just about 16 months~

what is new on the lela front~

• uses a fork and spoon with gusto and the mess to accompany that
• started walking at 14.5 months (thanks to grandmere reilly)!
• tells us, and has been for a couple of months now, when she goes in her diaper - and says the words
• had her first dental visit in november and astonishingly didn't mind the dentist
• popped her right front tooth around thanksgiving... and we're still waiting on the other one
• in early november, finally got her 1st birthday gift of a bike seat!  brant and i treated ourselves to new mountain bikes too since the others we had were from high school and couldn't make it up even the slightest hill without mass calamity... not to mention i think my banana seat bike was the one i had just before that one.  yes, it was time.
• took our bikes to amsterdam and rode everywhere
• a couple of months ago started yelling "mama" from her room in the morning for me to come get her
• loves building tunnels and says "tunnel" all the time, thanks nana balbach  ;)
• repeats every word we say and wants to know the real words for everything
• says "dada" a lot in the late afternoon and points to pictures of brant
• has her own drawer in the kitchen that she stores her stuff in and "cooks" when she feels like it - she keeps her cell phone in that drawer too
• still obsessed with cars and carries them around often
• starting coloring
• asks for milk, food, "mama", "dada", "pa" (name for her pacifier), "bear"... repeatedly at bedtime - whichever isn't in sight she asks for to delay bedtime
• loves playing with her new wizard of oz dolls
• kisses on the lips, eskimo kisses, and hugs.... also says "up" all the time to be held
• she's about 23 lbs. now and getting taller by the day
• bullheaded like her mama (won't hold hands while on the sidewalk or in the store... and when picked up, flops like a fish out of water... if she wants to walk by herself, she WANTS TO WALK BY HERSELF) and to get her to laugh, you better be funny (brant's persona at its finest)  :)

lela in her bike seat in amsterdam:

other than that, we had a relaxing and fun trip back to the states for thanksgiving, saw the UM/Nebraska game, went to a UM/OSU tailgate, brant saw two lions games, met with friends, both families... and i got a girls' weekend in vegas with my fiendette friends from osan.  we ran the vegas 1/2 marathon and stayed for three nights on the strip.  it was fabulous seeing old friends after 2-4 years apart.  lela stayed with my parents in michigan (and was sick during the stay...) and i was sick the entire time in vegas, but still, fun.

merry, merry
s

goodbye to the normals

i just love this video, so i had to share... and it also reminded me of a pic we had taken this weekend.

Leaving Home - Hilarious Movie Trailor - Watch the top videos of the week here

lela's 1st year... and then some

this is long overdue... but it is very apparent that lela is now 1!  yay!  :)  we celebrated with three little parties (hence the "carnevale" theme) - the first on august 14th with family in the US, the second on september 5th (her real birthday) with friends in germany, and the third on october 4th (also brant's welcome home) with her daddy.

over the course of lela's first year she has been a solid member of team reilly.  she completed 12 flights before turning one, endured vegas (enough said), traveled to hotlanta, the big apple, phx, and all things michigan, of course.  she managed to squeeze in some lovely germany trips, luxembourg, france, belgium, switzerland, the netherlands, spain, austria, and most recently italy.  she can go through security faster than any straight-laced businessman and  has left planes with no pants on more times than we can count.  she eats healthy and sings often.  she can go from wild woman to peaceful buddha all in the same minute.  she has a laugh that could melt anyone and that we'll do anything to hear.  she rocked our world from the minute she announced her presence at st. elizabeth krankenhaus wittlich.  she is the joy of our life.

this fall has been busy with two sets of family visitors (we love company!), lots of traveling around, and then brant's fabulous return home from a lengthy deployment.  we spent a week at home and then did a little over a week in the cinque terre, florence, and pisa.  we ate our way through italy that's for sure - pizza, pasta, wine, gelato.  love!

lela has been blossoming into a toddler...

