Family,
And a good rainy morning to you on this second day of May, where we as a city continue to be blessed with lower temperatures, good rain (read: NO NEED TO IRRIGATE), and perfect weather. I'm not sure what this means for our summer, but even if Charlotte feels like the surface of Mercury for 3 months, it's been nice having this little spring.
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| The aunt-uncle/Godparents with the munchkin. It should be noted that the outfit she's wearing is now so threadbare from the # of washes (all post spit-up) that I fully expect it to be a dishcloth by June. |
So apologies for being away from the blog for so long, but the past weekend and this week have been a bit out of control. And while the weekend was fun and the source of today's blog material, the week has been less so, as I've been at the old condo with a plumber to repair shower issues (and I'm meeting the "tile guy" today to complete those repairs. In a word: sub-optimal...
But enough of that, let's talk about why you're reading and I'm typing - our little bundle of joy and carbon. This past weekend was a big one for little Kaitlyn, as we packed up the fam (LITERALLY, but I'll get to that shortly) and made the drive out of the county for the first time since February, journeying the 200 or so miles from the Queen City to Atlanta to visit K's Godparents, Aunt Kim and Uncle Matt. Matt hadn't seen her yet, we wanted to do a trial "travel run" before some planned May trips, and we knew this would be the last time we'd see them before their wedding in July, so we thought "why not?" The result was a fantastic (and VERY informative) 72 hours outside of the friendly confines of Regal Court.
For starters - the packing...WOW. To set the scene: we are only talking about 72 hours out of the house here. However, we went ahead and packed for World War Z just to be on the safe side. Whilst Jenny and I had a bag COMBINED between us, K had the following:
1 Pack and Play (which was surprisingly easy to break down)
1 BOB Stroller
1 cooler filled with milk
4 waterproof changing pads
4 blankets
7 outfits
7,896 diapers
3 kinds of butt paste (seriously - why did I not get in on the ground floor of this industry?)
Breast Pump and all accoutrements
6 extra bottles
14 wash cloths
8 burp cloths
8 bibs
2 rattles
1 Playmat
1 Partridge in a Pear Tree (and parts to a Mustang GT)
We actually commenced packing on Wednesday and loaded 95% of this into the car on Thursday evening over the course of 1-2 hours (We had some beer for Matt and vases for KJ as well), and we genuinely felt good about a) progress, b) completeness of packing, and c) a 10:30 AM departure on Friday morning. Ooooooooh, so naive. So, so naive...
For starters, K DEFINITELY had other plans for the feeding schedule. In fact, K's been all over the place feeding lately, and it went particularly "wonky donkey" starting Friday (of course it did). She wanted to eat right when Jenny was supposed to be pumping, but since I was doing some additional packing, Jenny took care of the munchkin and then pumped (whilst I loaded things we'd forgotten - which basically encompassed everything but the kitchen sink. Shout out to the Hyundai Elantra - that trunk is HUGE!), and we ended up getting out the door at 11:30 - 1 hour later than planned. However, I wasn't concerned, as we'd just fed K and, in my estimation could EASILY make it the 157 miles to the GA state line - HUGE TACTICAL ROOKIE ERROR.
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| A new wrinkle when factoring in travel time...and the distances you are willing to go. Lesson #1: start earlier... and avoid potentially rabid children with no regard for personal space... |
By the 3rd mile of the trip, K was fidgeting and NOT happy. By the 4th mile of the trip (we'd ALMOST made it to the interstate at this point), she was vocally frustrated. By the time we hit the on-ramp, she was going BAT SHIT CRAZY. This continued for about 10 miles before the lull of the interstate white noise knocked her out...for 20 minutes. At about Gastonia she rose from the dead, complete with a zombie wail and a vampire appetite. Consequently, the Bull and Striker made their first ever stop at the I-85 S South Carolina Welcome Center, where we spent an hour keeping yellow jackets out of the car, scarfing down lunch as we switched turns feeding her, and I even had the privilege of shooing off 3 kids who were intent on touching and KISSING our daughter. Seriously - WTF was that all about? Three kids came out of nowhere (with their parents RIGHT THERE) and touched Kaitlyn, and when I shrugged them off (one was about to EAT HER EAR), one of them circled back and tried to kiss her. Now I'm all for love and peace, but 2 things: 1) I don't want any rogue germs yet, and 2) MY DAUGHTER WILL NOT DATE OR KISS A BOY UNTIL SHE'S 35. Okay, glad we got that out of the way.
