Williamsburg 2010

I don't have much time to write today, but I wanted to share a few pictures from our Thanksgiving in Williamsburg.

My Birthday Boy opening a few of his presents Friday morning.

Catching snowflakes inside!

Logan with his cousins: Khloe, Koby, and Kaden.

Momma's eyes and lips and Daddy's eyebrows, nose, and chin.

On the Jamestown Ferry - Logan's 1st boat ride

So in love.

Last year...

This year. Where did my baby boy go?

Giving thanks.

Well, friends, my weekend officially starts in 3.5 hours and I couldn't be more excited! My in-laws started a new tradition last year of us all spending Thanksgiving at their timeshare in Williamsburg, VA and we're heading out this afternoon. I haven't completely finished packing yet, but it's mostly done. I gave it up around 12:30 last night because I was just too exhausted to do anymore. I also overslept this morning. I guess that's bound to happen when you're up so late 2 nights in a row. Anyway, we're super excited for the weekend! Last year we did some Black Friday shopping, spent a LOT of time in the hot tub in our unit, went to Busch Gardens, and walked all over historic Williamsburg. The city was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and we couldn't have had a better time! This year, we're definitely going to be braving all the crazy shoppers again on Black Friday. We have a few people left to buy Christmas presents for and momma wants new coffee tables! Time will be spent in the hot tub and we may even check out the indoor pool this year. Other than that, who knows what we might get into!

Here are some pics from last year:

Logan trying on his Spiderman roller skates that he used all of 3 times befor he grew out of them.

Logan met Elmo at Busch Gardens.

I was pregnant on this trip, but it was another week or two before we found out.

To add to our excitement, Friday is Logan's birthday! It's so hard to believe that my sweet little boy is already 4! When you have your first child, everyone tells you to enjoy it because they grow up so fast, and it's true, but I don't think you can really appreciate just how fast until you have a second child. With the first, I think you tend to take more for granted, not because you don't love every second with them but because you just can't wait for them to reach the next milestone. "I can't wait until he smiles... says 'mama'... sleeps through the night... learns to walk... gets potty-trained." You get so excited for each next thing. But with the second, you already know how fast it all goes, so in some ways you dread each next thing. I look at my little boy - who not so long ago was so small - as he holds his tiny baby sister, and I realize that in what seems like the blink of an eye, we'll be celebrating her 4th birthday too. Obviously, I'm beyond grateful for healthy children and for every birthday we get to celebrate with them, but watching them grow up is kind of a bittersweet thing.

Eating his 1st birthday cake with both hands. Seems like yesterday...

But moving on before I start to cry....this year Logan wants to have a pirate-themed party complete with pirate costume and pinata. I don't know why he thinks he needs a pinata - watching a little too much Dora and Diego, I guess - but if my baby wants a pinata, he's damn well going to have one. I even made up little goody boxes for all the other kids. They're little treasure chests with piratey things inside. Super cute. I haven't decided exactly how I'm going to decorate his cupcakes this year. I was thinking of dipping frosted vanilla cupcakes in graham cracker crumbs and piping on big x's like an "x marks the spot" in the sand. I need a different deisgn for the chocolate cupcakes though and I'm coming up blank. Suggestions? We're going to serve fish sticks, meatballs (canon balls), and goldfish crackers. What can I say, I take these themes seriously. I'm even considering making some sort of blue ocean punch. We'll see.

Needless to say, we're going to be very busy with Williamsburg this weekend and his party the next, but a fun kind of busy. Still, thank goodness I'll have a few weeks to rest before all the Christmas festivities!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

 



Beach Baby

Remember when I promised you pictures on Monday? Yeah...sorry about that.

I still haven't been able to access the bounty of photos on my backup camera, so I'll distract you with these quick shots from Viv's first trip to the beach....3 months ago....and you'll forgive me because she's so tiny and precious.

She still seems small until I look at pictures like these that we took just a few months ago. I can't believe how very tiny she was. Judging by the way her clothes fit (or don't fit), I'd guess that she's still a little small for her age, but maybe longer than average. Much of her 0-3 month clothing is too big or extra baggy through the middle, but pulls at the shoulders because of her length. She certainly doesn't have super-model length legs in her future, but from the looks of it she'll at least inherit her daddy's pretty athletic legs rather than my chunky little stumps. Good for her. Pretty legs were on my wish lists for both kids, so we'll see.

But anyway, back to our beach trip.... Kyle and I pushed the stroller up and down the boardwalk, ate some delicious Thrasher's fries, and played some video games in the super noisy arcade. Through it all, the Princess slept, with the exception of a quick feeding on one of the benches along the boardwalk. I wanted to get a proper "1st Trip to the Beach" picture with her feet in the surf, but Kyle was opposed to waking her up, stripping off her clothes, and sticking her precious toesies in the freezing ocean. He's such a fun-sucker. Logan missed out on that trip because he was with my parents for the weekend, but we went to the beach one last time a few weeks later with both kids in tow.  I still wasn't allowed to stick Viv's feet in the water, but we did at least make it onto the sand that time. Logan, who can apparently run faster than the speed of light if it means he has a chance to get into some trouble, jumped into the ocean still fully clothed about 2 seconds into our "Baby's 1st Time on the Sand" photo shoot, so at least one of my kids got the full beach experience. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait to see those pictures until I'm able to get them off my camera. Stupid camera.

My triumphant return to blogging!

I'm baaaaaack!!!! And I've missed you all! I really appreciate all the emails and comments telling me how much you've missed me too. Thank you! It's been very good for my ego. :) 

I've actually been back to work for 3 whole weeks now and they've been 3 painful weeks. I miss my babies! I miss my Princess and her coos and smiles and our snuggly naps on the couch. I miss my Monster and his jokes (when he totally screws up the punchline but doesn't even notice) and our movies in bed. Knowing that someone else gets to enjoy those special moments with them that 3 weeks ago were mine hurts my heart, but I'm grateful to have had that time with them. I'm especially grateful for my wonderful husband who took on the added financial burden to allow me to remain home even after I had depleted my savings. He's an angel.

So what's new? I'm not even sure where to start! So much has happened while I've been gone. I have at least a few weeks worth of posts stored up in my chaotic little head. And I have pictures! Lots and lots of pictures! Unfortunately, I left my primary camera in a friend's car a few weeks ago and I can't find the usb cable to upload the pics I've taken with my backup camera, so I have 2 cameras full of pictures but no way to access them. I'm hoping to get my primary camera back when I meet my friend for lunch this afternoon and another friend has a similar camera to my backup so I'm hoping to borrow her usb cable this weekend. Needless to say, if all goes as planned, you can expect to be bombarded with pictures of the kiddos next week!

The Princess decided against sleeping last night and I'm fighting to stay awake, so I'm going to end this here but I'll be back with much more on Monday. I hope you all have a lovely Friday and weekend!