Bad Blogger

So I am such a bad blogger! I seriously don't have the time or the mental clarity right now to put my thoughts down on 'paper'. Josina is almost 8 1/2 months old already! For the past 2 1/2 months she has not been sleeping AT ALL, thanks to teething and easing onto solid foods. I cannot survive on 2 - 3 hours of sleep each night, thus blogging, etc. has been neglected. But the past 3 nights she has actually slept pretty much the full night so I am feeling like I am coming out of the hazy fog that is my world.

Josina is such a joy! I am still in awe that I am a mother and that she is my daugher. She has been crawling for about 2 - 2 1/2 months and at 6 months started pulling herself up on her knees and then to standing. She could do without sitting up, that is so last year! Never does she sit on the floor and play with her toys. She always, always, always has to stand...against the coffee table, sofa, bookshelf, fireplace, bar stool, high chair, stair gate, jumperoo, alligator piano, toybox...need I say more? I am a very busy mom with a very active little girl! I am astounded that she can stand against her toybox (vinyl storage ottoman) and hook her elbow against it for support and play with her toys. She has recently started playing at the coffee table and moving back and forth to the sofa and then back to the coffee table. I don't think it will be long and she'll start making the motions to walk.

Well, that's about it for now. Hope you all had a happy halloween. Josina dressed up as a ladybug...so cute. We went to story time at the library and to her friend's house for a halloween party. I only took her out to our neighbour and good friends' house for trick-or-treating just to share the cuteness that is her. By the time I got home it was close to meltdown time so we didn't go anywhere else. TTFN.

Wordless Wednesday (a day early)

What? How Did We Get Here?

Ok, they told me that time flies when you are a parent, but seriously? How did we get here so quickly? She is turning 7 months old on the 21st. Check out this picture. One minute she's shuffling/crawling around on the floor and the next minute...



she's pulled herself up on her knees using the end table... ALL BY HERSELF! Just astounding!

4 Months!

Where has the time gone. As each day passes Josina changes more and more. Her personality is definitely starting to emerge. Oh boy, are we in for it! I think she is going to have a very strong sense of self and won't be afraid to tell you what she thinks! lol! She is already giving me attitude. When I stand her on my lap and she isn't happy about something she'll stiffen straight up, yell at me and put her arms straight out behind her with this look of digust on her face. IT IS HILARIOUS! Hee hee hee.

*She can reach for a toy intentionally and put it in her mouth. Watching her do this with her Sophie giraffe is hilarious b/c she misses and pokes herself or she'll have Sophie's entire butt in her mouth.
*When I sit her up she becomes totally enthralled with her feet. She stares at them in amazement and bends all the way down to the floor to look at them. But the funny thing is that she can't get back up again. LOL!
*She is sleeping through the night. She will fall asleep between 8 and 9 pm after her bottle. BUT she is waking up way to early for my liking. Anytime between 5 and 6:30 am. Ugh! I'm not even functioning until after 8 am.
*She now naps in the afternoon anywhere from 1 to 3 hours (come on 3 hours!) after I rock her for 10 minutes or so.
*She power naps for half an hour in the am.
*She LOVES her Jumperoo! Yay for the Jumperoo! She loves to bounce and jump...it's hilarious when she rocks side to side like a Sumo Wrestler.
*She's getting stronger on her tummy. Phew! Now I won't look like a bad mother at Gymboree class. (BTW, the other day at class a 6 month boy was holding her hand, ha ha ha! It was so cute!)
*She has 2 friends from her Mommy & Baby class that live close by. In fact one friend actually lives on our street, only 8 doors down! How's that for coincidence!
*She still hates the Tim Horton's drive-thru. Sigh! Get used to it honey!
*She plays with her Sophie giraffe and soft, plush lion in the car when we are driving somewhere. It is so adorable to look back at her in the mirror and see her happily munching away on her toys with a sweet smile on her face.
*Once in a while she'll have an hour or so of constant drooling, chewing, munching, sucking with red cheeks. So some teething is happening but not all the time.
*Her world has opened up past the 10 inches from her face. She looks around the room for her mommy and daddy. She tracks the cats as they walk by her. It is so amazing to see this change!
*Outside is one of her favourite places to be. She loves to look around at everything, especially the leaves on the trees. When going for walks with the stroller she'll happily look around and give me a big smile. So cute.
*I bought her some babybanz sunglasses. They look adorable on her. She doesn't like them yet. But I will win...yep, I will win this battle, lol! I think she'll get used to them if we keep trying them on.
*2 weeks ago she started rolling on her right side. That was so incredible to watch! And to think, it will just keep getting better! More and more changes every day!

