We'll Call This 11 Months

Gracyn loves her Valentine's Zuzu pet. She can climb on top of her sister's table, to get their stuff!
She loves helping Mommy with the dishes.

And, she is the closest thing we have had to a "Daddy's Girl".

I just realized today, that since she was born on the 30th, Gracyn won't have an 11 month birthday this month, so we will go with today. She is at such a fun stage....watching her learn new things each day is great. This month she learned how to brush her teeth and comb her hair. She has WILD hair, that sticks up every which direction and she prefers to brush it herself. She also just started to laugh. She has always been a happy girl full of smiles, but until this week, she just wasn't a laugher. Now, all of the sudden, everything we do is hilarious and she laughs at us all day long. We love that sound! We also love to hear her say, "sissy, uh-oh, and quack-quack". Those are her newest words.

At 11 months old, my girl still isn't sleeping through the night. But, if she follows in her sisters footsteps, it will be sometime in the next month. Right now she still likes to nurse a few times at night....we are working on it! Baby Girl also still has NO NEED for naps. My other girls were such good nappers and on a strict schedule, so this has taken some getting used to. She functions well with very little sleep. Most days she wakes up around 6:30am goes to bed around 7:30pm and takes two 20 to 45 minute naps in between.

I am thinking that Miss Gracyn is going to be my slowest walker. My other girls were walking by their 1st birthdays, but she just isn't that interested. She is WAY too fast at crawling and she knows it. She will walk, holding my hands for a few steps, but then she always wants down and then she takes off!

At 11 months my girl loves Zuzu's, books, crayons, my Itouch, the bathtub, and being flipped upside down. She dislikes napping, having her sisters take something away from her and being told "no".

I can hardly believe her birthday is just around the corner. It is bittersweet. I LOVE one to two and watching all they learn during that time, but it is sad to say good-bye to the last baby!

Special Order

Tonight, Reagan asked us if we could get her some new jammies. She would like for them to have 3 things on them....Princess Tiana, The Seven Dwarfs and Maggie (our dog). We told her we would keep an eye out for jammies like that, and we'd be sure to pick them up if we found them.

The King of the Castle

Just a quick post to brag on my man! He is so good to us. Somewhere along the way, someone taught him the importance of affirming the ones you love and he is good at it. I try not to take for granted the fact that he tells me EVERYDAY how much he loves me, how beautiful I am and how thankful he is for me! Never for a second, does he give me room to doubt his devotion to our family. He does the same thing for our girls and I am so grateful. I copied an email he sent me for them this morning, so we would have it. They loved getting their little notes from Daddy.

Some background information....Gracyn discovered mangos on our cruise and loves them. Reagan crawls under the table EVERY night, when she finishes eating to pull off Tommy's socks. This kicks-off the hour long wrestling match that occurs EVERY night between dinner and bed. And, finally Addison had a dentist visit her school yesterday and she told us all about it last night.

Gracie,

I love you little one!!!! Do you want to have Mango night with Daddy tonight? Yum…. it will remind us of your first cruise where you and I ate up some mangos. Let's also do some flips on the bed-- that's our special game.

Kisses,
Daddy


Reagan,
You are a cute little monkey! You crack me up! Don't you try to get my socks tonight you little sock swiper!!!!!!! Have a fun day today playing with mommy and your sisters.

BIG hug,
Daddy

Addison,
Hey smarty pants! Don't forget to brush your teeth so you don't get those sugar-bugs. I love you sweetheart. You are such a sweet girl. Talk to mommy today about a sticker chart so we can do the Daddy Camp Out Movie and Marshmellow night!

That sounds like a good idea huh?

Love you so much,
Daddy

Valentine's to the Thirteenth

Way back, during Valentine's week, the girls and I hosted our annual neighborhood V-day party! Since last Valentines, we have added 4 baby girls to the block, bringing the grand total to 13 girls. Charlie, was supposed to be there, to single-handedly represent the XY chromosome, but he ended up sick!

I must say, the addition of the newest gals, plus our big sisters being a year older, made for one crazy afternoon, but it was a blast. Addison looks forward to this all year and she was such a good hostess! We decorated Valentine's sacks, passed out cards, read stories and played pin-the-nose-on-the-dog. The wildly unsuccessful group shot was the only picture I took....no time for photography between leading the big girls in games and keeping Gracyn out of trouble! The girls were all so precious and we had a great time.

I should also include, that no party is complete without flushing something down the potty. For a few minutes I thought a couple of girls (my middle child included) had flushed a My Little Pony down the toilet....the toilet Tommy had just fixed from the last instance in which a foreign object was flushed. I was grateful to figure out that it was thankfully only a pony Valentine card.

