Peru Part I

(April 1, 2019)

 

For Romneys 40th birthday I wanted to surprise him with something BIG.

But I knew I wanted him to be super excited about it.

 I caved and told him about the two different places I was thinking about.

They were places that were super high on his bucketlist.

He picked Peru!

We invited our traveling buddies and the Tangs were in!

There was lots of planning and coordinating and pre purchasing tickets etc....

WELL......

We drive out to LA so excited!

We park, we walk in the airport, we stand in line, we hand over our passports and

we were told our Passports were NO GOOD and that we could NOT get on the plane.

Wait, what???

The lady at the front desk told us that we needed at least a 6 month buffer before the expiration date.

We were shocked!

So really a 10 year old passport was only good for 9.5 years.

They printed up paper work for us to take to the consulate and get a "same day passport" 

We told Jason and Heather to go ahead and that we would meet up with them the next day.

We all said goodbye hesitantly.

And we rushed to a Wallgreens and worked on new passport pictures.

We ended up taking and retaking pictures and eating powdered donuts with the photo guy!

It was a disaster yet hysterical. 

We left for a hotel and slept for MAYBE 3 hours.

 

We woke up so early the next day so we could wait in line at the consulate office.

300.00 dollars later we got new passports!

We got back to the airport super confident to only find a HUGE backed up line.

Apparently the plane was having issues with the bathrooms.

They couldn't let us on the plane if the bathrooms weren't working.

I ran all over the airport trying to get on another flight with other airlines.

If we missed this flight it would screw up the entire trip!

I said so many prayers.

I prayed for the people working on the bathrooms that they would see the problem

I prayed for the plumbing to work

I prayed for every detail I could think of....

and BAM- it got the green light.

WE FINALLY got on the plane and were officially ready to start this adventure--even though the adventure started 24 hours earlier!

 

We landed in Cuzco!

It felt amazing to have made it after the fiasco!

The Tangs were supposed to be there waiting for us but they weren't...yet.

Eventually they made it and Jason had the taxi driver get out to hold the sign they made.

Love it!

We got in the taxi and set out on adventure number two.

We had a couple hour drive to Ollantaytambo to catch a train.

 

We stopped along the way for bathroom breaks and saw this gem of a woman and her llama

 

we stopped to look out over Sacred Valley

It was GORGEOUS!

 

Our awesome cabby got us to the town of Ollantaytambo where adventure number three awaited.

We walked through the cobblestone alleys exploring a new country and looked for dinner.

 

We found the guy in the rock

Eventually we found mediocre food only to realize we needed to get out of there-we had a train to catch (adventure number four)!

It literally was a day of trains, planes and automobiles.

and it was

 a w e s o m e.

 

Lane is 10 Months

 (March 17, 2019)

 10 months!

This little fella is almost 22 pounds and has grown into size four diapers.

His is getting bigger and braver everyday.

 He is taking a few steps from off the couch and looks like a mummy with those happy arms sticking straight out in front of him for balance.

 Diaper changes have become a big ordeal, he rolls like a crocodile constantly while I'm trying to wipe his bum.

 He is babbling dadadadad, nananana, and buhbuhbuh.

He is starting to clap and totally understands "no, no Lane"

This boy has 7 teeth and has had two haircuts this month!

He loves cheerios and is eating more table food than puree foods these days. 

He loves baths and popping bubbles.

 

 

He is getting into everything.

Cupboards, dishwashers, toilets, rolling toilet paper, pulling out tissues from every box.

He is putting everything into his mouth too!

 

He follows the kids around everywhere they go.

 

and wants to do everything they do.

 

Miles puts him on the wiggle cars now and off they go! 

 

He has discovered the play kitchen and makes little messes over in the corner.

 

He still loves hooded towels and thinks he is hysterical.

 

He really is such a sweet happy boy and we are so glad he is in our family.

The year of Rain

 (March 9, 2019)

 

We are surrounded by so much green right now, it feels like were in a little New Zealand.

It has been the year of rain here in Southern California.

It has been dumping buckets of water non stop for weeks and weeks.

So when there is a break in the weather, we try to get out.  

We hiked our local hills today and looked at every detail of every of every kind of flower blooming, every bee collecting nectar, every butterfly flying by.

It was pretty great.

 

 

Big Brother wanted to carry Lane.....

this is as good as it was going to get.

Everything was just so beautiful.

The blue sky and green hills.

 

 

and time to get back home because gray clouds are forming and another storm is rolling in.

Happy 40th Romney

(February 23, 2019)

 

 FORTY!!

My man is  FORTY!

He had to work on his birthday....soooooo

I sent a singing telegram to the Fire Station.

hahahahahaha.

