Blizzard 2011

At the beginning of February, we had a blizzard come through that brought us 13 inches. The storm began late morning on a Tuesday and Illinois State closed down for the whole day fortunately. Dan's company closed at noon, so we were all able to hunker down at the house. The wind was absolutely crazy and it howled all night. It blew from the North and it was blowing so hard that we discovered two imperfections in our house. First, was with Jacob's window. When I went to get him from his nap Tuesday afternoon, I discovered a small pile of snow on his carpet below his window. Apparently his window has a crack in the window frame. The second was in the corner of our garage door. We had a rather large pile of snow INSIDE our garage! We've lived here 10 years and this was the first for both of those!!

We woke up Wednesday to 13 inches of snow and high drifts everywhere. The sun broke out shortly after breakfast and Dan worked hard on clearing our driveway and sidewalks. I switched with him during the kids' lunch because I was losing my mind with their behavior and needed a break. Jacob had just had an accident that was a mess to clean up and Bailey was in a mood which resulted in her entire plate of food being chucked all over the kitchen. Shoveling snow seemed much easier than the storm brewing in our house! By the time I got outside all of our neighbors were outside and it turned into a group effort helping each other dig out. It was great to see each other after months of hibernation.

We went back to work the next day and it was such an experience driving through town. It was like driving through tunnels and not every lane was fully plowed, so it was an adventure to say the least.

Here are lots of pictures from our blizzard.

Cruise

My sister, Sharla, and I had the incredible opportunity to go on a cruise in early January together. This was a trip four years in the making. We were planning on going on a trip together in 2007, but I became pregnant with Jacob and a beach vacation while pregnant was not my idea of a good time! We chose to go on a Western Caribbean cruise through Carnival for five nights.

Day 1
We flew down to Miami the night before the cruise left in order to allow for any travel delays. Thank goodness we did because we connected through Atlanta and we literally flew out of there a couple of hours before the snowstorm that shut down the city for five days hit!!! We stayed near the port and our hotel was across the street from a major shopping/tourist complex. We spent hours there and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner - outside!!! It was so strange to eat outside in January!!

Day 2
The next day we took our time getting ready and headed to the port early and actually got right on the ship and were able to spend the afternoon sitting outside and exploring the ship before it even left. We took several pictures of the Miami skylines while on the boat. I think there are four!! The first evening we had dinner in the dining room, which was an experience, and then attended several of the events scheduled for that night. That was also our first experience of what the ship felt like while at sea. You really felt the movement, particularly on either end of the ship and it makes you a bit uneasy. I managed without any medication, but Sharla had to take some at times to keep her nausea under control.

Day 3
Our first full day was at Nassau, Bahamas. We got up early, ate breakfast, and left the ship to meet up for our excursion to the Atlantis resort. It was so pretty and BIG! We first took part in a deep water swim with the dolphins. Wow!! This was such a neat experience. It began with instruction on how to interact with the dolphins and then we were divided up into small groups that worked with a trainer and dolphin. We got to pet them, hug them, and take pictures with them. We then got to swim with them across the bay with a propeller and snorkel gear. It was so neat to watch them swim through the water. Next was the ride of a lifetime. We each took turns laying on a wake board and the dolphins swam up behind us and pushed across the water with their noses. Very, very cool!!. Last up we got a private show of the all of the dolphins doing their synchronized flips out of the water.

After our dolphin adventure, we spent the rest of the day at the Atlantis water park. This water park had a mile-long lazy river and multiple water slides, two of which are major vertical drops. One was a 60-foot drop that shot you through a tunnel within a shark tank. The other was 120 feet long!! You literally felt like you were dropping through the air and it was extremely thrilling. It was fun to do it once, but I couldn't be talked into going multiple times! The water park would have been more fun if it was sunny and warmer and we froze much of the day. It was amazingly not busy either, which surprised me. We also wandered around the resort and went through its well-known aquarium tunnel. I expected it to be nicer, but I've also been to the Georgia Aquarium which is the largest in the world I believe. It was still neat to be at this resort that is globally known and one that I've seen on TV and in magazines!!

Dinner was great and we attended lots of evening activities, including a Broadway-comparable show.

Day 4
We went to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas the next day. This was my favorite day of the whole trip. The island is Carnival's own private island and it was beyond gorgeous. I woke up that day and got in a good run on the running track at the top of the ship (had to burn off all the food I ate). We got off the ship right away and lounged on the beach before we had to leave for our snorkeling adventure. Snorkeling was fun despite the lack of fish that we saw. It was disappointing, yet still fun to swim around the ocean. We then caught a lunch barbecue in one of the huts and then laid on the beach the rest of the afternoon. This was my idea of a perfect day!!

