Maine and Rafting

Yup, a weekend review on a Thursday! I actually posted these pictures last night, but I am writing the text now, before work :) Anika is playing in the closet. Ill see how long I have.  On Friday, Andrew, Anika and I drove up to Maine to meet my parents at a campground they were at.  We pretty much had dinner and went to bed that night. Actually, it took a LONG time to get little Miss A to go to sleep.  Everyone was in bed, and she was at the window of the camper just yelling HI to everyone. I eventually took her for a ride.

Dinner was lobster!

Saturday morning, Andrew and I left the campground at 5:30 AM. We left Anika with my parents.

We drove 3 ish more hours north into Maine.

We met our friends up there. They had stayed up there the night before.

We ate breakfast, got our life jackets, packed our stuff in wet bags and got on a bus.

We drove 1.5 hours more.  We were on a  LONG dirt road and we got to a part where the road was being ripped apart by an excavator, but the operator told us to sit tight in the bus for 10 minutes and he would put the road back together. HA. There was no way the bus could turn around on the narrow road.

We got into inflatable kayaks, called duckies. I was SO nervous and scared.

But, I ended up being awesome and it was fun.

There were parts with rapids, but I obviously didn't have my water proof camera out then. Yes, I had a $9 disposable water camera snapped to my life jacket. And, that is where most of these pics came from.  My cell phone was in my wet bag that went on a boat with another person, so we didn't have any phones or electronics ALL day. Actually, everyone else left their phones back at base because no on had service. I had one bar out on the dock at the site,  and that night I did call my mom to check in on A, and everyone made fun of me for using the phone! It was kind of nice not being attached to it for the weekend.
ON that note, I ALSO Cancelled CABLE!!!  It hasn't set in yet.
We are going to use a roku, but so far I dont know how much I like that. I will keep you posted on that. Ha, maybe with no tv, Ill blog more :)

The river was nice because there were rapids, where you had to pay attention and paddle and work, and then there was calm parts to just cruise along.

My friend, Ry who planed the trip :) She has a baby 2 weeks younger than Anika.

 After a day on the river, a boat dragged us across a lake to a little island where we camped.

The rafting company supplied almost everything! All our meals, tents, camping gear, etc. We only had to bring our sleeping bags, clothes and booze. SOO much different than our other camping trips where we have to pack a TON.

The guides made us dinner that night on the camp fire. I had haddock. So good!

we had fun around the camp fire playing games. Our group had 10 people. Then there was another couple we met that day. There were 2 main guides and then the boat driver, who was also the main chef :)

The next morning we got dragged across the lake again.  I got in the bigger raft that time because it was too chilly for the ducky. Water came in the little boats.

 The 2nd Day, was the real rafting part. I was a littler nervous because my friend broke her ARM white water rafting the weekend before in Washington. 

But, we only did class 2,3 and 4 rapids. NEXT year we are going to do the bigger trip with bigger rapids. Actually, Ill probably be pregnant, so I might have to wait until the Next summer :) But, this is definitely something I want to do again!

Andrew pulling Matt back in the raft

M pulling Ry in the raft- HAHAHA.

The next pictures were posted on the fb page of the rafting company. The rafting company is Three Rivers Rafting. I give All credit to them for these photos and All the FUN! AND, I give a lot of credit to our awesome guides. They really made the trip that much better :)

After the full day of rafting on Sunday, we went back to the main base and had a late lunch. They showed photos and videos, but Andrew and I ate and left. We had A LONG ass ride back home.  We left there at 4 and got home at 9:30, after picking up Anika at my parent's house. YES, I was away from her for 40 hours! That is the longest yet. Andrew was supposed to leave for work at 3 AM Monday morning! 
Also, to note, although we are good Friends with one couple (M& Ry) and I know one of the other girls who went- the other people in our group are friends of M&R, who I met for the first time Saturday morning!  
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Totally random, but Isn't it weird that NZ sends apples over here? Ha, I have been eating these a lot lately.

And, Tuesday night, Anika and I met my friend L and her daughter at the park near my house. L brought a picnic dinner! Not just any picnic dinner- A WARM swiss chard and Swiss quiche she made! She even had real plates and silverware, a cheese board, etc. It was a PERFECT night- cool air, but still warm. The girls played, we ate, and even had some wine :) L is the perfect domestic diva :) It was such a fun night. AND, Anika got so tired out playing, she pretty much bathed and went to bed when we got home!

