roughing it will have to wait

Grant and I love camping, are good at it, and have always been pretty low-maintenance when it comes to sleeping arrangements and necessities. I love the old saying, "You don't prepare to fail, you fail to prepare", and have always thought that with efficient planning and packing, any camping trip can be a ton of fun. Amelia strongly proved us wrong last weekend. We went camping with my parents and Sam and Faye (5 y/o niece & nephew) up at Whiskey Creek. It was beautiful weather, my parents trailer is big, nice, new, clean and comfortable and my mom is literally a loving servant for us. I did a fantastic job packing everything we would need. Yet, Amelia had an incredibly difficult time sleeping at night. Even with the gorgeous view and peaceful surroundings, our lack of sleep left us (mostly me) crabby and tense. Bringing a one year old camping is a difficult task, and the worry of bothering the people you may be camping with only magnifies the stress. This little lesson can only be learned through experience, especially if you have a "we can handle it, we're tougher than most people" type of attitude like myself.

I know it's my fault; I've trained Amelia to be a high maintenance kid. But in looking back over the last year, I don't regret making life as comfortable as possible for Amelia's first year. Maybe with the second kid I won't be so crazy; unconciously tending to her every need to assure smooth naps, mealtimes, playing, and evenings. I can honestly say I've done the best I can without knowing what the heck I'm doing, and learning as I go.

Even with the rough nights, there were definitely some fun times during our trip. And yes, we will definitely be doing this again, just not with a one-year old :) Someday Amelia will learn to rough it.

taste of success

I have mentioned swim lessons a few times now. Well, yesterday we had a real break-through. Amelia has moved up to the next age level since turning one. She is the youngest one in her class of eight toddlers. All of them are walking, while she can barely stand on her own. So, although she fits in pretty well, she doesn't follow all of the activities perfectly. By the end of class she gets frustrated with me moving her arms and feet for her, trying to get her to paddle and kick while I hold her, and usually ends up just hugging me so I'll quit treating her like a puppet.

Yesterday, that all changed. I don't know if it was the long nap and full tummy before class, but Amelia was finally kicking and paddling on her own, letting me hold her an arms length away from me, and holding onto the water dumbbells while I led her around.


These are water dumbbells. She floats on her tummy while stretching her little arms out and hold onto the bar of this floating dumbbell. I thought it would take years for her to get the hang of this, judging from previous awkward and somewhat frustrating attempts. She looked so adorable and content floating on the water with her chubby little legs fanned out behind her. I have to admit I kind of guided her toward our instructer a few more times than necessary, making sure she saw Amelia's success.

I know this is probably so boring to everyone else, but I'm getting a taste of that crazy joy my parents probably got from watching me and Meg succeed in sports. I even had this weird urge to stop somewhere for a milkshake after swim lessons to reward her for a great job!! But I'll wait a couple more years for that :)

Long days made worth it

While Grant's new job is a fantastic oppurtunity and will hopefully pay off, his 12-14 hour work days make for an endless day for this ol' mom. In addition, me trying to squeeze every moment she's asleep into typing reports for Lee means I am literally working a 24 hour day. It is not easy, and leaves me feeling exhausted, cranky, and a bit frustrated at times.

However, I've found a few things that make it all worth it. Even when I feel like I want to give up, when it's time to rock Amelia to sleep, everything is okay. She literally melts into my arms, her chubby cheek lays on my shoulder facing me, and her light little arms hold my neck and I get to watch her drift to sleep as we rock together. Her perfectly shaped little mouth usually hangs open with those sweet little lips, and I feel each warm breath on my neck. Any frustration I had washes away, and I feel truly happy.

Also, when Grant's gone for so much of the day, it makes the times that we get to have together so much more special. I am so thankful for my little family.