Yesterday I had a fairly relaxing but productive day.  I fixed our stereo–I guess the dust from the Lubbock windstorms circa 1997 had finally gotten to the CD lens.  I cleaned up random papers that we no longer needed.  I installed Jackson’s swing in our apartment play area.  I baby proofed our apartment a little more (the last time Jack was here, he was barely crawling).  And I even got in some soccer watching (Russia vs Netherlands).  But the soccer got interrupted by a wedding I had been invited to.  So I got all dressed up and went to the church, where it appeared I was the only invited guest.  In fact, it didn’t even appear the bride or groom had decided to show.  I was finally able to find someone in the church and ask what had happened to the wedding.  Turns out, the wedding wasn’t until today.

This story along with thinking about weddings and marriage reminded me why I got married: so I wouldn’t show up to other peoples’ weddings on the wrong day.

Kristen and Jackson are back in Bogota on Sunday, so if I can just avoid being invited to any more public events, I should be fine.

Jackson and I are still in Houston for another week and a half.  Seth is holding down the fort at home, trying to dodge tear gas at the embassy and scrounging up meals as he can.  We miss him so much!

Life just isn’t the same without him…

-Seth must be the person that keeps the toothpaste tube clean and not gooey. I have discovered that since he has been gone, it is a mess!

-Whenever I pick up the phone Jackson says, “Dada?”.   Seth is so involved in Jackson’s daily routines that he has really missed him and Seth him.  I am going to have to video when he sees him again because I think he might go a bit crazy. He might try to skip naps for a week to catch up on lost time. Jackson that is.

-Cyber-parenting is the new norm in our family. We try to have Seth and Jackson visit every day if possible via webcam. We laughed the other day when Jackson headed for the electrical outlet and Seth said, “Jackson, NO”. Jackson turned, furrowed his brow, and huffed at Seth.  I don’t think cyber-parenting will work when spankings are necessary but in the meantime it is working!

-Even if home overseas doesn’t feel like home sometimes, it feels more like home when you are away for a long time. I miss our home. Our things. Our routines. Our market. Our time together as a family. You get the idea.

-Saturday morning “daddy son time” is special to all of us..especially me!! I miss getting some rest while Seth and Jackson bond. They usually walk down the hill to get bagels or croissants while I get to sleep a little extra.  I am looking forward to the next daddy day!

-Our lifestyle involves SO MUCH packing! I am in the process of repacking us right now! People have asked lately how many children we want to have. I was driving along the other day and thought…Take the number of kids we might want to have and multiply that number by 3..that is the number of pieces of luggage…2 suitcases and 1 carry on per person. That’s right…if we have 2 kids that equals 8 suitcases and 4 carry-ons for our family (10 bags total), and for 3 kids it’s 10 suitcases and 5 carry-ons (15 bags!) and yes, for 4 children it would be 12 suitcases and 6 carry-ons (18 bags). There are quite a few years until Jackson will be able to pack or carry his own luggage (car seat, toys, snacks..you get the idea)!  We are going to have to start renting a city bus to get the the airports when we go on home leave.  Don’t misunderstand…we are NOT planning on having 4 or 5 kids at this point, and we would NEVER choose not to have kids because they would require more luggage! However, Seth might have to start investing in those big flat carts with an attendant at the airport!

That’s all for now.

(Left) Jackson with Tina and Uncle Graham

(Right) Seth forgot to teach Jackson that girls prefer gentle hugs rather than pit bull tackles.

Chillin’ in the pool

It took Jackson about 10 mins to realize that playing in the laundry basket was a tactic to slow him down for a few minutes while I caught my breath. He thought it was amazing to sit in his toy basket.