Merry Christmas

Jason, Bailey, and I are heading up to Vermont for Christmas on Christmas Eve. In order to get everything home from Grandma's, I have a feeling we'll need more suitcases coming back than we have going.

We celebrated Christmas in Houston this weekend. Bailey got a new Play House from Mommy and Daddy (picture below). She was so very excited. We put it upstairs in our game room. She saw it the minute she woke up. Needless to say, we had a hard time getting her to come downstairs to open any other gifts. Once she did, though, she wracked up. She gots Blue's Clue's DVDs, books, Ariel crocks, a princess purse, an Elmo laptop, a diaper bag for her baby doll, PJs, clothes, etc, etc. I know I am leaving tons of gifts out and if you gave her something that got left out, I apologize. Everyone is so good to her and Jason and I really appreciate that. She loves everything she got and cannot figure out what to play with first.

I will have more to write when we get back from Vermont. The real reason for this post is to wish each and everyone of you a very, very Merry Christmas. May we always remember the real reason for this season....

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

Finally - Baby Kyle

Kathy came into town December 8th and we finally got the chance to meet Baby Kyle. He is about 2 1/2 months old and cute as could be. He's a little angel and we are so enjoying getting to know the newest Ritchie. Bailey helped feed him and hold him last night at a Christmas celebration we had at the Griffin's house. She is so proud of herself. She cannot stop talking about it.

Here's a few pictures to enjoy!

Disneyland

This past weekend was Bailey's first (but I'm quite sure not last) trip to Disneyland in California. Jason had to go to training in Los Angeles so we thought we'd make a long weekend of it and spend some time at Mickey's house. Things did not start off so well....

Friday morning we got up and headed for the airport. We arrived with plenty of time and got ready to board. Once everyone was on board the aircraft, the pilot informed us that a pump had broken and that it would take maintenance approximately two hours to fix it. Luckily, they allowed us to deplane so we took the opportunity to go eat breakfast and walk around the airport. After that, the plane was all fixed and we finally took off 2 1/2 hours later than scheduled.

Once airborne, Bailey got really wound up. She would not sit still (nor would she listen as if that's unusual). She was constantly bouncing around, kicking the seat in front of her, and being loud. None of our famous tricks worked. She wasn't interested in watching a DVD or coloring or reading books. And sleep - forget that. To put it in a nutshell, she was terrible. At about the three hour mark, I was so frustrated that I started crying - some of that being apprehension of the return flight I was going to have to take alone on Sunday. I had decided we were cancelling all of our trips with her until she was 10. Our only saving grace was that she didn't scream for 3 1/2 hours. Actually, crying wasn't one of the problems.

We later realized it was the Benedryl making her wound up like that and have officially swore off Benedryl forever. (No, we did not give her Benedryl in hopes she would sleep. She came down with a terrible cough right before we were leaving and I wanted it cleared up quickly. Her pediatrician has said that allergy medicine clears up colds faster than cold medicine. We've had great success with that in the past so I thought I'd try it again. I usually use Claritin but opted for Benedryl because I had a bottle that could be carried on.) But I digress.....

OK...so now we are off the plane without having killed her. We realize the hotel shuttle comes in 15 minutes. We quickly gather our luggage and rush to the shuttle stop opting to freshen up at the hotel rather than wait another 45 minutes for the next shuttle . Right before the shuttle comes, we start getting everything together and when I pull Bailey out of the stroller, it's all wet. Initially we think it must be juice but then realize she had peed through her diaper. Now we changed this diaper right before we flew and it should have lasted 4 hours easily. But given how things went on the plane, this is no surprise. Jason quickly pulls out an outfit for her to change into and I run (yes, sprint - while carrying Bailey, an outfit, and diaper necessities) across the street to the airport to change her before the bus comes. As I return, the bus is waiting and Jason is doing his best to "not have everything together" so it takes a little longer to get his luggage on. As we board, I catch another mother staring at me as if she couldn't believe I did not make changing my child's diaper a priority. Doesn't she know that getting to the shuttle bus to change my child's diaper in the Disneyland Hotel had to be the first priority? Anyway...as if the quick change wasn't enough, while riding on the bus, I start to realize that I failed to bring Bailey any extra pants. I had extra shirts and extra socks but not one single pair of extra pants. And...to top it off, all of the pants I had brought were part of an outfit. I suddenly start to chuckle as I realize my child now has no pants to wear on Sunday. Ahhh...I'm sure Disney has something. They do have stores, right?

We arrive at the Disneyland Hotel and I'm quite sure at this point everything will start getting better until...the clerk tells me our room isn't ready. I proceed to do my best "please tell me it's not true/we've had a terrible morning" routine. Suddenly, he notes that we are from Texas and begins to tell me about all his adventures driving to San Antonio. Realizing this might be my opportunity to get a room early, I pretend to be completely engaged in this conversation. It worked (despite Jason being quite annoyed in my 10 minute conversation about this boring topic).

So...we go to our room, freshen up, and head to Disneyland Park. Bailey was very excited to be there. She was so into everything. We had dinner in Tomorrowland and rode most of the rides in Fantasyland. Bailey fell asleep so Jason and I took the opportunity to ride the Haunted Mansion since it was decorated with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme. After we rode that, we realized that everyone was very tired and our routine was still on Houston time. We thought a good night sleep would do everyone good. We headed back to the room. Bailey quickly fell asleep and Jason and I shared some nachos and a beer and were right behind her.

5 am Saturday, Bailey alerts us that she is awake. Although we were initially annoyed, we later realized her body thought it was 7 am. So...I entertain her for about 45 minutes while Jason sleeps, then Jason entertains her for 45 minutes while I sleep. At 6:30, she had had enough of all this sleeping and declares it is time to wake up and go see Mickey. This is the morning I've been waiting for...breakfast with Minnie & friends. And the morning I've been waiting for does not go as well as I'd hoped. First, I beg her to wear her Minnie Mouse costume which she will have none of so I finally let her be and she wears an outfit that has Mickey and Minnie on it. I guess that's good enough, right? Then as we are packing the stroller, we realize that one of her gloves (yes, the gloves that we bought when I lost her in JCPenney) has been lost. Lastly, I realize I have forgotten her autograph book. (Starting off good, huh?) With nothing we can do about those scenarios, we are off to Disneyland Park again.

Since this is one of the days that the hotel guests can get into the park an hour earlier than everyone else, we get on the monorail about 7:55 and hit Nemo's Submarine Voyage first thing. Good idea since the average wait the rest of the day was about 75-90 minutes. (It only took us 35.) We then hit a store where we grab an autograph book and head to breakfast with Minnie. We sit down and Captain Hook walks in and Bailey lets out a scream so loud that the entire restaurant looked - even the folks outside. Obviously, we declined any real interaction with Captain Hook. But then came the Fairy Godmother. That wasn't so bad. After all, she doesn't have a hook. Next came Pooh who figured out that Bailey liked to play Peek-A-Boo and they were suddenly fast friends. Chip came by and she wanted nothing to do with him. Now finally here comes Minnie Mouse. I'm so excited and then Bailey freaks out. She won't go near her and makes me hold her at a safe distance. (Such a safe distance that another kid looks like he is meant to be in my pictures. At least he's a cute kid.) Although we didn't meet all of Minnie's friends, we decided that four (not including the Captain Hook encounter) was enough and we left. We also decided we'd probably not meet Mickey on this trip either. Although she liked watching the characters from a safe distance, that was as much interaction as she wanted.

