Splash Adventure and baby names

We made plans last week to take the kids to the water park. Our original plan was to go to White Water, but then we decided to go to Splash Adventure in Birmingham since it would be closer. The days leading up to the trip had me envisioning Reese getting some dreaded disease because she drank the water that some kid did the unspeakable in. Then Monday night I did not sleep well because when I would fall asleep I would start this crazy dream where I let her go to the other side of the water park by herself....then I would jolt awake in a cold sweat. Yes, I know. I'm the queen of paranoia. It's one of my best characteristics. (And sadly, I have decided it is getting worse with age.)

On the way over Jolie got car sick. When she had panic in her voice and told her momma she was going to be sick I started panicking and couldn't get the doors unlocked or the window down. If there was one thing that would have shut down my trip to the water park it would have been "frowd" up in the car. I safely pulled over and she got out. Which I should probably retract the "safely" part of that sentence because once we got to a complete stop I realized that Jolie's door and my door had been standing wide open while the car was still rolling. Plus my window was down and the passenger window was partly down. I'm telling you, when I heard the panic in her voice I started pressing every button available in an attempt to avoid that disaster. Of course, when I told Adam what happened he said, "your driving makes me sick sometimes too." Whatever. She was watching a movie on a curvy road. It was not my driving. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Now don't be jealous of my shoes. Just when I thought pregnancy in the summer couldn't get any more attractive, these found a way to my feet. And before we even got inside the gate I had blown out a hole in the side. If you are interested in a pair, (if you are planning a water park trip in the near future, I strongly encourage you to get interested in a pair) you can also own them for roughly $4 at your local WalMart. Of course, you will get what you pay for which means they could bust a hole within the first 2 minutes on your feet. 

But most importantly, my girl had a blast. And really, it was so much better than I had it in my mind to be.(That's the thing about having low expectations. You get impressed easily.) It was clean and not one time did I witness a kid pee in the pool. Of course, I'm sure it happened (probably with my very own kid), but since I didn't see any suspicious activity I will continue to let myself live in the world of clean water at the water park. 

She loves the water and when I say that I mean that she loves it so much it scares me. I wish she had just a little, tiny bit of fear around the pool. She runs and jumps off the side and the diving board. She loves to put her face under and all that, so I knew I had to give her the speech about NOT, under any circumstances, putting the water in her mouth. I went on and on about how this is NOT MeeMaw's pool and blah blah blah. She did really good the whole day and got minimal water in her mouth. I am still thanking Jesus.

After straight down lightening that afternoon, we loaded up and headed home. I just knew she would nap on the way, but her eyes never closed.

On a totally unrelated note: the baby's name. She doesn't have one, and it isn't looking good for her getting one. Why is it so much harder the second time? I like a few names, Adam likes a few name, but there is no name we agree on. Not even one. There is a name that I feel certain is the right one, but Adam absolutely does not agree. We have no restrictions on the name. Like it doesn't have to be a "R" name or anything like that. There is no family name that MUST be included. My only requirement is that her first name has to be the name we call her. No going by the middle name business. In my 5 years of teaching I have taught over 500 students, so that is 500 names that are completely out of the running. Not that they were bad kids, it's just that those names make me think of those kids. Several of the names we liked while I was pregnant with Reese are now, ironically, the names of our friends kids. What I'm saying is that I'm open to name suggestions. Is there some name out there that isn't in the books or online or whatever? Something I've missed that I need to know about? Reese declared weeks ago that her name would be "Peanut." (We did not teach her to say that. She came up with it on her own, and has stuck with it.)  See? I've got no help.

Father's Day 2013

I need to point out that I have been trying to get Reese to wear this dress for over a month of Sundays. Every time I put it on her she cries and claims, "it too tight." It has a little elastic around the middle which causes her to lose her mind. I have told her more than once that she better hush it up because I grew up in the era of big, puffy, lacy dresses that "scratched" every inch of skin they touched. She has nothing to complain about. 

