Trip to the North Pole

One thing I’ve wanted to do the past couple of years is the North Pole Express at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum. We have already been there for the Thomas the Train exhibit, but they go all out for Christmas, and I’ve heard good things about it. This year I was able to get tickets in time, and we went the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

I wasn’t sure we were going to get the in time because Nick and Faris just had to test out our new Ninja blender right when we should have been leaving, but thankfully, we did, and the timing actually ended up being pretty good. We had to sit in the back, but we didn’t mind, especially since Miss Lu needed to eat on the way back.

Z was very excited about his ticket.

Lu slept until we got on the train, then she enjoyed the ride. That is, until she saw us all eating cookies and drinking milk and remembered she was hungry. We actually gave her a couple of small bites of cookie and she was in heaven. She didn’t get chocolate milk like us, but she was happy all the same.

Once we arrived at the North Pole, Santa came on board with Mrs. Claus. I have to say that was a good Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Z was pretty happy to see them (even though he looks like he’s trying not to smile in this picture).

When we got off the train, Z kept saying I want to go on another train, so I guess he liked it. It was a fun family night!

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a really great Thanksgiving this year, and I cannot express how thankful I am for my many blessings!

I’ll start at the beginning, Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve, the one day in the year when my kids school is open and my office is closed. We’ll call that ‘Magical Wednesday.’ I was not going to let anything get in the way of Magical Wednesday, even selfishly when the school called on Tuesday to tell me Lu’s cough was sounding worse. In my defense, I did call the doctor’s office, and they didn’t suggest bringing her in with the symptoms I described. Definitely not the fact that my nephew was out of school and there was no family here to take care of him (thank you, Uncle Faris and Miss Amber). So, anyway, back to Magical Wednesday. It began with a peaceful cup of coffee and the couch. I knew that if I wasn’t careful it would probably end there too, but I managed to get up and head to the store to get the rest of the ingredients we needed for Thanksgiving.

Then I got a call from a certain aforementioned uncle telling me his tooth was “killing him” and “unbearable.” After I said I few choice words, I awaited his arrival only to find he was tricking me and actually came to tell me in person that he had gotten accepted into Med School. ‘I am going to hurt you,’ were words that were very present in my mind. I celebrated, kicked them out, pumped, got ready and made my way to the Summit, where some lovely me time took place.

I headed out just in time to hit some major traffic, and nearly too late for the school, but I got the kids and returned home. That night we began the preparations that would take up most of the daylight hours the next day to produce this:

Our Thanksgiving feast!

which we promptly devoured, boxed up, and moved on to Black Thursday night Friday. We didn’t do anything crazy, but Nick and Faris did attempt to get out just to say they did. Unfortunately, I passed missed out.

The menu: Smoked (fully cooked) turkey, deviled eggs, dressing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole, pineapple casserole, pumpkin pie, and rolls. Were there some things I would do differently, absolutely, but we were all too busy eating to complain. The kids enjoyed The Polar Express and a sampling of the feast at the kids table and Lu missed the whole thing entirely, as we felt that it was an opportune time for a nap. Lucky for us, she agreed. Either that, or she slept just ‘cause we needed her to.

Speaking of Lu, I set aside a sweet potato for her and mashed it up and she LOVED it. She’s finally getting this whole food thing, and I think she’s realizing what she’s been missing. More on that later. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you guys are enjoying lots of food and family time. We are so thankful for all of our blessings especially these two little turkeys!!

6 Months

Little Lu is 6 months old! She turned 6 months on Friday, which I thought would be great because I would have lots of time to take lots of good pictures. Instead Friday was quite busy and I was squeezing her photo session in between the thousand other things I was trying to do, yet again. But oh well, at least we got some in.

Probably shouldn’t have done them so close to naptime.

She is (as I said to a patient the other day) just a big bucket of sugar! I am so thankful for her sweet little demeanor (so far) and everything about her! She can sit unassisted for just a few seconds, and she’s very grabby. She loves playing with Z’s toys and has even taken a liking to Winnie…. Good thing he has two!

She has been a lot little stuffy these days and I think that’s been messing with her sleep.

She’s started eating solids, mashed bananas to be exact. It has taken her several tries, but I think she’s finally getting the concept. Her poops seem to confirm that theory. Next up, just in time for Thanksgiving, sweet potatoes!

Going to O-HI-yo!

Lu had her very first plane ride this weekend to Ohio! We went to visit all of Nick’s family for a (too short) weekend. Since Z is 3, we had to get him his own seat, which was actually quite great. Me and Lu took the window seat, Z sat beside me and Nick was across the aisle. They were really great on the plane. We rotated the ipad with coloring and activity books, between those and the free drinks, Z was totally entertained! Lu alternated between nursing and sleeping most of the time and she stayed pretty happy too. We opted to not bring a stroller, which I think was the right decision. Z walked most of the time, and I wore Lu, so it kept us relatively nimble in the airports. We had to connect, which was a little bit of a pain, but we never really had much of a layover, so it wasn’t that bad. We had just enough time to potty, change diaper, get food, regroup and make our way to the plane. We even had several people tell us how good our kids were on the plane.

