Nola @ 6 Months

Nola turned SIX months old on July 27th! Here's what she's up to these days...

• She had her 6 month check up yesterday and weighed 17 lbs, 10 oz (81st percentile).  She was 25.5" long (42.13%ile).  Her head circumference was 43.5 cm. In the picture to the right, she was at the doctor's office, completely unaware that she was about to get 3 shots:
• She still takes 8 oz bottles, usually when she wakes up.  She eats a fruit or vegetable every night.  She recently started eating peaches, apples and bananas.  She doesn't like plums or apricots.  She loves avocados!
• She wears size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. 
• She got tubes put in her ears on July 6th and she's doing great! 
• The last time I posted a monthly update, Nola had just started laughing.  She rarely laughs, but when she does, it's adorable.  I asked about her not laughing much when we were at the doctor yesterday and he said that it's probably just her personality, but that it may be related to her laryngomalacia.  He said not to worry about it because she's interacting and smiling all the time.
• Nola rolls all over the place - front to back and back to front - and can sit solo for a little while and even longer with a little support. 
• Nola is a SLEEPER.  She sleeps about 12-14 hours at night and then takes naps throughout the day.  Dr. Schaefer said that it's not a problem.  She's just on the high end of the average range (10-18 hours). 
• I think she knows her name now, because she will turn her head when we call her name.  I know she's not just responding to our voices, because if we don't call her name, she doesn't turn.
• She's starting to babble a little now and then.  She usually babbles /m, b, d, t/ and makes the funniest little happy sounds - just like the Gerber baby on the commercials.

One Month:

Two Months:

Three Months:

Four Months:

Five Months:

Six Months:

Silver Dollar City

Rudy and I decided to take the kids to Silver Dollar City on Tuesday as a sort of "last weekday hoorah" of the summer.  Rudy has the state band conference this week (Wed-Fri) and then summer band starts on Monday, so he is basically back to work now.

We made the twisty, turny, hilly drive to SDC on Tuesday morning and got there just in time to eat lunch.  After lunch, we went over to get Caleb's official measurement and find out what all he could ride.  His first ride was the flying elephants, then we spun around for a while on the teacups.  I tried to get Caleb to ride the swinging pirate ship, but he wanted nothing to do with that!  He loved the kid-sized roller coaster and says it was his favorite of the day...

He rode several other rides with Rudy while I took Nola to an air conditioned nursing station to feed her and let her cool off.  I soaked up a lot of that air conditioning while we were in there as well.  It was HOT! 

Finally, the boys decided it was time for them to cool off by getting wet.  They rode the water battle ride where they got to shoot water at people watching and at other people on boats.  After that, they rode the river boats, where they got even wetter. 

Caleb also enjoyed playing in the treehouse.  I tried all day to get Nola to sleep a little, but she fought it with everything she had.  She did snooze a little at one point, but it was just too hot and noisy to stay asleep.  She was a trooper, though.  She watched the sights and was pretty happy as long as we were in motion.  She didn't like sitting still at all.

We all rode the train - Nola's only ride of the day besides her stroller - and Caleb was more interested in watching a daddy long legs than watching the classic SDC train robbery.  After our train ride, we ate dinner and then called it a night.  We made the trip home with 2 very tired kids (and 2 very tired parents) and finally got Caleb in the bed at 11:00. 

Backyard Baseball

We gave Caleb a choice between soccer and baseball (t-ball, really) for next spring.  Thank goodness, he chose baseball.  He loves it.  He and Rudy play in the backyard almost every night lately and one night last week, Rudy decided that Caleb needed a "real" bat.  Being the good Northwest Arkansas folks that we are, we loaded up the whole family and went to WalMart.  Nola and I waited in the car and 10 minutes later, here they came with a brand new aluminum t-ball bat and the biggest grin I've ever seen on a 4 year old's face.  After we got some ice cream, we came home and the clink-clink-clinking began.  I'm sure the neighbors are loving Caleb's new aluminum bat and all of the noise that it makes when he hits the ball.  He can knock the ball across the yard off the tee and is doing pretty well hitting it out of the air when Rudy pitches to him.  The new skill last night was trying to hit just the ball and not knock the tee over every time.  By the end of the evening, that skill had developed too.  Between this and Caleb's new affinity for golf, I think Rudy may be in Daddy heaven. 

Snug as Two Bugs in a Rug

I caught this scene in my living room floor last week and grabbed the camera.  Priceless.

