It’s been a very long time since Matthew has napped on me. Hotel stays are so worth this! Happy boy(s) and one happy mama right here, right now. 🙂
Category Archives: Travel
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday – a ChiBLOGo Memory!
Using my old phone while we wait for parts to fix my current phone, I ran across this little nugget of fun!
The Monday Snapshot – ChiBLOGo!
What a weekend! I will write more about this later, but let me just wrap it up in one (incomplete) sentence:
Best weekend in a long, long time!
No Baby Ruth, Josey, Mommyhood, Blawndie, Courtney, SRB, Miss Ohkay, Mellow Mama, and Rhianna
This is part of a weekly feature called The Monday Snapshot over at PAIL. Click here to join in!
Quick Roadtrip to See Some Good Friends!
B, Matthew, and I headed down to KC last Friday for the Micr.osoft Surface launch, which gave us another chance to meet up with Steph, JJ, and Chloe! When B asked if we wanted to make the trip with him, I told him to first let me check with Steph to see if they’d be in town that weekend. I have my priorities 😉
Matthew woke up on his own just a couple of minutes before we were going to wake him, so it worked out perfectly. He was in a great mood – I think he knew he’d be seeing Chloe later in the day! The drive was fantastic and Matthew danced in his chair the entire way.
We went to the launch and spent a couple of hours at the mall. It took a long time to get into the store to make the purchase, but they had a huge touchscreen out front hooked up to the Kinect which entertained the kids – specifically my kid! He and his buddy, Cade (the son of B’s coworker) had a great time together and Matthew tolerated his stroller the entire time. I still cannot believe that.
We ate at Fi.ve Gu.ys and Matthew had his first hot dog (all beef), which he loved. We love that place, even if it is a heart attack in a paper bag. B’s coworker then headed back to Iowa and we headed to the hotel for a nap. Steph and Chloe met us for dinner and we then came back to the hotel to swim. That was fun, but cold. It was so cold! Steph noticed that Matthew’s lips were a little blue right before we got out of the pool. The kids loved hanging out before and after swimming, listening and dancing to music and checking out the cars and trucks going by on the darkened street out the window.  It was fun to watch!
We did have an accident after Steph and Chloe left. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and B was getting Matthew’s jammies on. Matthew was enjoying his naked time so B grabbed the camera to capture the fun. Matthew, for the first time, climbed onto an ottoman in the room and positioned himself to stand up. I had come out at this point and was surprised that this was being allowed (B is a “safety cop” – HA!) but figured it was fine. Just then, he fell off the ottoman from a standing position and landed on his back. He was not hurt but he was terribly frightened. I scooped him up faster than I’ve ever scooped him before and he was so shook up that he peed on me. Poor baby. But we both got cleaned up, snuggled before bed, and had a great night of sleeping in the hotel.
The next day we met Steph, Chloe, and JJ at a bounce place and the pictures tell that story 🙂 The babes had a ball! We had Matthew’s first incident of not wanting someone else snuggling his mom as I cuddled Chloe. He ran over and tried nudging her away. We don’t want him nudging other kids, but it was cute because he’s never possessive of his mom – it made me smile 🙂 He quickly got his hug and went on his merry way with Daddy. We spent 2 hours there! I’ve never spent 2 whole hours somewhere that totally entertained Matthew. We will be going to a similar place here in town soon! We then went to a place for lunch that had model trains deliver your food (no kidding) and even though the kids were tired, that kept them completely entertained the entire time. It was hard to get these two good eaters to eat with all the commotion!
It was a great little road trip for one night and it’s always super fun to meet up with Stepp, JJ, and Chloe! They’re lucky we don’t live near them or we’d probably never leave them alone. HA! 🙂
THIS Moment in Time (#4)
We’re Driving to KC to see Steph, JJ, and Chloe (yay!) and Gangn.am Style came on. This is Matthew’s current favorite song! He loves pop and techno! B is starting to get used to it. I’m in heaven!
