Weekend Update

Guthrie had a mega wiggler last week and we figured it would be falling out soon. He came home from school with a "surprise" to show me. This was his first top tooth to come out (his fourth tooth altogether). I gave him an unofficial dental exam and found three more teeth that are pretty loose - one that will probably fall out any day (the fourth on the bottom). He couldn't wait to put his tooth under his pillow.

G: Does the tooth fairy come check under everyone's pillows every night for teeth?

Me: Ummm, yep.

G: *pause* Immmmmmm-possible. (walks away)

Uhhhh - okay. He's a smart little booger.

On Friday we REstarted potty training with Sullivan. We have done this two or three times now and each time he does GREAT, no accidents for a few days, and then regresses and I get sick of pee on the floor and put him back in diapers. I hadn't actually planned to start again but I ran out of diapers and just seized the opportunity. He has done really well and only had a few oops moments. He doesn't like any of his own underwear and insists on wearing "spiderman un-wear" that belong to Guthrie. Good thing Guff is pretty thin and his underwear aren't too giant on Sully's mini-tush.

We had a few yummy dinners this past week while I tried out some new recipes. We were in a dinner rut and it was nice to change it up for a while. First of all we tried out this recipe that Ash posted on our family blog. I definitely recommend it, although when I remake it I need to remember that Mexican chili powder is a LOT spicier than what we buy in the states. Also, I will leave out the beer next time as the smell of beer simmering in a pot of chili made my house smell like a keg for about 12 hours and I was totally gagged. I went back and forth on whether or not to add it, and figured since the alcohol is all supposed to cook out, and the original recipe writer obviously seemed to think that the beer served a purpose, I would take a chance. It tasted great (albeit spicy) and we will make it again.

I also tried out some homemade tomato soup.

Boil the following veggies for about 15 minutes:

5 large tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 large carrot

1 onion

1 jalapeno (I seeded mine so it wouldn't be too spicy)

Drain the veggies and blend them in the blender until completely pureed. Bring 2 cups of chicken broth to a boil and add the pureed veggies. Salt and pepper to taste. I served it with some slices of crusty bread, but Kyle enjoyed his with grilled cheese. We also sprinkled some grated cheese on top. I only made this for me and Kyle, but I think if I had left the jalapeno out the kids would have liked it. It would be REALLY yummy with some shaped pasta noodles mixed in.

Today I remembered that I had bought the ingredients to try this recipe. I really liked it but even more impressive was how well the kids ate it. I doubled the sauce for the recipe and ended up with a pretty big portion for leftovers, but no worries because I know the kids will eat it and I am a big fan of leftovers. :P While we were eating Adeline told Kyle that "mommy makes the best food." Uhhhh - any recipe that gets me those kudos from my kids can stick around. (I should note that she also makes similar comments when we are eating macaroni and cheese with chicken nuggets - just so you don't get the wrong impression of me).

I've been feeling kind of blah, which isn't unusual for this time of the semester. We're kind of at that point where it feels like we haven't seen our families forever and we miss them and so many other people and things from the U.S. Not to mention that we feel like our Mexico time is winding down and ya'all know how time slows down when you're looking forward to something. I need some mini milestones to look forward to until we go home for Christmas break (Dec. 6thish). I also think it will be a little refreshing to see my mom this weekend. I'm excited to take her out to a yummy dinner on Friday night and spend the day with her and the kids on Saturday. Hurry up and get here, Tam!

Did you ever wonder what would happen. . .

if Spiderman refused to nap???


At 8 o'clock his mom and dad would come downstairs to find this:


I tried to find my old pictures of Guthrie in the same outfit but can't figure out where I hid the darn thing.

Good news and Bad news

I'm not giving up on Mexico (yet), but I do kind of feel like she's kicking me when I'm down.

I picked the kids up from school, spent 30 minutes waiting in gridlock traffic, received a call from Kyle inviting me to McDonald's to wait out the gridlock, and RUSHED at the chance to get us all out of the car.

