time flies...mostly

We are just 72 days away from our due date (which also means there are only 72 days left in 2015!). I will be 30 weeks pregnant on Friday. This pregnancy has mostly gone by a little faster than my pregnancy with Graeme, but I still feel like I have been pregnant 

for-ev-er.  

It is pretty crazy to imagine going from having one child to suddenly having two. We already talk and think like Maisy is one of our children of course, but it will be different once she's actually here with us. Lord willing, we will go to the hospital with one carseat and leave with two.

I am curious how Graeme will react, and there's really no way to know. He is a complete momma's boy for one thing, so I'm sure it will be an adjustment for him. I don't know how he compares with other kids (maybe he's just a normal amount attached to me!), but some days I think my ears will fall off from hearing "Momma" one more time. He just says it over and over with nothing else to go along with it a lot of times. Ha! I will never really tire of hearing him say it though.

Typical conversation:  "Momma!" "What?" *silence* *wait a few seconds* "Momma?!" "Yes?" *silence* *repeat* 

Last Tuesday I took my one hour Glucose Tolerance Test. I wasn't too worried, but it is a little nerve-wracking to wait for the results. Thankfully, I got my results on Friday morning and everything was in the normal limits. That's pretty much the last thing to worry with until it's time to actually go into labor. Crazy!

Just like with Graeme, and in my case, forever (the result of not having a thyroid at all!), I have had my thyroid levels monitored throughout this pregnancy. They have changed my prescription once and we will check it again next week to make sure it has leveled out appropriately. 

Other than that, things are going well and I am feeling good, thankfully!

My birthday is next week and I will be 28. Age doesn't really bother me too much, but I do realize I am right on the doorstep of 30 basically. So that's weird. Wasn't I just in high school?

Shortly after high school. With my brother. So young. And still had a thyroid to boot (giant lump in my neck!) :)

Speaking of time flying, Aaron and I have our seven year "dating anniversary" coming up on November 2nd. We have said a couple of times in the past week, "Seven years ago we weren't even together...and now we have two kids and have been married for 5.5 years." 

From the beginning...we had no clue what was in store!

Well, I'll stop rambling now. Oh, but I will mention how we are about to have a 19 month old on our hands in just two days. We will then have a little boy just five months away from his second birthday. Only five more months of saying his age in months. Then he will be two. And no one goes around saying 24 months. Aaron will be glad for that. He wanted to stop saying Graeme's age in months after he turned one. 

You can't really say "one" for the whole year when this is at the beginning of being one and...

...this is just seven months later!

Pregnancy goes by pretty slowly. 

My own age goes by a little faster. 

My time with Aaron has gone and goes by quickly. 

But surely our children growing older goes by the very fastest.

Time is funny that way.

and baby girl makes four

IT'S A GIRL!

Aaron and I went for our anatomy ultrasound on Monday morning. I knew a little bit more of what to expect this time around, but I was very anxious waiting in the lobby. We had a different ultrasound technician this time, and she was very nice.

She explained everything she was looking at very well. And thank goodness for that because a lot of it still looks like black and white blobs to us!

Praise the Lord that everything looked healthy and the baby was wiggling around like crazy!

When she went to look for the gender at first she commented that she was pretty sure she knew the gender but wanted baby to spread its legs further before she said it out loud.

"Sure," said Aaron, "just drag it out!"

She checked on a couple of other things and then went back down to the baby's bottom. After some jostling with the ultrasound stick thing, Baby finally spread its legs wide enough for her to capture the screen and point out there were "no boy parts!"

"Looks like a girl to me!"

It's all a little fuzzy after that. I honestly couldn't say what I thought we were going to have, but I think kind of deep down I was figuring it would be another boy. So I was pretty shocked. Aaron, who already thought it was a girl, let out a happy shout.

We finished up, and she told me I could finally relieve myself of my very full bladder by this point. I know that I always have to leave a sample and the bathroom was literally across the hall. But in the two seconds it took me to walk in there, I totally blanked and forgot to pee in the cup. Oops! 

We had our regular appointment with the doctor after that and got to hear our daughter's strong heartbeat again. That never gets old. We have another ultrasound next month to clear up some confusion about our due date. She may be making her appearance a little bit earlier. We shall see!

A girl.

How exciting.

Being the insane planners that we (ahem, I mostly) are, we have had names picked for a boy and a girl for several weeks. We decided to not go with the girl name we had picked out to go along with Graeme originally. Instead, our new baby girl will be...

Maisy Katherine Bauer

Maisy (MAY-zee) is a name I started to see here and there on the internet that I really started to love and think was super cute. Katherine is the middle name of Aaron's grandmother that passed away just one month before we got married. She was very special to both of us and we have always wanted to use Katherine as a middle name for our daughter. Plus, "Maisy Kate" as a nickname is basically too cute.

When we first looked up "Maisy" we learned it was a Scottish name (it's a nickname for "Margaret"). This basically sealed the deal because "Graeme" is also Scottish. Who knew we are apparently very drawn to Scottish baby names?! Maisy means "pearl" or another definition we found was "light's creation." Katherine means "pure."

