How do I deal?

So when you know for 100% that your husband (who left you a month ago, but is going to counseling to come back home again) is lying to you about where he is on a regular basis, and is quite possibly cheating on you... what the HELL do you do?!

Why is everything so hard?

This separation is really starting to take its toll on me. For the first week, I just was so mad, that I didn't really deal with it. The second week I was so busy, I could just pretend it wasn't happening.... but now it is sinking in. Gabs daddy went away this weekend. He announced last night that he'd be gone and don't expect to hear from him until Sunday night when he will call us. I asked where he was going, he wasn't interested in telling me, I asked what he'd be doing, again, nothing.

We have started to tell people, i.e. our parents, and a couple close friends. Turns out I didn't need support until a couple people knew, now I feel like I am absolutely falling apart. I think telling people made it more real.

Fridays used to be my favorite day of the week, but I dreaded 3:00 today. I had to go pick up Gabs (which I love doing) but we then had 72 hours stretching out in front of us with no real plans. How lonely. Our house was the last place I wanted to be.

Don't get me wrong. I love my Gabs more than anything in the world but it's not easy to spend the weekend with just a 2 year old and a pomeranian for companionship. We have errands to run, but it's not worth it unless I am uber organized and can make sure that I can run the errands quickly, and get everything I need while I am out.

I guess I am super whiny tonight, but I haven't had a chance to throw myself a pity party yet since Gabs daddy left... perhaps this is the start of it.

Tough Times

It just seems like 2011 is NOT the year for our family. It started out rough, and looked like things might turn around this summer, but it was not to be. Gab's daddy has left us. It devastates me to write that but I need to start coming to terms with it and understanding what that means for my life. Not only did he leave, but he left 2 days before my birthday. His actual plan was to leave on my birthday, but I wasn't going to be OK with him staying here for 2 days knowing he didn't want to be with me.... and then to leave ON my birthday. Seriously? His reasoning was that his mother was leaving for a trip on my birthday so he'd be able to leave, and not tell anyone. Too bad... if he was so sure leaving us was a good idea, then he must be ok with letting people know?!

Sorry, that's my frustration and confusion coming out. I know we had a fight, but it didn't seem different than any other disagreement we'd ever had. But the story has slowly come out, he's been unhappy for a year. A YEAR?! I am not unhappy more than a day and I am telling him about it so we can deal and move on. A YEAR?! REALLY??? I am beyond sad and confused. We are going to see a counselor tomorrow... (We saw one Monday but it was a disaster, to be blogged about later...) and hopefully that will help. I have to maintain hope because I cannot imagine not being with Gabs daddy. He is my best friend, and while I know we have some issues, I hate to think that, with everything else we've been through, we couldn't work through this.

Here's hoping that our lucky number 13 strikes again tomorrow.

Swamped!

I am swamped at work, swamped at home, just plain swamped! How and WHEN did life get so busy??

Well work is a beast of its own. This year my job has evolved and it seems perhaps that I am evolving more slowly thus am not able to keep up. It just seems that once again, with the promise of a new year in front of me, and an empty calendar, that I was hell bent this year on filling it up as much as possible! That's made my home life tougher...

I wake Gabs up now nearly every morning. We rush to get out the door, I kiss her a quick goodbye and I am out of daycare by 7:15 at the latest. My last meetings usually conclude at 4:30 so I get to her by 4:45. Home at 5:15 for dinner, a couple books, and bed.

I absolutely live for my weekends when I am able to put work aside and focus on family. We like to take Gabs places and do things, but I try to keep at least half a day at home to just chill out and enjoy her. Get to know all the things she's learned over the week and to relax. Those are my favorite moments....

Columbus day is just a couple weeks away. Hopefully that weekend will be a nice reprieve and by then work should calm down?

Tough Decisions

I knew being a mommy would come with some hard decisions to make.... eventually. I just didn't realize some of them would be so soon! And I also thought that once some of these decisions were made, they'd be all set.

Daycare is the decision I am wrestling with right now. Just before Gabs was born we explored daycares and picked what we thought was going to be a warm, caring environment for her. We were wrong, and she only stayed there two weeks. Our prayers were answered and Gabs has been at a fabulous day care for the last 18 months....

