Summertime Is Coming!

Finally, post virus days and after many hours of disinfecting and massive loads of laundry, we were back on our feet!! Which meant, FINALLY, more play dates (which are really just mom therapy dates where we lock our children away with toys, eat treats, and laugh about our husbands' silly habits :) and more front seat rides down the street! 

This guy seems to be filling out and at the same time, thinning out in the hair department. His rolls just look like little muscles to me :)

He's still a pretty serious little guy. No smiles just yet!

We finally purchased our "Christmas present" (only 5 months later) persuaded by a hot deal at Costco. Enter, the Traeger Smoker:

Zach had been eyeing this beauty for weeks. I would have settled for a regular grill, but he is more recently obsessed with BBQ and wanted to "make it his hobby" in his own words. He said he knew he had to get it when he couldn't stop thinking about it for a whole week and couldn't stop researching it. I was a little hesitant, but he doesn't want for much, so I told him to get it! 

I haven't lifted a finger to cook SINCE. No. Joke. Not one meal. 

BBQ food all day every day! Just cut up some watermelon and dish out some Costco potato salad (To my own shock/horror/delight I'm obsessed with potato salad, something I hated for years, but ONLY the Costco brand.. which just so happens to be a half gallon... and packed with calories. Yikes.) and that's our daily meal! It's delightful. Quick and easy and the chicken just melts in your mouth it's so juicy! So far we've just made basic things like sausages, burgers, chicken, trip tip... We've been too on-the-go to try a big pork shoulder or anything fancy. But we love it!! 

We had some Sunday time with Aunt Krissy & Uncle Matt (we'll just leave this picture in size small) We don't get to see them enough!! 

And FINALLY, little guy gave me a full 8 hours of snoozing in one night!!!! Hooray!!

I finally decided at 4 weeks it was time to put his cradle in his own room. This meant more work for me having to go back and forth in the middle of the night to get him and feed him, but it wasn't worth it to keep him next to me and wake up at every little noise or stir he'd make throughout the night. So I set up the monitor and went to bed only to awaken at 6:15am on my own, not by a crying baby, to wonder what the heck was going on and was he even alive?! He snoozed all the way to 8:00 and I was entirely too excited to go back to bed so I got enjoy my morning with Zach and Georgia! I think my sister wanted to strangle me out of jealousy. I have always had good sleeper babies, and I'm sooo thankful because I cannot survive on minimal sleep. I just have to have 8 hours or I'm dying of fatigue and look like a hot mess 24/7. I don't know how my sister does it with 3 kids and a part time job and looking fabulous all the time. (Does that make you feel better Kell? hahaha)

I love this sweet boy:

With a good night's rest, I was up and ready to play at The Bay (water park) with my friends! No, that is not a life vest on me, it's a baby.

One of my friends lent me her baby wrap so I can have Boston on me and take care of Georgia. He loves it and snoozes all day long, nevermind that it gives me claustrophobia and is way too toasty warm for me. 

 It is funny to see the looks on peoples faces while I run around with my two babies and interesting just how many moms stop to ask me just how close together I had them or reach out to me because they have done what I've done and know how it feels. Funny how kids just bring strangers together and create a sense of commonality where none might exist otherwise. I have seen so many people go out of there way to make me feel good or give me encouragement and a few who just comment and keep on walking. Ok it was once. One man (obviously). I was trying to leave the mall with my massive double stroller and he waltz's in the glass doors, exclaims "well you have your hands full!" and keeps on walking while the doors shut in my face. Thanks. I guess I'll walk a mile to the handicap button even though it's 107 degrees outside, I'm sweating buckets, and you're already opening the handicap door for yourSELF but that's ok. I got it. 

End of rant :) Moving on.

Georgia bean is always entertaining. 

As always, she is obsessed with the great outdoors and loves to run down the teeny tiny "hills" on the side of our house. She makes that face and acts surprised every time she hears the birds chirp or children playing on the street or any little noise really. I love it.

We had so much fun at our friend, Jaxx's birthday party at the Draper park. They had ice cream and Squeeze It's (I absolutely loved those drinks growing up and can't believe they still have them, haven't seen them in years! It brought fond memories back to me :) and popper firecrackers and toys galore and even a pinata. Zach took Georgie riding on a friend's bike and she LOVED it.

