Sassy Senorita

So Mexico has always been a place of relaxation, family time and the beloved "Chunky Monkey" at happy hour... which absolutely DOES make you a 'chunky monkey' after a week of indulgence. Therefore, I am always looking forward to June when my entire family packs up and head down South for a little R & R, Mexican style. I love everything about the culture, the people, the land...it's a beautiful, beautiful county. Poverty-stricken, but beautiful. It's not scary, the people are genuinely good and it makes me sad when our media makes Americans fear traveling here. Do you have to pay attention, yes. Would I venture down to our border anytime soon, not a chance. But, the Yucatan is perfect, as always. 


So, this June was no different. Andrew and I were thrilled to be finally getting away and taking some time to focus on our little family. No work, no phones... fabulous. However, we had a bit more 'baggage' this year, if you will. She's six months, had never flown and is as pale as can be (sorry, baby girl.. that's our fault). All of these things equate to a very different vacation this year for us. It was WONDERFUL, but very different. Thank goodness for my fabulous family.. they helped us out so very much and my mom even babysat for us one afternoon when we went into town. Awesome. But, between early mornings, nap times twice a day and a complete phobia of Chloe getting a tan, our routine looked out of whack. But don't worry, there were (several) Chunk Monkey beverages that snuck their way upstairs to me :) 


Because writing about ten days of gloriousness would take too long, and let's be honest, Taylor uploaded pictures while we were there like it was going out of style.. I'll run through the highlights and add a few more pics from my camera (errr, iphone). 


-Brooklyn joined us for a few days and it was so much fun being together in this place... many happy memories :) 
-Chloe is now up on all fours and swinging her body forward and backward (crawling is right around the corner..yikes, little earlier than mommy was planning, C-bomb!) 
-Chloe LOVED the ocean, the sand and the pool (until she realized she had sunglasses on and looked a bit dorky). 
-I lost my wedding band (on the taxi and yes, i'm an idiot). 
-Chloe started saying Da-Da-Da-Da. She doesn't know what that means, but she says it nonstop. We are impressed and believe it proves our child is a genius. 
-I had my first pre-baby margarita and it was FAB-UL-OUS. 
-I met and had a lovely affair with Mr. Christian Grey.... errr, I mean....I read all three books of the 50 Shades series while Chloe napped and I LOVED IT. not for the sex, but for the passion in that relationship. Lord have mercy... read it. And the sex is not so bad, either ;) 
- Chloe was an angel each night at dinner (even sitting outside several nights with no A/C. Afterall, she's a beach-loving rock star). 


I'll let the pictures talk about the rest... 

Chloe's first plane ticket. We are so proud and excited to see her little name on there

...to the tune of $500 :( 

During the first plane ride... she slept, played on her Boppy and fell deeply in love with the plastic cups. Thank you, Lord, for the plastic cups on this flight. Love, Erin 

Pictures with the happy flyer (who received a set of wings for her good behavior). 

Right before we landed, she fell asleep. I was worried this would hurt her ears, but it did not. Hopefully she aspires to be a pilot and will fly her loving parents to Fiji one day. Also, Italy. Thanks. 

Viva Mexico! We have arrived, changed and are all smiles. Check out the luggage behind her. Yeah, besides the golf clubs, those are Chloe's bags. I told her if you bring it, you pull it. 

But, she ignored me. 

First night out in Cancun and Brooklyn already found a man.. so typical. 

My dad made them do 'hook 'em horns.' Yes, it was awkward. 

Good morning, senorita! First morning at the beach and already excited to be there! This was the morning she began pushing up on all fours. I would have a picture of it, but I'm a terrible mother.

 Before heading out to the beach for 3 minutes. 

 Spending some Q-time with Aunt Brooklyn! 

These pictures document what happens when the Murphy family goes out. 

Alisha? Enjoy some beverages? Taylor? Mom?

 Awesomely fun night. 

On her way to the pool! 

Beach for the first time. 

It was such a special moment for us. Unfortunately, I didn't dress for the occasion. In fact, now that I'm looking at it, the way I'm standing also makes it look like I'm preggo again. Awesome. I'm not. 

 One good thing about having a baby in Cancun? You are up early enough to see the sun come up on the ocean. Beautiful, spectacular sight. However, I'm not gonna lie... I prefer to wake up after its already up.

 Happy Father's Day to my perfect Andrew. This is the only picture I got of you and Chloe. 

Sorry! Love you! (Taylor has the good ones. )

20 pound beach bum. 

She likes to sleep holding her ear nowadays. I think its cute. 

This is how she slept throughout an entire dinner.. including Mariachis. 

So when you have a day to yourselves, you feel good. Until you lose your wedding band and have no one to take your pictures except yourselves. However, it was fabulous. And... if you put the pictures together really close, we could have looked like we were together. 

Owell...Ice cold beer, guacamole and the beach with a hottie. I was one happy lady. 

Every morning started with a little time on the bed. Rolling around, talking and a little stuffed apple in the face. 

Life is so good. 

So, Chloe never really wears shoes because I wouldn't if I didn't have to either. But, I bought her a pair of jellies for the beach because that's what you wear if you're cool. I had to buy the smallest ones because Chloe has the smallest, mutant feet I've even seen. Problem? 0-3 months are still too long, but her angles are too fat to snap the strap. We all had a good laugh and of course, I had to document. 

Also, Chloe discovered that eating the corner of any table is way better than food. I would personally disagree and I'd say it would have to depend on what was being served. 

So one day we went to eat at this resort next door to ours called Maykoba. WOW. Look it up if you have the chance. The boys were playing golf there in the afternoon, so we went for a early lunch and were blown away. It was breathtaking. 

