Living in Munchkinland

Here are some of the travel destinations that top my wishlist for 2008. I wish that I could travel all the time. It is my favorite hobby, even above cooking and eating. (musical theater seems like a long ago, childless dream). Perfect travel for me probably involves a villa somewhere in France, but with children, that perfect travel has changed to "perfect for someone with two children under three". We are also on a tight budget this year, which means that most if not all travel for 2008 is a pipe dream. All the same, none of that stops me from spending a good eight hours a week surfing the net, looking for perfect destinations for a family of four with two toddlers, checking availability and comparing prices. I call it mind candy and I do it while Michael works or plays on the XBox. I have found that Michael is most happy traveling with others and being social. I have also found that traveling often makes the children happier and better travelers than traveling spora...

Hello all! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great Christmas holiday in San Marcos at the ranch. We had our traditional Christmas Eve party and several of my wonderful friends came down to join us. Rebecca and Bill and their two girls came. They have been coming for several years and now they are part of our tradition as well. Jenny came with her two boys and so did Cheris and Rob and their two kids. Sarah and Skip came and Sarah lent her lovely voice to our carol singing. Earl Poole Ball was playing the piano and Keith sat down and accompanied him on the guitar. Fabian and Don came and we owe a special thanks to Don for helping us out with some late night assembly. Marchelle had come by the day before and spent some time with us. We wished she could have stayed with us for Christmas again this year, but she got to go home to spend it with her own family. My parents and Tiffany and Keith and Kade were all there as were Michael's parents. My Uncle Larry and ...

Davis got into our little advent calendar/nativity scene the other day while I chatted with my friend David who was visiting. He rearranged it to his liking. I didn't pay much attention. Later that day, David walked by it and asked me if Davis was a budding Hindu. What do you think?

I think Sam took my last blog post as a challenge, because about an hour after I posted it, he took his first independent steps. He practiced this weekend and I shot a video of him this morning. It's hard for him to find time to practice, since Davis still thinks that an upright Sam is a great target, but we'll try some more while he's at school tomorrow. Yay, Sam. I'm so proud. He's growing so fast. Sam's First Steps.

1)I have two imaginary friends named Hunt and Hope. Hunt is my age and we get into lots of trouble together. Hope is my baby. I am independent and very social. I love to sing "Old McDonald". I love to talk and talk and sing and talk. I refuse to use the potty. I want a pink present with cars in it for Christmas. Who am I? 2) I still can't walk, but I know over twenty words. I love my mommy more than anything else in the world. I don't like to be without her. I love to pull everything out of the tupperware cabinet. I eat and eat and never seem to get full. I just want to be carried around for Christmas. Who am I?

I have shingles. It's awful and miserable. I have it on my hip. I feel like a dog bone. Here is some more information: What is Shingles? Shingles (herpes zoster) is an outbreak of rash or blisters on the skin that is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox — the varicella-zoster virus. The first sign of shingles is often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness or itch, in one particular location on only one side of the body. After several days or a week, a rash of fluid-filled blisters, similar to chickenpox, appears in one area on one side of the body. Shingles pain can be mild or intense. Some people have mostly itching; some feel pain from the gentlest touch or breeze. The most common location for shingles is a band, called a dermatome, spanning one side of the trunk around the waistline. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. Scientists think that in the original battle with the varicella-zoster virus, some of the virus particles leave th...

We just got back last night from a fabulous vacation. We spent six glorious days in Cancun at the Paradisus Riviera . It was relaxing and fun and was probably the best post- two baby vacation we've been on. We decided on this particular resort because we wanted infant childcare and not too expensive of plane tickets. We had stayed at a sister resort to this one when we went to the Dominican Republic last year with Davis and we knew it was nice. We also knew we just wanted a place where we could lie around in the sun and drink cerveza. This was perfect. We went with our friends Stacy and Brett and their two children who are four and 8 months. They were great traveling companions. We had similar schedules and understood the importance of first and second naps. We laughed and ate and drank and chased the kids and did it all over again. So much fun. We have finally gotten a hang of this traveling with toddlers and infants thing. We got two adjoining rooms and a sitter almost...