Tales from the Trail and Beyond

When I posted our last post (see below), I hadn't had much time to talk to Chuck or my brother to get the stories from the backpacking trip. So, finally...here are a few of the funnier moments.

As Lily and Emma were likely already at camp, Darien and Jonathan were behind with Chuck and C even further behind. Even though it was only a 3 mile day, there was an elevation increase of about 3,000 feet. And to that, this is what Darien had to say, "I hate this stupid trail. Whose idea was this? (My brother responded with a "Chuck's"). I'm never going on a trip Chuck plans again."

One day, Cameron tells Chuck, "Dad, when we get home, we are setting up the black card table, putting all our camping stuff on it and we are having a yard sell." We have never had or even been to a yard sale!

The trip began on Sat. and by Thurs. C had not pooped. After many false alarms, Chuck was inspired to have C walk naked from the waist down. Which apparently did the trick. I'm sure there are some pictures of that out there somewhere.

C didn't come home any different then he left. His first words to me, were "Mom, will you play with me." And when I said I'd like to help unload the car first, he said I was stupid and he hated me.

We were getting out of the car the other morning and C says, "It's too hot here. I hate Arizona. I want to move to Colorado." I wonder who he heard that from?

Now, you might think they didn't have fun. But every camping trip I've been on, this is how everyone talks excluding Chuck. I'm sure everyone will be back next year.

Summer Backpacking Trip '09

For many, many years, Chuck has gone backpacking for a week each summer with a group of friends (many have come and gone). This year, he decided to make the trip gentle enough that Cameron and any other kids that wanted to go, could handle it. Unfortunately, the only people that went, out of many that were invited, were my brother, Jonathan, his son, Darien (age 5) and Lily and Emma. But despite the small turnout, they had a great time. Chuck said the boys did great. C hiked all but about a mile and Darien just about the whole thing. And they were only "sore" with each other about 45 minutes the whole trip. (Now, I found that hard to believe. Normally these boys just beat each other up!) The trip started Sunday morning in Vallecito, CO and ended Saturday in Needleton where they caught the train to Durango. It was 6 nights, 7 days and about 25 miles. BSofA look out! They experienced rain, hail, and snow along the way. They also saw goats, marmots, and a moose. C told me that Darien saw a bear, but I don't think that is true. Hannah and I missed them and we are glad that are back safe and sound. Maybe next year, H will go to! Here are just a few of the many pictures.

With the Boys Away...

the girls will:

sleep. H is a great sleeper. She takes naps and does not get up during the night! She has even been sleeping in past 5am although she has been resisting going to bed. Thank goodness she's still in a crib!

go for runs. H is a great running partner. It's always harder to push a stroller but especially in this heat (it was 115 yesterday, probably close to 100 when we ran) and being pregnant. But it's better than not doing it!

do some shopping. H loves to push the little shopping carts at Trader Joe's and she was a great shopping companion while we went to Old Navy where I found killer deals on maternity clothes!

bake pumpkin bread and take it to our friends and neighbors.

take Grandpa Joe out to lunch.

Hannah will:

play by herself

enjoy getting to be first.

not get pushed around by her big brother.

not get potty trained. Although it was my intention, she is resisting.

Mom will:

get to sit down and blog as well as catch up on her friends and family's blogs.

get to clean and organize house (while H plays by herself).

get some of her yoga teacher training requirements checked off the list.

pull the weeds in the garden. Not my favorite thing to do, but the garden is dead and I'm sick of looking at it. Plus I'd like to surprise Chuck and do it for him.

I can't believe how different life is with just Hannah. She is so easy! I think I'm a pretty good mom, but if C were more like H and play by himself, I'd be a much better wife and homemaker! I am spending time with H, reading and playing etc. But she will just play by herself while I cook, clean, whatever! It's really how I thought life with kids would be until I had C. I miss C and Chuck but it's really nice to be able to feel productive and not so exhausted! Oh, BTW the boys are backpacking in Colorado for the week.

This and That

I am 16 weeks pregnant. I look pretty big for a couple reasons: it's my 3rd baby, I don't have a shirt on, and I have an excessive lumbar curve as it is. I am using the midwife that delivered H. She is working for the hospital where I delivered H and is covered by our insurance. The bad part is I have to go all the way to downtown Phx for appts. but it will be worth it I'm sure. I had an appt. last week and heard the baby's heartbeat. So, it seems a little more real now. C took this picture for me this morning after I had the most glorious run. Yes, it is mid-July in Arizona but it was cool and pouring rain. I love to run in the rain! Other news that I haven't mentioned, is that I have finished my master's level yoga teacher training. I still have quite a bit to do before I "graduate". But I won't have to be going to class for what seemed like every weekend.

This is what I call surviving. Whatever it takes to get the kids happy and quiet so I can cook dinner. They are eating bowls of whipping cream.

This is where H liked to sit while her daddy was training.
C would ride his trainer (or just sit on his bike) while daddy was training.
C is a total nut. I didn't want to risk taking a picture while he was actually sleeping, so he is pretending here. I just wanted to document what his bed looks like at bedtime. He has books, blankets, stuffed animals, cars & trucks, a robe, my jacket and one of my t-shrits that he sleeps with each night.
I love, love, love this picture. C has been wanting to sleep in one of my t-shirts at night lately. This one is my favorite! It has a picture of Chuck when he was a mere teenager on it. Love it!

