Sweet Caroline

Oh, Disney.  You were every bit of amazing as I thought you would be.  We packed up and headed to Disney on Thursday after work.  We left Columbia around 4, which was good timing for us because after a stop for dinner, the kids slept the rest of the way down.  Collins was SO, SO excited! My parents left before us so they had the pack and plays ready for the boys upon arrival! We were up and at ‘em bright and early  Friday morning , arriving in the park right before 9.  We chose to do two days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Hollywood Studios for this trip, Friday was a MK day.  One of my best friends used to work at Disney and did all of my Fast pass booking for me, what a huge help!  That whole process overwhelmed me.  We did SO much on Friday…due to some rainy weather and a week day, we waited in NO lines.  Of course, we weren’t trying to do any of the “big/adult” rollercoasters (space, thunder, mine train) as I think those did keep lines all day.  We had free breakfast at our hotel,

Holy sickness. I know that was a topic on a recent post... But at this point we've had: me: strep throat. Mikey: flu like virus. Collins: double ear infection. Thomas: ear infection and nebulizer needed for congestion. Graham: nebulizer needed for congestion. Over it!! Anyhoo... Two weekends ago we scooted up to the mountains for the weekend with Mikey's family. All the siblings/spouses gave Mikey's mom a weekend in the mountains for Christmas. We had such a goon time... Played games, went on a short hike, enjoyed the hot tub, and cooked all of our meals at the cabin. I love a good mountain weekend. My poor buddy when he started feeling bad :-( The next week was spent recuperating and dealing with above mentioned sicknesses! Over $200 in doctors visits! Ugh. This past weekend we did nothing! Took the boys to get their first hair cut!! Ran errands, napped, played, and got well! In the most exciting news... We leave for DISN

ONE AND A HALF. I can hardly stand it.  My babies are growing up, and it’s all just TOO damn fast.  I feel like we were JUST at their 1 st  birthday.  My boys are FUN and FULL of life at 1 ½ years old.  They are (both!) walking everywhere, starting to talk and into everything!  They are climbers, love balls, and are starting to interact with each other and it’s THE cutest.  Every day that passes feels like a dream with these munchkins…they bring so much happiness to our lives, although a bit of stress too ;-)  We are in a state of constant “on the lookout” with these two at this stage, you can never be too careful!  Thomas: (still) our independent little bruiser…he likes to do his own thing a lot, but also LOVES his daddy and loves attention from him.  He laughs a lot, eats a lot and talks a lot;-)  He has moments of sweetness and will sometimes curl up in Mikey’s lap for a good bit of time, but for the most part he is ON THE GO.  He loves to get tickled, play hide and see

Happy Friday, friends!! A quick Friday five for ya.... 1.         SICKNESS has overtaken us.  UGH.  Mikey came down with some sort of AWFUL virus Sunday night…it wasn’t the flu, but the symptoms were very similar…doctor said they’ve seen a ton of it this year…it seriously had him in bed for four days!  ALL of our babies have coughs, I hate it.  Especially the boys because there is NOTHING you can give themL  We’ve been doing nebulizer treatments and cranking up the humidifier with vapor rub in it…so pitiful.  And now…I seem to be coming down with another head cold…ick!  And we leave for the mountains today…not good timing. 2.         But, speaking of the mountains…we are excited about our weekend.   We all went in and rented a mountain cabin for Mikey’s mom as her Christmas present…all her children and grandchildren will be together for one weekend. We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend away.   3.         Our Christmas present was delivered this week and I am in LOVE.  I had to

Christmas morning!! Santa came!! The first thing Collins said was..." Wow! That's a lot of presents!" The boys were clearly clueless but they sure were excited for new toys!! And Collins loved all her goodies, but she even loved the boys' trains too;-) The set up... Waiting to go downstairs.... So excited! Playing bball with granddaddy Loves her new "banity" Christmas morning is a THOUSAND times better as a parent, am i right?!?

Christmas Eve! I've always loved Christmas Eve. It's just so special with all the anticipation of the next day!  Our tradition has always been celebrating with my moms side of the family on Christmas Eve night. Unfortunately, this prevents us from going to church that night, which makes me sad .... We've squeezed in the 11:00 service a few times but that's not possible with little ones. We have a big gathering with my grandparents and cousins and aunt and uncle. This year was tough as my Uncle passed away in October... But we made the best of it. We always cook steaks and have potato casserole and salad. It's such a fun night. We also do Chinese auction amongst the adults, which can get crazy!  My immediate family started the tradition a few years back of doing brunch on Christmas Eve so we can exchange gift with my parents and brother and his family. It's nice because then we can go home and rest for the day in between events:-) Brunch: