Puelto Lico

Hi everybody, remember us? I've taken a big break from blogging since life has gotten more hectic than I ever imagined possible. Just thinking about it makes me tired, so I'll save that for another rant.

At the beginning of May we got to take a week-long vacation to Puerto Rico with our friends the Orgills. It was definitely a different kind of vacation with two babies calling the shots (on completely different schedules) but we had a nice relaxing time. It was so fun to to get back together with my high school/college/Mexico buddy and watch our kiddos play. The guys did alright too. They stayed up late every night hashing out plans to save the world.

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I'm really going out on a limb here trying to write something cohesive while Joey's awake. This post started out with him in a kitchen sink bath, playing happily with magnets and blowing bubbles with a straw while I sat next to him...and then he got a hold of a baked yam and squeezed the whole thing into unrecognizable floaties which, of course, stuck to his whole body and made him mad...but not as mad as he got when I washed them off and combed them out of his hair. Now he's clean, dry, and happily playing with his (up until recently my) Russian nesting dolls which should keep him occupied for at least 5 minutes, as long as he doesn't manage to shove the littlest one up his nose like he's been trying lately. Take two.

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Three hours later, here I am again. Little Man is sleeping and all is well.

This is a picture of when Jaina and Joey were first getting acquainted. Of course, we've arranged their futures together. What an adorable future daughter-in-law I have!

 We traveled all day on my birthday, but James made a grocery store run late at night to get me a cake...sort of...It was a pie or something before he dropped it. It tasted good though! He was so upset that the feliz cumpleaños candles only gave him one L, but he artfully made it work for both words.

 Jaina and Joey chasing birds. Those pigeons are seriously disgustingly tame. If you feed them they'll land all over you. No thanks.

 We rented an apartment in Old San Juan, which turned out to be a really good move, since it was close to everything and easy to get back for naps. Also, it rained every day we were there, which turned out to be a good thing because it wasn't too hot in the afternoons. We're wusses when it comes to humid heat.

 Here we are outside a really old Spanish fort. Joey's on the lookout for dogs, cats and airplanes, as usual.

 We escaped the rain one day in a frozen yogurt shop. Good stuff! They had delicious tropical flavors, fresh fruit, and way too much air conditioning even for preggers here.

 Colorful buildings in Old San Juan

 Joey HATED the ocean! He's such a fan of the bath that it completely shocked me. He was scared to death and screaming and hanging onto me for dear life with both arms and legs. Maybe the waves scared him. Who knows. He did calm down eventually and dig in the sand, but only if he was touching me and at a safe distance from the water.

 This is a walk we took one night around a really pretty part of town. I seriously could've spent months there. We did quite a few late night outings since Joey was still on Mountain Time and Jaina went to bed about 4 hours before he even thought about dinner. Those clouds around the lights are humongous swarms of moths. Sick.

We didn't end up taking very many pictures. For some reason we've been struggling with that lately. We rented a car the last 2 days and went to a bioluminescent bay with these awesome glowing bacteria that light up when you agitate the water. Tiffany and I were probably the worst kayak navigators (besides the drunk people). We got into about 50 wrecks with other boats and the mangrove trees. We managed not to tip over though, so it was a success.

Consider yourselves updated.

A Little Update

It's been quite awhile since I've made any attempt to update this bad boy. Here goes.

