blizzard beach pics...finally

The lazy river was fun, but Hudson kept trying to jump in!

All 12 of us in one picture.....though Ella refused to look at the camera.

Just before Hudson & I went down the big slide.. he loved it!

What a great day with great friends!

Gyros, corn dogs, funnel cake....oh and a fair too!

When we first got to the fair Connor was very afraid to try the first "fun house" type ride. Here is a picture of him crying & wanting to get off. I had to walk away as all I wanted to do was rescue him. Brandon talked him through it & the very nice ride attendant helped him. I was so proud of him for facing his fears, but the Mom in me wanted to take him off the ride as soon as he started to cry. Thank goodness for Brandon or he would probably be a big sissy! He was so proud of himself too. By the end of the night he went through this maze about 10 times. His friend Ryan was so great waiting for him & telling him not to be scared. Ryan has a special place in my heart for how great he is to Connor.

Here he is coming down the slide of another maze....getting ready to give his Dad a hi-five on the way down.

He wasn't big enough to ride the swings alone so he Brandon & I took turns riding with him. Brandon forgot to take a picture of me, but lucky for all of us, I got one of him. The best thing about this picture is the face of the girl in front of them. You know she is thinking "Is this thing gonna hold with that big kid on it?"

Connor & Ryan loved this ride!
Connor and his buddy Ryan
I have discovered that when Connor is concentrating he sticks his tongue out...kinda like

Charlie Brown!

We had a great time at the fair. It is so much fun to see things like this through a kids eyes. I can't wait to go to Disney this summer.

Eureka!!!

For 2 days in a row now Connor has been using the potty with no accidents. Yesterday he told the teacher every time he had to go. Then I reminded him in the afternoon. Today he told me every time he had to go. It is much harder to go out with a potty trained child. We left Home Depot today and as soon as we got clicked into the car seats he had to go. So we ran back into the store so he could use the potty. Then 5 minutes later.....he had to go again. This time he had to wait until we reached the shop. This is so great. We are so proud of Connor & he is so proud of himself. Yeah Connor!

Tonight we are taking Connor to the local fair. He is so excited. Hudson is staying home with Grammy & Pops. He isn't big enough to ride the ride & I feel bad when he has to just sit in the stroller & watch. I'll post some pics of the fair tomorrow.

a day of firsts

Today we were driving down the street & then all of a sudden Hudson started calling out Daddy. I realized we were passing Brandon's shop. It was the first time Hudson recognized the shop just by driving by.

Connor told me when he had to go to the potty..... is this the start of something?

Connor asked "why?" for the first time.... uh oh! I knew this day would come I just didn't realize it would be so soon. My way to combat it is to ask him what he thinks.

Blizzard beach pictures

Here are some pics from Blizzard beach. I only have pics of us eating our yummy dessert.

Connor & Ella shared a bucket of ice cream

Hudson preferred Katina's snow cone

Connor thought the spoon wasn't getting the job done so he decided to use the shovel that came with the pail!

blizzard beach, church picnic, potty training still sucks!

On Saturday we went to Disney's Blizzard Beach. We went with Freddy, Katina, Owen(4), Ella (2), Brett, Erin, Ryan(4) & Olivia(1). All 12 of us! We had a great day. Freddy & Katina got all of us in for free. Pretty nice friends if you ask me! Then by a stroke of luck Brandon & Brett were able to find a pavilion right at the top of the little kids area. It had a picnic bench & chairs all to ourselves. Plus it looked over the one part of the area that our kids liked best. The day could not have been better. It was 90 degrees & sunny. I didn't take any pics except of dessert. We got 2 pails of ice cream sundae. There was every topping you can imagine in it. If you ever go you have to try it. But make sure you've got at least 4 people to share! I ordered some pics that the Disney photographers took & I will put them up as soon as I get them. The boys both love water so they had a blast. Every time Hudson went down a slide he got to the bottom cracking up. Connor found the courage to go down the big slide & he was so proud of himself.

Sunday's weather was not quite as good. It rained pretty hard in the morning. Our church picnic was in the afternoon & luckily the sun stayed out for it. The kids had a blast. Connor won a gift card to Barnes & Noble in the sidewalk art contest. Hudson was just happy that they had hamburgers!

Connor wore underwear all afternoon yesterday. He had some accidents, but I definitely saw a difference with Brandon home. It is very important to Connor to make Brandon proud. So I am thinking that Brandon is going to have to take some time off of work to get this done. I still think diaper training boot camp is a good idea.

potty, words, random stuff

I got Connor a new potty stool. He loves to do everything himself so I figured a little independence in this matter might help. Well, I was on the the phone with Brandon & Connor called for me. I asked him to wait a minute. The next thing I know he has dragged the stool over to the toilet & he is going all by himself. It was a pretty proud moment!

