Disney World Vacation

We returned home last night at about midnight from an 8 day trip to Orlando and the Bahamas.
We spent 3 days at the Disney Parks then took a 3 night Disney cruise to the Bahamas then back to the parks before coming home yesterday.

Beware, there is a lot of text below and I am in no mood to edit so it just rambles. :)

Alexa did great on all of the flights. On the way there we did give her benadryl because we were so unsure about how she would do so she was sleepy on the first leg but then was totally fine from Atlanta to Orlando then back home yesterday she was also great. We stayed the first portion at the Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort. On the bus ride there they played a video about Disney World. When it started she shouted, "Ahhh Happily Ever After". It was too funny.

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom. First stop, Dumbo. We saw John & Kate + 8 ride this so she has been talking about it for weeks. She loved it and threw a fit when it was time to get off. It was by far her favorite ride.

She also did the Jungle Cruise, Monsters Inc, Aladdin's Flying Carpet, The Carousel and Pirates to name a few. She liked them all except Pirates. She was a little scared but didn't flip out which is good.

We had dinner at the Living Seas at Epcot which is surrounded by an aquarium. the kids loved that.

Day 2 - Was Epcot... not so fun for kids but it was really pretty. We had dinner in "France" and had a window table to see the beautiful fireworks. Alexa and Gavin were both mesmerized.

Day 3 - Wild Animal Kingdom - We slept in that day, the kids were exhausted. We arrived at the park in time for lunch with the family then went on a few rides. Alexa was just 2" too short to ride the rapids but she really enjoyed watching Greg get soaked.

Day 4 - Cruise time! We took a bus to the boat and were on board around 1 pm. We ate lunch and took a tour of the boat. It is so cute, full of Disney Charm. The kids water slide is Goofy's glove. It was pretty fun. They have areas on the boat for each age group. Alexa wasn't quite old enough to go into the 3-5 area on her own but we could go with her. She LOVED it! They had a computer game area, book area, dress up area, craft, movie, pirate/tree house area, dance floor etc etc etc. She was in HEAVEN. The first time we went they were teaching the kids a dance from "Lilo & Stitch" she was so funny trying to do it (so was Greg). Then the characters came to dance with them and give them high-5's etc. She thought that was so great.
On the boat there are character greetings nearly every hour. Party's on the top deck each night with fireworks off the boat, dancing with characters, food and a big screen with movies above the pool. There is also a Broadway type show each night. I'll be honest, I never saw one (I was getting massages etc :) ), but everyone said that they were fabulous.
As I mentioned there is a spa, basketball courts, several swimming pools, characters left and right, 3 major restaurants, several bars/cafes etc. It is massive and so fun. We have been on cruises before and the rooms on this boat are bigger because Disney is geared towards families. There is even a bath tub in each room which is rare. Our room had a queen bed. A couch that turned into a "big girl bed" (for Alexa- She thought that was great) a bunk bed above the couch and room for a crib for Gavin. I was so impressed.
One night was a Pirates party. They gave everyone on the boat a Pirates bandanna. Captain Jack Sparrow repelled off of one of the smoke stacks and Pirate Micky Mouse Zip Lined over the crowed to save us from Captain Hook. It was so fun.
Our first stop on the cruise was at Nassau. It wasn't too much fun for us. It was extremely hot and not much to do but shop and we weren't in the mood. We only stayed on the island for an hour or so.
Stop 2 was at Disney's private Island, "Castaway Cay". We saw the Flying Dutchman from Pirates... it was Awesome! The island is not very big but beautiful. There is a lot of beach area and it is very well shaded. You can snorkel and find buried treasure, sunken ships and a golden Mickey under the water. Alexa and Gavin both loved the beach. It was a first for them both. It was a lot of fun. Luckily they were fully covered in sunscreen because I have a pretty good burn.

Day 7 - We got off the boat and went back to the Magic Kingdom for one more day of fun. It was Greg and my anniversary. So my mom kept kids for us for a few hours so that we could do some big kid rides together. Thanks Mom!

