a day at the park

Since Daddy was home on Memorial day we went to the park in the morning. Thanks to my good friend, Nancy, we have a backpack to put her in and we decided to try it for the first time on our walk. Daddy carried her and I carried the camera bag.
She loved riding on Daddy's back and was smiling and babbling the whole way. We hiked through the woods awhile and then went up to where the playground was. First she got to swing. A little boy came along with his parents and got in the swing next to her for awhile, which she loved (she's our little Miss Social!) and then we headed over to the rest of the playground. This was her first time on a playground, other than swings. She wasn't quite sure what to do, so I had to help her climb up the steps. She loves climbing steps like a big girl--picking her foot WAY off the ground to put it on the step, but Mommy or Daddy has to be holding her hand to do this.

She doesn't really like slides too well, so I went down the slide with her--these already-had-a-baby hips don't really fit too well in a toddler slide! It wasn't a comfortable ride down. But she seemed to enjoy it a little more than when she normally goes down a slide.

Then Daddy showed her the chimes under the slide. She loved moving those back and forth and making cool sounds. That was the highlight of the playground....until she realized that she was walking on mulch. I think I've mentioned how much she enjoys picking things up. Well, sticks, leaves, and mulch top her list. So when she realized she was standing in a huge field of mulch, she immediately stooped down, filled both hands with as much as she could grab, and proceeded to shove a piece in her mouth. When does the mouth thing end???? We got ready to go after the mulch eating and hiked back through the woods to the car. Before we were even out of the park she was asleep! We wore the poor girl out. It was a fun family morning.

She's learned a new word: HOT! The other day Daddy was cooking steaks on the grill outside and she saw the smoke coming out (no, he didn't burn them!) and pointed to it. Daddy said, "It's hot!" So she whispered, "hot." Daddy praised her so she started saying it over and over and over. It's the first word she's said that actually sounds just like it's supposed to sound, so it's so cool to actually hear her speaking a real word! This morning I was making her a scrambled egg and she saw steam coming up from the skillet and said, "hot." So cute.

the day after

'Twas the day after the wedding and all through the house, the people were exhausted, and slept like a louse...

...or something like that.

Last night was the wedding, so yesterday morning was busy with getting the car packed and ready to go (it takes the whole house shoved in your car to travel with a one year old, did you know that?)--and I had only had 3 hours of sleep (I couldn't sleep because I was thinking of everything I had to do and take). We left at 9:30 and drove two hours, had lunch, greeted lots of family and friends we hadn't seen in a long time, chased after our one year old who was very excited to be let loose in a huge hotel lobby, baby proofed a hotel room for said one year old, gave her a nap while I hung out at the pool watching my niece and nephew swim and talked to my mom, dad, and brothers (while Daddy took a nap too!) fed her an early dinner before the wedding, got all of us ready to go....and that's all BEFORE the wedding! Then came trying to keep her controlled in a big room with lots of new people. She LOVED it, but was quite talkative, including during the wedding! Daddy had to take her out to the foyer because otherwise no one would've heard Jack and Megan say their vows! But, like mother like daughter: at my uncle's wedding when I was two, I talked the whole time, saying, "Da! Da!" because I saw my daddy up in front as the best man. My aunt and uncle reminded me of that last night after the wedding was over.

Then we had to go upstairs to have pictures taken. There were people and food and photography lights and cords everywhere, so she was like a bull in a china shop. We finally found a big empty room off of the room where the pictures were taken and she was able to run around to her heart's content until it was our turn for a picture She loved it. It had a little balcony over the reception room where everyone else was milling around, so she could look out over it and see people, dance up and down, and squeal away, and no one cared.

Dinner couldn't have come soon enough--she had had an early dinner at the hotel (veggies and some yogurt) but she was starving and had eaten almost an entire snack cup full of cheerios and lots of my hors devours (is that how you spell that??). She was antsy, but was well behaved and smiley to everyone who came to talk to her.

After dinner it was already an hour and a half past her bedtime and she was rubbing her eyes and yawning, so Daddy took her back to the hotel. I stayed a little longer to visit some more. Whew! I was wiped out.

We were certain she wouldn't sleep all night, but we were wrong!!! We stayed in a really cool hotel that used to be a Quaker Oats mill, and the rooms are all in silos, so they're all round! It provided some good nooks and crannies to put a play pen for her to sleep. Our bed was kind of back in an alcove, so we put her in the other section away from us and behind the couch, so she couldn't see us. She slept without making a sound. I woke up at 6:00 and couldn't believe I hadn't heard her, so I had to go check on her to make sure she was okay. She was sacked out on her back with her hands up above her head (she never sleeps on her back!). She slept until 6:30 and then woke up as happy as can be. My parents' room was right next to ours and Grandma came over and helped take care of her while we got everything packed up and ready to go.

