MOMS Club weekend

I joined MOMS Club a little over a year ago and last fall when Cora stopped taking a morning nap I really found myself enjoying getting more involved. Basically MOMS Club is a support group, of sorts, for stay at home moms. Each local chapter has a president and other board members, all volunteers, and once a month all members are invited to a business meeting where matters of business are taken care of and a monthly calendar of activities is planned. Our chapter plans 3-4 activities a week, from park days to visits to the fire department. We also have age-related play groups that meet once a week and moms-night-out once a month. To me MOMS club has been a good way to meet other moms who stay at home with their kids, give Cora an opportunity to play with a variety of kids and a way to make sure I get out of the house and have social interaction, too. I don't have an excuse to go stir-crazy, be lonely, feel isolated, or just get bored. Also, MOMS club activities are almost always free. Being a SAHM (Stay at home mom) with a very tight budget makes it difficult to do what my working friends often want to do: shop $$ and go out for lunch $$$. I love to hang out with my working friends, but since they work this has been a good way to be able to have other women to hang out with on other days of the week. If you are a SAHM and need: friends, a reason/way to get out of the house, advice from other moms about anything find a MOMS club chapter in your area, or start one! Also each MOMS club chapter adopts a few service projects in order to give back to our communities. Each year the GJ chapter walks in the Relay for Life and puts on a Christmas party with gifts, Santa, food and games for the children in foster care in the area, among other activies.

This weekend I was able to go to a regional luncheon in Albuquerque, NM, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the beginning of MOMS club. 12 of us from Gj drove down together. We had done some fundraising so everything was paid for which was fabulous. We were pampered with great food and a lovely hotel with lots of amenities. The luncheon was a celebration of MOMS club and the 110,000 moms that have been involved in the last 25 years. It was an affirmation of our choices to be SAHMs as the most important way to impact and give back to our communities. It was an affirmation of the ways moms support each other so that we can continue to stay at home and be the best moms we can be. I'm so thankful I was able to go. Brad was home with Cora and also had some of the ladies from church watch her over the course of the weekend, so it was a joint effort to replace me. :) I'm kidding. This was the first time that I left Brad and Cora for more than a few hours. I missed them like crazy but also had so much fun hanging out with 11 other ladies road-tripping together (with no kids)! I knew that everything would go fine for Brad and Cora while I was gone and it did. What a blessing that was to me!
Here's a picture of me with a few of the other girls after the luncheon. I had to borrow a friend's dress because I've given away or consigned all of my fancier dresses! I figured I never had a reason to wear them so why keep them! The two bridesmaid dresses I still have I don't think would have fit my prego tummy. (See the top picture - I'm twenty weeks along...half-way.) Just having some girly fun!

Utah Camping Photos

This is from camping near Lake Powell. Cora loved the tent!
Water, rocks and dirt are a great canvas for an imagination.
We hiked down this "ithsmus" to......this Anasazi fortress.

Trying something new

Cora was going to show my camera-phone how fast she runs and when I said go she started counting! Then later she showed her cute run. Notice how she hunches her shoulders and swings her arms way more than is necessary. Brad and I get such a kick out of watching her run. Hope you do, too! Also, she has recently started counting as high as 20! I often count to 5 with her and occassionally 10. I remember one day last week we were counting something and went to about 24 and ever since then she's been saying 1-14 or so regularly and correctly - after only hearing it once. It blows me away!
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"Tuddle"

Another clue to "Cora-eese": hard "c" or "k" sounds usually come out as "t" sounds. She calls herself "Tara", or more acurately "Tawra". And she often requests to "tuddle" after reading books, before going to bed. We've been in the habit of reading a book or two before any sleep time since she was about 6 months old. It's a wonderful time to connect together, relax and prep for sleep. A few months ago we added cuddling to the routine. At first, we just couldn't resist when our little girl was asking to cuddle with us, so we happily agreed to indulge her for a few more minutes before insisting she go to sleep. It turned into an expectation fairly quickly. Neither Brad nor I ever mind much because it only lasts about 1-2 minutes and then off to bed she goes and it's so rare that she just sits in our laps for more than 10 seconds before running off to do something else.

Recently I also started thinking that Cora not only expects but also needs that cuddle time. She is working so hard at being a "big girl" all day: going potty, getting dressed, getting in and out of the carseat, feeding herself, picking up toys, pretending to make "befest" (breakfast). All day she insists "Cora do it!" When it's cuddle time she curls up in my arms like she did as a baby and gets a few minutes where nothing is expected of her except to rest.

A week or so ago Cora and I had had a particularly difficult morning together. I was grateful for nap time and hopeful that it wouldn't turn into a struggle. After the obligitory two books, she curled up into me and said "tuddle" in with a tired sigh. I held her close, thankful that she seemed relaxed. We rocked in silence and as I was about to tell her it was time for bed I heard deep, rythmic breathing. She had fallen asleep in my arms in a matter of minutes! Tars started streaming from my eyes as I remembered reading somewhere that to have someone fall asleep in your arms is a sign of total trust. What a healing moment after such a difficult, trying morning! I sat there for another 20 minutes just enjoying knowing that I am Cora's mommy, and even after a whole morning that seemed like she hated me, she still finds comfort and safety with me. Everything was "OK" again.

I will always cherish the memory of my sleeping toddler cuddled in my arms.

Wonderful Weekend

Brad, Cora and I were able to get away for a couple days together for some much-needed family time. We went camping! Yes, the first night was cold. We were at 6500 feet elevation near Natural Bridges National Monument and it got down to the mid-30's in our tent. Cora slept as though she were in her own bed. She was in her own kid-sized sleeping bag and then inside an adult size flannel bag. We didn't hear a peep from her the whole night. She thought it was so exciting and special to sleep in her "eeping-bag" in and in the tent. She practiced sleeping in her sleeping bag a few times at home beforehand and did great so we were more comfortable taking her camping.

We did a unique hike that took us out to the ruins (although they are hardly ruined - mostly intact) of an Anasazi fortress. It's a mystery as to what happened to the Anasazi and fascinating to see their homes built in the side of a cliff and almost as if they left just a few years ago, not hundreds.

We also did a quick visit to Natural Bridges NM then headed down the road to Lake Powell. We camped there for the night and enjoyed a balmy 60 degrees in the tent! It was such a treat after the cold first night. We ended up having to cook all of our food over the campfire because we ran out of propane for the cookstove 5 minutes into cooking dinner the first night! Woops. We won't be making that mistake again. Thankfully we were able to prepare the rest of our food on the fire and heated enough water and kept it hot in our awesome thermos for oatmeal in the morning so we didn't have to restart the fire.

After a little exploring around Hite (a virtual ghost town...well, ghost marina - it seems there never was much of a town there) we started the drive home. We stopped in Green River, UT at their museum of river history (can't remember the official name) and saw the BEST museum video ever! It was so cool and well done! It told the story of Powell and his team of men who rafted the Green and Colorado rivers. Go see it if you're stopping through!

We truly had so much fun - it was a fabulous 3 days together. Brad and I were so proud of Cora, and amazed, at how well she did in the car for many hours, in the sleeping bag, and just plain entertaining herself with rocks, sticks and dirt. She entertained us a lot, too. We saw a bunny hopping around outside the ranger station at Hite and later that night while we were setting up the tent, Cora started hopping around on her hands and knees. I'd never seen her do it before and was curious what she was doing so I asked her. She said "Hopping! Bunny rabbit!" What a delight!

If you are Brad's facebook friend, be sure to check out his pictures of the trip. I haven't gotten them loaded yet, but he's quick! I'll get some up later.