The Mom Stays in the Picture
Over at Pail, a news item was shared about moms not being in photos with their kids.
Let’s be clear – I do not have that problem!
Call me narcissistic or whatever, but I LOVE having my picture taken with Matthew and B. Being a SAHM, most of our “funnest” moments* happen during the day when B is at work, hence, no one is here to capture those moments on “film” (or on memory cards – HA!). I’ve mastered the art of self-photos and I take them daily. Most times, I’m unshowered, without make-up, in jeans and a t-shirt, and wearing a hat. I would call this, “my uniform.” Most pictures of Matthew and me together have me in “my uniform” and I wouldn’t have it any other way – because that is just how it is most mornings.
Showers are a luxury. Perfectly quaffed hair is a gift! Make-up beyond eyeliner and mascara is a novelty that usually signifies to B that he’s about to get lucky (if he so desires – HA!). But smiles and laughter with my family? Those are the norm around here and I insist on capturing as many of them as I possibly can!
Here are a few of my favorites. You’ve seen many of them before (because the narcissist in me posts them regularly**), but here they are in one spot. There are a few nuggets of tiny baby Matthew, which occurred before I was blogging!
* I hope you all know that I know that “funnest” and “funner” are not real words, but I like them!
** I actually post these photos on a regular basis because this blog is for Matthew, and I want him to see these photos of us together since I’ve failed at creating a baby book for him so far. Ugh!
Get Away!
What a weekend! On Wednesday, we decided we needed to get out of town – we just needed to GO SOMEWHERE. I suggested Kansas City because, well, I love it there and the last time we headed out of town, we went to Minneapolis so I didn’t want to do that again. We’ll go to Minneapolis soon enough, I’m sure (I love MSP – I would move there in a heartbeat if B wanted to).
We invited our friends to come with us who have a new baby – and they were itching to go somewhere too so they came down Saturday around noon. We had a great time!
When B and I travel, most things revolve around food. We are always looking for some place new to try, and are open to just about anything. Matthew is open to most foods too, so we’re pretty lucky there. What Matthew can’t handle, unfortunately, is a long dinner at a quiet restaurant. So, on Friday night we went across the street from our favorite KC restaurant (too quiet for Matthew!) and had some fancy Mexican food. I love Mexican food. I love it more than any other food type in the world. I cannot get enough of it. This place did not disappoint. But – Matthew was a hot mess and tired from the drive down, so we wrapped up pretty quickly and got him back to the hotel for bed. For some reason, the grilled chicken and superbly cooked veggies weren’t doing it for him (and truly – they were fantastic!). Sigh.
We did stop at a wine and cheese shop and picked up lots of fancy chocolates (B loves chocolate!) and a bottle of red wine for later. Matthew enjoyed sampling the cheeses which was nice since he didn’t eat much dinner 😉 B enjoyed picking out chocolates. I enjoyed just being out on a nice night!
Bedtime went ridiculously well – Matthew only cried for 30 seconds and he was out cold. We had our chocolate and wine but we feared waking him so we went to bed shortly thereafter. I think it was the earliest I’ve gone to bed in years (9:40).
Matthew woke up too early on Saturday and wanted to get out and about, so B took him out for coffee so I could sleep a bit. Matthew was tossing and turning all night long, and being a light sleeper and a nervous mother (I like to be constantly aware of how he’s sleeping), I heard every sigh, flip, and grunt. I basically had been awake since 4 AM so I welcomed a little extra sleep with great enthusiasm. I made it count 😉
We shopped and shopped – but really just walked and walked. It was beautiful in KC and the Plaza is perfect for getting out and about and just enjoying the weather. I did find some shirts for Matthew that I’ve wanted but refused to pay the ridiculous prices for – but they were on SALE so I got them (it was a crazy sale, ladies)! We went to our favorite place for lunch (Houston’s) because they have the BEST smoked salmon but what do you know? They changed the salmon since we were last there and it wasn’t cooked enough for Matthew. As everyone knows, Matthew LOVES salmon so we were super excited about getting this for him (cold smoked – ummmm!) but alas – we could not. We ended up getting him tuna (figured we should try it) but he hated it, lost his shit, and we were out of there.