It was very hot and humid but all and all the trip was a huge success. I will admit, Greg was right. It was REALLY hard with Gavin. At least the parks were. The cruise was great. If I hadn't been nursing still, we should have left him home. Although all of the cousins and grandparents would not have allowed that.
Alexa doesn't know what to do with herself here at home with out loads of attention. She keeps asking where everyone is. She had several playmates and aunts and uncles to chase her, dance with her and lift her high so she could be "So Tall". She was quite spoiled. She was SO excited to see princesses but was very shy when the time came. But she really enjoyed most of the rides. I was spoiled having so much help from everyone too. Austin was often my "muscle" when Greg wasn't around to help with heavy lifting and the girls all kept Alexa in site for me. Gavin was just chill. He HATED the bus rides to and from the resorts/parks and somehow knew that it was time for me to eat a meal and would not want to be sitting right when my food came but by the end I figured him out and got him to sleep just in time for dinner.

Happy 60th mom! Thanks to you and dad for the great trip!! We had so much fun!

Oh Yeah! Alexa's new favorite song is, "Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirates CISELY". We asked her if she wanted to go on the pirate ride again and she said, "NO MORE YO HO" but she really likes to sing the song.

4 Month Appointment

Today Gavin had his 4 month doctors visit. The doctor said that he is progressing well and doing everything that he should be. He still has a clogged tear duct in each eye which should clear up by the time he is 9 months old (although Alexa's didn't until she was 13 months).
He is 26" tall (85%) and 16 lbs (74%) I can't remember his head size but it is 57%. He had to have 4 shots and a little drink for his vaccinations and did not like those at all. He also had a little adhesion "down stairs" which the doc had to mess around with and he REALLY hated that. Poor kid.
Anyhow, all is well and he is still growing like a week. We can start feeding him rice cereal if we want to but I think we'll hold off for a while since he is doing fine on just milk.

Gavin & Greg

Do you think that Gavin looks like Greg?

Gavin... 4 months!

Today Mr. G is 4 months old.

Gavin is really starting to love his sister. He laughs at her a lot and she makes it easy for me to take a shower and get ready by entertaining him. He takes a short nap in the morning, a long 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and another short nap in the evening. He sleeps from 8pm-5:30ish am. Eats for about 5 min then back to sleep until 8:30 am. He still loves to eat. More than he should but I oblige to make him happy. He loves to suck on his hands, fingers and often his collar or shirt if he can grab hold and bring it to his mouth. He likes his bouncer but not his swing so much. He also likes his bumbo seat. He still rolls over from his belly to his back occasionally but I think it is a fluke more than anything when he does it. Belly time is not his favorite. He has to always be in the action. Sitting on my lap watching Alexa and Greg or propped up on the couch. Don't try to lay him down unless you want a yelp. He hates to have dirty diapers and has had several explosive ones lately. He is not a fan of riding in the car and needs some major distractions if we are going a long distance. He likes to hold my finger, I think it really comforts him. He has beautiful blue eyes and a huge smile. He is so fun. Today Alexa gave him a big hug while I was getting ready and said in the most sincere voice, "Gavin, I love you so much." It about made me cry, it was so sweet! I hope they'll be best of friends. We go in for a check up on the 26th. I'll post about the visit that night.

Hair Cut

My cute friend Bettina does my hair. Today I asked her to cut Alexa's. She has only had her hair trimmed once and that was about a year ago. Alexa wasn't too afraid of the actual cut (probably because we told her she was getting princess hair and she had a bowl of popcorn) but she was TERRIFIED of the hair dryer. It was kind of funny. She really flipped out! Anyhow, here is the cutting process. I will take an after picture tomorrow and post here!

And These Are The Days of Our Lives...

The other day I heard a guy saying to his wife... "what do you do all day?" I laughed because I have heard that same question. I started thinking about what I do. I'll admit it, I spend A LOT of time playing and not much time cleaning, organizing or housekeeping in general. I mean, look at the first 1/2 of my day. That is truly how 4 of 5 week days are spent. I'm pretty lucky that I am able to work from home to be able to play with my kids and let them play with friends often. It is a lot of fun.

7:30 ~ Greg gets Alexa out of bed, takes her potty, gets her chocolate milk (sugar free, don't worry), has cuddle time, makes breakfast (usually eggs and fruit).

8:15 ~ Greg and Alexa wake-up mom & Gavin. (They love me so much. I get an extra hour of sleep in the morning. What a guy.) We all eat breakfast together.