We had a fun impromptu family lunch. When it looked like traffic was clearing up, we decided we better head out. Guthrie decided to ride with Kyle, so I buckled Adeline and Sullivan into my car. I put my seat belt on, put the keys in the ignition and glanced at the passenger seat. Hmmm. . .something seems different. What could it be???

OHHHHH, I remember. My purse was there - right underneath Guthrie's backpack. The empty seat was really confusing me, even though I knew right away what had happened. I tried to remember if I locked the car. YES, I am positive I locked it. I got out and looked at the outside of the passenger door. It looked perfect and my Expedition doesn't even have a lock on that side anyway. The only external locks are on the back door and the driver's side door. I checked the backdoor on my way around and it was perfect. As I walked up the driver's side, I could see the little black hole that used to be our keyhole. (Insert swear words).

Kyle was ticked - and I was too. But mostly I was just SUPER, swimming, flying high on a kite that I had JUST spent my last $100 pesos about an hour earlier and there was NO cash in my purse at all. I didn't have any passports in there, no social security cards, no visas (the traveling kind), etc. I did have 8 (eight) different credit/debit cards and one of my copies of my driver's license. . .but I purposely have three copies of the license so that one is also no big deal. I am sure the stinky thieves took one glance in my purse, realized they only got plastic, and tossed it in the nearest bushes. '

I checked around the rest of the inside of the car and other than Guthrie's backpack with his school sweater, nothing else was missing. (I'm a teeny bit ticked about the sweater.) I even found my old wallet in the console, along with our passports and visas :o, untouched!

We got home and I started calling each and every company to cancel the cards and get new issued. Suddenly I remembered that wallet in the car and wondered which credit cards were in there, thinking it might reduce the phone calls I had to make. I ran to the car and brought the wallet in, where I promptly found $3000 pesos in cash (more than $300 USD). JACKPOT! I had no clue I left that there.

I now feel like I got paid $150 an hour to make some phone calls. Take that, you stinkin' thieves.

The End.

Viva Mexico!

Did you know that in Mexico they don't have a city supply of natural gas to run to your homes, yet every home uses gas for water heaters, dryers, and cooking? What a conundrum, right?

The solution is that when you are building your house, you have to purchase and install underground (with adequate above-ground access) a large (if you're lucky) gas tank that is then run into the house after the fact by a hopefully proficient plumber. My plumber was not proficient and after we moved in we realized that the pipes were working just fine into the laundry room (dryer worked) and into the kitchen (stove/oven worked), but somewhere between the kitchen and the hot water heater three feet away (off the back of the house outside the kitchen), the flow of gas abruptly stopped. I'm not a big fan of cold showers or cold dish water, so we had to request the plumber come back and fix it. He couldn't figure out what happened, so he capped off the pipe after the stove and ran an entirely NEW pipe from the tank around the outside of the house to the water heater. We still have problems with our hot water because having the heater outside seems to pose some problems. When it rains hard (as it does daily for four months out of the year), the water often stream right on top of our un-roofed heater and puts out the pilot light. Or another time, we couldn't figure out why the pilot went out and wouldn't relight. The super awesome plumber came back and showed us where a spider had climbed in that little tube and laid an egg sack for us. Wasn't that sweet??

Well, overall the system seems to work and I usually don't even think about our gas or water heater or anything to do with it. Until days like today. I DESPERATELY need a shower. I mean, we're going on third day hair, 2 mm thick layer of oil and junk on my face, my feet are black from walking around barefoot yesterday, and frankly - I just stink.

This brings me to the fatal flaw of the system. When the gas tank is empty - it is empty. There is no backup. There is no warning that it is about to be empty. Its just empty and you're out of luck until you get someone to come fill it. No cooking, no showering, no hot water for laundry or cleaning. Nada.

I would rant a little more - but I have to go take a cold shower now.