Now however, I wonder if this daycare is the right space for Gabs as a toddler. She's come home injured a few times this week. The provider shared that another child has been pinching her, and she can name most PBS TV characters from a mile away (they watch a considerable amount of TV). I thought this decision was behind me. She's in a place where she is deeply loved which is by far the most important thing for me, but it's not the only thing.... eeeek.... decision making time again.

Toddler Illness

I am going to use this post as a vent.

My daughter is sick- AGAIN. Now I know being sick is part of being a child, especially when said child attends daycare. However, it seems that my child keeps getting ill after others and the other parents are not disclosing their child's illness. Let me start at the beginning...

On the 4th of July Gabs had a 104* fever and had strep throat. I was lamenting to a friend of mine who remarked, oh, so-and-so's child had strep last week... when I mentioned to daycare that Gabs had strep they made a big deal about it, "OH! We are going to have to let parents know that strep is going around now.... *sigh*." I thought to myself, "so-and-so had it first," but I didn't say anything... I just took the shame.

Now Gabs has a sore in her mouth and it came out from a neutral third party that a child at daycare had hand, foot and mouth disease last week.... hmmmmmmm. At pedi yesterday Gabs was confirmed with HFM. AGAIN I do not think daycare knows about these illnesses.

Now the pediatrician assured me that HFM goes through daycares like wildfire and is common during the summer... That made me feel better but I guess what I am most indignant about is at the fact that when I mention that Gabs is sick with whatever, I am made to feel like the crappy mommy who brings all the disease to daycare when I know at least one child routinely has these things before her. The pedi assured me that it's a good idea, and in the best interest of all the children to disclose when my child has a virus or illness, but that it's not necessary and parents are within their right to send sick, contagious children to daycare if they're not running a fever.

Grrrrr so again, I will be crappy mommy and tell daycare, but I tell you what, next time she is sick and I hear that someone at daycare had it the week prior, I may end up calling them out. There's no need that a.) My child needs to be sick because they send a sick child to daycare, and b.) I feel like a shit mom when sitters give me a hard time about her being sick. Grrrrr

Man In The Yellow Hat Mondays

I'd like to start a regular feature here in my blog, Man In The Yellow Hat Mondays. You all know who the MITYH is right? He Curious George's best friend of course. While my husband was out of work, he and Gabs got addicted to PBS. As a literacy specialist I do not condone this at all, but I must admit, a few minutes of T.V. while I make dinner is sometimes just what I need.

Back to the MITYH... DH called me at work one day to gripe about this MITYH. I rolled my eyes, and told him to get over it, MITYH is just a cartoon character. But now that George comes on at 5:00, perfect dinner making time, I too have begun to notice just how absurd MITYH is.

So come back next Monday for the first official MITYH Monday! :-)

Marvelous Monday

It's Monday after a wonderful weekend. We had lots of family time, and were able to relax and enjoy each other without a million things on our to-do list. Friday night we enjoyed dinner out at a restaurant, which is something we haven't done in ages. It was a lot of fun until Gabs put her hand in sals instead of ketchup. The scream that followed was not pleasant, but we managed.

Saturday we got to sleep in until 7 then headed to the park. Sunday, we had family fun day at Storyland. It was a wonderful weekend.

Now it's another Monday, one of the few I have left before summer break is over.

Anniversary Bust!

Well our anniversary was barely a blip on the radar this year. At 5am on the Fourth, Gabs woke up screaming at the top of her lungs. I ran in and she was hot to the touch. The thermometer confirmed 103*. A cool shower followed and before long Gabs and I were asleep again in my bed. The Dr saw her and diagnosed her with strep throat. All day it was fevers, popsicles, and naps. It took her two days before she was back to normal, but I am happy to say, today, besides some extra crankiness and being a little more tired than usual, she is back to normal.

I told DH we can have a do-over anniversary, maybe next weekend which would be our engagement anniversary...

Happy Anniversary!

Well it's not until tomorrow, but the day is already booked full, I figured I'd blog DH a happy anniversary tonight!

Four years ago tomorrow I married my best friend. It's been a wonderful four years, although we've had our share of ups and downs; this year being the biggest test for us. The good news is, we've continued to be a team, and face the world together. We now have a gorgeous daughter, and are living our happily ever after. Although not every day is a fairy tale, I cannot imagine a better prince.

I love you honey! Happy Anniversary!

Still On The Upswing...

