Happy Birthday, Harry

Happy birthday to the main character of my favorite book series of all time.

How many trips to the school does it take to update the website? Apparently more than 3 because it's still not done.

At 11 months old, Korra's finally wearing 9 month clothes- but only when she wears cloth diapers.

Getting Excited

I'm actually getting excited about going back to school.  Pintrest has given me some great bulletin board ideas, I had a fantastic chat with the a couple of the public librarians about getting my students signed up for library cards, I have a new assistant, a new laptop, and best of all, 2 more friends from my old school as coworkers again!

Bedtime

I know that school is about to start back up, but I just can't bring myself to go to bed before 11.  I'm sure I will pay for this later.

Insurance

Trying to coordinate insurance payments for our roof and our car.  Thankful for a good insurance company because I can't imagine how much bigger of a pain this would be without them!

Weaning

We're cutting out yet another feeding this week so that I won't have to pump when I go back to work.  I think the hardest part of this process has been my worry about whether Korra is getting the nutrition she needs.  When you breastfeed, you don't have to think about that at all.  But now, especially with her being on the small size as it is, I have this constant fear that she's not eating enough or the right things.  I know that there are plenty of kids who thrive with far less nutritionally attentive parents, but it's still hard to let go of the worry.

Walking Errands

This morning we walked to the college to buy my mom's birthday gift and then to the library to pick up my reserved books.  I love being able to walk to some of the places we need to go!

Photos!

Here are more of the photos from my friend and neighbor Laura (from our trip to Callaway Gardens last month).  I LOVE these!

Morning Walks

I think the thing I will miss most about summer is my morning walk with Korra and Nate.

Watching Korra pull all the books of her shelf, sit on the pile, & then turn the pages makes my librarian mama heart nearly burst.

Cousins

Our Own Rooms

While I always enjoy our time at the cabin, I'm thankful to be home.  I'm even more thankful that Korra is back in her own bedroom.  Sharing a room with her is not very fun.  She's been sleeping through the night without many exceptions for 5 months now, but when she can hear us or see us, it's a different story.  I think we'll all sleep better tonight.

Meeting up with Marc for dinner at Brickstore then heading for a week at the cabin with Dan, G, aand Jude! 10 days of summer left!

Minimalist Parenting

I read this article about minimalist parenting.  When I told my parent about the trend (not allowing children's activities to run family life, allowing plenty of unstructured playtime, ect) they remarked that was what they did and they just called it parenting.  At the beginning of the summer, I spent some time on Pintrest looking at activities for babies so I could make some more structured learning activities for Korra.  After researching "sensory bins" I realized they were just buckets of different items for the kid to touch and take out.  Why create on of those when she has her toy bin?  Or my travel toiletries bag?  Probably just so that I could feel more like I'm being a good mom.  But I think I've figured out that I don't have to have learning activities or play with Korra all day to be a good parent.  In fact, I think allowing her to play and explore on her own is good for both of us.

Flip Burger for lunch and now on our way for a quick visit in Prattville before heading home. Got to enjoy every bit of these last few days of summer!

At the McWane Science Center- the adults are having as much (maybe more) fun than the baby.

Woke up several times last night feeling lonely. I'm not a big fan of the extra space away from Nate in this king sized bed.

Super enjoyable visit with friends and babies! Now It's on to Birmingham to meet up with Nate's folks.

On our way up to see Jenni's new house and have a playdate with her, Lindsay, and of course, the babies!

Orange is the New Black

I've watched quite a few episodes of this in the past few days. I might be addicted.

neighborly baking

For the past few weeks I've seen about 8 kids playing at the 2 houses across the street.  Today I decided to bake cookies to share with them and of course, there are no children to be seen.

Nap?

Korra only took two 30 min naps yesterday.  Today, only 20 min total.  What's up with this baby?

Book Lover

Korra's new favorite activity: pulling all the books off her shelf and then looking through them.

Blueberries!

Korra and I picked some blueberries this morning from a neighbor's bush (she's out of town this week and told us to help ourselves).  The birds didn't leave us a whole lot, but enough for 2 or 3 batches of blueberry muffins.

The drop cloths the ceiling painter used were filthy. Now the floors, couch, etc are covered in dirt & dog hair. Eww.

My dental cleaning made my teeth ouchy.

Taking Mrs. Reynolds to the vet. Just putting her in the carrier has her foaming at the mouth. This will not end well.

Lunch Date

Korra and I enjoyed a pleasant (and yummy!) lunch date with Blair and then got to visit a few people on the old alma mater campus.

Firefly Lemonade Vodka

Having a post-baby-bedtime drink with Nate.

Of course, it starts to rain minutes after we get to the pool. This is one wet summer.

Of course, it starts to rain minutes after we get to the pool. This is one wet summer.

More urine?!

Went to the pediatrician for a weight check.  Korra's gained 6 oz this month which is good but apparently not good enough (they want her to start drinking Ensure).  Oh, and they want another urine sample.  We're skipping the pee bag and going straight for the potty chair this time!

