Hello Again!

Well I thought my blogging days were over. Just never got around to it anymore but here it is late Thursday night and I am still up. I should NEVER drink caffeine past 3 in the afternoon. At least the caffeine buzz motivated me to do my 3 mile walk! Ahh..the price we pay! So here are some recent photos from this summer of love. These pics range from our trip to Little Gasparilla Island to the 4th of July to a mother who does not work in the summer and does not have much else to do than take tons of photos of her adorable two year old because he is growing up WAY to fast. And I mean WAY WAY too fast. Photographing his everyone facial expression will have to do until I figure a way to keep him two forever. I know I have said with every age and phase but I really do believe this is my favorite age. At least until he is two and half.

A romantic weekend for....3?

Yes that is right! Ryan's 32 birthday was the 1st weekend of spring break. We had it all planned out. We were staying at Gloria Estefan's new hotel, Costa de Este http://costadeste.com/. Most of my family lives in Vero, so Santi would spend his first night away from Mommy. He was going to stay with my brother and his wife. Everyone was excited. I had visions of sitting pool side, sipping way too mojitos and staying up way too late. We would not worry about hangover because we could sleep throug them while Santi enjoyed hanging with his favorite Aunt and Uncle. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans.... you baby get sick! Poor guy started running the fever Friday night. So nobody got any rest. We were all tired and cranky on Sat. Ryan and I finally checked into the hotel late on Saturday afternoon. We headed straight for the pool and started sipping those mojitos. But the funny thing is the more sipping I did the more vivid my imagination became. I imagined Santi waking up feeling sick and wanting his Momma. Everyone tried to convince me that he was fine but I was not having it. So I switched to coffee and called and had Santi brought to me 10:30 that night. I was very happy as we all snuggled down in our luxurious bed. I was not so happy when Santi woke up screaming at 3:30 and every 30 minutes until sunrise. The weather was crummy also so I couldn't even get a nice sunrise to photograph. Oh well we still had a good time and I now realize that I am just not ready to let Santi stay the night away....maybe when he is 18 we will try again!

Santi in Black and White

Nothing to say with words. Just wanted to post some of my favorite recent pictures. As you can see I have a great muse!

POOL PARTY!!

Ryan was away for business this past Saturday and Santi and I had the day to ourselves. We started with a morning trip to the Saturday market where we dined on those delicious mozzarella pies! Then we went to Target and bought a baby pool and water toys. The weather was so gorgeous we just had to. At the time I didn't realize how little the pool was. As you can see it is really tiny. No room for Mom. We will definetley have to upgrade before too long. Regardless, Santi thoroughly enjoyed playing in his new pool inside and out.

The best part of the day was just sitting and watching him play and talk. As his mother, I can honestly say that he is absolutely enchanting. Life has been so hectic lately that I have just been rushing through the days. You know, get up, get ready, go to work (yuk), get home, cook dinner, throw a load of laundry in, dishes, baths and bed and then Ryan and I work on house projects. No wonder I have been feeling so grumpy! So thank you Santi for reminding me how to just sit and just be.

Valentine's Day Hog Hunt

Okay this is my 3rd attempt to post. Last time I had written a very eloquent essay on the Florida history and geneology of the days events, when Santi hit the power strip power button. I do not have the heart to do it again! But just know it was great day and Santi loves riding shotgun with no car seat. I know that is not good but we only rode around the 8,000 acre ranch. No real roads or speeds over 15 miles an hour. And also, the hogs were not killed. The good ol' boys catch them with their bare hands, put them in the cage on the back of their truck and then drive back to their property in Ft. Pierce. Yikes!

Will you be mine?

Hi. My name is Santiago. I am a tad over 2 ft. tall, 27.5 pounds. Light brown hair. Dark brown eyes. I have been told before they are my best feature. I enjoy long stroller walks along the water, a clean diaper, gerbers crunchies, and a nice cold bottle of milk for a night cap. My favorite shows are Yo Gabba Gabba, Blues Clues and Wonder Pets. Do you have the same interests? Are you my Valentine?

