Christmas came early...

We decided that for our Christmas present this year, we would go to Disney World. We spontaneously decided Monday to just go ahead and do it, since the hotels are much cheaper and the parks are less crowded when kids are in school. Santa will still drop by and bring the kids something, but this was our Christmas. With the exception of the end-of-the-day-exhaustion meltdowns, it was a lot of fun and definitely a trip to remember! The first day we went to Magic Kingdom, which is out favorite park:) Kieran was awesome the whole time! He was content as could be to sit in the stroller and take everything in or to sit snuggled in the sling close to Mommy:)

When we went last year, I couldn't go on a lot of the rides because I was pregnant, but this year I could-yay! Disney does a rider swap, so Shaun would wait in line with Aislynn while I got a pass and waited with Kieran. Then Aislynn could go on it again with me and we didn't have to wait in line. So awesome. She didn't realize how lucky she was that she got to go on the rides two times in a row but didn't have to wait in line. I went on Splash Mountain first with Aislynn and we got SOAKED!!! We sat in the back row and I was pretty much wet for the rest of the day:( Last year Aislynn was scared of Splash Mountain, but not this year. She was telling Shaun all of the characters when they were on the ride together. Shaun did not get near as wet as I did-no fair:( Last year we never made it to the tea pots, so we made sure to do it this year. Aislynn loved them:) I got a ton of pictures with Shaun making the funniest faces on this ride, but I will just post this one;)

The one below is on Astro Orbiter I think...Shaun and Kieran were on the ship behind us. Shaun made their ship stay low the whole time, and he said Kieran kept looking up at Aislynn and I:)

The second day, we went to Epcot. I love this park. We really didn't get a chance to go to all of the countries, which is really the most fun part, but maybe another time. They had the parks all decked out for Christmas and they had some of the characters cut out of bushes in the entrance of Epcot.

We didn't really try to meet any characters the day before, but when we walked into the park, Daisy Duck was there. Since the line wasn't that long and we didn't meet her last year, we decided to. The whole time we were in line, Aislynn kept making comments like, "I like her pink shoes." or "I like her eyelashes, I wish mine looked like that." She loved her bow and bracelet too. Funny girl:) Kieran wasn't all that impressed with Daisy though.

I was changing Kieran's diaper while Shaun took Aislynn to meet Stitch and when I came back, Aislynn was all excited telling me that Stitch licked her, lol.

As you can see below, it was hard to get pictures of everyone looking at the camera, lol. This was right outside The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends. They have a Nemo ride and then they have this thing called Turtle talk with Crush. Aislynn wanted to sit with all the kids in the front, so we sat on the benches. Crush picked Aislynn out to ask him a question. So she told him her name and then he said, "Aislynn, what's your question?" And she said "I'm four." Then he paused for a few seconds and said, "The answer to your question is yes, you are right, you are four." It was so cute:)

This gigantic Christmas tree is in the main entry to the world showcase of the countries. They had ornaments and different things from all of the different countries.

In Mexico, we encountered a festive Donald...

This picture was taken in Norway...

We went back to Mexico to eat lunch there and boy, Aislynn was in a grumpy mood. She was kinda being a pain at this point, but after we ate she was better. Shaun was trying to get her to smile, but she wouldn't so he said he was going to be grumpy then too. Their faces crack me up here:)

We met up with Chip and Dale. When we were waiting in line, Aislynn asked if they had "real talks." I guess she was wondering why the characters never talked to her, lol.

The chipmunks came over to check out Kieran, but again...not impressed. He did try to eat one of their fingers when they were touching his cheek though, lol.

We did go over to the countries later, but it started raining and the park was going to close soon, so we left. I have a great picture of the four of us that someone from Disney took, so we have to order it and then I will post it:) The last day we went to Magic Kingdom again since we felt like we didn't do everything we wanted to there. Here are Aislynn and Shaun in front of one of their Christmas displays.

Kieran was passed out in the sling here:)

When Aislynn met Snow White, she was completely star struck, lol. She wouldn't answer any of her questions, she just giggled. Snow White told her if she were a dwarf, her name would be giggles, lol.

Just another shot in front of the castle....

Cute, happy boys!

Even though she met Ariel last year, Aislynn still wanted to meet her again this year.

We had to wait longer to meet Tigger and Pooh then anything else. Now Kieran did like them. He was smiling like crazy at both of them!

This picture totally cracks us up because it looks like Pooh is trying to eat Kieran (he was giving him a kiss), lol!

