Hi Friends! I started this post back at the beginning of July… but I am finishing it now… almost 2 months later in the end of August…HAHAHA laughing at myself and still going for it!
It’s truly been a minute, but we’re back for today! Summer is my favorite season because I love the longer days and wearing shorts and a tee with sandals. One thing that always makes me a little sad is how summer flies by so much faster than all the other seasons. Our summer has been pretty full and it’s been a while since i’ve sat in front of my computer by myself with Maddy sound asleep. I missed it!
Since May, a couple things went down.
1) I went on my first more than one night girl’s trip with my best friends and it was SO much fun!!
2) Maddy had some type of regression or leap or something, but she was HARD. She was clingy, mean (hitting and slapping people and yelling at everyone and everything). It was challenging and tiring but about a week ago, there was a moment when I realized she was back to her normal self!! Give her take, I still think that this toddler season is just harder than the newborn, but it’s been a breath of fresh air. *see note 10
3) My best friend graduated med school and we had a couple “last hoorrahs” before she started residency.
4) My childhood best friend came to town for a couple days and it was so special spending time together again especially with our littles being 1 year apart and being able to play.
5) We celebrated my father in law and mother in law’s birthdays!
6) My family (sister, brother in law, and nephews) came to town and it’s been so fun having them. Actually, my mom was here too but just for a week!
7) A dear aunty of mine passed away, but we are had a celebration of life for her and it was beautiful just like her 🙂
8) I had 100 notes to catch up on for work LOL. So I spent 2 weeks cranking those out on my limited free time. But this is definitely not an exciting part of summer hahaha.
— edit as of August
9) We went on a Ling Family trip to Oahu 🙂
10) * Maddy beat this regression! As suspected, she was definitely going through something as she is learning new things every day and figuring out how the world works. Her tantrums are still around, but a little more manageable than May and June. She still feels big emotions, but we have more fun and happy days than hard days!
So lots going on over here at the Oh home. We’ve had a full house, full hearts, and we’re tired. But today I’m going to be sharing about our…
FIRST CAMPING TRIP WITH MADDY!
I’ll be honest that I’m a little bummed I didn’t get a picture of our camping site, but I was on survival mode hahaha and i’m glad I even got the pictures that I did!
A little background. I never grew up camping. My family always traveled by plane, but thanks to my brother in law (Jeremy), I do have a strong preference for being outdoors and loved the idea of camping, hiking, and nature. Then thanks to my dear friend David, I LOVED my first backpacking/camping trip several years ago in Banff!!! Then I met and married Timothy who has been camping with his family ANNUALLY since he was 2!!! My first time camping with them was the year we got married and it was SO special, refreshing and fun. This particular camp site is a beach camp site, in case you’re wondering why I have so many photos of the ocean! This trip would not have been as enjoyable without the hard work of 어머님 (mother in law) and 아버님 (father in law). Now let me tell you… my mother in law worked so hard the days leading up to the trip to prep the most wonderful camp foods and my father in law made it so easy for us to just pack lightly since he provided our tents, the tarp, everything you can think of to camp comfortably and safely.
Reservations are needed at the camp ground and Tim’s family was looking forward to taking Maddy nearly as soon as we announced I was pregnant. I was really excited for our trip too, but naturally also nervous to take a rambunctious toddler camping. And if you read the little recap of things that happened, Maddy was a terror the 2 months leading into the trip so I was NERVOUS. But if you don’t read any further, you should know we had the BEST time and Maddy was an ANGEL baby who loved it more than I could have imagined (but also thank you Jesus for the ipad with lots of downloaded youtube songs and clips).
The most difficult part for us (and honestly this isn’t just for camping) is Maddy’s sleep. She’s just not a great sleeper so she didn’t nap particularly well and she woke up several times the first night crying but was always consolable and never woke up for longer than 2 minutes. Maddy especially loved being outdoors for 3 days straight. It was her first time at the beach, and as expected, she LOVED it. The water was FREEEZING, but that didn’t stop my little water baby from trying to jump into the waves. She loved collecting rocks and sitting in the sand and dirt with her new sand toys (shoutout to Uncle Michael). I prepped food for her that was easy to heat up on a butane stove (poridge, tofu stir fry, and raddish beef soup). 어머님 (mother in law) prepped DELICIOUS meals full of meat and we had 4 meals every day, my favorite one being our bonfire meal late at night which included bacon wrapped shrimp, smores, ramen, sweet potato, and corn all cooked over the bonfire.
More than anything, my heart just was bursting full of love seeing how much Tim’s family loved having Maddy join in on this special annual experience for them. 어머님 and 아버님 told stories of bringing Tim and Michael when they were small, and everyone was just so excited for her to experience a part of their family’s tradition they hope Maddy will carry on with her family one day too! Michael bought Maddy the cutest camping chair and sand toys, 어머님 and 아버님 bought her the first sweater from the campsite (we all have one hehe).
I haven’t thought about traditions I want to start with Maddy, but I’m thankful this is one that we can pass along with the Oh family. Tim has fond memories with his cousins and family camping and I hope Maddy has these as she grows up as well.
I’m no expert at being a parent, but from one parent to another, I would highly recommend spending time together. There are days I feel guilty about not being able to give Maddy and Tim everything the world can offer. I think about how if I just picked another career maybe I could contribute more financially to our family or if I just went to community college, or I think about what it would be like if we had Maddy a year or two later (would we be more prepared)? But then I fight those thoughts and really try to ground myself in gratitude. The time we spend together doesn’t have to be lavish. We don’t necessarily need the nicest things because we have each other 🙂 As an adult now, I don’t hold onto what my parents couldn’t afford for me back when I was growing up, but I hold onto those memories of them taking me to the fair, our family vacations, dinners with friends and running around collecting plums from my favorite plum tree. So even if you’re not a parent, I think all of us could take a pause and just enjoy nature and the company we have around us.
Enjoy a little slide show of some of the photos we were able to capture! I look forward to documenting our camping trip each year.