Every Rose has a Thorn...

And that rose comes with the name Anika.

My sweet, sweet girl showed her naughty side today. I know, I bet many of you were waiting for this day! lol.
She started at the new sitter yesterday. Two girls from the old sitter are at the new sitter with her. I call them her fiends. Apparently, Anika thought BITING her friend was a good idea!
YES, SHE BIT her friend today. On the shoulder. I'M a bit horrified.
I cant believe she did that. AND, on the 2nd Day!

When the new sitter, Miss W, was telling me, she looked at Anika and asked who she bit, and A said the girls name!  Miss W said she knew she had done something wrong when she got in trouble.

Later in the car, when I was mad, I was talking to Anika and I said "Do you want to be a naughty girl or a good girl?" and she replied "naughty girl" ...so ya...that was reassuring.

We played outside for a bit and we were going to go for a walk...but the tires were flat on the jogger, so I went to get the pump thing.  Anika got right on the pump like she had used it before! I was pretty surprised! I didnt even know how to use it at first.

Then, after about 40 seconds in the jogger, she wanted out. So..ya. No walk. I did go to boot camp this morning though. I have also put on some pounds. (OMG, you guys have probably read that on this blog like a million times, because its the story of my life- I lose, I gain, I lose, I gain). Ugh, I work out all week, and then pig out all weekend. Oh, and wine. Wine doesn't help.

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Something is going on with A's sleeping.
Friday night, she SCREAMED her head off when we put her to bed. We cant handle listening to that. She usually goes RIGHT DOWN. She smiles, says night night and she is out.  I mean, some nights its a little more work,but I'm talking about the norm. BUt, oh no, Friday wasn't fuss for a few minutes,  she screamed bloody murder. We brought her back down and she played and looked at books, very quietly. She seemed like she wasn't tired. She eventually just went to sleep on the floor. I took her to bed.

Then, Monday night. The same shit happened. SCREAMED. We have not really let her cry it out in the past. Its not for us. Fuss it out, yes, CIO, not really. But, Monday night, I let her go for a while. The thing is- when she was an infant, she had no way to communicate her needs, so It didn't seem fair to let her cry it out. BUT, now? SHe can communicate ANY basic need. She tells me when she wants water, has poop, has an ow, etc. So, when she was screaming and I asked what was wrong and she just screamed but was ok when I picked her up...I knew she was ok.  After listening to her go though, I had to go back up. When I went back up, she was standing up and sweating. I took her out, she stopped. I let her stay up for a bit, and then she went right down when I tried again.

Last night, she screamed when I put her down. I took her out and just placed her on the floor and walked into my room where I was hanging up wet diapers. I ignored her, but continued to hang diapers.  I was annoyed, Ill be honest, so I spoke my annoyance and said "Anika, You know what I want? I want you to go to bed! how about you go to sleep for mommy. Just go to bed"
SHE LAID down right on my bedroom floor, said nigh nigh and shut her eyes! WTF.
SHe didn't fall asleep, but I picked her up that way and put her in her crib. Slept though night.
TONIGHT- Screamed. I took her out, she laid right down on her BEDROOM Floor. I left her there. I shut the gate at the top of the stairs. Came down here, did dishes and such. Went back up and she was sound asleep on her floor and I put her in the crib.

So, It seems she hates her crib all of a sudden? Or at least doesn't like to fall asleep in it? She would rather sleep on a hard floor with an itchy rug?

Weird. Whatever, if the floor is where she will just go to sleep with no fuss, then I'm fine with it. Its not hurting anyone. Its not fresh or making a mess. Its a battle I wont fight.

Lastly, in my last post I mentioned how busy we have been. I wanted to note that its not always BUSY like running around and doing stuff and working (that does happen) but also, we are busy JUST hanging out and spending time together.  When I get home from work, I try to give A my Undivided attention. Just playing, reading, doing cards, looking at pictures, letting her comb my hair, crawl on me, sing songs, etc. I gave up my twitter account a while ago and I guess blogging has also taken a hit because when I have free time After the stuff that HAS to get done- like work, gym, chores, errands, etc- I want to live in the moment with her (And Andrew) haha. cant forget him. Don't get me wrong- I think I'm still on the computer too much, like FB,  but I making the effort :)  I know everyone says it, but these days when they are young just FLY BY.

So, back to my rose with a thorn- Who has a child who has bit another child? Did it just happen once? Please tell me it just happened once!

Updates and 17 big ones.

