You are my sunshine...Please don't take my Tatum away

So every night we have a routine. Story, prayers and a song. They aren't always in that order and the prayer doesn't always happen every night (or even the story...is that bad?)...but one thing that has to happen is the song. I told her about 6 months ago that when she was a baby and I would change her diaper on the changing table, I would play the music on her mobile (hung on the wall above her changer) and I would sing to her. So then she asked me to sing the song I sang to her. I always changed up the last part and personalized it to her. So every night I sing to her. It's really good, because there are those nights where I'm really not in the mood or maybe she just got done with having a time out or I have a headache...the list could go on, but she makes me do it. It's always nice to end the night on a really happy note and I know that's why she likes me to do it (and I'm always glad to). Every time I sing to her, she blushes and then will kiss/hug me and tells me goodnight and she loves me...every time. It's nice because it's just our song (Daryl will join in occasionally too). I'm sure one day she will ask me to stop singing to her, but for right now...

First day with big boy undies...

And then about 20 mins after these pictures were taken...he took a huge dump in them!

Good times at our fitness club

Since school has started back up, the gym has not nearly been as busy. Which is good for Corbin, but not as good for Tatum since all the kids her age and older are gone (or so I thought). Tatum has made a really good friend here named Morgan. I normally try to go on Tues and Thurs mornings (with an occasional Mon or Wed thrown in if I can't make a Tues or Thurs...or if I'm feeling motivated). Well we haven't seen Morgan in quite some time, so we figured she was in morning preschool. This morning we went and sure enough, she was back. Tatum couldn't believe her eyes. We found out she has preschool on Tues/Thurs mornings, so that's why she hasn't been here on the days we come. So now I'll have to force myself to go on Mondays or Wed from now on so she can play with her friend.

Tatum will be starting back up at Trinity Lutheran the beginning of Sept. School has already started, but I asked them if I could start her in Sept instead since it seems ridiculous to pay the tuition for her only attending 3 to 4 days left this month. She will be going Mon/Wed/Fri from noon-3.

Our Los Palomas Trip!!

As we are first crossing the boarder into Mexico for the first time, Tatum sees a horse on the side of the road. She then asks us, "Do horses still say neh in Mexico?". That was probably one of the funniest things she's ever said to us.

We stayed in Los Palomas in the Cordoba building (rm 108) Thurs-Sunday. We went with Daryl's two brothers (Byron and Aaron) and their families. We stayed in a 4 bedroom, 5 bathroom place, so everyone got their own bedroom and bathroom (we actually ended up with our own suite that was part of it..you can rent it out separately though). IMO, we had the best condo in the whole entire place. We went into town to shop and the weather was extremely hot, muggy and miserable, but we still had fun. Jen and I went to the spa on the last full day we were there. We were the first customers, so they hadn't quite worked out the kinks and we flooded the place when we each showered after the sauna. Water was going down the hall and as I was laying there getting my massage, I could hear them mopping up the water, I felt horrible about it. Tatum was much more brave this time of the ocean. When we were in San Diego, she barely would touch the water. We actually swam in the pools more than down at the beach because it was just easier with the kids. We went to the Aquarium to see the fish, sharks, turtles and the poor seal. I felt really bad for him. We fed him fish and all he could do was swim back and fourth in hopes of getting more fish, since that's all there really was to do for him. Daryl bought some fireworks in town, but we got in trouble for shooting them off and could only use the sparklers. Then an hour later, someone really put on a show for us right in front of our balcony, so that was a ton of fun since our 4th of July really sucked this year due to bad weather. This was the kids first time in Mexico and my first time back since being a mom. I am so not ready to be home yet. This was the first real trip (other than Flag or Cottonwood) that we've gotten to travel with our van and it was SO much better! It was truly humbling to see the people live the way they live here. You really feel for the pregnant women and children working the streets trying to sell their goods to you. We are truly blessed.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family pictures - Vintage photos

Atkinson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Atkinson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free family history - Trace family tree

You might want to plug your ears at the end of the performance

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Daryl went to the Cardinal's game with Ryan tonight, so in the spirit of trying to entertain myself, I grabbed my camera and decided to post this for you. I'm a little bored if you couldn't tell lol.

