Belize

Our trip to Belize was one for our traveling history books... Here's some pictures. I wish I could write more!

 San Pedro from the air... quaint little town, very poor... but there's something very charming and sweet about it that attracts me to it.

 I might have been a little scared about the dock. :p

 Post card perfect! Seriously... if you want a secluded resort where you can dunk your head and see coral and beautiful fish, come here.

 How I spent a lot of my time.

How I spent more of my time.

Snorkeling was another way I spent my time... a 10 minute swim to the barrier reef and there was coral sprinkled around closer to shore that you could almost walk to. It was EPIC.

Child Predator: A Neighborhood Story

Wednesday morning was a mostly typically morning for me. I got everyone up and ready. Today was slightly different in that Kaylee had a Valentines party at school. So, we went to my grandmother's so I could drop the baby off, then I went to hang out with Kaylee for a bit. The party was adorable... seriously. Kids this age are so flippin' cute. I think if there is a God, he did this on purpose with all that we have to put up with as parents.

Looking at her Valentine

Suckers... sigh. Thankfully, she hasn't noticed them missing. LOL

These two are SO cute together. Seriously.

Handing out her Valentines to everyone

Homemade birdfeeders! (Gelatin/Birdseed)

 After the party, I went back to my grandmother's to hang out. This is where I received a text from a friend asking if I lived on a particular street, which I did. There was an attempted kidnapping a few houses from me. Police activity was super high in the area. My heart dropped.

Now... I'm not so naive to think that the neighborhood I live in is perfect. There are some out there who do think that. It's a great neighborhood, but crime can happen anywhere. But, I haven't experienced anything THIS close to me before. Nothing on a trail that I walk on occasion - and was planning to start jogging on alone once the weather warmed up.

The thing that makes me most angry about this case is that the predator had been attempting since May. MAY. And we were just now hearing about it. The other thing that makes me angry is I know the predator's sister. It's absolutely heartbreaking. I can not imagine the grief her and her family are going through. I'm now feeling for both sides of this story. I do not feel any compassion towards the predator - but towards those closest to him that may not have had a clue what was going on with him.

Hug your kids... Watch and listen for signs of mental illness. Do not just look away. You could save their life and the lives of those they may later try to hurt. This world is full of hurt, but I truly believe it is because people turn their head and look away instead of acting. I say this from a chronic sufferer of depression.

My Valentine Date!

During all of this, I volunteered to set up a Neighborhood Watch. I'm really excited to be apart of this. I'm really excited to see so many others wanting to be apart of this. We will watch each others backs better. We will make FP a safer place to play and live. It may not be perfect, but it's something we can strive for. I love my neighbors and am so thankful to live next to the people I do.

This is for you, Krista. Love you!

Target: A Love/Hate Story

The closest HEB is a few miles from me, however because of how the roads are, it takes a while to get to. Yesterday, I woke up feeling like I might be getting sick. It wasn't the normal allergy-induced haze I was in... it felt gross. The feeling quickly wore off as the day went on, but my energy level didn't really pick up. Today, I woke up with the same feeling. Only this time, it's not going away. I could not be more upset right now. We leave for Belize Wednesday. I have a major Neighborhood Watch meeting Tuesday. We need to build a fence Sunday. I need to pack tomorrow. I do not have time for this.

Last night, I actually took some medicine, hoping to knock whatever this is out before it started. I'm not big on meds. I try to ride things out as much as possible. After barely surviving swim lessons with Liam this morning, I went to Target.

I was going to get Airborne, EmergenC and baby powder (that's for the sand for the trip...). How does this cost me $70?!? I swear, I'm truly lucky if my will power can get out of Target without spending $100. I love that Target is across the highway, but I hate that I can't get out of there without spending a ton. This is my own fault and I fully recognize that. It still doesn't make me any less mad to see the bill though.... ;)

Here's hoping to health by tonight!

Kiddos

I haven't done a post on the kids in a while it seems. I'll try to dig up some pictures and video to post soon.

