A Mom’s Holiday

I’m not talking about Mother’s day.  I’m talking about working moms taking a day to do something creative and fun with their kids and other working moms.

That’s exactly what my friend Jennifer Hamlin and I did on Wednesday.  It was a spontaneous sort of an adventure that began with a trolley ride to the UVa where Calvin and I met Jennifer and a room full of women for the monthly CVille SheBlogs meeting at Para Coffee.

(By the way, my little sleepyhead did not want to get out of bed this morning.  When I told him he needed to wake up so we could take the trolley.  He sat upright and said, “Get dressed!”  He was rarin’ to go from that moment forward!)

After our meeting Jennifer and her daughter asked us if we wanted to join them downtown at the Virginia Discovery Museum.  Since I was sans vehicle, I said we could meet them downtown, but we were going to ride in on the trolley.  Instead of looking for downtown parking, Jennifer and her daughter hopped on the trolley and joined us.

We window shopped and admired pretty things like a live finch and plant-shaped candles at Caspari.

I wasn’t used to taking leisure time to “look” at things I would never buy.  Okay, online window shopping aside.  But, we simply walked and took our time and had a relaxing day with our precious children.

With a little muscle, we turned the merry-go-round carousel, and then we spent a few hours in the Discovery Museum (if you visit once with a member, your April membership is free for your family!).

Calvin and I haven’t been to that  museum before, and it was surprisingly cool.  Not too big, and not as small as I thought.  It was just right. Calvin’s favorite features were the train table and the live honeybees.  I think we may decide to join as members.

After running themselves ragged from so much fun, our kiddos were about to collapse in fatigue.  But, not until they had one more go on the carousel.

Then, we hiked to the other end of the Downtown mall to Marco & Luca’s for a tasty and inexpensive lunch of dumplings.

Dumplings were a huge hit!  Look at that boy go with his kuàizi (a.k.a. chopsticks).

All four of us rode the Trolley back and we said goodbye.  I could have done some house cleaning, but I snuggled up with Calvin for an afternoon nap followed by more playing in the backyard and a walk down to see train tracks.

That was just the day off I needed.  No work.  No computer.  Just a lot of smiles, laughs, time away from things that always need to be done.  It was the perfect day.

Stuffy

I’ve been burning the midnight oil, the candle at both ends, and I’m plumb tired.  So tired, that I think overworking myself has caused me to get a little run down.  Nothing like the full-force of allergies to say, Hey!  Slow down!

It all started on Monday when my son and I enjoyed a lovely day by eating our lunch outside in a courtyard surrounded by beautiful blooms and singing birds.

Shortly after we walked back to the office, I started to sneeze and get a runny nose.  Within a few hours, I had full on sinus congestion and zero capability to breathe through my nose.

I could not wait to get home and relax.

—————————

That night, I was miserable and groaning with little sleep and a lot of drippy nose and stuffy head.  They were the worst sinus allergies I’d experienced since I was a teenager living in the Ragweed pollen capital of the world in central Texas.

Calvin was pretty miserable, too.  He crawled into bed with us and was restless.  When he woke up the next morning, his eyes were red and puffy. Poor little guy!

All I wanted to do was stay home and sleep and do nothing but snuggle with my son.  However, I had a full patient load for the day.  So, I dropped off Calvin with a friend for the morning, and then I headed to the office to hang out for eight hours.  An eight hour day isn’t a terribly long work day.  But, when you’ve got the worst allergies, eight hours feels like twenty plus.

I may or may not have had a tissue crammed up and hanging out of my nostril to absorb the run-off snot.  And no, there is no photo.

Thankfully, another chiropractor was able to fit me in during the late morning to adjust my inflamed spine and to work on my horribly stuffed nasal passages.  I felt well enough afterward to continue with my day (even though I still wanted to go home and crawl in bed and rest).

——————–

So, to sum up my afternoon:  Calvin woke up early from his nap because he was too hot.  Sweating profusely from too many blankets.

He said, Hair wet.  Take a shower.  Wash hair.

Not only did I have two hours of patient care remaining, but I had a miserable little guy who wanted my full attention.  When one patient was finishing up, Calvin kept saying, All done. Bye bye!

That’s code for: Please, leave now.  I want my Mommy all to myself.

He said this for the next patient who came in.  I tried to add in some training.

Calvin, we don’t say those things.  That’s not being a good little host.

Futile.

Especially when a two year-old isn’t feeling well.  Forget manners.  It’s all about being direct and expressing your needs.

My heart was torn.  I wanted nothing more than to cuddle my little guy and get him home.  Yet, I need to focus on patients when I’m at work, whether or not I’m feeling well, and whether or not my son agrees.

I looked at the clock all afternoon hoping my husband would get off work early to pick up our son.  No such luck.

————————-

Being a working mom is hard with little ones who want constant attention…especially when you have a job where you care for people who need constant attention.  Also, it’s tough when your babysitter is on spring break for days that are super full.

