Spring Break Plans!

I cannot WAIT to blow this pop stand of a town on Friday at 3:01 pm! I'm jetting out of work and heading North! After, of course, I go home and let the pups out and feed them. THEN , I'm getting the babe and we are heading to Nashville to see LG and Grannie!!!

LG has some awesome, special, once a year consignment sales for us to hit up this weekend. I am hoping to find some clothes for this child, lest he come out and have nothing to wear except the daygown my momma is making him.

Then, we are going to play with my awesome grannie. She is fitting us into her busy bridge schedule. Girlfriend is 88 and practically plays bridge as a job at Vandy.

I am much anticipating some shopping, eating, gossiping, and generally just hanging out with our babies!!!

Then, on Monday, I get to go see my parents and sissy and brother and niecey Nash!! I haven't seen them in over a month!!!

We are going to play, eat, cook out, and shop! I plan to get my awesome rad stroller recommended by LG and Nicole.

(A little blurry, but still rad nonetheless!)

Then, I'll pick up my awesome two way monitor, thanks to my in laws!

(I know you've seen these pictures before, but I really can't handle blog posts without pictures.)

I have been stockpiling Buy Buy Baby coupons and HOPE I can use some on the stroller. I know I can use some on the monitor.

I'm just super excited to leave town and do something not in my routine. I am in a major rut-this is a super late spring break for us.

Plus, I need to rejuvenate before standardized testing and more conferences!

Husband will be staying behind to work on month end stuff (financial life!) and start getting Emma's big girl room ready. He will be building her shelving in the closet and hopefully setting up the criblet and other room stuff. We only have about 10 more weeks, so we have to get it together! No more traveling or entertaining after I get back-gotta get the crack down!

What all are you doing for a spring vacay?? If not a vacay, then a break? (I know, most people don't get spring break.............but your kids do! )

I'll update with pictures and stories over the break!

Tampa Recap

We flew down to Tampa for a few days last week to visit Aunt Ginger. If you follow me on Facebook, then you read one of my updates on "We have been sitting on our plane since 2:30-our plane is now delayed until 4 cause of weather in Atl. And, we're flying with Emma in a row of 3 with her Benadryl having the OPPOSITE effect it is intended to.....
Good times."

All I'm going to say about that is 1. Fly first class if at all possible, and 2. Give your kid a medicine that will actually make them tired INSTEAD of hyper.

Moving on. The first full day we were in Tampa, we went to Tarpon Springs, a cool little Greek community. Well of course we had to eat. Here is Miss Thing "ordering" her lunch. Lookin' like a little devil in the process. We dined on some incredible appetizers (hummus and fresh pita, along with spanakopita) and main dishes ( gyros, Greek salad, and souvlaki).

Emma decided she needed a ride on a sea turtle.

We walked to Hella's Bakery and ingested some more dessert delicacies (Greek coffee, baklava, and baklava cheesecake). Emma decided/learned how to make the Bride of Chucky face, or
"Chuckina" as we like to call it.

Emma and her great aunt Ginger.


The fam posing-totally Griswold BTW. And, I'll give a War Eagle that to
Uncle Erik face-love those colors!

Emma is finding her inner soul child with this sequined cap.

PS-she is SOOOO anti hairbows, ponytails, and hats right now. Is this normal?? Has anyone else had this issue with their kid? I swear, if she isn't in a dress, girlfriend could pass for a boyfriend since she won't let me "do" her hair.



The next day we went to Rick's on the River in Tampa and put down some grouper. Here is the youngster atop her daddy's shoulders. She loves this (and so does he.........)

Mommy and her girl.

After lunch, we went to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. Which was totally rad. They have a water fountain splash park thingy and we got Emma wet before and after our visit since it was at least 112 degrees. I may have lost 3 pounds that day. And then found it that night at dinner.

Cooling off. (I totally would have worn my bathing suit and partied with her IF I didn't think it may be a tad inapprope for an adult to be frolicking in the kiddie fountain.)

Dude, I got to feed the giraffes. I am so in love with giraffes. They rock. But, I did feel kind of guilty, cause you know everyone wants to feed them and they probably have a horrible diet with all those snackles.

Awesome, beautiful elephant. They had a little Savannah to frolic on.

Finally some cool shelter. We went into the manatee rescue center. It was so sad-the manatees had all these really deep cuts and issues from getting hurt in FL waters.

On most days, we partied in Aunt Gin's pool-she has a pool with one of those screen house things. Rad. Here is Emma doing her version of senior pictures. This is her "serious" pose.

And, show me funny.

Screened in porch thingy-which had pineapples growing in it. I totally forgot to take a picture, but it was so super cool. Click here if you want to see exactly what it looks like.

And, Emma took lots of baths in Aunt Gin's deep tub.

This was a bubble bath after our exhausting day at the zoo.

The End.

We had such a good time. Thanks for having us Aunt Ginger! We will have to go back for more, but I promise you, we will either fly first class or we will buy Emma her own seat. Or I will fly separately. :D

Vacay Recap!

