Family Vacation 2014

Since I've been married I have had the luxury of taking vacations. I'm not taking about the kind of vacation where you go visit family either. I'm taking about the kind where you go somewhere far from home and see things you have always wanted to see. Seth and I have been to Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak, Seven Falls, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam (that was some dam tour 😉) , and we've also been to the Alamo. 

We've also had the opportunity to travel with his parents to a couple of great places as well. We went to Washington, D.C. one year and saw Arlington National Cemetary, more monuments than I can count, and the White House. I got to see the Smithsonian and that alone was a dream come true. I loved everything about D.C. and could have spent a month there and still not have had enough time to see it all. It was a beautiful place. I hope to go back someday. 

We went on another trip a few years ago, right after Talent turned one. We went to Yellowstone to see the park and everything there was in it. It was Seth's favorite trip and he talks about it often. We saw bears, a wolf, and enough bison to last us a lifetime. The scenery there is just so beautiful. Pictures and words just don't do it justice. 

This year we were blessed to be able to take another trip with my inlaws. They wanted to go someplace warm. So we went to Pensacola Beach, Florida. I've only been to one beach my whole life and that was Corpus Christi, Texas. Let me tell you, Pensacolais so much prettier than Corpus. The sand is whiter, the ocean was bluer. Even the air seemed cleaner. It was beautiful. 

We traveled from Oklahoma and it took us two days to get there. It was worth the drive. We had 5 full days of sand and sun to enjoy. We played in the sand, enjoyed the waves as they crashed into us, collected shells, and enjoyed local food. We shopped, I got a jaqua tattoo, we laughed, and we all had a great time together. 

Talent was afraid of the ocean, but, he loved the sand. He loved sifting through the shells that I collected daily from the ocean. He enjoyed the beach house and had a blast with his Pawpaw. This trip he learned how to catch a ball, expanded his vocabulary, and made an even better connection to his Pawpaw. 

We took one day and went to the Naval Museum with my father in law, Mike. We took Talent and he was in Heaven. He loves planes and this place had planes everywhere you turned. He and his Pawpaw and Daddy walked and talked, they looked at each plane and discussed what it was, which plane from the movie "Planes" it looked like, and walked some more. They had such a great time. 

This trip was such a blessing to us. We were able to get away and just enjoy being together. Talent was able to have some good one on one time with his grandparents and I love that. He really took to his Pawpaw. But, his Pawpaw spent so much time playing with Talent. He took him for walks, played ball with him, got in the floor and played planes & cars, they watched Talent's favorite movie together, and they even chased each other around the house. It was so great to see them together. This trip was what we all needed. I couldn't have had a better time. It was so great to be together and enjoy each other. I can't wait for the next trip. 

Adventures of a boy mom...

Last night I was trying to get both bathrooms cleaned before we headed to bed. Talent had been following me around "helping" by dusting or throwing away trash. He's a great helper. I had gone into the big bathroom that is right next to our bedroom and he decided he would go into the bedroom. I finished cleaning the toilet and then heard a blood curdling scream. I dropped everything and ran to Talent. I found him sitting in the floor in front of our dresser, screaming and crying. When I finally got him to calm down, he told me that he had kicked the dresser and that his "feet" hurt. I was worried that maybe he had been stung by a scorpion since I found one last week. I couldn't get him to calm down so I called my in laws. They came out and we started looking at what he could have hit his foot on and what could possibly be hurt on his body. There weren't really any visible signs of anything on his legs or feet so we were stumped. Eventually his big toe started to swell a little and it looked like it might have a bruise starting. I ended up giving him ibuprofen and benedryl since I was sure something hurt but couldn't for sure rule out a scorpion sting. He slept fine, only crying out a few times in the night. 

When Seth got home this morning he looked at it and we thought his foot might look a little swollen but I still thought maybe he had just stubbed his toe. That is until he tried to stand on it and he screamed bloody murder. So, off to urgent med we went for X-rays. After looking at his X-rays the doc decided that there was a possible hairline crack in the bone above his big toe going back towards his ankle. They told me we could give him Tylenol & Motrin for the pain and they wanted to out him in a splint until he could see his regular physician. So, he now has a splint and can't walk. 

I know that accidents happen, but I feel awful about this. Anytime your child is sick or in pain, as a momma, you want to fix it. This just makes me feel terrible. Even if I had been in the same room with him, it could have still happened, so I know the guilt I feel is just because I'm a mom and I never want him to hurt. He has taken everything like a champ and didn't even cry when they did his exam, X-rays, or splint. I wish I could say the same for myself. Being a mom is the toughest job I've ever had.