Saturday, October 30, 2010

Vacation Trips Part 1

We (Jared, me, Caitlyn, Uncle Tony in one car and Grandpa Jansen, Aunt Bethy, Uncle Josh and Harrison in another) left for Brainerd MN on Caitlyn's birthday, September 14th for my cousin Lisa's wedding. We decided to work most of the day and leave around 4 or 5 so that hopefully Caitlyn would sleep most of the way of the 8 hour trip. This did not go according to plan. We stopped for dinner. She ate well. It took her 3 hours to fall asleep. She does not sleep well in her car seat. She wanted to stretch out and lay down. She slept from about 10:00pm to about 12:30am and then woke up and was awake for the rest of the trip. We got to the house we rented at about 2:30am. She was fussy for awhile after waking up, but once she was really awake she wasn't too bad. She did go right to sleep once we got her pack & play set up and put her down. And surprisingly she didn't sleep in the next morning. She was a little bit of a handful, not sure why...maybe because she was out of her element. So the terrible 2's showed themselves more than normal. And my brother didn't have any problems telling us that our daughter is horrible. Of course someone who doesn't have any children knows how to better parent than us. Jared and I took the high road as to not ruin our vacation. We just ignored the comments as much as we could and let it be. We rented a house on the lake for Tuesday through Sunday. The house was actually about half a mile from the lake on 7 acres of land. But they had a golf cart that you could take down the trail to the lake so you didn't have to walk. This was great for my dad! We had a fun time. A lot of firsts for Caitlyn!



First Boat Ride

First time playing putt putt golf
                                  
First time swinging in a tire swing
First Bon Fire at the lake

First time fist bumping Harrison

First time dancing on the dance floor at a wedding

It was chilly but not super cold while we were there. I love fall weather and wearing my hoodies! The day of the wedding was beautiful! They got married at a local resort. Jared missed most of the ceremony because Caitlyn was acting up and he had to take her back to the car. But we all had a great time at the reception. Caitlyn and my little cousin Faith had so much fun dancing and running around! Jared and I were watching her and I got tears in my eyes. She was growing into her own little person right before my eyes! We left Sunday morning to come back home. She slept about the same on the way home, but she wasn't fussy or cranky. Very easy to appease on the way home! Over all we had a great time with just a little family drama. But what family vacation doesn't have a little drama?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

2nd Birthday Celebrations

A little late I know! September and the first part of October have been crazy busy! Starting with Caitlyn's birthday. Then a trip to MN for my cousin Lisa's wedding and a trip to Atlanta for my cousin Kimmie's birthday...more on those in another post. Plus Dr. appts for everyone in our household and work and excursions.


We had Caitlyn's birthday party the Saturday before her birthday (Sept 11th). We decided to only invite immediate family and a few of our close friends this year. Last year for her first birthday I think we over did it a little bit and Jared and I didn't really get to enjoy it. This year we were looking for a more laid back party and we got exactly what we wanted! I put together a photo montage of Caitlyn's 2nd year. We watched this. Ate cake and ice cream and opened presents. Caitlyn is so loved...she is such a lucky little girl!




Then on Sunday we went to the zoo. Last year Aunt Beth and I took Caitlyn on her actual birthday. This year because of my time off for the surgery in July and the time off for our 2 trips I couldn't take her actual birthday off. So we went the Sunday before. And this time Daddy, Uncle Josh and Harrison got to join us! This is definitely an annual tradition I want to keep going! It is so much fun with her knowing the animals and being able to point them out and tell us what they are! I tried to take her on the carousel but she wouldn't sit on any of the animals. So we had to sit on the bench. Hopefully next year will be better!
On her actual birthday I had to work and that night we left for MN. I did get cupcakes for her to take to school. And she got to wear her birthday girl shirt.

Overall I think she had a great birthday week! We can't celebrate just one day for birthday's in our house. It's at least a week long celebration!