The Bahamas!!!

Last month Ben and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas for our 12 year anniversary.  Grandma stayed with the kids in Fallon.  It was so nice not having to worry about them and know that they were in good hands.  Ben and I flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday.  Monday morning we woke up and drove to Miami where our ship was leaving.  It was amazing getting onto the ship.  This was our first cruise.  We knew the ships were big but when you actually see how big they really are it is indescribable.  When it was time to leave the port of Miami Ben and I decided to get a Pina Colada and watch as we left.  It was beautiful.  

One of our favorite things to do was go to the top of the ship and just watch everything.  It was really weird not having to worry about kids and what they were doing and making sure they were safe.  We were able to be selfish and do whatever we wanted to.  

The next morning we arrived in Key West, Florida.  We were able to get a picture of our ship but the whole ship wouldn't even fit in the picture.  

In Key West we went on a Kayak tour.  It was so cool.  The tour guides would stop and different points and then pull animals out of the water.  This is a horseshoe crab.  It looks really creepy but they said it can't hurt you.  By the end of the tour my arms were killing me but it was well worth it!

All of you who have been on cruises before know that there is a formal dinner night.  It was fun for us to get dressed up and eat dinner.  The food was amazing.  Everyone says you go on a cruise for the food and I completely agree!

The next port was Nassau, Bahamas.  I have to admit that we didn't like the town at all.  They people were way too pushy and wouldn't leave us alone.  We were supposed to go parasailing but it got canceled because of the wind.  We ended up going to the famous hotel The Atlantis and just looked around.  The highlight of the day was when we got to see Nicholas Cage riding in his boat back to his house.

This is the yacht that Ben will own one day... in another lifetime!

On our way back from the Atlantis hotel (we had to take a boat ferry) we got this cool picture of all the ships docked at the island.  Ours is the second from the left.  

Next it was off to Cococay, Bahamas.  It is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean.  This was our absolute favorite place that we went to.  Ben went snorkeling ( I was too scared.  Have I mentioned my two greatest fears are drowning and suffocating and when I tried it I felt like both were happening!)  But Ben loved it.  He said it was so beautiful under the water seeing all the coral and tropical fish.  I will just have to take his word for it.  

My favorite part was laying on the beach chair under a palm tree and just relaxing.  I can't remember the last time I was that relaxed!

Since we didn't get to go parasailing in Nassau we decided to go on Cococay.  It was so cool!  We were so high up there and it was absolutely quiet.  It was so fun being up there together.   

Ben and I had a wonderful and amazing trip.  We have already started planning our next trip just the two of us but don't worry, it probably will take us at least another five years to do this again.  As much fun as we had on our trip both of us were so ready to come back to the kids.  We missed them so much.  Here are the cute shirts we got the kids.  They were so happy to see us when we got home.  It was a great feeling.

My mom, Makayla, and Kyle made us this welcome home sign for when we got home.  It was the perfect end to a perfect trip.  Next stop...HAWAII!!!

  

I think I have mentioned a few times that Kyle loves trains.  He likes to line things up and then say, "Choo Choo!"  It is pretty cute.  This is a choo made out of blocks.  The other day he also made a choo choo out of stickers.  Wow!  It's really hard thinking of a theme for his birthday this year...

Before Ben and I left on our cruise we decided to give Josie a bath.  Kyle absolutely LOVES giving Josie her bath but Josie doesn't feel the same way.  After Jos was done Kyle really wanted to hold her.  It was pretty cute.  Kyle thought he was being such a big boy.  I know Jos looks like an alien but let's face it, she already is a unique looking dog and then give her a bath and what do you get... an alien!

I love to sew!!!  This was a project that I worked on and it was so much fun!  Last year for a Shawcroft family reunion we got these pink shirts for our family.  They were really cute for Makayla and me but not so much for Ben and Kyle (no offense Rachel!!!!)  So I decided to make Ben's shirt into a nightgown for Makayla.  It turned out so cute and Makayla loves it!!!  Kyle's shirt is going to turn into a nightgown for Makayla's doll.

I love that Kyle and Makayla get along so well.  Now don't get me wrong they have their fights like the one I just broke up five minutes ago but for the most part they are great together.  They love each other so much.  Kyle copies absolutely everything that Makayla does.  It is such a sweet relationship.  This was the night that Makayla had a carnival at her school.  She got to have her face painted and she was ecstatic.  She had never had her face painted before and she loved it.  Unfortunately she only had it on for an hour or so and then it was time to wash it off and go to bed.  She was devastated.  Finally I came up with a compromise.  We washed it off that night and then on Friday I painted a rainbow and a flower on her cheeks.  She loved it!  Another tantrum postponed for a different day.

Sweet and Sassy

Makayla and I decided we would take a sassy picture... What do you think?

