Disney World

Where to even begin? Last year, Ryan and I decided we wanted to go to Disney World in the fall of 2012 with Ashley and Peyton. We invited his parents and my parents because his parents have never been and we thought it would be fun for them to all experience Disney with Ashley and Peyton. Everyone was on board and excited and then in January, my mother had a bad afternoon with Ashley and declared she was not going to Disney World with her, that Ryan's parents could go since "they were used to dealing with bad kids". Nice, huh?? I was a little disappointed because we are not close with Ryan's parents and do not spend a lot of time with them, so I thought it would be nice for my parents to be there too. But Ryan's cousin Mike and his family decided to come with us, so it all worked out.

When we planned this trip earlier this year, I repeatedly said "I do not want to be pregnant in Disney". The last time we went, in March of 2010, I was pregnant with Peyton. It was a lot of fun, but there were many rides I could not go on. Plus, with Ryan's parents going with us, I knew I would need to drink, possibly heavily, during the trip. I guess God had other plans because I found myself pregnant, at Disney, yet again. I will be honest, it was a tough trip at times. Ryan's parents rode with us there and back. It is hard enough to be in the car that long with your husband and kids, let alone your in-laws. I had to excuse myself one of the first mornings to have an "attitude adjustment". But once we got to Disney and all checked in our separate hotels, it was fine, for the most part.

Ashley and Peyton had a great time! I was nervous about Peyton because he got hysterical when we got on the bus from our hotel to go to Magic Kingdom and then he cried hysterically when we first got to Magic Kingdom. But then he was great! No more tears! He rode everything we did and really seemed to enjoy everything. Ashley did great, but was very scared of anything that had fire and gun shots. I was so impressed with Ashley and Peyton's behavior, especially since they were running on fumes, both kids love to sleep and they did not get even close to their normal amounts. So sweet and well behaved, I guess that was the best way to show Grandmom what she was missing ;-)

I will upload more pictures, but here are a few from my phone.

Enjoying dinner at Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Citywalk

Ashley and Cinderella at the princess lunch in Norway

Finally, the big news!

It may be obvious what the big news is, but we are expecting baby #3! It was not planned, but we are very excited about it. I suffered a miscarriage in December (the week before Christmas), which was a complete and total shock to me. That pregnancy had a been a surprise too, so to experience the miscarriage was even more of a surprise, especially since I had no issues with my two previous pregnancies.

In July, I had planned my first kids/spouse free weekend since before Ashley was born. I was going to Charleston to visit my friend Tiffany. Before I was pregnant with Ashley, I would visit Tiffany at least 2-3 times a year. We would have low key weekends, mostly just chatting, eating out, going to the beach, shopping, chatting :-) I have decided spending time with friends is so important and something I need to make more of a priority.

Anyway, I was expecting my period the week before my trip. It never showed up. I was not going to test because I wanted to be able to enjoy a few drinks on my kid free weekend. Of course, the closer I got to leaving for Charleston, the more I knew I would have to test before I left. Of course, it was a big old positive! Such shock!

I am 14.5 weeks now and feeling pretty good. I have been exhausted and nauseous, but nothing like how I felt with Peyton, so I have been counting my blessings. I go to the doctor next week for blood work and then we have our big anatomy scan on October 18th. Because I will be 35 when I deliver, I am considered "advanced maternal age" and will meet with a specialist after hours to perform the ultrasound. I am saying many many prayers that everything comes back good with my blood work and the anatomy scan.

So on or around March 23rd, we will be adding a new baby to our household. Let the craziness begin!

Princesses and Parties!

Ashley loves everything girly. She loves the color pink, Barbies, Disney princesses, My Little Ponies, dressing up, I could go on and on. On Sunday, she was invited to a princess birthday party. Before the party, a few of the girls were going to a new nail salon in town for princess manicures. They invited Ashley to come along and of course I said yes! She loves to have her nails painted and she had never been to a real salon before. All the girls dressed up like princesses and they were treated like royalty as they had their nails done. Ashley loved every second of it and of course, picked out hot pink polish and sparkles to go on top.

After the girls had their nails done, we headed to the party. It was at a local drop in child care center. Ashley had so much fun but I think the highlight was when Rapunzel came! She read stories to the girls, painted their faces and posed for pictures. I think this might be Ashley's favorite birthday party to date.

Hanging Out

Ashley, Peyton and I had several days last week without Ryan. He traveled to Indianapolis for work and was gone all day from Wednesday-Saturday. During the weekday, I normally handle things myself, so that was not too rough. But dinner time and bed time was a different story! He normally helps with dinner clean up, baths or getting kiddos ready for bed. I was exhausted by the end of the week and hate to say I did not even change out of my pjs until 4:30 on Saturday. I run around like a crazy person during the week driving all over Moore County between school drop off and pick up, getting to the office and taking Ashley and Peyton to the nanny's, so it is really  nice to have some time at home. Here are a couple pictures from the past week.

Bed head!

Eating waffles

Peyton had his first dentist appointment on Friday. I did not take Ashley this young, but I recently got dental insurance through work, so I figured why not? He saw a pediatric dentist, which was great, because he was not happy to have his teeth looked at! He cried when the dentist examined him and brushed his teeth, but overall, I was pleased with how he did. The dentist did mention he chipped one of his front teeth. I am sure it happened when he fell and cut his lip. But luckily it was just a bit of the enamel, so no permanent damage. Peyton picked out a little yellow truck as his prize, which he has sitting on his plate in the picture above. Ashley and Peyton both go back in six months, we will see how he does then!

Another First Day of School

Today was Peyton's first day of preschool. He is attending the same preschool Ashley did for the 2s and 3s. I really loved the Learning Tree and moving her to a new school for the 4s was a difficult decision. It is funny that things seem to come full circle. I had fully intended to keep Peyton at the same school they were at last year, but everything fell in place for him to come here. I am so happy with our decision and I know he will have a great year. He repeated "I excited" the whole car ride to Ashley's school and to his, but as soon as we walked inside, he became shy. He clung to my legs and started crying when I left. I know he was fine as soon as I left, he is such an adapter. But he is a mama's boy too! Here are some pictures from this morning. I love taking Ashley and Peyton's pictures in the same exact place on our front porch. I have pictures of Ashley's first day of school at the Learning Tree, taken exactly three years ago in exactly the same place.

My big boy!

Cheese!!

Ashley's first day of preschool 2009

Labor Day Weekend

We enjoyed a long weekend at the beach. Unfortunately, we only got about an hour on the beach the entire weekend. It was very hot and we normally go to the beach after Peyton's nap. We could not go on Saturday because we were having an early dinner to celebrate Christine's birthday. Sunday it stormed, so we only went for about an hour and then we left yesterday. Ashley was so upset when we left. She started crying in the car as soon as we drove away from Mom and Dad's house. I asked her why she was crying and she said "I miss everybody". Poor sweet girl, she really loves being around family.

I had to share this little tidbit. When I picked Ashley up from school on Friday, she had several pieces of artwork she had completed. She was showing them to Peyton and he said "Oh my gosh! This is awesome! Great job Ashley!". It was the funniest and sweetest thing I have heard. Such a sweet little brother.

I am sad to see the weekend go but happy time is moving forward quickly! I hate to rush all these wonderful things that are happening in our lives, but I have been feeling very sick (the past five weeks), so the closer we get to the middle/end of this month, the better I will feel :-) Big news coming....................