Just To Write

Once again, I'm going to use my blog to sort out the jumble of shit in my head.  I've done this a few times on here - a brain dump of sorts.  I do picture dumps so why not brain dumps! The anonymity of the internet is a great screen to hide behind.

Today was rough.  Well, no.  The day was mostly fine but the evening was rough.  Orion was wiggly, fussy and kept spitting up all over the place.  I eventually gave in and just put him in the bathtub because he smelled like sour milk.  Tangent #1 - I was telling someone recently how kids have a way of breaking down all our best laid plans.  Mara didn't do as much of that as her brother does.  She was a fairly easy baby actually.  But with Orion...

"I won't ever bed-share with my baby."  Orion -1, Mommy - 0.
"I won't ever put my baby to sleep on his/her belly."  Orion - 2, Mommy - 0.
"I won't ever put my baby to bed with a blanket."  Orion - 3, Mommy - 0.
"I won't have a baby that refuses a bottle." Orion - 4, Mommy - 0.
"I won't ever be without a monitor that senses breathing." Orion - 5, Mommy - 0.
"I won't ever give my baby solids before 6 months." Orion - 6, Mommy - 0.
Game, set, match.

It's a lot of battle-picking and with-the-flow-going.  Currently I'm sitting here, looking at him on the video monitor, asleep on his double mattress on the floor (not crib), on his belly with a blanket over his legs and no breathing monitor.  Sigh.

Anyway, back to today.  Orion was wiggly, tired, fussy and spit-uppy.  Mara just would NOT leave me alone for five seconds.  She has been so volatile lately; flying off the handle for every little thing that doesn't go her way exactly when she wants it.  Tangent #2 - I have some trepidation about this summer because I have her in school 3 days per week instead of 4.  The original reason for this was because I wanted her to be in a swim class on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning.  However, that didn't work out as planned so now she has swim class in the evening on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The other reason is that tuition is higher during the summer months (June, July and August) so we'll save some money.

ANYWAY, long story short, Mara ended up in timeout for something or other.. I can't even really remember what it was.  Oh, she was trying to hit me in the face with a gallon ziplock bag that had a bottle of baby shampoo and a bottle of hair detangler.  But she was refusing to sit in timeout, so by the end of it I had her in a full body hold, with her clawing, kicking, flailing and trying to head-butt me with all her might.  She is so strong and so big that when she braced her feet on the wall and pushed backward, she actually moved us both clear across the hallway on the hardwood floor.  She kept screaming at me, "you're MEAN mommy and I DON'T LOVE YOU!"  Ouch.

Ugh... I have a bunch of stuff I need to do.  I need to start on my CEUs (continued education units, I think) for my personal trainer recertification.  The trouble is they're ridiculously expensive.  But it's still better than doing the whole damn thing over again.  We also need to book our tickets for our Canada trip in July.  And get the guest bedroom ready for company in June... and again in August.  And I have 2 baskets of laundry waiting to be sorted, folded and put away.  And the dishwasher needs unloading.  Why can't I live in a Smart House that does all this shit for me?  I need a personal assistant. LOL!

Hawaii 2018 - Days 5-7

By this time in the vacation, the days blur.  So I'm just going to drop the pics and caption.  Keep in mind the order is probably totally wrong.

We went to the Wailina Coffeehouse which I believe was featured in an episode of Hawaii Five-Oh.  My sister was under the impression that they served guava pancakes and she really wanted to try them  In reality they had guava french toast but she opted not to try it.  They did, however, have like 3 or 4 different kinds of syrup including coconut and it was so good.  I don't have any other pics but I got  an apple turnover thing which was really good.  Corky got this omelet that had shrimp in it and it smelled AWFUL.  Lol.  Mara got pancakes and ate most of them in addition to half my sister's eggs and a piece or two of bacon.

This photo was taken on the walk back from breakfast.

Orion asleep  in the Baby Bjorn.

