The Latest and Greatest in our World

I know I rarely get time to post here, but I did want to follow up and tell you what's going on in our lives at the moment. We're back from our cruise and just dealing with the rest of the winter season as we hope to see spring soon. (Oh we so hope!)

Cruise
We had a really enjoyable holiday. The big surprise was that my parents showed up to surprise us! They were at the hotel when we arrived in Miami and they were booked to go on the cruise with us.

Mom and Dad with Petite

In Miami, we did some shopping (Dolphin Mall) and went to eat at a couple of spots. We were looking forward to The Outback but we didn't have a good meal there, unfortunately. However a meal at a mom-and-pop Italian spot across from the hotel was to die for! Yum!

On February 4, we boarded the Carnival Victory (thank goodness it wasn't the Triumph! Yikes!) and that evening, we set sail from Miami en route to Nassau.

On deck for sailaway, you can see the slide, sunning areas,
and the big screen that played shows and movies all through the trip. 

Miami as we set sail.

February 5, Nassau -- We spent the day at the Atlantis Resort. WOW!

Atlantis as seen from the ship while we are docking.

Petite enjoying Atlantis.

No fear!

One of the many slides in Atlantis.

I'd love to go back there when Petite is older so we can all enjoy more of the rides!

February 6, Half Moon Cay (Carnival's and Holland America's private island)

K&K at the entrance to Half Moon Cay

Petite and her big brother; we had rented this cabana for the day and it was absolutely lovely! 

The Carnival Victory as seen from our cabana.

The kids on the beach; a sand castle takes shape.

February 7, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos -- the adults had booked a snorkelling expedition through a private company

Hubby on board one of the skiffs from Blue Water Divers; en route to our snorkelling sites. 

Me and K snorkelling (thanks to Chris from Blue Water Divers for taking this photo!). If you are in Grand Turk,
Blue Water Divers is THE place to go for private dives and snorkelling expeditions. 

The sea floor as seen from about 12 feet above. 

A very good shot of "The Wall" in Grand Turk; the sea floor drops from about 30 feet to over 7000 feet!
This is an example of how quickly the dropoff can occur! 

February 8, at sea

Petite hugs one of the decorative octopi on board. 

Lady Liberty! By the end of the cruise, Petite was handing napkins to every server in sight and saying,
"Make something please!" It was pretty funny. They all adored her though. 

On Saturday, February 9, we disembarked at Miami and after seeing Mom and Dad off at the airport, we headed to our hotel for one day. We got settled in and we were all pretty tired so just took it easy for the day. We were up bright and early on Sunday, February 10 to fly home and we made it home by about 8 p.m. Back to the snow and cold... brr.

A HUGE shout-out and thank-you to our neighbours, M&M across the street, who graciously agreed to take care of our elderly cats while we were away. They're the most incredible people and we DO have a little something for you both for your kindness. Thank you both.


Work
There is movement afoot to attempt to retain me at my current location, which is spectacular. I love the more hands-on work that I do, in the technical side of the house. And the guys that I work with are wonderful. We have a new manager as of January and he's been quite fantastic as well. All in all, it's a good turn of events. We shall see how it all pans out. Oh I'm still looking for a job at home in NL; however, everything that suits me is restricted to those who are already in the area or employed by a specific organization AND living in the area. Ugh. Thus my options are extremely limited.

Milestones!
Petite is officially a 'big girl'! She put all her soothies and her soothie clips under her pillow the other day and was rewarded handsomely! The Soothie Fairy came to take her soothies and bring them to babies who need them, and she left Petite exactly what she had asked for... a teddy bear. My little girl is growing up before my eyes. It's wonderful.

Petite with her "Woobie," the bear the Soothie Fairy left for her! 

Next Steps

And I've undertaken my next rather MASSIVE goal. More to come on this in future posts. Suffice it to say, it involves big changes and I've spoken to my GP who is definitely on board. With luck, I will clear all the hurdles on my way towards achieving this one. I'm stubborn, so I think I can hang in there! 

Love to all in blogland!

Closing out 2012; Ringing in 2013

Hello...? Hello...? This thing on? *tap, tap, tap*

I would definitely forgive you if you'd thought I'd up and left for good. I am sure no one is left here, reading any of my posts anyway. But regardless, there are a few things going on and I thought I'd write about them now, while I have a moment or two, as the snow falls outside.

