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Smiles, Trials, and Hotel Dials

Well, we officially survived our first ever road trip with 2 children to Indiana and back! We left on the 4th of July around 3 pm and drove until 10 pm (stopping in a little town to stay at a Budget Inn).  Both kids did really well in the car and were calm and content most of the time (of course the DVD player and bag full of toys and arts and crafts  certainly helped with this as well!). 

Riley had been asleep for about 2 hours when we arrived at the hotel and that’s when he caught his second wind.  You should have seen our little maniac running back and forth and around and around in our tiny room all the while pushing every button he could find and turning every dial in sight (especially the fun-looking ones on the AC unit!).  What an adventure! It took over an hour to settle him back down again. 

Thursday just happened to be my birthday and my darling husband surprised me with a beautiful pair of pearl earrings! Pearls are Maggie’s birthstone, so it’s extra meaningful. We drove about 4 more hours and pulled into Nan and Pap’s driveway around noon.  We let the kids play and be held and then ate lunch. I got to order my favorite treat….a pork tenderloin sandwich. For the life of me, I don’t know why we don’t have this down South. I mean it’s fried, slathered with mayo, on a bun, and extremely tasty! That night we let Riley try out the pool before the other “campers” arrived for Camp Nan N’ Pap.  We didn’t really think he wanted to get wet, so we didn’t bother putting a swimsuit on him and just let him splash around with his hands.  But one thing led to another, and before we knew it, we had a “Nature Boy” running around with no clothes  on hopping in and out of the pool.  Such fun and I bet it entertained the neighbors too!

 The next day, Ben and Brandy arrived with Lucy and Alice around 3 pm and Tim and Jen came about 5 with Anderson.  Then the excitement really went to a whole new level! All four of the grandkids (Maggie didn’t participate this year), got in their swimsuits and splashed around in the pool.  It was so neat to see their different personalities shine through. 

Nan and Pap were extremely brave and decided to keep all 5 kids Friday and Saturday night, while the parents got to go spend some adult time.  What a nice, relaxing time we had together! We hung out for hours at the hotel pool and then on Saturday we went to Hoosier Park where Chris won $200 on his very first 5 cent slot machine and Jen won $100 by the end of the 2 hour period. While our children were busy sponge painting,

  filling buckets with dirt (dumping them out and and then reloading them) , 








making spider crafts, reading books together,    

 going back in the pool,  and decorating photo frames with Nan and Pap, we found the kid inside ourselves and went go-karting.  Then after freshening up a little, we had a delicious dinner at The Nile restaurant in Anderson, IN which served Egyptian, Greek, and Mediterranean food. The highlight of the meal was definitely the flaming cheese appetizer and the wide selection of foreign beers. By Sunday though we were anxious to get back to our little ones and couldn’t wait to kiss their little faces.


Some time during these last 2 weeks, our sweet Maggie has learned to smile! Here are two of her precious grins we managed to capture on camera along with a few other candid moments:

I am so proud of Maggie! On Wednesday, July 11th our almost 6 week old slept through the night! That really made Mommy and Daddy smile!! She slept from midnight until we woke her up at 7:30.  Then the next night, she slept 9:45 pm-6:15 am (8 1/2 hours), and to keep up the streak the following night she slept 7 1/2 hours (12 am until we woke her again at 7:30).  Then she had a few nights of the regular 4 to 4 1/2 hour awake times, but last night she graced us again with 7 hours of sleep (10:45-5:45).  It’s so nice to get a solid 7 hours of sleep (I had forgotten how much I missed it!). Thank you, Maggie! Keep up the good work!


Now onto the “trial” portion of the blog. Within a day or two of arriving home from our Indiana vacation, Chris felt like he kept stepping in small puddles in the kitchen and his sock was getting wet.  Upon further analysis, we discovered that we had all kinds of new cracks in our tiles where water was seeping through!! The culprit:  

 (a leaking valve in the back corner of our refrigerator that sprung a big enough leak while we were gone to saturate our floors and cause mildew behind the fridge and all the way through the wall to the garage sheetrock outside).
We have had to call in a water damage restoration company (Rainbow International) and they began trying to dry out the floors and underneath of our house where the installation and subfloors were also very wet using massive fans and dehumidifiers.    
 It sounds like a landing strip 24/7 in our downstairs living area now.  We have to unzip a tarp to get in and out of the kitchen. It’s made for a very stressful living situation this week.  We hope to hear good news from our insurance adjuster when he arrives to inspect the damage tomorrow.  I’m hoping with all my heart that we can get the kitchen floor replaced and put back in working condition very soon!

UPDATE: Our insurance company has agreed to cover the claim and replace not only our kitchen floor, but also help with the damage that is now being done to our hardwood floors in our living room.




