Just Like Titanic

Embarking on our anniversary weekend, I think Trevor and I felt much like the passengers of the Titanic. We felt secure in our adventure, sure we would have a fabulous time and sail through our celebration. Since we were going to have Tierney with us, we decided to keep it simple and stay in a hotel about ten minutes from our house.

I know that seems like a silly notion, but it's a fancy hotel with a pool, hot tub, golf course, nature trail and excellent food. And because we didn't spend money to kennel our dog or to buy gas for the car, we were able to splurge and get a suite. Sounds sweet, right?

We checked in at around 3:30 p.m. and headed straight for the pool. Last summer Tierney could not get enough of the water. She loved so splash, kick and glide. The pool at our hotel was indoor, which was nice because then I didn't have to worry about putting sufficient SPF on the kid. The plan was for Tierney to swim lots, get tired, go to bed and allow Trevor and I to have a glass of champagne.

But, then we hit the iceberg. Only our iceberg had a meltdown.

Tierney decided that she was absolutely terrified of the pool. I don't know if it was because of the echo of an indoor pool, or if she was certain that she would drown. Whatever the case, we were only able to stay at the pool for about twenty minutes, because we could not tolerate screaming beyond that.

As for dinner, Tierney was continuing to meltdown in our hotel room. Her gum was swollen where she was cutting a canine tooth and she was a complete mess. We decided that going out to eat was not going to happen. So Trevor left the hotel and went to get some takeout sushi. We were able to eat without too much fuss.

Then it was time to put Tierney down. This is usually a simple process that takes five minutes. We sing her two songs. We put her in the bed with Bear, Ella and Blanket and then she rolls over and goes to sleep. Of course on this night, she screamed for two hours. Trevor had to bounce her and sing to her for about an hour and a half before we just let her cry it out. By then my nerves were so frazzled that I had no desire for champagne (or anything else for that matter,) so I fell asleep.

I drank a glass of flat, warm champagne the next morning when Trevor ran home with Tierney to let the dog out and get the kid some fresh milk. Woo Hoo.

At least the breakfast was pretty impressive - a big, hearty buffet with smoked salmon, pancakes, an omelette station and about a dozen other choices. We decided to stuff ourselves to the gills in order to feel like we got our money's worth.

Anyway, at least we can claim to have had an unforgettable weekend. Tomorrow (Tuesday, June 2), we will celebrate our official 8 year anniversary. We are going to stay home and plan nothing.

Here are a couple of pics from the weekend. Notice they are all in the hotel room, because that's where we spent most of our time with Miss Fussy Pants McGee.

16 Months

Tierney is up to 80 spoken words, a dozen signs, can do all the movement to the Itsy Bitsy Spider and most to Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes. She will sometimes tell me when she needs changed, and a few times has brought me a diaper. She amazes me every day.

Bring on the sun, bring on the pandemic

I would like to take this time to apologize to everyone for the swine flu. We're pretty sure that it's our fault. You see back in February, Trevor and I booked a week long vacation in Playa de Carmen, Mexico for the end of June. Thanks to us, we are now facing an international health scare.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll remember that in 2006 we made a little trip to India. Just so happens that in 2006 the bird flu made it's debut and infected lots of two-footed non-flying creatures.

As you can see - we are obviously causing pandemics by planning vacations.

My mom freaked in 2006, was sure that we would contract the bird flu in India, die horrible deaths, and then have to be cremated to ease the expense of shipping our bodies back to the U.S. We went anyway, and managed to get some other horrible disease. Okay, it wasn't that horrible, but it wasn't the bird flu and we survived. And what do you expect after living in a poverty-stricken orphanage with 160 kids in a foreign country? You are just asking to get sick.

Three years later and my mom is freaking out once again. Each time I talk to her she gives me the latest updates from CNN. "Did you hear that they are advising that everyone cancel their nonessential travel plans?"