10 Months

Baby girl turned 10 months old while we were away....though I don't know how that could be possible! She is such fun.....so sweet and full of personality. She works hard all day to keep up with her sisters, and does not like to be told that she can't do something they are doing. Her latest tricks include, rubbing lotion onto her hands and brushing her own hair. My precious girl, hard to believe that one is just around the corner.

Disney Day 8 - Headed Home

This is the one final picture we took in Florida, with the Snow White mannequin at the airport. It was a LONG day coming home, that started VERY early. We had the early dinner seating during our cruise, which is great, except for the last morning. The buffets and room service are closed that day, they just offer one big sit-down breakfast before you disembark. If you are on early seating, that breakfast is at 6:45am. You have to head down to breakfast bright and early, then finish packing up your room and get off the ship. I woke up feeling very woozy from the Dramamine and night of motion sickness. And, after a week with no alarms and getting up around 8:30 is was HARD to wake up. I hadn't had any food since lunch the day before and I had no energy to get the girls out of bed and dressed, so Tommy was sweet to stay behind in the room and let them sleep a little longer. I went to breakfast with Dad and Deb and then brought a plate back to them. Thankfully, after eating I felt MUCH better.

By 8:30am, we were saying good-bye to the boat and heading off to find our luggage. The process was simple, we got all our things and made it through customs really quickly. We then boarded the bus to the airport. Aside from the fact that my world was still rocking, everything went smoothly. Reagan and Gracyn slept for much of the plane ride, while Addison watched movies. We arrived in Colorado around 4:00, 6:00pm, Florida time, which was right at 12 hours after we began our day. We stopped at Rio for Mexican food on the way home, unpacked the car, and put us all to bed (my body was still rocking).

It was a great trip.....I am already beginning to forget about all the motion sickness and wondering when we can go back.

Disney Day 7 - At Sea

Wednesday was a day-at-sea. Mercifully, in the nice, calm part of the sea that doesn't make me want to toss my lunch buffet! Tommy snuck out early to hit the gym (feeling guilty about the late night pizza). And, the girls and I slept in until 8:30.....that is a small miracle for my crew. After we woke up we headed to breakfast, then I had a massage scheduled. At Deb's recommendation, I tried a reflexology massage. It was amazing and is now on my list of favorite things. While I was off on my morning of relaxation, Tommy had the girls at the Princess gathering. They got to see all their favorites at once.

Here they are with Belle.

And, Snow White, Reagan's favorite. She is wearing the dress again on this morning!

Addison loved Princess Tiana.

And, an autograph from Cinderella. Poor Gracyn wasn't interested in the Princess gathering. She was mostly just distraught because she wanted her morning milk and nap and Mommy was no where to be found. Deb was pacing her nearby when I got back.

I took the opportunity for some much needed quiet time. Tommy and Addison went off to play somewhere, I read, and my little ones napped next to me.

And, that is where the pictures end! Unfortunately, by about 5:00pm, we were nearing Florida and something about those waters don't agree with me. I felt a little funny getting ready for dinner and it only got worse. Before dinner, I decided to try 2 Dramamine, in the hopes that I could stop the motion sickness before it got too bad. No Luck. By dinner, I was nauseous and drunk from the Dramamine. I lasted about 20 minutes at dinner, nibbled a few crackers and then bailed to the room. I felt horrible the remainder of the night.....mostly just lying in bed wishing it would all just STOP SWAYING. Tommy dropped Gracyn by after dinner and she rolled around in the bed next to me, until I could finally persuade her to go to sleep. Meanwhile, the rest of my crew was off at "Disney Dreams", the ships final show. It is such a great show, and I was really looking forward to watching Reagan take it all in. But, again, at least Tommy got to see it this time. After the show there is one last good-bye to all the characters in the ship's lobby. Addison and I had gone the year before and even though it is really late at night, she loved it. Again, at least Tommy got to experience it! They all came in late....happy and tired. Sadly, Daddy took no pictures to document any of it.

Disney Day 6 - Castaway Cay

In the wee hours of the night, Monday night, the ship departed Nassau and we arrived around 8:30 Tuesday morning at Disney's private island in the Bahamas. Castaway Cay is by far our favorite part of the Disney Cruise experience. The beach is just a short walk from where the ship docs, the Disney characters are everywhere, and the amazing hospitality and service you receive on the ship is extended out there as well. The lunch buffets are wonderful and it is just a great relaxing day.

We saw Donald right as we got off the ship.

Next we found Pluto.

The girls were so excited about the beach. We had packed shovels and pails and they wasted no time getting started.

They collected shells, made sand castles, played with other kids and waded in the water. We never even ventured off our little spot on the beach to go bike riding or do any of the other activities, they were too content.