Well, since our return from all the medical drama, we have been playing, eating, laying out, playing, eating some more, and just generally relaxing! Srsly, I am going to have to lock it down when I get back home tomorrow. I have been consuming insane amounts of calories and NOT doing much to get rid of it. I am actually scared to weigh myself on Sunday morning. But, I suppose I must so that on Friday morning when I leave for my CHARLESTON GIRL'S BLOGGER CONVENCH 2010 I am not a total hog.

So, let's see what we've been getting up to on vacay.

First up, we have Miss Emeline being presh in her bathing

suit. She is sporting two "devil horns" for her hairdo by the

pool. Very cute Emma, very cute!

Emma and daddy. Daddy may or may not have indulged in too much sun with out sunscreen. Don't even get me started on the non use of sunscreen on our beach trips. Boyfriend has turned PURPLE before and still conveniently "forgets" to put it on! For the love............

Emma and mommy. Who may or may have not worn makeup or fixed hair since leaving LAST Saturday. Glorious days they are. I really hate makeup and hair fixin'.

Emma perfecting her pirate face. Argh matey! And, girlfriend has friggin ringworm next to her mouth. Anyone have any ideas on getting rid of it quickly?? She has been to the doctor and they said to keep putting Lotrimin on it, but it's just still there. Blech, I want it to go away!

Alright, so Thursday we went to Sliders Bar and Grill for lunch. Yeah, this is mine. A steak and fry salad. With portobellos, mixed greens, a few tomatoes, bleu cheese, and nice ranch dressing. Delicious!

This is the before picture.

And after.

I ate all the goods out.

And her is little one occupying herself while we (I) finish eating. :D

Modeling her new smocked bathing suit. It's a bit big-it's a twelve month.

Excuse the nerple hanging out.

Emma and daddy in the fish bubble suit that Nonnie got/made her.

How is it that I've gone to the beach about 3 times per year for 31 years and NEVER noticed that the trunk of a palm tree looks like this.?? I thought it was cool.

And, last night here dinner at Gennaro's Italian. Umm, one word-yum!

J got this pizza.

I got this submarine seafood manicotti.
Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" is playing in my head right now.

Overall, it's been a most fun time of chilling and laying on the beach. My most favorite time of day has been right before we start getting ready for dinner and we are sitting down on the beach as a family, maybe having a beer or two and just watching the waves and people. It rocks.

I am, however, ready to get home to my puppy dogs and my bed! I have a lot to do before the BLOGGER CONVENCH 2010! Can you tell I'm soooo excited??? :D

On another note, I stopped pumping on Thursday. I am doing my sissy's way of just wearing a tight sports bra and we will see what happens. They are getting quite uncomfortable now. Not heinous, but not awesome. Any ideas to share??

My Poor Monkey...

So, we have had an interesting couple of days on our vacation. On Sunday, this was my sweet monkey.

Sassing as usual after eating some carrots.

Close up of the sass britches. Notice her left eye. All is well.

Again, sassing and being presh. Riding in an awesome wagon
that Auntie Jill let us borrow. Loo will be getting one for her

first birthday!

On Monday morning when Emma woke up, her eye was all smooshed and droopy looking. We just thought she had slept on it wrong. We decided to give it a few hours. By 10:30, it was clear that her eye was not just smooshed from sleeping on it. It honestly looked like a lazy eye. But it was just all of a sudden. So, I called my insurance and found a place to take her down here to get the eye looked at.


We went to the only urgent care on the island that took my insurance. It was in a Walmart. I'm not judging, I'm just trying to set the scene-imagine the smallness of the "clinic" once we got there. You take me, J, Emma, and a doctor, plus a patient table thing, chair, and a sink/trashcan/biohazard contraption and cram it into a 5x7 room and it's really quite Clark W. Griswold.

So, the doctor was an older woman-she took one look at Emma and did a few eye movement things-and promptly diagnosed her with Bell's Palsy. I almost passed out. That is some serious shiz. I was about to hyperventilate in the postage stamp sized room. My hubby is very hypocondriac-ish and was also about to lose it. I had to pull it together, step outside, and call our pediatrician. The urgent care doctor wanted us to drive to Jacksonville, about 30 minutes away, to go to the Children's Hospital immediately for consult/diagnosis. My pedi said, "Do what they say and go."

We get all loaded up and start driving down to Jacksonville-and we are both about to have panic attacks and are both imagining the worst. We finally get to the hospital and are directed to the children's ER. Of course, it is the nastiest place imaginable-and Emma dropped both of her pacis within 5 seconds of arrival. I was not trusting a paci wipe to do the job-I needed a sink with HOT water and soap. Anyway, we finally got called back to triage and were broken in-then sent to a room.

They told me to put my angel in a gown. See below.

I hope to God I never have to see my child in a hospital gown again. It was agonizing.
She looks very pained, right??

Mommy trying to keep it together while seeing her
blessed baby in a hospital gown.

Now, we originally left for the urgent care doctor at 10:30-her naptime is around 10. So, at this point it was about 1:00 and she still hadn't napped all day. Imagine the fun times we were having. Me, not wanting her to touch anything in that room, and her wanting to explore everything in that room. Blech. Finally, we were seen and the ER doctor said it was NOT Bell's Palsy. She didn't really see anything, and honestly the eye was already looking better. She checked all of the neurological things and Emma passed. We were at this point concerned about a tumor or some other brain issue manifesting itself through the eye. That was not the case. Thank God!

