Birthday Countdown

We are in the countdown mood to Taft's first birthday. I can't believe that on Saturday he will be 11 months already. We have the themes picked put and invitations were sent out today for the Florida party. He is having a party in Alabama also. His Florida party will be the Sunday before his birthday and Alabama will be the Saturday following.
I have been thinking, planning, and shopping for the parties for a few months now. I hope that they are great! I have some crazy cakes in mind so it looks as if I will be making them myself since the bakery wanted $125. I have been practicing and it should be just fine. Fondant is kinda fun!

Miami - South Beach

On Monday morning our ship docked back in Miami. The plan was to check into a hotel and spend the day and night. We had a great little hotel in the Art Deco district across from the beach. It was a perfect location for walking around checking out things in South Beach.
After we checked in, Shane, Wes, Taft, and I headed out for lunch at Cheeseburger Baby. If you are ever in South Beach be sure to eat there. The girls all went to the beach so Taft and I walked around trying to see what was there while Shane and Wes took naps. I took a few photos of the pretty buildings that have been restored and found myself in front of the Versace Mansion. It was beautiful and only two blocks from our hotel.
I loves South Beach even more than Nassau. I hope to go back there for a few days and be able to check out all the museums and parks they have to offer. Plus there is a lot of culture there that we just don't see here.

Versace Mansion
Ocean Ave

Washington Ave

The Winter Haven - our hotel

One of the little outside cafes

Cruise Day 3 - Fun Day at Sea

Day three was Easter, my birthday, and a full day at sea. Taft woke up early and the first thing that he noticed when I put him on our bed was his basket in the window. He got ALF season 1, eggs, a connecting toy, and a stuffed bunny. He seemed to like it all and loved playing with the little boy themed eggs.
After getting showers, Taft and I went to breakfast in the dining room while Daddy slept. We strolled around the ship and looked at all the shops on board. Then we went back to the dining room for lunch and strolled some more. Finally we got Daddy to get up and around and take a few photos, enjoy being out on the deck, and visited with others in our group.
Of course after Taft's nap it was time for dinner. We all enjoyed our last night of Chocolate Melting Cake. The waiters sang Happy Birthday to me and he started to scream. It was loud and he didn't understand. His friend Romeo made him feel better. Romeo was a waiter during the day on the pool deck and in the dinning room at night. Taft loved him and always smiled when he was around.

Cruise Day 2 - Bahamas

Day two was very long and packed full of things to do. Shane, Taft, and got up early to go to the dinner room for breakfast. Buffets aren't very easy with a baby in a stroller. It's much easier to have someone bring it to you.

Then we had to get all packed for Nassau. We were able to see land approaching from the window at breakfast and I was glad to get Taft off the ship for a little while.

We did a little shopping and looking around in Nassau. Taft slept a lot of the time in his stroller. It was time for his nap and he was going to take it no matter what country he was in. We bought our family usual. A Christmas tree ornament for the family tree and one for Taft's tree. And a charm for my bracelet. It was pretty and hot but I don't think that we were really impressed. I think that it would be better away from all the cruise ships and people trying to sell you things on every corner. A few streets back from the ocean were a lot more calm.

After we got back on the ship it was time to get ready for the formal captains dinner. I was excited to see Taft in his first tie. I was surprised that he left it alone for the entire dinner. He didn't seem to notice until after dessert. The food was great and everyone looked nice.

Taft liked the towel animal in the room but wasn't too sure what to do with it. I liked that someone cleaned up the room twice a day and got rid of those diapers.

Taft checking to see if we are all packed for the island.

Taft modeling his new tropical outfit.

Emma playing with a coconut animal

Mommy and Taft resting

Cruise photo from formal night

Taft after dinner

Cruise Day 1

We left home on Friday morning to go to Miami. There we would board the Carnival Imagination to go to the Bahamas. It was about a 4 hour drive and we were all excited. We did stop for breakfast and gas stops and Taft had breakfast and lunch on the road trip. Taft enjoyed hanging out with Shelly at one of the stops.

When we boarded the ship we all thought that it was relaxation time. We thought wrong. The first thing that they want you to do is get your life jackets and report for disaster training. Makes you feel really safe right? Here Shelly models the latest in cruise wear.

Pretty much after all the orientation and a lunch/afternoon snack, it was time to get ready for dinner in the dining room. Here is Taft on his way in his new little linen pants. He seemed to be entertained in the dining room each night with the singing of the waiters and all of our group at one table.

