Oh the places you'll go ......

Oh the things you'll do ........... here is our past decade in review :)

In the past decade, Dan & I got our kitties Turk and Caico, got engaged, got married, built a house, struggled to get pregnant, got pregnant and gave birth to our handsome son Nicholas - which by the way, was the perfect end to our past decade :)

I surpisingly have worked with the same people at the same job for the past 10 years. The name of the company has changed along the way though - it went from being Telica, to being bought out by Lucent, to becoming Alcatel-Lucent.

Dan has worked at many different places as either a contractor or full time. He saw the rise and unfortunate fall of Avici Systems, a dream of retiring early sadly ruined. He sold off his multi-family for top dollar in this decade and also tried his hand at owning his own business. He bought and ran Elite Tan in Lexington, MA for almost 2 years before selling it off.

Since buying the house, Dan has made MAJOR improvements to it. He did the tile backsplash in the kitchen, built a sunroom, built a deck, put in a fence, finished the basement, put up crown molding and wainscotting in the dining room, built a mud room and added an additional deck this year. We also had a pool put in, had the front yard landscaped, put in a shed, and had stairs and a patio put in down to the basement slider.

We have been fortunate enough to go on lots of lots of vacations in the past decade:


ARUBA:

Wyndham (w/ Eric & Lisa)

ANTIGUA:

Sandals/Galley Bay

BAHAMAS:

Atlantis

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS:

Peter Island

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

Secrets Excellence

Iberostar Punta Cana (for Melissa & Dan's wedding)

GRAND CAYMAN:

Westin

GRENADINES:

Palm Island

JAMAICA:

Couples Negril 3x's (1x w/ Eric & Beth, 1x w/ Leighann & Scott)

Iberostar Rose Hall Suites (first family vacation w/ Leighann & Scott)

ST LUCIA:

Sandals Regency

TURKS & CAICOS:

Allegro (w/ Eric, Colleen & Frank)
US VIRGIN ISLANDS:

Wyndham St Thomas

Westin St John

CRUISE:

1 cruise to St Thomas, Puerto Rico, Dominica, Barbados, Martinique

MEXICO:

Cabo--

Dreams (w/ Erin & Dave)

Puerto Vallarta--

Gran Velas

Cancun--

Riu Cancun (w/ Joe & Melissa)

Mayan Riviera--

Barcelo

Iberostar Paraiso (for Aimee & Steve's wedding)

Cozumel--

Iberostar Cozumel

US:

- Disney (w/ Joe & Melissa)

- Busch Gardens/Tampa (to visit Dan's mom & stepfather)

- San Diego (La Costa was always a vacation away from home when Dan was working out there!)

- Vegas (2x's - Hard Rock and Paris for my 30th b-day, MGM Grand for Halloween)

- Martha's Vineyard (w/ Eric & Beth and Joe & Melissa)

- White Mountains (where we got engaged!)

- Nantucket

For girlie trips, I've done Chicago, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Vegas (Venetian), Mayan Riviera (Barcelo), Cabo (Riu Palace), Jamaica (Sunset Beach for my bachelorette party).

For boys trips, Dan has been to Nantucket countless times, Cabo (Riu Santa Fe for Eric's bachelor party), Vegas (Hard Rock for George's bachelor party), and many many golf trips:

- Sunday River
- Mesquite, Nevada
- Utah
- California - La Costa, Torrey Pines x2
- Myrtle Beach x3
- Alabama- RTJ x3
- Hilton Head, South Carolina (Harbour Town)
- North Carolina (Pinehurst)
- MA -Cape Cod, The Ranch, TPC Boston, The International
- Foxwoods, Ct


So as everyone can see we've had an absolutely amazing decade!! We have been so fortunate to go so many places and live in such a wonderful house and give birth to an amazing child. We can only hope that the next decade will be even half as good :)

2009 in review....

The highs and lows of the past year....

- found out we were going to have a healthy baby

- Dan played Torrey Pines out in CA right after the Buick invitational

- went on a babymoon to Antigua and stayed 2 nights at Sandals in a rondoval and then 5 nights at Galley Bay in a beachfront room.