8:30 ~ Greg is off to work. I'm still rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Take Alexa potty. :)

Morning - 1pm ~ Get ready for the day, feed the boy twice, go shopping with friends, go to music class with friends, go out to lunch with friends, head home. Potty, Potty, Potty (I am more potty trained than she is. Brit says this is often the case at first.)

Typical Shopping Experience

The Bus

Music Class

1pm - 3pm (or sometimes 4.. HEAVEN) ~ Sleeping babies (don't call my house in between these hours COREY!). Gavin takes his long nap at the same time as Alexa. Mom works, blog hops, works more, blog hops more... cleans kitchen, washes clothes, folds clothes (SOMETIMES).


3-4pm ~ School Time. We are currently working on our numbers. Making Music together (playing with instruments, dancing and singing), making Gavin laugh and watching Alexa be silly.

4-5pm ~ Cleaning up to prepare dinner. Picking up toys mostly, "clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere"

5:30pm ~ Watching out the window for daddy to get home.

5:45pm ~ Daddy is home! Booming House full of screams, giggles and running around. This is Alexa's favorite time of day. Gavin just watches kicking his feet wishing he could be running around with them. Potty again.

6pm ~ Dinner then more play time with daddy

7:30pm ~ Bath, Potty, Books, Potty, Bed at 8!

And These Are The Day's Of Our Lives!

LeTtErS

I saw these letters on a friend of a friends blog last week and had to get them. Who knew they were dirt cheap and freaking cute! I haven't actually hung them on the wall, I just placed them on the crib for photo purposes! Don't you just love 'em? Now I just need to decide if I want to paint them or leave them raw???

Domestic

I often go through phases of being domestic in one way or another. It usually comes in the form of cooking or attempting to be crafty.

Both of my mothers are excellent cooks (and actually my dad too). Greg's family even has their own cookbook (it should be published). They probably laugh at me daily when I call for basic cooking questions such as; how to boil an egg. REALLY, I had to ask my mom this because my boiled eggs NEVER boil properly.

Anywho, my mom got yet another phone call Saturday night at about midnight her time (she is a night owl, I would never feel bad calling her this late) asking questions on how to make Jam!

My friend Stephanie gave us some Pear/Raspberry jam for Christmas last year and we have been craving it ever since. I walked by some pears on Saturday at the store and decided right then and there that I would make jam later that night. And what do you know.. I did it! I was so proud of myself. It doesn't taste as good as Steph's, probably because it isn't the best time of year to buy pears but it is still so yummy!

So this post is just to give myself a big pat on the back. Delish~

Bribery...

This week I have been trying to get Alexa to use the potty.
She has an obsession with Princesses right now. She has Princess undies, potty seat, potty chart, potty stickers etc.. She also loves to dress up so on Monday we found a Princess Dress online. She REALLY wanted to go to the store right that second and get one to wear. I decided this might be my bargaining chip for using the potty. She does really well at first but gets bored easily and wants nothing to do with it the 2nd 1/2 of the day.
Anyhow, we printed off the picture of the Princess dress and taped it to the wall where she would see it all day long. I told her that if she was good about using the potty that we could go get the dress. She has been doing really well so this morning we picked up the dress. It hung on a door handle for her to see all day. I told her that if she didn't have any accidents by the time daddy got home that she could wear the dress. Sure enough.. No Accidents. As soon as Greg got home he helped her into her dress and there she was, Princess Alexa.
She made me put on the music from Enchanted (the slow song they dance to at the ball) and turn up the volume. She listened to it probably 25 times and danced and danced. She was SO cute saying, "Daddy, will you please dance with me". Greg ate it up. They slow danced, boogied and swung around. It was too fun for her.
Good Job using the potty Alexa!

A week in pictures

Falling asleep in the Bjorn (thanks Shan)

Playing with moms make-up. She has a funky mustache.

Copying Uncle Corey, playing on the computer

Funny things A has said:

-She walked over to Gavin while he was swinging in his chair, put her finger in his hand and said, "Pull my finger Gavin" GROSS.. She takes after her father too much sometimes.

- "MOM!!! I have a youdea" She sometimes has ideas but it is usually a youdea.

