy and keep looking or let it stay? And be honest, my feelings really won't be hurt

Ixtapa

2010-05-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

This top picture is one that my Dad took. This was such a fun place to go to!

This is the next beach down. It was beautiful and I think I liked it better than the one we stayed at. It reminded me a little bit more of a Nicaraguan beach.

Here is Ryan and I and our friend Gustavo!

Oreo anyone?

This is Ixtapa, a beach about five hours from where we live. We went for a few days a week ago. Ryan had a bunch of meetings so it was pretty quiet for me, but I read quite a bit by the pool sipping on all you can drink Pina Coladas, a personal favorite!
We were there for Ryan's birthday and I tried to make it fun and special, but Ryan had meetings most of the day. Of course I don't think he was complaining though because it was all you can eat buffets and they played volleyball only the day before, some of Ryan's most favorite things.
Over all it was a great trip and I hope we can make it back soon!

Puppiness

2010-04-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

So this first one looks sweet (despite the fact that everytime I teach her "down" she thinks it means "continue to jump up while Hannah pushes me down, what a fun game!")....

Then there is the chewing! My arms are a battlefield!

...and the constant paw prints from our shower. Violet thinks the shower is a
walk-in water dish!

And heaven forbid it rain! An outdoor animal sounds really good sometimes! Still waiting for her to get a little bigger though...

Oh my goodness, she is a lot of work sometimes!! Especially cause she still wakes up religiously at 2 and 5 am for her potty-break/eating-bugs-break outside! We are going to the beach tomorrow and her vet is kind enough to watch her while we are gone (what a great setup huh?). Everytime I think about getting to sleep a straight night through I start giggling like, like, well do you know that incessant giggling you might have if (well also if you are a girl) stay up really late with a sister or girlfriend and you get so sleep deprived and gitty that all you can do is laugh ridiculously?... that's the kind!

I can't wait!

She really does melt my heart, especially when she lays right next to you and rests her head on your legs as she falls asleep. Those are the great moments. She is also very smart and learned how to sit in about five minutes. She comes when I call her name, usually, and she is also learning the command "lay down".

Just thought I would share some of the OTHER puppiness moments too. You know, give a full picture. She really has made a nice dent in our lives though. Ryan just loves having her and really tries to take as good a care of her as he can. I really love that about him!

She really has brought some good laughs to the house too. Like the other day we bought her some doggy treats in the shape of bacon. Ryan just kept repeating how unreal the treats resembled real bacon. (If anybody knows Ryan's obsession with bacon you might know where this is going...) Well, a day or two later Ryan confessed to me that he had been tempted by the faux bacon and decided to try some of it. I CANNOT believe how far Ryan's bacon obsession gos! Hahhaha, I was so incredulous that I just kept staring at him... what the!!?

Ps, he said it wasn't that bad.

Is this normal?

Should I even be sharing this over my blog? At least Ryan isn't too shy about these moments so I don't think that he will mind.

Ha!

Park with Violet

2010-04-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

So, this week and last week is Semana Santa here in Mexico. Normally, Ryan doesn't take off work for Mexican holidays, but last week Ryan decided to take one. He hasn't taken many days off since he started, so he decided to take one and just enjoy the day. We were going to go to some thermal springs, but with the new puppy we decided not to leave her home all day alone. So we ended up going to the park with our friend Kevin and his dog, Morita. It was hilarious, Violet (which is the name we decided on for our puppy) kept thinking that Morita (a female mid sized mix) was her mother. She kept crawling under Morita's legs sniffing for milk! Hahaha, it was so funny! and a little sad that she looked so deprived.
We had a great day though. We packed a picnic, took walks and took a short ride in a canoe. It was so nice just to relax.
We also loved conference weekend and an Easter dinner with some friends. Unfortunately, Ryan left Monday, early, for a work conference in LA. I am happy to have Violet for company! This week has been pretty laid back.

Puppy pics

2010-04-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

She can sleep anywhere! and in the most awkward looking positions~ So, no she is not just looking at the floor

Tada! We got her and I don't think she is leaving us any time soon. What was I thinking having her for a night as a trial run. How can you not fall in love with a puppy? We were mostly doing a trial run because she acted a little lethargic when we saw her last. Well, she has livened up quite a bit! She still sleeps a lot, but now when she is up she just wants to play. She is still quite young, 6 weeks and I think she thinks I am her new Mom and Ryan her Dad. She follows Ryan and I everywhere and sleeps at my feet wherever I might be. She really acts so much like a baby. She kept us up all night last night with her crying. Ryan was afraid to upset the neighbors so he kept getting up to coax her back to sleep. Ryan is done with work and napping now!:) I am really impressed by his nurturing skills, he wasn't upset or too bothered by her crying last night, which I think is quite impressive. So here are the pics, eat em up!

