A Quick Recap:

Our vacation went something like this: Airplane, BIG RAT, diarrhea, Monsoon at Disney World, diarrhea, Drive all Day to see friends, diarrhea, Outlet Mall (New laptop bag), diarrhea, visit from an old friend, diarrhea, nasty buffet, diarrhea, Finally a

beautiful day t o go to Disney, diarrhea, a WHOLE Day at the pool, no more diarrhea, sunburn, airplane. It was actually a pretty good time. We did a lot of relaxing, and still got to do all the "Orlando" stuff.

Ok, I HAVE to tell you about that "big rat". Jason's sister decided that we should all go out on Saturday night (the night we got there). She is from Orlando and there is a place that her and her hubby hang out at quite frequently. This is a TOTAL hole in the wall. When we got there, I had to pee SOOOOO bad - so the first thing I do is head to the bathroom, heeding the warning from his sister to "not touch anything". Now, this bathroom is about the size of a port-a-potty and is anything but clean. I am carefully watching what I am doing and trying not to touch the walls, door, sink, toilet, etc. when a HUGE RAT runs out from behind the garbage can, runs ACROSS my feet (I, of course, was wearing sandals) and out the door. I couldn't even get my pants pulled down the rest of the way before I peed on myself. I was scared to death. I screamed and ran out there, zipping up my pants on the way out. I was ready to go, but Jason had just ordered drinks, and I just can't let good rum go to waste, so I just drank a lot to try and forget what happened. I'm still grossed out.

I've been home for three days and still haven't unpacked. I think I'm just trying to make my vacation last a little longer. It's driving Big J crazy, mostly

because he's anal-retentive, and wants to put the suitcases "where they belong". I say th ey are fine on the floor filled with all my clothes. I wish I was Mary Poppins and could sing a song and have the clothes magically wash, fold and put themselves away. But I'm not Ms. Poppins. Trust me, I've tried it. The only thing that happens when I sing is the cat runs out of the room to look for a dark, quite place to sleep.

So, now that I'm back, I can post some pictures of our trip - if only I could find my camera. Maybe it IS time to unpack.

Vacation

I should be cleaning. I should also be digging the suitcases out of the attic so that tomorrow I can pack. I should ALSO be doing laundry so we have some clean clothes to put into those suitcases. But I'm not. Yep, we're going on vacation. To Orlando. For a week. I've been looking forward to this little trip for a couple of months now, but here is the part that stinks: My tulips are FINALLY in bloom. I planted over 200 bulbs last fall and I have been waiting and waiting for them to bloom. Of course, they pick the one week I'm going away to open up. I think they are doing this on purpose. I'm going to take some pictures tomorrow so that I can at least have evidence that spring was here.

I went to Target (pronounced Tar-jay) and JC Penney (pronounced jock-pen-nay) to buy summer clothes for the little monkey. He is now the proud owner of some plaid shorts and matching polo's. SOOOO cute. What amazes me is the fact that for every cute "boy" outfit, there are about 57 cute "girl" outfits. I think there should be a store that ONLY has boy stuff......maybe I'll open one. Right after I start my organic baby-food and online home-made bib businesses. So, anyway, we are headed to Florida on Saturday and luckily, I had the wherewith all to take off work tomorrow in order to get all the stuff done that I had planned on doing all week. Kind of hope that the weather is crappy so I don't get tempted to go play in the dirt.

In other news, Baby E went to see the doctor today for his 9 month check-up. He is still a little peanut, weighing in at a whopping 15 lbs. 12 oz. He is at 1% for weight (which means that 99% of kids his age weigh more than him), but at least we are OUT of the negative percentile! He is also at 20% for height. Tall and skinny - I have NO idea where he gets this.... I asked if I should be concerned and I was reassured, once again, that he is fine. In fact, he is developing ahead of schedule for things like motor skills, problem solving, physical ability and social skills. Not to mention, he is SO DARN CUTE!! This all makes me feel much better. Doctor says that once he is off breast milk, he will catch up in the weight department. No hurry there, although he is already weening himself - he loves his bottle.

Time to try on my swimsuit. I wonder if there is any way I can lose about 20 pounds before Saturday.

They grow up so fast.

Time flies! It seems like just yesterday that my sister, Tara, was pregnant with our little Alana.

Today was Alana's first communion - a big milestone for those of the catholic faith (of which I am not, but that's another subject, entirely). At any rate, little miss Alana looked SO sweet in her white dress and hand-made veil. I let her borrow my "wedding" purse and a pair of white gloves from my great-grandmother that I found in a box of things marked "memories". She was quite the vision. And such a little girlie-girl too, all ribbons and lace. The polar opposite of my sister (her mother) at that age. You see, Tara was what one might call a tom-boy. She decided a few days before HER first communion to climb a tree or some other such nonsense and the fall from said tree (or perhaps it was a bike, or a swing, or a picnic table) resulted in matching Band-Aids on both elbows.....she still looked cute, just a little rough around the edges. I can see the same thing happening to her youngest daughter - who is actually a LOT like Tara - in the trouble making sense, anyway.

Baby E was a gem during the mass. He decided that the best thing to do was to flirt with the lady in the pew behind us. He smiled and cooed at her and stood up in his seat facing backwards in order to stare at her with those big blue eyes. He also sang along every time the music started. It was more than just cute. We (okay, I) made him wear his seersucker suit with the yellow tie - what a lady-killer. I'm going to have my hands full with this little boy. I can already see him giving away my jewelry to all his "girlfriends" at pre-school.

His second tooth is FINALLY through and once again, I have my happy-go-lucky baby back. We're heading to Florida next Saturday and I'm really hoping that there will be no more teeth coming until after we get back. I can't think of a single thing I would like less than sitting on an airplane with a teething baby.

I feel kind of bad posting this with no picture, but I don't have access to one right now - maybe I can get my little brother to send me some of the shots he got today of Baby E.....hint, hint, Ryan.