Happy Holidays!

With all the craziness of the holidays and kids being out of school, I kind of let the blog get away from me for a while. We've had a lot going on!

Bailey was in a Thanksgiving program at school and she did a great job. Unfortunately whoever lined the kids up did so without respect to height, and we couldn't see her very well. We did get a picture of her after the show:

On December 1, Emily turned 7. She also lost a tooth! Daddy was in New Jersey at the time so she spent the night at Mimi and Grandpa's house. She had a ball with them. Of course, the next weekend Bailey wanted to have a sleepover with Mimi, too! We actually had her sleep over two weeks later, because the next day was Emily and Liam's birthday party at Ace Gym. Here are some photos of that event--it was really something! Kids were doing flips and jumping into the foam blocks. Emily got to go on a special bungee swing that looked SUPER fun. And there were TONS of presents!

We had some very exciting adventures with NuNu the Elf this year. Some of his more creative spots included hanging from the ceiling fan and climbing the Christmas tree! The girls were very excited to look for him each morning. Liam didn't really "get" the whole elf-on-the-shelf thing this year.

We were also able to enjoy a few more visits to Sea World. They converted the Wild Arctic ride to the Polar Express Experience. We really enjoyed seeing the train and going on the "ride." We even got to meet Santa! We also did a family snow globe picture, which was cool--they actually have a huge inflatable snow globe that you can go inside for a photo. There was plastic "snow" on the floor and the kids thought that was great. They also had bubble snow in the kids' section that was very exciting, too.

Santa was very good to us this year. Some special gifts were a Bucky the Pirate Ship play tent for all 3 kids, a rollercoaster for Liam, LOTS of princess dolls, movies, and stories for the girls, and even some gifts for Mommy and Daddy. It was a very special holiday.

Finally, we rang in the new year with Grandma, Grandpa Buddy, Mimi, Grandpa, and the Hinsons. We had lots of snacks and the girls actually stayed up until midnight! All in all, 2012 was a pretty good year and we are looking forward to a wonderful 2013!

Car accident

Last weekend, the kids and I were involved in a fairly serious car accident.

We are all fine. The van is not.

We were on our way to the zoo and were waiting at a red light on the access road to get onto the 417 N ramp. The light changed to green. Of course I hesitated a couple seconds before going--you just never know if someone is going to try to squeak through the light, right? But after two or three seconds, I proceeded into the intersection. That is when a lady in a white Kia came racing through the red light and right into my car! It was absolutely terrifying. Of course the baby started screaming--he wasn't hurt, just scared--and I was crying because my air bag deployed and my car was wrecked. Is there a worse noise than two cars colliding? That horrible sound haunts me. Emily and Bailey were totally fine; in fact, Bailey didn't even know what had happened! Luckily they were in tv trance because they were watching a Barbie movie. The pediatrician said that was actually probably a blessing because they were so relaxed, they didn't get whiplash or injuries.

At the scene of the crash, the paramedics and state troopers told me my car was likely totaled. We waited most of the week to hear from the insurance companies but we found out on Thursday that the van could be fixed and they will be doing that. It is going to take the rest of the month (!!!) to be repaired. I'm upset because it seems like a no-win situation. We'd either have our car totaled, which means the past 14 months of payments are pretty much a wash, or we'd get it fixed and it would never be worth anything any more. And I am concerned that it will never be the same--or as safe--after being repaired. So we are in car limbo until it is fixed and we can decide what we are going to do. I did get a rental van to use in the meantime and it is working out okay. The whole situation is just upsetting because I didn't do anything wrong or risky at all! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who has been dealing with all of the insurance company representatives, repair shop people, and basically the whole mess so that I don't have to. He is the best. And I am truly thankful that my babies and I are all fine, because really this could have turned out a LOT worse for us.

Halloween

We had a ball trick-or-treating this year. The kids were super excited and they looked absolutely adorable in their costumes. Liam was a riot because he didn't know what trick-or-treating was all about, but he sure figured it out quick! He got some candy in his pumpkin, looked at it, looked at us, and then held his pumpkin out again for more! And he got it, too--probably because he's just so adorable! Here are some pictures of our group this year!

Liam's First Haircut!

