Posting in Mexico City

I have been hogging the computer for 45 minutes, and I should probably get off. We have had a crazy summer! Quick summary and update. We were in Utah where I went to a family reunion for my Dad´s side and then my Mom´s side and Madeline loved her cousins, and I think they thought she was kinda funny too. Then we went back to Colorado to a flooded basement at my parents´ house, where I stayed for 2 weeks generally doing, nothing. It is really nice to have morning sickness at your Mom's house, especially when she takes care of your little girl and makes the food. Wonderful. Then we went to Canada (finally with Raymey, yes, he is done taking the bar). After this trip we went to the Tillamook County Fair and hung out with Raymey's family for a few days. That was fun and Madeline had fun with her cousins, and everyone else! We dropped Madeline off in Colorado and Raymey and I have been in Mexico City and Veracruz. I am completely amazed at how much I can understand. Obviously, my comprehension and speaking skills could be much better, but I am not as lost as I felt in Japan! We are with the family of a mission companion of Raymey's. They are being really nice to us and feeding us well and showing us neat things. We miss Madeline like CRAZY and she apparently thinks that we are still up in an airplane (she always tells my mom, Look, there are Mommy and Daddy in the airplane!) We will do a bigger post later when we can upload pictures and I can us a keyboard that is familiar! It is hard to find the correct punctuation marks on this one!!!

100th post! Happy 4th!

Hanging out with Daddy before the parade started.

With Mommy.

We didn't bring chairs, and you can only sit so long on hard cement. This amused Raymey.

The Frisch's Boy was so amazing, and so strangely proportioned...she couldn't stop staring.
The night before we went to a celebration where we heard Huey Lewis and the News live, but from very, very far away. There was a little Back to the Future theme going on because we also saw 8 Deloreans, one of which had a flux capacitor. We didn't have our camera and were sad that we didn't get a picture. Lo and behold it showed up at the parade the next day! It really was cool!

Quick, get it before the big kids! She held her own!

Got the flag and a huge wad of bubblegum. Nothing beats a parade! (Shannon, do you like our candy bag? What a multi-functional gift you gave us!)

Eating Humble Pie...

When I was pregnant with Madeline I had a very sensitive stomach. One day Raymey was telling me that when he was little he thought that making "ends meet" was a kind of food. It made me gag and I told him to stop talking about it. I'm sure he thought I was crazy, and he kept trying to tell me he wasn't talking about food, but I wouldn't hear it. It still grossed me out!
Now, being in the 1st trimester again I'm back to the sensitive stomach. I think it is really funny how you wish you could escape food, but it is always haunting you in one way or another. I was reading a book this afternoon, and an embarrassed girl said she could only eat so much humble pie. For some strange reason I started imagining a delicious, flakey, salty, and hot pie. So, I think you know it is bad when an idiom sounds yummy. By the way, I looked up humble pie and it is an actual kind of pie made out of gross stuff like heart, liver, and other entrails. Needless to say, my previous craving has withdrawn.

Mommy/daughter date

Today Madeline and I went to a real movie theater. The only reason was because for the next two months they have a free movie twice a week. They are "old" movies. We saw Kung Fu Panda. Madeline hadn't seen it before and she was mesmerized by the gigantic screen and the tons of big kids. I was completely shocked to find that she didn't cry or misbehave during the whole thing. She LOVED it. She didn't laugh or smile the whole time, she just stared. Afterwards she kept telling me about the panda who eats so much and the naughty leopard. She thinks it is funny now, but it was serious business while we were watching.
Wow! Our first movie theater experience. Our little girl is growing up!

Secrets Revealed

Yes, until recently we had a secret. Now it is rapidly becoming common knowledge! We'll be having a baby sometime in late January or early February. We haven't been to the doctor yet (I go a week from today), so I guess we don't know the details yet. I've been feeling pretty yucky. Poor Madeline always asks, "Mommy, are you sick? You go to the doctor?" I'm sure she wishes I'd just be more fun! Raymey is being a good sport to help me get whatever food I think I can stomach at the moment. I'm sure it will feel more exciting after the morning (afternoon, and evening) sickness wears off. We are happy though!

The other day I finally got desperate and decided to try wristbands that supposedly help with nausea. I'm not usually into "alternative medicine" type things, but the bands have been surprisingly helpful (they are on pressure points on the wrists, and I was more willing to try them when I read that they use them in hospitals for anaesthesia and chemo sometimes, and people also use them for motion sickness). I still have to try to eat every couple of hours, but my symptoms are subdued when I wear the darned things. The first pair (shown above) are hideous, and look like tacky exercise bands. When I got them Madeline cried and cried because she wanted bracelets too. So, we came home, improvised, and accessorized. These are our matching bracelet pics (hers are made of rubber bands and felt!). I found some psi bands online and they are much prettier, although you do have to wear them on both wrists at the same time, so it still looks a little strange, but not quite so ugly!!!

Last time we called a bunch of people and told them we were expecting. I just don't have it in me this time! So, you people that now know are rewarded for checking our blog:)

ABCs

Here's a conversation we had today.
Madeline standing with her feet apart on the floor: "I do an x!"
Me: "Wow, did you do a 'T'?"
Madeline: "Yes!"
Me: "Did you do an 'L'? [yes] An 'O'? [yes] Did you do a 'P'?"
Madeline: Quiet, thinking...very seriously says, "No Mommy, I NOT do a pee on the floor."

Flutter by Butterfly

Today we went to a butterfly exhibit and an indoor garden. It was so neat! I've never been to a place like that. The actual room with the butterflies was pretty small, but had high ceilings. I was able to get butterflies on my fingers a couple of times, but I spent most of my time chasing Madeline, so it was hard to sit still enough for the butterflies. They were friendly though, I was surprised how close we could get. The one I got a picture of on my hand was actually beautiful bright blue on the inside, I wish I had captured that! A few times people told me I had butterflies on my hat or backpack, but either I couldn't see or it didn't last long. We finally found a really tame one (or one that was probably injured or dying, to be honest) that we got on Madeline's hand. She did NOT appreciate it! She was all about holding butterflies until she felt those prickly little legs. So, I have one blurry picture of her cringing and trying to escape. It really is my favorite!