I love you my little honey bear. Mommy loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Bittersweet

Monday, February 23rd...the day we were taking Josina home to Calgary. When Sid and I woke up that morning we were both a bundle of nerves and in very sombre moods. How else can you feel when you are going to watch a family say 'goodbye' to their little girl. We weren't meeting at the hospital until noon so we had a long morning ahead of us. After eating breakfast in the hotel I knew that I needed to write Marcia a letter so I was prepared with something meaningful to say at the ceremony at the hospital. Otherwise I'd just stumble and say something stupid as I am not good with speaking of the top of my head. What do you write to someone who is going to allow you the privledge of raising her baby? The words came somewhat easy and yet difficult at the same time because it had to be just right. After a few drafts I felt I said what I needed to say. It was time to go and I was still writing more as an afterthought as we walked out of the hotel room door.

In the car on the way to the hospital our social worker phoned to see how we were doing. I broke down sobbing in tears...I think it was obvious how we were doing. We'd been crying on and off all morning. You have to understand...Josina's birth family are very good people and this was extremely painful for them. This was going to be the hardest day of our lives. Yes we were going to become parents, but as adoptive parents you have to go through this part to get to the good stuff. I prayed to God that morning that he would make me feel the pain and suffering that the family was going through. It was the least I could do.

At the hospital our social worker had not yet arrived so we waited at the Tim Hortons for her. When she arrived she told us to wait here for her until she calls. She went up to the hospital room for what seemed like an eternity. Sitting at the table, all I could think of, with butterflies in my stomach, was that it wasn't going to happen. We were waiting so long because the adoption wasn't going to go through. In fact the opposite was happening...they were taking the time to say goodbye to Josina, to grieve this loss.

Then my cell phone rang and it was time to go up. That was the longest and most nerve-wracking walk I've ever taken. As we entered the maternity ward our steps became smaller and smaller, we walked slower and slower. Closer and closer we walked to the door to the hospital room...at one point my husband stopped in the hall, his feet would not carry him any further. We were sobbing and in tears before even entering the room. As I entered, sobbing, I saw Marcia sitting on the hospital bed with Josina in her arms...2 braids in her hair, looking radiant and yet so sad. She was looking down at Josina (which she did for the entire ceremony). Her mom, dad, sister, and brothers were sitting around her on the bed and in chairs. I skooched over to a corner, standing in front of the family with tears streaming down my face. We were all bawling. Our social worker said a prayer, read some scripture and then I had the opportunity to read my letter to Marcia. Again, she looked at Josina the entire time, never taking her eyes off her. Everyone had the opportunity to say a few words if they felt like it. I can't even begin to tell you how important that was to us. Marcia, such an amazing young woman, told us she couldn't believe our profile had never been chosen (it had been shown numerous times, just never chosen) but that she is glad that we were never chosen because that meant she got to choose us. We are the perfect family for her baby. This amazes me to this day!

After hugging each other, Sid and I left the room to let the family say their last goodbyes. We waited down the hall in a lounge until our social worker came and said it was time. As we walked back into the room where Josina was waiting for us we noticed that her hospital basinette had been decorated with gifts for Josina, so nicely displayed. Ok...this still gets me to this day. Her family says good bye to her...they are letting us raise her...the most precious gift I will ever receive...and in the midst of their greatest pain they take the time to decorate her basinette and shower her with gifts...I told you they are an amazing family! They love her so much!

So now the tears need to be put away, we have a big responsibility now. We are parents! It was time to be happy. We took this picture to celebrate our new daughter:

The weather outside was cold and snowy and we were anxious to get home soon as we had a 3 hour drive to make. Unfortunately we had to wait for the doctor to complete the final medical on Josina before releasing her. Well, it took 3 hours for the doctor to show up...not fun. While waiting, a nurse spent some time with us to educate us on bathing, etc. (thankfully we had taken an infant care class 2 nights before Josina was born, lol). Finally she was given a clean bill of health and it was time to go. After putting her in the car seat and getting the nurse to check that we had Josina strapped in properly (we didn't) we started walking down the hallway with our daughter...the same hallway that hours before we couldn't even walk down. As we walked further and further towards the exit I kept looking back to see if someone was going to stop us. They're actually letting us leave with her? I told Sid to walk faster before someone stops us. It reminded me of the Ikea commercial...you know..."start the car...start the car".

