9 Months

My little sweet pea is officially 9 months! I can't believe how fast time flies! How come when you're pregnant 9 months drags on, but with an infant it seems just like yesterday we were bringing her home? We have loved being parents of two girls, and it has definitely been the hardest job ever. One is sooo easy compared to two. It completely changed the dynamics of our family and we've adjusted pretty well. It's hard to remember what life was like before she came and now we feel like we don't know anything different. Here are a few things that KK is up to now that she's 9 months old:

• At her 9 month check-up today she weighed 17 pounds even (Mady weighed 14 lbs 10 oz)
• Is in the 25% for height and weight (who's calling her chubs?)
• She is officially caught-up on all her vaxs
• She can pull herself up to a standing position and does it all the time
• She can feed herself puffs
• She's on 3 solid meals a day and loves homemade baby food
• Takes two naps a day: 10 am and 1 pm
• Went on her first spring break trip even though it was a bust
• Has two bottom teeth and the top teeth are about to come through
• Babbles and screams now that she knows it's her voice
• Loves playing in Mady's room with all her stuff
• Wears 9 months clothes and got her first pair of sandals
• Had her first Easter
• Jacob gave her, her first hair cut. I wasn't there so it doesn't count!
• Is such a complete and utter joy! Her belly laughs make you laugh soooo hard!

My little sweet pea is absolutely amazing and beautiful and when she smiles that funny-looking gummy smile you can't help but laugh! We are looking forward to month ten because that gets us closer to summer and her big birthday!

Magic Kingdom

Today we ventured over to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. We left the house at 8:15 and got into the Magic Kingdom around 9:15. It takes forever to actually get inside. After parking we had to take the tram to the ferry, and then we finally got in. By now we have completely mastered Magic Kingdom and know exactly what to do to get on all the rides with minimal waits. As Jacob headed over to Fantasyland and got in line for Dumbo, I went to Peter Pan's Flight to get fast passes. I caught up with Jacob and the wait was already 30 minutes. Seeing as how the other rides in Fantasyland were only 10-15 minutes, we convinced Mady to get out of the line for Dumbo and hop on Cinderella's Carousel. We rode the carousel, Pooh, it's a small world, and Peter Pan all within an hour. After a quick bottle break for KK we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. Mady's starting to get to the point where she doesn't like the scary rides. She didn't want to go on Snow White's Scary Adventures and even got a little scared on Pooh when it gets dark. She did great on Haunted Mansion and only asked to get off like once or twice! We had a quick lunch and headed to Tom Sawyer's Island. Jacob loves this attraction and Mady loves it, too. You take a little raft/boat ride to the island and discover forts, trails, and tree houses. Mady especially loves the "shooters" and told me she shot all the bad people. After that she went on the Aladdin Magic Carpet Ride. This ride is just like Dumbo, so I didn't really feel bad for convincing her to not ride Dumbo earlier. We then took a quick break and I enjoyed a Dole Whip Float. These things are so good and now Jacob is addicted. It's pineapple or orange soft serve icecream with pineapple juice. While I sat and ate my float and KK napped, Jacob and Mady headed over to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree Houses. After that we were completely exhausted, so we took the train back to Main Street. While KK was taking her bottle before leaving, Mady and I spotted Chip and Dale without a wait. We ran over and Mady gave them the biggest hug ever! She literally would not let go. It was so sweet and there wasn't anyone behind us, so we didn't have to rush! We got home around 3 and the girls slept the whole way home.

Jacob and I are hoping to go over to the Magic Kingdom next week on Wednesday. We have to take the day off to update our passports and the office is only open 9-2, so we'll be taking the day off. We really want to ride Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain! Oh, and if you're wondering why we're updating our passports, no, we're not taking the kids to Europe. The closest we'll get to that is walking around World Showcase at EPCOT. We have been debating back and forth what to do this summer. We are going to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort at Disney World with the girls for Memorial Day weekend and to the condo for a week in June. Jacob has to work most of July so we'll be home and then we're going to NSB for a week before school starts with my mom in August. We REALLY want to go away, just the two of us. It's been since my 30th birthday that we've done anything. So, we're going on a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas June 29- July 3. This will be our 4th time on this cruise, the last time being my 30th birthday. It's quick and easy and hopefully 4 nights is the perfect fit. It's probably the longest we could stay away. It works out really nice because we leave on a Monday and come back on a Friday. The girls will go to Mimi's during the week and my mom will get them in the afternoon and evening. We'll also be home in time to celebrate July 4th with the girls. So, that's what we're up to! I don't feel too guilty leaving the girls behind. We're taking Mady on a Disney cruise this October, so it's time for Jacob and I to get away!

Daddy and the girls at the fort.

Mady shooting the bad guys.

