Current mood: exhausted
Phew, what a day! …. Errr… better yet.. what a week!!!! I am going to separate her weekly update from her Thanksgiving blog since I imagine both are going to be so long. So here is all about her first Thanksgiving! And first trip to Oxnard!!!!
Since it was my year to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Oxnard, Adrian and I have been preparing both mentally and watching the baby to see how she responds to car rides. She has taken a couple of trips to San Diego and a few around town. Every trip she seems to be getting better and better so our confidence level was really high that this epic Oxnard trip will go well.
Well the big day came, and off we went to Oxnard. This year, Thanksgiving would be held at my brother and sis in laws house (also in Oxnard). This was great especially for the fact that my youngest niece (April) is a little under two and so still has all her baby things around for little cousin Mia to borrow. Plus she also had big cousins Tracy and Sarah to watch over her. So we packed the car up to the max.. it looked like we would be staying for a month with all the stuff we had packed. (As you can probably tell it was ME who packed.. I am notorious for over packing… hey I just want to be prepared for everything and anything!) Our plans were only to stay the night, and leave semi early the next day since Adrian had to go into work. So before we loaded up the car I made sure everything on my check list was checked off so I wouldn't forget anything. The list literally had over 30 things on it.. .and that was just for the baby alone! Once we were all packed up we were off on our little adventure. Mia was doing great… no fussiness and she even fell asleep on the road once we hit the 15 freeway! (about 15mins from the house) She didn't wake up again still we were in Pasadena on the 210 freeway… a good hour from the house. After she woke up she was still doing good, just checking things out and looking around. She amused herself with some of her toys for a long while then she began to get a little whiny. We figured it was a good time to pull off and feed her, change her, and let her stretch her tiny legs. Not knowing the area to well, we decided errr… Adrian decided to pull off in Reseda (hometown of the Karate Kid haha) I wanted to exit DeSoto since I was a tiny bit familiar with the area since I bought my Wedding dress in Woodland hills, but since Adrian the driver he got to pick.. so off we exited on Reseda. BIG MISTAKE! There was nothing but houses and house and more houses. We couldn't find a gas station anywhere or even a store at that! The baby started really getting fussy but we had traveled to far to turn around and get back on the freeway! FINALLY we found a Chevron Gas Station and pulled off. Since the trunk was over packed we had no place to change poor little Mia girl. So I scoped out the restrooms but they didn't have a baby changing table..grrrr!!! So I set up a make shift changing place in the back seat of my car. Mia got a kick out of this and started smiling and singing like crazy. I got her all situated and busted out a bottle and we fed her. Everything went well, and we were still doing good on time, and soon were back on the freeway. It wasn't until it started to get dark that Mia started getting a little whiny and fussy. She hates the dark and is never in it. She always sleeps with the nightlight and when dark fall hits, all the lights in the house go on. So she was scared.. poor thing, but by then were already in Simi Valley and close to our destination. She eventually fell asleep again around the Moorpark area and we made it to my Bro's house just as she woke up.
When we got there were greeted by all her excited little cousins and Auntie Lauren. It was so awesome to see them all together and to be around family again. My bro soon came out and they all got to see the baby as Adrian and I unloaded the car. Soon my Grandpa Pizano showed up and got to meet his baby great granddaughter for the first time! He kept complimenting how pretty she was and how beautiful she was and just couldn't get over her. I took her back to Baby Cousin April's room and got Mia all dolled up in her new fancy poofy dress and dress shows for pictures. Unfortunately her little tights had feet holes in them (they were bought like that… never saw that before) so Cousin April let her borrow hers (cute huh?!) so once she was all ready all the cousins got together for a photo op! Soon my brother carried out the Turkey and Sis in Law Lauren set the table BEAUTIFULLY! It was so festive and really gave it that homey mood. (I wish I had that kind of talent) So off for Turkey pics! We took pics with the Turkey and it almost time to dig right in. My Mom and Dad showed up with even more food and we all got to finally dig in for some good eats! Alas… another Mother moment hit. Mia didn't like her dress and due to it being not of 100% cotton it was irrigating her delicate skin. I didn't want her to break out in more eczema so before I could eat I whisked her off to get her changed into something more comfortable… what could be more comfy than her Chicky Jammies!!! So I got her all set up and Adrian took her over so I could eat. It was already past her bedtime so she was really tired and couldn't be left alone to play. After I was done eating I took the baby back. THANK GOODNESS! Again, that Baby Cousin April had so much to share with Mia… especially her play pen. So Auntie Lauren and I set up April's play pen for Mia in their spare room and I busted out all her night time things.. ie. Her night time dolly she sleeps with, her favorite toy (little green alien), her binky, her night light, her favorite teething toy and her special blankeys, and her boom box with her fav. CD. I laid her down, and Lauren set up the baby monitor and off to dream land Mia went. At first she kept playing but eventually quieted down and fell asleep. YAY! Mia's first Thanksgiving was a success!!! Unfortunately by the time I got Mia all situated for bed, dinner was over and my Grandpa had to go. I didn't get to visit much but promised I would make it up later. Then Mia's Grandpa and Grandma Pizano also had to leave. They each took a little special time to sneak into the baby's room and say goodnight to her. Mia did wake up a few times but with nothing but smiles and kicks and went back to sleep. Once the family left, I threw on my own Jammies while Adrian (a computer tech 24/7) decided to dive into my bro's computer (which Adrian build himself about 4 years ago as a wedding present) take it apart in attempts to find out what was wrong with it. (They had been having problems with it for awhile). So, during this time Lauren, my Bro, Adrian and I all got to do some catching up. It was great… especially since I rarely get to see them as much as I want to. I finally started tuckering out and at about 1am we all decided to hit the sack. Tracy and Sarah graciously gave up their comfy beds so that Adrian and I could sleep in them while they got to sleep in Mommy and Daddys bed!! It was cute, sleeping in their pink room with all these fairy and princess stuff all around. I felt like a little kid again and all those grown up worries melted away as I laid in princess printed sheets surrounded by thousands of stuffed animals… oh and not to mention the cutest kitty in the world "Gus" aka "Guss Guss" who literally curled up on my arm and slept with me till Adrian went to bed. Then slept at the foot of his bed the rest of the night. At about 7 I woke up and I knew the baby would be awake soon and I wanted to be up and fully awake for her incase she woke up scared since for the very first time in her tiny little life (other than the hospital) she slept somewhere else besides home! Oh I almost forgot to mention… right before we went to bed Mia woke up! She was hungry needed to be changed so Adrian took care of her while I got some much needed rest.. what a saint!