DH began his job on Monday and it's going as well as training at a new company can. He seems to be happy, back at work and I am glad he has a sense of purpose and confidence again. He was disappointed yesterday however, he didn't get to see Gabs awake.

Lazy bones has been sleeping in this week and yesterday she refused to nap. When it was evident she wouldn't take a nap, I took her swimming for 90 minutes then for a walk around the neighborhood. Dinner followed, and then she practically thanked me for putting her to bed, she was snoring as her head hit the mattress.

Now Gabs and I have a day off together! The question is, do we go shopping for supplies for Mommy's summer job? Or do we go to the local indoor play center can meet some toddlers there? Decisions, decisions, decisions...

After 4 months...

of unemployment, DH starts his new job tomorrow!!! Gabs and I are so happy for him. This is a stable job, with a terrific company, and they are really looking forward to bringing him on board. The emails they've been sending this week really give us hope that this will be a positive place for DH to settle down in.

He asked to not start until tomorrow so we could have a week off together. Here are the photos of our fun!

Attachment

Like all mommies, I often pride myself on how smart, independent, and all around amazing Gabby is. Gabs is independent, but loving. Smart, and funny. Silly, but can calm down when necessary....

Until the weekend hits. As soon as she realizes I am staying home for the day (i.e. I am wearing jeans, or still there when breakfast is done) she becomes my shadow. Clingy only begins to describe it. Yesterday we had to attend a funeral and at the reception afterwards her God father joked that it was like a dog with a shock collar. Every time we got 3 feet apart, she'd start screaming.

I love that she needs me, but this new attachment issue is worrisome... especially going into the summer. This will be the first summer that I've not worked. How will she be if I am home all summer with her? Will she continue to be this clingy little thing afraid to try anything without her mommy? or will she get used to my presence and go back to being the independent self-sufficient girl I am trying to raise??

I am sure that this is, as my mother says, "just a phase..."

REALLY?!

When, oh when will this craptastic luck of ours run out? I am exhausted from riding this obnoxious roller coaster of a year and I think my family deserves some stability.

Our luck was not in fact changing... This weekend we found the home of our dreams, in our price range, in a fabulous location. We were ready to make an offer on it this morning.

Literally 30 minutes before the realtor called us back, our "tenants" called to say they were all set and decided not to rent or purchase our home. They got approved for a mortgage and were going to instead look for a better home than ours (funny, ours was their dream home just the day before). While DH reeled and stressed about that I continued my work day, distracted, but still effective.

Then I checked my mailbox at lunch. I got a form letter from my former principal (I switched buildings this year) saying they would not have me teach summer school this year (a program I RAN and designed for the school for the last 5 years) since I wasn't coming back to teach in their building again.

So just to recap, our dream home is no longer an option, DH is out of work for week 13 and my summer income that I count on (and NEED since DH is out of work) is not an option due to politics.

Seriously, how much more can we get kicked right now? We are down, stop throwing crap at us.

Vent done. Hoping for a happier post next time...

Might Our Luck Be Changing?

The first part of the year has been tough. My husband's grandmother (and Gab's namesake) passed away just days into the new year. Not only did she pass away, but he was there with her and he was the one who had to help the undertaker put her in the body bag. He had months (still has in fact) of nightmares. We went on a vacation which was mostly nice except Gabs and I got VERY ill just before we left.

Once home we met with a realtor to sell our home. It's small for our family. The realtor basically told us, we'd have to bring over $20,000 to closing just to unload it.

Beginning of March, Gab's daddy lost his job and he's now been unemployed 12 weeks.... and counting.

Oh, did I mention the roof began to leak in mid February? And that we weren't sure what I'd be doing for next year, and we had to pull Gabs out of full time daycare which was very hard. It was a really shitty first few months of the year.

But then, out of the blue, we got a call from an old colleague of Gab's daddy and they are interested in buying our home. They'd like to do a rent to own for 2 years then purchase it. My job situation has not only been settled, but it's better than I could have ever imagined, I am taking off the summer for the first time since I was a child, and it just all of a sudden seems like our luck is changing.... could it be?

DC Part 1

For April break this year we took a road trip to Washington DC. We were really headed down to spend Easter with Gab's aunties but we also took some time out to do some awesome sight seeing and to hang out at the White House! Yes, THE White House! See photos from our trip!

This fountain looks like fun.... but will daddy get mad if I get wet?

Who cares?! It's SUPER FUN!

