Great Day

Nana (my mom) is here visiting for a week and a half, and really only had three things on her agenda:
1. Bond with Hazel as much as possible,
2. Help Todd and me in any way she can, and
3. See the beach.

So we took a jaunt down to our favorite beach spot, Manresa, today. Hazel dug in the sand, fell in love with seaweed pods, cheered for surfers, and walked as far away as she thought she could get away with, and then would run back and fling herself into my arms.
My mom oogled over the way the sand felt on her feet and the sound of the waves crashing, wondered what type of bird that was that dived straight down to snatch fish out of the ocean, and rolled up her jeans and let the waves wash over her up to her knees. I wished I didn't have a tired toddler so I could let her stay there all day. My mom is a woman who needs to live closer to the beach. She said on the drive home that the waves had been calling to her to come swim.

Mom's face as she came back from standing in the crashing waves. Priceless.

I was floored that Hazel didn't fall asleep on the drive home, nor did she settle down for a nap during an entire hour spent in her room afterwards. This is the first day in her entire life Hazel hasn't taken a nap at all, and come on, people, you need one after playing at the beach! The sun, water, and wind take a toll on your energy. In order to occupy her without taking her outside and getting stranded with a tired girl who whined and begged her pregnant mom to carry her, I got out a project I've been wanting to do with her for a while now.

Hazel's latest hobby is to gather "treasures" when we're outside. She comes back each time with leaves, acorns, rocks, pine boughs, seeds, snail shells, sticks, and more. I've been saving them in a gallon-size ziplock bag for a day just such as today.
We made a collage on contact paper. I taped one piece down to the table with painter's tape and let her lay out her assortment in whatever manner suited her fancy. Then I covered the whole thing with another sheet of contact paper to hold it all together.
It was super fun and easy to do, and Hazel loved looking through several weeks worth of her treasure hunting. The sad part is the contact paper was not as sticky as I would have liked, so things are still moving around quite a bit. It's definitely going to be displayed short-term, rather than becoming a lifetime memorabilia. Still, I recommend it, especially while it's fall and there's so many interesting things on the ground outside to collect!

Putting Bunny to sleep instead of smiling at the camera.

Big Bed Transition Report - 3 Days In

Well, folks, after about two months of talk and not much action, we finally put together Hazel's big girl bed on Saturday. She's pretty excited about it, thank goodness.
Here's the run-down so far. We didn't start putting the bed together early enough Saturday morning, so her nap got delayed by a little more than an hour. By the time we had it all thrown together, she was exhausted and fell right to sleep.

All three nights so far have been a breeze. We go through the regular bedtime routine except that she's been requesting that I sing her bedtime song while I lay in her bed with her, when normally we sit in the rocker. She's gone right to sleep, slept 11-12 hours like usual, and has given us no trouble at all so far. Knock on wood. She's even stayed on her bed until I've come to get her in the morning.

The biggest trick has been naptime. Sunday she talked, sang, and shouted to herself for two full hours before falling asleep, and then only slept for 2 hours instead of 3. Today she talked to herself for about 40 minutes before settling down to a 2 hour nap. I am suspicious that the shorter naps have played a pretty big part in how easy bedtime has been.

But the glorious part is that so far (granted, it's been three days - I know we're due for a dip in luck before this thing becomes routine) she has stayed on top of her bed the whole time she's been in there singing and playing. No getting off to get toys or books or sit in the rocker or do any other mischief. The only evidence of naughtiness we've seen so far is some knocked-over name letters after Saturday's nap:
That, I can handle. The running rampant through the house in the middle of the night that hopefully none of our angel children will ever do, not so much.
The part that I have mixed feelings about is that she has figured out on her own that her crib is now for baby Jack. We did NOT tell her this, and have tried to not say much at all about the why of this transition other than because it's so exciting to sleep in a big bed like mommy and daddy. But day one, she was already pointing to her crib and saying, "It's for Jack." She seemed sad about not sleeping in her crib Saturday night and she tried to climb into it, but besides then, she's been very matter of fact about the crib belonging to Jack and has been really excited about her big girl bed. I hope she feels like it's a milestone instead of a displacement.

For those who want to see, here I am in my 25 weeks of glory. The baby's starting to move a lot more, but still not even close to as much as Hazel did at this stage. It will be interesting to see how different these two little beans are from each other.

Bed Advice Request

Alright, people. How do I do it? How to I transfer this little monkey:
to a big girl bed?

We've been trying to build up the anticipation. The mattress has been behind her crib for a couple of months now, and we point to it and talk about it and have put it down and let her jump on it a couple of times. She came with me to buy sheets and comforters and loved toting those around the house. She's excited for it.

