Trip to Colorado

Our trip to Colorado was no less an adventure, an adventure full of Tylenol, stress and exhaustion. The best part of the trip, besides seeing family, was the fact that Summer did wonderful on the entire trip. As stressed as mom and dad were, it didn't change the happy little baby traveling with us. It all started Friday morning when I decided we could leave late because we were flying out of terminal 2, which is a smaller easier terminal to maneuver through. After parking and walking in the 100+ temperature into the terminal, we quickly learned that we needed to be at terminal 1! Walking back to the car in the hot blazing sun, missing the entrance to the long term parking twice, to finally get in the parking garage and spend 10 minutes finding a parking spot, did nothing to help the stress of having less than the required 2 hours they recommend, and for good reason when departing out of terminal 1! We park, get on the elevator carrying all of our bags, get off on the wrong floor, get back on the elevator, walk into the airport, get into an elevator only to get off on the floor we were just on, walk clear across the entire airport, carrying our now very heavy bags, get to the ticketing area to see an extremely long line. Panic sets in, are we going to make it through this line and through security in time, prompts us to get into the "we are not checking any bags" line, even though we are carrying a suitcase, camera case, diaper bag, car seat and purse. Luckily we still end up checking the car seat and the suitcase, and no one in the long line snickered at the sneakiness of cutting and checking bags. We get to the security check point, which goes quickly considering the long line, and ride the tram to our terminal and find our gate without incident. It is 10 till noon, and our plane departs at 12:30, and we planned on eating lunch. I leave Kris and Summer at the gate and run to find food. The first place I come is a burger place, I stand in the long time, order after being told it will take about 15-20 minutes for the food, which should be done by 12:10 - still plenty of time right? As the food is taking forever I run back to the gate twice to make sure they are still waiting, and as I am about to just leave without the food it finally comes, 12:15, I run again to the gate for the third time, and everyone is almost boarded, we are one of the lasts people to board, and normally with a child we are first. We take our seats at the very back of the plane and Summer takes a nap, and sleeps for the entire flight.


We are soaked in sweat but dry on the plane. We manage to eat the $40 worth of burgers and fries - yes it was very expensive, airport food I guess. We land in Colorado with no more problems, and find our bags quickly and get a nice Saturn Aura from the rental car place. We have to hike a mile to get to the car, and we are not use to the high altitude, breathing becomes challenging, and the stress from the morning is slowly fading.

As we are driving from Colorado Springs to Walsenburg the temperature outside is 85, but quickly starts to drop as it begins to rain. Rain, rain and more rain, but we like the rain, we don't see the rain in Las Vegas, and the new 63 degree termperature is a nice change from the 100+ Las Vegas weather.

We make it to the hotel, it is about 6:00 pm, it has been a long day, but we managed a lot of laughs and released the stress and prepared ourselves for the reunion the following day.

We did not sleep well at all, having Summer sleep in between us tossing and turning all night was new, but we wake up anyway an hour earlier than normal because of the time change and begin preparation for the new day.

Saturday is eventful, we walk around, take a lot of great scenic photos of Summer, Summer and Mommy, Summer and Daddy, Summer and Chloe, Summer and a tree, Summer and a rock, Summer and a different tree, some of the relatives, and we eat a great potluck out at the lake with family. The day started out scorching hot, no breeze, but by the afternoon the clouds grace us with their presence and we start feeling energized, or the Tylenol helped.

We decide to go to the swimming area at the lake, which is a cars ride away, and even though it is overcast and cloudy, Summer enjoys walking along the bank, sitting in the cold freezing water, and running her fingers through the wet sand. She tasted it once, no icky, twice, no icky, and luckily twice was enough.

Back to the hotel to recover, wash up, change, and go into town to find a restaurant. I felt like being adventurous, I wanted to find something yummy, something like Diners, Drives and Dives, something new! The town of Walsenburg is ... small. We were lucky to even find a restaurant, it was Mexican food, it was good, but not exactly some place to commit to my memory for later. That night we slept a LOT better, maybe it was the exhaustion or the fact the Summer managed to toss 50% less than the previous night.