She always wants to "matches" somebody. The color popcicle she picks all depends on the color shirt she is wearing. So on Father's Day I successfully talked her into wear the dress all because it matched her daddy's shirt. 

And just because I love to go back and look at how much she has changed...

We have been having some issues with her waking up at night wanting milk. I knew it had to stop or her teeth were going to rot out from the vast amounts of milk she drank all night long. Since there is no time like the present I went ahead and made her cry it out for her milk. I was in bed with her trying to explain how she wets the bed when she drinks milk all night, and her teeth were going to rot out, and blah blah blah. She got so desperate that she started loudly crying/screaming "daddy, help me!" When he didn't come she would cry some more and say, "he can't hear me!" After several nights of settling for water, I think we have broken the addiction. There really should be a Milk's Anonymous for toddlers like her. She has a problem, but she isn't ready to admit it.

Memorial Day at the beach

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Orange Beach which was a step out for my Panama City Beach loving mother. She prefers PCB because she knows exactly where Wal-Mart is . We are those people who have stayed in the same condo for the last 20 years, but it was time for a change this year. Word around the condo was that she spent half the first morning they were there driving around looking for a Wal-Mart.  

Which brings me to my next point, one my sister will want me to leave out of this story, but it must be told for memory sake. MeeMaw, Heather, Jolie, Clay, and Auntie Kay all left a day earlier than we did, driving PeePaw's F250 because it was the only thing that would hold all the tents, chairs, bags, etc. As they pulled out of the driveway PeePaw reminded them the truck ran off of diesel to which Heather (the driver) said, "I know that" and drove off. You see where this is going right? They pull into the first gas station they saw and filled er' up with gasoline. Yep, gas. Not diesel. That one tiny mistake cost them a tow trip to the Ford dealership and required rounding up different vehicles to continue their journey. Oh yeah, and $900 to clean the tank out. Needless to say, the trip was off to an excellent start. When they called me that morning and told me what they had done I just dropped my head in prayer because I knew the tirade my daddy would be on. By the time I talked to him that afternoon he was calm, cool, and collected and was trying to make himself feel better by saying things like, "It could have been worse. Nobody is dead." Which is a sure sign that you have admitted to yourself you have overreacted, but then, after reevaluation, have come back to your reasonable self. 

Thankfully, the remainder of the trip was much less eventful. 

We got there about 6:00 Friday night and went straight out to the beach to meet up with Reese's favorite people. 

Friday night when we got ready for bed Reese started with all the crying: "I want to go to my bed!!" It went on and on, so Adam told her to get in the car we were taking her home. We drove around for a little while and she went right to sleep. Then at 2 AM, when she woke up in the condo, it all started again. Adam told her when the sun came up he would take her home. The first thing she said when her eyes cracked open the next morning was, "da sun is up. We go home now." We have got ourselves a serious homebody. 

She went in the living room and rested with Clay before deciding that she wanted to stay and play, but Saturday night it was more of the same. She wanted her bed. 

The water was pretty chilly while we were there, but they braved it a few times. Reese would always get out with blue lips and wanting to be warmed up in a towel.

We tried to fly a Dollar General kite that caused more than a few problems. I think they may have gotten it off the ground once. Personally, I had never flown a kite, and from what I saw on this particular day it isn't something I ever care to partake in. Way too much work for me. 

Last week we had VBS at church, so this is my first official week of summer vacation. Other than Reese waking me up at 6:30 this morning it has been lovely.  

She has spent a lot of time out in her pool. This is what happened the first time she experienced the burn of getting water up her nose. 

And a few other randoms...

It's a...