- went to Riu Palace in Cabo with my mom and sister for a girls weekend away

- Dan went to North Carolina to golf at Pinehurst

- Dan went to Riu Santa Fe in Cabo for Eric's bachelor party... Dan was quarantined to Eric's apartment in Boston afterwards because of the swine flu threat in Mexico

- had my college girlfriends out for a girlie weekend

- we were supposed to go to Cancun and stay at the Golden Parnessus but decided to cancel due to the Swine Flu threat and me being pregnant

- found out we were having a baby boy!

- Dan did a golf trip down in the Cape with Jack, Scott & Greg and got to play TPC Boston

- Dan got to play The International in Bolton (he was actually supposed to play here twice this year but he 'unfortunately' had to cancel the second round since our baby was born the day before!)

- Eric & Beth got married out at the Wheatleigh in Lenox, MA

- we took lots & lots of baby preparation classes!

- we put in a pool heater

- we put in stairs and a patio down to the basement slider

- WE HAD A BABY!! Nicholas Daniel came into this world and stole our hearts!

- Dan built a new deck off the pool area

- Mike & Amanda got married in Concord, MA

- Dan had his 20 year class reunion

- Laura & Sam got married in Chicago - our first night away from Nicholas

- Nicholas got baptized

- Dan 'wrestled' a 6 foot black racer snake while golfing at Foxwoods

- we took our first family vacation to Jamaica

- Dan got diagnosed with uveitus

Christmas in review....

Well we survived the Christmas season....still lots of outfits to wash and toys to organize but the celebrating with family is officially complete. I have to say that the Christmas preparations are so much harder with a baby. It was so much tougher to shop for people.... the internet became my best friend! Finding time to wrap and cook was also a challenge.

I used to think that all the running around for the holidays was tiring.... but add in a baby and it's down right exhausting!! Having to constantly worry about his well being and making sure he was always fed and had a dry diaper all while trying to visit with friends and family is tough. Then worrying about him getting in enough naps so he wasn't cranky.... and dealing with when he was cranky was a full time job. Add in the fact that we are no longer able to sleep in and that makes for one tired Mommy & Daddy!

Overall though I think it was a great holiday season. We loved watching Nicholas actually being able to open his gifts. We figured he would just sit there while we did all the work but no way! He loved ripping the wrapping paper!! It was also great to watch him enjoy the Chrismtas tree and all the decorations. He's at the stage where he loves to feel all new textures and loved to touch the ornaments and garland on the stair railing.

All and all it was a wonderful Christmas holiday and I wouldn't trade it in for the world. Thanks to all of Nicholas' grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins for such wonderful gifts. I'm so glad so many of you were able to help Nicholas celebrate his first Christmas.

And with that I am off to tear down the tree...... just kidding..... I'll atleast wait until tomorrow :) Merry Christmas to all!!

Our family art project

Now that all the presents have been handed out we can show off our art project we did as a family this year. We made hand and foot print ornaments! Such a great way to remember how big Nicholas was for his first Christmas....

Chirstmas #4......

Our 4th and final Christmas celebration was with Grandpa and Nana. We had a nice and relaxing afternoon with yummy mai tais and a full home made italian meal :)

I still have a little more growing to do before I'll fit in my new life jacket.... I can't wait to go for a ride on Grandpa and Nana's boat next summer!!

I can't get enough of all this wrapping paper....

I love my new little doggie stuffed animal!

Here I am modeling my christmas outfit....

Christmas #3.....

Christmas #3 was on Christmas morning with us opening presents from Santa Claus. Nicholas must have known it was Christmas morning because he refused to go back to sleep after waking up at 5:30AM......a trend I'm sure that will last for many more Christmas mornings to come.


Nicholas modeling his new Elmo bib - he can't wait to wear it when he tries out eating cereal :)

This present opening stuff is so much fun!!

Have to open the stocking first....



Mommy helping me open presents.......

Do I really have to wear the bow on top of my head ALL morning??

Christmas #2....

Christmas #2 was the Loach Family Christmas party on Christmas Eve which was hosted by Dan's sister Aimee this year. We had a great time and a wonderful meal. Nicholas was again spoiled rotten by his aunts and uncles :)

Nicholas looking at his new 'Baby's 1st Christmas' ornament from Grammie and Grampie Beals.


