Lucca's FIRST Vacation

This past weekend we went on a mini-vacation to Orlando to meet some other families with children that have Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, like Lucca. It also happened to be Lucca's FIRST vacation! He had alot of firsts this weekend:
-1st vacation
-1st time being in a car longer than an hour straight
-1st time sleeping in a hotel bed
-1st time meeting other children with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome
-1st time going down a water slide
-1st time sleeping in a pack-n-play with another child (lol!)
We had such a blast this weekend! Lucca really suprised me the entire trip! I'm not gunna lie...I had a little...ok alot of anxiety about this trip..for many reasons.. Lucca is not a quiet child by any means, so the 2 1/2 hour trip worried me... BUT he did great! He kept himself entertained with toys the entire trip! He had to sleep in one of the beds with me, so I bought a side bedrail and put pillow up next to it so he couldn't roll off ( I get super paranoid about that!) and he ACTUALLY slept pretty decent! Thank goodness... Of course I woke up everytime he rolled over but still, we got a little sleep. He was so good everytime we met up with everyone and didn't cry or throw any fits, which I was so thankful for.. He LOVED the pool and Randy and I each took him down the water slide for the first time (which I was also very worried about) but he did great! And he loved it! Then the ride back was just as good as the ride down, and he slept half the way! While we were there we met some amazing families that I have been in touch with through facebook since we found out about Lucca's diagnosis, and we also met some I have never talked to before.. There were a few older children from 10-21 years old and most were younger like Lucca.. It was amazing how similar all the children were, to their quirks and even some of the outer appearances... All the children had the same chewing obsession, and reflux was also very common... (nice to know we aren't alone in that area).. It was so nice to be around everyone, because it felt so"normal".. Everyone knew and understood what we were going through and no one judged anyone else. Everyone could relate, for once in our lives.. I can't wait until next year's conference. To see everyone again and also be able to meet more of the families that I have been talking to on facebook. This time we are staying the WHOLE time and really enjoying ourselves. Here are a couple pictures I took.. We were so into meeting and hanging out with everyone that I totally forgot to take pictures! I am so mad at myself.. but at least I was able to get a few..

-Lucca & Jack-

-Us & The Cox Family-

-Lucca & Carter-

These two were SO darn cute the entire weekend!
-Lucca & Daddy enjoying the pool-

-He was getting splashed by the waterfall lol-

-Lucca, Kaitlin & Carter-

All 3 of these beautiful kiddos have Phelan-McDermid Syndrome

-Jack & his older sister, Stella-

-Lucca & Carter watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-

Senior's Graduation, Bloodshed & a Surprise Birthday Weekend !

The Senior C/O 2010 graduated Thursday night, August 26th... Their 2 years of slavery is finally over!! Unfortunately I did not get to get a picture with all of the class but I did manage to get pictures with a few of the girls...Congratulations guys! Good luck on your registry and in any future endeavors!! Shands has trained you well!

Victoria, KT (techs along with myself), Ash, Kandis, Me, and Lauren

Me & Dr. Gladden! (one of our former orthopaedic surgeons)

Me & Ash (will miss her dearly :( she is moving to P-cola)

Me & my LLF, Lo-Lo

Me & Kandis

Friday morning I had to take Kali to the vet because she has been acting strange and peeing in weird places and for the almost 3 years that we have had her, she has NEVER done that... So alot of people at work told me she might have a UTI or kidney/bladder infection...Well I almost had to call and cancel because it took me 20 minutes just to get her inside her carrier! I tried every which way and finally had to turn the thing on its side and basically drop her in... and once I got her in she turned into a rabid beast! I have cuts on my hand, chest and leg from that crazy cat!! Anyway, I finally got her and and we made it to the vet, where they told me they would have to keep her for a few hours because her bladder was empty. Finally, they called me and said that she has stress-related anxiety and that can cause cats to have an inflammed bladder and show signs of having UTIs... Soooo we have to give her an antibiotic and "kitty prozac" for a few days lol.. Yay. Now she hates us lol.

Well... today is my 25th Birthday! Yay! lol Last week, Randy told me to start packing for my surprise birthday weekend....and would not tell me where we were going! Saturday morning we went and had a nice family breakfast at Cracker Barrel, where Lucca had a whole pancake and some apples all to himself with a nice cold sippy cup of soy milk to wash it all down... =) Then we dropped him off at my parents and headed to my surprise...Boy WAS I surprised when we arrived at Hammock Beach Resort & Spa!! I had been wanting to go there for a while but NEVER thought I would be able to..This place is AMAZING!

