Vamanos! {trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico}

About two weeks ago (i think?) Leslie called me up and in a normal tone of voice asked, "so, would you be interested in going to my parent's beach house in Mexico next week?" Um. Let me think. "YES!" A few days later we were buckling in two toddlers and two babies for a 12 hour drive and international border crossing to the beach in Mexico. The hours passed quickly since I had someone to chat with and the kids were (mostly) entertained by the DVD player, snacks and throwing objects around the van. We stayed the night in Phoenix with Leslie's very kind aunt and uncle, watched Owen and Liesel chase a bunny all over the backyard and adjusted to the time change. 

The next morning we watched the saguaros disappear and the ocean come into view. I love crossing the border. It's always a thrill and humbling at the same time to see how different life can be just because you were born on the other side of an imaginary line.

family stand-up paddle session. 

These chairs were initially set up for all these babies-mamas, but we were promptly kicked out and told to get snacks. We obeyed and then watched at how grown-up they all looked lounging on the beach. I also love this photo because you can see Casa Alaja in the background. What a beautiful and relaxing place to be! The boy on the far left is Russell-- Leslie's sister Alison joined us with her little boy (or should I say I joined them? That's probably more accurate). It was great to get to know them both!

pals. I'll never tire of watching these two play together. I can genuinely say that I love Owen. I've watched him grow into a handsome, sweet little boy. 

We thought the whale skeleton was cool. They were more interested in trying to get tetanus from the rusty wire cable. 

Liesel loved the beach. She really did. Every day on our way down the steps she would plop down in the sand (as seen in the first photo) and scoop, dig and build in the sand. Then she would decide suddenly to run down to the ocean, run in the waves and play till she decided to go back to the house and would start walking back. 

Liesel loved dead crabs, but especially loved the live one! She kept poking it's head. I loved watching the salty sea air make her hair curl like Shirley Temple. So cute! 

Liesel's new "say cheese" smile. And Hannah finally makes a debut (more than her chubby foot anyway)!

L's mermaid bracelet

L's artwork on the right-- she made the circles and then added a dollop of sand on each one. 

check out Hannah and Sam on the right. Hannah looks so bald! 

Speaking of chubbers . . .

guess who started sitting up for 20 second intervals while in Mexico? Right on her 5 month birthday. 

My one regret is not snapping a photo of Liesel's surrogate grandparents for the week: grandma Jayne and grandpa David (also known as "the man" by L). They were so gracious in not only opening up their home to us, but cooking every lunch and dinner to boot! We spent our evenings chatting, watching Brian almost buy a trailer in Moab, watching a surf movie about the Mavericks and eating sugar. It was such a great mini-vacation. 

And the ride home. The ride home was better than I anticipated with the exception of the insane and somewhat embarrassing ordeal at Wendy's in Flag when Owen spilled his milk all over, Liesel was grabbing everyone's food, Hannah had a massive blowout that I had to change on the wendy's bench (where was the change table in the bathroom??!) and I'm pretty sure neither toddler had shoes by the end.  

Thanks Rogers family for an awesome vacation!

The Abundant Life

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

When I was in college I found myself searching for the truth. I struggled to know if I was making the right choice by choosing to continue in the faith I had been raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I sent my dad and email telling him my dilemma. He sent me back a message filled with love and his own personal experience coming to know and follow our Savior. I was surprised that he wrote only about Christ and how his decision to follow Him has made all the difference in his life. He quoted John 15: "without me, ye can do nothing."

I eagerly opened up my scriptures and read the chapter. It was a turning point for me-- I realized that in order to produce anything of value, any "good fruit" I would need to follow Jesus Christ. He promises to purge us- or to test, try and prove. But by doing that, we can produce more than we could if left on our own. With Him and through Him, our life can be a masterpiece. He can take our raw materials and make them into something beautiful and full of light.

This has made all the difference in my life.

