The Victoria Pool and the Philadelphia Orchestra

We had a pretty eventful Saturday this weekend.  Usually my posts are filled with 17 too many photos because I take 50 and after the painstaking process of choosing the best ones, I can't not post 17.

This post you get one.

Half-naked baby!  So cute!

And its not even a photo from this weekend... though it is from the pool.  So its half legit.

Why you ask?

Well...

We got up early as usual, packed a lunch, some toys, some diapers, some more toys, some baby food, some towels, an extra bathing suit, some toys, some drinks and of course, sunblock.  We were ready to go to the Victoria Pool at the Saratoga State Park... when somebody needed to take a nap.

So... instead of arriving early to get a great spot, we didn't arrive until 2.  Fortunately, our friends were already there and had been staking out spots for about an hour.

As we arrived we saw a line.  Yes, a line.  Of hot, sweaty, irritated people that just wanted to go swimming.  But instead, had to wait as the pool was filled to its capacity of 344.  HOLY. CRAP.  That's a lot of people.

30 minutes later we were inside.  Dying to get in the pool.

We parked our 35 bags near the one lounge chair and one other chair our friends had procured (good thing we brought our own) and tried to nestle our cooler into the tiny spot of shade provided by our half of the shared umbrella.

We had a blast.  MiniM.E. loved the water and we swam most of the time.  I planned on being Photographer Extraordinaire, but between swimming with the baby, keeping her off the hot pool deck, pulling her out from under the lounge chair, making sure she didn't eat the coffee stirrers, park maps, and rocks that kept finding our way into our space, and the "reusable swim diaper poop-splosion", I really found very little time for snapping pictures.  (I won't get into the gory details, but suffice it to say I'm soooo glad I'm not using cloth diapers for anything but swimming!)

When we'd had it with the heat (and MiniM.E. passed out cold and slept in the grass), we headed home for a rushed two hours of unpackingrepackingtakingashowerbathingthebabygroceryshoppingmakingdinner.  That's how it felt.  And headed back to SPAC for the Philadelphia Orchestra.  They were fantastic.  MiniM.E. was super cute and I had a much needed glass of wine.  Then MiniM.E. stopped being cute and started being fussy (not to blame her... after a short afternoon nap in the grass and it being two hours past her bedtime) and we left after the first half.

It was SO nice to fall into bed when we got home.  I figured MiniM.E. would sleep like a log after all the sun and heat and water and orchestra... let's just say I'm still tired...

The Ridiculousness Continues...

When I posted about the "Terrible Eights," I may have forgotten to mention a few key issues I have with my now-eight-month-old.

Issue 1:  I like my sleep.  Apparently, Stretchy does not like me to sleep.  This is apparent in the fact that she wakes up more now than when she was a tiny infant.  Like every 3 hours.  Or less.  Last night, SEVEN times... SEVEN.  Let me just write it one more time for emphasis:  SEVEN.  Which, according to my awesome new toy, the fitbit, means out of the 8 hours and 15 minutes I was "in bed" I only slept for FIVE. AWESOME.

Issue 2:  I like to eat breakfast.  Apparently, Stretchy does not like me to be full and would prefer I was starving all day.  In the past, I was able to make my breakfast and eat it while Stretchy ate hers.  Now, since she refuses to eat breakfast, I must either eat my breakfast (tasty warm oat bran) while playing on the floor (resulting in oat bran covered carpet and/or toys) or let it get cold and gross on the table and throw it away when it becomes inedible.  Thus, I am now looking for new breakfast options... I am also hungry.

Issue 3:  I like to walk in a comfortable and upright position.  Apparently, Stretchy prefers that I walk with an extra 18 or so pounds on one hip so that my spine looks like a fish hook and I'm practically hobbling after a quarter mile. Obviously neither stroller we have is comfortable or exciting enough for her.

Here is evidence.  Yesterday I planned on taking a nice relaxing walk by the golf course at the Saratoga State Park.  Stretchy started out happy enough in her stroller.

We even saw a bunny.

This is us in the same spot on the way back.

What's different?  Aside from Stretchy being out of the stroller, I look unhappy tired like I love my baby so much that when she screamed her head off as if her arms were being torn from her body, I carried her an entire mile rather than let her suffer in the torturous stroller.

Issue 4:  I prefer people did not think I abuse my child or endager her in any way.  Stretchy, on the other hand, seems to want people miles away to think that I am either lighting her on fire, or letting her be mauled by wild animals.

Evidence:  In the parking lot after we returned from the previously described walk, I placed my seemingly comforted baby in the safe confines of her carseat so that I could pack up our belongings and take her home.  No sooner had I put her down than she began screaming so loudly and inconsolably that I immediately picked her up for fear that someone in the vicinity would hear her and call 9-1-1 or rush to her aid and call CPS because surely a child can only cry like that if she is being severely injured or mistreated.

My only other option seemed to be to set her in the grass while I put the stroller away.

This was a miracle decision on my part because A) she stopped crying, B) she seemed happier than she had in the past few days, and C) we had an activity to entertain her for a good 30 minutes.

I also got some really cute pictures...

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Or for us, our last weekend of time to hang out together with no house to work on or baby to take care of...

Not that we're not thrilled with all the new changes coming up, it's just going to be different.


So I'm hijacking Bob's computer to post a post with pictures!!  All our stuff is scheduled to arrive a week from Monday, so hopefully after that, I can post more often.  Well, for a few weeks anyway...

Let me fill you in on life since returning to America with the following:

Finding a House:
-I looked at a bunch of condos/townhouses while here on my own
-I found one I liked and put an offer on it
-The offer was accepted... we almost have a house!!
-(Bob liked it when he got here)

The Kitties:
-Love having carpeting (no sliding on the hardwood into walls)
-Love chasing each other up and down the stairs

-Got a new kitty condo as a present for moving back overseas

-Like exploring and sleeping in the sun

Austin, Texas:
-we used to live there
-we went down for a week as soon as Bob got home to check out our condo
-we thought we were just packing up a few things a touching up some paint
-we ended up spending the entire weekend cleaning, scrubbing, steam cleaning and painting :(

-we saw a really cool owl

The Baby:

-I'm getting ginormous

-Found a good doctor and a good pediatrician

-Bought a ton of stuff for her

-Made my own crib sheets

-Just finished painting the mural for her room

This Weekend:

We have lots of plans to enjoy this weekend since next weekend we'll (hopefully) be in the house and have lots of projects to work on until the baby arrives!

Last night we went to the Saratoga Park to walk around.  It was also the evening of a Journey concert, so we ended up waiting in line just to get into the park and had to park at the golf course, which really didn't put us near the walking/jogging trails, BUT we did get to walk around a bit and hear Journey from afar.

Today we went apple picking.  I haven't been in YEARS!! and I was so excited to move to New York just to go apple picking.  This was the first weekend for apples in New York, so there weren't hay rides yet (one of my requirements for a good apple picking experience), but there were tasty apples, apple cider and hot donuts, so I was a pretty happy camper.

Here is the most recent picture of me... only one month left!!

This weekend is the last weekend of the races at the Saratoga Race Course, so there is live music downtown.  We'll go see a concert and go out to eat at a restaurant that isn't kid-friendly.

Tomorrow we're going to the races, playing mini-golf, relaxing by the pool, and anything else fun we can find to do.

Monday is supposed to be stormy, so we might check out the local YMCA, which looks pretty awesome.  Or we could sit around on the balcony at our apartment and watch thunder storms.  I love thunderstorms.

Hopefully next week will be full of closing on the condo, starting to move in and completing some projects!