Wild and Wonderful Ohio!

So the state motto for WV is Wild and Wonderful.  We always joke that we see the wild and are searching for the wonderful.  One sad thing about WV though is that it has no zoo.  But there is a preserve type place in Ohio.  It was supposed to be only 3 hours away.  It took 4 to get there, even packing sandwiches.  Unfortunately, Zoey cannot nurse while we travel along.  And it took a full 3 hours to tour The Wilds.  But I am glad we squeezed it in before the move.  We had wanted to go in the fall and just missed going because I had a cold and then they shut down for the season.  It was nice, but nothing compared to San Diego's Wild Animal Park or Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Here are assorted pictures.  Props to Nick for taking them from the bus while I wore Zoey.

A baby tonkin.

 Camel.

 There were a bunch of cute baby cheetahs.

A dhole, or a wild dog.

Some giraffe.

A rhino that walked right by the bus.

Baby rhino cuteness.

Tonkin.

Zebra, the male was named Elvis :)

We pretty much had the bus to ourselves the whole time.  It was the perfect day to go, not too hot and not at all crowded.

The drive home was  very long, Zoey was fussy and Sam did not nap.  But we made it and can now say we have been to The Wilds.

Zoey is doing well.  She really likes to roll from back to tummy now, she gets almost no back time and even sleeps on her tummy.  If we roll her to her back, she flips right back over.  She is napping better, so life is a little more normal.  Although she was up a lot last night.

Sam is enjoying all the fun we are packing in.  Riding her mini big wheel in ritter park, mom's club picnic, and Nick took her to a free movie today.

Huntington fun!

Life is a bit crazy with packing and we keep losing power, first from a storm and then a scheduled outage to fix the problem.  Ugh.

We took Sam jumping again recently.  She had a blast.

We tried Zoey in the exersaucer.  She liked it for about 7 minutes.  She can reach the bottom but not really stay upright.  She did love the mirror :)  She really smiles at her reflection now.

I planted lilies after we moved in and I was not sure if they would come back, but they did and are beautiful.

A close up.

Sam tracking Zoey.

Zoey has found her feet.  She loves to grab them.  Her onesie says "My Auntie is Awesome."  It is from my aunt Eunice, her great aunt.  Good thing she was a girl :)

Sam wanted in on the picture action.

A few cute Sam stories...

The other day she was drawing.  She drew a U shape and said, look A U.  She then connected the top.  I expected her to say, look a rectangle, but instead she said, look a pillow.

I was explaining how Zoey has to learn her name is Zoey, she does not know it yet.  And I said, just like you had to learn your name is Samantha.  And she replied, "Just like you had to learn your name is Mama."  Clever girl.  I tried to explain she made me a Mama and she does know my other name, but not sure that sank in.

And the other day in the car she said "[shoo]" and I asked shoe like on your foot or shoo like shoo fly.  And she said "Pshew, like its hot in here."

Zoey is doing well.  She maxed out the bassinet and seemed to really want more space, so we put her in the pack and play to avoid setting up the crib for 3 weeks.  She adjusted pretty well.  She now sleeps on her side a lot.  Lats night when I went to bed she was completely perpendicular to how I had placed her.  She also rolled back to tummy 3 times, which I would not mind except she cannot roll back and gets mad about her predicament  so I have to roll her back.  Hopefully she will complete the learning to roll process soon.  That arm just gets in the way.  She even tries so hard sometimes she ends up with her bottom in the air turned, but she just cannot get past that arm.

3 months and 40 months!

We have been having lots of fun lately.  We have been trying to enjoy ourselves around all the rain.  On Monday, we went to a minor league baseball game in Charleston, WV with friends.  They are the Charleston Power.  It was fun, but VERY hot.  I had to take Zoey inside to keep her from overheating.  Then Nick and Sam joined us and I took Sam back out for more fun.

She wanted to meet the mascot.

Pregame sunscreen with her cubs hat.  She insisted on wearing a long sleeve dress but later changed into the t-shirt and shorts I brought.