• exclusive whole milk baby shortly after her first birthday
• standing solo (puts her arms up and in awe of herself every time)
• takes about three steps on her own and then likes to fall into our arms laughing
• signs for milk, more, and eat, but when she's not sure, she does them all in a rotating fashion
• speaks in full sentences, but we have no clue what she is saying
• loves to say "car" (ok, maybe 500 times a day) in her NJ accent and loves playing with cars 
• says "apple", "mama", "daddy", and will repeat (or try to) most words you say
• loves dogs and cats and saying "woof woof" and "meeeeeeeeyuuuw" when she sees them
• learned pirate in italy and can "arghhhhh" like one too
• loves pushing her wagon through the backyard and having leaves dumped on her head
• stands up and acts like she has all this stuff to do while in the bathtub, milling around, pulling and pushing things, sorting her bath toys, eating bubbles
• blows on her food to cool it down... the food doesn't have to be hot, she'll still do it
• loves to double hug brant and i at the same time and is beaming when she does it, usually a three hug set
• imitates us saying "no no"
• likes clapping to commend herself for something
• can hold up one finger for her age and does "so big", often mixes these two up
• still loves her books and will read solo aloud to herself
• just learned "uh oh" and purses her lips into a little "o" while saying it
• likes looking for bugs and saying "bug", "hat", "bell", "cup"
• and the best of all.... when we say "lela lay down" she will fall to the side wherever she is... it is hysterical

anyway, peace to all.  keep loving and laughing.  

~s

home.

brant's home.  ahh.... finally!

12 month checkup

12 month check-up:
weight: 21.2 lbs. (60th~ish percentile, I think)
length: 30 in. (70th~ish percentile, I think)
head circumference: 19 in. (98th percentile)


lela got lots of immunizations today and was not happy about it... she took all the stickers that they could give and is currently sleeping with five large stickers on her shirt and pants.  she got blood drawn to get checked for anemia and she sucked the bandage off and got blood all over her clothes.  poor child is now sleeping off the trauma...


she has been teething like a monster.  i can still only see the front bottom two, but more are to come very soon.  her sleeping is out of whack and she's been warm and irritable.  the appetite... well, lela likes to eat!  she still loves her veggies, lots of beans, tofu (LOVES), raw tomatoes, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese... she just tried whole milk on her birthday (in my attempt to wean her) and is still unsure about it.  i hope to get her switched over before we go to italy in october.


she's speaking a lot... copying what i say, finding what i ask her to find, and singing her babble.  she scoots around tables, her playpen, and anything else that is the right holding height.  she should be walking soon since she's down to walking while only holding one of my hands.  


lelu has had two of her three first birthday carnevale parties... the big one will be when her daddy's home.  photos and videos to come~

standing up & hangin' in the crib!

i put lela down for her morning nap today and usually she just passes out immediately.  i went downstairs and she was quiet but then all of a sudden started crying... and this kept going for about ten minutes.  i didn't think anything of it, just guessing that she was letting off extra steam :).  it kept going, so i went upstairs and cheetahlips was standing up in her crib - crying because she didn't know how to lay back down!  adorable.

the saga continued... and when i went to check on lela again, she was sitting up with her legs hanging out of the crib.  just chirping and looking around, like she was waiting for a parade to start.

go blue!

lela, in preparation for "hail to the victors", pulled herself up to a standing position at the coffee table yesterday...  with the standing portion and "hail" arm gesture down, she just needs to keep practicing the lyrics.  a true wolverine.

yesterday - 11 months!

lelu goes from a seated position, to the splits, and then forward to a crawl... her new favorite move.  :)  she imitates everything we do (and lots we say), can point out her nose (although she always points to mine), loves clocks and says "clock", stands up against things and constantly pulls herself up to a standing position with your hands, sniffs at the mere mention of the word "flower", and is just a sponge for learning these days... she is learning eyes, mouth, belly.  and by the looks of this photo, has a mop of hair that just curls up in the michigan humidity.

nearing 11 months (august 5th!) and a wild woman we do have

lela is just about 11 months and she's done some funny things lately... she seems to swim naked a lot and once i caught her trying to eat two little floaters in her pool and had to take them away from her because they were poo.  :)  she sits and lays flat on her belly (mad yoga moves) in the tub or pool and will blow bubbles in the water.  she loves finding strings or hairs and playing with them for extended periods of time.  lela has poo'ed on the patio table and on the concrete around the pool... she just swims so much she doesn't have time to get a diaper on!  she enjoys talking to the characters on her pjs and in her books.... her vocabulary is exploding (babble, of course).... and if she's not babbling, she's humming a tune.

