The Caldwells: Adventures as a single parent

Maybe this title is a little misleading. No...I didn't loose my husband and yes, I am still happily married; however Eric has been gone the last 2 weeks at training in North Dakota for work. He got to come home to spend a full day back Saturday, but left again today for another two weeks.

To be honest, it wasn't much of a change at the beginning since Eric is usually at work all day anyway and then comes home and has to work on his online classes so I don't see to much of him. However, the second week I was starting to see how nice it is to have some help, even if it just in the evening as well as some company. Not to mention, Mia is teething about 4+ teeth at the moment and has not been a happy camper the last few days to say the least. Poor girl! Needless to say I survived the last 2 weeks and one to another. Now we'll see how it goes in the future when there are a few more kids added to the bunch. Yikes! The last week in June my Mom is being ever so kind and is coming in to watch Mia for the week when I go hang out in North Dakota since that is about as much as a vacation we are going to get this summer. I am actually quite excited to have a whole week to myself to read, be lazy, and rejuvenate to come back and be a better Mom and it's a plus that Eric's work is paying for it!

So besides venturing into the world of dying pants and introducing family and friends to it Mia and I had a little adventure to Ely this last week. My cousin Megan drove down with us which I was grateful for since I have never taken a long trip by myself with Mia. My original purpose for going to Ely was being there with my little brother when my Mom went to girls camp. Both Seth and my Mom got some kind of stomach bug before then and I ended up going up to camp for the first afternoon to teach part of a workshop they had planned for the girls. My mom recovered the next day and was able to make it to the rest of girls camp whether she wanted to or not. She dislikes camping (hum...that must be were I get it)! It seemed like throughout the week each of us took a turn not feeling well (Mia took more then her share of a turn from teething and being very sensitive) so we were pretty lazy and vetoed most of our plans of crafting, going to the pool and baking.

Mia and I made it back home Friday night to a stranger sitting in our living room...ok it was actually Eric, but it seemed like it had been so long that it might have well as been! We were both excited to get hugs and kisses from him and go to bed! Saturday we went to Provo for Sophia's birthday party. Annelise did a Minnie Mouse themed party and went all out! Everything looked so cute!!

The Birthday Girl!

There was a bubble machine that the kids all loved

I'll let Annelise do the honors of showing you all the cute details from the party.

Sophia's birthday present was my first "homemade" gift of the year so naturally I was all geared up to do some big project which equivalated to a tablecloth playhouse that was under $20 to make! I had a lot of fun making this and got very into detail! It turned out just how I imaging it. For those wondering how I did this, I bought a full size sheet from walmart for $10 (you could use a sheet you already have) and then pretty much just used scrap fabric I had for everything else on the house. For the top of the house I used a brown curtain had from our old apartment which we didn't need anymore, but we live in a basement. Annelise asked for gifts that would be educational or hands on. Since part of my major includes child development I am all for thing that spark imaginary play for children since that is what helps the develop a lot of their social skills as well as problem solving skills. So I think this gift fit the category and Sophia loved it. In fact all the kids at the party loved it! They were all inside it at the same time at one point.

Testing it out on my table

The mail box opens for mail deliveries.

Mia tested it out for me. She played in that house all morning.

So before this post turns into a novel which most people have stopped reading by now here are just a few updates on Mia. I don't think I ever mentioned that she is officially walking now! It's so cute. She's still getting a little use to it so she walks a little funny. My family kept teasing she looked like a chimpanzee when she walks because she won't really bend her knees. She's also starting to recognize more things that I say or tell her to do (like vacuum and wash the dishes...lol, ok so not quite yet).