Caleb's 1st Dentist Visit

Dr. Rhodes & Caleb

Caleb went to the dentist for the first time on Thursday, 7/22/10. He LOVED it and was so proud of himself. I had planned to take him, but Rudy ended up doing it because I was awake most of the night before and just needed to stay home and get a little more sleep. Rudy said the office was great - cartoons on the walls, TVs above the chairs (Caleb watched Phineas & Ferb) - everything to get kids motivated to go to the dentist. Caleb saw Dr. Rhodes at NWA Pediatric Dental Center. The hygenist gave Rudy some pointers for keeping Caleb's teeth clean and healthy and Dr. Rhodes said that Caleb's teeth were cavity-free! Yay! The staff was amazed that Caleb allowed them to take so many x-rays. They said that most kids his age won't let them get in the back because it feels so strange, but he did it. Rudy said he was so brave! He did get a little upset that he didn't get anything from the treasure chest. That happens at the 2nd visit. He was excited about his goody bag, though. It had a Diego toothbrush, some Spongebob toothpaste (that he said he didn't like because Spongebob isn't allowed in our house), a tattoo, a sticker, and a water bottle.

Sitting Pretty

Over the past couple of weeks, Nola has really started to develop some motor skills.  She can now roll from front to back and vice versa.  That means that if I put her down in the middle of a blanket on the floor and leave the room for 30 seconds, I usually find her completely off the blanket when I return.  I keep thinking she's going to crawl any day now, but she hasn't really gotten up on her knees yet, so if she does crawl, it'll be a scoot like Caleb's was for a long time. 

Tripod Sitting

But - the big news is that she has gradually learned to sit up.  She's still a little wobbly and often tumbles to one side, but she is able to sit for a while and can reach for toys in front of her.  A lot of times, she leans waaaay forward in a tripod sit, which usually makes her spit up because it compacts her belly so much.  (Of course, pretty much everything makes her spit up, so there's no surprise there.  We keep bibs on her 90% of the time.)            

What's that you say?  You noticed Nola's bow?  Yes...she's wearing a bow...on her head...with a headband...and it's cute.  I still stand by my "no gigantic bows or flowers the size of her head" rule, but a little something to keep people from asking how old HE is when we go out isn't so bad.  I didn't make this green one, but I have made some and you'll be seeing them in more posts.  Some are even bigger than this one for when I'm feeling particularly ostentatious and want to let people know that it's okay for a mom to change her mind a little.  Just kidding - I really put them on her based on what matches her outfit.  When I made them, I ended up accidentally making some bigger than I thought they would turn out.  She'll grow into them.  I'm still going to use them now if they match because I know that my days of choosing what she wears are very limited.  I'm guessing Ms. Sassy Pants will have quite the opinion about it all.

Weighing on My Mind

This is one of those posts that's more for me than for anyone else.  It's rattling around in my head and this is my medium for writing, so here it comes...

I've spent my entire adult life and, honestly, some parts of my adolescence, thinking about weight. I'm built just like my great grandmother, Mama Mae. While I loved my great grandmother dearly, I sure wish she had genetically granted me something else besides her figure. Basically, I'm an apple. 

(from left to right) Hourglass, Ruler, Upside-down Triangle, Pear figure, and Apple

Unfortunately, my apple shape has grown significantly over the past 10 years.  The ironic part of that, of course, is that if I ate more apples and less other stuff, I might not be such an apple.  I digress.

Strike one...

You always hear that with marriage comes weight gain, then there are kids, then metabolism slows down, etc, etc, etc.  Well, dang, if those things haven't been true for me.  Thirty-three, married, working in a school and raising 2 kids isn't exactly a sure-fire recipe for success when it comes to losing weight.

Strike two...

Add on to that the fact that I'm more of an indoor girl than one who likes to sweat, I'm a crafter, not a runner, I'm a reader, not a hiker, I'd rather work puzzles and read with my kids than play soccer or ride bikes... You get the point. 

Foul ball...

My body hasn't made it easy for me to fight the weight battle.  Fibromyalgia pain is pretty constant and really runs me down sometimes.  Nine days out of ten, I fight it with every fiber of my being.  That tenth day, though - it fights back and wins.  The crummy part for me is that it seems to be worse when I get hot, which doesn't bode well for exercising.

Strike three...