We rode a few more rides and she finally fell asleep. Jason and I walked down to ESPN Sports Zone in Downtown Disney and had lunch. She woke up right as were finishing lunch and we headed to California Adventure. There Bailey discovers her true love - the carousel. She asked to ride it and we quickly agreed. She asked again and we said sure. Twelve times later and we had to take her crying off of it. It was late and we still had yet to find her pants for Sunday!

We went to Downtown Disney where her tired melt down immediately began. Jason took her back to the room so I could look around for pants and I grabbed a couple pieces of pizza to bring back for dinner. As soon as we were done eating, all of us quickly fell asleep.

Sunday comes and we are again woken early (this time at 6 am) by the little angel. We were fine with that though as we had decided to pack up early, bring our luggage downstairs, and once again head to Disneyland Park. That wasn't in our original plan but we had such a great time the last few days that we decided to do it. Plus, I had yet to ride It's a Small World which had been decorated for Christmas - a definite must. Our hope was to ride Nemo again but since their wasn't early entry today for hotel guests, by the time we got there the line was already an hour and we decided against it. Instead, we had breakfast, rode some rides, watched a few shows, and did Bailey's favorite (4 times) - the carousel. At that point, it was time to head back to the hotel for the airport shuttle. We sadly said goodbye and exited the park. Bailey was very sad to go. Although she was a trooper about riding rides, we aren't sure they were her favorite. We think she enjoyed the atmosphere and the shows and parade we saw much better than the rides or the character breakfast. And who could forget her real love - the carousel.

Jason walked ahead with Bailey to the hotel to get our luggage while I went to check Lost and Found for the glove one last time (which of course they did not find). As I made my way back to the hotel, I began to get very anxious about the flight home. I found myself lecturing God the whole 7 minute walk about how he needed to help me with Bailey on this flight. I'm sure he found it quite amusing that I was telling him what to do. By the time the bus arrived, I was again in tears. Fear had set in and I just knew I was in for a miserable 3 hours along with all the other passengers on Continental Flight 1759. And this 3 hour misery estimate did not include check in time or baggage claim time.

At this point, God either realized I wasn't going to be able to handle it or it really was the Benedryl. More likely it was some combination of both. Bailey was an angel on the way home. She sat still and we watched a couple movies, read some books, and colored. She occasionally got loud when she got excited but I corrected her and she stopped. She fell asleep with about 30 minutes left in the flight. She had a melt down when I had to wake her up to exit the plane but I didn't care at that point - we were home (and no one else was on the plane).

Home, sweet home.....

Off to Mickey's House

Tomorrow is the big day. We are off to Disneyland! Jason had to go to Los Angeles for work early next week so we decided to take the weekend and head to Mickey's house. Bailey doesn't really know what is going on but she's very excited about seeing Mickey all the same. We can't wait to wake her up tomorrow morning and tell her it's time to go.

To get us in the Disney mood (as if I really need an excuse), we went to see Nemo on Ice last night. Bailey had a great time at that. She was so entertained the whole time. The second act she even got up and started dancing along with the music. All the way home she kept saying she had fun at the Nemo show.

We'll share more pictures after our trip to Disneyland. To get you excited, below are a few from the big Nemo show. Enjoy!

Halloween & Other Things

The Sharp household has been very, very busy. And truth be told, there doesn't appear to be an end in sight. Before I get too caught up in all the things to come, let's talk about some fun things we've done lately - including Halloween.

Last Saturday, we attended a birthday party for Jordan. She is one of Bailey's Primrose Pals. They are so cute together. The party was at a bouncy place which is one of Bailey's new favorite things to do.





After the birthday party, we headed to the annual Halloween party of our friends' Jeff & Anita. It is a pumpkin carving party. Neither Jason nor I are very good carvers so we did the next best thing - a Potato Head Pumpkin. Bailey loved putting the pieces in and was so proud of her pumpkin. Her favorite thing to do at the party was play on the swing set with the other kids.









Sunday was a beautiful day here in Houston so we headed out to Dewberry Farm. Dewberry Farm is about 30 minutes from our house. It is a pumpkin patch that the owner's have expanded upon to include lots of fun things for kiddies. Although Jason and I thought Bailey was about 18 months too young to enjoy it to its fullest, she had a great time riding the corn train and looking at all the animals.


Halloween was a very eventful day for Bailey. She was very excited about having a Minnie Mouse costume. She was less excited about wearing the ears. Whatever made her change her mind happened before school Halloween morning. I was so relieved.

There were lots of fun events at school on Halloween. In the morning, they had a costume parade through all of the classrooms. In the afternoon, they had a Halloween classroom party. Jason and I were able to attend the classroom party. It's so cute to see all the kiddies she goes to school with.





Halloween night we had a block party with our neighbors. It started at 5:30 and there were hot dogs and games and music. The kids had so much fun playing. Then it was time to trick or treat. Minnie Mouse got her candy bag and went knocking on doors. Much to our surprise, she was not fearful at all. We even ran into Mickey Mouse (and of course had to take pictures). She did get tired after about 10 houses but she found new fun in handing out candy to those who came to trick or treat at our house. It was a great Halloween!

Two Years Old

Well, last Friday (10/05) was the day we have officially hit the terrible twos. Ok - so on that day Bailey wasn't terrible but she did turn two and I got to celebrate my 2nd year of motherhood. What an exciting adventure it has been. I still look at her and cannot believe that God has blessed me with such a precious child. Then she throws a fit and I usually have a "talk" with God about why he didn't bless me with a more passive child. Ha! Seriously though - Jason and I are very blessed and Bailey is two. So...to the fun stuff.

To celebrate Bailey's 2nd birthday, we decided a trip to Build-A-Bear was in order. (Mommy has so been waiting to do this.) Cousin Marleigh decided to "build" a white and light pink bear which she named Mida. The birthday girl decided her choice was a purple and blue hippo she named Hazel (ok - Mommy helped with the name). They had so much fun picking out outfits and giving their new friends a bath and brush. At the end, they got to make bear certificates and take their new friends home. It was so fun!

Afterwards, we went for our traditional family celebration of pizza and ice cream. This year, Grandma, Marleigh, and Uncle Christian were able to join us so that made it extra special.

All in all, Bailey had a wonderful 2nd birthday. It is bittersweet to see her grow up day after day. There are so many days we wish it would slow down.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ladybug. Mommy & Daddy love you so much!

Birthday Party Time

Well, last weekend we celebrated the big 2nd birthday. It was a Nemo party as most of you could have guessed. We had the party at the Rec Center in the front of our neighborhood and had about 15 kids come. Think of it as one big play date - loud and very busy. The kids had so much fun playing together! I tried to pick out some pictures to post on the blog but they were all so cute that I really couldn't. You'll have to check them out on Snapfish.

In addition to having her friends come play, we had a special treat in that her Grandma, Grandpa, cousin Marleigh, & Auntie Linda came to celebrate as well. We had so much fun with all them. Grandpa & Auntie Linda could only stay for a long weekend. But Grandma & cousin Marleigh are getting to stay for 10 days. Bailey & Marleigh are having so much fun playing together.