TAGGED

I guess the point is to answer each question with a one-word answer. This almost killed me. I don't do well with limiting my speech.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is your significant other? Baking (see. . .doesn't that need an explanation?)
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? beeeautiful
5. Your father? manly
6. Your favorite thing? children (my own. . .sorry back to one word)
7. Your dream last night? realistic
8. Your dream/goal? persist
9. The room you're in? loft
10. Your hobby? napping
11. Your fear? death (really I wanted to say "terminally ill child", but that's not one word, is it?)
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? shopping
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? male
15. One of your wish list items? spa
16. Where you grew up? Idaho/Arizona (seriously. . .define "grew up")
17. The last thing you did? napped
18. What are you wearing? deodorant
19. Your TV? broken
20. Your pet? noway
21. Your computer? busy
22. Your mood? hungry
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? dirty
25. Something you're not wearing? 2-carats
26. Favorite Store? Costc0
27. Your summer? sweating
28. Love someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Tuesday

I tag: Serin, Ashley, Shanda, Mimi, and Keara.

Procrastinator!

Why does that word have a "pro" in it? Isn't that prefix usually reserved for GOOD things?? Protons have *positive* energy. The protagonist is the *good* guys in the story. Probiotics are *good* bacteria.

I have known since Friday at 11 a.m. my time that I had x amount of work to accomplish before Monday morning at 9 am. Well, here it is SUNDAY night at 9:30 pm and I can't find the motivation to finish it.

I think we had a pretty good weekend and I guess I'm not ready to admit that Monday is so near.

My mom didn't make it into town on Friday. We have rescheduled for the 24th. I told the kids she was coming and now she will be guilted into it. :p Not that she needs to be because she knows how incredibly awesome we are and she just can't wait to come spend 48 hours with us.

We decided we all needed some fun (which I realize is defined very differently depending on your status in our family, i.e. parent or child). We compromised on Carl's Jr, which just happens to be the most expensive and best tasting America fast food chain in Guadalajara, so don't think we're too cheap, mmmmmkay. It turned out to be a very good choice. The success of a family's evening out is directly proportional to the amount of time that mommy and daddy get to spend talking over a quiet table while the kids play happily (an equation that is helped out a lot by the presence of play places in nearly ALL restaurants, fast and slow food alike). We ended up staying at Carl's Jr for a ridiculous amount of time (bordering on three hours). Believe it or not, only ONE family that arrived before us had actually left at that point. Who knew it was such a hang out? Kyle and I enjoyed our conversation and repeated refills of Carl's Jr.'s giant cups (for $3 a drink, I definitely appreciate the size).

Saturday wasn't too bad either (if you can forget that I spent half my week's earning on a hair color and cut that left my hair the same color it was when I went in, regrowth and all, and a haircut that required ME to spend an hour of my time in the bathroom with my haircutting scissors and a mirror trying to straighten it out). Yeah, I couldn't forget that part either. Nonetheless, after THAT disaster was put to the back burner for a minute, we went to a baby shower/family bbq that ended up being a lot of fun. The kids played for almost four hours straight and Kyle and I again enjoyed good food and good conversation.

Somehow I realize this is sounding like Kyle didn't get anything done this weekend - but it should be noted that every OTHER minute. . .the ones that I am NOT blogging about. . .those were spent with me and the kids twiddling our thumbs waiting patiently for Kyle to geniusify behind closed doors. Okay, really we don't wait like that - but he always studies so that doesn't seem blogworthy. Work with me here.

We didn't really watch conference on Saturday (bad, bad, I know), but we were all set for Sunday. We had an easy breakfast and I made a cinnamon cake (that turned out so so) while we waited for the first session to start. Our friends, the Stilsons, ended up without internet this morning, so they joined us for both sessions (with a little break in between allowing naps for all). Overall, it was a pretty relaxed day. My mom was slightly disappointed that I didn't prepare our family's traditional conference breakfast. My reason was, "Its a lot of work when it is just our family," which I later realized sounds like I don't think MY little family is worth all that work. But really, I DO think they worth it. I was just lazy and its way more fun when my mom, dad, siblings and nieces and nephews are there to make and partake. Next conference I SWEAR I'll invite some people over and we'll keep up the tradition. Besides, I really like Honey Nut Cheerios. No really, I DO.

Shhhh!

