CHOO CHOO...

This past weekend we drove up and spent some time in Chattanooga, TN. Except for a couple scattered rain showers (only an hour or so on Saturday and then again on Sunday) the weather was perfect and we had a great time! The only minor "mishap" was (we think) a mosquito bite that caused our little man's eye to swell up.  Freaked this mama out  and I had to put an early morning call into the YiaYia...but all is good now. Thank you Lord!

Great visit to the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo...

Yep... there's that tongue again :0)

View from our "front porch"

Swollen eye... poor baby :(

DISNEY MAGIC...MAY 2014

This past week, we enjoyed an AWESOME week back at Walt Disney World. This trip was extra fun, as it was our first journey with our "newest baby"...aka a travel trailer.  It was so nice having our camper!  I've wanted one for years, but actually having it?  Well, it was even better than I expected :o)  It's so nice to have your own stuff.  To know that the area is clean and that the person (the night before you) wasn't in there throwing up from a vicious flu bug or buried in the bed (that you are now sleeping in) with bronchitis.   I guess I'm a little funny/over-sensitive that way... as I really do think about those things.  Either way, it was awesome have a decent sized refrigerator, running water, a bathroom and a/c.  And to be apart of the RVing community?  Awesome ...awesome...awesome.  Some of the nicest people we've met, in a very long time.

The kids had a great time :o)  You can't tell me that a 2 year old is too young to understand Disney...because our little man IMMEDIATELY recognized It's a Small World, the moment it came within sight :o)  Both of my children love the People Mover, which works well for me as (a little embarrassed to admit), it's one of my favorites too.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and left the following Sunday morning and except for the day before we left, the crowds were low.  Really low.  I mean, a couple of the days we all but walked onto rides (even at the Magic Kindgom!). One morning in particular, we rode something like 10 rides before 12 noon. Unheard of in the "Disney Community".  IT. WAS. GREAT.  Oh...and the weather?  We had one day of off/on rain but the rest of the time, it was AMAZING!  Some of locals kept commenting that they couldn't believe how beautiful it was.  We really lucked out.

Needless to say... awesome trip.  Great family time.  A huge, huge blessing.  Now we're setting our sites on October, when we get to go back...but this time, we'll get to meet up with my family; the biggest blessing of all.


*mass picture alert*  :o)

Our home-away-from-home

Tom had no problem, settling in :o)

Enjoying the beach at the campground.  I was trying to remember,
but I think this was Brandon's first time actually walking in sand.
He LOVED it :0)

Super sweet... *melt*

Mini jam session :0)

Brandon didn't seem to appreciate, a stranger
taking our picture :0)

My beautiful girl...

My gosh Boo looks like daddy here!

Looks like it's not just big sister who loves the tea cups :o)

He thinks it's funny, that he knows how to spit ...

he'd spit, then laugh at me because I kept telling him to stop :o)

The tongue thing is all Brandon.  At first it started with him trying to curl
his tongue like mommy, now he just sticks it out and laughs.  Of course
sissy had to join in on the fun and mommy had to act surprised :0)

Low light but again... can you tell who her daddy is? :o)

BRANDON 2.5...

Our little man is 2 1/2 today; it amazes me how fast times go by.  I can't remember a time when this special tiny human wasn't in our lives.  He brings us SO. MUCH. JOY.  Brandon Elijah is funny, I mean the kid is a crack up!  He does the silliest things and is a lot like his big sister in that respect.  When he's tired or not feeling well, he has a very short fuse... there he is a lot like his mama.  And he can be a very sound sleeper (thank you Lord!) which is a lot like his daddy.

Our little man loves to run, climb, read books and use his imagination.  He has a GREAT imagination.  He loves music... any of it.  LOVES the chance to play any instrument and LOVES watching others play them live (he'll watch on youtube or tv, but if we see someone playing in person, it stops him in his tracks).  He enjoys watching videos (favorite is still Mickey Mouse but we've discovered Daniel Tiger and Thomas the Train which are also big hits).  He's still a good eater, but his appetite is starting to slow down.  Currently, Brandon weighs 30lbs and is 36 inches tall which puts him pretty much direct center (50%) on the growth chart for his age.  He has 7.5  molars (that 8th one recently broke through) and 12 front teeth (6 on the top, 6 on the bottom).  If you spell CAT and DOG, he can tell you what those two words spell and he can count to 20. Our little man is also a good communicator... his vocabulary is wonderful for a two year old.  Oh... and he has this sweet little baby voice.  I LOVE listening to him speak, just so I can hear his sweet little voice :0)

Brandon Elijah, like his sister, is a gift from God.  We are truly blessed.

CAN YOU TELL...

That she is homeschooled?  Haha :0)

8:15am

8:40am

8:55a

MY BEAUTIFUL...

little helper...

PARK TIME...

Gotta love, a morning at the park.  Great way to start the day! :0)

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER...

I was going through some pictures on my phone, when I realized that I had forgotten to post about this year's egg hunt (which we did on Good Friday with the homeschool group).  While Boo is now an old pro at it, this was Brandon's first year seeking out the brightly colored, plastic objects.  Once he realized that there was something in the eggs, he was more interested in opening them up to see what it was, rather than actually going around and picking them up :0)   Unfortunately the day as raining and chilly so the activity was short but still... very, very sweet.

TIME OUT...

Our little man is beautiful, he is loving, sweet, funny, happy, smart and.... strong-willed.  This past week he experienced his first real time out (he had thrown a hard toy, which he knows is a big no-no, but he was frustrated at sissy). Up until this point, his "time-out"s have just required him to sit down and sit still for one minute.  This time however, it was the real thing.  Bless his heart though, because our beautiful, sweet, funny, smart girl (who is not necessarily overly strong-willed, but dog-gone-it if she can't be sassy) has spent her fair share of time in time outs, so brother knew exactly what to do, when I told him he needed to go to the corner.  He walked right up and put his sweet, tiny nose to the wall.

Then... I should have grabbed the video camera, instead of the picture camera, because while his sweet little self was standing in time out, his beautiful soft baby voice kept saying, "not fair" "not fair".  :)

Man...can't help but love him!