  

traipsing through the usa

it's been quite the journey... lela and i flew the cuckoo's nest in germany and hit atlanta just before memorial day to see auntie mere.  from there we went to michigan and a few days later to lake michigan for a family get together in holland at a beach house.  we've been bouncing from frankenmuth to farmington hills to up north ever since... and off to nyc next weekend for a wedding.  we've been so spoiled with fun and help we extended our trip a month!

9 month birthday ~ tasted ice cream for the first time at moomers in traverse - coconut chocolate chip

praise God for ice cream~

bouncing curls in michigan humidity~

10 months ~ tasted ice cream, again moomers, this time peanut butter oreo (by the way, i had to hide the cone from her after this, she wanted more so bad.  her mother's daughter, that's for sure.)

happy 4th of july to my daddy~

catwalking at arcadia where we were married six years ago this weekend~

over the past couple of months lela has learned to roll a ball back and forth, knows how to do high five - low five, loves clocks, knows how to play with an activity board, lunges toward swings, says "ma ma" (i melt), reaches for you with both hands, cold or warm water - LOVES the water, self feeds with assistance, does the "power to the people" hand salute (see ice cream photo), waves hi (farmer wave to start, but now a full wave) and bye, knows how to drink water from her own water bottle (top lip under), lost some baby hair and her bald spot is filling in nicely :), popped two chompers on father's day! (no wonder we had reverted to multiple night wake-ups and rocky horror picture show bedtimes), patented the "lela pivot"by spinning on her bum in circles, starting to pull up on things, taking assisted steps - heal to toe and always BIG steps, looks at you by tilting her head 90 degrees, very curious and snoopy - pops her nose over/around things to get a better look, can find her "duck" in the bathtub, has added "hi", "bye", "ball", and "bird" to her vocabulary, loves opening and closing drawers and cabinets, absolutely mesmerized by the 4th of july fireworks display at crystal mountain..... and the list goes on.  at 9 months, i unscientifically determined she weighed 21 lbs.... next appt. at 12 months though.

seated to belly during grad school

lela decided to awaken during my grad class yesterday at 9pm... the worst timing ever.  we were going into "breakout" chat rooms and i had to talk.  i gave her my wine glass (am i giving something away) and she bellowed into it, listening to her voice echo, for about 10 minutes.  she then saw a pencil near her and really wanted it.  she fell from a seated position to her belly and started to scooch.  the girl has figured out.  we will have a sitter to crawler very soon.

her majesty eats

yesterday lela decided it was time for her to pick up the finger foods on her tray.  before she would just stare at them, *sometimes* reaching for one and then just throwing it on her lap or the ground.  well, yesterday she picked them up and put them in her mouth.  :)  i love seeing progress.

today she started hoisting herself up to all fours and doing the little booty rock.  we'll see how long it takes her to go into a full blown crawl now, rather than the dead man's crawl she's mastered.

she's taken to reading books on her own now too... flipping the pages and looking at the pictures that is.  she bellies herself over to the area in her room where all her books are and starts digging for the one she wants.  she'll "read" it and then go through about ten more, all before she gets distracted by the wood grain of the chair leg or the fibers of the rug.

amsterdam and lela's first decipherable, intentional words!

lauren, lela, camden, and i went to amsterdam last week - heineken experience, tulip gardens, the amstel, red light district, brownies from a coffee shop... we had the full experience.

tasting bar where we learned how to best drink a beer (no, not out of a funnel!) - tilt your head back while tilting the beer to reduce the amount of foam intake, if you didn't already know~

playing with the babies in the hallway of the heineken bar (different from the one above) since the bar was more of a club scene and a little much for two 8-month-olds...  :)  a little odd walking up to the bartender with a baby carrier on (remind you of "the hangover"?) and ordering a beer, but we had to take advantage of our two free heinekens!

