The McGarys : Savvy September

For work this month Brad had to go to Savannah, GA for a week. I had no idea how close it is to Jacksonville! We go to Orlando regularly for the temple, theme parks and shopping and I never realized until now Savannah is the same distance away. Brad suggested we all go with him for the week. After all, the hotel, gas and his food were provided. When he first suggested it I said, "Staying in a hotel room with two small kids all day while you're working? FUN! I can't think of anything I'd rather do!" Then he started working his Brad magic talk on me. He whips it out when he's trying to convince me to try something new. "You can take the kids to some of the cool places during the day and then we'll do more in the evening while I'm there". It worked. I decided to go.

The pack n play may have taken some getting used to.

We got a nice little surprise while checking into the hotel. They upgraded our room to their one and only suite so we now had a living room and a separate bedroom (heck yes!) We put Jayda in a pack n' play and Kallie in her own personal tent on a crib mattress. We strung a piece of material through the zipper handles and tied. them. shut. I must point out that to this day, Kallie has never once slept in our bed with us. I have no clue what that's like. If we hadn't thought of the tent, I suppose we would have put her mattress on the floor but I don't know if she would have stayed there or gotten up all throughout the night. If that hadn't worked, maybe we would have finally let her sleep with us. I've come to realize parents and families do things lots of different ways and when we encounter new situations, I'm curious how other people handle them. Did it work or did their kids go crazy and not sleep all night because of their new surroundings? I learned our friends recently put their toddler in a pack n' play in the bathroom at a hotel. And it worked! I never would have thought of that.

The hotel room was great and we had a good first night. I didn't plan super well what I was gonna do with the kids during the weekdays but I knew at least two places Brad recommended. If I haven't already written enough about this trip, anyone that can't relate to being a parent and especially a mom can check out until I say START down below, if you so choose. I shall tell a slew of seemingly boring details that I however think are funny parenting tidbits that can make or break a vacation such as this, depending on how one handles them. Here are things you have to think about when traveling with small kids: I didn't bother waking up early enough to shower and primp before the kids awoke but I did have a half hour to go downstairs and get breakfast. I grabbed the baby monitor, flip flops and snuck into the hallway as quietly as I could through the loudest, squeakiest door I've ever heard. I went downstairs freshly rolled out of bed (pajamas, crazy hair, no makeup). I took a look at the spread and tried to decide what/how much I could possible carry up to our room without looking like a homeless person stealing enough food to last the whole day. I forgot the sippy cups to fill with milk for the kids, of course. When I had three plates layered on top of one another and styrofoam cups brimming with liquid I s-l-o-w-l-y made my way back to our door and had to set all the food on the floor in order to unlock it.

By the time we finished eating breakfast, changing diapers, getting dressed, looking up directions to our destination and getting MYSELF ready, it was time for Jayda's nap. I brought Kallie into the bedroom and let her watch a show while Jayda - and I - napped. Afterward we finally left the hotel and drove to this wildlife reserve. As I was paying at the drive up window I realized it was almost lunch time. Great. I finished paying and turned right around to grab the closest fast food drive-through and then return to the reserve. By the time we got our food the kids were whining from hunger so I decided to haul the kids and our food inside to eat. We finally got settled at a table and Jayda was happily drinking her milk when Kallie -of course- had to go potty. Oh, did I forget to mention she's potty training? I looked at our table of stuff and decided to grab the diaper bag and roll Jayda's high chair into the bathroom with us. Where am I supposed to put a baby while I help a toddler go potty? The process worked well. Except for when Kallie's stream didn't exactly go down into the toilet bowl. It went forward, over the edge and onto her underpants. Huh. Haven't seen that before. After Kallie ate one whole nugget she begged to play in the kid area outside. Again I grabbed all our stuff and rolled Jayda's high chair out so Kallie could play. We sat and watched her for five minutes when I realized how hot it was. I didn't wanna be outside. We were officially not going back to the wildlife reserve. Meh, I only paid five bucks. So this was my first day with the kids. We successfully went out for lunch.

The Pirate House restaurant

Throughout the week I sharpened my process of feeding the kids breakfast and getting ready on time but other things were bound to go wrong. The next day we were on our way to lunch when Brad called and said he'd be back soon. I decided to wait for him and took the kids to Barnes and Noble to kill time. We went to the children's section and read a book. Kallie had to go potty. I took the kids to the bathroom and sat Kallie on the toilet (Jayda was in a stroller). Kallie refused to go potty. I pulled up her pants and we walked back to the children's section. Kallie had to go potty again. "Ok, let's go!". She refused to go back. She pooped her pants. I CARRIED her back to the bathroom (kicking and screaming) and changed her into clean pants. Back to children's section. The kids played with a train set. I chatted with another mom. I looked down to see a huge puddle of pee at Kallie's feet. I couldn't find an employee nearby so I packed up the kids and found someone on my way out to tell about the pee. I don't think she realized the emergency of the clean up situation. Kallie opened a flood gate in the middle of the hardwood floor, right in front of the train table. Other kids were walking through it. Oh well, I did my part and I'll never see these people again.

