Daily Journal - August 2009

Saturday, August 1st
In St. George. I never really liked this town, but this time around, I'm finding it beautiful! I miss my family SO MUCH living on the east coast, but I loving living out there. It's been so fun seeing Shaelyn playing with her cousin who is a year younger than her. Maybe I do want to live out here...
Today Michael and I went to the St. George temple together. Our first time at the temple together since Rachelle was born. Yay for aunts, uncles, and grandparents who can babysit our kids!! It was obvious that I haven't been to a "big temple" in several years. I was shocked by the FULL parking lot. I got lost in the locker room amongst all the rows of lockers. And I totally forgot that you get to sit in a chapel with an organist playing while you wait for your session to start. Wow! I am a total East Coast "small temple" girl!
Oh yeah... And we ATE AT CAFE RIO today!!

Sunday, August 2nd
My sister's baby was blessed today. And we had a HUGE get together with my BIL's family after the blessing. With YUMMY food - a taco bar - that was maybe almost as good as Cafe Rio. I spent my time at church thinking about my Sunday School class - grateful that I didn't have to teach today, and missing teaching all at the same time. But it's great to be on vacation!

Monday, August 3rd
We left St. George today - which meant we also had to say goodbye to my sister and her family (including Shaelyn's new best friend - her cousin David) and to Michael. Michael headed back to NC to go back to work. Me and the girls flew down to Tucson in my dad's plane. We'll be here for 2 weeks. It's the longest either one of my girls have ever been away from Michael. I sobbed as we drove away and watched him wave - especially because Shaelyn started crying "Daddy! Daddy!" as he left our view.
The flight on my dad's plane was great. It lasted about 2 1/2 hours, and Rachelle slept for at least half that. Shaelyn looked green from take-off, and cried for a long time. I finally gave her Tylenol and she fell asleep. She woke up about a 1/2 hour before we landed, looking very green again. She finally screamed out in pain, and then threw up all over herself. Poor girl! Luckily we landed about 10 minutes later. And she was totally fine after that.

Tuesday, August 4th
Today was our first full day in Tucson. And it's official - Shaelyn is truly terrified of my grandfather (who lives with my parents) and my grandfather's dog (a little black and white Boston terrier). She screams and cries everytime either one of them comes in the room. Especially the dog. We spent the day grocery shopping and relaxing from the trip and travel, but that meant spending a lot of time at home. Maybe we should have gone out and done something instead, if only to relieve Shaelyn of her anxiety.

Wednesday, August 5th
The 3-hour time zone difference, the absence of Daddy, the addition of scary things in her environment, and the new bed/house/toys/people have taken their toll on Shaelyn. She's not eating well (if at all - especially if "Great PawPaw" is in the kitchen . . . or the dog), she's not sleeping well (hardly taking naps at all), and she's not playing well with my mom. I'm getting a little stressed.
On the other hand, we spent 2 1/2 hours today at a place called Funtastics, where Shaelyn was able to have unlimted access to a bouncy castle, a merry-go-round, and an airplane ride (like the Dumbo ride at Disney). She also got to eat dippin' dots and run around in the heat. She had a blast, but refused to take a nap when we got home. Today was the third day in a row that we went swimming. Luckily girl!

