Mexico 2011

Ahh, bliss. Arriving in Mexico and seeing this peaceful view made the craziness of the past few days all worth it. Up until 2 weeks before Christmas, we thought Chris had to work this year during the holidays, so when he talked to the other staff members and found out he didn't have to stick around, we quickly started searching online for trips to somewhere warm. We wound up booking a suite at El Dorado Seaside Suites. We booked on Sunday, Dec. 18 and left on Dec. 22. Yikes!! I'm surprised I survived. Usually I need a few months notice to mentally prepare!

This vacation was absolutely perfect. It was an adults-only, all inclusive, smaller resort designed around relaxation. I didn't realize how badly I needed to reconnect with my husband until we were given this opportunity to just be with each other. It was perfect.

The food was amazing. It was all a la carte dining, which meant that it was all restaurant dining. There were 5 restaurants to choose from and they were all fantastic. We got to try new foods that we normally wouldn't order and we definitely had fun with that!

One of the pools at the resort. We really didn't swim in the pools as they were cold and there was so much lush greenery and palms around the pools that it didn't allow a lot of sun through, so we stuck mainly to the beach.

Chris was super pumped to do some scuba diving. He started in the pool at the resort, then wound up doing a day trip to Playa del Carmen to scuba diving about 40 ft under water.

I would say 90% of our time was spent like this. Relaxing under a cabana, soaking up the sun. I would send Chris out each morning at 6:30 to go put our towels in one of these coveted cabanas so that we had the option of sun or shade. It was perfect!

We dined at the Asian restaurant. It was one of our favourites!

Many of our breakfasts were taken in at the Garden restaurant because Chris loved the french toast. He talked about it every single day!

In all fairness, it was pretty amazing french toast. Strawberries, cream cheese and whipped butter. Yum!

Some afternoons Chris would head back to the hotel for a proper nap, but I wasn't willing to waste a minute of glorious sunshine. I mean, come on... would you head inside if this was the weather outside??

This was taken in the Mexican restaurant.

As we were leaving, this tiny little man insisted that I take a picture with him. He was so tiny!

I didn't realize how early it gets dark in Mexico. It was pitch black by 5:30. I mean it makes sense because the sun is up and hot so stinkin' early, but it was still a surprise to me.

This next picture makes me laugh. One of the amazing staff members picked us up in his golf cart and gave us a halarious tour of the resort.

Here we are, waiting for our tour bus to take us to Xel-ha and Tulum.

Oh yes, the traditional Mexico picture with a huge lizard!

The tour in Tulum was disappointing. We had a terrible guide, and the tour was rushed and crowded and hot, but we were still able to quickly check out a few of the ruins before being rushed back to town.

Enjoying the lazy river in Xel-ha.

Of course, we indulged in many yummy drinks.

Haha. Now I'd like to take credit for this cheesiness, but alas, I can't. We were just walking around the resort and saw it so Chris insisted I take a picture.

And the best part about the vacation? Coming home to these two crazy kiddies. Here they are, proudly displaying their Mexican guitars and Chelsea's dress. As much as I loved going away with my best friend and relaxing in the sunshine, a week was a few days too long to be away from these two. They definitely hold my heart!

Christmas 2011

Christmas came a little early this year in the Hildebrand household. Chris and I actually booked a last minute trip to Mexico and were gone over Christmas, so we celebrated with the kids on the morning of Dec. 22.
Chelsea has been asking for a metal detector since this summer when we saw a man using one at Morden beach. Any time that anyone asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she would say a metal detector and bacon. :) (We always have a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and toast on Christmas morning.) So, here she is, proudly displaying her metal detector from Santa.

Gavin was a tough kid to buy for this year. He loves books and puzzles and the alphabet and numbers but didn't really show a lot of interest in other toys. We bought him this car ramp, hoping he'd like it and he has played with it non-stop! Success!!

Our kids excited to dig through thier stockings! Mmm... Candy!

Chelsea checking out her loot.

Proudly displaying her new one piece pajamas, funky slippers and warm fuzzy housecoat.

Opening more presents...

We spent the rest of the morning, relaxing, eating, and playing with our new toys. Then, we dropped the kids off at Aunty's and Chris and I headed out to catch a plane to Mexico!

Feeling a lot like Christmas...

I know. This blog has been neglected, but I'm working on it.

The next few posts will be fairly random, but take what you can get!

So, back in December, we met Santa! The kids were thrilled.

 This year was an interesting one with Chelsea. Living in Winkler, Santa seems to be pretty contraversial with many people telling Chelsea that Santa isn't real. We had many talks about Saint Nick and mall Santa and the family tradition of hanging up our stockings. I felt a little sad that she didn't get to believe in the magic of Santa for a little bit longer...

