Baby Bedtime Blunder

I've heard lots of stories about babies that take off their diapers and smear poo all over the walls or the carpet or whatever. My own child has even taken his diaper off a couple of times, but he never got around to pooing or peeing anywhere before I discovered his nakedness and diapered him back up! Well, dun dun dun...that all changed today!

I usually put Mason down for his nap at 11:30, and he almost always falls right asleep. Well today my friend Rachel was over with her 2 kiddos just hangin out, and it was time for Mason's nap, so I put him to bed. 11:45 rolls around and I hear him over the baby monitor up there talking and making all kinds of noise, but he wasn't crying or upset or anything so I just left him in there. So here comes 12:30 and he's STILL awake, which is totally uncharacteristic of Mason. But he sounded happier than ever up there in his crib. After Rachel left, I decided to go try and rock him or something so he'd fall asleep. Right when I walk in, I hear him let out this huge giggle so I hurry over to the side of his crib to see him laying on his back, playing with his pee-pee and laughing. Well, I gotta say that it caught me so off-guard to see him naked that I just died laughing too!

So - here's what happened. He did everything he could to take off his diaper, but could only get one side un-taped, so the other side was just hanging there. He drank a cup of juice and a cup of milk before I put him down, so he'd peed everywhere...and he just thought it was hilarious that thought it was so funny, so he just laid there playing with his recent discovery (his male anatomy), laughing his little head off. It was way too funny (and unexpected) for me to get upset over...plus seriously, mommy takes off Mason's diapers, so in his head, he's probably wondering what the big deal is about him taking it off by himself. "Mommy, wow! I'm a big kid now" (song from pull-ups commercial).

*Sigh* I love life. I really needed a laugh today, so Mason must have sensed that. I'm glad he obliged.

Our Future Olympian

Well, any of you who have been around Mason for any length of time have seen first-hand that his energy never ends. He's always jumping, running, screaming (out of excitement), falling, etc. So we decided to use his energy to try and teach him a new skill - the somersault. Jeff started working on it with him the other night, so we took a video. It's pretty hilarious. He doesn't have it down quite yet, but by the 2024 Summer Olympics (when he's 16 and legally able to participate), we fully expect him to be a professional somersaulter. If that's even a word. So, for your viewing pleasure, I now present...Mason...the professional head scooter on-er. And below that, our amazing jumping wonder.

My Much-Needed California Trip

So this past weekend Jeff gave me the best Birthday present ever! I've never really had a break from Mason for more than 24 hours since he was born a year and a half ago, and I was really feeling burned out, so a few months ago when my friend Jene proposed a trip to California...it sounded perfect!

Here's a little history for those of you who don't know who Jene is. We met in El Paso when I was home from college for the summer in 1998. She was just there being a nanny for her sister and brother-in-law, and we became best of friends right away. So this summer is our 10 year anniversary as friends, and we share a birthday too (the 18th of August).

My wonderful, kind, generous (and obviously insane!) friend and neighbor agreed to keep Mason for me last Friday and this past Monday while Jeff was at work, and for her generosity I will be forever indebted. Thank you Rachel!!! Jeff had Mason duty all weekend long, all by himself. From what he's told me, it went really well, and Mason has been so attached to Jeff since I got home, so the bonding time was really good for them! Thank you, Jeff, for being so willing to do that for me!!

So I left St. George around 11:00 on Friday and drove to Las Vegas where I was able to meet up with another long-time friend (Nick) for lunch. Nick and I have been friends for like 15 years now I think. Anyway, he's been such a wonderful, loyal friend, and I always love a chance to see him. Jeff knows and loves him too, so it works out great for me - I get to keep my guy best friend and everyone's happy.

Anyway, after lunch with Nick, I drove on to Riverside, CA to my sister's house. They got Thai food for dinner, which I had never had before. Not sure how much I liked it...way too much ginger and curry for my taste buds, but I did like one of the more mild dishes. It was so fun being able to stop off there and spend some time with Jenn, Ryan, and the twins (Connor and Isaac). It was so good to see them! I wish they lived closer (and my other sibs too, for that matter!).

I stayed there Friday night, then I headed up to meet Jene in Orange, CA on Saturday. Her friend Dallas decided to surprise her with a visit, so all three of us went to the beach on Saturday. Dallas knew of this secret cove in Laguna Beach that no one really knows about, so he took us there. It was soooooo dang cool! We had to hike up and over this huge rock and through some trees and bushes to get to the cove, but as soon as we got through to the other side, the view was breath-taking!! There were probably only 20 people max that filtered in and out of the cove while we were there. It was just perfect!! I spent most of the afternoon lying on my towel on the beach, reading "New Moon"! Talk about a relaxing day! The only thing that could have made it any more perfect is having Jeff there to share it with. He's all I thought about the whole time I was there, because it was the type of place he would have loved.

Saturday night, to celebrate our birthdays, we all went to Joe's Crab Shack in Newport. It was so cool, cuz the harbor is right behind the restaurant, so while we were waiting to be seated (for over an hour!), Jene and I were on the back deck talking, and got to see a wedding going on down on some boat in the harbor. It was pretty neat! Anyways, dinner was so fun...and Dallas paid for our food, which made it even better!! Thank you, Dallas!!

