Forgetfulness, falling, and exhaustion - OH MY!

This pregnancy is kicking my hiney!  I had some great energy for about 2 weeks a little bit ago, but now I'm back to complete exhaustion.  It's the kind of exhaustion where I physically cannot pick up Robby at times.  My arms just don't have any strength left in them.  Usually, I can make it to the time when Tim gets home, but once he's here, I'm done for the day.  Thankfully, he looks forward to coming home to play with Robby all day so he doesn't mind.  I'm able to generally pick up the apartment, but haven't done any really deep cleaning in a while.  I have actually been trying to lay down or nap when Robby is napping.  I never did that when Robby was first born.  I just wasn't tired and I wanted to jump back into our routine and get things done.  But right now I just can't do it.  I told Tim last night that I feel bad because I'm shortchanging Robby right now.  We could be going to the park or getting out and doing things, but there are times I can't even climb up the stairs with him and the diaper bag so getting out just isn't feasible.  

Speaking of those pesky stairs, I've fallen twice now.  The first time, I had gone to Costco and we were back home.  I put Robby down for his nap in his crib and ran downstairs to get the cold things out of the car.  I had a few reusable shopping bags over my shoulders and was carrying a box with several other things.  I was on the last set of stairs when my foot caught one of the steps, my shoe separated from the sole and got kind of stuck under the step.  I tripped up the stairs, but thankfully didn't hurt myself or drop anything.  Then last Friday night while Tim was working, I went to return something and was coming back.  I was just carrying Robby and diaper bag but couldn't see where my feet were, I guess, and I tripped over the curb in front of our building.  This time I fell all the way to the ground, landing on my knees first then my left elbow.  The whole time all I could think about was keeping Robby up and making sure he didn't hit the ground.  Thankfully, he didn't.  I messed up my jeans, hurt my knees and elbow a little, messed up one of my fingers, and twisted my back.  None of those were serious at all.  My back was the most painful thing, but towards the end of the weekend it was feeling better.  I'm not one who is very graceful. I fell every single day of the 1st grade.  No joke.  Whether recess was inside or outside, I would fall and hurt myself.  It was about that same time range when I fell down the long row of steps at the Shepherd of the Hills outdoor theater.  I spilled my popcorn and that was what I was most upset about.  Also, when I was in the 7th grade, I took quite a major fall down a rocky hill at my school.  It was in front of a guy I had a crush on, so it was pretty humiliating.  In my adult life, I've had some close calls, but haven't actually had any real falls.  So it's frustrating to me to be falling so much now!  My clumsiness is much worse!

Not only am I more clumsy, but I'm much more forgetful.  I had a few cases of "pregnancy brain" with Robby, but this time around it's crazy how bad it is.  I have forgotten my address (twice), the gate code to get into our complex (I actually had to look through my texts to see what I had texted someone it was last week in order to know what it was), Tim's social security number because I forgot my ID and couldn't get on base, the name of AND how to get to my doctor's office WHILE I was on my way to my appointment (I couldn't get in touch with Tim to find out the name so I had to call a friend who had just had a baby and used the same doctor.  I'm sure she thought I was quite crazy), and generally what I'm doing and where I'm going.  Tim just looks at me sometimes in disbelief that I actually can't remember whatever it is.  Last night I told Tim that I needed to take Robby this week to get his second dose of the flu vaccine.  He then reminded me that we had already done that on Friday.  Oh ya!  I'm so glad I didn't go to the clinic and wait in line to get that done only to find out I had just done it last week.    I've also had a few episodes of leaving without my car keys (which is very frustrating because I realize it when I get down to the car with Robby and all our stuff then have to go all the way back up to get them and then go back down again!) or debit card/cash.  Very frustrating, to say the least.  I'm beginning to worry about myself!

Physically, I feel like I'm about 35 weeks along, instead of 25 weeks.  I already can't bend over to paint my toenails or put lotion on my feet.  It's incredibly difficult to bend down to pick things up and I definitely have the waddle already going on!  This is hard for me because I felt so good and so beautiful when I was pregnant with Robby.  Now I just hurt all the time and feel like quite the blimp.  Sadly, I'm wishing it was over and Charlie was here already.  It is sad that there wasn't more time between these pregnancies so I could actually enjoy it again this time around.  I loved being pregnant with Robby and this time I feel like I have the typical pregnant woman's attitude that I didn't have the first time around.  Anyway, I know the next 12 or so weeks will fly by (or at least I'm praying they will) and Charlie will be here and we will begin the process of adjusting to the new "normal"!