Yes, I like to include pictures of food.

All aboard!

The biggest hug ever!

Chip and Dale, Mady's favorites!

And, if you're wondering where I am in these photos. My hairdresser broke her foot a month ago and hasn't been able to do my hair. I'm supposed to call her this Friday to see if she's back in business. And, no, I don't trust anyone else to do it!

Doctor Visits, Copays, Antibiotics, Oh My!

I was hoping to post pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses, but we had to reschedule the rescheduled portrait session. You see, Mady has always been my sick child. She gets these phantom fevers out of nowhere every 3 weeks and they like to stay for about 5 days. As long as Mady has her motrin, she's good to go, dancing, eating, and playing. However, once the meds wear off, she's basically lifeless on the couch burning up. Thank goodness Mimi totally understands and lets me bring Mady to daycare as long as she doesn't have any other symptoms (that's usually when I know it's not just a phantom fever, and possibly strep or an ear infection). I mean, seriously, I can't be using all these sick days up. I had to steal some from Jacob in order to take time off with Kaitlyn. I much rather use my sick days for their intent, you know, Mental Health Days and convenient 3-day weekends. These have been going on now for about 2 years, and her doctor has assured me as she gets older, they'll get better. But, last Friday we were struck by the phantom fever and had to reschedule our portrait session for today. Well, lo and behold, Mimi called me Tuesday and KK had a fever. I was convinced that the second time around, I wouldn't have to deal with the sickies. However, since Thanksgiving, KK has been sick with this and that, namely RSV. She missed her 4 month well check-up, missed the rescheduled appointment, had to get her 4 month shots at the 6 month appointment. Missed the "catch-up" appointment for the 6 month shots, and now here we are with a 9 month appointment on Tuesday for the 6 month and 9 month shots. So, when Mimi called, I was like, "here we go again". Jacob took her to the doctor Wednesday and all was good, just a note to come back on Saturday if she wasn't feeling better. Fast forward to Friday night. UGH! All hell broke loose! KK woke up at 10:30 and didn't stop screaming until about 2:30 in the morning. I took her right in this morning (love Saturday office hours) and she has an ear infection. No big deal, got the free antibiotics, and we can keep the Tuesday 9 month check-up, AKA, Shot Fest '09. However, we had to reschedule the portrait session for the second time for next Saturday. I even got Mady's hair cut yesterday and KK a pair of sandals! So, today we are hanging around the house and hoping KK will be well enough to go to Disney tomorrow. Stay tuned for those pictures tomorrow. In the meantime, look at this adorable picture of my sweet, almost 9 month old baby girl.

My sweet baby girl! She weighs 17 pounds now!

I Hate Publix Cupcakes!

Everytime one of my students has a birthday, they always bring in Publix cupcakes. Now, normally cupcakes aren't a big deal and the kids can eat them fairly easy without making a huge mess. However, Publix cupcakes have about 3 inches of thick frosting that stains your fingers and face and is virtually impossible to clean off. Whenever a student offers me a cupcake, I always take one and bring it home to Mady. 1) I know they're from Publix and relatively safe, and 2) I can't say NO to the birthday child! Mady loves cupcakes purely for the icing alone. However, these dang Publix cupcakes are ridiculous! I swear this will be the last Publix cupcake I give her. And, yes, I did make her wear a bib. I know she's 3, but she was already in her jammies and I don't think the food coloring from the icing will come out of clothes. It's that bad! So, if you're a mom out there and plan on sending cupcakes for your child's birthday at school, please, bring in homemade ones. I won't eat it because I'm wary of anything a 9 year old touches, but please spare me from having blue-stained faces staring back at me all day and a 3 year old with blue lips that need to be scrubbed with a brillo pad. Anyways, here's a picture of Mady enjoying a blue Hannah Montana cupcake before bed tonight.

Seriously, how am I going to clean this face?

Easter 2009

This Easter was extra special because it was Kaitlyn's first and Mady really got into the Easter bunny and dyeing and hunting eggs. For a few weeks Mady said that the Easter bunny was bringing her a Dora bathing suit from Target and a chocolate bunny from Publix. Now normally I buy their chocolate bunnies from Schakolad with their names on it, but since Mady really wanted that cheap, tacky bunny from Publix, I decided to save my money and get her one. I still got KK's from Schakolad! I asked Mady what KK wanted from the Easter bunny and she said puffs and a doll, so that's what she got! Both girls did end up with their own chocolate bunnies from Schakolad in their Easter baskets from Jacob's mom!

On Good Friday Mady and KK were having an Easter egg hunt at Mimi's house so we decided to make treats for all their little friends. You just take icing bags from Michaels and fill them with cheese balls, top with some green grass and they look like carrots. Mady was in charge of putting the green grass on top. I think they came out really cute!