Sunday was another relaxing day. Probably the best day of the whole trip, in my opinion. I went to church at 9:00 to start my day off right, then we headed to Huntington. Jene and Dallas wanted to take their dog Turkish to the dog beach for the day, but I'm not really a fan of dogs...so I decided to enjoy the PERFECT weather, the PERFECT scenery of the ocean, and the PERFECT opportunity for some time to clear my head - I grabbed my iPod and put it on Nora Jones (the best chill music), grabbed my bag, and walked about 20 blocks down to the shopping area in Huntington, across from the pier. It was the most relaxing thing I've been able to do in a really, really long time. No one to talk to, nothing I really had to think about, and no schedule or plans. I walked down the pier, watched the surfers, watched the kids playing in the surf and the people playing volleyball. I sat and watched a group of people play in a drum circle, which was also a really cool experience. It gave me the warm fuzzies to see people of so many different races sitting there together in the circle playing the hand drums - as if none of them had a care in the world. Pretty neat.

That night Jene and I drove up to her sister's house for dinner with lots of her family. She (Christie) made us an AWESOME ice cream birthday cake, then we drove up to Van Nuys to her brother's house where we slept. So here's where it starts to get exciting...

Here's some information most of you will probably wish I hadn't revealed, but it will help you understand the gravity of the situation as I explain the events of the night. So...on vacation I never eat very healthy, so I always get a little backed up, if you catch my drift. By Sunday night, I was in pain and looked 5 months pregnant so I took a laxative before bed. Well, I was only gonna take one, but Sarah (Jene's sister-in-law) convinced me to take 2. Haha. Well, around 3:30 I woke up with all kinds of cramping going on, and realized that if I didn't get in the bathroom PRONTO, we were gonna have a situation on our hands...so I opened the bedroom door, but I heard water running, so I assumed someone was in the shower. I tried to go back to sleep, but by 4:00 I still heard the water running and I was in so much pain that I decided to find a place to go. As I got closer to the bathroom, I realized the floor was wet...and so were my feet, all the way up to my ankles! I turned the light on in the bathroom and water was spraying out from the pipe behind the toilet. My first thought..."CRAP! Now what?! Do I poo outside? No, not an option. There's a doberman outside. I'm gonna have to hold it. Great." SO I woke up Justin and Sarah to let them know their house was flooded (the bathroom, hallway, kitchen, and part of the living room and 2 bedrooms). We got to work with sponges, buckets and a shop-vac, and I went back to bed...still not having relieved my poor intestines!! About an hour later, I physically couldn't take it anymore, so I woke up Jene and asked her what I should do...come to find out, there was another bathroom in the master bedroom. Man, what a relief!! What a crazy night though.

So Monday (our Birthday), we got up and drove to Pasadena to Magic Mountain. We rode all the rides we wanted to ride, then we took off around 2:00. I dropped her off where her car was (in Orange), then I drove all the way back to St. George that night. I got home around 11:00, and I was sooooooo excited that Jeff was waiting up for me...with flowers and a card. What a sweet husband!! I came home to his gorgeous smiling face, a clean house, a sleeping baby, and his loving arms. What a perfect end to a perfect vacation.

It's so good to be home, and it's so good to have a new appreciation for the 2 most important men in my life. I missed them both so much, and I'm so excited to get back into the swing of things here in the real world now that I'm rejuvinated and ready to be a mom and wife again. Thank goodness for friends, the ocean, crab, babysitters, and wonderful husbands!! I love my life.

Vacation, Sweet Vacation

Since I posted the pictures already, I guess I better blog about our vacation so people can better understand the pics.

Last Tuesday we headed up to a cabin in the mountains above Heber, UT with Jeff's immediate family. Each summer his parents take the family somewhere. Before babies started being born, it was pretty much always Lake Powell, but it's way too hot there to camp for a week with little babies without a houseboat...so last year, the family vacation was to Bear Lake (on the border of Idaho & Utah). This year it was Timberlakes & Strawberry Lake. There were 14 people (Jeff, Mason & I; Jen, Ryan, Cole & Malia; Mindy & Cory; Doug & Rheanna; Justin, Lee and Kathy) all in one cabin. We had a blast!

Lee & Kathy rented four 4-wheelers, so we spent a lot of time exploring the beautiful mountains. I have always wanted to find a huge field of wildflowers and just lie down in it and roll around for a while...so when I finally found my fields of wildflowers, I was kinda bummed that I was with a group of dudes. I knew they'd think I was insane, so I settled for taking pictures. Maybe I'll get the pics printed up and roll around on them here at home, pretending I'm actually rolling in the flowers. If I do it, I'll be sure to take pictures and blog about it.