Notice a trend???
I headed out with Matthew as B got our salads boxed up (best salad ever – I am so sad I didn’t get to savor it!) and we went back for a nap. Our friends weren’t in town yet so the timing was great and I snuggled with my boys. It does not get better than that! Matthew slept on my chest and sure – my neck was all screwed up and I didn’t really sleep – but my nose was buried in his sweet hair and I was in heaven! This nap lasted almost 3 hours. Wonderful!
We then headed back out with our friends and picked up cupcakes (more on this later), played at a park, and then grabbed a quick early dinner before the rush. Again, Matthew was not having it so we boxed up his food once we were all done and headed out.
What is going on with this kid who used to love going out to eat???
We all stopped at the wine shop again and got some goodies for the night. Upon returning to the hotel, we put Matthew to bed (not a peep out of him) and S and I sent our husbands down to the hotel bar with a free pass to stay out as late as they wanted, and to drink as much as they felt the urge to drink. S and I had a great time sitting on the sofa, dishing about the latest happenings in our lives, eating chocolates and cupcakes, and drinking wine. B bought me a bottle of bubbly and I drank that whole thing – and didn’t even get tipsy (what is wrong with me – I never drink so this makes no sense?!). We shared the best cupcake we’d ever had (strawberry lemonade and HOLY HELL it was GOOD!) and I got to hold her new baby the entire time (LOVE!). The guys came back late and expectedly tipsy. We all sat around and laughed and laughed before parting ways and going to bed.
GREAT NIGHT!
This morning consisted of a sleepy baby who woke up too early, had his morning milk, slept for another 15 minutes on my chest (oh my back!), tried to get up for about 45 minutes but was cranky the whole time, and then took a nap on me for 1.5 hours. I am not kidding – he went down for a ” nap” from 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM. CRAZY! He woke up still tired and that’s when I got that cute photo of him with B on the sofa. I’ve never seen Matthew so mellow in my life! It was precious.
We headed out for brunch – back to the Mexican place – and had a great breakfast. The babies behaved and it was quite enjoyable. We then parted ways with our friends so that I could get to the highlight of the trip!
We met up with Steph, JJ, and Chloe from Blawndie’s Blawg and had a super fun time! We went to a local park and let the kids and hubs play while we chatted. This was my first experience meeting a bloggie friend and it was super fun! Matthew was exhausted (really? After a 1.5 hour morning nap and 10 hours of sleep prior to that?) and very stoic, but he showed his dad what it’s like to parent solo at the park 😉 The kids swapped sippy cups and Matthew attempted to steal a kiss from Chloe before he realized that we were trying to photograph them. HA! Chloe was just as cute in person as I was expecting (I can’t get over her cuteness and her blonde curls!), and we escaped the morning without a hair pulling incident (Matthew loves to pull hair – a lot!), so I would call it a success. 🙂
Matthew was asleep before we hit the road – he crashed while we were filling the car with gas. He slept the whole way home and was still exhausted when we got home. He was in bed at 8:30 sharp – sound asleep.  B says he’s going through a growth spurt and I’m starting to buy into that.
I didn’t take a lot of photos but these capture some highlights:
THIS Moment in Time (#1)
Road Trip Hangover
Matthew had a roadtrip hangover today – like – badly! He woke up after just 9.5 hours of sleep at 6:50 because we kept him up too late. We let him stay up last night to play with B since he missed him so much.  That was sweet and all – but not good for the boy. When he emerged from his room this morning, he seemed deflated that he didn’t have a room full of cousins to play with. Sigh. 😦 Good thing I had a play date already setup for him! There were tears this morning over absolutely EVERYTHING (no friends to play with, not enough food (really, he had plenty!), he finished his milk and wanted more, the kitties weren’t accessible, you-name-it!). Mornings like this make me sad because there’s nothing I can do to cheer him up.  Bottom line was that he was bored with just me, he was snotty as all get-out, and he was tired. So, so, so very tired.
