Destin - The Drive Home & Pics of the Room

This was our condo...

The living/dining room...

The coffee table was actually a slab of granite but they had painted the top.
Our bathroom... Loved the size of our bathroom. And the shower was huge too. The afternoon after we got back from the horrid experience at the beach, I gave the kids a shower rather than a bath due to all the sand all over them. You would have thought I was torturing them with the way they freaked out. Not a fan of showers!

Our bedroom... I cannot believe how early the sun rises in Florida! I think it rises around 5:30 or 5:45 each morning! I look at the windows in the room we slept in and that is the first thing that comes to mind.
The kid's bedroom... We moved the two tables out to have room for the three pack n plays. It was a shame we couldn't use the bunk beds but maybe next time. The kids didn't know what to think sleeping that close to each other.
Mamaw's room... The picture hanging between the two windows was hung upside down. So when you lay on the bed with your head hanging off, you can look at the picture right side up.
The second bathroom... They weren't fans of baths either or at least not in this bath tub. It didn't have their nonslip mats they are used to.

The balcony was nice and big. Mostly shaded and the breeze was nice enough that is was very enjoyable to sit out there most of the time.
The drive home...

The trip home started around 9:30 or 10 that morning. We had a different game plan in mind this go around. We would make many more regular stops and I would drive some and catch a break rather than being cooped up in the cramped back seat the entire trip home tending to the kids. It seemed that every time I drove, the kids were good for Craig and he was able to watch an entire movie at a time and sleep without having any trouble with the kids. It just worked out where his turn in the back seat always fell right after the kids had been fed and had a chance to stretch their legs, so they were in much better spirits for him.

The kids definitely had a much more difficult time on the trip home than they did on the way there. Part of this probably had part to do with the late night at Seaside the night before. They had their moments throughout the trip, even right from the beginning where they were really fussy. We stopped for a picnic lunch at the Alabama (?) maybe it was the Alabama welcome center. And stopped several other times to stretch, switch drivers etc.

A stop at McDonalds for an early dinner because the kids SO needed to get out of the car! Whitney somehow got her fingers stuck in the carseat slot where the belt comes out and we just thought she was suddenly crying just because she was tired of being cooped up. Poor thing! Her fingers looked like they had been closed in the door. I just cried with her once I saw what happened.

We hit a little rain in Mississippi and at one point I couldn't really even see the road. We switched drivers because it was supposed to be rainy for a long while but then, it wasn't. They finally started to fall asleep off and on around 7pm or so but none of them would stay asleep. They would wake up pretty regularly and have a crying, screaming fit. And when the car stopped, even if they were asleep and had been asleep for a while, they would still wake up. This was the worst episode yet when we pulled over for something. Whitney woke up and literally screamed her head off for about 45 minutes. The poor thing was so tired. My first thought was 'We are going to have another round of this when we stop to drop of Mamaw in Rowlett and pick up Lacy.' Luckily Mamaw volunteered to drive straight to our house and we could drive her home in the morning.

We finally got home around 1:30a.m. and I was up at 8 that next morning. I took Mamaw home and when I got home at 10:30 I was surprised to see everybody still asleep in bed, besides Hannah (was awake). Tyler and Whitney actually slept until noon and we finally woke them because we feared they wouldn't sleep that evening. Hannah had a nap later that afternoon, as did I, while Craig stayed up with the other two, who weren't getting naps. Our entire day and schedule was off and we finally managed to get back on track on Sunday.

It was a rough traveling experience and with the long distance and their daddy's reluctance to make stops, I don't plan to make another trip that far anytime in the near future.

I will post more pictures on facebook so if you are interested in seeing the rest of them, go check them out on there.

Florida Vacation - The drive there.

