Being nine months pregnant didn't stop us from really getting around this fall! Here are some highlights from September and October 2011.
A weekday morning spent at William's Nursery
Layla enjoyed navagating her way through the hay maze several times. She has a much better sense of direction than her mommy!
Choosing the perfect pumpkin
Layla started attending Making Music, Praying Twice at Saint Helen's Church on Fridays with my mom.
We took lots of nature walks through our neighborhood.
And we took Layla to her very first drive-in movie at the Woodbridge Community Center, where we ate happy meals and watched Casper, The Friendly Ghost.
Layla had her second "photo shoot" with my very talented friend, Shannon McGuire.
Layla and I attended our second Halloween Party at the Little Gym in Cranford. At the last minute, Layla abandoned her kitty cat costume in favor of being a scary witch!
The Northeast had a freak weekend snowstorm in October, which later proved to be one of the only snowfalls that we had this winter. There were lots of downed power lines as a result of the storm. I was one scared mommy when I was stranded at home with no working phones, internet or cell phone service only a week before Dylan was born!
Halloween was spent trick or treating around the neighborhood with neighborhood friends and family. I made it exactly one block before returning home to rest on the couch.
As always, Layla and I spent many hours in the kitchen, trying new recipes and instilling a love of cooking. We made holiday rice krispie treats for our friends!
For Layla's second birthday, she wanted a train party. I really didn't want to go with Thomas and Friends, so instead, we used an assortment of train party supplies. My parents bought Layla a conductor's hat while they were on a cruise and she had a pair of adorable overalls from my good friend, Sara, so she was dressed for the part. Layla's actual birthday fell on a Friday and her party was Saturday, so we had a whole weekend of celebrating!
I made Layla a cupcake train to eliminate the allergy issue entirely. Last year, I made Layla her cake for her Monkey themed party, so I'd like to make this a tradition, regardless of whether she outgrows her allergies. I love making her cakes solely for the reaction that I get from Layla. She is such a grateful child! We are already talking about a superhero party or a pirate party for her third birthday, so the wheels are turning on what kind of cake to make!
Anyway, Layla's big presents from Mom and Dad was an easel and a sand/water table. Some of the other gifts that she received included a bike helmet, Thomas and Friends backpack, firetruck lunch bag, bowling set, legos, wooden cup cake kit and lots of clothes. The hit of the party, however, was the train pinata, filled with dum dum lollipops, train whistles, stickers, high bouncers and other small toys.
I will never forget the morning after Layla's party when she climbed out of bed, hair disheveled, voice hoarse, asking, "More party?" Is this a premonition of what's to come in her teenage years? I won't even go there. I'll just chalk it up to a successful birthday!
Below is Layla's grand entrance to her party (pre-guests!) and a link to her birthday book.
The past several months have been a whirlwind, and I am hoping that where my memory doesn't serve me, my photos will.
In the middle of July, we had some very welcome visitors from Saint Louis, my cousin Brian, his wife Mary, and their awesome children, Ben and Emily. It was the first time that they all got to meet Layla (in fact, the last time that I saw them all was at our wedding in 2007!) We had a barbecue in our backyard on a gorgeous evening. Layla had so much fun playing and swimming with her second cousins.
The following day, I took the kids down to Avon By The Sea to meet up with my cousins and my uncle Tony and aunt Rose. It was the day before we left on our road trip, so I was glad to have the opportunity to spend one more day with my out-of-state family!
Despite the fact that I was past the halfway mark of my pregnancy, Monte and I decided that we couldn't let the summer go by without a visit to our favorite city, Saint Augustine, FL. At the end of July, we packed up the car and left in the evening, in the hopes that Layla would sleep for a good portion of the ride down. Monte was a trooper, and drove the bulk of the trip, fueled on black coffee and gas station snacks! Being able to eat junk is one of the things I most look forward to our long car rides, and this, in conjunction with my pregnancy cravings, made the trip a total gorgefest.
Our first stop was Daytona Beach, where we stayed a few nights at The Shores Resort and Spa. Located right on the beach, this was a beautiful hotel with easy access to the beach, a huge pool, firepits for evening s'mores-making, and kiddie activities. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of anything to do in Daytona Beach. At night, it was a ghost town, with eerie vacant lots and more closed for business signs than I expected for a beach community. If only the Shores was located in friendly Saint Augustine, it would have been the perfect vacation!