This is H who insisted on putting on her sleeper when it's 100+ degrees outside.

H would probably sit for hours putting coins into her bank. Whatever makes her happy!

I found a face mask sample under my sink (while going thru things after we'd had a major leak). So, I put it on and H wanted to too. I don't think she knew what was going on.

Hannah is really starting to talk. It is the cutest thing! C never really went thru the learning to talk stage. He just started talking. So, it is really fun to hear H learn and try new words. Almost all of her sentences begin with "I want" and end in "Mom". She really likes to say, "I want to eat, mom" and "I want a snack, mom"

No Joy in Detroit...

for mighty Chuck has crashed out.
Chuck left Thurs. morning for the Ford testing grounds in Detriot where races for the Worlds Human Powered Vehicle Assocation would be taking place. He was planning on doing the 1 hour and 6 hour race, trying to set a new world record in both. But 40+ minutes into the 1 hour race, he was on his side sliding to a stop at 40+mph. I got the details (from an engineer) on the failure, but it really didn't mean much to me, so I can't bore you with the details. Basically, the bike had a mechanical failure. Chuck was not injured but unfortunately, no one got it on video or even in photos. So, there will be no more racing. Everyone is pretty bummed, but they also realize things like this happen. It's just too bad, so sad that so much money, time, energy, training etc. went to waste.

Please Pass the Puke and Poop

So, I won't go into too much detail, but we had quite the little flu/stomach bug around our house recently. I am very rarely sick, Chuck is occasionally sick and the kids have never been sick, so it was must have been some bug. After dinner about 2 weeks ago, C threw up. He then woke during the night with diarrhea and puking. I didn't want to risk taking him into the child care at the Y, but I had to teach yoga the next morning, so I took him with me (see picture below) He was lethargic the whole day, but that was basically it. We went to the Pointe Hilton Tapatillo Resort for the 4th of July, and I woke up feeling really bad, thinking it was because I needed to eat, but as I was almost done with breakfast, I started throwing up. I felt okay after that and we managed to spend some fun time at the pools. But once we were home, there was more throwing up. I still felt bad on Sunday and Chuck started feeling bad also. And just after we had gone to bed, H woke up and had puked everywhere! It was a mess. At least C made it to the toilet both times. A couple times as I threw up H was watching and she would mimic me after I'd get up. So maybe she'll know what to do next time. Chuck insisted on painting the house on Mon. and not thinking I'd still be sick, I taught a step and cycling class. I threw up after cycling. On Tues. Chuck rode his bike to work and thinking he was "okay" ate a meatball sub at lunch. Needless to say, Tues. night he was not doing well. He still went to work on Wed. and was in bad shape Wed. night. I told him he'd feel much better if he'd throw up (he'd been reisisting, how you do that, I don't know). So, he threw up and it was uphill from there. I would have said I had it the worst until Chuck got it, but by not taking it easy, eating a meatball sub and resisting the urge to puke, he didn't make it any easier on himself. We are all doing better now! Chuck has his big race this weekend. He lost about 8 pounds, so he is trying to get that put back on and is very worried about not being able to regain his strength. So, send positive thoughts and energy his way!

Royalty Baby #3 is on the way!

After a temporary lapse of judgement, I decided we should have another baby. And yes, I did mean to say I. Several months before H turned 2, I started thinking/wondering if we should have another baby. I'm content with the 2 kids and I don't feel the need to make my life harder, but being from a family of 7, I really want my kids to have siblings. Plus, I feel like we can provide a good, loving home to some of the little spirits waiting to come experience mortality. So, I approached the subject with Chuck. Of course, he will do whatever I want, but he was NOT thinking we should have another baby. Although, things haven't really gotten easier, he felt like we were starting to see "the light at the end of the tunnel". And Cameron has been and still is so hard, Chuck doesn't think we can handle another one. And although, I am keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have another Cameron, because I could NOT handle that, I do have more faith than Chuck that we can handle another one. So, thinking it would take a couple of months we started to try. Well, it did not take a couple months thus NOT leaving me with time to change my mind (probably a good thing if it's meant to be) and leaving us with a due date in early January; not when I wanted to have a baby. I felt nothing for about 6 weeks, and all the sudden, my belly popped out, I was exhausted and I felt very nauseous. After a couple weeks of nausea, I started feeling really hungry. But that hasn't really seemed to last like it did in my previous pregnancies. I'm still a little tired, but other than that I feel pretty good. And although I do have my fears, as things progress, I am getting more excited.

I used a group practice with C and was not impressed with the OBGYNs. So, with H, I used a midwife and it was great! So, I made my first appointment with the midwife I saw with H. She is still doing prenatal care, but not deliveries. When H was born, she and another midwife were doing all the deliveries, unless there were complications, at St. Joes. If there were complications one of OBs they worked under did the delivery. But most of the OB's time was spent at Good Sam with the midwifes not being allowed to deliver there. Since then, the OBs decided they didn't want to go between the two hospitals, which left the midwifes unable to do deliveries. So, if I stay with this midwife, whichever doctor is on call would do the delivery. And although it's nice to have a midwife for the prenatal care, it's the delivery that really counts. I don't think I'm comfortable having an OB deliver, so I'm going to check to see if there are any midwifes that do deliveries that are covered by my insurance.

As with our other kids, we have no plans on finding out the gender.