What I Learned While On Vacation

Ahhhh, Vacation. It's just a word, but it entails so much: memories of trips past, dreams of trips that will probably never be, plans for the next trip to come.

I recently returned from a vacation with my two boys to "family-land" in Pennsylvania. It was a blast--3 weeks of family, fun and food -- can it get much better than that? Hubby stayed home to work, both at his day job and on his music. He can't complain anymore that he never gets an opportunity to work in his studio uninterupted for large blocks of time -- he had two full weeks of vacation time that he took while we were gone. It's not my fault he spent most of it helping a friend move and get that friend's music equipment set up instead of working on his own stuff, right?

Anyway, the boys and I had a great time visiting with my family. They especially seemed to enjoy their time with Nana and Grandpa. Joey keeps saying "go on airplane, see Nana, Grampa." I can break down our visit into snippets of thing I learned while we were there. So, here goes:

* Joey has a love/hate fascination with planes. He didn't like the noise they made at all, but once he was onboard and buckled up, he liked looking out the window. He keeps talking about going on a plane and planes go "zoom in the air".

* Ian likes sitting front facing in a car seat. Nana and Grandpa had two carseats for us to use, so we didn't have to haul ours. At home, Ian is still rear-facing, but I'm thinking that will change very soon. I could tell he liked seeing more than just the sky out the back window. He was interacting with his brother and saying "tee" (tree) and pointing to them. Plus, I liked seeing both their faces when I looked in the mirror and not wondering whether Ian was okay and having to ask Joey if Ian was awake or asleep.

*Joey has an uncanny memory. Prior to our trip, I told Joey that we would go to Grandpa's work and look at the "big trucks" (aka tractor trailers). I only mentioned it a few times, mainly when he would point out the trucks as we were driving. The day before we were to leave, so almost three weeks since it was mentioned, Joey sees a tractor trailer parked on the side of the road and says "go Grampa's work, see big trucks". I was surprised that he had remembered, and glad that it was while we still had a chance to actually go to Grandpa's work to look at the trucks.

*Ian likes shrimp. Joey does not. We were at Aunt Kari and Uncle Tom's house for a family get-together and they had peel and eat shrimp. I like to offer a lot of different foods to my boys so they don't grow up to be a picky eater like their mom, so I gave them both a taste of the shrimp. Joey wasn't at all interested, but Ian loved them. He started off by grabbing my hand and practically shoving it into his mouth. Then he started sucking on the end of it like a popsicle. Then he went for full bites, wanting the next bite before he had even finished the current one. He ate two large shrimp and wanted more, but I wanted to be sure he didn't have a reaction as he hadn't eaten shellfish before. He probably would have eaten a bunch more if I hadn't stopped him. He will definitely give his dad some competition when he has shrimp again.

*Vacation is awesome - but so is getting back home and settled into your normal routine. The boys were so excited when they saw Daddy in the airport, and Daddy was just as excited to see us! It was a tad emotional - three weeks apart is a long time, although the time seemed to fly.

I would definitely do it again, and we are all looking forward to when we have some visitors from the north visit us. Nana and Grandpa are coming for Christmas - Joey is already saying "Nana, Granpa go on airplane, Joey's house."

The "Mommy Chair"

It's ugly. It's yellow. It's about 20 years old. It spins. It rocks. It is the go-to chair in our living room. It is "the Mommy Chair".

I wanted a rocking chair for the longest time, but couldn't find on that was both comfy and affordable. I wasn't worried about looks, as our house is a hodge-podge of hand-me-down furniture - ugly fits right in! Color wasn't that important either - that's what they make slipcovers for. When I was pregnant with my first son - I went to a local thrift shop and there it was - the mommy chair. I am short and this chair fits me perfectly -- my back rests against the chair and my feet still touch the ground.

This chair is where I would sit and dream while I was pregnant. It was where I attempted nursing my oldest, who refused to drink from anything but a bottle. It is where I successfully nurse my youngest-often at 3 am. It is where my oldest climbs into my lap and asks for "rocky-baby" when he needs some snuggle time. It is where boo-boos are kissed better and stories are read. It is where I collapse at the end of a long day and beg my hubby to rub my tired feet. It is where both my boys climb up and sit and rock (and knock it over if they both stand and rock). It is a boat, a motorcycle, a horse or a car when need be.

It may be old and ugly and yellow, but it cradles my boys and I in happy memories. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Mayhem, Music and More

Okay - here it is - my leap into the world of blogging. This is a true leap of faith for me, as it reminds me of keeping a diary, which I was never good at. I'd start off with gusto and for a whole week I'd make entries: at age 8 "My best friend borrowed my doll's dress and I hope she brings it back" or at age 13 "My best friend borrowed my favorite necklace and I hope she doesn't break it" or at age 16 "My best friend told me she's moving...I am soooo sad!" Then the entries would be fewer and fewer until finally the diary became a paper weight or a door stop.

But I think that now that I am the co-CEO of my household and a wife and mom, I might find something more interesting to write about. I hope so, or you are going to be very bored and never visit again.

So a little about what I hope for this blog...I hope to share my love of music, and what it is like being the wife of a musician with a day job. I hope to share my joy in my children, the fun and mayhem of having two toddlers, and what we do and look forward to doing as we grow and learn together. I hope to share a bit of my crafty side - sharing ideas and experiences with whatever project I am working on (or dreaming of working on).

So we have Mayhem, Music and More. Enjoy.