Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Big Trip to New Jersey/Philadelphia

My cousin Kristin got married this past weekend in her hometown of Mount Laurel, NJ and it was a family affair. So, my mom, my dad, my brother Chris (from Cali) , Josh, Lily and I got all packed up and flew from Atlanta to Philadelphia. I can honestly say that I was very very very nervous about going on a plane with Lily. She is a fantastic little girl but I know her all too well. In my mind I already had her terrorizing all the other patrons on the plane, screaming, whining, not sitting still, etc. I had talked with many friends who had given a lot of wonderful suggestions that I thought might help. So we packed up all the goodies (snacks, milk, new toys, DVD player, books, etc) and headed off to the airport last Thursday morning. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:05.

Let's just say that once we got to Philadelphia I thought we might have to just live up there forever. Despite all my efforts (Josh's, mom and dad's too) Lily was a pill on the plane. She didn't scream the whole time but she WOULD NOT sit still and every time we tried to hold her down or make her sit that is when she gave whining/screaming some practice. It was the longest 2 hours of my life and I was absolutely dreading the flight home. I imagine all the people on the plane were hoping they weren't on the return flight with us (although a really nice couple was kind enough to make me feel better about the experience and told us that they thought Lily was a doll ~ they must have been watching a different child).

We stayed in a hotel suite with my parents and brother. It had two rooms connected by a living room/kitchen area. It was a perfect little set up. I was determined to try to keep Lily's schedule and bedtime as close to the same as possible. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all pretty good days but I can say that none of it was really a vacation for me. Being the mom that I am I was worried about Lily the entire time we were there just trying to make sure she was fed, rested, etc. Friday was spent with my cousins and aunts eating and chatting. My cousin Kristin married into a very large Italian family who are a lot of fun and very rambunctious! We had a good time catching up with most of my cousins (on my mom's side) and aunts.

Josh and I also had the opportunity to drive to Rowan University (once named Glassboro State) to get a t-shirt and some pictures. Josh was really excited that there is a university with our last name so we made the special trip (30 minutes) to scope it out. It definitely wasn't as nice as Elon but with our last name it couldn't be anything but great.

Saturday was the wedding at a beautiful little church. It was all made of stone on the outside and was small and quaint on the inside. I really enjoyed the architecture of it. The bride and groom had a lunch reception following the wedding and then an evening of snacks and drinks following the lunch. Honestly, we must have eaten more food than you would eat on a cruise. We did not go hungry on this trip.

Sunday we spent the day with my Aunt Martha driving around Philadelphia. Josh really wanted to have an authentic cheesesteak so we all loaded up and went and had a philly cheesesteak there in Philadelphia. It was a good experience but Josh was disappointed that the cheesesteaks, although good, were not any better (in his opinion) than the ones here in GA. I honestly can't contribute because I never had one before and the one I had was good enough for me. We then said our goodbyes to my cousins (and spouses/boyfriends) and went site seeing with my Aunt Martha. My brother suggested that we go to the Mutter Museum. If you don't know what it is I suggest you google it and check it out. Most people probably would not find it to be something they would spend a Sunday afternoon doing but my family enjoyed it. It is basically a medical museum showing different instruments used back in the beginnings of medicine as well as wax models of different diseases/conditions. The most gruesome part I guess was that they had glass jars with fetuses of babies that had died either during birth or through miscarriages. Now, I know you are thinking that is gross but I found it to be incredibly interesting. I mean being 27 weeks pregnant at the time I think people were looking at me weird that I was not terrified of it but I am a science nerd, what can I say. We then went to the Liberty Bell and briefly looked and walked around Independence Hall. It was VERY cold that day so being outside was not too much fun.

Monday we got all packed up and headed back to the airport for the dreaded flight home. Much to my surprise Lily did better. She was very tired and ended up sleeping a good hour or so of the flight which was exactly what Josh and I needed. She of course fought us while she was awake but she at least slept this time. We got home after 5 on Monday and I can't tell you how much I was thankful to be home!!! I love travelling but I think I am going to have to say that I love travelling without kids a lot better. Everyone said how great Lily did the whole weekend and I appreciated all the support and help from my family.

Since being back Lily is back to normal. She didn't even need recovery time to get back on schedule. The next day was completely normal for us and things have been running along as if we were never gone. I am so glad that babies bounce back and are resilient because mommies don't do as well! If you made it this far, thanks for reading!!

Tomorrow I go for my 28 week appointment for Davis and see how things are going. I can't believe how fast everything is going. It should be a pretty routine visit since I already did the Gestational diabetes test last time and passed with flying colors. I will keep everyone update as things continue to progress.

Here are few pics from our trip to enjoy.

Beginning of plane ride there.....
Not crying yet.
Towards the end when she was SO tired but wouldn't sleep....


The minute we got off the plane and put her in her stroller this was the result.....

Swimming at the indoor pool of our hotel.


That bathing suit was mine when I was 2 years old.