Im back!

2010-03-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hello again.
I am going to try to fill in some of the gap from the past four or so weeks!
So, Ryan and I have had one busy month. We have been very involved in our ward out here. We are currently working with the youth and loving it! The teenagers in our ward are awesome! So smiley and always up for a chat. I really am so impressed and wonder if I was this good when I was their age. I don't remember being so level with my hormones.
For the past several weeks Ryan and I have been working on the weekends with the youth. We also have several nights at the church throughout the week. In fact we weren't planning to have a weekend to ourselves for about a month and a half or maybe two. So last weekend was a blessing in disguise. We set our alarm for 130 am again so that we could make the ward temple trip. Well, somehow the alarm wasn't set correctly and we woke up at 245. Ops! Well, of course we missed that one. We ended up sleeping in, cleaning our very dirty house, running errands and just getting our lives on target! What a great day!
Next week Ryan will be on a work trip in L.A. and I will be by myself. So, I invited all 12 of my YW over for a sleepover one night. Is that crazy? I think it should be fun and the YW pres. will be with me too, so that will help. I am excited. I don't think that I have had a girl's night in a year! prob longer.
Also, we have felt like making an addition to the family! Not a baby yet, though we have spent quite some time considering the idea and who knows! Ha! So, anyways, we decided to get a dog! (Mom I still want my cat, so don't worry, Ryan hasn't won the war yet;(he doesn't really care for cats)) I am soo excited to get her right now... okay, so let me back up. We first went to a bunch of dog shelters to try and find a dog. I prefer to save a dogs life then just get a puppy. We fell in love with a sweet medium sized female. She was extremely affectionate and instantly clinged to us. We went home to think it over, then went back the next day to try some dog tests on her. She didn't mind being manipulated but Ryan tried to show her how to sit and she froze. She wouldn't move and she looked bit put out. We really wanted her and were planning to take her home that day, but we both started feeling nervous around her, something I don't want to have to worry about while Ryan is out of town. So we decided to keep looking. Ryan really wants a German Shepherd and after looking at several different shelters decided that there weren't any. So, we decided to go to the classifieds and there we found German Shepherd puppies. We went to see them a cpl days ago and Ryan fell in love with one of the girls. I had wanted to get an older dog to bypass the puppy stages, call me crazy, but Ryan is just so darn excited about her. So we talked with the owner and he is going to let us take her for a night to see how she fares with us. So, we are going to get her in an hour! I spent the afternoon googling German Shepherds and whatnot and of course am now so excited to get her. I also stopped at a pet store and of course I wanted to buy a collar on the spot. So needless to say, I am happy to have a puppy now. Plus, Ryan is a kid in a candy shop with this dog, which is pretty incredible if you are familiar with Ryan's feelings about getting a dog. And of course, we will make her an outdoor dog, upon Ryan's persistent request... but I am still going to house train her just in case;)
So if we end up keeping her I will post pics, if not, let the hunt continue!

2010-03-02T17:43:00.001-08:00

So, after a long Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of unpacking Ryan and I decided to go on the ward temple trip.
Last time we went, we left at five am, waited 8 hours at the temple and returned at 9 pm without having even gone into the temple. The line to get into the temple was so packed with people that it took many hours to get through. Only two of prob 35 of our ward members made it in that day.
SO... they changed the temple trip to 2 am! Ha! Can't believe we got up at 1am, after a three hour nap, and got ourselves on the bus, but we did it! We got into the 6 am session and ended up doing work until about eleven. That's the longest for me so far. It was a very nice day and I think Ryan and I were blessed with added energy, because I hardly slept on the bus (Can't stand my bad sleeping habits. My body is programmed to sleep from 10pm- 7am in my own bed with very little variation). I really love to go to the temple and am so happy that our ward takes frequent trips to Mexico City for the temple. It is very dangerous to drive in Mexico City and I can bet that Ryan and I will never drive to the temple alone.
Anyways, here are a couple of pics of Ryan and I in front of the temple!