Yes, Mom. But, if you think about it, what could be more essential than a vacation at a Mexican all inclusive beach resort? We're still going to go. If by the end of June this thing is still going on, it will have become so serious that we've already contracted swine flu already and there is little hope left for humanity. We're placing our bets that things will calm down and the news will find something more interesting to talk about - like the horse flu in Spain.

We spent the weekend in Colorado visiting Trevor's sister, her husband and their brand new baby, Elliott. He was a good kid and didn't cry very much. Tierney was pretty facinated with her new cousin. Here's some pics.

I Don't Remember the Easter Bunny in the Bible

We don't do the Easter basket and toy giving thing at Easter time. Can we please have one holiday that is not overcommercialized? Still, Trevor's mom sent Tierney the freaking Easter Bunny in the mail. Not only is it slightly hideous, it sings, moves and jumps. Yes people, it jumps. Because apparently it is not possible to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord without a motorized rabbit.

Still, because I'm such a wonderful daughter-in-law (read: needed a prop for her Easter portraits), I allowed Tierney to bring Mr. Hoppity Hop outside while I took her picture. She drug him around and repeatedly pushed the button that caused him to sing his happy little song over and over and over until I wanted to make rabbit stew. On the plus side, I got some cute pictures of her.

Later in the day I found said Bunny in the trash can. When asked about it, Trevor said he was just trying to move it out of the way. I thought it was an appropriate place, but since I'm the nicest mom in the world (read: didn't want to hear Tierney scream when she couldn't find it), I took it out of the trash and left it in a less permanent location.

Overdue Update

Tierney's 15 month portraits that I took last weekend.

Trevor, Tierney and I just had the most fabulous weekend. Our best friends from college, Kate and Jason, came out with their son, Owen, for a visit. It's been a couple of years since our last visit, so obviously a lot has changed, namely, we have kids. The great thing about Kate and Jason, is that no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we always pick up right where we left off. They are truly friends for life.

Tierney and Owen seemed to get along well after an initial warming up period. By the end of the weekend, Tierney was calling Owen by name . . . or at least her version of his name, "Owie."

The kids played together at the museum, the park, hit the dance floor and took baths together. Tierney didn't even mind too much with Owen peed in the bath water. (Can't wait to break these photos out when they are old enough to be embarrassed.)

We took the kids to their first Easter Egg hunt, visited a State Historical site, and spent plenty of downtime hanging out in our living room, reading books and playing with toys. It was sad to see them go. Tierney searched the house, calling for Owie. We have his picture on the fridge, so she likes to look at it.

Tierney had her 15 month Dr. appointment today. SCREAMED through the whole thing. A couple of weeks ago she was sick and long story short, had to have a catheter inserted. Yep, she loved that. So, now she hates Doctors. When we took Vonnegut to the vet, she started crying when she saw the vet techs in their scrubs, and when the vet came in with her white coat and stethoscope, Tierney was distraught. Doctor visits = Great fun.

Despite crying, Tierney had a great report. She's still tall - 31 inches and 75th percentile. She's 22.11 pounds, right in the 50th percentile. The doctor said she's off the charts advanced as far as development stuff goes. She can say about 50 words, sign a dozen, recognizes her friends and calls some of them by name and all her motor skills are great. Plus, she is freaking cute (a very important developmental milestone.)

My favorite new sign and word that Tierney has picked up is "sad." When she looks at a book where someone is crying, she will do the sign for crying, and will say "sad." It's completely adorable. The other day we were on a stroller walk with a friend whose baby was not having such a good time, and Tierney turned around and said "sad" and did the sign for crying. So sweet.

Sweet and naughty. We've started time outs to curb her behavior, and they are having great success. She's really started to listen to avoid her time out punishment. She is a whiny, tantrum-throwing little thing when she's tired. But after she's had a time out, she will say "sorry" and give us a hug. Certainly can't stay mad at that.

Well, we are looking for to celebrating Christ's resurrection this weekend. I'll be taking pictures of Tierney in her pretty Easter dress! Blessings to all.