This is the one that sends me back to the dugout.  Food.  I really think there's some sort of conspiracy in the fact that cheese dip tastes so good and broccoli tastes so bad.  It's wrong that chocolate chip cookies are more comforting to the soul than carrots.  And, really - it's just so much easier (and cheaper!) to drive through and grab fast food than it is to get something healthy when I'm out and about.  I've tried vegetables.  I don't like them.  Most of them literally - not making this up - gag me.  The texture of lettuce makes my skin crawl.  It's hard to find anything healthy on a menu that doesn't have the word "salad" in it and it's hard to eat a salad when lettuce makes you want to throw up. 

And that is why I am where I am.  The good thing is that, so far, even when I've struck out, I've gotten another at-bat.  Here I stand at the plate again - the one on the ground, not the one on the table.  I'm at bat and I have a few nifty new tools to help me.  Nothing can knock the ball out of the park but me and my own strength, but maybe a few batting lessons will come in handy.  (Okay - enough of the baseball talk.  Can you tell I'm a visualizer?  These visualizations help me process my thoughts.)

In the past, my most successful attempts at weight loss have been through Weight Watchers.  I've lost every time I've done it.  The problem, though, is that I fall off the wagon...the wagon runs over me and I nurse my wagon-inflicted wounds with carbs and sugars.  Eventually, the wagon comes back around, only to find me a little heavier than the last time I got on it.  (Visualizing wagons this time!)

This time around, it's been harder than usual.  After Nola was born, I was shocked to find myself in my pre-pregnancy jeans in about 3 weeks.  Crazy!!!  I should've gotten right to work losing more at that point since things were going my way.  (I didn't exactly start out my pregnancy on the left end of the scale.) I didn't do that, though.  I told myself that I would only survive the first 6 weeks of having 2 kids without the added stress of dieting.  My 6 week postpartum appointment was my cut-off date for starting back on Weight Watchers and exercising.  At that appointment, I made a decision that I think sabotaged my summer weight loss.  I opted for an intrauterine device (IUD) called Mirena as my new form of birth control.  The commercials are so convincing and my friend who has one hasn't had any problems with hers.  I was looking forward to the freedom of it.  I lost about 5 pounds in my first month back on plan - what I normally lose in the first week on plan - and then my loss stopped.  I joined a gym in June and started going to aerobics classes and rededicated myself to WW, but I started to actually GAIN weight.  By the time I made the connection between the IUD and the weight gain, I was up ten pounds.  I did a little online reading and found that other people had experienced similar consequences.  I promptly called my OB and made an appointment to have the IUD removed. 

When I went for my appointment, Dr. Ford was surprised to see me.  She was shocked that I didn't really like the IUD, but agreed to remove it since I requested it.  After we talked, she suggested that I have a thyroid test to make sure that wasn't the culprit behind my weight gain and the fact that my hair is still falling out 6 months after Nola's birth.  I was secretly hoping that test would come back saying my thyroid wasn't working right.  Wouldn't that have been an easy thing to blame...and fix?  It's much easier to accept that you've gained weight due to an endocrine system malfunction than to admit that it's because you have a strong affection for all things chocolate. 

That brings me to today.  I know where I am and I know where I need/want to be.  I know that if I don't grab hold of the reins and take control of my weight, I am at risk for developing other health problems.  More than that, though - I am at risk of becoming the fat mom at the t-ball games surrounded by the cute moms in their tank tops and shorts, the mom who can't play outside with her kids because it's too strenuous, the mom who the teenagers are embarrassed of for more reasons than just because all teenagers are embarrassed that their parents are dorks.  Don't get me wrong - I'm not there at this point, but I refuse to get there.  At this point, I'm the one who stands in the back of group pictures so you can see my smile, but not my waist, the one who crops herself out of too many family photos before printing them, the one who always prefers to take the pictures to keep from being in them, the one who would really rather shop for purses or kids' clothes because it's just not fun to shop for my own clothes.  I'm not trying to be woe is me or shop for "no you're not" or anything like that.  I'm confident in a lot of aspects of my life.  I'm a good mom, a good wife, a good friend  and a good speech path.  I'm creative, loyal, intelligent (I hope!) and caring.  I have a lot of good things going for me - but I have to make some changes in this particular area. 