Joey: He's a toddling machine. He walks backwards, sideways, in circles, and is learning to run and (oh no) climb. He had a recent growth spurt and now he can reach all of the kitchen drawers. We tried to childproof them, but we still have mashed fingers every day. He's been talking a lot more too. He can say Mama, Dada, Nanna, Bapa (Grandpa), Jojo, apple, onion, up, down, la-la-la (light), lur-lur (blender), aaaah-da (please...don't know where he got that one), ball, dog, duck, cat, truck (with their accompanying sounds), ak (sock), booger... just to name a few. He knows the signs for please, thank you, more, again, shoes, where, eat, poop (courtesy of James), all done, goodbye, and he made up his own signs for brushing his teeth, blender, music, dancing, drink, and a few others that we haven't quite identified yet but he sure does them a lot. His biggest news of all is that, after seven toothless months, he cut three new teeth today! We were pretty sure he'd have 8 teeth for the rest of his life.
He's had more than his fair share of trouble in his little life. We've got him on a very limited diet (much to his dismay) and a four-day food rotation to help his intestines heal and to keep his allergies under control. We have been trying for months to get the carpet adhesive that he is deathly allergic to out of our new house so that we can finally move in! If he's exposed to even one molecule it seems like he is up screaming in pain all night long. Poor little guy. I'm not sure what it's like to have a baby who sleeps though the night...or half the night...or doesn't insist on being held all night...but he really doesn't do it for any reason besides he just doesn't feel good.
So we've got Joey quarantined for now and it's helping. We've been switching off going to 2 different wards so he can stay home (away from church building chemicals and perfumes) and we can both go to church. Our doctor says that every time he has a reaction, he goes backwards, so the best way to help him actually heal and not just cover the symptoms is to keep him away from everything he's sensitive to. That means looking crazy while muscle testing everything he's going to eat/drink/wear/touch/breath shared air with, and basically not taking him into public for a few months (no spur of the moment grocery store runs without a sitter). No easy task, my friends. We're doing our best though. Just do us a favor and scrub up with unscented soap before visiting. He's SO worth it!

James: He's branched out from computers and become quite the jack of all trades. He's spent so many hours over at our new house ripping off wall paper, removing carpet, scraping and scraping and sanding and scraping some more at that glue on the sub-floor. His parents have been here this week to help us and it's been really really nice. We were making slow work since James could only be there after work in the evenings, and I could only come when my mom was free to tend Joey. James and his dad have been figuring out the ancient wiring, putting light switches in the right rooms (seriously, the switch that turned on the light over the sink was 20 feet away in the dining room), ripping out chunks of the ceiling, etc. etc. It's never ending. He's such a good sport though and doesn't complain even though he's pulling double shifts every day and getting nowhere near enough sleep at night. I definitely married up.

Sahra: I'm "blossoming" as my father-in-law kindly put it yesterday. 21 weeks pregnant and it's no secret. It's nice to look pregnant instead of just chubby. James and I have an agreement to not find out the gender until birth and it's especially hard right now because I know I could know! It'll be such a fun surprise though, and the anticipation alone will probably get me through labor. My only concern is that big brother Joey will still insist on sleeping draped over my stomach and chest when baby #2 makes a debut.
Other than that, I spend my time trying to keep an adorable toddler happy and alive. My parents have been a godsend in helping with him so that I can run errands and work on that house! We're aiming to move in next month!

That's about it. If you ever get the insatiable urge to clean or fix or weed or sand or paint something, by all means we're here to help!

Christmas

This wasn't Joey's first Christmas, but it's the first one he enjoyed or could participate in. Last year he cried because we put a Santa hat on him, and then fell asleep in his little wrap. This year he really lived it up. He loved all the food, the lights, the nativity set (only one wise man was decapitated), his new toys and, of course, the boxes and wrapping paper.

Christmas breakfast: french toast with berries

New hat and mittens from Grandma Affleck

Helping Daddy tell the Christmas Story

James with his handmade nose warmer, courtesy of his sister Michelle.

Joey's new favorite toy. It combines stacking, lights and music. His favorites.

This hat would've fit a normal sized 1 year old, but Joey's head is above average.  We only got the little yamaka to stay put for a few seconds before it shot across the room. We'll save that for the next baby.

Playing in the wrapping paper and boxes.

We all had a very nice Christmas and got some awesome presents. It's more fun when there's a little one to enjoy it all too.

California Vacation!

