Vacation - Orlando and Treasure Island

 We had a great vacation the week of Memorial Day.  David had a business trip in Orlando and we decided to tag along and make it into a family vacation. We spent Tuesday-Friday in Orlando and then went down to St. Pete / Treasure Island Friday-Sunday.  We didn't do all the Disney parks as this was kind of a last minute trip and Disney is EXPENSIVE! We did get to go to Epcot one evening though and that was a lot of fun.We also spent some time at Downtown Disney.

 

I know you will be shocked to hear this, but I rarely used my big camera on the trip. I just didn't feel like carrying it around, but I did have my phone with me and took most of the pics on our trip with that.  I have not uploaded the photos I took with my big camera, but below are the ones from my phone.  I will post the rest later (I did take the pics of Ethan with Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy on my big camera and ones of Ella with Minnie Mouse...I will post those in a separate post).

The first night we had dinner with David's co-workers.  

While David was at his work conference during the day, Ethan, Ella, and I went exploring.  We made a few trips to Downtown Disney which is free parking and free to get into.  We walked around the different shops and I let Ethan pick out what he wanted (which we would later go and actually purchase at Walmart for 1/3 of the price!)

Ella was in LOVE with this Minnie Mouse doll.  Thankfully no fits were thrown when I had to put it back on a shelf. We later got her the exact same one from Walmart.

Ethan was fascinated with all the giant lego structures

This kid LOVES legos!!!

The MUSE conference David attended was at Coronado Springs Resort.  It was such a nice place! We spent a lot of time at the pool.  Ethan had a blast at this big pool.  There was a huge waterslide that he probably rode 100 times while we were there! 

The bottom of the waterslide...

Ethan and his new pals...

Minnie Mouse!!!

 Ready for Epcot!

We all rode Spaceship Earth together and then David took Ethan to ride Soarin' 

while Ella and I walked around. 

We all enjoyed the big firework show at Epcot before we left.  Ella loved it! Ethan...not so much.  He's not a fan of loud noises.  

Friday, we checked out of the resort and headed to St. Pete.

 We got turned around at one point and ended up on this little one lane access rode over Tampa Bay.  It was so beautiful there.  I didn't catch a shot of it, but after a few minutes of driving along this road, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water and fish flopping around everywhere.  So amazing! 

 

Our first night we ate dinner at Joe's Crab Shack! Ethan got a balloon sword...

 

Ella (though eating cheerios in this pic) had her first taste of shrimp and loved it!

 

We made our way over to Clearwater and walked on the beach in the dark with our flashlights.  There were no crabs to be found, but we had fun anyway.

On Saturday we spent the day at the beach at Treasure Island.  It was probably the most fun we have had at the beach so far.  The kids had a great time and the water was really nice.  I am usually not a big fan of the water, but we didn't see swarms of jellyfish like we did in Panama City in the fall, so it was really nice to play in the waves with the kids.

I learned that Ella tans nicely.  She must not have her Mommy's skin! I coated us all in sunscreen but she still got a nice tan.

 And of course we had to stop at Beach Snoballs! Our friends, Jeremy and Trista own this great place.  September (Trista's sister) and Morgan run it and do a fabulous job! September was as sweet and patient as she could be while we made our choices! If you are ever in the St. Pete/Treasure Island area, you have GOT to stop by and try one of these!!!!!!

Ethan had cherry with gummy worms

 David had the Peaches n cream and LOVED it! And I enjoyed a strawberry/mango smoothie! YUM!

Ethan shared...

Trips like this never seem to last long enough.  I really love getting to spend time with my family! Can't wait for our next vacation (whenever that may be!)

Week Recap - Parties, Baptisms, & The End of Kindergarten

This past week was a week full of...well....LIFE! There were a lot of big events and memories were made.

Friday - We surprised our pastor and dear friend, Philip with a graduation party.  He graduated with his masters from Liberty University a few weeks ago, so we all went out to a friend of a friend's lake house and had a great time!

Saturday - My dear friend Karen turned 40! We celebrated with a ladies breakfast at Robin's house!

Later that afternoon I did a fun maternity photo session with Trista, Jeremy, Hayden, Layne, & of course Baby Gwynn who is on her way!

