Mommy's maiden voyage

I packed up the car on Thursday and made my first road trip alone with the two kids. Let's say it was an experience. The first 15 minutes were blissful. I had two beautiful sleeping children securely strapped into their car seats and we were on our way. Then we hit 494, traffic stopped, and my mind began focusing on how every single minute at this point in the trip counted since they were asleep. How long would they truly sleep for? I was irate after arriving in Minneapolis an hour after our departure time. This is when Ava abruptly awoke and made the announcement, "whoa Mommy, I just took the longest nap in the whole world, can I watch a movie now". Great, we haven't even left the cities and Ava's nap is now over. Thanks to the Ipad I was able to buy some time since I can't exactly hook up the DVD player while driving. Grant took a good nap and I threw toys at him for awhile. I then made a discovery. The band-aid that I had put on Grant's finger prior to leaving the house (he somehow cut it open on a toy and it was bleeding Everywhere!) was no longer on his finger. I then noticed that he was chewing on something. I quickly turned out the hazards, yanked the car over to the side of the highway, ran around the car (only to realize that his door was still locked, so I ran back to the driver's side to unlock it, and back to his side), and dug the lovely band-aid out of his mouth before he choked on it. A short stop and we were on our way again.

Next stop; McDonald's. Yeah, not my idea of a great mid afternoon pit stop but I needed a place to feed Grant. So, we made a stop in the bathroom to change a diaper and a break for Ava. We then tried to figure out what was more nutritious...chocolate chip cookies or french fries. Yeah, great choices huh? We settled on a cookie for an afternoon snack while I nursed Grant. Halfway through feeding Grant Ava starts her "dance" at which point she announces that she needs to go poopy. I'm quickly trying to get Grant unsuctioned from my breast as she's saying, "I'm going to go poppy in my pants, it's coming out of my bottom". We make a mad dash to the bathroom where she is adamant about choosing the handicap toilet that sits 12 feet off the floor. I lift her up there and we are safe from any accidents. Grant is now cranky and wants to finish eating so since Ava is demanding privacy I turn my back to her and feed Grant in this disgusting stall while praying that nobody steals the diaper bag off our table that contains my wallet and car keys. Once Ava is done she needs to be wiped. Oh fun! She bends over, putting her hands on the floor (makes me want to dry heave), Grant is now grabbing onto the germ filled door, and Ava decides she would have better balance if she puts her head down on the floor as well (makes me want to vomit thinking about the germs she is touching). At this point I just want a bucket of sanitizer to dunk them in. We eventually make our way to the sink and scrub all of our hands (including Grant's), finish feeding Grant, and load up again.

At this point Ava has her movie in so she is good. God rewarded me for our pit stop and Grant fell back to sleep for a short while. After 4 hours and 15 minutes, we finally arrived at the cabin safe and sound. Mission accomplished! Boppa arrived shortly after we did, and Daddy arrived just after dinner time.

Friday was a bit chilly so we didn't make it out on the water. Ava spent some time picking raspberries with Daddy and Boppa, and we all got a chance to play outside for awhile. Friday evening Nate surprised me with dinner reservations and Mema and Boppa watched the kids. We had a much needed night out to ourselves (ok, it was really just a couple of hours, but that is more than we ever get) and enjoyed some great food. Saturday was beautiful and Grant finally took his first boat ride. My friend Libby and her parents came over for a few hours for a boat ride. Grant absolutely loved driving the boat. Saturday evening we were supposed to have dinner at the neighbor's place. However, since our kids didn't get their normal naps we had a few melt downs. Nate was able to stay and enjoy dinner with everybody, while I put the kids down. Dinner was good, even warmed up in the microwave.

  We headed home Sunday after one last boat ride and some lunch. The kids did fairly well on the ride home. It just gets to be a long trip with Grant, especially when we get stuck in traffic. It was back to work for both of us on Monday. The rest of the week is filled with play dates and a dinner with friends. Should go quickly, like most weeks. :)

 

 

Ava & Grandpa Ed

Ava, Grandpa Ed, and Grant

"Clueless" is the caption to this picture

Our newest captain.  He was in heaven (and I think Boppa was too)

Ava trying not to smile with Mema

Libby & Grant

Ava kissing the minnow that she and Daddy caught

Uncle Jeremy giving Ava a lesson on what's in her tackle box

Ava caught this sunny all by herself. 

