A Note from Tucker

Hello to all my family and friends!  I haven’t met hardly any of you yet, but Mom tells me that I’ll get to see lots of you in July when we come for vacation.  But that’s almost double my lifetime away so I thought I’d share a little bit about my life here in Ixtlan.  In case you were wondering, I’m a pretty bright kid and Mom and Dad aren’t even helping me write this! 

So let’s see…where to begin?  I have it pretty good these days.  All I have to do is cry for a little bit and somebody comes to get me.  I like to be able to see what’s going on.

 

Sometimes I like to just lay on the bed and stretch. 

    But I really like being held too.  Sometimes I convince whoever is holding me to take a nap with me.  I consider it quality bonding time.  

Every day I get to go on a stroller ride up to the market to buy whatever Mom needs for lunch that day.  I usually fall asleep on the way and snooze until we get back home.  Mom puts up the shades on the stroller so I can’t see anything anyway.

Tomorrow I get to go on my first road trip to Guadalajara to take Aunt Anita to the airport.  Mom says she hopes I’m good in the van.  I don’t always like my car seat though so I’m not making any promises.  

 I’m going to miss Aunt Anita a lot.  Did you know that she’s been hanging out with me for all but one week of my life?  We’re good buddies. 

 I smile at her a lot but as soon as she gets her camera, I stop with the smilesJ  I’ll be excited to see her again in July.

Well, other than eating and sleeping, there’s not much new.  Dad weighs me unofficially every once in a while and he says I’m growing a lot.  I’ll leave you with some more pictures to enjoy.  I better get to bed because Mom says we have to get up really early to leave for the airport.  5 am might seem early to her, but I always get up around then (at least until I decide it’s time for a nap). 

Adios!

Tucker

More Pictures

Tucker has been great.  He's staring at me now from his perch on the couch.  He is a great baby.  Okay, now he's crying.  You all know how it goes.  He's a baby....

We heard that some of you wanted to see the parents in the pictures too, so there you go.

Mom and Dad were able to make it down for a quick weekend and enjoyed the time with Tucker.  It went really fast, but we were glad that they could make it down and see their grandson. 

Anita is here too.  She is staying until June.  It has been and will continue to be great to have her here to help out around the house.  As well as keep us company for a while. (Oh, and I forgot, to guest blog, too.) 

 Need I say more?

Smile!

We told Tucker we were going home to see all our family and friends.  He was really excited.

 Then we told him that it wouldn't be until July and he wasn't so thrilled.

Tucker is doing well!  It's hard to believe that we are nearing a week already.  He has been sleeping better at night, and during the day, and pretty much any time he isn't eating.  He seems to be growing already, but I am sure we will get a better report when we have a checkup with the doctor on Saturday.  I (Regg) am thankful that I don't have class again until Wednesday.  Tomorrow the elementary school is going to the Zoo in Guadalajara for a a field trip and we have Monday and Tuesday off.  So I plan to enjoy some quality time with Tucker and Bev.   I also get to go pick up Anita on Monday.   Maybe we can get some guest blogs posted in the coming month.

Tucker Dane

 I suppose this is news worthy of starting up the blog again.  Bev and I are super excited to have Tucker home with us.  It was a long day Saturday, but definitely worth it.  Tucker is a great little baby.  While I can't deny that he does cry a little, he has allowed us to get at least a little sleep (remember this is Regg talking so Bev might have a different interpretation of these facts).  He is a cute little guy and has really been pretty alert so far, which is a lot of fun.

I know that people are going to be asking about the details.  So, here are some, at least.  Things started early in the morning but proceeded slowly.  We went to the doctor here in town, Dr. Martín, who has been our doctor since January.  (We originally were seeing his wife, but she was elected mayor so her husband took over the office.) Anyway, after a quick checkup, he told us to go ahead and go to the hospital in Zamora.  So we took the 45 min drive and got to the hospital around 3:30.  Christy Stoller, currently studying in Guadalajara to be a doctor, was staying with us for the weekend and went along with us, so we had a little extra expert advice to guide us through checking in and all the fun stuff.  At about 6:25 we went into delivery and at 6:55 we were happy, grateful parents.  The hospital was a private hospital so it was a little nicer than what we would find in the other hospitals but nothing like what we have in the states.  It was still nice enough for us though.  We had our own private room with a bathroom and room for all of us to sleep.  The room and the hospital were pretty basic, but really, we had what we needed.  We had Tucker with us the whole time (no nursery) so we didn't get tons of sleep.  He was awake and wide-eyed for about two hours after birth.  He has plenty of dark hair and his eyes are currently pretty dark too (no surprises there).  He seems super tiny sometimes, but then he starts to move around and all of a sudden doesn't seem quite so small.

Anyway, we will try to keep, at the very least, some pictures coming.  And we can't wait to see a lot of you in a couple of months when we come up this summer!

So April Came and Went

Since trying to excuse my long lapses without blogging seems to be the way that I start each post, I am going to treat you all with another excuse. This time it may be relatively understood and accepted, but only by a minuscule degree (if even that).

You see, we currently have no internet. This is because we are not living in the guest house anymore. Yes, that is right. We moved. No, not to the house we are planning on ending up in, but moved none-the-less. More on the move in the next post. First…what about the month of April?

