2 months?!?!

It's been 2 months since I have sat down to write. And that means the summer is almost over =( I can already feel the seasonal depression taking over, and am trying to plan as many days at Nashville Shores as I can the next week. I'm so mad it closes (except for weekends) so early! After that, we will just have to deal with the baby pool, the sprinkler, and the splash pad.

 I have been too busy with these 3 kids. I told Luke tonight we are too busy to even clean. And we are just exhausted!

I'll throw in some pictures from the summer and let you see what we have been up to!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, Ella turned 6 months and we got some pictures made =) Thanks Canaday Photography!

 

She turned 7 months!

Worked on the fire pit a little at a time( we can't find too much of that lately!)

 

Had some family fun around the 4th

 

Swam in the lake ( and caught some nasty green or blue algae something that made me throw up--story of my life the past 2.5 years.

 

Loved watching this little one grow up. TOO MUCH growing up!

 

Made some memories with my little man!

 

Bought color coordinating clothes for my kids and niece =)

My baby turned 8 months old? NNNOOOOO! I want her back laying on my chest warm as can be, hours old, in the hospital. =(

She is just simply adorable!  We can't get enough of her. Well, I mean, since she just started this crazy waking up at 3 AM thing, I mean, that I have had WAY more than enough of.....

 

And we have of course been filling as much of our time as we can at the waterpark here, we've been hanging out at the splash pad, we've gotten shaved ice, we went to the drive-in, Landon had a week of swim lessons, we've play in the sprinkler, and we've spent much time at the Y! Busy, busy, busy!

 

I will be back at it, and not taking off  2 months before I update again =)

 

One last picture:

 

Where did she get that adorable headband you ask? Oh, well you just need to check out my new little adventure! If you have instagram, you can follow me @storkbitesandangelkisses or you can find it on http://facebook.com/storkbitesandangelkisses

 

 

 

 

We're home!

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

--Walt Disney

We're home from vacation, and I don't even know where to start. We left early Saturday morning, June 2nd. Luke & I couldn't fall asleep until after 12:30 Friday, and had planned on pulling out of the driveway at 4:30 A.M. We ended up waking up at 4:30, and then forgot a few things we had to do. We ended up leaving closer to 5:30, I believe. We had rented a full size car, but all they had left was a premium. We rolled south in a Ford Crown Victoria! We stopped in Smyrna for breakfast at Chick-Fil-A & filled up the tank at Luke's old Home Depot. After driving all day ( and making several food stops, coffee stops, and bathroom breaks--some 20 minutes for Landon's perfect timing!), we arrived in Orlando at my grandparent's house. My Aunt and Uncle and cousins were in from Cape Coral for my Uncle's father's memorial service. We went to bed after some hanging out, dinner, and a trip down the street to Wal-Mart. We were exhausted! On Sunday morning we were awake, our kids woke us up before anyone else was up. The rest of the family and friends were sleeping in the bedrooms and living room in the main house.We got ready for church and realized we had like an hour an a half until it started at 11, so we went and filled a Panera craving before heading to church. It was my cousin's 10th birthday, so the rest of the family came over for lunch and cake.



The birthday girl with Landon and Benjamin.



After some great food and birthday cake, we headed off to Walt Disney World! After a short drive, and short naps by both kids, we arrived at All Star Movie resort!

We got all checked in, carried the kiddos and luggage into the room, and decided to swim for a little bit before eating dinner. Since we stayed at a Disney resort, we were able to get the extended hours at the parks. We also got hopper passes, so we could go to one park in the morning and return to another after naps. Both of those options I would FOR SURE do again! The extended hours was amazing!

We ended up arriving at Magic Kingdom around 9:00 & stopped right on Main Street for the parade. I believe this is my 3rd or 4th trip, and haven't seen it before. I could do without it, but we were right there at the right time, and it gave us an excuse to sit on the sidewalk and watch the kids smile.

