Big Events
Ten Life Lessons I’ve Learned Lately
Feb 13th
So it’s been a while… over a year, actually. I have to apologize- I have been busy and have several great excuses as to why I stopped blogging for so long. But I will spare you those. To fill in the absent year, here are some major things that happened: My husband and I bought our first house! My husband and I got the best neighbors in the world! My husband and I bought our first dog! My husband and I realized we couldn’t handle that dog! My husband and I celebrated our son’s first birthday! My husband and I realized we were ready to add to our family again (and I do not mean pets)! My husband and I got pregnant again! Well that is about up to speed on the major events. We are currently 5 months pregnant with our second son!! And in line with my blogging past, it is possible that after this little guy is born, I may have to put a hold on blogging again- family first. Really, a wild toddler and a newborn at the same time might be all I can handle in addition to my usual duties! And let me tell you- my boys (both of them) are active! Its amazing to me how my nearly-two-year-old is more energetic than I am by far and its amazing to me how well I can feel this little 10 oz baby move and kick and roll over. It is so incredible to feel that life inside me growing. 
Besides those main events, I have been growing myself. In many ways. I have learned some hard life lessons about families, marriage, and friends. In fact, I would say the last half of 2011 (and January of this year) may have been some of the hardest times of my life, not that I showed it much to those around me. But through it, I’ve learned so much, matured even more than I thought possible, and in general am a much better person for it. Some of the things I learned (generalized) are:
1) The statement that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped simply isn’t true. There is one thing- AND ONLY ONE THING- you can do for them- stronger and more helpful than anything else you could ever do for them yourself- PRAY.
2) Don’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians. Its frustrating and stressful and wastes your energy. I myself have had to learn this repeatedly.
3) Pastors, church members, and elders are not perfect. Don’t expect them to be or look up to them as though they are; they are human just like us and you will be disappointed when you are let down.
4) If you see someone throwing a stone at somebody, and you don’t participate in the stoning, you are not innocent. You are guilty of standing by and doing nothing to help that person.
5) Many churches today are filled with false converts- because people aren’t hearing and realizing what they need to. (See my next post for details).
6) If you are truly a Christian then your life should be about loving others and leading others to the feet of Christ. And when that is what your life is about you will live for others. And when you live for others, you will be more easily able to give up worldly things (and certain entertainment things such as inappropriate music, books bearing content of the occult, and questionable movies). You will be able to do this because when you realize you aren’t living for yourself but for somebody else, you realize that the worldly entertainment you were enjoying was only for yourself, and because it could be damaging to some one- even unknowingly yourself- you can no longer feel comfortable making compromises. Because it isn’t about you.
7) In reference to number 6, I’ve learned and studied some on the occult and ways it infiltrates our music and lives. I did a report on it, that I intend to post on here soon. I did the report, intending it for someone else, and came to the realization that I had things in my own home of questionable nature.
Also in reference to number 6, I’ve learned that the line between being overly extreme and crazy about what you allow in your household and getting rid of everything you shouldn’t have in your household, is a very fine line. I’ve been praying so hard to find it- and I hope my study on the occult may help other people find it.
9) I’ve been going to some Love and Respect classes with my husband and in-laws. The videos we are watching in this class are very funny and very cliche in many ways-but they do apply to all couples in one way or another. In a brief summary, this video series is about the differences in men and women. The differences in their needs, in their way of speaking, in their way of interpreting what they hear, in their differences in interpreting their different forms of body languages, ect. Learning the differences, and why the opposite sex is the way it is, is extremely insightful and helpful to understanding and “decoding” your spouse.
10) I wasn’t sure it would ever happen, but I’ve always wanted it to- I’m writing a book. FINALLY!!! It is going to be a long time finishing it, with the two boys, but it will get done. Generally speaking, God gives us talent in certain areas. Where we are talented is where we generally find a field of work we are happy in. And we are happiest when we use that talent and work to do God’s will. And God’s will in your life often has something to do with the talent he gave you. Use it right. When I had the idea for the book, it was like suddenly God just gave me the know-how to write a real big book. All of the sudden I could see what needed to be done to make the book work and what I had done to make all my books in the past fail. Since getting pregnant again, I have been unable to work on my book now (and I am just now regaining energy) but in the time I have not been writing, I have been drawing closer to God and learning so much I never knew (even being raised with a Christian background). And with all that I’ve learned about my relationship with God and my responsibilities as a Christian, I have gotten so many great ideas and learned so many ways in which I can, and will, give this book back to God. I want him to work through me, and I want to use the talent he gave me to serve him.
