Vacation with a Monkey: Pt. 1

I'd like to document the time I went on vacation with a monkey.

I was contemplating the correct animal to associate this with.

I felt as though a monkey might be a little too wild for my experience.

via But when I saw this picture, it confirmed that-much to my surprise- I did indeed go on vacation with a baby monkey.

I had been looking forward to this vacation for months, maybe even close to a year.

Uncle Ry Ry was graduating from Western Carolina, we were taking a roadtrip with my family and meeting our extended family to enjoy a few days in a cabin in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. 

I was extra excited because was a rare event that we would get to be on vacation with 3 sets of Adalyn's great-grandparents.

 Some that don't get to see her very much. 

I couldn't wait for the pictures and the memories that would be shared.

I was nervous about the 17 hour car ride, but I brought and bought everything I could think of to keep her busy. 

She ended up watching more Mickey, Dora and George than I'd like to admit.

So I won't. 

But it kept her quiet and content, so I'm not too ashamed. 

Turns out the road trip ended up being the easiest part of the whole trip.

And it wasn't because of the juice boxes, peanut butter and crackers, yogurt, yogurt melts, puffs, goldfish, nutrigrain bars, chex mix, cheez-its, sammies, banana chips, dried strawberries, dried mangos, raisins or applesauce.

{Okay, maybe I went a little overboard in the snack department}

She slept.

She ate.

She colored.

She read books.

She played games.

She watched her shows.

She talked.

She laughed.

She was sweet.

She was funny.

She made it through part one.

She went out for dinner.

She played in the pool.

She had adorable post-pool hair.

She went to sleep.

She woke up.

She threw up.

She was burning up.

She threw up.

She cried. 

She threw up.

On me. 

Down my shirt. 

In my bra.

She slept.

She coughed.

She threw up.

She had her first stomach bug.

The night of Day 1 of the highly anticipated family vacation.

We were up all.night.long.

I just prayed and prayed that she would be better by the morning for the second leg of the car ride.
Thankfully, she was no longer getting sick by the time we hit the road.

Unfortunately, I had only packed us a mini bag for the night at the hotel and had no extra bra.

Can you say loosey goosey and paranoid all day??

Extra unfortunately {possibly made that phrase up}, she continued to burn up. 

And extra extra unfortunately, during this period of time she transformed into a baby monkey. 

Or now that I think of it, she could also be defined as a leech. 

Those scenic pictures that we had planned to stop at on the way?

Not gonna happen. 

And that's pretty much how this "vacation" went.
Everyone else...

and the two of us. 

It was the start to a very long week. 

We arrived to cabin #1 and the great-grandparents were so excited to see Little Miss A.

Little Miss A was not very excited to see the GGs. 

By this point she was still burning up with temps ranging from 101-102. 

We were in the middle of no where. 

Literally in a mountain. 

She came out of her shell a tiny tiny, but when she was with just me.

But with other people there wasn't even a glimpse. 

So maybe she's a turtle or a hermit crab....

Where did my sweet little girl go?
We seemed to have left her happy healthy self back home. 

She slept for about an hour and I was able to have a little fun with my siblings. 

I continued to give her some medicine.

She continued to burn up.

She was miserable all night. 

The thermometer I had brought read: ERR.

Talk about panic...

thankfully, it said ERR for me too. 

I tried to give baths, but she screamed. 

She just wanted me.

I just wanted her to be better.

She got sick again after choking on some water. 

While I was wearing my sister's bra.

{And yes, my sister is 10 years younger than me...we won't even go there}

And you'd think I would've learned my lesson by now. 

After another rough night, my mom suggested I stay home and skip out on lunch and the graduation.

Umm....let's see....

Cabin in the woods,

45 minutes from the college,

30 minutes to true civilization aka a Walmart,

6+ hours alone,

CABIN IN THE WOODS.

I'm going.

"She's fine when I'm holding her, we are going."

Well, she's fine when I'm holding her.... except when we are at a restaurant.

I'll take my delicious meal to go and meet you guys outside.
Bye.

The only time this sickness came in handy was at the actual graduation ceremony.

She slept on me almost the entire time.

If she wasn't sleeping then she was dazing. 

She hasn't done this since she was a newborn.

It would have been more of a nightmare if she was actually herself in this situation. 

It would have been even more of a nightmare if she had a seizure because her fever was too high. 

