Maycations Part 1

So May has been a busy little month for the Seibert family. Instead of spreading out our travels over the course of the year we decided to pack in 4 trips this month. Great planning on our parts, especially with a 15 month old who is pretty set in his schedule and doesn't hesitate to let you know when you are inconveniencing him :). Our first trip was actually just Matt and me, it was the first time we had left the little monkey for a weekend and boy, was that hard. For Christmas my brother got Matt and I tickets to go to Stagecoach, which is a 2 day country music festival in Indio, CA. My parents rented an RV for the family to stay in which was great since the other option is to camp in a tent and I'm not really a tent kinda gal :). We are so fortunate that we have our parents close by so it was easy to ask Matt's parents to take Zach for the weekend. We dropped him off on Friday and made the loooonnngg drive to Indio. Once we got there I made myself a very stiff drink and tried to relax. I know that this probably sounds ridiculous but I felt so guilty and I missed him so much. Eventually I relaxed and we had a great time. We hung out all day and drank and visited and went to the concerts on Saturday and Sunday night. We got to see Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, Easton Corbin, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney-it was awesome! It was really hard to be away form my boy for 3 nights but we all survived and seeing him on Monday was the best feeling :) Our second trip this month was a family vacation. For Christmas Matt's parents gave us a trip for 3 nights to San Diego so we could go to Sea World. We left for San Diego on Tuesday morning and got settled in our hotel. We tried to go down to the pool that afternoon and Matt took Zach in for a few minutes but it was too cold to stay in so we got all cleaned up and went out to dinner. Zach was in one of his moods so we all took turns taking him outside and playing with him while we were eating dinner. Wednesday morning we got up and went to Sea World. When we got there the first thing we did was go see the person dressed up as Shamu and Zach was so excited! I was worried that it would scare him and he wouldn't want to go near it but he was really good. The first thing we did was go over to the Sea Lion and Otter show. I remember loving that show when I was a kid and it was still just as cute. Zach seemed to enjoy the show and loved the little otter. After the show we walked around and looked at some aquariums, dolphins and went to the kids area. Zach LOVED the kids area-we went on a couple rides, met Elmo and played on this kiddie bounce floor. The bounce floor was his favorite thing and he ran all over that thing. In this play area they had big, soft blocks and Zach loved running out and collecting them to bring back to us. At one point another toddler tried to take one of the blocks Zach has playing with and Zach bit him :(. This was our first really aggressive moment and I wasn't really sure how to handle it because he was standing up for himself but not the right way and I didn't want to make a scene and ruin the day. I'm really hoping that we don't have to deal with a moment like that again for awhile! The last thing we did was go see the pet show. I think Zach enjoyed it but he was so tired by this point in the day that he was getting a bit cranky. That night we went to an area where there were a bunch of little shops and restaurants. After dinner I took Zach on the Merry Go Round and he loved it!

On Thursday we went back to Sea World (they have a deal where you get to go back the rest of the year when you buy a ticket) so we could finish seeing everything we hadn't gotten to the day before. The first thing we went to was the dolphin show and I loved it but I think Zach could have taken it or left it. After the show we went to the touch pools and Zach got to touch the star fish and he seemed to enjoy that. We went through some aquariums after that and he really seemed to love that-until he fell and cut his lip open :(. Next we went to the Shamu show which Zach wasn't really into. I think he's still a few years from enjoying watching these types of shows but he did really good despite having to sit still all that time. To finish out the day we went back to the kids area where Zach discovered the water play area. They had little holes in the ground that shot water into the air and Zach LOVED this. It was so funny to watch him running around getting all wet and how surprised he got every time the water shot out-it was basically the cutest thing ever.

Worn out after a couple long days :)

On Friday we went to the park before heading home. We had such a wonderful time in San Diego and it was so nice for Zach to spend some time with his grandparents. We had 2 other trips in May that I will be updating about later-it's a busy house!

