Thursday, July 21, 2011

No more monkeys jumping on the...

For about three months, Sammie's favorite book was "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!"  I would read it to her, and she would yell, "No more jumping ON the bed!"  Finally, she found a new favorite book (much to my delight), and we put that one aside.  Every now and then, it makes a comeback though.

It is quite fitting then, that our closest "jumpy" place is called Monkey Joes.  It's about 45 minutes away from us, but today it was well worth the drive for her to be able to play in the air conditioning.  I mean, the heat index was only 105 degrees.  Of course, Lily came along. 

Sammie loves jumping on anything that bounces. When we visit the zoo, I have to drag her out of the bounce house. Today was no different. She started off on the slide (and begged me to come along). Then moved to the "mini-monkey zone."

She enjoyed this, especially as there were a couple of summer camp field trips there and everything else was crowded with the big kids. She used the little slide in there a few times, and then began flipping over it.

I had brought along a pocket full of quarters, and she decided she wanted to play some games. First, we took a break, then we played "Whack-a-Gator" and "Skeeball" over and over, until she had 30 tickets. (Well actually, until the big kids showed up and took over her games... Mama Bear ran them off, but she was done after that).

After the games (and a frog, dinosaur, and Smarties for prizes), she begged to play some more. She had decided she was big enough to follow the big kids before our break, and so she kept it up.

She loved the obstacle course bouncers. But her favorites were the slides. She'd blast through the course, simply to get to the slides. She flipped down them, went down them backwards, on her tummy, and any other way she could come up with. But they all ended the same, with a wipeout!

I had to drag her (not literally) out the door, crying, as she was begging to stay longer to play. I promised her we'd return sometime soon. School around here starts in about three weeks, so maybe after that, we'll have the place to ourselves. Or at least, maybe most of the kids will be Sammie's age. I count myself blessed to have another six weeks off to spend with my two girls. Maternity leave (even though unpaid) is so nice.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Sitting in the middle of the bench

Barbara Johnson once said, "Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of the bench when there is plenty of room at both ends." Saturday, David and I celebrated our sixth anniversary. Of course, having two kids and little money, it wasn't meant to be a huge celebration. In fact, we began the day at my parents' house, breaking beans from the garden so they could can them. And if that's not enough, we ended the day buying groceries. But in the middle, we spent some time outdoors as a family.


We headed to Rotary Park, where we went on a short hike. The trail follows a creek, and though right behind Kmart, and across from the skating center, is quiet and peaceful. We spent a few days here while dating, after David's brother introduced it to us. In fact, on that very trip, David dropped me in the creek. He was supposed to be helping me down from the trail, but that didn't go over well, and I ended up soaked. We walked to that spot today, and found a new bridge built across the creek.


We enjoyed our hike, and David even took some time to teach Sammie about the power of water. Just look at the awesome grooves it cut through this rock.


And of course, I wouldn't be happy without taking some family pictures. We tried to get Sammie to take a picture of us, but she doesn't yet have steady enough hands. So after a blurry pic and one with our heads cut off, we gave up and did it the old fashioned way, by holding the camera out in front of us.


Afterwards, we took a couple more of us split up.

The following picture is a retake of one that I have from when we were dating (minus the kids, of course).

Sorry. I'm not sure why this one won't rotate.
It was a nice little reminder of our dating days, and a great way to celebrate our 6th anniversary!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Nobody puts baby in a corner... but I do put mine in a wrap.

We're a family that loves the great outdoors. David and I met while working at a camp, and many of our dates were walking the fields and swimmimg in the creeks. When we say we're going to the Great Smoky Mountains, most people think we're going to Gatlinburg. While we may spend a few hours there, the bulk of our trip is spent hiking and camping in the mountains.

When our first daughter came along, we knew that our time outoors wouldn't diminish, we'd just take her along. However, hiking with a baby in your arms is not only annoying, it's also unsafe. So we decided to buy a Snugli to carry her in. The one thing that caught us off guard was how small Sammie was. Her first trip to the GSM was when she was just 13 days old. We put her in the Snugli, and headed out. She promptly began sliding out the leghole. Needless to say, we ended up carrying her in our arms for that trip.

