Friday, December 18, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Anthony, Bryce, CeCe and I. We are in Olive Branch at my parents house now. It has not quite been the Christmas week that we had hoped for! We were scheduled to go to Huntsville on Saturday for my nephew Jude's first birthday, but Bryce was sick, AGAIN. We took him to the Dr. Monday night here and they gave him a Zpack for a sinus infection. I started feeling bad Sun. and still feel terrible. I'm actually going to the Dr. this afternoon. Anthony is feeling crummy too so he might go with me. CeCe has been great though, which is a blessing. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!



















Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Downtown Disney and Day 1--Magic Kingdom

We had a blast at Disney World last week. The weather was great and Bryce and CeCe both did amazing. Bryce rode in his stroller a good bit so I'm so glad we had one for him. CeCe rode in the baby bjorn mostly and some in her stroller. She was awesome! I've gotten great at nursing discretely in public so when she was hungry I would put on my cover and we would keep going while she nursed. She slept in our arms for her little power naps and was good to go for the rest of the day. She loved being around all the action and I'm afraid she is a little bored here at home! Bryce actually fell asleep in his stroller 2 days so he ended up being well rested also. It was so much fun and I'm so glad my parents were there to help us out and have fun with the kids. And I know Anthony was glad to have the 2 dare devils join him on the trill rides since I don't do those at all. They are all grooming Bryce to be a thrill seeker!!


When we got in on Saturday night we hopped on the bus and rode to Downtown Disney. I think it was a little overwhelming for Bryce. He wanted to be carried everywhere and didn't seem to enjoy too much (we later found out he was really having a good time). Standing by the huge Lego Transformer



At dinner at the T-Rex cafe



An exhausted CeCe


Our first ride at Disney was Small World. CeCe loved it! She looked like this the whole ride just taking everything in.



Bryce got into the spirit after riding Dumbo. Peter Pan was a poor choice for the 2nd ride, too dark and a little scary for him, but after Dumbo he was into everything and had a blast all week!



CeCe liked Dumbo too



We stayed at Magic Kingdom all day and pretty much did everything on our list that day. Anthony didn't get to ride Space Mountain but he and Cappy made sure to hit that first thing on day 4! We were all so tired after that first day, we got back to the hotel around 5:30 and were all in bed by 8! It was nice though so we could get up early and be at the Animal Kingdom when they opened the next day.







Day 2--Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom was awesome. Beautiful trees and scenery everywhere. We got to go an hour early for the extra magic hour so we got there at 8:00am!


In front of a HUGE Christmas tree out front




In Dino-land



Riding the Triceratop Spin



Cappy and Anthony had another Fast Pass to ride Expedition Everest (their #1 ride of the week) so Papaw Ruff, Bryce, CeCe and I walked through one of the animal walking trails and then found these drums. Bryce was in heaven! He played for at least 15 or 20 minutes.



We ended our day with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe which was great. I thought this was a cute shot.




I didn't get any good pictures on the safari, but that was one of our favorites. We rode it once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The morning ride was kind of crazy! We all had hot coffee, what were we thinking? The ride was so bumpy! CeCe was ready to eat and sleep so I was nursing her on this super bumpy ride and our tour guide thought it was funny to gun the engine and slam on his brakes. Bryce loved that part but it made nursing pretty tough! The afternoon ride was much more enjoyable....CeCe was happier and we got to see different animals, some even came right up to the jeep! We also saw two great shows--Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King. Both were awesome, but we all loved The Lion King.





Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Day 3--Epcot

Epcot was another early morning, we got there at 8:00 also.



We started the day with Nemo and Bruce the shark. This was on our must do list since Bryce loves sharks and the movie Nemo. The ride was fun but he had more fun playing inside Bruce's mouth.


Next the thrill seekers hit Soarin while I stayed outside with the kids.




Bryce found some more drums! He could have played these all day if we had let him.




In the USA helping with the pledge of allegiance




Cappy and Anthony were riding Test Track and the rest of us hung out in Japan listening to what else...drums?!



Quick story here.....we were all hot and tired and were passing Mexico when I remembered there was a slow boat ride in the Mexico building so we went in to cool off. The ride featured The Three Caballeros movie and Bryce thought it was hysterical! It turned out to be one of his favorite rides of the week and we bought the movie at the end of the ride and he watches it all the time now. Cappy also bought this sucker for him which he thought was so cool!



Riding the monorail




In Epcot we also saw a show called the candlelight processional. It was a wonderful show with a full orchestra and great singers. The narrarator was Anika Noni Rose (from the new Disney movie) and Bryce kept calling her Anika Runny Nose. Even when we corrected him, he would say Runny Nose! The show was beautiful and I'm so glad we went. We were exhausted after staying at Epcot the whole day. That is a big park!


Day 4 is after the post titled Happy Pictures....





Happy Pictures

These pictures make me happy!

CeCe hanging out in Bryce's rocking chair. She looks so cute here to me!

Bryce showing off his gingerbread house that we made at school last Friday. Parents went to help decorate and I had so much fun!





