After a wonderful summer of time together as a family Dave is back at work today.

Our summer is officially over and I have to say that I am a little sad to see it go.

I know we are lucky that Dave working as a teacher means we get to spend the summers together.  I know that many families do not get to spend as much time together as we do.  I am counting the blessing, but I am also already missing him just a bit.  It has been nice to have more time to experience life inside and outside Mexico together.  It has been a joy to watch Eli have extra time to play and learn with Daddy.  And yes, at 38 weeks pregnant those extra hands and feet to help chase a toddler around have been absolutely wonderful!

Thanks, babe, for all you have done for our family this summer.  You have certainly taken on more than your share.

Now we begin the final countdown to the next stage in our lives.  Sometime in the next couple of weeks we will officially become a family of four.  I am excitedly anticipating seeing the face of our next sweet little boy.  I am intrigued to see how Eli, at just 21 months, adapts to life as a big brother.  And I am more than a little anxious to see how I manage as a stay at home mom to two little boys.

Changes are coming our way.  It's time to start adapting to all that is ahead of us.

Well, today Dave took a sick day from school because he has pink eye.  We decided that this is probably the best sick day scenario for a teacher.  He doesn’t really feel that bad, it takes a full 24 hours for the eye drops to clear it up enough that he’s no longer contagious, and he’s required to stay home from school until the contagious period is over. Yes, there's plenty of hand washing etc. going on, but overall it's pretty benign.

                                                        

We took advantage of our unexpected day with Daddy and finally made another trip to the ecological park near Xochimilco.

We fed the ducks, 

 soaked in some more of that wonderful sunshine,

walked around the park,

 and played with sticks in the dirt.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Monday afternoon.

I admit, on more than one occasion, I have gotten on my husband’s case about not waking up in the middle of the night when Eli cries. 

However, last night somewhere around 4 am, a car backfired outside our apartment.  The award for first responder goes to our sweet little 20 pound fur-ball of a dog, who I often think has a bit of a Napoleon Complex.  He immediately let out a bark letting the world know he was in charge. 

My husband was close on his heels in a move of agility like I’ve never seen from him before.  Within seconds he had flipped from sleeping on his back to up on his hands and knees ready to pounce.  I am convinced that if either man or beast had been intruding into our apartment at that point his lanky 6’2” frame would have taken them down.

My sleepy pregnant body, on the other hand, barely moved as I assured them both that it was only a car, we were not being invaded, and “please just go back to sleep.”

The moral of the story: If you want to awake my husband, start with a bang, not a whimper.