Just a Spectacular Weekend

We were blessed to have my mom and her husband come down Friday through Sunday. They're promising to move here in 3 years (quit playing games with my heart, Mom. Nothing's stopping you from moving sooner! Well maybe my brother graduating in 3 years, but that's just a minor detail.) Anna loved spending time with her Mami and Paul-Paul and I loved seeing them love on our little girl. There's something special about your own Mom loving on your daughter. It reminded me that the love I have for Anna is the same love my mom has for me. I can't even imagine the love I'll have for this girl when she's my age now. Wow! That's a lot of love going around! And then a grandma's love is just something else, there's nothing like it. Three years can't come soon enough!

not the best quality but it'll do :)

We had Monday to just the three of us and it was glorious! While we LOVE having guests, especially family, it was nice to just have a day to ourselves. We decided to spend Memorial Day hiking at Crowders Mountain State Park. This was my third time to Crowders (first and second) and Anna's second hiking experience. We knew it'd be better than my second time considering I'm not 5+ months pregnant but with Anna not sleeping like she was at 8 weeks old hiking in Yosemite, we weren't sure how the day was going to pane out. We should've had an idea what kind of day it was going to look like knowing Anna hates being in her ergo carrier. I guess I was hoping for just one day she'd have a change of heart and enjoy being strapped onto me or her father. Nope.

This is how it started. She didn't seem to mind hanging on Daddy's back.

Yeah, that lasted about 2.5 seconds. Five minutes in and she was not having it. Travis even said, "it's not too late to turn back now." Seriously? No, we are making it to the top of this mountain even if we have a screaming baby! So a screaming baby in an ergo turned into this:

We made it to the top with Travis either carrying Anna on his shoulders or on her stomach in his arms, but most importantly she was smiling and not crying! Mommy and Daddy were happy too (relieved is more like it!)

At one point on the way down I had to put Anna back in the ergo because Travis and I both needed our hands free to climb off of some pretty big rocks. She fussed at first but then it turned into a hum--not a get me out of here hum, more like an I want to hear myself hum. I started quietly singing "she'll be coming around the mountain when she comes"; not sure why, it just seemed fitting being up on a mountain and all. And wouldn't you know it, this happened:

Break out the Hallelujah chorus!!! But only in a whisper because we've got a light sleeper on our hands (or in the carrier, rather).  

Would you just look at those eyelashes? Just look at them! 

She stayed like this for most of the way down before she awoke and then didn't want to have anything to do with the ergo once again. With about a half a mile to spare Travis took her on his shoulders or in his arms after his shoulders started throbbing until we finally reached our car. Phew, what a day! A spectacular day really. It's our life now, to tote around a child. We're not as free as we used to be--not that it's taken me 8 months to realize, I realized it much sooner. I'm constantly reminded of how our lives have changed whenever we do anything that seemed so easy before Anna came. But it's a good GREAT life, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Hiking as a family of three beats hiking just the two of us any day!