On Sunday, we went to the Children's Museum in the Woodlands and did some shopping. The girls had so much fun at the Museum. The weekend went way too fast and then Monday morning came and Auntie Linda & Grandpa had to leave. :(

We aren't done celebrating just yet. Friday is Bailey's actual birthday. Mommy is taking the day off of work and we are going to have her pictures made. Then Grandma and Mommy are going to take Bailey & Marleigh to Build a Bear so they can make a special birthday celebration bear. Friday night we'll go out for our annual pizza and ice cream birthday celebration. There is lots more fun to be had!

I'll keep you posted.

Seattle

Bad news... our Seattle pictures are going to be a little longer than anticipated. Our computer upstairs (which has all the picture software and such) has seemed to died. It will not connect to the internet so we cannot upload our pictures to share. We have to either figure out what is wrong with it or load the picture software onto our laptop and start loading pictures there. We plan to work on that problem this week so you'll get pictures by this weekend regardless. In the interim, here is the Seattle run down...

Friday 8/24
Grandma flew in at 10:30 am to spend the week with Bailey. After I picked her up from the airport, we went shopping, to eat lunch at On the Border, and then get a pedicure. At 3:30 pm, we went to pick up Bailey who was very excited to see Grandma. They spent the rest of the day bonding and having fun.

Saturday 8/25
Today is the day. We are off to Seattle. Our flight left at 9:30 am with Jason in first class and me in coach. You heard me. When we got to the airport, Jason had been upgraded to first class. The flight was full and he was told he could not give his seat to someone else and sit by me so we decided to leave it as is. Luckily, I was able to get his original aisle seat. Had I not, it really would have been bad as I would have been stuck in the middle while he was in first class. We finally got to Seattle around noon. Kathy and Phillip picked us up at the airport and we grabbed lunch at The Rock Wood Fire Pizza. It was so good! We then had a little drive to get to the ferry that would take us to Whidbey Island. The drive was so beautiful. My favorite part of the ferry ride was seeing all the puppies. When we got to Kathy & Phillip's, we spent the rest of the evening visiting. Kathy made a great lasanga and a green stuff desert that my grandmother used to make. It was awesome!

Sunday 8/26
Jason, Kathy, & I went to the Casino. While Kathy & I played Bingo, Jason went to try his luck gambling. Surprisingly, he was the big winner of the day winning $400. Afterwards, we went to Deception Pass. It is a beautiful spot connecting Whidbey Island to the main land. Here is an interesting story about why it is named Deception Pass:
http://www.deceptionpasstours.com/deception_pass_history.php
Once we arrived home, Phillip gave us a personalized tour of the Naval base and the airplanes he flies (P3s). I even sat at the controls buckled into my 14 point harness and headset. It was very interesting and definitely a unique opportunity. Giving Kathy the night off after her wonderful dinner on Saturday, Jason, Kathy & I had dinner at Arby's.

Monday 8/27
Our day started off with breakfast at a most unusual place. Jason and I were on our way to take an Orca whales cruise in Anacortes. Phillip told us that we should have breakfast at the bowling ally in Anacortes since it was on our way. We were very hesitant at first. However, we decided to chance it. From the outside, it looks like a bowling ally. But inside, it looks like a diner with a couple lanes. We were definitely not disappointed. It was inexpensive and fabulous! After breakfast, we headed to our boat and went on a 5 hour hunt to find the Orca whales. Although it was long, it was well worth it. We finally found a transient pod of 5 Orcas. At one point, they seemed to have captured prey (possibly a seal the captain of the ship said) but I have chosen to pretend that we didn't see that. We followed them for about an hour and then headed back to town. Phillip had left for Pensacola this morning so we took Kathy to dinner at Seabolt's Smokehouse (her recommendation of course). It was the first of many meals consisting of great fish we would have this week.

Tuesday 8/28
Our time at Whidbey Island had come to an end. Kathy brought us to the shuttle at 8:15 am which we took back to the Seattle airport. From there, we caught another shuttle to our hotel. After checking into the Westin Seattle (on 5th street downtown), we rode the monorail over to the Space Needle where we had lunch at the Sky City Restaurant. After, we explored the observation deck of the Space Needle and headed back to our hotel to wait for Emily. Emily picked us up around 4 pm and we went to Red Hook Brewery for the 5 pm tour, dinner, and Trivia Night. Although we didn't win Trivia Night, it was so much fun and definitely on our to do the next time we are in Seattle. Emily is awesome at Trivia Night and we've decided she should form a team and go weekly. :)

Wednesday 8/29
Today we went down to the waterfront and did all the touristy stuff down there. We went to Pikes Place Market, the first Starbucks, and had lunch on the water at the Crab Pot. Again, an awesome meal consisting of very good fish. We had reservations at 1 pm to take a Locks cruise. The weather was perfect so it was a really nice cruise. After we got back from the cruise, we headed down to Pioneer Square where we were going to kill time in the shops waiting on Emily & Diane. Emily showed up about 4 pm and we went to have a beer at Fado's. Ok, I was the only one who had a beer but it was a neat pub and we enjoyed visiting. At 6 pm, Diane met us and we did the Underground Tour. That was one of the coolest things we did. Basically, when they rebuilt Seattle, some property owners did not want to give up their land so they built Seattle one level above their property. Thus, some businesses continued to operate underground. Although there is nothing of substance left today, there is some neat remains to see and the guides are great story tellers. After our tour, we all went to eat at Joey's. There were lots of pretty people at Joey's and it clearly was a "meet and greet" type establishment. We felt a little out of place but the food was so good, we didn't care.

Thursday 8/30
Today we took a day trip to Victoria, BC. We left at 7:30 am and got there around 10. It was so beautiful - the weather was perfect. We didn't really have a plan before we got there but we quickly made one after we did. We decided to do a city tour on a double decker bus and get off at Craigdarroch Castle. While waiting on our tour, we explored The Empress hotel which is the oldest hotel in Victoria. It was amazing! Then our tour time came and we hoped on the bus. After about 30 minutes, we got off at the castle. It was really a glorified mansion but still very nice. The weather was so pretty that we decided not to hop back on the double decker bus but to walk and grab pizza for lunch at Ali Baba pizza. I saw someone with two reasonable size pieces of pizza and both Jason and I ordered two each. What I had seen was one piece cut in half. Basically, we had just ordered half a pizza. Needless to say, we threw out a quarter of it but it was really good! We probably could have eaten more but realized we would have been miserable. We continued walking and decided to go to the Royal BC Museum and explore the Titanic Exhibit. We also did the Titanica IMAX and some of their routine exhibits. I'm not a huge museum fan but this was one of the coolest museums I have ever been in. Their exhibits were very well done. After this, it was time to head back to the boat for our 7 pm departure back to Seattle. We got back to the hotel around 10 pm and decided the McDonald's on the corner was our best (and quickest) bet for dinner.