Ava realizing that it hurts when you touch their top fins

Grant rocking out with his maracas

My sweet boy and me on the boat

Fishing with her daddy

parties, teeth, bathroom talk, and more

I'm sure that you've noticed that I've been slacking on the blog lately. It's not that I don't think about it, I do. It's just that there isn't enough time in one day.  I've taken on a new project/goal.  I told Nate at the beginning of the year that I was going to make a new years resolution (which I don't do) to run a 5K (which I don't run) by the end of the year.  This may seem like a small feat to most people.  However, if you know me you know that I truly don't run.  I was the one in elementary school who used to dread the physical fitness test day where we had to run around the stupid baseball diamond for the mile run.  Yes, it all started when I was 7 years old.  Anyway, long story short, I started this couch to 5K program.  I quickly realized that not working out for 9 months of pregnancy and 9 months postpartum really takes a toll on your endurance and fitness level.  It's only three days a week that I have to run, but it's sadly difficult to find the time to do it.  So, I end up doing it at 8:30 at night when the kids are in bed and before it gets to dark.  Therefore, my blogging time has been cut out.  So, there is my excuse.  :)

Let's think back to a week and a half ago.  I worked my 12 hr day shift while the kids stayed home with Daddy.  Ava had a birthday party to go to on Saturday.  It was supposed to be a pool party but since it was 65 degrees she wore a sweatshirt instead.  She had a great time playing, doing crafts, and having ice cream for lunch.  The rest of the weekend was spent at the library and hanging out with our friends Josh, Kate, and Tate. 

Monday Ava and I headed to Grant's 9 month Dr. appointment.  Yes, the big man is 9 months, weighs in at 21 3/4 lbs, is 30 inches long, and has a big ol' head (off the charts).  He's still off the charts with his height, but has settled into the 90th percentile for his weight.  He just popped his 8th tooth (4th one on the bottom) this past weekend.  I swear he gets a new tooth daily.  It's a good thing since this kids Loves to eat!!!  He eats more than most toddlers I think.  He loves his table food, and I love this as well because then he can feed himself. 

We had another busy weekend this past weekend.  Saturday morning Aunt Darlene, Great Grandma, and cousin Sara came to visit while Aunt Virgie was up here for a Norwex conference.  We spent the morning together and then went out for lunch at Pizza Ranch, where Grant should have been charged for an adult buffet with everything that he ate.  That afternoon Nate and I headed out for a wedding while they stayed with the kids until Mema came to watch the around 4:00.  Mema spent the night with us since we weren't home until later.  By later I mean 11:00.  Yeah, we are those super lame people who are in bed before midnight on the weekends.  I didn't really want to pump in the car, so we headed home to avoid that.  Ah, one more of the great things about breast feeding...you can never go anywhere for more than 5 hours without being pumped like a milk cow. 

Sunday morning we took Mema to the zoo.  Ava was super excited.  We even rode the monorail for the first time.  It will be closing for good next month and I wanted to make sure that she got to ride on it at least once.  She had a great time.  We had perfect weather to be at the zoo, nice and cool.  We were home in time for lunch and then got ready for our friends Josh, Jenny, Nora, Josh, Kate, and Tate to come over.  Nora is about 8 months younger than Ava.  It was so fun watching the girls play together, pretend, and chat.  What a fun age!  We had a great time visiting with the adults, which we don't get to do enough.  We were so lucky to get to spend that time with Josh and Jenny since they delivered their twins today!  We can't wait to meet the two little men!

A little update on Ava's potty training.  We have been accident free during the day for quite some time.  She went quite awhile without having accidents at night so we started to let her wear her big girl underwear to bed.  She did great for the first few nights.  Then she had two nights in a row where she had an accident.  We have decided that it's most likely because we are dumb and were giving her a drink before bedtime.  She used to wake up in the middle of the night and come tell us if she had to go though.  She is so funny about going to the bathroom (not funny ha ha, but funny weird).  She won't just go to the bathroom, she has to wait until the last minute when she is doing a little dance and then makes a mad dash to the bathroom.  The other night she was in the play room with Nate and all of a sudden comes running through the living room into the bathroom.  She flips on the light and the fan in the bathroom.  I then hear her say to herself, "Hey, I didn't know I had all this poopy in my tummy.  That's why I had all the gas out of my bottom".  Then tonight she is in the bathroom singing (very common for her, as she sings all day long about anything and everything).  This time was a bit different though.  Only my daughter would make up song lyrics about her poop to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me".  Hopefully Jesus doesn't take it personally.  I feel like I should set a video camera up in there to catch all of the funny stuff that comes out of her mouth when she's in the bathroom.

We hope that you are enjoying your week.  Thanks for checking in!
 

