Mazatlan

In Mazatlan, the four of us went on a Mexican Show and Sightseeing Tour. It started out at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, which was beautiful. We learned some cool history about the church too, like the mural behind the towers is one of only two like it that depicts the Holy Spirit as a man, and there are 26 Stars of David in the stain glass windows in the church to represent the Jewish calendar, because Jews donated money to have this Catholic Church built. It was a tribute from the current bishop to them.

We then went on to a Mexican Dance show that had dances from all of the different areas of Mexico, including the Papantla Flyers, guys that tie a rope to their waist or ankles and spin around upside down while attached to a pole with the rope.

From there we did some shopping at a fun store called Senor Frogs. To me it just looked like a cool store with a bunch of cute stuff. I realized quickly when I wore my new hat the next day that Senor Frogs is also just about the craziest bar in Mexico. People kept pointing at my hat and then asking me if I was hungover, some even asked if I was sober yet from the night before. Hmmm.

The last thing we did on the tour was see this cliff diver. Talk about crazy! The diver has a small hole that he has to make his dive into, or it won't be deep enough. He's not dead yet, so I guess he's got it figured out, but could you imagine doing that for the first time? Or at all?!

We then headed back to the ship, for an afternoon send off for Cabo San Lucas the next day!

Puerto Vallarta

Jeremy and my stepdad Robert were up bright and early to go scuba diving. My mom and I went on a Jungle Safari, which was basically a bus ride through the city, through a little town and up to a restaurant way up in the mountains. It was really pretty, with all the greenery, a waterfall, warm temperatures, and most of all, sunshine! From there we took a short hike with the guide arourd the surrounding area, including crossing a stream barefoot while having little fishies nip at our toes! We then did some shopping in town on the way back, and headed back to the ship to get ready for our next excursion.

We met the guys back at the ship and got ready for our Sunset Sailboat ride. The sunset was great, as you can see above, but the whale that stayed right by our boat really stole the show! First I just got his tail a few times, but then I got an awesome video.

It was so neat!

Crusing on a Fun Ship

Our first two days of our cruise were "Fun Days at Sea." They really were fun. It was great to sleep in, relax, and lay out. The ship was huge, with lots of places to hang out and read a book, listen to live music, or just people watch. And there is food everywhere. In addition to your nightly dinner in the dining room (where you can order however many meals or desserts you want), there's a full service buffet for breakfast and dinner, and just in case you get hungry in between, there's pizza, deli sandwiches, and ice cream 24 hours a day. I was honestly really missing the on demand ice cream for the first few days when we got home.

Also, the room stewards make these fun towel animals. You get a different one every night. And the waiters do some kind of entertainment at dinner just about every night also. My favorite was when they were up on the tables dancing. It really was a fun ship, and it made me excited for the rest of the week!

Too sad and a vocabulary lesson

So, the other day I got this text from Jeremy:

"Hayley just fell down the entire flight of stairs. She scraped her face, has a bloody nose, and has blood on her shirt and pants. She seems okay though."

So of course, even though the message said she was okay, I called home to check. This conversation ensued:

Jeremy: "She's fine. she's sleeping."
Me: "Sleeping?! Wake her up! She may have a concussion!"
Jeremy: (after a minute) "I woke her up. She looks fine."
Me: "Let me talk to her."
Jeremy: (to Hayley) "Do you want to talk to Mommy?"
Hayley: (to Jeremy) "I can't. I'm too sad."
Me: (sadly) "Okay. I guess I'll see you later."

And being pregnant, of course the next thing I did was cry. Poor kid.

On the other hand, when she's not too sad, these are her favorite questions to ask:

Hayley: "Mom, is there a baby in your tummy?"
Me: "Yes."
Hayley: "Is there food in your tummy?"
Me: (not sure I'm liking where this is going) "Uh, yes."
Hayley: "Is the baby playing with your food? Because we don't play with food."

Who would have known I'd have to teach my two year old the word uterus.

100 Things

Saw this cute post on Melanie's blog a while ago.

This is a fun one. Just copy it into your own blog and italacize the items that you've done.

