Before we could go on the cruise we had to fight our way to Houston through the winter storm. It was pretty brutal for a few hours. At one point we were going 2 miles an hour for at least 45 minutes across a bridge that was completely iced over.
We stopped for dinner at McDonald's
It was super late when we arrived at a hotel in Houston. Our kids were exhausted. We put Maxwell on some blankets on the floor and Emmalyn between the two of us on the bed.
In the morning we made a run to Wal-Mart to get a few things that I had forgotten in my rushed packing and a few other things. One of those things I had forgotten was Maxwell's goggles.
He took a pic of himself in his goggles. Love those lashes.
We picked up Aja at a hotel near our hotel. We were excited that she was going to come along and be a babysitter when we needed one! Peter dropped us all off at the terminal and then went to pick up Tawny and her kids who were also joining us on the cruise (Alex didn't come)
While we were waiting for Peter to get back, Emmalyn was hungry and wanted to nurse but it wouldn't have worked well in the middle of the cruise terminal so I got out a bottle of formula. (I had brought a few different samples of formula I had gotten when she was born with us on the cruise. I know that my own production isn't enough to give her the milk she needed. Lately I've only been getting 4-6 oz between 4 pumping sessions day. Plus, there are no freezers available on board so it didn't work for me to bring any frozen breastmilk. Thus the only option was to bring formula. I'm not happy about having to give her formula but it's the only option at this point. I brought some ready to drink and dry mix stuff.) Anyway, so I got out a bottle of RTD formula and tried to give it to Emmalyn - the first time she's ever gotten formula. She was having none of it! I tried multiple times and she refused to take the bottle. She only had half an ounce. Ugh, it's going to be a rough week if she won't take formula.
For the first time ever - we had a car to leave at the cruise terminal. I hope it will be there when we get back!
On the gang plank to the ship!!! We made it!!!
Maxwell was so excited to get to spend time with Payton, Jaxton, and Lola. They immediately were excited to take care of him.
Our first meal on the boat - - - I quickly realized that Emmalyn is going to be a ton of work during this trip. She's just so wiggly and grabs for everything. Trying to get some food in while she was on my lap was near impossible (and there wasn't a high chair to be found).
During the muster drill. This girl wanted a nap. She was well behaved during the long and tedious "drill".
Maxwell was technically booked in Aja's room and so was Lola because originally Tawny's room was full with herself, Alex, Payton, and Jaxton. That meant Aja had to take both Tawny and Maxwell for the muster drill. When we booked him in her room it was more a technicality so she would have double occupancy and I knew he would stay in our room during the cruise. However, being split up from him during that muster drill and knowing that if something went wrong, she would have to take him and take care of him made me incredibly nervous. It's not that I thought she wouldn't absolutely protect Maxwell with everything she had but who wants to be separated from their child in times of emergency?! I was creeping myself out and certainly feeling anxiety about it. I'm not sure if I will be okay booking it like this again unless the two rooms are right by each other and at the same muster station.
Who is excited to be on her first cruise, raise your hand
I tried another type of formula and got her to take at least 1 oz.
Having fun running around the boat
(Notice the long sleeves? It was quite cold in Houston and I wasn't prepared for gloomy cold weather because when I had packed I was just thinking about being in the sunny Caribbean.
Keeping entertained while waiting for dinner
After he ate, we let Maxwell get on the ipad so we could finish our meal. We had a good sized group of 9 so things weren't super speedy.
That night we didn't do too much because we were tired!
The next morning we got up "early" so we could go see Dora. Our first full day was at sea so we got to enjoy the amenities on the boat.
I don't know how it happened but today Emmalyn learned how to scream. Oh joy. Wish that could have waited until we got home. :(
Max did NOT have any interest in seeing Dora. He spent the whole time sitting on Peter's lap, not looking. So much for that idea...
Breakfast buffets are awesome for feeding kids! Aunt Ajas are great for feeding kids too. It was nice having an extra set of hands and she was so helpful.
Jaxton competed in a sexy legs competition and blew all the other men out of the water when he broke out his dance moves. (He had a broken foot and had left his boot on the airplane flight out but it's hard to stop this boy from dancing!)
Tired?
Nah, happy!
Cheesy grin
Maxwell enjoyed the little slide in the toddler pool
Another night of dinner in a formal dining room
Our family to see the show that night. Maxwell quickly fell asleep - sweet boy was WIPED OUT!
Emmalyn, however, LOVED the show
She clapped and was totally into seeing the ship dancers dance
Cheering excitedly
Even when the lights went on, he stayed asleep
I took the baby down after the show to meet the dancer since she was sooooo into them. They were happy to see her. Babies on cruise ships are special things. I used to see people with babies and think they must be crazy and now I'm the crazy one. :) I just couldn't imagine being away from her for 8 days.
Picture with the cast
Puppy towel animal
He didn't even wake up when we laid him down. I can't think of the last time he was this out.
We adjusted to life on the boat. Peter and I swapped so that neither of us had to be trapped in the room for all of the kids naps. We figured out where the food was that our kids would eat. We didn't spend any quality time in the sun. Maxwell is signed up for the kids club but says he doesn't want to go. Emmalyn draws attention everywhere we go. People are just drawn to her, not just because she's a baby on a cruise, but her personality attracts their attention too.
I didn't take a picture of it - but I happily had pizza on March 1. Why was that a big deal, you ask? Because we made February "No Pizza February". We got pretty bad in January after Brittany moved out with having pizza quite a bit so we decided to go the whole month of February without pizza and we were successful!!! (Peter did have one mess up where he ate a slice at work before he remembered it was "No pizza February" so he went until March 2nd to make up for it).
Emmalyn now high 5's!
She has also started pointing her pointer finger. When she wants someone to engage with her she will reach out and point and expect them to touch her finger (think ET).
She says "Hi". She uses "buh" for everything and no longer says "mah" or "guh"
She's a great eater and I will give her chunks of food like small pieces of fruit, pancakes, bread, peas, corn and squash. I will also still give her purees.
On the weekends when we are home together the whole day she has been struggling to take naps but she has been taking 2 naps a day at Brittany's.
I catch her standing by herself all the time now but it's just for 1-2 seconds.
She loves her mom and when I'm around, I am all she wants... especially at night when Emmalyn and Maxwell still fight over cuddling with me.
She's a happy girl unless she's hungry, or you are eating and she isn't, or if she is tired.
If you just give her a snack cup with cheerios in it, she will be good and happy for a long time. She will not stop eating until she runs out of food. She will eat any food she finds on the floor so we now have to be on top of that. She likes all foods except for yogurt. She will not eat yogurt (which is hard because that was a main staple for Maxwell.)
She wakes up around 5 to nurse and then sleeps until 7:30 am.
I love her happy smiles in the morning, it's such a big toothy grin.
Her favorite toy is the stand up activity center. but other than that she likes a variety of toys.
It's so hard to take her to a restaurant at this age!
She loves showering with mom.
During bedtime she now sleeps with her head on a pillow and in a sleep sack (no swaddle blanket anymore).
Maxwell is so excited to be 3 1/2!!
He is still timid but is always polite.
His instant reaction lately is to cry or whine.
He is constantly questions "why" or "what"
Such a smart kid! He loves to read and I see him getting more creative.
He sings and hums a lot now. I get a lot of joy in hearing him hum kindermusik songs.
He still calls Peter, "Peter" but also calls him "daddy" now.
He was very excited about the cruise before we got here but once we got here, he kept asking to go back home to our house, especially at bed time. He did not want to sleep in the hotel in Houston or in the bed in our cabin. The second night on the cruise he fell off the bed in the middle of the night which woke us all up and so after that, we didn't pull out the couch bed anymore. Instead, we had him sleep on the couch and pushed the pack and play up against the couch so that Maxwell was more confined and wouldn't roll off. He was really excited about that because he got to sleep next to Emmalyn.