Hanging out before getting ready the other morning

At the zoo.  Ava is into getting her picture taken (even though she has a fake smile on all the time)

This would be Grant as he passed out during dinner the other night.  Poor little guy!

We have a crawler

Today Grant turned 9 months old, and became an official crawler. He's been working on it for awhile now, but today he went more than a couple of feet crawling. He used it as it primary way to get across the room.  There is no more setting him down and finding him in the same spot a minute later.  This little man is on the go, trying to find anything to put in his mouth.  This morning it was my shoulder, knee, shin, anything he could try to bite on.  Yes, nursing has been a bit of a challenge over the past week.  Those teeth are SHARP!  He doesn't have just a couple, he now has 7 teeth.  He has four on top and three on the bottom.  This allows him to eat quite a variety of things, and he's not picky.  He will eat anything that he can pick up and put in his mouth.  He's also becoming quite vocal.  He has one volume and it's loud.  I can't believe that it's been 9 months since he came into our life.  This time is going by far to quickly.  I rocked him to sleep this afternoon, holding him tight and thinking about how these times are limited. 

The weather has finally cooled off here and today we took full advantage of it.  The kids and I spent the morning at the zoo.  It's so nice to have a place like that so close to us.  Ava absolutely loves it there.  This afternoon we spent a little time outside before running to Target, and then took a little walk (bike ride for Ava) with Daddy when he got home. 

Nothing else too exciting to report.  Hope that you are all enjoying your week!

 

I took all of these pictures today for Grant's 9 month "birthday"

I think he looks huge in this pictures.  I couldn't put his height and weight on here because thankfully we haven't been to the Dr. recently.  He'll have his 9 month well baby check next Monday.

Home, safe and sound

After a very busy week we are now home safe and sound. We were supposed to stay at the cabin until tomorrow but since it was raining up there, and was supposed to rain all day, we decided to make an early departure.

A short run down of what we've been up to, and I'll let the pictures tell the rest...

Nate and the kids arrived home from the cabin last Sunday, just in time for me to see them for about 45 minutes before I had to head to work for another 12 hour night shift.  When Ava walked in the door I almost died when I saw her.  It looked like she had lived outside for 3 days straight and got eaten alive by mosquitoes.  They are nasty this year!!!  The poor thing swells like I do and she had/has bites everywhere. 

Monday afternoon I picked the kids up from daycare and then decided that I was to tired to drive to IA that night to meet up with my sister and cousins on my mom's side.  I got up on Tuesday morning at 5:00 and then headed to Clear Lake to meet up with them for a night of camping (they had all been there since Sunday night).  I headed back home Wednesday morning.  I finally got to spend a little time with the kids.  I worked  Friday and came home to pack so we could leave for the cabin.  I was exhausted so Nate gave us permission to leave for the cabin Saturday morning instead.  I'll be honest, not only was I exhausted but I was also a little nervous driving at night after the run in with the deer the week before.  The Traverse is still in the shop, but should be done this week.  We are very grateful to Mema and Boppa for letting us borrow the Tahoe so that we have something to drive and don't have to rent something. 

So our trip to the cabin was cut short this weekend due to the weather, but that's ok.  We enjoyed the short time that we did spend up there (minus the mosquito bites).  Hope that you all had a great weekend! 

Ava had a great time swimming under and around the dock over the 4th of July weekend.  I heard that she slept very well this night. 

Grant loves his mesh feeder.  He would much rather feed himself than have us feed him from a spoon.  We usually put fresh fruit in this little thing and he sucks it dry.  He's finally realizing that he has to chew his food, so we're slowly starting more table/finger foods.  He's working on his 7th tooth right now.  I feel like he got three of them in one day.

Lisa, me, Sara, Kristin, & Melissa.  We had a great time at the beach that day (even though Melissa needs to learn how to properly apply sunscreen so I don't burn my back).  It was so much fun to see these girls and catch up a little bit.  I'm sorry I couldn't be there for the whole time.  I would have much rather been sitting around a campfire than working nights. 

We drive by this little park in Pequot Lakes every time that we're up north and I've never stopped.  I thought that Saturday seemed like a good day to do so.  Ava then directed us into the little town museum that we never knew existed. 

Riding the bull

There wasn't a lot of sunshine, but that didn't discourage us from a little photo shoot on the dock. 

This rash guard top is a 12-18 month.  I was a little concerned that I might not be able to get it off once I got it on.  I know that they're supposed to be tight, but I'm not sure that they are supposed to be this tight. 

Ava loved playing in the water with her daddy. 

Grant getting a little yoga in while Ava played in the water

Oh deer!