By day three my only goal during the day was to get my kids fed. I was happier staying at the hotel than trying to go anywhere. I got their wiggles out by racing back and forth down the hall. It was kinda nice letting Kallie watch tv while Jayda napped because I got to nod off a little too. I don't regret going on the trip. We did fun stuff every evening with Brad. We took a trolley ride through Savannah. The kids were crazy and hungry by the end but I loved seeing the old houses. We ate at Paula Dean's restaurant, Lady & Son's. We walked along the shops that line the river. We rode a ferry. It was beautiful. But I'll probably never again stay in a hotel for a week while Brad works.

Paula Dean's restaurant: Lady & Sons

sucking her thumb.

START

Jayda turned one year this month! Time goes by SO much faster with the second baby than the first! I can't imagine how fast it'll go with our last baby. AND She started walking soon after her birthday.

(No bake cheesecake)

Weaning Jayda was simple and painless and awesome...the first week. I thought I was out of the woods and happy about it. I took parsley and sage capsules for three days (10 of each daily...gotta have a good tasting drink for that). A week later I got sore and uncomfortable and was like what. the. deuce. so I took the herbs for another three days and this time it worked for good. I'm excited to to start my six months of being physically detached from a baby.

I'm pretty sure my barely-one year old eats more than my nearly-three year old. Is that normal?

I announce that Kallie is....potty trained! The process went as expected. It took about a month. I'm happy with it, considering we went on vacation during the second week. One day this month I had my own total meltdown. While playing in the waiting area of the doctor's office Kallie peed on the floor because I didn't think to ask when we first got there. I discovered I did have an extra pair of underwear but I didn't have extra pants for her and well, one is kinda useless without the other. So I left her as she was. Then there's the whole "I need to go potty" but refusing to go after she's already de-pantsed and sitting on the potty...in public. This particular day Kallie also pooped her pants twice and Jayda pulled down a shelf on top of herself. I broke down and cried. I was sick of cleaning poop and hearing Jayda scream and stuck under a shelf while cleaning said poop. As I sat there and sobbed Kallie came up, looked at me and gently said, "Mama, is your eye broken? You need a bandage". Well look at you wrapping all my stress in a box and throwing it away.

I gave Kallie an eskimo kiss one night while putting her to bed and she softly said, "Ugga mugga". One of her favorite TV shows, Daniel Tiger, has a tiger boy that shares affection with his parents with Eskimo kisses while saying "Ugga mugga". No clue what "ugga mugga" means or where it comes from but it was SO cute to hear Kallie surprise me with it.

My best friend from high school, Noelle, and her husband Josh flew in from Utah to visit Disney World this month and we met up with them at Magic Kingdom. So fun! It's still hot and humid here in Florida, of course, but it clouded over was like walking through a sprinkler all day. Not bad. Ironic part about this reunion is that Noelle and I have two kids the exact same ages but they didn't bring their kids so we didn't bring ours. It was AWESOME going to Disney World by ourselves but weird that our kids have never played together! Last time I saw Noelle was at her baby shower. We're going to Rexburg for Christmas this year and plan to swing by Salt Lake so our goodbye with Noelle and Josh was like, "See you in three months? Psh, that's nothing!" I'm sad we didn't get a picture of all four of us. Josh, you simply weren't important enough to be in any of them.

I finally bought a desk for my sewing machine and started a few projects! It feels good to sew again, though I barely remember anything so I started with the easiest projects in existence: pillowcases. We have a couple body pillows that needed upgrades so it worked out perfectly.

2nd sewing project: SKIRT. Definitely not perfect, but it's my first one in a looong time and I learned a lot. It was hard deciding how long to make it. Did I want it to wrap around my waist or my hips? Tuck in shirts or keep them out? Still not sure which is best for this style but whatever. After I finished I noticed the print kinda reminds me of window curtains from a former decade. Maybe-sorta trendy right now? Hopefully. If not, oh well.

We went to Huguenot Beach, where we can drive almost to the water. It's SO much easier bringing babies to the beach when the car is right there. It was perfect weather.