Friday 8/31
Today was our lazy day. Emily picked us up at 10:30 am so we could go to her house and meet Chloe - who is precious. Emily's parents took us to lunch at The Calcutta Grill (at The Golf Club at Newcastle). It was so nice visiting with them. The golf course is amazing! It is on hills and you can see all the way to downtown Seattle. We were going to play the putter course but it was closed for an event. After this, it was time to go to our hotel and say goodbye to Emily. We laid around the hotel room the rest of the afternoon and then decided to go shopping. Trying to decide what to do on our last evening in downtown Seattle, we decided we should see a movie (The Bourne Ultimatum) and have dinner (Gordon Biersch) - things that are hard to do with a 22 month old. It was a great way to end our stay downtown. The only disappointment of the day was Bailey had come down with croup while we were gone and Grandma had to take her to the doctor today. Luckily, she was in great hands so we could rest easy knowing she was being well taken care of.

Saturday 9/1
My Aunt Annabel & Uncle Ron picked us up at 10:30 am and we went to have lunch at Ruby's Diner. They then took us to Chateau St. Michelle Winery and a Kangaroo Farm. The kangaroo farm was another highlight of our trip. We got to feed and play with them. It was great. For dinner, they treated us to dinner at Anthony's. It was a really great restaurant at the Edmonds Marina. We then stayed the night at their beautiful home in Lake Stevens.

Sunday 9/2
After a wonderful breakfast cooked by my Aunt Annabel, it was time to head to the airport to catch our 12:45 pm flight back to Houston. It was so good to see everyone but it was time to say goodbye to Seattle. Our flight was uneventful this time (because Jason was able to turn down first class to sit by me) and we got home around 7 pm. Bailey was feeling better and was so happy to see us as we were her. Ahhh...home sweet home.

Seattle Update Coming Soon

I know you are all waiting for the Seattle blog and pictures. I promise to have them early next week. I've been very busy at home and work since we've returned. We had a wonderful time but are glad to be home. Keep an eye out next week......It is on my weekend chores list.

Off to....

Seattle we will go, we will go, we will go; off to Seattle we will go, early Saturday morning. (See...to really make that work, you are supposed to sing it.)

That's right - Jason and I are off to Seattle Saturday morning for a blissful 8 days. By blissful I mean no work and no Bailey. Grandma is coming in tomorrow morning to babysit. Although I will miss Bailey tremendously, I know that she will be spoiled rotten by Grandma while I sleep late.

My vacation technically begins tomorrow. I am picking up Grandma at the airport at 10:30 tomorrow morning. As a belated birthday celebration (her birthday was yesterday), I am taking her to eat lunch and get a pedicure.

As for what our plans are in Seattle, Saturday through Tuesday we will be staying on Whidbey Island with Kathy & Phillip. Then Tuesday we are going to Seattle to stay downtown at the Westin. Emily is going to be gracious enough to cart us around in the evenings and on Friday. Of course, the upside for her is that she gets to see us. Hee, hee! We are giving her Thursday off as we are going to head to Victoria for the day/evening. That should be lots of fun. Then we plan to spend Saturday night until we leave on Sunday with my Aunt Annabel & Ron.

It will be a very busy (but fun) trip. I will be sure to give you all the details and all the pictures when I return. Until then...

Off to Seattle we will go, we will go, we will go; off to Seattle we will go, early Saturday morning.

Uncle Phil

On August 11th, Bailey finally got to meet her Uncle Phil and cousin Jaylen. They came to Houston for the weekend. On Saturday, I was shopping at the outlet mall with my friends so Jason and Phil got to have quality time with Bailey and Jaylen. They went to Splashpad and got to know each other. Sunday we were all together. We went to eat lunch at On the Border and then to the Downtown Aquarium for dinner. We really had a great time and Bailey finally warmed up enough to let Uncle Phil hold her. Even today, she still talks about going to see the fish and the tigers.

Christopher's Visit - Week 4

Well, the visit has officially ended. I dropped Christopher and Matthew off at the airport yesterday at the ungodly hour of 6 am. It was a wonderful summer. He is already talking about coming next year. But first...we have to finish this year. (And as promised, I have pictures!)

Thursday night Christopher and I went to Bingo night with my friend Kathy and some other girls. None of us won but we still had a good time.

Friday Matthew got to town about 5:00 pm. We had a relaxing dinner at home just visiting. Jason was the great chef (as usual) and made beef kabobs on the grill. Saturday we all went to an Astros game. They finally won which made it even more exciting. However, the only inning either team scored in was the first (which we missed). But a win is a win! We finished it off with a great dinner at PF Chang's. Sunday Jason had to leave for a business trip in Dallas so he said his goodbyes Saturday night. Matthew, Christopher, and I went to see Transformers - which was very good. My expectations were very low for that movie and it definitely delivered.

As the perfect finish, we invited all of Christopher's friends over for an ice cream party. Afterwards, they had a huge game of tag to end the visit. It was a perfect ending to a perfect month. As always, we've really enjoyed having Christopher around this summer. He's only been gone a day and the house seems too quite.

We'll count the months until next year. Ta Ta for now.

Christopher's Visit - Week 3

Well, just like the past two weeks, this week has held some fun times for Christopher. He went to see Fantastic Four and Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. He played Lazer Tag and came in first place in one of two games. Needless to say, he was very proud of that. He went to the Ruckus Room (an inflatable bouncer party room). He also went to the driving range with Uncle Jason.

One of his favorite activities this week has been playing with William's new Nitendo Wii. Aside from getting hit in the nose with a controller while playing baseball, he thinks the system is really cool. I've heard rumor that he'll be asking Grandma for one of those for Christmas. Here is the link, Grandma. Hee, hee!
http://wii.nintendo.com/console.jsp

I can't believe it's less than a week before he'll be leaving. My brother (and Christopher's dad) comes for a long weekend on Friday and then they'll be off on Monday. I'm sure our last week will be bittersweet and filled with many fun activities - including Bingo on Thursday night. I will keep you posted and I promise the next time I blog about our adventures, there will be pictures!

Christopher's Visit - Week 2

Ok...still no pictures. I apologize. But having 2 kids keeps me very busy.

We have been having a blast. Christopher spends most of the time running with the boys in the neighborhood. I have to eat out every night just to get him to ride somewhere with me and talk to me. Bailey is in love with him. She wants to follow him everywhere and when we go to do something she asks if Christopher is going. It's so cute. I can't believe his visit is half way over. Picking up where I left off last week...

Friday I took the day off and my friend Renee and Taylor (her son) came to Texas. Christopher and I met them at Kemah Boardwalk. It's a fun place with rides, restaurants, and shops. We rode rides and had lunch at the Aquarium. But Christopher's favorite part of the day (and mine as well) was the ride on the Boardwalk Beast. It's a speed boat that goes out for a 25 minute ride into Galveston Bay. The only disappointment of the day was realizing the new wooden roller coaster wasn't open yet. I'm not sure who was more disappointed - me or Chrisotpher. It was a blast!
http://www.kemahboardwalk.com/flash_content/flash_content.html

Friday night also held a special treat for Christopher. He went to his very first rock concert with Kyle & Phillip. They ended up with an extra ticket so he went to see The Fray.

Saturday night Christopher and Uncle Jason went to play video games at Christian's house. They had a great time. Although I heard rumors that Christian cheated so that he didn't have to give up one of the controllers. I don't know how true that is. Hee, hee!