I knew this time around I didn't want the sonogram lady telling us the gender of the baby, so I arrived at my appointment with my envelope in hand. I asked her not to tell me anything she saw, but to write it on the note card inside the envelope and seal it up with the sonogram inside. I got to see the baby and hear the heartbeat, and then she told me to close my eyes while she, "looked around." I had my doubts she would be able to see anything because last week "it" had its legs crossed and was not showing a thing. When she was done I asked if she could see anything and with a lot of confidence she said, "oh yeah." She folded up the sonogram picture and wrote the gender on a note card and sealed it. (Adam had to work and couldn't make this appointment.)

I left the doctors office and went straight to a florist in town. I left the envelope and the trunk with them. I ran a few errands while they filled the trunk with the appropriate balloons, and left the envelope with the proof in the bottom of the trunk  (The trunk belonged to Adam's great-somebody. I can't remember right this second and when I saw it a few weeks ago I knew I wanted to use it for the reveal.) It irritated me a little that I had been so confident about the gender all along. I hate know-it-alls, so I don't want to be one in this situation, but I knew with Reese she was a girl and I knew this one was a girl. I can't explain it, I just knew and it irritated me because I wanted to be surprised. About 2 weeks ago I told the sonogram lady that it was a girl, and she said she didn't see any reason that I was wrong. That irritated me even more because I did not want her to confirm my belief. I was just trying to make conversation with her. 

While we were waiting on our parents to arrive, Reese walked over to the trunk, pushed on it, and said, "sompin in there." I had already told her our surprise was in there. After it was all over she kept whining that she, "wanna go get my baby siser!" I am pretty sure she thought the baby was in the trunk. Bless her heart, I know she must have been disappointed when it was just pink balloons. 

Except no. No, she was not disappointed. She took those balloons and ran around all night. 

I love this picture of Adam checking out the proof. It's almost as if he can't believe it. He is officially going to live in a house filled with little girls. Bless him;) He said he wouldn't have it any other way. I can't tell you how many times I have already been asked if we are going to try again for a boy. I don't know the answer to that, but we are not at all disappointed with a second girl. I have said it before; Adam is not one of those men who has to have a son, and I love that Reese will have a sister. (My daddy on the other hand? As the balloons came out of the trunk, (and I quote) "we ain't never gonna get a boy.") 

So the funny part was that I had my sister take pictures with my camera because I thought for sure she was up for the challenge. Good thing my mother made the picture of us seeing the balloons in the trunk for the first time because my camera now holds pictures of before opening the trunk, and then Reese running around with the balloons afterward. HAHA. 

Reese cast her vote for a "bruder" and I confidently cast mine for a girl. Adam and Jolie also voted for a girl, and I think MeeMaw voted for a girl. 

And the majority was wrong. 

High Falls

After the torrential downpour Friday night, we decided we should take Reese to High Falls. So after church Sunday we packed up and headed out. And by "packed up" I mean I packed a backpack with snacks because I was under the impression that it was a several mile journey, and mamma ain't goin' nowhere without a snack. I haven't been to High Falls in years, so my memory was a little fuzzy about the distance. It only took about 15 minutes to get there. 

There was a time when I was like 7 that I begged my parents to take me on a trail near our house called Odum Scout Trail. I distinctly remember being told that we would walk the trail when I was big enough that my daddy didn't have to carry me. That was exactly the story I told Adam as, God bless his soul (and legs), he carried Reese all the way to High Falls and back.  

It was when we got to the point that the water was over the trail and we had to get mid-shin deep that Reese got scared and wanted to go home. Adam was smart enough to wear his old shoes and shorts. Me? Not so much. My friends, it was COLD. 

 But it was all worth it because the scenery was beautiful.

 Reese finally got over being scared and wanted to play and throw sticks in the water.

Her daddy has taught her how to show her muscles.

When we left we told her we could go get an Icee, but she had to close her eyes and take a nap. She finished her Capri Sun with her eyes closed and then finally pretended to be asleep for so long that she actually did fall asleep.

I feel like it is safe to say that there won't be much more trail walking until she is old enough her daddy doesn't have to carry her.