February 28

Yesterday Nonna arrived during nap time. Clay and I went out to eat and then to a Sunday School social while Nonna stayed at home with the girls. They made pancakes and had a picnic while watching "The Sound of Music".




Today we went to Pizza King for lunch. After that Clay took the girls home for a nap so Nonna and I could go to a movie. "Confessions of a Shopoholic" was cute - definitely a chic flick.

February 27

Last night Mamaw Pat came over to play with the kids for awhile. We went outside and played for awhile and tried to get the girls to ride their bikes. Julia is still hesitant on her new big girl bike. She is afraid of falling. And Kat is learning how to pedal a tricycle. Both gave up pretty quickly and had fun playing with sidewalk chalk instead.

I didn't get much sleep last night. I woke up at 2am to go pee. At 3:45 Julia woke us up screaming because of the thunder storm, so she slept in our bed until it passed. At 4:50 I laid her back down in her bed, then at 5:45 I had to get up to let Anna (the little girls I babysit) in the house. So after I am done posting this I am going to take a nap! :P

This morning we had several friends and their Mommies come over for a play date. They left after lunch. Now we are waiting for Nonna to arrive for the weekend!

Julia made this crown in AWANA - she wears it alot!

February 26

This morning I have Mom's Group and the girls have Bible Buddies. Here are some pictures Julia took with her camera over the past month (from Disney World, the zoo, etc.):

February 25

We went to the zoo this morning and enjoyed beautiful weather (low 50s and sunny). It wasn't crowded, we got to enjoy some fresh air, and get some exercise - good day! We came home and all three of us took naps. I can't seem to make it through the day without one right now- I have little to no energy! But at least the throwing up has stopped (I switched to over-the-counter pre-natal vitamins, so it appears the prescription ones were to blame!).


Tonight we have AWANA. Julia has memorized 3 new verses for Cubbie Bears. Kat goes to Honeybees (AWANA for 2 yr-olds) and she calls the church "Honeybee House".

February 24

For lunch we met up with some of the other Moms and kids from church for a play date at Burger King (for those of you keeping track, we have eaten fast food for lunch every other day for a week - time to back off for awhile!). We stayed at home tonight and watched the first part of "My Dog Skip". It's cute so far. For the past few days Kat has been pretending to be a puppy. She is really cute, except when she tries to lick you!

Here's Julia's crazy laugh...

February 23

It's been a quiet morning and we have no plans for the rest of the day. I spent some time looking through old photos, so I am sharing some of my favorites from...

One Year Ago

Kat discovered that she could climb onto the breakfast bar (and this particular day Daddy had left a box of donuts!)

Two Years Ago

Julia was 25 months, Kat was 5 months

Marshmallow Cream monster

Three Years Ago

At 13 months, Julia finally decided she was ready to walk- she was so proud of herself! (this was right around the time we learned that I was pregnant with Kat)

Four Years Ago

Julia at 10 weeks - she's always had a lot of hair!

February 22

This morning Clay had to work. The girls and I went to church. We went to Wendy's after church and ran into Russ and Carolyn and their kiddos, so we sat with them. The girls were wild at the restaurant and then really fussy on the way home. They must have been tired because they both took long naps (I did too). After dinner Kat and I went to the grocery store. She is such a sweet little girl 1x1. When we got home Clay and Julia were bonding over Star Wars.

February 21

This morning the girls slept in until 7:30... that's about an hour later than usual! Woot! I felt pretty good this morning (more energy than I have had for awhile), so I cleaned the house, did laundry, and filed some paperwork. Clay went for a 5 mile run and then went to a Sunday School Men's get-together. After he got home we all went to Tony Roma's for dinner (yum!) and then to All About Kids. My friend Aimee's little boy was celebrating his 3rd birthday. Happy Birthday Tater Bug!

Julia played on the trampolines a lot tonight

Here's Kat on the trapeze...


Clay and I both think All About Kids should have an adult night so we can play too! Doesn't it look like fun!?!

February 20

A friend sent me this link about my hometown of Lincoln, IL. Mr. Gleason, one of the men featured in the video, was my 7th grade History teacher.

This morning we ran errands. We visited with Bapaw for awhile before heading over to Ms. Peggy's house to see her new place and her new doggy. Julia has decided that a good name for the dog is Julia.