Monday night we went swimming and Tuesday night he spent the night at William's. On the agenda tonight is Chuck E. Cheese's.

As you can tell, the fun never stops at our house. I'll keep you posted.

Christopher's Visit - Week 1 (and a Half)

Well, our first week is complete. As usual, I'm a little late on the weekly report.

Grandma brought Christopher down on Saturday, June 30 and stayed with us the first week. Christopher spent the first week playing with Kyle (one of the boys next door). On the 4th, we had a BBQ and went to watch fireworks at the Race Track. It was a great display! Thursday both Jason and I were off so we put Bailey in school and all went to see Ratatouille. That was really cute. Saturday night Christopher got to spend the night with Kyle & Phillip. Once he went over, they were inseperable until Sunday night.

Unfortunately, Grandma had to leave on Monday. Christopher seems unphased by this as William (my friend Heather's son) has returned from his trip to Galveston. Needless to say, Christopher, William, & Phillip have been together non-stop since Monday. Monday night Jason and I took Christopher & William swimming. Today Heather has once again taken them swimming. It seems to be a pattern - swim, play, swim, play.

The biggest excitement of the week was there was a plane that crashed on Tuesday on the golf course in our neighborhood. Luckily, the pilot was unharmed. The boys enjoyed riding their bikes over there to check out the wreckage. Although the most amusing part is that the golfers just kept on playing. They must love their game. You can see the story and picture in the attached link. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4957768.html

He's having a great time and we are really enjoying our visit. It goes so quickly! I'll write more next week and hopefully have some pictures, too.

Christopher's Coming to Town

It's that time of year - Christopher time. As he has for the last 6 years, Christopher will be coming to stay with us for a month. He arrives tomorrow. Grandma is bringing him and staying for 10 days to visit with Bailey. (We know better than to think it's me or Jason. Ha!) Then Matthew (my brother) will pick him up the last weekend of July. We are very excited about all the family visits.

We have lots of fun things planned - movies, Lazer Tag, an Astros game, a trip to Moody Gardens. Along with all that, he'll have lots of fun playing with the neighborhood boys, his cousin Bailey, and spending time with his favorite aunt and uncle.

I know I'll have tons of pictures to share and I'll try to write a weekly summary of our activities. Stay tuned for the month long Christopher show.

Adventures in Baby Sitting

This weekend we were asked to baby sit Brayden. Brayden is a 22 month old boy in Bailey's class. Both his parents had work obligations on Saturday and their families are in San Antonio. Without a trusted sitter, they asked us to watch him from 9 - 4.
I must admit, I was a little nervous about it. I couldn't imagine have two little ones to keep up with. Any doubts I had about being able to handle it were quickly diminished. Brayden was wonderful and they had a great time together. We played games, watched Veggie Tales, and ate donuts and Chick Fil A. The best part of the day was when they played in Bailey's toddler pool. Daddy graciously blew it up and they had a blast (as you can see from the pictures).

Bailey has turned into such a water baby. She now asks to go swimming. We went to the Splashpad again on Sunday with her friend Ashley. Unfortunately, the weather didn't allow us to stay very long. She loves it so much that we have signed her up for swim lessons beginning at the end of July. It's only a 6 week class but I'm very excited as I know she'll love it.

I hope all the fathers out there had a wonderful Father's Day.

First Timers

Last weekend Bailey had a couple "first time" events that I thought I would share with you.

The first event involves Taco Bell. Only I would take pictures and document her first meal from Taco Bell. She mentioned tacos and I asked her if she liked tacos and she said yes. I wasn't really sure I believed her but thought we'd try it anyway. After all, it was a trip to Taco Bell. I got her the soft taco kids meal (with only meat and cheese on the tacos). We got home and sat at the table and she did in fact eat almost 3/4 of a taco. I was amazed and thrilled. This means we can branch out from chicken nuggets when getting fast food. After her taco, she had some Cinnamon Twists which she loved just as much. It was a very exciting event!

The second event was her first trip to Splashpad. This was more eventful to her than the Taco Bell taco. Splashpad is a water area in our neighborhood. One part of the area has sprinklers and such that the kids can run through. The other part is a kiddie type pool with a boat and waterfalls and such. She absolutely loved it. We started in the sprinkler area first. It took her a little while to get used to the water being sprayed on her but she ended up running and playing and laughing the whole time. We stayed about an hour and a half. She had so much fun.

Latest & Greatest

Hi everyone! Well, we have finally finished our annual SEC filing here at work. I am so excited. I hate the months of April and May. Everyone is all stressed out and working lots of overtime (meaning they are grumpy). But it's over and I can enjoy my job again. Yeah!

Grandma is on her way into town as I type this. She is coming to help take care of me as I have to get my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. I was very nervous about it until my wonderful Aunt Linda reminded me that it couldn't possibly be as bad as having a baby. Amen to that! Needless to say, I feel so much better about it now.

Bailey is almost 20 months. I can't believe it. Where did time go? Taking pictures is hard work with her anymore. (I promise some soon though.) The school bulletin board is posting pictures of the kids and their daddys for the month of June. It took almost 10 shots to get 2 I liked to submit to the school. Here is my favorite of the two of them. My heart swells seeing my man and my daughter having a moment. Amazing.

Speaking of babies, here is another glimpse of Baby Ritchie. He is definitely a "he". After three times hearing that, I think Kathy can finally believe it. A cute story about this picture...I was showing Bailey and telling her it was a baby. She pointed right to the picture and said "head". I sometimes have a hard time seeing all that clearly. I am amazed that she was able to. We are so looking forward to his arrival. For now, we are busy planning a baby shower.

Ok...I'm off to get Grandma and spend the afternoon with her. Everyone think of me tomorrow at 10 am. Ta ta for now!

Birthday Wishes for the Weekend

On this holiday weekend, birthday wishes are in order. My wonderful husband celebrates his birthday on Monday. I am not quite sure what his birthday wishes are yet but I'm sure we'll find something fun to do. Bailey and I are anxious to give him his birthday goodies. It's hard to find the perfect gift for a perfect daddy.

Aside from a birthday celebration, we are also planning for some fun family time as well as a date to see Spider Man 3. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday weekend.

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Nail Biting

I've spent most of my afternoon wondering...will Derek and Meredith break up and is Cristina going to marry Burke? The saddest part is that it's likely that neither of my questions will be answered tonight. My hope is that one doesn't break up and the other gets married. I'm all about couples! I want everyone to be happy couples. Life doesn't always have a happy ending but Grey's Anatomy should. It's bad enough that we are going to see the departure of Addison. How much more sadness should we viewers endure? Enjoy the finale. I'm sure we'll all be talking about it tomorrow.

Congratulations are in Order

Congratulations are in order today. Christian will earn his law degree at the 2 pm graduation ceremony. His journey has been long but will be well worth it. I wish I could say there will be rest for him now but he must immediately begin his preparation for the BAR exam which is at the end of July. Congratulations, Christian! Enjoy your accomplishment - and a few beers to boot. Go Cougs!

Happy Birthday to Me

It's my birthday - the big 3-4! I love my birthday. Truth be told, I love all birthdays. Celebrating someone and making them feel special should be done everyday. Since we are all too busy to do that, I'll settle for the one day a year when we get to let it be totally about us. The gifts are an added bonus as well.