Yes, you are right to ask. April proved to be very interesting for us. We left for the states and the wedding of Abe and Julie Habegger on April 1^st. That was a Friday. We rushed to Ft. Wayne for pictures, back to Milford for the wedding and then I was on a plane at 1:00 AM Monday morning on my way back to Mexico while my beautiful wife stayed behind with her family. Yes, two whole weeks, Bev and I were separated. It was a long couple of weeks. Thankfully we have Skype and were able to talk a lot. I kept busy and the two weeks were soon over.

By the way, Abe and Julie’s wedding was great. I am honored to be Julie’s cousin and a close enough friend of Abe, an import to Milford from Bluffton, to be included in the wedding party. It was fun to see so much of the family and so many old friends. We are super excited for the great things that Abe and Julie will do as a couple and that we get to be their friends.

Anyway, the two weeks ended and I got back on a plane for Chicago. Spring Break finally came to Mexico so, naturally, we spent it in the states. Mexico always gives two weeks off for Spring Break, the weeks before and after Easter, so most of the first week we spent with Mom and Dad Beer who were watching my little cousins. So we filled the time with all kinds of exciting activities. Thursday we headed to Ohio for some Schlatter family time. To top off the day, my sister Angie had a little baby boy, Jace David, and on Friday morning we made a quick trip back to Ft. Wayne to see Mark, Angie, and little Jace.

Here are the Murray cousins. We had a lot of fun with them and they had a lot of energy.

Jace David. You really can't see him very well, but I can't wait to get back in July and get my hands on him again. I am sure he is growing fast.

That was when Spring Break really started. After seeing Jace, we made the trek up to Toledo to meet up with Kent to head down to Florida with Mark, Missy and family. We almost drove through a tornado somewhere in Kentucky, but the trip otherwise went very well and we drove out of the cold nasty Midwest weather into the warm Sunshine State. We spent a week relaxing in Orlando before catching a plane back to Mexico on April 30^th. Yep, the last day of April. That was the month of April. It was super exciting and fun. More later on the house and the last eye clinic.

Here is the spring break crew (except for Mark and Missy, of course. I don't know how they got out of getting their picture on here. Some other time, like when they come to visit us, right?).

An Update-ote

That's Spanglish for a huge update. Yeah. I wish I was self-disciplined enough to not have to start every post with some apology for not having posted.

So way back in March, yeah, March, Bryan Stoller and company were here. This included Bryan, his wife Kara and their three kids, Corey and Beth Steffen and their six kids, and Hannah Zimmerman. It was a crowd and they all stayed here in the guest house with Bev and I. It was a tight fit, but we all got on fine. Life was definitely a lot more interesting that week.

Someone turned 40 while they were here, but I won't say who....
We went out for tacos one night at a little stand on the street. Yeah, all 16 of us crowded around poor Luis and asked for 40-some tacos. He's was more than happy to serve us.

Bryan ran an eye clinic to give out eye glasses. He met with several hundred people over the four days that he worked. He was a very busy man. The girls that came down helped him out with the work that needed to be done in the clinic. That consisted of testing everyone on the wall chart and actually giving out the glasses. Everything seemed to go quite smoothly and we even were able to send over all the kids in the elementary for a quick exam. A couple of them came back proudly wearing new glasses.

This is apparently what the girls did helping Bryan all week. Looks pretty tough to me.

Oh, wait, here's the wall chart. It had pictures instead of letters for all the people who don't know how to read.

Here is the room where they gave out the glasses. You can see all the glasses around the side of the room. There are thousands of them. If anyone has used glasses that are no longer in use, you can send them to Bryan for the eye clinic here in Ixtlan. His address is in the Silver Lining.

Meanwhile, Corey set up the new computer lab for the school. The boys and I were the lucky ones to help him. We now have 15 brand new computers in the school and are thankful that we will be able to give computer classes next year as well. I won't say that the set up went without glitches, but everything is now pretty much ready to go.

Corey and Beth with the wonderful new computers. Computer classes will start next year and the kids are very excited.

I can't forget about the most valuable people of the week Kara, Beth (and sometimes my very own wife - when she wasn't helping at the clinic). They were the ones that kept us fed. Obviously the most important job of them all. We ate very well all week thanks to their work.

Here is Kara with some of the girls at the market doing her job for the week. Looks like fresh pineapple was on the menu.

Saturday we took a little break in the morning and gave the group a chance to get away for a little while. We made a quick trip to the market in Zamora and managed to get a good cultural experience in, even if we missed the ever elusive chorros. We then headed out to Lake Camecuaro for a little bit of relaxation. The lake is fed by natural springs and is crystal-clear and very cold. We snacked and walked around a bit before we headed back to Ixtlan for lunch and a little more work.

Here is a shot at the market in Zamora. That's zucchini, chayote (a type of squash) and onions in the very front.

The market isn't all fresh produce and pig heads, just ask these girls. They were taking one big whiff of the pleasant aroma before going through the fish market.

Here we are at the beautiful Lake Camecuaro.

The crew left on Monday morning, crammed into the big green van. Thankfully, Beth took a lot of pictures which we copied onto our computer before they left, so we can actually give you some good pictures this time. Thank you, Beth!!!

Pig Heads for Anita

Anita had asked that we bring her a pig head, but we got held up a little in customs coming up to the states. Something about contamination, but by the looks of their faces, I think they were just plain disgusted.

Okay. So we didn't even try, but for Anita's sake, here is another reminder of the wonderful Mexican delicacy (which I have never tried).