I got a phone call from Nate at 10:30 last night.  My heart sank when I heard Grant crying in the background and Nate said, "we smoked a deer, the car is trashed, but we are ok".  I had so many questions but he of course had to go and call the insurance and get a tow truck.  This left me shaking, pacing, remembering my sweet baby's cry, and wondering what was going on.  It seemed like forever (which it really wasn't) before I got an update.  At 11:30 they (Uncle Wes & Aunt Janna were with them) were resting comfortably at Perkins in Little Falls, with Boppa on his way to pick them up.  Grant got his first, and hopefully last, ride in a state patrol car since tow trucks aren't exactly equipped to transport car seats. 

So, the Traverse currently sits in Little Falls (about 2 hours north of here and an hour south of the cabin).  It won't get assessed until next week as to how much damage there is.  I have no clue how much there is, I'm just grateful, oh so grateful, that everybody is safe.  I can't wait to get my hands on Nate and the kids to shower them with hugs and kisses. 

Safe travels to all of you this 4th of July!

The Cabin

Last weekend I made my first trip to the cabin for the summer (it was the kids' second time up).  We had planned to leave Friday evening, but ended up waiting until Saturday morning.  Grant had some rusty colored drainage coming out of his eye on Friday so I had made him a doctor's appointment for Saturday morning to get it checked out.  Thankfully it was cleared up by then and I cancelled the appointment and we left early Saturday.  We are all exhausted Friday evening so it was ok that we waited until Saturday morning.  Nate didn't get home from Vegas until around 12:30 Friday morning.  I think that he had a good time down there, but was definitely ready to come home to see his family.

The weather was pretty nice on Saturday, but was very windy on the lake.  Ava was anxious to go fishing so her and Daddy went off the dock.  She caught TWO fish.  I missed the first one, as I had taken  Grant inside.  We were just getting ready to go inside for the evening when she caught her second one.  It was actually a descent sized bass.  Daddy of course helped her reel it in (by helped, I mean Boppa picked Ava up and moved her out of the way while Nate reeled it in so Ava didn't fall in the lake).  She just kept saying, "Oh my, oh my".  She was so excited, and was eager to give the slimy thing a kiss.  I'm not so sure that she's my child sometimes.  Ava and Daddy were both beaming with delight...it was a definite highlight of the weekend for them. 

Sunday the weather was gorgeous!  It always seems to be super nice the day that we have to drive home.  We left after lunch, and left Ava at the cabin with Mema.  Our sitter is off this week so Ava stayed up there so our fill in sitter only had to watch one child.  I've talked to her a couple of times and she seems to be having a great time.  Our house has been eerily quiet without her here.  I think Grant even missed her. 

Speaking of Grant...oh Grant!  He has decided in the past week that he doesn't want to take naps.  Yesterday and today he fought it like no other.  He only fell asleep if he was in his car seat or in the stroller.  What is up with that?  This kid is 8 months old, he can't start bad habits like this now!  I usually don't care if he doesn't sleep a lot as long as he's happy.  The problem is that he has been so tired that he's not happy.  I even got tough and tried to let him cry it out today (which I've never done).  He screamed for 10 minutes and when I finally went up there he had snot smeared all over his wet little face.  Sigh!  I'm hoping that this is a short lived stage.  He also started something else really fun this week...biting.  Yes, biting.  When I say biting I don't just mean toys or my finger.  I mean something far more sensitive than fingers...perhaps his source of milk.  When I scold him he looks up at me with his dimpled cheeked smile and starts to giggle.  Little turkey!

I sit here tonight in a very quiet house typing this.  Nate and my babies are spending the rest of the week at the cabin while I stay here and work.  As pathetic as it sounds, I started to miss them before they got out of the driveway.  I've never been away from Grant for this long.  Then I of course hear all the statistics of how many accidents there are over the 4th of July holiday and I just pray that they arrive home safely on Sunday.  My whole life is up there.  I'm so sad that I can't join them this weekend.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I know that they will have a lot of fun.  I love my job and know that it provides me the flexibility to stay home with my kids part time.  However, there are times like this that I hate it because I know that I'm missing out on fun, quality family time.

So, there won't be any updates for awhile, as I'm leaving town on Monday for a cousin camp out in IA.  Wishing you all a safe and happy 4th of July!

 

Even Grant was exhausted on Friday evening (he couldn't make it to dinner due to his napping strike that he's on)

Fishing with Daddy on the dock

Ava's big catch

And a little kiss before they released it

Grant is constantly doing this.  Most of the time he gets in this position and then kind of jumps onto his knees.  He's still trying to figure out what to do with his legs once he's on all fours.