keukenhof tulip gardens~

lela standard while out traveling (look closely)~

buddies~

camden heard that the weed was good in amsterdam.  this one.... not so much~  

of course, 1000 more photos from this on our mobileme:  http://gallery.me.com/sbreilly

lela and camden are blossoming into best buddies.  they were from the start, but they are now at the age where they can actually play together, rather than just lay side by side next to each other.  on the way up to amsterdam, they were holding hands in the back seat, sharing toys, and mimicking each other's yelps.

just yesterday, lela was smiling up at something, talking softly, and smiling, beaming at something.  i follow her gaze and she is looking up at the picture of brant and i on our bookshelf.  she looks directly at it as i'm watching her and says, "da da".  the most precious sight ever.  i encouraged her to say it again and she did and smiled and then went back to playing, every once in awhile looking up at the picture again.  looks like brant won.  :)  however, lela was at her friend taegan's house on tuesday while i was getting some mother's day pampering and when i picked her up, my friend becky said, "hey, did you know that she says 'all done' when she is finished eating?"  i listened for it today, and yup, lela says "all done" as well...  "all done" and "da da".  lela's first words.

lastly, breakfast.  lela is a german-born american that eats like a frenchwoman.  she has taken to only eating bread at breakfast.  little nibbles of bread and coffee and she's good.  (just kidding)  bread.  that's it.  pretty soon she'll be asking for baguettes.

cinco de mayo - 8 month old chinchita

in her 8th month, lela gets around really quickly by creeping (borderline crawling), plays really well with her best buddy camden, laughs a lot, stares at her hand and watches the slow movement of each finger (i hope everything's okay), discovered her tongue and loves touching it to her chin, smiles so big, giggles, and kicks and kicks when i go in to get her out of her crib in the morning, eats this and that - anything mushy, loves the outdoors, and misses her daddy.

in celebration of mother's day, i had to post this letter written by tina fey to her daughter (thanks mom).  i am pretty sure i was the girl in front of hollister (in different words) and i know i am the girl laying on the floor at 4:50am...  happy mother's day mama.

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her
When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short - a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day - And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

lela creeps (for real this time)

so awhile back we thought lela started creeping.  absolutely wrong.  today was the day.  lela hoisted her little booty up in the air, pulled with her arms, and dragged her chubby legs all the way across her bedroom rug.  she figured out how to do it well and the more we provoked her the more she did it...
(warning:  full nudity.)

http://gallery.me.com/sbreilly#100507

also new, lela bathes on her own (just kidding....but she does sit without her chair now in the bath), she can sit up unsupported, she had her first babysitter (not to include family) this past thursday!, and she plays games with us.  she'll be screeching in her room at bedtime and we'll go upstairs to check on her and she'll have her pacifier in her hand and when we walk in the door she quickly pops it into her mouth.  this is usually either accompanied by her falling into an "X" shape and fake sleeping (and then looking up at us..."oh, fancy seeing you here")  ...or kicking her left leg like crazy and squealing with excitement that she got us into her room again.

lela's swim pics

have been added to our slew of photos (yes, we know we have a problem.  photography is addictive.)...

http://gallery.me.com/sbreilly

lela - not a fan of the red rhino.

brant's new address

if you're interested in sending something to brant while he's "studying abroad", here's his address:


Capt Brant Reilly
USAF 332 AEW / 480 EFS OPS
APO AE 09315-9997


as with shipping anything APO, don't write USA on it.  it may delay the shipping.  not quite sure how long packages/letters will take to get there, but i've heard for me (being quite close) it only takes about four days.  coming from the states, assume a month and then hope for the best... :)

7 month ball of fire

lela turned 7 months old on april 5th... she is a live hot potato.  loves swimming, the bath, playing with her blocks, kicking her legs (especially the left one), stroller rides, hanging out in the sling, laughing at full volume, car rides, wrestling, hanging upside down, and being thrown in the air.  she flips from back to front and front to back constantly.  she rolls in her crib until she falls asleep and we often find her half on her side with limbs jutting in all directions, thighs stuck in the slats of her crib, face half on the sheet, half in between the railings.  she is chatty.  her favorite sounds of the moment are what sounds like "hottTTT" with an emphasis on the t's.  she has been saying "da da da DA da da" for some time now as well.  she will start off talking, cooing, whispering to herself, then that will escalate into an operatic song (on tune, of course), which, if not given the proper attention, will turn into something echoing the tunes of marilyn manson.

