Summer Shenanigans - Swimming

So thankful that yesterday we were able to join our friends for swimming. Tuesday has become my errands, appointments, cram in school day and Declan typically gets to play with one of our babysitters. However, yesterday it just wasn't in the plan...but swimming was WAY more fun!
I am a little jumpy when it comes to Declan and the water, basically because we have no fear. We got him this super cool new swimsuit...well it has flotation built into the suit. Really he looks like he has fake muscles. If I can interpret the toddler screech for you (which really is the most annoying sound in the world, Jim Carrey almost had it right!) HE DOES NOT LIKE THAT SUIT AT ALL!
I think in the water the flotation part hits him under the chin, plus this mommy makes him wear his hat too. UGH! What to do?!
He is fascinated by bugs, any bugs. I think he would rather explore the bushes for insects than go swimming. If he was a few years older I would have scored major points for making solid contact with what we all thought was a giant bee, but turned out to be a huge flying beetle. Unfortunately I was still the mom who made him wear that horrible suit, which all he told me was "OUT!" and after a little while started saying "Out mease", complete with the sign!
Getting the most out of our time with our friends Rachel and Kyle before Rachel goes back to teaching and Kyle starts school!!! YIKES where did the summer go?!

 

Much love from the bug swatting, sun safety, thankful for feeling weightless and cool,

The Mommy Tree

Our First Family Flu

So the day that I posted the Struggle Bus post, Declan got the stomach flu. We had such a great day jumping at Cool Springs Trampoline Park with Kaiti, Alex, Ryan, Jonathan, Declan and I. So much fun! We got to have our first family dinner at Ryan and Melissa's house, Declan christened their kitchen and Jonathan for that matter. It was a rough night. Declan was sick about every 40 minutes for about 10 hours, then slowly got better. I stayed home to be with him on Thursday, while Jonathan went to work. My mom took Declan on Friday, I went to work as did Jonathan. Jonathan texted me mid-day to say that he had it. Ugh. He went to bed by 4:30 that afternoon, I went to pick up Declan. As I left work I started feeling super nauseous, I made it to my mom's house and through a visit, but had to take a bucket for the ride home. I was miserable for a good 48 hours. I will spare you all the details of the brutalness that we experienced. It was awful and even worse to experience that while pregnant. Bless my mom who came to get Declan on Saturday morning and keep him for 24 hours so we could get some rest and ride out the virus. Super apologies to my poor mom, Auntie Kaiti, Auntie Melissa who all proceeded to get it in the next 24 hours...also to our friend Rachel and Kyle who had it too. It was brutal. I cried ALOT. Both over Declan's pack and play when he was sick and when I was sick. 

Things that were helpful:

• I layered Declan's bed: 2 towels & a flat sheet, 2 towels & a flat sheet, 2 towels & a flat sheet. To limit the amount of times we had to change the bed. We also had 4 pillow cases to switch out under his head. We never went through more than just the pillow cases.
• Crushed Ice
• Temporal Thermometer - its so fast you don't even wake the babe
• Don't let the babes chug water even though they cry for it. Give their tummies a break, sleep it out. That goes for adults too, actually. 

Things I learned:

• Parenthood is not for the faint hearted
• We don't have enough linens and mattress covers for Declan's bed
• Make sure you protect your own bed, D got our sheets in the middle of the night when we picked him up for a cuddle.
•  You are never fully prepared for the stomach flu or sickness, but next time I will be pretty darn ready!

Things I was thankful for:

• Jonathan's love and devotion to our family
• Living close to family
• Sweet texts from family and dear dear friends
• Sonic Cherry Limeades, saltines, Lipton chicken noodle soup, Sesame Street
• Game of Thrones marathons
• Rice bags and heating pads
• Tylenol (the only thing a pregnant woman can take)
• Our giant bathtub and DoTerra essential oils

 

Thankful for our health

Much Love,

The Mommy Tree

 

Scrubby Dubby

Thankful for the cloud cover! If you are pregnant in the summer, BLESS YOU. It is brutal. But even Declan thinks its hot, he just looks exhausted after playing at the park in the morning and just sighs, he also makes sure to tell me "too hot!" Yes, yes it is! This past Sunday when it was so cloudy Jonathan, Declan and I rushed over to the Botanical Gardens as soon as it opened in our scrubby clothes and without getting ready just so we could enjoy maybe an hour without direct sun. Declan loved getting to see all the bugs in the butterfly pavillion and we went and fed all of the fish in the Japanese Gardens. Like always Declan ate his portion of the bread instead of feeding it to the fish. We also got to watch all of the trains and play with the BIG bugs and bees in the kiddo section of the Gardens. He was so exhausted he feel asleep at the end in the stroller, also a rare event! Also some of the photos have the growing progression of belly#2. Someday I will get around to updating all about this pregnancy and our second baby boy! Until then....

And of course I have to add baby bath photos, some of my favorite photos come from bath time and I thought these were especially cute...so scrubby dubby dubby, Declan in the tubby....

Thankful for clouds and monsoon season!

The Mommy Tree

PARENTING PRIDE!

Hiiiiiiieeeeeeee!!!!! GUESS WHAT?!!! IT IS POURING OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW!!!! YIPPEEE!!! Declan is snoozing away, I am .....ahem, writing my nursing policy paper....yep! Sure am! Don't tell my fellow colleagues that I played all morning... And because I love writing papers so very much I will be trying really hard to write more blogs today!

