Home Sweet Home!

Sadly, vacation is over. But we did have a great 6 days in Orlando filled with lots of fun and excitement. Kaylani had her first and second plane rides, her first trip to Disney, her first trip to Sea World, and her first New Years Eve party. And every part of it was great for her, or at least that's what we think.

Our first New Years Eve with Kaylani proved to be a lot of fun! We stayed at a family friends house until 2am listening to music, drinking, playing Domino's (traditional Puerto Rican New Years celebration). Kaylani went to sleep at 11pm, and somehow, managed to stay asleep in her carseat while everyone screamed, yelled, celebrated, and blew into their noisemakers at midnight. I'm still not exactly sure how she didn't wake up, but I think that was a testament to how tired she actually was.

Sea World on New Years Day was even better! Besides the fact that we got up early after getting home late, we had a great time. The Shamu show was AMAZING and I highly recommend it. I'm still a bit upset that I spent a year living a stones throw away from Sea World and never went while I was there. Kaylani happened to sleep through the show, but we'll be sure to take her back when she can remember it. We'll also take her back when she can actually be in the sun for more than 3 seconds at a time (or when we're less paranoid and let her be in the sun for more than 3 seconds at a time). She also saw sharks and penguins, and even one of Daddy's friends from Elementary/Middle/High School!

And to cap off our trip, Kaylani experienced her first sprint through the airport since I-4 is terrible and we may or may not have left a comfortable amount of time to get to the airport. And to prove that the takeoff poop on the way to Orlando was no fluke, she pooped again for us as soon as we stepped on the plane. But since vacation was coming to a close, she decided she'd get more out before getting back to the cold Northeast and pooped again once Daddy sat back down. It's what we in the "business" call a "two-fer." What's vacation without changing 2 diapers in a small airplane bathroom anyways.

So now we're home. Home sweet home! Vacation was great and I'm looking forward to our next trip to the warm weather (Puerto Rico in the spring to meet the rest of the family), but we're all very glad to be home for now. Kaylani can go back to sleeping in her nice comfy crib instead of the pack and play she had in Orlando, and Mommy and Daddy can get some much needed relaxation time after a packed trip. Daddy still has 2 more days of vacation left before work, and you can be sure that I'll spend some of that getting our pictures up for you to see. But in the meantime, it's time to put Kaylani to sleep, and then to put myself to sleep. Good night, and welcome to 2009!

Do Like The Birds Do

Tomorrow marks the first ever trip (further than an hour) for Kaylani. We're gonna fly South for the winter, or at least the New Year, and spend a week in Sunny Orlando with the entire family. Mommy, Daddy, and Kaylani will fly out of Philly with Abuela and Abuelo, while Daddy's entire family will fly out of Newark and meet us down there. It will be one big joint family vacation, and I can't wait!

The preparation for the trip, however, is a different story. We've been avoiding this moment and watching it come closer for months now, and to be honest, we were a bit nervous when we even agreed to this trip over the summer. Kaylani was only going to be 8 weeks old (she'll actually be 7 weeks since she was a week late), so it was extremely early, but we're pretty positive that we'll have a good experience. After all, she's been great everywhere else we've taken her.

Today though, we began packing. Packing for Daddy has never been a problem. I'll open a suitcase, overpack the heck out of it with at least 2 extra outfits, and then I'm done. But with Kaylani (and the "new" travel fees), things sure are different. Okay, we're actually flying Southwest, so luckily we won't have many extra travel fees (or scary 2 faced airline agents), but the packing for Kaylani was definitely different. Today, I got a feel for what it's like to play with a doll.

Mommy and Daddy spent a good hour going through Kaylani's possible outfits, which included playing dress-up with her to see if some of her warm weather clothes fit her, and if she finally outgrew her newborn clothes. It also included finding 12 outfits (2 per day for 6 days) by going through all of the different clothing combinations, weather possibilities, and of course, factoring in the cuteness aspect.

After all was said and done, Kaylani's closet and dresser ended up being fairly empty, and everything was thrown into her own suitcase that we'll carry on. That doesn't even include extra diapers and wipes since we'll be buying all of that once we get down there. Although Daddy did pack 12 diapers for the airport and flight, and I'm sure hoping that's enough, but you really never know.

Anyways, Kaylani is just about done, so it's time for Mommy and Daddy to put her to sleep and pack our own bags. For all you faithful readers, I'll try and post from my Blackberry down in Orlando, but for those of you who just come for the pictures, I'll have nothing for you until January when we get back (but then I'll have TONS of pictures)! If you want to find out when I do get a chance to blog again, you can check back, check Facebook, or signup for emails too! And in the meantime, check out pictures from today, and my first video post! It's a video of Mommy swaddling Kaylani. Sorry for the poor quality, but it was using the "night" mode so we didn't wake her up. And in case you don't check back, Happy New Year!