Ephraim is 2 months!

Happy 2 month birthday, Ephraim!  As you can see, our little guy is really filling out!  He loves the usual – eating and sleeping.  Haha!  Little Ephraim is such a cuddler!  He gives the best snuggles!  We are starting to get lots of smiles and a few coos.  He is still waking up every 4 hours or so, but he does have a solid bedtime routine – he’s usually ready to go down for the night between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm.  Ephraim is loved by his brother and sister.  They are always talking to him and touching him.  They ask all the time to hold them and little E doesn't seem to mind the attention!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From the turkeys!

Delilah 18 months

It's such a strange juxtaposition - In some ways it is unbelievable that Delilah has been here for an entire year and a half, but in other ways it's unbelievable that she hasn't always been with us.

My little baby is NOT a baby anymore! She is a walking, talking (screaming, running, climbing...) toddler. A full-blown TODDLER! She is still infatuated with her older brother. She copies just about everything he does. It is the sweetest thing to see the two of them interact. Jameson will grab Delilah's hand to lead her somewhere and it melts my heart, every time.

Delilah has been talking for a while, but today, on her 18 month birthday, she had a language explosion! She's been saying Dada, Mama, duck, and cat for a while, but really only when asked or mimicking us. But today she was independently talking - asking for water, she found a bubble wand and said bubble, and then some of her favorites: off, on, cat, etc!

Delilah is truly fearless and shows her independence more and more everyday. Her favorite pastime is to climb up on the arm of the couch and jump to the seat and sometimes she'll continue on to the pillows that she has pushed on t the floor. She can climb on to every chair that we have in the house and recently discovered that she can reach the doorknobs to open the doors. She likes to play hide-and-seek and shhhhhhhhhhhhh, her favorite hiding place is in the laundry room. :-)

Delilah continues to be enamoured by her big brother. She follows him around and imitates his every move. I know at some point he will likely get annoyed by it, so I am cherishing the fact that it doesn't seem to phase him right now. Right now he's enjoying her attention. They are always giving hugs, kisses and high fives! And don't get me wrong, they do fight, but Delilah isn't afraid to put up a fight. When she gets mad, I pretty sure you can hear her shrieking from 3 houses away! :-)

So, happy half birthday to my brilliant, beautiful, and wonderful diva!

*Tap, tap, tap* Is this thing on?

Oops! Um, it's been a while, hasn't it? Here's the thing, we went on this AWESOME cruise at the end of April. I fully intended to write a blog post about it, but just couldn't find a chunk of time to do it enough justice. So, then life would happen and I felt guilty thinking about writing another blog, but not blogging about the Disney cruise.

So, here's what I'm going to do... I'm going to keep up from this point on. I have some creative projects planned, exciting business ventures, and things going on in my life that you might interested in. But, I'm going to go back and update with as much as I can in the past. I don't really care if it's a blogging no-no. One of the big reasons I started this blog was because I think it will be fun to look back on later on for myself and the kids. So, I want to fill in whatever gaps I can! So, look for some updates in the very near future!

And the rockets red glare...

Well, we didn't celebrate Independence Day in our usual fashion this year. It was a pretty laid back affair this year...at least from our house. Russell works nights currently and his schedule is so weird. He works roughly 10pm-6am, so when he goes in at 10pm on Sunday, it's referred to as Monday. This works out nicely when he is scheduled to work holidays because he gets holiday pay, but is off around 6am on the holiday so he has most of the holiday free...minus sleep anyway!). Well, Russell was scheduled to work on the 4th of July, but we thought this would be perfect because he would get home at 6, sleep until noon or so and be ready for fireworks! But, because the 4th landed on a Monday this year, it was decided that the circle fireworks would be done on Sunday night since everyone had to work on Tuesday. And by that time, the day was full, so Russell couldn't take it off.

Unfortunately, Russell had to work that night, so he was pretty tame and had to leave before things got too crazy. Also, I wasn't feeling too well (I later went to the Dr. and had a sinus infection), so I didn't do a great job of representing my house...of course, that didn't stop me from drinking the bucket drink or dominating the Spoons table. :-)

Overall, it was a fun night, albeit on a smaller scale than past years, but it got me really excited for the annual circle party!!

"What an awesome day!"

