Day two

April 23, 2011:




Today is not starting the best. We didn’t sleep great last night due to Max waking once during the night then the boys waking for the day at 6am. They woke up grumpy and fussy because they are a little freaked out being in a new place. Dave and I didn’t wake in much better moods ourselves. Soon the whole house was up and Mom set to work making eggs, bacon and toast for everyone. She’s kind of amazing like that. Day two of vacation, waking early, grumpy grandkids and all and that lady still got in the kitchen for us. Bless her extra today, Lord.

Once breakfast was cleaned up and the adults were through the shower we attempted to leave for the nearby outlet malls (It’s raining today so there’s not much else we can do). We didn’t get far. Max had just fallen asleep. We tried to calm a very stir-crazy David down long enough to watch a movie, but that just wasn’t happening. He just roamed the house and grumped at us until Max woke up. Thankfully, he didn’t take a long nap and we were soon on our way. We reached Vanity Fair Outlet Mall by 10:30am. Mom and I were pumped and ready to shop! The very first store in the very first building had kids’ clothes. I perused the racks not expecting much because I’ve never found that the deals have been all that great in the outlets around MI. I was pleasantly shocked. I found shorts for both boys marked down from $12 to $1.50 each. I found jammies for David that were originally $18, now marked down to just $3! I nearly skipped out of that store I was so happy! After seeing their prices, Dave decided he would do some looking too. He needed a new pair of athletic pants, some shorts for the summer and a new hoodie or two. He found all that and more. We stopped long enough to eat some Mona Lisa pizza in the food court and change a diaper then it was back to shopping. After 4 hours in the outlets, the boys stopped being patient in the stroller and we quickly decided to end our trip. We had seen just about every store there and had bought everything we wanted to. We were ok wrapping it up.

The drive home was no fun. The boys were making us crazy with their worn out, overtired fussing. They both passed out before we got home (and we had no desire to wake the sleeping beasts) so Dave stayed with them until in the car until they woke up. Everyone was tired and ready for a snooze so we grabbed our favorite napping spots and chilled while the house was calm. It didn’t take long for the boys to wake, but immediately after they got in the house we saw that they wanted more sleep. They each laid down and passed out again, Max upstairs in bed and David on the couch in the middle of the adults talking. They each slept for nearly 3 hours this afternoon. Knowing our every minute would be consumed with them when they woke up, we grabbed dinner while they were still out. We had to finally wake them both at 6pm. We were afraid they’d never sleep that night so we took them out to burn some energy and play mini golf (it finally stopped raining!). So fun! David had a great time and I think it may be his favorite part of the trip so far.

After mini golf, we made a quick pit stop at Wal-Mart to grab some quick breakfast foods. We got the boys home and bathed and quickly in bed after that. Dave and I chatted for a while then turned in around 11:30. Today was a bit stressful for us as the boys have lost all routine or sense of time. Kids don’t just go with the flow very well. They’ve been very whiney and fussy, but have hung in there when they needed to.

Day one

Since I dont really have time to write blog posts as I go and I don't want to take a bajillion hours to catch up once I get back home, I'm just going to upload my travel journal from my laptop. You're going to get allll the details now. :) It's long reading, but sort of fun, right?



April 22, 2011:

Dave and I woke up at 4am and finally crawled out of our cozy bed around 4:30. After sipping some coffee Dave headed outside to attach the car top luggage carrier. It wasn’t the easiest job this morning because it’s 35 degrees and raining. He got it all set and loaded quickly though. Dave’s parents (who are riding with us) got to our house at 5:30 and we loaded the coolers and their things into the van. When we were all set to go, we woke the boys up and stuffed them in the car. We were on the road by 6am. We were all hungry and Max needed a diaper change so we hit McDonald’s in Tekonsha, MI at 7am. We ate as quickly as we could and got ourselves back on the road.

