Fifth Time Is The One That Will Hurt The Most

This post is about me, because once a year I go to my association's big convention, and there are about four zillion things that go on while we're there. I either give you a brief rundown now, or you run the risk of catching me with a drink in my hand and I'll talk about it for an hour.

This is my fifth year. Last year, it was the longest I had been away from Amelia. The year before I was 38 weeks pregnant and shockingly enough my OB wouldn't let me run around Las Vegas. The year before was the last time I did it with help. (Insert long, rambling bananas internal politics story that ends with me being the only person in what had been a four person department.) The first year I was so over my head since I'd only been there three months, that I barely remember it.

I don't want to say too much, but I will give you my goals I have every year.

• Enough coffee and alcohol so I don't hurt someone
• The staff generally not killing each other
• Not getting fired for telling off my boss
• Remember to bring the black flats for the last two days of the show because they're already stretched out and are the only shoes that will fit

This year I had to add "No one dies by the end of the week" not because I was going to kill someone, but because three (technically four) people I work very closely with to make this week work ended up in the hospital. The first is the one I'd ask people to keep in your thoughts, even though you don't know them. The woman is on our Board and I work with her closely. She had undergone numerous (I believe at least 6) IVF treatments, plus additional pregnancies, and they had finally figured out she had a blood disorder that was causing her to miscarry. She delivered her son at 20 weeks, weighing 2 pounds. Thankfully, his lungs look at least 5-6 weeks farther along and he's gaining weight at a good rate. She had some sort of complication (there's really only so many details you want from a work colleague) and they'd had to put her under general anesthesia, so she wasn't awake and her husband couldn't be there for the birth. But she took much longer to recover than a routine c-section.

The other people, while very serious, were not quite as life threatening as a 20 week old baby.

The rest of the week went like this. If we controlled 100% of what was happening, there may have been a few bumps but everything looked good on the outside. If we controlled 60%, like when we were in a nightclub for our awards and it really didn't work because of things out of our control, people generally had a good time and said we did the best we could. If we controlled 95% of something, the other 5% would blow up so badly that no one would remember the rest of it.

I walked into one of my many meetings and the people in the room (all are people I've know for the whole time I've been with the association) look at me and say "You look like you could use a drink. Do you want some Scotch, we've got it right here?" Which is one of the reasons I love our membership. And thankfully it was at 5:30pm, and I think it's the law in Vegas that you have to have a drink in your hand by that time. For the record I said no because I hadn't eaten anything since an 8am meeting in the same room.

Getting back to fun Amelia things, she's in love with her trains, obsessed with "reading", and needs to have all her Sesame Street characters together before she can go to sleep at night. Her hair is officially out of control, so this weekend we will be doing her first haircut.

I would like to point out that this was almost exactly a year ago. Where did my baby go and who replaced her with a miniature teenager? She has started to argue with us about what she wears. She tells me specific colors and items, but she tells Matt things are just "too big" if she doesn't feel like wearing it. God help us when she gets to be an actual teenager.

Camp Nana and Poppy - The VA Edition

Over the long weekend my mother and step-dad came took advantage of the holiday to come out and spend some Amelia time. Since Amelia hadn't seen them since Hawaii we put their pictures up on the fridge so she would start to recognize them.
Side note - Amelia is obsessed with knowing who everyone in a photograph is. My mom brought out a picture my Grandfather had given to her of his mother when she was a teenager. We told Amelia once that it was Mimi Daddy, and every time she walked by she pointed out Mimi Daddy.
I had asked my mom to bring SOME of the train sets my brothers had when they were little and she brought all of it. How that suitcase wasn't overweight I'll never know. I think when you travel with a pastor your luggage has angel wings or something. Once Amelia warmed up to them, which took about 20 minutes, and they broke out the train set the rest of the weekend all we heard was "Nana, Poppy, choo-choo trains." Since the train set up better on hard surfaces instead of carpet, it's a good thing that we don't have a dining room table. It's become the Isle of Sodor. It also has a Golden Gate bridge, because you have to drive over the bridge to go visit Nana and Poppy.

Nana, Amelia and Poppy

Golden Gate Bridge with a very heavy load. My mom taught Amelia "Earthquake" for when she would knock them over. Amelia would also take off the top of a bridge and then look at it and say "Not working, broken" with her hands up in the air like she has no idea why it isn't working.