 Pure joy on her face right there:

Daddy's are awesome for doing all the fun things just to get a smile on their kiddo's face.

More time at The Bay with this cutesie patootsie:

 Again that song comes to mind as she walks out of the water, "Who's that lady, sexy lAAaadyyyyyy" :)

  She cracks me up! Those were just random goggles she found and stole for the day.

 Georgie's baby friends, Char Char & Lex:

So far, she's only pooped at the pool twice. DISGUSTING. I have come to realize just how often it must happen and just how many human excess particles must be floating around in that murky blue water. And how many viruses must be brewing... as I watched my mom friend with Hand Foot & Mouth disease go swimming in the deep end while infected. I was having a mini heart attack and just hoping the chlorine kills all?? Yay? Nay? I have to stop thinking about it... It's summer!!! Throw caution to the wind!!! Sunshine does my soul so much good. I love this time of year!

Diseased & Not Pleased

That "little fever" Georgia had the other day was not something to be dismissed. It was only the beginning. Of a difficult and dark and sad week. :( 

Poor Miss Georgia bean... all that time spent at our friend's house. Turns out she caught Hand Food & Mouth virus from them. I knew she was getting it. When we brought her home from the water park I could see random speckles on her skin like a rash forming. The more time passed, the worse I felt about it and as the week went on, I just spiraled down into a bit of a guilt ridden/self pity party of which I was the center. Zach left to work out of town and I tried to beg him not to leave me but in the end, he had to go and I was just kind of freaking out about the whole thing. It was such a long 4 days by myself! 

I had never even heard of HF&M before my friend's kids got it. Didn't even pay much attention to it, she didn't seem too slowed down by it and acted like it went away fast. Mistake number one. I should have googled and researched it and stayed FAR FAR AWAY. It's extremely contagious! Georgia got it, our other friend's baby also got it and then our MOM FRIEND got it (it's extremely rare for adults to get it and she just happens to be rare!) and she passed it on to her kids. So we were all kind of miserable for a good 2 weeks all around. 

It starts off with a fever for a day or two, then turns into a rash that spreads like wild fire all over their bum, hands, feet, and mouth/throat. That rash turns into huge blisters that bubble over and then scab. And then eventually all the layers of dead skin start to peel away and THEN you are healed. Crazy. Here's the beginning of the of it all in case you are interested in pics. Because I just couldn't get over the horror of it day by day. (Excuse the explicit baby parts... she's a child)

 It also got into a scratch she had on her leg and took over that wound:

A couple days of spreading and blistering:

Those are all the pictures I have, but it got so much worse... her bum was so bad and scabbed over and the blisters on the soles of her feet were huge and seemed to stay forever! I couldn't really see any in her mouth thankfully, but I'm sure she had a few. It is basically like a strain of the chicken pox except not THAT bad. 

Throughout the endless hours of dousing her in essential oils (to help contain it), washing my hands every 5 minutes (my hands were practically cracked and bleeding too), keeping her covered from head to toe so she wouldn't pick at it, and silently praying that somehow Boston wouldn't be exposed to it, I only cried twice. And it was mostly because I was tired and lonely and feeling guilty and selfish for wanting to hang out with my friends instead of being cautious and wary of sickness, especially since it affected my children. I also felt like it would have been nice to have had a fair warning of the sickness from the mom who had it first, but I guess everyone just deals with it differently and to her, it just wasn't a big deal. It was a sad week for me and it still kind of breaks my heart when I think about it! I didn't want to talk to anyone or answer my phone, I just wanted to sleep and pass the time as quickly as possible. Bos was only 4 weeks old and I was just super stressed out about caring for him and my other sick baby all while keeping them a safe distance away from each other. I am just so grateful that Georgia didn't seem too bothered by "the end of the world" as I saw it at the time :). The hardest part is trying to get them fed and hydrated through it all. But kids don't really seem to feel that much pain from it. In talking to my mom friend who had it, adults feel much more pain in the process. It was so sad, she said her hands and feet swelled and felt like they were on fire with the blisters, and when she ate, it was like eating knives all down her throat. So terrible! 

