The Vacation, In Photos

Yes, I'm starting out with a photo of pumped milk. An entire cooler full, that took me two solid months to store up, and Eleanor refused all of it. But at least it was there, just in case, and I was allowed to go on this trip because of it.

So, you'll notice that there are a lot of photos two gals that are just heads on sticks. My Aunt Jen and my sister Michelle couldn't make it on our first annual girls' trip, so we brought them along. Michelle was in on the joke; Aunt Jen was not. It took two days of posting her photo online (FB and Instagram) before she noticed. Hahaha. We should have made one for my cousin, Hannah, too. Next time!

ordering breakfast on the start of the road trip

This next series...one of my favorite stories of the whole trip. We had only been on the road about 15 minutes when we had to stop for road construction. We are sitting here, waiting for the pilot truck to come fetch us, and this guy, please see below...he decided he was hungry. It's about 9 in the morning here. Leaning down holding that stop sign was too much work for him.

leaning...

stretch...

He finally gave up. He held his hand out to tell the car in front of us to keep stopping, put the sign down, and rummaged through his cooler to find his sandwich.

Oh yes, he did. 

Satisfied, and just in time, he waves us on, with the sandwich.

Michelle napped in the backseat. Lazy.

Oh look! She found her hubby's BBQ joint!

cool creepy bridge

Aunt Jen needed coffee before she could drive again.

Look closely. That is a donkey crossing sign. Nashville, near Vandy, for a high school. I'm guessing this was their mascot?

The perfect man store. And yes, we actually went in. Just a couple hours after stopping at the Christian bookstore. 

Batman

So there's this yard sale. The World's Longest Yard Sale to be exact. It's something I've always wanted to do.  It stretches from Michigan to Alabama, is the first weekend in August every year, and it happened to be on the same weekend that we had to drive on Highway 127! So we made one stop, Mom found something, and now I can say I've done it. Sort of - I'm going back one year to do the whole thing.

State Dock. Lake Cumberland, KY. 

I'm at one end of the boat...see how long it is? That's the hot tub in the center.

This was actually taken on the first day, right when we boarded. We had just loaded the boat in the rain.  It poured that entire morning.
Top Row, L to R: Terri, Mom, Cheryl, Pam, Talia, Debbie
Bottom Row: Brittany, me, Chrissy, Christine

There was a lot of tugging the boat back to shore as my sister Brittany tied off.

Okay, really, this one was more for effect than anything.

We promised Michelle a ride down the water slide. She and Brittany were the only ones to go, because it turned out to be a really rough ride.

our buckets and buckets of stuff. The dock crew assured us they'd seen worse. 

Back on the phones as soon as we got service again. :)

Saw this on our way home and it reminded us of the Griswolds. 

We joked that we should sell all of our geodes that we found during the week...turns out, people actually do. 

Mom found with this antique ironing board, and it rode home with us over the next two days.

loaded in pouring rain, and had to unload in rain as well...20 minutes from home

Lake Cumberland, KY

I went on a vacation. Without my children. Or my husband. For a week. And while I missed them immensely, the opportunity to sit on a boat on a lake for days on end with no one to interrupt my reading or sunbathing...oh the pure bliss of it all.

I traveled with Mom and sister Brittany to meet Mom's cousins at Lake Cumberland, KY, where we rented a huge houseboat for a few days. We had a full-size kitchen, a grill, a water slide, a hot tub, 6 beds, 2 bathrooms, satellite tv. Amazing. None of my family is from that area; we all hailed in from Michigan, California, Minnesota, Virginia, and Texas, but if you've never been to Lake Cumberland, it's absolutely worth the drive. It's just gorgeous.

Each night we docked somewhere along the lake, and my sister (who is an avid outdoors-woman and rock-climber) was the gal of choice to tie us off along the shore. I sat back and watched and called for another adult beverage. Kidding, only slightly. I'm useless with anything relating to nature. Sweating only happens if I'm laying out.

