Oahu, Hawaii: Traveling with An Infant

For 10 days in February our little family was able to go to Oahu, Hawaii. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki and although we stayed in Waikiki, we spent most of our time on the North Shore. It was our first time to Hawaii so I got all the books, I did all the research, and I planned a whole notebook of activities for us to do and places for us to eat.

I probably won't blog about everything, but I will share some highlights for sure!

Yay for Hawaii! I am already looking forward to a future trip!

Also, I will just mention how amazing Madison did on the plane to Hawaii and the plane home from Hawaii. I had researched traveling with an infant, so I knew that during take off and landing she needed to be sucking on something so that her ears would pop. No problems at all! On the flight to Hawaii the lady sitting in front of me turned around after we landed and said, "She is so good! I didn't even hear her make a peep!" (She had been laughing and talking so she did peep - but no cries!)

I also talked to her doctor before we left and asked if it was okay that we take her. Her NICU discharge papers said that we aren't supposed to take her out among people until May. So, I was worried. He said that once we get to Hawaii we should be okay since it's warm weather, there are less virus's and less chances for her to get sick. I was most worried about the planes and the circulating air. He said to keep the air vents on up above our heads and to have the air blown on her since that air is fresh. Well... despite my best efforts, Madison got a fever the day after we got there, and it lasted until the day before we departed. Awesome.

After 6 days of temps ranging from 101 to 103 we broke down and took her to a doctor in Hawaii. I had been on the phone with her doctor like every day, and on the weekend I was on the phone with the emergency doctor/nurse from his office. They can't do much over the phone unfortunately except tell you how bad they think it is. Basically after 3 hours in the waiting room, and being even more paranoid the whole time about her catching something from one of the other babies, the doctor called us in. She looked in Madison's ears. She tapped her belly. Then she checked her diaper. She announced that it was a virus and we would just have to wait for it to pass. Awesome. This was an out of network doctor (they all were in Hawaii) and they made you pay in cash. Well worth the money. She said, "Well you can be happy it's not an ear infection." I know she didn't have any of the symptoms but I kind of wanted it to be an ear infection just so we could get medicine and have it be gone the next day. (That's how I hear ear infections work.) So we packed up and went back to the hotel for her to rest some more. I was really surprised at how run down the doctor's office was there. The office, and all of its equipment reminded me of something I would see in Uganda rather than in Utah, and I definitely expected the opposite.

Despite her not feeling well, she was a good sport; a bit fussier than normal, but still her happy self and would laugh often. She did some tourist stuff with us but we definitely spent a lot more time in the hotel than we expected; which I suppose isn't always a bad thing. I usually pack vacations too full of things to do, so down time in the hotel is always appreciated by Mike.

Mike's mom broke her wrist a couple weeks before Hawaii and then when she couldn't use that wrist to hang on to a railing, she ended up falling and breaking her leg too :(. So his mom and dad spent a lot of time bonding with Madison in the hotel while Mike & I explored Hawaii. How crappy for all of us! We would have much preferred everyone out and about and exploring together. Despite the challenges, the trip was wonderful and the only thing I would have changed was a virus, a broken leg, and a delayed red eye flight heading home. XO HAWAII - UNTIL WE VISIT AGAIN!

Meet Madison

I haven't been a great blogger at all, but Emily asked me to post some pics of Madison, so here they are! :0) These are her newborn/5 week photos ;). It's crazy how stinking fast they grow/change. People always talk about it, but I think until you have one of your own, you never really understand it. She is the perfect little baby. She loves to cuddle, she doesn't cry much - unless I let her get to the point where she is STARVING - and she smiles a lot! I am so grateful for her!

 Also, there were over 130 photos - so be happy I am only posting like 20 ;)

You can see a little dot on the heal of her foot. They had to prick her heal a couple of times a day in the NICU for tests.

She is a bit bald on the right side of her head because one of the NICU doctors shaved it to try and place a PIC line.

Merry Christmas 2013

Christmas Nativities

Woo-hoo! It's Christmas time! It's basically everyone's favorite time of the year! I love Christmas and everything about it. The fact that everyone is a little bit nicer, a little bit more giving, and a little bit more focused on Christ. I love the meaning, the music, the family, the friends, the food and all of the activities surrounding this holiday.

Normally, Mike and I like to do something every day in December; it's our "Doin' December Daily" month. We don't make it a busy month; we just do at least one Christmas thing a day, even if it's lay in bed and watch a Christmas movie or drink a special Christmas drink. This year though, we aren't doing too much that involves us leaving our home. We have a wee little one who we don't want catching any illnesses, so we are being overprotective, but it's okay - the doctor's told us to be.

So, Saturday night, we set up our nativities! For the love! I LOVE NATIVITIES. Specifically nativities from places I have visited, nativities from around the world. I haven't been able to get one from every country that I have visited, because let's face it, sometimes it is impossible to find a nativity to purchase, especially in summer months, heck, it was hard enough finding one in December in Russia. But alas, I have a few.

I have never been able to display them before, but since we have a bit more room this year, we decided we should bring them out. I was excited to show them off for the first time, hence the blog post :). Without further adieu - my nativities from around the world!

Uganda Nativity:

Kenya Nativity:

Russia Nativity:

Bahama's Nativity:

Cozumel Nativity:

Mexico City Nativity:

Dominican Republic Nativity:

and because we needed one more nativity to fill our shelves - this is a nativity that I made back at a church youth activity - so it's a made in the USA "United States Nativity":

Our most recent addition comes from Italy; but we purchased it in Leavenworth, Washington with the dream that one day we will go to Italy, and we won't have to worry about finding an Italian nativity.

We loved it because it has a "Nativity Stories" book that tells the story of each of the figurines - from Baby Jesus and each angel to the stray dog that roamed Bethlehem. Some of them include scripture, but others just let the imagination run wild, as if who would we have been like had we been alive back then :). Mike and I decided it would be fun to read a story each night leading up to Christmas so we got the book too (obviously).

And that is the start of my 'one-day-will-be-huge-around-the-world-nativity-collection' :)