we're on vacation! guest post by: melissa

Happy Summer Vacation to us!   I'm so happy to have the lovely Melissa from knit purl baby guest post for you today. So while we are most likely sitting on the beach right now, soaking in the sun and building sand castles, kick back and enjoy.  

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Hey everyone! I’m so happy to be filling the void while MJ is out with her lovely family enjoying some summer fun. Normally I blog over at knit purl baby but I’m super stoked to be here today!

Speaking of summer fun, I thought I’d use my time here today to express how much better this summer is than last summer.

My son, JC, was born last summer. Technically, that fact alone should make last summer, the best summer ever. And it does. But, it really wasn’t that much fun.

When he was born six and a half weeks early, it really changed the ballgame. While I think it is somewhat normal to become a borderline shut-in after you have a baby, I may have taken it to another level last summer.

JC spent the first seventeen days of his life at the hospital. Which meant we spent the first seventeen days of his life at the hospital. It was the worst. I was stuck at home recovering from a c-section, waiting anxiously for my fiancé to get home so we could go visit our little baby for as long as we could. 

When he finally did come home, I was too afraid to take him anywhere. Our little guy pretty much just slept all day long. He'd wake up, eat and go back to sleep. I knew sleeping meant that his body was working hard to catch up so I didn't dare disturb him. I literally kept the blinds closed all day to try to recreate the darkness of the womb. I'm weird like that. Throw in that I was exclusively breastfeeding and not-so-fond of nursing in public; I was a nervous wreck anytime we actually did venture out of the house. I don't even want to talk about the first time I had to unfold the stroller by myself. Eeesh.

It really took a long while for me to feel comfortable taking him out in the world. Especially by myself. And by the time I did feel comfortable, it was way too icky outside to do anything fun.

Needless to say, I couldn’t wait for the warm summer days to come again. I am normally not a fan of the heat but I knew I would have so much fun taking JC everywhere. And that is what we have spent this summer doing.

We have crossed so many items off our unofficial summer bucket list. Going on a mini-road trip. Introducing JC to the ocean. Swimming. Ice cream safari (all-you-can-eat ice cream… AT THE ZOO). Lunch time picnic dates with dad. Playing at the park. Going on bike rides. Trip to San Francisco. Aquarium. The fiance and I even found time to enjoy some grown up festivities at the state fair. It was kind of a date. Crazyness!

And we still have at least two more fairs to attend, tons more picnic dates and swimming to do before the summer is over. I’m so happy to have such a different experience with JC this year. Last year, I was so scared to bring my little teeny baby anywhere and now we are any and every where. I only look forward to all the fun my baby man will bring. Here’s to an awesome summer and rest of the year!