Thursday, August 6th
After about 8 or 9 hours of sleep last night, Shaelyn woke up cranky and annoying. I found a library offering story time, so we packed up the girls and headed out. Shaelyn enjoyed the time at the library, seeing other kids, marching in a "teddy bear" parade, and picking new books to check out. My mom took me (us) to a newer restaurant I haven't been to before. One step inside told me it wasn't exactly "kid friendly." I was stressed the whole meal while Shaelyn refused to behave for my mom, refused to eat anything, hit her head on the wall while acting up in the booth, and all other manner of misbehavior. My mom was "in charge" of Shaelyn to give me a break, but we ended up "trading kids" half-way through the meal. Rachelle was happy with whoever was paying attention to her. Shaelyn continued to be a challenge. Afterward, we got some gellato (YUM!) and headed home. Shaelyn pitched a fit, refused to nap, woke up Rachelle (who also hadn't napped well the last 2 days), and incurred my wrath. I had a break down and tearfully told my mom "I think I need to go home!" I figured 2 weeks was just too much to ask of a little girl. Especially MY little girl - who is SO sensitive to transitions and change.
I finally got Shaelyn to sleep. My mom watched Rachelle so I could sleep. When I woke up, my dad was home from work, playing with the baby. Weird - it was only 5:00. My dad then announced that he would be home for the rest of my stay here. My mom later confessed that she called my dad at work and tearfully told him how hard things had been for us and that I was planning on going home the next day. His response: "I'm leaving right now!"
Hopefully things will go better now that my dad will be around. With my mom caring for her dad, she's really got her hands full and isn't able to help me as much as she would like. Having another adult to deal with my stressed-out toddler will be a blessing.

Friday, August 7th
Woke up early to prepare for a fun zoo trip. Spent lots of time loading strollers, food, hats, and other stuff in the car. Packing up the car was chaotic and there wasn't one adult assigned to keep an eye on Shaelyn. I suddenly realized I hadn't seen her and didn't know where she was. I went inside and called out for her. Nothing. I ran through the house, my voice getting louder and louder and more panicked. Nothing. The doors leading to the outside are always locked - except this morning when they were unlocked for us to have easy access to the car. When I couldn't find her in the house, we ran to the backyard to make sure she hadn't fallen in the pool. No, thank goodness!! I then ran out front and started running down the street, screaming Shaelyn's name. Our neighbors heard the commotion and joined in. They said they had been working around their house all morning and hadn't seen her come out, but took off down the street in the other direction anyway, screaming her name too.
Meanwhile, my mom scoured the house for a hiding place we might have missed. She found Shaelyn hiding in the back of the master closet behind the clothes. In the dark. She had figured out how to close the door on herself. When my mom came to tell me she had found her, I burst into hysterical tears, and really scared Shaelyn. It took a LONG time for me to calm down.
But we went to the zoo, had fun, and the girls took their first over-2-hour naps since we've been here that afternoon.

Saturday, August 8th
I went to my high school reunion this afternoon. It was a family picnic in the park. My mom tagged along, because I told her there was NO WAY I was going to be able to keep up with Shaelyn and be able to talk to people I wanted to say hi to. The reunion committee had rented a bouncy castle for the kids (lucky Shaelyn - unbelievable how many of these she's gotten to play on lately) and there were a lot of playgrounds around.
While taking pictures with some of my former cheerleaders, Rachelle started crying. My mom scooped her out of the stroller. I few seconds later, I asked my mom where Shaelyn was. "She was just right there 2 seconds ago," my mom said. We figured she had climbed to a part of the playground where we couldn't see her. I looked quickly, realized she wasn't there, and felt the panic rising yet again. My friends realized she was missing and started looking around for her too. Someone finally spotted her about a 1/2 a football field away, standing barefoot right by the parking lot. I am now officially terrified of this girl and her darting off tendencies.
Looks like the monkey backback/LEASH was a good purchase. May have to start using it more often.

Sunday, August 9th
The girls made a card for me this morning for my birthday. And I got french toast and eggs for breakfast, eggplant parmesan for dinner, and a chocolate birthday cake. Thank you Mommy!
My parents had Stake Conference today. I was very worried about taking Shaelyn to a 2 hour church meeting with all the problems we've been having on the trip. She really surprised me and did VERY well. She sat with my parents the majority of the time so I could go out with Rachelle to nurse and try to put her to sleep. I was very happy with Shaelyn's behavior today.

