Shore Excursions

Oh my gosh, we will be on our cruise in 2 more sleeps! I'm so excited it's crazy! I still feel like there's a lot to do in between now and when we get to enjoy our dream vacation - but it doesn't matter. In 2 more sleeps, I will be on that cruise anyways!

I've been super pumped about our shore excursions that we booked about a week ago, and I've been dying to share the details with you all.

We have several days where we are just on our cruise ship. I plan on doing lots of sleeping, eating, reading and entertaining these days. It'll be nice to have no agenda, and no where to go except the pool!

On our first stop in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands we're doing a bus tour of the area, which is a major international financial center (read: this place has more banks than it does people). We also visit a dolphin aquarium as part of the tour and travel to a local town named "Hell". I guess it's named that after some crazy Limestone rock formations. Who knows. I guess we'll find out!

Our second stop in port is to Roatan, Honduras, which apparently has amazing beaches. We would have loved to gone scuba diving while there, but it's a no deal while I'm pregnant. So instead we booked a snorkeling adventure at a ship wreck and coral reef site. I'm super excited about this because I love ocean life, and can't wait to be an observer who is actually present and see lots of fun things!

Then we stop in Cozumel, Mexico where we're doing our longest shore excursion of all! Our trip to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum will take us a total of 8 hours, including travel time. Apparently the site is amazing, and since Greg and I are both interested in history and culture, I think this is the excursion we will both agree we enjoyed together the most.

And our last stop in Princess Cays, Bahamas will treat us with a glass bottom boat ride. I think this will be a fun change from snorkeling as we will likely be able to go deep, farther, and see more.

I'm really happy about the mix of what seems like will be down time combined with fun adventures. Some of our shore excursions are short - only an hour or two - with the one long day in Mexico. That still leaves me lots of time on any given day to work towards my goal of: eat, sleep, read, entertain, and connect with my husband. Sweet.

Oh and I'm fairly certain that I won't get to update the blog while I'm away, but I just may sneak on a picture or two if I can. If you're just itching to see the view that I do though, you can check out our ships webcam! (Scroll down to the bottom of that page, click on the "Bridge Cam" link, and take a look.) Cool, huh?

Later, friends!

Wordless Wednesday - the papers we've been looking at this week edition

prenatal visit #2

date: March 22, 2010 = 16.5 weeks pregnant

baby boo's heartbeat: 153 BPM

weight: 144 lbs (another 4 pounds in a month... oh dear!)

blood pressure: perfect

- My Maternal Serum Screening blood work (the ones that look for Down Syndrome and other genetic disorders) is not all back yet, but the fact that she hasn't heard anything from my first round is a good sign.

- My regular blood work showed something wonky - some Hepatitis B stuff floating around in there. We're sure it's because I got my TwinRix Hep A & B shot about 6 hours before I did that blood work. Nonetheless, I need to be retested in about a month.

- I got approval to go in the hot tubs while we're on our cruise! Most of the risk for this is in the first trimester, and as long as I don't stay in for too long, or get too hot, it's perfectly safe for me to enjoy this little treat. So enjoy it I will! I plan on doing a hot tub dip at 2AM some night when no one is around and I can look at the stars. Heaven.

- The big ultrasound is scheduled for April 6, just after we get home from our cruise. I can call the Doctor and she will tell me the baby's gender over the phone either the day of or the day after the ultrasound. Whoo hoo! My money is on boy! :)

- I go back in 4 weeks and I get to start peeing in a cup regularly again (read: peeing all over my hand and hopefully some in the cup since the belly starts getting in the way of the view)

Maple Sugar Woods

This weekend we went to the Maple Sugar Woods just minutes from our house.

There were a lot of people there.

Asher loved walking in the puddles in his rubber boots.


He loved it so much, in fact, that that's all he wanted to do.

He went through some pretty big puddles.

And some pretty deep ones.

And he pretty much had to walk through every one he saw.

It took a long time, but it was fun. We watched the maple sap dripping from the trees.

And ate maple taffy (OK so that was mostly me...)

We had an awesome time as a family.

And of course Asher had a blast with one of his best buds Noah.

They sure do like each other!

After 2 hours in the woods, walking and splashing, we were pretty happy...

... and pretty wet!

Evening snack - pregnant version

Seems perfect to me! :)

This week I have...

... researched and finally booked our shore excursions for the big cruise! Yippee!

... doing a lot of planning and preparing to get Asher's "stuff" in order for us to be gone for 9 days. There's a lot of info to pass along, even though my mom takes care of him all the time. What class he takes when, and where, and with who. What to do if there's a health concern, you need to get out of the house, need something fun for Asher to do, need to avoid losing your hair - you get the point.

... never been so scared with Asher's big fall.

... been reminded of how good God is in the way He protects and cares for our family.

... been feeling baby boo move around more and more.

... cashed in on a bunch of summer maternity clothes from a girlfriend.

... spent a lot of time outside in the wonderful weather. Going for walks, feeding ducks, splashing in the puddles - it's been great!

... worn my new rubber boots just about every day.

... hardly napped at all!

... have been wiped by 9 PM most nights.

... swept my floor more times that I care to count.

... made vegetarian donairs and they were AWESOME!

... had a hard time keeping up with emails, phone calls, etc.

... took care of Marek for an extra day.

