13 Months

Mark at 13 Months.

Mark loves everything about being outside. He could stay outside and play all day long and be completely content. He is loves to get as dirty as possible and explore every little thing he can find.

 He always makes us laugh. He scrunches his little nose up all the time, like in this picture, and then just laughs. We also find it totally hilarious that every time he burbs, he looks at us and lets out this big laugh.

 Sierra and Mark are becoming best buddies. Mark just loves to play with her, climb on her, and pet her. I love to see Mark and Belle play with Sierra and watch how gentle Sierra is with them. She is such a perfect dog! Playing "sticks" with Sierra is an all time favorite for both.

 Just before going in for the kiss. Sierra usually beats Mark at it and unfortunately Sierra's tongue often enters Mark's mouth. Yes, disgusting, but sweet. I do my best to stop it, but Sierra is extra fast.

 Mark absolutely loves everything about Isabelle. He loves to play with her. Climbing and rolling around on her are some of his favorite things to do with her.

Mark loves to play "peek a boo." He'll put most anything in front of his face, then pull it down and laugh. We do this a lot while changing his diaper because he has become quite the rolly polly and would prefer you finish changing his diaper in record time. Little does he know that when you roll around and try to escape, it takes longer to change his diaper. So, "peek a boo" is a helpful little game most of the time.

And the walking games have begun! I'm not sure if I'm excited or sad about this. It means he is growing up and I kind of want my little baby to stay a baby forever! Luckily, he is still totally attached to us and doesn't get far without turning around to make sure we are still close by. He thinks walking is about the best thing ever and has the biggest grin on his face as he 'frankenstein' walks around. He has become much better since this video was taken. This was one of the first days he got enough guts to take more than two steps. Happy 13 Months Mark!! Love you.

Roatan, Honduras

Helloooo Roatan!

We recently got back from a wonderful trip to Roatan! It is more than fair to say that we all LOVED Roatan and had the greatest time ever! I have a ton of pictures to post, so be prepared.


Our days consisted of hanging out on the patio, going to the beach, swimming, making a sand castle (or something of the sort), napping, having some monkey juice (you'll learn about that later), and watching the sunset. Best of all, we enjoyed relaxing in the warm weather! There really is nothing that beats that kind of day!

After running full speed to the ocean every morning (above picture), we would play in the sand. We built everything from castles to sand dollars to sea horses to fish. Mark especially enjoyed climbing on top of them. Belle enjoyed helping, but most of the time you found her in the calm ocean floating around, looking for fish.

 Two of the many masterpieces we made. Jamie is officially the best sand designer I know.

 Just look at that water. Unbelievable! So clear, so calm, warm, and peaceful!

 

Here is Casa de Paradise. That pretty much sums it up. It really was our "paradise house!" We were on the upper level.

Our view from the patio to our private beach. We spent a lot of time on that patio. Eating, drinking, playing, and resting. We also spent a lot of time on that white sand beach!

 

This is the view to the south from our beach. Looking down toward the end of the beach is where a beautiful reef was. Jamie and I would snorkel there everyday. We saw some amazing colorful fish, an eel, baracuda, jelly fish, tons of colorful coral. I could go on and on.

View to the north. There was a pier and a walkway around to more beach. We would walk down there with the kids to show them the eel, a baracuda, and a puffer fish that were right off the walkway.

I just took a couple pictures of the inside of our place. It was so nice and comfortable! Here is the kitchen. There were some parrots living just outside the kitchen. We could hear them "talking" everyday. They sounded like a bunch of old ladies having a good time. They would repeat everything anybody said. It was hilarious.

And this is our luxury bedroom which also had a ginormous bathroom and closet off of it. Perfect for the four of us!

 Kayaking with Pepe. I love how Belle is totally lounged out, waving "hi." She went on a lot of kayak rides with us and really enjoyed being on the boat.

Floating with Grammy. Lots of floating and soaking up the sun!

Taking it all in. So much to do and see, he could hardly focus. He also ate a lot of sand, so the binky became a permanent fixture in his mouth.

 

  

Some sister/brother shade time after playing in the sun, sand, and water.

 

Back to the patio for lunch. Mark knows how to relax when on vacation. Just put your feet up, sit back, ask for "more," and smile. That's our boy!

 

 All cleaned up and ready to eat.

Siesta time. Mark is asleep in that back room with the window. Dad is asleep on the hammock and.....

 

Belle is crashed out on the bed. Why isn't mom taking a siesta? Don't worry, I think I snuck in one or two with Belle and Mark. The hammock was the best spot. Too bad Jamie beat me to it this day.

 

 Ready for more beach time! Notice Jamie's stylin' hairdo for Mark.

 Hmmm. What should I do? Swim, build a castle, splash around. Tough decisions.

 Decision made.

 

 Jamie and I enjoying some kid free time as we kayak along the beach.

 

And drink some cerveza's on a patio overlooking the water.

Belle and Mark really enjoyed all the time with Grammy and Pepe. Here is proof that they love their Grammy and Pepe and couldn't have asked for a better time.

 

 Belle made a new friend, Fatima, from Holland toward the end of our trip. You would find Belle and Fatima together at all times, other than when they were napping. They had so much fun playing together. Fatima was a complete fascination to me. She was not even 3 years old and spoke Dutch, Spanish, and English. Are you kidding? Her mom spoke five languages.

 

 

 

Still playing late in the day.

Another favorite time of the day. Happy hour. 

Belle is learning all about "Monkey Juice" from Pepe. "If you drink this special monkey juice, it makes you strong and fast." (We call it a fruit smoothie, but to Belle it's extra delicious and special when it's called monkey juice!)

The adult "Monkey Juice."

Mark thinking he can have some Monkey Juice. Sorry Mark. It's empty. Just stick with your milk.

 Some of the beautiful sunsets we enjoyed after some Monkey Juice.

Surprise! More beach time. Mark is 100% madly in love with Daddy right now. If Jamie turned to walk in another room, you would most likely find Mark screaming and crawling at full speed to get back to Daddy.

 

 

Our date night. Don't be too jealous of our meal: bottle of wine, fruit, shrimp cocktail, gazpacho, lobster tail, fried bananas and ice cream. We had a private table that sat amongst a jungle of trees. We also enjoyed some company....a couple cats and tiny frogs.

 

We tried to get Mark to sit long enough to get a picture with their names in the sand, but it didn't happen. He was having way too much fun to sit for a picture. Oh well, good try at holding him back Belle.

 

 We were sad for the trip to end. It went way too fast!! But, we enjoyed every second of it and will always remember the fun we had! Thanks for a great time Grammy and Pepe!

 

Goodbye Roatan! Hope to see you again sometime soon!