Ramblings of Chincoteague Island

We just returned from our first vacation as a family to Chincoteague Island. Celia is 9 months and she basically behaved like any slightly advanced baby would. She acted as if nothing were really new. Her favorite discoveries on Chincoteague included the glass coffee table in the townhouse in which she could place her lips flat on and blow. She cruised around that coffee table quite often with her small green ball in one hand. She also discovered that she loves playing with my Chapter books. Perhaps it is because I haven't really allowed myself until now to actualy sit down and read books. So she was determined throughout the vacation to steal that book, take the book marker out and bend the front cover as far back as she could. Oh and she did take a bite out of the second page, fiber is a good thing. We brought a bag full of toys for her but basically she just wanted her little green ball, a remote, my books, and the coffee table. We even brought this cool new toy that her Grandpa bought her. It is a stackable tower in which you can also make large or small balls out of the parts. There is a tiny yellow ball that jingles and can fit inside the larger balls. Celia did enjoy the yellow ball if she couldn't find her green one. Okay, I haven't explained the green ball. My teaching assistant, Cora, gave me this big baby bottle filled with a cup, bowl, spoon, and these two little balls. Well of all toys, this is what is Celia's favorite.

So back to our vacation. What did we do? Okay well Pete got his naps in of course, my husband loves to sleep, it is his hobby and he is very good at it. He also was able to do some fishing and crabbing. It was good to see him enjoy his time off and know that this was my idea! Once again I am the master travel planner. I had a great time crabbing too. It brought back some childhood memories of crabbing with Uncle Bump and the Clarks in Fenwick Isle Okay, my mother and sister will understand that. But for whoever reads this I guess all that needs to be said is that I vacationed in Fenwick Isle beach as a kid and crabbed. I absolutely loved steamed crabs as a kid.  We biked around Assateague Island and Pete pulled Celia in a kiddy trailer. Pete was very excited that while biking we met a nice black snake. It slithered off the road and was certainly not a threat. But my husband, so excited at the idea that we saw a snake, warned two walkers to watch for snakes. What I think he wanted to say was "I saw a snake, I saw a snake". It was cute, probably one of those had to be there moments. We did see some of the wild horses from a distance. Celia enjoyed the ride somewhat, there were some tears. But she was a bit small for the trailer and unfortunately spent a good part of it on her side.

Oh the beach, almost forgot. Well it is May and the water is like 50 so no we didn't go swimming. So we brought Celia to the beach on the warmest day, laid out a blanket and I stripped her. Why you ask.. Well to put on her swim suit of course. No, I didn't throw the poor girl in the water. I had to get those beach photos. Pete thought I was crazy, Celia perhaps. But she usualy throws a complete hissy fit when getting dressed however I discovered that a swimsuit is evidently okay to her. She didn't make a peep- putting on extra sunscreen, well that is a different story. Pete at one point plopped her in the sand and she discovered the wonderful texture of warm sand. She was so excited. She dug her hands deep into the sand and let it slip through them. I of course had to ruin it after awhile, worrying about how we were possibly going to get the sand out of her. Celia also practiced her walking in the sand and really did a good job- holding mom's hands of course!

Oh, okay, more on Chincoteague. Well there are not a huge variety of restaurants on the Island. We enjoyed Steamers, Bills and Ettas. Don's was a little scary, food not horrible, but I won't be returning. Let's put it this way, they didn't even bother to wipe the mud off of Pete's oyster shells. Oh we also enjoyed the Subway-is there anywhere that they haven't franchised? But if you do go to Chincoteague, definately get a place with a kitchen and bring food. The island has some unique stores, like the junk filled front yard of a rainbow colored house. If anyone is in the market for a black overly fluffy feathered rooster I know the yard where you can find it.

Okay, well I suppose that is all for Chincoteague. It was a good vacation, a different one for me I suppose. As I have a little 16 lb 9 month old attached to me at all times, literally sometimes (Pete was a little unearthed by the frequent public- but discrete- breastfeeding). However I did enjoy reading my two novels.

Introduction to Shooting out the boo in the Parking Lot

This is my first attempt at blogging, I have been meaning to do it for awhile. So why "shooting out the boo in the Parking lot?". Well my daughter was born in the parking lot of a free standing birth center on September 5th, 2007. When my husband and I took our birthing classes the instructor frequently said "you will know when you are labor, there will be no question". Well guess what, that isn't true- at least for me!! My contractions started out as little tickles in my stomach, a minor nuisance that disappeared around 10 am in the morning and didn't return until a couple hours later. When they did return they intensified significantly and went from 5-20 min. apart to 20 sec apart in no time. My husband rushed home from work after I called him to tell him "come home now". Luckily he didn't argue with me or question me at all! When he arrived I was bracing myself in any doorway I could find because although my contractions were not exactly crippling, the doorway was my friend at the time. So my husband followed my instructions as I told him what to add to my birth center bags.

I was concerned about packing my ipod, ice pops, propel, etc. I wanted everything because we would be there for hours I knew- hours!! So my husband still gets irritated to this day by the fact that when he arrived I said "you know the worst thing, I was just getting ready to dry and fix my hair when the contractions became intense".

In any case we got out the door about 30 min after my husband arrived and it was not a fun car ride. I put my head in between the driver seat and the passenger seat, closed my eyes and began to think "if this is what hours of labor is going to feel like screw natural childbirth". So my husband drove as fast as he could during early rush hour traffic to the birth center 30 min. away. About 10 min. before we arrived my water broke and then I had 2 involuntary urges to push- I did not tell my husband about the urge to push. When we arrived at the birth center my husband helped me out of the car and I informed him that I was not going to be able to walk the 10 feet into the center- the wimp that I am. So he ran into the center to get a midwife meanwhile I was a bit busy. I was standing outside of the car leaning on the backseat door and out she came, out came my baby girl in a pair of Target Maternity Jean Shorts. Yes I kept them, along with the Turtle appliqued orange shirt I was wearing. My midwife came out of the center and I said "um, I think the head is out". She looked at my like I was crazy and then said "but your shorts are still on". She did tell my husband to go get a nurse. Needless to say, I was right, Celia was out. My midwife took off her shirt in the parking lot and wrapped it around 6lbs 1 oz Celia.

So my husband got a nurse, we cut the cord in the parking lot. My husband spent a few hours nonstop on his cell phone and we found out later that the third floor watched the entire production in the parking lot.

So why "Shooting out the boo". I can't say that I am the biggest fan of my husband's nickname for my daughter, it is "the boo". It reminds me of a puppy dog or a stuffed animal's name, not an adorable 8 month old. I prefer Celia, sweat pea, etc. But it makes for a good blog title.