Country Boys, Our Anniversary, and a New Water Heater

We've been on the move!  Seriously, I've barely had a chance to catch my breath in the last few weeks. 

It all started with...well...with Cid {our second baby boy}.  I mean, a week after his birth we had a home appraisal.  We'd also been planning to send Ronin, our TB horse {read more about Ronin HERE} up to my family's property in Northern California.  What's that you say?  No, the Bay Area is NOT Northern California, although it technically eeks in there.  There's quite a bit more North to this beautiful state.  But I digress.

We decided that it would be the best thing for everyone if Ronin went to live with my mom for an indefinite amount of time after we had two kids.  At first, this wasn't an easy decision because our riding instructor was turning Ronin into a real champion,

 Ronin at his last show, the same day he left

...but it became more and more apparent as Cid's birth approached that it really was our only option.  It was getting really hard for us to properly care for Ronin.  He wasn't getting the attention he needed or deserved.  Luckily for us, my mom was more than willing to give him a home while we figure out this whole parenting thing.  Otherwise, well, I don't even want to think about otherwise.   Planning Ronin's departure had me really stressed, but in the end it worked out well.  I'll try to write more on that later. 

The last day we saw him at the Ranch, was both relieving and sad.  It finally hit me that he wouldn't be here anymore. 

We had planned to follow him up to my parents' place, but as things worked out, he was hauled away much earlier than anticipated, so we waited an extra week to make the trip. 

What an adventure! A 7 hour car ride, winding along the N. California coast with a 5 week old baby, a 17 month old kid, a dog, and a bird is no small feat.  The kids did great.  The dog threw up.




Awaiting us at Grandma and Grandpa's house, were bunnies, horses, kitties, a tractor {okay, a riding lawn mower}, oh, and Grandma and Grandpa of course.  Plus, Uncle Jim and Serenity.  So much fun for us city kids with country hearts.







Rowan's mind must have been an exploding.  He got to help Grandma feed the animals every morning.  He approached it as he does everything; taking serious mental notes so that he can remember each step required.  On the day that Grandma was gone, Rowan showed me how to do the feeding, leading me to each type of food and then pointing me in the direction of who it was supposed to go to. 

Grandma had also put out a little inflatable pool for Rowan,

 
and Grandpa busted out the old "tractor" for some driving fun.

And Rowan got to chase bubbles too!

Rowan wasn't up for riding my mom's miniature pony, Thor, but he did brave the biggest horse with Dad.

Cid got a lot of cuddle time....and that's about it...sorry Cid, next time you can drive the tractor! 

Oh! And we watched the eclipse!  Glasses?  What glasses?  We used welding masks 'cos we're cool like that.

It was a great week, full of lots of things.

With all of this going on, we barely remembered our anniversary!  We celebrated our 3rd year of marriage driving back home!  Prolly could've planned that better, ya think?  My bad. 

But anyway,

HAPPY {belated} ANNIVERSARY 

 

to the most patient, caring, handsome, amazing man I know!  Life with you {and now our kiddos, too} is the best!

Now, back to the grind...

SO, three days back home, just getting our bearings and wouldn't ya know it, we wake up to a big puddle in the garage streaming from our water heater.  Love and old house!  The joints at the top of the heater had totally corroded.  I looked up the model and serial number and found out that our water heater was manufactured in 1993!  It's almost 20 years old!!  And it's warranty was only 6 years.  By the way, it was super easy to find this out by the serial number.  Rheemglas SN0293xxxx R-6.3.  The "0293" means February 1993 and the "R-6" means 6 year warranty.  Anyway, lucky for us, it's Memorial Day Weekend and OSH was having their "We pay the sales tax" sale.  We basically got a like for like replacement so that it was easy to {self} install, although our new one is a Kenmore.  It came out to about $400.00. Roger took the old one out and put the new one in with the help of a friendly neighbor while I played single mom.....whew, I think I know who had the harder job!  Five hours later, we have hot water again! 

Thank goodness it's a three day weekend.

Dear {16 moth} Rowan

Dear 16 Month Old Rowan,

You melt our hearts.

You don't talk much yet, even though your working on it.  But what you lack in words, you make up for in personality and awareness.

Every day you do something new that blows our minds.  Right now, you're putting everything away in it's proper place.  And sometimes we wonder where you got your organizational skills, because both of us are certainly lacking in that area.  We hope you keep it up though!

We love when you plop down in our laps to read a book or put on your shoes, {by the way, you can say "shoes" and you do often}.



You want to help with everything.  But sometimes you get frustrated when your body can't do what your brain wants it to. 

You let us know when you're hungry by leading us to the kitchen and making the "more" sign.  You eat like crazy and it's pretty incredible that your stomach can hold your meals.


You let us know you're ready for bed by leading us to your room and trying to climb into your crib.  But still, you cry a bit when we pick you up to say your "goodnight's".







 And speaking of "goodnight's", you always give your mom and dad a goodnight hug {and if we're lucky we get a kiss too}, you give Domino a hug, Buddy a wave, and your little brother, Cid always gets a kiss on the head.

We look at you now, and you're not a baby anymore.  You're a little boy.  Always changing.






 
At the end of the day, I reflect on the things you've done and I feel so proud to be your mom.  And I'm also a little sad that I can't keep you at this age forever, but I know that as you grow, there will be so many times to look forward to, so I try my best to hold on to the memories we're making right now and continue to enjoy every day with you.

