I had to have surgery on an umbilical hernia that came along during my pregnancy with Mirabelle and had only gotten progressively worse until we accepted the inevitable. It had to be fixed! I wasn’t allowed to lift M & J for an entire month. No more than 5 pounds. That was laughable, as of course I had to lift Jasper sometimes. The no lifting rule was really a concern and so we hired a nanny to come help out for the month. At first I thought I’d love it and would have a hard time not having help at the end of the month. Instead, I had a harder time not being able to care for my cutie pies all the time and I look forward to taking them out and about without having to have help. I was so thankful for the help I needed and much fun was had by all. I even snuck away for a few solo beach getaways which seemed too good to be true! Our nanny April said that she loved helping to do creative play. I wondered what exactly she meant and we sure did find out.

We also had fun spending time with our friends Rich and Emaly and their son Ben, who is only 6 weeks younger than Jasper. Josh has been friends with Rich since he was a baby, yet we somehow we managed to get a pic of the moms and sons instead of the dads. Next time.

We got to go meet Josh’s sister KC and her husband Ashton at the Crepes Cafe and went for a walk to Burgess Park. We love going to Burgess Park these days. It has what we oh so need- shade! And a play structure and swings of course.

Mirabelle loves going for nature walks around our neighborhood to find nature and rocks to paint.

We up and went to Big Sur a couple of weekends ago. I love road trips. I especially love driving out to Big Sur. Highway 1 is incredible. So is our favorite restaurant, Nepenthe, on the cliffs overlooking the gorgeous view of the ocean. We’re lucky that M & J like cruising along with us.

We brought Mira along to a doctors appointment and turned it into a fun date. She jumped for joy! We went for pizza and ice cream, the park and also found her a new teddy bear. Poor little baby bear was lost in El Salvador and Mira was reminding me on a daily basis that she needed a new bear. After she had chosen her bear and was asked what she wanted to name him she paused only a second before saying, “El Salvador!”

We found an outdoor kitchen at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. This was Mirabelle’s initial reaction. Do you think she likes it?

Jasper is successfully able to get into anything and everything he wants. Every once in a while he manages to get himself stuck. Mirabelle is getting better and better at reading her brother stories. Other than steam rolling him every once in a while she really is super sweet to her little brother.

Things were a little blurry that early.

But as the skies brightened, so did dad’s mood. We cooked breakfast and watched the sun rise over the sea. We lounged in the hammocks before heading to Playa Punta Uva.

At 6:00 AM, we had the whole beach to ourselves (well, we did share it with the dolphins that played with us and gave us rides). Alright, that parenthetical part wasn’t true. But we did have the beach to ourselves, and oh my goodness what an incredibly gorgeous beach it was!

It wasn’t all sunshine and dolphin rides. There was the occasional rain cloud. This gave us a chance to see why the jungle is so green. It also gave us a chance a chance to find an old woman who made chocolate in the traditional, BriBri Indian way. Personally, I prefer our non-traditional chocolate-making, but it was interesting and she was nice enough to let us borrow her umbrella.

For the record, both Lindsey and I slipped while carrying one of our children on this trip. Lindsey slipped down the hill to the right of where I stood with that ridiculous umbrella. I slipped while we were on a jungle trek on the property where we stayed. I only mention it now, because Mirabelle will probably tell you the next time she sees you. It has been one of her favorite stories. “Daddy carry Mirabelle in the Ergo on his back and he fall off.” But I didn’t really fall off–I fell on. Right on Mirabelle. She was a good sport and continued our jungle trek with our brave, machete-wielding guide. This picture was taken before the fall, and Mirabelle already looks suspicious.

When we weren’t tromping and slipping, there was plenty of time to get to know the natives.

And we checked out some properties.

The best part of the trip was to get to spend so much time with Mirabelle and Jasper. The two of them are excellent travelers and sweet friends. Everybody loved them, and we got to hear everyone we met say, “Que Lindo!”