Chelsea also had her preschool concert. She did fantastic, singing loudly as usual. It was cute. When I picked her up to take her to the concert, she asked if I had bought her flowers. I asked her why and she said, "Well, Mom. I'm performing today and I always need flowers when I perform!" Made sense, so off to Bloom we went to pick out these beautiful flowers!

Neglected

Feeling uninspired and too busy to blog, yet I miss it. I haven't even been taking pictures of my kids lately. I have this wicked cough/sore throat that I thought I conquered a few weeks back that appears to have reared its ugly head. I'm off to sip some lemon tea and analyze running records. Fun times.

A Mom's World

As a mom, sometimes we have to deal with situations that we'd rather not. There are some situations that I'd actually like to stay a million miles away from. But instead, we grin and bear it. Or in this case, plug our noses and wash the wall.
Potty training Gavin has been a long process.  All summer long, he's been great - if he was naked, that is. Naked, he rarely had accidents. But if we left the house at all, we put him in a diaper. If we put clothes on him, he would pee instantly. So because I'm an awesome, stellar parent, I just let him run around naked. Seriously - all the time. Worked for me!

Now it's getting a little chipper out, so we finally embraced the gitchies and on Friday last week, m'boy became a gitchie-wearing, potty training machine. Love it. I'd post pictures, but I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

Anyways, he has been doing FANTASTIC. For a non-talker, he does a sweet little bobbing potty dance or he'll come and grab my hand and pull me to the bathroom. We really have only had the odd incident and those are usually in the bathroom when one of us hasn't been there to help him on.

However, the other morning, we were hanging out as a family upstairs and G waited a little too long. Chris grabbed him and started running to the bathroom, but it was too late. I wish I could tell you it was pee, but it was not. The material in question splatted on the wall as a loud bang echoed upstairs. While running into the bathroom, Chris accidentally banged Gavin's head on the doorframe - while he was in the middle of doing his thing. I came around the corner and almost died laughing. Seriously, my life is awesome. I was actually happy it landed on the wall because it meant I didn't have to clean the carpets! But there, my little boy sat, pooping, crying, and rubbing his head, confused beyond all explanation.

Needless to say, this set us back a bit in the potty training area, as G refused to perform #2 duties on the potty (or anywhere) for four days.  I'm pretty sure he was petrified that daddy would smack him upside the head if it happened.

Monkey See, Monkey Do.

So, we've seen the pictures of Chelsea making funny faces.

 And tonight, she taught her brother to do the same.

 These two were laughing so hard, thinking they were just the funniest kids around.

 Hey, I'll take it if it means that they are taking a break from their usual routine of fighting, arguing, and complaining.

Kinda bored

- C painted my toenails tonight. Pretty sure a blind monkey could have done a better job, but she had fun, and flipflop season is over, so it's all good.
- I am settling nicely into my job - finally. It's still hard not to have a classroom, but I'm making it work. Feel free to wave at me every morning as I'm out waving my orange flag.
- I took a sick day on Friday. I had a horrible cold/cough/sore throat that settled in my chest. I slept until noon without waking up once. Guess I needed it!
- I'm only posting because I feel guilty for not blogging. Take what you can get people!
- I'm not one of those "put up the Christmas tree on November 1st" kind of people. I usually aim for somewhere from December 1 - 14. I just find it so bulky and cumbersome. I wish I was more into seasonal decorating, but I just have a hard time spending money on that sort of stuff.
- My feet are always cold - who wants to buy me electric socks?
- Alright, I've wasted my evening watching Grey's and Private Practice. Felt good to do nothing, but yet, weird to do nothing.
- We currently have a fort set up in our kitchen. Good times.
- Happiness feels good.

Spooky

We finally we all home and happy at the same time, so we were finally able to carve our pumpkins together. 

 Here are the final pumpkin products as well as our two wild animals. Okay, well a cow isn't necessarily a wild animal, but super cute none the less.

 Gavin absolutely loved it. Chelsea had put her boots on without socks so was complaining about an hour in. Thankfully at one house, we not only asked for candy, but a pair of socks as well! How's that for trick-or-treating?

It was such a gorgeous night. Here I thought I was such a good mom, making them wear these warm costumes and both of the kids were sweating at the end of the night!

Kids for Jesus Carnival

 Chelsea told me this morning she wanted to be a flower girl - not like a wedding flower girl, but a girl covered in flowers, AND she wanted to wear her flowery dress. So, after a quick trip to dollarama, some wire cutters and hot glue, and a visit to Facepainting by Jo, we had our flower girl - pleased as punch.

 Gavin went as Batman - not that he had the foggiest idea who Batman is, but because the costume fit. He did, however, have oodles of fun running around with his cape and saying, "Batman, Batman!"

So fun!