Dinner was another amazing experience and we enjoyed the nightly entertainment.

Day 5
This day was our last day of port. Since our ship wasn't scheduled to arrive to our port until 11:00, we scheduled massages and facials early in the morning. I've never done either before and have to say I wasn't blown away! Not really my thing, especially for the amount we spent on them!

We docked at Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, alongside another ship and started the day out lounging on the beach. It was HOT. I was actually thrilled for some clouds that day, although the rain put a damper on the majority of the day. We took reprieve from the rain at Margaritaville and then did some shopping. It was frustrating to lose our day to the rain, but what are you going to do?!!

We took a break from the dining room this night and ate at the buffet and walked around outside. The storm was coming through and the wind was incredible. We pretended to be Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel in a hurricane!!

Day 6
This was our last full day on the boat and we were hoping to lay out all day on the ship since we were at sea. Not the case. We woke up to the temps in low 60s with clouds and 40-50 mph wind. It was so windy that they closed the upper deck, so I couldn't get my run in that day. Despite the weather, I figured it was still nicer than back home and lounged on the chairs all day bundled up. The clouds broke for about an hour and I got some sun in, which helped our moods! We got lots of reading in, so I was happy about that. This was also my birthday and it was nice to be away from reality!

The night ended with an incredible show and dinner.

Day 7
We arrived back to Miami first thing in the morning and had breakfast before we disembarked from the ship. Our flights home (three of them!) went flawlessly and we were home by 9:00 pm.

It was such a great trip and I can't wait for my next cruise!! I highly recommend it and hope to go with Dan in a few years when the kids are older. One thing that I didn't expect was to have motion issues when we got back. I felt like I was still swaying on the ship and was uneasy for a few days after returning. Not sick, but just a little tipsy!!

Below is a photo album of our trip.

Cruise 2011

Things I HATE Saying

I'm finding myself saying the same things over and over to the kids that I absolutely hate saying. I feel like some days, especially lately, I'm this monster mom who just yells at her kids all day long. One of these days they will learn that I hate saying them more than they hate hearing them!

Sit down and finish your dinner.

Don't throw your food on the floor.

Stop banging your fork/spoon on the table.

Keep eating or I'm going to turn off the TV.

Don't push your sister.

Don't take that toy out of your brother's/sister's hand.

You need to go wash your hands since you just went potty.

Get your finger out of your nose. Go get a kleenex.

Stop drinking the bath water.

Don't splash the water too hard because you are getting me wet.

Go back to your room.

Don't come out of your room (after bedtime) or you are going to lose a toy.

Don't bang your wall with your toys.

Stay in your car seat until I can come over there and buckle you in.

Don't run away from me (in public places).

No, you cannot watch another TV show, you just watched two (our limit).

Stop jumping off the furniture.

Don't climb on the kitchen table, play kitchen, piano (yep this happens!), top of the couch, dining room table.

You do not talk to me or Daddy that way.

It's time to clean up the toys.

You need to listen.

What do you say? (prompting for a "please" and "thank you").



These are just a few things that I say often. I do say a lot of nice things to the kids too, but lately, I feel like the negatives are far outwaying the positives!!

Jacob's Pink House and Airplane

My next planned post was to supposed to be about my cruise, but since it is only a quarter done (it's going to be rather windy), I'll slip in this post.

Jacob's imagination seems to really be developing as of late. One thing that he continually talks about with excitement is his pink house that he has. This house is amazing in his eyes and has everything that he could ever want. For example, I'm in the middle of making dinner right now and he asked me if we could eat apples. I reply that we don't have any right now and he says that he has apples in his pink house. This house apparently doesn't have rules and is restricted to those that are on his good list for the moment. This house previously was yellow and I actually was asked by teachers at his preschool if we lived in a yellow house because he was talking about it a lot.

He also has an airplane that he owns and flies and likes to take family and friends on plane rides. He doesn't have any specific destinations, but he loves to fly it. When I told him that Aunt Sharla and I were going to fly in airplanes on our trip, he said that he was going to fly us and Daddy and Bailey were coming to. I think that a trip to our airport sometime to watch the planes arrive and depart will be a special trip that we might take in the near future :)

I think the fact that he has this great imagination is an exciting stage in his development and I love to go along and live in his dream world with him!!

Unexpected Blessing

Today is one of those days that takes a 180-degree turn at the drop of a hat. Dan left for Alabama for a five-day trip with his brother at 4:30 a.m. to go golfing, so it's my turn to be a single parent. I was all ready to walk out the door this morning with the kids on time, which never happens. My last task was to wake Bailey up and get her dressed. I walked into her room to an overwhelming smell that all parents can distinguish. The poor girl had gotten sick repeatedly overnight and never even cried or tried to alert us to the fact. It was all over her crib, her books, her stuffed animals, and caked in her hair. That's when I knew my day was not going to go as planned.