We swam and read books (I managed to get through four, 4!) and ate a ton and talked and laughed - this was the most fun I've ever had on a vacation, hands-down. I did have to get over my fear of creatures coming to attack me in the water, namely alligators. They say there aren't any gators in that lake, I googled it, but there is always that infamous email that went around about the 23-foot alligator with the deer in it's mouth, and apparently it's shown up in every lake across the south. Riiiigghhht. Still, yikes, I prefer to see what's coming at me. Pools are much safer. We also hunted for geodes, braving the crumbly shale landscape, and I brought back a bunch for Avery to crack open with me.

This was my first time away from Eleanor, and it was an extended time away, plus I was still nursing her. She refused all 160 ounces of milk that I left for her (which took me two months of pumping every night to stock up), boycotted nursing for a full 24 hours after I returned home. I was devastated when she refused me, even though I knew that was a huge possibility. Thankfully she has returned to nursing, four times a day even, and I'm relieved and grateful for this blessing.

So, thank you to Luke and Nana and Papaw for watching the girls for me for this much-needed time of R&R.

Picture post to follow, because everyone loves vacation slideshows, right?

11 Months

Sweet Eleanor, you are 11 months old!

This past month, you:

• have continued to work hard on your standing and cruising skills, though you seem content to be stuck at this physical milestone. I was convinced you'd be walking by now, but you seem content where you are.
• were a champion eater. I keep waiting for the day when you decide to be picky, but so far you're doing really well. You didn't like eggs or cheese or banana, but recently you've decided cheese is okay. The biggest difference between you and Avery at this age is that you like meat, and all of it. Doesn't matter what kind we put on your plate, you'll eat it.
• Are saying Da-da and in the right context.
• spent a week away from me, refused all of the 160 oz of pumped milk I left with Daddy and Nana, and resumed nursing after a 24 hour boycott. 
• are showing signs of being a big climber. In the week since turning 11 months, you have mastered climbing onto Avery's bed (which requires the use of a step-stool to get onto). I went to check on you in your room, and you had put yourself up on that big ol' bed! You were happily playing with all of Avery's babies. It's now your favorite place to play, and you'll sit up there for at least 30 minutes at a time. 
• can crawl up AND down the stairs, and you sometimes hold onto the wall and sidestep all the way down. 
• woke up between 5 and 6 am to nurse before going back down til 7 or 7:30
• played well by yourself and with Avery
• were a bit crankier than usual, probably due to that tooth that popped up at the beginning of the month

Just a few more weeks until we celebrate a full year of you! 

Monday Musings

I missed last Monday's post due to VACATION. And not just any vacation, but a mom-vacation, as in, no kids, no husband. Just me, myself, and 9 other ladies. I'll post separately when I can get all of the photos in order.

In the meantime, some random thoughts in the vein of traveling:

• When leaving Texas, it gets prettier and prettier on the drive. The same cannot be said for the return drive. It's just uglier and uglier until we arrive back home. 
• There is a Chuy's in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This baffles me.
• If I were wealthy, I would buy a lakehouse, a houseboat, and other water vehicles. I would not buy a beachhouse, because I don't like salt water. 
• I love how the Southern accents differ so drastically from state to state. 
• While other states might be prettier, I tend to still feel Texas pride and think my state is superior. Perhaps it's just because I'm comfortable with home. Or maybe Texas is awesome. Except in summer. I'll trade summer with someone.
• When there are no kids in the car, you get a lot of reading done. When there are no kids anywhere for an entire week, you get a whole heckuvalotta reading done. (And FYI - my spell checker is suggesting that I change my made up word to "tablecloth". That was the closest recommendation.)
• We've come a long way from road-trips of my childhood, where I can log onto wi-fi in the car and make a hotel reservation while traveling 80 mph down I-40. Yes, I was in the passenger seat. I'm not that talented to do it while driving.
• Vacation is nice, but home is better.
• Returning home from vacation where the kids have not been around Mom for a whole week can prove interesting. For example, Avery threw an outright tantrum in the service at church yesterday. I couldn't get out of there fast enough, and I had her precariously hanging under one arm while wielding a purse and Eleanor in the Ergo. Thankfully we were behind the dividers so the entire congregation didn't see who it was.

So glad to be home with my family!! 