I LOVE the Easter Bunny!

Mommy wanted to go to get cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcakes but I fell asleep as we pulled in. I let her shop while I snoozed!

Our tickets to the White House.

To Be Continued...

What a day!

Another wonderful day with my family. I am really enjoying these weekends so much. Here are some photos of our weekend... Enjoy!

Visiting the Moo Cows at Smiling Hill!

Playing on the cool dinosaur!

Swinging at camp!

Visiting Great-Grand-Memere and Great-Grand-Pepere at the cemetery with my Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle

EXHAUSTED!

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I have been looking forward to this long weekend for months :-) And the improved summer weather that Memorial Day often brings. Not a TON planned this weekend, lots of family time which I appreciate so much.

Today we took the Gabs to the farm. She LOVED it! When I was a child, this is the farm my parents took me to. It had closed when I was a teenager and remained closed until last year. I was so glad to share my memories with Gabs today and to begin making some new memories. We WILL be back again.

Tomorrow will be nice, going to Gab's Godmother's camp for the afternoon and a cook out. Monday, enjoying family some more. Picture Post coming soon!

Watching You...

Dear Gabs,

Last weekend at your Memere's graduation I had a rare opportunity to watch you. You were so happy to be there, and proud of your Memere. As the graduates stood to receive their diplomas, you clapped and cheered with abandon when each name was called. You threw your whole body into being happy for these strangers, friends, and family as you always do.

Gabs, you teach me much about living in the moment and about being exactly where I am. There is much I can learn from you and by watching you. My darling, you are amazing to me each and every day. I am so blessed to be the mommy of a wonderful, funny, smart, beautiful, clever, 18 month old.

Love,

Mommy

Sick Mommy

Since FL I've not been right.

I was so sick that last night with what we thought was food poisoning and then came down with a cold right away that was hard to shake. Once it morphed into bronchitis I had an allergic reaction and just lived through the scariest week of my life.

About 2 weeks ago now, I developed a pretty rough cough and rasp in my chest. I took some OTC medications and broke out in hives. I dealt with the hives for a couple days then decided to go to the Dr. They told me to take Benadryl although I did tell them I've had a reaction to it in the past.... Less than 12 hours later my hands were swollen and I was covered head to toe in itch. Dr prescribed a steroid over the phone which took care of the swelling but not the hives. As I decreased the steroid a few days later, the swelling came back, and was in my face, and making it hard to swallow...

GD took me to the Dr. right away and they sent me straight to a dermatologist (Yes, a dermatologist, I think it should've been an allergist but whatever) and the dermatologist was going to send me to the ER but was afraid they'd put me on Benadryl and kill me. So back on more steroids...

Steroids do not make people feel good. I was having HUGE mood swings, and although I wasn't itchy on the outside, I was really bITCHY on the inside. About 3 days into that course I decided to see if I could take a reduced version of the steroid but within an hour I had to take it since I was breaking out in hives again. Today the Dr. said I could decrease the steroid and so far, I am ok... haven't had to use the Epi-Pen they gave me, and hoping that over night tonight I don't swell up...

This has truly been the scariest week of my life health wise. What if I were to stop breathing, how could I possibly leave my Gabs so soon after I've gotten her... just to be safe though I've been thinking about things and how to let Corey know how I have taken care of them through life insurance and setting up a future for Gabs. It sucks that this had to be what brought on my getting my act together, but at least it's getting together. With a little baby, and one as fab as Gab, we need to be sure she's taken care of.

So, hopefully this decrease on the steroid will go well, but if not, I will be back at the Dr, allergist, dermatologist, and whomever else can fix me, and keep my body going.

Downtown Disney

On our last night we were going to head in to Downtown Disney to get our souvenir shopping done and enjoy a fun dinner at T-Rex. All was going according to plan, Gabs fell asleep on the bus ride there and slept in her backpack once we arrived. We ordered dinner at T-Rex and then Gabs woke up. It was weird though, she was screaming but her eyes were closed. I couldn't console her. I picked her up to walk her around the restaurant and then she exploded. Projectile vomit, the likes of which I've never seen in my life. I was stunned and covered. A nice man picked up her pacifier and kept trying to hand it to me and GD was chasing us with the camera encouraging us to smile, but I was frozen as my child continued to vomit on me.

