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Beach Memories

7 Sep

Beautiful Beach
Where to begin? I just really don’t know. Right now, two days after leaving Tybee Island, the adults are pooped and the kids are sick.  I kind of feel like a need a vacation from the vacation. It’s not to say that I didn’t have a great time – I did – at times. At other times – well, it’s just hard being away from the comforts of home. It’s so hard to write about the negatives when, looking back on it all, so many positive things happened and some of them even came out of the negatives. That’s why I’m going to take a somewhat easy way out and basically summarize the entire trip (the good, the crazy and the yuck) through my experiences.

  • Great quality time, conversations and laughs with loved ones – especially sitting outside until 1 am-ish just hours before the storm rolled in and playing games (BUNCO! RULES and Nia and I totally need to stay away from Guitar Hero)
  • Getting to visit with friends – Paul, Karen, Brian and Baby Andrew – thanks for coming all the way out to share smiles!  Miss you!
  • Sharing the beauty of the beach with Andrew’s parents and my mom – Nia loved looking for sandy treasures with her Papa Dave – very special
  • Watching Nia and her BFF Avery play like they’re together all the time
  • Getting to see how much our niece (Baby Ella) is growing up – she has the cutest little voice and pronounces words so precise – it’s adorable!  The word “yes” is especially cute.
  • Getting to see (sort of) our other baby niece who is now comfy and cozy in her mommy’s belly (the prettiest pregnant lady in the world!)
  • Screaming children (Nate) in confined spaces
  • Screaming children (many) in awesome waves
  • Leaky roof, pots filled with slimy, brown water (when we called the rental agency, they told us there was a mop in the closet! ha!)
  • Laughing about the leaky roof and the
  • No power for an hour on our first morning
  • Andrew acting giddy because we have no power
  • Soaking rain for our first two days
  • Playing in the rain (Ginger and I being carefree and braving the rough waves)
  • Taking advantage of the sunny spots during the rainy days (we didn’t miss a day on the beach!)
  • Sick children (3 children diagnosed with strep – 2 of them also have ear infections and Nia is struggling with a high fever and sore throat now – so far no strep but she still has something!)
  • Happy children – (before, during and after the illnesses) – it was so hard to tear them away from the beach
  • Bad eye luck – Ginger was forced to bury a contact in the sand (she was on her last pair at the time) – Nate the Destroyer got his mitts on Andrew’s glasses at the same time one of his last contacts was unwearable – my mom accidentally dropped her glasses on the concrete and now has two chips right in the middle of a lens
  • Getting to go on a hot date with my husband of 7 years – we’re so glad we could share our anniversary with so many people we love
  • Eating my very own crab legs for the first time – I can’t believe I cracked them all by myself!
  • Can you say yum?  I certainly did thanks to Breakfast Chef Ginger.  (Eggs, bacon, grits, sausage, biscuits and gravy – I just had me some more of ’em grits today – I’m hooked!)
  • Four scoops of ice cream that ended up hitting the table before Nia could even taste it
  • Daddy making it all ok and telling both of his girls not to cry over spilled ice cream
  • New dents for Nate’s skull – I think he hit his head something like 3 times in 3 hours.  And don’t even get me started about one table that was the perfect toddler/infant height!  3 kids had bruised heads!
  • Speaking of heads and dangerous objects – this is all I have to say – ceiling fan. Those who know what I’m talking about will understand – those who don’t – you’ll have to ask me one day – it’s just too hard to describe on here without coming across as a complete jerk
  • Being on WSAV – I thought I quit?!?!  Paul – that was all for you buddy
  • Running after Nate as he chased birds on the beach yelling “B”
  • Witnessing the immense joy and excitement the ocean stirred up in the kids – their happiness topped everything
Hitchin’ a Ride
Getting Sandy
The chase is on…
The Happy Heidels
Givin’ Hugs
Death Grip on Daddy
Waving Bye to the Ocean
Addicted
Loves the Waves

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Internet, Earwigs and a Vacation

30 Aug

We are now legitimately back online!  We’re going to have a new email address though so I will let you know what that is when we have it 100% finalized.