November and early December saw me extremely busy. I handled decorating and shopping/wrapping at the office. I organized a Christmas Cookie exchange; it went really well and I hope to do it again next year! I did a bunch of baking in the lead up to the holidays, from cookies for the exchange to cookies and things to give away, and bread/rolls for us for Christmas. We reorganized the living room with the arrival of the furniture from the east coast and we redecorated, painting the walls and fixing up the décor. It looks like the room has been brought from the early 80s into the current century! Quite a change. I did the shopping and shipping of gifts to my sister... mostly stuff for my nephew with a few items for my sister and my BIL. I did the cleaning and tidying, prepping to put up the decorations and the tree for the holidays, which was all done on the first weekend of December. The house was very Christmassy indeed. I love the holidays.

And now, Christmas has come and gone. It was... wow. I don't really have any words. It was a good Christmas I suppose, for the most part. Except for the fact that we were all quite ill. Petite got sick on Christmas Eve, during the afternoon. By evening, she was vomiting and feverish. We finally got her settled around 1 or 2 a.m. and eventually, we got ourselves to bed. Christmas Day, my girlfriend's daughter wasn't feeling well. By Boxing Day (December 26), Hubby and I were miserable, feeling like a truck had run us over. I went to work on December 27, dragging my butt through the day, but two coworkers told me I looked like "week-old codfish" and I took the hint. Friday, December 28, the doctor saw all three of us in her office. Petite was diagnosed with a bad cold, and Hubby and I were diagnosed with the flu. Home to bed for as long as possible. I took three days off work and went back to the office shortly after the new year.

Regardless, we finally came out the other side of it all. Just in time too.

We are going to head off on a holiday in early February. It's a cruise we had planned back in April last year and we've been looking forward to it ever since. My girlfriend, K, and her daughter, K, have asked us for YEARS to go on holiday with them somewhere. We always put it off, because honestly, I rarely go on 'holiday' per se. I just go to see my family, wherever they happen to be. This time though, we set aside some vacation time last year, in preparation for this vacation and we researched times/dates to travel, and where we wanted to go, cost, etc. We booked it last year and we've been counting down the days ever since. (Yes, there's an App for that too!) Petite has been told about our upcoming holiday and she is eager to build sandcastles on the beach with us. We'll be heading to Miami for a couple of days before embarking on the ship (Carnival Victory) and heading to three ports: Nassau, Bahamas; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (a private island); and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. We spend five days on the ship before we disembark and spend one more night in Miami before flying home. We CANNOT wait. Seeing as Christmas sort of passed us by, we are looking forward to having a real holiday at the moment.

We are also hoping to get home to Newfoundland near the end of July. I'm keeping an eye out for seat sales already. My 25th high school reunion will be at that time, and I really loved my high school and friends from there. I hope to catch up with many of them.

Prince of Wales Collegiate, St. John's, Newfoundland 

In fact, one in particular. I had a good friend from home who I had lost touch with. She and I hung around with a few others, but no one knew what had become of "Jan." She was also on the list of lost alumni from our high school; people were invited to post details or send info to the organizing committee regarding how to locate these lost alums. I knew a little about what Jan had done after high school, but not much. I decided to have a go at finding her. Lo and behold, my sleuthing discovered a few things: she is well-known in her field of study, and she had just relocated... to the same city where I currently live!!! A website gave a professional e-mail address for her and I shot her a note, hoping it was indeed the same person I knew from 20+ years ago. She replied... yes indeed! It is her. We made plans to go out a few weeks later to catch up. I recall her family fondly, in particular, her mom. She always made us feel welcome in their home. She's a wonderful lady.

Imagine my shock when I learned, five days before Jan and I were to get together, her mom passed away, suddenly, at home in Newfoundland. Obviously she flew home. I hear she is devastated; I know she and her mom were very close. I sent her an e-mail or two, letting her know that I had heard the news, and I was terribly sorry for her loss. With luck, when she is ready and returns to Ottawa, I may have a chance to see her. I hope so. I actually had a dream about her mom a couple of weeks ago. She was smiling and happy in this dream. She was okay. She told me she was okay. She told me to tell Jan this. She told me she is happy that I found Jan. (I'm not sure how much of this I honestly believe, but there must be a reason for her coming to me that night.) I hope that I get to tell Jan these things... when she is ready. I hope Jan and I can be close again. She always was a great friend. I am sending love and healing vibes to her as she and her family deal with this tragic loss. I had hoped to meet up with Jan's mom next summer when I go home for the reunion. Alas. God had other plans.