... come to the conclusion that toddler boys are tough sometimes, and not so tough other times.

... got invited to 2 toddler birthday parties in April.

... started thinking about Asher's 2nd birthday. How is that possible?

... not watched American Idol.

... pigged out at an Epicure Party - YUM!

... finally got all my Easter stuff ready to roll for when we get back from our trip (on Easter weekend!)

... been so hungry! Working hard on growing that baby belly... er.... I mean that baby!

Another first

Well Tuesday brought another first in our world with Asher, but not a first that I'm excited about. As Asher was walking down stairs from our upstairs floor to our main level, he tripped over his pant leg, and fell down the whole flight of stairs. I was about 3 steps behind him and saw the whole thing; he was just out of my reach as it happened.

12 stairs is a long way down when you're falling.

It is a moment I will never forget, seeing your precious child fall and crash and bang this way and that, and twist and turn and roll head over feet, and land with a thud and then seeing blood. It was scary and I didn't know how much damage there was. Asher was crying, hard, and there was blood and I didn't know where it was coming from. He held his breath and turned blue; he didn't quite pass out, but he was close.

I was panicked by trying to be in the moment to help Asher. I felt a bit of instant relief when I saw him kick his legs. "OK" I thought, "he's not paralyzed".

I called Greg and asked him to come home right away. That was a tough call to make and I'm sure an even tougher one to receive.

It took Asher about 10 -15 minutes to calm down. I could finally see that the blood was coming from his lip and I didn't see any obvious breaks or blood coming from anywhere else. He stayed very close and sucked his thumb a lot, but eventually he got up from my lap and walked around a bit. I grabbed his gear and got him and Marek dressed just in time for Greg to walk in the door. We knew we needed to go to the hospital in case there was something broken.

During the 3 hours we waited in the Emergency Room, my boy began to act more and more like himself. He had been pretty quiet and had not been moving around much for the first hour or two. Eventually he started talking and laughing and being his silly old self. My goldfish cracker eating boy. More and more relief came to Greg and I the more and more he seemed OK.

We finally saw a doctor who stripped him down and did a thorough exam. It didn't appear that anything was broken or seriously damaged. He didn't flinch or cry as she tugged and moved his limbs and joints this way and that way. We did find a few bruises and some carpet burn on his face, and were told to keep an eye on any possible signs of head trauma. All we walked out of the hospital with was this:

Thankfully.

Asher has seemed a bit more cranky than normal since this happened, and is having a harder time sleeping. I'm sure he's just a bit scared and probably sore from his big fall.

But he's OK - and I couldn't be happier. Let me tell you, it's moments like that where what's really important becomes so crystal clear.

Health.

Family.

Love.

Safety.

Time.

Connection.

God's care and provision.

Prayer.

Faith.

Marble chocolate cake, fresh flowers, and the good friends who gave me these things without even knowing what a tough day we had all had.

I can honestly say that I hope this "first" is never repeated again!

Wordless Wednesday - "playing with shovels with Papa" edition

2-weeks...

... from today, I will be boarding this beauty.

I can't wait to...

Sleep.

Sun.

Dine.

Explore.

Experience.

Relax.

Rest.

Read.

Do nothing.

Be with my husband.

Laugh.

Until then, I will enjoy every second with my toddler boy and be doing lots of laundry and packing and preparing.

2-weeks.

That's all that's left!

Wordless Wednesday - Asher takes a photo edition

baby training

This past week my in-laws, who happen to be my neighbors, were away. We visited their house each day to feed and spend time with their cat, Pickles, and also to play with the different toys in my nieces' play room. Interestingly enough, this week Asher became interested in babies - maybe something to do with the fact that we're talking about having a baby join our family each day - just a guess though :)

I took a bunch of pictures, and can't help but share. It's so precious!

I love the look on Asher's face here!

And here, too!

He can even work in the kitchen with baby in tow - what a talented boy.

Let's just hope he doesn't do this with his new baby brother or sister!

So I guess a baby doll toy has now officially made it's way on Asher's birthday wish list. It'll be good training for him, I'd say, to get used to having a "baby"around.

This week...

... I have been caring for a lot of toddler boys

... and it's been tiring

... but fun and good

... and I've had help

... which was helpful

... but I'm sure glad it's Friday!

Wordless Wednesday - first trip to our local indoor amusement park

a little language love

Remember how a few weeks ago I expressed that Asher was saying a lot of single words, but not many 2-word sentences? Well this kids brain must be in rapid fire language learning mode because over the last couple weeks alone he has been throwing out the 2-word sentences like there's no tomorrow. I took a few moments to write down some of the ones I've heard just this past weekend, and I wanted to share them with you. Here they are:


"Mama goes"

"read book"

"Asher's car"

"Papa work"

"Papa's shovel"

"excited pancakes"

"clean up blocks"

"bye poop"

"want juice"

"more fish"

"cookies all gone"

"sleeves up"

"shoes on"

"other one ball"

"uh oh broke"


And also while we're on the language band wagon, Asher said something really cute this weekend. I often say to him "Asher I have something to tell you" or "Asher I have a secret" and that thing is always "I love you!". He sometimes will repeat "love you" after me, but this weekend I said my little preface; "Asher I have a secret" and Asher responded with "love you!" Awwww, melt my heart little boy, I do love you. So very, very much.