Cyberchondriac (sy bur KA WN dree ak) n.

- a person who imagines they have a particular disease because their symptoms match those listed on an Internet health site.

I can't help myself. I think it's that control issue again. I just HAVE to google my symptoms, or my girls' symptoms, or my sister's symptoms... you get the idea. Usually my diagnosis has *some* accuracy, but often it's a worst case scenario, and Justin just sits back and rolls his eyes.

Well this week I've been SICK! I mean really sick. Sicker than I've been in a long, long time. Fever, chills, aches, skin that hurts when it's touched, sore throat that makes it nearly impossible to swallow, blocked ears and nasal passage, headache, neck ache, no appetite. The list goes on and on. On Tuesday when I realized this just wasn't going to run it's course, I headed to the Dr. and he told me I had tonsillitis. I was prescribed some horse pill antibiotics (exactly what you need when your throat is swollen beyond belief). I took those bad boys and just prayed that their effect would be as big as their size. Unfortunately, I woke up Wednesday morning with a stiff neck, awful headache and ears so plugged I could barely hear. I was officially worried. I diagnosed myself with some pretty serious illnesses and Justin, once again, rolled his eyes.

Thankfully, I woke up this morning with a small sense of relief. No more fever, which meant no more chills, aches or skin that hurt....and hopefully I wasn't contagious anymore {because I went to work}. Justin *knew* that I was just jumping to extremes. While at work I guess he was talking with a colleague about my fictitious diagnosis and the other guy was sharing stories of his wife doing the exact same thing! {Imagine that!} They were feeling all high and mighty, when another colleague (who happens to be a medical doctor) interjects to tell Justin that my "diagnosis was actually more common than you would think. That many infections can progress to become it." Hopefully, my diagnosis is incorrect. Hopefully, I'm on the mend. But I still feel some sense of satisfaction that a medical doctor agreed with my diagnosis {to an extent}. Sad, I know.

And the cyberchondria continues.

My kind of camping

As a kiddo, I was all about camping! I loved sleeping in a tent, being dirty, the camp fire, hiking, the adventure of it all. I used to make fun of the folks who considered a trailer "camping". Let's face the facts, for some people a trailer is home. It is most certainly not camping.

Funny how having little ones changes you. We've been camping with Aubrey before, and I remember just how exhausting it was. Not to mention the clean up required after we got home. Sigh...how I miss those days where someone cleaned up after me. Since then, I've been a bit of a scrooge and have been reluctant to tent camp again. I definitely plan on it when the girls are a bit older...like when Juliet is Aubrey's age, but until then, I had to figure out another plan.
We wanted to head to the central coast to escape the horrendous heat of the central valley. The last time we headed to the beach for a day trip, Justin got the number of Avila Hot Springs per my request. I thought their little cabins, nestled up on the hill, looked perfect for our next vacation. Not only did they look cute and cozy, but I also loved that they were across the street from Avila Valley Barn, a block away from the Bob Jones bike trail, centrally located near all our favorite beaches and bays, not to mention the awesome pool. I was sold! I booked our little cabin and it was basically the same price as a hotel room, so I was even more excited! Then I started to read some bad reviews online. I wasn't sure what to think. Basically, I think the people writing the reviews were expecting a resort, rather than camping. Instead of worrying, I decided to prepare. I took the advice of all the comments, and we were ready to go!

We arrived a few hours before check-in, so we headed to Morro Bay. We went to the aquarium to feed the seals and sea lions, the shell shop, and just did some sight seeing.




Then we went to check in to our cabin. It was a quaint little cabin with a full bed, bunk beds and a little living room and kitchen. I quickly regretted my judgement of "trailer campers" as a child. This was MY KIND OF CAMPING! All the comforts of home with the adventure of camping.

Aubrey's FAVORITE part of the whole trip was swimming in their big pool. She was too short to go down the water slide, but that didn't matter. Their shallow end was 2 1/2 feet so she was SOOO excited that she could touch the bottom. Her confidence as a swimmer really blossomed on this trip.
My favorite part of the trip was the beautiful weather and family bike rides. Aubrey rode 1.1 miles on our way to Avila before her little legs got tired, and we had to bungee her bike to the bike trailer. It was such a beautiful bike trail through lush trees, over covered bridges, with little benches and even a park along the way.
While at the beach, we played wave tag, soaked up the cooler weather, chased each other with seaweed snakes and climbed rocks.




