Making time for me...

With Kevin being gone, and having to be with the four kiddos proves to be quite tough on somedays - some are surely worse than others. I wake up with them, and put them to bed. Sometimes days run into each other and by the time the kids go to bed, I am fried. It's easy to get caught up in the kids 24/7 and leave my needs unattended to, but there is only so long one can go on that way before truly being miserable. Though, I have to say, I am quite thankful for those in my life who help me stay sane!

Since having Callum, I've tried getting back into running. Every few months, I'd hit some sort of road block, like moving...or extreme heat & humidity in Virginia and then fall came, and running in the evening was impossible because it was dark so early. So, I stopped running. Then again in February, I started up again, I signed up for a 5 mile St. Patricks Day race and ended up having some pretty significant IT band issues, and had to forfeit the race and not run. It was several weeks before I was up and running without pain again. It was a long, frustrating road. Then, we headed off to Mexico for a week and ended up getting a foreign object stuck in my foot.

This was immediately after coming home from the food doctor.
He had tried digging
the object out of my foot without any luck...
Believe me, it did NOT look like that when I walked
into his office - it was MUCH less impressive! 

--about "that" foreign object - I never blogged about or even mentioned it, but I guess I'll have to share all the fun I went through during the last few weeks of our time in Virginia. You may want to close your eyes in a few! So, anyways, our last full day in Mexico and Lilah wants to run down to the beach. So we RUN...and all of a sudden I feel something impale my foot. I wanted to scream. I looked down and it was a small puncture wound. I would have bet a million dollars that my foot was sliced open, but no, a small measly puncture wound. I hobble into the water with Lilah trying to ignore the pain, but I couldn't ignore it any longer. I hopped out of the water, sat down, and looked at my foot. There was surely something black embedded inside of my foot. Fast forward a few days - we couldn't get the object out in Mexico, so I ended up in the ER in Virginia. I had a foot doc try to dig the object out of my foot, but every time he tried, the piece of what we think was roof thatching would break off. It was then decided that if I didn't have pain, I should see if the wound will heal on its own. By the time we left for Maine, it still hadn't healed, but it was healing very slowly. Soon enough, I tried running and didn't experience any IT Band pain or foot pain, so I continued. At that point, you could still see black in my foot, but after several days at the beach and salt water, it appears as though the object has escaped my foot! It was a long road, but I finally feel as though my foot is truly healing! Who says the beach isn't healing!?

This was about 10 days or so after the procedure. After days and days of
soaks, it never came out...

This is when we decided to let it heal and see what happens. It didn't heal
too much after that until daily trips to the beach helped expel the object!
By mid-July you can almost not even tell where the area was! It took FOREVER!

 So, after that whole foot ordeal, I was just ready to run. Once the pain subsided, I started running a little at a time. I was afraid to start too fast after my IT Band issue, so I took it slow. Real slow. I joined a running group that a friend of mine had started, and signed up for my first half Marathon! On September 30th, I will be running in the Maine Half Marathon. I have never run more than 7 miles at one time, and have only done that once in my life.

Why you ask? I need to do it for me. It will force me to make time for me. While I don't love running, I love how it makes me feel when I am done. I love that I have a group of friends I can run with weekly, and I love that we can help each other out to run.

I guess I should start blogging on my muffin top blog again!? (http://stephs90daychallenge.blogspot.com)

Staycations

One of the best parts about living in Maine is the fact that I feel as though I am on vacation a lot of the time. There is just so many cool things to do, and each year, I feel as though we get to do more and more as our kids get older. Maine is a massive state, and one can go from ocean to lakes to mountains in a matter of just a short drive. It's just beautiful. Coastal Maine is so very different than inland, rural Maine. It really is mind boggling that we all live in the same state!

Dirty camping feet

Mairead enjoying the Sunset on Lake Mooselookmeguntic

Lake Mooselookmeguntic, Rangeley - try saying that one 10 times fast! 

Last Thursday, Kevin flew home and would be home for 10 glorious days! We survived our first month of our crazy plan, and hope the 2nd month goes as smooth as the first one. That weekend, we drove up to Lake Sebago with some other friends and spent the day at the lake! Once nap time came, Kevin left with Clara and Callum, and I stayed with the other moms and camped out! This is the first time that I have ever left my kids for something "fun". The big girls had never gone camping before, so they were super excited! I didn't know what it would be like not having Callum or Clara around for 18 hours, but, I will admit, life was pretty easy with just two kids! Our campsite was beautiful, and surrounded by water on three sides! The frogs kept us up at night, but that's okay, it was just for one night!

Daddy & Callum enjoying Lake Sebago

Mmmm! Sand

Mairead and one of her besties! 

Silly little Lilah Loo!

The next morning, Kevin came to pick us up (his car is in Virginia) and Callum was so excited to see his mamma. For the remainder of the day, his hand was down my shirt begging to nurse. No, seriously. I think he thought because I left him for 18 hours that he could just nurse for 18 hours. Straight. :)

My sweet little Patriots! 

The next few days of our staycation were filled with dinners with friends, beach time, and just relaxing together! Included in our staycation was the 4th of July. I even made the girls their dresses! I forgot I had bought the fabric, so I was making them the night before the 4th! We celebrated with my parents and some friends, but unfortunately, there were pretty bad thunderstorms and Portland had to cancel their fireworks. I was just as disappointed as the kiddos were because it is one of my favorite Maine summertime events! It's just gorgeous overlooking Casco Bay.....Oh well!

