Circus Time!

We made our annual trip to the circus again this year.  And again, we had a blast!  We were a little worried that we weren’t going to be able to go after Mikayla vomited the night before the circus.  Thankfully with some Zofran and resting her tummy, we were able to make it!  We did avoid most of the circus food, however (except for the cotton candy!), just to be safe. 

This was the first year we took Gavin.  He was so excited!  As we were walking up to the Gwinnett Arena and he saw all of the lights, his face was just lit up with pure excitement.  It was so fun to see!  He really enjoyed himself and really liked watching all of the acrobatic acts the most.  He picked out some little binoculars as his souvenir – those were a hit, too!

He is Kayla with her souvenir purchase.  Surprise, surprise she picked out a Bengal tiger.  She has gotten one for the past three years – she has quite the collection!!  You could tell she was pretty worn out from having been sick the night before and having had very little to eat that day, but she also seemed to have a very nice time.

We got great seats (at an even better price!) through my job.  We had no problem seeing everything.

This is always Mikayla’s favorite part of the circus.  She loves seeing the powerful tigers do their tricks.

This is Mikayla showing off all of her goodies.  Her tiger, the cotton candy, and the hat that came with the cotton candy.  She was one happy kid!

This is MY favorite part of the circus.  I love watching the elephants do their routine – it’s amazing to see such big animals do such intricate tricks.

As you can see, we all had a great time.  I love being able to see the joy on my children's’ faces during activities like these.  It makes for one happy mommy!

Happy Valentine’s Day?? Maybe next year….

I typically love spending Valentine's Day with my family.  We have a fun time spending time together and making a real day of it.  This year started of with the best of intentions for this.  Jeremy had to work late on Valentine’s night, so we decided to have a nice dinner together as a family the night before.   The kids gave Jeremy the card they decorated and Jeremy and I exchanged cards as well.  I gave the kids some small little presents…socks and candy for Kayla and a book and some candy for Gavin.  Jeremy also got me these beauties.

It seemed to be the beginnings of a very nice Valentine’s Day.  As we were getting Gavin ready for bed, I did notice that Gavin felt warm, so I checked his temp and it was 101.2.  He had a little cough, so I figured he was developing a bad cold – no biggie.

On Valentine’s morning, we woke up and started getting Mikayla ready for school.   I made her some eggs and some heart-shaped toast.

Mikayla headed off to school, excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day at school.

Mikayla’s teacher asked me to help out with their little Valentine’s celebration.  Jeremy was home to be able to stay home with Gavin, so I jumped at the opportunity.  When I left, Gavin still had a little fever and cough, but was general happy and playful. 

I had a great time at Mikayla’s school.  I always love being to help out. 

While I was at school, Gavin took a little turn for the worse.  He spiked a temp close to 104 (despite being given Motrin) and threw up.  I decided to take him to the pediatrician where he was diagnosed with the flu (little frustrating since he had the flu vaccine).  The prescribed Tamiflu and we rushed home to meet Mikayla off of the school bus.  After Gavin woke up from his much needed nap, we headed to Target to get his prescription filled only to find out they were out of it.  After calling several pharmacies we finally found some.  By the time I got there and got the script filled it was 6:30pm.  So instead of the heart shaped pizza that I had intended on making, we drove through McDonald’s for our Valentine’s dinner (which I noted was dead even at peak dinner time).   We finally returned home, ate and went to bed – I was beat!

Instead of going to Gavin’s Valentine’s Party at school on Tuesday, I spent the day cuddling with this…

and watching him do this…..

He was just pitiful.  We have been very blessed to have healthy children and I have to say that this was his first significant illness.  Usually he has a slight fever for a day or two, but to look at him you would never know he was sick.  This wasn’t the case this time.  Whenever his temp would reach 102, he would start crying that his head hurt and that it needed a band-aid.  It made my heart hurt.  Thankfully, the Tamiflu started to do its job and he was well on his way to recovery by Wednesday.

Well, on Tuesday, Mikayla got off of the school bus where she apparently had fallen asleep.  This is definitely not normal for her!  She kind of laid around all afternoon.  She didn’t eat much dinner and asked to go lay down after she finished because she was a little sleepy.  Then she nearly fell asleep in the bathtub!  For anyone that knows Mikayla, she is a little ball of energy so I was definitely concerned that she was starting to get sick.  Just before bed, I checked her temp and it was 101.4.