My attempt at a self-portrait while wearing Zoey.

Sam drinking watered down tea to cool off.

Zoey likes the swing a bit better now.

Sam made this onesie in her sibling class by my doula.  A very decorated Zoey :)

The Son of a friend I went to Jr High with that lives in Michigan is doing a project on Flat Stanley.  He came to visit us and we took pictures.  Here he is in the shopping cart.

  

And just hanging out.

Zoey is now 3 months.  Here is her panda picture in the same outfit as her 2 month one, not planned though.

Sam wanted a 40 month shot by herself and jumped up and down.

The girls together.

Past, Present, and Future

These past few weeks have been difficult and have held a lot of reflection.  Heavy on my heart is the health of my grandmother.  I am sorry that it did not work out for her to meet Zoey or for me to see her recently.  I have been reflecting on the fact that she seems not prepared to die.  She is 91, all of her children are grown and retired.  She has outlived her husband, a son in law, and 2 grandsons taken far before their time.  She has lived to have 5 great grandchildren.  She has also been ill for many years and is a very religious woman.  I in no way feel that it should be her time or even that she should be prepared to die.  I know facing death must be extremely difficult, but if she is not embracing the end, how would I ever have a chance of being prepared.  And of course the pending death of a love one makes you think of the shortness of life and that my plans to be able to see my grandchildren may not even be possible.

And on the other end of the spectrum is the fact that I have a newborn baby.  The beginning of life is so precious.  And I have been blessed with 2 amazing girls.  Sam just had her preschool end of the year celebration, which was also a bit emotional.  It was also just our 9th anniversary, so I have been reflecting back on 9 amazing years.  Of course, this all comes as we prepare to move and start from scratch in Florida.  We are excited about all the possibilities of our new life, but it also means leaving some of our best friends.  We just had lunch with one family that we may never see again. It is so sad to think that.

Overall, I hope that we can put aside the everyday stresses and enjoy the last few weeks in Huntington.  And that we can embrace the change and live life to the fullest.  I hope my girls always know that they are loved and so special to us.

Zoey being cute.

Baby ducks at our neighbors.  So cute!

Sam's teachers told me on Tuesday that they would love a small bench for the kids to stand on for the smart board.  I asked Nick and he produced in a big way.  They are the Irish, like Notre Dame, so he used his dremel and made an amazing bench with IRISH on the top and shamrocks on the side.  What an amazing man!

I usually give Sam the band aids one or two at a time when my mom sends them.  But she gave Sam a whole box, so I let her go to town.  She put them all down her leg.

Zoey is not a huge fan of tummy time, but she loves back time, especially with the baby gym.

                                              

 We were so far away and the lighting was not great, but here is Sam walking in for her first song.  She was a monkey.  I will post video below.

Here are Nick and Sam at the fountain in front of her school.  Goodbye Saint Joe's, we will miss you even if Sam does not.  What a great school!

An Irish Prayer

May God give you... For every storm, a rainbow, For every tear, a smile, For every care, a promise, And a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, A faithful friend to share, For every sigh, a sweet song, And an answer for each prayer.

Reflection

We just got back from an Atlanta trip.  The main reason for the timing was to pick up our China and crystal that was stored at my parents.  The China was actually my grandmothers that my mom had inherited and said I could have, so we had just left it in her china cabinet.  We figured it was worth getting those fragile items to Huntington to be professionally packed and insured for the trip to Florida.

We also had some time to see friends.  And Nick's brother, Terence, came up from his special forces reserve training in Columbus, Ga.  So we had some good times.

Sam has been twirling her hair again, especially when tired or upset.  We have tried several methods to stop it, but it is a habit.  She ends up breaking it off, so it was time for a haircut.  Here is the side angle so you can see the length.

Here is the front view.  She loves it, but I miss her long hair.  And it is hard to put up.