This is the blog post that never happened. . .as I am "working" so hard that I actually just asked Kyle to run to the store for me (don't worry, he has been home alone all day getting in good study time). Maybe he isn't the only one who gets sidetracked. I vow to not make fun of him for ESPN.com.

For 24 hours.

So, the main motivator for this blog post is that I had thoughts on the brain and want to get them down before I forget, and nothing makes you forget about your own life faster than transcribing for hours on end, typing about other people's lives.

Yesterday started like any ol' average day. As Kyle's schedule wasn't so helpful, I drove the kids to school, came home, ate my second breakfast with Sullivan, worked for a few hours, yadi yadi yada. Sully started a little fussing (okay a lot) around noon, so I fed him quick lunch and dozed next to him for a few minutes to get him to sleep. Kyle came home for lunch, so we left the napper home with Joanna and grabbed a torta ahogada for lunch. Afterwards, I woke Sully, buckled him in the car and left to go get the kids.

Fast forward five minutes and ta-dah!!! Car crash + me = OH S#$%. I actually think I did say that. And I also hit the steering wheel really hard 'cause I was TICKED. I called Kyle and said, "I just hit someone right outside the community - come FAST!" I tried to call the insurance company but all of the phone numbers were saying "no existe". This was just a teeny fender bender, but I kind of had a clue that we were going to be sticking around for a while as I have heard rumors before about how much fun this could be. (I'm a sucker for first-hand experience).

The short version:
Kyle showed up quickly.
He called insurance company. They estimate 30-40 minutes until the adjuster arrives.
All occupants move to the side of the road (including the three small children who were riding unbuckled in the passenger seat of a two-seater nissan pickup).
We wait.
Police officer shows up and uses a can of spray paint to mark the lines on the road where each of our cars was located, thereby allowing us to all move them to the side of the road to clear the road for the miles of traffic that are jammed up behind us now.
We wait some more.
Insurance adjusters for other two cars show up after about 20 minutes. They start talking and trying to figure out who was at fault. Is anyone missing here?? Oh yeah - MY insurance adjuster.
We wait some more.
My insurance adjuster shows up after 50 minutes. . .meaning we have all been sitting out on the side of the road for an hour now. And my kids are still at school. And Sully will NOT stop crying. :(
Adjusters read all the written statements about who is at fault. My car is the only car undamaged, which means that if it IS my fault, I would be the only person who did not have to pay any $. I know it is not my fault - but tell the guy that I will take the blame if it means we can all go. He says I can't take the blame now because I already handed over my written statement and I cannot change it now.
Adjusters cannot agree on whose fault it is. They have to call the "Peritos". I have no clue what the American equivalent of this would be, but he is baiscally a mediator who has the final say as far as who is at fault in an accident. He comes down, looks at the position of the cars, assesses the location and degree of damage and makes his ruling.
We wait some more.
I call Brooke and ask her to PLEASE pick up my poor kids from school and take them to her house.
After 30-45 more minutes, the Perito arrives. He begins his assessment.
We wait some more.
He finally decides that it is my fault. His reasoning basically sounds like it is because I have the biggest car of the three. Whatever - can we go now??? (3 hours at the scene and counting.)
Paperwork must be signed. Show me where to sign! Paperwork cannot be signed until they fill it all out, by hand, on the hood of the car.
We wait some more.
3 hours and 45 minutes later we are signing the paperwork and told we can leave.
I climb into the car, turn the key and . . . NOTHING. Did you know that if you leave your hazard lights on it will drain your battery??? Yeah, me neither.
It takes Kyle and the police officer 10 minutes to hold up traffic enough for him to bring the truck around, facing oncoming traffic to help me jumpstart the car.
And we go.

That was SUPER fun. Kyle and I both felt like we had been assaulted (emotionally) by the time it was all over. I really appreciate the system in the USA. In the end I got the blame anyway. . .at least in the USA it would have been quick (if not painless).

AND - our old cell phone broke a few months ago and we recently replaced it. I forgot to give the school our new number. Poor G was sick at school all day and they had no way to call me. He laid down in the classroom for seven hours. Do I win an award for that kind of parenting?? I hope so because I pretty much felt like the biggest loser (and not in the 'I'm skinny and I used to be fat' kind of way). Is it Friday yet??? :p

It didn't work!

