Today Brody had his first trip to the zoo. We have a small zoo in San Jose called Happy Hallow. Just a few animals, and some rides. Brody had a blast. Here is the video of him on the Ladybug ride! He loved it. We have some great photos - like this one of Brody feeding the goats. All in all it was a really great day.

Brody's Homecoming continued

So I last left off on the Sunday the 26th. It's so hard to find time to post with motherhood - so thanks everyone for your patients :-)

Monday August 27th ~ well when we got home on Sunday night Brody woke up and of course needed to see everything in the house :-) - We also got the bedrail delivered while we were gone so I was putting it together. I decided to sleep in his room on the trundle bed that first night - so he didn't wake up afraid in the middle of the night. Well he finally went down, and I got to bed about midnight. He woke up at 4 AM - YUCK!!! I told him we needed to stay in bed until the sun came up - he did - but it was like as soon as that sun cracked through those curtains he was up :-) so up around 6:30 - we took care of Butch & Bella who were so excited to see Brody. Butch actually did really well!!! We had breakfast - took a bath - and unpacked our suitcases. Brody was such a help!!!! Off to the park with our big wheel and our soccer ball. Brody had a blast. We came home, had lunch and took a quiet time nap. Then up and off to the pool. Yes we live in Sunny California - but our pool was freezing. He really wanted to stay in it, but his teeth were chattering! It was too cute. Tried the small hot - tub but it was too hot for him. Back home - let's swim in the bath! It's so deep it's totally possible. So we played in the bath for awhile. Out and time for our first family dinner at home. Nothing exciting. Turkey Kelbasa and Mac n'cheese. It was good and I'm pretty sure that Brody liked it. We watched a little of CARS and then it was off to bed. All by himself tonight - but the door was open and so was ours incase he got scared. When he went off to bed - we looked at eachother and said "we can do this".

Tuesday August 28th, Okay so this day - not as rosey as the last :-) we had 5 meltdowns today. Over nothing other than Brody wanting something and not getting it. So it was rough - we didn't do anything but stay in and go for little walks today. I guess the honeymoon is over :-)

Wednesday August 29th, A little better this morning. Donca (my mom - Grandma) was suppose to come down today, but we thought maybe Brody needed a quiet day. It was a bummer - but I think it was for the best. We went to the park, and watched the rest of cars. It's a great movie.

Thursday August 30th, Auntie Lee is here today from LA. She's Brody's GodMother. She flew up with an extra suitcase just of stuff for Brody. I was not home when she got here, just Brody & Scott. I had to take Butch & Bella to the vet. Bella has a bladder infection :-( So when I came home Brody was on a time out - as he hit daddy - it started as play but escalated apparently. He sat in his room for a bit after that - and then we all went to visit Brody's new school and to meet his teachers. He liked the playground - but said that he would not be going to school there LOL - little does he know. After visitation - we came home to put on play clothes and off to the park. Daddy dropped, Brody, Auntie Lee & I off while he went to go pick up lunch for us. Then Auntie Erica came down for a visit too. It was great. Brody always has such a blast at the park! Then we all went home and it was time for quiet time. He went straight down for a nap today - was a miracle. Auntie Erica had to leave to go to work, and soon after Auntie Lee had to go too :-( Oh well I hope she comes back again. Of course right as she was getting ready to leave, Brody finally wanted to play with her! All family gone - and time for dinner & bed.

Well faithful blog readers - motherhood is crying so I must go again. Hopefully I'll wrap up tonight :-)

Julz

Finally a family

Well I know it's been over 2 weeks since I've posted anything - and it was probably the most exciting 2 weeks of this entire blog :-)

So we'll go back and do a timeline :-)

Thursday August 23rd, Scott and I flew to NY from SF. It was a quick flight - direct just over 5 hours. Checked into our hotel - and gosh I don't recommend anyone staying in Jamaica Plains, NY. There is NOTHING to do there. We ate awful food at the hotel, watched a movie - feel asleep.

