Family Bug

We began this week with a lovely bout of the stomach flu... Jared and I were taken for a good 24 hours so bad that I'm still recovering from rug burns on my knees from crawling on the floor. All I can say is that its a great way to get rid of those pesky last few pounds you've wanted to shed, or to jump start a diet. Our bathroom scale reported Jared lost 5 lbs, and I lost 6. Our greatest blessing was that Nicholas has been doing well and seems unaffected. Or maybe he got it in the form of daytime insomnia.

Seriously.

That child cannot take a nap to save his life right now. He sleeps at most 30 minutes, and most of the time its because he's on my lap. The stupid book, "90-Minute Sleep" is the culprit. It says you should commit to rocking the child to sleep and letting them sleep on your lap too if necessary EVERY time. Since then he wont nap, and only sleeps in the car. On the bright side he still sleeps 8:30-6:30 uninterrupted every night, so I guess I should count my blessings.

Florida!

We just got back from our very first vacation with the baby, and we went to Florida! We had an awesome time, and were pleasantly surprised at the ease of traveling with the baby. He did great on the airplane, thanks to his vitamin D drops that he loves so much.
We all arrived in Orlando in the late afternoon on friday, us, my parents, Kenzie, Jacob, Matt, and my Williams grandparents, and immediately drove to our first location, Boca Grande. Boca Grande is a small island directly off the gulf-side coast of Florida, connected by a bridge and causeway. Our hotel, called the Gasparilla Inn and Club was amazing! It had the perfect southern charm, reminding me of a old-time plantation style mansion. We got to stay there 3 nights, and thoroughly explore all the amenities it offered, like the beach club, buffet (our favorite), and golf for the guys. The course they had was so beautiful, right on the water.

We enjoyed Easter sunday there at the Venice ward. I learned there actually are wards out there with fewer young people than ours! The primary had 6 children total, and we saw only 2 young women. No young men. It made our European wards look much better. Regardless, we enjoyed the many beautiful, and interesting musical numbers. I also was excited for Nicholas' Easter outfit... Who says only girls get special Easter clothes?!

Afterwards we went to Orlando, the typical vacation spot to get our fill of theme parks. Our first day there we went to Discovery Cove, an all inclusive snorkeling and swimming park. None of us really ventured to interact with the wildlife (except for Jacob who got a last-minute swim with a dolphin!) but we loved the lazy river-style warm pool that wrapped around the park and even took a trip through an aviary full of peacocks and other colorful birds. The other fun thing about that day was our brush with fame.... We were there the same day as the Roloff family from TLC's "Little People, Big World" TV show. I'm sure glad I'm not afraid of midgets... It was so fun though, and we're pretty sure we made it on there somewhere in the recording, so keep an eye out for the upcoming episode where they visit Florida!

Our second day there we divided; Jared and Kenzie went to Universal Studios, and the rest of us went to Epcot. We had an awesome time there. The park is so beautiful and well constructed, we could have stayed two more days. We especially loved Spaceship Earth, and seeing Nicholas watching all the action.


Our last day we spent at the incredible outlet mall. I could have spent a few more hours (and dollars) there for sure. Before we knew it, our trip was over and it was time to get back home. It was sad to say goodbye to Mom, Dad, Matt, Kenzie, and Jake, but we were so happy to have seen them at all! Normally we go 6 months between visits, so it really was a treat.

3 months old tomorrow!

I can not believe how quickly these months have gone!! Nicholas has grown so much and is already getting too big. On saturday morning he even rolled over for the first (and then second time) all by himself! Jared and I were so shocked we couldn't even believe it. One minute he was on his tummy, the next on his back in one fluid motion. I guess we'll have to be more careful about where we set him down now! Needless to say, we were two very proud parents.
The most exciting thing coming up in our lives right now is our Florida trip. We're leaving early friday morning (6:45 am flight- yuck) and we're gone for a week to St Pete's and Orlando. I am sooo excited, but simultaneously nervous about the time change and how it might affect Nicholas' sleeping schedule. I just got my sleep back! But we are regardless very VERY excited to see my family, and let them see the baby!!
Right now Nicholas is on my lap, trying desperately to reach the keyboard so he can make fun clicking noises too. He loves to grab things, especially hands and hair. When he clutches on to my hair it just makes me laugh. My baby loves me :)

Feeding Machine

I think we've gotten to the bottom of this crying business... My baby is huge, and needs to eat more often! Since developing the new "feed on-demand" policy the little one has been MUCH better. I'm soooo glad considering I was about to get my tubes tied, either that or ship off my babies to be raised by a Dutch grandma... She wouldn't have minded, I'm sure.

The child does continue to astound me though and keep me on my toes just when I think I've figured him out. Last night he was screaming for about 30 minutes at the top of his lungs, and then took a brief smiling intermission to talk to his new light-up rubber duckies (which are GENIUS, by the way- $12 for 4 at Nordstrom) like nothing had ever happened. Not three minutes later when the excitement faded, he resumed his screaming where he'd left off. Jared and I just looked at each other, and he said, "I think our baby is broken." His new nickname: Psycho Baby

((Disclaimer: I did try to feed him and he couldn't take... so that wasn't it... I tried everything to get him to calm down, I wasn't just letting him scream))

Then this morning he had a huge blowout diaper so bad I had to give him a spit bath so he'd be clean enough for a regular bath, and the whole time he was just all smiles. I put him in the sink, the water ran cold on accident, but nope, not a sound. I scrubbed his little back, not a cry. Water got in his face on accident, and... well, you can figure it out.