California Dreamin'

I really needed to get away from this heat and do something fun. Disneyland and the Santa Monica Beach was the answer, as it usually is!

Wyatt's favorite cartoon is Phineas and Ferb. We have to watch them over and over and over and over. We have to find t-shirts with them on it. We have to buy go-gurts and pencils and fruit snacks with them on it. However, I don't seem to mind as much because they are actually quite humorous and every know and then will say something funny that only an adult will get. I don't feel like my brain is turning to mush if I sit and watch it with Wyatt. So you can imagine our excitement when we learned California Adventure was having a Phineas and Ferb Rockin' Rollin' Dance Party! Wyatt does a mean robot dance to the "Phinedroids and Ferbots" song.

I couldn't wait for him to get out there and dance with his idols. Guess what? Wyatt totally choked! He would not step a inch closer to the characters if it meant he had to dance where strangers might see him. He"ll do an entire spastic dance for his Grammy by the pool, but not for Phineas and Ferb! :P Oh well!

The beach was surprisingly a little chilly, and being the Mother of the Year, I was not prepared at all to bring a 2 month old baby to a cold beach.  I looked around and saw a Hispanic mother with her baby dressed in a coat and hat like in winter, and I realized I barely had a small receiving blanket for Carter.  Told you, Mother of the Year, right here.  I had to wrap him in my hoodie.  Oh yes, a Mother of the Year brings a hoodie for herself in case it gets cold, but not warm clothes for her baby.  I will say that there was another family with a baby, who had nothing but a diaper on.  The dad had to keep walking the baby up and down the beach near the waves, away from the group, because the baby wouldn't stop crying.  It's because your baby is cold, dude!  Put some freakin' clothes on him!  They eventually left.

And one last little highlight of the trip was I had a "Sommer Moment" which basically is a celebrity sighting.  Mostly I just see reality stars or a sitcom star or two.  Once, Peter almost ran over Ed Harrison, which was pretty big.  This time we were eating Indian food with Don Cheadle of Ocean's Eleven and Hotel Rwanda!  So very cool!

Once again, it was a great trip to Cali!  I need to go back already!

My Favorite Moments from this 4th of July

Beau and Cara's Wedding!

What a wonderful day and I'm so honored Cara and Beau asked my son to be a part of it!

My Staycation

Disclaimer:  I just read through this.  My intentions were not to sound so depressing, so I'll apologize right now for that.  I guess I had some things on my chest I needed to get off and it came flying as I hit the keyboard!

  I was so bummed I couldn't go with Byron and Wyatt to Oklahoma.   First of all, I was about to throw up that Wyatt was leaving me for 6 days.  2nd of all, all my other family members were going out of town that week too.  I usually like being alone, but I was just too hormonal to handle it all, and started to cry when I dropped off my boys at the airport.  I purposely wore my sunglasses so Wyatt wouldn't see the tears.  I didn't want him to see me upset.  Despite my loneliness, I planned ahead and did my best to make this week a "Staycation" for myself and it worked out quite well.  I had lunch dates with good friends, and took naps with no guilt.  I read books about celebrities and the messes they are, and I took my dogs and my baby for walks.  I ate Chinese food with KB, and realized he has no idea how to burp a baby.  I'm happy to have had this week with Carter.  I learned what certain cries mean and developed a good nighttime feeding routine. 

It was a good week, and I'm grateful for it, but now I can feel the Summertime blues kicking in.  I want to go on a vacation somewhere, but with money being so tight right now and medical bills to pay, we have to be really careful.  We can't just go book a hotel somewhere and eat out every night.  The frustrating thing is, I just want to go somewhere where I don't have to be polite to the people around me just because they are letting me stay at their house.  Not that I would be rude to my maid or the concierge, mind you.  But there is a lot of pressure when you are a house guest.  Even when I stay with my parents in their vacation home in Utah.  You place pressure on yourself to make sure that you are always helping with dinner, or feeling bad if your clothes have exploded all over the room.  One time when I stayed with my brother in laws in California, they had a Internet guy coming to look at the computer...in the guest room.  Not that I am a messy person, but I literally threw everything...suitcases, beach towels, pillows, into the bathroom and shut the door.  Then I begged my brother in law to just not open the bathroom door while the Internet guy was there, for fear that #1 my underwear would be seen, and #2 it would all come falling out, like a wave of dirty clothes.  Then there is this business of having to travel with a baby again.  Oye!  Just the thought of staying at my brother in laws, who do not have a microwave, and trying to figure out how in the world am I going to heat up Carter's bottles.  And how fast can I get up at Carter's 2 AM feeding with him screaming bloody murder and waking everyone up?  Have I mentioned that Carter is pissed off ALL the time, except when he is asleep?  ALL the TIME!!!!!!!  I think he has a chip on his shoulder about the NICU thing.  A pissed off baby is not fun to travel with either.

I believe the real reason for my Summertime blues is I feel this precious time slipping away from me.  Wyatt will be going to Kindergarten this Fall, and I will never ever get this time back, and it makes me scared and so very sad.  I won't be able to jet off to Disneyland anymore like we used to, because there will be school.  As the boat just sits in the garage, I grow sad because soon it will be too cold, and we won't be able to take it out.  I feel trapped in this house by future obligations, big upcoming changes, lack of money, and a lack of interest.

Headed for Oklahoma for a Weddin', Ya'll!

Many months ago, Wyatt was asked by his cousin, Cara to be the ring bearer in her wedding.  This request was committed to months before we knew we were pregnant, and her wedding was set just one week after my due date!  But we promised Cara she would have a ring bearer, and so even with all the commotion of the Carter's birth and the NICU, Byron and Wyatt boarded a plane, and headed to Tulsa to be with family for the very special event!

To save money, Byron flew in on a Tuesday, and he remarked that he was glad that he did this.  He was able to spend some quiet time with the family he doesn't get to see often, and help with certain wedding details.  Even though I didn't get to go, I was even able to help by designing a CD cover for the wedding favors and emailing it to Oklahoma to print out.  And with Wyatt being the ring bearer, our family was able to participate in little ways.

The week wasn't all about work though.  Wyatt lived in his Uncle Carl's pool for most of the week, and Byron snuck in a round of golf with his nephew, Stephen.  There was a huge family BBQ, not to mention the rehearsal dinner at a laid back Mexican restaurant where both my boys wore their cowboy boots, and the wedding and reception themselves!  Here are some pics and a great video of the week!