Monday, May 31, 2010

Malaga


(City-side view from our home in Malaga)


Mama Haynie came back from her trip with an unbelievable thank you gift--a trip to Spain of our very own! She said she had loved it so much she wanted us to be able to experience it as well; and to say I was excited is the understatement of the century. She purchased our airline tickets, a friend of ours from Cambridge offered us their sweet condo in the center of Malaga and we were off! Spain has always been my dream location...and it did not disappoint!


I took this video of our homebase in Malaga on our last day in Spain, and unfortunately the batteries died halfway through the video (your virtual tour). Hopefully you get the idea that this place was beyond beautiful!


When we arrived at the Robles' home, their housekeeper Ana was waiting to meet us. She took us on a tour of the home, and then prepared this beautiful meal of Spanish tortilla, salad, meat and cheese, smoked salmon and fresh strawberries for us. We felt so spoiled and the food was so delicious!

As soon as we hit the ground, I was ready to hit the beach! We started out at the Robles' fancy beach club. There was a gorgeous pool with a waterfall of fresh sea water and Talmage was so cute playing in the water. He liked it...but pretty much had a death grip on me the whole time!

The beach on the Mediterranean Sea was amazing. Talmage loved playing in the water, running from the waves, and bringing Mommy and Daddy shells...

...and mostly he loved eating the sand. Lots of sand. Handfulls of it. And FYI, it all ended up in his diaper the next day. Gross.

After a few hours at the beach T was beat. After a 4 am wake-up call to catch the plane and a full day of fun in Spain he fell asleep before we buckled him up in his seat. Look at that naked little baby in the stroller--ahhhh!

We wasted no time after leaving the beach to explore the city of Malaga. We went to the local Alcazaba, which is a Spanish fortress originally built by the Moors. The landscape, the architecture, the views...breathtaking.

James was kind enough to smile for the paparazzi. Talmage, on the other hand, was awed by the gorgeous views and dreaming of beach water (or tasty sand!)

Pretty pictures of the Alcazar. It's amazing to think that this palace dates back to the eleventh century, with the most extensive amount of work done from 1040 to 1065. Does anyone else think that that that is so hecka long ago? These pictures don't even come close to giving Malaga the justice it deserves.

This picture is called PERFECT timing. Jim was trying to capture Talmage with the landscape and instead he got T trying to throw his cup off of a 50 foot balcony! That little terror!

Our Mr. T and this pretty lady (whom we randomly met on a street corner) experienced love at first sight. Seriously, the funniest thing I've ever seen. Talmage and Mrs. Pretty ran to each other and he couldn't take his eyes off of her...

...and then one thing led to another, he grabbed her hand and they started walking down the street together. So this is love, duh duh duh duh, so this is love! (I'm surprised that the "I still live with my parents" shirt wasn't a turn off for the girl! Ha.)
Malaga was perfect. So perfect, in fact, that we decided to spend our first and last full day in Spain close to home. It's not very touristy so you really get the feel of a Spanish city, and the beauty is astounding. I knew there was a good reason why Spain was my dream place!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Kai William

Kai William Tataipu
Saturday May 29, 2010
11:31 pm
7 pounds 6 ounces
21 inches long
Dark hair. Dark eyes.
His Daddy's eyes and his Mommy's smile.
My little sister is such a brave, strong and incredible woman...and now she's a Mom! Here is the gorgeous family of three hours after the delivery. Ash, you're really making us all look bad by looking that hot after pushing out a baby! I wish I could've just reached through Skype and snatched that baby up--he needs some lovin from Auntie H!
Welcome to the world sweet baby Kai and welcome to the family!

***

More posts to come about our incredible week in Spain.
Trip of a lifetime with stories and pictures to boot.
Can't wait to share, but right now I'm just basking in my Auntliness and staring at pictures of that handsome babe all day!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Identity Crisis

Our return tickets are purchased and we have a date marked in our calendars. It's official. We're going home.

Well, I'm going home. And Jim, he's going home too.