Surprise Camping Trip!!! Ug, and Teething…
Oct 15th
So, I’d been planning a surprise camping trip for Tim for a month and a half, and spent all week preparing and packing behind his back. When Tim got home from work Friday, I sneaked into his car and grabbed his fishing poles and threw them in the van. I had already loaded the van, and unloaded it at the campsite earlier that day when I dropped Levi off with Mom for the weekend. After I was ready, I blind-folded Tim (who really couldn’t see but knew what road we were on based on turns). He asked me what was up. I told him it was a surprise for him, and Levi was with mom for the night. So I’m driving and he keeps asking questions (this is one of those situations, ask me no questions I tell you no lies). Still, it was easy to throw him off w/o omitting truths because he no more than asks a few questions before he forgets the answers to his previous questions. He did figure out we were on the road to the campsite though, Cross Creek RV and Camp Ground, and he said, “Wait, I know whats down here- you wouldn’t?!! Nah, you wouldn’t.” Lol, I’m glad he was blind-folded because I smiled so big. I replied, “No, but thats a good idea. We should go soon!” He was super surprised when we pulled in.
Not only was he surprised that we were camping for the weekend, but he also was shocked (as was I) that I managed to book the private Island! We had a great weekend of fishing, boating, smore-making, and the camping usualls. The duckies at this lake practically live on the island and were far from shy about eating out of our hands (we got bit a bit). They even have a nest under the out-house! Its an electric outhouse, so no, the ducky eggs are not getting pooped on. Glad you asked. I’m glad Tim got some down time, he said he almost had forgotten what he so enjoyed. People, be careful that you don’t work so much that you forget to enjoy life. That is VERY important, and is good for your mental health as well.
As fun as camping was, we were excited to get back to our little baby! Unfortunately, he’s not been in the greatest mood since we came back from camping. His teething has been VERY bad the last couple of days, and the poor kid is only 5.5 months! He has been spitting up a lot (and it bothers him), he’s been very fussy, refusing to eat his baby food (mostly just at dinner time), and has all around just been a little difficult. One of the hardest things is that I can’t really hold him to comfort him because when he gets really upset he thrashes his arms and legs about and if I’m holding him at that time, he literally rips my hair out. He doesn’t realize he’s doing it, his hands just get caught in my long curly hair while he’s flailing them. Poor baby (and poor me). I would like to call the doctor and see what I can do for him (apart from teether toys and Orajel) but I no longer trust his doctor and plan to change. The reason I’m after a new pediatrician is because I found out mine is an Evolutionist. And Evolutionists are crazy, so NO, I am not going to put my son’s health care in one’s hands. Wish me luck in finding a GOOD new one. Seems I always end up with bad doctors initially, and the good doctors later…
Car Trouble, Save Money, and Yes, Every Girl Deserves to go to a BALL!
Oct 12th
So… we’ve had gas problems lately, and I don’t mean from Levi. My car, Stacey, was spilling gas out its hose right next to my engine!!! I mean, God really protected us because we could have blown up driving (and I wouldn’t have been driving had I known what was wrong). All I knew was that the smell of gas was so strong that I got sick from breathing it in (seriously- sick for like, 5 days!). My father-in-law, awesome mechanic that he is, did a temporary fix on it for me while we are ordering a new hose. Yesterday, driving to my mom’s house (me, her, and Levi in the van), the hose broke in another place- so we pulled over. My father-in-law, in the middle of his hectic day, still came to fix it for me again! The only funny thing about this, I am planning a surprise camping trip for Tim this weekend (which he will know about when he gets home in a few minutes). So I had the car mostly packed yesterday so he wouldn’t see all the camping stuff out. Well, when Mom, Levi, and I were stranded on the side of the road (actually a look-out area over the lake), we got out the camping chairs and chips!!!
