Part Two: Heading North

[scroll down for part one]

Ten days into our trip, Marlee and I flew up to San Fransisco to visit family. We stayed with my Grandma Lois, but got to visit with the DeVos side of the family too. We even got to visit Poppy on his 80th birthday!

Playing in Great-Grandma's yard...Just like Mommy did at my age!

Silly Uncle Keith

Great-Granny and Cousin Catrina

Great-Poppy

Michael joined us after his last day of work. Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling very well, so we didn't do much. By the time we flew home, he was sick.

**forgot to mention: When we got to SF, the airline had left our gate-checked stroller behind. What is up with that?

Part One: Deep Breath In.........................

and here goes!

We left Tuesday, October 14th for Los Angeles. The flight was pretty uneventful, except for a couple of protests from Marlee June. She doesn't understand why she can't walk up and down the aisles and show people how cute she is. We arrived at LAX to discover that the airline didn't put one of our bags on the plane. They tracked it down in Atlanta and agreed to put it on a later flight and deliver it to our hotel. By the time the luggage crisis was solved and we picked up our rental car, we were running late for the check-in at our hotel. Instead of staying with the rest of Michael's team at a flea-bag motel, we had made our own reservations. I called to let them know we were running late and was told our reservation had been cancelled for a no show the day before. Originally, we were arriving on Monday. When I called to change to Tuesday, they just made a note in the comments section and didn't change the reservation itself. The hotel admitted their mistake, but didn't have anywhere for us to stay. So we were driving around LA, lost, missing a suitcase and without a hotel reservation. Needless to say, I was majorly stressed. I called my dad to see if he could get online and find something for us. He stays at Marriotts on all his travels, so he pulled some strings to get us a room at the Courtyard in Beverly Hills. It was great, but we couldn't afford to stay there for two weeks, so it was a temporary plan. Thanks to the awesome GPS on our iPhones, we arrived at the hotel...finally! We checked in, got to our room, and remembered that our lost bag was being delivered to the other hotel. A few phone calls and some begging and problem solved...the courrier would bring it to our new hotel.

The time in LA was okay. Michael was pretty miserable, working 16 hour days, even on weekends. Marlee and I did a few fun things, including The Aquarium of the Pacific. She had such a great time...she walked around for hours saying, "Fish, fish, fish." I think she would have been happy to stay all day.

Another day, we went to the Santa Monica Pier and beach.



Sunday the 19th was our six year wedding anniversary. Michael was able to leave work around 5, and we all went to Downtown Disney for the evening. Our plan was to stay to watch the fireworks, but we were all too tired to stay that late. So we just had dinner and some treats, including a snickerdoodle cookie for Marlee. I don't usually give her sweets , so she was beside herself. Michael has a picture on his phone, so I'll get moreit soon and post it.

To Be Continued...

Broken Promise

I promised I'd blog last night, and I didn't. I couldn't have predicted that we'd be spending the night in the emergency room with a sick baby. Michael was sick all of last week, and it looks like Marlee June caught the violent stomach bug yesterday. She's still asleep, so I don't know if she's feeling any better, but I woke up with it myself this morning. This should be an interesting day.

Trick-Or-Treat

I know, I owe you lots of blogging. I promise I will write about our trip and Halloween tomorrow, but for now, here are some pictures!

Homesick

We're still in California, but we'll be home Sunday! I miss home and miss blogging. My poor laptop is on the fritz, and I have to type fast because it shuts off after 5 minutes or so. Just saying hello!

New Family, New Traditions

Last year, when Marlee was less than two months old, we watched the Roswell Youth Day Parade and followed it with a trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a festive fall day, and we decided to make it an annual tradition. This year, the Schugs joined us to watch the parade. Sophie and Marlee enjoyed it...I think Nick did too, but he didn't have much to say :). After the parade and a nap, we took Marlee to the pumpkin patch. It was so much more fun this year. She enjoyed the animals, the hayride, and picking out pumpkins. She chose a small orange one and a teeny tiny white one, which she carried around (and slept with!) for two days. I have some pictures to post, but I'm blogging from LA, so they'll have to wait until we get back.

More MJ updates:

Marlee is talking up a storm (new words: breakfast, magnet, finished) and is very in to her baby doll these days. I keep meaning to take pictures. She carries her around, pats her on the back, and even pretends to nurse her. It is so stinkin' cute.

I'm Back!

Sorry for another blogging hiatus....It's been a busy week! It all kicked off with the birth of Madelyn Rhys after a long overnight labor. I was able to catch a few hours of sleep before leaving for Birmingham Thursday for a three day training. I did't want to be away from Michael and MJ for that long, so I made the 2.5 hour commute (each way) each day (ugh). Apart from the drive, the training was good. Before the end of the year, I should have my cerfification in both Childbirth and Lactation Education. I've been teaching these subjects with clients, but sort of unofficially. The whole time I was gone, Michael took care of Marlee while working from home...he's SuperDad.

When I got home from training Saturday, I quickly threw on a dress and headed to my 10 year high school reunion. I wasn't planning to go, but I changed my mind at the last minute, and I'm so glad I did. I had a really good time. The official reunion ended at midnight, but when the lights came on, we were all still having too much fun, so we moved the party to Taco Mac for a couple more hours. I don't think I've been out that late in forever. It was also the first time in forever I've had more than one drink (I've had a baby in my belly or at my breast for nearly two years, ya know), but that's another story.

We went out to breakfast Sunday morning...Finally some family time! In the afternoon we headed to the Labor of Love Reunion. LoL is the group of doulas that taught our birth class when I was pregnant with MJ. I also did my apprenticeship with them and will probably join the group myself soon. Each year, they have a big picnic for all the LoL families. It's pretty neat, lots of tiny babies, but the oldest is 12. After the picnic, we met up with the Schugs at Moe's and had dinner while the kids ran around on the patio.

We also got a bit of interesting news this week. Michael's company wants his whole team in the office for a project. So we're packing up and leaving next week for a couple weeks in Los Angeles. Adventures are never-ending with the W Family!