The day after the 4th, we headed up to Rangeley, Maine where my brother and his family were staying in a lakehouse. They invited us up, so we drove up for a few days and spent some time with them! The house was so cute, and lake Mooselookmeguntic was just gorgeous! The kids and their cousins had a lot of fun together. On Friday we rented a Pontoon boat and spent the day cruising, fishing, swimming, and drinking beer. The adults - not the kids!

Lilah (and the other girls) had so much fun doting on their little cousin, Olivia! 

Phoebe & Emmie spent the entire first day in the water! Poor Phoebe suffers from chronic ear infections, so I thought
up of a way to dry out her ears :) - she didn't seem to mind too much! 

Everyone had a blast exploring on the lake. Callum enjoyed picking up rocks, Clara enjoyed the water,
Emmie enjoyed the water and fetching balls, and of course, Daddy enjoyed some beer :)

Clara was all ready for a day out on the boat! 

Lilah wasn't too excited :)

and either was Mairead! :)

Me and Clara enjoying the morning!

Daddy and Lilah 

My brother - Uncle Joe - in the water with the girls! They were having fun jumping off the boat!

Captain Steph!

The crew!

Daddy & Callum! Callum enjoyed the boat. He is all about the cheesy smile right now and I cannot
get enough of it! Ugh! LOVE HIM!

Me and Kevin enjoying our time together!

Lake Mooselookmeguntic from above

Overall, the last week has been absolutely crazy with fun and games! I am tired, but I am just loving it! I am looking forward to many more fun days at the beach! We have some fun things planned for the rest of the summer before we kick off our first official "school year"

Ohhhhhhhh........MEXICO!

So we survived our trip to Mexico! And we had an absolutely fantastic time.....no, really, we did!

The resort we stayed at (Dreams Puerto Aventuras) was probably the best resort we've stayed at in Mexico thus far, and we've gone three times as a family. It was great for the kids, and great for us, and great for our family all around. There was so much for the kids to do and they had a blast. Most mornings we would be down by the water around 8am and we wouldn't get back into our room until around 5pm. Callum and Clara were really great about having their naps on the beach while the big girls played.

Whoever said vacationing with kids (four kids even) wasn't any fun because they are missing out! Big time. We seriously had so much fun. We snorkeled. We drank. The kids had "cocktails". We swam. We met some great friends. We ate a ton. And we made some amazing memories together. The kids did absolutely wonderful on the plane to and from, and it only makes us excited to do it all over again....

Of course, trip preparation is always a pain in the ass, and trying to plan out how to make a long trip to a foreign country successful, here is what we did:

I made a crap load of sandwiches for the plane since we would be flying during lunch time

Pile up daddy with all the bags so he looks foolish :)

and make sure you put the kids to work, too....

because when you have an hour car ride to the resort, it will make them  sleep, and your trip much more peaceful :)

So, I won't bore you with words...here are some photos of our trip!

Our first "cocktail" - while we waiting for our room to be ready, we ate some food and enjoyed some
yummy drinks while overlooking the water. Picture perfect...

Callum was so tired from traveling, he couldn't stay awake in the pool! 

The girls couldn't wait to get their bathing suits on and head to the beach to play!
The water was amazingly beautiful!!! 

Mairead showing off one of her new bathing suits at the beach

Enjoying our "cocktails" - the resort did a fabulous job at having special "drinks of the day" not just for adults, but special ones for the kiddos, too! 

Our kids loved the bar......Hmmmmmm

Callum's very first ice cream cone. He loved it...and was rather pissed off when it was gone!

Our first night in Mexico before dinner

The "Maine man" walking around the resort

Daddy and his crew

One of the bars at the resort called "BARacuda" had swings - they were a big hit with our kids! 

The water was amazing.....yeah, I know I already said that, but seriously, it was! 

Mairead and Callum playing in the sand together

The resort had bungy trampolines going every morning for the kids (and adults, too). Lilah was the first one that morning, and she had absolutely NO clue as to what she was volunteering to do. I will have to post the video of it. She belly laughed the entire time. No joke. I am surprised she didn't wet herself. Mairead enjoyed it, too, but she was a bit more reserved in her reaction to it! 

The resort had so much going on for kids! One night they had a beach campfire, roasted marshmallows and then had a movie out on the beach for the kids! 

They also had catamaran rides which we loved! The water was a bit rough that day, but the big girls loved it! 

Lilah being her cute little self

Callum giving me a beach pedicure :)

They had the coolest "natural pool" for snorkeling that was perfect for the kids! There were
lots of little fish and shrimp! 

Mairead jumping off the ocean trampoline

Lilah jumping off 

We love snorkeling! 

They had some tree monkeys visit the resort. OF course, Lilah was one of the first to volunteer! 

Mamma even got a turn :)

Daddy and Lilah snorkeling in the natural pool 

Even in Mexico, he still has his hands down in my....... 

I am going to go out on a limb here and say I think Callum is going to enjoy the water just as much as his big sisters! 

Swim up bar with the kids :)

Last night in Mexico 

Callum and Lilah before we left for the airport

Last morning in Mexico......... 

*** Check on the right side menu for the Vimeo clips of the bungy trampoline....and yes, I even put a video of me trying it out. Don't laugh too hard now :)