We were in and out of Indiana by 8:15 (spending 80 cents in tolls). We took a break for a rest stop at 9:15. So far the boys are being very good and enjoying the ride. Max has taken a little 20 minute cat nap and David has been talking non-stop. We are all settling into the car now and looking forward to the ride. It’s still raining, grey and gloomy, but we are in good spirits and having a good time anyway. I have taken my Dramamine and I’m not car sick so all is well!

The boys started getting a little antsy around 10am so we dug some books and toys out for them. It bought us a good quiet hour before they got bored again. They wouldn’t be satisfied with just toys anymore so we put in a movie for them. They are now engrossed in Cars and oblivious to the passing miles. Thank you, Circuit City and Amazon.com for making this moment possible.

We took a break for a rest stop and gas fill up at 11:30. Before crawling back in, we dug our sandwiches out of the cooler we brought. The boys are eating well and still watching their movie. A very good trip so far, I’d say. We are just now leaving Ohio (spending $13.50 in tolls) and crossing the Pennsylvania state line (12:15pm). I’m told this is the half way point in the trip. I think we may make it out of this one alive!

I woke up from my 45 minute nap at 1:30pm just in time to see Puxsatawny, PA. Hi, Puxsatawny Phil! We have approx. 225 miles to go. That’s puts our arrival time at about 5pm tonight. The boys are still holding up well. Max woke up from an hour and a half nap about 5 minutes before David fell asleep. He slept for just an hour, but that’s an hour more than he usually does at home. Traveling is exhausting. We came across an interesting sign at about 2pm today. We are now at the highest elevation point east of the Mississippi river – 2,250 feet. When we first entered the state I wasn’t all that impressed it looked much like Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Now though, we are getting into the mountains and we’ve finally got something pretty to look at. I’m enjoying this scenery much more.

3pm brought a rest stop, poopy diaper, Handy Manny DVD and a fussy Max. The boys are now losing patience with us. They just want out to run. It’s taking some effort on our part to keep them entertained. We got a little taste of Michigan here in Pennsylvania. We ran into snow. Snow?! What the junk is snow doing in April? I’m tired of this yuckiness. Bring on spring!!

We are getting close now but the boys are quite through with riding in the car. We took a break at a sweet McD’s from 4:30 – 5pm to get a snack. Aunt Jen will have dinner ready for us at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, but the boys aren’t going to make it that much longer. They need a snack and a place to release their wiggles. Good thing this McDonald’s has a play place!

Soon after hitting the Pennsylvania Turnpike at 5:30, we had to stop for another poopy diaper. Max was pretty insistent about having it changed and after smelling it I couldn’t blame him. By 6pm we were exiting the turnpike (having spent $2.90 in tolls) and headed to Grandma and Grandpa’s neighborhood. David loved the tunnel that we went through just off the turnpike. He was pretty excited about getting to drive in the mountain. It’s not everyday you find yourself under mountains, you know.

After a tiring 12 and a half hours in the car we were very happy to pull into Grandma and Grandpa’s driveway tonight. The boys wanted nothing more than to play in the yard so David’s dad took them outside to run while the rest of us ate dinner. Once we were finished we got a tour of the house and set to work unloading the van. That was a job! Yeesh. It took the next 2 hours to get the boys settled down and in bed. They just couldn’t seem to sit still long enough to realize they were tired.

We are now chatting with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Jen and checking the weather to make plans for tomorrow. It looks like rain so we’re not sure what we’ll end up doing. Our entire trip out here was rainy, gloomy and cold. We are ready for some nice springy vacation weather! We want to get out and do some sightseeing while we are here.

VACATION!

We are leaving tomorrow morning at 5:30 for vacation. Yay! After this past semester we are really looking forward to relaxing! I'm planning on updating as we go so you all know what we're up to, but I'm not sure what the internet situation will be out there. We'll see what I'm able to do. See you in a week!

Keep calm...

This is one of my new favorite sayings. And it's so fitting for everything our family has going on right now! I really want a poster to hang in our house so I can see it everyday, but it seems to also be a fave of every other person on the planet so I don't think I can. It's just too overdone. But a great reminder, right?