lela has been eating lots of veggies, some fruits, and brown rice.  after a couple of tries, she hasn't officially refused anything yet.  she's still nursing about five times a day too.

she gets up a little before 7am, takes a morning nap, afternoon nap, and sometimes an early evening catnap if we're at home, and then goes to bed at 7-7:30pm.  our schedule is often all over the place though, since we don't sit at home all day.  i have a feeling she's going to start popping teeth very soon, so this may bring back the nighttime wakings.  

like i said, lela is a ball of fire.  she has been active since she was about a sixteen week embryo and hasn't slowed down since.  she is a passionate baby (who would have guessed?).... not the best in loud settings where she tries to be louder.  she is best in small playgroups and quiet pools.  yesterday we took her swimming at the indoor waterpark here and she loved the water and swimming, but it was packed.  a little german boy did a cannonball right next to where she was swimming and she pooped her pants.  :)

eurodisney - mickey mouse is cool until he gets in the car

it was time to get out of dodge (even though dodge is quite nice), so we did a girls' trip to eurodisney in paris this past weekend. i'm not so into disney, but living so close, why not?

lela is sitting up fairly well lately. i still can't leave her alone, but i can feed her sitting up and i managed to snag these photos before she toppled as well! enjoying the balmy 70 degree weather in front of our parisian villa...

lela and i rode the carousel and she loved it. we weren't about to wait in any long lines, so that was our only ride, but that was just enough.

lela thought bria's mickey balloon was hers, and was thrilled.

so as you can see, lela seemed to like mickey. well, when that balloon got in the car, not so much. he was lurking on the ceiling above her car seat, and she went crazy. her eyes got huge, her whole body started shaking, and then she started to wail.... it was the saddest sight ever! i couldn't believe how she reacted to this BALLOON! anyway, we put it in the front seat after that and then hid it from her in the villa. she saw it once and began to cry again though... mickey's cool in the park, but mickey needs to stay clear away from lela when she wants to leave. i can't blame her.

the next morning, we took the babes swimming at the indoor pool at our resort (lela's first time in the pool!) lela insisted on swimming in pure european style, so she was nude, and the rest of us wore our suits. she was a fish. we would swim around and then i would set her on the edge of the pool so i could rest for a second and she would immediately scooch off, back into the water. love it! she was all smiles.

6 (actually closer to 7) month checkup for lelita

6 month check-up:

weight: 18.7 lbs. (88th percentile)
length: 27.4 in. (90th percentile)
head circumference: 17.5 in. (91st percentile)

well, wow, she's really almost seven months old. i always scoffed at the old adage "oh, they grow too fast", thinking it was just another parental cliche.... but no, it's true. too true. they grow way too fast. :)

lelu has been eating brown rice cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, sweet peas, and bananas (hated them, but we'll try again).... adding more new foods every few days. she sits with support, has started drinking water from a sippy cup, goes in stages of blowing raspberries and getting drool all over herself, about a week ago started finding her pacifier and putting it in her mouth right side up (what a helpful daughter), sleeps on her belly, loves running in the stroller with me - she squeals when the wind blows through her hair and if it's warm outside through her bare toes. she just wants to laugh her hardy laugh and dance to the music... love her.

on the down side, she has some separation anxiety. just the past month or so, she will whine when i am out of sight or cry when someone else holds her. hopefully, as they say, it's just a phase. she's been going to a playgroup every week which she loves when it's quiet... if it gets too loud, so does she. :)

one thing i know is true about lela is that there is NEVER a dull moment... whether she's sticking immunization crayon stickers on her face at 4 months, making bird calls, sleeping with her legs crossed and propped up on the side of her crib, sleeping with her thigh smashed between the slats of her crib and arm out too, dropping bombs when there is sheer silence (and company), or blowing raspberries until her face is saturated with spit, lela lives it up and never ceases to amaze us.

espana!

