early July excitement

 July has flown by.  Even with this crazy intense heat and big growing baby and the physical discomforts that come with both.  That speediness of time can certainly make it easy to miss the moments.  The little moments I like to try and hold on to and remember...and the "bigger" moments...like the 4th of July and Charlotte's first trip to Adventureland.

I will start with a little moment...Charlotte is such a great helper!  I know I shared how she helped Daddy build Cale's crib.  Well, she also helped Daddy mud those holes in our kitchen wall.  And, as you can see, Molly is right there again to supervise.

Speaking of Molly, she really is such a good cat.  I know she might not be the nicest to our friends and family who come and visit...but she does love us very much.  She watches over Charlotte and the two are pretty good buds.  Sure, they have their moments, but for the most part, they are buds.

I do enjoy the 4th of July.  It's just a fun time to celebrate.  My favorite things about the 4th of July: the Lenexa Freedom run, wearing red, white and blue, fun outdoor festivities, grilling out and eating tasty treats, and fireworks.

This year....I didn't exactly get to participate in all of my favorites.  But I did try.

I kind of pushed Ben to do the Lenexa Freedom Run 5K.  Last year, I ran (unplanned!) the 5K as I pushed Charlotte in the running stroller.  Obviously, that was out of the question this year.  So I had to convince my husband to run the race for me.  It took a little convincing, but he finally signed up a couple of days before the run.

Charlotte and I dressed up in our red, white and blue, grabbed my Dad (Papa) and booked it to the finish line to greet all of the runners.  I LOVE the energy and atmosphere of events like this.  As we were walking I started to fear we would be late...so I started jogging along in my pregnant state.  My Dad quickly put a stop to that, haha, wouldn't want his little girl and grandson to get hurt!  Fortunately...we did make it on time to see all of our favorite runners cross the finish line.

Charlotte was mesmerized by all of the action!

 Matthew came first, he is the youngest.  And currently running track and cross country.  So really, big brothers, you can't feel TOO bad about getting beat by your baby brother!  Patrick, the second eldest came second...then Ben, then Chris and Jill.  Chris is on the right in the American flag shorts.  Ladies, he is single.  I have said it before and I will say it again, my bro-in-law is quite the catch!  Just look at him!  Any girl would be lucky to have him.  I am quite excited to meet her, whomever she is...whenever she does finally come along.  Haha, love ya Chris!

 After the Freedom Run, we went on home to let Ben shower and change before we headed on over to the 4th of July Festival in our neighborhood.  My oh my.  I was not prepared for the intensity of the heat.  Oh, I knew it would be hot.  But I have spent very limited time outdoors...and it is usually spent in and or by some body of water.  So that heat zapped me.  And poor Charlotte.  She wouldn't even focus on the camera to get a good photo.  Poor little lady, she was plum tuckered out!

 But we did go ahead and attempt watching "Mr. Stinky Feet," a kid's performer, sing a few songs.  Charlotte thought that was fun for about 15 minutes.  Then she was done.  And I couldn't blame her....I was too.  That air was so stiff and hot!

Charlotte loves her friends!

 On our way out of the festival, we found a misting fan.  It was glorious.  I would have stood there longer, but Ben was eager to get back into air condition.  Apparently he had all of the heat he could take as well.  We are so lame.  I am sorry Cale and Charlotte....one day Mommy and Daddy will hopefully be more tough and be able to endure the heat during such a fun activity as the 4th of July festival!

 We ended up returning home and just lazing around ALL.  DAY.  LONG.  No pool, no indoor activities, no nothing.  Again....lame....but that is what happens, I suppose, when you are not prepared for crazy heat.  And you are super pregnant...

Somehow we did muster the energy to go to my in-laws for a traditional 4th of July dinner.   That's probably because we were hungry and too tired to prepare anything on our own...haha....

And Charlotte did find it within her to give me at least a couple of smiles before we loaded up the car to head on out...

The day after the 4th, Charlotte and I took a road trip to Des Moines, Iowa for another family tradition.  Ben's Mom's family always gets the cousins together during the summer to visit Adventureland, a theme park in Iowa.  Ben's Grandma started the tradition when he was just a little guy and the tradition has been kept alive.