But she's going to be even more excited when she realizes she can get in and out of the bed herself without getting hurt (the pain is all that stops her from climbing out of her crib - she's been able to do it since May).

What strategies have you employed as you moved your kids from crib to bed that you recommend? What did you do that you wouldn't have if you knew what you do now? How long can I expect Hazel to take spotty naps and wake us up in the middle of the night?

Thank Goodness for Holiday Weekends

Labor Day weekend was the best thing to happen to the Bonner family in a long while. Todd worked all three weekends leading up to it, so the fact that he put his foot down and didn't even come in to work on Friday - giving us a four-day weekend as a family - was pure bliss.

We hit the road Friday morning and drove up to Point Reyes National Seashore, a protected little patch of hiking trails, beaches, small towns, trees and open sky surprisingly just 45 minutes or so north of the Golden Gate Bridge. We hiked trail after trail, drove through winding, mountainous roads with excellent views, dined out on delicious food I didn't lift a finger to make, and made a stop at the Cowgirl Creamery in Olema so we could sample all the local gourmet cheeses (a dream come true for Todd).

We spent the night at a cozy B&B, the Inn at Roundstone Farm. We had a large and comfortable room, a delicious homemade breakfast, and plenty of garden space for Hazel to explore outside.
Hazel's pack-and-play fit nicely in our private bathroom, giving Todd and me the luxury of reading Catching Fire out loud as we lounged in our quarters, snacking on sweet chocolate cake and tangy Red Hawk cheese.
The next day was filled with similar activities, hiking and browsing the local farmer's market and just taking life at a slow, carefree pace. On our drive home, we had the delight of rendezvousing for dinner with Todd's sister Laura and her husband Tyler, who were in San Francisco celebrating their 10-year anniversary. Sadly, no one got out their camera for that!
Sunday we chilled at home, then Monday we went to Raging Waters and played for hours with Hazel at the kiddy pools and on the lazy river. We ended our weekend only two chapters away from cracking open Mockingjay (the third book in Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games trilogy), a little sunburned and dehydrated, completely disappointed that Todd had to wake up at 4:30 this morning to get back to his darn job, but so pleased with the great time we just spent as a family.

I married a dreamboat.

Todd called me while I was out shopping a few weeks ago and asked for permission to spend more than $100 on my upcoming birthday present. I swear he asks for that every year. What can I say, he spoils me. Of course I granted his wish. I always do.

Then he told me we needed a babysitter so we could go out and get whatever said present was, on August 27th from 5 pm to midnight. I tried to figure out what he got me - expensive, something we go "get," had to be on a specific day... but my best guess was that he scheduled us for a couple's massage, and I was wrong. I thought he accidentally let the "go get" phrase slip, and he let me believe that, but really, he did it on purpose to throw me off course.

Surprisingly, he treated me to a Norah Jones concert in Berkley. We've never been to a music concert together. Neither of us has been to more than a handful before at all. It was totally unexpected.

Me and the belly at the Greek Theatre, UC Berkley.

I almost went to see her three years ago, but didn't, and I've always thought she'd be a delightful one to listen to live. She was. It was relaxing and enjoyable, the crowd was mild and friendly, the set was beautiful and the acoustics were superb. Plus our seats rocked. Todd specializes in that. Seventh row, just four seats in from the center. We had an awesome view!

View before the show started, while it was still light out. Look how close we were!

Unfortunately, we only had our phone for pictures, so they're small and not great quality. Corinne Bailey Rae opened and played for an hour. She did a great job. I love her accent.
Then Norah came on and played a fun combo of old and new music, some I'm super familiar with and songs I haven't heard yet from her latest album. She kept it real, mixing it up so it wasn't just like the albums. It reminded me of when I used to go to Jazz Club jam sessions at BYU and listen to the musicians rock it out. I loved it.
And I still have in-person spoiling to expect on my actual birthday. Delightful.

The Rattail and the Belly

Todd was in desperate need of a haircut a week or two before we left on vacation, but with his crazy busy job(s) he didn't have any time for me to take care of the shag. We finally got around to it a few nights ago. I couldn't help but bust out laughing after I buzzed the first couple bottom rows, and evened him out on the other side, leaving this delectable homage to the 80's.
Don't worry. I finished the job after the photo shoot. But believe me when I say it looked 500 times better (worse) in real life!

