I didn’t know how Little Bug would react to the airplane taking off. I kept telling her exactly what was about to happen and Little Bug took it all in.

She enjoyed looking out the window!

Milk Time!

So, I found I didn’t really need 15 books on the airplane, but she did enjoy reading all the books during the week and I was glad I had them for her.

On the airplane she wanted to read poems!

Then Little Bug had some fun with stickers. Those were a hit! Stickers were an easy thing to pack and they provided much entertainment!

The girl who has gone through only one outfit on most days since birth, peed through the diaper on the airplane. We got her cleaned up and changed in the tiny airplane bathroom.

Little Bug does not forget a thing – ever. On the return flight, she remembered we had gone to the back of the plane to change her diaper. My mom and I decided that we were just going to change her diaper by laying her across us on our laps. Little Bug stood up and started pointing to the back of the airplane. She said, “Back der (there)!”

I packed Little Bug a lunch and she had her lunch siting on Grandma’s lap about an hour before we landed in Texas. (Another good entertainer for the airplane — especially when your baby loves to eat!)

And then we jokingly laid Little Bug down across Grandma and Grandpa’s laps and told her it was naptime. Yeah right. As if she was actually going to close her eyes and go to sleep and miss out on all the action! She later took a much needed 2.5 hour nap once we got to Mimi and Papaw’s house.

Overall, Little Bug traveled very well going and returning home. Coming home, she was fussy simply because she was tired from being the life of the party for six days straight! Little Bug didn’t get the sleep she needed on most days because of various activities (Which is totally fine! We were on vacation!) but it really is amazing to me just how much adequate sleep plays into having a happy child. We came home from the airport, ate lunch, and then Little Bug took a 2.5 hour nap and then went to bed at her normal bedtime and slept for 12 hours!

I could definitely see a difference in Little Bug’s overall disposition, but to everyone else, she probably just seemed like the typical happy, full of life, funny little girl that she is because overall, she did wonderful on this trip!

It is also amazing to me how a scheduled toddler can get totally off schedule (and be okay doing so) and then when you get home, they fall right back into the normal schedule.

More posts coming about the fun we had in Texas!!

We had a WONDERFUL time in Texas!

Another week has begun… Am I the only one wondering how it can already be March?!

By the way, this is going to be a random post with lots of stuff included.

Nap: Saturday we tried putting Little Bug down for nap early. At 1:30 she was in bed, but didn’t go to sleep until 1:45ish BUT then we had to wake her at 4:30pm! So, I was thinking that must be it…she is needing to lay down earlier now for some reason. So, Sunday we did the same thing. Laid her down at 1:30 and she still took a while to go to sleep. She was asleep a little after 2pm and woke up at 3:30. So an hour and a half nap.

So…I’m still clueless about what is going on! I am going to lay her down at 1:30 this week and see what happens and go from there.

Congestion: She is still so congested, especially when she wakes up. I am trying to not take her outside as much as possible, but you know Little Bug. She could live outside if I’d let her.

Trip: We are going to Texas next month to see Mimi and Papaw and all the family that lives there! I am so excited about this. My parents and Grandmother are going too. Dave will be not be able to go due to work. I hope Little Bug likes to fly as much as her Mommy does!

Little Bug loves to look at airplanes in the sky. We always say, “Can you reach it?” and Little Bug says, “Too far away!” When we are boarding the plane I can’t wait to ask Little Bug if she can reach the airplane and then see the excitement in her eyes when she can actually reach out and touch the airplane!

I’m sure the journey from here to there on an airplane will be quite interesting with a (very active) 22 month old! But I will have back up in my parents along the way, so that will be of great help I can only imagine. Last time I flew with Little Bug she was an immobile infant that sat in my lap and slept for half the flight!

I am hoping lots of snacks, books and small interesting toys will keep her entertained. But knowing Little Bug, she will be fascinated by all the people in such close proximity to her on the airplane and will be trying to talk to everyone within five rows of her. I bet she will exit the airplane with at least a dozen new friends.

Oh and another thing about sleep…it’s almost summer. Which means trips, which means sleep naturally gets a little off anyway. So, I suppose this is as good a time as any for a “bump” along the way. We have Texas next month, then the annual mountain trip probably in May and then another trip to a reunion in July. But this is just another benefit to having your kid on a schedule. When you get “off” for one reason or another, when it is time to resume “normal life”, your kid falls back into their routine/schedule. And hopefully by that time, this weird nap phase will have passed.

At least I can hope so!!

Entertaining a 16 month old in the car for 8+ hours calls for some creativity.

I always pack a bag full of toys for Little Bug to play with, but I’ve found sometimes all Little Bug needs to keep her happy is something simple and something that does not take up hardly any space in the car:

a baby wipe!!

Give Little Bug a baby wipe and she will spend time cleaning her feet,

playing peek-a-boo,

and tearing the wipe into tiny little pieces!

