...was amazing and exhausting! We just got back from Florida a week ago, but it feels as though it has been an eternity since we were soaking up the sun and spending every minute together as a family. I miss it! Two weeks sounds like a long time, but we neither saw everyone we wanted to see nor do everything we wanted to do - which makes sense because we are the king and queen of trying to cram way to many things in....or maybe that is just me.
We spent Friday the 13th taking a bus to Boston and then flying to Florida, after Adam worked all night. Any other Friday the 13th I would have been nervous about flying or doing any other dangerous activity that would make it into a good horror flick, but I was distracted by the fact that it was mine and my honey's five year anniversary! And although most people typically don't think of burritos in an airport as the picture of romance...it was so wonderful just to be with the man I love after a year of way too much separation. Of course, I am I girl and I love super romantic things, but you know you have a good partner when you feel giddy and in love even if your evening doesn't look like a solo date from "the Bachelor" - taking a sunset elephant ride, in India, while drinking champagne and eating fresh fruit, after a $5,000 shopping spree, and just prior to a couples massage, elegant dinner, and a nude hot tube experience overlooking the sea (who wouldn't feel in love). There is no one else I would rather have by my side for the every day things of life - running errands, garage saling (if that is a term), cooking dinner, getting our tires changed... Adam makes life fun and marriage fun. These past five years have been the sweetest of my life and I look forward to many more! Anyways (sorry to everyone but Adam for that gush), we did do some more celebrating once we got to Florida - Two weeks worth in fact!
Speaking of garage sales...we kicked off Saturday morning with a little neighborhood wide garage sale. This junk purge took place in a nicer, gated community so we were thinking we might find some high class items. We were hoping for a mint condition orange B.O.B. stroller for under $100. We had no such luck (a girl can dream can't she?). Aside from the lack of used jogging strollers, several sweet finds were made, but these residents were attempting to charge department store prices for old items that they did not want or need. "I don't care how much you paid for it ten years ago! I am not paying $300 dollars for it!" Rich people do not know how garage sales operate.
Things swung our way at the end of the day though. Turns out there wasn't a huge crowd at the gated garage sale. Who knew? So there was a lot of junk set out by the road about mid afternoon when the heat weeded out the weak from the Floridians. A few people shamed us for digging through there discarded items, but it was a small price to pay for our loot. Those people didn't have anything good anyway. Kat scored a scooter and a new wardrobe (which included a Minnie Mouse swim suit and bath robe, which she sported the rest of the day). Liam came out with stacking cups and a responsibility chart. You can obviously see who came out on top. Don't worry Liam you will only get better at rummaging through junk as you get older.
We made it to the barn a couple of days over our vacation to visit Gun, Lynda's horse. This was Liam's first experience meeting a horse. As far as we can tell, he does not have Adam's horse allergy. Whew! During one of these trips to the barn I had my third horse riding experience. Merlin was his name, supposedly a real gentleman who did noble things like participating in the Special Olympics with children. However, when I met him the day before my ride, he gnashed his teeth at me and gave a strong back kick to his stable door. Umm... maybe this isn't such a good idea.
I didn't realize how nervous I was until I was on top of the giant horse signing a health release form with shaky, sweaty hands. This could go bad 100 different ways. What if Adam had to walk away from his dream to care for his infant son and invalid wife who was paralyzed in a horse accident?! My mind runs with things sometimes. Merlin's owner was very talented at verbally coaching very tense and petrified non-horse people. After about ten minutes of warm up exercises on my steed, I was loosey goosey. I advanced from a simple walk to a full on trot. It made me feel like a teenage girl in a coming of age movie. Only I couldn't let my hair flow wildly behind me in the wind, because I had to wear a helmet. I am a mom! And no catching the eye of any cowboys. Mainly because I am married, but also because it was an all lady barn. I am bummed that Adam is allergic to horses though, because the scene would have been perfect if he was out there in his skinny jeans and a cowboy hat, leaning on fence post watching me ride.
We did a lot of swimming in Florida. It is so nice to get in water that doesn't make your extremities go numb. Liam may be a Yankee baby, but he has the Florida water baby gene. He loves swimming! He kicks and splashes like a little frog and he goes underwater, no problem. And if felt amazing to be out in the sun! Yes, we wore a lot of sunscreen and Liam even had on his sweet tourist hat most of the time (unfortunately, we lost this and his matching swim diaper on our trip - it's not a vacation unless you lose something, right?). I do wish that extreme sun exposure caused you to look more youthful and prevented cancer, because it just feels so right sometimes.