Kat loves stickers. This time she decided I would make a good sticker book.

Peggy, Julia, Kat, and Julia the dog (?)

February 19

Happy Birthday Aunt Terah! (Kat sends her warmest wishes)

This morning I had Mom's Group and the girls went to Bible Buddies. No other plans today. Last night Clay didn't get home from work until about 8pm and tonight could be just as late!

February 18

This morning both girls woke up and were really whiny. We headed for the library/pet store late this morning and Kat fell asleep on the way(plus they both took 3 hour naps this afternoon, so they were tired). We met Tracy, Jonathan, and Tracy's Grandma at story time at the library. Afterwards we ate at Burger King for lunch. The girls must have been hungry because they ate every bite of their food. Tonight we had AWANA at church.

Julia is resting, but Kat is passed out

at the pet store

Today at the library we had a woman come teach us about dental health. Here Julia is brushing Mr. Monkey's teeth.

We learned something today at the library that is somewhat disturbing. If you read the Nutrition labels on food packages, for every 4 grams of sugar in the food, it equals 1 teaspoon of sugar. The chocolate milk the girls had at lunch had 7+ teaspoons of sugar in it!

Pregnancy Note: I have now thrown up more with this pregnancy than I did with the girls' combined. I have evening sickness, rather than morning sickness. And while I kept down my greasy whopper Jr and onion rings from lunch, I threw up pretzel salad this afternoon. I guess it's a blessing that I feel bad when Clay's home to help out, but it's a miserable feeling each day to know that evening sickness is coming... (it reminds me of Julia's newborn days and dreading the 5-8pm colicky time)

February 17

Mamaw Pat sent me this website where you can print out words for kids to practice handwriting (handwritingworksheets.com)

This morning we met Jill, Brody, and Mollie at the mall so the kids could play on the slide for awhile.

Buddies

Playing with the trains at Von Maur

While the big kids played trains, we dressed the little girls up. Kat kept hers on for about 30 seconds, but Mollie really liked it. Jill has a little Princess on her hands!

Every 1 yr old needs a purse with bling!

February 16

Clay had today off work because it's President's Day. He stayed home with the girls this morning so I could go to my Ob/Gyn appt. I have gained 2 pounds (which I was surprised about since I have been eating alot - I guess all the walking we did at Disney helped!). I got to hear the heartbeat again, which I wasn't expecting, because my other Doctor wouldn't even try until you hit 12 weeks. All is well there. After I got home, we went bowling. Julia really enjoys it. After bowling we went to McD's for lunch. We're not sure what happened, but Kat came off the slide crying and had a nice little bruise/scrape under her left eye. While Kat and I were taking naps, Clay took Julia and Anna to see the movie, Hotel for Dogs (he'll go see almost any movie at the theater, just so long as they have popcorn!).

February 15

We didn't go to church this morning (it's our 4th week in a row!) because Kat had diarrhea last night. We didn't know if it was something she ate or a stomach bug, so we figured it's better to be safe than sorry! I went to the grocery store and then to hang out with Lana for a couple of hours. Clay went for a 5 mile run this afternoon. Other than that, we have just laid around the house all day - literally! I think we're all still recovering from our trip. I am still trying to gather the energy to finish the laundry. Ugh. This morning I posted all our pictures from the power outage on the Feb. 6th post. No new pictures today.

February 14

Happy Valentine's Day!

This morning I woke up at 5:30am (probably because I went to bed at 7:30pm, right after I laid the girls down). The girls slept until 8! 12 1/2 hours - they were worn out! I started on the laundry and ran to the grocery store for a few things. We had Mamaw and Bapaw, and Mamaw and Papaw G over for dinner last night so they could see the girls and our pictures from Disney World.

Julia and Mamaw G playing with Mr Potato Head. Kat's souvenir from Disney was a bunch of Disney accessories for him (Mickey ears, Minnie Mouse shoes, etc.).

Bapaw brought us red Rice Krispy treat hearts. It's a tradition he has done since Clay, Bob, and Joe were little. Thanks Bapaw!