The drive home was fairly uneventful, long, but uneventful. After such an emotional weekend it was so good to be home. Our good friends and neighbours came over to ooh and awe over our gorgeous little baby. They brought an "its a girl" balloon and some gerbera daisies (my fave) and took some pics of us with her...I think she's going to have a problem with her eyesight with so many flashes going off in her eyes at such a young age, lol.

We didn't get much sleep that night (or for the next zillion nights, lol, for that matter) but were so proud to be her parents (still are).

The next few days after this are a blur. All I can remember is that Sid and I both cried and were so sad for Josina's birth mom and her family. We cried at the drop of a hat so many times.

We had 10 days to wait to see if Josina would remain with us or if Marcia would decide to parent. The 10 days passed successfully and that's when I first posted about her arrival (see posting entitled "Surprise"). Now 3 months later you can see that Josie is growing like a weed and very happy with us. We feel so blessed to be her adoptive parents because we were made to wait so long to become parents and we never take her for granted. She is such a precious gift. I love her more than I can put into words.

3 Months!

Josie is 3 months old already!

*She smiles in response to something you say or do. While smiling she turns her head coyly toward her shoulder as if to say 'I'm the cutest little girl in the world'.

*She loves it when you talk with her. She loves to talk and loves it when you copy what she just said.

*She started sucking her thumb on the long weekend. For a long time now she's been sucking her fist, but she finally found her thumb.

*She also started blowing bubbles over the long weekend. Too cute!

*She doesn't like pacifiers. She only takes a soother when Mommy is rocking her to sleep.

*She says 'la' when she's tired and needs to cuddle with Mommy to help her fall asleep.

*She tracks you or other objects in the room.

*She looks for Mommy and Daddy when she hears our voices.

*She is holding up her head, neck and shoulders if still a bit wobbly now and then.

*She eats about 5 to 6 ounces of formula about every 3 hours as compared to 1 ounce when we first brought her home.

*She can sleep anywhere from 6 to 8 hours at night uninterrupted...although I could do without the 5 am wake up call for a feeding then only going back to sleep for another hour.

*She isn't strong on her tummy yet, that head's pretty heavy, lol. She gets frustrated quickly on her tummy, but we're trying to do it more often so she gains more strength. I always forget to do it.

*She loves her crib mobile...I can turn it on for her and have a shower, get dressed and do my hair while she plays.

*She is starting to wear 3 to 6 month clothing, depending on the brand. She has a very long torso so any 2 piece outfits fit well in the pants but the diaper shirts can be a little short.

*She loves her bouncy chair which is nice because now Daddy and Mommy can actually eat dinner together.

* She doesn't cry very much, only if she's tired or is telling us she wants to move on to the next activity, thank you very much.

*She needs to be moving all the time...She is a little wiggle worm.

*She's ok with the car seat as long as the car is moving (I'm becoming talented at slowing down when approaching red lights and timing it so that I don't have to stop and once the light turns green can continue to go, lol...others behind me may not appreciate it but so what!). This means that she hates Tim Horton's drive thru...not good, not good! Never once have I gone through the drive thru without her crying her lungs out...always have to pull over and give her a bottle to calm her down.

Happy 3 months little girl! Mommy loves you!

Letting me actually sit down while in the baby bjorn...doesn't happen often, lol.

Lounging in the hot Okanagan heat.

Big smiles...what a cutie!

The Next Day

When we got back to the hotel after meeting our daughter I could not sleep, not a bit...all I wanted to do was hold her and snuggle with her. We woke up early and were at the hospital around 8:30 am...Marcia was so tired so we told her to go to sleep and we would look after Josina. She did and we spent a few quiet hours together holding her, taking photos and a short video (I'll post it one day). Josina's birth family (Oma, Opa, Aunt and 2 Uncles) arrived and of course it was time to let them hold her and cuddle her. They just love and adore her so much there are no words to describe it. The rest of the day was spent in the hospital room visiting, talking and best of all staring at and doting over Josina.







By mid-afternoon I was done, I was so tired and overstimulated by all the activity and people. Sid and I went back to the hotel and tried to nap. With no success we cleaned up and went out for dinner before going back to the hospital for a quick visit. We would be taking Josina home the next day and it was important for the family to have alone time with her to say goodbye. Although we loved her at first sight, she wasn't really 'ours' yet and we needed to be sensitive and keep our distance. Our time would come...it was their time to be together.

