Sunday, August 30, 2015

Exploring West Virginia

This was our first outing to explore some of the "touristy" places that West Virginia has to offer. 
The first stop was Kanawha Falls 


Cathedral Falls  

 Beautiful 60+ foot drop 
I cant wait to see this during the wet season. 



Next stop was a major tourist attraction.
The Mystery Hole
 This place has been open since 1973. It advertises itself as "a gravity-defying wonder".

The walls are built at different angles so you walk into different rooms and feel that you are sideways.  Personally I couldn't wait to get out of there. I felt like I was starting to get dizzy.
They also don't allow cameras inside. :( 
  
Our last stop was the famous New River Gorge Bridge. 
It used to be the worlds longest steel arch bridge...but now its the 4th. 

 White water rafting is popular on the river. 


It was a nice day exploring our new state. It definitely is different but beautiful. 

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Trip Home

A couple weeks ago Mike left for training for two weeks.
I still know ABSOLUTELY NO ONE HERE so I decided to hop in the car and make the 4 hour trip home to Ohio to for the weekend. I really wanted to take Emma to the Cleveland Zoo as I have many great memories there. West Virgina doesn't have a zoo. The closest one is about 2 hours away from us in Columbus, Ohio. That one is on our list to check out soon.
Anyways, I packed us all up and headed out during Emma's nap time. I am finding that this time is working the best during travel times. She sleeps for about a hour n a half, then we stop and get out to stretch and I pray the rest of the time I can talk and sing to her long enough for her to be content. She has been going through a stage while in the car that she wants to hold hands. I am talking screaming bloody murder on the top of her lungs over, and over, and over in till I break my arm trying to squeeze it back over her car seat for her to find my hand. Then she is happy as can be.

My mother and I took Emma on a Saturday. It was hot and as busy as it could be.
We walked around and tried to see all of the animals at a semi quick pace. The Cleveland Zoo also has a rain forest in a separate building so we wanted to check that out also.



I was home for about 4 days so we visited some of Mikes family and also checked out a couple hikes close to my parents home.

In the evening we took advantage of living close to Lake Erie. The perfect place to watch the sunset. 
It was a nice quick visit.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Emma, Emma, Emma

Before I get to the post....
Blogging now that I have moved take such a long time out of my night after Emma goes to bed. I still want to keep up with it to be able to look back and see all the good memories (and also keep up with the 'friends' I follow), but there is one thing that is driving me CRAZY so it makes it hard to sit down and write. 
HUGHENET INTERNET
When I signed up for DirectTV I wanted to bundle my TV and Internet together. 
They directed me to the stupidest internet provider ever. 
I had never heard of Hughesnet so I really didn't no what I was getting myself into (my bad for not doing my research first) 
Come to find out this company is satellite internet. Manly for people that live out in the country that don't have line connection. 
I live smack dab in the city.
This company limits your "data usage'' and once you go over you practically have 0 internet after that...except the bonus internet from 2am-8am...HELLO I'm sleeping! 
I have not streamed any movies, not played online games, not downloaded any music. All I do is look occasionally at YouTube and check my Instagram and Pintrest every few hours throughout the day. That is it! 
Mike had been gone 2 weeks out of this past month so it was just little old me using the "data". 
I called and complained (which I hardly ever do) because I had no connection. They told me my data was used up.
Its only been half the month and I hardly use the internet!
 I am paying $90 a month for this and it never works! 
I read a ton of reviews with no one saying good things about it so it is not just me. 
I asked when my contract was up because I want out!
He told me 2 years.
2 YEARS!!!! 
Frustrated as Hell! 

Anyways....
Lets jump into some Emma stuff because she has changed so much since I last wrote. 
I have some other things that I need to catch up on here but I don't want to forget her things first.

She still can not sit still meaning I can not sit down.
We have been going to the pool almost every other day so I can wear her out. We used to go to My Gym so she could get some energy out, but they don't have anything like that here. I have to think of something for when winter time comes.
She knows sounds that animals make.
I can ask her what a cow does and she will say mooo.
We have pig, cow, horse, duck, sheep, goat, bear, doggie and kitty down solid.
Still working on owl, rooster, snake, and a couple other ones.
She is OBSESSED with dogs.
I hear woof woof all day long. Either it is a dog on TV, walking down the street or in a book we are reading. She only wants to read books with animals in them. Her favorite right now seems to be the Clifford books. She likes to kiss and pet Clifford on each page.
Emma copies sounds.
If there sneezing or coughing you better believe she will be imitating it.
 Her favorite words are ball, more, purple,
shoes, and bath.
She likes to point to her arm, leg or belly so you can tickle them.
 Before we moved from Hawaii I could put Emma into her crib and she could fall asleep on her own. These days I have to hold her hand in till I think she is sleeping and then tip toe my way out of the door trying not to step on the squeaky parts of our hard wood floors.
Believe it or not she can almost do a somersault by herself.
There will be a video once it happens!
She loves to dance. Anywhere there is music she is moving those arms.
The song Hot Dog from the Mickey Mouse Club House I think might be her favorite.
She loves her daddy so much. She is so excited when he gets home from work.
She still hasn't said mama.  :(
She calls Bolo, Bobo
I am still waking up 1-2 times a night.
It is usually around 2am and then 5am.
I sometime think that her going pee wakes her up. When I go to pick her up at those times her diaper is warm like she just went.
She has been loving playing the 'throw the ball up the stairs' game.
We sit at the bottom of the steps and throw a ball up it. The ball bounces down and she is laughing hysterically. It is even better if the ball hits her at the bottom. She could play this game for hours....I on the other hand do not wish to sit on the bottom of the stairs for hours.
When I had Emma I knew I wanted to breastfeed.
My goal was for a year.
I wouldn't have thought that I would be still nursing at a year and a half.
I would like my body to be able to go back to normal but she is so stubborn when it comes to quitting.
One day I think I have found her favorite foods and the next day she hates it and wont even put it in her mouth.
Make up your mind child.
 I have a post coming up about this, but Emma can not seem to ever fully use both hands. There is always something in one of her hands that she becomes fixated on all day. Either it being a ball, rock, spoon, toothbrush...ect.
She is pretty much a one handed child.

And just because Bolo is still my baby also.
 He definitely has his good and bad days.
I couldn't even tell you the last time he came over and cuddled with me. This day was one I had been waiting for ever since he started to get sick. He came on his own and laid down on me. (Usually I am the one coming and cuddling with him) .I almost cried. I could care less that my house is a pig pen, the picture needed to be shared.
 Selfies with the three of us are hard to come by.

So I now finish this post 2 hours later thanks to Hughesnet, but its worth it for memories to be written down.
<3