We had a nice breakfast with our whole extended family (minus Jack and Megan who had left at 5:30 for their honeymoon in Mexico--my mom got up and saw them off) at the hotel and then we came home.

We couldn't believe how well she did. She slept almost the whole drive up and back and was happy for the time she was awake in the car. She didn't cry really at all the whole time--just full of smiles and excited to see everyone she met. The wedding was very simple and pretty. It was in an old refurbished downtown mansion, just a block from the hotel, so we could walk. The reception got a little crazy after dinner and all of the designated dances (bride and groom, bride and dad, groom and mom....during which I cried, as I saw my mom crying while dancing with her baby boy). Megan and her family (and Jack, too) love a good party, so it got loud after that, but my niece, who is five, LOVED dancing with her daddy (my older brother) and her grandpa (my dad). It was fun watching her jump around and enjoy herself so much. I walked back to the hotel with her, my nephew, and my sister-in-law (their mom). My parents and my older brother, the best man, stayed until the end. I was too tired to last.

So we got home today and I was exhausted. I took a two and a half hour nap, which I haven't done in I can't tell you how long! Even my napping when she was a newborn never lasted two and a half hours (because she never slept that long!). It felt so good, but I easily could've slept longer. My husband finally woke me up (I think because he had had enough of playing Mr. Mom!).

Here are the pictures:

Jack and Megan, the happy couple



Me and my sweet girl

My wonderful mom and me

My grandpa and me

My big brother, Ted, giving the toast...which was very funny

My little brother, Jack, my new sister-in-law, Megan, and me

Ted, Leslie, Ethan, and Emma--they left cute little Alex (he's two) with his other grandma, so I didn't get to see him on this trip.

It was a fun couple of days, but it's good to be home!

summertime

Summer has arrived...it was almost 90 degrees today here. Yesterday we tried the little pool again. She still wasn't too excited about it, but she did get braver in the grass. When I first put her down she stood on her toes and just stayed in one place. She's not a girl who likes to be still for long, though, so she ventured out into the yard a bit, tentatively taking a few steps, lifting her knees up really high. Eventually she walked the full length of the yard, back to the swingset. I couldn't believe she was willing to go that far! Then she walked back to bring Mommy the ball (which, incidentally, she calls a "daw.")

She got in the pool briefly, but wanted out almost immediately. Because she was wet and I didn't want to get myself too wet, I sat her on my leg (I was sitting on the ground outside the pool). From there she could dangle her feet into the pool, which she discovered was GREAT fun because she could kick and splash her feet. I think she's deciding maybe the pool isn't so bad after all!

After her "swim," I changed her out of her swimsuit. The outfit she had been wearing was covered with her mess from lunch, so I put a clean outfit on her--a new sunsuit/dress Grandma got her the last time she was here. I just couldn't help taking pictures because it was too funny and cute.

You can't really see it all that well, but you get the idea--plus I think the expression on her face is priceless. And these next pictures I'm including just because she smiled so well for the camera, which she doesn't often do.

Thanks to those of you who wrote a comment or emailed me in support of my last post! It was kind of hard to write those things when I don't know who reads this, but it was nice to get those feelings out, too. I'm feeling better. It was just a rough couple of days there last week.

This weekend is my little brother, Jack's wedding. I'm a bit nervous about the travel, being up late with lots of new people, staying in the same hotel room with our little one (Will she go to sleep in a totally new place with her two favorite people still awake in the room with her???? It's questionable.)..... I'm thinking that I'll probably stay at the reception with my extended family and Daddy will bring her back to the hotel and put her to bed, since the wedding is rather late. We'll see. I'm excited about seeing my family, especially my older brother and his family who have been in North Carolina on sabbatical all year (but are moving back in-state next month! Hooray!).

That's what's going on here in my world. Happy wedding day to Jack and Megan!!!

the other side of the coin

I usually write about the cute or funny things she does and the happy parts of motherhood. Today I don't feel like writing those things. Just like no one ever seems to tell you how hard marriage is and that it's not all hearts, romance, and happily ever after, you often don't hear about the rough spots of motherhood, either, so I think I'm going to share some tales from the other side....the not so pleasant stuff, just so you know that my life isn't all a bowl of cherries. I'm not sure I want to do this, but I suppose I want this to be real and authentic and not just the happy stuff, so I'll give it a try.