So our summer is halfway over and while the kitchen fiasco is causing a lot of unwanted frustration, there are still many bright spots in our day.  Here are just a few recent anecdotes that have brought a smile to my face lately:

• Andrea (my hairstylist who dabbles in photography on the side) came last week to take pictures of Maggie.  She was able to recreate several shots that she posed Riley in 2 years ago.  I can’t wait to get back the pictures so I can see my precious babies at this adorable stage of life and start framing them! It’s hard to believe how fast the baby stage goes by!
• Riley picked up his toy cell phone last night and said “Hello, it’s Riley Fisher (pronounced Peesher). Come play?” and then promptly hung up. When asked who he was calling, he replied, “Some kids.” Upon further investigation, he said he was calling Blake and Delaney (who have been away at the beach for several weeks and it’s obvious he’s missing them!). So sweet! We’ve set up a playdate when they return!
• Chris caught Riley reading books to himself the other night before bed. He has a few new favorites right now like one by Eric Carle titled Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?.  He was able to flip the pages and recite the text almost verbatim.  Then he picked up another book and transferred the same pattern.  This time instead of saying “Does a giraffe have a mother? Yes! A giraffe has a mother too.” He said, “Does a motorcycle have a mother? Yes! It has one too!” How cute!
• Chris also swears he heard Maggie give him a full-on giggle recently too! I can’t wait to hear it myself! For now though, I’ll just busy myself with trying to make her smile during her awake time. Although I must admit she responds to Daddy’s voice more than mine right now! Guess that whole Daddy/Daughter bond is starting early!
• Whenever Riley sees a bug now, he automatically says: “Just look. Don’t touch it!” That might just be his mother’s influence! Something he gets from his dad is his phrase “Be careful!” which he says often as he’s climbing down the stairs.
• Riley really enjoyed going to the Toddler Time at our local library to sing songs and listen to a book be read aloud. He knew almost all the songs and when in the right mood, loves to show off his dance moves. For instance, we took him to a fundraiser at church this past Sunday that served us a BBQ dinner and then had people in our church performing songs and skits like an old-time radio show.  Our son danced in his highchair, played air drums, and nodded his head up and down to show his approval! The skits didn’t quite hold his attention as well so after a while, we decided to head out.
• Maggie must be going through a growth spurt! She’s starting to eat every 2 to 2 1/2 hours instead of every 3 to 3 1/2. Her little belly is starting to stick out now and her cheeks are getting chubbier which makes her all the more adorable!

Summer Lovin’

I can’t believe our first month of summer is over! So sad how quickly time can fly by.  Our little family has started getting into a somewhat of a routine.  One or both of the kids usually wake up around 6:30 or 7 and we all eat breakfast (bar and banana for Riley, the usual 4 ounces of Similac blue box special for Maggie, cereal for Mom and an Everything bagel with cream cheese for dad). Then Riley gets to watch a show (typically Elmo but sometimes Animals or Thomas the Train).  At some point during the morning, we get dressed and lately one of us has been heading to the YMCA with Riley.  We can workout for about an hour while Riley goes to ChildWatch and plays. He’s always hesitant at first to go in, but within 10 minutes he’s stopped crying and is distracted with a new toy. Sometimes we go to the pool afterwards.  Riley really enjoys going in the “big” pool (holding on to Mom or Dad) over the “little” pool which is a kid-friendly water park.  On occasion Riley will work up the nerve to go down the Frog slide or put his hands in the water jet that comes out of the ground. Then we head home for lunch and nap.  Our afternoons vary but usually include time spent riding a bike in the park, blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, coloring or finger painting, playing trains upstairs or some sort of ball game downstairs, and eating snacks. Once a week, we’re trying to go somewhere special.  This past Thursday we had a blast taking the entire family on a train ride from Pineville to Uptown Charlotte to go to Discovery Place museum.  Riley absolutely loved looking out the window and all the stop and go of the Lynx train. 

He also had a great time splashing in the water table in the Kid Zone, playing drums, creating a giant LiteBrite picture, and going over a pint-size bridge in the well-padded toddler area.

Of course, I forgot my camera so these are just random Google image pics. Oh well! Next time I’ll be better prepared!

So here are just a few other highlights from our time together so far this summer:

• While staying at Grandma and Papa’s last weekend so Mom and Dad could go out to eat and celebrate our anniversary, Riley heard Aunt Jeannie sneeze and without any prompting, told her “Bess You!” She couldn’t believe his manners.  What a proud moment!
• One of the other afternoon activities I forgot to mention above is that Riley likes to dance to a CD that Blake and Delaney gave him for his birthday.  It has exercise songs that are personalized with his name. We caught on video Riley doing the grapevine which I think he learned from me doing a Zumba Wii workout with him awhile back. It’s so cute! He looks like a crab sliding sideways! His favorite track right now is the one about jumping up and down which Riley loves to do now.  I’m so happy he’s learned how to jump (that was his next big milestone that Kathy, his physical therapist for a year, mentioned that we should look for around age 2). 
• Another precious moment occurred at naptime a week or two ago.  Riley has started saying “Love You” to us before we even say it or when he’s pretending to take a nap and playing downstairs. It’s so sweet.  And after our usual routine of bath (every other night), pjs, teeth brushing, and reading 2 books, Riley will climb in his big boy bed with all 3 blankets, Ruff the Pillow Pet, the big-eyed turtle (that Kristin gave him before we left Washington), George the monkey, and most of the time a random toy like a motorcycle or train and he’ll repeat a prayer.  Two nights ago, Riley said “Thank you my family” and then named Mom, Dad, Riley, Irving, Maggie, and the wall!! Too funny!