Today we were invited to the zoo by Papa Terry and Mama O. We were grateful for the invitation because we have not had as many oppurtunities to go to the zoo as we have in the last 2 years. And to make things even better, all of the grandkids were able to go!

On the way to the zoo, Jameson asked me if he could ride on the train. This was amazing to me because the last couple of times that we've visited the zoo, Jameson has wanted to ride on the train, but we haven't been able to for whatever reason (I think, usually time-constraints). So, it was astounding to me that he remembered that on our way to the zoo! That boy amazes me every day.

Wow, what a fun day we had! We got to see lots of animals. The kids had fun running and playing. Delilah thinks she is one of the big kids and really can hold her own with them. She is running, climbing, and playing right along with them.

Oh, and guess what?

We got to ride the train!

As we were walking past the Desert Dome, Jameson turns to me and says "What an awesome day!" You're right, Jameson, I couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks again Papa Terry and Mama O for an awesome day! :-)

*M* *I* *C* *K* *E* *Y* *M* *O* *U* *S* *E*

Even though I just got home from our DC vacation, it was time to turn around and pack for another vacation...with the kids this time! For Christmas, my parents gave us a very GRACIOUS gift. The whole family was able to go on a Bahamian Disney Cruise. (Never in my life, did I think I would be saying that I was going to the Bahamas AGAIN!) It was an awesome family vacation - Disney style!

Traveling with a 3 year old and a 1 year old was a lot less traumatic than I thought it would be. Delilah napped for a bit on the second leg of our flight, but Jameson did not nap at all, so he was a bit on edge. He did okay on the shuttle from the airport (Beach Front Avenue!!) and as we checked. But once we were checked in, he did not understand why we weren't getting on the cruise right NOW!

There was a bit of a melt-down as we were waiting our turn to board the ship, but the excitement grew once our number was called. We through the doorway, got our family picture professionally taken, crossed the ramp to officially embark on the Disney Dream and met up with Erin and Ray, who were already on the boat. I look at Jameson and ask if he's so excited and he says "I want to go on boat again." Oh man, I didn't even consider that a 3 year old wouldn't consider what it meant to be on a cruise ship. I did go to a window to try and show him what it meant. But, I'm not sure that it ever really sunk in.

The first day was a whirlwind! We spent the first half traveling. Once we were on the boat, we ate a quick bite, settled into our rooms, and then got freshened up for dinner. We asked the room attendant to set up the bunk beds in our room. They offered a crib, but I was worried that it would take up too much room. The cruise that we went on before had "free-style" dining. With the Disney Dream, we had set times and set tables, so this was a new experience for us. When I first arrived to the table, the waiter came over to me and said "I'm going to take care of you, Shannon". My brother heard this and gave me a look and thought he was offering something not on the menu. He didn't realize that I had submitted dietary restrictions! Haha! We didn't even make it through dinner and the kids were dropping. So, Russell and I decided that it would be best to take our travel-weary kids to bed.

Once back at the room, I decided that I should explore the ship and bit and pick up a couple of essentials that missed getting packed (sandals for J & I) and things that were confiscated at the airport (sunscreen). When I got back, R said he wanted to explore the ship. I suggested that he call my brother because I knew he was still up. (Big mistake on my part!) He returned several hours later on his 30th wind from basically not sleeping for 48 hours and a bit more than tipsy.

The next morning, we were in the Bahamas. The kids and I got up and headed out for breakfast, Russell wasn't feeling up for it. I return after breakfast to get ready for our beach day excursion at Atlantis. Russell was still not feeling up for it, so I set off as a single parent for the day. Fortunately, we were going the Kelly, Mark, Tyler and Nichole. So, I had extra hands to help wrangle my kids. And double fortunately, they were willing to refund our non-refundable tickets for our "sick" passenger!

Our 5 little fish (Jameson, Delilah, and their cousins) LOVED the beach. They played in the water for a while and then pilfered someone else's sand toys. They build sand castles until it was time for lunch. While we ordered our lunch, I saw Nichole in action. As a part of our excursion package, we got lunch tickets. Well, Delilah and Justice were free because they were under 3, however that meant we didn't get any sort of ticket for them. But, Nichole specifically asked if they would still get lunch and was assured that they would. Evidently someone was confused though because the people at the food stand insisted that they could only give us a lunch if they had a ticket. Nichole argued with them and we ended up with a lunch for every child - impressive stuff!