February 13

This morning on our bus on the way to the airport (on Friday the 13th, no less) we heard on the radio about a plane crash. Then when we got on the airplane, we were assigned to row 13. I thought it had to be a very bad sign. Thankfully we made it home safely. I did have morning sickness on the 1st plane (lovely, I know). As were getting off the plane, Julia announced to the pilot and flight attendants that "My Mommy threw up" as I pass them carrying my barf bag. After that, the rest of the day went as expected. Kat was exhausted. She slept through lunch (very unlike her) and then slept for another hour or so on a bench in the terminal while we waited for our plane. We had a 3 hour layover in Chicago, and she slept almost the whole time.
The girls (and I) were in bed at 7:30pm last night.

Tired of having her picture taken

Here are some things we learned this week:

• Walt Disney World is a magical place - especially when you experience it through the eyes of your children!
• It is a great vacation, but you are exhausted when it's over. It's definitely not a relaxing trip.
  
• To avoid waiting in long lines for characters, make reservations to have Character Dining (for the popular ones like the Princesses you need to make them 180 days in advance). It is pricey, but the experience is fun.
  
• Avoid the Magic Kingdom on Saturdays... too crowded.
• We have been in October and February. It's warm and the crowds aren't as bad as in the summer. In fact, we have decided you couldn't pay us to go in the summer. I can't imagine the crowds and the heat making for a fun visit.
  
• Get to the parks about 30 minutes before they open... you can ride about anything you want without waiting in line for the first hour or two.
• Take your own stroller. We thought it would be a hassle to have to get it on and off the buses, etc., but there's alot of walking to get from hotel rooms to the buses, and from the buses to the stroller rentals. We carried the kids alot - our arms are sore!
• Julia makes friends everywhere she goes.
  
• Everyone that worked on property greeted the girls as "Princesses"... tell me that didn't go to their head! Ha!
  
• When Kat tells you she has to go potty, find one fast! We had an accident of both types within the first couple of days.
• We have decided that we'll return when our baby is 4 years old and at least 40 inches tall. This way we won't have to worry about naps and 40 inches allows them to ride alot of the bigger rides. Julia is about about a millimeter under 40 inches tall, but they wouldn't let her on the big rides yet.
  
• The girls really enjoyed watching the old Disney cartoons on TV.
  
• We recommend the meal plan. We brought breakfast foods and snacks foods, but we used the meal plan for 1 snack per day, 1 quick service meal, and 1 table service meal. We got our money's worth (and then some) out of the plan. PS - the food at Disney World is expensive (no surprise there).
  
• Make reservations for the table service meals as soon as you arrive at Disney World. You don't want to be walking around the parks looking for a nice meal and have the restaurants be booked up.
• Staying on property was nice because we got to take advantage of the extra park hours that only people on property get. Crowds are manageable.
  

February 12

We went back to the Magic Kingdom this morning and rode more rides. We took the monorail to Epcot for lunch at the Coral Reef, a seafood restaurant that has huge aquariums along one wall. The food was really good (I had a steak because I don't eat seafood) and the girls were entertained by the aquarium. We went back to the Magic Kingdom for the parade. Late in the afternoon we headed to the Beach Club resort for ice cream at Beaches 'n Cream and then headed back to our hotel to swim, eat pizza, and pack up for the plane ride tomorrow.

Waiting for the park to open

We had the characters sign our Disney Story book

Kat kept saying "He's a boy" about Captain Hook

At the Coral Reef restaurant

Here comes the parade - it was hot out and we were in the sun! If you want a shady spot, you have to be there more than 30 minutes before it starts.

One tired Julia

Here we are at Beaches 'n Cream. We ordered the Kitchen Sink. It is 8 scoops of ice cream, an entire can of whipped cream, plus cookies, candy bars, brownies, etc. on top. Our Concierge recommended it, so we thought we'd give it a try. When they bring it out to you, they dim the lights in the place, have siren lights flashing, and make a big announcement... it was pretty embarrassing... but yummy! And no, we did not finish it. This would be a good challenge for Man vs. Food!

Kat in her element!

We don't know if she passed out from sugar shock or exhaustion... probably both!

Doesn't everybody have Naked Pizza Parties!?! PS - she ate the entire piece!

Here are the girls meeting Peter Pan. Julia told him we were from "Kentucky Louisville"