3 Weeks

I can tell that the summer's almost over by looking at Pintrest.  My teacher friends are clearly in lesson planning mode, but I'm not ready!

Poop Side Down

You know how they say that if you drop toast it will land butter side down?  Did you know the same thing applies to poop-filled diapers?  I can tell you that it does.
I went to change Korra's diaper in the bathroom of the Mexican restaurant tonight and discovered that there was no changing table.  So I lay her down in the space between the sinks.  There's very little wiggle room, so after I remove the diaper, I have to lay it very close to my wiggly baby (it's a cloth diaper).  Wiggly baby kicks the poop-filled diaper onto the floor where it lands, you guessed it, poop-side down.  Now I have a baby with a poop covered butt on a small bit of counter between 2 sinks in a Mexican restaurant bathroom, oh and there's poop on the floor.  Awesome.  After I clean up Korra and get a fresh diaper on her, I then have to keep my hand on her (to keep her on the counter because I'm not about to set her on the bathroom floor) while I try to wipe poop off the floor- all the while hoping that now one comes in.  Moral of the story: every bathroom should have a changing table.

Korra learned to drink from a cup! Unfortunately, it was filled with bathwater. Eww.

Avocado Ranch Dressing

Made a salad tonight with avocado ranch dressing (just ranch dressing, half an avocado, some lime juice, and a bit of cilantro in the blender) and it was really yummy!

Creepy Toy

Korra has a pink teddy bear toy that says, "I love you."   That's creepy, right?

All evidence would suggest my brother used our food processor to make margaritas while we were gone.

Had a lot of fun on our 2 week vacation/road trip but I am so thankful to be home and in my own bed again!

Still 3 more hours in this swelteringly hot car with this unhappily restrained baby. Can't get home fast enough.

AC stopped working- right before our 6 hour drive home. Oh, & an idiot just slow-motion ran into the front of our car while we were parked.

Walked around in the drizzling rain for a bit. Heading to lunch at Rutledge Cab Co where we'll meet my college friend Laura!

Wandering around downtown Charleston with Korra so Brian and Nate cn sleep in later. Love having an early morning buddy!

sweet hotel

This hotel is sweet!  Enjoyed a quick swim in the pool and we have dinner reservations on the front porch of Husk in a bit.  Charleston is a neat city!

Next stop: checking into our 4 star, downtown hotel that I only paid $100 for. Thanks, Priceline Negotiator!

First stop: Firefly distillery tour/tasting

Korra does this adorable little bounce/dance whenever she hears music. I love it!

Terrible construction traffic. We've only gone 2 miles in 40 minutes. Ugh.

Taking a tour of my brother's news station & then heading to Charleston!

Meeting Noelle and Chuck for breakfast here in Columbia. Really looking forward to catching up with them!

Sometimes I think our GPS is trying to kill us. It took us to a shady parking lot behind a water treatment plant & said it was my brother's apt.

Traveling after Korra's bedtime did not turn out to be as good of an idea as we had hoped.

On our way to my brother's place in Columbia, SC! Here's hoping Korra sleeps most of the way!

Lunch today: 2 scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone. I am going to need to start jogging when we get home.

Nate says I need to update my blog.

Korra and Clark

Cousins!

Cheerio Poop

Korra ate so many Cheerios yesterday that her poop had a distinct breakfast cereal smell.

At my sister's house for the next 2 days (leg 4). Korra and Clark just had their first cousin bath time.

Korra fights sleep aand then finally gives in when we are less than 10 minutes from our destination. We're going to have one cranky baby.

Where do Nate and I go when we visit a new town? The public library, of course!

I am super sore from yesterday's yardwork. No one else is. I am a wimp.

Childhood Toys

My folks brought out a bin of our old toys for Korra to play with.

dinner and dessert

The pizza was good despite my initial intrepidation over the fact that it was essentially in a gas station (found it on urbanspoon). The custard was amazing.  Today's flavor was peppermint patty!

Pizza for dinner and frozen custard for dessert in Asheville!

Mother-Daughter bonding with my mommy. We both thought The Heat was good fun.

My parents are yardwork beasts! They were still shoveling mulch long after my puny arms gave out!

Coffee, chocolate cake, and time with some friends next to the river. Summer is the best.

Very successful shopping trip with my mommy! New swimsuit, dress, bra, dress pants, shorts, and a few tops!

Fireworks are among my favorite things in the world. They seriously make me giddy with joy.

Wishing we had thought to pack warmer clothes for this chilly 4th of July trip. Cold and rainy :(

Leg 2

We're at my parents' house for the next few days.  Unfortunately, the minor league baseball game we were going to go to last night got rained out, but the good news is that Korra and my parents' dog Gertie are on their way to being fast friends.  Hopefully we'll have some pictures soon.

Cabin Recap

Korra crawled laps around the porch and got filthy.  We tried new recipes, watched movies, had a picnic at the suspension bridge, and tasted fancy olive oil and vinegar.  Korra and I spent lots of quality time on the porch swing.