Seester Vacay

Well, looks like I took a little unintentional bloggy break for a bit there, eh? The week before last I was sick and also preparing for my upcoming vacation. And then last week I was actually enjoying my vacation/ seester time. I don't get enough of either of those. Something I really need to remedy.

My sister, Robyn, is an 8 hour drive away. Add in a small dog and a toddler and it becomes roughly 10 hours. All I can say is thank goodness for benadryl and miniature bottles of alcohol portable DVD players. I normally try to limit "moobie" time, but when it comes to road tripping, all bets are off!


 You want to tune into a tiny screen for 8 hours today? Be my guest! You want to eat sugary snacks and play with ridiculously loud and annoying electronic toys 10 inches from my ears while I'm trying to take a nap?! Sure, go ahead. Anything to keep you quiet, kid. Anything at all!


I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Wondering why I won't leave him in peace.

Bought that travel pillow for Haeden, but I stole it. It wasn't really comfortable for either of us. Maybe if it didn't have a big HEAD on it.

Itsy and her Einstein look.

The very first thing we HAD to do was let H ride Uncle Josh's tractor. In his mind, this was the whole reason for visiting!

 Maxi skirt and glittery sandals and I still hiked all over their land. Two points for the city girl!

Blackberries!

Haeden picking something other than his nose for once!

 H and his favorite doggy, Itsy.

Auntie Robyn and H enjoying the McDonald's play place. It smelled like pee in there and Robyn totally stuck her hand in something wet. Totally grossed us all out!

Warning: Do not look directly at my legs. Permanent blindness could occur.

 Don't look at hers either.

 Part of Flanagan Dam.

The guys. I'm pretty sure John is in the process of busting his ass here!

Juuust the two of us...

Maybe half of the stairs to Birch Knob. The winding mountain road to get there was just plain scary. Everyone was car sick. We almost took out a couple guys on horses. Then we came to this. Stairs galore. And you know I had to carry Haeden up the majority of them. Also, I got stung by a yellow jacket.

 Love this shot. Robyn is in the background looking down at us.

The view was worth it all. So beautiful. You can see Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. On a clear day, you can even see Ohio. I had no idea which was which, of course, but it was still pretty cool.

Other than the fact that Haeden whined "Mooooommmmmyyyy" about two trillion times in the course of 6 days, it was a great trip. He was my little parasite the entire time. He didn't want anyone else to push his stroller, carry him, hold his hand, help him bathe... nada.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but that is pretty much always the case. In the end, it's always better to participate and really enjoy yourself than it is to have three hundred pictures anyway.

The trip home took forevah and evah. I would advise anyone and everyone to stay off the roads the Saturday after the 4th of July. It isn't pretty.  We were delayed 30-40 miles outside of Colombia, SC due to an accident. We sat in the same spot for over an hour. Cars were over-heating all around us. Luckily we had plenty of snacks and drinks stocked in the car. We even handed out a bottle of water some poor guy next to us. He had no AC and it didn't look like he or his car were going to make it. We did have to entertain ourselves though. John grabbed a Burger King crown and we declared him "King of the Road". He wore it for quite a while and we had all but forgotten about it until we realized the people in the car next to us were laughing and trying to take a picture! The driver pretended to bow down to him once we realized they were staring! That's one way to make friends! ha!

I already miss my sister, and the mountains, too. Luckily she'll be down next month for my birthday. I think we will get to see each other this year a total of 4 times, which is twice more than usual. If you ask us, it's still not enough... but we will take (and be thankful for) what we can get!

Memorial Weekend

Well, Memorial Weekend was a bit of a bust thanks to sub-Tropical Storm Beryl (and the migraines she brought with her). When it wasn't raining it was hellishly humid outside and the mosquitoes were out for blood. Even more so than usual, I mean.

We squeezed in a bit of fun here and there, of course. Haeden and I visited a children's "hands-on" museum Saturday morning with his buddy Owen. They ran around like the little maniacs they are. It was a cute place. The kids dressed up as firemen, shopped in a mini grocery store, jumped around in a ball pit and played wheelchair basketball. And then they both cried when it was time to leave, though not as bad as I would have expected. At least nobody (me) got a toddler kick to the shins.

Later that day, Haeden and I met up with my mother to play in Oma's pool. Although he has been asking to go for weeks, it was our first time this year. Her pool is covered and takes a while to warm up. I still have yet to get in, but he was not phased by the cold water. Lucky for Haeden, my mother isn't a  big chicken like me. 

Sunday we added a new family member to the household. Finn McMissile (guess who named him) is adjusting wonderfully, however, the same cannot be said for new "big brother", Ozzy. He is not a happy camper. He has made a bit of progress over the past few days though and I am hopeful that by the start of next week the two will be best buds. Fingers crossed!

I had to get H out of the house on Monday, so I took him to the mall for a little shopping and coin operated machine riding. Then I let him walk almost the entire length of the mall in order to ensure a nap later on. He was excited to be out of the stroller but he complained the whole way home (sitting in his car seat) that he was too tired to walk anymore.  I even had to carry him into the house at his insistence... "my too tiiiiired!"

Cup o' Pee

This kid is crazy town.

So last night I'm sitting on the bathroom floor playing with my phone. I've already bathed Haeden, but I'm entertaining myself while he plays with his toys in the tub. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that he is standing up over in the corner. And he's quiet. This obviously means he is up to no good. When I look up I realize that he is peeing in his cup. You know, the one I use to rinse his hair with. Before I can even react (or take a picture) he turns around giggling and pours it out into the tub.

Boys.

Interview with a 3 year-old

I thought it would be fun to do a short interview with Haeden each year on his birthday. I had to settle for around his birthday because he just wasn't having it on the actual day. I decided to give it another shot last night after his bath. That seems to be when he is the most calm these days. You can tell that he isn't really interested, but he was willing to placate me since I totally bribed him with a surprise toy.  It was just a balloon, but hey, three year-olds are pretty easily impressed.

I love how in the beginning he is trying so hard not to smile. He makes that face all of the time--- usually because he has just done something he knows he isn't supposed to. I've been told he get's that reaction from me, and I can't deny it. I remember laughing at my mom when she would get mad at me. It wasn't smart and it wasn't even out of defiance (well, maybe sometimes). I just laugh or smile when I'm nervous or uncomfortable.  My sister was the smart one. She'd start crying before she even got in trouble.

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A few other gems from the past several weeks:

- There are a couple of steam towers in town and every time we drive  by them he excitedly points at them and calls them volcanoes! 

- The other day I gave him mac-n-cheese (not exactly home-made) and he told me, "You're the best cooker in the whole wide world!!"  

- Every time he sees a baby or a kitty or anything else cute, really, he says, "Awww, aren't they sweet?!" in a really high voice. Kills me dead every time.

- For some reason he feels it necessary to tell everyone when he passes gas... "Hey, MY TOOTED!!"

- When he sees hippos (on tv, in a book, etc) he says, "That's me!!! That starts with a haytch (H) like me!!" Oh, and he calls them "happos".

- When he wants to ask you if he's right about something he says, "You right, Mommy? You right?"

- Anytime I lose my cool or get visibly upset he comes over to comfort me and says, "It's okay, Mommy. It's okay!"

- When he wakes in the morning he is a little tyrant and immediately starts to give orders... "My STILL SLEEPING. My need juice and my vitamin!!"

I'm pretty sure this list could go on forever, but I have probably met the "ohmygodmykidisthecuttest" quota for the day. Until next time...