Today was one of those moments that I felt super proud as a parent. I know that really it had absolutely nothing to do with me and everything to do with Declan just being awesome! Like my grandma says, "when your child does something wonderful, it is all them, when they do something awful and embarassing, it is all your fault." At least that is the way the world views it and sometimes the way we feel as parents.
Anyways we went to Red Light Green Light over on the westside of Allbuquerque, basically an indoor creative play area. Wonderful. I loved it! The kiddos loved it too! After RLGL we (Rachel, Kyle, Jane, Harper, Liz, Carter, Penny, baby Charlie, Declan and myself!) headed over to Jason's Deli for some lunch. We could not have asked for better or more prompt service. They were awesome with making sure we had high chairs, boosters and our food came out super fast! And free kids meals for the next time we visit, awesome! The kiddos SAT THROUGH THE ENTIRE LUNCH!!! WOOOHOOOOO!!!! Maybe that happens for other parents but with Declan he is so busy busy busy that he has way more important things to do, people to meet and places to explore than to sit still strapped in a high chair. I was so proud, I had to call Jonathan right away and let him know how awesome baby chub chub did!

Much love to all of our family and friends and saying many prayers of thanks for the blessing of rain and mommy friends!
The Mommy Tree

Struggle Bus

ATTENTION PASSENGERS: TIME TO EXIT THE STRUGGLE BUS AND GET ON BOARD THE TANTRUM TRAIN...

Umm yes welcome to our house! At least that was yesterday. Struggle Bus: where D$ wakes up cranky and stays cranky or ornery ALL day. We are cutting more molars. His attention span is even shorter than before. He tests his limits more than usual. He makes momma work HARD! And he wants to bite everything, eat nothing, and when he has had enough he sits on the ground and bounces on his bottom and cries and screams. If you are in for a real show, he might lay down and kick his legs while screaming and crying. These moments are short lived. I don't even get stressed by them, but I do have to try really really hard to not laugh out loud or crack a smile. I usually just tell him "I know this is really frustrating for you, but mommy is listening, you may use your words or your signs." Sometimes he stops and then tells me what he needs, sometimes he flips right over puts his head on the carpet on his blanket and just says "nigh nigh." Well there you go.
He isn't the only one on the struggle bus though. I have had the most intense sacral-iliac joint pain. INTENSE. That crazy nerve pain that if you move the wrong way or just stand up, it is sharp enough to take your breath away and make you stop in your tracks. I have an awesome chiropractor and a massage therapist. However, these two awesome things have nothing on the hormone, relaxin, which is just preventing me from exiting the struggle bus. Yesterday Declan took off running straight for the ducks and the water at the zoo. I had to sprint to catch him before he took a little swim with the ducks and the fish. I caught him in time; however, I paid the price for the rest of the day. I am over school. Over it. Over the heat. Bless all of those pregnant women, who are or were, at the end of the pregnancies in these hottest of hot months, yuck. I am ready for the fall!
Also I am thankful for this time too. It means Jonathan gets every other Friday off and he gets to spend that with Declan, which they both love. Rachel is off from teaching and we get to have friend play dates for the whole summer! And my sister and Alex got into town and are here for a week. So for these things and plenty more, this mommy gives thanks.

More interested in puddles and drains than the animals!

Declan, Harper and Kyle watching the zebras

Declan and Kyle on seal watch

Eating the duck food...Poor sweet Declan, HE WAS EXHAUSTED!

4th of July, Silly and Sweet Declan, and about 30 photos!

Since the blogs aren't able to get published quite as often it seems that I have a ton of photos that are continuing to build up...Trying to sort through all of the photos also tends to be a little challenging. So here are a huge assortment of our creative parenting in the works. It is blazing hot. Declan is hot, Daddy is hot, and I am melting. Summer seems like a great time to spend all of your time outside; however, when it is 94 degrees by 9:00am, it really is not so much fun. We have been doing all kinds of creative things. We signed up for a gym membership, which comes with access to the pool! Woot woot! Love that! Sometimes we go work out, then grab Declan and play in the water for a bit before going home!

,

 

 

Sometimes we play in the car...What is it with kids and cars? He loves to push the buttons, hazard lights, windshield wipers etc. This particular day he loved looking at himself in all of the mirrors. But mostly he just wanted to sit next to me and eat pretzel thins, listen to music and dance a little bit. It was incredibly sweet and slightly cooler in the garage then where we had just come...the inferno known as the backyard. Could you imagine if there was not grass out there but still just the dirt? G.R.O.S.S.

 

Baths. Baths. Baths.

Happen AT LEAST once a day when you have a super active boy. We play in the dirt, in the water, in the rocks. We love to touch snails, lizards, frogs, turtles at my moms house. He sweats! Besides nothing like a refreshing soak in the tub to cool you off and make you feel better!

Eating watermelon with his buddy Kyle! I was shocked he sat still long enough to put a few pieces in his mouth. Normally meal time consists of maybe five minutes in the high chair and then me chasing him around to feed him food.

 

Happy 4th of July! So blessed to spend it with wonderful friends and the babes!

 

4th of July fun at Grandma's house! Really nothing better than Grandma's backyard. Grandma was also prepared for the teething monster and for the heat and had popsicles ready for Declan and Jonathan...Yet Declan has them both in his hands...

 

So time to make sure that all spray bottles are CLEARLY LABELED and OUT OF DECLANS reach! This spray bottle is just water and I was using it to help keep us cool this afternoon so we could get some time in outside. I have little travel spray bottles in the backpack in my car that are filled with water, lavender and peppermint oil to spray us down when we are at the park or the zoo, or even if we are running errands and it is just too hot. It is a fabulous thing. Personally I thought it was still way too hot, but the spray bottle was fantastic! He of course just wanted to drink it or spray himself in the face.