Happy St. Patty's Day

This year for St. Patrick's Day we decided to make a green dinner.  Makayla and Kyle helped me cook the food and we had a blast.  Of course Makayla's favorite part was putting the food coloring in each item and Kyle's favorite part was stirring everything!  It looked a little gross so when we started eating we were expecting yucky but it was awesome!  Fettuccini alfredo, homemade french bread, broccoli, and green jello salad.  The kids loved it too and when they were done they looked so cute with green food all over their faces.

I just had to take a picture of my awesome plate of food before I started eating.

I don't know why we've never done this in the past.  It was so much fun and so easy.  Just a little green food coloring and TA DA!!!  For Makayla's school snack that day I decided to give her a yummy surprise.  I made pudding and put green food coloring in it.  When I picked her up from school I asked her how her snack was.  Come to find out she didn't eat it because it looked yucky.  She didn't even smell or taste it!  I felt so bad.  I should have told her what it was and then she would have loved it.  Bad mommy!  At least I know for next year to warn her.

Toothless

Well it is official.  On Saturday, March 12, 2011 Makayla lost her first tooth.  She had been wiggling it for a couple days and on Saturday morning she was playing with it and said, "My tooth is in my hands."  I think she was a little in shock.  She knew what was supposed to happen but hadn't been through it before.  It was kind of funny.  She was so excited and so were we!!!  That night she put it under her pillow and the Tooth Fairy came.  She had been telling me how the Tooth Fairy keeps the teeth to build her house with.  Makayla was so lucky because the Tooth Fairy left her a note with Makayla's tooth taped to a heart.  She let Makayla know that she wanted to let Makayla keep her first tooth to put in her scrapbook but from then on she'd keep the teeth Makayla lost to build her house with.  Makayla couldn't believe that the Tooth Fairy was nice enough to do that!!! So now she is working on her other bottom tooth.  

I can't believe how fast Makayla is growing up.  It seems like just yesterday she was my little baby and now she is going to school, reading, tying her shoes, losing teeth and much more.  I love that she is growing up into a beautiful, sweet, smart little girl but I do miss my little baby.  Time just goes by so fast... 

Sick

Last week we were all sick!!!  We spent most of the time snuggled together watching tv in our pajamas.  

During the times we weren't feeling too bad we tried to find things to do.  The kids loved playing with play dough. 

Kyle and Makayla loved playing together.  It was so nice because during those time that they were playing I could lay down and wallow in my own misery.  In my opinion the only good thing that comes from being sick is when you're finally better you realize what a blessing a healthy body really is.  All of us still have lingering colds this week but feel so much better!!!!

Adoption Thoughts

Adoption has really been on my mind lately.  Every morning I wake up hoping to find an email from a prospective birth mother.  When there is none I go on with my day hoping that maybe tomorrow will be the day. I think that adoption has been a lot more on my mind lately because I am working on our scrapbook right now and I just got to Kyle's birth (okay okay just a little behind.)  Also I have been compiling a few of Kyle's birth mother's email to put in the scrapbook for Kyle to see how she found us.  Because of all of this it is making adoption constantly on my mind.  It is so hard waiting for our next child.  Just hoping and praying that our birth mother will email us.  Since we were approved for adoption last December we have had three contacts.  Two through our parent profile and one through our LDS profile.  The first one we got the email at Christmas time and we were in Utah.  She was from New York but that was all we knew about her.  Ben and I emailed her back and then never heard back from her.  She left a phone number so we thought maybe she wanted a call instead so we called her and there was no answer.  We left a message and never heard back from her.  The next email we got was in January.  This girl was from Washington.  Ben and I emailed her and then heard back from her.  We were so excited!  We emailed her back again and then we never heard back from her again.  The third birth mother contacted us in February.  She contacted us through the LDS website so this was a little different.  We emailed her back that night but the email has to go through our agency and then to her to keep her privacy.  We never heard back from her.  We emailed again just to be sure she got it and still no answer.  A few weeks later our agency contacted us and said that they were afraid that her inbox was full and she wasn't getting the emails.  So we emailed her a third time and still nothing back. I can't even tell you how many emails we have received from prospective birth mothers telling us how wonderful we are and that we are at the top of their list and then we never hear back from them.  Now I know you are asking yourself, "Wow is it something they are saying in their emails?  Are they acting too desperate?"  I asked myself this too, but I know that that is not the case.  We have been through this enough times to know that this is very common.  There are so many prospective adoptive couples who go through the same thing.  It's hard but we have two beautiful children that I love more than life itself.  Their birth mothers contacted us, kept contacting us, and then gave us the most beautiful gift in the whole world.  This is why we keep doing this.  We know that adoption is a miracle.  We can't wait to hold our next child in our arms.  We can't wait to have another birth mother and possible birth father that will always be a part of our lives.  That is why we will keep going no matter how many disappointments we have to go through.  In the end it is absolutely worth it!!!