Anyway, as far as the vallesfam goes – we’ve been keeping busy this week getting ready to head back to the SAV!  We’re renting a beach house on Tybee and I am just so excited to hit the road and get there!  I think it’s so funny how we could have picked any beach to spend our vacation (certainly there are more luxurious and tourist-friendly areas than Tybee) but we knew going back would mean we’d get to see our very missed friends and family.  That beats clear blue water and boardwalks anytime!

I just hope the Earwigs don’t eat the house while we’re gone.  Maybe one will crawl over the alarm sensor and set off the alarm.  That would be our luck.  I’m telling you – these things are wicked.  They just won’t go away.  I’m seriously afraid how many we’ll come home to since we won’t be able to kill them as we see them.  That’s another reason I’m so excited about our trip – NO FREAKING EARWIGS.  I say that but wait – one little bastard will stow away in our luggage or something.  You don’t even want to know the wrath I will unleash on it…

I need a vacation!
 

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Some of My Preschool Observations

28 Aug
  • The backpacks are bigger than the kids.  It’s just so comical to me.  (Just wait until you see a picture of Nia wearing hers!)
  • Door to door service.  All we have to do is wait in a bumper-to-bumper line for 20 minutes and our children will be walked from the school door to our car door.
  • In some cases, the teachers don’t even have to open the vehicle’s door.  I was behind 4 minivans that had those automatic opening/shutting doors – I laughed out loud at the sight of it.  I’m not making fun of the convenience – I know they’re awesome when it comes to that – it was just like something out of a funny movie – van after van pulling up – door after door sliding open – kid after kid climbing in – door after door sliding shut.  It just struck me funny.
  • Parents have homework.  Once a week, Nia has to bring something that starts with a certain short vowel sound.  Yes, I know it’s a great teaching exercise – trust me – it’s teaching me too!  I have to rack my brain trying to think about what we have in this house that starts with the short “i” sound.  Igloo – no.  Inchworm – no.  Insect – yes but no thank you.  I finally decided on an ‘inkpen’.  We’ll see – I’ve thought about her and I making an igloo with construction paper but I don’t know – the point is – I really have to think about this stuff and I know it’s just the beginning!  I feel so dumb!  At least her starting school will give me a chance to become re-educated!  How pathetic is that?!?!

 

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Our Little Student

28 Aug

First Day of School

I wish I had more pictures of Nia’s first day of school to share with you but we’re still not up and running with our own internet so we have to keep all of our online activity short and simple.  With that said – I just wanted to let you all know that Nia (and Mommy) did super.  Even Nate handled the whole thing well.

After he and I walked her to her classroom (which I plan to do for the first few weeks of school), we ran some errands together and then came back home where we read some books and snacked. (He had Goldfish crackers and juice while I had coffee – this was the earliest I had to be up in like 10 months or something!  Talk about spoiled!)

It was really nice getting to devote all my attention to Nate. He’s always had to share mommy and daddy so I’m really glad I’m able to give him some quality one-on-one time now.  This first day though I felt like it was more like I was watching the clock – I really couldn’t wait for us to get back in the car and pick up the big sis from school.

Nia told me she had a lot of fun and her teacher said she was wonderful (I’m sure she tells all the parents that during the first week but it was still nice to hear).  Nia said she did all the typical preschool stuff – heard stories, colored/drew pictures, ate snacks, played (and she “shared the toy doggy”)…  I’m just so excited for her and all the neat things she’s going to get to do.  She even got her first sticker from the teacher from being good in class – it says “100%”  Nate even got a sticker today – his said “I visited the Post Office.”

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And So It Begins…

27 Aug

I’m a mess. Tomorrow is Nia’s first day of school (Pre-K) and I’m freaking out.  I never thought I would be like this.  I’ve always been able to handle leaving the kids on their own with daycare workers or at the YMCA child watch.  This is different though.  This time I’m dropping her off all by herself and it’s not to have fun with friends like at daycare.  It’s to learn and listen and make new friends.  From tomorrow on, she will be judged for how much she knows and how she acts.  It’s just unnerving to me.  I’m even totally stressing out about where to drop her off – you should see the freaking map we have to follow for drop off and pick up!  I’m so afraid I’m going to be ‘that parent’ who drives the wrong way or something!