Friday August 24th, probably going to be one of the longest days of our lives - Brody's plane wouldn't land until 5:05 - but of course I kept checking the Delta.com site to just see if by chance it would be early. NOPE - going to be a little late..... Got to JFK around 4:30 - tried to talk to Delta about getting through to the gate. They would only allow one of us - and because we both couldn't go - we said no. We waited at the door they would come through from customs. It felt like a really long wait. FINALLY I saw Tim - he was carrying Brody - who apparently fell asleep about 30 minutes before landing. Was awake the rest of the flight though. Tim handed over Brody to me, and I to Scott. He was heavy :-) We stood with Tim just chatting about the trip and everything - Brody slept the whole time...... slept through getting put in the car seat..... slept through being carried into the hotel - being laid on the bed, taking clothes off to change him and wash him a bit. He finally opened his eyes. He smiled!!!! thank God he didn't start crying :-) We got cleaned up - and then were on our way to CT - figured it would be best to drive out that night to get there - and have Saturday with Scott's family. So in the car - watching Finding Nemo - everything is fine - Until: YES I said Until: Projectile vomit. It was awful. I was of course sitting in the back seat with him - GROSS - roll down the windows try and breath. Scott pulled off - it was horrible. We got him out, cleaned up the car - still smelt for days. After that - Brody feel asleep - and we got to CT about 30 minutes later. Checked into our hotel there - got Brody to bed and then just looked at eachother - and said "now what?"

Saturday August 25th, woke up - had room service for breakfast. Figured that would be the easiest for him. Took a bath - dressed, and headed over to Grandpa & Grandma's house. Scott's Dad and wife Nancy live in CT. We arrived to of course a very welcomed home. There was Thomas The Train decorations in the dining room - big bags of toys, it was great. Brody was of course very shy - but about 30 minutes or so into our visit he started playing with his new toys. Not long after we got there Auntie Michelle arrived from MA. She was so excited to be there and finally meet him - she was tickled blue :-) Auntie Michelle bought him a great soccer ball, and of course his first Boston Red Sox t-shirt. Then Freddie, Dawn, Mason & Leo showed up. Mason & Leo bought Brody a truck to hold his hot wheels, then the 3 boys went out to play soccer. It was too cute. Brody is a great soccer player already. There was a little moment during his playing where he got very sad, walked away, and looked as if he could cry. We think he missed his friends at Beacon House. Then Auntie Kathy "Sassy" showed up - here and Auntie Michelle - immediately left for more shopping :-) Gonna have to buy a new suitcase to get all his gifts home. They came back with a lot of Spiderman toys, books, legos, etc. It was so great. He was so happy. Grandma Nancy ordered a beautiful cake with Brody's picture on it. It was very special. So we all went in for cake, Brody got to cut it, of course with Daddy's help. Then Auntie Lisa showed up with her little baby girl Paige. It was a full house to have Brody's homecoming. We left around 6pm, headed back to the hotel for room service dinner - and bedtime. What a great first day.

Sunday August 26th, got ready in the morning - went out for breakfast to the Riverdale Diner in Shelton, CT. Back to the hotel to get our stuff, and head back to NY for the JFK airport. Almost made it - about 10 minutes away and Brody felt sick. Pulled off - got him out, for a walk. He did not vomit this time :-) Finally got to the airport - dropped off the car, took the train to the terminal 4 for Virgin America airlines. Went and checked our luggage - then to line up at security. Thank goodness we got there so early - it took us over 45 minutes to get through security. See Virgin America flies out of the International terminal - and for some reason JFK thought it was OK to only have 2 security screener's open on a Sunday afternoon. Got through - grabbed some sandwiches, and went to our gate. Brody started to cry a bit when he saw the planes, but when we told him we were all going on it together - to go to his new home, he was happy. Brody and I went to get him changed into sweatpants, and a sweatshirt......he "loved" his new pants :-) Got on the plane, pre-boarded, so that was great. Flight was uneventful. Brody feel asleep towards the end, and didn't wake up at landing. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and their 3 kiddo's were at the airport to meet Brody - unfortunately he slept through it. Alex "Peanut" helped me with all the luggage, she was so excited to meet Brody.

Well that got us through the first few days - will post more later - this mommyhood thing is very time consuming - and I must go!!!