Allenby Road Trip - Part One

**Written on the road on Wednesday 8/13, but posted 8/18**

As I type this we are driving through farm land somewhere in western New York.  For a rare moment the car is quiet.  After spending the first 2.5 hour leg of this trip sitting on the tiny middle seat next to Sadie in the back, entertaining her and the boys, reading books out loud, handing out snack and comforting a crying 16 month old I am now back up front next to my man.  Sadie is passed out – sleeping under her same cozy blue blanket that she falls asleep under in her crib at home.  The boys are watching Curious George on a computer in the way back, listening to the sound on their matching tiger headphones that I thankfully thought to purchase on Amazon just a couple of days before our departure.  The sun is shining, we’re safe and it’s quiet.  Life is good. 

Our trip so far has gone surprisingly smoothly…(well, except for a few bumps and poor navigating decisions...i.e. – deciding to drive “25” minutes out of our way to go see the US side of Niagra Falls after already being on the road for 8.5 hours.  We thought we would be those fun, adventurous parents who go out of their way to give their children incredible cultural experiences that they’ll never forget.  Well, I’m pretty sure we could have done without this detour because Sadie was screaming the entire way in the car, we were stuck in traffic which turned the “25” minutes into more than 60, we drove around this crazy mini-Las Vegas looking for parking and then wandered aimlessly around the poorly-marked area looking for a way to just get a glimpse of the falls.  Kids were tired, parents were tired, we were surrounded by lots of tourists and let’s be honest….if you’re going to visit Niagra Falls – you gotta do the Canada side.  The US side just wasn’t all that exciting.  But we snapped some cute photos to remember our adventure and the kids already have fond memories of it.  

Unfortunately, everyone was starving and we were still a couple of hours away from the hotel we had booked.  Instead of pushing everyone too far, we decided to pull off just south of Buffalo and checked into a hotel there.  We brought the kids for a quick swim in the pool and put them to bed.  Everything worked out just fine, but that was definitely the most stressful part of the trip so far.   

To make matters worse on that first day, Camden was sick.  He had a fever the night before we left (none of us slept that last night in our own beds) and his fever kept spiking through that long travel day.  He was exhausted and uncomfortable and laid low for the first couple of days of our trip.  Thankfully, by Day #3, his BIRTHDAY, he was much better and we were able to enjoy a fun day with the Swansons!). 
Here are a few pictures from a random stop we had along the road earlier in the day.  Camden was so sick...poor baby...

One of the primary reasons for taking this road trip was to visit my sister, brother-in-law and niece at their new home in Pittsburgh, PA.  After living on a little farm at the end of a dirt road in our same town, they moved down to North Carolina three years ago for Dave to attend a program at Duke Divinity School.  It was sad to not share our New Hampshire home with them any more, but so exciting to see them pursuing this dream and making a new home in NC.  Sadly, we never made it down to Durham to visit them during their time there.  We didn’t go down their very first year, and then with my Dad’s sickness and passing, and the birth of Sadie and the chaos of three little kids it just never happened.  Thankfully, Caren came up to NH for many visits (not always under the best circumstances) during these few years, so we’ve remained close, but we always felt bad for not seeing their home down South.  We had a road trip planned for last March during our Spring Break to go visit them in NC, but it turned out that during that same time, they were flying up to Pittsburgh to check out an amazing opportunity for them and we had to cancel our trip.  Needless to say, it was really important for us to go see them.  To see their new life in this new city.  To spend some time on their turf.  We realized, sitting around one night, that we’ve never stayed at each other’s houses before and just enjoyed that post-kids-in-bed downtime together.  We’ve either lived in the same town, or they’ve stayed at my parents’ house on their visits to NH.  It was fun to just hang out and catch up.  We loved watching our kids play together.  We went to the Children’s Museum on Camden’s birthday as a special outing (FREE for our family with our amazing reciprocal pass from our NH museum!  Yahoo!), played on a fun playground and swam in a city pool!  We planned our trip specifically so that we would be there on a Sunday so that we could see Dave in action as pastor of his new church.  It is an amazing community of really neat people – lots of young families and people wanting to put time and energy into bettering their community.  A perfect fit for Caren and Dave!  Thanks guys, for hosting us and showing us your new stomping grounds!  We had a blast!  

Camden was too sick to enjoy the playground.  :(

 Big girl with her own juice popsicle! 

 Cousins...

 Sadie was pretty shy, as usual, but warmed up when Auntie read her favorite book to her!

 We had a blast at the Children's Museum!

The real puppets from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood!

The whole top floor of the museum is a water area/splash park!  Super fun!

 Clara wrote an amazing birthday poem for Camden that he is STILL re-reading and laughing about.  So sweet...

Birthday ice cream!

