It's Potty Time!

Hey guys! We've been busy in a different way this week... I decided to go ahead and tackle the potty-training. Whew - parenting is hard work! But my big girl is doing great!

After we returned home for Disney last week (I miss it already) we wrapped up Christa's "school" year with a Circus. It was adorable -her class did a little routine to The Lion King's "I Just Can't Wait to be King." The very next day, it was out with the diapers and in with the big girl pants! After we went through 4 pairs of underwear in an hour that first morning, I had some doubts. But by day 3, Christa wasn't having any accidents, unless it involved (insert your choice word for #2). We have not had any success going #2 on the potty, and I'd appreciate any suggestions. Nonetheless, I am beyond proud of her for catching on to the other, and we're starting to venture out of the house again, which is nice.

Abby Kate is keeping me hopping these days, too. She has discovered that she can put the tiniest little crumbs, papers, etc. into her mouth, and boy does she! She's into everything, and there are very few contraptions that she hasn't figured out how to wiggle her way out of yet. She even crawls right out of her bathtub seat, which kept Christa safely contained until around 18 months! She smiles so much, though, that it's hard to get upset with her for being so "high maintenance." She's also sleeping through the night plus taking a couple of good naps during the day, so I'll happily put up with her curiosities as long as she keeps that up! There was a day, not so long ago, that I thought she'd never sleep on a schedule.

Well, my older daughter has figured out that if she asks to go "tee-tee," it will significantly delay her bedtime, so I'm going to go try and get her to sleep sometime before midnight, I hope :) Have a great week!

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Since the kids were doing so wonderfully the other three days, we decided to try out Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) on our last day. It was a great choice with sooooo much to do. We saw Playhouse Disney Live, The Little Mermaid, and other great things! Christa had a blast, as did the rest of us!

The Sci-Fi Drive-In Restaurant. I remember eating here with my family as a child, and they are still playing the exact same clips on the screen! We were fortunate to get in, since we didn't have an advance reservation, and it was a favorite for several of us!

Christa at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.

Uncle Chris tried out for the American Idol experience about 10 minutes before auditions closed. He made it, so we got VIP passes to the show! That's him on the left. Unfortunately, he didn't win, but it was a lot of fun watching him perform!

Getting ready for the character dinner with Cinderella!

Abby Kate enjoyed herself, too!

Disney's fairy tales really messed with my head during my dating years, so I feel a little guilty already teaching my little girl about them! But princesses are so fun and girly, I just can't resist!

Someday her prince will come...

Disney's Animal Kingdom

We took a day off to swim at the hotel and rest up some, and then headed over to the Animal Kingdom! We did lots of fun things, including a live show of Finding Nemo, The Lion King, and a parade!
We started the morning off with breakfast with Mickey Mouse! We started planning this trip a little over a month ago, so we were fortunate to get in to a character breakfast at all! Christa was a little fussy this particular morning for some reason, but she was excited about seeing Mickey Mouse!

This is the new Everest roller coaster, which Cline and his brothers got to ride on. It's pretty impressive looking from the outside!

We got to stay at the park after-hours, so the lines for the characters were pretty short. We met Goofy and saw Pluto again (he was at breakfast)!

I took Christa to meet Minnie Mouse while the boys rode a few adult rides.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Hey guys! We just got home from a wonderful trip to Disney World, and I have several posts to tell you all about it! I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how well things went. This year, Cline and I are both turning 30, and we just celebrated our 5 year anniversary, so we racked our brains to think of somewhere really special to go. I'm too chicken to leave the kids and fly anywhere, and we couldn't think of a good way to be away from them for more than a couple of days, so we decided to go to Disney World so that we could take the kids and be in a kid-friendly place. We went with the attitude that we probably wouldn't get to do *everything* and we would just be happy with what we did get to do. We decided to take Cline's 2 younger brothers with us because they are awesome company to have, and we knew they would be a big help with the girls. That made a HUGE difference, and the trip was so much better because of it. We got to do nearly everything we hoped and more, and it turned out to be the trip of a lifetime after all! The kids did amazingly well without naps, and the crowds weren't too bad. It was truly magical, and I wasn't quite ready to leave yesterday. We spent a lot of time watching shows and parades and meeting characters, and Christa was really into it by our final day there. She enjoyed the first few days too, but had to take it all in, I think. By the parade on our final night, she was excitedly pointing at the characters and calling them by name while clapping and cheering! Abby Kate seemed to have a blast, and it was so nice to have plenty of people to take turns carrying kids and missing an attraction because of a sleeping baby. I had a hard time narrowing down my 306 pictures for you, but I tried. Enjoy!

Our first ride was the teacups..... which were a hit!

Visiting Minnie Mouse's House.

Two fine babysitters! They're both available, ladies :)

Christa chose "Toy Story" themed Mickey ears. I accidentally got an adult size, but she didn't seem to mind, and I'm not sure they made that design in a kid's size anyway. Here she is watching the show in front of Cinderella's Castle, and LOVING it! So, major sap alert here.... as we were watching the show, I couldn't help but remember my last trip to Disney, not so long ago (but before I had met Cline). I came with a good girlfriend, who got me through the "I've graduated college, but I'm no where near married, so what do I do now, AAAAGGGGHHHH" years. We sat in the exact same spot, and the Disney Princesses assured me that "dreams really do come true." At the time, it really spoke to me, and in that moment, I really believed I would be a wife and a mother one day. And 6 or so years later, there I was, watching a similar show with my husband and precious girls. I obviously don't credit Disney for any of it - it's all God - but it was still a nice moment, and I couldn't help but feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams.

Like I said, Abby Kate loved the show, too! Chris and Cleve sat with her off to the side, and they said she kept stretching to see and grinned the whole time.

This was my absolute favorite activity - they Magic Kingdom dance party! We caught the middle of it as we arrived to the park, and then an encore later in the day. They had great music, and a lot of the characters who danced with everyone. It was fantastic!

While we were there, we got to meet up with some good Augusta friends who now live in Orlando. It was great to see them, and we had a blast eating dinner and watching the nighttime parade and fireworks show.

Our happy group!

Watching the fireworks at the end of one of the best days ever!

A Day At the Park

This morning, I woke up to find Abby Kate like this:And then, later, when I walked into the playroom, I saw this:
She's been pulling up, but not quite this efficiently, until today! As squirmy as she is, I have a fear feeling she'll be walking before too long! I had 2 errands to run today - Hobby Lobby and the grocery store. Neither one got done. We had friends over to play this morning, and afterwards, when I told Christa it was time to go to the store, she replied, "we could go to the park or something." So we did. It was the right choice - I've had a great day with my girls today, and the errands can get done another time.

Christa loved pushing Abby Kate in the swing. Abby Kate laughed and laughed.

Both girls cracked up when I stood in front of them and let them pretend to kick me down. Abby Kate was just as amused as Christa was!

I just love it when Christa asks for me to play with her, and I can actually drop what I'm doing to oblige. My girls aren't going to be this little forever, and even though we spend a lot of time together, I do get caught up in the day to day "to-do list" more than I'd like. I am thankful for beautiful weather and the ability to do without snacks and juice for an extra day.

Going to rescue my crying Abby Kate now :)