Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

Our holidays were a little subdued this year, my parents didn't come to visit. We did go to my sister's place for dinner, but otherwise we were home for pretty much all the time. It was quiet but nice. Jackson of course got a lot of toys, and had a lot of fun opening gifts. He was quite excited about Santa coming, and left out 4 cookies. He was thrilled to see that Santa ate 3 of them and left one with a bite out of it. I guess Santa got full. We didn't have any milk in the house so we left some water, I think Santa probably appreciated the change. Jackson ate a lot of junk on Christmas day, candy, chocolate, chips. And then a lovely dinner at my sister's. He ate turkey and gravy, peas, mashed potatoes and hash brown casserole. That night, around 2:30, he threw up. He is such a big boy, he went to the bathroom on his own and threw up in the toilet. Twice. I put him back to bed after the first time with a little bit of water, and checked his temperature.  No fever. After the second time I gave him a gravol and he slept until almost 9 am! That is unheard of, and the only day over our time off that he slept so late. Every other day it was 6:30 or 7. He complained of a sore stomach off and on, but no other symptoms, and he seemed to be fine otherwise, though he ate little since he was worried he would be sick again.

Today he is at daycare, They are open over the holidays, though I think fewer kids get sent in. Since I have to pay for it any way I send him. I think he has fun, and it is a little break for us. I have some plans to do things like clean the house, get a hair cut, go for a massage. I may leave the house today, other than to get him there and back, but I'm not sure yet. We got Netflix, and I am liking it. I am also loving my Google Chromecast, which lets me watch Netflix on the tv from my computer. We watched a lot of Dinosaur Train yesterday, and I am watching some not good for kids movies today.

On Christmas Eve, I finally settled our trip plans! We are going on a cruise. We are going to travel south and I am crazy excited! We will be going to Nassau, San Juan, St Thomas and Grand Turk. I cannot wait to sit on some beaches, build sandcastles, swim, eat! Jackson is also very excited. I suspect the ship will be lacking in young children, but we will manage quite nicely. I think he will enjoy the kids club more that way any way, more attention, perhaps a couple friends. We arrive in Florida two days before the cruise, so we will hopefully stay in Disney and go to Animal Kingdom, though we still haven't booked that bit of it. It is going to be a somewhat lean trip, I won't be able to get many souvenirs, or fun extras, but it should still be a lot of fun, and hopefully the first of many. The cruise is paid in full, and the flights. Just the hotel bit at the part, and a few little things like transfers to the port and excursions to worry about. Either way, we will have fun, and it will be a great vacation. Only 32 days away.

Happy 5th Birthday

Five years ago today I was in the hospital with a little baby boy newly in my arms. He was then, and is now, so much the love of my life. I never imagined when I had him that a person could love someone so much. 

Today we went to celebrate his birthday at one of his favourite restaurants. I'm happy because kids eat free on their birthday so his yummy rib dinner was free, and he loved it.

After dinner we came home and skype'd nanny & poppy so they could sing, and Jackson opened his presents while we watched. He loves his new monster treads, a bunch of John Deere tractors. I also got him some new clothes, 3 pairs of pj's and a few tops, along with a new sweater. He is currently in the pair or pajamas with feet, he loves them :-) The other two pairs have dinosaurs on them which I am sure he will love as well. And it means his spiderman pj's can be either washed more often or at least not worn every night, and most of the weekend. He refuses to get dressed on the weekend unless we are leaving the house.

How is it possible that my little baby is so big and grown up now? 

Bad luck and Birthday Party Excitement

Today was Jackson's 5th birthday party. I booked the same place I took him last year. He invited 7 little boys but only 6 came, it was still a lot of fun. And he got some nice gifts. I think everyone had a good time. It is funny that because he is in a split kindergarten class he is with kids much younger, and others a bit older than him. He turns 5 but had at least 3 of his friends who are just turned 4. At that age I guess it doesn't matter too much. The theme was dinosaurs, and my sister did a fabulous cake for the party.

Awesome dino cake!

The kids got to run and play, they were all red faced and tired by the end of the party. I think it was a great deal, perhaps we will be back again next year! The girl who did his party last year was there working and remembered us, which was nice. She didn't do his party though. 

The place has a play area, so you can bring your kid and let them play. It's a little costly for how long, and without a friend to go too it isn't as much fun. They do a "Kids night out" as well, which is really reasonable, $15 for 3 hours, drop the kids off at 6 pm, pick up at 9 pm and they play, have a snack and watch a movie. Jackson did it once but was very shy and quiet and it was hard to drop him off. He has now asked to go again though. So perhaps there are some nights out in my future! Or even nights in... drop him off and have 3 hours to myself, what would I do???

The bad luck bit is because of the morning. We went to get some groceries and a toy for the angel tree at school. Then stopped at the library to pick up a book I had on hold. Finally were going to pick up our passports from the post office but it didn't open until 11 and it was 10:30, so we started for home. Turning right onto a busy street, with a yield sign, light in my direction would have been red, and I stopped because a car was going kind of fast, I would have cut them off, or been hit, so I stopped. Well the lady behind me didn't so CRASH! I've had my car since the end of July. Seriously. It now has a big crack in the bumper, and I had the fun of dealing with all of that on birthday party day... I called my insurance as soon as we got home, because I was hit from behind I'm not at fault so won't have to pay the deductible. All in all it was really annoying though. Had to go way out to the police station and the lady police officer was rather rude at first, I was getting upset. She kept telling me I hadn't gotten enough information, but the 911 operator had taken it all down and I didn't have a pen or paper in the car. She eventually softened up a bit when I mentioned we'd been on the way to my son's birthday party. And then she found out the other lady had already been in to report it... so phew! Any way. Now to take the car in for an estimate (ugh) and then get it fixed, deal with a rental (thankfully covered!) and yeah... 

My neck, the back of my head hurts, is a bit sore. I've taken some ibuprofen, it seems to help but I think I'll go to the doctor on Monday just in case. We'll see if I feel better before then. I'm sure I'm fine, but I'd rather be safe than sorry! Jackson is fine, he swears nothing hurts, he is ok. He was in his booster seat, which I think I should replace? But I'm not sure. I mean the other lady's car wasn't even damaged, mine is fairly minor. No airbags were deployed or anything. I am waiting to talk to the insurance adjuster and see. Obviously if they cover the expense I will get him a new one. 

The irony of the car accident is we had one about 2 and a half years ago, a few months after I had gotten my car in 2012. We've had this car only a few months as well. I think perhaps I won't ever get a new car again! At least we are both ok, the car is drive-able, and it will all be sorted out. I'm getting to be a pro at this! I do wish people would notice that I'm there, and not moving, and you know, stop.