View from the Prairie Box

She’s been brainwashed! BRAINWASHED, I TELL YOU!!! I haven’t pulled out the ole finger-in-your-throat, “gag me” sign since sixth grade until I read this line, “Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase.”

Barf-o-rama.

If you are waiting my table in the South and you are older than me, you are more than welcome to call me sugar, hon, darlin’, or sweetheart.

If, however, you are a male in your early 20’s taking my order from behind the Wendy’s cash register in Platte City, Missouri, you are SO NOT ALLOWED to call me hon, twice. Understood?

I’m tucked away on some green berber carpet in a corner of a hotel room rightnow, lit only by the flourescent bathroom lights that spill onto my legs. All this in vain hopes that a particular 13 month-old chills out and passes gently into Dreamland despite the fact that she’s not in Kansas (or rather Nebraska) anymore.

She’s in St. Simons Island, Georgia. With her mother. And her Nana and Papa. Her uncles and aunt departed yesterday. Tomorrow her great uncle and great aunt, and second cousins, will head home as well.

Besides the regional differences, including all the “y’alls”, sweet tea and pecan pie, Livia is getting to experience the coastal life for the first time. Well, she’s not really “getting” to—she’s kind of being forced into it by her mama. I haven’t yet gotten her to choke down a piece of shrimp or crabcake, but I did insist that she hang out with me in the warm, shallow tide at the beach this afternoon. Wave after wave crested over my knees as she made pathetic “boo-boo” noises, never letting me forget the fact that she didn’t feel at all thrilled with the salty water. Like her dad, I think this one is happier on land where she can dig her little toes deep into the sand.

I’ve been thinking a lot about vacations, why we take them and how they tend to be a rare treat in my circles. I’d like to become one of those families who goes on holiday (see, I’m pretending to be European!) on a regular basis in order to regain rest and one’s senses. This entire vacation I’ve been wishing that I had a laptop of my own so I could spend some good time writing. I’ve never been the pencil and paper type of writer—they slow down my thoughts too much and I give up before I’ve captured anything worth capturing. Getting away from home, encountering new people, smelling new odors, eating new dishes, they all grant me a spark of creativity that sometimes goes missing from my day to day life.

Shoot. I just heard a wail from the munchkin. Sigh… Getting this kid to sleep in the same room as me has been interesting. I can’t wait until we’re at home again and I’m sharing a room with my gorgeous husband while she’s across the hall her own space. For now, though, I’ll continue to enjoy my brief time left on the island. More beach time, more shopping, more sleeping and reading. After all, isn’t that what vacation is for?

Last night we were in the middle of doing the cross-crawl with Livia (a crawling exercise recommended by Brook) and singing songs like Frere Jacques and Happy Birthday when Renae burst out, “Oh yeah! TODAY IS LIVIA DAY!” And we all recognized with joy that indeed today was Livia Day and we promptly cheered and celebrated our smiley 13 month old with much enthusiasm.

One year ago, on June 26, a beautiful seven week old baby girl was placed into our arms. The moment was filled with expectation, great joy, a surprising amount of anxiety, and empathetic sadness for the birthfamily which had loved her (and still loves her) greatly. It was definitely one of the most beautiful, most profound days of our lives and we’re still overwhelmed sometimes by the fact that God has given us such an amazing child to be our daughter.

Livia Day this year was celebrated by kiss-blowing, belly button-pointing, a lot of wiggling and squiggling, and plenty of hugs and snuggles. I wonder what this child will be doing next year on her day?

Dear Livia,

I love your sense of humor. Sometimes I’m completely amazed how God has created this little baby wrapping with a startling sense of funny inside. Actually, your daddy and I often are in awe of you—that you’re a living, breathing little person with your own custom-made personality! You are completely, 100% Livia—no one else is just like you. And as your own little being, you have unique and quirky sense of humor, which I adore.

You think the America’s Best Eyeglasses commercial is funny. Personally, I think it’s a bit bizarre with its photographed human heads that bobble on animated bodies. But for whatever reason, it tickles your funny bone and never fails to elicit a smirky laugh.

You also like to look at yourself in mirrors, throw up your arms and legs and laugh intensely. You continue to giggle at Daddy, whether he’s being intentionally silly or not, and if I dance around the room with enough vim and vigor you’ll laugh at me, too. You like to make silly faces and you’ve nailed the Silly Bottom Wiggle dance with perfect rhythm. You clap, you shriek, you scream with baby glee.

Thanks for keeping us laughing, Livia. We’re having lots of fun at 13 months.

Much love,
Mama

I need some tips on air travel with baby in tow. We’re headed to the beach in a little over a week and I’m mostly concerned with two things: fixing our umbrella stroller and finding a backpack to carry Livia in.

Our umbrella stroller works really well (yay for this $4 garage sale find), but the handles are too low to make it work comfortably for this 5’9″ mama. If anyone has a decent solution to this problem, preferably one that doesn’t involve duct tape, please let me know. Also, I like to use our Baby Bjorn for short distances (A&K, it’s been a great gift this past year, by the way) but I think a backpack would work better for this vacation. Again, any recommendations?

Finally, moms/dads/grandparents/nannies out there, feel free to offer advice on how to make travelling with baby a bit easier. We’ve done the roadtripping thing, but this is Livia’s first time flying the friendly skies.

BABY… Congratulations to Jeannette and Chris on the birth of Ellis!!

BLOG… Charity has a new blog. Go check out the wedding day pics of this gorgeous bride and be one of the first to comment in her new blog space.

BEANS… The garden has finally been planted and, according to my father-in-law, it’s not too late either! So here’s hoping we’re eating green beans, snap peas, broccoli, radishes, carrots, green peppers and tomatoes in August.

Jeremy and I celebrated seven years of marriage on Monday.

Happy anniversary, sweetie. I sure do love you.

My love for my daughter is such that, after putting her down to bed and seeing an oddly-shaped shadow beside her, I picked up the darkened object without hesitation or second thought as to it possibly being a spider, piece of poop, or other item of an unseemingly nature.

Tonight, to my relief, it was a piece of cheese.