Here's my plan.  I'm now using a Bodybugg to track my calories expended every day.  I also use their online program to enter my calories taken in (what I eat).  I set up a plan online last night and if I follow it (and I will), I should lose 40 pounds by Christmas.  I'm using the nutritional principles of WW, because I know they work.  I also know that weight boils down to calories in vs. calories out.  That's not complicated, but it's easier said than done.  I plan to continue going to aerobics until my gym membership expires in September.  At that point, I'll evaluate if that's working for me or not.  If not, I'll find something that does.  I'm not jumping off the deep end.  I'm being realistic.  I know that on my birthday, I'll have a piece of cake...maybe even two - but I won't eat the whole cake.  I know that fast food is a way of life for a fast-paced family of four, but I also know that I can hold the mayo, choose an alternate side instead of fries, order a kids meal and get a diet drink.  I know that I'll have bad days where I want some comfort food.  There's nothing wrong with comfort food - in moderation.  So, I'm looking at this as a lifestyle change, not a diet.  I'm looking at it as a springboard to the rest of my life.  I'm looking at it as a way to be IN the family pictures and confident that I look the way I want to look.  I'm looking at it as a way to buy time and energy to spend with my kids and my husband. 

I'm also reading a book called Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth.  I saw an episode of Oprah about it (stop laughing) while I was doing laundry a couple of weeks ago and was really intrigued.  I'll have to see what I think about it on my own.

Everyone has to start somewhere and everyone needs a goal.  Here's my start and the closest I could find to my goal.  I can't even tell you how hard it was to find a recent picture of me without a baby or a group of people in front of me.  This is the closest I could come.  And, while I was tempted to choose a college picture as my goal, I know that's not realistic.  I'm 33, not 19.  I've had 2 babies.  This picture on the right is from about 8 years ago.  I was almost at my goal weight.  I was in jeans one size higher than what I'm shooting for, but would realistically accept with open arms at this moment. 

I really think I'm putting this on my blog to gain some accountability.  If I know that you read this blog and you see me not following my plan, I'll feel more held to it...but cut me a little slack if it's my birthday.  :)  I know that there will be people who think I shouldn't have shared so much with the world, but I also know that it will help me and that's worth more than what anyone may think of me. 

Wish me luck...and persistence...and willpower...

Hot Springs in July

Rudy worked at the U of A's jr high band camp last week.  I'll never understand it - but he loves it, so more power to him.  When it was over on Friday, he packed up and met his friends Chris and Chad in Mountain Home for a boys' fishing weekend.

Last week, Mom and Mr. L. had to come to Northwest Arkansas to do something for the Leadership Academy at the U of A.  They had to stay at the Inn at Carnall Hall, but I took the kids over on Tuesday to meet them for dinner.  We went to Jose's and it was a near disaster (the restaurant was hot, the food was cold and the kids were cranky), but at least we tried.  On Wednesday morning, Mom came up to Rogers to get Caleb, Nola and me.  We went back to Hot Springs with them for the rest of the week.  The 3 1/2 hour drive to Hot Springs was snug with all 5 of us in their car, but we made it.  Nola was a big ol' grump most of the way there, but we decided not to put her out on the side of the road since she's so cute. 

We spent our time in Hot Springs doing what we like to do when we're there:  not much of anything.  We took a few boat rides, did a little shopping, did as little sweating as possible in the crazy heat of summertime, saw some family and caught up on some much-needed rest.  Well, Nola and I did that last part.  Caleb, on the other hand, must have walked a million steps every day in Pops' shadow.  They fished and swam and fixed stuff and hauled grass to the compost pile and got filthy dirty every single day.  They even went to Arkadelphia one day to try out the water park with Waymon and his grandkids, but they got stormed out after only a few minutes  They were peas in a pod and I don't know which on of them loved it the most.  I'm so grateful to have Mr. L. in Caleb's life.  He really takes time with him and shows him how to do things and they just have so much fun together. 

One afternoon, Caleb got the idea that he wanted to "make space."  Nobody was sure what that meant, but he somehow explained the general idea of it to his Pops and off they went to the shop.  The next thing I knew, Caleb was toting around a cardboard box that was spray-painted black on the inside and had a paper clip spaceship hot glued to the top.  There was even a cord hanging from the inside of the box with washers on it that I was told were stars.  I helped the cause by adding some holes for light to come through, so he could really get the full effect of "space."  Crazy kid played with that cardboard box the rest of the time we were there and showed it to everyone who came by to see us.

Caleb also decided while we were down there that because Pops sits at the end of the table, that means he's "the king."  LaLa gets to be the queen, naturally.  There was some debate about my title.  I'm either a princess or a goddess.  We're still not sure.  Nola is definitely a princess.  Caleb is either a prince or a knight, depending on his mood. 

