Oh, the water. Our 2012 spring break adventure, Part 3

Words cannot express how excited I was to dip my toes in that fabulous Gulf Coast, and feel the waves wash the saltwater over my feet until they are buried in the soft, sugar sand. It's one of the most freeing, soul lifting things in the world.

Welcome to my Happy Place:

Let's go fly a kite. Our 2012 spring break adventure, Part 2

Taylor had been pestering us to get a kite since her Mary Poppins phase this past fall, and since the beach is the best place ever to fly a kite, we held off any flying until we got here. And because we had built it up so much, even letting Chris take her to the toy store a few weeks ago to pick out the prettiest, sturdiest flying creation in all of Asheville, she was beyond excited to unwrap it and take it on it's maiden flight.

It was everything she had imagined. And it was pretty amazing for us too.

Orange Beach or bust. Our 2012 spring break adventure, Part 1

When Chris's mom asked us if we would be interested in joining them on their Spring Break vacation in Orange Beach, Alabama, this March, I jumped all over it. I mean, One, BEACH! and, Two, BEACH! And not just any beach, but a small location on the Gulf of Mexico panhandle that was just a few miles from the beach that I grew up going to with my family every summer for the first 25 years of my life. And the thought of me creating memories with Taylor and Luke in the same white, sugar sand that I hold so near-and-dear to my soul made me tremble with happiness. And March 17 couldn't get here fast enough.

And after packing half of our house into our ride, we made the long, LONG! ten hour drive south, arriving into The Breakers parking lot overjoyed to be out of the car and breathing in the saltwater air. And we immediately ran down into the sand and dipped our toes into the water. Well, Chris and I did. Taylor was scared to death of the water, staying a good fifty yards from the surf and claiming that it was, "Too loud!" And we were all, Um, Honey. THIS is the beach and we're here for two weeks. You will learn to love it and all of its loudness.

And after unpacking everything into our new digs and opening a bottle of wine with Greg and Sue, we noticed that the little big guy wasn't quite acting like his normal, happy self. And after another day of constant whining and ear tugging, we finally conceded to take him into the Urgent Care across the street so he could be diagnosed with a double ear infection. Ugh. But at least we brought him in and got him started on antibiotics, so he can get back to his charming, smiley self and start enjoying our vacation in paradise. And until then, we'll just bribe both kids with ice cream until they both get on the same level of beach-bliss as we are.

Eleven months old

Yep, you read that title right... ELEVEN MONTHS OLD. We are on the homestretch to turning the big-ONE, y’all, and I feel like I am an emotional vortex because of it. On one hand, WOW! I have almost completed – and survived - my first year being a mother of two. Hooray for me! And on the other hand, Seriously? Has the Universe started moving at warp-speed? If I close my eyes, I can clearly remember being in the hospital, giving birth to the biggest, cutest baby boy in the whole world. I’m afraid if I close my eyes again, when I come too he’ll be leaving for college. So maybe that’s one positive tick-mark for not sleeping, eh? I get to enjoy every second... Especially the ones between the hours of midnight and four in the morning.

So. Luke is only a baby for one more month, and then we can technically start calling him a toddler, disregarding the fact he’s been wearing 2T clothes for a few weeks now. Oh yes, the big guy is a growing, and judging by his appetite, he’s gonna stay in the top of the growth-charts for a while longer. And while he’s been successfully chowing down on real-people food for a few months now, he and I are currently in the process of weaning. And, let me tell ya, it’s not easy. My weaning process with Taylor was sudden and traumatic, and I had wanted to avoid that shock to my system at all costs this go-round. And even though Luke and I have had some battles over the bottle in the past, I’m happy to announce that he’s starting to adapt to the bah-bah and sippy cups. And hopefully by the time I’m writing down my One year milestones post we are totally done and I can joyfully announce that I’ve got my body back to myself. Keep your fingers crossed... Because I am so OVER doubling up sports bras to go for a run.

Oh, my little man. I just hate seeing him upset at all, because it’s such a dramatic shift from his normal, jovial self. Other than showing brief vampire-like qualities, Luke really is the happiest baby in the whole world, and this past month he started getting really, really FUN! We’ve all known he’s got a knack for flirting and being charming, but the past few weeks he’s started showing his silly-side. He loves playing peek-a-boo and swinging his arms in the air when music comes on. And the kid loves BALLS! He’ll beeline across a room to grab one of his toy balls and spike it on the ground and then go and get it again. Almost like he’s playing catch with himself. Which is a good thing too, because Lord knows the Princess is too busy reenacting the entire Tangled movie to fit in a game of catch.

But even though she’s not throwing the ball to him, Taylor truly is the best, most tolerant, big sister I could imagine. Luke is totally mobile and all over everything and so into whatever she’s playing with. He’ll wipe out her tea parties and stick her puzzle pieces in his mouth, and then he’ll grab at her hair and throw things at her when she tries to protect her playthings. And she’ll just squeal, NO, YUKEY! and then continue on trying to live in her magical princess kingdom. Yeah... I don’t think Luke realizes how good he’s got it. But one thing is for certain, no one can make him laugh like his big sister does. And watching, from a distance, the two of them play together and erupting in big belly laughs is by far the most amazing, heart-warming thing ever. And to think, a year ago at this time I was worried that this would be too much for Taylor. I’m pretty sure it’s the best thing we could have ever done for her.

