Cozumel Vacation

I feel like I need to go to the beach every year. When I was growing up we went to see my dad's side of the family in Florida every summer, so I guess that's where it came from. It's just so relaxing and does something for my soul.  I also need to sleep in once a week (or so I thought when I was working. You didn't want to mess with me the next week if I missed my Saturday sleep in day). So seeing that I haven't slept in in an entire YEAR, I really needed a vacation!!

We planned our trip quite a while back. I figured Avery would be close to a year, so maybe I would feel more comfortable leaving her. We looked into different options (Cancun, Dominican Republic) but decided on Cozumel. I know, I know, there's travel advisories to Mexico, etc. but we weren't going to the border, and there haven't been any "drug cartel" problems where we went.

I first went to Cozumel when Andrea and my cruise ship stopped there for the day back in 2004. Then in 2005, Andrea, Vanessa and I stayed there-

It was such a fun vacation, so I suggested we stay at the same place - El Cozumeleno. Rustin was skeptical though. He thought maybe since that was the first time I ever stayed in Mexico at an all-inclusive resort, and I was fresh out of college... how should I say... my standards weren't as high?

But he gave in, and we had a BLAST (yes even Rustin was very impressed)! Here are a few pictures of the resort -

View from our hotel room  

We spent most of our time relaxing under those little huts by the beach. This is also where I got stung by bee. More on that later.  

The beach area was a little rocky, but that made it great for snorkeling. We saw tons of fish! The water was so clear and blue.  

And the food was amazing! We have never been really impressed with the food at all-inclusives in Mexico, but we were pleasantly surprised. There were only two restaurants - one casual, open-air one by the beach, then the fancy dinner restaurant.

I loved eating breakfast and drinking coffee while looking out at the ocean.  

Ah and then there's the dinner restaurant that apparently has a dress code. Men have to wear long pants and closed toed shoes, and since we were going on vacation to the beach, Rustin packed neither. Our only option was waiting until 9:30pm when there was no dress code. That sounds super late (especially since that's usually my bedtime) but it wasn't that bad. We'd eat a late snack and stay out by the beach/pool really late. Then by the time we got ready and hung out in the lobby for a little while, it was time to eat.


It was funny - the second night we were back home I was starving late at night and couldn't figure out why. Then I looked at the clock and it was 9:30! I guess my body was used to a four course meal at that time.

We both thought the food rivaled nice Dallas restaurants.

Then we (or should I say "I" since I don't think Rustin was ever worried about it) got brave and ventured into town. I was nervous, but when we got there, there was tons of other Americans because the cruise ships port there. It was a lot of fun exploring the area.

Then that night at the resort they had live music and dinner on the beach. We were expecting a mariachi band, but the band was actually pretty good and sang mainly covers of American songs. The best was when they sang "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band with their accents haha!

Now for the bad part of the trip that I mentioned earlier - I was stung by a bee for the first time. So Rustin and I were hanging out at the beach and suddenly I felt this awful pain on my inner bicep. It hurt so bad and I started crying and freaking out. Rustin thought it was weird since he's been stung by a bee and I guess it didn't hurt that bad. But I'm very allergic to things, and I felt my hands and feet going numb and Rustin could tell (and I could feel) my face and lips swelling. I also felt my throat getting tight. We ran into the lobby where Rustin found a paramedic. At this point I was also sweating profusely. I was so scared because I know when people are really allergic to things, their throat closes up. I know this may sound dramatic but that is the first time in my life I was truly scared I might die. If my throat closed up, an ambulance couldn't get there fast enough, plus I was in Mexico. I just kept praying for God to not let me die.

Rustin and a lady from the hotel ran up to our room and got Benadryl for me. I took 3, and the paramedic called the hospital. They said if I wasn't better in 10-15 minutes after the Benadryl, I would need to go there. Praise the Lord, I did get better. I just looked like I had a lot of Botox the rest of the day.

As I'm writing this, it's Sunday night (this happened Wed.) and I still have a rash that itches so much it keeps me up every night, and I am constantly putting cream on it. I tried to take a picture of it last night.

We are thankful for such an awesome vacation. I would miss it more, but I was so happy to get home and see Avery. I think she had a great time with her Nana though (my mom).

I'll close with a few more pictures -

Avery 11 Months

That's right - Avery is one month shy of a year!

Her little personality is coming out more and more. She is quite the little ham. She definitely gets that from her dad. My mom, grandma and I took her to eat at The Cheesecake Factory a few weeks ago and she had a blast! I don't think she stopped eating from the moment she sat down. They gave her a "baby plate," which was bananas and bread, and she devoured that. I also fed her the food I brought for her as well as bites from our plates. She might have also had her first bite of cheesecake (don't tell her dad!). There was a station behind our booth where the waitstaff would put in their orders, and she loved showing off for all of them.

Then I had to take her to the doctor the other day. She has red bumps on her face we can't seem to get rid of. Come to find out she has perioral dermatitis...? Anyway while we were in the waiting room and there were people around, she was as happy as could be squealing and looking at them. But when we went to the exam room where it was just me and her, she got fussy. But then the nurse came and she was happy again and showing off.

She refuses to let me feed her anything. Last time I tried to give her something with the spoon she cried like I was hurting her. But the problem is she doesn't like dices of fruit or vegetables, so I had to get creative. I have to either smear baby food on bread or mix it with Cheerios and let her feed herself. It is so messy, but she loves it. I guess that's for the best since she still has zero teeth. This is her favorite way to sit...

I took the following video of her eating lunch, and I was tickling her feet. At the beginning you can see her trying to give me some of her pasta. That's her new thing - offering people her food, paci and bottle. She even tried to give Baloo her paci.  

She has also learned how to do several things this month. She knows how to wave bye bye now. Her Lolly (Rustin's mom) got her a recorder and she loves playing that. Rustin decided he wanted his drum that he got in Morocco on display, and she's learned how to play that too. Another one of her favorites is her sippy cup. She takes drinks as if she's dying of thirst then breathes really hard when she's finished. I've tried giving her juice, but she only likes water. But that works for me!

I'm surprised no one called CPS on me because for weeks she had Howard Hughes fingernails. I tried every trick in the book and she would not let me cut them. I tried distracting her with TV, teaming with Rustin to cut them, even sneaking in while she was sleeping. Nothing worked. But I finally figured it out - do it when she's in her high chair. She doesn't even notice.

I wish I had done this other months but I thought I would write down our little routine (times are approximate):

6:30 - wake up
7:00 - go for a 30 minute walk/jog (this is the only time of day it's cool enough)
8:00 - breakfast
9:00 - nap
11:30 - lunch
1:00 nap
3:00 - snack time
The time between when she wakes up from her afternoon nap and when we start bedtime is the longest and also the time when she's most prone to being fussy, so that's when we usually run errands. It seems there's always somewhere I need to go, and she is happy as long as we're moving.
5:30 - dinner followed by bath then bottle, books, and bed. I usually end up getting her down around 7pm and she rolls around and plays in her crib for a while before going to sleep.