On other vacation fronts, we had tentative plans with other friends to rent a house in Orlando, Florida this summer for one week. I don't know if that will go ahead. To be determined I guess. And my whole family hoped to get together next Christmas, but I doubt that will happen either. Well, it may for them, but likely not for us. While I can easily carve out the time, Hubby asked for that time off and there's already absolutely no availability at the moment. He will continue to check throughout the year, but right now, it won't happen. Ugh. I wonder if he can ask now for vacation during Christmas 2014?!

And I've got one or two other things ruminating in my head at the moment. Now that we have decided not to go forward with another IVF for #2, I can focus on me. There are one or two things in particular I am focussing on, but I need to consult with a few professionals before I can make any final decisions and move forward. More info to follow as things are solidified.

For now, I am thinking of my friend Jan as she navigates life without her mom. Thinking of Vee and Boo, as they embark on a new life, moving in with Vee's dad and travelling to Thailand again for a holiday. Thinking of my sis as she and my BIL enjoy their gorgeous little boy and hopefully plan a holiday at home in May with him before he turns 2 (and they will then need to pay for a flight ticket for him!).

I am praying that 2013 will be better than 2012. We lost one wonderful member of our family in 2012; July 29 will always bring us sadness. In time, it may bring a smile of happy memories, but for now, we all ache far too much. It hurts. A LOT. I know it will for a long time to come.

Hugs and love to all in blogland.

Holiday Booked!

We've been eyeing another cruise for awhile now. For long-time readers, you will recall that we went on a Western Caribbean cruise in January 2011 (Petite was about 16 months old at the time). And while we've jaunted back and forth to see my folks, and gone camping now and then, we would really like to try a cruise again now that Petite is a bit older and we aren't quite as restricted with diapers, bottles, strict nap and feeding times, etc.

Added to that, my girlfriend K and her daughter K have been asking for us to go with them on vacation for a number of years. Life just seems to get in the way. So with hopes of planning far in advance to save, we started shopping around in November 2011 for something in early 2013, giving us all enough time to save money, plan details, figure out all the ins-and-outs, renew passports, etc.

We finally made the leap.

Yesterday I put down a deposit on a 5-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise that goes in February 2013. Six people (three kids, three adults) in two rooms, departing out of Miami. There are stops in Grand Turk (Turks and Caicos), Nassau and Half Moon Cay (Bahamas). We are SO excited.

I'm already looking at excursions, hotels in Miami (for a day or two prior to the cruise departure), things for Petite to see and do, onboard amenities, and stuff to keep the teens busy.

I CANNOT WAIT. *dances*

YAY! A full week of no cooking or cleaning and with luck, we'll get some sun and sand and fun. Oh joy!

Western Caribbean Cruise Details

Better late than never right? Here are the details of our recent trip to Florida (for New Year's) and then our 7-day Western Caribbean cruise.


First stop: St. Pete's Beach where we spent three days and enjoyed the sights and sounds of our favourite haunts. We went to Cody's Steak House (always a staple for any trip to Florida!), the ladies enjoyed pedicures, courtesy of my sister, who as of today is 24 weeks pregnant, and we soaked up a little sun. If I had my time back, I would have chosen to stay in Florida for about a week rather than just three days. It's never enough time!


Petite's first time on a sandy beach; she LOVED it!





My dad with Petite as she gets the hang of her Elmo harness. It didn't take her long to figure out that by putting this thing on, she could have some freedom, and when she figured THAT out, my dad had quite a job to keep up with her! Here she is, running, along the walkways at the Ellenton outlet stores.

NOTE: I'm generally not a fan of harness or leashes, but not knowing what the ship was like (i.e., whether there was a space at the bottom of the railing), it was better to be safe than sorry. So we picked up this harness for Petite just in case and got her used to it.




On January 2, we headed over to the port of Tampa and boarded the Carnival Legend for our 7-day cruise. This photo was taken at Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, as we were returning to the ship from wandering at the stores and shops along the quay.




Sunrise on board, for our first day at sea, January 3, 2011.