We pray our sweet "Pure Light's Creation" will grow to be a loving daughter of the King! She will definitely be our little princess. (Her father is already wanting to plan her first trip to Disney World!)

I am honestly still letting it sink in that I will have a little girl. I have always wanted a daughter. I grew up with a little brother, and in all of my many years of babysitting/nannying, I have mostly cared for little boys. I feel very comfortable with boys. A baby girl will definitely be a new adventure.

Just as I do with Graeme, I feel a great weight of responsibility in raising Maisy. Raising a child is no small calling. With God's help, Aaron and I pray we can raise both of our kids, and any future children (that's still way up in the air!) to know God made them, loves them, and wants to be their friend forever. And that they will grow up loving Him, making wise choices, and sharing His good news with the world.

We can't wait to meet our little Maisy Kate.

In other brief news:

1. I am 19 weeks pregnant now and feeling pretty great! I have felt baby Maisy moving for a few weeks, but Aaron is able to feel her now! 
2. We had a GREAT time at the beach! It was the first time we had ever gone on vacation with just my family. Graeme LOVED it this time and is still asking about the beach every day. I will have to do another post with more details of our last beach trip of the summer.
3. Graeme will be 17 months old on Sunday!?! I can't believe we are almost halfway to him turning two. If I had to pick one word to describe him right now it would be "FUN!" He is so inquisitive, curious, and smart. We are able to carry on pretty coherent conversations with him and he is very able to express what he wants. Or doesn't want. He is still mostly obsessed with the dump trucks outside our house.

He's going to be a great big brother in a few months!

so much change!

Hello.

I know, I've had quite the hiatus. A lot has been going on since my last post in April. Not only do we have a running, talkative, attention-seeking, adorable toddler, but we also have a new little addition on the way! Yes indeed, our family is adding another little baby to the mix. We are very thrilled and can't wait to meet Baby Bauer 2 in January.

My blog has taken a backseat lately because I have been exhausted. I realize being tired is the life of all parents and pregnant people. But it's true, whenever Graeme is sleeping, whether at nap time or at night, I can barely bring myself to do much of anything. Writing a blog has sounded like a tiring amount of work. Ha. Come on, second trimester.

Everything about this pregnancy so far is very similar to my pregnancy with Graeme, with a few exceptions. I have way more cravings this time. Not sure why. Specifically Chick-fil-a, Goldfish crackers, and Pirate's Booty cheese puffs. I have a strong aversion to eggs again. I have been pretty sick for the past six weeks. It seems a little bit worse this pregnancy just because this time around I can't really stop and rest whenever I want. No matter how I feel, there is a little ball of energy that feels great and ready to play! I do my best to rest or nap when he takes a nap. And Aaron will tell you that I pass out on the couch by 8:30 or 9pm every night. 

Knock on wood, I have been way less nauseous for the past three days, so I am hoping I am done with that! With Graeme, I started to feel better around 13-14 weeks and then had an amazing pregnancy for the remainder of the time. Here's to that happening again.




Graeme, of course, has changed pretty drastically since his first birthday. He is fifteen months old now! He's had his first major haircut that was more than a trim, although you wouldn't know it now. In two months it has grown out to be just as long as before.

Graeme Grayson
July 2, 2015

He wasn't walking by his birthday, and he wasn't in too much of a hurry after he turned one either! Right around 13 months he went from crawling to walking around within a couple of days. He didn't waste time once he decided to walk! Now, he runs and dances and walks backwards.

Graeme talks A LOT. According to the all-knowing internet (ha), the average 15-month old says about six-eight words. I don't know how accurate that is since every kid is so different. I started trying to make a list of the words Graeme says. Now, not all of them are pronounced correctly, of course, but my list consists of about 70 words so far. I might be forgetting some. I have no explanation for this other than:  God made him unique, we read him hundreds of books and have done this since he was born, and we talk to him all of the time and tell him what things are and what we're doing.

Much to our delight, the boy loves to read books. At times, we will go through a pile of 20 books and he will still ask for more. They are mostly board books, not novels, but we're still impressed. He has expanded his tastes in books a little bit and will even let us read new books more often and not the same ones over and over.

He loves Batman and Curious George. He and Aaron will sit and watch the old Batman TV series with Adam West on the weekends and he constantly asks to watch Curious George. His favorite character on "George" is the little dachshund, Hundley, so we have watched all of the episodes containing him about one million times. Yes, he still loves dogs the most. And no, he still doesn't consider "Peppy" (Penny) a dog.

We took him to the beach at the beginning of June. He had been to the beach when he was four months, but this time he could participate more than just laying there. He was not a huge fan of the actual ocean and sand part of the beach. The ocean scared him and he didn't like getting sand on his hands and feet. He did enjoy the little inflatable pool we brought him to play in on the beach and his beach toys. So, it was not a total catastrophe. He loves the swimming pool, so there is still hope.

Aaron and I took our first extended trip away without Graeme for our fifth anniversary. We went to our favorite place. Obviously that is Disney World. It was wonderful to get away for four whole nights and focus completely on each other. We of course missed Graeme like crazy, but it was very worthwhile to reconnect and not have a schedule that we were constantly making decisions around for a few days. We came back home overjoyed to see Graeme and he was just as happy to see us. Next year on our anniversary we will be leaving two kids behind...crazy!

