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June 30, 2004
Saturday, June 26th, 2004
I have been talking to Cara for some time on-line -- she used to be on iP, now has a blog. Her kids are Liah, Dylan, and Jay. She lives like 2 hours away from me, so we decided to get together and take the kids to the Chattanooga Children's Discovery Museum. Now I met Leslie (Ella's mom) from Mom's Today last fall, and she and I have gotten together several times since for lunch or to let the kids play. I was kind of nervous when I first met her, but we clicked instantly (it helped that we got together to shop) and after you meet once, it's like you're friends just like any other friend you meet in person. So I was nervous meeting Cara, but mostly excited. You wonder if the person you talk to all the time on-line will actually LIKE you in person and if your personalities will click when you're talking, the way they do when you're typing. And I'm kind of a random person anyway, so some people just don't like me (and that's ok.) Luckily, though, Cara and I are enough alike (and both a little random? What do you think, Cara?) and we got along just fine.
Jake and I ended up spending the night at my mom's on Friday before we left, because I was just worn out and Jake was having fun playing and I was working on mom's photo albums and mom made us dinner . . . some nights Lou just comes over to mom's once he wakes up, hangs out with us for a while, then leaves at 9 p.m. for work and we just stay and sleep. When I got up the next morning, I left Jake at mom's, drove the 6 miles home to get showered and packed (yes, I still have to pack for a day trip -- you wouldn't believe the crap I had in my car just for 10 hours away from home with Jake), then went back to get Jake. We got on the road at 8 a.m. like I had planned, and I called Cara after 30 minutes to let her know I was on my way. The first time you hear someone's voice on the phone is weird, too (I remember how weird it was when Kelly from iP MT called me one day . . . and she and I talk online ALL the time). I was actually really relieved when I hung up from talking to Cara that first time because I thought "well she sounds really cool!"
So I got to Chattanooga in 2 hours (which apparently means I have a lead foot -- but really I wasn't going THAT fast!!!) and the drive was so pretty. The morning was overcast and foggy, but Nashville to Chattanooga is such a pretty drive, and there were several patches of the median that had wildflowers all over the place. Dark pink, light pink, and white -- they were SO pretty. Jake had been really good most of the way (thank you God for portable DVD players and Bear in the Big Blue House), but was getting hungry. So instead of pulling into Walgreens like we'd planned, I pulled into Arby's and called Cara from there. She loaded up her kids and drove over while I got Jake some food and cut it up (does anyone else get tired of cutting their toddler's food into little pieces? It'll be nice when he can just eat normally). He acted like he was starving and then he hardly ate what I gave him. Cara showed up, 3 kids in tow, and I was amazed at how she got them all inside. I felt like I should get up and help her, but Jake would have pitched a fit and probably knocked over his high chair trying to get to me -- and she looked like she had it under control. She got the kids some food while they sat with me (which Dylan wasn't very happy about, but Liah was happy to talk to me, and OMG I fell in love instantly with little Jay.) Jay was fussing a little so I took him out of his carseat and held him -- he's sooo sweet and so little. I'm tall and built big, so Jake was enormous even when he first came out. Cara, though, is little and petite (as are all her kids) and Jay is so small. He let me hold him, though -- I LOVE holding babies. Especially little ones who won't squirm off your lap or pull your hair and smack you in the face like they do when they get older . . . ;o) Cara and I talked a little but mostly tried to convince our children to eat their food. Jake was so distracted by the new kids in the room and the cars driving around outside, he didn't want to eat much.
When we were done eating, we got back in our cars and I followed Cara to her house, where we parked my car and put Jake's extra carseat (and a lot of his crap) in her van. It's easier to talk while driving, because the kids are buckled in and behind you so they're less of a distraction. heh. Dylan and Liah were really well-behaved way back in the back of the van. Jake is a little more high maintenance and I had to keep giving him books or toys from his bag, but he was ok. I was just glad he didn't cry because he was sitting next to baby Jay in the car (he doesn't like sitting next to Elauna when we put her in our car -- he screams the whole time. Sometimes he has personal space issues.) He did pick up a habit from Jay, though -- Jay sucks on his fingers (which is so so cute) and since we've been home, Jake's been doing that. I guess he was watching him when they were in the car.
I was really glad I didn't have to drive, because Chattanooga is just as crazy as Nashville when it comes to driving. And parking downtown? Good Lord. Luckily the second lot we tried had an empty space, but we had to stand around waiting to pay for it -- ever try standing in a parking lot (with cars going to and fro) with 4 kids under 5? NOT FUN. It was hot and there were people everywhere and I was so afraid one of the kids was going to get hit (I'm pretty paranoid) . . . Then we had to cross the street to get to the museum -- I was amazed that little Cara got a stroller and two children across the street by herself, while I was struggling with my 1 child.
The museum was fun -- it's really more of a bunch of really cool play areas than museum (I think), but it was great. It was hard work, though, helping the kids play. They're at ages right now we can't just let them loose -- we had to be INVOLVED in what they were doing. Sometimes we would try to sit down and talk, but the second we did, one of our kids needed us for something. My energy level is pretty low lately -- I miss my teens and early 20's when I was completely hyper and could run around all day -- so it was very tiring to chase my child. It was nice to have Cara there, we played tag-team with the kids -- if one of us was closer to the other's kid, we would help them. Jake really liked Cara. I got to sit with Jay some while the kids were playing, and he is just so sweet (is anyone getting tired of me saying that? Well, I don't care. He's sweet.)
