First Family Vacation

 

Our first family vacation was to the Pittsburgh, PA area.  Eric wanted to see where some of his family originated.  We found his great-grandfather's brother's gravestone in the West Newton cemetary on a rainy Friday afternoon. 

We had made it there after 3 pit stops.  We found out that between a 9-month old's small stomach and a 2.5 year old's small bladder one cannot get far without needing a gas station or place to pull over.  We weren't in any real hurry, however.

We at dinner at a family restaurant called the Chuck Wagon that steadily filled up as we ate.  The food was not very exciting, and in hindsight, we probably should have ate at the nice pizzeria that looked like it inhabited an old train station building along the tracks.  We took a picture of a historically preserved train station.  We drove around a bit and then we drove to our first hotel south of Pittsburgh. 

The next morning was all about the zoo!  We had been promising Anna that we would take her to the zoo for almost a year.  We were going to go during the summer sometime but never found the time, we were so busy on the farm.  We promised her that if she went on the potty all of the time, we would take her to the zoo.  So we had to follow through on that promise (she stayed dry in her big girl undies the whole trip). 

Here are some of the highlights at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium:

The Tiger

 

One of the first animals we saw.  He was pacing in front of the window, which was kind of him.  It wasn't so kind when he sprayed on the window right at us.

 

 

The Elephant

 



 

The zookeepers were washing this elephant's feet when we entered the indoor viewing room.  We watched in fascination as the elephant did as he was directed and put all four feet one at a time on the rail to be washed.

 

The Penguins

 

Anna asked over and over again to "can we see the penguins, now?"  I'm not sure which she wanted to see more:  penguins or giraffes.  Unfortunately, the giraffes were not out that day because of the cold and ice.  So the penguins won and were her favorite animals at the zoo.  They had a special "penguin walk," where they let a handful out to walk a path down a small hill and back.  We bought her a stuffed penguin, which she and daddy affectionately named "Petey."

 

The Aquarium

 

 

The aquarium was fun.  Clara seemed to especially like watching the fish.  It was also nice to get indoors where it was toasty warm.

 

The Sea Lions

 

 

I love these two pictures of Anna at the sea lion exhibit.

 

After the aquarium we drove through Pittsburgh, hopelessly looking for a kid-friendly and parking-friendly restaurant to eat lunch.  We had just given up and thought that we would head to the second hotel when we saw the Carnegie Science Museum.  I had heard that this museum was great, so we paid $5 to park.  We ate in their cafeteria and then realized that in order to see anything we'd have to pay $17 per adult (kids were free).  So after that surprise we decided to give it a chance.  It was definitely great for all ages, but Anna was a bit young for most of it.  There was a great train station exhibit and the whole 4th floor was for the younger kids. 

 

 

Here are some highlights of the museum:

 

More fish, but with a magnifying glass

 

 

 

 

 

Jungle Gym

 

 

There was so much more!  But blogger isn't cooperating in letting me post photos right now.

 

The day we drove home we made a couple of stops.  One stop was at Grove City to check out the outlet mall.  We bought overalls at Osh Gosh (of course), ate, and headed back to the car.  We also stopped in Erie and did some mall walking.  We bought a pair of shoes for Anna that light up.  She LOVES shoe shopping!  Clara had also gotten a pair of shoes at Target back near Pittsburgh. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I had so much fun with the girls.  But most importantly, and the main reason why I loved our vacation, was the time we were able to spend with Eric.  He hasn't had a vacation since our honeymoon five years ago, and it was great to see him relax.  He was so understanding about dealing with the crowds at the science museum, and my difficulty in navigating and driving in Pittsburgh, and he tolerated with good humor sharing a bed with Anna (who wiggles all night long).  Actually, I think he really enjoyed snuggling with her, especially when she wouldn't settle down the first night and kept kissing his cheek and hugging him.  We shared a lot of good laughs about Anna's obsession with elevators, which she accidently always called "alligators," and automatic toilets.  Clara was a good trouper through it all, as long as she was well-fed.

 

 

The End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A Happy Mess

Here are some recent ways that my life is a happy mess:

1.  Baking with a 2 year old is MESSY.  I still have grated carrots on my kitchen floor from yesteday's carrot cake cupcake baking session.
2.  Pink Eye Can Happen to You!  Yes, I caught pink eye.  I have no idea from where, but the kiddos didn't get it!  I am luckily on the mend...
3.  Diaper Bag Messes.  I picked up my girls from my mother in law's house the other day.  She told me that she cleaned out the bottom of my diaper bag.  I was extremely grateful, but also slightly embarressed because I know how dirty it was.  Think broken cheerios, leaked milk, squished fruit snacks, and crushed crayons messy.  Thanks Mom!
4.  No Shoes?  I have lost Anna's gym shoes, which I'm not sure would even fit her right now.  She has been wearing sandles all summer, which are great because she can take them off and on herself.  This morning the temp dropped to 45 degrees, so she rocked the socks and sandles look.  I really need to get to the mall and get the poor girl some warm kicks!
5.  Mixed DVD's.  Anna knows how to open the tv stand and remove dvds from their cases.  She even sometimes successfully accomplishes loading said dvds into the dvd player.  Usually she calls me over to help her, but not before she has gotten into many of the dvd cases, moved the discs from case to case, and scratched a few up.  Life is a box of chocolates- or a dvd case in my house- you never know what you're going to get!
6.  P.J.'s every day.  More often than not, Clara goes to the sitter's with her pajamas on.  On a baby, who cares, right?  It cuts down on laundry for sure, and it's a lot less work in the morning to not have to pick an outfit out.  I spent what seems like hours dressing Anna in the cutest things.  Poor Clara! 