The extended hours on Sunday night were at Magic Kingdom from 11-2 AM. This means that only guests at the resort can ride on the rides. And yes, they ask to see your room key ( your 'key to the world', as your meal plan options are on it also as well as the option to charge anything to your room) at each ride before you walk into line. After the parade, we headed all the way up Main Street towards the castle before The Magic, Memories, and You show started at 9:45. This was AMAZING!

I don't know how they do this. Ok, I'm sure it's just projected onto the castle, but it is amazing.They also have pictures that the park has taken all day showing during the show. So, you might see yourself on the castle--amazing! Then at 10:00 were the fireworks. After the fireworks we had a

much needed diaper change and bathroom break. We had about 3.5 hours to play in the park. On Sunday night I figured we would try to ride what might be the busiest during the daytime, but I had no clue we would be able to walk right up and right EVERYTHING that was open with no wait. Once again,AMAZING! We started in Tomorrowland and finally stood Landon up to a height thingy. I was disappointed that we wasn't up to the 40" I was hoping--even with his new shoes on ;) So we rode Buzz Lightyear & then got on the last ride of the Carousel of progress ( for old time's sake) . Landon got off the Carousel and told us it wasn't fun, and he didn't like that one ;) The park wasn't closed yet, so we skipped the space orbiter because there was a small line. We figured we would just hit up Fantasyland and then catch up on Frontier & Adventure Land in the morning. Landon got to ride the teacups ( 2 times) , Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Goofy's Barnstormer ( 3 times!), and then I think we headed back home to bed.

The new Dumbo is so pretty! I can't wait for the rest of the new rides!

When we finally got back to the hotel around 2:30, put the stroller back together after having to hold it closed on the bus, both kids were OUT!

We had nowhere to be on Monday morning. We had lunch scheduled at the Crystal Palace at 2:30, so we planned on waking up at no specific time and heading back to Magic Kingdom.

Here is a video from the week, and I'll write more about the rest of the week during the next few days.

Where did May go?

We've been busy playing,swimming, working, planting, and growing! We've spent a few weekends at the farm helping my dad to get the garden going. He still can't push, pull, or lift due to his blood clot. Luke helped with some of the tilling, and Landon helped with some of the planting, & I helped drop a few seeds (eggplant seeds are TINY) and the little pods Landon started from home.

There are some green beans, lima beans, squash, zucchini, okra, tomatoes, eggplant,cantaloupe. watermelon, cucumbers, sweet corn,and later will have pumpkins. I also planted a row of sunflowers in the spot my dad always planted them for Amanda and me. Landon bought them for Poppy at Easter, along with some corn and watermelon seeds. Landon started some tomatoes and canteloupe at home. He was so excited to get them into the garden.

Lucy has been enjoying the sunshine as well. We have a teeny tiny baby blow up pool in the front yard that she likes to walk in and out of while Landon runs through the sprinkler. Amanda took them both up the road to the park while Elyssa's school was there for a field trip, and they loved it. Landon loves all the boys in Elyssa's class, and they run around with him like he's their little brother. Her new swimsuit is just a little too big for her, but she will be able to wear it all summer. She is growing growing! One of her 6-9 month pajamas wouldn't fit her last night, and a bubble outfit I put on her today was fitting like a onesie!

Lucy had her final speech evaluation yesterday before her 6 month evaluation, and she has gone up in all of her scores since the last test! She is testing IN HER  AGE RANGE in one category, and in her adjusted age range in the other! She was a level behind the last time. Her speech therapist feels great to dismiss her from First Steps. BUT, we also both know how hard it is to get back into the process of early intervention. 2 years is usually when you can tell much better if there is any delay. And while she is not delayed right now, and is progressing great ( she also said she has never seen a baby as early & as small as Lucy doing as well as she does in EVERY area!!!!), we are going to stay in for 6 more months. We will just do some monitoring until she is 2, in case she starts to fall behind at all.

At this time next week, hopefully I will have everything packed up and ready to go! We were hoping to get a new car by the time we left, but it looks like we might be holding off a few more weeks. Hopefully we will get a rental. The nitro needs NO more miles on it! Luke works on Friday, and then the plan is for him to come home and nap all afternoon/evening until his softball game. Then, we will all sleep a little bit until he and I are ready to go around 4 AM. Thankfully he ususally gets up at 3:30, so he is used to being up at that hour. We'll be heading towards my Grandparent's with a pit stop around breakfast at a Home Depot. Yep, it's Kids' workshop day ;) We'll spend Sunday at church and with the family before we go check into out hotel. Landon is so excited! He gets the maps out everyday and and shows us ''This is where disney is, and this is where we take the train, and it'll take like 10 minutes to get there!"

9 Days!

.

What a fast week!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11

This week has gone by so quickly! I can't believe it's almost Friday already. We have spent a lot of time in the pool this week soaking up the sun. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner have almost all been on the deck this week. Even though it's like 99 degrees outside, it feels great to be out! In the morning it isn't SO BAD, and at lunchtime, I'm still wanting some sun from just getting out of the pool. I'm also trying to get some color on my pasty boy =)

We also decided to paint the guest room, finally, and re- arrange it. I like it MUCH better than ' Atlanta Braves Blue' that was in there. It's now 'toasted coconut'. Yes, you must be a food name to be a color in our house: melted chocolate, peanut butter, bavarian creme, and now toasted coconut! Our house is not all browns/tans though. The toasted coconut was in the orange family actually, our room is a light blueish tealish, one of the bathrooms is bright green, and Landon's room is tan with a turquoise on one wall. we'll eventually paint an accent wall in the guest room too.

We are so happy with life right now. Although the one income thing is tough, especially when we get a little crazy and eat out a few times in a month, we feel so blessed! I love raising Landon, and being with him every day. Even through all of the hard times, we come out alright, and know that we are taken care of. We are just enjoying all of our family time-summer is SO good for that--and are thankful for all of our blessings!

Summer Summer fun

What a FUN, FULL week! We spent many hours in the pool this week with Landon and Elyssa. Elyssa can now walk on her tip toes and stay up above the water...barely =)
The water has felt wonderful! We also went to see Shrek 3, Landon didn't make a sound the entire time. But he did fall asleep with about 30 minutes left in the movie. We went at nap time though, but he had a good time watching. We're going to try to hit up some of the free movies this summer at Providence or Green Hills. Elyssa and Landon also had fun in the sprinkler in the front yard. Ignore me yelling inthe video--Landon gets confused when he gets squirted in the face. He just stands there trying to catch his breathe instead of moving, and Elyssa had agreed to move him if he did that....and she forgot =)
We also went to get Landon's hair cut at snip-its. And no, we didn't pay the full price, we had a coupon =)We have such a HARD time seeing his hair cut, we love how he looks with long hair. His shorter hair totally changes the way he looks. It's pretty cute though, but I'm tempted just to cut it SHORT so we can mohawk it again. No, I'm not, I just can't! She thinned it out--YES, my 18 month old boy gets his hair thinned =) It's not as bushy now, has some layers, and is a little on the short side! It will grow quickly though.And it's starting to get so much blonder now from the sun!!!

After his hair cut that day, we went to Borders to get a boy potty training book =) Then we made a pitstop at Starbucks for like to get AnOtHeR coffee, and got some chocolate chip cookies to share, and then headed to play at Crockett Park. We also all went to Las Palmas once this week, and had fun ridinging in the double shopping carts at Target and Home Depot. ( The picture and video are pre-haircut). And then on Friday night my mom and sister came to pick up Elyssa. They all swam this morning while I went to go workout at the Y, then we all swam a little bit more before they headed off to the farm for the long weekend. Landon was SO tired from taking short ( 2 hour) naps this week afraid he'd miss something, and waking up at least an hour earlier than normal that he took a FOUR HOUR NAP this afternoon after they left. And he is still worn out, as he is falling all over the floor and laying on the couch right now. I need to get him in bed so he is ready for Sunday School and Church in the morning! We're ready for another FULL week, then off to Trish's wedding in Louisville over the weekend !