Although it was exciting to be becoming parents FINALLY...it was also so bittersweet...we felt like vultures at times...seeing a family saying goodbye to their sweet little girl...well, there are no words to describe the emotions. We knew the next day was going to be so difficult. After arriving back at the hotel we were drained and exhausted...we went to bed early and managed to get some sleep...we were going to need our strength for what was to come.

When My Daughter was Born...

So I'm trying to find time to blog about our daughter and have found motherhood to be so amazing and extremely busy, making it nearly impossible to write. My Josie doesn't nap much during the day either so...(actually the second I started typing this post she woke up...will have to come back to it...)

Ok, it is now later this evening and Josie is in her basinette, not asleep yet, just gurgling and wiggling as she does best. I'm going to try to write some more. Ha ha...as soon as I start typing she has started crying for food...will have to hen-peck while feeding her...Josie was born on Saturday, February 21st. The week preceding her birth was very stressful and exciting at the same time. Her birthmom's (Marcia) water broke a week before (while we were in San Francisco! Ack!) and had to go in every day to the hospital for a non-stress test. She was to be induced 3 days before Josie was born, packed up and drove an hour to the hospital to find they didn't have room for her...please go home and wait. Well, finally it was decided that she would be induced on the Monday instead. So Sid and I thought we`d have the weekend to do some last minute preparations and tie up some loose ends with my job. On Saturday Sid and I spent the day running errands (buying a sling, dresser from Ikea, etc.) Early evening came and Sid went to get groceries while I drove down south with my neighbour, who has a minivan, to pick up an upholstered glider and ottoman that I found on kijiji...On the way my cell phone rang (it was about 6:10pm) and it was Marcia. This is what she said:

Marcia: Congratulations, M0mmy
Me: *stunned and confused silence* -uh...what
Marcia: Congratulations, Mommy
Me: what are you talking about...that`s not funny (or something like that...it is all such a blur)
Marcia: You`re a mommy...you have a daughter
Me: WHAT...WHAT...(insert shrieks...ask questions about what happened, start sobbing)

My neighbour who was driving called his wife to tell her the good news and to listen to my shrieks and sobs.

Marcia explained that she started having pains and contractions at one in the morning and Josina was born at 5:08 pm. When could we be there (3 hours away!). I couldn`t have been further away from home...I was at the opposite end of the city...picked up the chair and hightailed it home...we had to drive 3 hours to meet our daughter. Got home, hugged my husband, hugged my friend, then scrambled to pack...on the way out of town picked up dinner to go and flowers for Marcia. On the road we phoned everyone we could get ahold of...arrived in MH at the hospital just after 11 pm and saw our daughter for the first time by about 11:15. The moment we walked into the room time stood still, she was so beautiful! I was so overcome with emotion I could barely stand. Marcia was holding her on the bed and her mom and dad were there with her. After a few minutes I had composed myself and sat down in a chair to hold my little girl in my arms..only 6 hours old. She was perfect!

We stayed at the hospital until around 2 am...Marcia had fallen asleep and I didn`t want to leave her alone all night...I felt like I should stay to help her during the night...but Sid convinced me that the nurses were here for that reason, that we should go to the hotel and try to sleep. We left the hospital and went to the hotel, but we didn`t get any sleep, that`s for sure! More to come...

Cutie Pie! 9 weeks old.

One day when things slow down a bit (ha ha) I'll catch up on blogging...until then Josie turned 9 weeks on Saturday...these are 2 pics my friend posted on facebook of Josie at her baby shower.

2 Months!

Don't have time to blog much but Josina is 2 months old today! She weighs 10 pounds 14 ounces and is 22.5 inches in height. About the 50th percentile so all is good. She's already in her 3 month outfits. Life is crazy busy but so awesome! Love it, love it, love it! Here are some pics...I hate our camera it takes bad pics but here are the best of them.

Getting a pic of a full smile is challenging...she's constantly moving, lol. Need a faster camera.

Giggles!

Tickles from Oma

It snowed on the day this pic was taken...mommy declared it officially 'pyjama day' and we stayed on the couch in our jammies and cuddled all day.

She wore herself out after playing on her playmat. Fast asleep.

One Month Rambings

Thank you every one for your wonderful comments and well wishes. I understand how hard it can be to read about someone else's joy when you may be in a deep dark pit of sadness. I know what it is like to long for a child, I longed for one for 6 years. I had given up all hope and a miracle happened in my life. I will understand if you may not be able to read my posts once in a while and that's ok. I really do understand. When you can, I would love it if you would come by my blog for a visit.