He was so embarrassed but we all know he loved every second of it.

And from what I understood, all the guys are the station loved it too.

You are welcome Rom!

 

 

A few days after his real birthday we had some friends come over for dinner and cake.

Romney requested a lemon cake with Lemon glaze.

 

 

The kids wanted their dad to have a birthday crown like they get every year.

So they made him one.

 

 

And Andie wanted front row seats to the birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Romney!

Sorry you had to work on your birthday, but hiking Machu Picchu in 5 weeks will make up for it!

9 Months of Lane

 (February 17, 2019)

 

9 Months!

This 21 pounder of a baby has thee best hair.

So much is going on up there.

This boy is crawling faster now, pulling himself on furniture and is even starting to cruise the couch step by step. 

He started to wave but stopped that trick after a week....little stinker.

He loves "Patty Cake" and "This Little Piggy".

He giggles when you roll a ball to him.

He crawls over to sit on your lap when you are reading a book but just wants to eat the book!

He is loving peas and figuring out sippy cups.

He has three bottom teeth and one on top.

He is self feeding better and better but still really likes puree foods.

He blows raspberries constantly.

Unplugs the plugs everyday and is knocking books down on the bottom shelves.

He squeals with delight and continues to be the cutest thing there ever was.

 

 

 

Magnus is so good at letting the babies use him to stand up

 

Andie has discovered the baby snacks and has learned the "one for you, one for me" trick.

 

Now that Lane is crawling and standing he is making his way over tot he big kids constantly. 

 This sweet boy is such a joy.

We are so happy he joined our family.

Happy 9 months Lane!

Disney Day

(January 28, 2019)

 

It is always a fun surprise to pull your kids out of school and go to Disneyland.

So happy our friends could go with us.

Two major things I need to point out....

1) Miles is tall enough to sit by himself on Dumbo.

He and Hinsen thought they were pretty big today.

It made my mama heart so nervous, I kept looking back to make sure they were still in there seats.

2) Andie dressed herself-bow to toe! She has a vision and you do NOT disrupt the vision!

So we go in public with a T-shirt under a dress sometimes!

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

I know I say it everytime....

But, it really is the happiest place on earth!

Lane is 8 Months

(January 17, 2019)

Baby Lane is 8 months old today.

He did it! 

He figured out how to crawl.

Life will never be the same.

I swear he just mastered being able to get into the sit position.  

It's going so fast.

He is getting into all sorts of things and is finding all the small chocking hazards on the floor that we somehow cannot see.

He is a good eater!

He is into asparagus, butternut squash and applesauce.

He uses his cute little fingers to pick up puffs and yogurt melts.

He has a loud squeal and is working on a good growl.

We think he is trying to wave Hi and loves face-timing with family.

His is quick to smile.

He loves his toys and is currently trying to balance on his knees....what is happening???

Stop growing.

 

 He loves his toy basket and it keeps him busy.

He is trying to pull himself up on things and has a few times but he cries because he's not sure what to do. 

But he does love to crawl to us and climb up around our neck for a little squeeze.

 

Lane sat in the shopping cart for the first time and he was super excited about it.

He didn't hold back one smile with all the attention he got from the shoppers. 

This boy LOVES LOVES LOVES his paci.

He now needs multiple of them when taking a nap or going to bed.

He puts one in his mouth and rotates them.

Silly boy.

He also likes sleeping to the waves crashing on the noise maker. 

He is still Miles number one fan!

He laughs at everything he does.

They are a good pair.

 

And last, Christy came to visit!

We appreciate her and love any chance we can see her.

 

Our hearts are so full.

We love this boy.

Happy 8 months Lane.

Lane 7 months old

(December 2018)

 

This baby is 7 months! 

Lane is growing too fast and I hate it.

He has two tiny teeth coming in and LOVES food.

He yells and squeals with joy and has such a big smile.

 He is constantly bouncing on his chubby legs-but when we put him in the Johnny Jumper he will not bounce!

He can get on all fours and rocks back and forth...crawling is on the horizon.

He thinks he is hilarious when he sees himself in a hooded towel.

 

 

Lane always wants to play with this bouncer but wont last long when strapped in there.

 

 He is entertained with a spoon while in his highchair.

He loves applesauce, butternut squash and carrots these days.

 

 

He is self feeding more and more grabbing little puffs and rice crackers.

 

Lane is obsessed with Miles.

They have a screaming back and forth game that gets pretty loud.

(a little back story on the masks....I asked Miles to please watch Lane on the floor for a few minutes while I bathed their sister.  I popped my head into Miles room to check on them and saw this. It was hilarious and darling all rolled into one. This is what big brothers do!)

Happy 7 months buddy.

                                               We sure love you!