Apparently I can cross my fingers all I want, but its not doing much for Kyle's schedule at the hospital. They want him daily from 7 -3, which means he can neither drop off nor pick up, which also means we have 2 cars basically driving to the same location of the city multiple times a day. Its a good thing I love these kids so much, and that husband, and school, and driving, and spending money on gas. :) Kyle did have a longer shift yesterday (and Thursday), so he didn't get home unti 8:00. It was a good reminder to me that life is easier when he's home, even if he IS locked in the office. At least then we get to see him for dinner and bathroom breaks. The kids were in bed when he got home, and of course all three of them HAD to say goodnight, which extended bedtime to almost 9:00 p.m. (Okay Sully had two naps yesterday and really didn't go to sleep until nearly 11:00).

I also realized that either our two-year-old was ending up in our bed too often, or my husband got tired of being locked in the dungeon that we call "office," because a little suggestion of *maybe* moving the twin bed into our room for Sullivan and putting his desk in that bedroom turned into ACTUALLY moving the twin bed into our room and converting that bedroom into a study space. I actually like having Sully in his own bed in there . . . and he's still close enough to oooh and ahhh over how cute he is while he is sleeping. Kyle appreciates having an "office" that actually gets some natural light and has room to scoot the chair back from the desk. We've committed ourselves at least until after his big exam, which means that we'll give it a month before we decide if we want to re-kick Sully back to his own room. The other plus-side is that now his old "office" is empty and freed up lots of room for me to sort laundry. . . and pile laundry. . .and now store dirty laundry that previously had no place to be stored therefore forcing it to get done. I love to be enabled in my lazy ways.

I also love how all the comments on that last post were to claim that butt as their own. Even my mom called me to say that she tried to leave a comment but couldn't remember her login and password. Her comment basically consisted of, "You all know that is really MY butt, so quit claiming it and get back to the gym." You people crack me up.

My butt really used to look like that. Once upon a time. I don't have any proof, of course, because who takes a picture of their butt like that. ;)

swimming and spankies

Wow, I think this has to be a new record for my least bloggy month. Things have just been busy busy busy with working, kids' school, mischievious two-year-olds and husbands who lock themselves in offices for hours/days/months at a time "studying". He thinks I don't know that he spends 25% of his time on ESPN.com and Foxnews.com, but I do. I know everything.

A few weeks ago, our group here arranged a day to go to a local waterpark. I hemmed and hawed over whether or not I would go. It sounded fun but it also sounded like a lot of work (three kids + water + one adult = more work than fun?).

Well, I am happy to say it was cheap, safe, super fun, and Kyle went with me so I would have nothing to worry about. I'll apologize in advance to anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of super hot me in a super hot swimsuit. I was the one behind the camera. You're welcome.

They had this slide with four tracks so everyone could race. G was frustrated that he never won. The poor thing was too light to get any speed going down the hill.

Sully up at the top of the hill watching the race. This super safe railing with 2-foot gaps was all that separated his body from a 50-foot drop. I heart MExico.
She chickened out and wouldn't race and then proceeded to pout for 20 minutes.

That's G about to crash into the unsuspecting child below.



We have a little over two months left in the semester. Kyle will finish up nutrition and endocrine this week and then moved onto internal medicine next week. He managed to get assigned to a hospital right by the kids' school, so here's me crossing my fingers that his schedule matches up nicely with the kids and he can take them at least one way each day:

Woah, that is a REALLY big picture of my butt and it is completely cellulite-free and totally cute in my hot little spankies. It is also probably going to be blocked soon since I snagged it from some random website and left it hosted there. You're welcome.

Since my butt is looking so good, I'm not really sure what else to say. I figure it is always best to leave things on a high note.

Tam and Sam (my parents) are coming to visit next Friday, so let's go ahead and use the comments section to remind me of items that will fit in a suitcase that she can bring with her that I cannot live without that are NOT liquids greater than three ounces and could possibly help me have a happy Americanized Thanksgiving in Mexico.

