Max and Samantha's Mom » Travel

A mommy vacation

Rachel — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:05:14 +0000

I swore I would never get on a plane without my babies but I did it. For 3 days I went to Florida..one to relax and two to look at houses because we are thinking of moving. I have realized that I am either a city girl or a beach girl and we, the hubby and I, do the best near the water. So we would not be living on the beach, Geez, that would would be so money money but we would be about 15 minutes from the beach.

The first day I felt so lost and not to mention the father, who I knew at the airport, saying good bye to his little boy, who was going with Nana to Florida and the boy was crying and he looked like Max..I had to walk away because tears were falling down my face. But I got called home, left a book of “what to do with the kids stuff” and boarded the plane. There was a weird sense of calm despite the fact that I have never been away from my kids except when I gave birth to Samantha and Max was much younger so this was a lot.

I stayed at PGA golf resort and spa so I could look at the Palm Beach Gardens area and loved it. I of course am torn..my family lives here and well it is a lot to move and i HATE change but I know this is what is the best for us as a family. So we are cleaning up the house, touching up the paint in certain areas and listing it in 2 weeks for the spring buyers. This is so scary and exciting and I am sure you will hear about my back and forth feelings about this one..but I want a slower life for us-especially my kids. I want to be outside all year in a slower life.

I had a great trip and a great massage. Even little things like watching a movie without the fear of a baby waking up-a night without a kid waking up..my time..my schedule..it was so nice. I looked at house with an agent and we decided on the community. I looked at schools and have a sense of where Max and samantha would go to school. I came back a little bitchy because I was scared that this was so right but I am better now. I am not the best at this kind of stuff. Some people welcome change, I get excited and then freak out and then get sad and then get angry.

Between the kids, school and my own head that seems to go in circles often, I have not been blogging much and I miss it so much..just having a place to let go.

So I did it..I graduated in the mommyhood of being able to let my kids know that it is ok for mommy to go away and come back..I guess it is really a big message-that I can take care of myself and still be a good mom..also forgot to mention the guilt when I left but by the second day it was gone..I had to remember that by doing this I would be a better mom anyway..refreshed again.

Some recent pictures…

Rachel — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:16:48 +0000

So Max got a buzz cut for the summer and he looks so grown up.

Sam is getting cuter by the day and I am praying that she keeps those blue eyes just like her momma.

She is just plain adorable.

My little ones in the am watching TV.

A momma and her little girl.

Life is good at the beach!

We made it! We are at the beach!

Rachel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:52:27 +0000

So we arrived Monday. It was a little crazy getting here but we arrived. The house is so beautiful. I love it. The kitchen is white and the house is an open layout and we are just a walk to the bay or the beach.

Just in the past 2 days Sam has rolled over from her back to front and I swear is eating pizza late at night cause she looks huge. Max has a crew cut for the summer and not because I chose that. Max had his hair cut the other day and my sitter took him and he cried endlessly and so the cut was not so good so I thought the hubby should shave it since ALL boys know how to cut hair.WRONG!! not my hubby so he shaved a test run from front to back-GO FIGURE. I cursed, he yelled, I cursed, he cursed and I cried. I took Max, who was screaming bloody murder to the kid barber for an emergency shave. I had to hold him down in a wrestling move but he actually looks adorable. Yeah he is that kid that screams with snot coming out of his nose and mouth.

Regardless we made it but I did not lock the front door. yes you heard me. It was not locked because my mom had come over and I guess she just closed the door and I never checked it so our alarm went off last night because it just opened with the rains and the wind. I was amazed that the hubby was so sweet and understanding. He is generally very calm with that stuff but come on the front door. he just said that we all make mistakes and it was a crazy day. What a sweetie.

So Sam is not sleeping. I know she is teething really bad and will only sleep after a small dose of tylenol. She also will only sleep in her swing. UGH! She also does not like food at all. Could this all be teeth? I knew over the past 3 weeks that she was getting bad since she was sleeping half the night in her swing and if not, she screamed and screamed bloody murder. Daphne Goldberg, her doctor and I felt that it was more important to have her sleep that to force her to sleep in her crib but do they make swings that can hold a baby past 20 pounds. I know she is in pain and so I just dont have the heart to let her scream. I know she knows how to sleep and I know she is in discomfort. I tried giving her some homeopathy, Chamomilla 30c, and it seemed to work for a little but did not hold. I will probably call the homeopath today. Teething sucks.