David's First E.R. Trip

It's been an...um...eventful day around here today. I woke up sure I was starving to death. I ate 3 breakfasts and a snack before lunch. I pretty much decided to fore go all other activities or plans and just eat all morning. No shower, no brushing teeth, no doing my hair, no cleaning. Just eating. The boys threw their goldfish snack on the ground and stomped them all into the carpet and dumped every single toy they own on the floor, but it just didn't matter.

By lunch, I was a wreck. I just couldn't make more food fast enough. I hurried it along as fast as I could then popped it in the oven (Chili Mac and Cheese with last night's leftover chili - yum!). About 10 minutes before it was supposed to come out of the oven the boys started squabbling over a trike that Grandma got David for Christmas. Max was on it first, but David got it in his head that he wanted a ride too. It quickly became an all out power struggle. I was busy juggling laundry, cooking, packing and not throwing up from being so hungry so I let them duke it out. That was SUCH a bad decision. Normally, it ends well and they can figure things out. Today not so much. It went from verbal to physical almost instantly and the trike tipped over spilling both boys on the floor. 

All was quiet for about 2 seconds then they both started screaming. I quickly prioritized and grabbed the youngest first. Max calmed down right away, but David was still crying hard. I put Max down and went to comfort David. I found him covered in blood, his head gushing. Wow. Not what I needed when I was shakey and nauseous. I scrambled to find our red, first aid wash cloth. I sopped up the blood trail he left from the living room to the kitchen (cuz Max was playing in it) then tried to stop the bleeding on his head. Head wounds like to bleed. A lot.

I got it calmed down and took a close look at the gash. It looked big to me and wanted a second opinion on how to treat it. I knew my mom was at an appointment and David was at the doctor for his own issues that morning (inflammation around the lungs making it painful to breathe). I called my good friend Jes and she immediately dropped her own kidlings on her husband and came over to assess the situation. Unable to focus on anything but my hunger and blechyness, I took her advice and we shaved his head to apply butterfly closures to the gash. He was such a trooper. He stood very calmly and let us work. Such a brave boy.

Two hours later, the wound was still bleeding around the butterfly bandages. My mom, sister and David took a look and I called our pediatrician. The general consensus was that he needed to be seen at the E.R.. Off we went. He was pretty excited for a trip to the hospital. He did really well and was all smiles until the doctor came in. He absolutely flipped out then and had a meltdown. No strange bald-headed man was going to touch his head without a fight. We held him down long enough for the doctor to get a peek. I was given the option of staples or dermabond to close the gash. Glue it was! The only draw back to that is that he's not allowed to touch it. So far he's been good though so that doesn't even matter.

The doctor stepped out to prep the supplies and left us with Curious George on TV. Within 5 minutes, David had conked out cold. I guess fighting doctors off is draining! The doctor returned and slipped in quietly. We got about halfway through the dermabond process before he woke up. Not too bad!

All in all, it was a little traumatic (for me and him!), but it wasn't anything that an hour in the E.R. and a little tissue glue couldn't fix.

Soon after the bonk

It's about a half inch long and as wide as a nickel is thick

Our attempt at butterfly closures

Waiting to see the doctor

He loved that bracelet! He asked to take it home before
he even got to the exam room.

Sleeping

A glue-y gash

All done! Waiting for discharge papers

He got McDonald's for dinner as a special treat for being so
brave today.

Silly faces

This is the face that David makes when he doesn't realize I'm taking pictures of him. And apparently that is the face I make when I'm taking pictures and don't realize I'm in them.

Easter picture

David made this Easter picture in Sunday school yesterday. He told me he put the squiggle eggs on for him and Daddy and the flowered one is for me because it's beautiful. He's too sweet.

Cloth Diapers

I love cloth diapers. I just love them. But not until I got ready to move did I realized how obsessed I am with them. My mom salvaged some banana boxes from the grocery store she works at. These are not small boxes by any means - they are meant to transport 40 pounds of bananas each! I filled 4 - FOUR! - of them with cloth diapers, wipes, covers, pins, inserts and snappis.

I should probably seek help for this addiction.

