The Beginning of Adventures in Omaha

On Wed, we flew to Omaha without incident.  The girls were both fantastic on the plane - Rory slept and Taylor gabbed the whole time about the plane and clouds and the other babies on board.

Then yesterday we had a long lunch visit at my mom's work, where Rory managed to go through all the cloth diapers in my diaper bag and I found myself on my last emergency disposable. Yeeps!  However, we still needed to stop by Whole Foods on the way home because we were going to have a dinner guest.  My friend, Megan, from Northwestern was flying in to visit her NE family for the weekend and was going to stop by our house for a few hours before headed on home.

On the way to Whole Foods I came upon a formidable obstacle: both girls fell asleep...or rather, Taylor fell asleep.  It's hard enough to attempt shopping with a sleeping toddler on your own (usually I abandon the trip if I find myself in that situation), but how does one go shopping with a sleeping toddler AND a baby??

Glancing around the car, I formulated a quick plan.  I saw my Beco carrier (the soft-structured one that can go on front or back) - woohoo! - so glad I threw this in the car on the way to lunch.  If I could just get Taylor in the carrier while still sleeping, and then keep Rory in her car seat and put her in the shopping cart, I just might be able to shop.

Success!  Taylor was so zonked that she wasn't fazed by the transfer and Rory's seat fit in the cart.  I had just enough room left over in the cart (the fold down seat in front) to stack a rotisserie chicken, a box of salad, some strawberries, asparagus, and yogurt.

When I got to the car, I loaded the groceries in and then held my breath as I attempted Taylor's transfer back to the car seat.  Sadly, I wasn't as lucky the second time around.  Taylor woke up and started screaming: she didn't want to get in the seat, she didn't want to go home, she didn't want anything but to be held in the parking lot.  Then Rory woke up.  Shoot.

I got Rory back into the car, returned the cart, and then had to force Taylor into her seat.  Taylor was crying, Rory was crying, Taylor was crying that she didn't want Rory to be crying.  The absurdity of it all was actually a bit comical: Taylor: Maaamaa! Maamaa! Rory: Maaaaaaaaaa! Waaaaaaaaaaa!  They cried the whole way home.

Dinner went well.  It was great to see Megan again and Taylor was particularly entertaining.  When I had gone to pick up Megan from the airport beforehand, I went by myself.  Child-free.  A strange feeling.  Taylor was having a great time outside with my parents and Rory had just fallen asleep, so I figured they were both better off there.  If Rory had woken up at home at least my parents could rock her, where as if she were in the car I wouldn't be able to do anything for her.  She was asleep the whole time I was gone.

Today's adventure: Taylor went to work with my dad this morning! She pleaded that he take her with him and he agreed.  Wow!  I hope he can still get some work done.  I packed toys and snacks for her and I know that his iPhone and office chalkboard will come in handy as well.  I'll be driving out there to meet up with my parents for lunch, so it'll only be a couple of hours.  We'll see how it goes!

Last week in Omaha

At the zoo:

Sitting on a lion

Petting goats

Lounging in a hippo's mouth

At Lolo and Lola's house:

Surround sound squeaky blocks

Pearls

The expression she makes when I say "Smile!"

Omaha to St. Louis

We had a great weekend in Omaha. The 5 mile run/walk went well. It was a very sunny day, but breezy as well so we didn't get too overheated.

Carol and Taylor stood in line to get their faces painted before the race started, but the line was so long that Mark stayed behind with them and the rest of us started running/walking. Mom and I walked slowly so that they would have an easier time catching up. Carol jumped in with the runners as they passed the two mile marker and Mark waited there awhile longer until we were made it. At that point the "sag wagon" police car was right behind us. We had been walking so slowly apparently, that we were at the back of the line! Everyone we had passed up before then had just dropped off and left.