November must not've been a very noteworthy month; we didn't take a single picture. Thanksgiving came a day early for us, because of James's work schedule. Our friend Char joined us and we had a nice time. Joey had his first experience with turkey and it was definitely a hit.

We had a nice family vacation at the beginning of December. We started out with the annual pilgrimage to Disneyland. Joey enjoyed it much more this year. Last year he was only 8 weeks old and wanted to eat and sleep most of the time. I think James and I went on 2 rides in 3 days. This time we were able to take full advantage of the Rider Swap tickets. It just so happened that our favorite roller coaster was right next to Joey's favorite carousel. We did a lot of laps on both of those.

Here's Joey and Daddy in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. 

 And Joey and me in another line. Luckily they weren't too long!

 Dumbo! We never actually rode this one, but it was a good photo op.

 The Jungle Cruise

 Passed out in his stroller with a half-eaten grape in his hand. He was that tired!

 The castle that we usually get a family picture taken in front of. This year we couldn't quite pull it off.

 Joey still isn't so sure about Mickey--or Christmas for that matter.

After Disneyland, my parents met up with us and we went to San Diego for a week. It was a nice relaxing time there. Our first stop was my cousin Lance and his wife Julia and kiddos' house. Julia had baby #3 a couple of days after our visit, but we weren't able to go back and meet him because James had a cold. Next time.
We mostly went to the beach (and for some reason I don't have any pictures), but we did make it into town a couple of times to see the sites. Here is the Hotel Del Coronado. A very pretty, very pricey place.

 Here we are outside the San Diego Temple. It's so pretty! Nanna and Grandpa watched Joey while James and I went to the temple with our friends Alicia and Dionte. They just got married last weekend!

 We got to visit Hiram, Christina and Hayden. Joey had a good time playing (i.e.taking things from) his little cousin. She's such a cutie!

Our last night there, we went to a Christmas boat parade. Not something you see every day in Utah! It was really fun to visit family and friends and have a nice, warm, relaxing week!

Halloween

It's hard to get a little tree frog to stand still for a picture! Happy first Halloween, Squirt!

Birthday Boy

On October 21, my Little Bitty turned 1! I had a little bit of a hard time with it, but I realized that he's still a baby and that makes it sort of okay.

Here's the birthday boy with a big scab on his nose from pulling the
 airplane tray tabledown on himself on the way home from the cruise.

Helping Mamma bake his cake

Joey's Halloweeny birthday cakes

We had a picnic in the park with some friends. Pulled pork sandwiches, salads, fruit, and Joey's Choice Buffet featuring two varieties of puffs, cheese cubes, boiled carrots, grapes and yogurt.

Eating his cucumber the same way he eats all his food: skewered on his thumb.

Peek-a-boo with Steph

I got your nose with Char

Birthday cake with Mamma

We thought he'd dig right in, but he was very cautious.

Daddy helping guests take leftovers home...wrapped in pieces of plastic table cloth. Real classy.

Post-party coma

We love our one year-old! I think he's gotten even cuter since his birthday, if that's even possible.

Cruise

Here's to our first international adventure as a family of three! It wasn't easy to travel with a baby, but I think it might've been easier than last year's very pregnant Italy trip. This time we made the trip with James's brother Steve, sister Michelle, and brother-in-law Matt. It was fun to have a bigger group--especially when we had to take turns doing non-Joey friendly activities.

We went on a Western Caribbean Cruise that left from New Orleans. It turns out, October is a great time to visit N'awlins. We went a day early, since it was cheaper and enjoyed it a lot. Here's a picture of us getting our first Po Boys. The waitress knew we were from out of town when she asked if we wanted them "dressed" and we looked at her like "what, are you going to put a shirt on my sandwich?" (Turns out, the answer is "yes" and they put lettuce, tomato and mayo on your sandwich.) Joey won her over though, and she even gave him a piece of candy, which he held on to until we got back to the hotel, and then jammed hopelessly deeply into the air conditioner. If they ever use that for heat, the room will smell like hot chocolate!

