TRAVEL!

I will have to make SEVERAL posts from this past week of our travels in TX.  We had the BEST time!  The kids did AMAZING and it was so relaxing.  I was sad to leave, but definitely ready to see Matt-- and Caylee was too! :) 

We flew down (yep, by myself, with 2 kids).  First of all, I really appreciate everyone who did try to help me get all my stuff in, but I was also amazed at the number of people (especially men with 1 bag) who did not offer to help.  Just imagine this....  I had a double stroller, 2 kids, 2 car seats, 1 rolling bag, 1 duffel bag, 1 diaper bag and 1 small backpack (Caylee was supposed to carry bc it had toys).  ALL of that and when I arrived at the Columbus airport to leave not one person offered to help.  They did say "Aw, you have your hands full" "Wow, good for you" and such.... pretty interesting.  I was proud that I got it all though :). 

The kids were PERFECT on the flight.  This was Micah's 1st plane ride!  He slept the entire way except for taking one bottle.  Caylee sat in her very own seat for the 1st time and stayed buckled throughout the 2 hr and 45 min flight.  She fell asleep for a short time, then occupied herself with the magazines and the lady next to us who wanted to play peek-a-boo with her.  They did amazing on the return flight too!  Again, Micah slept for the most part, Caylee talked to me and flipped through the magazines, then she fell fast asleep.  In fact, our return flight was so late we didn't arrive back to Columbus until 11pm... she was so much asleep I had to get the guy in front of me to carry the diaper bag while I carried both kids off the plane.  She did wake up and was a little upset- just not knowing where she was. 

Anyways, overall, I couldn't have been happier with how the traveling part of the trip went.  I'm SO lucky they were well-behaved and not screaming the whole time. 


Going to Texas

Coming home from TX

Yes, Caylee has her "monkey" (even though it's a horse- long story), but only for my convenience... she never gets it during the day. 

Toledo Part 3!

In the hotel we had a separate room with a door.  Micah slept in his pack n play in the living area and Caylee slept with us in the bed.  Micah did AMAZING! He was probably so tired from our busy day, but he only woke once.  Caylee did not do as well.  It takes her a LONG time to fall asleep when you sleep with her.  She still thinks it's playtime.  Finally, by 9:15ish she was asleep.  All night long she tossed and turned though and finally woke around 5:30.  Yep... 5:30! At home she sleeps til 7ish and if she had slept we all could have slept until about 6:30 when Micah woke up.  But, she was happy to see us and really wanted us up. 

We went and had breakfast in the hotel...waffles, eggs, bagels, cereal, yogurt, muffins.... they had it all!  Check out wasn't until noon so Matt took Caylee swimming while I was going to put Micah down for a nap.  She HATED it.  They came back to the room in 15 minutes and, instead, too a bath.... something she also hates, so we were working on.  She loves baths at home, but not out in regular bathtubs. (we have a clawfoot)  It's weird....

While they worked on the bath, Micah and I laid down and slept for about an hour (Yea!).  We packed up, headed out to some stores that we don't have locally, came back to the hotel, ate leftovers from dinner the night before and finally checked out.  We headed to downtown Toledo to see the farmer's market.  It wasn't that exciting, so we took some pics downtown and watched a little men' softball at FifthThird Field.  From there we headed home....

It was a quick trip, but SO worth it and SO wonderful.  It was nice just to be away with the four of us and Matt not working.  The kids did really well overall and we really liked Maumee Bay.  That was our fun/quick trip!

**Sidenote:  All the family pics this trip were taken with my self-timer on the camera... LOVE IT!

Toledo Part 2!

Still Friday....

After checking into the hotel and naps failing, we changed into swimgear and headed out to Maumee Bay State Park.  This park had a beach on Lake Erie....

I LOVED it!  I love water and this place was gorgeous!  It was also super clean.  Caylee had fun splashing in the water and we had a really nice walk.  Micah finally took his nap and we had a really great/relaxing afternoon.  I'm ready to go back already!

Toledo Part 1!

We took a very quick trip up to Toledo this weekend.  We NEEDED the getaway badly and have never been to Toledo.  I had found several things to do and we had a blast!  There are so many pics, so I'm breaking these into a few different posts.

First....  Fort Imagination Park in Perrysburg, OH

I found this park online that claimed to have a play area for 5 and under.  It did, it was great, but Caylee liked the "big kid" playground as well.  It was on our way to Toledo and our hotel was very close by.  The park was amazing!  Clean, HUGE and super fun.  It was a gorgeous day too....

 

After the park we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the hotel for naps.  However, the room wasn't ready, so we made a stop (an hour long) at Bass Pro Shop... Caylee LOVED it and we had a really fun time there :)

 "Roaring" at the bear...

 Racing with the horse...

We bought Micah a hat for when we went to the lake... it's a toddler size so that he can grow into it.  So sweet!