It's a....

BOY!!

He was very proud to show us, too!!

Charles "Charlie" Edward Weigle will be making his arrival in late February! We could not be more ecstatic to add this little boy to our family!

The Great Double Stroller Quest

About a week or two after I found out that we had another bundle of joy on the way it clicked with me that we were going to need a double stroller.  If Robby were going to be 2 or so, I would almost consider not getting one, since he would be able to walk pretty well at that point and I could teach him to hold onto the stroller to walk beside me.  But since he will still be perfecting that cute little toddle of a walk when this baby comes, I don't think we have much of a choice but to get a double stroller.  We love our travel system for Robby and had planned to use it whenever we had baby #2, but did not expect it would be so soon.  Since we don't need to get a new infant carrier/carseat, I wanted to get a double stroller in which I could snap or strap it into.

For those who haven't thought much about double strollers, there are essentially two types: side-by-side and tandem.  There are benefits and drawbacks of each, and no matter which type you get, it's going to be a pain to maneuver.  I began my plead on Facebook to find out what kind of stroller we should get.  I got a little help, but found that the best help I received was simply stopping moms pushing them around the mall or on a sidewalk and asking them what they thought of whatever stroller they were pushing.  Unanimously, they all said to go with a side-by-side.  Most of them had a tandem stroller in the past and had pretty much negative things to say about them.  As much as you would think a double stroller was difficult to get around in a store, a tandem was actually more difficult because it's so long you can't turn it between racks and things.  Also, depending on how you distribute the weight, it can be next to impossible to get the front end to go where you are wanting.  One of my own realizations regarding the tandem stroller was that I am essentially going to have two babies.  Robby is still going to rely on me for pretty much everything, so I need him to be within an arms reach and also easy to keep an eye on.  If I have him at the front, I can't see what he's doing/needing or get to him as easily as bending over the handlebars.  

So, that meant I was set on a side-by-side.  But oh, what type of side-by-side?  There are umbrella type side-by-sides that are very light and much narrower.  Or the heavy duty jogging type, which are generally wider.  I tried a few of the lighter side-by-sides and really liked the Combi Twin Sport EX

A huge perk to this one was that our carseat (which isn't really adaptable with any other brand stroller or carseat base) actually clicked in!  It was very light and super narrow.  It was only a tad wider than our current stroller.  When it folded up, it folded in half, then over in half again so it took up the same amount of space as a single stroller!  There were only a few negatives about this one.  First, it wasn't super heavy duty and I intend to get out and walk most days with the kids, so I wasn't sure that the wheels and frame would hold up well over the next 3-4 years.  Also, the one we tried out in the store seemed really flimsy.  The frame would really wiggle and sway as you shook it lightly from the handlebars.  The worker said he thought it was just like that because it was the demo.  I went home and read lots of reviews.  It was pretty evenly mixed on durability.  Some said it was great and others said it wasn't holding up well.  But other than that, it had great reviews.  Also, I wasn't going to be able to fit my diaper bag in the basket underneath, so I would have to get a hook attachment to go on the handlebar.

Next, since I do want a stroller that will hold up well with lots of outdoor walking and things, I decided to look at the jogging strollers.  Many people recommended the Bob jogging stroller.  We drove up to Austin yesterday and went to Buy Buy Baby to try out this one, as well as several others I had been researching.  After trying this one out, I realized that it is almost as long as some tandem strollers.  Also, the price is quite steep (However, I had almost decided that if I was totally and completely blown away by it and it was just perfect, I might consider getting a stroller that expensive.  I just wasn't that blown away by it.) and I would have to spend about $150 more on the snack/drink trays for the kids, the carseat adaptor, and the parent tray attachment.  I just didn't think it was worth spending that much on it.  

I was looking around and saw one that looked great.  I had Tim pull it down so I could look at it.  It steered like a dream.  Pretty much every part that was fabric came off so it could be cleaned and all the parts were so adjustable, each baby could have their own little personalized space.  The car seat fit in perfectly.  Robby fit in it perfectly.  It had everything we needed and wanted.  I loved it!  It didn't have a price tag on it so I asked a worker how much it was.  She looked it up and of course it was an expensive one.  I tried it out again, but just couldn't justify spending that much money on it.  

