KerryAndGabe.com

Some days I feel like I’ll never catch up on photos and trip reports and such, and other days I feel like I might be able to do it. So, I’m a little behind.

For those of you who do not want to read my long winded trip report, here’s some links to photos from our trip (if you don’t want to read my long winded posts and don’t care for the photos, then what are you doing here at all?):
Georgia
Disney
The rest of Florida

Before they knew that we were pregnant with Cullen, Gabe’s parents had booked a condo in Orlando and invited us to join them. We hadn’t told them about the new grandchild and tentatively said we would go. Since we knew the baby would still be very young by the time of the trip, we were really not sure whether we would want to go! We knew it would be somewhat of a last minute decision. I was pretty optimistic, but Gabe was not.

We knew that it was going to be a long drive, but we thought it would be easier to drive than fly this time. I’m glad we drove just based on the large amount of stuff that we had to bring with us! While I’m sure we could have been fine with much less, it sure is nice to be able to pack little conveniences like boppies, extra pillows, and pack-n-plays.

The first leg was easy. Maddie was happy, and Cullen slept the majority of the time. It takes around 3 hours to get to my parents’ house, which was our first destination. We decided to have lunch and spend a little time with my parents on our way down to Atlanta. We spent a little more time at their house than we had intended, but it was really nice to visit with them. The rest of the day did not go so smoothly! In fact, that was the only time in the car that was pleasant. We had lots of crying from both kids and very little quiet time on our rides.

Our next stop was Atlanta for a few days, including Easter Sunday. We visited with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. This was the first time we had stayed in a hotel since Cullen was born, and we opted for Embassy Suites so that we could have a little extra living space. We weren’t sure how the two kids would sleep in the same room, so Maddie slept in the living room and the rest of us were in the bedroom. We blockaded the door with a chair since we were a little nervous about having Maddie in the front room. We left our door cracked open, too, and we were happy to have the video monitor. The room worked out really well for us, though the free breakfast was a bit lacking at this particular Embassy Suites.

We had a very nice visit with my grandparents, and everyone was so happy to see our kids. This was the first time that Cullen met any Atlanta family. Maddie was excited about the Easter Bunny. She and I had shared some Peeps recently, so she was thrilled to hear that the Easter Bunny would bring her a basket of goodies, including Peeps. When my grandma asked Maddie who the Easter Bunny was, she replied, “The Easter Bunny is a bunny who brings Peeps!” The Easter Bunny did indeed bring her Peeps as well as some other goodies. He brought a feeding kit for her doll, some coloring books, crayons, stickers, eggs with Play-Doh and bunny snacks. She loved all of it. We then had an Easter Egg hunt in my grandparents’ back yard. This was the first year that she really understood what was going on with the Easter Bunny, egg dying and egg hunts. I loved it!

We left Atlanta to drive about halfway to Orlando. Once again, we had a rough ride both to the hotel and then to the condo the next day. Whew! Of course, we knew that this was a possibility since Cullen had not proven himself to be a good car rider in his life so far! It didn’t help that we were off schedule, we discovered Maddie doesn’t nap comfortable in the car anymore, Maddie was constipated, and the kids alternated in some kind of secret pact who would be the loudest at any given moment. Good times.

We did have a nice time while in Florida. We went to the pool, played ping pong and horseshoes, lost a little money at Bingo, and took it easy around the condo. We decided as we were driving into Orlando that we couldn’t be this close to Disney and NOT go.

So, we went to the Magic Kingdom for a day. It was a wonderful day, and I’m so happy that we decided to go!!! I thought that Maddie would be too young. I wasn’t sure how she would react to the rides or the costumed characters. She loved everything! Every time we rode a ride, she wanted to go on it again (with the exception of the carousel…she did not like it!). She loved Dumbo’s Flying Elephants, Aladdin’s Flying Carpets, and the Winnie the Pooh ride. She enjoyed going through Minnie’s House (which I thought was crowded and not terribly interesting, so I was surprised she wanted to do it again!). The highlight of the day was when she met her hero, Winnie the Pooh. She posed nicely for the photos, shook Pooh and Tigger’s hands, and hugged Pooh for a really long time. It was awesome. It was a little hot and at the height of Spring Break, but we still had such a great time. Next time, we will likely plan ahead a bit more (and pick a time of the year that is not so popular). Maddie did great with the lines and learned a thing or two about “taking turns.” She has been talking about how she met Winnie the Pooh and Tigger since then and how she gave Pooh a big hug. It’s about the sweetest thing ever!

The ride back was not smooth by any stretch of the imagination. The plan was to leave as early as we could and drive about halfway home. What actually happened was a flat tire on the van. We discovered it just as we were about to pull out of the parking lot of the condo. Fortunately, Gabe’s parents were staying one extra day. This was a very good thing since we had a place to be with the kiddos while we sorted out the tire issues. We called AAA and were excited to use the auto services for the first time (we mostly get AAA for the discounts on hotels). Unfortunately, AAA was worthless to us. They would only come out and change the flat tire, but they couldn’t even call us back for over an hour. The only thing that they could do is change the tire to our spare and could not do any diagnostics on the tire nor were they able to direct us to a service station that could help. Gabe and his parents decided to change the tire themselves while waiting for a call back from AAA. Gabe was already on his way to a service station by the time that AAA got back to us. Worthless!

By the time we had the tire inspected and back on the van, we had lost 3-4 hours. We now had a very wound up toddler who desperately needed a nap and was acting out in ways that I had never before witnessed. It was a very stressful morning and afternoon.

We finally got on the road over 5 hours after our scheduled departure, and ran into a massive traffic jam before we were even out of the Orlando area. That traffic jam took us two hours during which time both kids were extremely cranky. We canceled our hotel reservations midway as we weren’t sure how far we would be able to make it. Turns out that we should have kept our reservations in Savannah. We ran into another traffic jam after dinner. I’m not even sure we were out of Florida at this point. That traffic jam took us another 2 hours to clear. Now we have two cranky children and two cranky adults. By the time we cleared the traffic jam, it was around 10 or 11pm, and we could not find a hotel for over 100 miles. We called many hotels before finding a Hampton Inn in Santee, SC (about 2 hours from where we were at the time). We got the last room. Fortunately, they were true to their word and held the room for us. They had to turn away several weary travelers.

We brought in one pack-n-play, but we could have just left it in the car. We ended up each taking a bed and a child and got some sleep. The complimentary breakfast was the best that we had out of all the hotels on this trip. All of the staff that we ran into were extremely friendly. I can highly recommend the Santee, SC Hampton Inn! I had stayed in a few sub par Hampton Inns a while back, and this particular hotel has changed my opinion of the chain for the better.

The rest of the ride home was long, and we were extremely happy to be home again.

We can’t wait to take the kids to Disney within the next couple of years, though we will NOT be driving!! This trip was quite an adventure, though it will be a while before we try to tackle driving of that magnitude again. Whew! It was great to see family and positively magical to visit Magic Kingdom. We were glad that we went on the trip!

I can’t believe my sweet baby boy is already 3 months old. Babies sure do change fast, and I know we’re going to see even more changes and milestones over the next few months. So, here’s the next installment in the letters to Cullen series. (more…)

I’m a bit behind on photos, but I’m working on it! I managed to write up the trip report before we took the cruise. I’ve now finally posted the photo album from that weekend (though we didn’t take that many photos of family). Click on the photo to see the rest of the pictures.

We went to Atlanta for Labor Day weekend to visit family. I didn’t take nearly enough photos, which I’m sure some of you find shocking.

We left after work on Friday and headed to Greenville, SC where we stayed at an Embassy Suites. This was the first time that we had stayed at an Embassy Suites, and I was impressed! We were sad that we were not able to take advantage of the two separate rooms since we arrived at the hotel at 11pm. We knew that this was an iffy plan, and sure enough Maddie refused to sleep in the pack-n-play. She refused to sleep at all for a while, despite the fact that her parents were very tired and ready for bed! We finally got her settled, but it was not the most restful night. I find it amazing that such a small girl can hog an entire king sized bed. Breakfast in the morning was great. I had read mixed reviews about the breakfasts at Embassy Suites, and I found it to be quite tasty. Maddie ate a great breakfast as well.