Love,

Mom

Ergo Baby, Baby Bjorn, Moby

I really try not to collect too much baby stuff since we have a small house. So it's surprising that we actually do have all three of these baby carriers.  Lucky for us they were handed down or loaned so we didn't have to shell out megabucks for each one.

And since we have all three carriers, I figured I might as well share my thoughts on them.  Maybe those of you who are trying to decide which one(s) you should get for your baby will find this useful....or maybe not.

Ergo Baby (& infant insert)

 

Image sourch: http://www.ergobabycarriersstore.com/

I really wanted to like the Ergo Baby because it seemed more versatile than the Baby Bjorn.  You can buy the infant insert for small babies, remove the insert for larger babies, and switch the carrier to your back for toddlers. For {small} infants the Ergo Baby with infant insert works well.  Unfortunately, we only put our first son in the Ergo Baby with infant insert maybe twice before he grew out of it.  However, it did keep him all snuggly and comfy, and it also was comfortable for me to wear.  I don't know about others, but I'm super paranoid when carrying a young baby in carriers that they might suffocate.  I felt like it was difficult to check that my baby was still breathing while he was all bundled up in the infant carrier.  Once our {bigger} infant grew out of the insert, the Ergo Baby was not really very useful.  His legs weren't ready to spread wide enough to protrude out the sides, and the bottom didn't get tight enough to tuck him in the pouch without the added support from the leg holes.  He would've slipped out the bottom.  Now that our first son is over a year, the Ergo Baby does work well to carry him when carrying on the back.  It's hard to get a young toddler in by yourself though.  So all in all, I think the Ergo Baby is OK, but we don't really use it very often.

Baby Bjorn (original)

Image source: www.sweetrepeatstucson.com

Someone gave us their old Baby Bjorn and I'm glad they did because once our infant son had grown too big for the Ergo Baby with infant insert, we used the Baby Bjorn.  By "we", I mean my husband mostly.  I only found the Baby Bjorn comfortable as long as our baby was small enough to be chest-facing.  It was easier to check on the little one's airflow, but I felt like I had to lean forward and support his head with my hand whenever I was working on something because his head could flop around in the extra space.  Once our son was facing out, I didn't like the Baby Bjorn very much.  On our model the front flap that supports the baby's neck when they're really young didn't stay tucked down in the front so it was always in our son's face once he was forward-facing.  It was easier to load him in and tighten up than the Ergo Baby, but cannot be used on for carrying toddlers on your back. Still, we used the Baby Bjorn more than the Ergo Baby.

The Moby Wrap

Image source: www.thebabystoreplus.blogspot.com

I was skeptical of the Moby, even after a friend of ours raved about hers.  It looked like a hassle.  That friend loaned us her Moby for our second baby, and I've found it to be quite easy to use and comfortable.  I like that our infant's feet can be tucked in under the wrap and his position can be adjusted for comfort and breathing.   With the Moby, it's really easy to check on your little bundle constantly to make sure they've got good airflow, and you can either pull the fabric up more to support the head, or pull it down for visibility.  The Moby Wrap is also fairly comfortable to wear around without the baby, so you can just put it on once and take the baby in and out as you want.  I don't think the Moby will be useful for a toddler, but it's definitely my favorite of the three for an infant.

There is one other carrier that we've also found useful.  However, this one is not brand specific.  We picked up a baby {hiking} backpack at a garage sale and we love it for a baby that's big enough to have some neck strength and spread their legs into the legholes.  The really nice thing about these hiking backpacks is that they usually have a little "kickstand" that can be popped out so the backpack with the baby inside can be set down on the ground....good for loading/unloading and using as a chair for your baby while you're outdoors.

Wow!  Four carriers, all for one {and now two} little babies.  And that's not even counting the four different strollers we have!  Yikes.  Well, ya know, we needed a single stroller, then a single jogging stroller, then a double stroller, then a double jogging stroller.....sounds like it's time to unload some of the stuff we don't need anymore.





 

Dear {3 wk old} Cid

Dear 3 Week Old Cid,

We haven't been great about posting your pictures or sharing all the little things that make up your first three weeks of life, but that's because we're busy making the most of our time with you and your brother.  You guys keep us on our toes!

The two of you are the most amazing and precious things in our lives.

You've only been out of my belly for a short time, and you are already amazing us with your ability to adapt to this new world and to show us that our love is infinite.



Your legs are strong and you already hold your head up high. You furrow your brow like your Momma and you smile {gas smiles} to one side like your Poppa.  And you have a bunch of hair on the back of your head that sticks out and curls up like a duck tail, so we call you "duck".

We want to thank you for being a mellow guy.  You eat and sleep.  And cry? Yes, some.  But not much.  Mostly when we change your diaper, or we've left you in a dirty one for too long, sorry. 

And did I mention how much your brother loves you? Rowan gives you kisses whenever he sees you.  He gently rubs your head and touches your hands.  He's the best big brother we could ask for.

The next few weeks might get rough.  You're growing.  We might get frustrated.  Just because this is our second time, we're no experts.  We have to learn what you're telling us.  We have to remember how this works.

We promise we'll always try our best and always, always love you more than anything.

You're our little duck.

And we're your family.

We love you,

Mom, Dad, & Rowan 
        Oh yeah, and Domino and Buddy too!