Dave, who generally mocks church signs, has one of his own!  *Working on Awesome*

to be continued...

Sadie Grace Turns One!

Our little girl is ONE!  I don't know how this is possible, but it's true!  I just spent hours putting together her baby book and wrote a long note to her in the back of the book - documenting her year and how much she means to us.  I've included it below with some pictures of her special day...Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!
It's so fun to see how much she's grown since the beginning!

Dear Sadie,
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since you made your entrance into this world!  You were due to be born on March 25^th, which was your Bepa’s birthday, but just like your brothers, you weren’t quite ready on your due date.   

Even though you were born eight days later, you’ll always have that special bond with your Bepa.  He never got to meet you or hold you in his arms because he passed away just two months before your birth, but he was so excited for our family and to know that a little girl was going to enter our lives.  He knew you and loved you before you were even born and he will always be a special part of your story as his death and your life are so intertwined. 

You were born at 7:11pm on April 2, 2013 and weighed 9 lb 1oz (after pooping twice!) and were 20.5 inches long.  Your Daddy, of course, and Ami and Nan all were able to witness your water birth and it was a truly miraculous moment for all of us to experience.  From the very beginning your 

brothers have showered you with love.  They love to hold you, play with you, make you laugh and now that you’re getting bigger they like to “wrestle” with you.  They’re not always happy when you mess up the toys that they’re playing with, which you seem to thoroughly enjoy, but overall the three of you have a very special relationship. 

You flashed your first big smile at five weeks old and rolled over in both directions just a couple days after you turned three months old.  You learned your very first sign, “nurse” at only 5 ½ months old which was very early and completely melted our hearts and you started sitting up independently around the same time.  On your six month birthday you shocked us when we watched you pull yourself up to standing in your crib and by seven months you had learned to crawl, were pulling yourself up on everything and had cut your first two teeth!  You started taking your first independent steps at 10 months and were walking at 11 months. 

You are spunky, silly and full of life.  If you want something, you make sure to let us know!  You have many signs that you use to communicate with – by your first birthday you could sign night night, more, all done, nurse, grapes, cheese, water, book, diaper change, shower/tubby, gentle and thank you – but if for some reason we don’t see you using your signs you just start yelling to get our attention!  You can also say Mama (first word!), hi, banana, water, apple, cheese, Dada, Micah (Ika), Bubba (Ubba), Ami, Pop, Mylah, again and uh-oh!

You love to read Goodnight Moon and Pat the Bunny.  You’re always getting into mischief and love to pull on and try to eat electrical cords.  You love climbing up and down the stairs and like to throw things into the toilet bowl if someone leaves the top open!  It’s impossible to empty the dishwasher without you climbing up on the open door to “help,” and when you hear the door open you yell “Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi” at the top of your lungs until whoever arrived comes to give you a hug!  You aren’t a very good sleeper and although you fall asleep in your crib, you spend the majority of the night in bed with Mama and Daddy.  You are still nursing every 2-4 hours (or more often) around the clock and although nursing you is one of my favorite joys in life you have a habit of pulling at my hair really hard and/our scratching at my eyes.  Somehow, we both still love those moments together and I’m so glad you still connect with your Mama in that way.  If you wake up at night, I’ll lift you from your bed and you put your head on my shoulder and start gently stroking the hair on the back of my neck.  It’s a memory that I don’t ever want to forget. 
You have brought more joy to our lives than we ever thought possible.  You brought light to our home in a time of darkness and your bright smile has helped to dry so many tears.  You are a little spitfire who is destined for great things.  We love you, sweet little Sadie Grace! 

A Beautiful Sunday For A Beautiful Boy

I can't believe Micah is three years old already!  These years are just flying by.  He is our little fireball.  Full of energy, full of sweetness, full of life.  He can be the sweetest little precious boy that you just want to gobble up, and he can also be an absolute terror that you can't control!  Aghh...three year olds.  Someday we'll laugh as we look back and wonder how we ever survived these years! 

We had a fun time last weekend celebrating his birthday.  We went out to eat at the Junction for breakfast, went on a special family hike to the cabin, enjoyed a special birthday "breakfast" for dinner with our parents and just celebrated our little man.  Here are some pictures from our beautiful Sunday!

Breakfast at the Junction...

 Daddy and the Birthday boy!

 Sadie loves the Ergo!  Thankfully...she spends much of her life riding around with Mama like this!

These two are such little buddies.  I love it!

Three!!!

Tired boy!  (It was a long hike!)

Sadie's first time riding on my back in the Ergo!  She seemed to like it!

Playing in the leaves at home...

This boy either hams it up for the camera or runs and hides...

<3

Micah helping put the candles in his birthday cake...

Make a wish!

Happy Birthday, Micah-Man!  We love you!