A Look Back - Lottie's First Trip to England

This time tomorrow we will be heading to the airport for England!!!  Steve and I are most excited about the grandparents seeing and playing with Lottie, seeing all of Steve's mates and their spouses, the FOOD, shopping, BBQs, Cricket games, Horse Races, taking Lottie to the zoo for the first time and seeing her play with all of her little English mates. 

What we are NOT looking forward to is the 7.5 hour flight there and the 9 hour flight home!!!  Lord - I beg you to please have MERCY on the passengers on these flights.  Please don't let them kill us!!!!  Thanks!

Here is a look back at Lottie's first trip to England last year.  She was 7 weeks old. 

Lottie's First Plane Ride

Lottie with her grandparents in their back yard

Lottie's First Horse Race

Lottie's First Cricket Game

Hanging with the Boys at a BBQ

Lottie's Mate Matthew

Lottie's Mate Sophie

We are taking Lottie and Matthew to the Zoo this upcoming Monday - so excited!

Lottie's First Easter

And finally............... Lottie's First Pub

By Friday lunch time we will have reached Steve's parents house and will be sitting down to the Best Fish and Chips in the WORLD!  Ahhhh, we can't wait!  Hope everyone has a safe and happy Easter weekend! 

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day was so much fun.  Steve and I took Lottie to the parade and through the streets of Charlotte.  She is such a little people watcher.  She is constantly staring people down and trying to see what is going on in their lives.  It is hilarious.  Steve and I call her NOSY all the time.  But I have to admit, I'm the same!  I can hear a conversation going on 5 tables down and ask Steve, "Did you hear what he said?"  Steve usually says, "What are you talking about and who?"  He usually follows up with, "Who's business are you nosing in?"

Anyways.................

The parade was fun and Lottie seemed to enjoy being out and about in the crowd.  She has just started dancing and every time music played, she was bopping up and down.  Overall, it was a fun day out - Mom and Dad drank an Irish beer and reminisced about the trip we took a few years ago to Dublin. 

Checking everything out!

Look at those hands crossed!!! 

Dad and Lottie blowing kisses - another one of those cutest things I've ever seen!

Lottie's First Indian

One of Steve's favorite meals is Indian food.  Indian restaurants are all over the place in England.  One of the most common things to do over there is go for an Indian after a night on the town.  At first, the thought of going out drinking and socializing and ending the night in an Indian restaurant definitely did not appeal to me, BUT overtime I've grown to love it. 

I'd never really eaten Indian food until I visited England for the first time.  I definitely had my doubts and pretty much stuck with the Naan bread.  That since has changed.  I've really grown to like the flavor and the spiciness the food has to offer.  While there are some okay Indian restaurants here in Charlotte, we are so looking forward to having a "proper" Indian while in England!

With that said, we took Lottie out for her first Indian a couple of weeks back.  We went to Blue Taj (Copper's sister restaurant) in Ballantyne because I bought a $2 restaurant.com voucher that was originally $25.  What a savings! 

Steve normally gets a Rogan Josh which is really spicy and I normally go for something more on the medium heat side.  Since we had Lottie with us, I went for something much more mild like the tikka massala so she could eat without being blown away with spice.  I mean this was her first time........

I have to say Lottie definitely enjoyed herself!!!  She has become such a little piggy when it comes to eating - I love it.  She tries anything you put in front of her.  Our hopes is that she will not be a picky eater and will try anything at least once. 

She needed a pre-appetizer - waiting on her food! 

Veggies in a spicy tomato sauce - she was going to town!!!

She tried Lamb, Chicken, Veggies - so proud!!

Stuffing her face!

Let the fun begin - she's got Dad's credit card

Big Smiles!!! 

We are so looking forward to seeing Lottie eat all of her Dad's and my favorite English foods!!!  We are just under a week away!!!  As soon as we get to Steve's parents house next Friday, we are having proper Fish & Chips!!  YAY!

Steve's 40th Birthday

Steve turned the BIG 40 on 2/26/12 - one week after Lottie's big birthday.  I knew that if I didn't start planning his birthday well in advance, that he would be left out in the cold after trying to prepare for Lottie's big day.

Steve is a HUGE sports fanatic - He LOVES English football (soccer) and LOVES hockey!  Those are his two faves!  We've taken several trips in the past to Raleigh to watch the Carolina Hurricanes play (NHL team).  Thankfully it worked out they were playing in Raleigh on Saturday, the 25th. 

I sent a mass e-mail out to Steve's buddies to see if they would be interested in taking a little trip to Raleigh to watch the game and I got a great response.  I wanted to keep everything a surprise and thankfully the group was onboard and didn't blow it.

I got my BFF's mom to keep Lottie for the night and Steve and I headed up to Raleigh.  We ended up meeting the group in a little restaurant beside the RBC Center.  Everyone was there and Steve was blown away.  He claims he had no idea.  He kept saying how surprised he was and how happy he was!  YAY - pulled it off! 

All in all, it was great to get away with friends!!!  Hope you had a great birthday Steve!!!  :)

My bro-in-law decided this would be a perfect time for a quick nap.......

He's back in it!

TUBES ARE IN!!!!!!!!

Lottie finally had her tubes put in last Friday!  While much anxiety set in through the week, I was counting down the days for her to get relief from these ongoing ear infections this past year. 

Unfortunately Steve had to work so it was just Lottie and I.  We got to the surgery center at 6:15 to register, etc.  They placed an ankle band on Lottie with her name, DOB, etc. and gave me a wristband w/ all of her info.  It almost felt like being back in the hospital when she was born - every 5 or 10 minutes or so I was being asked to state her name, DOB and what we were there for. 

After being called back to the pre-op area, Lottie and I met with the anesthesiologist, nurses and Dr. Moss.  She was given a mini hospital gown and medication in a small tube to relax her before the surgery.  Basically it made her really, really drunk! 

Before the medication kicked in!!!!

After the meds kicked in!!!!

Lottie's surgery was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. so they took her back and I was sent to wait in the waiting area.  I was told the procedure was only going to last around 15 minutes and sure enough at 7:43 a.m., the doctor came out and said the surgery went great.  He basically went in and drained out all of the infection from the ears, then microscopically inserted the tubes in the eardrum.  He then gave me a sample of ear drops that we are supposed to put in her ears for a week (4 drops in each ear twice a day). 

After another 10 minutes or so, the nurse came and got me and I was able to go back to see my babe!  She was groggy and very, very HUNGRY!!!  Keep in mind that at this point she hadn't been able to have anything to eat or drink since midnight the night before.  I brought an 8 oz bottle of whole milk and a sippy cup of juice if needed.  I also brought her two favorite snacks.  She polished off her bottle of milk in no time.  She then ate a few puffs.  I got her dressed, was given instructions re: anesthesia after effects and we were sent on our way.  We left around 8:30 a.m.

For the remainder of the day, her gait was definitely off!!!  The girl was falling on her bum all day.  After a few hours she seemed to be doing just fine so since we had the whole day to spend together, I took her to the park.  She absolutely loved it, especially the swings!

Since the surgery, Lottie has been doing okay - she hates the drops we have to put in twice a day.  Thankfully only two more days to go! 

The biggest change I've seen in Lottie since the surgery has been her talking!  I'm guessing now that some hearing has been restored, she can hear herself more clearly and therefore loves hearing herself talk!  HA!  She has been talking non-stop!  I love it! 

1 more week until our trip to England!!!!!!!!!!!  We are so excited to visit w/ friends and family!