The stars are ones I haven't done, but would really like to.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris*
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (Mental Health Day anyone?)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (1/2 point for Venetian in Las Vegas.)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset*
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (Soon to be three!)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors*
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (1/2 point for buying a stranger's gas.)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London*
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican*
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club*
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Don't forget your Scary Face!

So, Hayley says lots of funny things, which I occasionally share with others. Someone asked me a little while ago if I was writing all of these things down somewhere. And being the slacker that I am, my response was, "Uh, no." But I decided that I probably should have Hayley's "funnies" recorded somewhere. So here are a few:

While eating Spaghetti O's for lunch Hayley dripped a bunch on her chin, and then proceeded to tell me that she needed a wet wipe. Okay, fine. I got one and handed it to her. She then wiped her chin, turned to me, grinned, and said, "I have OCD." Which actually may be true, as she is the cleanest two year old I've ever met, and we do kiddingly tell her this on occasion. But to have her say it, unprompted, was hillarious!

Hayley wanted to have a snack before bed. So I gave her the regular choices of cereals plain (not to be confused with "cereal in a bowl with milk and a spoon") or half a bagel plain. Obviously, I'm not into doing anything messy right before bed. She replied, "I have a great idea! Let's go to Chili's and have chips for my snack!" Good effort Hayley, but not going to happen!

She's also totally into pretend play lately. A while ago she was carrying around a basket of pretend kitties. She was so into her own story that when Jeremy took one of the pretend kitties without asking and proceeded to hold it and pet it, an all out fit ensued. Who would have known she would get so worked up over something that isn't even there. Finally, her tease of a daddy put the pretend kitty back into the basket and all was well.

Hayley also frequently needs to call Grandma Heidi to see if she really indeed needs to take a nap. Apparently, sometimes Mom just cannot be trusted. Of course the answer is always yes, but somehow when Grandma Heidi speaks, the nap debate is over.

Then there's this guy. Apparently, he's a character on Nick Jr., Muno I think. We've never seen the show, but this is what I get when I let Hayley pick out a toy. A doll? No. A Care Bear? No. A My Little Pony? No. Only this guy. I just think he's ugly. Which led to me calling him Ugly Face. I stood corrected though, when Hayley informed me his name is Scary Face. It's a good thing I knew what his name was when she woke up in the middle of the night the other night, yelling, "I can't find my Scary Face! Where is my Scary Face?!" Life lesson learned. You don't want to be caught in the night without your Scary Face.

"We're Pregnant!" or, if you prefer "The WalMart Baby"

Some of you may think it's weird that I'm posting this story, however, I think some of you may get a kick out of it, so here it is. Feel free to skip over this post, if you'd rather.

So here's the story of the finding out we're pregnant. I got up on a Friday, five days late, and Aunt Flo still hadn't come. So I stopped at WalMart to buy a pregnancy test thinking, "I'll take this later, at home, with Jeremy there." Except that didn't really work out. I only made it as far as the WalMart restroom. And then the test was positive, and there was no one there I could tell!! So then I was like "What do I do? I guess I just go to school and try to act normal." (As some of you know, acting normal is usually one of my stronger traits. No so much for my class of fourth graders.) Anyway, so then I was thinking I would tell some of the girls at work. And then I thought that must be breaking some kind of "code" to be telling friends before I told my husband. So I didn't tell anyone. All day. Even though I wanted to. Really bad.

Keeping to myself all day did give me a chance to think up a fun way to tell Jeremy though. I put my BFP pregnancy test in a baggie (because, gross, it had pee on it, in case you didn't know) and then wrapped it in an Christmas gift bag. Then Hayley and I met up with Jeremy during his lunch hour and I let Hayley give Jeremy his "present." He was happy, surprised, and excited, and so was I, because finally someone knew besides me!

Hayley is excited too, but I don't know if she totally gets it yet. My vote was to not tell her for a few months, but others around her were way too excited, and she is pretty perceptive. Bets on how she will react are a mixed bag. Either she'll love it, or she's going to be really ticked off. I'm hoping for the first, but expecting a little of both. Either way, I'm excited to be a mommy to two instead of one!

P.S. I tried the pregnancy test in the giftbag trick on my mom, and she was like, "Why are you giving me thermometers?" She more than made up for it though when I told her what they were, and she was super excited. She even cried, which I can't say for myself, and I'm the one that's pregnant!