Most of our vacation was spent hanging out with and enjoying our families. We love a lot of things about Vermont, but we really miss being close to family. Liam was able to spend time with several important men in his life, including all of his namesakes...the Williams....none of home go by William. Below we have Mac, Adam, Liam, and Mac. Liam is, in fact, the only one who goes by some variation of William and not his middle name. Although, maybe he will have to start going by Grayson if I keep hearing of little boys named Liam. I feel like I meet a new Liam every day! Is it just up here or are there a million Liams cropping up in Florida too?
Liam definitely has his grandads blue eyes! And I can't wait to see all the other character traits he shares with these men as he grows into a handsome and kind young buck, but I am quite sure he will have the engineering brain like all of them. We will see.
Liam also go to hang out a lot with his Poppie, who shares a striking baby resemblance with. I will try and put a picture of my dad as a baby on here, so you can see. The have the same little Gerber baby screensaver (face you make when you are not really thinking about anything in particular). He also has his Poppie's scream-laugh. If you know my dad at all, you have probably been shocked at some point by his very characteristic scream-laugh. It is show stopping! When Liam is in a giggle fit, he does this funny scream in between bursts of laughter, which sound similar to a baby dinosaur. I wonder if that will fully develop into the scream-laugh that we know and love.
Endeavor's last shuttle launch was taking place while we were in Florida, so we pulled ourselves out of bed really early to get over to Mims, FL (I think that's where we went), which is just across the water from the space station and not as crowded as being right up on it. It is so sad NASA won't be doing any more shuttle launches, so we had to give it one last hoorah. I'm not sure if that means no more space camp either, but if so fourth grade hearts all over America will hang a little heavier. Oh, to taste astronaut ice cream again!
We did a little photoshoot to pass the time. It was a cloudy day as you can see. And then it was launch time. We saw a flash and then nothing...Endeavor was behind the clouds. What the what?!? We woke up at 6 a.m. to just be present at the launch!? Anticlimactic! But then Lynda, with her good eye, spotted the shuttle emerge from the clouds. So thank goodness, we were able to see something from our early morning efforts.
After lazing in Sanford for most of our first week and getting our vacation legs back, we started our northward journey for the Gray/Vihlen wedding festivities. So far, for his longest car ride, Liam has done a 2 1/2 trip. This one was seven hours. For this leg of the travel, we got up early. And as I now know, at least for my son, always choose getting up ridiculously early as opposed to leaving late! Always! The trip was great. Liam slept more than half of the way there (because we got up ridiculously early) and was in a good mood the rest of the time. We arrived in Piedmont, SC in the early afternoon and we all got to meet Rylyn for the first time. Rylyn is Betsey and Greg's daughter, who they just brought home from Taiwan in April. She is four months older than Liam. For their first play date, we snuck into a nearby neighborhood pool and went swimming.
Afterward, Rylyn introduced Liam to her unusual pet. Pog the pig was Liam's first pig encounter. While we were there, Betsey and Greg taught us yet another fun game...Nurtz. I think I might need a few refreshers on the rules, so I can teach it to some people here. That way I can get better and spank the Darely's next time we play. Adam and I could barley put up a fight against them this time. The Darley's have changed our gaming life in so many ways. One of the most pivotal moments for Adam and I, was when they introduced us to Catan. That's all that needs to be said about that. Many of you know our obsession. It was hard to leave after such a short time, but I felt so lucky to see them at such a special time - as a sweet little family! I definitely want to hold Rylyn next time:)
We finished our road trip to the beautiful and hippie Asheville, NC for the wedding of one of my very best friends! It was picture perfect. The rehearsal dinner was at the Barn, not to be confused with the Farm, where the wedding was located. We road in a school bus from the barn to the farm and back again. I don't think it is legal to have that much fun in a vehicle normally used to torture children, but it was awesome! We may all be pushing 30, but we definitely felt and acted like kids:) Adam acted as the stand in husband/boyfriend for all the bridesmaids while there men were either busy or en route. He was so sweet fetching drinks and telling us all how pretty we looked. I have such an amazing hubby!
It felt like two weddings rolled into one, because there was awesome food and dancing with live music both nights. Friday night was a blue grass band and BBQ that supposedly the Obama's love. Saturday was more 70's funk, bonfire, and s'mores. I had to to ditch my 4 1/2 inch heels to properly cut a rug (I know! I had to wear 4 1/2 inch heels through the dirt and gravel of the farm to stand by my friend on her big day. I did not look like a lady! Adrienne may have put us in pretty dresses, but she had another sinister plan all together to make sure she shined brightest on her wedding day...making all the bridesmaid walk like knock-kneed baby deer. We may have looked silly, but none of us fell:). Liam did not attend his first wedding yet, but he did get his first cuddle moment with a bride on the crazy school bus. It was his first time on a school bus. Adam asked me if I could picture him on a bus in about four years riding to school. No! Not my baby! Plus, I hope he takes a more earthy form of transportation, like his bike. Don't worry, I won't make him ride if we live more than five miles from his school.
