On the Road Again....

2.26.14

I know that internet on an airplane is amazing, I get it. But it is slow as molasses! Sophia and I are on our second leg of travel from St. Louis to Portland, and there are babies EVERYWHERE! I love it.. bring on baby fever! ;)

This trip has been a stressful one and it has barely begun. We will be away from home for a month. A month. That is a long time. And because I am slightly anal retentive, the house has to be cleaned before departure. I enjoy coming home to a clean house, as in just-finished-spring-cleaning. Also, we will be having someone housesitting/dogsitting for two weeks. There is no way I would let them stay in my house with it being dirty. Not to mention packing for two people for four weeks!

So, Sophia and I are Oregon bound today. Yay. Tomorrow, I am headed to Vegas! I am attending WPPI with the husband and pretty much everyone we know, in St. Louis at least. This will be my first time attending the conference (as well as being in Vegas) and I am super excited. I will have a lot to take in over a week so I am preparing myself for being overwhelmed. This will not be Laurin's first rodeo, so I am expecting him to be patient with me and all of my questions. I'll get to meet photographers from all over and get to watch Sal speak live. Not to mention boozing it up and staying up all night. Okay, about staying up all night... I am in no mental shape to stay up as late as I am going to be expected to. I mean seriously, my idea of late is the 11:30pm that I normally, finally, get to sleep. Should be interesting and I will be doing my best to go with the flow...

Sophia gets to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa. She is so excited! I hope she doesn't grow too much in that week! She seems so much older today than she did this time last week. It really is crazy. She is starting to have such a great memory, and will recite the major topics of the day to Laurin as soon as he walks in the door. It is really cute how she gets so excited to share information. She will get so much playtime in with her cousin too, especially since she will be there for an entire month! Yup after Vegas, I head back to Oregon. I'll get my time to spend with family and my mom's and nephew's birthdays are in March, as well as a family friend's birthday. It will be an exciting month, but I know I will be ready to be home by week three. ;)

Can't wait to see what the next month has in store.

Resolutions

Welcome 2014. Last year was a crazy whirlwind of a year.

Moved to the Midwest.

Ellie Goulding concert.

Passing of Uncle.

Birthdays and visits home.

Tumbling classes.

More visits home and more birthdays.

Europe.

Holiday craziness.

Christmas.

Looking back at the last year and forward through this upcoming year makes me truly realize how fast time can fly by. One of my New Years Resolutions is to document something everyday or as close to everyday as I possibly can. 

Today| 1.1.14|

With packing almost finished, we look forward to heading home tomorrow morning. It has been wonderful seeing family and friends but we are ready for our own space, our routines, and our own bed. 

Today we say last goodbyes to family and friends. My mother-in-law fell ill over Christmas and we wish her a full recovery even though it has been slow going so far. This trip has been less than successful for us. Sophia has had some wonderful Christmases (yes, multiple), however between family being ill and friends dealing with their own family complications has been tough and somewhat disappointing. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel has been difficult. 

On a positive note this trip has not hindered future plans to visit. Sophia and I will be back in March and again in June. So fear not Oregon, we will be back to cause havoc and mayhem!

Homeward Bound.

Today we head home. As in home-home. As in the Midwest welcomes abnormally cold temperatures and four inches of snow on the ground. We are juggling a toddler, a car seat and two EXTRA bags, plus three carry-ons. Two of us with a toddler, a car seat, and 8 bags including carry-ons. What did we get ourselves into!?! We had to buy a large suitcase because our old one went kaput after our trip to Europe last summer. So we bought a set of two... Bonus is that we didn't have to ship any presents home! They are the really nice suitcases too, you know the ones that roll upright on four wheels and are hardshell. The ones that take a fraction of the energy to move than a normal suitcase does. I'm in love. These bad boys better last because we have at least three more trips to take this year including one to Europe this summer. Yes, Europe again. Jelly? Don't envy us too long because we are taking the little on this trip too. Am I crazy? Probably. Deets later.

I digress.

We are on our flight home. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed with all the room a king bed can offer someone my size. I'm ready to eat my own food and make my own food. I'm ready to be one of the laziest people on the planet for at least one day. Sophia has done pretty amazing on this flight and it has been a bit of a long one at three hours. Only a few outbursts and back talks. Could be a record! We bought her cute kid safe headphones so she can actually listen to her movies or games on the flight without disrupting others. She used them for about half the flight, that's not bad!! The other was spent eating, drinking and pretending to sleep and then wake up. "I get up mommy!!" She tried to go potty once but those bathrooms are so small that she wasn't having it. Oh well, at least she tried! But now with an hour left to go, she sleeps. Thank goodness! I got tired bending over and pulling snack after snack out. It can be exhausting! (Do those count as crunches?)

One flight almost down. One hourlong layover and one more flight to go. 

Longing for my home sweet home.

ALMOST HOME!

Snowpacolyps

It has been so nice being back home. In fact it didn't take long for our house to once again become a disaster. The laundry room looks like a bad case of clothes hoarding and dishes are piled in the sink. Toys are strewn about and blankets are carelessly tossed to the side.

On Sunday we received about 10.5 inches of snow! It was a beautiful sight to see - from the comfort of my nice cozy and warm house. We took a moment to bundle up and play in the snow. It was only for a couple of minutes but it was so much fun! Sophia wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do in the snow but I think she had fun anyways. Monday was boring. We had all this beautiful snow and we couldn't even play in it. Temperatures were well below freezing with an even colder windchill. Our dogs loved every moment of it because they got to sleep and lay around in the basement. 

Getting fit and staying sane.

This mama is trying to tone up. With Vegas right around the corner and Europe this summer, I want to look as close to my best as I can. I started the Bikini Body Mommy 90 Challenge. I'm on day 8 and going strong. The workouts are geared toward mommies looking to get into shape and who don't have a ton of time to workout. It typically takes up around 45 minutes to an hour each day and that includes warm up and cool down! I feel like I can already see results - although I could be delusional.

Laurin has been out of town for several days now. I can't wait for him to get back tomorrow. It is a lot quieter around here without him, and a lot cleaner. ;) Sophia and I have had some great mommy and daughter time though. She has been surprisingly pleasant with her tone and words. She listens well and is even picking up her toys without prompting! 

Last night Sophia and I had some extra special time together. We rented Turbo and snacked on chips and cookies. What!?! I have no willpower when it comes to junk food. I'm working on it!! I think she really enjoyed that time together, I know I did. And the movie was really cute too. 

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We have restarted the potty training process. Back in October she was 95% potty trained and then I ruined it and she regressed. The last hurdle we needed to jump over was her fear of public toilets. I pushed her too hard and she stopped going on the potty altogether. 

Well, we are on the road to diaper free days again. She's been in panties, except at night or out of the house, for almost a week now! The only accidents we were having was with the dreaded (and messy) number two. Yesterday, we jumped that hurdled and she went poo on the potty! 

Today, we turned around and started knocking all of the hurdles down. We've has two accidents so far. One of each, if you know what I mean. Hopefully it is a fluke and we will be back on track again. Fingers crossed!