She doesn’t seem fazed by the idea of starting school.  I took her there for an open house last week and she walked right in and started playing with the toy kitchen. She was fine.  She was also ok that a few other little kids were  playing together – when two of them came over to play with the kitchen, she didn’t want to play with them.  That made me worry that she might not make friends or something but by the end of our time there she was playing with them.  I know it will all work out the way it’s supposed to – I just wish I didn’t worry about it so much.  I know Nia will adjust and have a good time there – as long as I make it through drop off and pick up, the rest should be a breeze.

 

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I’m So Proud

21 Aug

My alma mater has once again earned the title of “No. 1 Party School” by The Princeton Review.  You’re so jealous, I know.  But you UGA grads don’t have much room to talk!  Apparently, the Dawgs are in the top 5.  (My kind of people!)

I’ll admit I did my fair share of underage drinking as a Mountaineer.  I missed one two many of my classes that Andrew and I are still paying for thanks to my college loan.  It’s funny what you don’t think about (or care to think about) when you’re living away from home and pretending you’re all cool.

Did I have a blast?  Yes.  Do I have any regrets? Yes.  Would I do it again?  Yes.  I am who I am today because of all that I experienced, good and bad.  I’m proud to say I went to WVU.  It was a beautiful and interesting place and alcohol was NEVER hard to swallow – whether you were 18 or not.  Some worry that the ranking will leave a bad taste in the mouths of employers, leaving them to wonder if their prospective new employee got any college education or did he/she just spend his/her time past out in a stairwell.

I don’t have to worry about that – it wasn’t the drinking that interfered with my education.  It was my brain.

WOOHOO!  WVU IS NUMBER ONE!  At least we’re known for something…
 

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Experiencing Technical Difficulties

18 Aug

We are yet again having issues with our internet connection.  We pay 60 bucks a month for Comcast “High Speed” blah, blah blah and are usually internet-less once a month.  They told me the earliest they could get a technician out to us was NEXT Saturday!  We’ll see.  Andrew called them several times and gave them his best disgruntled customer routine and they now tell us someone will be visiting tomorrow.  I’m not holding my breath but I’m really hoping.

The only way I can type this now is because we’re using Andrew’s cell phone wireless thingee-ma-jig. Hopefully, we’ll be back online soon.
 

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“How do you spell lotion?”

15 Aug

SpongeBob SquarePants?  Backyardigans?  Ariel?  Little Mermaid? I don’t know?

It doesn’t matter the word – sometimes it’s a bunch of words – Nia is now going through a phase where she wants to know how to spell EVERYTHING.  Part of me thinks it’s neat that she’s showing an interest in learning how to spell but the other part of me finds it a little bit silly at times. It’s not like she’s really paying attention to me as I grant her request – she usually just goes on to the next thing.

She has started picking up on certain words as I’m reading to her though.  The other night she kept interrupting me to point out every “at” or “to” on a page.  She would say, “Why is there an ‘at’ there?”  Don’t get me wrong, I’m really proud of her for being so smart, it’s just sometimes she goes overboard.  I’ve started to give her limits on how many words I’ll spell in a row.  I’ll say, “Ok – one more.”  She’ll say, “How do you spell one?”

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And I Thought the Tree Frogs Were Bad

10 Aug

In Savannah, we had tree frogs. For the most part, they would just hang out on our sliding glass door and croak very loudly (had to turn the television up) and poop very excessively (it was EVERYWHERE).  Occasionally, one would get in our house.  Sometimes, we would find it dead the next day (yum) but other times we would actually witness the little guy jumping inside and then frantically leaping around trying to figure out where the heck it was and why a terrifying scream was filling its ears.  Of course, that terrifying scream was coming from a terrified me – as the frog freaked out trying to get to safety, I freaked out trying to find something to catch it.  Don’t worry – I never killed one – on purpose (it was an accident, I swear).  Andrew and I actually came up with an easy (and frog-friendly) way of returning them to the outdoors.  We took two cups (that I threw away immediately after the capture and release) and chased the frog until we were able to scoop him up.

As I was going through that whole frog thing, I remember feeling that I thought it was so horrible that I had to deal with it.  I would hate having to put the dog outside because I was scared I would let a frog in – or worse, it would jump on my head or something.  Now, I wish all I had to deal with were the frogs.  Now, I have to deal with these:

Earwig pic from Wikipedia
Earwig pic from Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

Earwigs.  Or as I call them under my breath as I hunt them down every day – “muthafockas.”