Taking a break during present opening for a quick bite to eat.....



Opening presents with Dad.....

Hanging with some of my cousins......

Christmas #1....

We had our first Christmas celebration with Grandma and Pepe this past weekend. We got some awesome clothes and some fun toys from the grandparents and aunts and uncles. Nicholas also got a beautiful quilt that his great grandma Leszcynski knitted him! I'll have to post some pics of that on another day. Here's a couple pics though from the weekend festivities...

Grandma helping me open my first present.



Grandma pulled out a little sleigh for me to sit in so I could have my own special seat for unwrapping presents....



My own personal sippy cup.... that I surprisingly kind of get how to use already!



Nicholas figured out the unwrapping thing pretty quickly which we were all surprised about. We figured he would just sit there and watch us unopen his gifts, but he actually enjoyed tearing open all the boxes... of course all the wrapping paper had to endure a Nicholas taste test but that's what happens when you're teething :)



Ooohhh.... Elmo..... my favorite!!


Here's Daddy reading me my new Elmo book from Grandma and Pepe!

What a week....

Nicholas has been learning so many news skills this week! We've officially rolled over back to belly.... luckily he did it at home first before showing off his new talent at daycare! He's also mastered blowing raspberries.... although we think he only does them when he's mad or tired :) AND we are on the verge of tripod sitting unasssisted. This is where they lean on their arms while sitting up. Poor kid must be exhausted with all the new skills he's mastering.... not tired enough to sleep thru the night though :( Next up..... we're starting cereal on New Year's Day so be sure to check back for those pics!!


Santa came early to drop off one of Nicholas' presents - a baby sled! We've been practicing inside riding around in it since it's too cold outside. He really loves it.

This starfish toy on my exersaucer tasts AWESOME!!

Did you just hear Daddy's joke? It's hilarious :)

I'm finally starting tp get the hang of this jumperoo. Thanks f or such a fun toy Melissa, Dan and Maggie!

More pics.....

Thank goodness for my giraffe Sophie - she's the best teething toy EVER!! I would have been lost in Jamaica without her. Of course Mom is such a germ-a-phobe that she put Sophie in the dishwasher on the sanitizing cycle when we got home and now Sophie just doesn't squeek the same. OOPS!!


Nicholas enjoying his first ever viewing of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer... I think he likes this movie as much as Mom does!!



Trial run for our Christmas card pictures. I think he was much more comfortable in his regular clothes.

And here again now just chillin' in full costume :)

See my cute Wisconsin t-shirt that Grandpa and Nana got me....

But I'm not sure the Tigger slippers go with the outfit Dad!

Mommy sure makes me laugh....

And I love to kiss my little doggie that my godmother Auntie Aimee got me :)

Trimming the tree....

This past weekend we went to pick out our Christmas tree. Luckily we got it home right before all the rain and snow started!

We always bring home Christmas ornaments as souvenirs from our trips to the Caribbean and Mexico so it's a real treat to trim the tree and remember all the cool places we've been. We also have a lot of wedding ornaments that we hang that were either given to us as gifts or were left over as favors from our wedding. Trimming our tree always makes us appreciate just how lucky we are to have each other and be able to do the things we do. Front and center on the tree this year was of course the ornament we brought home from Jamaica from our first family trip. It has Santa Claus dressed up as a pirate - ARG :)

Our other fun ornaments are the full cast of characters from the claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It Rudolph, all the misfit toys, Yukon Cornelius and of course the evil snow monster which we use as a star on our tree.

Where are we going today Mom that I need to dress so warm??



Yup.... this is the tree I want!




Mommy and Nicholas trimming the tree



Getting ready to help Dad put the 'star' on the tree....




Good thing I'm so tall Dad so I can help you reach!

4 months old.... and a bad mommy

Every month I've been taking Nicholas' picture on the same chair with an updated sign of how many months old he is. Unfortunately between just getting home from Jamaica the night before and Dan not feeling well, I only managed to get a picture with his onesie sticker before bath time. So the picture below is from December 2nd when he turned 4 months.

