Home Sweet Home

Dan and I just got back from an amazing trip to Vegas with our friends.  I promise to blog about it soon (it may actually take a couple of blogs) but today I want to blog about coming home.

We got home late last night so the kids were already asleep. We snuck upstairs to just take a peek at them.  We were both just starved to see their sweet little faces. We didn't want to wake them up so we decided to just crash at Mom's house so that we could see them first thing in the morning.  Dan sleeps like a dead man so before he went to sleep he told me not to go up without him in the morning because he wanted to be there too.

I woke up a couple of times throughout the night.  I felt like a little kid waiting for Christmas.  Every time  I would wake up, I would look at the clock and think "just x more hours until they wake up." 

Finally, at 6:00 I heard Colton jibber-jabbering in his room.  I woke Dan up and we went upstairs.  I opened up the bedroom door and he was sitting up in the playpen.   He looked up when we walked in and you could see that it took him a split second to process who was standing there.  As quick as he could he scrambled up and reached up.  I picked him up and he just wrapped his little arms around me and squeezed as hard as he could.

We took Colton back downstairs, and a few minutes later we hear little footsteps coming down the stairs. She must have heard my voice because before she even got into the room she was yelling "Mama!".  She jumped into my arms and gave me a giant hug and then flew to Dan to do the same.

I'm telling you, we may not have hit the jackpot in Vegas but we sure did hit it coming home!

Girl Time

Brynn has been begging for another girls night and Dan and I are getting ready to go away for a few days so I wanted to fit one in before we leave.  When I asked her what she wanted to do she said "get our toes done."  So we invited Grammie to join us and that is just what we did. (Dan and Colti were having boys night...they went to Poppop's house to visit with the family).

Brynn chose purple...again:-)

They were able to seat all three of us at the same time so we had a great time chit-chatting and being pampered.

Happy feet!

After our pedicures we headed to dinner at Applebee's.  Brynn loved being a part of girls night and you could tell she felt like a big girl.

Brynn and Grammie at dinner

Brynn topped the evening off with a mini hot fudge Sunday. 

It was a very fun and relaxing night...so glad Brynnie thought of it;-)

Brynn's First Field Trip

On Monday Brynn went on her very first field trip...to the Felton Fire Hall (too funny)!  This week is fire safety week and she was so excited to go and learn all about fire safety.  Daddy was able to chaperon the trip and she could not wait to go.  She learned "you should not run if you catch on fire.  You stop, drop, and roll".  She also enjoyed working the fire hose and getting to sit on the fire truck.  But, the best part of the trip..."riding the school bus":-)  This was a much anticipated event and she loved it!  Now, every time we see a school bus she says, "I rode on one of those!".

 This is Brynn with her friend Carley

On the fire truck.

                                   

Brynn's Pre-K class.

                                       
                                 

My little Turtle is 19 months old

Dear Colton,

I can not believe what a big boy you are these days.   It does not seem possible that you are 19 months...over 1 1/2 years old! You have developed a bit of an independent streak and want to do everything by yourself.  You still love bananas but also love yogurt which you want to feed to yourself (Mama dreads yogurt because it ends up covering you from head to toe and anything else that happens to be close by).  Your other favorite food is Mac and cheese.

You are talking non stop these days and it seems like you learn a new word or two every single day. This morning Brynn was teaching you to say "cool" while eating breakfast and you both laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Your favorite toy is any kind of ball and there is generally one in your hand or close by.  You also love Elmo and anything that is Elmo related.  You flipped out when you saw an Elmo Halloween costume so Mama and Daddy couldn't resist buying it for you (we can't wait for Halloween!).  You also like choo choos and toy cars.

You are learning your colors and can count to five.  You have started to sing your ABC's but don't get much farther than ABC before you start to just sing whatever letter comes to mind.  Your teacher, Miss Carmen, says that you are starting to stand up for yourself at school (for awhile you were just letting the other kids take stuff from you).

You love to play with your big sister and shout "Brynnie!" when ever you see her.  You also love Pumpkin and chasing T.O.  You are quite the climber and have been found on top of all sorts of things including the kitchen table. You also love to hop and dance.

You have become even more attached to your "magic blanket" and sometimes carry it around the house now. 

You have decided that you do not like to go to bed anymore but you still LOVE bath time.

This past weekend we took you to Sesame Street and you were just in awe.  You loved seeing Elmo and all of the Sesame Street characters and watched the entire parade perched on Daddy's shoulders quietly as a mouse.

I love you sweet boy:-)

xoxo,
Mama

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Place:-)

Over the weekend we took the kids to Sesame Place.  We met up with Dan's brother and his family and Dan's parents.  We had a blast.  The weather was just perfect and it happened to mark the opening of their Halloween spectacular.  In honor of the Halloween celebration there were "Trick or Treat" stations through out the park.  So we got the unexpected bonus of lots of free Halloween treats. 

Without hesitation the best part of the trip was Colton's first look at Elmo.  We went to see Elmo Live and when Colton saw Elmo his little mouth just dropped open and he was mesmerized.  He was completely exhausted at this point but kept his little eyes on Elmo for as long as he possibly could.

Colti is mesmerized by Elmo.

Brynn was fearless about the rides and wanted to ride everything. The very first ride that we went on was the roller coaster (which was pretty scary) and she giggled the entire time.

 All smiles coming off the roller coaster.

We all went to lunch at the Sesame Street Cafe and we hit that at just the right time because we managed to snag a table right away and the lines were still pretty short. Both boys fell asleep and slept through lunch but the girls were thrilled that their kids meals came in a Monster Lunch Box.

We were able to watch the Count's Spooktacular show and also to see the Not So Spooky Halloween Parade.

Meeting Abby Cadabby

                                          

Waiting for the parade to start.

It was a purely magical day!  The kids were so exhausted that we could hardly keep them awake to eat dinner. Colton actually ate his with his eyes closed:-)  I have a million more pictures but I don't want this entry to be 10 miles long so I will just have to post those on facebook:-)

Waiting in line at the unhaunted mansion:-)

                                        

Happy Birthday Big Bro!

Today I am wishing my favorite big brother Ronnie a very happy birthday!!!!  I hope it's great...love you:-)

                               I know I have posted this pic before but it's a classic;-)

Flashback Friday

This is one of my all time favorite pics.  This is my Godson Kaies and Brynn.  I can't remember exactly how old they were in this picture.  I'll have to ask Sara (Kaies' Mama) if she remembers.

Kaies' mom Sara, is one of my very best friends.  We met while in law school and immediately bonded.  I swear I never would have made it through law school without Sara by my side.  People say that pageant girls are catty but let me tell you that law school students (at least at my school) had the monopoly on that.  I struggled with the lengths that people would go to to "out-do" someone else.  Hiding books in the library, trying to figure out what every one's exam scores were and constant back-stabbing.  Sara and I are both "live and let live" kind of people so we ended up spending every single minute of our law school experience together.  We are very different people but just balance each other beautifully....I love her and Kaies and wish she would get her but back in DE so we could see each other more often;-)

This is Sara and I as 1L's (I think) at the Barrister Ball (aka:  Law School Prom)

      Anyway...I just adore the first picture of Kaies giving his Godsister a big ole kiss!  So sweet:-)