"To embrace [the gospel of Jesus Christ] fully is to be filled with wonder and to walk with an inner fire. Our Savior proclaimed, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” The abundant life is a spiritual life. It is not a religion of mourning and gloom. The faith of our fathers is one of hope and joy. It is not a gospel of chains but a gospel of wings. . . the abundant life is a spiritual life." (Joseph B. Wirthlin-- taken from one of my favorite talks "The Abundant Life")

5 months

Hannah reached a whole five months while we were in Mexico last week. Here are a few of her new tricks:

sitting up for 5-20 seconds at a time (tripod style)

not sleeping and refusing a pacifier

VERY interested in food

grabs thing easily 

loves playing with and chewing her elephant

laughs/smiles easily 

rocks tummy-time

face-planted in the sand at the beach

still gets lots of comments on her round head and eyes

fell asleep in a stranger arms at church (but won't do that for me)

has adorable dimples from her fat rolls
BaBa is her nickname from Dad
Liesel calls her Hannah banana
and I can't stop kissing her chubby cheeks and fuzzy head. 

I can tell this little one is going to be a cheerful happy little girl. She bring so much light into our family. 

la mar

back from Mexico.

Liesel is now a 2x international traveler and Hannah made her official debut south of the border as well.  

I love sun.
I love DVDs in cars.
I love the beach.
I love the sand.
I love tortillas de mano
I love waves
and paddle boards
and chubby babies and toddlers in swim suits
I love it when someone else cooks dinner
and decides what to make (not to mention it was amazing)
I love ocean breezes
and I love missing my man and seeing him again.
I love chatting with friends
and making new ones
and I really don't mind a little sand in my sheets
(although I could have done without sand in my babies nose and eyes).
I loved watching Liesel love the ocean.


and the drive was so great! Having company makes the hours pass so much quicker and my anxiety over the return home was completely unfounded. It was so fabulous.

I can't wait to post pictures! I didn't have a camera, so they'll be a while coming.  . .

lazy Sundays and aunt Mary

while Liesel has warmed up considerably to Hannah these days, we still had to bribe her. . . what this kid will do for one marshmallow out of a Lucky Charm box. 

 Brian's Aunt Mary (who is actually not his aunt, but his dad's) makes the most beautiful smocked dresses.  And being in her mid-80s hasn't slowed her down. A few weeks ago she sent us a package with two beautiful handmade dresses. Smocking is an art and I should have taken a close up of the detail in them-- it is really astounding how the fabric is gathered together to make it look like a whole new design. 

The girls looked so classic and timeless. 

on a side note: Liesel ran up to me today while I was fixing dinner (she had bonked her head) and said, "pick you up and sing you the hush little baby song?!" Needless to say, .2 seconds later I was doing just that. 

 Hannah needs more of this. Time with just daddy is scarce these days. Although I've been so impressed at how Brian will always take the girls and hold, read or play with them every chance he gets.

 pretty sure I could hold Hannah every day for the rest of my life. 

 My babies. I adore how innocent Liesel looks in this picture. 

little sisters. 

(mom)ent

love. 

gals

&

L: still singing constantly

H: wakes up at 5:45am 5 days a week. 

L: "I don't like____" (the potty, hannah, mommy, go to nap, pepper, spicy, go for a run. . .)

H: loves tummy time

L: loves cookies

H: laughs easily and smiles often-- usually followed by turning her head or bonking it on my shoulder

L: watched Dora yesterday

H: didn't nap while we were at the temple. Passed out as soon as we showed up.

L: still puts things in her mouth . . . mud, sticks, random food. . . she even licked the penrod's floor the other day.

H: tolerates her sister pretty well while in the Chariot

L: said "I love you" independent of me saying it or telling her to say it. Heart melter.

H: taseted avacado: B- tasted a cutie: A+

L: does not take naps at home but totally looses it when we're out! ugh. 