While we were in Hot Springs, Mom and I went to a few consignment stores and found some great things for Nola.  Mom even got a jumperoo/exersaucer to keep at her house and Nola loves it!  While I was looking at clothes, I noticed that one of the shops had some headbands for babies that weren't huge and were really cute.  They also had some small bows, so decided to give them a try.  They were pretty inexpensive, so I wasn't out much if they didn't work.  I've said before, I'm not a big bow person.  I'm still not a big bow person, but little bows on a little girl are really cute.  I even got in the spirit and made some bows and hair decorations to go on the headbands.  I really liked them.  Nola thinks they are tasty - they end up in her mouth just like everything else that comes within her reach.

Here's the kicker of the whole trip...I never took my camera out of its case.  These 2 pictures are from my phone.  I honestly relaxed so much on the trip that I didn't even worry with taking pictures.  So uncharacteristic!

On Monday morning, we reloaded the car with more stuff than we took down there to begin with and met Rudy in Waldron.  We shuffled everything from Mom's car to mine and said our goodbyes.  We went to Spiro for lunch and a visit with the Morrises and then made our way back to Rogers to get ready for a busy week.

We sure love our trips to Hot Springs.  Our time with LaLa and Pops is priceless.  One night, Mom was giving Caleb his bath (getting the fish stink off of him) and she told him how glad she was that we came to visit.  He replied, "Aww, LaLa, that's so sweet."

Nola's Tubes

Nola got her tubes put in her ears on July 6th.  We had to be at the surgery center at 6:30 AM.  Yikes!  She did great in her surgery but came out of there fighting mad!  She was hungry and freaked out by the anesthesia and just all out of sorts.  I tried to feed her in the recovery area, but she was crying so hard she could barely eat. 

Caleb passed the time watching episodes of SuperWhy on my iPhone.  After we were released from the surgery center, we took Caleb to school, then headed straight home.  Nola went to bed and slept off the anesthesia.  She woke up feeling great. 

Since the surgery, she has started to babble some and makes more noises.  She still doesn't laugh unless something really strikes her fancy, but she smiles and interacts well.  She's just not a big laugher...and, trust me, we try to get her to laugh.  When she does open up and laugh, it is the funniest thing ever, so we just keep trying.  We're starting to wonder if she's going to be the only really serious person in our family...or maybe she's just too refined for our type of humor. 

We had our post-surgery follow up and got full clearance from Dr. Lee.  He said that everything looks great.  In his words, "Her tubes are in, open and dry.  See you in 6 months."  Sounds like a plan to me!

Summer Calebisms

Caleb's language has absolutely exploded this summer.  He talks NONSTOP and sometimes sounds so grown-up that I wonder where my little boy has gone.  But, then he gives me these little gems:

• The boys will be the winners and the girls will be the losters.
• Okay, guys, here's the deal and the problem.  (Everything these days starts with either "okay guys" or "hey guys" - or the old standbys - "hey, Mama" and "hey, Daddy.")
• (When asked how to get to the dinosaur bone field that he made up and wanted to go visit)  Well, you go left and right and left and straight through the curve and uptown and downtown and left and right and there it is.
• Dear God, thank you for our house.  Thank you for our food.  Thank you for our family and our friends. Thank you for Mama and Daddy and Nola and Caleb.  Amen.  (This was his first big boy prayer - last night - and it made me cry.)
• How old are you?  Were you around with the dinosaurs?
• What the judge?  (This is an expression of shock, sort of like "what the heck", but we have NO idea what it means or where it came from.  We are discouraging its use, but still find it oddly intriguing.)

While we were in Hot Springs last week, he decided that he wanted a second bedtime snack.  (He had already had his favorite snack - a hot dog bun.)  He got out of bed with Pops and came to find me:
C:  Mama, what are some good foods?
Me:  You mean healthy foods?
C:  Yes.
Me:  Well, fruits and vegetables and maybe some cheese.
C:  Hmm...can I have some of those?
Me:  No, it's too late for a snack.  Go on to bed.
He left and returned a few minutes later, dragging Pops by the hand. 
C:  Tell 'em, Pops.
Pops:  He wants a snack.
Apparently, Caleb had gone back to the bedroom and told Pops that since he's "the king," that meant he was the boss of "the princesses" and he needed to go help Caleb get the snack that he so desperately wanted.  I gave in.  I had to give him some credit for creativity.

Caleb has also devised a whole scenario about his stuffed animals.  Some of them are boys and some are girls and you'd better not call them by the wrong gender.  He knows which ones are the parents and which ones are the kids and he plays with them, continuing the scenario, often.  The major players are Pup-Pup, Giraffey, Birdy, Horsie & Bolt.  Bolt spends a lot of time in time-out.  There's always some reason for it.

