Busy months

I know it's been a super long time again. November and December have been crazy months...

There has been so many events. I don't know where to begin. We have been BUSY... between Evan's ear surgery, Thanksgiving, Alli having Chicken Pox, Wedding planning, Wedding Rehearsal, Wedding Ceremony,and Wedding Reception.

We survived traveling with a 7 1/2 month old to Minneapolis and then on a plane to Florida with a small stop in Chicago. She did surprisingly well on the flight. The drive to Minneapolis was a little rushed and we had to leave earlier than anticipated because there was a storm and we didn't want to get stuck in the storm in the dark. The traffic to Bloomington at 2 PM was horrible. But we made it and we spent a couple of hours at the Mall of America while we were waiting for our hotel room to be ready for check-in. Her first trip to the Mall, and we saw the Barbie Exhibit and ate at Tucci Binucchi. Then we relaxed a little in the hot tub before bed (taking turns holding the baby outside of the hot water, of course).

We are now in Florida and enjoying spending time with Bob and Paula. They are so warm and welcoming! Their house is so festive and warm and comfortable... even though they've only been here for 7 weeks so far. How amazing is that? Alli is doing so good. She adjusts so well. I'm so proud of my sweet little girl.

I talked to the boys today and they couldn't wait to get off the phone... lol. They didn't have much to say, I had to ask lots of questions and they just said Yes, No, or Good to everything. Silly boys. They have been staying with Andrea after school and Grandma Kay at night (at our place). They were on their way to Alexandria to go to Minneapolis to spend the weekend with their dad.

We have to get ready for the cruise tomorrow... we leave out of Tampa on Sunday. So excited. And so READY for our Honeymoon cruise. It's been a bit crazy these last few months, but now it's time to relax a bit and enjoy ourselves before we have to get back to our REAL lives. I'll try to post pictures and info when we get back from the cruise. Have a good week everyone!

CTWeddingPic12/4_5/09 (138 photos), by Dana Votava

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Evan had surgery on Friday on his left ear. The Dr. thinks that he will be able to hear out of his ear much better after recovery. He has an appointment before Thanksgiving to take the rest of the gauze out the ear canal. He is doing really well. I spent all day at the hospital on Friday.

Alli spent all day at my friend Katie's house (used to be my neighbor). This was the first time that Alli had been away from me for that long, but she did really good. She wasn't fussy at all. Her teeth must not be bugging her so much. She's been much less fussy overall.

Jordan is grossed out by the stitches on Evan's ear and by the bloody gauze that you can see inside Evan's ear. I was a little grossed out at first, but am getting used to it.

Alli is getting stronger and stronger every day. She turns herself around when she's on her tummy, and she can sit by herself for a couple of seconds (she's just about ready to do it without being supported). She talks to us, usually with noises like aaaahhhh or different variations, or loud squeels. I never knew such a little person could make such loud noises, lol.

Teething

Alli's been teething and she screams like a Teradactyl (I can't spell this). We just hope she gets her teeth soon. I wonder if they are all going to pop up at once. They are obviously bugging her. She is drooling like crazy too and trying to chew on everything. She is eating her cereal very well though. In the last couple of days, her ability to eat without spitting everything out has improved dramatically compared to last week. She is really enjoying the food too. I just gave her a bath and she was splashing and giggling and trying to grab her rubber ducky. She was having so much fun, of course it was hard to keep a good hold of her, since she was wet and slippery and trying to slide all over the place. She's getting so big, so fast. Where did the little newborn go? I love watching her grow, but I hope she'll slow down a bit so we can enjoy every minute.

Dana & Joe's Wedding Website and Registries on WeddingChannel.com - Welcome

Dana & Joe's Wedding Website and Registries on WeddingChannel.com - Welcome

Wedding info

If anyone is interested:
We have a book of rooms listed under Larkin / Votava at the Americ Inn in Moorhead...

AmericInn Lodge & Suites and Event Center of Moorhead

I-94 & Highway 75 * 600 30th Ave S * Moorhead, MN 56560
Toll Free (877) 287-7100 (877) 287-7100 * Local (218) 287-7100

http://www.americinnofmoorhead.com/

We are registered at Macy's and have a web page that we will update:

Source: registry.weddingchannel.com
Registries and Wedding Website of Dana Votava and Joe Larkin

We are also registered at Sears:

Halloween weekend

We had so much fun in St. Cloud this weekend! We finalized some wedding planning. We bought Alli's dress, and a shirt and tie for Joe and for Nate. And I ordered one for Jordan and Evan online. Carrie made us some amazing flower bouquets for all the girls (even Alli) and flowers for the guys as well. We took the kids to Sears for thier first photo session. Alli was not into smiling after the first 5 minutes though. She kept sticking her tongue out at us. They tried to sell us a $400 package... lol.

We also did some of our own photo shoots. Thanks Carrie! She's amazing with the camera. I'll share those pics when I get them.

Alli's pictures at Sears:
To view the pictures, copy and paste this link https://www.searsphotos.com/?shareid=S207062412l5HG847P437 into the address line of your Web browser.

I uploaded Alli's Halloween pix to our group album at Wallgreens:

http://photo2.walgreens.com/groups/danajoefamilyphotos/otsc=SYE/otsi=CRI
Room code: vikings

Outfits

I just ordered shirts and ties for the boys...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B002AIWLP2/ref=dp_image_text?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&img=MAIN&color_name=x

And I got a cute dress for Alli! I will have to post it later. We are getting her pictures done tomorrow. :)

Picture slideshow

I got the slideshow to work using Picasa Albums instead of Flickr... but now I can't seem to change which pics get displayed. Does it really have to be this difficult? I'm done with this for now, but maybe I'll figure it out later... Have a GREAT day everyone!

Flickr pictures

I can't seem to get the slideshow function to work. I guess I'm not technical savvy enough to figure it out. Well, here is the link to share my slideshow... see if it works:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danarenae76/show/

Welcome

Hi and welcome to our blog. I hope to write about all our fun and exciting adventures, and maybe even the not so fun and exciting ones too. Keep posted and I will try to keep you updated and maybe even make you smile a little.