On Sunday, 12-weeks-pregnant Me is perhaps insanely embarking on a solo plane ride with a 15-month old. In order to visit my grandparents and family in Florida, we devised a plan that Graeme and I will fly down to Tampa where my parents (who are already down there) will pick us up. We will spend a few days with family and then drive back to Raleigh through the night with my parents next Wednesday. Aaron and Penny are staying home this time, sadly. If I can make it to a seat on the plane and somehow entertain a restless Graeme for 1.5 hours, it will be a piece of cake. Yikes.


Well, I am not planning on waiting three months before I write again. Maybe once a week is doable for now. We shall we. Happy Independence Day!

a year gone by

THIS WAS YESTERDAY. (so it seems)

Time, like money, is very relative. It comes and goes. You want more or you have less.

Some people have kids that are grown way more than mine and could truly say that they have been a parent for a long time.

I have only been a parent for one year. But, to me right now, that is a pretty long time.

Aaron and I actually made it through the first year of our first child. We even really, really enjoyed it and are looking forward to the second year! And one day in the future, even a second kid! (Have courage, new parents!)

Anyway.

Here are some of my thoughts on lessons learned, baby products I loved, and maybe a word of encouragement if you're still at the very beginning of this thing called parenting.




First, here's 3 things I've learned, and let's face it, I am still learning!

1.  There is seriously not one right way to do anything with a baby. You must keep your baby rested, fed, clean, dressed, and healthy. And there are about a hundred ways to accomplish each of those things. Just try getting on Google and typing in something like "what to do if my baby has diarrhea." The first post will tell you not to worry too much. The next one will say to rush them straight to the doctor. Good. Grief. With your first baby, every little thing is new. All you want to do is make the right decision. You just need somebody to tell you what that decision is. AND THERE'S NO ONE THAT CAN. This is frustrating. If I may speak to myself too, because I still freak out sometimes, I want to tell you that you can make the decision, whatever it may be, and you will figure out the right one. Once you do, stick with it. It's right for you and your family.

2.  FLEXIBILITY. Oh man, I am not one that loves being flexible. Things have an order. There is a schedule. Please don't be late. Please don't make changes last minute. This is where this sits in the house and it can't be moved. Haha do I sound crazy? Maybe I'm being a tad extreme in my description of myself. If you are not like this, that is probably a good thing! If you are, you will learn (or have learned) that a baby pretty much requires constant flexibility. Even with a schedule (because believe me, Graeme has been on one since we came home with him), it is inevitable that something will need to be changed almost daily. And as much as I love a clean house, some days it's just not in the cards. On the days when I wake up with a "let's get things done when possible, but it's okay if they don't happen" attitude, it's a much better day for everyone.

3.  Comparison will steal your joy.  Like I said above, you figure out what works for your baby and then stick with it. THEN, do not compare what you're doing with other moms and either second guess yourself or look down on them for what they are doing. We've all heard that every baby is different. Well, it's true. One baby walks at ten months. The other doesn't walk until 15 months. One started eating table food at six months. The other didn't start until 12 months. One baby takes three naps. The other at the same age takes two. You give Tylenol. They use home remedies. You co-sleep. They put their baby in the crib the day they brought him home. It goes on and on and on. I think we can all agree that we hate to be judged, especially on how we parent. But we are often quick to judge others. Instead, treat others as you want to be treated. Be an encourager. And don't miss out on the joys of watching your little one grow by always worrying what someone else is doing or thinking.





Alright, let's move on to something lighter and more fun! I'm going to try to list my top 3 products that we have used for an entire year and still love. Now, there are tons of other things that we love and use all of the time. But these 3 we have used since Graeme has been born and still love to use them. These are not in order at all.

1. Fisher Price light-up seahorse. I don't know what it is about this strange blue seahorse, but we have used it almost every day since Graeme has been born. I turn it on when I lay him in his crib, and most of the time, he is asleep before it stops glowing and playing music. At the start of this year, I would not have known how much we would love this thing. I cannot believe it's on my list, but it is.

2. JJ Cole diaper bag. My parents were gracious in buying me this bag, because I honestly thought it was a little pricey for a diaper bag. I am sure any old bag would due the trick to carry a baby's things. But, I will say that I still love my diaper bag and I am not at all sick of it. It has tons of pockets and tons of room. I have the matching diaper clutch which is awesome. I am usually sick of a purse after a few months, but after a whole year with this bag, I am not tired of the color or of carrying it around. 

3. Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing.  I know this is not a baby product, per se. We have, with very few exceptions, read a page out of this book every night of Graeme's life. We are on our third time through it currently. It is the last thing we read to him before we pray and lay him down at night. And it is constantly encouraging me or speaking into a situation we are in the midst of. I love, love this book. I don't know that I could ever tire of reading these little thoughts.