So on Friday we packed up the kiddos, some food and toys, and all drove up to a beautiful spot in the mountains where we set up a day camp. We planned to spend the day exploring on the 4-wheelers, so right away a group of us headed up. Two of the 4-wheelers were doubles, so Jeff and I rode together. I was driving, so we weren't going nearly as fast as we would have been if Jeff had been driving - I'm new at it, and I'm also a major wussy pants. Good combination for safety. :) Anyway, so in addition to us, Jen & Ryan were on a machine together, then Doug and Rheanna each had their own. Rheanna was in the lead, and she was seriously flying - I was so surprised at how "brave" she was for never having ridden a 4-wheeler before our trip. We'd been out for like half an hour and decided to turn around. Jeff and I were in the back of the pack, and as we got to the top of a hill, we saw two 4-wheelers on the path without anyone on them. One was missing, so we called out to them and realized Rheanna had gone off the side of the mountain. Jeff left right away to let everyone know at camp and call for medical help while the rest of us worked on helping Rheanna.

When Jeff got back to camp, they all said a prayer that everything would be alright. Right about that same time, 2 people showed up on 4-wheelers. One of them just happened to be a retired EMT and he had an entire rescue kit on the back of his machine. On top of that, they had a wench (motorized tow cable) attached to the front of their machine. What are the chances, I mean c'mon. So when Rheanna went off the road, she went down the side of a mountain. There weren't many trees, but by some stroke of luck (we know it wasn't luck) she just happened to run right in between 2 big trees with her machine, getting it stuck there. She flew off and hit her head on a tree, lost her helmet in the process, and landed in a pile of downed trees. Seriously, if she'd run off in any other direction, she'd have kept going down the mountain. The trees saved her life. She ended up with no major injuries - just deep bruising, a sprained ankle and some whiplash. It was such a scary experience, but it really strengthened my testimony of the power of prayer. Heavenly Father loves us and watches out for us, especially when we ask Him to. We began the day with a prayer for safety...and Rheanna was kept safe (considering what should have happened).

The vacation was so much fun though! I saw so many beautiful things (valleys, lakes, deer, flowers), relaxed, ate a lot, and got to know my in-laws better. They're such a wonderful family, and I'm so happy I have such awesome new "siblings". We all get along so well, and our kids do too. Though Mason and Malia are TROUBLE together (thanks to our bad influence of a child)!

Now I get to go on a girl vacation, and I can't wait! I leave Friday to go to California with my bestest friend Jene (we met in El Paso 10 years ago when I was home from college for the summer). We both celebrate our birthday on Monday the 18th, and it's our "friend-a-versary", so we felt a trip was in order. I can't wait to get a little bit of a break from Mason! Don't get me wrong - I LOVE and adore my little guy, but man do I need a little break. I'll blog about it when I get back next week!!

Baumann Family Vacation Pictures

Kolob Reservoir Trip

About a week ago (Saturday the 26th) Jeff decided he was really in the mood to "get away", so we packed up all our picnic gear, a sun canopy, and our fishing stuff and headed up to Kolob Reservoir. In order to get there you have to drive THROUGH Zion National Park, so it was about an hour and a half each way. The drive was absolutely breathtaking, and on top of that, it was about to rain, so we had the windows down and got to enjoy the fresh mountain air and the smell of rain. It was so relaxing!!

We stayed for the entire afternoon and took turns fishing while the other entertained Mason and kept him from running into the water. We were pretty impressed that he was able to entertain himself for more than 5 minutes with just one thing - trowing rocks into the water. It actually lasted like 20 minutes!! After a while he'd had it and decided to play in the shade with his trains, which is where he stayed for most of the afternoon! He was relatively easy compared to usual - it was a great little escape!

Oh, and I forgot to add this part in - we didn't catch a dad-gum thing! The only thing you're allowed to use out at this lake is artificial lures, no power bait or live bait, and we just didn't know how to fish that way I guess. Plus it was a warm day and so we're sure the trout were hanging out in water deeper than we could get to from the coast. :) It's okay though! I'm sure we'll catch a ton up at Strawberry this week!!

Crazy Little Jumpin' Jack

You know, Saint George is one of the most beautiful, scenic places I've ever lived, but I've just gotta keep it real. IT'S JUST WAY TOO HOT HERE!! I take Mason to the park most mornings before 9:00 and it's already at or near 90 degrees by the time we head back home. Needless to say, we don't spend much (if any) time outside from about 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in order to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Well, last week I was just so incredibly bored to tears!! I had seen enough of these walls, and I finally understood the feeling that the walls are closing in on you!! I'd read on a few of my friends' blogs down here in St. George about a place called Jumpin Jacks, so I looked them up online and found a buy one get one free coupon good for Tuesdays only. My bored-to-tears day just happened to be Tuesday, so I located some socks (we never wear them - it's too hot!!), packed up Mason, and off we went!

Oh my gosh, I just have to say first that I am POSITIVE that I had more fun than Mason did. I had a blast! And I got a great workout too! Most of the stairs were too far apart for Mason to climb them, so I got to climb them while carrying Mason up! Not sure if you've ever played on the huge blow-up toys, but the climbing up part is pretty good exercise!! Mason had a blast too though. Enjoy the picture college!! (if you want to see the pictures bigger, you just click on the collage and it pulls it up in a separate window.)