Probably the best pic from the whole trip LOL

Mara fell asleep on me at dinner this night.  I loved it! She hadn't slept on me like this since she was a little tiny girl.  I had to eat my salad one-handed but I didn't mind. :)

The following morning, Mara eating her pizza that she didn't eat because of falling asleep the night before (see previous pic!)

Breakfast at Giovanni Pastrami's:

We flew home to Oregon uneventfully on May 7th.  It was a great trip!

Hawaii 2018 - Day 3 & 4

The third day I don't have many pictures from.  In fact, I only have one.  After my mom and I went paddle boarding, my dad rented a car and we all piled in and drove to Alan Davis beach.  My sister wanted to go there because she heard there were rocks you could jump off into the ocean.

After an emergency potty stop at a Taco Bell, we arrived at the turn off for the viewpoint and beach.  It turned out to be like a 3/4 of a mile hike to the beach from the parking area.  Orion fell asleep on the way there and woke up just as we parked.  I hadn't been expecting to have to walk very far so I hadn't brought the Baby Bjorn or even a stroller.  So I ended up hiking a total of a mile and a half holding my gigantic 5 month old.

The beach was pretty.  If the weather had been clearer it would've been even prettier.  I filmed my sister and Corky jumping off rocks into the water while my mom entertained Mara near the shore and Orion hung out with my dad.  

Towards the end, my mom and Mara and I all waded out into the water and jumped waves.  My sister caught a picture of the three-generation event.

The following day, Mara wanted to go paddle boarding with me. 

Mara wanted to paddle :)

While Mara and I paddled, Corky and Orion hung out on the beach.  Orion was wearing his adorable little dinosaur shirt again and everyone was swooning over him on the beach.  When we finished, I took Orion back to the hotel to nurse down for a nap and Corky took Mara back out on the paddle board.  Orion fell asleep on the walk back to the hotel.

Poor little dinosaur couldn't hang.

My parents and sister took Mara on a hike in the woods later that afternoon.  Mara walked the entire 2 miles!  While they were gone, Corky and I gave Orion a bath.

After bath time, Corky and I put Orion in the Baby Bjorn and went to the International Marketplace.  There we bought Mara and Orion little Hawaiian outfits.  The kids were happy to model them for us once Mara returned (and took a shower - she was filthy!)

That night, we cooked dinner in my parents' hotel room.  My sister made this Caprese chicken recipe and noodles.  It was so good.  Mara devoured an entire bowl of it and had ice cream for dessert.  This was a Friday and the hotel does a fireworks show every Friday night.  Everyone else went to view the fireworks and get ice cream while I took Orion back to the room and put him to bed.  It was another great day. :) 

Hawaii 2018 - Day 2

I mentioned in my last post that the weather wasn't stellar in Hawaii.  This turned out to be a good thing since Orion can't have sunblock on him.  The sun did shine here and there (and the last day was gorgeous) but mostly it was overcast.  I know the sun can burn you even when it's overcast, though, so I was pretty careful to make sure Orion was covered during the times of day when the sun is the strongest.

Mara fell asleep at dinner the night before, so when she awoke (at 5:30am, thanks time change!) she was ravenous.  Still wearing her swimsuit top and shorts, she sat on the couch and ate her leftover pizza from the night before.  Thankfully our hotel room had a refrigerator so we were able to put her food in there.

After Mara had her pizza and both kids were dressed, we headed out for a walk to find an ABC store and get some groceries and foodstuff for the room.  We also decided to wander around the property a little. It was only about 6:00 in the morning at this point so the grounds were fairly empty.  It was drizzling but that doesn't bother us Oregonians LOL!

Later in the morning, after breakfast, we all decided to head to the beach.  My sister and Corky wanted to snorkel and Mara wanted to play in the waves.  Orion and I went along so he could stick his feet in the water for the first time.

Orion's feet touch the pacific for the first time.

Mara running to her daddy in the water.

You should know it takes a fair amount of guts for me to post any swimsuit pics anymore! Lol.

Oh buddy.