Thankfully this boy was an angel:

We laughed at this one, covering "the sun" (as Zach refers to any kind of light source when he's trying to sleep):

 Such a sweet boy!

 Caught this cute happy smile after eating:

 I was facetiming with my mom and she said he looks just like Zach with that smile. I don't see it... 

He's still soooo tiny:

Oh and thank GOODNESS for LILO & STITCH!!! haha! I discovered that Georgia would watch that movie all the way through, so at the end of a week, I had probably watched it 27 times, sometimes back to back 3 or 4 times in one day. I went from hating it and being appalled at the amount of bad behavior and potty words per minute, to humoring it, to memorizing it, and then just loving it. Embarrassingly, I found myself crying at the sad parts multiple times, getting choked up at the sentimental times and missing my sisters, and could NOT get rid of the songs playing through my head on REPEAT in the dead of night! Ugh so frustrating. But I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Lilo & Stitch now. It saw me through some trying days ;) haha.

The end of my lone week and waiting for daddy to arrive:

 B quarantined on the couch:

Georgie's hands and feet peeled off in layers over the next two weeks, but she's all healed now. I felt like she would be scarred for life, but that was just me :) she's beautiful as ever! People be warned. Stay far far away from kids with nasty rashes! I wish someone had warned me.

How We Do

New ways to watch morning cartoons:

 She loves to sit in that car and eat snacks and hang out! Daddy put it together for her and we let her have it as a hang out for a few days before it became an outside toy. 

I've been trying to branch out and let go of my OCD and give her more foods to eat by herself. Mainly I've just been putting it off because she takes too long and then I turn my back for TWO seconds and this happens:

Complete crumbles all over her and the floor. Babies!!

 Rides to the park in her princess car: 

She loves it so much!! I got it for her because whenever we would go to Heidi's house to play with the water toys out front, she would just sit in the toy car for most of the time just opening and closing the door. So funny. 

Memorial Day weekend Sunday dress (hand me down from my sissy):

And one of the LAST Sunday's we spent with her before carting her off to NURSERY!! Woohoo!!

Georgia bean discovered head phones:

It was so funny, she loved listening to the music in the headphones and would just sit quietly in awe. Then massive tears when it was time to put them away. I try not to let her see them now because it was annoying to keep having to put them back in her tiny ears, but I did love how she sat so still in my lap :)

Kicking off our Memorial Day Monday at Cowabunga Bay for the first time with our season passes! 

It is SUCH an awesome water park for little kiddos! I love it! It's so clean and organized, unlike Seven Peaks which now just seems dirty and gross and over crowded to me. Georgia had a little fever that morning but was feeling better by noon so we came anyway and played with some friends. 

She loved splashing around in the big splash pad area and would scream and run to us every time the bells rang which meant it was time for the big bucket filled with water to tip over.

The big bucket on the top left:

 The beach pool is awesome and well heated so even the moms want to get in :)

After Cowabunga Bay, we packed up and headed to Jared & Sheree's house for a BBQ and more swimming.. poor Georgia still wasn't 100% and cried for most of the afternoon. We finally went home and put her to bed and called it a night. At least we got some sun & play time in.  

6 Year Anniversary

I can't believe it's been SIX years with this guy. Crazy. 

I love this picture with Zach and his boy.

I picked up some chocolates and a sweet card for him (meaning me) because I just can't lay off the Reese's Minis... they are the greatest candy to be invented since chewy sweet tart minis (what is with me and miniature candy?!?) And Zach told me to be ready with a babysitter by 7. Woohoo! 

I dropped Boston off with a sweet mom friend who had been asking and asking to watch him for me and then we were off! He wouldn't say where... got lost a time or two... then called and asked for directions. This place was quite off the beaten path. I was in awe as soon as we pulled through these mint colored gates as the sun was going down and here's why:

driving through ponds filled with geese and ducks, along a road lined with beautiful trees...

This place was gorgeous! And so secluded. I felt like I was in The Secret Garden. 

Especially when we pulled up to this beautiful little cottage/castle for our reservations. 