You can barely see her, but baby girl is napping in my arms. How blessed am I? I have held each of my sleeping baby girls in my arms on this beach! One every-other year for the last 4 years.

Tommy playing with the girls.

I was taking Addison for a potty break, when we ran into Goofy!

She posed for a picture and then got his autograph.

Gracyn awake now, and bouncing on the inner-tube. Poor 3rd child, she had the cute matching swimsuit to go with her sisters, but she had a too-close-for-comfort encounter with the sand, shortly after we arrived at the beach. She had it in her mouth, hair, hands, diaper.....everywhere. I had to strip her to get it all off, and she never made it back into her suit.

After the day at the beach, we headed in to get ready for dinner. It was Pirate Night! These are our servers, George and Myrium in their pirate gear. They took AMAZING care of us all week. They discovered on the first night, that my girls like cherries. From then on, each night, both girls had a silver goblet of cherries at their place setting.

Ahhhh, Gracyn is in the nursery and Addison and Reagan are sitting on Pappy and Miss Debra's side of the table.....we can relax.

This is what I usually look like during dinner!

And, now we are back to normal.

After dinner, they were showing "The Princess and the Frog" in the theatre. Then beginning at 9:45 there is a big Pirate Party on deck. We have never made it to this, since it starts so late. My parents went and said it was fun, but we took the opportunity to get the girls down for an early bedtime. Later, Tommy snuck out to meet my Dad at the gym, while I did a little reading by flashlight in the room. I later heard a story about how the gym was closed so instead they had a few drinks and some midnight pizza!

The girls had gone to the kid's club for a bit after dinner. Being that it was Pirate Night, I wasn't surprised when they came back like this.....

Our stateroom hostess, Miss Evie, made us beautiful towel animals each night. She also turned down our beds and left us Sleepy Dwarf chocolates.

We were sad to say good-bye to Castaway Cay! It is always such a great day!!!

Disney Day 5 - Nassau, Bahamas

We woke up Monday morning, docked firmly in Nassau, Bahamas. My tummy was grateful that we were anchored. I woke up feeling fine and ready to hit the breakfast buffet! We got everyone ready and headed up to our favorite onboard breakfast location. We stuffed ourselves with made-to-order omelets, Mickey waffles, fruit, bacon and every other breakfast food you can imagine. Then we headed to meet for our day's excursion. We had booked a trip to the Atlantis hotel on Paradise Island. We were going for the day to explore their beautiful beaches, endless pools, waterpark and aquarium. As a bonus, this momma to 3 girls, got to thoroughly explore their public restrooms.....7 times in a 6 hour period!!!

This place is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen. The beach is my heaven-on-earth, so I was happy to find a group of lawn chairs and set up camp for the day. Gracyn loved the water and splashing around in the shallow section and Reagan loved digging in the sand. Addison was the adventurous one, alternating between swimming, a few water slides and the not-so-lazy river of rapids!

Ahhhh.....a moment of relaxation between bathroom trips!

Addison took of to the smaller water slides with Pappy and Miss Debra. She loved it! Later she went on the one-mile ride through the roaring-rapids river. She went once with me and once with Tommy. I wasn't too big on the thought of getting on any water slides after just getting over my motion sickness, but Tommy and I did sneak off for one ride together. We went in a double tube on a slide that starts out like your typical water slide. After winding, quickly through the slide, it drops you in a tunnel, that is in the middle of their shark tank. You then glide slowly through a clear tunnel while sharks swim all around you. It was really neat.

Later I took the girls exploring, there are shark tanks everyone and they loved watching people shoot down the really steep, fast slides, while Tommy and my parents hit all the attractions!
We actually never made it inside to the aquarium, we had seen it on a previous trip and I couldn't bring myself to go inside out of the sunshine!!!

Here is my little Gracie flirting like crazy with a lifeguard. We laughed all day at the lifeguards....quite different than the serious, attentive guards you would see in the States or onboard the boat. They were barely paying any attention. While on the river, we even passed one, who had left his chair and was picking coconuts off a nearby tree.

Around 3:30 we decided we better head back to the boat for our 5:45 dinner time. Gracyn and Reagan both slept all the way back and woke up ready for more fun. We got everyone showered and cleaned up and got the girls ready for dress-up night. It is one of my favorite evenings, all the little girls are dressed in their princess dresses! Tommy and I actually had reservations at Palo, the adults only restaurant. We took Gracyn to her nursery and dropped our little princesses off at the kid's club. They were so excited as they waited for Belle to arrive for storytime.

Tommy and I crossed our fingers that everyone would be content for 2 hours or so and headed off to our dinner. I am not a very adventurous eater, so I was just happy to be at a quiet dinner with my husband, but Tommy was loving the food experience. Towards the end of the meal, we were anticipating a chocolate souffle that is the restaurants specialty. It is made fresh, served to you hot and then doused with chocolate sauce at your table. The chef and wait staff are very serious about timing this dessert perfectly. Ours was on its way to the table when we got a page. Tommy, looked at the pager, shook his head and asked me if I could guess which child they were paging about. Gracyn was my first guess and Reagan my second, but alas it was Addison this time.....

It seems my little princess was tired of her fancy shoes! After a couple of bites of divine chocolate, we left to bail her out!

That evening, I was thrilled to be feeling okay!!! I picked Gracyn up and put her to bed, and then Tommy stayed with her, while I took the big girls to the show. We met my parents and saw Toy Story, the Musical! It is AMAZING!!! Addison and I had seen it last year, but this was Reagan's first chance and she loved it. The costumes are so elaborate and beautiful. They really put on a great show.

On the way back to the room, we stopped to pose with Minnie in her ball gown and get an autograph.

Donald and Daisy were all dressed up, too!

I think it was 10:30 when we snuck back into the room. I got the girls into bed and they were asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow! It was a very long, full and fun day!

Disney Day 4 - Bon Voyage

Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to the boat. We had a few hours to hang out at the hotel that morning, and then the bus was leaving to take us to Port Canaveral at 11:00. Honestly for a few hours on this particular morning, I was wondering what in the world we were thinking. Gracyn hadn't slept well, Reagan was tired, I was having a hard time getting all the luggage repacked up and where it needed to be (since all my tired crying children were attached to me) and it was COLD. But, thankfully we got everything done and we all cheered up quickly!!! Once we were on the bus to the boat, our troubles were forgotten!

We arrived at the boat terminal about 1:00, and thanks to the sweet Castaway Cay privilege for return cruisers, we had a quick check in line and were onboard and at the lunch buffet really quickly. Tommy and I had been anxiously awaiting the cruise food and it was fun seeing my Dad and Deb experience it for the first time. It is just so good and there is so much of it!!! The service is amazing and the staff goes out of the way to make your trip perfect.

After lunch, we headed out to the deck party. This is always a blast! They gave the kids streamers and everyone was pumped up.....lots of singing, dancing and a cheerful countdown to sail. The characters come out for a big performance on the stage and there are fireworks. The girls were so excited. Thankfully this was the only cold day we had, but the wind was blowing like crazy and it was freezing, so we didn't stay out there too long!

After the deck party, we headed in so the girls could visit the kid's club. I can't say enough good things about the children's programs on Disney Cruise. My girls are BIG Mama's girls and don't really care to leave me, but they beg to go in this room and when we come to pick them up, they don't want to leave. Reagan wasn't quite old enough (it starts at 3) but since she was potty trained, they took her right in with Addison and let her come and go throughout the trip. During the course of the stay they had plenty of playtime in there. Some of their favorite structured activities in the club were Storytime with Belle, Dance Lessons with Snow White, Magic Carpet Riding lessons with Jasmine, Adventures with the Little Einsteins and Hide-and-go-Seek with Tinkerbell.

Gracyn went to the Flounder's Reef Nursery each night from 5:30 to 9:30. It is baby heaven in there, with all the toys you can imagine and plenty of room to crawl around. It was great for her to do that each evening while we went to dinner and a show.

Here is Gracyn climbing on the play equipment in the big girls club. We have each of the girls' picture at about the same age in this same spot!

Addison checking out the toys.

After exploring their club, we went back to the room to get settled in. This was our first time to have a room with a window and the girls loved watching the ocean.

We got ready for dinner, fed the girls room service, took them to their play areas and then headed off to enjoy an adult dinner with my parents.

This is where my evening went DOWN HILL!!! I had been thinking that I felt a little funny, but the farther out at sea we went and the more the boat started rocking the worse I got!!! I ended up going back to the room after dinner and going to bed with Reagan and Gracyn, while Tommy and Addison went to the show. I was so sad, because watching the live Disney shows with my girls is my absolute favorite part of the cruise. It was nice for Tommy to see it with her, since he is usually in the room with a sleeping little one, but I was bummed. I laid in bed forever that night, wondering when the rocking would stop. All future cruises will include much perscription medicine on my part!

Here are the girls saying hello to Mickey at some point during the day.

They each had an autograph book and they were very serious about getting the characters signatures.

Finally, after the show, Tommy and Addison ran into Princess Tiana in the hall. Addison was thrilled to meet her!

Even despite my sea-sickness, we were so happy to be back on the boat. It is the most amazing vacation for a young family.....they treat you so well, love your kids, and make it wonderful down to every last detail. I am not sure we heard the words "no" all week!