So a few weeks ago, Tim and I went garage sale shopping. An area close to ours does semi-annual garage sales and the people usually have REALLY good quality stuff, in good condition, with (of course) garage sale prices. I mean, we got a leaf blower for $7.00!!! We also got a “big boy” car seat for Levi (usually $60-100 new) for $15, some toddler riding toys for him, winter clothes, books, and other good stuff. Any way, my point in all this is that why spend loads of money (like $60 for exersaucer) for baby stuff that can only be used for a short period of time (usually a few months)??? Answer: DO NOT spend all that money for those toys- go to garage sales and spend a little money for those toys. NO, it doesn’t matter that little Stacey and Jon are playing with a toy that some other child played with (God forbid). Its called bleach, you use it to bleach things down and it disinfects! So with a little bleach water and a little green, you can buy all the toys your kids could want! Remember, this works just as well for house-hold items, too.
So my mom is a personal trainer, I believe I’ve mentioned that before, and she had some great clients that paid for her and a person of her choice to attend a BALL!!! Its hosted by the hospital annually, and is annually out of my price range. My mom would have asked my dad to go, but he doesn’t care to dance much so I GOT TO GO!!! Tim got to “babysit”. It was loads of fun, we dressed up like Princesses and were served a four-course dinner (yah, there were several forks to the side of the plate- my mom panicked about which to use and I told her start from the outside and work your way in- watching Titanic has finally paid off). At dinner we talked about the Opera (I LOVE the Opera!) and dog shows (I love dogs). Then we danced for hours! The doctors and their wives performed the Mambo Italiano for us! It was great! Funny story- mom and I went to get our picture taken while there. The lady photographer asked upon seeing my very young looking mother and I together, “Girlfriends?” I understood her to mean, friends who are girls? but my mother instantly responded (before I could stop her), “Oh no! We aren’t like that, I’m her mother!” Lol, had me laughing anyway. I’m sending her clients a Thank You for giving me a chance to dress up and dance! Speaking of my mom’s clients, please pray for their family- their son and his family were in a bad car accident and the situation doesn’t look good right now.
Well, I’ll let you know how the camping trip goes!
Baby Foods, Baby Developements, Monthly Shots, and Teething (oh my!)
Sep 22nd
Last week Levi had a few shots at the doctor’s. We decided to split his shots up, which means we’ll have to go monthly now. I know that I am the adult, and I should know that the doctor is helping him, but I still feel like the doctor is the bad guy for giving those shots. 
Levi still smiles at her and all the nurses, though. The shots were hard on me and I lost sleep the night before just thinking about them; I had to hold his arms across his chest this time, to make it worse. However, he didn’t cry nearly as hard as the first time and once I picked him up, the cries instantly transformed to soft whimpers. He nursed himself to comfort, and then woke up when I was making his next appointment, and smiled at all the nurses! He was quiet on the way home, and playful when we got home. Thankfully, his behavior was entirely normal after those shots!
Levi has been doing some pretty hilarious stuff lately. When I was nursing him the other day, he moved to bit me so I looked him in the eyes and sternly said, “No.” He stuck out his lower lip and whined and reached up to the corner of his eye with his index finger as if to wipe away a tear! Ah, so cute! I had to turn away to laugh! Earlier the day before, at the close of praying for over our dinner I said, “Amen,” and Levi stuck out that little lower lip and whimpered, so I told him, “Its ok, you can talk to God any time you want,” and instantly he was smiling and was a-okay! Its beyond me why Tim and I were laughing at this, but last night Levi pooped- A BIG NASTY LOT- in his bathtub. We had to get him out, clean out the tub, re-wash him, and clean out the tub and his toys some more. At one point I left the bathroom to get some cleaning supplies while Tim held our poopy little boy. I didn’t explain what I was doing and as soon as I was through the door-way, Tim called desperately, “Where are you going??? Don’t leave me!” Lol, like I said, we were laughing, but its supposed to be one of those stories that’s only funny later. I guess I have a twisted sense of humor.
On the development front: Levi rolls over and over and over. I can’t keep him on his back at all- especially when I’m trying to change him! He also likes to grab and play with his little toes! He also likes to play peek-aboo! He really likes it when I put the receiving blanket on his face, and then quickly pull it off and surprise him! I love hearing his cute giggles when we do that! Levi can also just about kick his way out of his swing now! Its low to the ground, and he couldn’t get out of it, so I never bothered strapping him in before, but while I was doing my make-up the other day, he kicked his little butt all the way to the edge of the swing and his little feet were flailing in the air!