I love to listen to him playing when he doesn't know I'm listening.  He makes up these crazy interactions between his toys and uses a really high-pitched voice to speak for them.  They usually say things like, "I'm gonna get you!" and "Oh, no - not that way!"  For some reason, many of them are often in peril, but someone always saves the day.

Man, I love that kid.

St. Louis: Z-to-A

We got home from our annual trip to St. Louis last night.  I uploaded all of the pictures today (click here) and realized that we started our trip at the zoo and ended it at the arch, hence the title of this post.  Clever, right? 

We covered a lot of ground on our trip and we were so blessed to see a lot of our local friends while we were there.  Here's the rundown...and though you can't tell it by the length of the post, it really is on an abbreviated scale:

Tuesday, 6/29
We left home Tuesday morning with more stuff in my car than I ever thought possible.  Just over halfway there, I had a thought that I ended up posting as my facebook status:  "Being the mom on a 6 hour car trip is like being Julie (the social director), Doc (the ship's physician) & Isaac (the bartender) all at once. My car is officially The Love Boat without the fancy guest stars and romantic interludes." 

Our first stop - Eureka.  We spent a few hours with my dear friend, Monica, and her family.  We basically sat in their living room and kitchen talking nonstop the whole time.  Caleb adores Monica's kids, Katherine and Daniel.  Nola took a nap on Aunt Mon's bed and then we had to get back in the car. 

Nola, Monica, Katherine, Caleb & Me:

When we left Eureka, we headed on up to Florissant to see Jerry & Sherry and unload the mountain of stuff from our car.  Being at their house is like being at our home-away-from-home.  We got everything settled and had a great supper with them.  The kids did great going to bed in their unfamiliar surroundings and Rudy and I enjoyed catching up with J & S before putting our road-weary selves to bed too. 

Wednesday, June 30

We met our former neighbors, Jenn & Broc Brown and their kids at the zoo on Wednesday morning.  We loved living across the street from them and now we see them once a year if we are lucky.  They have Kynan (6), Gabe (4) and Brayden (7 mos).  Caleb was ecstatic to have kids his age to play with and we were ecstatic to meet Brayden and see our friends. 

The boys had a great time at the zoo.  Rudy and I decided to relax our usual game plan at the zoo where we get to see as many animals and do as many things as possible while we're there.  We really just wanted to enjoy the day and let the kids choose our next move as we made it.  As a result, we didn't see many animals, but we did go to the children's zoo, the insect house (eww), the penguin/puffin house, pet stingrays and eat lunch.  When the Browns had to leave, we made a mad dash through the most of the rest of the zoo and rode the train. 

Caleb petting a snake at the Children's zoo:

Here are Caleb and Rudy getting up close and personal with a "hippomuspotamus" (Caleb's word):

Rudy took Nola with him to get the car and Caleb and I jumped on the last carousel ride of the day before the zoo closed.  We had a great day and we were ready to get into some clean clothes for dinner!  Here's a little something I put together for perspective on how much Caleb has grown and changed:

After our day at the zoo, we went over to our friends' Michael and Rich's house to change clothes and freshen up for dinner.  They joined us as we met Jerry, Sherry, Rebecca and jared for dinner at our all-time favorite restaurant - Cunetto's House of Pasta.  As usual, there was a long wait, but it was well worth it.  Unfortunately, the kids didn't quite agree.  They were both exhausted and not on their best behavior.  Nola cried, so Rudy took her out to walk with her.  Caleb ate some of his spaghetti and then he was ready to go.  We managed to keep it together long enough for everyone to enjoy their meals and get out the door.  No time for dessert at Ted Drewe's this year - those kids were done!  It was good to see Michael and Rich and I enjoyed catching up with them just as much as I enjoyed the delicious meal.

Thursday, July 1

We decided that Caleb was old enough to go to the City Museum this year and we were excited to be able to take him.  We haven't been since before he was born and it has changed a lot.  I had Nola strapped to me in the carrier, so I couldn't do a lot of climbing and tunneling, but the boys had a blast!  They climbed and did all of the big slides.  Both of them had sore legs afterward from all of the climbing they did!  I was so proud of Caleb for being so brave.  He went down a 3 story slide without any hesitation and climbed stuff on the roof of the 11 story building like it was on the ground.  He did balk at the 11 story spiral slide, but we were glad about that.  Rudy didn't want to do it either!  His favorite parts were the slides and the ball pit for young kids.  He also loved the room where he could climb up skate ramps and slide down them.  Nola was a trooper through the whole day.  She just hung out in the carrier and watched the action. 

