Raising Cubs in a Campground

Thanks to the nice folks at CSNstores .com I've been given the opportunity to review the sleepy wrap . Since our little one isn't due until July I am sharing it with my sister in the meantime. Little Rosie was still hooked up to too many monitors to easily position her in the wrap, but she's headed home, hopefully early next week and can really give the wrap a workout. More on that in a minute.... I am an experienced sling user, but this was my first time with a wrap style baby carrier. It was intimidating at first to pull out that loooooong piece of fabric from the box. (Which by the way was shipped and on my doorstep within 72 hours of ordering. Thanks CSN Stores!!!!) Thankfully there's a wonderful instruction booklet (with photos!) that walks you through the steps. I was surprised by how many different ways you can hold your baby in the wrap as they grow! Bonus! Once I arrived at the hospital I had Katie give it a try. There's a learning curve when it come...

Outside my window... mountains of snow on top of layers of ice. I am thinking... that I really need to be better about doing yoga so my back doesn't hurt all the time. I am thankful for... a doc who would call in a prescription for pink eye without having to see Julia first and that she's on the mend from Influenza A after five days of being lethargic. I'm also thankful to be 21 weeks and already have seen the good news that BabyBear's cyst is gone. You can read more about how we found out the gender here . From the kitchen... oranges and grapefruit. Can't get enough fruit these days. Oh and fresh baked bread...or what's left of it. I'll be popping another loaf in the oven for lunch tomorrow. Yum! I am wearing... black yoga pants, black thermal shirt, and my park* socks *When we worked for the National Park Service we were given a clothing allowance to purchase uniform pieces. I always ordered extra socks because they are super comfy and last a ...

I'm 20 weeks today, but all I have for belly photos to share is this one from 15 weeks, 6 days. OK, so now that I've got that out of the way it's time to share how we found out. I knew I wanted it to be special...something unique to our family....something I hadn't heard of before..... Here's how we did it: All four of us went to 19 week ultrasound appointment at 4pm on Friday afternoon, February 11 th ( incidentally , the same day in 2004 I told PapaBear we were pregnant with Sam) We arrived armed with a Christmas present that hadn't been played with yet and a couple of candy canes. I wanted to focus on the screen and what the tech said and not have the kids be bouncing off the walls. Sam surprised us all by chatting with, Angie, our technician, through the whole thing. He could identify hands that waved and asked questions about what he was seeing. Julia was content to eat her candy cane and play with her new toy. When it was time to look everyone looke...

As I slowly but surely have more days with less medication (learned the hard way yesterday that I can't go cold turkey. The result? Repeated vomiting all morning long) I am able to be in the moment with my kids more often. When the fog lifts there are some really really sweet moments to be had - especially related to this new life growing inside me. A couple recent examples: Julia: Good night Mommy! Good night baby! Hope you sleep well. {kisses my belly} Sam: {Julia is already asleep in her bed when Sam comes in} Good night Julia. Jesus loves you! Julia: {in the bathtub saying a prayer} Thank you for my bath and the baby! Sam: {Julia asleep in her bed, Sam touches her on the shoulder} God bless you! Those are some good tugs on this mama's heart strings!

My niece, Rosie, was born on January 11th, nine weeks early. Today she is one month old, yet is still one month from her due date! Crazy! My sister was on hospital bedrest for 5 weeks and was such a trooper through it all. I am so proud of her and know she's going to be a great mom! I finally got pictures of Rosie off my camera and loved this one the best. She was a tiny little thing at 3 pounds, 9 ounces, but so strong. She was off the vent the same day she was born! This photo was taken when she was less than 24 hours old. Thank you to everyone who prayed for my Rosie! A little update on her progress: She moved out of the NICU within days of birth and is growing and learning how to nurse in the special care nursery. I hope to get up to visit them next week and take more photos of this special little blessing.

The mountains of snow in our park have been available for winter fun since mid November, but it's been so darn cold we're lucky if the kids get out once a week. Thankfully February is flying by and before we know it we'll be tapping Maple trees and pulling out puddle boots. I know we're suppose to make the most of every day, but this has been the worst.winter.ever and I am so glad the end is in sight!

I say it every day. Why? Because she wows me with her artistic ability on a daily basis, that's why. This winter will go down in Bear Family history as the one where Julia's artistic abilities emerged full force. First it was crayons and coloring books. Then it was coloring books and markers. Then it was white paper with a combo of markers and crayons. From there she's moved to cutting out her creations, like this one: I consider myself a creative person, but this kid has more creative juices in her pinky than I do in my entire being. Love that. I even love Sponge Bob. Never thought I'd say that in this lifetime!

I say it every day. Why? Because she wows me with her artistic ability on a daily basis, that's why. This winter will go down in Bear Family history as the one where Julia's artistic abilities emerged full force. First it was crayons and coloring books. Then it was coloring books and markers. Then it was white paper with a combo of markers and crayons. From there she's moved to cutting out her creations, like this one: I consider myself a creative person, but this kid has more creative juices in her pinky than I do in my entire being. Love that. I even love Sponge Bob. Never thought I'd say that in this lifetime!

there were so many titles I could have chosen for this post but just thinking about it made the knots in my stomach come racing back. I'd much rather forget the events of yesterday but I feel like the right thing to do is to get my thoughts written down so maybe I'll stop replaying those awful five minutes over and over again in my mind. It probably wasn't even a five minute ordeal, but at the time it felt like five thousand minutes. Whatever the length of time....all I know is that Sam was gone and I couldn't find him. He's six I kept saying over and over again. HE KNOW NOT TO JUST WALK OFF. In the crowded Mall of America my son had vanished. My friend started looking for him while I raced to the nearest vendor to ask them to call security. Her phone didn't work. I raced to the next place and went straight to the front of the line to explain what had happened. The guy finished helping the person who was waiting for his change. It felt like a year pas...