But the beach is awesome and as soon as I get the camera charged I will upload some pics. We will be here for 10 weeks and already I feel relaxed.I found a local moms group that is letting me join for the summer. I am so psyched.

We are home from VACATION!

Rachel — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:56:09 +0000

We took a 7 day vacation to Orlando Florida and the hubby forgot the computer. Thank goodness it was not my mistake. LOL

The flight down was great and the flight back was not so bad but Sam’s ears were hurting her and for a little she was not that happy. So I put her in the Baby Bjorn and she loved that. My friend just gave me one and Sam adores it. I have so many other slings but never used that one and it was a life saver on the trip. I do have to say that traveling is not easy with young ones because you just never know what to expect. But we upgraded for a little extra that day and it made all the difference to be in business class.

Max adored Sea World but did not love Disney World. I am not sure if the crowds or the waiting in line got to him or the fact that I chose the wrong park-he only watches PBS and not anything else so he really does not know the characters. I think he would have loved animal kingdom but I won’t go back till they are older. I do not know how people do that for 7 days with real little ones because I was so damn tired after a day. Now Sea World was a blast and all of the shows were amazing.

We hung out at the pool, ordered tons of room service, and ate like pigs. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary on the 25th and my birthday on the 28th. Scot and I went out for our anniversary for the first time ALONE since Sam was born and it was amazing. Scott sent roses to the room that am and that eve I had the restaurant make us desserts according to our diet needs and had them write I LOVE YOU SCOTT on his plate. It was so sweet and hey, I also got him drunk. What fun!!

We had a blast and now we are home trying to get back into schedule. I miss having my bed made, calling for food and waited on hand and foot but it is good to be back.

Here are some pictures from the trip.

this is at sea world

and this is us bathing sam…

max eating chips in the room

just the two of us laughing

enjoying some shade..

Sitting on a metal turtle at Sea World

And Shamu-the whale..

All in all it was great to get away-be with the kids and enjoy my husband. Now we are back to reality.

Getting over a cold

Rachel — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:59:25 +0000

Yep I got the cold from my son who got it from his sitter, but who really knows, since he loves to eat off the floor, touch everything and constantly is playing around other kids. I am just hoping that the baby does not get sick. I hate being sick. I am sure my body just could not fight the lack of sleep (due to the 2 year old molars) and two nights where I could not sleep ( not due to children, but just could not sleep).

So I have very little energy to write about anything except that Mom’s should not ever get sick because our job does not end.

Good news! We rented a shore house on Long Beach Island for 9 weeks this summer! Yeah, here is the house!

So there it is. At least I am thinking warm summer beach house when I have a cold. There is always some good coming my way.

Home from Vacation!

Rachel — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 01:34:11 +0000

Well it was a much needed vacation from everything. I think I have also been on a bloggy vacation just trying to keep up with being a mom to 2. It has been great but I have had some postpartum stuff and some nursing issues and I think that pretty much sums it up. I will have to post about those soon. t was great to get away and take a breath. The first 6 weeks were a blur and yet so vivid. It is hard and delightful at the same time. I am getting into a routine and that feels good. It was nice to get away and fall in love with my hubby again and play with Max and snuggle with Samantha. The plane ride there and home was great. Max watched his DVD’S and Sam only had a few times where she was not happy but all in all no complaints. It still is a lot traveling with 2 and while we were in Florida, people kept saying to me that I was BRAVE. Maybe I was being brave because it was tough to get into a routine but once we did-it was bliss. Here are some pictures to show what an amazing timer we had. I cannot believe how much the kids grew with a little sun.

Vacation-Thank Goodness!

Rachel — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:46:46 +0000

Hey there-we are on vacation. I am actually relaxing in Naples Florida with my family. The plane ride was great. Max fell asleep and Samantha nursed on the way up and down. She also slept the majority of the flight. It was a relief. The only issue she had was her nose started to get really dry and then she was not happy but luckily they did not take my saline drops and so I shot it into her nose. I also had Scott take some breast feeding pics on the plane because those moments are great to catch with a camera and I am sure Sam will love them when she is older.

I am looking forward to 10 days in the sun and 10 days with my family. Oh and we took out sitter so we can all get some alone time-especially me.