Bananas Foster Crepes

2010-03-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Here is the Banana Foster Crepe Recipe:

For Crepes:
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 c whole milk
3 large eggs
5 Tb unsalted butter, plus more for skillet

Mix flour and salt. Whisk together milk and eggs in another bowl. Combine both mixtures. Whisk in butter. Strain mixture. Refrigerate 2 hrs or up to one day. Batter should be consistency of heavy cream.
Heat skillet first on med to med-high. Add some butter to skillet and melt. Pour 1/3 cup of mixture and move pan around in circular motion so that mixture creates a filled-in circle. Cook till light brown on heated side, then flip for another 30-60 secs. Repeat

For Banana part...

3 Tb unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark br sugar
2 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
1/8 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c rum
crepes
1/2 cup creme fraiche (I just used whipping cream. Ryan says creme fraiche is different. Make sure your cream is fresh; it makes a world of difference)

1. Warm butter and sugar in pan. Add bananas, cinn., salt, nutmeg and vanilla. Cook 1-2 mins. Remove pan from heat, add rum. Use long match to ignite rum. Cook until flames stop, about 1 min. Fold bananas into crepe, reserve sauce. Drizzle sauce over crepe and add dollop of creme fraiche or ice cream.

Like I said, I didn't have or use rum much. It still came out very yummy. This recipe is very sweet and would be good for dessert. Makes about four banana crepes, but crepe recipe makes about ten very large crepes or about 30 six inch crepes.

So there you have it. I found this recipe out of a Martha Stewart Mag. Sure you can find it at Marthastewart.com too!

ENJOY!

Boxes, Boxes everywhere!

2010-02-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

Our things have finally arrived! Holy cow, I can't believe it! They actually came three days ago, but as you can imagine I have been a little busy. I really wanted to take a picture of all the mess in the house, but things have just been moving along so quickly, that I am about 3/4ths unpacked. I have a bedroom and the bathrooms left. I will try to post a picture of the disheveled bedroom, before it gets put together.

All in all I feel pretty darn good about how things are turning out. After almost a year of having our things stored I forgot what I actually had. It has been pleasant surprises in every box. There are a few things that I am tossing, but I don't feel like I am too much of a pack rat after all. My kitchen is prob the most loaded and I need to be careful about putting more in it. (Though, I secretly want another dish set, I know Ryan will kill me if I do!) My kitchen is my pride and joy! And I really LOVE all of my recipes! I can't even explain to you. I opened my personal recipe book last night and the page I opened to was a Banana crepe recipe. Let me just tell you, the first thing I did this morning was pull out the blender! I flippin love food! Ryan was in heaven and I told him this is just the beginning! The recipe was actually pretty good. It calls for rum, but as I don't normally carry that I just skipped it. I am sure it gives it a phenomonal taste and you lite it of course to get the alcohol out, but I am not sure on this recipe. I need to see how the alcohol cooks out with a sugar base. I know it varies according to the base. Nettie are you there? Do you know the answer to this? Or anybody else?
Anyways, would you like me to post it?

I am trying to be so much better about sharing my recipes, just nobody ask for the glorified choc chip recipe. I don't think I am that good yet. So, Laura, hush hush!:)

So, go figure this post started out about moving and ended with cooking. I am sure this will happen many more times. I have to go make dinner for Ryan, but I will post that recipe as soon as I can!
Much Love Everyone!

2010-02-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

I posted this map so that you can see where we live. If you click on the map, it will enlarge and you can see the cities better. I also labeled a couple of the places that I have gone to since we moved here.

Ryan and I went to Cordoba within the first few days of moving here. He had a work trip and I would rather sit in a hotel near him, than 6 hours away.

I also went to Morelia (Just East of Queretaro) a week or two ago when my Dad was in town. It was a very entertaining town with many many Mexican guitars for sale in their markets. It is supposedly a more dangerous town, so I removed all my jewelry before I hit the markets. It was just me and a 19-year-old boy that toured together, while our father's had meetings. We felt completely safe, so don't picture anything too dangerous. I took a tour there to see the sites and ended up going to a candy museum. Well, I love sweets, so I was pretty excited about this. Interestingly enough, candy has been around for quite some time in Mexico (since the Europeans came to America). The candy here has a more natural taste as their candy is made from mixing sugar and the pulp of many different fruits. YUM! Also, did you know chocolate goes back to the Aztecs in Mexico; when the kings and rulers believed that chocolate water (literally chocolate with water) was the water of the Gods. If you drank it outside of a ceremony you were put to death. Just an FYI:)

So, anyways, if you are planning to visit me and have a request to a nearby town let me know. I'll try to talk about the cities as I go so you can get a feel for them.

