a really long post...what a great title...

...My mother and sister have now gone home and Alex is at work:(

I find it odd that you miss people the most right after they leave (or is it just me?) it seems like you should miss them the most right before they come to visit just like it's the coldest right before the sun comes up. I assume it's because you forget how awesome everybody is when they've been gone for a while but right after they leave their absence painfully apparent. alex wasn't very gracious when they were leaving and the hugs were few and far between I don't think he got what was going on. After about 15 mins he started asking when they were coming back, when I told him that they went home he started crying for about an hour and is now coloring in resigned silence at my feet.

Their spring break visit once again coincided with our anniversary (FIVE YEARS! HOORAY!) and we once again left them home with the kids while we went out. It has been forever since we have gone out alone and yesterday I remembered why. Earlier in the week I had some easter chocolate and some of the previously mentioned Lime Coconut Cake. As a result Rocio was a little fussy so I resolved to be more careful with my eating. I didn't eat anything containing milk at home which was hard since my mother was here we actually had food in the house tempting me. However, while we were out shopping one day I started getting hungry and my mom had some convenient peanut bars in the car (my mother is always prepared) so I ate one and it was delicious-that should have been my first clue. I'm not accustomed to eating much prepackaged food; most things I make from scratch at home and just adjust the recipes so that they don't contain dairy. When I was halfway through the bar my mother mentioned that I should check the label for milk content; sure enough, the pit in the bottom of my stomach sunk lower as I read "milk" and several other dairy products listed in the ingredients. The next day I found that my apprehension was merited when a hour before Alex and I were going to go on our anniversary date Rocio started getting fussy and then inconsolable. I am hesitant to leave Rocio with poor unsuspecting young women because I don't want them to get turned off on motherhood forever because they watched my colicky baby or have Chio become overwhelming for somebody and they hurt her to keep her quite - unreasonable I know but I'm a paranoid mother and she's frequently overwhelming for me and I love her more than I can say. I can't calm her down any better than anyone one else (and I make myself sick with guilt trying) when she gets like this and the best thing to do is drive her around until she falls asleep (which is what my mother ended up doing) so we left the car seat and went on out date.

We had a great time! It's amazing how marriage gets better; you still have the same fun like you did dating and at the beginning of marriage but the comfort increase exponentially. It's weird how you have to experience it to understand. Alex is amazing still and I'm so lucky to be spoiled by such a great guy. He's amazingly calm, understanding and probably on of the funniest people I know. But most of all he's my best friend and I love hanging out with him. I know you're not supposed to compare but I think I appreciate him the most when I hear other people talk about their husbands and I think 'I'm pretty sure that I'm married to the most amazing guy on the planet!' Thanks for treating me so great, sweetfart! Happy Anniversary! As part of his anniversary present he got a 10 day free chess mentor trial with his chess subscription so I probably won't post much this week either. I'm pretty sure he's going to claim the computer all week (that's why this one is so long).

And yesterday was also my friends birthday (I think it was fated that we would be friends because this way I'll never forget when her birthday is). She's seriously the best person ever strong, amazingly nice and a great example; I don't know what I would do without her. I tried to throw her off by giving her her birthday present early and telling her I was busy on my anniversary but without apparent difficulty what soever she discovered it was us who heart attacked her house (I assume she thought who is the most immature person I know and my name came to mind). So since it's not a secret as planned I'll tell you the story:

It was the last night her sister was going to be in town visiting and even though they had had quite a long week, with a house full of kids and battling sicknesses, I thought they might still stay up late talking. So we watched a movie and headed over around midnight. When we got to her house the police car in her neighbors house tipped me off she had a cop for a neighbor - I did know this but I forgot about it when I was forming my plan. As I was turning to park the car up the street instead of down in the light by the cop car I vaguely pictured having to knock on my friends door to convince her not to press charges as she assured the officer she had no idea who we were and to do whatever he pleased with us. But luckily his light was off just like hers was. (sidenote: as my mother, my sister and I were running to her house I had the unwelcome realization that babies cause a lot of things to jiggle and wondered how it was even possible that we could get fat pockets on our ankles.) When we got to her door my sister and I tried to quietly open the squeaky screen door that was probably more quiet than our giggles as my mother put heart clad shish kabob sticks in the lawn. Thankfully we didn't get caught by anyone because I'm sure it would have been the butt of way too many conversations that started with "You thought that only 12 year olds...." Why is it that we get too old to do things like this?

Here she is with my kids piled on her as well as hers. Thanks for everything and Happy Birthday!