This was Hailey's second Fourth of July. The first one she couldn't really experience because she was only a month old. This time it has been a little different. We went to Ann Morrison Park this afternoon. They were hosting a chalk art festival. It was fun to walk around and see all the different art work on the ground. It's amazing what people can do with chalk and talent. Hailey was bored just sitting in her stroller. After we walked around we headed over to the fountain to let Hailey play. She loves water and we wondered how this would go. The water was cold though. We know how that went last time at the splash park! This found was much bigger and the spray was much greater. She only had to stand a couple feet back to get wet. She would watch the other kids and get closer and closer but never get up right next to the water or play directly in it. As she wandered around she got close to one corner where the spray of water droplets was much bigger. She got soaked! It freaked her out and she started crying. We thought she might be done but after a moment of comfort we put her down and she walked back around checking out more of the kids and still getting wet. It worked well for her to be able to cool off in the water. It was fun watching her.
Hailey continues to grow up and grow out of her baby ways and turn towards the big kid stuff. With that I've come to realize a few things.
*Learning how to hold your own utensil always ends up in some sort of a mess and usually a stain on the floor.
*Bath time means that all involved are going to get wet, whether one is in the bathtub or not.
*We will always have our favorites: currently her favorite book is Mickie's shapes. We read it multiple times a day.
*If we are in the kitchen, she is in the kitchen. I pull something out, she pulls something out. The fun part is teaching her to put things back.
*She enjoys standing on a chair watching and wanting to be a part of whatever is happening in the kitchen or elsewhere.
*You never stop utilizing the Boppy. First it was for breastfeeding, then propping baby up. Then a husband and sisters who love it almost more than their own pillows. Now it has turned into a toy to roll and bounce and tackle and lay on.
*No matter how much you try to not include "no" into a child's vocabulary, it's going to happen regardless.
*She has become more vocal and specific about things she does or doesn't want.
*Her cognitive thinking has improved dramatically. uh, uh, but you can play with the bobby pins. Oh where are they! and she goes for that instead. She understands more than we originally gave her credit for.
*She still growls. Raar!
Idaho's Truck Shine & Show and Pre-Rodeo Stampede events.
Joel: I liked seeing all the other people's handiwork and how they built things. I enjoyed sitting down in the air conditioned building watching the ladies horse drill formations a lot more. We ventured in because it was getting too hot outside for Red/Me. Come to find out we actually enjoyed watching. I missed riding and working with horses. Joel enjoys rodeo events and I had never really been to much of any of the events. Joel: I like being able to watch things that normal local people put time and effort into. They put their time and effort into something that they aren't going to get paid for. We are hoping to go to one night of the actual Stampede Rodeo next weekend. I hope to get see the roping event. Its something that I've just always liked.
We don't usually have babysitters but it has been nice the few times we've wanted to go somewhere, one of our relatives would watch Hailey. Today she got to spend time with Kurt and Linda Pyrah. They have a wooden rocking chair that we put Hailey in when we first got there. She enjoyed that! While Linda played with Hailey we snuck out. She didn't even notice. She had a ball and a backyard full of grass to play in.
Family/Maternity Pictures
A couple weeks ago a girl posted that she needed to build her photography portfolio and needed pictures of familys, maternity, etc. Well being pregnant, I offered myself and family for the job. Joel isn't a fan of pictures and being 9 months prego, I don't feel very photogenic, but we did them anyway. We started our adventure yesterday with outfit shopping. I had an idea of what I wanted to wear but needed a skirt for it. Joel has been losing weight and most of his shirts of either super baggy now or have stains on them. Gotta love the life of parents with messy kids or ones that still randomly burp on you. We found Joel a t-shirt that looked good on him and that he actually really liked. He said I'll probably get tired of him wearing it. Then we found a long skirt for me. Today, Saturday, we had the photo shoot. We went to Alberston's park. It's beautiful there and a perfect place for photo ops. The flowers were in bloom, the trees were green, it was only 11 oclock so it wasn't super scorching hot yet! I'm excited to see how they turn out. We took some fun ones as a family. We haven't done that yet. Hailey has 6 and 9 month pics and now a few 12 month ones.
Ultimately, I decided that I needed to be more accepting of my figure in the state that it's in, even if I feel fat or bloated or like I'm going to pop. It'll be a small window in time that many people might not want to remember but it's the start of something and that should be remembered.
