We had a great time in Florida and Courtney couldn’t have been more fun or happier.  Or more exhausted. She was busy and excited and full of wonderment at the ocean and all it had to offer.  The snails and the crabs and the fish and the waves and the tidal pools were fun and exciting and full of reasons to oooh and ahh and run in fear.  And for Paul and I, well for me, it was a joy to watch.  She had an amazing time jumping waves with us and jumping into puddles and searching for sand fleas.  We were constantly amazed at how much she’s grown and changed.

I look at Patrick, and marvel in his almost 8 months of life, and think that next year when we go back, they’ll both be running on the beach.  Patrick will be running to keep up and Courtney will be calling out, “Look at me Patrick, look at me!” Already having forgotten about Paul and I.

I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  But in the end, it was totally worth it.  I can’t wait to do it again.

Friday started off well enough – we were up and at ‘em nice and early, things were happening.  I was done with my crap by 11 and put Patrick down for his nap.  When I got him up at 1, it was sweltering upstairs in our house.  The AC was cranking but there was no cool air blowing in and it was 78 or so in his room.  By the time I got upstairs with Courtney at 2, it was 84 upstairs.  And as I stood in front of the thermostat, the temperature just kept going up and up.  Long story short, the AC unit for our upstairs died.  It wouldn’t be a huge deal but we have some family moving in with us this week so when we get home on Friday, if the AC isn’t fixed, we have no where to sleep.

In the meantime, Courtney still needs to nap and I’m still trying to get us packed and the car loaded and get us the hell out of Dodge.  I put Courtney in the guest room and Patrick in the basement.  Of course neither of them nap, there’s yelling and screaming, Courtney’s wandering around and getting into all kinds of things she shouldn’t be and I’m becoming more and more stressed by the minute.  We finally hit the road and you know Courtney won’t sleep in the car.  Patrick will but every time he falls asleep, Courtney lets out some blood curdling scream and he starts crying.  This goes on for roughly 4 hours. We finally make it to the hotel, we get everyone into bed in record time, we pull the covers up to our chins, the lights are out and we hear this, “HI!!!” right next to Paul’s head.  We both jumped 10 feet straight up and there was Courtney, standing next to us, just proud as can be.  After being scared out of my mind, I almost wet the bed I was laughing so hard.  That was the high point though.  We (and by “we” I mean “Paul”) then spent the next 45 minutes laying on top of her to get her to lie down and go to bed.

The first couple of days wasn’t unlike that night at the hotel.  We (again, we = Paul) are continuing to hold Courtney down to get her to sleep, on Sunday morning she literally woke for the day at 3:50am, Patrick’s not feeling great and vomited all over himself and the bed the other night, the AC guy was supposed to come on Monday and as I sit and write this at 8:45pm, he’s a mere 6 hours and 45 minutes late.  Add to that the fact that I don’t think the kid who’s supposed to be taking care of my dog is doing a good job (or showing up at all) and I don’t feel well, I just can’t say I’m feeling overly relaxed as I sit, staring at the ocean.

I’m really hoping that things start falling into place.  I’m desperately hoping that the AC guy shows up and my SIL can still meet him to let him in. I’m hoping the neighbor boy doesn’t kill my dog.  I’m hoping that Courtney will sleep and Patrick starts feeling better.  But mostly, I’m hoping I can shake all this crap off and relax.  I know I have no right to complain.  We’re all healthy and happy and we are having a good time, but I know just a little bit here and a little bit there and we (read: I) could really be having a blast.

This is the difference between a napper and a non-napper

We had a great weekend in Vermont, visiting with family and celebrating my brothers success.  It was great to see my family and spend some time together.  It doesn’t happen often enough, hanging with my brothers, chatting about life, watching our kids play.  I’m looking forward to this summer where we’ll be spending a bit more time with family – both mine and Paul’s.  I was sad that Courtney couldn’t be there, that she couldn’t spend time with my family.  Her family.  But that’s what this summer is for, family.  We’re going to try and make more of a point to spend time together.  Besides, there’s a baby on the way (NOT MINE) and I want her to enjoy the excitement of a new cousin.

Cousins having fun!

One cousin possessed by the devil!

Courtney has been pulling herself up on everything lately. She loves to stand more than just about anything else. No matter how tired she is, she’s on her feet. She’ll even stand at the ottoman and put her head down on it, like she’s resting. But yesterday she decided that standing wasn’t going to cut it anymore. It’s time to get a move on.

Of course, I didn’t have the camera up when she first got going but she was moving around the room for sure!

Oh, and my baby isn’t really this white trash kid who never wears shirts or pants. These were just special occasions.

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I’ve been up since 4:20 this morning when Courtney got up to eat. I put her back to bed and then just laid there for a while. I finally got up at 6:30 because it seemed like a good time to get up on a SATURDAY. It’s going to be a very long day…