When the wipe is gone Little Bug will

play with the carseat strap until

she falls asleep holding Grandma’s hand.

But sometimes 8+ hours in the car is just too much for a 16 month old to handle

and a meltdown ensues.

So

we make a phone call to Dada!

And

that brightens Little Bug’s day!

Thought I would give you a peak into our cabin in the mountains!

The front porch stretches across the entire length of the cabin. So many good memories on this porch! That bench you see at the far end is where Dave and I crossed the line from friends to girl/boyfriend in the summer of 2006.

The Living Room

The kitchen, which really needs to be updated! It still has the original stove that was put in there when the cabin was built in the 1950’s. It’s a tiny kitchen but many good meals have been cooked for the family in there!

Dining Room (kitchen is through the door on the left)

This picture was taken in the area between the Living Room and Dining Room. Straight ahead is the one bathroom in the cabin and to either side of the bathroom, there is a bedroom.

Here is a view from the Living Room looking over into the Dining Room area.

Bedroom on the Left with double bed and bunk beds (Little Bug’s pac n play goes in the space at the end of the bunk beds. There is a small dresser that goes in that space when Little Bug isn’t there.)

Bathroom between the two bedrooms

Bedroom on the right with two twin beds

I look forward to Little Bug building memories here!

This week in the mountains hasn’t been what I hoped, nor expected. It’s actually been rather stressful with Little Bug’s stomach issues (which seem to be okay now since I’ve continued the BRAT diet like her pedi suggested – no puke since Sunday afternoon), fearing my dad was coming down with a stomach bug (he didn’t), missing Dave more than I usually do when we are apart (I guess that’s a good thing ) and the sleepless night on Tuesday night and fearing I had started something by bringing Little Bug to my bed. (I didn’t. She slept fine all night long but chose to wake up at quarter till seven this morning. Ugh!)

So I might have given a clue or two in the past that I detest the stomach bug. (Who doesn’t?) But my detest probably actually goes a little farther to some weird phobia of it. I remember having it as a child on several occasions. For some reason, at the mention of someone even feeling like they are going to throw up, my heart rate accelerates and I have the instinct to run away as far as I can go. Maybe I should go to counseling when I return home. But seriously, when my dad called me to tell me Little Bug was up from her nap and he asked me come on back to the cabin right away because he felt “chilled and queasy” I just knew that Little Bug had indeed had a stomach bug and she had passed it on to her Grandpa. I had visions of being stuck in this 800 square foot cabin with vomiting family members for the rest of the week. Because I knew if my dad had caught it, it would only be a matter of days before my mom and brother would be sick too. I had already decided if my dad was up sick all night long I’d just brave the 40-50 degree temps outside, bundle up like an Eskimo, plug my ears with my earplugs and sleep on the front porch. The cold would certainly be better than hearing that awful sound all night long.

But, fortunately, God heard my prayers and spared me. (Yes, I prayed that God would spare me that awful experience. He cares even about the stupidest things that concern us.)  Turns out my dad didn’t have the stomach bug (because I am certain it wasn’t a stomach bug Little Bug had and was instead an upset tummy from spicy pasta she ate) and most likely was feeling bad from the flu vaccine he had gotten before we left. 

While I am on a rampage of “trip annoyances” I’ll go ahead and share this because it’s pretty funny (at least I think it is):

As I said I slept 1 hour on Tuesday night. Wednesday, as soon as I laid Little Bug down for a nap, I headed to the front porch to take a nap myself. It was a bit nippy but I was fine in my cocoon of blankets.

I had almost drifted off to sleep when I heard a girl talking loudly in the most country accent I have ever heard in my entire life. I am not exaggerating, people! (No offence to any country folks who may happen to read my blog.) I was supremely amazed and slightly annoyed. Ok – I was actually very annoyed because I was trying to go to sleep.

I know I am in the mountains of North Carolina but wow I’ve never heard anything like it and I’ve been around many Carolinian’s in my lifetime. I, techically, am a Carolinian myself because I was born here in NC although we moved away when I was only 22 months old. Anyway. And she was talking so loudly. She was visiting the next door neighbors and I can’t tell you how relieved I was when she said, “Alright now. Yall have a good day and I’ll be seeing ya later.” and then got in her mustang and drove away. I think I was asleep before she got down the mountain.

But right now, as I type this, there is serenity all around. It is the picture of a crisp autumn day. A breezy 60 degrees or so, a beautiful canvas of red, yellow and orange leaves all around. The distant sound of a train passing by down the mountain. Beautiful sunshine streaming through the trees and wrapping warmth on my exposed hands.

Yes, there have been moments when I have wished I was just home already, but overall, there is no place like the mountains in Fall.

Oh! It was special to be here on October 20th because it was on that day in 2006 that Dave brought me here to propose! My mom, Little Bug and I went walking to the general area where he proposed but I couldn’t really find it because the brush had really grown and hadn’t been kept up. I couldn’t even find the picnic table we were near. Anyway.