They seem to come out of nowhere.  Just in the few minutes I’ve been writing this I’ve killed 5 of them and they were 5 that had not visibly been in the room with me when I began this blog.  Now, I keep stopping every sentence or so to see if I spot any little moving black lines on the carpet. It has been my mission (and tragedy) for the past few weeks.

This blog will not even begin to describe to you just how awful this is for me.  When we first moved in, I saw a few of them and immediately called the exterminator.  (For those of you who don’t know – I am a total bug-o-phobe.)  I believed the exterminator did the trick.  We hadn’t seen an earwig from December through June.  He came back to spray in July but they obviously didn’t get the hint.  I had him come back to spray last week and still the nasty little mo-fos live.  I kill anywhere from 10 to 20 around the house a DAY.  Nia and Nate even find them.  Nia will yell, “Momma, I found an earwig!” and I can always tell when Nate finds one because he gets really quiet (which is rare) and stares at the floor.

I have researched these things online and it has not given me any peace of mind.  I am now totally grossed out by one article that said earwigs are nocturnal and like to crawl under the covers.  Whether it’s true or not – I’m ruined!  Also, just knowing that there’s a “myth” out there that earwigs get their name because they burrow themselves into people’s ears – AGH!  And then, I just read some lady’s blog about her earwig infestation and she said they were on her toilet seats and in their beds and that 30 to 40 of them would come crawling out of the wall at one time!  One of the more disturbing of our earwig tales involves Andrew having to very quickly (and quietly) scoop one out of the bathtub while the kids were in there.  (Do you have the willies yet?)  It’s not even like we have a messy house or anything!  I vacuum every other day (Joey is shedding) and sweep around the table after every meal (Nate is a major crumb-causer).  I bet our house was built on an earwig colony or something – like “Poltergeist” only earwig style.

I’m just so exhausted with this whole thing.  It’s really wearing on me.  What makes it even harder is that I feel like I’m the only one who really cares that our house is being invaded.  Andrew will kill them if he sees them but he doesn’t really think it’s a big deal. I actually prayed today and asked to please make the earwigs go away so I wouldn’t have to kill them anymore.  I’m just so tired of it all.  I just want to be able to relax in my own home and not have to worry about whether something’s going to crawl on me or my kids while they sleep.

I plan to call my exterminator again tomorrow because then it will have been a full week since his last spray – I just get concerned about all that spraying around the kids.  I mean, it doesn’t seem to have any effect on the “muthafocken” earwigs so it should be ok – but then again…

Maybe a plea to them would help – “Please earwigs – go back outside so I don’t have to kill you anymore.  I’m sorry if our house smashed your home – we have a nice backyard for you to enjoy though.  We’re not any fun in here anyway – I don’t have a lot of plants for you to eat and I’m sure you find no entertainment in “So You Think You Can Dance” so please just find your way outside and have a long, joyous life anywhere but within our house.   Thanks so much for cooperating. Sincerely, The one who keeps squashing you with anything she can grab.”

It’s worth a shot – at this point I’ll try just about anything.

 

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Weighing on My Mind

6 Aug

I really didn’t want to blog about this but I’m now thinking that if I put it out there it might help me stay on track.  I’ve become inspired by my friend Roxann who is now successfully on her way to a healthier her.  Each week, she shares how her weight loss is going (you are doing so awesome Roxann!) and since I’m struggling with mine, I thought that if I wrote about my frustrations it would kind of kick my butt in gear to try and do better.

Three weeks ago, I was at my lowest weight since having either of the kids.  The scale read 135.6. It was an awesome feeling to step on that thing and have it glow those numbers at me.  Now though, the numbers are growing instead of shrinking and I’m getting a little discouraged.  Today, the scale told me I was 138.6.  That means I gained 3 pounds in 3 weeks!  With all the company we had last month I wasn’t watching what I was eating like I should have been or exercising like I had been and now it’s hard to get back in line.  I still weigh less than I did in April (144) but after seeing the smaller numbers it’s just a bummer.

I am using this blog to be the kickoff to my new attempt at a smaller me.  I don’t have much to loose – I just wanted to get below 130.  125 is ideal but I will be happy with 130 (so I tell myself now).  From this blog forward, I will follow my diet and continue to work hard at the gym.  I have a goal to lose a pound a week before we hit the beach in September – hopefully, this confession will help me stick to it!

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