I didn’t let Matthew nap. I needed to get him back on his regular schedule. He only napped for 45 minutes TOTAL while we were at my sister’s, and I needed to get him back to his 2.5-3.5 hour daily nap. I kept him up until 12:30 which just made things worse for him. We went on our play date at 11:30 and he cried the whole time because, yes, he was tired. My neighbor (the one whose door I knocked on to introduce myself months ago and we’ve been buddies ever since) was totally understanding, thank goodness, and even offered to keep him for me for a few minutes so I could go get lunch for myself. I didn’t torture her by taking her up on that offer!
Matthew cried through his naptime books until I finally tossed them aside and snuggled him. He was out in less than a minute and he slept 2.5 hours – and so did I! It was wonderful. It was glorious!
And then he woke up. Pissy. Again.
Poor Matthew was obviously not yet caught up on his sleep but it was an improvement so we went out to finally get Mama some food! We sold my soul to the devil and went to Chick-Fil-We-Hate-Gays and had some wonderful chicken (seriously – I hate one of their corporate values but really love their chicken as well as all the nice people they employ there!) and Matthew yelled at me as his food supply dwindled. This child does not know when he’s full – we’ve come to this conclusion. He ate 6 grilled nuggets, applesauce, and some yogurt and I had to rush him out of there because he was screaming at me for more food – and I didn’t have any to give him! Sweet Jesus!
We went to Tar.get where he FINALLY relaxed because I pushed the cart (with him in it) ahead of me and then would run up to catch it – acting like he was getting away from me. Serious laughter and fun with that little game. I looked like a fool, but my kid was happy and that made me happy! I love buying him random toys when we go to Tar.get together so I was on the hunt for something fun! He loves music so I bought him a cute little percussion instrument set, hoping that he would love it as much as the plain balls I bought him at the consignment event for $5. HA!
We then went to DQ for a blizzard because, well, there really is no reason. I wanted it – it’s that simple. And it was good. So very good!
We came home, unpacked the new toy (that took 5 minutes because it was packaged like it contained narcotics or something equivalent), had a snack, and played with the drum set. He loves it! He really just loves the sticks and egg shakers but he played with all the instruments and I think he’s going to just love it more and more! I then took my sweetie for a wagon ride and that put the cherry on his sundae! Pure bliss! We visited with the neighbors until B got home, played some more, bathed the boy, and put him to bed too late (again).
And then I re-themed my blog.
The day ended well for us both! I’m hoping tomorrow is better though 😉
Our Road Trip in Photos
I took a major leap of faith and took Matthew on a big road trip – without B. I sometimes wonder what I was thinking! The trip was 6.5 hours each way (includes a 30-60 minute stop) and I wasn’t really sure what would happen on the road. However, Matthew slept for most of the drives (both of them!) and only fussed for 20-30 minutes each time. Unreal!
On the way there, we stopped at an awesome rest stop and I fed him his leftover salmon from the night before. There was a cow pasture behind the rest stop, so we went to visit with the cows for a few minutes before getting back into the car. We hit some rush hour traffic once in my sister’s suburb, but we just car-danced and sang our way to her house.
Once there, Matthew had the best time! They have a dog which makes him the happiest boy alive! Their dog is wonderful with kids and I didn’t even worry about how she would treat Matthew. He pulled on her and climbed all over her, and she just licked him and loved him.
As I’ve already posted, Matthew didn’t feel much like going to bed alone the first night, but he did the second night and slept until 7:10 this morning. That was nice!
We stayed very busy and I’m so glad I took this road trip with him because now I know he can handle it. And I know that I can handle it. It was truly easy!
All the Sun For You 