Catch up:)

I kept waiting for some cute pictures to magically appear on my memory card so I could accompany a blog post with some distraction. . .but apparently you have to USE the camera to get cute pictures on there. I wonder if I can get a refund.

The kids are adjusting so well to school this year. It is amazing how quickly we transitioned from sleeping in until 9:00 am every day and watching more SpongeBob than can possibly be healthy (side note: Its so cute to hear Sully say 'spong bob squay panz'. *sigh*) to waking up at 6:45, doing our morning routine as fast as possible and getting on the road by 7:25 - before the sun has risen. The week just flies away from me now and I'll admit that with only a little over nine months left here in Mexico, it is scary to see time slipping by. I knew this would happen, but just when I actually appreciate what we have going on here, it seems like the end is nearing too soon. When else in my life will I have a maid at my beck and call? A husband home every night for dinner and at church every Sunday (I'm imagining what his schedule will be like for next year's internship or first year rotations - gulp)? Two little kids in a private school learning a foreign language and making memories that will last a lifetime? My little "baby" Sullivan home with me to keep me from taking too many naps or having too clean a house?? Hmmm, sorry if I got a little euphoric there. Just a minute ago I was firmly returning Sullivan to his crib for the upteenth time tonight and wondering when life would get easier. Buckle your seatbelts folks.

That actually reminds me of last night. I called my mom to check in and see what I was missing in her life. I bragged that my biggies were tucked into bed and the short one was playing quietly. Not 30 seconds later, Guthrie comes walking down the stairs (I use the term "walking" loosely here) and thud-thud-thud. . .he somehow misses the last three steps and is rescued by his left jaw and chin coming into contact with the extremely sharp corner of the shelf at the bottom of the stairs. "Uhhhh. . .I'll call you right back." It was immediately purple and bleeding and the poor kid was traumatized. I felt SO SORRY for him on one hand and SUPER annoyed with him on the other. Didn't I ALREADY tuck you into bed once tonight? Ice for the face and water for his mouth, which was apparently what prompted the trip (pun) down the stairs in the first place.

My days have been spent working, hanging with friends, working, cleaning a little bit, enjoying friends who come rescue me and help me clean, eating, napping, working, and I'll admit we still watch a little SpongeBob in all of this.

Our previous maid, who was incidentally the best cleaner I have ever known, up and quit on us when we cut back her schedule a bit. That meant that for the last two weeks I haven't had to pay a maid (and I also haven't had a clean house, but that is another story), we haven't had a date night, and I have actually been cooking our meals each night. I figured that deserved a treat and let Kyle know that Chili's would be served promptly at 6:00. ;) I enjoyed my chips 'n salsa and Buffalo chicken salad and the kids enjoyed a few bites of food and a LOT of playing on the slide/jungle gym. Genius. . .every Chili's should have a play area. Why don't they do that in the states?

Don't worry, we found a new cleaning girl who is happy with the reduced schedule. . .and she's not really a girl - she's 42- but who's keeping track. I am hoping she is just automatically a good cleaner because I'm not picturing myelf as capable of correcting anything or pointing out any flaws in her work. We'll just go with it. She's cheap and I'm pretty much the worst housekeeper this side of the border.

Kyle's rotations are going well. They're doing Endocrine and Nutrition right now. Not too exciting, but probably pretty useful. He starts Internal Medicine in a couple of weeks.

I'm thinking that catches things up for us. . .did I leave Addie out? Um, she's cute, her hair is growing, and she loves to inform us of all the things that 4 and a half year olds can do. Today Guthrie was noticing a billboard advertising for a gym with a picture of an oily, sculpted woman flexing and posing. Adeline said my legs looked like hers. Guthrie disagreed and said that the lady had really small knees and really big thighs and that my legs did NOT looks like hers (compliment???). He laughed his head off and said, "Mom, why does she look like that." I could not even answer before Addie said, "She got her dream body from exercising." Yes - she said dream. I think there must be a SpongeBob episode about that.