True story.
We had a lovely time in Florida, spoiled rotten by Ivan's mom and stepdad (Mary and Larry). Kate and Roger came along too; Savannah decided to stay home, so we left Kinsey behind to babysit her.
Grandma Prescott (Larry's mom) was there too, as was Mike, Ivan's big brother. It was SO awesome to be surrounded by family for a holiday!
Mary and Peter (Ivan's dad) jointly gave Baby Ivan the car seat and stroller frame we wanted - the most important purchase, since we can't bring our son home from the hospital without the car seat. Now we can!
Grandma Prescott bought him some Snappis, which are the coolest things ever for cloth diapering - no more safety pins (thank goodness). Big sister Kate bought a bouncy seat, which actually will rock too, and two outfits:
And Grandma Mary couldn't resist this awesome book and quilt set with beginning sign language - something I've been interested in and intended to teach our son. I never said a word to her about it, and when I asked her how she knew, she said, "I know you guys." How cool is that?
Baby Ivan got spoiled rotten, but he did some giving in return. He bought his daddy a Goodnight, Moon board book complete with its own bunny for snuggling, and got his mama the pregnancy workout DVD she's been wanting. It's an excellent way to work off the pounds I'm sure I gained from eating those incredible Christmas cookies MaryMom made...
On Saturday Mary hosted a party with a few friends, and there was much gnoshing and chatting and laughing and... playing of Rock Band! Mike bought us Rock Band: Beatles for Christmas, and I wish I'd had the presence of mind to get a picture of Mary and her girlfriend Cheryl crooning to "I Am the Walrus..." We met a really cool lady named Traci, who invited us to visit the Buddhist temple in Kissimee with her, since we were going to be passing through that way to visit our friends Don and Nick.
So we did!
While we were at the Temple, Ivan and I happened to come across a gentleman who turned out to be the head monk there. He invited us to attend the Temple in Decatur - not too far from our home, actually - of which he'd been instrumental in getting set up. We had no idea what kind of a head honcho he was til we'd been chatting for like, half an hour, hahaha! He talked to us a lot about enlightenment and how important it was to let go of negativity and what factors in our life could create it. Really was an awesome experience.
While he was talking, Baby Ivan was squirming so much that I couldn't hold still. I started rubbing my tummy as surreptitiously as I could, but it still drew his attention. So he asked what we are having, and we told him a boy... and you should have seen his eyes light up, hahaha! He told us that his temple had mini-classes and the baby was welcome to come study and to become ordained.
So our son totally has a place at the Temple already. Bitchin'.
Sadly, after we said our farewells, I dropped my stupid camera and lost ALL the pictures on it... Christmas Day, the gorgeous Temple shots Kate took, the first two shrines she took... broke my heart. Of course I didn't realize it til we got home. SO here is what I have for posterity:
Okay, I'm having a LOT of trouble with my camera now. I might have a corrupted memory card after dropping it. SO this post is without pictures simply so I can get it posted. :-(
Then we visited with our friends Don and Nick, which was awesome (and of course I forgot to take pictures). We had lunch together at Ker's - the guys and Kate polished off a couple big plates of wings and I failed to finish my fish and chips (incredibly huge pile of fries, which were oh, so good). We had lots of talky and really enjoyed ourselves before heading home with dog and kid crashed in the back seat.
So, a really good vacation, an awesome experience with Buddhism, wonderful times with family and friends new and old... and a career for our kiddo, should he ever be at a loss.
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