Catching Up

I don't have a computer in my new house so I haven't been posting as much as I'd like. But now that I'm working again I can while the kids are napping. So I have a lot of catching up to do...

Back at Daytona Beach our week got a little more eventful. On Thursday we went to the Daytona 500 International Speedway. I wasn't looking forward to it. I'm not exactly the greatest Nascar fan. But it was actually pretty interesting. We loaded up the gang; Mom, Dad, Lindsey, Ben, Matt, Jenna, Bill, Grandbuddy, and Ella. We got there just in time for the next tour around the track. The guide took us all around telling us tons of history about the track and Nascar. The Richard Petty Driving School Team was there letting people ride around the track. We were able to get out and watch them. It was amazing watching how fast they were going. It was so loud! Then we finished the tour and went in for a snack and to look around in the gift shop. After we all re-grouped we made our way into the IMAX movie. I was hesitant about going in with two babies. An hour long movie is no place to entertain little ones. But they did great! They stayed up for the first few minutes and were both sacked out for the rest of the movie. We all laughed because it was one of the loudest noises I've ever heard. Funny. Then we looked around at all the history stuff and rode in a simulator. Lame. By the time we left we were all starving. We made a pit stop at Wendy's and then back to the condo. Jenna had two of her breakdowns, one at on the way to Wendy's and one on the way back to the condo. Stressful! That night Mom made a "recreation of a salad at Panera." It was very good. As the night went on, Jenna got worse. I called her doctor's office and they told me to take her to the ER. I didn't want to but I really didn't want to travel 10 hours with her on Saturday like that. We got to the ER and were so impressed. We didn't even sit in the waiting room. They took us straight back. Jenna had ear infections in both ears, of course. They also took an X-Ray of her stomach to check her gas patterns. The doctor called us to his desk to share what the film had shown. Jenna's large intestine was back all the way up and there was gas trapped in her stomach. After two antibiotic shots and a few suppositories she was much better. We were in and out of the ER in 3 hours. Record time!!



Friday was our last day there. We all relaxed on the beach and at the pool all day long. That night we went to the North Turn to eat dinner. It used to be the north turn of the Daytona race track in the 50's when they raced on the beach. We sat outside right on the ocean with a live band. So much fun!! When we got back to the condo Rita wanted to do Mary Kay makeovers on me, Lindsey and my mom. We had a blast. Lindsey was in heaven the entire time. She took all the samples that Rita brought. Crazy girl.




Sadly on Saturday we said our goodbyes and headed north. It took 12 hours! We got stuck in traffic 3 times in Atlanta. We were happy to finally pull into our driveway at 10pm!

A few days after we got back Andrea asked if I would come stay the night with them in Big Canoe and keeps their kids. I was so excited to go. I hadn't seen the boys in forever it seemed like. I arranged for Jenna to stay here and took off on Monday afternoon. After getting lost for 30 minutes, I finally made it there. Me and the kids had a blast. They ate dinner, played games, watched a movie, popped popcorn, and hit the sack. The best part of all was that I didn't have to wake up one time in the night! It was great. I got up the next morning and headed home. I love the drive. It's so beautiful and gave me time alone just to think. It was so relaxing. This picture was the view from mine and Blake and Brett's bedroom.


On Wednesday the 23rd our friends Drew and Amy had a beautiful baby girl. They also have a 5 year old daughter, Makayla. Kendall Marie was born at 8:19am. She was 8lbs 1oz. We are so excited she is finally here and healthy. Tuesday night I stayed at the hospital with Amy. Drew and Makayla had to be at cheerleading camp early Wednesday morning. Kendall is doing wonderful! She is eating so much already. We only got 2 hours of sleep and I think I'm still trying to catch up!




And last but not least, my favorite picture of Jenna and Ashton playing together this weekend. They were so cute giving each other hugs and kisses!



That's all for now folks!

No Cord=No Pictures=No Blogging

I have conveniently lost my camera cord as well as my sister's camera cord. So how can I blog with no pictures? I won't do it. I have so much to blog about but it will have to be put on hold for the next day or two.

Daytona Beach and Ear Infections

We are so excited to be at Daytona Beach with the family. We look forward to it each and every year. It's always been my family, Grandbuddy and Ms Karen, and my mom's brother Jeff and his family. This year is a little different. We added two to our family, Matt and Jenna. Jeff, Deana, Ella and baby #2 are all here as usual. Grandbuddy and Ms Karen's sister, Rita and her husband are here. We knew we would have some hard moments with Ms. Karen not with us this year. There have been a few tears but there have also been many times when we have laughed and talked about the good times when she was here. We've also talked about things she would like this year including Jenna's new CUTE bathing suit! It looks just like Ms Karen's taste.


Our trip down was great. Jenna slept the first 2 hours and the last 2 hours. She is such a good baby. She did good most of the trip. She got sick of the carseat at the very end but I can't blame her. I was ready to get out too! We got in at about 9:30 Sunday night. Everyone was already here and welcomed us in the parking lot.



The next day we played on the beach and in the pool most of the day. Jenna loved it! We knew she would. She loves being in the water and would cry everytime we took her out. Dad grilled hambugers and hot dogs for dinner. It was fabulous. And of course, we all slept like champs that night.

Tuesday was a little harder. Jenna started throwing fits and screaming like she was in pain. It took a while to figure out what was wrong but evenutally we knew it was her ears. She has had on going ear trouble and it should've been no surprise. She started running a fever around 9:00pm. We have connections in Cleveland that called in Suprax(Andrea, I remembered the name just for you!) to the Wal-Greens down here. So no swimming for us that day. The guys played a Viking game that Mom had called Kub. They said it was a fun beach game. Lindsey said it looks like a cross between bowling and horseshoes. We'll see. The girls are trying next! Rita cooked dinner. Chicken Casserole and homemade pies! Incredible!!! Mom watched Jenna that night so that we could go play putt putt. I won out of our group. Bill and Dad tied in the old people's group. After 18 holes it was off to the arcade. Lindsey and I played 6 rounds of DDR. We did terrible but it was worth the effort. It was our workout for the week! Dad, Bill, Rita, and Grandbuddy had air hockey competitions. After that we went back to the condo and hit the sack. It was a good day at the beach!

Today is Wednesday. I was a little nervous about taking Jenna out to the water. She is acting 100 times better today but I didn't want her ears to get worse. So we decided to plug that ear up with a cotton ball and send her out. She loved it, of course! We played out in the ocean with Poppy and in the pool too. Then it was time to come in for a bottle and a long nap. Everyone else went to the movies but me and Jenna are hanging out and resting up so we can hit the beach again tomorrow!

Our Little Goat

For those of you who don't know Jenna very well let me inform you that she will eat anything. She has never, ever, in all 10 months of her life, turned any type of food away. Just recently, Matt started calling her our little goat. As you can see, it's an appropriate name.


Mashed Potatoes


Green Apples


Green Beans









Ice Cream Cake



Prunes

And then, for some reason we got surprised. Why? I'm not sure. We should have known she would love it...it's food!









Pickles









Lemons

I would much rather have my little goat than a picky eater!

Outside coming in

I've been reading everyone's blogs...actually, I've been addicted to everyone's blogs. I love knowing what is going on in the lives of my friends. Matt calls me nosy...I call it curious or inquiring. Whatever it may be, I'm going to try it for myself. Maybe there are other people out there who are nosy, curious, or inquiring who would like to look at our blog too. So I'm coming in...