Why We're in Mexico

Hola Joey! It's a pretty hot Saturday here in Playa Del Carmen. We spent the day looking at stuff for you, like cribs and playpens and bassinets. We also bought you your first pair of shoes, which are pretty damned cool for baby's first shoes if you ask me. Here is a photo:



Pretty neat huh? Yeah, your folks may be geeks but we're definitely the cool kind of geek.

So I guess I'll fill you in on why we're in Mexico. A long, long time ago, in 1986, your Grandma and Grandpa took me and your Uncle Bobby to live in Australia. On the way there and the way back, we visited places like Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, Singapore and Malaysia. We also got to see Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Surfer's Paradise and Noosa Heads in Australia. Needless to say, your Uncle and I were very spoiled that year, and then again in 1992 when we returned to live in Australia and on the way and the way back we visited Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Cook Islands and Fiji again, plus while in Australia we saw the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Alice Springs (from the airport), Sydney, Adelaide and we lived in Perth and went on many, many road trips up and down the west coast. We even got to feed and pet dolphins in Monkey Mia. I was a teenager then, and I remember the whole year like it was yesterday. All of this traveling put what your Uncle Bobby calls "the bug" in us. The travel bug.

When your Uncle Bobby got older, he took a bus tour around the USA to see all the famous ballparks, then he went back to Australia and lived for over a year and had some stopovers in places like Malaysia, Thailand and Laos. He wasn't in Vancouver very long after he got back, flying off to Europe to see England and Scotland and Sweden. When he finally came back to Vancouver for a while, he missed traveling and worked very hard to make nough money to go somewhere else. Finally, in 2006, your Uncle Bobby moved to Thailand and lived near the beach in Phuket for 6 months. I hadn't been outside of North America since 1992, and your Grandpa, Grandma and I all flew to Thailand for Christmas to be with Uncle Bobby. When I was there, I remembered how much I loved to travel. Your doggy, Rocky, had always held me back from traveling but I decided in Thailand that it was silly to let our wonderful puppy take the blame for me not traveling. We all decided to move to Mexico the following year. Doggies and all.

First to go was Grandma and Grandpa. Your Daddy and I met up with them when they arrived in Playa Del Carmen last year in July. Kramer flew really well and was fine. He found it a little hot, but that just made him sleepy which, for anyone who knows Kramer, is a good thing! Your Daddy and I were only visiting for a week, but we loved it. The people are so friendly, there is hardly any crime, the weather is spectacular and everyone lives to do things outside. It was a much more active lifestyle than back home in Vancouver, as well as very laid back and just beautiful. Daddy hmmmed and hawwwed over wanting to move here but not being able to. We went back home and sat inside for the rest of the summer, the weather being the most miserable of any summer in Vancouver I can remember.

Next to move was Uncle Bobby. He left Vancouver in September. It was pretty hard on Mommy cause that was the first time she'd ever lived in a city where none of her immediate family lived. I'm sure by the time you are reading this, you already know how important my family is to me and how close our family is. I felt very lonely, but I had to look on the bright side - I was moving to Playa myself in December!

When December finally rolled around, I had sold everything I owned except a small pile of boxes, and I had said all my goodbyes to everyone in Vancouver. The hardest was saying goodbye to your Daddy. During the previous 3 years, your Daddy and I had been inseparable. We loved each other very much, and it felt like we were a part of each other. But we had to say goodbye because Mommy needed to finally travel after all of these years just dreaming about it, and your Daddy's home and work were in Vancouver, as well as your sisters, Abbey and Natasha. We said goodbye and I flew to Cancun with Rocky.

As soon as I got here I felt better. I saw your Grandma and Grandpa at the airport, and then Uncle Bobby when we got home. We had lots of fun the first few weeks, especially with Christmas coming up. Lots of beach time and swimming time and Rocky had adjusted absolutely fine. I was having a wonderful time but I was very sad as well because I missed your Daddy. He and I would talk on the phone almost every night. We would talk about how much we missed each other and how we could work things so we could be together. Daddy soon booked a flight here in January and we talked about maybe getting married and how maybe Daddy could come and work with Mommy's company here in Playa.

It was right around that time that I realized I was pregnant. I was very nervous at first, but I told your Daddy. We decided we would make sure I was pregnant before we made any plans. So I told your Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Bobby. They were all very, very excited. When I confirmed that I was pregnant, I told your Daddy and it changed everything. Soon he was making plans to move to Mexico. He still came for his visit in January and we had a wonderful time together. It was hard to say goodbye again, but only a month later, he was back. This time for good.

Joey, you brought two of the best friends ever, together again. You gave us an amazing reason to be together again. You inspired your Daddy to see that he could live somewhere else and be happy. No, we are not married right now, but we love each other and we are a part of each other, and thanks to you, we have found a way to be with each other. And we are so happy right now. Things took a little adjusting, but right now we are happy every day just looking forward to your arrival.

Thank you for such a wonderful gift, Joey!

Love, Mommy

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