A Happy Boat

We were lucky enough to celebrate Charlie's birthday on the Disney Magic. It was a beautiful, clean, fun, friendly boat. I would highly recommend the Disney cruise. (Did I mention there is free babysitting all day on the ship?!)

Having fun at the welcome party.

Muster Station Drill

Swimming at Castaway Cay

Pirate in the Caribbean Party

Watching Tangled in 3D

The group at Cozumel

Exploring the Mayan ruins. This site was used for fertility, so Josh and I did our best to make good of the location. he he.

Holding and playing with baby sea turtles.

Unfortunately, the boys picked up a new hobby of shuffleboard. Whenever Josh disappeared, he could be found here, which was the location of many late night hustling and betting and other boy nonsense.

Eating key lime pie at Key West.

As you can see, Maddie loved the butterfly conservatory. She said it was "better than Disneyland."

I'm not super excited about posting this picture because I look kind of crazy, but Josh and I both won at Bingo. Talk about good luck!

And here are just a handful of the Disney characters we saw on board.

And a definite highlight for me, we got to swim with and ride and kiss and dance with dolphins in the Cayman Islands. As you can see, it wasn't just a highlight for only me.

Big.Garth.Fan.

My very first concert ever was Garth Brooks. Big Fan. I was so darn freaking excited that Garth was not only coming out of retirement, but was going to perform in my own home town. (As stated earlier, Vegas isn't such a bad place to live.) Until I learned that it is basically impossible to get tickets......That is.....unless your brother tells you that there is an NFR code that allows you to buy the tickets before the general public. So at 10:00am on the dot I was on Ticketmaster buying tickets. And as luck would have it, I was early enough to get SECOND ROW. Booyeah! This was my view. And let me just tell you, it was a VERY AMAZING concert. He is still the best performer (in my humble opinion). Josh was out of town for depos, so I went with our parents, Linda, Karen & Rick. Sadly, my dad had to work out of town that weekend too. So now I have to hope that I'm lucky enough to get 1st row tickets next time I try so I can take my Dad and Josh. :o)

Impending Blackout

So......my law school finals are in the next two weeks. Which means my blog will go dark until after my brain turns itself back on after the last exam.

A very brief update until then:

All my siblings were able to come together from all over the country for Thanksgiving, which is always a fun thing. We carried on the traditions that we are creating for ourselves, like a girls night, a guy golfing morning, and everyone sharing sickness germs. I even made jello for the first time for Josh so that he wouldn't starve on Thanksgiving day. I was very proud.

Maddie's latest weird thing is her "baby egg" named "Miletone." She wanted to keep it safe and didn't want anyone to touch it so she put in this bowl and wrote "Maddie's Boring Thing" so nobody would be tempted to look inside. Where does she come up with this crap? :o)

We got the Christmas tree up before law school finals. Phew. (Check out Josh's face. Awesome.)

Maddie wanted her own little tree in her room. She took picking out ornaments for her tree VERY seriously.

Sometimes Sunday afternoons seem incredibly long, so we were happy that our friends joined us on a trip out to Lake Mead to feed the fish. When it's not June, July or August, I actually think Las Vegas is a nice place to live.

What I'm really thankful for:

One year ago, on Thanksgiving day, this little man entered my life for a very short time. These were very sacred moments that I will forever be thankful for.

And although my hands are shaking and my throat is tight as I type this, I am also thankful that I chose gratitude instead of grief after I lost my baby. It's not an easy choice, but it's the only choice. My boys taught me that life is too short to not make every day be the best day of my life. So for his one year birthday, our little family will choose to be happy and thankful for the time we had with Charlie, rather than sad and grieving for the time we didn't have with Charlie. And to help make that happen, we will be celebrating Charlie's first birthday on a Disney cruise, because it really does help to be at the Happiest Place on Earth. Happy Birthday my little Charlie Pants. You are loved and missed this holiday season.

Stay tuned for pictures of us in Mickey ears and smiles....

