Mommies of One

I've noticed that while our church seems to have a lot of stay-at-home Mommies (we even have a weekly playgroup), there aren't that many Mommies of one child. I regretfully, haven't taken advantage of the playgroup meetings this summer. It's hard because Dean takes his morning nap during the time that they meet, and also because he is so young that it's hard to find things for him to do at the various places they meet. I know I have this weird fear of trying new things by myself and maybe I'm just making excuses to not go to this playgroup. I know that I am going stir crazy being in this house every day, doing the same thing every day. I can tell that Dean is getting that way too. He gets bored very easily and it's hard to keep him entertained at home all day. I can't help but think that when you have multiple children it's easier for them to stay entertained because they have one another. So as a Mommy of One, what do I do to keep my 10 1/2 month old entertained? I'm not sure that he's ready for a playground, but I'm going to try that this week. It's intimidating to think of taking him to a playground full of other moms and kids that know what they are doing.

If anyone that reads this has suggestions for activities I can do with Dean, please let me know! Until then, I'll keep posting about the new things I'm determined to try with him.

Bluegrass Baby

Josh had a teaching appointment this summer at the University of Kentucky with a week long program called College Business Management Institute (CBMI). CBMI paid for all travel, housing, and food costs for the whole week in exchange for the three 4-hour long classes that he taught. Not to mention all the socail gathering, dinners, etc. Since they were paying for everything, Dean and I decided to tag along and see what Lexington, KY is like. The drive there is only about 8 hours, but with a little kid we anticipated it taking more like 10 so we opted to drive halfway, stay in a motel, and finish it out the next day (great choice, by the way).

The week was extremely busy for Josh - preparing for classes, actually teaching classes, trying to get to most of the social/networking events, etc. So Dean and I were on our own. Life in a hotel with a baby is kind of hard. I imagine it's much like being in a studio or one bedroom apartment. I found that he would not put himself to sleep like he'll do at home in his crib. The pack-n-play is still too foreign for him I guess. So I spent many hours trying to "rock" him to sleep, and then trying to get him back to sleep. See, Dean decided that that particular week would be a good one to pop out a new tooth. What fun!

The picture below is of Dean passed out, face down on the bed. Long day of sightseeing in the stroller.


The day we left we went out to a bourbon distillery out of the city about 30 miles. It was beautiful. Really old, historic buildings, long sloping hills with horses, a river running through it...beautiful. It was neat to see how true Kentucky bourbon is made.


We got some lunch and sat out on this big wrap around porch on one of their buildings and just lazed around for a bit. Very cool. Our plan is to hit up a different one every year we go (this teaching gig is a repeating appointment for Josh). We took 2 days to get home even though it's only 8 1/2 hour drive. We stopped around Knoxville at dinner time and got a motel room, went swimming, ate some leftovers we had, and walked down the street for dessert. The next day we detoured to the Blue Ridge Parkway to drive around and hike. We actually did part of the infamous "search party" hike from a few years ago (some of you may remember that story).

Throughout the week we talked of things we'd like to do on future trips, and how fun it will be as Dean ages and more kids come into the picture. Big thanks to Ted Hollingsworth for his recommendation and faith in Josh! Ted, we are so glad to have this opportunity!