"I've Never Seen So Many Dominican Women with Cinnamon Tans!!"

Thank you Will Smith for your insightful lyrics.

Ross and I celebrated our FIFTH wedding anniversary on the 12th and got to stay 3 whole nights away in Miami. I cried on and off the whole day before we left in anxiety about leaving Ila, but once we arrived and saw the amazing hotel and felt the 80 degree weather, I was more okay with it. We relaxed by the pool, walked on the boardwalk/ beach, and ate some amazing food. Ross kept thinking he was seeing Kim Kardashian because everyone at our hotel looked like they were famous. (He doesn't know what she really looks like). So I kept saying, "No no, she is WAY more voluptuous than that."
It felt like we were gone for a month having no responsibilities and getting to sleep in and do whatever the h we wanted. I also realized how important it is to take time away from kids to have uninterrupted quality time together, and that it will always be best for our kids to put the marriage first. (We only have one kid right now). We came back so refreshed and revived on multiple levels. Thank you Miami!

Disclaimer: These photos were taken from either my iphone or crappy digital camera that I will never use again in effort to save space.... but you still get the idea...

 The "Fountainebleau" (We later realized everyone calls it the Fountain Blue and we had been saying it with a french accent). "Take us to the fontaine bleauuu please!" "The fountain blue?" Those hillbillies.

 I was impressed our room had it's very own imac. 

 Our Anniversary dinner. I thought we looked pretty damn good despite the sucky camera.

It's a SHARK ATTACK!!!

Yes, we went there:

Pumpkin Face

A Lollipop For a Pony Tail

The other day I told Ila I would give her a lollipop if she let me fix her hair. After I successfully completed her somewhat real pony tail, Ross' response was "Really? You're going to keep her hair like that?" It was an exciting moment for me though. Her hair has been coming in slowly but surely these past two years, and as much as I LOVE her feathery, carefree,  hairdo I was excited to get most of her hair back into a ponytail without it looking like a colonial mullet. Call it bribery if you want, but Ila knows mommy isn't kidding around when I pull out one of those sugary balls of glory.

More Guacanola?

Funny things Ila says:

1. I showed Ila the poison ivy I have on my arm. Her response: "sick."

2. When asking Ila if she'd like me to take her pants off for her nap, she responded with ... (pondering moment of silence . . . "probably yes." She also uses the words "actually" and "maybe" quite often. It's not all that funny until you realize she just turned two and other kids her age at the park are still grunting at best. (Ok, just this one random kid, but I like to use him as a standard comparison).

3. In the mornings we've been eating granola, which Ila repeatedly calls "guacanola" confusing it with guacamole.

Beach Bum

Sydney Has 8 Nipples

Why does Ila pick up on all the phrases I don't really want her to repeat often, and then say them in really awkward situations? I really should learn to put an even bigger filter on what I say, but sometimes I just can't help being me. For example, when Sydney threw up the last remnant of the stuffed fox my mother-in-law gave her on the yoga mat and Ila asked why I was rinsing it off (the yoga mat, not the fox), my best response was "because Sydney barfed on it." So now Ila says at least twice a day, "Sydney barfed on it. Sydney barfed on it!" We've also been doing a lot of counting in our house lately (Ila can count to 5 now btw), so why not count Sydney's nipples, right? I later realized that was not such a good idea when I was talking to a mom in the park yesterday and Ila came up to me and excitedly recited "Sydney has eight nipples." I pretended that I didn't understand what she had said, so Ila made it even more clear: "Sydney has eight NIPPLESSS!!" That was the end of that conversation.