I'm an optimist, can you tell?

Her sunglasses were key in hiding the pitifulness. 

Mine were too.

She slept for a few hours that night when I put her down so I was able to celebrate a little which I was so thankful for!

I was also thankful that girlfriend was all about chugging the water.

I would have been freaking out even more if she was really lethargic.

She didn't have an appetite, but she wasn't getting sick or having diarrhea.

Of course, paranoid Daddy-who had to stay back and work- thought I should've brought her to the hospital after night one.

I'm more laid back about these kind of things and wanted to give it a little bit of time.

But by Day 3 of a high fever with no sign of getting better,

it was time to take this monkey to Urgent Care to see if we could turn her back into a happy independent girl.

Tomorrow I'll finish up part two of vacationing with a monkey kangaroo.

Steamy.

 I wrote a post on this subject about two years ago.

I'm pretty sure I titled it the same.

How's that for creative?

I love steam mops.

I don't love the one we have.

I like having hardwood floors.

I hate seeing the streaks. 

I like the idea of cleaning with steam.

I wish it was a little easier.

I chose the eureka because of the great reviews, cheap price and it got hot enough to kill the germs...

But I feel like my mom's shark is easier to use, less streaky and not as bulky. 

Our floors catch the light in a lot of places and you can see prints and/or streaks.

It drives me crazy.

Lately I've been using swiffer wet wipes because it's easier, but with both the mop and the swiffer I can see streaks. 

The problem with the steam mop we have is it's nearly impossible to clean the cloth all the way so it's always leaving streaks and making it look even worse.

So....do you love your steam mop?

Hate it?

Have streaking problems?

{I suppose I could have titled this one "streaking"...}

Tips to avoid streaking?

Little Kid.

Just when I start to come to terms with the fact that Adalyn is no longer a baby.

 Just when I officially start referring to her as a toddler. 

Just when I start to realize her independence. 

Just when I start to feel like I'm really ready for #2.

 Just when I realize it's realllly time to change the header to my blog.

Just when I start breezing by the newborn clothes and going directly for the toddler section. 

Some little girl at a restaurant decides to throw the "LK" word around in reference to Adalyn. 

This is not okay. 

Toddler... I can handle.

Little Kid....unacceptable. 

She's my baby toddler. 

End of discussion.

Ain't Nobody Got Time for the Home Button.

I am about to tell you about a life changing feature on your iPhone or iPad.

My friend, Cait, taught me about this and our lives will never be the same. 

Here's the tip that can change your life if

you're like me and you share your iPhone or iPad for a brief moment of silence.

Or out of desperation to gain just 5 more minutes of shopping. 

Or to quiet the screaming on the overtired car ride home. 

Or to distract at a restaurant to avoid a scene.

Or if your child is like Adalyn and is obsessed with the Home Button. 

Playing with Siri is easy and fine, but only keeps her busy for so long.

But when it's given with a purpose of a video or a game within .02 seconds of holding it she closes the app, hands it to me saying "moh" or "uh oh".

Over and over and over. 

Still keeping her busy and avoiding scenes? Yes.

Annoying? Yes. 

Feeling counterproductive? At times.

Well, these feelings are no more. 

There's a magic feature hidden in the settings.

Settings--> General-->Accessibility.

 Accessibility--> "Learning" Guided Access. 

Put Guided Access "On" and set a 4 digit passcode. 

When you open an app, click the home button 3 times and then click start in the upper right hand corner. 

You have the ability to turn off all hardware buttons {this is what we always do}, touch screen and motion. 

When you want to get out of the app just click the home button 3 times and type in the passcode.

When I first heard about it I thought that seemed like kind of a lot of work {laziness at it's finest?}, but oh my goodness gracious is it worth every step. 

I seriously wasn't kidding. 

This is life changing.

Can I get an amen?

Set it up, sit back and watch your child press the home key over and over and over with the app staying open.

Saturday's Scene

Today I was flying solo with Little Miss Manners while Mr. B was in a wedding out of state.

We haven't been home in about 3 weeks so this was the first night in a while Adalyn slept inn her crib. apparently she missed it because she slept in until 9:45. I was thinking her new wake-up time was 7:30 so this was a pleasant surprise and hopefully she will get back to her 8:30-9 wake ups! Anything before 8 in my book is too early. 