Idaho Stampede Rodeo
So Joel willingly did pictures but he's ultimately super excited 10/10 to go to the rodeo tonight. He's grown up going or participating in them. I've only been to a small one in South Carolina with Antje, and didn't catch much of it. Tonight is the finale where the best of the best are going to compete. It should be fun.
My favorite part and the part I got the most into were the mutton busting and barrel racing. I'm familiar with barrel racing but I'd never heard of mutton busting. Little kids, 5-7 years old would take their try at riding a sheep. They were scored on how long they stayed on and the difficulty of the sheep they were riding. The first couple riders didn't stay on very long and I thought... ok, next. But then this 5 year old girl had a heck of a ride! The sheep took off and she held on and stayed upright until she flipped under but she still held on while the sheep took off! She eventually came off but it was the first score of 91. The crowd went wild, we were all hoot'n and hollarin. Then a couple others did ok but only a few other kids got the crowd worked up. The original girl didn't win, but I think she should have. It was a blast! Who knew...
Barrel racing was fun to watch because I've done some of that in classes at school and knew how hard it really is but how exciting it is at the same time. Joel really enjoyed the Bull riding and team roping. He was excited to watch Kanin Asay ride the bulls and eventually win at that event. he'd get nervous when other competitors would have a good ride, but luckily most of them didn't stay on for the full 8 seconds. Pheww... Kanin is someone he knew from his hometown area and it was a treat. Then team roping he enjoyed because that's what he competed in when he did local rodeo events.
It was a good night. Hailey was at a friends for the evening so Joel and I had a date night-6 hours all to our selves! It's like we were dating or newlyweds without kids. We rode Joel's motorcycle out to the rodeo because we figured it'd be easier to find parking and it was cheaper on gas since we'd have to go to Nampa. Well, we were good on most of those accounts. It was cheaper on gas. We did have a good parking spot, but mostly because we got there early enough. BUT I never looked at the size of Joel's passenger seat on the bike. It's tiny and my backside isn't so tiny currently and with my current hip/pelvic pain/pressure...oh it made for on very long ride! But Joel enjoyed having me ride with him. It was a level of trust that he appreciated. Plus he had me close while traveling.
It was a good night and it's been a great month so far.
Miracle Check
This month in many people's eyes may have been a more challenging month than most. Finances were tighter because Joel didn't work almost 3 of his usual days and then there weren't as many OT days. We've been trying to put away funds towards his school tuition to have it paid off by the end of the year. We also are trying to put away funds towards our flights to Vegas for Christmas. We knew that with those two objectives plus extra school expenses we'd have to watch our spending. The 3 days really hurt. BUT somehow things work out.
I was telling Joel that with all the things we do, spend, or give away to help others there should be no financial way that we stay balanced like we have. Our savings doesn't just keep dwindling. They have always been small things that we don't notice, never the big check that lands up in our mailbox...until yesterday. I picked up the mail on my way to get ice water. It was a MetLife envelope. I had figured we were done with all that since Joel had been back to work for almost 3 months. I opened the envelop and it was another check. It was enough to cover the back insurance that we owed through CCA as well as enough to either purchase a welding helmet for Joel or pay half of his tuition.
I'm not usually an emotional person, but as of recently both Joel and I have had our 'boob' moments. This was one of those times where I felt grateful enough to almost almost tear up. We have been very blessed to be able to live on Joel's income alone. There have been plenteous times that have allowed us to build up savings and working reserves and there have been not so plenteous times but we still continue to live where we have what we need and even some of the things that we want.
Life this year hasn't been easy by any means. We've had trial that have tested us and continue to test us but through it all, we've never been closer. We've never been happier on a consistent basis in our married life.
Trading off sleep
I think Joel and I have started early practicing our routine for when Emilee gets here. I sleep, then you sleep. You watch Hailey while I sleep, then we'll trade. Joel is usually pretty tired from work especially as the week goes on and I have been exhausted from hip pain and not sleeping because of pregnacny related discomfort. So I wake up with Hailey, we eat and get ready for the gym. Hailey plays at the gym while I swim. We both come home and Hailey gets to take a nap. Sometimes I take a nap as well. My naps are usually longer though, so since Joel is up by then he gets some down time and then watches Hailey. I'm hoping that we can get Emilee on a sleeping schedule that she'll eat and then sleep while I'm at the gym with Hailey. Then Emilee and Joel can sleep while Hailey and I sleep. Oh sleep, you think it's important or something!
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