It was a wonderful vacation that actually felt like vacation! Sometimes with little ones that's difficult to achieve.

Am I the only one...

• Who thinks Target is a legit restaurant? ...and a cheap, kid friendly one at that.

• Who does the infant heimlich at least once a day? ...at least the back blow portion of it.

• Who has already purchased my kiddo's halloween costume?...only one so far.

• Who thinks it's crazy that preschools expect four-year-olds to take a two hour nap (with 20 other kids in the same room)? I'd love that to happen too, but I'm afraid it's just a distant dream.

• Who is counting down the days until Christmas break already?...who cares if I don't officially start work until tomorrow.

• Who is totally hooked on Big Brother? ...total guilty pleasure.

• Who wonders how you KNOW, I mean you REALLY KNOW, you don't want anymore kiddos? ...it just seems so FINAL to make a decision like that.

• Who suddenly is starting to feel kinda old because I'm turning 3o in two days? ...it can't possibly be the million grey hairs or cholesterol meds that I now have/need.

• Who thinks life with child #2 goes by so much faster than it did with #1?

• Who is a total blog/comment slacker? ...I mean check out my pathetic excuse for a post. :)

7 months

Closer to a one-year-old than a newborn...WOW! I can't help but wonder if I really soaked it all in enough. It goes by SOOOO much faster with your second child.

Miss Juliet is still such a sweet, happy girl. She has definitely gotten more opinionated and wants to be part of the action, but she's still easy going. God really gave us that perfect piece to our family's puzzle with Juliet.

At 7 months...

• You are really hard to photograph. You don't want to sit still. I have a feeling it's going to get crazy from here on out! Thankfully, Daddy was home to get your attention and be on "catch baby" duty.

• You yell for your mama when you're tired and I leave the room. "MAMAMAMAMAMA" I also *think* you say "BABABABABABA" when you want a bottle, but it may just be babble that happens at the right time.

• You are a mover! Not sure I would call it crawling yet, but you are definitely mobile. You do this sort of frog hop and then reach forward, and repeat until you get where you want to go. You're very motivated by keys, your sister's toys and any other small things I DON'T want you to put in your mouth.

• You are down to nursing only like twice a day. I think it's more for comfort than nutrition now. It's weird because it's just been a slow transition to formula, not by choice, just necessity, I guess. Sad, in a way.

• You drool like crazy. And chew on your lips. And chew on anything else at mouth level. Pretty sure you're teething.

• You are a CHUNK! I took you to the Dr. on July 30th and you weighed 17lbs 15.5oz.

• Speaking of the Dr., we had a couple of yucky Dr's visits this month. At the beginning of the month we thought you were teething because of the drool and refusal to eat, but really you had a nasty throat virus. Then you had two tremor episodes this month. Basically, your little body shook for about 2 seconds, with no real explanation. We (the Dr. and I) don't think it was a seizure because of your behavior before and after the tremors, but it was very scary, regardless. Your blood work checked out fine, so we're hoping it was just a fluke. If anything else happens, we'll be referred to a pediatric neurologist. It makes me even more thankful that both you and your sister are healthy girls!!

• You finally have some hair! It's crazy, chick fuzz hair, but it's progress! It's looking golden blonde to me.

• You really want to know how to stand up. You like us to help you hold on to stuff so you can stand. Little Miss Independent.

• You eat. and eat. and eat. Since you don't really like baby food, I'm constantly trying to figure out semi-smooshy foods to give you. Your favorite medley so far is brown rice, avocado, shredded cheese and hard boiled egg yolk. You also like all the finger foods like cheerios, puffs, yogurt bites, etc.

• You need your naps. You prefer the first 1 to 1 1/2 hours after you wake-up and another about 1ish. Sometimes you sneak a couple cat naps in there too. Your sister's swim lessons have really messed with our schedule.

I really can't imagine life without you. We love you so, so much!