7 days in spain was just not enough. spring in spain is gorgeous. we spent 3 nights in madrid, took the fast train to barcelona, spent an afternoon in barcelona, then drove to the breathtaking costa brava, the town of begur, where we spent 4 nights. we WILL be going back... this was one of the most beautiful areas that brant and i have EVER seen. some trip high/lowlights include:

~ we read prior to our trip about muggings in both madrid and barcelona. REALLY common and one of the tactics was for the criminal to ask for the time while his sidekick takes the wallet and they bolt. well, we are traipsing through the madrid underground, get off at our stop, a sketchball approaches brant and asks for the time. i watch as an even sketchierball behind him watches from a short distance. i knew, and brant too, what they were up to. i glare at the accomplice, and brant, after giving the time, walks in a different direction from the two. they 100% were going to try and take brant's wallet, but thankfully brant was wearing cargo pants and had his wallet in a shin pocket. the accomplice couldn't find it.

~ after this incident, carried our stroller and two pieces of luggage up maybe 15,000 stairs in the madrid subway. we did this in paris too, but she was much lighter in the stroller then and we didn't have luggage too. what a workout.

~ at our first dinner in madrid, we were sitting on the terrace along the street and sat next to a group of british women that were having a REALLY good time. they started chatting with us and one of the drunk ladies said, "i had two little ones and know how it is trying to eat with them... i'll take the baby for a walk, so you two can eat." and off she goes pushing lela in her stroller down the sidestreet we were on. since all of her friends were right next to us, we were okay with it. a little. it was kindof weird. she came back after a few minutes and we could see her the whole time.

~ renting our little leon and exiting the parking garage in barcelona, our paid-for parking ticket wouldn't let us out, so we called for help, it now works, but the woman behind us has given us maybe 6 inches of space from our bumper to her headlights and with a manual on a 60 degree incline, ummm... not going to work. i tell brant what to say in spanish to the teller so he can shout it to the woman behind us and all brant does is look at the teller and say, "ella?" which means "she". anyway, i got out of the car and told her to go back, but there was a lineup of cars behind her too. oh my god. we have no choice. he switches gears and instantly floors it - we burn major rubber out of the garage and lela squeals with excitement... and off we go onto the streets of barcelona...

~ our lodging in begur was unreal. it was called hotel aguiaclara and it was the most eclectic, peaceful, little piece of heaven inn ever. we felt like we were in a friend's home. they had a delicious restaurant too AND gave us a baby intercom so we could put lela to sleep and go downstairs and have dinner/drinks for how ever long we desired... this made the trip. why doesn't EVERY small hotel do this? MADE the trip. we ate dinner there every night.

~ in begur, brant went to the little kitchen in our inn to make us some espresso. he put a little cup underneath the spout and began the process. obviously, he had no clue what he was doing (i wouldn't either), because the little cup filled up and it kept going, so he put another little cup underneath...still going, another little cup, i walk by and see a lineup of little cups on the counter and brant sweating bullets. i say, "why don't you just turn it off?" we enjoyed our cafe con leches after that... :)

~ lela ran out of diapers so brant went to the supermarket in town and got her some. unfortunately, you couldn't buy regular diapers in small packs, so he found a 12 pack of swim diapers. she didn't end up needing them until we just arrived back in germany, but what a disaster. every time she wore them she destroyed her whole outfit. completely useless. swim diapers serve no purpose - well, maybe for swimming?

~ brant got me a spa treatment at a really cool hotel near us in begur. when he and lela came to pick me up, from the outside, i look in the back seat, and ask, "where's lela?" brant says, "in the back!" i look in the back again, and see her entire car seat is tipped on its side... ahh! she was sound asleep, but what a scare. the seatbelt came loose on us. not funny.

~ we packed super light because we flew ryanair so we thought we'd just do laundry. in madrid, it was too expensive, so we ask our inn in begur to do it since we were down to the bare minimums. lela was wearing pjs all day and brant and i were wearing our swimsuits for underwear. we have them do it, buuuuuuuuuuuut we forgot to ask the price. when we checked out, um yeah, we could have paid to bring another suitcase for that price. oops.

~ tried to checkin 3.5 hours before our flight, nope - can't do that! not on ryanair. we end up paying over $100 since we didn't checkin more than 4 hours in advance. oops again.

despite our stupidity in many situations, BEST trip ever... costa brava will be seeing us again.

some photos: http://gallery.me.com/sbreilly

top o' the mornin', eh!

my favorite holidaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy