My New Project and Linda Vista Trail

I'm back!

The other day I turned to my husband. "Husband," I said, "I want to go hiking once a week."

"That's a pretty lofty goal." I'm not sure why he said this. Maybe it was because at this point I can't even get it together to wash the dishes once a week?

At any rate, this morning I packed up my two little gremlins and hauled them off to the trail.

You see, the other day I made a list of trails in my area that are under 3 miles round trip and by Jove I'm going to hike every one of them with these kiddlets. And you're coming with me because you deserve to know where the kid friendly trails in Tucson are.

...because you're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggonit, people like you.

Today we explored...

Linda Vista Loop Trail

*choir of angels*

How to get there

This trail head is just off Oracle Rd/Hwy 77. Put into your GPS "Pusch Ridge Estates, Oro Valley, AZ." (Maybe it's cheating, but we all know that's the easiest way to find stuff these days.) After you turn onto Linda Vista Blvd you will see a small parking lot on the right-hand side (it is just past a baseball field. If you've actually entered into Pusch Ridge Estates you've gone too far.) The trail head is on the south side of this parking lot.

The Trail

I picked this trail not knowing very much about it. It was under three miles and was "loopy" so I thought it would be toddler friendly. Well, not really.

Every once and awhile I let go of my daughter's hood so that I could snap a shot of the trail for you. You're welcome.

The trail was pretty narrow, probably 2-2 1/2 ft wide in most places. And as you can see the cactus is very dense. It comes right up to the edge of the trail. My daughter is pretty good at staying away from this stuff, but she's still finding her feet, so to speak. One wrong step and she could barrel right into one of that cacti head first. (Incidentally, did you know that cacti, cactus, and cactuses are all grammatically correct plurals of cactus. I will be using them interchangeably.) Naturally I was experiencing hypertension during this entire hike.

We kept going because we were there already and I was hoping the cactus would clear out a little. It never did. The trail climbed in elevation mildly. Then it got rocky.

Then it got steep. (for a toddler)

Here is where I gave up :D

If there were less cactus, or the trail was wider, or if I hadn't had some newborn strapped to my front we probably would have kept going to finish off the loop. But we didn't. I wasn't sure how long it was going to keep climbing before it started back down hill so we just turned back.

The yellow represents about what we did.

 I would not recommend this trail for small children, but I would recommend it for yourself, or if you have older children. It was gorgeous and I plan to go back with my husband and do a little exploring some time. As you can see you can hike just about as much or as little as you please in this area.

Linda Vista Loop (1 mi)-- NOT toddler approved.

Freeman Homestead Nature Trail (1 mi, 143 ft)

Agua Caliente Regional Park (3 mi, 5 ft)

Loma Verde Wash (1.7 mi, 7 ft)

Sabino Dam (3 mi, 10 ft)

Javelina Rocks (1 mi, 40 ft)

Loma Verde Trail (2.3 mi, 50 ft)

Mica View (2 mi, 50 ft)

Vanover Trail (1.6 mi, 92 ft)

Monument Wash (2.3. 108 ft)

Baja Wash (1 mi, 136 ft)

Camero Loop Trail (2.1 mi, 168 ft)

Honey Bee Canyon Loop Trail (1.6, 200 ft)

Romero Canyon Loop Trail (2.3 mi, 210 ft)

Gould Mine Trail Loop (2.5 mi, 400 ft elevation gain) 

Foothills Loop Trail -- Kartchner Caverns (3 mi, 478 ft)

A wacky birth story

Baby #2 has arrived! We finally decided on a name: Jonathan. And since people like to creep on the internet, and women like to tell birth stories, I'm going to share mine.

Just as background, I'm one of those pre-term labor people. Some might say I have an irritable uterus (it goes nicely with my irritable personality). I start to get contractions around 19 or 20 weeks and I keep getting them all the way to the end. My doctor decided not to check my cervix at 36 weeks so as not to stir the pot and cause me to dilate unnecessarily early.

And there was much rejoicing.

So on I went with life, la la la, and I hit 37 weeks.

And then I realized we were buying a house. I had to pack up all our crap again and get it moved. Enter my super amazing mother-in-law who you should be jealous of. She literally dropped everything to flew out to help us the day after we called her to ask for help.

We tried to convince her that it wasn't necessary for her to come the very next day, but she insisted. She arrived at 5 the following day. And man I'm super grateful that she did because not 12 hours later my water broke.

It was one of those "I think I peed my pants" moments. (I know you have those moments) I got up and went to the bathroom, puzzled about why my pants were wet, but my bladder was still full. -- Hey, it was 4:55 a.m., give me a break. I decided it would be a good idea to consult the internet about what it was like for your water to break, so I went back to my bed to get my phone. As I leaned over to grab it I felt an unmistakable gush. I promptly woke my husband up.

Because I'm an idiot and forgot I was Group B Strep positive we took our sweet time. What was the rush? I wasn't even having any contractions and nothing was hurting.

My husband was all "Do I have time to take a shower?"

and I was all "Pff, of course, I'm putting my make up on first any way." Then after letting my Mother-in-law know we were leaving, we were all like, "We should get gas because the tank is almost on 'E'."

As we meandered up to the hospital, the contractions were getting more painful and closer together. When we got into triage the nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural and I said, "

I don't know :B"

but what I really should have said was, "Yes. Absolutely. Get me the anesthesiologist RIGHT NOW!" because after the nurse finally got around to checking me I was dilated to 5.5 cm and then it was like she set off a bomb because, I kid you not, 10 minutes later I was pushing that little stinker out.

No epidural, no antibiotics, ain't nobody got time for that. The doctor barely had time to run in and catch the little guy. And you know, it's a good thing your body just takes over because in my mind I was all "No! no! no! I need an epidural!" and my body was all, "Shut it. We're doing this thing!"

So let's keep track of the lessons learned from this pregnancy/delivery:

1. Cervical checks are a no-no for me if I want to make it to at least 37 weeks.
2. Starting at 36 weeks all showers should be taken at night. 
3. Hospital Bag should be prepacked by 35 weeks, complete with it's own set of make-up to be done in the car on the way.
4. Also starting at 35 weeks no car should be allowed to have less than a half a tank of gas.
5. Remember, YOU WANT AN EPIDURAL! Only you won't know you want one until you're in transition.
6. Hurry those little nurses along so you can get out of triage and into L&D (so you can get your epidural already).

Now, enjoy a picture of this adorable baby.

Yo...

Had baby right before Thanksgiving.

Baby has GERD and colic.

See you in 2 months...

An Ode to my Husband

I've taken a little hiatus because a) Halloween came up and for some reason we feel like we have to make it complicated every year and sew our own costumes b) we found a house to buy [insert fanfare], so you know, offers, counter offers, signatures, inspections, etc. and c) my husband had a birthday!

And since he recently had a birthday, let's take a moment to gush over him.

Rachel's favorite spot

First, he is a super, amazing, excellent father. This is evidenced by the fact that my daughter loves him a bazillion times more than me. When he leaves in the morning she gets jealous when it's my turn to kiss and hug him goodbye. He genuinely misses her if he has to work late and she's already in bed when he gets home.

He takes every opportunity he can to spend time with her a play with her. Once in church someone said, "We want to give our kids an hour of our time later, but children just want 5 minutes of our time now." That must have stuck with him because he seems almost endlessly patient with our little girl, even if he's in the middle of something.

After running a last minute 10k in Oracle, AZ. Rachel in her favorite spot again.

He's a great example of living a healthy and balanced life. He supports me whole-heartedly when I say crazy things like "Let's not unpack our TV." He takes our daughter in the jogging stroller on his runs (and genuinely enjoys it).

One of my favorite things about him I experienced when we were dating. We have a friend who every year, and often twice a year, does a Grand Canyon rim to rim hike. It's a 22 mile hike down and up Kaibab Trail in one day. Eli really wanted me to go. I love to hike and I also love to think I'm tougher than I really am, so I agreed. I was healthy and fit enough to not die, but I definitely was not prepared to climb 8200 feet of switchbacks after hiking about 18-ish miles at the bottom of the canyon.

I'm pretty sure the only reason I made it out was because Eli was with me. Have you ever hiked with someone that just can't wait for you? They zoom on ahead while you're struggling behind, alone. It's pretty much the worst. Eli for sure could have blazed on ahead with the rest of the group. He could have finished the hike at least an hour before what he did, but he didn't. He stayed behind with me. He encouraged me, but didn't try to rush me. We made it out of in the canyon in just under 12 hours.