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands was our first port of call on Jan. 4, 2011. Hubby, Petite, my mom, dad and I all went ashore together --via tender boat; as you saw above, our ship was anchored offshore -- to roam about and poke into a few stores. It was very picturesque and as you can see, still decorated for the holidays.

Our second port of call was Isla Roatan, Honduras on Jan. 5, 2011. A BEAUTIFUL island! OMG, it's gorgeous. We elected to do a beach break excursion. We walked straight off the ship, along the walkway pictured below, through the shopping area and over to Mahogany Bay beach to spend a few hours.

Initially, Petite came with us. She was excited to get in the water and play on the sand!

But Petite had caught a little bit of a sniffly nose, so we brought her back to the ship after awhile. Hubby stayed with her for a few hours, and then my sister and mom relieved him of baby guard duty, and he returned to the beach to spend time with me. I think this is one of the two or three pics we had taken together while we were on the cruise!

Here are the beach chairs and the area that everyone gathered in for the day at the beach. Music was coming from the nearby bar on the beach, you could rent snorkel or scuba gear (I went snorkelling for the first time in my life! VERY cool!) and the clamshell cabanas were comfortable enough to relax in. A fairly good day; I just wish Petite had been able to enjoy more of it.

January 6 saw us dock outside of Belize City, Belize. There were a few cruise ships docked for the day but in Belize, apparently it's very shallow and they haven't excavated to allow the ships to dock alongside the quay as they did in Isla Roatan. Thus, we boarded a tender boat for a 20 minute ride between our ship and the dock. This is the quay in Belize and some of the shops. Plenty of passengers, aren't there? There are a lot of excursions to chose from, but with a toddler who is too young to do any of them or who doesn't have the attention span for them, we elected mostly to just roam around the quay. In Belize, I really wanted to do the cave tubing excursion, but it just wasn't possible. Hopefully in a few years, I'll get to return and do those sorts of things.

Leaving Belize, we spotted this gem of a view. We couldn't let it pass by without taking a photo. Hubby took this one; I think it's spectacular.

And lastly, on January 7, our port of call was Cozumel, Mexico. I knew that Hubby wanted to hit the beach again, but Petite wasn't up for the length of time it took for that excursion. So I told Hubby to go with my sis and her friend so they could enjoy the beach, while I stayed with Petite. Because we split up, Hubby took our camera and went off to see the Mayan Ruins/beach in Cozumel. Petite, my dad, and I went ashore early. And later in the day, my mom, my sis and I went again. We hit the shops along the quay and I picked up a couple of souvenirs for Hubby's kids and our friends K&K.

Anyway, all that to say: Hubby took our camera so I used my mom's camera to take photos of the quay. Mom's pics haven't been downloaded yet, so I'll have to show you Hubby's pics of the ruins and the beach.

And lastly, aboard the Carnival Legend again, here are a few pics of the local flavour. The photo here is one of the piano bars on board, very near the restaurant.

Our steward, Sri, made sure our towel animals gave us a grin! Here's the monkey that greeted us one evening!

And this is a pic of our stateroom as we first saw it on our embarkation day. It can accommodate a family of up to 4 people, with a pull-out and a pull-down bed. But in our case, they had it made up for two adults and an infant. And this was a crib Petite couldn't climb out of! (For reference, we had cabin 7176, an unobstructed view on the port side of the ship.)

While on board, we celebrated my mom's birthday in Cozumel, Mexico. We couldn't do a whole lot for her, but my sis did a great job decorating her stateroom (her room and my parents' were adjoining) and we gave her cards, and sang Happy Birthday at dinner and all that. She was adamant that we not tell the staff for fear they would embarrass her!

IVF Update

On Thursday, January 27, we go to Montreal again for a follow-up appointment with our doctor. I'm not entirely sure of the purpose of this one; the test results are normal as far as I know so in my view, the next step is figuring out the calendar. But we'll see what they want us for and what they have to say. I think we'll be taking Petite with us for this jaunt, although her caregiver says that we can leave her there until we return. I just have no idea when that will be, and that uncertainty isn't what I would like to impose on Petite's caregiver. She's so good to us, I need to reciprocate. But it means taking Petite to the hospital with us, trying to entertain her and then hope to heavens she sleeps during the return two-hour drive. Wish us luck. We may need it!

T-Minus One and Counting...

In less than 24 hours, I'll be on vacation.




Oh my. That sounds absolutely wonderful, doesn't it? Okay, okay. Sorry to gloat. Skip this if you don't wanna know...