Josina is one month old already! What? How did this happen? I really can't believe it! Words cannot express the joy and love I feel for her or how our life has changed dramatically in such an amazing way. Although crazy and exhausting, life has become much more simpler. Our focus has changed. Our purpose is different. It is incredible.

Watching her grow in the past 4 weeks has been so fulfilling. At first she was very content and after she would feed she'd fall back asleep instantly...a very content baby. Then when she was 2 weeks old she all of a sudden started becoming very demanding while eating. If I interrupted her feed to burp her she'd scream out as if saying "NOW! FEED ME NOW!", it was so funny to see this change in her! She is still doing it, even stronger in fact, lol!

Now she is becoming more and more alert and focuses on things around her. She loves to dance and sing with us and Beyonce's "Single Ladies" is one of her favourites, lol. Ok, it is one of my favourites but she likes it too, lol.

In the past few days she has changed again...she used to fall asleep easily...now it takes much longer for her to fall asleep and really loves to fall asleep in our arms...the second we put her in the basinette she wakes up and screams to be picked up again. Hmmm...they say that a baby should not be left to cry at this age, but is this the start of a bad habit? Will there be ramifications later? I can't leave her to cry though, it breaks my heart. Tonight she fell asleep as we sang to "Old MacDonald's farm" and "Six White Boomers".

She is growing so fast. Thursday last week her newborn swaddler diapers fit her fine and the very next day they were too small and she developed this adorable little pot belly!

She used to cry on the change table when getting her diaper changed, now she is starting to focus on the toys and to coo and gurgle instead.

Her eyes are becoming clear and are not as blurred as they were (I don't know what the technical term for this). She has the most beautiful eyes.

She is a very gassy baby, although I'm sure they all are. It is funny to praise her and comment on the force and loudness of her 'ahem' gas passing...lol. Or to say 'good one!' when she burps really loudly.

I could watch her all day long. Even at 4 in the morning when I am feeding her I am excited to be with her, to hold her, to bond with her.

I wonder what amazing changes the next month will bring. I've read that babies begin to smile in their second month. Oh, I hope so! I can't wait for this!

Tips for you:

*get your sleep now! Trust me on this one!

*although you want to shop in order to fill the void (trust me, I know), try not to...you get ALOT of really wonderful presents! There are so many people waiting to celebrate with you!

* You will lose your mind and memory right away...sleep deprivation at its best...you will forget what you were doing, move on to something else and forget that too.

Here is a pic of Josina with her eyes open at 3 weeks old (we don't have many with her eyes open, lol...she sleeps alot and I get distracted when she's alert...want to play with her and forget to take pics)

Surprise!

I'm back! Bet you've been wondering where I've been and what the heck I've been up to...thank you to my blogger friends who expressed their concern. I have a wonderful surprise for you! God has worked a miracle in my life over the past month and it has to do with this precious bundle of joy:

I am so proud to announce that she is my daughter! Yep, my DAUGHTER!!!! Can you believe it? She is such a blessing, a true miracle! I know your chin has hit the floor, I still find it very surreal myself. Isn't she gorgeous?!

Here is how it all unfolded. Do you notice the date of my last post was the early morning of January 15th? I couldn't sleep that night I was so stressed out about life. Later that evening (9:00pm) my husband and I received a phone call from our social worker from our local agency (We have been on the domestic adopotion list in Alberta for over 2 years) saying our profile/scrapbook had been chosen!!! Can we meet the family next week? What? Excuse me? We had all but given up on this! My husband and I didn't sleep for the entire week! We met our birthmom and her family and had a wonderful afternoon with them. The next day we were asked personally by our birthmom to parent her child, who is due on March 5th (today actually). She is an amazing woman who I will love and cherish for the rest of my life! We are blessed that she and her family will be a part of our lives, it is like they've adopted us!

A few weeks passed and we stayed in contact with the family via phone and email and had coffee, lunch and dinner together as well. I was overwhelmed with work, planning & preparing our house, etc. that I just couldn't blog about anything! My husband and I decided we needed to rearrange our trip to San Francisco (originally planned for March 21st) and while we were there (over Valentines weekend) her water broke!! While we were out of the country!!! Talk about panic!!! Our daughter wasn't born for another week...February 21st and we brought her home on the 23rd. Our ten-day revocation period passed successfully this Wednesday and I am so thrilled to be able to introduce little Josina to you.

Josina Maaike Marie

Born: February 21, 2009 at 5:08 pm

Weight: 7 pounds 1 ounce

Height: 19.2 inches

I am excited to continue to follow your journeys to parenthood, it is nothing like I'd ever even imagined. Even the 4 am feedings are enjoyable when you gaze into your child's eyes.

