Parlez-vous "no kids!"?

It's really happening. Billy and I are going away. For 3 days. To another country. WITHOUT THE CHILDREN!

Yes, it's just Canada. And yes, its only 2 nights. But still. I am super excited. Billy and I haven't gone on a just-us trip since my friend Lena got married in NOLA when the twins were just 5 months old. And that trip was not so much for us - we were there for a wedding, after all.

Our big getaway is to Montreal. Billy was really pushing for Paris but there was just no way we could find someone(s) willing to watch the kids for long enough to make a transatlantic trip worthwhile. Anyway, neither one of us has been to Montreal and we can drive there - both big bonuses. And I can still learn some French!

Looks promising!

This vaca is happening in just a few weeks. It's a combination my-30th-birthday/our-5th-wedding-anniversary celebration. And I have so much to do before we go. I am pumping every night to build up a stockpile for Matteo but it sucks because you get so little when you pump in the late evening. I have to write a detailed list of instructions for taking care of the kids. My siblings are splitting the responsibilities so its not like I can just explain it to one person. I'm just so hard to replace. :)

Just remind me that the weeks of prep will be worth it for even just a couple nights away!

And, um, while you're at it, why don't you go on ahead, click on this little button down here, and vote for my lil' blog?? You're the best! Thanks!!

ES Pics - Por Fin!

Blame it on Christmas, El Salvador and the iPad

It has been over a month since I have updated here - definitely my longest stretch to date. I have no good excuses but my lame excuses are that I had too much to do for Christmas, I was in El Salvador for 2 weeks and I have been playing with my new iPad non-stop. (I know I can blog on my iPad but my typing skills are already horrible and only get worse when using the iPad.)

I have so much to write about that I'm not sure where to begin. It was Matteo's first Christmas. It was the first Christmas where the twins understood that they had gifts and knew to unwrap them. Hopefully next year they will know not to unwrap other people's gifts. We began 2 new Christmas traditions: Christmas pajamas (on Christmas Eve) and Christmas croissants baked by yours truly. It was my first time making croissants (used the bread machine to make the dough) and they came out OK: A- for taste, C for looks.

Three days after Christmas, we got on a plane (and then another) to head to El Salvador. I was really anxious leading up to this trip - I am pretty comfortable being outnumbered by my kids when I'm at home or out and about in familiar places but running through airports to make connections, not so much. In the end, the trip was fine. Sebastian and Collette were great, mostly thanks to copious amounts of snacks and the potable DVD players. Matteo did well but didn't nap as much as I would have liked. He did poop though, which may not seem weird but he only poops once a week. And he saved it for the plane. And then he did same thing on the way home. Figures.

Being in El Salvador was great. Billy has all the pictures on his iPhone and we haven't been home long enough to upload them all to my computer but I'll be sharing them soon enough. With so many adult hand around, it truly was a vacation. Next year will be even better since I won't be nursing a baby every two hours. The beach was so much more fun now that the twins are a year older. Last year they didn't even know how to play in the sand. This time, they could have done it for hours! The ocean was a bit overwhelming for them, even though it didn't have waves, but it's just as well. One less thing to worry about.

And now, we're back home, covered in 2 new feet of snow. Leading up to Christmas and New Years I had been very exasperated with life. But our vacation did its job and feel renewed and energetic. Lord knows I need it!

New Year's, El Salvador Style

First off, let me just confess: I did not make it until midnight on New Year's Eve. Sun and beach and two 13-month olds will wear you out, no doubt, and add to that all the energy my body is expending trying to sustain yet another life and I need me my eight hours of sleep!

But still, it was a very enjoyable New Year's. We got to the beach on the 29th and left on the 1st - a nice chunk of time to spend sans TV, computer or phones. The kids had a great time although they definitely preferred the kiddie pool to the Pacific.

We did lots of relaxing, naturally. And Billy tried to get the kids to join in, too, but they only have two speeds: full and off. However, he did manage to read them half a story in the hammock before they started wiggling around like little piglets.

The high lights of New Year's Eve were watching the sunset while we were in the ocean with the kids (last sunset of 2009!) and the food. That night, a cousin of our friends made a huge and delicious paella, with seafood that was mostly caught that morning from the town we were in. Here's a peak:

A lovely minivacation indeed. And to clarify from my last post (FavAuntie!), we will not go to El Salvador every Christmas - just every New Year's. And every other year, we will go for both. It's the best time to go because it's their "summer" - not because they are in the Southern Hemisphere (they aren't) but because they consider summer to be the dry season (although it's cooler) and the wet season is winter (although it's hotter). I don't try to make sense of it, I just go with flow. And enjoy the sunshine every day.