Sam dressed up a lot.  Here she is as Belle.  My dad had to "marry" her several times.  Someone has to officiate and they have to dance afterwards.

Here is Nana with an unhappy looking Zoey.  I had hoped to get a shot of her onesie.  It says, "What happens at Grandma's house, stays at Grandma's house."

 Sam got a yummy popsicle.  It was a mess.

My girls with their doting grandparents.

We sorted through some old stuff left at my parents house.  Check me out in my hypercolor t-shirt!

 Even Uncle Terence had to get in on being a prince and "marrying" Sam.

Zoey is now very good at turning from back to side and can even do back to tummy.  She still has not pulled off tummy to back. That arm keeps getting in the way.  And she seems to think if she just tries hard enough she can crawl.  She does get some motion, but usually in a circle.  Here she is happy on her side.

Before we got to Atlanta, my grandmother ended up in the hospital.  She has congestive heart failure and has been having a rough time.  Unfortunately, she had a stroke in the hospital.  My parents left to go down on the same day we came up to WV.  I wish I could have taken Zoey down so she could meet her, but the timing is just not right.  I had hoped we would be able to make it to Ocala from our house hunting trip, but that did not work out.  Our family could use your thoughts and prayers.  It does make you reflect on life a bit, especially while I hold such a new one in my arms every night.  

Post 250!

This is my 250th post!  What an accomplishment in recording the lives of my kids!

This post is pretty Zoey-centric.  I had to take her in on Friday afternoon for a bad diaper rash that would not clear up.  She is 24.5 inches long and was 12 pounds 10 ounces with a wet diaper.  So she is about 12.5 pounds.  Growing like a weed.

We went to church on Sunday, so I put her is a pretty dress.  Although she did not want to sit in church and only was there for about 10 minutes of mass.  Sam at least did better this week.  Last time she wanted to follow Zoey and me, and ended up hitting Nick.  This time Nick took Zoey out so I could hear the mass.

Here are some pictures of her cute dress.

She is a big fan of moving her limbs now.

Silly shot.

Some tummy time.  She can really raise up, but I was too slow in getting the camera.  She can also roll from her back to her side.  But not all the way over yet.

A close up.  She is such a happy baby, always cooing and coughing to communicate and get attention.  What a delight.

We had our offer accepted on the house, so we are signing a contract today and will start lining everything up.  We really like this house, so we are excited.  It is a brick house, rare in FL.  And it has a huge yard because it is older and in a great established neighborhood.  But the kitchen and master bath were updated.  It also has a small pool.

We also picked a preschool for Sam. We are in love with this school.  It is on its second principle, she came in 1995.  They base curriculum on science and seem to try and challenge the kids, letting them go at their own pace, which will be perfect for Sam.  They also require parents to volunteer, so the school is well supported.  We are still not sold on long term public versus private, but it may be hard to not keep her at Resurrection given how amazing it seems.

Happy mothers day and FL

Things have been a bit crazy with the end of Marshall's semester and our trip to Florida to look for houses.  So it has been awhile, but here are some pictures.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day.  Mother's day at our house was a low key day since we knew the craziness to come.  Here I am with the girls.  I did get some great preschool gifts.  Sam enjoyed helping make the day special by shopping for and helping to cook dinner as well.  And drawing in and writing in a card for me.

We also spent the week in Florida looking at houses.  We found one we liked and made an offer, so we hope to have news soon.  Crossed fingers, everyone!

We stayed at a nice hotel suite with my parents who drove down to help us watch the girls and assess the houses.

Here is Sam playing DS with Nana.

Zoey playing on the floor with Papa.

Lakeland has an amazing park. It was actually designed so that kids with disabilities can play along side typical developing kids.  So that meant very safe.  It was a bit hot, but Sam had a great time.

And Zoey napped.

Zoey's second plane trip.  Just like for Sam we forgot to take a picture on the flight down :)  And I am exhausted from not sleeping well and getting up at 4 am to get to the airport.  What a week!  I do wonder what Zoey is looking at.