Later that evening, we explored the French Quarter. There was some kind of breast cancer awareness parade going on, which meant a lot of interesting characters dressed in all sorts of pink things that can't really be categorized as clothes, and big floats going by throwing Mardi Gras beads to passersby. Joey loved the beads and got quite a collection.

 New Orleans is definitely Jazz Central. There were street musicians all over the place, and a lot of them were really good. Joey was eating up all the music. He LOVES music! This man's name is also Joseph, so he sang Joey his very own personalized song. I think his voice was too loud and bellowy for the little guy and he melted down. He's a tough crowd.

 Sunday morning we had time to go to church before boarding the cruise ship. It was such a fun ward. Everyone was very welcoming and full of vigor. We'd love to go back to that one.

We got on our cruise ship and Joey set about exploring the tiny room. We had to move a little furniture, since he hated his crib, there was no room to walk, and they had James and me in separate single beds, but we worked it out so that we even had room for that darned yoga ball that Joey still insists on being bounced to sleep on. Joey loved the room. He opened and closed all the drawers, put his beads and toys in all of them, explored the bathroom, and pointed to every part of the pattern on the carpet. I don't think he would've minded if we never left the room at all.

Our first stop was in Quintana Roo, Mexico. We went to some Mayan ruins called Kohunlich. We went with Michelle while the other guys did something dangerous...I can't remember what at the moment. It was a long bus ride, and a very hot and humid day, but we had a good time. The ruins were really neat. It was a whole city. 

Here's a family picture, courtesy of Aunt Michelle, showcasing the ruins and Joey's habit of the week. I guess he was doing an archaeological dig of his own.

Our next stop was Roatan, Honduras. It's actually only belonged to Honduras for 30-something years and was first inhabited by Pirates (who saw a ton of rats there and named it Rat-ton...there's a neighboring island called Morat. I guess they saw more of the same there). Everyone speaks English at home, but they've started teaching school in Spanish since the island has belonged to Belize. Joey had a cold this day, so we took it easy. We got a tour from a local taxi driver and his friend. Joey forsook his stranger anxiety in favor of the pretty lady.

 Next stop was Belize. It was scarier than I'd imagined. They made up for their high crime-rate with some delicious fresh fruit. We especially loved the bananas. I think Joey ate two by himself. We tried to take a bunch back with us onto the boat, but were stopped by an official looking British man who said that wouldn't do. We ended up giving our loot to the crew of the tender boat that was taking us back to the ship.
We took another taxi tour in Belize. It was interesting, but the driver seemed pretty jaded by a hard life. He was nice enough though, and we got to see a lot of the city that we otherwise wouldn't have.

 The last stop was Cozumel, Mexico. I actually didn't get to venture past the marketplace there, but I think I've had 12 times more Mexico in my lifetime than the rest of the group put together, so it was fair. When the little man needs a nap, he needs a nap. The rest of them went parasailing and said it was really fun! I don't have a picture of that though.

Here are a few random shots of us goofing around on the boat. My favorite is Michelle acting like she's going under water in the glass elevator, and the lady behind her trying to get a look without being too obvious. Hahaha I love my in-laws.

 We weren't supposed to take this picture, but really, who wants to buy a screwed up picture for $29? They took our picture in front of a green screen as we boarded the ship. It just so happened that I was wearing a green shirt that day, so I have no torso--just a disembodied head and arms coming out of the boat. 
 This was Chocolate Night. They had a chocolate buffet late one night. It was pretty amazing. There were chocolate sculptures and every kind of chocolate delicacy imaginable. I must admit, my plate looked about like this when I was done too. It was fun to try so many different things, and I'm glad I didn't finish it and make myself sick.

 Here's Joey and Uncle Steve. I can see the family resemblance, can you?

It was a good trip! Hopefully we can do something like it before too long. We'd better hurry though, we've got less than a year before Joey is an adult, according to the airlines.