So in the past few months Luke has gone from barely moving to crawling at lightening speeds around the house and pulling himself up on whatever he can. He’s got that lethal combination of being pretty tall and extremely determined, so all of our table have been cleared of any sorts of choking hazzards or heavy objects. He’s totally cruising from furniture to furniture, and I expect him to be walking in the next few months. Which, just the thought of, makes my left arm and shoulder sigh in relief from carrying that hefty boy around all day.

One thing’s for sure, when he does start walking we’re definitely going to have to reassemble to baby gate to keep him off the stairs. Even now, he’ll sneakily crawl his way onto the landing and up two or three stairs before starting to squeal, MEEP! MEEP!, which Luke-speak for, Hey Mom! Look! I’m on the stairs again! I watched him from the bottom of the staircase the other day as he got halfway up, and then he turned around and tumbled into my arms. It wasn’t death-defying, but he did roll down about six or seven stairs. And when I scooped him into my arms and started soothing him, he stopped me and STARTED LAUGHING. And then he clapped a few times and tried to crawl up them again. Seriously. I guess this is what people mean when they say, He’s all boy.

But I guess this past month was just a warm-up in keeping this Mama on her toes. I watch friends of mine who have sons that are a bit older than mine, and they are constantly chasing them down on the playground and catching them as they jump off the highest point of the jungle gyms. I could keep baby-Taylor contained by just surrounding her in a circle of books and Princess dolls. I think Luke’s gonna keep my senses on high alert. Hopefully by the time his testosterone-inspired daredevil routine starts I’ll be a little more rested.

So one more month until we’re watching him bury his face in birthday cake, and feeding him peanut butter, and turning his carseat around. All very exciting things that bring me both utter joy and heartache at the same time. Oh, this year is going so, so fast. And with an upcoming beach trip with Chris’s parents, followed by a visit to Asheville from my parents, this final month before his big birthday will be the icing on the cake of our best year ever. It may be going fast, but we are enjoying every second of it.

A sappy quote about mothering children

I found this on Pinterest a while back, and it made my heart ache it was so beautiful.

"No one else will ever know
the strength of my love
for you. After all, you are
the only one who knows what
my heart sounds like from the inside."

Pretty awesome, huh? And amazingly true. I love these little munchkins to the moon and back. And even after a long, exhausting day when they are both testing my patience and sanity, I just have to take a deep breath and remind myself how lucky I am to be able to experience every second with them. Someday, they are going to be grown and gone, and I always want to remember moments like these, where they were young and tiny and innocent and so happy just to be outside in the sunshine drawing with chalk.

Mother knows best

For someone who rocked a baby mullet until she was two, Taylor’s hair had really gotten long and luxurious in the past few months. She has these natural, sun-kissed highlights and loose, beachy waves... It’s beautiful. And LONG. And after battling her every night to brush out the tangles, I finally conceded that it’s time for a hair cut. Not a cut, a TRIM. And that’s what I kept telling her when we walked into our salon last week to get her freshened up – Okay, Honey. If you’re good and stay still for your trim, we’ll get YoLo after. To which she’d squeal and clap her hands... Pampering AND frozen yogurt? Best day ever.

So Taylor sits down in the chair and gets draped by our stylist, Brandlyn, who sweetly asks her, Now what do you want to do with your hair? And Taylor raises her arms up in her classic storytelling pose and says, So there’s this girl in my class, Zyah, and she has really short hair. And then the Princess uses her hands to make chopping motions at her hair right below her ears. And my stomach dropped to the floor and I stood there and looked at her speechless, just shaking my head NO! to Brandlyn. Because while little Miss Zyah does rock the pixie cut, I had no idea it was something that Taylor even thought about. And I was shocked that it was even a consideration of hers to want to cut off all her hair.

And here’s where the moral dilemma comes in. Yes, it is Taylor’s hair which is growing out of her head that sits on top of her body and she has to feel against her neck and face all day. If she wants to chop it all off, she should be able to, right? I mean, it’s just HAIR! It grows back... Right?

BUT. My GOD! Her hair is just so gorgeous. And with a beach trip this month and plenty of pool time this summer, I know that I’m going to want to keep her hair out of her face with ponytails and braids. So I nervously said, Hey Taylor. Let’s keep it long for just a while longer, okay? And she replied, But MOM! I wanna have short hair like Zyah! And I looked at Brandlyn, caught in the middle, and firmly said, JUST A TRIM. So that’s what she got.

Oh, this is so something she’s going to bring up when she’s a teenager and she’s giving me the reasons why I’m the worst mother ever.

Back to the Nature Center

So I know that in the past I've talked a wee-bit of smack about the WNC Nature Center and how lame it is and how I long for a real zoo. Yeah. I get bitter about silly things sometimes. Like how I almost got into a fight at the concession stand at a college basketball game this past weekend because the 15 year old behind the counter only gave me half a bag of popcorn. For THREE DOLLARS! After I stood in line for FIFTEEN MINUTES! Ugh. Still peeved about that one.

And because I’m directing all my ridiculous anxiety at part-time snack vendors, I can proudly say that I’ve bumped my grudge at the Nature Center. Because on a nice day, like the one we had last Thursday, it’s a wonderful way to spend the morning. See: