September arrived and Hurricane Irma was on the horizon. We watched it closely and decided to book another hotel on the Gulf side just in case our hotel on the Atlantic side was affected by it. When we found out that the Governor issued a State of Emergency for the entire state we cancelled the trip. We then went into re-planning mode because Ryan had the whole week off of work. We decided we would take a short road trip down to Bentonville, Arkansas. I was very excited to visit Crystal Bridges and to explore their beautiful walking trails. For the first time ever, I actually made a check-list of all that I wanted us to do while there. We usually just wing our vacations.
Magnolia had just got in her two bottom teeth and it was rough. It was so bad I even took her to the doctor as I thought something more than just teething was causing her to scream and cry all night long. Once they came in life settled back down and we were sleeping again. We enjoyed only a few calm weeks before I noticed her top gums were swollen and inflamed. Not only did I see two white areas under her top gum, I saw four.
I really didn't think the teething pain could get any worse than the first set, BUT I WAS WRONG! I spent a solid week rocking, holding, and nursing her all night long. Sleep was not happening in our household. We rotated Tylenol and Motrin at night, but it didn't seem to do the trick and pushing through knowing they'd eventually cut all the way through was all we could do. We gave her momsicles and teething toys during the day, and the distractions seemed to help, but night was when the alligator tears and sad cries began.
We ended up cancelling the third trip we had planned for the week. Traveling this particular week was clearly not in the stars for us. We didn't want to take Magnolia on a road trip when she was hurting as badly as she was. Ryan was able to get a lot of things marked off his to-do list around the house. It was nice to have him at home to help me during the nights and to just hang-out at with us during the day. I made several dinners at home and we dined al fresco on our back deck. We went out to eat a few times. Ryan helped me each night with Magnolia's bedtime routine and he loved seeing her get wild in her bubble bath before bed. He got to hear her baby talk and all the new words that she'll randomly mimic us saying to catch us both by surprise.
Obviously it was a bummer to cancel the beach vacation we'd had planned for so very long, but truly there wasn't much room in our hearts for disappointment. We had the news coverage about the hurricanes on most mornings and to see the despair and loss of so many people had our hearts aching. We had originally planned to fly out on September 11th. That morning I had read a quote about all the people that had survived the terrorist attacks because something inconvenient in their lives had sent their usual schedule off track. It ended with the reminder that no matter what is going on in our lives, we are exactly where we should be. We had already realized that being in Florida that week with our teething baby would have been really tough. Looking back on last week, our simple time at home with our teething baby girl was perfect.
After all our plans had been canceled I again dreamed up a week of exploring Kansas City as if we were tourists in our own town. The reality of the week was that I spent a few whole days in my pajamas walking around the house like a zombie because I hadn't slept. It ended up being a super chill week at home. One night we took a long walk on the trails by our house and then came home to dine on our back deck. I made a super easy turkey meatloaf recipe, using our new muffin pan, that Ryan absolutely loved. Another day we took a long drive in hopes that Magnolia would nap in the car (that almost didn't work, as she fell asleep only minutes before we were almost home!). And the most exciting part of our week was the day we took Magnolia to Sea Life Aquarium. To see her wonder as she saw colorful fish and sea creatures swimming all around her in the deep water was a day Ryan and I will remember forever. We had so much fun just watching her experience a part of the world she's never seen before. Magnolia is a very expressive baby girl and she lights up our world with all her fascination.
After our adventures at Sea Life Aquarium we walked around Crown Center. We stopped at Smallcakes for a cupcake and ice cream. Magnolia ended up falling asleep in her stroller while we were enjoying our sugar treat. We pushed her around as she slept and we stopped in Hallmark and the Crayola store. Before this trip Ryan never knew my love for crayons!
We didn't spend our vacation on the sandy beach, but we spent time at home all together as a family, and I wouldn't have changed it for a thing. I thank God each day for my loving husband and beautiful baby girl!
XO
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