'twas the night before Christmas... Eve

Well it's been a rough week in the Gattuso house. Isabelle started the week with a cold and could only manage 2.5 hours of sleep last Monday night. Friday afternoon she threw up 6 times in the space of an hour. After a fussy Saturday afternoon we realized that Isabelle's two bottom teeth were beginning to cut through. Isabelle and Tiffany are both not looking forward to having these teeth poking out (ouch!).

That all being said we managed to get some great pictures this evening of Isabelle sitting up on her own (still a little wobbly). People keep commenting that she is getting cuter every day (it also seems to coincide with people saying she's looking more like Tiffany and less like Michael!), judge for yourselves from the pictures below!

Week of new Firsts

We had our first snowfall last week. Isabelle was mostly interesting in finding out what it tasted like. She didn't seem to mind the cold as she was very snug in her snow suit.



We also promoted Isabelle to Rice cereal (which, as it turns out, is not the same as Rice Krispies as I had thought). Tiffany made a small bowl of this delicious treat which Isabelle really enjoyed. On her first attempt Izzy, of course, ended up wearing most of it on her chin. By now she's a pro and goes after any "grown up" food she can get her hands on. Her latest is trying to gum her way though a slice of an apple! It's so fun to watch her grow and try new things.

Day 4: Homeward Bound

We got back to shore Disneyed out. Here's one last shot of the ship and anything Disney for a while - hopefully!



We managed to squeeze in church before catching our flight to Cincinnati. Tiffany was able to roll up her jeans and throw on a skirt and look respectable. Isabelle and I were not so fortunate.



Though we were on 4 different flights out of Orlando we were able to get one more "Herd" shot in before we got on the plane to Cinci.



The flight on the way home was jam packed full so Isabelle was not lucky enough to get a proper seat so we had to make do with the fold down tray. Fortunately for all on the flight she was so beat from the vacation that she fell asleep shortly after take off in Daddy's arms and didn't wake up until the plane was at the gate in CIncinnati.

Vacation Day 3 : Castaway Cay

WARNING: Lots of Pictures!

Isabelle took another 8 hour sleep the second night, likely due to the rocking motion of the ship (almost convinced us to move onto a houseboat). That didn't stop Isabelle from taking this morning rest though.



Disney has a private Island in the Bahama's called Castaway Cay which was our destination for the third day. Goofy was there to meet everyone getting off the ship. Much to our surprise Isabelle was not scared of this oversized dog!








There was a trolley waiting to take us to the beach. Here's Mommy, Isabelle and Nana.




Here we are enjoying the warm weather and clear water. The water was pretty cold and Isabelle wasn't keen on it, so no pics of Isabelle in the water (My project for next summer is to work on her water appreciation, it's important in our family!).






Can you guess who of the below are married and have kids and which one is still trying to impress the ladies... The trip wasn't all work, we did get a few moments to enjoy the hot weather and cold drinks.



As much as Izzy wanted to work on her tan she was kept solidly in the shade even though she was wearing SPF 50.



All the Beck Family.



Us!



The guys went snorkeling. We had to swim out quite a way but we finally found loads of fish to look at. We even spotted the sunken Mickey Mouse.



Ladies restrain yourself...



This is my personal favorite picture from the whole trip. My two favorite girls!



I think Isabelle was pouting at times because she had to be in the shade and wearing a big hat!



The herd.



The whole point of this trip was to spend time together before Paul & Debbie leave for the mission next July. This picture has to last 3 years!



M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e (that's a song Tiff?). After 3 days we were finally brainwashed into thinking that getting a family picture was a cool thing to do. As a side note, we put Isabelle into the nursery for a couple of hours one of the nights and the charge on the bill called it "programming" not sure what they did in there but Izzy was sure excited to see Mickey ... Actually the nursery folks were very very good.





Uncle Tyler grew some whiskers of his own, Isabelle enjoys tickling his chin.



Who needs a chair? Nana and Papa seem to let her get away it! Isabelle is just starting to sit up on her own and can't wait to be one of the big people.

Vacation Day 2 : Bahama Mama

When we awoke after an amazing 8 hour sleep for Isabelle (probably something to do with the ship rocking that kept her asleep I'm sure) we awoke in Nassau. We left the ship and headed out to a nearby water park /aquarium.



Getting to the waterpark required taking a water taxi. Whilst waiting for the boat Isabelle decided to have her one and only inconsolable crying/screaming session. It didn't help that it was hot outside and we were cutting into nap time. Finally Isabelle let out a huge burp on her papa's lap and that seemed to fix everything!



The water park had this really cool waterslide sends the rider through a clear tube that is sunk into the shark tank. That made this slide the highlight of the day.



Here's the proof that I rode it!

We had to rush back to the ship before it left at 7 pm. The cruise director informed everyone before getting off that we should bring a camera on our day trip with us because there was not a better picture than the ship sailing off into the sunset at 7:05 PM. We rushed back to to catch the last water taxi at 6 pm. Isabelle of course had a free ride.



Isabelle was out cold by time the water taxi got to the dock. Here we all are under the "welcome to the Bahama's" sign.



Getting back to our cabin we had a few moments to ourselves before dinner.





Dinner was a "Pirates of the Carribbean" themed dinner. Headwear was provided.





Prior to Isabelle coming along I was always the "fun" uncle, making time for our neices and nephews. I still find a little time to have fun with them. This is Halle.

Vacation Day 1 : Setting Sail

We took so many pictures that we are breaking up our vacation posts by day. Look for episode II tomorrow.

We got up at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning. Isabelle woke us up at 4:58 AM - 2 minutes before the Alarm went off. She must've been as excited as we were to get going. We missed getting a snap of Isabelle on her first plane ride. Needless to say she was an Angel on the flight. We had an empty seat beside us and Isabelle slept most of the way there in her car seat.

We got down to Orlando and drove over to Port Canaveral to get aboard the Disney Wonder cruise ship. Below is Tiffany and Isabelle outside of the ship.



We were fortunate to only have the three of us in our cabin. With Isabelle's travel crib there is not much room to move about.



Isabelle taking a quick lie down in our new surrondings.



Before the ship can set sail there is a mandatory fire drill. We had to get decked out in the life jackets. There was even a special baby jacket in our room for Isabelle. This picture should be on the shortlist for our christmas picture, right?!



The first day was finished off with Dinner whilst the ship began its first journey.