Waiting for the food with mom. 

Eating a wallet with dad. Yum. 

 Such a peaceful beauty. 

 This is easily one of my favorite pictures of her now. 

Oh, creepy Aunt Alisha. 

On our way to the airport the morning we left. She was pooped. Happy and pooped. 

Peace, Erin

six months happier.

has it really been over a month since my last post?? ooooh yes it has.
lo siento.

life has been....well...life. busy and fabulous. but nevertheless, not a moment to sit down in front of the computer to write. in fact, right now as i type, one eye is on the computer monitor and one eye is on the baby monitor. i rush around nowadays like im on the 'minute to win it' game show. currently... i think i'm on about a 20 minute span of 'me time.' so here we go...

here's the update:

baby girl is 6 MONTHS OLD TODAY! its truly unbelievable. i'm so excited that she's growing up so quickly and fabulously and with such a fun, spunky personality. gotta be honest, i was a bit worried with what i'd do with a bland baby. you know.. the perfectly content baby staring at the wall in the swing? yeah, thats not mine and i'm glad. man, i'd be bored. and what the heck would i blog about?

in fact, speaking of swings... just two hours ago i had placed her in the mobile, table swing (which is not on a table, but on the floor) so that she could nap a little while the a/c repairman was here. i put it in my bathroom, turned on the sacred hair dyer noise machine and attempted to let her nap. i came out into the living room and could hear her talking and cooing in the bathroom. 'she's so cute,' i thought. what a cute little content (non bland) baby i have. so as i sit on the couch with my laptop, i hear things get quiet. quiet at naptime is usually a good thing, but today i thought....hmmm, quiet too fast = trouble. she's been known to pull things too close to her crib THROUGH the slats, tried to eat her blankie and had 'code brown' explosions and be sitting in them happily. so, i thought i'd investigate.

as i walk into the bedroom i can hear her laughing and cooing again. hmm. i turn the corner and see my baby, my six month old baby, lying on the tile floor belly down, eating the bathroom rug. awesome. is it wrong that the first thing i think of is that i'm glad no one is here to witness this b/c i'm such a terrible mother? well, it's the truth. i pick her up and she gets mad and tries to grab for the rug. double awesome.

so let me get this straight. my child flung/slouched/flailed herself out of the swing onto the tile ground while i was in the other room. does that nominate me for best mother ever? im thinking i've gotta at least have a chance.

so, after i realized she was HAPPY to be on the floor instead of lying there angry and/or, more importantly, HURT, i  checked her for bumps/bruises and then realized we need to be using the strap. so, that's what they are for. hmmm, im catching on.

but the truth is, bland babies dont eat bathroom rugs and they certainly dont slouch out of their swings for the heck of it.

also, the latest cute thing she does...laugh hysterically. the video won't upload and i dont have the time to figure that out, but.... polo (our dog) figured this out for us. she apparently thinks sneezing is the funniest thing EVER. he did a little doggie sneeze and she LOST IT. sneezing literally has her rolling. and that's a good thing, because we're not that funny. wish you could see it, but you can't.

also, FOOD! we're eating baby food (and have been for a few months now). thats mind-blowing to me. i truly can't believe i have a baby old enough to eat food. and by 'eat' i mean 'spit' food. she likes most of it, except for the greens. hmmm, how can i describe her feelings accurately? maybe its just easier to show you.

the first is total disgust and the second is more of a 'seriously, mom? are you SERIOUS?" don't worry, i stopped. after taking this picture.

also, and not related whatsoever...  we are 6 for 6 in the code brown department. you may have noticed i used that language up top. thats my word for what goes on in her pants lately. now, i swore i wasn't going to be the mother who talked to the world about my child's bowel movements. and i'm still (sorta) not that person. but, i'll have you know that i have changed six code brown diapers in six days. what is a code brown you might ask? well... a code brown is an emergency situation in which you are alone in the house, with:
- a baby
-two barking dogs
-a large amount of poo spilling out the sides of a worthless, non-effective diaper

CODE BROWN.

however, to specify, a code brown can only be classified as such if there is also poo on you. anywhere, any shape, any color. but it must be on your person. hair counts.

today, my friends, was my sixth code brown IN. A. ROW. today's feature included (but not limited to): poo in the hair, on my wrist and forearm, on my work dress and eventually in chloe's hands. a special, happy thursday to me.

but, it cracks her up and i think she's really taking a liking to being changed in the bathroom sink. its a win-win for her, really. she gets all of her favorite things in one changing: standing up, naked, water (psuedo bath) and she gets to laugh and smile at her self in the mirror. quite a perfect day, if you ask her.

its actually hilarious (but you have to wait to laugh until you're clean and there is a new diaper in place). before that, its actually just pitiful.

so that about sums it up. things are fun and happy at the ross house. monday brings the six month shots and then we leave for cancun soon after that!

here are some parting shots of the little C-bomb....

 sitting up for the first time, alone, in austin 

(austin brings out the best in me, too, Chloe.) 

on our way to uncle taylor's graduation. 

just hanging out in her first hotel visit. she liked the bed. 

running errands with mom. 

 i love my little 60-year old overweight, balding man. i mean, chloe. she was cruising around the pool in the new swim gear we got her for the blistering sun in cancun.

 luckily, she didn't hate the glasses until we got out of the pool. 

she loves the water and loved kicking her little legs under the float.

 im so glad. again.. bland babes are for the birds. 

mommy photo shoot 

my most favorite blue sky eyes. 

so this is the way she prefers to suck her fingers. she's a true longhorn, we can't help it. 

plus, perhaps she's also 'unique.' 

we are in love.

so very in love. 

peace, erin