Family Pictures

While we were in Utah a few weeks ago, my friend Melanie took pictures of Greg's family. She did such a great job. I got the disc about ten min ago and just couldn't wait to post them. There are nearly 200 so it was hard to choose my favorites but here are just a few.

Alexa

Alexa

Gavin

Grand Kids

Grandparents w/ Grand kids

The whole gang!

Alexa's Video

Lex needed some camera time too. She REALLY wanted to sing to Gavin, doesn't he look terrified. At first he is searching the room for someone to come save him, then I think he realizes that he is stuck there. haha (Again, turn off my music at the bottom of the page)

Giggles

If you can get past the first 30 seconds of motion sickness, this video is pretty cute of the little man's laugh! It is rough trying to be the camera man and clown at the same time. (Go to the bottom of my blog to turn off the music first).

Funny Girl

I feel like every post lately has been about Mr G. So I thought I would post a bit about Alexa.

She is pretty silly lately. Just so happy all of the time and being quite creative in her play.

She loves to play "Cups".. i.e. Kitchen with her play plates/cups/utensils. She makes stew which includes, waffles, pickles, hot dogs, potato chips and anything else she can fit into her play pot.

She also has a thing about lining up her toys (mostly her animals). All facing the same way and distance apart. Then she talks to them all and makes them watch her, like she is their teacher.

She likes to build airplanes, houses and towers with her blocks. And loves to play in our back yard blow up pool. She enjoys jumping on any bouncable surface especially our bed or the couch and she likes to play "farm" with her barnyard animals. Her favorite books are her "Twinkle, Little Pony" book, "Wiggly Eyes (10 little dinosaurs) and "Elmo's Picnic".

Recently she has gotten into picking out her own outfits as well as ours. Last Saturday we both had to wear skirts. If she had it her way she would wear the same outfit every day, she calls it her princess dress. See Dress Here.

She likes to help with Gavin, giving him a binky (that he spits out 2 seconds later), changing his diaper and giving him baths.

Some funny things that she says/does, "Boster Noodle" (Toaster Strudel), Sings like an opera star, screams "I'm NAKED" when she takes her diaper off, shouts "I farted" when she toots, tells me to "go get Gavin" when she wants to do something sneaky, etc. She is a goof!

Sleeping Baby

Gavin has been a great sleeper from day one. Off the bat he rarely woke up more than once a night and for the past several weeks he gives me a good 9 hours. Unless he has to poop in the middle of the night. Then he thinks that he needs to eat too. It makes me crazy. Can't he just get the poops out while he is awake?


I had to share the great sleep info for 3 of our "friends" (they were our friends til they wished a bad sleeper on us.. jk).

Labor Day

Labor Day was a lot of fun. Greg and I invited ourselves to Gary & Bev's for some fun in the sun so it became a big party and I took charge of the food. The boys all golfed in the morning and then we met at the house around 11. We had lunch and the dads took the kids swimming. It is always so fun there.

Michelin Man

Gavin was hanging out in his diaper yesterday and it really hit me then how HUGE he is. He is a tank. Here is a picture of him in all of his glory, hanging out in the bumbo chair. Don't you LOVE those chubby arms. I'm thinking he should be a sumo wrestler for Halloween!

What happened to mom and dad?

When Alexa wakes up she usually just starts shouting for one of us to come get her out. I usually hear, "Mooooooooomy, where areeeeee you?" or "Daddy-O, Come Get Me". It is pretty funny.
On Tuesday I hear the usual call for me but it has changed, just a little, "Niiiiikkkkkiiiii, Where areeeeee youuuuu?, Niiiikkkkiiii commmmeeee get meeee, I need to get ouuuuuut."
Then yesterday Greg went to get her out of bed. She asked for him by saying daddy but when he got there and started his morning tickle ritual she said, "Stop tickling me Gregory".. Greg was shocked. She could tell he was surprised by his face so she went on by saying, "You are so silly Gregory" and Gregory this and that etc. Now she thinks it is so funny and calls him Gregory all day.
What happened to being mommy and daddy?

Back In Session!

After a summer hiatus, music class is back in session with Gavin and Millen joining our class. They were both born during the break and as you can tell they are both excited to be there. Alexa was kind of shy the first time back but has been very independent since. We are so happy to be back in class.