In true celebratory fashion, I am getting a 90-minute massage at 4 pm today. Then Jason, Bailey, and I are going to go out for pizza and get ice cream. We are trying to make it our family birthday celebration tradition. Besides, what is better than pizza and ice cream???

Thanks for all the gifts and cards and calls. I appreciate each of you who have remembered me on my special day. I'm so lucky to have all of you in my life.

Now...back to me....

xoxoxo

New Blog - Finally

Hi everyone. It's been a couple weeks but life has been busy. Work is busy, home is busy. Free time has not been in my vocabulary lately. But here I am - finally.

Two weekends ago Bailey and I had a play date with Brayden (a friend from Bailey's school) and his mom Mary. We went to the zoo and then to eat pizza. It was so much fun. I so enjoyed being able to gab with another mom and share ideas and ways to do things with our kids. The best part was that it seemed that all the baby animals were out. We got to see a baby giraffe as well as Mac, the new baby Elephant. We had a really great time. I hope we do that again very soon.

Last weekend was the Spring Fling at Bailey's school. It was a fundraiser with games and food. Bailey was a little confused and overwhelmed at first. I think her favorite part was playing on the playground that she gets to play on every day. She liked the skee ball and plinko games but that was about it. We met up with Brayden and they spent a lot of time playing while Jason and I visited with Brayden's mom and dad.


I wish I had more to report but as busy as we've been, I find that we aren't doing lots of worth reporting. So that begs the question...why am I so busy?

Weekend in Review

I really don't have much to chat about this weekend. Our weekend was quiet and relaxing - which was much needed. Jason and I had a date night Saturday to see Corteo (Cirque du Soleil) while Bailey stayed with her Godfamily. Both of us really enjoyed our time. We also bought new living room furniture. We got a leather set (couch, chair, chaise). It will be here on Friday. I'm so very excited! It will be so much easier to take care of than our current living room furniture. Between the dog hair and the toddler crumbs, we really should vaccuum our couches more than we have time to do. With leather, I'll be able to run a damp cloth over it and I'm done. Yahoo! We haven't officially decided what to do with what we currently have though. I think we are leaning towards giving the couch to Purple Heart and putting the chair and ottoman upstairs in the game room. The latter has definitely had less wear and tear than the couch. Plus, it makes a single sleeper bed which is always nice to have.

Jason also planted me some rose bushes in the back yard. It seems to be the only flower we can't kill. I'm very excited about watching them grow and bloom. If only we can keep Toby from eating them. Hmmm....

That was our weekend in a nutshell. I hope yours was just as enjoyable.

Exciting News

I have some very exciting news to share with everyone. My best friend, Kathy Ritchie, is pregnant with her first child. She is due October 2nd. I have been so anxious for all of you to know. Words cannot express how happy I am for her. Becoming a mother is one of the hardest things I've ever done but it is also one of the most rewarding. Kathy and Phillip are in for so many treats with their new blessing. My heart is so full of joy for both of them and the new life that we will meet in less than 6 months.

Kathy, thank you for letting me take this journey with you. Most importantly, thank you for being my friend. You will be a fabulous mom. How lucky is that angel inside you.

Our first glimpse of Baby Ritchie.

Happy Easter (& Other Things)

I start this blog by saying that I hope each and everyone of you had a blessed Easter. Holidays are such a fun time to spend with family and friends. I hope, however, that you also found time to remember the reason that we celebrate Easter. I hope that you remembered that the holiday is about hope and resurrection. I hope that you invited Jesus to share the holiday with you as I did.

I fear that I am never going to post an official blog about Mommy and Bailey's road trip so I will briefly write about it here before getting to our Easter festivities and other topics.

My friend Renee invited Bailey and I to a picnic honoring organ recipients and donors the last weekend in March. She has been very involved with this organization since her husband (and one of my best friends) died unexpectedly almost four years ago. I was so touched to be invited and really excited to go. The one dread I had was the three and a half hour road trip. Yes, that's Bailey in a car seat while I drive for three and a half hours. I planned it perfectly praying that God would keep her content the entire ride. She was wonderful. The Friday we were to leave I sent her to school for a couple hours and then we went to a Gymboree class all in hopes she would sleep a good bit of the ride. She slept all the way to the Beaumont (still two hours away). She did fine watching DVDs and playing until about 45 minutes from Renee's. I then had to improvise by signing and playing "look at x (cows, planes, etc)". But we made it and she had a wonderful time with Taylor. He was so good with her.

The picnic was on Saturday at Alligator Bayou and was so wonderful. It was joyful and humbling all at the same time. Knowing so many people had to lose someone to bring life to others is a very moving experience. I told Renee how touched I was to have been invited and kept hinting I wanted to go back next year (I hope she got that hint - ha!). Sunday we went to an Easter egg hunt at Renee's church. Bailey loved it. Once she got the hang of it, she took off to get as many eggs as she could. Then came Sunday afternoon and the ride home. Would I be as lucky? Yes, I was. The amazing part of that ride is that Bailey did not sleep at all. She stayed awake the entire ride and just watched DVDs and played with books and toys. We again sang and played the "look at x" game but this time I knew we would be fine. Thanks again, Renee. It was a wonderful experience.

Our Easter was wonderful. Friday Bailey and I kicked it off by having her picture taken with the Easter Bunny (doesn't she look excited?). She wasn't really thrilled about it but still managed to feed herself a cookie during the photo shoot. Isn't that what they call comfort food? The Easter Bunny brought Bailey a new pool and pool toys as well as a Minnie Mouse bathing suit, coverall, and hat. She also got $20 and a Sit and Spin from her Grandma & Grandpa. Of course, she got a little candy as well. We invited Christian, Khrissy, Jason (Griffin), and Hunter over for Chicken Spaghetti and Banana Pudding. We were going to do an Easter Egg Hunt for Bailey and Hunter but it was cold here in Houston. It was about 50 degrees. I don't want any comments from our northern friends and family. 50 degrees in Houston in April is unheard of. I had to go unpack Bailey's winter clothes to have something appropriate for her to wear. Our last guest left at about 8:30. It was so fun having everyone there. Thanks to our Houston family for celebrating with us.

As for Bailey, she is doing well now. We went to the doctor for her 18 month check up this morning and she is 24.3 pounds and 32" long. The doctor is confident that she is over her virus (as are Khrissy and I) so she is back at school today and I'm back to work. I think that's good - although I'm not sure. Not that I want Bailey sick but I did enjoy the extended Mommy/Bailey time.


Have a blessed week and we'll talk very soon!

Bailey Update

Bailey is doing ok today. So far - only one bad diaper. That is much better than yesterday and even last night in which she had one in the middle of the night. I'm hoping that we are reaching the end of whatever is bugging her. I spoke with a nurse again today and she said to just keep plugging along. She wouldn't confirm it was Rotavirus but wouldn't deny it either. She instructed us to keep feeding her bland foods and trying to get her to drink lots of fluids. We have a 9 am doctor's appointment already scheduled for her 18 month check up. Regardless, we will get an opportunity to get the doctor's thoughts then. I am off tomorrow for Good Friday so we are going to be hanging out doing Mommy/Bailey things. I keep hoping that she is getting better. I will keep you posted.