All I've ever wanted is to be a stay at home mom. We waited so long to have children so we could prepare financially for that to happen. But it's far from the perfect job that I always thought it would be. My biggest struggle? It's lonely and isolating. Especially when your husband's gone most of the week and you have no one else to talk to but a 13 month old, who basically understands, "NO!" "Don't Touch!" "toys," and "Want to go outside?" This week I hardly saw my husband at all, and most of the time, when we saw each other, we were too exhausted to have much of a conversation. He was really busy with work and now he's gone on a campout with middle schoolers from church. When he's gone so much that means I have more work taking care of you know who, so we're both more worn out. Grandma was here this week for a day and a half, so that helped a lot, but the other days have been hard.

Yes, it's lonely. My friends almost all work. I always had pictures of going to parks, meeting for lunch, etc. etc....I don't think I've ever met anyone for lunch in the last 13 months (once for breakfast, though), and I've met a friend at a park only a couple of times. It's just so hard to make schedules mesh--naps, meals, etc. Everyone is on a different schedule. It's a huge ordeal to go ANYWHERE with everything you have to take with you. And when something is planned, something almost always gets in the way--usually sickness. I can't tell you how many times that has happened to us in the last year--either I'm sick, she's sick, or whatever friend I meet or her child is sick!

In addition to being lonely, it can be rather monotonous. The same toys, the same games, the same chores (if I actually work up enough motivation to clean), the same TV shows (she watches "Baby Mozart" over and over and over and over and over.....I know every song by heart and what comes next, and could probably reinact the whole DVD for her!--"Why don't you put something else in?" I hear you asking. Well, I've tried, trust me. Nothing else calms her down and keeps her interest like this one does, so I keep using it...only when she's fussy and nothing's making her happy. It works like a charm.)

When spring came it got a little better. We started spending more time outside and there were new things to do. But even now that is getting dull--she walks around and picks up sticks and stones, while I follow her saying, "Don't eat that! Yucky!" and pull everything out of her mouth. I push her on the swing. I blow bubbles and she chews on the extra wand. We go for a walk around the neighborhood. That's the extent of our outdoor activities.

I find myself looking forward to the days of play doh, crayons, finger paint, tape, stickers, dress up, making tents, playing with dolls, and so forth. I guess there just aren't a lot of things to hold her interest right now, and it's frustrating. I can only chase her with the toy vacuum for so long (I got that at a garage sale last weekend--it's her new favorite game. She doesn't want to play with it herself, but she brings it to me over and over and has me chase her).

I don't want to keep complaining. I guess I've just had a long couple of days and I needed to vent. It's been cold and dreary out and the last few days and we haven't gotten out much. I really do love staying home and wouldn't want it any other way. It just has its ups and downs, just like any job, I suppose.

So here are the ups....just to remind myself!
--her huge smiles when I get her up from bed
--her big, wet, whole mouth kisses
--her little dances she does whenever she hears music
--when she plays peekaboo with me while she lays on the changing table and pulls her pants over her face
--the way she tries to move her fingers to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" whenever I start singing it
--the way she goes right to her highchair whenever I say, "Are you hungry?"
--her new trick of sticking her tongue out and feeling it
--watching her giggle when she sees herself in the mirror
--her belly laugh when she gets tickled
--holding her and giving her her bottle in the morning when she wakes up and she's still a little bit sleepy and wants to linger on my lap (the only time of day she's ever a tiny bit snuggly)

Okay, it's making me cry (joyfully) to think about all of these....and I could come up with so many more. She's so sweet. I guess I can't stay on the other side of the coin for long!

going for a swim

Yesterday was really hot, so I thought it would be a good day to break out her new pool. It's just a tiny blow up pool, so I blew it up in the morning, put water in it, and let it sit in the sun to get warm. Later in the afternoon, after Grandma arrived for her visit, we put her bathing suit on her for the first time and took her outside. First of all, she had never been in the grass before with her bare feet, and that was HILARIOUS to watch. She didn't like it at all and kept trying to lift her feet off the grass. She realized that wouldn't work, so she stood on her tip toes and reached up to one of us to pick her up. When we had ahold of her she'd lift both legs up so they wouldn't be touching. It was so funny. When we sat her down in the grass she even picked her feet up, so her bottom was in the grass but her feet were up in the air. What a funny girl.




Here she is testing out the water (notice she's on her tippy toes!!)


She didn't really like the pool, either. The water was warm, almost like a bath, but she just didn't want to stay in it. She played a little bit with some stacking cups, but mostly she'd stand up and lift her arms up to be picked up.