One of the most exciting changes: MEAL TIMES! He now eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Breakfast and lunch are just baby oat meal with applesauce mixed in, for the moment. For dinner, he is eating wet stage-1 baby foods! I gave him squash the first week for dinner, and his reaction was pretty funny. He ate it, but apon tasting it, you could just see the words behind his expression: “Ew, mom. Ew.” Then he started crying pretty hard, and I thought he just didn’t like his food so I didn’t do anything about it. I felt bad when he burped and I realized he just got gassy. I don’t know if it was from the food or not. This week, we are eating sweet potatoes- which he LOVES. I like them better, too. I make it a habit to know how my baby’s food taste. I know, weird.
With great food comes great poop… like in the bathtub….
Levi has also been teething badly. Poor baby started crying really hard the other day and shoving toys in his mouth. I had to use the baby Ora-jell a few times. I’ve been told the teething tablets (you put it on their gums) work very well, but wouldn’t he end up swallowing them? I’m not sure I want to put those in his mouth- at his age, that screams to me: “CHOKING HAZARD!” Any opinions on that, readers?
Baby’s Developement and my Wisconsin Vacation
Sep 7th
I apologize (again, and again, and again) for taking so long to blog. Apparently, I’m no good at keeping up with this sort of thing. However, I still try.
Wisconsin was BEAUTIFUL! It was so refreshing to go home and see my family and be in a state that is just filled with God’s natural beauty! It wasn’t hot (well not to me anyway) and there was no humidity. One day was even VERY cold for the summer. I had forgot to bring warm clothes for myself, but thankfully remembered to bring them for Levi. We had him in a beanie, footed-pants, a sweater, two blankets… you get the idea. So, the weather was awesome!
I got to spend a lot of good quality time with my extended family (who were all thrilled that I finally printed off wedding and Levi pictures- very late as I was). We walked, rode bikes, swam in my Gramp’s and Gram’s pool, ate like kings (because my grandparents are the royal cooks), went to the awesome Amish food store (my Gram has taken us there every year for as long as I can remember to get candy). While there, I got cheese curds and Wisconsin beef sticks to bring home to Tim (who couldn’t come because of work).
At my other Grandma’s, we celebrated her 70th birthday. This was a surprise party, and even though she suspected my family and I were coming up to visit, the party was a delightful shock. It was themed 50′s and there were so many people there (I was related to most of them and just didn’t know it). Levi DID NOT enjoy the party at all. It was really loud inside and out so he couldn’t take his naps and he kept spitting up. Poor guy…
While there, my Aunt and Cousin came by and brought a cute monkey outfit for Levi! And my cousin was wearing these awesome ballet socks, and she just gave them to me! Despite her young age, she was very helpful with the baby!
So Levi has passed a couple of milestones lately! He has been grabbing his toys and tasting EVERYTHING for a few weeks now and the other day he rolled over by himself! He has been using so much energy that some days he doesn’t poop (which I read is normal of breast-fed babies because they only get what they need). I am still breast-feeding him, seeing as he mostly stopped biting me after two days of pumping bottles. I’m grateful- I didn’t like full-time pumping and I enjoy reading while I feed him. In addition to breast milk, I have also been feeding him baby rice cereal (mixed with applesauce as of late) and he LOVES it! Now when Tim and I eat, we have to feed him at the same time or he stares at our food and makes the chewing motions!
Speaking of reading, I have been reading “The Overton Window” by Glenn Beck- it is a VERY good thriller and even though it is fictional, it really makes you stop and think. If you have time to read it, I HIGHLY recommend it!
Levi’s cousin was born a week ago from today (they were both Tuesday babies!)! I can’t wait until his cousin is old enough to play with him- they will be so cute together- babbling on the floor amongst their toys! I notice in church, in the mother’s room, Levi loves to watch the little baby girls play in there. He tries to talk to them, but for the most part, they are not interesting in him because he isn’t down on the floor crawling with them! Soon though, he will be and I do NOT look forward to baby-proofing the apartment!
My Big Brother’s Wedding and DANCE DANCE DANCE!
