The Cathcarts

We’ve been home now for three days and we’re getting back into our routine again.  Jaxson has been very clingy to me.  I can’t leave the room without him right behind me.  I can’t blame him though after being gone for six days.  Poor kid is probably scared that we’ll leave again.  Brad went back to work yesterday and much to our surprise had a pretty "easy" day.  Now he is busy getting ready for the big Neuro Conference that he is organizing this weekend. 

Jaxson can’t even ride his bike without Blankie

Brad and I are glad to be home even though it is VERY cold here.  We had a good time in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  Our flights to Punta Cana were great and even early, which is crazy considering we flew into and out of O’Hare.  When we got to Punta Cana on Wednesday it was beautiful, in the 80’s and sunny.  The airport was neat.  It’s all open with a thatch roof.  I meant to take a picture of it, but forgot.  The resort was absolutely gorgeous!  All of the main areas are all open with marble floors and fountains.  The whole resort is kept very neat and clean.  The grounds were spectacular with tropical trees and flowers everywhere.  There were flamingos, roosters, and peacocks that roamed the place acting like they owned it.  Most of the staff were wonderful.  Many of them spoke at least four different languages to communicate with the wide variety of tourists that go there.  Brad and I spent most of the time by the beach or the pool just relaxing.  Brad played a lot of sand volleyball and he also went snorkeling to a shipwreck, where he saw a lot of neat fish.  One of the days we went into the mountains of the D.R. and did the zip lines.  It was an awesome experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone going on vacation.  Thanks to Andy and Mindy for recommending it to us.  We were a little scared when we got up on that first platform and looked way down and over to the next platform, but once we did the first one, we were like "bring it on, we’re ready for more!"  It was fabulous!  There were 10 lines in all with the longest one being almost the length of two football fields.  The food was okay.  There was a buffet for every meal and several specialty restaurants that you had to have reservations for.  We could only get into the Mexican restaurant on one night.  The entertainment was okay.  They did a lot of Latin American singing and dancing.  To us, it seemed like the same shows just with different outfits, but I suppose if you could understand what they were singing about it would probably be a little better. We were both very anxious to get back home on Monday.  Unfortunately our journey home didn’t start off well when the bus pulled up to the resort to get us and the guide told us that our flight was already delayed two hours.  We eventually got in the air 2 1/2 hrs later all the while hoping that our connecting flight in Chicago was delayed.  Luckily it was until 10:15 pm, so we eventually got home at midnight.  The first thing I did was peak in on Bubbie while he was sleeping.  I wanted to wake him up so bad, but I didn’t.  We want to give a big "THANK YOU" to Steve, Kris, Mom, and Mike for watching Jaxson while we were gone.  I know he had a great time with you guys; however, don’t plan on it happening again anytime soon.  This mama isn’t going on vacation without her baby for a long time.  It was way too hard to be gone from him for six days.  Here’s my favorite pics from the trip.

Cooling off in the pool

Brad playing sand volleyball

The resort rooms

The view from our front door

Our room

Flamingos

The beach with someone parasailing.

Hottie on the beach

The mountains in the D.R.

Here comes Brad!

Phew!  He made it.

The zip line stations

Watch out, here I come!

Yeah, I made it!  Let’s go again.

This guy was standing by the road showing off his snakes.

Today we leave for Chicago so that we can catch a very early flight to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in the am.  We just got back from dropping Jaxson off at G & G Cathcart’s and it went OK.  He was having fun reading all of his books in Grandma’s comfy chair and hardly noticed that we left.  Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels.  We will be back on Monday with a bunch of pictures.

I just sat down to the computer to put some pics of Bubbie on the blog and realized that it is January 17th today.  It was 5 years ago today that Brad and I got engaged in Breckenridge, CO and also when I officially became a RN.  What a wonderful and exciting day that was! 

Well, if you’ve followed our family blog, you may remember a little boy named Grady.  Grady is Jaxson’s age and we’ve become friends with him and his parents; however, we haven’t gotten together in quite a while.  It seems that something always comes up or one of the boys is sick.  We finally got together tonight at Matt and Amanda’s house for some pizza and angel food cake.  The boys had a good time playing together.  I think we should get together more often so Grady can teach Jaxson how to talk and Jaxson can teach Grady some of his dancing moves.

I forgot to write about my new fun that I started last Friday.  I joined a group at my church called MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers).  My next door neighbor got me to join the group and I’m glad that I did.  We meet every other Friday and have breakfast, devotions, a craft or speaker, but it’s mostly women sitting around and talking about their kids and asking/giving advice.  I love it!  It’s got food, God, and fun.  What else do you need?  Jaxson gets to go too, but he gets to go play in the nursery with all of the other little kids.  He cried a little when I dropped him off and was crying when I picked him up, but the girls swear that he did very well and had fun.  I hope that’s the case. On the Fridays that we don’t have "meetings" they have a mom/kid outing.  This Friday we are going to Backyard Adventures to play on all of their fun outdoor equipment, but it will be inside.

Steve and Kris came down on Friday evening so that all of us could go out to supper at El Rodeo to celebrate Andy’s and Steve’s Birthdays.  Happy Birthday guys!  On Saturday, Tanya and Heath came over to play with Bubbie.  Aunt Tanya was getting jealous of Uncle Heath since he gets to see Jaxson everyday, so she had to get her Jaxson time in.  Then on Sunday, G & G Hendricks came down to play with Bubbie.  He had a full weekend of entertaining family.  I had a great weekend at work; it was actually a little too slow for my liking.  I know I know, I complain if it’s too busy or too slow. . . I like a happy medium.  This week I start watching our little neighbor boy, Max, for a few hours several days a week.  He is almost 5 months old and is very cute.  Jaxson is very good with him.  He just looks at him, points, and smiles. 

Just doing a little Saturday morning reading.

Heath and Jonathan have been hard at work on our basement for almost two weeks now and we are seeing a lot of progress.  Heath thinks that he will be finished with the drywall tomorrow and will start mudding it.  Jaxson loves having them here.  He likes to go downstairs several times a day to say "hi" to the boys and to check on their work. He also likes entertaining them at lunch.  There is typically more goofing around than eating going on. 

Jaxson’s new jungle gym

Brad and Jaxson went back to Gowrie this weekend to have Christmas with Steve’s sister, Sandi, and her family.  From what I hear, they had a fabulous time.  Jaxson enjoyed playing with his cousins, Colter, Brody, and Addison.  We don’t get to see them that often, so it’s nice when we can all get together and catch up.  I’m hoping that it will work out next year to be on my weekend off, as this is the second year in a row that I have missed being there.  Brad and Jaxson stayed overnight so that meant that I had the house to myself on Saturday night.  When I got off work, my co-worker and friend, Steph, invited me out for burgers and beers.  I was all for that!  We enjoyed a nice greasy meal and some beers at Applebees. 

Jaxson, Colter, Addison, and Brody

I think somebody likes Elmo.

Ever since we moved into our home, Brad has wanted to turn the basement into a man’s zone, which would include the Playstation, a big screen TV, and a shrine to his Hawks and Bears.  Well, that man zone is in the near future.  My brother-in-law, Heath, and his brother, John, have gone to work on finishing off our basement.  So needless to say, our house has not been quiet this week with their saws and hammers pounding away.  Jaxson likes having them here because he likes to go downstairs and tell Uncle Heath what to do and how, or so he thinks.  Luckily it hasn’t interrupted his naptimes despite the noise. 

Please don’t hurt yourself; I’m off duty.

Jaxson with all of his buddies, Petie, Bear, Puppy, Elmo, and Barney