The carrot treats are finished!

The Saturday before Easter I took both girls to UCF for the annual Easter egg hunt. It was mad crazy packed, so we went to the continuous hunt where they basically throw eggs on the ground every couple of minutes. Mady was so happy and went about picking up the eggs and putting them in her basket. I set KK on the ground and put some eggs around her mainly to get a few pictures.

Quick picture while hunting eggs.

I'm not sure about this...

Mady filling up her basket!

Later that night we dyed Easter eggs and Mady had a blast. Once we showed her how to do it, she was on her own. She even dipped them in and pulled them out all by herself. After all the eggs were dyed we set out the Easter baskets and even a carrot for the Easter bunny.

Dyeing the eggs all by myself!

Little sister supervising.

All set-up and ready to go!

Ta-Da! Beautiful!

The next morning Mady came out and was so excited to see her chocolate bunny and Dora bathing suit. The Easter bunny even threw in a pair of ballet shoes since Mady's big recital is coming up in June. We went to church with my family and then everyone came over to our house for lunch. Mady had about 5 more egg hunts in our backyard and even hunted the eggs the Easter bunny hid.

Setting out the baskets and a carrot for the Easter bunny.

The Easter bunny came!

Going to check out my loot!

The infamous chocolate bunny!

Grandma, Mommy, and the girls at church.

Sea World

Since our Spring Break at the beach was a bust, we decided to head to Sea World for the day. The park was insanely packed, even though the weather was windy and crazy cold. I can't believe my pictures have Mady in jeans and a sweater for Spring Break in April! We had a great day and saw the new Elmo and Abby show. Abby even gave Mady a high-five in the middle of the show! We also went on all the rides at Shamu's Happy Harbor and did manage to see a couple of marine animals. I included a picture of a California Sea Lion to prove that we did actually look at the animals. Mady loves the Pets Ahoy! show and we always see it when we visit Sea World. Well, wouldn't you know, as we were waiting for the show to start she fell asleep. Jacob tried several times to get her to wake-up, but she never did. Of course, at the end of the show she woke up and pitched a fit because she missed the doggy and kitty cat show. The next one wasn't for another hour and there was no way we were staying any later. After a quick bribe with a lollipop she was good to go! Here are a few pictures of our day of fun!

Forget the animals, Mady loves the rides!

Taking a nap between shows! Notice how warmly we are dressed!

Elmo and Abby's Treasure Hunt

California Sea Lion, we also saw the penguins, sharks, and beluga whales

Don't give up on us!

I should be getting my computer back by the end of the week. I'll have lots of updates, including Sea World and Easter. Until then, enjoy this random photo I found of Mady at the strawberry patch back in January.

Spring Break Bust

So, Saturday officially kick-started our spring break. After a quick trip to the doctor for Kaitlyn to get some antibiotics for an ear infection early Saturday morning, we had a birthday party to go to, and then we were headed for St. Augustine. My mom watched Kaitlyn so that Jacob and I could go to the party with Mady and play on all the blow-ups. We had a great time and Mady enjoyed playing with the birthday girl, Emily, and her friend Sarah. She even saw Mimi (her babysitter) there! After 2 hours of fun, it was time to head to St. Augustine. We stopped by the house to pick up KK and load the car and we were off! Jacob's sister Tricia, her husband Jimmie, and their two kids Jillian and Jeffrie were already in St. Augustine at the condo waiting for us.

We arrived in St. Augustine around 4 o'clock and made our dinner plans. There are a couple of restaurants in St. Augustine that we love and we make sure we visit on every trip. Our #1 favorite place is Creekside Dinery. They have live entertainment on the weekends and you can sit outside and eat dinner. Most nights they also have a firepit where you can roast marshmallows. We made our reservations for 6 pm and off we went. We got a great table by the band and had plenty of room for the kids to dance. Remember, we are a family of 8, with 4 kids 4 and under! We had a great dinner and the band was awesome! I wish I had pictures, but I realized when we got to St. Augustine I had left my camera at home after the birthday party, or so I thought.

The next day the skies were pretty cloudy, so the 8 of us headed into St. Augustine to do the touristy stuff. Normally, we don't go into St. Augustine unless I want to go shopping for Vera Bradley or to visit Kilwin's and get ice cream. Tricia and Jimmie wanted to go to the wax museum and they had 2 days remaining on their sightseeing train ride. Mady has begged to go on this train ride forever, but it's always too hot or we just don't feel like it. Since Tricia and Jimmie had two days left on their tickets, they gave them to us and off we went on a free train ride. I was so mad I didn't have my camera because Mady was so excited to go on the red choo choo. Anyways, we toured for about 30 minutes and then met up with the others on St. George Street for a picnic on the church's grounds. By this time the skies had parted and there was glorious sunshine. Now, if I'm in St. Augustine and the sun is out with clear skies, you better believe I'm either at the pool or at the beach. We gathered our belongings and headed back to the condo so I could do some sun worshipping.