Hudson has a few new words. My favorite has got to be when he saws "wow, cool" He will say this whenever you hand him a new toy or when he sees a big truck.....remind you of anyone? He loves to do anything Connor does! He also says truck, it sounds like duck, but i know what he means. He still says Eat, Dada, Mama & he has a sound for yes.

My thyroid is all out of whack. I gained 5 lbs. & my hair is falling out again. The Dr. wanted me to drop my dose, but I think he is wrong. I got blood taken on Wednesday & have appointment in 2 weeks. Hopefully he will bring my dose back up. I am pretty tired of this junk. My dosage has been changed every 3 months for the past 2 years!

Easter

On Sunday morning we decided to go to Easter sunrise service at our church. This means that we had to get the kids up at 5:45 am. It was 49 degrees. The boys were not able to wear their cute matching short sleeve Easter shirts. So, I went out the night before for an emergency shopping trip. They ended up in cute outfits, even if they didn't match. The boys didn't last long at the outdoor service. They were cold & fidgety.

After church we took the kids home for a short nap & then headed out to Brandon's parents for a great Easter dinner. I put them in their cute Easter outfits and snapped a bunch of pics. It is pretty hard to get them both to look the same direction & smile at the same time. This is one of my favorite pics of the day.

We got this little motorcycle free from an old neighbor. Someone had returned it to her store, so she gave it to us. It only goes about 1 mph, but it looks pretty cool. I think Hudson looks pretty tough on it. Even if he is wearing a sweater vest.

More Eggs

Last night Erin, Brett, Ryan & Olivia came over to color Easter eggs. We ordered pizza, played & then the husbands played with the kids while Erin & I prepared the dye & paint. Everything started out very nice. Connor even used the egg dipper. We let Brandon & Brett supervise. Erin & I watched & took pictures with Hudson & Olivia.

I kept trying to get Connor to look up for a picture but he was in a zone. The Egg Zone! The next thing we know he has his hands on the eggs...
And is using them to dip into the color. Thankfully for him Brandon was in charge & just let him have a good time.
Connor's eggs look a little more like dinosaur eggs than Easter eggs. I think he did a great job for his first time. We all had a great time.

Potty training sucks!

There really is no good way to say it. I hate potty training. We are doing a reward system.Every time Connor peas in the potty he gets a star & when he gets 5 stars he gets a matchbox car. The first day was great He did it 4 times with only a couple of accidents & he wore underwear almost all day. The next day he cried every time i put him on the toilet & said "I don't want to try". Then as soon as I would put his underwear & pants on he would pea & laugh. After 4 times in 1 hour the pull ups went back on. Score one for Connor. Is it weird that he has pooped in the potty for a month now, but refuses to pea? Anyway, I have thought of a new business. I think I would actually pay someone to potty training him. Do they have potty training boot camp for toddlers?

Yesterday it was so hot out & we had nothing to do so I took the boys on a field trip. I had to be creative & think of something indoor that boys would like. It had to be close to home & all the play centers were closed. So, we went to the Home Depot. They have race Car carts & the boys love them. We went & watched the big saw cut wood, then Connor heard the fork lift. So I spent 10 minutes chasing it down. We watched it work for a while & then we went to the rental center to look at the "shovels". That's what Connor calls the mini backhoes. It was surprisingly fun. Plus, it killed an hour & didn't cost anything.

Here are some cute pics we have taken over the past couple of weeks.

Good food, good friends & lots of eggs

This was quite a week for us where food was concerned. On Wednesday night we went over to Brett & Erin's house. Erin made us an awesome dinner. Homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes & the best gravy. The gravy was so good that Brandon took some home & bought 2 biscuits the next morning at McDonald's to have for breakfast with his gravy.

On Thursday night our friend Katina brought over a homemade chicken pot pie. She made us one after Connor was born & Brandon hasn't stopped talking about it since. It was so good. Brandon's dad was over for dinner so he got to try it too. He said it was the best he had ever had.

Do we have good friends or what? Not sure how Brandon convinced the 2 of them that they should cook for him, but he did. And boy am I glad. 2 nights in a row of great meals that I didn't have to cook. YEAH!