After a giant batch that I was just given by a friend, I probably have close to 80 diapers. Seriously! Who needs all those diapers?! Me. I did need quite a stash since I had 2 in diapers for a long time, but this is just silly. I was just given 35 diapers though so not all that can be blamed on my ridiculous shopping. But still!

Can I just say though that I need them all. No, really I do. Hear me out. I have prefolds, pins, snappis and covers for home, pockets for going away, all in ones because I got a great deal on them and they are great for babysitters and fitteds, more snappis and special covers for overnights. I have cotton, bamboo, microfiber, PUL, wool, hemp, vinyl, nylon and flannel. I have a diaper to fit any child from 8-38 pounds. Every diaper has it's purpose and every style gets used. I also loan out diapers from time to time to persuade other mamas to jump on the cloth bandwagon.

Plus, they are better for baby, better for the environment, better for my wallet AND super cute. I just can't believe that there is a disposable out there more adorable than this:

Diaper cover from Wylie Clothworks

I'll be leaving Friday for a week long vacation and won't be taking a single cloth diaper with me. Please pray for me as I deal with my withdrawl symptoms. I may just cry every time I have to put plastic, paper and yucky chemicals on my baby's tush. *sigh* It'll be a long week.

Another David Quote

Me (after hearing Max's muffled cries): "David, I hear Max crying. Is he ok?"
David: "Yeah, I'm just squishing him a little bit."

David quotes

My two favorite things that lil Dave said to me today...

#1 - "I scratched my bottom in the living room. Got some poop on my finger a little bit. Can you wipe me?"

#2 - (after being in bed tonight for about 4 minutes) "David's been sleeping for like 2 hours. Can we rock now?"

10 week ultrasound

We had an ultrasound on the 12th to double check the due date. Here's our little peanut:





The arrow is pointing at the noggin.
The body and feet are to the right.

The baby measures right were it should for 10 weeks so my due date of November 8th is correct. Baby is 3.3cm long right now and weighing about .25oz. I got to see baby move quite a bit and got to watch the little heart beating away. The ultrasound tech measured the heartbeat for us. It's strong and healthy at 173 bpm (if you believe the old wives' tales you are thinking girl thoughts right now).

We were given 3 keepsake pictures to take home. As soon as little David heard us talking about them with my sister (our sitter for the morning) he wanted to see too. We pointed out what part was our baby and what part was Mama's tummy. I was really surprised, but he seemed to get it even with the blurriness of the picture. He still looks back at it and points out the baby to me. He asked to keep the picture forever and never give it back so I made a copy for him on plain paper. He just loves it. He calls it "his baby" (which he's positive is a girl so sometimes he calls it his baby sister). :D 

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes

So apparently you all are thoroughly grossed out by the spaghetti picture and would like something new to look at? Weird. Hows about a post about boxes?

My house is overflowing with them right now. We've been searching all over 2 counties and reworking our budget several times over and we can't seem to find a house to rent that fits both our needs and our budget. We've kept our eyes open for more than a year now and nothing has popped up.

We finally came to the realization that we are going to need to stay in an apartment just a while longer (like 2 years minimum) so we started searching 3 bedroom apartments. With a new baby coming in November we have to upgrade to a 3 bedroom. It's against the laws/rules to have 5 people in a 2 bedroom place. We ran into 2 major problems in our search: #1 - they are so stinkin' expensive! #2 - Very few have a washer and dryer in the apartment itself. Most are coin operated machines that you share with the rest of the building. With 3 kiddos that's just not an option.

Enter our current landlord....we don't hate the complex we're at. We have just outgrown the unit we're in. David went down to the office and smooth-talked our landlord into an unbelievable deal. We are moving to a 3 bed unit here at our complex for about $100 less than the lowest deal they've EVER worked out with anyone in the past. They have a newly remodeled apartment - just finished 2 weeks ago - that they have been holding onto for "the right" tenants. They upgraded a lot of the cosmetic things and put in all new appliances. It has the most beautiful faux wood flooring through the whole house. SO great for having kids! The only carpet is in the master bedroom. And they've agreed to let us have it for a steal. The leasing agent is almost angry at the manager for cutting such a low deal with us.