I seem to have gotten bit by the spring cleaning bug. This doesn't happen often so it's imperative to follow the urge before it goes far far away and tv and food take over. Wish I was kidding.

I couldn't wait to go through Adalyn's clothes. I loved seeing her in the bright summer clothes while we were in the Bahamas. Although we aren't ready for those clothes yet, I was so very ready to ditch the winter clothes {longest.season.ever} and break out the spring wardrobe. 

While I was sorting through, I looked over on the chair and saw her sharing her raisins with her giraffe. I love watching her little imagination and playing pretend. 
And yes, she carries a tub of raisins around for a snack.

Even though we just moved in January and there shouldn't technically be much "spring cleaning" to do....there is. 
Some areas need to be clean cleaned and some need to be more organized because I quickly found a spot for things. 

So I was fairly productive- as productive as you can be with a toddler clinging to you and/or taking out whatever I just cleaned out. 
I could've been more productive while she napped, 
but I decided to relax and edit pictures instead. 

We had some dinner, she helped me clean up destroy the bathroom,

she showered, 

played peek-a-boo,

and we read some books before bed. 

Love my days with my sweet girl! 

And now I blog, edit pictures, eat my twix and start Season 1 of The Secret Life because I'm 15 years old. 

Paradise Island

We recently returned from an awesome vacation to the Bahamas!

So far this has been my favorite vacation spot. 

It's perfect for all ages and so much fun!

A 30+ minute rapid river ride {lazy river on steroids}, water slides, giant aquarium, kids area, a million pools, beach, good food, night time entertainment. Seriously, loved it.

There were just a few things I wish the resort offered- a pool area for babies and to be more stroller friendly.  Adalyn loved their kids pool area, but at times it would be a little too crazy with the older kids and it would've been nice if they had a calmer area with slides and a little pool. 

These are my daily picture collages I posted on FB. I might do a post with some other pictures and details, but no promises since I seem to be severely slacking in the blogging department. Boo.

Time went by so fast and we had so much fun!

I kept saying that I couldn't think of a more perfect name than Paradise Island. 

Highly suggest vacation here and I can't wait to go back one day!

Never Say It

So I'm not superstitious by any means. 

I say "knock on wood", but don't truly believe it.

I don't believe in jinxing something.

BUT

It's a rule, as a mom,  to never draw attention to:

 your child's good eating habits,

or playing independently and quietly

or sleeping through the night

or how long their nap is

or, most importantly, how they haven't been sick in a long time. 

 {toddler time long= at least 3 weeks}

AND

I did it.

I broke the rule. 

I personally think talking about their good sleeping habits and their lack of sickness are a close tie, but sickness takes the win for me. 

This weekend I was telling someone that it seemed as though Adalyn was sick all late-summer and fall and ironically hasn't been sick much this winter. 

I then proceeded to tell this Ben later that day. 

It's amazing she hasn't been sick much this winter- she's been in the nursery, playgroups, the mall playplace, the gym daycare and she's been going strong etc etc 

To which he replies: Aren't you like not supposed to say stuff like that?

Yeah I know, but I already said it today and I wanted to share the realization that we've had a good stretch. Blah, blah, blah

And of course, the following night went down as one of Adalyn's worst nights yet. 

She only really slept from 2am-5am. 

Therefore I only slept from 2am-5am.

She was crying on and off the rest of the time. 

When I went to soothe her, I heard it in her cry...

and then I felt it on her face...

the snot faucet.

It was back.

I jinxed it. 

But I didn't, 

because I honestly don't believe in that. 

But I'm just saying.

The next day continued with a bad nap. 

I was so tired from the night before that we both ended up napping on her chair because it was the only way she would sleep so it was the only way I could catch some extra zzzzs.

I was worried that last night was going to be the same way, but thankfully she slept through and made up for the night before and woke up happy at 10:45am.

She was pretty mellow all day 

and then I had to wake her up from a 3.5 hour nap because we had to go to family dinner. 

And sadly, she's gone downhill since with a runnier nose, sad little cough and a pitiful clingy whine. 

But thankfully a little tubby time will always lift her spirits.

So the moral of the story?

Never say it. 

It's not worth the risk.

Keep it to yourself. 

God is in control. 

My words are not. 

I know this. 

But it's best to just not draw attention to such things. 

It's just the way it works. 

PS. We survived Nemo