Aug 13th
I know what you’re thinking, another wedding? Aren’t they done with all the weddings yet? And the answer is no, we have three more this year- that I know of. That makes six weddings in six months for us- dude! You know, they say we are in a baby boom right now, so I guess it makes sense that weddings are up as well!
So my brother’s wedding was awesome and I’m so happy to have a new sister! And I’m thrilled he married some one that I 100% approve of and lets me borrow her totally awesome books (that I thrive off more than food). Thankfully my sister-in-law’s church had a mother’s room because Levi decided to conveniently be hungry during the whole ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony, even from where I sat, the best part: As their exit music, they played the Star Wars theme song!!! That is so my big brother and I love him for it.
Levi also decided to be hungry during the first dance and the speeches- there was no mother’s room for that. But I made it out in just enough time for the dollar dance! My aunt took care of Levi and seemed to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed dancing with Tim in the mean time! We danced like dorks the rest of the wedding and it was exhilarating! Everyone who came to the wedding and wanted one, took home a fish! Some one had the brilliant idea to have cute goldfish in bowls on the table! Only problem: when you order gold fish in bulk, they don’t tell you what size they are or promise they will all be the same size. Poor fish… a few could hardly circle in their bowls. The Maid of Honor and her boyfriend released them into a pond. For that reason, I would not recommend doing that for your wedding unless you can be sure what size all the fish will be. Awesome idea other wise. Tim and I took a fish home, naming him Cheshire Fish. My parents took home three fish. Within 4-5 days, all the fish were dead. Never did have much luck with fish and none of us are on city water… we don’t know we are fish killers, we just are.
Back to dancing- I don’t think my Aunt realized what a gift she gave me when watched Levi so Tim and I could dance (ridiculously I might add). Dancing takes me back to my proms and gives my a sense of freedom and weightlessness! I miss dancing a lot. When I dance, I can forget my all-at-once-overwhelming-at-times responsibilities. I am VERY young to be a wife, a mother, a soon-to-be home owner. I decided to grow up rather fast (if you haven’t yet and its not making a fool of you- don’t grow up too fast) and now have all these responsibilities that I’ve never had before. Sometimes, realizing I’ve grown up is kind of sad. I miss that child-hood bliss. But dancing brings it back to me, if only for a time. And when the dancing is done, and I’ve had my fun, I still love my family and my responsibility to them. Dancing is a REVOLUTION!
Missouri Dental Association Give-Away!
Aug 2nd
Okay, so I don’t have to be the parent of 4-year old or a 12-year old to know that unless you use that funky bubble-gum tooth paste (which I’m not even sure does anything good), no child goes willingly to the sink of terror to do the horrible deed of brushing! Still, it must be done. After all, dental cavities are the most common disease of kids ages 5 to 17 and are completely preventable. Sometimes it must be done with the child on the floor, pinned down by one parent while the other brushes (can’t say that I’ve seen parents do this- but I did it to my little brother when I babysat- we were really close).
At any rate, kids and adults alike need to practice oral hygiene if they don’t want to have cavities, fillings, painful dental procedures, and dentures some day too soon. Brushing is also particularly important if you have braces- my mom told me a story when I got braces that scared me to death (and its a true story). I was told I was the poster child for taking care of my braces. The story goes like this. A girl once had braces and didn’t brush them. She didn’t floss them. She did intake tons of sugars and soda. When they took her braces out, her teeth had rotted under them and came out in chunks. She had to get the rest of her teeth pulled and got dentures. LEARN FROM THAT.
Oral hygiene isn’t just cleaning, but also preventive maintenance. Like wearing a mouth guard in sports, not chewing, not drunk driving or getting into fights, and other activities that beg to have your teeth knocked out. Scientists are saying that there may be a link between gum disease and heart disease. Remember- maintenance costs nothing, fixing procedures cost A LOT. And we all know that insurance isn’t exactly the most helpful thing in the world sometimes (thank you, Obama).