God bless friends like Elisa who can help out in a pinch.  God bless chiropractic care and homeopathic remedies that actually work to relieve allergies.

Note: I still have residual symptoms from my allergies, but they are seventy-five percent better.  Because I’ve been run down and working so much that I regretted not having fun outings with my son, I more than made up for it today. (More on that later…)

By the way, while all of that stuff was going on, Angie Bremont of CVille Entremom announced the winner of the First Annual CVille Entremom of the Year.

*photo from Little Miss Pip via Flickr.

Resurrection Day in Charlottesville

It’s been one of those weeks where I’ve had more on my “wish I could do list” than was truly realistic.  Well, the list was realistic, but other events in real life kinda came up.

I had to keep shoving things off until tomorrow.  And then, tomorrow came, and well . . here we are–it’s Resurrection Day!

My husband is in the kitchen happily preparing our lamb roast.  He makes a scrumptious lamb roast!  The aroma of the roasted rosemary and garlic is so mouth-watering delicious.

My son has already biked through the lawn . . .Picked pretty flowers . . .

(that I arranged into a centerpiece with two small glasses) . . .

Had a pretend tea party, read several books, and he peeled all the paper off of his crayons. He stopped for a few moments to taste homemade hummus and carrots and a pitted date (an ingredient in the raw peach cobbler).

Even though I need to catch up on some serious sleep from the past two weeks, I was able to finish cleaning my floors, and the surprise of the evening was that I did indeed finish making my son’s first bow tie.

It was the first thing he wanted when he awoke this morning. Mommy!  Bow tie!

I started to make one from a lime green dragonfly print with a contrasting brown bias tape, but the extra work involved on that project just meant I needed a few more days weeks to complete.  So, I decided to create a brand new one (sans bias tape).

The finished one is a great complement to his sweater vest, don’t you think?

Thankfully, I practiced the bow tie-tie method on Calvin’s stuffed Snoopy at least 10 times, so I could quickly do it for a restless toddler this morning.

Apparently, I wasn’t fast enough.

Calvin kept tucking his chin to his chest saying “All Done!  Off!” But, I persisted, and he was more than pleased with the final outcome.  He called himself dapper.  Indeed he was.

After church, he didn’t want to change into more comfortable clothes (a.k.a. I didn’t want to deal with grass stains on his white shirt).  But, he did sneak in a few kicks in the backyard before I made him change.

It was also a great opportunity for a family photo shoot (long overdue since last fall!)

Happy Resurrection Day from my family to yours.  We’re so thankful for the Lamb who bore our sins and rose again to conquer death, disease, and destruction.  Enjoy this special day with your loved ones!

wellBEing weekends: functional fitness

I haven’t stepped foot into a gym for workout purposes in over 3 years.  Not that you need a gym for fitness.

Since I was pregnant with my son, I still did some swimming, intense walking and hiking.  Post-pregnancy, I did some martial arts (a little too much too soon), and some intermittent running training, but I didn’t have a much needed routine for fitness.

Oh have I missed the routine.  Intense workouts with a surge of accomplishment afterward.  There may be a serious soreness after-the-fact, but THAT’s what I missed.

But this past month, I got to get back into a routine at the Crossfit Charlottesville On-Ramp class–a class that eases prospective gym members into the basics of weightlifting, rowing, stretching, and functional fitness skills with attention to safety, proper form, and complex movements that are broken down into small, digestible movements.

Workout #1, my Crossfit On-Ramp comrades and I muscled our way through a tough workout.  Today, eleven workouts later, we repeated that same workout from day one, and we crushed it.

Workout #1 & #12:

• Row 200 m
• 3 rounds of 15-12-9 repetitions of air squats, push-ups, and ring rows
• Row 200 m

My time during the first workout was 7:12.  Today, I shaved off almost 2 minutes with a 5:21.  Yeah!  Also, in four weeks, I’ve lost one size and most of my winter pudge.

What is a typical Crossfit workout? Well, you can visit Crossfit.com to play along with the workout of the day.  You can read more about “what is Crossfit?,” too.  The Charlottesville Crossfit has its own workout of the day postings, plus social event postings.

Crossfit Classes

Small classes vary from groups of three to seven.  Based on the workout of the day, you lift weight or do as many repetitions of a specific exercise within a given amount of time.  Over time, you get stronger, faster, and healthier.

Our on-ramp class began with seven people.  Yet, due to busy schedules we  ended with the three of us in the photo, plus our awesome trainer Ben chilling in the middle of the tire.

By the way, one night after a workout, three of us did tire lifts and flips–that is one heavy tire, let me tell ya!

If you think Crossfit sounds too intense for new moms, think again.  Two of us in on-ramp were breastfeeding moms…one mom just had a baby three months ago!

Can’t wait for my husband to do his on-ramp class so that we can both join as members.  I’m so excited about Crossfit!

*Note: I did not receive any compensation for this post.  I just love Crossfit’s fitness philosophy, and I’ve been a fan for years.  I paid for the On-Ramp class, and I’ll pay for my membership in the very near future.