I'm Back, Biatch!

Yes, I'm back. Back to reality and freezing temperatures and a painful 1:2 adult:child ratio. 15 days in El Salvador truly spoiled all of us. After 2 days there, I was almost in tears at the thought of coming home - sorry Mom!! Life down there is just so much easier. No cooking or cleaning or laundry. All the beans and rice a pregnant girl could want. Beautiful weather. But when the 15 days were up, most of me was ready to come home. I missed Lola. I missed my family. I missed speaking 100% in English. And now that we are back, I realize it's not so bad. We all fell right back into our lovely routine as if we had never left and things just feel right.

I have so much to write about the trip and plenty of pictures to go with it. My new camera is great and I will be able to upload all my photos tonight when I install all the software. Without any pictures for this post, I will just share with some quick highlights/interesting things from our vacation:

• Collette learned to walk. I know I said she has been taking steps but by Christmas, she was walking full time. Sebastian is just now showing signs that he is ready, taking more steps by himself to get to his favorite toys.
• In Spanish, they have a special word for "to hold" when you are talking about holding a baby/person. I think it's because they do it so often. Seriously, it's amazing Collette learned to walk considering how much time she spent in someone's arms.
• I found out that kids in El Salvador start preschool (they call it "kinder") at about 18 months old, some even younger! And its 5 days a week, 8-12!! I won't even tell you how little it costs. Lucky bastards.
• In El Salvador, it seems that they don't know what ear infections are. I was quite worried Collette had an ear infection because she had a very bad runny nose, fever and was just so cranky - very unlike her. When I mentioned my hypothesis to Billy, he thought it was his fault because she dunked her head underwater in the bath while he was washing her. When I mentioned it to someone else, they looked at me strangely and asked when Collette had gone swimming. The only ear infection they are familiar with is "swimmers ear", not the inner ear infection I was referring to. Weird, right?
• The beach was a complete disaster. Well, the sand, anyway. How do people take their kids to the beach at this age? The sand-eating and sand-in-the-eyes caused a complete meltdown for poor Sebastian. Collette didn't seemed to mind as she just kept eating the sand, non-stop. She also eats dirt. Is it considered pica when it's a baby doing it?
• My kids are totally bilingual!! Well, you know, in receptive language. They're not talking just yet. But they understand so much in both languages, I was so amazed. I think it really helped to have so many people around them talking and interacting. Another reason I was scared to come home - they are all alone here.

All in all, we had a wonderful time and will probably go back at that time each year. Which means next year we will have 2 two-year olds and a 5 month old. Yikes!

Staycation

The Soto family is on a staycation of sorts. Billy is between projects, working for the Man, so he took this week off. We may have made plans to go somewhere (maybe some place where it doesn't rain all the time) but it was so last minute that his vacation had to be a simple staycation.

What that means for me is that I pretty much get to do the same thing I always do except I only have to do half the work. Roughly. I won't keep score. And despite the rain, we are trying to make the best of what the area has to offer. We went to the Stone Zoo on Monday. The sun was out and babies were in a good mood. The zoo doesn't have much but it was fun enough - at least a new place to push around the stroller. The highlight was seeing a jaguar throw up. Hot.

Billy with the twins, saying hi to the dying reindeer. (OK, he wasn't dying, he was just losing his hair and growing new antlers for summer, but it looks a lot like dying.)

Yesterday was a total wash out - literally, crazy down pour T-storms in the afternoon. We had planned on doing lunch out with the babies after picking up our CSA share. But, Billy had to take some weird, cryptic call for work with some lawyers and he was supposed to be in a "quiet place where no one could hear him." He figured he could just take the call from the car while I walked around the shops with the babies. Well, the rain was so bad we couldn't even get out of the car to go into the restaurant. So, he took the call from the car, in the parking lot of the shopping plaza with the rain so loud that I was sure he couldn't hear a word those lawyers were saying. And then the thunder and lightning got the babies all worked up and I was in the back trying to keep them from crying hysterically. Good times.

Not sure what's on the docket for the rest of the week. We're hoping to go to the beach, or at least the shore and eat some good seafood. 'Tis the season for fried clams and lobster rolls. And on Sunday, the twins will be baptized - I'll be sure to report on that, of course!

So, if you don't see me here for a few more days, it's because I am spending quality time with my family.



PS - I totally need a new camera. I have photo-envy of all those other bloggers out there. Any suggestions??