I will eventually get around to taking the blog private, when I have a minute to figure it out. But for now you get a sneak preview of our precious joy. Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday

Ok, so it isn't really Wednesday anymore, it is 12:16 Thursday morning and yet again I can't sleep (I think this is the 6th night in a row). Here are some of my favourite pics from my niece's wedding. Her Grandma took the photos - they're really good.

Fun in Florida! Day 7 (our last full day-blah!)

Of course our last day consisted of - what else? - the beach! The weather had cooled considerably but it was the last day and we HAD to spend it at the beach. Back to Clearwater Beach we went. It wasn't as busy as previous days, but still active and fun to people watch while lounging in our chairs. Didn't go into the water, it was just too cold.

Really all we did this day besides walk along the beach and on the pier was sit in our chairs and soak in the sun when it wasn't behind cloud. Not alot to report...a seagull attacked Sid and stole his sandwich right out of his hand...but it was still a fun day indeed.

Fun in Florida - Day 5 & 6

Sorry, I've been overwhelmed lately with work and personal stuff... also went to B.C. to my niece's wedding over the weekend...will post more on that later.

Back to Florida.

Day 5 was definitely my least favourite day of the trip and I don' really have any pics to share so you'll have to put up with my ranting. We got up early (I'm not a morning person) and drove from Clearwater to Crystal River (hour and a half drive). We were going on a snorkeling tour to swim with manatees.

Manatees swim into Crystal River when the weather is colder in the gulf to feed. Well it was unseasonably warm so there were limited manatees on this day. Blah! The tour guide would drive the boat up and out of the inlets looking for signs of manatees...there weren't very many and if there was a pod to be found they were tucked up into the manatee sanctuaries (boundaries set up by U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife - or something along that line)...when you would find one or two manatees ALL of the other boats/tours on the river would head in that direction...like 300 people trying to swim in the water to look at one manatee in cloudy water. Not impressed at all! I was really disgusted by this! No wonder they need sanctuaries. I was really shocked that the number of tours isn't limited in this area.

My husband did have an encounter with one manatee, he managed to see its body and tail as it swam by...didn't see the face but it did touch Sid as it swam by. I was totally pissed off by this point b/c we were the only boat around this manatee and the young kids that were on our tour kept pushing past me to get to the manatee. Rude little buggers! No concept of personal space and keeping your distance. I totally missed it. I left the water b/c you couldn't see anything anyway and I had had enough. What a waste of a day and money!

We drove back to Clearwater and the only saving grace to this day was that we were going to shop at Target...Target!!! I LOVE TARGET! When we arrived at Target I looked in the trunk for my purse and realized I had left it that morning in the restaurant back in Crystal River. The nausea subsided only after we phoned the restaurant and were assured that someone turned it in and all the money and credit cards were still in my wallet. How incredible is that? I was so worried about getting my purse back that while in Target I really couldn't focus and it wasn't as fun as I had hoped.

We decided we'd drive back later in the evening b/c there was no point at that time due to rush hour traffic. We ate another awesome meal at my aunt's and then headed all the way back up to Crystal River to get my purse. I couldn't think straight the entire evening until I finally had my purse back in my hands with all its contents in place. Phew! What a relief! I was so happy to get to bed that night.

Day 6 Kennedy Space Center

We drove about 2 1/2 - 3 hours east to Cape Canaveral to visit the Kennedy Space Center. The best part of the day were the alligators you would see in the ditches on the side of the road. Wild alligators! They were incredible! At the end of the day I noticed that there was a ditch full of water in front of our car in the parking lot. I thought 'hmm' maybe there's an alligator in there and lo and behold there was!!!!! It was watching us, all you could see was the top of its head and its eyes poking out of the water staring at you...we were about 6 cars away from the car and we started running across the side of the ditch towards the car and Sid took some video but most of it is just of the ground while he's running to get into the car. Hilarious! If I can how I will try to post the video (we got a new digital video camera for Xmas and we don't really know how to work it yet - these things take time, lol!).

Here are the pics at Kennedy Space Center. Because I really don't remember anything about the day I'll just use this opportunity to post "Wordless Wednesday"...don't want you to get the same glazed over look I did that day...just joking...sort of. LOL!

Oh- one more thing...we were told that the next launch is February 12th and the shuttle is docked on the launch pad about 30 days before the launch...this means we missed it by about 2 weeks. Shoot!