He had his 4 month check up yesterday. Of course I can't remember his exact percentiles and I even asked 3 times! What a tired mommy I must be!! Here are the stats I remember:

weight = 18 lbs, 5 oz (low 90's percentile)

height = 26" (high 80's percentile)

head circ. = 43 1/2 cm (high 80's percentile)

Aahhhh.....Jamaica

Well we survived our first family trip! Jamaica was a great time... definitely a different vacation compared to when we were there last year at the same time though. Last year we were at a couples only resort... and in fact we found out we were pregnant with Nicholas when we returned. This year we headed to a more family oriented hotel. Our friends Leighann and Scott joined us last year for our trip to Couples Negril and we talked them into returning again this year - haha! I vote Jamaica for Thanksgiving EVERY year!!



So this year we stayed at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites right in Montego Bay. Definitely nice to only be 20 minutes from the airport rather than the 90 minutes when we go to Negril. The downfall though is that the Montego Bay area ocean water can't even begin to compare to the beaches in Negril. Definitely can't have it all right?! The Iberostar was a perfect resort for a family vacation. There were so many kids there - we definitely would have been disappointed with the property if it was just the two of us but it was perfect with the baby. It's nice when there are so many kids around so you don't have to feel guilty when they cry!


The Iberostar was an all suites property so the rooms had a separate sitting area. Definitely nice to have the extra room with all of Nicholas' gear. Of course had I not WAY overpacked it probably wouldn't have been an issue :) I must admit that for a general all-inclusive, the food was extremely good. I don't think I've ever seen so much lobster at any other all-inclusive. Dan and Scott did some serious damage on the lobster tails and steaks on numerous nights. Oh and of course on the mai tais too :)

I have to say that Nichoals was a super star on this vacation between the flights and dealing with the changes in his eating and sleeping patterns. Dan on the other hand did not fare as well but you can read up about that on a different post.

So let's see.......

Flights: We totally lucked out with our flights and got upgraded to first class in both directions. The extra room was key when having a lap infant. The real treat was that the planes in and out of Jamaica actually had an envoy level rather than first class. That pretty much means you have seats can recline all the way back and have leg rests that come up also so you can practically lay flat! It was the first time we've ever been in envoy and it was AWESOME! You had to unbuckle your seatbelt, stand up and walk forward a couple of steps to get to your carry on stored under the seat in front of you! Crazy!! So Nicholas pretty much just played, ate and slept for all the flights. We had a baggy of toys, binkies and bottles that we kept next to us the whole time so we could keep mixing it up for him to keep him entertained. The only interesting tid bit is that not all planes having changing tables in the bathrooms. Who knew!? Dan mastered the art of changing a diaper right in his seat on this trip - sure the other first class passengers enjoyed that! Luckily his poopy diaper of the day showed up on a plane that did have a changing table (which was only in 1 of the 4 bathrooms available). Dan had to handle that one since we all know how much I love to fly :) I must admit I spent so much time worrying about Nicholas' ears and well being that I didn't focus on the turbulance as much. Of course downing a bloody mary at 6AM before the plane takes off probably helped a bit too :)

Gear: I WAY over packed for this trip. So many things I thought we MIGHT use that we never did. The travel bed was too small.. the pool float was too big... Live and learn right? I brought so many cute outfits for Nicholas and I think he wore 10% of them. Such a bummer since he has pretty much outgrown most of them already since he is growing like a weed. During the day he hung out in a onsie or just his diaper and at night we just put him in his sleeper when we went to dinner.

Our days: Nicholas was always the first one up of course :) He would have a bottle and then he would either take a nap on my bed or we would head straight to breakfast. We then would head down to the pool and hang out. Our friends Leighann and Scott brought their daughter Abby also and we would grab seats off to the side where it was just one palapa after another so there was plenty of shade all day. Leighann and her family would all head to the pool but we pretty much stayed in the shade the whole time. We originally thought we would take Nicholas in the pool but after thinking about how much chlorine must be in the pool and all the mixed drinks from the swim up bar (Abby contributed one day!!) and all the possible kiddie accidents we decided to stick to the ocean. Nicholas didn't love the ocean but didn't hate it either. I think he was still trying to figure out what he thought about it. We only brought him in twice between Dan going golfing and then not feeling well.

