I'm sure you all have been anxiously awaiting my blog about the camping trip John and I went on this past weekend. Well, it was awesome!

John, Jen, Kinsie and myself left the Peninsula at 1:30 p.m. and headed for Lake Del Valle, which is by Livermore. Livermore is only about an hour away, but the difference in weather is OUT OF CONTROL. It was about 95 degrees when we arrived at 3:00ish, and when we left San Bruno, it was in the 70s. John and I were admiring how charming and quaint Livermore is, but there is no way in hell that I could stomach 95 degree weather during the summer.

As I said, we arrived at the campsite around 3:00 p.m. and had set everything up by about 4:00 p.m. We were joined by EJ (Jen's husband) shortly after we arrived. This is the first weekend that the Penas family and the Bauson family have been kid free in a long time, so you can imagine the expletives that were leaving our mouths. It was very refreshing to be able to say: shit, fuck, hell and the like, without having to spell them out.

After camp was set, Kinsie decided that she needed to make a "drunk toilet". Our campsite was next to a dried up creek, so Kins (the brilliant woman that she is) went into the dried creek and used the rocks to make a toilet. Kins and myself both used that toilet several times that night. The bathroom was pretty far, especially when you have to pee really, really, really badly.

Friday night was pretty relaxing. We ate, we drank, we talked, it was awesome!

EJ and John woke up pretty early Saturday morning (5:00 a.m.) as we wanted to rent a pontoon for the day (there were only 4 for the entire campsite to use). Soon after the boys left, I tried to lay back down and get some sleep, when all of a sudden I hear (from the next tent over), "Damn birds!" It's like the birds new we wanted to get some rest. They wouldn't stop squawking!

At about 10:00 a.m. John called my Dad to see how the evening before went, and the update was not so good. Apparently Christian was crying all night, and finally fell asleep around 3:00 a.m. At the time John called, my Dad said that Christian was doing better, but to call back again around 6:00 a.m.

The rest of the day was pretty chill. We ate, we drank, we talked (sound familiar...haha), we went to the lake to cool off. At 2:00 p.m. we finally went to the pontoon, and trolled around the lake. John and Kinsie got the GREAT idea to jump off of a 20 foot rock. I don't think John expected the swim to the rock to be so rigorous. My poor hubby looked like he was going to keel over from heart failure.

At 3:00 p.m. we decided to give my Dad another call, and found things hadn't gotten any better, so we drove home to save him. As soon as we entered the house I could see that my pops was DONE. He had bags under his blood shot eyes, and his voice was horse. He looked like he had been put through the ringer.

John and I had every intention of driving back to the campsite that evening, but then we sat on our comfy couch. John jumped in the nice hot shower, and we started watching the Giants game. Before we knew it, it was 9:00 p.m. and we were both passed out.

We woke up bright and early Sunday morning with Christian in tow. We got back to the campsite at 9:00 a.m. and were greeted with bright and smiling faces. We ate breakfast, and broke down camp.

All in all it was a nice relaxing weekend. To be truthfully honest, I'm happy we had an excuse to drive home Saturday. I don't think I was ready to leave my baby yet.

We have another camping trip planned for later this summer with the Penas family, and we'll be bringing the kids. I can't wait!

On September 12th I will be starting my long journey of becoming a doula. I've thought about becoming a doula for some time now.

I sincerely believe that if I had had a doula present at my birth with Christian, things would have gone a bit differently: I would not have gotten an epidural, and therefor would not have been given pitocen, or had my water broken.

I believe that labor support is extremely important to not only a laboring mother, but her partner as well. Wish me luck! It's sure to be a long journey, but I fully believe that this is the path that I am destined to take.

We are slowly progressing on becoming diaper free! Manny is finally comfortable sitting on the potty all by himself (diaper on and off). We are now moving to step 2: Show Manny where waste goes once he uses the potty.

When Manny goes #2, I take him to the toilet, dump the waste in the potty, and have him flush the toilet. We both wave to the poo poo, saying, "bye, bye poo poo". He finds this hilarious, and needs to flush the toilet at least two more times to make sure the poo is gone (yay water bill!). Oh the joys of parenting.

In a couple of months (probably when Christian is 6 months) I think I'm going to "bit the bullet" and put him in "big boy" underpants. I'm sure I'll be cleaning up several messes for a couple of days, but I think it's the only way to go. I've talked to several people who have used 'pull ups' and the kids soon realize that they can treat 'pull ups' like diapers, making potty training take longer than it should. Our friend Jen gave us her sons old training underwear. They look like regular underpants, but are thicker in the crotch, I'm guessing this makes less of a mess when accidents happen. Wish us luck!

Manny's Lola Bauson took him to see Kung Foo Panda (or as Manny has come to call it, Kung Poo Panda) a couple of weekends ago. I thought she was crazy, no way did I think he would sit through an entire movie...turns out he loved it! He still talks about it. He always asks if he can see, "poo panda". He's also practicing his kung foo moves daily.



Christian will be turning 4 months old on the 23rd, time seems to be really flying! His milestones are as follows: he can track objects, he can distinguish John and I from other people, we hold regular "conversations", he has adorable belly laughs, he's starting to grasp for things, and probably the BEST thing of all....HE'S SLEEPING 8 HOURS AT NIGHT!!!

The biggest milestone for me? I've made it nearly 4 months breastfeeding! I didn't even think it would be possible for me to make it this far. It was so difficult in the beginning, but I'm finally starting to get comfortable with it.

What's next on the Bauson agenda? In a couple of weekends John and I will be going on a (much needed) camping trip, I can not wait. We're going with some great people, and are sure to have a wonderful time. It will be nerve wracking to not have Christian with me, but John and I really need to get away for a couple of days. The great thing is that if I freak out (or if my dad freaks out, he'll be watching the little guy) for some reason, we're only about an hour away.

I believe I have what you would call a "spirited" toddler. Also known as a HUGE pain in my arse. Yes, I love this kid very much, but he knows exactly what buttons to push to send me over the edge. He's only 2 for crying out loud! He is very opinionated. Sometimes I think I'm dealing with a teenager. If he doesn't like something you're doing he lets you know. If he doesn't want your help, he'll let you know. It can get pretty tiresome, but at the same time, I love watching him gain his independence.

This last weekend was July 4th, and to celebrate we went up to my dad's house in Petaluma. I believe Petaluma is one of the only places left that allows "safe and sane" fireworks. I wasn't sure how Manny would respond to fireworks, loud noises tend to scare him a bit. It took him a while to warm up to them, but after a bit he was fine. I think he was a little bummed when we ran out.

These next couple of months are going to be busy, busy, busy. This weekend we have a BBQ to go to, as well as John's Aunts birthday party, all on the same day. It will be interesting to see how Manny responds to the busy day, because I'm not sure we'll be able to squeeze a nap in.

Next weekend will be free, but will be spent cleaning up the backyard. We're finally starting to clean things up so that Manny can play in the back. We cleaned up the garage this past weekend.

The weekend of the 25th John and I are going camping, sans kiddos. I'm so excited to get away with John for the weekend. We haven't had a moment to ourselves since Christian has been born. I am a little nervous to be away from him for the entire weekend, but I think once we get on the road, and everything is set in motion, my nerves will calm a bit.