And for my records, here I am at 19 1/2 weeks prego with the little man.
I looked at pictures of myself prego with the Haz and have decided I'm about two weeks bigger, and carrying higher. I'm scared for this hunker to make it full-term. Hazel was 8 lbs 14 oz, and I hear boys are usually bigger than their sisters. I turn deathly pale thinking about what that means for poor me.

Here's his profile. The big ultrasound earlier this week came back with nothing but good news.

Solace in the Summer

We've been back from vacation for four whole days now and the Bonners are bummed. I was sad the second we made it home. We had so much fun, and it's lame to be back to real life, especially when that life means Todd's at work 12 hours a day instead of hangin' with his ladies 24/7.

First we went to Lake Powell with half of Todd's family. It was the first time I'd been there. Todd swore it was heaven on earth. He was right.
We spent five days surrounded by gorgeous red sandstone cliffs and warm, bright blue-green water. Our life was filled with swimming, jumping off the top of the house boat and off of cliffs, riding the jet skis, watching the babies while they dug in the sand, cheering everyone on as they waterski'd and wake boarded, snacking and playing games and loving the time spent with family.

Hazel called the jetskis "water bikes" and LOVED riding on them!
Cousin time was da bomb.
It was so much fun now that Hazel's old enough to really play with them.
Todd worked on his wake board flip. Hazel learned to say "woo hoo!" and loved to cheer on everyone doing tricks while we rode the ski boat.

Then we spent the next three days with Todd's whole family at a sweet cabin (mansion, really) in Bicknell, Utah, where I evidently forgot I had a camera. Thank goodness my sister-in-law emailed out the pictures she took! We spent our time up in the mountains fishing and riding four-wheelers, and again stuffed the rest of our time with snacking, games, and family bonding.

Hazel has two new baby cousins who she adored. She begged to hold and kiss them.
Checking out the fish the cousins were catching.
Apple-picking. Hazel gorged out. She adores apples.
Finding purses in the wilderness. Who says camping chair bags only have one use?
Hazel rocked it at her first ever pie-eating contest.

Now it's back to real life. Darn it.

The Mole and the Massage

I have a mole on my stomach that Todd absolutely loathes. It is about half the size of a pencil eraser, and juts out quite a bit. He loves to talk about pinching it off, cutting it off, ripping it off... It's a continual bedtime-conversation theme. It doesn't bother me, but the idea of personally destroying it does. Todd and I are opposites in this matter.

I grew up in a cuddly household. My mom and all my siblings give excellent back massages. I used to get a great back rub whenever my back hurt, or I had a headache, or someone in the fam just wanted to hang out with me and have a close conversation for a few minutes. That all went down the drain when I got married. Todd may be the worst back rubber in the universe. When I ask him for a massage, I usually end up frustrated and wishing I hadn't bothered, because he is so bad at it. He hasn't got the patience to just sit still and focus on my back muscles. He taps at me, and does weird squishes, or just halfheartedly runs his hand along my back without any pressure. It's so annoying. He needs a lot of practice.

Which is why I made a deal with him about ten days ago. If he gives me a GOOD back massage for five minutes five days a week until the baby is born, I will let him destroy my mole. I am torn about whether I want him to make it through December or not. I think it's a lofty goal for him to realize, but I really want those back rubs, especially when I hit third trimester! (He was gone for my entire third tri with Hazel, when you really need a back rub, so he really owes me!)

We've been hobbling along at it. Sometimes Todd doesn't want to do it, but a glimpse of the mole usually amps up his motivation. It's been so nice to get a little back rub before bed most nights. I could definitely keep this up for the next five months! I especially like that I can say when his massage isn't good enough, and stop the clock. He's really having to work hard to meet my expectations, and I'm delighted to say he's actually improving his massage skills.

Saturday night Todd was groaning about having to give me another massage, and he said something about me just waiting, one of these days he's going to bring home a bottle of ether, knock me out, and just cut that mole off while I'm unconscious and be done with both the mole and the massages. "You wouldn't dare," I said. Todd brought his face real close to mine, opened his eyes psycho-wide, and whispered, "I would do it in a heartbeat." He made me laugh, but I still wouldn't let him go to sleep until he had fulfilled his duties. So far, I am loving this bet.

Child-Sized Chair... Groan

A neighbor lent Hazel a child-size lawn chair about a week ago and it has turned into Hazel's absolute favorite plaything. She carts it around E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E and has been getting into all the things that used to be securely out of her reach.

It has been the bane of my existence and the love of her life.

We will be returning it tonight. (Yay!) But Todd thinks we should buy Hazel one of her own. What do you think?

Update with video

Check out this sweet video of my flight!