Nicholas was awesome for dinner time too. Every night we would put him in his sleeper and lay him in the stroller and wheel him down to the lobby bar where he would preceed to fall asleep pretty much thru our cocktail hour and dinner. He would then sleep in the stroller in the room until 11:30ish and then we would feed him and he would go to sleep in the crib provided by the hotel. He would then maybe wake up one more time to eat before morning.

Now don't get me wrong, there were days we left the pool because he was too fussy to sleep and nights he didn't fall asleep for dinner but all in all I think he did great!

Favorite part: Dan would probably say his favorite part of the trip was when he and Scott went golfing at the White Witch golf course. But for me, the best part was that Nicholas found his voice! He just babbled and babbled from the first plane ride right thru the whole weekend. I loved hearing him telling us stories. The 3 of us sat in the lobby area one afternoon and Nicholas was just squeeling at the top of his lungs! We couldn't get enough of it but I'm sure the other guests weren't expecting to hear it while checking in and grabbing drinks :) I know both Dan and I will always remember this trip as the one where Nicholas really started talking.... and if he's anything like his Momma.... now he'll never shut up!

Tips:

- The first class upgrades were definitely worth it. I can't imagine being in coach and trying to hold Nicholas with so little room. I know I sound spoiled for this but it really did make a huge difference. Really it was the envoy that was the real spoiler... first class seats even felt tight after that - haha!!

- Definitely bring small containers of formula. It got so clumpy with the humidity. I left the opened can there because it wasn't even worth bringing it back.

- We went back and forth on a number of destinations and I'm so glad we went somewhere that you could drink the water. After the first night of washing bottles I realized it would have been hell trying to keep his bottles clean if I couldn't use the hot water out of the faucet. It was also key to bring the bottle drying rack so I could store the bottles somewhere other than in the bathroom or on a counter or hotel towel. Just seemed cleaner.

- Picking a resort with a mini bar in the room and that offered room service was key. We definitely took full advantage of it when Nicholas was taking long naps in the afternoon.

- I was glad to have plenty of anti-bacterial wipes to wipe down all the arm rests and areas on the plane that Nicholas could touch.

- We brought along his white noise machine for at night which I think was a huge help. It was something familar from home for him and helped us drown out some of his noise since he's a loud sleeper.

- Definitely sheets from home were important since they just wrapped the crib matress in a regular bed sheet. Defintiely not considered safe.

- I also brought some cleaning products from home to clean the tub before we put Nicholas in it. Seemed like the water temp kept fluctuating in the shower so I was glad to be able to put him in the tub where we could fill it to the appropiate temp. Of course that meant that Dan was showering and also taking a tubbie with Nicholas everyday but I don't think either one of them really minded.

- Oh one other thing I was really glad we had were bags for the stroller and car seat when gate checking. It was ridiculous how dirty and ripped the bags were after even the first flight! Much better them than my nice stroller!

- And zip lock baggies were my best friend. So good to keep things separted and be able to grab just what you need when you needed it!


Finally I have to give a shout out to my husband who never complained once about lugging all the gear. We checked in 3 rolling bags and golf clubs and then had the stroller, car seat, 1 rolling bag and 3 shoulder bags as carry ons. Even the customs lady couldn't believe it when we wrote down we were traveling with 8 bags!! Throw in Nicholas and he had his hands full all weekend! So much work especially when he wasn't feeling well.


So overall would I do it again.... yes. It's not the way the old vacations used to be and it's a lot more work but it was still fun. I think it will be easier when he's a bit older and can go in the pool and stuff. It would also be easier if we could bring along our own personal babysitter to stay with him while he napped in the afternoons so we could get some time to relax. Probably would have been easier on me if Dan was feeling better also - I ended up doing a lot more than I had expected but what can you do. But now Nicholas' passport officially has it's first stamp..hopefully there will be many more to come :)




OK ... OK.... enough talking..... here's some pics!!





Going for a dip....

Look I can fly Dad!

Daddy and Nicholas in the ocean....






Arg... I'm a pirate!

Chillin' by the pool after breakfast.

Hanging in my sun tent on my new tyedied Nantucket beach blanket. Thanks Eric & Beth for the way cool blanket!!

Aahh.. envoy... you can't even see where the row in front of us starts!

Family portrait as we begin our journey....