Wow. I still can't believe a whole year has gone by since we brought our baby boy home. He is so different now. It is amazing watching a baby grow first hand from literally just laying around and doing not much of anything, to a year later being able to talk and express himself and do so many things on his own. I know Aaron and I are a long, long way from being any sort of parenting experts. I don't think there really is such a thing. But getting to that very first birthday feels like quite the accomplishment. It is hard work. It is rewarding and frustrating and draining and fulfilling. All at the same time. What a conundrum being a parent is!

If you're just starting out, it seems quite daunting. And when your day with your newborn baby seems entirely too long, you might hate hearing "That first year will fly by!" But it will. It does. So, as cliche as this is:  Enjoy it. Not in the "enjoy every second" way. (Because who really enjoys losing sleep and getting spit up on all the time?!) But, enjoy it. In the "find joy in every day" way. Stop worrying about measuring up and messing up and enjoy your baby.

You can do it. You've got this. You are the parents meant for your child.

Babies do not keep. Fact.

finally...it's been awhile!

Hi.

It's been awhile.

After Graeme turned 8 months, the insanity of the holidays hit in full force. No matter how hard we try to keep our schedule simple, it seems almost impossible this time of year. There's just no way around the busy-ness. So, we make the very most of our time at home together. Tonight, Aaron is at a meeting, Graeme is asleep, and so I am taking advantage of the evening and trying to get a blog post up!





A lot has been going on around here. Let's see, I suppose I should go all the way back to Thanksgiving first! Graeme's first Thanksgiving was super fun and super tiring! We are fortunate to live near all of our immediate family, so we spent time with both families over the course of two days.

Two nights of being out past bedtime (6:30pm)...we really partied. 

His cute bib from his MiMi and Grandy

Family picture at GiGi's house

Aaron's younger (taller) brother got engaged a couple of days before Thanksgiving, so they had an engagement party on Thanksgiving night.
This photo is of the Bauer family (us, Andrew and Lauren, GiGi and Pop, Adam and Becca and Samuel and London).

Aaron and I ventured out for some Black Friday shopping, but we waited until the more reasonable hour of noon on Friday. Graeme hung out downtown, and we enjoyed a shopping/lunch date. Of course, a lot of what we bought was for Graeme, including this awesome orange vest.

Speaking of shopping, we have ONLY shopped for Graeme so far for Christmas. Yeah...we've got some catching up to do. It is so fun shopping for him, and he doesn't even care yet. I know it will just get better and better. 

Anyway.






What else has been going on?

We paid a visit to one of our very favorite families:  Bensen and Keyen and their lovely parents. We don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like to, but we try to make visiting them as often as possible a priority. Graeme loves them and he really loved checking out their awesome Christmas village.

Graeme is cutting his top teeth. One of them is finally through. When he got his bottom teeth, Aaron and I were like, "Oh, this teething thing isn't so bad..." Yeah, well, we didn't know. The top teeth are apparently much worse! They don't seem to bother him too much during the day, but when it's time to sleep and he has nothing to distract him from the pain, that's when he's so pitiful and I feel awful for him. We have tried some gels and tablets, and I'm not sure how much they help. He usually just wants to be held. Poor little boy. Teething even kept him from enjoying Pullen Park.

Sad swinging

We have a lot going on at Journey this month too. This past Friday night we had our Christmas FX. Aaron got to put his acting skills to use. I don't see him act very much, and I didn't have the privilege of knowing him in his college theater years. He's a very talented actor and watching him was my favorite part of the night. But everyone else in our FX was awesome too! It was the first event I had been to at Journey in quite awhile since I usually skip out to stay with Graeme. I had so much fun! I miss being there for everything sometimes, but I know as Graeme gets older we will participate more and more.

Well, I will try to not wait so long before I post again! 

Last note:  Graeme started saying Da-Da yesterday! It's just about the cutest thing. He's also waving bye-bye now. Goodness, time is speeding away. I sure love that boy.

Graeme Grayson

about our impending trip

Aaron is in Charlotte tonight for the Orange Tour. It was one of those trips where I was going to go and take Graeme, but it's only for one night. Graeme is at an age where it's much easier to keep him at home and on his routine. So, we stayed home.

If I'm being honest, I'm a total baby about Aaron being gone, even for just one night! I feel like I've gotten a little better since when we first got married when I would cry any time he was gone overnight. It's a little less lonely with Penny and Graeme here, and I usually try to keep busy during the day. I am not cut out for living alone, for sure! I have great respect for wives and moms who have husbands in the service or jobs that keep them traveling and out late often. And single parents:  you guys are amazing. I know I can't complain at all.

Tonight, after Graeme went to bed, I came down and ate dinner and watched Wheel of Fortune by myself. Aaron and I watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune almost every night. We're cool like that. It's definitely not the same watching it without him. Anyway, now I figure I have time to do a little writing on the trusty blog.



We leave for Disney World in less than two weeks! Ah!

Can. Not. Wait.

Now, for most things in life, I find it helpful for me to not have unrealistic expectations. I take sudden changes or things not going how I thought they would go pretty hard. Aaron hates to give me definitive answers on his schedule a lot of times because he knows I am easily upset if things don't pan out as planned. I am trying to be better at this.

That being said, while I would love to imagine that every waking moment of our Disney trip with a 7.5 month old will be like this...

Happy baby I don't know

I am also fully aware that every moment could very well be like this...

Very sad baby I don't know

We definitely realize that taking a baby to Disney World probably isn't the easiest thing, but we are so excited to take Graeme. Hopefully, if we try to follow his schedule as close to normal as possible, take things slow, and give him plenty of time for rest, we will all have a fabulous time. I am not worried about it at all, and I really think he's going to do great.

We will take him on his very first flight to get there. I am trying to not worry about that either. We are due to take off at 12:05pm, which is very close to a nap time for him. I'm hoping that after the initial excitement of the airplane wears off, he will sleep for most of the flight. Our plan (currently) is to check two big suitcases and carry on the stroller, the Baby Bjorn, and a big backpack that will be our diaper bag for the week. We don't need a carseat because we will be riding buses to and from the airport and to get everywhere in Disney World.

Disney Resorts accept packages labeled with your arrival date and store them for you until you get there. With this being so, we plan to ship anything that can be thrown away as the week goes on so that we don't have to take it on the plane. This includes: diapers, wipes, ready-to-feed bottles, and baby food pouches. The goal is to take one-time-use-then-throw-away food for the week for Graeme. Aaron and I are trying the Disney Dining Plan for the first time since it is included for free in the package we bought. That takes care of food for everyone!

I put in a request for a crib for our hotel room. I will take some crib sheets for Graeme, but if the crib is anything like a pack-n-play, he probably won't sleep well in it per our past experiences. (Of course, he could be so worn out every day that he might sleep fine!) Our room should also have an extra bed, so he could maybe sleep there if I built an acceptable pillow fort for him. Ha. Of course, he might end up in bed with us. We all know what great sleep that is for everyone...not!

We arrive on a Monday afternoon and have no big plans for that night. We may try to meet up with some friends for dinner at Downtown Disney. 

On Tuesday, we will visit the most wonderful, magical place, my personal favorite:  The Magic Kingdom. I could easily give up the other three parks and only ever go here. Aaron would not agree and probably leave me in the Magic Kingdom by myself to hop around to the others, so I will choose to visit them as well from time to time. Magic Kingdom, is of course, all-around magical. It also has a lot of rides that are baby-friendly, so assuming Graeme isn't terrified of them, that should be fun. The few rides he can't join us on, Aaron and I can take turns riding. Last time we went, I was pregnant and had to miss out on all of the roller coasters, so I'm looking forward to them. We also want to have a lock of Graeme's hair cut at the Main Street Barber Shop. And he will be meeting Mickey Mouse before we leave or I will cry. That is my one expectation that is engrained in my head for sure.

On Wednesday, the plan is to visit Animal Kingdom. We figure this park is the other one best suited to a baby. There isn't a ton to do, the rides are few and far between, it always closes early, and there are, of course, animals to see! Our favorite thing at Animal Kingdom in the Finding Nemo show. And the safari should be fun too.

Thursday, we will take it easy in the morning and probably try to visit the pool. That evening, we will enter Magic Kingdom again for Mickey's Christmas Party. Aaron and I did this last year for the first time, and it was so fun! They kick everyone out the of park that doesn't have tickets for the party. There are free cookies and hot chocolate everywhere. It snows on Main Street. There are special fireworks and characters out and about. And all of the rides are open with way shorter lines! The party lasts until 1:00am. I highly, highly doubt we will be there that long. But, this will be the one night that we will plan to be out late, and hopefully Graeme will sleep in his stroller or in the carrier. I looked into a bunch of noise-cancelling headphones, and I think I will buy these ear plug things that are for babies and kids. They are cheap, so if they don't work or he hates them, no harm done.

Friday is our last day, and our flight home leaves around 3:00pm. This means we will probably start the trip to the airport around noon. It's always super sad to leave Disney. I still cry when this happens. We will have the rest of the weekend to relax though, and we are planning to start our Christmas decorating (Mickey's party should get us in the holiday spirit!).

I can't wait to experience this with our baby. No matter what happens, I know we will have fun memories and stories to tell.

Well, there's a tentative run-down of our trip barring any strange circumstances. I know you were all dying to know these thrilling details...just passing the time while I'm missing my husband, remember?! :)

Me, Aaron, and Graeme at Disney World in November 2013 with our buddy Stitch

nostalgic things (it's been six years since Aaron and I started dating?!)

Around this time of year, right before my birthday, I get a little nostalgic. Several years ago (it's really, really weird that I can now classify it as "several years...") around this time was when something started brewing between Aaron and myself.

If I stop to think about it, a lot of those fluttery feelings come rushing back. Aaron and I went from being what I would barely classify as friends to being in a relationship pretty quickly. I was reading through an old blog post I wrote about the beginning of our relationship. Because it's been five years since I wrote this stuff, I'm going to be lazy and assume most people haven't read it or forgot about it. And therefore, I can post some of it again without actually having to re-write what I'm wanting to say today...

