Some Updates...

After repeated dismounts from his crib at odd hours of the night, Mark and I have finally turned Mel's crib into a toddler bed. I wasn't ready... I liked the power of locking him in his crib for naps and the like... but he just wouldn't be restrained any longer... and instead of risking him breaking his neck at three in the morning climbing out of a crib... we just removed EVERYTHING from his room to toddler proof it, except the toddler bed which of course he can EASILY get out of, and a rocking chair. :) THis is how we found him after a nap on that first day of his toddler bed freedom. Conked on the chair with his snuggle blankets. Very sweet. A little look at the kitchen...

I can't get over how big Mel is!!!!!!! Two years in May people!

Still a master of the "scrunchy face."

At long last!!!!!! We have family in OHIO!!!!!!! Oh the joys of family!!!! We are all completely beside ourselves with joy having Mark's brother's family here, (Mark's brother,sister in law, and their fabulous childrens. ) They have introduced us to Thomas the Train, and I know life will never be the same. :) Here is Mel with his cousin Henry... Wendy is sprinting in the background. :)

Geni should be here in 5 weeks. Her little rump is always pushing in and over my ribs... I have constant raging heartburn, and as unprepared and scared as I feel.... I CAN'T WAIT FOR HER TO COME!!!!!!!!! Come on out baby Geni! (as soon as you're ready of course...).Let me hold you on the outside. :) Belly pictures are coming.

My moon my man...

Isn't he getting big?

Maple Syrup Festival in OHIO!

Mark is THE best. He found a Maple Syrup Festival at a nearby scoutcamp for me!!!! It was AWSOME- maybe not quite as awsome as those in Canada... but we had so much fun, and it brought back wonderful memories of my time in Montreal, so way to go OHIO! There was SOOOOOOOOO much to do, we'll make this one a family tradition.

Geni Belly...

Some things you should know....
1. I gave myself this haircut.
2. These are new glasses... and they are red.
3. I bought this wonderful flower needlework picture at the goodwill... it makes me tremendously happy.
4. The flower on my belly I just made for baby Genevieve, who is now 25 weeks and 5 day old.
5. It is she who is making my belly adorable.

LOSING IT!!!!

Is it so wrong to want to beat Melvin from time to time?


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! I'm LOSING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



P.S. I won't really beat him.......

Mauied.

There will be no getting over Maui. Here are some pictures... none of which flatter me, or do this GORGEOUS island justice... but still................................. here is some of our wonderful vacation- the vacation that will haunt me always! :)

We went to an awesome Luau. I wore a real flower lei- I can't even begin to tell you how divine those flowers smelt.
There was a fire dancer... the best in the world or something like that. Melvin, along with Mark and I LOVED it!

There was dancing.

And dancing.

Gorgeous sunsets.

We went whale and dolphin watching. The dolphins loved to perform... and the whales... a mother and her calf were amazing! Whale milk is about the consistency of yogurt. Just a little something we learned. It takes a lot of fat to grow a whale!

The whales were hard to photograph.

We ate Hula pie- finished it actually, with a lot of help from Mel.

We saw the amazing banion (sp?)tree in Lanai. It's amazing to me! This one tree has 12 trunks! (I might be off on that number... but wow. )

All one tree..

Amazing.

We tried our hand at Hawaiian as we attempted to pronounce Waianapanapa State Park.

We saw mongooses, who are NOT native to Hawaii.

We saw art.

Us at a black sand beach near Hana. Don't swim at this one! There are painful jellyfish VERY near the shore!

Wow. GORGEOUSSSSSS!!!!

We drove THE road to Hana. This is probably the highlight of our vacation. It was beyond incredible to me- all the dripping foliage, the falls, pools, forests, flowers, sigh. Amazing.

One of the many falls/pools. Next time we go, when the childrens are older, we are TOTALLY hiking around and swimming in the pools. We didn't this time- but just imagine...

There were bamboo forests EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! Isn't it beautiful????

The island was so diverse. I was shocked at how commercial Maui wasn't! :) Sure, right by the beaches there are incredible resorts... but get not too far inland, and all of sudden there is farmland, and shacks- clearly with people living there, but clearly without running water or electricity. I couldn't believe it!

We saw amazing flowers...

and baby palm trees growing out of coconuts.

We got fresh mango and passion fruit smoothies from Uncle Harry's. There were little family 0wned farmer market places like this EVERYWHERE!!! People even just put fruit like passion fruit, or tropical flowers in boxes on the side of the road with a sign stating the price. You'd just put the money in the box if you wanted to make a purchase. All on the honor system.

Mel wore water shoes pretty much the whole time. :) They were perfect. Here is more beautiful bamboo.

More falls...

More beaching...I loved the lava rock

On the way to the crater we drove by a lavender farm, and through a eucalyptus forest. Mmmm... they both smelt heavenly.

We ate amazing food. Just check out Mel's grilled cheese.
We would go to the beach in the morning before it got too hot. We are clearly pasty, all three of us... so we lathered ourselves in sunscreen... :) No burns! :) Hooray! But then, no tans either. :( We had SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun at the beaches! Mel was terrified at first, but within short time he REALLY got the hang of things. We all got extremely sandy at this particular outing.

More unexpected landscapes. I had no idea Maui was like this too.

We went to the Maui Ocean Center or something like that.... this is a fish we saw there. He looks ornery.

We also saw jellyfish too.

We went to Iao Valley. Again.... amazing.

Melvin realized that his Dada is THE best- way better, WAY more fun than his mama. :) It was on this trip that Melvin didn't want me to put him to bed, or to comfort him, hold him, play with him, read to him.... he only wanted Mark.... it was SOOOOOOOOOOO nice!

More sunsets...

More of Iao valley.

Good grief... I have left out SOOOOOO much... but this will have to do- I have a neck cramp from working on this post so long! To sum it up-- good thing Christmas was after our vacation or I would have been COMPLETELY depressed to come home! But, as it was, Maui was AMAZING beyond amazing, but home is still nice, and Christmas was fantastic. Hopefully I'll post on that soon. :)