Florida Thus Far

As you probably read last week, we finally arrived in Florida after 20+ hrs in the car. Though we don't have too many pics yet (we've just been lazy & recovering from the car ride. We only hit the pool a little and went outlet shopping today) here are some to update you on what we've been up to.

 Snackin and Watchin movies--what a life!

after bath hotel streaking!

(this was our overnight stay in North Carolina. H wanted to go into the hall and since no one was out there we let her "be free"...getting her back into the room and in clothes was quite the struggle)

stretching her legs at a rest stop

 (we 100% have a walking baby now! Though the falling is non-stop..her poor knees!)

 finally at the condo and stuck under a table

h

hanging out in her new wagon (she hasn't quite mastered getting out of it)

the freak-ass bug outside our door and one of the bagillion lizards I am obsessed with.

many many more to come!

Happy Birthday Ma!!

Today is my mother-in-laws birthday! I know many people are not as fortunate as I am to have essentially hit the MIL Jackpot and I feel for those people because I truly have the best mama in law. She accepts me for who I am, she thinks of me as her daughter and she is my mother. She gives me advice that no one else could and even helped me when Hayden wouldn't breastfeed. I love her so much and cannot imagine life without her. We go on vacation together, go shopping together, cook together and talk shit together lol

As a result of my winning the MIL lottery Hayden has hit the Grandma Jackpot..or as we call her Gamma.  She takes H for a few days when I am sick, when I need a break or just because she wants to, she is the only other person on the planet that can soothe and care for H like I can and Hayden loves her more than cookies!

Here is our Gamma/MIL tribute.

Happy Birthday Mom! 

Days old and already in love

She doesn't even mind getting peed on!

H's first time decorating a tree

X-mas eve pressie: "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" book that recorded Gamma reading it.

 

Our First Florida Trip

Our current Florida Trip

 WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Post-Baby Translator

a Landmine

pre-baby: An explosive device (or if you are on the Jersey Shore, an ugly girl)

post-baby: a toy on the floor of Haydens room that makes noise when touched, kicked, stepped on etc and has the potential to wake her up if "detonated" when going in her room at night..

"Wanna do it?"

pre-baby: referring to sex

post-baby: referring to changing a poopy diaper ("she pooped...wanna do it?")

"I took a nice long shower"

pre-baby translation: "I took an hour long shower"

post-baby translation: "I took a 10 minute shower"

Going out to dinner

pre-baby: going to any restaurant you please and enjoying a relaxing, quite, leisurely meal

post-baby: going to a kid-friendly restaurant (usually a chain of some sort) and ordering as fast as possible, exchanging a few sentences about things other than the baby in between entertaining the baby then eating as fast as possible (while sharing your food with said baby) to make sure you are done before a meltdown occurs.

watching tv

pre-baby: watching your favorite show or movie anytime, uninterrupted

post-baby: watching PBS or Nick Jr with at least 4 interruptions every 15 minutes

"Did you hear that?"

pre-baby: referred to a burglar, weird nocturnal noises from a neighbor, a phone or someone at the door

post-baby translation: "oh crap, I think the baby is awake."

"Its your turn!"

pre-baby: referred to taking out the garbage, doing the dishes, cooking dinner, cleaning up etc

post-baby translation: its your turn to.....change a diaper, feed the baby, dress the baby, play with the baby, take care of the baby...or do anything to give mommy a break

"I got to sleep in today!"

pre-baby: not waking up until or after lunch time

post-baby: not waking up until 8:30am

G'day Mate!

I hope you are enjoying these British welcome titles as much as I am!

Well...If you are reading this it means I am still driving in a car on my way to Florida. 

I am probably cursing out everyone in the car for convincing me to drive to Florida with a 14 month old & a 71 year old, I have most likely resorted to eating junk food in the car to entertain myself/stop myself from killing anyone and I am definitely on my way to, if I haven't already arrived, to bitchy town.