The water play was Jake's favorite (big surprize from the child who loves baths and who jumped in the swimming pool). The smock he was wearing to keep him from getting soaked kept pulling open (the velcro in the back wasn't very sticky, and he has broad shoulders so when he moved his arms a certain way, it popped open.) I took out my hair barettes and used them to snap the smock together, but even that had to be adjusted several times -- so I had to keep jumping up to go fix it. And a few times I had to go tell Jake to stop leaning over so far, trying to get INTO the tub of water he was playing in. Still, though, that was the one exhibit area that Cara and I got to just sit down and rest and watch the kids play. Dylan and Jake actually played side by side -- not necessarily together, but in the same vicinity.
Cara also got to see first-hand how fast Jake runs, and how randomly he runs away from me. Most of the time it's because he sees something more interesting or because he wants to go somewhere else -- but sometimes he just thinks it's funny. I had his Elmo harness on him (which got a few comments, mostly good but who knows what people are thinking. I don't care, though, it's the only way right now to keep him safe), but sometimes I took the leash part off and he just had the harness on. The harness comes in really handy because it gives me something to hold on to when I'm trying to catch him or lead him a certain way. The leash part of it is so he has to stay within like 4 feet of me when we're walking somewhere. Jake LOVES wearing it, and it's actually better for his arms, because instead of me dragging him by the arm somewhere, he gets to lead the way and he doesn't get lost. He ran away from me the other day in the church parking lot (luckily no cars came by) and he was halfway to the playground by the time I caught up with him. I'm a pretty fast runner, but boy he moves!
Anyway, we had a really good time at the museum, but by the end of it Cara and I were both pretty worn out. The kids slept on the drive back to her house and we got to actually sit and talk, which was really nice. The story of her and Tommy getting together is so much more fun when you get to hear it and ask questions, as opposed to reading it. ;o) Back at her house I got out all the clothes I'd brought that Jake has grown out of and we looked through them. Usually when I give people hand-me-downs, they are selective and just take some because they don't like a lot of them -- but she liked ALL of them. All four bags! And she kept saying how cute they were, which of course made me feel good about my taste in clothing!!! ;o) I've sold clothes on ebay or at consignment shops and it just makes me mad how little money I get, and I don't want to give them to Goodwill, because they're NICE -- I want to know that someone gets good use out of them. So I'm always glad when I can find someone who will appreciate the clothes and will actually use them. I had so many people give me great things when I first had Jake, and I think that karma will come back around, so I'm glad to give away the clothes Jake doesn't wear anymore (and it makes my house less cluttered, too!!!) And I can't wait to see how Jay looks in them. ;o)
Really I wish we could have stayed longer, but by the time 5 p.m. rolled around, I knew I had to leave to get home before dark. It was nice to just sit with Cara at her house and chill out and talk. That's like my favorite thing to do with my mama friends -- let the kids play, and just sit on the couch and gab. Hopefully we'll be able to get together again and do that. Oh, while we were talking Jake disappeared on us -- it was just for like 30 seconds, so I thought he'd be fine, but then I couldn't find him. The door to the garage was open, so I was afraid he'd gotten outside -- but Liah was outside and she said he wasn't out there. So I went back in the house -- he wasn't in the bathroom, but I could hear him saying "mama . . . mama . . . " and it turns out he had gone in the laundry room and closed the door, then couldn't get it back open. There were no lights on and he was stuck, but he wasn't crying, just wondering how he was going to get out. Anyway, when we were leaving Jake walked up to Dylan and leaned over like he was hugging him (that's how he hugs, he leans in and lets us kiss or hug him) and I was so happy -- Dylan had tried all day to play with Jake and most of the time Jake just didn't want to play with him. I think if we get them together again they may play better together. They're just at a weird age and both weird sometimes about playing with other kids.
I'm really glad we took the day to go hang out with Cara. It was so much fun meeting her and putting a face and personality with the blog. ;o) Liah is very smart -- very observant, wants to be a part of grown-up conversations (oh, how I remember feeling that way!!!) There were several times she picked up on something we were talking about, asked a question, and we had to pretend we weren't talking about anything at all. It was funny. She's very petite -- I'm so used to huge kids, my cousins at 5 were so tall and big. But she's really only about 3 inches taller than Jake and I think about the same weight. Dylan is a lot like Jake -- still kind of emotional, not thrilled initially to meet new people, but very cuddly and sweet. He's about an inch taller than Jake, I think. Liah and Dylan both have dark brown eyes that are SO pretty (ok, maybe I'm biased when it comes to brown eyes.) And Jay -- what a good baby! He was SO well behaved, the whole day. We drug that poor child around all day long and he was good the whole time. And I had so much fun taking pictures of him -- I LOVE taking pictures of little babies. It's such a challenge to really get good pictures of them, but I like what I got. I kind of feel bad, though, that I got so many pictures of Jay and just a few of Liah and Dylan (isn't that just the way it is, though -- the baby gets all the attention. [I'm a still-resentful middle child. heh])
I have 2 pages of pictures up:
http://www.mypages.iparenting.com/webs/mama2jam/Cara2.html
http://www.mypages.iparenting.com/webs/mama2jam/Cara1.html
And here's Cara's blog account of our day:
http://mycrazylife.typepad.com/my_crazy_life/2004/06/jen_and_jake_an.html
Well, there's my account of the day (I'm under a lot of pressure from a LOT of e-friends to get this entry up!!!). Cara, I had a blast. We will definitely get together again soon -- and put Saturday, Sept. 11th on your calander -- Jake's birthday's the 12th, and I think I'm going to have a kids party for him that day. You can come down with the kiddos and meet all my friends. (Leslie, you put that day on your calandar, too, ok?)
Hugs, love, and happy thoughts to all.
Jen
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