There were all kind of ritzy people walking around and valet and concierge...lol we are SOOOOO not used to all of that. When we checked in Randy of course set him up a tee-time for Sunday afternoon and then we went up to our room, which already had all of our luggage waiting on us.. Then he took me downstairs for me next surprise......He had set me up an all afternoon SPA DAY for Sunday while he was playing golf.. what a WONDERFUL surprise! I have NEVER been to a spa before...

This place had so much to do.. there were like 5 different pools, live entertainment, a beach, golf, bike riding, ping pong, putt-putt, etc... So we went and played putt-putt since it was kinda rainy and their putt-putt course is just like a REAL golf course only smaller... real grass, sand-traps and all.. very hard..lol

Then we went and played volleyball and swam for the rest of the evening.. Sunday morning he woke me up really early and we went for a walk on the beach.. it was sooooooo windy but it was really nice =) Here are some of the things we saw during our morning stroll...

Our view of the beach from the boardwalk

Jellyfish

Us bright & early in the morning =)

Being goofy on these random rocks

It was sooo beautiful there!

a little crab =)

View of our hotel from the beach

After we got back from the beach he got ready to go play golf, and I got ready for my DAY AT THE SPA! It was sooo nice! I got a 50 min massage, followed by a 50 min facial.. Then topped off with a mani-pedi.. soo relaxing! Then we went out to a nice dinner for my bday=)

Us before going to Outback for my birthday dinner =)


Thank you so much to Randy & My parents for giving me such a wonderful birthday surprise!! It was fantastic!

Anniversary Vacay 2010

Randy & I just got back from our 3rd anniversary vacation. We had an absolute blast and of course it went by all too quick! Friday afternoon we went to TPC Sawgrass, which was SOOOOO fun! We got to see some of my favorite players, one of which being PHIL MICKELSON...who is absolutely handsome in person. lol We got sooo close to some of the players we could have reached out and touched them. It was unbelievable! Def can't wait to go again next year...

Saturday morning, we were about to leave for ST PETE BEACH when we realized that someone had stolen my GPS out of my glove compartment..yay, what a way to start a vacation right?! lol So we had to borrow my brothers...we finally made is down to ST PETE, and we stopped by the Salvador Dali Museum down there.. If you have never heard of him, he was a famous artist, who made very strange art...Unfortunately they would not allow me to bring my camera inside so I took a few pics of the outside...

The outside of the building..

A bench outside...

Clock on the bench..this clock is one of the most used items in Dali's paintings

Putting our Dali stickers on the railing outside the museum

There were over hundreds of Dali stickers on this railing!

After the Dali Museum we decided to go by a botanical garden that was nearby...It was pretty neat..lots of different unique looking plants and flowers..

After we left the garden we FINALLY got to our hotel ON THE BEACH =) It was so nice to be RIGHT there where we could walk out onto the beach.. The first night we got to watch the sun set..a first for us both, and watched it go ALL the way down...

Me sitting with a random pirate on the boardwalk.. =)

Our view of the beach from the balcony

Beautiful Sunset...

Going...

..going...

..gone..

Sunday we relaxed on the beach ALL day..Randy fished for a little while, and I literally sat on the beach and relaxed..it was soooooo nice to relax! lol I got to finish a book that a friend let me borrow MONTHS ago too.. lol I also got to people watch.. I love to do that.. I can honestly say there are some INTERESTING looking people on St Pete Beach! lol...

This bird kept trying to eat everyone's catch! he would patiently wait, then stalk them down haha

Randy trying to catch some fish..

Beautiful day at the beach!

Then today we had to come back to reality =( But I did miss my lil booger! He stayed with my parents for the weekend.. It is definitely nice to be back home in OUR own house with our little family =) Hope you enjoyed the pics from our vacation!

Off to Paradise!

Wednesday May 5th was mine and Randy's 3rd wedding anniversary...to celebrate we are going out of town this weekend to a beachfront resort in St Pete Beach,FL. But before we head down there....my anniversary gift to Randy was tickets to TPC Sawgrass! He has been wanting to go every year since we have been together and this year I was able to snag him some tickets, thanks to one of the Ortho Docs I work with at Shands..thank you Dr. Suk!

As hard as it is for me to thoroughly enjoy playing golf... I do actually enjoy watching it.. so I am pretty excited about going...MAINLY because I am hoping to see my favorite player, PHIL MICKLESON, play! And of course I want him to win..duh! lol

Then Early Saturday morning we are headed for relaxation on the beaches! I am in such need of a relaxing vacation..! Away from work, and all the stress that comes along with it.. While we are down there we are also going to try to go to the Salvador Dali art museum and the aquarium..Hopefully the weather is nice the whole time, and HOPEFULLY the weekend DRAGS by! Hope you all have a nice weekend..I know we will!!!!

BTW..Happy 3rd Anniversary to my Hubster!!