Pictures from our trip

We are back in Florida!!

We are home. This is a bitter sweet feeling. Of course, there is no place like home and as much as we all love to see our families, we all love to be sleep in our own beds. We found out that Kayce is a homebody. She regressed in her sleeping habits horribly while we were away. She went from sleeping through the night to waking up about twice a night while we were gone. This was hard because as much as I wanted to let her cry it out and not form a habit, I also did not want to wake the entire house. So I got up with her every time she woke up. When we got home last night I told Darren that if she woke up during the night, she was going to have to cry it out. Obviously she just needed her bed because as soon as I laid her down, she smiled, grabbed her blanket and did not make a sound until 7:30 this morning. Blake slept until an unheard of 9:45 am. My children were exhausted from our trip and just needed their beds. We do love to be with our families. And we really loved the cold weather. Blake got to see a little bit of snow and loved to be pulled in the sled with his cousins. We had a great time and loved seeing all of our friends and family. We can't wait to do it again.

We are in the big ATL!!

First and foremost, Blake is much better. He ended up having a horrible virus for about 7 days. He ran high fevers and had the "runs" for most of the seven days and was just really run down. He is now recovering and although he is not 100% himself, he is getting there. We arrived here in Georgia around 1:30am on Thursday morning. The kids did great on the trip. We have been enjoying the cold weather (we being Darren and I). Blake does not really know what to think of it. Yesterday we were outside and he was very concerned that Nanny and Papa's grass was brown and not green like ours. We had to explain that the grass dies here during the cold weather. He also asked Nanny where the cold comes from. That was fun to explain. Today we went to an interactive kids neighborhood and Blake had a great time. There was a fire truck, a police car and an airplane that he was able to climb in and play with all of the gadgets. He was also able to go grocery shopping, be a doctor, a banker and a vet. It was a really cool place. I took lots of great pics but I will have to wait until I am back home to upload them. Friday night I was able to have a "girls night" with a lot of my great friends from college. It was wonderful to see everyone again. Hope everyone is doing great. I will update again when we get home next week.

Blake is Sick

I guess I should not be complaining to much as this is the first time Blake has ever had a stomach bug and he is not throwing up. He has been running a fever since Friday morning and has had diarrhea. He is still sick. We are going on the 5th day. This sucks!! We have been in this house since Friday and we are all about to go stir crazy. And the worst part is that we are set to leave this Thursday for Atl. I really don't want to put Blake in the car for a nine hour drive with him not feeling well. But he has already packed his bags and asks everyday if it is time to go. So here we are, taking Imodium, Motrin, Tylenol and drinking Gatorade like it is going out of style. I am praying the fever will break soon and he will be feeling better by the time we pack up the van and head north. Cross your fingers.

We made it through the holidays.

Let me start with saying that we had a wonderful Christmas here in Florida. My mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and 2 nieces all came to stay with us for the week. We also had three dogs. All of us in a 1700 square foot house. And we all survived with no fighting, no biting, no pinching and no major drama. Well, except for Buck, the escape artist, taking a tour of Vero Beach and almost taking residence in the Animal Control. This is a huge accomplishment for the three cousins. The last couple of times that we have been together, Blake and Caroline, who are 5 months apart, have not really loved each other. The problems were Blake pinching Caroline and Caroline crying because Blake did something or did not do something that she wanted. I am so happy to report that this week went off without any of this. All three kids got along great and Blake misses his cousins horribly now. He is like a lost puppy dog. Very sad. He asks me everyday when we are going to Georgia and Kentucky to see everyone. Only one more week and we will be on the road. Darren and I can't wait to get some good cold weather. I am hoping for snow. I know it won't happen but a girl can dream.

I am alive and blogging again

First, sorry for the long break. I have been in hiding without really knowing it. Things have not been crazy, no sick babies, no real drama, no excuses. Just not blogging. Well, I'm back. Things here have been moving at normal speed. Blake is still a wild, wild three year old. I am at my wits ends with him and not listening. I was beginning to think that I was the only mother who has a three year old who is still not listening. I have tried many, many different discipline techniques which all work for a little while and then seem to loose the magic. Yesterday I implemented a new one. I began taking away his beloved toys. Oh, the heartbreak. After a nice little episode of me repeating myself for the 50th time, I calmly walked to my room and got a bag. I then took Blake into his room and made him place one of his race cars into the bag. I then explained that Daddy works very hard so that Blake can have these nice toys and that there are a lot of little boys who don't have any toys to play with. I told him it is his job to listen to us and that if he can't do that I will begin taking toys away to give to the little boys who do listen. INSERT TEARS AND SNOT. He LOVES his cars and I feel horrible taking them, but something has to give. I am crossing my fingers that this will work.
Kayce is growing and meeting milestones like crazy. She is FINALLY crawling, 10 months later, and is now starting to pull up. She is eating us out of all of our food. She loves to eat. I have not found anything that she will not eat. She has not gotten any teeth yet, but that does not slow her down with eating. She is a very sweet baby. She is a huge snuggler. She is very happy to be held and rocked. All she needs is her lovey and her thumb.
Darren and I are the same just older. We love to be in bed at 9:30 and we are not the least bit embarrassed by this little fact. I still can't not believe that I used to be able to stay up into the wee hours of the night and then wake up and go to class. What was I thinking?? I have no desire to be out past dark these days. It is sad. On our anniversary we got a babysitter and went out to a local cuban resturant. We had a couple glasses of wine with our dinner. When it was over Darren asked if I wanted to go somewhere and get a drink. I actually said that I would rather go get a cup of coffee and go sit on the beach and watch the sunset. He thought it was a great idea. We are getting old.
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.