Friday, November 25, 2011

Ketchup. Or, Catsup? Nah, Catch Up.

So, I have been meaning to write about our trip, but there's not a lot that I didn't write about in blurbs on Facebook.  We visited with family, saw the friends that matter most (that weren't sick or not feeling up to seeing anyone, let alone visitors from a strange land) and we had fun!  Halloween was incredibly painful, as I knew it would be.  I'm grateful that we got to spend a good chunk of the day with Chris' parents, who are some of the most awesome people to ever walk the earth, and we went trick or treating with Marisol and her son, Diego.  Nothing exceptionally noteworthy, aside from spending the Sunday before we left with my friend Saz and her gorgeous kids, and the trip from LC to ABQ with Chris' mom (and my terrible bout of stomach flu that lasted exactly 24 hours.  WTF?  Seems I left that little souvenir for my step dad to catch.  Whoops.)

We got to see my brother, whom Dante absolutely adores.  For days, all he could say was "Uncle Jesse!" and it sucked that we didn't get to see more of him.  I must demand in this very public platform that my brother gets his narrow butt up here soon for a visit.  No ands, ifs or buts, J.  You need to get here and stay for at least a warm weekend so we can go to the zoo and a museum and such.  Start saving; food and couch space is on me.

What surprised me the most (in an awesome way) was seeing my cousin Lauren.  I knew in the back of my head that she is now an adult (!)  and going to school, but to see what a gorgeous young lady she has become just blew my mind!  She's incredibly smart, bright, responsible and sweet.  She truly has become the Whole Package, and I am incredibly proud of her.  But part of my brain still goes back 21 years and I remember holding her a month after she was born.  She just blows my mind!

There are a few people I wish I got to spend more time with (Yvonne G., Emilia. Robert, Stacie...) but I sincerely hope they know I tried so hard to see as many people as I could and stretched all three of us incredibly thin.  At the very latest, I'll be there next year for Emilia's wedding come hell or high water, so there's that....

While we were there, Dante's vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds!  Scarlett had her first taste of solid food! She started holding her head up much better!  Dante is making even more of a transition from "toddler" to "real live boy" a la Pinocchio, and we're all richer for the experience.

Since we've been home, I've watched as Dante is even more autonomous and Scarlett is showing her true, precious colors.  Dante is defiant, but I have to remember to step back and be mindful that I can't helicopter him until he's 30.  Scarlett is very much my diva.  She likes things done a certain way, and she'll reward me with a smile and her tongue sticking out.  She has started to cut her first tooth this week, and is now eating solid food twice a day. She's so incredibly pretty, to boot!  Her eyes sparkle when she smiles at me.  I think she's fully aware that I will do anything for her, and it shows.

My gorgeous husband is gone this week, visiting his family.  Before he left, he set up Skype on his computer, and then since he's been down there, he set it up for his mom, too.  So every day since we bought the mic (Wednesday) we've chatted a few times, and Dante is not happy until we call Daddy.  It's sweet.  I love how much Dante loves his dad.

So, I am off to get Dante up, get Scarlett up and cuddle up with some Sesame Street before I make Dante help me clean.  This morning, he emptied out the dishwasher.  Kinda.  He took all the silverware and put it in one spot of the silverware divider, and he put the stock pots where they go without me having to show him.  I did have to show him where the cookie sheet went, but he was so happy to help, I thought his head was going to explode!

Good night!

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