It was sad to leave everyone after the wedding, but we did have more of the "baby tour" to look forward to. We headed over to Winston-Salem, NC to see Ethan and Valerie for the afternoon. We had the pleasure of meeting their new little one, Roan Stonerook, who was only a week old. It was supposed to add 30 minutes to our total trip time...let's just say the math did not work out in our favor.
We spent the afternoon on their front porch, doing what friends do best, being lazy together and shooting the breeze. We also did our friendly duty and helped them eat one of their "new baby" meals someone so kindly dropped by. I know...we are horrible! It was so cute to see all the boys together and it made us realize how much we miss the Stonerooks.
Once Liam's bed time rolled around we planned to head out. We figured it would be faster and easier to drive while Liam was sleeping. We were wrong! And we overestimated our ability to stay awake and alert after the hour of ten 0'clock. On top of all this I figured, we might as well drive to Tallahassee (thinking it was the same distance from Winston-Salem as Jax....I was also wrong here. Let's just say I never looked at a map, nor did anyone else in my party - Liam, Vinny, or Adam). We needed to check on our house and renters there sometime this week, so we mine as well make our lives easier and cut out some driving time if we can. Ha!
A few hours into our first leg, I am fighting to keep my eyes open at the wheel. Liam is waking up every 20 minutes and doing the most pitiful cry. Adam, who was assigned the last and most brutal leg of the trip was trying to sleep in the overcrowded back seat to no avail. We also kept seeing signs for Asheville and Greenville, for what feels like an inappropriate length of time. Vinny agreed to switch drivers with me (after repeatedly making fun of my driving), because I am weak and on the verge of losing it. And I ask him "how many hours we have left?" to which he replies "7 1/2." But it was only supposed to be an eight hour trip and we have already driven 3 1/2! How? Why? Turns out Vinny did look at the map and figured we were just up for a much longer drive. As soon as Vinny and I switched, he proceeded to stall out across three lanes of traffic, and then drive over a median he didn't see. We never made it to Tallahassee that night. All of our driving skills were impaired and we ended up stopping a hotel somewhere in Georgia, after several more hours of seeing signs for Asheville and Greenville. We were quite sure the rapture must have taken place (this was May 22, and we also saw more abandoned cars on the side of the road than I ever have) and we were in hell.
Our road trip started again the next morning at 6 a.m. and after several hours of driving towards Tallahassee, we realize we are going to have to turn around and leave immediately because we had to be somewhere Monday night. We changed course yet again and finally made it home to Orange Park by about 5 p.m. on Monday, nearly 24 hours after starting our road trip. That was by far the most painful trip of my life. I can laugh about it now though. But I will never again drive aimlessly to a destination without first looking at a map (lesson most adults have learned), nor will I take a baby on a night car trip or plane trip if at all avoidable!
Back in Jacksonville, we did some more of the same - hanging out with friends and family. We also headed over to St. Augustine and had our first beach day as a family. It was awesome! Liam went to the beach once in March, but we only dipped our toes in because it was so cold. We actually did some swimming this time. Liam loved the beach, until Adam let a giant wave smash him in the face and even then he only hated it for a few minutes... after that, then back to playing and splashing.
We got to hang out with the LaPrees' and the Jones' while we were there. Liam is helping Moses out with the boy to girl ratio. It is so crazy to see your baby together with your friends kids, so of course we took a ton of pictures. And we snapped this sweet group photo to remember the occasion - it's not a good family photo unless someone is crying:)
And before we knew it we were headed back to Orlando to catch our flight home. Vacation was drawing to a close...but not before celebrating my golden birthday! Woo woo! We spent my birthday and our last day in Florida exactly as I dreamed we would - poolside all day in the Florida sun, chatting, listening to good music, and grilling out. It was super relaxing after all that running around.
You can see we were zonked! Our bones needed to relax. Now we are home and recovering from being ill. It was beautiful when we first returned to Vermont, but now it is a cold, gray, rainy day in June! I am offended. I have a lot of big news to share now that we are home, but it is my honey's day off today and I want to go spend some time with him, even if it is doing stuff around the house. Plus, this blog has taken me way to many days to finish. It is hard when you free time comes in unexpected spurts. Oh, the life of a mom! But I love it! We miss you all. And we hope to see you again soon!
I am in love with this picture. We answered an add for a third baby needed for a multicultural playgroup, preferably of Native American descent - and since Liam is 1/32nd Cherokee (according to Mammaw) we fit the bill. Actually, these are our friends from church, Iyore and Ian. If I read baby body language correctly, I think Iyore is madly in love with Liam. I would consider her his first girlfriend. Ian has some of the cutest baby cheeks I have ever seen. I want him to get a puppy named Kevin, because I think he looks like the Korean version of the little boy from Up.
