Vacation in a Conch shell..days 2-7

How do any of you share a room with your baby? OMG I got maybe, and stress maybe, 3-4 hours of sleep a night my entire vacation sharing a room with Baby K.

Baby K was up promptly every single day at 7am on the dot. This was regardless of what time she went to bed the night before. Mommy made sure Daddy was promptly up at 7am along with his girls!

Our weather was not what you hope to have in South FL in the winter months, but FL has had a really bad winter. The temps ranges between 65 and 78. Some days were sunny, or at least partly cloudy, while others (3 of them) were rainy, windy, raw, cold.

T and I had 2 days of charter fishing scheduled (Mon and Wed) and both were cancelled due to bad weather (Mon was heavy rains and winds, Wed was very high winds and heavy down pours throughout the day). Once we saw the weather forecast T made fishing plans for Thurs with another Captain we fished with a couple years back..this also had to be cancelled due to High winds. Luckily on Tuesday, the only Beautiful day of our entire trip we were able to find a Captain that got T out for a 4 hour trip (I went to the beach with Baby K and MIL). Crap luck is what we got....

We got there late Wednesday night...

Thursday we got groceries and stayed local playing at the neighborhood play scape.

Friday, the weather was cool and breezy, some sprinkling here and there, we went to Theatre of the Sea.

Saturday T, baby K and I spent a day together...we went for a drive south in the Keys stopping at Islamorada Fish house for lunch, did a little shopping for new boat shoes for T and flip flops for Mommy at the Bass Pro store there and visited a local park that was having a Nautical Flea Market. The park had a really nice beach, so we hung out there for a couple of pics..

Sunday was warm and Sunny with a light breeze. T, Baby K and I walked into the center of town to a Art show and a local fruit/veggie flea market. On the way back we stopped at the earlier mentioned play scape for a little while. Then T went off fishing for few hours and Baby K and I hung out at the house.

Monday, the weather was pretty horrible so we went north to Miami and went to the Seaquarium. Since the weather was crappy the outdoor exhibits were kind of lame, but Baby K really loved the indoor tanks/reefs. That night after Baby K was in bed T and I went out for a nice dinner together...all you can eat Stone crabs and Twin lobster tails...YUMMY

Tuesday was the most beautiful day...Sunny, warm, no breeze at all...the girls went to Anne's Beach, T went fishing. Later that night I drove back down to Islamorada to pick up T and we pulled over to watch the sunset. I love the Key's sunset.

Wednesday was another crappy day. Very windy with scattered down pours and thunder storms. T and I left Baby K with MIL and headed North to Homestead. We found a Western wear store where we bought T some sweet "snap" shirts, then we went to Robert is Here for some fresh fruit shakes and to see the animals. That afternoon the sun came out for a while so T and I took Baby K down the street to the neighborhood park. He fished, she and I sat and watched him and played in the grass.

Thursday...next post

As you can see, we really tried to make the most of the crappy weather we were dealing with....

Vacation in a Conch shell day 1......

So we have returned from our first family vacation. (I guess it is technically our 2nd vacation since we went to NH over the summer, but that was only 2 days)

Let's start in the beginning~

The day before we were scheduled to leave Baby K was very sick. She had been sick for a couple of days but on Tuesday she was really sick. I was able to get her into the Pedi for a check up and low and behold she had an ear infection (her first) and an upper respiratory infection. The Dr. recommended we post pone our flight until Baby K had been anti biotics for 48 hours. (we were flying out 32 hours later). After returning home and starting the meds I researched moving our flight, it was going to cost $577 per ticket to move the flight out 1 day. I bought the trip insurance but that only covered $300 per ticket so out of pocket this would have cost us almost $600 when the tickets originally costed under $160 a piece. So in the end we decided that we would either go as planned or cancel all together (again covered for $300).

On Wed, our departure day, Baby K was still clearly sick, but was in better spirits and seemed to be a little better off than she was the days prior, so we decided to chance it and go.

Holy crap did he have a lot of shit..have you ever traveled with an infant? I really paired down what we brought and we still had 8 things to lug around!

Carry on's for the plane:

• Laptop bag


• Carry on with books, iPod, cameras, magazines, snacks, etc


• Backpack (diaper bag)

Plane side check:

• Carseat


• Stroller

Checked baggage:

• Fishing rods


• Fishing supplies and liquids


• Clothes

We successfully made it though security and onto the plane without much struggle. Baby K did well on the take off (we gave her a bottle of milk to help with the pressure changes) but then she spit up a bit of the milk onto her blanket and clothes (not like her at all) making for a smelly outfit and na'night. For the first hour (the flight was 3hours 20mins) she was good in our laps, playing with the toys and books I bought, but that got old quick. The 2nd hour I let her crawl up and down the aisle of the plane (trying to exhaust her), the 3rd hour I finally got her to fall asleep for about 45 mins. The last 40 mins or so.....pure hell on earth (or in the sky?). She woke up from her nap and was clearly still tired, she cried and cried, and then the descent began and she would not take a bottle (or sippy) and she was pulling on her ears and screaming, she cried so hard that she exhausted herself and passed out on T's lap for the last 10 mins. Poor baby it broke my heart to have her clearly be so uncomfortable.