The rest of the trip was actually SUPER smooth, and credit to JT for the big decision at the GA state line. K was due to feed, but she was passed out as we neared the welcome center. I was thinking of stopping, but we had gas and empty bladders, and she said "Let's just roll the dice." Well it was better than a Fire Bet heater in VEGAS, BABY, because we made it ALL THE WAY to their place by 4:30 right when JT said we would and just before some of the crazy rush hour for Friday kicked in - WHEW.
The weekend itself was an absolute BLAST. We were extremely sessile, but it was GREAT to just a) be out of the house, b) visiting with friends, and c) eating like KINGS. Matt and Kim were AWESOME hosts who kept us fed like you would NOT believe. Friday night was sushi (featuring the now famous "UN 21"), which JT hadn't had in over 15 months (so guuuuuuuuud...peppy cheekies). We also broke into their wine collection, which is more than a little impressive. KJ and Matt really know their wine, and I spent the weekend a) getting pointers and b) writing down wineries and vintages to purchase back at 201 Central - talk about some guuuuuuuuud stuff. Cambria....mmmmmm...It should be noted that Friday night the Bull and Striker went a bit too hard on the sauce, meaning that the 3:30 feed was, well, PAINFUL. But hey, it happens, and it was well worth it - especially breaking out "Cards Against Humanity" for the first time with those 2 - HILARIOUS!
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| A Feast for Kings! The Tacy-Hunsucker kitchen bustling with activity and preparation for Saturday's meal. |
Saturday was another great, lazy day. We spent it lounging, playing with Kaitlyn (during the 45 minutes she was awake - that child seriously slept ALL DAY on Saturday), and then were treated to an AMAZING dinner and dessert that evening - steaks, asparagus topped with feta, sweet potatoes, and the also now famous "KJ balls" - brilliant! We met some of their friends who'd also just had a rug rat, and it was a terrific evening. This was the day we learned that Kaitlyn LOVES tennis balls - the vibration where they hit the floor, the unique texture of the material - she was fascinated. Just wait until she can see their ridiculous color as well! The biggest news of Saturday - KAITLYN SLEPT 6.5 HOURS that night - her first time sleeping through the night! It was EPIC (although a bit terrifying at first). Granted, she had been exceptionally fussy during the day, especially at the 3 PM feed, and part of us thought it was a fluke and that she might just be exhausted. However, she then did the same on Sunday night, making it right at 6 hours.
We thought we were GOLDEN - brilliant parents all the way around, executing our plan to perfection. Which brings me to my next lesson, kids - DON'T GET COCKY. Because as a news update - SHE'S WAKING UP AT 3 AM LIKE CLOCKWORK NOW, and the Bull once again looks like he's been shot out of a canon. Seriously - it's been an uber-productive week, but this guy is EXHAUSTED and walking around like an extra from the Book of Eli or something. But hey, no complaints, as Kaitlyn does seem to be returning to her normal 3 hour schedule (she was on more of a 3.5-4 hour schedule in the ATL, and the travel really messed up both her feeding and Jenny's pumping schedule). Her volume ingested at eat feed seems down a bit, and spit ups are now pretty much a regular occurrence for every feed. Consequently, the child is basically wearing a newborn bib EVERYWHERE she goes. Oh, and it should be noted that our poor Value City couch now has enough milk vomit on it to be a farm yard. Seriously - K NEVER hits the burp cloth but instead prefers to go projectile on any part of the faux leather (or my shirt) she can find. I don't think I have anything in the wardrobe that doesn't have milk puke on it. And as a side note, we are having to clean K's neck about 8 times a day to keep it from smelling like milk puke. Kaitlyn - you are cute as a BUTTON - but your neck could have peeled paint off the walls last night. I know, I know...GREAT parenting...
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| One of Kaitlyn's fleeting "awake" moments in ATL - I'm fairly certain that projectile vomiting commenced 11.7 seconds after this photo was taken. |
The GA trip was really great soup to nuts, and we learned a TON from it. We also learned that we need to keep the travel within family confines for a bit, as we did have to do laundry for the munchkin because she went through FIVE OUTFITS IN 24 HOURS - poop, pee, puke - you name it, she was covered in it. I would never have thought we'd have needed all those outfits, but it's a good thing we brought 'em. And for the second time, we brought a cute little dress for her to wear but before we could get a photo of it she COVERED IT in spit up. Good times - especially those "over the head" outfits.
Kim and Matt - thank you guys SO MUCH for hosting us and letting us invade your condo for the weekend. We had an absolute blast, love you both, and can't wait to see you again soon for your Big Day!
Okay, time to clean up, feed the munchkin, and go meet a tile guy - chat soon!
Love,
Sam and Jenny
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