We set out on our way to Florida at 5:30 Sunday morning. We planned to leave around 3 a.m. but with the delay in getting everything done and packed the night before, we were up too late to be leaving at 3 a.m. The kids did so well; I cannot believe how well they did. They never went back to sleep after being woke up at 5:15 and they each had a 30 minute nap and nothing more throughout the entire drive, and didn't go to bed until around 10:30 that night. What a long day for them (and us)! I just can't get over how well they did with such a long drive and very few stops. It took us 16 hours to get there for what was supposed to be a 12 hour drive without stops. We actually got into Destin around 8:30 but by the time we got to Seacrest Beach and found our condo, it was 9:30. Things aren't too easy to find around there in the dark when in unfamiliar territory.

Our car was packed to the max and our overhead luggage rack storage bin was too. Mamaw and I planned to alternate sitting in the backseat however, Mamaw has been having some recent back trouble so she rode up front the entire time. Thankfully, the long drive wasn't too hard on her back. Craig informed me last minute that I would be doing some driving but that didn't happen so I rode in back the entire time and tended to and entertained the kids. I can't express how exhausting it was to turn around 8,000 times in the 16 hours to entertain them and fetch the toys/food/drinks they dropped. And with our car being so full, it was quite cramped and each time we stopped to get the kids out, most of the stuff had to be moved around so the seat could be moved up to get the girls out of the third row. A road trip I will never forget and will not again do for a very long time....not all at once - breaking it up, yes. :)

Here is Mamaw trying to keep her neck and back comfortable. Not too far into the trip at this point.

Craig driving - and gotta love good ole GPS!
Hannah all happy in her pajamas. And yes, that is a pack n play between her and Whitney.
Little Miss Whitney in her pj's. The poor girls had so much stuff in the floor board at their feet. Luckily though, these carseats sit up pretty high so they still had a decent amount of leg room.
My buddy Tyler sitting beside me in the second row. And there was another pack n play at his feet in the floor board (among other things).

Mamaw sat up in the condo while Craig and I unloaded ALL this stuff we took with us! Thank God for Mamaw! I can't imagine how hard it would have been for one person to do this alone while the other watched the kids. Isn't this crazy?!? For 4 days and 5 nights!! I will be updating each day of our vacation soon so stay tuned...

April...... Oh! April........

What an eventful month we've had! Where to begin....

We started the month off on a good note with our first Easter egg hunt/party as I previously mentioned in another post.

Just before Easter, we had a rather interesting "65th Birthday Party" for my mother. Not sure if it would actually be considered a birthday party without the birthday girl, but nonetheless, we had pizza and cake and celebrated..... my nephew's one month birthday instead!

As I also mentioned in the previous Easter post, we made it to church for Easter Sunday. The first we've been since Craig's surgery and the first time the babies have been in probably 6 months.

We had a couple of outings to the mall and are making an effort to get out more and be "normal". We were going to let the babies play in the kid's play area at the mall but it was closed for cleaning and didn't have time to wait for them to finish so we left. But we had a good time anyway getting out of the house and strolling around the mall.

Last weekend, we had our first official roadtrip with the babies. We went to East Texas to visit with some of Craig's family. It was a rather exhausting and short trip. The babies are still so small, it just isn't easy trying to travel especially without the help of Craig. We left the house early Saturday morning and headed to Longview. It rained pretty much the whole way there. I changed poopy diapers in the car while we stopped for a potty break because I didn't want to venture out in the rain. The babies cried and screamed almost the entire time and didn't nap a wink except the 15 minutes before we arrived. At some point on the road, I literally crawled all the way to the back of the car, climbing over the middle baby, to fetch the paci's. W & T don't ever use paci's unless they are sleeping in their beds so I didn't feel the need to have them up front with me. So, anyway, once we got there, I unloaded the babies and our stuff in the rain. Then, once I got their seats set up and got the babies fed, we sat down and had a nice lunch and I put the babies down to nap immediately after. They napped almost the entire time we were there which was a bummer since that was the sole reason we went was to allow Craig's relatives love on Jami's (Craig's mom) grandkids. They were just so tired and I knew they needed to nap but they got a little bit of time to hold them etc. before we had to leave. We left there about 4:30 and headed to Gladewater to go visit with Craig's uncle for a very short bit. Craig's uncle lives in a log cabin that Craig helped build and he has been wanting to show it to me for a long time as well as let Ben (Craig's uncle) see all the grandkids. We left there and the babies were fussy and hungry. We went to the local Dairy Queen and they didn't have enough high chairs to accomodate us so we drove on to the next town. That town didn't have any place to eat so we drove on... We passed several more towns before we found a Golden Chick with 2 high chairs so we unloaded the babies and brought in one of our own booster seats. We ate dinner and after that, we went to the car so I could change everybody's diaper and put pajamas on. By this time it was 8pm. We got on the road and Tyler fussed and screamed half the way home - they were awake the whole way home except for 30 minutes prior to arriving home at 10 or 10:30. It was good to meet his family and visit and see his uncle's cabin, I just think my kids were still too young for so much driving in one day.