I hate how I never get to blog anymore. Life is busy. We are busy on weekends. I am so busy at work. I even got a new big monitor to hook my laptop into at home, so I can work at home after A goes to bed. Its impossible to stay late at work since I have Anika. And to be honest, I dont want to. I only get a couple hours at night and a couple hours in the morning with her each week day!
Andrew has been Crazy busy with work too.

As usual, I will play catch up on this post.

Anika tripped over Andrew's computer cord a couple months ago. It got jammed in, and it would have been more money to fix than the laptop was even worth. SO, Andrew bought a new laptop. They have some great laptop deals now. I think he got it for like $300!

Well, not even a month after he got it, he left it on the arm of the chair, and the power cord got knocked again! This time it may have been me, not Anika :)
This time, Andrew just had me hold a head light while he used pliers to CUT the plastic off.  HA. ITS all open and shady looking, but we got the power cord where it needed to be, and it can charge.
We were laughing so hard saying how we should go into business together as computer repair people...you know, we just rip the casing off and call it fixed.

We had 4 cords of wood delivered a while back.  Anika and I did some during some week nights, but mostly Andrew has been doing it on weekends. Anika loves to help! It took a few weekends, but it is finally all stacked!

 The pink wheel barrow was a gift from my baby shower. It is usually in her room with toys in it, but we brought it outside that day to put it to use!

Anika loves looking at photos.  She can say all of her cousins names and ID most of them. She called a guy at the store the other day Poppa- he had glasses and was kinda bald like her Poppa :)

She LOVES glasses and says glasses and then tries to take them off people. Working on that.

Helping in the garden.

This past weekend, we had a SURPRISE 80th Birthday party for my Gram. My camera is still away being fixed. I took photos with my mom's camera, so I only have this one iphone pic! ha. lame.

 I got to my Gram's house to help set up at 8 AM. The party started at 1. We really hauled ass while she was gone to get it all done. It was a total success.  My Gram's older sister flew in from CA with her daughter! That was a huge surprise because my Gram has not seen her in many many years. Also, her best friend from Ohio flew in!  SO FUN,  and I cried when my Gram saw her surprise guests.
I realized how lucky I am to have so many healthy older relatives! I obviously brought some GOOD genes to the table here :) hahah

THIS little lady turns 17 MONTHS TODAY! HOLY COW.

As I said above, she LOVES to help with everything. She helps me hang her diapers to dry. She helps me cook. Helps daddy do stuff. 
She talks a lot. She says new words daily. She will say ANYTHING her dad says. She loves to mimic him.  I mean, She Identifies a lot of things, but other things she just copies people.

Like, Sunday I had to go into work for a bit. Andrew and Anika came outside as I was pulling away and he was holding her. He said "Ok get to work so you can get back sooner" and then she looked at me and said "Get to work"  ha.  Or  I was on the phone with a friend tonight and instead of saying "what an asshole" like I wanted to say about someone she was talking about, I said "what a dumb dumb" and then my little copy cat said  dumb dumb.

She has also been telling me she is going to poop the past couple days!  She looks at me and says poop, so I take her to the potty and she poops. She never tells me she is gong to pee, but she loves to talk about pee when IM going pee. She has been playing rough with Piri and I think Piri is getting a bit fed up. We have to remind A to be gentle. A gets ON Piri to ride her, Piri bucks her off, Anika hits her head...then gets up and gets on Piri again.  Ugh.

She has had a lot of different baby sitters the past couple weeks. We are in between the old one ending and the new one starting. She did really well with all the new people watching her, so I am VERy optimistic about her first day at the new place today!  My friend, L, even took her for a day last week. She has a daughter about A's age so she was brave :)

A's sleeping times are all over the place. Friday, she did NOT want to go to bed. She ended up staying up till 10:30 and eventually just fell asleep on the living room floor!  I took her to bed when we went to bed. Then, Saturday, she had NO NAPS all day and Sunday she had a 3 hour nap. Tonight I had a hell of a time getting her to bed as well, but the past 2 nights, she went right down. Who knows.
She definitely is showing a LOT more affection to us these days. I love that! I still love taking her on errands with me, especially the grocery store. I think its so much fun to just hang out with her! ha.She just LOVES to be outside. And, yes, she still nurses.

I miss you friends. I do. I hope to get back into blogging- writing and reading-very soon!

I leave you with a video of Anika saying Kaelyn, her cousin's name :) She LOVES her big cousin!