It was actually kind of drizzling that night, which normally would irritate me since I'm addicted to sunshine, but it was so light and the sun was streaming through so perfectly that it was really quite magical!

We were all seated with our menus ordered and then we asked to get up and wander around some more because there just wasn't enough time and the sun was going down. 

There were so many ponds, little bridges...

...quaint seating areas and streams...

...hidden pathways...

...and stone houses...

...backyard patios along the creek...

Like I said... The Secret Garden!! 

Dinner was pretty good. The restaurant is French and I haven't had too much French food so I thought I'd go with lamb chops since I've never had lamb before. I was kind of nervous. It does freak me out to try other types of meat. Thinking about digging into a little baby lamb leg with my steak knife is kind of sad. But I put feelings aside and it was pretty darn good :) although Zach and I agreed that we just aren't fancy enough for such fancy food. We prefer good ole greasy American beef, burgers, and steak cause that's just how we roll. 

A baked Alaska with a sparkler on the house for dessert:

And then we both just wanted to rush back to the comfort of our home like little old people. That's what babies do to you I guess. 

Definitely a beautiful anniversary. I love this guy. Rain or shine, chokehold or handhold, we stick together through thick and thin! Love you babe.

Now for the REAL story.... (did you really think that was all??)

Silly me, our anniversary really snuck up on us this year with baby #2 and all. And I NEVER forget special occasions, especially if I'M involved ;) haha. I remembered it about 2 days beforehand. So I was reeeeally interested to see if Zach would remember at what point in the day he would realize it was our anniversary. Haha. Why am I always trying to ensnare him in a trap??? Too much fun. 

I had planned to get a babysitter and just tell him when he got home that he could have the restaurant of his choice since I ALWAYS choose, so when he texted me about 5pm to get a babysitter, I was already prepared. Anyway, all went as stated above except that on the way home, I made him tell me just exactly when he remembered our anniversary since I knew he had forgotten. He went on with the "I would NEVER. I planned AHEAD. yadda yadda white lies..." for a bit until I laughed and said I really didn't care. I actually forgot our anniversary up until a couple days ago, so really, I didn't expect you to remember at all either. I was secretly hoping I'd be the one to remind him and see the look of shock on his face but then gave that up when I publicly dedicated my love to him via Instagram/Facebook. But then I never received any text messages shortly after.... 

Finally he spilled. He had spent the better part of his lunch break with his co-worker and good friend/old roommate Matt, when his othere co-worker texted him "Congrats on the anniversary!" to which he replied, "What anniversary??" and then looked at the date on his phone. Then at Matt. Then "Is today my anniversary?! Crap. We gotta go to the mall NOW!" and then while at the mall decided he'd spoiled me enough for Mother's Day so he'd take me to a nice dinner - enter Matt. He is a dating guru in search of a wife and told Zach about La Caille, the romantic little French restaurant. So the truth comes out! Haha. In truth, I don't blame him, and dinner was fabulous. AND we had Reese's minis to share at the end of the day. But man, Zach keeps me laughing, that's for sure. I told him he'd better put these things on his iphone calendar, for I might not be so forgiving in the future ;). 

To top off our night, my mom friend, Heidi, had been begging to let her keep Boston for a whole night so I could get some rest. I honestly never even considered it, and surely didn't think I could let my babies out of my momma bear sight so young, but when I showed up on her doorstep... The black holes were boring into my eye sockets and my head hurt so bad, it kind of took over me! I had every intention of bringing Boston home with me and then I saw her snuggling him and all I wanted to do was sleeeeeeeep. So so bad. I was sooooo tired. So she sent me away. I wasn't even prepared! But sweetheart that she is, she had formula and his blanky and diapers and that was enough. She even told me not to set any alarms, just come by in the morning whenever I wake. So I went home and had AMAZING sleep which was a great anniversary treat :) 

I woke up feeling so good and rested and ready to see my sweet boy again! And too be honest, kind of shocked/guilty that I gave my baby away when he was JUST not even 3 weeks old!! But she said he was an angel all night. I'm so lucky to have such good friends that love my babies! What a perfect way to wrap up week #3. Sleep makes a momma happy.