But this little bugger who proudly sports his England hat and binkie (it's World Cup season you know), now that's a little more difficult. Is he going home, or is he leaving it?

Mr. T has spent well more than half of his life in Mother England. Every one he knows, loves and associates with on a daily basis has an accent. He sat up, crawled and walked for the first time on the Queen's rich soil. This little flat on Cheddars Lane is the only home he's known. He knows where to find his toys, he knows the bedtime routine, he knows how to cleverly open the bathroom door and make a break for his toothbrush. This is his life and his home.

He has no idea that in a matter of weeks he will be ripped away from his home, to go "home."

My heart aches at the thought of his transition. Maybe it's because his transition from America to the UK was so awful, or maybe it's because all of a sudden I understand that he's aware of his surroundings to an unreal degree, but motherly guilt has been sweeping over me daily as our departure date creeps closer and closer.

How do I explain the concepts of moving, time change, jet lag, goodbye and change to a one-year-old? How do I help him understand that while life is spiraling crazily around him, there is stability in our family? How do I explain to him that while saying goodbye is sad, it can also mean the beginning of a new and exciting adventure? How do I comfort him when sleep deprivation and a major time change create an overly-sensitive and furious baby boy?

Sometimes I'm grateful for all of these adventures we're giving our son, and sometimes I just hope I'm not messing my child up! But for better or for worse, we are coming home, and just in time to celebrate the 4th of July--now isn't that fitting ;)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Patent Pending


And that patent has my name written all over it!

Yep.

He's mine.

Forever.

Ahhhh....

And just in case you wanted to see him eat an ice cream cone in possibly the cutest way EVER...here's a video!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Those Cooks Can Cook!

We spent Sunday evening with the Cook family which is always such a treat. John Cook (AKA Cook Speaking) is the cook in their home and made a delicious and traditional Sunday roast.

So delicious, in fact, that I completely forgot to take a picture before I devoured it! Everytime we go over there I plan to photograph the feast, but alas, it never happens. Just take my word for it, it was divine!


Talmage had his own plate full of carrots and peas and other perfect little finger foods. I think his favorite part was the orange juice--a treat he rarely (AKA never) gets at home!


After dinner we stripped T down (I know you won't believe it, but it's been extremely toasty in Cambridge...it's at least 75 degrees ;) and entertained ourselves by watching him run around the room like a crazy man! Viv is so sweet with him and they had a blast together.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

USABBQ

In her invitation, Ingrid promised a scone-and-clotted-cream-free American BBQ, and that is most definitely what we got. American hamburgers, French's mustard and root beer--what a treat! The weather couldn't have been nicer, and after eating we sat for hours--talking and basking in the sunshine.

There is nothing better than a can of A&W Root Beer...even if it's only the dregs of Mommy's can! He walked around "drinking" out of the can all afternoon.


Our friends here in England really have become family. We're all far from home, we're all in similar situations and it's made us really close. We spend so much time with them and I don't even like to mention leaving. I love these girls (and the two cutie boys!)

Uncle Dan swinging with Evangeline...with Mr. T entertaining himself in the grass nearby!

I made these ice cream cone cupcakes for dessert. They were SO cute, until we walked the 10+ minutes to Ingrid's and they melted all over the place. Maybe they didn't get the memo that they weren't real ice cream cones...or maybe my frosting just wasn't my friend today. Oh well, they still tasted good.

The birthday girl, Aline, with her cupcake cone.

We enjoyed ours too!

But maybe not as much as this little monkey.

Still going at it.

We could not for the life of us get him to pose for a pic. He was serious about eating that cone!

Here's our family at the end of the day. My arms got some sun (hallelujah), Talmage's hair is plastered up due to crazy amounts of sunscreen and Jim, well, he's just perfect!
Bless good weather, bless Ingrid for hosting such a large gang and bless the BBQ's we're going to have this summer in Cali. Yeah!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Easily Amused.

This is how my two leading men spent their Saturday morning, screaming at each other through plastic. They were both screaming and laughing. I love those two way too much.