Max in the window overlooking Times Square, NYC

Rachel — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:34:17 +0000

We are back. The trip to NYC was great. It did not go as planned but nothing after having baby has gone as planned. Max got sick last week and then I got sick and luckily, the hubby did not show signs of being sick till after the NYC Marathon. We actually we supposed to leave Friday and we did not leave till Saturday because Max was not doing well. So we left Saturday and then the navigation in the car took us out 40 mins past our hotel because I put in the wrong address. Yeah being sick and pregnant does not make for a good brain. Then we arrived at the hotel and they screwed up our room. They told me it was my fault but thank goodness for my blackberry because I had the saved email confirmation for the room we were supposed to get. So instead of a suite we got two connecting rooms-which was better because Max and I stayed far away from Scott in order not to get him sick.

Also big mistake was that I booked a hotel on Times Square thinking it would be fun. Note to self-yeah it was crazy. The hotel was fine but the location was nuts. So regardless I tried to make the best of it without feeling too guilty that my husband would have liked to be in a more relaxed setting (but he would have never complained or told me), with a nicer suite and so on. The concierge actually brought me up a skip hop diaper bag full of goodies to make up for the mistake. Pretty much I had them on the phone and gave them a mouthful. Don’t screw with a pregnant woman.

I also had plans to meet up with a blog friend but as Max got better I got worse and so we did not end up meeting up with them. BOO HOO. Hopefully next time.

Sunday was perfect-the day of the race. My sister met us at 57th and 8th Ave and we walked and walked and walked until we met up with my hubby 34 hours later. God knows how I even saw him but it all worked out and then we jumped into a cab, went and got room service( the food was amazing but damn a burger was $24) and chilled. That night Max and I went to see my cousins who live on the upper west side for dinner. It was fun. My sister, her man and my other cousin joined as well while the hubby rested at the hotel.

And Monday we packed up to come home. Did I mention that Max slept for 3 hours on Sunday while pushing him in his stroller-it made life so much easier…although sleep has been nutty with day light savings.

So here is a picture of Max looking out the 49th floor of the hotel onto Times Square holding out favorite travel toy-PLAY DOH!

All in all, I worked through feeling like the whole trip was a screw up on my end for the first day. I guess I get nervous when the hubby runs a marathon because I want things to be perfect for him but they are-just because we are supporting him.

Long Beach Island Pictures At Last!

Rachel — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:22:38 +0000

Our Family on the deck in Loveladies, a town on the 18 mile island of Long Beach Island, New Jersey

Max playing in the sand.

Max sleeping on the beach, a daily activity.

Daddy and Max walking down the beach chasing the birds.

Max playing with his Dad and aaahhhh, outside showers. What fun!

The end!

We are home!!

Rachel — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:04:20 +0000

Flickr is having problems uploading my pictures from the trip but I figured I would still check in. We had a wonderful time but I swear playing with a toddler in a different house, different town and on the beach is tiring and I even took my nanny but yes, I am pregnant and so on. I am not bitching because we are so damn lucky to have been at the shore for a week with amazing weather but damn-I definitely do not have the same energy as I did prior to being pregnant.

Max was amazing. He loves the beach and so do we. I let him have frozen yogurt a few nights and he had no reaction. Yeah maybe he is out growing the extreme allergy to cows milk. I am not one to give him cows milk for his milk but it would be nice to give him yogurt if he wanted it. Anyway, so he loves it and of course, who wouldn’t?

Max slept on the beach everyday for about 2 hours except the last day, when he did not nap. I think he missed the tired window and then he would not go down for a nap. I still get frustrated when he won’t sleep even though he is older and can handle a day without a nap but I think I need that time. Even though we took our nanny, I do not have the nanny put him to bed or anything or take him away from us-it is just to have an extra eye and an extra hand. And yes it was nice to have an extra hand to unload the car and help with laundry and all of that stuff. Plus she has become like a family member to us and we love spending time with her. It is nice because I feel like she has become a good buddy. I guess I am lucky like I enjoy her company.

While we were away I realized that I am not eating enough protein at home. For a while Scott was not eating much for dinner-just a salad and Max just eats eggs, brown rice and veggies and so I would eat brown rice and veggies but I was having such low energy and then we went away and I was eating protein for dinner and BAM-my energy came back. So last night I cooked and told Scott that he can eat what I make or not eat it-he ate a whole plate of chicken, yams and asparagus. It was nice to see my man eating my food again and plus I felt great today after having a good meal too.

I think Max has started to say more and yeah but he does not say it over and over. I knew with his personality that he would do it when he could do it perfectly. In Max’s time.

I was happy to be away but it was also nice to come home to our house. I love our house. Max played with every one of his toys yesterday and it was really cute to watch.

I guess it was just nice to get away and have a lot of time as a family. I am a lucky woman. Pictures to post tomorrow hopefully.