Another contender for the cuteness contest....exhibit B: this mouse. I love him! Thanks aunt Kelly! Some people put on their velour suits to lounge about when there is a bit of a nip in the air, Liam puts on his mouse suit. And we are still breaking it out in June. I can't complain though, I am actually loving the cool nights and warm days Vermont has to offer. Don't be too jealous, we earned this weather - six months of indentured servitude in arctic conditions to the white witch.
A baby with a puppy! This is Liam with May our friend's new pup. They were best buds while we puppy sat.
This is the new girl on the block (on the far right). Matty is Liam's best friend and two weeks ago he brought home his precious little sister Nora. We love her. Here everyone is hanging out beside our new community kiddie pool, because even the water coming out of the hose feels like melted ice. Cuddling beside the pool is almost as fun as playing in it. And at the after party everyone got to take off their diaper and feel the cool spring breeze on their nether regions. So the afternoon wasn't lost even though the pool was a bust.
Yesterday we celebrated Adam's first father's day. Well, actually we celebrated on Saturday because he worked on his first father's day, but I was still sweet to him yesterday too. Liam gave him a basketball and I gave him a scrapbook, partially filled out (on purpose). Each year we will put pictures and a little note about what we did that mother's and father's day. I had each of our parents do a little intro with some pictures of them with us as babies and a little note with some parenting advice/words of wisdom. Just when I thought I had hardened up again from all those postpartum hormones and emotions, I sprung a leak. We cried.
After we pulled it together, we had a lazy morning of eating french toast and drinking our weight in coffee. Then we headed off to do something manly and fatherly. We hiked Mt. Ascutney. We were expecting a leisurely, semi-challenging hike, but I think it was the toughest trek we have done in a long while. It was pretty technical too. Good thing we brought a baby with us. This was Liam's first trip in the Kelty kid carrier. I tried not to be too much of nervous Nancy as Adam climbed up slippery rocks with our baby. It is also a good thing I know there are no poisonous snakes in this area because I almost stepped on one. I might have panicked a little. I am Myra's daughter. A couple miles in we started to hear distant thunder, but there are almost never thunderstorms in Vermont so we pushed onward. Then as we got closer to the top, it started to rain and thunder clapped loudly all around us - possibly a poor parenting decision on our part. Luckily, we were below treeline. And we live in New England, where Adam likes to say in his best Bean town accent "if you don't like the weather in NE, wait five minutes." It's true. Ten minutes later it was sunny and cool.
We made it down safely. It was a beautiful hike, that we definitely plan on doing again (maybe with the Nalls:), but just not in Chacos. The rest of the day was spent lounging.
Other news...We are moving! Adam read The Complete Money Makeover and we are taking it to heart. The biggest way for us to save money is to downsize. We have loved living in our home on Summer Street, but we are both so excited to not be biting our fingernails at the end of each month. We have a few possible leads, but it looks like the Hammonds will be back in a one-bedroom apartment, re-living the Alumni Village years. Our biggest fret over this move was that it might deter visitors, but we hope not. We still would love to put anyone up that would make the journey to come see us. And now we can just spend time together in a more intimate fashion when you guys come to Vermont.
Don't even stress about Octoberfest! With the money we are saving in rent and heating, we can fork over the dough to do a weekend rental for Hammond Drop in Day. This year it will be the first or second weekend in October (depending on rental availabilities) and I will be sending out an official facebook invite as soon as the lodging is hammered down.
Two ways I almost killed my baby in the last month - gosh being a mom is stressful! 1. I was getting some things together in our van and I left the air on because this was one of the hot summer days in Vermont. After I gathered everything up and put on my kid carrier, I decided I better take the keys out of the ignition before I grab my babe (so I don't forget them). I don't know what happened....but the car started rolling backwards down our super steep driveway. I almost had a heart attack! But I managed to jump in and hit the breaks before it rolled into the street and then onto our neighbors house. Scary! 2) I worry much less about finding a blue baby these days. I had constant visions (you can't really call them nightmares if you are not sleeping) that Liam would stop breathing and so I would obsessively check on him. I hear these are fairly normal. But now that he is seven months old, I have been feeling that he is pretty hearty and have observed that his drive to breath is adequate. However, I was totally unnerved the other night. I let Liam sleep with a blanket because he loves to cuddle it and flop it around as he drifts off to sleep. After waking up to a very muffled baby cry, I ran down the hall to find feet where a head should be and a tightly wrapped blanket around my babies head. Stressful! I guess that is why they invented sleep sacks.