Since I'm by myself and didn't want to take Bailey out of the house, that meant that all three of us were staying home. It took me 45 minutes to clean that disaster up!! Amazingly, Bailey has done fairly well today and even has eaten and kept it all down. She's just very tired. I'm hoping that Jacob and I can ward this off, especially me, because if I'm sick it will be interesting on how these kids will get taken care of!!

Although poor Bailey isn't well, this day has been actually nice. I've been feeling really sad lately that these kids are growing up and I'm spending my days at work. I love my job and need to work, but it doesn't mean that I don't miss time with the kids. I think that my time with them over Christmas break and my actual break from life while on my vacation has really made me reevaluate my priorities in life. I've gotten to spend bonus time with the kids today that I normally wouldn't have had. We've eaten at our leisure and not in a rush, we've watched lots of children's TV, read books, raced cars down a race track, played Candyland (with Jessie and Buzz of course!), and the day is still young. I also get them ALL weekend to myself, so I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. I just can't bear the thought of the fact that one day they will be teenagers and not want anything to do with me and will eventually begin lives outside of this house.

So who would have ever thought a sick day would be an unexpected blessing?!!

Jacob Day

I took the day off of work in early December to spend with Jacob. I really think that he likes these days. He kept saying "just you and me mommy" throughout the day. We spent the morning at the Children's Museum and then went to McDonald's for lunch and then he spent some time in the indoor playground for the first time. It was a little nerve-wracking for mommy not being able to see him, but he had a good time!

The incredible Christmas village display

Water play

His favorite, the red delivery truck

Making pizzas

Train track

Tractor

Climbing structure

Floor piano

Virtual drum station

Stage

Image projectory

Our Christmas and New Year's

We had a great Christmas and had lots of quality family time between Christmas and New Year's. One of the perks of working for ISU is getting seven work days off. I usually fill my time off with house projects, but his year I made it a point to just relax. Dan and I had an impromptu day date on the 23rd and went out to lunch and went bowling. It was fun and felt like old times!

We spent Christmas Eve at home while the snow piled up outside. Due to the weather our church cancelled its services, so we got in the car and drove around and looked at Christmas lights. Dan had a little fun driving in our four-wheel drive on the empty streets :) Before bedtime, Jacob and Bailey spread out reindeer food and left cookies for Santa.

The kids slept in (til 7:30) Christmas morning and we went down to see what Santa brought them. We then ate breakfast and opened presents. Since it was just us for the day, I planned on spreading the gift opening all day, but Jacob was not in agreement with that idea! Bailey, however, got tired of opening gifts and gave up when she had four to go! She kept pushing them away and in her little girl voice saying "no" and shaking her head. She finally decided to finish opening her gifts before lunch and the rest of the day was spent relaxing.

We kept the kids home from church the next day because both of them had gross colds and I didn't want to spread their germs onto others. We took them sledding but neither one was really into it this time around. Dan went back to work on Monday and I kept the kids home with me for the day. We were supposed to go visit family in Decatur, but their trip got cancelled due to the crazy snowstorm out east.

Jacob and I had a fun day on Wednesday and he went to his first dental appointment. It took him awhile to warm up, but he did fine once he discovered that he could move the controls of the chair. Such a boy!

We spent New Year's Eve morning with our friends from North Carolina who were in town for a visit along with our other friends in town who were part of our group before they moved. It was crazy because none of us had kids back then and now there are lots!

The rest of our weekend was pretty normal. I absolutely loved the down time and getting to spend so much time with the kids. We don't get to do that often, so it was a real treat. I also think that I am the most relaxed I've been in probably three years or so. I leave for the cruise with my sister this Sunday and I am so glad I am heading into the trip already relaxed and with some good family time spent over break.

Here are lots of pictures!!

Jacob and Bailey in front of the tree


Spreading reindeer food

Leaving cookies for Santa

Posing together

Santa came!!

Coming down the stairs Christmas morning

Look! Santa ate the cookies!

Looking at what Santa brought

Jacob's stocking

Bailey's stocking

Picture in their pjs

Bailey's new doll

Jacob's race track

Jacob's new blanket I made him

Bailey's new blanket I made her

Bailey's new Dora Backback

Bailey playing with her new doll

Jacob posing in front of the tree

Our gifts from the kids (made at daycare)

Daddy and Jacob "in the zone" watching Toy Story 3

Jacob loved the Santa hat

Jacob's first dentist appointment