Approaching Two

Hard to believe but Samantha Lee will be turning two this Saturday.  She is officially a little chatter box these days and went from having about 40 words to over 100.  She is putting words together and saying things like "Oh gosh Mom", "Go to park now"  and "Javie no barking!", as I have said before, it is clear that she takes after her Tia Molly in the bossy realm. Speaking of Tia Molly, how cute is the Flamenco outfit she got Samantha from Spain in the photo here?

I don't like to call her terrible but she is showing other signs of her age as well.  She uses the word no rather frequently along with a hand in front of the face gesture indicating to talk to the hand.  She has some intermittent tantrums along with fake crying.  The other day she was throwing a real fit, crying on the floor of her room, she then came running out to where we were in the living room screaming, stopped and said "All Done!" and suddenly stopped her crying. 

We are planning a fun party on Saturday complete with a bouncy castle, pizza and kiddie pools.  Having a birthday that falls so close to a holiday means many of her friends are out of town but because she is our daughter I know that she will figure out how to have a fantastic time. New photos can be found here. 

Backtrack

Before we had the passport fiasco, our trip to Spain and Samantha's visit to Omaha, we had Memorial Day weekend.  It was one of the best.  Not only did my best friend Ryan come to town with her daughter Sophia but our close friends Devin and Carina came from San Francisco with their daughter Bailey. 

Samantha was obsessed with Sophia.  I have never seen her fall in love with anyone so quickly.  They were fast friends and Sophia was so sweet with Samantha.  They ran around. went to the park, played with dolls and just had so much fun together.   

We got everyone who was visiting together with everyone who was local and I felt really fortunate to have so many people that I love in the same place.  We all ran the Bolder Boulder, had BBQs together and let our kids play together.  All of our special girls are pictured here.  It was bittersweet because in the end everyone went home, I wish we were close all the time.  You can see the latest photos of Samantha along with some great Memorial Day pictures here.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

We are back from Barcelona and of the many things I learned while I was away, the most important was that 8 days is too long for me to be away from Samantha.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed myself. Dave and I took in all the sights and sounds of Barcelona, then I kept busy with work and the conference that I was attending.  But, after about the fifth day I had this pain in the pit of my stomach missing my baby girl.

Both Dave and I did a lot of traveling in college but times have changed.  Gone are the days that you line up to sit at an internet cafe for an hour.  We were both struck by how the internet has changed things.  We skyped with Samantha from our hotel room, I got last minute hotel rates on hotwire (for Barcelona!),  I kept in touch with my coworkers at the conference via email and text messages and for the most part I didn't get too far behind in my work because I was connected the entire time.  Other things caught me by surprise too like how every taxi driver had a tom tom or garmin to direct the route and before heading out on our daily adventures I could get online to see when restaurants or exhibits were open. 

Samantha had a fabulous time going to Omaha for the week with her Grammy and visiting all of her cousins and relatives there.  There is a really clear difference in how confident she is after going, especially with other kids.  She does not run to her room for cover when people are at our house and she has officially started a word explosion.   Samantha has yet to say Grandma and my mom was concerned she would come back saying "Aunt Patty" who she stayed with.  We were all at a get together on Saturday and my mom said "Well at least I haven't heard her say Aunt Pat" to which Samantha responded "Aunt Pat.....! Aunt Pat, Aunt Pat, Aunt Patty!" 

Beautiful Barcelona

I realize I can be quite dramatic.  In my last post, the depression of things not working out just right led me to neglect telling you a few things.  First, I speak Spanish.  Second, I did a special project in college all about Gaudi, the famous Spanish architect.  I have been dying to see La Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera and Parc Guell for ages and they are all in Barcelona. In other words, I'm not helpless and the situation is not horrible.

So, here I am in Barcelona.  The sun is shining and Dave worked out all his passport issues and will be here in the morning.  When I arrived early this morning my hotel room wasn't ready so I walked to La Sagrada Familia.  It was even more incredible, gigantic and awe inspiring than I imagined.  Just when you think you have seen it's entirety, you turn the corner and see more massive towers, intricate stone carvings and bizarre peaks.  It was amazing.  Then I sat and had cafe con leche and read my book at a magical little European cafe.  Barcelona reminds me a lot of a Buenos Aires and NYC fusion. 

Now I'm off to enjoy the sunshine and some sangria.  Reading in my Spain book on the plane I realized, I needed more time in Barcelona to do the things I wanted to do.  It all works out in the end!

 

Another Deleted Blog Post

I had this very cheery blog post up earlier today.  It was all about how we just enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend with dear friends and that tomorrow Dave and I were heading to Spain.  Taking a few extra days before a work conference I am attending to head to the beach and enjoy a vacation together for the first time we have traveled just the two of us since our honeymoon.

My bags were packed and Dave was buzzing around adding his things to the suitcases when he came into the living room to tell me he had just looked at his passport and it was expired.  Expired...in November 2009.  

Tomorrow I am off to Barcelona alone.  Dave is going to do his best to get a new passport, a new plane ticket and meet me eventually but it won't be for a few days even in the best case scenario.  Lately I have felt like the the ball is just not in my court.