When 7:30 rolled around I snuck over to her room next door, slowly creaked opened the door and peeked inside. I was expecting to find her knocked out since I didn't hear a peep out of her on the monitor but to my surprise I found her playing with her dolly quietly. When she saw me she gave me the biggest smile!!!! And started going nuts! It was really cute! I got her up and she quickly noticed she wasn't home. We have a routine in the morning, I always walk her to her window, open the blinds and we greet Mr. Sun together.. then walk over to her pictures on the walls and saw hi to "herself" then take her downstairs. This time since she wasn't home we couldn't do that and I think she noticed. She kept looking around like "where am I?!?!" but she was good about it. I think she was happy just to see Mama. So we went to the living room as everyone else in the house snoozed away. I fixed her breakfast and we watched TV and played on the playmate till she was greet with her Cousins and Auntie! It was a great day.. not only was I able to see my darling little nieces again and play with them… but also got to catch up with my Bro and Sis which was a real treat. We all chowed down on left over’s and just had a good time. They really got to spend some quality time with little Mia and she was on her best behavior. She even took a nap without a fuss! My bro got to feed her a couple of times and she even attempted to spit up all over him, but Mama was there to quickly wip out a burpie cloth and catch it! (I am getting to good at this haha it wasn't easy but came with tons of practice!) Both Lauren and my Bro got a kick out of Mia, and for a while there seemed like we traded kids! As I spent time with my nieces bonding with them, they got to bond with little Mia. She only had 1 meltdown and it was because she went down for her second nap of the day, rolled over, and got stuck on her tummy. This panicked her so it was Mama to the rescue. Soon I got her calmed down but she never did take that nap till Auntie Lauren took her and worked her magic on her. Before we knew it, she was fast asleep.. more like knocked out! In Laurens arms. She looked so happy and peaceful laying there all wrapped up and arms spread out. It was too cute! Anyways, soon it was time to head back home so we loaded up the car, said our hard to say byes and on the road we went.. again.
We figured since she was so good on the way there that it would a cinch to get back home… WRONG! Since we left a little later than planned (We were just having to much of a good time) it got dark quickly and once night hit Mia was scared and cried most of the way home. We ended up making 3 stops (1 for a pee pee diaper, 1 for a poopie, and 1 for a meltdown/diaper change) along the way. Our usual 2 hour trip turned into almost a 4 hour trip (no we didn't hit any traffic) it was because of those stops. She only slept a tiny bit in the car and was awake most of the ride crying. She only really calmed down when I (who sat in the back with her) talked to her and sang her favorite little "Ducky" song (which I literally had to sing over and over and over 100 times!) Soon she finally fell asleep but of course only when there was only about 20 mins left in our trip! Once we reached home she woke up and was still a little grumpy. It was a little past her bedtime but I decided to attempt to get her back into her routine and gave her a bath anyways to help her relax. It really seemed to work too because she went totally NUTS in the bath! She splashed like she never splashed before. I guess from being all cramped in her car seat for that long, it felt good to kick again. So she hit and kicked the water all over, smiling the whole time! I let her stay in her tub playing till the water started getting to cold for my liking then out of the tub she went. I got her ready to for bed, fed her dinner and whisked her away to her bed. It seemed like she knew it was her bed because she got soooo excited once I laid her down. She began singing and kicking and smiling so big. I kissed her goodnight and off to dream land she went….
Phew we did it!! Her first official holiday! AND first time to Oxnard! Adrian and I are extremely worn out now and I am off to bed once I get this all posted. Unfortunately, Adrian has to work tonight but gets to work from home so that will help a little. He doesn't get off till 5am. I will try to spoil him extra tomorrow for being so wonderful and for all he does for me and the little one. Well that's about it! Overall it was a great holiday and I am looking forward for the many new ones to come! Gobble Gobble!!