I really will try to post soon after arriving so stay tuned because if that isn't soon I am getting out and walking.
WE ARE HERE!!!!!
20+ hours later, 1 night in a hotel room where H barely slept and a lot of eye rolls later we are finally at the condo in Florida! Hayden was A-MAZING in the car. She far exceeded my expectations (granted, they weren't too high)-she had zero melt-downs, only fussed every so often when she just wanted to get out and stretch her little legs or when she was hungry. Totally awesome! Ok..so instead of letting you think she is just perfect on her own I will tell you my secret: A travel dvd player! It was the KEY to her happiness. I have never, will never again (hopefully) and never thought I would ever let my child watch that much tv in a sitting but anything to keep her from freaking out because lets face it a 20+ hr car ride blows regardless of your age. Thanks to the Curious George 2 movie, Sesame Street episodes on dvd and a Jim Henson animal dvd she was thoroughly entertained and as a result Mama got some sleep and danced/sang her heart out.
Here is a little map of our journey. We stopped for 1 night on the boarder of NC and SC-pics to come.

 

Well 'Ello!

If you are seeing this it means I am still driving in a car on my way to Florida. 

I am probably super over the idea of driving to Florida, I may be contemplating throwing any 1 of the 4 people in the car with me out of a window (but hopefully I haven't) and I am most likely starting a conversation about how I wish I could teleport.

I hope to post soon after arriving so stay tuned because that better be soon!!

Vacay Bitches!!

Thats right! Hayden and I are off to Florida! 

(to all the family and friends I may not have mentioned this to...surprise!)

As you read this my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandma-in-law, Hayden and I are ::shutter:: driving from New Jersey to Florida (and back.) 

I did this drive with my parents and brother when I was around 12 and basically slept the whole way. I am the worst road trip partner ever because the car is like a giant sleeping pill to me--even when I'm driving.

Anyway, Anthony convinced me to go..I'm 98% sure he wants H and I to go so he can play video games until his eyes bleed. School starts up on September 7th so we are getting back before then..just not sure when yet. I am going to try to set up some posts to go up throughout the vacay as well as post while down there but forgive me if I miss a day or two since I've learned not to trust the internet down at my in-laws condo.

Hayden, my other sister-in-law and my MIL did a Florida girls trip in March and it was so much fun! Here are some pictures from that to give you an idea of all the fun we'll be having! 

 See you soon!!

(if we don't get eaten by alligators!)

Honeymoon Memories

Becca from The Paro Post did a post like this awhile back and I kept it in the back of my mind to do one day. Lucky for you that day is here!! ::spirit fingers::

So, I was 4 months pregnant when we got married and almost 5 months preg when we took our honeymoon. Since we didn't have a ton of money to spend on an awesome honeymoon part of our wedding gift from my in-laws was our honeymoon. They flew us to Florida, covered a rental car for 2 weeks, let us stay at their condo and even set up some fun stuff for us to do!

I always love to get a "we just arrived" shot

All the Pelicans were a little too friendly..I was sure I was going to lose an ear or an eye so I kept my distance.

I

 I had never been to the West Coast of Florida before so I was hoping to go on an Air Boat ride in the Everglades but was told they go too fast for a pregnant chick. My in-laws found ones that go slow and got us passes! It was awesome..and we looked super sexy.

the most intense flip-flops you'll ever see! 

what do you mean you didn't play the tambourine on your honeymoon?!

not sure if there is no need to explain or if there is no way to explain

 We went to Sanibel Island. It has a beach that is completely covered in shells..and not crappy shells, amazing shells! We have all our finds in a glass vase in our house. 

My handsome hubby looking for shells

let me explain..We drove Anthonys dads pick up truck to the airport. Somehow the gate opened and Anthonys suitcase fell out (yes, just anthonys--angels were watching over me.) We only realized this once we got to the airport so I went in and he backtracked 45mins to see if he could find it. No luck but he did make it to the plane JUST IN TIME. An awesomely kind man found the suitcase on the side of the road and since I am a genius I made sure to put a luggage tag on his suitcase because otherwise it would still be missing. He called and Anthonys dad met up with him and shipped Ant the contents of his suitcase haha

It was a very happy day as you can see! 

We would frequent pier to watch the gorgeous sunsets

honeymoon or not, I always incorporate some sort of animal-related activity. This was a wildlife rescue preserve. 

  This thin fence was the only thing separating us from the bears and I loved every second of it. Anthony had to drag me away from trying to touch them because he said I was going to be one of those morons on the news. Thinking I could be friends with the bears..right before it eats me.

These trees are insanely beautiful and amazing. I had never seen anything like it and was mesmerized. Simply stunning. This was at The Edison & Ford Winter Estates. 

the belly had definitely grown since we first arrived!