While Pooh was playing with Kieran, Tigger was tickling Aislynn:)

This picture is really blurry, but just a shot of us wearing our cool 3D glasses for Mickey's Philharmonic Show. This was a really cool show, but Aislynn didn't like it. She was scared that things were really going to hit her in the face.

Those were the best pictures! We had a blast. Aislynn's favorite thing was Space Mountain-she rode that 4 times. I totally thought she would be scared, but she loved it!! She also liked this show that was on a river boat. It's to promote the new movie coming out, The Princess and the Frog. It was such a good show! We are totally pumped about the movie...comes out Friday! We are now trying to get in the holiday mode, and I think we are going to put up our tree tomorrow, so pics to follow:)

6 Months...

Hard to believe Kieran is 6 months already!! I took some pictures today, so I will share those first and then some stuff about K at 6 months:

• He is obviously STILL one happy guy:) Even when he is hungry, teething, tired, etc. he is still pretty laid back.
• He has 2 teeth, on the bottom and I think he is working on some more.
• He eats oatmeal in the morning and rice cereal mixed with some food (he is on sweet potatoes now, carrots before that) in the evening.
• He babbles...a lot. His favorite time to do it is when Shaun is talking. Aislynn was and is still the same way:)
• Is VERY easily distracted. This is annoying when I am trying to feed him, but good when he gets cranky (which is not that much!).
• is not sleeping through the night:( Wakes up twice usually and is still a cat napper during the day.
• Is getting pretty good at rolling or scooting to where he needs to go:) Really not ready for crawling, so this is good with me!
• Is ticklish under his chin, just like Aislynn! Tickling, kissing, or blowing raspberries here will produce some major giggles:)
• When nursing, either grabs my nice flabby side and pinches it with his little fingers or grabs my nose or tries to stick his hand in my mouth...nice.
• Likes to be sung to...he totally doesn't mind if I sing a little off key;)
• His little personality is starting to really shine through...I can tell he is going to be a laid back kinda guy, but also a sweetie. He is so smiley and happy too...getting him to smile doesn't take much work:)

I know there is more, but that's all I can recall for now! He goes to the doctor on Thursday for his 6 month well check, so we will see how much he has grown in 2 months!

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!!! We had a great time this year. Good food and so thankful that my brothers and sister and their other halves could make it. Our friends came too, and Aislynn was so happy to have Lillian share the kid table with her:) Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving:Someone would not cooperate with the family picture:) Everyone contributed a little and Shaun and I made everything but the turkey the night before, so even though we were hosting, I felt very relaxed and we had lots of hangout time, which was so nice. Love my siblings so much and we don't get very many chances that we can all get together, so this was nice! I am glad every one's significant other came too...I love all of them:) Each one of them feels like part of the family and I hope that one day Aislynn and Kieran will call them all Aunt or Uncle:)

Well, I guess now that Thanksgiving is over, we can start on Christmas, lol. Aislynn has already been drawing Christmas trees and snowmen:) I have lots of fun holiday crafts for us to do this year too:)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!!!

I'm Super at....

According to Aislynn, she is super at singing; Shaun is super at cooking; Kieran is super at chomping on things; and I am super at .........checking the mail? Hmmmm, well I am glad to know I am having such an impact on my daughter's life *wink*.

Aislynn took these pictures of Kieran and me...she was pretending to be the Mommy:) It was kinda funny listening to her pleas for us to look at the camera. Made me realize just how silly and desperate I can get while trying to get her to look, ha ha. I did crop these pics.

Look...teeth!! A kinda snuck in, but I am so happy I finally got his little teeth in a picture!

This picture just makes me happy:) It is a weird crop because I took it through the crib rails, but I love it:)

Here are the latest scrappy projects from me:

This was based on a 52 Sketches 52 Weeks sketch.

This was based on a layout by Ali Edwards.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!!

Lately...

Our house has been a mess. Not dirty really, but lots of clutter...everywhere. This is only a sample of the downstairs;) In my last post I said I was feeling better, but I started to feel worse...just a sore throat and cold symptoms. I am feeling much better now though, and as a result, a lot of the below clutter is gone:Since Kieran was born, I have been sorta struggling and putting pressure on myself to "keep up" and have the laundry, dishes, household chores done. I have finally come to the conclusion that it doesn't have to be and spending more time with my family is MUCH more important then having a perfectly spic and span house.

