The trees are in bloom
Hints toward a season change
March's tease for Spring
One of the big activities for this month included a family vacation to Disney World! We knew Bruce was really too young for that kind of trip, but we wanted to join the extended family for the adventure and we got great deals on everything, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. In a nutshell, the vacation was filled with a lot of wonderful memories, along with its share of near-nightmares - everything that makes a family vacation a great family vacation.
Our flight leaving OKC was an hour late, and we only had a 45 minute lay-over in Houston... so our trip didn't start off too well. I was praying for a miracle - that we'd still somehow make our connecting flight - but as we were landing, our flight to Orlando was taking off (A handy "app" told us that, so at least we didn't have to run like crazies through the airport). I didn't get the miracle I was hoping for, but the one I got instead was still pretty great. I was pacing the terminal with a screaming lunch-less, nap-less toddler, who didn't understand why I wouldn't let him drive the airport tram cart, while Charlie was trying to negotiate
something with the United representative. The best he could do was getting us on standby later that evening with a confirmed flight the next morning. I was freaking out on the inside, and trying to keep cool on the outside. We had lunch, and then Charlie remembered he had two guest passes to the United club lounge that he'd be saving for a rainy day. So we got to relax in the posh environs of the rich and famous, with all the free drinks and snacks we could want. Bruce got to nap in my arms in a super-comfy chair, and Charlie got the lounge reps to work their fancy magic and get us confirmed on a flight to Orlando that night. A couple of Whiskey cokes (Charlie), a mountain of Milano cookies (me) and a wonderful nap (Bruce) later, we were all in much better spirits. We didn't make it to our hotel room until after midnight, but we were in
our hotel room, in Orlando, so all was well in the world.
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| Momo's ready to go! |
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| Bruce enjoying the flight |
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| finally getting to "drive" the tram |
We spent three days park hopping between the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot with my mom and Rick, brother and his wife, ALL FOUR of their kids, and a lot of my brother's in-laws. Even with me being pregnant, and Bruce being so little, we were still able to enjoy to so much of what the parks had to offer.
Our favorite day was a drizzly Tuesday morning. I have to admit, leaving the hotel I had a pretty rotten attitude. I HATE drizzly rainy days. And there wasn't supposed to be any rain. But, my attitude quickly turned around when we realized that the rain was keeping everyone away! We were able to ride six rides at the Magic Kingdom, and have lunch, in under three hours!
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| playing a "pumba" (drum) |
Bruce was mesmerized by a lot of the rides, especially "It's a Small World," but I think he loved the Animal Kingdom best of all. That kid
really loves animals.
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| looking at the "shish" |
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| more fish! |
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| not an official attraction, but caught Bruce's eye! |
Although traveling with a large group made it difficult to spend a lot of time with everyone, it was still really sweet to make some memories with everyone. Especially my nieces and nephew, because I don't see them nearly enough. Hopefully we'll have a lot more extended family vacations in the future!
The hardest part of the trip, was that Bruce decided to quit eating a couple of days in. I think it was a combination of "travel tummy" along with being too distracted eating in public for every meal. We tried not to worry, knowing he would eat if he really needed to, but it was still sad to see him go through several different "bathroom complications" as a result of his meal rebellion.
The airplane ride home was a lot harder for Bruce, but we made it. We all made it. Vacationing is awesome, but it's always so nice to be home. And we got home just in time to put Bruce to bed, and all was well in the world again.
Our days at home have been really nice, too - Bruce has been a fun little buddy to spend time with. We still struggle with mundaneness at times though - trying to make our moments matter and not feel like we're living out the movie
50 First Dates. For the most part I think we're finding a good balance between sharing adventures looking for ladybugs in the backyard, and snuggling on the couch with the iPad. Growing another baby has definitely taken its toll on me this month, and I've certainly become a lot more lax on the iPad viewing time. But this is just a season, right? And I do think he's learning quite a bit from those silly Baby Einstein videos, because our little guy is SUCH a talker now! I couldn't list his words even if I wanted too. So I'm trying not to to be too hard on myself.
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| silliness at Target |
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| playing at the park |
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| dirt work |
Along with talking more, Bruce is becoming so much more affectionate, which I can never get enough of. He's great with giving away hugs and kisses, and even invents new ways of kissing. Lately it's been "pig snort" kisses, which
involve him grabbing your hand, pressing the back of it against his nose and mouth, and giving a great gusto of a snort, followed by a heart-melting giggle. He knows when he's being funny, and loves to "play jokes" with you to see you smile. He also loves to give high fives and fist bumps now - I have no idea who taught him how to fist bump, but it's super cute and I can't take credit for it.
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| a tolerant Mr. Pants |
Speaking of growing another baby - I'm 14-ish weeks along now, and everything is still progressing well. I had a week or so of crazy (all-day) morning sickness, but other than that, I've been feeling pretty good, except for being exhausted all the time, of course. I had an extra ultrasound this past week to check on things because they had noticed a small hemorrhage at my previous ultrasound, but everything looked great this time around, and it was fun to get another peak at the baby. I go in on Tuesday for my regular check up, and they should schedule the gender ultrasound at that time. (I mean, I guess the ultrasound is for a lot of other things too, but we only care about the gender, right?) So maybe by my next update I'll be able to share that news as well.
Charlie has still been traveling quite a bit, and working really hard. It was nice for him to be able to take some vacation time this month, but I think he's more than made up for it in the weeks since we've been home. He leaves tomorrow for another trip to China for ten days, so Bruce and I will by flying solo for a while. We have a few things on the calendar though, including a family wedding in Dallas next weekend, so I'm hoping the time will pass by quickly.
And what about Easter? We celebrated by having our next door neighbors over to dye eggs with us. All five of our chickens are in an egg-laying season right now, so we had 76 eggs to color! (I had closer to 100 saved up, but had to throw several of them away because they were cracked a little.) It's funny because we still tease my mom about the Easter over 20 years ago when she waited too long to buy the eggs, and was stuck buying brown eggs - but I found myself a little sad this year because all of our chickens lay white eggs now, and the past few years I've really enjoyed dying the brown eggs. They give such a rich, deep, earthy background to the colors. But we enjoyed our white eggs nonetheless. Bruce even dyed a few himself, and enjoyed scribbling on them with crayons after they were colored. We finished off the night with our annual egg war, and Molli was the champion this year! We made a little Easter basket for Bruce to wake up to this morning, but didn't go overboard. Since Bruce gets up before the sun, and Charlie doesn't, we didn't hide eggs for him until his nap today so we all could be a part of that. Bruce needed a little help finding a few of the eggs, but for the most part, he got the gist of the game. I'm sure the Reese Pieces inside of the eggs were a little bit of a motivator also.
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| Easter grass... the best part! |
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| sorting eggs |
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| not happy about having to put the eggs away... |
But what about
Easter. It seems fitting that since I'm posting this update on the holiday itself, I should share a little bit of what's been on my heart. This year I've been a little mixed-emotioned about the day, the season. I love The Plan. I'm thankful for a Creator God who pursues his people. I'm incredibly thankful that Jesus came and conquered death to bring restoration. As yes, I believe that He will come again and make all things new. But I've been walking alongside two friends in this season, faced with crazy challenge, and finding it hard to trust The Plan, and see
goodness. It focuses my thoughts Heavenward more intensely, believing that Heaven is for the now, and longing for miracles, but struggling to find enough faith for them. So that's my prayer for this coming season, for myself and all who want to claim it as well, for an increased measure of faith, for amazing encounters with Jesus, to be impacted by the power of God, and to feel the assurance of His presence and nearness.
Happy Easter!