Most of the layout, including ferry boats, which were bought after my mom, Will and Roger had to spend a night sleeping on a ferry boat in Seattle. My cousin and I had gone back earlier and spent the evening trying to burn down the cabin with Jiffy Pop.

While I took one of many naps (I leave for Las Vegas and the most chaotic week of my year on Saturday and was stockpiling sleep), everyone else went to the park. Amelia went on everything but the tallest slide, and did almost all of it by herself.

We also had dinner with extended family. My Aunt Elin is my mother's older sister, and we got to see her, her husband, both sons, her daughter in law, and both grandsons. The older grandson, Erik, is only about 6 months older Amelia. Erik and Amelia could not be more different. Erik likes to survey the situation a couple of times before getting involved. Amelia will jump in head first without a helmet. But this time was the first time they actually played together (as much as 2 year-olds can) and didn't run away at the sight of the other one. They bonded over a love of Thomas the Tank Engine and by the end of the evening they were comparing pj's. I think Erik won because his had dogs and Amelia's only had stripes.
On Saturday we're all off again. I'm off to Las Vegas for a week and Matt is taking Amelia to FL for Round 2 of Camp Grandma and Grandpa. He's going to come back up, work for a few days, then come out and join me in Las Vegas. We'll get almost 24 hours to ourselves before our plane takes off and we're back on our way home.

Top Ten Things I Learned On Saturday (or Welcome Home Amelia)

1. Do not schedule flights that start after a child's bedtime unless you want your child almost taken into custody by TSA agents who do not find her adorable when she's running in a circle yelling "All fall down" and then doing face plants at their feet. (TSA was waiting for the plane to deplane so they can take someone else into custody.)
2. Amelia needs her own iPad, or at least iTouch, if we're going to do much more traveling with her. 
3. Airport wireless is super slow, and you can't download an entire episode of Sesame Street in less than three hours. It took less than 10 minutes at home.
4. The more exhausted she gets, the funnier Amelia thinks she is. It's the toddler version of being drunk. She tried to play bumper cars with the luggage cart at baggage claim and almost took out a couple of people. Tired driving is just as bad as drunk driving.
5. The promise of french fries AND chips is the best bribe to get her to stop crying on the plane.
6. Bring M&Ms on all flights to distract her while she can't be on the iPad.
7. She has mastered the moving sidewalks and escalators. She has yet to attempt the running the wrong way on one.
8. Teddy looses her mind when Amelia comes home.
9. Tired Amelia does not like Teddy sniffing her face and licking off stray chocolate.
10. Always bring way more diapers than you think you need. Amelia had three bowel movements while we were traveling. Two before we got on the first flight and the third just before we were supposed to start boarding the second flight.

 No matter what, we're glad that she's home. It was nice to have a short break, but it feels right now that she's home. She even learned "Go Patriots!" before being put to bed during the first quarter.

Camp Grandma and Grandpa - The Florida Edition

Amelia is spending this week with Matt's parents in Daytona Beach. She's having a great time, and even though a break has been nice (we're actually going to try and see a movie IN THE THEATER tonight), we're excited for her to come home tomorrow. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa could use the rest. She's going back at the end of the month for another week, so they need to rest up.

Here's Amelia during our layover in Charlotte. We used a harness instead of her carseat on these flights because we knew the planes would be smaller. Amelia loved having the extra space, and let out a "whee!" during both landings. Then she wanted to do it again. I think the harness will be what we use from now on, but because I didn't check a stroller I had free-range Amelia in the airport. I put her in the purple outfit with the pigtails to make her as cute as possible because I knew she would be a handful and I was looking for a little slack.  It worked, and as much as Amelia hammed it up when she knew she had an audience, she was good for the flights. She needed a nap, but only took a short one on the second flight. She did act up a little before the second flight. She kept running away from me and laughing. Since we were about to board, I told her that she needed to come back and that she wasn't being funny. Of course she then proceeded to run around the gate yelling "I not funny." Smartass child.

 

Here's Amelia on her first night in Florida. In this picture she actually looks like Matt. It's a minor miracle!

  

Here she is on the beach. I'm super impressed that Gloria got her to stay on the sand. I have no idea who she did that, because Amelia loves the water.

See, I told you she loves the water. Apparently she went right in and didn't hesitate for a second. That sounds like our little daredevil.  There is no fear in her, which is good and bad, but mainly means she gives us heart attacks.

Here's Amelia enjoying the beach. I didn't know she could be quiet for this long, but apparently a shell and sand will occupy her.