After a few nights, we made the short drive north to Saint Augustine and checked in to the Holiday Isle Oceanfront Resort. Monte and I had stayed that this hotel in the 2006 and actually regretted not staying there in 2010, when we met up with Monte's sister and her family. It has a great pool and beach front access, plus a tiki bar that serves icy drinks and a quick lunch. In the past year, the management has changed and I am sad to say that the place has gone downhill. We made the most of our time there, though, and all in all in was an enjoyable vacation.
From an allergy standpoint, there were two big eye openers that occurred that made me realize just how difficult it is to travel with a food allergy. The first happened immediately upon arrival to the resort in Daytona Beach. When we opened our room, we realized that there was a mini bar that was absolutely filled with nut products! After making a phone call to the front desk, an employee came to the room to address my concern. I asked if the products could be removed from the room, which I thought was a reasonable request. We were told that they couldn't accommodate me, but they would put a lock on the cabinet. This was an inconvenience, as the cabinet also contained the refridgerator, so we needed to lock and unlock it every time we wanted to get Layla's rice milk, a drink, etc.
The second negative experience that we had was at dinner at A1A, one of our favorite restaurants in Saint Augustine. The menu claims to be very allergy-friendly, listing the Top 8 allergens in each dish, along with a disclaimer to notify staff if any patrons have food allergies. We felt pretty confident when we ordered Layla chicken fingers, fries and a fruit salad for dinner. We had our waiter check that they didn't use any nut oil in the fryer and that they notified the chef of her nut and dairy allergies. Unfortunately, Layla broke out in hives all over her face after her first bite of food. The manager came out to assist us and although they didn't have any Benedryl on site, they told me where I could get some. I washed Layla's face and she cleared up within about 30 minutes without any other problems. After talking with the manager, we came to realize that they didn't have a dedicated fryer for french fries and that the oil had not been changed after frying shellfish. This was completely an error on my part, because I didn't tell them about her potential fish allergy. Needless to say, it was a scary dining experience. The restaurant was great, they wrapped my food (I couldn't eat, I was too worried) and took off over half of the bill. They showed a lot of concern for Layla, and it honestly wasn't their fault.
On the way home from Florida, we made an overnight stop in North Carolina. The next morning, we went to the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington D.C. I was dying to have one more special experience with Layla before our vacation was over. Layla loved the lions and tigers (oh my!).
That's all for now! Click on the link below to see a book that I made of our trip to Florida!
So, it's been a 9 month hiatus from blogging. Where does the time go? I could have had a baby in that time! Oh wait, I DID have a baby! I am going to be a bad mommy for a moment and blame my children for my long absence.
Exhibit A:
Dylan "Fat Boy" Thomas joined our family in November. This cheeky monkey has kept me on my toes. When I'm not feeding, changing, or playing with this little guy, I'm chasing after his sister. Which brings me to....
Exhibit B:
Layla "Hurricane" Rose, now over two and half years old, runs on little sleep and converts french fries and fruit snacks into pure energy! She runs circles around me from the moment she wakes up until she (reluctantly) goes to bed.
Needless to say, we've been busy! It's going to take some time to chronicle all that we've done since last July, but I'm determined to not let any more time pass. These kiddos are growing like weeds!
I'll close this post with a funny story. This morning, my mom and I were talking about how different Dylan is as a baby than Layla was. Dylan is most often described as a "happy baby". It's not that Layla wasn't a happy infant, it's just that she was always so curious and busy!
I told my mom that the best example I can give to articulate this difference is how both of my kids behaved in their exersaucer. When Layla was little, we called it her "office" because the moment she was placed inside, she would furiously begin hitting buttons, as if she was typing memos, creating spreadsheets and firing off e-mails.
Dylan, on the other hand, treats every day in his office as a Friday. He spends his time throwing pencils at the ceiling, changing his screen saver and creating nicknames for his co-workers ("Hey Bob! Bob-a-rino! The Bob-ster!") We had a good laugh!
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