Naples Zoo :-)

Nothing says "honeymoon" like a 3D horror movie

And that was our honeymoon! Simple, long, fun and awesome!

I totally almost forgot the best part of our honeymoon!!!!

We found out the sex of our baby!

We went into a 3D sonogram place and they said I was far enough along that they could tell the sex..so we went for it and in case you haven't guessed--it was a girl! If that wasn't special enough she also started kicking while on our honeymoon. 

Tell me about your honeymoon..and check back tomorrow for a semi-related surprise post. 

(NO I AM NOT PREGNANT!)

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours..

If you haven't taken the Demographics Poll to the right please do!

Tattoos! I love tattoos. I think (when done well) they are beautiful ways to express yourself as well as pay homage to someone or something. I especially love looking at a sleeve of tattoos and finding all the little hidden pictures and stories within it..too bad I don't know anyone with a sleeve well enough to ask them to let me sit and stare at their arm for an hour. 

I have heard many people say they think it is trashy or wrong for a parent to have tattoos...to those people I say: take the stick out! 

I am not the type to just go into a shop and pick something off the wall or decide to get a tattoo on a whim..I think about my tattoos for about a year before getting them. I always knew I would get tattoos but never wanted them to just be tattoos-I wanted them to be constant reminders of things important to me and my life. 

When I was about 16 or 17 I started trying to figure out what I was going to get when I turned 18. I started drawing (albeit badly) different objects trying to incorporate the initials of family members. It never worked out because it was always ugly. As 18 started creeping up I was in a very bad relationship that I could not get out of. I knew I would be able to end it eventually but had never had the strength thus far. Enter my first tattoo:

 Warning: These pictures were taking with an iPhone so the quality super sucks

 

The writing and color were added just before I got pregnant so the initial tattoo was just the Chinese symbol for Strength. Ironically my boyfriend at the time paid for it haha 

When I had my back surgery they had to cut through "my strength"--just slightly symbolic (that's what that line to the left is. Yes, its on my lower back....but I got it there before it was known as a "tramp stamp!") The dr probably thought I was crazy but I kept asking him to please make sure he lined up my tattoo and stapled it back together well. Thankfully, he did! After going through all the back pain then surgery then pain after I knew I had to acknowledge that time in my life. Hurting my back changed everything in my life. It also made me realize that everything happens for a reason and that is why I had the desire to get that added to my strength symbol. I also had him recolor the whole thing because it had faded over the years and we add the blue because it felt too dark. It hurt horribly because he had to keep going over the scar but was totally worth it!

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Next is the tattoo I got in honor of my mama.  

(I hate how bad this picture is but I'm too lazy to take and upload another one)

I knew I wanted a symbol in her memory instead of words but couldn't figure out what. Then I started drawing (again, badly) different kinds of wings and halos trying to figure out what kind I liked and could never get it just right..then one day I was watching the movie Cast Away and saw this:

It was exactly what I had been trying to draw but couldn't. I finally sketched it and brought it in for the artists interpretation and got it. I love it dearly but while it was healing it lost a lot of its color so I look forward to the day I can get the coloring touched up. Oh and see those 2 marks in the right wing tip? THOSE little bastards are the only 2 stretch marks I got on my belly when pregnant...they just had to go right there?

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please excuse my freakishly veiny wrist
And finally is the tattoo I got in honor of the best thing I ever did--little Miss Hayden! This one is my most recent (I got it the day before her 1st birthday) and took a lot of deliberation on my part. I like to keep my tattoos in places that can be covered and not easily seen so that when I am old and wrinkly no one has to see that unpleasantness. I didn't feel like I would add more to my back and didn't want to put it on my hip and felt that my wrist was a good option. However, I did not want a dark color so I researched white tattoos. When I finally went to get it the artist tried to talk me out of it saying you won't be able to see it. I told him unless it would magically become invisible I was doing it. (I have learned that tattoo artists that are covered in tattoos don't always understand the desire for discretion.) I got it and love it. It is VI VIII IX which is 6 8 9 for Hayden's birthday June 8, 2009. This hurt the worst but the whole time I thought of H's face and reminded myself that it is no worse than childbirth!

So there you have it! My tattoos. 

Anthony has several as well and I am hoping he will get some more but until I get to live vicariously through his new tattoos join my BlogHop and show me yours!