Sunday, our plane leaves from Colorado Springs at 4:00, we decide to leave the hotel around 10:00 and head to Colorado Springs. Our intentions are clear, we want to eat a yummy lunch at the Black Eyed Pea, we remember the chicken fried chicken, the rolls, the mashed potatoes, the okra, and the peach cobbler from 7 years ago when we lived in town. We drive back and Summer slept, perfect nap time, find the Black Eyed Pea, eat, everything was like we remember and they even had the peach cobbler. Summer was in a good mood, she had her milk and green beans, she even colored a bit. After lunch we have an hour to kill, we decide to head to the mall, more walking, it is still hot out, we can't wait to get home. The mall was fun, there was a play area and Summer really didn't want to play, she doesn't like other kids yet, they intimidate her, or being away from mommy and daddy does.

Colorado Springs airport is a breeze, we check the car in, get tickets, through security, to our gate and wait. While waiting a see a new purse, half off, only $10, very cute, had to get it. We board on time, no food this time, hour and a half flight Summer sleeps through most of it.

This little girl has had a busy couple of days, but amazes us at how well she has done, she is wonderful. We land and it is 5:00 pm, we get our bags, find the car, find our way to taco bell, get home by 6:00, eat and are both asleep by 8:30.

Thanks for reading, a LOT of photos on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesca/

What to pack

We are leaving for our family reunion tomorrow. We will fly to Colorado Springs then drive 2-3 hours south to the lake/motel. Kris thinks we can do it with a carry-on since we will return on Sunday. Is this possible ...........

I will carry on the diaper bag - it will have diapers, sippy cups, snacks, clothes, wipes, the usual stuff. I will also carry my purse. I will put Summer in the small stroller, I don't think we need to large stroller for this trip.

I told Kris if he wanted to carry on all of our stuff in one bag, he could, because I am not carrying Summer, a stroller, diaper bag and purse AND THEN another bag. I have no problems checking bags.

This means we have to fit everything for all 3 of us in 1 suitcase that can be carried on. My clothes for 3 days (1 or 2 whatever) his clothes, and the stuff for Summer that doesn't fit in the diaper bag, food, blanket, toys ...

I guess it is possible, but what a pain, and I already paid for the bag.

Of course we can stop and buy stuff along the way, but I didn't want to have to do that if I didn't have to, for example, how many sippy cups should I take? She usually has milk 2-3 times a day, and then water, so maybe 3 sippy cups? If we find a straw and a milk carton she can drink the milk that way. And what about spare food in case we eat somewhere where she can't really eat. And what if it is cold and we need warmer clothes, we are going to be out at a lake most of the day on Saturday, which reminds me I need to get some bug spray ... and sunscreen, and what about shoes, she isn't great at wearing shoes, but she will need to keep shoes on her feet because we will mostly be outside I think, and if she gets tired I need a blanket to put her on.

Oh I am so excited, this is going to be a fun trip!

Cranky Baby

Summer has been super cranky for the past 2 days. I think she is teething, she wakes up whining ... and whines and whines and whines. She has been sticking her hand in the back of her mouth and gagging herself for about a week, so maybe she is getting some teeth further in the back. I don't see or feel anything but I guess they could be growing through the gums. We had a great weekend, we went over Casey & Ana's house for swimming, both girls did great and didn't get burnt. On Sunday we stayed home and just hung out. I was getting a little bored but I managed, and Summer seemed to have a good day. Last night we had a play date at McDonalds. We ended up staying for about 2 hours, there were several other kids, 4 babies around Summer's age. Summer is not going to be the outgoing kid, she is shyer and prefers quiet to loud and obnoxious which is a good thing. She and another little boy took to the quieter areas of the play area and preferred that to the loud kids and the areas they were. Tonight I have no plans, hang out at the house, maybe go outside and play in the sprinklers and eat a popsicle, we haven't done that in a few days. This weekend we are going to a family reunion in Colorado, so this should be very interesting. Now that Summer is walking I have to decide if she should wear shoes. We will probably be outside most of the time, at a lake, and Summer loves to walk, and eat dirt and rocks. This may be a very busy weekend.

shhhhh

Here is the video we took at Denny's. It was really cute because Summer was being rather loud, in a good baby kinda way, and we were telling her shhhh and she started going shhhhhh well it actually sounded more like swllllllll or something, but it worked, she was much quieter, so we didn't bother the other 2 or 3 customers in the place.

Happy Birthday Baby Summer!

