July 27, 2008

We spent the last few days in New Orleans and we had a great time!!! Our uncle and aunt, Ron and Anne hosted us in their beautiful home. They live right on the levee and they were so lucky that their home was not flooded during Hurricane Katrina. And even though uncle Ron is the general manager of the most beautiful hotel in the French Quarter, the Monteleone (www.hotelmonteleone.com), we enjoy staying at their house.

Anne had arranged for a crib, a jumper, a high chair and a stroller for us during our stay and it made things so much easier!! Michael and I flew out there on Wednesday morning and Robert joined us that same night on his way home from his business trip.

Anne has a background as an interior decorator and she helped us with great ideas for our new home and even found us some beautiful furniture.
Anne is also the person who helped us prepare for our wedding day four years ago. We could not have done it without her help!!! She is amazing!!

On Friday we met up with Robert's colleague, Alain and his wife Sherrie, and their two beautiful children, Chance and Madison. They are originally from New Orleans and it turned out that they visited their family during the same time we were there. They have been very supportive during the NICU time!! In fact, they got us Michael's first micro-preemie outfit, the one he wore when he was 2 months old.
Their daughter Madison was also born at 24 weeks at 1 pound, 4 ounces. She is 3 years old now and she is amazing!! She is like any other 3 year old, talking like a grown up :) Both their children were so adorable!! We all went out to lunch and had a great time.

The last time we visited New Orleans, was 2 years ago and this time we saw some improvements. Last time, it was a year after the storm hit and it looked as if it had hit the day before. Now, there are still a lot of houses empty, but there are also some home owners that are fixing up their homes as we speak. So, it progress is made, even though it's slow.

Like I said, we had a great time, we even had some drive-through daiquiris :)
Here are some pictures of our stay:

Michael in his jumper. He was soooo happy!!!

Some very cute pictures of Michael and Anne

This is his 'old man' laugh :)

Uncle Ron and Michael

At lunch

Michael was really interested in Madison and Chance

Madison doesn't look like a 24-weeker, she is amazing!

Like I said, we had an amazing time in New Orleans!!

We flew home last night and today we had some time to start packing for our big move :)