Sunday - Sunday was one of those days that we will remember for the rest of our lives.  On March 18th (Ella's 1st birthday), Ethan accepted Christ as his Savior!!! We believe that once you accept Christ, you then get baptized as an act of obedience and to make your decision to accept Christ public. Being baptized through full immersion is symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 3:13-17, you can read about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist as an example to us.

Before we went to the baptism, we took some new flowers to Noah's grave.  And Ethan wanted to tell his little brother that he was getting baptized! 

 So on Sunday, my sweet boy was baptized by his Daddy! 

And here is a great video of all the baptisms at our church on Sunday...

Monday - Ella sings her ABC's...sort of...

Tuesday - Ethan had his Kindergarten Awards Ceremony Tuesday morning.  So emotional for me...he is growing up so fast! 

Our little Math Whiz

Ethan and his buddies Josh, Adrian, and Zachary.  Ethan made it into the gifted program for next year and I am pretty sure Josh made it in too! So glad he will have his best bud with him!

Ethan & Mrs. Baker (so thankful for this AMAZING teacher!!!)

Wednesday - Ethan had "Beach Day" at school.  No pics though...I had to work. :o(

Thursday - Ethan's last day of Kindergarten...take a look at how much he has grown...

And Ethan and David left to go on their first Father/Son Camping trip with David's best friend Dewayne and his son Oliver...

 

It's so hard for me to not be able to talk to them for 4 whole days (they don't have a phone signal where they are), but I am so proud of the Daddy that David is and how he wants so badly to be a Godly example to Ethan.  He wants to really spend quality time investing into his son's life.  I love this photo because it really captures how much Ethan loves his Daddy.

Friday & Today - Friday was Ella's last day with Trista because baby Gwynn will be here soon.  Trista has watched her for 10 months now while I work.  I can't even express how grateful I am to have had someone watch her who truly loved Ella like her own.  Thank you, Trista!!! Ella and I are spending some good quality girl time together while the boys are camping.  And then we are packing our bags because on Monday we leave to go to Macon and then Tuesday we head to Orlando! We are too broke for Disney, but we are tagging along on David's business trip and we will get to go to Epcot while we are there.  I can't wait!!!

Ella at 14 Months

At 14 months old you are 29" tall and weigh 20lbs, 9oz. Your hair is just long enough to put in short little piggy tails and I think you look just adorable with them. You are stubborn as ever (don't know where you possibly inherited that from) and you still refuse to walk without holding onto something.  You can speed walk with your baby stroller and just recently Nana taught you to walk around the house holding just one of our hands instead of two.  You did take a few steps last week when Nana and Aunt Fiss stopped by the house.  And at Uncle J's house on Mother's Day, you stood in front of his coffee table, playing with Mamaw's jewelry and you balanced yourself for like 5 minutes without holding onto anything.

You are very sensitive.  If Mommy or Daddy look at you and say, "No, no" firmly, that is all it takes for your lip to start quivering and the tears to start pouring down your face. You are becoming quite the cuddler which of course makes mommy so happy.  Up until now, you did not like to be rocked to sleep, but now you love it.  You give sweet kisses while making the "Mmmmm..wha" sound.You get so excited when we all clap for you. You can point out the bunny on each page of your bunny book and point out the hippo on each page of "But Not the Hippopotamus!" Did I mention that you have not once, but twice eaten a ladybug? Just for the record...that's not cool.You have 8 teeth...4 on top, 4 on bottom, and you are cutting 3 more currently. Nobody can make you laugh like your big brother can! And yes, sweet angel, you have your Daddy wrapped tightly around your little finger.

Your newest words are "Baby" "Stop it" and "All done".  It is so cute! When I am done feeding you dinner, you hold out your hands and give a little shoulder shrug and say, "All done".  Makes mommy giggle every time.  ADORABLE!

You LOVE to dance (shake your booty) and  your Nana says about you (from her favorite movie, Mama Mia), "She can sing before she can talk, she can dance before she can walk". Whenever you are crying in the van, I turn on Kari Jobe's song, "What Love Is This" and you immediately stop crying and start singing.  It is the craziest thing...but this has happened at least 5 times now (thank you, Kari!!!)