I really wanted to try out the Joovy ScooterX2 because it has really good ratings and is pretty narrow.  But I couldn't find any stores that carried it where I could try it out.  I emailed the company and they said my only option was to buy it, put it together, try it out indoors, then return it for a full refund if I decided I didn't want it.  I really don't want to purchase something like this without trying it out first and I definitely don't want to go through the hassle of purchasing it, putting it together, then deciding it's not right and having to return it and wait forever for the refund!  

So, after trying out lots of strollers, some expensive, some not so expensive, we think we have decided on the Baby Trend Navigator.  

It is really easy to steer, the carseat straps in, and snack and drink trays are already included.  The basket underneath is really big and there is a parent tray with drink holders.  The only negative (and there will be a negative to any stroller we decide on, it is just a matter of deciding which negatives are deal breakers and which aren't) is that it is wider than all the other double joggers that we looked at.  But I have talked to two people who have this stroller and they said they don't have any trouble getting through doors, as long as there is a handicapped door.  We measured the wheel base and measured our front door (not that it matters since we won't be bringing it up 3 flights of stairs!) and it is several inches narrower than the doorway.  I also looked up what a standard door of a business is required to be and they are supposed to be wider than what the stroller measures.  I know that I will have to maneuver it through some doors and I just won't be able to go into some stores (which would be the case with whatever stroller we end up with).  But the fact that it is a great size and will be good for when the kiddos are even 4 and 5 makes it worth it to me.  I don't want to buy a stroller in 2 years because Robby is too big for it and then spend just as much money on a bigger stroller and only use it for 2 more years. I want something that will last and be able to grow with our needs as they change.

Changing the subject, while we were at Buy Buy Baby we decided to look around.  Even though we didn't need anything, it seemed like such a waste to go and not explore the whole store!  :-)  We saw some amazing things we had never seen, nor had never heard of before!  

First was this incredible swing/bouncy seat.  

If we were planning on having 2 more kids after this one, I think I would try to talk Tim into letting me spend the money on it!  It was so cool just to watch.  

Next was this carseat and stroller combo.  

In front of it was a page showing all the stars who have it for their kids.  I'm sure that is it's biggest selling point!  I just imagine that this is what the future of travel systems looks like!

I'm beginning to think that the baby gear market is like the wedding market: they push things that you just have to have to give your child the perfect infancy and childhood, when really we all turned out just fine and didn't have floating baby seats or space pods for carseats!

Pregnancy Dreams

Although I don't have many pregnancy symptoms (other than being tired and dizzy all the time), I have the craziest, most vivid dreams.  I have talked to several other women who had dreams like this when they were pregnant.  They can range between dreams about the delivery to dreams involving friends from high school I haven't seen in years.  Sometimes I wake up and have to ask Tim if something actually happened or not, because they are that real.  When I was pregnant with Robby, I would get very angry in my dreams and would actually cuss.  I don't cuss in real life, so I would wake up and ask Tim if I had said something bad!  It made me nervous that I might actually do that in real life when I least expected it!  On Saturday night, I had a dream that my doctor called me and told me she was setting me up to be induced this week.  I asked if she was sure, since I was only 15 weeks along.  She said yes and it was very important that I come in on Tuesday to be induced.  Come to find out, it was because the hospital had offered a pizza party to the group of doctors who delivered the most babies.  Ya know, because I hear doctors just love pizza parties!  I just couldn't believe that I actually went along with it in my dream!  Last night I had a dream about bugs (my least favorite kind of dreams!).  I was holding Robby and we were suddenly covered in these black ant-like bugs that we couldn't get off of us.  I started freaking out majorly.  I don't remember how it ended, but I woke up itching and thinking I had bugs all over me.  And I definitely check Robby over to make sure he didn't have any on him!  I'm interested, for those of you who have been pregnant, did you have vivid dreams?  If so, what is the craziest pregnancy dream that you had?

Baby #2

Since announcing that we are expecting our second little bundle of joy, we have gotten quite a few questions from people.  I thought I would address some of them and fill you in on this crazy story.