We headed to my Aunt Laura’s house to see Laura, Nik, Rob, and Mary Katherine. My mom and dad were in Atlanta as well, and my mom joined us. We chatted, watched Maddie and Snowy (their dog) play, and had lunch together. Maddie had slept in the car between Greenville and Lawrenceville, so she was in a pretty good mood until around 3pm when we left. She took another nap in the car on the way to the hotel for about 45 minutes. We checked into the hotel and headed to my grandparents’ house.

Frances, Bill, John Thomas, Joseph, and my parents were all at my grandparents house when we arrived. My grandma always makes sure that we have plenty to eat! Frances and my grandma had prepared a variety of foods for our dinner feast. Maddie even tried a few things that she wouldn’t normally try. We had a great dinner followed by a tasty (and gluten-free) birthday cake! We were celebrating John Thomas’s birthday (almost a month late) in addition to my mom’s (just a few days late), mine (about a week or so early), Bill’s (a month early), and Gabe’s (a month early). Whew! That’s a lot of celebrating!

We played for a while after dinner, and the men watched the first several innings of the baseball game. It just so happened that the Reds were in town playing the Braves, so my Grandpa and Gabe had some friendly competition. Shockingly, the Reds won all 3 games in the series. Both teams really suck this year.

My parents left at the same time that we did to get Maddie to bed at her usual time. Gabe put Maddie to bed in the pack-n-play, and I hung out in Mom and Dad’s room with them until we got the call that Maddie was sleeping. We all went down to our room to play Tichu while the baby slumbered. It’s still surprising to me that we can do things like this as a year ago it would not have been possible!

My parents played bridge bright and early in the morning on the next day, and we had breakfast at the hotel. This is the first time that we had tried the breakfast at the hotel (we have been staying here for all of our visits in the past 2 years). It was pretty good! Maddie and I certainly got our money’s worth! We collectively had waffles, omelets, bacon, cereal, oatmeal, fruit, donuts, juice, and milk. YUM! Maddie especially enjoyed the powdered donuts. I believe that this is the first time that she has experienced such a thing.

We made it over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house where Maddie played with some toys that my Grandma had provided for her, including a tea set that I remember playing with when I was a kid. Parts of it were originally Aunt Frances’s (and other parts were purchased when John Thomas and Joseph were little). Maddie loved handing out plates of play food to everyone. She was a little fooled by the fake cheese, potato chips, and cookies. They looked real, but she quickly learned that they were not.

Today was a crazy day of falls. Maddie fell on the floor while trying to get off the bed when we were playing in the hotel in the morning. She also took a few other tumbles in the morning, but most of that was normal toddler behavior. She’s a bit clumsy - takes after her mom, I suppose. Perhaps she takes after her grandmother as well. My mom tripped over a parking thingy in the parking garage at the mall when we went shopping that afternoon. Scary! She had a few bruises afterward but was otherwise fine. And then, when we were leaving Grandma and Grandpa’s house that evening, I stepped in a deep, narrow hole in my grandparents’ yard and took a tumble. What’s up with all of us falling that day? Fortunately, nobody took any serious spills. We just had a few ‘yikes’ moments.

My parents joined us in the afternoon, and Mom and I went shopping at Perimeter Mall while Maddie took her nap. We had a fun mother/daughter outing! I realized that it had been quite some time since I went shopping with my mom. We were hoping to find more sales, but I did find a pair of maternity jeans and a maternity sweater that I hoped would come in handy for the cruise and later this fall and winter. I have found that maternity jeans aren’t exactly designed to make it through too many pregnancies. The elastic is worn out on several pairs that I wore the first time around. Mom bought a cute owl shirt for Miss Maddie. She couldn’t resist, and I don’t blame her!