The boys at the bottom of the 3-story slide and at the top of the tower on the roof:

 

We went from the City Museum to St. Louis Mills mall to get a snack and to get geared up for our Cardinals game on Saturday.  Rudy and Caleb both got new hats and Caleb got a new t-shirt.  Then it was time to head for the house to eat supper.  We enjoyed our supper with Jerry and Sherry and then Rudy and I got ready to go out on our date night.  One slight problem - we were worn out!  We only stayed out for about 2 hours and then we were ready to call it a night.  We laughed at ourselves for being old and not being able to hang like we used to, but we really didn't care.  We just wanted to sleep!

Friday, July 2

Hallelujah for Friday!  We had NO plans!  We spent the day just relaxing and resting up.  Late that afternoon, Rudy's cousin Larry and his family made it to Jerry and Sherry's house.  Larry and Ana have a 9 year old daughter, Mary, and 6 year old twins, Anthony and Alexander.  Yes...11 people stayed in the house.  This tradition started back when it was just Larry, Ana, Rudy and me - no kids.  It has continued and our families have grown and Jerry and Sherry are brave enough to continue hosting it every year.  I swear we owe them a vacation after we leave!  Shortly after they got there, Jerry and Larry set up a slip and slide in the back yard and the kids had a blast.  Caleb was his typical reticent self and didn't want to get wet, but he had fun anyway.  Rudy had a couple of talks with him about how we all know he's the youngest and it's hard to keep up and he seemed to actually get that. 

And this girl, here - she had it made in the shade...

After everyone ate supper, we took the kids back outside to light some sparklers and play with "fake" firecrackers (the kind you throw on the ground and they pop without any actual fire).

Saturday, July 3

We didn't have any big plans on Saturday until we went to the Cardinals game.  The other kids went to the zoo, but we had already been, so we passed on a repeat visit.  Nola and I stayed at the house with Sherry while rudy took Caleb to the mall to get some new shoes.  He ended up with his first pair of shoes with laces, which I thought would be a big deal, but he has done pretty good keeping them tied so far.  I'm sure his daycare teacher will want to string us up, but they are good shoes and he doesn't complain about his legs hurting when he wears them. 

We promised Caleb that we would ride the train while we were in St. Louis, so we decided to take the Metro down to the stadium.  He loved it and we loved not having to park downtown for the game.  When we finally got to our seats in the stadium, it was scorching hot and we were in the direct sun.  We lasted one whole inning and then we went looking for seats in the shade.  We found some and ended up talking with the family behind us for the whole game.  They were from Oklahoma City and had 2 kids that Caleb played with. 

It turned out to be a great night even though the Cards got stomped by the Brewers.  We rode the train back to the station where we were parked and then made it on home.  We had left Nola with Jerry and Sherry, and they had a good time playing with her while we were gone. 

I can't even tell you how much I love this picture of Caleb being silly and wearing his hat and his Daddy's.  So stinking cute!