We had this much fun in Costa Rica

We let Mirabelle sleep with us for a long time until finally she was in her own crib and bed. When Jasper was born she somehow managed to make her way back into our bed! I was pleased as punch to discover that Jasper didn’t mind the crib at all and falls right to sleep in it. He doesn’t even mind the pink sheets. I discovered sleep training without tears! Not really. I think Jasper was just more easy going than his older little sister was. Anyway, why was Jasper in the other room in his crib sleeping soundly while Mirabelle was kicking us in her sleep? Great question!

We made the switch. Well, we’re in the process. We have had M & J in the other room for over a week now and it seems to be only getting easier. The first few nights were laughable and it took them both a loooong time to wind down and go to sleep. We listened to them through the baby monitor as Mirabelle sang songs and Jasper peered out over his bumper cooing and giggling all the while. Now the novelty has begun to wear off. Well, not entirely. I went in and snapped a few shots to capture the memory, as they were just too cute! We put two twin mattresses together on the floor for Mirabelle due to her being so used to our king size bed. Good thing, look at her lounged out!

We went to Utah for the 4th of July and had so much fun getting to visit with family and friends. My cousin snapped these great shots of Mirabelle that I love. Sorry, Josh and I didn’t do a very good job taking as many pictures as we really should have!

Now we’re off for our long awaited and greatly anticipated vacation to see monkeys in the jungle! We’re going to stay up in the jungle on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for two whole weeks. Mirabelle has been gearing up for a long time and we can’t believe that by morning we will have arrived! I’ve almost completed my Rosetta Stone spanish lessons. In fact, maybe I should be doing another lesson instead of blogging! Hasta Luego!

P.S. Sorry about my lack of skill as far as the pictures spacing and what not…

Thankfully Mirabelle has gotten over her addiction for her big clunky boots with eyes. She has recently switched her desire to hats and purses. Oh, and did I mention that they are my hats and purses that she prefers? Also, pictured with Mirabelle on the right is Lady Wise. Lady Wise is a monkey that Josh surprised Mira with. No, we didn’t name Lady. Mirabelle did.

Mirabelle has discovered the perfect way to eat her corn on the cob without getting her hands all buttery. She always makes sure to have a napkin and to stay clean. For the most part. Jasper doesn’t seem to care about mess nor slobber. He still loves a cold carrot and is now showing his two cute little bottom teeth!

While I was nursing Jasper the other day I was wondering what a very quiet Mirabelle was up to. I came out to find a very clean mommy bear! Mirabelle has started wanting to clean her dolls or animals and change their pretend diapers. We’re working on using pretend wipes and not wasting so many!

Apparently both M & J love their new animal counting book. Mira’s been counting a lot lately and has completed 1-10 about seven times. She usually just counts 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 12! Yay!!! Occasionally she throws in some spanish numbers. So funny! Hopefully this book will help fill in the gaps.

Mirabelle loves her buddy Tre and is constantly requesting his presence. We went over to a park near his house and got to play and visit the farmer’s market. I love getting all of the great fruits, veggies and homemade breads.

On a colder day we bundled up and went for crepes and followed with a walk to the park and the duck pond. Jasper is modeling his good behavior as you can see him fast asleep in the stroller. He loves sitting up in the high chair when we’re out at the crepe cafe. Mira loves all of the toys and books they have there for children. I love the crepes and how the cafe and french waitress magically make me feel like we’re in France. Needless to say, we make our way over there at least a couple of times a week. For M & J of course.

And last but most certainly not least, we went over to visit Mira and Jasper’s Great Grandma Nettie Wise and had such a nice visit. In fact, we went back over again this morning to say hi! She has a great collection of owls, much to Mirabelle’s delight. We’re so excited for our upcoming visits with more GG’s and Grandmir’s!

She makes us laugh with her overly polite ways. When we try to get her to leave the owl at the junior zoo, she’ll politely respond, “No thank you, please.” When we give her anything, she responds, “Thank you, you’re welcome.” When she sneezes, she says, “tissue please.” When she farts she says, “Toot!” Ok, so that’s not so polite, but it’s so cute.

Jasper is no slouch himself. Jasper is 28.5 inches tall and is carrying a 20 pound frame. He was in the 90th percentile, the same size Mira was at his age. His smile is huge and his first tooth has come through. Only a few more to go! You can see from the pictures that he is definitely teething. His favorite teether to chew on is a cold carrot. Yummy.