These are some of the words you know so far...
Dada (you yell this first thing every morning while you patiently wait for Daddy to come pick you up out of your crib)
Mama (you say this very clear and deliberate now and it just melts my heart!)
Bubba (for Ethan)
No, no, no (your favorite)
All Done
Toes
Go (you yell this at Tanner a lot)
Stop it (you say this as clear as a bell...so funny)
You can sing the alphabet...sort of....A, B, C, D, E, ah...g....eh i, ah, ke, ahzeela, P, coo, ah ssssstt, ahhh V, aaaawwwuu, ah eh, GZEEE, ah oh uh ah A, B, C's, (indistinct chatter during "next time won't you sing with me")
duck (quack quack)
moooooo (for cow)
Weeeeeeee (when we swing you around)
Baby (and you said, "Baby Noah" on Mother's Day)
Bay-doll (for baby doll)
Bebo (for belly button)
Nana
Papaw
and you try to say Mamaw, but it comes out "mama".  
And your Nana and Aunt Erica insist that you repeated Aunt E the other day and said, "AWESOME!"

You really talk a lot...but most of the time it's your own little language.  

You are a LOT like your big brother! You do the exact same thing that he did at your age when it's time to brush your teeth.  You make this noise, "Sssss...ssss...ssss".  So crazy that you both did this! And I guess you took notice of your bubba sucking his thumb and putting the other thumb in his belly button.  You used to go for the ear...now it's your belly b ("Bebo").

You are a much better eater than your big brother, though you are starting to be picky about certain things. You hate squash!.

Mommy nurses you at night, but you are mostly on whole milk now (this makes Mommy sad, but it's time...). Mommy's milk must have done you good though.  You have only been sick once (and that was very minor) since birth.

Love you, sweet Ella Jane.  Can't wait to spend my free Fridays off of work with you and Ethan this summer.

Please don't grow up too fast!

The Little Thumb Sucker

 My little boy is a thumb sucker.  He always has been.  In fact, we have a video of him from in my womb sucking his thumb.  He was sucking his thumb on the day he was born. When he was really little, he used to put one hand on his neck and suck his thumb with the other.  For the last few years he has been putting one thumb in his belly button while sucking his thumb.

 

 

When he was 3 years old, about to turn 4, he said he was going to quit sucking his thumb after his 4th birthday.  It didn't happen.  Then as his 5th birthday approached he said the same thing.  He made a really good effort.  He went the entire summer of 2011 without sucking his thumb.  We thought he was really done.  Then he started Kindergarten.  And you know...Kindergarten is stressful (lol), so he started it up again.  So for the last several weeks as he approached his 6th birthday, he was determined to stop sucking his thumb.

On Sunday morning (his 6th birthday) he said, "Mommy, I'm done sucking my thumb."  I was so proud of him.  He made it through the entire day.

And then it was bed time.

Usually we tuck Ethan into bed and he goes right to sleep, but Sunday night he kept getting out of bed and coming in our room.  He was stalling.  Finally I took him back to his bed (for the third time), he layed down, put his hands up over his head, looked up at me.....and then started sobbing.  It was enough to break a Mommy's heart.  "What's wrong, buddy?" I asked.  He said, "Mommy, I shouldn't have promised to stop sucking my thumb.  This is so hard.  It's like this force that's making me want to suck my thumb.  It makes my tummy feel better and I just don't know what to do."  I told him what a great job he was doing.  That I was proud of him for going all day without sucking his thumb.  I told him we would help him in whatever way we could.  We prayed together that God would help him to quit.  Then in true "Mommy-can't-handle-seeing-her-boy-so-upset" fashion, I told him that I didn't want him laying there upset all night and that if he needed to suck his thumb for a few minutes it was ok (Gasp...I know, I'm a sucker.......but not a thumb sucker).   I told him he could try to make it through the entire day the next day.  It is now Thursday and to my knowledge he has not sucked his thumb since Sunday night.  Last night was difficult for him, so I pulled out this little frog puppet of Ella's and let him wear it on his hand to keep him from putting his thumb in his mouth (he favors his left hand).  It worked! He made it all night without sucking his thumb!

I must admit, it makes me a little sad that my little boy is growing up so fast and that this is just one more step to prove it.  But the thumb sucking days aren't over just yet in my house....

Just like her big brother...