We finally arrived at about 2:30 in the afternoon, after about 3 poopy diapers (I’m pretty sure Lu had a little diarrhea bug), 2 potty stops, a personal pan pizza, turkey sandwich, yogurt parfait, some combos and nutter butters. What is it about the airport that makes you feel like you’re starving?

Z was so tired that he dozed off a little in the car on the way to Nana and Tata’s house, but once he realized he was in “O-HI-yo,” he was ready to play. In fact, I didn’t even see him for the first hour or so after we got there. He was playing with his new toys that Nana got him, ball outside with Tata, climbing trees having all the fun a 3 year-old could imagine!

The first night Nick’s aunt Tammy and her family came over and she cooked one of Nick’s favorite dinners. We visited with them, and also finally got to meet our twin nieces! They are only 4 months younger than Lu, but they looked so tiny! I know they are going to be great friends as they grow up together.

Z had the best time with Nick’s cousin Omar, and he was so good with him. I love how Z acts around his older cousins. He immediately goes into little brother mode and follows their lead. He’s so lucky to have so many sweet cousins!

Nana and Tata went all out in preparation of our arrival! Lu and Z both had their own beds and toys. She had a tub for Lu, Z’s favorite snacks, drinks and everything. Lu loved her bed and went right to sleep every time we put her down, but Z had a harder time. The first night especially took a lot of convincing (probably because he was beyond tired), but he finally went to sleep and didn’t fuss again. I think next time it will be even easier.

Saturday, we hung around the house and Z and Lu’s great grandmother and great aunt came to visit.

Then we got ready and headed out for our photo shoot. The kids did SO well at this one. I think we probably got some great shots!

We had dinner at smashburger, then went back to Nick’s aunt’s house for dessert.

Sunday morning we went to Talia’s again to visit and see the twins, then it was back to the airport. It was such as quick trip, but as I write this I realize we did a LOT in in such a short time!

Hey Guys

We're in o-HI-yo this weekend. Can't wait to tell you all about it next week!

Too Much of a Good Thing

I am pleased to report that Lu seems to be feeling much better. She took great naps this weekend, and slept well at night every night since the incident last Sunday. I guess she just wasn’t feeling 100% for whatever reason. We had a great weekend that started with our family photo shoot on Friday morning. I was lucky enough to book a mini-session with the wonderful and very talented Heather Swanner. Our time was 8:15 on Friday morning, which was rather ambitious considering we were to report to Mountain Brook by that time with 2 kids dressed and picture ready, but long story short, we made it. It was a little chillier than we had hoped, Lu had several massive spit-up attacks, and not only was Z’s face less than sparkling clean, but also he was far more interested in the sticks and leaves than posing for any pictures, so I have NO idea how they are going to turn out, but I have full faith in Heather, so I’m not worried.

As soon as we made the turn off of 280 toward Brookwood, Z was saying he wanted to go to the mall. Lu was pooped from all the puking and it was only 8:45, so there was no going to the mall, but I did tell him we’d go to Chick Fil-A (a.k.a. Chicka Flay). That was a rather successful venture as Lu slept and Z ate and played on the playground until the lady that was floating around helping pick up trays and such and I were oohing and ahing over Lu (for like all of 5 seconds) and I turned around and Z was nowhere to be seen. Now, before you freak out, this story does have a happy ending. It was morning and it was Chick-fil-a, not a lot of people, heavy doors to the outside, I knew he was in there somewhere, and sure enough he had run to the bathroom. What I tried to explain to him (after I hugged him and told him never to leave mama and baby sister again) was that Chicka Flay is not the place to be independent about teetee-ing…

My brother was back on Saturday (yay!), and he and J had a bunch of events lined up, so by the evening they were tired, however we were in need of getting out, so we decided to leave the boys at home, and me, Nick, and Lu went out to the Summit for a bit and to get food for everybody. It was so nice going out with just her and Nick had to privilege of ergoing.

Before we left, I attempted to take a sibling picture (as I seem to like to do on Saturdays). You can guess how that went.

We got burgers from Mooyah, which was a disaster because we had to wait forever and they totally messed up our order. Luckily, Lu was very patient despite the fact we were encroaching on her bedtime. We went home, put everyone to bed and finally sat down to watch some football. I think my bro definitely understood why I get so giddy when all the kids are asleep and I finally get quiet time after he spent a couple of hours with Z and J! He was feeling pretty excited about it too!

Sunday morning was a lazy one. That afternoon, we went to a first birthday party for our sweet friend Sophie and all came back to my house (due to a surgical emergency my brother had to tend to in Sylacauga) where my mom cooked and loved on all the children. She hadn’t seen Lu and Z in a while, so she was beside herself.

Lu seems noticeably calmer and less fussy as of this weekend. I don’t know what it is but I like it!

And guys, somebody needs to help me, because I can not seem to stop taking pictures of my girl!!

I got bored on Friday, so I tried some new activities

And some new looks

Then I finally admitted I have a problem and put the iphone down.