Wordless Wednesday: Images of Spring

Exploring Spring

A couple of my favorite photos from today.  Spring is in the air!Sunburst of yellow broom

Climbing

Bee pollinating a daffodil

Hippo the Potamus

My son is so into animals or “am-i-nam-als,” as he often pronounces them.  When we sing “The Wheels on the Bus” song, we often add our own verses.

My almost two and one-half-year-old comes up with verses about dinosaurs roaring, bears opening doors, and sharks eating turtles…all on the bus, of course.

Then, he gets even more creative about naming every animal he can remember–he would’ve been a great adjutant for Noah, because this kid’s a walking encyclopedia of animal names, even if the pronunciation is just a little unusual, yet totally perceptible, and extremely cute.

My favorite: hippo the potamus!

———————–

The other night, he was in the bath tub and lying on his belly.  While splashing as much water on the floor as was once in the tub, I asked if he was a shark.

Calvin said, “I’m a panda bear.”

Of course.

*Photo by Bob P&S via Flickr photostream.

Ch-Ch-Changes

We’re changing things at Traveling with Baby.  You may have already noticed there’s new features, interviews, and a new writer.  It’s spring, and fresh changes are in order…and we’re excited!

Recently, I received a concerned tweet from a long-time friend who wanted to know why I hadn’t told her I had another baby.

Nope. Not another adorable baby boy for me, but sweet little Lucien belongs to Elisa B., a professional wedding photographer and mom to that cute baby boy.  Elisa’s interviewing pregnant moms and sharing their stories each month.

Want to hear about the latest and greatest for everything pregnancy and baby related…Elisa’s got that beat covered.

You’ll hear from me about adventures with raising a toddler and soon to be preschooler, plus other mom-focused interests and health and wellness features.

There’s one more thing…

Beginning in April, Traveling with Baby will have a monthly focus!  Each month, posts, reviews, and giveaways will tend to revolve around a central theme.  Sure, you’ll still hear about our take on motherhood, efficient and safe travel and on-the-go tips for parents with little ones, and we’ll still have a focus on natural and intentional parenting plus wellness, but we’ll have a monthly game plan to pull it all together.

Elisa and I are so excited about these changes, and we hope you will be, too!  By May, you’ll also so a fresh new look when Traveling with Baby switches over to a self-hosted site.  Yay!

Stay tuned for April…when we feature Everything Baby!

Wordless Wednesday: Inbound Spring

Spring is almost here, and we’re pretty thrilled about it. . . enjoyed some sunshine today by playing soccer and “chasing” each other in the yard.  Heavenly!

Want to know what it’s like to live in Virginia?  Check out Tina’s post on Little Tots/Big Ideas.  She interviewed little ol’ me about Virginia. You might recognize us in the photos.

Evening Prayers

Over a year ago, I posted about our family’s bedtime routine with our son.

Calvin at 11 months

Our family routine has changed a little since then, since our son is more verbal and more interactive.

————————————————————————————————-

After a bath, milk, and one or eight bedtime stories, Calvin climbs into his toddler bed.

I review with him all the fun things we saw or did throughout the day.  If I happen to forget a significant detail, he is quick to remind me.

Mama, we saw a big dog!  And, I ate like a dinosaur.

See?  How could I forget those things?

Next, we sing a few songs.  My husband and I are Calvin’s personal jukebox.  Songs can range from worship to modified verses of The Wheels on the Bus.  Have you ever heard the verse about what the dinosaurs on the bus do?  They go ROAR, ROAR, ROAR…naturally!

Finally, Daddy asks Calvin if he’d like to pray.

Calvin [pipes up]:

God bless Poppy. God bless Mimi.  God bless…[everyone he knows from relatives to friends].

Daddy: Calvin, who made you?

Calvin: God made me and dinosaurs.

Usually, Calvin’s Daddy launches into the next question, but tonight, Calvin had more to say…

Calvin: God made Daddy.  God made Mommy.  God made sharks.  God made turtles.  God made Nemos.  God made dolphins.  God made snakes.  God made bears.  God made Brickers {referring to our friends, the Bricker family}.

Do you see the pattern for his favorite animals?  Notice fuzzy kittens and ponies are not on his list.

Daddy: Calvin, why did God make you?

Calvin: Doooordy! [translation: glory]

He’s still learning the preposition “for His” preceding the word glory.

———————————————————————————————–

After this verbal exchange, there’s usually 10 rounds of hugs and kisses.  Sometimes, Calvin wants to demonstrate different types of kisses: snake kisses, shark kisses, bear kisses, dinosaur kisses, puppy kisses, and the like.

There’s no big variation in his sweet little two year-old kisses, except they’re accompanied by animal sounds.

Before we leave his room, we always tell him we love him.

————————————————————————————————-

Sometimes, I’ll hear complete silence a mere 5 minutes after we leave his room.  Other nights, he’s playing with his stuffed loveys in his bed and singing every song in his repertoire.

It’s times like these that I LOVE being Calvin’s Mama.