I’m no expert, but if you want more information on Oral Hygiene, you can visit www.yourmouthistalking.org
The Missouri Dental Association is allowing me to do a Give-Away for them to go along with this blog. Here is the PRIZE:
A Year’s Worth of Toothbrushes for each member of the household (They call it year supply because toothbrushes should be changed every 3 months. They say for each member of the house meaning if there are no children under 24 months we will not provide the parents’ brush for baby teeth)
This CAN include (based upon your house-hold members)
4 GUM Parents’ Brush (6-24 months)
4 GUM Crayola Timer Light (Kids)
4 GUM Micro Tip toothbrush (Adults)
And a package of Eez Thru Angled Flossers (75 count)
What you must do to win the giveaway: I would like people to email me their stories on what they did to either get their children to brush their teeth, or how they forced their children into it, or how their parents handled the same situations with them. I am looking for informative (helpful to other parents in this stage of parenting), and funny stories. I will chose the most creative and if that person would like, I will post their story on one of my blogs as well. That is up to the person though. I will start taking submissions now (please do not submit more than one story- if you do, I will only use your first submission) and I will stop taking submissions September 1st. When you email me, please be sure to send contact information too!
Good-by Nursing- I will miss you, Hello Pumping and Welcome Sleep!
Aug 2nd
Levi’s most exciting and latest development (since I last blogged): giggling! He talks and giggles so much it is beautiful! He actually has giggled in his sleep a few times! Emails I get through baby companies (about his weekly developments) say that he should be reaching for objects now, but he seems content just to observe. But I know he isn’t just blankly staring, I see that brain working and thinking when he’s looking at things!
I may have mentioned before in a previous blog, that Tim and I must sleep in the living room during the summer. Our AC does not circulate back to the bedroom very well. Thankfully, it circulates well enough for Levi to sleep back there with out getting over heated because we just booted him back there. He was in the living room next to us and for a while was getting up every 1-2 hours. I felt bad about it later, but I was getting really impatient with him for interrupting my sleep so often. When I moved him into the bedroom, and he slept 6 hours straight, I realized that before I was getting up to feed him when he would just stir a lot and would have put himself back to bed had I let him. I was kind of frustrated with myself upon that discovery- both for the lack of sleep I caused myself (even thought I couldn’t ignore his movements if I tried) and for wrongly being annoyed with Levi. He is such a cute, innocent (for now) baby! But, at least now Levi goes to bed at about 10 pm (after his bath- which I feed him a small amount of rice cereal in- and then a feeding), and doesn’t wake up until about 4:30 am and then again between 6-8 am! Pretty good, I think.
Sadly, I am not nursing Levi anymore. I have an electric breast pump, so I can still give him my breast milk, but I am no longer nursing. I have been gummed several times during nursing in the last two weeks and if that boy had teeth, I’d be missing some parts of my breast. Yesterday was when I finally put him on bottles only. It kind of hurt me to do it because I already am missing that special bonding between my baby and me. I have thought about going back to nursing nearly every time I have given him a bottle, but then he starts chewing on the rubber nipple of the bottle and I think, “That would have been me.” I hate this, but if I want to have anything to nurse my next baby with, I think it is necessary.
Its been a busy week! I went to Purcell to get new tires, a transmission fluid change, and an oil change (there for an hour and a half and Levi was an angel). I did banking and shopping, wrapping gifts, shopping again, cleaning, visiting my brother and his new wife in their new apartment (I will tell you about that wedding later), and other things that I now don’t even remember. Saturday we celebrated my hubby’s birthday with my parents. They grilled out, I made an ice-cream cake with oreo crust, and we played games after. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with our family. We stayed the night, since all of my siblings were and stayed up late. I tried to order a special tea for Tim through Hy-Vee, but they haven’t called me back so I don’t think that plan is coming through. Or if it does, by the time it does, it will be a month after his actual birthday. Who knows… maybe I’ll have to save that for Christmas? (Hint, hint Tim)
I know its not uncommon for me to go a week with out writing, what with always having so many errands to run, but I just wanted to give for-warning. I plan (key word) to blog a few more times this week and then I will be gone for about a week in which I will not even be on the internet. I am going to see my extended family in Wisconsin and I cannot wait! It has been two years since I have been able to go visit them!!! I am interested to see how Levi does with a 10-hour road trip though… wish me luck and prayers of safety are appreciated!
First Anniversary
Jun 15th
So, its been a while… and I’m going to quit apologizing every time it has been. Why? I’m a mom and have higher commitments now. Commitments that don’t sleep- almost at all during the day. Commitments that remind me frequently they need to eat every half hour, and be burped every time after that… oh well, at least he sleeps most all night.