Let's travel back then, to 2008. I was a Junior in college, 20, almost 21. Aaron had just been hired full-time at Journey, although he had been leading the kid's ministry for two years while working other full-time jobs. I helped in Journey Preschool and we happened to be in the same small group of which he was the leader. Other than those two things, we had no communication...

The first time the idea to “date Aaron” came in my head was July 3, 2008.  It was not my idea at all.  It was actually my mother’s.  And I quickly put an end to it.

I had surgery that day [to have my thyroid removed].  Aaron and his mom came to visit my family while I was with the surgeon.  They brought me flowers and an awkward stuffed turtle.

But I didn’t get to see them because I was having my neck cut open (sorry if that’s too much information). When I woke up in the afternoon, Aaron came back without his mom.  He sat with me and my family for awhile.  When he left, my mom made a big deal about how he came twice.  “Maybe he likes you!”

I believe I rolled my eyes and thought, “Whatever mom.  We are just friends (barely).  He is too…I don’t know.  We would never go together.”

And that was the end of that.

But, now the idea was there.  I didn’t want to entertain it, but it wouldn’t go away.  So there it was.  Now, I couldn’t quite look at him the same.  And, after all, I couldn’t deny how nice it was for him to come see me in the hospital.  Twice!  And I will admit that Awkward Turtle has slept with me ever since…

So, that was what I consider the very beginning.

In August of [2008], everyone at Journey was busy getting ready to launch Journey’s Northwest campus.  Plus, my small group was busy painting at Journey Northeast.  I remember offering to help Aaron.  A lot.  The more time I spent with him, the more addicted I was.  I just loved being with him.

We spent a day in August painting together.  We spent a day shopping for supplies for Northwest.  I loved one-on-one time with him.  Every once in awhile, a feeling of “I think I might like him…” would creep up, but I would try to ignore it.  We were just friends.  He would never date me.

At the end of August there was a wedding shower for [our friends] Alex and Valerie.  I think a lot of people thought something was going on between us then.  But there wasn’t.  We just happened to be the only single people [at the shower].  So we hung out.  That started some rumors.  I really didn’t mind them though.

[After we spent a day together in September running errands for Journey]....  I couldn’t help it anymore.  I was smitten with him.  I wanted to be with him.  I knew I would be good for him even if he didn’t know it.  I don’t know how I knew that.  But I did.  I couldn’t lie to myself anymore, even if I kept lying to my mom and everyone else.  I did like him.  A lot.

[For his birthday on October 13th], he invited some of us from small group to go out to dinner at 518 West to celebrate.  I sat across from him at the table.  Other people were there, but I was only interested in Aaron.  

I remember just a few of us being left at the restaurant at the end of the night.  I went and sat next to Aaron and monopolized his attention.  (On purpose.  But he gave it to me, so it wasn’t all my fault.)  I reminded him I would be 21 soon.  He promised we would celebrate.

My birthday [that year] was actually [on a Wednesday], and WCA Homecoming/Halloween was on Friday.  On Tuesday evening, I had a class at Campbell.  When I got out, I had a text message from Aaron:  “Enjoy your last day being 20.”

I don’t remember what I texted back to him, but later that night I made up some excuse to call him.  I can’t remember what it was, but I didn’t feel like I could call just because I wanted to talk to him.  We talked on the phone for awhile, and I asked him if he was coming to Homecoming on Friday.  He said he was, and he asked me the same question.  If he was going, I was definitely going.  I told him I would be there.

Somewhat cleverly, I asked, “So, are you still interested in celebrating my birthday with me? Maybe we could do something after Homecoming…”

I held my breath, not believing that I just said that.

He agreed.  Now I was smiling and I couldn’t stop.  After we hung up, I tried to stop my wild imagination.  This was not a date.  It was a mutual, friendly decision to hang out.  As friends.  He was not picking me up.  I would pay for myself.  We were just hanging out.

Well, I'll stop there with the flashbacks. We did hang out on Halloween at Homecoming and went out afterwards (although it ended up being not just the two of us, which actually worked out for the best). The rest, as they say, is history. Aaron "officially" asked me to date him on November 2, 2008. By the end of December, we were inseparable. In the spring, we were already talking about getting married. And in August, just 10 months after it had all started, we were engaged.

It was quite a whirlwind romance, indeed, and we never have looked back!

I sometimes wish I could talk to my 20-year-old self right around the middle of October and say, "Hey. That Aaron guy that seems to creep into your every thought recently...well, get ready. You have no idea how much fun is in store over the next few years."

But, of course, where is the fun in that for 20-year-old me?

Back in the beginning...

about our Tennessee trip

I mentioned in my post the other day that Graeme has been on four trips already in his little lifetime. The first three (Atlanta, Florida, Wrightsville Beach) were pretty easy. Well, Atlanta especially didn't phase him at all since he was only five weeks old. Our last trip that we took to Tennessee was probably the hardest on all of us. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time. When we were with family, it was great to have extra help. We all had fun every day. It was just...a little hard. I think it was a combination of things (the age Graeme is at, the fact that we changed locations three times...) that probably caused this trip to be a bit more trying.




