Grand Canyon take 2

Somehow, we've managed to take two trips to the Grand Canyon since Lucy's birth. The first time, she was completely asleep the whole time, and this second time, she screamed for about 75% of the time we were visiting the different viewpoints. This time, we brought the kids, the dogs, and my sister in law and in all that wrangling (and there was much wrangling -- I had the baby and the chihuahua and B had Mia and the lab mix), I managed not to snap a single picture with my Phone! I am a big disappointment to my blog.

It was both incredibly pleasant and incredibly stressful. It was a 4 hour drive either way, during which I was stuffed in the backseat with two carseats and two dogs, but we listened to Serial the whole drive (and finished just as we were pulling into our neighborhood!). The first trip (right around Christmas time) we went to the West Rim, which is an Indian reservation with an organized bus tour and limited stops. This time, we took the longer drive down to the South Rim, where the actual National Park is and it was so very very nice. The weather was perfect, it was sunny and warmish the whole time. We only spent one night (we considered doing 2 nights, but now that we're back I'm glad we stuck to one) at the only pet-friendly lodge in town, which we were once again stuffed into like sardines (had it been just us, without the SIL, it would have STILL been cramped), but we were all together and that was nice.

We very much intended on doing some actual hiking, but in the end we just did the paved walk around the rim, and I'm quite proud of us for managing even that. I had to stop (twice! and covered) to nurse while sitting on a boulder with basically the most spectacular view while pretending I was completely comfortable so as not to draw too much attention to myself. I'm all for breastfeeding and everything, but I still have a hard time nursing without being behind closed doors. Despite the paved terrain, it was still the most exercise I've gotten in a long time -- especially since I was pushing a double stroller up and down inclines.

On the second day, did the 25-mile drive, with various lookout points and stops along the way. It ended in a lookout tower, and Mia was very disappointed that Rapunzel was not there. I took 2 days off work to bookend the weekend, and B took a while week to hang out with his sister while she visited, while giving me some alone time at work. Today, we're all back to our regular schedule, until my other sister in law visits in 3 weeks!!

Overdue Update

This post title may be a bit misleading, considering there isn't much to "update". Things are very much the same now as they were at the time of my last post. That isn't a bad thing, normalcy is certainly something that many families with an infant may crave, and it does feel like we've reached it. The days may be long, but the months feel very short.

Lucy's a relatively easy baby as far as it goes, though she does have her moments. I am continuing to nurse her exclusively, something I didn't do with Mia and I feel proud to be doing this time around. I didn't like nursing Mia, I didn't like feeling like I was the only person that could feed her, but this time around, since I have a good pump, it still feels like I have some flexibility. Besides, not having to wash bottles is a positive point for breast feeding!!

I am taking this Friday and following Monday off of work, and we are headed out of town for one night. It kind of feels like I haven't had a break in ages, and I certainly don't count my maternity leave as a break, considering the difficult recover plus the huge number of family members that were in town. And, with taking Lucy to work with me, I feel like I am constantly juggling my different roles. In the evenings, B will do most of the baby-entertaining which I am absolutely grateful for, but when she fusses, boob is almost always the solution, so I never really do get much of a break. It will be nice not to have to think about work for more than just a weekend and focus on having a nice time with my family, who I have been enjoying immensely recently.

Mia goes back and forth from being so helpful, independent and sweet to being needy, whiny and rebellious, but such is life with an almost 3/4 year old, I suppose. Our after work routine is so predictable, and she'll just do things like refusing to get out of the car, refusing dinner, and lying. So much lying! About nothing atrocious, just things like saying she washed her hands when they are clearly filthy. I've turned into my mother and told her that her tongue would be cut off if she continued to lie (my Mom told me that Jesus would be cutting my tongue off, but I'm leaving that out of this one...), but I was at my wits end in the moment.