Sunday, July 4

Let me just start off here by saying that this was possibly one of the most stressful 4th of July's I've ever had.  That being said, it's highly likely that we'll do it all again next year.  (What do they say about the definition of insanity?  Something about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...)  So, Rudy had promised one of his former co-workers that he would come by for a visit while we were there.  It worked out best for him to go by on Sunday.  He took Caleb with him and I stayed with Nola at the house.  Everyone was planning to take the kids swimming, but Rudy wasn't back yet when they left, so I didn't go.  (No big deal.  I didn't really care if I went anyway.)  By the time Rudy got back, Nola was sleeping.  He took Caleb to the pool and I stayed at the house.  When he got back, he told me that he had fallen in the water and hurt his ear. (He's supposed to wear ear plugs since he has tubes, but he never does because as long as he doesn't jump in, his ears are fine.  He didn't count on falling in.)  He ended up in excruciating pain and decided that he needed to get some medical attention.  We couldn't find an urgent care center open on the 4th of July, so he had to go to the ER.  In the meantime, I had taken the kids outside to do some more fake fireworks and got frustrated because they weren't listening and were complaining about the stuff that I had bought for them, so I said forget it and went back in feeling very irritated.  Once I realized how bad Rudy's ear pain was and compounded that with the stress I was already feeling, I was ready to just throw in the towel and not go to the fireworks.  But that was the plan and that was the activity that we always do no matter what, so Rudy took Jerry's car and went to the ER and I drove my car with 7 passengers down to the city for the fireworks.  Typically, we get there around 4:00, find a great spot with plenty of room for everyone, set up our stuff and let the kids play while we wait for the concert to start and then the fireworks.  People gradually start crowding in around us, but we have our space marked off, so we aren't worried about it.  Well...things were different this year.  The Cardinals game let out just before the air show started.  (It was the first year for the air show since 2001.)  By the time we got down there, there was hardly any space left at all - much less enough space for the 11 of us, plus Virginia, Rebecca, Jared and our friend Joy and her 2 kids.   The only spot we could find was about 20 yards from the giant bank of loud speakers and far away from the sidewalks, which are handy to be close to when you have kids with you who have to go to the bathroom quickly.  We set up camp and I immediately knew it was a bad idea for me to be down there with Nola.  It was incredibly loud by the speakers and it was incredibly hot.  I was sweating buckets and there were storm clouds rolling in.  I knew I had to keep her dry if the rain started, so I planned to put a poncho over both of us and ride out the rain that was coming.  What I didn't count on was that the heat plus the rain plus the poncho would create a stifling sauna for both of us which made it all even worse and Nola started screaming her head off - rightfully so - it's what I really wanted to do too.  When the rain was pouring down on us and she was inconsolable, I managed to hand Nola off to Rebecca, who was sitting under a tarp with Larry's family.  That at least got her out of the heat.  I got our backpack under the tarp to protect the camera and I sat in my poncho riding out the storm.  The only word I can think of to describe it is miserable.  As the rain begn to taper off, Rudy texted and said that he was parking the car and coming to find us.  He had gotten in and out of the ER in 30 minutes, gotten prescriptions and made it to downtown in record time.  Before the rain stopped, Joy and her kids found us, so when Rudy got there, he was glad to see them.  Caleb had thoroughly enjoyed the rain and was soaking wet.  We all enjoyed a few minutes of relative calm after the storm before the band started and it got too loud again.  We managed to get some great pictures of all of the kids and make a few trips to the port-a-potties without incident. 

When the B-52's started their concert, it was 8:00 and Nola had been through all she could stand.  Even with ear plugs in her ears, it was just too much.  She screamed and screamed and I couldn't calm her.  I threw my own tantrum - admittedly not helping the situation, but I was at my stress capacity - picked her up and snaked my way through the mass of people with Sherry hot on my heels to try to help me.  It seemed like no matter where we went, the music was just blaring and Nola just kept crying.  We finally found a spot on the far side of the cathedral from the Arch, where the building was blocking some of the sound.  We sat there for the rest of the concert and after a lot of swaying and rocking, I finally got Nola to sleep.  Knowing that if we didn't go back to our group, it would be nearly impossible to find them after the fireworks, we used a blanket to create earmuffs for Nola and pushed our way back through the crowd to find our seats.  We made it just in time for the fireworks to start and - miracle of miracles - Nola slept through them.  Once it was over and we packed up our stuff to head back to the car, I apologized to the whole family for my outburst and for my poor judgment in bringing Nola in the first place.  I never dreamed it would be so bad.  We took Caleb when he was 2 months old and he did fine - but we were much farther back from the speakers and it wasn't anywhere near that loud.  We headed back to the car in no hurry, knowing it would take a while to get through traffic.  We had no idea!  We had parked in Sherry's office parking deck because it was free and relatively convenient.  When we got to the car, the traffic was at a stand-still.  We loaded the kids in and got settled.  An hour later, we still hadn't moved.  By the time we got out of the deck and through the traffic, it was midnight before we got back to the house.  We were so keyed up, that all we could do was put the kids to bed and sit outside with Jerry, Sherry and Larry talking for hours.  Sherry and I ended up having a heart-to-heart about the stresses and pressures of being a mom and trying to do too much and she really helped me.  By the time we got to sleep, the sun was starting to come up.  I haven't seen that happen in a long time unless I was on my way to work in the winter!   

Monday, July 5

We got the car packed and loaded and we left Florissant about 1:00.  We had promised Caleb pizza for lunch and we were really wanting some St. Louis style gooey pizza too, so we stopped at Imo's in Eureka for pizza on our way out of town.  We pulled in our driveway at 8:00 last night and started unpacking and running the washing machine. 

Overall, it was a wonderful vacation.  We had a few mishaps and snafu's along the way, but we got to see people we love and do things we enjoy and that's what it's all about.