I am quite certain Jill (my mom-in-law) has dreamed of the day she would take her grandchildren to Adventureland.  So I wanted to be sure we made that happen, super pregnant and crazy heat or not. 

 Charlotte really was a rock star.  She sat in her stroller (before we entered the park) and ate her little veggie/fruit pouches.  She looked all cool in the big cousin photo.  And she endured the heat like a champ!

 She was very excited to ride the choo-choo.  We have a book about trains at home that she loves to read, so this was like meeting a celebrity! But the whistle was a little scary...

 

 I had a feeling Charlotte would not do too well on the kiddie rides.  She is going through a phase where she is even afraid to ride the carousel without Mommy.  And there was no way I would be getting on to any of the rides in my current state!  (I did ride the train though!)  But I pulled on the optimism and let her go.

Her first ride was a car ride.  She thought it was great to sit in the car and push the buttons.  But as soon as the ride operator man pushed the button to activate the ride, she let out the shrillest scream I've ever heard and she continued to scream in terror.  I bounded over to the man as quickly as I could...and quickly snapped the following photo in the process.  (Is that terrible...I snapped a photo of my terrified daughter??)

 

 I told the guy to please stop the ride because my daughter was very upset.  He sighed.  Obviously this was an inconvenience.  But I did not care.  He informed me he would have to also unlock her seat belt.  That's fine, man.  Do what you gotta do.  I just want to comfort my upset daughter!

She tried one more ride after that with her Grandma.  Same thing happened.  But Grandma held her tight until the ride came to a stop.  Then we decided we were, indeed, DONE with the rides for this year.

Charlotte found the empty (air conditioned) Bingo parlor a lot more entertaining, anyway.  (So did I....eh-hem....air conditioning!!)

 

 We finished up our adventures at Adventureland with a big picnic lunch with all of the cousins.  It's so much fun to just get everyone together.  I listened to stories about how, usually, it's cold and rainy during their Adventureland trip.  Oh my how the tables have turned for this year!  Maybe next year things won't be quite so toasty...

Charlotte and her Uncle Matt

Charlotte and I headed home after lunch.  It was much too hot to attempt even a portion of the afternoon within the park.  We were about 15 minutes down the road when Charlotte started grunting.  And crying.  (Oh, sweet girl...I am sorry if I embarrass you with this story...but it will be equally embarrassing for Mommy....so I think it is okay!  Please forgive me though if it does....)

Charlotte was trying to poo.  It's a hard job for her, going poo.  She is not a fan of fruits, veggies or juice.  And so....this sometimes results in constipation.  And/or very hard....well...yes.  You get the picture.

So, there we were.  Driving along the interstate.  Charlotte grunting and trying to push out that poo.  Me trying to comfort her from the driver's seat.  

Her cries got louder.  I finally decided, "enough is enough" and I pulled over at a rest stop.  I held Charlotte for about 10 more minutes as she cried and pushed.  Finally.  The poo emerged.  With many tears, poor baby!  I held her for another 5 minutes, patting her back and kissing her cheeks.  

Then I changed her diaper.

I set the full diaper on the ledge of the back seat so that I could get the clean diaper situated.  

Well.  I am pregnant.  And clumsy.  And I somehow bumped that diaper.

The poo fell.  Out.  Of.  The.  Diaper.  

Down...

down....

PLOP!  

I caught the poo with my bare hand.  My wedding ring finger hand.

I said, "oh no, oh no, OH NO!!" and then I laughed.  And cried I was laughing so hard.

Charlotte didn't know what to do.  She probably thought mommy was crazy.  Holding poo in her hand, laughing, crying and saying "oh no!" over and over again.  She did a sort of whimper laugh.  

I regained my composure and found a sack to stick the poo in along with all of the wipes it took to clean up the mess. 

Quite the bonding moment and an interesting cap to our Adventureland day.  Charlotte napped the rest of the way home after that.  All of the heat and pooing action had worn her out. 

So...maybe next year we will attempt Adventureland again along with Daddy and Cale.  We will see how the rides are received after another year goes by.  

As for the poo part?  Well...hopefully we will not have any more fun stories quite like it.  May this poo story just be in a league of it's own!