The Simple Moments are the Best No Matter Where You Are

Somehow on a day when Jacob is working over 12 hours (the only one so far while we are here mind you, so I can't complain) and we are in a hotel room my wonderful children have blessed me by napping at the same time for over an hour and counting already.  I'm not sure how I managed to accomplish this feat but it is wonderful and weird at the same time. At home I would be running around like a mad woman trying to accomplish every thing on my to-do list. Here, that list is pretty short and I find myself wondering what to do with my time.  It is glorious.  On a normal day at home, I would never dream of writing in the middle of day but here it seems like the perfect thing to do.
We have been here 2 weeks and day thus far and I have so much to share about our great trip.  We were scheduled to leave tomorrow but we have been having such a wonderful relaxing time we have decided to stay another week.  Jacob is here for work for another week and a half anyway so why not enjoy a little longer. I seriously thought with two kids in a hotel room I would be totally ready to go home after almost 2.5 weeks but other than a little hesitation about missing Easter, it seemed to make sense to stay.  I am really anxious to get the garden back home going but what is one more week when we have the opportunity to stay on vacation and be a whole family for another week.
We are all immensely enjoying spending so much time together without all the stresses of normal everyday things at home.  What has been most amazing to me is how no matter where we are, in Pittsburgh or Puerto Rico, some of my favorite memories are of such simple things. Yes, we love taking Aurora to the Pittsburgh Zoo and the Children's Museum and to the Rainforest and Aquarium here, but my favorite memories really are the everyday ones.  At home, of all of us snuggled on the bed together just talking and here Jacob and I so enjoyed our walk home from dinner and gelato where Aurora wanted to carry her ice cream cup and walk and eat back to the hotel.  We relished her walking and talking with a chocolate covered face and chocolate dripping down her dress.  And I think Jacob's favorite time was when were driving back to the hotel one day. We had stopped at a roadside produce stand and got some mini-bananas. Aurora was eating one in the back seat with the biggest smile on her face and the wind blowing in her hair.

So I'm home how. I started writing this when were still in Puerto Rico obviously but there were issues with picture uploading and a post without pictures seemed silly. So below are some of my favorite simple moments in Puerto Rico

Nap time:)

Easter Morning

Hiking in the Rain Forest.

I love my independent adventurous girl.  She climbed the Acropolis in Athens by herself (well not all the way but mostly) at less than 1 year old and she hiked almost all the way to and from the waterfall in El Yunque by herself.  For me this walk with her was more memorable than the waterfall…. could be partly due to the extremely high anxiety I was having over her falling in the water.

Taking it upon herself to do summersaults down the hill in front of  El Morro fort in Old San Juan.  

Waiting to see the Easter Bunny at the hotel. 

Cooling off in the spray from a fountain in Old San Juan. 

Enjoying dessert Easter Sunday. 

Despite my insistence that her brother's swim shirt would not fit her she just had to prove me wrong.

Christmas From 3 to 4

We are a family of four.  There is something funny about it.  Jacob always considered us a family, even when it was just the two of us.  When Aurora made 3, it definitely felt more like a family.  We definitely considered ourselves a family and felt more like adults than we thought like we actually were.

But Max somehow makes it even more solidified now for us.  It is hard to describe… as we grow as a family, somehow we are more of a family. More love, more work, more stress, more fun… more of the good and hard but better.
I say more stress lightly now because Max is such a great baby.  The most stressful thing Max does is poop a lot.  Seriously a lot.  But other than that thus far he pretty much eats and sleeps.  When he is awake, unless he is actually hungry he is happy.
Aurora is doing wonderful. She spent most of the first day in the hospital with us and when given the choice in the evening to stay longer with mom and Max or go to dance class, she seemed torn. Dance class won but that is understandable.  Unfortunately that night she started the stomach virus that we all passed around eventually.

She is doing great with Max. She always wants to be around him and "help."  Her version of help and my version of help are two different things but she has good intentions.  The only way I noticed her reacting with any jealously was the first couple of days she became daddy's girl as I was constantly feeding, changing and tending to Max.  She became even more of daddy's girl than usual.  The stomach virus catching up with me on Christmas Eve night/Day did not help either.  I got out of bed to watch her open gifts and other than that and feeding Max, I was pretty much sleeping the rest of the day.  Max had got it too so he didn't mind sleeping with me. This is most of what my Christmas day was.  

Aurora resting up after a long couple of days. 

She did not want to hold Max for a while but finally she felt up to it. Awesome hair, I know.

Christmas Eve we spent with Jacob's cousins in Pittsburgh. I really appreciated being able to share Christmas Eve with family and be able to go home to our house. This was the first year that we were in the U.S. and didn't go to Erie/Girard/Conneautville for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Between having a 4 day old baby and wanting to spend Christmas morning in our own house, we decided it was a good year to start spending Christmas at our own home.  And although I was really looking forward to this, I was missing spending time with extended family so having family here in Pittsburgh to spend Christmas Eve with was great. This was great for Aurora too, she got to spend the night with her cousins and enjoy a visit from Santa.

Trying to spy Santa arriving.

Waiting for Santa

We let her open a few presents not from Santa on Christmas Eve. 

And we can finally go to bed.