Reflections From Our First (Official) Vacation

I must admit I was a little nervous, abeit excited as anything, for our first family flying vacation. I got mixed reactions, some saying it would be difficult while others saying it will be fantastic.

Well...it was...fan-fricking-tastic!

We went to Riviera Nayarit, a little off of Puerto Vallarta, in Mexico. It was beautiful, not too long of a flight (so the kids mainly slept), and just what we needed/wanted.

Our resort, Dreams Villamagna, was perfect - family friendly, great food, awesome staff, VIP service to the max, 24 hour room service, great view/room...and drinks and pools were perfect.

We went with no expectations, and aimed to make it about the kids, so with them playing in the pools and water, us having our cocktails...things went rather smoothly. Of course, vacation with the kids is different, but I truly think Vick and I are ready for these vacations. We want to experience life through their eyes...seeing them frolic in delight, swim to their heart's content, seeing animals and dolphins and even geckos in amazement, all made us so happy.  Honestly, as bedtime came around and they passed out...we often found ourselves exhaused too.

The kids loved it. Caiden learned how to swim (with floaties) and literally would want to swim until evening. Rayna only walked...no crawling...and loved to point out every bird and iguana we saw. They grew up so much in one week...amazing.

Vick and I would wake up as they would, we would check out our ocean view and get ready for breakfast and then either swim, or plan to go see dolphins...or take a trip to Sayulita...all of which was just awesome to say the least. Our trip was full of tacos, drinks, animal encounters (iguanas at the resort included), braids, and sun...sun and some more sun. The best thing,  was being together,  as corny as that may sound,  and watching our kids really experience and showcase their excitement for things...I mean Caiden held a snake and a crocodile for Pete's sake!!

I know now that this life as a mom with young ones,  is what I revel for. I am in my element and love being with my family.  I love that we take advantage of these precious moments,  because it will pass and life will change once again.  But until then,  I can't wait until our next adventure.

What a blast!

Mommyness is Hard, But It's Worth It

It is easy, it is extremely easy, to acknowledge the hardships and craziness that is motherhood, and parenthood alike (I don't mean to always forget the dads...I just don't know how many daddies are reading this). Anyways, kids are hard, they are relentless, and sometimes don't let you get what you intended to get done in the day. Then your husband comes home, and naively innocent enough,  asks, "so, what did you do today?" That is when you can easily go into a long saga of how no one appreciates how hard this truly is and then cry or pout.

But then, your toddler looks at you and says "mommy I wuvv you." Suddenly you forget that you stepped in poop earlier because he had a potty training accident.

Your baby girl pulls your face in and plants a wet one on you and says "mmmmuah", while grinning her 6-tooth smile. Then you forget, she screamed all day long and didn't let you get to the bathroom.

Then you catch your kids laughing and playing together, signalling for you to join with delightful shrieks of "mommmmmaaaaaa." You immediately forget how all you did was clean and clean a mess that got messed up again.

That's when you realize, who cares how hard it is at times. That is what it takes,  which is a small price for this wickedly amazing family I am blessed with. This is surreal to be surrounded with so much love.  The kids sheer excitement surmounts any verbal reassurance that I would ever need that I am doing a decent job.

They are healthy, happy and cute as hell.  They love me, even when they are nuts!  They tire me by 8pm, for sure, but it is worth it because of how much endless joy they truly give me daily. 

The truth is every hard day has its beauty.

In my case, two.

I love these crazy kids of mine.  Thanks for being awesome my babies. 

Now let's see if we can go one night with no wake-ups...

Sibling Moments - This is What It's All About

One of the best things for me is going into the room, after any one of my kids naps, and seeing them fully rested with a huge smile on their face.  Times that by two...well you have just made my fricking day!

Although Rayna takes 2 more naps than Caiden, they have now synced to taking one nap around the same time. That synchronized nap gives me about an hour to do something I need, laundary, broom or mop, or write a post here.  But the beauty of that nap isn't in the quiet time I realized. 
Ok ok...that's not totally true, as much as I insanely love my kids, one quiet hour is super nice.

What I realized is that when the kids wake up, from a good nap, they wake up with no tears and big smiles...rejuvenated and ready for more discovery and play.

Nowadays when they have this full nap, I find that I hear laughter coming from the main bedroom...I sometimes put Caiden in the big bed in my room for a nap, and Rayna's crib resides in our room.
As I approach the room I can hear little voices and giggles.  I open the door slightly and see Caiden is standing by the crib, talking to his sister,  or sometimes in my bed and just talking to her from there.  Rayna is alert, sitting up and giggling and baby-talking back.  Sometimes they are talking and sometimes Caiden is singing and Rayna is clapping and cheering him on.

I stand there in silence, basking it all in.  This is so beautiful to witness.  They are so little sometimes we discount their awareness of each other and that they are developing their own special bond and connection. Their bond will grow, in time,  face its challenges and so forth, but it has started. 

Once they see me, Caiden usually says "oh hi mom" and I join in.  I see they are both happily greeting me and its moments like this that make me realize...geesh...this is what it's all about. 

These tender, precious, quiet, moments where you see innocent children interactions (no screaming, fighting and pouncing), is the beauty of raising siblings.  I love it.  Somedays it is tough and you want so badly to do right by them and raise them to be happy kids. So when you witness their happy faces,  without you being the sole cause, it warms the very inner core to the max.

All the anticipation of adding to the family,  it's so worth it.  I mean we wanted Caiden to have a sibling and this is really what, to us, having a family is all about.

Xoxo