We start with a few days down south in Florida. We'll be staying in an area that we've visited so frequently since I was 8 years old, it feels almost like 'coming home' when we go there. We're looking forward to it.

We'll fly down with my parents tomorrow, the 30th (please God Petite won't get sick all over me and all our seatmates like she did last August when we flew back to Ottawa from the east coast!) and my sister and her husband will meet up with us on the 31st. That same afternoon, the ladies are getting pedicures while the men tend to Petite. We'll celebrate the new year with a meal at one of our favorite restaurants (fairly early to avoid the rush and accommodate Petite of course). Drinks at our hotel for midnight will definitely be in order! Or on the beach... a stone's throw from our hotel room. Good heavens, it's sounding better and better all the time!

January 1 sees us spending the day looking for bargains at the outlet stores in Ellenton, Florida. I'm looking forward to that too; I want to find a dress for Petite to wear to my cousin's wedding coming up in June 2011 out west. Oh, and a bathing suit for her too. And a pair of sandals for me. That oughta do it. *nod nod*

On January 2nd, we all embark on a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (Carnival) with stops in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Isla Roatan, Honduras; Belize, Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico. My mother will celebrate her 69th birthday while we're aboard! YAY!

We're cruising with another family who are great friends of ours, and their children and grandchildren too. All in all, we're numbering 15 on board in both parties. This should be fun!

Although, I'll be honest. Some parts of it, I'm sort of dreading. Like the policy that because Petite isn't toilet trained (she wears swim diapers), she cannot go in any of the pools on board, even the kiddy pool. Ugh. She won't like that at all; she loves the water. Or the fact that while we have a harness for her so she won't run and slide off the end of the deck or something, she absolutely refuses to wear the thing without a total meltdown. Or the fact that we've reserved cribs for her in the hotel and at sea, but what on earth will we do if she climbs out of them? Dear Lord, please let this go well. I want us all to enjoy this vacation; we all want and need that.

Money is tight for us with Hubby in school; this trip is a gift from my parents, as decided by them last year before Christmas, when Petite was... well, really tiny! I've been looking forward to it since, but our house is so crazy, it's only in the last week or so that I can really get my hopes up. I'm grateful beyond belief that they're doing this for all of us. What an amazing gift. A few of their friends commented on how generous they are to us, to do this for us. Mom's reply is usually along the lines of, "Well, maybe if you didn't buy your kids junk or electronics and toys for Christmas, you could do that too." She's right too. Skip the iPad... I'd rather a 7-day vacation! REALLY!

Christmas with Petite was a lot of fun. She loved opening the gifts (with help from her Daddy). Nana and Poppy (my parents) loved watching her too. She got all sorts of beautiful clothing -- dresses, sleepers, socks, fleece outfits -- and lots of toys, like the Fisher Price Animal Farm, an easel to draw and colour, Weebles in her stocking, a 'remote' for the car/house (I think I'll attach that to the stroller for the trip), a French version of Leapfrog's Cook and Play Potsy, and the French version of the Laugh and Learn Musical Chair. And BOOKS! Oh so many books! And nothing that she already had! Bonus! Oh I'm so happy she loves reading!

She's learning by leaps and bounds. Ŧhe other day, all Nana had to do was say, "Do you want some breakfast?" and Petite pushed her high chair out through the kitchen doorway and over by the dining room! No joke! This morning, she uncovered the candy dish and Nana taught her that candy is "Yucky"... which she obediently repeated and put the candy down in the dish again, shaking the sugar from her fingers. (Hubby caught this on video; it's so cute!) It's been a lot of fun having her around the house, and for me, having a few days at home to enjoy her. What a fantastic opportunity. I miss that so much. God I wish I could be a stay-at-home-mom. *sigh*

I don't know how often I'll have the opportunity to post while away. I hope to, but no guarantees; after all, this is supposed to be a vacation, right? I'm playing my days entirely by ear; we don't even have any excursions booked yet! Probably for the best, given Petite's age and need for naps. At least we have a few other adults to help us out in that department.

So, in case I don't get another opportunity, I'd like to take the time to wish you and yours a wonderful New Year. May it be filled with joy and love, peace and prosperity. And oh God, may all our dreams come true in 2011. Wouldn't that be something special?

Much love as we all close out 2010. Onward and upward for the new year!