"Bug", "Buggy", "Brute", "Bruticus", "Brutus", "Stink", and "Cobin" (that's how Tatum pronounces Corbin).

When he's happy, he is very, very happy...




But when he is mad, he is ferocious!

Thimerosal Free Please...

In my opinion, I think vaccinations can be a good thing. But I don't like to vaccinate my kids straight from the start. I like to give them a little time to adjust to this world before I flood their poor little bodies with crap. With Tatum, I agreed to her Hep B shot right after birth and then felt extremely guilty about it right after and decided to wait 6 months for the rest (except I waited until she was a year to get any more Hep B shots). With Corbin, I decided to forgo the newborn Hep B shot and only waited until he was 2 months (my new pediatrician talked me into it because he would be more exposed to the environment and other kids earlier on than Tatum was, so I agreed). I was talking with a good friend of mine the other day (who agrees with me on this) and when she goes in for her children's well checks, she special orders her shots for them that are thimerosal free. You can actually do that now! So instead of that 3 in 1, she actually has to get all 3 for them (that's the only negative about it). But it's worth it if they are a guaranteed not to have all that crap in it. I will probably still wait a little bit to immunize the next one, but I will definitely only use the thimerosal free ones from now on. Here's a little something I found:

Mercury (thimerosal) is an ingredient in several vaccines -- included in order to kill any live contaminants. In rare instances this causes allergic reactions. At much higher doses, mercury is a known cause of irreversible nerve and brain damage, especially before birth and in the first 6 months of life. Mercury was responsible for the first known epidemic of cerebral palsy from a toxin when it was dumped into Minamata Bay in Japan in the 1950's by a vinyl plastics factory (Textbook of Pediatrics 1996 WB Saunders). Might it also cause mercury toxicity in children who frequently get mercury-containing vaccines? This has long been a concern with the gamma globulin shot used to prevent Hepatitis A in travelers. Where practical, the Hepatitis A vaccine is a safer and more effective alternative that does not contain mercury. Still, getting a shot of gamma globulin is still far better than getting hepatitis.Mercury has been used as a preservative in the Hepatitis B vaccine given to all newborns around the first day of life and again when they are only 4 weeks old. While there is no data showing that this has caused harm to children in the doses they get from routine immunization, the AAP and the PHS recently called for the elimination of mercury from all vaccines. A thimerasol-free (mercury-free) Hepatitis B vaccine is now available in many hospitals. Because of this, many neonates are beginning to receive Hepatitis B routinely at birth again.Currently, all routinely recommended vaccines for children and infants in the United States are available in thimerasol-free forms. The influenza vaccine is the only exception; the most widely-used formulation contains a small amount of thimerasol. formulation. Thimerasol-free flu vaccines are available, but the supply is more limited.

A cool find for kids who have food coloring allergies

Hold the Food Coloring, But Not the YumAllergies seem to be taking over the world, and as I'm about to add "parent of schoolchild" to my resume, I admit I'm nervous about bake sale duty. If it's not nuts, it's gluten. If it's not gluten it's eggs. And now I'm hearing about food coloring allergies? I'm terrified to make anything besides water with maybe a squeeze of lemon. Indeed I was delighted to have discovered the Nature's Colors line of baking and decorating goodies from Seattle's India Tree. These sugars and other edible sparkly things are absolutely magazine-quality gorgeous, with colors like periwinkle blue and raspberry red. And yet? They're made entirely from vegetable colors without artificial anything. If food coloring isn't a dietary concern of yours, check out India Tree's eight zillion other decoratifs that help your cupcakes nab your school an easy buck each instead of a quarter. A good selection is available online at ChefTools or or live and in person at WholeFoods. -Liz

Meet Mickey James

Some good friends of ours (Ryan and Christine) had their second baby early yesterday morning. He weighed in around 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. Big sis Brooklyn is such a proud sister. I just had to share with you their newest addition. He's a cutie!!

Next generation of friends...

It really makes you start to feel old when your kids are playing with the kids whose parents you used to go to school with. Gotta love it though!!