1. (The most common question) Did you plan to have them this close together?
We definitely did not.  I was actually very content with just having Robby.  Although several members of our family informed me of their strong opinions of not wanting Robby to be an only child, I really was considering keeping it just him.  I have a few reasons for that.  First, I wanted to focus on just him.  There are so many milestones that he is and will accomplish and I wanted to be able to enjoy them all without anything else needing my attention.  Second, I didn't want to short change a second child.  So many have told me that their second one spends a lot of time in their swing or in their crib, because the first is so active and requires so much constant attention.  The thought of that is sad to me.  I want to be able to focus on this second baby just as much as I was able to focus on Robby.  I loved the quiet times of just holding and staring at Robby.  I cherish the mornings when we would snuggle and roll around on the bed after Tim left for work.  I won't be able to have as carefree of mornings with this second baby as I was able to have with Robby.  I know that people have second, third, and fourth children all the time and they make it work, it's just not how I pictured things.  I am just praying that Robby reaches all of his baby milestones before this baby arrives so I can at least feel like I could focus on and appreciate all of them.  Third, Robby has literally been a perfect baby.  Does he cry?  Yes.  Does he scream?  Yes.  Does he get upset when he's tired or hungry?  Yes.  But that's really about it.  He's a very adaptable baby.  After several days home after being born, he was sleeping through the night and putting himself on a schedule.  His days are predictable and he loves to get out and see people.  If he screams or cries, it's for a reason and once that issue is resolved, he's happy again (except for right now while he's teething!)  Lots of people have told me that since he has been so great, the second baby will be quite the handful (why people say things like this to people - just like feeling the need to share their horror labor and delivery stories or worst case scenario baby stories - I will never understand).  I pray this won't be the case, as it will be quite overwhelming the first several months after this baby is born.

2. Did you know you were pregnant?
Again, no, I didn't!  When I was pregnant with Robby I never had any typical pregnancy symptoms, and this pregnancy has been the same.  I haven't had any morning sickness or anything.  The only thing is that I'm tired (but I was tired before, so I don't know that being tired is actually from being pregnant!) and extremely hungry.  The difference between this pregnancy and the last is that we were trying with Robby, although not that long, so I was paying attention and could track back to exactly when I got pregnant.  With this one, I have no idea!  The timeline is a little fuzzy.  I nursed Robby until late June when my milk suddenly dried up overnight.  My friend, Catie, actually asked me that day if I could be pregnant.  I believe my response was, "Heck no" or something like that!  After I could no longer nurse, I went ahead and started birth control.  I started out taking it just like I did before I went off of it to get pregnant with Robby.  I took 3 months worth straight through at a time.

3. How did you find out you were pregnant?
It wasn't until 3 weeks ago when I went off of the birth control to have my period that I thought something was funny.  I was on a trip to Arkansas at the time, and being pregnant couldn't have been further from my mind.  I did tell Tim over the phone that it hadn't come yet, so he said before I started my next round of birth control I needed to take a pregnancy test.  As soon as he picked me up from the airport and we got home, I took the test.  Y'all, as soon as I peed on that stick it turned positive.  The control line took longer to show up than the positive line did!  All I could do was yell Tim's name.  He ran in, holding Robby, and got the biggest grin on his face.  I just had to sit there for a bit to let it "sink in", even though I don't know if it still has or not!

4. How far along are you?
Well, I assumed that I was somewhere between 6-10 weeks just because of how quickly the test turned positive.  I was only 3 weeks along when I took the test when I was pregnant with Robby and it took about 30 seconds to a minute for the line to show, and it was quite faint.  I assumed that I got pregnant when I was on birth control, because we didn't take extra precautions once I started taking it and probably didn't give it time to actually get in my system.  I was very anxious to get to my doctors appointment on Tuesday to make sure the baby was healthy, as I hadn't been taking prenatal vitamins, had been taking strong doses of ibuprofen for headaches, and had been taking birth control regularly.   When the doctor was ready to do the ultrasound, she first did an abdominal exam.  She looked at me quite surprised when she could already feel my uterus and said that I might be further along than we thought.  She proceeded with the internal ultrasound.  Tim and I nearly fell on the floor when she told us the baby was too big to see internally.  She started the abdominal ultrasound and found the baby right away. We were able to clearly see the head, body, arms, legs, and even fingers!  The baby was just bouncing around and waving like crazy!  We could not believe it when the doctor informed us that we were 14 weeks along!  I am completely out of the first trimester and didn't even know I was pregnant!  When we track it back, I got pregnant before I even stopped nursing, and that was probably the reason my milk dried up.  Our due date is March 6, 2012.

