Grand Canyon Day One

Brent and I have been pretty lucky to have friends close enough that want to travel.  Since we are in Las Vegas, we figure we should make the trek to the Grand Canyon and Erin, James, Jadie and Parker Urrutia were willing to come with us!

I was pretty nervous about the trip considering I just found out I was pregnant and I get pretty miserable morning sickness plus Harper was barely a year old. Brent, of course, thought camping was a pretty good idea!

Luckily, the Grand Canyon isn't really camping.  Yes, you stay in a tent but they have buses that take you all around the different stops and the walks are only about a mile long. Plus there are cool little statues that Harper could climb all over.

Once we got looking at the views it was AMAZING!

I couldn't believe how massive and intricate this canyon is.

I don't think you can see this but there is a little squirrel that was running all over one of the viewpoints. The viewpoints were pretty crowded but since we went in June the weather was perfect.

Some viewpoints were completely empty which let us just enjoy the grandeur of it for as long as we wanted.

Harper looks so little!  Her hair is still ridiculous but now it is longer and ridiculous. 

This is where I am a little bit of a downer.  I am not a huge fan of the desert landscape and so after a few viewpoints the grand canyon kinda lost its wonder for me.

This guy never loses his wonder.  This is a ledge that he had to run and jump to reach.  I fully expect to be a widow by the time I am 30.

And being on the ledge wasn't enough, he then had to hang over the side.  There was a little place for him to stand but it still didn't make me feel any better.  Erin kept saying she would kill him.  I've thought about it.

Harper is a mover and a shaker so the fact that she slept at all was kinda amazing.  We couldn't readjust her at all once she was out because she would wake up and stay awake so easily. The buses were pretty nice break as well. There were several different lines. We were really most concerned with seeing the sites so we focused on seeing half of it one day and the other half the next.

I miss green... that is all.

Brent did get a chance to go out and capture some of the most amazing landscape with his photography... He is really getting quite good at this little hobby of his and everyday he has some new trick to fill me in on.

It was a good first day, unfortunately we were unable to have a fire which made out evening pretty uneventful.  It was quick to bed.  We brought a pack and play for Harper, which ended up being pointless.  She slept in bed with Brent for about an hour, and then in bed with me for about six hours.  Dads were not meant for the night shift but I won't let that stop Brent from trying!

Harpers 1st Birthday

As I look at facebook, I read comments on how mom's have purchased the decorations, ordered the food and sent out the invites for their child's first birthday, and then you have me.  The day before I decided that we should actually do something for it.  I invited over some of our friends.  Made a delicious carrot cake for the adults and attempted to make a cute three tiered cake for Harper (it turned out kinda rough). 

Harper had friends to play with and didn't really know what to do with the cake we put in front of her.

Inspecting the candle.

Told you it was rough.

She finally took a bite, and didn't care how it looked!

The sugar is kicking in!

She ate a good portion, threw even more on the floor and then put her binki in to show she was all done.

I may not be willing to plan a full out party for my one year old, but at least I will let her destroy a cake on her birthday!  Our friends did end up bringing a few cute presents, and we gifted Harper with a brand new car seat!  I have to think this was the best birthday she has ever had!

Boston Navy Shipyard

On our final day in Boston we finished up the Freedom Trail by hitting up the USS Constitution.  This is one of six ships commissioned by George Washington.

It was built in 1797 and is the oldest active floating navy vessel.  I guess there are older ships but this is the only one that is still in the water.

All of the crew onboard are active navy and wear the uniforms from the 1800's.

Just steering the ship.

The stairs were pretty steep but Harper wasn't scared.

The second and third floor were made for shorter people than Brent and I.

After finishing up on the USS Constitution we went over to the other docked ship.  As you can tell from the guns it is much more recent.

We inspected the kitchen area and found that they had the ability to make a delicious Harper Stew.

Too bad she is more of a war mongerer than delicious course.

This is a neighborhood we walked through and it was so quintessentially east coast.  This is gorgeous and I would TOTALLY consider it!

It was a fun trip but Harper was ready to head home.  She had barely napped and slept the entire trip so we hoped that she would sleep on the plane home.

We were WRONG! Longest 7 hours of plane rides ever.  Then we decided to wait a while before we travelled with Harper again.

London Blair

As we have been posting on facebook we had a baby! BUT with that baby came some hardships that we weren't expecting.  So here is the short but in depth version.  

On January 15, 2015 we dropped Harper off with her Aunt Audrey and Uncle Toren and headed to the hospital. We got all checked in and hooked up to the IV's.  Most of you know that I have c-section deliveries due to previous medical condition and surgery.  My previous surgery left an 10 in scar on my lower abdomen, which the doctor cuts out, delivers the baby and then sows a new scar in.

This picture is how I feel about even knowing how the surgery happens.  I kinda wish no one ever told me how this surgery goes because I am awake during the whole thing and it is more than a little eerie. 

 Well once I got into the room and had my spinal tap the trouble began. I first started shaking, then I threw up.  It was miserable but fortunatley both symptoms were common of the medication.  I debated posting this picture, but this is how I looked during the procedure.  Yes, I am awake, no I am not wearing any make-up, yes my lips and face lost all their color.  Brent took the pictures and was more than a little worried about how I was doing because it doesn't look good.