Kaylee... oh man... where do I even start? She's a little over 2.5 years now and a spit fire. Since school started in September, she's grown so much mentally, physically and emotionally. I often wonder if she's having a hard time with all the growth because she has become a major challenge for me. It's either that or she's just two. Over Thanksgiving, we potty trained. And things went really well for a little while. But then she regressed over #2. We're still fighting that challenge and I'm honestly at my wits ends. I always said "I never understood moms who said they dealt with a toddler pooping in the bath tub." And I still don't... but I have officially joined the group of moms who kids have played in it during naptime and smeared it all over their walls.

Shoot me now because I haven't figured out how to deal with this. I'm on a constant pins and needle BM watch until she goes. And apparently, even then, she could go twice in one day and completely catch me off guard.

Please. Shoot me now.

So, for Liam, I'm trying to head off this problem. We've slowly started elimination communication. The hope is, he's 10 months old. He has no fear. And if we get him used to sitting on the potty now, he won't fear it later. That's my thinking and hope. Right now he thinks it's the greatest perch.

 At school, they finally have enough kids and teachers to separate the kids back into 2s and 3s. But, they went the entire first half of the year together, so now I'm torn on whether I like that her class will be "dumbed" down, so to speak. She was doing EXCELLENT in the 3 year old class. She's recognizing a few words even! I'm trying to come up with some routines to do during the summer to keep her engaged. I remember even in elementary school that my summers were full of nothing but TV watching, video game playing and the occasional game of slip n slide with Woollite carpet cleaner. Oh yes. Yes we did. By the time I got back to school, my handwriting was awful and basic skills I had learned the year before were just vaguely there. I don't want that to happen with Kaylee - ever. But, I also don't want her in school year round, so I'm trying to figure things out that will still teach her, but will be fun.

Liam is cruising and on his way to walking. I suspect he'll walk before his first birthday, but who knows. He's been crawling since the day before 5 months. I honestly figured he'd be walking by Christmas. I thank you, Liam. Seriously. Christmas was hard enough.

But yea.. so the kids have been a challenge. I'm tired both physically and emotionally.  Belize is in 10 days.

Using time wisely... or am I?

Since I'm pretty much homebound, I'm trying to find ways to not lose my mind. I want my house to be clean, but the energy to get it that way and keep it that way is just more than I have. But, I'm trying to push myself through. I typically only clean if the kids are completely immerse in their activities, which isn't that often. So, I'm trying a different approach... clean with them. So far it's proving to be a disaster... but maybe it will improve with time? I have gotten my master linen closet organized and my closet organized. Maybe I'll be able to tackle the bedroom today.. it just seems when I clean something, something else has been destroyed three times as badly..blah.

1 Vehicle

Well, that's it. We are officially down to one vehicle. I still have access to the truck, but am officially just borrowing it, meaning I won't be going anywhere except to drop off/pick up Kaylee from school, swim lessons and my grandparent's. Groceries have been set up to be delivered weekly... diapers and pull ups will be delivered quarterly. This should be an interesting year... I'm hoping that things will get back to normal within a year, but who knows, it could be longer... All I can say is Belize needs to get here quickly...

Lazy.

I am finding myself doing nothing. Granted, I do have a pinched nerve in my hip that is radiating pain down my leg, but still... There's a bunch of stuff I could get done around the house, but I just don't want to. Lazy. It's not something I am often. But after the last 6 months... or 4 years... whatever.. I'm very tired of going at 100% and not slowing down. I'm wondering how I can get my desire back. I have all these things I want to do. Things I want to accomplish. But, the desire is just not there.

The last week was pretty good in terms of life. Things are back how they used to be before kids joined the picture, and I like that. But, it took something pretty serious to happen for things to find the right path again, and I don't like that. With the small amount of energy I had left, it was expended on dealing with that. I'm tapped out now.  I wish it were the end of February so we could leave life behind for a week and reset.