So, the next morning we headed to the pediatrician, confirmed the flu diagnosis, and got some Tamiflu for her (I called ahead to pharmacies this time!).  She spent much of that day laying around and enjoying getting to stay home a little bit.  

I was sorry that she felt bad, but I loved being able to watch her sleep and getting lots of good cuddles.  This girl does not sit still long and I loved soaking her up!

By Friday, both kids were well and life was back to normal – thank goodness!!

Daddy and Daughter Fun

Mikayla and Jeremy are currently off on a date.  Mikayla’s elementary school is holding a Daddy/Daughter dance complete with pictures, dancing and games.    Mikayla is so excited to have a special night with her daddy. (:

Mikayla loved getting fancy for her special night out.  I even let her wear a little bit of makeup (emphasizing that we only wear makeup for super special occasions!). 

These two love each other so much!

As for Gavin and I, we are sitting at home watching Toy Story 3.  (:

So in case you have been waiting on the edge of your seats…….

It’s a….

GIRL!!

We had our ultrasound this past Wednesday and we confirmed that our little angel is a girl.  We have actually had an idea that it was since our ultrasound at 12 weeks.  I was hesitant to announce, though, since she was still pretty little.   We are all so excited, though, I’m pretty sure we would have been just as excited had we found out it was a boy.  (: 

Here are some pics of our little one for your viewing pleasure….

This is a view of her face with her arms and hands tucked around her face.  You are looking at her from the bottom of my tummy.  She was curled up on her tummy.

Precious foot

Little leg

I have already purchased a couple little things since the season of clothes between this one and Mikayla will be different, but I am forcing myself to not go crazy!  Hopefully I can stick to that!

Unexpected snow vacation

On the night of Sunday, January 9th, snow started to fall at our house.  It fell very quickly and by the time Jeremy and I went to bed, we had almost 3 inches of snow.  When we woke up, there was about 6 inches on the ground.  Needless to say, school was cancelled (which made for a very happy Kayla).  Another bonus was that both Jeremy and I were scheduled off that Monday and Tuesday.  It was nice to not to have to worry about whether Jeremy was going to work or not and how I was going to try to get to work (since there are no snow days for nurses).  We had wonderful couple of days off together and really enjoyed being snowed in. 

We were out pretty early Monday morning and then again that afternoon.  The kids had so much fun running around, throwing snowballs and sledding. 

I loved the thick blanket of snow.  It was so pretty!  I am used to snow where the grass is still peaking through.  It makes a very nice backdrop for snow pics!

Mikayla and Gavin making and throwing snowballs and Daddy.  Mommy was off limits because of the baby in the belly.

Mikayla taking part in her favorite snow activity – snow angels!

This is the top of our grill – it gives you a better idea as to how high the snow was.

I love the way my house looks covered in snow.

Everyone had a lot of fun pulling each other on the sled.  Jeremy was the only one that had a lot of success.

This is our snowman that we…er…I built.  It was not an easy task.  After the snow, we had a period of some sleet that created a nice layer of ice over the snow.  This made the snow pack together fairly nicely, but it was impossible to roll the snow into a ball.  So with Jeremy’s help, the snowman is more of a snow pile that was carved into the shape of a snow man.  It took some time, but I was pretty proud.  The kids were happy with it, too!

Jeremy and the kids had a very heated snow ball fight with our neighbors. 

Our driveway was pretty slushy, so it was impossible to slide down.  The street had a pretty thick layer of ice that Jeremy would pull Mikayla around on really fast and then let of the sled so that she would slide for a distance.  My little daredevil loved it!

The kids had fun putting their backyard toys to good use in the snow.

I just love the looks of pure joy on their faces!

So, the snow wasn’t a huge weather issue, but the very thick ice that was left created some very big problems for the Atlanta area.  The city was virtually shut down until Thursday and school was cancelled for the entire week.  We lost our mid winter break, but I really didn’t mind.  I had so much fun being at home with my family during our snow break.  I was very glad to see the snow go, though – I like it, but in small doses.  I am definitely a southern gal!

