My happy baby showing how well she sits up:
Rachel spent the week at a new camp called Teens in Transitions. She attended camp with her best friend, Katelyn. They have spent almost every day together since Rachel returned from South Carolina which is great, especially considering their summers overlapped by only three weeks this year before Katelyn returns to her mom’s house for school in North Carolina. Even though the camp was in Ann Arbor, there was no way that we could get there to pick her up by the time it ended at 5:30 since we get out of work at 5:00 and don’t even get to our car until 5:30 thanks to the joys of employee parking at the hospital. Katelyn’s stepmom, Maria, very graciously volunteered to pick up Rachel with Katelyn and drop her off to us in a parking lot by the hospital at 5:45. We were very thankful. Paul and I drove separately on Monday so that he could get her to camp early. I picked Rachel up at our meeting place by myself since it was really hot and Paul’s truck doesn’t have air conditioning ever since he hit a deer with it about three years ago. I also picked up Lily so us girls got home a lot later than he did. However, it gave him time to do some yard work which is his favorite summertime activity. The demands of life with a baby have kept him from any outdoor projects this summer but Lily is so wonderful that he doesn’t mind.
On Tuesday, Rachel had a sleepover at Katelyn’s since it was Katelyn’s birthday. They ate dinner at Applebee’s then went to Zap Zone for laser tag. They had a lot of fun. Meanwhile, my aunt Margaret was in town so she came over along with my parents and Grandma to visit us and see Lily. She hadn’t seen Lily since her baptism on May 2nd so she was amazed by how much Lily has grown and changed in the past three months. Being with her every day (and having to pick her up all the time) I know that she is growing but it is hard to see all the changes as they happen so subtly unless I am looking back at old pictures of her on our digital picture frame. We had a very nice visit.
Lily visiting with my Aunt Margaret and my Grandma Marion:
All eyes are on Lily:
Lily gets so excited when she is visited by Nolan. She was squealing with excitement and trying to pet her kitty (otherwise know as ripping out his fur, although, he doesn't seem to mind):
Lily with Grandma Chris and Great-Grandma Marion:
They look amazed that she can stick Mr. Moo's entire face in her mouth:
That night, when putting Lily to sleep, I was reading her ‘Goodnight Moon’ which is our nightly tradition. This time she was really into the book and kept reaching for it. I was lying next to her holding it above us with both hands and thought I had a good grip on it when suddenly she grasped it and pulled it down onto her face. Being a board book, it thumped her pretty good and she gave me a startled look then starting wailing. Poor thing! Not a very relaxing bedtime for Lily! I felt horrible. Especially when I realized that it cut her adorable cheek.
On Wednesday, I worked at the Brighton Health Center so Paul had to meet Maria to pick up Rachel from her. He called me at about 5:45 to make sure that he was at the correct meeting place since he hadn’t been there before. I picked up Rachel on my own on Monday and we didn’t pick her up Tuesday because she went home with Katelyn for their sleepover. I called Maria’s cell phone to see if they were on their way only to learn that Maria forgot to pick up Rachel from camp! She picked up Katelyn but since they weren’t having another sleepover, she wasn’t thinking that she still needed to pick up Rachel. They were already out of town and I was home in Brighton so I frantically called Paul to tell him to race over to camp to get Rachel. At this point it was 5:50 and the camp had been closed for 20 minutes. When I called him, he had just gotten off the phone with Rachel who called to tell him that she had been abandoned. This was the same kid who called us at work in hysterics because her backpack was too heavy to carry home from the bus stop so I thought she would be completely freaked out that she got left behind but she was totally unfazed. A counselor stayed with her at the school until Paul could get there which was a little after 6pm. Meanwhile, I called her and talked to her on the cell phone to make sure that she was still okay. The camp has a policy about charging by the minute for late pick-ups and can kick you out of camp for violating the on-time pick up policy but they were really cool about the whole misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Maria felt horrible but we completely understood her mistake. Besides a state of temporary panic, there was no harm done. Rachel said that she saw Maria come pick up Katelyn and that they said goodbye to her but since Maria didn’t tell her to come with them, Rachel just assumed that the plans had changed and that we were picking her up instead. We told her that on Thursday, she was to cling to Maria’s leg if necessary and to not let Maria leave without her! I think Maria felt too embarrassed to see us the next day because her husband, Karl, picked the girls up from camp on Thursday and met us at the drop-off point. We reassured him that we were not upset and were thankful that they could pick up Rachel for us.