On that very same trip, while spending a couple of hours in Gatlinburg, I looked at baby wraps. However, knowing nothing about them, I didn't purchase one. Soon, Sammie was big enough to use the Snugli, and use it we did. We took her to Burgess Falls when she was 8 months old.

And we took her to Rotary Park more than once.

And sometimes, Daddy would carry her.

This time around, however, I knew I wanted a wrap, so we could begin young. I did a good bit of research between kids, and finally settled on a Sleepywrap (much like a Moby). Now, there are major benefits to wearing baby (selfish mommies like me get to keep baby to themselves, baby bonding with Mommy, baby being able to hear Mommy's heartbeat at all times, keeping strangers' grimy hands off baby, etc), but the one that I was most interested in was having my hands free. Sammie is quite the Mommy's girl, and since she's so little, she still gets (and wants to be) held a lot. With a wrap, I can hold her and Lily at the same time, and still have one hand free.

So for Christmas last year, I asked for a black Sleepywrap. I should have practiced a few times before Lily came, but it just wasn't a priority. Due to lack of practice, I mis-wrapped her the first time I wore it, and she slowly slid down my chest to my belly. However, she absolutely loves being wrapped to me! We took her to the GSM, too. She went when she was eight days old, and if we weren't in the car, she was wrapped to me. Let me tell you, it was wonderful!

Since then, I've wrapped her through church, at the park, the movies, the zoo, the store (much easier than using two carts because the car seat takes up one), plus a few other places. Most of the time, she sleeps (it is called a Sleepywrap), but when she's awake, she chills like this.

The wrap was much cheaper than a double stroller, not to mention how easily it fits in my trunk... I often wrap Lily and stick Sammie in the stroller. Or if I must, I wrap Lily and carry Sammie. Sometimes, like at the zoo, I do both.

When people ask me about my nursing shawl, I tell them it was the best $25 I spent in baby gear for Sammie. Well, my wrap is the best $35 [my mom] spent in baby gear for Lily.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Just making introductions

I've been meaning to do this for quite some time, but as life would have it, it always got pushed to the back burner. But I guess now is as good a time as any.

I've chosen to title my blog "A Mother's Treasure," a clip from Catherine Pulsifer's quote, "A mother's treasure is her daughter." I have two daughters, Samantha and Lilliana, and they are my treasure. While I love my husband (I obviously chose him), my daughters are my heart.

Samantha, henceforth known as Sammie, is 2 years old and is the epitome of Walt Disney's quote, "I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment." In fact, her desire to be constantly on the move is most likely the reason that she's almost three, and yet weighs only 25 pounds. She's our Tinkerbell, with white blonde hair, and standing a head shorter than most of her peers.

Sammie at one month old

Lilliana, aka Lily, is my newborn. Barely a month old, she is already standing apart from her sister. While Sammie never once spit up, it's a multi-daily occurrence with Lily. Sammie also rarely slept through the night (until we began co-sleeping). Lily has been sleeping most of the night since birth. Lily's hair is also dark, and there's enough for her to wear hairbows already. And Lily has chubby little cheeks. However, from a profile view (minus the hair), Lily and Sammie look almost identical.

It remains to be seen if they'll be my little "twins," or if Sammie will be "Cinderella" and Lily "Belle."

I chose Monkey Toes' Mom as my sign-off, because both of my girls have their daddy's toes. To put it in perspective, my husband's second toe is longer than my pinky finger (no kidding!). They both have super long toes, too. When Sammie was born, David nicknamed her "Monkey Toes." (She has at least 20 plush monkeys because of it). When Lily came along, it was one of the first body parts we inspected. In fact, before David had cut the cord, she'd been dubbed "Monkey Toes," too. So I'm their mom, the only one in the family without monkey toes.


So this is my blog. Expect it to mostly be about my "treasures," but since I find writing therapeutic, expect tidbits of other topics. I hope you'll enjoy reading our escapades.