Camping Trip, Camper Fall & Cabinet-Raiding

22 Months & 3 Weeks

2 Fridays ago I had one busy day.  I was sure that I was headed for bed rest, but at least I was still hydrating like crazy.  I tried to enjoy Ty the best I could because that afternoon Heath & Ty were leaving to go camping for the entire Labor Day weekend.  I have to work every holiday weekend for the next 4 years (they just happen to fall on my weekend to work), so there is absolutely no sense in my boys sticking around so I can see them for an hour or two after I have finished my 12 hour shift.  So they were going camping with the Edwards.  First thing in the morning, Tyson climbed onto the bathroom counter without any help for the first time.  He did it right in front of me, I couldn’t believe it!  He stood on the cabinet drawer handle and then pulled himself up.  What a monkey!  So I packed for Tyson & the dogs and then they took off at around 4 PM.  I have to say that I was quite emotional.  I wouldn’t see Ty for 3 ½ days!  I knew that he would have a blast, but it was still hard.  It’s not right for a mother to be away from her child for that long!  Well, I didn’t have time to wallow, because my busy day continued.  I really should have just laid down on the couch and did nothing… but I just can’t do that.  I did a full cleaning of the house, I took an online CPR course, paid our bills, and then went grocery shopping.  I will admit that I treated myself to Chinese takeout before the sun went down.  It was delicious.  Since I had to work 7a-7p on Sabbath, I tried to get to bed at a decent time at 11 PM, but that was not meant to be.  I don’t know if it was the first episode of pregnancy-induced insomnia, but I could not sleep for anything.  I mean, it was 2-3 hours earlier than my normal bedtime, but c’mon.  I just watched the clock and could NOT fall asleep.  I finally got to sleep at about 2:30 AM, so that equaled a whopping 2 ½ hours before I had to get up at 5 AM.  So frustrating.

Not him climbing on the bathroom counter, but this just shows his monkey skills!

On Sabbath, I did well despite my lack of sleep and had no trouble sleeping that night!  Ty took quite a fall out of the Edwards’ camper on that Sabbath.  There were questions about whether the screen door was properly latched or not…in any case, he leaned against it or opened it and fell down the steps onto the ground, landing on his back.  He got some scratches to his forehead, but thank goodness, his clavicle appeared to be fine!  I was so excited to see Tyson on Saturday night.  We used “Google Talk” through Gmail (just like Skype) and he said, “hi”, was waving “bye” to me and even blew me kisses.  It made me cry again.  These pregnancy hormones are rough.

On Sunday, I worked 7a-7p again and was severely short-staffed and in charge.  Not a great day, but I did manage to get us some help in the afternoon, so that was good.  I ran to the pharmacies after work and got 3 bags of Chex Mix for $0.06 each, got 2 eyeliners (that usually cost $7.49 each) for $0.61 each, and got some free toothpaste.  Not a bad trip at all.  I was very disappointed not to see Tyson on Sunday night.  He couldn’t stay awake for us to Google Talk and had just crashed.  Can’t blame him, though.  But they told me that he was loving singing the song, “Over the Sea” around the campfire and Sonia had taught him some hand motions.  I was missing him so much!

On Monday I worked 10a-10p, so at least, I got to sleep in until 8 AM!  That last shift kind of dragged, but I got through it.  I haven’t done three 12 hour shifts in a row… probably since Tyson was born, but Labor Day was my summer holiday that I had to do… so I had to do it!  When I got home, my boys were just getting home too.  I thought they would have been home for hours, but they had done a few things at the church school in Conway for Sonia (they were starting the next day) and then went out to dinner with Sonia’s father, who was visiting from North Carolina.  They had super slow service and didn’t get home until 11 PM!  I was so happy to see Tyson, I can’t even tell you.  What a feeling!  He was sleeping, of course, but at least I could gaze at him!

On Tuesday, I was reunited with my boy!  He appeared pretty happy to see me too!  At around noontime (after Ty had taken a nap), my mom came over and we drove down to Concord and picked up Shannon at a park ‘n’ ride.  We went to Chipotle and then went to my ultrasound appointment.  I was pretty scared of how low my fluid levels would be after working three 12 hour shifts in a row, but I really was drinking well and continued my soaking in the tub.  It paid off and I went from 13 cm… to 18 cm!!!!  How is that possible?  I was psyched.  So I’m just going to keep up the hard work (the drinking & soaking) and see what my OB says in a couple of weeks.  But I think I am in the clear at this time!  After the appointment we went to the Lots 4 Tots thrift store and for the first time, I didn’t get a thing for Ty.  Poor kid.  I looked for his next size up, but didn’t like anything.  I got a few things for the baby, though… so that was good.  Then we headed home and Ty was very happy to see Heath when he got home.  But what was so funny was that as soon as Heath walked in the door (and Ty had greeted him)… Ty ran over to one of our kitchen cabinets.  I couldn’t believe it!  It just happens to be our snack cabinet, where we keep our chips & crackers.  Ty has figured out that Heath goes over to that cabinet first thing when he gets home from work every day, and then Ty gets a hand-out!  I’ve been telling Heath that he is setting a bad example for Ty and this just proved it! 

Ty grabbed a bag of chips out of the cabinet and then threw it on the floor!

Playing with Dad when he got home from work

Wednesday I was actually home with my boy all day!  Since I had already worked Monday, I didn’t have to work Wednesday.  I think Ty was exhausted from his camping and then our day in Manchester, so he took a 3 hour nap!  The unfortunate part of that was my timing with the nap.  15 minutes before he woke up, I got another migraine (my 8^th of the pregnancy).  If only I had gotten the migraine at the beginning of his nap… then I could have slept it off!  But that was not meant to be.  It really is hard to chase after an active, nearly 2 year-old when you are not feeling well, but what choice do you have?

He loves talking on the phone!

Here again... making a very important phone call!

On Thursday Ty took another long nap… 2 ½ hours and we did a couple of errands in the afternoon.  I had Ty walk (while holding my hand) in Walgreens, while I was just picking up some milk, but he insisted on touching absolutely everything that we passed!  It was so funny.  We passed a display of chips and he would grab a bag of them… we passed magazines and he would touch the covers… everything had a little boy’s handprint on it!  I know he felt like such a big boy, though!  My dad came over in the afternoon (my mom had left the day before on her yearly backpacking trip in Maine) to see Ty and then we all drove down to Concord and met up with the Frosts.  Concord is only 30 minutes from their new house, so it’s not too bad for them.  Ty got his haircut at Supercuts (he did really well) and then we went to the OG.  And at the OG is where Tyson did NOT do well at all.  I don’t know what got into him, but it was one of the worst behaved nights he has had in a restaurant in awhile.  Whiny and restless and wouldn’t touch his pizza.  His bad behavior continued when he was up screaming bloody murder at 1:30 AM and ended up in bed with us.  It seemed to be a nightmare…but you just never know.

This is what my dogs do while we are gone doing errands... they get into the snack cabinet as well!  Even with the stool blocking it... they managed to get a whole loaf of bread out on Thursday!

Well, have a good week!