We left on a Sunday after church. Graeme had a full tummy, a clean diaper, and he was exhausted. (He always is on Sunday afternoons.)  It was a six hour drive to our first stop at my grandparents', and we were able to drive half of it while he took a long nap. We stopped at a Zaxby's for dinner, got food to-go, and we all ate in the car. We rented an SUV, so Graeme had plenty of room to eat his dinner too.

After this stop, I rode in the back with Graeme and Penny took my seat. Graeme didn't need another nap before bedtime, so it was my job to entertain him for the last three hours of the drive. Thankfully, between toys and music, he was happy the whole way. We did have to pull out the annoying fun light up noisy toys towards the end. I was a little worried about his ears hurting while we were going up the mountains, because mine always hurt really bad. I gave him a pacifier (if you'll remember, we took it away two months ago and only save it for emergencies) just in case. (Spoiler alert:  this wasn't the last time we saw the pacifier this week...many emergencies to come...)

We got to our cabin a little past his bedtime, so he was tired and hungry. After a quick hello to everyone and setting up the pack-n-play, we put him right to bed. Of course, it wasn't that easy. The new surroundings kept him looking around and he is not the biggest fan of the pack-n-play anyway. I try to put him in it for naps sometimes and he plays in it a lot. It's not like he's not familiar with it. But, he is a roller and a mover in his sleep. He spans his whole crib over the course of the night. The pack-n-play is a lot smaller, and he does not enjoy that. 

Anyway, it took him quite awhile to finally fall asleep. Then, enter our first challenge:  every tiny move you made in the cabin made a creak. Every floor board. Every cabinet. The door to the bedroom where we were all sleeping. And the bed right next to the pack-n-play squeaked with the tiniest movement. 

Well, when we went to bed, I knew I was in for a long night. Like I said, Graeme moves SO much in his sleep and makes a bunch of noise. And I guess because of my "mother's intuition" or whatever you call it, I sleep t-e-r-r-i-b-l-y when Graeme is in the same room as us. That's probably why he only lasted about two weeks in our room after he was born before he went straight to his crib. 

Eventually, the squeaks of our bed from us moving in our sleep and him constantly rolling into the side of his pack-n-play woke him up. He ended up in our bed in the middle of the night. And, again, he's a mover and a kicker. Every time I would drift off, I would get a kick in my stomach. Somehow, Aaron slept through all of this madness.

Despite a rocky first night, it was a great day the next day. We went outlet shopping and out to lunch, and then everyone got a good, long nap. Graeme adjusted much better to the cabin the second day, and he went down a lot easier that night.

However, like the night before, his ninja-sleep skills didn't have as much room as they typically do in his roomy crib. He ended up in our bed again. Note the pattern that is occurring.

The next day, we had another fun day. We made a trip to the pool, and you've already read about Graeme meeting all of the cows.

That night, we entered into our second challenge of the trip:  Graeme acquired a terrible stuffed-up nose.

I sucked his nose before bed, but as soon as we laid him down, he sounded awful. He was asleep, but he sounded like he could hardly breathe through his nose at all. This, of course, did wonders for our sleep. 

No.

Graeme woke up three times during the night because of his nose. He doesn't eat in the middle of the night anymore, so I would suck his nose (while he screamed because he hates the snot sucker), and then he would go right back to sleep in our bed. The poor kid didn't feel well at all. At this point, I kind of wished we were going home the next day instead of continuing on. (Not really, but it did cross my mind.)

Wednesday, Graeme was as happy as could be, but his nose was still runny and stuffy. We packed up to head on to Murfreesboro, which was three more hours away. We had to say goodbye to Penny at this point. She stayed behind with my parents and went home with them.

She gets suspicious when we pack suitcases. She was not too happy with us when we left her.

We left in the afternoon at nap time, and Graeme was asleep before we even drove a mile. We couldn't quite make it to our destination without a stop. When we were 45 minutes away from Murfreesboro, we found an exit to pull over. Graeme had slept the whole time so far, thankfully. We stopped for coffee and fed him before we got back in for the last little bit of the drive. He didn't fuss for the rest of the way, but he was not very impressed with any of his toys and seemed to be quite done with the car.

Seriously?

We were invited to stay in the home of the lovely family that hosts the INFUSE retreats. When we arrived, It was about 4:30pm central time. Because we were only going to be there for two nights, we decided to keep Graeme on eastern time. This proved to be a little tricky (mainly because my phone and the retreat schedule said one thing, but my watch and Graeme's schedule said another), but I think it was worth it overall. Since it was 5:30pm to us when we got there that night, we started Graeme's bedtime routine of a bath and pajamas and books.

It was another new surrounding, so I wasn't sure how bedtime would go. 

Well, it went seemingly well right off the bat. Graeme fell asleep during his bottle and laid right down. But, it couldn't be that easy, of course.

He woke up about 30 minutes later with a stuffy nose and then realized he was somewhere strange and in that pesky pack-n-play. It all went downhill from there.

He wouldn't calm down. His breathing still sounded terrible. I wasn't sure if he was also feeling bad with a sore throat or something. I took his temperature to make sure he didn't have a fever. He didn't, but while I was holding the thermometer in there, he peed all over his PJs and the Lovie he was holding. Disaster.