Anna's First Sleepover

Anna had her first sleepover this past weekend.  Her cousin, Abby, came to spend the night.  Abby, who is 4, wanted to spend the night at our house before she started pre-school this week.  So on Friday night Abby arrived at dinner time.  The girls had a blast playing before bedtime and taking a bath together.  Anna mimics everything her older cousin does, which is pretty cute.  At bedtime, they settled down in Anna's twin-sized bed.  Abby had to get up once to use the potty and to get a drink of water, but once they fell asleep they slept well.  Until Abby woke up at 5:30am when the rooster started crowing.  She isn't used to the farm sounds like we are, and once up, neither one could settle back to sleep.

 

They watched cartoons at the crack of dawn and shared peanut-butter cheerios.  Once they shook off their drowsiness, they played hard all morning.  Lots of giggles.  It was a lot of fun and I feel like this was one of those "first" occasions to remember.



Feeding the Calves!

Anna was so cute feeding the calves the other day that I had to run back to the house to get my camera.  Our calves are housed outdoors in huts.  This works really well for calves because they prefer to be outdoors with plenty of ventilation, light, and cool air.  They even do well in the winter, although we do put tarps up to shelter them better from the wind. 

Anna spent about half an hour just moving grain buckets from one calf to the other.  Some were heavier than others, which she found challenging.  Sometimes she stacked three buckets together, and sometimes she distributed one to each calf.

Move it here...

Move it there...

Oops, this one needs a bucket, too!

She also enjoyed identifying the colors of the buckets.

She says, "Yay, Anna feedin' the calves!"

The calves were curious about what was going on.

Look how cute her butt is all muddy.  She fell down a little incline.  It had been raining for a couple of days off and on, so her new little pink boots were getting broken in well.

Ta-Da!

Sweet Pictures

I am reminded of how much occurs in the course of one year when children are small.  Last summer Anna was not quite walking.  She waited until 14 months to really get going, so a good portion of the summer she was immobile outdoors.  She spent time sitting outside but she wasn't a big fan of crawling in the grass.

These pictures were taken by a semi-professional photographer in May, just before Anna's first birthday.  I love them because they were taken on our farm.

Loves kitties!  She is holding onto one of Eric's old horsedrawn implements.

Holding onto the barn for balance.

One of me holding her in the barn.

And one of Eric holding her.

She had the cutest headband on that brought out the yellow flowers on her dress, but that quickly came off.  Here she is sitting near the peonies, which have been growing in our yard for years.  Someday I will post pictures of our gladiolas, which were planted by Eric's grandmother and remind me of her every July when they bloom.

One of our few family portraits.  Now we will need to get another family picture taken with Clara.

Coming Home

Our hospital no longer does newborn photos, so we attempted a few of our own.  This is the only one that turned out semi-decent.  This was taken on the day we left the hospital. 

Clara slept the whole way home.  We even stopped to pick up two half chicken dinners from a bbq truck across the street from our drug store (vicodin!!!).  She graciously allowed me to consume said chicken in leisure.  My mom still had Anna so the house was very (oddly) quiet.  Until later that afternoon!

This was taken a week after we came home.  I admit that I didn't take a lot of pictures that first week.  I was too busy changing aforementioned diapers and trying to keep up with Clara's frequent feedings.  I swear, the girl wanted to eat every hour!  Anna enjoys holding her, but for only a second.  "Ok, Ok, Ok," is her sign when she is done.  She also likes to exclaim, "Wiggly!"

We have two beautiful little girls, don't we?!!  :)

Well it seems as though I abondoned my blog.  It's been ages since we've last visited, dear blog, and I've got to admit I didn't start missing you until just now.   I was doing some research for work on blogs and I decided I would really like to start blogging again.  Hmm, but how to pick up a blog that has had no love and no structure for so long?

Let's jump right back in.  I love my family.  I was pregnant the last time I logged in here.  Now I am 30 pounds lighter and 12 pounds of baby more fortunate.  My little love, Clara, was born on May 8, 2012 via c-section.  She was 8 pounds, 0.5 ounce, 20 inches.  Anna was just 1.5 ounces heavier, so my girls both started off at a pretty decent but not alarmingly large weight.  Clara emerged screaming, but quickly calmed. 

I loved my time with her in the hospital.  We had time, just her and I, to bond and cuddle.  Once home, all hell broke loose, as Anna somehow came down with diarhhea and was under the weather.  I had what felt like hundreds of diapers to change and my recovery from the c-section was keeping me sore and helpless.  Eric had to get Anna in and out of her crib, and I ended up sleeping with Clara on my chest most of the night, for several nights, as I was too sore to get in and out of bed everytime she woke. 

Breastfeeding was pretty easy with Clara.  I had the typical nipple soreness, but I never felt too engorged.  I actually worried a bit that I wasn't going to get my milk, but then I could hear her swallowing and see her spit up and I knew everything was ok.  She gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks and was quickly settling into a regular eat and sleep routine.  I'll post lots more about Clara and how she's growing, as well as Anna's adjustment to being a big sister.  But for now, here are some heartwarming newborn pics.