I've been meaning to get Liam's hair cut for a while now. He's got some crazy curls going on in the back and while they look cute sometimes, sometimes they just look like a giant mess. So I decided to take him over to "Cool Cuts 4 Kids" to get his first haircut. I decided to go with them because I wanted someone who had lots of experience with squirmy little kids. He did pretty well--of course he was quite fidgety but he didn't get upset at all, which was a huge improvement over his big sister Bailey (who absolutely flipped out over HER first haircut). He loved sitting in the fire engine and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while getting his hair done. He even got a lollipop (or as he says, "pop") just for sitting there so he was pretty happy about that! Here are a few shots:

He wouldn't cooperate for a front-facing shot but I will try to get one soon! I think he looks adorable--and so much older! He is really getting to be a big boy.

Statues

This is a funny conversation I had with Bailey last night:

"Mommy, I LOVE statues!"

Me, totally baffled: "Ummm, okay."

"So, can I have some statues?"

"Honey, I don't understand the question."

"I love statues. Can I have some statues?"

"Sweetie, I have no idea what you are talking about! What statues?"
"No, STATUES! The statues in the shell! Over there!" (points to the canisters on the kitchen counter)

"Sweetie, I don't... OH, pistachios! Is that what you want?"

"YES! STATUES!" LOL :)

Jail

On the way to the bus stop this afternoon, Bailey pointed out the "No Parking" signs. She said, "Mommy, you can't park there because if you do, you will get a ticket and other cars will bump into you. Please don't park there, okay? I don't want you to get a ticket and go to JAIL."

"Honey, you don't go to jail just because you get a ticket."

"What happens if you get a ticket?"

"Well, usually you have to pay some money. I guess if you got a lot of tickets and didn't pay, then they could put you in jail. But don't worry. You only go to jail if you do bad things, and Mommy and Daddy don't do bad things."

"I do bad things sometimes." (LOL!!)

"Well, lucky for you, they don't put little kids in jail."

LOL. This kid cracks me UP!!

Kids' Portraits

Thanks to my dear friend Susan for taking these for me! Liam was totally uncooperative. In his defense, before we left that morning, I asked him, "Are you going to let Miss Susan take your picture today?" and he replied, "No." LOL.

They are growing up SO fast.

Tower of Terror 10 Miler

Over the weekend, I participated in my first (and probably last, LOL) race. The event took place at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The course wound from the Studios down Osceola Parkway to Animal Kingdom, back to the Wide World of Sports, and through the park to the finish line near Tower of Terror.

I was bib number 9529, which meant that I was one of the last people to start the race. I finished in 4635th place (LOL) (there were over 10,000 runners who finished the race) and my time was 2h13m.

The photographers took some pictures of me and there is also a video of me running through the stadium and crossing the finish line. Not sure how long these will be online, but if you are interested you can try this link: http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?146829143

What I didn't like was that the race started at 10:00 pm, but we had to take the bus to our corral by 8:00. That was a LOT of sitting around getting nervous! Plus, there were a lot of runners and I never felt like I had the space to really settle into any sort of rhythm. I was constantly changing my speed and dodging people, so that made the course even tougher. I also didn't do enough hill work in my training--I didn't realize we'd be running up and down highway on/off ramps! That was tough!!

Overall, I was pleased with my effort and felt that I did well. I was a little disappointed that my knee started hurting around mile 8, because that prevented me from running the last whole mile (which I'd planned to do). I am still a little sore, too!

Here I am waiting for the race to start!

Legoland (Florida)

Last weekend we took the kids to Legoland. Bailey called it "Legoland, Florida" all day--too funny! I think that is what they say on the commercials. Anyway, thanks to my brother-in-law, we got almost all of the tickets for free, which was a really good thing because the park is only open from 10am-5pm, and that is NOT enough time to see and do everything. Plus, it rained, so they closed some attractions and we missed out on those. That was disappointing but it would have been even more so if we'd paid full price to get in! If it wasn't so far away, I might have considered getting the annual pass, because the kids had a BALL there. Unfortunately it is about an hour and 45 minutes away, and that is a LONG ride with three little kids.

Here are some pictures from our day!

 Both Bailey and Liam were being difficult--they were not going to be in this picture without me, LOL. Oh, well--I am almost never in the photos.

Waiting to go into the park...

Our treasures, LOL. Aren't they cute??

Emily and cousin Xander on Kid Power Towers. They had to use a rope to hoist themselves up to the top. It was really neat!

Bailey at Junior driving school--these cars aren't on any sort of guide track or anything. The poor man running this attraction, which was aimed at 3-to-5-year-olds, spent the whole time running around, moving the cars off the curb, untangling the kids from each other, and pointing them in the right direction. It was hilarious to watch.

Emily in driving school. This one was a real system of roads with traffic signs and signals. She didn't get to drive for long, though. It started to rain and they closed the ride.

All-Star Emily!

Yesterday we took Emily and Bailey to Sea World. We left Liam with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a real experience for us--no baby bag, no stroller!! Bailey really wanted to play a carnival game because the prize was a stuffed flamingo. I told her that those games are really hard to win, but if she would ride the Shamu roller coaster with me, I'd let her play. Well, she rode that ride, so we went over to the game. It was basically a surface full of holes. Most of the holes were black but some had a stripe of color around the top. The object was to throw a wiffle ball into one of the striped holes. Bailey shared half the balls with Emily, and on Emily's third try, she got it! She was jumping up and down and yelling, "I did it! I did it! I finally got it!" LOL. When we congratulated her, she said, "Mommy, my eyes were ready for action. And my hand was ready for action! And I saw that blue hole and I just aimed right for it!" She was so cute and excited!

Super Star Bailey

Bailey was SO excited when I picked her up from school today. She came bounding out of the classroom and said, "Mommy! I got the SUPER STAR STICKER!" Apparently, when someone does an extra good job all day, the teachers award a super star sticker. Bailey was so cute telling me about how she got it: "You have to work VERY hard. You have to line up at the fence when you are on the playground and it is time to go inside. You have to clean up at centers. You have to sit QUIETLY on the mat at circle time." LOL--she was so cute and so excited. I am proud of my super star!

First Day of School

Today was Emily's first day of first grade AND Bailey's first day of pre-k! They were both excited about going to school.

M&M-mones

Bailey's current favorite show is Octonauts on Disney channel. Each episode features a sea creature and at the end of the show they give facts as well as a picture of the animal or plant. Last week they had an episode about anemones. A few days later, we went to Petco and we were looking at the fish. Emily yells, "MOM! Look--m-and-m-mones!

Whaddaya think?

I was just giving the kids their bath and Liam accidentally bunked me in the eye with a toy. "Ow, Liam!" I cried.

Bailey goes, "What's 'ow'?"

I replied, "Liam just hit me in the eye."

Bailey goes, "Maybe it's time to get rid of this baby. Whaddaya think?" You know she has been waiting forever to make that little suggestion. I told her lucky for her, we don't get rid of our kids when they mess up (otherwise she'd be in real trouble, LOL).

Treehouse Vacation

For her birthday this year, Will's mom, Stephanie AKA Grandma, wanted to stay at the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs (Disney World) with the kids. She took Emily out there on Sunday night. I brought Bailey out to her on Monday, and Eileen, Andrew, Xander, and Derrick were there Monday as well. The kids stayed all week. I drove back and forth each day with Liam so that he could be a part of it all as well. I think the kids had an absolute blast. We got to visit the various pools at the resort, which have water slides and splash parks. We considered going to a water park but the kids had so much fun at the hotel pools that we skipped that. However, the girls got to go to the Contemporary Resort and watch the fireworks over Magic Kingdom. They went to campfire stories with Chip and Dale and had s'mores. We had a family BBQ on Wednesday to celebrate Grandma's birthday, and then we took the kids back to the Contemporary to see the fireworks again. Bailey said, "Mommy, to go to the 'pireworks' we have to ride the 'mama-rail'"--SO cute!!

Liam on the slide in the splash park--he LOVED it!

Bailey coming down the BIG slide!

Emily's 27458th trip down the big slide!! She screamed the whole way down EVERY time.

At the Paddock pool at Saratoga Springs Resort.

Bailey on the 'mama' rail :)

Getting ready for our boat ride!

 On Thursday we went to the Boardwalk and rented a boat, which was a real adventure because neither Bailey nor Liam wanted to wear the life jackets (required of everyone) and they were both super crabby. I ended up getting off the boat halfway through the trip and taking them for a walk. We were all exhausted when we got home that night! Today we went to the beach to wrap up our week. It was a great time for all of us!

Catching up!!

Wow, it sure has been a while since I've been on here! Here's an update on everyone and all of the things we have been up to lately.

Will is working like mad on his dissertation and research hours to finish his PhD. He thinks he's about 12-18 months away from completing it. He has also been busy with work. He went to New Jersey for two weeks in June and he has to go back in September.

Jennifer is training for a 10 mile race on September 28. It is at Disney's Hollywood Studios. She is both nervous and excited about it. She is running approximately a 12 minute mile consistently--although she can run at 6 mph for a lap or two! She is trying to do a long outside run each Saturday to help prepare for the race.

Emily is enjoying her summer vacation and her time with Mommy, Bailey, and Liam. She and Bailey made a list of a bunch of things they wanted to do this summer and so far we have done most of them! We have about three weeks left to finish checking off our list. Emmy is reading ~2nd grade level books on her own and also is listening to The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark. Both she and Mommy are enjoying the book.

Bailey has been rather challenging lately, LOL. I think it has been hard on her to have to share the spotlight with her sister and brother all of the time. Her dearest wish is to have Mommy all to herself. A few weeks ago she spent the night at Mimi and Grandpa's house and she had a blast. She didn't want to come home!

Liam has a LOT to say lately! Much of it is still gibberish, but he will babble an entire conversation! Mom says he is Chinese because a lot of what he says sounds like, "Gong gong gong gong gong!" It is very cute. He is so busy, too! He has been nodding yes and shaking his head no which is really cute (and helpful!) because you can say, "Do you want to eat?" (Nods.) "Time to get out of the pool.
 (Shakes head no.) "Time to get out of the bath." (Shakes head no.) LOL.

In June we did a "staycation" in Cocoa Beach. It was disappointing. We'd booked a resort that looked great online, and they had something called kid suites which was a room that had a separate area with two bunk beds and a twin bed. We thought that would be good because otherwise staying in a hotel with little kids means everyone goes to bed at 8:00, LOL. Anyway, Will and I were not too impressed when we arrived, but the girls were thrilled, so we figured we'd just make do. After a swim (towels were NOT provided--what the heck??), we went back to the room to clean up for dinner. We discovered that the phones didn't work, the internet was out, the help line provided in the guest guide book was outdated and that company no longer provided internet help for that hotel, there were ANTS in the bathroom (the last straw for Will), and underneath the bottom bunk was a soggy towel and some TRASH. We were out of there as fast as we could carry our stuff downstairs! We moved to a Holiday Inn Express, which was much nicer, but it was not *on* the beach and there was no separation between us and the kids (so it was lights out at 8 pm). The first night the kids were up until after 10! Normally they go to bed between 7 and 8 so that was unacceptable. The next day I told Will I wanted to go home a day early because if we had to drive to the beach, then we might as well drive to the beach from home and at least have our HUGE house to sleep in! We did get to visit the Brevard Zoo, where the girls fed giraffes and birds. Liam liked the animals and we spent a little time in their splash park, which was fun for the kids. The beach was an adventure--Bailey freaked out because there was sand on her (shocking!!). Liam apparently felt that sand and salt water from a bucket was a tasty treat! Emily loved the beach but cried when we had to leave. Mommy had HAD it, LOL. I think we were all glad to get home after that adventure.

What's the problem with chocolate milk????

Grandpa and Mimi babysat Emily, Bailey, and Liam last night. Emily and Liam went right to sleep, but Bailey was up for a while crying. Now, you have to understand the situation to really get this one. We have been trying to reduce her sugar intake, because I noticed that when she has sugar (especially 10 grams or more), she gets really mean. So the other day, after she had chocolate milk, she started yelling at me and just generally being mean, so I said, "Okay, Bailey, you just lost chocolate milk." Obviously she was very upset about that--chocolate milk is an important food group, in her view--and she cried for a while when I told her. But when Mimi and Grandpa put her to bed, she was in there crying, "What's the problem with chocolate milk? Mommy says I can't have chocolate milk any more but I love chocolate milk! I don't understand what is the problem with chocolate milk!" To make it even funnier, she still has a few sounds she can't say, so her crying ACTUALLY sounded like this: "What's the pwobwem wif chocolate miwk?" LOL. That kid is something else!!

Getting our Hopes up

Bailey has been taking classes at My Gym for a couple months now. I'd planned to pull her out before the summer, because honestly, it's kind of pricey, but she has shown so much growth in the past few months that I thought it would be good for her to continue. I was able to take advantage of a special that allowed Emily to participate over the summer as well. As we were heading to My Gym this morning, I told Emily not to get her hopes up too high about starting class today, because I was pretty sure she wasn't scheduled to start until next week. When we pulled into the parking lot, she said, "Mommy, I am trying to keep my hopes low, but they keep on getting higher and higher!"

Bailey's FLAMINGO party

Bailey had a fantastic flamingo party. She loved playing in the pool with her cousins and friends and she got lots of great flamingo presents. She got a flamingo outfit, a flamingo cup, a flamingo purse with a stuffed flamingo inside, two flamingo towels, a flamingo postcard, a decorative flamingo tile, a flamingo figurine, and more!! She also got some cute outfits and some special toys.

The flamingo cupcakes were a huge hit with all of the kids! I learned how to make them here.

Party pictures coming soon!!