I went to the doctor last Thursday. He said I am healed enough to resume normal activities! Which is was music to my ears because Tim and I’s ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY was Sunday, and we decided to go camping for that weekend! The campground we went to, Cross Creek, has a really nice pool and I was excited to go swimming for the first time this summer!
So the week before we left, I made arrangements with my mom to baby sit Levi while we were gone. We would be gone from 5 pm Friday to noon on Sunday. She happily agreed and I went to work pumping. MAN, I HATE hand held pumps. When I finally got the electric breast pump, I had a lot of milking to do. And I pumped 40 ounces in one week! Unfortunately, that only lasted him 24 hours (HE EATS A LOT AND HAS CONTINUAL GROWTH SPURTS). Fortunately, after 24 hours, I was there to feed him. So… now to why our anniversary was cut short…
So we get to the campground around 6:30, set up, argue about setting up, eat, go swimming, do some fishing. Saturday morning, I woke up early and fed the ducks. We spent some time figuring out how to get our charcoals hot enough and make them stay hot enough to cook breakfast and then finally ate. We did a lot that morning. We went swimming, rode bikes, played games, ate ice cream, played mini golf. Around mid afternoon, we were sitting outside. It was BLAZING hot and sunny. Tim was fishing, I was snacking. We decide we’ve had enough of the heat and humidity and want to go swimming. We go in our behemoth-sized tent (we got an 8-person tent for camping trips with our kids) to change. We decide to take a nap instead. We were napping no more ten minutes when my father-in-law came by to say hi. Emerging from the tent, we notice a difference in weather and Tim’s dad just happen to have a weather radio. We turned it on, it predicted 60-70 mph winds and we were in an open area with a giant tent (not staked in either). We decide its best to pack up and go to my Mom and Dad’s house for the night. I no sooner go into the tent and it starts to try to blow over on me!! We literally had to throw everything down and throw it in the cars. We no sooner get the stuff in the cars and it start pouring rain! We got a rain check and will definitely be going back to that campground later in the summer. Yes, its crappy that we got rained and winded out, but we really did have a good time.
So Levi is SIX WEEKS today! I know this is a month and a half, but I think it sounds younger if I say six weeks. He has started smiling (real smiles, not gas!) and drools a lot now! He also “talks” more than what he needs just to communicate. He is such an intelligent baby and so beautiful! I weep at every change and rejoice at every milestone passed! Why do they have to grow up? I need another one. Tim and I decided if we have another boy, we will name him Liam. Still have Alice picked out for a girl. But I REALLY must have a second baby. However, I would like a good two years with Levi before I’m pregnant again.
First Night Home and Salvation From That Night
May 14th
Well, I’m picking up with the first night home (I know, the title didn’t make that obvious). I haven’t a clue when I went to bed that Thursday night, but Levi slept nearly from the time we got home from the hospital (around 6 pm-ish) to about the time we were going to go to bed. I went to bed for about an hour, if that. Then, Levi was up. He was hungry. Then, he needed his diaper changed. Then, he needed to be burped. Then, he was hungry again. Then, he needed to be burped again. Then, he was interested in the lights and wanted to look at everything and be held. Then, he needed his diaper changed. Then, he had more gas. Then, he was hungry again. THEN… you get the picture. I may have got 2-3 hours of sleep, broken up into 20-30 minute increments. Needless to say, I was exhausted and trying not to fall asleep while I was holding him. I didn’t want to miss a second that those beautiful eyes were open looking at me. I knew things could be different when we came home from the hospital, but I wasn’t expecting the first night to be that bad, especially considering Levi slept soundly most of the night while we were at the hospital.
Come Friday morning, Tim had to go back to work. I was still up when the alarm went off at 6 am. Tim left for work, and Levi and I fell asleep. Then, Mom came over at 9:30 am and THANK GOD FOR AMAZING MOTHERS!!! She bought me groceries, made me lunch and packaged the leftovers for the next day, made dinner and put it in the freezer for Tim and I later, did the dishes, AND watched and changed Levi for me so I could take a shower and a nap! Wow, I felt like a human after that and all thanks to her!
Since that pick me up, I’ve been doing great and my Mom continues to come over and help me out! Thankfully, Levi sleeps pretty well at night currently. I don’t expect him to stay on the schedule that he has made for himself, but I am thankful that he has one now!