On Saturday we went to the local recreation park for an Easter Egg hunt. We had a blast. They filled up each baseball field with hundreds of plastic eggs filled with treats. They split the kids up into age groups & then let them roam free to get eggs. The kids had a blast. We went with Brett, Erin, Ryan & Olivia. Olivia & Hudson were just happy to carry around a couple of eggs. They love being with the big kids. Connor collected 17 eggs & has talked about it non stop ever since. He is pretty angry that the Easter Bunny took his basket back so it can be used again on Easter. Ryan was the star of the day. He collected a ton of eggs & even a special egg that won him a huge basket of goodies.

technical problems

I guess some of you are having problems viewing the videos... I am working on it & I will let you know when i figure it out. Until then i have set up links to the videos. This way should work for everyone. Let me know.

Connor riding his bike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jb-c4kBCMg

I can not get the videos to work on the blog, but if you click this link it should take you directly to the video of Connor riding his bike.

1st video

OK, here is my first attempt at adding video to the blog. Here goes...... It is Hudson eating his birthday cake. The video is a little long. But I just wanted to see if I could do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppHjHxq8lTQ

Another slide show

Cruise Slide Show

Here are some fun pics from the cruise. Ali, are you proud that I didn't have to call for instructions?

No Training Wheel Pictures

Here is Connor riding his bike without the training wheels. I cant tell you how proud we are of the little guy. Looks like it's time for a Big Boy bike.

The Zoo

My Mom has been in town visiting since last week so yesterday we decided to do something special with the boys. We went to the local zoo. It isn't the biggest zoo you have ever seen, but Connor loves it. Thanks to some wonderful friends we have a family pass. Erin, Ryan & Olivia came with us. Connor had a blast. He followed Ryan around & copied everything he did. He flipped over the elephants & got spoiled by my Mom. This picture was taken when we told Connor he was going to see the Elephants!

Not to brag, but...

Tonight Connor learned to ride his bike with no training wheels. That's right.. he is still in diapers but no longer has training wheels. 2 years old and no training wheels. I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was 8 years old ( I did grow up in NYC though). Brandon learned how to ride a 2 wheeler 1 week before he turned 3. So this was important to us for different reasons. It took Brandon about 20 minutes of instruction & that was it! I have never seen such a little bike with out training wheels. Connor was so proud he just kept saying "no training wheels" over and over while he rode. I don't have pics, but I have video & as soon as I figure out how to put it on here I will. He hasn't learned how to take off or stop by himself yet, but I bet it wont be long!!! Yeah Connor!

The little guy has always been physically advanced. I think that might have something to do with why he talked so late. But this one even amazed me. Ok, I will stop bragging now... but admit it.... your impressed.

UPDATE:: Brandon wanted to make sure I told everyone that Connor has been working hard on his bike riding since July when he got his bike. And that this isn't the first time we took his wheels off.

Hudson's Birthday

Saturday was Hudson's 1st birthday. We had a little party for him at a local park. We had a great time & needless to say the little guy loved his party. His favorite part had to be the cake.

It is hard to believe that he is already one. The time has flown by. He is such a happy little boy. Hudson is a true joy with a smile that lights up the room. He had his doctor's appointment for his one year check up and he is over 25 lbs. Hudson measured in the 90% for everything. So, I guess we have a little Brandon on our hands!

A Good Time Was Had By All

We returned on Monday from a 4 night cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. We went with our old neighbors Katina & Freddy and Erin & Bret. All of our children stayed at home with their grandparents. We have been planning this trip for over 6 months. Brandon and I have never been on vacation with other couples, so I was hoping this would go well. It was great! We all had the same vacation style. We hung out during the day in a central location near the pool & if some of us wanted to go do other things we did & then met up for dinner. The guys all went the the golf simulator. The girls shopped. Each couple got a couples massage. We had our couple time & our friend time. Every night we spent time at the piano bar, the dance club & watching a band. I really can not believe what an awesome time we had. Usually Brandon and I are more layed back on a cruise. We usually go to the show, maybe hit the piano bar & that's it. Not this cruise... we partied like rock stars. And, if you have heard me talk in the past couple of days you believe me. My voice has been gone since Friday. Saturday was spent in Cozumel. Katina & Fred went to power snorkel in the morning. We decided to go shopping in Cozumel & ended up bumping into Erin & Bret. So we all went shopping & then parted ways so we could go to snuba. It is kind of like a combo of snorkeling & scuba diving. You have the oxygen, but the tank is attached to a float above you. We did this on our honeymoon and I was totally freaked out so I really wanted to try it again. Well... I was totally freaked out again. But, I did not cry this time. The instructor took off my weight belt & let me stay on top of the water until I was ready. Then he brought me down to the ocean floor (about 25 ft.). It is so beautiful. Here is a pic before I got my courage up. Brandon said he was pretty proud of me that I didn't cry & I didn't give up. It just takes me a little while to get used to that feeling of breathing through my mouth & the weight belt always freaks me out.
After snuba we all met up at Carlos & Charlies for more fun. We found it! A magician sat at our table & did some of the best card tricks we had ever seen. We may have had a couple of beers in us, but even Freddy (who does not drink) couldn't figure it out.