We went back for dinner at my grandparents house and some more play time until Maddie’s bedtime. Mom went back with us to the hotel. After Maddie went to sleep, the three of us played 3-handed Tichu. It worked pretty well, though I definitely prefer the four person version. Dad arrived at the hotel when our game was wrapping up, and Mom and Dad headed back to the bridge hotel to help with cleaning up the hospitality suite.

We met my parents for breakfast at the hotel in the morning before hitting the road. The trip back was very long, longer than I think we have ever taken to get home. We stopped at the first outlet mall in Commerce and found some shoes for both Maddie and me. Maddie was in heaven in the shoe store. She LOVED it. We found three “pairs” of shoes for her (actually 6, if you’re counting real pairs instead of Maddie-pairs). We ended up returning one pair once we were back in town, but the other two should work for just about anything this fall. I found some Sketchers to replace my worn out pair. We had to make stops for lunch and dinner as well as several stops for refueling, snacks, and rest areas. It was a very long day, and we didn’t arrive at home until after Maddie’s bedtime. Of course, this means that she fell asleep in the car and we had another rough night. She refused to go to sleep for quite some time and ended up sleeping in the bed for the entire night. We’re going to have to make sure that we don’t travel at bedtime for quite some time!

It was a quick whirlwind trip, as usual, but we had a great time! I wish that I had taken more photos, but it’s hard sometimes to get the energy to take photos and chase Maddie and keep her safe at the same time.

Earlier in the year, I asked my cousin for his performance schedule so that we could plan to watch one of his concerts. Originally, we weren’t sure we would be able to make the March 15th show. The trip ended up being a bit last minute, but I’m glad that we decided to do it! I’ve posted the photos and clicking on any of the photos in this report will take you to the album as well.

We usually stay with my parents in Davidson on the way down to Atlanta, but we decided to stay at a hotel in Anderson this time to get us a bit closer to Atlanta. We left early in the evening from Cary and met my parents for dinner near the interstate. Surprisingly, Maddie did not sleep at all for the entire 3 hours. We were shocked! She was happy for the majority of the trip, so we’re not complaining. She also spent about 20 minutes straight blowing raspberries about the time that we passed by Salisbury. Hrm, expressing disapproval of my hometown or what? Gabe took an amusing photo of her when he was checking to see if she was still awake.

We ended up stopping at Arby’s since the restaurant that we had in mind had a longer wait than we wanted. We had a nice time with my parents, and Maddie fell asleep shortly after we got back onto the road. She slept until just before we found our hotel. Great timing! Of course, this meant that it took us a while to get her settled in the hotel room. We are slowly learning what works best for Maddie when it comes to travel. It’s hard for her to get back to sleep when we have to move her from one place (the car) to another (the hotel room). We didn’t have the best night for sleep, even for us!

In the morning, we headed to Cracker Barrel where we had the WORST Cracker Barrel experience EVER. The service was ridiculously slow, and the food was awful. The eggs looked so bad that we declared them inedible. It was that bad. We never plan to stop at this particular Cracker Barrel again as we believe that they are the same one that had the bad biscuits on our last Atlanta trip. Ugh! That was not a good start or as early of a start as we wanted.

The rest of the day went much better. We stopped at a Publix on the way to my grandparents house to get a few things for Maddie for the weekend as well as a birthday cake for my grandparents and some festive helium balloons. Maddie has been noticing balloons in the grocery store lately, so this was a real treat for her to be able to bring them “home” with her. She was thrilled.

We had a nice afternoon with my grandparents and were later joined by my aunt, uncle and cousins for dinner. Everyone had a great time watching Maddie play and walk (and eat!). She has changed a bunch since December! We went back to the hotel around Maddie’s bedtime, and we had a much better night. We actually managed to get her to sleep for a couple of hours in the pack-n-play. This was a miracle in our eyes. When we walked through the lobby, someone had just ordered a pizza. Both of us decided that pizza sounded like a great idea, so we placed our order on the internet while the baby was snoozing. It was quite tasty!

On Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and headed to my grandparents house for breakfast. Maddie had her first experience with cheesy eggs, and she seemed to like them! Since then, she won’t touch eggs, so who knows. She’s so picky. She did eat really well the whole time we were in Atlanta. Bill, Frances, and John Thomas came over after a while. Bill and John Thomas had to arrive early for the concert, so Frances and I rode Marta downtown a bit later. Gabe, my grandparents, and Maddie spent time together while we were away. Maddie was the perfect baby while I was away, and they had an excellent time.

I was very impressed with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. My cousin is quite serious about playing the trumpet and works very hard at practicing and honing his skills. He’s a talented musician, and I am proud of his accomplishments. I was thrilled to finally see an official performance.

After the show, we had a quick dinner with my family and hit the road again. It was late when we got to my parents house, and we were so tired! Maddie had a decent night, though she skipped the pack-n-play entirely. We spent the morning with my parents. Grandpa gave Maddie a few rides in her new wagon, a birthday present from my parents since they missed her party. She loves the wagon and should be able to use it for many years. We headed back home after lunch, and the trip was uneventful, thankfully. We had another successful family trip to Atlanta (Maddie’s 4th Atlanta trip!).

Time for another monthly installment of letters to Maddie. Enjoy. (more…)

My friend, Audrey, and I have been working on a weekly template that we can use to blog about the day to day things in our lives. I enjoyed doing the Simple Woman’s Daybook, but I didn’t identify with the overall spirit of that site. I’m a complicated woman, what can I say? So here’s the debut of “The Sunday Somethings.” Feel free to join us, but please link to Audrey and me. Our categories may evolve over time, and the categories may vary slightly from person to person (Audrey wanted an entry for bridge related news, and I wanted one about Maddie).

It’s Saturday night, and we’re in a hotel room in Atlanta. We’re here for a little over a day visiting my grandparents and attending my cousin’s band concert. Short visit. Wish we could see all of my family in the area, but we knew it would be a hectic visit. We are checking out of the hotel in the morning, so we won’t have internet access for most of the day. So, I’m scheduling this to post sometime tomorrow.

Something that made me smile this week: Seeing Maddie interact with her Great Grandparents this weekend.

Something I’m thinking: I can’t believe that Gabe actually managed to get Maddie to fall asleep in the pack-n-play. She didn’t sleep well in the hotel in SC last night, and she put up quite a fight tonight. Hopefully, we didn’t disturb anyone in the hotel…

Something I am hoping: That Maddie stays asleep in the pack-n-play for at least a little while. I think I will write this and then do some reading, assuming that I have the luxury of time to do so.

Something happening around the house: Hopefully nothing, since we aren’t there at the time that I’m typing this.

Something I’m reading: I finished Coraline and started reading The Book Thief by Mark Zusak. I’m only a few pages into it so far. The format is a little odd to start, so I’m curious to see where things are going to go from here. The Book Thief is April’s book club pick for my regular book club.

Something tasty I ate this week: Yummy lasagna. I made a batch for ourselves when I made some for our friends who just had a new baby.

Something Maddie did this week: She’s walking more than ever! She’s getting quite steady on her feet and definitely prefers walking to crawling in almost all cases. She gets a little clumsy when she’s tired.

Something I struggled with this week: On Friday, I went to nurse Maddie at lunchtime and she was wired from her visit with the toddler room a bit earlier. She didn’t request to nurse, so I let her play while I was there and did not end up nursing her during my visit. I have been considering weaning her from the lunchtime feeding. She’s usually quite busy when she’s at school, so she doesn’t nurse very much during the day. I felt a bit sad that she didn’t need to nurse on Friday at lunch! I don’t think that this means she’s weaning in general as she still requests to nurse more frequently when we’re at home (and all night long).

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I guess I should figure out what my goals are going to be. Audrey has a real list of goals that she created a few weeks ago or so. As Cindy stated in the comments, I kinda wanted to wait until her goals weren’t so fresh in my mind before I wrote my own. That’s partially the truth and partially an excuse to procrastinate writing up my own set of goals. So, what am I doing towards my goals? I don’t know what all my goals are, but I guess that this week I made lasagna for some new parents and signed up to bring a meal to friends who just added a second child to their family. One of my “life” goals is to be the sort of person who does that sort of thing. I guess when I get around to writing up my goals, I should be more specific. Basically, we were so grateful for our family and friends who brought us meals in the early newborn days with Maddie. We appreciated it so much and never realized how much it really makes a difference. I need to add more casserole type recipes to my repertoire, though, as I pretty much just make lasagna.