I'm a bit surprised

I always knew I was going to be a mom and have a big family. When Josh and I got married, we both knew we wanted four kids. It wasn't an issue......until it was. I realized the other day that I have been actively trying to add children to our family for 8 years. 8 YEARS!! I have to admit I'm a bit surprised at how my family has turned out. I always thought I would have a loud and crazy family in a big and messy house with lots of friends and broken things and maybe even a dog or two. Lo and Behold, here I am in a two bedroom condo with an "only child" who is more of a neat freak than even me.

Turns out that isn't the only surprise in motherhood that I didn't expect. Let's take, for example, these "things." Maddie came home from school a few days ago, nearly in tears as she pulled her hand out of her pocket with them in her hand. "Mommy! We need to get them in water and feed them NOW or they are going to die! They have to be in a see through jar so we can watch them grow!" I dropped everything and ran to the kitchen and miraculously found a see through jar.

"What are these things?"

"I don't know."

"Where did you get them?"

"I don't remember."

"Uhhh....okay....well what do they eat?"

"I don't know, but look! They are growing."

If anyone knows what the heck is "growing" in my kitchen, feel free to educate me.

I always knew that my mom would be an all star grandmother. She has a way with children and never-ending patience that all of her kids envy. But another total shocker has been the kind of grandpa my dad is. Now, don't get me wrong, he was a lovely father. But seriously, he is an all star grandpa. I made my sister take a picture of this moment when we were in Virginia, when he was massaging my 3 year old nieces feet for her because "she needed a break." Now he WAS a lovely father, but I can guarantee you I never got a foot massage when I was three. More like a few spankings. He ADORES his grandchildren, and they all know it. He serves them and babysits them and spoils them and hugs them and sits on the floor and plays Barbies with them. I am lucky that my kids have such amazing grandparents. (And I'm lucky to have grown up with them as my parents.)

And although I fully expected to have lots of fun days on the beach with my family, I never knew that they would be so magical.

This video is from one of the best days of my life. :o)

NOT Dancing With Chuck

There were SIX candles on this Maddie girl's birthday cake last night. Yup, six. Which is good, because she has been telling everyone that she is six for the last month.

This is the part when the birthday girl is supposed to come up to the front of the room and dance with Chuck E Cheese. She looked like she was going to throw up, so I went up to dance with her and she whispered urgently in my ear, "I don't want to dance!" Poor little cutie pie still has stage fright!

We had an amazing turnout from all of her friends from school and church and family friends. How many, you might ask? 36 kids. And that doesn't count all of the adults that come with them. THAT is why I (kinda) forced her to have it at Chuck's place instead of our 2 bedroom condo. :o) We all had a great night with friends.

She agreed to have it at Chuck's solely because of this activity that only the birthday kid gets to do. It was the best moment of her life! (I don't know why, after about eight years with this same camera, I STILL make the same dumb mistake of thinking I can turn the camera sideways. What is my problem?!)

The best part about it was that the entire day, with all the attention and friends and presents and specialness, this little girl remained 100% nice. No birthday diva beast. I am so very proud of her and in love with the fact that I get to be her mom. It is not something I take for granted.

Daddy Daughter Time

Here is a picture of me and my dad.....

At the same age as this picture of Maddie and her dad.

Halloween & Fall - East Coast Style

Virginia in the fall is a lovely thing to see.

Eating apple donuts and drinking hot apple cider at an Apple farm.

Picking out fresh apples....

.....So my dad could teach me how to make a yummy homemade apple pie. (You are never too old to learn something new.)

Playing with our Bo.

Hayride

Getting ready for Trick or Treating

The costumes I surprised my dad and brother with, and forced them to wear. They are NOT designed for men who are over 6 feet tall. :o) It was awesome. They were super popular all night.

Our family

Getting the stash......

I also surprised Josh with a costume. Of course, if I am going to have complete freedom to dress my husband up it is going to be Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Favorite movie. Sexy Kevin Costner. But honestly, my Josh makes a much more yummy Robin Hood. Look at him. He is oozing sexy.......

Holidays are much more special when spent where there are red, orange and yellow trees, and with lots of fun family around.