1 Year Old! January 26, 2008

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven’t updated in a while, but since our return from St. Louis we’ve been catching up on everything, including sleep! It was an AMAZING weekend. On Friday we woke up with Jack, brought him his balloon (I always had a balloon tied to the end of my bed when I woke up on my brithday, and I want to do the same for Jack), sang him “Happy Birthday” and then got ready for our trip. Of course we were an hour late taking off (thank you Miami), but we still got to STL around 5 pm. We went to my mom’s and Shelley, Michael, Paige, Hailey and Ellen and Marvin (Michael’s parents) met us there for a birthday dinner. I’ll post photos of Jack and his cake later, but we got him undressed so we wouldn’t have to clean up a big mess, and he just looked at his cake and whined when he got icing on his hands! haha!

Saturday morning we took him to Portrait Innovations for his official 1-year photo, and they all turned out fabulous! We also took a family pic, and my mom got one with Jack too. Here are the two pics of him we ordered and the one of the three of us. The one of him clapping in the navy sweater is the one we’re using as his “1 year” photo.

After a good nap, we headed off to My Gym for his party. I could not have asked for a more perfect party for Jack. It was sooo much fun. He had 20 of his friends there, and they all played on the equipment (trampoline, ball pit, swings for babies, a zipwire thing, climbing walls, etc…) and they sat in a circle and sang songs and played. It was so cute. Then we had pizza and cake, and it was 6:30 pm by the time it was over. He loved every moment.

Sunday morning we had Paige and Hailey’s party. It was bumper bowling, and the kids were adorable! They had these ramps that you put the ball on and let it go so it had momentum going down the lane. The kids had a lot of fun. Pizza and cake again! Erica and Gabby came over to play and then Gerry stayed home with Jack (don’t feel bad for him – the football playoffs were on and he was more than happy to watch the game!) while Erica, Karyn, Julie and I went for dinner. We haven’t been out just the girls in years! So thanks to Brian, Stuart and Dave for staying home with the kids as well! It was such a fun dinner, and it made me miss being in STL even more.

Monday we went to pick out Jack’s gift from my mom (a gorgeous personalized frame with his name and birthdate, as well as a baseball for a baby boy – very cute) and then met Shelley and the girls for lunch. After that, it was off to the airport and back to Miami. Oh, did I mention one night in STL it was 1 degree, yes, 1! It was nice to get back to the warmth!

Well, Jack is napping and I better get moving. We’re going to the botanical garden today for the chocolate festival! YUM!! I’ll upload his birthday party pics later and post a link so you can see them all!

Wednesday also is special because… January 14, 2008

…it is my nieces’ 5th birthday! My sister kindly reminded me, but I didn’t forget. So, on Wednesday: Paige and Hailey turn 5, Jack gets his helmet off and we go to QE2 and QV! BIG DAY!

Bye Bye Helmet! January 13, 2008

Exciting news! Jack’s last day in his helmet is THIS WEDNESDAY! Yippee! We went to the clinic last week and they said he is done but if we want a second helmet we can because there is still a little flatness at the top. So, I went to my pediatrician who said his head looks AMAZING, it is totally round at the bottom and there is a slight flat spot at the top which you can’t even see – you have to feel. She said we don’t need another band. I was so relieved! Of course we would have done what she said if she said to do another helmet, but she thinks he looks great! Just in time for his 1st birthday! He wore the helmet for 4 months, and it was soooo worth it. I’ll take pics on Wednesday.

Wednesday also is a special day for another reason: Queen Vicrtoria and QE2 are in town together! It’s the first visit for QV (the new Cunard ship) and last for QE2 before she goes to Dubai at the end of the year to become a floating attraction. So we’re going to visit Peter on QV. We’re also friends with the Captains on both ships (Gerry sailed with both and I worked with both) so it will be good to see them too. 

I’ll post pics of Jack without a helmet and on the ships. 

Link to our England Trip January 13, 2008

As promised, here is the link to Kodak Gallery so you can see our photos. Be warned, there are 70!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=l7ftlne.1hs9ym0e&x=0&y=3j9d9w

We’re Back! January 4, 2008

Hi all! Well, we finally made it back to Miami! We had a fabulous flight from Manchester to Chicago. They must have really liked us, as they unblocked a row of three they were holding in case a family wasn’t seated together. Originally we were in two seats on the side of the plane (it was a two-three-two). So, Jack had his very own seat in the middle, which was perfect! We put down the tray and covered it with a blanket which we draped onto the seat, so anything he threw wouldn’t fall onto the ground. Clever parents, aren’t we?! He played and slept the whole time. I even got to ready the paper while he played with his toys!

Then, we got to Chicago with an hour to go for our connection. Got to the gate, and they delayed the flight due to mechanical problems. Then, the plane was out of service and they had to fly in a new plane. Then, they boarded us as quickly as possible so the crew didn’t become “illegal” – working too many hours. Well, they took too long to load the luggage so the crew became illegal and we had to wait for another crew. We sat for over an hour on the plane! Our flight that was supposed to take off at 2:30 pm left at 8 pm! Jack was a star and didn’t make a fussy peep. We are lucky!

We got home after midnight. Disaster. Jack slept that whole flight but woke up on landing. He finally went to sleep at 1 am and woke up for the day at 5:30 am! ay! So Gerry and I got 4.5 hours sleep over two days and Jack got minimal sleep too. Good thing we took the day off on Thursday. Cross you fingers … he was back on track last night and slept until 6 am this morning.

We’re just glad to be back. I will eventually upload the photos from our trip to Kodak Gallery and post a link so you all can see them. In the meantime, here are some really cute ones. My friend Bernie is in town this weekend (she works for Regent cruise line and is getting off the ship in Ft. Lauderdale), so I won’t be posting. But, I’ll get to the pictures soon!