When Dad was done playing, Mr. T still had some scream leftover and cracked himself up.

Who needs a ball-pit full of toys when you have Mom's tupperware? Seriously.

Yep, and by the way, Jim dressed him last night. Everytime he dresses T, I can always count on him coming down in the same "I'm rad like Dad" onesie. It's his favorite...and T's too. For the record, I'd really love an"I'm rad like Mom" onesie, but I guess it doesn't flow very well! Oh well, I think they're both pretty rad so it's all good.

Here's the hard evidence. A little clip showing the boys amusing themselves with tupperware.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Hubba Hubba

We might need to have an FHE lesson on modesty because it seems our saintly Mr. T altered his evening gown in his sleep last night and was showing some serious skin.
Why did he do it, you may ask?
Who the heck knows.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

New Kicks

I have new kicks.
They are just like Aunt Christa's.
Except in my size.

They're kind of like a toy on my feet.
I like to stick my fingers in the little holes.
They make me happy.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Flood Gates

Our last day at the Haynie home was very eventful. Someone obviously didn't knock on wood because we ended up in the doctor's office in the early morning hours on Monday (which definitely beats the ER, but still was not perfect). Addie has fifths disease (which we had already guessed) which is luckily not contagious at this stage of the game, but did land her in bed with a full body (and awfully nasty-looking) rash. She got a Hannah Montana sticker, watched Witches of Waverly Place the movie at least 3 times, got a lollipop and stayed home from school--so please don't buy the sad look in the picture above, I think she made off like a bandit!

One funny Addie story. She drew a picture of the birthday cake she wants her Mom to create for her. She showed me and said, "Yeah Sister Wigginton, it's so simple I bet even you could do it." Thanks Addie-girl!

This little kid also got a sticker at the doctor's office, but that definitely didn't change his surly mood. You see, the Haynie children wake up at 5:30 am, and then proceed to wake up the rest of the house. Over the last week Talmage has lost 2+ sleep hours in the morning, plus he hasn't really napped because of pick-ups, drop-offs, practices, etc. He was an angel until the very last day...and then he turned into a total monster (not that I blame him, I'm just sharing the facts!)

Talmage screamed and cried over everything. The word tantrum doesn't even describe what this kid was doing. It kind of brought back memories, horrible memories, of the first five months of his life when he screamed 24/7. I really hope you don't understand the kind of screaming I am talking about. But if you do, bless your heart and I understand. Anyway, that was Mr. T all day long.
When he wasn't getting into mischief of course.

On second thought, maybe Talmage was so grumpy because his Mom forgot to pack enough clothes for him and he had to wear one of AJ's oversized T-shirts with no bottoms and tennis shoes. And sometimes the shirt got stuck in his diaper and he walked around like that for hours because Mom was too busy with a million other things that she didn't help a brother out. Just a thought.

And just in case you are wondering, the trash can had to be put on top of the counter so T wouldn't eat everything inside. I promise I fed the little rodent lots of delicious food...but maybe that's a testament to my cooking!

And the sugar had to be put on top of the fridge. AJ eats it by the cup fulls, which is better than eating garbage, but still not ideal.

FHE unfortunately was full of tears--mostly from the two little boys. If you so much as looked in their direction they would fall apart. Before the flood gates opened, AJ answered the question "What would you do if you were Jesus" by saying, "I'd be a car." When we tried to ask him what he meant by that, he taught us all about Lightning McQueen. Obviously.

After seeing child after child shed tears, my biggest kid decided it was his turn to shed some tears.


This picture reminded me of a story. A few weeks ago I was in an international foods store looking for Russian food for Jimmy. The lady at the register loved T. She gave him candy, she played with him, she talked to him. Finally she looked at me and said, "Your baby looks just like your husband." I thought she must be confused, knowing that Jim had never been in this store so I asked her why she thought that. "It's very simple," she said. "He looks nothing like you." Now that is some deductive reasoning. But just FYI, I'm still claiming him!