We had some terms and conditions to agree to before they'd rent at such a low price, but none of it was deal breakers. One thing was that they wouldn't hold the apartment indefinitely for us. We have to move and occupy it or they will rent it to another suitable tenant. We are going on vacation for a week later this month and then will have 3 days home before we start moving. Yikes. I have a LOT of packing to do.

Boxes, boxes, boxes.....

You know you're pregnant when...

....You post status updates like this on Facebook at 11:30 at night:

"Craving scrambled eggs right now like you wouldn't believe"

....You say things like:

"I'm starving. It's been like an hour since I ate! I'm going to die."

....And when you crave things like this:

"You know what this spaghetti needs? Three quarters
of a can of pinto beans!"

Best meal I've ever eaten. Seriously.

P.S. Did I mention I'm craving proteins right now? Because I am. I've eaten almost a dozen and a half eggs and two 15oz cans of beans in the last 3 days.

Little Piggy

I found this picture on the internet tonight. Doesn't it just make you laugh?

9 weeks!

I'm 9 weeks today! I got an email about baby's development this week. So fun. Here's where we're at:

"Your new resident is nearly an inch long -- about the size of a grape -- and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form -- as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Eyelids now cover your baby's eyes."

Things are moving along fine this week. I'm getting over being sick so I don't have a ton of energy right now, but I'm doing alright. I'm not having headaches anymore. As long as I eat often {about every 2 hours} and get lots of protein, I don't feel nauseous. Gone are the days of fried cabbage and lemony things....bring on the cheesy scrambled eggs and pasta with alfredo sauce!

Max's First Haircut

Was he adorable? Yes. But I just couldn't stand his long, full of static, over his ears hair anymore. I pulled out the clippers tonight and buzzed it off (using a number 4 guard). After seeing David's short hair for a few weeks, I decided I like it MUCH better and Max's hair has been driving me crazy. It just had to go.

He was super excited to be the center of attention and to get a giant pretzel stick to hold, but as soon as the clippers turned on we lost him. He was not nearly as happy about the process as David had been. :( I went as quickly as I could and just got it over with. Immediately after we were done the tears were gone and he was our happy Max again.

I saved the very first piece that was cut for his baby book...of course! :D

Before:

During:

After:

Kinda looks like David now, huh?
What a big boy!

Cuteness

Shrek shadows

Don't you love when you're driving down the road at sunset and your car makes a Shrek-like shadow on the road? No? Must be just me.

Little Dave's first shave

We don't actually call him Dave, but the title just flows doesn't it?

Grandma Sager got David a Buzz Lightyear
shaving set. Thanks, Monga! He loves it!

Lathered up and ready to shave

Staring at shaving cream on his razer

Daddy was shaving at the same time so David
watched very closely and copied him

Rinse and repeat

one of my favorite pics :)

 

Daddy helped by holding the mirror so he could get all the

tricky spots.

cleaning up



<>

All clean shaven :)

Where are the batteries?

Yesterday morning I was letting David watch tv. I am STILL sick and I had a really hard time getting going for the day. We have a pretty good Disney channel OnDemand selection so I picked out a show for David. I didn't want him watching too much tv so I told him when the 30 minute episode was finished that he needed to be done. He threw a fit and whined for a while saying he wanted more than one - until the show came on then he sat very nicely on the couch and watched it. :) I took advantage of him being distracted and got some things done around the house. When I heard the song for the end credits starting I went back to the living room. David was laying under the coffee table watching his show. I picked up the remote to turn off the tv and told him he was done with cartoons. My remote wouldn't work. I messed with a few buttons trying to figure it out before I realized that it felt awfully light.  David peeked out from under the coffee table with a very guilty look on his face and two batteries wrapped tightly in his fist. That little bugger opened the remote and took the batteries out so I couldn't turn off his tv!!!

Please, PLEASE, tell me that your 2 (almost 3) year olds do stuff like this too!