Mexico

We returned over a week ago from a fun trip to Mexico with Jason's family. The Thomases, Lattins senior and the four of us spent a few days on the beach together enjoying the sun and warm weather. Traveling is never easy with little people, however, so here's the trip in a nutshell.

- A four hour drive took six on the way to Portland. Noelle screamed non-stop for at least two-thirds of the way.
- Noelle slept twelve hours the next night.
- Nathan spent countless hours on the tractor with Dad and Grandpa.
- We survived two international plane trips with two children under two!
- Noelle got to meet the rest of her cousins, and Uncle Keith and Aunt Julie.
- Nathan got to play in the ocean with Dad.
- Noelle got lots of snuggle naps, especially with Grandma.
- None of us got sunburns.
- Jason got sick. Noelle got a little sick. Nathan got sick. And finally on the trip home Anna got sick.
- Jason got better. Noelle got better. Nathan got better (but is sick again now). And Anna ended up on antibiotics for pneumonia!

Needless to say, we've been recovering. But, yes, we'd do it again. We love our family!

Hmmm... "plane chaos"

M&M's

A few days ago we were struggling to get Nathan to eat much at dinner. Jason started rehearsing the familiar list of foods that Nathan often will eat...

Chicken? No.
Crackers? No.
Yogurt? No.
Apples? No.
Cheese? No.
Banana? No.

With an exasperated sigh, Jason said, "Nathan if you'll say M&M's, you can have those for dinner!"

"M&M's," came the delighted voice of our toddler.

Nathan hasn't been the quickest to get excited about adding to his vocabulary (though we're starting to pick up the pace). But there are some things that everyone ought to learn how to say - and the earlier the better. :-)

Birthday Boy

Jason had a birthday this past week. We got to celebrate the day after (since he was on-call and working til 10 on his birthday). Aaahh, the life of a resident. And we're convinced that birthdays are much better when you can have someone else blow out your candles! :-)

Noelle was asleep...

In good company with our friends Cyrus (also a surgery resident) and Megan (soon to be starting ob/gyn residency).

And I'll share more about what Jason's been up to soon. But we don't get many pictures of him "at work" so I figured we'd better post this one. He's a real pro at getting splinters out. (And since our backyard consists of mostly bark chips, I get lots of them.)

April

April, May and June this year are full of activity for us. We'll try to stay in touch and keep everyone updated on what we're up to.

Quiet moment at home reading with Dad (about diggers!).

Trip to Texas for a dear friend's wedding turns into an extra fun family reunion!

Meeting the Brisco cousins.

Having a chat with Great-Granddad Gilkerson.

Getting squeaky clean. Thanks Mia!

Snuggles with Grammy. We miss you Poppy!

Smiles for Aunt Ellen and Elizabeth.

Hmmm... the Yorks look great with kids (hint, hint). :-)

And back to home sweet home! The girls really missed the boys on the Texas trip, but we'll be all together for the next one... Going to see Uncle Graham graduate in May.

Excuses

Some of you (and rumor has it that a few of you check our blog) may have wondered where we've been... And it hasn't been for lack of desire that we've been "below the radar".

- We had one week where we had folks over for meals three days in a row. (That keeps a mom with two little ones really busy I've found out.)

- Noelle and I took a trip to Texas for a good friend's wedding while the boys made a trek to Portland to visit the Lattin grandparents (and the famous green tractor and golden lab).

- I returned home with a nasty little cold that has kept me feeling yucky for over a week now.

- And today is an important one in the Lattin home - Jason's birthday!

More soon and lots of pictures too. (We are leaving for Mexico this weekend so I'm racing the clock!)