February 12

2010-02-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Ryan and my anniversary. It was wonderful! We woke up and Ryan gave me flowers and chocolates. I made a complilation of our pictures from the past two years and reminisced with Ryan over breakfast. Then more surprises insued over the rest of the day. Each surpise was presented in a white envelope with a short rhyme on the front and a flower. There were eight envelopes. One of the evelopes included a list of hotels for me to pick from. He figured out a time to take our anniversary trip to the beach (we were originally going to go this weekend, but our lives are too chaotic and decided to wait until things settled down).
One of my favorite surprises was that he redownloaded all of our wedding music that was somehow deleted and we listened to them as we drove around yesterday. I don't know why that music matters so much... maybe it's because it reminds me so much of our wedding day and even though it was stressful, I still like to look back on it and smile.
Another surprise was that we went to one of my favorite nearby cities, San Miguel de Allende. There are dozens of booths loaded with silver jewelry and pewter housewares. Ryan gave me some play money and I picked out a silver necklace to remember the day by. We packed a sack lunch and ate in a park watching all the middle-aged American tourists bustling between the laid back Mexicans.
Ryan said we had a nearby appointment at 4 so we headed back to the car in the afternoon. Waiting in the glove compartment was another envelope and flower... Inside was a description of an incredible restaurant. I would really love to cut and paste the entire description that was printed from the internet and nestled in the envelope, but it's an entire page. To describe it with less words... Located 15 minutes from San Miguel de Allende is a 300 year-old hacienda, where an Italian Chef makes a different menu on a day to day basis based on what is in season and what produce will make the best meal. I have never tasted better food in my life, and you know that tasting foods is like a hobby to me. Ryan hit one out of the park that's for sure. When we sat at the outside tables the chef came out and asked what sounded good. He rattled off a list of different possibilities. We had a delicious meal with duck, pasta, tuna steak and garganzola ravioli that was made out back. The flavors that this chef came up with were so incredible, I can't properly describe the talent this man had! All his sea food is flown in from the coast on a continual basis. Even Ryan liked it!
After enjoying the pleasant meal in the gardens we headed back home where Ryan's final surprise was waiting. Yup, he did it again! A Thoughts on You Book. For those who don't know what this is, starting from the first day of our marriage Ryan has written letters to me each day without me knowing. Then he arranges them and creates a 300 page book of all of his sweet and honest thoughts about me and our relationship. On our one year anniversary he gave me the book with all the messages from our first year of marriage. This year were all the messages from our second year of our marriage. I feel so cherished as I read those letters and it is by far my favorite gift that anybody has given me.
To say the least, Ryan hit this anniversary out of the park. There isn't any beach that could have compared with all the thoughtfulness Ryan put into yesterday. It was one of the best days in my life. I think my anniversary has officially become my favorite "holiday":)

Hello Guys!

2010-02-02T12:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am terrible at blogging so far. I am going to try to do better...

So, it is February 2 and we are here in Queretaro, Mexico. Ryan is busy with work and helping me get our lives in order. I feel like every time I try to get something checked off my list, a delay comes up or something gets in the way. We are currently waiting for our furniture and household items to arrive. We have had to go through the grueling process of getting a work visa here. We cannot have our items come through customs until that comes. Good news though, we are hopeful for Thursday or early next week.

There have been many odds and ends to do around here and I feel like dispite so many delays with things we have been able to make some headway. A great accomplishment for us was finding a home to live in. We were only alloted two weeks in a hotel before we would start needing to pay for it, so I quickly got on the ball and found a home in three days. That following Tuesday we moved in. We love it! It's looking pretty sparse, but hopefully in a couple of weeks it will be full. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I posted a picture for anyone who is curious!

Viva Mexico!

2009-09-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

After about 36 hours of chaotic travelling, Ryan and I made it down from Oregon, WI to Queretaro, Mexico. Queretaro is a colonial-type city with beautiful history and a dense culture. There are lots of monuments, parks, and historical sites. It is a medium-sized city that is very clean and comfortable.
We have just finished our first week here; one that was both long and short. Ryan spends his days working and learning Spanish. I try to speak only Spanish with him and let me tell you, it is pretty hard trying to communicate with your spouse where neither of you are fluent with the language!
Last week was a lot of adjusting, trying to get money changes, cleaning our temp apartment, and figuring out how to get around. The Jara's have been more than helpful with showing us the ropes. I spend my days with Jin ("Gene") running errands and touring the city. So far I have enjoyed some time at the markets and taking tour buses around the downtown area.
I wish I had some pictures to show you, but I am having trouble downloading them at this point. Stay posted!

Official Bloggers

2009-09-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hello! I gave in to blogspot upon request from my sister, Haydee. Sorry Haydee, this was a long time a coming.