So swimming didn't last too long, but Grandma and I sure had fun watching her! We'll have to try again another day.

happy mother's day

I had a nice Mother's Day. I was especially glad because we were all feeling better. We've all three been sick this last week, so it was nice to have everyone feeling fairly well again. I was disappointed, though, because my mom was supposed to come down on Saturday after a wedding shower for my sister-in-law-to-be (to which I was supposed to go as well, but didn't because I was sick), and be here on Mother's Day, but she decided not to come since she didn't want to get our germs and risk being sick for my brother's wedding in two weeks. So both Mom and I were sad to not share our mother's day together, but she's coming down tomorrow instead, so at least we'll still get to see her.

So my Mother's Day was a nice, quiet day with my little family. First thing in the morning Daddy and daughter brought me a card, flowers, and Krispy Kreme donuts. Yum! I had already received my gift, which was a zoo membership, mentioned in a previous post. Then we went to church and our little one graduated to the toddler room. She did well with the big kids, surprisingly, and it was SOOO cute to walk in to get her and see about 20 little 1 and 2 year olds sitting at a table in tiny chairs eating cheerios together!! Even our little girl sat there very still and had her share. She's growing up! (pause, while I wipe away a tear!)

After church we went to lunch at a restaurant on the reservoir--it's the closest we can get to waterfront dining here! We've been wanting to try it for some time, but hadn't yet. When we got there it wasn't open yet, so we walked around the garden store next door for a half hour looking for plants for our evolving landscaping. It was a beautiful day and so nice to enjoy it outside. Finally it was time for the restaurant to open, so we went back and got a seat at the window by the water. We didn't know if the little one would make it through dinner--she had missed her morning nap--but she did really, really well. She seems to really enjoy being out because there is so much more to look at. I had steak, which I rarely have, and it was overdone, but still good. They offered to take it back and make me another one, but I knew that she wouldn't stay quiet while we waited for another steak, so I said no thank you, so they offered me free dessert, instead! So I brought some dessert home with me and ate it later in the afternoon, which was a nice treat.

While she napped in the afternoon I went to JoAnn's to get some scrapbooking supplies I had been wanting, and it was nice to get out a little on my own and browse the scrapbook aisles at my leisure, not worrying about her getting fussy, like I normally do while I'm there. It was fun.

And last night I went to our church's new church plant, which meets on Sunday nights, because my best friend's son (who is only 2 1/2 weeks older than our daughter) was being dedicated during their service. I was glad to get to be there, and also to experience their new church. I also got to see a few friends from our old small group, who I don't get to see so much anymore since they're at the church plant. Daddy did dinner, bathtime and bedtime for me while I was gone, so it was nice to get a little break from the routine on Mother's Day.

So there's my Mother's Day in a nutshell. Here are some pictures (after she'd already had her clothes changed from her cute little dress, unfortunately!!!). We couldn't get one where we both looked good....when she was smiling, my eyes were closed, and when I looked decent, she wasn't smiling or looking at the camera! Oh well....you get the idea.

long time, no post

I know it's been awhile. With the nice weather I'm not inside as much and not online as often. We're enjoying the sunshine and warmth, swinging, blowing bubbles, picking up sticks, eating rocks...you know, the things everyone does outside! She loves carrying things around--anything she finds on the ground is fair game. The other day I found her carrying a dead earthworm she found on the driveway. That's my girly girl, huh (at least she didn't get it as far as her mouth!)

Mostly she just enjoys walking up and down the sidewalk. Give her a straight path and she'll go forever. The other day she saw someone walking a dog and took off after them, practically in a run! She's very social, and anytime she sees other people she breaks out into a huge smile, points to them, and takes off in that direction. There's no such thing as a stranger at this point in her life.

We've been working on landscaping. We've lived here for nearly four years and have yet to do anything to the landscaping, even though there's been plenty we've wanted to do. So finally we started. This past weekend we ripped out two dead cedar trees and another tree that was growing out of control and leaning into the garage. We transplanted about 10 bushes and planted some rose bushes and a very small tree. We're hoping we didn't kill everything in the transplanting--neither of us has a very green thumb. We have lots more to do, and at the moment it looks quite bare, but I'm anxious to see what it looks like when we're done. Our little one loves to "help!" She was out with us for awhile on Sunday and loved carrying around clumps of dirt, climbing over them, and falling into the holes we dug. She was into everything, but loving every minute of it. She's definitely not one afraid to get dirty. Maybe we have a tomboy on our hands.