Rotavirus Website

http://www.cdc.gov/rotavirus/

Bad Blogger

I apologize for being a bad blogger this week. I know many of you are anxious to hear about Mommy and Bailey's first road trip to Louisiana - which was wonderful. However, Bailey has come down with a virus that has gotten worse as of this evening. Monday afternoon day care called about her diapers and asked me to pick her up and keep her out until her diapers became "normal". (Can you tell I'm trying not to get too graphic?) Two kids in her class have come down with Rotavirus which is highly contagious so they are being overly cautious. (You can look at the CDC website and search on Rotavirus for those who want to read about it.) After talking to the nurse on Monday, she did not think Bailey's symptoms were indicative of Rotavirus but didn't doubt that it could be a virus of some sort. Her only symptom to date is horrific diapers. The first few days it was only 2 diapers at most. However, today we have had 4 bad diapers within a 5 hour span which is more in line with how Rotavirus behaves. I am going to call the nurse again tomorrow morning and see what her thoughts are about bringing her in and what to do. Jason and I are having to play tag team on the work schedule as this is my year end and the worst time ever to take off and he has got multiple projects going as well. Luckily, Friday is a BMC holiday. I'm hopeful that we'll be all better and ready for school on Monday. In the interim, you'll have to wait for the blog on our road trip but I will try to write a brief update on the virus as I know more.

Our Disney Trip

Well, we are back and living in the real world again. The trip was so much fun. I think everyone had a wonderful time - including Bailey. I will try to chronicle our day by day as best I can but I'm sure I will leave something out. Pictures are going to come separately as I am waiting to get everyone's pictures so I can send them out all at once. Please be patient as it may be two to three weeks before I get that together.

Saturday, March 17
Stacy meets Bailey and I at our house around 11:15 am and we head to the airport. At this point, we still don't know if Grandma will make it. Her morning flight was cancelled but she has a seat on a Continental flight at 2:50 pm. There have been cancellations all morning long but we are still hopeful. Our plane takes off at 1:30 pm and Bailey is so good. She gets a little cranky about 30 minutes before we are to land in Orlando but doesn't have a meltdown and quickly falls asleep. We get to Orlando at 5 pm and find out that Grandma did make the flight (and was upgraded to first class) and will be arriving around 9 pm. Good news!!! The bus ride to the Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa was uneventful. When we got there, Emily and Diane were there waiting for us in room #6435. We chatted a little while and decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at the Earl of Sandwich and got ice cream at Ghiradelli's. We quickly realized we were too tired to shop and headed back to get rested for tomorrow. Grandma arrived at the room around 10 pm and we all quickly fell asleep.

Sunday, March 18
Today is our grand adventure in the Magic Kingdom. Angie met us at the room around 9 am and we headed off. Our first ride - The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Bailey was a little hesitant about the rides but she quickly began to relax and enjoy them. We spent the entire day exploring my favorite park. We thought it would be smart to get wrist bands for the Extra Magic Hours (which allowed resort guests to explore the park until 2 am). Grandma and Bailey opted out of this adventure and went back to the room. We got to ride everything we wanted and had so much fun. I love the parks at night. This seemed like such a great idea. Until....

Monday, March 19
....the alarm went off at 6 am for our 8:10 am reservation for breakfast with Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. What were we thinking? We stumbled out of bed and went to have breakfast. Bailey loved the characters from afar (Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet). Once they got close to us to take a picture, she cried and became clingy. The characters weren't nearly as friendly as we hoped. They rushed through the pictures spending very little time with the kids. Bailey probably thought this was a blessing but we were a little disappointed. After breakfast, we went off to meet Angie at Epcot and spend the day there. After exploring for a while, we had a late lunch in Italy (yummy!). Between the travel, the 2 am fun night, and the pasta, I realized I had hit my limit. Grandma, Bailey, and I went back to the room around 4 pm to relax and get some rest while the others plowed on until late in the evening. (Note, I think Bailey enjoyed running around the room more than she did any of the parks.) Just as I was putting Bailey in the bath around 6 pm, in walks Stacy, Diane, and Emily. They had hit their limit, too. Diane and Emily decided to head back to Downtown Disney for dinner but Stacy, Grandma, Bailey, and I just got something to go from the hotel food court and were in bed by 9 pm.

Tuesday, March 20
Today was the Animal Kingdom. Diane left us this morning for two days to go visit family in Georgia. She didn't know what she was missing. The Animal Kingdom is my 2nd favorite park. We had our first rain storm today and got our $7 Disney ponchos. Disney wouldn't be Disney without the purchase of a $7 poncho. The safari was awesome. I don't know if the cool weather (75 highs most of the week) or the rain contributed but the animals were right next to our Jeep while we were on the safari. Emily and Stacy sat on the ends so I am sure they got awesome pictures. The crowds were minimal so we were able to finish the park by 5 pm. Emily, Stacy, and I met Angie and her sister Mary at Pleasure Island for the evening. We ate at an Irish pub (Raglan Road) and then went to an improv comedy club. It was a lot of fun. We were again tired and called it an early evening (if you call 12 am early).

Wednesday, March 21
Today is our day of rest. Stacy went to have fun with her brother Marcus and his girlfriend Megan and Diane was still in Georgia. Emily and I had 80 minute massages scheduled at the spa. We knew we were tired when we walked in and the lady told us we were late. Late??? Our appointments are at 10:30 am - we are sure of it (but didn't bother to check). No, it was at 10 am. Luckily, we arrived around 10:15 am and were still able to get 60 minutes (at an 80 minute price of course). But as Emily said, "Some massage is better than no massage, right?" Afterwards, we met Grandma and Bailey and headed to eat and do some shopping at Downtown Disney. We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Cafe and then spent 3 (yes, I said 3) hours shopping at all the stores. Did we spend lots of money? Of course, we did but we needed all of it. We even got ice cream again at Ghiradelli's. Wednesday night Emily, Stacy, and I went to eat at The Turf Club Bar & Grill in our hotel while Grandma and Bailey spent quality time together watching DVDs. We then met Angie and Mary in Downtown Disney to see the 9 pm La Nouba show (Cirque du Soleil). We had 4th row center. It was awesome!

Thursday, March 22
Today we went to MGM Studios. Our first ride - my favorite, The Tower of Terror. Diane had an incident with her rental car bumper and finally was able to meet us around noon - at which time we again rode The Tower of Terror. We had lunch at the Prime Time Diner. This was one of my favorite dining experiences. It's a 50s kitchen where "Aunt Elaine" was our waitress. She made sure she got on us for things such as putting our elbows on the table or ordering too many cokes. It was so fun - not to mention had great food! I couldn't believe I'd never eaten there before. It's definitely on my future Disney vacation to dos. We spent the entire day at MGM and watched Fantasmic, the fabulous night show, before calling it a day.