And that's how he is. We go on lots of outdoors trips, and I'm sure he would love to go longer and farther than I'm able to, but because Rachel and I are with him he doesn't. And he still has fun. He never makes us feel like we're holding him back. He just enjoys doing it with us because he loves us.

So that's my ode to my super awesome husband. Happy Birthday, big guy. We freaking love you.

After our first Grand Canyon Rim to Rim hike

Gear Review: Babiators Sunglasses for Infants

They came! The coolest baby sunglasses ever! Babiators!

Have you heard of these things? Apparently if you watch the Ellen DeGeneres Show or keep up with what the children of celebrities are doing you have. Since I'm seriously out of touch these were new to me.

I bought them through My First Sunglasses Company. They had very good customer service and were selling these for less than other places. I highly recommend them.

Let's start off with the cons, because I like to end on a positive note:

CONS:

• They are pricey! I spent about $16 on these, including shipping, but normally they retail for $20.

• They are a little loose out of the box. My daughter is admittedly small, especially her head. But they state that they will fit infants from 6 months all the way to a 3 yr old toddler. Still they slip off my 16 month old's face very easily. You can fix this one of 2 ways: 1) buy a $5 glasses strap from the Walmart vision center, or 2) if you take a hair dryer to the arms of the sunglasses for 30 seconds to a minute you can bend and shape them to curl around your child's ears.

• They aren't easily available. I could only find these suckers online, and I HATE waiting for things to get shipped to me. I know, patience is a virtue... UPDATE: If you have a Buy Buy Baby you can find them there.

• Some one may steal your child because they look so dang cute in them. True story. Someone grabbed my daughter while she was wearing these. Um, no.

If you steal her I will shank you

PROS:

• The frames are made out of rubber, not plastic. Bend them, stretch them, sit on them and they just bounce back. Don't believe me? Watch this video

• The lenses have 100% UVA and UVB protection. Duh. They're sunglasses.

• No strap so they go on and off easy (it's a pro if you have a kid like mine)

• Impact and shatter resistant lenses

• They are guaranteed against breakage or loss for 1 year

Whaaaaaaaaaaat? You mean if my kid throws these in a canal and I can't retrieve them, Babiators will send me a new pair? Yep, that's exactly what I mean. If you register your sunglasses with them they will replace your kids sunglasses if broken OR lost!*

***Note: you must register the sunglasses within 30 days to qualify. The guarantee is limited to 1 replacement pair per customer and you are responsible for the shipping. If your replacement pair breaks within one year of the purchase date you are entitled to 1 additional replacement pair, but you would have to mail the damaged pair to them.

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

All in all, I'm pretty stoked about these things. BUT to be honest, I only got these because I couldn't find any at Target and thought they were out of season. Lo and behold in my wanderings around Walmart there were a ton of kids sunglasses in the shoe department. You know, because that's the first place people look for sunglasses...

How to Get a Toddler to Wear Sunglasses

I've tried to get my daughter to wear sunglasses. Aside from protecting the long-term health of her eyes, sunglasses would really offer her a lot of comfort. The Sonoran Desert doesn't offer a ton of shade. To no avail. She won't do it.

This is my daughter. She squints a lot.

I tried the obvious infant sunglasses that have a soft elastic strap, but it was a no-go. She instantly started whining and tugged them off her face. I thought she would eventually get used to them, but she always cried and tugged until she got them around her neck. As much as I love strangulation hazards on my toddler, I decided to try something else.

Don't even think about putting these on me, Mom.

We were given a pair of cheapy infant sunglasses that just had regular plastic ear pieces. "Ah ha!" I said, this is it. She will definitely like these better. Well, she did. Her ability to take them off at will diminished that claustrophobic I'm-going-to-suffocate-if-I-can't-get-these-things-off-my-face reaction. So I began The Sunglasses Game.

I picked this little trick up from my sister. My niece has one eye that tended to drift, and my sister noticed it happened more if the eye got tired, such as being exposed to bright sunlight for a period of time. Needless to say, she had good motivation to patiently help her daughter get used to sunglasses. This game is simple, and probably works best for younger toddlers in the 12-24 month range, when they're still entertained by lame things like this.

The Sunglasses Game

All the game consists of is you putting on the glasses, and the baby taking them off again. Eventually, if you child has enough coordination, the game turns into you taking the sunglasses off and your child puts them on again.