After lunch, we ran through the aquarium at Atlantis, but the kids were fading fast. So, soon, it was time to catch a shuttle back to the ship. Let me tell you, we learned a lot about Atlantis and other cruise ships, but we also feared for our lives as the shuttle weaved through the streets of Nassau!! Fortunately, we made it back in the same condition that we left! We returned to the room to find Russell in a much better state. Just in time for the kids to take a nap! :-)

We had to wake the kids up for dinner. This night was pirate night! Mama O bought everyone festive pirate items. Papa Terry REALLY dressed the part, he looked a lot like Captain Jack Sparrow! So everyone donned their pirate attire for dinner. We had another delicious dinner and the waiter did a fantastic job of helping me to navigate the menu. After Dinner, the older cousins went to the Oceaneer Club, which is an on-board activity center for children...similar to a kids' rave! The kids LOVE it there. They have different activities for them to do, computer games, different themed rooms (Monster's Inc, Toy Story, Tinkerbell, etc.), and the characters come visit. After the pirate party, we went up to one of the bars on deck, had a few drinks and waited for the fireworks. The guys went and got the kids before the fireworks started. Everyone enjoyed the show and then it was back to our room, so that we would be refreshed for the next day.

Our last full day on the ship, we stopped at Castaway Cay, which is Disney's private island. The kids and I got up and had breakfast and then went over to Nemo's reef, which is a fun little spray area for the kids. Jameson had a blast, but Delilah got caught by surprise by one of the sprays and wouldn't let me put her down afterwards. Then she entertained herself by going up and down the couple of stairs that lead to the splash area.

After that adventure, we went and picked up Daddy, so that we could go on the island in time to meet Mickey. We waited in line for a photo op with Mickey, Jameson just didn't even know what to think. After the photo shoot, we headed over to the beach. We had lots of fun splashing in the ocean and building sandcastles. But, then it was getting to be lunchtime and they were having a very meat-heavy island feast. So, we decided that since we had spent the day before at the beach, we would head back to the boat.

We had lunch at the buffet on the ship and then headed back to the spray area. Delilah still spent her time climbing the stairs, but Jameson and his cousin, Alaina, ran through all of the different sprays together. Daddy took a turn on the AquaDuck, which is a huge water slide that surrounds the entire boat. We passed the time until Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) was scheduled to to on the top deck. We went up to watch for Stitch to make his grand appearance. We were trying to distract the kids by watching Dumbo on the big screen over the pool. But, we were into nap time and the kids were getting antsy. Suddenly, there he was - causing destruction, by knocking over deck chairs and stealing towels, in his path. He stopped to give Jameson a hug and to take a picture. Jameson was on Cloud 9! This was our mission for the whole trip! And then it was nap time!

Once again, we had to wake the kids up for dinner. On this night, we ate at the Animator's Palace. While we waited for our dinner, we got a visit from Crush, the Sea Turtle from Finding Nemo. It was fun! Crush interacted with many of the groups in the restaurant. Afterwards, the kids went to the Oceaneer club for one last hurrah. On this night, we had scheduled Delilah to visit the It's a Small World Nursery. So, the adults were able to have one last hurrah as well!

We went to Skyline. When the boys went out the first night, they scouted out this bar and harassed Jessica, the server, who happened to be from Ireland. Russell's favorite drink was the 9 dragons, which he liked to order in multiples - "I'll have 18 dragons in two cups evenly, please." It was nice to relax a little, without needing to keep track of two curious kids. It was here that we learned that the housekeeper left Tyler a little something in his room. Well, it was bittersweet, but it was time to pick up the kids and get ready to leave in the morning.

We had to be to breakfast super early the next morning. And after that, it was time to get ready to go. Our paradise family vacation had come to an end. Overall, the kids did well on the trip home, especially considering we had quite the wait at the airport in Florida. Delilah slept pretty much the first leg of the flight, but the kids were pretty restless by second leg. *I* didn't think they were that bad, but I noticed the lady across the aisle grabbing the bridge of her nose any time they made noise. At any rate, we made it home, travel-weary, but happy!

Another BIG thank you to Papa Terry and Mama O for their VERY geerous gift. And also to my Mom for helping us out with a birth certificate issue and helping us to get Delilah on the boat! :-)