Hanging out a the reception.

The only thing with Rowan University was the bookstores sign. Everything else just said Rowan and we wanted it to say both.
Walking through Philly.
Outside of the Liberty Bell museum.


Josh makes that bell look small doesn't he?
Bundled up at the Mutter Museum before we left.

After the site seeing venture in Philly, again we have a sleeping baby.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Lily's new car

My Dancing Girl


Lily loves to dance and it is stinking hilarious. Here is a very short clip of her well developed dancing abilities. 

Baby Belly at 24+ weeks

Pictures by Josh at 11pm at night. I realized that I hadn't taken any this time around yet and thought that I should just take a few. I guess I am a little slap happy and acting a little silly but hey, now you can't say that you haven't seen the belly. 

Enjoy!!






Sunday, January 4, 2009

My Christmas Baby!!

I know this post is a little late but I guess it is better late than never. My mom bought Lily a really cute Christmas dress and we didn't really have much of a chance for her to wear it but we did manage to get her in it a few times before Christmas was past. She wore this dress to sit on Santa's lap at the mall. The experience for her was a bit traumatic. A little humorous but Lily was definitely mad that it happened at all. I do have a picture of it but I will have to scan it. We also put her in this dress to take her to church one Sunday. She was a hit in the nursery, lots of swooning and ooohs and ahhhhs. She knew she was cute and strutted her stuff the whole time. 

We had a great Christmas and New Years this year. Christmas was fun. My brother and his girlfriend flew in from California for about a week. My brother, Chris, graduated with his Ph.D. in Astronomy (astrophysics) or something like that. I went to his graduation at the Georgia Dome of all the humongous places to have graduation. Lily was a bit unsure of her uncle. She definitely spent a good amount of time eyeing him and studying what he was about. I guess she takes a little bit to warm up to some people. We had a little dinner celebration for my brother's graduation as well as his birthday and Christmas since he and his girlfriend were not going to be in town on Christmas day. We had the little shindig here at our house which is always fun. 

Josh, Lily and I celebrated Christmas at home a little early this year. We have started the tradition in our family to only get three gifts for each person (3 for Josh, 3 for CA and 3 for Lily). I got this idea from a lady at our church and thought it was great. When Jesus was born (which of course is the reason we celebrate Christmas to begin with) three gifts were presented to Jesus from the three Magi (Gifts of the Magi). I thought that this would help us refocus what the holiday is really about as well as keep our bank accounts in check and our priorities in order. It is so easy to get caught up in the excitment of presents and gifts and I just want to make sure that Josh and I do a good job of teaching Lily the real meaning of Christmas and not just that you get cool presents. That doesn't mean she didn't get cool presents though. 

Lily's Presents: 

Little Leaps Game System for babies 
Cabbage Patch newborn doll

 

Stroller for her new doll

CA's presents: 

Shiatsu back massaging chair cushion
 Homedics  Shiatsu Massage Cushion (SBM-200H)

1 Hour massage from Massage Envy
 

  Astronaut Ice Cream (3 packs)
 

Josh's Presents: 

GPS portable navigation system
Cobra NavOne 5000 - Automotive GPS receiver - LCD - 320 x 240 - color
Set of 3 Santoku Wolfgang Puck knives with cutting board and subscripton to Gourmet Chef magazine (all one gift from HSN).

Ear candles (long story that I will have to share later).
 

Lily of course got a bunch of stuff from Grammy and Nana here are some highlights (her favorites after a few weeks of play): Horton her Huge sit-on stuffed elephant, Elmo See and Say, Little Tykes Kitchen with play food and tons more. (The grandparents don't follow the same three present rule that we will at our house).

We celebrated Christmas day at Uncle Jay and Katie's house down in East Point with Josh's parents (Grammy and Grampy) and Josh's grandfather (GPops). We had Christmas breakfast and opened lots of presents. Lily ended up being EXHAUSTED from the morning's activities and gifts. We went over to my parents condo after being in East Point and had a good time with my mom and dad (Nana and Papa). With as much fun as Christmas was I was also so glad when it was over. We were all very tired. Lily and I loved having Josh home for Christmas and New Years. 

New Year's this year was very uneventful for us. Josh and I were actually in bed asleep before midnight. We didn't even stay up to watch the peach drop or anything. Lily was of course out like a light too. These past weeks have been fun and tiring and I am glad to be getting things back to normal meaning back into our routine. 

Sorry this post is so long but there was a lot to update on I guess. I wish I had done it sooner but even the thought of posting seemed overwhelming the past few weeks. 

Davis (baby in the belly) is doing great. He is moving a little more now but is still seeming to be much calmer than Lily ever was in utero. We had an appointment on Friday and everything looks great so far and I am not having any signs of the itching (Cholestasis) that I had last time although it didn't show up until about 32 weeks last time either. I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and I keep wishing the time would go as slow as possible =). 

Happy New Year!! With Love from the Rowans.