Day 4--back to Magic Kingdom

Our 4th and final day...so sad! We decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom.


We started and ended the day with Goofy's Barnstormer rollercoaster....Bryce's favorite ride of the week! I think he rode it 5 times that day.




He also loved the teacups...when Mama wasn't in there! Cappy and Anthony took him for a wild ride and he loved it!!




He rode on Anthony's shoulders for miles and miles that week!



Outside of the gates at Magic Kingdom

Papaw Ruff and CeCe on the astro-orbitor.


The trip wouldn't be complete without one character picture! We wanted to meet Donald Duck (after Bryce fell in love with 'his Donald' on the boat ride the day before!) but settled for Scrooge.















Monday, December 14, 2009

Emotional Day

Some days I just get emotional. Today is one of them in a big way.

First Bryce woke up not wanting to go to school which is a huge step back from where we have been with that. He has loved school every day this year and looks forward to going. Why was today different? He had a slight stuffy nose so I wondered if he was getting sick, again. But no, he was acting pretty normal in that area other than the stuffy nose. He cried big tears when I told him it was time to leave for school....hmmm. Not normal at all. I sat down with him and tried to get him to tell me what was wrong. He said he didn't like his school anymore and finally told me that a little boy in his class was being mean to him. So now I'm crying big Mommy tears because it broke my heart. How can anyone be mean to my sweet, tender hearted boy? We talked about it and he told me that "A" won't let him play with him and the other boys at school. Wow. I had no idea what to say!! That has to be devastating to a 3 year old, it would be devastating to me at 29! We decided that we would go in together and both talk to his teachers about it before I left him at school. We talked to both teachers and I'm confident they will do all they can to encourage the boys to include Bryce in their play. I picked him up today and he had a huge grin on his face and Mrs. Candace said he had a great day. Yay! He told me on the way home that he likes school again. Whew! Tough Mommy situation, but looks like we did the right thing with that one.

Second, my best friend here in Pensacola (Melanie, Liam's mom) is moving to England at the end of the month. I have known this for about 3 months but now that moving day is upon us I'm so sad!! Bryce and Liam have so much fun together, definitely the best of friends, 2 peas in a pod, Hulk and Spiderman, you get the idea. Bryce doesn't realize that England is very far away and that the only way we will see them is if we fly over there (which we hope to do in the next year or so). I have a wonderful playgroup full of great mommy friends but Melanie and I clicked early on and have become closer and closer. Saying goodbye is not fun and is making me emotional.

Third, the weather has been terrible for 4 days now. I know that isn't very long, but we are sick of being inside. Bryce wants to play outside so bad, but the fog is so thick you get soaking wet just standing out in it--and this is at 1:00pm!. I think I have that seasonal disorder where you get depressed more often in the winter (I'm not depressed, just more emotional).

As I'm almost finished with this post I realize that today is December 14th. December 14th 3 years ago our blog post looked like this. OK, that really put things into perspective. I can still be upset that someone is not being nice to Bryce, sad that my BFF is moving, and cranky about the weather, but there are much worse things I could be blogging about!

--Disney post coming soon. Lots of pics to go through!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving travels

I love this time of year. Anthony works so hard all year long and during Thanksgiving and Christmas he takes off so we can travel and visit with our families. Traveling as a family is so much fun! Tuesday we left Pensacola and drove to my family's lake house in Alabama. The yard was covered in leaves so what else is a 3 year old boy to do? Talk his Papaw into raking them into piles to jump into of course!

Aunt Blake enjoyed playing in the leaves also! Bryce loves my sister and is always asking her to do things with him, it is so sweet!
I had Christmas shirts made for the kids so we took some pictures in the leaves. The boys did great, but CeCe refused to smile, I think the leaves were way more interesting than me talking to her!

Thursday we went to Pine Level, AL to my Aunt and Uncle's farm where we always celebrate Thanksgiving. This year there were over 60 people there! It is always so much fun. Here is Bryce and Jude in their matching vests.
My wonderful family
CeCe's first hayride!


Bryce's cousin Harrison caught a fish and let Bryce reel it in. Bryce was so excited to tell us that he had caught a fish! There were 13 kids there under the age of 4!

Last year we got a picture of Bryce standing in this same place, he fit better then!
CeCe fit better by the small front tire....
Friday morning we drove to West Point to spend time with Anthony's family. The whole family was there and we were able to introduce CeCe to her Uncle Buddy, Aunt Misty and cousin Chandler for the first time. We watched the Iron Bowl--ROLL TIDE and then played outside some. Here is Kiki with all of her grandkids!
Daniel and Bryce have so much fun playing together. Their imaginations are great together!
Saturday Anthony and Bryce went over to Starkville to watch the Egg Bowl....WOW what a game!!!! GO STATE, GO STATE!! They had a blast and Bryce is asking to go to another football game! We drove home yesterday and are busy unpacking, washing and getting ready to do it all again......we leave Saturday for DISNEY WORLD!!!! Yeah!! We are going to be there Sat.-Thurs. I'll have a great post with tons of pictures by that next weekend.
--Bryce is sick again! I took him to the pediatrician today and he has another ear infection. This one in the other ear and it is actually a blister on his eardrum. The Dr. said they are very painful. Poor thing. CeCe and Bryce both have been so snotty for over a week now. I'm so ready for cold/flu season to be out of here! I'm praying we are all healthy for the week in Disney.












Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Special

These two have the closest bond already! It is so awesome to watch them together. They even communicate with their own special sounds and grunts!




Saturday, November 14, 2009

What a Week!!!

A rundown of our week:

Monday--Tropical Storm Ida closed schools, got us worried, but was not a really big weather event here. Lots of wind and rain, but nothing scary. Bryce got a fever Monday afternoon, Dr. office closed early Monday and was opening late Tuesday because of the storm. CeCe woke up every couple of hours that night to nurse and be rocked back to sleep.

Tuesday--Anthony took Bryce to the Dr. Tues. afternoon where he was diagnosed with lots of fluid in both ears, right one infected. (Not a huge surprise, that is what we expected). We decided to go ahead and fill the antibiotic this time.....we went through this same thing in Sept. but didn't put him on antibiotic that time. CeCe woke up every couple of hours that night to nurse and be rocked back to sleep.

Wednesday--School closed for Veteran's Day. Bryce felt better, went to a playdate at a gym and had a nice day. CeCe had oatmeal cereal for the first time at lunchtime and she loved it! That night Anthony and I were up all night with a very very gassy CeCe. We were exhausted the next day.

Thursday--Decided to start sleep training CeCe. She used to sleep two 6hr. stretches at night, only waking once to nurse. For the last month she is waking up 3-6 times each night to nurse and had to be rocked back into a sound sleep. Oh and she still needed to be swaddled to sleep too. Very high maintenance at night and I was beginning to dread nighttime. Thursday afternoon Bryce started coughing. Sleep training with CeCe went AWESOME! We do total Cry It Out here (did it with Bryce too and they both still love us and he is an awesome sleeper now). I bought a sleep sack and put her in that instead of the swaddle blanket, nursed her after her bath and laid her down awake. She cried for 30 minutes then slept until 11:45 (4hrs. straight). Then she cried after I nursed her for 10 minutes and slept until 5:00, fell back asleep after nursing (no crying) and slept until 8:15.

Friday--Bryce woke up coughing and coughed ALL DAY LONG. No school again. He felt fine other than the coughing so he would run around, get worked up and cough really bad. It was a long day! Friday night sleep training went great too. No crying at bedtime, no crying after the first nursing at 12:30, and only cried for 5 mins after the second nursing at 4:00! Bryce coughed in his sleep all night. Anthony and I didn't sleep much again.

Saturday--Bryce woke up with a TERRIBLE croupy cough. We knew what to do since his first year of life he sounded like that more than he sounded normal. We went straight outside to the cold air. We got dressed and I took him to Urgent Care as soon as they opened. I thought at first they didn't want to see him (and we would have to go to the hospital), they got a little nervous when I gave them his history--his airway will always be smaller than normal and has scar tissue so airway illnesses are scary for him. But they took his pulse ox (96) and listened to his breath moving in the airway and said they would keep him there. whew! He was jumping around shooting at the nurses like they were 'bad guys' and having a good old time at the Dr. He sounded terrible but looked fine. The Dr. gave him an albuterol inhaler that works so fast, it is wonderful. On the way home from the Dr. I had to pull over and stick him in front of the air conditioner vent as cold and as high as it would go because he lost his breath coughing so much. Of course that happened on our way home from the Dr.! He hasn't had another episode like that, and now we have the inhaler so I think we can make it through this. CeCe is on her 3rd nap in her crib today and has only cried a little for one of them so I'm calling sleep training a quick success with her!! Oh and when I was gone Anthony put her down for her nap on her back and when he went to get her she was on her tummy! That is the first time she's rolled over. We got to see her do it just a little while ago and she is so proud of herself, it so too cute!

I'm hoping next week is a little easier!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Cereal, the Track and a birthday

CeCe LOVES cereal. She wasn't sure the first couple of bites, but now she opens her mouth so wide and screams when I'm getting more out of the bowl because she wants more in her mouth!! It is fun to see her get so much enjoyment out of eating!

Cappy was still here Saturday and we all headed over to Gulf Shores to play at The Track. We've passed it hundreds of times and Bryce always asks to go there so we took advantage of the wonderful weather and made a day of it! Here he is on the swings (a kiddie ride that he rode all by himself!!!)

Riding the bumper boats with Daddy (this was his favorite of the whole day)

CeCe had fun at the track too. That girl loves to be out and about, just like her brother at that age.

Bryce and Mama riding the go carts. Yes, he kept his hands over his ears almost the whole time, but also had a huge smile on his face, especially when I would take the turns fast.

Sunday was my Grandpa's 86th birthday so we drove up to Montgomery to surprise him. It was great to see his face when he spotted us outside. We had lunch with him and then headed home. It was a long day in the car, but both kids did great and it was so worth it to see Grandpa. Here is CeCe saying Happy Birthday Great Grandpa!