10 Months Old

Well we've all been sick this weekend. Not much fun. But in the chaos, we did manage to find a little bit of time for fun. Kodakgallery.com has a cute baby photo contest and I found myself trying to take some pictures my little guy. I just can't believe he's going to be 10 months old this week. He's pulling up, saying "Mama" and starting to cruise the furniture. I also recently discovered that I can take his 9 mos old jeans (that don't fit him anymore) and roll up the cuffs to make shorts for Natalie. I am not even joking.

Next week, the kids and I are off to Kansas City to visit my family. I'm SO excited, but incredibly nervous, about the plane ride with both of them by myself. Natalie's out of diapers now and Liam is crawling. Should make for an interesting trip and blog post....stay tuned!

We Made It

Well, we made it! I would have posted pictures earlier, but I was too busy with a 24 hour stomach bug and then taking care of 2 kids with upper respiratory infections + fevers. Fortunately we didn't start feeling poorly until AFTER we got back from camping. THANKFULLY.

Bouncing

Hayride around the campground

This is actually TWO sites right next to each other. We had about 15ft between us and the next camper. Ridiculously small!

I'll have to say it was more fun than I anticipated. The KOA we stayed at in Harpers Ferry, WV has A LOT of amenities: heated pool, big bouncy blob-style thing for kids and adults alike to bounce on, tons of coordinated activities on the weekends, movies, a museum, etc, etc. We were a little concerned when we arrived because the sites were so super small. That was the only drawback, though, and fortunately we had nice neighbors.


Our camper... I think she needs a name!
Camping with a camper is a completely new experience and I have to admit - it doesn't feel much like the old way of camping at all. However, its SUPER comfy for sleeping and housing a couple little ones. The first night we slept with the A/C on and then the next night we used the heat. You don't even have to trudge to the bath house in the middle of the night for a midnight pee! How exciting is that?!?!

We went on the trip with two other couples (Mario/Simone and Dave/Jill) with five kids between us and a dog. We definitely stayed busy corralling all of the kids and enjoying all of the activities. Both Liam (9.5 mos) and Cheyenne (10.5 mos) aren't walking yet and were fairly content to stay in their screened in playroom (except for the occasional breakout for a snack of small rocks and dirt). However, I'm envisioning camping with them in the fall is going to bring a whole new level of baby-proofing. I'm imagining a giant gate around the fire.



We ate GREAT on the trip (no hot dogs and beans here!) and took turns preparing the meals. I think our only regret was not being able to stay longer. It's really a bit comical to think that we prepared ALL week for a trip that was really only one full day and two half days.

Nice.

Brave? Or Just Plain Crazy?

Kevin and I used to be avid campers. Okay... maybe avid is an overstatement. We did LOVE to camp as a family. But that was before kids. Since then, Kevin has been camping for hunting trips and such, but I've stayed behind, glad to have a whole house to spread out with the kids and not have to worry about keeping little ones out of a fire pit. How did those cave women do it?

Every year my friends (with kids around the same ages) have asked if we'd go. They're much braver than I and seem to have a good time. But I've remained the weenie - until now.

For some unknown reason (maybe because Natalie is potty trained [YES!] or because there's another family with a kid Liam's age going) I've decided to take the plunge and sleep in a tent with a 9 mos old and 2.5 year old because "Doesnt that just sound like so much fun?" "Wont this be the start of so many fun family memories?" and "You'll enjoy it once you get there!".

Since making the decision to go, though, we found a pop-up camper that we liked on Craigslist (my favorite site!) and we'll be taking it with us. Kevin's especially excited as it will be a nice upgrade to cold tent camping he does during hunting season (the camper has heating AND air conditioning!). While this might seem like it would be a huge relief... I'm not sure I'm feeling it yet.

Lately, Liam's been waking up at 5am in the morning and just chatting away for two hours until we get up. Might be interesting in the close quarters of a camper. He's also kicked his second nap the past couple days. I'd like to attribute this to teething (he's been very, very fussy) and am really hopeful that it's a temporary thing.

In preparing for the trip this morning I hit up the local Wal-mart Supercenter, determined to get a bit of one-stop shopping done. Liam ended up having a breakdown in the middle of the trip needing to be held the ENTIRE time. Imagine this with a 2 1/2 yr old itching to get out of a cart that is packed TO THE BRIM with supplies and plenty of cold stuff thawing out. I believe I was sweating from pulling the cart around the store too.

Then Natalie started commenting (rather loudly) about all of the "yucky people". I swear I've never said anything of the like for her to repeat... I'm not sure what struck her eye about the Walmart clientele. Perhaps she's seen this site. She's very interested in expressing what she likes and doesn't like these days.) Let's see, I dropped my phone on the floor AND really had to go the bathroom the entire hour and a half that I was there too (but what can one do with a cart full of stuff and at least one cart-bound kid?).

After all the unpacking and arranging back at home, I'm still short a few things on my list and still have laundry to do to get us ready to go - not to mention all of the packing.

So, at this point... I'm convinced I'll be enjoying myself once I make it to the campsite, put the kids in bed, put up my feet and make myself a cold drink.

Let the countdown begin!

Teeth!

Guess who's teeth have been coming in on top?


Guess who's been fussed AT for the past week!

Because 3 Weeks is Just Too Dad Gum Long!

It's been FOREVER and a day since I've posted it seems. Sorry for falling off the grid. I'm not going to write much as I'm a bit pressed for time. But I did have a few pictures of what we've been up to...


We ordered a new swimsuit for Natalie from Sears/Lands End and it came in the mail. She's been asking to swim all winter and now it actually might be warm enough to dig out the pool from it's hiding spot underneath the deck. Of COURSE we had to try on the swimsuit to make sure a 3T was the right size. She decided it was exactly the fashion statement she wanted to make for the rest of the night... over her clothes.


Natalie's quite the little mommy. And that would be cute if she were helpful. Unfortunately, a 2.5 year old's idea of help is more frustrating than anything as she ends up tipping Liam over, hitting him instead of patting, shoving items in his mouth, etc, etc. We've resorted to just telling her "DONT TOUCH HIM" after a series of "gentle!", "dont pull on his head!" "dont put that in his mouth!" Sheesh...2.5 and we are already promoting the idea that her little brother has cooties!


A couple weekends ago Kevin went turkey hunting with his buddy and my mom came to help out with the kids. I think I would have gone postal in the 5 days alone with them, so I was very thankful for the company! (Especially because I came down with a mild form of food poisoning and was weak and nauseous for a couple days.) We had a great time with Nana and did all the usual stuff once I felt better... garage sales, grocery shopping and the park. I even picked up a doll house off of Craigslist for Natalie's birthday (in September)! Its always fun for her to see just how crazy it is around here on a day-to-day basis.

Okay that's it for now. I've got some thoughts in my head for the next post and it shouldn't take me three weeks to get them written down this time. Stay tuned!