Finally to the bathroom but we were both covered literally head to toe. How she had that much food in her is beyond me. We got some semblance of cleaned up and left the restaurant. Gabs went right to sleep when we got back to the resort but things just weren't right. We packed so we'd be ready in the morning and then headed to bed.

At 11:30 I started. I looked at GD and said "I think I am going to be sick" and immediately vomited on the carpet. For the next 5 hours Gabs and I were vomiting uncontrollably to the point where rescue was called because GD and my MIL were so worried about us. They told us that we could go to the hospital but then we'd just be throwing up there. We opted to stay and hoped we'd be ready to board a plane in a few hours.

We managed to empty our systems to board the plane and make it home safely but it was several days before either of us was right again. I think it was food poisoning from the Cobb Salad especially since only Gabs and I got sick and we shared it. Hard to say, maybe it was a bug. It was a long and scary trip home, and not the ideal way to end our vacation but if we had to be sick, getting sick hours before our flight out was the way to do it...

Hollywood Studios... the beginning of the end...

Our last full day in Orlando brought us to Hollywood Studios. GD decided he HAD to go on Tower of Terror and Aerosmith. I am not a super huge fan of fast rides, but I figured Gabs and I could go to the character meet and greets while GD and Mae-Mae went on the rides. It didn't quite work out like that however and I did participate in the fast rides, and had a BLAST!

We enjoyed the morning and had lunch at the Brown Derby- I had my I Love Lucy moment and we all enjoyed Cobb Salads and DELICIOUS Grapefruit cake and desserts. Yummmmm.

We went back to the resort early to relax, pack, and rest up for dinner at Downtown Disney...

Epcot

When planning our Disney trip my only must dos were Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Gab's Daddy (GD) thinks Epcot is boring and Hollywood Studios holds nothing for a 14 month old. We had planned to have a day around the resort, just relaxing and visiting with my husband's uncles but ended up planning to go into Epcot for the morning anyway. It turned out to be one of our most relaxing and fun days.

We ran to Soarin' which was really a neat experience and got really lucky to be bumped to the front of the line due to the size of our party. Then we walked through the lands, eating snacks as we felt the urge and finally ended with the aquarium. The highlight was when Gabs played in the water feature. She really enjoyed the water and was disappointed when it was done.

Although Epcot didn't seem like a place GD would really like, we enjoyed our day there so much that we had a date night back at the park that evening catching a Beatles cover band, enjoying sushi and a fireworks show. Looking back on our trip, I think Epcot was one of our favorite days.

Magic Kingdom Day 2

Magic Kingdom was the park I was looking most forward to since it had more opportunities for Gabs to go on rides, and is the park you think of when you think Disney. On our second day at Magic Kingdom, Gabs and I both had a first, our first ride on Dumbo! It was a long wait- 20 minutes (which in 14 month old time is FOREVER) but the ride was worth it!

After our ride on Dumbo it was off to breakfast at the Crystal Palace (the second thing I was most looking forward to). Between Dumbo and the Crystal Palace, Gabs fell asleep in her stroller. I was worried because she was going to meet Winnie the Pooh and the whole gang at breakfast. She slept through our eating but was awake when the characters came through!

Our second day at Disney was another truly magical day. We stayed to watch the parade, enjoyed a turkey leg and everyone had a "first" experience.

Magic Kingdom Day 1

We planned to spend 2 days at Magic Kingdom as it was the park that had the most rides for Gabs, and is really the park you think of when you think of Disney. Day 1 at Magic Kingdom and we had a big decision to make, which ride would be Gab's first ride... the decision? The Carousel! She had a blast and was upset when it was over but quickly we were on to bigger and better things. Gabs enjoyed the rides, but the real highlight for her were the characters. She LOVED them! Couldn't get enough. She'd spot a character before we would and start screaming (in a good way). She was friendly and interactive with them, and they with her.

Our grown up highlight on that first Magic Kingdom day was Gab's first haircut. It went SO well. She was born with a head of hair and for quite some time now her bangs have been getting in her way. Harmony Barber Shop on Main St. USA has a Baby's first haircut package and I would HIGHLY recommend it. They did an amazing job and it even came with ears that say First Haircut. Another, fun, successful, and exhausting day.

Animal Kingdom

The first day we planned to just stay around the resort, rest, and if we felt up to it, go into a park. Gabs was up at 6:30 and Gab's Daddy was up and ready to go then as well. We headed into Animal Kingdom for the day.

