Spring Break in Dallas!

It feels like so much has happened lately but that's just because we've been on Spring Break and had an exciting but very busy week with family and friends here in Dallas.  Jesus's cousin Uki and his wife Karen came to see us from Houston.  They are 3.5 hours away but that's pretty close in relation to all our other family.  Jesus also has another cousin, Marcel and his family, who live just 25 minutes away right here in a suburb of Dallas and we hang out with them often. They joined us for our Spring break weekend when Uki and Karen came to town.  Oh and Marcel's brother, Oliver, just moved here too!  His wife and kids will be joining him once they tie up their odds and ends in Florida and I'm excited to meet them...well we've met but only brief occurrences.  While there are only two (now three!) cousins here in Texas, they and their wives and kids are so awesome and have made us feel like we have friends here and we love being able to hang out with them!

Here our some of our adventures from the week:

Adventures at Klyde Warren Park

Ligia's beautiful, delicious crepe buffet

kid's table

A cousin's reunion...these 4 guys were born in Dominican Republic and then came over to Miami together as kids!

Karen and Uki were dog sitting and if you've known me long enough, you know how impossible it seems that I'd be in a photo with two dogs!  I've grown up!

The cousin's beautiful wives! So excited to live by a "Sprinkles" bakery.

Ten minute road trip to go see the Dallas LDS Temple.

This wasn't Spring Break but I never documented it.  I'm starting to make friends and we took a pro makeup class together!

The most exciting thing that's happened lately is Jesus got a new job right here in the Dallas area!  It's what we came here for and it's a weight lifted off our shoulders.  It's great to see Jesus so happy as he is very hopeful about this new position.  As for me, I am finishing the school year as Garden coordinator/teacher at Stonewall Jackson.  Once school's out for the summer, I'm planning to return to my life as a stay at home mom and I am SO excited! I had a moment this week, pushing my kids in their double stroller around the mall and I was just so happy.  It was that moment that really confirmed my decision.  I want to go to the mall, the library, the park and just be with these kids.  Not to mention, we want more kids and aren't getting any younger.  I realize I'm going to feel like I never get a break again because there are no vacation or sick days but I like that option more than the busy-ness I'm feeling now.  I get up early, go to work, come home, make dinner, clean, take the dog out, change diapers, briefly play and put the kids to bed. While both scenarios of working full time or being home full time are incredibly busy, I just know which one I want right now in my life.  I'm grateful to have a supportive Principal that announced to the staff that I would be quitting to stay home with my children.  If there is anything that supports women's rights, it was this.  You don't tell a woman to go to work and you don't tell a woman to stay home.  You tell her to do what she wants and I am grateful I have the opportunity to do that as I know not everyone does.  Here are some recent photos of my little lovelies for your viewing pleasure.

With this new job comes the nervousness I'm feeling bringing the kids to daycare.  Sometimes my anxiety feels like a lump in my throat making it difficult to breathe.  We have a very sweet Ecuadorian woman in our apartment complex who has watched several kids around here and currently watches one little girl Joaquin's age so he and her will be great friends.  The bonus is our daycare lady only speaks Spanish which will be great for our kids.  KJ is in the stage of crying whenever mom or dad go out of sight so I am hoping she can adjust well.  Dropping her off will be hard.  I might be most concerned about our little dog however.  The longest he's been alone is 6 hours so 9 hours will be a stretch and I just don't want him developing separation anxiety. I know we will all adjust as this is temporary.  (Any dog tips for those that leave theirs are welcomed!)

 

The last exciting thing this week is we have been potty training Joaquin!  I'd like to say we potty trained him but I don't want to jinx anything.  He's been accident free for 2 days and we've only been training for 4 so I can't speak too quickly but our daycare lady is going to support us in our efforts thank goodness!  I really think waiting 'til he was 3 was a great idea.  *knock on wood.*

Back to work tomorrow...