Monday, August 10th
Stayed home and played today. We got out a lot of my old toys - my old tea set, my old doctor kit, and tonight, my old Barbies. Shaelyn is finally able to let the dog walk right past her without screaming, and will actually even say hi to Great PawPaw and blow him a kiss. Big improvements!
I stayed up for 2 hours tonight (after the girls were asleep!) playing with my old Barbies and remembering all my favorite outfits to dress them up in. It was so fun and such a walk down memory lane. I especially loved finding the outfit my sister would always put on one of the Barbies to make her a Ken (we didn't have an actual Ken doll) - a yellow shirt and jeans.

Tuesday, August 11th
Drove up to see my BF Becca and her kiddos (2 hours away). It was the longest I've ever been in the car alone with the two girls (weird, right?), and they did GREAT. Well, Rachelle is always great in the car and her car seat, and Shaelyn really surprised me. She colored and listed to Signing Time songs for an hour, then read her library books to herself, and finally spent the remaining time looking out the window.
My time in Grapefruit Fairyland was great. Shaelyn was in heaven playing with the kids. I was heaven eating Becca's homemade soup and cookies. Rachelle was in heaven trying eat all the new toys in the house. It was so great. Bex and I talked all day while the kids played. And stayed up until 2:00 am talking. And talked the next day while the kids ran around McDonalds. And I left wishing I could move into the house next door. (But not really Bex - I mean, it IS the ghetto!)

Wednesday, August 12th
Realized at 9:29 I had planned a playdate for this morning at 9:30 with a girlfriend down in Tucson. But I'm 2 hours away. Called my mom panicking who called my friend to cancel. My mom (lovingly) called me a schmuck. And I totally felt like one! I spent the night in Grapefruit Land on a whim (we were planning on it being a day trip) and completely forgot about the Wednesday morning plans I had previously made. Ugh! And I wouldn't have felt so bad, except we had to reschedule the playdate twice before. I'm SO lame!
When we got back to my parents' house from Grapefruit Land, Shaelyn whined and cried and wanted to go back to "Mitchell's house!" But we took her to a splash park and then the whole family went out to dinner. She didn't complain so much after that.

Thursday, August 13th
We went to an indoor inflatable playground today, full of jumping castles, huge inflatable slides, and obstacle courses. In other words, SHAELYN HEAVEN!! PawPaw (my dad) even got in on the action by log rolling down the slide in the obstacle course, jumping in the bouncy castle, and flying down huge slide. The slide looked like so much fun, I had to give it a try. It was very fast. And I must say, Shaelyn must not be scared of heights, because it was also very high!
Today Rachelle had a first - sitting up by herself after falling over. She is also rocking on her hands and knees and really lurching forward. She serioulsy may crawl before I get home. Which will make me sad for Michael. But it's so fun to watch her hit these milestones. She's such a happy little baby.

Sunday, August 23rd
Where, oh where have I been? After getting home on Monday, I've been feeling pretty unmotivated. Overwhelmed might be a better word. The girls did GREAT on the plane, were VERY happy to be home, and made coming home not such a bad thing. But now their sleep patterns are all over the place. As a result, Shaelyn's been pretty grumpy.
This morning found us getting ready for church through FULL out tantrums. Finally Michael (the patient one) lost it. And we took some time out to calm down as a family. We said a prayer. And hugged. And sat in our rooms. And showed up to church when we showed up. Because seriously, going to church in the spirit we were ALL in (including Rachelle!) would not have helped anyone.
Tonight Michael and I played a mean game of Uno. We were pretty competitive (over UNO!!) - trash talking and all that. One round seemed never ending - we had to shuffle the "draw" pile like 5 times before someone finally went out. It was a fun, unwinding way to end a stressful day.

Monday, August 24th
It's official - Rachelle is crawling! She's been doing one or two "crawls" at a time for the past week or two, but today she crawled all the way down the hall. She's very happy to be mobile too - now she can get into all of Shaelyn's toys! I just can't believe what a big girl she is!