This week, we took the babies to the gym for the first time and left them in the gym "kid's club". I've never been too comfortable with this but since the babies are getting older, I figured I would give it a shot - besides, I am getting desperate for some "me time". Craig's surgery was 4 weeks ago and my "me time" consists of me occasionally going into my bedroom to get away while Craig hangs out with the babies in the living room with nothing but one wall separating us. This is about the best we can do since he can't really watch them. This way, if something happens, he can just holler and I can come in and put out the fire. So, other than this "me time", I had one hour break Easter Sunday when we put the babies in the nursery and two nights a week when I go to school, which I don't really consider "me time". Anyway... back to the gym. The babies didn't do very well - they cried off and on the entire 30 minutes I exercised. There were probably 20 other kids in there too with only 3 adults so I am sure the babies were very overwhelmed. I wasn't a big fan of the "kid's club" because the baby section was tiny; the section for older kids was huge but the baby section was itty bitty. AND none of their toys worked because they don't keep up with the batteries! What the heck is that about? We probably won't be back until they are walking all the time and are able to play in the big area.

Then yesterday, we had a fun day of playdates at the mall and ER visits. Not the babies... it was Craig. I know.... you are really surprised right? Craig woke up yesterday early in the morning with diarrhea (I know... TMI) and it just progressively got worse. He started vomitting as well. It was getting close to time for me to go meet my friend at the mall and I asked Craig over and over if he wanted me to stay. He said no and told me to go. I think he wanted peace and quiet without 3 loud babies around more than he wanted me to take care of him. I called to check on him while I was gone and he said he was taking himself to the ER but he really wanted me to drive him but I couldn't get here quick enough for him and then what to do with the kids? I left the mall and began making phone calls trying to find somebody who could help me out with the kids. My SIL, Lisa came over and watched them for me so I could get up there and see what the heck was going on. THANK YOU SO MUCH, LISA! You were a life saver! When I got there, Craig told me his heart rate was well into the 200's, he had the chills and was dizzy. They started an IV and drew some blood and ran some tests. His white blood cell count was high so they said he probably had some type of infection but they wanted to do a cat scan just to make sure it wasn't something else. They checked abdomen, intestines and appendix. His intestines were inflamed but everything else looked good. They diagnosed him with a severe GI infection, gave him some meds and sent him home. He is feeling a little better but still not feeling very well at all.

We had a doctor's appointment this morning we had to cancel and we have some friends coming over tonight and we were going to BBQ on our new grill but we will probably have to cancel that too. We were also planning to go to church with his family for baby day this Sunday because whoever has the most visitors will be crowned baby king and baby queen and will get a pizza party afterwards. Plus, one of the church members is a photographer and is taking pictures of all the babies and we get a free group pic and one individual copy as a gift for mother's day. We were looking forward to all this but we may not be able to make it to that either.

I'll let you know how the rest of our weekend and month goes and I will do a post with more baby updates and pictures soon.

Happy April everybody!