Something I’m looking forward to next week: My regular book club is discussing the Twilight series (books 1-4). I think we’re going to have an excellent turnout for this one - I guess we could have just made it a regular reading instead of an optional selection!

Something I captured: I anticipate that this section will most often be used to post a photo. This week, I’m posting video instead:

What? A Christmas post in March? Must be a REALLY early Christmas! Nope, just a REALLY late trip report for our last trip, which was back in December. We went to Atlanta to visit with my extended family and to celebrate Christmas a tad early in mid-December. Considering that the trip was 3 months ago, I don’t think that this “trip report” is going to be very detailed. Click on any of these photos to see the full photo album, which you’ve probably already seen if you’re a regular reader of our site.

Maddie did great on the trip, from what I remember. We used our usual method of “stick the camera back there and see if she’s still asleep.” A few times, she was awake but happy which is always a nice surprise (like the photo above). It cracks me up as she looks at the floating hand and camera often with confusion. It will be nice when her carseat is no longer rear-facing!

Maddie’s great grandparents had a wonderful time hanging out with her! They couldn’t believe how much she had changed since our last visit during Labor Day weekend. The Bursons came over to spend time with us, and everyone gave Maddie presents to open. She opened her very first gifts on this trip.

Joseph continues to be interested in holding and playing with Maddie. It’s very sweet! Joseph performed a concert for us at my grandparents’ house on his French Horn. I don’t think that he’s playing my trombone much these days!

Grandpa loves babies and seems to especially love his great-granddaughter, of course. Maddie was a bit more independent on this trip, but she still spent quite a bit of time on Great Grandpa’s lap. I love seeing my grandparents with her!

Maddie received a very special gift during this trip. My grandparents gave her the rocking chair that my dad had when he was around Maddie’s age. She sat in it for brief periods and quickly figured out how to get out of it. I’m sure that she will enjoy the chair quite a bit as she gets older!

We stayed in the same hotel, across the street from my grandparents’ neighborhood. We keep running into random annoying issues in this hotel, though the convenience will keep us coming back. On our first trip with Maddie, we had the screaming baby but one night encountered a bunch of screaming teenagers and drunk party-goers. We were not annoyed since we figured we probably annoyed a few patrons with our screaming baby. The second trip with Maddie, we had the middle-of-the-night false alarm fire alarm. That was not fun! This time, we were next door to a bunch of screaming children. We actually had to call the hotel security, it was so bad. They sounded like little kids, but I thought that maybe they were teenagers or unsupervised older children. It turns out that they were very little kids, probably all under 5 or 6 years old. And they were supervised!!! I peeked out in the hallway in the morning, and I overheard the adult in charge (not a teenaged sibling, but a “responsible” adult) bragging about how much fun that they had and how they were up until 4am. Seriously?! I was appalled. I try not to judge, but I had a hard time coming up with good reasons that these children should be jumping on the beds and screaming at 3am.

Other than that night, we had a very nice time and enjoyed spending time with family. We spent the night with my parents on the way down to Atlanta, and then we made the entire trip back home on Sunday. We were nervous about driving the entire distance, but Maddie did awesome…from what I can remember! We are getting more and more confident about traveling with her!

We are looking forward to seeing my grandparents again in a few days!

Gabe and I went to Atlanta in mid-December to visit with my grandparents and to celebrate Christmas with them. We were also happy to see my dad’s sister’s family. Maddie opened her first ever presents, and we had a very nice time with family. We have posted the photos. Click on the photo for more.

It seems that I have written the longest letter to Maddie yet. I don’t expect that many of you are reading all of this! Oh well, at least I have posted some new photos! Hopefully, Maddie will enjoy reading the letters someday. (more…)