All that was just the morning of the first day!! Whew.... we were already having a fun trip though... who knew Bass Pro Shop would be so entertaining :)

4 Month Update...

Well, we had Micah's 4 months appt yesterday. 

Length: 26 1/4 in (75%)
Weight: 14 lbs 6oz (50%)

It seems Micah is indeed growing... despite the massive amount of spitting that has been occurring.  We also discussed our concern about his frustration in sleeping.  For the past few weeks he just hasn't been comfortable and has fussed during naptimes and at night... this is very unusual for him because he's been a great sleeper since day 1.  The doctor said it sounded like the medicine we had him on had stopped working.  He also went ahead and gave the diagnosis of GERD and Heartburn... basically, severe reflux.  The meds had been working, now they are not.... So... he upped the dosage again, but told us not to expect results.  He just did it to prove to insurance that Micah failed the first set of meds so that they would pay for the new meds that the dr wants to put us on (prevacid). 

To help the reflux we have also added more cereal to his bottle and propped his bed up.  I have noticed a difference already... just in one day! I'm hoping it's not a fluke.  Micah slept ALL night last night... 7:30pm-6:30am... AMAZING!  I am really hoping this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that he SCREAMED for 2 hours during the day yesterday (a straight 2 hours, red in the face, hiccuping, trouble breathing... all because he WOULD.NOT.STOP.... it was EXHAUSTING.... Caylee napped the whole time, also amazing). 

Today is day 2 of the changes and he was PERFECT.  A new kid... happy, laughing, sleeping... perfect.  I am really hoping he feels better with this med, or with the new meds... I don't really care.  I like my kids to be happy.  It's hard to deal with them unhappy, especially being on my own so much.  Thankfully, Caylee is a HUGE help and Micah ADORES her.  (After his 2 hours of screaming yesterday, she woke up and wanted to hold him.  I said "sure, take him"... he was so quiet for her and sat with her for 30 minutes!  Again, sometimes I just need to put him down and I'm so glad she wants to help-- she's the best!) :)

Here are some pics of the happy boy :)  Hoping this continues!

started the day with a little reading...

 so content being held by Caylee

 

happy boy after being held... 

 so thankful she is such a good helper! I was in the middle of dinner and he wanted a bottle... she helped until I was able to get to him...

 ended the day in bed, exhausted, all propped up... slept ALL night, I needed that... love him :)

Lots of pics from the past week!

iphone pics from the past week...We didn't do much.  Just played outside a TON, but I did take quite a few pics.  This upcoming week is SUPER busy and will end with a trip to Toledo with Matt and the kids AND my trip to TX with the kids... SO SO SO excited!!


Last Sunday, I thought they looked pretty cute.. almost matching :)  She sure loves to hold him... only when she wants to though, but when she does, she means it!

She was given this slide for her birthday in Oct.  I knew it'd come in handy by this spring/summer... she LOVES it... AND, she can climb up all on her own :)  Maybe in July we can add a pool to the bottom of it, right now it's still too chilly.   Thanks Great Gma Max for the slide!!!

 I told you it was chilly... especially the mornings, but he enjoys being on a blanket for a little while anyways.  He also enjoys me paying attention to him, thus the super happy smile. 

 We went with Matt to breed a horse and Caylee made a friend.  I am super allergic to cats, but she doesn't seem to have any allergies yet (thank goodness!)... she really liked this cat...

 Matt was the Lima PBR vet on Sat night.  We headed out to watch some bull riding and took a few pics.  I wish you could see the video of her though... it was SO cute.... she had a bag of cheerios, but every time she heard clapping she'd run back to her seat, set the cheerios down and clap wildly!  Loved it! She also enjoyed dancing to the music... so cute :)

 The fence was fun to play with...

 He just looked so handsome before church I had to get a pic.  After church that shirt was soaked from his excessive spitting up... but he's still handsome :)

 

Micah has been having a rough time during naps... and a rough time from 5am on.  I think part of it is that he wants to be held and during nap time I haven't let him scream too long (about 10-15 min), but any longer wakes up Caylee.  Part of it is that he has so much gas and spit up that he's just uncomfortable.  He does like our bed and pillows though so after almost an hour of crying at his afternoon nap (the big nap of the day), he sleeps with me until Caylee wakes up.  I try to sneak out and let him keep sleeping, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  When it doesn't he is SUPER mad and cries for another good hour (even being held).  He also sleeps with us at about 5am... I'm too tired by that time and I want Caylee to sleep past 6 so it's just easier.  Poor guy... not sure what to do for him, but we're trying! 

 Caylee is doing GREAT at climbing things, she just doesn't know what to do once she gets there :)

 Finding his feet and loves playing with them....

 Silly faces... but doing great in this walker... that white head is sunscreen... I coat it over he hair bc he is still so bald.

 Love her :)

 See... he just loves our bed... and sleeping on his side... this is just a phase (I keep reminding myself)...