First Easy Bake Creation

For Christmas, Mikayla got an Easy Bake Oven from my mom.  While on Christmas break, we decided that we needed to make a little cake.  This is Mikayla with her first culinary creation.  She did a great job and I think she has a great baking future!

We did it!

As you probably know, my youngest sister Laura lives in China.  It is a temporary situation while my brother in law completes his education, but we still miss her terribly.   A couple months before Christmas, Lollie found a good price on an airline ticket and she decided to give Mom the best Christmas present ever.  She booked a ticket to fly in the day after Christmas.  Everyone, except Mom, knew of the plan.  The plan was to fly in the day after Christmas.  Jeremy had to work that day and got off just in time to pick her up from the airport.  He was going to bring her to our post Christmas family celebration and Laura was going to completely surprise my mom. 

There was a little hitch, though.   Laura had a connecting flight in New York.  New York decided to host one of their biggest blizzards in history.   Laura’s flight got cancelled and minor chaos ensued.  I still am shocked to this day that Mom didn’t figure out something was going on.  During our family celebration, Emily and I kept ducking away to field phone calls with Laura in an attempt to figure out how the heck we were going to get her to Georgia.  This even involved many text messages during our family dinner – this is something I would NEVER do.  We managed to get her a hotel room and a dear family friend was able to get her a flight home….three days later.   To get, her side of the story, you have to read my sister’s blog post about it.  It is HILARIOUS!

So we figured out how to get her home, but now we had to come up with a new way to surprise mom (who was still clueless).  We casually brought up that we needed a family lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Dad picked Laura up from the airport and drove to meet us at the restaurant.  Initially, dad just came in and sat down and we proceeded to go about our lunch.  At this point, Laura casually walked in  and sat down to Mom.  Mom’s back was turned, so Laura tapped her on the shoulder.  My mom initially greeted her like everyday and then it hit her that Laura lives on the other side of the world and is now sitting here in front of her.  The look on her face was priceless!  It was a great moment!

I brought Mikayla to dinner with us.  She had no idea either (I feared that she would blab to mom).  I think she was just as flabbergasted as mom was!

We had a such a great time with Laura while she was here.  I think we ate at nearly every restaurant and fast food place in Alpharetta.  For most, that wouldn’t be bad because you know you can diet and return to healthy eating and drop the extra weight.  Yeah, when you are pregnant you don’t have that luxury.  I did go back to healthy eating, but did not lose any weight.  Oh well, I can do that later!

Ironically enough, Laura got stuck in Atlanta at the end of her trip thanks to another snowstorm in New York.  We decided that Laura needs to steer clear of New York layovers during the winter and that she should never fly without her husband. 

Adult’s Night Out!

I was very fortunate to be able to have a night out with my family the week after Christmas.  My parents treated us to tickets to see Manheim Steamroller’s Christmas concert at The Fox.  They have always been one of my favorite groups to listen to at Christmas and it was such a treat to see them live.  It was also nice to have an evening with my family without my little ones.  I love them dearly, but I love me some adult time, too!

It was a fun night for all!

Christmas Snow Fun!

So, due to all of the Christmas festivities, we didn’t actually go out and play on Christmas Day.  However, the day after Christmas, church was cancelled, so we headed out early to play before Jeremy had to go to work.

Mikayla LOVES to make snow angels.  I wish she would save this until later in the playing time though because she gets so wet!

My little snow sweeties!

Our driveway was one big ice slick, so it made for some great sledding.  Gavin only made one trip, but Mikayla made several.

After a morning filled of fun in the snow, Mikayla decided she needed some warm chocolate and a seat in front of the fire.  Sounds like a good place to me!

Later that afteroon, the kids and I headed down (very slowly!) to my parent’s house to celebrate Christmas with my dad’s side of the family.  I got there a little early so that the kids could play in the snow some since it was starting to melt.  We made a snowman while we were there.  I should say I made a snowman, which probably accounts for why it is so short.  Pushing around a snowball when you are pregnant is not a lot of fun.  The kids were thrilled with him, though.  That’s all that matters, right!

The snow made this Christmas vacation so much fun.  It really added to the fun of the season. I hope that they remember this, because this is not a frequent occurrence here in the south.