Birthdays are suppose to be happy, and Summer had a great birthday, but why was (and am) I so depressed! Who knew having your baby turn 1 could be so hard on a mom! The party was on Saturday at 1:00, Summer had a blast, she liked all the people, she loved the cake and made a wonderful mess, she sorta liked the gifts, she liked seeing Ana again, her little friend, and she liked the nap afterward. For me this party meant my baby is no longer a baby, and I have been so sad. On Saturday night I was really depressed so Kris took Summer upstairs to play and put her to bed and I went to bed myself around 8:30. I wish I could control my emotions better, I was pretty mean to Kris, and all I really wanted was time to sleep and forget I had just lost my baby to a birthday. I apologized later to Kris for being such a bitch, maybe it was PMS, how about I just blame it on that! On Sunday we went to the mall to get professional photos, and would you believe I didn't like any of them, well not enough to pay the outrageous prices holy cow! I take so many pictures I am very picky now, but I did end up buying a collage of 12 pictures of her eating cake, it will be a nice memory but what a waste of a Sunday afternoon. Last night we went to Denny's for dinner, Summer was such a cutie as always, we bought her the little rocket cup with a straw and put milk in it, she does so good with the straw and the cup was cute. I ordered her the chicken nuggets, cheese sticks and fruit, all she really ate was the fruit and 3 of my french fries, I guess she isn't into fried foods yet which is a good thing. I got her on video making shhhhhhh noises, she kept getting loud and we would go shhhh and she would do it back, it was really cute and it did get her to be quiet, not that anyone in the Denny's actually cared, she wasn't probably as loud as we thought she was. This morning was another exciting stressful moment, Summer had her 1 year checkup, she passed with flying colors, she is healthy and doing everything she should be plus some. She weighs a nice 23.12 pounds, I had her at 24 on the home scale - very close indeed, and she is 31 1/4 inches long, longer than I measured her at home. Her head is 46 1/2 centimeters. She is in the 85% for her head, about 85% for her weight and off the charts for her height. I didn't realize she was so tall, I wonder where she gets that from? Then we had to get shots, 3 icky shots, we are delaying the MMR, and the doctor asked why, I said because we want to wait a year, she said ok ... no arguments from her which kinda surprised me. No MMR still meant three pokes in the meaty thighs. First poke - right leg, no reaction, second poke - left leg, upsetting death cry, third poke - left leg, was probably covered by the second upsetting death cry poke. She bounced back quickly, better than I expected, but only to be taken over to the lab to draw blood. Sitting on daddy's lap, two techs holding her arm and trying to find little veins, pushing in the needle, having to search and dig for the vein, uh I shutter recalling the horrid event, but they were as quick as they cool be, they got the blood they needed to test her iron levels and she cried another sad upsetting death cry, but she again recovered quickly and we left the hospital as fast as we possibly could, 2 parents scarred for life, one little girl still in shock and sobbing every other breath. She fell asleep as soon as she fell into the car seat and still quietly sobbed between breaths while sleeping. I also asked the doctor about vitamins because someone had mentioned them and they said nah, she should be getting everything she needs from the food, unless her iron is low she will get drops. We go back in 6 months so that means we have 6 months to recover from the horrible experience today. If you want to see some pictures, flickr, lots of pictures on flickr! I will try to upload the Denny's video tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Another fun weekend

We had another great weekend, actually it was a 3 day weekend. Thursday night Grampa bought some fireworks and we popped them in the driveway, he worked on Friday night and didn't want to miss anything so we had double the fun this fourth of July. On Friday we went to the Springston's house around 4:00, had some hamburgers on the grill, went swimming in the pool, watched the Bee movie, and then popped more fireworks in the driveway. Summer enjoyed the fireworks as best she could considering she was really tired. She never got scared, she just kept watching intently. A few times she put her head on daddy's shoulder when some fireworks would scream, but I think it was because she was more tired than anything else. Summer is also still walking, every day I come home and she amazes me when she walks. I really thought it was just a one time thing, but she continues to walk her little fat legs all over the place. This is a short video of Summer and her new book. She does great turning the pages on her own but wasn't much in the mood during this video.

We have lift off ....

Yesterday was a great day, I went to work and came home to my happy smiling baby who is always glad to see me. We ate dinner, crock pot stew, Summer had a little bit of everything, the green beans, carrots, potato, roast, and even some of the onion. She is not a picky eater, I am so lucky. Then we played and for the heck of it I painted her toenails pink. Afterward we went upstairs to play and Summer decided she was ready to start walking - YES she is walking! She kept walking around in her room, then in the loft, then everywhere, and she is still walking today. She has the CUTEST walk ever, she is such a great fun baby, I love her to pieces. I am on cloud 9 today, all I can do it think about going home and watching Summer walk around the house. I uploaded a video to flickr so here is the link Remember I was really excited, and I was using my excited voice :o)