I like to post after a month. Fun, right?

So, let me first say that it has been an absolutely CRAZY month. I promise from here on out to be better. Got the idea from Christin to make little blog posts from the blogger app on my phone. Will be so much easier to keep up to date with fun photos, outings, etc.   Now that summer is starting to get underway I'm sure we'll be having lots of fun adventures!

Until then. Let's catch up..

After Florida, we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday (at Drew's of course).  My mom surprised him with a cruise to Bermuda in September and he was THRILLED! It was so hard to keep that a secret for months. I can't think of someone who deserves a special trip to his favorite place more than my daddy. I am jealous, mad, etc. that they are going without us BUT I am so happy for them. SO happy.

Reading his card telling him about his trip

So happy that he figured it out (without his glasses, no less) 

hanging with his best girl (mommy and I take the #2&3 spots now ;)

I mean, I never got a golf cart named after me...

We kinda went back to status quo around here, back to work, back to Miss Sandy, back to walking around the kitchen holding on to baby John's birth announcement and giving lots of hugs and kisses.

Lots of teeth. Tickled smiles

this is me HELPING, mom.

A couple of rough nights led to sleepovers in our bed

I cannot get over this face.

I celebrated my second Mother's Day and it was low-key and fun and just what I was looking forward to. We hung at home, had a delicious breakfast, let Anna nap and then went to a local 'petting zoo' and out to linner at Barnacles for drinks and food before letting the little animal run wild back at home ;)

My mother's day balloon was someone else's favorite

a gorgeous day to play outside

At the petting zoo, getting really excited about the MOOOOS.

baby chicks!

the best kisses from my lady

happy baby tickling

3 happy ladies

Anna and Poppy in her special golf cart

We played around with some cutie little ponytails

We chased unsuspecting bunnies in the backyard

We went to visit Auntie Christine in Brooklyn on a crappy, rainy day.
We watched Woody, played with the ipad, made messes, ate pizza and gossiped. A good girls day.

Then we went to visit Bjorn, Justin and COAL! Their sweet puppy who was just as in love with Anna as she was with him - the neverending food supply from Anna must have helped ;)

Let's see what else we got into...

We met Alexis's new son, "Little E" - Eric.  Anna also loved him very much.

Giving the baby a sweet kiss

We shared some cookies out on the deck

we went for a nice long walk around the neighborhood and had a little sit down when we had too much
(She looks like such a big girl!)

PEEK BOO! Anna under there??

 We started trying out some new bows in our much longer side swept bangs.

For Memorial Day we decided sorta last minute to go visit Grandma and Baba in Rhode Island. We left Friday night around bedtime.  Took over an hour + for Anna to fall asleep, lots of "MOM-MY, DAD-DY" chatter in the backseat before she finally gave up.

about 20 minutes away 

She did pretty good sleeping and had a FUN day playing on Saturday even though it was a rainy, cold, yucky day. Some Memorial Day weekend!

she got into some of Grandma's wrapping paper and enjoyed rolling herself into it

then brought Baba (willingly) into the mix

where they played peek-a-boo for quite a while with lots of laughs

We headed home on Sunday, had some time to unwind, hit the grocery store, play, have some downtime at home.  Monday we headed up to Berkeley Heights to visit Christin, Mike, Sonja and baby John. The weather was finally nice and we were so happy to get outside and PLAY!

YAY Sonja I'm coming!

It was touch and go after naptime but we did it

me and the most perfect little nugget John

current (and future) best friends cruising in the barbie mobile, sharing radio duty

Sonja will drive first, Anna will lounge calling out for boys.  Oh DEAR.

Americana

me and the little mush

Anna loved him so much, she had to attack

big girls and their cookies.
"hey.. you like this cookie??" "can you believe this?"

"here my little friend, have some of my water"

hi pumpkin head!

Sonja and Anna persevering through the disgusting cicada invasion

Doug and his godson

good job sharing, Daddy!

So let's see.... coming up we have:
a gorgeous weekend to get outside and play and have fun, Auntie Christina's birthday, baby John's christening, our 18-month well check-up and who knows what else.

I WILL POST MORE!
Swear.

Anna's First Plane Ride!