This is where it all began for Dave and me! We started dating here in June of 2006 and then were engaged here later that year in the Fall. And then, we came here for our honeymoon too!

Well, enough randomness for one post. Adios!

We made it to the mountains and it is beautiful!

Little Bug is still having some tummy troubles. It’s really weird… She threw up twice Thursday night and then once after drinking her milk the next morning. Friday I didn’t give her anything dairy and did the BRAT diet.

We left on Saturday for the mountains. She woke up that morning wanting her “Ba” (milk). So I diluted her milk with water and gave her some. She kept it down fine. She had milk with lunch, dinner and at bedtime (diluted still) and did not get sick at all on Saturday.

Then, Sunday afternoon after her nap I gave her her milk as usual (diluted). We had just gotten in the car to go somewhere. She drank two sips of the milk, had this awful look on her face and I knew she was about to throw up. Sure enough, she did. So strange! Why would she go a day without throwing up and then suddenly throw up again?

I’ve been trying to figure out if she had a stomach virus or if this is from the spicy pasta she had at Olive Garden on Thursday night. No fever. Random throwing up. It does seem to be from the food she ate because if she had a virus I would think she would have been throwing up for a good part of Thursday night…

Anyway, I called my pedi yesterday and talked to the doctor on call. She told me to take her off dairy for a week and give her bland foods to allow her stomach to fully heal.

Well, today my family let me sleep in (!!!) and took care of Little Bug for me while I slept. When I got up they said she had been fussy and asking for Mama. As soon as she saw me she started crying and saying, “Ba”. She wanted her milk. I tried to tell her she didn’t need to drink milk, but she was adamant about wanting her milk. So I gave her 2% watered down milk and she GULPED it down and wanted more when she was done!

She’s kept that down fine, so I guess I will keep giving her 2% milk and cut out all other dairy (no cheese, yogurt) and she how she does with that.

I think maybe what made her puke yesterday afternoon was the broccoli and cheese she had for lunch. She likes lots of cheese on her broccoli and maybe the cheese plus milk was just too much too soon after having an upset tummy.

Other than dealing with Little Bug’s tummy issues, we are having a wonderful time. There is something about being in the mountains. It truly is “God’s Country”! (I miss Dave though and wish he was here.)

First of all, for an update on Liam and his siblings click here. Please keep Sonja’s quads in your prayers as they continue to battle RSV with Liam and hopefully prevent it from spreading to the other three babies.

I should be packing while Little Bug is napping now, but I need a breather from our morning…

We went to Olive Garden last night for dinner and Little Bug had some food she’s never had before. It apparently upset her stomach because she threw up twice in her crib last night about an hour after she laid down.

She slept through the night with no more throw up episodes and woke up this morning requesting her “Ba” (milk) as usual. She drank her milk and then we headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

I fixed her a waffle with cream cheese and some strawberries. As she was eating she pointed to her mouth and said, “Boo Boo” and then proceeded to throw up her milk…

So at that point I was wondering if we were still dealing with the upset stomach from last night or if she has a stomach bug.

I called the pedi and the nurse told me that the milk probably reupset her stomach from last night because milk is the worst thing to give kids when their tummy is upset.

Good one, Elaine!

So I’ve cut out all diary from her diet today and have done the BRAT diet with her and she’s kept everything down.

Moral of this story: If you are at a restaurant and your kid is eating a food they have never eaten before, taste it yourself before giving it to them! (The pasta Little Bug ate was apparently spicy.)

And, yes, we are headed out of town tomorrow for a week in the mountains! I am happy and sad about it because (happy) I LOVE going to the mountains during the fall when the leaves are changing colors and (sad) Dave can’t go with us because of work.

Wesley (my brother) is flying to the mountains from seminary to spend the week with us as well. That is a very happy thing. Little Bug is going to get a whole week with her Uncle!

Back to packing… wish us well tummies and an easy, fast, safe road trip tomorrow with a certain someone who doesn’t like to sit still for very long!

This is how she rides… one shoe off, playing with her musical toy, eating cheerios and, yes, rearfacing

We are home from the mountains! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

I have pictures of me playing on this same bridge when I was a little girl.

I have no idea what the “angry eyes” are about in this picture… My uncle was making elephant noises in an attempt to get Little Bug to smile. Perhaps she was just trying to figure out what in the world he was doing.

Great is the faithfulness of God!

We went to a BBQ restaurant where there were fiddlers playing and singing while you ate. Do you think Little Bug got out on the dance floor?

Why of course she did and so did her Uncle!

Annual picture at the Prayer Garden

Little Bug had so much fun with her Mimaw

I love how Little Bug is looking up at her Grandma in this picture!

Dave and I went on a date one afternoon!

Bathtime! 

This field is where I took my first steps when I was 13 months old. I was hoping Little Bug would take her first steps there but she’s been walking now for almost 2 months already!

And my little dog, Pup, who just turned five years old.

We had a FABULOUS week as usual!