On Wednesday, I worked at the Brighton Health Center so Paul had to meet Maria to pick up Rachel from her. He called me at about 5:45 to make sure that he was at the correct meeting place since he hadn’t been there before. I picked up Rachel on my own on Monday and we didn’t pick her up Tuesday because she went home with Katelyn for their sleepover. I called Maria’s cell phone to see if they were on their way only to learn that Maria forgot to pick up Rachel from camp! She picked up Katelyn but since they weren’t having another sleepover, she wasn’t thinking that she still needed to pick up Rachel. They were already out of town and I was home in Brighton so I frantically called Paul to tell him to race over to camp to get Rachel. At this point it was 5:50 and the camp had been closed for 20 minutes. When I called him, he had just gotten off the phone with Rachel who called to tell him that she had been abandoned. This was the same kid who called us at work in hysterics because her backpack was too heavy to carry home from the bus stop so I thought she would be completely freaked out that she got left behind but she was totally unfazed. A counselor stayed with her at the school until Paul could get there which was a little after 6pm. Meanwhile, I called her and talked to her on the cell phone to make sure that she was still okay. The camp has a policy about charging by the minute for late pick-ups and can kick you out of camp for violating the on-time pick up policy but they were really cool about the whole misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Maria felt horrible but we completely understood her mistake. Besides a state of temporary panic, there was no harm done. Rachel said that she saw Maria come pick up Katelyn and that they said goodbye to her but since Maria didn’t tell her to come with them, Rachel just assumed that the plans had changed and that we were picking her up instead. We told her that on Thursday, she was to cling to Maria’s leg if necessary and to not let Maria leave without her! I think Maria felt too embarrassed to see us the next day because her husband, Karl, picked the girls up from camp on Thursday and met us at the drop-off point. We reassured him that we were not upset and were thankful that they could pick up Rachel for us.
Paul spending time with Lily and Mr. Moo after the whole Rachel-pick-up fiasco:
My beautiful baby taking a nap Wednesday evening and showing off the cut on her cheek that is evidence of when good books go bad:
I had the honor of being asked to participate in a forum at the hospital during world breastfeeding week called ‘Breastfeeding Your Baby, Work, and You’. I was on the panel of working breastfeeding moms. We shared our experiences, challenges, and why it is all worth it in the end. I was honored to have been asked to participate by the head of the Women’s Health Resource Center at U of M. I occasionally pump at the resource center so we have talked about the joys and challenges of pumping and breastfeeding from time to time. It is definitely a challenging commitment due to my busy schedule at work and I frequently only get 5 minute lunches but it is totally worth it to do something for my baby that no one else can do. That day my period starting which I found odd. Apparently it can start any time it wants to, even when breastfeeding, but usually it comes after a decrease in feeding such as after starting solids. We are only doing solids sporadically so I don't think that's the reason. Oh well. I haven't had a period since May of 2008 so the absence was nice while it lasted!
Bedtime with Mr. Moo on Thursday night:
We had Katelyn over for a sleepover on Friday night. We took the girls to Zukey Lake Tavern for dinner then watched The Great Outdoors in honor of the late John Hughes (I love his work). I wanted to take them to the beach or to play miniature golf on Saturday as a last hurrah but it poured rain all day so we couldn’t go anywhere. The girls seemed to have fun hanging out in Rachel’s room all day despite the rain.
My blue-eyed girl chewing on her thumb and showing off her chubbiness on Saturday afternoon:
Lily trying to use the TV remote:
Passed out on daddy. Rainy days are great for napping:
On Saturday evening, we took Katelyn home before dinner. She and her little brother and sister begged to have Rachel stay with them for dinner so we left her there for a few hours and went to the mall. I had to get a few things from Clinique anyway.
Rachel was a little down in the dumps on Sunday as Katelyn was flying out to North Carolina that day. She is supposed to return for Halloween so the girls are looking forward to seeing each other again then. It is unfortunate that they don’t get to spend a lot of time together but their friendship has been really strong for two years now despite both of them living so far apart from each other. We wanted to do at least one fun thing for the weekend so we ended up taking Rachel and Lily to Cabelas. First, we had to wait for Lily to finish her morning nap and get everyone dressed and ready.
Passed out in a dramatic fashion:
Snoozing on Daddy:
Paul had both Lily and Amber sleeping on him:
Such a cute baby:
My Super Happy Little Girl dressed and ready for fun:
Rachel always likes Cabelas. This was Lily's first time there. She was fascinated by the aquarium:
Intently watching a gar:
Lily also loved all of the animals:
"Peace" says the girl in the coonskin cap:
Rachel, Paul, and Lily on the statue outside of Cabelas:
On our way back home, we dropped off Lily’s swing and some toys and supplies at Pat and Auriel’s house as Auriel and Aneasha will be watching Lily next week. Kirsten will be on vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. Pat and Auriel moved into a rental house on the south side of Ann Arbor so we had to figure out where their house was located. We also had to figure out the best route from our house to Rachel's camp then to their house and, finally, the hospital. Paul will have to take both girls into Ann Arbor in the morning then pick them up after work Monday through Wednesday because I will be working in Brighton. That will involve leaving really early in the morning so we all turned in early Sunday night.
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