KY camping trip

Oh, how I love camping.  I love being the only one around for miles.  I love hiking in just far enough that you escape civilization, but not too far so you can still bring along some comforts of home.  I love watching the sunset over the mountains...taking in gorgeous views... bathing in cold, clear rivers....catching rainbow trout for breakfast and cooking it over the fire.  I love spending the day in dry, warm weather and bundling up at night in a big sleeping bag and enjoying the cool, dry night time air.

Sound nice?  Well, imagine the opposite of every one of those statements and that would explain our little weekend camp out.  WHAT WERE WE THINKING taking a newborn and a 2 year old camping in Kentucky in a state park crawling with RVs in a HOT and HUMID and BUGGY time of year?  I don't know, but we did.  We do have some good memories, but I think it's safe to say we won't be repeating this trip EVER!

It was actually a nice campground that offered pretty views of the Mississippi River.  We camped with our friends, the Lindemanns, that live in Nashville.  But like I mentioned above, it was just too buggy and hot (after the first night) to really enjoy it.

This is how Willa spent most of the weekend...on the ground.  She fell at least 50 times.  A klutzy 2 year old and lots of roots and rocks and uneven surfaces is not a good combination.  Her little legs were so bruised.

And this is how Clark spent most of his weekend...swinging. Cross-Eyed Clarky (as we call him 'round here)definitely loves his swing.

Matt spent the weekend working hard.  He is the BEST person to camp with because he does all of the work and enoys doing it (I think).  I'm not sure what I did.  I guess I just chatted with Melissa and calmed Clark when he got upset and chased Willa around and reguraly doused myself with bugspray.

Our plan was to camp three nights, but we bailed after two.  And I thought we'd all fit in our tent, but after we set it up, we learned that our queen air mattress and Willa's sleeping pad wouldn't fit.  Willa slept in the back of the van the first night and Matt did the second night.

One good thing about the trip was we get to add Kentucky to our list of visited states with a picture.  We've driven through Kentucky 3 times before, but never stopped to take a picture.

Alabama...check!

We visited our 39th state together this past weekend....Alabama.  We drove down to the Gulf Coast of Alabama and spent 4 nights playing at the beach, swimming in the pool, napping in the condo, and watching cable (we don't have cable so it's a treat).

The resort had an amazing pool.  This picture shows about a 1/4 of it.

I love this picture of Matt and Clark.  I think they look so much alike.  Like father, like son, I guess.

I painted Willa's toenails for the first time.  She must have dug it because she sat very still while I painted and while they dried.

The drive took almost 10 hours on the way there because of a wrong turn and Willa's several potty accidents.  The drive home took closer to 8 hours.  The kids did wonderfully.  We bought a car DVD player so Willa watched movies.  Clark slept most of the way.  We had great weather.  I love taking vacations with my little family of 4.

And here’s a little Clark update:
I can’t seem to figure this little guy out. He is completely different than Willa was in every way. I am having a hard time adjusting to having two kids. Clark is a great sleeper (Willa was not), BUT he’s an unhappy baby when he’s awake (Willa was such a happy little content gal). He always seems to be uncomfortable or in pain and lets us know by whining and squirming and shrieking and crying and screaming. I feel so bad for him. I guess it’s a combination of colic and gas and reflux. I have eliminated dairy and anything remotely spicy from my diet which has helped tremendously. With the diet changes, Clark’s sweetness has started to show for brief moments and we get to see a few more of his happy smiles - complete with TWO little dimples. He is very hard to soothe. He’s a great eater, but nursing doesn’t bring comfort to him like it did to Willa because it is frequently followed by crying from gas or reflux. Clark LOVES motion (Willa - not so much).  He is happiest in his swing, the carrier, or in his car seat in the car.  He hates to lay flat on his back (because of reflux).  He sleeps propped up in the boppy pillow or on his tummy.  I know this time will pass and the true little Clarky will emerge one of these days, but it is hard to lead a normal life while we are in the midst of it.

1st trip to the grocery store

Clark will be 6 weeks old on Thursday.  I was lucky enough to go 6 weeks without having to grocery shop alone.  But today, we were out of milk and fresh stuff and there wasn't a family member or husband or friend around to come with me so I made my first trip to the grocery store by myself with both kiddos. 

Motherhood and life has definitely changed.  It was an all day adventure. 

The highlights of the day...

• Getting all three of us ready and presentable...it took well over 2 hours
• Figuring out how to manage both kids in the store without filling my cart with kids and a car seat and blankets and a diaper bag and snacks before I even started adding groceries to the cart
• Taking FOUR trips to the bathroom - I bought Willa a popcorn and lemonade at the beginning (bad idea) so she had to use the bathroom three times and Clark decided to have a blowout that leaked all over his clothes and mine so we had to make a fourth trip to clean us up
• The trip took so long that by the time we were checking out Clark was rooting and crying his loud scream of a cry the whole time we were checking out, but thankfully Willa was a happy gal and was being chatty-cathy with the check out clerk
• After loading the groceries in the car we had to go back in the store TWICE.  The first was our 4th bathroom break and the second was because I thought I had left a bag at the checkout (I hadn't)

After we made it home and had lunch we all crashed and took long naps.  And despite the highlights, it wasn't such a bad experience.  I think I'll do it again...