Once we finally landed my MIL was waiting for us (she drove up from Key Largo to get us) and we collected our goods we headed South (we flew into Ft Lauderdale and had to drive 2 hours to Key Largo). Of course by this time we were all hungry, tired, and sick of sitting in cramped quarters. We made a pit stop at the Cracker Barrel for what I can easily call the worst meal I have ever attempted to eat and continued on our trip.

Once we reached our final destination we we got Baby K ready for bed and saw our sleeping quarters for the next 8 days (a bedroom with a queen bed and a pack-n-play next to the bed).

End of day 1.....thankfully

Nothing in life is "free"

When anything is offered for "free" you have to know that there will be a Price that will be paid for accepting it.

Our vacation is a prime example of this. It was a "free" trip. My MIL paid for our plane tickets, baby K rode in our lap, we stayed in the house that MIL is renting for the month. Out of pocket cost for us was rental car and some groceries/meals, otherwise it was free.....financially free that is.....

Let me start of with saying I love my MIL. She has helped us out a lot in our 15 years together. Back in the day when we could not financially support ourselves she was there to help. Now with baby K she is our primary source of childcare (again free). So please know I love my MIL, however..........

She annoys the living shit out of me! And this trip finally got to T too.

From the over mothering, to butting into our parenting style, to her racist/prejudice/stereo typing (however she will argue that she is either of these) remarks, to her humming along to music in the car, to her weird nervous ticks.....she annoys the shit out of me. By day 3 I had had enough and was ready to come home (it was hard to comprehend that I had to deal with this for another 5 days). T and I went out to dinner one night, just the two of us, and most of what we discussed was venting about her. Ugh...a perfect way to put a damper on a nice vacation.

So yes.....nothing in life is really ever free....emotionally

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a little sun....

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Not the best pic....all you can eat stone crab! Terry managed to get down 15 legs...
Karianne

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Very windy in Miami today
Karianne~

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just to show how cruel i can be!!!
Karianne~

Stealing WiFi while drunk FB'ing....

Just a quick hello....I am stealing WiFi from one of our not so smart FL Keys neighbors....but as soon as he/she shuts down his PC I lose my connection.

Baby K did ok on the plane until the last hour or so. Why did no one share with me that you simply CAN NOT keep a 1 year old content on your lap for a 3 hour 20 minute flight?

Anyway, she did good for a while reading her books and playing with her wonder pets figurines, but towards the end she was stir crazy, I finally let her crawl up and down the aisle of the plane a few times before finally getting her to fall asleep. She awoke during the last 30 minutes of the flight and cried so hard for about 10 mins before she knocked herself out again, not sure if it was her ears bothering her or just the fact that she was SO tired...

In our section of the plane there were 3 other babies/toddlers (9 mos, 18 mos and 23 mos) they all did really well, and seemed to all kind of melt down towards the very end.

Baby K is still really congested and rattly in her chest, but is enjoying vacation. I on the other hand am NOT enjoying sharing a bedroom with her. I do not know how any of you share rooms with your kid(s). I have gotten no sleep on this trip thus far...ever breath, every cough, every sniffle...wakes me right up! I can not wait to have my own room again....

I am going to go now since I am stealing WiFi from an unsecured connection from one of our neighbors here in the Keys...."talk" to you soon~

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Our view for the next 8 days!
Karianne~

We made it to FL. The end of the trip was a little tough, but after a few tears we made it to our destination.
Karianne~

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Prepping for vaca and making sure i can update.
Karianne~

It's in the mail....

...my SITM socks that is! I hope my recipient likes them. She is in a cold climate and they should keep her nice and toasty....

While at the post office today I also submitted my Hold Mail request...FL Keys vacation is 3 days away and counting!

1st Birthday Party...

A smashing success.....

Nesting? A year late?

Today I had what most would call "nesting"...of course you would need to be pregnant to have it be called that, and I am not pregnant (matter of fact I started AF today). When I was pregnant I never got the nesting bug. Is it weird that I got it one year (to the day) after going into labor? Is it equally weird that I started AF today...the day I went into labor last year?

Whatever

So after I scrubbed, polished, dusted, vac'ed, mopped, washed, dried, and folded today...I decorated for baby K's 1st Birthday Party! It is tomorrow. I can not believe she is going to be a year old in 2 days. It makes my heart ache for that baby back, yet I grow more in love with her everyday as she changes with her new found freedoms...Goodness I love her.

Here are some pics of her party decor and her cakes. The party is tiny, just a couple of close friends and family. The cake on the left is for the guests to eat, the one on the right is her smash cake.

Here she is practicing for her big day!

What's with all the spam?

FOr at least a week I have been getting spam comments. It is beginning to irritate me......

One year ago today.....

...I was greatly anticipating the birth of my first baby....