Gabs LOVES animals. She was enchanted by the birds, thrilled by the fish, and loved petting the goats! The highlight of the day was lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The restaurant was so much fun, there was lots to see, and Gabs and Gab's daddy smiled the whole time.

We only spent a couple of hours at the Animal Kingdom before heading back to the resort for some swimming. Although all the Floridians kept complaining about the cold, we northerners were just thrilled to be out of sub zero temps and we were loving the pools!

Florida was awesome!

In January we went to Florida as a family. Gabs went, Gab's Daddy, myself, and Gab's Mae-Mae. It was an adventure and lots of fun.

The trip out was rough, tough flight, I got pulled aside at security and they told me Gab's food was testing positive for explosives (which they then told me could have just been the Eucerin lotion I use). They confiscated about half of the food I had packed in our carry-on but I still felt like I had enough to make it on the flight. Lots of turbulence and a weather delay, we finally touched down in FL around 9:30 at night. A long day for sure.

Gab's daycare told Gab's Daddy when he picked her up that they didn't nap her so she would sleep on the plane. Well it was 10:34 when Gabs looked up at me, giggled and passed out on me. When we got to the hotel around 11, she was so wiped, I changed her diaper, put on her jammies and laid her down without a peep! Gabs was up at 6:30 the next morning though ready to go.... then the fun began!

Exhausting Week

This week my husband lost his grandmother. She was sick for the entire time I've known her (6 years) but it is still a hard loss for our family.

The blessing is that we've seen a lot of family we do not usually see, but it's just such a sad event. Gabs was one of Memere's favorite people. When we'd go to visit her, she'd light up at the sight of Gabs. Gab's daddy was her favorite as well. She was asking for him in her final moments and he made it in time to say goodbye and see her go. Now he's dealing with the stress of that. Tomorrow it's back to business as usual but I am still saying lots of prayers for my husband, our family and his family. It's never easy to lose someone even if they have led a full life and have been ill for sometime. It's never easy...

Vacation Planning

Part of our Christmas gift this year is a trip to Disney World! Gab's Mae-Mae goes every year, usually for about a month. This year she is going for a week with us.

I haven't been to Disney in 9 years and never with a young child so I am finding vacation planning a challenge. Mae-Mae has definite ideas about what we should do and should not do and I have ideas about things I want to do, and things I do not want to do, and Gab's daddy is just trying to keep everyone calm and make everyone happy.

I know we are all going for Gabs and to see her enjoy everything. She will LOVE the characters and the carousel, I don't know about too much else, we will see... But it turns out vacation planning is both fun and exhausting. Only 16 days until we leave though... if I survive the planning, the trip will be a BLAST! :-)

Balancing Act

That's what my life has become. Before the Gabs I was a teacher. School and my career came first and my boyfriends, and finally husband were all very supportive of me. School, and my school children were my focus, and it was great.

But now I have a baby. Not just any baby either... I have the MOST fantastic child you can imagine. She is smart, funny, caring, and amazing. She is my world. My priorities shifted from career to family in the blink of an eye. Being a mom is by far the most important job I've ever had, and it's helped me to see how important my job as a wife is as well.

Now I am working on balancing family and work. I have taken a new job this year and it demands a lot of my time outside of the regular school day. I have to arrive at work by 7:30 most days and am unable to leave until 4:30. I know balance is the key, but I need to figure it out.

Mommy's Little Helper

Today my darling Gabs became my little helper. I was trying to take care of the dishes while she played but she decided that helping me was far more important! She began handing me bowls and then started on the silverware (I quickly snatched all the forks and knives, she took care of the spoons)! When that was done, I began loading again but my little helper kept handing them back to me. Ahhhh to be 13 1/2 months and love to do the dishes.

After dishes she went and read. Seriously, how am I not the luckiest mommy ever?

New Year's

Happy New Year!! WOW 2011 already and the Gabs is growing so fast!

Gabs actually rang in the new year with my parents as Gab's Daddy and I went away for the night. It was great, we spent the night at a hotel and casino with some friends of ours. We were not lucky in gambling but had a great time nonetheless.

Gabs went back to day care today and I was so sad to leave her there. BUT... we are leaving for a vacation in Florida in 22 more days! :-) Disney World here we come.... I can make it 22 days right?!