Summer Adventure- Destination #1

Destination #1- Indianapolis, IN (to see Aunt Debra and go to the zoo)

Summer Adventure

Last year, when I envisioned taking this year's summer road trip, 3 kids and 4700 miles, I knew it sounded a little nutty. After Darren took a new job with less vacation time, it seemed even crazier, as I would be doing it solo.  And finally, as the trip got closer, it seemed like I had lost my mind, as Matthew would often freak out on the short ride to the grocery store.  But Alyssa, Jackson, Matthew and I went on our summer road trip adventure anyway.

It was amazing!  The kids were great. 

Driving, we had a few rocky moments here and there, but overall, they were often better behaved in the car than they were out of it.  They powered through too, going 4 or 5 hours between breaks.  And they did it without the aid of dvds, as they often get carsick with them.  We listened to audiobooks.  They colored.  They napped.  They played with their bag of toys.  They enjoyed seeing the US through their window.  82 driving hours over 22 days. 

On the other end of the drive, there were people we love and fun to be had!  (More posts to follow.)

I would definitely do it again!

At one of our many stops.

 

Happy 6th Birthday, Jackson!

Happy 6th birthday to our Jack-Jack!  He's a fun-loving kid that gives big hugs and laughs from his toes.  

Jackson loves
-corn dogs
-Star Wars
-playing Wii
-Phineas and Ferb
-his family
-sleeping on the top bunk.

Baby Steps

Another baby step-- I have been afraid to post as to jinx it-- but Matthew has made a leap in his verbal skills recently.  He has been much more vocal...and using words!

'Dada' is most pronounced and easily understandable (just in time for Father's Day), but you can also make out the dogs names (A-ah= Leia, Ah-meh= Padme), Granny (ah-ee), ready (eh-ee), go (uh), and so on.  Even an infrequent 'mama'.  Lots of word approximations!

I am hopeful this is just like his walking.  I feared for so long that he wouldn't walk, and we did see EVERY interim step, but once he started walking, he started running and hasn't stopped since. I look down at him navigating the steps at school and am awed how simple he makes it look after struggling for so long.  I pray talking is the same--that one day I hear him talking my ear off and wonder why I ever worried that he wouldn't talk. 

Blessing

We closed on our Houston house last Thursday.  Originally, we were scheduled to close in Austin but the title company wanted to charge $250 for the convenience of doing so.  In case you didn't know this about me, I am frequently frugal.  I became incensed and said there was no way I would pay $250 for the convenience and I would instead drive to Houston for the close. 

I felt pretty good about my plans because in addition to saving the money, (1) I would have a final chance to check on the house to make sure it was move in ready and (2) it would make the move feel a bit less final.  I planned to stay with my folks Wednesday evening, check on the house before close, close Thursday morning, have lunch with friends and head back to Austin by Thursday afternoon. 

So, I was already feeling pretty good about the plan, though it was impeding my unpacking progress in Austin, but now I feel like that $250 'convenience' charge (and my subsequent outrage) was a blessing.  On Wednesday afternoon, I got to spend an hour sitting with my grandmother. I am so thankful I had that time.  

Grandma Kendall

When I was growing up, I used to think that my grandmother was frail.  She was very petite, and had limited use of her right hand because of polio she battled when she was young.  As a child, I thought that meant she was frail.

Seeing her with adult eyes and seeing it through our experiences with Matthew, I now know that though she might have looked frail, my grandma was so very strong.  She was a fighter, just not in the ways I imagined a fighter to look when I was young.  I never saw her raise her voice, but she spoke volumes. In her declining days, she fought the nurses when they wanted her to do something she didn't want to do.  This seemed to surprise everyone because she was tiny with a typically sweet disposition, but I wasn't surprised, she was a fighter. 

She loved beauty-- my walls are covered in her paintings.  And she always made me feel loved and cherished.  I was lucky to be her granddaughter.  

After 91 years, my grandmother passed away on Thursday.  She will be missed.

My grandmother and her twin.
May they rest in peace.

My grandparents were married almost 72 years.

 

3 is Hard (Part 2)

3 is hard, and not just the age!  My best friend sent me this news article: "Mom Survey Says: 3 is Most Stressful Number of Kids".  Some moments, I totally agree. 

After giving birth to Jackson, we knew we wanted baby #3 some day. My midwife then advised me that if you have 3 kids, you might as well have 10, because 3 was the tipping point. 

Thankfully, most of the day, it doesn't feel that hard.  It was much harder when there were 3 of them aged 4 and younger.  But even now that they are older, there are moments that it seems a bit unruly.  I vaguely remember that there were moments that 2 felt hard, or that 1 felt hard too. 

The interesting point of having more kids is that when you have 1, you think, "oh goodness, I can barely get out of the house with this child".  Then, when you have 2 kids, and you only have 1 kid with you, you think "whew, this is so much easier than having the 2." Then when you have 3 kids, and you only have 2 with you, you think "whew, this is so much easier than having all 3".  It is all relative. 

We thought at the beginning that 3 would be the right number for us, and it seems just right.