Look at this picture. This pretty much sums up the last week-Aislynn acting crazy. Seriously she was driving me nuts acting naughty. I know she is doing stuff to get our attention. She is jealous of Kieran. When I am doing anything with him, she can't stand it, will act out because her doing something naughty will get my attention super fast. So Saturday Shaun watched Kieran and I took her on a date:) I let her pick where we went and she wanted to go to Smoothie King and Movie Gallery, lol. Then we went and took a long walk on the beach. I purposely did not bring my camera because I wanted it to be about spending time with her. On the beach we frolicked like My Little Ponies and examined each foot/paw print like detectives. At one point, she was skipping ahead of me and I tried not to start crying. I can't really explain it, but it just made me happy to see her having so much fun and not having to compete for my attention. Then it also made me sad that she feels deprived of attention. So I need to change some things. I need to get sleep. I know I have not been getting enough sleep and my patience level is basically nonexistent when I don't get enough sleep. We need to go on dates with Aislynn. We decided that once a week, one of us will take her out, just her. I also need to be consistent with her. Sometimes I threaten a punishment and then totally don't follow through, losing credibility-big parenting no no. Anyways, since our date on Saturday, she has been very well behaved:) Another thing...some things are up in the air, which is frustrating, BUT I feel good. Shaun and I have been doing a lot of talking about what sort of future we want for us and our kids, where we want to live, what sort of life style we want to live, etc. So some changes will be coming soon, just not sure when or what exactly. I just know that I am glad we are on the same page, and that no matter what happens, if we stay a team, we will be good:) So, kind of a heavy post? LOL. Sorry no more pictures to share. It seems like for the past few years, February and November are the months I always take the least amount of photos. Weird. Looks like I am on track for that this year too. So Jakki, maybe I will *try* to do your picture a day this week too:)

Happy

Tried to get some pictures of Kieran's new little teeth, but I couldn't really catch them. I did get these happy happy happy pictures though...he is such a happy little guy:)

Blowing bubbles...and sometimes you can really see the veins in his head, like here. It freaks Shaun out and Aislynn always asks why he has the cracks on his head, lol:)Finally posting some scrapbook pages from awhile ago... The above one is based on a Sketch This sketch.

The above one is based on a 52 Sketches 52 Weeks sketch.

The above one is based on a Pencil Lines sketch.

And this one was based on a 52 Sketches 52 Weeks sketch.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I am finally getting over whatever I had, and am so thankful the kids didn't get sick!!!

Halloween

The kiddos and I went to visit my Mom this past weekend in Tallahassee, while Shaun went with his Dad to Biloxi to play in some tournaments. Here are some pictures I took Friday of my Mom with the kids...I think my kids have issues with looking at the camera:)There is a picture of my Mom holding Aislynn around this age and she is wearing red and it's almost the same exact pose!

Saturday, we went over to my friend Becky's house so that the girls could trick or treat together. They were so cute...a princess and a witch:)

I think it's impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time:)

Poor Aislynn. She was having major wardrobe malfunctions. Her crown wouldn't stay on her head and then her dress was too long and her shoes were rubbing on her feet so she was walking weird. She got really scared too. The first house they went to was the neighbor's house and there was a fake mummy that made a noise when you walked by it. She got really scared and ran across the yard crying hysterically. She lost both of her shoes in the process:) She sucked it up though...I think once she started to get more and more candy in her bucket, she was fine:)

Riley was so cute and brave:)

Little dinosaur man:) He was asleep for most of the trick or treating.

My little spooks:) Note that Kieran has his hand in his mouth-he was chomping on things most of the weekend, which we decided that he must be teething. Sure enough, his first little tooth popped up Sunday! It looks like the one next to it is about to come through too.

One thing I forgot to mention about A trick or treating...she was bowing to everyone after they gave her candy and she told most everyone thank you and happy Halloween!

Before we left on Sunday, Josh and Phillip came to see us and we went to a park. Aislynn liked going down the slides:)

Uncle Phillip helping her across the monkey bars. She loved this, since I am not really strong enough to hold her up the whole way!

We had a good weekend, but it is always good to be home. I think I am coming down with something:( I have had a sore throat and massive headache/body ache since Friday morning. Shaun doesn't feel good either. At least the kids feel good! I did lose 2 lbs last week, so I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight:) But my pre-pregnancy clothes still don't fit. It's amazing the difference of just 5 lbs though...I can fit into my "big" pants that I bought in the first few months of my pregnancy now. Well, hope everyone had a great weekend and hope you are having as beautiful weather as we have right now!!