Running Naked Butt

Found this photo a few days ago and decided it should have been on my previous blog. Proof of how powerfully cute a running naked butt can be. I know one day Santi will appreciate all the naked baby pictures I have of him. (so will his future girlfriends)

PS- The diaper on his head was clean!

Then and Now

Do you remember the first time you realized your baby would one day grow up and leave? I do. I will never forget the day. Santi was 2 months old and we were shopping at Target. Here I was just minding my own business. Adoring my little angel as he cooed and kicked around his little arms and legs. When I happened to notice a Mom and her son. And I realized that she was helping him decide what he would need when he left for college in a few weeks. I turned and looked back to my little angel and had to fight back the tears. It struck me like a ton of rocks: one day he would (God willing) grow up and become a man and leave. I was seriously disturbed by the realization. All the pain of the c-section, the sleepless nights and the moments of dispair because I just could not figure out why he was STILL crying! And now this! In my post partum hormonal state I imagined myself holding on to his ankle, being dragged across the floor, begging, pleading and threatening to show the c-section scar if he continued his ungratefullness.If he kept insisting he "needed" higher education, he would leave me no other choice than secretly throwing out any college applications and or acceptance letters. What else was a selfless and loving mother to do. Luckily, no one else realized I was insane so I continued shopping, confident in my new plan of action to keep Santi my "baby".

I never would have guessed it then but I think I am having a change of heart. Now that I am a year wiser I am realizing why most parents are not institutionalized when their children go away to college. It's so much ding dang FUN watching them grow up that you forget to be sad! When he was a tiny infant, those little quiet moments of precious baby cooeing and kicking arms and legs was the reward for around the clock care. How was I to know that I would one day be okay with those baby memories being replaced by new memories of a running naked butt, big teethy smiles and my new favorite Santi sound, "mommy". All this and eight hours sleep a night! Wow! Maybe it won't be so bad after all.

And who knows, maybe I won't have to be physically escorted off the elementary school campus on his first day of kindergarten. Maybe I won't insist on escorting him to his middle school prom. Maybe I won't have to be locked up in the looney bin when he does go off to college. Just heavily medicated for a few years!

Nature Walk at Ft. Desoto

We took Santi and big brother Conan for a walk at Ft. Desoto. Santi is some what of a naturalist, so he insisted! The weather was not perfect but the sun poked through a couple of times. We stopped by the dog park where Santi thoroughly enjoyed fussing at all the dogs. Yelling "no no no" and "top dat" (Santi speak for stop that) while shaking that little finger at those rowdy dogs. Watch out Cesar Milan - there is a new dog whisperer in town!
Also, notice Santi's disapproval as he hands Ryan some of a Brazilian Pepper plant. It's like he intuitively knows that the Brazilian Pepper is a non-native, invasive species that the state of Florida spends a lot of money each year trying to eradicate. He is definetly headed for a career that involves Florida preservation! (not that his mother would push him in that direction)

We're Back!!

What up faithful bloggers!! The Suarez crew is back and ready to blog. This holiday season was very eventful to say the least and we are more grateful than ever for all the small stuff. As usual we did alot of traveling around the state of Florida to visit our families. Santi enjoyed chillin' with all his cousins and being spoiled completely rotten by all the grandparents. He was showered with more gifts than any 1 1/2 year old needs. Santiago is really into anything with wheels. Anything. It is his great obsession in life. He lays on the floor so he can get an up close view of those wheels turning. Too cute! He is also slightly obsessed with air planes in the air. He can hear 'em coming way before I can. I know when one must be near when I see his little head tilt, he starts searching the skies, looking and then he get his visual!! He starts with pointing and smiling and yelling "ane, ane ane" (that is Santi speak for air plane of course) Here are just a couple of pictures of Santi inspecting some wheels. I will do my best to get a montage of all our recent travels posted soon!