I am trying to remember some other highlights....

Dinner. Oh Dinner! OK, what you need to know is this was Freddy's first cruise. He is a very personable, upbeat, happy person. If you don't like Freddy, then something is seriously wrong with you. Also, he has a great Boston accent. So, taking him on this cruise was kind of like taking a 4 year old to Disney for the first time. Everything was awesome, some things were wicked awesome. He was so excited that he could order whatever he wanted to for dinner and as much as he wanted. Lobster night was my personal favorite. He told the waiter to just keep them coming. After his 7Th plate he begged the waiter to stop. Erin wasn't even eating lobster & thought she might puke. Freddy is pretty sure that heaven is a cruise. Massages, all the lobster he could eat, lots of "alone time" with your spouse. He really made the cruise all that much more fun. I loved seeing everything new through his eyes.

Singing. There were two types of singing going on. First at the piano bar. We had a blast singing. I noticed that our friend Bret knew every word to every song. Pretty impressive. So, when we walked by the karaoke bar & he said lets sing a song I said sure. We were the last song of the night & by the time we had our chance there was only 1 other group in the room. Bret picked the Beastie Boys, Paul Revere. I was taken back by this choice as Bret is usually on his best behavior & this seemed to not match his personality. Little did I know he is a closet rap star! We had a blast . 2 nights later I asked him to sing it again by himself so I could watch this time. Well, I actually got it on video. Brandon and I have watched it over and over cracking up every time. Not because it is bad, but because it is great. Just, not the Bret we know. The two songs before him sucked. The room was a little more full this time. He brought the house down. This pic is from the first night. Another girl thought she was going to sing with us, but she had no idea what song we were singing until she was up there. She could not hang with Grand Master Bret!

There are too many stories to share. I just want to say that I knew we had good friends, but sometimes when life takes over it is easy to forget how much you like them. Katina & Erin... you both are great friends & I really miss living next door. You are beautiful women, great wives & fantastic Moms! Every day I thank God for friends like you. Thanks for keeping me off the table!

I missed Connor & Hudson a bunch. But I really wasn't worried. They were with Brandon's parents & I knew they would be fine. It was great to be able to relax & just enjoy some grown up time. I was reminded how much I love Brandon (not that I forgot, but it is nice to be reminded) I was also reminded how much I like spending time with him. Sometimes when kids & chores & life takes over I think husbands & wives forget that at one time you were both just friends. Brandon can really make a party. If you can't have fun with him in the room.. you need to leave the room. He got involved in a Fear Factor competition on the boat & dominated it beginning to end. I have video of that too... but I saving it for some good blackmail.

10 years ago today

10 Years ago today my bf Alison picked me up at the Gainesville airport and we stopped by UF so I could meet her boyfriend (who is now her wonderful husband). The we went back to her apartment where I was meeting this guy I had been talking to on the Internet. This was to be our first face to face meeting. (Though, we had already professed our love for each other.) When I opened the door and saw Brandon standing there I didn't even say hello.... I just jumped into his arms & kissed him. Then he handed me a rose & said"Hi Baby". The rest, as they say, is history! Happy Anniversary Baby!

The first picture is us saying goodbye at the airport 10 years ago. He told me not to cry. He said to trust him that we would be together. The next picture is from our Christmas card this past year. I guess he was right!

Olivia's Birthday Party

Saturday we went to Olivia's 1st birthday party. It is always great to see a little kid turn 1. She of course got her own cake & just like the little lady she is, she waited for a spoon to dig in. She really did not want to eat with her hands. The boys had a good time. Here are some pics.

Random thoughts

I hate tornadoes. I think everyone probably does. The thought that something could just pop up & take away everything you love & have worked hard for is very scary to me. I found "tornado safe" rooms that you can install in your home. It makes me feel paranoid, but I guess that's what happens when you become a parent.

Connor had school yesterday & he loves it! He is going to go to a different school in August and I really hope he enjoys it as much. He has finally started liking music time. I have to guess that before he really couldn't hear/understand the songs. Well, now he does all of the dances for me. When I told him that it was music day he said "yeah music day".

Is anyone watching American Idol? Why do the contestants suck so bad this year? Last year I had more than a few favorites, but this year is not so good. I like Blake & Chris on the boys side. Melinda & Lakisha are great singers, but I don't know how marketable they would be as pop stars. Kind of like Reuben. Anyone heard anything from him lately? I could go on about this for a while. Is that sad? Maybe.