A few more random pics from Day 2:

I love this one.  Orion went to my parents' room for a while so I could try to take a nap.  He fussed a bunch and then fell asleep like this.  I texted my sister to ask how he was doing and this was what she  sent me by way of an answer.  Hahaha.  Poor buddy just couldn't hang. :) 

Hawaii 2018 - Travel & Day 1

We've had this Hawaii trip planned pretty much since the summer ended.  The dates weren't  nailed down until sometime in March but we knew we were going.  My dad had managed to land a really good deal on our very favorite hotel, the only thing was it had to be used within 6 months of signing up for it.  So that meant we had to go before May 20th.  So on May 1st, my parents, my sister, Corky, the kids and I all loaded up and headed for paradise.

Traveling with a 5 month old is.... challenging.  Traveling with a 5 month old to a tropical destination is even more challenging because sunscreen isn't recommended until 6 months of age.  Initially I was bummed out when I saw that the weather forecast for Oahu was drizzly and cloudy, but when I thought about it that was actually a huge blessing!  I didn't have to keep Orion sequestered in the hotel room due to sun very much.  And, as it turned out, rain wasn't that big of an obstacle for two reasons.  One being that it didn't rain all that often and two being that we are from Oregon!  We didn't go all the way to Hawaii just to be deterred by (warm) rain!

Our flight was at 9:00am so it wasn't too bad.  Orion gets up early anyway so it wasn't as awful as it could've been.  Mara considered throwing a fit about being woken up but thought better of it when she remembered where it was we were headed!  Here are a few pictures from on the plane:

LOL their faces... Orion was yawning.  Not too sure what Corky's excuse is...???

Despite the flight crew warning us that it would be a bumpy ride, it was a fairly smooth flight.  Orion was a little fussy at times but nothing that a boob and a nap couldn't fix.  We landed in Honolulu at about 11:45am local time, effectively starting our day all over again.  

The hotel we stayed in is a huge resort on the beach.  The newest tower (built sometime between 2014 and now as it wasn't there the last time we were on the island) has basically little apartments.  It's actually a timeshare as well, and believe me the people are quick to remind you that if you sit through a 90 minute presentation, you can get up to $200 in cash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (You know they say it like that.)  Anyway, we had a 2 bedroom "room".  However, because we arrived so early, it wasn't ready for us yet.  Neither was my parents' room.  Unlike when we arrived in Amsterdam last summer, I did not lie down and sleep on the floor.  This time, we hit the arrival/departure lounge!  I dug Mara's swimsuit and floatie out of our suitcases before sending them off to be stored for us until our room was ready and  she and Corky took a dip in the infinity pool that I, sadly, did not get a photo of.  The rest of us bummed around the lounge, waiting.

Eventually our rooms were ready for us.  We quickly unpacked, changed clothes (or swimsuits in Mara's case) and headed for the beach!  We walked down to this rock pier a quarter of a mile or so away to look for crabs.  Mara is NOT a fan.  She did, however, enjoy walking in the waves and making sand angels! 

Corky wore Orion in the Baby Bjorn.  Orion really liked all the pigeons and doves walking around on the beach.  He would wave his arms and kick his legs whenever he saw them!  So cute.

Here we all are, minus my dad and me.

When we returned from our walk, I went for a run in the evening warmth. We went to the main restaurant on the resort for dinner.  Mara ordered pizza but fell asleep before it arrived.  Orion also had had enough, so I took him back to the room and Corky carried a sleeping Mara back not long after.

I can't remember how much of this I mentioned in a previous post (during BEDA perhaps?) and I'm not going to go read back now but we had been having lots of trouble with Orion's sleep.  Or should I say, lack of sleep.  I got him down in the crib they provided that night and he stayed there for about 30 minutes.  At that point he woke up wailing and Corky and I both tried unsuccessfully to get him back down to sleep in the crib.  Eventually, we gave up and pulled a mattress off one of the double beds in the bedroom and put it on the floor.  There Orion and I slept for the remainder of the nights.  I hate co-sleeping.. it makes me nervous and I swore I'd never do it but we HAVE to sleep.

Day 2 and onward coming soon! (Whenever I have time!)