We're alive

I hate to get behind on the blog; but when you don't have access to your pictures or to the internet for that matter it's kind of hard to blog.

April has been good and bad. As most months are right? It was hard having Charles away Sun night-Fri night for his rotation in Cherokee, NC for 4 wks. It was hard not having a car for 2 weeks. One of those weeks Vince had croup and it was raining all week so we couldn't go outside or have anyone over. It was hard trying to find a place to live without him here.

It was good to spend lots of time with friends who stepped in as my family since Charles was gone. It's a good feeling to know that I finally have a good group of friends who I feel comfortable with and can rely on for help. It's been since 2006 that I've had a really good group of friends and the lack of such has made me somewhat subconsciously depressed. I thrive on having good, close (emotionally and proximity) girlfriends. It's not a blessing I take lightly since it's been 5 yrs.

Vince has been in a tough stage. He has major separation anxiety and screams like someone is chopping his legs off when I leave the room. To be honest, it is driving me insane. And he's been doing it for about a month now. Azure has been pretty pleasant. A post to come on just her development but, she has overall been a joy to be around and especially with Charles gone this past month I've realized again what a good friend she is to me. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with her when I'm not stressed about doing something else and we have lots of fun. We just lay on her bed and laugh and laugh. Those are moments I so treasure as a mother.

Spring is already over here. On my birthday there was a huge hailstorm and it killed almost all of the azaleas. And then the heat killed off the rest the following week. We only had them in full bloom in our complex for about 2 wks. Sad.

Azaleas in all their color varieties

We did get a bit of spring planting in ourselves. Though our basil never grew. Our oregano we planted 2 yrs ago is doing fabulous.

These only lasted one week. I have a lot to learn about planting and soil types. One day I will have a beautiful, landscaped flower bed. One day.

I bought Azure this darling Easter dress that I obsessed over getting for weeks. And then I didn't take a single Easter photo! Not really sure why that didn't occur. Really regretting it now. I also didn't take pics of the cute Easter "baskets" (take-out boxes) that I arranged on Easter morning. Lame!

We were in Cherokee for all of Easter/Holy week. In the cabin I arranged all of the pictures of Christ's last week on earth from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday against the wall from the Gospel Art Kit. It looked beautiful. Again, I failed to photograph it.

However I did manage to take pics of the bunny cottage we built and of our Easter eggs we dyed for FHE. Though, we didn't do an egg hunt this year.

Easter itself was wonderful. Jen and I sang "Beautiful Savior"  in Sacrament and Lucy Elam accompanied us on the flute for the 3rd verse descant. It sounded lovely.

We had Easter dinner at the Garners with some close friends- the Bryces, the Georges, the Saavedras, the Olsons, and even the Bishop. We read the Easter story in the plastic eggs again.

14 months

March was a good month for Vince developmentally.

About 2 weeks ago as I was nursing him to sleep on my bed we heard a dog barking outside through the open window. He looked at me wide eyed as to say, "What's that sound?" I said, "Dog. Do you hear the doggie?" Then I barked and lifted his hand to pat his hip to make him do the sign for dog. Then we heard the barking again and he signed it all on his own!

Since then he's done it almost everyday and says "da" as he does it! He's also said "nana" for banana, "da" for duck, "ma" for more (or mas), and "ba" for ball. He is really trying to repeat the words I teach him. He is also really trying hard to say Azure. It is so sweet. Yesterday morning he woke up before her and pointed at her door and said, "Auhr". Then he crawled over there and started pounding on her door to wake up. Usually I would try to stop him from waking her up but, I needed her to entertain him so I could make breakfast. That has been the perk of having 2! He also makes the "ticka ticka" sound. Azure did this same sound at this age and it's fun to relive. So, in essence he now knows 9 words! Including the previous Dada, Mama, and Hi.

Besides verbal development he's also learned to cruise around! He climbs over all obstacles in his way. He can stand on his own but, has yet to take any steps. He likes to pull to a stand on my legs and then bite me. We have no need for a puppy :)

Still only 4 teeth which is weird because he and Azure got teeth at almost the same exact time (7.5 months) but, at this age she had about 6 teeth and I think even molars? Though, I'm having trouble remembering.
*Update* Just a day after I post this of course his 5th tooth has sprouted! It's the top right eye tooth.

This is our dinner celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph which includes Pasta con Sarde. But, since Charlie can't handle eating sardines I used tilapia instead. My great great grandmother Anna (who is mentioned in my episode of The Generations Project) loved celebrating The Feast of St. Joseph. So, we did it in her honor.

An update on nursing- I think he's finally on a good nap schedule of taking 1 nap a day about 3.5 hrs after he first wakes up in the mornings, usually around 11am to noon. And usually for 1.5-2 hrs long. So, I've dropped down to nursing him 3x a day- in the morning, at naptime and at bedtime. He usually wants to nurse later in the afternoon but, I have just been giving him organic whole milk in his sippy and he's usually content with that.

Later this month I may try to go down to just 2x a day, either omitting the morning or naptime feeding. But, I feel pretty good with just 3 times a day now!

Awhile after he turned 13 months we put him in a new carseat (Azure's old one). Though, he's still rear-facing for now.  He was sick last week with croup and he still only weighed 19 lbs 14 oz. 

I'm 30! (woot, woot)

Blogging has not occurred because Charlie has the computer all week in Cherokee, NC at his 2nd to last rotation.  I am behind...

Thanks for your sweet comments on my 30 things for 30 birthday post!

I had a great birthday! We celebrated Saturday and went running in the morning as a family on Isle of Hope. Azaleas were in full bloom and it was gorgeous and absolutely perfect weather.

Charlie bought me orange and pink tulips and some of my favorite food items including salmon and nutella.

Then we dropped off the chillins at Jen's house so Charlie and I could have a dinner date at Bonefish. Bonefish was the first restaurant we ate at when we moved to Savannah in June 2008 and we haven't been back so it was fun to go again. The food was good. But, I unfortunately spilled my water on my salmon and it diluted the flavor a tad. Charlie had ahi tuna and was moaning with delight because it was so good. We also had ceviche. Afterwards, we made a quick trip to Publix which included the purchase of a Passover serving plate. I love Passover!

When we went to pick up the kids from Jen's we found that she had decorated her house with streamers, balloons, a banner, and a handmade "30" sign and had invited some other friends to surprise me! She also made me a cake. She was in cahoots with Charles! We even played pin the tail on the donkey. It was hilarious. Thanks Jen, you made my birthday!

So funny. Charles put his hand underneath his leg and still won pin the tail on the donkey. This man has mad skills. Yep, totally my husband :)

 I have wrinkles and sunspots. Welcome to 30!

And on the actual day of my birthday we had a "snowball fight" during Singing Time in Primary and got to sing the kids' favorite primary songs. It was so fun. Have I mentioned how much I love my calling as Primary Chorister? I do. It is a blast. "Sing. Sing. Sing. I like to sing. I like to sing a song. Sing. Sing. Sing." I hope to have this calling a couple more times in life.