Although it looked bad, that is all considered normal. The doctor discovered that my scar from Harper's c-sections had curved and therefore the scar tissue blocking London was significantly greater than anticipated. With Harper it took about 5 minutes from first cut until Harper was delivered.  After 45 minutes I still had yet to hear London's cries. Luckily, she was fine but I was struggling not knowing.  Brent said the scar tissue that was shown to him was about 11 inches long, 6 inches wide and about 3 inches thick.  FINALLY, London was delivered.  The nurse brought her to me (since your arms are strapped down), but honestly I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to truly appreciate her!

Brent left to clean London up and was told it would be about 20 minutes until I was finished, so he sat in the nursery and waited.  In the OR the doctor had his work cut out for him.  He had to remove so much scar tissue that he was having to use some more intense techniques to pull the skin over the emptied womb and get me sown up.  I could see the whole thing in the OR light and was really struggling to not freak out, remain calm and not pass out from the smell of burning flesh.

It was over two hours later that I was finally wheeled into recovery. I think Brent was relieved because no one really explained to him why it was taking so long. When the doctor did his post op visit he explained that due to him removing so much I basically have no core muscles whatsoever and the skin and tissue is pulled so tight I am at a great risk for complications and having the incision rip.  Due to this I am not only going to feel worse but lifting any weight is not allowed, period. 

This includes lifting my beautiful new little 19.75 inch, 7 lb 5 ounce girl for at least the next three weeks. Luckily, London is willing to go easy on me.  She sleeps wonderfully, eats amazingly, and is overall a beautiful happy little baby. 

Our little Destructo-Chan

Well it is happening, Harper is growing up. Isn't she cute?

 WRONG!!!  (okay, she is adorable, like undeniably cute but for the purpose of this post..) WRONG!!!  She is quickly turning into a little destructo-chan.  This term was lovingly coined by Brent who noticed that our daughter has the destructive capacity of any category 5 hurricane or enlarge, enraged monster (ala King Kong, Godzilla, or Mothra).  

The girl will not stop hurting herself.  She climbs on everything.  I went to grab a diaper and she is dancing on the table when I return.  She climbs from couch to couch which has recently become to easy so she is experimenting (and failing) with some Tarzan-esque moves. She is sick of her high chair and wants to sit at the table with us, which I would be fine with but she inevitably finds her way onto the table and then into her food.  I have found her on the table, in her dresser, on her dresser, on a window sill, in the entertainment center, on every chair and bed we own, and basically any other elevated surface in our house. This is all fine with me expect she has gotten riskier and therefore her face currently looks as if she has taken up professional boxing... I am not looking forward to our next well check.

She doesn't just destroy herself though... As I put Harper down for her nap and though I would quickly tidy the house and relax... After a quick shower I realized there was no point.  I have unused pots and pans in the living room, socks and shoes all over the kitchen, yogurt footprints on top of the table, bananas in the entry way, a 50 piece dog puzzle strewn over the house, tongue and snot marks on the sliding glass door, every toy we own scattered through out the house and I am pretty sure my tablet was thrown over the stair railing but it still turns on so I am not that concerned.  In short, my house looks TERRIBLE!

The truly sad part is we were only home for 30 minutes today before nap time...

So what do I do?  I know this is normal so I grab a pudding cup, put my feet up and enjoy some peace and quiet because it is only t-minus one hour until the destructo-chan wakes.  

Wish me luck.

Cape Cod

On Monday, we decided to get out of the city and hit Cape Cod!  Our first stop was in Provincetown.  As we were driving in, Brent made the observation that there were a lot of gay couples.  I didn't really notice so I thought he was exaggerating... but he wasn't.  Provincetown was having a celebration to mark the ten year anniversary of legalization of the same sex marriage.  The only weird part was that it was on memorial day.

This is the beach.  It looks really pleasant but it was really cold.

Cool picture.

We tried putting harper in the sand.  She didn't enjoy it much.

Have you noticed how we are all wearing the same outerwear?!  When you live in Las Vegas you don't really know what cold is so you always forget to prepare correctly.

Provincetown was really commericalized and it lacked the charm of many of the beaches that I enjoy most.  That doesn't mean Harper didn't fulfill a dream!

We finished in Provincetown and continued up the coast.  There were a lot of little picturesque towns along the way.

We did have to stop at this lighthouse.

It was a really pretty light house but on the tour we learned that some historical organization demanded that the lighthouse be preserved despite the fact that they would need to pay 1.5 million to move it and it would never actually have a purpose anymore and despite all the lighthouses that are on the cape... Kinda made me think we need to stop spending money just because someone really likes lighthouses.

The view from the top was neat.  All you could see was ocean but it was still pretty.  You can see me at the top.  Brent and I had to take turns climbing the very steep stairs, apparently it would have been "dangerous" to take Harper.

We finally hit the beach, determined to touch the water.  It was chilly and rocky... Give me the pacific coast any day!

It was a really nice day just driving and experiencing the Cape.  Traffic was a pain getting back but overall it was totally worth drive!