He kept screaming while I changed his PJs and gave him the back-up, identical Lovie. I tried to feed him in case he was still hungry, but that wasn't his trouble. Aaron was in the house (he wasn't neglecting us...he was in the middle of a podcast), and he came to check on us after I had been in there for awhile.

Aaron saw my frantic state and tears and the exhaustion from the previous nights of bad sleep. He sent me to take a break while he held Graeme. He wouldn't let me come back in until I took a shower.

I could hear from the bathroom and Graeme just would not settle down. It was terrible. It was probably the worst bedtime we've had with him.

When I went back in, he was still so upset. I took him from Aaron and he proceeded to spit up all. over. everything. My pajamas. His pajamas. Back-up Lovie. He had worked himself up so much and made himself sick.

Well, now we were just in a real pickle. I changed quickly. I stripped Graeme to a diaper and didn't dare force him into more pajamas. I found a random other little blanket we had  with us that kind of felt like Lovie.

Graeme was basically just crying in his sleep at this point. I laid down with him in the bed, and he finally fell asleep. Aaron made sure I was okay, and then he went back out to work. Graeme and I slept for the rest of the night.

It was an early morning the next day. For some reason, Graeme was up at 6am our time (which was 5am there). He was happy though, so I didn't care. We played in the bedroom with him until it was closer to 7am (6am) and then he ate and we went out to the living room.

He took a great morning nap that day, which I'm sure he needed desperately! I was also able to do a quick load of the laundry that had accumulated the evening before, including Lovies. I'm not sure how we would have survived the rest of the trip without them.

We had a good day and were able to meet up with Aaron and the group for lunch. That night, Aaron had a dinner with everyone at a restaurant. They were going to eat at 5:30pm (so it was 6:30pm for us). Graeme and I, therefore, had to skip out. And that also meant I was up for bedtime duty by myself. Yikes.

Well, it wasn't quite as bad as the night before. There were no bodily fluid mishaps, but he did have a really hard time falling asleep. It didn't help that it was really light outside still, and he's used to his black out curtains. (Oi. We don't do him any favors for when we travel.) This is when, in my desperation, I resorted to the pacifier. He finally stopped crying. He laid there holding Lovie, sucking the paci, and holding my hand until he finally slept. (The sweetness of this entirely made up for everything prior to it.)

He was in our bed again that night, like he had been basically every night of this trip. But, for once, I slept awesome. He did too.

The next day, not much could get me down. It was the day we would start our trip home. I was SO ready. Don't get me wrong, it had been a great trip. But, home definitely sounded sweet.

We went to breakfast with everybody. At this point, it was the last day, and I was all like "Anything goes to make Graeme happy, and we'll deal with whatever the fall out is at home."

Clinging on to his two favorite things and yes, using that pacifier.

We took one last nap in our room at the house, and then packed up the car. The plan was to leave from the restaurant where we were eating dinner that night.

Dinner was great and Graeme had fun "flirting" with all of the ladies across from him. We gave him his bottle and put his pajamas on before we got in the car around 7pm (which was our 8pm...a little past his bedtime, but oh well).

We left Tennessee behind while Graeme drifted off to sleep with no problems. It was a five hour drive to our next stop right outside of Asheville at Ridgecrest Conference Center. The plan was to stop once for gas and that was it.

Thankfully, our plan worked. We stopped for gas after just an hour of driving. Graeme slept through it, and then I took the wheel. I was a bit nervous to drive the freakishly huge Expedition on the curvy mountain roads, but at this point, Graeme had passed Aaron his sickness and Aaron felt awful. The boys slept the rest of the way and I survived the curvy roads.

We rolled into Ridgecrest at 1am and Aaron ran to check us in. Graeme woke up at this point, and he was very quiet and curious as we made our way to our hotel room. Aaron fed him while I took a shower. We didn't even bother with the pack-n-play at this point. Graeme fell right back to sleep in the bed and Aaron and I crashed, finally.

The next morning, we lingered for a bit since it was only another four hours until home. We all took a morning nap, and then left around 11am.

Graeme put up no complaints, but I sure felt bad putting him back in the car.

Here we go, again.

He took an hour nap in the car and then I carefully climbed in the back to play with him until we stopped for lunch. After that, it was the home stretch.

He fell back asleep for his afternoon nap, and we made it home with no other issues.

Home sweet home, indeed.

Graeme's nose persisted for a few more days, but it cleared up and he's great now. Aaron passed the bug along to me, and I'm just now over it. Goodbye sickness.

He didn't have any problems with the pacifier suddenly being gone again, so that was good. It really helped on our trip, and I'm glad I still keep an emergency one in the diaper bag!

I was also nervous about how he would sleep by himself again since he had been in bed with us the whole week, but I think he was just as happy to be back in his crib as we were to have him out of the bed!

For all of the hard parts of the trip, it was still fun. It's crazy how much trips and vacations change once there's a baby to bring along. Of course, it's worth it, but it's almost more difficult to be away from home. I know traveling will get easier and easier as he gets older. Our next big trip is to Disney, so despite whatever hardships it brings, we will be at the happiest place on earth!