Our first towel animal. Each night we had a new one waiting in the cabin after dinner. I think that this one was a pig.

Pulling Up and Growing Up

Taft never lets me get a photo of him pulling up to a standing position. As soon as he hears the flash pop up on the camera he thinks that it is time to smile and pose. I just got a few of him pulling up on his play yard Wednesday even though he looks like he wants to escape prison. =)
Shane and I went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and we thought that he might like a few things from our plate. He loved the biscuits but he really loved the dumplings. He ate 2 jars of babyfood before we left the house so I was just impressed that he had room for anything. He is really getting an appetite now and always seems to want something, whether food or little snacks. He wants his bottle less and less.
We are leaving for vacation today and I am hoping that the internet service on the ship is good enough for me to post daily. We will see.

Rubber Duckie You're the One....

For the first few weeks of Taft's life he hated to take baths and I hated to give him one. He never liked the little baby bathtub so we moved on to the tub with a little sponge bear to lay on. As soon as he could sit up he wanted to try it in the tub.
Now we start out sitting up and he splashes like crazy and loves his little rubber duckies. When I put the water on his head and get him all soaped up with shampoo, he just falls back in the water. It's like he knows that we need to get the shampoo out of his hair. Then he kicks and splashes and gets me completely soaked while I get him clean. I can no longer get ready first and then get him ready since most of the time he even gets my hair wet. As soon as he hears the drain open up he turns over. Then he pretend swims. It's pretty funny. I think that he would stay in the tub and play as long as it stayed slippery.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was Taft's first Easter Egg Hunt. Shane took off work to make sure that he could go with us. I was really glad. It took two people to find eggs for a little boy that can't walk. =)
It really looked like there were more kids than eggs and as you can see they aren't really hidden. They just throw them on the grass and let the little ones run to grab as many as possible. Shane held Taft while I picked up 4 eggs and we got out of the way. We let Taft sit on the grass to see what was in his basket. I took all the candy out of the eggs since he can't have it and he seemed to like the eggs just as they were.
We got in line for the Easter Bunny and I was able to get one photo as soon as he sat down that he wasn't crying in. He just wasn't sure about a giant bunny holding him.
All in all it was fun and he can say that he went to his first Easter Egg Hunt. Everything took about 30 minutes and we were on the way to eat lunch.

Little Chicken Shirt

Yes, I had inspiration and did not come up with this myself. I am blessed with creative friends that seem to come up with great little crafts. I have found that there just aren't a lot of Easter shirts for little boys and Taft had to have something cute for his Easter Egg Hunt. My old friend, Alicia, did a cute hand print chick with her playgroup and I thought it would be very cute on a shirt. Taft is not into hand prints. He just wants to squish the paint around. Kendra had made an adorable shirt with Elmo for little Hallie, so I combined the two. I drew the chick with a fabric paint marker and filled it in with yellow paint on a little foam dabber. I really love how it turned out. I made it last night after Taft went to bed. He was sitting in his highchair this morning when I showed it to him and he smiled and waved his arms. I guess that he approved.

10 Months Old

Taft was 10 months old yesterday. I really can't believe how fast he is growing. He is still doing his version of a crawl, which the doctor calls the army crawl. He still just has his two bottom teeth but I think that we can see the little top ones getting ready to come in. On our scale he is a little over 22 pounds. He is pulling up on things and thinks that he can do anything! He really pays attention to cartoons and likes to look at books and magazines (just make sure that you have read the mag before he gets it =) ).
I have been trying to get him to eat for awhile now and have finally realized the problem. My mother told me that maybe I was never letting him get hungry. I started to think about it and found that all day I give him snacks and offer him juice or formula. He never ate alot at a time but he ate throughout the day. I have stopped doing that and now he eats three full Stage 3 meals a day, with some snacks in the afternoon, and still plenty of juice and formula. He never wanted all of his babyfood because he just wasn't hungry. Now he has he favorites and he still really picky. He loves the Broccoli, Carrot, and Cheese meal. He would eat it 3 times a day if I let him. (Sometimes we do eat it twice). He likes bananas, pears, and oatmeal. And at times he will eat the spaghetti. We are working on branching out. I have also started to let him taste the big people food. He is still not too interested but I'm sure that it will come soon.
We have lots of plans for Easter coming up this week and I can't wait to get them all posted as they happen. We are also going away for Easter with some friends. We will be in the Bahama's for his first Easter sunrise and visit from the Easter Bunny. My sister said that the Easter Bunny doesn't visit you in international waters so it is a good thing that we will be docked that night!