H: still reaching and grabbing . . . on her way to sitting up! 

xoxoxo

my leesie boo

They change. So fast. These photos were taken on our one day out during Liesel's week of sickness. I spent two days traveling (flight Houston. flight to Albuquerque- or Albaturkey. spend the night with my aunt and uncle. wake up at 4:30 am. drive for 4.5 hrs. go to church. drive another 3 hrs. home.) and the very next morning after eating her breakfast, before I even had time to remove the bib (thank goodness) it all ended up right back on her tray. For the next three days we couldn't keep anything in her but a teaspoon of gatorade very 10 mins. She was a begging for food and water and I couldn't refuse her-- it was so sad! I ended up changing her clothes 12 times that day and the washer was running constantly. Anyway, after three days of nothing, she finally woke up and kept down some applesauce. 

The next day we ventured out (honestly, it was more for me-- I was a madwoman by the end of that week) to Dugout Ranch. It's sort of our place to go when we need to go. Actually, that would be the park visitor center but I didn't want L to get anyone sick. So we chatted with the horses and dogs. And then she cried and I realized she wasn't as feeling good as I thought she was and we went home. 

and it turns out that her crabby-i-don't-want-to-do-anything-but-cry-all-the-time was only due to her not feeling good (but it lasted a whole 6 days!) and not her new personality. 

In fact, she has been an absolute joy. For real. I think every day last week I thought to myself: wow. this is why being a mom is so awesome.

And she has started calling me "mom" -- and it kills me every time. She doesn't know it yet, but I literally can not say no when she asks, "mom- read me deez books!"

My VT brought me this cake for my birthday and since L (and every child) is obsessed with birthdays, I went ahead and put candles in it for a mini-birthday. 

I'm going to start writing down the funny things she says, but the only one I can remember right now is when she pointed to a camel and said, "der are two very very big nursing buttons." She has started to learn to be funny and will add her own words to songs to make us laugh, like "old mcdonald had a mommy EIEIO!" And the other night she put her hand in her sleeve and said, "where'd your hand go??!" And wanted us to look for it. She thought that was hysterical. 

Tonight in the bath I called hannah my "hannah banana boo" and she immediately looked at me and said "my leesie leesie boo!" 

yes. its true. I have two little boo boos these days. 

and yes. these are things only i care about and they will to someday. That's what this blog is about. 

@hannah #beefythighsmakememelt (4months)

babies are so cute. 

I pity da foo. . .

Sometimes Hannah is so aware it's almost baffling to me. I feel like she is 100% with it-- she knows what's going on. I love her little personality so much and she adds so much to our family. She's a pretty easy laugher and smiler (unless I have the camera out!). She's rolly. She's got just a little bit of fuzz on her head. She knows what she wants. And she gets it or she'll scream bloody murder. But 95% of the time she's a great baby.

So far Liesel ranks highest in getting laughs out of H. In the bath last night she was getting the most hilarious belly laughs over and over. It was so cute. And melted my heart. I would have gotten it on camera, but I was in there too and I know ya'll don't want none a dat.

Hannah has reached some knew milestones. She is almost rolling over. Does almost doing something count as a milestone? She looks so far behind her she almost topples over. She seems to like tummy time and has recently started reaching for and grabbing things. . . like the dangly bird in her play gym or the washcloth in the bathtub if I hold it in front of her. It's not completely coordinated, but she is definitely doing a stiff-fingered grab and shoves it straight to her mouth.

No solids yet. But B gave her a millimeter of applesauce two days ago and of course she didn't know what to do with her tounge and shoved it right out. With Liesel I was so excited to start solids, but I think I'm going to drag out nursing till she can master the pincer and then go straight to table food. J/k on the table food. But not gonna lie, pureeing gets old fast.

15.8 lbs (75th percentile)

24.5 inches (50th percentile)

doc said they like to see them hugging the same curve, but I'm tots not worried about Hannah being too chubby. I love it.