Once we got to the condo, Jacob took the girls up and put them down for their naps, while I sat by the pool, with Jimmie and Jillian, and read my latest obsession: Twilight. I just started book two on this trip. The girls napped and I laid out until Mady was up from her nap. Jacob brought the girls down around 3:45. Mady stayed in the hottub and KK happily sat in her bouncey seat by the pool. We all had a great time and once again I was mad I forgot my camera.

Tonight we were headed to our second favorite restaurant: South Beach Grille. This restaurant is located right on the beach and has a great outside area, as well as, an upstairs so you can see the ocean. There's also an area for the kids to play in the sand with a bunch of beach toys. Plus, it's literally a 3 minute car ride from the condo. We called ahead and put our names on the list for outside seating and arrived about 20 minutes later. This is where the good times end. Jimmie and I headed straight for the bar to get some before-dinner drinks. It was a nightmare! It was so packed! We were literally 3-deep from the bar. Finally, we got our drinks and headed outside. After about 20 minutes we were still not seated. Tricia checked on our status and the hostess realized that our name had been crossed off! I took the girls outside to the play area while we waited another 20 minutes! We were finally seated and ordered our dinner.

Thirty minutes and 2 pitchers later, our food finally arrived. Long story short, my food never arrived, the waitress never checked on us, and the manager was nowhere to be found. If I had been in the right frame of mind (remember, two pitchers later and I haven't eaten) I would have pushed the issue, however, the waitress brought me my salad boxed up with a free dessert. Of course, I didn't pay for my salad either. We finally left and headed home.

I do have one picture from this evening. As we were driving to the restaurant I found my camera under the seat! Dinner was good, despite everything that happened. Jimmie and I had a good laugh while I drank my dinner that night.

This morning (Monday) the weather was horrible! Looking at the forecast we saw that it was going to get cold tonight and was going to be pretty windy. We decided to just pack up, and after Tricia and Jimmie left around 9, we left around 11. I cannot believe that the highs for this week are predicted to be in the mid 60s! This is Florida, in April for crying out loud! To say I am completely bummed is an understatement. As long as Jacob and I have been together we have always gone away for spring break. Either on a cruise, BK (Before Kids), or to the condo.

Since the high is going to be around 65 and sunny, we're going to head to Sea World for the day tomorrow. Wednesday the girls will go to Mimi's and we'll work on getting our new interior doors painted and hung, Thursday the girls will go to Mimi's and we might head to the beach to see our friends The Bradys. They have an awesome beach house. On Friday the girls will go to Mimi's (notice a pattern?) and we'll do whatever we feel like. Saturday is the Easter egg hunt at UCF and then we're going to see our friend's band that night. And, well, you know what Sunday is... Easter bunny, church, lunch, naps. Back to work on Monday.

Hopefully we'll be back to our regular Spring Break next year. Until then we'll enjoy the rest of this week and look forward to our trip to the Caribbean Beach Resort at WDW for Memorial Day Weekend. I should probably start praying now for good weather and no sick kids.

Jacob and Mady at the birthday party.

My only picture from the trip. Mady and Jillian at South Beach Grille.

We Have a Crawler!

Kaitlyn's been crawling for about a week now. I am so proud of her! She did it before she officially turned 8 months! I think the reason she started crawling so soon was because she's trying to get away from her big sister. Mady loves to be thisclose to KK all the time and now she finally can get away, sorta. Here she is mastering the step in the family room and trying to reach the bunny I put on the floor.

One leg at a time.

I did it!

Now where's that bunny?

I found him!

Mommy and Mady Afternoon

This afternoon I picked Mady up early from daycare and headed over to Disney Hollywood Studios. Since we're passholders we try to go as often as we can before the summer heat arrives. Today Mady and I went to the Disney Playhouse Live show and the Beauty and the Beast Show. We've been to the Disney Playhouse Live show several times and Mady loves it. There's the usual group: Mickey and the gang, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, and Pooh and Friends. We also decided to go see Beauty and the Beast. I've never taken Mady to this live show, nor have I ever been. It was so much fun! It was a musical with dancers and costumes. It was awesome and Mady loved the princesses! We're heading back to Disney to go to the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT for Mother's Day. I know Jacob's not too excited, but since it's Mother's Day I get to choose!

All smiles at the Disney Playhouse Live Show!

Beauty and the Beast Show

Mady loved the characters that came to life!

Got my 3D glasses on for the Muppet Show!