Monday Musings

• It's been a REALLY hard week, in regards to parenting. Eleanor has been cranky, I think from teething and a tiny cold, and Avery...oh I am missing age 2! We are battling defiance and disobedience in the worst of ways it seems. May God give me grace and wisdom to work through this one with her. 
• I broke my left pinkie toe on Friday, or seriously fractured it. It's swollen and throbs at the end of each day and I can't bend it. I broke this same toe one summer in college. 
• We went out of town this weekend for a niece's baptism (sweet Lucy!!) and had some good cousin time. This was also a good remedy for Avery's current antics, since it provided a change of scenery and some fun.
• I wonder how much of Avery's attitude is due to moving, and how much due to the stress of the past year. All I want to do as a mother is protect her from hurting, but too much protection doesn't equip our children for the life ahead.
• Trader Joe's has recently opened a store in The Woodlands, near our families, and I am SO.EXCITED. We used to shop at TJ in NYC, with one just a couple blocks from our apartment. We have been waiting for years for one to open near us in Texas, and finally! My mother-in-law and I went and stocked up and I came home with some fun treats that didn't require refrigeration. Next time I'll go prepared with a longer list and plan to stop on our way out of town so I can bring cold items back in a cooler. 
• I leave on Friday for a week long vacation, BY MYSELF. No kids. No husband. For the past year my mom and her female cousins have been planning a houseboat trip. One of my sisters and I are going as well. It's going to be, wait for it...legendary.
• I'm also really super nervous to leave the girls for that long. They will be traveling with Luke to visit his parents for the time that I am gone, and I know that they are in good hands. But, it's the first time for me to leave Eleanor, and the longest I'll have been away from Avery. Plus, I'm still nursing Eleanor. I plan to pump while I'm gone and pray that she doesn't wean herself in that time span. I'm enjoying these next few days of nursing, just in case they are my last. :( Thankfully she likes to snuggle, unlike Avery. Once I was done nursing Avery, that was the end of snuggling. 
• On the way to Houston this weekend, we stopped at the pharmacy drive-thru to pick up a prescription. Avery was crying and yelling in the backseat, just outright screaming at one point, and as the pharmacist handed us the prescription through the window, she couldn't hide her laugh anymore. What was the prescription? Birth control pills. 

Monday Musings

I'm borrowing from my friend Elisabeth and doing a random thoughts post, only Mondays work for me this week, so here are my musings, in no particular order.

• I love having leftover cake in the house. Eating it when the girls are in bed with a big glass of milk is even better.
• I like to think I'm good at putting together a home, but then my mom and sister come over and show me up. They ALWAYS do it better, and I'm ALWAYS happier with my home after they've worked their magic. They should go into business together.
• A young child and a baby are a difficult combination. I'm sure not as difficult as multiple young children + babies, of course. But my duo - they are tag-teaming against me and the past year has not seemed to equip me for the storm that they are constantly brewing these past few days.
• But then they smile and make you laugh and give you kisses, and you remember why your children are awesome.
• I am not a DIY expert. I am not even a DIY amateur. 
• I also love organizational items, but I don't necessarily love organizing. 
• I am thankful that we don't have neighbors above us, but I am sorry for our downstairs neighbor, as he has to listen to Avery's jumping and bouncing and just plain loud walking. We're working on being respectful neighbors. She has a short attention span.
• I have two drawers in my kitchen. TWO. That's it. They barely hold my cooking utensils. And neither one of them can hold our silverware tray. Or the actual silverware. Those are now hanging from the wall, thankyouverymuchIKEA. Whoever designed this kitchen doesn't cook in real life. 
• Our new washer and dryer plays a delightful tune when the cycle finishes. Eventually, though, it may have to go. It's almost too chipper.
• Eleanor is a screamer. This grates on my ears. I still love her to pieces. How do you teach them not to?
• I learned how to make bao (Chinese baked or steamed buns filled with meat, usually) on Friday, thanks to my friend Leslie and her mom, and now this is a very dangerous skill to have, since I can put away half a dozen in one sitting if I didn't limit myself. Don't judge. 
• My nephew came to play today while his momma helped me organize my home. The boppy pillow and cover, another pillow cover, AND the couch cushion cover are now in the wash. The floor blanket is next. 
• He is the CUTEST little thing ever, and I am so glad he's back from Michigan! We were so used to having him here to play with every day and missed him sorely for the past 6 weeks. He's now sitting and rolling over and has the best, biggest belly laughs.
• My car has been parked since Friday afternoon. The battery died, and it was in a spot that made it impossible to jump unless the guy next to us moved his car. He did not for the entire weekend. We borrowed a portable jumper on Sunday, which wasn't strong enough for some reason, and as Luke was messing with it, the guy who was in the way all weekend showed up and jumped the battery for us. Nice timing! The car subsequently died 10 minutes later and has been parked since then, this time in an accessible location at least. 
• I miss my automatic sliding doors.
• We got rid of our TV, since we don't pay for cable, rarely watch it, and don't have room for it. I am regretting this decision now because of the summer Olympics. Ergh.
• I think Eleanor had a case of the Mondays today.
• I got home from church, changed my clothes, and realized that I had a large split smack dab down the center seat of my skirt. This is not the first wardrobe malfunction I've had this year either. Easter Sunday the strap of my dress broke, and I have no idea if it happened before or after I stood in front of the entire congregation for Eleanor's baptism. It definitely happened before I spent 5 minutes talking with one of the elders. I pray pray pray that I'm not walking around flashing the church members certain members of my own body. Goodness. 

We've Moved!

It's been crazy around here, and I was without internet for almost a week (actually kind of nice unless I really needed it for something).

But...we're finally settling into our new place. This is by no means my dream move, nor my dream home. Another apartment, more tiny living, and not as chic as Apartment Therapy makes it out to be. It's funny how living in a place that was only 350 sq. ft. in NYC was way cooler than 1030 sq. ft. in Texas. If I didn't have children, I'd take the tiny studio in NYC again in a heartbeat.

The move itself is one I wish to never repeat. Last summer we had drought and wildfires. This summer we have abundant rain (thank you, Lord!), a huge blessing for our hot and parched state, but it made moving a nightmare. Torrential downpours, muddy disintegrating boxes, worrying about mud on the brand-new carpet (I hate carpet). Ugh. We were down a helper because he was sick, but the girls were well cared for at a friend's house all.day.long, so I was able to pitch in with lugging things around. We turned in keys to the old place last Friday, to which there was great rejoicing. Goodbye, local neighborhood pharmacists two doors down that were servicing the high school students (and then some). Goodbye cricket population moving into our home.

We aren't in a bigger space, nor are we too much closer into town like I had hoped. The availability in the rental market was slim. Some days I wonder if this was the right move for various reasons, but I do love some things about our new place, namely the fireplace and the windows. The girls are enjoying it now, though it took a couple days for Avery to understand that this was now our home. She calls it our "new apartment house". Eleanor had a couple of rough nights at first but is back to waking up around 4:30 to nurse before getting another 2-3 hours of sleep.

Here's to a fresh start!

10 Month Old

We moved the week you turned 10 months, Eleanor. Always an excuse from your mom, huh?

At 10 months, you:

• cruise like a pro, and learned a new trick last week. You now stand up without holding onto anything. You're sitting, and then you're standing. That's it. Boom and you're up!
• are eating everything in sight. You try it all and usually like it. You seem to reject eggs and avocado, but everything else goes straight into your belly. Even a bit spicy doesn't seem to sway you. Big Sister could learn from you.
• sleep well now that you've adjusted to the move. You wake around 4:30 am to nurse and then you're back down for a couple more hours. It's hard to drag myself out of bed this early, but you're super snuggly and I love when you fall asleep on me. I'm savoring this time with you because I don't know if you'll be my last baby to nurse. 
• are napping twice a day, about an hour in the morning and another 1.5 to 2 hours in the afternoon. Every once in awhile I get super lucky and you stretch it past that 2 hour mark. You just have so much to see and do that you aren't too interesting in sleeping. 
• nurse 4 times a day, though some days it's only 3 times. I pump on those days to keep my supply up since I'm having to store a bunch of milk for an upcoming trip.
• are interested in all things Avery. You love her toys, though she isn't so willing to share.
• are still into everything and can destroy a room in a matter of seconds.
• are also interested in putting things back where they belong (yay!!). You like to take things out of boxes and then put them back in. We were recently at a party in which you decided to empty the favor bucket, but when I asked you to put them back and showed you once how to do it, back into the bucket went all of the squirt guns. Smart girl!
• say Da-da and hi, which sounds like ha! Sometimes I think you ask for night-night, but it's hard to know for sure. 
• are sporting one tooth! You're cranky this week, so I wonder if another one is coming along, though I don't see anything to indicate so.
• began shaking your head back and forth, mimicking us.
• act insanely excited to come wake me up in the morning when Daddy lets me sleep in. You squeal and crawl all over me and burrow into me and give me big wet slobbery kisses on my nose. 
• Understand the sign for "milk" and flash me a smile or acknowledge with an excited arm flap.
• love playing peek-a-boo, and Avery loves to hide your face under a blanket or her lovey and then watch you pull it off. 
• love tickles and giggle up a storm
• bawl your eyes out when I drop you off at the church nursery, and the second you see me at the end of church or Bible study, you start bawling again. I haven't been paged out in awhile, though, so I think you're doing better. At least they tell me you don't cry the whole time.
• play well by yourself for the most part, wandering around and exploring and eating everything, but you like to keep a close eye on me. 
• love the pool and don't mind water in your eyes too much. You prefer to be in the baby pool where you can crawl around, but you don't mind going around with the big kids if Mommy or Daddy are holding you
• wave your arms like a Bollywood dancer when music is playing, and you bounce and waggle your hiney to the beat.
• sniff and wrinkle your nose like Avery used to do at this age, as well as your daddy (this is one of my favorites!)

Conversations with Avery

This is an exhausting and funny age for her. She asks questions non-stop, and loves to play question games with us. It delights her to no end to have Luke ask her questions, any kind of questions, so she asks him, "Do you want to ask me some questions in my room?"

She will be in the middle of a conversation with me (really, when is she not?) and will shout out "green car" and then keep on going with her conversation. Not sure what the fascination with green cars is.

Plays doctor. It usually goes something like this:
"Hi, Mommy. I'm Dr. Bell (this is her actual pediatrician, btw). It's so nice to meet you! First, I need to check your heart. (listens with the stethoscope, somewhere near my heart, sort-of). Good. Your heart is good. Now I need to check your blood pressure. Help me, I can't put this on. Wait, I want to do it! I want to buckle (velcro) it! Ok, 123456789-10 (pumps it up). Your blood pressure is good. Now I need to check your temperature to see if you have a fever. (sticks thermometer in my ear and spins it). No fever. Now I have to reflex you. (hits my legs with the reflex-thingy, and sometimes it's hard enough to cause my reflexes to kick in regardless of where she taps it) Good, good. Now you need your medicine. (shakes out pretend pills and hands them to me). Ok, now I check your ears. (sticks the light in each ear). Good. Now it's time for your shot. Chuk-chuk (that's the sound it makes, obviously). You're all better!"

And, as she uses each tool from her doctor bag, she sets them aside. She also closes the bag after each tool she pulls out to use.

She plays with her babies and stuffed animals and is sometimes heard during naptime telling them, "Now, everyone GO. TO. SLEEP!" By the way, I don't yell that at her, although she does have some reminders on occasion. Her baby gets frequent naps during the day and can be found in a variety of locations. 


The other day, she asked Luke to help her with something, and he was too slow for her, so she said in a deep voice, "Come, child." 


Our new apartment has a coat closet in the entrance, in which we place our shoes. She has labeled this the "shoe pantry". Quite astute.

Father's Day in Pictures

chocolate chip pancakes, Daddy's request (and I made them with dark chocolate - way better!)

it's a face! she really drew a face!! and she even gave him brown hair

reading his gift from Avery

Avery's Father's Day questionnaire

One really upset baby and one indifferent 3 year old, and Daddy is still smiling!

Box Fun

Why bother spending money on toys? Get a few used boxes and let your kids go wild.