If you baby is being really stubborn and won't let you near her face with the sunglasses, you could put the sunglasses on your face and practice taking them on and off. Then when your child is more comfortable with the idea of the sunglasses, you can alternate putting them on your face, and then your child's.

It's that simple. It just takes time, patience, and humor. The trick is to make the sunglasses fun, almost like a toy, instead of something they are forced to wear.

***UPDATE***

I recently spoke with my sister and she brought up the fact that she waited until they were at the beach, when the bright sun was really bothersome, to start the game. That way my niece could really tell that it was more comfortable to have the sunglasses on.

My niece rockin' her awesome shades

So why is my daughter still squinting? Well those cheapy sunglasses broke about a week after we started using them. And now that summer's over no one is carrying baby sunglasses anymore (because apparently if you're not old enough to drive you don't need eye protection). BUT I have something coming to me in the mail that I hope will solve our problem. It's supposed to arrive Friday so I'll write about it then.

Until then I'll just be singing the following around mail time:

What are your tricks for getting the kiddos to wear sunglasses?

Gear Review: Sun Protection Zone Hoodie Long Sleeve Suit

One fateful day I was wandering through Costco when lo and behold a vendor had a bunch of rash guards and swim covers for kids and adults.

Before I begin this review, yes. I bought my daughter a boy rash guard. They didn't have any pink ones in the size and style I wanted. Go ahead. Judge me.

These things are made by a company called Sun Protection Zone. It was just what our daughter needed for our upcoming kayak trip. I wanted to share it with you because I feel it has a few features that I put this product above the rest.

(FYI: I bought their smallest size, size 2, which I assume is synonymous with 2T)

1. The Hoodie

"Someone call CPS. I'm really a girl."

 

Be still my beating heart. What is it about hoodies that makes an outfit a zillion times cuter?

Okay, cuteness is the real reason the hoodie sold me BUT if you have a child who refuses to wear hats it's a nice feature. It doesn't have to be strapped under the chin (which is what I find bothers my daughter the most) and is lightweight. It protects their head neck and ears all at once!

3. Long Sleeves

This feature is great if you're going to be out on the lake or river all day. Nothing fries your poor scandinavian skin faster than reflected light off the water. There are a lot of one piece rash guards out there for kids that have 3/4 sleeves and not so many with full length sleeves. Sure, you could always slap some sunscreen on, but if you're anything like me it's all too easy to forget.

Rachel was 11 months when she wore this suit*. It was a little loose and the arms were really long, but the elastic made it so it was never sliding over her wrists. I'm actually glad it's such a large size because I know it will last us for at least another year.

*my daughter has always been on the average to small side. Think 20-45 percentile in height.


2. Crotch Snaps (A blessing! A blessing from the Lord!)

I'm not sure why this feature isn't advertised on the website because it is soooo handy. It was actually the deciding factor in on whether I would spend the money on this product or not. (The snaps only come in the smallest size,size 2.)

Let me tell you about these snaps. They saved my butt.

So we were driving up to the lake and I turned to Eli, my husband, and say "We need to make sure we change Rachel's diaper before we leave the dock." We arrived at the lake, loaded up all our gear, lathered on the sunscreen and made sure we had everything since we were boating to our campsite and wouldn't return until the next morning.

It wasn't until we were in our kayaks, too far from the dock to turn around, with no place to park our 'yaks on shore, that Rachel started to freak out. At first I just thought she was upset about having to wear a PFD, so I frantically shoved some chocolate covered raisins in her mouth. That worked for like 2 minutes and then she started to scream. Then it came to me...

Crap on a stick, we forgot to change her diaper.

Obviously not a photo of the said diaper nightmare.

Desperately I wedged my boat between some boulders while Eli did his best to keep the wind from blowing me around. You can image how much space I didn't have on the bed of my one person kayak to change a poopy diaper. What if I had had to take her entire suit off to change her diaper? It would have been a double nightmare. But as it was, it was only a single nightmare. Those snaps saved me I tell you!

Kayaking with Infants Tip of the Day: 

Change your kid's diaper. Change it before you do anything else.

Well, there you have it. I highly recommend getting a SPZ one-piece suit for your infant if you're going on any kind of lake or river trip with them. It really served us well.