Why me!?

I finally have a working computer again, which I am very grateful for.  It is extremely slow, but I will make it work.

I really should finish the last couple days of our recent trip and that will follow soon.  Today is more or less what is on my mind.

Livy is being a pill lately and we have had several days, including today, where she is a cranky tired toddler which results in an angry mama.  She has been such a great sleeper that I simply don't know how to fix the problem.  She is fighting us with bedtimes, continues to get out of the bed (yes, sometimes she is poopy and I want her to get up for that) and gets up way too early.  The situation probably wouldn't be as bad if I wasn't exhausted from being pregnant.  By 8pm I am finished for the day and need to be in bed by 9p.  

Last night she fought us until past 10p.  This is odd for my little girl who never argued about going to bed at 730p.  It is still a good time because she is obviously tired.  She is waking up multiple times in the night for requests like chocolate milk, water or for us to fix her blankets.  Then she is up bright an early at 630a.  I can't handle this anymore.  I can't function because I am SO tired.  I have no idea what to do.

Today I am researching blackout curtains for her room.  Perhaps the sun is waking her at 630a or a passing school bus so perhaps a white noise machine.  The cats are now permanently locked in the finished basement at night (one woke me up in the wee hours of the morning with his bawling).   But getting her in bed is where I'm lost.  I can't take a nap during the day or go to bed until I know she is sleeping.  Any suggestions?

Other then that, today I am heading to the hospital for genetic testing.  There is no concern, it is one of the prenatal test that my doctor does with all expecting mothers.   Also, the test results from the blood work came back a while ago.  It appears that I had Fifth Disease as a child and therefor immune.  It was certainly a load off of my shoulders!

Feeling out of the loop

I use the Internet as a major lifeline.  It is my access to the outside world in so many ways.  Instead of phone calls, too many times I send a message on facebook or email.  It is also my source for news (in a way, I haven't watched the news in 7 years!  Too depressing!) and media considering we don't have a TV either.  

So what do I do when I wake up Friday morning to a near-dead laptop?  Let's say it was a rough day in which I accomplished much.  I had moments like when Livy was in bed for the night and Eduardo was in a meeting that I wondered around the house thinking, "Now what?"  But I survived. I am hoping to have my computer fixed this weekend so I can continue communicating with the outside world. 

In case you don't see me around in the blogging/facebook/email world, it probably means my lifeline is dead and I am deep cleaning something in my house.  

It's a pig, not really! Trip part 2

Day 2 of our long weekend trip took us to beautiful Zion National Park. I had never been there before (Eduardo had) so it was a wonderful surprise. I wasn't expecting the beautiful scenery!

We tend to take the back road into things. I don't think we actually plan to take the long route or the back entrance to busy places, it just happens. I am thankful for that. It has saved us several hours standing in long lines at places like Chichen Itza, Mexico and the Grand Canyon.

The first lookout point in Zion's is this. It was a neat huge rock but more importantly is the wildlife on it. Livy spotted it (look closely) and called out pig! No not a pig but a Big Horned Mountain Sheep.

Drive a little further you come to the tunnels. Two tunnels with one of them being a mile long. Look close in the picture and you can see two windows cut into the mountain. The tunnel is there with several windows for light and air. It is amazing to think that these tunnels were completed in 1930! What a task that must have been!

We made several stops to check out the scenery. One part of the park is closed to personal vehicles and you must ride the bus. This wasn't bad at all. We parked the car, boarded the bus and listened to the driver tell about the rock formations, names of things and some history. You have the option to get off at various points and get back on. We rode to the top nonstop and on the way down got off to explore places like "Angel's Landing" and "The Patriarchs" (named by a Methodist minister during the early 1900s.)

By the end I think we were all a little tired. Poor Livy would ask to lay down each time she saw a rock ledge.

For the night we headed to St. George to see a few sites and sleep! We were exhausted!

We love to stop at temples while we're on trips. I think it is important for Livy to see these beautiful scared places and know that they are all over the world. Plus it is always nice to find a peaceful place once in while during vacations.

To be continued...

I thought I was escaping the cold--vacation part 1

We love to travel! Naturally I prefer to head out of the country and experience something completely new, but at times it is great to explore your own back yard.

Eduardo spent months planning out our trip, only to find out a few weeks before that we couldn't go for the entire week. Disappointed, we came up with a great trip for shorter Spring Break. Our never-ending winter was still in full-force at home, at least it seemed, and I was ready for sunshine. Let's say I was grateful I took my heavy coat!

Day One we drove down to beautiful Bryce Canyon National Park in Southern Utah at an elevation of over 9,000 feet! We followed that morning's winter storm all the way down and was greeted with plenty of snow.

This was one of the only nice photos of the canyon before the snow started up. I have fond memories of Bryce Canyon as a teenager when I went with a youth group from church. I wish that Eduardo and my family could have seen the Bryce Canyon that I remember.

Although, I'm sure that this is a trip that they will NEVER forget. Our travel companions consisted of my mother, Livy, myself, Eduardo and my little sister Kachena.

We never expected to see so much snow. There we several outlooks on an 18 mile stretch of road. There is plenty to see and many hiking trails, which naturally we weren't interested in.

Part way up the canyon, we picked up a hitch-hiker. This is usually a no-no in my book. He asked us to take him to the end of canyon to pick up his car. He and his college friends from Indiana had been back-country hiking for the past 4 days. Apparently the first few days were great until the end when they were hiking in near waist deep snow. Not my idea of fun!

On Day Two, all bundled up we stopped at Red Canyon on our way out of Bryce.

Red Canyon was gorgeous, even with the sprinkling of snow. It didn't receive nearly as much snow because we had descended a few thousand feet to a lower elevation. One interesting thing about Red Canyon is that this is where the infamous wild west outlaw, Butch Cassidy, had one of his hideouts.

(Side Note: I have always loved history. In high school I took an extra history class just for fun. This wasn't any old class about ancient history but rather an exciting class on the history of the American West.)

I saw a red dirt road running along the canyon and thought it would be fun to see Red Canyon up close. It was a beautiful drive although we it took us some time to find a way out.

Our drive continued sometime to make our next stop at Zion National Park, also in Southern Utah.

We came across several of these sheriff vehicles on this drive. The odd thing is that there is a mannequin sitting in the driver seat.

To be continued...

I'm back

I am back from my 1500 miles drive and have lots to share. First, I must pick up the dog from the boarder and should really wash the car. Until then....