My Second Mother's Day

So it is so hard for me to believe but yesterday was my second Mother's Day as a mommy. We didn't do anything too special, Matt was out of town so I got to spend the day with my little monkey and have dinner with my wonderful mother. I like to think that I am a good mother to my little boy; I love him more than there are words and I would do anything for him. I am so lucky that I have had such a great example in my own mother and she has taught me how I want to raise my own children. I'm not saying it was always perfect, I was a teenager at one point, but as an adult I think of my mom as one of my best friends. I hope that when Zachery is a grown man we can have a close relationship and that he feels as fortunate as I do that we have each other. Being a mother is the greatest challenge and greatest reward of my life. Anytime I am having a bad day or not feeling very positive I just look at Zach and his big, toothy grin and I can't help but instantly feel better. It makes my heart melt when he says mama or when he comes and cuddles up in my lap-these are the moments I live for! I hope all my mommy friends had an amazing Mother's Day and told their own moms how much they love them!

My favorite picture of my mom and me at my wedding

Being pregnant with Zach was one the most amazing times of my life!

My mom with Zach in the hospital, her first grandchild

Zachery's newborn photo shoot, he was 12 days old and I was exhausted but sooo in love!

Zach and I a few weeks ago when we went to the farm to pick strawberries-he's 15 months old now!

Zachery's Easter Eggstravaganza!

We have had so much excitement around here and I just haven't had the time to write about it. Last year was so much fun celebrating all of Zachery's first holidays and our first holidays as a newly expanded family of 3 but this year he is starting to understand what is going on. Easter was the first holiday where he seemed to get it. Zach's first go at hunting for Easter eggs was at our Stroller Strides egg hunt after class one day. Zach fell asleep at home so we didn't make it to class that day so as soon as he woke up we raced over to the park to play but we had already missed the egg hunt. We got there and he saw a blue egg that was next to another baby and went over and took it. It was really funny how excited he was. Well, I made him give the egg back but there was one more egg hiding in the grass so I directed him over to the egg and he got so excited when he got it. He must have held onto that egg and chewed on it for hours.

My family does Easter on Saturday because all of my family comes in from Las Vegas and it is easier for everyone to travel home on Sunday. We had a good little crowd at my parents which included 13 kids with Zach being the youngest (14 1/2 months) and my cousin Jessica being the oldest (16). My mom and dad fill about a hundred plastic eggs with candy and money and hide them all over the front and back yards and the kids go crazy. They "hid" some eggs out in the open so Zach could get them and he did get the hang of it again. He picked up about 12 eggs and made a big $8 which we taught him to put in his piggy bank. It was so fun to watch Zach run around and play with all the kids and how great all my older cousins were with him. I loved being the oldest cousin and playing and taking care of all the younger ones so it is so fun to watch the kids I took care of take care of my son.

On Sunday when Zach got up the Easter Bunny had already been to our house and left him a pretty impressive set up (if I do say so myself!). He loved pulling all of the books, puzzles, toys and snacks out of his basket but his favorite thing by far was the little box of colored goldfish crackers. I guess this is what happens when you don't really let your child have sugar ;). Matt and I had fun playing with him until we went to Legends and had breakfast with my parents and grandparents before they headed back out of town. Then we went home and put Zach down for his nap and hid a couple plastic eggs for him to find when he woke up. Once he got the first one opened and realized they had animal crackers in them he was all about the egg hunt! That night we went to Matt's grandmothers house (GG to Zach) and had dinner with Matt's parents, his Uncle's Ron and Tony and Aunt Monnie and Aunt Leslie (Matt's sister). It was great and Zach got even more Easter gifts (he is a very loved little boy). GG gave him an Easter basket and Nonni and Pop (my in-law's) gave us a family basket with a few new books and animal crackers for Zach and even a toy for Abby (the Easter Bunny remembered her that morning too!). It was such a great weekend and we got to spend so much with our families which is what it is all about! I am so happy that Matt and I live so close to our parents that they are such wonderful, loving people and they love our son so much. I hope everyone had a great Easter and got so have some quality family time too!