2 weeks old

Here are a bunch of random pictures and memories from Clark's first 2 weeks at home.

My mom was here and stayed almost three weeks with us.  It was SOOOO nice to have her.  She worked hard taking care of me and my kids (kids - did I just write that?) and my house.  Thank you!  Thank you!

Willa loves her baby brother.  She still squeals and gets excited when she sees him in the morning or after a nap.  She thinks it's great fun to stick her finger in Clark's mouth and feel him suck on it.  Luckily, he's a patient little guy and puts up with Willa's lovin'.

My mom accidently put a pair of Clark's pants in Willa's dresser.  Willa managed to put them on (she's such a little skinny binny) and wore them like they were little bermudas.  We laughed and laughed and laughed at the sight of her running around in the little pants. 

Clark had his two week check up at the pediatrician.  He weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces (b/w 50% & 75%) and was 21 & 1/4 inches long (90%).  The doctor gave me the go ahead to give Clark his first bath since his umbilical cord had fallen off (around 1 week) and his circumcision was healing well.  He seemed to love it....as did Willa.

We also enjoyed a weekend visit from my Dad.  It was a busy couple of days.  Thanks for visiting! 

It has been a good two weeks.  We spent most of our time at home adjusting.  But to keep Willa happy we also did a few fun things...story time, the park, Botanic Gardens, & the Crawfish Festival.  Clark slept through every outing.  He is quite the sleeper.

Our master bedroom is downstairs and the other three bedrooms are upstairs so for now, Clark's nursery is in our closet.

Now we just have to survive for 4 days.  My parents left on Sunday, but Matt's parents and twin sisters are coming Wednesday.  My only goals are to get some sleep and shower everyday.  So far, so good.

baby & momma photo shoot

Clark Silas Wetzel

born Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 2:30 pm

8 pounds, 1 ounce & 20 1/2 inches long

We're home and healthy and happy.  Willa has been nothing but sweet and loving and understanding of her little brother.

I needed that

I'm due in 11 days...

Matt has been working like CRAZY... 

Which is a bad combination.

BUT Tuesday he had a day off (sort of, he got off at 5 pm on Monday and didn't have to go back in until 10 pm on Tuesday night). 

We spent the morning at the Memphis Children's Museum and then went to Olive Garden for lunch.  It was wonderful.  And if that wasn't good enough, Matt also went grocery shopping for me.  (real grocery shopping - the pictures are from the kid size Kroger at the museum.)

We are ready for the baby to arrive.  The only thing left is for my mom to come.  I have definitely hit that uncomfortable and tired stage.  I am trying to be patient with Willa (which is hard because she has entered that "independent" toddler stage) and spend lots of quality time with her because I know these are our last few days where it is just the two of us.

Growing Up

Willa is turning into a big girl right before our eyes...

She uses the toilet
We've been working on this one since the beginning of December.  She is potty trained, but she still has the occasional accident.  I put a diaper on her at night.

She stopped using her binkie...
during her waking hours.  It was pretty rough at first.  She came up with lots of ways to get a few extra minutes with her binkie...

• roll around on the ground crying (didn't work)
• ask to take a nap at 9 or 10 in the morning and go to bed at 6 at night (worked)
• sneak upstairs, grab a binkie from her room, and come back down with it in her mouth and a sheepish look on her face (worked for a minute until I would send her back upstairs to put the binkie back in her crib)
• ask if she could sit in her crib and have a few sucks on the binkie (also worked)

She is starting to have opinions and voice them
She is in love with these pink shoes and wants to wear them everywhere.  She's climbed all over several playgrounds in them, worn them all over town, and has splashed in a few rain puddles in them.  She has also started to shout NO! when she doesn't want to do what we ask.  It is so hard for me to keep a straight face when she does it. All I want to do is crack up laughing.

She talks and sings all day long
Willa's talking has exploded since we got rid of her binkie during the day.  She always seems to be talking or singing or reading out loud these days.

She has her very own toddler bed
Her new room is all set up.  She still prefers the crib.  She's napped in her toddler bed twice.  But I'm not pushing her.  We're planning on keeping the new baby downstairs for 3+ months while I have to nurse in the middle of the night.

She's about to become a big sister
The countdown has really begun.  I'm 37 weeks....due in 17 days.  We are all getting really excited.

TWO

Willa turned 2 last month.  I can't belive it.  Here are some pictures from her big day. 

Matt was on night float so that meant he was home by 9 or so in the morning.  He brought us breakfast from the hospital....bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy, hash browns, and orange juice...nice and healthy....just the way Willa likes it.

We opened presents right after breakfast so Matt could go to sleep. 

Willa and I made chocoate cupcakes (her request) in the afternoon.  She licked the beaters and ate at least 10 of the mini cupcakes before we were even done with the process.

If you ask Willa how old she is, she still says one and holds up one finger unless we correct her.  Maybe by her third birthday she'll figure it out.  When she does put up two fingers, she puts up both pointers.

After dinner, we lit candles and sang and ate some of the cupcakes.  Willa loved it.  She loved blowing out her candles, singing the Happy Birthday Song, and eating the cupcakes.