At the end of April, Doug was scheduled to go to a work conference in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL - which is about 30 minutes south of Jacksonville.  He asked if we'd like to come along and I said hey why not - his work will pay for the room and his flight and parking, and a few days in a warmer climate might be great for everyone.  I will say this up front - I'm not quite sure that taking a baby anywhere qualifies as a vacation, but it was certainly nice to be away. 

I, of course, was concerned about flying with Anna for the first time.  She is very spirited and I thought it was going to be hard to contain her, entertain her and not piss everyone off around us.  Thankfully the flight was only a little over 2 hours - a good way to break her into flying.  The airport was busy with lots to see, she was very good until we got to our gate. 

Up early, ready to fly!

We let her run around a lot before boarding and said a few prayers.  We ended up being delayed (on the plane) for an hour before takeoff.  She wasn't awful, she did cry (probably for 5-8 mins total, which felt like an hour), watched Woody on the iPad, snuggled with both of us and had a few snacks.  I prayed for a nap which definitely did not happen.  All in all, it wasn't too bad.

Before takeoff

Super Mom with 2 bags, a backpack and a heavy baby in stroller

Our sweet upgrade -- a minivan.  Now I know I'm old.

She slept in the car on the way to the hotel but woke up furious after about 30 mins and I knew the rest of the day was shot.  We checked into our "villa" (which was about the size of our Sea Bright apartment!) and Doug ran to the store for some food for Anna (and us) for the trip.

Our living room

kitchen/patio

a few weddings going on when we arrived -this was right outside our patio!

We went for a bite to eat in the lobby bar and Anna was just so out of whack she started eating with no hands.  Of course we were laughing and taking photos and videos.  Good parenting.

Pinkies up.

I broke down later on and just let her watch Woody on the iPad to prevent more breakdown tantrums.

We had a few friends on our patio - these super ugly and not shy ducks. 

The first night was great, Anna slept well, Doug and I had drinks, watched a movie and relaxed.  We decided since Sunday was our only full family day we would go to the beach.  We got up and went to breakfast, did some walking around the resort, and when Anna went down for her nap I went to the pool for a little over an hour by myself to get some sun/relaxing time in when I had the chance.

Testing out the pool water

Blinding everyone in a 3-mile radius

Later, after she woke up and ate, we headed to the beach club, which was about 2 minutes away.  Besides the beach, they had a big pool, restaurant, snack bar/drinks, lounge chairs, etc. It was a great place and we all had fun!

in the sand for the first time

off to feel the ocean for the first time with Daddy

me and my girl and my favorite place!

snack time.... not a joking matter

having dinner by the ocean with our babies. Of course. 

The next day it turns out I apparently forgot that the sun likes to burn my skin, and since I hadn't been out since last September MAYBE I should have been more careful.

Ouch.

It was a long few days of a painful burn.  NOT pleased with myself.  BUT no sunburn for Anna.

We had picnic meals

Tried, yet again, to go to the pool.... but she was not a fan. Of anything that day. But cute. 

Then she climbed nude into her stroller and peed in it.

So I decided I deserved room service for being alone for a couple days with a demon baby ;)

The last day she perked up a bit, we had some fun running around the room while I was cleaning up and packing.  Took a nice long walk around, tried to tire her out for a good nap before leaving for the airport.

playing PEEK BOO in the closet

We packed up and went up the lobby to hang out for about 1.5 hours before Doug was done with his conference.  We climbed the stairs (about 10 times up and down), we rode the elevator, we said hello to everyone, we ran, we climbed on chairs, and finally we sat down for a drink and snack.

our playground

Our flight going home was delayed 40 mins and landed us smack in the middle of Anna's normal bedtime.  We took precautions - we had dinner at a normal time, got some milk for the plane and gave some Tylenol before boarding.  All of this seemed to work as she fell asleep on me after about 30 minutes and slept for an (excruciatingly long & painful) hour on my chest.  It used to be so sweet (and still is) but I haven't been that uncomfortable in a long time!  My back was aching.

dinner before takeoff

The sweet pumpkin on my shoulder

We got back to our house around 10 and pretty much immediately went to bed. Long day, long week! All in all, it was a nice time. Not relaxing, but certainly nice.  I knew we could do it and now we are more prepared for the next time! (whenever that is.... )  Certainly an adventure.