The ER doctor couldn't pinpoint any specific issue, but had several ideas of what could be happening (infection, stye, etc). She suggested we come back to Jax today to see a leading ophthalmologist and get his opinion.

We arrived this morning at Nemours Children's Center in Jacksonville, and let me tell you, once again I am eternally grateful that my baby was just here for an eye exam. Because I saw some sick and badly hurt angels. It was heartbreaking! This place was amazing and ran like a well oiled machine! We got there and Emma seemed to need a time out. :D

She wanted to go in the "Isolation" room-she kept banging on the door and at one point layed down and LOOKED under the door crack-what the???

We went back to an exam room and briefly assessed that Emma's vision was indeed working and up to par. Then, they had to dilate her eyes. She did a great job! No tears. Srsly, I was impressed! After 30 minutes of Emma becoming part owl, we came back to the room for another exam.

Me acting like I'm 4. Playing with all the doctorly junk.

Me going for a "Boo-sad face" and achieving a NeeNee Leakes
"I know you didn't" face. Yikers...

Our doctor came in and checked her out-he couldn't find any reason for the droopy eye. He did however diagnose Emmabear with hyperopia, or farsightedness. He said to get her eyes checked in about a year-she may have to get glasses around age 2. The hyperopia could cause her to have crossed eyes if we don't get it re-assessed and corrected. Hmm, a toddler in glasses-that should be fun...

But, in all seriousness, I am so, so thankful that is all that was wrong with my child. Because I was doing some serious bargaining, praying, etc yesterday when that lady told me that she thought Emma had some viral infection causing paralysis in her face. Not cool. But, I guess she was trying to be conservative and didn't want us to blow it off as a stye or something???

So, we came back and lived it up, Griswold style, on the beach for the rest of the day! Then, we went back to downtown Fernandina and ate at a craptastic restaurant-I'm not even going to mention the name-and then walked around and window shopped. Fun times. Glad all the dramz is over.

More from Clark, Ellen, Audrey and Rusty tomorrow!

xoxo

Oopsie-forgot some pics!

Emeline hamming it up in the restaurant.
Dude, I have a beautiful kid...just sayin'

Mommy on the other hand needs a shower, some make up, and a blow dryer to go with that absurdly delicious sangria I was putting down. It was incredible and had chunks of GA peaches and blueberries floating in it. I never drink stuff like this-I'm a Bud Lite girl. But, I am sooo glad we tried it!

My delectable plate of soft shell crab, cheese grits, and roasted vegetables.
Yeah, way to start the vacay off with a bang!


J's plate of crusted mahi with mango chutney and black beans/rice.
He wasn't very hungry, so he only asked for one mahi. :D
Ten bucks to whoever can tell me what movie that is from! (Cas???)

Florida Vacation-Griswold Style-Part I

Yo peeps! We are officially in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. After leaving at 10:15 am and arriving at 4:45 pm, we were ready to set up shop, briefly explore, and eat some dinner. Our condo is ah.may.zing. Seriously. We could fit at least 5 people in here. This may become our new go to place! Check out the pictures below.

The kitchen-very spacious.

The entryway-looking into the den

The bar and eating area. Lots of room!

The living room-it has a lot of seating/stretching out areas.
We have a beautiful balcony overlooking the ocean.

The master bedroom-the light on hubby's side wouldn't turn on....
There is a laundry room, walk in closet, and master bath down this little
hall in our room on the right.

Yeah, notice the nice balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
This will be sweet to wake up to.

The giant balcony!


Again, the balcony stretching the length of the condo,
down to our room!


See those people riding horses on the beach??
How fun and exciting! Maybe this is something
we can buy? Although I'm not sure what we would
do with Loo.

Our boardwalk to the beach. Good thing my friend Jill
lent us her wagon to pull all of our Griswold themed
beach items...


The horses again!

So, after we got to the condo and unpacked all of the junk stuff I brought, we decided to find a little, casual place to eat. We went to historic downtown Amelia Island and ate at Kelley's Courtyard Cafe. It was a cute, small place with tasty seafood, local faves, and a laid back atmosphere. It was a kind of hipster, LG kind of place to go. Emma was passed out when we parked the car, but by the time we got her into the stroller and started rolling through downtown, girlfriend was WIDE awake! Ha! She did behave, and miracle of all miracles, she ate two bites of cheese grits from my plate, and a few bites of roasted squash and carrots! Yay! It was off of my fork, so that may be part of the appeal to real food with her.

Tomorrow we plan on beaching it, swimming in the pool, and exploring more of the town. If anyone has been here before and has some suggestions on things to do and see, please share! I will update with our experiences throughout the week! We are here till next Saturday for the first annual Griswold family vacay!

PS-big shout out to my MIL who is staying at our house babysitting our fur babies. They don't function well in the kennel and we appreciate her keeping them!

What is in store for you all this upcoming week?