Friday, March 23
Today is our last day to explore the parks. We decided to split up until the evening. Emily, Stacy, and Diane decided they would explore all 4 parks on their final day. Grandma, Bailey, and I enjoyed a lazy morning (I got another massage) and then went to have lunch with the Playhouse Disney characters (JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's Circus and Leo and June from the Little Einsteins). Again, Bailey was terrified. But this time the characters were fabulous. They spent a lot of time with the kids and really made it fun. I definitely would recommend this lunch to anyone whose kids watch Playhouse Disney. After lunch, we watched the Muppet Show (I love the Muppets) and decided to say goodbye to MGM. We headed over to the Magic Kingdom and did some shopping. Then we went to Mickey's Toon Town Fair to meet one last character - Mickey Mouse. Again, Bailey was less than pleased about taking a picture but she did blow him a kiss as we said goodbye. After riding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh again, we decided to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. We went over to Epcot to once again ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends and see Turtle Talk with Crush. (Have I mentioned that Nemo has become Bailey's favorite character on this trip? I'm not sure what the attraction is because she's never watched the movie but she loves him.) Then we had dinner at the Cantina in Mexico and waited for the night show. We met up with Diane, Emily, and Stacy around 8 pm. We thought we'd try the Extra Magic Hours again since we didn't get to ride Mission: Space or Soarin'. The lines were still too long so we only rode Mission: Space and decided to head out much, much earlier than 2 am. As we boarded the bus, I think all of us were a little sad knowing our trip was coming to an end.

Saturday, March 24
Diane's flight was at 7:30 am so the bus picked her up at 4 am. I said my goodbyes the night before. I liked her but not enough to get up at 4 am. Emily had to leave at noon. Stacy, Grandma, Bailey, and I were leaving at 2:30 pm. Stacy got up early and went to see Marcus and Megan before leaving. We checked out at 11 am and waited on the bus with Emily. Once Emily left, Grandma, Bailey, and I debated going to Downtown Disney for a couple hours but opted instead to spend some time at the resort. We went to Bailey's favorite place in the resort, the Arcade (Daddy would be proud) and then had lunch in the food court. Stacy met us around 1 pm and ate and then we waited for the bus. We got to the airport and everyone got off alright. Angie was on our flight so we visited with her at the gate. We took off around 5:50 pm. Once again, Bailey did very well. I was leary and expecting a meltdown this trip because she was so tired but she did fine. Daddy was waiting for us at the baggage claim when we got there at 7:20 pm. We were so glad to be home. We had such a great time but sleeping in your own bed is very exciting. Before we got home, we ran through Taco Bell. The perfect ending to a perfect trip - Taco Bell & Diet Dr Pepper. Home, Sweet Home!

The Third Bump

Well, as I said, things come in threes. Grandma is not getting out tonight to head to Orlando. Her flight (as have all flights) out of Burlington (and Manchester, NH and Boston, MA, and Hartford, CT - yes, I checked) are cancelled. I can hear the disappointment in her voice each time we talk. I know Bailey will be just as sad when I tell her tomorrow. Right now, the airlines are saying the worst case scenario is that they wouldn't be able to get out until Monday. But...we are going to hold out hope. The storm hasn't come yet. We'll just pray and do a big snow storm dance and maybe she'll be able to get out first thing tomorrow morning or Sunday at the latest. Get up - let's all start dancing now!!! Mickey is waiting.

One More Day

Well, we have only one more day until Bailey and Mommy leave for their grand adventure in Disney World. We are packed and ready to go and so very excited. And then we hit bumps...

Wouldn't you know, as with everything, God wants to make it interesting? So far, we've encountered two potential issues but have thwarted both of them. I think God finds it humerous making me stress. Or maybe it's a test of faith. Either way, I have a few more gray hairs to dye because of it. Now since you are wondering what has happened, let me waste no more time.

The first bump is related to a rash that Bailey has had on her arm for about a week. We kept watching it with no real concern as it didn't seem to bother her. Yesterday morning as Daddy was dressing her for school, he called me in to see that the rash (which really looks like little pimples) had spread to her other arm and both her legs. I panic and decide maybe we should get her to the doctor before infesting an entire park full of other children. Luckily, there was no need to panic. She just a had reaction caused by a viral infection of sorts. The doctor said it usually comes after fever (which we did not notice) but that it is not contagious if the fever is gone. She did warn us, however, that heat will make it look worse than it is. I've decided to use that to our advantage to try to get others with kids to get out of line for fear we are contagious. Hee, hee! The other good news is she checked Bailey's ears for the flight to make sure there was no infection and there is none so if she screams, it's not the ears. (One other bragging note: The doctor also told us that Bailey is talking on a 2 year old level since she can put three to four words together now. She must get that from her Mommy. Ha!)

Our second bump, and the one that could have been most detrimental, is that my mom (who is flying from Vermont to Orlando) is expecting massive snow fall tonight - up to 14 inches overnight and another 7 tomorrow. JetBlue (learning from its past mistakes) has already put out the offer to cancel flights without penalty. After much dilemma and debate, Mark (my wonderful stepfather) took the initiative to put Grandma on a flight tonight at 5:30 pm and book her a hotel room at the Hyatt in the Orlando airport just in case she couldn't get out tomorrow. Whew! Another disaster avoided. Bailey would really have been devastated if she had to wait any longer to see Grandma.

Things usually come in threes so I'm hoping the remaining bump happens today (if it's going to happen at all). Let it be before we leave for Mickey's house rather than once we get there. No matter what - we are all going to have a blast. I will post our adventures shortly after we return. As Mickey would say, "See ya real soon!"

Bailey's Weekend Adventures

After Bailey's teachers told us that they decided she is going to be a painter with her mad scientist hairdo, we decided a hair cut could wait no longer. We had been putting it off because we were worried about how she would react. So Friday night at 7:30 pm, Daddy and I took Bailey to get her first hair cut. Much to our surprise, it wasn't as dramatic as we anticipated. Don't get me wrong - she didn't exactly enjoy it. It took Mommy playing a video game (which is hilarious in itself) while she watched in order to get it done. But after it was all said and done, she looks so much better. We were very fortunate to get a patient and funny stylist named Kendra. We were very impressed with how she dealt with Bailey so we took her name for future appointments.

Saturday we had Gymboree and there was Parent's Night Out at school. Jason and I took advantage of that and went to see Zodiac at the Studio Movie Grill. It was such a neat experience to eat and have a beer or two while you watch a movie. A little on the pricey side but we'd definitely do it again. It was a much needed "date night". Bailey had another first at Parent's Night Out. It was the first time she hung out with the "older" children. Bailey's teacher is always in the infant room on Parent's Night Out so Bailey prefers to be with her. However, this time, they decided to see how she would do playing with a new teacher and the kids in her general age range. Apparently, she did great! She was a little hesitant as we were leaving but the director went in to say hello to her so we could make our escape while she had a familiar face in the room. When we went to pick her up, they said she had one "moment" (which is probably what I would call a meltdown) but they were able to distract her and she had a really good time. She made a lion mask and got to watch a movie. Our baby is growing up!

Sunday began what I am sure will be a week of packing and repacking for our trip to Disney World. As most of you know, Bailey and I leaving for a week long adventure Disney World to celebrate Emily's 30th birthday (albeit a little early - her birthday is actually April 29th). We will be gone March 17th - March 24th. Besides the three of us, Grandma, Stacy Gibson, Angie Ramirez, and Diane Davis (Emily's Washington friend) are also going. We are so looking forward to it (as I am sure Daddy is). I will try to make another post before we leave but if not, be looking for a blog of our adventures when we return.