5. What do you think you are having?
Well, I never had a gut feeling with Robby, but for some reason, I just have this feeling we are having another boy.  I have no idea why.  Everyone in our family is pulling for a little girl.  Of course we would be thrilled either way.  I don't know if I'm feeling it's a boy because that is a comforting thought to me.  I know what to do with a boy and we could reuse everything.  Thankfully, we don't have to wait long to find out if it's a boy or girl, we will know at our next appointment in 4 weeks!  How crazy is that?  If it's a girl, we will be naming her Abigail Lauren (which is what we had picked out for a girl the last pregnancy).  If it's a boy, we know the middle name will be Edward (my grandfather's middle name) but haven't been able to decide on a first name that we both love.  Picking Robby's name was so easy.  We knew several years before we even got pregnant that if we ever had a boy we would name him Robert, after our sister-in-law's brother who was killed in Iraq.  And William is a common family name on both sides of our families.  I love that it is part of both of our brothers' names, as well as Robby's paternal grandfather's and maternal great grandfather's name.  We just want to pick a first name that is meaningful to both of us.

6. Will you be having anymore?
Heck no!!  Either Tim or I will be taken care of to no longer be able to have anymore children.  We are happy with two and are excited that they will be close and be best friends, but we have no desire to have any more.

I haven't had the chance to take any belly pictures this time around, but I plan to starting next week at the 15 week mark.  Most of my jeans I can no longer button.  I have two pair that I can wear, other than the maternity jeans that I have.  I'm going to have to buy some maternity shirts at some point, because I already got rid of the 5 shirts I had when I was pregnant with Robby!  I have one shirt that Catie got for me, but other than that I don't have any.  I'm hoping to be able to do what I did last time and still wear some of my non-maternity tops for a long while!

Thank you, everyone, for your encouragement and sweet comments on Facebook and emails.  We are very excited about this new baby and are ready to get started on this crazy adventure that God has decided for us!

Robby has something to say...

...I'm going to be a big brother!
















Although not in our plans, God decided to show us that His plan is much better! We found out two weeks ago Monday night that we are pregnant and found out this morning that we are 14 weeks along (much farther along than we thought, that's for sure!). Robby will have a little brother or sister around the beginning of March!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Oh the feet!

I took this picture and sent it to Mandy this weekend.  I was a little shocked when I woke up to my feet looking like this Sunday morning.  I thought the swelling from Saturday would have gone down overnight.

But, like I've said, I'm thankful to have made it to 34 weeks without any major feet and hand swelling!

Thank you, Munchkin!

A few months ago when I was in Arkansas visiting my parents, my mom and I visited one of our favorite little shops in NWA.  My mom frequents this shop A LOT and knows all the girls who work there (plus most of them have their children in the school where my mom works).  So we were talking about the baby and a lady who was shopping came up to me and told me it was lucky day.  I was kind of taken aback because I had no idea what she meant.  She went on to tell me she worked for Munchkin and always loved to make gift baskets for her friends when they would have babies but she hasn't been able to recently because everyone is done having babies!  She asked me to write down my name and address and she would send me something.  I thanked her and was really excited when we left.  Then as the weeks passed by and nothing came I decided she had just forgotten about our meeting and moved on.

A little over a month after, I received this package:

I didn't realize what it was until I saw the return address.  I was shocked by the size of the box.  When she told me she was going to send something I thought it would be a little package and maybe some coupons or something.  I definitely didn't expect all of this:

There is a lot we can use as soon as Robby is born and some that he won't use until he's 6+ months old, but it's great to already have it!

This was Tim's favorite item:

You can put the correct amount of liquid medication in it and the baby ingests it as they suck the pacifier! How cool is that?  There were lots of little handy items in the basket that I had never seen in any stores so I'm super excited to try them out.

After I went through everything and emptied the basket, I put all of Robby's blankets in it so they are easy to grab when we need them.

A couple of pregnant girls!

I'm so mad at myself because I wanted to take a picture of Catie and me each time we got together but we have gotten together a few times, even though real quickly, and haven't gotten pictures.  Josh and Catie came to town this weekend and we met them for dinner then they came over for a little bit.  So we were able to take a baby bump picture together.  Catie is 22 weeks and I am 29 weeks in this picture.

Weekend Away!

We had planned to go on a "babymoon" out to Angel Fire, NM for 4-5 days.  Tim's boss has a cabin out there and it seemed like the perfect little last getaway before Robby gets here.  Well, we found out a few weeks ago that we weren't going to be able to do that due to some changes at work for Tim.  Then last week we found out that Tim wasn't going to be able to be off for Thanksgiving weekend either.  This threw a kink in our plans as we had already made plans to go to Arkansas for Thanksgiving then go to Branson for a few days with my family.  So needless to say, we were quite bummed about all of our travel plans being canceled.  Well, on Tuesday Tim called me and told me we were going to go to the cabin this weekend!  It wasn't going to be as long of a trip as we had originally planned, but he was going to get off a little early on Friday and we would head out there, spend the day there Saturday and head back Sunday.  I was grateful for any time away, especially because Tim has been pretty stressed and overwhelmed at work the last couple of weeks.

Tim got home about 2:30, we loaded up the pups and all our stuff and were on our way.

We missed the exit to a shorter way out (it turned out to be an ok thing) but Leo and Annie made sure to keep an eye on anyone around us.

We saw these on the way and Tim informed me this is where we were staying.  I called them murder cabins!  They just look like something out of a scary movie!

We ended up getting there around 7:00 New Mexico time.  It was already getting pretty dark and the dogs really needed to go out.  Since we couldn't really see what was outside and didn't know what kind of animals would be out there, Tim armed himself and took out the little stinkers!

My cowboy!  :-)

The cabin is up in the mountains, but there are other cabins around.  The best way to describe it is an unpaved, small subdivision of cabins in the woods.  On the little "road" where this cabin was there were 3 cabins built and one lot area that was in the process of being cleared.  After we unloaded and got the dogs settled, we went into town and ate dinner a little pizza place.  After that we headed back to just relax.  The next morning we got up and Tim and the dogs went out to explore.  

Leo LOVED running around and exploring.  I called him my little mountain dog all weekend!  He couldn't wait to go back outside any chance he got.

Annie felt great and was running around like she was made for the woods!!  

We headed to Taos which was about 30-40 minutes away.  We walked around some little shops and ate at a place that had an eclectic menu!  I took a picture of the menu and sent it to my brother.  I told him we were eating at his son's restaurant!

We headed back mid afternoon, stopped at the little market in Angel Fire, and went back to the cabin to relax.  

I loved having the blinds open and the sun streaming in.  It was a beautiful view on the outside and it made the inside feel so nice!

I loved looking down from the loft several times and seeing Tim just relaxing.  I'm glad he was able to take it easy and not think about anything work related.

Annie found a new little friend that she was quite interested in.  We had fun moving this little bear around to see her react to it!

Now, look in the background of this picture.  See Leo in action with his ball?  He did this ALL weekend long!  Tim would throw his ball up into the loft and Leo would scale up the stairs, get his ball, and run as fast as he could down the stairs back to Tim.  Leo LOVED the stairs!!

Saturday night Tim went outside on the wrap around deck then came back in and informed me there were a couple of elk in the partially cleared lot next to the cabin.  He grabbed the camera, I put on my shoes, and we headed out to see.  Then we looked around and saw 2 more in the little road area, then 2-3 more up behind some trees.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get great pictures since it was dark outside, but look for the little eyes that are glowing in the pictures below and their little white bottoms.  

Sunday morning we got up, cleaned the cabin and washed the sheets and towels.  I was on the couch waiting for the laundry to dry and Tim snapped a few pictures of me.  I was talking to Leo about how he had been a good boy this weekend!

After we had everything cleaned up we took some pictures of everything.  The cabin is just beautiful.  It's the kind of place that if they rented it out for people to use they could charge about $300 a night in the off season.  On the first floor is the kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry room, their girls' room, a guest room and a bathroom.  Upstairs is a little loft/landing area and the master suite.  There is a balcony off the master suite which was really nice.  We would just go out there and look up at the stars in the evenings.

We were waiting for the sheets to dry so the bed isn't made in these pictures!

View from the balcony.

Looking over to the living room from the loft.

We explored the area where the cabin was on Saturday evening, so Tim needed to get some pictures of the 4Runner after a little off roading!

Little did we know that wasn't the only time we were going to need to use the 4 wheel drive!  We went back home the way we had intended to come out but had missed our exit.  Apparently there is 9 miles of NM Hwy 120 that is unpaved!  And not just unpaved but pretty much just room for one vehicle and if you don't have an SUV you probably aren't going to make it!  Here are some pictures of that 9 miles.

It took us about 30 minutes to drive those 9 miles but Tim had the biggest grin on his face the entire time!  You would have thought he was a little kid on Christmas morning!  We were glad to be driving this on Sunday in the daylight instead of Friday at dusk.  We probably would have thought we were going the wrong way and turned around!  

We had a wonderful time and are so thankful we were able to use the cabin and get away just the two of us.  It was peaceful and just what we needed!