Babies, more babies and busy toddlers.

How many babies can you fit into one weekend...try 6! (3 weeks old, 4 weeks old, 3 months old, 10 months old, 14 months old and my 20 month old).  Phew, now I know why I am so tired today.

Saturday we spent the day with Gramma T and I made a nice chicken dinner with all the fixings for us plus Rach, Sorin and the newly 9 lb Leah.  I had to wake Riley up from his nap to bring Daddy some more business cards at the NSC in Blaine (although you should never wake a sleeping child it was good to hear how busy and excited Daddy was at his home show).  By 6 o'clock Riley was so tired that all he could do was run in circles.  When he is tired he is only able to repeat one syllable which is "da" so we heard "da" for nearly 2 hours straight.  He also digressed about 8 months by having a baby in such close proximity to him.  We heard Da when he wanted Leah's bottle, Da when he picked up her pink Soothie, Da when he was upset to see her in his baby bouncer and Da when she was in her carseat to leave and he waved goodbye to her and wouldn't let her go.

She however was a quiet, peaceful little lady and we thoroughly enjoyed Sorin changing her diaper, feeding her and strapping her in to her carseat. (This was the man who really didn't want anything to do with kids a few years ago : )

Saturday night we took advantage of our overnight sitter and met up with friends for a 30th b-day party in Blaine.  The Dad's proved to be very tired and us ladies drank free until 11:00, enjoyed (rather responsibly) at least 3 Chuck Norris shots and danced our hearts out as we headed onto the dance floor numerous times.  I got puked on when I reached under the stall in the bathroom and asked for TP and we had fun considering the edgy, slinky, tight outfits that walked through the doors sometimes hardly covering the person they were walking in with!  It was a classic night!  

Sunday funday was the gold medal Men's Hockey game...ya betcha.

Riley and I stopped over to enjoy the new babies in the group along with the more mature ones.  Riley is still struggling with sharing and wants to get me involved in his toy hoarding by handing them to me and expecting me to play keep away from the other kids.  After a few outbursts we grew tired of the "refereeing" and went home to greet our hard working husband and Dad who has now worked like 11 days in a row.  He had a very productive day and has now got an appointment packed week.  

Here's my favorite boys enjoying some hugs and snuggles after a long day!

Those big brown eyes melt me every time although I could go sans nuk at this point!

Sandy shore lines and sunsets...

We are dreaming of fun in the sun and all of a sudden it is only 16 days away...


Which reminds us of how lucky we have been to enjoy so many islands, beaches and sunsets in paradise together.


I will try to remember where we have been.
Nassua, Great Stirrup Cay, Roatan, Grand Cayman, Belize, Cozumel, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, San Juan, Miami and Vegas X 2.  


Our first trip together was the winter of 2003 and I paid for it all by myself as a surprise for Derrick.  I was still a baby at 20 years old and remember being somewhat frightened at leaving the state without my parents.  We had to sit through a time share seminar but enjoyed a 3 day cruise and 4 days in Miami with Derrick's cousins Andre and Michelle.  We sang "A1A Beachfront Ave" as we drove along the ocean and in fact on the A1A beachfront ave that Vanilla Ice made so popular.  We laid on the beach, stared at the Atlantis Hotel that has a $20,000 dollar suite per night and we snorkeled (okay just Derrick actually snorkeled, I got super scared couldn't breathe and had to retreat back to the boat after just 5 minutes.)  That was the first year that Derrick caught the travel bug. 


2005 brought us on a December cruise with my family.


2006 found us in Vegas for what was a most memorable trip with friends, Celine Dion and plenty of gambling.


2007 was yet another cruise in January (by ourselves this time)...a sort of make-up honeymoon which was blissful.


2008 we headed back to Vegas (I was pregnant and ate like a piggy, peed like every five minutes and could hardly keep my eyes open for the Cirque show at the beautiful Bellagio.) and we felt Riley kick for the first time on the plane.  


2009 we really felt it in our bones, a sort of groaning for warm weather, sand, and the ocean.  We stayed home though with our 6 month old son and took cover from the weather by snuggling, loving and oogling all winter long.  


2010...in a fast approaching 16 days we will be heading to Playa Del Carmen to stay at the Occidental Resort to enjoy 7 glorious days in the sun.  Nothing more exciting then Ben and Katie getting married on the beach, while I snap pictures and snag a tan.  We can hardly wait to show Riley the beaches, the ocean, the sea turtles and dolphins...that is-God willing we make it through the 5 hour flight at 6:21 a.m. with our 20 month old!  


Here's a few vacay pictures from years past to tide us over until we can once again enjoy the feel of sand between our toes!

This was one of our favorite spots!

Sunset over Miami as we pull out of the port.   breathtakingly stunning!

St Maarten...

Ahhh, I am feeling relaxed already! 

 P.S. I have been snorkeling at least a handful of times since that first fateful trip and I love it!

Like Father like Son

Little Riley so full of life and keeping us laughing with his quirks.  All he needs for a good time is a sales contract, a pen, one of Daddy's business cards and his boat shoes on for a few good hours of entertainment.

Watch out he will probably call you and try to sell windows now instead of just babbling : )

Bridal Shower #2

I barely remembered that I was helping throw Katie a Bridal shower on Saturday and was able to throw together my salad and "Christmas" slush early Friday morning with a very helpful Riley Man.  Christmas slush is a favorite of ours over at Derrick's Grandma's house on Christmas day and I called her and got the ingredients which were rather intimidating but it was easy and tastes sooooo GOOD!  We have been enjoying the leftovers for a special treat after dinner!  Aunties Jeanne, Judy, Jill and I planned and executed the shower rather easily on Saturday at Church and Katie received lots of nice gifts.  The cake and chocolate fountain were my personal highlights added to the fact that we only have 23 days left before we fly out! 

It was fun and now comes the hard part...dress shopping and even worse swimsuit shopping : ( I have been doing some extra workouts to make it less painful and at this point I just really don't care anymore.  Derrick and Riley love me and they both tell me I look beautiful so that is all that matters.  Riley gives Mommy lots of hugs and kisses and then lays on my belly while I am doing sit-ups with Jillian so work-outs are fun again (and so much more challenging with an extra 20 lbs to "sit up" with)!  He tries to do arm crosses with Mommy and marches with a soup can in hand which he thinks is just like my weights.  He is a hoot and I should really let Derrick video it although I don't know that I want to broadcast my sweat fest!  


Thanks for help with the shower my dear Auntie's and here's to shopping!