With Taylor in the umbrella stroller we made an effort to speed up and pass as many people as possible, running whenever we reached a downhill area. When we got to the last mile or so, I decided to run, Mom wanted to keep walking, and Mark just pulled the stroller off to the side to watch us finish. I crossed the finish line at just under 1 hour and 25 minutes. It was my slowest time yet for this Boys Town run, but I comfort myself knowing that I took it easy and didn't really try to go fast anyway. I'll have to post our end-of-race photo later, as soon as I get it from my parent's camera...

When we got home we had Stetson Salad for lunch and banana splits for dessert, watched a few movies, and then had beef kabobs and corn for dinner. Taylor loved eating the corn right off of the cob!

Here are other fun photos from the weekend.

Taylor playing with her babydoll inside Phoebe's crate. Mark was worried neighbors would look in the window and think we had caged our baby, so he pulled the curtains shut.

Taylor and Phoebe enjoying the sun and nice, green grass.

Kissing Daddy through the window. They did this for a few minutes! It was adorable.

The drive home went amazingly well (thanks for the prayers)! Taylor slept for about 4 of the 7 hours, and when she was awake she was happy and playful. Phoebe, on the other hand, insisted on sitting on my lap for almost the entire drive. We got home at about 5:30pm, so it was plenty of time to unwind and relax before bed.

We had leftovers of Mark's homemade pizza for dinner (oh-so-good). I told Mark we should see how his pizza tastes once it's been frozen and defrosted. If it holds up better than store bought pizza I think we should just make large batches of it once a month and have them as our dinner back-up plan instead of other frozen pizzas.

Now I need to get to unpacking our stuff and washing some clothes...and Taylor's gunky carseat cover. Feeding baby in the car = messy messy messy. Taylor and I leave for KL in 8 days! Yikes! I need to get packing.

Weekend in Omaha

We're in Omaha now! It was a long and not particularly pleasant drive up (read: screaming, tired baby), but we made it here just before midnight on Friday. Then Phoebe woke us up at 6:30am on Sat because she was so excited to explore my parent's big backyard. Ah, a vacation of little sleep.

We went to Sur La Table and found new, fun pizza-making and grill supplies for Mark, then to Whole Foods for our yummy pizza ingredients. Mark will be making pizza tonight. Then, Mark and I left Taylor behind with my parents and went off to see the new Star Trek movie. I really liked it! It makes me want to watch the original series all over again.

Taylor and her Lola spent a lot of time outside playing with the garden hose (which Taylor also loves to do at home now). Here are the best shots:

Chris and Carol arrived late last night, so we haven't seen much of them yet. But we're all going to Dario's for brunch in a few minutes and then to the zoo.

Tomorrow is our big 5mile run (er, walk). We may prep a little bit today walking around the neighborhood. I forgot the jogging stroller, so we're forced to take it slow with an umbrella stroller my parents had around. Mom is pleased she'll be pushing Taylor for the event this year. Dad had the stroller all last year.

I'd better get ready to go - we're leaving soon!

Boz, peek-a-boo, anniversary

These last couple of weeks have been fun and exhausting at the same time. Taylor has become so much more fun, interesting, dramatic, and temperamental. It's a crazy combination!

On the fun side, she has taken a liking to stuffed animals now - particularly a green bear named Boz that we found at a local Christian bookstore. She likes to snuggle and hug and kiss Boz. It's adorable!

She's also a big fan of Peek-a-boo now, playing with us throughout the day as well as with random people in stores or restaurants or on the airplane ride back from Omaha.

We had a great time in Omaha - eating blackberries, climbing the stairs, and going to the Henry Doorly Zoo. According to Taylor, all the animals at the zoo said "Bah!" She enjoyed the waterfalls in the Rainforest most of all.

When Taylor and I got home from St. Louis, Mark had a surprise for us. The house was sparkling clean, there were flowers and champagne, and dinner was in the works! It was a special treat to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary.

Now is the final countdown to Easter - probably the most exciting and meaningful holiday for Christians! I'm excited to dress Taylor up and celebrate. We'll be in Evansville on Friday.